SingleSpeedMT

Report and Final Thoughts

2010-06-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

Got the Rapelje race report over at DC posted up yesterday, follow the link, and read. With that said, its time to get the whole packing and cleaning tasks done. To all those who followed my ramblings, thanks for reading, and bigger thanks for any feedback you gave me. Thanks to all those I have raced with/against or ridden with over the past three years, it has been memorable. Still not sure what my future in Colorado will hold for me other than plenty of time studying, but I can only hope it is as good as my time here in Montana. Special thanks go to the following people for the following reasons:

Mr. MTCX - for including me on his links list, which I'm convinced was the only reason I got traffic other than my parents.

The Mules - Fine folks who know how to have a good time, and gave me the chance to put on SSMT.

Hellgate Cyclery and MBW - for helping to keep my bikes working, and understanding that beer is a form of currency.

JedZilla - For putting in a lot of time into the Montana Cycling scene, and never asking for an ounce of credit.

Thats all I got, all the best to you MT folk.

Rapelje Time

2010-06-25T09:04:00.003-07:00

Just about to get out of town, and head towards the plains. I got my first post over at DC, so the migration is beginning. Best of luck to all headed to Rapelje this weekend, and those headed to get their Ironman on. Went for what was probably my last MTB ride in Missoula, and snapped this gem. I'm gonna miss it.

Thoughts on the Weekend

2010-06-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

Think what you will about the 24 Hours of Rapelje being a small race out in the sticks of Eastern Montana that has little meaning in the MTB community. Scratch that, if you think that let me be the first to tell you to piss off, give you the finger, then let my grandmother crack you on the skull with a wooden spoon, this race is TITS! The good news is that the fine folks over at Stockman Cafe are getting the love that they deserve. Head on over to a Barnes and Noble, Borders, or wherever the hell else Mountain Flyer Magazine is available, and the read the feature about Rapelje. Those who know me are well aware of my ability to bitch, complain, rant, go off the deep end on just about anything, but try as I might, I still can't find a way to complain about Rapelje. To top it all off, the fine folks over at the New York Times even published an article about 24 Hours of Rapelje.

24 Hour town

What makes this race so great in my mind, the people of Rapelje. One weekend a year, the people of Rapelje open their homes, hearts, minds, town to a group of rag tag mountain bikers, who set up a series of hobo camps, and drinking stations. These people don't know much about mountain biking, but they do know how to treat visitors well. In return they just ask that you pump as much money as possible into the Stockman Cafe over the course of the weekend. This is not tough because, its the only place to get anything within 25 miles. Last years when the rains came, and the race was put on hold until 5 am, the towns folk kept their end of the bargain, and treated all of us like kings. Win and your reward is a lifetime of immortality on the wall of the cafe. Big hitters like Killer Kerkove, Hellgate Hartman, Dolla B$ll, and Magical Meg have there photos on the wall.

Cory has more uniquness in this left pinky than most people have in their whole body.

I got my race food shopping out of the way yesterday, and my inner fat kid ran wild. Loaded up that shopping cart with Snickers (King Size cause I aint fucking around), potato chips, pop tarts, gatorade mix, peanut butter, summer sausage, bagels, fig newtons, chocolate chip cookies, marshmellow pies, and some other stuff I have forgetten. I got that on top of all the bars, gels, chews, powdered drink mix, and whatever else I have hidden away in a cardboard box marked "race food". Other necessities include, chamois cream, neosporian, and extra chamois, because lets face it, longs hours on a bike require a happy taint. The lights are getting charged, playlists are being made, and I have even tried to harness my chi in preperation.

Weather forecast

The weather looks like it should be good, but that was the case last year, then the biblical rainstorm swept across the plains. The course turned to peanut butter, there were a lot of close lightning strikes, and I finished up a lap pretty dam hypothermic. I have been looking up how to do some kind of anti-rain dance, and will be looking for people to join me for a pre-race dance on Saturday morning. You might ask what my race plan is, simple, go ride as many laps as possible in the 24 hours of time allotted. I stayed up till about four am last night figuring that one out. I was debating whether or not I should try to keep my heart rate at a steady 157 beats per minute for the entire 24 hours, then I remembered I'm too stupid to figure out how to use a heart rate monitor. Instead it will be eat, drink, ride, smile, enjoy myself, enjoy a beer, and smile some more.

I was no longer in showroom condition after the storm rolled through

Other plans include: hanging out with the Mules on Friday night, these cats are some of my favorite MTBers in Montana. They know how to have a good time, and Cory Hardy is never short on entertainment. I will also head on over to the Lone Peak Brewery and Gordon Lightfoot Groupies team area. This is a five man singlespeed team who will be competing, and Dave was kind enough to shoot me the invite, and told me there will be free beer. You know me, I'd sell my sister's kidney without her knowledge for free beer. Finally the last plan is to simply enjoy my final race weekend as a Montana resident. Its been three great years of living, riding, and racing in this state, with a lot of great people, and I'm treating Rapelje like a going away party, remembering the good times that have taken place over the years.

Taper

2010-06-21T09:24:00.001-07:00

Thats what the pros, coaches, and doctors call it, to me it's nothing more than sitting around like a waste of life. Not surprisingly this comes pretty easy to me, and it might be the closest thing to proper training that I do. I figure I'll spend enough time pedaling the legs and hurting the lungs this coming weekend to make up for whatever time I don't ride this week. The other factor that helps is that the weather royally sucks nuts today. Although I guess it was worse out in Billings yesterday when the only thing missing was Helen Hunt, a flying cow, and a final scene which included a rainbow and Van Hagar playing in the background. So yeah, the delightful combo of shitty weather, a long race coming up, packing and moving prep means I wont be riding to much from Monday to Friday. Instead I'll offer up a link dump.

Joe Parkin gets hitched

Bike scans at the Tour

The French soccer plays are doing what French cyclist have done for the past 25 years, not give a shit

A new drinking game (yes I have taken part in this)

ECFU

All I got time for some eats and drinks

Boise Recap and The Future

2010-06-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

This report is few days late, but since I dont collect a check from this endeavor, I dont care. The fine folks over at Knobby Tires put on the 9-5 Endurance Race this past weekend in Boise. I had good luck at Knobby Tire events last year (two attempts, two wins), and enjoyed the Avimor venue last year. So here is the cliff notes version.

- Gun goes off, get my ass into fourth place for the first lap.

- Post fastest SS time on the day, dont get excited I still got about 7.25 hours of race time

- Finish lap 2, third overall, 1st SS

- Finish lap 3, now a few seconds down on SS dude from Jackson (dude took second at Laramie last year, and he is strong)

- Nearing the end of lap 4, left crank arm falls off.

- Look at it for a bit, and realize this is no quick fix. start running towards start/finish

- Bottom bracket is fucked three ways to Sunday

- Decide to see if I can keep going on my SSCX bike

- Pull off lap 5 on the CX bike. Some descents are too steep for skinny tires and cross brakes, going ass over tip is a ironclad lock.

- Call it a day and drink beer.

So yeah, didnt quite go as well as I wanted, but when I was racing I felt good and strong, and when I wasn't racing I had a beer in hand. Here are some photos.

Stream crossing

MTB still working

Lap on SSCX

As for the future, for those who don't know, at the end of the month I am moving from Missoula to attend grad school at Colorado State University. Seeing as though I will no longer be living in Montana, the whole "SSMT" thing will no longer apply to me, and therefore this site of my rants, rambles, and reports will cease to exist. I'm not sure if I will start something else up to chronicle the life of a SS junkie who is also working on a masters, only time will tell. What I do know is that I will be chronicling my summer of racing over at Drunkcyclist in the months to come. So if you still wish to follow my racing, head on over there to keep informed.

Some Love for Missoula from PA

2010-06-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

Came across this just a while ago, courtesy of Mr. Dick. From my best guess this is the podium from the 5th stage of the TransSylvania Epic race that went down last week. None other than SingleSpeed warlock (actually World Champ, but why split hairs), Greg Martin, is showing some love from Missoula. I'm guessing he picked it up when he was pulling boyfriend duty for Rebecca at the Race Across the Sky showing back in March. Really who cares about the specifics, BIG UPS to Greg.

On The Road Again

2010-06-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

I started the trip from the land of sea level and humidity towards the great big sky today. Tonight it is Chicago, tomorrow will be somewhere else. Saw this on Monday in PA after a ride, I like it.

A Weekend of Bikes

2010-06-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

The last ride I went on was night ride on Friday, I haven't actuually been out for a pedal since then. Instead I have been enjoying bikes from the spectator's point of view. Saturday included a trip into The City to the Museum of Arts and Design to check out the Bespoke exhibit. My personal favorites included a Richard Sachs cyclocross race bike, the Jeff Jones 29er (with a 2x6 drivetrain), and the Sacha White Speedvagon. The Richard Sachs cross bike hadn't been touched since it's last race, leaving all the race dirt and grime, and the scraped up bar tap.

All of the builders also provided a bunch of odds and ends from their shops. Richard Sachs provided all of his old USA Cycling racing license cards, Jeff Jones provided an EBB, and Dario Pegoretti provided and ashtray with old cigarette butts in it. Since museum people are a bunch of stuffy old farts, pictures were not allowed, which was the biggest bummer. Regardless, it was nice to be inches away from some fine handbuilt bicycles that I will probably never be able to afford.

Today's fun included heading down to the City of Brotherly Love to meet some college friends, and watch the Philly International. Based upon the fact that a lot of the people I have met from Philly are quite surly, I wasn't sure what the spectating experience would be. It was basically a keg party on the streets, where open container laws didn't exist, and everyone got along. We headed over to the Manayunk Wall, which was block party waiting for cyclists to pass. The cyclists powered up the climb, we cheered, we drank, a good time was had by all. I took some shitty pictures, but hey they'll give you a better idea of what the race was like than my words.

Breakaway nearing the top of the Wall, spectators were kind enough to run a hose over to the edge of the course.

I attempt to offer a beverage to the racers

This summed the day up for the spectators

Peleton starting the descent after climbing the Wall

Local bars sponsored house parties along the course

Tom Robertson

2010-06-04T08:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday, and for your weekend pleasure I've brought back the interview. On the docket is none other than Tom Robertson, everyone's favorite photographer from Missoula. Tom takes great pictures of people on bikes, and can be seen at plenty of races throughout the year hiding behind the lense of his camera. Back at the end of April/beginning of May Tom and I went out on a bike ride where he snapped some pictures and I asked some questions. The end result, is the interview below, feel free to enjoy. Happy Weekend, time for a drink.

You have 50 words to describe yourself, please do so.

I can’t sit still. I seem to be in constant motion. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been riding a bike with a camera in my hands. The only thing that seems to have changed is that I drink a lot more espresso these days.

What happened first for you, the camera or the bike?

The bike. I was riding at 4 years old. I had my first drop-handlebar single speed when I was 7. I grew up in a small town in the south, so from the age of 7 onward, I had free reign to ride all over the town and county on my bike. I was “that kid”...the one that was always on the bike. I got my first camera when I was 8, so from that point on, I had it with me most everywhere I went.

How and when did you find yourself developing a passion for photography?

My father was into photography for a while and I used to devour all of the photography magazines that were lying around the house. I started bugging him for a camera, and eventually he broke down and got me one. I soon was riding all over the county shooting anything that looked shootable. I was selective though. As an 8-year old I didn’t have much money, and purchasing film and paying for processing seemed expensive.

Where have been some of your favorite locations to shoot photos?

Any winding road or trail, with no buildings, cars or telephone wires. That said, man that can be hard to find. I do have a few places around Missoula that I prefer. If I’m taking out folks just to shoot, I generally try to keep it close to town to cut down on car travel. There are some roads around that have nice curves, but lots of power lines (Duncan Dr.), and other roads that might have no power lines or buildings, but are straight and in somewhat narrow canyons (Marshall Canyon Rd.). The road that I’ve been hitting the most for road cycling shots is Butler Creek. Nice curves, low traffic, and close to town. Shooting from the right angle, it can seem like that road is miles from anywhere. Also I’ve learned on that road, if you put a step ladder in the middle of a road, cars driving by think you are official and will give you a wide berth. I have no idea if this is legal or not, but I suspect not.

For mountain bike shooting, I tend to like “cozy” places. Tight single track and lots of foliage. There are places around Missoula with small sections of trail that you can blast through in seconds and not really think about, but shooting there can yield great results. Anything from the trails beside the Kim Williams Trail along the river, to the connector trails going up to the Rattlesnake. Though I have a couple of shoots lined up in the coming weeks with mountain bikers where we are going to try for the “big vista” shot. Still scouting locations for those...

What sort of goals do you have for the next couple of years regarding your career as a photographer?

To keep shooting endurance sports, with a focus on cycling. To start working my way into more editorial work for national publications, as well as commercial work for the outdoor industry. I’m also in the midst of planning a long bike tour overseas, with plans of developing work from it.

If you had to pick a piece of photography that you are the most proud of from the past couple years, what would it be?

That’s a tough one, as these days it seems like my last big shoot is always the one that I’m most jazzed about. But I will say that shooting the Rapha ride (http://www.rapha.cc/missoula-mt) in Montana last summer was the first big shoot that I was really excited about. And to shoot alongside cycling photographer Chris Milliman (http://www.chrismilliman.com/) was a great experience for me.

Do you feel that your experiences of cycling through road racing, and touring has helped you to become a better cycling photographer?

Absolutely. Not only have I ridden, raced, toured, commuted my whole life. But I’ve been devouring cycling photography that whole time as well. I like to think I’ve seen most every angle that there is to shoot. I’ve tried to somewhat emulate shots that I think are interesting, and really tried to avoid the cliched shots for the most part. For each of the disciplines of cycling, I try to shoot shots that are pleasing, but also convey what it feels like from the saddle. Maybe it comes from racing cyclocross over the years, but I like to see shots that make me feel like I have dirt in my teeth.

You took a bunch of pictures at this years Speedwagon Classic, Rolling Thunder and last years ZooTown Throwdown, of the three which was your favorite to photograph, and why?

Most times I think I would answer Rolling Thunder, or most any cyclocross race for that matter. But this was the first time I had photographed the Speedwagon Classic, and I’d have to say that was my favorite cycling event to shoot. To start with, the scenery there is unparalleled. Green fields, car-free roads and snow-capped mountains really provide a nice backdrop. But also the fact that it is somewhat of a non-sanctioned race, and that I had the freedom to drive up and down the course, and find the backgrounds that were the most dramatic and wait for the racers to zip by.

How much of your finished photos are a result of careful planning to get all the settings just as you like, or a result of improvisation where things just seem to come together?

It’s a little bit of both. At a race like the Speedwagon, Matt Seeley actually had a map for me with places he thought would be good spots. And when I take models out on the bike in and around Missoula, I know the spots that I’d like to hit. A lot of the times, we head to those spots, and depending on light and trail/road conditions, I start trying to come up with unique looks. It’s at that point that things start coming together. So I do like to have the initial structure thought out, but really feel that once that is in place, that improvising is where the magic happens.

Describe both your ideal day of taking pictures, and your ideal day on a bike?

Both of them start with 4 shots of espresso. An early start to the day for the ideal day on the bike. Loaded up with pastries from Le Petit, my riding partners ride over to my house and we take off from here. Either for a 5-hour road ride, partly on dirt roads, or an all-day adventure on the single speed mountain bikes riding straight up some lightly used trail in Western Montana.

The ideal photography day involves taking out willing models on the bike, who have the time and patience to ride back and forth in front of the camera for a while. I do like the evening shooting as the sun is going down, and prefer some cloud cover. Then 10 minutes before the sun goes behind the mountains, it breaks through the clouds and produces some kind of glory light. That’s happened twice to me....and it seems to make me whoop and holler a lot.

What are you looking for when shooting someone riding a bike? Do you have a preference for someone gritting their teeth on a climb, landscapes with a ribbon of singletrack, etc…

Most times I’m trying to show the cyclist in their environment. So given those two options you listed, the “ribbon of singletrack” would be my first choice. I love the grandiose landscapes of Montana, and to be able to show that along with a cyclist flying along that landscape is what gets me excited. Whether that is a mountain biker on that “ribbon of singletrack”, or a road cyclists on a curvy climb or descent.

You’ve been around long enough to see how technological advancements/changes have changed both cycling and photography, which advancements/changes do you like the most, and which the least?

To look at cycling, and this is going a ways back, but the clipless pedal has been the greatest advancement to me in my lifetime. For photography, the digital camera has been huge. But to break it down a bit more into the cycling photography world, I love that you can have a point and shoot camera that captures images in the RAW format. These large files can be enhanced easily in photo programs, with an end result that looks like it was taken with a much larger camera.

Now a days everyone has a camera, and with web services like SmugMug, Flicker, and Blogspot, its easy for anyone to make their photos available to the world. Do you think this has a negative impact on a professional photographer like yourself?

Perhaps not negative, but it is definitely different than it used to be. I’ve only been shooting professionally for a couple of years now, so I feel like it really hasn’t impacted me like it has folks shooting for years. But just like everything in life, change is gonna happen. And in my opinion, if you can change and figure out a new way of doing business, then there are great opportunities to be had.

Anything else you would like people to know about you?

I’m fascinated by spaces. Spaces where we live, work and recreate. I’ve done a fair amount of architectural photography and secretly really like it. Lately I’ve been combining the love of spaces with cycling, and am actively looking for unique rooms where people store their bikes and gear. So if you know of anyone with such a space, I’d love to check it out.

Back

2010-06-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

I suck, I know. I had planned to keeping writing on a regular basis, but that plan went out the window when I stepped foot in New Jersey. Oh well, not the case, and instead you get the cliff notes version of what I have been up to.

- MTB riding in New Jersey, getting back out on the trails I rode in high school.
- Decent road riding on the SSCX bike
- Great food provided by Mom and Dad
- Memorial Day fun on Keuke Lake with College Buddies
- Getting to watch a lot baseball
- Good booze to drink for free
- Remembering that it sucks to ride in humid weather

Yeah that is basically the jist of it all, heres a picture

Believe it or not, on the right side of the road is a National Wildlife Refuge, in New Jersey of all places. There aint a smoke stack in sight on any of these roads.

Iowa lightning and rain

2010-05-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

The plan to ride in Iowa had to get scrapped due to weather. It all started with lightning on the horizon, which turned to rain. The skies had cleared and the temperature had dropped by the time I headed over to the Sugar Bottom area for riding. Unfortunatly the trails were too wet for riding, so the ride had to get scrapped. Not the worst thing in the world, I think I will just try to get the Iowa ride in on the return trip. For now it is Chicago, and tomorrow it is New Jersey.

6 Day CSU and Nebraska

2010-05-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Got some nice riding in the past two days. Sunday included a quick trip up to the Foothills Trail to the west of Fort Collins, in hopes of starting to get used to what will become my local trails. Despite Saturdays race still being felt in my lungs, the legs felt decent, and I pedaled around any trail I came across, enjoying the good life. Followed it all up by heading down to the CSU Oval for the 6 Day Style Racing at the Oval put on by the CSU cycling team. Fort Collins is trying to get a velodrome in town, and until that happens, the fine kiddies at CSU use the main oval at campus to put on a 6 race series on Sunday evenings in May and June.

There was a scratch race (first across the line wins after the designated number of laps), miss and out (with each lap completed the last rider across the line gets pulled, until you have a winner), and a snowball (set number of laps, where the first and second riders across the line get points, with each subsequent lap the number of points up for grabs keeps going up). I raced in the messenger class on the CX bike, and had a blast. The best was the snowball race, where on the fourth of eight laps me and a guy from CSU got a gap. We agreed to work together, one of us could sit on for a lap, but couldnt contest the sprint, then we would switch positions. By the last lapped he told me he was cooked, and couldnt contest the final sprint. I took the big W and combined with two seconds in the previous two races walked away with some big bills ($9.60) in the pocket. More importantly than the green, the race was fun, and a good gathering event for the local cycling community.

Today included a MTB ride in Nebraska, which was fucking awesome. So what if Nebraska has no mountains, they got some serious trails over in the eastern part of the state. At first I didnt think i was in for a good ride due to the high temps (90 degrees) high humidity (must have been above 75), and high winds (holding steady around 45 mph or so). But once I got in the trees of the state park, all seemed well, and I just ripped around on the trails for a while. These are the kinds of trails that when you ride them, you realize that someone decided, "we dont have a lot of space for mtb trails, so lets make the most about possible in this area". The entire trail network probably took up less than a few square miles, but I was able to ride for close to an hour and half. I know I'm a shitty photographer, so if the pictures don't make sense, just take my word for it, Nebraska has some good MTB. Tomorrow, got plans for Iowa MTB, then an evening of annoying my sister.

Hidden in those trees, are miles of trail

Lots of quick downs then quick ups, many with banked turns

Perched above on one trail, I see another trails that I would ride in 15 minutes.

Take your pick of difficulty level

Can you really go wrong with a trail named "the tooth gap"?

First MTB race

2010-05-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

Got the housing situation all figured out on Friday, which mean that on Saturday I was able to head on up to Wyoming for a local MTB race. Six of us met at New Belgium, loaded the trailer, and made our way to the land of the wind for the Gowdy Grinder XC race. This would be my baptism by fire into the Fort Collins/Boulder/Denver/Laramie racing scene, I know the pond is much bigger than up in Montana, and I was interested to see what size fish I was. 61 of us lined up for the start of the pro/expert race, with a fair amount of us on singlespeeds. Normally I don't mind racing against geared folks, as long as the singlespeeders are kept track of seperately, but that would not be the case here. The flyer had reminded us that "singlespeeds are a type of bike, not a class", but when the entry fee is 10 bucks, there is no point in getting mad.

Someone said go, and we were off, a nice long climb into a head wind was the first challenge of the day. I settled into whatever you could call a grove or rhythm, and just started to ride. The unfamiliar burn in my windpipes and lungs that can only come from racing, reminded me that riding hard by yourself is no substitute for true racing. Anyway, the course was top shelf lot of rocks to get in the way, and keep you on your toes, and mud to play in. Heading into the final lap I was probably in about 15th place, then some shitty descending combined with a dropped chain dropped me to 20th before all was said and done. If I had to guess I was probably fourth for the SS gang, but they werent keeping track, so I guess I'll never know.

Post race, the combination of high altitude, heaving winds with plenty of dust blowing, and a dusty course gave the a wonderful smokers cough. Luckily the legs feel pretty descent, and I plan to head on over to the 6 day style race today at the CSU oval, to stretch the legs and lungs out again. After that it is on to the humid pastures of the northeast, although I do have plans for some riding in Nebraska and Iowa along the way. I will bring the camera for these rides, sorry for having no pictures of the Gowdy race. Other highlights include annoying my sister for an evening by sucking down Olde Styles and Chicago dogs on her couch, before she even gets home from work.

Grab a Beer and Watch It All Burn

2010-05-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

That's basically what I have been doing for the past day with the whole Floyd/Lance/Johna/George/Levi/Zabriske/Lim fiasco that has been going down for the past 36 hours. The odd part is, was that while at Mule Headquarters Tuesday night, self, EMule, and Mulie, were chatting about Floyd and doping. Turned out that was foreshadowing for Wednesday night when Floyd first hinted that he was going to set the world on fire. Yesterday's bombshell that rocked the cycling world was the equivalent of the Kennedy assassination for cyclist, meaning we will always remember where we were when we heard the news. I was driving to a coffee bar in Fort Collins, listening to Mike and Mike on ESPNRadio (this might be what I am most excited about regarding my move to Fort Collins, there is sports radio, with blowhards repeating the same point four hours at a time, I love it), and they were comparing him to Jose Canseco, and wondering if Floyd should be considered a whistleblower or not.

My take, both Floyd and Jose were motivated by money, attention, and settling a score. They can say what they will about wanting to clean up the sport, and expose frauds, thats bullshit, like a eighteen year old girl at her first college party, they want as much attention as possible, and it has work. I loathe Floyd because he ruined competitive road cycling for me, after his positive, I lost all faith that anyone was clean, threw up my hands, and said, "Fuck it". I still think he is a snake in the grass bastard, and that his motivation is all wrong, but I must thank him for doing what he did. If Lance, Levi, George, Zabriske cheated for sustained periods of time in the past, and still continue to do so today, they should be punished, hopefully by allowing all the ameteur racers stone them as they are forced to race a crit.

It is times like this that I wish I had the combination of BikeSnob's ability to write, Big Jonny's two years worth of law school knowledge, and Snake's race history (which involves a lot of top level domestic racing, and getting fucked over by the Floyd at the 2007 Leadville) so that I could write something that is not only better, but has a much more solid foundation. Alas that is not the case, and like the idiots who were calling into the sports radio shows I listened to yesterday, I just come off as another idiot with an opinion. All I know is that I love bikes, and if those guys actually have to dope just to keep their jobs, just be honest with us. Don't pull the whole, "I've always been clean, and am proof that you can win without drugs", then get popped for doping. Just look at Rafael Palmerio to see what will happen in that situation. With all the articles that have been written about this clusterfuck, I suggest taking a look at this article by Adam Myerson, it is the best thing I have read so far. No doubt this is going to drag on for a while, so grab yourself a drink, and just watch everything burn to the ground.

Fort Collins

2010-05-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

I have made it here, and its time to find me a spot to live, and the check out the local trails. Despite what you may think about me and my priorities, I am putting riding the bike second, trails remain longer than rooms for rent on craigslist. Last night I was informed of the website, yourgroupride which is the all things bikes site here in Fort Collins. From the looks of it this place just has races, rides, and events going on all the time, and it all goes on big time. I'm talking 240 people showing up to race at a Wednesday night short track event, six day style events at the CSU oval, bike shops that also serve up coffee and sandwichs. Oh yeah, and everything seems to be fueled by the fine folks over at New Belgium, which I can really dig. So we'll see what I can find, and see if I can get some riding in while I'm in town too.

Aside from that you've probably heard about Floyd letting the other shoe drop. It's a big enough news story that ESPN Radios Mike and Mike were asking callers to chime in with their thoughts about Floyd. If what he is saying is true (and I bet it is), then punish all those involved. Floyd better start paying back all the humble cycling folks who contributed to his legal fund back in 2006 and 2007, and I want a fucking refund for buying his stupid book which might have been written by a sixth grader. Greg LeMond gets a public apology from everyone, David Walsh gets to give the finger to all his doubters, and hopefully Armstrong will go back to Texas and stay there. George W. Bush has done few things right in the past ten years, but once we booted his ass out of DC he went back to Texas and has kept his mouth shut. Armstrong should do the same, the two can just go ride mountain bikes on their ranches together, talking about how Shiner Bock is the greatest beer on the planet. I just hope this entire explosion gets taken care of quickly, and doesnt get dragged along.

I Miss Me Some Giro

2010-05-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

I havent been able to really follow what has been going on with the Giro this year due to a combination of reasons. I don't have VS on the BoobTube at home, don't know what the online viewing situation is, and following my bitterness leftover from the 2006 and 2007 Grand Tours I have told myself to never put too much stock in Pro Tour stage races. My apologies to all of you who would rather follow the Tour of California than the Giro, but you are a fucking idiot. Following Cali is like watching the first round of the NCAA Final Four to see the number one seed beat up on the number sixteen seed, sorry that just aint for me.

Anyway I had been out on following grand tours closely, then Stage 7 of this years Giro takes place, and I am kicking myself in the ass for not following the Giro closer. That one looked like one for the ages (I would use the "e" word, but I'm afraid Specialized might sue me demanding my first born as part of the settlement), with all the necessary drama and suffering to keep the spectators happy. Pissing rain, steep climbs, and unpaved roads are a trifecta of greatness when you are following a bike race, and I wish I had been plopped down somewhere with a Stella watching that one.

While I do hate the fact that Vino is back racing for a ProTour team, that dude can always make a race more exciting. Hey at least when he wears the pink jersey he has to piss in a cup at the end of the day. Evans looks to be doing the rainbow jersey proud, which I dig, that is a jersey that should always be on the soulders of someone who actually gives a shit and wants to win. I stumbled across an article over at the Times about how the Italians are started to get mad about the fact that no Italian has won a stage yet. Translate that from English to Italian and put it in the hands of Pozzato, then show him the scenes from the Godfather where Michael just lays waste and kills all his competition, explaining to him he needs to represent the tri colore on his back, hopefully that will get him motivated to win a stage.

Enough of that, on the life front, I got me a trip coming up. Heading out tomorrow to try to find me a place to live in Fort Collins. Got a stop in Bozeman to see, ride, and party with some Mules on the way. From there, headed to see the family and friends, with plans for lots of MTB east coast style, and some midwest riding along the way to keep me occupied. Then head on back to get everything all packed and cleaned before making the move. Stories from the road will be shared.

Cobwebs

2010-05-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

The cobwebs are still cluttering the brain, the reaction time is longer, the equilibrium is a little off, ah the remnants of a Thursday night at a bar. Tragically it is that time of year when the sun is showing up earlier in the day, filling the bedroom with light, and waking me up earlier than I would prefer. The end result, the cobwebs are still on the brain while I am awake, not the worst thing in the world, and hey at least the sun is shinning. Bike wise, the Montana MTB race season will be kicked off on Saturday in Helena. I will not be there, as people still need to be counted, and I do not want to let Uncle Sam down. Once again, not the worst thing in the world, I can still ride in Missoula, and not have to deal with things like USA Cycling waivers, number plates, and writing checks. Say what you will and think what you'll think, I think this is the best time to be in Missoula riding bikes. Still some snow in your sights up on the mountains, lots of daylight, warm temperatures, buff trails, and no smoke in the air. So yeah, that's what I will be doing for the next few days before my next trip on the cosmic wave of life, riding mountain bikes and enjoying Missoula.

First Bear, First Night Ride, First Tears of Joy

2010-05-12T08:02:00.001-07:00

Got my first bear sighting of 2010 yesterday, nothing special, just enough to remind me that there are creatures living in the woods that I go and play in. I had just entered the corridor trail (or whatever the fuck other people call it), then saw this black four legged animal shoot from the creek across the trail and into the trees. At first I thought it was just a large black dog, then the bear climbed a tree. Now I'm no veternarian or other form of animal expert, but dogs don't climb trees (unless the zombies have taken over, in which case all bets are off). Rather than exploring to see if more bears were lurking near the trail, I turned my sorry ass around, and used that oddly smooth piece of trail called "a road" to get up to the Lincoln Hills area. After that the senses were a little hightened, keeping an eye out for any other critters which might try and see what my leg tastes like. All that for nothing, because after that all I saw were school kids and other mountain bikers.

With Ride #1 in the books and 5 hours of counting people over and done with, I got home to get ready for a night ride with MBW's strongman Gallego. He was trying to get ready for a 24 Hour Race in Spokane in a few weeks, I need to get some night riding in before Rapelje, so we got ourselves a match made in heaven. Quick trip up Sidewinder, where I played the "I'm going to try and finish this climb before I need to turn my lights on" game, and won with about 12 seconds to spare. Down Woods Gulch, which was already my most hated descent in Missoula, made worse, by losing the shim for my handlebar mounted light. Oh well, one light is better than none. Quick trip up Curry Gulch, where I now realize it is really dark, and I remember the ultimate double edge sword for a night riding on a singlespeed. In the daylight you can see ahead on the trail, and figure out when you need to get your momentum up for a steeper pitch, or when you can relax a little. At night, that is lost because you get to see a 10 foot tunnel view of what is in front of you, giving you no opportunity to think of how to ride a climb. It sucks, but for me the end result is, "fuck it, I'll just stay seated, and ride everything really hard". Personally this makes the climb go by faster, so I guess that helps. Finish it all up with a drop down Sawmill and call it a night.

When I got home I knew I would not be feeling tired for a while, so I grabbed a Tecate, and checked to see how the Celtics - Cavs game ended. Let me first preface this next paragraph by saying that I for the most part enjoy seeing people who act like they are the greatest get worked over like a load of laundry. Well that happened to LeBron last night, and it brought a smile to my face, and sure enough some tears of joy. It's always nice to see someone who talks about how all they want to do is win a championships, and things like All Star Games and scoring titles don't count, just roll over. Even better, the city of Cleveland is now thinking that the end of the LeBron era is near, and it scares them more then when Lake Erie caught on first for a 70th time. So there ya have it, all and all a good day, two good rides, and only one bear.

Bringing Out The Worst In People

2010-05-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

Just like how every year right around Christmas time, parents start to go nuts and will do just about anything to pick up the hottest toy that year, Leadville 100 is starting to bring the worst out of people. Came across this article today, and had some mixed thoughts about it. While I applaud the ingenuity of Wendy Lyall for figuring out a way to poach Leadville using a former racers number plate, and doing God knows what else to get her way past all the sign in steps where she could have been figured out, I must say she is an idiot for doing so well. If you are going to poach a race, part of the whole poaching process is not getting caught. Guess how she got caught, by getting second in her age group, receiving an award, and taking part in the podium ceremony. In short she screwed the poach pooch.

If you want to read how to poach a bike race, go find a back issue of Bike Magazine, and read the article about how Chopper poached this past year's CrossVegas on the ShitBike. He waited for the race to start, made his way on the course, got in a couple laps, then slipped away without the officials being aware. Yes publishing this story in Bike Magazine, does alert the powers that be about the poach, but I'm sure Bike does enough advertising for CrossVegas, so all was forgiven. Enough of that tangent, but I do feel Lyall (who I'm sure was aware she was riding really well), could have stopped a mile or so from the finish, and allowed a few ladies to pass her, then gone on and finished to avoid this whole mess. Now she and the gal who's number plate she used are never allowed to race at Leadville again.

I wish I could say that I was shocked to hear this kind of story related to Leadville 100. The race has just blown up, and in some way had gotten a bit out of control. Now you have people potentially facing criminal charges for their actions at the race. How long until someone who hasn't gotten picked from the lottery for a few years in a row doesn't show up with an ether rag to take out some racers and try to get their spot? Will we ever see Leadville entrances go up on eBay (you can already bid on the buckles on eBay)? In a way I am saddened that a mountain bike race is bringing the worst characteristics out of people, but at the same time I enjoy the fact it is happening to Leadville 100, and the race director has to take some time away from counting his money and kissing Lance's ass to deal with some problems.

Th "Hers" Day: For The Ladies

2010-05-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

Starting this one off by sending some good vibes in the direction of Madison specifically for the one and only L Campbell. Not to worry the rest of dem UM Grizzlies are getting some positive juju also, but lets face it, L Campbell has got the legs, will, mind, soul, and ginger power to wreck the field at Collegiate Nationals this weekend. Can't remember how she fared last year, but when you talk about L Campbell and racing its a fair bet she got a result. I don't know if any spot on the interwebs will be providing some sort of live updates, if anyone would know its Mr. MTCX, hopefully he can post that info for the folks who care. So yeah, best of luck to all those from UM this weekend.

Other racing to kick off this weekend, include a race you may have heard of: The Giro. It's my favorite of the grand tours, and there are plenty of back stories heading into this one. People can't start the race cause of a hemeroids, Evan's wants another Aussie first, and VdV doesnt want to break a whole bunch of bones. All I know is I'm excited for the start, hope the race is clean, and the podium girls continue to be clean (link is not safe for work, or either of my parents). And on that fine note, we got some cleat skies up here in Missoula, I will be riding soon.

A BoyCott of VeloSnooze

2010-05-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

I have extended both of my middle fingers to the assholes over at VeloSnooze. I'm not even posting a link to the article that pushed me over the edge, that is how much I hate VeloSnooze. In an interview with some German sprinter on the Columbia Team, some jackoff from VeloSnooze had the stupidity to say that American Flyers was not a good movie. That is absolute bullshit, and the rest of the world knows it. VeloSnooze owes all of its readers and apology, and until that happens I am boycotting them. If you have yet to see American Flyers go rent it and just sit back and enjoy one of the greatest movies ever made. Here are some of the highlights:

Costner with a mustache.

Training for sprints by getting chase by a rapid dog.

Muzzin saying, "You wouldnt know a fact if it banged you all night long"

David running across the finish line in stage one.

A perfect explanation of what a wheel sucker is

Costner having a "heart attack in your brain" and nearly riding off a cliff

Training ride recovery food provided by McDonalds

Basically its not just a great cycling movie but a great sports movie. So suck on that VeloSnooze, time for you to admit your mistake.

I got me a follower

2010-05-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact I know how to type a fair amount of the nonsense that passes between my ears, I still don't know much about managing a blog, and all the aspect I have available to me. Typing, links, and photos are all I really know. So to my surprise I signed in today trying to think of what to write about, maybe even figured I'd go off the deep end about all the new doping news across the pond, and I saw that I had 1 follower. To paraphrase Taggart from Blazing Saddles, this stroked my ego better than a 20 dollar whore. I turns out someone who goes by the name "Atomicmiles" follows me. I have been thinking really hard for the past three minutes about who this could be, and I am at a loss. I don't know what it means to follow a blog, do they get an update when I post something? Is this just one of my parents using some sort of clever name to keep tabs on me? Regardless big thanks to Atomicmiles for following me, regardless of if you like or hate me. If you dont hate me, an MTB ride and beer might be in order. Oh yeah and about all that doping shit in EuroLand, it royally sucks. I've said it once and I will say it again, just give someone a lifetime ban and make an example of them.

George Wisell

2010-04-30T08:37:00.001-07:00

Before I get to the interview with the great George Wisell, please go check out the contest over at AHTBM. If I didn't have such a hangover, and owned a set of rollers I'd be at my house attempting this challenge right now. I would most likely fail miserably, but hey what better way to try to get rid of a hangover than by drinking 3 beers and failing from a set of rollers and giving yourself a concussion. Speaking of hangovers, the most recent installment in my "interviews of people I think you should know more about, and therefore gives me something that kinda resembles content to post" involves Mr. George Wisell of Bike29. Since I got to know George in February down at SSUSA, there have been two certainties when doing something with George, 1.) if it is before noon I am really hungover and 2.)if it is after noon I am either riding bikes or drinking. Needless to say it has been a glorious friendship.

George owns a bike shop and online bike store up in Vermont, and despite the fact that I typically cannot stand people from New England, George gets my seal of approval. Dedicated to the greatness that is big wheel love, George has kicked 26 inch wheels out of his life like a prom date who won't put out. George knows bikes, because he rides them, and more importantly is an overall cool guy. With that enjoy what he has to say, and once again, George chose to answer the questions in purple because according to him purple is the new pink.

George down in AZ

You have 50 words to describe yourself to the world, go.
Seriously passionate bike nerd, with a penchant for the tech. Unfortunately, I spend way too much time working on bikes than I do actually riding them. When I do get to ride, I most enjoy riding with friends, and the beer and food that follow.
How did you get into the wonderful world of bikes?
I had to ride my ass to school from the age of 10 . I started out on a BMX bike, but graduated to some old crappy Raleigh 10 spd. I kept the BMX for little stealth missions in the woods near my house. Having few friends that lived nearby, bikes were a great way to get to hang with my buddies, and we often raged on our bikes long after dark.
In high school it was more about transportation than fun, and then I got into snowboarding and hardly rode the bike at all. After a few years chasing winter around with my snowboard, I grew weary of that lifestyle and found that biking was something I missed. I worked at a shop for a while as a basic assembler, then worked my way up to the title of sales manager for a small southern CA frame builder over the course of 6 years.
What made you decide to open up a bike shop in a small town in VT?
This is somewhat of a saga, but the short story is that it kinda came about because I was out of work, and I needed to find something to do. I had exhausted all the local possibilities of doing something I had the qualifications for and that paid actual money, and we weren't about to move anywhere.
When did you make the switch to the big wheels, and what caused it?
After my time in SoCal, I was pretty burned out on the whole bike business. I hated biking, which sucked because it had been such a motivating and fulfilling force in my life. I picked up a Surly Karate Monkey in 02 when I had moved back to VT and was working at Burton Snowboards, and presto, riding a rigid hard tail that was heavier than my pimped out 6" travel full squish bike was way more fun. I sorta didnt look back.
There is a pretty clean line drawn in the sand regarding the debate of local bike shop versus buying online. You do both, where do you see faults in both side’s arguments?
Too many bike shops try to be every thing to every body. They are cluttered with irrelevant items. I specialize in a certain type of bike, therefore everything in my shop is relevant (almost). Not every bike shop has the knowledge or experience with these big wheels, and thanks to the internets, people will find them here. It is time consuming to run and operate an online store AND a fully functioning retail and service shop, as I am a one man show for most of the year. But, I compete with all the big shops locally, and I compete with other big shops that are not local because of the .com side of things.
The single biggest negative about the .com thing is having to be competitive with dirty mail order stores, who shall go nameless. They are all about making the deal, but they don't back it up with service, and unfortunately, their cut throat prices aren't sustainable for the long term. This erodes my margins, but hey, it isnt like I take a paycheck or anything. I've outlasted at least one of these places, and I imagine I will outlast a few more.
You recently stepped it up and became a big time sponsor for a couple riders, what prompted this?
We had a couple of friends who were not getting the help they needed from their support organizations, so B29 stepped it up and did what we could to make life easier for these folks. It kinda sucks not physically being there for our riders or customers all the time, but we'd do just about anything for them to help them along the way to attain their goals. We don't make any product, so the only thing we can do is try and make people happy.
When do you feel like it is proper to use the word epic when describing rides, or things in life?
Epic is over used and has lost it's true meaning. Our Sabino Canyon hike could be described as epic, but we really weren't in danger of serious harm (except Robb and his guts, and maybe eating lunch in that river bed while it was raining). I'd describe that as awesome. I once was on a big stupid bike ride in Moab. I ran out of water, cramping and bonking hard on Gold Bar Rim, the sun was going down, and it was either going down the Portal Trail, or going down Poison Spider and eventually staying in the desert overnight. We chose the Portal. That was pretty epic. Other than that, unless someone dies, epic should not describe burritos, long rides where no one has a mechanical or gets a flat, or bowel movements
What is your ideal bike setup, give us all the details?
Mr Furley is doing it for me right now. It's the bike I brought to SSUSA/AZ, he's a Niner One9, 100mm Reba and I9 wheels, weighing in at 22.81 right now. He is wicked playful. I'm currently using a Rotor chainring, and turning a much higher gear than I am used to, but I find that I am starting to develop some actual power and speed. It's like the BMX bike I always wanted as a kid.
What do you find yourself doing to survive as a bike shop owner during a Vermont winter?
Besides getting all Jack Nicholson in the Shinning, over the last five years of doing this I have: taken other seasonal jobs and working the B29 remotely, stayed put and gone snowboarding in the morning and worked in the afternoon, stayed put and built tons of wheels and shipped them all over the world. Occasionally, I get to go to nice warm places like Tucson and get to meet new people who like doing the same things I do. It all boils down to the fact that I have to do what it takes to make ends meet. Sometimes it's a lean winter, other times it's a party.
What are your top three riding destinations (based solely on the riding) in the states?
I have to pick 3? I've been all sorts of places and want to go back to all of them, but here's my top 3 places I've been to and top 3 places I've not been.
I'd like to do more riding in mid and north coast CA,
I'd like to do more in Pisgah,
more Durango
I want to visit Idaho and Montana.
I hear Tsali is amazing
Have you ever had customers try to trade you Ben and Jerrys ice cream, or Cabbott cheese for bike parts or work?
Mostly I get folks trying to buy my services and stuff with snowboards, outerwear and stuff like that. Snowboards do not pay the bills, and I'm already hooked up with more equipment than I'd use, ever. I really like to trade goods and services for cash.
Mount Snow has played a large role in the domestic racing season over the past decade, do you think the riding there is a proper representaion of east coast riding?
No. While it certainly has heritage, it is not representative of what is going on in VT. Mt Snow is lift access resort riding that caters to western Mass, NY and NJ (no offense). I very am active with the Stowe Mountain Bike Club, and we were the first club in our state to build trail using the IMBA guidelines. In the past we've had to fight tooth and nail for access, but we are making great strides every year in both the amount of legal trails, and the QUALITY of these trails. Most of what is really happening in New England is happening at this grassroots level. It pales in comparison to the massive trail networks of Colorado, Pisgah etc, but it's all we have, and we've worked very hard to get it.
Do you have a favorite MTB ride in Vermont, and how would you describe riding those trails?
I love our annual weekend trip up to the Kingdom Trails in north eastern VT. We've been doing it for over 10 years now, it started with a couple of friends going up there to camp and ride. Now our group has grown and nowt we rent 2 houses to accommodate the 20 or so humans that go there. While we all have kids now, we still throw down like its a kegger at Dejay's house. We generally ride our asses off for 2-3 days as our schedule allows, eat til we can't move, and destroy at least a full keg of local craft brew and several bottles of tequila.
Describe to me your ideal bike trip (time, money, wife, kids, and jobs aren’t issues you have to worry about in this dream scenario).
I turn 40 next year. I want to do the Colorado Trail high roller style. I want to eat awesome food and stay in a bed as many nights as possible while taking 10 days or less to complete the trip. I want to have as many friends with me as possible, be it for one, some, or all of the stages. I had originally set my sites on some "epic" riding in the Swiss Alps, but that is going to be way too expensive, especially if I want friends to come.
Your wife is the current SSUSA champ, how much does she rub it in your face, or use her awesome status to get out of things like dishes, laundry, and bike clean up?
I used to be a chef when I chased winter around, so I always make sure the kitchen is clean. I am the default household bike mechanic, so I work on the bikes no matter what. I do make sure she has a pimped out ride though. We both work full time, so home life is sort of a shared effort. The laundry never ends, the dirty dishes never end, but I do mow the lawn and deal with the trash as my assigned tasks.
Feel free to add anything else you wish to let the masses know, except support for the Red Sox
Yankees SUCK!

The lady killer up close. Hope you enjoyed, happy weekend.

Mother Nature

2010-04-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Like any mother, she can either whack you upside the back of your head with a wooden spoon, or comfort you and make you feel loved. Right now with the weather, she is giving me the former. And this is an old fashioned smack with the wooden spoons similar to what my grandmother used to do, until I realized that I was quicker than her, and if I ran away she couldnt hit me. The weather for the next day blows, really hard. I can deal with shit weather while riding, thats what wool and layers were invented for. But this weather will affect brewfest here in Missoula on Saturday, drinking outside should involve some sunshine. I guess I got spoiled with the top notch weather last week, the kind where the rides get longer, and tan lines become more visible. When that weather will return is anyone's guess.

Came across this photo from SingleSpeedAPalooza, and in my humble opinion, it should be an option on any commuter bike. Those guys over at Surly should work on mass producing them. Along the same lines of awesome things that deal with alcohol, Wordens is now carrying six packs of Victory Brewing Cos. delicious suds. I saw this and almost wet myself.

Speedwagon Photos

2010-04-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

Yeah it's been about a month since the event, but everyone's favorite photographer hooked me up with some additional photos he snapped. Tom Robertson knows his bikes, and his way around a camera, when you combine them, you get tons of great cycling photos. Here is some of his work from Speedwagon. Feel free to sample his work at Tom Robertson Photo, and at Hellgate Cyclery.

First trip over the climb

Heading out with J "The Motor" Doll

Crossing the Flathead

Climbing

GDH

2010-04-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

That's short for Goddamn Hippies, now before you go off thinking that I am some crusty old man who complains too much, keep in mind I am a crusty young man who complains too much. Anyway, I came across this article on the CyclingSnooze, and was forced to chuckle. Let's be honest here, I'm sure that a Pro Tour bike race produces a lot of trash that never finds its way into a garbage can, and three riders got singled out by an environmental group. Sucks to be them, I guess sometimes the luck of the draw is bad luck. Prior to today I had never heard of La Coalition Nature, but this seems like a PR stunt with a dusting of actual care for the general well being of the planet.

One of the cyclists who was singled out found it humorous, and said that "it's difficult to find a solution of the problem." Guess what in about three seconds i just came up with two workable solutions. 1.) Don't fucking litter, last I checked your jersey pockets won't self combust if an empty food wrapper is kept in them. 2.) Just get the kids from the local juvie to follow behind the race cleaning up any leftover trash (hey it worked at the first Red Bull Rampage). The other great piece of news is that Team Sky is starting to use bio-degradable bottles during races. Makes you wonder how long it takes these bottles to bio-degrade, is it like the new bags from Lays which apparently decompose in 7 weeks? What are the odds that one of these bottles begins to biodegrade during a race, leaking precious liquid fuel? Is there an online sports book where I can bet on this?

You ask who I side with on this. Personally I'm on the side of La Coalition Nature for a few reasons. 1.) We only have one planet, and it's already fucked up enough, so let's try to keep things clean. 2.) Professional athletes need to be reminded that they aren't above the regular folk. 3.) This article introduced me to the word "Walloonian", which for the time being is my new favorite word, I plan to use it in a sentence today. I just personally wish that the environmentalists had gone one better and gone after the entire peleton, and had a paddy wagon waiting for them at the race finish, and just start arresting people. I bet a bunch of rides would have dug that cause they would have been able to avoid doping control.

JedZilla

2010-04-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

I think it was back in February I said I was going to try and get some actual content posted up at this site. Let's face it me rambling on about my rides, what I think about the world of cycling, and getting pissed off every now and again isn't a recipe for greatness. With that in mind I figured I'd start to interview some folks who I think more people should either 1.) know them, or 2.) if the know them, learn more about them. With that in mind I bring to you an interview with none other than JedZilla, a man who is a fixture in the Missoula riding scene. Here's the backstory in my opinion, Jed is the man, and if you don't agree with me, feel free to get off this planet. Enjoy the interview, and for the record, Jed chose to respond to my interview questions in green.

Jed getting his swerve on

You have 50 words to describe yourself to the world, go.

Sensitive, new age redneck who digs chili dogs and sunsets and whose favorite color is magenta. In reality, I am happily married to a wonderful mountain biker (member of Biker Bitches group ride) with two sons 4 and almost 2 years old. I own/operate ZillaState, a realty company.

How did you get into the wonderful world of bikes?

I am a recovering Texan and being from Texas I played high school football. I had knee surgery my junior year and biking was part of the re-hab process. After my first year of college ('81 -'82) I bought a Raleigh touring bike and rode it into the ground. I started road racing in '84. I eventually was a bike sub-rep in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi the early '90s. I went to the Fat Tire Festival in Crested Butte, CO in 1993 and moved to Colorado that fall to mountain bike and umm, work.

You have done a lot in the past as far as putting on XC and DH races in the Missoula area, how did you get into that?

I noticed that there were no mountain bike races being held in Missoula and I wanted to get the ball rolling since Missoula is home to some of the best trail riders in the world.

Do you see yourself putting on anymore MTB races in the future?

Yes, I am working with a few folks on a project right now. The venue will be a different place than races held in the past. I will also be more of a "facilitator" than a promoter if this happens.

Just how long have you been enjoying the bike riding up here in Missoula?

I have been riding in Missoula since I moved here in 1997. I had one phone number when I rolled into town. I called the number and I was riding up Sawmill within an hour of parking my car in Missoula.

Are there any aspects of the “old days” that you still feel are present today?

I still see the "old school" camaraderie in the enduro/24 hour mountain bike racing. Where you are part of a community that camps and races. I remember my first 24 hour race at Moab; Kieth Bontranger and his family camped next to us. By the way, he really liked the Kettlehouse beer we had.

Word on the street is that you are a big time sponsor of UM Cycling, how did that happen?

Cycling and mountain biking in particular, have given a lot to me and presented opportunities I would have never dreamed of. My goal is to give back and help out when I can to Montana cycling and especially Missoula teams when I can. My main focus of sponsorship will be: Juniors, Collegiate, Mountain bike/ Cyclo-cross.

Do you have any hopes for the team and it’s riders over the course of the season?

I would say Bryce and Lindsy. I also have a challenge for UM Cycling "Podium (nationals)= Party"

Do you have a favorite MTB ride in Missoula, and how would you describe riding those trails?

There are a few: 1)Margie (my lovely wife) and I have a ride we call the "hour of power" which goes up the MOZ trail through Cox and then straight up the single track in Pattee to the saddle road and back. That is the limited time GRD ride, which has it all. 2) The Sidewinder to Sheep via Blue Point down the east fork to the Corridor is a good one. That was a date ride while Margie and I were "courting". I like the views and the epic-ness of it. 3). Stateline trail to Heart Lake in the Great Burn. I mention this trail as it is in danger of being shut down due to legislation. Please contact Senator Tester and let him know that we would like this loop kept open.

Describe to me your ideal bike and place to ride (time, money, wife, kids, and jobs aren’t issues you have to worry about in this dream scenario). Hmmmm, there are two rides in Colorado. 1) The Monarch Crest trail connecting to a series of trails getting you back to Salida, Co. 2) I can't remember the name of the trail but about a 6 hour ride out of Crested Butte. I have only done it twice and it was awesome! As far as a bike; I have been looking at carbon 29er hardtails. So, that would be my dream bike...

So there ya have it, big thanks to Jed for going along with my interview idea without hesitation.

Riding and Getting the Word Out

2010-04-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

Once again another perfect April day results in me going and riding my MTB bike in the Rattlesnake. Working that long gradual climb up the old Marshall Grade then riding some of the Woods Gulch and Three Larch trails (big thanks to Laurel at MBW for letting me know the snow was gone). When all is said and done, I couldn't have asked for more out of two hours on the trail. I brought the camera along to try to capture some of the greatness that is mountain biking in Montana in April. It just seems like it is an ironclad lock that if I tried to recreate these pictures come the end of June there will be a whole bunch of the smoke in the background. Enough talking for now, pictures will do that for me.

Buffed out singletrack, you can't ask for anything more.

Top of Three Larch (or whatever the hell people call it)

Doing my best to work with the 10 second timer on the camera

In the world of bigger websites dedicated to bikes, Homie Gnomie over at DC was kind enough to post an email of mine regarding the whole Wilderness debacle outside Bozeman that I went on a rant about last week. Gnome even threw in his own two cents, which was a nice taste of logic that few can deliver as he does. Think what you may about a website that for seven years was dedicated to nothing more than bikes booze and boobies, but trust me those guys know and love bikes. It was nice to see the comments that had accumulated as of this morning of people who agree that the decision made was stupid. So big thanks to Gnome for getting the word out, I'm sure good karma will come back around for him in the future.

Other than that it looks like Montana's most well known XC man could be missing the first World Cup of the year due to Mother Nature. Not much you can do when a volcano decides to erupt, so this situation blows not just for Sam, but his whole team, who from the looks of things still have an ocean to cross. This has the makings to rival Planes, Trains, and Automobiles as one of the greatest travel stories if the Subaru-Gary Fisher folks manage to make it over there. I'll say a quick prayer to the travel gods for em asking the winds to change and blow all the ash somewhere else.

Breakfast for some MTB

2010-04-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

The powers that be always pound this shit into your head, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Guess what that is only true when the breakfast is delicious, and gives you a happy belly for multiple hours. Half a grapefruit, a small bowl of plain oatmeal, small bran muffin, and some sort of fruit juice might be great on paper, but mark my words the only thing it does for you is make you want more food in 12 minutes. So how is it that I prepare for a few hours in the saddle, using one meal as my main source of fuel, with mancakes, some form of pig, and caffeine.

What's a mancake you ask yourself? Simple, cook up a pancake or twelve, keep the batter thick so the pancake is thick and fluffy. Once pancakes are cooked, remove and cover in a coating of peanut butter, cover peanut butter in powdered sugar. That's a mancake, it's got everything your body supposedly needs, tastes wonderful, and will keep those cranks a turning on the bike. As far as the pig goes, pick the form you like, cook it up, and enjoy. It's a scientific fact that foods like bacon and sausage make you ten time more mentally efficient, and thirty times more physically efficient. The caffeine part can be tricky because everyone has their own personal likes and dislikes. For me it depends on the time of the day and the mood I am in. Anytime that you wake up due to an outside force other than your body simply saying, "it's time to wake up", means hot coffee is a requirement. Other than that time of day, I am partial to soda (thanks Dad).

So in the end the moral of the story is that a proper breakfast is a good way to start the day, but tweaks need to made in order to make it part of your ride prep. The past four days of top end weather have resulted in many a hour in the saddle for self. And these ain't your mommas lolligagin hours, I'm talking about spending some time feeling your heartbeat in your eardrums. Fuel before each of these rides has been the same except for the number of mancakes prepared. So my gift to you today is the perfect pre-ride breakfast, which has helped me to pillage singletrack these past days, 2 mancakes, 4 strips of bacon, and a large glass of orange soda (hey it was free at Albertsons). Eat up, enjoy, and maybe later this week I'll provide you with my secret hangover remedy morning beverage.

2010-04-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

Got out for a top notch ride following being pissed off Friday morning. Four hours of hitting dirt in two of Missoula riding areas can calm me down from just about anything. No need to bore you with details, I took some pictures from the ride, enjoy them and explanations. As far as the trail closing down in Bozeman, I got the idea to have a "funeral ride" where all who ride bikes on the planet are welcome to attend. I'd like it to be New Orleans style, so "When the Saints Go Marching In" can be sung. However, while discussing the idea with EMule last evening he said that the trails will are most likely going to be covered in snow and unrideable. Regardless if any of the trails which will be closed to the MTB love are rideable next weekend, I will try to put this together, and will post details here.

Crazy Canyon

30 minutes in and I'm salty enough for butterfly love

This is what a happy SSer looks like

Big thanks to the City of Missoula for building water fountains, than covering them up

Thats a wide COCK...pit

Knees Eye View on ride home

Losing 150 miles of trail

2010-04-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

I came across this article on Dirt Rag today, its a little late, but still worth all the effort I will devote to this subject. There is an article from Billings Gazette written about the topic, and unfortunatly it looks like the story got passed over by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. For those who know me, you know I can complain about anything that pisses me off, and it may be in a long winded and over-blown manner, so with that I have just finished the last of my coffee, collected some thoughts, and will now go off the deep end. I apologize in advance for any language or vitriol I may direct towards certain individuals or groups, but in my opinion they deserve it. It looks like May 1 will be the cut off date for 170 miles worth of God's greatest gift outside of Bozeman. For anyone who attended the Race Across the Sky premiere here in Missoula this past March you have a stake in this because your money went to help to try and stop this.

The future of hundreds of miles worth of singletrack, and its availability to mountain bikers has been debated for years now (or at least since I moved here three years ago) in Montana. Politicians and other Bureaucrats want to designate lands as wilderness so they look environmentally friendly, and yet still want to find away to let the woods get logged. It's that basic please everyone mentality that they all have, and the only end result is that they look like standard political jackoffs who make too much money for the little work that they actually do perform. Organized groups do everything they can short of pulling down Politician X's pants and blowing them in the middle of town square to try to get what they want. The Politicians do whatever they want based on who gives them the most money or the best BJ. This time there is what I will call and innocent bystandard. The mountain bikers, who are shunned by the motorized trail users, because our bikes lack motors, and thought of as outsiders by groups who already have access to wilderness areas (hikers, etc). And now starting on May 1, mountain bikers are getting bent over the corner of a table, and having to take it raw from far too many groups, judges, and politicians.

First and foremost I wish to extend both of my middle fingers to The Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Montana Wilderness Association, and The Wilderness Society. You have fucked over mountain bikers as a whole because you want "solitude" to exist in this area. You can disguise your selfishness all you want by claiming the only thing you care about it preserving the land. That is a crock of shit, you wish to preserve the land for what you want to do. If you really wanted to preserve the land in its natural state it would be completely closed to any human activity. I have half a thought to go to over to these 150 miles worth of trail on May 2, with a string of pack mules, and a bunch of ghetto blasters, and crank up some Slayer. That will let you have your fucking solitude. Guess what people on bikes, motorcycles, or ATVs dont ruin solitude, other people (regardless of their mode of transportation) ruin solitude. Horses that shit all over the fucking trail ruin solitude, a pheasant that jumps out from behind a bush when you walk too close to it can ruin someone's solitude.

It is my opinion that as a whole mountain bikers are always worried about losing access to their sweet sweet singletrack that they will do anything they can to keep it. You want someone to clean up parking areas, tell the MTBers that if they dont do it their access is gone, I promise you that will be the cleanest parking area in the state. Need cheap labor to get some trail work done? Tell the MTBers if they don't do it the trail will get closed, that trail work gets done for nothing. The MTB crowd searches for solitude as well, just like the hikers. Last I checked getting out of the town limits to go ride trails by myself is not something I do to get closer to other people and be distracted by blinking lights and honking horns. Just because you read Into the Wild, and want to get back to the roots of nature, doesnt mean you have the right to fuck others over. If you want solitude buy a rowboat and paddle into the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I promise you that you will be left alone.

Another reason mountain bikers got fucked over in this whole decision is because mountain bikes were not considered when the first wilderness plans were drafted some 30 years ago. Never mind the fact that back in the day a group of soldiers rode bikes off road from Missoula to Yellowstone. Bike have been ridden off road for a long fucking time, before Frank Church was taking all of his 50 mile walks where the groundwork for his future wilderness protection work was laid. I've said it once and I will say it again, the original designation of what activities are allowed in Wilderness Areas needs to be revisited and changed. I promise you that a horse carrying a 200 pound person will do as much damage to a trail as that same 200 pound person riding a 25 pound bike.

Aside from that the mountain bikers (and cyclists in general) really need to come together to stop any more miles of trail being closed down. Write letters and emails to politicians, tells The Wilderness Society to piss off, write letters to newspapers, get mad and let the masses hear your voice, get others who live in other states to try and help the cause. If all that fails practice some good old fashioned civil disobedience. Go ride those 150 miles worth of trails your not supposed to on May 1! With that, I'm done being pissed about this for now, I'm gonna go ride my bike.

Making it Count

2010-04-15T08:55:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Tuesday's snow, riding the MTB was out of the question yesterday. This caused me to get out and do an oldie but a goodie ride on the SSCX bike. Head on over to Trails End, and get hill climb repeats in. Ten had been the most I had ever done in one ride, so I figured I'd shoot for that. By number 7 the climb was starting to hurt, and I figured I'd just take it easy on the last trips. Right as I was finishing number 9, Big Shot Gallego crests the hill to start his own out and back trip. He turned around and finished up with me, then we agreed to do my final trip together. As we started I figured once Alex took off, I would let him go and just ride my own pace up. None of that, riding with Alex pushed me to make that last trip hurt and burn, getting all the goodness out of the climb. I don't know if it was my fastest trip of the day, but I'm going to say it was my most worthwhile trip of the day, just doing what I could to make it count.

Perspective

2010-04-11T09:30:00.001-07:00

I needed some of that yesterday. Up until Tuesday afternoon the plan had been to go race at the Barking Spider down in Boise yesterday. Pack up the car Thursday morning, then hit the road with the phillie later that day. Enjoy the scenic drive along Highway 12 and 95 down to Boise, spend the night at a college friends place, race on Saturday (hopefully do well), then drive on home through the Sawtooths on Sunday. Instead I answered the call of duty from gubment, and got a gig with the Census folk. No racing, less riding, more working, probably the ultimate buzzkill for someone in my shoes.

Instead of racing yesterday, once work was done, I headed up in the Rattlesnake on a solo trip with the bike and some water. I rode, plain and simple, no need to bore you with details like trail names, or times, I rode, rode some more, kept riding, and then I rode home. Highlights of the afternoon had nothing to do with how I felt while riding, or how fast I felt, but rather ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE OUT RIDING MOUNTAIN BIKES!!! It was great to see such a large group of people out there, doing something that I think is one of the best activities on the face of the earth. So yeah, I would have loved to race yesterday, but just getting out and riding on a sunny day was good enough for me.

To make it all better, a little wing spot here in town was having customer appreciation day. Free chow and 4 dollar domestic pitchers make me a happy boy under any circumstances. When I get to go right from a post ride shower to this event, makes me even happier. Who cares if I ate a whole bunch of shitty food, and sucked down a bunch of cheap hooch, completely negating any sort of gains I may have obtained from my ride, I'm not racing. Finally big ups to the Big Swiss Train today at Roubaix, thanks for two phenomenal classic rides, you have reminded us all why the Classics are the best, and everything else is just filler.

Pushing that 18

2010-04-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Made the switch of the rear sprocket yesterday, putting that sissy 20 tooth away for the time being, and slapping on the trusty 18 tooth. I rode the 34x18 for the beginning of 2009, until I got to XC nationals, let the pussy jeans kick in and switched over to the 20, which I wound up using for Galena (very helpful) and Laramie (helpful). Since then I just kept the 20 on, and I constantly felt like pedaling on descents was a futile endever. No more, during yesterday's ride in the Rattlesnake, I was reminded of what pushing a tough gear was like. Also, while on some of the descents, I actually felt like I had a chain on my bike, rather than just being spun out. Climbing felt slower, and tougher, but since I dont own things like heart rate monitors, powermeters, or even a speedometer I really have no idea if that was the case. And frankly I don't give a shit, pushing a tougher gear is what I prefer, so that is what I'm gonna do (plus with free socialized health care just round the bend here in the states, I can get me some replacement knee parts for nothing in a few years). What I do know is that the ride I got in yesterday, felt much better on an 18, than when I did the same route on the 20.

Enough of my cycling, the second biggest race of the road cycling calender is happening this weekend, Paris-Roubaix. I give the nod to the Tour of Flanders for biggest race, cause it's in Belgium and when I think bikes I think of Belgium. Biggest or second biggest, Paris-Roubaix is loved by many and there or plenty of folks who have been planning all of their off season riding towards this one day. Cancellara and Boonen seem like the even money bets, and they deserve that title, both have won there in the past, both are looking strong right now. I wish I could say that I have high hopes for Boy George in the stars and bars kit, but the hype that has surrounded him in the classics for the past decade, has been just that, hype. However, if he can pull that rabbit out of his hat on Sunday, I will gladly eat that plate of crow. Despite all this, the race can still be a total crapshoot with luck playing as much of a role as ability, so it's anyones race. I just wonder if the fine folks at Flippers would be willing to put cycling on the big screen on Sunday.

I'll Give You a Race With Some Singletrack

2010-04-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

So often us riders of the dirt care about one thing in a race: singletrack. Find me a MTB racer who says that there favorite part of a race course is when they get to ride that long doubletrack which is free of any obstacles, and I will find you 1.) someone I would like to punch in the face, and 2.) someone who isnt a MTB racer. We all want singletrack the race course, more often than not we have to deal with a bunch of doubletrack, or paved roads to separate everyone out or some other bullshit reason.

The good news is that there are some race promoters who think singletrack is what we need, and lots of it. Enter Scott Morris, who along with a select few others in this country (Curiak, Petervary, etc) will make your "epic" days look like a warm up. Scott for a bunch of years now has been putting on the AZT 300, which uses the Arizona Trail for a course, start in Mexican border, end in Tucson, try not to get too much cactus in yourself along the way. No entry fee, no support, no bitching. This year, Morris has stepped it up, making the race be a full on border to border test of one's manhood (or womanhood if you are lacking the man parts, but have the lady parts in spades). 750 miles, longest singletrack bike race in the world, who the fuck knows how many different ecosystems/microclimates you'll have to pass through. Let's not forget once you hit the Grand Canyon (yeah that huge fucking scar that cuts across northern arizona), you get to throw that bike on your shoulder and walk it across. Yeah, 21 miles of hiking with your bike and gear on your back, cause the NPS will throw you in jail if those tires touch the ground (if you dont believe me, ask the riding the spine boys).

Yeah, the CTR, has been getting a bunch of buzz (from the likes of Kerkove and others), about its elevation, length, and weather, but I think AZT 750 might have it beat (Note: I think I am mildly objective about this, I have lived in AZ, and plan to live in CO, therefore I like both states). While the AZT doesnt go anywhere near 10,000 feet in elevation, getting your ass up the Colorado Plateau will be a bitch. Also the weather will go from really hot (Mexico border region), to "Oh shit I hope it doesn't snow tonight" once you get up north. And I don't think there is any chance of bumping into some sort of Mexican Drug Cartel who is trying to smuggle a bunch of people across the border anywhere along the Colorado Trail.

Here's my predictions for what would go down in the AZT 750. If Scott races few people could challenge him, as long as nothing horrible happens, he'll win it. If Ohio Rob races, he will finish, cause if he doesn't I will drive to Ashville to fart on all his pillows. BGR has the best shot of anyone to be the first to finish this race on a fixie (yeah a fixie!!) At least half of those who start won't finish. Anyone who tries this without Stan's No Tubes, will be sorry.

My date with SRAM

2010-04-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have finally returned from the Windy City, and I know that everyone is just dying to hear what my meeting with SRAM and testing of the new XX products was like. Well, for those of you who were dumb enough to believe that, find the closest wall or desk and bang your head against it multiple times. That story was all bullshit, the product of a long bike ride where I had little to think about. However, with my dad and I having some time to kill on Friday before going to pick up my mom and sister from the airport, we got the address to SRAMs corporate headquarters, and headed on down there. Their global headquarters are situated right in a nice gentrified neighborhood outside of downtown Chicago. Other local businesses included a massive REI, some nice looking pizza joint, and something called a "British School" After walking around the building, and realizing there was no way we were getting into the building. Instead I got a picture outside the shipping area around the back. While leaving, there was some guy in a Bianchi t-shirt cutting up boxes who I shouted out "free XX" to, he chuckled, then went back to cutting up boxes.

SRAM shipping

SRAM parking

So that was Chicago, good times with the family, no complaints, expect for having to fly and missing the NCAA championship game. For those cut from the roadie cloth, big things this week include the Grizzly Triathlon, and Rocky Mountain Roubaix. Personally I had planned to go down to the Barking Spider in Boise. Plans for "super awesome" mountain bike road trip with Dejay fell through, when he told me it would last from next weekend until June. However, Barking Spider needs to get scrapped too, got me a gig with some fine folks at the US Census, and training is this week. So there ya go, my plans to return to a race, and see my old college friend has been scrapped due to comitments with Uncle Sam. I guess I will just have to do my riding in Missoula.

Sports on Easter Sunday

2010-04-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

Had the pleasure of gorging myself on two types of sporting events which can get classified under the heading of "religious" as far sporting events go. First was the Tour of Flanders, woke my ass up to follow the live coverage on the internets through the folks over at VeloSnooze. Despite how much I complain about that site, they are still good for something, decent live coverage of racing. Later in the day, got to catch the coverage on Versus. While I was stoked about getting to watch the race, certain family members of mine take no pleasure whatsoever in watching the Spring Classics. Translation: after being able to watch for about 45 minutes, complaints started, and the channel was changed.

Lucky for me it was right after Cancellara made is first move, where him and Boonen took of. For a large diesel engine of TT man, Cancellara sure was able to make it look easy getting up those steep climbs (on his final move with 15 km to go, he didn't even get out of the saddle). Conversely, Boom Boom Boonen looked like a mortal the way he was hunched over, pushing and pulling for every ounce of strenth he had in his body to be transfered to his wheels. Let's face it, the bulk of us who provide this fine armchair analysis would be doing more than just "struggling' to even make it over one of these climbs, so both those two killed it on the climbs, regardless of how they looked doing it. Although I did feel it was a perfect reflection of the countries they represent. Switzerland always neutral and smooth, never getting caught up in all the hustle and bustle of the moment, just working hard and looking good at it. Belgium on the other hand, where they just work through all the tough conditions regardless, don't complain, just suffer through it and get it done, it doesnt have to look pretty. I caught up on the rest through Jonny's post over at DC this a.m. Here are my favorite pictures from the race (courtesy of BKW).

At some point in my life, this is where I want to be in early April.

Two off the toughest guy this Spring.

Big props to Millar for having the balls to try to bridge up, its something Boy George never seems to try.

Second religious sporting experience was watching the Yankees Red Sox opener with my sister. Few things get me as excited as having the chance to make fun of people from New England for no logical reason whatsoever. Highlights included Steven Tyler singing "God Bless America" (or some other patriotic song) during the seventh inning stretch, with some floosy on his arm who looked like he picked her up at a bar across the street from Fenway before the game. Big thanks to all you aging rock stars with debatable substance abuse problems for thinking you are still important, it provides the rest of us with endless amounts of comedy. Not to be outdone, Neil Diamond came out the next inning to sing Sweet Caroline (a Fenway staple during the seventh inning stretch). It looks like Neil had gotten his hands on Steven's extra drugs, and couldn't remember the words to his own song, which may have been the highlight of the evening. In the end, the Yankess screwed the pooch, and my sister was not pleased about it. I on the other hand finished the vodka which was in her freezer, which she claimed was over two years old. Frankly, I can't think of a better way to cap off Easter Sunday, than by polishing off an old bottle of hooch.

Der Ronde is My Easter

2010-04-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Der Ronde to you as well. To the folks that listen to the old man in a funny hat (I was counted amongst these folk for a time), you might know this day as Easter. Try as Easter may, a basket full of chocolate eggs, jelly beans, and oversized chocolate bunnies, it's got nothing on that big boy from the land of the Swiss stomping out the best of the rest over in Belgium. This is the first time I will have access to the VS on a Sunday during cycling season, meaning I plan on catching some of the replay from Flanders later today. The last few days in the Windy City have been nice, and the legs have been used for nothing more than taking me from one eating or drinking spot to the next. Stopped on over at SRAM hoping to get treated like a king, instead I was the dunce, and somehow they had forgotten about sending me that invite last week. One quick photo of me on Lake Michigan, otherwise known as the kiddie pool for angry Cubs/Bears/Sox/Bulls/Blackhawk fans.

First Trail Party, Hump Day Thoughts

2010-03-31T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last night, as the brainchild of Mr. Civilian Cyclist (Horan), would be a gathering to celebrate the first day of riding trails in Missoula. Heard about it from Mr. MTCX post Speedwagon, but with the weather being annoying the number who might show was in jeopardy. At 5 it was just a group of 5 including self, Jeff, Betsy, Mr. MTCX, and Forrest. Horan wanted to ride, but was too busy squeezing limes for margaritas, and cooking beans. To make up for this he let me pour myself a finger worth of 10 year old scotch, plain. No complaints there from me, and as far as I was concerned we could have just ridden around the block and I would have been happy.

The ride was quite mellow, with just a quick trip up sawmill, then back down the same way. It was nice to Radley throw down some ass-kicking style rolling down the singletrack, dude deserved to be on the cover of some glossy magazine with those moves. Upon return, Horan hooked us up with margaritas that when combined with my dehydration resulted in a quick feeling of the buzz. A trip was made for some Tecate, I won a 17 dollar bet due to my knowledge of Dancing With The Stars (i am pathetic), food was consumed, and good times were had. Big thanks to Horan for putting that together, I just hope the folks at SRAM know how to party as well as Horan.

Now with it being "Hump Day" today, I will spend some time, giving my two cents about various stories related to the world of cycling and beyond. Enjoy or don't, agree or don't, I'm not all that concerned, I'm just typing away right now.

Team Sky is letting the racers pick their Tour squad: To me this is kinda as odd as a teacher letting students decide their own grades. It's an idea that is great in theory and all, but lets face it when jobs and money get factored into the equation, some of the worse character traits of the racers on Team Sky will surface. It makes me think of what was rumored to have gone down before the road race world championships. The team from Australia needed to decide who they would ride for. If the racers had their way Cadel Evans would have gotten no support because he is a dick and everyone on the team hated him. Well the team director put his foot down and said, they would race for Cadel, because he was the strongest, badda bing badda boom, we all know what happens next. Team directors are there for a reason, to direct, racers are there for a reason, to race, let's try to keep it that way.

Cav's gonna race in Cali: Not too surprised about this one, team has a title sponsor from the US, and they ride on bikes who is based out of the US. Plus I'm sure Cav already knows how to pick up the ladies in Europe where cyclists are gods (don't forget how much those Italians love sprinters too). Maybe he is looking for the challenge of trying to land himself some stuck up California girls where they might not have a thing for cyclists to begin with. Remember the sign of a true champion is always looking for a newer tougher challenge to accomplish.

Classics buzzkill for Haussler, and Boasson Hagen: No matter how strong you are, injuries happen, and they screw things up. I remember back in 2007 when I was feeling like a big shot after my performance at the AZ state championships, I thought I was gonna kill it at the Whiskey 50 a few weeks later. Well the night before I had a few too many with friends in downtown Prescott, and felt like shit the next morning at the start line (kinda like getting injured, just self-inflicted). It took my a solid hour of the race to sweat out all the residual booze in my system, and I missed my sub 5 hour goal.

Sucks to be McNabb: Nothing to do with cycling, but as someone who hails from that neck of the woods I've been following this story. I don't think I've ever seen a football player who has been that good, and elevated a team as much as McNabb has done for Philly, then will most likely get royally screwed by that organization. He's getting passed over for a puppy killer, and a career backup, I just hope whatever team he winds up on doesn't play the Giants, because McNabb is gonna be on a mission this season.

Yankees pitcher uses both hands: I've never seen anything like this, the closest would be Jim Abbot who managed to pitch even though he only had one hand. The kid can pitch with either his right or left hand, has a special glove with six finger slots, and the umpires created a new rule just for him. That is awesome, and it makes me wish Mike and the Mad Dog were still on the air together, because the back and forth banter between the two about this would be off the charts on the comedy scale.

That's all I got, the next posts will be coming from Chicago.

College and Spring Break

2010-03-30T08:12:00.001-07:00

While it's been a while since I have been a college student, in a shade under five months I will have re-entered this world. Came a across some reading material this morning that got me thinking about the whole college thing, the role bikes played for my first go around, and the role they will play in the second shot. The background goes a little something like this: I graduated from Lafayette College in Easton, PA in May 2006 with a B.S. in Geology. While in college I primarily played rugby, lived in a fraternity house for two years with some of the greatest people I know, and mountain biking (still stupidly riding with gears) was something I did by myself to get away from school stuff. I mountain biked in places like Jacobsburg Park, Chimney Rock, and Round Valley, where roots and rocks were wet and kept you on yer toes. I was on a 2001 Kona Pahoehoe (perfect for a geo major), with tiny wheels, and baggy shorts were the norm.

Smash cut to August 2010, where I will start working on my masters in Geology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. I will not be playing rugby, living in a fraternity house, and will probably be riding a lot more for different reasons. I also doubt I will be side tracked from going on a bike ride by my buddy Little John tempting me with a cooler of cold Nat Light, and a viewing of Baseketball. Bike choice will be the big wheeled rigid singlespeed Niner that has become like a third leg for me over the years. Still haven't done enough riding in Fort Collins to know what the trails will be like, but folks like Kerkove, Fuzzy, and Jake have assured me that MTB in the Front Range is as good as you have heard.

Fittingly, over at the VeloSnooze this am, there was a nice little article about collegiate racing (written by someone on the CSU team none the less). Lafayette never had a cycling team (or club for that matter), and as a result, the other Lafayette person I wound up riding the most with was one of my geology professors. Senior year I thought about starting up the club to try and get money to race, but in the end enough of the motivation just wasnt there. Well I've been kicked around the idea of maybe giving the whole collegiate racing thing a go at CSU. Holmes has been pushing me to do it, telling me to just go out and race the geared class on the SS, and see what happens. Over the past couple of years catching glimpses of the UM team prep for their season, head out on training rides, and do the whole race weekend thing, has got me feeling like I may just give it a try down at CSU.

The second bit of reading material came from the fine folks over at Dirt Rag, detailing their escape from the PA cold to get some dirt miles in down in Georgia. Those folks are much smarter than I had ever given them credit. I had heard of the Mulberry Gap area in Georgia as a great MTB spot from Dejay and Miss Wicki, who spent some time there in 2008 or sometime in the past three years, and Ohio Rob has written and spoken a bunch about how good the riding is down there. North Georgia is one of the spots on the list of spots I want to just go to and spend a week exploring and riding a bike (also Western NC, Arkansas, NH/VT/ME combo). Looks like they got plenty of riding and good times in. In retrospect I wonder if a Spring Break like this in college might have been a little better than my choice senior year when we headed to Myrle Beach, SC for the week. Sure drinking cheap hooch in a hot tub, while laughing with friend six weeks before graduating from college is a right of passage, but a week of sweet singletrack might have given that a run for its money. Looks like I might have two more Spring Breaks to put that theory to the test.

Things to Do, Worlds to Save

2010-03-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

That title couldnt be further from the truth, I really only have one world to save. Time to do some calculations, thinking, and rambling through this world. The big calculation is the next race/adventure to go on. Hinted at this with yesterdays post, and believe me I understand that in the grand scheme of life the decision that I face is quite trivial. Last week I had made some tenetive plans to spend the weekend of April 10, heading down to Boise to race the Barking Spider. Got a college friend who lives in town, so free lodging wasnt a problem, the drive down there is one of my favorites in the state of Idaho, and I got some unfinished business at this race last year (missed out on first by 30 seconds or so). Those plans got tossed around the spin cycle when post Speedwagon had a missed call from none other than Mr. Birtch. He mentioned that weekend he was planning to head over to the Dawn Til Dusk race in Gallup, NM racing in the duo class and was in need of a partner.

Racing solo at 2007 Dawn Til Dusk

Sure driving to Northern New Mexico is a little different than driving to Boise from Missoula, but Dawn Til Dusk is just one of those races. Anytime a MTB race promoter says that the course is "entirly singletrack", they are lying to try and get more people to show up and line their own pockets with the green. Not Dawn Til Dusk, there is about 50 yards worth of double track, and that is in the transition area (to allow for teams to trade off riders), the rest is wonderful desert singletrack. It's just one of those races with one of those vibes. Dejay also made it seem that after hitting up Dawn Til Dusk, we could just cruise on over to Sea Otter for the race the next weekend. It's times like these that I had a credit card with a higher limit, and an interest rate below 0.1%. So yeah, thats what I got to figure out, go do another multi week MTB road trip with a good friend with one race that I love and another race that I've always wanted to do, or head onto Boise for a long weekend with scent of blood in the nostrils.

Chicago weather forecast

In other news, had to check out the Chicago weather for the big SRAM trip I got starting later this week. If you still don't think that there is some sort of fucked up climate change going on with the planet, take a look at this weather forecast for Chicago, under no circumstances should Chicago be this warm at this time of year. But at the same time, it should make my life as product tester a lot easier. It also looks like while I'm gone Missoula will be getting some much needed moisture, which makes me happy for two reasons 1.) it's needed, and 2.) I won't be around to deal with it. I like precipitation when it takes place while I'm asleep or somewhere else, kinda like visits from people you can't stand.

Missoula weather I'll be missing

In the wide wide world of road bikes, doper extrordinarie, Michael Rasmussen basically said that all the trouble he had would have never happened if he had changed his nationality to Mexican in 2005. I got to agree with him, if he had changed his nationality, he would have been governed by whatever official doping organization exists in Mexico, which is probably on the same level of honesty as the guys who enforce drinking age laws at fraternity parties in college. Let's not forget this is the same guy who back in 2005 was willing to inject himself with calf's blood to try and get a leg up on the competition. I got an idea for folks who get busted doping, tell them they can get a shorter suspension if they promise to keep their mouth shut for the rest of their racing career. If they talk, they get the boot from the sport, Rasmussen would be the first to go, and I'd be happy to actually give him the kick in the ass.

Speedwagon Report

2010-03-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

Pre-rollout meeting

Got the first race of the year out of the way, and with good results. Made the journey Saturday morning, and by the time we were rolling out there were about 30 or so of us on the road. Seeley gave one great piece of final advice to all, "If you plan on suing me I don't have a lot of money", the true sign of a great race. Anyway, the neutralish rollout took place, then before the gravel got hit, attacks and whatnot took place. Remember I have no idea of what is supposed to be done during these road races, I just pedal as hard as the legs will go. Eventually there was a break, and once we hit the gravel I was right at the back of the pack. I switched myself over to the left side of the road, and did what I could to pass folks.

Rollout

After the first section, I found myself with a group of five or so, containing none other than Jesse Doll. We pedaled then somehow when it switched to gravel I got myself a gap, and just kept chasing the three people I could see ahead of me. Eventually Jesse and some other guy caught me. Jesse and I took turns riding with our noses into the wind, but our third rider wanted none of this he just hung in the back. My assholeness took over and starting cursing a blue streak at him. Had I known that he was the dude who was kind enough to offer up his house for the start and finish I would have been nicer. Anyway spent a bunch of time chasing down Jesse, making up a bunch of time on the main climb.

View

We made it to the turn around together, where I was sitting in 6th with Doll in 7th. I guess the climbing gods were smiling on me cause I managed to get in front of Jesse again on the series of climbs after the turn around spot. Right there I was in the worst possible position, no sight of the three ahead of me, and with J Doll no more than 30 seconds back. Dude's got a motor on him, and I figured it was only a matter of time before he caught my SS ass. It was that time, get scared, get pumped, get moving. Did the TT of my life on that gravel, with my own personal Flanders soundtrack yellin' in my ears (Hot Water Music for those who care). Destroyed my knees on that final climb to finish in 6th.

Alex checks with "the yellow coach monitor" to see if he is allowed to pedal harder

Once all was said and done it was time for grub, drinks, and awards. Seeley took the boys W, with Sara taking it for the ladies, and I got some love for doing it without gears. Pipo scored a six pack for getting four flats, and all were counted as winners in my eyes. After bellies were full, and goodbyes were said, we headed our seperate ways. Now its time to get down to business, its MTB time, classics season be damned, dirt is open, and my love. Got some decisions to make too, go back to Boise to shoot for the top spot at Barking Spider, or head on south to join forces with a friend for one of my favorite races.

Singletrack in the Snake

Fry Daze

2010-03-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah the title sums up how I feel right about now, my brain has been fried, and I stumbling along in a daze, call it my 99 problems if you will. Can ya blame me though, still riding high about my Chicago trip, and with college basketball on last night, what better reason to head out to somewhere on the town for a drink or twelve. Let's not forget I'm in the middle of my most serious training plan and pre-race workouts in my life, meaning recovery booze is quite mandatory. Think what you may, but lets face it there is only one way to train for the wonderful world of mountain bike race, ride hard, eat lots, wash everything down with some cheap hooch, then top it all off with a mouthful of tums at bedtime so everything works together to result in out of this world leg strength.

It's a simple equation: the sum of hours ridden plus calories of food consumed multiplied by drinks consumed raised to the power of number of mouthfuls of tums eaten equals total wattage output. For example if yesterday I rode 2.5 hours, ate about 2500 calories, drank six beers and a glass of whiskey, then had a mouthful of tums, means I will be able to put out about 17,000 watts out on the bike today. Convoluted? Yes. True? You better believe it. Try it out for size, then write me a thank you e-mail, feel free to send my blank checks as a sign of your gratitude as well.

Thoughts from last evening include: Syracuse crapped the bed, cause apparently they think that double digit turnovers equals a win. West Virginia won, but couldn't make a layup to save their life, they better fix that if they plan to go any further (and make me not look like a jackass for picking them to win it all). The Little Red Engine that No Longer Could (i.e. Cornell) did what was expected, they got beat by a better team. Good for Cornell to get some other press other than being the alma matter of the fourth funniest character on The Office, now go back to being the academic dregs of the Ivy League. Xavier had me loving them, bombing threes to keep their chances alive, plus their mascot is a Musketeer (not sure if its based on the candy bar or an actual Musketeer). Yeah they lost, but it takes balls the size of watermelons to put those shots up. As for tonight, I hope Duke loses, because only people who went to Duke actually like Duke. I'll jump on the Tennessee bandwagon cause they offered to have my grad school baby. Saint Mary's and Northern Iowa better show up, or I won't believe in "underdogs" again.

As for things actually associated to bikes, the dirt rides are beginning here in The Garden City. Got some trails clear for riding, which is good, skinny tires makes me a go crazy. General rule of thumb for bike tires (and jeans for that matter), the skinnier they are, the suckier they are. With that said, skinny tires will be used this weekend for Speedwagon. I'm excited for some good times, even better chili, and the possibility of getting lucky at the Grey Wolf on the way home. Some Mules look to be getting to town later this evening, resulting in some good times I'm sure.

Continuing on the Mule Front, if you haven't already heard, Cory Hardy has been winning beauty contests in Thailand, which makes me wonder just how ugly the people in Thailand really are (or if Cory has finally decided to not talk). No longer does he rock the burly chops and four dollar gas station sunglasses, instead replacing them with a clean shaven look, and some sort of dress looking piece of clothing. Word is that Cory will be returning home to Montana soon, meaning that all college parties in the greater Bozeman area will no longer be safe from his presence.

Pulled that little dandy you see above from Mr. Dicky's site, where he is rambling on and on about his "new jerseys". Guess what Dicky, you are right about New Jersey having sluts, just like every other state in the union (maybe not Utah, although I'm sure in MormanLand the criteria to be considered a slut is wide and varied). Even though I haven't called NJ "home" for about 8 years now, I still get quite defensive when people make fun of it. Despite Dicky's bashing on the great state where I was raised (and where I got my MTB start), I got no hard feelings towards him for a few reasons. 1.) The mustache I had earlier this month was much more badass than his mustache 2.) He sounds exactly like my cousin Matthew, and 3.) I'm pretty sure I drank a bunch of his beer at SSWC08. So yeah, New Jersey's got sluts, but hey at least it takes a freshly waxed Camero (IROC-Z of course), to take em back to the sac. And with that last gem of a thought, I'm gonna call it a weekend. I will try to remember to take a camera up to the Speedwagon, but I make no guarantees. Happy weekend.

Quick Fix, and Big Plans

2010-03-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

No I'm not talking about the type of fix that a junkie needs, but rather fixing something I screwed up. Don't be surprised it happens on a fairly regular basis. Yesterday I said that registration and the start of the The Speedwagon Classic would be at Matt Seeley's house. That's how it was last year, and since his email to me didn't mention anything about the change, I figured thats how things were gonna stay. Thanks to none other than Mr. MTCX, I got the proper link for all the race info. If you see that guy buy him a beer for me, cause I'm to cheap, and only buy drinks for myself. If that link doesn't work, then just drive your ass up to Polson early Saturday morning, hang out on the side of the highway by the WalMart once you enter town, and hold up a sign that says "I need directions to the Speedwagon start", and you should be okay.

Now about these big plans, it looks like this little "self-pity pill party" (borrowed from Big Jonny) that I call SSMT, has lead to big things for me. Unless you have been living under a rock you are well aware that the fine folks over at SRAM have come out with a new 2x10 drivetrain (and other components) for us MTB folk, called "XX". Now plenty of people have gotten excited about this, but I am not one of them, gears are too complicated for me, so I ignore them. With this combination of stupidity/hatred of gears and my ability to type these random thoughts on this page, has led to me getting one of the greatest offers in the world.

New XX crankset and BB

I opened up my seldom checked SSMT email account, and had this email from the folks over at SRAM.

"Dear Andrew,

Many of us in the SRAM office have been following your blog for a while now, and have found it both pathetic and humorous. While we are excited for the launch of our new XX drivetrain to the public, we know that the both pro-level racers, and racers with deep pockets will love our new XX drivetrain, no matter what. We however think that if we can get someone who has no ability to work with a geared drivetrain, to both figure it out and fall in love with our product, we will know that we have produced one of the best products for the market. As a result we would like for you to join us next week in Chicago to test out out the XX drivetrain and additional components for a few days. We will cover all of your expenses for the trip, and hope to hear back from you with your response soon."

Sincerely,

SRAM

I read this email, and basically thought to myself that while these guys are really nice, they still dont realize that I literally cannot figure out a geared drivetrain. Regardless a free trip to Chicago (I was born just north of chicago, and my sister lives there) to try out new bike goodies, that some orthodontist in Salt Lake City who races on a Superfly in the Sport class has been drooling over for some time now, is something I couldn't pass up. After checking the Cubs schedule, and learning where the Man V. Food Chicago Challenge was, I wrote back.

XX trigger shifters

"SRAM dudes,

Thanks for the offer, which I hope to take you up on. However, I do have some conditions that you must meet in order for this trip to happen.

1.) I want to attempt the Man V. Food Challenge at Lucky's in Wrigleyville, you must front the money for this, and cheer me on when I attempt it while in town.

2.) The Cubs will start their season Monday April 5, 2010. We must watch the game near Wrigley Field, and you must pick up my bar tab (I promise to only drink Olde Style).

3.) I want to screen any of your single male employees between the ages of 25 and 35, to pick someone who will take my sister on a date, she needs to date a bike guy.

If you meet these terms, just tell me when my flight is."

Stupidly they took the bait, and I will be heading to Chicago next week to test out the new XX drivetrain. Whoever thought that randomly spewing my thoughts onto a blog throw my keyboard would result in something so awesome? I will provide pictures and updates from the entire journey, in hopes of generating even more jealously.

Speedwagon

2010-03-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday kicks off the racing season as far as I'm concerned (along the lines of races I actually care about, and therefore are the only races that count as races) with the Speedwagon Classic. Did this one last year with the Mules, and despite two flats, walking a mile, begging some dude for his rear wheel, and being really hungover at the start, this was a great time. Registration starts at 10:30 at Matt Seeley's house (I dont know the address, but I'm sure you can ask around and figure it out, plus Polson is not that big), the gun will go off at noon. Get ready for some good times, and jokingly Seeley has told me that we may have an SS prize (which I told him he didnt have to do, due to me being the sole SSer who will show). Hoping some members of the Mules will head on over Friday night for some good times before heading up to the race on Saturday, except for Cory who is still in Thailand learning how to sew, which will allow him to open up a clothing company called "Flamboyant" when he gets back stateside (this is true, I dont have the time or the energy to make shit up anymore).

On a more somber level, one of the Cape Epic racers passed away on Tuesday. James Williamson was a former 24 hour solo world champion, and at the age of 26, he was unable to be awoken by his teammate Tuesday morning in South Africa. According to the Cape Epic website, this is something that was completely out of the blue, with no complaints coming from James or his teammate following Monday's stage. This sucks, and I'm sure plenty of thoughts. prayers, and sympathy will be sent his family's way in Australia.

Back on the Up and Up

2010-03-22T09:24:00.001-07:00

Been a few days since a post due to a combination of things like spotty internet connections, plenty of college basketball, and general laziness. Oh well, not much to do about it, just get to spewing some stuff out when I can (meaning now). I guess the big cycling to do this weekend was all about Milan-Sanremo (no offense to you Montana road racers). I royally screwed the pooch thinking Sunday was race day. Fast forward to getting on line late Saturday to see that the race was already in the books. Oh well, worse things in the world have happened. For all the talk about Cavendish being unbeatable in a sprint for the next five years, Friere showed us why he can never be counted out...of anything. That guy is like an old pair of well worn jeans. Yeah you might forget about them for a while, but once you toss em back on again, you remember why they are great. It seems like Friere will be mixing it up in sprints for a couple more years, and I got no qualms with that.

On the MTB side of things, the Cape Epic kicked off down in South Africa. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really dig the whole stage race MTB setup, and even though this might be my own stupidity, any race where you are riding through parts populated with lions, cheetahs, and other scary animals, that race (and the racers competing for that matter) are bad ass. Stateside, big time MTB (or at least the MTB I care about), will be kicking off down in Arkansas with the Quachita Challenge. Something like 60 miles of tech singletrack (in Arkansas!) is right up my alley. This race is gonna go under my "one of these days when I have a whole bunch of green to go along with my free time, I'll head on over to this race" category of races. Good luck to Kerkove, and Sonya from the mean green team, and Ohio Rob (if he is still planning on hitting this up).

On the Montana side of things, road racing started on Saturday, and when the race started I was right where I belonged, watching the NCAA tournament. There are few things in life that I am certain of, one of them is that I have no place in road racing, and I'm quite comfortable with that. So while Brian, Curry, and Frank were working it in a breakaway, I was watching William and Mary treat Villanova as kindly as the Gimp treat Ving Rhames in Pulp Fiction. I did make it out to the venue in time for everyone to be getting ready to head back to town. Made the trip with Curry (2x), Eric, Julie, and other Bozeman folks. We caught up on what was going on in our respective lives, and enjoyed the warm weather. Once back in town it was time for pizza and beer. We talked about next weekends possible plans involving the Speedwagon up on Polson.

On the NCAA tournament side, here is my take on things. First I could care less about Kansas losing in the second round and dicking over my brackett, they beat Lehigh in the first round and that is all I care about. Villanova crapped the bed, and reminded me why I should never trust athletic team who is from the Philly region. Georgetown, had burned me yet again, I hate them. Big thanks to Syracuse, and West Virginia for still remembering that they are good teams from a great conference and playing like that. I hope Duke loses in their next game. I really wish people would get off the Cornell bandwagon, and if I see an "Ithica is Gorges" t-shirt during one of their games, I might lose it. Gus Johnson is a great basketball announcer, even if he refers to Gonzaga as a whole as "The Zags". So that is all I got, hope this provides a welcome distraction on your Monday.

Tony Kornheiser is a Jackass

2010-03-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

(Note: Since the below events took place, Lance Armstrong got in touch with Tony Kornheiser and they planned to chat about the whole bike and car debate on some liveblog. That took place while I was writing the post, although I did bot become aware of it until after I first published this post (my timing blows), still everything below is relevent, and you should still tell ESPN that Kornheiser is a dick).

Up until reading this story I had no problems with Tony Kornheiser. His commentary on Monday Night Football was decent (better than that skidmark known as Dennis Miller), and his PTI podcast on ESPN was a good enough way to waste 25 minutes and get caught up on the world of sports. But now he has turned into a bad caricature of a grumpy old man. It started a few weeks ago when on air he chimed in with his two cents about how his co-worker Hannah Storm looked like a go-go dancer. Fresh off of his suspension, Kornheiser continued acting the part of the crusty old man when he reacted to news about how part of Pennsylvania Ave in DC would be used in the future only for 1.)Presidential Inaguarations, and 2.) for pedestrians, and cyclist.

Kornheiser and his jackass radio co-hosts start going off about how much they hate cyclists, don't want them on the road, and to top it all off advocated "running"them over. Now I'm not positive, one of his co-hosts who has plenty of stupid commentary himself sounded like Ryan Russillo (who does and NBA podcast and is on the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPNRadio, I know this because I listened to his words of wisdom for the NCAA tournie, and my brakcett is now in the shitter, what an asshole). Anyway here are a couple of quotes from the radio show (with my response thrown in for good measure):

"the roads were made for automobiles" (Kornheiser) - they were made for both cars and bicycles, fuck off

"this will be dominated like Beijing with hundreds of thousands of bicyclists" (Kornheiser) - If you get 100,000 people on bikes in DC, I would drop dead from the shock

"its all you can do to not run them down like Wyl E. Coyote" (Kornheiser) - Last I checked the Coyote always sucked at running down the Roadrunner, so go ahead try to be like the Coyote, you will probably hurt yourself, once again, Fuck Off

"gotta look at their filthy package ... bulging" (Other guy) - Thanks for taking the time to look at my balls, but you should probably pay more attention to the road

"i dont take my car and ride on the sidewalk" (Kornheiser) - I bet after you go on a drinking binge after getting fired from ESPN for saying this shit, you might drive your car onto a sidewalk

"they are crunchy granola and they want us to save the world" (Other Guy) - i dont eat granola, i eat pizza and drink beer, and as far as saving the world, I think its too far gone.

"they dare you to run them down" (Kornheiser) - Last I checked there isn't a jersey produced that says "I dare you to run me down" on it. FUCK OFF

"so you tap them, im not saying kill them, just tap them" (Kornheiser) - I once had a driver "tap" me, and trust me, if i hadn't been strapped down to a stretcher, I would have tried to beat the ever living shit out of the drive. "Tapping" someone with a car is not pleasent, that is like say "just clip their wing" with that 9 mm handgun.

"if your not rubbing your not racing" (Kornheiser) - thanks for quoting days of Thunder, I hope you choke while trying to drink a Mello Yellow, please Go Fuck Yourself.

"tell them to take METRO, we have a subway system that works" (Other Guy) - I've been on the DC metro, I prefer my bike

"i dont think i own it, i own it, i have a large powerful car compared to your bike" (Kornheiser) - Wow, the only thing missing from this sentence is some sort of racial slur to put Kornheiser into the "totally bat shit crazy" category, GO FUCK YOURSELF, THEN FUCK OFF!!!!

Feel free to listen to the entire rant by clicking this link, just be warned, you might want to have something that you can throw nearby. Now since 2005 I have had a wish that Lance Armstrong would have just rode off into the sunset doing nothing but raising money for his various cancer charities, and plowing his way through blonde celebrities. That never happened, but Lance stuck it to Kornheiser and ESPN on this one. He used his world famous Twitter account to let all of his followers now how to let the powers that be tell ESPN what a douche Kornheiser is. I never thought I'd say this, but thanks for getting this out to the masses Lance. I will cheer for you for one day of a race this year where I promise not to think about all the EPO you most likely used as a way of saying thanks.

Original Lance tweet

Contact ESPN 980 (the Washington station Kornheiser spews his bullshit on)

So please click the link above and tell ESPN that Kornheiser needs to take a little more time off to get his head on straight. The other wrinkle here is that with the current DC mayor (a cyclist himself) trying to get the 2012 Giro to start in DC, will this incident give DC the appearance of not being cycling friendly, resulting in the Giro organizers ducking out of the deal? I doubt that the Giro would change their plans based on some idiot's rant on a radio show, but you never know with these thing today. Well I'm off to show off my "bulging package" in some "shiny shorts", and "dare a car to run me over" during my bike ride, I just hope Kornheiser is still in DC and no where near Montana.

Red Hook Criterium

2010-03-17T09:30:00.001-07:00

I love crits and velodrome racing for some questionable reasons. It's the best type of racing to see a whole bunch of action without using a ton of energy. If you have ever been to a velodrome to witness some racing you know what I'm talking about. Grab a beer, then either sit down or lean on a railing and watch the action (and wait for the crashes). You only need to move to get more beer or take a leak, and you can see everything at all times (even folks warming up and cooling down). Same kinda goes with crits, you all the actions happens right in front of you. Yeah cross is kinda like that, but more walking may be involved.

Anyway, despite the fact that I'm not a huge fan of what Brooklyn has become (and that kid from Brooklyn who was at the same new years party as me was a huge dick), they got themselves a bitching race going on this weekend. Basically take an alley cat race and a velodrome race, make them have sex, and The Red Hook Criterium is their love child, a brakeless crit. It all takes place under the lights, late at night, and with a fair quantity of beer. I wish I could be there, instead I am taking other steps to get some sort of coverage for the followers of SSMT. First, told my buddy's Flounder, Gus, and Steve about it (they all ride bikes to some degree), and am hoping they will go there, get drunk, take pictures, and provide me with some sort of feedback. Second, I'm gonna tell the folks, hope they can stay up that late in Brooklyn, and maybe go check it out. Hopefully I will get lucky both parties will go, then my drunken college friends will try to get my parents to drive them back to NYC, I would never hear the end of that one.

Who Doesn't Like Free Toys

2010-03-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

The folks over at SylvanSports have come up with a big contest where a ton of free outdoor gear is up for grabs. I got to say I like the concept they are using about rather than just signing up to win toys in a raffle, you actually have to work to get them. Not a bad idea, check it out, register if you want to, then see if you can figure out where the prize is located. With that, don't forget two things that you should do today 1.) TTTT up in the Rattlesnake 2.) Fill out those NCAA bracket, let office productivity stop!, and I hope that Kansas FUCKING DESTROYS Lehigh, those people suck.

Carbo Loading

2010-03-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Screw pasta, oatmeal, and all that other food that is "good" for you, a tallboy of PBR is enough fuel for me.

Race Across The Sky Recap

2010-03-13T09:05:00.001-08:00

No more reflection, just a quick recap of the Race Across The Sky. For me it started Thursday afternoon when Mr. MTCX asked me to help him and Rebecca to unload all of the goodies which were going to be raffled off later that evening. When I saw the multiple cases of PBR pounders, I knew the evening would be good. After getting work done the next move was the group ride to Turah followed by the Marshall Mountain Hill Climb Challenge. We all meet, and the group sized doubles once Bryce goes to collect the UofM team. All the while I take the time to enjoy a Pabst, nothing like that pre-ride fuel.

The ride gets going, easy pace, plenty of chatting, no one trying to show off how fast they are that week. One stop to let everyone catch up (and to take a piss in my case), then we head back towards town, all getting ready for the hill climb. At the bottom, layers are shed, and we all line up, Radley says go, and all are off. I got the hole shot, and sure enough after less than 30 seconds a group of Radley, Bryce, Agner, Tyler, JDoll, and someone else scream pass. I figure I'm getting set for a day of chasing them. Not the case, I keep em close enough, and by once the road turns up for good, I get by Radley. I get to watch Tyler sneak up on Agner and Bryce, then see Tyler and Agner duke it out. In the final sections I take advantage of my big gear to pass Bryce for 3rd. Agner took the win for the boys, and Campbell for the gals, kudos to them, I hope the enjoyed the champagne.

Get back to town, shower, change, then head to Big Sky for food, brew, and conversation. Lots of folks who I had never seen before are down there, but I still get plenty of food and beer in me. Head on over for the movie, which turns out to be pretty good, even though I knew how it ended. Wish there had been more concentration on Rebecca vs. Amanda battle for the womens top spot, some love for the SS folk, and some talk about the Lance last minute worker bee controversey. All in all a good movie, and good night, and I got myself a spot to crash down in Sun Valley when I go to defend my Grinder title. Good times. Happy Weekend.

More Doping, More Rambling, Some Reflection

2010-03-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

While this was not the an exact duplication of how my morning started (although I wish it had been), things got off pretty well. Woke up, caught up on college b-ball, read about college b-ball from the 1999-2000 Patriot League season, ate chow, then hopped on the bike. The commute downtown in order to pump my veins full of hot, black goodness the rest of the world refers to as coffee, did not include shorts, or a topless women, but nonetheless went just fine. Cracked open the computer to ingest and digest all that stuff that I usually look at on the internets, and came across that picture. That bundle of sunshine came from Judi over at the DC fronts who is slowly become one of my favorite cycling women who I have never met. So yeah after checking that out and having a chuckle I figured this day would be a good one, and might even result in my not getting anywhere close to pissed off over some trivial bullshit.

Then I headed over to the CyclingSnooze to catch up on all things bikes, because for one reason or another the folks over at ESPN have failed to start up their coverage of the Spring Cycling campaign. Check the top five headlines over there, 1.) Columbian Marching Powder Boonen got himself a win over in Italia. Good for him, granted I have zero Belgian blood pumping through my veins, but during time of the year I wish I did. 2.) Contadork wins a climbing stage at Paris-Nice. File this one under "no shit". I like anyone who goes out and does anything with a chip on their shoulder, because let's face it holding grudges and trying to prove people wrong has lead to some of the best discoveries/inventions/performances/fill in the blank throughout history. I am no scholar about road racing but I do know this, you take the best (arguably) stage racer (long or short) in the world, then have him thinking that he doesnt get enough respect, the end result will be a bunch of people getting their collective asses stomped into the ground.

The third headline was where my day went south, the top two boys (I refer to them as boys because their actions warrant that designation), from U23 Cross Worlds had tested positive for EPO. Few things piss me off more than still having to read about doping stories, and when it involves the ones who took first and second in a race (who are brothers and did it at Worlds none the less), it makes me wish they had Johnny Walker down here at The Break. No Johnny Walker so instead I hoist my middle fingers to these pricks, and begin to calm down. While I have benifitted from getting a second chance a bunch of times, I have still yet to steal a world championship from anyone. Time for someone to get made an example of, second chances be damned, just hand out a lifetime ban to one or both of these assholes.

Thing got better once I went over to Hail the Black Market, while Stevil doesnt have the undisputed best cycling related writing ability that BikeSnobNYC has, he is pretty close, and does it will less words, and more photos. Caught a glimpse of that gem, and once again I thought that i had a.) been born on the wrong continent, and b.) during the wrong decade. That's the kind of cycling I can wrap my head around, gearless, faces covered in grime, occasional wine breaks taken, and old men in suits sharing the same road. So with that, the first cup of coffee had been drained, Elliot just popped in and shared some of his morning treats, and I was not pissed off anymore.

Now onto shit that is actually my own original thoughts. This is my 100th post, and I have something that resembles a feeling of pride. I started this poor excuse for a blog, to simply post information about a bike race I was gonna put on. Well I never had too much information to post on a regular basis, and it morphed into ride/race/adventure/life reports, a spot for me to vent about things, and a way for the folks to keep tabs on the real happenings of my life. So with that time for some reflection, since that first post, I have completed a full MTB race season, lost a job, put on a race, drove across the country in a car that was always three seconds away from falling apart, figured out the next step of my "life", drove back across the country, took a standardized test, applies to grad school, spent time with old college friends, spent time with old mountain bike friends, got accepted to grad schools, and grew the greatest mustache in the history of my facial hair. So yeah, shit starts somewhere, there is a journey where you learn lessons, and get to somewhere new, and get to start a new journey. Cliche? Sure, but hey, cliches are there cause they're true.

Might as well take some time to reflect on the whole cycling things, seeing as though this is a cycling related regurgitation. Got the above picture from the 2007 version of SSAZ, taken by Dejay. I had only been "racing bikes" for a few months at this point, didn't know many bike folks, and had just been worked over like a load of laundry climbing Reddington Road. I spent a bunch of time sucking down that PBR, eating chips, and trying to get to know folks. Back then it was steel frame and suspension, hydration packs full of my "Boy Scout Be Prepared" gear, sweatbands on my wrist, and GPS mounted on the handlebar. I looked like a rookie because I was, and boy did I have a bunch to learn.

Now this was from the 2010 version of SSUSA/SSAZ. I'm back on Reddington, this time riding in the top 5, and feeling really good. I don't stop to enjoy the beer, just throw it in the jersey pocket, and save it for a fast chug during the next descent. Bike is now Scandium and totally rigid, I've upgraded from one sweatbands to two, and they are halfway up my forearms, no need for the GPS, I know where I'm going this time, and I only carry what I can stuff into my jersey pockets. Yeah things have changed, I might have gotten faster, fitter, and all that stuff you can gauge yourself by. But I'd rather gauge myself by the fact that in the three years between the two pictures I had made a bunch of friends in the SS/MTB community. Back then I basically knew Scooby (who is still one of the greatest people in the AZ MTB community). Now that list has expanded to include a bunch of great people (from a bunch of great places), so I guess this cycling thing I have focused on has been worthwhile.

Enough of this sappy end of the year sorority meeting shit, I just read that Alex Rodriguez is gonna meet with federal folks about his involvement with the Canadian Doctor who is under investigation for giving out HGH like Halloween Candy. The steam is starting to come out of my ears, and I am wondering why they don't have Johnny Walker here. Happy Thursday, thanks for reading, I need a drink.

News Time

2010-03-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Not much doing for myself right about now, playing the waiting games with some grad schools, and trying to ride. I was banking on getting out on the MTB for some good old fashion SS time, checking out what the trail situation is Pattee was. Well thanks to the old glassy eyed women who was giving the Census test on Monday, by the time I got back from Florence, the weather had turned, and the MTB ride got put on hold. The rain turned to snow during Monday night, and now trail time has been pushed back for a while. Maybe I'll just go back down to Tucson for a couple weeks. Here's the good stuff thats going on in the world of cycling, with my thoughts attached. I promise that I got something that resembles actual content in the works.

Race Across The Sky and Marshall Hill Climb - I'm pumped for tomorrow evening, it will be good times for sure.

Harlan reflects - Can't think of anyone else who has given as much to the sport of MTB for basically no money and the chance to just race. Big ups and good luck to Harlan on his new adventures in life and racing. Totally agree with him that people need to learn about the MTB available in PA, but I am not jazzed about his plan to go try to win Marathon Nationals then burn the Stars and Stripes jersey that we fought to get.

CyclePassion - I like attractive women, I like women who ride bikes, I like women who get photographed not wearing a lot of clothing. This calender combines all three of those.

Floyd's got a team - Why the fuck can't this guy just go back to Pennsylvania? Now he's gonna be some sort of mentor.

Another Doper gets a Second Chance - The only logical place to get a job after spending some time in the clink is with a WNBA team.

Just when You Thought You Had Seen It All

2010-03-08T12:32:00.001-08:00

File this one under the "are you fucking kidding me?" section. Yes us bike folk will sacrifice our pride and wear goofy clothing and accesories all in the name of riding bikes, but I just can't wrap my head around this one. When did the water bottle cage go out of style?

Forgive Me Father For I Have Sinned

2010-03-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I did something that I havent done in a while, not really by choice, more of necessity. I went on a longer ride on a geared road bike. I felt like Larry Craig in an airport bathroom stall. I can't really remember the last time I actually enjoyed a geared road ride, but I needed to remind myself what it was like. Out of nowhere last night before heading out to carbo load I heard the air escaping from my front tire on the Snake. Didn't have a spare tube, and couldnt think of any shop that would be open on Sunday. With no MTB open, I had to go over to the dark side, and I wasnt too thrilled about. I did my best to get out of town hopefully without being spotted by anyone who would be expecting to see me without gears. The bike gods frowned upon my decision to ride with the aid of gears, and punished me with making me feel like shit for the final hour and half of pedaling. First thing tomorrow, that flat is getting fixed, and I will be stocking up on tubes to make sure this doesnt happen again.

One Tough Race

2010-03-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

We all could go on and on about how we have done some tough race, ride, event, fill in the blank. Sorry folks I think the folks duking it out up at the Iditarod Trail Invitational, probably take the cake. For whatever reason using sled dogs to travel 1000 miles in Alaska in February and March wasn't tough enough, so some folks decided to do it on bikes, foot, or ski. Basically these folks have really blurred the lines between super tough and super stupid, and your jaw just drops when you follow it. If you got the free time for the next couple of days, go ahead and keep checking the current standings/results right here. Personally I'm hoping both Jay and Tracy Petervary both complete the race, and do well. What can I say I got a soft spot for people who I drank Dale's Pale Ale with after the Saturday Awards at Moose Cross.

Below is the picture of my mustache I promised earlier. So far the reviews have been mostly negative. Mom, Dad, and Sister all think I look stupid, but at least Elliot that it was a nice mustache. Ignore my huge nose.

Mustache March, and TTTT

2010-03-02T08:12:00.001-08:00

Its March, which means if you are a guy and can grow facial hair, its time for a mustache. Keep those excuses to yourself, and just grab a razor and get creative. I got mine taken care of Sunday night, but can't get my grubby paws on the picture just yet. When I do it will be posted. March in Missoula also means the start of the Taco Tuesday Time Trial (TTTT), even though I think last year the TT took place on Wednesday. This is chance to break out the TT gear, and see where you rank against the rest of the folks in Missoula. Big ups to Mr. MTCX for putting it on, that guy bleeds bikes. I just hope I'm not the only one drinking shitty beer at Elliot's house this year after the TT.

Hockey, Weather, and Classics

2010-02-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

Planned the day around that little hockey game which was supposed to start off at 1. All worked out well, except for the outcome thanks to that jackoff people call Sid The Kid. Hope all those hard nosed folk in PennsylTucky boo his ass out of the country, he doesnt belong in the land of Yeungling if you ask me. I thought that this game had more potential too improve US Foreign Relations than the outcome of the Rocky vs. Drago fight in Rocky 4. Alas, it didnt end the way I wanted, and as a result there will still be plenty of confusion about how to pronounce the letter "O" (see Canadian Bacon quotes).

On the plus side, the weather out here looks like it will be nice for the next week or so. I'm looking forward to the possibility of plenty of long rides getting plenty of Vitamin D in the system. Maybe even try to get up into Pattee and see how long I can get a ride in there for. On the opposite end of the weather spectrum. Classics have kicked off over in the land of frites. Cold, windy, and wet, basically the three elements needed to make a shitty day on the bike. This is where the hard men of cycling show their stuff, screw having your worker bees guard you during a climb waiting for the final 12 km climb of the day to make a movie. Get that grit in your teeth, and have your backside get worked over from riding on the cobbles. I wish I could be there, enjoying a Chimay, eating some frites, and ringing a cowbell.

Weekend

2010-02-26T12:25:00.001-08:00

Happy Friday, it's windy like a bitch outside, but the sun is kinda out, so I guess I'll get my ass out there for a ride today. I'm waiting on some stuff to fall in place in order to get some "real" content up on this half-baked pescimism spewing thing that gets referred to as a blog. Until that happens, I'm doing my best to figure out ways to fill the pages here. On the racing front related to yesterday's post I am still searching for a "Miss Havisham" type to provide me with all the coin I need to get to races this year (if you dont know who Miss Havisham is one of your high school english teachers needs to get smacked upside the head). Enough of that, this is what has been going on in cycling/other shit I pay attention to. Check 'em out, then go ahead and agree/disagree/really disagree with me, it's all up to you.

Tom Zirbel writes and email to Big Jonny : After swinging his dick like a big shot at TT Nationals and TT Worlds, Zirbel got busted. He did interviews with all the major cycling outlets, then he went ahead and wrote this email to Big Jonny. Full post includes plenty of comments, one from Zirbel himself. I'd like to believe he is innocent, and that the system is fucked up, and he really got "tainted" supplements, but I find it tougher and tougher. Sorry guys you can thank Floyd for ruining the "I just have no idea why I tested positive defense, maybe it was something I drank" defense.

Tom's follow up email : Not doing anything to help me believe he is innocent, but at least he can write well (better than me for sure)

Cancellara's bike gets banned : File this one under "No Shit" Contador's bike got banned last week, and Cancellara rides the same one. They are pissed, and I'm sure Specialized will turn this into some sort of marketing campaign along the lines of Cannondales "Legalize My Bike" back in 2003. I got an idea for them, ride last years bikes, you know the one that Cancellara absolutely destroyed everyone else on.

Giro to start in DC : I have always thought this was a dumb idea, and when reading more and more about it, I am convinced that it is. They talk about how starting an Italian race in the US will help to promote green ideas and living in DC. While my carbon footprint isnt as small as it could be I do think that all extra gases released into the atmosphere due to the extra Trans-Atlantic flights isnt all that great for the environment. An Italian bike race starting in Washington DC 5 months before a presidential election just doesnt make sense to me. Keep the Giro in Italy or in neighboring countires.

Who would have thought hockey would grab the attention of Americans : The last time I gave a shit about hockey was in 1994 when the Rangers won the cup. Now I actually care about the US Hockey team. As of this writing they are up 6-0 on Finland, and I got to say that if they make it to the gold medal game it will be appointment TV for me. I would like to see a US-Canada rematch mainly because it will allow me to have a long back and forth phone call full of nationalistic banter with my Canadian buddy "Le Phil"

Timmy got his ass a blog : I was wrong, he can read and write.

More snow in the NE : I think this storm left more snow at the folk's house in NJ than Missoula has gotten all winter. The weather is fucked up

US Healthcare : I'll probably be collecting Social Security (if it doesn't go bankrupt) before this Health Care debacle gets fixed.

Happy Friday, enjoy the weekend, drink a beer, eat some sweets, you get the picture.

2010 Season

2010-02-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

Last year on a wing and a prayer, and with the help of a bunch of people I was able to piece together a pretty substantial race season. I did MTB races in MT, ID, UT, WY, and CO which ran the gauntlet of XC to Marathon to 24 Hour formats. While the long hours alone in the car traveling to the races were not the most fun, getting to test myself in races like The Firecracker 50, Galena Grinder, Laramie Enduro, and 24 Hours of Rapelje were well worth it. Right now due to a fair amount of uncertainty regarding my future and where I will be at the end of the summer, had held me back from thinking and pre registering for races as of now. Regardless, I will post a "tenative" schedule of what races I would like to do this year (not necissarily taking money and travel into account)

3/27 Speedwagon Classic (Polson, MT) - Seely just knows what he is doing in regards to this race

4/10 Barking Spider (Boise, ID) - Raced last year, and would like to go back and move up a step on the podium, plus it is the first race in some National series, meaning I could hold the lead in a national series

4/15 - 4/18 Sea Otter Classic (Monterey, CA) - Never done this, but it seems like I should

5/8 Coyote Classic (Boise, ID) - Got to defend a win

5/15 Dirt Sweat and Gears (Tennessee) - heard nothing but good things about this, I just hope there isnt mud like last year

Late May - Something big maybe

6/12 9 to 5 Marathon Race (Boise, ID) - I like the format and time length

6/26 24 Hours of Rapelje (Rapelje, MT) - Want to do the full 24 hours

7/4 Firecracker 50 (Breckenridge, CO) - Great race and vibe

7/17 Breckenridge 100 (Breckenridge, CO) - Screw nationals, this looks better

7/24 Galena Grinder (Galena, ID) - Another win to defend

7/31 Butte 100 (Butte, MT) - Only if we can start in a bar in downtown

8/7 High Cascades 100 (Bend, OR) - Heard good things bout this

There ya have it, that is what I would like to race, got a mix to XC, Marathon, and a 24 Hour for good measure. Now I just got to hit the lottery to be able to afford it all. Anyone got any suggestions for what numbers I should play?

Downieville Registration

2010-02-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

Once again more news coming out of the world of Singletrack, which has become my default checking out regularly updated domestic MTB news. Despite the fact I started to loathe Velonews for turning into Lance/Astana News, Singletrack seems to be lacking that. I orginally was planning to attempt to craft together some elegant posting about what Contador and Specialiazed should do regarding their new TT bike being banned. However, I can't stand Specialized so I didnt feel like wasting more than 10 minutes at a time towards them, instead I offer a quick suggestion to the guys. Fast forward to 0:45 of this YouTube clip for the Flying Scotsman, and start planning to have Contador modify the TT bike with a hacksaw before leaving the start house.

Now onto the news surrounding Downieville. For those who don't know The Downieville Classic is a combination of XC and DH race in California. It has become the default "All Mountain" World Championships involving a 20 something mile XC race followed by a 15 or so mile DH race, where all participants must use the same bike for both races, and can only change tire pressure. On top of the world class courses, from everything I've heard the vibe is top notch. It appears that when registration opened, a bunch of people weren't able to register because they didn't know some required password. The organizers got a bunch of emails from complaining D-bags (who would probably walk the vast majority of both the courses) about how their plans were ruined. As a result the organizers have put the event on hold because of these bad apples.

This reminds me a little of the SSXC08 registration. Everyone was told how to register and what time registration opened up. We knew the field was capped at 350, so sure enough when the clock struck 12 on Jan 1, 2008 a bunch of people sent emails to register. Well with the internet, emails got lost, and people like myself who should have gotten registered didnt. Guess what myself and about 40 other folks did as a result, we didnt complain, we showed up at the event not taking no for an answer. Curtis did what he could and all of us who showed up were allowed to compete. So if you dont get into Downieville, try just showing up, and see what happens, if they wont let you in, try poaching the course. USA Cycling has no involvement so odds are the people in charge dont have giant stick up their ass. That's just my two cents, hell probably closer to just one cent, on that issue.

Blinglespeed

2010-02-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

When hanging out with Jake during SSUSA and Old Pueblo, he kept going on and on about the new singlespeed from Black Sheep he was getting. It was interesting to try to follow his explanations of what the bike would look like, only based on the description he could provide. He seemed most excited about the fact that the bike would be getting debuted at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Richmond, VA, and that there was some good chances for the bike to get some awards. When checking out Singletrack early this AM, low and behold there was an article dedicated to Jake's new bike.

Read the article and look at the pictures and you will understand why this bike is a "blinglespeed". More titanium than you can shake a stick at, top shelf components, unique frame/fork design, and he got his bottle cages welded to the frame for God's sake! Big credit has to go to Jake for taking a leading role in the concept and design of this bike. It seems like it happens frequently that someone with a whole bunch of money will throw it at a frame builder and tell them to build them a frame, and then spec it out with the most expensive parts available. Not Jake, the curved tubes, double tubes, handlebar were all based on his ideas. Oh yeah, he is also crazy fast on a mountain bike, the dude's got it made.

Now that you are already jealous of Jake's new bike, be ready to get even more pissed, I doubt the payed half of what a regular joe would have thrown down to get that bike. Jake's got as many hookups as God, whether it be titanium bike builders, New Belgium Brewing, Gates Carbon Belt Drive, Pearl Izumi, or insert name of any other bicycle component company you wish gave you free shit. Don't worry, hang out with him long enough, the hookups trickle down. I've had the pleasure of receiving free beer from New Belgium because I was picking it up for Jake, and he helped me get some goodies from Smith. His bike room will make you cry, and he is the only person I know whose "travel bike" is another custom Black Sheep. One of these days I might just "borrow" one of his bikes and never give it back.

Ridings

2010-02-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

Looks like the various Missoula folks have been getting out and riding. Weekend group rides are starting up, Johnny College is always trying to find someone to join him on a ride to Frenchtown, and temps look like they will be in the 40s next week. While I still wish that I had stayed down in Tucson longer, Missoula is working out just fine. Trying to get out for some good rides. I'm a huge fan of hitting up Trails End. Get out there, then damn near black out going up the steep climb in the 46x19 gear. That gear is more appropriate for the other side, so I try to get a climbing fix in there. Nothing special or long, but consistent, car free, and a personal favorite. The only thing missing is someone waiting at the top with some hot food and a cold beer. Since I am quite mediocre at coming up with actual content to post right now, I will leave you with a snap shot from St. George.

Az Trip Summed Up

2010-02-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not the greatest writer in the world, this I know. I do a better job of expressing myself when something pops into my head, and I can ramble/speak/spit fire until I've expelled everything about that topic. Believe me whatever I wind up typing here is only about 20% to 60% of what I really think about that topic. I wind up forgetting things, or not being able to remember the structure that I had originally used to describe whatever was flowing through my noggin. Just checked out the Bike29 blog, and George hit the nail on the head as far as summing up my trip to AZ.

The four of us had a great 3 days together, be it geeking out on laptops on Dejay’s dining room table, going for rides, or the massive hike that almost got EPIC. We shared laughs, ate Mexican food and drank a few beers during this time. While it wasn’t necessarily the glossy drool inducing photos found in your favorite mountain bike magazine, to me, it was the very essence of what mountain biking means, sharing great experiences with friends.

He's right, Bike, or Mountain Bike Action might never publish photos from our rides, and the gang who direct the freeride videos would never want to film our riding. Never the less, my trip, and the time I got to spend with people is the whole principal behind mountain biking (with gears or without). So with that, one more picture of the greatness that was AZ.

Out With The Old, and In With The New

2010-02-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

Got the Ergon hook up from Big Daddy Kerkove down at the Old Pueblo. I've been using the Ergon grips for a couple years now (I even had them on my fixie before some jackoff stole it). My old MTB setup was a pair of Ergon comfort grips paired with some Bontrager carbon bar ends. The Combo worked well, although it just looked a little sloppy. Now I got me the new GX2 grips with carbon bar ends. This shit is bling, and after using them for my ride in St. George on Monday, I can say that I think I will adjust to the small bar end just fine. I'm back in MT for a while or so now, so here's to colder temperatures and not being able to ride MTB trails. I know I said I'd get an Old Pueblo post up, but I doubt that will happen, but I got some ideas to fill the pages in the future.

Old setup

New setup

Product testing in St. George

Old Pueblo

2010-02-14T20:11:00.001-08:00

The 2010 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo is in the book, and I cant get a full report up just now. The crew of Dejay Birtch, Fuzzy John, Jake, Krista Park, and Harlan Price took the win in the Open Co-Ed 150-199 age group with 22 laps. It's always fun helping out and working for the folks who win. Big congrats to them, now time to get back to Missoula.

Bikes, Cars, and The Road

2010-02-12T07:54:00.001-08:00

I've never formally met Randy Mason (known to many through the eyes of DC as "BGR"), we traded a couple emails back when I thought I could ride my fat ass across the country. He seemed like a good dude, and based on some actions back in May he certainly knew how to ruffle some feathers. Anyway, back in January while riding his bike in Flagstaff, a bus failed to observe the three foot law (in AZ, a car must provide a three foot buffer when passing a cyclist), while passing him. Randy confronted the driver, who told him he should have been riding in the bike lane. The kicker was that due to all of the snow that had fallen in Flagstaff, the bike lanes had been filled with all the snow from the roads.

Anyway Randy took the matter into his own hands, had to deal with the police and city councit, and used the wonderful world of DrunkCyclist to go bring this issue to the public. Sure he has pissed some people off, and I would be willing to bet that there were times during this whole ordeal where he would not have been considered "calm and collective." But on the upside it looks like the City of Flagstaff will now be requiring all of the their police officers to have a full understanding of the cycling laws, and other changes might be made that can result in fewer accidents. The links below should provide close to full coverage of the incident, if you have the time I would suggest checking it out, it's worth it. Good work Randy, for not just letting what happened to you fall on the wayside, but fighting for what is right, and your safety more importantly.

First posting

Second posting (with video)

Bringing attention to the incident

Phoenix news story

Ride a bike on the road long enough in an area where there are automobiles, and you are bound to have a couple close calls with passing automobiles. If you are one of the unlucky ones, eventually you might even wind up being involved in a full-on collision with a car. This is not true just for the bike-car scenario, but also the car-car scenario, drive a car long enough, and you'll probably wind up in an accident. The difference being is that it's not difficult to pick the loser of a 170 pound person versus a 2000 pound car battle. I've ridden in a variety of different cities/towns/small towns that range from Tucson, AZ to Glenn, MT, to Basking Ridge, NJ. You name the driver stereotype, they have passed me; soccer mom, cranky rancher, in a hurry business exec, Good Food Store employee, and stupid college kids. In each locations there have been times I've been passed where my heart skipped a beat, and after regaining my composure I was trying to chase down the driver to give them an earfull about their shitty driving skills. There have also been times in those same locations where drivers seem to have gone out of their way to give me ample room while passing, and it makes me think that sharing the road is possible.

Don't get me wrong here, I am no saint while riding my bike on the road. I can drift out of the bike lane more often than I should, and I might neglect a stop sign here or there (especially when it is cold and I need to get to a bathroom), but I don't think my riding has ever endangered the safety of people in a passing automobile. It's odd thinking that according to the law bicycles have the same rights as cars on the road, and are subject to the same laws (hence why you can receive a DUI while on a bicycle, and can get a ticket for not having the proper lights on your bike after dark). Despite all this in my eyes (which are slightly biased) it seems like more often than not the cyclist gets the short end of the stick. I'm still pissed off that in Missoula you cannot use a cell phone while on a bike, but you can while driving a car. Remember equal rights equal responsibilities, make it all illegal, or all legal.

I was happy to read this article fresh out the Missoulain the other day, maybe cyclists as a whole just need to get a 7 year old girl to do all of their lobbying. Bike lanes are great, especially when they are wide and kept clean, but I think the underlying problem is both motorists and cyclists knowledge of the laws. Motorists need to know if there is something like a three foot law on the books, cyclists need to know when it is okay to use a car lane, and everyone needs to know that some courtesy goes a long way. How about motorists and cyclists spend some time together to re-educate themselves about the rules of the road, and trying to understand the complaints about the other group directed towards them. It's been about 2.5 years since I was hit by a car, my neck makes all sorts of odd noises, and it was because a motorist had no idea that they were required to yield to me when making a left turn. Yeah it could have been much worse, but spending the morning in a hospital sucks no matter the circumstances. Enough of this rambling, got one more photo from the actual SSUSA race. It ain't often I have visual evidence of myself passing a current national champion on a climb, but here it is, for a few moments I will cherish for the rest of my life, I put Fuzzy in the pain cave.

A Day off the Bike

2010-02-11T17:18:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, with people still feeling the ill effects of crashes, and Tucson food, a hike was planned rather than bike riding. The crew of five (Dejay, Kate, Rob, George, and Self) agreed we would all gather at Dejay's at 8, head to Ragin' Sage for espresso and scones at 9, then go for the hike. Instead, Dejay showed up at his own house at 9:30 with Dunkin Donuts, and we started to pack up. It all seemed so simple, we would drop a car at Sabino Canyon, then drive to Prison camp. We would then go for a walk in the woods back to Sabino Canyon. Tuesday night we checked the weather report which called for rain, and those of us who hail from places that actually experience winter (Rob, George, and Self) were happy it was rain and not snow.

The hike went just as planned, and sure enough after spending enough time walking towards the dark clouds, we encountered the rain. The good news was is that we were right along a wash (which already had a river flowing through it), because a wash is the exact spot you want to be when it rains in the desert. Lucky for us it was just a steady rain, and not a monsoon rain, meaning there would be no flash flooding. The walking continued, complaints about cold feet were never uttered, due to the fact we were all using Swiftwick's wool socks. The rain ended, and in the end after twelve miles and a shade over five hours of walking we made it back to the car. When driving back up Catalina Highway, the learned the road had been closed to non 4wd drive traffic above mile marker then, and that there was snow where we had left the other car (about 4500 feet). This might freak some people out, I just kept reminding myself that the coldest temperatures I experienced during the hike, were still warmer than the warmest temps in Missoula. Pictures below.

Kate, Rob, Dejay, and George

We hiked parts of the Arizona Trail

Lunch spot, right when the rain began to come down

Looking back into Sabino Canyon

Snow at Prison Camp when we returned to the car

Boys Will Be Boys

2010-02-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

Right now it is the in between time down here in Tucson. Folks have gone home to loved ones after the affair that is SSUSA, and people haven't quite started to trickle in for the Old Pueblo. Only four of us remain, Dejay, George, Rob, and Self, and with a variety of germs, injuries, and residual food and drink hangovers. With minimal responsibilities, and even smaller amount of female contacts the worst of our qualities are starting to show. Dirty clothes are worn without hesitation, showers aren't completely necessary, and general laziness is accepted.

Only Rob and I rode yesterday, just a quick trip down to TMP. I took him on what used to be my "after-work/before sunset" ride. Back in late 06/early 07, I could hammer through this ride solo in about an hour 45. Yesterday, minimal effort was used, stops were taken for pictures, and time seemed to be the least of my concern. With all that, we still motored through in an hour 30, so I guess I've gotten better at this bike riding thing. Food has been nothing but leftovers, such as chocolate covered bacon, bags of chips, redvines, pretzels, and leftover keg. It kind feels like living in a fraternity house again, except with more bikes, and no classes. Pictures below.

Rob keeping it real

It was all downhill from here, note how tan lines have developed

Monday picture

More monday picture

Rob and I with matching cactus

TMP Recovery Ride

2010-02-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the group of Dejay, Rob, George, and Self headed out to ride at Tucson Mountain Park for a nice ride. Other SSUSA racers were staying at the fancy resort out there, and we figured we might bump into them. We did, right as they had finished their ride, and were heading to the porch to enjoy a beverage. Regardless the four of us headed out to ride some trails, and four became three when George realized his injured body wasn't up to dealing with the pain dished out by the trails. The three remaining spun around for an hour, with the main highlight being Rob and Self both getting stuck in the arm by the same cactus, 3 seconds apart. Post ride activities included eating chips and salsa on the porch, and sitting in the hot tub. All in all a good day on the bike.

TMP trails

Rob trailside

Dejay

Scenery from the ruins

Despite popular belief, I can assure that cactus does in fact hurt

2010 SSUSA

2010-02-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

SSUSA 2010 is in the books, and it was a great time, no other way to put it. It seems a little pointless to just go ahead and try to describe the event in paragraph form, so instead you will get the bullet highlight version.

-Friday night pre race gathering at Surly Wench

-Dax, Timmy, Kramer, Jake, and Self winning the award for largest tab

-3:30 am bedtime for a 9 am race

-Feeling surprisingly for the 7.5 mile neutral roll out

-Le Mans start with front wheels off bikes

-Being first one on the bike

-Riding in top 6 for the Reddington Climb

-Great time on AZ Trail

-Being amazed while watching members of the Durango Crew descend down Chiva

-Sunshine on my shoulders

-La Milagrosa descent

-Finish, the real fun can begin

-A cooler full of Oscar Blues which never seems to empty

-Derby to decide overall champs

-Tug of War to decide next years location

-Bon FIRE

-Two kegs

-100 dollar snack run to Safeway

-1 Keg

-"Chuey's like my dad" - Jake

-Rain drops

-Sleep in car

-Wake up and see Dax (who won the bike race) asleep under an RV

Photos

Morning after, smoldering fire and leftover keg

Dax's sleeping spot

Jake and Kramer won the tug of war battle, and next years event will be in Boulder

Timmy next to the bon fire

Bailey the 2010 SSUSA champ

Derby

Dude in pink undies

Krista Park climbing like a champ

Rudi leads us in Happy Birthday

Krista Park waiting to start

Neutral roll out

Handmade 36 inch wheel bike

Jake's new gloves

Rob new undies

Flagstaff to Tucson, via Sedona

2010-02-05T10:28:00.001-08:00

Woke up Thursday morning in Flagstaff, and after getting coffee, wasting time on some internets, and downloading new podcasts to listen to I headed down to Sedona. Once again it was great to see the thermometer go from the high 30's to the high 50's in a matter of minutes. I stopped in at the Absolute Bike shop, picked up a free map of the trails, and headed out for some fun. While it was cloudier than St. George, the fact that I was riding in Sedona in February made up for this slight hiccup. While checking out the new Lama trail, I noticed that my right foot was coming unclipped during my upstroke. Bad luck once again, I had broken the spring in the pedal, so I rode myself back the the car to make a quick switch.

Once back on the trails I bumped into some of the fine folks who work for VooDoo Bicycles who were showing a client from the UK around. I asked if I could tag along, they said yes, and the group of four became a group of five. Eventually we bumped into two more Flagstaffians (and a dog) who joined the gang, and now we were officially a posse. All was well until I started to hear that hiss sound that can only come from a puncture. Lucky enough Stans went to work, the puncture was sealed, and we continued on our merry way. All total after three hours or so we were finished. We said our goodbyes, everyone but me headed north, and I headed towards the parking lot that is Phoenix right on schedule for rush hour.

I had made it to Tucson by 7, and after dropping off Ivy's bike I met Dejay, Fuzzy, and rest of folks who were already in town. Just like the old days, hanging out on fourth ave, choosing our watering hole based on whether or not we knew a bartender who would give us cheap drinks, and talking about any and everything. After a failed attempt to find Sonoran Dogs Dejay and self were dropped off at house, where we decided it would be a great idea to make the bacon covered in chocolate which would be available to racers. Despite some small setbacks we could not burn down the house, and eventually called it a night. All in all it was a great day, photos below.

Sedona playground

More Sedona

Joe and John of VooDoo Bicycles

Cathedral in the Rocks

VooDoo John

Late night sandwhichs being prepared while chocolate is melting (special note: my mom knitted the WONDERFUL hate Dejay is wearing)

Juda hoping food will fall to the floor

The chocolate has melted, and the bacon will be covered

Finished product

Transportation time, surprisingly only two strips wound up on the floor

Not enough fridge space, so the last (and largest) sheet was dumped in the drawer

St. George

2010-02-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

Cruised on into St. George, UT yesterday, and went out for a ride with Lynda. Driving down the hill into town I got excited when I saw the thermometer in my car slowly go from 38 degrees to 59 degrees in a couple of minutes. Lynda showed up in wearing arm and knee warmers, I felt like i was in an oven, so opted for just shorts and a jersey. We cruised out of town talking about 24 Hours of Moab, Butte 100, SSUSA, and Old Pueblo, it was that standard singlespeed vibe of "I've never really met you before but we know enough of the same people that you must be a good egg." In a few minutes we were riding singletrack, and I was happy.

We rode this trail called barrel roll which was a combination of technical and smooth singletrack. Lynda knew what she was doing on these trails, and I was happy to just hang back and follow her line. After finishing the loop, I realized I lost my seat bag which contained a multi tool, big air canister, CO2 pump thing, patch kit, and spare master link. I was bummed, and realized it would be a good chunk of change to replace the contents. Lynda simply said, lets ride the loop backwards, and keep and eye out. Sure enough after we had nearly finished the loop there was my seat bag. I was happy, and stuffed the bag into my jersey pocket for safe keeping. After a little over two hours of trails, we headed back to town, and my grin was too large to measure, goodbyes were said, then I drove onto Flagstaff, where Nathan was kind enough to offer me up a futon to sleep on, a shower to use, and a pint of ginger flavored scotch ale to sip. Today it is onto Tucson, with a stop in Sedona on the way, enjoy pictures below.

Lynda on the trail

Buff singletrack

Technical section

Off in the distance

Headed Out

2010-02-01T10:11:00.001-08:00

Taking care of the little things before heading out of town for some mountain biking in the desert. The plan is to get lots of riding, fun, and sunshine in while I can. Dejay and Rob are in charge of SSUSA, and I know that it will not disappoint. After that it is a week worth of riding in the desert with old friends on great trails. Yeah yeah Mount Lemmon might be the best known climb in Tucson, but I can't think of a more entertaining time than climbing Reddington Road. This climb though shorter is all dirt, has a true red neck firing range, and signs warning you of the drug and human smuggling which you may encounter while on the road. Plus the road takes to to the AZ Trail, which is from what I have been told is in perfect shape right now. I'll take that over 20 something miles of gradual climbing, where my only motivation is pie up in Summerhaven.

Highlights of the trip down will include: catching up with Heather and Doug in Park City, riding with Lynda and Dave in St. George, riding in Sedona (maybe with or without HB), and maybe a stop in Phoenix to see Deegs. All I'm hoping for is good roads, and decent weather, thats all it will take to keep me happy. Once in Tucson, the sky is the limit, but lots of riding will be involved. Looking forward to seeing folks like Scooby, Gnome, Bruce, Fuzzy, Baldyga, Chuey, Surly Nick, and probably making a trip to see the TCH gang. Made the switch to completely rigid because the Reba needed more work than I felt like paying for. Why spend money, when you can just slap on a spare Surly fork that has been hanging around since the 07 Old Pueblo?

That is the bike as it stands now, still got the 34x20 gearing, which should work just fine, and I'm packing the spare 18 and 21 just in case I'm super strong or super weak. Also packing a nice going away present I received in the form of 750 ml bottle of Chimay Blue. It will take a lot of will power for that to stay corked until AFTER the race, but I think I got it in me. Time to get packing.

Sunny Day in The Bitterroot

2010-01-29T11:38:00.001-08:00

Headed on down the Bitterroot to Stevensville yesterday. Pedaled about for a bunch of hours in the sunshine, cars gave me plenty of room while passing, never felt cold, and all the other stuff that make a winter ride great. The legs feel sore, and the mind is clear, both good things. Not sure what a proper coach or anyone else who knows what they are talking about would say about long rides outside during January, but all I know is that it works for me.

Add that little reminder to the stem, I will know it will have worked when the writing can no longer be seen due to the layers of dried sweat that have accumulated on top of it.

Snapped this one of my ugly mug just south of Lolo, for someone who was totally happy when the picture was taken I don't look to happy. Next time I'll try to perfect my "Le Tigre" face.

Finally, I couldnt help but laugh when after crossing back over the Bitterroot River, and I saw this gal out blading. I guess some people are just stuck in 1993, which would be much funnier if it weren't coming from a guy who owns as much spandex as I do. Oh well, I laughed, and the story helped to cheer up my stressed out sister. Not sure if I will go off and torture myself at the OSCR tomorrow, sure I've had worse ideas, but I've also had better. Either way the weekend will be good, enjoy the link dump.

Doping is as doping does

Dirty Benjamin - this looks like fun

Rookie Mistake

These three guys are tools

Heading off into the sunset

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

Trans Andes

2010-01-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

Though there isn't much available as far as reporting goes, I'm getting sucked in by the Trans Andes. I dig the concept of MTB stage racing (and would love to try on in the future). Good to see that the Kenda/No Tubes duo of Mike and Mary are busy putting the hurt down in South America. There ya go, take a look, enjoy the pictures, and dream of having the finances and abilities to be able to do these kinds of races. I know I am.

On a more personal level getting ready to head down to the desert for some riding. Pretty much got everything lined up, just hoping that the weather isnt rough for the trip down. Maybe I'll go for a pedal down the Bitterroot today...

Titus Oddvertising

2010-01-27T08:12:00.001-08:00

This story is hot off the presses from the folks over at singletrack.com (which if I might add, has helped me to loathe Velonews less). Apparently the fine folks over at Titus are taking ideas as to just how far people are willing to go to get a free ride. And acting as "the cherry on top of the sundae" for this entire idea is the fact that everything is taking place through Facebook. Not to get too off topic or seem like a bitter angry old man, but in my humble opinion when people look back on the years 2000 to 2010 they will not say that we took a turn for the worse with the first "election" of Dubya, but rather when Facebook became such a huge aspect of people's lives. Facebook is stupid.

So far there are two options, the first being, you present a tattoo design, and location on your body, and whoever gets the most votes (and goes through with the tattoo), gets a free bike from Titus valued at over 5 grand. Above is one of the submitted ideas, and below is the bike the winner gets to take home. I'm all for people doing odd/borderline stupid things for free things (God knows I've done my fair share), but tattoos can be removed. I think it should be a branding instead of a tattoo, cause there isnt a laser treatment around to get rid of a brand. Also, it seems like everyone has a tattoo these days, few have brands, aside from guys who are dumb enough to join a fraternity that requires brands as part of their pledging process.

The second aspect of the contest is getting a pair of X Carbon mountain bikes if you decide to get married in a Titus kit. Since divorces are becoming as popular and common as tattoos, I think the contest should state that if the couple winds up getting a divorce, Titus gets a stake in the couples assets worth the value of the two bikes. Additionally, everything is about dressing down these days (casual Friday, no-pants hump day, etc etc), so finding two people who like to ride bikes, are getting married, dont mind saving money on a dress and tux should be too hard. I wonder if Titus would give bikes to all the groomsmen and bridesmaids if they too wore Titus kits?

X-Carbon bike up for grabs

Motivation

2010-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

Sister Claus hooked me up with a YAWYD top cap this past December. Lucky for me one of my favorite breweries has a great name to motivate anyone to ride hard. Now whenever I look down at my headset I will see the "victory" and a giant V.

News

2010-01-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Looks like Germany will finally fall in line and allow folks to race on the proper wheel size. I'm not sure why Germany were being such huge 29 haters, but better late than never.

The 2010 American Mountain Bike Challenge calender just got released. The Barking Spider down in BoyZee got added to the list. Dolla Bill and self went down and represented the Big Sky at this race last year. Looks like I might have to save some money to head on down there, and put Wild Rockies Toby in his place.

Screw Interbike, for the regular joes there is now Outerbike. Head down to the desert at the beginning of October to try out a bunch of bikes, if you can't get to Sin City. I'm surprised that the dates don't match up closer with the 24 Hours of Moab.

Looks like some up and coming pop star killed a cyclist , and didn't believe it when the cops told him. I'd write more, but I'd just get pissed off, check out the articles, and wait for your blood to boil. This guy is a top notch ass clown, I hope he gets a stiff punishment.

All for now, time to ride, enjoy the picture below from a time when roadies didnt care about power meters, keeping a steady cadance, wine was the preferred drink of choice, and wool was the norm.

New CX rules from USA Cycling, I may never race CX again

2010-01-20T09:29:00.001-08:00

USA Cycling, who rank in the top three of organizations I hate to give money to, is doing all that they can to ruin my cyclocross experience. While I applaud the fact that the new changes for 2010 involved a stars and bars jersey given to the winner of the SS Marathon Nationals, the new cyclocross rules mean that I may never be able to race a cyclocross race again. See new rules below.

Just how will I quench my thirst/be able to make up an excuse for my DFL? What's next, no more ass crack primes? Times they are a changing.

Winter Reading

2010-01-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Winter can be cold and dark, and since I have moved to MT has meant that I typically read more. Just finished reading "Where Men Win Glory" by John Krakauer, and it made the grade for me. Unlike his two other books I have read (Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heavan), Krakauer didn't jump around too much from year to year or story to story. Everything seemed to flow in a fairly linear path. While I was expecting him to take several opportunities to go out of his way to slam the Bush Administration for their role in the Iraq War, Afghanistan War, and the cover up of the circumstances surrounding Tillman's death, that never happened. With that if you have the free time, and are looking for something to read, check it out.

The other book I have read in the past three weeks has been "Among the Thugs" by Bill Buford. It is a glimpse inside the world of English soccer Hooligans (if you have ever seen Eurotrip, you got a glimpse of what this may be), and after reading the first section detailing a riot in Europe I was in shock. Buford writes the book Hunter S. Thompson style, except not in the "im all hopped up on Scotch and cocaine" style of Thompson. This book made me realize that the post rugby match tomfoolery I was a part of in college is nothing compared to these guys. Next up for me is about the OG of badass geologists, John Welsey Powell. I'm also hoping that sooner rather than later the Riding The Spine boys write a book, but hopefully they will clean their feet first.

Insert Title

2010-01-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

Got nothing ramble on about, but I figure I'll post a link dump of sorts. I just wish I had better luck of finding jobs as I did with coming across interest bike stuff.

Save The Singletrack: This is serious up here in the Big Sky, let Rehberg, Tester, and Baucus know what you think.

Joe Papp talks about racing in Latin America: this dude was doped to the gills, and tried to blow the whistle on everyone.

Ritte: American team that is all about Belgium, I can dig it.

Bike Shorts: One of the funnier cartoons I've seen in a while.

Bike Polo is Not a Crime: Plain old bullshit

Those Canadians are Thinkers

2010-01-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Looks like the folks who put on the Intermontane Challenge are setting up a SS specific class. That is great news, I just hope there is enough interest from racers to make it a competitive class. Also hoping that some of the mistakes I heard were made last year get sorted out. I'm sure that temperatures not in the 90s and 100s would help too. Stage racing seems like the next big thing, like what 24 Hour races were in the late 90s and 100 milers a few years back. If I had the money and the strength, I would try to race the one of the solo stage races (Breck or Intermontane) and something with a teammate like BC Bike Race or Cape Epic. Wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to put on a MTB stage race here in Montana?

Race Across The Sky is Coming to Missoula

2010-01-14T12:29:00.000-08:00

Last year a documentary was made about the Leadville 100 race, and the resulting beatdown that Lance Armstrong threw down on the field. Back in October, the movie was released in a bunch of cities, but Missoula wasn't on the list (I bitched about this on a previous post). Turns out that Rebecca Rusch (above in the process of winning this years 24 Hours of Moab) also felt that there were a few spots in the Mountain West that needed to show the film. This spring with the help of her sponsors, she is taking the movie to the masses. Save the date March 11, and I guess that the venue will be the Wilma, and plan to watch a sweet film. Big thanks to Rebecca and her sponsors for making this happen.

In The News

2010-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Things are kind of boring, so why waste time trying to figure odd/entertaining ways to fill the SSMT void. In between trying to find work, trying to sell socks, trying to figure out what grad school program might be better than the next (even before knowing of either acceptance or rejection), dreaming of SSUSA, and trying to keep thin and trim, I like to pick up news bits here and there.

Looks like NPS is trying to gauge the publics interest and ideas about allowing mountain biking at the New River Gorge. Found this one over at the Dirt Rag, they got the link where you can let the NPS know what you think. I'm all in favor of it, I think the fact that the local mountain bikers would be so giddy to make that work, they will volunteer a ton of time, and follow all the rules for both 1.) setting a foundation for more trail opportunities on NPS lands, and 2.) absolute fear of losing the privelage.

On a sad note, the founder of the Arizona Trail passed away from cancer earlier this week. I never met the guy, but rode and work on the trail he concieved. Few states have the diverse mountain biking landscape like Arizona, and the AZ Trail is over 800 miles of greatness. So, Dale hopefully now you are enjoying the great trails in the sky, thanks for your idea and dedication to something that has brought me fiendship and happiness.

Get ready for the biggest news shocker of the decade, Mark McGwire used sterioids. Thats about as shocking as finding out that the majority of college students illegally drink while underage. Years of following cycling has made me numb to athletes admitting to steroid use, another day another doper, all I do is yawn. The real shocking thing is that Jose Canseco is turning out to be the only honest athlete in this whole steroid era. He should just write another book titled, "Told You So."

More news from the DC front, they picked up a new contributer. Still cant wrap my head around the whole triathalete thing, but it will be nice to get some female input over there. Judi thinks that Wellington will "chick" Lance at Kona in 2011. I would love to see that, especially if it involved her passing Lance on the run while whispering, "pussy" in his ear.

The Question I Ask Myself Everyday

2010-01-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

Ponder that one for the day.

Football Woes

2010-01-10T10:27:00.001-08:00

I guess the reason some the of the ice in Missoula is starting to melt is because more ice is needed to help Hell freeze over. Tony Romo, Wade Phillips, and the rest of the crew of flunkies referred to as the Dallas Cowboys won a playoff game, so yes Hell as frozen over, and nothing in the universe seems right. I was expecting to wake up this morning and see nothing but darkness, but alas, that is not the case. Just take a look at the thought of Big Juan, and you can see that those Philly fans were ready to jump off the Betsy Ross bridge. Few things in life suck more than fans of Texas teams have a legitimate reason to be happy. I watched the second half in complete awe with an buddy of mine who is an eagles fan, and had the bar been serving pints of oven cleaner, he would have been sucking it down to numb the pain. It's pathetic when all you are doing is rooting for injuries, and thats what we were doing.

Dad and I already had a quick chat about the Jets winning today, and despite the fact that he lives 25 minutes away from the Meadowlands, a town away from the Jets head coach said, "I was hoping they would lose because, I really dont care about the Jets". Yeah I'm in that boat two, the football season ended two weeks ago for me, when the Giants stopped playing with an ounce of heart, and the Jets became the first tier team in the New Jersey area. It Arizona gets trounced today, it will prove the point, that if you lie down the last week of the season, you are fucked for the playoffs. Right now I'll support the Vikings, because they play the Cowboys (who I hate), and someone I know stands to make a substantial amount of money if they win the Super Bowl.

In some bike news, it looks like on of Missoula's finest MTB'ers will be racing next year on Felt Bikes. The Kenda/Tomac/Hayes team of Andy Schultz is now Kenda/Felt, and has a slimmed down roster. Seeing this bummed me out because two fine gals, Holmes and Zephanie, got left off the squad. They are quality riders, and I have no idea what factors went into the roster decisions, so I wont pretend to offer an idea. The team still does have Andy, Amanda, Colin, and recently added Judy Freeman, all of whom are good eggs, so they got my support. If Rebecca Rusch doesnt show up, I'd bet money on Amanda at Leadville, and if she included it in her race schedule, she could probably take a couple of NUE races.

Sweet Justice

2010-01-08T12:15:00.001-08:00

Looks like the dipshit doctor out in LA will be rocking an orange jumpsuit for five years. More than anything I hope this leads a better future for the motorist-cyclist relationship, whether it be wider shoulders on roads, better education of the laws that do exist, or fewer middle fingers and honking of car horns. Either way, this dude got what was coming to him, plain and simple. While it wasn't mentioned I wonder, if the doc will be able to keep his driver's license when he gets out of the slammer? Regardless, if you got the free moment tonight hoist a point for the three cyclists involved in the accident, and the fact that they will recover from their injuries. Then hoist that pint back up for the cyclist who won't recover from their accidents, cause that's a damn shame. Happy Friday, enjoy the weekend.

Stijn Devolder = Tough

2010-01-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

Saw this over at the cyclingsnooze today, and it put a smile on my face. No wonder this guy has been spanking everyone at der Ronde for the past two years, he's one tough dude. Covering 100 miles during a 5 hour ride during a Belgian Winter is f'ing tough. The only thing missing from the article was Devolder stating that for breakfast he eats bowl of nails and broken glass. I especially enjoy the line of, "it is not so cold that you freeze onto your bike." I do wonder at what exact temperature a person would actually freeze to their bike, maybe Hurl and his CRC crew could try to figure that out the next time an arctic blast travels across Minnesota.

I also enjoyed how Devolder kinda threw "Columbian Marching Powder" Boonen under the bus because he opted to train indoors, and escape to Spain, rather than tough it out in Belgium. Granted you can't call a three time winner of Paris- Roubaix a pussy, but if anyone can do it, its the two time defending Tour of Flanders champ, who sees no point in flying to Spain for warm weather training. Who the hell knows I am rambling, and thinking way too much about this, probably because this is the time of year that I curse myself for moving from Tucson to Missoula. For those of you who might have need some motivation to get out and ride/ski in the cold weather, check this read out, odds are whatever weather you are experiencing, isn't as bad as what Jill dealt with.

Hello 2010, my name is Andrew

2010-01-05T11:52:00.001-08:00

2010 is upon us, a new year, a new decade, you get the picture. Times to set some new goals, both for bikes, and for life. Snake had a great take on how to approach the new year (as well as some interesting reflection), simply put he summed it up with three words, "do it better". While this appear to be a cliche, Snake has provided me with some great advice such as, "ride hard", "you rode that course with a 16 tooth? thats fucking stupid", and "every ride should either start or finish with a ride through the U of A to look at chicks." So yeah, I'll listen to him again, just try to do things better than I did them before, whether bikes or life.

More good stuff from the New Year, go take a glance at the most recent issue of VeloNews. On page 26 (or around there), there is a nice interview with everyone's favorite Amish looking guy, Fuzzy John. I will say that any press Fuzzy gets he has earned, the hard way, by spanking the competition in whatever race he toes the line at. While in Missoula, Fuzzy enjoys meals at Hob Nob, cookies from Bearnice's, and singlespeeding up Deer Creek Road while towing his son behind him. Good on ya Fuzzy, I'm hoping to bump into you at SSUSA.

That's all thats doing for now, comfortable riding is still a long way off here in Missoula, time to enjoy some nordic, and maybe even try this running thing. Who the hell knows, at least the days are getting longer, which helps my brain forget that its Winter. Welcome to 2010, try to do it better.

A Message for Doug Dale, and 2009 Reflection

2009-12-30T11:33:00.001-08:00

It looks like the Old Man Coffee Chronicles powered by Doug Dale is back up an running. In his most recent post he calls out folks from New Jersey stating, "I just hope the folks from Jersey stay out east, they tend to be quite rude. No offense if you're from Jersey, I'd be mad if I lived there too." Lets get one misconception out of the way, people in New Jersey are not mad about the fact that they live in New Jersey, they are pissed that soo many other people live there, which leads to crowding, and bad vibes. Think of it like using an elevator. Using one by yourself or with a friend is just fine, you can either enjoy the peace and quiet alone, or bullshit with a friend. When you are forced to share that same elevator with six other people so you cant move, whatever mood you are in goes to hell. One the passengers hasnt taken a shower since the Clinton presidency, another guy wants to hum along with the shitty music, a third person cant seem to stop farting, the fourth guy is busy talking on a cell phone while wiping the snot from their nose one their sleeve, and they are all in the way of you getting off of the elevator at the floor of your choice, you wouldn't be the happiest person around. That is what New Jersey is like, a whole lot of different people crammed into a small space just breeds rudeness.

While I will not deny that the stereotype of people from New Jersey being assholes or just plain rude exsists for a reason (I just took a long look in the mirror before typing that), but try not to forget about the rest of the Northeast as well. In my humble opinion folks from New York City and the Philly area are just as rude if not ruder than folks from New Jersey. Additionally the terms "Masshole" and "Vermonstor" exists for a reason. It's tough for people from states like New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachussetts, or the DC area to go from being rude to polite at the drop of the hat. So Doug, if you do have a crew from New Jersey who stops in your shop, just take a deep breath, politely remind them that they are on vacation, and that they should relax. And if at the end of the winter all the folks from New Jersey were dicks to you for no good reason, I'll buy you a beer. That way, one Garden State representative will have sent some courtesy your way.

Finally, in what is going to be the last post of 2009, allow me to do some reflection of 2009 on a race by race basis.

SSAZ: good trail, great friends, 70 degrees in January, nuff said
Barking Spider: decent course, big field
Wimmers ICUP: Had Holmes, Doug, The Rev, and Blake not been there, I wouldnt have loved it.
Coyote Classic: HOLY SHIT! I must be kinda fast
24 Hours of Rapelje: Mother Nature put everyone in their place, but great time none the less.
Firecracker 50: Cramps from dehydration suck.
XC Nationals: Rode like shit.
Galena Grinder: Back to feeling fast.
Laramie Enduro: Getting cheered on by the family was great.
Pierre's Hole 100: CRV is now on life support.
SSMT: I'm still surprised that people did what I told them to do, and that I still havent been sued.
Moose Cross: Fun times in Idaho
Rolling Thunder: I bet if I didnt have that car bomb on the second to last lap I would have been on the podium.
MuleCross: The Mules know how to have a good time, and put on a great race.
Big thanks to Hellgate Cyclery and Missoula Bicyle Works for keeping my gear working, Drunkcyclist, and Surly for supporting SSMT, Dejay Fuzzy and Scooby for the race friendship and advice, and probably the biggest thanks to the family for their support.

One last rambling to promote one of the first events of 2010. SSUSA is just around the corner, and this one will be one for the books. 45 miles of desert mountain biking is just what the doctor order to keep your sanity during the winter.

Happy New Year!

Not Over Yet

2009-12-22T04:37:00.001-08:00

Did one of my favorite things last night, watch the Giants beat up on an NFC East team last night, while drinking Troegs, and bullshitting with an old friend. Big Blue flat out spanked the Skins last night, and kept their playoff hopes alive. The Skins looked like a high school JV team out there, but everyone in the world will be hoping for them to rally next week against the Cowboys. Sure it might seems pathetic to devote a whole bunch of energy to various football teams, but bikes are not the priority this time of year, the NFC East playoff race is. Im just happy I'm not stuck rooting for the Seahawks, like other bike racers from the Big Sky.

Speaking of bikes, looks like 'ol Cross Reverand Proctor has US cross racing on lockdown. I was hoping that back in November I was gonna get a ring from him saying something along the lines of, "Sure they dont have a SS cross class across the pond, you barely raced cross this year, the last time you had anything that resembled fitness in 09 was back in the beginning of August, but I remember how you helped me after I went down at Mulecross, so pack your bags, cause youre coming to Euro Cross Camp." No such luck, I'm in New Jersey, while the real players are over there in Belgium, where they should be.

That's all I got for now, so Happy Holidays, eat, drink, be merry, drink some more, take a nap, then get up and drink again. My gift to everyone are the links below, enjoy.

Eddy Merckx- Stars and Watercarriers Part 1
Paris Roubaix - Old School Style
Run Run Rudolph
Fatty lived the dream