Friday, December 28, 2007

Good Way to Start the Day

I skinned up Cranmore this morning at 6am for bit of first tracks after we picked up some fresh snow last night. It was a great way to start the morning and reminded me of many of the TWAF training rides that used to begin in the early morning.

This trip was solo but it still felt really good to get out that early. I'm not sure what it is about the early morning but you just feel like you're getting so much more out of the day when you start the day with some fun adventure before the sun even comes up.

Other then that not much else going on. Got out on the cross bike on the road for an hour and a half on the 26th, that felt good- but boy a month off from the bike and I don't feel very strong any more!

Got out skiing with the girls at Whitaker Woods yesterday, and hope to do that again today.

That's it from here.


DEA

Friday, December 21, 2007

Hamilton to Rock Racing

Just read this on VeloNews- that Tyler Hamilton will be racing for Rock Racing next season.

I've been a fan of Tyler's for some time- and I have no idea if he doped or not- and I've gotten to the point I almost don't care (as long as he's clean going forward).

Anway- it'll be good to see a New England rider going fast again next year.

That's it on this front- have a good holiday if I don't post again for a few days.


ride safe.

DEA

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Not much to report

We've gotten some great snow, so the skiing is awsome but the bikes have been relegated to the basement. The only bike that has been seeing any use is K's as she's been riding the trainer on a regular basis. I need to get my butt in gear!

Planning on a good skate ski after work in Whitaker- any takers?

later,

DEA

Thursday, December 13, 2007

No bike time

Top of Cranmore

So winter appears to have arrived earlier than usual this year to most folks' delight. I've gotten more skiing in at this point than most years by Christmas. Looks like the weather gods are going to continue t smile upon us with the threat of some more storms in the next few days as well.


Shot of Mt. Washington from Denmark, ME

Due to the snow however, the only riding I have been doing is after getting off a lift and its more of sliding than riding. I'll take it though. But I do feel the need to peddle some to avoid marshmallow but setting in. Of course that will match my marshmallow belly nicely.

See ya on the slopes.

JJ

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Chilly Ride

With the snow still on the trees and the sun shining I decided to head out for a ride even though it's frigid out. It was a balmy 15 degrees when I left. Headed up over Davis to Gulf and Leavitt. Pretty much the same route I ride most every time. The only difference is with the snow Potter isn't rideable back so I spun around and rode back the way I came. Then rode back over Davis and home. I was dressed for the cold except I didn't start the ride wearing any face protection, after about 100 yards I stopped and put one on. Up on Gulf I talked with a woman who was walking her dog, she excited to see someone else out. The climb up Gulf sucked like always especially sucking in cold air. The view at the top of Leavitt was worth the suffering up though.




Too bad Mt. Washington was in the clouds, still a great view anyway.

A1

Ride?

My youngest daughter wanted to ride on the trail-a-bike to school today- a day when it was 9 degrees outside and we now have snowbanks. She didn't want to do it back in September when it was nice out- and when I said it was cold she said we could wear all our warm ski stuff.

Needless to say we drove in.

Anyone skiing this weekend?

DEA

Monday, December 03, 2007

Friday, November 30, 2007

Afternoon Ride

Just got in from an hour or so on the monocog. Rode down to Pine Tree did a lap and then out Mudget Road to the end spun around and got on the singletrack about halfway back that takes you back out to Runabout Bay. Someone has cleaned it recently and it was really nice. Tight widing through the pine trees, it was starting to get dark so I did one more loop in Pine Tree and headed back. Rode the loop aroung Singer Lane and then did a loop through North Pines road then out to Shady Lane and home. Perfect temp. out except I should have worn booties as the feet were getting chilled. Plan on getting out in the morning for a decent ride. Probably ride rec. trail north to the power lines to sticks and stones. Stop and get a coffee then turn around and head back. We'll see.

New bike may be on the way. Debating what I should get, I like my Redline so I may get the Flight 29er but I like the looks of the Soma Juice too. Time will tell.

A1

Monday, November 26, 2007

Holiday Gut?

Ahh yes the holiday feasting. What DEA is really saying is that he bought a new 42 inch Plasma TV and can't help but watch Buffy reruns. I fired down the last piece of Pecan Pie that Nikki made for me last night. I ate every piece of that dang pie, the Nickelodean commercial says eating a Pecan Pie is equivelant to eating 17 cheeseburgers or something like that. Oh well.

I been lifting the last week or so and did legs on Friday which meant a very sore weekend. We took the kids to Santa's Village on Saturday night, very cold up in Jefferson, NH. That's where Santa's Village is, not the North Pole. I got out yesterday on the Monocog for about an 1 1/4 hours. Did some loops in Pine Tree and rode the lower section along the river that heads back towards the damn and then out at the other end of where we normally go in. Lots of rocks in the lower section, then headed over and rode on the dam side for a while before heading home. Today I decided to drive one of our trucks back to our garage to get it out of my driveway and brought my bike to ride home. It's about 20 miles and the weather held off long enough for me to make it. I was slightly overdressed but I guess that's better than the alternative. I rode through Silver Lake and Madison back. Not sure what the deal was but I think cars must not be expected someone to be biking this time of year, 3 times I was cutoff, with one guy pulling out in front of me and touching his bumper followed by me sending a "holiday greeting" his way. Dumbass.

Looks like tomorrow is going to be a wash which is OK since my legs weren't to snappy today and could use a rest.

No hot chocolate and banana bread tonight. Nikki just made some Oatmeal, white chocolate, pecan, etc. cookies. Fresh out of the oven, being washed down with a Tuckerman's Headwall Ale. Ahhh

A1

Holiday Gut Begins

Thanksgiving has come and gone, hopefully everyone out there had a great holiday filled with good eats. My last ride or any form of exercise took place on Thanksgiving morning when I got out for about an hour spine on the cross bike.

Since then it's been a lot of eating followed by what I can only describe as a large parasite of some sort living in my gut. Of course that is completely made up, but it sounds much more interesting and creates a fairly vivid picture without me having to go into the gory details.

I'm getting back to a good place, might even try to ride the trainer tonight- but I thought it interesting that upon the start of the "Get Fat" season I would get struck by something that has kept me from exercising (but of course it has also kept me from eating so that's good).

The tough thing will be for the next five plus weeks trying to keep some sort of cardio work going and keep my eyes in line with the goal of not looking like LeMond once he hung up his cleats.

What else can I tell you? Not much. Astana will be riding with SRAM Red next year- hmmmm- if they end up on Trek frames does that mean Trek will speck their "team issue" with SRAM Red- I would guess so. Kinda cool.

later

DEA

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

A1's desire to race La Ruta

I just read Dicky's description of La Ruta- A1 says he wants to do that race- not for me boys and girls, that one is just over my head.

DEA

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Snow Ride, Take It Easy

Sorry not sure where that came from. Maybe because I was listening to Rock 101 this morning. Drove up to Great Glen this morning to deliver tables, snowing pretty good up there and it was pretty slow going. It was all good though, I planned on a slow ride so I stopped and got a large coffee and bagel at Front Side Grind before heading up. It was snowing decent here and the ground was covered when I got home so I decided to head out for my first snowy ride of the season.

Went up Davis to Gulf, turned around at the top and headed down to Mill St. then up Baird Hill which dead ends a few miles up. It climbs pretty good and there are some really nice old farms at the top. I've never been up there so today was a good day to see it. Met a few people out walking who thought I was insane. Road back down Baird and rode in a few logging roads before heading out to Mill St. and home. We'll have to explore more of those trails in the spring, some bridges had been built on a few trails so it seems like someone has a secret stash of trails.

Rode up to North Conway on Thursday last week. It was too nice out to not go so I took the morning off for a ride. Glad I did, not sure how many sunny warm days we'll get for a while. Ran last night and then lifted. I picked up a heater the other day and realized how heavy it felt. I guess setting tents all summer took quite a bit out of me. Now that we're done for a few months it's time to get some strength back, so 3/4 days a week I'll be in the gym.

That's all I got, time for more hot chocolate and homemade banana bread.

A1

Monday, November 19, 2007

Cold Commute

Not much to talk about right now other then the ride into work this morning was a bit chilly. The good news- no ice on the side of the road so regular tires are still working fine. I'm almost dreading putting my studded cross tires on as they are so heavy. That and it cracks me up that I mount them up on an old pair of spynergy rev-X wheelsnot mine- but like mine
I'm thinking about putting relective tape on one blade of each side of each wheel- I get that would look pretty crazy from the side at night.

Didn't touch my bikes this weekend- instead intalled cabnets and re-painted out kitchen- how Bob Villa of me.

Still haven't skied yet- but within the week I hope to have been on snow.

Ride on-

DEA

Monday, November 12, 2007

Let there be snow!

White Mountains

Sunday was the last race of the season form me, Week 5 of Cross in the Glen. I was not in the running for a podium spot, but I wanted to try to finish the season off on a good note.

As this was my first attempt at Cross racing I was happy to survice the initial go-round. It was much tougher than I thought. Maybe I was just much crappier than I thought I would be at it.

I think it is a great racing format. Much more fan friendly than any other racing I have done.

Sven and I had a blast racing this season. I am looking forward to next year. Each season ends and then you start thinking of what could have gone differnely and what you have for goals for the next year. I started the season out feeling really good and then there was that fateful day at Pats Peak which basically laid me up for 2 months. For all intents and purposes my "competetive" racing for the year was over. THe fitness I had was gone in a split second. Oh well, gravity happens.
Me & DEA

Now looking forward I have to say that more than ever my thoughts are oriented less competative riding and more and experiences. Not sure if that is good or bad or just a realization of reality on my part. Who knows, I could change my mind, again in a few days. Riding for Bikeman.com was great. Its pretty cool feeling part of a team, not that TWAF isn't a team, its more like family.

What I do know is I have a new (to me) road bike frame in my basement that needs to get built up and I have some money burning a whole in my pocket that I cen't decide how to spend, Salsa Mamasita or full susp. 29er??? Completely different but what shall I do...may skis or a new board. I see snow in the mountains.

I figured it out, I'm getting a tricked out van like this, it'll go anywhere I bet.
My new ride?

Time to dig out the ski gear and get it tuned up. WOn't be putting the bikes away, but do need to tear the gears of the El Mariachi, just didn't look right with all them extra gears. Simple is good.

JJ

Racing season comes to a close

The final race of the 'Cross in the Glen took place yesterday and that wrapped up my 2007 racing season. It's fun to look back and realize it has been an interesting year and one that I hope I can build upon.

This season was my first year racing for Bikeman.com, and it was fun to race for a good sized team again. I got to meet a few of the other team members and with any luck I'll be in the red, black and white again next year.

I finished up third in points at the Cross in the Glen series for the intermediates. It's funny how racing for points can get you thinking about the could'a should'a's. Last week at PGC I didn't ride so hot in the cross race and it cost me. Dan ended up beating me last week and because of that, and the fact I let a few other riders in between Dan and I he knocked me out of second in points. It was the only time Dan beat me this season, but because I missed week one to race in Gloucester I didn't have a score to drop- that's the way it works!

Going into yesterday I knew I still had a shot, but I had to win or get second and Dan had to faulter a little bit. We had a few new faces in the intermediate field and I was feeling hopeful that maybe I had a shot. From the gun I went hard, avoided a wreck in the turn going into the first barriers and was sitting in third for a little bit. That lasted about a lap and then Jason (who had fallen) and Steve P picked up the pace and dropped me back to fifth. Another lap later Craig Harrison caught me and I was then sitting sixth (2nd in Intermediate). For a couple laps I battled newcomer Stephen Day (who was racing in baggy shorts, a skater helmet, a mountain bike with skinny tires, flat pedals and indoor soccer shoes). This kid was strong but the whole jumping on and off was new to him and that was where I could either catch back on or put a bit of distance. With about three to go I had put a good gap on him and could see Marc and Dan fighting it out behind him- my hope was to try and catch Craig and Kyle who were about 45 seconds up on me at that point and go for the win in Intermediate and hope that Marc would put in a good effort and take Dan on. To make a long story short- neither of those two things happened but it was fun while it lasted. That being said I'm happy with the podium but would like to win the series next year so that I have reason to move up to elite the next year (at Cross in the Glen- NOT UCI elite!)

It was a great series and kudos to Eli, Mary, Amy, Pat and everyone else who put on the series. My next racing up at GGTOC should be the december Nordic Sprints- can't wait!

Time to start thinking about ski season, get a few more rides in, pull out all the snivel gear (I did ride in with booties and heavy long pants this morning) and dreaming of getting fast for 2008. Hmmm, have to start planning the Second Annual Christmas Eve Gravel Grinder......


later,

DEA

Friday, November 09, 2007

No bike time this week

Yikes- it's Friday and I haven't ridden my bike since Sunday- ouch. I have logged a number of hours in the car this week but no saddle time. I might try to get on the trainer tonight just to feel like I did something before the weekend gets here.

This weekend marks the last race in the Cross in the Glen Series, I'm bummed it's ending, but I'm getting fired up to get out and ski. Driving through Crawford Notch yesterday it's been snowing and piling up on the upper elevations- so it won't be long.

That's it for the moment- ride safe.

DEA

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

My take on the Porky Gulch Classic



Saturday morning was the first stage of a three stage race known as the Porky Gulch Classic. The race, or stages of it have been going on for the past 5 years, but it seems that I have always had some scheduling conflict and have never partaken in it. This year was different; I had no excuse.

The first stage is the “Toughest Two.” This is a time trial up the first two miles of the infamous Mt. Washington Auto Road. The road is basically a relentless two miles of extremely steep climbing. A great way to start your day. To make it that much more fun, the race is in November on the side of the site of the World’s Worst Weather. Lucky for us it wasn’t that bad, a bit more than freezing and not crazy windy. It was chilly enough that it was difficult to stay warm while waiting to start. At about ten minutes after nine I was lined up and next to go.

We were starting in 30 second intervals and as the starter counted down, five, four, three, two and go, I was off. I made the hundred yard lead up to the climb without incident and very quickly was in my easiest gear. Maybe easiest isn’t the right word. It was the smallest gear. The 39x11-26 was fine for most riding, even some hills, but since I have not been able to train for any serious climbing due to injuries, it sucked for this climb. Within a few minutes of climbing it became very apparent that I was suffering. I was not able to keep my cadence up to a descent level and was caught by the rider that I had a 30 second lead on. That was disheartening, but the realization that I was in for a terrible two was upon me. For the next fifteen minutes I was working as hard as I could to keep moving up the mountain. I had not brought any water thinking it was going to be a pretty short ride but wished I had as my mouth and throat were wicked dry from me breathing so hard, or maybe weezing so much.
After The Terrible Two

I kept looking at my Garmin Edge to see how much further I had and the distance was not ticking off as fast as it was supposed to, but finally I came to a corner and there were people there saying the finish was just around the bend. I did not want to believe them only to be disappointed to find that I has another mile to go. Lucky for me they were not bs’ing me and the finish line was in sight. I was hurting and just wanted it over at this point. I rolled across the line. As I stood there holding onto my bike, I was contemplating tasting my breakfast again. Sven Cole came up to me and asked if I needed him to take my bike. I gave it to him and was not sure if the bike might have been holding me up.

After about ten or so minutes I regained some composure and we got ready to ride down the stupid road we just rode up. Since it was freezing out we layered up and began our descent. Since my crash at Pats Peak that resulted in my separated shoulder, dislocated elbow and fractured arm I have been suffering with reduced usage in my left arm, particularly strength. This made braking a chore riding down the mountain and made what should have been a much more pleasurable descent a bit scarey. I survived the ride up and down and found myself in seventeenth place. It could have been worse, at least I was not DFL. Next year I’ll hopefully be in better shape and have better gearing. Guess you ride & learn.

Start of Storyland Crit

Sven and I headed down to the Town of Jackson and grabbed some lunch as we waited for Stage 2, the Storyland Criterium. This stage was the real reason I wanted to ride the Porky Gulch Classic. I spent enough summer days walking around Storyland with my kids that I figured it was time for the adults to take over the place for our amusement. The Elite and Intermediate riders lined up for the Two PM start and the cannon fired signaling the start. The Elite riders were out of the box really fast. A second group of very fast guys formed and then a third which I found myself in. Within 200 yards someone hit a cone and it looked like there was going to be mass carnage. There was a lot of swerving and evasive action, but no blood was shed, yet.

Racing the Crit


On my second lap, the rider directly in from of me went down on a sharp turn that looked pretty painful. I’m guessing he had some pretty nice road rash on his tukkus. The racing was a blast but was very taxing on my left arm. Every seam in the pavement or transition on and off a bridge caused me more and more discomfort. By the time the race was coming to a close I could not brake anymore with my left hand and had a lot of trouble getting out of the saddle and using my arm for leverage. As I headed into the final lap I was glad to know that I was about done. I survived without crashing and had actually beaten a couple of other riders and placed 18th in my first crit.

Sunday morning was the third stage, the Rockpile Rampage Cyclocross race. The course is the same as the one I ride in the Fall cross series at Great Glen Trails so I was familiar with it. The real difference was the field was much larger. The weather was cooperating and pretty nice for early November on Mt. Washington. We were called to the line and the race was on. The main group crammed itself up the first little hill and around the first turn surprisingly well and without incident. After we all hit the first set of barriers the groups began to form and string out some.
Barrier Section

I felt descent on my first lap and had a descent split abut in my second lap I started feeling the lack of legs due to my overall softness and the prior day of racing. I continued on trying to maintain my pace and position and not give up any more places but the fast guys were really fast. Lucky for me, there were also some slow guys that I was able to keep ahead of who were feeling it like I was as well.

Trying to hang on

By my next to last lap I tried to bribe the race official to shorten the race and he said all I had to do was ride slower and it would be over faster. Not the strategy I had considered but.... Needless to say, my last lap was painful. My back was starting to seize on me and I think I could taste blood, again. As I rolled across the finish line, it was good to be done.

I had a great time doing my first Porky Gulch Classic. I complained, bitched, moaned and generally appeared unhappy, but I’ll be back next year. I finished 14th overall, probably as good as I could expect considering the way my season has gone. I’ve never done anything like it and am not sure there is much out there that is similar. It’s well worth the trip to New Hampshire for a weekend of pain, suffering and fun.

JJ

Monday, November 05, 2007

Paul Curley was a former...

Paul Curley was a former champion in cyclocross in 1985, he was the gentleman racing with the crazy disc wheels at Porky Gulch. I thought that was kinda cool. DEA. listen

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Porky Gulch Classic Stage Race

Year three of the PGC just wrapped up. What a great weekend or racing and hanging out with a bunch of good people.

This race has a special spot in my season as it is the culmination of a few years of ideas and events that I've had a chance to be a part of. I remember about five years ago when we did the very first Story Land Crit, which was put on by Jeremiah Beach and myself (I did the hype, Miah did the timing- so I got to race). That was the same year I put on the very first Rockpile Rampage Cyclocross race up at Great Glen. The course was stupid long and we had six sets of barriers- but it was fun. I think we had 15 people show up. We did Rockpile Rampage V2.0 the next year and after we met with Howie up at GGTOC to discuss the idea of the race being a part of a bigger weekend- and building a stage race- Porky Gulch Classic Stage Race was born.

From there I stepped out of the race director role and now just play the role of an advisor and focus more on the racing side. This year we saw over 40 riders show up, so it's getting a bit more traction and every year we see people showing up saying it's the coolest race of the year- and I can't disagree.

For those who don't know what the format is let me give you a recap- on Saturday the day starts with a TT up the bottem two miles of the Mount Washington Auto Road- in strange twist of fate this was the only bike race on the Auto Road this year- as the four other race dates in the summer had all been cancelled due to crazy weather. After the TT (which also has the racers ride down the road after the climb) we head down to Story Land for a crit that has over 30 corners per lap- and these corners are sharp and some off camber and all have crash zones that leave you realizing that crashing isn't a good option (is it ever?)

Then on Sunday it's cross racing time- with the Rockpile Rampage up at Great Glen.

This year JJ was racing the event for the first time and A1 was making a return trip after a year off. It was good to have all three of us up there and it made for good trash talk and pre event excuse making.

The weather was raw on Saturday as Noel was moving up the Atlantic Coast- but at least it was dry. Warming up was interesting and despite bringing my trainer up I didn't take advantage of that and instead road around wearing a big down parka- I didn't really want to take it off when Eli told me I had 30 seconds till the start.

I went hard from the gun and despite being right of the edge of blowing up felt like I was flying for the first mile of the 1.8 mile course. But once I passed the 1 mile mark I started to really suffer.In pain on the climb
With about a 1/4 mile to go I got caught by another racer and jumped on his wheel to try and find new motivation.
Caught and now chasing
All I can say is that climb hurts- and I was real happy I didn't have to actually go to the top. I did manage to outsprint the guy I was racing- of course it was only a moral victory as he had started a couple minutes behind me so he crushed me in real time.A moral victory?

We then cruised down the road (which is actually kinda freaky) and headed to a small sandwich shop in Jackson to re-load for the afternoon crit. Soon it was time to suit up again and go try and get the mornings junk out of the legs. JJ and I road a bunch of laps to get a feel for the course- which is just crazy technical- over 30 turns per lap. We then jumped in the truck to watch the beginner race. Keep this name in the back of your head- Sean Doherty- and in 5-7 years of so don't be surprised if you hear him tearing up the US or International sceene. He's 13 and just killing it on a bike- here's a shot of him showing the older guys how to go uphill during the crit: Sean Doherty

Sean lead most of the race, but was in the wind the entire time and ended up third in the sprint for the line- against adults. He's fun to watch and a great kid as well.

JJ and I were both glad we didn't have to race Sean, so we suited up and hit the start line. The cannon went off and we were at race pace in no time. A group went off the front pretty fast and I wasn't in that group, and I ended up putting my nose into the wind for a couple laps before finally trying to force someone else to take a pull. In doing that someone attacked out of the group and just made for chaos. That seemed to be the way it was going to be for the day as each time someone would be willing to take a turn in the wind they would do so by first attacking the group.
Sitting in the train

It made for intersting racing, that and the fact I was skipping pedals off the pavement at least once a lap- but none that put me down in the pavement.

With about four laps to go I lost power and my back started to lock up a bit, I dropped off the group and worked with a guy I've known through 24 hour racing- we chased but to no avail, then we saw the leaders coming up from behind and I was looking for a place to safely get the heck out of their way so they could battle it out- what I didn't know was they were on their bell lap- so was putting myself a lap down. In hindsight I should have hammered when I saw them and gotten through the start finish so I could have finished on the lead lap- not that it mattered for places- more of a pride thing. The funny part was I went through start finish still racing and didn't realize that they had finished until I started riding through the leaders who were sitting up- so I still raced my last lap- but it didn't count- oh well.

Sunday turned out to be a great day weather wise. We had an even bigger field because there were people from the weekly series that were lined up as well.The start
It was a cool start and I managed to tag onto the lead group for a minute even with a good bit of rubbing with Dan Doherty (Sean's dad) as we almost went down at the top of the first short climb out of the start and we banged bars pretty hard- but then I bobbled the turn into the first set of barriers and a gap opened. Sean's dad and I about to bang bars
Where the gap opened

I felt good for the first few laps and felt AWESOME going into the fast barriers- flying through that section and making up about 20 yards on people in that section each time. I think the work I've been doing on my dismount and running the left brake as the rear brake makes a major difference- to bad I didn't have legs for the rest of the course!
Where I was fast
With about three to go my back gave out a bit and I had to sit up, I watched Dan roll away and then Marc D'Amour catch and then leave me. I was a bit bummed as I can usually ride away from them, but not this time. It was still fun but this was also the first time in the cross races I've gotten caught by the leaders and finished a lap down- although the way my back felt I wasn't too bummed about not getting the full lap count.

In all an awsome weekend of racing, I ended up 7th overall in the Intermediates and have good room to move up. Add to that the Pats winning last night and it was a damn fine weekend.

later,

DEA

Thursday, November 01, 2007

October Epic

A few weeks ago we made our first pilgramage to Kingdom Trails, and we had hoped to get in another ride at Kingdon Trails before the season ended. Me, Sven, Abe and Chris decided to play hookey and head over on Tuesday, but due to the weekends rains they were closed. We had to come up with plan B. Plan B turned out to be in our backyard. There is this loop that we'd been talking about attempting the past couple of years but never really tried or ended up completing.


We started out from my house at 9AM and rode at the trail netowrk called Davis HIll before crossing over into Maine and back in to New Hampshire and onto the NH snowmobile trail network. The first third of ther ide was a t a pretty good pace and we were all feeling pretty good. As the snowmobile trail headed North the climbing started. After 6 miles of pretty contant climbing we made it to the top of the Red Tail Trail. This took an agonizing hour and 45 minutes to complete with the riding and a couple of breaks along the way. We were all pretty relieved to arrive at the Red Tail Trail and begin the descent, but considereing three of us were on fully rigid bikes it was going to be a rough ride down. Red Tail is a great trail to descend so we let the lone rider with suspension go first and Chris was soon out of sight. Abe and I were also quickly off the back trying to deal with numb arms and cramping hands. I have to say it was the slowest ride down this trail I have ever done. I certainly did miss my Yeti 575.

By the time we hit the bottom we rode past Cranmore Mountain Resort and onto the final third of the ride to complete the loop. We rode the power lines over to Sticks & Stones and then began to head for home. All in all it was a great ride. It was a bluebird day with temps in the mid 50's. Perfect Fall riding. 30 miles with about 3200 feet of climbing and some tough descending.



Garmin Edge Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 4:52:15 9:43 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 3:42:19 7:24 pace
Distance (mi ) 30.03
Moving Speed (mph) 8.1 avg. 25.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +3,268 / -3,270

Avg. Heart Rate 146 bpm Zone 3.7

Temperature (°F) 53.6°F avg. 55.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph) SE 4.9 avg. SE 8.1 max.

JJ

WTF

A1 left me a message about Lance and one of the Olsen twins- I thought no way- I was wrong.....


DEA

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Hookie

JJ, Al, Chris and I took Tuesday off from work to go for a good ride. We had planned to go to Burke, VT but rumor had it that they had closed. We decsided that rolling the dice wasn't worth it so we did a long loop here in the VAlley. We started up at JJ's house, road the Davis trails, then road 302 into Fryeburg and then headed out towards Sherman Farm, took a right and road out to T&C then jumped on 19N snowmobile trail. That took us out to Hurricane Mountain road- which we climbed (ouch) then up the Black Cap connector, down Red Tail (ouch), Sticks and Stones, powerline to Sears and then pavement back to JJ's with Davis Hill finishing things off (ouch).

It was a great day out on the bike, JJ will post the real data soon I'm sure.

Looking forward to Porky Gulch this weekend- I hope I can find some good legs by then.

later,

DEA

Monday, October 29, 2007

Crazy race

Interesting race up at Great Glen Trails this weekend. It was week three of the Cross in the Glen series and it was again spitting a bit of snow and the air temp was a wee bit chilly. I had headed up thinking it was going to be in the upper 40's lower 50's, so that was what I had for clothing- but when I got up there I was a bit cooler. I was able to snag a skull cap from Ward as I had left mine on the floor at home (smooth)- so I traded him the use of the Surly Cross-Check set up as a SS with a 42x17 for the skull cap- seemed like a good trade.

We lined up for the start and this week I did a better job of making sure I knew who was in the Elite and who was in the Intermediate categories. I had a good start riding Fourth wheel for the first lap and then surrendering a couple spots for the rest of the race. I chased Valley newcomer John ?? for awhile but just didn't have the legs to bridge up so I eased up a bit to ride with Dan and Mark. Dan did take a half lap pull but it became clear that I was going to be taking the wind, so with three to go I put in an effort to drop my two riding buddies and low and behold almost ran into a car as I made the turn for the bridge.

Yup you read that right a car out on the course in the middle of a cross race at Great Glen. How did it get there? Hmmm because the driver is a jackass? I really don't know- other then I used a bunch of bad language and was screaming at the driver to turn around and get off the course. Now in retrospect I should have stopped my race and escorted the car off the course- but it was one of those things that happened so fast and my brain was in race mode that I thought screaming at him (he did hear me as his window was down and my face was only a couple of feet from him). I kept going but to be honest my racing mindset had been a bit messed up- I was more focused on getting to the start finish to let Eli know what was going on so he could deal with it.


Dan, Mark and I were discussing the insanity of it all and we looked down to the field and could see Ward chasing the car across the field- a pretty funny sight. Of course what we didn't see what the guy trying to run Ward over after the driver got "scared by this guy on a bike telling us what to do". Too bad Ward didn't have his BIG truck to run the MF'er down!


Anyway Mary ended up driving over and bringing the guy back, not sure the details of how that all went down, but he was sitting there in his Nissan Altima with his wife (I assume) and their lap dog. He was smoking a butt and having to deal with the comments all the racers were making as they cooled down in the parking lot- many not aware that the car and driver everyone was talking about was sitting right there. A short bit later the State Police showed up and as I was loading my bikes I see the driver start to get mouthy with the trooper, and next thing you know he's wearing those fancy bracelets that all the cool kids are wearing, you know the ones with both hands behind the back- then he got to sit in the "timeout" seat in the back of the cruiser. We all cheered and called it a day.

So not much of a race report- in fact I'm not even sure what the final outcome was- I do know that Ward was about to lap the field on a tank of a SS before he went out and tried to play Robo-cop. But he pulled himself out of the race, then jumped back in for a lap to try and knock me off my bike just for fun.

Either way an intersting day out on the bike.

Next weekend is Porky Gulch it should be a good one!

later,

DEA

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Good ride in- unreal sunrise

I wish I had snapped a pic of the sunrise as it was unreal this morning. Rode into work and it was a great ride, but I hate to say this- I was thinking wayyyyyy to much about all the really heavy chuncks of metal whizzing by me at speed. I think maybe I've been reading to many Drunk Cyclist posts. Big Johnny has become the official keeper of cycling fatalities- I guess that happens when you get run over (fortunately he survived!)

Anyway it's looking like a good day.

Ride safe out there everyone!



later,

DEA

Monday, October 22, 2007

Why I missed 2nd week of cross.

Saturday we went to a 70's end of summer party (last year it was an 80's party). So Sunday morning I really wasn't up to racing so I ended up taking some tents down instead. Here are a few shots from the party.



Here's some of the fine folk all dolled up. I'm on far right with Nikki beside me. I tried to convince her she needs to dress like that more often, she says not so much though.



I grew out my chops special for the party. Shaved them this morning though.


Yesterday afternoon I went out and rode the rec. trail over to the new school and then rode the course the mtn. bike team just cut. The course is 2.3 miles and climbs a fair amount. Lots of descending and some steep technical climbs. Rode a few laps and then rode it backwards which climbed much more with some really steep sections. Good course, I watched the race there Wednesday and can see why all 72 racers were beat after four laps. Definately need to ride it again. Was out for just over two hours in the 70+ temps. Then the Sox beat JJ's Indians to advance. All in all good weekend.


A1

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Cross in the Glen- week 2

Well week one for me, but it was week 2 for the series. Great weather, hot almost, and a good field- 17 lined up for the elite/intermediate.
Beautiful weather, great foliage, and big mountains- oh and a slow guy on a bike

JJ and I were there in our Team Bikeman.com kits- looking to cool for school. I need to talk to Big Al (the team manager) about making some sort of girdle to wear under my jersey as I'm getting fat! Or maybe I should just stop eating so much- either way...
JJ enjoying his fans


The course was the same as last year, but for me the big difference was running gears vs the SS. I love SS riding but cross racing is hard enough for me at this point that I don't need to handicap myself!

I had a pretty good start- but I bobbled hard going into the first barrier (sorry to anyone I cut off!) I worked hard to stay with the lead group but eventually there was bit of a gap opening up- which I didn't think was a big deal as I thought I was first in the intermediates at that point, but I wasn't as I would learn later (gotta pay more attention to peoples numbers at the start next time!) I settled into a good pace and worked with other rider for a bit- but then he surged a bit- either that or I just went backwards- either way the result was I was no longer enjoying his draft. Oh well. I tried a couple times to bridge, but I just didn't have it. I'm hoping some of that can be attributed to being sick- but I'm gonna guess that even at 100% the same result would have been had.
Trying to close the gap- sooo close but sooo far

From that point on I was riding pretty much solo- keeping tabs on the guys behind and trying to make sure the elites didn't lap me. In then end I finished third in the intermediates- so I can be happy with that. The best part- I didn't fall and I felt good on my dismounts and remounts. I had been working on those pretty hard this week- and still have a long way to go- but I'm getting there! Next up- learning to corner.

later,

DEA

Thursday, October 18, 2007

A great time waster

this is some funny stuff- gotta make this a part of me daily routine!

DEA

Good night ride

Got out with Michelin Mike last night for a night ride up in Davis Hill. It was a bit nippy but once I got rolling I felt pretty comfy. We had planned to have everyone meet at JJ's house at 8:30, but quickly the group started to fall appart, first A1 then JJ both weren't able to make it- but MM did and he parked in JJ's driveway anyway. JJ did come out to wish us well- but his double cheeseburger with bacon didn't sound like it wanted to come out and play.

We rode to the top of Davis to drop in and for whatever reason my legs just felt really good. We didn't go hard- but we were moving along and it seemed to be doable with little effort. The bike really seemed to be a part of me and I was flowing pretty well- which was good as the trails had a ton of leaves and there were times I was feeling like I had lost the trail.

It was MM's first ride out there and I think he had fun. We didn't see any critters during the ride (which is both good and bad) and we both managed to stay upright the entire time.

I'm hoping my legs feel that good on Sunday!

Next time we'll get JJ and A1 out as well.

later,

DEA

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I need to ride my bike more

I'm not sure why I don't, well I'm lazy that may be the reason. I got out this afternoon for about 1:45 and did the Mill St. to Hampshire Road to 153 to Stark and around. Absolutely beautiful out although I wished I wore gloves on a few of the shaded descents on Mill Street. I felt pretty good although something is up with my bike and I was limited to about three gears. I need to buy a SS road bike and call it a day.

Hopefully the turnout at the GGTOC Cross races stays strong, I'm planning on racing this weekend, although we're going to a '70's party Saturday night so not sure how strong I'll be feeling. The Prophet is looking pretty good with the 1.6's on it and the white butterfly seat, might as well look good if you're slow. Tomorrow the high school has a race and I'm planning on heading over to cheer on Sam, I think he's won every race this year so far. Then it sounds like a night ride forming, nothing like getting lost in the woods at night.

A1

Monday, October 15, 2007

Cross in the Glen, Week #1

Sunday morning I got my first taste of cyclocross racing atCross in the Glen Cyclocross Series . I got there plenty early to check out the course so I walked it and saw what I was in for. Since DEA was in Mass. racing with the big boys I was not sure what to expect.

It was chilly, in the mid-high 30's with a flake or two of snow in the air. Looking across the glen you could see the snow coming down on the upper parts of Mt. Washington.



I was torn as to what division to race in. I knew I was definitely not an Elite racer. The real question was whether I was a Novice or Intermediate. Since I had never done a cyclocross race before I thought I was pretty novice but I wanted to race for longer than 30 minutes so I opted for the Intermediate class. The Novice class went off at 10 and was a pretty good group of racers of all sorts. Even Michelin Mike was racing in his first cyclocross race.



Mike was the winner of the Novice class. I think he may have been better suited to ride in the Intermediate class.



The Intermediates and Elite racers lined up at 11 and we were soon off. There were 6 Elite racers and 8 Intermediate racers all going at it. All but 3 of us were on cyclocross bikes. I rode my Salsa El Mariachi as a fully rigid 1X9 and some 700X40 tires. It seems pretty light compared to the normal setup, but compared to the guys with the zooted out setups, its a tank.

I ended up placing 5th in my class and was pretty happy to beat a guy in his Team Giant Cyclocross get-up and team bike with Zipp wheels. It was close but I did have an advantage in the grass with my set up it seemed.

Well it was tough, I felt like I had OK legs from riding the SS this season, but I had no lungs. Probably a product of my trips to the hospital and then the couch. Looking forward to the next race.

JJ

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Gloucester Weekend

Wow, what a venue for a bike race! The Gloucester GP will be on my "to do" list going forward- great course, great venue, good racing- and I can only get faster!

I raced in the 4's and placed 62nd both days- at least I'm consistent!

Day one- just a blur of speed
The race went well, I was very nervous in a field that big going that "fast". There were a few good wrecks but I managed to stay upright. My goal was to not be in the back group and to try and pick a few folks off on each lap- which seemed to be working. All my remounts were pathetic (looks like I've got some work to do!) and my fast on grass cornering was a bit dicey as well- but I did feel fast on the paved climb and won my finish group sprint from the back (yes I sprinted for 62nd place!)

I had the whole family with me on Saturday and they did great cheering me on, and after the race we explored Stage Fort Park- which was very cool. We hung out and watched all the races, including the Elite Women, which Rebecca Wellons (Ward's girlfriend) got second in- a thrilling race. We then watched the Elite men, damn they are fast. Tim Johnson rolled a tire on the first lap so had a heck of a chase ahead of him- but he moved back up to a top ten slot- amazing. Ward rode well- had a great start and finished in the top 30.

Day two I went down solo and left the girls sleeping at K's sisters place and hit the road by 6:30am. I was surprised by Ward who drove down to watch my race (the slow fat guys race real early and the fit fast guys race at the end of the day- so they normally don't see each other in the morning. He was giving me racing advice and told me to unleash a wicked sprit at the start and just see how long I could hold on. I was pleasantly surprised when after the first lap I was in the top 30 of the field.
The run up before the "empty" light came on

It still blows me away how hard you go in a cross race- it is perhaps the hardest racing that I do, yet the race only lasts for 40 minutes. I tried to keep the gas on but I was hurting pretty quick and despite the cheering from Colin Reuter and his girlfriend and of course Ward (who seemed to be at every key part of the course on every lap (wasn't he supposed to be resting his legs for his race?) I found myself going backwards through the field. Oh well.

My attempt to look like a crosser- don't let Adam Myerson see this form!

The final stretch of grass before a 120 degree turn on the paved finishing climb

A great weekend, a good bunch of racing and a good chance to meet a number of Team Bikeman.com riders (including Big Al)

Up next, catching up with JJ and A1 up at GGTOC for the cross series- can't wait!

ride on.

DEA

Saturday, October 13, 2007

New Race in the Valley

From the freak who brought us the Jay Challenge:







America's SS championship
North Conway / Bartlett NH, USA

September 12, 13 and 14th 2008

Better know for Mount Washington, NH and the world's best factory outlet, North Conway is also the home of one of the best Single Track trails called the Red Tail Trail.

The America's SS championship already has the confirmation of the presence of racers coming from the following countries: USA, Canada, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Costa Rica,Brazil and Mexico.

It will be part of the Red Jersey Fat tire Festival. http://www.redjersey.com/. The festival will start on Friday night with the grand finale of their race series and will continue all weekend long with live music and party. On Sunday; group ride will be organised ranging from a casual 20 miler to a 60 miler for the hardcore.See the schedule of event for the weekend on the Festival's web site. It will be a big party with activities and live music all weekend long. You will also be able to find the schedule on our FORUM under the newsletter section for the SS Championship

The fat tire festival will start Friday night.If you are interested to race in the local XC championship series, make sure to be in town to cheer or participate in the Red Jersey final race on Friday night. They need the cheers, some volunteers and would love to see more racers.

This will be an opportunity for Single Speeder to see and talk to some of the best suppliers in the industry. You will be able to try the Misfitpsycle 29er and much more. Conversion kit will be available to convert temporarily your geared bike into a SS just for the event.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The championship will consist of 2 stage

THE FIRST STAGE( Saturday morning the 13th at 8.00 am)

Consist of Climbing from the Red Jersey Bike shop in North Conway NH to the top of the red tail trail. A 5 miles climb with 1500 feet of elevation gain from the bike shop. The red tail trail is a long,arduous climb. Those who can ride uphill the entire way are not mortal, but supreme humain being.Thre are hairpin curve,s turn,rocks, roots Expected winning time 1.00 hour with an average of 1.30

The Female winner and Male winner will wear the Climbing Red Jersey for the second stage

THE SECOND STAGE( Saturday afternoon the 13th 2.00 pm)

Will consist of completing 4 loop of a 6 mile course in Bear Notch Cabin in the town of Bartlett NH. The course will alternate between double track and single track with some nice technical rock garden. Expected winning time 1.30 minutes average time 2.00 hours.

The cumulative winning time should be at around 3.30 minutes spread between both stages.

STARTS : 8.00 am on Saturday the 13th morning for the first stage at the bike shop

2.00 pm on Saturday the 13th for the second stage at the race head quarter at the bear notch Cabin on route 302

WHERE: The America's SS champ will be located in the Town of North Conway and Bartlett NH

RACE HEADQUARTER: Bear Notch Cabin on Route 302

REGISTRATION: Will open on Janaury 1st 2008

GEAR: It will be advisable to have 2 different set of Cog since each stage are very different.

For instance if you are riding a 34/18 you will want to ride a 34/22 for the first climb unless you are confident that you can ride all the way up with your existing Cog... Good luck

CAMPING: Camping spot will be available right across the headquater on route 302 for 5.00 dollars a night. Please call the bike shop to reserve your spot at 603 356 7520

LODGING: See the icon "where to stay"on this web site

RACE PACKET PICK UP: Bear Notch Cabin on route 302 on Friday night between 7.00 and 9.00 pm

WHEN: September 13 th 2008

COST: 75.00 dollars

PRIZES: Complete SS 29er value of $ 1,600 http://www.misfitpsycles.com/

Top 3 position in each category. Free entry for 2009 value of $940.00

We will keep updating this sections as pizes are coming in from our different sponsors

CATEGORY: 26, 29er, and fixies

AWARDS: Medal for top 3 positions male and female in each category



JJ

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Racing season is here.... again

Cross season kicks off for me this weekend, heading down to the Gloucester GP I'm racing both days in the 4's so it'll be fun. Both days the field is full- 125 of us that don't know what the hell we are doing- good thing the 4's are all fat like me and have plenty of padding in case we fall! It will be good to meet up with a lot of other Team Bikeman.com riders this weekend, the registration sheets look stacked. I'll finally get to meet Big Al- the guy who puts the team together- I'm pretty stoked on that.

The GGTOC cross series also kicks off this weekend- I think both JJ and A1 will be up there, I'll jump in next week. Then in about a month my second favorite race of the year (right behing 24HOGG) Porky Gulch Classic if you can make it it's worth the trip!

That's about it. Borrowed 24solo from A1 last night- oh me oh my- super cool and motivating. Time to start training. Oh speaking of that did you see this article on velonews yesterday? This guy is living the dream!

ride on,

DEA

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Monday, October 08, 2007

Nice weekend


DEA and I got out for a ride with our kids Saturday morning. It was a very nice day for a ride and we were out a bit over an hour. Its nice to try to get the kids out to enjoy the woods and is pretty entertaining listening to them in the woods. No way were we going to see any wildlife with the noise coming from them. THe fall colors are coming in nicely up here in New England.
D3
Elizabeth
DEA

JJ

Friday, October 05, 2007

More Landis Stuff

This sort of goes hand in hand with my rant of last week but fills in even more gaps on the scientific side of things.

JJ


The CyclingNews Friday Mailbag is still buzzing with letters about the Landis decision. Some people agree with it, some don't, but one stands out:



As a professional scientist who has been working in a strict Quality Assurance (QA) environment for the past 27 years, I am continually discouraged by the general public's overall lack of understanding of science and the scientific process. Lest anyone be confused, the Landis decision was not about proving that Floyd had taken exogenous testosterone. What the majority of the panel was concerned with was whether or not the lab had followed the procedures they had established to detect exogenous testosterone. They apparently considered the scientific validity of those procedures to be outside the scope of their investigation, and it was certainly outside their area of expertise.


The unrefuted testimony of Dr. Amory, the only real scientific expert on testosterone to testify, was that those procedures were not adequate to establish the presence of exogenous testosterone. You will note that the majority opinion does not refer to Dr. Amory's testimony - there is no way to reconcile it with the verdict they wanted to reach. So Floyd was found guilty on the basis of one WADA-accredited lab's flawed procedures, procedures that wouldn't even be accepted by other WADA-accredited labs. (For those who have been asleep through this farce, the French lab accepts the presence of elevated levels of a single exogenous testosterone metabolite as evidence of doping, while the US lab at UCLA requires the presence of three.) As Dr. Amory pointed out, exogenous testosterone metabolizes in a defined way, with the levels of metabolites rising and falling through time in a certain pattern. The analyses performed by the French lab of the entire set of Floyd's samples did not show the pattern that would be present if Floyd had, in fact, doped. Dr. Amory's opinion was that they made no sense at all.


Floyd was found guilty through a political process with no basis in science. WADA and the UCI are on a witch hunt, and Floyd was unfortunate enough to fall into their cross-hairs. I'm all for catching dopers and throwing them out of the peloton, but the tests must be scientifically valid and be performed by neutral, qualified analysts, not by a lab eager to break (or is that "make"?) the news for l'Equipe. Some form of equal protection under the law would be nice too, such as all WADA-accredited labs having the same criteria for what constitutes an adverse analytical finding. And since Floyd apparently passed all the same tests Oscar Pereiro and Andreas Klöden were subjected to, how about subjecting them to the same test Floyd supposedly failed before moving them up on the podium? Or doesn't fairness go that far?


All cyclists being coerced into signing that document promising to give up a year's salary if found guilty of doping should be afraid--the deck is stacked completely against them. Bravo to Bettini for refusing to sign.


Rick Beauheim
Carlsbad, NM, USA
Saturday, September 29, 2007

Riding a bike....

...is so much better then running. I just wanted to point that out. I took the girls up to Great Glen last night so that Elizabeth could finish up the trail running series up and bask in the glory that is the podium. And while it was good to get out in the fresh air with the girls it was done without the aid of bicycles- and hence took soom of the fun away.

I'm amazed at how I can ride my bike for hours on end or nordic ski for the same amount of time, but if I run for 100 yards I feel like I'm gonna die.

Oh well, have to get out on the bike this weekend- anyone up for a ride?

later,

DEA

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Kingdom Trails Weekend

Kingdom Trails

DEA and I headed up to East Burke, VT for a weekend of riding at the world renowned Kingdom Trails in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I had a work event Friday night and then had to coach a football game afterwards so we did not hit the road til Saturday morning at 6 AM. After a brief roll through the drive-thru at the golden arches for some java and grease we were on our way.

We were meeting a crew of guys that live near us and go to KT every year for a guys only getaway weekend of beer, bikes & bullshit. They were stating at the Burke Mountain Campground and Had 2 sites reserved. We got to camp at about 7:30 AM as they were just getting up and cooking some breakfast. We unloaded the van and ate a bit of their pancakes and sausage as we all got geared up for a day of riding.

Since DEA and I had never ridden at KT before we did not really know the layout or what was cant-miss stuff. We elected to ride from the campground and meet the rest of the crew at the parking area as we needed to go buy trail passes.
Kingdom Trails Ticket Office

DEA ready to roll

For a mere $10 a day we were set up with 2 days of passes. We then did the climb up to the parking area and waited for the rest of the group. After a small loop to keep warm they arrived and we headed out. Initially we were in a large pack of close to 25 riders. This was a bit odd as I have never ridden in such a large group and not been racing. There was a weird but cool feel to riding with so many folks and not trying to get around them all.

Our Crew

After about 30 minutes the groups stared to head their separate ways on toe 100+ miles of singletrack. Our group of 8 stayed together and worked our way towards one of the high points of the weekend, "Sidewinder."
Sidewinder Sign

This was a great trail and nothing like I had ever ridden. As DEA put it, the trail had a pretty good "pucker factor" to it. I have to agree. It also had a pretty good smile factor as well. Basically it is a ravine that is set up like a halfpipe and you just keep riding from edge to edge and rip across the bottom and arc back up and around each side as you drop back in and across. It is hard to fight not hitting the breaks but it was a great rush. After a long switchback ride back up we continued on our tour of KT.

We ended up with a great first day and got in 21.33 miles of singletrack. The only thing that remained was the ride back to camp. We split from the main group that drove over and started the long climb back. It's basically 800" straight up with a major ramp at the end. At the beginning of the day it didn't seem like such a bad idea. It was a bad idea, but we made it and even beat the guys who drove back to the camp.

We got the first beers of the day and the fire was soon rolling. We threw some burgers on the fire and they were very tasty. By the end of the evening, which wasn't that late, we'd each had a 12-pack of beer and too much food so we crashed for the night. The temps got into the 30's overnight and it was chilly when we got up. After breakfast and breaking camp we drove to town and parked at the KT office. We rode the first hill to the trails and started our days ride. The rest of our group planned to meet up with us out on the trails.

We basically made a bee-line for Sidewinder and did two laps on it. It got much easier to ride each time down, but no less fun. After that we decided to ride some stuff we had not seen the day before.

Where to now???


DEA

Upon the recommendation of a guy we chatted with we rode up to a trail called "Heaven's Bench." It was on top of a hill with an actual bench with amazing views. It was spectacular fall day with great color. Well worth the climb. The descent made it that much more worth it.

View from Heaven's Bench

JJ atop Heaven's Bench

After about 3 hours of riding our legs were pretty cooked as we were the only fools riding singlespeeds. We never did hook back up with the other part of our group. On Sunday we ended up riding another 13.69 miles. Damn it was nice.

Here's the numbers from the weekend:

Garmin Edge Summary Data

Moving Time (h:m:s) 4:48:15 7:39 pace
Distance (mi ) 37.63
Moving Speed (mph) 7.8 avg. 31.8 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +6,692 / -7,471

Temperature (°F) 51°F avg. 62.6°F high

Elevation


Got in 6,692 feet of climbing. Pretty solid and my legs can definitely feel it.

Google Ride Map

Only disappointments were having waited so long to ride here and having to go home. Stopped for some pizza and beer on the way home to cap it off. Only question now is when do we go back.

JJ