Many of us heard today about our fallen comrade. Rossage was an absolute original – a passionate, skilled and fit rider who always brought stoke to a ride. Despite becoming more solitary in his riding, he made a mark on this crew of riders, and many others I’m sure.

Condolence to Lea and their families. And to everyone who rode with or knew Ross.

Many of us heard today about our fallen comrade. Rossage was an absolute original – a passionate, skilled and fit rider who always brought stoke to a ride. Despite becoming more solitary in his riding, he made a mark on this crew of riders, and many others I’m sure.

Condolence to Lea and their families. And to everyone who rode with or knew Ross.

An update, in case some of you may have noticed a lessening in participation on my part. I’m working through the fact that I have to dial back on how hard I can push it on the bike. For those who don’t know, I have a bicuspid aortic valve; something I was born with and can’t do anything about. Found out about it in 2016.

Not trying to be mysterious – had the overdue fol...

11 rides in and several adjustments made, so it's time for a separate review thread. I've made a lot of comments in my ride reports along the way, but I'll try to sum it up here.

First - the bike:
This is a 2025 Revel Rascal V2 - XL in Pinot Gnar (dark purple). It is a semi-custom build based on trading in my Ritual (which I also reviewed).


The ...

I enjoyed the following and secretly wish we still used them:

Bar ends. Yes they look funny now, and they would be horribly dangerous on today's wide bars, but damn I loved them for climbing. Pulling towards my hips was much better than pulling up.

Rapid Rise derailleur (Top Normal). OK first off, when do you want the lightest, quickest shifting -...