Somehow I managed to have the most mileage in the MVBC this year. My hat's off to Lyle for putting in 76 rides this year (to my 54). We were separated by less than 100 miles.
Not sure if I can pull this off again next year! Go Lyle go!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 01, 2008
Overheard...
If Jens Voigt was a country, his principle exports would be Pain, Suffering, and Agony.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Bever Fever Duathlon
Flo, Connie and I participated in the Bever Fever Duathlon as Team Pacific Power. Flo & Connie were the runners and I was the cyclist. The 18-mile loop is one of my favorites, the Decker loop. It was 34F when we left the house and I was worried it would be too cold or foggy up on Decker ridge. Turns out the weather was just right.
Most of the cyclists had taken off before I took to the road. Didn't get a chance to warm up, but I was firing on all cyclinders once I hit Fern road. Riding the Cervelo, I caught a load of cyclists and managed to avoid being passed. (Passed a few Cervelos too. ;-)
I wore one of those Casteli wool base layers that Coach Sandy picked up for me. Perfect! At the start of the ride I abandonded the jacket and went with a windbreaker and arm-warmers...
Had a good time -- thanks to Flo for coaxing me out. I even won a gift certificate for the Corvallis Cyclery! Woo-hoo!
Most of the cyclists had taken off before I took to the road. Didn't get a chance to warm up, but I was firing on all cyclinders once I hit Fern road. Riding the Cervelo, I caught a load of cyclists and managed to avoid being passed. (Passed a few Cervelos too. ;-)
I wore one of those Casteli wool base layers that Coach Sandy picked up for me. Perfect! At the start of the ride I abandonded the jacket and went with a windbreaker and arm-warmers...
Had a good time -- thanks to Flo for coaxing me out. I even won a gift certificate for the Corvallis Cyclery! Woo-hoo!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Fork Recall
My Cervelo SLC is in the shop waiting for a new 3T fork. Seems that the Wolf SL fork has been recalled by Cervelo. Interestingly, the manufacturer, True Temper, is not participating. (WTF?) (Luckily I didn't have an incident at RAO -- that could have been messy at night or day!)
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Monday, August 04, 2008
Shasta Camp 2008
The smoke from the California fires is clearly visible from Mt. Shasta (city). Most people I talked to were in denial that the air was sort of, well, bad. (Most often heard quote -- "it's better than it was yesterday.")
Shasta Camp 2008
Al and Mark, preparing to get underway on the Mt. Shasta Century. (Note: The second new chain held up!)
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Mt. Shasta Camp
I'm at the AdventureCorps Shasta Camp. It's been a little smokey from the fact that most of CA is on fire. We've been lucky and had fairly good air for the last couple of days.
Seems I'm one of the few that came with standard gearing. Others have compact cranksets and cogs as big as my wheels -- and rightfully so. Going up Mumbo, there's a stretch of road at 12-13% that's in-your-face!
On the climb to Castle Lake, my chain started to check out. The Base Camp shop installed a new one, but it broke 4 miles into my next ride, on the first real hill. The powerlink checked out. The group left me to my own devices and I couldn't raise anyone on the cell phone. Fortunately I found that I could coast most of the way to town, except for the part where I walked though a construction site on an I-5 overpass.
I have another new chain. They used a master-link this time instead of the crazy "special" pin. I suspect Tulio is punishing me for riding ShimaNO. (Sorry, but I'm a Campy guy.) Interestingly enough, the bike shop told me these Ultegra chains as good for only 500 miles. (WTF, over). That's 5 rides for me. I'll try a SRAM chain next time, thank you.
Chris Kostman puts on a first class event. His SO, Elizabeth Jefferson, leads Yoga-for-cyclists every afternoon after cycling. I'm afraid I'm the "reference implementation" of a non-Yoga person. (I couldn't configure myself for some of those poses.)
I rode my Ritchey Breakaway at this camp. It more than holds its own. Part of this test was to see whether I would want to take the BAB to the 508 this year. It's a really good fast bike. But I think I will take the Cervelo Soloist. ;-)
Seems I'm one of the few that came with standard gearing. Others have compact cranksets and cogs as big as my wheels -- and rightfully so. Going up Mumbo, there's a stretch of road at 12-13% that's in-your-face!
On the climb to Castle Lake, my chain started to check out. The Base Camp shop installed a new one, but it broke 4 miles into my next ride, on the first real hill. The powerlink checked out. The group left me to my own devices and I couldn't raise anyone on the cell phone. Fortunately I found that I could coast most of the way to town, except for the part where I walked though a construction site on an I-5 overpass.
I have another new chain. They used a master-link this time instead of the crazy "special" pin. I suspect Tulio is punishing me for riding ShimaNO. (Sorry, but I'm a Campy guy.) Interestingly enough, the bike shop told me these Ultegra chains as good for only 500 miles. (WTF, over). That's 5 rides for me. I'll try a SRAM chain next time, thank you.
Chris Kostman puts on a first class event. His SO, Elizabeth Jefferson, leads Yoga-for-cyclists every afternoon after cycling. I'm afraid I'm the "reference implementation" of a non-Yoga person. (I couldn't configure myself for some of those poses.)
I rode my Ritchey Breakaway at this camp. It more than holds its own. Part of this test was to see whether I would want to take the BAB to the 508 this year. It's a really good fast bike. But I think I will take the Cervelo Soloist. ;-)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
RAO 50+ relay team: first place & course record
John Maurice and I participated in RAO this last weekend as a two-man 50+ team. We managed to finish officially, coming in first place. OK, we were the only ones in our division -- but we did beat the course record by 9 minutes! We covered the 536 mile course in about 36 hours... See http://www.raceacrossoregon.com.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
107 in 102
I was the only taker today for the MVBC Marcola Century. Others went short because it was going to be "hot". And that it was. It reached 102 on my ride.
Came across some riders from Eugene at the Mohawk store. They couldn't tell me where they've been or where they were going! Seems they were playing "follow the leader". (Not so good if you get dropped and stray off course!)
Had a flat on the way to the Beanery, our meeting place. A small chunk of rock had penetrated the casing on my front tire. I'm going to replace the tires anyway; they're a bit worn...
Came across some riders from Eugene at the Mohawk store. They couldn't tell me where they've been or where they were going! Seems they were playing "follow the leader". (Not so good if you get dropped and stray off course!)
Had a flat on the way to the Beanery, our meeting place. A small chunk of rock had penetrated the casing on my front tire. I'm going to replace the tires anyway; they're a bit worn...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Return of the Breakaway
I assembled my Ritchey Breakaway last night. It sat in its travel case since our trip to Phoenix/Sierra Vista a couple of years ago. Great bike -- rode well. I had no trouble shifting STI considering that I'm a Campy guy.
Took it out for a Decker loop. Practiced doing leg presses on the climb and making the "expensive" (left) leg do its share of the work in pedaling.
Sure is a nicer ride than the Air Friday I used to have. The AF is a fine bike, but the Ritchey is in its own class IMHO.
Took it out for a Decker loop. Practiced doing leg presses on the climb and making the "expensive" (left) leg do its share of the work in pedaling.
Sure is a nicer ride than the Air Friday I used to have. The AF is a fine bike, but the Ritchey is in its own class IMHO.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Kings Valley + Albany + Brownsville
Rode 101 miles, mostly on my own after leaving the group in KV. Rode the Cervelo and got some valuable time on the TT bars. Came across an old friend, Don, on Springhill Rd and merged with the Strawberry Century riders on the 70 mile route. Stopped at the nice Shedd store and had a "custom" turkey sandwich -- highly recommended.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
10 year anniversary
It's been 10 years this week since I got smacked by a car in a record attempt across Mississippi, which took a long time to recover from. I'll spare you the story....
This just in...
Hello and congratulations!
You have been selected to compete in the 25th Anniversary Furnace Creek 508 on October 4-6, 2008, “the toughest 48 hours in sport.” You are part of a select group who will participate in this world-famous spiritual odyssey through Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. We look forward to sharing the experience with you!
Woo-hoo!
This just in...
Hello and congratulations!
You have been selected to compete in the 25th Anniversary Furnace Creek 508 on October 4-6, 2008, “the toughest 48 hours in sport.” You are part of a select group who will participate in this world-famous spiritual odyssey through Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. We look forward to sharing the experience with you!
Woo-hoo!
TT tomorrow
My blog has gone "dark" for a while -- I've been extremely busy at work and teaching three classes for LBCC. *However*, I have been riding.
A friend of mine told me that "I'm not a better climber, just stronger." Probably so. I do have a little evidence that I'm a little rough on the drivetrain -- I broke my 12-tooth cog on the Saturday ride. The blasted thing was skipping all over the place and I thought it was the chain the whole time. Not a broken tooth, but a clean break around the circumference. (Most likely it was simply a defective cog.)
Two years ago I broke a cassette body -- split clean along one of the splines. Perhaps this 10-speed stuff isn't so durable after all....
Tomorrow I'm off to my first race as a member of WVCT/Pacific Power... a solo TT in Coburg.
A friend of mine told me that "I'm not a better climber, just stronger." Probably so. I do have a little evidence that I'm a little rough on the drivetrain -- I broke my 12-tooth cog on the Saturday ride. The blasted thing was skipping all over the place and I thought it was the chain the whole time. Not a broken tooth, but a clean break around the circumference. (Most likely it was simply a defective cog.)
Two years ago I broke a cassette body -- split clean along one of the splines. Perhaps this 10-speed stuff isn't so durable after all....
Tomorrow I'm off to my first race as a member of WVCT/Pacific Power... a solo TT in Coburg.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Furnace Creek 508 - two-man team in 2008
If Malamute and I can get in, we're going to race the 508 as Team Tibia. We're bringing back Team Tibia! (We were part of a 4-man team in 1999.)
Why the bit about "Tibia"? Three members of our old team had suffered broken left legs from accidents. Malamute and I both had car-bike collisions in 1998 and met on the internet to stage a "comeback".
It'll be great to be back on the 508 course, participating in yet another category! This will be my third 508...
-- Nutria
Why the bit about "Tibia"? Three members of our old team had suffered broken left legs from accidents. Malamute and I both had car-bike collisions in 1998 and met on the internet to stage a "comeback".
It'll be great to be back on the 508 course, participating in yet another category! This will be my third 508...
-- Nutria
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