Still Here...

Sort of an easy week on the bike. The weather here turned cold (for Portland) and I have been right on the edge of getting sick. So instead of riding, I did some running and some bike maintenance.

Running? Why in the world would I wan to do that? A little something called the Dirty Du. I decided to do that instead of another road race. I can do road races almost any weekend here; how often can I trail run and ride my bike in the same event?

The clincher? They have a singlespeed class... I predict a top-5 finish. :)

First real MTB race of the year is next weekend. Then it is just a hop, skip and a jump to Sea Otter and that puts 24 Hours of Spokane right around the corner.

Good Times...

A use for the fixed DD-X

http://www.mttaborseries.com/fixed

Portland; I (heart) you!

Last Week Wrap Up

Rode on Thursday. It was very wet and very cold. I mean VERY cold. One of those leg-shaking, teeth-chattering suffer-fest downhills out of the park. It rained from start to finish on this ride, and I suffered the entire time. That makes two weeks in a row of less-than-perfect weather and/or body conditions at the Park. Somthin's Got To Give....

Saturday was a nice road ride. I made a wrong turn, so I only ended up with 2.5 hours, but I packed in over 4000 feet of climbing. It was a cool but sunny day, and there were lots of other cyclists on the road. I took Germantown from Highway 30 up to Skyline again. It was much easier on a geared bike. Go figure.

XC Skied on Sunday. The snow was sort of crappy, but it was actually nice to see some snow for a change. And talk about snow; the bathroom at Teacup had snow up to the roof! Pretty cool. There was more snow falling during the ski; heavy, wet snow. All in all, not the best skiing of all time, but still a good workout and a fun time.

Hardcore stretching (let's not call it yoga...) yesterday, and some walking and bike maintenance on tap for tonight. Not sure what the ride schedule looks like for the rest of the week. It is supposed to be quite wet and cold; if that is the case I think I might strap on the running shoes.

There is a road race on Sunday, and I have started looking at the course profile for Horning's Hustle and Sea Otter. Sea Otter should be fun; I'm thinking about road racing Friday and Saturday (Cat 5 4ever...) and Expert SS XC on Sunday. Mmmm, tastes good *and* it's good for you...

Wednesday in the Park

29 Miles; 4100 feet of climbing. Lots of road and lots of gravel. Very little singletrack.

It was a very good ride tonight. There were 3 29er SS, 2 26er SS, a full-sus and a hardtail. Nice mix. The Yakima Bike Vigilantes were well-represented.

I felt really good. I put on a gear that is two teeth harder than last week (32x18 vs. 32x20) and I was cleaning stuff that had me off the bike last week. Go figure. Felt good all night, and still feel pretty good right now. Back was fine. Having the Jones Bars back on was the right choice. More leverage and easier on the arms and shoulders.

Back to the park tomorrow for the Fat Tire ride. Not sure what is in store for the weekend; fixie ride? First 100-miler of the season? Gravel grinder? I don't know, but I'm looking forward to finding out!

Fixed?

My first real fixed ride. I have the DD-X set up with a White Industries ENO Eccentric hub. I have a 16t freewheel on one side and a 16t fixed cog on the other. After hemming and hawing for the past few weeks, I decided to give the fixed side a try.

Note to self: 48x16 + 2100 feet of climbing (and descending!) might not be the best way to try out this fixed gear thing...

This was my first time taking Germantown Road up to Skyline. I figured it would be a climb; I didn't realize it went pretty much straight up with no rest. About half way up, it started to hail. I didn't care. I was in full suffer mode by that point. Still, it is kind of cool in retrospect. I look forward to giving that climb a try on my other road bike.

Note for new arrivals to the Northwest

Although you will be tempted to spend all your time riding, take a few minutes and lube the screws that hold your cleats to your pedals. Don't wait six months; do it now.

Trust me on this.

While you're at it, just go ahead and put some lube on pretty much every fastener on your bike...

Thursday and back to Forrest Park

About 28 miles; about 4000 feet of climbing. Alas, it was 95% dirt road or regular old pavement. Still, not too bad for a weeknight ride.

The weather has returned to a more winter-like feel. That is to say, 40's and rain. The ride was clear at the start, but the last 30 minutes on Leif Erikson and all the pavement on the way home was in a pretty steady downpour. My hands and feet were fairly cold by the time I got home.

To be honest, I wasn't really feeling the ride tonight. It was ok, but I wasn't feeling great and Brandon was able to drop me at will. The tiny gear didn't help, but for some reason my heart just wasn't in it tonight.

Slapped the Jones Bars on for this ride. I forgot how nice those bars are; they transmit a small fraction of the trail chatter to my hands that I am otherwise forced to deal with when running aluminium bars. The rigid fork was back on as well; I don't want the sus fork to suffer with the rain, and let's face it: that reba is not light. I knew I'd be back on gravel for a while, so the carbon fork got the nod.

Gonna be a light weekend for riding. I'm on call at work, so no cool trips will be had. Good chance to clean up bikes, maybe do a few tune-ups. We'll see...

Syncline Pics

Swiped from Dylan. Although these are good pics, they really don't do the day or the trail justice. You can find more here. Thank you, Yakima Bike Vigilantes, for a great day in the saddle!

The wheels keep spinning

Rode Syncline today. Not as much climbing as I thought, but as you can see it just keeps coming and coming once it starts. The downhill was something to behold.

The day was perfect for riding, and a perfect ride was had by all. Seven riders, no crashes and no real mechanincals. Everybody rode all day in good spirits. The views from the switchbacks and from the top were pretty incredible. Pictures were taken and will be posted or linked to at a later date.

On the down side, I tweaked my back a bit. I believe the weekly rides will calm down a little bit as we adjust routes to accommodate daylight savings time. At least I hope so; I need a chance to recoup the back!

Did I mention that it was in the high 60's and sunny all day? And dry as a bone on the trail? It was. It felt like summer. And this trail is 1:15 from my front door.

What was it like in Michigan today? :)

Garmin Seems to be working...

The ride wasn't all that long, but 3700 feet of climbing in 13 miles is no joke. I slapped the Reba on the Quiring, which made for some fun descents. The climbs were a bear, however. In any case, it was a good ride.

Fat Tire Death Ride on tap for tomorrow, with a possible Syncline trip on Sunday. That would make for a pretty good week.

Garmin; back from the dead?

Taking Nick's advice, I tried hooking the Edge 305 to the charger one more time and just leaving it there for a few hours.

Bingo! It seems to be working again! I'll take it on the Yakima ride tonight to make sure all is as it should be. If so, then I will chalk this one up to operator error.

Thanks to Nick for the sound advice!

RIP Garmin Edge 305

My GPS died.

It has worked well since I took it out of the box. It worked great on Thursday, but the battery mysteriously died overnight between Saturday and Sunday. Now it won't turn on at all. It won't take a charge. It is dead.

I've got an RMA from Garmin. They were very cool over the phone. It was a gift, so I don't have a receipt, etc. I'll keep you posted.

Squeak squeak squeak...

...was the mystery sound emanating from someplace in the bottom bracket area of my road bike for the last 10 miles of my 65-mile ride today. Annoying, but even that (and the prospect of paying for a new bottom bracket) couldn't dampen my enthusiasm for today's ride.

I was up at 6 AM to be a Dylan's for a 7:30 ride start. This was my first road group ride with the Yakima Bike Vigilantes , so I didn't know quite what to expect. Lucky for me it turned out to be mostly a nice base-miles ride.

Although it was quite cold and foggy at the start, it ended up being a stellar day weather-wise with lots of sun and temps in the 50's. The route took us out to Multnomah Falls and back. This route has one significant climb in each direction. Long-time readers know I'm not a climber, but I was able to hold my own today. I think Dylan was taking it easy on me...

I somehow discharged the battery on my computer, so I don't have any ride details. I bet we were on the move for around 4 hours, but that is just a guess. One flat and my squeaky bike were the only mechanicals. Several shouts and gestures from passing trucks.

The most interesting moment of the day occurred while we were on the side of the road taking pictures. A fleet of eight recumbents rode by. I say 'fleet' mostly because they all had very brightly-colored fabric fairings, and when they turned around it looked like a racing regatta making the final turn! Cool stuff!

Full week of rides on tap. Some road, some mountain and who knows what else. I suspect a road race on Sunday, but that is TBD.

So, what did you do on Thursday?

Not much. 2:40 ride time, 5500 feet of climbing, 80% singletrack. All in the dark.

Top Speed? 30 MPH. In the dark. On Singletrack.

Did I mention that I (heart) Portland?

Global Update

In Michigan, cyclists are snared in the ice grip of Old Man Winter.

In Portland, the sun shines down and the air smells like flowers and other growing things.

In Arkansas, the goats and llamas are cowering in fear and a pile of empty Founder's bottles and growlers piles up outside a remote cabin.

Training for the season has gone in fits and starts. Not having a set of 200 and 300 mile races right from the get-go has allowed a bit of playfulness to creep into the spring base phase. Enough of that! With a 24-hour race over Memorial Day weekend, it's time to get down to business. A calendar was printed, notes were scrawled across it, and now it is time to start pushing pedals in earnest.

--
I've seen a vision of the future. Beneath and EZ-Up in Spokane, WA sit two bikes. They are the mirror image of each other. A rider walks toward the bikes; he is lean and ready. His entire demeanor is calm, but his eyes burn. He does not see the bikes; he only sees tools. He does not see the trail; he only sees the finish line. He does not taste the water; he thirsts only for a beer at the end of the final lap.

And his shorts are a bit too tight.
--

Modified ride schedule this week. Lots of road on the weekend. Full-on training program starts Monday. Stay tuned...

Luna

Went on the Yakima ride on Wednesday. Typical route, typical riders. Atypical weather and trail conditions; fairly warm temps and mostly dry trail. Also, riding the trail backwards was a new experience.

Got to the top of a certain hill just in time to watch the lunar eclipse. Several other folks were gathered at the top of this hill as well. We were even offered some champagne! The moon was a crazy orange color. It was a very interesting sight. Although I still felt some lingering issues from last weeks illness, it was a fun ride and I am looking forward to next week.

Out-of-town guest causes reduction in rides for the week. Out of town guest causes general increase in other good times. Not sure about weekend plans at this point; ride? Ski?

Decisions, decisions...

Road Racing? Ehhhh....

Did the Cherry Pie road race on Sunday. 52 Miles about 90 minutes south of PDX. The weather was amazing; bright sun and 60F degrees!

The race was two laps of a 25.5 mile loop. One climb at the start/finish line. The first lap was a snoozer. Very slow, with lots of grab-the-brake moments. One guy broke away and got a decent gap, but the field just sort of sat there.

It was a pretty big group; maybe 50-60 guys. We only had one lane to work with, so it was hard to move up. On the plus side, people were friendly and polite in the field. No uptight roadie 'hold your line' jabber.

After doing the start/finish climb on the first lap, the pace picked up a bit. The second lap seemed to go by faster, althought I don't think it did from an objective point of view. My plan was to get near the front with a couple of miles to go and make my best effort up the hill.

Well, that didn't work out so well. I could not get to the front; the traffic was just too tight, and I ride with safety and politness fist in mind. I guess that will have to change if I want to win; you need elbows to get to the front!

The final hill was really two hills, one after the other. I was mid-pack at the bottom of the first hill. The race split in two; I was at the front of the back half. I gave it everything I had, and caught on to the tail of the lead group as we started the second climb. I pretty much had nothing left, and just held on to the finish. I might be in the top 20, but I might now. I didn't wait around for results to post.

Overall, not a bad day. More like a training ride than a race. I'd think hard about doing another road race. Without a team, it seems hard to make anything happen. And let's face it, even in a Cat 4 field I'm not gonna tear the legs off anyone. At least in a crit, something is always happening...

That's about it. Full set of rides on tap this week, assuming I don't have a repeat of the stomach issue. Just another happy day in bike pardise...

What a crazy week...

So I went for a ride Wednesday with the yakima boys. Or at least a few of them. Anyway, as we were getting ready to head out I was stretching an had a weird cramp in the lower abdominal area. "That's funny..." I thought as we rode off into the night.

It was a good ride. I felt just slightly off; the hills were a bit harder than last time and I missed several switchbacks that I have been cleaning as of late. Anyway, a solid two hours of riding; good times! I went home, ate, and hit the sack.

I slept like crap; kept waking up for no apparent reason.

Woke up Thursday with the worst stomach cramps ever. I could hardly stand up straight. I had a full day of meetings and I needed to wear a suit and tie. Awsome! Nothing like a leather squeezing my gut and some silk trying to choke me to make the cramps even better.

I had to leave the first meeting early becuase I was so uncomfortable. I went back to my apartment and had a quick nap. I had no appatite, so no food for lunch. Went out for the second meeting; more of the same. The cramps were in full effect, and I was starting to get shaky and sweaty. Not good. I went straght home after that.

Got home around 3pm. Sat on couch, passed out cold until 7pm. Woke up, not hungary but had a bite of food, and right back to sleep untill 10PM. What the heck? Off to bed after that.

Slept like a baby all night. Woke up Friday with junior-sized cramps. Not bad if I didn't move around too much, but still painful to stand up straight and not much fun to walk around. I had meetings out of town that I cancled. Went in to the office for half a day. Back home, take it easy, and to bed on time. Me and WebMD were thinking appendicitis at this point.

Anyway, woke up today feeling much better. I was actually hungry! Still have very minor cramps/twinges, but otherwise feel ok. I went out for a short spin on the road bike, and finished work on converting the DDX to a fixie.

Tomorrow should be interesting: 52 miles of road racing. I didn't feel great on the bike today; hopefully tomorrow will be better. I don't have great expectations.

For the record; the legs are and will remain as hairy as the back end of a llama.

Look for a race report soon.

In Brief...

1. XC Skiing cancled; too warm on the mountain yeilds rain and avalance warning.

2. No trainer arrived in the truck. By new or harden up and ride in the dark?

3. North American Handmade Bicycle Show = Awsome! I didn't take pictures, not that it matters. Every blogger and magazine employee known to man took pictures. Suffice it to say that there were many nice frames at the show. And some weird shit, too. Like the $7000 MTB frame made out of kevlar/carbon fiber mesh.

I think I am going to add a dualthlon to the schedule. These guys host something called the Dirty Du; 5 mile run and 12 mile bike. What the heck? Might as well put all those Run Club miles to good use.

Sent Scott Q. an e-mail. It's about time to get specific on the second bike. I've got two 24's on the schedule for '08, and running one bike is risky...

Full ride schedule on tap for the week, including my first ever road race. I'm not talking about a crit or a circuit race, but an actual road race. Reports to follow.

Quick Little Update

It's been a slow couple of weeks on the bike. Lots of rides cancled, lots of bad weather.

The Wednesday ride was cancled this week. I did the Thursday ride last night. The weather was somewhat warm, maybe in the high 40's at start. We did the normal stuff up in Forrest Park. The ride up Leif was very fast; perhaps the fastest to date? Pretty fast, in any case.

Continental 29er Mountain King 2.4 tire review: This was my second ride on these tires. They were recommended as a great Oregon mud tire. I was running a Nevegal 2.4 up front and and a Karma 2.2 out back prior to the Conti's.

The tires performed as advertised; tons of grip in the mud. I ran them tubed at about 30 psi front and rear. They feel stiffer than the Kenda's, but were very confidence-inspiring in the high-speed turns on Leif. They held up to the mud on FL 5 very well. They were a little bouncy on the rocks, but I think they could be run at a slightly lower pressure and some of that would go away. Or, you know, I could put the Reba on and not worry about it! Also, they did not pack up with mud. Things were quite goopy on FL5 and I noticed no extraneous mud build-up.

Survey says: Pick up a pair! I think they would work at least as well as the Ignitor in Michigan, and I suspect they would make a fine Arkansas tire as well. I'm not sure about the weight, but I think they are lighter than the Kenda's noted above. And as a bonus I picked them up for $25 each.

Busy weekend. XC skiing Saturday AM, NAHBA Saturday PM, some sort of ride Sunday.

Oh, and my trainer should be here today. Be afraid. Be very afraid...