What a month

There is so much great stuff to share this month I hardly know where to start. We'll start with "Inside Out." My latest video creation which debuted on Airborne's new website has received a great response. Since it's release I've picked up sponsorship from Hayes Bicycle group and have already started production my next video featuring the components they have supplied. Hayes came through with a Manitou Circus fork, custom set of Sun Ringle jump wheels, Answer handlebars, pedals, stem and grips and they topped it off with a Hayes Prime Pro rear brake. Thank you so much to Hayes for there generous support. So far I am very pleased with the performance of the Hayes products.

After shedding 3-4 lbs off the Airborne Wingman and lower the front end by a good inch it took me a day or two to adjust, but now that I've been riding it for a few days the bike feels fantastic. The Circus fork feels excellent all over the park and the wheels are nothing short of rock solid. I appreciated the increase in points of engagement of the Sun Ringle Dirty Flea hubs riding through technical sections and the upgrade to the Answer Rove FR pedals was immediately noticable. They keep my shoes absolutely glued to the bike. Anwer handlebar, grips and stem have all been great additions as well.

I certainly can't forget the Hayes brakes contribution. I was supplied with one of the long awaited Hayes Prime Pro. It seem to work great (excellent feel and modulation), but it is taking me a little to adjust to just having a rear brake as opposed to running brakes on the front and rear. Certainly having just a rear brake is fine in the park, but it makes it harder for me to do nose wheelies without a front brake :) I may through the rear orginal rear brake back on just so I can fairly judge the increase in braking power to the Prime Pro.

I was asked by Hayes to make a short video of the parts change over as part of the "Hayesed" ad campaign so look for the in the next couple of weeks. Editing for that will begin as soon as my computer comes back from the shop. It just stopped working two days ago and was sent to the techs at Apple to see what they could do with it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be back within a week.

Additionally, I was just asked today if I could flight out to Sea Otter a day early to film a "making of" video for the Airborne Flight Crew during their photo shoot with Ian Hylands. This a very exciting opportunity for me to work with an extremely experienced and successful professional in digital media. While I look forward to collaborating with Ian, it's also a bit intimidating being such a newbie to the video scene. But I'll go in and do the best I can and try to absorb as much as possible.

So there you have it; a very postive March with an even better looking April head. Now, if only the weather would permit the trails to open....

The Green Monster is coming....

Last year I added the Taka (the Airborne downhill bike) to the quiver and won my first ever downhill race. This winter the Airborne Wingman DJ bike joined the flock and I am having an amazing experience riding it at Ray's here in Milwaukee. This spring will bring another first. Airborne is sending me the new Goblin which will be my first 29er.

I have a lot of friends who have drank or are about to drink the 29er Kool Aide. I am still skeptical that I will like the bigger wheels more than my 26 inch wheels. I will be racing the green beast at Sea Otter this year as well as at least a couple local races so stay tuned as I make the transition.

So the question is what wheels size is your primary steed? And what made you decide to go that direction? Was it the marketing hype, your riding style, peer pressure? Sound off!!!

I also want to thank all the video naming participants again and let everyone know that "Inside Out" will be making it web debut on the newly designed Airborne Bicycles website this Tuesday (3/22). It will then see it's big screen premier on 5/4/11 at the Times Theater in Milwaukee at 7:00pm along with a screening of "Ride the Divide." So if you are in the Milwaukee area on that date it would be great to see you at the premier!

Help name the video contest

I'm in the process of putting the final touches on my newest video project. I'm having a little trouble coming up with a title that I really like. That's where you come in. Please leave your suggested titles in the comment section below on this blog along with some sort of contact info so that I can get a hold of you in the event your title is selected. The winner (not that the rest of you are losers; just non-winners where claiming a prize in this contest are concerned) will receive an Airborne water bottle and T-shirt! The winning title suggestion will be chosen by a panel of experts (me) based on exhaustive market research and debate (which one I like best). I'll accept submissions through, say......March 6th, 2011. So good luck and like Stephen Colbert at the next presidential election, vote early and vote often for your best chance to win. If you like what you see feel free to subscribe to my blog and/or Youtube channel. And of course I'm always willing to accept more facebook friend requests.

And in case hadn't heard yet. Airborne bicycles is now accepting applications to fill 6 Flight Crew positions. Details can be found at Singletracks.com, but the highlights include:

• An (almost) all expenses-paid trip to the Sea Otter Classic
• 1 or 2 free Airborne bikes for you to keep
• Other free gear and schwag
• Insane discounts on the rest of the Airborne line

So submit your application by 3/15/11 and maybe I'll see you at Sea Otter!!!!