Monday, November 14, 2011

Busy Weekend

Saturday: Finally got off my butt and got some "bike" stuff done. Saturday I dragged all of my bikes out and gave them all a tune up and fixed a couple of flats. I also tuned up the girl's bikes and got the small bike ready for my 3 year old. She has been content with her radio flyer tricycle up until about a week ago. Now she wants to ride with her sisters. No problem, found the old training wheels and put them on the bike that 1 & 2 learned on. After a few attempts figuring out the brakes, she was zooming up and down the court. I guess watching her sisters ride around for the past couple of years shortened the learning curve.
Single speed line up

















Sunday: Ride The Buttermilk. Small group of people met up in Richmond to ride the James River Train System. We met at the civil war museum parking lot at 8 (yeah, 6 am departure from VB) and got on the trail around 8:30. Might be the lack of riding I've been doing lately, but I don't remember walking as much the last time I rode here. There are a few climbs and rock gardens that are pretty technical, but I can usually tackle the uphills and switchbacks. Not this weekend. There were several sections on the Buttermilk where I couldn't carry enough momentum on the ss to get up and through and had to unclip and take the walk. We hit a section in Forest Hill that I hadn't ridden before and it was awesome, flowing goodness. We rode for about 3 hours, although at least 45 minutes of that was the typical stop and wait (for yours truly) associated with a group ride. Afterwards we went over to Banditos Burrito Lounge for post ride drinks and lunch. Stats and Google Map of the ride:







Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Lazy with a capital L







 Two rides since July, both on my SS 29er.  I'd like to blame it on family obligations and coaching soccer, but there have been times I could have gotten out and done a few laps around the hood. Thankfully, next weekend is the last weekend of games for Jr Academy and we are done with the training sessions. My boy's team is slowly winding down their season as well. We've got a tournament in Raleigh the 1st weekend in Dec and I am taking my bike with me. Too many great places around there to ride. The tournament is in a showcase format, so we will only have 1 game on Fri, 1 on Sat and 1 on Sun. That should leave some time and daylight to get a few rides in. I definitely need to step it up if I am going to reach my goal of getting 1000 miles in this year.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Pittsburgh to DC... almost


Wow, it's been almost 3 months since I took my trip. Where has the time gone?

I did manage to get all my pictures of the trip up on flickr, http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvvHDUt

Trip report:

Travel Day: Sunday, July 24, 2011. Left Virginia Beach in a rental car around 10am and headed for Pittsburgh, PA. The trip was fairly uneventful. It rained off and on the whole way. I got to the Pittsburgh airport around 5:30 pm, dropped off the rental car and loaded my bike and gear into my hosts (Steve, Donna, Steven, Matthew & Andrew Dziadyk) mini van. On the way to their house, we took a tour of downtown Pittsburgh as well as a trip to Mt. Washington. The views were absolutely amazing and I had the best tour guides, thanks to Steve and Donna's boys: Steven, Matthew and Andrew.  That evening we hung out and caught up. I didn't get much sleep, too excited about the next day.

Day One:  Monday, July 25, 2011. McKeesport, PA to Confluence, PA. (71 miles)
Donna dropped me off at the port right around 9am in the middle of a huge thunder storm. It took about half an hour to put my bike together and get the bags on. I waited another 15 minutes for the rain to let up and the lightning to pass.  Finally got on my bike and started out along the GAP.  I had read on numerous blogs and trip reports that McKeesport was not the most aethesticly pleasing place to start a trip. It must have been the excitement of getting on the trail as well as the fresh rain, but I enjoyed the ride out... at least for about 5 miles. Another storm rushed in with some of the most intense lightning and rain I have ever seen and I was forced off the trail on several occasions.  I spent the better part of day one ducking into picnic areas along the trail or hiking my bike through areas of the trail that were washed out. I was thoroughly soaked 10 minutes into my ride and had resigned myself to the fact that I would just remain that way for the rest of the day.  The storm did pass and the sun eventually came out right about Connellsville, PA. I decided it was too much of a hassle to change into dry clothes and just set my sights on reaching Confluence. This was a decision that I would regret and one that would have an adverse effect on my entire trip.  I made it to Confluence around 6 in the evening and headed straight for the Outflow Campground. I checked in at the main gate, got my spot for the night, set up camp and took a hot shower (Outflow Campground has a shower house, with warm water). After putting on dry clothes I made a quick dinner of freeze dried noodles and I was in my tent and asleep by 9 oclock.

Side Note - I never doubted my decision to ride the GAP and C&O on a single speed. Spending the day in mud and rain only confirmed that I made the right choice.  There were several other riders in camp the first night and every one of them were complaining how difficult it was getting through the day and how much time cleaning and lubing they were going to have to do.  

Day Two: Tuesday, July 26, 2011. Confluence, MD to 12 miles past Cumberland, MD. (75.2 miles)
Awoke around 6am eager to get my tent packed and on the trail. Breakfast consisted of instant oatmeal and a cliff bar.  There was a heavy dew all night, so my clothes never really dried out. I stuffed them in a wet bag and into my saddle bag. I brought two sets of bibs and two jerseys, planning on washing one pair at night and letting them dry out and wearing the 2nd pair the next day. Now, because the 1st set were still soaked, I was looking at potentially having both sets wet at the end of day 2. On top of this revelation, I was starting to feel the initial stages of saddle sores and chaffing. Awesome!  Great call on not changing into dry clothes after the rain stopped! Anyway, I had the bike packed, got dressed with a generous lubing of chamois buttr and I was on my way. The ride out of Confluence was great. I didn't see a soul for the first three hours of the ride. I did see a ton of wildlife, mostly deer and a few turkeys.  I stopped at the Pinkerton tunnel to snap some pictures and eat a cliff bar before getting back on the trail. Right after I completed the Pinkerton bypass, I ran into (she caught up to me) my first person of the day. Beth, a rider from Minneapolis, who was also riding a Surly. A robin's egg blue cross check to be exact. Not only did she ride a Sulry, but she works in the HR dept. for QPR, the company who owns Surly, Salsa and a few others.  It was great to finally have some company. We were near Rockwood, MD when we met up.  Beth wanted to check out the town and find the B&B where she planned on staying on her way back through. After finding the B&B, we stopped and had a great breakfast sandwich at the old opera house (a restored mill) before we got back on the trail. We rode together until the Salisbury viaduct, several miles later. Beth had places to be and my hind end was hurting pretty bad, so we decided to part company. I had applied buttr at every stop, but it was too little too late.  I left Confluence around 6:30 am and arrived at the Salisbury viaduct around noon, 5 1/2 hours in the saddle + not preparing your posterior = a pain in the ass. From the viaduct on, I decided to walk a 1/2 mile every 5 miles. I figured the time off the bike would at least provide a brief respite and possibly help slow any further damage down.  I kept up this up until I went through Big Savage and across the continetal divide. From the divide into Cumberland, MD was all downhill (20+ miles) and I figured I could stand and cruise most of the time. I arrived in Cumberland, MD around 4 and stopped to snap some pictures and fill my water bladder. As I was getting ready to start the C&O, I ran into Beth again. She had been in Cumberland for a few hours, had a mechanical issue fixed and had gotten something to eat. We decided to grab a couple of beers and I wanted to get something to eat. We sat outside on the porch at the Crabby Pig and were able to park our bikes right next to us. They had a great selection of micro brews and the best mushroom and swiss burger I've ever eaten. Full and feeling great (thanks to a few Loose Cannons), we decided to head down the C&O and find a campsite.  We went about 12 miles and stopped at Spring Gap for the night. We set up camp, took care of some personal stuff and bike maintenance and settled in for the night. I wouldn't recommend staying at Spring Gap. It is fairly close to the road and the site allows car camping. We were next to a group of boy scouts, which was great. However, several cars rolled through the campsite during the night, which was sort of sketchy. I would recommend going down a few miles to Pigmans or Town Creek, both of which are remote hiker/biker sites.   

Day Three: Wednesday, July 27, 2011. 12 miles past Cumberland, MD to Hancock, MD. (48.1 miles)
Another 6am/sunrise wake up and both of use where slow getting out of our tents. The night was extremely hot and muggy until around 2:30 am, so neither one of had gone to sleep right away. My "wounds" had gotten so bad that they were seeping and despite a rather copious application of vaseline the night before had stuck to my cotton camp shorts.  None the less, I put on the driest pair of bibs, buttred up and we were on our way. We rode about 10 miles before we decided to stop in Old Towne, MD for breakfast.  The only true place to eat in Old Towne is the Old School Kitchen. The Old School Kitchen is actually inside the cafeteria of an old secondary school that was closed by the state a few years ago.  The rest of the school houses an antique car restoration place and a garage. Hands down, the best home style cooking on the trail. The prices were unbelievably inexpensive and the ladies that ran the restaurant were fantastic. They even drove Beth to a local general store to purchase some medical supplies. The place definitely should be a stop for every rider of the C&O.  We left Old Towne and headed towards the Paw Paw tunnel. About a mile or so from the tunnel my rear tire hit a sharp piece of shale and ripped open the tire and punctured the tube. I swapped out the tubes and used a boot to plug the rip in the tire and got back on the trail and made it through the Paw Paw before the pressure from the tube pushed through the boot causing a second blow out.  We stopped and this time I not only put in a new tube (thanks Beth) but swapped the ripped tire from the back to the front and used a dollar bill (thanks Beth) as a boot instead of a piece of tube.  Beth decided this would be a good place to head back towards Cumberland and the GAP. We said our good byes and headed our seperate ways. At this point, I was over it. Two blow outs and a complete tire swap on top of the fact that I had pretty much been peddling standing up all day. I looked at the map and figured that Hancock, MD was the nearest town. They also happened to have one of the most recommended bike shops on the C&O.  So, that is where I headed. I made it the C&O Bike Shop by mid afternoon and decided to stay there for the night. They have an extremely unique biker bunkhouse behind their shop with hot showers. It's sort of an open faced barn type structure with mosquito netting across the front and bunkbeds inside. I purchased a new tube and tire and they allowed me to use one of their bike stands and tools to swap out tires and clean up my bike.  After, I took a shower and headed down the street to Sheets to get some dinner. At this point I was seriously contemplating calling it quit as there really wasn't a way for me to reach DC in one day (I was due at my brother in laws the next afternoon). The shop owner was still at the shop when I got back from Sheets and I  talked to him about various travel arrangements to DC. He mentioned that he had contacted a transportation service earlier to pick up a guy the next day in Harper's Ferry, WV and take him to the 0 mile marker in downtown Georgetown. The rider was leaving his car in Harper's Ferry, taking the shuttle down to DC and riding back. All I had to do was get to Harper's Ferry by noon and I could split the shuttle cost with the other rider.    

Day Four: Thursday, July 28, 2011. Hancock, MD to Harper's Ferry, WV. (64 miles)
Woke up with the sun and started packing up my things.  I knew that the 60 or so miles to Harper's was going to be rough on the bum, but having a solid plan in place and a deadline to meet helped to spur a sense of urgency. Also, I knew that there was a detour around a section of the trail near Big Slackwater that would put me out on some main roads. Nice break from the towpath's gravel and ruts. The weather on the trail was great and like the previous mornings there wasn't another rider or hiker to be found. On several occasions I ran across groups of deer eating along the trail. Most of them didn't even move as I approached. I was making really good time and stopped at the Sheetz in Williamsport to get a sandwich, fill my water bladder and re-lube. I hit the the Big Slackwater detour at MP88 by mid morning. I spent a lot of my planning time searching for info on the detour, almost to the point of obsession. I found out that the route was clearly marked and not too difficult on a fully loaded singlespeed. The 5 miles went by extremely fast and before I knew it, I was back on the C&O. I could tell I was getting close to Harper's Ferry as the amount of riders, joggers and hikers increased with each mile. I arrived at MP 60 around 11:30am and quickly found the shuttle service that would be providing me a lift to DC. After I took off my saddle and frame bags, they loaded my bike onto their racks and we were off. The trip to DC was uneventful and took about an hour. They dropped off the other rider at the mile 0 marker, just outside of the boathouse of the National Capital Water Sports Center, across from the original Watergate hotel. It was another 20 minute trip into China Town to my brother in laws office building on  Massachusetts Ave.  Kenneth met me downstairs and offered to help me navigate the metro back to his apartment in Crystal City.  Another big obsession for me in the pre-planning dept was the metro ride. I was more than happy to take him up on his offer. No one said a word or batted an eye about a guy covered in trail dust and sweat lugging a fully loaded bike on the subway.  It was a quick 2 block walk from the metro station to Kenneth's place. It was extremely surreal being in the city after having just spent the better part of four days away from civilization. My priorities once in the apartment were bath and beer. I must have soaked in the tub for an hour at least. Afterwords, I ordered moo shu chicken and two heinkens and took one of the best naps of my life. It took about 2 weeks for my saddle sores to completely heal and about a month before I got back on the bike.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Gear List

Going up to the eastern shore this Friday for a 2 day ride. The main purpose is to make sure I've got my bike and bags set up the way I want and am comfortable with my equipment. The basic plan is to start out in Exmore on Friday and ride to Chincoteague, spend the night at a campsite on Chincoteague Island and then ride back to Exmore on Saturday. Looks to be around 80 miles each way. Here's my gear list for the 2 day trip. I'll take all of this stuff plus an extra set of bike clothes and more food for my Pittsburgh to DC trip in July.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

James River Trail System


Two buddies and I (More Beers Than Gears crew) finally got to ride the James River Park System in Richmond a couple of weeks ago. This is a combination of trails (Forest Hill Park, Buttermilk, North Bank & Belle Island) in downtown Richmond along the James river. Probably the best maintained and challenging mtb trails I have ever ridden. We parked just outside of Forest Hill and used that as our entrance and exit point. Forest Hill was a good warm up and really flowed. There were a couple of pretty heavy climbs that really got the heart pumping, especially for three guys on 29er single speeds. We crossed the river on Westover Hills Blvd and rode the trail by Pumphouse Park before heading to Northbank. Northbank is the trail used for the Xtera Challenge every year and it kicked my butt. Lots of technical climbs and descents on tight singletrack. After we finished Northbank, we crossed the river on the pedestrian bridge off of Tredegar St and headed over to Belle Island. The trails and river were packed with people. We did the lap around the island and then headed out onto the rocks to mess around. With so many people laying out on the rocks, it didn't take long before we decided to head across the bridge back to the south side and to Buttermilk. Buttermilk was about 5 miles of hand cut awesomeness. Lots of technical rock gardens and creek crossings, some small climbs and quick downhills. One piece of advice about Buttermilk is that momentum is definitely your friend. There were several times were I hesitated going through a rock garden and paid the price by having to unclip and hike through it... I know, such a freakin nancy. We finished up with Buttermilk and headed back through Forest Hill to our car. Total mileage for the day was 11.7 miles, ride time was right at 2 hours, max speed was 26.7mph with an average speed of 5.4 mph. Elevation and distance chart below.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

MS150 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia Ride Report

Spent last weekend riding the MS150 from Cape Charles, Va to Camp Silver Lake (Exmor, Va) and back with the guy I am going to ride from Pittsburgh to DC with, Mike DeSantis. I met a lot of really great people (thank you Team Heroes Live Forever for letting me ride with you all) and helped raise some money to fight MS.

Day One:

Saturday morning we got off to an enthusiastic start, the temperature was in the low 70's and there was almost no humidity. This was a weekend of firsts for me. I've always classified myself as a mountain biker, and never really got into group road riding. Even over the course of the last year, while training for the Pittsburgh to DC trip, I've ridden by myself. Adjusting to a group ride/pace line was quite the experience. I spent most of Saturday morning sorting out the lingo and hand gestures as well as the basic group ride etiquette. At about the 20 mile mark, we came upon a wreck where two riders had crossed wheels. The resulting crash was pretty bad and both riders had to be moved via helicopter to Norfolk General. Thankfully, we learned later that evening, that one of the riders had been released and the other was resting comfortably. My thoughts and prayers go out to both of them in their recovery.
Miles 20 - 60 were fairly uneventful. I found a nice speed that I could maintain and spun happily along averaging about 18 miles an hour. Just before the 2nd to last rest stop I began to feel my calves and hamstrings cramping up. By the time I reached the rest stop, I could barely unclip my feet without my legs knotting up. I've played soccer my whole life, charlie horses are nothing new and usually go away with some mild stretching and rehydration. This however surpassed anything I've ever felt before. Not only were the main muscles in my leg cramping but also the insides of my legs from my groin to my knees. I didn't know you could cramp up there? I pretty much limped to the last rest stop and camp on sheer determination... nope, not even gonna try and lie. It was total peer pressure from my riding partner and the team I was riding for, the desire to not be called a pussy and have to sag with less than 10 miles to go that got to the finish line. I learned later that evening that the internal cramps where most likely caused by my seat being too low. Lesson learned: 1. The whole "car up" "bump" thing, albeit annoying, is crucial when you are riding half a foot from some random dudes back tire. 2. You cannot ride 70+ miles and just sip water every once and awhile. 3. Yes, you can cramp so hard in your legs that you feel it in your stomach. Day 1 stats: 4 hours and 24 minutes of riding time, 72 miles covered, 4547 kcal burned, average speed 16.5 mph.

Day Two:

Sunday morning started with a pretty hardcore thunder storm at 4:45am. Thankfully, the rain was all but gone by 6:40 as we made our way out of camp. Armed with a raised saddle, 2 packs of Clif Shot Bloks (thanks Rob Ostermaier) a crotch full of chamois butter and 1500 ml of motrin, I hit the road. The weather was great, overcast, low 70's, a bit more humid than Saturday. We made really good time and I was impressed and slightly spooked at how quickly we became the only group out on the road. The MS150 had over 700 riders, but for most of Sunday, it seemed like Mike and I were the only two on the road. We had a pretty nice tailwind most of the ride and the miles seemed to click right along. Not a whole lot to discuss, I spent a lot of the ride sort of day dreaming and humming the chicken dance song (wtf!). Lots of comments and questions on the road and at rest stops about riding a single speed. Most centered around riding fixed or freewheel. After awhile I just threw out the standard "I gotta coast" reply. Since I ride mtb with mostly single speed 29ers, I forgot that not having gears was a bit weird to some people. I actually got a kick out of listening to all the gears switching as we went up 1 and 2 percent grades. The ride back seemed a lot shorter, and we were back in Cape Charles right at noon. Mike and I scarfed down a quick plate of chicken and bbq and headed back to the car to head home. Oh yeah, what's up with finishing a mile away from the parking lot? Just asking. Lesson learned from day two: 2 shot bloks and a bottle of gatorade every 10 miles = not a single cramp. Day two stats: 4 hours 5 minutes ride time, 76 miles covered (including ride to parking lot), 4703 kcal burned, average speed 19.9 mph.

The MS150 2011 riders raised over $450,000.00 total for MS research, that is amazing!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Bags are in!

Received my seat and feed bag from Revelate Designs and my frame pack from Jandd in the mail last week. Finally got a chance to get them on the bike last night and go for a spin around the neighborhood. Everything fits great. I was worried about the clearance between the seat bag and rear tire, but there is a lot of room left. There doesn't seem to be any issues with my knees rubbing on the frame pack when I get out of the saddle, although I did not have it fully loaded. True test will be this weekend, I'm planning an overnighter at a local state park.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

2011 Mileage so far

Been using a spreadsheet provided by the Tidewater Bicycle Association to keep track of my totals for the year. Even though I use Motion X GPS on my iphone to track my rides, there is no way to see ride totals, mileage, speed, etc for all of my rides to date. The spreadsheet calculates average speed, max speed, average time, average distance, total miles, # of rides, total hours riding and # of days ridden. Results below are a combination of mountain bike rides and road rides. Totals for 2011 look like this so far:

# of Rides - 27
Total miles - 265.81
Avg Time - 1:03:40
Avg Speed - 9.7
Avg Distance - 9.8

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Getting Some Rides In

  Got in two decent rides in the last couple of days. Saturday I took the steamroller out for a 22 mile ride, the longest ride on the bike yet. Great ride and a pretty decent time, although a pretty fierce headwind on the way back did slow me down some. MotionX GPS output can be found here. I think I have the bike set up pretty much the way I want it with the exception of the freewheel, a white industries 17 tooth will soon replace the current shimano one.
Yesterday afternoon I got up with the 29er singlespeed posse, now officially named "More Beers - Less Gears," for some time in and around Seashore State Park. We parked outside of the park and took the main trail through about halfway until we reached a previously unknown and unmapped offshoot. What a great little trail, plenty of log crossings, tight twisty singletrack and up and downs. The end of the trail put us out on 81st street, after a hike a bike up the largest sand dune I've ever seen in VB. We took the access road back to the Park entrance on 64th, down through the park to the boat ramp and then doubled back on the main trail until we got back to car. Ride took us about 2 hours and a total of about 15 miles. MotionX GPS output here.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

King Cage Titanium Tire Levers

I'm not very gentle on tire levers. A couple of weeks ago, I was swapping out tires on my 5 year old's butterfly bike (yes, I said butterfly bike) and snapped my last lever. That makes about 1/2 dozen levers snapped in the last year or so. After I was done pulling the old tire off (used tin snips to cut through the bead) and mounting the new tire, I hopped online to look for some levers that might be a bit more durable.  I eventually came across King Cages out of Durango, Co.  They make steel and titanium bottle cages as well as titanium tire levers. Hmmm, titanium tire levers sound pretty durable. At $8.00 dollars, they are pretty affordable as well. A quick interweb transaction and less than a week shipping time and I had a brand new pair of titanium tire levers in my hands.

Like all things titanium, they are extremely light, weighing in at 10 grams for the pair. They are also pretty small in size (120mm). I tested them on an older Kenda tire which has a notoriously difficult wire bead to remove. The tire was no match for the levers. Getting underneath the bead and popping it over the sidewall was effortless. There was no moment of panic I usually experience with plastic levers when they start to bend. On the contrary, I probably was a bit more rough with the lever than normal. Pretty cool addition to the tool kit and the added bonus of supporting a US craftsman. I see a couple of titanium bottle cages in my future.

Friday, March 25, 2011

New brake levers & tape

Took the steamroller to Fat Frogs on Wednesday to have new levers put on. The guys in there are always super cool and do great work. This time was no exception. Matt, A++ bike mechanic, had a pair of levers in the parts bin & suggested I use those instead of a brand new pair. The fact that he even offered them up first over a brand new pair shows how much they value loyal customers over a quick buck. Got a new roll of fizik bar tape to go with the levers as well. I picked the bike up this afternoon. Managed to get in about 8 miles this evening, just around the hood. HUGE difference in hand position and comfort! I can't wait to get in a decent ride with them.



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Friday, March 18, 2011

Oceanfront ride

Took the morning off to get a few miles in. Parked at 1st street and rode north on the boardwalk to seashore state park, through the park to the boat ramp and then back the same route. I did 13+ miles in about 55 minutes.  Even though it wasn't very far, it felt great to get out and ride.They were setting up for the Shamrock Marathon/1/2 Marathon along the boardwalk, so there was lots of traffic and people moving around.  I might have been a little faster with less activity to watch out for, at least that is what I'll keep telling myself.

A few mental notes about the surly steamroller; I definitely want to swap my flat top brakes for hoods. I find myself riding with my hands along the outside of the drops more than across. Also, I think I'm going to have to swap out my freewheel sooner than I thought.  At slower rpms there is a constant clicking sound. I knew I should have bought a white industries eno freewheel from the start instead of the shimano dx. You get what you pay for.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Crap is rolling in

  Starting to get a sense of what I want (need) for the trip in July and have started accumulating a lot of the smaller stuff. Making their way via UPS as I type; some fuel for my esbit stove, a titanium spork, and a couple water proof stuff sacks. On the "to order soon" list is a seat bag and frame bag compliments of Revelate Designs.  I decided to go this route instead of a trailer or racks/panniers for several reasons, but the the main reason is that I will pack to capacity whatever vessel I use. If I go as minimalist as possible, I won't be tempted to take along a lot of crap that I wont ever use. This is a little lesson learned compliments of backpacking along the AT. Yes, I was "that" guy lugging a loaded 5600 cu3 backpack on weekend excursions. 
  As far as actual training, I did a quick 10 mile out and back Sunday morning, you can see the track and details here. I've been using MotionX GPS on my iphone for about a year and half now and am totally sold on the app. I don't even use a bike computer anymore. The only issue I have is with the battery life on longer rides. I wont be able to let the app run all the way from Pittsburgh to DC, but I should be able to periodically mark way points along the route.

Friday, March 4, 2011

New Bike


I knew that I wasn't going to ride the Allegheny and C&O this summer on any of the bikes I currently own. My fixie track bike (that I converted to single speed w/coaster brakes) would have been too uncomfortable and there's not a lot of room for tires bigger than 700x25. My Cannondale 1fg ss with 26" wheels is suffering from a severe case of cannibalization. My Redline Monocog Flight 29er ss would be a perfect choice, but I am doing a 12 hour race in May and hopefully a couple of other local races and switching tires, chain rings, and various other parts back and forth do not seem that appealing.   So, in my typical (ir)rationalization fashion, I purchased a Surly Steamroller. Jenson was selling the 2009 model for $599. Not too bad of a price, I've seen the 2011 frames alone in the $400 range.  I did make some upgrades using parts I had on hand (salsa stem, salsa seat post, salsa poco drops, fizik arione saddle and ritchey speedmax 700x32 cross wheels with slime tubes). I bought a shimano dx freewheel on the cheap compliments of ebay to use with the flip flop hub. I am running it as a single speed bike at the moment, but like the option to go fixie at any time. I've only ridden it three times so far, a total of about 50 miles, but so far I am super pleased. There's no denying the feel of 4130 steel. I like the road bike geometry and the ritchey speedmax tires do equally well on pavement as well as dirt. Not sure about the 47:19 gearing, but will have to do some longer rides to see how it feels. Riding here in Virginia Beach, I would much rather gear towards a slower start and faster cruising than the other way around.  Not sure what I am going to do about the Allegheny and C&O, although from what Ive read, the grade is only 1.5%-2%. More on that later.

Monday, February 28, 2011

BillyCross 2011




Went up to Barhamsville yesterday to participate in the 3rd annual Billycross bike race. The race was hosted on the farm of Robert Maye and Sharon Oakley and sponsored by Bike Beat and Jim Beam.

The course was a little less that a mile long and consisted of a couple of tight switch backs (downhill-around the tree stump-uphill was a killer), cross hurdles, a step to platform to ramp obstacle and a big ol bottomed out area full of mud and water. Get through the mud and you continue out and back for a bit or take a short cut. Short cut route only cost you a shot of Beam. Not one to say no to whiskey, I opted for the short cut all 5 laps. Needless to say it was more about the good time than the race. Not that there weren't some amazing riders out there. I was humbled by a 9 year old who rode the entire course with a huge grin on his face and completed double the amount of laps as I did. The guys that took 1&2 both did it on cross bikes. Watching them ride and challenge each other was amazing to say the least.

Post race pot luck/cookout was great, drinks were flowing and a huge bonfire was glowing. It was a really great way to spend an afternoon with some very cool people and I definitely look forward to it next year.



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Thursday, February 24, 2011

It's official

I've officially committed to doing the Alleghany trail and C & 0 in July. No backing out now. Any idea how to translate 6-12 mile mountain bike rides on the weekend into lengthy road rides? The plan is to cover the whole trail in 3 days, that's about 110 miles a day...

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Testing Iphone App


Testing blog updates from phone. Picture from recent ride at Gatewood, in Newport News, VA. Very "Robert Frost" don't you think?


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Who, What, Why...

  Basics first. I'm starting this blog to document my descent, or ascent depending on your outlook, into bike touring. I've been a big fan of mountain biking since the late 80's and early 90's. In those years, I've owned several bikes and have ridden in a lot of really cool places. Around 2008 I got into riding single speed bikes and haven't ridden a geared bike since. I've never really been a fan of road racing, way too much lycra and leg shaving for my taste.  Enough of the intro crap, on with the documenting.

  Here's the deal. This coming July, I am going to ride from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC, a 334 mile trip. The thought of even attempting such a trip came from a co-worker who has ridden the trail 3 times already.  After looking at his pictures and hearing his stories, I could not get the idea out of my head. My wife thinks that my impending 40th birthday might have something to do with it as well. My reply to her had something to do with "better a 334 mile bike trip than a new porsche."