A Day with the Godfather

JD enjoying the morning views from 1100'.

Several amazing gravel grinder events were to be had Saturday. Sadly I missed out on two such adventures, but after a fun day at work with the pup, we were soon headed to Cookevegas to make up for our losses. Pleasantries included, but weren't limited to, the amazing morning view seen above, a home cooked country breakfast featuring country ham, biscuits and gravy, eggs, a wide assortment of homemade jams, Americano style coffee, and wood stove heat.

Enjoying the views from 500'.

After breakfast and a little bike maintenance, our view soon changed from the top looking down to the bottom looking up. A home cooked breakfast and good company was only the tip of the iceberg, for lurking below the surface was the special invite to ride on one of the best trails in TN: Sykes.

Sykes contains everything I love about mountain biking (rocks, drops, steep climbs, hard turns, flowy descents, technical climbs, double track, thorns, dogs, bridges, hidden rocks, sharp rocks, hard knocks - just to name a few). With trail names such as N.U.R.S.E. (Nearly UnRideable Steep Entrance) and Marriage (starts off fun and easy then gets rocky, harder, and full of ups and downs) how can you not love the place? Well, one way is if you fall. Apparently, injury or embarrassing tumbles will earn a trail or trail feature named in your honor. This labor of love comes to us by the hard work and determination of the Smith County Mafia Godfather, Stanley Wills.

When I grow up, I want to be this guy: The Smith County Mafia Godfather, Stanley Wills.

He's also one of the guys behind the trail system at Defeated Creek. Not only can he build some mean trails, he can also loop together some life changing loops and kick most (decades younger) racers' tails at events such as Snake Creek Gap. All while smiling, laughing, and having fun. Stanley is the biggest kid I know and I hope to be like him if and when I ever grow up.

JD enjoyed our 20+ mile ride

The weather cooperated and helped make today a perfect end cap to the first of the winter holiday weekends. Time spent with good friends and good people. I couldn't have asked for much more. Thank you Steven and Ruthie, for extending the invite and letting me invade your castle for the night. Thanks for all the food and fun. Stanley, thanks for letting us enjoy your singletrack amusement park. Now when are you coming over to help finish my trail?

Santa Cruzing TallGirl

Headless Horseman.

North Shore Steven.

Taking a break at the top.

Can someone explain to me why I chose to ride a singlespeed out here after yesterday's beastly gravel grinder?

Ah Sykes. As Steven says in the clip "it done rode me." I couldn't have said it any better myself. When are we going back?

Rulers, Levels, and Tape

Photo from Jennifer Magli's Facebook McEwen Cross photo album. 

Several other writers in the blogosphere I orbit have begun to talk about how their 2010 has gone for them and their cycling goals, the ups, the downs, and the let downs. I'm sure it'll be a day or two before the "best of" lists start popping up too (I'll have a short post on that coming soon as well). 'Tis the season I guess.

 Photo: Kurt Page

I've been enjoying getting out and racing again after a long battle with a health issue that has plagued my season (and cycling) since May. Every race since PMBAR has come pretty much resulted in misery produced by a rebelious stomach that seems to think food and water should be expelled at any and all cost, no matter the intensity level or distance ridden.

 Photo: Kurt Page

Fortunately the oppressive heat and humidity of Southeastern summer has waned and cooler temps have returned ushering in the return of cyclocross season. The short, intense nature of a cross race has allowed me to compete relatively incident free as no food or drink is really required for their duration. I'm struggling to keep up thanks to my lack of form from lack of training, but what I lack in speed I'm making up for in intensity.

Photo: Kurt Page

I'm having to really dig and push myself harder than I normally would had I had the power to stay up front and rather than being frustrated, I'm actually kind of enjoying it. The stomach issue persists, but it's starting to come around and become less of a ride/race killer.

Thanks to the holiday I was fortunate to be able to get out for an early morning cross workout with Jeremy and the pups in the 'boro before work on Wednesday. During our ride I was able to swap bikes (thanks to Jeremy also being an SPD user) and directly compare differences in handling, acceleration, feel, and subtle nuances between my Rigor setup and a real cross bike. This was the first time I've ridden a cross bike in the manner intended. It was pretty weird. What I thought I would like better about a cross bike, I realized I didn't. And what I thought I wouldn't like better, I did. Go figure.

Having literally looked inside and out for a resolution to my stomach issue has me stepping back and looking at other things with new light and fervidity. I'd made some changes to the Rigor before Wednesday's ride, one that I'd been wanting to swap for some time now but just never took the time. I also pulled out all sorts of digital toys and labored over angles, measurements, and geometry. But that ride on a cross bike had me curious about a few other things, which led to revisiting geometry lessons learned years ago.

Having lost a piece of paper containing fit numbers from several years ago, I took advantage of today's "nothing to do" and set about reclaiming that information by redoing the whole shebang. I then read, researched, and questioned several theories and practices of fit.

After plugging in numbers, getting responses from those that know better, and pulling new measurements, I learned a few things. One of which is that after 7 years of cycling, my saddle height and overall reach numbers on my 2 bikes that were set by comfort and trial and error over many miles of cycling, are spot on according to 3 different fit systems I employed today. That really means squat though. I believe fit is determined more by how you intend to use your bike than by anything else, just found it uncanny that I've always set my bikes up similarly, mostly governed by comfort, and their numbers along with the numbers generated by fit systems, years later, are accurate down to the 16th of an inch*.

The Rigormootis is back to it's full page glory for 2011!

So what's the point of all of this? There really isn't one. I was just bored with time on my hands and a lack of focus for anything else. Besides, all of the geometry, math, and theoretical physics exercises will come in handy when I tackle one of my next projects: updating my Awesome Straps with the latest and greatest versions.

* no claims are made that I have the perfect fit or setup on my bikes. Nor that I am an expert in bike fitting, bio-mechanics or physiology. Numbers just added up which is pretty uncanny and a rarity in my world. Especially when it comes to my check book.

Hand-Ups

It's been a week full of bikes, beer, polo, beer, friends, and bikes. It started out with a night ride, a bike polo night, followed by a night at the brewery with the DSG Squirrels, Swiftwick, SORBA, and the big DSG donation check. The MOAB boys were able to make it up and I showed them the art of fine beering and dining by taking them to their first ever trip to Rotiers.

Work and work commuting took up most of the rest of the free time. They've been resurfacing, re-bridging, and pretty much making the commute unbearable the last few weeks. Gotta love lane closures where 2 busy interstates are merging, 3 times, during rush hour.

This weekend was the highly anticipated Cross The Way race out at Kurt Page's farm. Rumors of tight turns, moto-cross style jumps and berms, and mud were all verified shortly after stepping tire onto the course. It was a fun, technical handling required course with a fast and flowy back half and a tight, narrow, and twisty front half. You could recover in the woods and pin it once you crossed the gravel road. It was awesome. Thanks for letting us play in your yard Kurt.

DtheP.

Will the real Jeremy please stand up?

Tag!

Stanley!

The Max.

DtheP (skinsuit!) ripping apart the pro race.

Graham doing the Graham (back2back racing)

Now for something I'd like to get off of my chest. The SS race at Cross The Way had probably the largest class ever in the series, which was great. There were first timers to cross, first timers to ss, old vets, and fast young guns. Perfect. Some started to dictate "rules" at the start of the race ie. "you must drink a beer at spot X", you must do this, you must do that. Well, that is all well and good but first of all, we're singlespeeders, rules don't really appeal to us. Tell me I HAVE to drink a beer and you've guaranteed that I won't.  Beer hand-ups are great and a staple of cross, but don't show up for the first time and start dictating rules. Or do but then don't cry when we don't obey. Or tell us not to drink any beer, and then we'll drink.

What? No beer hand-up Jimmy?

Secondly, the guy around me was really trying, as was I. We were having a good race. We weren't winning, but we were in a battle and enjoying it. If I'd have stopped to drink a hand-up at the barriers (bad spot really, give us a ride-by hand-up not a running-by with a bike in one hand hand-up) and had beaten the guy, how would that make him(or me) feel his first time out? Or conversely, had I stopped to drink and he beat me how is he supposed to feel proud of defeating a dude who stopped each lap? We were having fun, we weren't taking ourselves too seriously, we were chatting and smack talking, it was fun as racing should be. Sorry if me not taking a beer ruined your day, but for me, it made mine. And for the record, the dude on the hybrid (Michael on his first ever SS and 29'er) nipped me by a fair amount. Nice ride Michael.