ride wheelies. I'm out. peace
Putting 2024 in the rear view mirror
4 hours ago
Saturday, July 30, 2011
CTR
starts on Monday at 6:30 am in Denver. Mentally and physically ready, but anything can happen. Here's the gist of it, 475 miles, 65,000' of climbing and fully self supported. Hopefully will end the week by rolling into durango. If you wanna know a bit more of what it is check this and to track it check it. Makes it kind of fun from home. 75 racers should be showing up, largest field by far. Lots of different strategies, we shall see if mine works.
ride wheelies. I'm out. peace
ride wheelies. I'm out. peace
Monday, July 25, 2011
Shakedown
Been needing a good night ride loaded down in prep for the CTR. Saturday was the night. Headed out at 7 pm from the house toward the CT. From wurtz ditch road it was the CT to camp hale. Ran into James from Frisco who was out doing a shakedown ride as well, good to chat it up for a bit.
Locked and loaded!!!
Darkness set in on the climb up resolution pass. Normally this is a fully rideable road, but planning is a bit different for the monster coming up. So, big long hikes are good to get used to. Topped over the pass and headed toward the bike path off of vail pass. Ate some snacks and put on some warm clothes for the descent to copper. Hit the CT off of the main road for the ride to searle and kokamo passes. Highly rideable until right before treeline. Kept plugging along, the moon came up and was glistening off of the mountain lake and raging stream beds. Almost magical like. Up high pushing through snowfields while being surrounded by wildflowers underneath the stars. Exceptional beauty on so many levels! Snacked at the top of kokamo then the flow was on down to camp hale. Nice climb back to Tennessee pass and a gentle spin back to town. Out 11 hours and felt good. Got home, napped for two hours and was feeling ready to roll again. The rig felt good, the only change will be the food and I have that figured out.......I think.
Another week then it's on. For those of you who haven't done a big, back country night ride, I highly recommend it. Sooooo good for the soul.
GO RIDE!!!
Locked and loaded!!!
Darkness set in on the climb up resolution pass. Normally this is a fully rideable road, but planning is a bit different for the monster coming up. So, big long hikes are good to get used to. Topped over the pass and headed toward the bike path off of vail pass. Ate some snacks and put on some warm clothes for the descent to copper. Hit the CT off of the main road for the ride to searle and kokamo passes. Highly rideable until right before treeline. Kept plugging along, the moon came up and was glistening off of the mountain lake and raging stream beds. Almost magical like. Up high pushing through snowfields while being surrounded by wildflowers underneath the stars. Exceptional beauty on so many levels! Snacked at the top of kokamo then the flow was on down to camp hale. Nice climb back to Tennessee pass and a gentle spin back to town. Out 11 hours and felt good. Got home, napped for two hours and was feeling ready to roll again. The rig felt good, the only change will be the food and I have that figured out.......I think.
Another week then it's on. For those of you who haven't done a big, back country night ride, I highly recommend it. Sooooo good for the soul.
GO RIDE!!!
Friday, July 22, 2011
parts list
If you wanna know, cool. If not, sorry for the boring post
Here's what I swear by while riding:
Bars: black sheep, titanium mountain mustache
Stem: thomson 70 mm
Headset: Chris king
Fork: black sheep titanium unicrown, 430mm axle to crown
BB: quad Phil wood pressed in bearings
Crank: xt 170mm
Chainring: black spire 32t ring
Cog: endless kick ass cog 20t
Chain: pc1
Brakes: avid bb7, 7" rotors
Wheels: I9 hubs lace to DT Swiss 7.1 hoops
Tires: front, WTB 2.55 weirwolf, rear, WTB 2.3 exiwolf
Seat post: Kent Eriksen laid back sweet post
Saddle: Terry titanium fly
Brake Levers: avid speed dial 7
Grips: oury
It's not the lightest rig out there, but durability is key. The best riding whip I have ever owned or been on.
Huge thanks to those involved and for the hook ups:
New River Bikes for the parts
Endless Bikes for the cogs
Industry Nine for the wheel set
Cycles of Life for the randomness
Keith Anderson for the amazing paint
And most importantly
Fred Cuthbert of wolfhound cycles for building such an amazing bicycle
GO RIDE!!!
Here's what I swear by while riding:
Bars: black sheep, titanium mountain mustache
Stem: thomson 70 mm
Headset: Chris king
Fork: black sheep titanium unicrown, 430mm axle to crown
BB: quad Phil wood pressed in bearings
Crank: xt 170mm
Chainring: black spire 32t ring
Cog: endless kick ass cog 20t
Chain: pc1
Brakes: avid bb7, 7" rotors
Wheels: I9 hubs lace to DT Swiss 7.1 hoops
Tires: front, WTB 2.55 weirwolf, rear, WTB 2.3 exiwolf
Seat post: Kent Eriksen laid back sweet post
Saddle: Terry titanium fly
Brake Levers: avid speed dial 7
Grips: oury
It's not the lightest rig out there, but durability is key. The best riding whip I have ever owned or been on.
Huge thanks to those involved and for the hook ups:
New River Bikes for the parts
Endless Bikes for the cogs
Industry Nine for the wheel set
Cycles of Life for the randomness
Keith Anderson for the amazing paint
And most importantly
Fred Cuthbert of wolfhound cycles for building such an amazing bicycle
GO RIDE!!!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Breck 100
Was nice and humbling. Wolfhound arrived Friday at 4:30, had it together by 5:30, and drove to Breck for registration. No shake down ride, just a 100 mile ride with just under 13,000' of climbing.
Show up ready. First lap is a warmup, just set in and figure out my place. Front part of the pack was the plan, to have space for the singletrack. Get to wheeler pass fairly quickly, passing lots of folks while just pedaling along. Drop over the pass and see where sweetness! (aka the wolfhound) excels. Pass several full squishies along the way. Arrive at bike path at copper and cruise to frisco for a sweet section of trail back to breck. Wet, rocky and rooty, a little east coast-esqu. Real in those who passed me on the bike path and a few others. Roll in from lap 1 feeling awesome, 7-ish ss and and in the top 25 or so.
Head out for lap 2, only to be humbled. Climb, climb and then climb some more was the theme of this lap. The first real climb hurt but wasn't bad, the 2nd one up the Colorado trail crushed me. Couldn't turn over my gear and pushed for miles and miles. Normally sweet singletrack descents make you forget the climbs, not this one! Lost several places on this lap, but came around by the end. Rolled in, somehow still in 7th ss feeling a little refreshed.
Out for lap 3, the only part of the course I knew feeling good. Just sustain and maybe grab a place or two. Felt really good over boreas pass and down gold dust trail to Como. Hit the gravel road and imploded. No pedal power and it was like this back to the top of the pass. Barely turning over the pedals. Wanted to walk but refused to, mainly due to the fact that it was barely a climb. Hit the top and hang out at the aid station grubbing for at least 10 minutes. Down to bakers tank where the last ss-er came up on me. We had been back and forth all day and I gave Him the line and the spot. Rolled across the finish in 11hr and 4 min. 10th place ss, 48th overall. Didn't do as well as planned but still feel good about the finish.
Had planned on not using the aid stations, but the two I used were needed beyond explanation. Awesome event and killer course. I will be back next year with some seriously high expectations. I have done a lot of 100 mile rides and this was definitely the hardest! Thanks Jerry, for the hook up with the entry.
So the wolfhound is AMAZING. A few things needed tweaked but had to wait until after race. 1st ran too big of a gear, 32x18 crushed me. That probably cost me 2-3 places. 2nd tried different grips and my hands felt it, and 3rd did some serious saddle adjustments. So I swapped out to a 32x20, back to my oury's and perfect saddle placement for Sunday's ride, and yeah, that made a huge difference.
Got out for a 65 mile ride yesterday. Felt good. Did some of the Leadville course combined with some buttery sweet sections of the Colorado trail and a gravel road recon mission back to Leadville. 7 hours of rolling along. Ran out of water about an hour and a half before the end but made it home. Full review and spec list of the wolfhound in a bit. I'm out!
GO RIDE!!!
Monday, July 11, 2011
It's on it's way
and should be here Friday. Sooooooo badass!!!
It's gonna be rad!
photos courtesy of Fred
GO RIDE!!!
It's gonna be rad!
photos courtesy of Fred
GO RIDE!!!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Spikefest
Been trying to make this since the inception. 1st year unable, last year broke my arm the day before, contemplated it, but bailed. This year broke the vicious and was bike less. Spike hooked it up by letting me ride his winter bike, the voodoo.
Met up in Como, then shuttled to the top of Kenosha pass where I made some adjustments to the bike. Then off we went, 9 of us climbing to Georgia pass. Felt good on the first climb turning the 32x19 rather easily so away I went. It was the easiest that climb has ever felt. Hung out at the top, ate some snacks and got a good nap in while waiting on the others.
After the regroup it was new to me trails until breckenridge. So much fun, Brian and I rolled out front pushing the pace. Stopped at the breckenridge brewery for some snacks, then up boreas pass. The sprinkles started at the bottom, subsided and then was full on by the time we were On the gold dust trail. Rolled in the rain on the last chunk of trail, just enjoying the bliss of the moment.
Finished up and rolled back to Leadville. Another beautiful day on the bike. Super chill pace and no flats for me. The first time in weeks that has happened. Thanks for the bike and good times.
The wolfie may be here Friday, just in time for the 100 on Saturday. If not, the voodoo is ready to roll, new gearing, new rear tire and fully charged.
GO RIDE!!!
Met up in Como, then shuttled to the top of Kenosha pass where I made some adjustments to the bike. Then off we went, 9 of us climbing to Georgia pass. Felt good on the first climb turning the 32x19 rather easily so away I went. It was the easiest that climb has ever felt. Hung out at the top, ate some snacks and got a good nap in while waiting on the others.
After the regroup it was new to me trails until breckenridge. So much fun, Brian and I rolled out front pushing the pace. Stopped at the breckenridge brewery for some snacks, then up boreas pass. The sprinkles started at the bottom, subsided and then was full on by the time we were On the gold dust trail. Rolled in the rain on the last chunk of trail, just enjoying the bliss of the moment.
Finished up and rolled back to Leadville. Another beautiful day on the bike. Super chill pace and no flats for me. The first time in weeks that has happened. Thanks for the bike and good times.
The wolfie may be here Friday, just in time for the 100 on Saturday. If not, the voodoo is ready to roll, new gearing, new rear tire and fully charged.
GO RIDE!!!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
the vicious is dead
to me. Got out for a several hour night ride the other night, with the majority of it being over 12,000'. Out under the stars, messing around with my light set up. All for a little ride that is coming up pretty soon. Am I ready? Sure, I suppose. Quick tour mode is the plan for that, fast, not at all. Well, maybe slightly.
Headed to salida for the don ride on the 4th. Had been wanting to do this ride since I first moved to CO, but it never worked out. I shut down the clinic and headed that way on Sunday night. Woke up and rolled over with Joey, Kevin, John and Doug for the 4:20 meet up at don's house. Joey, Doug and John were fresh off the durango dirty century which Joey and Doug happened to win, so Badass. 50-60 other folks met up and we were rolling by 4:30.
60 deep rolling in the dark is pretty sweet. What roads we hit I dunno, but we meandered through this and that for a few hours, rarely on pvmt once out of town, to the top of the pass for the beginning of the monarch crest trail. Pretty chill pace, but the group still split apart leaving us with about 15 in our group.
Hit the crest trail and yeah, it was sweet. High country riding with minimal snow. A beautiful section of trail for sure. Hit some high speed double track where the flat monster attacked, double flatted and got spit off the tail end of the group. Since I didn't really know the route I took off and luckily passed a few riders and rolled into the regroup area at the top of silver creek. Dropped off the mountain just rolling along when, what happens, another flat. Fix it and roll on, only to have my tensioner break. Since I run a quick release, my wheel was all over the place. Disconnected the rear brake and rolled on. Did 9 miles on the rainbow trail with just a front brake and ginger pedal strokes to the lunch spot. Since there was still quite a bit of single track and descending left, I opted out and rolled back to town via pavement. So lame. Still got in around 8 hours of riding with good folks.
So everything on the vicious is clapped out and/or broken and I don't want to fix anything associated with it. We have ridden many spectacular miles together over the last 8 years, however, I do not believe I will ever take her for another pedal, ever. I thought I would make her back into a fixie, but that would mean I would have to ride fixed again, doubtful. So I believe a cross bike is gonna take her place fairly soon.
On a side note, the wolfie may be here next friday, the day before the Breck 100, but I am assuming she will actually show up the following Monday. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but the reality is I am probably going to have to use a borrowed bike for the race. If I would have known I may not have a bike, I definitely would not have signed up for it.
Spike fest in the am, borrowing spike's winter bike for the short loop 50-ish miles. Hopefully it rides well and I can keep it as a reserve for the 100.
I'm out.
GO RIDE!!!
Headed to salida for the don ride on the 4th. Had been wanting to do this ride since I first moved to CO, but it never worked out. I shut down the clinic and headed that way on Sunday night. Woke up and rolled over with Joey, Kevin, John and Doug for the 4:20 meet up at don's house. Joey, Doug and John were fresh off the durango dirty century which Joey and Doug happened to win, so Badass. 50-60 other folks met up and we were rolling by 4:30.
60 deep rolling in the dark is pretty sweet. What roads we hit I dunno, but we meandered through this and that for a few hours, rarely on pvmt once out of town, to the top of the pass for the beginning of the monarch crest trail. Pretty chill pace, but the group still split apart leaving us with about 15 in our group.
Hit the crest trail and yeah, it was sweet. High country riding with minimal snow. A beautiful section of trail for sure. Hit some high speed double track where the flat monster attacked, double flatted and got spit off the tail end of the group. Since I didn't really know the route I took off and luckily passed a few riders and rolled into the regroup area at the top of silver creek. Dropped off the mountain just rolling along when, what happens, another flat. Fix it and roll on, only to have my tensioner break. Since I run a quick release, my wheel was all over the place. Disconnected the rear brake and rolled on. Did 9 miles on the rainbow trail with just a front brake and ginger pedal strokes to the lunch spot. Since there was still quite a bit of single track and descending left, I opted out and rolled back to town via pavement. So lame. Still got in around 8 hours of riding with good folks.
So everything on the vicious is clapped out and/or broken and I don't want to fix anything associated with it. We have ridden many spectacular miles together over the last 8 years, however, I do not believe I will ever take her for another pedal, ever. I thought I would make her back into a fixie, but that would mean I would have to ride fixed again, doubtful. So I believe a cross bike is gonna take her place fairly soon.
On a side note, the wolfie may be here next friday, the day before the Breck 100, but I am assuming she will actually show up the following Monday. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but the reality is I am probably going to have to use a borrowed bike for the race. If I would have known I may not have a bike, I definitely would not have signed up for it.
Spike fest in the am, borrowing spike's winter bike for the short loop 50-ish miles. Hopefully it rides well and I can keep it as a reserve for the 100.
I'm out.
GO RIDE!!!
Friday, July 1, 2011
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