The Lunch Time Grind

Tabor #2

2010-06-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

I have totally fallen off the wagon as far as blog posts. I did actually do a bunch of cross races last year and didn't report on really any of them (with the exception of Alpenrose #1 as noted below). This year however has not been nearly as impressive thus far. The rainy weather paired with life being super busy has really put a damper on my racing and training.

Anyway, I did my first race of 2010 last night! I raced the 2nd Mt Tabor race. I did it as a Cat 4 and ended up in 10th place. Not bad for my first race of the season. It felt good to get the cobwebs out. I raced smart and did not try to lead out the entire race like I typically do. I ended up finishing in the lead group. I'm going to try to make it out again for next weeks race as well as Short track #1 on Monday.

2009 Cross Crusade #1

2009-10-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Alpenrose Dairy: Portland Oregon

Sunday October 04, 2009

1,438 intrepid riders participated in yesterday’s season opener for the Cross Crusade yesterday at Alpenrose Dairy, nearly 200 more than competed last year, making it likely the largest ‘cross race (by participation) in the world. Unfortunately, I guess I didn’t pay the gods of luck enough, as I was placed in the DFL row of the “random” call up.

I lined up in the 35+ A race, which ran 2 minutes behind the A field for an hour. (Note: Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks raced in the A group today). I had hoped for a better starting position but alas it wasn’t in the cards. I was in the back of a 60 man train. The starting gun went off and I finally was able to get clicked in and get rolling as the lead group of riders were already rounding the first asphalt corner of the course. I put the hammer down (probably a bit to early in hindsight) and tried to pass as many guys as possible before the course skinnied down to a single track downhill behind the famous Alpenrose velodrome. There were of course still plenty of guys up ahead of me going into the single track through the trees on the backside of the 2.3 mile course. When I finally made it to the straightaway alongside the parking lot I see teammate of mine coming back at me (there is a u turn further down the course)… “Damn it, am I really that far back still” I thought to myself? I managed to fight my way up a few more places and ended up settling in to a groove with a HUP united rider. The two of us battled it out and sucked on each others wheel for then next 4 laps. On my 6th lap coming out of the parking lot again I see Trebon and Wicks powering through looking like they would overtake me in a matter of moments… Oh crap – I better pick it up so as not to cut my race short… Alas, I put the hammer down only to be passed by the Kona twins going into the velodrome on their final (7th lap).

In all seriousness, it was a bumpy fast difficult race for me and I can’t be to hard on myself for moving up 40 spots from the start. Plus my 21st place finish was better than my 30th place finish from last year at the same venue. Alpenrose has never been particularly kind to me. Ironically I’ll be there for the 3rd time in a week this Wednesday night for the next edition of Alpenrose blind date mid week cross series. (Single Speed this time though).
DP

Portland Short Track Series (Race 1, 4 and 5)

2009-07-24T12:01:00.001-07:00

Wow, have I been slacking in the Race report department… Therefore, I’m going to do a combo report on the last 3 Short Track Races I have competed in (since the end of June). Technically there have been 5, but I’ve only been able to race 3 of them. So, without further ado…

Portland Short Track Racing
Portland International Raceway (PIR)
June 22, July 13, July 20th (2 more left in the series btw)

PIR is once again hosting the the PDX short track series on Monday nights. This I believe is the 5th year. The race series takes place at Portland International Raceway (PIR) on a track that consisted of the motocross track as well as some single track weaving through the trees in the infield of the racetrack. The course changes on a weekly basis, but the theme remains the same. Coincidentally, the weekly PIR road bike race was happening on the main (paved) raceway at the same time, so there were cyclists & fans everywhere.

The single speed races started @ 6:30 under warm summer skies (It was around 95 this past week) with up to 60+ SS riders on some nights jockeying for position after the starting gun to get a lead up to the first big set of whoop dee doos.The race weaved around the track and as usual I tried to get a good position before a steep 'run up' (which was actually totally rideable as long as there was no one slower in your way). In typical Porter style, I’ve consistently had poor starting positions. 1 week it was nerves, then next was due to a Le Mans start and this final week I just don’t have an excuse… I’m just not the fast off the gun I guess. Something to work on for cross I think.

I am faster than most of the riders out here in the SS class, so I am at least able to pick them off and had fun doing the course - riding the whoopee’s, jumping the berms, riding the log barriers they layout on the course and trying to catch as much air on the big bumps. It was fun and fast.
Each race is similar, but also different. It’s a great way to spend a summer evening. The added benefit, is that there are kids races so I had my brood out there mixing it up as well and both placing quite well in their ‘categories’.

In summary (since this is a summarized race report of 3 races) is as follows:

June 22: 6th Place
July 13: 10th Place
July 20th: 6th place.

My goal is of course to always place in the top ten, but my ‘real goal’ is to break the top 5 or even 3 (I did it once last year). I’ve got 2 more races to try to accomplish this.

Oh, and I should mention, this race series is the first racing I've done on my new 29er SS. A Salsa Selma... A report should be coming on this sweet bike if I ever get off my duff!

Cheers.

Slinging Mud at the Mudslinger

2009-05-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

21st Annual Peak Sports Mudslinger
Oregon State Mountain Bike Championship Race
Single Speed
May 4, 2009
Philomath, OR

The drive over in the morning provided a little foreshadowing of conditions to come with heavy rain falling as we turned off I-5 onto the road into Philomath. The rain itself slowed down as we pulled into the parking area and the group of us head to registration. By the time we got out the rain stopped and the Oregon spring sunshine started heating things up. Granted, this did nothing for the water logged trails as we would soon find out.

The 21st annual 'Mudslinger' definately lived up to it's name.

Riders tackled single track trail sections intermixed with between gravel fire road climbs over 24 miles and almost 4ooo feet of climbing. The large single speed group (27 riders) took off at a break neck speed. I was off at the front of the group feeling overly confident for the first 3 mile climb until a group of 3-4 riders took off and splintered the group. Within 30 minutes the group was spread out and I was riding solo. I managed to catch a couple of riders and a couple caught up with me. I pressed on and hit the single track downhill. Slip sliding down the Panama Canal trail (going down once), brakes locked up, side ways sliding, realizing that I've been on the road bike to much and not with not enough time on the mountain bike. Lots more fire road climbing and single track with names I can't remember.

Finished the race in 2:06 which was good enough for 5th place. All in all a great but hard race.

2009 Hornings Hustle Mountain Bike Race

2009-04-05T22:41:00.001-07:00

April 5, 2009
Hornings Hideaway, North Plains Oregon

"In it to win it"

This was the 1st Mountain bike race of the year for me. The weather couldn't be better (70s) and the dirt was about as perfect as can be for an early April race.

I raced single speed as is the norm over the past couple of seasons. I lined up with the group of single speeders and scoped out the competition. I usually recognize most of the guys, but this time it was mostly guys I didn't recognize. Lots of dudes from Bend, Eugene, etc and not much in the way of a Portland showing, which is weird as this is the closest race on the schedule to Portland.

Like last year, the race was a circuit, meaning it had 5 mile laps and we did multiples. This can be a fun way to race because it allows you to try and retry different lines. Kind of like a cross race. The difference, was that the number of laps was fixed. Single speeders only did 3 which for an early seaon race on this course was plenty. We seemed to be either climbing or descending.

Back to the start. The gun went off and the group charged - A couple of guys in a full spring up the hill. I initially had a sinking feeling about being able to keep up right off the bat but I sucked it up and pulled infront of most of the guys. One dude (on a SS flat bar cross bike with carbon wheels no less) and I played a bit of cat and mouse with me catching him and him taking off. His much lighter skinny tired bike had a definate advantage on the long sustained climb, but it was overwhelmed on the technical descents. Mid way into the first lap (on the downhill single track) he went down and I made my move. He sprung up and was on my tail pretty quickly but I definately had the advantage at that point and I pulled away from him at the first water crossing.

Thankfully, I got faster with each lap and started passing the 1/2 geared riders (that started ahead of the single speeders). I also started lapping the riders that started after the SS group.

1 hour 32 minutes after I started I rolled into the finish area, asked the promoter "3 laps, right?" He said yes and tried to get me to do another one... after a bit of convincing he realized that I was indeed finished - 5-6 minutes ahead of the next closest single speeder.

Not bad for an early season race on a bike I haven't ridden since December...

Catch up post!

2009-03-10T16:38:00.001-07:00

Long time no post... race season is starting to heat up again, so I wanted to put some closure on the end of 2008 (and beginning of 2009). I've done a couple of races since my last post in November...

November 9, 2008
PIR
Cross Crusade Race #7
Master A Category
Place: 13th

November
Also at PIR but on a different course
USGP of Cyclocross: race #6
30+ Elite
Place: 19th

I'm actually very proud of the 19th place. It was probably one of my best races of the year based on the caliber of racers I was up against.

2008 BAR (Best All-around Rider)
Some how I managed to get a 3rd place in the SS/Fixed category... This is calculated by number of races (and points per race).
Not bad if I do say so myself... To bad I didn't know until after the OBRA banquet!

2009 - Race #1
Vancouver, WA
Time Trial
Master 30+
4th place!

This was my first time trial ever. I think if I knew what I was doing (and if I didn't have 'super cold' at the time) I would have done better. However, I can't really complain. It was a fun race and extremely well organized. I'll definitely do more this year.

Yes we can!

2008-11-05T22:11:00.000-08:00

I'm extremely excited about our new president elect. I'm excited about the direction that America is taking and I'm excited about the next 4 (8!) years. But, enough about that.

On Sunday November 2nd the Cyclocross Crusade hosted the 6th cross race in the cross crusade series at Barton Park. I did something different this week. I got a ride to the from a friend and team mate of mine (thanks Patrick). He has been double headers each weekend (Single speed and then the A race). Since I was heading out with him on his schedule, I decided to do the same thing. The advantage of this, is being able to do a series of warm up laps on the course (legally) at race speed.

First race, first bike, first set of muddy clothes

We got to the race, registered and drank a quick cup of coffee at the Chris King booth. I lined up for my first race of the day (Single Speed) and with very little starting pressure I was off. I have to admit that I had to hold back a bit to keep from going all out knowing I had another race an hour later. 5 laps and 15 miles later the race was over and I was finished in 22nd place. Not bad.

60 minutes later, I'm lining up for the Master A race feeling tired and really wishing I was spectating with a big cup of coffee (or beer) and a rain coat. I get a call up from my 12 place finish a week back so I'm starting at the 2nd row which is nice. The starting bell goes off and the group is off. It's like a deja vu from just an hour earlier. My legs are screaming at me, my heart is ramping up and i'm not feeling particularly confident in my abilities. A lap goes by, then another, then 4, 5, and 6 mores... I start feeling better as I complete each lap and the cheering fans are keeping my energized. Bill in particular is doing a steller job... "Dan - you are in the top 15", "Dan you are in the top 10" etc.

Last lap, the guy I'm battling it out with starts pulling away. I just don't have the oompf to keep up and he pulls away. I pull in shortly behind him and await the results. 8 laps & 15 miles later, I'm in 8th place. My first time cracking the top 10 in an A race (master A).

Race #2

Total stats for the day:

13 laps
35 miles
1 hour 55 minutes of racing.
2 (super) dirty kits.
2+ hours of bike cleaning (2 bikes)

The mud, the rain. Barton Park.... It used to be one of my least favorite courses, but now... I'm not so sure!

PIR next...

My almost top 10

2008-10-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Cross Crusade #3
Rainier Oregon
Sunday, October 19, 2008

Well I thought I did it... As of last night, the results from the race showed me in 10th place (my best ever in an A race (cross crusade or otherwise). As of one day later, the results have been revised and it looks like I've been bumped down to 12th. Oh well, still my best placing in a cross crusade race. Just not as impressive as a top 10.

Enough of that, on to the race. It was out in Rainer Oregon, a small town about 45-60 miles west of Portland. For yet another weekend, we enjoyed freakishly sunny weather for race #3 of the Cross Crusade series. It was another big day - over 1100 competitors for the event.

It started out cold and then got rapidly warmer as the 2:50 race approached. I couldn't figure out what to wear - long sleeve skin suit or short sleeve jersey. I finally went with the jersey and was glad that I did as it was warm and there was a huge climb.

More about the course (and the climb). It was a really fast course and long by 'cross standards 2.3 miles per lap. I did 8 laps which equaled abit over 18 miles in 1:07. Most cross races are in the neighborhood of 12-14.

I had a pretty good start (no call up but still relatively close to the front). Race start and we are off. All 70 or so of us struggling to get pole position as we take a sharp left turn up the hill and onto the 'real' course. Up the hill to the top, a sharp left into the single track: bunny hop, skip, jump, barely holding on over the bumps and jumps. Then down the hill fast past the tent and into the meadow. Over the first barrier, through the woods and back on to the school grounds where we hit the 6 pack. After that it is a quick downhill which leads to the bottom of the the hill.

The hill is the game changer. The race is won or lost based on this hill. It starts at the lowest point of the course and goes all the way to the top. Fans on both sides, screaming, clanging cowbells. A wall of sound and encouragement. I pick the less traveled line and pass a couple of riders and power up to the top past the OBRA tent. This trend continues on each lap (my hill training apparently has been paying off) and I gain position as the race continues.

I feel my pace pick up on each lap, but on lap 7 I start feeling the tell tale signs of my legs cramping up. I start using all my mental & physical tricks to keep my mind (and quads) from cramping into a massive charlie horse. I go past he OBRA tent and hear 1 more lap. I can do one more lap...

I throw down the hammer and push through the last lap blowing through a couple more guys and getting passed by a couple. I finish in what apparently is 12th place, my best crusade A+ race so far.

So I offended some zoobombers...

2008-10-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

with my last post.

Guys & Gals, I'm man enough to admit I made a mistake. The first one being, I tried to be funny, the second one, is that I didn't actually realize anyone read this thing. Now my post has been put up on the Zoobombers forum. The sad thing, is that it makes me and my team seem like a bunch of dicks, and we really aren't. We are all nice guys and girls (and we come in all sizes). The whole event (the roller race) was such a hilarious and over the top spectacle (but admittedly fun), that it warranted humor to describe it... Alas, like the maligned governor from our 49th state, you didn't find my attempt at humor particularly humorous. I thought the time line was funny (as did some of you based on your comments on your own site), but I offended a couple of you, so I went ahead and edited the 'offensive' parts out.

I like bikes, you like bikes, let's leave it at that and I'll see you at the next roller race. Maybe I'll wear the spandex 'bro' next time.

Rapha Roller Race

2008-10-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Can this picture be any more ridiculous? "New Kids On the Bike"... Embarrassing to say the least.

Last weekend, Cyclepath Racing was invited to participate in the Rapha Roller Race as part of the Oregon Manifest festivities.

More info on the race over at bikeportland

I was one of the guys on the team that opted to do the race. Gant, one of the other guys did a great write up that I am going to paraphrase below.

5:34 p.m. We get a late scratch. So we're down to Folske, Porter and Endo, but a quick call to the shop and Hutchins is on board. The guys a gamer. Love it. But all he's got to race in are jeans and a Cyclepath Racing wind vest. Turns out he is the best dressed in our group. Damn, where's Herr when you need him? We will appoint Herr creative director next year in charge of getting our team some proper costumes.

5:52 p.m. The organizers give us an orientation, which some teams, like the ones who have been drinking since noon, need more than others. We are sized for bikes and given
the general format from the organizer. It's also our only chance to spin the little gear on the bike and get an idea of what we've gotten ourselves into.

6:18 p.m. We get the last beer at the beer tent across the street at the Manifest show. The four of us share it and head up Broadway to 7-11 for a six pack.

7:01 Back in the riders holding pen, know also as the "Green Room" and it's all nervous energy now. Teams are huddled together, sizing each other up, trying to look deep in
each others eyes to see if one among us knows the secret to flailing their legs the fastest over 500 meters. Actually, it's more like a Portland cycling frat party, which is to say a really weird frat house.

Team Zoobomb is clearly (acting) the drunkest and exposing more skin than some of us might like to see. The de facto leader sports a badge, police hat, fanny pack, sparkly, blue short shorts and a matching sports bra. "Hottie Patrol" is scrawled on his bare shoulder.

A Veloshop rider sports white underwear over her cycling bibs, a white wig and a riding crop which she is not afraid to use on anyone passing by.

There's also Team Sabotage in full Beastie's period outfits, The River City chicks... hair everywhere. Team Beer is there of course. They seem to be communicating mostly in mono syllables and hand gestures. They cheer loudly at the slightest provocation. Many other good costumes but this is a good representative sample.

7:16 I can't handle the anticipation so I hit the massage table for a quick rub down. Seriously, they had two massage therapists there for the riders.

7:42 A rider from one of the teams seems to be taking a "nap".

8:12 It's go time and Porter is up in the first round. He gives it the gas on the blue bike, but it's not enough to fend off sudden death.

8:35 I'm up and just get my ass handed to me. I'm also on the blue bike, so Porter and I are pretty sure the blue bike is shite.

9:07 Xterra National Champ Folske rocks the helmet cam and fights the good fight. The best Cyclepath showing so far, but alas, second place isn't enough to advance.

9:29 Hutchins, a self-proclaimed expert at races under a minute, shows he isn't bluffing and takes round 16 with ease. A great ride and restores Cyclepath racing street cred.

Joshua moves on to the Semi's and is knocked out. Bummer...

Megan and I leave to get some beers and dinner at 5th Quadrant and call it a night.

One of the team Sabotage riders from Seattle won the Signal Cycles frames. Nice work... Those frames are sweet.

For anyone reading this, this is satirical... No offense intended.

Peace.

Alpenrose: Cross Crusade #1

2008-10-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks Kalin for the picture (I'm in the middle)

The first Cross Crusade race came and went in 'perfect' cross conditions. Rain, mud, puddles. Excellent! The forecast called for it to be partly sunny, thankfully, we never saw it.

But first... The day began with normal weekend duties - breakfast, nagging my daughter to do her homework, house cleaning, etc. My daughter had a classmate's birthday party at the SW Community Center which is very convenient since it was only a bit more than a mile from Alpenrose. So, after 'dropping the kids off at the pool' (literally, not figuratively), I rode off to Alpenrose to get registered and warmed up.

When I got there, it wasn't raining, but the course still looked slick but not to bad. I warmed up for a bit and tried to get the skinny on the course from my team members that were done racing. The course turned out to be very similar to the ones in years past.

At about 2:30 I decided to head to the starting area. Big mistake, there was already a huge group lined up. I typical Dan fashion I took my space at the back and waited. It was about this time when the rain started coming down.

The starting whistle went off and I was off with the group. I managed to pick up quite a few places until I hit the single track when my wheel went one way and my handlebars went the other (loose stem). I banged it back in place and was back. As I rode by the Cyclepath tent I called out for some tools for the pit. Bill obliged and met me there on the next lap. (Thanks Bill)

The rest of the race consisted of me trying my hardest to move up from pretty much dead last as the conditions degraded more and more. Each lap getting more slippery than the previous. I crashed once (slow motion going around a corner). I ended up completing 7 laps and seemed to be getting faster with each lap. I managed to pick off some riders that wanted to beat but definitely did not end up where I wanted to be. I finished at 30th place (out of 78 guys). Not bad, but not fantastic. Definately some work to do for next week (such as getting a better starting place).

The race was way more fun than the race last weekend. The race last week was so hot and dry. The weather was definately a fun factor this week.

On a side note, this race broke last season's record. 1,267 racers showed up to compete. Awesome. This could be a national record I would think.

PS - if you click on my name in the OBRA results, it is not me... There is another Dan Porter out in OBRA land...I wish I could see his picture.

Not Me: http://app.obra.org/results/racer/8426 (the two results: Alpenrose & Barlow are mine though)

Me: http://app.obra.org/results/racer/4754

Looks like some good weather for cross!

2008-10-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

Weather as of 9:30 this morning. Alpenrose should be nice and 'soft'. I hope my bike is fixed!

Battle at Barlow

2008-09-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

This was at least the 3rd year in a row that I've raced at the Battle at Barlow. I'm pretty sure I raced it back in the day when it was still a cross crusade race as well, but I do at least know I've raced it the past 4 years anyway.

My whole point in this 'history' lesson, is that it was as hard as I have ever remembered it. Possibly because it was so hot and dry, possibly because it was just really fast and possibly because I was riding without a rear brake for the entire race...

During warm up, the bolt on my rear brake loosened itself and managed to swing into the wheel... Thankfully, my wheel was spared any damage... Unfortunately it ripped of my right rear cantilever post...

What's missing from this picture?

In case you can't figure it out

Back to the race. After 20 minutes I was wishing it was over, after 40 I felt like I was moving backwards at 60 I was done. I ended up in 13th... A place higher than last year, though I am unsure of how accurate that is as a big part of the field was racing in the open As as opposed to Masters. All in all it was a good race, but I will be thankful for the rain.

As far as the bike goes, it is a steel frame and I have an appointment to get it looked at/fixed. I'm hopeful it will be fixed by this Sunday.

What's in your (cross) bag?

2008-09-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

Part 2 in the 'series'... This one cyclocross related vs. mountain bike related...

First cyclocross race of the season is coming up, so I thought I'd review the pre-race ritual I personally go through. I like to do this the night before so I'm not running around like stressed out crazy man the day of the race. First of all, I want to make sure my bike(s) are in working order the day before the race. There is nothing worse than last minute bike fixes. Also riding a 'just fixed' bike in a race isn't always the best idea either.

After I have gone over my bike(s) to make sure each one is working properly I then move on and spend some time putting together my "race bag". My "race bag" begins with the basics: race license, helmet, jersey, shorts, socks, gloves, shoes, etc. With the basics packed I then consider the weather and other gear I will need to make myself the most comfortable pre-race, during the race and post-race. My list would look something like the following:

Helmet
Shoes
Cycling cap
warm (winter cycling) cap
Rain jacket (waterproof)
Rain pants (waterproof)
Base layers to wear underneath
Long sleeve jersey (or Skin Suit)
Short sleeve jersey
Arm warmers
Knee warmers
Socks (2 pair)
Gloves to suit the weather conditions. I usually like to bring at least 2 pairs... It's always nice to start a race with dry socks & dry gloves... The preride can soak your first pair pretty quick.
Glasses with different lens options (this is optional for me. If the weather is bad, I typically don't use glasses and just pull my cap down)
Race towel for cleanup post race
warming cream for legs (this is a new item for me this year)
Chamois cream (i'm actually really liking the DZ Nutz product, btw)
Pre race food
Post race food
Water
towels (body & bike)
Towels
Post race clothes (apre race)
Tools, etc.
Beer (if allowed at the vendor). Nothing beats a cold one after a hard race... Unless of course it is 32 degrees and sleeting...

With my "race bag" packed and ready to go I like to make sure I have good directions as to where the race is happening and the race times of each category. Generally, I typically print off the race flyer from the Internet and stick it in my bag as well. It's nice to have to be able to refer back to it while you are at the race if you need to check race times etc. Also, I like to set out my water bottles and food stuffs that I will be needing as part of my pre-race and post-race.

Kruger's Kermesse Farm Crit Series: Race #3

2008-09-16T12:39:00.001-07:00

I did my first 'cross' race of the season this past weekend. In actuality, it wasn't a cross race it was a Farm Criterium or "Kermesse". Basically a dirt crit on gravel and dirt roads in and around Kruger's farm on Sauvie's Island. It was the 3rd and final race in the series (I missed the first 2). The only thing that really made it 'cross' like was that I was on my cross bike, it gave me 'cross BAR points and it was on dirt. There were no barriers, run ups or even changes in tempo. It was basically full on 100% for 60 minutes.

There's me in the middle (3rd from the left)

I raced in the Master A category and ended up doing fairly well. I led for some of the race and then was pushed back to 3rd then 4th place as my energy levels started dipping. I rode alone for a couple of laps just trying to stay ahead of the main pack of riders. My saving grace came when Sue Butler (local female racer extrodenaire) came up (the women As ride at the same time as the men in this particular series). I jumped on her wheel and basically rode with her (trading pulling duties) until the end of the race. This helped put me back in 3rd place (final result) however I was not able to catch up with #1 & #2. I'm pretty happy with the 3rd place finish, though, it's not really as impressive as it seems as the field was way smaller than a normal race. It was a good practice race though and gave me the confidence that I can push a high output for the full A race.

After the race was over, there was a ultra team relay. Cyclepath fielded a team so I did lap. We ended up in 2nd to River City. We had them at the beginning, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Close, but no cigar.

Simon (in the blue & white stripes) jamming to the band

The family came out and watched, but left after my race so I got to do a warm down riding home. All in all a great day.

aaahhh, SNAP

2008-09-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

You know what sucks? Being half way through a 27 mile mountain bike ride and having your seat post bolt snap. Yeah, that sucks...

I was doing a night ride this evening with teamie Nelson. We were in Forest Park and almost to firelane 5... I was on my single speed. I briefly sat down and SNAP.... suddenly no seat. I looked around on the ground and found my seat and seat post components. Apparently the bolt snapped.

At that point, my options were to either turn around or proceed. We were almost to FL 5, so I opted to press on to at least enjoy the short fun part of the ride (the only legal single track). We did opt to return back after FL5 though instead of pressing on. 9 miles later my legs were screaming. on the way home I stopped at Nelson's house and we jimmy rigged a bolt into the seat post clamp. It was loose but at least got me home.

This is btw the best time of year to be night riding...

Gear combinations

2008-09-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Like every other crosser, I constantly debate gearing choices. I've been debating the single ring thing for quite some time now but have been convinced otherwise by the guys at the shop. My problem, is my bike was designed around a mountain crank, so only a really small inner chain ring works.

I currently run a Ritchey WCS crank with a 34/50. The 34 is just to small and the 50 is to big for most courses. Basically, I end up staying in the 34 most of the time and end up spinning a whole heck of alot.

I'm not sure why I didn't think of this myself, but I was reading Brooke's blog the other day where he was discusses his gear choices and it hit me... instead of going single, why not compromise and put a smaller ring on the big side. I went and picked up a 44 today (I have a 46 & a 48 in my parts bin) so I have a variety of combos to experiment with.

I think the 34/44 is going to be a good combo. I really doubt I will need to drop into the 34 much anymore as the 44 will suffice for almost all courses.

Thanks Brooke.

Tis the season

2008-09-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

I took a ride in Forest Park today at lunch... I saw almost as many cross bikes as mountain bikes....

'cross season is in the air!

Helmet Pads

2008-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've never understood why when you spend 100 -150 on a nice helmet you don't get a second set of pads. Unfortuanetly, I'm a bit of a sweat hog, so I stink them up pretty quickly. Plus, with 'cross they can get muddy and beat up.

I have this:

And I needed this:

I emailed Bell, and they kindly sent me a replacement set. No charge!

Preliminary Cross Crusade Schedule up!

2008-08-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

The preliminary cross crusade schedule is now up. Looks like a good one again!

Season opener at Alpenrose, then Wilsonville (I missed it last time around). Rainer which I heard was one of the best courses out there, a DOUBLE weekend in Astoria, the venerable Barton Park and a couple of TBA venues...

Hornings, Estacada and Hillsboro are all missing. Based on all the new construction out there, I am not surprised that Hillsboro is out. I've always liked the close proximity. I'm surprised that Estacada isn't there. I hope it is one of the missing ones though, as it is my favorites.

Also missing are the two USGP races in December. PIR maybe?

October 5	Crusade Series Race 1	Alpenrose Dairy
October 12	Crusade Series Race 2	Wilsonville
October 19	Crusade Series Race 3	Rainier High School
October 25	Crusade Series Race 4	Clatsop County Fairgrounds
October 26	Crusade Series Race 5	Clatsop County Fairgrounds
November 2	Crusade Series Race 6	Barton Park
November 9	Crusade Series Race 7	TBA
November 16	Crusade Series Race 8	TBA

http://www.crosscrusade.com/schedule/2008/index.html

Tahoe 2008

2008-08-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Got back from a week in Tahoe a couple of days ago (ok, it was a week ago).

I got some good rides, hikes and in general family time.

Helmet cam to follow..

Here is a couple of good shots that summarize the week:

The kids on a family ride

At the top of Mr. Toads. About ready to descend 3K... The lake is in the distance.

Simon and Dad - out for a 'big' ride.

Be careful out there

2008-08-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

My wife was hit by a car last night while commuting by bike home from work. Thankfully she wasn't hurt (other than a few scratches & scrapes. Neither was her bike. She was however a bit shooken up (obviously).

Basically, a car decided they wanted to park and pulled into the bikelane without looking. She bumped and rolled over hood. Thankfully it was relatively low speed but could have been worse.

Please be careful out there, both on your bike and in your car.

We all just want to get home to our families safetly.

Short Track #5

2008-07-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Portland Short Track #5
Portland International Raceway
SS category
July 21, 2008

Again, I'm tardy in publishing this race report as I've had a ton going on with a really busy work schedule, and our upcoming vacation.

I had an almost perfect starting position and a good (not great) start. I made it into the first corner with the top 10 guys and mananged to stick with this group for the rest of the race, working my way up to a finishing placement of 4th (out of 54 folks). The course as usual was different than the previous weeks. The organizers added in a couple of logs and even a stretch of pavement(!). Fun times.

This is my last STXC of the year and probably my last race until 'cross starts so I'll do a quick recap:

#1: 3rd place
#3: 18th place
#4: 6th place
#5: 4th place

As compared to last year...

#1 22nd
#2 10th
#4 8th
#5 8th

Whoah - in a good way. Same as last year 3 top 10s, but in reality the competition was harder this year and I placed higher in each of the races. My best 3 races this year placed higher than my best all around last year.

I am bummed to miss the final race, but I should be having fun regardless :).

Short Track #4

2008-07-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Totally late post, so I am not going to create a lengthy description....

Details:
New Course
SS category
# of Riders: 43 riders
Final placement: 6th place

Cool picture:
http://photos.oregonvelo.com/p/pdxstxc071408r2/pdxstxc07140815940

The guy that took 1st in the race also races for Twin Six. His first race in the series. Nice work Jeff!

I followed up with the Twin Six guys and apparently he is also a good cyclocrosser so I am sure we will see more of him this fall.

Doper's Suck

2008-07-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

It just never ends, does it?

The Grand Tour was rocked again today when Riccardo Ricco was busted for doping. Word on the street is that he was caught using a new generation of EPO that apparently release over a long period of time.

I think my friend Bryan summarized it the best:
"Now Riccardo Riccò is out for suspected doping. Between him, Moisés Dueñas, Manuel Beltrán, Christophe Moreau mysteriously pulling out in stage seven, and more likely to come as the list of 20 riders with “abnormal” values get subjected to more scrutiny, it’s starting to feel like déjà vu all over again.

It’s gotten to the point where I’m a little reticent to pump my fist for any rider these days…as it feels like only a matter of time before they are caught doping."

No shit, brotha. Seems like groundhogs day all over again.

Tabor #6: Final Race

2008-07-16T12:48:00.001-07:00

July 16,2007
Mt Tabor Park

Summer must truly be midway because the annual Wednesday Night Mt Tabor race series came to an end last week.

The final race was pretty typical of all previous races that I have reported on. I had a good start, I pulled the field much of the time, I was involved in a full on uphill sprint on the last lap, I crossed the line and felt like my heart was going to explode. Good times.

I ended up taking 4th place, but due to a technicality, the winner was DQ'd because he forgot his # or to sign in... So, I actually ended up in 3rd.

So for the series, out of 6 races my results looked like this:
5th
3rd
3rd
3rd

for a points total of 236 (or 4th place overall). Not bad I guess since this was 4 out of 6 races.

On a side note: Here's a shout out to Cylepath Racing Teamie John Browning for the 1-2 punch, winning both the Senior Men and the Men's master (40+) race serie(s). For those of you following at home, that is 2 separate races each night!

Short Track #3

2008-07-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

Short Track #3
Portland International Raceway
July 7, 2008

Wow, that was hard. Dusty, sweaty, bumpy, hot and hard. I'm not sure yet how I did, but I know it wasn't particularly well.

I broke the 1st rule of Short Track (no, it is not not talking about Short track). I had a bad start. Not just a bad start, but a horrible start. I was out pre-riding the course and doing a bit of scouting when the rest of the field was lining up. When I finally dragged my sorry butt over to the start line it was already 3 deep. Nice.

Race started and based on my excellent starting position I new I had my work cut out for me. I went as aggressive as possible and muscled my way on up. Unfortunately, as soon as I was gaining ground I lost my chain on the top of a crest and spent what seemed like an eternity getting it back on...guess I should have checked that ahead of time...

By the time I had it back on, the majority of the field had passed me, thus I spent the rest of the race trying to make up time. ~~I'll be lucky if I placed mid pack.~~

On the bright side, it was still fun, but a hard fun.

Update: Looks like I placed 18th out of 54. Not great, but not as bad as I thought under the circumstances.

Also, looks like my new nemisis at Tabor this year took first. Darn 19 year olds..

West on 5th

2008-07-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine who lives in Austin created this video. His wife is the star.

Anyway, it totally captures the essence and fun of riding a bike.

Tabor #5

2008-07-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

Surveying the course. (New Kit)

My posts are starting to bump into each other... I wait until my next race until I am forced to report on the last. Not very exciting reporting to say the least....

Tabor #5 was much like Tabor #3 (I missed #4 due to my wonderful wife's birthday). I raced fixed as usual and the field was a bit smaller, but all the leaders were there so I knew I would need to race smart again by not making a break
when the leaders were going slower than I wanted to. I stuck with
them and did my share of pulling until the final lap when the
lead guys attacked. I hung on for dear life and took home the
bronze. Hey, at least I paid for my race fees!

Best Part of the race was my cheering section:

"Go Daddy, Go!"

Portland Short Track Racing #1

2008-06-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

June 23, 2008
Portland International Raceway - infield
Single Speed

I knew it must finally be summer as I rode my mountain bike from downtown in the summer evening sun out to the race track. A beautiful evening with sun shining and the crowds of cyclists all around (roadies on the race track, mtn bikers on the infield). This is my 3rd season racing SS STX and I definitely have something to prove. Last year I did a couple top tens, but for the most part I had a pretty mediocre season. My first race in the series last year resulted in a crash.

If I've learned anything from 'cross, it's that a good crash is critical to a good finish. I took that to heart and got a good starting position on the right side and after the starting bell I took off and took the hole shot. Next thing I knew, I'm with the lead rider - Weaver - the series winner for the past 2 years. Although he was going fast, it didn't fell like I couldn't at least hang on, so I went for it.

A lap later I'm still sitting in 2nd when another guy comes screaming around me. I wasn't sure who it was so I returned the favor on the whoop dees and went around him. We did this a few times until he (ended up being Butler) put the hammer down and him and Weaver started pulling away.

I kept up my pace and ended up the race in 3rd place. My best result in a short track race in 3rd place our of 48 riders. (Big Group!)

Update: Video of Monday's race. All Categories including Kiddies

2008 Short Track Series - RACE 1 from Scott Barker on Vimeo.

On a more somber note, mid way through the race a fellow racer (30 yrs old) collapsed from a cardiac arrest. More info on this at BikePortland.org. Scary stuff, but as it turns out the first responders did all the right things and the fellow is going to be just fine.

Lucky Tabor #3

2008-06-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

June 18th
Mt Tabor
Portland, Oregon

I missed the previous weeks race due to travel issues, thus I was fired up to race this week again. I noticed in the last weeks race that the same kid won the 1st and 2nd race so I planned my strategy... At all costs stick with Walton...

Anyway, the fixed gear category had ~23 starters. One of the larger of the fixed gear races I've been to.

Back to race - race started as normal - quick as all hell sprinting up the hill and around the first corner to the downhill. I was hanging with lead group of about 5-6 guys going down the hill. As opposed to race #1, I opted to not try for a lead out and instead held back and let the other guys do the work. This paid off by allowing me to save energy - while at the same time tiring the guys leading out. By the end of the 2nd lap I was sitting in 3rd place in a group of 4 guys.

Going into the final stretch of the 4th lap I made my move and pulled to the front. The other 3 guys had the same idea, and 2 of them pulled in front of me. The 3rd tried and I held him off until the end. Ended up taking 3rd and bringing home the bacon. (Cash payout for the top 3!)

I'm missing the race on the 25th (tonight), but I should be back for #5 next week. Let's go for the win!

PS - first race in the new kit. Hotness!

Tabor #2

2008-06-11T21:23:00.000-07:00

Didn't race. I got back home from Texas (work related) an hour later than I had hoped and didn't make it back to my house until after 4. I still planned to make it until I walked in the door and found that my daughter was feeling under the weather. I opted instead to go to the playground with the boy.

Anyway, I hope the race went well. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

Until next week.

PS - Driving in Dallas is awful. The city is like a spiderweb of freeways with the city like a cocooned fly with all of it's blood sucked out.

Mt Tabor #1

2008-06-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

The first in this summers series of 6 races occurred on June 4th 2008 at Mount Tabor. For those of you that have not read my past years race reports, Mt Tabor is a dormant volcano in SE Portland. Each summer there is a mid week race series. It's basically a crit with multiple laps that are either climbing up or going down. All in all a pretty hard race.

I raced in the fixed category. There was a pretty sizeable group of 19 riders. The group basically stayed together vs. there being any major breakaway by any riders. I felt strong and pulled the group for the first and final lap. Unfortunately, I dug a bit to deep and couldn't maintain my pace for the final climb to the finish. I ended up in the lead group taking a solid 5th. Not great as I have a goal of a top 3, but acceptable especially after racing just 3 days ago.

I finished the race and tasted lunch (blech) before doing a recovery ride home.

Until next week!

Falls City Firecracker Presented by Cyclepath

2008-06-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 1 2008
Falls City Oregon
Single Speed

The promoters were serving pain by the cup and I was drinking it by the pitcher. This is a great mountain bike race and one of my favorite of the year. Half Fast Velo (another local team) puts on the race and Cyclepath is the primary sponsor. It takes place in Falls City at the Black Rock Freeride area.

I awoke in the AM to pouring rain and the sinking feeling that it was going to be an utter slopfest. As I loaded the car and headed to the pick up point for the carpool down I was really feeling a sense of dread about the weather. Thankfully, as we drove south, it dried out and by the time we were in Falls City it was perfect.

The race was billed as 80% single track which in my opinion was pretty accurate. The course itself was a multi-lap format where each lap was about 4.5 miles with 1400 feet of elevation gain per lap. Basically, each lap consisted of a prolonged uphill grind up single track and fireroad and then a bombing single track & fire road descent. The promoter of the race did incorporate some routes that had ladders and drops into the course which did add to the excitement. It also pushed my rigid single speed to it's limit.

The race start & finish was midway up the fire road climb which resulted in both the start and the finish being on a hill (nice...). At the starting gun, I took off from the very back of the pack. I spent the first part of the climb working through a mass of bodies and was towards the front by the time we hit the first single track section.

By the time I made it to the top and the beginning of the downhill there were about 4-6 guys ahead of me. I picked a couple of them off on the descent and all but one on the next climb/descent combo.

Ended up finishing the race in 2nd place. The 'other' guy was Nelson Snyder. A Cyclepath Teamie and my copilot on the drive down to the race. I can't say I am disappointed.

Cyclepath Racing Press Release

2008-06-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

Cyclepath, the premier custom bike shop in Portland, is proud to announce the launch of Cyclepath Racing. Proprietors Bill Larson and Joshua Hutchens are excited to have a group of dedicated local riders racing together under the Cyclepath Racing banner. While the shop will continue its tradition of support for other OBRA teams and riders, the new squad will represent the shop directly at OBRA events and beyond. With a range of talents and focuses, the team will be competitive across a range of different races.

Cyclepath Racing is:

John Acevedo
John Bravard
John Browning
David Diviney
Gant Enderle
Grant Folske
Ian Leitheiser
Dan Porter
Aaron Sander
Nelson Snyder
Christian Tresser
Patrick Wilder

cyclepathracing.wordpress.com

cyclepathnw.com

The Cyclists

2008-05-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

Instant Classic... Ever feel like your friends are like this?

Angel Bike

2008-05-21T16:08:00.001-07:00

I totally stole this picture from Bikeportland.org. I had too. It is just so perfect.

Look closely at the picture of the bike crushed by the minivan. The bike angel arrises from the destruction. Although the bike was destroyed, no humans were hurt.

This makes me laugh

2008-05-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Kermit on a fixed gear

2500!

2008-05-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

It's a crappy screenshot, but I just realized that I had hit 2500 miles + 184 hours of riding on Velog. This isn't to say that without Velog I wouldn't have rode that much, but using it has forced me to record it. It has been a great training device. I haven't recorded every single mile - not junk miles (ie riding around doing errands and such) but it has included commuting, training rides and racing.

If you haven't checked it out yet, do it. While you are at it, join one of my groups.

I love velog.

Weather, oh how I hate thee

2008-05-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Rain, with a side of crappiness (well, maybe Sunday will be nice). So, I've been avoiding this post because so many others have been bitching about the weather on their blogs: see here, here, here, etc. , but this is killing me. I've been on rides where I have been rained on, hailed on, snowed on, and then 5 minutes later the sun comes out and taunts my shivering hypothermic self. All of this in April. It's now May 1, and I keep hoping the weather will get better, and bam the weather forcast comes out and it is rainy for the forseeable future! Arggh.

New Bike

2008-04-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

Scott CR1. 17.2 lbs with pedals

The new bike is done. I've been out town or the weather has been so poor that I haven't really been able to ride it since I picked it up, so I've only had a chance to do a couple rides. So far so good though. Carbon has a different feel than steel or aluminum, that is for sure, as does Campy. I've never ridden either.

Once again, the guys at Cyclepath did me right, as did my family members with their generous birthday gift certificates to the shop for my recent birthday.

Indiana

2008-04-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

I've been in Indianapolis, Indiana for work for the past 4 days which prevented me from being on the bike. Commuting or otherwise. I had been riding the bike in the hotel gym as well as some weights, but it is just not the same. To make matters worse, It was unseasonably gorgeous in Indy. If I was a sales guy and I traveled alot, I'd definately need to get a breakaway.

I was definately excited to get back in the saddle again this morning for my usual Friday AM pre work workout. Did a nice 18.5 miler up and around Mt Tabor this morning.

What's in your bag?

2008-04-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

I had my first race a week ago and as I was packing up my 'race' bag I got to thinking about the lists that I typically make, and the prep that I do the night before the race. I thought it might be interesting to construct a list - What's in your bag. Note, this is mountain bike specific and it assumes you are driving to the race venue. It also assumes that weather conditions are unknown. I typically take a much more abreviated list of equipment to races/rides that I ride to.

Clothing, etc.
Shoes
Helmet
Short Sleeve Jersey Long Sleeve Jersey
Bib shorts
Bib knickers
Arm Warmers
Knee Warmers
Vest
Windbreaker
Gloves (2 pairs) Glasses
Socks (2 pairs)

Food, etc.
Pre race energy food - clif blocks, clif shots, clif enery drink
Post race recovery food/drink - clif recovery and/or promax bars
"Real" Food - Sandwiches, Fruit, etc. for after the race
Water bottles (2-3) pre, during, post

Misc:
# plate
Racing license
Prefilled out Waiver
Chamis Butt'r
Diaper creme (don't ask, but it helps)
Baby Wipes
Embrocation (not for summer races)
Zip ties
Safety Pins
First Aid Kit (minor)

Other:
Dirtworker
Pump
Tools
Spare tubes
Chain lube
various plastic bags for dirty clothes, shoes, etc. Changing Kilt
3+ Towels of various sizes(for cleaning body, bike, etc.)

So, what's in your bag?

It's coming....

2008-04-12T08:12:00.001-07:00

New bike.....

Soon...

Hornings Hustle Season Opener

2008-04-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

April 6th 2008
Hornings Hideout
North Plains, Oregon
Single Speed

"The race that was won by the guy who could push his bike the fastest". A bit of a joke, but only half way. Seriously, though there was a ton of running/pushing the bike. This race was more cross race than the past 2 cross races I've done out at the same venue. It was a mud bog suffer fest.

Photo (Oregon Velo). Mid way through lap 1.

The race started neutral (meaning everyone starts slow until a point on the course). We hit the single track and it was a bit of a cluster. The race started heating up about midway 1 mile into the first lap and I started to take the race serious to try to make up lost ground from my horrible starting position at the "neutral start".

Photo #2 (Oregon Velo)- Weather heating up -lap 1

We did 3 laps, each lap was about 5 miles each (total race time on the odo: 1:56). Each lap was progressively harder with the 3rd taking me into the pain cave. It started raining towards the end of the second lap and made the mud that much deeper and thicker.

This was a muddy race. I think this was lap two:
Muddy Dan - Oregon Velo

Good times. A good early season race, but in case you haven't gathered, it was MUDDY. I was thankful I was running single speed, as I didn't see the drive train issues I saw others having.

Oh, I got 4th place. Not a bad start to the 2008 season.

Goodies

2008-04-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

I got home from work on April 1st to find a package sitting on the front porch. It contained my 08 goodies from Twin Six. Good stuff, some of my favorite so far. The jersey is sweet, the socks are sweet, the t-shirt is super sweet (probably my favorite t-shirt now). It's funny, I get periodic orders from T6 (both purchased & comped) and each time I think I like the new stuff better than the last.

I pimped out on my ride today and wore the new jersey, socks and carried a new water bottle.

Socks - 'nuff said

t-shirt - what would Jesus ride?

Upgradititis

2008-04-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Upgraditis: A terminal condition, the main symptom of which presents as the insatiable desire to upgrade. Ex: I have a perfectly functional cross bike, but I really really need that carbon fork, handlebar, etc.

I know it is only spring, but I’m already thinking about how to upgrade my ‘cross bike for the coming season. First off, I need to get some minor frame damage taken care of. Once that is done, I’m thinking about a variety of ways to really pimp out my Kelly. I’d love to hear peoples various perspectives.

My upgrade options look something like this:

1) At the very least I will need to replace my right side STI. This isn’t really an upgrade – it’s more like necessity. Part of the perils of cross racing. In all honesty, It still functions, but barely, and not in a way conducive to racing. I can do one of two things. Replace it with a new 9 Speed STI and call it good, OR replace it with a SRAM Rival setup. PRO: SRAM is PRO. SRAM is also rebuildable. CON: This of course would require new a new front and rear derailleur and a new 10spd cassette.

2) I’m thinking about going single chain ring up front. Because of limitations to my frame (it was designed around mountain bike components), I can only run compact cranks. The problem with, is that the little 34 is a bit low for most ‘cross courses, and I very rarely put it into the big ring (except on those rare courses like Hillsboro). This means that I spin like mad most of the time. Ideally, I’d like to put a bit bigger of a ring up front and call it good. PRO: 1) My cadence would balance out over a majority of courses, I’d lose a bit of weight (single ring), no front derailleur, etc., If I do upgrade to 10spd (item #1 above) I’d only need to by 1 shifter. The left side brake is much cheaper (and lighter) than a true STI. CON: Not quite as versatile on the road. (Currently my ‘cross bike is also my road bike, though, I am thinking/planning on getting a road bike this year as well.

a. OPTION: I could just replace the right side STI (with another Ultegra 9spd Option) and still go single chain ring.

3) Fork: Upgrade the Kelly Steel fork for a carbon one. Unfortunately, my options here are limited as I have a 1 inch steer tube. My choices basically consist of either a Winwood Dusty (828 grams) or a Wound up (682 grams). The price of the Wound Up is cost prohibitive and the Winwood doesn’t really save me that much over my Kelly Fork (861grams), which has been claimed by some as one of the best steel cross forks out there. PRO: Carbon is sexy. CON: My steel fork is pretty sweet as well and not that heavy… Thoughts on this?

4) New bars – Sadly, the bars on my bike are pull offs from my previous bike. I used them along with a stem as a way to save a bit of money (I’ve replaced the stem with a Ritchey WCS). My thought is to upgrade the bars to a Ritchey WCS aluminum version (actually lighter than the carbon and about 1/3 the price). PRO: If I’m going to change the STIs anyway (which will require new bar tape), I might as well go all out and replace the bars at the same time.

36

2008-03-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

I celebrated my 36th birthday today, thus no longer being the youngest age in the Masters A group. – Being that it is Monday, I celebrated the bulk of it at work. That being said, the stars aligned today and I had a break during a period of time when it wasn’t raining, hailing, or snowing (yes it has been a weird spring in the Pacific Northwest). Actually, it was quite pleasant and sunny during this time period. I got some new fenders the other day and installed them on my cross bike last night, so it was nice to do the climb to skyline with gears. (Besides the fact that my fixed gear rear wheel is all wonky and I have a new wheel on order.)

Long story short, I celebrated my birthday by performing an act that is ageless. Just me and my bike. I may be getting older, but damn it, I’m not letting something like age slow me down.

Life is great.

CPR

2008-03-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a while between posts. I guess it is that time of year in the middle/end of winter where not much is going on. I haven't yet started racing (won't happen for another month) and have basically just been struggling to get as many miles in as possible during these dark days.

On a related note, I was invited to join a new Cyclepath Racing Team ("CPR"). This is a bit different than the existing team as it will apparently be a bit more focused on results and will be a smaller group of guys/girls. We will also apparently be getting a new kit. Members are currently being recruited from other Cyclepath supported teams (only a few of us from the old team are joining the new one) and there is not really a specific focus on one discipline or another.

I'm pretty excited, as this was actually one of my goals for 2008 (still to be published). I was hoping to take a core group of guys from the team and make it more "team/results oriented". Basically something that I need to take it to the next level.

Enough chit chat- the rain has stopped, time for a ride.

Good bye dear friend

2008-02-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

Last week we sold the "cookie bus" our 2001 VW Eurovan Westfalia. The family had lots of very fine memories with the car and I am admittedly having some sellers remorse. This car was a great machine for camping, bike racing, hauling the kids etc. Nothing else quite like it. Actually, I can't believe I am doing a blog post on it. I guess it is just that kind of car.

The main problem with it, was that although it was a 7 passenger vehicle, only 4 of the seats (2 of which are the driver/front passenger seats) have shoulder straps, and thus carrying extra kids (that require boosters) is impossible.

Alas, the purchaser was extremely happy and I know that they (it was a family) will create new memories.

Training while sick

2008-02-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

It can be done, but is it worth the risk?

Many of us, me included, feel a psychologically need to exercise that can often lead us to make poor decisions regarding our health.

I try my hardest to tell myself that it's ok to take a break, but I get so anxious about it (which is crazy, since this is technically the "off season" anyway).

Case in point. last week I was fighting an upper respiratory "head cold". We had a break in the weather last week and I wasn't feeling great, but I thought I was feeling 'good enough'. Plus, I figured I could sweat it out. Unfortunately, my plan backfired and I'm only now starting to feel better.

Everybody is different, but I think for me as long as my cold is in my head and I work out inside (lightly) I'm usually ok.

I found some pretty good tips here.

New Wheels...

2008-02-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

I 'commissioned' Cyclepath to build me some new wheels for my 29er. They were just competed and I brought them home tonight... I can't wait for it to dry up so I can take them for a spin.

Specs are as follow:

Paul Single Speed Disc Hubs
DT Swiss Champion Double Butted spokes
Stans ZTR 355 rims

1800 grams (w/o tires, rotors or a SS freewheel)

My old wheels are actually not SS specific. I'm going to save them for a future project (disc brake cross bike maybe????)

Sheldon Brown: Rest in Peace

2008-02-04T17:03:00.000-08:00

I just heard the news that Sheldon Brown passed away last night from a heart attack.

Brown was something of a living legend in the cycling community (especially to bike nerds such as myself), known mostly for his website that was packed with vast amounts of bike information. Although I didn't know the man, I've used his resources (on his website) quite extensively. He's a giant in the cycling word, and will be missed.

Here’s the message about his passing as posted to SheldonBrown.com:

“Dear…friends and customers,It is with heavy hearts that we convey to you the news that Sheldon Brown has passed away. Our thoughts go out to his family at this time. The cycling community has lost one of it’s most passionate members.”

Twin Six 4 Day Sale

2008-01-31T13:42:00.000-08:00

M friends over at Twin Six are having a 4 day sale - with 10% of the proceeds going to a good cause (Jenny's Light). More info on their website. Just click the link below:

A great time to pick up some cool cycling duds at very reasonable prices - and support a good cause.

http://www.twinsix.com/

The indignity of using bicycles in marketing

2008-01-25T18:07:00.001-08:00

There's been a bunch of chatter around the bikey blogosphere about this particular advertisement:
There are so many problems with this advertisement, that it's hard to start:

Is this a bike ad or a car ad?
They are using bike Polo to sell an SUV. Bike Polo? I can't think of a sport where the typical players would disdain a giant SUV more.
The family in the picture insinuates that they are all out playing Bike Polo... "Hey Dad, Let's go play a family game of bike polo!" "Sure son"... Gee Dad, when did you get so cool.
The bike picture of the SUV itself is so small compared to the rest of the ad.

The next advertisement is actually right on the mark, and I like it quite a bit. This is the correct way to integrate bikes/bike culture into an ad.

Way to go, Kaiser.

Monkeys on bikes are funny

2008-01-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

So sad, like the last kid to get picked up at daycare.

2008-01-16T22:42:00.000-08:00

I didn't leave work that late this evening...

So not cool

2008-01-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

Warren John Wilson, 52, faces a single felony count of vandalism, police Sgt. Linda King said Friday.

King said nearly 50 holes measuring about 1 foot by 2 feet (30 centimeters by 60 centimeters) have been found since June along a trail at Laguna Lake Park, and in some cases attempts had been made to hide them from cyclists. She said some riders went over their handlebars after hitting the holes, but none reported major injuries.

Detectives watching the trails questioned Wilson, who said he had nearly been run over by a mountain bike rider and began digging the holes in retaliation, King said. Source: www.foxnews.com

Kiss my knobby tire Mr. Wilson.

Best Bike Related Video Ever

2007-12-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

Surfing YouTube, Found This 'bike related' video... .40 into it and whoah.

Could be my new favorite song.

Oh, the band is "Bats for Lashes"

2007 Season In Review

2007-12-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

With Cyclocross Nationals happening in Kansas City as I type (I’m obviously not there), I thought it would be a good time to do a recap of my 2007 racing season (look for future post: 2008 goals).

All in all, I think it was a pretty good season (road/fixed, mountain, and cross). I didn’t race as many races as I had planned and my results weren’t overly spectacular, but it was still a good season. First and foremost, I had a bunch of fun, met some great folks, and experienced some new bikes (fixed gear and 29er). I also did by best to represent those that support me in this thing called racing (Big thanks to: Cyclepath, Twin Six & Soma).

Here’s the summary of the races I competed in and the end results. I believe there is a report on each and every one of these races in the archives of this blog.

Dan’s season in review: Sorted reverse chronologically by category:

Cyclocross:
17 Cross Crusade/OBRA Championship - Hillsboro Mst Men A 11/18/07

17 Cross Crusade - Estacada Mst Men A 11/11/07

22 Cross Crusade - Clatsop County Fairgrounds Mst Men A 10/28/07

18 Cross Crusade - Horning's Hideout Sgl Spd 10/14/07

21 Cross Crusade - Alpenrose Mst Men A 10/07/07

14 Battle at Barlow CCX Mst Men A 09/30/07

Short Track Mountain Bike:
8 Portland MTB Short Track Series Singlespeed 07/30/07

8 Portland MTB Short Track Series Singlespeed 07/16/07

10 Portland MTB Short Track Series Singlespeed 07/09/07

22 Portland MTB Short Track Series Singlespeed 07/02/07

Fixed Gear:
4 Mt Tabor Series Fixed Gear 07/11/07

5 Mt Tabor Series Fixed Gear 06/27/07

4 Mt Tabor Series Fixed Gear 05/30/07

Geared Mountain Bike
2 Falls City Firecracker MTB Sport Men 19-39 05/20/07

The biggest change this year was my move up from Bs to Master As. Definitely a bit of a rude awakening there, but alas it was a learning experience.
Thanks again.

-Porter

Hillsboro Stadium - Cross Crusade #7

2007-11-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

Cross Crusade race #7

November 18, 2007
Hillsboro Stadium, OR

Masters 35+ A race

We asked for rain, We.Got.Rain.

The Portland area finally started getting some rain this week so the ground was fully saturated by race time. I woke up early on Sunday to the patter patter of rain on our roof and new it was going to be a race of epic proportions.

After spending the morning playing with the kids I loaded up the car with the bikes and gear. I arrived at the course at about 12:00 for my 2:00 race. It had continued to rain all afternoon and there was little chance that it would let up.

I set up my trainer and tried to hide under the rear door of my Subaru. Thankfully, a neighbor with a pop up tent invited me under their shelter. I gladly obliged. After setting up my bike under their tent I grabbed my Single Speed (pit bike) and rode over to the vendor area for registration and a cup of coffee courtesy of Chris King.

Before heading back to the car, I watched a bit of the B race and at it's completion I decided to do a preride on the course - Because of the conditions, I opted to ride the pit bike. It was a good thing, because it was so muddy, starting with my A bike covered in mud would have been a bit of a disadvantage. At the completion of 1 lap I was covered in mud. A team mate of mine saw me and asked how my race went... I promptly informed him that I had only prerode the course. Epic.

Back to the car and tent. I warmed up for about 15 minutes then decided to race around the parking lot a bit. Not sure if this was a good idea as I was soaked by the time 2:00 rolled around.

The Hillsboro Stadium course has always been mostly flat. The course designers use the parking lot as well as the periphery areas of the stadium to their fullest potential. There were two sets of double barriers — one set placed before a micro hill and another along a wide open section. There were two - I hesitate to call them puddles, maybe bogs is a better term that were only semi rideable depending on your line and the line of the guys a head of you. I managed to ride both of them some of the time. Towards the end of the race I gave up trying to ride the biggest 'bog' and ended up running through the shin deep 'water'. There were portions of the course where I was scared to blink, as every time I shut my eyes I smeared a glaze of mud over my eyeballs... Yes, that feels as bad as it sounds. There were large portions of the course I raced by braile.

I have no idea how I did - Somewhere between 15th and 20th I think. Apparently the officials are having a hard time determining placement as well as all of us were basically indistinguishable mud men by the end of the race.UPDATE: 11/20/07 Looks like the official results are in and I got 17th place out of 46+ riders. I did 6 laps. The top riders (1=9th place did 7 laps). Next year I need to figure out how to bridge to these guys.

I was VERY cold after the race was over. It took me a good 30 minutes to get out of my muddy clothes, rinse my body off, rinse off my bike (sort of) and get into something warm and dry. Driving home I had the heater on full blast, and my toes and fingers weren't truly warm until I took a hot shower at home.

Estacada Cross

2007-11-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

Cross Crusade #6 and SSCXWC
Estacada Timberpark
November 11, 2008

A race finish area

I had my best race of the season this past weekend, finishing up at 17th place (broke the top 20). The results themselves don't really do my race justice as they weren't much higher than any of my other ones this season, but my style of racing, my overall strength and my in general overall attitude were all better.

The course at Estacada consisted of a couple of grass bowls, single track, pavement, a run up and a set of barriers. The total course was approximately 2.3 miles long and we (The A+ group) hammered out seven laps.

Going down one of the bowls

Although I wasn't racing at the front of the pack, I was able to hold my own and pick off racers in my 'race within a race'. It felt good and I can't wait for districts this coming weekend in Hillsboro.

Additionally, this was the inaugural weekend of the SSCXWC (Single Speed Cyclocross World Championship) which also took place out at Estacada. I didn't race, but I did spectate. This was great fun and I recommend that any fan of 'cross, single speeds and or beer come next year (hopefully it will be in PDX again). Here's a great write up over at Cyclocross Magazine.

No one really took the SSCXWC too seriously, but it was loaded with talented riders - pro as well as local heros. The highlight was the reverse call up at the beginning of the race which put all the really fast guys at the back of the 100+ pack. As for the winner, Adam Craig (Giant) was just about to win, when he sat up to take a beer hand-up 20 feet from the finish line. He was probably thinking twice about that mandatory tattoo, since he already got one for winning the Single Speed Mountain Bike World Championship a few months ago in Scotland. Former local hero, and now national superstar Barry Wicks (Kona) came by and put his arms up in victory. His winnings include the afformentioned mandatory tattoo, a golden speedo with rainbow stripes sewn on, and a custom Vanilla single speed frame.

Local fast gal (and 2006 Women's 35-39 national cross champion) Wendy Williams (River City Bikes) won the female SS championship and for her troubles got the tattoo, the speedo and a custom Ahearne single speed frameset.

It's suppose to be fun, right?

2007-11-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

No Barton for me. I opted yesterday morning to forgo the Barton Park cross race. It sounds like it was a fun and fast race and I probably should have gone, but alas, my heart just wasn't in it. I'm not sure what it was. I had every intention of going. My bike was ready, my bags packed, my afternoon clear. The only thing I needed to do was load up the car and hit the road.

Unfortunately, I just could not get motivated. I'm not sure what it was. I woke up feeling fine, and then as the morning progressed, my enthusiam sort of waned. The kids seemed especially needy and I felt guilty about leaving Meg with the two of them. It wasn't just that though.

It was a beautiful day though and I had a good time at our park playing with the kids. Next week!

Halloween Cross: The aftermath

2007-10-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

Cross Crusade race #4
October 28, 2007
Astoria, Oregon
35+ A category

The weather was sunny and mild and lots of people turned out in costume. As usual, the Halloween race feature lots of craziness, wild, silly costumes, and of course beer handups. It also included a lap of silence for Brett Jarolimek at noon. I wasn't sure if I was going to ride it or watch it. I opted to jump onto the tail end to ride it and I'm glad I did. It was a great tribute to the loss of one of 'the tribe'. Bike portland.org has a nice piece on it. Check it out.

The venue was the Clatsop County Fairgrounds in Astoria, OR. Each lap had at least ten 180s, the bulk of which were contained in a section of the course that wound through four side-by-side animal barns. There were a couple of hills, some pavement, some gravel, some soft soil, some grass, lots of turns, and very little mud. The course also weaved through the a big barn a couple of times (It's fun riding through buildings). There was but a single dismount per lap and it was through the six pack barriers up a short incline that dumped onto the finishing pavement.

The start was a bit sketchy. We had 50 yards (maybe) of pavement then a wide 180 lefty on grass and into the barn. I had a good start and was with the top 10 group going in. Unfortunately, that didn't quite last as long as I had hoped... I ended up doing 8 of the 1.5 mile laps, with each lap feeling like I was losing ground. I felt like I was continuously getting passed , but I think I actually was passing and then getting passed by the same guys over and over again. The course didn't really favor my strengths - the numerous 180s mentioned above required one to slow down and speed up repetitively...Basically doing short intervals. It felt like the windsprints we used to do during my wrestling days.

I ended up in 22nd place. I wish I could say that I was placing higher than that, but I'm not. It's just a blow to my ego after placing so high last year - It's a big step up going from one category to the next, and I guess this year is a 'building' year. I'm hoping to crack the top 20 (15 maybe?) before the end of the season, but I've got some serious work to do!

PS - the look I was going for was castaway pirate. Not Genie, Fire guy or "dude, whatever you are"

Halloween Cross

2007-10-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

I'm really looking forward to this weekends race, It's one of my favorite of the year and I am glad that I:
a) opted to do it
b) am bringing my family along.

Actually, we are all heading out on Saturday to spend (what looks to be) a beautiful fall day at the beach. The kids of course are most excited about staying at a hotel with a swimming pool...

This is a great race at a new venue. The costumes are clever, the beer flows (beer handups anyone?), the vibe is happy. I hope that the light hearted atmosphere of the race can help take the weight of this past week off of everyones shoulders.

I love to see the clever costumes - I'm dressing up as a pirate. It's always fun to see the two extremes - those that go all out on a costume and can barely even ride a bike with all their accessories, and those that cleverly create a costume that allows them to still ride (granted, we all wear 'borderline super hero costumes everyday, don't we). I always try to have a happy medium. (Hopefully) clever but not so goofy that I can't still ride ok.

So what are you dressing up as?

PS: There will apparently be a silent lap prior to the single speed race in honor/respect of Brett. I'm really glad that this is happening.

Biker Down

2007-10-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

If you didn’t hear, Brett Jarolimek, Bike Gallery employee & team rider was killed in a traffic accident on Monday 10/22/07. At the time he was riding his bike. According to Bikeportland.org, Brett and a garbage truck collided at the corner of N. Interstate and Greely. It’s truly sad to think that Brett was just racing on Sunday, taking 3rd in Singlespeed at Rainier High School and now he’s gone.

I didn't personally know Brett, nor could I pick him out of a lineup if he wasn't wearing a helmet and racing kit. That being said, this hits close to home. A fellow cyclocross racer, about the same age, doing what he loved, going for a training ride in the city at lunch. I've spoken to a few people that knew him, and he sounds like someone that I would have liked to have known. A ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. A smile and a sense of humor in any situation. The world is truly a darker place. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

God Speed Brett.

updated Hornings Video

2007-10-20T19:56:00.001-07:00

Scott, the rider that did the helmet cam video posted below updated his video with front cam views as well. It's pretty sweet. If you look close you get to see me crash (more than once).

Never been accused of being PRO before

2007-10-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

so I was riding home from work tonight and as I passed a guy going over the broadway bridge. Unfortunately the light was red at the first intersection so I stopped. The guy I passed went around me through the red.

the light turned green and I caught up with and passed the dude at the next light. As I passed I stated "It's super awesome how you passed me at the red, and I still was able to catch you at the next light...." I admit that it was a smart a$$ comment, but this is a pet peeve of mine. Anyway, the guy started spouting that if he had a road bike and wasn't a pro rider I would not have been able to catch him...

I was riding my fixie and riding full rain gear at the time... How unPRO is that?
What a jerk. I think that although I love the concept of bike commuters, there is a high % of them out there I don't like very much.

Hornings Hideout Race Report

2007-10-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

Cross Crusade #2
Single Speed Category
Hornings Hideout
North Plains, Oregon
October 14, 2007

Do to an active 'social calendar' (two birthdays for two kids starting at 2:30) I wasn't able to race in my regular category (35+ A). Instead I opted to break out the 29er and ride in the single speed category. It was a beautiful fall day - warm and dry. Probably the last one of these this year.

Hornings Hideout is one of my favorite courses (at least it was last year). It was the race last year that really put me in the running for the series and gave me the confidence to really push myself the rest of the crusade. It is not a mountain bike course as some declare it to be, however it definitely suits those of us with mountain bike skills. There is no pavement and all the really fast stretches are on gravel paths and roads. the rest of the course is made up of single track, dirt trails, etc.

The start climbs out of the amphitheater bowl (they do concerts there) and joined the course after a few hundred yards. My nerves had gotten the best of me as I was waiting in the lineup and I pulled a total rookie maneuver at the start by not being able to click in to my pedal. This unfortunately cost me the good starting position going up the hill that I had.

After the initial climb, the first half of the course trended down and traversed a bumpy meadow that was slick with wet grass (it was here that I crashed for thankfully the first and only time), gravel road, buffed trail, and more bumpy meadow. At the far side of the course, the hills began. First up was the “run up,” and immediately following were three short steep terraces. Then began a series of hills interspersed with brief descents through some fairly nice trails. The final bit of climbing went up a gravel road to the top of the course. The last bit went up to the finish line went though a double set of barriers and past the officials/announcers tent.

Through the bumpy meadow - note dirt (crash mark) on my left leg

As I mentioned earlier my first lap was pretty pitiful. I started badly and then slid out on on a corner. Each one of these missteps cost me places and required that I crawl and fight my way back towards the front. I never quite made it, but at least finished on the winners lap (7 laps). My final placing was 17th (though I think I actually placed a couple of places higher based on others I finished with...) out of 78 riders. Not to bad, but not nearly what I had been hoping for (I was really shooting for a top 10).

I've been racing fixed gear & single speed mountain bikes for the last couple of years. Often against the same group of guys (weirdos). This course really handed me my a$$ on a platter where I was really wishing for a few lower gears. Kudos to the guys that race single speed week after week.

On a side note, the following video (about 7 minutes long) is pretty cool. It was shot by racer Scott Barker with a reverse camera mounted on his helmet. It really gives some great perspective on the course (and a cross race in general). Best of all, I get some pretty good face time at the 3:12 time mark. You can see me get passed, fall back, speed up again approach from behind, chase for awhile and then pass. (I'm wearing a black & blue Cyclepath Jersey, black shorts with a blue stripe and a black helmet). Enjoy

Cross Crusade press release — records broken!

2007-10-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

Like everyone else in the Cross Crusade Blogosphere, I am publishing the official Cross Crusade Press Release regarding the record breaking first race in the series.
_________________

For Immediate Release: October 10, 2007
Contact: Candi Murray
Phone: 503-706-3133

Oregon Bicycle Racing Association announces record breaking attendance at cyclocross event.

River City Bicycles Cross Crusade Event Breaks Record

Portland, Oregon- The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) announced today that 1,078 cyclocross racers descended onto Alpenrose Dairy on Sunday, October 7, 2007 for the 1st race of the Cross Crusade cyclocross racing series. Breaking last year’s record of over 750 racers, the event again established itself as the largest one-day cyclocross race in North America and solidified its designation as the largest participatory cyclocross bike racing series in the world. In 2006, the first race of the series attracted over 750 riders.

The men’s elite race climaxed with battle a between Shannon Skerritt of Vanilla Bicycles-Stumptown Coffee and Erik Tonkin of Kona/YourKey.com with Shannon taking an inside line right after the last set of barriers to secure the win. On the elite women’s side, Wendy Williams of River City Bicycles took the win over Kristi Berg of Redline Bicycles.

Promoter Brad Ross said, “We are excited at the success of the race series.” Brad continued by saying, “We are also proud of that the U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclocross has again chosen our series as the finale for the series. We have truly become one of the hotbeds of cyclocross in the world.” Kenji Sugahara, Assistant Director of OBRA, said of the series, “Brad and Club Vivo has made cyclocross accessible to everyone in the community, and have helped take Portland’s racing onto the international stage.”

The long-running success of the River City Bicycles Cross Crusade - this is its 16th year - has firmly established the Northwest as the country’s most popular region for cyclocross. Each round of the Cross Crusade offers 16 classes of competition, from elite men and women to masters and junior categories. Races vary from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the class. The series, sanctioned by the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association, will pay out more than $20,000 in prize money and merchandise.

Cyclocross bike racing is a specialized form of cycling competition, one that requires riders to race on a closed-loop circuit, over grass, pavement, gravel, and mud, with barriers and steep run-ups mixed in for additional challenges. The pace is frenetic, with little time to rest and less opportunity for “slipstreaming,” as in road races.

The series will continue on October 14th at Horning’s Hideout in North Plains, Oregon. Racing at Horning’s Hideout starts at 9 a.m. with Beginners and Masters 50+ and continues all day, with the Category A Men and Masters Category A 35+ race at 2 p.m.

Following Horning’s Hideout, the remaining River City Cross Crusade schedule is as follows: Race 3 – October 21, Rainier High School; Race 4 - October 28, Halloween Cross Festival, Clatsop County Fairgrounds; Race 5 - November 4, Barton Park; Race 6 - November 11, World Single Speed CX Championship, Estacada Timber Park; Race 7 – November 18, Hillsboro Stadium; and United States Grand Prix on Cyclocross 5&6 – December 1-2, Portland International Raceway.

The Cross Crusade is organized and promoted by Club Vivo, 4409 SW Dosch Road, Portland, OR 97201, 503-806-6943. For complete information on the River City Cross Crusade, visit www.crosscrusade.com. Learn more about the Cross Crusade and all types of bicycle racing in Oregon at www.obra.org, site of the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association.

The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association is the official bicycle racing organization in Oregon and is responsible for issuing permits for bicycle races. The major responsibilities of the organization are to ensure the ongoing safety and development of the sport. With a membership of over 3,000 annual members, Oregon has the highest number of racers per capita in the United States and is second only to California in the number of cycling events. In addition, Oregon was ranked 3rd in the number of amateur racers behind Colorado and California. (Velonews 2006)

Fixed gear for 'cross training?

2007-10-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

I've been riding my fixed gear alot this fall (Mainly because this fall has started out so rainy and my fixed gear is my rain bike). I typically ride it all winter and into the spring to prepare for Tabor and then hang it up for a few months during the summer and fall to prep for cyclocross. Riding it only occasionally on severe rain days. Anyway, this year I've been riding it quite a bit and the question came to mind - is this helping or hurting my 'cross? I know it has made me a strong climber and it helps me learn to suffer, but does spinning at a high cadence (downhill) and a slow cadence (up hill) help or hurt?

Only time will tell I guess.

About time

2007-10-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

Just read on the Soma website that 2008 will bring disc brakes to the 'Soma Double Cross' cyclocross bike.

Looks like I might have a new bike on my wish list for 2008...

Cross Crusade #1: Alpenrose Dairy

2007-10-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Cross Crusade #1
Alpenrose Dairy
October 7, 2007

The 2007 Cross Crusade kicked off yesterday at Alpenrose Dairy. Apparently 1078 people raced , reportedly the largest single gathering of cross racers anywhere in world (this is total unsubstantiated rumor that I read on the internets, but I'm going with it)

After a morning of race prep that consisted of: Making pancakes, picking up groceries at the local market and playing "dragon" and "pirate" at the local playground with the kids, I was ready to race! I left the house at 12:15 for the 2:00 race and got to the venue with just enough time to register and ride around the neighborhood for a warm up.

The course was a challenging mix of bumpy downhills, tight turns, staircases, runups and other obstacles. It was also quite a bit drier than last week at Barlow which made the course waaay faster. As an example, last week in 60 minutes I clocked 8 miles on the cyclometer. This week I hit 14.

My field consisted of 67 guys - I did 7 laps and ended up in 21st place. Although not as impressive sounding of a result as last week, it was actually a better one. The field was much tougher and larger than last week, so my placing was actually higher as a % of total racers.

Interestingly enough, I placed 21st last year at Alpenrose in the Bs. I feel much better about this placing as opposed to how I felt about my result last year.

Next week is Hornings - one of my favorite courses. I'll be riding the single speed category on my Soma Juice 29er vs Master As.

A note on equipment - The Stans Notubes system saved my wheels again at least a couple of times, though I was running way to low of pressure for as fast of a course.

Get some fenders already

2007-10-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

It's October, the rains have started (alas earlier than most years). It will now rain until May. Please put some freaking fenders on your bike, and while you are at it. Add a courtesy flap!

I'm tired of riding behind you with your rooster tail.

Battle at Barlow

2007-10-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

'Battle at Barlow'

Sunday September 30, 2007

Sam Barlow High School

Gresham Oregon

Sunday was my first cross race of the season as well as my first “A” race (35 plus class). I was pretty anxious as this was an important race to see how I would do in this step up. Let me just say that conditions were epic. Portland got an inch or so of rain on Friday. It started raining again late on Saturday evening and continued at a steady pace all day on Sunday. By the 2:00 race after a couple hundred riders had gone through, things were sloppy and rutted. It’s over 24 hours after I completed the race and I am still picking dirt out of my eyes. It was a definite slog, and I never thought that I could actually put the pedal down and stoke the old engine up.

In typical Dan style I got a pretty poor start. At the start line, I was mid way back, wet to the core, cold and not very warmed up. That being said, at the starting gun I took off as fast as I could and managed to catch up and hang off the back end of the top 10-15 riders for the first lap. After this, it was pure survival. The mud was so deep and runny that there were times where it was almost axle deep in some of the ruts. This race was less about speed and skill and more about picking a good line. I managed to stay up right for the race – This is as much a testament to the tubeless NoTubes Michelin Muds system that I’ve been running since last season as it was to my bike handling skills. I was running about 38 PSI. I probably should have dropped it down to 30, but lesson learned I guess.

Back to the race. Each lap was a challenge – the grassy field, the river of mud flowing down and around the corners of the single track, the rutted out trail that changed with each lap, the rail road tie climb, the blackberry brambles and the mud. The ooey, gooey, sloppy mud. This race was a battle between me the course and less about me and any of the other guys I was racing against. That being said, I completed 6 laps in the hour giving me a 14^th place finish out of a field of 35 guys. My placing surprised me a bit, gives me some confidence and let’s me know that I am ‘in the game’.

We forgot the camera, so if you want to see me in the mud, you’ll have to look here.

See you next week at Alpenrose!

Pain Cave

2007-09-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

I was in my own personal 'pain cave' this afternoon. Been reading suggestions on the Interweb about gear ratio for SS cross and I determined that the ratio on my 29er was to low (36x18) so last night I converted to 36x16. It was a great gear for riding into work today, but home was a different story.

I rode home from work via Forest Park (Thurman Gate to Lief to Ridge to St Johns, etc.). The minor gear change was PAINFUL. I think my experiment failed. Granted, it could be that it was my 4th hard ride in 4 days or that I had a pint at lunch today... Either way, my legs felt the gear modification. It is worth another test, but I think I am going to be converting back before Hornings (my first SS cross race)

Velog

2007-09-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

So I've been checking out Velog ("the social cycling log") lately and finally went ahead and 'joined'. I also figured (not like it was hard) how to embed my training data into the side of my blog (see column to the right...). Cool beans.

Master As vs. Single Speed

2007-09-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

I put cross tires on my mountain 29er a week ago and have been putting some miles on it (Forest Park, Tabor, Commuting, etc.). I loved the bike before, but am really loving it now. Skinny tires are fun & fast. The confidence of being upright and using disc brakes is so liberating. I feel like I’m pretty capable of at descending in the dirt on the cross bike, but when I do the same descents on the 29er, I absolutely slay them. I’m riding a 36x18, but need to test out 36x16 which I will try to swap out tonight for a ride on Thursday...

Which makes me wonder if I should plan on racing SS this year? Here is what my schedule is looking like right now.

Sept 30th: Battle at Barlow - Master As
Oct 4th: Alpenrose (Cross Crusade #1) – Master A’s
Oct 14th: Horning’s Hideout*: Single Speed
Oct 21st: Rainer High School: undecided. May take a by
Oct 28th: Astoria Fairgrounds: undecided: May take a by unless the family wants to make a weekend out of it…
November 4th: Barton Park: Master As
November 11th Estacada/ World Single Speed CX championships…: Undecided on which to race. SS might be more fun to watch
November 18th: Hillsboro Stadium: Master As
December 1st: PIR/ USGP of Cyclocross #5: Single Speed?
December 2nd: PIR/ USGP of Cyclocross #6: Single Speed?

* I won at Hornings last year in the Bs. Supposedly the course will be mixed up a bit from last year, but still, there is no pavement, so definitely a mtn SS course.

'cross season is underway

2007-09-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's cyclocross season already. I've been getting as prepared as I can by logging as many miles as possible on the 'cross bike via Forest Park and Mount Tabor. I've also been running (and running stairs) when I get the chance.

I'm excited to start but very nervous about the whole prospect of racing with the As. I feel like I am in pretty good shape, but pretty good just doesn't cut it with the big guys...

Also been thinking about what I should do about a pit bike. I'd love to have another bike to keep in the pit (and to use as a road bike the rest of the year). I go back and forth on whether or not I should get another standard 'cross bike or whether it should be a disc brake cross bike. I'd love to have a disc brake bike...

Short Track #6

2007-08-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2007
Portland International Raceway
Portland, OR

Per my earlier post, I'm way late on my post. So late, that I can't really remember all the details of the last race in the Portland Short Track series other than as usual it was a great race (as usual) and I'm sad (but also glad) that the series is over. To make a potentially long story short, I took 8th place (another top 10!). On a related note, Mr. Cross National Champ showed up for the first time of the year raced and took first...

Anyway, sweet race, sweet series.

Cross starts in 2 months...

Summit2Surf, STXC, Tahoe, oh my

2007-08-10T22:28:00.001-07:00

Lots of things have been going on since my last post. In particular, I've done a few notable cycling events - Summit 2 Surf (a fund raiser for the American Diabetes Association), The last Short Track race of the season and a trip to Tahoe for my big sisters wedding (Congrats Barry & Michele!).

I'll followup with a separate post on the last short track race, but will mention a couple of the other events here. First and foremost, the the Summit 2 Surf (S2S). Megan and I rode on the WebMD 'team' which consisted of a coed group of hardy souls that opted to spend a beautiful Saturday going up and over Mt Hood from Welches to Hood River (a couple of us also extended the ride by going to Timberline Lodge (where the outside scenes of the first 'The Shining' was filmed. The one with Jack's famous line: 'Heeeeeeres Johnnnnnny').

Let me back up a bit though.

A week before S2S I did a ride with a visiting coworker from out Boston office. I took him on an early morning road ride in the hills above Portland. It rained HEAVILY. Anyway, my Paul cantilevers on my cross bike are usually bombproof, but on this particular ride they were just not working very well so I stopped periodically to adjust them. In the process, I managed to strip the cable holding bolt on my rear brake which forced me to remove it and bring the brake into Cyclepath. There, Bill did a helio coil fix (rethreading the threads) and I was back in business. 3 days before S2S, I had my bike up on the rack and I was putting the brake back on. I got it on and decided to oil my chain. Unfortunately, I had hung my bike on the rack via the top tube and when I adjusted the frame position I did the following...

uh oh

Total rookie maneuver... Note to self - in the future only clamp bike stand to seat post...

Any, return to story. I had just catastrophically damaged my bike in a single maneuver... I freaked out, went online and found out that others have had the same issue (I love the Internets). I went ahead and JB welded the piece back on, let it set for 24 hours, added more JB Weld, let that cure and then went on a test ride the day before S2S! SUCCESS!

I was very close to riding the 68 miles with 6200 feet of gain and 7K of decline on my fixed gear (I really need to get a 'real' road bike... anyone out there have any connections????). Although that would have been a great story, I think I would be needing knee surgery...

Anyway, back to the story. On Saturday July 28th a group of WebMD employees, spouses and friends earned some cash for the ADA. Good times, extremely well organized and well worth it.

Andrew & I starting off.

The more beautiful half of team Porter

On another note, as mentioned above, the family converged on Lake Tahoe for a combo 'Granny Camp'/ Wedding celebration. I managed to sneak in a few rides as well. One on Mr Toads Wild Ride (my favorite trail of all time), and one on the X-mas Valley Trail with Megan and "Grandpa' Dave. Another epic ride in the area of my folks cabin. Speaking of which, if anyone out there ever wants to vacation in South Lake Tahoe, my folks have a great rental property, and my step dad Dave is a great mtn bike tour guide.

Portland Short track #4

2007-07-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2007
Portland International Raceway
Portland, OR

I'm tardy in publishing this race report as I've had a ton going on with a really busy work schedule, our kitchen remodel and of course the recent trip we (the Porter clan) just took to Disneyland!!! (tons of fun, but word to the wise - Thunder mountain railroad is not the most appropriate ride for a 3 & 6 year old. I think both kids may have almost had heart attacks and Megan & I had to build up their trust again for the next 2 days!)

The race as usual was great. I completed 7 quick laps along with the rest of the race leaders and managed to hang on for a series best of 8th place. One thing really exciting, is the number of riders from "Team Cyclepath" in the top 10!

Order Plate Name Team
1 90 Andy McKerrow Bike Gallery
2 141 Ryan Weaver (prime) River City Bicycles
3 30 Patrick Wilder Cyclepath
4 114 Martin Baker bicycleattorney.com
5 64 Jacob Furniss Eddy Merkin
6 11 Pete Zlatnik Bike Gallery
7 31 Nelson Snyder Cyclepath
8 13 Daniel Porter Cyclepath
9 353 Michael Gallagher River City Bicycles
10 240 Matt Hall Ira Ryan Cycles/Veloshop

34 single speeders started the race which was a decent sized group. The course was more like a cyclocross race than a mtn bike race, though it did not contain any dismounts.
I missed this past weeks race (July 23) as we were still traveling, but I am anxious for the series final on July 30th. Stay tuned!

Fear and panic on the way to work

2007-07-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

The other day I had one of the worst possible situations happen to a parent and a cyclist. The morning started usually. I was in charge of getting Kendall to camp and Megan is in charge of Simon. I asked both the kids in the morning "How do you want to get to camp today?". Kendall was tired and wanted to drive (some days we take the trail-a-bike) so I loaded up my bike into the car (I leave the car at her camp and ride the remaining part into work. Simon wanted to ride so I set up his trail-a-bike to Megan's bike and after breakfast, making lunch, getting the kids dressed we were out in front of the house ready to go.

Kendall saw Mom & Simon jump on her bike and decided that she too wanted to ride in. I was already running late, so I quickly grabbed the bike and connected her trail a bike to it. I locked up the house, closed the garage, got the two of us situated and we were off.

We made it about 3 blocks from the house when the worst possible scenario happened. I felt my bike suddenly lighten, I heard a scraping sound and looked behind me to see my poor sweet daughter skidding along he pavement tangled in her bike. I pulled to the side of the road, ran back to get her and pull her to the safety of my arms. I checked her out for broken bones and calmed her down. I cleaned her up and bandaided her scrapes as much as I could. She was a trooper and let me load her back on the bike to get her home where I did some more extensive first aid.

I eventually got her to camp (we drove) and she was ultimately ok (and I think she likes the attention she has gotten from all of her various bandaids). However I shudder to think how bad this could have been.

BTW: the trail a bike detached due to my error. In my haste, I didn't push the connector in far enough to get the pin to engage... I just hope I can get her to get back on the bike again..

Tabor #6

2007-07-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Mt Tabor Park
Portland, OR
July 11, 2007

It's funny writing race reports about a race that has the same course each week. I could really shorten the report by saying, that we went around and around a bunch of times, my heart and lungs almost exploded and I ended up in XYZ place... Thankfully, I hopefully can add a bit more spice to the report than that.

This was the last race of the series so I had a bit to prove. My previous results weren't as spectacular as I would have like, plus this race brought out the largest field of the series (22 freaks on fixed gear bikes!). As mentioned in previous reports, this is was the fixed gear category - We go around the circuit 4 times and the majority of the strategy surrounds the following elements:
1) Gearing choice (over the years I've settled on 42x15)
2) Strategy.

Like a normal crit, unless you are super strong, you don't want to totally take off from the gun. Instead, you want to go as fast as you can to tire out your opponents without totally blowing yourself up. There are always a few guys that try the break off the first lap and it is almost never successful - especially with a big field. I try to hang with the guys that I know will be tough to beat. In this particular race, there at least 2 guys that I knew I wouldn't be able to beat on a normal race (ie I've never beaten them before). When they took off I would chase, when they slowed down I'd slow down... In the end this strategy worked as well as I could have hoped. I took 4th - my best result of the series.

Now it's time to do some necessary maintenance on the bike.

Until next year.

Portland Short Track #3

2007-07-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

Lucky # 13

I should have published this photo last week, as it was during last weeks race that I crashed, almost lost my front wheel (had to stop and tighten the skewer) and got off course requiring a reride of a section I already completed. I'm not a superstitious person, and this week the #13 worked just fine. I moved up 12 spots from last week to finish in the top 10 (10th place to be exact). The race was course was a little more technical and longer than the week before and although it was a hot night, we had a nice summer breeze that kept the temps in check.

Single speeders finished 6 laps in the 30 minute race. Each lap was about 1 mile long. I'll let you do the math on how fast that is. As mentioned earlier, the course was a bit more technical and quite a bit longer (though strangely we did the same number of laps). I managed to keep the rubber side down this week, however the same could not be said for everyone. Lots of guys were going down on the course. I removed the bar ends (that although I like) caused me problems in the last race. Also, I lowered my wheel pressure down a bit which gave me a tad more traction. Next week I might try making my gear ratio bigger (or is it smaller?) Anyway, easier.... Currently riding 36 x 18 which is a great forest park gear range. Not so great for slow flats where I need to have quick etup & go. I think.... If I have a 20 tooth rear cog I might try that instead.

Totally unrelated to bike racing, but just curious if you know what stress is. Here is a picture of stress:

My Kitchen
(actually, sheetrock was installed today, so it looks a bit better)

Actually, it does have something to do with bikes & bike racing. Kitchen remodels are stressful. They are expensive (this one is costing us 50% of what we paid for our first house!), you have to eat out a lot or devise creative ways to cook with a skillet and a microwave and if you have kids, you have to keep them from playing with/eating/etc. the insulation. The list goes on and on. Anyway, riding my bike and racing my bike seems to melt that stress away. Try it, I promise, you'll like it.

Ergon Grips Gear Review

2007-07-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recently loaned me some Ergon R2 Magnesium grips to try out. I put them on my 29er Single Speed (Soma Juice). The bike has a rigid fork, so I thought that the Ergonomic shape of the grips would provide a bit of padding on my hands. Also, although I don't like bar ends, there is something to be said about them for their hand positions - especially when you are climbing a fireroad on a single speed.

In the past month that I've had them installed, I've ridden them on quite a few rides - mostly in Forest Park and I really like them as they did help pad my hands - providing just enough to take the edge off as well as take away unnecessary pressure.

The exception to this, is I had them on my bike for the first Short Track Race. If you read that report, you'll notice that it really wasn't my best showing. I kind of blame the crash on the grips. At the start I was neck and neck with the front of the pack. The bar ends seemed to have gotten caught a couple of times on other riders and I think ultimately resulted in me losing control.

So, in summary, these are great grips, just don't to a tight fast race with them.

Portland Short Track #2

2007-07-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

Portland Short Track Series
Race #2
July 2nd, 2007
Portland International Raceway (PIR)

Picture courtesy of bikeportland.org

Like the Mount Tabor Series, Portland Short Track is another week day (after work) racing series that happens every year here in Portland.

I missed the first one as it happened to land on my wife's birthday, so I was quite anxious at the start of this weeks race.

I rode out to Portland International Raceway (about a 6-7 mile ride from downtown) to revel in the whoops, turns and twists of the popular MTB Short Track course. (200+ racers showed up this week (for all categories).

The gun went off, I tore into the first turn hot, and bam next thing I knew, I was on the ground along with a couple of other guys. I picked myself and my bike out of the dirt and jump back on the saddle. Unfortunately, the damage was done and I lost my chance at a good placing. I played the rest of the race trying to catch up. I had a few more problems over the next 6 laps - my front skewer was loose (due to the crash) and I opted to stop and fix it over the chance of losing teeth in the event of my front wheel coming off. Then, I got lost on the course (how does one get lost on a STX course?).

Not to complain. The race was great fun and well run as always. Plus, you need to have bad races to appreciate the good ones. I ended up in 22nd place out of about 40 single speeders. We all did 6 laps on a beautiful summer evening. How bad can it be?

Mount Tabor #5

2007-07-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Mount Tabor Park
Portland Oregon
June 27, 2007

By Daniel Porter

I missed Tabor 2,3 & 4 for a variety of reasons (injury, work, etc.), but was back in the saddle on June 27th for the 5th and second to last race in the 2007 'Velo on the Volcano' series.

Started out a bit nervous as I had basically been off the bike for 3-4 weeks. I rode hard on Monday and Tuesday (the 25th & 26th) to try to get back into shape.
The racers were basically the same cast of characters as previous weeks with only a couple notable exceptions (JV?, Jackson?). Still a good turn out of 15 riders (which is pretty high for a fixed gear ride.

The first lap was pretty mellow with no one wanting to attack to soon. The group stayed pretty much bunched up making it feel like a real race. SUbsequent laps got progressively faster and faster with different guys trading off at the front (me included) until the final lap where a few guys attacked and took off from the front. I tried to get on the wheel of the top guys and only remotely did so coming out of the flat (prior to the climbing finish) in 6th place. On the climb, I dug a little deeper and passed a guy resulting in a 5th place finish. Yippee, I'm number 5, I'm number 5...

Actually, it was a good race and it proved that I didn't 'fall out of shape' as fast or as hard as I had thought.

Next & final Tabor is on July 11th.

BTW: I absolutely love the Rush. It is a truly great bike with a really nice feel. Funny thing - there was another guy with an identical red frame as I in the race. (I beat him)

You Know How Certain Things Make You Feel Old?

2007-06-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is one of those things...

http://www.digg.com/music/The_baby_on_Nirvana_s_Nevermind_album_is_17_Pic

Old, damn old...

My wife says I have problem

2007-06-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Do I have a problem? I don't have a problem, do you?

(note, this doesn't include my 4 camel backs)

Seriously, I don't have a problem.

Back in the saddle again

2007-06-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

or Why I hate running.

I rode my bike to work today for the first time in over a week. In the process I missed 2 Tabor races and lots of training rides. That being said, the ride in this morning was relatively uneventful (ie no nagging pain). There is still some lingering 'uncomfort', however for the most part I am (almost) good as new.

For whatever reason, the only thing that hurt was riding, so I opted to stay in shape by running. There is very little to like about running. It's slow, it hurts, and my legs hurt for days after each run. On the plus side, my office backs up to Forest Park, so I was able to run in the woods on Trails I'm not allowed to ride on. Also, one can get a quick workout in and still get a workout in.

I'm going to be taking it easy for the next week (I'll be in Vegas for a conference) and I'll probably miss the first Short Track race (It occurs on my wife's Birthday), but I should be good to go for Tabor #5! (and hopefully 6).

peace.

Look how young and cute we were

2007-06-13T22:13:00.001-07:00

9 years ago today!

Happy Anniversary Love!

2007 Cross Crusade Schedule Posted!

2007-06-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Summer hasn't even officially begun and the 2007 cross crusade schedule has been posted!

http://www.crosscrusade.com/schedule/2007/index.html

looks like a great mix of old and new venues.

Yippee!

Taking a break is ok, right?

2007-06-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Mt Tabor #2 is happening tonight. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to make it.

I somehow hurt myself last Thursday while on a night mountain bike ride (at least that is where I noticed it). I won't go into the details, but the pain is in a sensitive 'guy' area. Although I have been trying to ride since the incident (still not sure what it is that I did), I don't think I can concentrate on both racing hard and on the weird way I need to sit to avoid the pain. I can see catastrophic results. I have an appt with a doc tomorrow to see what is going on.

I'm bummed. I love Tabor and I looked forward to improving my result this week. Also, next week is my anniversary (9 years!) of marriage to my wonderful wife thus I am unsure of whether I can race then or not and the following weekend I'll be in Lost Wages, NV for a conference at work.

I keep thinking that I should be able to just tough it out, but is it really worth the pain?

Mount Tabor #1: 2007 Mt Tabor Series

2007-06-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Shortest Race Report Ever...

Mt Tabor Park: Portland OR
May 30th 2007
Circuit Race
Category: Fixed Gear

The stats:
17 riders
Temp: about a gazillion degrees
4 laps
4th place!

First Tabor race of the year. Turnout in the fixed gear category (the sideshow) was the biggest ever. We took off, raced around the park multiple times and I was beat by a 15 year old... (he then raced again and one the men's cat 3 race, so I *think* he'll be someone to watch) Made me feel old.

This was my first race on the Soma Rush, though I have been riding it alot since I built it up. The ride performed as expected. I absolutely love the bike. I also received a few compliments on "my fancy new bike" from the usual suspects.

I am going to try to race again this wednesday, unfortunately I pulled something the next evening on a mountain bike ride and may be out of commission. :(

peace

And why is there such a lack of singletrack in Portland?

2007-05-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

From cyclingnews.com

____________

New York City gets more trails

New York City and mountain biking are two words not often occurring in the same sentence, but New Yorkers will soon have a new place to practice dirt jumping at Inwood on Manhattan, a new three-mile trail system.

"On the face of it, it sounds preposterous," admitted city Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to the New York Daily News. "But we really do have it, and it takes advantage of the terrain that was always there. It's probably the only mountain-bike course in the country you can get to by subway."

The trails are result of 18 months of work and a US$100,000 state grant. They are aimed at BMX jumpers, casual riders, and hard-core experts. The Parks Department was looking for an area appropriate for cyclists.

"It's pretty impressive for mountain biking in the middle of New York City," said Jamie Bogner of the New York City Mountain Bike Association to the New York Daily News. The club helped plan and build the paths and will host a cross-country race Sunday after the trails open Saturday. "We look for the longest way from point A to point B, with every technical obstacle we can find."

The Fort George Hill Trails twist and turn through a section of Highbridge Park once considered unsafe by park goers and littered with stolen cars.

New York City Parks Department officials are also looking at trail opportunities at Cunningham Park in Queens and at capped landfills in the Bronx's Pelham Bay and Staten Island's Fresh Kills.

Falls City Firecracker presented by Cyclepath

2007-05-21T08:28:00.001-07:00

'Mountain Biking'
Sung to the tune of 'Kung Fu Fighting'

Everybody was mountain biking
Those dudes were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they rode with expert timing

There was lots of single track in this built up ewok town
They were riding it up and they were riding it down
It's an ancient Marin art and everybody knew their part
From a hucking a gap, and sprinting from the start

Everybody was mountain biking
Those dudes were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they rode with expert timing

There was spandex clad dudes and baggy shorts too
The downhill singletrack came round, smoking fast, cool
We took a jump and made a stand, started sliding down the trail
The sudden motion made me skip now we're on a downhill rail

Everybody was mountain biking
Those dudes were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they rode with expert timing

(repeat)..make sure you have expert styling
Mountain Biking, had to be fast as lightning

Falls City Firecracker Presented by Cyclepath

The stats:

May 20th, 2007
Falls City, Oregon - Black Rock Freeride area
First Race of the year
My First Mountain bike race in over 5 years(excluding Short track)
2nd place finish (Sport class)

This past weekends race took place at the Black Rock Freeride 'park' - Basically an area outside of Salem, OR (Falls City) owned by the Oregon Department of Forestry that has been designated as a recreation area. The Black Rock Mountain Biking Association has been busy building up a really nice freeride area there (lots of ladders, jumps, skinnies, gaps, drops, as well as lots of trails) for the past couple of years. The course itself was a multi-lap format where each lap was about 4.5 miles with 1000 feet of elevation gain per lap. Basically, each lap consisted of a prolonged uphill grind up a combo fire road & single track and then a bombing single track & fire road descent. The promoter of the race did incorporate some routes that had ladders and drops into the course which did add to the excitement and made me glad I was riding my 5 inch travel full suspension Titus Motolite. (The Motolite was probably the least cross country oriented bike to make a showing though).

Cyclepath has been the title sponsor of the race for the past couple of years. I missed it last year, so I made a point to race it this year even though I had really low expectations. My main goal was to be there to support the shop as they have been so great for me. The race itself was good fun and the Cyclepath team was out in force (A Cyclepath rider took 1st in the SS), though it was quite wet and muddy which did make some of the ladders slippery. I did admittedly race pretty conservatively though.

The race start & finish was midway up the fire road climb which resulted in both the start and the finish being on a hill (nice...). At the starting gun, I took off with the pack and proceeded to pick off a few riders here and there, about .5 miles into the climb I was at the front with 2 other guys (on Single Speeds!). 2 other guys - another SSer and another geared rider were close on my tail.

By the top of the climb, I was still hanging in with the top 5 guys (3 single speeders and the one guy in my class). I managed to stick with them for the descent and much of the start of the 2nd lap, however at that point they began to pull away (a bit) and we basically stayed in this position until the end of the race. I pretty much raced solo for the remainder of the race, lapping the occasional slow rider here and there. I finished about 1 minute behind the leader and at least 3-4 minutes ahead of #3.

Sorry, no pictures this time as my photog had prior commitments with the family.

Training Log 5/18

2007-05-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Here's how it went down this week. We'll see how much progress is made at this weekends firecracker race.

Monday - Lunch time Fairmont Loop road ride
Tuesday - Gym at lunch, evening mountain bike ride (night)
Wednesday - Gym at lunch
Thursday - Lunch time Flat road Fixed Gear out to Sauvies Island from work
Friday - AM Forest Park ride

Love the spring.

Training log 05/13/07

2007-05-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of my blogs new name, I wanted to share this past weeks training log.

Monday - Lunch time road ride
Tuesday - Lunch time SS mtn ride in FP
Wednesday - Gym
Thursday - Fixed gear - up Lovejoy to Skyline to the Cemetary and back
Friday - AM SS mtn ride in FP prior to work.

good times.

Firecracker is next weekend.

New Title

2007-05-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Taking a page from my friend, teammate and fellow blogger, I've decided to rename my blog (for the 3rd time) to something a bit more "me".

I still like the name "Axles of Evil". I thought of it soon after the infamous Axis of Evil speech by our "fearless" leader. Unfortunately, alot of others also thought about it, including a bike polo team here in Portland.

I then changed the name to "Two Wheels Only" (or TWO). I liked it, but it never really fit.

"The Lunch Time Grind" came to me on a lunch time ride this afternoon. As a full time working parent I do most of my training rides in during the week - My regular commute to and from work, lunch time rides and either long rides in or long rides home. Weekend rides are few and far between, so they are a luxury (Especially mtn bike rides!). I do however get out with the family (trail-a-bike in tow) on a regular basis, so I can't complain about that.

I *think* some people might be interested in a working dads racing and riding experiences, right?

peace