Bicycle Industrial Complex

My last post of 2021. Road bikes; Disc Brakes v Rim Brakes

2021-12-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

In the interest of full disclosure, my experience with disc brakes on road bikes is extremely limited. Several years ago I got a chance to ride a bike that had some prototype DuraAce disc brakes and that’s about it.

That said, I’ve ridden many mountain bike disc brakes including the Mountain Cycles cable activated hydraulic disc brakes, several different generations of Hayes brakes, a set of Grimeca-made disc brakes that said “Shimano” on them, a variety of Avid brakes, both hydraulic and cable activated and several Tektro cable activated disc brakes.

The adoption of road disc brakes has been controversial. Proponents say that discs have better wet-weather performance and, in theory, they are less prone to fading on long dissents and they don’t take a lot of hand pressure to activate.

The cons are they often can’t be used with older bikes, they are heavier, they add complexity, they can leak or get contaminated, they are subject to planned obsolescence, and brake pads aren’t universal.

Rim brakes are lighter, modern high-power dual pivot caliper brakes can be used on some older bikes, except for some carbon fiber rims brake pads are generally universal, and most of them are easy to set up. However, some rim brakes are horrible and are terrifying even in dry conditions and ride on moderate terrain, some rim brakes suffer from a significant drop in performance during wet weather or when heated by friction on long dissents.

Another bone of contention is through-axle quick releases (QRs). Some modern road bikes come with similar quick-release mechanisms found on modern mountain bikes while others still come with more conventional quick-release mechanisms. While you can make the argument that through-axle quick releases are safer because once they are secured in place they are difficult to remove, the flip side to that is, if the wheel needs to be removed in a hurry, like during a race, they are slower to remove and more precision is needed to install them correctly.

Adding further complications there isn’t a universal standard for through-axle QRs.

Conventional quick releases are lightweight, they are generally simple to use, and they are more or less universal. However, they aren’t without their shortcomings. Some quick releases don’t close with enough force to secure the axle and can slip or even fall out of the dropouts (I’m talking about you crap-tastic external cam design QRs), “lawyer tabs” can impede quick wheel changes and some designs were fiddly.

For the most part, I think rim brakes and internal cam QRs work plenty fine, especially on moderate terrain and during fair weather. If a rider is familiar with proper braking techniques then I don’t see much of a reason for anything more powerful than a set of well-maintained rim brakes with a broken-in set of brake pads.

However, for heavier, more aggressive riders, riders that ride during wet weather or who ride on steep hills at a high rate of speed, the benefits of disc brakes come into play.

Q: Can I give you an accurate recommendation?

A: Realistically? Probably not.

If you're an experienced rider, nothing I will say will make any difference.

However, if you're just getting your toes wet with new technologies, make the effort to go to several shops, ask a lot of questions, ride a bunch of bikes. If you don't like the vibe of the shop or anything they are selling, go somewhere else. That may not always be an option but that's my recommendation.

Ideally, I’d love to see a high-quality cable-activated disc brake that offered stopping power comparable to a hydraulic brake. I’d love to see a cable-activated disc brake that used commonly available brake pads. However, I’m pro-through-axle QRs.

Several years ago I had a catastrophic failure involving a quick release that resulted in a sizable hospital bill so I’m willing to put up with some of the
idiosyncrasies of a through-axle just to have that peace of mind.

Q: Can I predict what will happen next?

A: Not in the slightest.

However, I have a feeling that road bikes are going through some changes just like mountain bikes did. If you’re of a certain age mountain bikes started with coaster brakes, and some early bikes used caliper brakes, then they moved to cantilevers followed by a period of different rim brakes like U-cams and roller cams, then back to cantilevers, and before disc brakes upset the high-end market, high leverage V-brake-style cantilevers ruled the mountain bike world.

After much experimentation, and failures things have largely sorted themselves out.

As far as road bikes go, we may see a similar division we do with mountain bikes - high-end bikes have disc brakes and low-end bikes will use rim brakes.

Specialty builders will make high-end road bikes with rim brakes on request but mass-produced ones will come with discs.

I doubt road bike rim brakes will completely disappear but they won’t represent the majority of the market.

Rivendell’s Gus Boots Willsen is an example of a design that still soldiers on even when the industry has gone in another direction. The Gus Boots Willsen is a long-wheelbase rigid steel hardtail without any allowances for disc brakes so it’s an oddity for a bike made in the 2020s but whatever floats your boat.

Ride what you like but don’t bash people for not riding what you like.

Time Off

2021-10-18T15:24:00.003-07:00

I've been extremely negligent with my upkeep of Bicycle Industrial Complex (BIC).

My absence is due to the fact I felt that I didn't have anything to say and partly because I haven't been able to do any riding after COVID hit.

Sure, I've been to the hospital several times during the pandemic but fortunately, none of my visits were as a result of an emergency. However, I know several people that had gone to the emergency room, and everything about being in an ER has been impacted by COVID because of delays, medical staff burnout, and lack of beds in some areas.

As a cyclist, I've been afraid more times than I can count and you can say that the natural state of being a cyclist is being afraid. Learning how to ride without training wheels is scary. Riding in traffic is scary. Having people threaten your life while riding is terrifying.

However, cycling is liberating, fun, empowering, frustrating, dangerous, empowering, challenging, and exciting.

Now, we can add winding up in an emergency room during a pandemic.

I'm not so concerned about being injured. I've been seriously injured while riding. I don't like it but it is part of cycling. However, I'm concerned by the fact that if I'm in the ER, it will take personnel and services away from people that are seriously ill or dying.

Being a cyclist means having to constantly weigh a risk/reward benefit right now, I've weighed my risk vs rewards, and, for the moment, I feel my risks outweigh my rewards.

Do look forward to hitting the trails again? Hell-to-the-yeah I am. I'm going stir crazy. My mental and physical health has been in a decline since the pandemic.

Someday, I hope to see you out and about.

It depends on the money. It all depends on the money.

2020-04-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

Brandus Extinctus

Several years ago I was involved in a project to bring an extinct bike company back to life.

In the interest of everyone involved, I’m going to leave out the names of any individual that was involved with the project and I’ll only speak in general terms if a second person was involved.

Back when 29” ers were still new one of the first 29” ers I saw was a cruiser-inspired titanium bike hanging up in a tradeshow booth. I must say when I first saw it, my heart went pitter-pat.

A couple of years later I was writing an article for a magazine with two of the co-founders of the bike company. The guys were cool, we had some lunch together and we talked about the bikes and our conversation became the basis of the first draft of an article I submitted to my editor.

Shortly thereafter I spoke with my editor and I was asked to do some follow-through questions. I contacted the partners and after asking some follow-through questions it became evident the guys had folded their company and had no plans to go back into production.

As far as I was concerned that was the end of the story.

Or so I thought.

Months after killing the story I got an email from one of the partners asking where the story was and I said I killed the story. Needless to say they were upset and they said they were depending on the story to drum up support for the company so they could go back into production but they added they wanted to meet and talk things over.

We met.

One meeting became many.

Many meetings became an offer to partner up to relaunch the company.

I was loaned a bike so I could become familiar with the product and I was asked for my feedback in ways I thought it could be improved.

For the record, the bike rode great, it climbed well, and for a rigid big-wheeled bike, it handled chopped up trails well too but the bike industry had gone through some major changes since the bike’s original design.

After working on the project for several of months I became frustrated by my “partner’s” inability to honour the dates we set up for meetings, and their unwillingness to commit to simple things as drafting a mission statement.
At some point, I came to the sad conclusion that the relaunch wasn’t going to happen.

In light of current events, I’m somewhat relieved.

The amount of money needed to do a big launch with bikes we could get in the hands of even a small number of stores would have been enormous.

While our business plan would have included both brick and mortar sales it’s possible we would be sitting on a lot of inventory right now and I’m sure that we would have had to file for bankruptcy at some point.

If an opportunity like this rolled around again would I jump on it?

It depends on the money.

It all depends on the money.

Would you marry them and have kids together?

2019-01-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

If you’re willing to grab a drink I’ve got a story for you.

Several years ago I was in the process of re-launching my writing and I was pitching some story ideas to a well-known bike magazine.

One of the stories I wanted to write was about one of the very first 29”er only companies.

My editors said they liked the idea so I hired a photographer, went for a ride with one of the founders of the company and later had lunch with the second half of the company.

My first indication that something was wrong was when I contacted the person they said was going to be fabricating some titanium frames for these guys. When I got them on the phone they said they wanted to keep their name out of the story and didn’t want to be associated with this company.

Whoa…

Okay…

The second was when I asked the two partners when we could expect to see some new product and they said they didn’t have anything in the works.

That seemed to be it then so I called my editor and said I was killing the story because there wasn’t a story.

Or so I thought.

A couple of months passed and I got an IM on Facebook from someone I didn’t recognize. As it turned out it was one of the partners I had interviewed a couple of months previously.

He said he wanted to talk over the phone so I blasted him my number and sometime later I got a call.

He wanted to know where the story was and I told him there wasn’t going to be a story because there wasn’t any company.

He got a little hot under the collar and said he was banking on that story to get the company rolling again.

After he cooled down he said he wanted to meet again.

We met, grabbed some coffee, talked a bit and things seemed fine.

As we were wrapping things up he said that he wanted to get to get together again but next time we were going for a ride.

One ride turned into many and many rides turned into many conversations and those conversations eventually lead to him asking me if he wanted to come on board and become a new partner.

I hated my day job and I didn’t have anything else on the horizon so I figured, what the heck. I knew the industry pretty well and we seemed to have complementary skill sets.

Afterward, we rode and rode, and we talked and talked.

During my off time, I did some research concerning angel investors, logistics, business plans, mission statements and, something wacky called a contract.

Every time I tried to pin him down about those things he became evasive and promised we'd talk about them during our next ride.

So we rode and rode, and talked and talked and talked some more.

I was spending so much time doing this my wife started to worry that nothing was going to come out of this. My wife is uncannily smart and she suggested I talk to my sister-in-law.

I talked to my sister-in-law because she’s been through several business programs and she suggested I call up some of my partner’s acquaintances and ask them about their experience with my partner.

I phoned one of my partner’s former co-workers and asked about my partner and they had some positive things to say about him.

But when I told my partner about the call he got very upset and I had to spend some time talking him down.

That.

Was.

Not.

Normal.

My tilting point came when I went for a ride with my partner and went for our final ride together.

We took off and we were riding along a singletrack I started gabbing away and after a bit, I realized I was alone.

I rode back to the trailhead calling the partner’s name because he could have had a mechanical issue.

He was nowhere to be found.

I rode to the parking lot.

His car was gone.

I loaded my bike onto my truck and drove to his house.

I knocked on his door, rang his bell, and called both his cellphone and landline.

Nothing.

At that point, I was done.

Sure, I had some good rides in but as far as business went, it detonated before it hit the launch pad.

So… Here’s my point. There are plenty of business programs, and how-to books about how to start a business and they almost always say that starting a business is risky and starting one with a partner is even riskier.

If you do want to partner up, do your homework and don’t make the mistakes I did.

Here is what I learned:

1.   Get as much information about your prospective partner as you can.
2.   Do they have a solid financial history?
3.    Have they had multiple divorces?
4.    Do they have a police record?
5.    Can you stand being with each other for days or weeks at a time?
6.    How do they react during a crisis?
7.    Had they been in a partnership before?
8.    What happened?
9.    Do they have a history of success?
10. Do they have problems with drugs or alcohol?
11.   Would you marry them and have kids together?
12.   Never partner with an asshole.

While I was bummed that the whole venture crashed and burned I’m glad it did before I was deeply in debt and was burdened with inventory I couldn’t unload.

My biggest failing was I was engaged with my ego, and I acted emotionally, not intellectually.

Emotions are great when you’re in the flow during a ride, not so great when if you want to start a business.

For the Memory of Jeff Archer; A Somewhat Complete Timeline of early 29"er Development

2018-07-09T23:28:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I started writing about 29”er bikes.

Before his untimely death I had spoken to First Flight Bikes’ Jeff Archer about trying to piece together some left over notes in an attempt to make a coherent timeline charting the development of the modern 29”er.

I only got a chance to meet Jeff once at the hand built bike show in Sacramento and like many people in the bike world I was shocked and sadden by his death.

Since the bike museum's archive is no longer being updated I decided to repost my timeline here.

I know that after I handed this timeline off to Jeff he had since spoken to several people involved with the devleopment of the 29"er but since I don't have access to any of the updates I'm leaving this up here, warts and all.

The 28” wheel dates back to the 1880s and there were some early off road events and such as the Coconino Cycling Club races from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon in 1884. Apparently some of the Coconino riders were using 28” wooden rims.

Willits Brand Bicycles founder Wes Williams pointed out that up until the invention of the cruiser that 28” wheeled bikes were considered “adult” bikes while 26” wheel bikes were for children.

During my research I’ve found something of a general consensus that no “29”er” bike existed prior to Mark Slate scaling up the WTB Nano Raptor to fit on an ISO 622 (700c) rim.

Or was it?

There are big wheel off road progenitors that predate the 29”er by almost a century. Many of the 1880s era bicycles used 28” wheels and were ridden extensively off road, cyclocross bikes used ISO 622 (or 700c rims) and probably ISO 584 (or 650b) rims. In 1981 Geoff Apps had used ISO 622 rims for his “Range-Rider”.

John Finely Scott’s 1953 “Woodsie” used large diameter wheels, and so did Joe Bruman’s 1969 modified JC Higgins.

Bruce Gordon’s Rock ‘N Road, the Project series from Bianchi, the Overdrive from Diamondback and the Klein Adept all used ISO 622 rims.

During this time Wes, Bob Poor, and Sandy Hague called these bikes “28” bikes”. Other period choices could have been the Avocet Cross II, or 700c Panaracer Smokes.

I asked “Shiggy” (founder of MtbTires.Com) about the casing widths of early 26” mountain bike tires and this is what he said:

“…Usually 1.75 or 2.125". The Comp III being the most common. (In) 1982 Specialized sold the Stumpjumper 2.125, made by, and also sold by, National, which may have been an existing tire.”

If we average those casing widths the work out to be roughly 1.9375 and was probably pretty close to what every one was calling a 1.95.

Mathematically Geoff Apps may have a legitimate claim for being the father of the 29”er because the casing width for the 700 x 47 Nokian Hakkapeliita works out to be 1.85”; right in the middle of pre-existing mountain bike tires.

Bruce Gordon’s Rock ‘N Road, however, work out only to be 1.69291 placing it significantly under the size range of the tires Shiggy was talking about.

We can kind of rule out the Bianchi Project series as an pretender to the thrown because the Ritchey Crossbite tires some of the models came with were 700 x 38c (or 1.49606) or the Panracer Smoke at 700x 45 (or 1.77165) or their house brand Maxxis “Project” tires at the same casing width. The Diamondback Overdrive also used the 700x 45 Panaracer Smoke so that’s out of the running too.

Here’s where I think Wes may have legitimate claim. Wes and Bruce Gordon knew each other and in fact after Gary Helfrich taught Wes Williams how to weld titanium and Wes made several early titanium versions of Bruce’s Rock ‘N Road bikes starting in 1993.

It was Gary Helfrich who gave Bruce and Wes a cache of Hakkapeliita he had brought back from Europe in 1988. Bruce builds his first Rock N’ Road the same year.

After Bruce’s supply of Hakkapeliita tires had run out he hired Joe Murray to design what would become the Rock ‘N Road tire.

Both Bruce and Wes told me a similar story and that is at a certain point Bruce became frustrated with the Rock ‘N Road bike. Bruce had showed several bike industry people a version of the Rock ‘N Road that allowed a rider to easily switch the bar and stem on the bike from flat bars to drop bars and back.

Bruce Gordon told me, “If I were Gary Fisher or Scot Nicol and I showed that to people, people would be cleaning their shorts up afterwards. I guess I’m not cool”. Bruce also said he eventually handed the Rock ‘N Road project over to Wes Williams to see if he could do anything with it.

Wes Williams told me that one of the things that frustrated him about taking on the flat bar, 700c all terrain bike project was there wasn’t enough air volume in the existing tire choices.

He also said that the original idea for the 29”er was it enabled a rider to extend the range he could ride a bike by linking on road and off road trails in a way that would have been difficult to do with 26” bikes.

Wes also said he tried to approach Scot Nicol about the idea but apparently Scot was not interested.

I’ve since spoken to a high ranking person who still works at Ibis prior to their launch of their first 29”er bike, the Ripley, why hadn’t Ibis made a 29”er. They told me that Scot didn’t like 29”ers and said “They were the fixed gear bike of the off road world”.

Wes also said he’d take day trips to Wilderness Trail Bikes to try to convince them that they needed to make high volume, knobby, 700c tires.

At that time Charlie Cunningham expressed some interest in the idea because he had been riding 700c bikes off road for several years at that point. Initially Mark Slate had started as a frame-building apprentice of Steve Potts. Later Slate would become a full partner in Wilderness Trail Bbikes with Steve Potts and Charlie Cunningham.

Over the years Mark Slate had become WTB’s chief tire designer.

Wes would often meet with Slate to convince him of the need for these tires. Initially the tire project was stalled due to the financial department of the WTB.

Gary Fisher was also a frequent visitor to WTB so it’s possible that Mark Slate may have talked to Fisher about the project some time along the way.

It is also possible that Fisher wanted to revisit some old ideas that he tried exploring with Charlie Kelly and Geoff Apps and was unaware of Wes’ conversations with Slate.

In 1998, possibly with the promise of Fisher and Trek to buy more tires, WTB decides to okay a small number of 700c Nano Raptor tires.

I was told by a former WTB insider the reason why Slate decided to choose the Nano Raptor tire as the first high air volume 700c off road tire was that existing 26” Nano Raptor molds were flexible enough that they could be easily scaled up to a 700c size without having to make a new mold.

After the first batch of tires were made several were given to Gary Fisher, several were kept “in house” at WTB and some of the remainders were sent to Wes Williams who was now living in Colorado.

In 1999 Gary Fisher has WTB partner, Steve Potts make him several test bikes to try out the 700c versions of the NanoRaptor. The bikes below may also be the same frame but in different iterations.

That same year Mark Slate designed three frames to be made by Hodaka in Taiwan (pictured below) to serve as test beds for the new, larger version of the NanoRaptor.

Around the time Slate modified a 26” wheel frame that he made when he was apprenticing under Steve Potts. Slate modified the frame to fit the larger wheels and test the new NanoRaptors.

Who's On First?

Geoff Apps: Pros: If Apps would have been able to scale his production up to produce more than a handful of 700c Cleland bikes I think he could have made a legitimate claim of being the father of the 29”er.

Cons: Despite being first Apps small size and geographic isolation meant his impact in the US market would be minimal. Apps seems to have stopped developing his “Range-Rider/ Adventura” for the same why Kelly and Fisher weren’t able to go any further with developing a 650b or 700c mountain bikes, lack of finances and limited supply of tires.

Wes Williams: Pros: There’s a case for Wes largely due to his involvement with Bruce and the Rock ‘N Road. He also talked about meeting with Mark Slate independently of Gary Fisher. Wes had also pitched his tire idea to other companies including Kenda.

Cons: Lack of finances. Even if Wes was the first to pitch the idea to Slate without the money needed to produce prototypes tires it is unlikely the project would have gotten off the ground.

Gary Fisher: There’s also a case for Gary because there’s a long history of him riding road bikes and the fact he was talking to Geoff Apps from the UK during the early eighties and we have a paper trail of those correspondences. Lastly, since the early nineties Gary Fisher bikes had been part of Trek and I think it was the financial might of Trek that helped convince WTB to make the first batch of Nanos. As Klunkerz morphed from Frankenbike to mountain bike Gary really wanted to leapfrog making 26" wheeled mountain bikes and jump into either 650b or 29"ers. Gary has a strong road and cyclocross background so he knew the advantages that a 700c wheel had off road.

Cons: Wes Williams involvement with Bruce Gordon’s Rock N’ Road predates the development of the Nano by almost a decade.

Tom Ritchey: At one point Tom Ritchey claimed to have been the father of not only the mountain bike but 29”ers too.

Pros: Tom had been riding 700c bikes off road with Jobst Brandt prior to making mountain bikes. Tom was the principal frame builder for the Kelly and Fisher owned Mountain Bike company. Rictchey has also built a small number of 650b mountain bikes in the early ‘80s.

Cons: While there some remaining examples of his early 650b bikes (pictured above, June 1982 Bicycling magazine notice below) , the same can’t be said for a 700c flat bar off road bike because there’s little evidence he made any 700c flat bar bikes in any quantity

Wes told me that the reason why Tom didn’t like 29”ers because Wes said, “I’m a stoner, and Tom is a born again, and that’s why Tom doesn’t like 29ers”.

Lastly I spoke with people who worked at Ritchey prior to the debut of the first Ritchey 29”er during the 2011 Austin North American Handmade Bike Show about 29”ers. They told me that you will never see a 29”er Ritchey because, “Tom doesn’t believe in the format”.

Charlie Cunningham: Charlie was a founding member of Wilderness Trail Bikes with Steve Potts and Mark Slate. Prior to forming WTB Cunningham had made several 700c off road bikes.

Pros: Charlie’s "Expedition" bikes which were 27" front / 700c rear and which he rode on trails with 35c tires. Most people today would look at this as a bike more akin to CX or MX.

Charlie is some times credited as being the man who designed the Specialized Ground Control tire.

Charlie worked on the original 26” Nano Raptor design. It's generally acknowledged that the 26" Phoenix was essentially Cunningham geometry on a bike make by Potts.

Charlie's "69'er" bike which started life as a suspension-corrected 26" Cunningham and he later built a special Type-II to hold a Panaracer Firecross 700x45c tire.

Cons: I have an eye witness that said Charlie Cunningham had seen the Mark Slate designed OX Brand Bicycle Mountain Cruiser 29”er prior to production.

Charlie commented that he thought it was a nice looking bike but Cunningham may have had little, if any, involvement with the design of the bike.

I had a personal friend of Charlie tell me directly that Charlie never made 29”er mountain bike prior to the limited number of bikes he made between 2011-13.

Steve Potts: Steve made several prototype 29”er frames for Gary Fisher to test pre production Nano Raptor 29”er tires. Apparently Steve even made an early 29”er frame for Doug White but I don’t have any confirmation concerning this.

Cons: Both Steve and Charlie are forced out of WTB in 2002 so if they had any design input it may have been minimal.

Don Cook: Don Cook wrote a two part article starting in a 2007 issue of Dirt Rag talking about his involvement in the development of the 29”er.

Cons: Please read Bob Poor’s unpublished letter to the editor concerning Cook’s Dirt Rag articles.

Vassago Cycles: Vassago claim have been intimately involved with development of the 29”er as well as being the first 29”er only company.

Cons: OX Brand Bicycle beat Vassago Cycles to the punch by nearly three years.

No one I have ever talked to has mentioned their involvement with the development of the 29”er.

Niner Bikes: Niner Bikes also claim to have been involved with the development of the 29”er as well as being the first 29”er only company too.

Cons: OX Brand Bicycle beat Niner Bikes to the market by two years.

No one I have ever talked to has mentioned their involvement with the development of the 29”er.

Ross Shafer: There has been some chatter on MTBR about Ross’ involvement with 29”ers.Pros: Ross and Salsa Cycles shared a common wall with Bruce Gordon Bicycles for many years and as such he was probably aware of some of the projects Bruce had been working on.

Cons: Ross has repeatedly said, “Leave me out of this”.

Timeline

1882, Thomas B. Jeffery, a bicycle manufacturer and inventor, gets a patent for an early precursor of the clincher tire.

1884, Coconino Cycling Club organizes a series of off road bicycle races that lasts until 1897. The race starts in Flagstaff and makes a 70mile route to the Grand Canyon. Many of the riders use 28” wheeled wooden rimmed bikes. During the Pullman rail strike Arthur C. Banta delivers mail from San Francisco to the Fresno with eight primary riders. The route was 210 miles and was divided into eight relays lasting 18 hours each.

1885, John Kemp Starley, designs the first successful “safety bicycle” with equal sized wheels and a chain to drive the rear wheel.

1886, The 25th Infantry Corps “Buffalo Soldiers” tests bicycles for military use for the US. The final test in 1887 went from Ft Missoula Montana to St Louis Missouri. The bicycles used all had 28” wheels.

1888, John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish veterinarian, develops the first pneumatic tire for his son’s tricycle. Dunlop’s tire consisted of a leather hosepipe as an inner tube and had an outer rubber tire with treads.

1898, Spanish-American War. First recorded use of bicycles used during warfare. Lt. Moss of the 25th Infantry Corp uses bicycle mounted “Buffalo Soldiers” to quell riots in Cuba.

1899, Anglo-Boer War. Bicycles used by couriers and spies for the first time in warfare. Many soldiers use 28” wheeled Birmingham Small Arms Co. (BSA) bicycles.

1890, Amos Sugden starts riding his bicycle off road in the English Lake District. CTC Gazette writes an article concerning Sugden’s adventures.

1893, August and George Schrader invent an improved valve to keep air in the tire.

1902, French soldier named Daniel Gousseau organized the first National cyclocross Championships.

1905, Vernon Blake experiments with “bad road” bikes and is an early adaptor of the derailleur and uses “flat” handlebars on his bicycle to ride unapproved roads during the late 1920’s.

1911, Philip Strauss invents the combination tire that consisted of an inner tube and a separate outer rubber tire.

1933, Schwinn produces the B10E a 26” x 2 1/8 wheel recreational bike but still produces the #R Racer using 28x 1 1/8 tires.
Later, old Schwinns would be converted klunkerz by riders in Northern California.
Horace Dall becomes the first man to cross Iceland by bicycle.

1938, Rene Herse begins to manufacture aluminum bicycle components and by 1940 he produces complete bicycles. Herse’s designs and components allow riders to ride both on road as well as off. Apparently his bikes used 650b wheels.

1950, The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) sanctions first Cyclocross World Championships.

1951, a group of teen-agers in and around Paris began modifying old bicycles by adding suspension forks on them and riding the bikes off road. Bicycles were mostly 650b wheeled bikes but it seems they modified whatever they could get their hands on. The club lasted only to 1956.

1953, John Finely Scott modifies his road bike with fat tires and flat handle bars as a college student in Oregon and calls it a “Woodsie” bike. Scott is the first outside investor for Mountain Bike in 1979 with Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly.

1955, W M “Wayfarer” Robinson founds the English Rough Stuff Fellowship (RSF). “Wayfarer” wrote articles and gave lectures expounding the importance of exploring areas off road on a bicycle as early as 1919. The Rough Stuff Fellowship is still in existence and membership is not limited to cyclist only riding a specific style of bike or wheel size.

1967, Joe Bruman modifies an old JC Higgins frame and adds a suspension he made himself and explores the foot trails of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. This bike is part of the MOMBAT collection and can be viewed HERE.

John Olsen also modifies a road bike frame and constructs his own suspension fork in Minnesota. The bike was unusual because it used a 26” wheel in the front and a 20” in the rear. Olsen also experimented with using derailleurs on his bike but with less than satisfying results. This bike is part of the MOMBAT collection and can be viewed HERE.

1972, Riders in Marin County, including Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly, began riding old 26” wheel “newspaper boy” bikes off road.

1974, Members of the Morrow Dirt Club had started modifying WWII era 26” bikes with rim brakes and derailleurs so they could ride off road with them.

Russ Mahon and members of the Morrow Dirt Club drive up from Cupertino CA to Mill Valley CA to ride the West Coast Cyclocross Championships.

Nokian starts producing bicycle tires and tubes in Lieksa Finland

1975, the first American national cyclocross championships take place in Berkeley California.

1976, Craig Mitchell makes Charlie Kelly his first purpose built off road frame and fork.

Fist Pearl Pass Tour. A group of riders from Crested Butte Colorado take their single speed “newspaper boy” bikes up and over the Pearl Pass to Aspen Colorado.

1977, Joe Breeze builds Charlie Kelly his second purpose built mountain off road frame and fork.

1978, “CoEvolution Quarterly” writes an article documenting the Pearl Pass ride.

California klunker riders drive across the country and Pearl Pass becomes a meeting place where bikers could exchange ideas.

1979, Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly start the first mountain bike company, Mountain Bike.

Tom Ritchey builds many early Mountain Bike frame and forks for Fisher and Kelly.

Fisher, Kelly and Apps also discuss the possibility of using 700 x 47 Nokian Hakkapeliita tires as an alternative to 26” wheels.

Fisher and Kelly correspond with British mountain bike pioneer, Geoff Apps about wheel size options.

Fisher was unhappy with the performance he was getting from 26” wheels he eventually convinces Tom Ritchey to produce a handful of 650b mountain bike frames in the early ‘80’s.

Ritchey produces a small number of frames under his own too but the project comes to a halt due to the lack of reliable availability of both 650b and 700 x 47 tires.

Victor Vincente of America experiments with a 20” geared off road bike called the Topanga.

Topanga #2 is part of the MOMBAT collection and can be viewed HERE.

1981, Geoff Apps makes a prototype Cleland off road bicycle called “The Range-Rider” in the UK.

Later be called “The Adventura”, “The Range-Rider” was designed to accommodate 700 x 47 Hakkapeliita tires.

After a frame building apprenticeship with both Joe Breeze and Charlie Cunningham Scot Nicol started making his own frames under the Ibis name.

1983, Scot Nicol (founder of Ibis) meets Wes Williams (founder of Willits Brand Bicycles) for the first time during a Pearl Pass ride.

1984, Wes Williams moves to California to work with Scot Nicol and becomes Scot’s first employee.

1988, Bruce Gordon builds the Rock ‘N Road and Joe Murray develops a tire of the same name for Bruce Gordon can no longer get any more Nokian Hakkapelitta tires from Europe.

Bruce hires Joe Murray to design the Rock ‘N Road tire.

1991, Bianchi introduces the Project Series.

Bianchi sponsors rider Joe Blanco and gives him a Project Series bike to race. Bianchi features Joe Blanco in a catalog shoot.

Joe Blanco referred to the Project Series as a “cheater bike” and said that people were all ready modifying cyclocross bikes with flat handlebars prior to the release of the Project Series.

1992, Klein introduces a 700c, flat handle bar, off road orient bike called “The Adept” in limited numbers.

Dave Weins rides a 700c Diamondback Overdrive at the Cactus Cup.

Early 29”er style bikes were hampered by poor tires and were not received well by the riding public.

Wes Williams modifies an old Motobecane frame for off road use.

1994, Wes Williams leaves Ibis bicycles and starts his one bike company, Crested Butte (eventually renamed Willits Brand Bicycles).

1998, Mark Slate WTB starts design work and requests work order for prototype 700c versions of the Nan Raptor.

Colorado frame builder, Don McClung starts making his retro inspired single speed 29”er bikes.

Prior to 1998, McClung and Don Rust make a number of experimental 26” wheel bikes called “The Shorty” due to their extremely short wheel base length.

1999, Moots makes their first 29”er, the Mooto-X YBB

2000, Snarl Shlemowitz of Vicious Cycles makes his first 29”er bike, the Motivator.

Dirt Rag writes an article about the emerging 29”er trend.

2002, Gary Fisher (Trek) introduces the first mass produced 29”er mountain bikes.

Mark Slate and partners produce a small number of steel and titanium frames under the name OX Brand Bicycles.

Bernie Mikkelsen made the OX steel frames in the US (pictured above)and the titanium frames and forks were made by Xi’AN Chagda Titanium Products Co. in China (pictured below).

Surly release the Karate Monkey.

2004, Niner starts as a 29”er only company

2007, Don Cook writes a two-part story about the history of 29”er bikes for Dirt Rag.

Bikes are fun but just because they are fun that’s not a reason to get burned

2018-07-03T16:44:00.001-07:00

Several years ago I was asked to help relaunch an extinct bike company. The project sounded like a good idea because as innovative as the original inception of the company was it was underfunded and poorly marketed.

One of the people involved with the company was keen to get the project off the ground again and we spent a lot of time hammering out a mission statement and started doing market projections and we tried assess how much money we needed to get things off the ground.

As things were moving along my sister-in-law caught wind of this project and said before I signed any paperwork, before I spent dime one on this I should phone this guy’s former coworkers and business partners and most importantly look to see if I could find any court and police records concerning my potential business partner.

I grumbled a bit but I started digging around and found court records that my potential partner was the plaintiff in several lawsuits, each of which he lost.

In my search I also found some records pertaining to his divorce and liens he had against him.

Another red flag was he was currently suing his former employer for back wages but the lawyer he hired had no experience in that sort of suit. The trial went badly for him. "Bad" isn't the right term so I'm going with "catastrophically wrong".

My ”partner” had to pay for all of the court costs, had to agree to a twenty plus year long NDA and he had to destroy any intellectual property he may still have related to his tenure with his former employer.

Theoretically this meant that all of the blueprints my “partner” had obtained at his last job, any and all private communications with his former employer, he couldn’t have any contact with any current or former employees of said company.

Without the blueprints, without the brand name we had nothing. Given what the court records said, I didn’t want to move forward with the venture either.

Years later I was contacted by my “partner’s” former coworker and he forwarded an article. The article detailed my “partner’s” history of substance abuse, domestic violence, breaking and entry, false police reports and other incidents.

I found further court records that listed his previous times in jails and the multiple warrants for his arrest.

If you ever decide to go into a partnership due diligence is a must. Had I not I could have been a world of financial woe and quite possibly having a lot of unimagined legal problems.

Bikes are fun but just because they are fun that’s not a reason to get burned.

Fun Isn't a Zero Sum Game

2017-12-29T15:25:00.001-08:00

The year is closing down and I’ve been thinking about my lack of output in comparison to other years.

Some of that is due to personal commitments and some of it is simply due to burnout.

Yesterday I went for a ride and it gave me an opportunity to clear out my head.

Like a lot of riders I belong to a lot of online mountain bike groups and no matter what the topic is there will be a broad range of opinions on the subject.

Some of the differences of opinion are fairly benign such as wheel size preference some, however, are way more contentious such as pilsners vs IPAs.

During my ride I met a guy who built mountain bike frames as a hobby. We spoke for a while and we talked about many things especially some of the changes that have taken place in the bike industry and cultural shifts that have taken place with the influx of younger, wealthier mountain bikers.

I don’t fault someone that can afford the latest and greatest gear imaginable that doesn’t mean you own the trail. Nope, you simply don’t. You’re just passing through just like everyone else so just chill. You and your helmet matching socks.

We talked about when we got involved with mountain biking in the eighties we both did so because it was supposed to be fun. Well, the industry seems to be allergic to fun. Fun is an anathema to GoPro videos, and Strava. The word fun has been sentenced to the linguistic equivalent of Siberia and may only get a reprieve as soon as “contumely” and “quidnunc” are both granted pardons.

Fun has been replaced by words like shred, beat, rip and crush. Shred the run, beat your riding partners, rip the trail, crush the competition. What are we, riding bikes are staring in a torture porn movie?

While health competition is fun if you really want to test your skills enter a race because multi use trails probably aren’t the best areas to set a new land speed record.

I know, crazy, right?

While my definition of fun may be different than someone elses fun shouldn’t be considered a zero sum game.

You can still have fun, just not at someone’s expense.

Whatever happens, enjoy the ride.

2017-08-01T12:15:00.001-07:00

Sometimes only the right word will do.

I mean, does anyone have a synonym for:

"Methionylalanylthreonylserylarginylglycylalanylserylarginylcysteinylproly-
larginylaspartylisoleucylalanylasparaginylvalylmethionylglutaminylarginyl-
leucylglutaminylaspartylglutamylglutaminylglutamylisoleucylvalylglutaminy-
llysylarginylthreonylphenylalanylthreonyllysyltryptophylisoleucylasparagi-
nylserylhistidylleucylalanyllysylarginyllysylprolylprolylmethionylvalylva-
lylaspartylaspartylleucylphenylalanylglutamylaspartylmethionyllysylaspart-
ylglycylvalyllysylleucylleucylalanylleucylleucylglutamylvalylleucylserylg-
lycylglutaminyllysylleucylprolylcysteinylglutamylglutaminylglycylarginyla-
rginylmethionyllysylarginylisoleucylhistidylalanylvalylalanylasparaginyli-
soleucylglycylthreonylalanylleucyllysylphenylalanylleucylglutamylglycylar-
ginyllysylisoleucyllysylleucylvalylasparaginylisoleucylasparaginylserylth-
reonylaspartylisoleucylalanylaspartylglycylarginylprolylserylisoleucylval-
ylleucylglycylleucylmethionyltryptophylthreonylisoleucylisoleucylleucylty-
rosylphenylalanylglutaminylisoleucylglutamylglutamylleucylthreonylserylas-
paraginylleucylprolylglutaminylleucylglutaminylserylleucylserylserylseryl-
alanylserylserylvalylaspartylserylisoleucylvalylserylserylglutamylthreony-
lprolylserylprolylprolylseryllysylarginyllysylvalylthreonylthreonyllysyli-
soleucylglutaminylglycylasparaginylalanyllysyllysylalanylleucylleucyllysy-
ltryptophylvalylglutaminyltyrosylthreonylalanylglycyllysylglutaminylthreo-
nylglycylisoleucylglutamylvalyllysylaspartylphenylalanylglycyllysylserylt-
ryptophylarginylserylglycylvalylalanylphenylalanylhistidylserylvalylisole-
ucylhistidylalanylisoleucylarginylprolylglutamylleucylvalylaspartylleucyl-
glutamylthreonylvalyllysylglycylarginylserylasparaginylarginylglutamylasp-
araginylleucylglutamylaspartylalanylphenylalanylthreonylisoleucylalanylgl-
utamylthreonylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylarginylleucylleucylaspar-
tylprolylglutamylaspartylvalylaspartylvalylaspartyllysylprolylaspartylglu-
tamyllysylserylisoleucylmethionylthreonyltyrosylvalylalanylglutaminylphen-
ylalanylleucyllysylhistidyltyrosylprolylaspartylisoleucylhistidylasparagi-
nylalanylserylthreonylaspartylglycylglutaminylglutamylaspartylaspartylglu-
tamylisoleucylleucylprolylglycylphenylalanylprolylserylphenylalanylalanyl-
asparaginylserylvalylglutaminylasparaginylphenylalanyllysylarginylglutamy-
laspartylarginylvalylisoleucylphenylalanyllysylglutamylmethionyllysylvaly-
ltryptophylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylphenylalanylglutamylarginylaspartyl-
leucylthreonylarginylalanylglutaminylmethionylvalylglutamylserylasparagin-
ylleucylglutaminylaspartyllysyltyrosylglutaminylserylphenylalanyllysylhis-
tidylphenylalanylarginylvalylglutaminyltyrosylglutamylmethionyllysylargin-
yllysylglutaminylisoleucylglutamylhistidylleucylisoleucylglutaminylprolyl-
leucylhistidylarginylaspartylglycyllysylleucylserylleucylaspartylglutamin-
ylalanylleucylvalyllysylglutaminylseryltryptophylaspartylarginylvalylthre-
onylserylarginylleucylphenylalanylaspartyltryptophylhistidylisoleucylglut-
aminylleucylaspartyllysylserylleucylprolylalanylprolylleucylglycylthreony-
lisoleucylglycylalanyltryptophylleucyltyrosylarginylalanylglutamylvalylal-
anylleucylarginylglutamylglutamylisoleucylthreonylvalylglutaminylglutamin-
ylvalylhistidylglutamylglutamylthreonylalanylasparaginylthreonylisoleucyl-
glutaminylarginyllysylleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidyllysylaspartylleucyl-
leucylglutaminylasparaginylthreonylaspartylalanylhistidyllysylarginylalan-
ylphenylalanylhistidylglutamylisoleucyltyrosylarginylthreonylarginylseryl-
valylasparaginylglycylisoleucylprolylvalylprolylprolylaspartylglutaminyll-
eucylglutamylaspartylmethionylalanylglutamylarginylphenylalanylhistidylph-
enylalanylvalylserylserylthreonylserylglutamylleucylhistidylleucylmethion-
yllysylmethionylglutamylphenylalanylleucylglutamylleucyllysyltyrosylargin-
ylleucylleucylserylleucylleucylvalylleucylalanylglutamylseryllysylleucyll-
ysylseryltryptophylisoleucylisoleucyllysyltyrosylglycylarginylarginylglut-
amylserylvalylglutamylglutaminylleucylleucylglutaminylasparaginyltyrosylv-
alylserylphenylalanylisoleucylglutamylasparaginylseryllysylphenylalanylph-
enylalanylglutamylglutaminyltyrosylglutamylvalylthreonyltyrosylglutaminyl-
isoleucylleucyllysylglutaminylthreonylalanylglutamylmethionyltyrosylvalyl-
lysylalanylaspartylglycylserylvalylglutamylglutamylalanylglutamylasparagi-
nylvalylmethionyllysylphenylalanylmethionylasparaginylglutamylthreonylthr-
eonylalanylglutaminyltryptophylarginylasparaginylleucylserylvalylglutamyl-
valylarginylserylvalylarginylserylmethionylleucylglutamylglutamylvalyliso-
leucylserylasparaginyltryptophylaspartylarginyltyrosylglycylasparaginylth-
reonylvalylalanylserylleucylglutaminylalanyltryptophylleucylglutamylaspar-
tylalanylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylasparaginylglutaminylserylglutamylas-
paraginylalanyllysyllysylaspartylphenylalanylphenylalanylarginylasparagin-
ylleucylprolylhistidyltryptophylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminylhistidylthre-
onylalanylmethionylasparaginylaspartylalanylglycylasparaginylphenylalanyl-
leucylisoleucylglutamylthreonylcysteinylaspartylglutamylmethionylvalylser-
ylarginylaspartylleucyllysylglutaminylglutaminylleucylleucylleucylleucyla-
sparaginylglycylarginyltryptophylarginylglutamylleucylphenylalanylmethion-
ylglutamylvalyllysylglutaminyltyrosylalanylglutaminylalanylaspartylglutam-
ylmethionylaspartylarginylmethionyllysyllysylglutamyltyrosylthreonylaspar-
tylcysteinylvalylvalylthreonylleucylserylalanylphenylalanylalanylthreonyl-
glutamylalanylhistidyllysyllysylleucylserylglutamylprolylleucylglutamylva-
lylserylphenylalanylmethionylasparaginylvalyllysylleucylleucylisoleucylgl-
utaminylaspartylleucylglutamylaspartylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylarginylv-
alylprolylvalylmethionylaspartylalanylglutaminyltyrosyllysylisoleucylisol-
eucylthreonyllysylthreonylalanylhistidylleucylisoleucylthreonyllysylgluta-
mylserylprolylglutaminylglutamylglutamylglycyllysylglutamylmethionylpheny-
lalanylalanylthreonylmethionylseryllysylleucyllysylglutamylglutaminylleuc-
ylthreonyllysylvalyllysylglutamylcysteinyltyrosylserylprolylleucylleucylt-
yrosylglutamylserylglutaminylglutaminylleucylleucylisoleucylprolylleucylg-
lutamylglutamylleucylglutamyllysylglutaminylmethionylthreonylserylphenyla-
lanyltyrosylaspartylserylleucylglycyllysylisoleucylasparaginylglutamyliso-
leucylisoleucylthreonylvalylleucylglutamylarginylglutamylalanylglutaminyl-
serylserylalanylleucylphenylalanyllysylglutaminyllysylhistidylglutaminylg-
lutamylleucylleucylalanylcysteinylglutaminylglutamylasparaginylcysteinyll-
ysyllysylthreonylleucylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamyllysylglycylserylglu-
taminylserylvalylglutaminyllysylphenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylserylaspar-
aginylvalylleucyllysylhistidylphenylalanylaspartylglutaminylthreonylargin-
ylleucylglutaminylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylaspartylisoleucylhistid-
ylvalylalanylphenylalanylglutaminylserylmethionylvalyllysyllysylthreonylg-
lycylaspartyltryptophyllysyllysylhistidylvalylglutamylthreonylasparaginyl-
serylarginylleucylmethionyllysyllysylphenylalanylglutamylglutamylserylarg-
inylalanylglutamylleucylglutamyllysylvalylleucylarginylisoleucylalanylglu-
taminylglutamylglycylleucylglutamylglutamyllysylglycylaspartylprolylgluta-
mylglutamylleucylleucylarginylarginylhistidylthreonylglutamylphenylalanyl-
phenylalanylserylglutaminylleucylaspartylglutaminylarginylvalylleucylaspa-
raginylalanylphenylalanylleucyllysylalanylcysteinylaspartylglutamylleucyl-
threonylaspartylisoleucylleucylprolylglutamylglutaminylglutamylglutaminyl-
glutaminylglycylleucylglutaminylglutamylalanylvalylarginyllysylleucylhist-
idyllysylglutaminyltryptophyllysylaspartylleucylglutaminylglycylglutamyla-
lanylprolyltyrosylhistidylleucylleucylhistidylleucyllysylisoleucylasparty-
lvalylglutamyllysylasparaginylarginylphenylalanylleucylalanylserylvalylgl-
utamylglutamylcysteinylarginylthreonylglutamylleucylaspartylarginylglutam-
ylthreonyllysylleucylmethionylprolylglutaminylglutamylglycylserylglutamyl-
lysylisoleucylisoleucyllysylglutamylhistidylarginylvalylphenylalanylpheny-
lalanylserylaspartyllysylglycylprolylhistidylhistidylleucylcysteinylgluta-
myllysylarginylleucylglutaminylleucylisoleucylglutamylglutamylleucylcyste-
inylvalyllysylleucylprolylvalylarginylaspartylprolylvalylarginylaspartylt-
hreonylprolylglycylthreonylcysteinylhistidylvalylthreonylleucyllysylgluta-
mylleucylarginylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylserylthreonyltyrosylarginyll-
ysylleucylmethionylglutamylaspartylprolylaspartyllysyltryptophyllysylaspa-
rtyltyrosylthreonylserylarginylphenylalanylserylglutamylphenylalanylseryl-
seryltryptophylisoleucylserylthreonylasparaginylglutamylthreonylglutaminy-
lleucyllysylglycylisoleucyllysylglycylglutamylalanylisoleucylaspartylthre-
onylalanylasparaginylhistidylglycylglutamylvalyllysylarginylalanylvalylgl-
utamylglutamylisoleucylarginylasparaginylglycylvalylthreonyllysylarginylg-
lycylglutamylthreonylleucylseryltryptophylleucyllysylserylarginylleucylly-
sylvalylleucylthreonylglutamylvalylserylserylglutamylasparaginylglutamyla-
lanylglutaminyllysylglutaminylglycylaspartylglutamylleucylalanyllysylleuc-
ylserylserylserylphenylalanyllysylalanylleucylvalylthreonylleucylleucylse-
rylglutamylvalylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylserylasparaginylphenylalanylg-
lycylaspartylcysteinylvalylglutaminyltyrosyllysylglutamylisoleucylvalylly-
sylasparaginylserylleucylglutamylglutamylleucylisoleucylserylglycylseryll-
ysylglutamylvalylglutaminylglutamylglutaminylalanylglutamyllysylisoleucyl-
leucylaspartylthreonylglutamylasparaginylleucylphenylalanylglutamylalanyl-
glutaminylglutaminylleucylleucylleucylhistidylhistidylglutaminylglutaminy-
llysylthreonyllysylarginylisoleucylserylalanyllysyllysylarginylaspartylva-
lylglutaminylglutaminylglutaminylisoleucylalanylglutaminylalanylglutaminy-
lglutaminylglycylglutamylglycylglycylleucylprolylaspartylarginylglycylhis-
tidylglutamylglutamylleucylarginyllysylleucylglutamylserylthreonylleucyla-
spartylglycylleucylglutamylarginylserylarginylglutamylarginylglutaminylgl-
utamylarginylarginylisoleucylglutaminylvalylthreonylleucylarginyllysyltry-
ptophylglutamylarginylphenylalanylglutamylthreonylasparaginyllysylglutamy-
lthreonylvalylvalylarginyltyrosylleucylphenylalanylglutaminylthreonylglyc-
ylserylserylhistidylglutamylarginylphenylalanylleucylserylphenylalanylser-
ylserylleucylglutamylserylleucylserylserylglutamylleucylglutamylglutaminy-
lthreonyllysylglutamylphenylalanylseryllysylarginylthreonylglutamylseryli-
soleucylalanylvalylglutaminylalanylglutamylasparaginylleucylvalyllysylglu-
tamylalanylserylglutamylisoleucylprolylleucylglycylprolylglutaminylaspara-
ginyllysylglutaminylleucylleucylglutaminylglutaminylglutaminylalanyllysyl-
serylisoleucyllysylglutamylglutaminylvalyllysyllysylleucylglutamylasparty-
lthreonylleucylglutamylglutamylaspartylisoleucyllysylthreonylmethionylglu-
tamylmethionylvalyllysylthreonyllysyltryptophylaspartylhistidylphenylalan-
ylglycylserylasparaginylphenylalanylglutamylthreonylleucylserylvalyltrypt-
ophylisoleucylthreonylglutamyllysylglutamyllysylglutamylleucylasparaginyl-
alanylleucylglutamylthreonylserylserylserylalanylmethionylaspartylmethion-
ylglutaminylisoleucylserylglutaminylisoleucyllysylvalylthreonylisoleucylg-
lutaminylglutamylisoleucylglutamylseryllysylleucylserylserylisoleucylvaly-
lglycylleucylglutamylglutamylglutamylalanylglutaminylserylphenylalanylala-
nylglutaminylphenylalanylvalylthreonylthreonylglycylglutamylserylalanylar-
ginylisoleucyllysylalanyllysylleucylthreonylglutaminylisoleucylarginylarg-
inyltyrosylglycylglutamylglutamylleucylarginylglutamylhistidylalanylgluta-
minylcysteinylleucylglutamylglycylthreonylisoleucylleucylglycylhistidylle-
ucylserylglutaminylglutaminylglutaminyllysylphenylalanylglutamylglutamyla-
sparaginylleucylarginyllysylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminylserylvalylserylg-
lutamylphenylalanylglutamylaspartyllysylleucylalanylvalylprolylisoleucyll-
ysylisoleucylcysteinylserylserylalanylthreonylglutamylthreonyltyrosyllysy-
lvalylleucylglutaminylglutamylhistidylmethionylaspartylleucylcysteinylglu-
taminylalanylleucylglutamylserylleucylserylserylalanylisoleucylthreonylal-
anylphenylalanylserylalanylserylalanylarginyllysylvalylvalylasparaginylar-
ginylaspartylserylcysteinylvalylglutaminylglutamylalanylalanylalanylleucy-
lglutaminylglutaminylglutaminyltyrosylglutamylaspartylisoleucylleucylargi-
nylarginylalanyllysylglutamylarginylglutaminylthreonylalanylleucylglutamy-
lasparaginylleucylleucylalanylhistidyltryptophylglutaminylarginylleucylgl-
utamyllysylglutamylleucylserylserylphenylalanylleucylthreonyltryptophylle-
ucylglutamylarginylglycylglutamylalanyllysylalanylserylserylprolylglutamy-
lmethionylaspartylisoleucylserylalanylaspartylarginylvalyllysylvalylgluta-
mylglycylglutamylleucylglutaminylleucylisoleucylglutaminylalanylleucylglu-
taminylasparaginylglutamylvalylvalylserylglutaminylalanylserylphenylalany-
ltyrosylseryllysylleucylleucylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylserylleucylphe-
nylalanylserylvalylalanylseryllysylaspartylaspartylvalyllysylmethionylmet-
hionyllysylleucylhistidylleucylglutamylglutaminylleucylaspartylglutamylar-
ginyltryptophylarginylaspartylleucylprolylglutaminylisoleucylisoleucylasp-
araginyllysylarginylisoleucylasparaginylphenylalanylleucylglutaminylseryl-
valylvalylalanylglutamylhistidylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylaspartylg-
lutamylleucylleucylleucylserylphenylalanylserylvalyltryptophylisoleucylly-
sylleucylphenylalanylleucylserylglutamylleucylglutaminylthreonylthreonyls-
erylglutamylisoleucylserylisoleucylmethionylaspartylhistidylglutaminylval-
ylalanylleucylthreonylarginylhistidyllysylaspartylhistidylalanylalanylglu-
tamylvalylglutamylseryllysyllysylglycylglutamylleucylglutaminylserylleucy-
lglutaminylglycylhistidylleucylalanyllysylleucylglycylserylleucylglycylar-
ginylalanylglutamylaspartylleucylhistidylleucylleucylglutaminylglycyllysy-
lalanylglutamylaspartylcysteinylphenylalanylglutaminylleucylphenylalanylg-
lutamylglutamylalanylserylglutaminylvalylvalylglutamylarginylarginylgluta-
minylleucylalanylleucylserylhistidylleucylalanylglutamylphenylalanylleucy-
lglutaminylserylhistidylalanylserylleucylserylglycylisoleucylleucylarginy-
lglutaminylleucylarginylglutaminylthreonylvalylglutamylalanylthreonylaspa-
raginylserylmethionylasparaginyllysylasparaginylglutamylserylaspartylleuc-
ylisoleucylglutamyllysylaspartylleucylasparaginylaspartylalanylleucylglut-
aminylasparaginylalanyllysylalanylleucylglutamylserylalanylalanylvalylser-
ylleucylaspartylglycylisoleucylleucylseryllysylalanylglutaminyltyrosylhis-
tidylleucyllysylisoleucylglycylserylserylglutamylglutaminylarginylthreony-
lserylcysteinylarginylalanylthreonylalanylaspartylglutaminylleucylcystein-
ylglycylglutamylvalylglutamylarginylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginylleucyll-
eucylglycylthreonyllysylglutaminylserylglutamylalanylaspartylalanylleucyl-
alanylvalylleucyllysyllysylalanylphenylalanylglutaminylaspartylglutaminyl-
lysylglutamylglutamylleucylleucyllysylserylisoleucylglutamylaspartylisole-
ucylglutamylglutamylarginylthreonylaspartyllysylglutamylarginylleucyllysy-
lglutamylprolylthreonylarginylglutaminylalanylleucylglutaminylglutaminyla-
rginylleucylarginylvalylphenylalanylasparaginylglutaminylleucylglutamylas-
partylglutamylleucylasparaginylserylhistidylglutamylhistidylglutamylleucy-
lcysteinyltryptophylleucyllysylaspartyllysylalanyllysylglutaminylisoleucy-
lalanylglutaminyllysylaspartylvalylalanylphenylalanylalanylprolylglutamyl-
valylaspartylarginylglutamylisoleucylasparaginylarginylleucylglutamylvaly-
lthreonyltryptophylaspartylaspartylthreonyllysylarginylleucylisoleucylhis-
tidylglutamylasparaginylglutaminylglycylglutaminylcysteinylcysteinylglycy-
lleucylisoleucylaspartylleucylmethionylarginylglutamyltyrosylglutaminylas-
paraginylleucyllysylserylalanylvalylseryllysylvalylleucylglutamylasparagi-
nylalanylserylserylvalylisoleucylvalylthreonylarginylthreonylthreonylisol-
eucyllysylaspartylglutaminylglutamylaspartylleucyllysyltryptophylalanylph-
enylalanylseryllysylhistidylglutamylthreonylalanyllysylasparaginyllysylme-
thionylasparaginyltyrosyllysylglutaminyllysylaspartylleucylaspartylaspara-
ginylphenylalanylthreonylseryllysylglycyllysylhistidylleucylleucylserylgl-
utamylleucyllysyllysylisoleucylhistidylserylserylaspartylphenylalanylsery-
lleucylvalyllysylthreonylaspartylmethionylglutamylserylthreonylvalylaspar-
tyllysyltryptophylleucylaspartylvalylserylglutamyllysylleucylglutamylglut-
amylasparaginylmethionylaspartylarginylleucylarginylvalylserylleucylseryl-
isoleucyltryptophylaspartylaspartylvalylleucylserylthreonylarginylasparty-
lglutamylisoleucylglutamylglycyltryptophylserylasparaginylasparaginylcyst-
einylvalylprolylglutaminylmethionylalanylglutamylasparaginylisoleucylsery-
lasparaginylleucylaspartylasparaginylhistidylleucylarginylalanylglutamylg-
lutamylleucylleucyllysylglutamylphenylalanylglutamylserylglutamylvalyllys-
ylasparaginyllysylalanylleucylarginylleucylglutamylglutamylleucylhistidyl-
seryllysylvalylasparaginylaspartylleucyllysylglutamylleucylthreonyllysyla-
sparaginylleucylglutamylthreonylprolylprolylaspartylleucylglutaminylpheny-
lalanylisoleucylglutamylalanylaspartylleucylmethionylglutaminyllysylleucy-
lglutamylhistidylalanyllysylglutamylisoleucylthreonylglutamylvalylalanyll-
ysylglycylthreonylleucyllysylaspartylphenylalanylthreonylalanylglutaminyl-
serylthreonylglutaminylvalylglutamyllysylphenylalanylisoleucylasparaginyl-
aspartylisoleucylthreonylthreonyltryptophylphenylalanylthreonyllysylvalyl-
glutamylglutamylserylleucylmethionylasparaginylcysteinylalanylglutaminyla-
sparaginylglutamylthreonylcysteinylglutamylalanylleucyllysyllysylvalyllys-
ylaspartylisoleucylglutaminyllysylglutamylleucylglutaminylserylglutaminyl-
glutaminylserylasparaginylisoleucylserylserylthreonylglutaminylglutamylas-
paraginylleucylasparaginylserylleucylcysteinylarginyllysyltyrosylhistidyl-
serylalanylglutamylleucylglutamylserylleucylglycylarginylalanylmethionylt-
hreonylglycylleucylisoleucyllysyllysylhistidylglutamylalanylvalylserylglu-
taminylleucylcysteinylseryllysylthreonylglutaminylalanylserylleucylglutam-
inylglutamylserylleucylglutamyllysylhistidylphenylalanylserylglutamylsery-
lmethionylglutaminylglutamylphenylalanylglutaminylglutamyltryptophylpheny-
lalanylleucylglycylalanyllysylalanylalanylalanyllysylglutamylserylserylas-
partylarginylthreonylglycylaspartylseryllysylvalylleucylglutamylalanyllys-
ylleucylhistidylaspartylleucylglutaminylasparaginylisoleucylleucylasparty-
lserylvalylserylaspartylglycylglutaminylseryllysylleucylaspartylalanylval-
ylthreonylglutaminylglutamylglycylglutaminylthreonylleucyltyrosylalanylhi-
stidylleucylseryllysylglutaminylisoleucylvalylserylserylisoleucylglutamin-
ylglutamylglutaminylisoleucylthreonyllysylalanylasparaginylglutamylglutam-
ylphenylalanylglutaminylalanylphenylalanylleucyllysylglutaminylcysteinyll-
eucyllysylaspartyllysylglutaminylalanylleucylglutaminylaspartylcysteinyla-
lanylserylglutamylleucylglycylserylphenylalanylglutamylaspartylglutaminyl-
histidylarginyllysylleucylasparaginylleucyltryptophylisoleucylhistidylglu-
tamylmethionylglutamylglutamylarginylphenylalanylasparaginylthreonylgluta-
mylasparaginylleucylglycylglutamylseryllysylglutaminylhistidylisoleucylpr-
olylglutamyllysyllysylasparaginylglutamylvalylhistidyllysylvalylglutamylm-
ethionylphenylalanylleucylglycylglutamylleucylleucylalanylalanylarginylgl-
utamylserylleucylaspartyllysylleucylserylglutaminylarginylglycylglutaminy-
lleucylleucylserylglutamylglutamylglycylhistidylglycylalanylglycylglutami-
nylglutamylglycylarginylleucylcysteinylserylglutaminylleucylleucylthreony-
lserylhistidylglutaminylasparaginylleucylleucylarginylmethionylthreonylly-
sylglutamyllysylleucylarginylserylcysteinylglutaminylvalylalanylleucylglu-
taminylglutamylhistidylglutamylalanylleucylglutamylglutamylalanylleucylgl-
utaminylserylmethionyltryptophylphenylalanyltryptophylvalyllysylalanyliso-
leucylglutaminylaspartylarginylleucylalanylcysteinylalanylglutamylserylth-
reonylleucylglycylseryllysylaspartylthreonylleucylglutamyllysylarginylleu-
cylserylglutaminylisoleucylglutaminylaspartylisoleucylleucylleucylmethion-
yllysylglycylglutamylglycylglutamylvalyllysylleucylasparaginylmethionylal-
anylisoleucylglycyllysylglycylglutamylglutaminylalanylleucylarginylseryls-
erylasparaginyllysylglutamylglycylglutaminylarginylvalylisoleucylglutamin-
ylthreonylglutaminylleucylglutamylthreonylleucyllysylglutamylvalyltryptop-
hylalanylaspartylisoleucylmethionylserylserylserylvalylhistidylalanylglut-
aminylserylthreonylleucylglutamylserylvalylisoleucylserylglutaminyltrypto-
phylasparaginylaspartyltyrosylvalylglutamylarginyllysylasparaginylglutami-
nylleucylglutamylglutaminyltryptophylmethionylglutamylserylvalylaspartylg-
lutaminyllysylisoleucylglutamylhistidylprolylleucylglutaminylprolylglutam-
inylprolylglycylleucyllysylglutamyllysylphenylalanylvalylleucylleucylaspa-
rtylhistidylleucylglutaminylserylisoleucylleucylserylglutamylalanylglutam-
ylaspartylhistidylthreonylarginylalanylleucylhistidylarginylleucylisoleuc-
ylalanyllysylserylarginylglutamylleucyltyrosylglutamyllysylthreonylglutam-
ylaspartylglutamylserylphenylalanyllysylaspartylthreonylalanylglutaminylg-
lutamylglutamylleucyllysylthreonylglutaminylphenylalanylasparaginylaspart-
ylisoleucylmethionylthreonylvalylalanyllysylglutamyllysylmethionylarginyl-
lysylvalylglutamylglutamylisoleucylvalyllysylaspartylhistidylleucylmethio-
nyltyrosylleucylaspartylalanylvalylhistidylglutamylphenylalanylthreonylas-
partyltryptophylleucylhistidylserylalanyllysylglutamylglutamylleucylhisti-
dylarginyltryptophylserylaspartylmethionylserylglycylaspartylserylserylal-
anylthreonylglutaminyllysyllysylleucylseryllysylisoleucyllysylglutamylleu-
cylisoleucylaspartylserylarginylglutamylisoleucylglycylalanylserylarginyl-
leucylserylarginylvalylglutamylserylleucylalanylprolylglutamylvalyllysylg-
lutaminylasparaginylthreonylthreonylalanylserylglycylcysteinylglutamylleu-
cylmethionylhistidylthreonylglutamylmethionylglutaminylalanylleucylarginy-
lalanylaspartyltryptophyllysylglutaminyltryptophylglutamylaspartylserylva-
lylphenylalanylglutaminylthreonylglutaminylserylcysteinylleucylglutamylas-
paraginylleucylvalylserylglutaminylmethionylalanylleucylserylglutamylglut-
aminylglutamylphenylalanylserylglycylglutaminylvalylalanylglutaminylleucy-
lglutamylglutaminylalanylleucylglutamylglutaminylphenylalanylserylalanyll-
eucylleucyllysylthreonyltryptophylalanylglutaminylglutaminylleucylthreony-
lleucylleucylglutamylglycyllysylasparaginylthreonylaspartylglutamylglutam-
ylisoleucylvalylglutamylcysteinyltryptophylhistidyllysylglycylglutaminylg-
lutamylisoleucylleucylaspartylalanylleucylglutaminyllysylalanylglutamylpr-
olylarginylthreonylglutamylaspartylleucyllysylserylglutaminylleucylaspara-
ginylglutamylleucylcysteinylarginylphenylalanylserylarginylaspartylleucyl-
serylthreonyltyrosylserylglycyllysylvalylserylglycylleucylisoleucyllysylg-
lutamyltyrosylasparaginylcysteinylleucylcysteinylleucylglutaminylalanylse-
ryllysylglycylcysteinylglutaminylasparaginyllysylglutamylglutaminylisoleu-
cylleucylglutaminylglutaminylarginylphenylalanylarginyllysylalanylphenyla-
lanylarginylaspartylphenylalanylglutaminylglutaminyltryptophylleucylvalyl-
asparaginylalanyllysylisoleucylthreonylthreonylalanyllysylcysteinylphenyl-
alanylaspartylisoleucylprolylglutaminylasparaginylisoleucylserylglutamylv-
alylserylthreonylserylleucylglutaminyllysylisoleucylglutaminylglutamylphe-
nylalanylleucylserylglutamylserylglutamylasparaginylglycylglutaminylhisti-
dyllysylleucylasparaginylmethionylmethionylleucylseryllysylglycylglutamyl-
leucylleucylserylthreonylleucylleucylthreonyllysylglutamyllysylalanyllysy-
lglycylisoleucylglutaminylalanyllysylvalylthreonylalanylalanyllysylglutam-
ylaspartyltryptophyllysylasparaginylphenylalanylhistidylserylasparaginyll-
eucylhistidylglutaminyllysylglutamylserylalanylleucylglutamylasparaginyll-
eucyllysylisoleucylglutaminylmethionyllysylaspartylphenylalanylglutamylva-
lylserylalanylglutamylprolylisoleucylglutaminylaspartyltryptophylleucylse-
ryllysylthreonylglutamyllysylmethionylvalylhistidylglutamylserylserylaspa-
raginylarginylleucyltyrosylaspartylleucylprolylalanyllysylarginylarginylg-
lutamylglutaminylglutaminyllysylleucylglutaminylserylvalylleucylglutamylg-
lutamylisoleucylhistidylcysteinyltyrosylglutamylprolylglutaminylleucylasp-
araginylarginylleucyllysylglutamyllysylalanylglutaminylglutaminylleucyltr-
yptophylglutamylglycylglutaminylalanylalanylseryllysylserylphenylalanylar-
ginylhistidylarginylvalylserylglutaminylleucylserylserylglutaminyltyrosyl-
leucylalanylleucylserylasparaginylleucylthreonyllysylglutamyllysylvalylse-
rylarginylleucylaspartylarginylisoleucylvalylalanylglutamylhistidylaspara-
ginylglutaminylphenylalanylserylleucylglycylisoleucyllysylglutamylleucylg-
lutaminylaspartyltryptophylmethionylthreonylaspartylalanylisoleucylhistid-
ylmethionylleucylaspartylseryltyrosylcysteinylhistidylprolylthreonylseryl-
aspartyllysylserylvalylleucylaspartylserylarginylthreonylleucyllysylleucy-
lglutamylalanylleucylleucylserylvalyllysylglutaminylglutamyllysylglutamyl-
isoleucylglutaminylmethionyllysylmethionylisoleucylvalylthreonylarginylgl-
ycylglutamylserylvalylleucylglutaminylasparaginylthreonylserylprolylgluta-
mylglycylisoleucylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminylglutaminylle-
ucylglutaminylserylvalyllysylaspartylmethionyltryptophylalanylserylleucyl-
leucylserylalanylglycylisoleucylarginylcysteinyllysylserylglutaminylleucy-
lglutamylglycylalanylleucylseryllysyltryptophylthreonylseryltyrosylglutam-
inylaspartylglycylvalylarginylglutaminylphenylalanylserylglycyltryptophyl-
methionylaspartylserylmethionylglutamylalanylasparaginylleucylasparaginyl-
glutamylserylglutamylarginylglutaminylhistidylalanylglutamylleucylarginyl-
aspartyllysylthreonylthreonylmethionylleucylglycyllysylalanyllysylleucyll-
eucylasparaginylglutamylglutamylvalylleucylseryltyrosylserylserylleucylle-
ucylglutamylthreonylisoleucylglutamylvalyllysylglycylalanylglycylmethiony-
lthreonylglutamylhistidyltyrosylvalylthreonylglutaminylleucylglutamylleuc-
ylglutaminylaspartylleucylglutaminylglutamylarginyltyrosylarginylalanylis-
oleucylglutaminylglutamylarginylalanyllysylglutamylalanylvalylthreonyllys-
ylserylglutamyllysylleucylvalylarginylleucylhistidylglutaminylglutamyltyr-
osylglutaminylarginylaspartylleucyllysylalanylphenylalanylglutamylvalyltr-
yptophylleucylglycylglutaminylglutamylglutaminylglutamyllysylleucylaspart-
ylglutaminyltyrosylserylvalylleucylglutamylglycylaspartylalanylhistidylth-
reonylhistidylglutamylthreonylthreonylleucylarginylaspartylleucylglutamin-
ylglutamylleucylglutaminylvalylhistidylcysteinylalanylglutamylglycylgluta-
minylalanylleucylleucylasparaginylserylvalylleucylhistidylthreonylarginyl-
glutamylaspartylvalylisoleucylprolylserylglycylisoleucylprolylglutaminyla-
lanylglutamylaspartylarginylalanylleucylglutamylserylleucylarginylglutami-
nylaspartyltryptophylglutaminylalanyltyrosylglutaminylhistidylarginylleuc-
ylserylglutamylthreonylarginylthreonylglutaminylphenylalanylasparaginylas-
paraginylvalylvalylasparaginyllysylleucylarginylleucylmethionylglutamylgl-
utaminyllysylphenylalanylglutaminylglutaminylvalylaspartylglutamyltryptop-
hylleucyllysylthreonylalanylglutamylglutamyllysylvalylserylprolylarginylt-
hreonylarginylarginylglutaminylserylasparaginylarginylalanylthreonyllysyl-
glutamylisoleucylglutaminylleucylhistidylglutaminylmethionyllysyllysyltry-
ptophylhistidylglutamylglutamylvalylthreonylalanyltyrosylarginylaspartylg-
lutamylvalylglutamylglutamylvalylglycylalanylarginylalanylglutaminylgluta-
mylisoleucylleucylaspartylglutamylserylhistidylvalylasparaginylserylargin-
ylmethionylglycylcysteinylglutaminylalanylthreonylglutaminylleucylthreony-
lserylarginyltyrosylglutaminylalanylleucylleucylleucylglutaminylvalylleuc-
ylglutamylglutaminylisoleucyllysylphenylalanylleucylglutamylglutamylgluta-
mylisoleucylglutaminylserylleucylglutamylglutamylserylglutamylserylseryll-
eucylserylseryltyrosylserylaspartyltryptophyltyrosylglycylserylthreonylhi-
stidyllysylasparaginylphenylalanyllysylasparaginylvalylalanylthreonyllysy-
lisoleucylaspartyllysylvalylaspartylthreonylvalylmethionylmethionylglycyl-
lysyllysylleucyllysylthreonylleucylglutamylvalylleucylleucyllysylaspartyl-
methionylglutamyllysylglycylhistidylserylleucylleucyllysylserylalanylargi-
nylglutamyllysylglycylglutamylarginylalanylvalyllysyltyrosylleucylglutamy-
lglutamylglycylglutamylalanylglutamylarginylleucylarginyllysylglutamyliso-
leucylhistidylaspartylhistidylmethionylglutamylglutaminylleucyllysylgluta-
mylleucylthreonylserylthreonylvalylarginyllysylglutamylhistidylmethionylt-
hreonylleucylglutamyllysylglycylleucylhistidylleucylalanyllysylglutamylph-
enylalanylserylaspartyllysylcysteinyllysylalanylleucylthreonylglutaminylt-
ryptophylisoleucylalanylglutamyltyrosylglutaminylglutamylisoleucylleucylh-
istidylvalylprolylglutamylglutamylprolyllysylmethionylglutamylleucyltyros-
ylglutamyllysyllysylalanylglutaminylleucylseryllysyltyrosyllysylserylleuc-
ylglutaminylglutaminylthreonylvalylleucylserylhistidylglutamylprolylseryl-
valyllysylserylvalylarginylglutamyllysylglycylglutamylalanylleucylleucylg-
lutamylleucylvalylglutaminylaspartylvalylthreonylleucyllysylaspartyllysyl-
isoleucylaspartylglutaminylleucylglutaminylserylaspartyltyrosylglutaminyl-
aspartylleucylcysteinylserylisoleucylglycyllysylglutamylhistidylvalylphen-
ylalanylserylleucylglutamylalanyllysylvalyllysylaspartylhistidylglutamyla-
spartyltyrosylasparaginylserylglutamylleucylglutaminylglutamylvalylglutam-
yllysyltryptophylleucylleucylglutaminylmethionylserylglycylarginylleucylv-
alylalanylprolylaspartylleucylleucylglutamylthreonylserylserylleucylgluta-
mylthreonylisoleucylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylleucylalanylhistidylhisti-
dyllysylalanylmethionylmethionylglutamylglutamylisoleucylalanylglycylphen-
ylalanylglutamylaspartylarginylleucylasparaginylasparaginylleucylglutamin-
ylmethionyllysylglycylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglycylglutaminylcyst-
einylalanylaspartylhistidylleucylglutaminylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamin-
ylasparaginylvalylhistidylalanylhistidylleucylglutaminylglycylthreonyllys-
ylaspartylseryltyrosylserylalanylisoleucylcysteinylserylthreonylalanylglu-
taminylarginylmethionyltyrosylglutaminylserylleucylglutamylhistidylglutam-
ylleucylglutaminyllysylhistidylvalylserylarginylglutaminylaspartylthreony-
lleucylglutaminylglutaminylcysteinylglutaminylalanyltryptophylleucylseryl-
alanylvalylglutaminylprolylaspartylleucylglutamylprolylserylprolylglutami-
nylprolylprolylleucylserylarginylalanylglutamylalanylisoleucyllysylglutam-
inylvalyllysylhistidylphenylalanylarginylalanylleucylglutaminylglutamylgl-
utaminylalanylarginylthreonyltyrosylleucylaspartylleucylleucylcysteinylse-
rylmethionylcysteinylaspartylleucylserylasparaginylalanylserylvalyllysylt-
hreonylthreonylalanyllysylaspartylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminylthreonylgl-
utamylglutaminylthreonylisoleucylglutamylglutaminyllysylleucylvalylglutam-
inylalanylglutaminylasparaginylleucylthreonylglutaminylglycyltryptophylgl-
utamylglutamylisoleucyllysylhistidylleucyllysylserylglutamylleucyltryptop-
hylisoleucyltyrosylleucylglutaminylaspartylalanylaspartylglutaminylglutam-
inylleucylglutaminylasparaginylmethionyllysylarginylarginylhistidylserylg-
lutamylleucylglutamylleucylasparaginylisoleucylalanylglutaminylasparaginy-
lmethionylvalylserylglutaminylvalyllysylaspartylphenylalanylvalyllysyllys-
ylleucylglutaminylseryllysylglutaminylalanylserylvalylasparaginylthreonyl-
isoleucylisoleucylglutamyllysylvalylasparaginyllysylleucylthreonyllysylly-
sylglutamylglutamylserylprolylglutamylhistidyllysylglutamylisoleucylaspar-
aginylhistidylleucylasparaginylaspartylglutaminyltryptophylleucylaspartyl-
leucylcysteinylarginylglutaminylserylasparaginylasparaginylleucylcysteiny-
lleucylglutaminylarginylglutamylglutamylaspartylleucylglutaminylarginylth-
reonylarginylaspartyltyrosylhistidylaspartylcysteinylmethionylasparaginyl-
valylvalylglutamylvalylphenylalanylleucylglutamyllysylphenylalanylthreony-
lthreonylglutamyltryptophylaspartylasparaginylleucylalanylarginylserylasp-
artylalanylglutamylserylthreonylalanylvalylhistidylleucylglutamylalanylle-
ucyllysyllysylleucylalanylleucylalanylleucylglutaminylglutamylarginyllysy-
ltyrosylalanylisoleucylglutamylaspartylleucyllysylaspartylglutaminyllysyl-
glutaminyllysylmethionylisoleucylglutamylhistidylleucylasparaginylleucyla-
spartylaspartyllysylglutamylleucylvalyllysylglutamylglutaminylthreonylser-
ylhistidylleucylglutamylglutaminylarginyltryptophylphenylalanylglutaminyl-
leucylglutamylaspartylleucylisoleucyllysylarginyllysylisoleucylglutaminyl-
valylserylvalylthreonylasparaginylleucylglutamylglutamylleucylasparaginyl-
valylvalylglutaminylserylarginylphenylalanylglutaminylglutamylleucylmethi-
onylglutamyltryptophylalanylglutamylglutamylglutaminylglutaminylprolylasp-
araginylisoleucylalanylglutamylalanylleucyllysylglutaminylserylprolylprol-
ylprolylaspartylmethionylalanylglutaminylasparaginylleucylleucylmethionyl-
aspartylhistidylleucylalanylisoleucylcysteinylserylglutamylleucylglutamyl-
alanyllysylglutaminylmethionylleucylleucyllysylserylleucylisoleucyllysyla-
spartylalanylaspartylarginylvalylmethionylalanylaspartylleucylglycylleucy-
lasparaginylglutamylarginylglutaminylvalylisoleucylglutaminyllysylalanyll-
eucylserylaspartylalanylglutaminylserylhistidylvalylasparaginylcysteinyll-
eucylserylaspartylleucylvalylglycylglutaminylarginylarginyllysyltyrosylle-
ucylasparaginyllysylalanylleucylserylglutamyllysylthreonylglutaminylpheny-
lalanylleucylmethionylalanylvalylphenylalanylglutaminylalanylthreonylsery-
lglutaminylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminylhistidylglutamylarginyllysylisole-
ucylmethionylphenylalanylarginylglutamylhistidylisoleucylcysteinylleucyll-
eucylprolylaspartylaspartylvalylseryllysylglutaminylvalyllysylthreonylcys-
teinyllysylserylalanylglutaminylalanylserylleucyllysylthreonyltyrosylglut-
aminylasparaginylglutamylvalylthreonylglycylleucyltryptophylalanylglutami-
nylglycylarginylglutamylleucylmethionyllysylglutamylvalylthreonylglutamyl-
glutaminylglutamyllysylserylglutamylvalylleucylglycyllysylleucylglutaminy-
lglutamylleucylglutaminylserylvalyltyrosylaspartylserylvalylleucylglutami-
nyllysylcysteinylserylhistidylarginylleucylglutaminylglutamylleucylglutam-
yllysylasparaginylleucylvalylserylarginyllysylhistidylphenylalanyllysylgl-
utamylaspartylphenylalanylaspartyllysylalanylcysteinylhistidyltryptophyll-
eucyllysylglutaminylalanylaspartylisoleucylvalylthreonylphenylalanylproly-
lglutamylisoleucylasparaginylleucylmethionylasparaginylglutamylserylseryl-
glutamylleucylhistidylthreonylglutaminylleucylalanyllysyltyrosylglutaminy-
lasparaginylisoleucylleucylglutamylglutaminylserylprolylglutamyltyrosylgl-
utamylasparaginylleucylleucylleucylthreonylleucylglutaminylarginylthreony-
lglycylglutaminylthreonylisoleucylleucylprolylserylleucylasparaginylgluta-
mylvalylaspartylhistidylseryltyrosylleucylserylglutamyllysylleucylasparag-
inylalanylleucylprolylarginylglutaminylphenylalanylasparaginylvalylisoleu-
cylvalylalanylleucylalanyllysylaspartyllysylphenylalanyltyrosyllysylvalyl-
glutaminylglutamylalanylisoleucylleucylalanylarginyllysylglutamyltyrosyla-
lanylserylleucylisoleucylglutamylleucylthreonylthreonylglutaminylserylleu-
cylserylglutamylleucylglutamylalanylglutaminylphenylalanylleucylarginylme-
thionylseryllysylvalylprolylthreonylaspartylleucylalanylvalylglutamylglut-
amylalanylleucylserylleucylglutaminylaspartylglycylcysteinylarginylalanyl-
isoleucylleucylaspartylglutamylvalylalanylglycylleucylglycylglutamylalany-
lvalylaspartylglutamylleucylasparaginylglutaminyllysyllysylglutamylglycyl-
phenylalanylarginylserylthreonylglycylglutaminylprolyltryptophylglutaminy-
lprolylaspartyllysylmethionylleucylhistidylleucylvalylthreonylleucyltyros-
ylhistidylarginylleucyllysylarginylglutaminylthreonylglutamylglutaminylar-
ginylvalylserylleucylleucylglutamylaspartylthreonylthreonylserylalanyltyr-
osylglutaminylglutamylhistidylglutamyllysylmethionylcysteinylglutaminylgl-
utaminylleucylglutamylarginylglutaminylleucyllysylserylvalyllysylglutamyl-
glutamylglutaminylseryllysylvalylasparaginylglutamylglutamylthreonylleucy-
lprolylalanylglutamylglutamyllysylleucyllysylmethionyltyrosylhistidylsery-
lleucylalanylglycylserylleucylglutaminylaspartylserylglycylisoleucylvalyl-
leucyllysylarginylvalylthreonylisoleucylhistidylleucylglutamylaspartylleu-
cylalanylprolylhistidylleucylaspartylprolylleucylalanyltyrosylglutamyllys-
ylalanylarginylhistidylglutaminylisoleucylglutaminylseryltryptophylglutam-
inylglycylglutamylleucyllysylleucylleucylthreonylserylalanylisoleucylglyc-
ylglutamylthreonylvalylthreonylglutamylcysteinylglutamylserylarginylmethi-
onylvalylglutaminylserylisoleucylaspartylphenylalanylglutaminylthreonylgl-
utamylmethionylserylarginylserylleucylaspartyltryptophylleucylarginylargi-
nylvalyllysylalanylglutamylleucylserylglycylprolylvalyltyrosylleucylaspar-
tylleucylasparaginylleucylglutaminylaspartylisoleucylglutaminylglutamylgl-
utamylisoleucylarginyllysylisoleucylglutaminylisoleucylhistidylglutaminyl-
glutamylglutamylvalylglutaminylserylserylleucylarginylisoleucylmethionyla-
sparaginylalanylleucylserylhistidyllysylglutamyllysylglutamyllysylphenyla-
lanylthreonyllysylalanyllysylglutamylleucylisoleucylserylalanylaspartylle-
ucylglutamylhistidylserylleucylalanylglutamylleucylserylglutamylleucylasp-
artylglycylaspartylisoleucylglutaminylglutamylalanylleucylarginylthreonyl-
arginylglutaminylalanylthreonylleucylthreonylglutamylisoleucyltyrosylsery-
lglutaminylcysteinylglutaminylarginyltyrosyltyrosylglutaminylvalylphenyla-
lanylglutaminylalanylalanylasparaginylaspartyltryptophylleucylglutamylasp-
artylalanylglutaminylglutamylleucylleucylglutaminylleucylalanylglycylaspa-
raginylglycylleucylaspartylvalylglutamylserylalanylglutamylglutamylaspara-
ginylleucyllysylserylhistidylmethionylglutamylphenylalanylphenylalanylser-
ylthreonylglutamylaspartylglutaminylphenylalanylhistidylserylasparaginyll-
eucylglutamylglutamylleucylhistidylserylleucylvalylalanylthreonylleucylas-
partylprolylleucylisoleucyllysylprolylthreonylglycyllysylglutamylaspartyl-
leucylglutamylglutaminyllysylvalylalanylserylleucylglutamylleucylarginyls-
erylglutaminylarginylmethionylserylarginylaspartylserylglycylalanylglutam-
inylvalylaspartylleucylleucylglutaminylarginylcysteinylthreonylalanylglut-
aminyltryptophylhistidylaspartyltyrosylglutaminyllysylalanylarginylglutam-
ylglutamylvalylisoleucylglutamylleucylmethionylasparaginylaspartylthreony-
lglutamyllysyllysylleucylserylglutamylphenylalanylserylleucylleucyllysylt-
hreonylserylserylserylhistidylglutamylalanylglutamylglutamyllysylleucylse-
rylglutamylhistidyllysylalanylleucylvalylserylvalylvalylasparaginylserylp-
henylalanylhistidylglutamyllysylisoleucylvalylalanylleucylglutamylglutamy-
llysylalanylserylglutaminylleucylglutamyllysylthreonylglycylasparaginylas-
partylalanylseryllysylalanylthreonylleucylserylarginylserylmethionylthreo-
nylthreonylvalyltryptophylglutaminylarginyltryptophylthreonylarginylleucy-
larginylalanylvalylalanylglutaminylaspartylglutaminylglutamyllysylisoleuc-
ylleucylglutamylaspartylalanylvalylaspartylglutamyltryptophylthreonylglyc-
ylphenylalanylasparaginylasparaginyllysylvalyllysyllysylalanylthreonylglu-
tamylmethionylisoleucylaspartylglutaminylleucylglutaminylaspartyllysylleu-
cylprolylglycylserylserylalanylglutamyllysylalanylseryllysylalanylglutamy-
lleucylleucylthreonylleucylleucylglutamyltyrosylhistidylaspartylthreonylp-
henylalanylvalylleucylglutamylleucylglutamylglutaminylglutaminylglutaminy-
lserylalanylleucylglycylmethionylleucylarginylglutaminylglutaminylthreony-
lleucylserylmethionylleucylglutaminylaspartylglycylalanylalanylprolylthre-
onylprolylglycylglutamylglutamylprolylprolylleucylmethionylglutaminylglut-
amylisoleucylthreonylalanylmethionylglutaminylaspartylarginylcysteinylleu-
cylasparaginylmethionylglutaminylglutamyllysylvalyllysylthreonylasparagin-
ylglycyllysylleucylvalyllysylglutaminylglutamylleucyllysylaspartylarginyl-
glutamylmethionylvalylglutamylthreonylglutaminylisoleucylasparaginylseryl-
valyllysylcysteinyltryptophylvalylglutaminylglutamylthreonyllysylglutamyl-
tyrosylleucylglycylasparaginylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutamylisoleucylasp-
artylalanylglutaminylleucylglutamylglutamylleucylglutaminylisoleucylleucy-
lleucylthreonylglutamylalanylthreonylasparaginylhistidylarginylglutaminyl-
asparaginylisoleucylglutamyllysylmethionylalanylglutamylglutamylglutaminy-
llysylglutamyllysyltyrosylleucylglycylleucyltyrosylthreonylisoleucylleucy-
lprolylserylglutamylleucylserylleucylglutaminylleucylalanylglutamylvalyla-
lanylleucylaspartylleucyllysylisoleucylarginylaspartylglutaminylisoleucyl-
glutaminylaspartyllysylisoleucyllysylglutamylvalylglutamylglutaminylseryl-
lysylalanylthreonylserylglutaminylglutamylleucylserylarginylglutaminyliso-
leucylglutaminyllysylleucylalanyllysylaspartylleucylthreonylthreonylisole-
ucylleucylthreonyllysylleucyllysylalanyllysylthreonylaspartylasparaginylv-
alylvalylglutaminylalanyllysylthreonylaspartylglutaminyllysylvalylleucylg-
lycylglutamylglutamylleucylaspartylglycylcysteinylasparaginylseryllysylle-
ucylmethionylglutamylleucylaspartylalanylalanylvalylglutaminyllysylphenyl-
alanylleucylglutamylglutaminylasparaginylglycylglutaminylleucylglycyllysy-
lprolylleucylalanyllysyllysylisoleucylglycyllysylleucylthreonylglutamylle-
ucylhistidylglutaminylglutaminylthreonylisoleucylarginylglutaminylalanylg-
lutamylasparaginylarginylleucylseryllysylleucylasparaginylglutaminylalany-
lalanylserylhistidylleucylglutamylglutamyltyrosylasparaginylglutamylmethi-
onylleucylglutamylleucylisoleucylleucyllysyltryptophylisoleucylglutamylly-
sylalanyllysylvalylleucylalanylhistidylglycylthreonylisoleucylalanyltrypt-
ophylasparaginylserylalanylserylglutaminylleucylarginylglutamylglutaminyl-
tyrosylisoleucylleucylhistidylglutaminylthreonylleucylleucylglutamylgluta-
mylseryllysylglutamylisoleucylaspartylserylglutamylleucylglutamylalanylme-
thionylthreonylglutamyllysylleucylglutaminyltyrosylleucylthreonylserylval-
yltyrosylcysteinylthreonylglutamyllysylmethionylserylglutaminylglutaminyl-
valylalanylglutamylleucylglycylarginylglutamylthreonylglutamylglutamylleu-
cylarginylglutaminylmethionylisoleucyllysylisoleucylarginylleucylglutamin-
ylasparaginylleucylglutaminylaspartylalanylalanyllysylaspartylmethionylly-
syllysylphenylalanylglutamylalanylglutamylleucyllysyllysylleucylglutaminy-
lalanylalanylleucylglutamylglutaminylalanylglutaminylalanylthreonylleucyl-
threonylserylprolylglutamylvalylglycylarginylleucylserylleucyllysylglutam-
ylglutaminylleucylserylhistidylarginylglutaminylhistidylleucylleucylseryl-
glutamylmethionylglutamylserylleucyllysylprolyllysylvalylglutaminylalanyl-
valylglutaminylleucylcysteinylglutaminylserylalanylleucylarginylisoleucyl-
prolylglutamylaspartylvalylvalylalanylserylleucylprolylleucylcysteinylhis-
tidylalanylalanylleucylarginylleucylglutaminylglutamylglutamylalanylseryl-
arginylleucylglutaminylhistidylthreonylalanylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminy-
lcysteinylasparaginylisoleucylmethionylglutaminylalanylalanylvalylvalylgl-
utaminyltyrosylglutamylglutaminyltyrosylglutamylglutaminylglutamylmethion-
yllysylhistidylleucylglutaminylglutaminylleucylisoleucylglutamylglycylala-
nylhistidylarginylglutamylisoleucylglutamylaspartyllysylprolylvalylalanyl-
threonylserylasparaginylisoleucylglutaminylglutamylleucylglutaminylalanyl-
glutaminylisoleucylserylarginylhistidylglutamylglutamylleucylalanylglutam-
inyllysylisoleucyllysylglycyltyrosylglutaminylglutamylglutaminylisoleucyl-
alanylserylleucylasparaginylseryllysylcysteinyllysylmethionylleucylthreon-
ylmethionyllysylalanyllysylhistidylalanylthreonylmethionylleucylleucylthr-
eonylvalylthreonylglutamylvalylglutamylglycylleucylalanylglutamylglycylth-
reonylglutamylaspartylleucylaspartylglycylglutamylleucylleucylprolylthreo-
nylprolylserylalanylhistidylprolylserylvalylvalylmethionylmethionylthreon-
ylalanylglycylarginylcysteinylhistidylthreonylleucylleucylserylprolylvaly-
lthreonylglutamylglutamylserylglycylglutamylglutamylglycylthreonylasparag-
inylserylglutamylisoleucylserylserylprolylprolylalanylcysteinylarginylser-
ylprolylserylprolylvalylalanylasparaginylthreonylaspartylalanylserylvalyl-
asparaginylglutaminylaspartylisoleucylalanyltyrosyltyrosylglutaminylalany-
lleucylserylalanylglutamylarginylleucylglutaminylthreonylaspartylalanylal-
anyllysylisoleucylhistidylprolylserylthreonylserylalanylserylglutaminylgl-
utamylphenylalanyltyrosylglutamylprolylglycylleucylglutamylprolylserylala-
nylthreonylalanyllysylleucylglycylaspartylleucylglutaminylarginylseryltry-
ptophylglutamylthreonylleucyllysylasparaginylvalylisoleucylserylglutamyll-
ysylglutaminylarginylthreonylleucyltyrosylglutamylalanylleucylglutamylarg-
inylglutaminylglutaminyllysyltyrosylglutaminylaspartylserylleucylglutamin-
ylserylisoleucylserylthreonyllysylmethionylglutamylalanylisoleucylglutamy-
lleucyllysylleucylserylglutamylserylprolylglutamylprolylglycylarginylsery-
lprolylglutamylserylglutaminylmethionylalanylglutamylhistidylglutaminylal-
anylleucylmethionylaspartylglutamylisoleucylleucylmethionylleucylglutamin-
ylaspartylglutamylisoleucylasparaginylglutamylleucylglutaminylserylseryll-
eucylalanylglutamylglutamylleucylvalylserylglutamylserylcysteinylglutamyl-
alanylaspartylprolylalanylglutamylglutaminylleucylalanylleucylglutaminyls-
erylthreonylleucylthreonylvalylleucylalanylglutamylarginylmethionylserylt-
hreonylisoleucylarginylmethionyllysylalanylserylglycyllysylarginylglutami-
nylleucylleucylglutamylglutamyllysylleucylasparaginylaspartylglutaminylle-
ucylglutamylglutamylglutaminylarginylglutaminylglutamylglutaminylalanylle-
ucylglutaminylarginyltyrosylarginylcysteinylglutamylalanylaspartylglutamy-
lleucylaspartylseryltryptophylleucylleucylserylthreonyllysylalanylthreony-
lleucylaspartylthreonylalanylleucylserylprolylprolyllysylglutamylprolylme-
thionylaspartylmethionylglutamylalanylglutaminylleucylmethionylaspartylcy-
steinylglutaminylasparaginylmethionylleucylvalylglutamylisoleucylglutamyl-
glutaminyllysylvalylvalylalanylleucylserylglutamylleucylserylvalylhistidy-
lasparaginylglutamylasparaginylleucylleucylleucylglutamylglycyllysylalany-
lhistidylthreonyllysylaspartylglutamylalanylglutamylglutaminylleucylalany-
lglycyllysylleucylarginylarginylleucyllysylglycylserylleucylleucylglutamy-
lleucylglutaminylarginylalanylleucylhistidylaspartyllysylglutaminylleucyl-
asparaginylmethionylglutaminylglycylthreonylalanylglutaminylglutamyllysyl-
glutamylglutamylserylaspartylvalylaspartylleucylthreonylalanylthreonylglu-
taminylserylprolylglycylvalylglutaminylglutamyltryptophylleucylalanylglut-
aminylalanylarginylthreonylthreonyltryptophylthreonylglutaminylglutaminyl-
arginylglutaminylserylserylleucylglutaminylglutaminylglutaminyllysylgluta-
mylleucylglutamylglutaminylglutamylleucylalanylglutamylglutaminyllysylser-
ylleucylleucylarginylserylvalylalanylserylarginylglycylglutamylglutamylis-
oleucylleucylisoleucylglutaminylhistidylserylalanylalanylglutamylthreonyl-
serylglycylaspartylalanylglycylglutamyllysylprolylaspartylvalylleucylsery-
lglutaminylglutamylleucylglycylmethionylglutamylglycylglutamyllysylseryls-
erylalanylglutamylaspartylglutaminylmethionylarginylmethionyllysyltryptop-
hylglutamylserylleucylhistidylglutaminylglutamylphenylalanylserylthreonyl-
lysylglutaminyllysylleucylleucylglutaminylasparaginylvalylleucylglutamylg-
lutaminylglutamylglutaminylglutamylglutaminylvalylleucyltyrosylserylargin-
ylprolylasparaginylarginylleucylleucylserylglycylvalylprolylleucyltyrosyl-
lysylglycylaspartylvalylprolylthreonylglutaminylaspartyllysylserylalanylv-
alylthreonylserylleucylleucylaspartylglycylleucylasparaginylglutaminylala-
nylphenylalanylglutamylglutamylvalylserylserylglutaminylserylglycylglycyl-
alanyllysylarginylglutaminylserylisoleucylhistidylleucylglutamylglutaminy-
llysylleucyltyrosylaspartylglycylvalylserylalanylthreonylserylthreonyltry-
ptophylleucylaspartylaspartylvalylglutamylglutamylarginylleucylphenylalan-
ylvalylalanylthreonylalanylleucylleucylprolylglutamylglutamylthreonylglut-
amylthreonylcysteinylleucylphenylalanylasparaginylglutaminylglutamylisole-
ucylleucylalanyllysylaspartylisoleucyllysylglutamylmethionylserylglutamyl-
glutamylmethionylaspartyllysylasparaginyllysylasparaginylleucylphenylalan-
ylserylglutaminylalanylphenylalanylprolylglutamylasparaginylglycylasparty-
lasparaginylarginylaspartylvalylisoleucylglutamylaspartylthreonylleucylgl-
ycylcysteinylleucylleucylglycylarginylleucylserylleucylleucylaspartylsery-
lvalylvalylasparaginylglutaminylarginylcysteinylhistidylglutaminylmethion-
yllysylglutamylarginylleucylglutaminylglutaminylisoleucylleucylasparaginy-
lphenylalanylglutaminylasparaginylaspartylleucyllysylvalylleucylphenylala-
nylthreonylserylleucylalanylaspartylasparaginyllysyltyrosylisoleucylisole-
ucylleucylglutaminyllysylleucylalanylasparaginylvalylphenylalanylglutamyl-
glutaminylprolylvalylalanylglutamylglutaminylisoleucylglutamylalanylisole-
ucylglutaminylglutaminylalanylglutamylaspartylglycylleucyllysylglutamylph-
enylalanylaspartylalanylglycylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylleucyllysylarginy-
larginylglycylaspartyllysylleucylglutaminylvalylglutamylglutaminylprolyls-
erylmethionylglutaminylglutamylleucylseryllysylleucylglutaminylaspartylme-
thionyltyrosylaspartylglutamylleucylmethionylmethionylisoleucylisoleucylg-
lycylserylarginylarginylserylglycylleucylasparaginylglutaminylasparaginyl-
leucylthreonylleucyllysylserylglutaminyltyrosylglutamylarginylalanylleucy-
lglutaminylaspartylleucylalanylaspartylleucylleucylglutamylthreonylglycyl-
glutaminylglutamyllysylmethionylalanylglycylaspartylglutaminyllysylisoleu-
cylisoleucylvalylserylseryllysylglutamylglutamylisoleucylglutaminylglutam-
inylleucylleucylaspartyllysylhistidyllysylglutamyltyrosylphenylalanylglut-
aminylglycylleucylglutamylserylhistidylmethionylisoleucylleucylthreonylgl-
utamylthreonylleucylphenylalanylarginyllysylisoleucylisoleucylserylphenyl-
alanylalanylvalylglutaminyllysylglutamylthreonylglutaminylphenylalanylhis-
tidylthreonylglutamylleucylmethionylalanylglutaminylalanylserylalanylvaly-
lleucyllysylarginylalanylhistidyllysylarginylglycylvalylglutamylleucylglu-
tamyltyrosylisoleucylleucylglutamylthreonyltryptophylserylhistidylleucyla-
spartylglutamylaspartylglutaminylglutaminylglutamylleucylserylarginylglut-
aminylleucylglutamylvalylvalylglutamylserylserylisoleucylprolylserylvalyl-
glycylleucylvalylglutamylglutamylasparaginylglutamylaspartylarginylleucyl-
isoleucylaspartylarginylisoleucylthreonylleucyltyrosylglutaminylhistidyll-
eucyllysylserylserylleucylasparaginylglutamyltyrosylglutaminylprolyllysyl-
leucyltyrosylglutaminylvalylleucylaspartylaspartylglycyllysylarginylleucy-
lleucylisoleucylserylisoleucylserylcysteinylserylaspartylleucylglutamylse-
rylglutaminylleucylasparaginylglutaminylleucylglycylglutamylcysteinyltryp-
tophylleucylserylasparaginylthreonylasparaginyllysylmethionylseryllysylgl-
utamylleucylhistidylarginylleucylglutamylthreonylisoleucylleucyllysylhist-
idyltryptophylthreonylarginyltyrosylglutaminylserylglutamylserylalanylasp-
artylleucylisoleucylhistidyltryptophylleucylglutaminylserylalanyllysylasp-
artylarginylleucylglutamylphenylalanyltryptophylthreonylglutaminylglutami-
nylserylvalylthreonylvalylprolylglutaminylglutamylleucylglutamylmethionyl-
valylarginylaspartylhistidylleucylasparaginylalanylphenylalanylleucylglut-
amylphenylalanylseryllysylglutamylvalylaspartylalanylglutaminylserylseryl-
leucyllysylserylserylvalylleucylserylthreonylglycylasparaginylglutaminyll-
eucylleucylarginylleucyllysyllysylvalylaspartylthreonylalanylthreonylleuc-
ylarginylserylglutamylleucylserylarginylisoleucylaspartylserylglutaminylt-
ryptophylthreonylaspartylleucylleucylthreonylasparaginylisoleucylprolylal-
anylvalylglutaminylglutamyllysylleucylhistidylglutaminylleucylglutaminylm-
ethionylaspartyllysylleucylprolylserylarginylhistidylalanylisoleucylseryl-
glutamylvalylmethionylseryltryptophylisoleucylserylleucylmethionylglutamy-
lasparaginylvalylisoleucylglutaminyllysylaspartylglutamylaspartylasparagi-
nylisoleucyllysylasparaginylserylisoleucylglycyltyrosyllysylalanylisoleuc-
ylhistidylglutamyltyrosylleucylglutaminyllysyltyrosyllysylglycylphenylala-
nyllysylisoleucylaspartylisoleucylasparaginylcysteinyllysylglutaminylleuc-
ylthreonylvalylaspartylphenylalanylvalylasparaginylglutaminylserylvalylle-
ucylglutaminylisoleucylserylserylglutaminylaspartylvalylglutamylseryllysy-
larginylserylaspartyllysylthreonylaspartylphenylalanylalanylglutamylgluta-
minylleucylglycylalanylmethionylasparaginyllysylseryltryptophylglutaminyl-
isoleucylleucylglutaminylglycylleucylvalylthreonylglutamyllysylisoleucylg-
lutaminylleucylleucylglutamylglycylleucylleucylglutamylseryltryptophylser-
ylglutamyltyrosylglutamylasparaginylasparaginylvalylglutaminylcysteinylle-
ucyllysylthreonyltryptophylphenylalanylglutamylthreonylglutaminylglutamyl-
lysylarginylleucyllysylglutaminylglutaminylhistidylarginylisoleucylglycyl-
aspartylglutaminylalanylserylvalylglutaminylasparaginylalanylleucyllysyla-
spartylcysteinylglutaminylaspartylleucylglutamylaspartylleucylisoleucylly-
sylalanyllysylglutamyllysylglutamylvalylglutamyllysylisoleucylglutamylglu-
taminylasparaginylglycylleucylalanylleucylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginyll-
ysyllysylglutamylaspartylvalylserylserylisoleucylvalylmethionylserylthreo-
nylleucylarginylglutamylleucylglycylglutaminylthreonyltryptophylalanylasp-
araginylleucylaspartylhistidylmethionylvalylglycylglutaminylleucyllysylis-
oleucylleucylleucyllysylserylvalylleucylaspartylglutaminyltryptophylseryl-
serylhistidyllysylvalylalanylphenylalanylaspartyllysylisoleucylasparaginy-
lseryltyrosylleucylmethionylglutamylalanylarginyltyrosylserylleucylseryla-
rginylphenylalanylarginylleucylleucylthreonylglycylserylleucylglutamylala-
nylvalylglutaminylvalylglutaminylvalylaspartylasparaginylleucylglutaminyl-
asparaginylleucylglutaminylaspartylaspartylleucylglutamyllysylglutaminylg-
lutamylarginylserylleucylglutaminyllysylphenylalanylglycylserylisoleucylt-
hreonylasparaginylglutaminylleucylleucyllysylglutamylcysteinylhistidylpro-
lylprolylvalylthreonylglutamylthreonylleucylthreonylasparaginylthreonylle-
ucyllysylglutamylvalylasparaginylmethionylarginyltryptophylasparaginylasp-
araginylleucylleucylglutamylglutamylisoleucylalanylglutamylglutaminylleuc-
ylglutaminylserylseryllysylalanylleucylleucylglutaminylleucyltryptophylgl-
utaminylarginyltyrosyllysylaspartyltyrosylseryllysylglutaminylcysteinylal-
anylserylthreonylvalylglutaminylglutaminylglutaminylglutamylaspartylargin-
ylthreonylasparaginylglutamylleucylleucyllysylalanylalanylthreonylasparag-
inyllysylaspartylisoleucylalanylaspartylaspartylglutamylvalylalanylthreon-
yltryptophylisoleucylglutaminylaspartylcysteinylasparaginylaspartylleucyl-
leucyllysylglycylleucylglycylthreonylvalyllysylaspartylserylleucylphenyla-
lanylphenylalanylleucylhistidylglutamylleucylglycylglutamylglutaminylleuc-
yllysylglutaminylglutaminylvalylaspartylalanylserylalanylalanylserylalany-
lisoleucylglutaminylserylaspartylglutaminylleucylserylleucylserylglutamin-
ylhistidylleucylcysteinylalanylleucylglutamylglutaminylalanylleucylcystei-
nyllysylglutaminylglutaminylthreonylserylleucylglutaminylalanylglycylvaly-
lleucylaspartyltyrosylglutamylthreonylphenylalanylalanyllysylserylleucylg-
lutamylalanylleucylglutamylalanyltryptophylisoleucylvalylglutamylalanylgl-
utamylglutamylisoleucylleucylglutaminylglycylglutaminylaspartylprolylsery-
lhistidylserylserylaspartylleucylserylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylglutamyl-
arginylmethionylglutamylglutamylleucyllysylglycylglutaminylmethionylleucy-
llysylphenylalanylserylserylmethionylalanylprolylaspartylleucylaspartylar-
ginylleucylasparaginylglutamylleucylglycyltyrosylarginylleucylprolylleucy-
lasparaginylaspartyllysylglutamylisoleucyllysylarginylmethionylglutaminyl-
asparaginylleucylasparaginylarginylhistidyltryptophylserylleucylisoleucyl-
serylserylglutaminylthreonylthreonylglutamylarginylphenylalanylseryllysyl-
leucylglutaminylserylphenylalanylleucylleucylglutaminylhistidylglutaminyl-
threonylphenylalanylleucylglutamyllysylcysteinylglutamylthreonyltryptophy-
lmethionylglutamylphenylalanylleucylvalylglutaminylthreonylglutamylglutam-
inyllysylleucylalanylvalylglutamylisoleucylserylglycylasparaginyltyrosylg-
lutaminylhistidylleucylleucylglutamylglutaminylglutaminylarginylalanylhis-
tidylglutamylleucylphenylalanylglutaminylalanylglutamylmethionylphenylala-
nylserylarginylglutaminylglutaminylisoleucylleucylhistidylserylisoleucyli-
soleucylisoleucylaspartylglycylglutaminylarginylleucylleucylglutamylgluta-
minylglycylglutaminylvalylaspartylaspartylarginylaspartylglutamylphenylal-
anylasparaginylleucyllysylleucylthreonylleucylleucylserylasparaginylgluta-
minyltryptophylglutaminylglycylvalylisoleucylarginylarginylalanylglutamin-
ylglutaminylarginylarginylglycylisoleucylisoleucylaspartylserylglutaminyl-
isoleucylarginylglutaminyltryptophylglutaminylarginyltyrosylarginylglutam-
ylmethionylalanylglutamyllysylleucylarginyllysyltryptophylleucylvalylglut-
amylvalylseryltyrosylleucylprolylmethionylserylglycylleucylglycylserylval-
ylprolylisoleucylprolylleucylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginylthreonylleu-
cylphenylalanylaspartylglutamylvalylglutaminylphenylalanyllysylglutamylly-
sylvalylphenylalanylleucylarginylglutaminylglutaminylglycylseryltyrosylis-
oleucylleucylthreonylvalylglutamylalanylglycyllysylglutaminylleucylleucyl-
leucylserylalanylaspartylserylglycylalanylglutamylalanylalanylleucylgluta-
minylalanylglutamylleucylalanylglutamylisoleucylglutaminylglutamyllysyltr-
yptophyllysylserylalanylserylmethionylarginylleucylglutamylglutamylglutam-
inyllysyllysyllysylleucylalanylphenylalanylleucylleucyllysylaspartyltrypt-
ophylglutamyllysylcysteinylglutamyllysylglycylisoleucylalanylaspartylsery-
lleucylglutamyllysylleucylarginylthreonylphenylalanyllysyllysyllysylleucy-
lserylglutaminylserylleucylprolylaspartylhistidylhistidylglutamylglutamyl-
leucylhistidylalanylglutamylglutaminylmethionylarginylcysteinyllysylgluta-
mylleucylglutamylasparaginylalanylvalylglycylseryltryptophylthreonylaspar-
tylaspartylleucylthreonylglutaminylleucylserylleucylleucyllysylaspartylth-
reonylleucylserylalanyltyrosylisoleucylserylalanylaspartylaspartylisoleuc-
ylserylisoleucylleucylasparaginylglutamylarginylvalylglutamylleucylleucyl-
glutaminylarginylglutaminyltryptophylglutamylglutamylleucylcysteinylhisti-
dylglutaminylleucylserylleucylarginylarginylglutaminylglutaminylisoleucyl-
glycylglutamylarginylleucylasparaginylglutamyltryptophylalanylvalylphenyl-
alanylserylglutamyllysylasparaginyllysylglutamylleucylcysteinylglutamyltr-
yptophylleucylthreonylglutaminylmethionylglutamylseryllysylvalylserylglut-
aminylasparaginylglycylaspartylisoleucylleucylisoleucylglutamylglutamylme-
thionylisoleucylglutamyllysylleucyllysyllysylaspartyltyrosylglutaminylglu-
tamylglutamylisoleucylalanylisoleucylalanylglutaminylglutamylasparaginyll-
ysylisoleucylglutaminylleucylglutaminylglutaminylmethionylglycylglutamyla-
rginylleucylalanyllysylalanylserylhistidylglutamylseryllysylalanylserylgl-
utamylisoleucylglutamyltyrosyllysylleucylglycyllysylvalylasparaginylaspar-
tylarginyltryptophylglutaminylhistidylleucylleucylaspartylleucylisoleucyl-
alanylalanylarginylvalyllysyllysylleucyllysylglutamylthreonylleucylvalyla-
lanylvalylglutaminylglutaminylleucylaspartyllysylasparaginylmethionylsery-
lserylleucylarginylthreonyltryptophylleucylalanylhistidylisoleucylglutamy-
lserylglutamylleucylalanyllysylprolylisoleucylvalyltyrosylaspartylserylcy-
steinylasparaginylserylglutamylglutamylisoleucylglutaminylarginyllysylleu-
cylasparaginylglutamylglutaminylglutaminylglutamylleucylglutaminylarginyl-
aspartylisoleucylglutamyllysylhistidylserylthreonylglycylvalylalanylseryl-
valylleucylasparaginylleucylcysteinylglutamylvalylleucylleucylhistidylasp-
artylcysteinylaspartylalanylcysteinylalanylthreonylaspartylalanylglutamyl-
cysteinylaspartylserylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminylalanylthreonylarginyla-
sparaginylleucylaspartylarginylarginyltryptophylarginylasparaginylisoleuc-
ylcysteinylalanylmethionylserylmethionylglutamylarginylarginylleucyllysyl-
isoleucylglutamylglutamylthreonyltryptophylarginylleucyltryptophylglutami-
nyllysylphenylalanylleucylaspartylaspartyltyrosylserylarginylphenylalanyl-
glutamylaspartyltryptophylleucyllysylserylserylglutamylarginylthreonylala-
nylalanylphenylalanylprolylserylserylserylglycylvalylisoleucyltyrosylthre-
onylvalylalanyllysylglutamylglutamylleucyllysyllysylphenylalanylglutamyla-
lanylphenylalanylglutaminylarginylglutaminylvalylhistidylglutamylcysteiny-
lleucylthreonylglutaminylleucylglutamylleucylisoleucylasparaginyllysylglu-
taminyltyrosylarginylarginylleucylalanylarginylglutamylasparaginylarginyl-
threonylaspartylserylalanylcysteinylserylleucyllysylglutaminylmethionylva-
lylhistidylglutamylglycylasparaginylglutaminylarginyltryptophylaspartylas-
paraginylleucylglutaminyllysylarginylvalylthreonylserylisoleucylleucylarg-
inylarginylleucyllysylhistidylphenylalanylisoleucylglycylglutaminylarginy-
lglutamylglutamylphenylalanylglutamylthreonylalanylarginylaspartylserylis-
oleucylleucylvalyltryptophylleucylthreonylglutamylmethionylaspartylleucyl-
glutaminylleucylthreonylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylhistidylphenylalanyls-
erylglutamylcysteinylaspartylvalylglutaminylalanyllysylisoleucyllysylglut-
aminylleucyllysylalanylphenylalanylglutaminylglutaminylglutamylisoleucyls-
erylleucylasparaginylhistidylasparaginyllysylisoleucylglutamylglutaminyli-
soleucylisoleucylalanylglutaminylglycylglutamylglutaminylleucylisoleucylg-
lutamyllysylserylglutamylprolylleucylaspartylalanylalanylisoleucylisoleuc-
ylglutamylglutamylglutamylleucylaspartylglutamylleucylarginylarginyltyros-
ylcysteinylglutaminylglutamylvalylphenylalanylglycylarginylvalylglutamyla-
rginyltyrosylhistidyllysyllysylleucylisoleucylarginylleucylprolylleucylpr-
olylaspartylaspartylglutamylhistidylaspartylleucylserylaspartylarginylglu-
tamylleucylglutamylleucylglutamylaspartylserylalanylalanylleucylserylaspa-
rtylleucylhistidyltryptophylhistidylaspartylarginylserylalanylaspartylser-
ylleucylleucylserylprolylglutaminylprolylserylserylasparaginylleucylseryl-
leucylserylleucylalanylglutaminylprolylleucylarginylserylglutamylarginyls-
erylglycylarginylaspartylthreonylprolylalanylserylvalylaspartylserylisole-
ucylprolylleucylglutamyltryptophylaspartylhistidylaspartyltyrosylaspartyl-
leucylserylarginylaspartylleucylglutamylserylalanylmethionylserylarginyla-
lanylleucylprolylserylglutamylaspartylglutamylglutamylglycylglutaminylasp-
artylaspartyllysylaspartylphenylalanyltyrosylleucylarginylglycylalanylval-
ylalanylleucylserylglycylaspartylhistidylserylalanylleucylglutamylserylgl-
utaminylisoleucylarginylglutaminylleucylglycyllysylalanylleucylaspartylas-
partylserylarginylphenylalanylglutaminylisoleucylglutaminylglutaminylthre-
onylglutamylasparaginylisoleucylisoleucylarginylseryllysylthreonylprolylt-
hreonylglycylprolylglutamylleucylaspartylthreonylseryltyrosyllysylglycylt-
yrosylmethionyllysylleucylleucylglycylglutamylcysteinylserylserylseryliso-
leucylaspartylserylvalyllysylarginylleucylglutamylhistidyllysylleucyllysy-
lglutamylglutamylglutamylglutamylserylleucylprolylglycylphenylalanylvalyl-
asparaginylleucylhistidylserylthreonylglutamylthreonylglutaminylthreonyla-
lanylglycylvalylisoleucylaspartylarginyltryptophylglutamylleucylleucylglu-
taminylalanylglutaminylalanylleucylseryllysylglutamylleucylarginylmethion-
yllysylglutaminylasparaginylleucylglutaminyllysyltryptophylglutaminylglut-
aminylphenylalanylasparaginylserylaspartylleucylasparaginylserylisoleucyl-
tryptophylalanyltryptophylleucylglycylaspartylthreonylglutamylglutamylglu-
tamylleucylglutamylglutaminylleucylglutaminylarginylleucylglutamylleucyls-
erylthreonylaspartylisoleucylglutaminylthreonylisoleucylglutamylleucylglu-
taminylisoleucyllysyllysylleucyllysylglutamylleucylglutaminyllysylalanylv-
alylaspartylhistidylarginyllysylalanylisoleucylisoleucylleucylserylisoleu-
cylasparaginylleucylcysteinylserylprolylglutamylphenylalanylthreonylgluta-
minylalanylaspartylseryllysylglutamylserylarginylaspartylleucylglutaminyl-
aspartylarginylleucylserylglutaminylmethionylasparaginylglycylarginyltryp-
tophylaspartylarginylvalylcysteinylserylleucylleucylglutamylglutamyltrypt-
ophylarginylglycylleucylleucylglutaminylaspartylalanylleucylmethionylglut-
aminylcysteinylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylhistidylglutamylmethionylseryl-
histidylglycylleucylleucylleucylmethionylleucylglutamylasparaginylisoleuc-
ylaspartylarginylarginyllysylasparaginylglutamylisoleucylvalylprolylisole-
ucylaspartylserylasparaginylleucylaspartylalanylglutamylisoleucylleucylgl-
utaminylaspartylhistidylhistidyllysylglutaminylleucylmethionylglutaminyli-
soleucyllysylhistidylglutamylleucylleucylglutamylserylglutaminylleucylarg-
inylvalylalanylserylleucylglutaminylaspartylmethionylserylcysteinylglutam-
inylleucylleucylvalylasparaginylalanylglutamylglycylthreonylaspartylcyste-
inylleucylglutamylalanyllysylglutamyllysylvalylhistidylvalylisoleucylglyc-
ylasparaginylarginylleucyllysylleucylleucylleucyllysylglutamylvalylseryla-
rginylhistidylisoleucyllysylglutamylleucylglutamyllysylleucylleucylaspart-
ylvalylserylserylserylglutaminylglutaminylaspartylleucylserylseryltryptop-
hylserylserylalanylaspartylglutamylleucylaspartylthreonylserylglycylseryl-
valylserylprolylthreonylserylglycylarginylserylthreonylprolylasparaginyla-
rginylglutaminyllysylthreonylprolylarginylglycyllysylcysteinylserylleucyl-
serylglutaminylprolylglycylprolylserylvalylserylserylprolylhistidylseryla-
rginylserylthreonyllysylglycylglycylserylaspartylserylserylleucylserylglu-
tamylprolylglycylprolylglycylarginylserylglycylarginylglycylphenylalanyll-
eucylphenylalanylarginylvalylleucylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleucylg-
lutaminylleucylleucylleucylleucylleucylleucylisoleucylglycylleucylalanylc-
ysteinylleucylvalylprolylmethionylserylglutamylglutamylaspartyltyrosylser-
ylcysteinylalanylleucylserylasparaginylasparaginylphenylalanylalanylargin-
ylserylphenylalanylhistidylprolylmethionylleucylarginyltyrosylthreonylasp-
araginylglycylprolylprolylprolylleucine"? Because I can really use one.

Modern bikes that use electronic shifting and guidance and e-bike systems are complex but, fortunately, they aren't that complex.

But, hey, give it a few years and you'll need a license to ride one.

I'm not saying that will happen only that it could.

If the bike industry keeps pushing e-bikes and if there is enough consumer demand for more powerful e-bikes I can definitely see things going that way.

If there are demands for e-bike only trail access I can see things going that way.

Lastly if there is enough demand for e-bike express lanes that run parallel to bike lanes I can see e-bike licenses being issued too.

Would that be a bad thing? I'm not sure but given that there has been a desire to phase out fossil fuel powered cars by the end of the century it could be something just over the horizon.

Whatever happens, enjoy the ride.

To e-bike or not to e-bike, that is the question

2017-07-11T15:32:00.001-07:00

It seems like every time you look at a bike related website or pick up a cycling magazine there is another e-bike related story and that’s particularly true with the off road world.

Hi-Torque Enterprises, who publishes Mountain Bike Action, also has a title called (imaginatively enough) Electric Bike Action.

In 2011 IMBA’s Mike Van Abel wrote a story called “Electric Mountain Bikes-Coming To A Trail Near You?” While a lot has hanged since 2011, especially since major companies like Specialized, Scott and Bultaco make one.

Van Abe’s words, however, still remain relevant, “IMBA doesn't think responsible motorized recreation is a bad thing — not at all. But it's not mountain biking, and human-powered activity should not be regulated in the same way power sports are managed.”

As a whole that’s my feeling too especially since TreeHugger published a story about this beast.

In 2015 the BLM issued the following statement and said that, “The FS (Forest Service) manages e-bikes as a motor vehicle per their Travel Management Rule”.

Just recently Colorado passed HB 17-1151,“defining a three-class system for electric-assist bikes depending on their top speed and whether the electric motor assists while pedaling.”

According to BRAIN, however, “The bill doesn't affect management of eMTBs on public mountain bike and hiking trails. It's only applicable to the road, bike lanes and bike paths.”

With e-bikes legal status in legal limbo should you buy one?

Umm… maybe.

In the interest of full disclosure I’ve never ridden an e-bike off road so I’m probably not the right guy to ask.

If you are interested in one, however, you may want to double check with your local land management officials to make sure they are permissible on your local trails first.

You may also want to keep an eye on GovTrack to see if there is any pending legislation that may affect your ability to ride an e-bike on your local trails too.

Lastly you may want to check in with your local MTB advocacy group to see if they have a finger on the pulse about any e-bike restrictions.

That said, however, I can’t say I’m interested in looking at an e-bike myself part of it is expense and the other is at my core I'm a bit of a retro grouch so unless I'm injured enough I can't pedal uphill I'm going to hold off on one of these things as long as possible.

I know a couple of old time MTB guys that love e-bikes and can't say enough positive things about them but for me I'm going to stave off the Frankenbike as long as I can.

Grab that land by the Purlieu

2017-01-13T14:16:00.000-08:00

Truth be told I’m not a policy wonk.

I know, shocking, right?

In case you’ve missed it last year, we had an election. Among the many changes has been a resurgence of wrestling lands out of federal hands and transferring them to state and local control.

While I can certainly understand the desire to do so mainly because any bureaucracy is large and (ahem) bureaucratic there are consequences mainly fee increases, and closures.

One of the biggest consequences of this transfer is cost. One of the reasons why park access and user fees are as low as they are is the injection federal dollars. As unpopular as it is to speak favorably of the federal government nowadays at least there is that much to be thankful for.

Like all land access issues, the proposed transfer is complex and contentious.

One of the surprise groups that are opposing the transfer of federal lands to state and local control are hunters.

This would be a very long post if every single aspect and every nuance were discussed so if you would like to explore this issue more in depth please check out the articles posted below:

Randy Newberg and the TRCP Scrub Out Public Land Transfer Myths

U.S. House changes its rules to ease federal land transfers: The Western movement to transfer federal lands scores an early victory in the new Congress.

Hunting group opposes federal land transfer.

Change in how land transfer values are calculated sparks a spirited

Land management is an important issue.

For more on the issue please follow the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, US Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, US Forestry Department, and not to mention your local parks and recreational departments and your local mountain bike advocacy groups.

Short Fingered Shit Storm

2016-12-16T05:15:00.000-08:00

Proposed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke

I’ve been running silent for a while and this is going to be a long one so please bear with me.

I felt I needed to take a break from writing, and collect my wits and that is partly that’s due to the fact that the incoming administration will have a profound effect on public lands especially if the oft-rumored selection of Sarah Palin as Secretary of the Interior comes to fruition. (There are also rumors that Palin may be tapped to be the head of the VA, an equally disastrous decision).

Amendment: Apparently Sarah Palin is no longer slated to become Secretary of the Interior and has since been replaced by the equally disastrous Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Goddamnit: looks like Ryan Zinke has now been tapped for the Secretary of the Interior. This is beginning to look like the Great Western Schism when the Catholic Church had more than one Pope.

Shit, I lost my train of thought, where was I?

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be writing about bikes.

So, what does his have to do with mountain biking?

Maybe nothing.

Maybe a lot.

Some soberer minded political reporters have speculated that the incoming president is playing a game. There is some speculation that he is purposely sending up some unacceptable hardliners only to posit a more palatable alternative later, albeit one that’s still in line with his world views.

The appointment of Secretary of the Interior has broad implications when it comes to the Bureau of Land Managment, the United States Geological Survey, National Park Service, and even the National Park Foundation.

Any one who remembers former Secretary of the Interior James G Watt can attest to the fact that the Secretary of the Interior sets a tone in terms of policy. Other than banning rock concerts at the National Mall in Washington DC (most famously the Beach Boys) Watt was also known for his anti-environmentalist, pro business stances.

To say this past election was super heated would be an understatement the net result has been voters have largely rejected establishment Republicans and the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party was dealt a sever blow.

Another thing you could say about the past election is there isn't going to be anything resembling "business as usual" politics for the next couple of years and that is going to affect any pending legislation. At the best of times passing legislation is a Herculean task akin to mucking out the Augean stables. But at the worst of times self-immolation may be more desirable.

Speaking of things that crash pending legislation into a wall...

While the President-elect had won the battle for the highest office in the land his fight is far from over. The Electoral College still remains a challenge (but how much of a challenge the Electoral College presents remains to be seen) and there are still a staggering number of pending lawsuits against the President-elect.

Not to mention the fact that the President-elect is far from popular even within his own party. He’s feuded with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John McCain and Paul Ryan and those fights will become uglier as time goes on.

Whether or not that will result in a Republican Civil War or some version of "Nacht der langen Messer" is any one’s guess.

It should be noted that the Republican Party is far from being homogeneous. There are many factions in the GOP and they include members of the Christian right, traditionalists, Alt-Right, Neoconservatives, moderates, populists and libertarians.

Needless to say not all of the factions get along or play well with one another.

That also means there is trouble ahead for any one that wants to push a bill through Congress.

Despite the fact that the Republicans now control both Houses for the first time since 1928, their majority by no means guaranteed they would get their way. Even the Republican Revolution 1994 stalled due to factionalism.

Especially with an unpopular President.

Coupled with that is the fact that the Democratic Party, by and large, feels no obligation to cooperate with the incumbent president and will do their best to stonewall bills, appointments to the Supreme Court, and become obstructionist pains in the ass.

I can easily see any land access plans dying in community, or having riders being attached to bills rendering them unpalatable to legislators, or bill sponsors being voted out of office because they don't adhere to ideological purity.

There many other scenarios that can grind any pending land access legislation to a halt too.

Hotly contested midterm elections may pull members away from their legislative duties as they fight to remain in office.

Depending on the success of the President-elect new populist anti-Washington, anti-big business legislators may be voted into office.

An international crisis can also derail even the best-laid plans - especially if there's a major conflict in Eastern Europe instigated by an embolden Russian Federation.

An overturn in the election by the Electoral College may plunge things into chaos especially if the alt-right assholes launch their boner inducing insurgency they've been having wet dreams about for decades.

A Constitutional crisis can also grind any legislative momentum to ha halt especially if that means impeaching or removing a president.

Another financial crisis can scuttle any grandiose legislation, no matter how important or well-meaning.

Any one wanting to pass land access legislation has their work cut out for them. They are going to have to balance the demands of industry, legislators, people's lands that are in or near public lands, and a variety of antagonistic user groups. Not to mention a Byzantine collection of rules, regulations, federal, state and local laws, oversight committees, impact reports, review processes, court challenges, suits, counter suits, SLAPP suits, federal, state and local agencies, an alphabet soup's worth of law enforcement agencies, advocacy groups, commercial interests, special interests, lobbying groups, a Bestiary worth of politicians, lawyers, lawyers, lawyers and just regular folks looking for work or simply want to enjoy the outdoors.

If, however, the President-elect does assume office we can almost be assured he's going to want to appoint a Secretary of the Interior that shares his antipathy towards man-made global climate change.

While the proposed Secretary of the Interior may ignore the preponderance of the evidence concerning man's role in global climate change petty arguments over bicycle access becomes moot without a viable biosphere.

The selection of a dimwitted Secretary of the Interior will not immediately usher in the Holocene extinction it's not going to slow down atmospheric carbon buildup, ocean acidification, habitat degradation or soil loss either.

I see the movement to woo communities away from extractive industry activities and towards recreational tourism as a good thing but if there isn't any will in Washington to combat global warming we are going to "Drill baby drill" ourselves into oblivion.

The Process of History

2016-10-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

This year saw the 40th anniversary of the first Repack race in Fairfax California.

I’m astonished about how many claims and counter claims that are circling around the ‘net about who did what, especially with people that weren’t directly involved with the folks in Marin.

Some of the people have taken it upon themselves to publicly attack Charlie Kelly.

A little while ago I wrote an IM to CK via Facebook and this is a transcription of our exchanges:

“Obviously there a bunch of ninnyhammers coming out of the woodwork saying, “Oh, I was riding bikes on Tam in ’59 so I can say I invented the mountain bike” or whatever.

We also know that there were progenitors to the modern mountain bike (the off-road bike races in Coconino Arizona in the 1890s, the use of bicycles by scouts during the Boer War, Buffalo Soldiers, American troops used bikes for messengers during the Spanish American War, WWI) but they were all preexisting designs that seemed to have been little changed from their civilian counterparts.

Joe Breeze wrote a great piece for the MTB Hall of Fame about Velo Cross Parisien that were organizing modified offload cycling events during the fifties and the Rough Stuff Fellowship in Britain were doing similar things during the same time.

Of course in the US John Finley Scott was making his own “woodie bikes” during the early fifties.

The late Jeff Archer also had some interesting one-off bikes that were made during the Seventies but they obviously didn’t amount to anything other than being an interesting historic curiosity.

Correct me if I’m wrong but my take on the matter is that key difference between what you, Gary, Greg, and Joe did was to design then build a new frame and fork from the ground up specifically for off-road riding.

The other big difference is that you, Gary and Tom started making bikes in large enough numbers to start spurring copycat bikes. Lastly, the one thing that separates you guys and some guy wandering around the woods by themselves on a bike is you have documentation, witnesses, hard evidence such as early modified clunkers and photographic proof. Without documentation, witnesses, physical or photographic evidence you don’t have anything”.

CK: "The story is a lot more complicated than "invented the mountain bike." the social and mechanical context had a lot to do with the inception of the sport".

It reminds me of when I was trying to do research on the 29"ers and there were a lot of claims and counterclaims and even people claiming that they were involved that actually weren't or couldn't prove it.

There were guys from “x” company and “y” bikes saying they were there etc., etc., etc. but weren't.

It took a lot of time and cross checking and follow through interviews and even then I still have some lingering doubts about some of the claims. I also can't say what I did was definitive but if anyone wants to pick up where I left off I'm fine with it because I'm exhausted about talking about 29"ers.

A couple of years ago I did an interview with William Savage who did the movie “Klunkers” about his research into the subject of the early years of mountain biking. He said he said that there were a lot of people that were involved with the early days and while he did try to reach out to a lot of early clunker crowd, not everyone wanted to talk.

Willam’s experience mirrors my own because I reached out to a lot of people in order to get their side of a particular story and while some people were extremely generous with their time other people were less than forthcoming.

Perhaps we should start to look at what history is, that it’s a process, not an end in of itself.

Science is the same way, as new information comes about and if it corrects a particular theory we should be willing to embrace it.

I'm sure that there were pockets of folks all over the US, or Canada, or Europe, or wherever that were probably doing something similar to what the Marin crowd were doing in the mid seventies but proof is needed in order to substantiate claims and counterclaims.

A while ago I was on a ride and I was asked by two riders how long had I been mountain biking. I said my brother and I started modifying our bikes and riding them off road back in the late seventies. That said, neither one of us have claimed we invented anything. We also had no idea that other people were doing something similar hundreds of miles away during the same time period.

When I finally saw my first "mountain bike" in the very early eighties I thought to myself "What's the big deal, we've been doing that all ready".

That said, however, we can't all upon any witnesses or produce photographic evidence of what we were doing but we're happy to have had this shared experience and have since moved on with the rest of our lives.

Ammon Bundy, You're a Jackass

2016-10-28T09:05:00.002-07:00

There are a lot of nutters coming out of the woodwork to defend the Bundy boys and their jackass friends and sadly a lot of people in the mountain bike community are among them.

From what I can tell a lot of the people that are cheering the court's decision are cut a bit out of the same cloth, white middle aged males that are still engaged in adolescent pursuits of glory.

"I just won a master class division cross country race".

"Against how many people?"

"Six".

Ugh.

Obviously, I exaggerate for comic effect but you get the point.

It's funny seeing them trying to equate what was going on with the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge with Standing Rock.

Oh, boo hoo. A rancher that repeatedly broke the law and was asked to pay for the land he had been illegally grazing his cattle on is now finally has to pay up is not the same as a marginalized community that has been systematically murdered and discriminated against for centuries.

The fact that an oil company decided to put a pipeline directly through a reservation (a sovereign nation under US law) a cemetery and sensitive watershed areas is not the same as a bunch of yahoos fucking up a wildlife center.
Some members of the MTB community see the Bundy bro's victory in court as having some relevance in their fight for trail access.

In a broader sense, they are correct because lawyers look at other court cases for presidence. Future cases will look at the Oregon decision and pick and choose on how to use the court's decision for either prosecution or defense purposes.

Personally, I think the Oregon decision sets a dangerous precedence. The decision sends a perhaps unintended message that occupation of federal land by armed individuals is all right. It also okays flagrant disregard of court orders to pay for land use by ranchers. I'm sure oil and mining companies are wringing their hands with glee concerning the court's decision.

What does this decision mean for mountain bike advocates?

Trespass may be tolerated if you are white and you have a good lawyer.

Certain members of the MTB community have begun to doubt the viability, the validity, and, indeed, the necessity for lands to be held in the public trust.

The wilderness is seen as an inconvenience, an impediment to living out their fantasy life.

People conveniently forget why national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and wilderness areas were established in the first place and that was largely due to the fact that they were under siege by large economic interests. There is a concerted effort to erode these protected areas and relinquish them to private hands.

If the mining industry is any indication of how well private entities manage things we're in trouble. Our country is dotted with abandoned mines, many of which were previously owned by now-bankrupt companies, that are leaching toxic chemicals into drinking water or that have irrevocably scarred the landscape in the pursuit of capital gains.

Speaking of precedence I have little doubt that if public lands are sold off to private entities that some of them will look to clubs like the Bohemian Club, the Olympic Club, the Forest Lake Country Club, and the Black Sheep Golf Club in order to exclude women and minorities from open space areas.

Shaun King said it best, “Deny it if you want, but white privilege is a powerful thing”.

Happy 40th Mountain Bikes

2016-10-27T14:46:00.002-07:00

I’ll admit it.

I haven’t been tremendously motivated to write for a while.

The current election bums me out and fortunately for everyone involved I’m not going to write about it.

This last weekend I went to a bike shop just to see what was new. I found some performance oriented baggy shorts I liked but for $80 they didn’t come with a chamois.

What.

The.

Holy.

Hell.

The clerk said, “Well, you could use them as casual shorts but there are some chamois options”.

“Option” is a good word for it because the chamois was an additional $40 or so.

As you may very well deduce by now but I chose the “no thanks” option and opted not to buy the shorts.

The 40th anniversary of the first Repack race has come and gone there has been a host of articles and celebrations to commemorate that event.

Looking at the photos of the first Repack race most of the contestants were wearing regular clothing and by large most of these folks looked more like lumberjacks than superheroes.

Obviously we can’t roll back the clock to the halcyon days of yore but we can take inspiration from the folks that were involved with modern mountain biking’s early days.

Wear what is comfortable. I’ve been using button front shirts for years. You can get cotton dress shirts for garage sales and second hand stores for fuck all money.

Shorts are another matter. I know for a fact that button fly denim pants are terrible to ride in. One time I leaned too far forward and pinched my wang between two buttons while riding my bike.

That said, a set of Dickies work plenty fine if you wear them over a set of those old nasty ass JT Dalmatian shorts you still have kicking around since the ‘90’s.

I’m sorry but I can’t help you with the prices of new bikes. They’ve gone up a tremendous amount since the early 2000’s and the upper end of what people are willing to shell out for a new ride seems to be nowhere in sight.

Right now any chucklefuck with some seed money can contact a bike factory in the Far East, set up an e-commerce website, and start selling bikes customer direct.

But sales figures haven’t been great for the bike industry for a while so maybe what is needed for people to snap back to their senses is to have a bunch of companies simply go out of business.

Mountain bikes came out of time where there was ebb in bike sales and when people started to cobble together the early clunkers creative this started to happen.

I no longer have any more romantic visions about mountain biking. I’ve seen how the sausage is made.

I just hope that once all the dust settles that every one can come to their senses and work for a sane, sustainable industry that can concentrate on reasonable growth projections rather than one that makes technical changes that only result in nominal gains in performance and renders previous year’s changes completely obsolete.

Maybe I am a romantic after all.

Friends of Mike Lee and the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act

2016-10-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

The 2016 is nearing the end of an electoral cycle that could only be described as a cross between “Mad Max: Fury Road” and every film in the “Sharknado” franchise being simultaneously shown on every TV screen and computer monitor everywhere at the same time.

Added to that hell storm is another fight. While it may not have the longevity of the Mad Max series or does it even have the guilty pleaser appeal of the “Sharknado” franchise it is a sequel that can be best described as “Sagebrush Rebellion III; Blood on the Saddle”.

Or some shit like that.

For those of you that are not familiar with the Sagebrush Rebellion it was a movement that was launched by a group of western Senators, notably Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, as a response to the Federal Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the ensuing fight between state and federal control of public lands.

The flames of the Sagebrush Rebellion are still evident as the Salt Lake Tribune so deftly pointed out in their 2012 op ed “Utah fires up new Sagebrush Rebellion”.

Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act bill sponsor Mike Lee is a cast member of the continuing Sagebrush Rebellion franchise. He’s been in favor of privatizing federal lands and hasn’t really made much of a secret about it.

Open Secrets has a list of Senator Lee’s campaign contributor but that is only part of the story.

What is more interesting is the Federal Election Commission's list of donors for Mike Lee’s Pac, Friends of Mike Lee Inc.

Amongst Lee’s contributors are Altria Group Inc (tobacco), Association of American Railroads, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Chevron Employees Political Action Committee, and Exxon Mobil Corporation Political Action Committee.

Lee has a long history of taking campaign contributions from big oil companies so that so much can be disputed because it is a matter of public record.

What is open to speculation is what is his end game. I don't think he's had a mid-life crisis and suddenly has developed an environmental consciousness.

On a personal note, I am extremely disappointed in the lack of detail that many mountain bike and sports related publications have been willing go into Mike Lee's personal campaign finances. I believe the questions of Lee's finances and motivations are germane to the discussions surrounding his sponsorship of the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act.

The Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act is an important issue and an open and honest discussion of who the bill's sponsor is is part of that process.

Gridlock and S.3205 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act

2016-09-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

I just got off the blower with a buddy of mine that is a DC consultant. He's run several political campaigns, worked with senators from both sides of the aisle, and worked for The Congressional Budget Office so, he's pretty dialed in.

I asked him what the chances are to having a piece of legislation backed by Lee, Hatch, and Dean Heller passing during this election cycle is. He said almost zero and without bipartisan support, it's not going to happen. In order for S.3205 pass the Senate S.3205 will need the backing of sixty Republicans and as of this date (meaning the tail end of September 2016) S.3205 has the nominal support of only three Senators.

Each of the three Senators associated with S.3205 are in tentative positions even in their own party. Long time Utah Senator Orrin Hatch just staved off a bitterly fought contest against Dan Liljenquist. Hatch has also indicated that this may be ”my last term in the Senate."

Mike Lee has also fallen out of favor with his core constituency and his approval ratings have dropped below 50%.

Dean Heller remains the odd man out. He’s distanced himself from some of his Tea Party supporters and that may or may not come back to haunt him. The same thing goes with his on again off again position on Cliven Bundy.

I also see Heller as being a polarizing figure and seems unlikely to play nicely and get along well with other people.

My DC man also said if the bill hasn't been introduced to committee it's not going to happen.

Also if the bill hasn't gone to the House yet it's not going to happen.

He did say, however, if the bill was attached as a rider it may go through that way but since the Republicans do not have a super majority in the Senate it's probably not going to happen because it still has to pass through the House then to the President. Even then there isn’t any guarantee of it’s passing depending on what bill it’s attached to.

Given that we are near the end of the legislative calendar it is unlikely that S.3205 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act will pass this year.

Next year? Who knows.

But as of now GovTrack gives S. 3205 a 14% chance of passing meaning the likelihood of S. 3205 achieving liftoff is very low.

Sorry Sustainable Trails Coalition. Not only do I say “no” but “fuck no”

2016-09-15T13:05:00.001-07:00

Senator Dean Heller

On September 13th there was a Facebook announcement from the Sustainable Trails Coalition that columnist Kurt “The Angry Singlespeeder” Gensheimer had written an open letter to Nevada Senator Dean Heller.

For those of that are not familiar with Senator Heller, Dean Heller is Senator that has direct ties with oil, and mining companies.

Dean Heller has a terrible environmental record and has voted no on:
•    Cash for Clunkers
•    Environmental education grants for outdoor experiences
•    Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2009
•    Animal welfare safety

Like S.3205 - Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Ac t sponsor, Utah Senator Mike Lee Senator Dean Heller is also a self proclaimed Tea Party Republican.

Senator Dean Heller also voted with Senators John McCain, Mike Lee, Orrin Hatch and Mitch McConnell, “to give lands sacred to Native Americans to a foreign company that owns a uranium mine with Iran”.

In what parallel universe does this make sense?

I cannot see a scenario where Senators Lee, Hatch, and Heller shake off their relationships with oil, mining and timber companies, have a late life epiphany and become a friend of the wilderness?

Help me out here.

Heller has also spoken about wanting to sell off public lands, a decision antithetical to the preservation of wilderness areas.

Lastly Senator Heller and Senator Harry Reid have both introduced a bill to “to Create Mining Jobs and Designate an Important Wilderness Area in Lyon County”.

Sorry Sustainable Trails Coalition. Not only do I say “no” but “fuck no”.

Senator Lee, and Hatch are both turds in the environmental punch bowl, that's for sure. With the their relationships with Senators MCain, McConnell and Reid you are now having a side of turd sandwich.

I told the guys at the Sustainable Trails Coalition that I would would look at the bill and I have read it many times and the bill itself is very straight forward and is a total of 124 words. I also said that I may be willing to support the bill if they got broad bipartisan support but the only Senators that are willing to support the bill are either senators that have deplorable environmental records, Tea Party members or Senators with direct ties to timber, mining and oil companies.

There is a part of me that truly wants to see mountain bikes as part of the wilderness again but not at the expense of sacrificing the wilderness itself.

Update: S.3205 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act

2016-07-26T11:19:00.001-07:00

As promised I would keep people updated concerning the proposed S.3205 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act.

I had recently contacted the offices of Utah Senator Mike Lee and I very quickly heard back from his communications director and this is their response:

Hey Adam-
Nothing in the bill in anyway privatizes public lands. All the bill does do is make it more likely for more people to enjoy mountain biking on public lands.
Unfortunately we do not have any Democratic co-sponsors at this moment but we are hopeful.
Please do let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks.
-Conn Carroll
Communications Director
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)

This is an ongoing story and I’m sure this is not going to be the end of it.

I’ll keep people updated as things develop.

A Letter to Senators Hatch and Lee and S.3205 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act

2016-07-25T13:58:00.002-07:00

The S.3205 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act is a polarizing bill. One one side you have a small but motivated advocacy group and several high-profile senators. On the other is a pretty long list of environmental groups that have voiced their opposition to the bill.

I have a background in law and I have read the bill several times and on the surface, the bill appears to be very straight forward but given Senator Hatch and Lee's long records of voting against environmental regulations, ties to oil, gas, and mining, and efforts to sell off federal land for profit you would be foolish not to be concerned.

Here is a transcript of a letter I sent to both Senator Lee and Senator Hatch.

I exed out their names because I sent the exact same letter to both senators.

For privacy reasons I also exed out the name of the Sustainable Trails Coalition member that I have been talking to.

Here is a copy of the letter:

From: Bicycle Industrial Complex / Occupy the Singletrack

Senator XXXXX,

A little while ago you introduced S.3205 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act.

Many in the mountain bike community are concerned about the bill and see it as a way of privatizing public lands leading the way to commercial exploitation of wilderness areas.

I have been in contact with Sustainable Trails Coalition member XXXXXXXXXXX and he we dismayed by my lack of support for the bill.

After a series of talks, I told him that ultimately I am a pragmatist and I may feel different if there was broad bipartisan support for the bill.

There are many in the mountain bike community that feel the way I do and we would like to know:

• What sort of support do you have amongst the Democrats for S.3205?
• What sort of support do you have with environmental and mountain bike groups for S.3205?

Thank you,

Adam P Hunt

I am not expecting a reply from the offices of Senators Lee or Hatch but if they do I will post them.

You're going to be missed Jeff

2016-07-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

“Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows” Richard II. ACT II SCENE II - William Shakespeare.

A drunk driver killed Jeff Archer on July 20th, 2016.

Jeff Archer was the owner of a well-known bicycle shop / bicycle museum in Statesville North Carolina called First Flight Bikes and The Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology respectively.

I first came in contact with Jeff in 2003 when I placed an antique Ibis Avion SS for sale on Craigslist. Imagine my surprise when I got a response from the other side of the country. After some back and forth emails and a handful of phone calls I was able to work out a deal that Jeff would send me a Yakima roof rack and I would ship him my old bike.

Throughout the years Jeff would serve as my depository for my vintage mountain bike parts, whether he wanted them or not.

As I transitioned from shop rat to freelance writer I would contact Jeff and ask him questions about mountain bike history and the vast majority of the time he was able to answer my questions quickly and in depth.

Earlier this year I was able to wrap up a research project for Jeff concerning the development of the 29”er mountain bike. Jeff was able to fill in many gaps and also did an enormous amount of follow through work by contacting many of the people that were involved with the early 29”ers.

Despite having a long distance relationship with Jeff I didn’t get a chance to meet Jeff until this year. I met Jeff at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacramento. We met briefly and both said it was good to finally meet each other face-to-face rather than only through phone calls or emails.

Jeff said he needed to get back to judging the show and since I was on assignment for a bicycle magazine I needed to get back to work too. We shook hands, said our goodbyes and that was pretty much it.

Jeff’s death was as about as senseless as it comes. Most reports suggested that he was walking across the street and was hit by a drunk driver behind the wheel of a truck. Apparently, Jeff’s injuries were so severe that he died on the scene and the driver, Claydon Laurel Turner, was arrested soon afterward.

Unfortunately, North Carolina has pretty lax DWI penalties is it is possible that Turner will serve a light sentence and will probably be back on the road in a couple of years.

I contacted a manager First Flight Bikes and asked him if there was anything that members of the bike community could do for the Archer family. He said it was too early to tell but he would let people know as things developed.

One of the ways I think we can all honor Jeff Archer is to not to drink and drive.

Surrender your keys to a designated driver, take a cab, phone a friend or family member to pick you up. Do anything just don't drive drunk.

Many communities offer free rides for people that had been drinking with a push of a button.

Other things we can do are to fight for stricter DWI laws and for low-cost drug and alcohol treatment programs.

Jeff Archer touched a broad cross section of cyclists. Not only did Jeff touch the lives of local riders in Statesville NC he affected mountain bike enthusiasts all around the world.

Between running a bike shop and a museum Jeff found the time to write a regular column for Dirt Rag and was instrumental in resurrecting Mountain Goat Cycles.

Jeff was also deeply involved with the local business community in Statesville, raised a family, and helped out with mountain bike access and answered my stupid emails and phone calls.

You're going to be missed, Jeff.

Notes From A Blasphemer: Why I Oppose the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act

2016-07-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

I am a mountain biker and I oppose the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act. That may strike some people as being heretical but hear me out.

The Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act is co-sponsored by two Utah Republican Senators, Orrin Hatch, and Mike Lee.

Orrin Hatch has a terrible environmental history and has repeatedly voted against environmental protection and had even chastised for voting to ban uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

Co-sponsor Mike Lee is a Tea Party darling that voted against sending federal relief to help elevate Flint Michigan’s led contaminated water system.

Not to be outdone by Senator Hatch, Mike Lee also voiced his displeasure for a ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

Lee also introduced S. 2279, a bill to repeal tax credits for alcohol fuels, biodiesel, alternative fuels, alternative motor vehicles, plug-in electric motor vehicles, enhanced oil recovery, producing oil and gas from stripper wells, producing electricity from nuclear power facilities, carbon dioxide sequestration, investment in energy property, and investment in qualifying advanced coal projects.

Lee also sits on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Subcommittee on Energy, Public Lands and Forests, and the Subcommittee on Water and Power.

Hatch has voted in favor of the Keystone Pipeline, voted against “cap and trade” legislation and against Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007.

Lee has also:

•    Drill ANWR; lease shale oil lands; develop clean coal. (Jul 2010)
•    Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gasses. (Apr 2011)
•    Signed the No Climate Tax Pledge by AFP. (Nov 2010)
•    Cap-and-trade has no impact on global temperatures. (Jul 2010)
•    Explore proven energy reserves & keep energy prices low. (Jul 2010)
•    Let states lease energy rights on federal lands. (Jun 2013)

I know that some people will view my unwillingness to support the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act as a betrayal because I have publically supported the Sustainable Trails Coalition’s efforts to amend the 1964 Wilderness Act and the subsequent amendment to ban mountain bikes in 1984.

Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee are both hostile towards meaningful environmental legislation.

More on Hatch.

Note: Between 2011 and 2015 Mike Lee has taken at least $322,030 from oil and gas contributors.

While writing this I was contacted by one of my Twitter followers because I urged a no vote on the Human-Powered Travel because I said the bill was a Tea Party Trojan Horse. He said, “Nonsense, vote YES. Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.”

I sent him a copy of Hatch’s environmental voting record and he responded by saying, “Agree they are horrible. But none of the reps I usually side with would dare back this out of fear. So what to do?”

Obviously, if mountain bikes are to be allowed access to wilderness we shouldn’t be so blinded by that goal we’ll get into bed with the first people to draft any favorable legislation to that goal because the Hatch and Lee partnership will surely bite everyone in the ass.

This is what I propose:

•    Urge a no vote for the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act
•    Find someone else to sponsor the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act
•    Ask Sustainable Trails Coalition for an alternative
•    Amend the bill before it is put to a vote in order to ensure the continued ban on motorized vehicles in the wilderness

While this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity I don’t want the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act to become a petard that blows the door open for mining, timber, oil, and cattle in the backcountry.

Shove a Tree Branch In It

2016-05-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

Jolanda Neff

Do you remember NORBA?

During the nineties if you were into mountain biking you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting something with an NORBA sticker on it.

Bikes were sold with NORBA geometry stickers on them and helmets were NORBA approved.

Founded in 1983 by some of mountain biking’s early intelligentsia National Off Road Bicycle Association was an attempt to codify the rules for off-road mountain bike racing.

Amongst the earliest rules that came out of the earliest NORBA meetings were the rules were that racers had to start and finish with the same bike and racers were responsible for their own repairs.

The other day I watched Jolanda Neff’s World Cup win in La Bresse France. As the race unfolded Neff fended off some very credible threats from Catharine Pendrel and Emily Batty, a sternum-thumping crash and a flat tire.

After Neff’s crash, she powered her way to the pit area with a flattened rear tire. In the pit, she was greeted by two mechanics that quickly replaced her rear wheel and got her back into the race in less than a minute.

When NORBA was absorbed into USA Cycling and the UCI, it was a marriage made in hell. USA Cycling was an organization that was obsessed with shorts lengths and sock color while UCI was simultaneously both shielded and prosecuted drug cheats.

Things got pretty nasty when both USA Cycling and the UCI got their knickers in a twist when in 2012 some pro mountain bike racers raced in some non USA Cycling / UCI sanctioned mountain bike races.

Threats of fines and suspensions were thrown around, editorials were written, nasty things were said online and everything came to a head with the biggest nothing since John Tomac’s road racing career.

I have mixed feelings about Neff receiving mechanical assistance because it did make for a thrilling end to a nail-biting final lap.

But Neff’s win reminds me how far we have come from when Larry Hibbard shoved a tree branch into the remains of a broken handlebar in order to finish a race.

Or when Cindy Whitehead finished a race with a broken seapost.

Complaining about the mechanical assistance rules in a World Cup mountain bike race is a bit like moaning about the color of the painted figures on the Acropolis; both events took place a long time ago and there isn’t anything you can do about it now.

Next week we look at index shifting, passing fad or here to stay?

Be sure check out previous Bicycle Industrial Complex posts like “Toe Clips; Saviors or Death Traps”, “Fooey for Food and Water”, and the popular “What Color Are Your Nipples?”

Don't Be Stupid

2016-05-25T11:28:00.001-07:00


You Can't Mean Me Dude

Marin County was in the news reacently. Rangers are being issued radar guns in order to crack down on speeding mountain bikers.

I had been riding Mt Tamalpias for almost thirty years and the number of knucklehead cyclist I've seen I can count on one hand.

That is not to say there aren’t any jerkface cyclists but as a reformed trail poacher I can say I have engaged in my share of bad behavior.

Recently did a Tam ride and the two user groups I saw engaging in poor behavior were hikers and people with dogs.

I saw dog walkers exiting areas where dogs were prohibited and their dogs off leash and not under voice control.

I saw dog walkers on fireroads with their dog off leash despite signs saying all dogs must be on leash.

And I saw numerous hikers either walking solo in the middle of the trail with headphones on (making it difficult for them to hear you begging for permission to pass) or hikers walking two or three abreast (again, making it difficult to safely pass).

Lastly, there was an issue of litter. Mostly it was small stuff like tissue paper but most cyclist I know will just close off one of their nostrils and blow rather than using a hanky.

Off leash dogs are one of my personal gripes. Sure, the number of open spaces where you can let Bailey or Bella run free are limited but if you are walking in an area that has both mountain lions and poison oak you may want to play it safe.

Not to mention if you have a dog breed that is known to have a strong prey drive any fast moving object may be considered a target, including children.

Headphone use is also a pet peeve of mine. As a cyclist, I use my ears to alert me to a number of mechanical issues a bike may experience off road. I can tell if a bike isn’t shifting well if there are any issues with my brakes or what sort of traction my tires may be getting. Headphones simply obliterate one of my senses.

Using headphones while hiking is also problematic, especially in mountain lion territory. Mountain lions are ambush hunters and while mountain lion attacks are rare, don’t be an idiot.

If you are unable to hear either verbal notices or bike bells not only do you put yourself at risk you put others at risk too.

If you want to listen to your TED Talks or self-empowerment podcasts, fine. Just listen to that shit in your car.

I for one don’t want to have to sign a waiver every time I enter a park. I don’t want to check in a ranger and sign a multi-page agreement form just because people have no idea how to behave outdoors.

We may come to a point where that happens. I hope not but when it comes to enjoying yourself outdoors don’t be stupid.

“At what point does the cost of the bicycle exceed the ability of the rider?”

2016-04-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

It's time to get back to being dirtbags

The bike industry is in trouble.

Don’t deny it because you know it is true.

Shimano’s sales are down and people are sitting on a fuck ton of inventory that isn’t moving. Prices even for mid range bikes have also skyrocket putting them out of reach for a lot of riders.

Perhaps we’ve reached peak bike? You know, too many bikes, not enough customers. Don’t be surprised if you see more big name bikes being cleared out either online or through mass merchant outlets like Costco or Wallmart.

Don’t be surprised if you see some smaller brands either getting absorbed by bigger ones or sinking under the waves entirely.

Even of some people go under don’t expect prices to come down if anything they’ll go up due to the lack of competition because, you know, capitalism.

After seeing all the economic turmoil during the last seventeen years I’m coming to the conclusion that if I want to keep riding I’m going to turn my back on the industry.

Chasing new formats, developments and trends are for chumps.

My buddy, “Deep Bike” asked the question, “At what point does the cost of the bicycle exceed the ability of the rider?”

Giving an average rider a pro-level bicycle is like giving an average drive an F-1 car. The number of people that can use a $9.4 million F-1 or $12,790 Cannondale Black Inc to its full potential is extremely small.

Disposable technology is going to kill the industry and does little to attract consumer interest. If "buzz worthy" features do attract interest at all it attracts the interest of fist adopters, trendsetters, tastemakers, and trade publications not Jane Average Rider.

It would be very interesting to see what would happen if a significant number of riders would either start reusing older bikes they have languishing in their garages or simply do what the original mountain bikers did and modified older bikes to suit their needs.

I'd like to see more modify regular clothing and repurpose them as bike gear. Charlie Cunningham was famous for riding with corduroy pants, flannel long sleeved shirts and gardening gloves.
I used thrift store Hawaiian shirts for a long time.

Shit, I found a box of them on the side of the road and I had cycling shirts for years.
Bontrager used to go to thrift stores and spray his logo on button front shirts using a stencil and spray paint.

Personally, I think mountain biking will slowly die when people are no longer able afford to do it. Mountain biking will surely lose popular support if it becomes seen as an elitist pastime.

It's time to get back to being dirtbags before its too late.

Drugs Alcohol and Crazies

2016-04-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

Recently one of the bike trade periodicals had a post concerning the efficacy of tipping bike shop employees with alcohol.

I will say that gifts like that go a long way to fostering good relations with shop employees but so do good manners.

After reading several opinions on the subject I have come to several conclusions:

•    Bicycle professionals are nothing if not opinionated
•    Alcohol is good but only after hours
•    As nice as alcohol is food is good too
•    If you are going to tip cash is always appreciated

Here’s the thing, if you strip away the fact that you are playing with some pretty cool toys most of the jobs in the bike industry are not tremendously well-paying service sector jobs.

Most of the time you are on your feet, sometimes you have to deal with unpleasant customers, and often times the hours you work are not conducive to maintaining long-term relationships.

I must give my wife credit for suffering through the times we had non-concurrent schedules. Believe you me that shit gets pretty old especially when you have to beg Junior Birdman the manager for weekend days off.

As many years as I have been involved with the bike industry, I’ve been involved with the music world even longer.

(Don’t worry I’m going to try to tie these two things together).

A little while ago I was chatting with a well-known person in the music world and as we exchanged messages back and forth I brought up the fact that the world of entertainment doesn’t do a very good job with people that have mental health issues.

While that paragraph may be worth a couple of chuckles I will say that the bike industry does a pretty piss poor job addressing mental health issues too.

Almost everyone I know in the industry had a fucked up childhood. Add to that performance enhancing drugs, recreational drugs, alcohol, head injuries and craptastic insurance plans, it’s a mixture that’s bound to mess with your head.

Differed medical treatments are obviously problematic but so are untreated mental disorders. I’ve worked with guys that had severe head injuries (possibly resulting in Traumatic Brain Injuries, TBI), post-traumatic stress disorders, schizophrenia, and people that had serious drug and alcohol problems.

We know that some people try to address mental health issues by self-medicating but not only is that not a long-term solution it can also be dangerous.

Addressing mental health issues may be difficult for an independent bike shop to take on. Given the rising prices of health insurance and the added pressures that bike shops face from customer direct sales that helping employees with health issues will be very difficult.

With the absence of employer-provided insurance, county mental health clinics become a last ditch effort and even they can only do so much.

I know several bike shop guys that are getting close to retirement age. They worry what that looks like and many are reconciling themselves to the fact they are going to be solely dependent on government assistance the rest of their lives.

Given the systematic efforts to dismantle whatever minor strides had been made towards universal health care, I fear many graying shop employees will simply fall through the cracks.

What can be done?

•    Recognize symptoms of mental illness and substance abuse
•    Work with employees that have mental health or substance abuse issues and get them help
•    Fight for low-cost insurance not against it

The last one is a hard sell especially given what razor thin profits most shops make. I also recognize that not everyone shares my politics. Wherever you are on the political spectrum there is a dazzling array of free market or social welfare state health care models to choose from.