March Madness is Madness

WOW, things have changed a lot, and when you really check it out they haven't changed much at all. Thanks for tuning back in after our unannounced winter sabbatical. The Rigid family has had some fistfights with health and fitness and personally, I was out of the bike riding part of things for a good part of the past two months with what I had convinced myself was a bout of comsumption, but turned out to be a common case of bronchitis. But everyone is back to prime time health, so let's give thanks for that. A fair bit of news and developments tend to happen in the cycling off season and by now everyone has seen pictures and read drinking stories from the North American Handjob Bicycle Show, although I was not in attendance, mi hermano Pedro, alongside the original Lumberzach, sent me a few updates from the convention floor. If you have an opinion about the explosion in hand built bicycles here in the US of A, then do yourself a favor and check out a few words from one of my long time heroes, Richard Sachs.

The several days at the convention center are just a blur of colors and sound. Both were
loud. In the karaoke hall that we all occupy, the microphone that is being passed
clearly needs a mute button. Perhaps it would make more sense to cut the power
source completely.

Word.

Speaking of the secret geek party at the center of the bike geek universe that is the NAHBS, I recently spotted one of these in the wilds.

Now I remember when this thing debuted at the 2011 NAHBS last year and I told myself that I would find the money to get it. Well, that didn't happen, but I still love this bike because as a high school kid in the early 90s there was not too much that I wanted more than a Ritchey race bike. If you want to get a little insight into the man himself, check out this interview with Tom Ritchey, where he talks about making an integrated saddle and post back in high school, in 1837.

There is a lot more else happening in the world of bikes but it's gonna have to wait for some other installment. In the meantime, if you happen to be in Western Pennsylvania and can get your St. Patrick's Day hangover under control then by all means come out to support the hardest working trail crew in the business:

Music for Your Mondays

Play the Belgian National Anthem, because those guys dominated the Cyclocross Worlds this weekend. Also, Marianne Vos proved that she is the hardest working man in showbusiness.

Dust Off the Horse Blanket and Saddle Up

Happy new year to all, or as some would say more formally, Greetings in the name of the most high, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of Melchizedek, Emperor of Ethiopia, Son of Solomon and Sheba, ever-living, ever-faithful, ever-sure, His Majesty Haile Selassie I, Ras Tafari.

First off the bat, congrats to the US Nationals cyclocross fields for going all out in the frozen icy conditions of Madison, WI. That stuff was crazy. Second off the bat, congrats to the UCI for holding the Cyclocross Masters World Championships at Eva Bandman park in Louisville Kentucky, the first time ever that a World Champs was held outside of Europe. I plan to spectate in 2013 when the Elite World Championships will be held at the same venue, and by most accounts the Masters version went off beautifully. Third off the bat, congrats to local vegan powerhouse Steevo for being the 5th fastest cyclocrosser in his age group IN THE WORLD! That stuff was crazy too. Elite Championships are taking place this weekend in Koksijde, Belgium, so do like me, get yourself an internet connection and get your stream on.

Things have been wet and sloggy here in beautiful Pittsburgh, PA. I would like to be able to report that I have been logging in some long, wet, road rides over the course of January but the reality is that after getting home in the dark after my daily bicycle commute to and from work I pretty much hunker down with the rugrats and call it a night. Which leads nicely into the next order of business for today: a little product review of the Nite Rider MiNewt 600 Cordless bicyle light, shown below with handlebar mount.

Now for those people who have known me for some time, I will start off by admitting that for many years, I thought it was silly to bedazzle a bicycle with lots of lights and shiny objects and therefore, for those many years, I did not use any lights when operating my bicycles in the dark. Maybe old age has changed me, or maybe I have actually gotten a bit smarter, but for about the past 5 years, I have made an effort to be seen when cycling in the dark. I have used several different brands and styles of lights, small and big, both front and back. Although I do not own any powerful night-riding lights for MTB use, I have borrowed them on many occasions with delight. I mostly purchased the MiNewt 600 for commuting, but I also wanted a light that could work for off-road night riding in the event that those people whom I borrow lights from get fed up with my begging. I have been using the light everyday for over three months and it has not given me any problems.

The light has only one button, which glows faint green when turned on and glows a faint red when the battery needs charging. The charging can be accomplished with a a USB connection or a wall jack and takes about 5 hours to fully charge. The light has a total of 5 modes: low, medium, high, flashing, and a dim "walk" mode. The waterproof case preforms admirably: I have ridden several times in pouring rain for 45 minutes and the light has never blinked. On one particularly cold day this winter, after my bicycle and light sat outside in single digits Fahrenheit for a few hours, the light would not turn on. I used that as an excuse to head into the nearest bar and warm up with a stiff drink; full functions returned after about 10 minutes of being indoors (the light's functions that is, I haven't been fully functional since I was about 13 years old) and I had no problems on the remainder of ride.

How bright is this light, you may be asking yourself, if you're still awake. Inspired by the folks at Dirt Rag magazine who did a fantastic job of documenting off road lighting systems in recent issues, I have some photographic evidence to help answer that.

First, here is a rainy dark Pittsburgh alley, illuminated with the little $20 light, that, if I had friends, I would lend to them on nights when we pedaled through the city on our way to concerts, movies, and the life of glamor.

And here is the the MiNewt 600 shown on the low setting.

Here is the the MiNewt 600 shown on the high setting.

I have used the light for a few MTB night rides and it is actually just as good as some more expensive light systems out there. On the high setting the light lasts 3 hours. The helmet mount is included with the light.

Impossible for me to capture (with my rudimentary photography skills) is the flash mode. Be warned, the flash mode is surprisingly bright and can illuminate reflective surfaces like license plates and road signs for up to three city blocks--no exaggeration, the flash mode is so bright that the unz unz unz of techno music starts thumping in my mind when I have it on. The flash mode could trigger seizures.

Overall, I like using this light a lot. With this light, I have actually noticed drivers wait to let me pass at intersections where, when using dimmer bike lights, I have seen cars pull out in front of me. The light functions in all but the most unmerciful weather conditions, is easy to charge, and can double as a MTB night riding light. The MSRP is $160.

Get out the cowbells for Cross Worlds and have a great weekend!

Holiday Hootenany

Christmas is here! The children at Rigid are full of sugarplums and the Christmas tree is fantastically bedazzled, looking like an alien spacecraft ready to blast off from our 1950s era fallout shelter. I have been getting in a few rides here and there, but with low temperatures and lots of rain most trails have been too wet to ride.

How about a little update on the PTAG annual volunteer appreciation day that took place on December 10th? I would like to be able to say that over that weekend hundreds of folks got together to laud the accomplishments and celebrate the long list of trails that have been improved or maintained by PTAG over the course of the past year. There definitely was a quick mention of that. But mostly we just did what I end up doing every other weekend. Which is a lot of this:

Although there was some fun freeze-thaw mountain bike feats of skill like this:

Well that basically wraps it up on this end for 2011. Rigid Bicycles will be taking some time off from regular posting and will return with updates on January 6th.

Have a great holiday everyone. In the meantime enjoy some video of Johnny T in the 1990 Cross Country World Championships from Durango.

Weak-kneed Weekend

Another week has slipped through the cracks.

Sometimes time slows down and a week can go by in a crawl, as if it were a slow slog up a long gravely fire road.

Other weeks go by a lot faster. This one feels like it's just getting started and it's already Friday. Have a great weekend.

Tomorrow, Saturday December 10th, the Pittsburgh Trails Advocacy Group will host their annual Volunteer Appreciation Day event, with mountain bicycle rides, hikes, and trail runs in beautiful North Park. Get in if you can fit in.

Clever Title Referencing Someone Getting 'Punk'd'

As announced last week, the folks at Dirt Rag magazine hosted the annual Punk Bike Enduro for the twenty-second time; and here at Rigid, after a weekend of unseasonably warm temperatures, we're still trying to pick up the pieces. Saturday was a longish jaunt on the cross bikes which I thought might have prepared me for the lots of standing around and the 12 bicycle stages of the Punk. It didn't.

Sunday morning rolled around, lots of people gathered at the spot,and world class athletes from around the nation checked tire pressures and put on their ultra fast racing suits.

First off was the foot-down rodeo, which, because of the large attendance took a long time and finally ended when The Beer Monkey started grabbing onto (other riders') handlebars.

Then came a lot of other stuff that involved bikes and mud.

Thanks to the entire staff at Dirt Rag magazine. Now it's time to go back to work.

Kicking off December: Off Season But Not Off the Mark

Here is a last ditch reminder about this weekend's Dirt Rag Punk Bike Enduro. I was wrong about the posters: they do exist and will be awarded to the riders with the highest blood alcohol content most Punk points at the end of the day.

If you happen to be anywhere near the western Pennyslvania part of the globe this weekend, then jump on it. This event reminds us that off road cyclists like to do weird things in the off season like drink beer and ride their bicycles in inclement weather. Roadies, on the other hand, are up for far more creative ways of spinning the two wheels. Johnny Hoogerland gives us an example. You will remember Hoogerland was made famous this year for getting knocked around and severely lacerated after he was hit by a car in the Tour de France, which, if you are unclear, is in fact, a bicycle race

(In the future we will be able to put videos in parentheses)


Well now the Dutch Hoogerland, aka the "Bull of Beveland," is getting even more famous for his off season antics because he recently competed in a horse racing harness race, as a cyclist.
Guess what? He won.

Harness racing with infield bicycle competitions is the next cyclocross.

Have a great weekend and welcome to December.