Supply run

Saturday.

The weather was threatening, but as it never rains here, and it was predicted only to be a 40% chance of scattered showers so I offered to go get dog meds and also some small bike parts down in the Flatlands. I could've driven or taken the bus but I'm on a crash course for the Growler race so I decided to make a big ride of it. I changed backpacks at the last minute because the Ergon is squeaking at the shoulder strap joint which has been quite annoying. So back to the good ole Deuter for now.

I left late, around 11:30am, and as soon as me and the Hunter were 5 minutes from the ranch, the sprinkles started. No worries, 'that's kinda nice!' i thought to myself...reminded me of riding in the winter in Marin. Of course, the more eastward I rode, the heavier it got and the colder I got. By the time I got to the 3K drop into town I was pretty much soaked. The raingear bottoms have lost their DWR, my shell gloves had also lost their Nikwax, and i left my booties in my other pack - so the 45ish degrees didn't feel so great in wet wool. My feet and hands froze immediately. No worries, I thought to myself, I'll go to the bike shop and get my parts and also perhaps a dry set of socks for the ride back up! I could also go to a Laundromat and use a dryer for a few minutes.

I get to the shop and rummage thru my pack and realize I forgot my wallet in the other pack, as well as my camera (hence, no pics), which means I can't buy socks or my bike parts. It also means I can't take the bus up to Ned since I don't have any my bus pass or any cash. The cash that was stashed in my pack was also transferred to my waterproof winter pack months ago and I of course didn't remember that. I was basically screwed. So I went to pick up dog meds and headed to Vics to warm up before the ride home. At least it had stopped raining but I was drenched and was not drying out.

As I was riding from east back towards the foothills, I thought about the several friends houses I was passing where I could go knock on their doors and borrow some clothes for the ride back up. There's my cousin's house...there's J&H's house, down a few blocks is B&M's house, SpeedRacer's right there...!....NAH, i concluded, I made my bed and now I gotta sleep in it, or maybe more fitting - I jumped into some wet wool and now I need to sleep outside while the winds suck out every bit of warmth from me. Although my hands had warmed up and I had a 2nd set of gloves, I run out my socks and insoles but my feet were not warming up...they felt like dead bricks of flesh on the ends of my ankles. 'They'll warm up as I ride the 3K back home' i thought to myself.

Or not. About 1k higher on Flag, they were still solid ice, so I stopped and took the shoes off to hand warm them and put in some toe warmers I found in the bottom of my back from a couple winters ago. Let me just say, they did absolutely nothing to help and just made my shoes more uncomfortable on each pedal stroke. 'What does not kill you makes you stronger' and such thoughts went through my head. But really, I'm just an idiot - that also went through my head.

Cresting past the Reservoir about 3/4 the elevation gain home, the sun started to break through the clouds...it was warming up! Now 4 hours into my ride I was over the hump and ready to hit the 4x4 climb over Rhino Peak pass. My feet never did warm up, even though I was sweating everywhere else. I tried running beside my bike for awhile, shaking my feet beside my bike while coasting downhill, all with no luck.

In the shower at home, it took them 15 minutes to stop tingling and get past the pain of the big warm up. How, in mid-April, can I get my feet colder than they've ever been? And why? Because I was unprepared. I carry a big pack with too much stuff (claim many of my Pilot brethren) and THIS is why! I go light (enough), and bring what I need or may need. But changing packs right before the ride? That's just silly, boneheaded, like over-tightening a seat post bolt 5 minutes before a race and having it snap. Oops, no spare. So, maybe I should've stopped at a friends house, or hitched a ride home, or bartered with the guys at the bike shop for some socks, or SOMETHING instead of just riding past all that. But that's just me. No, it's not because I'm a recluse, shy, self-pity or deprecating, or don't want to put people out (although there are bits of truth in those). It's just how I'm wired - I gotta follow through and finish what I started. But I wasn't always this stubborn.

While racing MTB's years ago, the races I did not finish because of technicals or 'physicals' were some of the worst days of my life. I simply gave up in the end, because I wasn't going to get a good result, and when presented with an excuse, sometimes I'd take it. But over the years, I've realized that there are not many reasons to stop. Even if your frame breaks - shoulder it and finish the freaking race! So now, jaded and much older, I just keep going like it really matters, because to me, it does, it makes it that much more valuable of an experience. And it was just a simple supply run.

The week in pictures

Monday morning.
St. Vrain mountain to the left of Sugarloaf on the ride into work. Can you see my turns from the day before?

Tuesday and Wednesday. TIG welding class in Arvada.

My first TIG welds patched up these 6 squares of steel into cubes and we had some fun putting them on their ends like this. TIG is much harder than I thought, much more 'small' and precise, but apparently I picked it up faster than average (or so he said). Not the prettiest welds on those boxes but I'll get there. I always thought I wanted to braze - create frames with lugs and fillet brazing - but I must say that the beauty of a good TIG weld is hard to beat and this class made me appreciate just how hard it is to get that perfect looking weld. Next Monday, I start the frame-building portion of the class, so by next weekend I'll have a new cross singlespeed frame! More later...

Thursday morning, Elks Club. What are YOU lookin at?!

Thursday PM.

The ride home cut it a bit close to darkness. The problem with riding home in April is that when you don't get off work till 5, by the time you get home at 7:30, it's freaking back down to 40 degrees and you've been sweating into your woolies for 2 hours. But I'm really enjoying the long rides, I've missed them. The amount of time to just think and be alone with your thoughts, and to listen to music in earphones where I always hear things i somehow 'missed' in the same songs I've heard for years, and the way the miles magically cleanse away any and all baggage life adds on during the day. Yeah, I've missed spinning those miles away.

Friday.

No pictures. Grey day of low clouds threatening rain all day but none produced. Rode in on the Dam route and had a fine rolling tasting with Timmy to end the day right.

Let there be corn!

(Check out my new Spot Messenger page, it's linked down on the right. Now, whenever I use my Spot, you can see where the hell I am even if I don't know where I am.)

Top of St. Vrain Mountain. Audubon, Paiute, Sawtooth and Red Deer Mtn's from left to right.

Sunday saw me on the new spring ski setup (Trab FreeRando lights that I got for 40% off at Mtn Outfitters in Breck, thanks Zoom and MK!) brutalizing myself up Rock Creek on the most direct route up to the top. I wasn't in a hurry but I tend to go as fast as I can when I'm skiing alone. The great thing about April skiing is the potential for powder days on a solid snowpack, and on non-powder days you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to ski the high peaks. It takes the snowpack longer to warm up with the lower sun angle and lower temperatures. Overall, the snowpack is probably not as good to ski or as "set up" yet on some of the steeper north-facing slopes ,but on the south and east faces - the slopes we've been avoiding like the plague all winter - I think that it's their time.

Longs Peak from St. Vrain

As you can tell, this is one really mellow slope. It's the perfect early spring cruiser run. You can get your early corn and get it safely. I was one of several people up here that were thinking the same thing.

I reached the peak at about 11:30am, and instead of waiting for the higher east face to warm and soften up a bit, I went west to the saddle and skied the steeper (but not by much) south face. It ended after approximately 800 vertical in scree so I benched west and bootpacked up to a S/SW saddle that had a nice looking ski run less affected by sastrugi moguls (the wavy way snow gets with high winds). It was a dreamy run...i always forget how much I love corn. You almost can't mess up (...almost).

The above was my 3rd run, this time down from the false summit of St. Vrain. The little rock cairn in the foreground is the only perspective you have on this hill. Riding down this last run, I couldn't help but grin when I realized I was effortlessly carving the corn on the longest continuous run I've had all year. Spring is here my friends, and let there be corn!

Road Closed

I took out Tank, on a few hours of riding in the hills south of Ned. The trails are nowhere near being clear of snow up here but there are so many great dirt roads that can be linked with paved roads in between, so I decided to try and link up a big figure 8 that I rode part of last year.

The dirt road above is behind the local state park and is one of the premiere rides in the area in my opinion. It takes a long paved road to get there but on a Saturday morning this is nearly absent of any cars except for the State Park Patroller.

Luckily said State Park Patroller didn't care (or notice) that I hopped the metal barrier to ride the currently Closed road that goes through the park. It's seasonally closed (snow), but I had maybe 100ft total of snow navigation at the very top; it was all rideable on bike. It felt like I was poaching singletrack road. I have never said this before but road riding is actually pretty fun (when there are no cars on the road). No worries about getting brushed, yelled at, honked at, or hit, you can swerve on such steep sections as the one in the above picture, and you can ride in the opposite lane if you just so wish. Imagine a world with just paths, and no cars...

I visited one such town in Nicaragua on the Mosquito Coast almost 18 years ago while hitchhiking around with a buddy. You have to get there by boat and there are no cars allowed (or couldn't get there?) on the beach town's roads. It was the most unbelievably peaceful town I've ever been to and I do think it had a lot to do with the absence of automobiles and the corresponding increased pace of life they bring. I know, I know, I drive. They definitely have their place in this world because "we've" made it so, but damn...how nice it was to ride a road knowing that I would not run into any cars.

Two days, two seasons

Wednesday

Thursday

The weather has continued to be psychotic here going from winter to spring and back almost on a daily basis. This week was highlighted by my girl's birthday on Wednesday with an amazing dinner from Leaf restaurant in Boulder. Happy Birthday, Smrp!

Don't ever take training advice from me. I suck at it, never been good at it. I just ride when I have time and feel like it. But lately I'm feeling the presence of that 64 fluid miles of the Original Growler bearing down on me in 6 weeks and realizing I haven't rode that long in a very long time. Not sure you can cram for an endurance race, but it'll be fun to try!

Previously on Tuesday, I hitched a ride back up the hill to the fire station from Hayride, and rode the rest of the way testing out the new Stans wheelset (29er 355's). Felt great, but as soon as i finished the short hour ride home and hung the IF on the rack, the rear tire deflated instantly...great...how does that happen?! I guess i'm not riding THAT bike tomorrow. (Note to others using cross tires on Stans - don't use Kenda small-blocks, Maxxis Locusts work great though.)

Tuesday night it snowed 6" and as i left my car at work I happily ponied up and got the Hunter out (with studs still on thankfully) for the ride into town. It was still dumping as I left the ranch and it felt awesome to get back on the Hunter. Future mountain tour ideas flowered in my head. The ride started frozen and then went to slush lower down - the kind of half-frozen slop that forms an ice casing on your down tube and bottom bracket. Properly dressed, i love that stuff. I ended up somewhat melancholy as it was perhaps the last wintery ride I do this year (I just jinxed us, sorry...but not really).

Longs Peak on the left, and Rhino peak on the right, from way south of there

Thursday saw my first ride home of the year, and being a bit early still and with recent snow I abstained on the 4x4 route over the backside of red rocks road and hit up the Dam longer way home. I've somehow never ridden this way UP, only down, and I now realize that this will be a staple of my springtime rides. The route definitely hurt me, and has more pavement than I'd prefer, but the beauty of the diversity of climes passed makes it all worth the while. Worked, after 3 hours and 30 miles, we feasted on food and sipped a Maximus. This morning I did the vice versa of last night's route and snapped a new chain only 5 miles from home. The overhaul of Tank was completed but still has 'issues' apparently...it's a never-ending battle I tell you fixing these damned bicycles!

Happy Friday and happy weekend all!

Parts

So I've been trying to shop for parts for my upcoming cross singlespeed frame that I'm building in a couple of weeks. I've been pretty amazed at how long I've been out of it in terms of new components for one, and also at how many of the things that T and I used to brainstorm over coffee are now out there...or at least some version of them.

Tubeless mtb tires and wheels are commonplace, no need to DIY anymore. Flared drop bars? Check. No more looking on ebay for WTB Dirt Drops. There are several versions out there now and with some diversity. The new Salsa Woodchipper? I'm getting a pair of those for the new bike. They don't flare much until very late, so you can stay on the hoods or in the drops with comfort in both. They look to have more real estate in the hooks versus the On-One Midge bars which I'm running now on the Indy Fab. This has been my only complaint of the Midge as my hands don't fit so well in the drops especially when getting bumped around on a rough cross course. There are others too though - WTB released a new version of Charlie's Dirt Drops which looks to be just ok. It has an ergo hook which i don't like and looks like it flares too early.

We used to have trouble finding flat bars with lots of sweep. This is one part that could still use some help since nice and light flat bars with more than 9 degrees of sweep are still impossible to find, but there are several burlier ones out there. Surly has the 1x1 but it's steel, pretty heavy even if it does have a 15 degree sweep. Soma i think has a similar one too. But with the invention of Jones H-bar and the like, there are options at least nowadays.

There are multiple single ring/singlespeed/1x9 cranksets out there. I had no idea. They even come with a guard ring. We used to make outer guardrings ourselves by ripping and grinding all the teeth off a bigger chainring. Then we'd do the same for an inner ring to sandwich the chain in the ring so it wouldn't fall off. They sell those in packages now too, carbon or aluminum versions. We tried the 3rd eye chain guide which didn't do the job for me. A local helped build a better one which looks a lot like what is available now with MRP, Paul's chain keeper, and Rohloff. I got myself a Paul's that i've been riding 1x9 on the Hunter since last fall and it works flawlessly.

Other new trends, i'm hating. Like that I have such difficulty finding an 8 speed front derailleur, shifters, or rear cassette. And that all handlebars are not 31.8 but most stems are. WTF?! "They're" making us buy gruppos instead of parts since parts are not even close to being interchangeable anymore. The Shimano-ization is complete but the irony is that SRAM's doing the same thing that we used to heckle Shimano about. I get it, but it's frustrating. I'm going back to square tapered BB's and cranksets with no spindle attached for my new single. I wish I had stockpiled certain parts while I could. One of the biggest surprises is the cost of new stuff. It just blows me away! Gruppos that cost more than a custom Ti frame...? Something is out of whack with that.

All this makes me want to go only singlespeed even more...one mtb, one cx, that's it. Oh, but maybe a Rivendell All-Rounder and have them part it out. They'll be around forever. I hope.

The Rat Pack

Hot Dog - The Movie.

Ok, so it's a pretty bad movie by most standards - the gratuitous boob-shots, the bad acting, the awesome (and when I say awesome I mean horrible) 80's soundtrack, and the dated skiing style and gear! Well, it's rad no matter what year it is. While watching this movie last night, I came to the realization that the Intergalactic Pilots are descendants of the Rat Pack. Yes, you heard me: The Rat Pack - that's the group of skiers in the movie that are the locals, the partiers from Squaw Valley, the skiers obviously having the most fun at what they're doing. They have a good time and do stuff racers seemingly should not do if they want to be fast, they cause all sorts of shenanigans, and not in spite of all prior they kick ass and end up with the big Victory in the end - whether that's winning a race or just doing it the right way. They take on the Euro assholes and just show them how it's done....right. Rudy is like Breatherite, and Harkin is...well...take your pick of the Pilots. Sure, the Pilots take racing seriously, but we also realize we do it cause it's fun! We race cause riding bikes is fun. We might even ski race cause skiing is fun. So even in a movie like Hot Dog, there IS something to be (re)learned and it's that life goes to 11!