Singlespeed Championships

ok so bad ass event for all bad asses... i proved myself to be the least of these... but hey i showed up damnit! March 18th was the day of the great Florida State Single Speed Championships! It was my first chance to take a hack at racing the Monkey. The event was held at Alafia River State Park and I brought the secret weapon! Caleb got to come and show his might in the kids race. Calebs race was before mine and the action was extreme. It was Caleb vs. Shelby Burnett. From the start shelby had the hole shot but not for long... Caleb was right on his tail for most of the first half of the 1/4 mile lap... ha lots of... never mind, so continueing... continuing? continyouing? next came the STEEPS yo, Shelby started to show signs of weakness coming into the climb and Caleb could tell he was hurting... Caleb thought back to his training on the foot bridges of the old pinellas park secret training grounds where he would climb for 100 yards strait up, while staddling two pillars and being beaten by a bamboo pole with a salt tablet in his eyes so he couldnt see where he was about to be beaten... then he layed down the smack... boom! gone Caleb flew up that hill so fast that everyone could hardly realise a 5 year old had just flew by... in the back of thier minds they were thinking... Did Tinker come out today? It came down to the last few feet and Caleb took a fall trying to go into the chicane and he missed the win by only a couple second... no one was disappointed... though he did get his severe beating for loosing...HA HA JUST KIDDING!!! no but it was a fun race... very close and very intense... the kids races are always the spectator version of the races. I didnt do so well but i did have a lot of fun... the Monkey will prevail in the end.

Karate Monkey

Here I am again, to tell you great stories of life and prosperity. K so i gots me a new bike. I recently purchased a Surly Karate Monkey frame. The beauty of the Karate Monkey is that it isnt labeled as any specific style of bicycle, it is one of the most versatile frames on the planet. It can be used as a 29" mountain bike, or a road bike, or a touring bike with 26" slicks. It can be run as a single speed with its horizontal drop outs(solid axle or QR), or as a full geared bike with the derailer hanger and cable stops. It also has the option for canti, V, or disc brakes.
Well... I built mine up as a 29er single speed mountain bike. It took me one long night of blood, sweat, tears, and a six pack of brew, its a good thing I built the wheels first. Shes a great looking bike i must say.


So... onto the ride. well i have a single speed, so ive got a bit of experience in that arena, but this was only my second 29er, rigid, single speed ride, and the first one was a kona chewie let me borrow for only a few days. First off i will never ride another 26er again. with me being as slow as i am, the ability to handle through the rough stuff at slow speeds is incredible. You can run strait into rocky step ups and get right on up and over with out going over the handle bars. the same goes for downhill sections... rolls right over the biggest rocks with no problem. Onto the rigid part, it is amazing the acceleration of a bike with no bob at all; pedal down bike go. however even with 2.3" wide tires with low pressure the ride is still a little taxing on the body.


The coolest thing about this bike is its versatility, I am thinking about taking her on a touring trip. By throwing on some gears, smoother tires, and some racks im in business. ill post up pics of that build when it happens. For now heres a couple pics of the night of her build.


at right: this is shortly after installing the headset... i went with the solos just to be different. Everybody has a King. plus the fact that it says solo is pretty cool. ha.
Chris Kings on Salsa Delgado Cross rims. 3x with DT Champions. Red alloy nipples. I used the King hubs i had from my old Santa Cruz, so i spaced them out for the single speed. people scoff but if i want to run gears all i have to do is throw on a cassette, especially since i cant afford a king ss hub.

These wheels were built by my so i know they are a quality set. That is one of the coolest things about this bike. The build was done completely by me. I know if something is out of whack it is on me. no blaming it on anyone else, in the same manner its comforting. So hopefully out of this bike come many interesting stories and adventures. till next time.

start it now...

OK so i should have started one of these things a long time ago. Not that anyone would ever find my life interesting but that i cant afford a therapist, and this may be a great way for me to have a glimmer of hope that someone may listen to(read) the things I have to say. I suppose my profile says about all i have to say about the purpose behind this non-sense, but I guess i could go into a little more detail here in this innagural post.
I work as a bicycle mechanic at a local bicycle shop here in the Tampa Bay area... I spend my days working on other peoples bikes... I also spend some of my free time wrenching on my own bikes... I have 3 now, with plans for many more. One of my other hobbies is kayaking, well, to be more specific, traditional Greenland Kayaking and sea touring. I have a skin-on-frame Greenland inspired kayak that i built with my own two hands... i also built the paddle that i use when i go out. I plan to use this place to talk about the paddle trips that I have taken, the bike races I have endured, and the many dumb adventures I put myself through.
I hope someone out there finds me interesting, and i hope that one day ill see you out on the water, or on the trails. Thanks for taking the time to be a part of my life.