“Let the madness begin!”

Ozzy

Since I found myself on the start list of SSWC09, my mind began to spin out of control on how to build the nastiest race bike a big guy like me can count on. Sounds pretty easy right?

Well, single speed bicycles are not exactly known for extra bits and bobs such as derailleurs, cassettes and shifters that weigh them down. We are already talking about a pared down machine, and you’re pretty hard pressed to find a way to shave weight without compromising the ride.

I have a philosophy I call Ridiculite, – as light as it can be and still perform flawlessly. 

It’s no secret that wheels and tires are the easiest way to loose weight on a bike and reap instant performance. Someone once told me that rotational mass manifests itself in your legs 4 times what it actually is, i.e. a wheel that is actually weighs 2 pounds will feel like it is 8 when riding. While you can’t exactly quantify this “rule of rotational mass” without getting all Bill Nye, I’ve found this to “feel” true. Plus, lighter is always better, but not at the expense of dependability.

So rotational mass is anything that moves in a circle, and its not just limited to wheels and tires, but also cranks, chainrings, chain, and pedals. Yeah, all those things rotate in some form or another. So here are a couple of ways I think I can drop the weight of my bike, and keep the performance I depend on.

So in the coming posts, you will get a peek into the madness that consumes me.

Harder than I thought. Three awesome days on the bike in warm weather, and I am already whining about being back in winter. The air temperature was 5° last night as I took the beast for a walk. I was sad, and even a little grumpy with the cold.

Today, it is puking snow. As you can imagine, school is cancelled, meaning I get to accomplish practically nothing. The forcast is for 14-18″ on the valley floor, more in the mountains. Can you guess where I’ll be tomorrow morning…?

Something popped up in my inbox the other night, an update from Bike Rumor on the official release of the Niner carbon fork that I’ve been riding since November.

The first commentator shared his fear and distrust of Niner’s testing methodology. Now, I didn’t actually see his Armchair Engineer License, but since my degree is from the prestigious Lazy-Boy University I’m just guessing that he didn’t quite understand this particular testing method…

The test as pictured is a shear force test, the steerer is help firmly in place, and the dropouts are thrashed back and forth with measured force repeatedly until it breaks. It’s called cycle testing. Back and forth, back and forth. Kinda like when you might be riding a bike down something bumpy huh?

Camp J

Now, I’m not on Niner’s payroll, but they do let me test products for them from time to time. I wouldn’t ride it at all if I thought it was sketchy in any way. It is a widely known fact that Niner tests their products against a stringent set of thresholds put forth by the German DIN Plus standard for load and cycle testing. We all know that Germans are sticklers for details, er Audi, Benz or BMW anyone?

Anyway, I don’t think Dicky knew I already had one of these. Despite that fact, I still may get another one, possibly in glow-in-the-dark blue to match my finest skid free extra husky boys footie PJs. We’ll need that extra light when I have to wheel Dicky’s drunk keister around on my handlebars at SSWC09.

Upon leaving the Bay Horse, we were threatening to wake up at the crack of noon, and maybe, just maybe consider going for a ride. After all, we still had to pack the bikes back up and ship them back to VT. The reality was, that sleep was very hard. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw singletrack, my body still vibrating with the ghosts of yesterday’s ride. We woke at the crack of 8. Then it was time for some serious caloric replenishment.

Dejay turned us on to a place called Bobo’s, where they have a pancake the size of a dinner platter with caramelized brown sugar encrusted on the top (or bottom). That sounded good. Mandy had the banana pancake, I had a devilish sausage and cheese omelet. It was well worth the 15 minute wait to get in and get seated, and it only cost $9 for both of us.

After meeting with Dejay and the gang of biker bums hanging out on his livingroom floor, we discovered that we were ill prepared to hook up with these guys for a ride, having brought our bikes, but none of our riding stuff. We also got there too late to help finish off yesterday’s Tecate. 

So around 10:30, we headed back north to Oro Valley, gathered our stuff and headed out to the fabled 50 Year Trail, not too far from where we were staying. The trails that we rode were on the plains abutting the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, making it an easy place for noobs like us to have a good time and not get lost.

The day was amazing, low 70s, the sky a cloudless shade of blue that disappeared into space. Again, you could see the rains at work, the hillsides turning greener by the second. I saw tiny butterflies flitting about the cactus, and Mandy spotted a verbana freshly unfurled. I spotted what I think is a perfect Saguaro (my favorite desert life form), this sucker had to be 25 feet tall.

Being completely fried from the day before, we kept the tempo pretty mellow. Fortunately, the 50 Year Trail was mostly rolling, a pristine singletrack that wound its way through the cholla and prickly pears. Deviating from the beaten path, like overshooting a turn would be bad, I attest the amazing  condition of the trail to this one stark reality.

We wound in and out of big granite boulders, and found our way to an area known as the “Chutes”. They are just like they sound. Except we managed to ride them backwards. We met a lot of folks who looked at us in total disbelief, and “you just rode up that?”, then noticed our singlespeeds, then letting their jaws fall open.

“Well, yeah, we rode that”. The truth is, we rode all the Chutes, only we rode up half of them. It seemed like a good idea to me, gotta go up to go down right? we may have earned the respect of some locales, but we were obviously a pair of ninnies that didn’t know where or what we were doing. I hope to go back and try again, because the ones we went down were AMAZING! It was even fun to ride up them too, you just have to have fresh legs to really do it right.

We finished up our 2 hour tour, headed back to the ranch and packed up and shipped our bikes, and then headed back to Tucson to meet Dejay and the crew at the Bario Brewery. We had been there on Friday before our trip to Fantasy Island, and were looking forward to some (many) of their delicious brews. After stuffing our faces with carne asada and fish tacos, we then went out for several nightcaps at one of Dejay’s haunts, the Red Garter. Truly dive bar-tastic, but with a jukebox full of good music in addition to the wood paneled walls.

We made a lot of really good friends out in Tucson. I can safely say that we’ll try to visit there before SSAZ10. The people were really nice, the trails were great, and the overall vibe of the town was pleasantly real and down to earth. How often can you go to a town, knowing practically no people, spend three days and leave having eaten at the best restaurants, drank at the best dive bars, best micro breweries, ride the best trails in the best weather, and have a bunch of new friends? Not that often. Thanks to everyone we met, you are all awesome.

We’ll be back Tucson…

Saturday started very early. 

We woke at 5 to make the hour long drive from where we were staying in Oro Valley to Agua Caliente Park. The weather has been absolutely crazy, our pre dawn drive took a little longer than expected because of the thick pea soup like fog. The gathering was scheduled for 7:30, for the “rules of the ride” and head count. We were about 60 strong. The fog had lifted by the time we arrived at the park.

Once we collected out wits, we set off on the 8 mile roll in. The ride would take us almost 50 miles and 5800ft through Sonoran desert, high mountain plains, ugly jackhammer descents (check out mile 44, it was really that steep), past 4 “aid” stations, where the aid was to be found in the form of delicious ice cold Tecate.

Here is a link to the course.

The first climb was up a fire road, a fairly consistent grade with a couple of really steep parts. I was able to get a good pace going, and it felt like I was flying up the hill. I kept reeling folk in on the climb, but I knew if I kept it up, I’d be in sorry shape later on. I decided that I’d wait for Mandy, who was not that far behind, and in a pretty good groove of her own. 

The scenery was absolutely spectacular. We had a great crank up the hill to the first aid station around mile 16. I brought a whole pile of food in my Camelbak, knowing that I’d need to fuel the machine if I was to even have a hope of finishing. I did a pretty good job of remembering to eat and drink as often as possible. By now, the sun was burning high in the sky, and there was not much in the way of shade. This was going to be a long day…

After the first aid station, the brutiful funishment began. It started out with a beautiful flowing ribbon of singletrack, just slightly downhill. Fast, sweeping turns through the cactus and cholla finally ended with a flowing wash. All the rains were finding their way down hill too, there were more than a few water crossing on this part of the ride, some of them, knee deep. The cool water was very refreshing, and thankfully we had thought of this possibility and wore wool socks. I shudder to think about what my feet might look like if I had chosen cotton.

As the day went on, you could see the desert wake up from it’s slumber. There were patches of new grass by the sides of the wash in the shady spots. I am pretty amazed by the way life works in the desert, the season is short, and plants are opportunistic. It made me wonder when the last time there was new grass where we were.

The trail went from singletrack, to creek bed, to a new term “zero track” then to super rocky gnarly baby head strewn jeep road.

I was very relieved to have made it to the second aid station around mile 25, which was back on the dirt road we had originally climbed up. I had finished off my 100oz Camelbak and needed to reload. We repeated a little more than 4 miles back up to where the first rest stop was (now the third), and I thought that now a Tecate would be pretty tasty. 

I was right.

Then we headed out on the second loop, which was all singletrack. The trail was a lot of fun, and I was feeling pretty good.I even dropped the seat on my bike, as I was pretty much done with climbing for the day, the terrain was far too loose to really make a good go of it, and I thought that I’d keep my energy for railing the downhills.

This turned out to be a wise move, because it got technical. Fast. The last seven or so miles of the trail was down the Melagrosa trail, legendary for it’s ugliness. It’s not much more than a hiking trail, and some spots were just plain unrideable unless you were Hans Rey. I’d estimate that I rode about 80% of the downhill, which is pretty darn good if you ask me. 

About halfway down the second lap we ran into three other ride participants. One of them was clearly bumming. We had passed them a couple of times over the last 10 or so miles, but now it was crisis management. We weren’t super sure which way to go, and the other two in the group had a GPS, so we possied up. 

Things were going along fine, until one of the guys decided to bear hug a prickly pear on a particularly difficult step down. It was painful to witness, the spines were everywhere. Mandy and I went on ahead, and finally bottomed out on the canyon floor. 

I was a little further ahead, and being tired I stopped at the top to wait for the rest of the gang on a small ledge on the canyon wall. I sat down on a rock, and witnessed something that you have to actually see happen to believe. I was parked right in front of a big ocatillo cactus, and I saw it leaf out! I don’t know if it was the mileage getting to me, but I swear I saw it’s leaves flick out in the late afternoon sun.

When the others caught up, we all agreed that the leaves were filling out right before our eyes, and what a sight it was. Also in sight was the end! The only thing standing in the way was an evil 700ft descent, spanning about a 1/4 mile. It was rugged, but I was determined. I rode all but one section that was too narrow for the bike to fit through and maintain any kind of control.

The fourth aid station (and unofficial finish) was at the very bottom of the canyon, where a kicked keg and 25 pizzas waited for us. Fortunately there was plenty of stream cooled Miller High Life, and the victory chugging commenced.

We did it.

8 hours on the bike, 50 miles. I was spent, but the good news, is that there was absolutely zero cramping. I can safely say, that this ride set the bar to a whole new level for 2009. If I can pull 50 out practically off the couch, imagine what i could do if I actually trained…

Oh, it’s on…

We wrapped the night up with $4 pitchers back at the Bay Horse Tavern and awards, where we passed out a bunch of the new Bike 29 t-shirts (picture of those coming soon, my camera ran out of batteries).

Once we got back to Oro Valley, it was very late. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wake up super early on Sunday, so we slept in. 

So my first ride of 2009 was a lot of fun. We needed something pretty easy and mellow to get the legs woken up. We were directed to a trail called Fantasy Island, a series of directional interconnected loops. The terrain was mostly flat, but all singletrack, about 15 miles worth.

The trail undulated and twisted over the land, and was so flowy, you could ride it flat out. There were a couple of cool washes to ride in and out of, and a very fun halfpipe, reminiscent of the Kingdom’s infamous Sidewinder trail. 

The weather was a bit iffy however, dark clouds were approaching, and we did get rained on. I was very surprised to see puddles on the ground. I was also very surprised at how big the rabbits are out here. Holy crap! This one was the size of a small dog, easily standing about 24″ high. Hopefully these guys aren’t carnivorous….

We were out for about and hour, when we ran into a guy named Bob, who joined up with us for a loop. He said we were kicking up a good tempo, and had a blast following us through the scrub at high speed. We parted ways when we went out to check out a new loop called Christmas Tree. All in all, the experience was awesome, despite my bringing a few souvenirs with me.

The vegetation out here does not like people.

After our ride we got some cocktails at the Kon Tiki bar on Broadway, where we had big VooDoo cocktails, and some Monkeys and Birds on a Stick (terriaky beef and chicken skewers). We ate dinner at a place called the Hungry Fox, which was right next door. Picture your grandmothers kitchen, with every surface painted some shade of butter, with a whole bunch of crap hanging from every square inch on the walls. It was here that we decided that just because it’s “home made” doesn’t make it any good.

Fully loaded up on carbs, we went on to the Bay Horse Tavern for the pre ride meeting and cheap PBRs. It was going to be a long day on Saturday….

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, mainly the iPhone, my life has become a little easier. The title of this post was actually written on the runway when we arrived at Tucson yesterday. At the moment, I am unable to actually post with the nifty gadget, but I’ll find a fix for that. I’ve still been able to continue to do business thanks to email and call forwarding, some of it pretty substantial!

We’ve arrived! And so has the rain it seems. We picked up our bikes from Dejay’s shop, Arizona Cyclist, put them together as the rain poured down. Well, at least it won’t be dusty.

We’re going to be tourons for the morning, then try to sneak in a quick ride between rain drops.Will update with pictures next, so stay tuned…

I can safely say I am very glad that the cold snap is over. It’s pretty bad when 16° feels like a heat wave. Soon it will be a much different story weather-wise for us. It’s looking like the high 70s this coming weekend for SSAZ09.

I managed to keep warm by franticly packing up our bikes to send out to AZ. In a moment of clarity, I took the time to instal a new Reba Team on my bike. For my first couple of rides of 09, I’m going for comfort. Plus I was told I would have a much better time with a suspension fork. This is a good opportunity for me to see first hand if this new Reba is all its cracked up to be. I chose the WTB WW LT for tires, Mandy is going to check out the Nanoraptors. Man, I wish they’d make that tire in a 2.4!

I’ve been ferociously building wheels over the last couple of days. It’s amazes me that I am about as busy as I can be in January. I’ve been making the big push to get as much out the door as I can before I split to Tucson. I’ve also been working on a couple of custom bike builds, one of which will be a very sharp looking Vassago Bandersnatch. For anyone shopping for one of these, the next batch is about a month away, and I am taking preorders. This one is Blood Red, with a gold King headset. All King headsets come with their new graphic treatment “sotto voce”, basically, meaning the graphic is tonal instead of contrasting. I like it.

The good news, is that my little sojourn out west should not disrupt things too much. Besides our riding adventures, I should have some new products to tell you all about when I return.

I’ll recap what I can remember about Man Day 2009. 

7 of us got together for a day of skiing/snowboarding up at Jay Peak, followed by aprés, more aprés, then dinner and then several beers. Not necessarily  the best behavior from a bunch of “mature” adults. Actually, I’d be surprised if any of us would be allowed to ever do something like this again.

Dr. Jones (who is not really a doctor) presented the group with the new Bike 29 shop shirts, cool Oakley mechanic shirts, with the B29 Jet logo above the left chest pocket, and our individual names over the right. Our group consisted of Ham Fist (Davey, named for his riding style), That Guy (Shaun, if you’d ever had a beer with him, you’d understand), Token (Jay, the token roadie), Daddy Nat (we couldn’t print what we normally call him on a shirt), Dr Jones (think Short Stop in Temple of Doom), and myself, The Monkey (very self explanatory really). Also present, was young Will Hansen from Sugarbush Resort, and our guide at Jay for the day Dean Zorn. The shirts are a very royal blue, and the Jet logo is the love child of NASA and Boeing.

Well, our first bartender at Jay thought we were from NASA, so we decided that we were from that point on.

The night ended up with all of us getting home safely, thanks to Token, and his amazing ability to be responsible. He looks like he’s having a good time right?

When Monday is the highlight of the week, you know that things are way off. A giant Arctic air mass swept the region late Tuesday night, and the temperatures have fallen ever since. Last night we had a record low of -33°F. That’s pretty cold. I have no problem admitting that I couldn’t cut it in the Yukon. 

I would like to give a shout out to the products (in no particular order) that have made my life a lot easier these last few days.

1. Flannel lined Carhartts

2. Burton AK LZ Down Jacket

3. Keen Summit County Boots

I can’t even tell you how stoked I am to go to Arizona next week, even if I am going to get my ass handed to me. It will be good to ride the bike again, and also to develop a taste for having my ass handed to me. SSWC09 is only 8 short months away!

The pup is doing great. He is really fitting in well at the shop. When he isn’t greeting the visitors of the day, he mostly sleeps under my desk, but can be found sometimes people watching out of the front window. He’s so very cute. This weather is tough on a pooch, I haven’t been able to take him out to get thoroughly tired since Sunday.

I’ve been staying warm at the shop by building wheels like a fiend. Among the many sets that have been twisted up, are a set for one of Vassago’s team riders, and our very own Mike Maggs. I’m lacing his SSCW09 Victory Wheels, King hubs (natch), 355s, Super Comps and GOLD nips. 

I’m also sorry to say, that our man in the woods at Jay, Dean, suffered a catastrophic biff on Tuesday, and lost the use of one of his collar bones for a while. We’re all bummed to hear the news, but glad that we all got a chance to play together on snow with no injuries. Without Dean, we would have been stuck on lame, in bounds skiing/snowboarding, instead of the secret ultra-local stashes we tore it up on. Heal up Dean, two wheel season is coming!

This will be held in Durango in September, and I’M GOING!

I sent my registration off early last week, eager to get in before the 500 spots filled up. Last year’s race was full in about 4 minutes, registration was online at like 2am on New Year’s Day. This time around, you had to print off and color in the “application”, which I thought was very creative. Any medium is acceptable, and I chose to use some of Keiran’s crayons, and some really creepy stickers we had kicking around.

The race is open to 500 male racers, and any female wishing to attend. Mandy was guaranteed a spot, and I was a bit nervous about not getting in, based on how quickly it filled up last year. Turns out the analog quality of having to actually print, color and mail in your registration has caught the procrastinators out. Not quite as easy as clicking a button eh?

The cut off is January 23rd, and as of right now, there are only about 160 on the start list. If you are thinking about it, get your registration in now!

So Bike 29 will be headed to Durango! And also on the start list is our own Mike Maggs. Waterbury will be well represented. 

I guess I better start training. 

Monday is “Man Day“, so my official training will begin on Tuesday. Just what is Man Day? I’ll have an update tomorrow.

Things in motion, tend to want to stay in motion…

Well, today I started a project which I hope will be fun. This whole singlespeed thing is pretty cool. Racing locally I can actually be competitive against the other weekend warriors in my class. 2009 heralds a new era in my cycling history. It is looking like this is the year of the singlespeed for me. 

Mandy and I are going to SSAZ09 in Tucson to ride singlespeeds with a bunch of folks who will most likely destroy us. 50 miles in January will be interesting…

My registration has been colored in and sent off to Durango for SSWC09. Mandy gets in regardless, so I am going anyway.

Any Catamount race I can participate in will be on the singlespeed.

Why am I doing this?

I have no idea.

Today, orders were placed for some items, that when coalesced, will hopefully live up to the Ridiculite standard. Too vague? OK, I have a new wheelset up my sleeve…

I hope to be able to add it to the catalog, but we’ll just have to wait and see.