20090110

Poo-Brown: The Biggest Little Unit Ever

Good morrow good friend and loyal fan of Team Seagal. If you know anything about anything then you know we love the hell out of Kona bicycles. It became too much for me, Nico Toscani, to handle watching a 26" wheeled Poo-Brown 2006 Kona Unit just wallow around the TC-MAN with nobody paying it any attention. One day a few months back I got a crazy idea (after lurking and reading through the various threads in this forum over at mtbr.com) and I formulated a plan to take the beautiful Deddaccai steel bicycle into my possession.



I invested in this bike's future- it really needed a head start in order to compete with all the other Unit's. My Unit received a new set of medium-sized wheels. Take a look, everything fits very nicely into the frame with zero modification. The tires are made by Panaracer and designed by this guy. I am running the 2.3 Neo-Moto tire in the front and the 2.1 Quasi-Moto tire in the rear. The wheelset was expertly produced by Wes McLaren, M.D. using Velocity Blunt rims, Sapim Race Spokes and XTR center-lock disc hubs.







The bike climbs so well, it has to be because of the insane-short 16.5" chainstays. I also really feel that the wheels and tires deliver just as much great traction as my 29er.

My next thoughts for the bike are some pretty cool ones. As it stands now with pedals and cages the bike weighs in at 23 lbs even. I am currently running the stock Kona Project 2 steel fork, axle to crown length is 410mm. The 480 gram Ritchey / Trigon carbon fork has the same dimensions! It is full carbon including steerer, dropouts, and disc mounts - amazing. An equally amazing upgrade might be a set of race wheels built up on Stan's 380 gram ZTR Rims. Awww man, I think I would really like that. In fact, Energor would be quite proud of me. On the other hand, Mrs. Toscani might be liable to hold a 29er auction to fund all of this...



So far the bike has been shown the trails at Council Bluff, Greensfelder, and of course several laps at Chubb. Let me assure you, all is well. Thank you for your time, I hope to see you all on some firm off-road surfaces very soon. Lets hope that the only poo-brown we see will be under my legs and not splatered all over the trail!




-Nico Toscani

20090104

Crossocalypse report to come

Please stay tuned to a full report, with photos, from the front lines of the Cross-Ocalypse. Rest assured, there was much in the way of Euro-Pro stylings, in addition to much t'aint snapping on the course. Big thanks to Rich Pierce, those ICCC'ers who came out to help, and of course the City of Valley Park who also did a ton of work for the event!

In the meantime, watch this video, and ask yourself "Just how much should we try to emulate the Europeans?" (Focus on the dude who pops in around min :38, and the subsequent assistant who hands him a waterbottle)



-C.F. Ryback

20090101

I Bet Our New Years Day Was Moar Awesorme Than Yours - Council Bluff and Dos Primos!

Greetings Loyal Team Seagal Fan! When all else fails, improvise. Right? Right. So when other New Years Ride plans that had possible grand production value fell through, we at Team Seagal HQ were quick to act, and organize a trip to our old trustworthy friend, Council Bluff. (NOT Council Bluffs!) This trail nevar lets us down, even though some of us have been known to be let down on that trail due to many various reasons, i.e. broken frame, blown shock seals, cranks falling off, 8 flat tires in one ride, lost chainring bolts, and countless snapped t'aints. Today's stats were much more promising:

6 riders, 2 suspension forks, 3 different wheel sizes, 32 gears, 1 puking incident, and 0 mechanicals of any type. A nearly perfect winter ride.

It was an eclectic mix today. Nico on his recently-completed project, a 2006 Kona Unit with 650B wheels, which made for a nice segue when looking at Shop Gnome's 26" wheel and then panning your vision over to Gino's 29" wheel:
In addition to Nico, we had Shop Gnome, Mason Storm, an appearance by Mason's brother Forrest Taft, Gino Felino, and then myself - Casey Ryback. Thank Energor.

Speaking of Shop Gnome, today's ride marked his glorious return to the dirt where he belongs. As you might recall, our hero had an unfortunate encounter with the ground (or moar specifically, his collarbone did) which left him off of two wheels for a long time, and left him without moar than a handful of rides on his 1st mountain bike frame that he fucking built himself! The first ride with his race-ready spec - truly a proper dirt-baptism: The part of the story that you don't hear though is how even though he broke his collarbone, the piece of ground that was impacted by said collarbone is now a huge crater. See for yourself: link

The way down was nearly as interesting as the ride itself, what with Nico finding treasure in the Shell Station bathroom stall:

Having made our way onto 21, we soon found that future trips to Council Bluff will be a few minutes quicker now that 21 is 4 lanes all the way to Rt. B (another 8 miles) AND that it is quicker to take 21 straight to C instead of jogging over in Potosi to Hwy. P and then taking THAT to C.

Whatever. Anyway, the excitement of this new-found route, coupled with Mason and I discussing in depth the finer points of gruesome execution videos and serial killers, proved to be a little too much for young Forrest Taft - he managed to have immensely powerful projectile vomit out of my moving car's window as we were making the turn to Hwy DD. Upon stopping the car, we found that none of the vomit had actually touched my car! It is because of this the he'll never again have raspberry-flavored energy bars chased with a Kit Kat. Unfortunately, no photos were recovered, though the Gino/Nico/Gnome car following behind had front-row seats.

Arriving at the trailhead, we proceeded to be confronted with a stiff wind coming off of the lake, which caused us to dress a little warmer than we might have needed. No matter, because the Strudel of Hate that we were baking was ready to be unleashed in a furious assault of death and destruction that would be completely encircling the lake. No one would be spared, not even this "BOD" (Beagle of Death) that we randomly encountered on the trail, and then proceeded to latch itself onto our pain-train:

Here, we had to take a small break to re-calibrate our Fists of Pain:

The Pain Train stopped just past the dam in order to hone its skills on a rock lift:



The trail was in slightly rough shape, with a some deadfall and deep leaf-pits, and maybe 2 trees for which to dismount. But it was all completely badass and a little on the crunchy side. If anything, it was actually pretty grippy, but not that fast. By the way, did I mention that we rode it the Rim Wrecker course, with a reverse Burnin' detour? That's right, we went up to the campgrounds and then DOWN the massive soul-crusher hill, which was a lot of fun. Would have been moar fun had we not had to dodge disgusting horse shit and hoof-marks for the rest of the trail. Fucking horses. Are they allowed on this trail?

From the trail:





The lulz didn't stop with Forrest's involuntary protein spill in the car though. Whilst laying waste to all within the campgrounds, we noticed a relic left over from an earlier battle in October which had taken place upon that very spot:

It wasn't long before our stomachs were on empty. Fortunately, we were nearly back at the vehicles. These vehicles would soon take us to what is collectively, our favorite restaurant - a Team Seagal Council Bluff standard:
DOS PRIMOS. The food here is ridiculously delicious, plentiful, and quickly prepared. We have literally NEVER had a bad meal there, and trust me, we have eaten MANY meals there. When you go, which you are now sure to do, order the Dos Primos Dip. Then look at the Tapatio Bottle, and tell me that Nico doesn't look like the dude on the label:


Finally, another question to ponder: why would McDonalds attach a smaller sign to larger sign?

Was this an add-on that they decided the original sign needed in order to be more visible, or was this originally erected as a double-sign? What the hell does the small sign do that the big sign doesn't? I mean, did they think that it wasn't recognizable without having the word "McDonald's" on the big sign? If so, there is plenty of space for it! Those questions are inconsequential, however. We think that if they're going to attach smaller signs to larger signs, why not REALLY make this shit stand out?:
It only makes sense.

Happy New Year, and you had better fucking be at The Crossocalypse. Expect to a barrage of Nerf arrows, you sonofabitch.

-C.F. Ryback

For full photos from the ride, here's the link.

20081226

Trivia Time!

Greetings loyal Team Seagal Fan! We hope you had a satiating and lucrative Christmas filled with family and food, not filled with broken glass windows, snapped wrists, and explosions. Much like "The Bob's" speaking to Lumberg about Peter in the movie "Office Space," we here at Team Seagal HQ don't think we've challenged you enough. Because of this, we have two pieces of homework for you - a multiple choice question, and a reading assignment.

1) From which Seagal movie did this short monologue come: (And for bonus points, include which former drill-instructor delivered the line?)

"My guy in DC tells me we are not dealing with a student here. We're dealing with a professor. Any time the military has an operation that can't fail they call this guy in to train the troops, okay? He's the kind of guy that would drink a gallon of gasoline so he could piss in your campfire. You could drop this guy off at the Arctic Circle wearing a pair of bikini underwear without his toothbrush and tomorrow afternoon he's gonna show up at your poolside with a million dollar smile and a fistful of pesos. This guy's a professional, you got me?"

A. Under Siege
B. On Deadly Ground
C. Fire Down Below
D. Under Siege 2: Dark Territory



2) Reading assignment - READ THIS BOOK:

Seagalogy By "Vern"



As of this writing this, I'm on chapter 6, and it might the best book I've ever read. Says New York Magazine: "We can't believe this actually exists, but the world is certainly a better place for it!" I think that this should be the Official Team Seagal Handbook. Systematic and ironically hilarious overview of each of Seagal's movies, plus a liberal use of both footnotes and the word "fuck" make for a must-read. This book gets a 10-out-of-10 Snapped Wrists rating. In fact, I plan on attempting to get this "Vern" guy to join our team on an honorary basis. Interesting note: Amazon has the new versions cheaper than the used ones. Buy this book, or be forever floating in a vast sea of direction-less confusion

Merry Christmas.

-C.F. Ryback

20081221

"'Twas the Night Before CXmas" - A Poem by C.F. Ryback

Twas the night before CXmas, and all through my head
were visions of times past, snapped wrists and potheads.
The gifts were wrapped in Mason's Element with care:
In hopes that tomorrow's racer's would find them easy to ensnare.


I was nestled all snug in my bed,
when that @%$#ing 6AM alarm made me wish I were dead.
With the temperature as low as a lizard's ballsack:
I packed my shit up and headed for near the 3 smokestacks.


When out on the trail there arose such a clatter,
For I found Mason and Gino, and I said "What's the matter?"
One said "It's so cold that I have a frozen eyelash!"
So I carried on with them, my teeth soon to gnash.


The creativity on our team is truly something to behold,
for I can always be amazed, even when ice cold.
When what in front of my eyes did I find,
but the CXmas spokecard, which promptly blew my f***ing mind:



With a trunk full of gifts that looked very epic:I knew that the racers would carry them right-quick.
We also had a plan more devilishly messed
a full case of egg-nog for them to ingest:



With Nico in his moo-moo and Pierce in his suit,
Our point to lift their spirits was certainly not moot.
All Gino's planning came down to this,
a short racer's meeting and then to the trail they'd be dismissed!


Now Trail Monster! now, Ryan! now, Doctor and Mitch!
On Nick! and Dust! on Stephanie and Rich!
Through the fire roads of Klondike, and now onto the Katy!
You'll warm up quickly as you ride up Terry!



The Terry Road hill warmed them up but hurt just the same,
Though Duke wasn't much solace - it was equally lame.
Descending Matson they were certainly not snails,
but then it was a left, back onto the Katy Trail.


At the base of the Hamburg we did give them a challenge,
drink this egg-nog from which Aldi's we scavenged.
The slower riders though, I'm sure were displeased,
but the longer we stayed there, our egg-nog did freeze!



After stuffing their bellies chock full of nog,
up Hamburg and through Lost Valley they did have to slog.
Some barriers and big hills they did find,
before crossing 94 and facing more of our design.


We gave them a present and down the Katy they flew,
wrapped gift in their arms, they thought us cuckoo.
With the wind in their face, they made a B-line,
Armed with superior attitude and superior state of mind.


They left the gifts at the barriers we made,
so professional they looked, you probably thought they weren't homemade!
Only a mile or two left in their ride,
no one thought it to be some weak-sauce joyride.


It didn't take long after the barriers to complete,
the ride which they started seemingly earlier in the week!
Fortunately for them what waited at the end,
was comfortably hot and surrounded by friends!



Our cold weather battle wasn't over just yet,
some beers sprouted a frozen-mega head!


It didn't really matter, as we found a new game,
Huffy Toss - hopefully no one would get maimed!




The Innaugural CXmas Champion (Nick), whose name's now immortalized,
will hopefully return next year - that's what we advise.
The rest of the night was spent hanging with our buds,
Launching Huffy parts, much like Iraqi SCUDS:



All in all 27 people came to ride, (results LINK)
Though not all finished, they helped spread the yuletide!
Even more badasses came to help, and for that we are grateful,
may your digits thaw quickly - the feeling is mutual!


And a huge thanks to our sponsors we must certainly shout,
Kona, Pabst, The Hub, Elete - you really helped us out!

And to all you other riders out there who were scared of the pain,
Just don't forget...we make it rain!


-C.F. Ryback

*There will be more reports and photos to come, but for now, see my photos here - link*

CXMAS Results!

First off thanks to everyone who made this event happen, the racers, my teammates, dave and company with PBR, the Hub, other volunteers, those that came after the race was over to drink free beer...

Here are the results, as best as my cold hands could record them:
  1. Nick Bennett, huffy toss-off champion
  2. Devin Clark
  3. The Doctor
  4. Mitch Johnson
  5. Ryan Heine
  6. Rock Wamsley
  7. Anthony Dust
  8. Nico Toscani
  9. Greg Ott
  10. Bryan Adams
  11. Scott Melies
  12. Rich Pierce
  13. Mark Rothstein
  14. Michael Rawitscher
  15. Chris Saxton
  16. Andy Berger
  17. Pete Goode
  18. Bob Jenkins
  19. Stephanie McCreary
  20. Nick Smith
  21. Chris Bopp
  22. Greg B., winner of "Superior Attitude, Superior State of Mind" Award
Victims of the cold ass feet affliction:
  • Jim Davis
  • Wendy Davis
  • John Farinella
  • Scott Nelson
  • Matt Schweiker
Let me know of any misspellings or if you know you finished in front of so and so. I didn't have the best finish laid out, and missed a couple while trying to get the fire going, prizes out, etc. You all need me to get that right so you've got bragging rights that last until next CXMAS.

There are many more detailed posts soon to come, upon full thawing of participants' fingers.

20081219

Cold Is Just a State of Mind

Looks like the forecast for CXMAS on Sunday has settled on between ridiculously, unbelievably cold and "be careful sticking those hand warming packets down your shorts" cold. The course will have plenty to offer to keep you working and that temperature up. If that's not enough take a lesson from Steven Seagal and remember that the right outer garment can make all of the difference.


See you at the start line.

-Gino

20081218

We're in Cyclocross Magazine! Well, sorta...

This section was, the most badass section of the coursek, the RR tie run-up. It was a true gauntlet of cheering!

*****CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO SEE THE ENTIRE SPREAD*****

(both taken from cxmagazine.com, link)

Alright, I'll be the one to say that his chamois is awesorme. Don't tell me you weren't thinking it. C'mon - plaid!

This dude cleared the section, and was rewarded with thunderous cheering:


Those Mafia Racing dudes are totally "high speed," in more ways than one.



In other CXmas-related news, here is the Accuweather weekend forecast:


Dress warmly, and bring your PBR in a heated thermos! Hopefully we'll still have crunchy snow on the ground beneath our tires, carrying us to glorious victory.

-C.F. Ryback