Ride Bully

The month of March saw a reduction of the bike fleet from 6 to just 3. The stable was feeling a bit empty . With race season heating up something had to give. No Superfly 100’s available till July, no Epics available till June.

The odometer just hit 1k since the start of the year. Every single dirt mile has been done up to now on my awesome El Mariachi Rigid single speed. Maybe I’ll just be known as one of those crazy single speed guys. Screw gears and all that technology.

I’ve been thinking for some time now that a bike fleet should be as diverse as possible. Road bike, Cross bike, Rigid Single Speed, Geared suspended Mountain bike, and a fat bike. That covers just about everything but dirt jumping, BMX and large gravity applications.

So with the proceeds of the bike sales and a little extra I ended up with this. 2013 Cannondale Scalpel 1 Carbon. Special thanks to the folks at Riverside Cycles in Newburyport, who hooked me up. This is a professional shop that knows their stuff. Bike came fully loaded with Sram XO, Carbon Lefty, and the XX rear shock. Both the front and rear have remote hydraulic lock outs.

Lots of money buys you a lot of plastic. Frame, Fork (is the Lefty a fork), wheels, crank, handlebar, and the other little pieces. I ended up opting for the alternate color that isn’t advertised on the Cannondale site.

So, the bike is a medium weight at the shop came in around 22 lbs without pedals. This is about 5 lbs less than my 2010 Gary Fisher Hi-Fi Pro with XT/XO build with Crests. Pretty impressive I thought.

First impressions; With about 80 miles on the drivetrain I can honestly say this bike is built for one thing. Going fast! The carbon hoops accelerate faster than any mountain wheel set I’ve owned. The wheels also come with the Reynolds Assurance program, a 2 year warranty which was an added bonus for sure. Bike is full XO as well. For the last four years strictly by chance the bikes I’ve purchased have all come standard with SRAM. There’s much debate about SRAM vs Shimano. I don’t really care. I just ride the bike. I haven’t had a problem with anything component related. The Lock out feature for the front and rear shock works great for any sustained climbs or if you’ve got a strip of pavement and you don’t want that pedal induced bob. The new Lefty fork just works. The folks at Cannondale have had plenty of time to perfect the design. Some people have commented that it feels weird when looking down. I don’t even notice it, it doesn’t feel weird or anything to me. It is smooth though, the needle bearings it slides on probably has something to do with that.

The one item that I will say certainly makes a difference is tires. The bike comes with Racing Ralph Evo tires. I’m running them at about 25 psi. not that much more than other race tires I’ve used in the past. There is noticeable tire wash out when cornering hard. Most likely, this is due to me needing to find the center of the bike when hard cornering and getting used to the tires. It’s been since late September that I’ve ridden a fully suspended bike or a bike with gears so I figure I’ll need to give it a little more time to dial myself in.

Foam Grips! What the heck? Every gram counts at this range. Going to need some thicker rubber I think.

Spring has sprung. Or at least in RI there is no snow and the sun was out. It was still cold however trying to warm up at 8:30. At 9:00 the Elite/Experts began to congregate at the start line. Timing chips for 2013! It’s about time. Last year we all stood around shivering wondering where we fell out.

The 2013 course was the same as 2012. Tech followed by flats and steady climbing. Last year I felt a heck of a lot better in the first couple of miles. Not so much this year, more mud and water this year. Quick rock outcroppings were tough. I ran most of them last year since its tough to crank up and over while on the single gear. I did the same this year. The flats were where I felt I lost most of my time to the geared folks so I opted for the 19t cog this time around.

Better for the flats but still topped out around 17.5mph.

In last years race I started back in the pack due to having no prior results. I did fairly well, so this year out of all the returning boys I was going 4th at the start. That meant fast dudes up in front and pressure from behind. I was bouncing off rocks like a pinball in the early sections. Easy catch for some of the fast guys starting just behind. Missing a turn just before exiting the first tech section didn’t help either! The sad part was that I remember seeing the arrow and as I went past couldn’t remember which way it pointed.

Towards the end of the race I look down to see me at 38 minutes and what I thought was close to the end of the race and at the final turn before hitting all the last bridges section a volunteer says only four more minutes. What! I thought to myself? Am I that much slower than last year?
As I crank the final corner I see the finish stand and sprint. As you see below not the best time but I think all of the times were 3-4 minutes slower on average. At least I made the picture cut just above The Big Apple.

So what gives? Perhaps the additional mud this year made the course a bit slower? Perhaps Mother Nature dumping a bunch of that nasty white stuff on us has everyone feeling a bit slower in the dirt?

Burlingame is such a fun race, I just wish it wasn’t so far away. A Wednesday night mountain bike time trial series would be pretty cool up north.

Another year another Blue Steel indoor TT. That could only mean one thing 15 minutes of PAIN! Not this year though, cause this year I got to do it 2 times! Turns out our Fearless team captain and ex Indy Fab factory rider Eric Carlson had to catch an early train to NYC. So after much persuasion I committed. Not a bad deal having Eric pay my entry fee for some free fitness.

Not everything that is free is free. I’m pegged at 180 BPM. If this was an EKG you might think I’ve expired.

Still waiting for the results and some additional pics. Gould took 2nd overall on the day, Eric Marro also crushed it again this year taking 4th before his tank ran out during the team TT.

The Team TT would be Gould, Marro, Soups, and myself. I have to admit after seeing what they did on the individual TT and knowing what Soups can do (see RAAM) results. I was feeling overmatched to say the least. The good thing with the team TT is its your third mans time across the line. Well at least I can take a few pulls the first half till I implode and fall off the back.
We went off one minute behind Northeast Multisport. I definitely wasn’t fresh having just raced an hour prior. I did notice my HR was about 10 BPM lower to start. That wouldn’t last long though.
In the TTT the computer lets you draft. But it ain’t easy to do. It takes a fair amount of communication. I just tried to stay within 10 meters of the wheel in front of me. I took about 3 pulls by chance and shortly after I hear Marro mutter something to the effect of being done and for the rest of us to go.
Was he serious? I thought for a few seconds. What does this mean? Oh crap, I’m third man and responsible for our finishing time. Everyone was yelling at Gould to slow down. He was just on fire ripping it up whenever he felt like it. I was fading trying to keep pace soups came back a couple times and helped me back on. The final hill seemed like forever! We finished behind Multisport but it was not to be on this day.

The hill at the end was just wrong.

What can I say. I love riding riding on Cape Cod. It’s the only place you can count on to be free from snow and mud in early March. That is, if you live in NH. I suspect it will be a few more weeks till our snow pack melts. Another couple weeks after that for the trails to dry out.
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Everyone was itching to put tires to dirt. I met Andy Gould off exit 11 in Merrimack and we were off. 1:40 minutes of drive time in big blue. (03 Silverado 2500HD) Wow it takes a while at 60mph to get there. Ride bikes fast, but drive slow. Andy at one point said “at this speed we’ll never get there”. Ever since I changed from my zippy VW GTI VR6 to my 6 liter Chevy V8, time seems to move so much slower.

Andy had the whole high school thing going. “I’ll give you some money for gas” he says. “Ahhh, no that’s ok I said. I wonder how much he would have given me after seeing the pump hit almost 100 bucks when we filled up just before the Sagamore bridge. I doubt his Honda takes more than 40.00 for a full tank.

Pulling into the dirt lot we see The Hill Junkie I’ve ridden with Doug a few times now. For some reason he always shows up with some little wheeled old school bike. Perhaps for the challenge? Earlier in the week I had asked him to lead a ride at TOT. It was only by chance we ended up meeting up at Otis when our plans changed at the last minute. Apparently when riding solo he brings out his carbon Superfly hardtail. Hmmmmm?

Carl of course was there chomping at the bit for some sweet cape singletrack as well. He was also sporting his new JRA kit.

And there’s Mr Gould. What’s he doing? Changing a flat of course. Kid needs some Velocity Blunt hoops I think.

Hill Junkie just did a write up about his fitness buddy Brett and his Brett-isms at the Rangely Loppett.

The Junkie writes; “Brett was carrying on before the race about how it was going to suck. I’m used to this before ski races, bike races or hard training rides. Now Brett is a good friend of mine, but I have to dole out a little harassment on this topic, especially since he always kicks my ass at this distance.”

Brett-isms:
– I’m still tired from the Birkie (possible)
– The snow is soft, it’s going to be really slow
– My skis feel really slow
– I feel a little sick
– I might switch to the 25k instead
“I heard all these in the hour leading up the race start. Translation: He’s ready to open up a can of whoop-ass. Yeah, I think we all do this from time-to-time. Some are a little more practiced at it than others. I’m no doubt guilty once in a while.”

Well what da ya know , first thing I hear when I stepped out of big blue. “I did my fastest 50k ski race ever yesterday” “I’m not sure how long I’m going to be able to hang” We’re these the new Doug-isms?

Lets just say that base miles went out the window again as immediately the ride turned into a slugfest. We headed North on the Highway trail at race pace. Cold air and unwilling lungs took the beating. No warm up needed on this day.

Contrary to belief the Cape is not flat. Not in the woods anyway. There is actually very little flat found on course. The climbs are short and punchy. At the 2.5 hour mark my 34/20 gearing had the legs feeling pretty tender. Hill Junkie pace was taking its toll. Carl stated he was almost empty and starting to cramp. At one point he fell over on an uphill and was unable to move while he worked out his issues. Even Gould was feeling it. Still at 2.5 hours nobody was willing to admit defeat. I said Doug “just run us into the ground” I figured natural selection would take care of ending this one.

See, it’s not flat.
One of the few extended stops where we hung out on the industrial built swing.

In the end it’s always worth that long drive down. Doug put together a nice route and we all got some good fitness benefit. There’s some crazy fun trails at that place so if you get the chance get with a good group that knows the layout. It’s easy to get lost in the spider web of intersections.

Parting shot of Andy on one of the playground rocks. Hopefully his Mountain Enduro buddies don’t see this. What exactly is he looking at

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All images taken from The Hill Junkie.

Oh where did 2012 go? I was hoping for no snow again this year but it was not to be.

The Frost Bully

Here at home it’s been trail building time since late October. That is until we had 8″ of the white stuff packed outside. One thing for sure, if you want great trails to ride on, then you need to get out there and build em. There’s quite a bit of satisfaction riding trails that you had a hand in building.

These are the months where I don’t mind sacrificing a ride day for a trail day. In fact there are four new trails in My home town of Merrimack just this year. Wow! Four new trails since August.

Adding miles, connecting parcels and being able to do a 3+ hour dirt ride right out of my front door is a real benefit.

Merrimack is the 6th largest municipality in NH and is very pro outdoors as seen in our website. www.merrimackoutdoors.org

Damn that Strava, and all its spin-off mapping apps. This one I like though. It gives you a good sense of the updated trail network and how to connect them. With additional land purchases you can sure we’ll have some additional acreage to add some more next fall.

Our trail crew has grown as well. We’re getting a solid 12 workers that have sacrificed a few Saturday and Sunday mornings. Even the The Hill Junkie himself has been our swinging the rogue hoe.

Here’s some parting pics from Christmas Day of some of the new stock prior to the storm.

Been about a month now since the Gordon Barker No Brakes race. There’s no doubt that this time of year is one of the hardest periods to get through. It’s dark and cold. Ride hours for me have been cut in half, but like most of us die-hard cyclists, you keep suiting up whenever you can.

Northeast Velo Cross, and Shedd Park were on tap this weekend. Time to see how much fitness can be lost in just about a month. A bunch of the usual culprits were out for the Londonderry race and the Race Bully (Andy Gould) talked us all into racing our mountain bikes. Sure a good portion of the course was dirt bike friendly, but then there was the pavement. No Cat III only fields to be seen this weekend either. Lack of Fitness, Fat tire bikes, and racing against some Cat I, and II’s, was troublesome to say the least. Andy would pay in the end though as he rode his second race on his hard tail mountain bike.

Gunning it off the line on the track I found myself at the back of the field almost right away. Once on the infield the really fast guys began to pull away. I would spend the rest of my 40+ minutes dangling at the back doing all I could to keep the 2nd to last place guy in view. To make things even worse the 45+ field was staged :30 seconds behind. They would certainly catch me.

Londonderry is a short course with a BMX track and some mountain bike style trails. If it was a few miles longer you could have an EFTA race here. Trails were fun and I took my fair share of fitness from it.

Next up my favorite CX race of the year which is at Shedd Park in Lowell. It seems like the race gets bigger and bigger each year. Cat IV and III/IV were sold out, and there were north of 60 racers in the Pro 1/2/3 fields.

Really wasn’t sure how my legs would feel after racing around on the mountain bike the day prior, but they actually felt decent. The Start was fast as we headed around the cinder track that gets warmed by the sun and creates a nasty sticky slurry that sticks to everything. I followed fellow teammate Jim Hall for the first lap and a half and we were going pretty good.

I was going good that is until I somehow lost it on one of the off camber turns on a root and headed north over my bars. Burping my tire in the process (more on that in a minute) and worse yet jamming my left thumb either into the ground or my bars. I’ve felt this sensation before and it hurt like hell. Back in the early 90’s I obtained Skiers Thumb while skiing at Temple Mountain. Basically it is the tendon on the outside of your thumb that tears away from the bone.

My NEMBA teammate Carl came rushing over after to see me holding my thumb in pain. This would go on for a minute or so as I remounted and continued on in no mans land. The feeling that I was going to finish the race however was short-lived when my 45psi front tubeless setup would roll out around just about every corner. Race done! This would be the third time my Redline would do me in.

Lets count em… 2011 Night Weasels, Rear derailleur explosion. 2012 Night Weasels, rear Stans rubber strip/valve tore open, and finally 2012 Shedd Park tire burp.  I’ve now done about 1/5 fewer CX races than mountain races in my short career, but have had many more mechanicals.

Tubeless while it works virtually flawlessly for the fat tire application really has no place in CX. There’s just not enough volume to be able to run lower pressure like with a tubular tire. So next season the Redline is going to see some upgrades. Starting with the wheels and tires. There’s nothing I hate more than paying to race your bike and not getting my monies worth!

With that said, these were more than likely my final races of the season, and focus now will be spent on longer mile off road rides until the white stuff shows up, and the skate skis come out. Of course if the thumb is worse than I think it is, then the dreaded trainer may be coming out.

Man, how come the Cat IV’s have all the fun? Is that really a flannel? Awesome!

Another supported epic on was on the agenda for today. After a solid Saturday cutting trails in Merrimack it was time for some riding.

I’ve been on the NDO www.NashobaDirtOrganization.com mountain bike Email list for a couple of years now. Their communications consist of rides in and around the Groton MA area. So I figured it was time to pay them a visit. With trails and parcels named for example The Promised Land, Boom-box, Anaconda, Sledgehammer, The Stack, and Hells Gate. I knew we were in for a good ride.

How do does one define “epic”? Distance, difficulty, or time? Today Epic would be described using difficulty. I knew this going into the ride today. Rumor had it that there was a lot of tech and stunt style riding we would encounter. Harold Parker? Lowell? Russell Mill? Not quite? I also figured I’d turn up the technical dial a bit by riding my rigid Salsa single-speed. I’m writing this so at least you know I made it out. At times it wasn’t pretty.

TPL (The Promised Land) Has lots of big hit feel along with much of the Stack “Haystack Observatory”. Trails like Hells Gate and the legendary Sledgehammer would not disappoint. In fact, I think that the designer of the trails purposely plays connect the dots with rock outcroppings. One after another, lots of launching points, skinny’s, bridges, and rollers. All rideable if you have the skill and mindset. Perhaps the right bike may help as well.

Best Pic of the Day Billy Huck’n his 26er around

Norm Collard would be our guide and take care of the mid ride support today. Not too bad since we all just met him for the first time in the parking lot. Thanks Norm! The NDO boys also had all the blow downs from the hurricane cut and most trails were leaf blown. To top it off we had temperatures in the low 60’s and an all-star cast. Steve Crossley, Andy Gould, and Billy Malone all made the drive for the epic.

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At times it felt like the trail just went on forever, and with no end in sight. We hit Norm’s house at around mile 15. It honestly felt like 25 miles at that point. We hit him up for some Gatorade and Cliff Bars. After that we were back at it. Still to come was a bit more at the Stack, The Ridge and Sledgehammer.

Legs at this point were getting a bit rubbery, voices were muttered with “I’m feeling it” “how much more do we have” “I’m pretty happy with the miles” Sledgehammer isn’t a trail you want to hit when you’re fatigued. You can mess yourself up pretty good if you make a lazy mistake or lose your focus. It’s like riding through a boulder field at time. I don’t think the US military would drive an Abrams tank in here. Exposed slabs of pointy tire eating granite and wheel eaters contained in unfriendly terrain. Bottom line a 5″ travel bike would have been a great choice.

Unfortunately we missed Boom Box due to time constraints and everyone having all they could handle for the day. We had about an hour of down time on the day. Pictures, pit stop, chain suck, broken chain, flat front tire. Multiple riders down on the ground. I fortunately would escape with no crashes, and no flats on the day. It was a hard day riding mostly in the rear of the pack.

If you like riding tech, these guys build it. So drop em a line and get your tour. Of course you’ll need to bring your commit button with you.

And for you STRAVA guys out there.

TPL (Bottom left), Sledgehammer (Top Left), Old Quarry (top center)

Back at it today on the Greens Pond connector. Eight to ten guys came out and worked their buts off.  The trail is almost complete at this point an I think one more session and we should punch through to The old Quarry Trail at Wasserman.

Rockhounds were excited to get the opportunity to bring out their pry bars for this obstacle.

It’s November again so that means trail building. Here in my town we got the Prez doing all the hard work. He may have recently skipped out on the No Brakes Race, but he’s been busy getting new trails approved. Every chapter needs guys like that or us racer types would still be riding on old school eroded quad trails.

First up, a half mile connector from Wasserman Park over to Greens Pond Rd. Flagging has been done and the first cut in began yesterday. It’s a small parcel but a much needed connector.

The town recently purchased this land and wants NEMBA out there building. It had been previously been scheduled for six house lots. No more homes in Merrimack please! I’d say our town is pro outdoor recreational land development.

We should be able to get the rest of this one cut on Saturday. Lots of rake and ride with plenty of good stone to fill in the gaps.