Quick Update

Built up the new Ti Quiring frame last night. Did a 4-hour shake-down cruise today in Forrest Park. Verdict? Awesome with a side order of Perfection! The steel bike is great, but it is nice to be back on ti. I had a vision for this bike all the way back in '06 when I ordered the steel bike from Scott. After many twists and turns, I have what I think is the ultimate set of bikes for single speed endurance racing. Pictures to follow shortly, both of the new bike and of the two bikes together.

Man, I really like these bikes. Thanks, Scott Quiring!

In other news, I think I have most of the bugs worked out of the road bike as well. I think it will get a shakedown on Monday and maybe a trip out to PIR to mix it up in the 4/5 race on Tuesday.

Ruminations and Revelations

So, I've been reflecting on Sea Otter. Here are a couple of thoughts:

1. Short Track - I am not a short track kind of guy. Go super-hard from a dead stop on a tiny course. Sort of like cross without the barriers and mud. Or cool atmospher or beer. The race was over before I got warmed up.

But the cool thing about this race is that I got to ride a Pivot FS bike. Now, you know me; I'm not a FS or geared kind of guy. But this trip was about trying new things, and this race was an opportunity to do just that. The bike was awesome! It handled the course with ease, and although I didn't lock anything out it didn't feel like riding a sick water Buffalo. I'm kind of bummed that I didn't get a chance to ride this bike out on the XC course. I was offered the opportunity, but declined in favor of a plate of pad thai.

2. Road Circuit Race - I have to admit that I was surprised to do so poorly in this race. I'm no road racing stud, but I've won Cat 5 races before. More than once. So to get dropped at the start just didn't seem right. I was dealing with a stomach issue, not enough sleep, etc. But still; dropped from a Cat 5 race? It just didn't seem right.

So I was looking at the road bike this afternoon. I noticed that the new Rival crank I had installed just before leaving for Sea Otter was tight. Very tight. Like, I had a hard time turning it. I almost did a post before I left about how I greatly favor the Shimano method of attaching cranks as opposed to the Sram method. The pinch bolts (or whatever they are called) on the Shimano stuff is idiot-proof. Apparently, the Sram stuff is not. I loosened the bolt on the non-drive crank arm and what do you know? Now the crank spins... I know, I know; excuses are like ass-holes. Nevertheless, this makes me feel at least a little bit better.

So make of that what you will. It was still a good trip; the stories I heard on the way down and back were worth the price of admission. But some better results should be on the horizon soon. That will be fun, too.

All sorts of update...

New bike on the way.

New team kit on the way.

I can't race Expert XC (39 of 43) Short Track (lapped and pulled) or Cat 5 Road Circuit Road Race (lapped and pulled) to save my bacon.

But I still like bacon.

Overall, the trip to Sea Otter was a good one despite the poor results. I had some sort of stomach issue that kept me from eating right, and the 13+ hour drive on Thursday didn't help. But let's face it; short races are not my thing. I was feeling pretty good 2 hours into the XC race; that is not how those races are won.

I got to stay with the Yakima Bike Vigilantes, with whom I will be riding this season. They are a great bunch of guys, and I think this will be a fun year no matter what results get put up.

Looking forward to getting the new bike built up and ready for Spokane. Not sure about goals for that race yet. Stay tuned for pictures and stories...

Off to Sea Otter!

I leave for Sea Otter tomorrow. I'll be traveling with the Yakima Bike Vigilantes. Should be a good time. Jason will be there as well. Good times will be had by all.

Perhaps some pictures will be taken. We'll see.

Good news should just be flowing off this page over the next few weeks. A bike here, a bike there. Some new kit. All capped off by the best support crew ever coming out of retirement for the Spokane 24hr race over Memorial Day.

Mmmmm, the sweet, sweet smell of victory. It's in the air; can you smell it?

I can.

It's Saturday, that means...

...time to ride bikes! 111 miles on the singled-out DD-X. 6:15 moving time. Not bad; I would have done the sub-5 hour hundy but I got bit by the headwind. Oh, and that one hill in the middle of the ride. The graph makes it look more dramatic than it really is, being that it's only 600 feet or so. The rest of the ride was dead flat.

The weather here went from crap to awesome in one day. It was sunny and in the 80's here today; there were so many people in the park by the river that I thought maybe there was an anti-war protest going on or something. It was just about standing room only in there. I went through five water bottles on my ride, and I now sport tan lines.

Only one other noteworthy ride this past week. As mentioned before, Eric Tonkin puts on a ride on Wednesdays called "Mountain Bike School". He ought to call it "Mountain Bike Catholic School" because when I finish it I feel like I've been worked over by a pack of sadistic nuns with weighted rulers. I've come out of that ride with fresh bruised both times I've done it. The ride isn't long at under 90 minutes, but it is full-on hammering from the word go. When my eyes aren't bleeding from the climbs, my shins are bleeding from the high-speed get-offs on the descents. In other words, it's mountain biking! I love it.

Easy week coming up, until Thursday when I drive down to Sea Otter and do three races in three days. Not looking for any great results, but I do plan to have a good time.

What to eat? How to ride?

How I chow...

How I roll...

Funny how I look just as happy doing one as the other!

By the way, the name of that dish? "ManCakes"; I kid you not. If you eat three, they put your picture up on the wall. Someone suggested that this post should have been titled "Eat Joe Eat!"

Bottom picture credit to Dave Roth. More of Dave's pictures can be found here.

So, what'd you do on Saturday?

Me, I did 45 miles and 8700 feet of climbing in just under 4 hours, according to Dr. Garmin. Used the road bike with a 39x25 small gear. Walked a very small portion of one climb, and cleaned all the rest. Had to make use of my 40-rpm singlespeed training. This ride put the hurt on my pretty good. Did I mention it was in the mid-40's? Or that it rained for the last 90 minutes? Well, it did.

I skipped the XC MTB race today. The legs just weren't feeling it.

More interesting news to follow later this week...

On your left...

I did my first duathlon on Sunday. The format was run-bike, the distances were 6 miles and 15 miles. "That's not too bad..." I thought to myself as I registered.

Ha!

The run was a 'Trail Run', except about a quarter of the time there was no trail. I was simply running through the woods like a deer. Or maybe more like a hippo, or a llama. Down super slick slopes, up ravines, through brambles; it was a pretty intense course. Although difficult, this course slowed down the faster runners, allowing me to get to the bike section in the top 20. The six miles took me about 57 minutes.

I was quite pleased when I got to the bike section. I could see that there were still quite a few bikes left on the rack, and I knew that I had the right bike (single speed) and the right experience (lots of time riding in mud...) to do well on the course. I started passing other riders right away. It was very hard riding, since the course was mostly covered in slick mud and had several deep bogs. Some sections were quite rutted and others had puddles of unknown depth. Taken together, the bike course was challenging but well-suited to my bike, setup, and riding style.

In the end, I was the 5th person across the line out of 56 starters and 47 finishers. As luck would have it, I was second singlespeed. The guy who won the overall was on a Gary Fisher Rig. Two out of the top 5 on 29er singlespeeds...at a duathlon! Gotta love it.

Results: http://www.xdogevents.com/Assets/Results/DIRTYEVENTS08.HTM

Pictures from the event to follow. They took a ton of pictures; should be interesting. The bike is trashed, as you would expect from a mud fest.

Riding this week on Wednesday and Thursday. First XC race of the season on Sunday. Did somebody just cry "Havoc!"...

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.