BALLS TO THE WALL FISHING

The only place to stay current on the latest manic ramblings from the Florida Panhandle.

CHEEKY FLY REELS, THE OFFICIAL REEL OF BALLS TO THE WALL FISHING

Saturday, July 30, 2011

INTRODUCING THE ILLICITO FRO QUINTANA ROO.....SEX MACHINE.

yeah, that's is correct, that is ONE seat stay you are looking at. This is revolutionary from Quintana Roo and this SIC TT bike was at Dealer Camp in Deer Valley this past week. I could go on and on with specs and what not, but you have to see this beast to appreciate it. The aero design of the Illicito is something to see, check it out the next chance you have. Meanwhile, here are some pics to wet yourself over.


And for those of you who have not met Brad, he is the deal, and the guy that designed  one of Lance Armstrongs bikes during his Tour dominance, the bike said TREK, but was actually a Lightspeed.



Wednesday, July 27, 2011

DEALER CAMP, AND SHORT TRACK..

It was Katerina Nash (Luna) and Tim Johnson winning at Deer Valley, Jonathan Page did a 540 spin out on the wet grass to get knocked out of contention, and some new kid, Keegan Swenson, 17, riding for Specialized, gave TJ all he could handle for 30 minutes in the Men's pro race, watch out for Keegan, he's the real deal......

Nash Dominated the women's field
Page while still in contention

Short Track Cantitoe crew hanging out....
Day one in the books

Monday, July 25, 2011

DEALER CAMP DAY ONE, INTERBIKE'S REPLACEMENT?

We arrived in Deer Valley for Dealer Camp yesterday afternoon, and the accommodations here are fat to say the least, kind of reminds me of Beaver Creek, but with a pile of bike business about to take place. We have three tents that will be present here at the 2011 Dealer Camp in Deer Valley Utah, Cole Wheels, Effeta Mariposa, and Connex/Wipperman Chains and it's going to be busy. Stayed up late last night building and gluing tubies and woke up to the fresh smell of tubular glue in are sweet pad this morning. This place BLOWS away Las Vegas for business, and coule become THE place to get it done in the future.....below, I've got alot to learn, but the gluing process starts for many wheel sets by Cole.

Black Sheep Ti on loan for the week to display Cole CX and 29er wheels..

The view from the fat pad, just across the street from the expo...
This aint Vegas baby....




Saturday, July 23, 2011

IF YOU DID NOT ENJOY THIS YEARS TOUR DE FRANCE....

You are probably good buddies with Michael Smith of ESPN.
THIS was one hell of a Tour, and it's evident that at least some changes have taken place in the Peloton. Congrats to Cadel, he covered all the moves perfectly, and then absolutely destroyed the challengers at the critical moment..

And yeah, you may have seen this before, but there was a day when I accidentally hooked up with the BMC team two winters ago, two World Champs in their group, and now one is a TDF Champion...NBD.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

RIDING VAIL, A BUMPY RIDE FOR THE OLD MAN...

I've been lucky enough to call the racing action all summer for the Vail Rec District town mountain bike series. I get to call the action while State Champion Jay Henry beats up on the men's crowd and Gretchen Reeeves buries the women's field, both former National Marathon MTB National Champs as well as a pile of other rock stars, some new, some old. The Rec District takes pretty good care of me and makes it a welcome stay in Vail. This morning I was able to go sneak a ride up Vail Mountain on an incredibly nice day. The ride was rock solid, heading out the Gran Traverse, then descending the front side down to Hanks where the race was last night...

 Mount of the Holy Cross all crossed up to the south and west from the Gran Traverse at Vail...
 The Traverse, headin back to the front of Vail....
 Hank's Hideaway, the site of last nights town series race, and not an easy ride for the inexperienced riders...Vail is fun to ride, but it sure as hell hurts to climb. Whether racing or riding casual...
 Gamecreek Bowl, home of the Traverse and great powder skiing during the winter months....

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

MOTHER TOLD ME THERE WOULD BE DAYS LIKE THESE, THE BLACK BEAR INCIDENT...

It's been rainy up in dem dare hills, and the latest road trip up to  Eagle to announce the Vail Town series race on Vail Mountain gave me a brief opportunity to ride the day before in Eagle. I got lucky and was able to head up "towards" Mike's Night Out when I ran into company which cut my ride short. Below is some A2B exclusive vij of the bear incident from yesterday. At normal speed you won't see it, but slow it down and stop it occasionally from 1:10 to 1:18 you'll see the ass end of the cinnamon colored sow and her cub(s?) that I ran into yesterday riding, this of course brought an early end to my solo ride with questionable weather and the possibility of getting eaten in the air. Ciao.

Monday, July 18, 2011

THE BRECK 100 CROWN A NEW CHAMPION AND COURSE RECORD....

Enter Jeff Schalk, Trek pro rider and National Ultra Marathon Champion of 2010. Enter him with no mechanicals and two years of experience and chasing Josh Tostado around the high country of Summit County at the Breckenridge 100 wiser and well seasoned endurance racer who came prepared. Schalk threw down an incredible pace to take the first non Tostado title at the Breck 100 on Saturday in record time of 8:08 an change in a race with nearly 14,000 feet of climbing some of the most demanding terrain in the world. Christain Tanguy was third, Jokomait fourth, and Magelky who battled tough early rinished fifth.....

Below this podium shot, racers tackle Wheeler Pass on their way over the top of the Ten Mile Range which takes the racers over the top of Breckenridge and drops them into the Copper Mountain, Ten Mile Creek drainage...amazing, and that is just lap one!
Jari Kirkland leads a pack over Wheeler, she would defend her 2010 title easily...
Above, Magelky and Schalk together on one of several snow fields on the infamous Wheeler Pass.
All photos courtesy of Warriors Cycling

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I'M OFF TO ANNOUNCE THE BRECK 100...

The Epic of Epics.....see you there bright eyed and bushy tailed Saturday morning!

ALRIGHTY THEN....

I'll let you write the description of this one...

CONTADOR EXPOSED????

 Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) wins stage 12 in Luz-Ardiden, the 2011 Tour's first mountain top finish.
Photo: © Bettini

I'd like to think like most that we can now get down to some business in the tour De France, not that it has not been business up to this point, but it's been stressful to watch, much less ever thinking about lining it up everyday considering circumstances and the weather, I can't even begin to imagine the war that is going on out there. It was grand to see Hoogerland take a turn at the front this morning and try to bridge, and I believe he made this move as a thank you to all of us who now find him a bit of a folk hero, I was pulling for him, but it was not meant to be, but thanks for the excitement anyway JH.

 cyclingnews photo/sirotti

With that said, a certain Mr. Contador was exposed today, and another Mr. Evans was showing some serious mustard for a change at the Tour. It sucks that so many are no longer here to either help or battle for the title themselves, but it also appears that we should have some great drama along the way, hopefully crash free. I've seen enough guys hit the deck this year, here's to keeping it upright, taking off the gloves, and may the toughest bastard out there win....bastard being a term of endearment.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A BETTER DAY....MICHAEL SMITH OF ESPN PAYS A VISIT...

Yesterday was a fuck up, I found out my car is broken big time, just under $3000 to fix my air conditioning and have my head gaskets replaced (guess I was due after 172,000 miles and not having to make payments for several years), money I do not have, then I lost my wallet, which was found and returned by one of Longmont's finest business's, Red Frog Coffee, then I went for a road spin to move some Lactic from getting throttled by five hours with Jake Wells on the road bike the day before, and I double flatted after tearing a $100 road tire on somtin. So it was kind of a fucked up day, on top of Douche Bag of the Year A2B nominee being a fuckstick, Michael Smith of ESPENIS, as so well stated in a reply to Stevil's Facebook pic post.

So today had to be a little better at least, and it was. Another mega miler on the road on a perfect Western Kansas day, I highly recommend this route to you sometime, ride to the north entrance of Carter Lake State Park, then come back through the park, and add miles as needed, there are 50 choices.


From there things got really good, as this picture which was put together by a rather infamous blogger, which has a link right here on A2B, was tossed up on the pages of Facebook for the rest of the cycling world to enjoy. This picture shows ESPN reporter Michael Smith (who incidentally was not on "Around the Horn" today, a show he is normally aired on daily), with a penis for a microphone which somehow ended up in the same toilet as the Martin Erzinger photo several months ago. Below is the picture just before I shat right on this DB's head.....

Join the Facebook page against this raging arsehole HERE
And below Michael Smith of ESPN is trying to swim down the toilet hole with the same penis being smashed into his fat head. I did'nt know this guy could swim so well, but check out that back stroke!

This will be the last post on A2B regarding the Michael Smith comments regarding the car/cyclist incident in the Tour De France this week which could have easily taken the life of one or more riders in a breakaway attempt on an incredible day of bike racing. I'm glad Michael Smith or one of his family members or close friends did not happen to be standing in the spot where this debacle took place and gotten smooshed. The fact that a professional sports reporter/announcer found this incident "hilarious", and repeated this over and over again via Twitter and infuriated the people who both enjoy watching and participating in the sport of cycling is beyond me. This "man" who makes his living by reporting on the celebration of sport, missed one of the most courageous moments in recent cycling and sport history, because it was really something, to watch Flecha and Hoogerland both limp back on their bikes broken and torn, and not angry, and complete the task. Watching Hoogerland pull on the polka dots with tears streaming down his face after this horrific event was priceless, and to see the broken heart of his father and how proud he must have been to ride with Johnny H. the next day must have been surreal, amazing, and a day he will never forget as long as he lives. I'll be damned that if one of or both of these warriors finish the tour that it won't be an incredibly emotional moment when they cross the line in Paris, it'll just be one fine story if they pull it off, and I won't miss it.  I could care less if Michael Smith ever watches or gets on a bike in his life, you bastard, you laughed at the incident that produced this image, and your Karma is gonna suck for a long time.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I'VE REALLY TRIED TO "CALM" MY RANTING ON A2B AS OF LATE...

But FUCK this guy Michael Smith who is a commentator for ESPN, read his response to the car accident RIGHT HERE.

I refuse to post the video, but the result is seen below on the bod of Johnny Hoogerland, Michael Smith of ESPN tweeted that he thought this crash was hilarious, and continued to run his opinion into the ground just to piss off the cycling world. He'll get his. Douche
Hoogerland and Flecha had one of the most courageous finishes in Tour De France history, after one or both could have been killed by the most irresponsible move I've ever seen in a bike race, by a driver. Smith has made the official A2B "Douche Bag of the Year" ballot for 2011.

Mr. Flecha, all class.....

Sunday, July 10, 2011

SO BESIDES WANTING TO CUT THE NUTSACK OFF THE DRIVER AT THE TOUR.....

The front range went off Crit racing this weekend, and it was good to see J Dubs down here mixing it up with the huge and monster field at the North Boulder Park Crit today, and many of the same at the BRC Criteriums yesterday where I had the honor to call the action. The pro field today in Boulder was just beyond description to watch, you guys are freekin nuts, well done.

Burnsy lines it up
Burnsy Time Trialin and runnin from the moto
Some kid trying to break his skull
Where in the world is J Dubs?
Davis Phinney making a special guest appearance, talking about the old Coors Classic Days on this same course...
Pro field was ridiculous
The Alley way, a Boulder Classic
Chaos