kjl

I have an unorthodox use for those things: by changing both cant adjusters in the same direction at the same time, you can adjust your forward lean. I like to ride with one boot locked and the other in that "1-3" mode (where you can flex it between settings 1 and 3 but not straighten it to 4 and 5). By adjusting both cant adjusters up or down, I can change how much forward lean the boot has when it is on the "3" setting. BTW - the cant adjusters sometimes strip out, and you'll have to do this: http://www.bomberonline.com/Forums/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&Thread_ID=2819

You want M6 x 1mm (1 thread per mm) screws. I get stainless steel ones from http://mmsacc-stainless.com/metric/html/metric_allen.html

Well, it makes the board go a little faster on cold snow and like a hundred bajillion times faster on really wet, sticky slush. Seriously, on those days when you can feel the nasty wet suction on the bottom of your board and you're slowing down even on the downhills, Zardoz does wonders. Unfortunately, though it may last a day or so on cold snow, it only lasts about a run and a half on wet snow. My opinion: not enough effect on cold snow, and doesn't last long enough on warm snow.

It was fun looking at your little retrospective! I've got 6 years of softboots and 1 year of hardboots under my belt, so it sounds like you quit snowboarding right about when I started learning. Hope to ride with you when you hit Tahoe in March - send a note or hit tahoecarvers.com when you come over.

Yeah, actually you sound like somebody who probably rides just fine with music, because you ride very fast :) I've definitely noticed that the faster you go, the safer it is w/r/t people hitting you from behind, and if you just need to look out for people in front of you, you probably don't need to hear anything. When I used to go really, really fast on my freeride board, I rode with tunes a few times (quit because it was inconvenient more than anything), and never felt unsafe - If somebody else passes you while you're going 40 mph, they don't expect that you can hear anything besides rushing wind anyways. Now that I'm on my carving board and making lots of slower turns across the entire run, I definitely feel like I need to be very aware of my environment.

Help or hinder, I think it's just plain not safe to ride with music. You can't hear the scratching/skidding of people losing control behind you, and you can't hear people talking/screaming at you. It really freaks me out when I try to pass somebody who has little wires going up to their ears, because I know they don't know I'm next to them and they can't hear when I say "on your left." my 2c. Also, for a weekend warrior like myself, it seems really weird to go all the way to the mountains, where it's quiet, natural, and peaceful, and wreck it with loud music. Kind of like travelling all the way to the brisk, pristine mountain air and then sucking in a bunch of burning cigarette smoke in the lift line... but that's another pet peeve :)

Boring: regular and right handed. Sometimes I eat cereal with my left, but that's as wacky as I get. Anybody else notice that the percentage of goofy riders in women snowboarders is higher? Or is that just a fluke due to my woefully small sample size?

I like it! The first time it came up last night I immediately killed the window, thinking I had 1) typed in bomberonline.com incorrectly and 2) reached one of those annoying misspelling internet portal sites :) Let's see how the search mechanism works in a year or two...