I Have A Dream.....And A Plan To Go With It.

My dream is actually pretty simple if you think about it. Get off crutches, get a job, get my dream bike, ditch this country I call home and head out to B.C.

The first part of my dream is somewhat in progress. For me to get off crutches, I need to first find out what is wrong with my knee. I have had, so far for this injury, one X-ray, one MRI, and about two hours ago, I had my first CT scan. I go back to the doctor in two weeks and will hopefully (cross fingers here) find out what this mystery injury is. If I do find out exactly what it is, then I can continue physical therapy and heal up.

Once I am off crutches, my available job list grows exponentially. I happen to live in a town that is filled with nothing but restaurants, hotels for rich people, bars, and one ski resort. (No, they don't offer DH and yes, I know it's BS.) That ski resort is in the process of greatly increasing my chances of getting a job by building one of the biggest hotels in the state and also making it one of the most expensive. It has a big underground parking garage, but the guests are not allowed to drive their own cars into it. because of that, I'm thinking one of my potential jobs could be a valet. Not only would I get paid for that job, but I would get tips and the state doesn't recognize a valet as a job that receives tips so I would still have to get at least minimum wage. The other potential job there would be a bell boy. (Bell attendant if you want to be politically correct.) I wouldn't mind that job either because, again, I would get tips and I have no problem with pushing old ladies crap through a hall and up an elevator.

Now here comes the part you guys all want, the bike. First off, I will get a Commencal DH Supreme frame and swap the stock Marzocchi Roco for a Cane Creek Double Barrel which would soon get a Ti spring.


For a fork, I would get a White Brothers Groove Race for it's simplicity, price, and weight.


Next up is a headset. Chris King is a must on a build of this kind so a NoThreadSet gets hooked up.


You can't have a bicycle without wheels, so an I9 DH wheelset will get thrown on.


Once you have wheels, you want tires. I'm personally not a fan of Maxxis Minions, (You know you thought I would say that's what i'm getting.) so I will hook up a set of Schwalbe Fat Albert's.


Once you have wheels and tires, you can roll, but can you stop? That's where the brakes come in. For the front, I will get an Avid Code with a 203mm rotor and for the rear, I will get an Avid Juicy Ultimate with a 185mm rotor.


Those brakes would be getting some Straightline levers to aid in finger fatigue and a small amount for the bling factor.


Next up is a way to hold on. Bars and a stem are needed to, well, live. A Thompson DH stem and Monkey light carbon DH bars will be bolted on.


Handle bars are where you put your hands but grips are what you hold on to. My preference is a set of Oury Lock-on's.


By now, the bike is almost complete. There are only a few things left, but you need to put your feet somewhere. For pedals, I will get a pair of Syncros Mental's. I abuse my pedals so the stainless steel ones get the choice.


Pedals have to be attached to something and I have a gut feeling duck taping them to the BB wouldn't quite work out. A set of Gravity Light's will fill the bill.


Next up would be a derailleur. Because this is a dream build, a cheap $10 POS doesn't cut it. A brand spankin' new Shimano XT Shadow will be bolted on.


The derailleur does nothing if it has nothing to shift on. Just for the hell of it, an XTR cassette would also make the cut.


To attach the chainring to the cassette, you need a chain. Nothing special going on here, but so far, I have included a picture of everything so why not the chain too?


I'm a trigger happy person so an XTR trigger shifter gets mounted next to my trigger finger.


For those lift line waits, it's nice to have a seat. So far this bike is damn near nothing but the best so a Thompson Masterpeice seatpost would get slid down the right tube.


That post has to be held in there somehow and that's where Salsa comes in. No, I'm not going to cover it with salsa and wait for it to crust up. It's getting a brand new Salsa Cycles Lip-Lock.


A seat post up the behind is not my idea of an anywhere near comfortable seat (If it is yours, we all accept that and think no less of you.) so a Selle Italia SLR gets the pick. It might not be very comfortable, but I'm not on it long.


For a chain guide, a Gamut P30 will be selected.


That's everything other than the small things like cables. Now you have seen my future dream build and now I will tell you my plan to get the hell out of here.

I am going to have to wait until I graduate high school but once I do, that summer, I'm going out west to the B.C. area. I will get an apartment that probably will have a roommate to keep the rent down and I will get a job there. That job will hopefully be in a bike shop but, as you have already seen, hotels are not out of the question. I will work when I need to and ride with every spare moment of time. I don't need a car, that's what a cheap fixie is for, and I only need enough money for food, rent, and bike parts. A bar budget will quickly be worked into that, but I'll figure that out when I'm there. If you actually read all the way through this, you are on your way to my level of boredom. If not, did you like my dream bike? And just like that, this blog started with a dream and is ending with one too. M.L.K. Jr. had a dream and he realized it. I have a dream, and I will realize it even if it kills me.

There is a message in this story that is mostly just a list of my dream parts. That message is to all the people who can't just go buy the most expensive bike on the market, or think they will have bad bikes forever because of their situation, whatever it may be. That message, is that if you want something bad enough, and have the determination to work to get it, you will get it. If you are a person that lacks determination but still wants the best bike they can think of, you just need to realize that determination comes easy when you have a passion. For me, that passion is biking. I hope it is for you too. It doesn't matter if it's a 50 mile road ride, a 10 mile XC climb, or an all day Downhill fest, as long as I'm on a bike, I'm happy. I may not have my dream bike yet, but when I get it, you will be informed in one way or another. If it takes me showing you that it is possible for everyone to realize their dream, that is what will happen. I promise you all, you will have an example by the year 2011. That may sound like a while away, but a goal is a goal, it doesn't matter how long that goal may take.

-PedalupBombdown