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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

cool video

later,

DEA

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

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

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