tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68895597250142359542024-03-13T23:33:33.727-07:00Gnarly Ride DudeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-18519539259405138712012-09-30T13:33:00.000-07:002012-09-30T13:33:00.882-07:00Crossing Over<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Near the end of the mountain bike season I decided I was going to try my hand at cyclocross. It just seemed like some pretty gnarly racing action. I was not disappointed...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Bike</span><br />When I started riding bikes a couple years ago I went low end and spent too much money upgrading until I finally </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">replaced everything by building race-ready bikes from the frame up. So for cross I rationalized that I would save money by going high end from the start and bought a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trek Cronus CX Pro through the Bike Line race team deal. The bike was pretty sweet right out of the box but the wheels were heavy and the Avid Shorty 6 canti brakes </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">were spongy. A used set of Edge 68 tubulars w/ DT190 hubs - both w/ Tufo Primus cross tires already glued - solved the wheel problem. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">brakes were replaced with <a href="http://www.trpbrakes.com/category.php?productid=1037&catid=185" target="_blank">TRP's EuroX Carbon</a> and the difference was amazing. The Edge wheel/tire combo shaved off 1.5 pounds and the brakes shaved </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">another 1/4 pound. After the mods the bike weighed in at 16.5 pounds! Sweet. The SRAM Rival groupset is the middle value line </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but it's snappy and reliable and I'm liking it. For now. I took the XTR pedals off my Lynskey mountain bike and I was race ready. I got a lot of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">compliments on my bike setup at the race and it was cool to see what everyone else was riding. Just like MTB races, there were a wide range of bikes from </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">full bling to full ghetto. And yes, I got passed by some full ghetto bikes during the race. I did notice that TRP canti brakes were on a LOT of bikes and I can see why. Love those brakes.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UMrJWihTvfs/UGiXAPhgZhI/AAAAAAAABwA/W8xLoJCab9o/s1600/hillside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UMrJWihTvfs/UGiXAPhgZhI/AAAAAAAABwA/W8xLoJCab9o/s640/hillside.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What exactly happened in my life that I wound up wearing<br />
a pink skin suit at age 43? At least my bike is rad.<br />
Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.pbase.com/dens" target="_blank">Dennis Smith</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bad Health</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around the time I was putting the bike together (July) I suddenly started having bad problems with pain and swelling in my hands and feet. I mean </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">real bad. At times I couldn't even open a water bottle let alone change a tire or ride a bike. Two months of doctor visits and blood tests and everything came back </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">negative. Finally a rheumatologist figures out I have "psoriatic arthritis". 43 years old and I have arthritis. Supposedly laying dormant all my life...and it came out swinging. Awesome. It's going to be two or </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">three months before I work through the progression of light to heavy meds to figure out what sends the disease into remission. Meanwhile I usually </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">have a couple days a week where I feel good to ride...or race. So I'm just trying to stay positive and assume by end of year I'm back to normal. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phil Mickelson has pretty serious psoriatic arthritis and he wins golf tournaments. He has to take an Enbrel shot once a week. If that's my </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">future...fine with me. Whatever works. Meanwhile, I missed two weekends of cross racing at Nittany and Charm City because I wasn't healthy enough to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">race.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zGj5Jri1Z5M/UGiTun8pYtI/AAAAAAAABvw/4NJwmtVAxJU/s1600/Strating+line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zGj5Jri1Z5M/UGiTun8pYtI/AAAAAAAABvw/4NJwmtVAxJU/s400/Strating+line.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking nervous and ready to puke at the starting line. Shit is about to get real.<br />
Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.pbase.com/dens" target="_blank">Dennis Smith</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lining Up For My First Cross Race</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Whirlybird race was coming and I could tell by Friday morning that I might feel good enough to race on Saturday. Only problem being I was not in race </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">form. I'd been riding once or twice a week and had a few stretches where I didn't ride or exercise at all for 3 weeks at a time. I kept telling </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">myself I was here to learn and to not worry about being competitive - my goal was mid-pack and to get some experience. Yeah, right, sure. I'll be happy with mid-pack. I was registered for the Cat 4 men's open class. The "C" race. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beginners. Yeah, right, beginners. Sure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was in the 5th or 6th row because I had registered pretty early. The race was full so there were close to 125 riders. 40 or 50 in front of me and 75 or 80 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">behind me. I've been in 10 races since I started cycling 2 years ago - all mountain bike. I've had no experience with road or cross racing. I've never </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ridden in a group road ride and I know nothing about riding in tight packs. The gun goes off. Baptism by fire. It's total madness. The bikes are way </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">too close. Bikes are swarming around me. Elbows bumping me. Rear tires cutting across my front. What the fuck you maniacs!? I am hammering hard </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and still 10 or 15 bikes have blown past me on the opening straightaway. Okay, shit is getting serious. Is this how you boys like to play? I </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">feel myself switching from being scared to being pissed off. Hey, I can be a dick too. The first switchback is coming. I take an aggressive line toward </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the inside even though I can sense a front wheel alongside my rear. "Easy dude", I hear. I get out of the saddle to accelerate back to speed but </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">still they are swarming around me. In my head, my subconscious is clicking off the tally...started with 40 in front of me, now 50, now 60. Damn man, time to stop the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hemorrhaging. That is when it really occurred to me that I was in an open class. I start to notice 25 and 30 year olds all around me. And they </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">don't look or ride like beginners. Shaved legs the size of tree trunks. Jesus. Hey, no excuses, I tell myself. Show these boys! My heart is pounding out of my </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chest. I am full of nerves. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e_XDeJQqgAE/UGiVa43UlFI/AAAAAAAABv4/rK_sc5NHt98/s1600/cat4+start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e_XDeJQqgAE/UGiVa43UlFI/AAAAAAAABv4/rK_sc5NHt98/s400/cat4+start.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat 4 start. I'm way back in that mess. Probably haven't moved yet.<br />
Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.pbase.com/dens" target="_blank">Dennis Smith</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Carnage</span><br />There is a short little hill climb up a paved road coming out of the prologue. I love hills and I love climbing. I get a bunch of spots back going </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">up the hill. At least 5 or 6. Coming off the pavement back onto the grass I saw it happening in slow motion. A hard left through the grass was </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">coming up. Something told me to get far right...this was looking like a clusterfuck. They were going way too fast going into that turn. I heard it </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">before I saw it. "Ugh" from someone and "Fuck" from someone else. Crunch and more crunch. Then a rear wheel going up high. The rider is going over </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the bars. I could have reached out and touched the wheel. It glances off my shoulder as it's coming down, swinging around violently. Something or someone </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">kicks out of the tangled mess and knocks into my rear wheel...it skids my rear tire to the right...it helps me make a perfect slide through the turn. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never came unclipped. Wow, that was lucky shit. I take a quick glance back. It's total carnage. At least eight bikes and riders are tangled up. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some on the ground some straddling their bikes struggling to get free. Riders are trickling through on one side. We are only one minute into the race.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ss3NuJfJ9vk/UGigCKOgLNI/AAAAAAAABwQ/U9GZYMLCYkA/s1600/barriers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ss3NuJfJ9vk/UGigCKOgLNI/AAAAAAAABwQ/U9GZYMLCYkA/s400/barriers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gracefully navigating the barriers. Like a gazelle. Not.<br />
Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.pbase.com/dens" target="_blank">Dennis Smith</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Settling In</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was relieved to avoid the crash...but more because it forced a separation and now there were no riders trying to swarm around me. Now I could focus more </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on the riders in front than defending from behind. From here on out it was a lot like my mountain races. Settle in, get myself up to my max </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">breathing and max heart rate and do the best I can with what my legs could give me. Nerves started to calm a little and I started picking off riders in </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">front of me. I mean, I got passed by some riders too, but I was happy with the small number of riders passing me and how strong I was feeling passing guys on the straights </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and on the short hill climbs. I think I got passed by maybe 8 or 10 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">riders throughout the race...but I got around 20 or 30 in that same time as well. At one point I was trying to chase a rider down going up a paved section that ends </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in a hard right down a grassy hill...I called out, "coming through right side", and made the pass entering the turn. Someone in the crowd called out "Nice pass man. Smooth!" Another cool </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thing about cross racing...more people watching...cheering. Very cool atmosphere.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O7Xdy6tJhw8/UGilBsnFmPI/AAAAAAAABwg/Hfjtef_iuh0/s1600/looking+out+over+the+course.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O7Xdy6tJhw8/UGilBsnFmPI/AAAAAAAABwg/Hfjtef_iuh0/s400/looking+out+over+the+course.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking out over the course at Bensalem High School.<br />
Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.pbase.com/dens" target="_blank">Dennis Smith.</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Finish and Lessons Learned</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I lost a couple spots on the final sprint because I didn't realize we were on the last lap. I wondered why these guys were out of their saddle </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">blowing themselves up with 2 miles to go. I assumed we had another lap because my computer showed 35 minutes and the race was supposed to be 40 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">minutes. But it turns out that was the last lap. I was later told they ring a bell when you come through the start finish to signal last lap. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, it's hard to imagine being happy with a 47th place finish but I was totally stoked. I learned a lot about cross racing and bike handling in </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">35 minutes...and finished a little better then my goal of mid-pack. I washed out on an off camber section at one point and lost a couple spots gathering it back up. I also got passed a couple times coming out of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">barriers so obviously I need some work with barriers and the dismount/remount stuff. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not yet </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sure if cross is going to be a win or fail in terms of placing well once I'm back in shape, but it was a hell of a lot of fun and I'm looking forward </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to the next race already. In my book cross racing definitely qualifies as a gnarly ride...dude.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-67278808660204924782012-07-15T18:15:00.000-07:002012-10-11T17:29:28.657-07:00Trail Spinners Fair Hill Classic<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Race #6 in the series and I finally found the podium!
My first podium - I will be smiling for a week! :-D</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cat 2 40-49. 3rd place in a field of 36. Billed
as a 20 mile race but came up as 17.5 on my GPS. Fields are getting
smaller compared to first few races but, again, all but one of the regular
"fast guys" showed up to race so competition for me wasn't going to
change much - it was going to be another tough day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rock You Like a Hurricane</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I felt tired all week so I didn't pre-register for this
race. It was going to be a game time decision. With a day off work
Friday, (after the epic last show ever by the Scorpions and righteous meet and
greet), I had plenty of time to rest and relax. By the way...the
Scorps were kick ass. Some of the first songs I learned on guitar were
Scorpions tunes - they are a bit cheesy but I dig a lot of their tunes and I have
a soft spot for the different guitar duos that set the standards for stadium
rock in the 80's. They are awesome. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ozwh4X4sLK8/UHYbSplTnUI/AAAAAAAABxo/-6LmQ2XG1Yc/s1600/scorps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ozwh4X4sLK8/UHYbSplTnUI/AAAAAAAABxo/-6LmQ2XG1Yc/s400/scorps.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great seats for the last ever Scorps concert!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bad Boys Running Wild</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By Saturday I was feeling a little better so I did a road spin to see
how I felt and to wake up the legs. I threw in a few sprints to get some
pain going. Felt good. Race was on. I felt really good
overall this morning - I slept good and ate a good breakfast. Once again
my legs felt like rubber waiting to stage but I could tell it was just nerves -
I'm always nervous for some stupid reason. I think it's getting
better as I meet more guys and we chat it up at the line.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I got a terrible spot during staging - there really is an
art to staging. I came out of the gate around 20th but I wasn't overly
concerned...the prologue includes at least a mile of double track. This
is a point to point race so no laps - the prologue just means the course passes
by the spectator area after about 3 miles. Working through traffic on the
double track was tough and I went into the single track around 10th or
12th. I've made friends with some cool guys this season including two of
the fastest guys in my class. I was glad to see Scott Slimm as I picked
my way through the prologue and then Dan Vickery passed me. I
figured if I stayed with these guys good things would have to happen.
We were chatting it up a little and I think that set me at ease.
Suddenly the rubber legs were gone and I just felt strong...like I could ride
through everyone. I had Superman legs. This happens sometimes on
training rides. I was more than stoked. Scott made a mistake and I
went around him and got on Dan's wheel. I heard Scott crash behind me
about a mile later...but I would see him again near the end of the race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I followed Dan through the prologue and we emerged in 7th or
8th or so. Dan was a real technician...picking through slow SS traffic
and our own class as well. I stayed right on his wheel and piggy
backed on almost all his passes. I was going pretty hard for the whole
race so a lot of details are pretty foggy. At some point on a climb we
passed good old John Bobb...the 220 pound downhill wonder that descends like a
runaway train and ascends ...well, not so fast. But fast enough to place
top 5 routinely and kick my ass in 3 races this year. Dan and I talked
about this after we passed him and Dan knew the drill as well. It
wouldn't be long and John would be buzzing our tire on a downhill. It
took him a while but he was back. There is a section of killer downhill
that leads to a right turn and more downhill that runs along the Elk River
before the course takes a turn into the Up Crackhead Bob section. John
was on my wheel. There is almost no passing in this area with a cliff on
your left and steep rocks on your right. I have to do better about not
letting guys on my wheel get in my head.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Zoo</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a flat rock
positioned to let you ramp or jump up over a big root a little before you turn
up to Crackhead Bob. Today it was in a different spot. It was
moved to the right maybe a foot...right in the middle of the trail.
"So what," I thought..."I always launch off this
rock." I have no idea what happened but suddenly I was laying on my side
and John Bobb was running over my wheels. Shit. I hopped up pretty
quick. "Haven't we done this before I said". John laughed
and pushed on by. I jumped on my bike but the chain was dropped. I
jumped off and fixed it. I lost a spot to John and one other...and I no
longer had Dan's wheel. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Having Dan's
wheel was working really well. I got a little negative. I
found myself all alone on Crackhead...passing SS'ers and the tail end of the
younger classes. I started daydreaming and would catch myself just
thinking about shit...different rides, other stuff. I was not
focused. I had lost Dan's wheel...I knew where Dan was heading - to the
front. I thought I might catch John Bobb because of all the climbing on
Up Crackhead. But John is so good at technical bike handling that he was
gapping me. I had him in sight for awhile but when I came out of
Crackhead I actually had a guy from my class burning my wheel. He stayed
behind me piggybacking on my passes for the next few miles through the Five
Bridges and South Park sections.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were now in trail sections that I know well and really
like. On Five Bridges and for most of South Park I was pretty
solid. I would lose the guy on my wheel whenever there was a little climb
but then he was back. I wish I was faster on downhill. Just going
to take time I guess. I crash enough as it is. I really didn't know
what position I was in at that point...I kind of thought I was close to the top
5 - but I was actually more like 9th or 10th at that point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I made a mistake and hit my bar end on a tree near the end
of South Park. The guy behind me got around. I had traffic to pass
coming out of South Park but managed okay and I could see the guy ahead.
There is a short but steep climb headed back to the double track away from
South Park. I caught the guy there and blew by him like he was sitting
still. I was just flying up this climb. I realized I still had the
Superman legs - they were feeling just awesome. Nice! Then I saw David
Fitzpatrick ahead. Now my spirits really lit up. I had caught
David...definitely one of the faster guys in our class. I gotta be in the top 5
right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dynamite</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Four days earlier I had taken 2nd Overall on the Strava
segment for Roller Coaster. I like the climb
and I know how to handle it. David was leading me into Roller Coaster.
I passed David in the first 200' before the inital tight switchback.
I was gone. I looked back once and he was nowhere. I caught up with
Jim Thistle with Action Wheels that I seem to be racing all the
time. I couldn't get to him before the end of Roller Coaster. I
don't know the trail names very well, but there is a steep double track
downhill through a creek then straight up a 10 or 12 degree climb on double
track. It leads up to the start of Drunken Sailor. I always
do well climbing this in training rides. I caught Jim and passed him
coming up that climb. My Superman legs were still feeling
invincible. I was getting my second wind. Maybe I was outlasting
these guys. I wonder what position I'm in? I gotta be top 5, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I worked through Drunken Sailor without incident and the
Sport course then takes you back across the Elk River and toward a section
called Two Fields - it pretty much signals 4 miles to go or so. On my way
to Two Fields I hear, "Left side". It's Scott Slimm. He
comes right around me climbing up. Seriously? I hadn't seen him
since the Prologue. </span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">"Where have you been?" I said. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> "</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chasing you, man. You're killing it
today." </span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">"Well, why are you passing me then?", I said.</span><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">"Just come on." He said.</span><br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blackout</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I started to get on Scott's wheel. Uh oh. The
Superman legs weren't responding. Oh shit. I think about this for a
minute as I grind my way up the climb...Scott is riding away. They were so fresh five minutes
ago!?? I think about this. Shit, when was the last time I took a drink from my Electrolyte
Fizz? Oh man, way back after Five Bridges. I had opted against the
pack today and the trails were too technical to reach for the bottle.
Same for the Gu pack in my shirt pocket. Gotta make it to Two Fields.
Fortunately Scott was not familiar with this section...and it is
pretty technical. You can endo in heartbeat coming through the downhill section that leads to the Two Fields climb. I almost caught Scott
starting the Two Fields climb but there was no way I was going to close the gap let alone
pass. My legs were screaming and I was maxing my heart rate. I start chugging from the Fizz bottle
and chased it with some water. I let out a big burp and then I heard, "Nice, dude" as Jim Thistle went
by. Shit. When did he get his second wind? At the top of the
climb I grabbed a cup of water from the aid station and chugged some
back. Now David Kirkpatrick went by. Shit.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was feeling pretty positive just a few minutes ago and, somehow, that feeling was kind of carrying over making me feel like this was not a big deal. "I got
this", I thought. "These guys have to have blown themselves up running me
down - I was busy recharging with Fizz and water and they were killing
themselves up this hill. Meanwhile, Scott Slimm had all but checked
out. I didn't think I would see him again.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now...I have no idea how fast 1/4 bottle of Fizz and a few
gulps of water can really restore...whatever it restores in your body.
But by the bottom of the downhill that follows the Two Fields climb it was
either confidence or Fizz or pure will. My superman legs were back.
I took David on the first climb. Now we were doing long rolling quasi
double track climbs back to the start/finish. I know these trails
well. I took Jim on the next climb...and was stoked to see John Bobb
up ahead spinning his cranks like 120 revs per minute going up a
steep climb. You cannot imagine the feeling of accomplishment I had at that
moment. I knew I was going to overtake John and I knew I was going to
hold him off. I went by John and wisecracked through my gulps for air, "Don't worry, I'm sure
I'll crash in a minute." Now I know that is extremely bad karma but
it was pretty damn funny at the time...given our history in races.</span></div>
<br />
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coming Home</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I crossed the field to the last bit of singletrack that
leads to the doubletrack finish I saw Scott Slimm entering. He looked like he was soft pedaling and unaware of my approach. I stood up and got myself spun up as fast as I
could then got back in the saddle and found a good gear to really mash
it. I went by Scott just rolling. There was probably no way he could
react. He shouted something congratulatory which made me feel really
good. I came out on the blacktop road just flying. I was riding
scared. I didn't know if John Bobb or David or Scott...or whoever was
back there. But I wasn't going to look...I was going to go as hard as I could go.
I was out of the saddle now, sprinting hard. I just kept going...up over
the bridge. I was running out of air...I felt a little suffocated.
I didn't care...only 150 more yards and I could collapse on the grass. I
saw a rider up ahead. My class? I mashed harder and I could tell I
was going to catch him before the pavillion. It was going to be close but
not that close...as long as he didn't look back. He looked back. He
got up out of his saddle. He was going to be too late. I went
flying by him into the pavillion and through the finish a couple bike lengths
in front of him. The spectators must have thought I was a crazed
maniac. Everyone was just dragging ass back in and I was coming through
like I was being chased by Satan himself.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a good thing I made that last pass work...that last pass was for
position. The guy was in my class. I won my podium spot by 1.136 seconds. Kick ass!</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have two more races this season to try for a win...but I don't
really care. Winning this 3rd place....reeling in 5 fast guys with 2
miles to go....that was just awesome. It will be hard to top that
experience. The four guys behind me were all within 20 seconds of
me. To once again quote Fatmarc, "Racing is rad." It
totally is. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Strava ride. I got the Extreme Sufferfest rating again
for keeping my HR pegged. Guess that's what it takes. </span><a href="http://app.strava.com/rides/13476156"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://app.strava.com/rides/13476156</span></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A8zz-KrqcF0/UHYbu2N784I/AAAAAAAABx0/kU7aiBOWaDs/s1600/fh+classic+2012+result+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A8zz-KrqcF0/UHYbu2N784I/AAAAAAAABx0/kU7aiBOWaDs/s400/fh+classic+2012+result+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MtYvMWlohG4/UHYcIxpCbXI/AAAAAAAABx8/R7V2_FT2V-U/s1600/TS+FH+Classic+Podium+Photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MtYvMWlohG4/UHYcIxpCbXI/AAAAAAAABx8/R7V2_FT2V-U/s400/TS+FH+Classic+Podium+Photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why does the 3rd place finisher look so much happier? He might be a little nuts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-78877408096678006742012-03-20T18:21:00.004-07:002012-03-20T18:22:47.078-07:00The Thursday RideLast Thursday I joined the Trailspinners for their Thursday night advanced ride out of the Fair Hill North Appleton lot. I was a little apprehensive because I'd never ridden with a large group and I wasn't sure how fast these guys would be going. Or whether I would be able to keep pace. The Trailspinners post info about group rides on their <a href="http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/trailspinners/messages" target="_blank">Yahoo Groups message board</a> and the post said nobody gets dropped so I figured why not. <br />
<br />
I got out of work 20 minutes later than I wanted and of course traffic was jammed up. The Yahoo post also said rollout at 5:30, be prompt. Well I rolled in at 5:15 and hustled to put my gear on. I wasn't expecting to know anyone but I got to meet Fatmarc and Shane, a couple guys that I really only knew from their online posts on Strava.com. Actually I met Shane last year at the one and only mountain bike race I have ever run at Bear Creek Resort. So Fatmarc was leading and we rolled out at 5:30 sharp as promised. I wasn't quite ready - my Strava app on my phone wasn't running so it took me a minute and suddenly I was pulling out last out of about 12 guys.<br />
<br />
The 10 guys in front were just gone. The guy in front of me wasn't quite that fast and when we got to a right turn, where the group ahead was just about long gone already, he let me by. I didn't see him again. I'm not sure if he was just there with someone else or realized these guys were flying and this was not for him. As it turns out there was another guy behind me - I just didn't realize it until later - but he turned up at the top of the hill later and that was our group for the night.<br />
<br />
I eventually got shuffled up towards the front and found myself following the lead 3 or 4 for most of the night. I was doing okay holding my own and had a great time testing my legs and bike handling skills against these guys. But these guys were riding fast. Real fast. In fact on two hill climb segments they were going fast enough to take the King of the Mountain honors on Strava.com. But really these guys were just awesome all around riders. Fatmarc showed us some cool trails that don't get ridden often and the new route for the Bike Line race over on the Little Egypt side. It doesn't stay light out too late yet so Fatmarc brought us back to the lot by 7:00. We had ridden, I mean hammered, 14 miles. It was an awesome night weather-wise and the ride was equally awesome.<br />
<br />
I'm already plotting my early exit from work for this Thursday...and the next. Because the Thursday ride is truly, a gnarly ride dude.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-13109001518341651002012-03-16T20:44:00.000-07:002012-03-20T17:27:29.164-07:00Okay Maybe An Intevention is Required<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I heard there was going to be a bike parts swap meet in Newark, DE on March 17th for mountain bike riders I thought sure, I have 5 or 6 things to sell. And they are big ticket items so it should justify the $20 vendor fee. Count me in.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So I started cleaning out the garage. And the basement. And the shed. And my closets in the house. And tearing down one of my bikes that never gets used. And there was some good news and some bad news.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">First the good news: In all likelihood I was going to have some serious cash in my hands after the swap meet. But the bad news is...that I might just have a problem that only a mountain biker intervention can solve. I don't just have 5 or 6 extra things to sell. I have DOZENS of items. And serious ticket items too. Here are some photos of some of the just some of the items as I laid them out in preparation for pricing and transporting. Mind you I've only been in this hobby for 23 months and there are still three full bikes hanging in the garage that are not being sold. Yeah, maybe I have a problem.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fuji 19” Carbon Hardtail Frame w/
Headset – (For 26” Wheels)</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Trek 19” 4300 Series Hardtail Frame –
(For 26” Wheels)</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fox Transition Dirt Jump Helmet –
Camo</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Countour HD 1080P Helmet Cam </span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fox Baseline MTB Shorts 2010 - Black</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pearl Izumi Canyon Short - Black</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yakima Raptor Aero Rooftop Upright
Bike Mount</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fox F29 RL G2 Fork</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ergon GP1 Lock On Grips</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lizard Skin Peaty Lock On Grips –
Silver</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lizard Skin Peaty Lock On Grips – Red</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fox ’09 MX Ride Jersey</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bontrager Race X Lite 26” Wheelset<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1660g</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shimano XTR FC-M970 Crankset 2010,
175mm,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>44-32-24</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shimano XTR RD-M972 Long Cage Rear
Derailleur</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shimano XTR FD-M971<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Top Mount Bottom Swing Front Derailleur</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shimano XTR FD-M971<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Top Mount Bottom Swing Front Derailleur</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shimano XTR ST-M975 / BR-M975
Integrated Shifter & Disc Brake Set </span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Selle Italia SLR Flow Carbon Saddle,
Vanox Rails, MTB, 181g</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lynskey Titanium Carbon Seatpost 31.6
x 400mm, Zero Setback<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>225g</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ritchey Pro Carbon Seatpost<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>31.6 x 400mm,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Setback</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ritchey Pro Carbon Stem<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>90mm x 6deg</span></span></b></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ritchey Pro Carbon Riser Bars<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20mm rise, 31.8, cut to 610mm</span></span></b></div>
</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Come on down to the Newak Fire Hall tomorrow and get some gear. I'm sure you'll find the stuff you need to have a gnarly ride, dude.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-27413881248172488612012-03-13T19:01:00.001-07:002012-03-13T19:03:14.565-07:00Rode Hard and Put Away Wet<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been riding my bikes a lot so they've been taking some abuse and needing a lot of maintenance. Now, up until the past week I had enjoyed some pretty good luck in terms of equipment issues (or lack thereof). In fact I went something like 4 or 5 months without any flat tire issues which is just about unheard of if you are laying down the kind of miles I have been, (60 to 80 mountain miles per week). But alas, all good things must come to an end. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are the issues that have surfaced in just the last couple weeks with my two main bikes:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cut the sidewalls on 2 tires in 2 consecutive rides</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">drive side bottom bracket bearing went bad</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rear brake lever developed a leak and is pulling air into the hydraulic system</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">headset developed an annoying creak</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">geared bike developed a clanking noise in the drive train</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Support Your LBS?</b><br />
I will save the solution to all these problems for a future post but I would like to take a minute to talk about local bike shops. I've mentioned in previous posts that I buy a lot of bike parts from online retailers and from eBay and every now and then I feel a twinge of guilt for not supporting the local bike shops more. The problem is that I have had mixed results. Some of these shops have employees that are simply incapable of picking up on the fact that I am not the average Joe, (okay, that's confusing since my screen name here is AverageJoe, but you get what I'm saying). I'm saying that I have developed some decent bike mechanic skills and some of these guys get it and some do not. So the guys that don't get it talk down to me or feed me BS and don't seem to understand that I see their BS. But, in a moment of weakness I tried a different bike shop and decided to drop BOTH of my bikes off to service some of the above problems. What the heck, I'm a busy guy and this could save me some time. Well, for one bike the kid just argued with me that I didn't really have a problem until I wheeled the bike out and loaded it back on the Jeep. Like a dummy I brought the other bike in and left it there with instructions for them to diagnose and fix the clanky drive train. He told me to pick it up on Wednesday and I thought that was not bad. Well, I called yesterday to see if it would be ready be 4PM in case I could get out of work early for a ride and he said, "no, we meant next Wednesday, check your ticket." Sure enough the ticket showed a week and half. I said, screw that, and went and picked up my bike.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Henry's Bicycle Shop</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C33xUmqZLl0/T1_7nZYsKDI/AAAAAAAABtc/towkm5XUodc/s1600/Henrys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C33xUmqZLl0/T1_7nZYsKDI/AAAAAAAABtc/towkm5XUodc/s320/Henrys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I resigned to fix the drive train myself and worked on the bike that night. And I thought I had it fixed. But when I hit the trail after work today the clanking noise was still there. I rode along thinking about this and it finally occurred to me that I had not checked the cassette. I stopped abruptly, hopped off my bike and checked the cassette and, sure enough, it was loose. Real loose. And cassettes require a special tool. Riding on too far could cause more damage to my rear hub. I thought about this for a minute while I rode on through the trails amid the insufferable clanking. Henry's Bike Shop! I read recently read that Henry's Bike Shop had re-opened. Henry's is right off the White Clay Creek trail system in the Polly Drummond Hill shopping center. Matt, the new proprietor, was there and he fixed me up real quick. I told him I didn't have any cash (I left my wallet in my truck at the trail head). Matt said, "don't worry about it man, this one's on the house." We talked shop for a minute and I discussed some of the other ailments from the list above. Matt had sound advice, made a lot of sense to me and he's won my business for life. I am totally psyched to have found a bike wrench that I like and feel good about dropping my bike off. I mean, he fixed the problem in like 90 seconds that the other bike shop said would take 1 1/2 weeks. Awesome. Matt and Henry's Bicycle Shop are, yes, exactly....totally gnarly dude. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-67679414182970063242012-03-09T16:26:00.001-08:002012-03-09T16:34:55.906-08:00Vanity Check<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mentioned in a previous post that I'm using the Strava app on my iPhone to track my rides and post the GPS data to the Strava website. Strava has been a huge motivation for me from a training standpoint because it allows me to compare a few key things about my riding habits and ability:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">How often and how many miles I ride compared to other riders.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">How fast I am able to complete "segments" compared to other riders.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And this was really the main point of my <a href="http://gnarlyridedude.blogspot.com/2012/02/measuring-stick.html" target="_blank">Measuring Stick</a> post on February 28, 2012 - trying to figure out how I measure up to other riders. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">But to expand on this a little more, segments are created by Strava users. They are just "segments" of a longer overall ride that somone tracked with their GPS. Most often they are tough climbing sections but they can really be anything - downhill runs, long segments of many miles, whatever. Then, as other riders ride the segment as part of their ride one day - and post their GPS data to Strava - their name will be shown in a list for the segment with a numeric ranking based on their elapsed time.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So the other day I saw a friend of mine get a KOM, (King of the Mountain or fastest time), for a particular segment. Hey, that's cool. Go, Shane, go. Well, I hadn't ridden that segment with my Strava app so I decided to get out there and give it a try - see if I could ride it faster than Shane. I had the day off today so I did a 25 mile training ride and headed for the "David English Trail" segment early in the ride while my legs were relatively fresh. I hammered it with all I had and then went on with my ride. I wouldn't know how I did until I was done with the whole ride and uploaded. I could have stopped on the trail, ended the ride, uploaded it, etc. but it wasn't <em>that </em>important to me. Or so I thought.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When I got done with my ride and my bike was loaded on the Jeep I sat in the parking lot at the trail head doing the final edits on my iPhone to upload the ride. When it was all done I noticed there were no "Achievements". "That's impossible", I thought. I had to have at least clocked a top 10 or something...I was hammering up that hill! Well, to make a long story short, I had clocked the fastest time on the David English segment but Strava was not showing my achievment! It was some kind of glitch. Strava is like a Facebook News Feed...it shows your ride along with all the other rides posted by people you are "following" and people that are "following" you. Well, there was my ride at the top of the feed but no achievements. And I was a little surprised at how disappointed I was. I guess I thought I loved the app because it allowed me to see how I measured up but apparently I also love the app because I get to show off my achievements. Here's what I mean:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On these rides you can see that the Strava feed shares my "Achievements" with the world. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFwJYGlYmyk/T1qe42XB-PI/AAAAAAAABtM/RH_yHe9tEuE/s1600/Strava+Feed+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="345" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFwJYGlYmyk/T1qe42XB-PI/AAAAAAAABtM/RH_yHe9tEuE/s640/Strava+Feed+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">But on my ride today....no achievements! So sad. (With sarcasm.)</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lD40MEhx5QM/T1qfVNL5UbI/AAAAAAAABtU/1KwYvvpIV6A/s1600/Strava+Feed+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lD40MEhx5QM/T1qfVNL5UbI/AAAAAAAABtU/1KwYvvpIV6A/s640/Strava+Feed+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, other than the few of you that read this blog, I Guess I will be the only one that ever knows about my KOM! Oh well, one thing is for sure. I had a <em>totally</em> gnarly ride today...dude.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-35931633992036479732012-03-06T16:34:00.006-08:002012-03-07T17:18:06.038-08:00Ramble On<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night my wife Jenny and I went to see Van Halen at the Wells Fargo arena in Philadelphia. This is the fourth (or fifth?) time I'm seen Van Halen over the past twenty some years and Eddie rocked this one better than ever. Just awesome. And with David Lee Roth fronting the band again...even better. The opening act was Kool and the Gang. Yeah, I know...."wha?" But to me it makes sense. Still odd, but makes sense. Three other friends scored tickets as well and they all said the same thing, "my wife is totally excited about Kool and the Gang". Kool and the Gang is pretty cool no matter what music you like so this was a win win. Good night out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Discovering Iron Hill</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So what does this have to do with mountain biking? Well, </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I used the late night out as an excuse to burn a vacation day on Tuesday and do a little mountain biking. The plan was to learn the 2011 mountain bike race course at Iron Hill Park in Newark, DE in hopes that the 2012 race course would be similar and give me a little experience. Problem is I had never ridden any of the trails so I would need to navigate myself around with a GPS map of the race course that I found on the internet. The last few times I did something like this (learn a new trail system) it was a pain for a couple reasons.</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">I am using an iPhone as my GPS tracking device. It's cold weather season so I am wearing long fingered gloves and every time I stop to check the map I have to take off one of my gloves to navigate the touch screen.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't have a handlebar mount for my iPhone so I have to stop and pull it out of my pocket.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Unfortunately I only solved for the first issue for the ride today and the ride today was yet another reminder that getting the GPS on the bars will be a huge help.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Here is the GPS course I was following for my ride today:</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1461545">Iron Hill MASS Race Course 2011 at EveryTrail</a><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.everytrail.com/iframe2.php?trip_id=1461545&width=400&height=300" width="400"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the course I plotted as I got lost every five minutes (need that bar mount!). I ended up cutting a tire after 1 1/2 laps so I will need to finish this discovery another day - I had a few wrong turns on the first lap.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1476380">Discovering Iron Hill at EveryTrail</a><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.everytrail.com/iframe2.php?trip_id=1476380&width=400&height=300" width="400"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Hi Tech Gloves</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When I was in the bike shop the other day I spied a pair of riding gloves that had a conductive patch sewn into the index finger of each hand - specifically for navigating touch screen mobile devices. The pair I bought was made by Cannondale and the product name was simple "Classic Long Glove". I paid $25.00 for the gloves. They run small so I ended up buying a size XL and there still a bit small. (I usually where size Large). While the gloves worked great for navigating the touch screen I didn't like them from a comfort standpoint. They had stitching on the top across the knuckles in just the wrong spot and it was very uncomfortable. I think there may have been a defect in the left glove because the stitching looked bigger and it was only uncomfortable on the left hand. These are also the first pair of biking gloves that didn't have a velcro strap to tighten at the wrist and, consequently, they kept riding up toward my palm. Not good. And finally, by the end of the ride the stitching that held the conductive fabric on the right finger had come undone and was flapping loose on one side. So, in my opinion, epic fail on the Cannondale gloves. Good idea poorly executed I guess. Here's a graphic and link for the gloves from the Cannondale website. I would post a photo of mine but they are getting washed. They were on a gnarly ride...dude.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cannondale.com/catalog/product/view/id/25886/s/classic-long-gloves/category/521/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cannondale Classic Long Gloves</span></a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-75209663149408742892012-03-02T17:53:00.002-08:002012-03-02T19:11:44.006-08:00Rock Stars<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually you might want to capture one of your gnarly rides on video so you can show your friends and family how rad you are. Mostly they are going to think you are a total nerd but do it anyway - if nothing else your riding buddies will appreciate it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the easiest ways to do this is using a POV (point of view) camera that is mounted on your helmet, chest or somewhere on your bike. <a href="http://gopro.com/">GoPro</a> has emerged as the most well known maker of cameras for this purpose, mostly from advertising heavily in action sports magazines and during action sports TV shows.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another option is to use a handheld video camera or the camera on your phone and get a bunch of shots of your friends as they ride by. It's not really possible to use one of these cameras while you are riding - mountain biking is pretty much a two-hands-required sport. If you do try it you will probably get some pretty cool POV footage of your wreck.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following video was shot with an <a href="http://us.oregonscientific.com/cat-Outdoor-sub-Action-Cams-prod-ATC9K-HD-All-Terrain-Video-Action-Camera.html">Oregon Scientific ATC9K</a> helmet mounted HD video camera. I was using a 16GB microSD card for data storage which holds something like 3 or 4 hours of 720P HD. If I recall it will record around 2 hours at 1080P. We also took some footage with an older Cannon handheld video camera from the side of the trail. After doing a little research on video editing software I went with <a href="http://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod3910160&cid=catalog50008&segid=1153&storeKey=ca&languageCode=en">Corel VideoStudio X4</a>. For $39 you get a ton of editing features and it was pretty easy to learn. Adding music, particulary something that rocks, makes your video seem about ten times for awesome than it really is. On youtube I had to fill out a form to acknowledge the copyrighted songs were only used for personal enjoyment and not for profit - I wouldn't be able to have these on this blog if it were a for-profit endeavor (it is not). Feel free to jump to the 4 minute mark where I wreck trying to show off for the camera and my friends laugh hysterically at me. No I was not hurt but I felt like a dork.</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZXhet4rVfPs" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another option is to take still shots of your trip and make them into a video montage. Again, cool music makes it seem 10 times more awesome.</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tEyjomx18Aw" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a video of my friend Dave following his friend Rod in a cyclocross bike race. A POV camera is mounted to the seatpost of the bike and facing backward. </span>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/29199508?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/29199508">2011 Valmont CX 45+</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1942737">Rod Yoder</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good luck...give it a try and have a gnarly ride dude.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-53200579587270032112012-02-28T18:44:00.000-08:002012-03-02T19:18:39.520-08:00Measuring Stick<span style="font-family: Arial;">I had only owned a mountain bike for maybe 6 months when I started wondering what it would be like to race. How do you pass someone on narrow single track trails? Will I even have to worry about that? Just how fast do these guys ride anyway? I don't have to wear tight shorts do I?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I was riding at least 3 or 4 times for every time my friends got out - mostly because I lived pretty close to the trails but also because I was really hooked on mountain biking. As a result I was getting stronger and learning to ride a little faster. I would climb tough hills that used to give me trouble and find myself waiting for my boys. This got me thinking I must be ready to race - at least against other 40 year olds. It was fall of 2010 and I decided to read up on the local mountain bike race scene and figure out what I had to do to get ready. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">But as fate would have it, I wrecked my bike hard one day that fall and wound up in the hospital for the day. I was off the bike for the whole winter healing up so racing in the spring of 2011 was not going to be an option but eventually I was healthy and ready to ride. It was a great spring and summer for riding but a real reality check - my buddies were kicking my butt again, my strong legs and lungs were history. Sitting around healing all winter had taken its toll.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">By the end of the summer 2011 I thought I was back in form. There was one race left in the season. It was at the Bear Creek resort in the Pocono's. A notoriously difficult, rocky race course that numerous riders cautioned against as a venue for a first time racer. But I had to try and I was feeling good - I was sure I would do well but really had no idea. I entered the Sport class and, in retrospect, I should of entered the Beginner. The beginner course was one 7.5 mile loop and the Sport course was 2 laps for total distance of 15 miles. (Expert would be three laps). Fifteen miles didn't seem like much since I routinely rode 20 and 25 miles on my weekend rides. I came in 17th out of 25 racers in my class (Sport Men 40-49). Not exactly what I was hoping but, hey, I met some cool people along the way and now I had plenty of room to improve.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ducWmb3A6C0/T02OkBzd4PI/AAAAAAAABs8/YwINmmMujrg/s1600/Bear+Creek+Race+-+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ducWmb3A6C0/T02OkBzd4PI/AAAAAAAABs8/YwINmmMujrg/s400/Bear+Creek+Race+-+cropped.jpg" uda="true" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First bike race. Basking in the glow of...well...17th place....out of 25.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So that got me thinking. Those guys were REALLY fast. Much faster than I thought. I would like some way to measure my progress against these guys so I could would know how much more I need to train and also to just go in with more confidence knowing where I stand. But how? I could try to make friends with some fast guys and ride with them but that just hadn't happened. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">So I kept training and riding and geeked out on the internet here and there and here is what I came up with:</span><br />
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Step 1</strong>: <strong>Find a solid GPS map of a bike race.</strong> I was able to find this on the internet. A racer had tracked his route in a previous race. I was able to load this one on the EveryTrail app on my iPhone and take it out on the trail to learn the route. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1418466">Bike Line Fair Hill Race 2009 at EveryTrail</a><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.everytrail.com/iframe2.php?trip_id=1418466&width=400&height=300" width="400"></iframe>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Step 2:</strong> <strong>Come out with fresh legs and hammer out a lap.</strong> I used the Strava app to track this ride - it has some other cool features to track other users times on marked segments like tough climbs - this loop has a climb segment called "Race Course Climb to Tunnel". I ranked 9th out of about 25 riders that have used the Strava app to track their ride on this segment. I rode the race loop in 38 minutes.</span><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="http://app.strava.com/runs/4534047/embed/35e507db6d3ca4312d49a3ac4898aff05c1534ab" width="590"></iframe><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Step 3: See how you stack up.</strong> Pull up an archive copy of the race results from the year before and check your time against your classification. According to this I am sneaking up into the top 10. This particular race has a field of 80 for this class (I'm only showing the top 30 below).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/04/10-Bike-Line-Spring-XC.asp">http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/04/10-Bike-Line-Spring-XC.asp</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Division: Sport Men 40-49</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; vertical-align: top;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Place <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Name <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bib<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laps<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Total<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Start<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lap 1<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lap 2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; vertical-align: top;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KEN OVERK<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>460<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:15:06<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:32<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:34</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DOUGLAS SZABO<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>374<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:15:18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:25<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:53</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEAN PIERSON<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1483<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:15:25<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:23<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:02</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PETER PHILLIPS JR. 294<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:15:48<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:40<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:08</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SCOTT MCGILL<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1444<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:16:01<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:06<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:55</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Louren Reddick<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1246<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:16:44<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:20</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SHAUN KENNEDY<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>441<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:17:42<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:37:57<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:45</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>JOSEPH KOSA<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1417<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:17:46<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:27<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:19</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DAVID FUNK<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>424<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:18:09<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:45<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:24</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SCOTT SAMOYAN<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1507<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:18:21<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:51<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:30</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DONALD DOWGIALLO<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1364<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:18:29<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:50<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:39</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Daniel Offuh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1278<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:18:33<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:29<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:40:04</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TODD MELNICK<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>453<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:18:47<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:49<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:58</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CHARLIE KNIGHT<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>222<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:18:56<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:23<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:33</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BILL PIPES<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>226<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:18:57<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:19<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:38</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MICHAEL SINKLER<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>230<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:19:25<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:40:07</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">17<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MICHAEL BONSBY<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1318<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:19:25<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:34<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:51</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>JEFF KAMMERZELT<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1408<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:19:39<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:40:34<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:05</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">19<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MATT BRAUN<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1321<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:20:38<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:39:17<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:41:21</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">20<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TODD SCHNEIDER<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1513<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1:21:01<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>11:12:00<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:38:50<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0:42:11</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">And finally, I've continued to use Strava to track my rides and see how I stack up against other riders. It gives me something to shoot for and I can see measurable progress. On this ride I was second fastest of all rides tracked up a segment called "Up Five Bridges".</span><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="http://app.strava.com/runs/4538731/embed/5d4df9f30b19c20e491c142e487ed17eb320b849" width="590"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will try racing again on April 22, 2012 at the Fair Hill Bike Line event - hopefully with better results than last year. At least this time I know what I'm capable of. Now I just need to get out there and have a gnarly ride....dude.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-60681798727656238672012-02-24T18:54:00.003-08:002012-02-24T18:57:13.034-08:00The eBay Jungle<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bike parts can be expensive - particularly the high end stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One way to upgrade your gear and give your wallet a break is to find some used parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Swap meets are great for this – you get to look things over before you pull the trigger - but in many areas there are only one or two per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Craig’s List and local classifieds are fine but in my experience you don’t find many high end bike parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More often than not you will see something like this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Trek bike frame. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$100”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not going to get into a dialog on the pros and cons of buying and selling on eBay – opinions vary and there are good arguments on both sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if eBay is good for one thing it is approximating the market value of the stuff you want to buy or stuff you are looking to sell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With so many buyers and sellers matched up the fair market value surfaces more often than not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So go on eBay and search for your upgrades, see what you find, and maybe it’ll be worth it to you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Don't Get Burned</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve done a lot of buying (and a little selling) on eBay and have had mostly good experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think there are maybe three main keys to my success buying on eBay - which I learned by doing it the wrong way. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Avoid Risk:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t buy items that leave you with any doubts or questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the pictures or descriptions don’t clearly show the condition, stay away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or request more pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But don’t take risks unless you are comfortable with the worst possible outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Man, this is a great deal but the picture is a bit fuzzy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m really not sure about the condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The auction is about to end and there’s no time to ask for more pictures…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trust me, just stay away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Be Patient:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might think it’s the best deal going and talk yourself into bidding more than it’s really worth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you cannot be patient and wait a few weeks for other sellers to come along then eBay may not be for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Do Your Homework:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>eBay has a righteous tool for checking the recent value of items in their marketplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make sure you know what an item is really worth before you bid!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you are searching for an item, check the Completed Listings checkbox in the Show Only section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will show only auction items that have ended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the item did not sell the price will be in red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the item sold it will be green.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scroll through and look at the green prices to get an idea what others have been willing to pay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can filter further to make your homework easier by checking boxes to show only Used or only New, etc.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M9ZO-c-4yPw/T0hKSiXDO1I/AAAAAAAABss/jYMt7q2mYKI/s1600/ebay+completed+listing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="311" lda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M9ZO-c-4yPw/T0hKSiXDO1I/AAAAAAAABss/jYMt7q2mYKI/s400/ebay+completed+listing.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Use the Completed Listings feature on eBay to find out what people are willing to pay. Prices in Red were not sold. Green items were sold and indicates market value. Lists can be filtered further to include only new or used items.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Buy it Whole or Build it Up?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Selling a complete bike will net less money than tearing it down and selling it piece by piece. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is mostly true of bikes with medium to high end components – the exception would be entry level bikes with entry level components which are probably best to be sold as a complete bike - nobody is really looking to upgrade a bike with entry level components, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you have to think about this as a buyer looking for a complete bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a seller gets a better price selling piece by piece…then a buyer would get better value buying a whole bike, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is, riders that are building their bike up one piece at a time are doing it because they are looking to customize the build.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You just have to weigh your options here – this is where local classifieds and Craig’s list can really come into play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch these for a few weeks and you might find a great deal on a complete bike then do a few more upgrades and have just what you want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or look for complete bikes on eBay that match most of your component specs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You just have to do your homework and, most importantly, be patient.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KsYAkr_dQO8/T0hM1K7uzUI/AAAAAAAABs0/UgV0HJPBSXU/s1600/ebay+niner.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="280" lda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KsYAkr_dQO8/T0hM1K7uzUI/AAAAAAAABs0/UgV0HJPBSXU/s400/ebay+niner.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Niner One9 with high end components sold for $2,126. The market </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">value of these components purchased seperately is around $3000.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some bike shops end up with leftover models from the prior year that can’t be returned to the manufacturer - or won’t get them much of a credit - so they strip them down and sell off the parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These parts are called take-offs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are good parts to buy because they are essentially new but they are sold at a deep discount because they don’t have any packaging or instructions - and sometimes no warranty - so you have to think about that too and ask questions or call the manufacturer if it’s something that gives you angst.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Give your LBS a Chance</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your local bike shop has probably had a tough time over the past 10 years. The internet has been rough on businesses like these. As a result they have gotten a little more competitive but they can only go so low – they have bills to pay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And there is a lot to be said for the local shop – particularly if you don’t have an arsenal of special tools in your garage or limited expertise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most bike shops will install your new parts for next to nothing or even free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So before you brave the eBay jungle, stop by your LBS and see what they have to offer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And have a gnarly ride…dude.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-69077113145991579702012-02-21T08:44:00.000-08:002012-02-21T08:54:29.965-08:00Ridin' Dirty: Choosing a Bike<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mountain bikes come in a lot of different flavors. When Tyler and I walked into the bike shop
for the first time we had a pretty short list of criteria. Real short in fact. Here’s how I remember it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Super Happy Sales Guy:</b>
“Hey guys! How’s it going?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Me:</b> “Going great,
thanks. How are you?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>SHSG:</b> “Super! Thanks for asking. What can I do for you guys today?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tyler:</b> “I’m getting a
bike. But I don’t really want one. Well, unless it has training wheels.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>SHSG:</b> “Ohhh, I’m sure
we can find a bike with training wheels.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tyler:</b> “And
blue. I want a blue bike.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>SHSG</b>: “Aw, no problem
buddy. Blue is our specialty.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So for Tyler’s bike we had a whopping list of exactly
two requirements: training wheels and blue.
My list was not much longer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tyler:</b> “And my Dad
wants a bike too. But I don’t know what
color he wants.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>SHSG:</b> “And what kind
of bike are <i>you</i> looking for Dad?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Me:</b> “Well, I have
some buddies that like to go mountain biking and I’ve wanted to try it but I
also want to be able to use the bike around the neighborhood with Tyler.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>SHSG:</b> “Okay, do you
know how much you are looking to spend?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Me:</b> “Well, I want a
decent bike. I was thinking something in
the $500 to $800 range.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the time I thought my budget was pretty fat and would afford me a lot of options. I didn’t realize until later that my price range covered two, maybe three different models in that store. Everything else was well north and beyond. So my requirements were:
mountain bike that was also good for riding in the neighborhood and cost
around $500.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking back, there was a lot the sales guy could have done
to educate me on mountain bikes. Instead
he showed me an aluminum frame bike with a suspension fork that was under my
budget and $420 later I was taking it home.
Within 3 months I was a mountain biking addict and had swapped out the rim brakes for disc brakes and many more upgrades would follow until the bike no
longer had a single original component.
Not even the frame. Here are
some mountain bike basics that you might find helpful in choosing your first or
next bike.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Riding Disciplines and Bikes</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In general there are four kinds of mountain bike riding styles which are also the names for the
different types of bike. My interest is primarily cross country but I know enough to give you the basic scoop on the others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>All Mountain or Trail:</b>
All-mountain riding is the all day sort of riding where a rider will
encounter a bit of everything in extremes from long steep climbs, rocky rough
terrain, technical downhill descents and everything in between. With trail riding the riders pedal to and
from their destination and there are no lifts or rides to the top of a
mountain. Trail bikes have full
suspension, (both front and rear suspension), to soften the rough terrain on
descents, are fairly lightweight and are designed to climb well. These bikes are something of a combination of
cross country and downhill bikes – but more toward cross country.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E87WIsWtypA/T0PHAQcES7I/AAAAAAAABsc/yrGVjD5zwCw/s1600/niner-wfo-9%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E87WIsWtypA/T0PHAQcES7I/AAAAAAAABsc/yrGVjD5zwCw/s400/niner-wfo-9%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Niner brand 29er full suspension. This bike would be categorized as<br />
all mountain due to the longer 5.5" suspension travel front and rear.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cross Country (XC):</b>
Cross country riding is basically the same as trail riding except that
the riding style is more focused on a faster, race like ride and riders usually
forgo the comforts of longer travel soft suspension in favor of light weight
and agile handling. Like trail riding
there are no lifts to the top – the rider pedals to and from the destination. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cross country bikes can be either full
suspension or hard tail (front suspension fork but no rear suspension). The choice of full suspension or hard tail
depends entirely on the terrain but many cross country racers and enthusiasts
ride hard tails because they are lighter in weight and climb more efficiently –
even though they do not afford as comfortable a ride or as fast a descent.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Downhill:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Downhill
riding and racing is exactly that – all downhill. Riders catch a ride on a lift or vehicle to
the top of the mountain and let gravity do its thing. Downhill bikes are the heaviest of mountain
bikes, have stout frames and components capable of taking a good beating and a
long wheelbase and long travel full suspension.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Freeride:</b> Freeriding
is all about jumps, drop-ins and aerial tricks and, like downhill riding, often includes catching a lift to the top of the mountain. Freeride bikes are medium weight with durable
components - particularly the wheels which tend to take a beating. The seats are usually mounted low and are the
frames are more often hard tail than not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Wheel Size</b></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7zV5I8QeVYM/T0PGNby1lWI/AAAAAAAABsU/rdYCd9CsBLk/s1600/29er-vs-26-mountain-bike%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7zV5I8QeVYM/T0PGNby1lWI/AAAAAAAABsU/rdYCd9CsBLk/s320/29er-vs-26-mountain-bike%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 29er wheel on the left and 26 on the right. The difference<br />
looks bigger than it really is but you get the idea.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the early 2000’s there was really no question about
wheel size. Pretty much all mountain
bikes had 26” wheels. But a new breed of
bikes with 29” wheels emerged and now dominates the scene in the U.S. and it’s
catching on around the world. Called the
“29er”, (twenty-niner), these bikes are based on the 700c wheel size used on
road bikes which are pretty close to 29 inches in diameter. These larger wheels take some getting used to
and feel a little clumsy at first but roll over rocks and roots easier and keep
their momentum going a lot better once up to speed. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">26” wheels are intended for use only on bike frames and forks
designed for 26” wheels and, likewise, 29” wheels are intended to be used only
on frames and forks that are 29er specific.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we are talking about wheels – most riders will tell
you that this is absolutely the best place to spend money to reduce
weight. Lower weight wheels spin up
faster and therefore accelerate faster.
It’s hard to express just how impactful a lightweight set of wheels can
be for a new bike or as an upgrade to an existing bike until you have actually
experienced the difference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Suspension</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We talked a little about suspension in the previous section
but here are a few more details. Before
we move on it’s worth noting that there are mountain bikes without any front or
rear suspension. These are called
rigid hard tail bikes. The front forks
on these bikes are, well, rigid. Usually
made from a material that is slightly compliant like steel, titanium or carbon
fiber, the forks flex just a bit to take the harshness out of the ride but are
otherwise rigid.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Front suspension forks</b> come in coil and air sprung. Coil spring forks are just like they sound -
a coil spring provides the suspension action.
Air sprung forks are pressurized with air that compresses to take up the
bumps like a coil spring only with a smoother more controllable compression and
return. Air sprung forks afford a better
ride and are priced accordingly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Rear suspension</b> designs vary and generally use a coil spring
or air shock. The rear triangle of the frame
has pivot points that allow the rear wheel to travel up and down with the
bumps. Downhill bikes will often use a
large heavy coil spring. Cross country
and trail bikes use an air shock.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Typically measured in millimeters, the amount of travel for
the front and rear suspension are usually closely matched for a particular
bike. Common travels for front and/or
rear are:</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cross Country:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">80mm
to 100mm (4")</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All Mountain: 120mm to 160mm (6")</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Downhill:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">160mm to 208mm (8")</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Frame Material</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frame materials are steel, aluminum, carbon fiber and
titanium. I've read articles about bamboo bikes but that is really just a tree hugger novelty, (joking, take it easy), and isn't a mainstream choice nor are they widely available.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Aluminum:</b> Aluminum is the most common
and the best value in terms of light weight and strength. Discerning riders might say that aluminum
frames have a harsher ride but a lot of that depends on the design. A well designed aluminum frame can have good
compliancy characteristics. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Carbon Fiber:</b> Carbon fiber affords the lightest possible frame with
amazing strength. A good design has just
the right compliancy and strength and is just stupid light. Carbon frames are really strong but thrashed
around they can crack and are more likely to develop a creak than a metal
frame. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Steel: </b>Steel frames seem to be more of a
niche following than a budget purchase.
In fact, many steel mountain frames are very expensive. Steel frames are have relatively small
diameter tubing so they are lighter than it would seem - but still the heaviest of all frame
options. Aficionados prefer the feel and
compliancy of steel over other frame materials. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Titanium: </b>Titanium frames combine a strength closer to steel and weight closer to
aluminum for a frame of outstanding durability and low weight. Many titanium riders swear by this material as the best of all worlds. Full disclosure: I own a titanium frame bike and it totally rocks...but I'm not necessarily going with titanium for every future purchase.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Drivetrain</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Single speed mountain bikes are very challenging and require
better than average fitness – there are no gears! When you run out of energy or pedal
power….you simply stand up and hammer it out…or you don’t. I built up a single speed mountain bike after about 18 months of regular riding and as a training and workout tool it is top notch. Once you establish the fitness to ride a single speed it is great fun. They are super quiet (no chain slap like you get on a geared bike with a rear derailleur), super simple, (no shifters!), and super light weight. (Clearly I am a big fan).</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oCao-fdWFlk/T0PIS1L_e0I/AAAAAAAABsk/k7bvxcNyZCo/s1600/single+speed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oCao-fdWFlk/T0PIS1L_e0I/AAAAAAAABsk/k7bvxcNyZCo/s400/single+speed.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Specialized 29er single speed. This bike is a hard tail with 100mm travel<br />
front suspension fork and would be classified as a Cross Country bike.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For geared bikes the most common setups are 2x10 and 3x9 meaning
2 or 3 chain ring sizes on the cranks and 9 or 10 cogs on the rear wheel. In recent years 3x9 setups have been the most
popular for XC and trail bikes as they provide a lot of options, but recently,
2x10’s have begun to show up more often as riders realize they only use 2 of
the 3 rings up front anyway. Downhill
bikes will often have only one ring up front - 1x9 downhill bikes are pretty common.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Give Me a Brake</b></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though I somehow managed to buy a Trek
mountain bike with rim brakes, (v-brakes), in April 2010 virtually all mountain
bikes in your local bike shop will have disc brakes these days. Disc brakes are either cable actuated or use hydraulic hoses, brake fluid and calipers. Cable actuated are easier to service, (hydraulic service requires some brake bleeding know how and a few special tools), but hydraulic brakes have better stopping power with less effort on the brake lever. Disc rotors range
from 140mm to 208mm diameter. Disc
brakes provide smooth, strong stopping power even after long descents where the power of rim brakes would fade long before due to excessive heat.
In addition, disk brake rotors are in the center near the hub so they
don’t get wet as easily as rims going through puddles and creek beds and
recover faster when they do.</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Let's Wrap it Up</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">This is more than enough info to ask the right questions at your local bike shop. All I can say is go in, look around and, when in doubt, ask questions. Oh, and have a gnarly ride dude.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889559725014235954.post-3828754138640946932012-02-17T17:27:00.000-08:002012-02-18T12:56:45.852-08:00Tyler Needs a Bike<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
The date was April 9, 2010. I don't remember why but I was off work that day so Tyler and I were just hanging out, running errands around town. Tyler was five at the time and would normally be at day care all day. Kindergarten wouldn't be starting until September. I'd been thinking it was time for Tyler to learn to ride a bike - but he didn't have one yet. In the back of my mind I knew that I would need a bike too. I hadn't owned a bike since I was 15 years old. But I would need one now - to ride along with Tyler while he learned, progressing from training wheels to fearless rider with skinned up knees.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8VDWI3OG63E/T0AGIGV91kI/AAAAAAAABqw/4wD-2rDnLdI/s1600/Tyler+Bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8VDWI3OG63E/T0AGIGV91kI/AAAAAAAABqw/4wD-2rDnLdI/s320/Tyler+Bike.jpg" width="213" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyler on the bike that started it all.</td></tr>
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Our errands complete we pointed the Jeep towards home - and there it was. Bike Line. Almost an impulse decision. I threw on the turn signal and wheeled into the parking lot.<br />
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February 17, 2012. Not even two years have passed since that April day in 2010 yet three mountain bikes now hang upside down from the ceiling in the garage. Each one more technologically advanced than the next. A fourth is temporarily stationed in the basement, affixed to a training roller for winter exercise. I built each bike, one piece at a time. Accumulating special tools and extra parts along the way. I watch the weather every day, calculating the next day when my busy schedule and suitable weather will align. I am 42 years old and I'm in the best shape of my life. I look forward to mountain biking like I used to look forward to the many hobbies of my past. Golfing. Fishing. Hunting. Metalworking. Biking has become all that - but with a killer work out. </div>
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This blog will take a ride through those past 21 months. A guy who knew nothing about bikes and riding to building four bikes and riding twice a week. I scoured the Internet and magazines. I hung around the local bike shops. I tapped the knowledge of some good friends that are long time mountain bikers (this is really their fault in a way). And I hope to capture the high points and valuable nuggets here. Hopefully it will be a gnarly ride. Dude. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DO7unDR9gjg/T0AO1GsQ9BI/AAAAAAAABr0/moxuO4K2Kp8/s1600/Cliff+Hike.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DO7unDR9gjg/T0AO1GsQ9BI/AAAAAAAABr0/moxuO4K2Kp8/s640/Cliff+Hike.JPG" width="480" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking my bike across a ledge in Jim Thorpe, PA. Never said I was smart.</td></tr>
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