The Local Trail

16ish miles; 2.5 hours. 4200 feet of climbing. 99.5% singletrack.

This trail is 45 minutes from my new apartment. This trail has a reputation similar to the reputation of Yankee Springs for riders in GR; pretty good if you don't have time to to get to something better...

This trail shattered my kneecaps. I dropped the gear to 38x20 on Friday. At the top of the first climb, I was wishing for 32x20 and/or a bucket of ice to soak my flaming kneecaps. There was lots of payoff, however; tons of swoopy downhill singletrack. I encountered just about every type of trail surface; greasy mud, frost, gravel, shale, pine needles, and super-buff tacky dirt.

I need to change my stem. The angle is right, but it is too long. That creates added...challenges during long, technical descents.

Pics to follow this evening, along with pics of my new ss xc wheelset... :)

Just another ride in the park...

About 25 miles, half on singletrack.

About 6500 feet of climbing.

Yeah, that's how I roll.

Swapped the 1.9" Karmas for a Nevegal up front and a 2.2" Karma out back. Lots more weight, lots more traction and comfort. I might gear up one tooth in the back; that was a bunch of climbing at 2x1. On the other hand, there were only a few small pieces that I didn't clean so maybe I should just man up and take it.

Looks like I'll be heading to the coast range for some riding on Saturday. The cross race on Sunday is pretty far away; if my new ss cross wheels are here tomorrow, I might try to mount them up and make a run for it. If not, I'll wait and hit the cross race next week.

Forest Park Yet Again

Saturday it was back to Forest Park. Just to mix things up, the weather decided to take a turn for the nasty. Pouring rain and 45F at the start. I almost didn't show up for the start, but I didn't have anything else to do that morning and I wanted to see if Brian and Frank would show up.

Sure enough, my new Saturday friends were on time and ready to ride. Our only concession to the weather was to limit the ride to 2 hours. We did about the same course as last week. I'm starting to get the hang of this trail.

On the way back I was starting to get cold. My feet were clad in Lake boots, but they were soaked through. My hands were wrapped in EMS neoprene gloves. Neither were up to the task. Feet and hands were both numb when we got back to the cars. I plan to re-waterproof the boots and wear some warmer socks next time. I think I might need to buy a new pair of gloves. Lightweight, waterproof, with just a bit of liner for warmth. Or maybe a pair of wind and waterproof shells to wear over the EMS gloves. Also, I have one gore-tex jacket that I have been using on and off the bike. With all the riding I'm doing, and the perpetually muddy state of Forest Park, I'm gonna need at least one new jacket for off the bike. I might look for an additional jacket for on the bike as well, to give the other jacket a chance to dry out between uses.

I had to miss the cross race today. I had to work in the AM for the second week in a row. Bummer. The good news is that my ss wheels from Mike Curiak should be here for the next cross race; gotta get ready for the ss cross worlds, baby!

More Forest Park

At last, I made it out for a Thursday Night Ride at Forest Park. It was wet but in the mid-60's when Andrew, Dan and I started out from Fat Tire. Andrew was on a Monocog 29er full-rigid and Dan was on 26er FS. We rode up the big hill, down some sweet singletrack, back up a hill, and down a crazy-fast descent. I think it was about the same route I rode on Saturday.

Good times! I'm starting to get back in shape a little; at least that long hill seems easier than last week. Good company and I wore the right clothes.

Notes to self: The Niterider MiNewt is great for the dirt road, not quite good enough for the 20+ MPH downhill singletrack. The slipping bar mount didn't help. Bring the HID next time...

Also, bring your fenders, you nitwit! It's rainy her in PDX; those fancy fenders don't do you any good sitting in your hotel room.

Dan says he rides every Thursday all winter. Sounds like a plan to me!

I'll be riding again on Saturday, and might get to sneak out to the cross race this Sunday. I do have to work again, but if the training I am participating in wraps up in time, the bike and my gear will be ready to go so I won't have any excuse.

Hey, what's up?

Not too much to report. Missed the Thursday ride; had some housing logistics to handle. I did manage to get out yesterday. Rode with Brian and Ken in Forrest Park. We were out for a couple of hours; it was a good ride. They have plans to ride regularly, and have generously agreed to have be tag along.

Visited with Bernie last night. Man, that guy can pick a pizza joint! It was good to catch up.

Skipped the Cross race today. Kind of a bummer, but I had a work thing this morning and by the time I finished up I didn't have enough time to get to the venue. We'll get 'em next week.

Pics for your enjoyment follow:

Forrest Park is spoooookie!

Well, maybe not *that* spookie...

My name is Bernie; I likes me some pizza!

My name is Joe; I likes me some Bernie!

For Snob (and friends...)

More 'Cross...

OK, so I was not quite in the top half of the Master's B field. I was 42 out of 70+. Not great, but not as bad as I thought it might be. Plenty of room for improvement over the season.

There were over 1000 racers at this event. Yep, you read that right. Crazy stuff.

Here are a some links to pics from the event:

http://oregonvelo.exposuremanager.com/p/cc070103/cc0701mjb109158

http://oregonvelo.exposuremanager.com/p/cc070103/cc0701smy082135

http://oregonvelo.exposuremanager.com/p/cc070103/cc0701mjb116159

When I said I leap like a gazelle, I don't make that stuff up...

Cross Crusade

I made my way to the Cross Crusade race. I selected the Master's B class. As I watched the C class, I started to get worried. All the riders in that group seemed to have GREAT cyclocross form. I saw myself getting shelled off the back of the B's...

It wasn't quite as bad as all that. I started at the back of the pack, but was able to find my rhythm quickly and was passing people left and right. My dismount was spot-on, and I was leaping barriers like a gazelle. However, my re-mount needs help. Still, I was able to hold my own, and I think I finished in the top half of the group. I'll post up a definitive answer when the results are made official.

The DD-X worked great! Sure, I failed to clean and lube it after my mud-fest ride earlier in the week so the shifting could have been better. But the bike itself worked very well. I have a set of Curiak ENO Eccentric wheels on the way; that will cure the shifting issues real quick.

Speaking of singlespeeding, there were about 100 ss crossers at this race. They went off just before the Men's Open B class, and promptly turned in the fastest lap of the day (up to that point). They were wicked fast-here are a few pics:

Yes, we did run up those stairs. Many times...

Anyway, it was a good day. I had fun, and I plan to go back. This was kind of a tame version of this event, as no beer was permited on site. I guess things will be a little crazier next week. I'll let you know...

Portland Update

Not much riding to report. The new job keeps me busy, and I have my hands full looking for an apartment.

I did get out to ride City Forrest. It is basically a dirt road. It starts out in the city and climbs for the first two miles. For a flat-lander like me, that is a bunch o' climbing. Then it is rough road for the next 7 miles out and 7 miles back. I was quite covered in mud by the end. I felt good until the ss cyclocrosser passed my like I was standing still, and on the climb no less. I tried to reel him in, but to no avail.

The Mt. Hood ride is off. They have like a foot of snow up there, and my cold weather gear is on a truck somewhere near Omaha right now. I will make my way over to the Cross Crusade race on Sunday. The question is this: DD-X or Quiring with cross tires? I plan to hang around and take pictures, so we'll see how that works out...

SLC Pic Dump

Read 'em and weep...

Ah, like butter...

What is that white stuff?!?

More of the white stuff and the wet stuff.

Views like this *everywhere*...

The Quiring looking like a million bucks.

Your humble blogger; just to prove I didn't lift the pics from Dirt Rag.

Quick update from the road

Greetings from Salt Lake City!

I was in Lincoln, NE on Wednesday. Hooked up with the Snob for a nice spin and some great pizza and beer at Yaya's. We ran into a whole herd of endurance singlespeeders on the ride; a handful of DK and TI vets, as well as some 'regular' ss-24 racers. A few, including cornbread joined us for dinner. I crashed at the casa de snob. Good times!

Yesterday it was back on the road for 12 hours to get me to SLC. Took today off from driving to do some riding. The trails around SLC are insane! I dropped the Quiring down to 2x1 and still spend quite a bit of time walking. But when I could ride the trials were some of the best I have seen to date. They are very diverse; like rolling the NTC from Michigan in with some of the climbs and descents from Sylamore in Arkansas. And the views; well, they were just crazy. I took a bunch of pictures, and will post them as soon as I reach my final destination and get my computer up and running.

Back on the road tomorrow for another 12 hours. The weather is supposed to turn sour, so that should make the mountains interesting...

End of an Era

I did the team ride last night. It was a special cyclocross training ride; we went through just about every orchard, two-track, golf cart path, and goat path in Kent County. Aside from a few crashes, a good time was had by all. I was on the Quiring with cross tires. Two other single speeds were on the ride, as well as a handful of 1x9's.

Good times.

We then adjourned to the Farmstead, where tasty beverages were consumed.

As good as the night was, it was also somewhat bittersweet as it was my last Founder's team ride. I have accepted a job in Portland, OR. I start on October 1. I'll ride with the Founder's folks whenever I get the chance, but my days of the regular Tuesday rides are over.

Not much will change on the blog, except hopefully the pictures will display more interesting terrain. Blog updates might be a bit slow as I will be driving out to Portland. I do hope to get a few rides in along the way, and I'll update as time and connectivity permit.

You never know what the future might hold...

Cyclocross Season

Must be Cross season!

Shawn

Scott

Joe #3

JoeFro

Joe #1

Smaller group for the first Cross Team Ride of the season. The weather was very fall-like, with cool temps, dark clouds and lots of wind. A mix of dirt roads and pavement was on tap. It was a nice introduction to cross season, or as I like to call it "Did Nate just lap me AGAIN!?!" season.

Post ride refreshments:

Our Team Motto

Shelf of Fame

Spandex Steve and The Farmer joined us post-ride

Good Times! More cross training is on tap. Next week the farmer has some kind of special treat in store for us. I assume I will be hurting...

Fancy Frame SOLD!

It goes to a new home on Monday.

Fancy Frame for Sale

For Sale:

One brand new, never built-up* custom steel 29" frame from Badger Cycles. $700 + Shipping.

This was supposed to be my team bike for the 2007 season. For a variety of reasons, it got to me too late in the season to do me any good. Also, it does not fit me properly. Long story short, this was not the frame I ordered.

My loss is your gain! This frame retails for $1650. I paid $650 for it on a 'pro-deal' and am throwing in the matching team jersey. The frame did not ship with the slider hardware, so I will have to order that separately and it is included in the price. So, for all my stress and aggravation I added an extra $50 to my cost. This is still the lowest price you will ever see for a brand new, never built-up* Badger Custom frame.

Specifics:

Seat Tube: 18" center to center, 20" center to top

Top Tube: 23" center to center

Weight: a hair under 4.5 lbs

Hydraulic hose guides, NO cable guides. This frame is singlespeed only.

Paragon Sliding Dropouts

The frame is in as-new condition. It will be packed in the box in which it arrived on my doorstep.

*Ok, so I sprayed some T-9 in the seat tube and installed a seat post collar and a brand-new Thompson post so I could clamp it in the bike stand. Both were removed without incident.

Feel free to post any comments or questions you might have. I can take pictures of any part of this bike that might interest you.

Cash only for local pick-up or Paypal.

Slow couple of weeks

Not much on the bike stuff to report. I caught Becky's cold, so I have been off the bike for a bit. Final team road ride this Tuesday, then we switch to cross bikes.

I'm looking into some White Industries ENO Eccentric hubs to build a set of 700c wheels; ss cross, anyone? And maybe some fixed-gear commuting next year.

Oh, as you can see I skipped Shenandoah. I really wanted to go, but it would have been my 3 weekend in a row on the road and with this cold I knew I would get killed out there. So I bagged it and am working on a quick recovery. Or trying anyway. Lots of end-of-summer stuff to do around the house.

Wonder-Becky

Even though she was hit by a car six weeks ago,
Even though she has some kind of nasty upper respiratory infection,
Even though she only got three hours of sleep the night before,
Becky was able to crush the Chicago triathlon yesterday!

34th out of 256 in her age group in 2:46. This was her first International Distance triathlon.

She managed over 20 MPH for the 40k bike leg! This on her nice but heavy and non-aero road bike.

Anyway, she did awesome!

Sad Question

Those of you who read this log regularly know that I was waiting all season for a custom frame. The frame finally arrived just before 9 Mile. Unfortunately, it was the *wrong* frame. The seat tube is two inches too long and the top tube is too short. This after waiting all season for the frame; it was ordered in February and delivered July.

I called the builder. He wanted to build another frame for me. I decided that I would rather have my money back and move on to another project. The builder agreed, and said they would send me a check by the end of the week. That was three weeks ago, and now he is not returning my e-mail.

My question is this: What should I do? I can't use the frame, and I'd hate to embarrass the builder by putting his $1500 frame on ebay for $650, which is what I paid. Would someone even buy a 'custom' frame built for someone else?

Oh, and should I be 'outing' this builder by describing my experience here and on the boards?

Thoughts and advice appreciated.

Could there be some beef in your future?

Yes, there could be.

Round and Round

Did the team ride on Tuesday. The speeds were high; sometimes they were crazy-high. I held on for all I was worth.

I took it easy for the rest of the week.

Friday I drove to the UP for a very nice invitation-only century ride. Lots of great folks and good food to be had. This was my fourth time at this particular ride, and I had a great time!

Should be a pretty mellow week on the bike again this week. Rain in the forecast means adjustments to the ride schedule. Next week is taper for Shenandoah, where it looks like I will be camping at the race site. That should be...interesting.

Love will find a way; just give it time.

Ohhh that smell...

Nate, Dan and I did 5 hours on the singlespeeds yesterday. I'm not talking about a nice trek through the woods, looking at daisies and butterflies; this was a mini-epic. It was hot and humid; maybe in the high 80's or 90's. We each went through a couple gallons of water. We did trails that were more like deer tracks than singletrack. Just like last week, I spent too much time on my back. Just like last week, I feel like I've been flushed down the toilette.

So Dan and I were packing the car. I couldn't help but notice that something smelled...well...like old roadkill. So I sniffed the usual suspects; jersey, gloves, helmet, shoes. All smelled like flowers. Then it hit me...my hat. That thing was like the south facing end of a north-bound goat. And the goat was on an all soy and bean diet. I mean to say that the hat was rank. For the rest of the ride, I smelled the hat. So did Nate and Dan.

On the plus side, the Quiring was full-on awesome! That bike is like rock and roll with 29" tires.

Anyway, I'm off to the U.P. this weekend for a cool invitation-only century ride. Lots of interesting folks, plenty of good food and I get to ride 100 miles. Good stuff.

Hi! I'm Joe. I like to ride bikes...

Not much saddle time this week. The weather was hot, my foot hurt, and I felt run down. Even today I wasn't feeling great. I should have went for a long slow ride. Instead I did bike maintenance and went to the farmer's market.

The Quiring is in great shape! I changed the chainring, cog and chain. I almost put the rigid fork on there, but decided to hold off until after Shenandoah. Slapped on a new front tire. The bike performed very well during the shakedown ride. My foot/toe held up as well.

I'll be out on the singlespeed tomorrow for about 5 hours. Sounds like Dan and Nate will be there; maybe a few others as well.

Broken Toe

The title about sums it up.

I Slammed the pinkie toe of my left foot into the wall this AM. There was a nice 'POP!' noise, and it hurt like hell all day. Tonight it is all black and blue and quite sore. I 'buddy tapped' it to the toe next door and went for a spin on the road bike. It hurt, but wasn't terrible.

I'll try the team ride tomorrow, but if it hurts too much I might take the rest of the week off the bike.

Something old, something new...

I did my first fixie ride this week. On Friday I borrowed a fixed Surly Steamroller. As someone who had been riding singlespeeds for a long time, I thought it would be a pretty easy transition. Not so much. I'm not saying I didn't like it or that I won't try it again, but it definitely felt a little sketchy at times. Downhill was...interesting.

Today saw Dan Jansen and I out on SS MTB's for about four hours. Lots of hills, lots of finding hidden trails tucked away and forgot by nearly everyone. I crashed more today than in my last 10 MTB rides combined, including one impressive flip-over-and-lay-on-my-back crash and a total "Hey, where did that tree come from?" crash. Also, I got stung by a bee.

I feel like I am nearly recovered from 9 Mile. Two toes are still a little numb and my lower neck/shoulder area is still not right. The legs are flat, but starting to respond when called upon. Also, I'm dealing with a bit of lingering knee soreness from a midnight rock garden get-off.

On tap this week: Tuesday Team Road Smackdown, some recovery, Thursday MTB SS early pre-Iceman training, some recovery and some SS endurance training on Sunday. 'Bout what you'd expect for August.

24-9 Pic Dump

24-9 Report

What does finishing a 24 solo singlespeed feel like? About like this:

No, not the woman to the right; she looks great. (It's Namrita btw, from whose blog I swiped the pic.) I mean that nasty looking gent to the left. I look exactly how I felt; like a warmed-over piece of a$$-meat.

I was going to do one of those lap-by-lap reports, but lots of folks beat me to it. I'll just focus on the things that were maybe a little different for me.

First, I started the race without my usual compliment of ointments for 'down under', if you catch my drift. I left all my personal lubes and whatnot at the hotel. My support person went back to get them, but for reasons beyond his control (more on this later) he didn't get back in time. I was able to get some chamois cream from Eddie but I didn't have my lidocane jelly or my Body Glide. Not a great way to start. I have to say that this lack had less effect on my race than I would have expected. However, I am paying for it now. Let's just say that things down there are a little sore and, well...scabby. Not great.

The race went very well for me. Sure, it hurt. My feet hurt, but not as bad as in some other races. I never had to switch shoes or pedals. My neck hurt, but not as much as at other times. I never got nauseous, probably because I was only eating about 175-200 calories per hour. Yet I never really bonked, although I came very close.

I had a couple of slow laps that were due more to mental than physical weakness. I stopped at the IMBA tent to eat chips, because chips were the only thing that really sounded good. I also spent a bit more time in the pits than was necessary during those laps. And lets face it; I was walking a bunch of the course at that point. I felt like hell and just wanted the race to be over; like I always do.

Funny story; I stopped at the big bonfire at the road crossing located about 2/3 of the way around the course. I was cold, tired, and needed to stop and drink from my bottle. One of the guys there recognized me from earlier in the race. He had invited me to stop by and have a cocktail, and he reiterated his offer. I declined and sipped my Hammer cocktail instead. Then, from out of the shadows steps a tall man, his face concealed by a mosquito net. He says, "Man, you can't say here; you can't quite now. Everybody wants to quite now, this is the worse time of the night. You are doing great, you have to get moving!" You know what? He was right, and I'm glad he reminded me of what I needed to do.

During the night I went from 5th to 2nd to 1st (I guess for a while) to 4th. The last night lap I was trying to figure out if the podium was for 1st through 3rd or 1st though 5th. I was ready to settle for 4th in the latter case and just finish the race already. But then dawn broke, and *as always happens*, I suddenly became a ball of fire. I ripped off two strong(ish) laps, and my pit crew told me Dallas Sigurdur, a cool guy and TI veteran, was sitting right in from of me and in 3rd position. This was bad for me, since on the last lap *when I was feeling strong* he had blown past me like I was standing still. I had tried to get on his wheel without success.

I figured there was no point in chasing. But I chased anyway. I had no energy, but I found some energy. I didn't care anymore, but damned if I didn't care just enough. I threw everything I had into catching Dallas, and did so pretty quickly. I blew right by him and just kept my head down and pedals turning. I assumed he was right on my wheel and I never looked back. I caught Nat Ross (!) and told him I was trying to hold on to 3rd place in solo singlespeed. Would he mind if I sat on his wheel? Not a problem says Nat. Awesome.

I crank out the last two laps on adrenalin and I don't know what else. My knees are on fire; my feet are really starting to hurt, my neck and shoulders are just burning. I was ready to be done.

Then, like these things always do, it ends. Sure enough, I held off Dallas. Sure enough, I got 3rd Place. Sure enough, the podium was 5 deep--good thing I didn't know that!

As I was just starting to enjoy the afterglow, my support guy Dan says "I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you why I was late getting back with you lube products. There is a problem with your car..." Hmmm, not what you want to hear when you are supposed to be on the road in about four hours. We decided to skip the awards (Sorry race promoters!) to try and find someone to fix the trusty VW. Well, believe it or not, two guys that have been up for about 30 hours might have a hard time finding someone to fix a VW in small town in Wisconsin on a Sunday afternoon. After much head scratching and calling around, we figured out that we just weren't going to get it fixed that day. So we did what any red-blooded American men would do: Took a nap, then went out for steak and beer!

In some ways, it was good that we didn't have to leave right away. We got to have dinner with Eddie and Namrita, Scott and Danielle, Aaron, Jason and the rest of the Slingshot crew, and maybe a few more people that I forget. It was great to chat about races past and future; the good and bad seeds in the sport; and, well, the state of our nether regions. Good times.

The car was fixed the next day without further event. Strangely, I started to feel very good. I mean, *very good* considering I just did a 24-hour race. My drive home was fine; I had achieved the sort of rare calm state that I sometimes get after these races. I had done all I had set out to do; now I got to enjoy it for a bit.

Work up today feeling almost...normal. Not quite; my legs are sluggish and my neck and shoulder are quite sore. But I was able to do the team ride tonight, and I could hang with the pack for the most part. That is just incredible--usually after a 24 I don't ride my bike at all for most of a week and don't do any hard efforts for two weeks. I wasn't on top of my game tonight, but I did far better than I ever would have thought possible. I'll have to think about what this means...

Anyway, special thanks to Dan for pulling his first (only?) stint as a support guy. Thanks to Jason for all the help with bottles and, well, that was an awesome sponge bath.

It was great to meet and spend time with Namrita and Eddie. I knew of them before the race; now I feel like I *know* them, at least to some extent. I look forward to racing near them again. It was great to see Paddy, Dallas, and Skip. You guys rule; you almost make me want to camp next time so we could hang out more. Or, on the other had, you could all join me at the Hotel. You know, where there are no bugs but there is ample air conditioning and a very nice pool/hot tub. I'm just saying...

Picture to follow. Dan took a bunch, now if he would just send them to me. (Hint hint)

24-9 Quickie

3th Place.

Had a couple rough laps, but overall a good race. Feel pretty good today. Had car trouble, had to spend an extra day in Wisconsin. All is well now.

Report and pictures to follow shortly.

Special thanks to Dan, Jason, Scott, Eddie and Namrita. More on all this later.

Countdown

Car? Packed.
Chains? Lubed.
Carbs? Loaded.
Chamois? Buttered.

Time to rock and roll...

Quick Random Update

Scrambled to find a back-up bike for this weekend when my long-awaited bike arrived and turned out to the be the wrong bike. Sigh. Bike found, parts being transferred. Future bike #2 plans still up in the air.

Traveled to Toronto to see The Police reunion tour. Awesome. Spent part of the day in Toronto today; lots of fixie hipsters. Saw some cool bike shops and a neat bicycle co-op.

Becky is doing very well. Her training for the Chicago Triathlon is back on track. Thanks to everybody for asking about her and wishing her well.

Resting up for this weekend. Feeling good, but more importantly, looking good.

Cross Bike? Road Bike?

You decide:

How to Finish Trans-Iowa

Ride 50 miles looking at this:

Turn around, and ride back 50 miles looking at this:

Best done while riding this:

Smile for the camera!

So, so you think my allergies were acting up that day? Endurance riding is a dirty sport!

More Updates

Becky is doing better. She got the last of the stitches out today, and her face is looking much better. She is starting to get up and around more, and I suspect she will be ready to get back to work on Monday. Got the report on her bike; $640 to get it back to pre-crash condition. Now the wrestling with the drivers' insurance company can begin...

Did the team ride yesterday. It was a good one; fast, hot weather and lots of attacking! There was a fairly large group, and everyone got a workout. The crazy weather prevented the GPS from acquiring any satellites, so I don't have details. All I know is it was crazy fast.

MTB tomorrow and I need to figure out what to do for the weekend. Next weekend I'll be out of town and the following weekend is 9 Mile--time to get busy planning!

Rider update and Ride update

Becky is doing better today. She got two of the four stitches removed from her chin, and her skin is healing up nicely. The concussion has some lingering effects, but I predict a full recovery.

Even with all the drama, I was able to get two long rides in this weekend. I did 100 miles the hard way on Saturday; solo, single-speed, and self-supported. In the heat as a bonus. Becky's mom was in town, so I rode for all I was worth. Pretty much confirmed my setup for 9 Mile.

Sunday I did the Taco Ride 2.0 with Jason, Ralph, Shawn, and Chip. It was 80 miles on the road bike at a fairly slow pace. The heat was hot, and the humidity was nasty. I flatted, but Ralph came through with the old-skool frame pump. Lots of miles, but the legs still feel pretty good today.

The rest of the week is pretty much old news; good rides on Tuesday and Thursday with active recovery in between. Should get the damage estimate on Becky's bike tomorrow, and maybe a plastic surgery consult near the end of the week.

Good times? Could be worse.

Rider Down Update

Becky is doing somewhat better today. She is sore and having road rash on your face is not fun, but we both know it could have been much worse.

I took her bike to the shop today. They said the front wheel is shot, and they are looking over the rest of the bike; frame alignment, fork/steerer tube/dropouts, shifters, handlebar, etc.

I've started dealing with the insurance companies. Strange at it sounds, I have to make a claim against *my* auto insurance for medical coverage because Michigan is a no-fault state. Somehow I have to make a claim against the at-fault driver to get the bike (and pain-and-suffering, lost wages, gear, etc?) covered. I'm sure this will be a joy. But at least we have someone to go after; it could have been a hit and run.

Do me a favor, wear your helmet...

Rider Down

At 7:45 PM on Thursday, my wife Becky was hit by a car while riding her bike. A car parked on the side of a fairly busy street pulled directly into her path. She was traveling at about 18 MPH. She hit the left front quarter panel, flew over the hood of the car and impacted the road.

She is fine, for the most part. She has significant abrasions to her face and shoulder, and four stitches on her chin. We just got back from the ER. (It's 1:15 AM...)

As for the bike, the front wheel might be salvageable. I haven't checked the fork, steering tube or headset yet. Every else seems ok.

Her helmet is pretty scuffed up, and the Oakley half-jackets are trashed.

So, no triathlon for her this weekend. I'll skip Boyne to make sure she has what she needs.

Be safe out there.

Team Ride

A huge group turned out for the team ride yesterday. We enjoyed a shortish ride. The pace overall was moderate, but there were a few times when the hammer did drop. Super-famous roadie Mark Hekman made an appearance. After the ride we hit Little Mexico and then back to Nate's place for a few beers. Since almost everyone had the day off, we stayed out a bit later than usual. Good times.

No riding today in honor of out forefathers and the birth of out great nation. Back on the mtb tomorrow to test some position changes and think about the Marathon race this weekend.

100 Miles of Fun and Tacos

Well, ok, more like 80 miles. There were seven of us on the ride. It was a good group, although some of the participants were more MTB-oriented. One of the guys was some kind of super-fasty roadie, and he put the hurt on us! I had a couple of decent pulls, but I am dealing with a saddle sore the size of Nebraska so I had some trouble with the seated climbing. All in all, it was a good time. The weather was picture-purfect and we ended the day at Founder's. What more could you ask for?

It should be a good ride this Tuesday. Many of us have the next day off, so we can push harder than usual. And I guess we will end up an Founder's once again. Good times.

I'm hoping to make it to the Boyne marathon race on Saturday. I'm still not 100%: not sure what gear I'd run, and not sure what class (expert or ss) I'd run in. Time will tell.

Easy Week

Did the team ride on Tuesday. There was some pain, mostly due to the heat. A few mechanicals caused us to run a bit late, so no pizza after. I made two small changes to the road bike; I raised the seat about 5 mm and lowered the bars about 10 mm. It was a good change. I think I'll tweak the MTB this weekend along the same lines.

Should be a good weekend for riding. I'm looking at a few hours tomorrow and 100 miles or so on Sunday. My fitness is coming around after the long layoff in Europe. Which is good, since there is a little 24 hour race right around the corner.

Next week should be another good week for riding, at least as long as the weather holds. I have a 40-mile marathon race on the schedule for next Saturday; we'll see how I feel and make a last-minute call on that one. Otherwise all the normal rides will be in full effect. Sometimes dull can be exciting.

Say "Yes!" to 9 Mile

The decision is in: I will be doing 24 Hours of 9 Mile. I have a support person lined up, and I have located a back-up bike. Now I have to handle the logistics: I'm registered, but that's it. I need to figure out where to stay, how to get there, what to bring, etc. It's been a while since I did a 24-hour lap race.

This means Wilderness is out. My performance at back-to-back weekends of racing means the E100 is out. That in turn means I won't qualify for the overall in the National Endurance Series. (By the way, it looks like their site has been hacked...)

With that set of decisions out of the way, I can focus on training for the rest of this seasons' events. I'll still be at Shenandoah; I have at least one marathon race on the calendar, and a series of XC races leading up to Iceman. The 200-miler in Minnesota looks interesting. On second thought, it looks like there are still a few more decisions to be made.

Cannonsburg Pics

Pictures stolen from www.mtb-life.com website...

Ouch

Did Cannonsburg 8 hour. It was like the mirror image of Lumberjack: Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Bad prep the week before the race, bad nutrition and bad bike set-up.

In the end, it was more like the 4 hours of Cannonsburg. Other people had good rides: Dan was on fire and beat all the solo riders and teams; Shawn put the hut on folks and pulled off 9 laps; Nate and Sheri pulled out a 2nd Place in the 2 Person category. Good times.

With no back-up bike in sight, I am having second thoughts about 9 mile. If I skip it, I can do Wilderness and not mess around with the E100.

Decisions, Decisions...

Team Ride

Did the team ride on Tuesday. There was a large group, but folks held together pretty well. I was a bit tired from the Lumberjack. In the end I hung in pretty well, although JoeFro put in some efforts that I thought were going to rupture my spleen. That boy can put the hammer down.

I'm in Cincinnati today and tomorrow. I'll get home just in time to swap gears on the bike and head over to Cannonsburg Saturday morning for the 8 Hour race. Should be fun, as lots of teammates and friends will be there as well. This is part of the E100/Shenandoah 100 testing process. It I can do well at Cannonsburg, I will give serious consideration to doing two hundies on back-to-back weekends. If I feel like crap at Cannonsburg, then two undies on consecutive weekends might be a bad idea.

Props to Rick for puting on a good race at Lumberjack.

Lumberjack 100 Report

Lumberjack 100 2007

Bike Setup

Quiring 29er Steel Singlespeed, 36x19
Reba Fork
Industry Nine wheels
Kenda Small Block front tire
Kenda Karma rear tire

The word that best describes my experience at this race is “smooth”. This is the first race in a long time where I felt mostly comfortable leading up to the event. My bike was in good shape, I slept and ate well leading up to the event, and I knew the course. I had the normal pre-race jitters, but they were minor compared to Ouachita or Cohutta.

The first lap was pretty easy. I had to deal with traffic, including making some passes that were less than ideal. There were a couple of instances where I had to pass four riders at once, for example. Next year I think I will try to start closer to the front of the pack.

The only rough spot was my eating/hydration plan. Because the weather was cool and I started the race well-hydrated, I decided to use one 1.5 liter bladder for the first two laps. I thought I could get away with this because I have done several rides over four hours with that size bladder and I was drinking 24 ounces of perpetum/sustained energy every lap. This turned out to be a mistake; by the end of lap 2 I was feeling pretty dehydrated. I also need to re-check my calculations on the food bottle. After drinking one bottle during each of the first two laps, I felt bloated and gassy. During lap three I drank an entire 1.5 liters of Gu2O and only half a food bottle. During lap four I drank another 1.5 liter bladder and only ¼ of a food bottle. I never felt hungry during the ride.

Lap 2 and 3 were slower than I would have liked. I could tell by the middle of lap 2 that I wasn’t drinking enough. The good thing is that I never panicked. I knew I had enough food and fluid in the pits to get me through the race, so I suffered out the rest of that lap and drank as much as I could on lap 3. By the end of lap 3 I was really starting to feel good. I felt great on lap 4; I was hammering the hills and railing the descents. I could have done another lap.

The bike was fabulous! It was a pleasure to ride the entire race without worrying about losing the chain. The Reba suspension fork was great; I had almost no arm/neck soreness after the race or the next morning. The new Industry Nine wheels lived up to the hype-they were stiff, had lightning-fast engagement and were noticeably lighter than my other wheels. Even the Garmin Edge GPS unit came through for me; it lasted the entire 9 hours on one charge! I couldn’t ask for anything more from the bike.

I knew that I would not have a great result; suffering for one and a half laps means no podium in a race like this. I was pleasantly surprised to finish in the top 10. Because I took so much time off the bike before this race, I didn’t put too much pressure on myself.

The after-party was a hoot! Snob, Cory, Brett, Paula, Anne, Danielle, the Doctor…the whole crew was there. Lots of tired faces, but lots of smiles as well. Not like last year…

It was nice to get in a long ride, and to feel calm even though the food/fluid situation was sub-optimal. It was also good to complete this race with minimal outside assistance—staying focused and motivated has been a problem in the past when Becky couldn’t do support for me.

Now I have a decision to make. With a 5th place and an 8th place finish to my credit, do I want to add the E100 to my schedule and try to place in the top 5 for the series? I plan to do the Shenandoah 100 either way, so if I want to qualify I need to add the 4th race. The E100 is the only one that fits. Decisions, decisions…

This looks interesting...

http://www.forthandback200.blogspot.com/

Anyone in? Thinking about it?

Speak up.

Quick Lumberjack Update

Not a bad race for me. 8th Place in a little over 9 hours. Lap 1 had traffic, Lap 2 I didn't drink enough, Lap 3 I suffered, and Lap 4 was good.

Teammates and friends did well; Paula won the women's ss, Danielle won the women's open, Dejay won the mens open; our table at the afterparty had a whole mess of axes!

A better post to follow later.

Lumberjack

Bike? Check.
Gear? Check.
Bad Attitude? Check.
Street Llama? Check.

Oh, it's on now.

Euro Photo

Becky took this action shot. Gotta love that horizon in the background. This was taken in a small village outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

This is me freezing my a$$ off 20 km outside of Florence, Italy. Why am I so cold?

I don't know; maybe it's because I am being pelted with giant (1") hail stones from a freak hail storm. The temps dropped about 20F degrees in 5 minutes. We waited out the storm in a little cafe watching the Giro on the TV.

And the money shot:

This was the view from the balcony of our hotel room in Dubrovnik. Visit if you get the chance.

Team ride tonight, then easy rides to break in the new set of Industry 9 wheels that showed up today. Then Lumberjack...

Lumberjack Pre-ride

Wow.

It's easy to forget how hard that course can be. Dan, Nate, Barry and I drove up to Big M yesterday. A storm last week left several trees down and much debris on the trail. The promoter asked us (and a bunch of other folks) if we could lend a hand by raking the trail. We were happy to pitch in, and decided to ride a lap when the raking was finished.

The trail is in good condition, by the way.

Anyway, Barry has an injury, so it was just Dan, Nate and I doing the lap. The weather was warm, but not as warm as last years race. The course is being run backwards this year, so that is the direction we followed.

I'm not gonna lie to you; that trail can kick your butt. The race hits a long climb right out of the box. SS'ers will be walking. The rest of the inner loop will be fine. The outer loop has some tricky stuff as well; sandy climbs and Road Monkey will lots of false flats and more speed-sucking sand.

My advice: start hydrating now; put an easier gear on your SS; pack a love of suffering.

Despite TSA's Best Efforts...

... I made it back into the country. Italy and Croatia were great, but I am glad to be back and ready to get on the bike. I rode bikes twice on the trip, and will post pictures soon.

I did the team ride last night. There was a huge group, which kept the pace low. I contested a few sprints, but it was cleat that the legs were not fully functional. I started cramping up almost right from the get-go. I didn't feel terrible, I just didn't feel great. Hopefully, it's nothing that a few hundred miles won't cure.

After the ride, food was grilled and beer was poured. After three weeks of Italian beer, the Founder's really hit the spot.

More riding in store for the rest of the week, with some singlespeed action Thursday and a rode hundie on Saturday. Next race: Lumberjack. I owe that race, and I plan to pay in full.

Team Ride and Blog Sabbatical

The Team ride last night was...interesting. At the start, rain was pouring down. At least one rider called it quits within five minutes of the start. I was part of the "30 Minutes Out, 30 Minutes Back" faction. In the end, we stayed out for a full two hours. The rain eventually abated a bit, so the last hour wasn't too bad.

The 'pace line' was a bit tighter this week. The slower pace and smaller crowd helped, I think.

After the ride, we celebrated Nate's birthday with pizza, beer and ice cream. Is this the best team ever, or what?!?

This will be my last post for a few weeks. I will be on a non-cycling vacation with my wife, and I don't expect to have Internet access for most of the trip. Look for the next post around June 5 or June 6.

Team Ride

Did the team ride on Tuesday. Another large group that included Nate, Dan, Scott, Shawn, JoeFro, Jason, Ralph, Dan J. and myself. The pace was quick, but not yet blistering. We rode a bit over 50 miles, with some good climbs. People are still getting used to riding in a paceline, and this ride is not the easiest place to learn that skill.

I expect the speeds will increase in the coming weeks.

No race this weekend; I just want to ride some miles.

A couple racing pictures...

No, I am not sleeping in the first picture. Pictures were lifted from here.

How about that XC racing?

Yeah, not all that much fun. It turns out that the first lap is pretty darn hard. The other two laps were hard, but not as bad.

I ended up 12th out of 26 in the Expert (geared) class in my age group. Not quite what I hoped for, but not as bad as it could have been. I either need to get stronger and push a taller gear or consign myself to a smaller gear and learn how to spiiiiinnnn like a madman. Or I guess I could race the singlespeed class.

Nah. :)

Tastes Like Chicken

Did the ski hill yesterday. I had a bit too much gear, but I was still able to get a few laps in and climb the main hill. Went over to the game area tonight and busted out a few fast laps. I think the gear I have on there will get the job done down at Custer on Sunday.

I will be down to the fort tomorrow for a pre-ride. Sunday will be head down, legs pumping in the expert class. I guess there will be some beer afterward? That is the rumor...

Skinny Tires and Expert Races

The team did its first road bike ride yesterday. A large crowd showed up; someone was heard to remark that it was like "an all-Founder's Critical Mass". I think we had 10 or 11 people. The pace was not as ugly as it can be; Dan, Nate and Scott were all holding back for one reason or another. I think it will only get faster from here on out. Still, it was 50 miles and good time in Nate's garage when it was over.

I spun easy on the ss today. I plan to drop a couple teeth in the back and ride the ski hill tomorrow. Paid my money to race the expert class this weekend at Custer on the ss, so I need to get a few hard efforts in my legs with the bigger gear. I don't know; will 36x16 be enough to hang with the experts at the fort?