The Amino Vital Infomercial, Edited!

We had to edit some of the content not pertaining to Hunter or Backbone, but it's still not too bad!! Thanks to Amino Vital, POB, and Matrix Advertising for asking me to be a part of this project, and thanks to Lyd for her mad video editing skills..

Tookie's 24 Hr Of 9 Mile Report

hey, Chris
I just want to say thanks again for all the help on getting the TOMAC ready for the 24 hour of 9 mile (which is the name of the state park, NOT the race course distance [ 14.5 mi ])

I want to say that the race wasn't what it was two years ago when I went up there to race with the James and the guys from SIGMA.

This year Granny Gear productions took over the race and I thought "Here we go!" Although the guys at Granny Gear put on a great race,it wasn't the same by the standards of the past years (2003 & 2004 Snow Shoe, WV ). This was the last time I will race in one of their races, for one the high price of solo entry started to push riders away ($280 for pro, expert, sport or joe blow who ever that wanted to race solo) and other promoters are putting on races just as well, for half the cost and just as many vendors at the race.

Two years ago at the 9 mile race there was a vendor Expo area the size of a city block ( SIGMA, Nightrider, Trek, Light&Motion, and other local bike shops and food vendors and a dozen others that I can't remember) what I'm saying is there was a lot of the big names of the bike industry there, pushing their wares.
Its great to have that support at such a large race and it made the 12 hour drive from KY worth it.

But this year What the Hell Happened?? I want to say again Granny Gear put on a good race, but not a GRANNY GEAR race I was accustom to seeing. For one what happened to the bike industry? There were hardly any vendors (less then six that I can recall) and again the high entry fee for most of the riders ( I payed for my entry fee back in march to get most out of the discount), but Granny Gear started to give discounts on entry fee closer to the race date, I would guess that not as many riders wanted to shell out that kind of money.
Once there at the race, if solo riders wanted to set up a long the race course, you had to park your vehicle in a parking lot and pack your stuff 50 yards to set up a long the course, unless you want to set up back in the wood in the "solo pit area" totally away from the transition.
Two years ago the 150 yard run in to the transition and the 200 yards out of the transition was lined with EZ-Up tents of solo and duo teams, that had the feel that you were a part of a 24 hour race every lap.
Well that's enough bitching about the race set up, because you don't want to get me started on the auction held for the first 20 minutes of the racers meeting.


Now in short the TOMAC was kick ass and the SIGMA Karma lights were flawless.

Talk later
Tookie

RANDY'S NEW TOMAC CARBIDE; First Look

Here's the first look at Randy's new Carbide! Killer parts list includes KMC gold hollow-link chain, Maxim Exogrid handlebar,
KENDA tires (front wheel has a Side Wall Shield tire, no longer even available!), Xpedo Ti/Mag pedals, FSA carbon cranks, and if you look REALLY closely, you'll see my favorite part...the AVID ROLLAMAJIG! yay Rollamajig!




Randy has promised he will do everything he can NOT rip the derailleur hanger off this bike, like he did his TOMAC SNYPER on the first day out. Nice bike Randy, I'm Jealous!

Tookie Takes Top Ten On Tomac!

Jeff promised me he was not going to stop at all during the 24Hrs. Of 9 Mile in Wisconsin over the weekend. He didn't. Despite a 3a.m. on-bike vomit-fest that he simply rode through without quitting or returning to home base, Jeff cranked out over one hundred miles from 12a.m. today to the closing bell. The initial race run on the bike had been met with glaring success, and Jeff was stunned at how resilient that new TOMAC CARBIDE frame was. The only issue? Those crank bolts I found in the 11th hour rattling around the back of my truck kept working loose throughout the night laps....that was it. So despite losing a decent block of time to slowing down for the "Technicolor Yawn," Jeff still placed top ten! He missed 7th by 4 minutes, about the time he lost during the first batch of chunk-blowing. Great job Jeff, it's nice to finally see you on a World Class bike. You have earned it buddy....now go get some sleep.




****On another note, Backboner Sean Cavaluchy lined up for his first XC race back from spine surgery today. Hammering well into the first singletrack section, his brand new saddle exploded and he was forced to gingerly limp out of the first lap, forcing him to a DNF. Great job sucking it up long enough to get outta the woods, and thanks for stopping by work and letting me know you are o.k.!

Vote Lydia For CMH Magazine Cover Girl!

Hey everyone! Please visit CMH Magazine's website and vote/comment on Lyd's photo submission for their next cover model!

By visiting http://mag.cmhmag.com/style/fashion/cover-contest/ you can leave a comment and let them know why she should grace their next cover! Thanks...

Choose Wisely, Daniel-San!

Many of you are SUPER-competitive a-holes. How competitive are you, REALLY? If you are riding along some fireroad climb, and you were to come blasting around a corner and see something like....ohhh...I dunno....




THIS????





How badly would you feign exhaustion, and for how long? Please leave your answer in the comments section below and check your A-Type meter against all others who leave an answer.

The A-Team

Fuck yeah.



Here at Backbone Adventure Cycling, we are the "A-Team" of cycling teams. Always looking out for the underdog, the little guy, when odds are stacked against him...we come in and kick ass. Even though we were a "crack team" of Vietnam-bred commandos who never seem to hit shit with a half million dollars of automatic weapons, we still always seem to get the job done. It's not easy. It takes a great group of team members and sponsors, and here's a quick recap of my day to explain why...

This is Vegas Bob. He has raced his team issue Tomac Carbide for two season now. He could have sold it and spent the money on hookers and blow (my choice, clearly). Instead, he knew he was getting a new one and decided to have the rear-end completely re-built, then he tore the bike down the day his new frame arrived and shipped the old one to me (on his dime, by the way). Why? because his team rider clear across the country was in dire need of a sweet bike. It arrived today at 1p.m.

I pulled the deftly packed frame from it's box at 1:30 today, and then immediately phoned TOMAC BIKES owner Joel Smith for some advice. He checked his web browser on the phone and called me back...repeatedly...with calm and collected answers that allowed me to spend my day off driving all over OHIO to get parts to bring this project to fruition by 9p.m. Try calling anyone else at a bike company at home, let alone after 5pm, and see what happens...






I had the Carbide back at home by 5p.m. and began frantically building. After wrecking my truck to procure parts for Jeff's bike, spending two hours driving and three hours to expertly craft this bike, and over 200 bucks in small parts to finish it, it was born.



Jeff arrived to see a team-issued, factory frame waiting for him to go out and break in at a 24hr race in Wisconsin he is en route to as we speak. He didn't bring his bike from home, counting on all the parts to come together prior to his arrival in Columbus from Kentucky. Thanks to my A-Team, he was not disappointed.



The bike cost a ton of money.. for me, Vegas Bob, and Joel at Tomac Bikes. However, it arrived as promised from California, box still smoking from the Brown Santa who delivered it via UPS. It took every second of my day to make this happen, but because we are surrounded by some BAD ASS MOTHER F*****S, I can proudly say tonight that...





...."I Love It When A Plan Comes Together."

Amino Vital Mandarin Orange Arrives!

Bert and Darter at a pre-race meeting.




Let's face it, lots of us are just older than balls. Bert, Darter, ME, Jim, Randy (CRUSTY as hell, seriously), and many others on this team. What keeps them all so damn fast and competitive? It's the Amino Vital Endurance mostly. And beer, but mostly Amino Vital Endurance. They just launched the new Mandarin Orange flavor, and thankfully it's F*****G RAD!

With some great ingredients, like medical-grade BCAA's (Branch-Chain Amino Acids, the building blocks of proteins), Vitamin C, Calcium, Phosphorus,Sodium, Potassium and a light Carb, it is exactly what we need to stay competitive at our (ahem) advanced age. Hunter Kemper is a three time (soon to be 4) Olympian, and he's no damn Spring Chicken. Hunter is so old, he's got Eric The Red in his yearbook! What keeps him returning to the Olympics? Amino Vital baby!

**Hunter Kemper running in Garden Of The Gods, Colorado**


Hit up your local bike shop today and ask for what the Backboners use, Amino Vital Endurance, now in Mandarin Orange!

Darter Takes U.S. DH Championships!

Uhh..call the zoo, some pythons got out!



Jim Roff texted me today to say that while he was in Sol Vista with Jay Schippers for the U.S. National DH Championships, he loaned Michael Darter his TOMAC PRIMER to race on. After a near-fatal crash that saw Michael split open his head (INSIDE HIS HELMET), he lined up for his race run while still semi-conscious. He BLASTED the competition out with over a full second for the victory!! Way to go Darter! Thanks to Jay and Jim for being there to support their team, and great job to the fastest photographer alive...


Michael seen here after winning the Cal State DH Championships this year.

Backbone Adventure Cycling At Outdoor Demo!

The fine folks at TOMAC BIKES are providing the Backboners with their pre-ordained ODD booth for Monday and Tuesday in Boulder City, Nevada! Tomac will be displaying their wares inside at the KENDA booth for Wed-Friday at The Hall. Having a booth at the show (especially at ODD) where we can display the team bikes and riders is sweet. It also gives us the chance to talk about sponsor products and give bike lovers a chance to maybe ask a few questions and get them answered by the very folks who R & D the stuff! Thansk to Joel and TOMAC for the spot! We will have our fleet of Primer, Snyper, Type X, Cortez and Carbide bikes on hand for inspection. Most of the fleet is like brand new after 2 hard years of racing! Look for the black TOMAC canopy and stop by for a cup of ice-cold Amino Vital while your out riding.

Stop by and chat with World Famous Vegas Bob, Vanessa Humic,Fuzz, Bert "The Hurt" Blanchette and his boy Ryan, Chuck-T, and even the saggy-pants wearing Benge Brothers with U-23 champ Claudia Espinoza!


Smile big and ride well, because I'll be there with Lyd's camera, and Team Photographer and major cycling publication cover-boy Michael Darter will be there!

U.S. Cup Finale Schedule Change!

UPDATE: THE KENDA CUP GRAND FINALE UNIFICATION RACE ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26TH AT LAS VEGAS HAS BEEN MOVED TO BONELLI PARK, CALIFORNIA ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH. SEE WWW.USCUP.NET FOR THIS NOTICE.

THIS PRESENTS A MAJOR SCHEDULING CONFLICT AS SUNDAY IS OUR SET UP DAY #1 IN THE SANDS CONVENTION HALL AND IT IS THE OUT DOOR DEMO TRAILER DROP OFF DATE.

SIGMA SPORT & The Tour de France.

SIGMA SPORT USA 2009 Tour facts - SIGMA Riders: Before yesterday's rest stage, SIGMA riders won 3 stages, were on the podium 4 stages (includes the above mentioned 3 stage wins), and wore the Yellow Jersey 8 stages out of 9. (Note, Sastre started the tour in Yellow since he won last year's TDF. When he won last year, he was riding SIGMA! This year, he switched teams.)

Cutting It Close

World Famous Vegas Bob will be hurriedly packing up his love, the Tomac Carbide he has been racing nigh on to two years now. His new one arrived last night, and he must quickly pack it and ship it here to me. That will give me about ONE DAY to build it up and get him ready to drive to the 24Hrs. Of Nine Mile. It's gonna be close!

Jim Roff's TOMAC PRIMER In Grand Junction, CO

Jim Roff likes to smoke him some crack. That is apparent, since these photos show him riding his TOMAC PRIMER like a cross country bike on the trails of Grand Junction, CO. In the lower photo, you can see Ribbon Trail flowing into the lowlands, probably the payoff he was hoping for after humping his DH bike up the mountain. Thanks to Jim "Shortz" Roff for the pix!!

NEW BACKBONE RIDER DOLLS OUT NOW!

From the creators of "Neverland Ranch Dressing" come the new BACKBONE ADVENTURE HEROES line of dolls! Based off of your fave Backboners, these toys are NOT sold in stores! With just three easy payments of 4,000 Drachma, you too can have you very own mini-FUZZY doll to take on rides with you! Ara Movsessian is the first doll out and available for purchase, but look for more as the weeks progress! BUY NOW!

FUZZY'S Race Report; Cal State Finals..

Hey Chris!

We had four Boners attend the last round of the Cal State Series. Matt
Thome, Humberto, 17 minute late to my race Vegas Bob, and myself. The
overall turnout was lower than the rest of the races because of the
best 6 out of 8 races format. The weather was good, a little on the
warm side under the sun but there was a nice breeze. The course was a
super fast fireroad roadie ideal layout with fallline and fern trail
thrown in for good measure.


Matt came in 2nd in his course which got him 3rd overall for the
series. Humberto, with a throwback backbone jersey. just missed the
podium with a 4th place finish in a very tough Cat. 1 group. But he did
get a podium spot placing 5th overall in the series. Vegas Bob,
somebody get this guy an alarm clock. I personally had a good race,
beating two racers who have owned me all series long for a 3rd place
finish; 4th overall in the series.

Thanks to my father for just chilling with me. He brought up his bike
and rode around Big Bear like Debo from "Friday". Mr. Margve and his
son Nico who were cheering us on while they rode the course. They will
be racing soon.

Big shoutout to Amino Vital for fueling us and not letting us cramp up.

Hyrdrapak for keeping the fuel in a secure and comfortable place.

Tomac for letting Vegas Bob and Matt roll in style.

And of course Kenda for the tires, worked great in the sandy and rocky sections of the course,
never a doubt.

Sigma, dont know how the computer or cord didnt rip and
shatter when I went over the handle bars on the switchback of impending
doom on the fern trail, great product!

Happy birthday Roger!

the Fuzzstickle

Yeah, that's me.

Who is behind this whole thing? That's right..me. Damn, I am just full of fun all over this awesome ass country...thanks to SIGMA by the way for supporting it!

Vegas Bob's New Baby CARBIDE On The Way!

Well, my new Tomac Carbide XC is on the way! She was most likely personally attended to by head honcho Joel Smith himself and sent on her way from his Nebraska headquarters/home on Tuesday.


Following intently her journey westward, she was last laser-tagged yesterday afternoon in the Lenexa, KS UPS warehouse. As everyone knows Kansas is no place for mountain bikes, but the precipices you DO find there are arguably just as tantalizing as the ones that the Carbide was exquisitely crafted to charge up and fly down.




Well, hopefully my new curvy black beauty doesn't spend too long admiring the also shapely scenery in the "Wheat State" and continues on her circuitous route to my front door. Her older sister, spending 2 years tearing it up with me on the West Coast XC endurance tour, is now graduating to the Mid-East ultra-endurance stage. Jeff "Tookie (I just tookie you out)" Williams will be forgoing the wimpy Crappalattachino-and-maybe-First-Base first date and going straight for a Grand Slam by relentlessly flogging her all day and all night at the 24 Hours of 9-Mile in Wisconsin. I'd wish her luck, but I know she doesn't need it. >:)


**Well done Bob..well done!**