Forked and rambling

Not being familiar with the geometry of 29er's, one of my initial thoughts w/ the stock SE Stout was that the front end was too heavy and the 110 stem was much too long , hindering my ability to loft the front end, or point and shoot if you will. Thought it a leverage issue and relieved it for a time w/ an 80 DH stem.

I had no idea how much the "landing gear" fork weighed during the recent swap to an Origin 8 Carbon fork. Needless to say the 110 is back on and I'm liking it. Once done, I believe this can be a pretty light, efficient, and sturdy rig. Next up, some "not so utilitarian" hoops w/ skewers and skinny knobby rubber, frame bag, and 34 x 16 gears.

Had thought of putting my Cannondale Lefty Max 140 fork on but the weight weenie in me decided against it. Now I only have to decide w/ rig is TI compatible. I have taken and tested the ol' super rigid chrome killer V for 150 plus gravel miles at a time, felt comfortably good, and had some left at the end. However, I do recall after cresting a couple death ride hills that on the downside the 29ers would effortlessly roll past... hmmm....

Only time and testing will tell.

In other happenings, the 09 IMBCS schedule is being hammered out as we speak by Cam and coordinators. There is talk about a no race fee for the 6 IMBCS series category winners, sounds like a fair deal to me. Camp Ingawanis looks to be set once again as a series stop on May 3rd which will be in conjunction w/ our Trail Run Race/ TT on the 2nd. Yeah, I noticed the dates, all the hard work is the prep anyway and others will have to step up.

In other thoughts.... Paul "The Counselor" has been successful in scholarship fund raising in the past- incorporating it w/ his Trans Iowa participation. I was brainstorming some possibilities w/ this fund raising possibility. We recently had a not so kind person/persons burn down our Bike Trail bridge in Clarksville , perhaps this is an opportunity..