Tuesday, June 26, 2007
filtering through the canopy
rootz
Speaking of 'amateur hour' we passed two guys riding the trails sans helmet.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Back from the beach
I'm back from a lazy week in Southern Shores on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I shuffled my schedule around to make this a rest week. My legs had been pretty beat up so they needed the break...and riding on the roads down there would not have been fun.
This was an old-school week with a whole lot of sitting on the beach, taking naps, reading books, hanging out with family, eating good food, and drinking good beer. The weather was ideal and after the first day the surf settled down to family friendly levels.
Everyone had fun.
We dug a bunch of holes in the sand.
And chased seagulls (otherwise known as doo-doo's).
And played with an assortment of trucks.
It was a fun and relaxing week.
Needless to say by the time we returned home I was jonesing for a ride.
I got out for solid rides on Saturday and Sunday hitting the bone-dry trails of Avalon. After a week off it took a while to find my lungs, but by Sunday afternoon I was feeling good.
It was a perfect weekend for riding with mild temps and low humidity. There were a lot of riders out there enjoying themselves. I ran into the Singlespeed Outlaw and some of his crew a couple of times on Saturday.
I chickened out on the last steep, loose, stair-step descent down to the dam on the Baltimore Co. side. I went over the bars and cracked a helmet on that trail last year and now it's in my head.
I firmly believe in the saying, "When in doubt, dismount", but I need to ride that section to get over my fears. It's steep and has a lot of rocks, but I've ridden it before. At some point I'll nut-up and ride it again, but until then I don't feel too bad about walking it.
Anyway, it's back to the work grind and an attempt to build some 'cross fitness before the baby is born. I just rebuilt my cx bike so that I can do some early AM workouts over in Rockburn Park. With any luck I'll still have enough in the tank to help out my teammates in some late-season events. My personal goals are for the 2008 season.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
God of Thunder
All day today I was looking forward to my after-work ride.
I made it home, suited up, filled a bottle, ate a big handful of chocolate covered coffee beans, and rolled down the driveway.
The weather was threatening, but it looked like the storm was going to miss us to the North.
I rolled through Rockburn and crossed Landing Rd. into Avalon. As I crossed the road between parks the storm hit.
Thunder
Lightning
Heavy Rain
And even some hail
It was game-on.
I hammered up the log trail and worked my way over to the other Landing Rd. trailhead. The water was flowing down the trail, but the dirt was so packed down and dry that there was no mud.
The lightning was getting intense and the rain wasn't letting up so I chose to ride the road through Grovemont before dropping back into Rockburn and heading home.
It was only a 40 minute ride, but it was fast!
I got some good intensity work and I didn't get struck by lightening so all in all it was a good day on the bike.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
First 'Cross race of the year
First 'cross race of the year
Kaibab Monster 'Cross
120 miles of forest roads and singletrack on the Kaibab Plateau in Arizona. The Kaibab Plateau is a National Forest that overlooks the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
We did a trip there last June and the riding is incredible.
I'd love to do this one, but Arizona is a long road trip for a bike ride.
Though the milkshakes and cookies at the store in Jacob Lake might make it worth it!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Skateboarding?
According to Cyclingnews, the UCI is trying to get skateboarding added to the 2012 London Olympics.
I beg your pardon?
I like skateboarding and I wouldn't mind seeing it in the Olympics.
What I don't understand is why the UCI, the Union Cycliste Internationale, is involved. Shouldn't they be more interested in keeping cycling events from being removed (500m and Kilo TT) from the Olympics? Or maybe getting Cyclocross added to the Winter Olympics?
Cyclocross would fit well with a February Olympics. They could incorporate some snow into the track to accentuate the Winter motif.
The skateboarders should work on promoting skateboarding.
The cyclists should work on promoting cycling.
That would seem to make sense.
But the UCI has a history of not making much sense.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Speaking of underwear...
I put mine on backwards this morning.
And didn't notice until a minute ago when I went to take a leak.
Once again I woke up at the ass-crack of dawn and mounted Rita for some early morning trail time. At some point during the night it must have rained a little bit because the roads and ground were wet.
I think the trails would have been fine, but I decided to stay off of them thinking they could use some alone time and a bit of sunlight before being disturbed by bike tires.
Instead, I did short intervals around my neighborhood.
Boring.
But still better than punishing my ass
On the trainer
In the basement.
I will wear my undies backwards for the balance of the day as a testament to the fact that I am not normal. Nor do I aspire to be normal. I'm left-handed. Ha!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
FM-B, an alternative to Dugast
Now's the time to stock up on tires for 'cross season. In fact, Cyclocrossworld has already gone through a shipment from Dugast. High quality handmade 'cross tubulars are usually in short supply...and for good reason. I rode a set of 34mm Rhino's last season and they were phenomenal.
Good tires help compensate for lack of natural ability and training time! 8-)
Another manufacturer is trying to fill some of the supply shortage. A guy named Francois M. has set up shop. As I understand it he is a former employee of Dugast who has gone out on his own.
Though I haven't heard any first-hand accounts of how the tires ride they appear to be very similar to Dugast tubies in terms of materials and construction.
Check out the website for a look at their cyclocross selections. If I get confirmation that the quality is good I'll be placing an order.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Making the most of days
Nowadays this photo shows what I see. And "Play DaDa" is what I hear. So I dig sand, chase seagulls, and splash in the surf. And it's really amazingly cool.
We just got back from a quick trip to Sarasota (Siesta Key) to visit family and hang out on the beach for a few days.
This meant a few days off the bike letting the legs recover. To balance that out I hit it hard last week, waking up early and riding the trails at 5am.
Getting out of bed for a pre-dawn patrol ride is rough, but once rolling it's a wondrous experience. The trails are devoid of human intrusion. It's just me, some rabbits, and the occasional fox on the prowl. Even Bambi is still asleep.
Lights are obligatory for the first half of the ride. Though the sky is dark, with each passing minute the horizon hints at the coming day. That deep, murky blue of first light is hypnotizing and somehow comforting as I connect with a small patch of lighted singletrack amid the dark and lonely woods.
With each pedalstroke I become more awake and tuned into my surroundings. It doesn't take long. Focus is critical when riding at night and with focus comes flow. Flow is a word that is perhaps overused when waxing on mountain biking, but that's ok. It captures the essence of that feeling of rider, bike, and trail becoming one. It's a sweet feeling. Sublime, blissful, orgasmic. Yup, those words all capture the spirit of the thing. Apologies to Reg Dunlop and Dickie Dunn.
By the second half of my loop there's enough light emerging from the sky to make the artificial illumination from my Nite Rider mostly redundant. In the denser sections of the woods that's debatable so I keep it on.
Rolling out of the singletrack and back into my neighborhood I notice that the day has begun. Runners are humping up the road and the early birds are already in their cars on the way to work. I can't help but feel that I know some secret code for happiness that all these other people are oblivious to. After a morning ride I'm ready to tackle the bullshit of the day with a smile.
I was looking forward to continuing the morning rides this week, but a bunch of rain has changed those plans. I've even considered riding the trainer, but I'm not that desperate yet! It looks like I'll be riding the pavement this evening, but the weather is looking decent through the weekend.
I'm hoping to resume the pre-dawn rides as soon as the trails dry out. What better way to start the day than with a mountain bike ride, followed by a triple-shot from the Gaggia.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Escape from Granogue
Granogue mountain bike race
Sunday, May 20, 2007
I’m a bike rider, not really a bike racer. I got into bike racing too late to really be any good at it. Don’t get me wrong…I enjoy racing. I’m competitive and I like to push myself. Racing is a good way to do that.
I try to be a bike racer during ‘cross season, but other than that I just like riding my bike. Most of the time I’m riding my mountain bike. And for quite a while now the bike of choice has been my singlespeed.
I did my one XC mountain bike race for the year on Sunday at Granogue. I chose this race for a few reasons:
1. The Granogue Estate is a magnificent place for a bike race.
2. fatMarc & the DCCofD have a big role in promoting the race. That automatically qualifies it as a top-notch event.
3. The timing fit my schedule...or maybe I made it fit my schedule because of reasons 1 & 2.
The course was a tough one with a lot of climbing and a lot of tricky singletrack. Slick mud and rocks were also also in abundance. The difficult nature of the race made it a test of fitness and bike handling...specifically, bike handling while cross-eyed and swallowing back vomit.
I raced the Sport Singlespeed class running a 32x20 gear on a 29er. That's the gear I ride so that's the gear I would race. Plus, it's the only gear I've got.
I arrived early, took care of registration business, and got on my bike to do a thorough warm-up. Immediately both of my pedals were doing bad things. The pedal bodies sliding off of the spindles, a not ucommon occurence with Crank Brothers Candy pedals after about 6 months of riding. This would not be a good course on which to have just a skinny metal spindle for a pedal. Come to think of it NO course would be good for this!
Fellow killer B 'cross comrade Rob Campbell tried to come to my rescue. He attempted to rebuild the pedals on the spot, but they were toast.
I was freaking out. Luckily Tom McDaniel saved my day by letting me borrow the Egg Beaters off of his Moots. Now I had pedals, but only 10 minutes to warm-up.
I did the short opening climb a couple of times and that was my warm-up. I was just happy to have unbroken pedals so I didn't care.
At the start I thought I was going fast since I was spinning out my gear, but within 10 seconds I went from the front to the back. I was undergeared and/or underlegged for the start.As we made the turn onto the grass Fort James saw me at the back and yelled at me to move up!
I picked off a bunch of guys on the opening climb and then used my larger size to get by a few more skinny guys on the ensuing downhill.
Once onto the singletrack I had to jam on the brakes as many of the riders in front of me had trouble staying on their bikes. The trail was tight and moderately technical. It made for a logjam.
The rest of the first lap I would ride hard for a while and then have to sit behind slower riders on the tight singletrack sections. This was really frustrating, but in a way it was ok because it gave me time to recover. Eventually the traffic thinned out and I was able to ride relatively smoothly the rest of the race.
The front guys had gotten away cleanly during the initial singletrack logjam but I managed to work my way up to finish 5th, my first podium in an cross-country mountain bike race.
My bike was a joy to ride. The 29er wheels soaked up the bumps and tracked amazingly well on the off-camber slippery bits.
I felt ok all race...I never felt great, but never felt terrible either. I'm really happy with how the race went considering that the lack of racing in my legs.
The only bummer for me is that I missed the Beer stop. In my oxygen-deprived condition I never saw it.
All in all it was a fun day at the best bike racing venue on the East Coast.
photo courtesy of Bill Deputy at www.mbcx.com
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The watchful hosemaster
The working part was mulching and watering trees. Mr. T is big into fire engines so he got to play the part of fireman working the hose. We both got pretty wet, but the trees received plenty of much needed water.
After the yardwork we kicked back and played in the sandbox.Sitting in the shade shoveling sand was relaxing and much appreciated by my tired legs.
By 5:30 we were all hungry and I was craving nachos. I poured a beer and fired up the grill.
Shortly thereafter we were sitting at the table on the deck eating BBQ Chicken nachos with fresh corn on the cob. Guacamole and BBQ sauce...mmmm. A second beer had me feeling nice. The two-beer buzz is a wonderful thing.
After a full day of non-stop activity sleep came easily.
Friday, May 18, 2007
me=biker
Part of my 'interview' made the TV. It's here.
The reporter posted a web story that refers to me as a biker. I'm cool with that.
It looks like I'm doing Granogue this weekend. I've been wanting to race my mtb there for a while. I'll be riding my singlespeed, but I'm trying to decide whether to race my age group (35-39) or the SS class.
I've done very few XC mtb races so I'm not sure what to do and I don't have great expectations either way. I do expect to have fun.
Bike To Work Day 2007
My place of employment is not too supportive of bike commuting or anything not related to the bottom line. In the photo you can see the one and only bike rack for our 35 story building. There's probably one bike rack spot for every 200+ people in the building. Gee. Plus, we're business dress (suit & tie) Monday through Thursday most of the year. They act like they're doing you some huge favor when they announce business casual dress from Memorial Day to Labor Day...and threaten to take it away if somebody's slacks aren't pressed. Give me a fucking break.
Anyway, the ride in was awesome. I've been off the bike all week so the initial climb out of the Patapsco River valley was painful. After a bit the legs opened up and felt pretty good.
After hauling ass through the muy sketchy west side of downtown I rolled up to city hall for the bike to work day rally. Free t-shirts, tasty Caribou coffee, and pastries from Whole Foods were in full effect. We heard several speakers discuss bicycle transportation advocacy. It's really cool to see so many people committed and working hard to have an effect on our car-centric public policy. Between the speakers and the coffee I was fired up.
Paul K. (from the Wed. SS rides) and I were interviewed by channel 13. The reporter was pretty excited about the whole ride-your-bike-to-work concept and asked us why we did it. I forgot to mention the beer angle. darn.
Now I'm at work hoping that my ride home is not in the rain.
TGIF.
word.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Afternoon at the creek
Wading in the water
Throwing rocks
Digging in the sand
Getting dirty
Breathing fresh air
Unplugged (except for mobile phone to snap photos)
Outdoors!
This was followed up by grilling out, dinner on the deck, and a couple of tasty Raison d'Etre's from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.
To quote Melanie, "I wish every Mother's Day could be like this."
