New Babies, Bikes and other Very Important Announcements...

Exciting times as a few good people have been added to the mix. Last week my friends Thomas and Erin had a lovely baby girl. This week I became an uncle as my brother and his wife had there first child, a beautiful baby boy Noah. Very exciting indeed and I wish them all well. If I ever feel the need to procreate I think I will just get a puppy but I know some people have felt the call and I applaud them as we need good people to do the deed to ensure that we have more good people in the future. As for me I too have a new baby and her name is Derail. She is already potty trained and doesn't need much other than some occasional chain lube and good trails which I am happy to provide.

I mentioned that lately I've hiding out in the basement of the Crow's Nest eating well, drinking more water than beer and watching bike videos featuring the destinations I will be hitting over the next two months. One thing have have noticed is that you don't see many single speeds with 85 mils of travel featured in the BC and Moab seggies or any seggies for that matter. Since I have a few skills as the result of my bmx roots I hope to make the most of my travels and the trail that I will be riding. The Blur LT has been stripped of its parts and the frame will soon be up for grabs if someone wants a good bike that just wasn't the bike for me. Hoping to add a little bling to the Mavric eventually to finish it out.

Matt Johnson and I burned the midnight oil at Biowheels on Tuesday night and built her up and yesterday I took my new baby to North Mills. I figured that Laurel Mtn was an appropriate testing ground for the new ride so I parked by the campground and rode it to Good Enough Gap and then bombed the decent. I can already tell that this is going to be one sweet ride. I felt over confident each time I came to one of the more technical sections that would normally cause me to pick well crafted lines on the single speed. I rolled through several of harder sections without pause and just let the bike do the work. On the climb up I found that I can still practice the art of grinding bigger gears out of the saddle with no boing boing feeling that the blur had. Look out BC, Moab, Nor Cal and Colorado Justin is bringing the big bike...

Now on to very important news on the travel front...

It's two weeks till take off and I get more excited everyday. Bruce and I are working on plans for survival on the road. Two months away from a paycheck and/or the opportunity to make a future paycheck in my case will take its toll on our bank accounts and ability to wine and dine in our usual manner (High Life and BK). In lieu of real sponsors we have a plan... I will be making my recycled bike chain art while on the road & taking orders from bike shops all across the country and auctioning million dollar ideas on ebay. So, you say "I don't want an old bike chain gracing my Christmas tree and I have all the million dollar ideas I need". Well then you can still be apart of making this thing happen, we are raising money over at Pisagh Works. We have taken a few lessons from the Public TV playbook and are offering several wonderful Pisgah Works items for our donors. I will also throw in one of the Jut Rut special holiday ornaments for any donations over 30 bucks. You will also receive your name on a plaque and will be privy to all photos not released to the public and trail information as we embark on our journey. So make a donation to the cause today and know that your money will be well spent on quality good times that you helped make possible. I have borrowed a few lines from Barack Obama's campaign fundraising letter I received that seems strangely appropriate for my own cause,

"We have developed a strategy -- a very aggressive strategy -- that will only work if our millions of supporters continue to contribute their time and their money. That strategy will work, and it has to. The stakes are too high and the need for change too great. But victory is only possible with your continued help. We can't do this without you."

Jut Rut and Pisgah Bruce in 08, people rise up and join the revolution!

Your ambassador of fun,

Jut Rut