Leaving Providence, RI
Choosing to leave Providence after living there for almost 6 years was a long and inevitable process. The city was building up and probably always will be. A great opportunity arose and we would have been fools to pass on it. So we put in transfers and started planning our route.
Jayme and I spent a couple weeks catching up with friends and saying our goodbyes before embarking on our trip. We had the difficult task of deciding what we were keeping, giving away and leaving behind for our friends moving in.
Our free stuff table proved to be quite successful and not much was left behind. (You can see the free stuff table in the left of the picture).
We packed up and headed to New Jersey to see my mom and friends. While there, I finalized packing clothes, bike stuff and repacking the car. Went to Sushi for my birthday and stopped by some friends places. Passed on a vintige bike and great red chair to some cats down in Jersey. Repacked the car and headed south.
Hartge BMW 850 CSi 6.0
During a stay in Lyon, France, I spotted this amazing car parked near my hotel. This e31 8-series seems to have been tuned by Hartge. The guys who are responsible for transforming bmw's into beasts. This car deserved my attention, absolutely pristine. Enjoy my shots.
Clavical Crunch
Beautiful Sunday morning, First 4 runs of shuttling at Diablo Bike Park in the bank. Feeling great being back in the saddle on familiar trails again, gaining confidence from the bike's feedback. Fourth run, down the 2008 World Cup DH run. I'm not sure if it was the speed that I was carrying, but I completely didn't see a small sapling. I proceed to clip it with my right bar end, this caused the front wheel to turn and launch me down a 3ft rock decline. Ouch.
By the time my brother and I got down to the bottom, I knew something was broken, my left arm couldn't support any weight.
The video below depicts where I crashed. At 1.13 where the rider crashes, that's where I crashed as well. I don't think mine was as crazy looking however.
In this video you can see at 59 seconds where I crashed hard.
In this video, it's at the very end where I took a digger.
Now it's almost a week later. I've been reading up on how to get myself back on a bike as fast and as safely as possible. Seems like it's a common injury among downhill mountain bikers. From what I've read, it's a 6-8 week healing process and surgery probably won't be necessary. Currently, I'm wearing a sling and in a week or two, switching to a figure 8 harness. Also, I'm going to an orthopedic clinic as soon as my health insurance kicks in. Oh and no need to worry about the bottle rocket, it took the abuse better then my body did.
If anyone has any advice on what to do for a fracture of mid-clavicle with displaced fragments (non-opposition), please leave a comment.
Bottle Rocket Drivetrain Replacement
I've been trying to get the Transition Bottle Rocket ready for the shuttle downhill season. The BR was hurting after my trip to Whistler, BC. Broken pedal, loose headset, squishy brakes and a destroyed drivetrain.

Old drivetrain pictured above : Shimano XT Derailleur, FSA Gravity Gap Cranks, E-13 Bashguard and a Modified Commencal Chainguide.

The new drivetrain consists of: e13 lg-1 chainguide, shimano xt-shadow rear derailleur, Holzfeller OCT cranks, Shimano Dura Ace chain and an e13 guide ring. The new setup feels smoother and lighter. First time out this season was at Vietnam biketrails in mass. Biking again on trails felt good, but also realized how out of shape I am. Also, smacked the rear derailleur on a rock and now it's out of alignment. Gotta fix that, so I can test out the new knee/shins.

The Scott Voltage is still wating for an axle bolt at the local bike shop. Miss that bike, gotta get her out of the shop.
Riding Pictures soon to follow (if it ever stops raining).
