Brain Lopes Signs With Ibis!

Kenda racer and "Legends" tire designer Brain Lopes has announced that he will be riding with Ibis. This venture no doubt was expensive for Ibis (Brian has a nice pad in San Clemente, CA), but well worth the price. This move will certainly help bring Ibis out into the light (for the popular masses) and showcase their products.
Also nice to see B.L. on some American hardware!

WOW..I Actually Found One!

That's right..I actually DID race at one time..even Downhill! I even found proof in the form of this photo from Idyllwild. Scary how THAT much chicken grease looks in a sausage suit. Even scarier that I managed to haul THAT MUCH grease around the toughest race course in So Cal. That's good organs, baby!

Amino Vital POB

POB (Pete O'Brien) met us last night in C-Bus at the Columbus Fish Market for drinks and a major bs session. I like this guy because he is an O.G. mountain biker, who still rolls through the Bay Area in his cut off Dockers. Jeff and I will be in the new team duds Sunday at the Amino Vital booth here at the Arnold Fitness Classic! Thanks to POB for buying drinks for us last night, that was awesome, and Lyd got TANKED.







He showed us a sweet little product (samples en route) called KAMPAI that Amino Vital's parent company Ajinomoto makes. It's a top secret anti-hangover powder that we put to the test last night. Lyd had a mojito, a martini, a beer or two, and something else??? It works, because she was sober enough to wake up and realize who she was sleeping with..and run.






This is the Amino Vital water bottle we all will be running on the bikes this year! We also may be getting some sweet new wool beenies (no, not Abel's favorite food item..a HAT!) from them as well. Thanks to POB and Amino Vital for their support of cycling!

2008 XC TEAM CLOTHING IN!

Lydia is modeling the new 2008 XC clothing, which is being sent from my house to Cali today...you should have it for Bonelli! My apologies for only a few of you getting it this season, I will order a full run again next season..Hope you all like it!

Jim Roff's Theme Song..For Wehe.

This song created by "Back To The Future" character "Biff." He has a name, but Biff is going to be much more annoying to him, so I'll keep saying Biff. This song makes me think of Jim Roff and his constant battle to fend off KENDA gravity racer and Backbone Buddy Tom "Heinrich Von Schnitzelfritz" wehe from his daughter Bri.
Enjoy!



Here is a pic of Tom in the mountains of Colorado. He has to roam these mountains, because according to the terms of his court order, he can't be within 100 miles of Jim's wife and daughter...:)

Roger Hosting Bonelli Pre-Ride Sunday at 8:30!

**Roger will be dragging his new HYDRAPAK Keg-O-Trailer around the Bonelli XC race course Sunday morning, so he can stay hydrated with the proper Micro-Brew.****



Fearless leader Roger is asking all Cali based Backboners to meet him at 8:30 am this weekend (SUNDAY) at the parking lot across the freeway from Smelly-Bonelli Park, site of the Cal State Series opener. Also, the site of many bloated dead fish carcasses on the race course. Please contact Rog so he can have an accurate head count, and BE READY TO RIDE when you get there, which would be fifteen minutes early. Waiting for you is not going to happen, so have your crap ready to go BEFORE Saturday night!

C

Amino Vital In Columbus This Weekend!

P.O.B. from Amino Vital (and the rest of their corporate structure) will be here in Columbus this weekend for the Arnold (Ahhhnolt) Fitness Classic. Jeff "TOOKIE" Williams will be rolling up from Kentucky (insert Banjo music and inbred joke here) to attend with me Sunday, and meet the company peeps!













POB said he has plenty of H2O bottles for everyone to use, so don't be shy. He's even planning on meeting Lyd and I tonight for a drink at the Columbus Fish Market. I know, scary having sea food this far from the ocean, right? Well, thankfully my shipment of Amino Vital Endurance showed up a week ago, so I can replenish my body after such a massive dose of Mercury poisoning.









I'll send pix of Jeff and I stretching out all of your clothes this weekend..if they smell like nachos and beer...I was probably wearing yours.

NOMAD's NEW RECHARGEABLE TANK!

Rebekah at NOMAD H2O ON THE GO just informed me that she will be shipping out some prototypes of a new rechargeable spray tank in a few weeks! Rebekah recently moved to Tempe, AZ, and is way too cool for you guys to talk to, so I'll do all that!
Roger will take delivery, and hand them out accordingly to the Backboner who hands him beer and hot dogs with the most efficiency.
Look for an unnamed Backboner to GIVE AWAY a FREE NOMAD TANK from the podium at a CAL STATE RACE NEAR YOU!

Chris

Voler Team Clothing Landing Today!

***Ed "Meat" Fonda holding up our jersey at last year's Interbike show!**
Ed Fonda from Voler has informed that your new team xc clothing lands on my doorstep today! Now, I understand only a small few of you get it, and I am sorry about that, but next year we will do a full run! The DH clothes will be here soon too, so YIPPEE!

Tomac Carbide Shakedown Ride

World Famous Vegas Bob's Tomac Carbide is all built up, and ready to rock. He took her out for a shakedown this week in Bell Canyon (in the O.C.) and put the screws to her. If anyone has any doubts as to how she runs....don't. The bike is perfect. Ask Bob, if you ever catch him..I'm sure he'll tell you all about it!

Chris

Taylor and Ryan In Taipei?

Backboners Ryan Nolan and Chuck-T will be at the Taipei International Trade Show this year, representing US and KENDA...kinda'. KENDA is printing off GIANT hard-back posters of the boys to be used in the KENDA booth at the bike show..and probably Interbike..and they will be used along with other HUGE riders like Jill Kintner and Hans Rey! Now, by HUGE I don't mean FAT..Jill will kill me...I mean large in "persona." ANYWAY...how cool is that? Two GIANT DORKS who dress up in plastic armor and hurtle down hillsides get GIANT posters! Nice. I will expect these two knuckle-head d-bags to send letters of thanks to KENDA (the blonde girl, you know who) asap. Way to go guys..and this is what happens when you all keep sending me HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOS!

C

Jim and Roger, Just Plain Scary.

These are the two freak-asses who are taking care of bidniss in Co and CA. THIS is what you all must live up to. This is the example by which you all will be judged. I expect more photos like this, just don't tell me what happens afterwards, I don't want any "Backbone Mountain" Heath Ledger moments later...

Abel Vaca To Race Cal State!

Abel Vaca Nava Lava Guava Java called yesterday and said he will NOT be going to Dubai this year! He has comitted to doing the Cal State races and some others, and is very happy to get back into the group rides and see everyone again. Abel was the 2004(?) Cal State Beginner XC Champion, so he has been working hard to move up to Sport. Abel's e-mail has changed, and will be on the new team e-mail list. Please contact him for ride/race stuff! Great to have him back, and I wish him luck!

SIGMA BC2006 MHR DTS MAKES BUYER'S GUIDE!

Bicycling Magazine just released their 2008 BUYER'S GUIDE issue, and the SIGMA BC2006 MHR DTS took the spot for cycle computer! This $129.00 bit of Uber Emgineering is wireless, has an ALTIMETER (Finally! Thanks James K.!), heart rate, plus all the sweet standard options you need. It also has that sweet "black-ops" style negative lighting thingy that my 1606 has from last year. It has a four line display, and comes with a "Stellar Keller" factory support crew at their North American HQ. Check SIGMA for commuter lights, racing lights, computers, HRM's etc..plus nice jerseys to boot!


Use SIGMA, because Vanessa does..and if you don't, she will destroy you. O.K., she will destroy you anyway...and so will Dawn. Oh, and Bev. Mai will too. O.K., it doesn't matter what you do, you will get beaten, but at least you can LOOK like your fast after you collapse at the finish line, right?

Chuck-T's Fontucky DH Race Report

Hey El-Capitan!
Just finished another race at Fontana this past weekend, and I'm glad it's over! It rained on and off Saturday during the XC, but just enough to keep the course nice and tacky! As usual though, the downhillers got absolutely shafted when it came to race time. The nice drizzle that had kept the course tacky for the XC and Super-D guys, turned into regular thick rain that made the course extra slick and muddy for the DH guys! I wound up sliding just about everywhere during my race run, and I even had to take about 3-4 seconds during a pedaling section to completely remove my useless goggles. They had become caked with mud, so I figured they would do better hanging around my neck, then around my eyes. I finished my run exhausted, and barely able to see through my now mud caked eyes, and wound up 8th for the day. At least my old crusty and soon to be replaced DH bike didn't fall apart on me this time!

Randy's Fontucky Report

Sir Captn. Dung lover,

Fontucky #4 was this weekend and I went solo this weekend as Kim had to work and Trevor wasn't racing because he's getting ready to go to New York for an auto competition.

So I just drove up on Saturday morning and decided that I would just race X-C and Super-D and head home for a a very extensive re-hydration period. Now we've had a lot of rain this year for So. Cal and there was a lot of standing water in the vender area so I thought the course might be a little muddy this week but how wrong I was, the course just keeps getting better and better and everyone's times will show that also.

So this week we only had fourteen guys in my class maybe the weather scared some people off I don't know but they missed a great day. I got another great start inside the top five and felt great on the climbs but the best was yet to come, because when we were on the descents I was just letting it go, now I don't know if one down hill race can help or not but I felt great on the descents. It was a really fun race because I battled with one guy the whole race as we passed each other about nine or ten times, he was stronger on the climbs and I was faster on the decants so It was a lot of fun.

Well like I said the course was GREAT and the race was a lot of fun. I ended up finishing in seventh place but took off 3.18 off of my time from two weeks ago so that was good.

So after a little break It was off to Super-D, now this weeks course had a lot off climbing of which I had already done twice during X-C but that's cool because after the climbing it was right to the top and entire down hill course which when I heard made a little nervous but what the heck. The course was a lot off fun and made me wish I was racing down hill this week but doing it on a X-C bike was a little sketchy but I ended up finishing third and on the box so I was happy.

Well I think that's all and like I said I wasn't there on Sunday so I don't know how Mr. T did so you will have to wait for his report. Have a great week dude OUT.

Randy

Carbon's Dirty Little Secret

***Jim Roff's TOMAC Snyper..no carbon in that front end!****

The past several years have seen nice jump in bike sales. Reagan-era Space Based Defense Initiative military contractors had created a new super-material that was lighter and stronger than anything else. It was used in fighter aircraft, heavy lift aircraft, satellites, etc. It was shapeable in ways metal is not, but was very costly and labor intensive. It also used a great deal of highly toxic resins to bond this material together. Once the spending slowed after Reagan left office, all these scientists and manufacturers lost their contracts. Where did they go?










The bike industry, mostly. Golf clubs too. They were snapped up by the early makers like KESTREL. TREK employed many of the engineers, using them today on bikes like Klein, Gary Fisher and LeMond which they own. Everyone assumes that since they are riding bikes, they are doing something "green" (this word will soon become more annoying than "extreme). Well..... kinda'. Steel, aluminum, titanium, and magnesium are all materials that are recycleable. These things could live again as other bicycles or products after their untimely demise on the hood of a car.
I have worked extensively with resins in my water feature days at Wet Design and Water Studio. The stuff in nasty, and highly dangerous to handle and inhale. I know for a fact that it is classified as a "haz mat" substance if spilled or handled..so how could that be "green?" Also, carbon weave ain't all that granola either. Put them together, and my thought was that this is not a very "green" material. So...I called the largest producer of carbon bikes in the country to find out.
Trek's design department answered an e-mail I sent to them, and called me back. they had confirmed that, to their knowledge, carbon fabric is NOT recycleable. I was a little surprised by the lack of available info on this, but it didn't take much digging to find out the answer. So....as much as I love the lines and ride quality/weight of carbon bikes, are we better off to be happy with the steels and aluminums? The buying public will surely dictate, but would the numbers be as good if people knew? I don't know.....

Chris

How To End The War, Courtesy Of Timari

This idea comes to us courtesy of Timo Pruis, whio lives in a double-wide.....


The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF)




These Alabama boys will be dropped off into Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists :

1. The season opened today.

2. There is no limit.

3. They taste just like chicken.

4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus.

5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt.
The Pentagon expects the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.

Levi Leipheimer In Yellow In Solvang!

American boy Levi (no relation to the jean manufacturer:)) Leipheimer is rocking the Yellow Jersey again today after CRUSHING the SOLVANG time trial! That's an American boy on an American bike, winning an American race. Rock on, Levi! Jay has flown out from Colorado to watch the last two stages this weekend from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita, then from there to Pasadena...

John C. Freezes His Strawberries At Strawberry Peak

Team fan and all around dirt-bag, John Caldwell checking in...

I climbed from 2500 to 5000 feet in 4 miles, and spent 2 hours going
about 2 miles in the snow up here at Strawberry Peak last weekend.
Los Angeles has some big ass mountains! There was also alot of
sketchy drop offs, and steep sections that made me a little
nervous..... I need to wait a couple of more weeks on this one!

Amino Vital Endurance Formula!

Vanessa Humic will be submitting a testimonial on the new Endurance formula product from Amino Vital! She has used this stuff for some time (before we even became affiliated!) and was excited to see them at Interbike. The Endurance formula is great for XC racers, and even the DH guys have been begging for it to get here. Yes, even DH guys need proper nutrition while training.





****Vanessa showing you what the Amino Vital Endurance Formula can do for you!**






The new Endurance formula is for longer and higher intensity workouts or competition requiring the replenishment of electrolytes and additional amino acid and carbohydrate energy. Each canister is good for 20 servings, and has 2,400 mg of Amino Acids. Visit the link and read their training tips page, it can make a big difference!