I've been a bad, bad blogger...

1. I still need to finish the UP Trip Report

2. I've been up to St. Helen's; that should be worth a report (Hint; I killed an I-9 wheel...)

3. I won a sprint at the 3/4 race at PIR (Yakima went 1-2-3!), and I got in a 2-man breakaway that nearly went the distance.

4. I got my ass handed to me at the Kruger Kermesse.

And there is some really interesting riding just around the corner. Starcross, the Gentleman's Race, more cross racing (and a new singlespeed cross bike!) to write about.

Portland: I (heart) U!!!!!

!Rock!

Yooper Loop Road Trip

After logging 170 miles at 24/9, I rested my legs, back and butt Sunday evening. Monday I was up early, transforming my steel quiring MTB into a road touring bike. This consisted of:

-removing Reba suspension fork, installing rigid carbon fork

-removing heavy dirt tires, installing 'flat proof' specialized armadillo 23/25c road tires

-installing a 44x15 gear ratio

That accomplished, it was time to get some rest and prepare for the first day on the road...

I was up early Tuesday as I wanted to get on the road and get the first day of travel under my belt. Right away, I noticed that I had over-estimated what I could cram into my Ergon BD1 pack and under-estimated what I would like to carry with me on the trip. I ended up leaving some things behind at the hotel in Wausau; two books, a few items of clothing, etc. Still, I headed out on the road with a very full pack with two bundles strapped to the outside.

I got about 7 miles down the road before things started to get interesting. The unmistakable sound of air escaping from my rear tire did not fill be with joy. I've had great luck with the specialized armadillo tires; prior to this ride they have never let me down. Anyway, I got off the bike and looked at the tire and tube--no visible problems. Oh, well. Just bad luck I guess.

Continued on down the road, until about mile 44. The unmistakable sound of air escaping from the rear tire was even less welcome this time around. Off the bike, dismount the tire and tube. Flip tire inside-out; still not visible problem. Super-close inspection of tube reveals no damage. Hmmm, this is not good. Review of repair supplies reveals one (1) spare tube remaining, three CO2 cartridges, and zero (0) pumps on hand. This could get interesting.

Mile 50 brings me to an interesting site; a gas station/county library/personal residence. I walk in and started talking to the station attendant/librarian/homeowner; did she have a tire pump that would fit a presta tube? (A pretzel tube?!? What's that?) How about a tire patch kit? (Yep, for a car tire...) Perhaps some CO2 cartridges? (You mean like for a BB gun? Sure, I've got a few right here...) I also picked up a bungee cord to strap some of the crap hanging off my pack to the handlebar instead.

Anyway, I headed off with not much more than 50 miles to go. The rest of the day passed without significant event. The roads were good, the weather was hot but not awful. I had no problems with dogs or irate drivers. My a$$ was a bit some, but my legs and back were doing just fine. I have to hand it to the people at Ergon; the BD1 was comfortable on my back all day long and that thing had to have 40-50 pounds of gear and water stuffed inside.

After reaching the hotel in Crivitz, WI I wandered over the the grocery store, bought some neosporin with pain reliever (a bit of ass chap in the works...), some beer and a magazine. Then next door to subway for a foot-long steak sub. Eat, drink, read, hit the sack. 104 miles down, 261 to go...

I know I owe you all some updates from my road trip, but since I got back to Portland I haven't been feeling my best; you know, aversion to light, craving for human brains, etc.

Also, it has been blasted hot here and that plays havoc with my compy. As soon as it cools down I'll post some updates.

Not *quite* what I had in mind...

Twelve laps. 7th place.

Some races, everything goes just like it should. See Spokane 24 for details. Sometimes things just don't go your way. This was one of those races.

I don't feel like getting down into the gritty details, but I had just about every kind of problem; mechanical, physical, psychological. None catastrophic alone, but together they were more than I wanted to deal with. And as always, I came away with a bunch of lessons learned. Here are a few:

-Flying to a 24 Hour race is a pain
-Heavy tires are great for 12 hours
-I9 wheels are too stiff for a 24-hour race
-a fork that is set too stiff isn't cool
-a fork that is blowing oil isn't cool
-you can never have a gear that is *too easy*

Oh, the list could go on. But I think that is enough for now.

Later this week, I'll share the story of the 450 miles I logged on the singlespeed in the week *after* 24/9.

Hint: It's a *much* happier story.

Tick Tock; Tick Tock

The watch keeps ticking.

The time of reckoning is drawing near.

Tick tock; tick tock...

Photo swiped from here.

Things that are awsome

1. 54mm carbon tubular wheels
2. Super-light tubular tires
3. Flying up the hills and on the flats.

Things that suck:

1. Flatting on tubulars.

Still here...

... still doing what I do.

Rode tabor last week. I was not a dominant force. Nick killed it, however, and won the race and the series. Good on ya, Nick!

Had a great ride out a Larch Mountain in Washington this weekend. Some crazy ups and even crazier downs. I'm talking about exposed, 300+ foot drops, flint-edged rocks over the edge, with dinner-plate sized loose rocks on the trail. At 20+ mph. My fancy I-9 wheels may never be the same...

As Paddy pointed out, I have strayed a bit from the singlespeed orthodoxy of the past few years. Don't get me wrong; I still turn to the single when I need to get the job done and I can't imaging doing a 24 on anything but a single. But for some of the straight-up fun rides out here on the left coast, a handful of gears and 3" of cushy suspension is just the ticket. And the team hooked me up with a pretty sweet deal on the Kona Hei-Hei 29er, so I couldn't say 'no'. All in all, I've been very happy with my purchase.

Sounds like some MTB and some road this weekend. The weather has taken a turn for the best out here, and I plan to make the most of it. Between rides, I'll finish prep work for 9 Mile. I have plans for that race. Big plans. Redemption plans.

Don't test me.

Just kidding.

But really; don't test me...

I may not be fast, but I sure look good...

Bikes...

...are for riding, so that's what I did yesterday.

Took the kona out for an easy ride with Nick and Dylan. "A couple of guys might show up on downhill rigs..." we were told. No sweat, I didn't want to go too fast today anyway.

Too bad it was Matt Slavin and the guy that got 4th at Cream Puff (in singlespeed) the week before. And a sprinkling of other fast dudes from Tonkin's MTB School and elsewhere. Ouch. 25 miles, 4 hours and about 5000 feet of climbing later, I was bushed. But I've just about got the suspension dialed on the kona.

The new road frame is nearly built up. Just need some h-bars and tape from my boy Jeff Palma. Mt. Tabor will be tamed!

Also need to make a few small adjustments to the Short Track Weapon. 8th Place was ok, but podium is better. Or at least top 5.

News Flash - I've got my eye on you...

1. I bought my airline ticket for 9 Mile today. The die has been cast.

2. I did an all-michigan MTB ride tonight. Me, Bernie, Jeff Palma, and Nate from the Hellriders. We rode Scapoose. Then we feasted on Mexican food. Good Times!

3. I broke down and ordered a cheap road frame to replace the Airborne that was cracked at the Mississippi Crit. Mt. Tabor must be Dominated!

Monday

Tried to race short track. 5 minutes late to start, but that didn't stop them from selling me an entry...

Anyway, the Quiring Ti is set up for the super-fast short stuff. Dirty, with 2 cages, a computer mount and an Ignitor on the front it is sitting at 19.4 pounds.

Oh, I likes me some Quiring... :)

Sunday

30 miles, 5000 feet of climbing, lots of vigilantes and non-vigilantes, only one flat and lots of laughter and good times.

About that whole leg-shaving thing...

Smooth as a baby's bottom!

Fuckow

1. Lost the roller thingy for the DD-X that allows it to run a front shifter. Can't put gears on that sucker without it.

2. Managed to bend the alloy hanger on the road frame back into shape. (Yes, I know that is not smart; read on, it doesn't matter...)

3. During cleaning of said road frame, noticed that the frame is *cracked* at the seat stay - seat tube junction!

4. Camera seems to be broken, so I can't even take picture of said frame in lame bid for sympathy.

This seems like a good time to get back to mountain biking...

Update

So nothing in my shoulder is broken. At least, I don't think so. I went for a MTB ride yesterday. It was a longish day, with about 25 miles and 4000 feet of climbing. The shoulder was sore, but I felt like I was riding pretty strong all day.

But it still hurts. And now the whole thing is developing what I'm sure will be a pretty dramatic bruise. When it gets good and colorful I'll take another picture.

Not sure what is on tap for this week. I wanted to get out and do Tabor again, but I don't think I'll have a road bike that is ready to go. I could put gears back on the DD-X, but I'm not sure I want to go that route. That bike has developed into a nice commuter. There is supposed to be a team ride starting up soon on Thursday evenings, but that would also require a road bike. We'll just have to see how things work out...

Hey Man, let's go race a crit...

...that sounds like fun!

Not!

I'm still here...

...and I'm still riding. Did a fun/hard ride on Sunday. Been doing some bike commuting. I'm off to do the Fat Tire ride in just a minute.

Some stuff from the last post sold, some is still lingering around. Let me know if you want any of it.

Big bike stuff this weekend. No time to post about it right now, but look for some stories in the near future...

Bunch o' stuff for sale...

The time has come to clean out the spare parts bin! This stuff is all going on craigslist/ebay/mtbr next week, so if you want something speak now or pay 20% more later...

Airborne ti frame, used/scuffed/ridden hard but still straight and serviceable. Rim brake only. $200

Boone ti chainring for White Industries ENO crank, used but very good condition; $65

Brand New ENO Cranks; 175mm, no chainring, never used: $140

Used Eno Cranks; 175mm, used and scuffed but still work great, includes used but servicable 34t chainring: $100

New Eno Chainring, 44t, mounted and chain installed but never pedaled, silver: $20

New Eno Chainring, 34t, silver: $20

New Eno Chainring, 32t, green, $20

Phil Wood ti BB, 124mm, +5mm offset, 2 installation tools, and 2 alloy english-threaded mounting rings (i.e. everything you need to install this sucker...) I installed it once but never pedaled with it. It is in brand-new condition. $125

FSA Carbon Pro Crank Arms (no rings), 175mm, ISIS splined, 110 BDC, used and scuffed but working fine: $50

Thomson Elite x4 stem, silver, 10 degree x 130mm, used with a few cosmetic scrapes but fully-functional: $40

Thomson Elite x2 stem, black, 17 degree x 130mm, used with one small scratch (10mm) otherwise like new: $50

29er Wheelset; shimano 535 hubs laced Sun Equilizer rims. Six-bolt disk only, no rim brake. With cassette, skewers, and Maxis Ignitor tires installed. These are brand-new take-off wheels from a Kona Hei-Hei 29er; they still have that little plastic thing behind the cassette. Heavy, but good for winter/back-up use. $100. I really don't want to ship these...

I think that's it. If you think I'm off-base on a price, let me know and we can work something out. You pay whatever actual shipping cost turns out to be. I have pictures of most of this stuff that I will send on request.

Buy this stuff and help fund the rest of my season! :)

(Mostly) Recovery Week

Has it really been a week since the 24-hr race? I guess so...

Didn't ride at all until Thursday. Since the car is in the shop, I commuted to work (10 miles) and road the Fat Tire Farm ride (25+ miles). That was enough. Rode to work on Friday but otherwise chilled.

Saturday was the Team Time Trail. I'd never done a TTT before; I'd never done a road TT before, for that matter. Although the results were not stellar, a good time was had by all. I think it worked out to be about 25 mph average for 1:07 or so. Not shabby for a bunch of cat4/cat5 TT rookies.

Getting back into the swing of things this week. Maybe some PIR, maybe some Mt. Tabor; it's hard to say at this point. If the weather is good, who knows what might happen?