I know that this kicked race season into high gear for a bunch of you. Heck I even tossed a number on the bike already this season. How about before we talk about riding bikes fast or for a long time we remember that riding a bike is not all about racing.
The riders and commuters in NYC have been catching grief for awhile now and the relatively new separated bike lanes have come under fire. Check out who really uses these .
In other bicycle related reality check news I am going to race the Single Speed European Championships this weekend. Race could be a loose definition of what I will be doing. This trip to Belgium with J-Fon will be an excuse to goof off and enjoy some really good Belgian beer.
I will be rocking the fully rigid 4130 Cr-Mo General Lee on this adventure. I had visions of writing a fancy Bicycling magazine style review of this wonder bike of mine, but...... Time definitely did not allow. It takes an inordinate amount of time to pack light for a trip.
Seeing as this is a total Bro-cation I am not packing fancy anything, and articles of clothing will be worn multiple times and if need be a visit to the famous tourist destination "Belgian Laundromat" will be in order.
So with all of this exciting news (at least to me), I am going on Hiatus for a week. There will be no Wednesday quote this week for the first time since I started this bloggie thing.
I will try to regale you with stories upon my return.
Carry on, ride your bikes, and live the dream. Just don't let that dream be a nightmare.
I could actually hear the Sea Otter's at night walking around, or that was the ringing in my ears from leaving the Crown.
An impromptu trip to Sea Otter was well worth it. I got to see many of my cycling alum friends in a much more relaxed atmosphere than Interbike. Not having solid work duties was refreshing and allowed me to wander the pit's be social and even ride a bit.
I rolled down to Monterey with Jeff Lenosky and Kyle Ebbet. The two of them had been building a track for a new contest at Sea Otter. The Speed and Style course. This took the place of the Dual Stunt competition. A combination of Dirt Jump and a Pump Track.
Upon getting to the venue I was immediately put into hard labor...NOT! Lee of Leelikesbikes and Kyle along with various other volunteers had already been hard at work on the dirt. Jeff was tasked with building the wood sections of the course. I was tasked with the super difficult job of taping off the ramps to delineate the black and red courses.
I had overspray on the black course so Kyle took over for me on painting. Jeez what a novice I am.
My years of roller skills were also put into use ensuring that the ramps were good and grey before people rode all over them.
The course was pretty cool. The riders went down the start ramp hit the jump and could get a 1/2 second of bonus time for the better trick. Then they did two laps of the pump track course. Their time was from Jeff saying GO to the base of the ramp the second time. The second time off the ramp could also garner 1/2 of a second bonus for the better style.
Here Danny Hart from Team Giant shows how it's done in a practice run. He is sans helmet so kiddies don't try this at home. Danny was fresh off a Pro GRT win, and the only person that I saw nail it on his first run.
In completely unrelated and random news I am happy to be in the world of Mac to be able to upload these iPhone movies, among countless other reasons. Sorry for the sound on these. the wind was blowing like crazy.
The finals of the Speed and Style contest were well received and I was able to watch from a good vantage point up high. I got a few decent video's but I am going to upload the one from Kyle Ebbett's run. Kyle dumps it but that's not the real story. The real story is that Kyle is a certified Honey Badger. That is to say that he is BAD ASS!
Kyle is barely four months out of brain surgery (seriously). He had a tumor removed from his brain in late December and he is throwing down big air and living the dream. To quote Randall, Kyle doesn't "Give a S@&t" He takes what he wants and what he wants is Big Air and to ride his bike. Listen to the guy in the background on this video. "You just got out of the hospital BUDDY"
Of course I also saw some other great bikes, hung out with friends and generally had fun.
After the competition Jeff's Sponsors threw down with a big party to celebrate the 21st anniversary of Jeff's 19th Birthday.
It was a rippin partay and Jeff sure knows how to give prop's to his sponsors.
It's at this moment that I need to put a HUGE Thank You out to Jeff and Kyle for dragging me around and helping a brother out. Also my brother E.D. You took such good care of me and hooked me up so much with rooms and rides and, well....
I'm often asked "What's the coolest thing you saw" at these events. Well with out a shadow of a doubt it would have to be this guy....
I didn't pick that soundtrack, it was what was blaring over the PA system. There were adults who were rolling this jump, and this little grom gapped it every time on 16" wheels and did it time and time and time again for the 20 straight minutes I watched him.
The future of our sport is good if lil ones like this stay at it.
Of course no trip would be complete without Unicorn sightings.
This was on a 15 year old kid riding the Speed and Style course. Yeah he had style.
This waitress thought I was creepy when I asked for a pic of her shirt thinking I just wanted a pic of her upper torso region. After I explained I was just and liked Unicorns she said it would be cool. I let her friend take the picture to give her control and lower the creep factor.
“But in the mud and scum of things, There always, something sings” Ralph Waldo Emerson
I'm riding what was ultimately my last lap at Leesburg, and I am hearing this metallic high pitched whining. It is intermittent and slightly annoying. I figure its the disc rotor, but somehow rule that out. Then I guess it's the suspension linkage under my arse, but somehow rule that out.
The last few miles of the 9 mile loop were in a nice pine grove. The metallic noise got regular here, almost melodic. I started to sense that the frequency was timed, when it dawned on me. It was my lung's as I was breathing.
Now I realize that a bit of suffering is the name of the game in endurance racing but that was when I gave in to the inner voice that had been nagging me almost all day. It was saying, no, screaming... STOP!!!
It had rained all day and most of the night before the Bakers Dozen and the mud was thick and classic east coast peanut butter consistency. Not Skippy or Jif creamy consistency but organic thick peanut butter, with some Potomac river basin clay thrown in just to add weight to the bike.
The first lap was the worst and the bike gained 10-15 pounds of mud. After that most of the mud from the course was on my bike. (Fred's bike) The remaining laps we didn't have to slice through the deep standing mud. This didn't make it altogether easier for the rest of the day.
The course turned to Velcro. Not the Velcro hero dirt that my Left Coast brethren refer to. This was more like the mud was holding your wheel to the ground not letting it roll freely. I heard it accurately described as feeling like riding the trainer all day.
For an idea of the progression of the day see the picture below. On the left was the 1st bottle used, center a bottle from the middle of the day, and then the last bottle of the day. In all I used 9 or 10 bottles.
The race was well done as it was in 09 when I did it as well. Kudo's to the chap's at Plum Grove Cyclery. Last time it was unseasonably hot and the laps were shorter. In those conditions I was able to pull out 120-130 miles and barely grab 11th place. Losing a case of Chimay to T-Rav in the process. This time I only lasted about 10 hours and think I grabbed a 10th place with only 72 miles. I will have to see official results when they are finally posted. The mud and tough conditions were definitely slowing down things.
Aside from my waving self you can see Bakey next to me in the pink helmet, and fast guy Auer is in the front row with the Specialized helmet talking to fast guy Bill who has the nicest girlfriend. Auer and Breyla-La went on to win the mixed duo.
I channeled my "Inner Michelle Weiser" Following her motto "Do what you want to do before it's too late" I wanted to ride my bike all day, and I did.
Unfortunately the Unicorn Helmet never saw action because my only "Nightish" lap was taken care of by the bar mount that I had on in just in case.
Driving home the next day I turned on the radio and this was on.
Appropriate!
I am off on a last minute trip to Sea Otter. I've already seen shenanigans from Jeff Lenosky and Kyle Ebbet. Pic's and stories to follow. Although I'm sure some will be withheld to protect the innocent (and guilty)
This makes me smile and I have a suspicion that this song will be rattling around my skull while I pedal the Bakers Dozen tomorrow.
The other (not safe for work) clip that has me cracking up is THIS. I know I will be quoting it for awhile and hurling these epithets at T-rav throughout the weekend.
"Find release from your cares, have a good time." My fortune cookie at dinner
That quote is more about how I live my life than a fortune. They say attitude is a choice. I choose to ride my bike, that makes my attitude good.
There are two things I choose to obsess about in this forum other than bicycles......
Unicorns.....
AND........ Bacon.......
Not that Bacon.....
This bacon......
This perfectly natural obsession led to this video from the Huffington Post being forwarded to me.
Bacon Perfume?
Now only if there were bacon scented unicorns.
I think I know what the second product for UVINMCP needs to be.
Since this rambling weblog thing that is posted on the world wide interweb supposedly has a bicycle theme I should probably talk/type about bicycles.
Sunday I actually rode at Fair Hill for the first time. Yes, that is correct. I had never ridden at Fair Hill. Fat Marc helped me change that. He gave a guided tour with his team mate Jake and T-Rav. Later we met up with Monkey and Bakey. I will certainly be back.
There is a bicycle racing event at Fair Hill This Sunday April 10th. It is supposed to be one of the premier events of the Mass Series. I worked the event a few years ago but wasn't able to ride. I wont be attending this year either.
The reason I won't be attending is because I will be pedalling my bicycle (well actually not my bicycle but a bicycle) for 13ish hours at the Leesburg Bakers Dozen.
Have I been training steadily for this? No.
Have I been putting tons of extra miles in to prepare? No.
Do I like riding bicycles for hours at a time? Yes.
So am I prepared for this weekend? Mentally? Yes...Actually? Maybe
