New bike means obligatory blog post

I recently built up the Tomac Type X with some parts I had lying around. Last night I finally took her out to break her in on city trail in Boulder.

The verdict -- I really like this bike and the build. It fits me perfectly and I dig the aesthetics. At a bit over 20 lbs, sans pedals, there will be no excuses with this chasis and drive train.Not a bad view for "city trail," and during the quick ride I was reminded of what a unique place is Boulder. For reasons beyond the Flatirons, it is with mixed emotions that we say goodbye. But don't feel sorry for me. We're headed south to be closer to family... within the mountain bike friendly state of AZ. Once settled, assuming good health and good fortune, I'll continue working on this new bike's engine for years to come. It's the stuff dreams are made of.

You Might Be Good Enough For A Tomac

Thought this was pretty funny. Fresh out of Mountain Bike Action's March issue. Kudos to Joel and crew for the creativity, not to mention reportedly sweet bikes. A few MORFers are building up a Type X carbon hardtail... oh yeah.

Greg takes the win at Hardwater

MORF's very own Greg Abrahamson, who also moonlights on the Redfeather Snowshoe race team, took the win at Hardwater this morning. Way to go Greg!

Boulder Cross Race #4 - Xilinx

I'm pretty sure not too many people rode their bikes for fun today, unless they were one of the 500 or so weirdos at Xilinx that love cross! I'm still not really sure what the course looked like other than a black strip of mud meandering through a nice field of snow. Mother nature made it fun, somewhere around 30°F and slop that was up yer bottom bracket. Here's Greg making his way through one of the trickier sections on the course.

The conditions made for a foot race in some sections, as the course detiorated throughout the day.

Some racers had two bikes, and pulled into the pit area to swap out every lap or so. I had one bike that weighed as much as two bikes by the end of the day.

It's been a good year

There's always some way to bust your butt outside here in Colorado, even once temperatures are way down and there's snow. And most of us are active year round. But I think the MORF Majority would agree that, even if we're not collectively in the off-season yet, we're rapidly approaching that time of year. Almost time to place Year One of MORF in the Annals. Two "n's" in that word, ya jokesters.

Yeah, sure, we've got Mike in Maui right now, getting ready to race at Xterra Worlds on Sunday, making his run at a bunch of the World's other fast 35-39ers in off-road triathlon. Represent, Mike. We're all jealous of the next week you've got planned. Well, I am anyway.

So while Mike's been getting ready to throw down, the rest of us have opted this year to stay a little closer to home and simply drink more beer these last few months. Some of us are getting in a little CX now and then, but for the most part it's been down time.

Since it already seems like a long time ago, I thought it would be fun to go through the photo album, recollect, and be inspired a bit. Yes, it takes inspiration to get up and go to the fridge. Here are some shots we've compiled of MORF in kit:


Big thanks this year to the following supporters:
- Redstone Cyclery
- Curve
- Ritchey
- GU
- Rudy Project

These folks helped make Year One a MORFing good time.

Mountain Biking Access Boulder

Dave at Redstone had this message on his blog - http://www.redstonecyclery.blogspot.com/

We've got 3 MORFers in Boulder who will get to vote on this, read Dave's Blog exerpt below:

Bike Access to Your Mountain BackdropDepends on YOU!Ever dreamed of riding from your front door instead of driving to a trailhead? The chance for change is now as the city begins the planning process for our Boulder mountain backdrop. Bikes have been banned here for 25 years, so getting reasonable and responsible access to that land for mountain cyclists will not be an easy fight. There is something you can do right now. When you receive your mail ballot, vote for the BMA slate of city council candidates. Do not wait until later - VOTE NOW!!! The mailed ballots are sent out October 13-16. If you voted in the 2008 presidential elections, you'll get a ballot. If you don't get one, call the county at 303-413-7740 and they'll send one out. This city council will decide if bikes have any rights to the public open space land west of Broadway. Vote Suzy Ageton, KC Becker, Macon Cowles, George Karakehian, and Barry Siff.Thought you were done? Nope. We need you to do one more thing. Forward this email to anyone that you know who cares about mountain biking in Boulder. Get your friends to vote too! The Boulder Mountainbike Alliance endorsed candidates we felt would give mountain bike access a fair shake. Help us help them get elected. VOTE NOW!!!

And remember to thank Dave for his advocacy for Mountain Biking!

Xterra National Champs 2009

Team MORF didn't turn out in full force, but Vanessa and Mike toed the start line (aka boat ramp) and let it rip. This late in the season, the sun is not up yet for setup in transition and the temps are cold. Headlamps were must haves in your tri bag. The sun came up revealing a swim course in perfect water temps for a race, around 66F. The race would unfold on a flawless day with summer temperatures against the backdrop of fall colors. Watching from the sidelines due to school/work induced out-shape-ness, I watched Mike and then Vanessa hit the water along with a rabid pack of athletes racing like there was a prim for the first 50 racers to the first buoy. The only prim some got has a cold kick in the face, and in Luna Bar pro Danelle Kabush's case, 5/6th of the swim course minus her goggles. Karate Chop! Mike and then Vanessa came out of the swim in quick succession, high up in their age group rankings.

After exiting Pineview reservoir, the climb was steady, the kind of steady that sees you climb 3500 ft. before descending into T2. The bike course was defined by a quick 2 mile fire road filled with loose rock, before funneling down to sweet uphill singletrack. Mike came into T2 and I thought he had to be right up with the leaders. Vanessa followed in the front group of women, apparently the 25 to 29 year olds were faster than the women in their 30's this year...crazy. Both Vanessa and Mike were in the most competitive age groups, and both were in contention the whole time.

If you've raced Ogden, you know the run course is straight up, flat, and then straight down. Well, apparently, they added some elevation in the middle this time, in order to get the run to a 10k. More climbing...ouch. By the time the athletes hit the run, temps on the cloudless day had to be pushing 85, which felt unseasonably warm having come from CO where we had snow the last day of summer. Watching the athletes come down into the finish, I didn't envy the downhill sprint, but by this time of the year, everyone (except me) was in prime shape, and finished in fine form. Mike and Vanessa finished strong for 5th and 6th place finishes against a tough field. Nice job to all the MORFers that busted out this year, we had some great races!!!