ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

"Bike Envy" isn't something that I get.  Sure...I might do a double take at the latest bikes on the floor of Gung Ho Bikes ...but it's not like I ever get that "I need to have that and I need to have it now" feeling.  If you are that person (Glenn, I'm speaking to you) then March and April, when all the new bikes are on the floor of the shop, have the potential to be better than Christmas.  Last March (2016), for the first time in five years, I purchased a new mountain bike...and I love it: 29 inch wheels, hard tail, carbon fiber, and orange.  No sir...I don't think I'll be experiencing any bike envy this year.  My 2016 Stumpjumper on it's maiden ride in Swatara State Park -- March 5, 2016 That's not to say that I haven't had my fair share of mountain bikes over the past 22+ years.  They haven't all been Specialized ...but they ALL have been purchased at GUNG HO BIKES ...the BEST BIKE SHOP AROUND .  Over the years, my b...

The moment you get on your bicycle it becomes an extension of your body.  It becomes a natural part of you...and you a part of it.  A connection and a bond is formed.  Your bike personifies your personality and becomes part of your identity.  Heck, most of us even  name our bikes.  Which is why it feels so incredibly weird, awkward, and foreign when you, for one reason or another, ride someone else's bike.  I accidentally rode Mark's bike once.  We had matching 2006 Stumpjumpers.  His was a small frame and mine a large.  We didn't make it more than ten feet down the trail before realizing the switch...and sharing a laugh. Dave Raymond, Mark Lentz, and our matching Stumpjumpers after the Terror At Teaberry Race -- September 2006 There have been times when I've been "between bikes" and needed to borrow someone else's bike for an event (thank you, Billy & Kevin!).  Once I even rode my son's bike in an adventure race becau...

By April of 2007 my 2006 Stumpjumper was only a few months old...and there was absolutely nothing wrong  with it.  Yet, there I was test riding a demo bike from Gung Ho  that the shop was willing to sell to me.  A fluorescent green 2006 full suspension Specialized Epic.  I had no need for it...that 2006 Stumpjumper still ranks as one of my favorite bikes...but, for some reason, I found myself in my back yard, showing the bike to my buddy, Glenn.  To this day, I still remember his words, "It's all about the color, Davy!" Shortly thereafter, the bike was hanging in my garage permanently (well, as you're about to find out, not quite so permanently.)   Dave Raymond & Glenn Medice in Rothrock State Forest .  Notice my green Epic and Glenn's red Santa Cruz.  He's smiling in the pic...but believe me, he had some buyer's remorse! (well, did he?  He used Mikey's credit card!) -- 2007 Yeah...I raced that green Epic hard!  T...