scoot'in

No racing for me this weekend...Relaxed Saturday and spent some time in the water with Lesli and the boys and then went to a cook-out with Marko Dirks and his family later in the day. Good food, Thanks to Oscar and Erin for inviting us to the party. good times.
Needed a couple days off the bike...body is beat down from a few quality rides last week. Like Jeff, my brain doesn't see the good lines in the woods when tired...so what's the point of riding.
Went out Sunday on a solo mission to see if my body had recovered...it had not. Felt pretty weak through Gordon woods so I popped out at Pine st, skipping Ancient Line and rode up 127 to Gloucester and reentered the woods at red rock. My brain came around and I started to have some good times on Rez Dog and Pipe Line. The tubeless shit that George gave me rocks! That brother hooked me with 5 or 6 tubeless tires and a pair of XL wheels! Thanks again George. Had a Maxxis high roller up front and the IRC Mibro 2.1 in back. Crazy traction and comfortable ride at 37 psi...don't want to run'em too low and damage the rim. 37 seems good.
Got to save my legs for a planned epic comming the weekend of the 22nd-23rd. Should be a rip! I hear Harry Precourt is rolling up for this one! Going to start assembling a good crew for a 5 or 6 hour kahuna. Only took 9 hours last November with Jeff and John H...cause we took an extended trail-side break to eat, and eat...and eat.

Now the big news for the weekend:

Lesli has been researching scooters (I call them mopeds) for over a month... She wants to leave the SUV at home a few times a week and commute to work + run some errands around town. Yesterday, in a moment of weakness on my part, we went down to Cycles 128 for a closer look knowing this would only lead to us buying one...so we did, a used Honda metropolitan 49cc scooter. Fun little toy..just wish we had good weather year round to get the most out of it's 100+ mpg!! yup..that's right..I was amazed too...but not amazed enough to buy one for myself. She loves it. I dig pink flame helmet.

The whole neighborhood came out for a ride infact!

Kate was a natural.

Mean Jean was not, hat's off to her for getting back on after a little mishap with the throttle.

Good 'ole, Don gave it a try. That's the spirit!

Scott was too cool for the pink flame helmet.

I was trying to find the cranks

First grocery run complete..now let's eat!

Decisions...Decisions...

Got a HOT weekend on tap with a few different riding options...but what ride makes the most sense? - (stupid actually to be this worried about riding a bicycle)

Daulton probably...but don't want to but a full year Norba license (that I won't use again) just to ride a 30 mile race...but a good race indeed...
Pat's Peak 6 or 12 hour would fill the riding void but a muddy course coupled with the fact that I'd be rolling totally solo doesn't sound all that fun...
Kerry's 100 mile epic starting in Arlington, GBF, BCT, ending in Ipswich is a great plan but is a logistical pain in the butt for me...
Super road epic to Mom and Dad's camp?? 95 degree heat and 100 + miles of road...maybe not..

Good to have choices but nothing here is jumping out at me...ugh...

Last night's adventures in the Fells went according to plan. Jeff stayed on the bike and kept his pinky finger out of harms way. We rode some burley-ass lines on the red trail, hike-a-bike'd it on the white trail for a bit and spun da legs out on fire road...perfect 2 hours of after work riding.

George hooked me in a BIG way with a set of Mavic XL's that needed some TLC. The rear got a new hoop and spokes and the front needed to be tweeked back into shape. Rode'em for the first time last evening...IRC Mibro at 37 psi were amazing!! I've been riding tubed tires for years at 40+ psi to avoid pinch-flats therefore giving up comfort and traction, tubeless may just be the way to go...Thanks for the kick-down G !

All out in Moody Park

Fun, fast and technical. I had never done Moody Park, although I thought I had raced there years back but would have remembered the infamous "gravity cavity". Jeff, Thom and I rolled out at 12:30 for our warm-up lap after arriving to the venue a bit on the late side. Did a casual spin around the 4+ mile single track getting familiar with a few mud-holes and tricky spots. We reached the end of our warm-up and were cutting it close to the start time of 1:00, when we arrived at the S/F line got stuck in the way back behind 20 or so other senior II experts...Seemed like a bunch of racers came out for this one.

The race started and I tried to muscle my way up to Jeff and Thom but got held back three or four riders off Jeff's wheel. Forced to practice patience and pick smart lines through the mud and rocks and look for opportunities to pass for half a lap. Now up to Jeff's back wheel looking to hang with the brother but Jeffy proved to be faster on the slick as snot winding downhill and slipped out'a sight. Didn't realize till an hour and a half later that Jeff was riding with a bone-deep gash in his pinky finger and bleeding like a stuck pig.

I held my position for the remaining 3 laps and had fun rocketing up the gravity cavity. Thanks to Roz and Mike Deak for cheering me on while climbing the sandy slopes and to Jen Whittingham in the grassy field atop the final climb of each lap. Always good to hear some friendly shouts of encouragement.

The entire race I thought about Thom pushing his one-geared IF Deluxe and how truly efficient he must have been riding because I only saw that dude on the start line. I attempted to ride my third lap in 34-18 exclusively but found my thumb on the shifter when the going got tough. I am intrigued with the thought of an SS and a new challenge but know how much it will kick my ass at first.

Got home pretty late after the kind medical staff at the Claremont NH emergency room sewed up Whit's finger...which proved a better location to receive a few stitches then the other mountain bike racer who we witnessed slowly limping out of the ER after taking a shot to the mid section.

In all a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon in New England despite an 11th place finish but there was a strong field of racer types out there. I did a few things right and a few things wrong, basically got schooled but in a good way.

Got it!

Found the good route to work. Peabody to the out skirts of Lynn and Saugus. Now just need to eliminate rt 107 cause it smells like trash.

Just a'nother day at the beach

Lesli and I had our first ride on Iglehearts' custom tandem yesterday, I like to call it "Big Blue".

Huge fun...this is going to be habit forming for sure.

After a brief riding lesson around the block we were tandem pro's. Communication was essential when slowing, turning and shifting. The shifting part being the most critical...really had to plan ahead of hills and traffic because Big 'ol Blue wasn't the smoothest shifting rig I'd ever pedaled.

We strapped the GPS to the rear handlebar to monitor our progress and to see how scary fast we could get her on the down hills. - only managed to get her up to 27 mph but was plenty fast for Les. I bet if couple guys were riding this thing (Jeff) and we could get her up to near 50 mph.

Spun over to Singing Beach for a slushy and some ocean breezes on this extremely humid day in the north east. On the cruise away from the beach Lesli remarked how easy it was to pedal the monstrous rig...that's because I was doing all the pushing honey...but I liked the work out. Today my body is burnt, legs and ass are as sore as if I'd rode a century. Wonder if this is how you fathers out there feel after pulling your kids around in a bike trailer?

maybe next year

Man, I wanted to do this race... more of an epic ride with friends than a race event. Kerry, have a blast and kick some booty.

Freaky weather weekend.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty right?...maybe next time I'm faced with a weather related decision to ride or not to ride I should just go for it and hope for the best. Turns out I could have gotten away with the northern epic but who knows? Went with a gut decision...was probably for the best.
Anyway, we laid down a good loop today (in the warm sun under blue skies!!)...woke up with my head ringing at the crack of dawn with a slight hang-over and music stuck in my head from last night's bar-room concert. Les and I had a good time listening to some rockin tunes and ejoyed great food. Thankfully I was alternating between beer, water, beer after 11:00pm.
This a.m. I packed up the subbie and drove an hour and a half north through rain and fog to Brad's near Wolfborow NH. 15 minutes from Bev's house the clouds burned off and the sun beamed down! Whoo hoo!
Our ride got underway at 9:30 after filling some bottles with S.E. and lime Heed..I set Brad up with some of the frothy potion. Three scoops S.E. and 2 heed is quite tasty...milkshake like, best when chased with water for sure.
Roads were busy but in good shape for the most part. Couple helmetless NH motor cyclists thought it would be cool to hammer the throttle and show off their loud pipes as they blasted past. Brad had a good come back to a guy in a lifted F250. He roared past with just a trailer in tow (no boat, just trailer) and pinned the throttle 2 feet from Brad...Bev raises his hand and displays a one inch gap between his thumb and forefinger referring to the size of the driver's penis...good one Brad...the driver definently saw him.

Best part of the ride: rt 11b. Climb to Gunstock ski hill and the halfway point in the ride. I had my heartrate pinned in the 180's for miles and some how it felt good?

That's about when a song came into my head, part of a song. Iron Maiden - run to the hills. Never been much of a Maiden fan, just like when the lead guy screams "Run to the hills...run for your lives! I was going to figure out how to embed the song in the blog but that's just a bit overboard.

64 miles in 3:27. few good climbs, fast decents. Average 18.5, max 41mph. good ride for both of us.

Cancelled

Rain, rain, go away

I had to skip the road epic due to heavy rain. Not exactly over-joyed with the current weather situation here in the north-east. Looking out the window I see sheets of water falling from the sky. A road loop is not out of the question but should be. My mother was elated to hear I was canceling the trek up to camp. She could relax knowing I wouldn't be a road pizza somewhere on rt 236 in Maine.
Instead, here I sit infront of my computer, with two bored dogs at my feet, drinking massive amounts of caffeine attempting to kick-start my somber mood.
Hoping Sunday is a little better than today, but weather predictions say otherwise. Tentative plan is to drive north and hook up with Brad for a soggy loop 'round the lake...it's always more fun to ride in the rain with someone else and share the suffering.

Northern road epic

Getting geared up for 'solo epic Saturday'. 100 miles of road grinding. Meeting Lesli at my parents camp near Mt. Chocorua for a night of relaxation after what I hope is an epic day in the saddle.
Merlin needs a touch of maintenance before I hit the road, new rear tire, new brake pads..plan on packing a spare tube, tire, tools, water,food and a spare shirt, rain gear...but going pretty light. Got my GPS loaded with waypoints and printed maps on some cool water-proof paper just incase technology fails me.

Being a solo effort, conservative route to the north-country is the way to go. Starting at sea-level and cruising up the coast (rt1a) for 40 miles to Kittery Maine..turning inland on rt 236 (sea to summit triathlon route) to Berwick, Lebanon, and Wakefield NH. Then the final 20 miles on good 'ol sucky rt 16.

I'll have the option to ride up rt 153 through Effingham and eliminate the 20 mile stretch of rt 16 (just cause I like the name f'n ham!) Hope the weather holds out and I have time. I'd much rather stay off rt 16 if I can.

Rain predicted for Sunday therefore a round trip is doubtful but let's see how the legs feel!

Checking the road loops up north has gotten me fired up for more road epics and hopefully some group road rides with Jeff, Brad, Ken and Daren.. Might be a bit too late for Hulrey to join in, Good luck with life out west and your new job engineering slot machines...next we'll hear that you've struck it rich with the one-armed bandits right?

The mountain roads through Effingham, Parsonsfield, and Cornish look like fun (and pain)
Hope to get up there for a big loop this summer.

Commuting

Two words; Lynn Sucks! I've found no good way to pedal to Logan yet but still trying. This is yesterday's commute mostly on Rt. 107 through Lynn and Salem. I tried out Revere beach Pkwy and Rt 1a last week but the 1.5 mile stretch of the Lynnway north of Point of Pines (Revere) is death waiting to happen.
Thunder storms predicted for later today have kept me from pedaling in...it's not the threat of getting soaked or struck by lightning that scares me..it's the possibility of zero visibility for drivers running my ass over that I'm worried about!
That reminds me- heard some bad news for the Brauss yesterday. Seems that jeff was riding his fixed gear in Salem the other night and got run-over by a hit and run driver! Broken ribs, collar bone, torn rotator cuff and totally screwed summer! Sorry to hear 'bout that. Karma can be a bitch. Hope it wasn't Jonny Miller seeking revenge. Kidding Jeff. Glad to see your alive..hope you were wearing a helmet...but I doubt it.

July Races

July is a busy race month

July 8th-All out in Moody Park DH and XC - two events, two different bikes.
OR
July 9th - 6 hour of power

July 15 and 16 - Pat's Peak 24 - am I out of my mind for wanting to complete a solo 24 two weeks before Jay? Lighten the VT for the 24 hour race? do the 12 hour race again but this time on the Igleheart?

July 22 and 23- 24 hours of Killington - this would be a good one but falls to close to Jay 65

July 30th- Jay 60 - or now called the Jay 65 ? This is the race that beat me down to the fetal position in 2003 and the reason for training this year.

It's too bad the Wilderness 101 falls on July 29th...maybe next year.

But I am in for the Shenandoah 100 in September.



Now two ugly pictures, one worse than the other.

Unknown rider enjoying a mud bath at NS Classic last weekend
courtesy of mtb mind

A.P.'s broken elbow.
But I'm sure your girlfiends are looking after you.

All Zip-tied up! Stay off the skateboard for a while...

Big weekend for a few friends:

Good luck Jason at the Hard Core 24, Jeff at Mount Snow- Kick ass!
and Alex at the Lumberjack 100!

NS Classic

Mud, Mud and more Mud! I was surprised that the race even happened because it had rained for so many days leading up to Sunday. I learned that Nemba fest was cancelled due to soggy conditions at Wompituck state park and thought for sure that paved the way for efta to cancel the race at Bradley Palmer...Thankfully not.
I peddled down to BP early Sunday morning to warm up and scope out the race. Met up with Roz at the Luna tent and proceeded to eat 10 mini luna bars for breakfast. Went out for a slow loop 'round the course to check out the new stretch of single track volunteers made for the event...it was a greatly needed section to eliminate a washed-out downhill - the new section rocks! Dumps out at the Ipswich river dam with a tough corner to a small grunting climb. Thanks to the volineers I'll have a sweet new section to rock on my morning loop...nice.
Huge turn out for this race...saw more racers than at any efta event...ever. Must have been 250-300 racers at the start. Would have been a disaster to mass start everyone, so the Pro's went off first with 2 minutes between categories. Huge Expert field. Don't know how many guys in my cat.
The expert class got underway with a sprint for 10 minutes. The pace slowed on a muddy climb and I was able to catch my breath. We dove into the new single track and I was having a blast! Was glad I pre-rode the course and knew about the climb by the dam..dumped it down to the granny and made the climb passing a few guys. Up into the 1st grassy field, cruising along I decided to pass on the right and got a bush caught in my derailuer...won't pass in the high grass again.
After the first 7.5 mile loop things were going better than expected. I had made a bunch of passes and was in good position. I Felt great.. then a flat tire! How is it that I have raced two 100 miler's this year and no flats- and in my own back yard get a flat? Oh well, I didn't dwell on the situation. Had a tube, made the swap, two co2 cartridges filled it back to 40 psi...three minutes lost...big deal.
The next two laps were increasingly muddy. My front tire found one mud hole that was three feet deep! It added a challenge for all the riders and was a good way to level the field. I was running a front fender to keep my face and eyes clear of mud...at the end I was clean from the neck up.
I saw Thom Parson's and Skip Brown finish the pro category one after the other. Thom put in a HUGE effort this race. Wish I had a camera to capture that image of the two muddy single speeders coming across the line, totally encased in mud from head to toe. Skip had several inches of glistening thick mud on his chest and shoulders and Thom's face was completely speckled with only his eyes and teeth showing. Good job going balls out!
I didn't stick around for the results, I think I came in mid pack with the experts...but will be checking later this week when the results are posted on-line.

Got together with the crank racing team after the race for some burgers and free beer for Ipswich Brewery!

Muddy weekend coming

It's been raining all week! Lots of relaxing, not alot of biking. Got back on my racing hardtail Thursday after I gave it a good wash and was surprised everything worked, fork, gears, brakes, drivetrain. Hell, there was so much Ohio mud stuck on it I couldn't tell what color it was. Just need to lube the shift cables and it'll be ready to slog through s'more mud at the N.S. Classic happening 3 miles from our house! Nice, don't have to drive 10 hours to race this weekend! Brad is spinning down from NH and a bunch of crankers are due to attend what is going to be an epic mud fest.

Somewhere on Grannygear.com you can find real-time reporting of results of 24 hours of big bear.

I'll be watching (if I can find the link) and rooting for Kerry Combs' women's expert team - representing Shenandoah Mountain Touring and Buck aka Brian Keich and his buddy Mike Carpenter's (Tour da Burg "director") duo team. Go I.F. !!

Anybody need a new bike? There's no doubt that some young Canadian downhiller is drooling over the opportunity to grab this bike for cheap $$. I love ebay!

Mohican 100 report

Mountain biking may just be the best thing to ever happen to me. I met my wife 10 years ago while mountain biking, (our 4th wedding anniversary is tomorrow) and the majority of my friends are comprised of mountain bikers. This weekend I met a few more people that fall in to the mountainbiker-friend category...

Jeff arranged for transport (mooched a ride for me) to the Mohican 100 via the Seven Cycles team van. We met up on Thursday afternoon at the Seven Cycles factory and was introduced to Skip Brown...super nice guy, legendary powerhouse mountain bike racer...and driver of the 14 passenger cargo van. Soon there after Kerry Combs (24 hour and endurance specialist for I.F.) arrived, along with Tiffany Mann (Skip's gf and super-fast I.F. racer) and Thom Parsons (I.F. single speeder and comedian). We packed six bikes, coolers and camping gear in the back of the bus and loaded in for an 8 hour cruise to Buck's house in Harrisburg Pa. Buck was friendly enough to let us crash Friday night at his place where we stayed up late watching videos of the 2005 single speed world championships (where buck was tattooed for winning the sswc! that's hard core!)

Buck riding his longboard home after devouring a huge breakfast Saturday morning.

We arrived at Mohican State Park in one piece (thanks to Skip and his skills behind the wheel, we survived a near crash exiting the highway in a rain storm somewhere in Pa.) on Saturday evening and met up with Harvey Minton (I.F. endurance racer) and checked in for the race.

It had rained for 3 or 4 days leading up to the race..Luckily the bad weather was heading east and the skys were clearing. Unfortunately the course was going to be muddy...The race started out with the 175 entrants traveling down the road in a two mile rolling start to a dam and from there it was on! We launched into the single track on a super fast pace. We rode on an extremely slippery, off chamber, thin brown ribbon of trail for the first 26 miles! The mud was super slick, best described as 4 inch deep wet talcum powder. I took two big crashes while cornering but didn't get too banged around till we hit the river. I was riding near another I.F. rider-sully (yes, there was a sea of green on the Mohican course) when I took a swim after attempting to ride a tight technical section and got owned.

From what I could tell I was somewhere in the top ten, riding along with a Cannondale rider at mile 26 when the trail ended at a campground...and when I say ended I mean ended...I frantically looked around for Mohican 100 course arrows but saw none. Spun down the road and concluded that some jerk must have removed the markers from the campground. 10 minutes of searching and now I am surrounded by a bunch of familiar faces and we're all lost.

Now about 15 of us peddling around the stupid campground aimlessly when Garth Prosser emerges from the woods and directs us straight up a 300 foot hike-a-bike climb to get back on course. Oh well, shit happens! Who ever did remove those markers it's a good thing we didn't catch you doing it...your mother would probably not recognize you after we got threw with ya!

Jeff and I (now reunited) pedal on, trying to regroup and shake out the mishap and hit up sag 1 for some fluids. Soon were flying along muddy double tracks and crossing streams again. The course takes us on big road climbs and on open country roads. It was about that time that we met up with Alex. We biked together from mile 26 to about 52 when my legs start giving me signals to slow the pace...seems that I hammered the road portions a bit too hard and didn't properly hydrate. It was time to spin slower and drink up so I said bye bye to Jeff and Alex, they disappeared in the single track.

I concentrated on drinking and eating my way back into the race. Spinning with my heart rate somewhere around 150's. Now on rural country roads, being passed by horse and buggy carts - weird, you just don't see that stuff in Massachusetts. I was looking at the driver of one buggy when I missed a left hand turn. Went up two miles and decided to turn around after not seeing a ribbon or an arrow for a while. Lots of concentration needed while out on the open roads, no more day-dreaming or I'll miss another turn!

Skip passed me on a flat double track like I was standing still at about mile 67. What was he doing behind me? Later he told me he had trouble with his chain a bunch of times.

I stopped in to sag 3 (mile 70?) for water and a banana and talked briefly to Harvey and Thom. They both were looking strong. They left and I continued eating and drinking. I ran into Harvey a bit later when we were confronted with a no-trespassers sign. Infact it said no bikes allowed, $500 fine?? But the course markers pointed that way so we gave it a go and were right...maybe the race officials should have put a mohican 100 sticker on the sign?

At sag four I met back up with Thom on his ss. We started together on the final 11 miles of single track. My legs were beat down and my body didn't want to play any longer. Thom dropped me early on the twisty climbing switch backs. I spun a slow pace in...looking back now I should have eaten some pb+j's at sag 4 when I had the chance...oh well...learn from that mistake.

The race was soon over. I believe I got 10th in the geared mountain bike devision and 15th overall but official results aren't out yet. I had a hell of a time and will be looking for a few long adventures before hopefully tearing up the Jay Challenge in late July.

Now some pics...
Kerry, Harvey,Sully,Thom,Jeff,Harlan,Tiffany,Andy
I didn't see too much of Harlan as he proceeded to kick the hell out of the race for the win!

Tiffany and Skip

Kerry looking on while Jeff and Alex show off their loot


me and Jason (aka soiled chamois)

Tour de Cape Ann

Great day in the saddle. The weather guys couldn't have gotten this day more wrong..Prediction was for rain starting early and lasting all day. Nope, just a warm super-humid, super-sweaty day. Jeff and I enjoyed an enormous shake-down ride incorporating every type of terrain the North Shore has to offer. Pretty rough on the steel hardtails through Mill st with super technical rocky rooty lines. Put the first few scratches in the powder coat of the new bike. Gotta get it over with on the first ride! After punishing our selves for an hour we hit the road for a coastal cruise to the flowing trails of Dogtown. Psyced to pedal to D.T. because I had never made the push all the way to Rockport on the mtb.

The steel bikes shined on these trails. Rocky, technical, flowing, small climbs, scary descents..dogtown was the best trails of the day. We then stretched out da legs a bit on 127 through Gloucester and Manchester over to Ancient Line and pulpit Rock...was awesome to open the legs up with so much road in between the hairy ass sections. By the time we hit up Ancient line we were just flying over the shit. Jeff had some bad luck with his fork locking up early in the day so he aired down his 2.20 Cortez' to get a bit more suspension under him. Good job rocking that ride with 20 mm of fork travel...and not one flat! Huge accomplishment on that ride.
The look of total satisfaction (and cold beer)

Quick review

Took her over to Bradley palmer for 75 minutes of smooth single track. Having a hard time wiping the smile off my face.








Have to make small adjustments; secure rear cable, tweak chain device, adj front derailuer. Made some on the trail adjustments. Cockpit feels spot-on ! Frame is flexible but in a good way, climbs like a billy-goat. Not fully impressed with the el-camino brakes, gave me trouble at Cohutta and today. In Tennessee I had trouble with both master cylinders not retracting after pulling the brakes for 90 miles...and today, while installing the rear wheel with the bike flipped over, one of the rear brake pads fell-out! No big deal on a casual ride but don't want that shit happening in a race. Two strikes Hayes, one to go then these brakes go.




Long, scary screech, (like fingernails down the chalk board screeching) noises from the middle finger of the Bontrager chain device. Noth'in a 3 mm can't handle but initial scraping was a bit alarming, thought the disc was slicing a hole in the frame.

Smack down

I have been slacking in the blog dept lately. It's been a busy week with work and bike related activities - of coarse :).

Wednesday night I rode with the fast group out'a Topsfield - man what a spirited ride! I thought I was in a race, well I guess I was! I prepped my legs Monday and Tuesday by riding conservative recovery rides on the road (30 min each) and went into Wednesday nervous, but knowing the golden legs were beneath me.
The ride started out quick in a paceline of 14 of us. By mile 10 it was on! Full-out, hang on or be dropped! Not knowing these guys or their road routes it was tough to judge where and when to lay it on the line so I played it conservative..or tried to. My strategy was short 20 sec pulls. I did go for a sprint I should have let fizzle - by the time I caught him my heart rate was in the 190's and I was seeing spots.
I liked the smack down! 36 miles of high intesity road riding with some good guys - no hold barred! On this night I held on, I am sure there will be night I am less fortunate.

The Igle-bike is back!!!! yeah yeah yeah!!! Mark at Western Cycle did the final tweeking on my ride yesterday.

and the before shot...

metallic cream soda blue, better than poop rust brown!

reminds me of the paint on my old super 8

The IgleBike is all set for a long epic with Jeff tomorrow. Going to try a new route for the Kahuna, this will be the Super Kahuna! Got just the tires for the Super-K...Kenda Cortez 2.20 super sticky.

Dual Bagger!

Spun s'more miles on my new-to-me road bike this weekend and got a better feel to how she handles and all that. Love the way it rides...just waiting for Brett to call and tell me he has changed his mind and wants his bike back..Not!
Met up with the CCB ride early Saturday morning. Was a smaller group than the past couple of weeks, but still about thirty of us started out of Topsfield. I'm getting familiar with CCB and the way things are done. Some of these guys have ridden with the group for decades so they all know each other well. Then there's me..The out sider.
The first 18 miles were pretty much a warm up and when we hit the river we split into two groups, a long and short. Long today was 65 miles. Thinking of what Jeff was attempting I wanted to go longer than long but 65 had to do for now. I took a quick look as to who was around for the long ride and was pleased to see some familiar faces and knew there would be opportunity for some good efforts up front as I recognized four or five strong riders.
An hour later we were moving along pretty well (I thought) when I heard a bunch of bitching and complaining out of the rear of the group. I was mid-pack and could hear someone three or four guys back making comments like, "is this a group ride or a race"..and , "what's the rush, we got all day." Led me to believe this person was working pretty hard. I still don't have a computer on my bike so I had no idea how hard we were going...but wasn't all that hard. So, out of the fourteen of us this guy was looking for support from his friends to slow the group down. The group did slow but five of us in the group wanted to ride our legs into the ground. Any time the pace increased to where we (the five of us) were happy, moans and complaints flowed up from behind. -That kinda sucked. I thought the five of us should just break away and ride, infact I asked a couple of the guys if they were interested in just that, but the Saturday ride was supposed to be a group ride and no one wanted to break tradition. I don't blame them.
At the end of the ride Neil (large human who has been ripping w CCB for lots of years) told me about the Wednesday night rides and how that should quench my thirst for fast road rides. I've probably just opened a can of whoop ass on myself but we'll see Wednesday night.

On a crappy note, The Topsfield Highland games have been cancelled for unknown reasons. Got the news today from Justin. Sorry Jeff, I know you've been practicing your hammer throw. Maybe we can get everyone together for a kilt cook out and throw hammers there?

But on a better note...this is stupid to mension but worked out perfectly. Lesli and I were driving the Willys around town today. We noticed lots of mowers on the curb...seemed like everyone and their mother was throwing out lawn mowers. (Can u "throw out" a mower?) Anyway, I've been stalling to buy two rear tires for my Ariens ride-on mower and there on the curb with a "free" sign was my exact model - 1980's (safety orange) Ariens mower! Sweet!
The motor was junk but grabbed it for the rear rubber and the best part...it had the dual bagger attachment and electric start! yeah! yeah! I've been push mowing for the past few weeks...not any more baby!

Good out weighs the bad

Take the good with the bad. That's my motto this week. First and foremost our basement is back to it's dry self...so nice to walk around down there in socks and not get soaked. Would not be surprised to see some'more puddles forming on the floor this a.m. b/c is pouring out once again.

I have accepted rain at this point and say, "bring it on!" Just please don't rain on May 28, the date of the best sporting event the North Shore of Boston has to offer! Stay tuned for men in kilts throwing rocks and sticks!

So I said "take the good with the bad" - first the Bad- My new hardtail is at the bottom of the powder coater's pile. It's been three weeks today and the frame continues to be coated with rust and not powder coat! Don't know what's up with this paint shop. I could just freak out and pick it up and give her a rattle-can paint job in my garage. No, I'll try to be more patient but I think there's something going on here that I am not getting.

Now the good news and the reason I say take the good with the bad. I was the lucky bastard to be at the right place at the right time last week. A friend of a friend heard I was riding around on a borrowed road bike that was a couple inches (or few cm) too big. This rich friend (Brett) decided it was time to clean out his garage and kick some gear to a worthy charity...me. Brett you rock!

58 cm '96 Merlin Extralight with Campy Record!
Who needs factory sponsorship with friends like this?

Been out every day this week getting dialed in to my new old school ride. The Campy shifters are my favorite part of this bike. Opposite from shimano so I keep dumping down when I want to push harder but I'll get accustomed to it soon - got no choice - with all the rain the trails are destroyed and oh, yeah - the powder coater is holding my mountain bike for ransom. I cannot complain about much. Just hope I remember how to ride in the woods when and if my Igleheart comes back to me.

got the squirts

We've been working around the clock to rid our basement of flood water but every time I turn around we spring another leak!

Mother's Day, aka, Mother Nature's day

It's astonishing that water continues to fall after 3 days of pouring rain. Just a deluge! Weather guys are talking 12 + plus inches since Friday!

My front yard has been transformed from a grassy field to a four foot deep canal and my basement has a river running through it!

Gus seems to like it.

Thankfully we have a walk-out basement the the water is seeking lower ground out the garage door. Many of our neighbors are totally screwed with a foot or more in their basements with no where for it to escape.

Jeff arrived bright and early for the CWE with trailbike ready to rip but first we made a trip to HD to grab a pump. Like fools we accually thought there would be a supply of sumps waiting to be purchased...nope! People were scrambling around the plumbing dept like ants in a colony buying up every last means to a drier cellar. "lets get outta here and go ride."

Lots of detours on the way home. The mighty Ipswich river had over-flowed its banks in Topsfield and rt 97 was closed...accually just about any road near any river was flooded. We returned to my little piece of hell to discover the river was taking care of it self, draining out the garage. Thankfully Lesli and I thought ahead last week and removed the rugs and all our possessions to higher ground.

Now on to the CWE!

dude! pull up your pants!

We suited up like never before. Four layers starting with my 1mm neoprene scuba dive vest w hood. Never did I think I'd be wearing the chicken suit riding but just made sense considering it was 45 degrees and pouring.

Jeff was clad in four or five layers of pada-gucci and ready to take on mother nature on mother's day.

Would have been great to bring the digi cam, but way too wet for any electronics today. We decided to start close and peddled to Bradley Palmer. Water crossings were ridiculously deep. I knew immediately that the VT would need a total rebuild after today. We were like little kids playing in the water.

BP and Willowdale are a maze of fast fireroads., all about big speed and careening into three and four foot deep rivers. Wish I had a movie camera for one particular crossing...no idea how deep this pond in the middle of the trail was going to be, just held on and crashed it to the water. I was soon up to my handlebars and still peddling...A wave developed in front of my bike and I was still pushing the pedals, the water swelled in front of me and created a wall of water pushing for me. Up to the bars in water still moving toward the other side of the pond! Made it to the other side to stop and watch Jeff splash in and through.

I will not soon forget our CWE...even though turned out to be just over two hours of spinning before I tore off my derailuer hanger. Oh well, didn't make it too far from home but it sure did feel like an epic.

CWE

Cold Wet Epic! - you know your addiction to mountain biking is serious when your psyched to ride 5 hours in the pouring rain. Sunday comes 'round but once a week and you got to roll with what mother nature throws at you.
Got an epic loop in mind to ride some trails that can take the heavy rains with little impact. Should be a ride to remember. (similar to D's birthday ride at Shawnee Peak a few years back) First step in the plan is to ride 10 miles of road out to Manchester to be sure Jeff and I have the correct level of "swamp ass". Mantra of the ride will surely be 'keep it rollin'.

Playing a waiting game with the powder coater. It's been two full weeks since dropping off the Iglebike for some color...Anxiously awaiting the finished product. Hoping I picked a good color.

High Tide

water front property

Too bad I sold my kyak.

no worries about the huge-ass Gas-guzzl'in Dodge 2500, it's my nieghbor's

The forecast does not bode well, rain showers predicted for 8 out of the next ten days. Getting plenty of exercise running all our belongings up stairs while preparing for soggy conditions in our basement.

10-Day Forecast

High /

Low (°F) Precip. %

Today
May 10 Showers 52°/48° 40 %
Thu
May 11 Cloudy 56°/47° 10 %
Fri
May 12 Few Showers 54°/48° 30 %
Sat
May 13 Few Showers 54°/46° 30 %
Sun
May 14 Cloudy 53°/45° 10 %
Mon
May 15 Showers 58°/48° 30 %
Tue
May 16 Showers 63°/49° 30 %
Wed
May 17 Showers 65°/49° 60 %
Thu
May 18 Showers 63°/49° 60 %
Fri
May 19 Showers 62°/49° 60 %
Last Updated May 10 09:11 a.m. ET

Lesson learned

Saturday, 7:30 start
plan was to go hard for two and a half hours on the road then get some yard work done.
MP3 player rock'in for the first time in over a month - lovin the tunes.
2 bottles of HEED on frame, no camel back (trying just bottles as an experiment)
few hammer shots in pocket, along with tools and tubes

8:47 a.m. rolling trough Topsfield, know there's a Large CCB group ride going off at 9:00
Quickly call wife to see what I'd be blowing off if I were to go with them
Smiled as she told me to have fun with the group
Start at way back of pack of fifty riders, talking with everyone
big fun, sun shining, deep blue sky.

17 miles into ride, I'm working hard with guys up front.
not alot of talking, but some.
some Ego's bigger than others,
sprint develops, I go for the sprint and catch it
legs feel strong.

Merrimac River bridge @ mile 18, group breaks up into 3 rides of varied distances
I stick with the veteran CCB guys who have been hammering
There are 12 of us now out for 65 miles of their hilliest route
having a great time, chatting it up and meeting new riders.

plan now changed, new goal today was to put in HUGE effort and see how legs felt at end
pulled the group every chance I got
made some rookie mistakes but nothing dangerous
enjoying the experience of riding with veteran roadies and had respect for them.

20 miles to go, everyone was working
people were being dropped
I had HEED all over my face, hands, and brake levers
this was now a race.

8 riders remaining in paceline
continued to work hard on hills and push pace every chance I got
barely hanging on at some points

roll back into Topsfield and thanked the group for a damn nice ride.
took a quick left on to route 97 and pedal six miles home.
within 2 miles realize I am completely screwed.
legs burning, no liquid remaining - ran out long ago.

limped into my neighborhood
struggled to get in house
made 2 recovery drinks and headed for patio
sat down to stretch legs and drink fluids

slowly moved from stretching position to fetal position
lied on my right side with knees tucked for twenty minutes
head was f'n POUNDING
willing my self to puke, but didn't

why am I this messed up
dummy, you ran out of fluid well over an hour ago
my bottle-only experiment had put a hurt'n on me.
would have worked for a 50 mile spin, didn't expect to do 90 miles.
next time stick to camel back with heed in bottle.

Hump day is history!

Over the Hump! Man I cannot wait for this dreary week to be done. It's gotta get better from here on out! Finished up with a major thorn in my side today at work, but wouldn't be surprised if I am reinvolved in the situation tomorrow. Let's just say everyone should back-up their important docs, data, pics, music, addresses...you know, shit you don't want lost..it's worth the $100 usb or fire-wire external drive!

On a positive note - This could be the year packed with 100 mile races. Gotta go with what feels right and 100 miles of dirt feels soo right! Signed up for the Mohican and will roll out June 2nd (four weeks, woo hoo!) to Ohio with Jeff and a few others for some good times on what sounds like an epic loop.

Kinda lost with out a Hardtail...Igleheart frame went to the powder coater Friday and won't be back for 2-3 weeks :( (just in time for Mohican) :) Waking up and ripping an hour loop through local trails is nothing but pure therapy and is a great way to start any day. Just not the same on a 31 pound fully with 6 inches of travel...not that the weather has cooperated this week...yet.
I can't say enough kind words about Christopher Igleheart. He created this custom ride in just a few weeks. I had a few minor issues with the frame..you can see that I used electrical tape to secure the brake hose from tapping on the top tube for 8 hours durring the cohutta..Christopher silver soldered on another hose mount. I also had some chain suck because of rain and mud, he soldered on mounts for a stainless anti-suck device (nice old-school detail). When I returned after the couple new additions to the frame, I noticed had polished all the stainless details, head badge, seat binder, head tube rings. This guy has got big pride in what he loves to do and does it better than anybody I have seen. You probably can't tell this frame is a work of art because it was such a damn mess in this picture.



The rain up here in Boston has put a damper on riding since Monday but is nothing compared to the torrential down-pours that tore up Iowa and subsequently turned roads and trails to quick sand for the poor bastards competing in Trans Iowa. JB had a good write up with links. I Feel for the people that trained for months only to get shit weather for their efforts.

Congrats Mom and Dad on your new purchase..traded in their camp trailer for a bigger and better version. Glad to see you guys enjoy roughing it on the weekends (yeah right!) with the bare essentials. Lesli and I will be up soon to help break it in!

what does "it " mean?

When I think about great rides, one comes to mind before all others.

Eleven plus hours of ride / hike a bike.

This movie was shot atop Middle Moat and depicts our ride route, looking first to White Horse

Ledge, over the Conway valley toward Kearsage and Cranmore, Black cap and a few others.

As my shakey hand pans right and the movie stops what do you see...?

do you see it??

is that a hard tail? On an EBDB?

who would have ridden that?

That's right... Wraith.

That was EBDB

Can we stop the pissing and RIDE?

Eleven hour weekend

Timing was right this weekend to spend huge hours on the saddle. Saturday morning was all about getting schooled by the over-fifty crowd of CCB. Got a bunch of road pointers and coaching of mostly what not to do on a large group ride. I've said it before but I'll say it again..road is much different than mountain. With road you want to stay close and work as a team...with mountain you want to stay far because you never know when the other guy is going to veer into your path to hit some air. I learned allot in the four hours we were out and look forward to learning more this wednesday on the hammerhead ride.

On to Sunday, and the epic that was almost over before it began. Jeff showed as planned, early and with trail bike. Would have been better if said trail bike was in working order.Fixed up the main pivot on Jeff's NRS but could not overcome the fact that he had no headset race on his newly installed fork...good thing that we started early and had all day to screw around.

Fastforward an hour - Jeff's back from his dash to Medf'a and on his I.F. and I on my dually. We roll out the four miles of pavement on our way to hours of rocky technical single track (what I consider to be Epic Black Diamond Biking)

Once on the trail, tension and stress levels now non-existent. We jump the guard rail at Gordon and flow on the thin dirt ribbon of trail...Snap!

At least we now know that Jeff's carbon rail saddle was not trail-rated...keep 'em on your road bike boys.

Now what? Tension now back..Aggravation growing. Trying to keep cool...do we ride back to my house and repair?

Nope, Barry to the rescue. Brought down a seat on his way to play ball with son Matthew. You da man!

We roll on for hours, problem free from there on out. Jeff got a chance to further acquaint himself with the new steel deluxe, riding some technical trail for the first time.

Sun was shining and temps warming up. Tore up ancient line, G Spot, Res Dog, Red Rock and met up with Barry on the backside of B+T's. Once again Barry proved that he was the man! by bringing lunch for Jeff and I.

Barry just could not help himself to the drops..Broken ribs and all.

Bridge with lots of thorn bushes to fall into if you veer off coarse..Would've been nice to have a helmet cam with sound so you could hear my frightened noises.

Doesn't get better than today, even with the amount of broken parts.