Bucket of Links

Camping At Glidden Lake Fall 1998

I have a ridiculous amount of URLs taking over my dock.
Glidden pass is an area that I have hiked and biked around over the last 15 years. It is epic territory. I found this old web page detailing a mountain bike route in the area. I want to keep the place in mind for later this summer.
The other day I was at Auntie's book store perusing the magazine rack when I came across Wend. Wend is an outdoor rag from Portland. The magazine caught my eye because it had an all wool cycling fashion spread but I bought it because it had an article written by Mike Curiak. When I read the piece by Curiak I was a little disappointed. The story is an excerpt from Mike's forthcoming book about racing the Iditarod course to Nome by Bike. I am very much interested in the whole story but reading several pages about one harrowing moment when he was pinned down in a wind storm left me hot and bothered. The story is just getting good and it's over. If this bit of writing is any indication, the book will be worth buying.
While I was flipping through the Wend I was drawn to an ad for Nau, an outdoor clothing company from Portland. I know, how many rain jackets does the world need? Nau seems to understand that the outdoor clothing market is a vast sea of clones. Nau is not making clothes for activities as much as they are making clothes for active lifestyles. I am not entirely opposed to forking out some big ching for some quality but the lust inspiring Courier Windshirt costs more than I paid for a used MB-2. by the way, the best clothing purchase of the year was the Old Navy Cashmere sweater I have been wearing since January. $60 and soft as bunny farts.
I have also bookmarked iRule Moab shorts. I don't sport the spandex sausage casing all that much anymore but I see the value in these endurance specific models. The pockets on the thigh is a major selling point. I am through buying any pants, shorts or jackets that don't have pockets. I have bike clothes I don't wear because of the no pocket issue.
Speaking of pockets, I have been riding with the Ortleib messenger backpack for over two years now. It is rock solid piece of equipment that won't die but I am constantly bothered by the lack of exterior pockets. I added a Timbuk 2 iPod case to the strap but have avoided adding any more accessory pockets because of price and desire not to look like Batman. I think it is safe to say that regardless of the who the person is or what backpack they have, the world is a better place when there are elastic net pockets on the sides of backpacks.
One company that has figured this out is Wingnut. I will be buying their Adventure 2006 pack sometime soon. I was holding out for the 2007 but it does not look like there will be a newer model.
I love the Brooks Team Pro saddle on my Hakkalugi. It is the most comfortable saddle I have ever had and I like the fact that I won't need to replace it ever. Hopefully. Now there is a company in Wisconsin that is trying to improve the Brooks saddle concept. I can't figure out if they improved the century old design or ruined it. Either way I not putting a Brooks on my new mountain bike. I have not done any off road with the brooks and can't imagine that 16 hours of my sit bones against that rawhide is going to be a good thing.
Dave N. saw that I was spec'ing outboard bearings crankset from RaceFace. I already had intended to upgrade the bearings to Phil Woods after next winter but he sent a link to Enduro. They look like a good upgrade option.