Matt Brown

New High Gear Website coming soon.

2010-07-18T05:21:00.001-07:00

Just a heads up that the High Gear Website is currently down. It's being reworked by our good friend The Adventure Monkey and should be revealed later this summer.

As far as reworking....everyone has heard the news on Fisher Bikes.
Here is a good read on how Fisher, going into the Trek line-up, will positively effect the brand.

http://twentynineinches.com/2010/06/27/twenty-nine-inches-interviews-the-gary-fisher-collection-team/

This was a quote that I feel really reflects the Trek/Fisher Brands from that article.

"The key for us(Trek/Fisher) has always been to offer affordable performance products. Last year there were a couple of inexpensive 29ers in the market that really weren’t up to par. We didn’t feel that the parts that we would have to hang on the bikes were up to standard. So, we worked pretty hard with the suspension makers to come up with some really reliable product so that regardless of the price point, a rider’s 1st experience on a Fisher Collection bike will be a good one."

I think that's pretty cool that as a brand, Trek isn't just trying to sell as many bikes as possible but rather trying to get out the best riding bikes as possible.

DK200

2010-06-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

With all the excitement leading up to the Dk200 this year I made the late decision to give it a go. Just the first 60 miles that is. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to ride out of Emporia with 200 cyclist. Plus I needed the miles and some intensity and my back was finally feeling back to normal.

So early Saturday morning we rolled out and the pace immediately heated up. The pack split early and the lead group went up the road while others dropped back. A group of High Gear Riders (Tim Mohn, Mike Wise, Garret Seacat, Chris Wiggins, and myself) hung back with a few others knowing a good majority of the people up front would be blowing up. We kept a constant pace and eventually caught people dropping off the back of the main pack. Chris ended up flatting about 15 miles in which bummed me out as I hated leaving a man behind but he was only planning to ride the first 60 as well. The HG train surged forward.

The morning was beautiful and it was an awesome ride through the Flint Hills with the crew but once we hit the 40 mile mark I was having a hard time staying on so I dropped back, turned up the MP3 player and enjoyed the ride by myself into Cottonwood Falls. When I got to the check point I was told the HG group had just rolled out and I was in the top 15. Although I wanted to go on I stuck with my plan and checked out. Plans were to work the rest of the day at the shop and then head down to the finish line and set up the HG booth.

Above: Calling it a day...while I'm still smiling.

Once I got back to the shop I was glued to the weather channel and kept calling Jed who was out supporting the HG crew at the check points and he gave me the race reports. Most of our guys had moved up in the top 10 at Council Grove and were looking strong. As the temps rose I kept praying for the guys....as I've paid the price for heat exhaustion before....6 hours in the ER and 3 IV bags later will eventually make you quit throwing up.

At 5pm we headed down to the Finish Line and set up our booth. It was such an awesome atmosphere....thanks to Kristi Mohn for all her hard work making this a stellar finish line party. The ride in the morning had me thinking I might race next year but the party at the finish line made me think I'd rather do the finish line party instead.

Above: Cory Cornbread winner of DK200 2010.

Long story short, the sun eventually baked 3/4's of the field in 96 degree heat, including last years winner, Mike Marchand, and all of the HG crew. Let me tell you everyone who attempted this years race can hold their head high because it was crazy hot....they're all winners in my book. Lastly congrats also to everyone that did finish, including The Adventure Monkey, who finished at almost 2:00am in the morning. I jokingly told him I was a little disappointed I didn't see him at church at 9:00am Sunday morning. He told me he didn't need to go as he had never prayed so much in one day as he did on the DK.

Lastly congrats to High Gear rider Shad Schreiner who pulled off a win down in Angel Fire, NM in the Cat 1 race. Also Cameron Chambers who won the Single Speed class. Boy those guys from Kansas are killing it....I bet those Rocky Mt State guys are wishing the boyz from Kansas would move back home.

We'll got the run....I have a skateboard order to work up.

Aaron Elwell's Weekend

2010-05-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

Congrats to High Gear team rider Aaron Elwell who competed in the Mellow Johnny's Mtb Race held at Lance Armstrong's ranch down in TX. Aaron got 14th in the stacked Pro Field and his picture was posted on cyclingnews.com. Awesome job.

Also see ya all this weekend at the DK 200 and the DK Lite.
If you have questions call us at the shop....we got details.

Since the last post

2010-05-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

Okay....Going to get you up to speed since my last post.

First off I injured my lower back pretty bad since the last race. Been to the chiropractor twice and took a week completely off the bike with no success, it hurts riding, standing and sitting. I maybe heading to the doctor if it doesn't straighten out soon.

Next, a week ago Saturday we got called into work early(5:15am)....by the cops....as our shop was broken into.

Nothing like a brick through the window and a couple of skateboards stolen to start off the day. The good news was our alarm system did it's job and the juveniles were apprehended not a block from the shop. When we finally opened that day we immediately caught a group of 4 more juveniles shoplifting and had the cops back at our shop for a second time in less then 6 hours. It was crazy. I have never had a day like this in all my life in working retail.

Then this past week we had major computer problems with our new point of sale system. It kept locking up every few hours. Oh the joys of running a business.

To keep our spirits high Steph and I had a trip planned down to Arkansas for Memorial Weekend. Burglary, shoplifters, sore back, broken point of sale....nothing was going to keep us from getting away....and we did.

I'm not going to document the whole trip and bore you with every detail so here are some pictures.

Cabin we stayed at.

Arkansas Mountains...personally like them better then Colorado.

When we planned this trip we were going to race on Sunday but with all my back problems I knew this wasn't going to happen. Had to get off the bike and stretch it every so often. At least the views were good when we stopped.

Steph climbing up the fire road to the Ouachita Trail entrance at Brushy Mountain.

Trust me...not every road was shown on the county maps....it wasn't my navigation skills.

Also....driveways are not listed on the maps. But every driveway had a road sign making you think it was an actual road. So we rode 2 1/2 miles up a supposed road to discover it was a driveway. One of the neighbors stopped us and asked if we were lost, which I don't know why he asked because he already knew we were. He explained we were on a drive way which lead to "Dutton's" house. He then went on to tell us we could go on behind Dutton's house through 2 gates, a the field, around a fence, ford the creek and we'd be 1/2 mile from town. I didn't want to impose, plus I told him it's frowned upon riding through a farmers land back in Kansas without permission. The old boy told us. "Dutton ain't home and if he was he wouldn't mind, I'll show you the way." The picture below is the creek.

So much more to tell but time to get to bed.

Dirtiest Bike Race?

2010-05-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week KTKA news station was in town on other stories but Casey from Emporia Main Street told them to interview me on the Dirty Kanza 200. The interview itself took about 15 minutes but they just used a clip-it of what I said. It's amazing how corny they made the story...."The Dirtiest bike in the country." Plus they said my name wrong. But I think the high light of the story was when they made it bluntly obvious that I have never finished the DK. Second round of humble pie this week....yum.
Go here to view it
http://www.ktka.com/news/2010/may/12/emporia-hold-dirty-bike-race-through-flint-hills/

On that note. Am I doing the DK this year?.....No this will be my second year sitting it out. However, I did hook up some of the front runners in this years race. Earlier this week I decked out Tim Mohn's(2 time, 3rd place finisher) bike with some new SRAM 10 speed Components and The Adventure Monkey with a new X01 Cross bike. Although my job was fairly easy compared to actually riding the 200 miles....I do hope my mechanical work contributes to them having a great ride.

Lastly, some people been asking to see pictures of the new shop. I need to get some taken but for now here is one of our E-Town Skateboard area. One of my personal favorite areas to hang out at in the new shop.

Cracked

2010-05-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

Made the trip up to St Joe for the race on Saturday. Wow....I was not ready for that. Lots of climbing and power sections coming out of every turn. I was riding at the tail end of the field all day. So I started my last lap and about a 1/4 of the way in I had to drop into my granny gear and I cracked. Found a short cut off the trail and handed my number in for a DNF. Last week at Wilson I felt a little fitness coming back. This weekend I ate a big piece of humble pie to remind me it's going to take longer then expected to get up to speed. No excuses here....admittedly I'm out of shape and form.

Thanks again to all those who made it out and again flew the High Gear Logo....Aaron(another first place) Dusty, Garret, Steph, Randy, Dustin. Also congrads to Chuck who raced his first sport race. Also thanks to Jena who was there to cheer us on. Lastly thanks to Bobby, Crystal, Donovan and my parents who held down the shop so Steph and I could escape for a second weekend in a row.

Want to give a shout out to my good friend and training partner down in Nevis, Reggie Douglas, who is racing in the Pan Am Cup in Mexico this weekend. Best of luck!

Week Plans

2010-05-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday still deciding on what to do.

....stay at the shop for the 100 Miles to Nowhere Ride and Fundraiser,
or
.....head up to St Joe, MO for the Robidoux Roundup mountain bike race?

Sunday is cut and dry.
....church
....short ride
....then Skillet and Red Concert in Topeka.

Wilson Lake Racing

2010-05-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was my first race of the 2010 season. Steph and I turned over the reigns of the shop to our crew so we could get out of town for a change. We headed out to Wilson Lake for a pre-ride and hill climb race Saturday afternoon. When we got there Aaron Elwell(evental winner of Saturday's hill climb and Sunday's XC) showed up and we pre-rode a little of the course before the hill climb. The hill climb was uneventful for me and painful. After that I went out and hit a little more of the course with Aaron, Cam and some other guys. I was lacking the upper end to hang so I called it a day knowing I better keep some in reserve for Sunday.

Sunday was the true test. Because of my lack of fitness my goal was to keep the heartrate at a manageable level and just stay consistent. Most of the race I rode at the back of the pack but towards the middle of the race I was picking off a few riders. This was also my first race on the SuperFly 100 and even though the rider was lacking, it was the fastest, most efficient bike I have ever ridden. Most of the race I was riding with the rear shock in the firmer of the settings but towards the end my lower back was rocked so I flipped the lever to a plusher setting giving me the relief I was seeking. All and all I felt it was a great racing weekend. It was also good to see the High Gear crew out in full force representing and I want to give a shout out to Doug Chambers for putting on a great event.

Cool video clip of the race.

Wilson Lake Race from bob arnold on Vimeo.

Photo Below robbed from Jed's facebook...thanks Jed....I just noticed I need a tan!

Training Partner

2010-04-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Got a good ride in today with my favorite training partner(See his stats below).

I fought him for a while then turned around before he blew me up.

Life Getting a little more back to Normal.

2010-04-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well this is my first official post. It's been a long few months starting back in mid December when we started remodeling the new location of the bike shop. From mid Feb to mid March I was getting absolutely no riding in and working 16 plus hours a day. Long story short the shop is open in it's new location, 520 Commercial St. in downtown Emporia. The last 2 weeks things have been getting back to normal....a little riding and a lot of resting. I hope to launch my 2010 racing this weekend at Lake Wilson. I look forward to getting the SuperFly 100 out for some race laps along with some suffering. Nothing like suffering into shape. More post later.

SuperFly 100 and Nos Ready to get me through the weekend.