Great weekend of riding in Breck.

Johanna and I just spent the weekend hanging out with friends and riding in Breckenridge.  We shot out of town a little early on Friday to beat the traffic and did a couple of great rides on Saturday and Sunday.  Before this we had only been to Breckenridge twice so we were still on our first handfull of rides in the area. My favorite thing about the trails is how much it reminds me of Virginia riding.  Don't get me wrong, the chunky, dusty front range riding is awesome but we came up riding the loamy, rooty, swoopy trails of central Virginia.  Breckenridge is much like VA but about 7,000ft higher.

The first day Johanna really wanted to try and get up to the Continental Divide.  Her first (ridiculous) ride plan involved climbing up to 14,000ft...which just wasn't going to happen.  Our friend Rebecca wisely suggested an alternative that would get us just under 12,000ft at Georgia Pass.  We started on Tiger Run Road in Breckenridge and did a 16 mile out and back.  8 miles up, 8 miles down... Sort of. The first half of the climb was really just some nice rolling terrain to soften you up for the real gut kicker.  The next two miles were brutal basically making up the bulk of the 2,000ft of climbing. The last 2 miles of climbing we fairly chill gradually bringing us up to Georgia Pass.

Day 2 was a dog-friendly loop that topped out at about 11,000ft with much less climbing all around. I was feeling surprisingly good until the last road climb but after that it was all perma-grin downhill.

If you care about the details you can see the Strava info for the Georgia Pass and Burro/Spruce Rides.

MTB Week 2012:Sedona

Last year 8 Virginia mountain bikers descended on Fruita like a swarm of fat tire locusts.  We had a great time camping in some amazing places, packing more people and bikes in a pickup truck than is likely legal and bombing down Porcupine Rim.

This year we opted to go a little more posh and "base camp" out of a VRBO in Sedona, AZ.  You may be wondering..."Why Sedona? Moab, sure, Fruita, Yup! But what's in Sedona?"  Oh, only about 300 miles of trails and mind blowing scenery right from your doorstep.

It was pretty nice to be based out of a house where we could roll out of the garage and ride to most of the trail heads.  We did drive one day when we wanted to check out some trails on the North side of town.

We basically all landed in Arizona on Saturday and made it to the house Saturday evening.  Team Vegan did have a slight delay and rolled in a day later.  Sunday's ride was HOT!  We got a bit of a late start and were out in the desert cooking during the heat of the day.  By 2 or 3 in the afternoon we were pretty much all in survival mode just looking to get back to the comfort of our little resort on the golf course.

We did meet a couple of characters on day 1.  A local who kind of had something to prove with a buddy who rides in denim. I think we also suffered from a flat or two on that first day.

Day two was pretty similar.  We got out a little earlier to try and beat the heat but we were still out there when it was close to 100 degrees.

On Tuesday we decided to head for higher ground and meet up with a Charlottesville buddy that recently moved to Flagstaff.  Unfortunately, Chris had befriended some local riders who had been pent up all winter and hadn't just spent the last two days trying to cook their brains in the desert sun.  All things considered it was a great ride and a good day in Flag.

Wednesday was a rest day for some of us.  Johanna, Fenton, Kyle and Richard opted for a little pre Grand Canyon ride.  I think they were out the door by 6:00 and a few hours later we were all headed up to the Grand Canyon for a little day trip.

By the end of the week temps had cooled down into the 70's and it was pretty ideal for riding.  I think we had some rain in the early part of Thursday so we waited it out and the group split up for two different afternoon rides.  J and Richard explored the Airport trails and the rest of us (minus Fenton who was beginning his own personal journey into hell) rode some of the stuff closer to town.

The last ride of the week was just a bit North of town and was pretty much perfect.  Being the last ride of the week I decided to throw the gauntlet down as we approached a short rise before a decent descent.  As I expected, Kyle and Richard answered the call and the three of us were tearing through baby heads like nobody's business.  I did manage to bonk myself about 300 yards from the car...which I would say is just about ideal.

Denver Veloswap...

...is only the world's largest consumer bicycling and sports expo.

But that didn't really give me an idea of what to expect.  All I knew is that back in March a local cyclist told me to keep an eye out for it.  So I did.  I found the date and set it on my calendar.  All I could gather was that it was going to be an epic gear swap of old, new and in-between cycling gear.  Individuals, shops, retailers would all be there to peddle their wares.

We wanted to get there when the doors opened so at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning we rolled out of Choice City to The Mile High to start our morning at a great little diner. We got to the doors about 45 minutes before they opened and we had a pretty good spot in line.  It wasn't quite backed up to the freeway yet (but it didn't take long to get there).

So...it seems like there are two strategies, but before I talk strategy...I've gotta talk layout.  As you walk in, you first go through all of the major manufacturers and sponsors...we are talking about folks like Rudy Project, Subaru...then you get to the big retailers (Mavic, Panda Bike, Full Cycle, Big Shot Bikes) then it starts to get to the guys with piles and piles of used shit, well it's not all used.  Clearly some of the gear might be unused stuff from a sponsor, or maybe some equipment that has one season of use, or stuff that was ridden within an inch of its life.  There's also a LOT of really vintage stuff out there.  I was looking for some odds and ends and was definitely ready to pounce on a good deal if one popped up.

Right, so strategy...it's really not that complex.  Either you can start at the front and work your way back or bolt to the back and work your way forward. I opted to head for the used stuff since I was looking for a deal on some mechanical brakes.

This shot gives you an idea of what the inside looked like.

I actually only spent $25 at the expo but I did score two Avid BB7's with levers, a nice ear warmer and two blinky lights.  Not a bad take for 25 bucks.  J managed to raid the Pearl Izumi women's medium bin to find several pairs of shorts (including two baggies) and three pairs of socks for one Mr. Benjamin.  She also scored 4 handlebars for 5 dollars.

I'll definitely be back next year, ready to deal.  It may actually be worth getting a vendor pass to get in the doors a little early so I don't have to battle the masses next year.  It was amazing how many people piled into the building in just 20 minutes.  I think also for next year, I may actually print out the map.  I got disoriented more than once and J had to navigate me to the guy with the $5 disk rotors...I would have been in the far corner with the 65 year old couple trying to sell their trek tandem for $650.

Oh, this was pretty awesome too.

Day Six - Honkytonk Badonkadonk

Today was the Monarch Crest Trail.  35 miles of riding, 3,500 ft of climbing with most of the climbing above 11,000ft and almost 7,000ft of descending!  It's a really gorgeous ride with some phenominal views and even a little East-Coast style riding.  One of these days I'll tally my observations between Colorado and Virginia riding but for now I'll just say it was nice to ride in the trees a little bit and railing corners.  I was quite surprised that a good bit of the ride was actually shaded. It didn't feel like hot, exposed CO riding until the very end.

If you are thinking about doing this ride I have a few thoughts.

• It's awesome, do it. 
• It's quite fun with a group.
• Even though there's 3,500ft of climbing it's all very mellow.  Nothing too steep until you reach the last 10 miles where there's some short gut busters.
• Get on the trail early to beat the heat and afternoon thunderstorms.
• A shuttle is necessary, plan accordingly.
• A map is a good idea.  Absolute Bikes in Salida has an excellent map.

My recap from a non-trail perspective

1. The King hub performed flawlessly, even missing a ball in one of the bearings
2. I overpacked.
3. I do not like Ergon grips at all.  My hands were both numb and in pain at the bottom of a 5 mile descent.  

Oh, if you've gotten this far and you are wondering what the hell the title is about.  This song was playing when I went into the restroom before the ride.

Day Five - Driving Driving Driving

First things first...

Last night I went over to a friends house to service my Chris King hub.  As I mentioned yesterday, I have a not-so-great experience with servicing this particular hub.  (Here's the recap).

Unfortunately, the last time I tried to do that, I destroyed several of the bearings, marred the axle and gouged the inside of the freehub body.  

This time the King hub did not quite make it out as good as new.  The hub service instructions are very complete and very specific and as a result you really have to pay attention to every word in every instruction.  It's not like assembling some piece of cheap furniture where you can just look at the pictures and get the idea and run with it. no no.  So, in one of the many multi-step processes I didn't quite assemble the tool correctly and I blew out the inner race on one of the bearings.  There were little steel balls everywhere.  I had pretty much figured that was it and I was already trying to figure out which rear wheel I could use since my FSA wheel was at the shop getting one proprietary spoke replaced.  Well my buddy was not so fatalistic. Using his magnet on a stick, we (mostly he) actually managed to get 17 of the 18 tiny balls off of the garage floor and into the bearing.  We got it all back together and it rolled as smooth as butter.  That being said, I still brought a spare rear wheel to Salida for the big ride.  We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, today I had until about noon before I had to hit the road to Boulder, then Leadville then Poncha Springs.

I completely cleaned out the inside of the Honda.  Here's a protip for you shop-vac owners, Keep those filters clear and your vac will suck like it's new.  Before the cleaning and packing of the car I called Chris King and told them what I did and tried to buy a new bearing from them.  Get this, they will sell you the $160 tool to completely disassemble and destroy your $400+ hub but when you do destroy it, they will not sell you the parts to reassemble it.  They are very gracious about working on the hub if you ship it to them, but they will not ship you hub parts.  So I ended up buying the $37 bearing online...and while I was at it I bought the bottom bracket tool as well.  So, I suspect I'll have the opportunity to destroy a $100+ bottom bracket sometime next week.  Good times.

Day Four

This is such a great view!  The climb starts way down right in the middle of the picture.  I almost cleaned it, just one dab about halfway up through a technical section.

So I finally got out for a little ride on the FSR.  Debrief...Shifting works well, handlebar is still in one piece and the jury is still out on the Ergon grips.  I did notice that my rear hub was acting funny.  It wouldn't catch right away after coasting or backpedaling.  A quick call to Ed at Chris King confirmed my suspicions, the hub needs an overhaul.  Unfortunately, the last time I tried to do that, I destroyed several of the bearings, marred the axle and gouged the inside of the freehub body.  Second time's a charm though, right?

I am headed out in a few minutes to meetup with someone that has the hub service tool and hopefully a better track record than I do.

Aside from the hub issue, I got some other good things done today.  I did a little bit of packing for the Monarch trip, purchased some reasonable everyday shoes (that are not sneakers), and I had two fairly profound thoughts today.

Profound Thought 1:

I am pretty sure having a fancy pants phone will actually save me time in the long run, even though it has many many time sucking features. 

Profound Thought 2: 

I am pretty sure my mailman is fucking with me. Although I don't have proof. 

If I have some time next week, I'll go into a little more detail on those thoughts.  For now, I've got to head out and get this hub issue worked out. Hopefully, the report back tomorrow will be positive.  Especially since my backup wheel is in the shop. (I think that was briefly mentioned somewhere in Day Two)

Day Two

So, day two.  I thought I would get a chance to head out on the FSR today, but the afternoon thunderstorms squashed that plan.  In anticipation of riding, I did do a little overdue maintenance on the bike.  Actually, the first step was to swap a tube for J's commuter bike.  It was a good warm up for the task ahead.

I had a pretty smooth cable replace job on the FSR.  I snapped a cable back in April and just slipped a new cable into the housing, I also noticed that the housing on the front shifter was pretty beat up so I figured it was time for a wholesale swap.  I got through the rear when I ran out of housing...so off to the bike shop.  I also figured this was a good opportunity to replace a busted spoke on my FSA tubeless wheels...damn, proprietary spokes!

During my trip to the shop, well actually shop number 2 of the trip, I strongly considered buying the Chris King bottom brackett injector tool, but decided I didn't want to spend $60 on a part that I would use for 10 minutes a year...I still need to clean out my BB though...not sure how I am going to pull that off.

Anyway, back from the shop I replaced all of the shifter cables and gave the drivetrain a thorough cleaning.  (It may be time for a new cassette soon).  I am just about ready for Monarch Crest.  A little riding should help confirm that the shifting and cockpit are adjusted to my liking.  Maybe tomorrow I'll ride.

Day One

So, I've officially accepted the job offer (well verbally anyway) and the countdown begins.  Two weeks from today I'll be sitting in a new office probably filling out paperwork, signing confidentiality agreements, giving up any rights to any awesome inventions I may come up with and one more thing...oh yeah...earning a paycheck.

I figure this is a great time to document what I do in a typical unemployed week.  I guess this isn't really typical since there's a slight sense of urgency, but I think it's still a valid exercise.  I don't know how many times I've been asked "So what do you do all day?" and I've had to honestly reply..."You know, I couldn't tell you."

So, what did I do this fine Monday.

I got an early start to the day and mowed the lawn before it got too hot. I did go out of my way to mow the alley behind the house, but I couldn't quite dig up the motivation to bust out the weedwacker and trim up the edges of the lawn...even with all of the time in the world, there's not enough time for that.

I also managed to acquire a new handlebar for my mountain bike...oh, and I picked up some grips too.  My old carbon bar was due to be replaced and I found a guy on Craigslist selling brand new Easton bars.  The rise and width match my old bar pretty closely so I am quite stoked!  I also picked up some of those fancy Ergon grips for my new cockpit.  Can't wait to try them out...probably tomorrow.  There's nothing like new bike stuff to motivate me to ride...I've got to test the setup before Monarch Crest Trail this weekend. I think we are looking at 5 hours of riding...It's advertised as a lot of descending but it does start at 11,000 ft and climbs up to almost 12,000.  We'll see how that goes.

Also, in preparation for the new job...I picked up a few shirts.  I only had the stamina to hit one department store...going into those places is like walking around at 12,000 ft...exhausting!

Project update

Things are going well with the two recently announced projects.  I made a slight shift to a different pushup paradigm because I just got a new droid phone and I found a free app (vs 2.99 for the legit hundredpushups.com app).  Anyway, that's been going for about two weeks so far...not really much else to report there.

The polo scoreboard is also going well.  I've got a lot of the basic logic worked out but I need to do a little work on the sound.  This kind of stuff is always a struggle...two steps forward, one step back kind of thing.
Here's a short video of what it does so far.  Once I've get the prototype all sorted out I can really start to think about how I want to build the final setup.

Consistent Weather brings Consistent Riding

There's been a fair amount of riding this week.  Starting with the dusty short track race last Tuesday...I've ridden a couple of new trails.  Here's a shot of me super-focused in the roller section.  I don't think you can see my single speed nemesis on the Langster in this one.

I actually placed pretty well considering I haven't done any serious racing in a long time.  17th out of 50 racers. I definitely think some of that had to do with a really solid start position.  This week I got caught up in the middle of the pack and by the time the first 30 guys get stretched out onto the single track the top racers have already probably got a couple of minutes on you.  But more on this week's race a little later.

The day after the short track J and I went out to Red Mountain which is a natural area about 45 minutes north, right at the Wyoming border.  Now...a few mountain bikers mentioned Sandstone when we first got here and J talked to a park ranger that was surprised that no one had mentioned Red Mountain (which directly borders Sandstone).  Well...we found out why.  Red Mountain was kind of miserable.  The trail was either horse-width loose double track or really grainy riverbed.  There was one short section of nice buff interesting trail but it did not make up for the rest of the garbage.  Now, I could have been a little down on the place because I was sluggish from the previous day's race...but I don't think so.

So, no riding Thursday but I played a lot of polo on Friday.  2 1/2 hours of 2 on 2.  The weather was perfect and we played a LOT of polo.  With only 4 people on the court, you get a lot of play time in.  All that did was set me up to again be sluggish when scouting out some new trail the next day. 

On Saturday we went into Wyoming to check out Curt Gowdy State Park.  It's a little over an hour away and has got some really cool trail features.  I think we only saw about half of the trails, and by the time we figured out the map, we had already run the race course in reverse.  There were some really cool rock sections and "play areas" to be explored.  It's nice to have some Porcupine Rim style stuff so close.  Now, it's not as epic or nearly as technical as Porcupine but it's definitely got some cool features worth checking out.  I think it makes it a great spot for a wide mix of skill levels.

So...back to Tuesday and back to the short track.  I was feeling pretty sluggish all day, but I decided to suck it up and head out to the short track anyway.  Last week I got a really good position on the start line but this week was a little different.  As we all piled onto the start, I was somewhere in the middle of a huge pack.  There's a picture of the start group (64 racers) to the right.  I took my time and pretty much decided just to tempo the race...until the end of lap 2.  That's when the Langster reared his head again. He passed me at the end of lap 2 and I managed to stick on his for the rest of the race but I couldn't get the pass on him...not this week.  But, rest assured...I'll be eating my Wheaties and will be primed for next week.  I've been riding the hardtail for the last two weeks, and it's been fine but I think it's time to bring out the big dog.  The FSR should be able to squash all the little annoying bumps on the course and rail the corners.  Here's a sweet shot of me powering one of the climbs.

My First Race at 5,000 ft...

Tuesday afternoon, 6:20pm, 65 degrees and sunny.  I roll over to the start line and get ready to tackle 4 laps of the short track course with 50 other riders...yes 50...and this is only the sport category.

Somehow I managed to put myself near the front of the pack for the start.  Here I am, coming off of some epic cold...with my only serious efforts being sprints on the polo court and I am in the first row of riders.  I already felt a little overwhelmed because I thought we would only be putting in 3 laps...but I had just heard the announcement of 4 laps.  I look over my shoulder to see if I can sneak my way back a little bit, but no dice.  My bed was already made, I just had to suck it up.  

I knew being near the front would pay dividends for the upcoming "pump track" section early in the course but I really didn't want to have to mix it up 9 wide going into the first corner.  Thankfully, the start was pretty tame, no wrecks that I could see but someone did bobble the first serious rise about 5-6 riders in and everyone else was pretty much doomed to do a quick hike up that section.  It actually worked out pretty well for forcing people into some single file action since there was some super-tight single track up ahead.  

The rest of the race was pretty standard stuff.  Tight twisty sections, short climbs, several open spots for passing.  The course was very dry which led to some sketchy corners and a LOT of dust.  The 15-minute bike ride home included much hacking, coughing and sneezing.  

One minor achievement...I didn't get beat by the guy on the Langster...(yeah, the track bike).  It was pretty close though.  He bobbled one of the last corners pretty bad and almost racked himself.  It looked like he was going to jump right back on without losing any ground...but it became clear that he was going to need a moment to compose himself.  It took that opportunity to pass him on the inside.  I mean, it wasn't a full on track bike, he did have some riser bars on it!  He rode the fuck out of that thing though...basically his two primary weapons were 1) locking up the rear wheel and 2) an excellent inside dab.  

If I can stop blowing dust out of my nose by next Tuesday...maybe I'll do it again.  Right now...I am just going to find some food and maybe do some arts and crafts.  But first I need a damn shower!

Here's a short video of the Beginner Men start.  50 Racers there too!

Kokopelli Trail: Fruita to Moab: Prep

We've got a bunch of friends coming in from VA next week to do a huge MTB ride from Fruita , Colorado to Moab, Utah.  It's going to be 3 days of epic mountain biking.  With a big weekend on the horizon, we've been laying low this weekend.  We are making some final bike preparations and working out the final details of the plan.

Each day is going to be broken up into two ride sections.  The entire Kokopelli trail is about 142 miles...but we aren't actually going to do all of it.  Our 3-day itinerary starts with the first 40ish miles, then we'll shuttle to the halfway point for the start of day 2 and pretty much ride the rest of the trail on the second and third days.

People will start showing up next Saturday and we actually hit the trail on Thursday.  I am sure a lot will be happening before we even hit the first mile of trail so stay tuned.  There's a plan for the New Belgium Brewery tour and even some talk of skiing.  Who knows what else is in store.

A Great Day On The Rivanna River Trail

The RTF is an organization that has built and maintains a trail that runs all the way around the city of Charlottesville. It's about 20 miles of "urban trail". It's not really single track but it's also not paved rail trail either. Some of it is a bit of a scramble or a sketchy ride through a tunnel but a lot of it is pretty sweet riding. Some buff, some technical.

Kyle and I organized a circumnavigation of the Rivanna River Trail as a sort of birthday celebration. Here's a few pics.

Here's the start of the ride. 15 riders total.


Here's a huge creek crossing/hike-a-bike


Most of the way around, chilling at Bodos for a minute.




Dave making an excellent decision with the egg bagel.


Fellow rider (I think he was drunk) on the Rivanna trail. Apparently his rear D blew apart and Dave was helping him get it back together. Only on the urban trails are you going to run into something like this. I would have been disappointed if this didn't happen. Nolan is the muscle, making sure nothing goes down.


All in all a great day, maybe we'll do it again before 2009.

So I made some reference to my bike Karma in my AM ride post. What I was too frustrated to mention at the time was that I was on the road bike because I was having such a bad run of luck with my MTB. Bent derailleur hanger, poor shifting, flat tires and a nearly catastrophic wreck put me in a bad bad place. I was just bummed to be on the MTB. Anyway I think some of that luck managed to turn around a bit. Last Sunday I went to the HooHa. An awesome local race that was a complete mud fest. Here's a shot of Johanna making some mud pie!

Anyway, that race was riddled with all kinds of bad stuff. That much mud and that many people pushing 110% through the woods is bound to bring some sad war stories. I have to say I was pretty pleased with my bike that day. All gears shifted well, my tires held up great and I even had a decent finish. My bike did a good job that day...and I thanked it for that.

Trail Work

Whew! It's been a long time since my last post...on this blog anyway. Most of my projects and thoughts have been Mini-Z related so I have been putting my energy elsewhere. I do have a couple of things worth reporting in about though.

I have been getting excited about doing trail work lately and I am actually going to be heading up some trail work days at one of our local riding spots. "O-hill" needs a lot of work and I am hoping we can make a small impact on a great little riding spot.

A couple of days ago, three of us went out to clear a log that was over the trail. Usually logs aren't a problem but this one was pretty big, it was at a bad angle and one end was almost a foot off of the ground. It really interrupted the flow on that section of trail so it was a pretty obvious candidate for removal. That's not the interesting part though. I had just gotten back from a trip in NC where there was an awesome log feature so we decided to do something similar.

Here's the feature from NC near Brevard.




And here are a couple of shots of what we built this weekend.





My hands are still a little sore today from running the chainsaw (and probably from riding my single speed) but I would like to report that the obstacle is totally ridable. It's not as clean as the NC inspiration but it's nice to have something you can't ride 100% of the time.

Don't wear your shorts more than once!

I was in the bike shop the other day and some guy came in to buy a new pair of shorts...pretty standard stuff. He was saying something about having three pairs and he doesn't get to wash them every week so they get a little funky. Then he did that thing where your like...

"Heh, you know how guys are, you just smell them to see if their clean. It's not like girls who wash everything, then put them away and they always have clean stuff."

I was doing my best to not look at him like he was some sort of freak of nature. Doing repeats with your bike chamois is a straight, fast road to swamp crotch. I didn't think it was my place to correct him since he certainly had his own way of doing things. The bike shop employee did enough when he said "You are a braver man than me!"

Maybe the guy wears briefs under his shorts. Who knows?

The new Cockpit

So I am pretty excited about the new bike. The only problem is that it wasn't really "mine". I had to add some personal touches to make it feel like my own. Most of the obvious changes are in the steering department.

Since I never used the drops anyway, I just decided to go with some Time Trial style bullhorn bars. I know there's a lot of brake levers...but I am still pretty new to the fixie thing.



The levers at the ends of the bars are just Tektro 4.1's or something. I didn't really want levers at the end of the bars but I figured I could always take them off next time I wrap the tape. The bars on the tops are the drilled Salsa crosstop levers. I thought the reach would be a little to far for my liking, but everything sits just right.

Even with all of the brakes...it still looks pretty streamlined. I also took the rear rack off for now.

I am also trying out some new pedals. They are on load from a fellow fixie rider. Sally might recognize them but this particular rider doesn't get out on his bike much anymore...but he still spends plenty of time with his Cadence.



Now I just have to find some matte black fenders!

Here is the (new) bike...

As my favorite anonymous poster alluded to, I owe you guys some new pictures. I have already retired the super commuter in favor of another bike. I am sure Sally will know the deal right away. I don't have a lot to say about it yet, but I wanted to get some pictures.

By the way, I am doing a horrible job of living the car-less lifestyle but that's because the forces have been conspiring against me. Things should be better now...