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Post by marshall on Jul 22, 2009 21:26:50 GMT -5
here it is in North Carolina at Tsali It has recently gone through a complete overhaul and is so much faster than before. the only thing that remained the same from the photo above is the frame, fork and handlebars. I changed the wheel set to the wheels that came off of Kat's Advance as she got a new set of disk wheels, replaced the headset with a sealed FSA, the entire drive train is new with a XT shadow rear derailleur, race face ride xc 36 tooth crank set and race face bottom bracket, went with a 9 speed cassette and a new chain. We re ran and re routed all the cables with new cables and braided titanium housing. I also put on a 100mm Bontrager stem and changed the front shifter to a deore and put Avid brake levers on. I also used the v brake arms and pads off of the fisher as well and put Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires on. I also destroyed my old saddle and got a Bontrager X-Lite carbon take off from Gilles here is how it sits now
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Post by marshall on Jul 20, 2009 5:59:17 GMT -5
Kat and I should be up at Scales tonight around 7 - 7:15ish
call me if you want to ride
746-3994
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Post by marshall on Jul 17, 2009 11:36:55 GMT -5
hey cheer up Tim it's FRIDAY now...it wasn't that bad was it? lol
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Post by marshall on Jul 15, 2009 10:31:26 GMT -5
yes so we didn't make the trip we loaded up the car and then thought "that looks really close" so we checked the radar and got rained out completely and we were sad
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Post by marshall on Jul 12, 2009 12:02:45 GMT -5
heading out this afternoon around 4:30 to ride NHSP if anyone wants to tag along we already have 4 that are meeting up there.
cell 746=3994
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Post by marshall on Jul 10, 2009 18:30:45 GMT -5
this is a thread that I am going to be keeping an eye on as I got the go ahead from my family to build as I please on the family farm (about 2 hours away i think but it's a wooded 165 acres) I just need a way to get down there and explore the land and see what it has to offer. Trying to find someone that will let us borrow a 4 wheeler right now so i've got my fingers crossed
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Post by marshall on Jul 4, 2009 0:48:33 GMT -5
awesome thanks man i will have to try some of these
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Post by marshall on Jul 1, 2009 21:24:20 GMT -5
ok so we got the pictures put on disc and uploaded to photobucket ( s152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/zebrasinamerica65/?start=all ). Day 1 was Tsali Right Loop which was a very nice trail but very touristy in the sense that they utilized quite a bit of double track fire roads on the trail. It did have some of the best views out of any trail we road in my opinion. Day 2 we road the Thompson Loop at Tsali and Flint Ridge in the Nantahala National Forest. Thompson was our AM ride and was a very fun loop as it seemed to be used way more by the locals than the tourists. There was a nice winding climb up to the top to put you on a fire road for a short distance before taking you back down the mountain. Probably the overall best bit of downhill we encountered on the whole trip. Flint was our PM ride and I rented a Specialized XC Pro to ride this trail. The first 1.5 miles were brutal as we left the car in the parking lot by the river and headed to the trail that has 800 feet of vertical gain full of switch backs (you probably climb this mountain in 100 yard incriments) and that was after walking up an extremely steep half mile long road that we did not know was there or else we would have driven to the trail head we got on the trail and attempted the climb to the top but we were very unsuccessful. Once we got to the actual trail not just monotonous near impossible switchback climbing it was a pretty fun trail for me (Kat was sore and tired and not having much fun here) but it was very smooth with some descent down hill spots followed by some descent climbs. We decided to do ride the short loop here as we were pretty worn out and kats knee was hurting. Day 3 was Over Mountain Victory in Wilkesboro North Carolina. This was hands down the most fun we had all week. The trails were very well maintained and were incredibly built with lots of thought put into these trails. Lots of berms and even an amazing S turn that looked like it belonged on a BMX track but was oh so fun on a bike with bigger tires that couldn't stab a crank and throw me off the bike lol. This trail had some nice climbs and some rhythm sections that reminded me a lot of Scales but it didn't have the drops that Scales had to offer. Day 4 we took an evening ride that finished at the back of the inn we were staying at that turned out to be no fun at all. We rode a trail called Props Run in SlatyFork WV, the lady that ran the inn drove us up to about 4500ft to a parking lot that was about 4 miles from the trail head and we got on and started pedaling until we just flat out got sick of riding on a loose gravel logging road that was rutted out and had tons of pot holes so we walked about the last mile. We got on the trail and were never really sure if we were on the right thing until we got about half way done and came to a sign letting people that were climbing or at least attempting to climb the trail which way to go. This trail was VERY overgrown and had a surplus of stinging nettles that would just light your legs on fire when you hit them. It also proved to be an extremely slow trail since it was so over grown that you could see where the trail was going just not what the trail had in store, which included about 50 culvert crossings and lots of rocks and a few logs and a fair bit of mud. Needless to say we were EXTREMELY glad to get back to the inn and off of the trail that everyone at the inn was in love with and suggesting whole heartedly. This was hands down our least favorite trail of the trip. Day 4 we went on a tour/lesson with Trevyn Newpher (a pro downhill racer) and road a trail called Lower Beaver Run in SilverCreek (the south side of the SnowShoe Resort). This trail proved to be much like Props with the amount of rocky sections but was a much nicer better maintained trail and was WAY better than Props. It didn't have the views props had but the views Props had were also ruined by the burning sensation that was all over our calves and shins from the friendly nettles. Lower Beaver was a pretty technical trail but was much more fun as it had a better flow and way more choices on how to ride it. Trevyn was a big help with line selection and some set up tips for certain types of obstacles. This was over all a pretty fun trail and wouldn't be afraid of recommending it to someone that was going to be in the area (if they had a full suspension xc bike). We ended up leaving a day and a half before we planned but it was merely due to the fact that we just did not have the equipment it took to ride in west virgina. Over all this was the best vacation of my life. We got a lot of riding in and didn't have too many downs (one each i think) and got to meet a lot of really great people along the way. (pictures to follow)
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Post by marshall on Jul 1, 2009 16:39:41 GMT -5
I might...depends on how i feel tonight, what time are you thinking?
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Post by marshall on Jul 1, 2009 1:26:23 GMT -5
kat and I will be out there at some point on July 1 if anyone wants to join call me at 746-3994
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Post by marshall on Jul 1, 2009 1:24:37 GMT -5
We're back...but heading to bed will be posting pictures and reviews tomorrow
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Post by marshall on Jun 25, 2009 13:21:14 GMT -5
we're wondering if the stuff around here will be a little less daunting after this trip lol... never the less I love this sport/hobby/obsession and can't wait to ride Tsali, Gauley Headwater, Flint, and the XC section at SnowShoe Mtn
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Post by marshall on Jun 24, 2009 16:40:51 GMT -5
Kat and I will be up there tonight around 7 - 7:15ish if anyone wants to join.
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Post by marshall on Jun 24, 2009 16:39:49 GMT -5
So Kat and I will be gone this next week and trust me you will ALL be jealous as we are heading out Thursday night (June 25, 2009) and will be heading to North Carolina. When we get there it will be about 2 am and we are gonna crash for a while then get up and head to Tsali. We will be riding in NC for Friday, Saturday and probably Sunday. We will then pack up the tent and head up to West Virgina to ride Gauley Headwater and the XC portion of SnowShoe on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Then when we are nice and broken and battered we will head home to good ole chandler for the 4th of July and we will hopefully have lots of pictures...we just need to find a digi point and shoot to borrow from someone so we can get said pictures.
wish us luck.
Marshall
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Post by marshall on Jun 24, 2009 15:54:40 GMT -5
good deal if you want me to run the flyers by the 2 shops i have some errands to do this afternoon before i hit up scales
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