Been a while...

...but for good reason! I have been enjoying the weather and training/riding/having fun as much as possible. Add to that a host of school activities and projects to grade and you have...life! : ) Yes life does happen, but it has been happening sweet. I have been trying out some new rims and hubs from WTB...TCS. That stands for Tubeless Compatible System and it is unbelievable.

The specs...the xc rims are going to be fairly light, perhaps around 360 grams. That is not as light as Stan's, but they have steel eyelets and have been put through some pretty serious terrain...they are strong. The hubs are just in the testing stage, but roll ever-so-beautifully.

I think the best part about these wheels is the ability to mount WTB's TCS tires by hand or sometimes a lever, and then air them up with a floor pump. Amazing!!! I can't tell you how many times I have tried, in vain, to air up tires with a floor pump using Stan's rims. Frustrating!! This past year at the California State Champs in SoCal, Chris Thibodeau and I tried for hours to air up some tires on Stan's rims. For background sake, I have been using Stan's since when they first came out...2001 perhaps? I know how to get them aired up, but I didn't have a compressor and exhausted numerous CO2s in the process. Now, if I am heading out for a road or mellow mountain ride, on go the TCS Vulpines. More aggressive off-road? On go the Weirwolf's or Mutano's. All I need is a floor pump. Sweet.

The ride...I love to train in Auburn. There is a bit of everything there...steep climbs, long climbs, long steep climbs, fire roads, off camber singletrack, rocky trails, swoopy trails, better-pick-your-line-right-or-you-will-be-bloody-and-poison-oak-infested trails. Good stuff. I have had a couple of great rides out there lately. Both were about 30 miles and both integrated the "Oak Tree" super-d course a couple of times...yeah, it is that fun. : ) One I did on the new TCS Mutano's (2.4front, 2.2 rear). I have never gone that fast down those trails, period. I ran them at about 30lbs and felt like I was on a road bike carving highway 49 down to the confluence (or highway 9 down to Saratoga for bay area folk). Unbelievable! So much fun, yes, I had to do it a 2nd time.

The second ride out there was on the new 1.9 TCS Vulpine's. Looking for a bit more bite, I aired down to 28lbs. I was a bit concerned of bending the rims or tearing the tires on the sharp rocks of the confluence trail, but off I went. I was a bit timid at first, but went all out the 2nd time around. The tires had their limitations as pure XC tires do, but when I dared to lean them over to the side-lugs, they hung on surprisingly well. The rims and tires handled the terrain without a hickup. I was very impressed. These tires can hang with the best XC tires out there and are made to be run tubeless. Can you say Sea Otter?

So, that is what I have been up to...riding hard and getting ready to race. My plans have changed a bit...I will now doing the oh-so-fun Napa Dirt Classic before heading over to Sea Otter. And, I will not be doing the Shasta Lemurian. Daddy duty. ;)

Can't wait to race and rip it up on the best handling bike I have ever had.

Cheers,
Chuck