It's Race day :)

VULTURE'S KNOB KICK OFF PARTY | APRIL 30 & MAY 1

Vulture's Knob - "It's a Groovy Race Season"

TRAIL UPDATE: as of Friday night
Vulture's Knob Race Update: pre-riders coming off the course tonight stating its in great condition, only expected puddles here and there, everyones prediction is trail will set up nicely to darn near perfect conditions by tomorrow afternoon. FYI: VKnob typically takes a day or so to get 90% dry which is why we hold spring events at this venue. The hillside topography & soil mixture make for good drainage conditions. The forecast is looking great.

April 30
12:00-3:00 - Demo Expo
2:00 - Kids Races
3:00 - XC Race
6:00ish - Muddy Paws Bonus Race
6:45 - Awards ceremony
sundown: bonfire & resident DJ MADNOTE spinning rare funk and eklectik beats til sunup
Primitive camping available

May 1
10:00 - Registration + practice
12:00 - DownHill Race


DEMO EXPO | APRIL 30 12:00-3:00
We're work'n to bring in some manufacturers bikes for you to take for a spin and to check out all the new 2011 designs, we'll have about 30 bikes from...Jamis Bicycles, Scott, Intense Cycles, Yeti cycles, Raleigh.

KIDS RACES | April 30 | 2:00pm
A fun short loop for the kids on the upper portion of the course surrounding the pavilion. Various classes based on age and abilities. From training wheels to tiny tots to mini-mites...a little something for all! Free entry

DR.KNOB EASTER EGG XC RACE | APRIL 30 | 3:00pm
To highlight this triumphant time of year and the beginning of the Vulture's Knob race season, Dr. Knob is calling on all racers past and present and is throwing down the traditional Easter Egg reunion bash; you know...find that special egg during the XC race and you may go down in history by drinking the drink...if you dare! There are colored eggs, numbered eggs, cooked eggs and a raw egg! Find one during the race, bring it back uncracked to the awards ceremony and...well...you'll see what we have in store for you!


THE CYCLE DOG MUDDY PAWS BONUS RACE | APRIL 30 6:00ish
Immediately following the cross country race we will be holding the 2nd annual MUDDY PAWS RACE - a short track form, fun filled race for you and your trail companion (dog) sponsored by Cycle Dog. Here's the details, it will be a team time trial type event, one open class, 2 tires and 4 paws on the ground, fastest time(s) (scored by last teammate to cross the finish line) wins incredible collars and leashes made from recycled bike tubes from Cycle Dog. However, remember this is VKnob... there may be some twists thrown down on the course. Are you and Fido ready! This is a free bonus race, simply bring your dog and register at the event!

AWARDS CEREMONY following completion of events
The 2010 Vulture's Knob Series Champions will be recognized and presented awards. XC race and Muddy Paws awards presented.

RECOVERY PARTY at sundown the traditional bonfire will be lit and as the moon raises over Vulture's Knob resident DJ Madnote will spin the rare funk and eklectik beats til the sun rises over the horizon.

DOWNHILL RACE | May 1
We will be hosting our first "mini" downhill event of the year on the new DH course! Pending turnout we'll most likely have a first timers class, intermediate class, and a expert/pro class.
Times:
10:00 am - registration + practice
12:00 pm - racing begins

Categories: youth (under 16) Amateur (Cat 2-3) Pro (Cat 1)
Details: $10.00 entry, unlimited runs, best time counts.
Prizes: Bragging Rights

Holland visting Wooster :-)

Hi to all of you, It's my honor today to write something on Rody's blog, Almost two months after I saw the first pics of my new Groovy 650-B taken at NAHBS we (Grietsje and I) finally made it over from Holland to good old Wooster to pick up the new bike and meet Rody and the rest of the family. Christi and Kalten picked us up at the airport and gave us a very warm welcome in their new house. Rody and Emmy made it over the next day after a volleyball tournament Emmy had to compete in. So cool to meet Rody in person after 4 years of sending e-mails (so far for internet dating....). After 2 rainy days in Wooster, wich I spend most of the time drewling over my new toy and watching Rody doing what he does best.     Grietsje and I decided to flee down south to West Virginia to do some riding there and get the bike dirty. Many thanks to Rody for lending their car and to Emmy for lending her Groovy bike to Grietsje. Back in Wooster we found a lil' gap in the rain to do some laps around Vulture's knob, a very nice local trail, with lots of technical stretches, a great playground for big kids like us A little balance practise We'll be heading back to Holland Friday morning early, but we found some time to ride at Mohican today with Mike, Rody and Kalten, a great, mostly single track, trail where I could push myself and the bike to it's limits, would love to have at trail like this in Holland! Grietsje taking a rest a Mohican A big thanks to the Walter family for having us over, we had a great time and will bring back good memories of this trip.......... and for anyone reading this who's on Rody's waitlist, the man works crazy hours, hardly sleeps and pushes himself more than I could imagine anyone coping with..... to go short, be patient, it's worth the wait (I know, I've been there ) .... and no, I'm not writing this at gun point Cheers from Wooster Grietsje&Roy (having fun on the Grove tandem )

Friday happenings

Well, Friday was shorter than I hoped...ended up working a bit over in the morning at the fire department and having to go back in sooner for a 36 hour shift, leaving only 9 hours in between for shop time and to say hello to the family.

So here's what transpired...

I finished final prep on Don's Yo...tapping all threads, facing the head tube, reaming the seat tube, polishing out the dust nibs and prepping for shipping.  Turned out pretty nice...

I then jumped on the bars, knocking out most of the steels to be ready for powder.  Looks like I'll have to spend Easter Sunday doing Ti bars.  Just me and the Easter Bunny working; little bugger gets all the candy he can eat though :)

One of the two final parts for Chad's assembally came in today...freshly annodized seat post parts to compliment his TCU purple colors.  It's the little things that take so long, "sigh".  But they are yummy.

Some quick mechanic's wrenching on a few bikes for customers and before I knew it, it was time to close up and get back to work at that other place again.

Best wishes to all this holiday weekend, hope you get lots of chocolate ;)

rody

Working away...

A quick post for the evening.  Working on Ti and steel bars today and Friday, got most of them prepped and will be welding Friday morning.  Hope to get the majority of them finished and out in the afternoon, we'll see how productive I can be.  Christi has all the boxes labeled and ready for shipping...just waiting on me, as usual ;)

I also knocked out a ti post for Ted, a local racer guy who's great height has made it difficult to find both a frame and a seatpost long enough for proper positioning.  This guy is 460mm long using 27.2  x  .042" walled 3/2.5 tubing, allowing it to be stiff enough for the length and rigors of racing without deforming long term.  I also had to machine a custom shim to fit in his carbon frame, insuring there is sufficient depth and surface contact for the extra leverage forces.  Hope it brings you lots of comfort Ted :)

cheers,

rody

Don's Yo resto, picture progression

From the dirt to the paint booth, here's some pics of Don's Yo frame resto

An old yellow finish with it's share of dings, dents and rust...

Frame aligned, rust repaired, dents filled with silver, blasted and imperfections skimmed with icing...

Matching BOI fork with stress tabs...

Three sanded primer layers in place, ready for some classic Aqua Fade colors...

Beginning with a few coats of a nice lime green...

And then the Aqua Blue...

Working in the fade transistions with the airbrush takes time as these are opaque colors and do not allow for easy visual transistions...

Adding the decals...

                           

And four coats of clear later, the final bake...ready for a new life on the trail :)

Rody

Yes, I feel shame...

I know, I know, it's been too long since the last update.  No excuse other than I've been spending as much time as possible in the shop and not behind the computer.  Honestly, it gets to the point where the guilt of not posting becomes heavy and it's easier to avoid than to face up to the keyboard.  So, what's been up?

Well, in the shop I've been keeping the pedal down fairly hard.  Seems like when I go through spells like the last month when I'm just moving from day to day that I tend to forget other aspects of my life.  Realization came when Mikey J. called on Friday and broke the conversation with..."so, you all ready for Monday". 
Frantically, I ran through my mind what he could possibly be referring to. 

"Sure, I guess so.  What's up" I reply.

"We're heading out to Arizona for a bke trip" he replies in only a slightly exasperrated tone.

"Crap!"  I think...forgot all about it.  We had planned the trip more than a year ago and somehow I just lost track of time.  Kicker was, I've not had a bike of my own for about 18 months and now had just two days to get something going.  Add to it that our family christmas, postponed twice already due to my schedule, was gonna be at our house the next day, so I really had just Friday night and Sunday to get something together. 

I had just purged boxes of parts, so all I had left were a set of single speed wheels, some 12 year old Magura hydro discs, and a Brooks saddle.  As my new fixture is already occupied, I broke out the 15 year old design to knock this one out... one sleepless night later, she was all mitered up.

Early Saturday before my family arrived, I pushed the welding as fast as I could, she aint pretty, but she should stick together...

My niece Ellie wanted to help me with the bike, so she got to pick out the paint color and watch me get started.  She was a little dissapointed when the first "color" that went on was primer grey...twice :)
We finally got what she picked out for the frame into the gun and sprayed away, making her day.  What little girl doesn't like purple?  While the paint was curing, I fabbed up a ti bar, seatpost, and fork...worse than prepping for a show :) 

Here's the finished Team Lavendar bike ready for action under the beautiful blue skies of Arizona...

The Arizona trip was a fast four day blast, where aside from meeting with two shops who carry Groovy products and two customers ordering bikes, I actually got some riding in...yeah!  We were able to hit South Mountain, Black Canyon, Hawes Mine, and McDowell Mountain.

What goes up...

Must come down...

Jeff and Emily came up from Tucson to ride and talk bikes, sharing some awesome tacos from La Condessa with us...

and Chris broke out his Groovy equipped Land Rover to share a few rides and talk ti coupled frames for his traveling lifestyle...

With business done, riding in the sun, and awesome grub, the time moved too fast...back on the plane to come home to snow and cloudy skies. 

Once back, I pushed out almost 30 bars for the April list, still have about 4 Ti to finish.  Don is ready for his Yo...thought I had it ready to ship and realized it was another Aqua fade I finished, so have been restoring his frame this week.  Lots of dings to fill with silver, some icing work over numerous pitted areas, and have it under two coats of primer now.  Looks like color will go one Wednesday. 

Oh, also had some parts from Jays stolen bike show up...Sheriff lost the suspect though and I'm sure the rest of the bike is gone for good now.  That being said, I also built Jay's replacement frame, a twin to my new ss rig.  It's now in primer.  Gonna take some time to design the paint masks for this one.

That's a bit of an update...lots more to share soon.

rody