Sunday, October 26, 2008

STANS NO TUBES RAVEN CX 35c tires

Jason Lummis:
Stans No Tubes just sent us some of the New RAVEN 29er tires. Basically they are the No Tubes Crows with more of a side knob !!!!! We also received some of the 35c tubeless ready Raven CX tires. So all you CX nuts take note. You don't have to buy super expense tires that require you to glue them onto your wheels anymore. this tire at 330grams is light and tubeless. I can't wait to try them out next weekend at the http://www.tailwind.net/ CX races in Ann Arbor Nov.1 and 2nd.

It took me about 6 minutes to install the CX tires on my ZTR 29er wheels. I pulled my tubeless valve stem out, mounted 1 side of the raven installed a 23c tube and installed the tire. Inflated it to about 40 psi (until the tire bead locked to the side wall). Deflated the tube removed one side of the tire from the rim and removed the tube. Installed the tubeless valve stem added 1 scoop of Stans No Tube liquid, re-installed tire and inflated to 30 psi. Did the No Tubes spin and shake and I was done. @ http://www.notubes.com/ thereare plenty of videos to help you install the yellow tape and valve stem to make just about any rim tubeless.

The CX tire I was using tubeless = heavy






The new RAVEN 35c CX tire


23-45 psi 330gram all weather CX tire





Mounted to a ZTR 355 Stans No Tubes 29er wheel






Another view of the tire mounted




Next will be the new Raven 29er mounted to the front and a Crow on the Rear for the Iceman.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

GET READY TO GET ROWDY !

Come join the Bells Team for an end of the season celebration !
IT IS ON !
November 8th after the Awards.
BAND: THE ORBITSUNS

Peak to Peak another win for the Team

ERIN, JOBERON and the newest Addition to the BELLS BREWERY/QUIRING CYCLES MTB Team Mike Anderson ( Alpena Michigan) attended the 2nd running of the Peak to Peak Mountain Bike Classic at Crystal Mountain Resort Thompsonville MI.

Erin took the Big "W" in the womens Open class
Mike Anderson battled The Simonster for a hard earned 2nd place
Joberon finished 7th after a last lap mishap with a lapped rider.

Erin Vicary checks in with the following report:

Last weekend was the 3rd annual Peak2Peak race at Crystal Mtn Ski Resort in Thompsonville MI. We enjoyed it so much last year, Joe & I made sure it was on the 2008 race calender!  And thank goodness it was because once again it was a blast. Sunny skies, a fun race, good friends, & good beer with a back drop of perfectly peaked fall colors. Friday Joe & I met Keith (Paint Creek Bicycles) & drove up together. Destination: “Deer Camp” in Harrietta, MI (aka our good friend Randy’s hunting cabin). That evening, Randy, Keith & I sat at the kitchen table talking, sipping wine & eating Mrs. Brzuchanski’s homemade chocolate chip cookies while Joe entertained us with his bike maintenance. After he was done I pathetically poked around at my rear brake that had been rubbing for some time, hoping someone would come to my rescue (thanks Keith!) & fix it because I hadn’t had any luck lately. With my Quiring machine now running flawlessly, all that was left to do was get a good nights sleep .Saturday morning proved to be a stellar day for racing. The air was crisp & bitter cold for our warm up, but then the sun came out right before the start. It warmed up just enough that it required a quick wardrobe change & then I was ready to line up.Lining up behind & starting with the Elite men, were 8 Elite women. Five of which on any given day are capable of winning a mtb race here in Michigan. Besides Iceman, it was the deepest, most talented (MI) field I’ve had the pleasure of racing against. Pretty exciting. Stiff competition slated for three 11 mile laps. Perfect.The start was EXTREMELY fast this year! Last year was a slower kind of roll out to the trail. This year it was an all out hammer from the word “go!”. Following behind the tail end of the elite men’s field I redlined 1 minute into the race so I let up a bit & watched a few ladies get a wheel or two ahead. About twenty seconds later the men had completely dropped us all & our lead group of four ladies (Laura, Danielle, Susan, & myself) was decided so we settled in. Each took turns pulling for a while. Turns happened by accident really because going around some sandy spots & sharp corners people went down a couple times leaving the next woman behind in the front...lol. Laura Webb (Hagerty) did a lot of work on lap one & after a while I was starting to wonder if I should move up just when she asked if someone would. So I got in front to do some work. Not very long after that the two track made a kind of “Z” that had lots sand in the corners. I took good lines through it & I believe this is where I made a tiny gap. I wondered at that point what to do with it. Do I attack hard so early again st such a strong group? I decided not to & just kept riding the same steady pace. The races terrain was mostly flat but kept interesting by twists & turns (some slightly banked), sand pits, & the occasional incline or decent. The entire race you were either surrounded by or tunneling through brightly colored trees that were raining leaves. It was spectacular. After a while I looked back & didn’t see anyone behind still so I kept on riding the same pace because I figured it was working. Finally the 1st lap was coming to an end but not before I climbed the back of the ski hill which then shot down back into the woods for a fun downhill, & finally a wicked fast decent across the ski hill to the lap chute/start/finish. 1 down 2 to go. At some point toward the middle/end of the 2nd lap I hooked up with some expert men that came up on me. I rode with them until the finish, struggling at times but managed to hang in. I was pretty taken back when I came through the finish for the win! Very very happy! Especially considering the respect I have for my competition that day... to come out on top felt really good! We celebrated back at deer camp & then went for another awesome trail ride but this time we were on quads... much MUCH easier than pedaling ;o)! Next up Iceman! I hope to see everybody at the after party .
:o)! -Erin

Mike Anderson reports in :

That was a fun race, a perfect Iceman fitness check. Simonster takes the whole shot, i take the lead into the single track, set the pace nice and high, simonster comes by and keeps it fast. We hit the hills and its Simonster, Derek Graham, and me. swap pulls for lap, hit the hills again, simonster gets about 15 second gap. I wait for derek to react, he doesnt respond so i jump across. Simonster and I put the hammer down, were catching a lot of lap traffic, I take a pull before the hills. Simonster roles away in the hills, I try to rip the descent to maybe catch back up, but to much traffic. role in 30 seconds back. Excellent race, fun course, straight up good time.

Anderson

LOWER HURON CX

Jason Lummis attended the CX race in Belleville sunday. He finished 11th out 17 Elite CX racers.


photos by Terr Ritter Full Potential Trainning systems

Jasons report:

First CX race of the year is in the books, Performance wise it lacked some of the finer points of CX racing. I blew the start with a missed pedal and was lazy about moving up thru the field. The lack of running (non existing) in my preparation for the CX season left my hamstrings burning from the Barrier to Hill run up combo (sick and fun). I need to commit to the race alot more and remember that 1:00 is long but can be longer if not accelerating hard out of every corner. One good note was that I didn't have any mishaps with the barriers. My Dad and son Zack where what Matter would call "Super Fans" all day cheering me on as I humbly finished towards the rear of the race. Next race Vets Park CX Ann Arbor, it is a Saturday/Sunday event. Hopefully I can do both races, but I usually work Saturdays. Then The Big Event ICEMAN COMETH the following Saturday with a great Party that Joberon has gone overboard with the band for.

Ride hard and have fun

---Lummis

Cannonsburg KISS cross #4

"Q" 6th. J.Meyers 7th.

John Meyers and Scott Quiring raced rough-sandy west side cyclocross race this past Sunday in Grand Rapids at Cannonsburg Ski Area. The "A" race had 23 riders roll off and on too a rough and twisty....twisty course. Once again a great hole-shot and up to the first turn and a specialized rider shot past on the feather lite 14 - 15 pound bike....and thru the first lap and second I was able to maintain 3rd. The Bissel Bro.'s were just up the course also but with the fever crud from Friday and Saturday's founders to bell's 4 1/2 hour xc ride the legs and body was just not 100% I know Dan Jansen and the Farmer were feeling the post ride party with the tasty two-hearted that were consumed at Bell's on Saturday night. Scotty "Q" I am back was on the scene as well and it was great fun rolling with or trying to chase him thru the twisty maze of a course. So is Scott due to make an appearance at the Iceman?




Scott Quiring hits the run up behind John.



John Meyers

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Kisscross #3

John Meyers race report below:
brief report from the west side.

I raced in another fast west side cyclocross race this past Sunday. The "A" race had about 16 riders roll off and on too a much more technical course than the previous Fremont race. I thought things were going great in the first lap having got away with the Howard Bro.'s for the first half a lap until the ill effects of not having pre-ridden the course allowed two gaps to form. At the water crossing and the grassy/muddy off camber section. So once again the balance of the 7 lap race was all about chasing the Bissel team. At the end of lap four my 24hr.national champion teammate Nate bridged up to me after I was having more difficulty clipping in after the water crossing / mud in cleats? I found out later that riding around was the faster option! Laps 4 - 7 were just as fast as the first three with Nate setting a strong tempo with his single speed pre-iceman gearing set-up. Thanks Nate! Look out iceman single speeders "The Farmer" is on great form and will be plowing everyone under on November 8th.

Results ->
http://www.kisscross.com/results/2008/caledonia_100408.htm


October 19th - Race #4Cannonsburg Ski Area, Grand Rapids - Map
Hosted By: Founders/Alger Racing
Track Star !
SUPER FAST