Evil Genius Builds Downhill Monster in Garishly Lighted Lab

Commencal launched their 2010 frameset line this morning with the debut of this broadcast quality commercial on YouTube.

If you missed Interbike, you might not know that all Commencal framesets sold here in the US will be the factory versions. What's the difference? Modified color schemes and a mind boggling number of component options for starters. In the next few weeks BTI is unveiling a massive new program called ‘Total Choice’. Serving as a bridge between bike brands and local shops, Total Choice taps the full depth and breadth of BTI’s inventory to allow shops and consumers to design, collaborate, and order fully custom bikes online. Commencal has been selected to be the first brand to get this treatment. Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted as we get closer to the release date.

Fun with Electronics

I've been experimenting with some GPS uses with the Iphone. Below is my first attempt. It has some flaws but i think i can work around them to get a fairly accurate reading. As soon i'm able to ride for real i'll begin tracking every ride and posting them. The goal is to see how many miles and how many hours i accumulate over the winter season. Here's step one. Make sure to check out the statistics below.

Erik

Commute

Map your trip with EveryTrail

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This Is Arizona - finally

don't be afraid to leave some feedback in the comments section people

Erik

Naptime

I think Brian might have narcolepsy.

Not being able to breath

Not being able to breathe
It's a detached feeling to have, both physical and mental. As with most individuals I've always feared the likes of suffocation and drowning. Fortunately I've never had the opportunity to experience such an untimely demise, but as you may know I've recently taken the liberty to enjoy my "free sample" thanks to a certain round geological object abruptly contacting my armpit.

Like I said, detached, it's the closest description I can muster up while still giving the emotion some justice. It's a blank state in which your only thoughts are that of basic respiration. Meanwhile every other element surrounding you is nonexistent; Pneumothorax victims might as well be blind and deaf. It's complete and utter isolation, perhaps the most intense I've ever observed.

October 17th, I hoped it would be the race I finally shook the monkey off my back. Steve peat's long awaited arrival on the podium of success early this September was inspiring, although his accomplishments extend far greater than my own. I guess I just wished it would rub off, or maybe the cure for dark clouds was floating through the air waiting for its next victim like that of the late swine flu. Was 2009 the year of mountain biking justice? Probably, I didn't win a national championship once again but someone more deserving must have caught the success virus.

Instead, my national champs story lead me to the top Teir, front of the line, patient at Tahoe Forest Hospital, not stars stripes and a stand on the top box. It takes a special incident to obtain the coveted severe injury trifecta all within an hour and a half; hitting the ground, walking into the ER, and finally getting wheeled into the operating room for surgery. I'd elaborate on the details of my gruesome injury but that's not what article is about, the important part is that a fall in 4x competition left me with a collapsed lung (Pneumothorax).

Most of us have seen the popular mountain bike documentary “Between The Tape” by Clay Porter, Finland Native Matti Liehekonen speaks of the blank feeling while in the midst of a downhill race
run, saying "it's almost like your brain is not working". Many of us have
experienced crossing the line and falling back into consciousness as you
see your time flash onto the display. Imagine that semi conscious feeling but instead of falling back into reality, a straw size tube going though your rib cage and a tremendous second wind force you to return to life.

Rewind 40 minutes. Sounds of an engine, mumbles of a concerned medic, my own gasps for breath. Only visions of my knees and the door handle fading in and out. The further down the mountain we made it the more detached I became. These are the sights and sounds of a Pneumothorax victim; they pale in when compared to internal struggle at hand. It took me an hour to make it to the hospital after my tumble. I only remember about twenty minutes of if today, most of this time was spent self soothing myself away from fainting. A precise lack of oxygen leaves one in a metaphorical no man’s land far between a complete unconscious blackness and being very ,…very out of breath. Thinking back in retrospect is eerily similar to the familiar waking confusion after a reeaaally drunk night. Recollections only come in blotches and when they do its excessively vague, or intensely clear. Scary; to say the least. Like most crashes, post accident reflection is eminent. I could continue this long article with and extensive analysis of how I feel today but I won’t.

Last night I sleep with a chest tube on my bed side table. I also had instructions with my girlfriend, If I was found gasping for breath in peaceful flagstaff night, rip off the bandaging on my left peck and ram that chest tube right back where it came from. My only reflection for you is this; don’t collapse a lung and protect your armpits because it’s not that painful but it’s really F&$king scary.

Defend Yourself from Aliens - Shrunken Head Serves Notice to Would Be Invaders

Do you enjoy alien technologies, but want to keep the angry little marauders and their probes away from your sweet ride? This AlienLux Tail Light from Topeak will be available from BTI before the month is out. Dorks and conspiracy theorists rejoice!

(photo by Leonard Zinn, VeloNews)