TOUR DE SUISSE SPRINT....THINK YOU GOT GAME?

Not too many got this kind of game.....

MY VOTE IS THROW THE CRANKBORTHERS PEDALS IN THE DUMPSTER, I DID.

Time Atac 6 saves the day at A2B....

I've been riding Crankbrother pedals for nearly 8-9 years. They tried to kill me once and failed me again about a month ago. The problem with their pedal design is that the nut that actually connects the platform and bearings (bearings which explode regularly even when serviced EVERY season) can and will work itself loose which leaves nothing to hold the platform of the pedal attached to the spindle. I would show you a picture of this failure but I threw all my Crankborthers pedals in the garbage last week and watched the garbage man haul them off to their proper burial place. The first time this happened to me was roughly 5-6 seasons ago while descending on ym mountain bike and I got hurt pretty bad, bruised ribs and kidney and some other shit. It fucked up the rest of my entire race season. It happened again last week while cruising around Green Mountain open space in Lakewood on thankfully smooth and fast singletrack. when the pedal came off the spindle, it shot off the trail into some tall grass and it took me about ten minutes to go back and find it so I could have the satisfaction of throwing it in the dumpster. 

After some fairly thorough research I ended up with what will be two sets of new MTB pedals. Coming highly recommended were the Time Atac 6 which are pictured here and which are currently on my mountain bike. I wish I would have known 10 years ago that this pedal, with two points of engagement, is actually easier to get into and out of than Eggbeaters with four points of engagement (which are usually all jacked up from slamming them into rocks). The Time 

Atac 6 platform works incredibly well with a "ramp" that your cleat slides up to the engagement point, it's impossible to miss. You also have release angle options depending on cleat placement. Time also does not need those lame spacers that the Crankborther pedals needed for clearance to get in and out of the pedals, which I always saw as a defect. 

I also will have another set of pedals coming shortly for my MTB or CX rig with thanks to Kalan Beisel of the Giant/Tuff Shed MTB squad.
Xpedo Tis are on the way, and I am super stoked for the hook-up and the opportunity to ride another "new" pedal. More on the Xpedo soon. If it's working for rider like Kalan and Mitch Hoke, I'm guessing it's good enough for an old beat up rider like myself...A2B is back on the review war path...enjoy the ride.

THIS IS JUST FLAT OUT REDICULOUS....

Post by Martin Kniss.

IT'S ALL ABOUT RED. SKRATCH LABS

I'm on this red kick lately, not that any of you actually give a shit what I do, but red seems to be working for me as of late. I realized this at the GoPro Mountain Games and the Beti Bike Bash while announcing and scrounging around for free product to check out like the rest of the dirt bags looking for free stuff. The nice thing about being the person with the mic in your hand is that sponsors and expo vendors give you boxes of their product as opposed to a one ounce sample to try because they want you to talk about it. Every once in a while I find something that I really like, and I tell you about it. Then you may try, or you may not, but I will continue to use it because I like it. You may choose not to try it because I like it, that is your choice, but do not be a dumb ass, if I like it, you probbaly will too as I'm a picky bastard at times. Why red? I have a fondness for the flavors associated with red, and purple I might add. Raspberry is a particular favorite. We have a monster Raspberry patch in our backyard in Lakewood, and I can't eat anough of them...Skratch Labs has a Raspberry flavored daily electrolyte mix that I like, and it's not too sweet, and it tastes really good, and it's apparently made with all natural product. That works for me. There are a zillion similar products on the market which claim to do the same thing, but many of them taste like shit to be honest with you....Skratch Labs "tastes great and is less filling". 
I also happen to like the branding and packaging of the product, you may not, but I do.

"SHIT OR GET OFF THE POT"

 For many, many years this was my father's favorite saying. So today I did, and drove back up to Georgetown where I worked yesterday at the Guanella Pass State Championship Hill Climb and rode the course myself, this after a wonderful Saturday working the Bailey Hundo for the first time on Saturday, which raised a pile of cash for the Colorado High School Cycling League, Trips for Kids and COMBA. I'm almost all moved to the front range, and I've got to admit, I've lived my mountain life, I'm done with it, and I'm really digging all the options for EVERYTHING down here.

 The top of Guanella Pass, 3150 ft of climbing in 11 miles. I'm about as fit as a sour pickle right now, but it was a great ride on a great day, and close to home.

THIS IS WORTHY...HIGHWAY TO HELL

Don't wreck the shit out of your Oxygen Cannister carrying truck. OK?

LEGIT AT THE LEGEND....

So in the middle of life, we sometimes must visit where we came from...today was a ripper at The Legend, Arapahoe Basin, in mid -May. Get it before it's gone. Best base I've seen up there in 31 ski seasons in May, by far.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE SPECTATOR WORLD CUP DOWNHILL....