I recieved this today:

hellride finalists,

we've selected two. let it be known that this was a very tough  
decision for us to make. across the board, you are a soulful, fit,  
feisty, entertaining as all get-out, charming group of motherlovers.  
it was a privilege to get so many well thought out and often  
hilarious entries to this little deathmarch that we have planned. and  
it is regrettable that we could only choose two of you. all of you  
deserve a crack at this, and all of you are remarkable people.

this time around, the decision-making came down to some pretty arcane  
rules being made at the last second, because there were a lot of dead- 
heats. it caused enough hair-pulling at our level that we think for  
next year we'll get it down to a group of finalists and then throw  
that up on the web and let the collective populace vote on it, just  
like reality tv. that, or we'll arrange some sort of late roman  
empire cage match bacchanalia, complete with gladiators, lions, and  
lots of grilled meat. one way or another, we're gonna have to make a  
spectacle of this, because too many of you were far too entertaining  
to not deserve something more.

now, in the interests of good sportsmanship, congratulations are in  
order to our selected two finalists. raise a toast for them, and  
thanks for playing,
mike, scott, and the Hood Wearing Guild
(check the link below to find out who all stole your shot at glory)

http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/hr4


Not too bad, really.  I get to do the Wahsatch Steeplechase
and spend a week between that and the KMC in Zion. For next
year I'll try to ramp up the marketing effort.

Fortuitously I got in a good trail run this evening, shot
the new rifle, tracked down some used bar end shifters (at
Bikesmith), and got a nice lecture from Steve at High Gear
on how bar end shifters and downtube shifters are
categorically different, and thus bar end mounts do not
exist as seperate entities.

Not a bad day.