new bikes are cool

sitting on the back porch, not wanting to go inside, read, watch the sox.
humidity has dropped out of the air.
masses of clouds drift apart, quickly disappear w/the sun's warmth, sparkle in its last streaks.

keep thinking 'bout the trail.
the Colorado trail.

3hrs/day of training.
i doubt it will be enough.
but it will be enough.
there will certainly be many "moments";
"moments" being something in the past.
when you're going through them they can go unnoticed.
maybe not.
but when you come-out on the other side, you only want to be back in that moment;
or desperately out of it.
the ups and downs, the incredible buzz and the incredible bonk.
"moments" are the reason andy gave me for doing 100 milers.
best reason i've ever heard.
for yrs mine was improvement.
but i don't enjoy beating people;
but i do enjoy winning.
a paradox in esteem?

finally feelin' good.
did devil's washbowl route 30mins too fast today.
felt slow, but finished-up quick.
the 29'er is a magic carpet.
big wheels keep on turning.

only have middle ring for now;
at first the 1x1 w/29'er wheels was surprisingly tough;
6hrs into riding the new rig, feels great.
stand at different points, sit at others.

bars are too high, too wide, too aluminum, easily solved.
too much sweep, focuses energy into my palms, down into the elbows.

ti is cool.
and new drivetrains.
and new saddles.
it climbs like a dream and i look forward to sitting down.
hard to beat that.
can't wait for tomorrow's test ride.

Big Wheels - IF Ti Deluxe 29'er

this bike is insane!

set-up the "bike shop" in front of the sox game sat night since the living rm is cleared-out for painting (notice the blue painter's tape in other pics to hold cables on). this is the 3rd or 4th bike i've built from the frame-up, but the first one i've done outside of andy's basement (ie, w/o him building!). it's amazing what happens when you read the directions and have solid local bike shops like Stark Mtn and FitWerx.

the last box of parts arrived friday. a lot taken off the steel deluxe, other items sold to pay for new stuff, a bike in the planning for over a yr is finally born! i like to call it my first 10-yr rig, but that's probably being a bit ambitious. it's my 6th mtbike since 1995... is it the best? got-out for a 3yr shake-down yesterday ride to figure that out.

igleheart's custom 29'er fork w/51 offset. this bike has a lot of "trail" and handles unbelievable well. need to tweak the cockpit a bit, but i'm stoked!

it just rolls over everything. feel like i'm sitting-up way high, but that doesn't effect balance or handling. looking fwd to getting to know these big wheels over the next cpl wks, the final prep rides b4 the co trail. the racks go on today!

thanks for IF for taking some extra time on the geometry, to bruno of IFRacing for getting me parts, to Andy and Igle for the wheels and that killer fork, and to the local bike shops, FitWerx and Stark Mtn for last minute parts/tweaks. i love it when a bike come together. almost as much as riding one.

IF Ti Deluxe 29'er - custom geometry (all their bikes are custom)
Stans Arch Hoops w/Mavic hubs (for touring)
Hutchinson Python rubba
XT cranks and cassette (11x32)
XTR dual-control shifters/brakes
Easton (soon-to-be carbon) bars
Igelheart custom rigid fork - 51 offset
XTR pedals
Thomson seatpost and stem
Fiz'ik Aliante Saddle
King headset

Old Man Mtn Racks
Arkel Panniers

Colorado Trail in 26 days!

i just looked at the calendar to see what races i could sneak-in before the co trail and realized the trip is only 26 days away! insanely stoked! i haven't been doing much high tempo (interval) riding, instead been going for steady hrs, day after day, feel like i've been doing the right things to be ready. flat legs have had me riding a lot less hrs the past cpl wks, but they also seem to be coming back around. going on good, fun rides helps too, vs riding for training hrs. and talking about fun rides, i finally hooked-up w/the local mad river thurs night ride. met some folks and had a blast. solid riders, excellent skills. and rode some great new-to-me trails.

my arkel panniers arrived a cpl wks ago and i keep freaking-out on how heavy they are. i've decided to run front and back racks, but not sure i need the pimp panniers vs strapping a cpl dry bags to the racks - it'd save 3-4lbs. that's almost 2 liters of johnnie! (btw, i like that when you type "johnnie" into google, it takes you right to johnnie walker scotch). but, i also don't want to have anything on my back, so the extra size of these panniers would be great - just wish they were flyweight...

andy's running a the same size panniers, but that guy is a watts machine who never whines about weight, while i'm always thinking 'bout ditching a few ounces...

all this babbling about the co trail has me thinking i need to do a cpl things for that, cross a cpl items of the list. enough of this blogging nonsense!

this pic from the co trail "race" website has me all fired-up:

Putney (West Hill) XC - Race Report

trying to skip the usual long-winded race report and cut to the chase on this one. my 2nd xc of the yr and my 2nd 10th place finish. 10th is where the cool kids finish, didn't ya' know?

cpl days before the race i asked thom-e-p if he'd mind snaggin' my IFRacing clothing from his shop, one of our main sponsors. being the super nice guy he is, he rigged-up quite a carrying system for the 40 pair of socks i ordered:
wicked! thanks thom, i owe ya'. being the super-nice guy i am, i proceeded to haze him on the starting line. he IS wearing the leader's jersey. it wasn't too many yrs ago that thom's green IF jersey was my main barometer for performance - a few yrs passed, some really fun races in-between - and this yr that guy's taken it to the next level! and now his leader's jersey is my barometer (once again). unfortunately, the guy was just fried-out on sunday, but that's his story to tell...

i'll keep the rest of this short. yeah right. i raced my bike. i tried to go really fast, but was short of the leaders by about a minute per lap. not my best performance, but certainly not my worst. On saturday, my legs were absolutely GOLDEN! unstoppable. i couldn't even feel my legs. maybe i rode a touch too hard sat, but that could also have been the blistering pace up front on sunday! i just didn't seem to have all my power, even dropping into the grannie gear here and there - i haven't used the grannie since my sport class days... who the hell knows. this racing/training business seems like voodoo magic sometimes. jenn said it best when i got home, "you're not racing enough to complain about it, get out there!"

the Putney course is awesome! fast, good climbs, banked turns, cpl technical sections thrown-in. by the middle of the 1st lap a group of 6 or 7 was in a congo-line up front, with a chase group of about the same about 30secs back. we stayed like this for a while, before splintering. i managed to break-free, but couldn't reel anyone in. i keep thinking, "they'll pop, they'll come back to me." greg carpenter did for about half a lap before recovering and ripping a wicked line to pass me like i was riding a tricycle. instead, by the 3rd lap, 2 fellas gapped-up to me, one of them was my buddy Harry Precourt - another steller human. once he got around me going into the 4th lap there was no catching him - i'd grind-up only be dropped on a descent! that guy was railing it; it was a major break-out race i was stoked to witness it. way to go dude. i put in a huge effort on the final climb, but one glance back by harry had him hammering it out to the line a few secs up on me. the results were tight, good stuff, fun racing! i hate dangling alone all race, this one was constant contact, ease-up and you're gonna get passed... i just had a wicked case of dejavu. weird.

jenn's away this upcoming wknd and i'm with the kiddo, but i've got the green light to get a babysitter so i can race Mt Snow. hmmm... is it worth the gas, the $ for the babysitter??? hmmm...

one issue i've been having big-time this yr is my back. i need to do something different as the usual soreness has been distractingly painful... yoga?

thnks for driving shawn! and way to go Mo Bruno-Roy on her win! wicked.

tequila

current weather pattern brings-on clouds and rain every afternoon, a lot like its gonna be out on the colorado trail... the views are a groovy when mist, clouds, and strips of sun mix.

last night a game of poker went late, the tequila was flowing smooth, piles of brats disappeared. not feeling so hot this morning. and i wonder why i can't get-down to race-weight this yr. it's worth it. was a good time - and i'm such a sucker i feel bad for taking everyone's money. but only a little. those xt cranks just got paid for!

getting stoked for putney xc this wknd. it'll be the Steel Deluxe's last race, hope i can send her out on a good note. have had the rigid fork on almost all spring, really enjoy riding technical singletrack rigid, feel fully connected to the trail; it may even improve handling skills, who knows. but can i hang in a race on a rigid 26'er?

and should have the Ti Deluxe 29'er built-up next wk! once i move to that, i'll have no choice, i'll be racing rigid until gary fisher's death-grip on 51 offset 29'er forks ends. time to man-up. and the Deluxe will be off for a re-paint before auction... if anyone's looking for a sweet steel hardtail, you can even pick the color!

holy crapola i feel rough this morning. nothing a good ride can't fix.

R

i'm all done, the legs are cooked. my plan of riding for a cpl hrs/day to rest-up for the wknd appears to be pretty stupid. guess i need some real rest to make this work.

love to ride

the past cpl wks have been incredible. nice weather and dependable legs, day after day. the initial plan was to put-in around 60hrs of spinning over 3wks as i kinda skipped the base phase this yr. by day 14 (last friday) i'd done almost 40hrs and my legs were cooked. a bit too much vertical and hard (fun) days on the mtnbike. the last 2 days of efforts were 545a starts w/shawn and on friday he was feeling good while i was cooked and chasing, but it was great. i'm stoked to have a cpl people who are of a similar mindset to ride with up here: one more hill; one more loop!

i decided to back-off the base plan and rest-up this wk before hitting a NORBA Root66 race this wknd. jenn and i had a nice wknd together (no bikes) and i'm feeling pretty stiff, so the goal is to just loosen-up with 2hr rides all wk, then hopefully be ripping by this wknd. who knows. all i know is that i'm becoming more and more of an epic ride freak and less of a racer with every passing perfect day here in the mad river valley of vermont... and with the CO Trail Tour only a month away, a desire to ride and ride and ride is unquenchable. who the hell wants to taper for an xc!?

there isn't anyone else i'd rather be with on a wknd off (or anytime)...

break

i'm gonna take a blogging break while i squeeze-in some extra riding. miles simply disappear under dirty knobby tires here. enclosed by nature, flowy singletrack and long climbs on old logging roads ticks 'em away like candy. no photos, no words, do it justice. time to enjoy.

steady

finding 5+hr chunks of time to ride is tough. finding 2-3hrs/day i can manage. steady riding is what i'll have going for me come july 21 when we hit the CO Trail. for now, i'm just riding around and around the mtns of vt...

couple beaver checking me out
slapped-down a few thousand ft of climbing this morning w/shawn. 545a ride time is like "making" time.
have been dodging and weavin' past cpl days to avoid killing hundreds of these little guys on the trails.

long ones

got-out for 4-5hrs w/jason a yesterday. a loop up and down perry hill, great flowing stuff, a little technical mixed-in, well-rewarded climbs. amazing trail work/maintenance. bike29 is involved in a lot of it (most? all?). then onto dirt, class 4's and v.a.s.t. trails for a duxbury/camel's hump loop, then back over to perry hill for another singletrack loop before calling it a day. jason sniffed-out this old bridge coming-down camel's hump. jason seems willing to explore just about any off-shoot trail, always looking for ribbons off the fireroads. good stuff, good company for a long mtb ride.


hopefully will be out there w/full panniers soon. need to work-out the kinks well before CO. at the very least need to get more 6-8hr rides vs 3-4hr ones. been crunching the numbers. 535m and 60k of vertical in 7 days is 76m/day with 8500k of vert/day. doesn't sound so bad. if it were for a cpl days. not sure how the body will react to 7 days of it. we actually have 8 days, but figure planning for 7 gives us some float. or time to get our drink-on in durango. now those will be some tasty beers.