All This Talk of CX

Chequamegon is in the books.

Cyclocross is the thing to do, for sure. I will vow to spectate at a few races or more. But here is the current situation.

Work is changing. Oncall is happening. I've got the trainer setup. Temps are diving. Mind you, I'll be using the oncall excuse to ride inside. I love to ride outside when it's cold, but somehow don't dig it when the temps are falling. What can I say?

Running seems to be creeping into my schedule. I don't know what that means, but I'm all for it. Especially if it gets me through winter lighter vs any other weight.

There. That's the quick and dirty.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-chequamegon Fat Tire 40

I went into my sophomore Fat Tire 40 effort with a few guidelines:

• Stay off the brakes.
• Take the roll out easy. Last year I had the cold, hard evidence of popping on the first hill in the grass. There I was immediately wondering if I had stupidly forsaken my race. I didn't want to be there again.
  
• Stay off the brakes.
• Carry as much momentum into the hills as possible. Spin! Push! Pull! Drag! Then if that fails do some CX practice.
• Stay off the brakes.
• Did I mention stay off the brakes?

I rolled it out nice and slow, way in the back. Bro-in-law was hanging with me and yukking it up. Bubba and crew went by in no time. I said "hey" and settled in to ride my race.

When I hit the grass, I started working my own version of what felt like magic. Finding my rhythm. I thought bro-in-law was shortly behind me, but in truth he said I pretty much left him right there. At the first big down hill I donated one of two brand new Gatorade filled bottles to the ditch and kept going. It was a sign I didn't need the weight.

My memory of the race course wasn't so good. I decided to do CX practice for a few of the steeper hills in effort to save my legs for later. It was for this reason I took turns passing and being passed by another single speeder on a rigid bike. Me taking a bit more pounding on the downhills, her getting up the hills a bit better.

Somewhere fairly early on, I heard a clicking coming from the drive train. I was certain I had tightened it all down. The EBB had loosened and I needed to fix it. After figuring the problem and tightening I was off and going again. I was a bit miffed to see all the folks I had just passed with my uber-uphill-momentum thing going by. Chain tightened, I attempted a sweet CX mount of which there is luckily no evidence. Off again I went.

I couple times I was caught barreling down a gravel road in the wrong spot (deeper gravel section). No harm, no foul. Mental note for next time, look for the good part of the road if possible.

Most of the time I was working slightly harder than I thought I could for this race. I wondered if it was going to come back and bite me. I wondered what those around me though of the huffing and puffing. I was just hanging on and hoping to surprise myself.

On the upshot, I had really forgotten how much downhill there was. I was laughing with excitement down more than a few of them. Happy to have the recovery. Yet there were certainly times of "relax, you can do this". Even a few bumpy downhills, I went a bit too fast and joggled my brain more than it should have. I was fine, but secretly wishing for a bit of front suspension.

Cutting to the chase. I kept checking my watch, racing my race and keeping an eye on my four hour goal. Mind you, there is little you can do about time goals mid race except check on their status. I was keeping a decent 10 mph average, perfect for the goal. What I didn't know was how the dooming fire tower hill or it's successors would treat my beloved average.

Fire tower hill. I walked/pushed most of it. (Note for Russell, this is where I passed Randy. Not quite realizing it was him until later). One final check of the watch and I was still on my 10 mph average. It could go either way here folks.

Somewhere out there, I ran into a fellow blogger and chatted a bit. We bantered about who was ahead. I'm sure we traded spots a few times due to elevation changes and our various ways of dealing with it. No matter who got the shorter time, she wins. Her team was holding the beer for her at the finish line.

I did my best to stay off the brakes while the miles counted down. I'll admit to tapping the brakes once or twice in a "I made it this far I AM NOT crashing now" kinda move.

Somewhere in here I started realizing that not only sub-4 could happen, but I could also beat last year's 4:52 by an hour. Push, push, push.. Don't give up. Don't stop. Stay off the brakes.

I wasn't in the running for "most donut holes ingested", but I had 1-2 at each of 3-4 aid stations. No gels where harmed in the riding of my race.

Once seeing "5 to go", "3 to go", and even "2 to go" the miles were absolutely flying by. My fun was nearly to an end. Though I want a remeasure as that last mile did seem about 3 miles long.

That last little cruel uphill on a single speed where I have to will myself not to get off and walk, then I was over the finish line in 3:49!!

I stood there for a good bit soaking in all my glory. Holding my bike up. Then a shower and a bus ride to pickup the car in Hayward. All the while thinking "I'd still be riding last year". Today is Monday and I'm still smiling. I know 3:49 is pretty far back, but competing with myself, I've just had a pretty good race.

I ran into Rick who was soaking in an outstanding result. Then hung out at the Jay and Marty party for a bit yukking it up with those guys. Thanks !!!!

I said "Hey" to Evan at 53x11 coffee on Sunday, bought some finely flavored caffeine from him. Then we caught a few minutes of the CX race. Shortly thereafter, we loaded up and headed back.

What a perfect weekend!

WORS Suamico

Here's a fun one. What a great day it was. Just enough rain in the prior days to harden up the trails. Then "bam!" race day it was nice and sunny.

I had to pack in a full day of 2x2hr driving, a race, and yukking it up with the boys. All of this while "watching the dogs".. Meaning I left home at 8:30, just in time to squeak into the last parking spot before the hwy (yeah that was me on the corner). I got geared up and registered, low stress pace but "just in time" all the same.

Sans watch, I was hanging out by the start, then heard "hey the singlespeeders are going".. This allowed me to roll up the back all covert style before anyone knows they even have to deal with me.

Having geared up one, it took everyone a bit longer to get away from me on the flat. I hadn't ridden trails for a few weeks, and so my brain needed some time to get used to single track mode. The second half of the course seem to go smoother on single track. Mostly, I focused on staying out of the way, and trying to "give it the beans" the Chequamegon like sections.

I must say, getting passed by the two elite trains is super impressive. They are about the easiest folks to get passed by and call out way ahead. Their speed is unfathomable.

I thought I held off the comp riders, but looking at the results, perhaps a few of them got a lap on me before I finished.

When all was said and done, I busted out a "top 10 finish" in Sport SS. You'll have to look at the results if you want to know how many of us there were. I'm good with this. My numbers are improving.

A quick cup of smoothie at the "Muddy Cup", and I was headed home to let the dogs out. Missed out on post race food, I'll catch you all at Chequamegon.

P.S. Still digging that new Singular Swift 29er hard.

Again.

Again.

I hear it in my head. It is not the "again" of a child not wanting to do another chore.
I hear it in my mind. It is not the "again" with a hint of do I have to?
I hear it over and over. It is not the "again" of a question.
Those uncertain meanings to again do not exist in my head.

I feel it with my heart, the again of determination.
I see it with my mind, the again of consistency.
I hold it in my hand, the again of persistence.

This is the again you may hear from your martial arts instructor.

Here I am again.
Losing weight.
Riding consistently.
Getting where I'm going.
There have been setbacks before, there may yet be more.

Like riding on the trail, I take that same old obstacle with an new determination and confidence. I will take it this time.

Last time at the Muir blue trail, I cleared the last hill. Then, I did it again.

This week, I pulled through some pretty ugly number of hours in front of a computer screen. Figuring and fixing, again and again. Somehow I broke my old mold of giving up workouts while on-call. I managed 5.5 hours of basement, mile-less riding.

I have a long way to go, but I'm clearing new obstacles.

I do not share this to gloat of what I can do. I share with the humble wish that you can too.

You may not mountain bike. You may not work on-call in front of a PC. Whatever your obstacle, stand up and do it again.

True Story

So, I had a broken spoke. I replaced it on my own. Then there was a slight wiggle/wobble in the rear wheel. Just to be safe, I drug over to Ben's and spent a 5er for a few minutes of insurance. And yes, there were no wiggles after that. Well worth the trip.

I got the thing all back together and in hope of tomorrow being open trails. One last check. I spun the front wheel to make sure it was in straight. Then I wondered, had I crashed unknowingly? front looks so untrue it's ridiculous.

Thinking the way to fix it was to tighten up the spokes that had unseated/settled ( as that was the likely cause ). I now know the error of that logic.

In any case, later after the beach party I'm going to sit w/ my bike upside down in the living room and see if I can't fix it. Otherwise, tomorrow's ride will be fixed gear and as far as I feel like going. (guessing far)..

I was cranky tonight.. Good ride, but I yelled at a lady to get off the phone and drive.. not really like me. Breathe. Just ride.

Not sure if it was the Milwaukee Orange One, or the fatty jersey. I got mucho waves from the other biker peeps today. Perhaps everyone was just happy the sun came out maybe.

See you out there.

Yet Another Decent Weekend

Just mashing around the Muir trails again. There were some wet spots out there, so I didn't take any more time off. In fact, I was feeling pretty slow. Though in the end, my time wasn't really that slow.

After one lap, I ran into Coop and Anne. Anne let me lead out my second lap and never had to climb over me. It was cool to have some like-speeded company. Coop went blowing by at some point.

The win for the day. I cleared the hill just after mile 9. Now I just have a few spots to get right/regular and I'm on the the blue loop clean. Sounds easier than it might be for a bit.

Catch you out there.

Alienating Half My Base

Over the past weekend, I was signed up for the Spirit of Racine Half. I had Friday off to get all my race gear ready. I have done the race every year it has been there, starting back in 2002.

I bagged it. The official reason was my heel had me not running for the last few months. I went trail riding Friday, and again Sunday. I had an absolute blast. I'm getting (oh so slightly) faster. It was totally worth bagging the race. I'm off the hook and never have to go back unless I want to.

On the other side, I saw some folks in the results that I would have liked to have seen, and encouraged.

On to Chequamegon!!

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

This last weekend was the Levis Trow WEMS race. It included the Wisconsin Single Speed State Championship race. Here are some random thoughts with respect to my experience there. No excuses, just observations.

It was only the third trail bound excursion I've had on my new 29er Singular Swift. Yep, love the bike.

Two grueling 12+ mile loops. It was a beautiful, if not increasingly warm day. I rode up with a good group and met a few other regulars responsible for me even attempting the race. I recall last year TmonT saying "you need to check this place out, but might want to get your chops up first". Yet this year there was no mention of chops. So, I went. (probably should have had more chops).

The lead out and the beginning single track was delightful. I was even equipped to handle this part with my beginner riding.

Ascending the bluffs was something else. I had a gear that could do it in some spots, and legs that couldn't in others.

Occasionally, my brain talked me out of a few semi difficult spots. I've assured myself that any one of these spots on it's own would be very doable, but stacked up into this 25 miles of "what did I get myself into?" went slightly beyond my reach.

I rode planks, bridges, rocks, roots, switchbacks, ascents, descents and any number of other fun little obstacles. I had some minor hiccups, to be expected. Thankfully, nothing left me laying there for the ticks to devour me.

Somewhere past 1.5 laps, I went full-on-toast mode. Upon reflection, I was perhaps dehydrated in addition to being cooked. I pushed in spots, cursing my inability to pedal no more. I stopped at the last aid station, grabbing a few orange slices for the coast into the finish.

Not far from the end, I heard "here comes the elusive one". Then an announcer that I know not where his all-day-enthusiasm comes from called me in as the last SS champs racer of the day. I'm sure they were all really happy they didn't have to come out and save me somewhere on the trail!

I'm looking forward to taking my new experience back to the Muir trails.

Last, and most important.. It's good to finish with a smile.


Big thanks to Velogrrl for the photo.

Pictures

Or it didn't happen.

First Ride on the Singular Swift 29er

While it's fresh. This morning I hit the South Kettles on my new rigid, steel framed, Hayes Stroker, Sun Ringle disc-o-flea, Sugino crank, Phil ebb, 19T endless kickass cog, Singular Swift via the Peddler of Prairie himself. Here, in no particular order, are my thoughts.

It was a beautiful day. I abstained from any brewed beverages last night for the full, early rise effect of getting more riding in. I was going to go for a 5am alarm, but once we were home and crashed it was later than I thought. So, 5:30am would have to do. Jump in the rain-box, grabbed my stuff, made some espresso, and one trip back in for my forgotten ipod, and I was out the door minutes past 6am.

At Muir and ready to ride about 7:30, I tweaked things and just made sure it was all ready to go. Tightened up the pedals. Realigned the front brake, fixing the UFO sound. And one red loop just for warm-up and grins.

The momentum of the ride is incredible. The bike wants to go much faster than me. It doesn't lose speed, save when I am braking or heading up a hill. When I'm "just peddling along" I feel like I'm going faster and much easier than I was on my old bike. (insert tidbit about 15 years of improvements in bike geometry advances).

It took me a bit just to get used to how it felt over bumps. I'm accustomed to a squishy old front suspension. I'm much more upright on the swift and could lean in and bend my elbows. Though, I felt I had to duck quite a bit more.

The good and bad of uphills. The momentum factor had me speeding up some hills and struggling on others. It seemed much more difficult for me to buckle down and hurk the rest of the way up the hill once it was too steep. This could just be a matter of finding the right spot to be in when I am climbing. Also, I'll guess the wider bars on my list will help the up hills.

Dare I say, everywhere else was a win/win. I won't talk times because mine are pretty slow. But, my first loop was a medium effort with a few short stops for a sip of water (not long enough to let the mosquitoes gather). It was at least 5 minutes faster than my last loop on my old bike, where I was really pushing it. I went for loop 2 and wore out at the end. I did well the front half, but wore out on the back half.

The big win, I was grinning most of the time. Which is what counts.

If I didn't mention it before, a big thanks / shout out go to the folks that helped me put this together (and listened to my whining waiting for it).

Rick
Russell
Tim
Marty

And of course my wife.

Now I just gotta get this thing out to a ride/race or two before the big Fat Tire. I'll have to chat with my council about Levis.

Riding in the Rain

This morning I took off for my regular 20 miler on the fixed gear. I've been doing this the last couple days and most of last week. It was just below 60 degrees and there was a slight drizzle. This was somewhat cooler than it has been for a few weeks on my rides.

I had all sorts of wonderful ideas of how to make a great post about this. My rush to get home and off to work peels those from me never to be heard again. Here's what's left.

There is such a cleansing effect to riding in the rain. I won't say it was tough to go. It wasn't. Rain jacket or not, I knew I would be soaked by ride's end.

I started easy, with my turnaround point in mind.

Heading north past Silver Spring, the runners I see remind me to wish Robin a "Happy Birthday". Still the rain comes down.

As my Fat Cyclist arm warmers soak to the core, I am reminded "Win Susan". Still the rain comes down.

Once I headed back, I picked it up to medium pace with a few pushes up hills to keep the momentum going. I have to make faster cadence easy on one gear this year. The rain cools me and I am steady.

Returning home, I had time to ditch the soaked clothes and hit the shower before the rest of the family was up.

No, this was nowhere near the post I had in mind this morning.

In spite of a poor night's sleep, it was a good ride today. I highly recommend a regular rain ride.

Evidence

A.K.A. What I've been doing in the dungeon today.



The frame is pretty. After all the painstaking advice giving to me about how to photo a bike, I got to the 11th hour and just had to take an evidence shot. Yep, it's here. I have the parts I have on it. Shortly hoards of folks will come teaming out of the woodwork and help me with the last bits (or are those termites?).

While I have the photo up, yep recently they've been doing some gas upgrades around here and that pipe sticking out of the wall used to be a meter. Isn't it nice how that ugly old meter isn't there anymore, just that beautiful pipe.

Time for bed, been up since 2 AM.

Parts

Oh blog, how I have neglected you lately.

props to Endless for being there and recommended.
My LBS always gets a nod. But the chain was recommended, then the recommendation was refined. Then maybe I got it wrong over the cell phone connection. We'll see.

I gotta say, accumulating the parts is nice. And I'm almost there. But the backbone of the entire new 29er bike project is slated to be in sometime this week. No word yet.

No worries. I will wait out this without concern. It turns out last time I went to the woods to ride, I checked a tree. Thus, this week I'm nursing a hockey injury without ever playing hockey (apparently checking boards can cause such). I hope to have this diversion and on-call all taken care of about the same time the build for the new bike is d-o-n-e. With a little luck, this could turn out well.

I won't tell you I plan to take a bunch of photos of the build process. We know that once I have the stuff, I won't be stopping the grease gun to take pictures. I do hope to have a nice looking end photo I can put up once we're all complete. Bonus if I can take a few pics in between.

See you on the other side.

Cue B****n' Rock Music

Today, I obtained some sweet 29er wheels. Upon getting them home, I recalled my days in the restaurant biz at various cooking jobs. I was making a hot dog for the boy, and mac and cheese for the girl, and oh yeah mounting some 29er tires to my new 29er wheels, with new 29er tubes. Color me excited. All pumped up and there is news of a frame just over the horizon.

If the anticipation stage is any indication, I'm going to have a blast on this new ride.

Anyone Get the License Plate?

I suppose that's a bad title in a somewhat bike centric blog. No specific run-ins with autos here. But man did my momentum get messed up hard. I've been doing the weekend warrior schedule, and it's time to man up and really put some daily miles in.

I've got me a 100 miles to nowhere kit from Twin6 and Fat Cyclist. I'm pretty happy about the goodness it's chocked full of.

I'm bummed I get to go to a wedding instead of fight childhood cancer with my 100km ride this year. So I'm taking my aggressions out on the 100 miles to nowhere ride. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy there are family marriages going on and all. I just like to do a little cash raising and ride in the name of something higher than "it's Saturday" once per year.

Spirit of Racine is looking to be about 2 months away. My heel is not going away, and I haven't been swimming. This ought to be interesting. On the other hand, my mountain biking has been on the upswing.

See you out on the road / dirt.

Wisconsin Weather

It is said here, "if you don't like the weather, wait 20 minutes."

In that vein, I went to bed last night with a radar full of green, yellow, and red indicating all kinds of rain and doom for mountain bike racing. Mind you, I'm not much the type of guy to drive a few hours in order to not ride his bike. I could not ride my bike right here.

In any case, I had explicitly asked for an update in the morning. I got a favorable one (or maybe it was an admonishing one). So, I meandered around getting the kids started, dogs fed and walked. I slowly but surely got my stuff in the car. I stopped for gas. And maybe by 9:30 or 10:00am I was headed North just past Green Bay. (the bay didn't look very green today).

At the StumpFarm race, I ran into most of the usual suspects. Coop, Anne, Rick, Liz, Tmont, and MK were all present and accounted for. I must say though, the parking lot did seem a bit light (minus the old city bus).

The course could not have been laid out better. Minus a few mud holes, even I was able to navigate it successfully. In later laps, I walked a few up hills in the interest of making it home.

A good time was had by all. The course seemed fast and packed. Impossible sections were at a minimum if not non-existent. If you showed up, you didn't regret it. For the rest of y'allz, what can I say?

Good pizza after.. Me without my camera.

Impromptu Gary Fisher Superfly Product Review

I rode a Gary Fisher Superfly today. The Trek factorydemo folks showed up at the trail while I was out riding my old steed. They were graciously sharing bikes with folks who wanted to try them out. I thought this was a great opportunity to get up on one of those 29ers and give it the beans.

Now, a bit of background. My current ride has been called "so utterly vile that your eyes instinctively look the other direction when he is on it, allowing him that ultra-kwik window to slip away behind you". It is an easily a 15+ year old Giant ATX 780, converted to single speed. Thanks to Rick, it got a sweet upgrade of V-brakes. Otherwise, it's your basic double butted steel frame with a high zoot RockShox Mag21 on the front.

Enter the Superfly. Which, in all honesty, we can't call this a fair review. There are too many variables. I've never ridden 29er wheels on a mountain bike. I've never ridden a carbon fiber bike. I've never ridden disc brakes. For that matter, it's been a good while (it seems) since I actually shifted gears on a trail.

The helpful staff handed me a size XL. It was quite a bit more roomy than my current setup. Making me think the bike I'm on might be on the small side. Initially I felt like I was driving a bus, but I quickly got over that.. or this was the lightest bus I've ever been near. The last time I rode a bike this size, it was chromoly and 40 lbs (or might as well have been).

It wasn't long before I was ripping over rocks and tree roots. Other than having to get used to shifting again, it was nearly ridiculous how easy it was to just tear over terrain that just one lap earlier I had to negotiate.

The shifting was very responsive. A few times I accidentally bumped it (recall I'm not used to having shifters) and ended up in a way wrong gearing. This thing is all pro. I could not find a problem.

Dare I suggest I could lay down MSRP and lop a good hour off my Fat Tire 40 time by just payin' the man for the new bike. That's not really me though.

While this is a review of the Superfly, it isn't. It's more of a reminder that the latest and greatest equipment can actually be significantly advanced from your older bike. I love to be the guy on the bike "so utterly vile your eye instinctively look the other direction" while bringing up the rear.

Then again, the 29er revolution is upon us. My comfort level at the local trails are increasing. And I anxiously await my new frame.

See you on the trails.

That's Why They Call Them Squirrels

A couple mornings ago, I was testing various pedal cadences at 23-24 mph and a squirrel ran straight into my front wheel. Then proceeded between the two wheels and to the other side of the road. Nuts!

Unfortunately I was without my camera.

Listen up!

It's the last day to sign up for Fat Cyclist's 100 Miles of Nowhere. Now do it.

I'll be "there" riding "with you".

The Difference Between Trail and Road Riding

(at least this weekend)

Road riding you can start when it's already 40F and raining. Whereas with mountain biking you can leave while rain, hail, thunder, lightning is merely looming. It might be waiting to drop like a rock on you at mile 5 of the 10 mile trail.

Saturday it was good to ride with some good folks at Kettles South. I was allowed to take off at "race pace" leading out the group for a few miles (they know this as slightly slower than "easy ride", a.k.a. warm-up). When the rain started coming down, TmonT took the lead while I managed to convert to run-ups on some of the tougher inclines, thus saving the uphill trails from my rear wheel. (note to self, let's try one gear easier). Russel noted something like my bike would be lighter without the pedals if I didn't need them. Maybe I need some trail run shoes for next time. Rick, Liz and MK pretty much left me alone, figurin' R. Tools had the smack talk covered. I thought I was pretty soaked yesterday.

Then comes Sunday. Knowing I've been on vacation and bikeless, I have to get out for regular miles. So I hopped up this morning and did another nearly 2 hours in 40F and rain. This isn't so bad for the first 1/2 hour, maybe even hour. The way home gets a bit tougher. For the uninitiated, it goes something like this:

About 20 or 30 minutes into the ride, your cycling tights are water logged with cold rain, and your legs begin to waffle between cold and stinging. You modify your effort to somewhere between "stay warm" and "able to maintain for the entire ride". The inclines help you stay warm. Speeding up effort is great for warming up the muscles. Keep in mind, as your speed goes up you get exponentially more wet.

Around 45-60 minutes into the ride, your double layer thick gloves are completely soaked. Your hands don't feel too cold, except when you hit a bump and all the water in the gloves moves around. Somewhere around 70-80 minutes, the cold has sapped your energy and you just want to eat / get home. In a past ride, the decision to eat at this point left me shaking on the floor in the fetal position when I got home. It's not the time to have all the blood run to your stomach. Get home, shower then eat.

Speaking of showers, yeah I was in there a good bit just waiting for the itchy red tingling from the cold go away. This is about the least fun of the entire thing. Even when the shower is done, you're bones are still cold. Following up with a hot bowl of oatmeal and an espresso put me back on track.

Ride done. I want to believe these are the days that make racing easy.

I share this not to show how much of a hardened individual I am. Quite the contrary. We can all do a good deal more than we think. I could have easily talked myself out of going today and didn't. I'm glad I didn't.