It was great having a big Indy Rootstock showing for the LBL Challenge this past weekend. A double team roadtrip always ends up as a fun time with friends. We were greeted with beautiful weather (except for paddling into the strong headwind for the last third of the paddle!), a great course courtesy of Jason and BonkHardRacing, and some seriously tough competition.

Our Indy Rootstock foursome made it a goal of pushing as hard and fast as we could from start to finish to see how we could do and I think we achieved that goal. It sure is strange how it can seem almost effortless going fast for the first part of the race while at the end of a race it can feel like a monumental effort to just hold it together and limp on home. It was fun leapfrogging along the course with some of the top teams in the country throughout the race. It just reinforces how you don't necessarily have to be the absolute fastest team to do well (though it certainly helps), you just have to keep moving and minimize the mistakes.

Lots of "good" memories from the race like fixing 6 flat tires, having a bike crank fall off and miraculously finding the crank bolt 300m back on the road in the dark, and hiking through the woods at night sans headlamps (for the most part) using just the light from the moon. Once the sleep deficit is rectified, the chafe heals, and the insatiable post-race hunger is satiated, it is time to start thinking about the next one!

Indy had the privilege of hosting the 2009 North American Handmade Bike Show (NAHBS) this year. Michael and I went to the show and spent the morning viewing all of the bike art. As a true gear geek, having all of these niche builders in the same place was simply amazing. After attending the show, we volunteered with CIBA to work at the ticket sales tables. It was cool that so many IndyRootstockers were able to make it to the show (7 by my count!). It was also pretty fun to see the wide variety of bike enthusiatists from all around the country all enjoying the show.

It was also cool to get to meet Jon from Moots at the show. After being a Moots fan (and rider) for 5+ years, it was fun talking Moots tech with someone really in the know.

Greg on his Moots (Michael on his TN Huffy) Greg on his Half-Moots

I like to blog because it rhymes with clog. And I like to clog....you know, with wooden shoes and the like (not drains and such). Blog also rhymes with flog, but that isn't very nice. Maybe I don't really like to blog all that much.