Happy 40th to JJ

So this man is now 40:


I'm not sure why, but now he seems just so much older then the rest of us now. Maybe that means he's wiser then the rest of us now. Maybe he'll sit in the lotus position on top of a hill while wearing a robe and answer all of our questions, ahh yes he is a wise man.

So hats off to JJ and good vibes on this historic day.


DEA

new commuting "community"

Just signed up on Commute Better, could be interesting to see how this builds out. A buddy of mine put it together. Of course I had to drive today- how ironic!

Anyone build up a Surly Big Dummy yet?

DEA

Ride at Fort Rock

Got in a good ride down at Fort Rock in Exeter, went down with JJ and picked up my brother in law at 8am and then headed over to the trail head. None of us had been there so we weren't sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised, good trails (lots of rock- hence Fort Rock!) and a ton of bridges with NEMBA etched into the decking.

The riding was fairly technical, lots of stutter pedaling and lots of having to loft the wheel up and over. It was fun, but I'd hate to race on that course with a fully rigid SS.

I did have one mishap- fell off a bridge- or maybe dove off is the better description. I landed flat on my back in a nasty ass swap of black stinky muck. Which I found to be pretty funny. I remember JJ doing a very similar thing, so I think maybe he found it humourous to look at me sinking into the swamp. Of course you do something stupid like that and you know there is an injury somewhere under the black muck. It was my shin and I knew it was going to hurt- but I also knew that I had another hour or so of riding so I didn't want to know how bad or not bad it was.

The real bummer at the time was how wet I was, so I started getting a bit cold and to be honest my confidence had been shaken a bit- so I was a bit more hesitant from that point going forward. I still had fun and then I started getting back in my groove and felt pretty good at the end. We'll have to go back down. Thank you to JJ and Frank for the ride, and we'll get back down there at some point I'm sure.

later,

DEA

The New Ride

I got the Mamasita fianlly built and got it out for a test ride last night. No pics as yet- but I'll get those up soon.

It's nice, the handling is quicker that the El Mariachi and it is lighter despite having gears and suspension. Actually I haven't put it on a scale, but my gut is that it's lighter.

Right now I'm running a grip shift for the front, which was much better then the monstosity I was trying to build (a cut down Scott bar end with a bar end shifter stuck into it- not sure what I was trying to do with that other then make it look like a mac truck!)

I'm trying to descide if I should cut down my ergon grip so it fits with the grip shift or if I buy a SRAM front trigger- hmmmm.

I got out on a few trails, but the snow was mostly gone- until I hit a snowbank and cracked my left knee on the stem and M%$^&YF@#$er it hurt! Then last night it was really swollen and I couldn't really walk- but by this morning it bends, it's tender but I was able to ride in without to much pain.

Looks like we might head south tomorrow to Fort Rock- looking forward to giving a ride report on that system.

Also hoping to get JJ and A1 out with rakes at Pine Tree and that will be buffed with about an hour's work by the three of us.

Get out and ride.

DEA

A new bike in the family

For the first time in the 15+ years my wife and I have been together a bike rolled into our home that I had nothing to do with. K decided that she wanted a new road bike, she had been rolling around on 650c wheels for years and wanted to get 700c wheels and see if that helped her keep up. So she went out and bought a new road bike a Trek WSD 1.2.



I had commuted yesterday so I called K when she told me that she had picked up the new ride and we figured it would work to have her ride toward me and then we could spin out up Mill Street. It was amazing the difference the big wheels seemed to make as she was able to hang on my wheel in many places where she had in the past gotten easily dropped. So she seemed pretty psyched. Now my oldest has a road bike- a bit big for her, but I think I'll be able to make it work with a shorter stem and a new bar (maybe a flat bar for now)

Speaking of commuting we had 10% of our office commute by bike yesterday, not a huge number but a start! Now I just need to talk our owner into building a new office here and we'll have good mountian bike trails and maybe even XC ski trails right out the door!

So that's it for me. Slowly feeling like my legs are waking up, they're still fat and slow but they seem to be remembering how to go around and around- so that's a start!

later,


DEA

After work spin

After work I went out for a nice ride with a co-worker. Turned out to be pretty nice 20 mile ride. We headed down West Side Road and into Conway. Then turned south until we got to Bald Hill Road. We terned and headed up Bald Hill. After a short bit we passed the Proulx homestead and Chris was on his deck and warned us that the road went up hill. We thanked him for the secret info and continued on. After some good climbing we had a nice descent and then were back heading North and towards home.


THe plan was to ride about an hour and we were not too far off. Had some good climbing and got close to 1200 feet in. It was a much better ride for me than Saturday's Kanc ride. Course it was a much easier route.




Garmin Edge Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 1:17:48 3:50 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:17:49 3:50 pace
Distance (mi ) 20.28
Moving Speed (mph) 15.6 avg. 39.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1,185 / -1,114

Avg. Heart Rate 142 bpm Zone 3.5

Temperature (°F) 78.8°F avg. 78.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph) S 4.0 avg. S 4.6 max.

Once Spring came this year it has been great.

Ride on.

JJ

Happy Earth Day

Is that the appropirate thing to say on Earth Day? Hmmm, have to think about that.

In our office today 30% of the crew rode their bikes to work, not bad- but we could do better! Of course a few of the team work quite a ways away from here- so commuting is a much bigger commitment for them. That being said I'm working on a project with the Maine State Planning Office that deals with living close to work- sort of an interesting project. It lead me to this story.

My ride home yesterday I felt sluggish- this morning I checked my rear tire and had been running 60psi- jacked that up and that made a difference!

Didn't make any progress on the Mamasita last night, but did start jonesing hard again for a Big Dummy all kitted out with a Freeloader set up....hmmmm


So that's it from here. Hoping the weather holds!

ride on.

DEA

Good three days

Friday I was able to take a client out skiing, up on Mount Washington. It was epic weather- blue bird, no wind- warm temps. In fact it was one of the warmest days I've ever had skiing up there. We got a bit of a late start but it wasn't long before we were passing people on the Tucks trail as we skinned up. The skin track was in great shape and every time I go up there I realize that hiking with skis on your back sucks, skinning is the way to go!

We got to HoJos and here's a shot of Patrick and I relaxing for a minute:

Patrick and I at Hojo's

Here is a view of Hillmans Highway- this is to the left as you look up of Tuckerman Ravine. The top isn't as steep up in Tuck's, but I really like skiing in there as there usually aren't as many people.

Hillmans is the line in the center that runs from the top to the bottom of the pic

Then this weekend got out for a spin on Saturday just tooling around the camp roads around the lake and then up and over the back of Davis for about 1:15 then headed home to cook up some wings. Here is visual proof that JJ isn't always a beer snob!

Dennis drinking the good stuff

On Sunday K, Lillo and my mother ran the 5km race at Pine Tree so Emma and I chased them around on bikes (Emma on the trail-a-bike) along with my father. It was cool as it was an out and bike course so we rode down the yellow line cheering both the leaders and the those just out for a cruise. Then later in the day we went out for a family cruise on some of the dirt roads- I need to get a better fender as Emma was pretty covered with mud!

So that was the weekend. The Mamsita is partially built- still have some work to do.

That's it from here.

later,

DEA

Riding the Kanc

The wife and kids headed out for spring break for the week leaving me bacheloring it. I took advantage and headed out for a good ride Saturday AM. I figured that since the first event of the season is a month away I needed to see how bad off I am. Unfortunately the ride confirmed I am in bad shape, literally.

Starting the climb

The actual race is a 21 mile time trial that climbs amlost 3,000 feet. The first 17 miles are a gradual steady climb that took me about an hour, then you hit the wall. The final 4+ miles go right up.

Still ice on the pond

At about the 18.5 mile mark there is a pond along side the road and as you can see it is stil frozen.


Low shot

Not sure what it means that you can read the logo on the wheel as I took this one, I'm afraid that it means that I might have been moving pretty slow.

suffering

At this point I had no more gears to drop into and was just working to keep moving and upright. Why was this a good idea???

The Top

Finally, the top is in sight.










Garmin Edge Ride data:
Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 2:58:22 4:04 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:50:27 3:53 pace
Distance (mi ) 43.81
Moving Speed (mph) 15.4 avg. 32.4 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +2,970 / -2,969

Avg. Heart Rate 161 bpm Zone 4.5

Hope to get out more in the next couple weeks to start getting some legs. Would really love to get on some dirt but that still looks to be a while form now.

Ride on.

JJ

Cycling Socks

I'm going to poke fun at myself, as I am one of those riders who wears cycling socks pretty much all the time at least once the temperatures get warm enough that I can stop wearing winter weight ski socks! I know I've read in several places out on this world wide web that doing that is considered "poserish", so alas I am once again a poser- just like my mid eighes days when I couldn't afford a pro model skate board and had a Nash board until I had collected enough cans and bottles to buy a Santa Cruz Hosoi, with Indy 169's and SC slimeballs (damn I loved that board!)- it was funny my love of skating didn't change between the two boards- but once I had a "real" board I was no longer a poser- interesting.

I bring this up as I was sitting at my desk talking with one of our coders and I saw my socks (so I took a picture) and I realized I was a poser.

my hairy ankle and purtty sock

So I started thinking about my socks, and I either own cycling socks- most of which are freebees that I've won at races (not for my speed- but for hanging out long enough that I win a raffle of some sort). Most of them are like the ones I have one- Michelin (Thanks Mike!) or they are Bikeman socks. Now the reality is I don't really buy clothes- so my sock collection are either wool socks from Smartwool (I used to get them for free as a product tester- I miss those days) or my cycling socks- or my least favorite- dress socks that are required when I try to look all professional.

I guess my point is do I make fun of myself for wearing cycling socks all the time, or do I make fun of those who spend thier money on casual socks instead of a new pair of Mavic c29's? Hmmmmm thoughts to ponder.

Anyway it's sunny out- hoping to get out for a ride soooooooon, hoping to get on trails soon as well. Anyone in the NE region got rideable trails? Would love to hear about it!


later,

DEA

The riding efforts begin

It's been a great week. Got out with A1 and his wife on Saturday, skied like a mad man on Sunday with a group of 60+ year olds and tried my damndest to stay with them (and my legs are still killing me!) Got in some commuting this week and snuck out with JJ for a good lunchtime spin yesterday. This morning I rode in and my legs were junk- I'm thinking it was the Applebees I ate last night- I should have known better!

I'm hoping to get in some good milage this weekend and maybe we can talk about a trip not to far south to get on trails here pretty quick- that would be sweet!

The Mamasita is still in bubble wrap- saving that for a rainy day project.

That's it from here- but I hope everyone is taking advantage of this great weather this week. I did see Michelin Mike out yesterday

cheers,


DEA

Finally

With the temps finally warming up and snow banks on roads melting I've gotten out for some longer rides recently. Saturday did the loop from home to West Side to North Conway village and back down North South Road and home. That evening I decided to grab the SS and head out for a little spin around Old Mill and Pine Tree to play around a little. Sunday was cold and rainy so Monday Nikki and I rode the North South to the village again and then around Old Bartlett by Cranmore and back to the village and home. Yesterday I had to bring some tax things to our accountant so I decided to ride. He's in Tamworth Village so I headed down Rte. 16 to Rte. 113 in Chocorua then continued on that to the village. Decided to bypass Page Hill as it was pretty sandy, or that's my excuse, it's friggin steep too. Accountant wasn't there so I spun back and rode the same route home. Little over 40 miles on the ride and best part I saved about $10 in gas (now that diesel is over $4 gal.). Today I had to bring the truck to Meredtih to get serviced and oil change so I turned down all offers for a ride home and brought my bike instead to ride back. Another $10 savings. I've never ridden that far south of here. Pretty decent amount of hills and roads are really smooth. Only really bad section is from The Neck Road in Moultonboro to the school, absolutely no shoulder and was pushed off once by a tractor trailer on one of the corners. It seems for every hill you climb you descend one as well so the 23 mile ride was actually just over an hour and ten. Stopped at our garage in Tamworth and grabbed another truck as I have a meeting later and needed a vehicle so wasn't able to continue to Conway. So since Saturday I've been about 115 miles, not bad. Legs feel decent too.

After yesterdays ride I went to Frontside got a large coffee and a donut, then decided the donut was good so I drove to Leavitts for 2 more. Monday after the ride I also drove to Frontside for a capuchino and a cookie, yummy. I'm off to get more donuts now, sweet.

A1

Dos in progress....

I went over to DEA's last night with a bunch of bike parts and some beer. We made some good progress on my Dos Niner.


Still need to finish running some cables and get the drivetrain dialed in.



I am trying to run the wheelset tubeless with some Stans sealant and regular Maxxis tires. We were able to get the front to air up pretty easily, but the rear was a nightmare and we never did get the bead to set and hold any air.




Overall I'm pretty happy with how its coming together. Much thanks to DEA for his bike prowess. I need to buy more beer so we can finish the job and start to out his Mamasita together. Of course we have another 3 months of winter yet, so what's the rush?

JJ

A slow start

I've been getting out a bit more on the bike, got in better then three hours this weekend and did a half commute on Monday (ended up working super late and didn't have lights so needed to catch a ride home), and then of course it snowed again- argh.

Drove over the Kanc yesterday- the snowbanks are rather impressive. I think JJ and I are going to try and ride it this weekend- we'll have to see if we can get A1 to go with us as well.

Box season continues, and I think I have everything I need for the Mamasita build, I'm thinking that will happen tonight, JJ may come over to build his Dos as well. I've got a few other bike projects- but the DA kit over on to the Surly cross-check and the the new Rival kit will go onto the Primero, then I need to sell the Jake and also the Specialized SS, so if anyone is looking let me know!

The girls are down in FL doing the disney thing and I'm hanging with the dogs and snowbanks, hmmmm.

Hopefully we get good weather this weekend and we can snap a few pics from the Kanc ride- should be pretty cool with the 12 foot plus snowbanks!

later,

DEA

Seriously, the snow needs to end!

Another 3-5 inches today, this is ridiculous. At this rate we'll be riding dirt about mid June. In my boredom of plowing I decided to snap a few photos like Sven did on his bike. I'm not actually moving at this point so no worries.





I am at one of the finest eating establishments in the valley however. Seconds trip there of the day. Any guesses? Not sure what our snow totals are for the year, it's a lot and at 4:00 it's still snowing.

I did get out on the bike on Monday, about an hour or so and I rode the new Redline I got back in Dec. First time out on it and liked it. Nikki came with me on the older Redline and she liked the single speed thing. We'll see. Off to Boston this weekend for a few days away, taking the kids to the aquarium and there's also a bike/run expo in cambridge we're gonna go check out.

A1

Christmas Morning

I was about to call DEA last night to plan our trip the Bikeman.com HQ when my phone rang. It was DEA so I saved the dime I guess. He had a work thing come up so couldn't make the pilgrimage to Bikeman. I was on my own. I got up at 6AM and after getting all red up, headed out to the car. The car thermometer told me it was a whopping 8 degrees. Not really bike weather. The drive is about 90 miles and at about 8:30AM I was getting off at my exit and was getting close.

Almost There

I pulled into the shop a bit after 9 since I needed to make a stop at Dunkin Donuts.

Bikeman HQ Sign

Part of my reason for making the trek is for goodwill and so that Big Al has a face to put with my innane emails and stories of bicycle prowess. Unfortuantely Big Al was not in when I got there, but the bonus was I got to deal with his wife Darcy, who I must say, no offense to Big Al, is much more attractive thatn he is.

Darcy started pulling my boxes of stuff out and putting them all together and I started taking them out to the car. I Could not wait til I got home to peak so I opened the parts box.

Box o Goodies

Next was the Frame. The Salsa Orange Peelz Dos Niner. Pulled it from the box but still in it's prophalactic plastic protection. Nice, can't wait to strip it and start to build it.

Dos Frame

Last box was the topper. A new wheel-set. THe new Mavic Cr29max 29er's. They look sharp.

Crossmax Wheelset

After cleaning up my drool I got back in the car and made it to work about noon. Not to bad for a little early morning field trip. Now if I we can get the snow to start to really melt I can get to ride the new addition to the family.

JJ

Another day out on the bike

No Kerkove shots, I wanted to try and take a shot while riding and picking my nose for Blue as I thought he'd get a kick out of that- but it was still pretty windy and I didn't want to explain to my wife why I had ended up on the deck and my phone was in pieces. While reader of this blog might find if funny my wife wouldn't thing this was a good explanation, "honey you see this guy that reads our blog knows this other guy whose blog we all read and he always takes pictures of himself while riding, and there are these other pictures of him picking his nose so I thought it would be funny to combine all of that into one thing but the wind took out my front wheel and now I'm broken and oh yeah I need to replace my phone- but it's a great story don't you think?"

So I just rode my loop. Did 302 to Halley town, took a left to merrel corner then a right up the hill to a right onto Old County and then back home to Mill Street. Took it easy (I'd say- it took me 1:20 to do the loop) but it felt good to get out. The section from Halley Town to Merrel Corner was a bit dicey as there still is a lot of snow and ice crowding the road so not much room, but it's a short section so all is good.

Tomorrow I might head out into Fryeburg Harbor for a spin. Could be interesting if there is still a fair amount of wind.

That's about it on this end. I'm gonna go back out and plan in the puddles in my driveway and try to see if we can get some drainage going.

later,

DEA

Christmas in March

I say that not because of the couple inches of new fallen snow like stuff on the ground this morning, but because on Monday of next week, DEA and I are making a pilgrimage to Team Bikeman.com World Headquarters to pick up our necessities. I am picking up my new Salsa Dos Niner frame. If it looks half as nice as DEA's Salsa Mamasita I'll be stoked. I also have most of the components to build the bike to pick up, but the (pardon my french) piece de resistance is the wheel-sets both DEA and I ordered. New Mavic Crossmax C29maxx 29er wheels. I've never owned a top end wheelset before so I am really looking forward to rolling these around. Might lose some of my excuses is the only problem.

Weather for this weekend looks good for maybe one of the good end of season ski weekends. Next weekend its Viva Las Vegas or Lost Wages. Not sure I'll be able to sleep until we arrive monday am in Bath, Maine.

JJ

Out for a ride

Snuck out for an hour after work yesterday, gotta love it being light later in the day! It's weird riding later in the day with such massive snowbanks- just doesn't seem right.

Here is my best Kerkove style shot- the guy should have a photo style named after him!

Here is a shot of a road sign, and this is after we've been seeing a lot of melting!


I was trying out some new gloves that I got from RSN (we gave a bunch away on Watch and Win and P-dog let me keep a pair). These are great for this time of year- a light glove with a mitten wind cover that come be flipped on or off.


That's it for now- although I did hear from JJ that our wheels are in at Team HQ, sounds like we might take a ride over there early next week- I'm so excited!


later,

DEA

Ready for "spring"

I'm ready for a more rapid melting of snow. I know I shouldn't say that being a skier, but that's what I would like to see. I really want to start seeing the trails loose snow, as I know that after the snow is gone it's still another couple of weeks before they dry out enough to ride- so we're gonna be waiting for quite some time!

My hamstrings hurt- I think I know why- here's a shot from the Spread Eagle World Championships where I survived but certainly didn't place very high, I'm not sure how to call this cross training but I will.


But no matter how much training I do, I know that Crank the Kanc will have my face twisted in pain, here's my "game face" during the 2006 race:


In other news 24 Hours of Great Glen may be looking at a small course addition, we'll have to see how that plays out. I'm sure TWAF will get up there to help with some recon work once the snow goes away.

Also found out that 24 Hours of Pats Peak is much earlier this year- hmmm, maybe the 6 hour or 12 hour again this year? Time will tell- its May 31- June 1st.

That's it from here. Hope for sun!

later,

DEA

The race season on the horizon

We signed up for Crank the Kanc as JJ mentioned. I almost didn't get in as I'm an idiot and thought that registration was on Saturday night, not 12:01 Saturday morning. But the cycling gods smiled upon me and I did get in.

Me training this weekend consisted of competing in the Spread Eagle World Championships up at Attitash, it was fun- but it's been awhile since I've gone off a big jump and I was not looking to pretty! Needless to say my knees are a bit sore from pounding them on the landings, but it was fun and I stayed upright!

Sunday I skied at Cranmore with the girls and it was good, Emma has come a long way and Lillo is on her own just checking in from time to time, kinda crazy.

I did ride in again today, so that was good. The scary part I have a 42x23 as my low gear and the North South road used all of that gear. Granted there was a headwind but in the summer that is a 53x18 section of road no problem- man I've got work to do!

K is going to race CTK this year so that should be fun, she'll have to spend some time on the trainer as she's not up for riding in crap weather and bad roads- and I don't see us having anything but that for the next 6 weeks or so (at least the bad roads- the weather is good today).

So that's my story. Waiting to see what the UCI does with all the Paris Nice riders. Should be interesting. Keep waiting to see my boy Tyler show up on a results sheet at some point. Still trying to figure out why the UCI is hell bent on support Contador despite his link to Purteo- but that is a conversation that just goes round and round.

If anyone is in the market for a 26" wheeled single speed let me know- I've got a 19" specialized S-works M2 that is set up that way and need to sell it to make cash for parts for the Mamasita. Just let me know! It'll go cheap, or if you've got a MTB crankset, 175mm that you need to get rid of we might have a trade opportunity.

later,

DEA

Crank the Kanc 2008

So I signed up for the firat event of 2008. Crank the Kanc is a 21 mile Time Trial Hillclimb. We did it as a team last year but this year we went back to the solo catagory. The race is May 17, 2008. Exactly 2 months from today. I have not ridden outside in months it seems and the spinning bike has seen sporadic action at best.

Guess it is time for me to try to get on the bike since this is an individual time trial and I won't have DEA and A1 to tow me up the climb this year. Not sure when that's going to happen though since we're supposed to be getting 2-4 inches of snow today. Skiing was nice this moringin was I was doing course maintenance for the Easter High School Regionals slalom race at Cranmore Mountain.

Team Bikeman.com from 2007 Crank the Kanc


See ya on the road, or more likely on the side of the road sucking wind or just throwing up.

JJ

Finally!

Finally got back out on the bike as a means to get to and from work. That was the longest stretch I've been off the bike in a LONG time- don't really want to do that again.

It felt great to get out on the road, and put me in a much better frame of mind (at least for a few minutes) when I got to work. It is also giving me something to look forward to for the end of the day.

So thtat is the extent of my excitement.

Now for my random questions/comments about the world.

Why is the UCI behind getting Contador into the Tour but did nothing for the Rock Racing guys? (aren't all of them somehow tied to Opperation Puerto)

We have two US skiers who look to take the overall world cup- Bode and Vonn- pretty cool, yet 99.9% of the country doesn't have a clue- oh well.

Ok gotta go back to work.


DEA

new 24HOGG site

The new 24 Hours of Great Glen site is up and live- interesting site. I'm playing the role of moderator so that should be fun.

Now I just need to get my ass out on the bike!

By the way box season is still underway- I'm tracking a box of SRAM parts coming in today and a big box from Salsa came in earlier this week. I'll get some photos up of it soon!

later,

DEA

North Country Traffic Jam

JJ

A view out my front door

JJ was talking about the snow- this is the view out my front door- the snow banks are taller then my wife and her car (you can't see my truck- blocked by snow) oh me oh my.


DEA

Box season and shoveling my roof

Not much of connection between DEA's proclamation of the beginning of "Box Season" and me spending a bunch of hours shoveling my roof, other than I placed my order to Team Bikeman.com's World Headquarters yesterday to get all the necessary parts to complete the Dos Niner frame that's on order. I was told the frame has been shipped from Salsa land, cause that's where they come from. It should be at the shop shortly. Ordered the Mavic 29er wheelset, actually 2 sets, one for me and one for DEA. Hopefully it will all be in in a couple weeks and I can make the trek to Bath, ME to Bikmean.com.

So after feeling good about getting that done yesterday, I left work early to go home and shovel some of the snow that has accumulated on our front roof this winter. I have been told we've gotten 14+ feet of snow this winter and I was starting to get concerned about our roof as a lot of places here have been having major problems with collapsing, etc. I got 90% of the front shoveled off and it made such a huge pile of snow on the ground we have a 5 foot high wall of snow blocking our front door. Now I have to shovel that mess. I have free beer for anyone who wants to come over and help shovel!!

JJ

box season begins

First box of the season arrived yesterday, inside a pile of SRAM mountain bike parts- brakes (Juicy 7's), rear shifty thing- x9, rear shifty thing controler- x9, a shiny thing with teath and with that the box season has kicked off.

Now I've got three more boxes that I'm waiting for- new team clothing, SRAM road parts, and of course the ever loverly Salsa Mamasita frame. Then of course comes the additional boxes from Team Bikeman.com world HQ as I'll need wheels (Mavic c29 is the goal), seat, seatpost, headset, crank + BB, bars, stem, grips, rubber, chain, tubes, bottle cage- I think that does it (I hope).

So here's to box season!


later

DEA

Rant con't

No Astana? Not suprising. Look at last year's Tour. I think there is a conspiracy amongst the French to try to get one of their own to win La Tour Da France. Maybe its because the sport is run by folks who have a horse in the race and not by someone that can trump them. I'm not saying that we have it all figured out in the NFL or MLB by any stretch, but with a commissioner for each league there is a person in charge to make tough decisions and their goal is to promote and protect the sport. I wonder if the organizers of the grand tours are more into protecting their own than protecting the sport in general. It seems more like a scenario where its a kids game and he keeps losing so he decides he's going to change the rules and not let the ones whio keep beating him play anymore so he can finally win. I wonder how much the organizers of the Tour figure they lose each year that a French rider or team doesn't win the race. I can't imagine that doesn't factor in. I also bet the champagne was flowing when Discovery folded up shop. I also think its a crock that a rider is ineligible if there is suspicion that they may have doped. That should be reason alone for the riders to get together and organize to protect their jobs. One nice thing about rants it their lack of flow. I am definately not a big union supporter, but it seems pretty clear that the riders that get screwed by the lack of any process would want to raly their mates to say "guys, this can happen to you too, we need to protect ourselves." That is unless they are all a bunch of cheating dopers. Regardless, I think the appeal of the sport is suffereing, not from the doping scandals so much as the fact that the stars of the sport are being excluded from the biggest stages. When a race can just not invite a team that has a load of world class riders including the most recent winner as well as another person that was on the podium, when all that remains from the team the year before is the corporate name seems ludicrious. More of the "I'm taking my ball and going home" mentality on display. Not by the UCI, but the ASO. Why is the ASO in charge of anything? Why dont the riders & teams say we're doing our own thing and tell the ASO to go run your race without us. It would seem that with some good leadership that the respective teams could get together and organize a race series that is run by a group with the goal of promoting the sport and its riders and allowing everyone to make a good return on their investment.

JJ

The state of cycling

I'm going off on a tangent without knowing all the details- which is dangerous to do- but also keeps life entertaining.

So here goes: I've been a Tyler Hamilton fan for a whole pile of years that requires me to take off my shoes to count them all up with my digits (and while I did take the tip of my middle finger off with a table saw in 8th grade I do have all my fingers)and while Tyler has long been one of the guys I get excited about watching race I'm not here to say he didn't dope in '04- cuz frankly I don't know. At one point I cared if he doped or not, but I don't really care anymore- but what I do care about is the fact that this dude served his time and has basically been getting f&*cked ever since by the cycling "powers that be". Now here is the thing I just can't get my head around- Operation Porteo or what ever the hell it's called- has been opened and closed more time then the beer cooler door at the local mini mart- at what point does this end?

The guy got busted and did his time, how do they then say they're going to go after him for other offenses that happened before that? If that is the case then anyone who has ever doped twice (two different injections) should be tossed out of the sport with a lifetime ban. Isn't that the logic here? I guess if this is a full on criminal situation that makes sense- I mean we do check prints of crooks against past crimes so I guess this works for cycling. I just don't know.

What sucks is here are a group of riders that have done their time and should be allowed to get back to making a living and they are being blocked. If that is how WADA/UCI/USA Cycling and all the others want to play make it a one offense and you're out for good rule.

It just drives me nuts, and on top of that nobody seems to have the story. This thing has been going on for years and we still know nothing.

While I'm on this- no Astana at the tour- WTF? I think Lotto should be banned as well- since Cadel was in proximity to both Contador adn the Chicken and I'm sure that means he doped and if not then he got doper sweat on him so he's contaminated as well. This sport (from a racing fan point of view) is really starting to smell like burnt rubber.

Ok rant off. Did some some trick pics of the new electric DA10- damn that looks good. A long way from Mavic Zap!

JJ's bike looks sweet- I went with the more subdued black Mamasita- can't wait to build them up.

later,

DEA

New frame for 08

Dos Niner

Well I pulled the trigger and put in my order for a new Salsa Dos Niner. Plan is to build it up with gears as a race bike with a set of new Mavic C29ssmax wheels. Paint color is a bit loud, should be safer during hunting season though. We'll have to see how light/heavy it ends up once its built. It will be interesting to compare it to the Mamasita DEA ordered.

JJ

My New Shovel

Let it snow.....

Here's a pic from last week. Since then we have gotten close to another 2 feet of snow. We had about 10 inches this morning, wow. Took a run at Cranmore this morning on skis and it was great. Just wish I had my snowboard. Crazy thing is we didn't really get any snow last year until Valentines Day. Our plow guy told me yesterday that we've gotten over 13 feet of snow so far this year. Not sure if that's accurate, but it wouldn't suprise me.

Time for me to go shovel.

JJ

Slackers

I don't know what to say- it's been awhile since any TWAF member has posted- sorry about that!

What's new- hmmm, lots of snow. As I write this there is a large bucket loader trying to remove parts of the huge piles around our office- not sure where they are taking the snow- but that's what they are doing. More on the way later this week- it's the first time I can ever remember actually being sick of moving snow. I'll post some pics later of our front yard- but the banks are over my head. Actually yesterday my wife and I skied off of one pile yesterday- one of them is large enough to do a front flip off of it with skis on- yes I'll post the video.

So the skiing is epic- and will be for some time.

Rode rollers last night- ok so I'm out of shape- hopefully that will change quickly.

Thats it for now.

later,

DEA

Weekend ride on the new Studs

WVT

Last Sunday I met up with Ward Solar to get out for trip on the Wildcat Valley Trail. Ward and I met up in Jackson to stage a car and then I piled into the back of his new Element and Rebecca drove us up to dump us at the base of Wildcat.

I was in my full ninja black uniform- very stylish. You'll notice that Ward has full on tele gear and skins and I was running a pair waxless Karhu Catamounts- which is a good choice of ski but was a bit lacking on the climb.

The trip up was good, nice even pace, took about an hour to climb the 2100'. It was cold but we were working so it wasn't bad. As we got toward the summit the wind was a bit bitting. The entire trip up the views were unreal of Mount Washington and while we didn't spend much time at the summit due to the wind we did take a minute to enjoy the view (this isn't a shot we took, but it is from the same spot).



We quickly got into the woods to get out of the wind and it was amazing how much more comfortable it was in the woods. We descided that brunch at the Red Fox would be in order after the trip so I texted K to let her know that was the plan and then we pushed off.

The snow was great, there were a couple of sets of tracks so speed wasn't and issue and when the pitch was there you could get into the untracked and enjoy some nice turns. About a quarter of the way down we were complailning that neither of us brought a camera and then Ward realized that he had a camera on his phone- this is me looking dashing in the woods:

It was a great trip down and the Birch Glade was, as always, amazing! Ward was making some nice turns and got me wishing that I had brought "big gear", but I was managing fine just not able to be real aggressive with my turns. Of course the tables turned when we got to the flats and I was digging being on lightweight XC gear.

There were a few sections of old logging roads that had some interesting waterbar sections. Ward and I were doing out best 1980's spread eagles and Ward even threw in a very stylish back scratcher

It was fun skiing on the edge at times and there were even a few "gaps" that needed to be cleared at speed as some of the waterbars had running water going through. It should be noted that at one point we skied up to a small stream and I felt that I could jump it- Ward felt it wasn't doable- even trying to get his camera out to record either me laying in the water or me with broken skis- but I made it (barely) and then on his attempt he put a ski in the water which made gliding a bit interesting for a short bit.

We finally made it out to Carter Notch road and intelligently took off our skis and walked the half mile to the car and met up with everyone at the Red Fox.


Ok so we didn't do that- instead we began a foolish bushwack that included me beating up a blister to the point that I'm still wearing clogs four days later- but I won't go into details on our foolishness. Needless to say we made it out and then went and chowed down at Brunch.

It was great to get to ski with Ward and then catch up with Rebecca as well. If you haven't read her posts about here first crack at racing cyclocross in Belgium this past December you should- good stuff.

That's it for now- but we'll do the trip again- this time Ryan up at GGTOC won't bail on us- and we'll get JJ and my wife to go as well.

later,

DEA

Epic Ride Planned

What are you doing on Saturday, June 21st? TWAF is planning on an estimated 12 hours of quality saddle time. Start in Center Conway, head out to Bartlett and go up and over Bear Notch, then up and over the Kanc, down into Lincoln and then up Rt 3 through Fanconia Notch, bang a right onto 302, ride by the beautiful Mount Washington Resort and then through Crawford Notch, roll into Glen and bang a left up Pinkham Notch, go by our friends at GGTOC, into Gorham, take a right onto Route 2 and then a left onto North Road into Maine then up and over Evans Notch and then home. Estimate 180 miles and a crap load for climbing (I'm guessing 15,000 to 20,000 feeet)

This ride needs a name- thoughts?

We've been looking for motivation to train- I think we've found it!

later,

DEA

First Ride of 2008

Snuck out for my first ride of the year yesterday. Grabbed the El Mariachi and hit the road with no real game plan. I was thinking of just riding pavement as we had had freezing rain the day/night before so the roads were a bit sketchy on the edges. So cruised down Mill and then hit Browfield road. I got up to Potter and decided to see how it was holding up. It was very icy but there was enough texture in the ice to make staying upright very doable.

I figured I'd ride out to the end of where they plow, turn around and go off in another direction. The views along the lake were fantastic, it was fun to ride it in the opposite direction. When I got to the end of where the town maintains the road I noticed that it had been sort of plowed/packed down. The road looked awful and very icy so I went for it. It was a bit of a sketchy ride at times but I took it slow and managed to stay upright. Then over to Greely which had been plowed and sanded- prior to the freezing rain. Again there looked to be enough texture to get traction so I went for it.

I had forgotten that in this direction it was a good climb, and that combined with the ice made it a good challenge. I slipped a few times but managed to not dab and made it to the bottom of Leavitt, which is paved- but not maintained. Fortunately it has a southern exposure so pavement was showing but it had a thin breakable layer of ice on top. I headed up having to stay seated to make sure my rear tire didn't slip- I got almost to the top and slid out and then it got interesting as I was standing but sliding down the hill backwards holding my bike. I aimed for the snowbank and managed to "self arrest" but was then stuck for a moment while I planned how to make it to the top. I found that if I used the very edge of the snowbank I could get footing and climb my way up- I must of looked pretty foolish- but I also knew that anyone that could see me would be dealing with the same issue!

At the old farm house at the top I stopped to enjoy the view, it was pretty spectacular with clear skies and all the mountain summits very white as they broke above treeline.

I new the descent down Gulf road "should" be clear- but I was nervous as I rolled up to it. I took the approach to let the bike run when it looked glossy and grab two handfuls of brake anytime I saw road that had dirt on top of the ice. It made for an exciting ride!

Then up and over the back of Davis, with a tour of the new lots up on top- still looks like their all for sale- anyone want to be JJ's neighbor?

Then home via Mill St/302. It was a good ride, took about 1:40- certainly not record pace- but it felt good to get out.

Now it's time to load up the car to go get in some Nordic up at GGTOC.

later,

DEA

Bike? What Bike?

My bike work area is MIA, completely hidden by waxing benches, irons, brushes and lots of skis- and that's ok with me! Ski season is in full swing and what a season we've been having. Pretty much 'cross season wrapped up and skiing got underway with little hesitation in between.

This past weekend the skiing was excellent- once again. Skied with Emma at Cranmore on Saturday, while K and Lillo ripped around with K's sister and her family. Emma is close to being fully solo up on the mountain- but not just yet. She still has a "bowling for skiers" attitude at times. Then on Sunday we headed up to GGTOC for some nordic, Lillo is doing the BKL program and Emma, K and I skied out to Great Angel again. Emma had a couple ripping downhills where she stayed in the track and just railed around the corners at a good clip. I was nervous a couple times as I wasn't sure she'd make the corner and if she didn't how far off into the woods she'd end up. But it all went well and whe was pretty proud of herself.

I also got out and snowshoe packed our ski trails that are between A1's house and ours. The dogs came out with me and seemed to have a good time- the only down side was that the snow is so deep that hte dogs are doing their business in the track- oh well (klister and dog poo- great combination)

So that's it at the moment. I'll be riding for Bikeman.com again this year as will JJ- looking forward to that. Didn't get into the SSWC out in Napa, oh well. We'll still have the North American Championships here in the Valley next fall.

That's it from here.

later,


DEA

Good morning

The day started like this- get up and snowblow (again- but I'm not complaining), get in feed the kids, pull thier stuff together grab my stuff for work- make sure to not forget my laptop, get the girls ready, get little E into the truck to drop her off at daycare, roll out, get half way to town and realize I left my computer at home, turn around, start to sweat that now I'm going to miss first chair, get the computer speed back to town, drop off little E (she took here time getting out of the truck and walking in), roll to the mountain- see they did an early load- f$%&- oh well- no panic, get to the lift drop my skis put them on- left binding bail snaps- crap! figure out a fix, get on the lift- breath easily again, get down the top half of the mountain with grin that went ear to ear both on the top and bottom of my head (that's a big grin), get over into some terrain where they were blowing snow, did something wrong went ass over tea kettle and landed on my head first- saw stars, stood there for a minute to figure out which way was up and which way was down, skiied down to the lift and shook the fog off, went up again, oh my the snow was so good! Took a few runs hten went back to work. Head still hurts, but damn it was worth it.

I love powder days.


DEA

Happy New Year

I can't believe it's 2008- yikes. Anyway it's snowing like crazy and I've got to go fire up the snowblower.

Happy New Year and let's make 2008 a great year.

DEA