Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Moab Payout and Races



The UPS man brought me a present yesterday in the form of a new EBB.  My payout for pitting at Moab, even if it was only for 8 hours.  The really spiffy part was that it appears that without knowing I have started a company called "Sucka Big Time", which appeared on the "Company" line of the address (its tough to read in the picture below, but trust me its there).  If I'm ever gonna make any money off this company it looks like I'm gonna need to incorporate that and get me some grillz.  I've wanted this new EBB for about a year or so, and finally getting it makes me happy.  I think it will save me around 40 grams or so of weight, which when translated into about 4 kg of "weight I can still carry on my frame because i dropped my bikes weight" leftover college Natty Light I wont have to burn off.  



Big week for the NY vs Philly rivalry with the World Series kicking off tonight.  Good thing I have no motivation to race cross because the final race at Fort Missoula starts at 5:30, and first pitch of the game is at 6:00, giving me the perfect excuse to not even head across town.  However if you are looking for a great cross race this weekend, jam on over to Bozeman for MuleCross.  Those guys know how to put on a good time, and they were smart enough to get an alcohol permit for the day.  Cory is also on the microphone which is a great combination of high end stand up comedy and a ticking time bomb.  

Finally got an email today from Dejay about his most recent evil creation race down in the Old Pueblo.  The race sounds both horribly frightening, extremeley interesting, and full of great singletrack.  I've said it once and I'll say it again, there is no better plan for a mountain biker than Tucson, from November to March.  

Hey Yall,
 So here is an idea that I came up with for an event:
 

 Phase #1
Jan 8th 2010 at Midnight:
 The departure will take place from Prison Camp (Gordan Hirabayashi) on Mt Lemmon, AZ. We will hike with out our bikes through East Fork Trail to Box Camp Trail. Up Box Camp Trail to Box Camp trail head on Catalina Hwy. Here our bikes will be staged,(with some volunteers that I hope to find, if you know anyone have them get in touch with me).
 

 Phase #2
Get on your bike and head up Catalina Hwy, maybe go to Summerhaven for supplies(dependant upon if the restaurant is open). If you can by pass Summerhaven then it is straight to Red Ridge Tr. Down Red Ridge, up the backside of Charlou Gap, then down to Cherry Tank, through 50 Year Tr, all the way to Catalina State Park. Where I hope to have a camp spot reserved, so the night before cars can be parked there and refreshments will be waiting, along with the sign out board, so you and your time can be recorded (if you care).
 

 Phase#3
Only your bike, water bottles on your bike, saddle bag and one gallon of water, can be staged for each person at Box Camp.
 
Sunrise on the 9th= 7:26am
Sunset on the 9th= 5:37pm
Entry Fee= 0 dollars
Prizes= your survival
Donations excepted for refreshment for the finish.(hard goods must be donated by wednesday the 6th).
 

I have arranged a shuttle to drop us and our bikes off($15 dollars per person) It will depart from my house at 10pm Friday night. There is enough room for 14 people and 20 bikes. Let me know if you are on board. I'll need your $$ and give you my address.
 
 Pass this on to those you think would be interested. And let me know if you are in. ASAP.
 

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Thursdays Life Ramblings

It is no secret that I am a big supporter of Niner Bikes.  I ride their frame, am friends with their racing team, and they have taken care of me quite well in the past two years.  In their most recent newsletter, they tell you how at Interbike they gave away a frame to one lucky IMBA supporter.  After viewing the picture from the newsletter, I wished I could have been at Interbike to see this picture being staged.  

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Wicki Wicki, the 2009 24 Hour Duo Mixed National Champion.  Niner should have made that an option, you could either have the frame, or a day on the trail with Rebecca.  I'm doing what I can to get Rebecca to send me an autographed copy of the picture.  

In non bike related news, Big Jonny over at Drunkcyclist once again has reason to celebrate.  His Phillies are back in the World Series for the second straight year.  Jonny was able to convince himself the Phillies won last year because he stable a picture of Billy Penn to a tree in his backyard.  For anyone who has ever been to the City of Brotherly Love, you probably observed that the Philly folks are just plain angry/surly.  And for the most party people from New Jersey are no different, and that might be why Jonny and I get along as well as we do.  As a New York Giants fan, one of my passions in life is giving Eagles fans (or just people from Philly) as much grief as possible.  Below is the email exchange we had today:

Big Man, 

A big congrats to the Phillies, the city of Philly, and you.  I just want you to remember that even if the Phillies do win their second world series in two years, the Eagles are probably still fucked.  When you can only put up three field goals on Pun's Raiders, got rid of Jeff Garcia but kept Kevin KolbMichael Vick is 1 for 5, you have to resign guys you already released once, and Brian Dawkins who you didnt want to resign this off season has turned the Broncos into a defensive power house, bad things are always around the bend.  Remember last year a week after the Phillies won the series, you wouldnt have had any clue that had happened, because the following Monday morning every Eagles fan was ready to jump off of the Billy Penn statue because they lost game.  So go on home suck down all the vitamin Y you can find, make a cheesesteak that is just loaded to the gills with cheeze whiz, and enjoy it. 

Jonny's response:

Don't ever change, man!
jonny


That just goes to show that any friendship that is based on a case of malt liquor wagered every year on a football game, is one that has the strength to keep going and going.  I'm sure that later in the year if the Giants get lit up by the Eagles, I will have a taunting email from Jonny waiting in my inbox. 

If you weren't already convinced that LA is full of a bunch of d-bags, check out this story over at 
VeloSnooze   Lets forgot the fact that guy on trial is a doctor, as a plain old human being, what sort of circuits do you have to be missing upstairs to think that the best way to teach someone a lesson about cycling on the road is to slam on your brakes with the intention of injuring them?  Maybe his sentance should be doubled, just to "teach him a lesson"  


Don't you forget about Rolling Thunder/Greased Lightning this weekend.  Missoula is the place to be, and I think that this year we are going to show Portland that they can have their brakeless fixies, skinny jeans, and emo haircuts, because Missoula will be challenging for supremacy for Northwest Cross Racing dominance.  If youre not excited, check out the links below, they will get the blood flowing back to your noggin.   

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Rolling Thunder

ROLLING THUNDER IS THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!  Missoula, Montana is where the greatest cyclocross race the Big Sky has ever seen will be going down.  Mr. MTCX has put together a full weekend of racing and fun, and the Montana cycling community is rallying around him to make this a memorable weekend.  Between racing, heckling, and a Michael Jackson tribute, the fun should never stop.  Head on over to the site, and make you sure you will have everything you need for the weekend.  

Thursday, October 15, 2009

News/Things

Most of you know that Cross season has descended upon cyclists like a roaring avalanche coming down the mountain.  For you folks up in the Mountain Northwest the next two weekends play host to two top notch cyclocross races, which will in the future blow up.  Attend now, and in the years to come you will be able to start sentences with "I remeber back in first couple years of the race..."  The two races I speak of are Moose Cross down in Victor, ID and Rolling Thunder/Greased Lightning in Missoula, MT.

Moose Cross is taking place this weekend, and despite only being in its second year, the race is taking off.  The fine folks have already moved from the one day format to a two day set up, and from everything you see on the site it looks like they have stepped up their game to an ungodly high level.  Last year I headed down and raced the day away with various members of the Mule Crew, the course was great, and all I'm going to add is that across the street from the course was a brewery.  This year it looks like folks from Bozeman and Helena will be making the trip for the race.  I personally think I will retire from racing at Moose Cross, so I can have the stellar statistic of one race, one victory.  Instead it looks like I'll be on the microphone, helping out with the MC duties.  

Rolling Thunder/Greased Lightning is next weekend, and if you haven't heard of this race yet, I would advice taking a deep breath and taking your head out of your ass.  Mr. MTCX loves cross more than anyone I've ever met, and just knows how to do things right, no ifs ands or buts about it.  If you make the trip to Missoula, you will not be disappointed, its that simple.  

One the mountain bike side of things, it looks like "The Race Across the Sky" documentary will be showing at hundreds of theaters across the country on October 22 (Thursday).  At this years Leadville 1oo a bunch of video was taken of Lance (with the aid of a couple extra late addition worker bees) spanking the rest of the field.  I caught a glimpse of the trailer, and it looks like it is pretty high quality documentary.  Here is a link to the pdf file which shows what theaters will be showing the film.  As far as MT goes it looks like only Helena and Bozeman will be showing it, which pisses me off.  How does Missoula not get this movie playing at the Wilma?

Finally, this week, the news came down about the death of Frank Vandenbrouke being found dead.  It seems like the most recent chapter in the book of tortured European cyclists who seemingly being a product of the doping era of cycling having their lives fall into a tailspin and not being able to get the proper aid needed to get back on the right track.  I'd love to provide some insight, but I don't really know what more to add that has already been said by others.  Snake Hawk over at Drunkcyclist wrote a great post, well worth the couple minutes of reading time (FYI: adult language).  So if you haven't already done so, raise a glass to VDB, and let the ones who really matter to you, know that they do.  

Monday, October 12, 2009

Moab Reports

The 2009 24 Hours of Moab is officially in the books, and this is the recap.  We headed out to the venue on Friday for some final camp setup and bike work.  While heading out to the expo area, Dejay and self bump into none other than Pipo Grove who was down for the weekend to race for the Hammer Nutrition Team.  Once all is taken care of on site, we headed back to town so Dejay could rest and I could view rocks on the road bike.  I convinced the lady at the entrance of Arches National Park to let me into the park to ride the first climb and get a picture of the Moab Fault.  Since I was back in less than 30 minutes, I got my five bucks back from her.  Once the ride was done, I headed back to the hotel to get some rest.  

Saturday morning meant race time, so after dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, I stood near Dejay's bike, so he would know where to go at the end of the run.  The race gets underway, and I settle in the boring role of pit crew, which is tougher than racing.  Making sure food is ready, bottles are filed, spare bikes are prepped, keeping track of lap times, watching racers go by, and every now and again shooting the breeze with other racers or pit folks.  Dejay's race went from good to bad when his back decided not to cooperate, and after six laps he choose to not risk his back and call it a race.  I was bummed, but until I got off and win myself multiple national championships and a world championships, I can't really force him to do anything race related.  So with no more pit responsibilities, I was able to hang out at other friends tent's, drink beer, enjoy the race stress free, and get some sleep.  

In the end, the Rebecca and Dax took the co-ed duo class (third overall for the duo class), Jake and the New Belgium folk took second in the five person co-ed class, and the Hammer crew helf off the Honey Stinger gang for second in the four man pro team.  After waiting way to long for the award ceremony to start, jerseys and medals were given out, and camp was packed up.  Jake joined me for the trip to the Front Range, and I got hooked up with a place to stay in Golden with Fast Eddy.  Looks like things are nice and cold up in MT for those cross racers, and I bet in a week or so, I will be getting back home, thankfull I have spent the past three weeks growing out my beard to keep me warm.  Enjoy the pictures.  


Moab Fault display in Arches National Park


Top of the first climb on the course


Sticking your tongue out at me guarantees a national championship jersey.


Rebecca and Dejay on course


Rebecca Rusch comes through solo row, that is one fast woman.


Night laps start, and this is all I would see for a while


Rebecca and Dejay post race


Hammer Nutrition Team (Pipo Grove, Dustin ???, Ben Parsons, and Matt Butterfield) getting their medals

Rebecca and Dax on the podium with their new jerseys

Your 2009 24 Hour Mix Duo National Champions

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Arizona and Utah

Here is the quick and dirty on the travels for the past five days or so:

- Grants, NM to Phoenix, AZ for a visit with Scooby and quick ride 
- Octoberfest and football with Deegs in Tempe
- Beer and life talk with Flemming in Tucson
- Nicos burritos and 24 of Moab prep with Dejay and Rebecca
- More football and catch up with Michael
- Easy ride around Tucson with Dejay
- Running errands in Tucson
- Happy hour and catch up with Baldyga
- Tucson to Flag with stop on Scooby's couch, and drive through Sedona
- Geophysics talk at NAU
- GREAT MTB ride in Flagstaff on borrowed handmade steel bike (everything anyone says about the great riding in Flagstaff is TRUE)
- Pay and Take
- Meet up with Dejay and Rebecca, travel to Moab through Monument Valley
- Set up camp at course
- Pre-ride Moab coarse

Pictures in no particular order:

Moab course, I could see nice cross beds in the outcrop, but there wasnt enough time to invegstigate.

Plenty of sand in the desert

Monument Valley

No caption needed

Gnarly descent on the course, we walked this part

Our shadows and the La Sal peaks

Beginnings of 24 hour town 

Riding in Flagstaff

Borrows bike (thanks to Brycycle of AZ Bikes in  Flag)


Red rocks of Sedona

Friday, October 2, 2009

From East to West

Since the last post I made my way from Asheville, NC to Grants, NM.  Highlights along the way included bluegrass, beer, and bbq in Nashville, being pleasantly surprised by Knoxville, tasty biscuits and gravy, lots of clouds in Arkansas, stopping in Okemah, OK to walk around Woody Guthrie's hometown, and spending an afternoon in Santa Fe, NM.  Santa Fe and Nashville were great towns to spend time in for different reasons.  Hope you like the pictures, tomorrow I'm headed to Phoenix to meet up with Deegsy for an Octoberfest, I hope he still can't outdrink a water buffalo.


Riding back into Santa Fe, the city that just blends in to the landscape

The road up toward the ski area

Native American jewlery on sale in downtown

A cathedral that I went inside, and wasnt struck by lightning

Quite the balancing act

A van full of Canadian cyclists I passed

Mural in Okemah