tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83273095099230844702024-03-13T03:49:01.540-04:00The Bike and MOREDarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-18646876352902420852012-02-15T17:56:00.003-05:002012-02-16T10:23:54.639-05:00Lewisburg July 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426749_10150566791891382_690281381_8813668_590474186_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426749_10150566791891382_690281381_8813668_590474186_n.jpg" width="190" /></a><span id="internal-source-marker_0.3329089863691479" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3329089863691479" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 1</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sara and I were in Lewisburg for her friend Kendra’s wedding. I had planned to make this into a mini bike camp. The first day, while Sara was doing bridesmaid stuff, I went out for a long ride. I had wanted to do a ride that was four times over the ridge near Lewisburg for a while, and I was finally able to do it. I ended up having to do some detours because of bridge work. The climb up rt. 234 is a pretty good one, reminding me of a little steeper Blue Ridge Parkway. Once you get to the top, going down the other side is pretty st</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-auto; white-space: pre-wrap;">raight, so you’re able to get up to about 50 mph and moderate your speed by how much you get out of your tuck. On the way back, I decided to go off my original cue, and I ended up taking the Moots on a number of dirt roads. By the time I got back, I had done 10 miles more than I’d originally planned, with the total mileage of the day being 75-80? and having ridden 5 hours. One thing I have noticed with my rides out there is that it’s good to keep loose change with you. I actually never did a true rest stop, but instead used vending machines at a firehouse and a veterinarian place I’d seen before. It was good that I could get liquids, but I couldn’t get water, so I usually got tea. This ride was the downfall of my season. I think I just kind of hit a wall and had had enough. It changed my motivation to ride at the mini bike camp after all.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-auto; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 2</span><br />
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After doing the ride on Day 1, I almost didn’t want to ride on Day 2, but it was to be a mountain bike ride, </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">which a</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">lways seems more fun than road biking. I just thought I’d go ahead and make it happen. I went over to Danville to ride the Tour de Tykes race course. When I got to the place, I realized that I’d forgotten to bring the map that I’d made. Luckily, there were some guys about to start a ride, so I decided to tag along with them. It was cool to ride with some people who knew the trails, and it was an added bonus that my fitness was actually pretty good despite my low motivation levels. Although I was a newcomer, I ended up riding in front a couple of times. The trails for Tour de Tykes are a cross between Schaeffer and Fountainhead, but a lot steeper. The downhills were fun, but I was noticing I had some gotcha moments with my handlebars because there are some tight spots among the pine trees. After riding for a while with me, the people I met all needed to get back to their families. I continued on my own to do the west side, which we hadn’t covered. One of the bummers was that the expert course at Tour de Tykes, which I’d planned to do, goes through a good amount of private property. It’s open on race day, but you’re not supposed to ride on it at other times. I might have gone ahead and ridden on it anyway, but I didn’t have a map to even find the trail. On the west side, there is a nice downhill that leads you into an old graveyard in the middle of the woods. They had some signage there, so I checked it out, took a break, and enjoyed myself in nature. The trail dropped me off by my car, and with the motivation not so high and no one to ride with me, I decided to just bag it and not do another lap of the trails alone. I did like the trails there, although they were not as long as I thought they would be. I would still like to do the Tour de Tykes so that I can see the whole trail system. </span></div><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 3</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After going out to Boulder last summer and getting to ride with Rob out in his domain, I had been looking forward to riding with him in Lewisburg. I don’t believe he’d ridden there previously, even though he’d visited a number of times with his wife (Sara’s friend Christie). To make this ride happen, my friend Ian from DCMTB lent me his second road bike, which is actually pretty sweet, it being a Lightspeed bike with full Dura-Ace. It was the same size as Rob’s bike, which worked well. I decided to take Rob on a route that first went east of Lewisburg. I was interested to see how Rob would do with more East Coast climbs (shorter and steeper, compared to those he’s used to out in the Rockies—really long and very gradual). The unfortunate thing is that Rob had had reconstructive surgery on his knee, so he was not 100%. He was a trooper, though, to do the ride at all. We did the Tower Road , which is a pretty steep little climb, and then we had a nice downhill into Northumberland. We went across the river again and worked our way back to where Christie’s parents live and took supple mill over another steep little climb. Once back at the Clements’ house, we got to enjoy a nice swim in the pool. I don’t think that I would have gone for a ride that day if I wasn’t planning to ride with Rob, so it was pretty good that I rode with him. The rest of the weekend, we had fun attending the rehearsal, dinner, wedding, and farewell brunch (while also celebrating July 4</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 9px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!).</span></span> </div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-53324699273610170752012-02-02T07:23:00.001-05:002012-02-02T07:23:47.219-05:0012 Hours of Cranky Monkey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOIfbgSWFOM0AnLuviQT9maAnmBzQ0Vn9E8-cetAoZ4V9APW2GGxZ3XAiqT_mcFUrJP817DmOcfdv6GJ0SDCaEh4YZQ0x7P6iDpJj7x-gFwasb1QnDpC8ScyjVMaH9gNO7UxSKub4rrg/s1600/IMAG0086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOIfbgSWFOM0AnLuviQT9maAnmBzQ0Vn9E8-cetAoZ4V9APW2GGxZ3XAiqT_mcFUrJP817DmOcfdv6GJ0SDCaEh4YZQ0x7P6iDpJj7x-gFwasb1QnDpC8ScyjVMaH9gNO7UxSKub4rrg/s640/IMAG0086.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpzVJngL2WKLZbktJFONtuKx6DPkHrQr05B-DIZY9DYYXTRWhf9zoZJws61-inVtZvRSotm02skTdXZbOh7MsB22JYNqNHoKmULf8FsiVQSsfgrIODwxsdUX0wqqL-FJA1pneX1HtoyE/s1600/IMAG0091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpzVJngL2WKLZbktJFONtuKx6DPkHrQr05B-DIZY9DYYXTRWhf9zoZJws61-inVtZvRSotm02skTdXZbOh7MsB22JYNqNHoKmULf8FsiVQSsfgrIODwxsdUX0wqqL-FJA1pneX1HtoyE/s320/IMAG0091.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7363865752704442" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I did this race with Mike K and Jonathan W. Since I had been running a little bit in the spring, it was decided that I had to do the dreaded first lap with the run. The race started out fine. I can run, but I’m not a sprinter, so I didn’t actually gain anything in the run itself. Once on course, I was able to keep a steady rhythm, and I came in at a respectable time for Mike to go out for a lap. Jonathan went last and busted out a smoking lap, putting us in the lead of the three man 35+ division. We then continued to do consistent laps, finding that we actually could win the race without my going out for a final lap. As usual, Mike K would have none of it, giving me the guilt trip and saying that I had to go do another lap. So I went out and did a final lap at an easy pace, but you really can’t go that slowly, because there are hills you have to get up. In the end, we won the three man 35+ class, and our compatriots got second place in the three man 40+ division and first place in the open division. Our team (Mature but not Old) actually got the most laps in time of the race. With my lap times of 53:21, 53:05, 53:00 , I was really happy that even though I wasn’t sometimes as fast as Jonathan on the team, I was consistently getting negative splits every lap. </span></b></div></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-63571163273918194132012-01-22T08:31:00.003-05:002012-01-22T11:47:54.004-05:00Mountains of Misery 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBd-8hjkkab27vqTgvDicgTqmTWGgjJKO5pQDo_hUxk0QSjGi8YC1wSg-Qd8uTcIVo7yZF6NGRjPv6ZBril7j9s4Dahcn3MtVLTnL-V02Frj4_0MpgavrVVnXWEQpyxlpt31WZIyh9WWA/s1600/IMAG0051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBd-8hjkkab27vqTgvDicgTqmTWGgjJKO5pQDo_hUxk0QSjGi8YC1wSg-Qd8uTcIVo7yZF6NGRjPv6ZBril7j9s4Dahcn3MtVLTnL-V02Frj4_0MpgavrVVnXWEQpyxlpt31WZIyh9WWA/s640/IMAG0051.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.822617003461346" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></b></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.822617003461346" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year I decided to do Mountains of Misery instead of the IMBA Mountain Bike Festival, which I’ve done for the last five or six years over Memorial Day Weekend. A bunch of my PPTC friends do Mountains of Misery annually as one of their challenge rides. Mountains of Misery is not a race, but it is a timed event, so you get a chip and an official time. This year, they decided to do waves, so you didn’t know who you were going to end up riding with at the beginning of the event. Because this is a road event, to actually get a good time, you would need to be with a good group of people that you can draft with. Since this was my first time doing the event, I had no pressure on myself, so I could just enjoy it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we were the third wave of riders to go off, and I was in a huge line of drafting with Chris, Jonathan, and Rudy. There were some fools taking huge pulls for no apparent reasons, but I was like fine…if they’re willing to do that, I will just stay behind them. I didn’t waste much energy until finally we got to the big downhill. The downhill was a little sketchy because I had never done it, and I was with a pretty big group of people who weren’t always taking the best lines. Rudy had charged off to the front for what I thought was no apparent reason, but he knew the hill was coming so he got to the front so he could choose his lines and get down the mountain pretty quickly. After the downhill, there was a rest stop, which we passed, and at that point we got a good group of people I could see myself riding with for a lot of the day. We started doing some smaller country roads that had kind of stepped hills, which is more my kind of terrain, and I was gapping the group I was with. I decided to pull back, though, and save my energy for the end. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rudy got a flat, so I said I’d wait for him since I had no time to beat from previous years. He fixed his tire, and the sag came by, which was great because I was able to refill my water bottles. Rudy was pretty pissed off since this took off about four to five minutes, which would be hard to make up. Once we got going again, we hooked up with three other guys and we were going along at a pretty good pace. Rudy was falling off the pace a little bit and waived us on. We started going downhill toward one of the big climbs of the ride. I decided to push it a little bit with the guys, staying with them until the base of the climb and then assuming everyone would do their own pace up it. </span><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.822617003461346" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px;"> John's Creek Mountain</span> is actually a pretty good one for me, since it’s around three miles and varies in pitch. I pushed it up the climb and took a pit stop. I think this was crucial in my overall time, because since I had gotten the water from the sag wagon and brought my own food, I had not stopped at a rest stop and had an official break. The rest stop girl thought I was a little crazy because I was one of the only person to eat the pickles, but I have found that pickles do me right on this kind of event. I continued to then ride the next forty miles by myself. I think what helped me was having done the SM100 and other long-distance mountain bike races. Through them I learned to ride at a high pace even by myself.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hardest Climb I’ve Ever Done-</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px;">Mountain Lake</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since I had my Garmin, I was could see I was doing consistent riding at pitches of 14 to 15 percent. The climb started off ok, although the heat was starting to get bad at around 90. It then just turned into a grudge match of me against my pedals. I kept thinking I was going to have to get off the bike and either push the bike or take a breather. There is a reason that this climb was in the old Tour DuPont—it really is pro-level. The people cheering from the roadside was great but also frustrating because I was going around 3 mph. I did love the wet towels on the neck—great relief. I finally got to the finish line happy to be done. The food afterwards was great, but I couldn’t eat too much having put out so much effort and just nibbled at a hamburger and had a Coke. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Final Note</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m actually really proud of that ride considering my body weight(in the 190s) and how big the climb at the end was. </span></span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.822617003461346" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ride Time: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">6:07:46</span></span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.822617003461346" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; vertical-align: baseline;">2nd, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Age35-39</span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.822617003461346" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; vertical-align: baseline;">17th Male</span></span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.822617003461346" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri; vertical-align: baseline;">18th<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Overall</span></span></div></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-67783543605978944972011-09-29T08:04:00.001-04:002011-10-03T11:49:16.216-04:00J. Bishop Grand Fondo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This was a beast of a ride, I have done rides with more Climbing, but this thing had 3 really hard climbs. The First was Rt. 33 VA to WV, not my kind of climb consistent 6-8% pitch that keep going up and up. The Downhill was super fun though. The second dirt climb I was totally at my limit, and going up 14 and even 16% pitches. I was better here since I could use more of my power, and the grade was not constant. The 3rd climb was not that bad, but Reddish was a tough one. Alot of people had issues cause the climb was a dirt rough road climb. My issue was that it was just so long, my body has a hard time climbing for more then 2mile sections(I was going 3.0mph at one point). Nice ride Got to do it with Matt Donahue, and Jonathan Wheaton. At the end of the ride I did the last 15 miles with Jonathan and Chris my PPTC friends. Thinking I might do it next year as well.</div><iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/rides/1796340/embed/aa1cc898f30094ee9102992bae7972eb57841936'></iframe>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-46936985115115429922011-09-18T06:37:00.000-04:002011-09-18T06:37:16.533-04:00DirtyBurg Extended<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Great race Prep for Iron CX, 65 miles with only 7-8 miles of road. Right now after the big rains we have hadm the Gravel is not as it was in the spring.<br />
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</div><iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/rides/1663718/embed/c35aabc8ff1052ceda6f515388e5ba05b898f729'></iframe>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-30524577232635671532011-08-22T13:32:00.000-04:002011-08-22T13:32:42.142-04:00Rattlin 50 a tale of two races.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKM2y7SWVMLi6wR2lzdXOIjah6vK5-qy048KRnVc-Z4T5sIkQyFNqW-9zjmYPk_XEThb9XwUYh6P-rq03MHCobsJoWgY0l6qRRU93loAvcte_J2ypZl8FXG7be_tXYqSqVa_sJYlFCNE/s1600/IMAG0171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKM2y7SWVMLi6wR2lzdXOIjah6vK5-qy048KRnVc-Z4T5sIkQyFNqW-9zjmYPk_XEThb9XwUYh6P-rq03MHCobsJoWgY0l6qRRU93loAvcte_J2ypZl8FXG7be_tXYqSqVa_sJYlFCNE/s640/IMAG0171.jpg" width="640" /></a><b><i>Short story</i></b><br />
Pretty solid ride for the first 40miles...UNTIL my rear derailleur broke. Until the end Single Speed with a max speed of 7.5mph. Fine for the trails but too slow for the fireroads towards the end.<br />
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<b><i>More detailed view:</i></b><br />
The race is a pretty good one. It is also very different compared to other endurance races I have done. There is not as much climbing, but there was plenty of points in the race where you needed your power to get through the rocks.<br />
The race starts out with a 2.5 mile climb, but after that you never climb anything else that is more then 8%. The race includes some really Technical Shed/Gambril like trails, and with some fun super tight single track with mountain shrubs(maybe mt. laural?) giving you only 2 ft of trail up to your top tube. I was happy to just "ride" steady at this race. I had some issues where I couldn't actually go full out, cause I had to make sure I could get through the many rock gardens. The Rocks for the most part are actually setup pretty well so you can ride them. There were about 5-6 times I got off my bike, cause I dabbed and just walked through that rock section. Since the race was not the usual Fire road up and then Single track downhill, you had to be on the gas when you could, but this meant being on the gas through real singletrack. So you had a good amount of spinning. There were some Dirt roads, and grass tracks as well. I actually didn't find those that annoying since you spent some upperbody/core energy on the single track. So the Fire roads and grass double tracks were good to regroup on. I had some good back and forth with some folks, but once my derailleur busted that part of the race was done.<br />
<b><i>Broken Derailleur</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOg8cLzi4GA4jTjyKu2zPkPkXOz_PZNAoamKhn3pPj2Go04N8mLzhgWbDs2ZpIffAYgmJcSoG8fQi4iP1L2uWoAskIsQtrmdQa1G3bmHHqeZbuRENwsJewYJTdSGvxQjsWkKhuDaXaWQ/s1600/IMAG0173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOg8cLzi4GA4jTjyKu2zPkPkXOz_PZNAoamKhn3pPj2Go04N8mLzhgWbDs2ZpIffAYgmJcSoG8fQi4iP1L2uWoAskIsQtrmdQa1G3bmHHqeZbuRENwsJewYJTdSGvxQjsWkKhuDaXaWQ/s320/IMAG0173.jpg" width="320" /></a>What makes this annoying was that I had a derailleur hanger, but these new XT mechs have a piece that is suppose to break off, and I guess you are to have the replacement for that too. After I made my bike a SS I could only go 7.5 miles an hour. I was just trying to get the ride done at this point. If I could have set it up with a little bigger gear that would of helped. Taking what I had done, I kept the same avg. speed to the finish I think I would have done a 5:15 hour time. Well here are the stats:<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="http://app.strava.com/rides/1329716/embed/2486ae56d59a3a1b00efabd2ac9c399cb0e163f4" width="590"></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="http://app.strava.com/rides/1329715/embed/1b086d61787253e11caec3ffac6a5d641f1c9967" width="590"></iframe><br />
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</div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-11264976835553218602011-07-05T11:47:00.002-04:002011-07-05T11:48:48.892-04:009 hours of Cranky Monkey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">3-Man 105+ Results:<br />
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">9 Hours of Cranky Monkey</span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I really enjoyed this race in 2010, so I signed up early to do it again in 2011. DCMTB had a big presence with 5 teams. I was a little unsure of my form, considering I had just been in Europe for 10 days and only did one major 50-mile ride in Berlin, so I asked to go last in the rotation. The weather looked really unpromising, with a forecast of rain and dark and cloudy skies at the start. By some crazy act of God, the race area never got rained on--although we know that some locations 5 miles away got drenched.</span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Start</span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Mike started us off, having to do the run. We found out that Mike is not a very fast runner. He was able to pass some people on the singletrack, and Joel went out next. My first lap I felt pretty good, but wasn't quite hitting some of the lines that I wanted to. To my surprise when I came back, I saw I'd actually gotten the fastest time on our team.</span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Rest of the Race</span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I was pretty stoked to have negative splits on my next 2 laps. The course seemed to suit me well, with the fast flowy sections and then the big climb in the middle where I could get into a rhythm. We ended up having a race on our hands, against the aptly named Two Wookies and an Ewok (the 2 dudes were like 6'5", while the last was about 5'4"). Since I was pulling pretty fast laps, I was actually bringing us back into the lead on my laps...then their fastest guy (the Ewok) would end up passing Mike on the climb.</span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Finish</span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So the race came down to the final lap. We were both going to be able to put out a third man on the course before the time cutoff. I was hoping that we would get the lead and then I could just maintain it for the win. Joel did a solid lap, but we still ended up down over a minute and a half from the other team. Mike gave one of his motivational speeches (aka yelling at me to go fast), and I went out full steam. I ended up catching up to Bill early in the course (I found out later he had wrecked because he pushed it too hard knowing that our team was right behind him). So once I was ahead, I knew I had to just keep it going and we could pull out the victory. Going down the big downhill, I ended up getting a slow-leaking flat. I jumped off the bike and used a CO2 to hopefully get enough air in there and get the damn tire home. It held, but just barely, and I kept my weight off the rear end of the bike. It was a pretty cool feeling coming into the finish having the whole DCMTB crew cheering me on.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJt4j_0KsBbwcD_3BITiJZgzuVQo8bG8VM2YRp1wG_Nq2_lIRJc57b60bR5I9sRu92DOfV6aWyeB8XK-YI8KqI6gffkLNSPK2EZv9xw2nNklXg7X9z6jWdWoR9EMMrdzRGJ3Iru9KZkI/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+752011+114105+AM.bmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJt4j_0KsBbwcD_3BITiJZgzuVQo8bG8VM2YRp1wG_Nq2_lIRJc57b60bR5I9sRu92DOfV6aWyeB8XK-YI8KqI6gffkLNSPK2EZv9xw2nNklXg7X9z6jWdWoR9EMMrdzRGJ3Iru9KZkI/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+752011+114105+AM.bmp.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
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<table align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
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<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td class="xl706646" height="17" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; height: 12.75pt; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">1 </td><td class="xl666646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><br />
</td><td class="xl666646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><br />
</td><td class="xl676646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><b>DCMTB-Mature not Old</b></td><td class="xl676646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Darren Biggs</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, Mike Klasmeier, Joel Wilson</span></td><td class="xl666646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><br />
</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><b>8:36:05</b></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><b>0</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 400;">:44:03</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:43:51</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">0:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">40:44</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">0</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">:42:32</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:43:25</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">0:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">40:32</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">0</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">:45:44</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:43:32</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">0:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">40:30</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">0</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">:43:18</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:45:16</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">0:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">42:38</span></td><td class="xl776646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"></td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td class="xl706646" height="17" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; height: 12.75pt; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">2 </td><td class="xl666646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"></td><td class="xl666646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><b><br />
</b></td><td class="xl676646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><b>Two Wookiees and an Ewok</b></td><td class="xl676646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"> Daniel Tille, Chris Mayhew, Bill Schieken</td><td class="xl666646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><br />
</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><b>8:38:11</b></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;"><b>0</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 400;">:46:02</span></td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:43:05</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:39:51</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:44:20</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:40:09</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:43:18</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:39:39</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:45:53</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:43:52</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:40:23</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:45:32</td><td class="xl766646" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">0:46:07</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/85979559" width="465"></iframe></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0Rocky Gap State Park, 12500 Pleasant Valley Rd NE, Flintstone, MD 21530, USA39.713525552281 -78.656273263183639.692285552281 -78.684802263183613 39.734765552281 -78.6277442631836tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-48302016941500934032011-06-29T08:58:00.000-04:002011-06-29T08:58:36.832-04:00Biking in Berlin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">From May 2nd</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img aria-labeledby="photocaption" border="0" height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I saw the famous Bar Bike, but did not get a ride on it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231106_10150189668446382_690281381_6755022_7529801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bmc-racing.com/typo3temp/pics/ebec30640f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="http://www.bmc-racing.com/typo3temp/pics/ebec30640f.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solid Entry Level, Aluminum Shimano 105 BMC I rented.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/227911_10150189669161382_690281381_6755040_564171_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" id="myphoto" src="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/227911_10150189669161382_690281381_6755040_564171_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This Column Was helpful for getting my bearings</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div>Biking in Berlin</div><div></div><div>I had found a BMC bike online from a shop in West Berlin. It was one of the few places that actually had regular road bikes and not city bikes available to rent. So I took the subway and got off in the Zoo stop to pick it up. Once I got the bike, I had planned to do a roundabout ride back to the hotel to test her out. It was a really awesome experience biking after having been walking around and using the subway. This made me feel more like a part of the city. Even with my GPS, I ended up going around in circles, but using [insert name of victory statue thing], I was able to find my way back to Freidrichstrasse.</div><div></div><div>Biking to Potsdam and Back</div><div></div><div>This ride was only possible because of the Garmin. I didn't have much time on the S.L.O.W. computer at the hotel using Windows 95 in German, so I just used the cycle map on <a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=238254">b<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1c51a8;">ike route toaster</span></a> to get directions on bike preferred/bike lane roads. I got up early in the morning and to my huge dismay, it was below 40 degrees and drizzling. It had been sunny most of the trip, and all I had to wear was shorts, knee warmers, a jersey, arm warmers, and a vest. I headed on out to West Berlin until I got almost to the river and went south through [add park name]. While riding, I encountered several commuters--the few bikers I saw wearing helmets. The roads in the forest were the only ones I encountered with hills the entire day. Outside of Potsdam, I ended up going on a scenic route that goes along the river and had great views. You could imagine people going there and hanging out at the several biergartens I saw along the river bank. I had to imagine this, as there was no one around, it was gray and cloudy, and there was drizzle coming down. I went through Potsdam along some crazy route that I never would have figured out without my Garmin telling me which way to go. It included a driveway that turned into a small road along a canal and several other random paths that connected larger roads. Once back outside of Potsdam, I had tried a chancy move of going through another forest, not knowing exactly what surface I'd find on the trail. The surface ended up being dirt, so I rode a race bike for 3-4 miles on singletrack. Luckily, there were not too many rocks or roots, so I didn't get a puncture flat. Getting back into town, I was now in Berlin rush hour traffic, and lucky for me it now really started raining. The road that I was on was a "bike lane" road, but in Germany a bike lane means a lane that can either be on the road or on a sidewalk--which is quite sketchy if that sidewalk is made of cobblestones and wet. Once in Berlin, I was freezing and just wanted to get my ass back to the hotel to warm up. Lucky me again...I get a flat. I did have a spare tube, but I had no pump to blow up the tube. I speak no German. "Woe is me," I thought. What was I to do? As the tire is slowly deflating, I ended up passing a bike shop that had just opened, so I went in and was able to its pump and get myself back to the hotel. This was one of the coldest rides I've ever done because of the 40ish degree weather, rain, and lack of appropriate clothing.</div><div></div><div>Random Thoughts</div><div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Even though Berlin/Germany has a lot more bike lanes than we do in the U.S., I actually don't like the bike lanes there. When they were on the road, they were great, but many times they took me onto the sidewalk and it was pretty scary due to pedestrian traffic.</li>
<li>With the different road conditions, I actually think a cross bike would have been better to use. Some of the streets were pretty heavily made of cobblestones.</li>
<li>I really enjoyed being able to experience the scenery on a bike and getting to see Potsdam as well as Berlin. </li>
</ul></div><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/84777084" width="465"></iframe></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-24002306097058544622011-06-01T13:46:00.000-04:002011-06-01T13:46:47.599-04:00Biking in Amsterdam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">From April 31st</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><img aria-labeledby="photocaption" height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/228391_10150182636546382_690281381_6702341_2903581_n.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"></span><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/224213_10150182636326382_690281381_6702335_8010915_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: black; float: left; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/222027_10150182636806382_690281381_6702348_4455750_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: black; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/222027_10150182636806382_690281381_6702348_4455750_n.jpg" width="640" /></a><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6656199130229652" style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/224213_10150182636326382_690281381_6702335_8010915_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: black; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" id="myphoto" src="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/224213_10150182636326382_690281381_6702335_8010915_n.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/221922_10150182636371382_690281381_6702336_629039_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: black; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" id="myphoto" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/221922_10150182636371382_690281381_6702336_629039_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; color: black; float: left; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; white-space: normal;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">This is a travel bike post. I was doing a trip with Sara, and her parents. The trans-atlantic flight came into Amsterdam, so we spent 2 days there before heading to Prague and then Berlin. On the Second day, we rented from Yellow Bikes and guess what we rode Yellow city bikes. We picked them up and rode them to the canal, where Sara did a Canal trip again that we did the day before. I think had an hour to ride by myself. I had brought my Garmin and hooked that up to the bike. The Garmin is great to know where you are at, the scene is not big enough to use it like a map. So I rode around on my front brake, and rear coaster brake bike. I could only get the bike to 17 mph since the gear was pretty small on it. I rode around and did a lap at Vondelpark which was near our hotel. On the way back to where the Canal trips started I went through a bicycle, pedestrian only road, this was very cool(Max Euweplein). The 3 story Bike Parking garage was a site to behold. After the Canal ride Sara and I biked to the Maritime museum that was still closed so we went to the next best thing the Heineken Experience :-) The paths were nice enough that Sara felt ok to bike on them, she was a little scared when we were in the city center, and you had tons of cyclists on the path, and some motor scooters. The most interesting thing that I didn’t see was actual cyclists. I saw tons of people riding bikes, but only like 5 cyclists on bikes doing a ride. </span></span></span><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/84777835" width="465"></iframe></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-32689281554085855232011-05-22T09:03:00.000-04:002012-01-20T22:36:15.620-05:00Greenbrier 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_0RN9dmh6-Jj-KpCzECF8hSiW9Pc1ElVpNy3u1u8fPEDKKiczoYbBRCfK0uYgCwKIATT-j1XI-_N1goTrnGj941N6zKMEvSPqwP5D9p7DU811qjbX9qxx0WV7BPtx_3sxBQCmiUpz1g/s1600/IMAG0050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_0RN9dmh6-Jj-KpCzECF8hSiW9Pc1ElVpNy3u1u8fPEDKKiczoYbBRCfK0uYgCwKIATT-j1XI-_N1goTrnGj941N6zKMEvSPqwP5D9p7DU811qjbX9qxx0WV7BPtx_3sxBQCmiUpz1g/s400/IMAG0050.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I decided to do Greenbrier since Sara and I were coming back from her cousin’s “couple’s shower” for<br />
her wedding. I thought at the least I could get some good training in. Good news is I got sixth place. Bad<br />
news is there were only six people in my field. I’m still listed as a CAT 1 mountain biker, which I am not.<br />
It was a forgettable race considering I battled for two laps with a hole in my tire. Finally, I got it fixed<br />
with a plug from one of the junior riders so that I didn’t have to walk the bike in.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxINt5ybaomaHU5wN5wdHPpWmun_5TJgZp3BE4EIgf-7gU5Xcbd8XUqa9cHU4X9PwcBRe2ub-9mbx1Rii6mSxcKVWjnkUzJVnLA60fDFISw8SkAA2VgXX44VaeoWgWGvkuJybmnM_kR4/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+192012+90035+AM.bmp.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxINt5ybaomaHU5wN5wdHPpWmun_5TJgZp3BE4EIgf-7gU5Xcbd8XUqa9cHU4X9PwcBRe2ub-9mbx1Rii6mSxcKVWjnkUzJVnLA60fDFISw8SkAA2VgXX44VaeoWgWGvkuJybmnM_kR4/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+192012+90035+AM.bmp.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-55363624576719729752011-04-21T15:56:00.000-04:002011-06-28T15:45:37.608-04:00Dragon's Tail 40m mile race<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img height="426" id="myphoto" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/207455_10150235903385289_675820288_8877955_6522715_n.jpg" width="640" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">From April 3rd.</span><br />
Dragon's Tail was a race I had heard about for years. This race used to be Dragon's back, a race that was 25miles or so and took a long time to finish. Chris Scott brought the race back as Dragon's Tail and made it longer 40miles but more like 37miles. <br />
<br />
Jon W. from the team had talked about the race, and I was on the fence about going. I was waiting to hear about the weather before committing. Thursday came and weather looked ok so I was in. I went down with John Rogers and Joel Wilson. We went down on Sat. got some Thia food in downtown Roanoke which was good. The boys went to bed early which was ok, but I woke at 3am for about an hour and listened to an audiobook to go to bed.<br />
Race,<br />
We drove about 30minutes to the start of the race, really low key, good vibe. Chris Scott gave DCMTB a shout out since we had 10 riders there out of of a field of 50+. The ride starts with a neutral roll out slightly downhill pavement to a dirt road. Once we got to the dirt road the fast cats zoomed off the front. I was riding around my teammates just keeping my cool. The road went through 4 major stream crossings. The first I waded through while the others I rode through. These were BB height, so your feet were soaking wet. after the streams you start making your way up the mountain on the fire road. I was in front of most of the DCMTB boys, with Ian and Mike T(the fast robots) in front.<img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/208019_10150168034853728_799878727_6572529_5864388_n.jpg" width="640" /><br />
Finally we get to the single trak, where there is an aid station with our drop off bags. I have bad feet(they get cold easily) and knew about the streams so I had new shoes and wool socks in my drop bag. I was glad I changed my shoes, but in doing so I lost 4-5 minutes. In that time though the DCMTB crew came up to me and I then was riding with Erik Spar up the climb for a bit. I then was riding with 5th place female up some touch switchbacks. I was actually going a little slower then I could have been going, but in retrospect this was a good thing because you need your energy later in the course.<br />
Once on the ridge saw Chris Scott doing race coverage, and then riding with the 3rd place female. I passed her on a big log hop. I did not go crazy on the downhill just tried to enjoy it. The downhill is big enough that my brakes started squealing at the bottom. Once at the aid station I just filled up my bottle and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was then going up the climb again, but since I knew the climb now I was going faster. I passed Misty who was in 2nd place, and then later in the climb she and 3 other people ended up passing me cause my chain dropped. As we were going up the 3rd place female was gaining on us. I found out later she had broken her front brake line and was doing the downhills with only a back brake. <br />
Once on the ridge again, we took a left this time. This ridgeline is what makes Dragon's Tail. The ridge is very steep so the views are pretty awesome. Compared to other ridgelines this one goes up and down the whole time, and has many, <u>repeat</u> many steep pitches. I was doing well and actually catching people on the ridgeline, using my power that I have up the steep ramps. After awhile the 3rd place female must have passed Misty since she passed me on a incline where I had to walk. As I saw her go up the trail I was thinking,"well that girl is a bad-ass" I was doing well, but it was the early season form that was getting me, after 3 hours I lost that raw strength that have. There were some false downhills, that had you climbing again. I was damning Chris Scott at this point just lamenting in my head,"get me off this damn ridgeline!!!" Finally it descended into a rest stop. <br />
I wasn't there too long, but the next climb was the big disappointment for me. This climb was very doable, but since I had used so much energy already I was on and off the bike the whole way up the climb. I had seen the downhill of this climb on video, so it was cool when I finally was riding what I had seen. <br />
Once down off the mountain it was just a short road ride back to the start.<br />
<img height="720" id="myphoto" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/215736_10150168036393728_799878727_6572585_3426944_n.jpg" width="540" /><br />
Random stuff:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Bring extra socks and shoes(I will bring my hiker-biker shoes next time since I had to walk so much)</li>
<li>Was happy with my 5:20 time best of the normal DCMTB riders, considering Ian got sub-4 hours</li>
<li>The day was beautiful mid sixties and completely clear skies</li>
<li>Great race vibe, stations, and post ride beer, and burgers!</li>
<li>Not sure I will do this again, but I think best to save yourself for the ridge line</li>
<li>The Anthem 29er was rocking the course, needed to let some air out of the shocks.</li>
<li>This is the hardest race I have done basically 35miles with 7200 feet of elevation.</li>
</ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlPfuZb8I2_aRgLgZGpyPfnC6hmEI0RI4lVGOgwF70RrEcjLZzD_HkNMF9XXM5-OVeapqWZeKhXw3UMQAI32nRmTI0rEvcnLEPtzyt4mzEcQpQkOJFCSivRXWx-50_GywhwjyMMnvr0A/s1600/DragonsTail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlPfuZb8I2_aRgLgZGpyPfnC6hmEI0RI4lVGOgwF70RrEcjLZzD_HkNMF9XXM5-OVeapqWZeKhXw3UMQAI32nRmTI0rEvcnLEPtzyt4mzEcQpQkOJFCSivRXWx-50_GywhwjyMMnvr0A/s640/DragonsTail.jpg" width="498" /></a></div><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/77172730" width="465"></iframe></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-4240094431767679122011-03-31T16:07:00.001-04:002011-06-28T15:45:47.558-04:00DirtyBurg Big-Day-64Miles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <i><span style="color: red;">From Early March</span></i></span></span><br />
<div style="clear: left; color: #f3f3f3; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;">The usual DirtyBurg ride is 40 miles, but this is a version that I routed out after seeing a posting on the MORE board that listed all the dirt roads of Loudon County. So I took roads from the normal <a href="http://thebikeandmore.blogspot.com/2008/09/busthead-dirtyburg-iron-cross-prep.html">DirtyBurg ride</a> and added some from the previous extended ride that accidentally went on some private farms <a href="http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/BustHead-DirtyBurg-Ride-extended">DirtyBurg Extended</a>. I then connected those roads with some new dirt roads from my <a href="http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dirt-Roads-not-for-long">Leesburg dirt road ride</a> that I had done in years past with the famous <a href="http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5450&highlight=jets+sharks">Jets and Sharks ride, which was a combined PPTC/MORE ride.</a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="color: #f3f3f3;"><i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riding in the 19th century</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" id="myphoto" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/200605_10150132121171382_690281381_6386699_3355244_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenda block 8's didn't seem to be so resilant</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="color: #f3f3f3;"></div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;">For the ride, there were three of us: Matt, Mark and me. Mark is a beast of a rider, and I can only hope to hang onto his back wheel, while Matt is always the wild card. At the start of the ride, I found out that Matt had ridden his bike a total of five times since late November. We started the ride a little cold, as even though the forecast had said it would be sunny and a high of 50 degrees, it was cloudy and in the 40s --a big difference.</div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;"></div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;">We did Busthead Road, and once we got onto the climb I ended up putting some distance on the boys, mostly because they were riding really high gearing. I think Mark had a 34-23 and Matt was running a single chainring and I believe a 38-25. I was running a new crank set that I had bought for my new Giant cross bike that was a 36-46(came with a 38-46) with a 28 in the back. Once we got to the top, we started the fast downhill and I kinda let it hang out, which led me to eventually go off the road (that was kinda sketchy). Matt ended up bombing the downhill and getting in front of me. The road then went from regular dirt to soft gravel/dirt/etc. that would make you wipe out if you had too much weight on the front wheel. We continued on and Mark was riding pretty strong, doing a couple digs where I was wondering whether I'd be able to keep up that kind of pace for the length of the ride. Matt had a funny comment once we got over an old stone bridge and were going by some stone farm fences. He said, "I think the Confederates still hold this area," which made us all laugh because when we looked around it seemed like we could have been in the 19th century. </div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;"></div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;">We got onto some of the new roads, which were pretty nice--constant ups and downs. The only blunder in the route was when we were going down a hill and came upon a deep creek covering the road. There had been a major storm two days prior, and most of the roads were fine, but this road was flooded out and not passable. We rerouted to get around it (it's great to have a Garmin when wanting to change course mid-ride). We then hooked up with some of the Leesburg roads I had ridden multiple times before. By this time, Matt was still riding ok, but he was beginning to feel his months of not riding. I could not believe he was riding as good as he was. Then we started onto some new roads that I had not done before, but right as we were getting on them, Mark got a flat. One of the problems with this route is that there is not a clear place to stop to refuel, so with my new bike only having one bottle holder, I had to get some water off of Mark's Camelbak as he was changing his tire.</div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;"></div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;">Around this point, the sun finally decided to show itself, which made the day a lot nicer. We got back to the end part of the DirtyBurg ride, which consists of riding up Bull Run Mountain on a diagonal that makes you go up and down the ridgelines. We ended up going our own pace and regrouping at turns. Finally we came back together as we hit Hopewell, and just to get it all out of my system, I took off on a flyer for the last 3 miles on Busthead Road.</div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;"></div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;">After the ride, we went to Joe's Pizza (which is really hard to find now that Gainesville is all screwed up with the roads) and we ordered three large pies. I couldn't believe how much that little guy Matt could eat. It was a great time with the boys.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/197277_10150132413216382_690281381_6388828_2864952_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" id="myphoto" src="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/197277_10150132413216382_690281381_6388828_2864952_n.jpg" width="497" /></a></div><ul><li style="margin-left: 15px;">For the route, I need to find a refueling point. There was a small country store that might have potential, but it might not be open all the time.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">I do like my new Giant cross bike, but for these dirt road rides, it's not as smooth as my old Jamis. Most importantly, it doesn't have 2 water bottle mounts, so I might want to get a second mount to use for rides like this.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">The ride is a doozy, as it involves 6000 ft. of climbing in 64 miles.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Definitely good Iron Cross training. Will try to do this ride again before that race.</li>
</ul></span></span></div><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/72676757" width="465"></iframe></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-72867968686444114732011-03-23T17:46:00.002-04:002011-03-25T09:57:30.713-04:00AZ Trip 2011 Day 5-Phoenix T-100 East Side<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #cc0000;"><i>From Feb.</i></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/180735_10150106417636382_690281381_6155662_5248392_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise on the mountains</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div>So for my last day on the tip I was not leaving until 5pm so I was to get one last ride in the morning. I had run the day before, since we were visiting my Aunt and Uncle. The running was pretty hard, and this made my legs dead for this ride. I tried to ride some trails on the south side of the T100, working my way around to some trail I had done before. This trail had some good sections while others were just too hard to ride. I saw a good number of hikers, and most were supportive of my efforts. One women exclaimed that she had been hiking out here for 20 years and never saw a biker on the trails I was on. I think those routes are do-able if you work your way through the neighborhood streets to link up trail.<br />
<div>Once I got to the trails I had done before, I was able to get myself moving faster. The trails on the north side is where the bikers ride, since it is more flowy. I had a fun time my last day, got to do some new trail. I got home and packed up the bike in about an hour then left for the car rental and airport. Next year I hope to maybe go to Tucson again to change it up.<br />
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</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185637_10150106417701382_690281381_6155663_5531469_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hiker-Bike shoes were the ticket to riding some trails cause you had to walk a lot on rocks</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="color: #cc0000;"></div></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/71268988" width="465"></iframe></div></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-67255965757103384722011-03-20T07:58:00.001-04:002011-03-20T07:59:35.676-04:00AZ Trip 2011 Day 4-Black Canyon Trail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/180781_10150106417536382_690281381_6155660_2830145_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cactus Galore!- this part was a like a tunnel and they were big</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><span style="color: red;">From Feb.</span><br />
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I have done the BCT everytime I have come out to AZ. The trail is a great one, it was built by hikers who also bike. It is in an area that has a bunch of ATV trails, and it is nice to ride on the man-made trails that go up and down and turn like a nice roller coaster. <br />
This year I rode part of the trail I had never ridden. I rode from the southern end point of the trail. I didn't know if you could park where I did, but I parked in front of the gate and hoped for the best. The first part of the trail was really flat, going slightly uphill. Wasn't much to it until I got to there more practical end point of the trail where there is a parking lot, tables, grills. I then rode north to most southern part I had ridden before. I went another mile or so and then turned around and rode back. I had a good ride, thinking next year not to do that most southern part(but it is very close to PHX) and try and ride the new northern trails. The only thing this trail is missing is a loop, right now it is pretty much an out and back.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="640" id="myphoto" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/180838_10150106417456382_690281381_6155659_3244926_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="480" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">Huge Wash that I got over at the BCT trail</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<iframe width='640' height='640' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/68173141'></iframe>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-91073215934781237232011-03-18T11:25:00.001-04:002011-03-18T11:25:00.679-04:00AZ Trip 2011-Day 3 Quadruple-By-Pass<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/180414_10150106416811382_690281381_6155648_51189_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/180414_10150106416811382_690281381_6155648_51189_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Anthem 29 liking the trail</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="color: red;">From Feb.</div><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/184215_10150106417261382_690281381_6155655_4534092_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" id="myphoto" src="http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/184215_10150106417261382_690281381_6155655_4534092_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saw a hare</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This is one of my favorite rides when I come to AZ. This ride reminds me of riding in GW forest where you have a big climb and then a big decent. This year I brought a GPS with me, but I forgot it for this ride! I had one of the maps the park makes so I was ok. The windGate climb was brutal as it was last year. With the new bike I will say it was nice having good brakes for the descents. I liked this ride more this year, cause since it was so early in the season it wasn't as hot. Also since I had done the ride before I knew what I was getting into. The tricky part where you go through the neighborhood, was no problem now since I knew where I was going. I ended up taking a wrong turn on the Quartz trail. I ended up at a Golf course and knew I had gone the wrong way. I looked at the map and saw my mistake and then continued to get back to the trail I needed to get to. I was out there a long time, I started around 11am and didn't finish until dusk. When I was coming over the last pass the sun was behind the mountain. Also I lost my cleat in my shoe(found the cleat not the bolts), so had to do an emergency repair and rode the last bit with only one bolt in each of my cleats.<br />
Great ride, longest of the trip 6+ hours out there, riding for 5+. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1wj9LkGtVH-k3FGv-7JFaZ4DVykIqBN7UdPbo62_2q1U7vj0nrHET49PqfZOkbMv_rwMaQ_yaTjpAuHpmQhNx_1O-59KoO9EzFSztkDFV1naz7DDgWpRlolOLfLr81Egr3q0qV1TRtc/s1600/canvas.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1wj9LkGtVH-k3FGv-7JFaZ4DVykIqBN7UdPbo62_2q1U7vj0nrHET49PqfZOkbMv_rwMaQ_yaTjpAuHpmQhNx_1O-59KoO9EzFSztkDFV1naz7DDgWpRlolOLfLr81Egr3q0qV1TRtc/s640/canvas.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Highest elevation 3100ft, lowest 1500ft</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/183172_10150106417371382_690281381_6155657_5751512_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SunRise Valley Climb</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=217443">http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=217443</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="536" id="myphoto" src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/199062_10150121002706382_690281381_6286532_4030825_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cycleways map of Open Street Map Data, I added the details on how to get out of the neighborhood to the DixieMone trail</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><br />
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</div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-65656713945404192672011-03-14T10:05:00.004-04:002011-03-14T10:05:00.643-04:00AZ Trip 2011-Day 2-South Mountain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/183340_10150106416596382_690281381_6155643_8068823_n.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: xx-small;">From Feb.</span><br />
I had ridden here every year I have been down to Phx for my little training camp. The first year I did Coast to Coast which is 40miles and a pretty long day in the saddle. For this day I needed to be back around 4:30pm to watch Kennedy in a volleyball game. I also knew I was going to do a big ride the next day so I didn't need to go too deep. The issue with riding here is that you can really hurt yourself if you are not careful. There are people on the trails so if I got really hurt I would not have been left for dead. <br />
I did some trails that I had not done before, then I worked my way to the National trail. I did this trail a lot better then I did the previous time I came. There was only one little downhill that I think I could have done, but I didn't to wreck and hurt myself. I met some guys on the ridge we talked a bit, I was riding the rocks really well, too well it seems. When I got to a saddle to go down to the Desert Classic trail I started riding some sketchy stuff riding the walls of the trail. Then I when off a 3+ drop-off and over the bars I went. Luckly didn't get too hurt, but after that I walked down the sketchy stuff on that trail. Once on the desert classic trail I just chugged along to the car. Will come back here again since I seem to be riding the rocks better.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/68173167" width="465"></iframe></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-34908177527497539762011-03-11T14:38:00.002-05:002011-03-11T14:42:34.370-05:00AZ Trip 2011-Day 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">From Feb.</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year I decided to do my trip earlier then I had ever done it before. I figured that Febuarary would be a great time to be in AZ since the weather would have to be nicer then in DC. While if you go in March it is nice and warm in AZ, but you will still have 60 degree days in the DC area. My parents were in town the week before, and AZ had record lows in the 20’s in the morning. By the time I got there the weather was nicer with 40’s in the mornings and then up to 60’s-70’s in the afternoon. Interesting thing with this trip I didn’t get on the trail until almost midday for every ride besides the last day where I needed to catch a plane. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 1</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="132" id="myphoto" src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/184599_10150106416781382_690281381_6155647_7472957_n.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">T-100 West Side. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First Mt. Ride with My Garmin, it lost signal or something. Cause I didn’t go 12,000 miles! I had a good ride, and ended up getting there late in the day and rode until almost sunset. I had done this part of the park like 3 years ago, so This time I made sure to go up the fire road climb. Got my heart rate to 186, but didn’t know the heart rate thing was working at the time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/181751_10150106416661382_690281381_6155644_1580030_n.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<iframe width='465' height='548' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/68173202'></iframe><br />
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T-100 West Side<br />
Wed, Feb 9, 2011 10:34 AM added by lovedabikesDarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-73653599851710879762011-01-26T11:46:00.001-05:002011-01-27T07:13:28.067-05:00Biking in the Everglades<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div class="gmail_quote"><img height="156" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1384.snc4/163618_499110296381_690281381_5901418_4744145_n.jpg" width="640" /></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs778.ash1/166831_499110136381_690281381_5901410_3737127_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs778.ash1/166831_499110136381_690281381_5901410_3737127_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;">Being down in Florida and looking at the available routes near Pompano Beach/Fort Lauderdale, I noticed that I was pretty close to the <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Everglades</span>. I looked on the usual sites (mapmyride and bikely), but no one really had routes that went into the <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Everglades</span>. Upon further investigation (looking at the satellite pictures), I saw that there were service roads that were somewhat close to the suburban area near <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span>'s parents' Florida apartment. The issue was that it was 13 miles to the <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Everglades</span> from where we were staying by the ocean. I didn't want to bike 26 miles there and back in addition to doing the ride, so I was able to convince <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span>'s father to drive me out Atlantic Blvd. to take off 13 miles of pure road biking.</span></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1364.snc4/163663_499110266381_690281381_5901417_3597441_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1364.snc4/163663_499110266381_690281381_5901417_3597441_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs788.ash1/167834_499110361381_690281381_5901421_4797937_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img border="0" height="240" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs788.ash1/167834_499110361381_690281381_5901421_4797937_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;">I started out from a church parking lot and worked my way along the toll/exit ramp to a dirt side road. I took that to a gate that said "no motorized vehicles" and assumed that I'd be able to ride there. Once on the service road, I found nice gravel that paralleled the highway to my left, with a canal, service road and the <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Everglades</span> to my right. I road this south, then veered west, then turned north and crossed the highway to pick up the service road. Then I crossed the highway again going east through the airboat recreation area to the service road that went back to the starting point. The next part of the ride was the most desolate, with the <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Everglades</span> on each side. I was able to see many cranes, fish and buzzards as I road along. It was an interesting feeling being out there, as I could see civilization in the distance but was fairly isolated. It reminded me of the feeling I had out West in the desert. The weather was pretty hot. It was 80 degrees, but around 90+ degrees with humidity (I was basically riding next to a swamp). I noticed that I was getting sunburned on my arms. </span></div></div><div class="gmail_quote" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1364.snc4/163663_499110266381_690281381_5901417_3597441_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;"> I got back to where I'd started and wanted to continue onward back to the shore/coastline while continuing to stay as off-road as possible. I had seen during my satellite recon that there was a canal that had a path on it and some service roads. Unfortunately, the end of that path was near the toll road entrance ramp, so I had to hop a fence to start the trail. The trail was nice, but kind of more of a jogging/walking trail since it was cement instead of asphalt. Eventually, it ended and turned into service roads once again. I had an interesting encounter during which I almost hit a 4-ft iguana that then ran in front of me and jumped into the canal. I also had a <a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs274.snc6/180234_499110441381_690281381_5901424_7428739_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="518" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs274.snc6/180234_499110441381_690281381_5901424_7428739_n.jpg" width="640" /></a>funny little dog jump a 4-foot fence to run after me, but it knew to stop at its house's property line. Eventually, I ended up biking on grass on state lands near the canal near people's homes, and it was slow going. At one point I ended up having to go back to Atlantic Blvd., which is a major road. I went on the road, but it was pretty interesting since people were trying to enter and exit I-95 at some points. I was able to take more side streets after that and got back to the beach. As I got closer to the beach (about 4 miles out) I began to feel the temperature drop, so I knew I was getting close. </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;">Notes:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwz2EVb4jIEEgxmhg6OjAzMt6XNMsl4F9AogRwc41KnBAG5F5m1bIirgPyKDMOegnCsAyN5eHJ4YSrVW9FERw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><ul><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;">Florida, no matter how you cut it, is pretty flat biking.</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;">In the future, if I could have a car, I'd prefer to park and ride just the <span class="il" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial;">Everglades</span> for more mileage without riding on the roads.</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;">From the research I had done, it sounds like there are some park trails that would be good for biking. With the non-technical nature of them, a cross bike with bigger tires should be fine.</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;">Considering it was 80 degrees and 90% humidity, I can't even imagine riding in Florida during the summer. It would be very uncomfortable.</span></li>
<li></li>
</ul></div></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-65983212496701458082011-01-23T08:54:00.001-05:002011-01-24T09:40:01.489-05:00Riding A1A on New Years Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5901409&id=690281381" id="myphotolink" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs079.snc6/168897_499110081381_690281381_5901408_3540233_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rode the Jamis with 28mm slicks, only CX bike I saw</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div>One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to bike in new places. It seems to give me the ability to actually visit a place more completely since I've seen more of the area while riding around. A popular place to ride in South Florida is A1A, which goes along the coastline. </div><div></div><div>I decided that A1A would be an easy ride to do. Since it's an out-and-back route, there are no turns and it's impossible to get lost. I didn't know how far I was going to ride since I had forgotten to bring the magnet for my bike computer, but I figured that I'd just ride to a certain time and then turn back. Unfortunately, there was a 25-30 mph wind blowing that day. I went up the coast and ended up seeing around 300 bikers, some in packs of 50+ riders. At certain points I ended up riding with some bikers I came across, and I ended up riding with one gentleman on the way up as well as on the way back. I rode all the way up to South Palm Beach before turning around. Unfortunately, I had a headwind going almost the entire way back to Sara's parents' apartment. I finished the ride pretty spent and out for a lot longer than I had expected to be. On the upside, however, I got to see much of the coastline of South Florida. </div></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-1835159711545899452011-01-19T14:48:00.000-05:002011-01-19T14:48:07.163-05:002010 YearEnd Totals<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> wasn't as bright as some others, but there were a few shining moments. The best ride of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> would have to be the 18 hours of Scouts Honor, where my team got first place and I was able to ride consistent laps without many back problems. The surprising runner-up for best ride was the 9 hours of Cranky Monkey race. I ended up doing it with a broken finger. I'd gotten the injury during a volleyball game. Because of the broken finger and my move into the city with </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, I didn't have much structured training from mid-May to late-July. The worst ride of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">would have to be the Greenbriar marathon race, where my back was hurting so badly that I basically stopped and didn't go out for a final lap when I could have.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs141.snc4/36401_411924976381_690281381_4342779_2458238_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="640" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs141.snc4/36401_411924976381_690281381_4342779_2458238_n.jpg" width="580" /></span></a></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The Moots--2,286 miles</span></b></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">She is now a <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> older and feels a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"></span>lot more at home, as she lives in our apartment with us (in the bathroom hallway). I had some fit issues on this bike that I finally figured out by getting some new handlebars. She's feeling a lot nicer to ride now. I enjoyed some interesting rides in Cape May, NJ and I finally did the 4-ridge ride climb I'd been meaning to do in Lewisburg (<span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span>'s hometown). I threw in some OMG Frederick rides as well.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><img height="604" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs271.ash1/19862_245934411381_690281381_3091382_4716899_n.jpg" width="486" /></span></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The Fixie--1,004 miles</span></b></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The Atala is still going strong, primarily for bike commuting. Sometimes her wheels come out of true because of potholes.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img height="467" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs024.snc4/33561_453805996381_690281381_5205464_1874602_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Jamis CX Super Nova --814 miles</span></b></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">This is the do-all bike, so some of the mileage was from commuting to work, some was from dirt road rides, and still more was from cyclocross. I would say that the highlight for this bike was doing Iron Cross this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><img height="289" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs303.snc3/28758_387848446381_690281381_3778446_542150_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="background-color: black;">Gary Fisher Hi Fi Pro--300-ish</b></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Had some good races on the GF this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>. She was actually riding pretty well, but yet again, she broke. This happened in late summer. The Hi Fi highlight of the <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> was riding in Arizona and Vegas.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img height="383" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs154.ash2/41043_433068061381_690281381_4831210_3634224_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="background-color: black;">Voodoo Diabla--450</b></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">This <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>, the Voodoo had an identity criss. She went from a rigid single-speeder to a front suspension single-speeder to a 3x9 hardtail suspension bike, and finally ended up as a 1x10 hardtail. Since the GF broke, I had to use the Voodoo as my main mountain bike. In doing so, I set the bike up with full gears and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to ride Liberty Furnace, and Southern Traverse reasonably well without a full-suspension. Once I took off the gearing to put it back on the Gary Fisher when I sold it, I ended up making the bike a 10-speed in back, which works reasonably well with the low 36-tooth cog. Probably the highlight of the <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> with this bike was, as I said previously, Scouts Honor. It might have even been a better bike for the race than the GF could have been.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1126.snc4/148800_456731691381_690281381_5262667_5586238_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Tandem--300</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span> and I were able to get some miles on the bike, and I think there would've been more miles on it if I'd have lived in the city the entire <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>. We were able to squeeze in rides about once a week before work. Hopefully in the next <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>, we can get in some more riding, but that is looking doubtful given the amount of schoolwork that <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span> is doing. The big news for the tandem this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year </span>was that I raced cross on it with Matt. I will say that it was a hoot riding DCCX and then Tacchino on the tandem. Riding a tandem on a cyclocross course actually makes the course pretty technical, as it's tough to simply get the beast around the corners. Hopefully next <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> (if Matt's on board), I will try to race most of the series with him.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Supposedly, 2011 should be a big <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>. <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span> is still in school, so I have plenty of time to ride; we do have 7-8 weddings this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> to attend, so that may present some conflicts.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-80138437521755302432011-01-19T14:43:00.000-05:002011-01-19T14:43:50.029-05:002010 YearEnd Totals<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> wasn't as bright as some others, but there were a few shining moments. The best ride of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> would have to be the 18 hours of Scouts Honor, where my team got first place and I was able to ride consistent laps without many back problems. The surprising runner-up for best ride was the 9 hours of Cranky Monkey race. I ended up doing it with a broken finger. I'd gotten the injury during a volleyball game. Because of the broken finger and my move into the city with</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, I didn't have much structured training from mid-May to late-July. The worst ride of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">would have to be the Greenbriar marathon race, where my back was hurting so badly that I basically stopped and didn't go out for a final lap when I could have.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs141.snc4/36401_411924976381_690281381_4342779_2458238_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="640" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs141.snc4/36401_411924976381_690281381_4342779_2458238_n.jpg" width="580" /></span></a></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The Moots--2,286 miles</span></b></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">She is now a <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> older and feels a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"></span>lot more at home, as she lives in our apartment with us (in the bathroom hallway). I had some fit issues on this bike that I finally figured out by getting some new handlebars. She's feeling a lot nicer to ride now. I enjoyed some interesting rides in Cape May, NJ and I finally did the 4-ridge ride climb I'd been meaning to do in Lewisburg (<span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span>'s hometown). I threw in some OMG Frederick rides as well.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><img height="604" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs271.ash1/19862_245934411381_690281381_3091382_4716899_n.jpg" width="486" /></span></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The Fixie--1,004 miles</span></b></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The Atala is still going strong, primarily for bike commuting. Sometimes her wheels come out of true because of potholes.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img height="467" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs024.snc4/33561_453805996381_690281381_5205464_1874602_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Jamis CX Super Nova --814 miles</span></b></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">This is the do-all bike, so some of the mileage was from commuting to work, some was from dirt road rides, and still more was from cyclocross. I would say that the highlight for this bike was doing Iron Cross this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><img height="289" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs303.snc3/28758_387848446381_690281381_3778446_542150_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="background-color: black;">Gary Fisher Hi Fi Pro--300-ish</b></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></b></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Had some good races on the GF this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>. She was actually riding pretty well, but yet again, she broke. This happened in late summer. The Hi Fi highlight of the <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> was riding in Arizona and Vegas.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img height="383" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs154.ash2/41043_433068061381_690281381_4831210_3634224_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="background-color: black;">Voodoo Diabla--450</b></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">This <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>, the Voodoo had an identity criss. She went to a rigid single-speeder to a front suspension single-speeder to a 3x9 hardtail suspension bike, and finally ended up as a 1x10 hardtail. Since the GF broke, I had to use the Voodoo as my main mountain bike. In doing so, I set the bike up with full gears and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to ride Liberty Furnace Southern Traverse reasonably well without a full-suspension. Once I took off the gearing to put it back on the Gary Fisher when I sold it, I ended up making the bike a 10-speed in back, which works reasonably well with the low 36-tooth cog. Probably the highlight of the <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> with this bike was, as I said previously, Scouts Honor. It might have even been a better bike for the race than the GF could have been.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1126.snc4/148800_456731691381_690281381_5262667_5586238_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Tandem--300</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span> and I were able to get some miles on the bike, and I think there would've been more miles on it if I'd have lived in the city the entire <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>. We were able to squeeze in rides about once a week before work. Hopefully in the next <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>, we can get in some more riding, but that is looking doubtful given the amount of schoolwork that <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span> is doing. The big news for the tandem this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>was that I raced cross on it with Matt. I will say that it was a hoot riding DCCX and then Tacchino on the tandem. Riding a tandem on a cyclocross course actually makes the course pretty technical, as it's tough to simply get the beast around the corners. Hopefully next <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> (if Matt's on board), I will try to race most of the series with him.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Supposedly, 2011 should be a big <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span>. <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sara</span> is still in school, so I have plenty of time to ride; we do have 7-8 weddings this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">year</span> to attend, so that may present some conflicts.</span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-40133571401495270402011-01-16T11:14:00.000-05:002011-01-16T16:39:30.492-05:00A Mountain Biker is Born<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs040.snc6/167041_495624421381_690281381_5852501_2661226_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs040.snc6/167041_495624421381_690281381_5852501_2661226_n.jpg" /></a></div><div> </div><div>This Christmas, I continued the tradition of giving my nephew a bicycle-related item. Previously, I had given him his first bicycle with 12-inch wheels and training wheels. Next, I got him a trailer bike. Then I bought him a sixteen-inch BMX bike, but Cole was having trouble with balance and continued to need his training wheels a lot. I got him a scooter, which I hoped would help him learn to balance. Eventually, when he went back to his bike, he was able to ride within two tries. Cole has been growing fast, and he needed a new bike this year and so Sara and I planned to get him one for Christmas. I decided to go with a 24-inch wheel mountain bike. I realized it would be big for him now, but he is going to be tall someday, as his dad is 6 ft. 4 in. Also, it should last him a while. Of course, Cole was happy with the present (which we gave to him on Christmas Eve Day), and Sara and I told him that it would be for Christmas and his birthday (in January). Young boys do not know how much things cost. </div><div> </div><div>I took Cole out for a ride, and it ended up being a long one. We got to go off-road for a bit and around the Lake of the Woods development, where my parents live. We had to do the obligatory roll down the hill (without the bikes) that almost made Uncle Darren puke and also stop by the playground so that Cole could race me on the jungle gym apparatus. </div><div> </div><div>I ended up biking again with Cole when we visited my sister on Christmas Day. He had been waiting for me to arrive for another bike ride. I took him to Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, and this time we actually went on some hills, and Cole got to understand that gears are good. He also got to understand that what goes up must come down, and he enjoyed riding the downhills. On one of the steep hills, I knew Cole wasn't going to make it up, so I had him go in front of me and jumped off my bike. As I cheered for him to pedal, I lightly pushed him up, but he still did most of the work. As usual, he seemed pretty tired both days. I hope to take Cole on some real mountain bike trails in the future.</div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-56532991502549975172010-11-07T18:29:00.000-05:002011-01-16T16:41:23.578-05:00Tacchino CXBig Jim has carved out himself a great race. I went and watched last year, and this year I was able to race.<br />
<b> </b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5316162&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="291" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs457.ash2/73009_460465826381_690281381_5316161_5956786_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Masters 3/4 </b><br />
I got an ok starting position, I was lined up next to Gwadzilla. I wanted to keep it smooth and see if I could not hurt my back too much. I got an ok start, and had Bruce B. in my sights. I don't know if ever passed him, but by DCMTB teammate Brian caught up to me. I had a bad remount, landing on the tire/brake. I losed some time there. After the first 2 laps it was just going into maintaining mode, since I couldn't really get any power out of my body. I got passed by a good many people, but the only saving grace was that I was able to get the guy who caught up to me on the last off camber(almost wrecking there). I liked the double logs where you could jump them or dismount. I think bigger logs would be better so it was more of a question. Reminded me of the Swiss worldcup I watched, the barriers are not as high as the ones we use cause most pros were bunny hopping them and it didn't look 40 inches high.<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5316162&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="297" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs577.ash2/149941_460465861381_690281381_5316162_4927862_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Tandem</b><br />
There was a tandumb race happening, and this time I made sure the pedal was on ok. I had Tyler from Family Bikes pack a pedal tap so that I could clean out the threads. That did the trick Matt's pedals went on fine, and we were ready to roll. We started in the first row, and were able to get the lead after the first corner. I knew the Padam team was coming behind us. They got us on the off camber downhill, and we never saw them again. We were riding good together, and had our shinning moment/almost disaster when we did a planned move that we talked about in a practice lap. After a downhilll there is a U-turn then an uphill rise. The Tom team was in front of us and Matt kicked it in going out of the turn and we stood for the whole hill. The almost disaster happened at the turn where we passed and hit a root I never saw in the Masters race. When we hit the root is sent our bike into the tape, but luckly I was able to control it. We did ok at the barriers, but we were not as insync as we were at DCCX. After the first lap we were in no-man's land, but our luck changed as we saw the Toms team have a mechanical with their timing chain having fallen off. So we caught them at the double logs, and tried to get them at the berm, but we were running out of trail. We got them on the off camber, and on the pavement for a 3rd place. We made the podium DCMTB's second podium of the day.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Thoughts:</b><br />
<ul><li>Jim put on a great race, cool prizes I got some of the sausage and ate this week-yum.</li>
<li>The vibe pretty awesome.</li>
<li> I found the Elite race a lot more fun to watch since Joe D. started 2:30 down on the whole race, and he came back to win big.</li>
<li> The team support was out there today</li>
<li> Tandem races are great! I mean pretty cool motivating, and dieing out on the course with a friend.</li>
<li> Right now My favorite races for Mabra are Ed Sanders, DCCX, and Rockburn. I didn't do the one in Winchester, but I have seen the course so I will try that next year. </li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJjIbBBOuN1CkRYYxuU6ZOh18XakFKQ-xN9Lyu20kg1QzfzaO1GmrP-7487x0q9N8dp_fzbcNqF7i08OHj96PqaUivbkrTnp50Yf2kToQHWPwr_IiaCUqP5MoVjS4vQFk25xENe-11_o/s1600/TandemDCMTB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="541" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJjIbBBOuN1CkRYYxuU6ZOh18XakFKQ-xN9Lyu20kg1QzfzaO1GmrP-7487x0q9N8dp_fzbcNqF7i08OHj96PqaUivbkrTnp50Yf2kToQHWPwr_IiaCUqP5MoVjS4vQFk25xENe-11_o/s640/TandemDCMTB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An artsy version of a shot I found online</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eKb7WSPrynw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eKb7WSPrynw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-19404359813930876122010-10-24T21:34:00.000-04:002011-01-16T16:42:29.262-05:00DCCX 2010<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5205456&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs148.ash2/40738_453805831381_690281381_5205455_2970464_n.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="color: red;">Most photos by Jon Janis </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">As the captain of DCMTB, DCCX is more than just a race for me. It's our team's way to give back to the biking community by putting on the best event that we can. Yet again, I think that we have succeeded, having over 700 racers and shattering the MABRA record of 80 women at our race. Mother nature came through as well (for the fourth year running) with sunny skies and mild temperatures. A big thank you to all the sponsors--Dogfish Head Alehouses (for tasty beer and pourers), Family Bikeshop (Jonathan rocks), Bobby's Pottys (we had to go big this year, with 7 porta-johns that still all became out of order by the end of the day), the Dutch Club (for making great pancakes). Stickyfingers Bakery, and Joe Foley Photography. Special thanks also to the Armed Forces Retirement Home for allowing us to use the beautiful grounds.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5205456&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="248" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs308.snc4/40763_453805966381_690281381_5205463_8322967_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Men's Masters ¾</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, I was worried a little bit going into this race. I had been working on the race and on my feet all day Saturday, and then was working the VIP team tent area in the morning. One good thing with having your own race, you get an ok start position. I was starting next to Mark D. from the team. I got a pretty good<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5205456&id=690281381" id="myphotolink" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="465" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs024.snc4/33561_453805996381_690281381_5205464_1874602_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5205456&id=690281381" id="myphotolink" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="320" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs394.ash2/67263_453807246381_690281381_5205502_956715_n.jpg" width="179" /></a>s tart(which I seem to be able to do usually) Right before going to the finish line for the first time, I was able to get to Bruce B’s wheel. I had the opportunity to pre ride the course a Bruce had not been able to pre ride, and was not riding as smooth as I was. I got a little impatient and passed Bruce. This would be short lived as Bruce passed me, then Bill of CXHairs passed me as well. Around the 2<sup>nd</sup> or 3<sup>rd</sup> lap my back blew <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5205456&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="356" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs468.ash2/74174_453806036381_690281381_5205466_5027384_n.jpg" width="400" /></a>up. At that point I was in trouble, I went from like 17<sup>th</sup> to the 31<sup>st</sup> position I ended up at. I guess Gwadzilla was behind me closing in cause he finished right behind me. I did ok, but when you loose 15 places you are not going to be too happy.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5262652&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="584" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs955.snc4/74809_456731371381_690281381_5262651_2589315_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Tandem</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5262652&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="480" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs409.ash2/68763_456731531381_690281381_5262659_2222543_n.jpg" width="640" /></a>This was the race that I had been thinking about leading up to the race. I had originally planned to do the race with Sara. After pre-riding the course, Sara and I thought it best for our relationship that we didn’t ride it together. I got Matt E. from my team who was a great sport. He is a really strong rider, and fit the tandem great. Matt, and I had pre-ridden the course on Sat so we had an idea what we were doing. We had a slow start, but by the first turn one tandem blew up, and we were in 3rd place. At the barriers our technique came into play and we were in 2<sup>nd</sup>. The Toms boys caught back up to us, and we were doing ok until we messed up at the stairs(which we did good in practice). At some point we lost a pedal and some time getting it back on. I think after that on the backside of the course we saw one of the tandems roll a tubular(don’t use tubulars unless you have defense grade adhesive!) We lost some time on the uphill pavement, then lost our pedal again. We fixed it with a pedal wrench, but the damage was done we went into steady mode. The best part on the tandem was doing the bricks to the downhill, we were doing 33mph there. I had a good time on the Tandem and will hope to do it again this CX season.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5262652&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="300" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs968.snc4/76128_456732181381_690281381_5262691_1850684_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">DCCX has gotten better every year, and this year I was really happy with the course, and my little off road addition to the mix. Sara was great for coming out for the day as she was reading when she could and watchin’ her man do his thing too. <br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5205456&id=690281381" id="myphotolink"><img height="300" id="myphoto" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs394.ash2/67276_453808016381_690281381_5205520_4830692_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8327309509923084470.post-18733061551509406282010-10-20T08:09:00.000-04:002010-10-20T08:09:12.141-04:0018 hours of Scouts Honor<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From August</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="492" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs320.snc4/41344_433068116381_690281381_4831212_443876_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the Boys with the FAT $200 for winning, unfortunately that didn't cover registration.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs320.snc4/41344_433068116381_690281381_4831212_443876_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="color: red;"><br />
</div>I have been lame and not been keeping up my blog for my 3 loyal readers...... Well I will be doing updates this week, and try to be on it for the next couple of weeks if I am racing.<br />
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I have done Scouts Honor I think like 4-6 times. I might have only missed one year of it. I did the first one at Poorfarm Park in Ashland which was cool. They have had Scouts Honor at the boy scouts camp for the last several years, and I think it is a great venue. The course this year was even longer then last year with around 12 miles. I think they have hit the sweet spot for course length right about an hour. The only thing I would say against the course, I don't know if it was new cut trail or weird drainage, but there were some slow sections in there even though it had been really dry. Hopefully it was new cut trail and next year it will be fast and smooth like the rest of the course.<br />
<br />
-before the race:<br />
So we decided to go down the day of, and I was going to have Sara come down at the end of the race and drive me to my parents. Things did not got to plan, I had Jonathan pick me up at my work parking lot and he went all the way to Annapolis to get Leland. We got to the traffic jam known as 95 and were running late to make the start. Mike K. was down in Williamsburg with his family and was to meet us there. Mike got there, and ended up having to do our first lap, as we got our registration. If Mike wasn't there it would have been a little dicey. <br />
-the race<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs405.snc4/46854_433068711381_690281381_4831220_7865003_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs405.snc4/46854_433068711381_690281381_4831220_7865003_n.jpg" width="288" /></a></div>Mike did a good lap having us around 5th over-all, after the first lap. Jonathan went out and ripped a crazy fast time like 5 minutes faster then Mike which put us in 2nd over-all 1st for 4-man. I went out did a pretty good lap, and then Leland went out and pulled a good one as well. After the first laps we were into the darkness(race starts at 4pm). I was rocking my second lap when I had my front tire burb on me after I railed a turn with a dip in it. I had to refill the tire a little bit, so that cost me some time. We did consistant laps through the night with that 3-5 stretch being people's slowest laps. Jonathan was the rockstar of the race, he was just killing it the whole way. I wanted a sub 1:00 for my last lap and was able to pull that off. Jonathan took the only 5th lap, instead of Mike since he left to go back to Williamsburg to his family. <br />
Notes:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs154.ash2/41043_433068061381_690281381_4831210_3634224_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs154.ash2/41043_433068061381_690281381_4831210_3634224_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>-Good course, alot of ups and downs. I made a point to stay in the middle ring, and stand out of the saddle when I needed to.<br />
-The Voodoo worked great in it's 3x9 geared with FT suspension. ( usually run this bike Rigid, and SS)<br />
-Getting first was nice, and we grabbed 2nd over-all the 1st place duo team is semi-pro. <br />
-I was riding with my saddle more forward then usual, but I really like to be "on-top" of the pedals for a fast course. <br />
-We all did the race, on the bare minimum, got food on the way down(would eat half later that night) Jonathan brought the boiled potatoes which really helped. I didn't bring a tent but just rested in the chair with my lite sleeping bag.<br />
-Bring bug spray next year!<br />
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-Have to see how the 2011 summer turns out, but I could see myself here once again.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs615.snc4/59583_433068131381_690281381_4831213_5796249_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs615.snc4/59583_433068131381_690281381_4831213_5796249_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02984088219864211362noreply@blogger.com0