Ever since I bought my Jamis Dakar from bike swap in 2000 and plowed down my first hill (saying that I rode that first hill would probably bea bit of a stretch. When I was done, you could not tell the mud from the dirt from the blood from my skin, legs or arms) I was hooked. That bike became untrail worthy and so I didnt ride for awhile. That and the wife, job(s) and kid(s) made it more difficult.

Last year when I decided to participate in May is Bike Month, I got that itch again and decided to drop using a car as my primary mode of transportation. This included pulling the boys in a trailer to practice or school. After several years of wanting, yearning and waiting, the funds have finally been released for a new bike. Can a bratha get a woot!!! woot!!! How bout one from the cheap seats…WOOT!!! WOOT!!!I got a Scott Genius 50. Its got 6 inches of travel both front and rear, 185 mm front and rear hydraulic brakes. I could go on and on…like it only weighs 27 pounds, which is less than Bode’s 12 inch bike (I wish that was a joke, but seriously its not, that thing is a freaking tank).  The rear shock has 3 levels of travel…wait…right…i said I wasnt going to go on and on…but the rear shock is controlled from my handlebars…on the fly…oh look a squirrel…The epitome of irony, or that of a cruel joke, getting the email from FedEx on Wednesday stating that the bike had been delivered and is sitting on my doorstep, but I am currently sitting at my desk…in Vancouver….until Friday…..grrrr! Then couldn’t ride until Monday because the dolt that is I didnt realize there was a spacer in the disc pads to prevent them from clamping shut. It also prevented me from finishing putting it together until my buddy could get over to my house on Monday to reaffirm my retardedness and point this out to me. DOH!

If you are remotely interested in the technicals click here and read till your hearts delight. Or if you subscribe to the theory that a picture says a 1000 words, feel free to gawk look at the pics.

Seriously, look at the shock and tell me its not cool

I am not going to lie, if it wasnt for my beautiful wife that I share a bed with, I know who my new sleeping buddy would be. Thats not true. I would not ACTUALLY sleep with it, thats just creepy and wrong. I do guarantee that sucker would hang on the wall above my bed.

Two words...KICK....ASS

I haven’t hit the trails, yet (unless you count Lake Natoma a trail). My skates are mad at me since the bike has replaced them for the bagel runs on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but those days are coming to an end, not the bagel runs, the fact I havent hit the trails. I plan to leave much skin (though I would rather not) on the trails in Granite Bay, Tahoe this summer and Vancouver when I get up there.

One of my colleagues that I plan to ride with in Vancouver asked if I had body armor. To which I replied, ‘No’, with a sly, though slightly worrisome, grin. I guess I wont be leaving skin in Vancouver after all, just plastic from my newly adorned SixSixOne Pressure suit. Ah snap, this is going to be a fun summer!

The things that look like eyes are my headlights. I jury rigged two 100 lumen LED flash lights to the handlebars. It looks funny, but damn is it functional and cost me a fraction of the cost of bike lights with twice the amount of light.