Asheville Firefighter Shot Bicyclist - Greenville News Story - WYFF Greenville

Police: Asheville Firefighter Shot Bicyclist because the cyclist was riding on a busy with his child. I'm not sure what lesson he thought he would teach him by shooting him in the head but it was lost in the gun blast and now this firefighter is going to go to prison for attempted murder.

The cyclist? Well, the bullet penetrated his helmet but didn't make it all the way to his head so it can truly be said that helmets do save lives.

Wow, this story just blows me away and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess Mr. Charles Alexander Diez has some mental problems.

Tahoe Mountain Biking - June 2009

Chris put together this great set of photos from our mountain biking trip in June 2009. Most of the photos were from two rides we did in North Lake Tahoe. One ride was near Northstar / Truckee area, the other was on the Tahoe Rim Trail and various other trails near Tahoe City. We had a great time despite a couple of early crashes. I will have a scar on my shin to remind me of this trip for the rest of my life. Probably should have gotten a couple of stitches, or at least a couple of butterfly stitches. After my two crashes I lowered the air pressure in my front tire as it kept washing out in the loamy decomposed granite on some of the trails. The weather was perfect and it was a nice little mini vacation for me. We enjoyed many fine cocktails, excellent lasagna prepared by Matt and a nice bottle of Malbec!

Ibis Unveils the New Mojo HD

From my Ibis newsletter just received in the last half hour...

Big Ibis News

Mojo HD Hits the Slopes
It's time to let the "HD" out of the bag.

Over the last couple years, we've been working on a new 160mm travel big brother to the Mojo Carbon and Mojo SL (each with 140mm travel), we're temporarily calling it the "Mojo HD". And now we think it's about time to tell you about it.
Introducing the Ibis Mojo HD
Before we tell you about what nitty gritty details we're willing to divulge, we want to let you know that we've already been putting this bike through the paces, some of them rigorous.

Already a Race Winner

Brian Lopes spent the last week in Vars France, getting ready for and then competing in the Enduro Trophy des Nations. This is an enduro style race, becoming quite popular in Europe these days, where riders compete in a number of stages over a two day period with "beaucoup" downhill. This particular event had 10 stages over two days and featured over 10,000 M of descending. If you're bad at math (or don't like the metric system) that's 32,808.4 feet of descent. Or 6.21 MILES straight down, measured vertically! This race also had a bonus stage at 10PM on saturday night that didn't count for the overall time, but the winner got an extra 500 Euros of party money.
Brian teamed up with WTB's Mark Weir and Jason Moescheler to form Team USA 1. Brian notched the first win for his prototype Mojo HD on its first day of racing by winning one of the stages on Saturday, propelling the team to second overall on Saturday night.

Brian is very happy with the bike, and told us a couple things in text messages received over the weekend.

"bike is awesome"

OK, we understand typing is not that easy on a Blackberry.

Brian's Sunday Night Report
Seriously though, here we we have an extra long Blackberry missive from Monsieur Lopes:

"The Enduro race was a lot harder than I expected. The toll it took on everything: wheels, tires, brakes, suspension, the body, and of course the frame were beyond what I imagined. The new "HD" Ibis never missed a beat. For only getting the frame one week ago & with only one ride on it before packing it up for this race, it couldn't have gone through any more of a test than the abusive one I gave it here in France. With 10 demanding races, 3 of which ended with flat tires, the French won all but one race (which I won!). It was hard to beat them on course they knew better than all the rest, basically they were on their home track at times, where knowing the course saved them time.
It's hard to believe that this bike isn't much heavier than the standard mojo, as it was eating up courses that were worthy of full-on DH rigs. The added travel, stiffness, clearance for larger tires and a 8" rotor allow you to take on the toughest terrain you can throw at it, but it's still efficient and light enough to pedal up any hill. Another weapon is added to the ibis line up...


Wow, so there you go. The only non-French winner of any stage was Brian, and they ended second overall. We think that's pretty impressive. Without further fluff, here's a bit more about the bike.

Mojo "HD" Prototype Specifications

* Price and delivery date are both to be decided.

* 160mm of rear wheel travel.

* DW Link Suspension.

* 26" Wheels.

* Target weight for the frame and shock: 6.2-6.5 lbs. (we're not there yet but are fine-tuning the layup).

* 67 degree head angle with a 160mm fork (Brian was running a 170mm fork this weekend, you can also run a 180mm).

* Chain stay length: 17.125".

* Top tube lengths are the same as regular Mojos.

* 12 x 135mm Maxle rear axle.

* Post mount magnesium left dropout, carbon right dropout.

* Compatible with the new tapered steerer standard: 1 1/8th hidden upper, 1.5 traditional lower.

* Compatible with both Chris King InSet and Cane Creek Frustum headsets.

* If you want to run your current straight 1 1/8" fork, we've got you covered too. We will have an adapter available, and you will be able to use a King headset top and bottom.

* 2.35"-2.5" rear tire depending on brand and height of cornering knobs.

* Dual row angular contact bearings in the front of the lower link that have less play than standard sealed bearings. Preload adjustment is not necessary. Large 28mm x 15mm x 7mm radial bearings in the rear for stiffness and long wear.

* The leverage ratio, like the Mojo and Mojo SL is designed for air shocks. The Mojo HD comes with a 8.5" x 2.5" Fox RP23. A DHX air will work on all but the small size. A coil shock is not offered because the linkage rates weren't designed for it. We lowered the top tube to get slightly better standover than the regular mojo while having a higher BB because of the longer travel (we managed to retain the DHX air compatibility in 3 of the 4 sizes).

* The Bottom Bracket height is 13.8"-14" depending on tires.

* Chain guide development is well on its way, we'll announce compatible brands soon. The frame will not have ISCG mounts so it will not be Hammerschmidt compatible.

* The HD runs full cable housing. Rear brake and rear deraileur run on the down tube, with hidden swingarm housing for the rear derailleur.

* Front derailleur (if you use one) and adjustible seatpost housing (if you use one) run along the top tube.

* And once again, just to make sure you got it, price and delivery date are both yet to be decided.

Stay tuned for more.
Ibis

Looks like its time to start saving my pennies for another amazing Ibis ride.

Cue the Tron Music

Peraves Ecomobile, Monotracer, E-Tracer and X-Tracer Cabin Motorcycles

A cabin motorcycle is a fully enclosed cabin two wheel vehicle. These things are motocycles but with full bodies, full rooflines and trunks and A/C and outrigger wheels that pop down at stoplights and low speed.

They are funky and curious and not for most bikers I know but they might be a good machine for someone looking to commute more efficiently, with less impact and with the ability to split traffic.

Unless I was putting on serious miles I can't see myself really wanting one of these but they are definitely their own brand of cool.