farewell steve

stevesilver
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

today is stevegoat steve's last day - best of luck to him in his new adventures...

stolen from the speedgoat blog:

Well, you know what they say, all good things must come to an end and so it is that today is my last day working here at Speedgoat. It's been nearly 6 years since I was lucky enough to come on board and I've decided to move on to start a non-bike related adventure in my life.

My time here at Speedgoat has been some of the best times of my life and the people I work with and met through here have changed me personally and given me a better appreciation of what life is all about. This is not something I can say about most of the prior jobs I’ve held. I’ve learned something new from my co-workers every day that I came to work and these lessons normally came with a good laugh too so it made all of the not so fun days more bearable. I can now honestly say that the people here are Speedgoat are terrific human beings and you can be confident that Speedgoat will live a long successful life even without me being here.

Thanks for everything,
Steve

say hello to mr mustard

mr mustard
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

got to go to a baseball game for work today after some morning sessions that earned me some cpe towards to keep up on my cpa licensure - in a previous life, i used to be a cpa. seems like forever ago that i was stressing out about tax returns... needless to say, good background for my job in accounting sofware consulting, but i don't miss it at all...

not mucho going on other then getting in some miles and getting ready for big bear.

with that in mind, i am going to sneak out as it's 65 degrees and sunny in ohio - much better then the overcast and 50 degrees it was yesterday.

sologoat out

memorial weekend recap

finally, a decently warm weekend in ohio - a slight miracle in itself has happened.

really not too much going on in the past few weeks, just concentrating on the upcoming races and making sure the bikes were fitted and anything needed replacing was switched out.

in speedgoat news, titanium frame builder jeff jones himself is coming out to the shop and is bringing out some bikes to demo. talk about possibly a once in a million year chance of not only getting to meet him, but also take one out on a ride... sign up now if interested as there are only a handful of spots open - check out the 'goat blog for more info.

also coming up, sometime after jeff jones comes out, chris from BH bikes will be bringing out some of his new 29er's to demo as well. no date on that one yet...

that's it - gotta get in some relaxing time.

sologoat out

i've got power

100_1306
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

since finally meeting up with wobblenaught guru jim - been fighting a pinched nerve and a lack of snappiness to my pedal stroke caused by my interpretation of the fit since december of last year. bad timing and road/mountain schedules that conflicted with each other pushed my fits out a little bit further into the season.

results of the fit:

post up about a half inch and saddle forward about a quarter inch = no more pinched nerve, more power and lower overall HR.

so, one weekend off of racing to rest up for the upcoming weeks - a somewhat local race weekend after next and then a venture down to my "home" 24 hour course - 24 Hours of Big Bear which is looking to be NOT SLOW.

also, got the heads up on the mohican 100 (which is not on my plate this year) - word is: new sections and everybody and their broher who is fast is coming to throw down. i predict that the pace is slow for the first 100 yards as the pace at these events seem to have gotten crazy fast this year. 100 miles? who cares... all out effort right at the gun.

gotta run -
sologoat out

2008 Speedgoat Pink Bike Project

(a word from jeremy at the 'goat)

Hi,

Every year we unveil one and only one completely unique Speedgoat Pink Bike to be raffled off on our web site, with 100% of the proceeds of $10 raffle tickets going to our friends at Breast Cancer Fund. In addition to our usual high standards, we have a few important guidelines for how our Pink Bikes are put together. First, the bike should include at least a few components you just can't get anywhere else. Second, it should be pink. And finally, it should be nicer than most of the other bicycles in the world.

This year, we went big. Please see the attached low-res. version of the press-release we've prepared for this year's bike. A high-res. version of this release is available for download at:

Pink Bike PDF

Below is a quick copy of the text of the release, in case anyone needs to copy and paste:

Speedgoat Bicycles has once again created an amazing, one-of-a-kind bicycle to be raffled off to fight breast cancer. Raffle tickets and more information about this year's bike are available on our web site at speedgoat.com. All proceeds from this year's event again go to support Breast Cancer Fund, in their search for environmental links to cancer, and their promotion of consumer awareness.

We could never create a bike this amazing without our sponsors, and this year we'd like to thank Niner for getting us their phenomenal new Jet 9 frame before it was even available to the public. Fox contributed an F29 suspension fork to the project. Industry Nine and NoTubes.com created a custom Ultralite set of wheels. Ritchey provided the stem, carbon bar, and post, while Hope provided the brakes, headset, and seatpost clamp.

This year's graphics and paint work are better than ever, and we'd like to thank the man behind the paint gun, Darin, at 2Wheeler Customs. We finished the bike off with an XTR drivetrain, WTB saddle, and some fine Continental Mountain King tires.

To date, Speedgoat's custom pink bikes have raised over $48,000 to help Breast Cancer Fund's research into environmental contaminants, and the preventable causes of cancer.

Additional Information:

Direct Link to the Raffle Page (to go live for the public this Friday, May 23d):
Pink Bike Raffle Link

Further Information about Breast Cancer Fund:
Breast Cancer Fund

If possible, please help us spread the word about this year's event. We hope to make this our most successful year yet!

Thanks again, and take care,

Jeremy
Marketing Director,
Speedgoat Bicycles

for sale - one of a kind pink bike for $10

chris and the gang at speedgoat have come up with the sweetest pink bike to date. $10 gets you a chance to win it with all proceeds going to support the Breast Cancer Fund.

full pics and details up tomorrow - check back here and at the speedgoat site for more info.

sologoat out

should of taken a right at Albuquerque

rocktober was without question, one of the rockiest courses i've raced to date...

1rst lap - 19 miles
shawn, rob, bradon and a few others peg it up the first climb. i can't hold their wheels, and i roll at my own pace.

in the first section of rocks, i get passed by a group, then my legs start coming back and i catch them.

at the end of the lap, i'm sitting somewhere in the top 10'ish or so.

a quick feed from brandon's mom got me rolling out quick and gave me a gap on all the riders i was with, but that was short lived.

2nd lap - a hellish 34 miles
quick up the first climb on the 2nd lap, i pop over two little steep sections and put my head down while i keep hammering on... duh... shouldn't of done that.

i completely miss the right turn, ride for the next 5 minutes or so until i come to markers that were for the end of lap 3 and ride back into the start/finish area roughly 20 minutes after i left it...

dumbfounded by my complete dumbness, i roll back out half contemplating stopping as i lost so much time. i decide to keep rolling, ride at whatever pace and not kill myself on the rocks.

right at about the same time this is happening, shawn rips out a sidewall and goes through a spare tube and 2 co2's.... not a good start to the day for either of us.

i'm now waaaaaaaaaaay back, but i start picking off riders. i'm riding the rocky sections trying not to break my neck and then up the pace on the climbs. i'm slowly realing back riders.

3rd lap - 14 miles
the tamest of all the sections, i get a quick feed from shawn and roll out. i'm sitting around 9th'ish position. i roll out quick and put down as much as i can on the road section leading into the first single track and i quickly make up one place... then two others...

as the miles come down, i catch all the singlespeed riders i was with except matt ferrari who had a super stellar day and came in 6th overall - rolled in 7th overall, 6th in the solo mens geared class.

figured at the end of the day, more then likley would of been at least 5th or 6th on the day had it not been for a missed turn...

overall great event - thanks to mike kuhn for a great course and event and to brandon on another win in the last few weeks...

with that - gotta clean some bikes and rest up.

sologoat out

rocktober update

after a brief stop at the 'goat and a few magical mechanical spells put on a few bikes by dan the man, it was off to central PA for the rocktober MASS super series race. mucho thanks goes out to dan.



new cell phone pics are not top notch, but the course is - from the little we saw of it, the course is laid out awesome, the venue is really nice and the course is holding up really well with very little mud despite the constant rain over the past 18 hours or so.

32 registered riders in my class so far, 51 field total - i'm sure they'll be a few more come race day.

clover leaf design course layout, one main pit area - 14 mile first lap, a hellishly long 34 mile 2nd lap, and a 19 mile final lap with last 1/4 of it on road.

that's it - gotta run - updates on sunday.

sologouat

off to the races

100_1237
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

sorry for the lack of posts recently - tons of hours, lots of work, and even more bike repair hours has left me with no time.

heading out to the 'goat and then out to the MASS super series enduro - looking to be a pretty stacked event for the 100k event. will be more of a long cross country race - the pace is going to be nuts and the terrain super technical.

brandon, shawn, ryan leech (former national cross champ in his age group).... ya, it will not be a slow event.

gotta run -
sologoat out

tour de bike path

went down last night. what started out as a medium tempo ride on my 1x9 el mariachi soon started an inadvertent entry into a race between me trying to maintain my tempo and maintain a medium heart rate level and a male/female couple going all out.

first, i started catching up to them as i stared at amazement as the woman was constantly being dropped as the guy constantly would attack her through intersections or would just randomly stand up, swerve as he couldn't control his bike to swell, and then throw down an attack - all this while be slowed down by his toe straps that were so long they were hitting the ground.

she would then swerve wildly just like he did, ride in a gear too big, then get back on his wheel.

all the while, they never slowed down one bit for any random person walking on the path. nice.

then we hit a monster climb, that would prove fatal to their efforts - so i passed them, not really thinking about it.

15 minutes later, i can hear a random bike bell dinging in the background - my chasers are catching ground as they run people off the bike path and completely run through stop signs crossing local roads without even looking for cars as they chase me down. completely nutz.

they then pass me, gasping for air and make it to parking lot where they completely stop and try to catch their breathe.

they won the prize of completely pissing everybody off on the trail and were the receipients of a miracle as they didn't get killed at an intersection. congratulations!

and you wonder why we get buzzed so often by cars...

in other news..



congrats to the 'goat on the opening of their new location just outside of the seven springs area in PA. they got a full line up of santa cruz bikes to rent out along with gear so you can hit the runs at the recently opened downhill park at seven springs.

now off to lunch..

sologoat out

lazy saturday

me and my legs decided not to race, but to sleep in a little, rest up and have some good coffee.

next up for me will be the MASS rocktober race coming up next week, should be a good event put on by the visitPA guys.

per the site:
All races start at 8:00am. Pre-race meeting at the start at 7:45am. The course is one big 3 leaf clover shaped loop. The start/finish also serves as our two resupply checkpoints. You will be able to leave whatever food and hydration supplies you need at the checkpoint. We will have water, gatorade, and food (fig bars, bananas, etc) at the checkpoint area for you. You must be your own technical support.

read that last sentence:
You must be your own technical support.

should leave out any cohutta 100 single speed controversy issues.

should be an interesting year for the enduro's and 100's - i think they are going to do well this year as the man keeps pushing gas prices up.

gots to run -

sologoat out

another 'goat going pro

12.29.05 - speedgoat justin at rays
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

this weekend marks the first big race weekend for downhill freak justin. check out the speedgoat blog for updates...

speaking of, the 'goat has a new shop opening up at seven springs and will be renting out downhill bikes and gear - featuring a full line up of santa cruz jump bikes. check out the site for directions and shop hours.

other then that, just getting in the miles and ordering up some spare and replacement parts - after 3 weekends of straight races, the bikes took a beating.

up on order - the new shadow xtr and xt rear derailleurs. been running the xt version on the new moots - very precise and fast shifting, and the compact design keeps it tucked in tight to the frame.

up this weekend - a possible local RATL crit if the rain stays away?

a possible attack from the start line?

sologoat out

dsg longer write up

another 12 hour in the books. the dsg proved yet again to be a classic - i said it last year, and i'll say it again - you definetely missed out if you were not at the start line this year.

pre-race course condition was fantastic, but the friday night rain lead to super muddy conditions on lap 1. however, by some grace, the course was blessed with a miracle and sections that were un-rideable on lap 1 were starting to get packed down on lap 2.

lap 1 saw me spin my deraileur early on, then later completely ripping it off when i was sitting in 4th - i had to backtrack about 1/4 mile, loosing easily 20 minutes. darn near quit right there - i had forgotten to pack a spare hanger and that nearly snapped me.

had some other minor equipment issues due to the mud, and somehow managed to get through the rest of the race on asylum #2.

i pushed on, making it back up to within a stones throw of mark, but it was not to be.

so, i learned a few more lessions this race as i packed minimally and went out with bare minimums to get me through a race. next time, make a list.

for now, i am resting up this coming weekend, dialing in the new i9's and then making a little trip the weekend after next.

think i'll visitPA.

sologoat out

dsg pics now up...

100_1647
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

got all my pics loaded up on flickr now - also, check out jeff's flickr site too...

updates later - must do that work thing..

sologoat out

6th at the dsg

just a quick update before i jump in the car for the drive back home.

rained through the night, didn't stop until 1 hour before race.

any sections that had any loose soil turned to clay and made conditions super bad - things got better by the 2nd lap as the sun came out and dried things up.

too bad i was a victim of the clay and had my rear deraileur ripped off - and i forgot to take a hanger... dah..

chased and chased - caught up with hendershot and nearly caught him. mark ended up winning the duel for 5th and we shared a beer and some laughs about it after.

for pics, check out jeff's site...

and - thanks go out to both jeff at ergon and justin at princeton tec for being impromptu pit crew members for the day.

sologoat out

less gears, more beers

less gears, more beers
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

was the theme today of the single speed events of the dsg started.

first event - a standard single speed short cross country race. creeepyfriendly and his bro showed what fast meant and totally smoked the field. was two laps - and you had to chug a beer (root beer or PBR) between laps.

boo's went out to those who choose root beer.

2nd event - a short hill climb. one the gary fisher guys won. drink one more brew.

3rd event - the surprise event. see the pic - words cannot describe how hillarious it was.

truely epic, done in style - clay, hats off to organizing this.

and - one more note - special event announcers were yuri (in blue) and biko libre (nat ross).

oh - the course and stuff...

pretty much the same as last year, with a few changes - but 95% is the same. course compared to last year is well worn in and flows really well - seems like it is in overall better condition. less loose stuff and everything is pretty packed and bermed.

out for the race - eddie, harlan, rob and shawn...

in for the race (that i know of) - nat, yuri, josh t, brandon, tinker...

i'm sure there's a few others..

gotta run - more pics and stuff up either late saturday or sunday.

sologoat out