I Got Nothing

I haven't posted anything in a while so I guess my life has been mundane. It's actually been anything but, just nothing worth writing about. But if thousands of people are into Steve Tilford's blog where he talks about his group ride that day, maybe people are into the mundane. So here goes:

Despite peoples hatred of others listening to music while biking (Because doing two things you like at the same time is unacceptable) I went out and bought a nice pair of headphones for riding. Great fit, they don't fall off and the sound is incredible. The only con I can think of is the cord is a tad short for my liking.

Sports Legs should reach out to Lebron too

I built a pull-up bar for the garage. I've been practicing them at the gym and want to get better. Right now I can do 5 strict pull-ups and 12 kip pull-ups. I'll get better.

My neighbor is moving and gave me a Yakima 1 inch hitch rack. I already have one so I dickered it into a Thule roof rack set up. I wanted a roof rack for days that I have to go a few places other than the trail. I feel that the bike is more secure up on the roof and less likely to be stolen. Who knows. I could be wrong.

I did my first group road ride in about 2 years last Wednesday. It started at the Chilkoot Cafe in Stillwater, headed north for a bit and then picked up on the Gateway to Lake Elmo and then back. It was OK. No real pace line. Everyone was cool. It was a little slow for my liking though. they have a fast ride on Saturday mornings so I am going to give that one a shot and try not to get dropped. 

I bought a 20" replacement blade for my lawnmower. Turns out I need at 21". Back to Home Depot.

Rory and I went to see Shrek the Musical at the Children's Theater. It was good enough. Had some top notch seats though. I told her that we could go wherever she wanted for dinner; she chose McDonald's. I couldn't remember the last time  I even at fast food, so I agreed. I don't know how people eat that shit on the regular. So bland and unfilling. Well, the fries are good.

The last episode of Game of Thrones season 4 is this Sunday. I started watching the show last November and am glad I did. Two weeks ago death of Oberyn was pretty crazy

Although, I still give this death scene the #1 spot.

The teeth touching the curb gives me chills every time.

I'm going to The Battle Creek group ride presented by Erik's Bike Shop tonight. Should be fun as always.

Royal 162

I don't even know where to start. What a day. I guess it started back in September 2013 when Diana and I were choosing a wedding date. I told her that every weekend was open EXCEPT the weekend after Mother's Day. That weekend is never going to be open.

Then January rolled around and I got out a postcard and instead of writing Almanzo 100 as I had for the past 4 years, I slowly wrote Royal 162.

The next order of business was to get a geared gravel bike. I didn't have the cash to just plop down on a nice one so I had to wait and see what happened when I filed my taxes. Turns out it's nice to pay in a lot.

Thanks Obama

So then the training started. Other gravel races. Pushing hard at the gym. Pushing hard on 2 hour rides. Eating...better. All of this in hopes that it would pay off over the course of 162 miles.

I did a final training ride with Curt a week out and felt OK, but not great. When I finished the 62 mile ride I felt a bit exhausted and then immediately thought "I have 100 miles to go at this point next week" I think that's the first time that it really hit me of what I was about to undertake. I contemplated for a day if I should just switch over to the 100. Ultimately I kept coming back to the thought runs through my head at races whenever I get down, harden the fuck up. 

Race day morning I woke up at 3:45am and headed for Spring Valley, MN. I arrived at about 6:10am, checked in and drove over to the finish line to park. I got everything ready to go and hoped that I brought enough supplies.

From there I headed over to the start where there was maybe 110 people? Can't be too sure. Chris said a few important words and then we were off. I was with the lead pack for maybe 5 miles and then decided that they were pushing too hard up the hills for me so I backed off to a comfortable, conservative pace.

Once we hit Nature Rd. I couldn't help myself but to climb a little faster. It was still a bit cold at that point so I thought going hard might warm me up a bit. I don't think it did, but it made me feel good mentally to get out of the saddle and push a bit.

( The very first photo and from here until the very last photo are all courtesy of Craig Linder

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/craiglindner/ He did an amazing job of capturing the beginning of the Royal and all of the Almanzo. Great photos.)

From the first to last photo you can see the gap I was creating. jk. they caught right back up on the flat

From there it was just up and down. Looking ahead and seeing what looked like a wall of hills and then getting closer and realizing that it's not that bad.

I happened to look at my overall ride time as soon as it hit 2 hours, which meant this was going on:

Man I missed this.

At mile 60 there was a gas station just off course. At first I was not going to stop, but decided that it would probably be a good idea. I picked up 2 red bulls, a powerade, a snickers, and some beef jerky. I ate the snickers and drank a red bull. Then drank half the powerade and poured the rest in one of my bottles. Back at it.

From there is was more rollers and the gravel seemed to get a little whiter. At some point we dipped into Iowa, I am guessing this is when I saw the Amish people, and then road along the border and then back into Minnesota. It was good to be home.

At mile 105 I crested a hill and saw a bunch of people. For a split second I thought I had caught a group, and then realized that I was back on the Almanzo course. I was feeling good at the time, but this lifted my spirits a bit more.

After riding for a couple minutes and passing a lot of people I began looking around and seeing the carnage. There people were 50 miles in and were suffering. People standing in the ditch on their cell phones calling their SAG wagon. People just laying in the ditch. At one point I think I saw a picnic (Can't be too sure) I felt bad for these people. I am sure that they trained very hard and were disappointed with their performance. I kept looking to see if there was someone that looked like they needed water or a gel, but no one had that look of complete distraught on their face.

It was shortly after this that the temporary crown that I had on my front tooth rattled off. It was pretty weird. I stopped and fished it out of my mouth, threw it in the frame bag and made sure that it went in deep and then continued on with a smile that contained a widdled down tooth. Not a good look.

Once we made the left onto the road that leads to Forestville State Park I started to feel like shit for the first time. I was about 118 miles in and getting exhausted. I pressed on knowing the park was not far ahead and that I could relax there. 

Once I arrived I set my bike up against a fence, grabbed bother water bottles, a bar, and my hydration mix. I laid in the grass for probably 15 minutes just breathing deeply and moving every so often so that people would not stop and ask me if I was alright. After I felt I regained my composure I filled my water bottles and was off. 

I took it very slow up the pavement as I wasn't quite all together and just wanted to get my legs feeling good again. The second half of the pavement climb after the bend I started to pick the pace up a bit and then when I hit the downhill on Maple road I was feeling good again. I approached the first big hill with caution, but the legs felt fine so I tried to push as hard as I could up that section of hills. 

When I got to the creek crossing there were a lot of people sitting and taking their shoes and socks off. Having ridden with wet shoes at the Heck of the North and Ragnarok, I knew that wet shoes really meant nothing and that taking them off would be a waste of time.

I hope this is still standing

Not me, but I used the same method

I climbed out of the quarry and it soon flattened out and I was feeling good enough. With 14 miles? to go I ran into Troy and Scott and rode with them for a couple miles until Scott got a flat and needed to swap it out. It was good to see them and talk to some people that I knew. 

With about 8 miles to go came the suffer fest that is Oriole Road.

For some reason there was a group of about 6 people standing at the bottom looking at their note cards. As I rode by I said "Unfortunately, this is the correct way." I have never made this climb. I have always walked part of it. I started out strong but after my tire slipped a couple times in loose dirt I said screw it and just walked and drank a red bull. It felt good to give me ass a break and use a different muscle group.

After that the last big climb was at the Masonic Park. This hill I have never walked. I was close last year, but after seeing Scott and Kyleen at the top I felt the peer pressure and stuck out the entire climb. This year my legs were feeling better and having some gears made all the difference. After that my spirits were high and with about 4 miles to go I gave it all I had. 

As I made the left hand turn onto the paved path I knew for sure that I had made it. I don't usually get worked up about finishing these races, but I did shout out a couple "Fuck yes" as I saw the 500m sign.

At the Finish line there was Chris waiting to shake everyone's hand. Very classy. I told him how much I enjoyed the race and thanked him for putting it all together.

Also, not me

After I was done I was just exhausted and wanted to sit down. It felt so good.

The thing that made me the happiest all day was that our entire crew finished. Jose, Larry, Troy, Scott, and even Curt. It makes for a great day for all.

Afterwards we went and got some food at The Pizza Place and shared some of the days stories.

A huge thanks to Chris and the entire Skogen family for putting on such a great event. there's no other race that compares. Also, a big thanks to all of the volunteers and to the people out on the course cheering us all on.

I'll be back next year, but I'm going to scale back to the 100 for a bit.

Back home, no worse for wear

Gravel Music

I'm not going to get into what I personally like to listen to when out riding, but a post on the Heck of The North website about winning $100 (I guess that's just the costs of running a once free event)  for an original gravel song that had some tag line in it got me thinking about what other songs were out there about gravel?

I'm sure there is mention of gravel in more songs, but I just searched by the criteria that it had to have 'gravel' in the song title.

I found many different varieties of music. Some bad, some not so great. But I do this for you, the 3 readers...

In 1st place by far is Wu-Tang Clan's Gravel Pit.  This is the only song on this list that I would consider putting on my ipod. Enjoy it, it's all downhill from here.




I don't even know why this song is called 'Gravel'. Maybe it's from a old bike riding Nintendo game where you were on a gravel course?



This song has a few highlights. It starts out with the lyrics "I heard the sound of your bike" I was interested for a second, but it's just not my style. I'll give this song 2nd place.



This takes the Hipster gravel song award. I can't really understand what they are saying though. I do dream sometimes that I lived closer to gravel roads, but that's about my only connection with this song.



This song has some nice guitar riffs and I can relate to the lyrics 'I turn to gravel when I die' as I've felt like I was going to die out on the course, but I still keep turning on to the next gravel road.



If I had to take a guess what the winning Heck of the North song will sound like, I'd guess this:



Here's a gravel song from the most famous artist on this list: Elvis. This is not his best work, but then again he probably didn't steal it from someone else.



In 3rd place is this diddy. Not my style either, but I can appreciate it.



I was surprised that there were not more country songs, but then again, if there were they probably have no correolation to biking as it seems that 50% of the people you encounter are pissed they have to turn their F-350 wheel ever so slightly to get by you.

Did I miss a good song? Post it in the comments.


Good song recommended by Larry:

2014 Ragnarok 105

Let me start out by saying thanks to the Ragnarok crew for all that they do to prepare the course and the hours that they put in making sure everything goes off right. Also thanks to the Angry Catfish, Twin Six, and HED for sponsoring the race.

This was my 4th time riding the Ragnarok, and by far the hardest conditions. It was raining on the way to the race, it was raining at the start, and it rained till after the first checkpoint

The race started off at the normal slowish pace, but quickly escalated once we hit the first hill. Unlike the LML where I was near the lead pack for a good 8 miles, I was dropped after about 2. From there on out it was a solo ride.

I was wearing bib shorts with some rain pants and 2 base layer shirts, a cycling jersey, and a rain jacket. On my hands I just used my PI spring/fall running gloves. I was never cold, but I was almost always uncomfortable. My hands would go a bit numb and I would do the windmill move and they would come back. My feet went numb and I couldn't really feel them for a bit. They didn't hurt though. I thought maybe my feet swelled up (never happened before) and the shoes got too tight and cut off my circulation, but that was not the case.

I rode pretty well into checkpoint #1 and saw a lot of people people just hanging out. I took a couple sports legs and headed down the road. As I went past the BP I saw even more bikes out front. Weird. 

The course stays flat for a bit so I took that time to recover and eat some food which proved a little difficult to do in the rain. 

After a while I started fantasizing about all that the Lake City Kwik Trip would have to offer. At first I was thinking about some beef jerky and a powerade zero. Then it became beef jerky, powerade, and a red bull. As I was riding the pavement into LC I decided that I'd like a banana as well. I guess my mind was hungrier than my body because I only ate 3/4 of the banana, half the powerade (put the rest in my empty bottle) and put the red bull in frame bag. I attempted to eat the jerky, but I couldn't get it open. I then rolled into checkpoint #2 where Lisa kindly opened it for me. I took off right away and enjoined the flat 4-5 before the climbing started again.

Heath's Hill was extremely muddy. Props to anyone that cleaned it. I'm not sure if I could have ridden it on my MTB if it were 5 miles in.

Going up the long grind that is 335th I had my first "I feel like shit" moment. I got really warm and at one point almost puked, but I just kept going. What I think happened was that the temperatures were rising and there was no wind, so my outfit which kept me stable for so long, was now causing me to over heat. I zipped down the jacket and jersey and got some relief. 

I rode well till the last climb on Lehrbach when the heat hit me again. This time I was forced to walk, ride, walk, ride. Not an ideal way to finish the last climb, but it is what it is. 

I finished in 8 hours 26 minutes. 21 minutes slower than my personal best. Weather was a definite factor, but what can you do?

I felt good at the finish though. Exhausted but not out of it. I took all my wet gear off and sat in the car for about 15 minutes in just my bib shorts with the hot air blowing on me. 

Overall I was very happy with how the day turned out. Hopefully I'll be back next year.

Eastway CX1.0 Review

To start, I call this bike "The Pikey." A co-worker says that all bikes need names and that I should give it an English name since it is from the UK. After going back and forth with some names and then asking a buddy who travels over there a couple times a year I decided on Pikey.

Pikey is defined as "A pejorative slang term used mainly in Britain to refer to people who are of the Traveller Community (Gypsy's)."  So it kind of fits and I like the way it sounds.

Also this:

I've been able to put 50 miles on it this week and so far I am impressed.

I wasn't able to get it out right away because of all the snow and water everywhere and the last thing I wanted was to gunk up the drive train or take a spill on a brand new bike.

The first thing  I noticed while riding it was how light it felt underneath me. I've been riding the Straggler so far this spring so this comes as no surprise. It also accelerates much faster.

The handlebars feel a bit twitchy with the 90mm stem that I put on it so I may swap out to a 100mm. In years past I have not had a lot of flexibility, but taking time at the gym has improved that and now I find myself naturally leaning forward more and am having to have my arms bent to hold me up, rather than a more straight (but relaxed) position. The bike came with a 110mm so I may try that out to see it I like it or if it is too long before I sell/buy a new one.

Might drop the stem a tad

Having some time with the double taps I am getting more comfortable. I like the ease of up shifting, but I still need to get the hang of down shifting while climbing. It can be hard to be standing to climb, and then try to shift down at the same time. I also run into an issue with the front derailleur occasionally. There  is something with the tapping that can throw it off so you can think that you are going to shift to the small front ring, but the derailleur doesn't move. Then you do the same thing and it shifts down. My first thought is user error. My second is that it is a triple ring shifter set up on a double so if it is clicked twice it thinks that it is in an even bigger ring. But probably user error.

My only real complaint so far is climbing. It just doesn't seem to handle well when out of the saddle. Once again I firstly point to my own fitness vs expectations and just not having a lot of time on the bike. Time will tell.

The BB7s have been superb. They stop quickly and even more important, they are quite. Silent. Nothing.

I am hoping to get in a few more rides on it before the Ragnarok, but with the impending weather who knows.

A couple bike related thoughts:

I saw a post about this gravel/dirt race in Florida. Now I wasn't at the start of gravel racing, but have been doing it for 4 years now and have seen a big change in peoples bikes/dress/prep here in MN. This picture from Florida reminds me of when I first started off in 2010.

2 guys had to hop a python,
one says he thinks his rear wheel got him.

This #30daysofbiking thing is going on for April and I am going to try and give it a real go, even if that means that some days I am just going to have to do a quick crit lap or a neighborhood tour. Either way, should be fun.

And finally, I got into the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40. It was the first time I entered the lottery. I was surprised because I NEVER win any game of chance of any type. The two times I got into Leadville I had to use LifeTime connections. That may be why I got in this year as well  since I am already signed up for the Lutsen 99er. Whatever, I'll take it. I just hope that I can get a good gate assignment. I just don't want to feel like I am being held up by a mass of slower riders. Right now I am hoping for a 2h25m time or better. That would put me in the top 20 for my age group in last years race. Looking at a few names I recognized, I don't think it's a long shot.

2014 LML

Took a before shot, but the course was so clean
there was no need for an after shot.

The L-M-L (Lakeville - Milltown Cycles - Lakeville) race was this past weekend. I was a little nervous heading into it for many reasons. Weather being the #1 concern. I was also nervous since I'd only ridden 88 miles in 2014 up to race day. No trainers, no rollers, no spin class. All I have been doing is going to the gym about 4-5 days a week. So I had no idea on my level of bike fitness. 3rd was riding a new bike. Since my ultra trusty San Jose is out of commission indefinitely, I was riding the SS Straggler that I built up over the winter. Not having much time on it I didn't know what to expect.

The race started out fairly slowly and I was about 20 seconds off the lead group for the first 8 miles, then we hit a hill and I think the top guys decided to stop messing around and took off.

I continued to just ride my pace and slowly passed people here and there. Around mile 20 my hands were getting too sweaty and when I would stand to climb I felt like I didn't have a good grip on the handlebars so I stopped and took them off and switched over to the thin gloves.

From there I slowly caught people all the way in to Fairbault. However, my calves were feeling it and I had cramping in my right hamstring.

At Milltown Cycles I grabbed a couple donut holes and took a leak. I then grabbed the second set of directions and a piece of bacon and headed off.

There is a fair amount of climbing once back on the course and my legs were not quite ready for it yet. I slowly slogged up a few of the longer climbs and had to walk the hill to no where and a couple others. The 44x16 gearing was great for the flats, but no so much for the late climbs.

The rest of the time was me fighting off cramps and "powering through" to the finish.

I made a couple of first race of the year mistakes, I'll name a few... I didn't squeeze the air out of the water bladder when I filled it up so there was a lot of air in the hose. I didn't tighten the water bottle mount down tight enough and it rattled loose. I used too big of a water bottle so it was hard to get out from under the frame bag. My seat was a scant too high and  I got some back of the knee pain. There were probably a couple other things that I messed up as well.

It was a great race and I am happy with my time. Thanks to Larry and all the volunteers for putting on a superb event to start the year.

Note the spur to the east between Fairbault and Northfield. 

I don't like how the moving time is highlighted and the actual time
 is stuck at the bottom. Should be the opposite

Back Underground

It has been a while since I was on a adventure ride so when D-Rider posted one up for Saturday morning I decided that I was going, even though I had been to this particular drain before.

We met at Hidden Falls part and made our way to the first drain. It was so cold outside. My face was frozen and my fingers were in great pain by the time we need to make our way down to the drain.

It was hard enough to get down to water level with all the snow, but doing it with a right hand that wasn't very functional made it worse. There came a point where I didn't feel safe continuing to descend while holding my bike, so I gave it a slight push and hoped that it would only slide for about 10 feet. It went about 30 and got a nice scrape on the seat tube. Not a big deal, that's why I have this bike. 

My hands somehow got colder and since I knew I couldn't be any help to the other guys I headed straight to the drain that I knew would be much warmer. Once I came around the corner this is what I saw:

Someone had dragged in some rocks so we used them to make the hole even bigger.

Once past the ice wall we saw these two guys guarding the drain. I have a feeling their not too picky about who they let pass by.

This was one of the better paintings. The picture turned out alright I suppose.

Some water flowing down from up above

There was about 4 or 5 different paintings that looked similar to this one

There may be a fight to the death in here one day

I didn't really know where we were, but this is surely not correct

Uncle Sam? 

He looks unhappy

Someones Selfie

Very bottom of the helix

After a 10+ story climb we were close to street level. I tried to get a GPS signal, but was unable to.

Getting back out was much easier. We rode along the river for a bit till we found a better exit point. We then headed to Chipotle for a nice lunch. We then headed back to the cars to head to another tunnel. I was short on time so I had to bail. It was a fun time and I look forward to exploring some new drains in the future.