Rockbert's Missing Link
Welcome. If you like cycling, and off-road in particular, and maybe specifically the greater San Francisco to Monterey Bay area ... then you'll probably like some of the stuff here.Warning: this is a new site, [11-19-97], and as such, it is under constant revision. I hate those little "under construction" icons, so be forewarned of their absence. (If something is consistently broken, I guess I want to know; but there will be "loose ends" for a couple weeks.)
About this site
The navagation buttons at the top left take you to the main sections of the site.- Home
The home button always brings you back to this page, the entry point for the site. - History
The history button loads a paper I wrote on the history of the bicycle, it's technologies, and their effect on early manufacturing, and our culture. It was a college paper, so it's a bit dry, if not informative. - Links
What web-site would do without a links section? Here you'll find links to all sorts of bicycle related sites: rides, manufacturers, politics, fun. - Fools
This is about acting foolish, a major component to mental well-being. Watch for ride-reports, and anything likely to evoke a laugh.
About me
I used to be a roadie, (that is, I rode a bicycle on the road a couple hundred miles a week), but that was several inelastic collisions with motor vehicles ago, (not to mention a few teeth.) So, in 1981 I bought a "Cruiser", converted it to a 12-speed, and started spending as much time OFF the road as possible ...At that time I lived in Alamo, CA (near Danville, Walnut Creek, east of San Francisco), and there were parks all around. I used to ride Mount Diablo, Briones, and Redwood Regional Parks, mostly.
As more people began to ride off-road, the problems began. Soon, most of my favorite places I had been riding for years were closed to bicycles.
I was bitter, but I put away my bikes and focused on other things. Like work.
Many years (and pounds) later, a friend of a friend mentioned he was going to do a loop from Big Basin up to Davenport, and back, all off-road, and would I like to go? Well, I wasn't in very good shape, but with memories of powering-up hills in the old days, I enthusiastically agreed to go. Even with my old tank, I remembered how much I loved riding. The coastal range of California has got to have some of the most beautiful, if not the best bicycle riding terrain there is.
Another year or two went by, as I lost some weight, and thought about getting better equipment ... another friend who rides started talking about riding, and it wasn't long before I found myself at Wilder Ranch with the guys from Grasshopper Racing, (still with my tank.) The consensus was, I hammered, but needed new equipment. I was in agreement.
More time, deliberating whether to go full-suspension or not. My style would be best expressed on something like a cross-country bike, but I was attracted to full-suspension. I just didn't want to lose too much power to the suspension. My friends encouraged me to take a look at a Santa Cruz Heckler; which looks remarkably like a Yamaha monoshock.
I ended up going with the 1998 Heckler, built with the full Shimano XTR Group. This thing is absolutely awesome; most of the reviews were right. I crank the adjustable dampening down for ascending, and loosen the dampening for descents; it's the best of both worlds. On any given weekend, you can find me at Wilder Ranch or Soquel Demonstration Forest, doing what I like to try and balance this computer junk ...
This page has been accessed [an error occurred while processing this directive] times, since it was created on 11-15-97, by Robert Bedard.