Who's doing Southridge DH this weekend?

[roadkillross]

hmm oh god i hope i have no problems. and if anything i hope it happens on saturday.

[tkblazer]

Originally Posted by jfromlv

I love the minions, but I think all of their 2.35 tires went to single ply. I'd much rather have the weight than a flat.

must be the new ones are single ply, i tried some hand me downs that are kinda old and its a 2ply

[Marshall Willanholly]

Hey TK, is this you? My GF was taking pics instead of racing at the last race and snapped this one.

She runs a 2.35 dual-ply High Roller on the back. Had to get it from Chain Reaction Cycles in the UK. They have all sorts of different size and compound combinations we don't get in the U.S.

I'm going to try and get a couple hours of practice on Saturday before I have to get to work, and we'll both be out there on Sunday.

[Winston]

Yep, that's Nam. Did you pull off the turn Nam?

[tkblazer]

i'm trying to think of where that turn is....i'm guessing halfway along the wall, through the rocks. if it is then thats the only place on the track that i messed up on

[2wheel_lee]

I'm hoping to be out there on Saturday. I'll be riding a sparkle silver Intense VPX.
I'll be driving a big, gray Dodge Ram with a camper shell.

Nam, what knee pads are those? The 661 pads I've been using look like they're for hockey. They're big and bulky - great for crashing, but they suck for riding.

[tkblazer]

lee, they're roach/race face pads.. i love them, you can wear then all day and they don't really bother me when pedaling. they can get a little warm tho, but its worth dealing with it for the protection.

some popular knee pads are the 661 kyle straits



or the TLD t-bones

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/imgWr...B00.jpg&type=3

both of which can be found at jensonusa, most shops that stock 661 will have the straits, harder to find an lbs with the TLD's

[2wheel_lee]

I prefer the ones that go all the way down to the ankles. The knee only pads tend to slide down my legs.

[tkblazer]

soo lee, the real question is...are you racing on sunday?

[roadkillross]

i always wear the 661 tomcats and they never slide down. maybe u dont strap em on tight enuf? i also have the roach fr pads and love them to death. only problem i have is that the upper knee velcro doesnt get tight enuf around my lanky quads

[2wheel_lee]

I don't know. I hope to go out there on Saturday to see if I enjoy the course.

Last time, I was working on my VPX replacing the fork, and I thought I found a crack on the frame at the head tube. I was pretty depressed (even though I knew Intense would cover it). The headset was a biatch to beat out, but fortunately no crack was found. By that time, that weekend was over.

A few weeks ago when I went out on Saturday, I thought that Beg/Spt course wasn't very fun, and I didn't think it was worth racing.

So Sunday is up in the air. Will you be there Saturday?

Straight up, the reality is that I'm chicken. As you may remember, I had a bad motorcycle crash last year in desert race, and my wrist still isn't in that good of condition (I can't move it much). If I crash and land on it, I would likely be really screwed. I think I'm reasonably safe just playing around, but when I'm in race mode, I really crank it up and take a lot more risks. I am realizing that I probably shouldn't be doing that. Sigh...We'll see.

Originally Posted by roadkillross

i always wear the 661 tomcats and they never slide down. maybe u dont strap em on tight enuf? i also have the roach fr pads and love them to death. only problem i have is that the upper knee velcro doesnt get tight enuf around my lanky quads

Oh, I get them tight enough! Too tight, probably! But even though I have a big gut, I have scrawny legs, and once I start sweating, down they go. Same with many elbow pads. Maybe my quads are bigger than my knees, so when I do tighten them down, that just pushes them down.

You can love your pads, but don't love your pads.

[Winston]

Don't forget the sunscreen.

Looks like it will be a hot one.

[roadkillross]

yeay so thats why im hot today

[2wheel_lee]

All the better reason to replace my 661 knee pads that have 8mm neoprene (yeah, they're as warm as an 8mm wetsuit, for any of you divers) with better-breathing ones.

[tkblazer]

yea, that incycle ez up is gonna be the spot to kick it at... FO SHO

lee, good news about the bike and i hear ya on racing. i might take another month or so from racing to get the ankle healed up, its still freakin swollen. guess i have to stay off the bike for a while

[ehansen007]

So are clipless a good idea for this course or should I keep the mallets on with the skate shoes? I'm a newbie and I don't mind taking my feet off the pedals in the turns but with clipless it's just more of a hassle. If it's a pedler's course then maybe clipless would be the ticket.

[tkblazer]

i've seen a lot of the guys run clipless, so if that will help you pedal faster/harder then go for it. i was never a fan of mallets with regular shoes anyways, the eggbeater part always stuck up too much.

[ehansen007]

I'm sorry, I meant flats, not mallets, with skate shoes. I think I'll keep them for the race in case I come off. Anywho, I just took a practice run down 5 Oaks (for those of you who know it) and tested my falling-of-the-bike capabilities. It was a front wash deal which I seem to have problems with. So much so that I broke my wrist back in October. I went right down on the wrist again and pulled it in just as I hit. I remembered an article about broken wrists and collarbones are directly correlated to sticking your hands out to brace your fall. Funny how your brain thinks that quickly. Anywho, the bike seems to be working pretty well but the legs are tired. See ya Sunday! Does the rookie usually bring the beers?

[tkblazer]

Originally Posted by ehansen007

Does the rookie usually bring the beers?

now that you mention it, i do believe thats been the tradition

the dirt on the tree trail is pretty similar to fontana so it should give you can idea of what to expect, except it will be a lot more rutted on the turns

[roadkillross]

where is everyone gonna be parking i usually park near the wall/ finish area. maybe we can all try to get in that general area.