Great Green Goblins

Back in March, I was accepted to be part of the Airborne Flight Crew. In April I was given an all expense trip to California to attend Sea Otter and partake in a photo shoot. It was such an amazing experience that it took several posts to get it all out there. In case you missed something.......

Photoshoot

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Race Day

The first week of May a huge box was delivered to my door. It contained my very own Goblin. I wanted to tear into that box and put it together. I had waited patiently for this bike and now I wanted to get to know it. Regrettably, I had to push the box into a corner. I had three single speed races in May and really needed to ride my ss. There was so much rain , I only managed a handful of rides.

California

The third week of May I built my Goblin. I opened the box, within a box, to find the frame and wheels smothered in bubble wrap, cardboard, and foam. I have never seen anything like it. Zip ties everywhere. This bike was packed so well I think it could have fallen from the freight plane and not sustained any damage. I did have pictures of the unwrapping and the build, unfortunately , my Iphone took on some water and was destroyed. Check out this awesome video from FC member Brent Davidson.

I have never put a bike together, so I was very relieved to see that Airborne did 80% of it for me. Hell, they even inflated the tires. Who does that? About 20 minutes later I had successfully put it together. All by myself! Now all I needed was for Mother Nature to cut me a break. Here in the Midwest, trails have been closed more often than open.I have been forced to ride the road, a lot of road . I had been training for the June DK200 , and there I would be using my cross-bike. I had been looking forward to this race, but also wanted it over so I could begin my relationship with the ' new guy ' in the stable. All the followed was more rain, trail closures, and frustration. I planned an epic with the Goblin, had a sitter for the day. Yep, you guessed it. Buckets of Rain. Several races have been cancelled to prevent trail damage. I would much rather build new trail than repair trail damaged by some thoughtless riders.

I also had eye surgery this week and am recovering well. I hope the Dr. lets me loose to ride sooner than 2 weeks. Breaking in the Airborne Goblin will be a pleasure. All mine. I have decided that I will run this bike exactly the way it came out of the box. Well, except for one adjustment, adding Ergon grips and bar ends. I want to see how this bike holds up without making any upgrades. I want to see how it performs after some long rides and how it will handle my abuse and MO trails. I like the Kenda small block 8's and plan to run them as much as I can. They are not my fave choice for every trail or trail condition tho.

As soon as I am released to ride I will hop on the Goblin. Gears are cool, lots of choices. I will now have choices! It's kinda funner to be faster sometimes. I have been adapting with one gear for a while now. I am thinking about doing some races on it. Watch out local experts. HaHa I know I have a ways to go. I am confident that 'his green-ness' will be the bike to take me there. I ride because I want to be better, and because it's fun. It's also fun to get better and podium once in a while.