New Bike Rack

So this past weekend I put the Boler away into the garage and decided I needed a new bike rack. Having no new lumber sitting around at home I had to turn to a pallet I grabed from work. This pallet was destined to be burned while camping but I didn't need it for our past trip. So it was just in my way after a quick 2 day garage cleanup. So I spent some time just looking at it,  then started to cut it up and put it back together. Here is what I ended up with.

Bunk beds fit for a tired drunk.

So I didn't figure I would have had to ever use our Boler with the front bunk bed setup, but me and a couple buddies are going to test it. We have planned a weekend away to ride some new mountain bike trails. It's only the 3 of us this year, so I volunteered the boler to be our home base. I didn't really trust the factory setup, so I built my own. I even tested it with 240 lbs of weight on it. Now I just need to buy some beer and we are good to go.

ACT35 Action Camera from China

So for this season of biking I wanted to get myself a helmet camera. I would of like to get a GoPro but I am cheap. So I picked up this ACT35 off eBay. I could go into all the specific information about it but who figure it is easier to just say it's the same as a GoPro Hero3 silver edition minus the wifi capablity. I will let you know how well it worked once I test it out, but for now here are a couple un-boxing pictures. I found it funny how they shipped it as a "other" with 15 bucks as it's value, and that Canada border agency opened it up. Figured I would have to pay duties but no request for money from Canada Post.

Opening weekend for downhill is May 2-4 weekend at Blue Mountain, I can't wait!

Toronto international bike show.

So this weekend was the bike show. I like to go every year and just look at all the deals. However this year I went down with my list of wants and prices and I was extremely disappointed. I packed up the family to get there just after opening and all that went fine. Hugo slept in the 5 until Tania had to take a pee break. He was fine for the last 30 min of the trip. When we get to the show and go to park we pay 14 bucks, not bad for T. O. but that's just the start. We feed Hugo before heading in to the show and he could not stop checking out the 2 BMX kids doing some flat land in the empty spaces near us. So once we are done feeding him we head into the show and have to pay 13 bucks each to head in.
 

I had a very simple list this year. A Blue Mountain season pass for downhill, and a Hardwood Hills pass for cross country. Some tires, knee/shin pads, pedals, and I hoped 5-10 shoes. So off to find hardwood first, get there and the person know nothing about anything, says to come back in 30 minutes when another person is there. So off to blue I go (they got big plans this year), when I get there they are having issues and had to use a ipad to get my pass. All I can say on that front is apple and there auto correct sucks. Once I slapped the ipad around a bit I finished what I needed to and paid. Little painfull but I was able to manage. Next I figured I would tour the shows market place and see what I could find.
 

I am not a spandex wearing roadie, and this year's show was I figure 98% spandex loving shops. So it was hard to find anything I wanted. I found an awesome deal on an old stock 661 knee/shin padding and what I thought would be an awesome cross country tire, only problem is the tire I got was for a 29er and I didn't notice this till I got home. But me and my inability to read a package is my own fault. I am sure either I can sell it on pinkbike or it gives me a perfect reason to buy a 29er. I was unable to find a deal on pedals, and could not even find a pair of 5-10 shoes. Before we left though we went back to Hardwood Hills booth for one more try and the unknowing person said she found the forms, and to just fax it in. So I left figuring I would call Saturday and do it over the phone like other years. I have now since tried to get a hold of them 3 times and deal with their dumb website checkout that does not work. So I am thinking I might just skip them this year.
 

Over all the family was great dealing with me and my hobby, the show however sucked hard and I will not be going next year.

 

 

At the Bike Show 2013

 

 

At the Bike Show 2012

Trying to decide what bike he wants to get.

 

 

 

 

 

I got a problem Tania.......

So it is a well known fact that I like my mountain bikes. I have owned quite a few different rigs, both hardtails and fully's. My latest addition is a Dark Cycles Scarab. This one is going to replace my 2003 Banshee Scream that I am now going to part out to help pay for my new toy.

The new rig is super overkill for riding in Ontario, but that's not the only reason for my purchase. Once our boler is all fixed up and is good to go I have 2 trips planned. One is to the world cup downhill race at Mont Saint Anna, the other is Crankworks over in Whistler. For these two legendary spots my good old scream would not be able to handle it appropriately. The new ride is full on cro-mo and has a full 8 1/2 or rear travel.

All I can say now is I can't wait for May 2-4, when most lift access downhill runs open around here. And I live between 2 great spots to ride. Just got to change things up on the rig and make it my own.