Tag-A-Long Adventures

Tag-A-Long Adventures
Originally uploaded by babageik

Good times on Saturday-before the rains came!

Jake joined me for some of Pizza ride. We met at Stanley Lane, had donut, coffee and juice and hustled (thanks Grayson) to try to stick with group. 

Out Coombsville to Avenues, we got dropped...

No worries-we chilled, looked for sallys and headed toward Atlas Peak...

Started climb up Atlas Peak, made it to just past Pet Cemetary. Kicked it on the side of the road checking out the scene, a waterfall and munching on Clif product...

Headed down for good speedy time and back across town to get some lunch and chill...

Had to be at least 20 miles, Jake's a trooper!

JRA

Nice work today. 

Totally broke my wrist (third time same wrist) on a "family ride" with Jake today...that will teach me to try and get my wheels off the ground!

Off to ortho tomorrow or so to get re-set and cast...

Freakin' great...

Thanks goes out to Jake, Karlie, Curtis & Mitzi and my Mom and Dad for helping me out today...

Here Kitty, Kitty

Curtis and I did some good exploring on cross bikes last night ... Partrick to dirt to Hess/Redwood and instead of heading into Hess we went right and followed a ton of jeep trails until we were about 1/2 mile away from Hess (to the right). Then more trails until we descended onto Redwood road, close to the bottom (of the Hess portion). A lot more to follow/find/make.

Headed up Redwood to meet with Pruitt. Waited around at top until 8PM, it was fully dark, headed down Veeder a bit, Curtis was cold (vest only), so I suggested hitting up recycling bins for newspaper to stuff under the vest and my wind breaker. As we cruised in near dark (only small lights) I heard something to the right. Deer?

We stopped at a recycling can, tore up some cardboard Swaddlers Diaper packaging and I heard more bush stomping and saw something in dark about 60' from us, crossing the road.

Swaddlers Box helps keep you warm

Used Curtis anemic light first, saw shape.

Switched to mine, saw mountain lion.

Sorta looked like Pete Puma, didn't stick around to see how many lumps he wanted...

Didn't really freak out until it was heading up hill on right side of road and then hearing Curtis worriedly say, "OK, let's go!" Did I mention that "Go" was directly toward the cat?

Funny seeing two grown men race to "survive". Descent down was semi-fast with Curtis passing me once further down the hill and saying "Did you hear that?...Something was running alongside of us back there..." Didn't hear it. Kept moving. Faster.

Got home a lot warmer thanks to the Swaddlers packaging.

Good times.

Ventana is for sale

Well, the time has come for me to let go of one of my most prized bikes-the Ventana El Toro SS.

With the divorce, the Retrotec and the simple reality that I need to keep it up with bike-in: bike-out, I humbly submit my baby to a new owner.

Here's the blurb from CL. I doubt there are buyers that look here, but what the hell--one more chance to document the bike...

I am selling my faithful Ventana El Toro SS.
I am the original owner-bike is very well maintained-no dents, crack. A few paint chips from riding, but nothing extreme.

Sale includes frame, cranks and BB.

Cranks are Truvativ Stylo SS, 180mm and will come with 32 and 34T chainrings. BB is Shimano.

Frame specs:
Seat Tube: C-C 16.5", C-T=18"
TT: Effective is 22.5"
Headtube is 1-1/8" (headset NOT included)
Seattube is 27.2
V-Brake only
Easton Elite 60 Tubeset

I purchased the bike unused from my former boss. It was custom built using lighter tubes and builds to be about a 20-21lb bike without going crazy on lightweight bits (it was 21lb with a King SS wheelset and Fox fork for me).

Very unique paint-it is a translucent yellow/green with what look like cracks in the clear coat. They are meant to be there according to boss and the only instances of paint chipping is from riding (I have included pic of worst one for reference).

Anyway-I wouldn't be selling this bike if I didn't have to, but a new one is on the way, so I must transfer this great bike to someone new.

$500 obo.

Sixty on a Wednesday

Enough of the sad and drama posts-my life isn't all that bad. It was only  8 months ago I was commuting daily to SF for work. What does that mean? Well add 3 hours to my work day. Or actually-more realistically-subtract three hours from my family day. The job was great. The people I worked with were incredible. The commute killed.

FF--->> to 7/2/08.

I work in town.

I can see my son for almost 3 hours after work (On Monday and Tuesday currently).

My job is really cool.

I can get a 60 mile road ride in on a Wednesday, like I did today.

18 mile commute to and from work.

40+ mile road ride with 3000' of climbing after work with great friends.

Nice. 

Real nice.

Oh yeah and I went kayaking last Thursday after work. Listened to a band while floating on the river.  Paddled home in the dark under an almost full moon.

Guess it all isn't so bad.

Just need to know how to look at it.

I'm gonna go get my eyes checked.

Fathers Day

Today was pretty sweet, I saw Jake whom I no longer see most of the week and we spent some quality time together. MOrning was skink hunting on Veeder and then a trip back down the hill to home.

We were heading to lunch with my dad and family so we hooked up the Kidz Tandem Ward was letting me borrow. After a little seatpost modification, we were off. What can I say but WOW! It was so cool cruising with Jake toward downtown. We really had a blast and cousin Kaleb loved seeing us ride.

After lunch we messed around on the new river front while Kaleb chased us, then it was time to mosey to the library to check hours and when the next book sale was.

Jake had a blast riding and we'll be out on it again next weekend as we are helping with the Napa Downtown Grand Prix--a bike race benefitting his school.

I have to say, being Jake's dad is a life saver--makes everything else happening in my world (both good, bad, chosen or not) pale in comparison.

Happy Fathers day Dad, David (soon to be), Stephan,  Stevo, Kirby, Peter, Johnoss, Otto, Bumpa Bill, Grandpa Roughley...hope you all had a great one.

Wildcat

Jefé flexing while Curtis studies map

Saturday headed to Santa Cruz with Curtis and Andrew to do a little adventure race/ride. It was called The Wildcat and was like an Alley Cat with a lot of dirt thrown in. 

Met up with Jeff and Cam and Brian in Santa Cruz and started racing/riding around 12:30---finished around 4:30!

It was pretty crazy-you had to follow a map and hit places all over Santa Cruz, collect utensils, eating vessel and something to share as well as play Bingo along the way. Oh yeah and ride a lot. I borrowed A. Brooks' Ibis Hakkalugi which I am attempting to procure from him (for over a year it seems) and had a blast. 

VERY fun. Got to meet a lot of great folks and ride in new areas I had never been.

VERY challenging trying to keep up with my group of way faster riders--mostly out of fear of getting lost as we had like 4 maps to review and follow as well as find check points.

In the end we were all on the bluffs over the beach, drinking beer, eating really good fresh stew and pasta and sharing stories of the day. 

I would love to send a huge Thank you to Josh and crew for putting on a great event!

Pics on Flickr.

Retrotec SS Progress

About 7 months of waiting in line and scraping $ together have finally come together...the SS is tacked up

Last weekend I was able to help cut and bend tubes for my future Retrotec SS. Really cool as well as nerve-wracking!

Just sold off a bunch of parts from my old SS (Avid SD Ultimate brakes/levers and My King non-disc SS wheels fetched mucho dinero on eBay) to finish off the $$ needed as well as pay Steevo for Pink King Disc wheels...now I just need to figure out disc brakes (leaning toward Shimano XT)...

Now I have to finalize the color scheme, which will definitely be some shade of pink (in fulfillment of a legacy that began almost 7 years ago when Chris and Matt talked me out of painting my Ventana El Fuego that color)...

Pretty cool. Now the dilemma continues-should I sell my Ventana El Toro fame?

More pics on my Flickr (also  swiped and placed on Curtis' Flickr)

BMX Track

Last Sunday we headed over to the BMX track. As a dad I am at odds with myself-both wanting to see Jake rip it around course, while at the same time biting my fingers as he goes "too fast". Well he rocked it out there! Totally at ease over bumps and on berms, it was incredible. After 3 laps and a dad mandated rest, he was off again. This time disaster struck... and not in the course itself. Jake was crossing through some weeds and dirt clods and took a digger-right on his face. Poor little guy had a drop of blood in his nose, a drop on his tongue and a slightly scraped chin. I held him and made sure all teeth were intact and he was OK. After a few precious minutes he started to come around. We still rested and then he wanted to go again. I strongly cautioned to go easy, but then he was off! His little cranks are so close to the ground, he sometimes hits the top of jumps. A few times getting tossed to the side. One of which was kinda painful, brought out a few tears and then he said "I'm OK" and was off again. We ended before folks got too tired (me included) and on the way home stopped for an ice cream at Foster Freeze.

Riding is fun. Riding with your son is better than anything on earth.

here's a really choppy video (taken with my Canon Elf) to try and show you how much he rocked...(sorry about side-ways, freakin' Blogger won't properly upload my rotated movie).

Memorial Weekend

2 different shoes pretty much sums up our ride...guess I need to pay more attention to what I grab! At least they were two different feet!

Becerra is back!

Start at 7:00-ish. End at 9:30ish...total distance—5 or so miles. Still had fun!

One of Johnoss Lambrettas...

"See that hill Prosser? I dropped you back there..." 

Johnoss schoolin' me on East Bay mtn biking and such. Lake Chabot in foreground.

Pretty interesting weekend. Sum it up quick-like;

Friday got Rich Becerra back on trails after like 7 years with a very interesting day/night ride in Angwin. 

How should I put it? Not everyone had lights, there was new folks (to biking) in our group, the usual maladay's occurred. It was a short, ride, a long time out there (mechanicals and such) and something I look forward to doing on Fridays now...

Saturday was Pizza ride in AM, got rained on a little. Next up I messed (again) with my Intense Spider's pivot bolt and despite breaking it before (while using a torque wrench to proper setting), I freakin' couldn't leave well-enough alone and proceeded to break it again — the day before a race/ride in Marin! Thankfully my "local" Intense dealer (CVC-Johnoss) is only a short 120 mile round trip away. Headed to east bay, got part and had Johnoss drag my sorry ass around Lake Chabot and up a lot of hills (on a new FSR none-the-less...those bikes ARE fast). Good times in the East Bay, I miss my Johnoss time, to bad Grady wasn't around too.

Sunday was Tamarancho Mtn Bike Race. Suckered Rich Becerra into his first race in 7 years. Met Otto out there. Rough climb (for Rich especially) to race start-essentially a 2-3 mile road ride/hill climb to start/registration. Did sport class, felt pretty good out there. Was too lackidasical on start, let most of my class go ahead on launch. Too bad it ended up a long single track climb! Stuck behind people slower than me (amazing but true). Able to pass about 5 folks and motor along pretty well. Finished 2 laps in 1:03. Mark Weir finished 3 laps in less time. I am no pro. Had fun. Beat Otto by 30 minutes (he had 2 flats) and Rich by 1 hour. It was a fun time!

Sunday evening was BBQ at Michael and Christina's house. Good eats and friends. Rode over on bikes with Curtis and Mitzi. Got to watch Curtis and Andrew install new SRAM RED bits on Michaels' bike--isn't that what BBQ's are for?

Monday was time with Jake (finally). We hung out after a good egg and bacon b-fast. Built some legos, read some books and messed around in yard. Jake's been schooled abit morethan I expected by Cari on what is going down, hard for me to really accept-but he seems to be taking it relatively well. He and I saddled up on the Kestrel and Tag-a-long to ride to Pap and Yaya's house for BBQ. Rocked the whole new bike path in Napa, pretty cool to ride without worrying about cars--look forward to it being all over town. Nice to hang at parent's house and see other family members, although it was a bit uncomfortable with Cari there and all. Gotta get more used to the situation, something that is not coming easy to me —especially given all that is going on and her relationship. Anyway, in time I guess...

Back on bike with Jake and onto more work on Stonebridge yearbook until 1AM...

What can I say? Stay busy. Try not to focus on bad/negative (I am about 65% successful right now in this endeavour). Give Jake all the loving and attention I can. Ride my brains out. Repeat.

Not too many pics, camera was here and there.

Grasshopper #5-Lake Sonoma

"Back at Car"...Stick communication was key...

Saturday was the final Grasshopper and again, we gathered up the lucky souls who would head out to race/ride the event. Things were going to be interesting for sure as the temps were slated to be around 100 degrees, the course called for lots of climbing and, well, it sounded hard. It was.

The omens were out there early for Otto, my friend I talked into going on his first Grasshopper. He called me at 8PM Friday to say he just remembered, as as he was eating dinner, that his bike which he was going to pick up earlier was indeed at the shop, and the shop had closed at 6:30.

 Nice.

I convinced him to ride his old bike, which he hadn't been on in a year. He agreed. Sucker.

His next call, as he was 30 minutes from my house, was to inform me that he had shoes, but no pedals. Jeezus! Luckily, I had a pair of crank brothers pedals on my fixed gear (I use TIME on other bikes), so no sweat, he could borrow my pedals.

He then gets to my house and has no camelbak and only one water bottle. Did I mention it was calling for temps above 100? I know I had told him that. Luckily, Curtis gave him an extra Camelbak he had. Very nice and Thanks Curtis.

Morning of we head out a bit late and end up getting to the event about 5 minutes before start. 5 naked guys in the Lake Sonoma lot surprised some families, but somehow we made it to the start in time to find all of the maps (maps are CRUCIAL for these events) were handed out. Uh oh...

LIke the blind leading the blind we headed out onto a long road climb before the dirt. I scored a map laying on the side of the road and told Otto we had a map. Too bad he didn't stay with me.

Once in the dirt, I was too excited/scared/nervous to ride too slow and proceeded to keep moving. I saw another map laying in the dirt and hoped Otto had the sense to pick it it (he didn't).

The course called for 25 miles or so with something over 5000' feet of climbing. The trails were incredible, I would say 90% singletrack for the race and really fun. There was a lot of climbing. Also a lot of folks flatting out there. I somehow came upon Curtis, Kathleen and the Crizzler™—they were helping Kathleen fix a broken chain. I pedaled on...

As I rode for about ten minutes, a fantasy came into my head where I finished ahead of Curtis. That bubble was busted about 3 minutes later as he caught me and pedaled on.

My next delusion was that I would finish in front of Kathleen, Curtis' nemesis. That bubble burst about 10 minutes later.

I resolved to at least finish before the Crizzle (he was on a SS by the way, so my feat wasn't exactly equal).

As the race moved on, the temps went up and it became evident that Otto, without a map, was gonna be screwed if he didn't follow someone. Even with my map, I still checked in at a couple of junctions with other riders to make sure we were heading the right way.

On top of the heat, the largest thing looming over my head was the long, steep climb to the finish on a road aptly named "Bummer Hill". I could not shake the thought of it and when I realized 2X that I was farther out and hotter than expected, the race which was always a ride for me, turned in just hoping to survive to the finish.

It was crazy to see how many people were f' ed up by the heat. One really fast woman I came upon had been sitting in a creek for 40 minutes-totally suffering from heat stroke. The crew around her nursed he along to the finish. Me, myself-I settled into a real slow pace and dreaded every descent (as I knew it only meant that much more climbing). Well I came upon ol' Bummer Hill and set to walking. Walking slowly. VERY slowly. I wasn't cramping, I was HOT and done. I had drained 1-70 ounce Camelback and 4 water bottles up to this point. It was a welcome sight to see folks milling around at the finish. I made it in 4:15. curtis smoked me by 20 minutes. Andrew was in the top 10. Jeff was up there too. 

Where was Otto?

2 more water bottles downed at the finish and 30 minutes of waiting and no Otto. Now I was getting worried. There is NO access out there. And it's out there. We heard of a guy in a skeleton jersey sitting on Bummer Hill saying this is "Dangerous". Otto had a skeleton jersey. Curtis and I began the ride back DOWN Bummer only to find it was a different guy. He hadn't seen Otto. Neither had the Helmet-less Euro guy on the Moots walking up the trail in socks (his cleat was stuck in his pedal-we helped him out of it and sent his delirious-ass on the way up).

Farther down Bummer we went when we encountered Heather. She was having a rough day and said she was "last". She had not seen Otto. 

Oh shit. It's now like 1.5 hours since I finished. I'm freaking out inside. I leave broken sticks in the shape of an arrow hoping Otto will see them and head to the finish. Curtis tells me we need to go notify a ranger, as there is nothing we can do. He also says, " I bet Otto went back to the car". I hope he did.

Another walk up Bummer and we see Jefé and Otto! Hot damn! I am so glad he is alright. He had returned to the car after only 5 miles of the race. Thank God he was alright.

To say we were cracked was an understatement. The trip top the post-race BBQ and pool party was kinda a bust as the catered food was gone. The pool felt great though. We decided to head back to Napa and get dinner at Azzurro. A call in about 10 minutes out to have food ready saved the day. We inhaled 4 pizzas and order of Pasta, 2 salads and were gifted with a new chocolate polenta cake Michael was testing and 4 bowls of ice cream. A. Men...

Easily the toughest G-Hopper to date-primarily because of the temps. I am glad to have actually completed the 5 race series though...met a bunch of great folks and found out a little more of what I am capable of... can't wait until next year.

A few pics on Flickr (too hot to shoot on the ride)...

Ketchup

Jake and the Bearded Dragon at Reptile Club...we're stoked to be leading a snake hike in August!

Jake rocking Alston in the field of dreams...

Took some pics of Curtis Brazing a frame...

Super combo post...Little text. Go to my Flickr for pics.

Thanks M. Welby for the Hula song, totally reminded me of my old boss at Tesser who was always playing the ukelele joints. 

In my own music flash back, I spent last night scooping up some old Steady B and MC Ant, followed it up by blasting PE "Yo Bum Rush the Show" today...ahhh yes, my roots are in hip-hop, but now there is so much more...

Grasshopper-Kings Ridge

Pre-race with Lemurian Class Winner A. Brooks...

Grasshopper#4 was a blast! Good ol' Levi Leipheimer showed up again as did a BMC pro Scott Needham...of course Levi won.

The week proceeding was filled with all sorts of nerves..how much climbing would we be doing? Could I do this? All further  frenzied by A. Brooks incendiary emails and warnings to bring our "A" game. "A" game? C'mon now, I'm like a Category 8 rider. I'm heavy. I can't climb well. "A" game! Anyway, I mistakenly looked up the course profile before the event and freaked a bit more, but then settled in to whatever mode. If it gets too hard, I can always walk. I bought Bicycle Works out of processed food stuffs, tubes, CO2's and new brake pads. Ate at Azzurro the night before and even had breakfast the day of. I was ready as I was ever gonna be.

Crazy ride, really cool with tons of climbing and virtually no cars. Was involved in my first crash. Coming back down the road (missed turn) with two friends, I was leading and started to slow to ask directions from riders heading other direction, just in time to hear my friend Chris (behind me and much bigger than me) yell, "Ken!" He hit me from behind/back side (I stayed upright somehow) and went flying off the road onto his back and then bushes. Then my friend Michael hit Chris' rear wheel and flipped into dirt on side of road. While Chris was in the air his rear tire exploded, scared the hell out of everyone. Luckily no one was really hurt although Chris' jersey was shredded on the back and his helmet was destroyed. Michael's chi-chi R-Sys wheel snapped a spoke too. Chris is super human, he brushed it off, fixed his flat and was asking who else was going to join him back "on route" for the 7 mile dirt descent! I stayed with Michael and his broken Mavic-we had to cock it a bit in the drop out so it wouldn't rub on the fork. Bear in mind we were about 40 miles into an 80 mile ride!

Michael nursed the Mavic through some seriously screaming downhills (18% signed grade on road) onto Jenner. I convinced him that we only had 10 or so miles to go and he went along. Funny thing though the remaining 10 miles were mostly a dirt road climb! He flatted 2X with his Michelin Prorace 3's (I had swapped to heavier Conti's in anticipation of dirt).

Anyway, we finished the ride which was really cool and had a blast in doing it. Didn't end up being the total crusher I feared, we skipped two sections (dirt descent and a serious steep climb), but still got 70 miles with 7,500' or so feet of climbing. And spent Sunday pretty slow with Jake-mo as I was much more sore than I imagined!

And yes, we didn't "officially" do the entire ride...I did notify them of fact at finish...guess I was assuming that given the circumstances of the day (crash and all), my general ranking (somewhere near the bottom of the event) and the fact we at least made it back without hitching a ride-all qualified my fat ass as at least nearly last and not DNF.

Here's a comparison of my ride and my friend Peter's ride (way to go Peter you and Andrew were the only ones of our group to finish the entire ride correctly)...

My MotionBased suck-etude

Peter's MotionBased

Of course, I am fully willing to take my punishment—how about I race the final G-Hopper and then Tamarancho? Maybe even do Tamarancho on my SS...

Pics? Yep, lots of them, go to my Flickr page.

Thanks again everyone who organized the Grasshopper, they are truly outstanding events with great courses, and really fun folks.

Jake time

Quick post...

This past weekend was pretty cool, Saturday I got back into my Saturday Morning group ride. Really fun to see the gang and do some extra miles in beautiful weather. Ended up hitting Dry Creek with a small group and then peeling off to do Veeder with Patrick. Crazy how much difference the higher temps make, still go in about 45 miles on a beautiful day. 

Funny thing, Dry Creek to Veeder is my favorite local ride. So much so, that my identified "happy place" (as recognized with my therapist), the place where I have the most clear thoughts is out there. Anyway, I've been hitting the route up on Wednesday's with Curtis and some of the crew from Bicycle Works—usually end up descending in the dark (also fun)—to the tune of 25-35 additional miles in the middle of the week. Does a lot for my thinking and future. One benefit; it seems like I am getting a little stronger (or maybe it is more used to) the climbing out there. Whatever it is, I like it and will keep moving forward...as I have always believed, it's nice to ride with stronger people (almost everyone is over me)—helps elevate my game and keeps me breathing!

Sunday was big plans—Jake and I where gonna combine two things-a trip to Angwin to watch some of my friends race and to look for skinks. We were successful in both. Walking around the course, we were able to see everyone as they finished the race; Andrew, Curtis, Tom from Content Works, George Hope, Leslie, even Jiro from the old King days. While out on the course we were flipping rocks and logs and finally found it—the blue tailed skink! They're fast little guys and drop their tale (as this one did) in the blink of an eye. Jake was hooked and soon we had a sweet blue belly. We hiked up the super steep drop in and on the way up Jake showed his skills by catching a nice sized blue belly by himself on a fence post. Rock on! His enthusiasm and skills make me so proud!

From there we hung around the finish line chatting and watching the festivities. Jake was stoked to get a free ice cream sandwich from some real pro's from the Kona team—it paid off as we ended up waiting longer than expected before heading to lunch. Jake was just "one of the guys" at the Azteca market in St. Helena as we munched on burritos, orange rice and Boing! Peach drinks. He cracked us all up as he announced half-way through lunch that there weren't any girls! Just a simple observation of our all male-group, but funny as it also pertained to bike racing in general (although there are getting to be more ladies). 

After lunch Jake and I headed to Dry Creek road to look for some more newts and skinks. We parked and hiked along the creek where we caught a bullfrog. Jake again surprised me when he caught another blue belly all by himself. His skills are incredible and he's very responsible (gentle and careful) with the animals.

Our last stop was for a Keva Juice smoothie as it was still really hot at 6PM. We headed home for a bath and dinner before hitting the couch to read a Choose Your Own Adventure. Awesome day.

As I have said before, our family situation is going to change sooner than (I) ever hoped, but it only gives me more energy and enthusiasm to channel toward this wonderful little person.

* Sorry no Angwin pics, I had the camera on the wrong setting accidentally and they're all jacked up...

Words

Today...
Work went by
Onto road bike for ride
Head out at 5:30
P.M.
Redwood Rd to Hess
To Bicycle Works
More friends join
Dry Creek To Veeder
Darkness Falling
Climb Veeder
Darkness Falls
I have no light
Moon almost full
Others leave lights off
Mostly...
Darkness
Descent
No lights
Fast
Faster
Too fast
Trust yellow line
Smile inside
and out
Home by 9
Life is good
This is just the start...

Grasshopper #2

Here I am...Grasshopper #2
Photo courtesy of kimdow at Flickr

Quick one on Grasshopper #2 as I had a dead battery in camera and not too many pics to show the incredible ride we had Saturday.

The nutshell goes a little somethin' like this...

All the online weather folks were calling for the end of the world on Saturday--thunderstorms, lightning, 70% chance of rain and on and on...I was in until Curtis said Jeff and Cameron (much stronger riders and his barometers of whether to go or not) were saying no way (that was on Friday night)...I was fine either way, he agreed to call me first AM Saturday and we'd decide then.

7:00am rolled by, then 7:30...OK cool, I'm doing the Azzurro ride, no need to worry about braving the weather in Occidental...ahhhhh, then like 7:35, the phone rings..."we're going! and Peter's going too!"
Oh damn, it's on. At least with Peter I would have my familiar wing-man out there suffering along with me...so get up, dress, down coffee, down cereal, say goodbye to Jake and hop in Scion for trip out.

Rain? Uhhh, no. Try blue skies and wind. Still had jersey pockets stuffed liek a squirrel for winter with heavy-ass rain coat, food, electronics, money, license...There were a ton of people out there, at least 150. One dude stood out, none other than Levi Leipheimer was there to race. Mind you this is a free event, no support, no prizes...guess the lack of a tour invite puts him out with us folk--pretty cool I had to admit. By the way the only time I saw him was at the start. He won (of course), did 65 miles with 6,000 feet of climbing in 2:59:00...

My "spy shot" of Levi...I had dreamt I would be able to get a better one at end of race..maybe if I finished closer to him (which is physically impossible for me)

Out we headed in a neutral roll-out, although this time it was a bit faster paced and a little jumpy. We owned teh road for 8 miles until the fist pee-break. I was ready to pop and needed it. Of course with shy bladder, unit hanging out side of road-style and some other dude intent on talking to me while I tried to pee didn't help...it was a no go for too long. When I finally got the deed done, I was fighting to catch back onto the end of the pack. After a few miles I did, got up to Peter and just kept pedaling (sorry Peter, my nerves got the best of me). I ended up joining Alexis from Norcal Velo and a guy named Jim-we ended up staying together the entire time, and boy did we need it-the wind was a crusher and would have sucked to be alone out in it (again-sorry Peter, you are the man for doing it alone).

We rode in some really cool areas near Dillion beach, along Tomales Bay and out to the Marshall "Wall" lots of climbing and super fast descents with the wind blowing you side-ways. If you haven't guessed it, I hate the wind. It was maddening. I couldn't hear, it was in our face for like 2 hours at least and made things pretty tough all-around. With the course calling out 70 miles or so, at 63, I was stoked to know we were close. On last climb up to Occidental and Alexis and I rolled across the line together at a healthy 4:28:00, Jim was 2 minutes back after he discovered his seat bag was open!

Burritos and good company were in order as we waited for Peter. He made it across about 1 hour later and we headed back to Napa and saw at 4:00PM the first rain! Oh yeah, a necessary stop for fresh, organic bread at little bakery in Freestone was in order too, yummy goodness...

I really am glad I am getting out to do these rides and spend time with new friends and folks, it's a great spirit in the air and a wonderful time to be had while punishing yourself physically! See you all at #3...

As always, check out my Flickr, The Grasshopper Flickr Page or Motionbased for all the details I could acquire...

Designed in the USA

Quick one...

Saw this interesting link from Bicycle Design Blog, details to a good extent, where bikes actually come from. Having connections to the Taiwan side of the bike industry, a lot of this was not news to me, but still some interesting info.

Where was your bike really made?*

Personally, I try to buy American made frames and parts-nowadays though that pretty much limits me to King product and high-end steel frames. In my garage I take a certain pride in knowing where my bikes came from, and in the case of my Retrotec (still to be built), I know who made it. My overall reasoning is that I am supporting American workers who are (hopefully) getting paid reasonably well for what they are doing. And in the case of King, and employer who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk in terms of commitment to employees and environment.

Let's see I currently have the following bikes:

1. Intense Spider XVP+ King HS & Hubs—USA
2. Ventana El Toro SS+ King HS & Hubs—USA
3. Indy Fab Crown Jewel+ King HS & Hubs—USA
4. Cannondale XS800—USA
5. Kestrel 200SCi+ King HS—USA
6. Kestrel MXZ—USA
7. Surly Steamroller—China or Taiwan

Friends of mine have been fooled by the stickers that come on many bikes now-a-days, with the huge US Flag and smaller type that says "Designed in USA/California/Morgan Hill..."-a bit too misleading for my taste. I understand Taiwan to be a rising star in carbon fiber production and they've been doing aluminum well for a long time, so I am not saying the bikes are junk. I just choose to spend my money where it counts (more) to me and with manufacturer's whom (I hope) are more environmentally and socially responsible than some of the Chinese manufacturers I have read about (sorry for gross generalization before).

*So the list is not totally accurate according to those who know a lot more. My point still stands-know where you are buying from, don't be mis-lead by decals and such.

Saturday with Grady

Headed to Ess Eff on Friday night to prep for a good long road ride with ol' G-Sharp Saturday. He and his wife Dena have an incredible house in Bernal Heights neighborhood, and we planned to use our location to hang-out, get some food and maybe do a little drinkin' (something I haven't done for a real long time). I also remembered my good friend Rich lives in the same general area, so a call was made, plans enacted to meet later and off we went. How did it go? Reaaaaal nice. Sharp is one of my closest friends, and given what is going on, I needed a sound mind to share with. His advice and insight are always appreciated—essentially what the weekend was about...listening and sharing.

Anyway, there was some Al Green records to listen to, some red wine to be drunk and then off to eat some sushi at a place called Moki's. Real good place, really fresh maguro and large Sapporo helped out. Headed to a neighborhood bar where we met up with Rich, some Guinness, the old pal Jameson and very entertaining conversation with a transplant from Akron on her way to New Orleans...ah to be young and totally naive...

Morning came a bit too soon given the amount of drinkin', but Dena hooked us up with some good strong coffee, eggs and, you guessed it, BACON. God bless the swine. Thank you so much Dena!

Well there was nothing to do, but do it, so we headed out groggy and ready to test our mettle through the city. I am always amazed at the variety of neighborhoods, each one filled with new restaurants, shops and people...totally cool, totally alive.

Bernal is on one side and Marin on the other end, so the wiggle through neighborhoods and such was eye opening and helped get us out of groggy and into being alert. Soon we were dodging hammers on the GG bridge, thankfully Grady had full command of his bike bell... Another stop in Sausalito at Cafe Trieste for more coffee and we were off to Fairfax. There were a ton of riders out there that day, especially given how beautiful it was. Best part is getting out onto backroads, Alpine Dam and Tam. The climbs were rough given our night before, but the purpose was to cruise and enjoy the day which we did successfully. All told we got like 67 miles with a little over 6000' of climbing in on an incredible day. Dena again came through with a delicious dinner of grilled chicken covered in Tapatio, arugula and Goat Cheese salad on some grilled beets, and red quinoa with corn...My plate was cleaned!!

A huge thank you goes out to both Grady and Dena, your hospitality and insight are well received and much appreciated. I look forward to many more rides and times together.

More images on my Flickr page...

One more Grasshopper Pic

The cool thing about the interwebs is how much sharing you can now do. On the Grasshopper, I met another rider shooting the same spot I had just come upon. After looking around on flickr, I found his photos (very nice I might add) and this one of me (which I had no idea he took).

Anyway, it's visual proof I at least started...

That's me in fat-hiding argyle, next to the fastest Inglis out there.
Photo courtesy of Jon Suzuki

Grasshopper #1

Today marked my second "race" of the year. I say "race" because for me, for my fitness level and shape, it is far from being competitive, it's closer to being alive.

As my life takes an entirely new direction, I made a vow to myself to not succumb to utter sadness and negativity. Although not easy and not accomplish-able everyday, I intend to honor my personal vow and do what I can not only for my mental well-being but my physical as well. That means riding my bike more. It means pushing myself a little bit harder than before to see what I can actually do when I set my mind to it. The application will be applied not only in cycling, but also in my highest priority, my son, and my everyday life.

To that end, I come to my second race this year. The first in a series known as the Grasshopper. Most are held in the rugged hills around western Sonoma county and involve a road bike at times, a cross bike at times and you guessed it, a mountain bike. Today's journey was 50 or so miles on paved and unpaved roads/trails via the recommended cross bike. All told there ended up being about 5000' or so of climbing which kicked my butt. The leaders crushed the course in 3 hours. I survived the course in 4.

My weapon of choice was my trusty Cannondale XS800 which has been with me longer than any of my bikes (had it for 8 years), taken me up and down Romero Canyon in SB, from Halfmoon Bay to SB on HWY 1 and all kinds of adventures in between. On Curtis' recommendation I swapped teh cross tires (knobby bits) out for my 28C Conti Top Touring 2000's. In hind sight, I think a knobby rear would have been a better choice, but I made it through upright and in one piece! Swapped seat out to my Fizik Arione for comfort and basically kept the headshock in the "on" position for 40+ rough miles---that 1" of travel is nice on rough roads--especially with the aluminum frame.

Walking was involved on the last climb as my upper legs were doing that thing they do just before a serious 2 legged cramp. I must say it was incredible! The feeling I got, being so far out into the middle of (seemingly) nowhere was awesome...mustering up my courage (I'm a bit shy at first) to meet new people is coming easier with each outing as I generally go with a group of much faster people and do the rides/races alone.

Anyway, there seemed to be about 200 riders out for a race that had no entry fee, no prizes and no support. We rolled out peloton style for about 7 miles—a neutral roll out which saved me I am sure. The pace was higher, but do-able. The road turned quickly to a supersharp driveway (essentially-it was a road, but very narrow and small) which designated the first climb. What a killer! The pavement went away after a gate and more climbing on leaves and rocks was under-way. The downhill that followed was a blast, I was doing pretty well until I heard my front tire blow out. Damn! My adrenaline and nervousness kicked in as I fumbled to change it as quickly as possible. The group, including my appointed (by me) riding partner flew by, never to be seen again.

Well I settled in and took a ginormous climb or two or three in stride and slowly and soon was back onto flat land headed to HWY 1. My map reading skills (we were all handed a laminated map to help not get lost on the small roads and trails) were lacking and I just wan't sure exactly were to turn. After waiting about 5 minutes another rider came along and we rode together.

My next enemy, headwind reared it's head as I tried to keep up and help pull the much stronger rider. Then, the rain came! WTF! Just minutes before I was on a ridge in 60 degree sun and now it's raining on me. I didn't have time to plop the arm-warmers back on and continued in short sleeve jersey. I was soon dropped by my riding partner, but picked up two more folks who I introduced myself to and joined for the remaining 15 miles or so.

The last climb seemed to go on forever, so a little walking was involved. Then just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, I saw Curtis parked by the final gate snapping my pic and cheering me onto the finish...Grabbed some more water, said hi to his dad and rolled onto the sweet paved downhill and finish line.

After the ride, Curtis said none other than Levi Leipheimer rolled up to him in full Astana gear and asked where the lead pack was! Crazy!

Damn fine. I wish Kirby, Steve, Grady and Johnoss could join me out on the next one...It's a true test of yourself and topped off with incredible views and great company. I'd like to thank the race organizers for a great day, a well organized event and a fun time...see you at the next one in a couple weeks

A little panorama from the day...

It's official, my time listed was 4:19, good enough for NOT last place! Looks like I was 112/~140...nowhere to go but up right??

Here's a link to the Grasshopper Blog/Info

I posted more pics on my Flickr page....