Summers

Ok, so I'm trying to climb back out of this summertime slack fest I fell hard into since my first day of summer break hit on Thursday. I figure getting back on track (even for a few days since I'll be headed to Aruba soon ) needed to happen sooner than later so I don't "slack" the entire summer away.

I have a bunch of random things to catch up on, (much of which I'll likely forget before ever retelling) but let's ease back into this thing, shall we?

On two straight meetings with TheMutt I received gifts. On the first occasion I was the beneficiary of his ability to procure sponsorship.  He gave me a little "taste" of the goods he gets - ProGold ProLink Chain Lube - with two stickers!!  Bike stuff with stickers tastes so much sweeter. Not that I'll actually taste this stuff as it is chain lube and probably not meant to be ingested.

Actually, quite the opposite!  

It's harmful and/or fatal if swallowed.... so don't swallow it.  AT ALL!!

I'm not quite sure how well it works (I hear good things), currently I'm using Pedro's biodegradable stuff - which is vegetable oil based so you could probably ingest it and be fine - maybe eat some greens while you are at it and have yourself a nice little salad?  But I'll likely give it a go on a day when I'm sure to keep my mouth away from my chain.

The other thing gifted to me was that delicious looking beer you see in the picture.  TheMutt's own home-brew.  Let me tell you, D- Lish- US.  When I popped the top off that sweet bottle (earned points just from the bottle itself!) I got the craziest amazing...est smell ever.  I couldn't quite place it , perhaps a hint of vanilla, but it made my mouth water instantly.  I poured and let it sit as instructed.  It was hard to let it sit so I had to go busy myself with mindless nonsense for a few minutes so I wouldn't rush the taste test.

First sip.  No vanilla/mystery smell hints in it.  But it was smooth.  TheMutt had claimed that it was super hoppy and super bitter, I did get hops (not overly hoppy to the extent that I thought I was drinking christmas tree water or straight eating weed) and not too bitter at all.  The first sip did give me a slight bitter aftertaste, but that was missing from each subsequent taste.  Overall it was a pleasant beer, with an unknown alcohol content that I can only attest to being "solid."  The beer worked!  Very enjoyable beer with no negative notes to it that I could taste in my one.... little... glass.... (not so subtle hint that I would be happen to further my research with another bottle or more).

Big thanks to TheMutt for sharing the wealth, and to ProGold for supporting one heck of a great guy!

Snake TT #1 Part 2

After getting everything set I was ready to push on. I saw another rider readying himself and thought that I should get out ahead of him since I was on a singlespeed and it looked like we were getting straight into more climbing. With motivation was low I let him get out first. Another singlespeeder jumped in the mix and before long we were both stuck behind some geared riders. I didn't much care because I wasn't going to be hauling ass anywhere, so being held up for a second was just fine for me - I'd be pushing my bike WAY more than I'd like to ever admit up ahead.

Throughout the entire day EVERYONE on the trail was great. Greetings as we passed by each other. Everyone was quick to let me by as I caught them - which I greatly appreciated, but somehow felt I didn't deserve. At times I was hesitant to pass because my confidence was shaken and I worried it wouldn't be long until they caught back up to me. But most of the time the pass did pay off and held. 

I did hear one message throughout the day that I had a hard time accepting: "you are my hero!"  I guess it didn't matter that I was having my ass handed to me, people were impressed that I was out there on a rigid singlespeed. For most of the trail it was exactly the right bike for the job. I can't fault the bike at all for the climbs. I don't think I can even second guess my gearing (doesn't mean I'm still not pondering a change) because it really came down to my own physical/mental performance - or lack there of.  But yeah, the Glow Worm was the right weapon for the job. 

The only sections I kinda wished for something with a little more... cushion... were the blazing fast and fun descents on the ridge line. They weren't overly technical, just bumpy and fun, and decently long. Although I had been out in Bent Creek hammering through the gnar on a descent and felt AMAZING, my arms were feeling the burn on this trail.

It was my forearms that first screamed at me. They felt like they were swelling to Popeyes proportions and at times I was wishing for the end of the decent as I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold on much longer. Sure enough, on an unassuming turn I couldn't hold it and my front wheel washed out and down I went. I had just passed a group of guys on the climb up so it wasn't long until they retook me - checking to see if I was ok as they flew by. I was. The bike looked ok, my elbow and knee had a twinge of pain, but seemed to be functioning so I pushed on. Luckily my confidence was only shaken for a short time. Well, that and the fact that there really weren't a lot of downward facing trails to blaze through after that spill. 

The next big descent before the fire road climb up to the last section of singletrack was less of a trail and more if a staircase!  This thing was root drop after rock drop, throw some sharp turns in there and you have an idea of what I was facing. Here it wasn't so much my forearms burning as it was my triceps as I was trying to stay as far off the back of my saddle as I could as I maneuvered through the step trail, picking through the drops. At the bottom I breathed a huge sigh of relief that I made it through clean. I had to shake my head as I made my way towards the "final" stretch as now my legs AND arms were sore. 

I hit the last sag station with one bottle left. I thought about pushing through, but decided to refill a bottle just in case. From here there was 6 miles of "the hardest stuff out here" left, followed by 2 miles of road back to the snake pit and finish line. I filled my bottle, ate a little and downed some mustard before I pushed off. 

Soon it was evident that this last section would step up the rock game. At first I loved every second of it. It was a blast picking lines through and over rocks. I started having fun by taking the "pro" line over the crap instead of taking the clear line around. But the combo of rocks, pitch, and fatigue had my speed down a bit too slow for comfort.  There were a few short climbs, and energy spent maneuvering made me curse upward travel. I probably made the first 1/3 relatively cleanly. Then came a mix of riding and hiking. Then came The Wall. This thing was unreal. SUPER steep pitch. Nice switchback thrown in for good measure to dissuade most from even attempting to ride, yet I hear there are some out there that do indeed ride it. I honestly have no idea how one could, but I'm sure they can - I owe anyone out there that can clear it a beer and a high five - you've earned it!

After hiking The Wall I was ready to be done. I soon found myself hiking. I was getting tired if riding and stopping to get over something that my current state wouldn't allow me to tackle so I just never got back on.  Until someone passed me. 

When someone passed me it helped bring me back to reality that I could be riding this stuff and I'd get a (temporary) burst of energy/confidence and hop back on the saddle. Soon I was on a good stretch and I was able to pick through on my bike.  Suddenly I came upon a rider fixing a flat. I stopped to offer help, and lent him a tire lever. As I chatted with him I realized he could handle things and I did want to be finished sooner than later so I left him with my awesome Pedro's tire levers hoping I'd see him at the finish. 

After crest after crest of expecting to see the radio tower it finally came - I was actually worried I had missed a turn as the ridge line rock fest seemed to go on FOREVER!  From the radio tower it was mostly all downhill. First down a gravel service road, to old asphalt, short singletrack to a short pavement climb and then twist and turn down. I was happy to tuck and coast down the hill - hitting up over 30 mph letting my hub hum. Seeing the cones ahead taking the right lane for us was the most glorious sight... I had made it. Up over the curb, short grass turn uphill to a gravel parking lot finish.

I made it.  All of a sudden all the doubt and fatigue left me.  I had complete 34 miles and 5000+ ft of elevation.  Sure, it was much slower than I had hoped, but in that moment it didn't matter.  I was done.  Texting ensued to catch up with Dwayne and Mike (who had finished and left on their journey back to NC) and to let me wife know that I was still alive.  I headed back to the pterodactyl to change so I could get some delicious chili.  As I pulled my leg warmers off I discovered that my crash left a nice bloody skinflap on my knee. No biggie

 Post skin flap - that stuff is just gross to look at, so you are welcome!

Got my chili and waited around for a bit to see if I could recover my tire levers... I couldn't wait - I had a 5 hour drive ahead of me and I surprising felt like I could drive... so I took off.  Sunday morning when I woke my knee was a whole different story - I could barely walk on it!!  I don't know what is going on with it - it kills me when I stand after sitting for a prolonged period of time - like at work, and is a little swollen.

Rest assured, I am NOT on the toilet. 

I'm hoping it's just a bad bruise, but only time will tell.  It's too damn cold out to be riding anyway, so I'll take the next couple of days to rest up before I get back at it and prepare for round 2.  Of course I'm coming back!!  I mean, what kind of "hero" would I be if I just gave up??

I hope to see some of you out there - if you haven't tangled with the Snake, you should!  Regardless of the crapfest of a performance I put out in round 1, it was a blast of a course to ride!! 

Simple things

Curse the projects that sound simple. When working with an old house nothing is simple. Nothing is ever straight and true, so doing anything changes from a simple replacement to full on custom work. 

Luckily, I'm somewhat handy. The downside for me personally, I will forever be fixated on the things that aren't quite right instead of being pleased with the finished project. 

BUT, in tackling the hanging of a door (sounds simple, right) in our new bathroom I have gotten one step closer to getting the bike haven fully functional. 

So the door. Of course the dimensions of the doorway called for me to have to cut the door down a bit. But not in an even way. The width of the doorway at the top, bottom, and middle ALL differed. Perfect. I also had to chisel in new spots on the door and frame for the hinges since the precut slots on the door didn't line up with the frame - but that wasn't so bad at all. Once I had the door cut and hung it was on to the long and frustrating job of sanding and trimming the door, the frame, the door more, now the top of the frame all to get it to shut tight. 

In the end we got it hung and I installed the strike plate to catch the ball that had been preinstalled in the door. I'm guessing it is one half of a set of French doors - we got it at a little antique shop on NoDa. 

Annie did an awesome job of painting it and she picked out the hardware. It reminds me of a British phone booth. 

And it matches nicely with our washer and dryer. 

Now that the door was out of the bike room it was time for me to start organizing. Which also means our sunroom can finally be decluttered and used!  First thing was to move the red locker thing down there. It doesn't fit where I had hoped, so it will likely end up as under workbench storage. 

But that is generally where it will be. I put up my set of Pedro's Allen wrenches for easy access AND a paper towel holder!  Yeah, it's far from complete, but it's gotten slightly closer. 

late cause of upload...

Media Fridays

We'll post videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

Here's a little homemade compilation for you.  The real reason for the montage is Pedro's Green Fizz, the stuff is just amazing!  After one muddy series finale clean up couldn't have been easier.  I sprayed my bike with the hose, sprayed on the Green Fizz, and then just rinsed it off... bike was clean.  I was so stoked, I just had to share!

Of course the drivetrain got some extra attention, and tires were changed out for some more XC friendly rubber... but the washing of the entire bike could not have been easier or faster.

THANKS PEDRO'S!!!