Here's a link to a clip from Porky Gulch this year, thank you to Chris Proulx at RSN for putting this up for us: Vid Clip
A1 is thinking of fun gravel grind race- so stay tuned for that. Most likely it'll be A1, JJ, and myself but maybe we can talk a few others into joining into the mayhem!
That's it for now.
DEA
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Night Gulf Ride
So we did what DEA wanted. I missed the Gulf Road ride on Sunday so I was conned into doing the ride last night. Apparently A1 didn't want to do it again as he bagged out on us. DEA and I headed out at 9ish and rode for about an hour. Not sure if we did it faster than they did it in the daylight, but DEA and I kept a pretty good pace, at least for me anyhow. It was a good ride. Here's the numbers from the Garmin Edge 305:
Time: 55:08 mins
Distance: 10.85 mi
Ave. Speed: 11.8 mph
Elev. gain: 1,523 feet
JJ
Monday, November 27, 2006
Turkey ride
A1 and I got out for a good loop on Sunday that had both of us flashing back to the various times during the Jay race. We weren't out there that long, just over an hour, but I took him up Gulf Road which is a gravel road that just climbs and climbs for a couple of miles. It's not that a couple of miles is a really long climb- around here you can find lots of climbs that are five miles or more long, it was the way this climbed- steep and false horizon lines that you would get to only to see another huge pitch. But it was worth it, the view from the top is one of the best in the Valley- looking down on Conway Lake, the Rockpile is right there, the Moats, and every other mountain you can think of. Good ride. We then cruised down and connected into Poter Road and both were amazed at the old farms and amazing stone walls out off the beaten path. Beautiful country out there and only a few minutes from the craziness of North Conway.
Now let's do that same loop in the dark!
DEA
Now let's do that same loop in the dark!
DEA
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Almost like riding the North/South Road
So yes, I'm seriously considering the Jay Winter race. So I check out www.icebike.org and sign up for their email newsletter/forum. Can't say I'm a huge fan of it as you get emailed all the strings in the forum. But at least the image here was sent in. Good times, not sure I'd be riding my bike past this guys house. Maybe he is related to the guy who wanted JJ as a hood ornament.
A1
Yawn
Not much of cycling excitement has been going on. A1 is all fired up to race the new winter Jay race: oh winter joy
I'm thinking I'll stick with racing my XC skis during February. Not that racing on snowmobile trails wouldn't be fun, but it might not be fun, in fact it might really suck. Besides that very same day there is an all day XC ski race taking place at JSTF.
This week the world has been a bit better aligned as I've been able to start commuting by bike again, which makes me happy. The temps are starting to get there, this morning it was in the 30's, but no ice on the road. No need to pull out the studded tires as of yet- but soon.
That Cross race that I was talking about in Portland has been cancelled- oh well. So the racing season might really be over- bummer. Hopefully we'll get in a good couple of rides this weekend. Reading Kerkove's blog makes me think that it's time to come up with a winter training gameplan. I think this year (2007) I should have a training plan, I was a little bummed how much riding I'd done and how it never resulted in speed- so that's the goal- keep the endurance where it's at or even better and then crank up the speed. I've even chatted with a buddy of mine who is a coach and uses a Powertap for himself and that has gotten me to think about power numbers. That new iBike might be the trick- but who the heck knows!
There had been a conversation about going and racing Trans Rockies with my buddy Ward, which could have been rather entertaining. Who knows it could still happen but we would need to get finacial support and the race is just about sold out- so I'm not banking on it. Besides it would have meant that I would miss the 24 hour race this upcoming year, which we had been planning on all racing as solos. Only time will tell.
In the mean time I've been trying to be Builder Bob
and blowing out the space above my current home office/playroom. In reality I've been kicked out of my space so I had to go find a new place to put my computer. It's amazing the power a 7 year old and 3 year old can have!
Turkey Day is just a short 48 hours away!
Get out and ride.
DEA
I'm thinking I'll stick with racing my XC skis during February. Not that racing on snowmobile trails wouldn't be fun, but it might not be fun, in fact it might really suck. Besides that very same day there is an all day XC ski race taking place at JSTF.
This week the world has been a bit better aligned as I've been able to start commuting by bike again, which makes me happy. The temps are starting to get there, this morning it was in the 30's, but no ice on the road. No need to pull out the studded tires as of yet- but soon.
That Cross race that I was talking about in Portland has been cancelled- oh well. So the racing season might really be over- bummer. Hopefully we'll get in a good couple of rides this weekend. Reading Kerkove's blog makes me think that it's time to come up with a winter training gameplan. I think this year (2007) I should have a training plan, I was a little bummed how much riding I'd done and how it never resulted in speed- so that's the goal- keep the endurance where it's at or even better and then crank up the speed. I've even chatted with a buddy of mine who is a coach and uses a Powertap for himself and that has gotten me to think about power numbers. That new iBike might be the trick- but who the heck knows!
There had been a conversation about going and racing Trans Rockies with my buddy Ward, which could have been rather entertaining. Who knows it could still happen but we would need to get finacial support and the race is just about sold out- so I'm not banking on it. Besides it would have meant that I would miss the 24 hour race this upcoming year, which we had been planning on all racing as solos. Only time will tell.
In the mean time I've been trying to be Builder Bob
and blowing out the space above my current home office/playroom. In reality I've been kicked out of my space so I had to go find a new place to put my computer. It's amazing the power a 7 year old and 3 year old can have!Turkey Day is just a short 48 hours away!
Get out and ride.
DEA
Friday, November 17, 2006
November
It's been a pretty low key week in terms of riding. For the past two weeks I haven't been able to commute to work by bike as I've had to take my oldest to school each day and the time frame then isn't condusive to the ride- which has been a bummer. I've seen Peter out every night on my way home from work with his crazy lowrider light system- I've got to find out what that thing is!
Aside from not commuting it has also been raining all week- not a little bit of rain but a lot of rain. Not sure what my point is about the rain but I'm ready for it to stop. I'd love to think what this would be like if it were all snow, but last night it was almost 70 degrees out- so snow is a ways off!
JJ and I did get in a night ride the other night (wed) but haven't pulled another one off- so slug season is officially here.
There was a bit of excitement when Ward and I started to talk about racing Trans Rockies as a team, but the expense may put it out of reach, well that and the fact that if we don't register soon then we may miss out. I'm thinking we could call ourselves something like- a pro and an average joe. Yeah I've only had a half cup of coffee and it's not even 8am so I'm sure I'll read that later and just shake my head.
Hopefully TWAF will get out for a ride this weekend. It'll have to be around construction projects at my house but I'm sure we'll make something work. Still looking for details on the CX race on the Eastern Prom in Portland, I found the directors email but so far no response. I'll keep you posted.
Get out and ride.
DEA
Aside from not commuting it has also been raining all week- not a little bit of rain but a lot of rain. Not sure what my point is about the rain but I'm ready for it to stop. I'd love to think what this would be like if it were all snow, but last night it was almost 70 degrees out- so snow is a ways off!
JJ and I did get in a night ride the other night (wed) but haven't pulled another one off- so slug season is officially here.
There was a bit of excitement when Ward and I started to talk about racing Trans Rockies as a team, but the expense may put it out of reach, well that and the fact that if we don't register soon then we may miss out. I'm thinking we could call ourselves something like- a pro and an average joe. Yeah I've only had a half cup of coffee and it's not even 8am so I'm sure I'll read that later and just shake my head.
Hopefully TWAF will get out for a ride this weekend. It'll have to be around construction projects at my house but I'm sure we'll make something work. Still looking for details on the CX race on the Eastern Prom in Portland, I found the directors email but so far no response. I'll keep you posted.
Get out and ride.
DEA
Monday, November 13, 2006
Final Race of the GGTOC CX Series
How's that for alphebet soup? Yesterday was race four of the Great Glen Cross Series, it was fun and the weather held off making for a pretty good day.
I woke up and descided that I'd take Tom G's advice and swap up my break levers on my cross bike- of course his complete advice was to do that to all my bikes so I'd never get confussed but I only had a bit of time so I just stuck to working on the Kona. I had toyed with making the switch on the Surly but Saturday night didn't pan out and I never went down to work on bikes. I'd put a longer stem on the Kona and had descided to ride that and see if gears would help me go faster- so that was the bike that was getting the reversal.
Everthing was going fine untill I went to re-run the rear cable through the housing- it had started to fray and I didn't have enough extra to cut it and still make it through- so I chucked it and looked around for another piece of cable. I found plenty that would have worked for the front but nothing that wasn't already on a bike for the rear- however I did find a piece of deraileur cable so I figured I'd give that a shot. Now I know deraileur cable is much thinner and stretchier then a brake cable- but how much of a difference can their be!
So the bike was ready to go and I got the car all loaded up and we headed on up. We park and the girls head in and I'm unloaded the bikes and getting ready to go out and warm up. Some crazy dude comes over and tells me he's a friend of Huubs from Craft, he tests thier product and that he was going to do security for tyler and floyd- but that fell through with thier suspensions so it's a good thing that he kept his job as a cop- OK. this dude was nuts, a good nuts, but nuts none the less- so if you're ever pulled over in Marblehead by a crazed guy just tell him Craft stuff rules and maybe he'll let you off.
By the time he let me get back to getting ready I had about 20 minutes to warm up. So far things weren't going according to plan- but that's just fine. I get the surly down to the pit and head out to warm up. The break switch doesn't take long to get used to and makes a HUGE difference heading in the barriers. What I do notice but don't seem to think much of is that by the end of warm up lap two there doesn't seem to be too much rear brake left. Not sure why this didn't register with me as at that point I had enought time to go and pull a bit more cable- oh well.
To the start line and Mark and I chat a bit, Carl looks a bit hung over, Steve looks like he's ready to rip everyone apart, Craig looks bored, Dan- well Dan's just Dan and the dude just keeps getting faster, and Nate looked serious. Amy said go and we heading towards the first pitch. I rode second wheel for a bit had a good run through the barriers and was feeling pretty good on lap one, lap two I realized I was having a tough time slowing down for the hard transition that was getting mucked up and that if you screwed it up you were going to hit the pavement pretty hard, hmmm brake issues already? Roll into the first barrier and the brake lever is on the bar and I slide out almost going down- but I manage to stay upright and get through the barriers pretty well. At this point I'm still in front of Dan but behind Carl, Craig, and Nate. Nothing exciting for the most of the rest of that lap except on the climb up the practice slope Steve goes by me like I'm sitting still (was I?) and he starts moving up to catch Carl and Nate with Craig having a bit of a gap. At this point it's Dan, Mark and I having out own little battle. The next lap Dan goes by me and I can't respond so now it's just Marc and I. I've got a bit of a gap on Mark but manage to deck it on the run up on the North side of the tunnel. Mike Larecy is there and he's yelling for me to pick my carcuss up off the grass and get going- I do but my rear wheel isn't spinning. I assume I've knocked it out of the dropouts but after resetting the wheel still nothing, Marc goes by and now I'm getting frustrated. I see that the cablehousing is stuck on the guide and I pop it back and I'm in business. I chase and catch Marc just as we go into the barriers where I drop a chain and jam it. Off the bike yanking on the chain and then off and running. I catch Marc again and yell for him to get on my wheel as I can now see Steve has taken the lead and is only 30 seconds or so from catching and lapping us. So I drag Marc around to the bell lap, making sure Steve doesn't get the catch. Marc and I pretty much take it easy until the final climb where I give it a bit of gas and open up a gap to the finish. A good and fun battle. Hopefully next year we'll see a few more riders out there on course!
In front of Dan, this didn't last long!
Rumor has it that there is cross race that either PVC or Gorham is putting on sometime in early December in Portland. I'll post a link once I know more.
On other fronts we have a new dog to add to the mix- Jake. He's a yellow lab mix who is still a puppy but hopefully will end up being a good trail dog for both Karen and I. Molly is coping well- hasn't tried to eat him yet!
Night ride tonight?
DEA
I woke up and descided that I'd take Tom G's advice and swap up my break levers on my cross bike- of course his complete advice was to do that to all my bikes so I'd never get confussed but I only had a bit of time so I just stuck to working on the Kona. I had toyed with making the switch on the Surly but Saturday night didn't pan out and I never went down to work on bikes. I'd put a longer stem on the Kona and had descided to ride that and see if gears would help me go faster- so that was the bike that was getting the reversal.
Everthing was going fine untill I went to re-run the rear cable through the housing- it had started to fray and I didn't have enough extra to cut it and still make it through- so I chucked it and looked around for another piece of cable. I found plenty that would have worked for the front but nothing that wasn't already on a bike for the rear- however I did find a piece of deraileur cable so I figured I'd give that a shot. Now I know deraileur cable is much thinner and stretchier then a brake cable- but how much of a difference can their be!
So the bike was ready to go and I got the car all loaded up and we headed on up. We park and the girls head in and I'm unloaded the bikes and getting ready to go out and warm up. Some crazy dude comes over and tells me he's a friend of Huubs from Craft, he tests thier product and that he was going to do security for tyler and floyd- but that fell through with thier suspensions so it's a good thing that he kept his job as a cop- OK. this dude was nuts, a good nuts, but nuts none the less- so if you're ever pulled over in Marblehead by a crazed guy just tell him Craft stuff rules and maybe he'll let you off.
By the time he let me get back to getting ready I had about 20 minutes to warm up. So far things weren't going according to plan- but that's just fine. I get the surly down to the pit and head out to warm up. The break switch doesn't take long to get used to and makes a HUGE difference heading in the barriers. What I do notice but don't seem to think much of is that by the end of warm up lap two there doesn't seem to be too much rear brake left. Not sure why this didn't register with me as at that point I had enought time to go and pull a bit more cable- oh well.
To the start line and Mark and I chat a bit, Carl looks a bit hung over, Steve looks like he's ready to rip everyone apart, Craig looks bored, Dan- well Dan's just Dan and the dude just keeps getting faster, and Nate looked serious. Amy said go and we heading towards the first pitch. I rode second wheel for a bit had a good run through the barriers and was feeling pretty good on lap one, lap two I realized I was having a tough time slowing down for the hard transition that was getting mucked up and that if you screwed it up you were going to hit the pavement pretty hard, hmmm brake issues already? Roll into the first barrier and the brake lever is on the bar and I slide out almost going down- but I manage to stay upright and get through the barriers pretty well. At this point I'm still in front of Dan but behind Carl, Craig, and Nate. Nothing exciting for the most of the rest of that lap except on the climb up the practice slope Steve goes by me like I'm sitting still (was I?) and he starts moving up to catch Carl and Nate with Craig having a bit of a gap. At this point it's Dan, Mark and I having out own little battle. The next lap Dan goes by me and I can't respond so now it's just Marc and I. I've got a bit of a gap on Mark but manage to deck it on the run up on the North side of the tunnel. Mike Larecy is there and he's yelling for me to pick my carcuss up off the grass and get going- I do but my rear wheel isn't spinning. I assume I've knocked it out of the dropouts but after resetting the wheel still nothing, Marc goes by and now I'm getting frustrated. I see that the cablehousing is stuck on the guide and I pop it back and I'm in business. I chase and catch Marc just as we go into the barriers where I drop a chain and jam it. Off the bike yanking on the chain and then off and running. I catch Marc again and yell for him to get on my wheel as I can now see Steve has taken the lead and is only 30 seconds or so from catching and lapping us. So I drag Marc around to the bell lap, making sure Steve doesn't get the catch. Marc and I pretty much take it easy until the final climb where I give it a bit of gas and open up a gap to the finish. A good and fun battle. Hopefully next year we'll see a few more riders out there on course!
In front of Dan, this didn't last long!Rumor has it that there is cross race that either PVC or Gorham is putting on sometime in early December in Portland. I'll post a link once I know more.
On other fronts we have a new dog to add to the mix- Jake. He's a yellow lab mix who is still a puppy but hopefully will end up being a good trail dog for both Karen and I. Molly is coping well- hasn't tried to eat him yet!
Night ride tonight?
DEA
Thursday, November 09, 2006
The Weekend is Coming
It's about 70 degrees outside and beautiful. I just went for a run and it actually felt good, better then I did riding rollers last night. It's been a couple days since I've been riding my bike outside, and I'm getting a bit ansy. This weekend, Sunday to be exact, will be the last CX race of the series up at Great Glen. It's been a fun season up there and I hope that we see more racers participate next year. I'm going to guess we will as a number of folks have now seen CX and seem fired up to give it a try.
After that I'm not sure what the game plan will be. I've pretty much called it a season in my mind, not for a lack of desire, but more for the simple reason that my wife and kids wouldn't mind me home for a complete weekend. If a good race pops up that's not to far away I'll see if we can make it go.
Onto other topics. Basso do Disco? Hmmmmm. Wonder where Tyler and Jan are going to end up signing. Here's an interesting take on WADA from NBA commissioner David Stern:
NBA vs WADA
I wish cycling had somebody that stood up for the riders like this. Forever this period of time in cycling will have a big question mark over it, and it's too damn bad.
Time to grab some food. Who's up for a night ride?
DEA
After that I'm not sure what the game plan will be. I've pretty much called it a season in my mind, not for a lack of desire, but more for the simple reason that my wife and kids wouldn't mind me home for a complete weekend. If a good race pops up that's not to far away I'll see if we can make it go.
Onto other topics. Basso do Disco? Hmmmmm. Wonder where Tyler and Jan are going to end up signing. Here's an interesting take on WADA from NBA commissioner David Stern:
NBA vs WADA
I wish cycling had somebody that stood up for the riders like this. Forever this period of time in cycling will have a big question mark over it, and it's too damn bad.
Time to grab some food. Who's up for a night ride?
DEA
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
A case of the Monday's
My legs are shot. The Rockpile Rampage portion of Porky Gulch was yesterday and it cleaned me out. I felt ok for the first half hour and then my back started to lock up and I plum ran out of gas. Oh well. It was fun anyway and I'll be back next year.
Today I'm dragging and nothing seems to be working for me at work. My word docs won't print, the PDF files are SLOW and I managed to jam up the copier about three times while scrambling to get out the door to a meeting. LOL- I'm glad it's only another few days till the weekend!
Kudos to Tom Gosslin for riding super strong at PG, I met him a few years ago at the original Rockpile Rampage- now he rides for IF and is a hell of a nice guy.
Ward and Rebecca raced down at Verge this weekend with Rebecca placing third on Saturday and second on Sunday. According to Ward she took a major digger on Sunday and Ward was getting ready to run onto the course to drag her to the hospital when she jumped up and yelled at him to get to the pit for a bike exchange- she ripped through the field and was closing in on the win but just ran out of course. I wonder what that's like to be chasing for the real deal win in the elite class. Ward rode ok on Saturday, but Sunday had back issues. I still think he needs to look at back replacements.
I hope to have a few pics from PG, my folks were there helping with timing and when Dad wasn't timing he was shooting. Plus I saw Howie shooting all over the place so I hope to see something cool.
One more local cross race on Sunday, then it may be time to call it a racing season. Let's get the xc skis out for racing purposes.
DEA
Today I'm dragging and nothing seems to be working for me at work. My word docs won't print, the PDF files are SLOW and I managed to jam up the copier about three times while scrambling to get out the door to a meeting. LOL- I'm glad it's only another few days till the weekend!
Kudos to Tom Gosslin for riding super strong at PG, I met him a few years ago at the original Rockpile Rampage- now he rides for IF and is a hell of a nice guy.
Ward and Rebecca raced down at Verge this weekend with Rebecca placing third on Saturday and second on Sunday. According to Ward she took a major digger on Sunday and Ward was getting ready to run onto the course to drag her to the hospital when she jumped up and yelled at him to get to the pit for a bike exchange- she ripped through the field and was closing in on the win but just ran out of course. I wonder what that's like to be chasing for the real deal win in the elite class. Ward rode ok on Saturday, but Sunday had back issues. I still think he needs to look at back replacements.
I hope to have a few pics from PG, my folks were there helping with timing and when Dad wasn't timing he was shooting. Plus I saw Howie shooting all over the place so I hope to see something cool.
One more local cross race on Sunday, then it may be time to call it a racing season. Let's get the xc skis out for racing purposes.
DEA
Saturday, November 04, 2006
day one done
This morning the Toughest Two got rolled back to the toughest one and a half. But no matter how short you make it it's still painful cuz the mount washington auto road is STEEP!
They had to shorted the stage due to snow on the road. Up to about 1.25 miles up the road the pavement was nice and clean- but then the snow started to creep onto the course. Traction was never really and issue, but I was a bit nervous about what the trip down would be like- but my worries were for not as the finish line was shortly after the snow line.
I had planned to grab JJ's cassette that has a 26T on it, but I had planned to run the cross bike in the hill climb and then it would be moot. Well I was feeling rugged and ran my road bike with my standard gearing- the low being 39x23. It actually wasn't too bad. The 26T would have been nice, and I think next year that will be the way I go.
I have no idea what my time was or how I did, maybe that will get posted later tonight. Of course the highlight of the day was the Crit down in Storyland. Roughly 27 real corners and a few other sweepers that you could pedal through- all in a lap that takes about 3.5 minutes! Pretty crazy, gas on, brake, sprint, break, sprint, break, hold the corner- argh! It's the toughest 45 minutes of my year- I think it's harder then the CX races because you are ALWAYS accelerating. The course ran the opposite way as last year- so we rode up the polar coaster side of the hill- and yes that stung each lap. I had a rough start and worked my way up through the field, finally sitting in the front third to front quarter of the race (I think) I had hooked on with a group of four that were riding good tempo. Actually the guy on the front was, nobody else (self include) was doing squat. At one point the guy in front of me let a gap open and within a lap we had some work to do. I went to the front and we closed it down. In the park the three of them were killing me in the corners (I used to think I could corner a road bike- guess not!) but I could get a bit of a gap on the long straight into the headwind. So on the bell lap I attacked from the back and opened up enough of a gap that they had to work really hard to catch on and that pretty much gave me what I needed to finish ahead of them. It may have been that I was the only one who was looking at it like I was racing for a win- but we couldn't see anyone else ahead of us (there were plenty) so for me it was like a mini win.
My legs are now cooked, hopefully I can recover for tomorrow and we'll see who I have to mark (if I'm in a good position in points) and let it rip. Tomorrow I may go back to the SS as that seems to work a touch better for me- but we'll see.
Time for food then sleep.
DEA
They had to shorted the stage due to snow on the road. Up to about 1.25 miles up the road the pavement was nice and clean- but then the snow started to creep onto the course. Traction was never really and issue, but I was a bit nervous about what the trip down would be like- but my worries were for not as the finish line was shortly after the snow line.
I had planned to grab JJ's cassette that has a 26T on it, but I had planned to run the cross bike in the hill climb and then it would be moot. Well I was feeling rugged and ran my road bike with my standard gearing- the low being 39x23. It actually wasn't too bad. The 26T would have been nice, and I think next year that will be the way I go.
I have no idea what my time was or how I did, maybe that will get posted later tonight. Of course the highlight of the day was the Crit down in Storyland. Roughly 27 real corners and a few other sweepers that you could pedal through- all in a lap that takes about 3.5 minutes! Pretty crazy, gas on, brake, sprint, break, sprint, break, hold the corner- argh! It's the toughest 45 minutes of my year- I think it's harder then the CX races because you are ALWAYS accelerating. The course ran the opposite way as last year- so we rode up the polar coaster side of the hill- and yes that stung each lap. I had a rough start and worked my way up through the field, finally sitting in the front third to front quarter of the race (I think) I had hooked on with a group of four that were riding good tempo. Actually the guy on the front was, nobody else (self include) was doing squat. At one point the guy in front of me let a gap open and within a lap we had some work to do. I went to the front and we closed it down. In the park the three of them were killing me in the corners (I used to think I could corner a road bike- guess not!) but I could get a bit of a gap on the long straight into the headwind. So on the bell lap I attacked from the back and opened up enough of a gap that they had to work really hard to catch on and that pretty much gave me what I needed to finish ahead of them. It may have been that I was the only one who was looking at it like I was racing for a win- but we couldn't see anyone else ahead of us (there were plenty) so for me it was like a mini win.
My legs are now cooked, hopefully I can recover for tomorrow and we'll see who I have to mark (if I'm in a good position in points) and let it rip. Tomorrow I may go back to the SS as that seems to work a touch better for me- but we'll see.
Time for food then sleep.
DEA
Friday, November 03, 2006
Final big race
Porky Gulch starts tomorrow morning, my final major bike race of the season. Rumor has it that they are PLOWING the lowers section of the Auto Road- yikes! So it'll be a last minute decision on what bike to run.
Also a new race to consider (I'd love to ride) Seven Bike Race
Well that's it for now. Gotta change out my rear tire before the ride home.
DEA
Also a new race to consider (I'd love to ride) Seven Bike Race
Well that's it for now. Gotta change out my rear tire before the ride home.
DEA
it's not just about biking...
IT'S THE RETURN OF KOREA NOT-SO-SLIM!
well, it's been two months since i've been in the saddle (and to the mailbox for some reason), but it hasn't been completely uneventful: i've been busy falling for an amazing gal, playing some not-so-amazing rugby and generally licking my chops for the upcoming ski season. i even bought a cell phone!
what's been on my mind, however, is the diligence of one Dr. Asspistol Sphincter, AKA Dr. Evil Ass-sphincter, AKA the svenster. virtually every day, i see one of his steeds sitting in the office, sometimes muddy, sometimes dripping from the rain, but always ticking down from a morning ride into work, never mind the weather. call the boy jelly, cuz he been on a roll!
i know that A1 and JJ have been keeping on their bikes as well, but i just have had other priorities at the moment... but that won't last forever, you see, i just saw JJ's pics from the disposable from jay and i'm getting excited...
nK
well, it's been two months since i've been in the saddle (and to the mailbox for some reason), but it hasn't been completely uneventful: i've been busy falling for an amazing gal, playing some not-so-amazing rugby and generally licking my chops for the upcoming ski season. i even bought a cell phone!
what's been on my mind, however, is the diligence of one Dr. Asspistol Sphincter, AKA Dr. Evil Ass-sphincter, AKA the svenster. virtually every day, i see one of his steeds sitting in the office, sometimes muddy, sometimes dripping from the rain, but always ticking down from a morning ride into work, never mind the weather. call the boy jelly, cuz he been on a roll!
i know that A1 and JJ have been keeping on their bikes as well, but i just have had other priorities at the moment... but that won't last forever, you see, i just saw JJ's pics from the disposable from jay and i'm getting excited...
nK
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Porky Gulch
The weekend is almost here and one of my favorite races is this weekend- Porky Gulch Classic Stage Race. This will be the second year of this race, but to say it's only been around for two years would be a bit of a misnomer. A bunch of years ago I was working with Miah who used to own the Red Jersey Cyclery, we would brainstorm events and then go put them on. One of the first we did was the original Story Land Crit, which turned out to be one of those events where there weren't a ton of people but the legend of the race spread and a lot more people talk about having raced in the original then were actually there- it was pretty cool. To get a feel for the course go take a look at Story Land- imagine racing your road bike through these paths at speed (and without Mom's with strollers)- pretty fun!
Story Land Here's a shot from the last years crit, the guy in the back is me 20lbs ago hoping to catch back on to enjoy a bit of draft on the front straight:
That same year we put on the original RockPile Rampage v1.0. This was our first take at putting on a cross race and we thought the more barriers the better. We built up what became known as the barriers of consequence- as if you fell on one your were going to get hurt! Wide oak planks with the edges sharp as a pair of skis fresh off a Miah tune. We had barriers everywhere, I think we used like 15 or so- pretty funny.
Jason from Hurricane Mt Sport clearing the famed barriers of consequence:
So over the course of a few years I wanted to get out of the organizing side and I wanted to focus on the racing part. GGTOC took over the events and last year we came up with the idea of doing a stage race and starting things off with a TT up the first two miles of the famed Mt. Washington Auto Road. Hence the birth of the Porky Gulch Classic Stage Race. Ok we don't ride to the top of Washington but it still feels like this:
I'm hoping this weekend we'll see at least one other TWAF jersey starting on Saturday morning, but we'll see. NK hasn't been on a bike in months so racing may not be the best idea for him. JJ and A1 both have been working on excuses so we'll see where that all goes! Oh well.
Here's a cool shot- why you don't throw beer on a CX racer early in the race- they may remember it and give you a nice "thank you" later in the race:
That's it for this morning, now go out and ride.
DEA
Story Land Here's a shot from the last years crit, the guy in the back is me 20lbs ago hoping to catch back on to enjoy a bit of draft on the front straight:
That same year we put on the original RockPile Rampage v1.0. This was our first take at putting on a cross race and we thought the more barriers the better. We built up what became known as the barriers of consequence- as if you fell on one your were going to get hurt! Wide oak planks with the edges sharp as a pair of skis fresh off a Miah tune. We had barriers everywhere, I think we used like 15 or so- pretty funny.
Jason from Hurricane Mt Sport clearing the famed barriers of consequence:
So over the course of a few years I wanted to get out of the organizing side and I wanted to focus on the racing part. GGTOC took over the events and last year we came up with the idea of doing a stage race and starting things off with a TT up the first two miles of the famed Mt. Washington Auto Road. Hence the birth of the Porky Gulch Classic Stage Race. Ok we don't ride to the top of Washington but it still feels like this:
I'm hoping this weekend we'll see at least one other TWAF jersey starting on Saturday morning, but we'll see. NK hasn't been on a bike in months so racing may not be the best idea for him. JJ and A1 both have been working on excuses so we'll see where that all goes! Oh well.
Here's a cool shot- why you don't throw beer on a CX racer early in the race- they may remember it and give you a nice "thank you" later in the race:
That's it for this morning, now go out and ride.
DEA
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
almost run down
DEA and I met up to ride in this morning. We were cruising along into a pretty vicious headwind and going slower than usual but working as ahrd or harder that it seemed fair. At least for me anyhow. About half way in we cam upon an intersection where 2 large 18 wheelers pulled out in front of us as we approached, sort of making it kinda close to us. Right behind them was a white Dodge pickup who apparently only saw DEA as he began to pull out. Dea had to take evasive action to avoid having he hind end taken out. Unfortunately I was behind him and the old coot never looked for a second bike. He was still moving as I come towards him. It wasnt until I was about to hit his hood that he locked up his wheels and started to skid. I was starting to see things in slo-mo and saw myself going ass over tea-kettle as I was about to t-bone the driver side door of this truck. Luckily the C-dale was up for the challenge and I was able to stay upright as I swerved hard left and then right to get around and past the blind driver. I was within inches of kissing some pickup hard. My heart was either beating really hard or had stopped, not really sure. Not really the way I like to find my max heart rate. Needless to say, the ride in was a good reminder to never take for granted that the drivers in motor vehicles see you or will do what you think they should. Be on your toes and ready to react cause cars hurt.
JJ
JJ
Well Hello There
It's been a while, but I think I remember how to use this. Couple good short rides this week to and from work. Time for the headlights. Here's a couple of shots, a picture of NK from a ride back in April. Yup April, I think that may be the last time he was on his bike? I finally downloaded pictures off my camera.
The first picture is how I trained this year, DEA and JJ logged a lot of miles, I set a lot of these.
A1.
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