Oh For Too

This time last year we were just starting to think about the first races of the season, but after last weekend's Pro XCT in Texas Trevor already has two races behind him (sort of).

In January my wife and daughter were headed to Arizona for an Irish Dance competition which happened to coincide with the first race in the MBAA series at McDowell Mtn State Park. Seemed like a good opportunity to do some desert riding. Going in to this the focus was to have fun and consider it a training ride rather than racing for a result.

On race day I was flying back from an overseas trip and landed in Denver just as the race started. I learned via a quick round of text messages that his chain broke right off the line. Fairly new chain too. There was a shop set up for support and they were able to get him back on the trail in a few minutes. Apparently he had a good first lap and made up some ground then about 1/4 of the way through lap two the chain broke again - race over. He walked it back in and by all accounts had a good attitude about the whole thing.

Post race - smile on face

We were definitely bummed about the chain. That's the third broken chain since September. We know what happened with the first two, but this one was a mystery. Appears that off the line it was the quick link that gave out. Goodbye SRAM hello KMC.

Fast forward to March. The Pro XCT also looked like a good early season option and provide some motivation for the time spent indoors on the trainer. And who doesn't like getting away from real winter to not-winter. From what I could tell the advantage at this race goes to riders from the sun belt who are already part way into their race season but we still figured Trevor would be able to hang in with the middle of the pack.

We got to the venue on Friday and did a two lap pre ride. Except for long climbs the course had a bit of everything and got a thumbs up from both of us. Decent start loop, twisty bits through the trees, tech, rocks, sneaky b-lines, good passing opportunities. The weather was shaping up nicely too. On our second lap we spent some time picking lines and working on the tricky spots. Trevor is getting good a reading the trail and picking lines so my only useful advice was to be patient in the twisty bits through the trees. No place to pass and very easy to stuff yourself in a corner or hook your bars on a tree.

Enjoying the action

Saturday I got in a morning ride on the Madrone trail near our Canyon Lake accommodations (a good hour long beat down) and then we headed back to the venue to watch the pros race. We found a good spot on the last climb not too far from the finish. We positioned ourselves near a ledge with a b and c-lines. Russell was the only pro near the front who rode the b-line. If hit just right it made for a decent passing opportunity. The c-line was even shorter but was more committing. We saw a few mid pack riders hit that one consistently. It made for a good show and the crowd loved it.

Russell Finsterwald exiting the b-line

Sunday was race day. Went through the normal prep and warm up. Call ups were based on results in the local TMBRA series followed by registration order. Trevor was last rider called up and settled in at the back of the group at the start. After the group came through the start loop I booked it over to the first tech/aid zone on the course just in time to watch the group come through. Trevor had picked off a handful of riders already and was looking good.

Making his move at the top of the Strava climb

After cheering on the rest of the group I went back over the finish area pit and waited. And waited and waited. It was obvious something had slowed him down. I waited about 15 minutes after his group came through and then tracked down a race official. She confirmed he had a mechanical and was out of the race.

I caught up with him down he had walked back to start area. The rear wheel had slipped in the drop out when he going up and over a ledge and jammed up tight in the frame. It took me several minutes to get it out and I'm still trying to figure out what happened. The QR was tight so it must have clipped a rock and came loose. Oh well, another part for the dust bin. Not finishing another race due to a mechanical wasn't what he was looking for but kudos to my son for training himself to have a good attitude and the ability to look forward. As a racer I've been in the same spot and can move on, but as coach, mechanic and Race Dad I'll admit that this is much harder to wrap my head around. I'm sure we'll be back next year. The event is well run, the course is good and the weather put a smile on our faces.

The trip home was quite memorable. We drove to Lubbock Sunday night and before hitting the road I spent 40 minutes trying to find decent coffee. At this point I was dealing with three days of seriously caffeine deprivation and the first place my GPS routed me to was a dirt lot. Nooooooo! We stopped off at Palo Duro canyon near Amarillo to stretch the legs with one last ride in the sun. If you are passing through it is worth the stop. After our ride I thought about stuffing the bikes in the back of the car because I knew we'd hit some weather. Fixing lunch and getting rolling pushed that thought to the back of my mind and by the time we got to Raton it was too late.

We hit the pass just as the front was rolling through the area. It was an epic drive from the top of the pass to Pueblo. Driving in heavy snow at night truly sucks. We could see the slush building up on the bikes but it wasn't until we pulled into the garage I actually saw how bad it was. Pictures tell the story best. Up next is the Rumble at 18 Road in Fruita.

-----Cheers - Pablo

That's a lot of ice

CTR 2012 Fred Hankinson

Fred and Jesse Jakomait prepare to depart from Waterton Canyon

The CTR is definitely an adventure and a test of physical and mental fortitude. Whether you choose to race it, ride it or just survive it, it is a huge test of endurance. My goal was just to be done sometime Sunday, because I had no idea what to expect or how my body would react. I have never done a multi-day race or even a 24 hour race, just a few 100-mile races over the past couple years. Throughout the race I starting feeling like I could finish strong and my competitive spirit took over and I wanted to see how fast I could do this thing. There are so many aspects to this race compared to a one day race. Most importantly you have to stay ahead on calories because you don’t want your body to crash, and to monitor your output so you don’t blow up. Going too hard too soon could cause some serious trouble later in the race. Also staying dry (as much as possible) because you will get rained on and hailed on which we all did. My strategy was just to try and ride through all that weather as much as possible and dry out on the bike because stopping only gets you colder. It seemed to work most of the time. A few times I took cover and used that time to eat or filter water and just stay busy. Don’t focus on how miserable you are, all you can do is laugh about it because everybody is out there too.


The first day was the most weather. A rainstorm up and down Kenosha pass and then blue skies up Georgia pass. Descending onto Hwy 9 I hit a pretty brutal hail storm. I just kept riding and eventually rode out of it. That first night I ended up camping on the other side of Hwy 9 just past the trailhead.
Second day started up miners pass to Copper. That was a pretty tough hike a bike then a fun descent. After a quick breakfast in Copper headed up Searle and Kokomo pass to Camp Hale. Its always nice riding stuff you have been on before because you know what’s coming up but sometimes ignorance is bliss in some of the later sections that were just brutal hike a bikes. Continued on to Leadville and then onto Buena Vista on new sections that I haven’t been on before. Made it to Buena Vista just before 10pm and just made it to the grocery store a couple minutes before they closed. This was a relief because I did not want to waste time till they opened the next morning, some of the employees of City Market weren’t too happy though. I did not want to sustain on 7-11 food for the next two days either. Camped that night on the side of Cottonwood Pass rd. a few miles before the CT trailhead. I wanted to make it to the trail but just got too tired. It was already after midnight.


Got up early wed. morning and headed out hoping to make it past the Monarch Crest somewhere. Rode a lot of new stuff for me along this section till hwy 50. Some flowy fun stuff and kept a pretty good pace through here. When I hit the road up to Fooses I stopped to filter water and soaked my feet in the river while I filtered which felt good. The relief only lasted a little while, but that’s all I can ask for. After the long climb/ hike a bike up Fooses I stopped at Greens Cabin to sit on something other than a bike seat or the ground to take a break. I have always loved this section of trail along the Monarch Crest and am very familiar with it. It went pretty fast after getting a little second wind from the break at Greens. After passing Silver Creek it would be all new to me till the last 50 miles in Durango. The next 6 hrs or so were a blur, a lot of riding in the dark and the trail pretty much sucked. Would never come out and ride this again. I tried to get as far as I could to the point of pushing my bike the last couple miles because I was so tired I couldn’t pedal. I ended up camping somewhere along Sergeants Mesa.
Got about 4.5 hrs of sleep that night, not really quality sleep but at least my body was horizontal. Thursday morning headed out and the next 7-8 hrs of trail sucked. A lot of hike a bike up unridable terrain. Maybe if I was fresh I could’ve ridden it but I will never find out. Eventually I popped out on a dirt road to Apple the old guy “trail angel” who hangs out and gives hikers and bikers free food and drink. I grabbed a coke and some cookies and sat in a chair which felt good. The ass and feet were pretty sore by this time. After the road section I did a little more singletrack which was smooth and flowy which was a break from what I had been riding the past day. Then onto the long road detour and a series of long climbs and descents on dirt roads which made a lot of time up. Got to the trailhead for the Cataract Ridge and camped near the trailhead. It was pretty high, over 11,000 feet, so it was cold and the sleep wasn’t too solid. Slept about 4 hrs and I use the term “slept” very loosely being cold and high.


Woke up around 2am Friday morning and headed out because I knew this section was all over treeline between 11,000” and 13,200” and didn’t want to get stuck in weather or a lighting storm. It took about 11 hours to get through the next 35ish miles due to all the hike a bike and high altitude riding. Very pretty part of Colorado, and remote. The calories were going fast through here. I felt like I couldn’t eat enough. I am glad I stocked up well in Buena Vista for food. I was getting sick of the food I brought but just forced myself to eat it. It was a series of long ups and downs which never seemed to end. After finally getting out of here onto Stony Pass rd came the long descent into Silverton. Though it would be a break, it was a long steep rough road. It hurt to sit because of all the saddle sores on top of saddle sores and hurt to stand because my feet were pretty sore. Made it into Silverton about 2pm and picked up my post office drop with new chamois, jersey and socks. I also had some food and batteries I grabbed. The lady at the post office had a chocolate cake out and I must’ve eaten 4 or 5 pieces while she wasn’t looking. Then onto a restaurant for my first real meal in 4 days. I ordered cheese sticks, burger and fries and an apple pie a la mode. It all came out at once and I scarfed it down. Went to the Silverton grocery, grabbed a few things, and headed out just before 4. I think it was the real meal, because I got a second wind and rode really strong up Molas pass and felt good all the way to Celebration Lake. It was dark by now. From this point I was familiar with the trail since I had done all the trail a few weeks ago in the Durango 100. It helped to know what was coming. I pushed to Blackhawk Pass still feeling good thinking I might just push all the way through. After descending Blackhawk I started getting pretty tired. I kept going, just wanting to get as far as possible. About midnight I had been going solid about 22 hrs and could barely stay on the trail or walk. I can’t remember where I stopped, but I pretty much collapsed about 12:30a.m. I set the alarm for 3:30, ended up getting up about 4a.m.


This whole part of the trail was a blur till Kennebec Pass. I stumbled up the hike a bike moving pretty slow then made it to the sign that said Junction Creek TH -21 miles. Well its definitely not all downhill from here. Many, many ups and downs. I was pretty much done at this point, I was running on fumes. I ran out of water, crossed plenty of streams but too tired and incoherent to filter anything and I knew the end was in sight. I couldn’t even ride up the hills that I flew up weeks prior in the Durango 100. I had to walk, stumble and trip up every small uphill because I couldn’t turn the pedals over. Then I would pretty much just coast down with a little pedal action going on. My heart was racing on any little effort by this point. Finally made it to the high point and cruised into the Junction Creek TH about 1:20pm. I guess they say to always finish a race with nothing left and I did.


I am humbled by the guys ahead of me who broke the record. Jefe, Ethan and Jesse are all superhuman dudes. I could not imagine knocking 1+ days off of that effort. Those guys deserve huge props. Also to those who are still toughing it out days later and not giving up.


I left out a lot due to not wanting to drag on like the many other rainstorms I rode through, all the cool people I met and got to ride with for bits and pieces along the way. A lot of beauty out there and many things I have just forgotten because some pieces were a blur now. The mental and physical ups and downs of a race like this your body goes through. I want to give a thanks to all the words of encouragement, Jeff and Hillary for their stone artwork which was cool to see. Thanks to Jesse, Doug and Jon for advice on how to take on this beast and Doug for all the Kate’s Bars that sustained me. To many other friends and family for all the texts and emails of encouragement. To my riding buddies who would go out on long training rides with me. 

Bandwagon in the Father Land

Bandwagon claims to bring the cycling experience around the globe, so i did my part on a recent work trip to germany. A while back I picked up lenz bike that does it all. Ss, gears, fs and packable. A $12 suitcase and frankenstein rocky mountain bike box are all it took to set myself up to be able to ride when i travel.

My trips to germany usually occur in the december-february time frame and the weather sucks. This one happened to show up on the may calendar and put me in southwest germany in a region called the rhein-pfalz. On past visits i've run on some local trails that leave from town, so i did a bit of research and discovered that the region is loaded with bikeable routes through the woods. I sniffed out the primo single track for my free time over the weekend and did some after work exploration during the week.

The f trail in rodalben is one of the more popular singletrack routes in the area. 29 miles of rolling terrain on a trail that circumnavigates the town. It was so much fun i rode it twice while i was there. The first time was the full loop and the next days was some exploration on "tour 1" of the Pfalzerwald MTB routes with the south half of the f trail to finish up.

F trail in Rodalben. F stands for something, but i was thinking freaking fantastic

The terrain reminded me a lot of the east coast riding i've done minus the roots and rocks. I think the germans groom these trails.

My other rides were in the local woods near the town of landstuhl. The whole region is loaded with what we'd call logging roads and other maintained double tracks through the woods. I think a bike tourist/bike packer would be in heaven in pfalzerwald.

Head into the woods and see what you see.

Bikes are cool, and bikes that you can take with you are extra cool.

Whiskey Off-Road 35-proof!

I've been dreaming of going back to race the Whiskey 50 since I left April of last year. I’ve anticipated this reunion even more since moving away from Arizona and all my beloved friends & family in October.  So finally, last week, it was time to trek down to the majestic Prescott national forest where the singletrack, locals and scenery suck you in like a black hole. Doug Johnson, Fernando Riveros Paez, Luis Mejia and myself managed to tetris 4 bikes, 4 bags & 4 bodies into my moderately sized sport utility vehicle and pointed it in a southwest direction. After venturing through Durango & TUBA CITY!, we arrived at the Ooley residence where Tina, Greg, Logan, Jonah & Maynard greeted us with open arms and top-notch hospitality….this was our headquarters for the whole weekend.

Early Friday morning, Tina & I got out for a little spin so I could revisit a couple techy sections of the race course that I had issues with last year.  GOODNESS GRACIOUS how I miss riding with this amazing woman!!! We hit up the first part of the singletrack on the course and then cut over to Thumb Butte to ride creekside and then met up with some radical local Prescott ladies for a little loop on some of those 300-something trails and we were both satisfied with our pre-ride.

I got to be reunited with more of my AZ ladies during the pro-crit viewing Friday night…YAY LEAH & ANNA!!!  Friday night was mellow and spent strategizing for bottle hand-offs and nutrition plans for the race in the morning. Ultimately, my plan was to take 3 bottles and have Doug meet me at the bottom of skull valley for a couple fresh ones & some moral support.

Saturday morning, Tina, Taylor & I rolled down to Whiskey Row and got all warmed up and lined up for the race and Doug held my spot while I peed a couple times before we went off. (Did I mention how awesome this guy is? He only gets better) BOOMBOOMBOOM………50 milers are off. It’s a 6 mile 1000+ft climb out of downtown Prescott to Camp Perlstein where the singletrack starts and Perlstein is notorious for a bottleneck of epic proportions. I managed to pedal slowly through most of the traffic jam and began climbing up the switchbacks SUPER STOKED…but the dude in front of me fumbled on some rocks and ended up dismounting and resulted in me having to do the same. So I get back on and go to get clipped in and my right shoe feels really weird and won’t get clipped in…DAMNIT. I pull over and check out my shoe and my pedal is attached to my shoe….it has fallen off the spindle. I can’t believe this is really happening because the past two races I’ve attempted have been my only DNF’s and they were due to mechanical issues. There was no way I could have fixed my pedal so I resolved to going back to town, acquiring some new pedals and just riding later.  I managed to get a phone to call Doug to tell him not to go to Skull Valley and just meet me at the Shimano tent at the expo instead and I rolled and one-legged pedal my way back into town.

So I get back to Whiskey Row and Doug is in front of the Shimano tent and being the voice of reason that he is…he suggests that I just race the 25 instead. DUH. So Shimano gives me a brand new set of XTR pedals…I get switched over to the 25 mile race and have more than a half an hour to line up and wait for the 25 mile race to start….deja vu. BOOMBOOMBOOM….here we go again, climbing back out of Prescott. The bottleneck at Perlstein goes even more smoothly the second time around and I am SOOOOO happy to be riding my bike! I got to spend most of the climb up 48 and descent down 260 with Ernie and Comino….and no more mechanicals so far YAY! The climb out of Copper Canyon went faster than I remember it being and I’ve been able to clean almost everything, save a few water bars.

This year I didn’t get to turn left down to Skull Valley and instead made an immediate right-hand turn at the aid station making my way for Sierra Prieta. Ouchy. That last section of road is a grunt of a climb, even with the 25-proof course...and it is such a rad feeling when you reach the top with tons of people cheering and passing off PBRs and bottles of whiskey and you know you’re about to turn on to some more SWEET singletrack and it’s pretty much downhill the whole way home. At this point in the race, I had no idea where I was in the standings but I didn’t care cause I was riding my bike and I felt awesome. There’s one little punchy climb before Creekside called “cramp hill,” and I think my body sensed it was coming because my legs started to cramp up a little right before I started ascending it. I quickly downed the rest of my fluids and focused on my breathing & smooth/easy pedaling and I motored right up cramp hill. YEAH!

Creekside was my favorite….everytime there was a creek crossing, I attempted making the biggest splash into the water possible to get spectators wet and I managed to clean THE creek crossing that I fumbled over last year. YAHOO. A few more rocks and cheering, happy people and there was the pavement for a smokin’ fast descent back to the finish line. The whole time down the pavement, I kept asking myself, “is this really happening…am I gonna actually get to finish!?” I crossed the finish line with an official time of 2:58 or something…but more importantly I finished. I got all changed and hung around the finish for awhile to celebrate with friends and naturally checked Facebook on my phone to see what was happening on there and was surprised when Nicole posted something about me getting a podium spot at the race today…..WHAT??? I really didn’t expect to podium and I didn’t want to get my hopes up but I buzzed over to the results booth and sure enough, my 2:58 was good enough for 5^th place….which was just the icing on the cake to spending a fabulous weekend in one of my favorite towns with my favorite people ever. 

So I started the 50…and finished the 25 and had a damn good time. Just like last year, I can’t wait to go back again…who knows what next year will have in store.

-Stephanie

Tina & I lining up for the 50-proof (round 1)

This is what it feels like to top out at Sierra Prieta.

Lotsa water crossings creekside to cool off in

Women's open 25-proof podium...icing on the cake.

De Colombia a Estados Unidos y al Bandwagon Racing

Una manana estabamos con mi esposa Victoria en Colombia y me pregunta: Tu sabes donde es la mejor parte en los Estados Unidos donde tu te sientas en altura, donde halla bastante montanas y tu creas que es el mejor sitio para tus competencias? Yo le respondi: No, ni idea. Esa misma manana me puse a buscar en Internet cual era el mejor sitio de MTB en los EE.UU y me aparecio Colorado Springs, Co; Ese mismo dia le comente a ella y me dijo voy a tratar de buscar un trabajo halla para que tu puedas seguir surgiendo en tu profesion de ciclista. Yo muy tranquilo le dije, si no puedes alla no hay ningun problema, ya sera de Dios donde nos vaya a poner para que tu te sientas tranquila en tu trabajo y yo pueda entrenar de la mejor manera como lo hago aca en mi Colombia. Victoria Viajo hacia EE.UU a conseguir Trabajo.

3 Semanas despues.

Victoria, me dice mi amor consegui trabajo en Colorado Springs,CO, ahora podras entrenar muy similar a Colombia... Yo aun no podia viajar hacia EE.UU porque tenia que terminar mi temporada de ciclismo que se acababa en Noviembre.

15-nov-2011

Llego finalmente a EE.UU-Colorado Springs,Co, llego de noche y no puedo apreciar lo que me esperaba. La manana siguiente me levando muy emocionado a ver todo lo que Victoria me habia comentando por Skype ( Hay montanas por todos lados, estas en altura etc..) salgo a mi balcon del apartamento y me encuentro con "Pikes Peak" y sus alrededores...(Montana mas alta, llena de Nieve) OMG! una vista espectacular, veo desde lejos puros "Single Tracks". No veia la hora de estar montando en esas Montanas...

Dias siguientes, me encuentro con un Amigo de Facebook que se llama Russel Finsterwald, hace parte del equipo profesional Subaru-Trek de los Estados Unidos. Le escribi por Facebook contandole que me habia mudado para esta ciudad y que si podia salir a entrenar con ellos y para ver si me podia mostrar rutas para entrenar; Muy amable de dijo que fuera a la ( Bomba de gasolina, Seven Eleven, que queda en tal parte). Muy puntual estuve en el lugar, y me dijo vamos a encontrarnos con mas companeros en tal parte. Cuando llegamos al sitio de encuentro estaban 3 corredores PRO de Colorado Springs. Que eran Danny Pate (corredor profesional del SKY protour), Kalan Beisel (Corredor Pro de colorado Springs) y dos corredores mas(no recuerdo sus nombres).

Pasaron Dias de entrenamiento

Pasaron Dias de no poder salir a entrenar porque el clima no lo permitia.

Pasaron Dias buscando Rutas para montar , ya que tampoco iba hacer el Colombiano intenso que quiere salir con ellos todo el tiempo.

Hasta que porfin un Dia, me manda un mensaje de Texto Kalan, diciendome que si quieria salir a entrenar con un grupo de ciclistas en Falcon Trail( es un circuito de MTB, se le puede llamar tecnico, que tiene 20 kms de solo single tracks), yo muy entusiasmado dije obviamente que si.

En ese entrenamiento conoci a otros corredores PRO de colorado Springs, Dug Johnson "THE BOSS"y a Jason Hanson. "Buen Entrenamiento" " Me dio mi primera Pajara" jejeje pero no podia demostrarlo delante de estos "Gringos".

Pasaron Dias de entrenamiento, aveces no habian dias de entrenamiento, ya que el frio no dejaba.( entrenando Solo)

Ya mas confiansudo con esta gente, me escribian para decirme que si queria salir a entrenar con ellos, en este entrenamiento estaban, Dug Johnson ''The Boss", Kalan Beisel, Jason Hanson y yo.. ese dia me llevaron a otro sitio espectacular para hacer MTB " solo single Tracks", con mucha tecnica y demas.. habia una bajada por unas rocas y cada uno tenia que pasar y despues esperabamos a toda la gente, en ese trascurso de esperar a la gente, Dug "The boss" me pregunta, Tienes equipo aca en USA o estas buscando? le respondi: Estoy esperando que empieze la temporada para ver si algun equipo me escoge, me respondio Dug: Si quieres puedes entrar a mi equipo, podemos estar hablando. Le respondi: Claro que si, me gustaria pertenecer a tu equipo, Con quien debo hablar o como se llama el dueno del equipo y me responde: Yo soy el dueno del equipo; y Yo: como ..... despierta, sera que si entendi bien lo que me dijo en INGLES... Despues de reaccionar le dije como sii sii claro, de una hazme una propuesta y la miro con mi esposa Victoria y te comento. En todo el entreamiento no podia creer que me ubieran dicho que si queria ser parte del equipo sabiendo que solo habia salido a entrenar con Dug The Boss" 2 veces con la de la propuesta del equipo.

Y asi fue como Resulte en este Pequeno Equipo con poco presupuesto pero Grande de Corazon.

-Fernando

Thanks Pranava Yoga!

Having never really been to any yoga classes, except for a class or two a couple years ago at a gym I decided to give Pranava a try. I never really had a good experience before, it was just overcrowded and you felt like a number. I have been running since I was a kid and riding for 17 years with a little strength training thrown in to try and round everything out. I have never concentrated on flexibility, just the occasional stretch here and there. So going into my first class at Pranava I pretty much have the flexibility of a block of wood. Not to mention tight hip flexors and a pulled muscle in my back that I have been milking along. After taking a few classes from Doug and Mike I have been really pleased and happy with the results, just from a few classes. They really treat you like a person and remember your name. Mike and Doug are always motivating you and throw a little bit of humor in the class to keep it fun. The classes are small and very personal. The instructors are always handing out compliments and constructive criticism even though I am pretty horrible and have no idea what I’m doing. The day after a yoga session I feel great and loosened up, so it can really help even a beginner like myself. I only wish I had more time to go to more classes but the mountain bike usually wins. I highly recommend Pranava Yoga to anybody like myself who has been riding bikes and needs a little more flexibility in their routine. -The Brute

osprey packs

So everybody has stuff. Lots of it. Some we really need, some not so much. The way we move our stuff around, no I don't mean booty shaking which is really nice,says something of who were are.Purses,pockets,boxes,paper or plastic are just some of the ways to get your shit from here to there but today I am talking about a bicycle specific backpack. I just received a new Osprey Escapist 20 in the mail last week. Now I had the Manta 20 for the last two years and while it has held up great it was lacking in a few departments. Mainly it was too narrow and too thick. When it was packed full it was not stable from side to side and while decending it would bump my helmet,very annoying. Let me stress, very annoying.Like back the hell up I am going to fill this place with upper cuts annoying. So I see this new backpack and it looks like the remedy for my growing displeasure with my current setup.

There are a few requirements for a cycle specific backpack that have made my list over the last 20 or so years of riding.It has to have a drinking system,the osprey hydraform is rad btw shove your bladder in with a full pack what's not to like,it has to ride stable and the closer to your body the better. This next detail is critical. I did the colorado trail race two years ago and it rained the whole time I was out there, a rain fly is now a must have detail on all packs. I love having a rain fly even during winter rides, when you stop on long rides and the ground is wet or snowy I pull out the rain fly and sit on that and it keeps wet butt at bay.

This pack has a lot of dope features. I love the sunglasses pocket at the top of the pack and the large pull loops for the zippers. The load straps on the side are great. If I don't have a bunch stuff to carry I cinch them down and the pack feels lighter and more stable.Minimizing the camel hump goes a long way to make a pack feel lighter.I dig the cut out on the back for a blinky light and the mesh pockets, shoulder straps,back panel and waist belt help make this pack really light for the amount of stuff this thing will carry securely.

Now I understand that with anything in life there are compromises and all profitable companies have to make them in order to say in business.With that being said Osprey did a killer job at making a pack that has few of them.The only thing that I would really change is the silly vertical zippered pocket on the left shoulder strap. It is too small for a cell phone and if you got one in there it is too heavy and flops around. That material would have been better spent by adding pockets with zippers on the waist belt like on the manta series packs. Oh ya one other thing helmets go on your head not on you pack so lose the hemet retention device and save the weight. If you have to just clip it to the top handle loop or your handle bars old school style.

Give this pack a try or don't but on your next ride carrying a purse is going to get you to legend status in a hurry but not in a good way.

24 Hours of 32x18

After a many-year hiatus from 24-hour team racing, the stars aligned and the conditions were right to crawl out of my presumed retirement. Condition 1: Riding on dirt in February. Condition 2: A direct request that I join a team of fast singlespeed women. "IN!" was all I could say, and soon I was registered for 24 Hours of Old Pueblo.

The moment I clocked out of work Thursday afternoon, the fun was in full force. I drove down with duo racer Cameron Chambers, his lovely better half Amber and support mechanic extraordinaire, Jeremy. A few texts back and forth with GF BWBF, aka Ms. Bossypants (aka Stephanie Jones-son) and we've got an address in Show Low with invitation that we all crash on her Mom's floor, joining her crew of Dug, JC and Sean. Next morning we had a lovely spontaneous BWR breakfast team meeting with all of the above mentioned in addition to Mother and sister of Ms. Bossypants. Half the fun of the weekend was seeing a small glimpse of Stephanie's hometown.

The fun continued in full force. One by one team Singlespeed Sweetness trickled into 24 Hour Town on Friday and I FINALLY met Paula Bohte, fellow Minneapolis homie, who's path I had somehow seemed to narrowly miss repeatedly when we both resided there. I took advantage of the pre-ride to learn the hard way to STAY AWAY from the cholla! And, that night I got a fabulous night's sleep on the floor of Cameron's dad's friend's rolling motel room, ready for my post-retirement era to commence.

Noon Saturday: WMBA's Sarah Gibeau kicked off the le mans start for us, clocked a fantastic time, which was -- for the next 23 hours -- followed by 18 more laps of fantastic times. I was lucky and grateful to have been a part of such a solid team of women riders who provided such positive energy and inspiration all day and all night. The energy and inspiration was equally as high from our mechanical and moral support provided by Jeremy and Beto Villegas, Paula's partner. I think we all shared in the high of our finishing 2nd place in the Women's Open category, just behind a geared team that included a World Cup racer and ex-Olympian.

And, the riding? Well...I was RIDING! On dirt. In February. And, I saved my favorite BWR jersey per the photo above for the final glory lap.

This was the first 24 hour race where I stayed up all night. And, it was well worth every minute.

K-O

Feel your feet underneath you.....no, really.

So, as many of you may have read; I acquired a feisty little case of frostbite a couple weeks ago whilst racing the Leadville Winter Mountain Bike Series. In the past couple weeks, I've been nursing a Franken-toe and struggling with being able to ride because I haven't been able to keep it warm....which is key if I'd like to keep my toe. With the advice, assistance and gifts from many I've finally formulated what it will take to keep my wheels rollin'....and I thought I'd share with y'all so you can keep your tootsies warm too.


1. Multiple pairs of socks...I've been (at least) doubling up on smartwool socks.
2. Little Hotties....those maxi-pad looking things stuck to my socks are little packets of AWESOMENESS. Toe warmers times two is the key - one on top and one on the bottom.
3. It seems like over-kill, but I REALLY like my toes, so I've got some shoecovers too. They're nice and snug around the ankle and help lock in heat.
4. Lastly, I took the advice of my gal-pal Alabama and slammed a hot beverage right before heading out to get my whole body feeling toasty warm. Beverage of choice is Yogi Green Tea Kombucha....so tasty and green tea is just good for you. Duh.


If that doesn't keep your feet warm....I don't know what will. Frostbite aint no joke folks & there is no need to be cold - EVER!

Stay cool...but warm,

Stephanie

First time racing in Colorado…..first time in Leadville….first place!!!....first time with frostbite!?

This past Saturday, Doug and I would venture to the infamous Leadville to participate in one of the lovely Leadville Winter Mountain Bike Series races (presented by the Cloud City Wheelers). I’d like to mention that it’s probably been only a handful of times I’ve been higher than 10,000 feet in my life and having a dose of acli-mate pre-race sure did wonders for whatever altitude-related goofiness I was feeling. WOW. The experience was absolutely magical; riding my mountain bike under a nearly full moon with amazing people, the snow glittering in beams of 1,000 lumens & crunching beneath my beloved schwalbe nobby nic (skinny?!) tires. Oh yeah, all of this occurred in temperatures as low as -6 degrees, but it didn’t matter. Not until after the race anyway…it seems as though I’ve come home with a slight case of frostbite in one of my toes. Super surprising to me, I ended up winning my class...which makes me feel a whole lot better about the possibility that my toe may fall off. HAHA. By the way, the shwag & food was TOP NOTCH. High fives to everyone who raced and especially to my Bandwagon folks & honorary folks who kicked ASS: Kristi, Doug, Eric, Brett & Michael. Peruse the Bandwagon website to see what you kind find about those guys and other stuff…it’ll make the boss happy. And me happy. And everyone….happy. Lastly, if you're a stats geek, check here to see the (my) race by charts & graphs...or here??? :

Oh yeah...be kind to your digits.......& listen to your body.

60 lbs worth of little bricks of awesomeness.

This past weekend, Bandwagon Racing got a delivery from Kate's Real Food. This inspired a crazed reaction from one of our members.....


The bars got divvied up amongst our members and we wasted NO TIME breaking into them out on the trail. Bandwagon is stoked to be fueling with Kate's again this season! Keep an eye out for an array of these little bricks of awesomeness in the Bandwagon online store, which you can purchase while you're picking up your Bandwagon groupie apparel.

New Years Day Ride

Jon and Eric discussing the finer things in life!

Jon, Paul, Trevor, Eric and myself had our inaugural New Years Day ride on Williams. Eric came down from Leadville to join us, not much skiing going on in the mountains right now. The trail was slick and icy in spots but it was fun getting out and riding with some fellow Bandwagon members. Everyone made it down unscathed in the slippery conditions.

Intergalactic Cowboy Cookie Recipe

Greetings & Happy New Years to all ye Bandwagon followers; we hope your Holiday Season was fun-filled and much enjoyed. This last weekend, Doug and I closed out 2011 by joining about 40 others at Pranava's mauna (a silent meditation). Charlotte & Mike (owners of Pranava) are pretty freakin' fantastic and gracious people...Doug & I wanted to contribute in some way so I dug into my arsenal of recipes to bake some delicious vegan cookies for the event. Apparently they were a big hit and some people wanted to know the recipe for themselves....so here it is: (side note: this is not MY own recipe, it comes from "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero)

Vegan Cowboy Cookies:

2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 generous cup vegan choco-chips
1 cup chopped pecan pieces


Be sure to make these cookies with lots of love too, otherwise they won't taste nearly as good. Combine oats, flour, baking soda & baking powder and salt in a big bowl. In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, both sugars, non-dairy milk, flax seeds & vanilla. Dump that wet into the dry and start to fold it in and then add the tasty chips/pecans/coconut and finish combining. Make sure your oven is heated to 350 degrees and portion out approximately 1/4 cup size balls of cookie batter (should be thick & sticky....your chocolate chips may not want to stick though) and place them onto a sprayed cookie sheet a couple inches apart. Press the balls down into little discs ( this cookie dough doesn't really spread much) and pop those babies in the oven. Start your timer at 8 minutes, rotate the cookies and put them in for another 5ish minutes. When they're getting golden around the bottom edges, they're done...allow to cool a couple minutes and transfer to a cooling rack to finish. DEVOUR.


Again, happy new years...may 2012 be everything you make it.

-Stephanie

Kookoo for Kokopellis

This Thanksgiving, Doug Johnson and I spent the long weekend camping and riding the cornucopia of singletrack that the high desert of Fruita has to offer. This was certainly a test of my hardiness and desire to become a better cyclist….oh, and a whole lotta fun too.



We arrived in Fruita on Wednesday night and butted our way into a table (waited patiently) at Hot Tomato Pizza to enjoy some….pizza. YUM! After filling up, we headed off into the darkness of Rabbit Valley to find a suitable spot to camp for the next couple nights. With a little team work and plenty of heckling about my “sleeping bag,” camp got set up …the stars were admired briefly and then it was time for bed.




Thanksgiving day was spent riding at Loma. Basically that place is full of amazing views on top of sweet singletrack that gave me the willies cause I’m still afraid of big rocks and falling off of cliffs….oh, and watch out for the Juniper trees- they’ll get you too. Post-ride, Doug & I enjoyed an epic Thanksgiving feast of sweet potato stew (recipe can be found @ pedals not pistons) & took a stroll around “camp” while I went googoogaga for the sunset that unfolded in the sky.




We spent Black Friday not Christmas shopping, but rather riding from camp on the Kokopelli trail out to the Western Rim for some more amazing views of the Colorado River. After all that, we packed up…hit town so I could enjoy a HOT pumpkin pie latte & Doug an americano and re-stock our water supply. The Bookcliffs & 18 road would be our next destination….funny, how a porta-potty, picnic table and a couple other mtb hungry campers can make things feel less primitive.




The rest of the weekend we zippety do-da’d our way up and down chutes & ladders, mastered one-pan breakfast burritos & staying warm in the desert in late November…and I personally worked on laying off my brakes and not being a giant crybaby. Next year, you should spend Thanksgiving in Fruita too….hmmm.



Thanks for staying on the Bandwagon through the "off-season!"

Sincerely,
a very THANK-full Thumper

High School Series Wrap Up

Now that the Colorado High School racing season is over I thought I might share some reflections about the series. I heard about the high school cycling league last year while I was in eighth grade. The idea of participating in a race where everyone else there was around the same age as me sounded pretty cool, but I wanted to race on a team and my high school wouldn't be able to have one this year. When my dad and I searched for teams in the area, the only team that we could really find was the Cheyenne Mountain High School team. We contacted them and they said that I could come ride with them and see how I liked it. I first rode with them toward the end of the school year and I thought all the people on the team were pretty cool. Toward the end of the summer I was informed that their team would be a composite team, so I could race for them even though I didn't go to Cheyenne Mountain. When the time of the first race rolled around I had no idea how well I would do. I expected to do pretty well, but again, I had no idea how I would do. This is how the series panned out.

Race 1: First, let's just say that lining up at this race was actually difficult. You had to wait 200 feet away from the staging area until exactly the right time before you could line up. Being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I followed these rules. Unfortunately, this earned me a spot in the fifth line from the front. When the race started, I managed to catch up to five other guys in the front. At the first steep little hill, four of them got off their bikes. The other guy pulled up front while I maneuvered around people jumping off their bikes. When we reached the top of the hill, he already had a decent gap on me and he disappeared around the next corner. I almost caught up to him while he was going through some traffic of previous races, but unfortunately I had to deal with the same traffic. Most of the people were cool with letting me pass, but I got stuck behind one guy (in a different division) who moved to whatever side I said was going to pass on. I ended up hitting my head on a tree when trying to pass him, but it really didn't mess me up at all. In the end, I finished with a stellar second place. It turns out the guy that won (Henry) was riding in his first race ever! Nice job!

The three of us behind the leader - Henry Chapman leading me and Jackson Shanley up the first climb at Nathrop

Race 2: This race started out a lot better for me because the top ten riders overall get called up to the first couple lines. Starting in the front row made a huge difference for me. I went out really hard at the start of the race and even held the lead for a little while. Henry passed me as soon as we reached the double track and he was out of sight really quickly. On the second lap my chain fell into the small front chain ring, which was not very desirable on that flat course. At that point I was racing to stay in second anyway, but the chain still kind of annoyed me. I finished second again and I was still really happy with how I did, but maybe it would be cool to win the next race.

Taking the hole shot on the start at Snow Mountain Ranch

Race 3: I really liked the course for this race. I wasn't exactly sure why but it was a lot of fun. This race started similarly to the previous race, with me leading out and Henry passing me before we got too far into the race. There was one section on the course which was entirely exposed and very windy. It was very hard for me to ride because whenever I got there, there was nobody in sight to draft behind. At the end of the first lap, I dropped my chain and spent about 15-30 seconds fixing it. When I started riding again I began to cramp up, but thankfully that stopped fairly quickly. About halfway through the last lap, I shifted going into a turn and what happens? My chain falls off, of course. I spent more time fixing this and I was in third when I got back on my bike. I quickly got back into second and at the very end of the race…. My chain falls off! I ran my bike across the finish line for second place, which I was very grateful for considering the circumstances. Time to buy a chain guide!

Running across the finish at Peaceful Valley (photo Carrie Dittmer)

Race 4: Note to self: Eat a large breakfast on race day (even if you're not very hungry). I learned this the hard way. I expected this race to go very well for me because of the large amount of climbing. It started normally, with me leading everybody up the first hill. Toward the beginning of the race Henry and I already had a gap on everybody else and I tried to drop him when we got to a pavement section. While trying to do this, he passed me like I was standing still. At the top of the next hill, despite my fancy new chain guide, I dropped my Chain! I got passed by Brannan and spent the rest of that lap catching back up to him. Toward the end of the second lap I had a solid 30 second gap on Brannan, but then the inevitable happened. I suddenly got hypoglycemia and pretty much lost my ability to think and pedal (but I didn't drop my chain!). I was passed by three people in the last mile and I rolled in for a fifth place finish. When Jackson passed me he offered to let me draft off of him for the rest of the race, but I couldn't keep up with him anyway. It turns out Henry almost passed the guy who won the race that started 5 minutes ahead of ours. Thanks to the medics for helping me be able to function again after the race.

Finally catching Brennan's wheel after dropping my chain

Henry putting us in the bag

I ended up getting second overall in the series, which is pretty good because of how fast Henry is. Overall, I thought these races were a lot of fun and I will definitely do them again next year.
Brrraaaaaaaap!

Podium for the overall: 1st-Henry Chapman, 2nd-Me, 3rd-Jackson Shanley, 4th-Brannan Fix, 5th Joel Sawyer

2011 Pixie repack

You have been waiting patiently all year, and for that good behavior I reward you with some death defying moments from the 2011 PIXIE REPACK!

It has been said many many times before by our esteemed leader and all around big toe, " the Rope" ,that pixie racing is inherently stupid and completely dangerous, well it will become completely obvious here.

Bandwagon Bike rack

Welcome to the wonderful world of rusty metal.

Latest Bike rack creation.

Typical DJ but this time his nose is the swollen member.

Cargo Bikes are not just for dead bodies

I used to think there was two kinds of friends. The ones that will help you move and those that will help you move bodies. But wait for it, there is also the green kind. The friend that will help you move bodies by bike. Hence the cargo bike.





I decided that I needed a cargo bike.

I know ,I know how does one decided that they need a "cargo bike". Most people can do just fine with a back pack and a townie. I wanted a bike that I could just dump body parts and what not in the back and go.There are a few pre made offerings out there like extracycle,yuba and surly big dummy none of which was what I was looking for,CHEAP. I found a nice steel frame and dug up some old parts that I had laying around. The rest was either donated or purchased at the velo swap. I think I have about $65 bucks in the whole project. I have about 200 miles on the rig now and a new found affection for running errands.~ The Navigator~