I'm happy to have the opportunity to build a new ride. I don't get a new bike every year or two like a lot of racers. I'm on more of a 4-5 year plan. I have decided to get back to my roots and go with a steel hard tail. After riding a carbon full squish for the last few years, I hope my old body will be OK with this.
I have been a fan of this guy from the beginning... I got into this sport in the early 90s

I've been riding a 650b conversion for years now. Needless to say, I was very happy when Ritchey announced they were coming out with a 650b!

I like the intergraded post clamp.  

I did have a problem with the rear brake. You must use a break with a banjo fitting to get the stealth cable routing. The older XTR brake I had from a previous bike would not work because it had a fixed cable inlet that was all wrong. 

A little close, but this is a 2.25

Jake at Project 321 was a big help getting the correct "Lefty" for the geometry. They make a supreme adapter to use a Lefty on any frame. Thanks Project 321!

ready to ride

This weekend I did a pre ride of the Big Ring Challenge race course a Double Lake - Cold Springs TX. The trail was counter clockwise, I normally ride it the other way. This made the ride fun and new. I do like the route going this way. 12 miles - it felt longer. Nothing really challenging, just very fast single-track.
There is three long double-track sections. First one is mostly down hill, pass if you can. The second double-track section is long a has a uphill. Get out of the saddle and charge to the top.  Now you get into a very fast slalom section through the tall pine trees, enjoy. The third, is the shortest, it starts out uphill then levels out. Back into the single-track.
My lap times were just under an hour. Not race pace, but quick. If you want to finish top 10, you have to charge off the start.

http://app.strava.com/activities/44638761

I have ordered new parts to build a new MTB. The fork came in, 2012 Lefty - very nice. thanks to Project 321

Last night was the 1st Death ride for the upcoming summer,
http://app.strava.com/activities/44190489

caught in the rain...

Video I made from a trip to Terlingua TX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oFzuqM1l2_c

tonights ride 

http://app.strava.com/activities/43446315