Hey folks,

Lots been happening, so I thought I'd share a few highlights with ya.

Saturday we packed up the family and the bikes and headed for central Pa to visit the Groves and attend Aaron's high school graduation party. Aaron is off to Penn Tech to study advanced machine sciences where he will carry on the Grove tradition that started with his grandfather of turning metal into really cool stuff.

Sunday, we jammed down the road to check out a new IMBA trail at Raystown lake. This trail is a cooperative effort between local advocates and the Army Corps of Engineers that has been in progress since 2001 and just opened this May. Well over 40 miles of trail are open at this time with more planned. The trail is machine built on the slopes of the mountain and can best be described as a giggle track...it's so much fun you giggle the whole time. Imagine a roller coaster/pump track for your bike that carves it's way down the mountain side then gently coaxes you back up the mountain to do it again...too much fun!

I was able to get Hubby to come out and play with Kalten, Mike, and myself...here's a line up of two Groovys, one Hubcap 29er, and a Grove X 29er all ready to hit the trail.

I was back in the shop early Monday morning and spent most the day doing business type stuff, no fun but necessary.

0430 Tuesday morning found me back on the road headed to Wild Wonderful West Virginia to guide a raft trip down the New River Gorge. I've been an active whitewater kayaker for years and started guiding our raft to share the experience with friends and family. I'd promised Dave, a fellow firefighter from Akron, I'd meet he and his wife Terry in the gorge and show them the river. We had a great run with perfect water conditions...juicy and warm. A hike out to a secluded rock outcropping above Beauty mountain to watch the sun set finished the day for us.

The only downer was that while out exploring a bit, my car was broken into and about 1300 dollars worth of gear was stolen. 20 years of playing in WV and this is the first time I've suffered any senseless crime, too bad, it put kinda a sour taste on the finish of the day.

Here's a shot of our raft shooting through Surprise rapid from a previous trip...

Yesterday it was paint prep time, as I sorted product and began moving it all through the blaster...do you see your fork in this bunch?

I also knocked off two repairs...here is Jason's Aluminum hardtail. Jason experienced a vertical crack that split his headtube vertically about 1/3 of the way down. The crack was drilled, the headtube blasted to remove all surface oxidation, then chemically cleaned for welding. Now getting reamed and faced, you can't tell that the tube has been repaired. It's off to powder now to receive a Jollipop Copper translucent coating.

I also fabricated and welded on a new rear dropout for a carbon/Al road bike for Dale. His bike was damaged during shipping on a recent trip and as expected, the shipper was being difficult with repair/replacement costs, so we stepped in to get him back on the road.

In the paint booth today, so leave a message if you need to talk.

cheers,

rody