10.2.2008 | 10:09 am
A Note from Fatty: My friends at Twin Six have just kicked off their October Four-Day Sale, with jerseys at $45 and t-shirts at $15. Those are killer prices, so now might be a good time for you to stock up on your next-year’s riding gear. Click here to go to Twin Six now.
People who are strictly interested in road riding may not relate to this post. And people who are all about the dirt — and nothing but the dirt — won’t get it, either.
Those of you who — like me — love road and mountain biking equally, on the other hand, are about to become very, very jealous.
The Dream
Whenever I go road riding and I see an MTB trail that intersects the road, my mind wanders up that trail a bit. I have, hundreds (thousands?) of times thought to myself, “I’d like to string together pieces of my favorite road and mountain bike rides.”
I should also mention that I’ve talked to my friend Matt Chester about this dream (Disclosure: I maintain Matt’s website, such as it is. He likes to keep it (and everything else) simple): a bike that was reasonable on the road, but that was also capable on singletrack.
So Matt built me this:
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce my MonsterCross. It’s a Titanium dinglespeed (I’ll explain that in a second) cyclocross bike with extra tire clearance for bigger tires, cantilever brakes and On-One Midge drop bars.
So last Saturday, I got on my new MonsterCross and took it for a ride. I figured a combination of the Alpine Loop road and Ridge Trail dirt network would be a good place to get acquainted.
Start on Road
A “dinglespeed” is like a singlespeed, but with two sets of gears. There’s no derailleur or tensioner involved, so you still have the “direct drive” connectedness that I like so much, but you do have two front rings and two cogs in the back. You change which set of gears you’re going to use by stopping, getting out a wrench, moving the chain onto the higher or lower gearset, pull the wheel back to tension the chain, and then tighten the wheel again.
It takes a few minutes, but the effect is worth it: you get a singlespeed feel, while being able to get around on either the road or dirt.
Since I’d be riding about ten miles before I touched dirt, I started with the bigger gearset: 36 x 16. It’s a good compromise gear; I can ride on the flat without spinning out right away, but I can still climb even the steepest parts of the Alpine Loop — albeit with plenty of standing, rocking, and grunting.
I managed to snap a picture while riding. This is just after Pine Hollow, for locals who care:
Oh, by the way, the temperature was 70 degrees, and the colors are starting to change. In other words, it wasn’t a half-bad day to be on the mountain.
Switch to Dirt
After several miles of road climbing and congratulating myself on picking the best day of the year to be on in American Fork Canyon, I came to my first singletrack turnoff.
A few minutes with the wrench and I went from this…
…to this:
Now, instead of a 36 x 16, I was riding a 34 x 18 — a good (though fairly steep) gear for mountain biking.
Time to hit the trail:
Not too shabby-looking, is it?
The Real Reason for this Post
One of the greatest mysteries in the world to me is why people stop mountain biking when Autumn arrives. It is — at least here — by far the best time to ride. It’s cooler, the trail is usually in better shape, and the view is remarkable.
I gloated these thoughts to myself — much as I am to you, now — as I rode sIingletrack to the top of the Alpine Loop.
From there, I continued — still on singletrack — down toward South Fork Deer Creek.
And here — while trying to take a picture of the changing Aspens — I accidentally got a really good shot of the Midge bars.
And then I was back on road again, now climbing back up to the Summit of the Alpine Loop. It’s a steep enough climb that I didn’t switch back to my “road” gearing. Luckily for me, I had an OK view to keep me company.
Here’s a shot I took while riding my bike up the pavement (these are all raw photos, by the way; I haven’t touched them with PhotoShop or anything else):
And here’s another.
Oh, have I mentioned this is the ride I do starting from my house? Just thought I’d rub that in a little.
Home Again
Back at the top of the Alpine Loop, I rode singletrack downhill to Pine Hollow. Which means I was riding this:
And looking at this:
The view could be worse.
From there, I was back on pavement, with a long downhill back to the mouth of the canyon. And then a few miles back to my house.
In conclusion, the MonsterCross is a success, and I live in a road/mountain bike lover’s paradise.
And I now command each and every one of you to envy me.
Comments (115)
10.1.2008 | 10:31 am
Yesterday, I announced a new raffle (with all proceeds going to the Lance Armstrong Foundation) we’re doing where you can win a Ciclismo Classico tour to Italy.
Well, perhaps you’d rather go see — and ride the routes of — next year’s Tour de France instead?
Well, now you get to choose.
If you win this raffle (see yesterday’s post for details on how it works), you can choose whether you’d like to go on the Maratona of the Dolomites tour or the “Follow the Race in France” tour. If you select the TdF tour, you’ll get to:
- View 3 stages of the race from the best vantage points
- Ride portions of the race before watching the pros tackle them
- Watch firsthand the drama of what I’m expecting to be a very interesting tour (has anyone considered the possibility of having all three people on the final podium be from the same team?)
Click here for more details on this tour.
Quick Recap on How to Enter
To enter this raffle, you simply donate to the Lance Armstrong Foundation via Brad Stratton’s donation page. The more you donate, the more bonus tickets you get. See yesterday’s post for details.
I tell you what: this contest keeps getting more and more awesome.
And huge props to Ciclismo Classico for upping the ante on this prize. Be sure to check these guys out when you’re thinking about taking a bike trip.
PS: More prizes to be announced tomorrow, too!
Comments (30)
09.30.2008 | 12:53 pm
If you could pick any place in the world to ride for a week, where would that place be?
The correct answer, by the way, is "Italy."
And, thanks to Ciclismo Classico, you may very well be riding in next year’s Maratona dles Dolomites.
This is, without question, one of the most awesome prizes — a $4000+ value — I’ve ever had on my blog. And all you need to do to get a chance at winning it is to donate $5.00 (or more) at Brad Stratton’s LiveStrong Challenge page.
What You Can Win
Ciclismo Classico is donating one slot in their weeklong Maratona of the Dolomites Tour for the week of June 29 2009. That includes accomodation and most meals, use of a bike, support, and an entry in the Maratona dles Dolomites, the largest amateur cycling event in Europe. And it ain’t easy to get an entry into this race.
So you won’t only tour in Italy, you’ll get to race in the Dolomites.
Folks, this is about as dreamy as dream vacations get.
By the way, if you win and the date of this particular tour doesn’t work for you, Ciclismo Classico will let you pick another 12-or-more-person tour to go on instead, as long as you go sometime in 2009. Sweet!
For more info about the Maratona of the Dolomites Tour, click here. For info about what’s included (and what’s not), click here.
Oh, and I’ll throw in a 2009 Fat Cyclist jersey, too, as long as you promise to send photos back of you wearing it during your trip.
Other Prizes
Of course, only one person’s going to win the Ciclismo Classico grand prize, but we’ve got cool second- and third-place prizes, too.
Not too shabby, eh?
How to Win
I’m doing the Maratona of the Dolomites giveaway in much the same way I did the Ibis giveaway: you get virtual raffle tickets by donating to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, via Brad Stratton’s LiveStrong Challenge page.
This time, though, there’s a twist.
Like last time, $5.00 gets you one raffle ticket. But this time, as you donate more, you get additional — bonus — tickets. Here’s how:
- $5 donation: 1 ticket
- $25 donation: 5 tickets + 1 bonus ticket
- $50 donation: 10 tickets + 3 bonus tickets
- $100 donation: 20 tickets + 8 bonus tickets
- $250 donation: 50 tickets + 25 bonus tickets
- $500 donation: 100 tickets + 60 bonus tickets
The more you give, the more your chances improve. Click here to donate now.
All the money goes directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation — nobody’s skimming anything off the top.
When Is The Winner Announced?
This contest goes for One Week Only. I’ll choose winners randomly on Wednesday, October 8.
Why This Matters
Of course, it’s really cool that Ciclismo Classico is donating a trip, and it would be really cool if you won it. But the reason we do these raffles goes way beyond that. We’re having fun, but we’re also fighting cancer. And the Lance Armstrong Foundation is doing a great job in advancing this fight.
I’m doing this raffle with Brad because his mom is engaged in a very hard battle against cancer right now. I can identify with his need to do something to help. Not just help his mom, but help anyone and everyone who’s trying to win this fight.
Thanks very much joining in.
PS: A big thanks goes out to Brad for seeking out Ciclismo Classico, and to Ciclismo Classico for stepping up to the plate with an outstanding prize.
Comments (47)
09.29.2008 | 7:17 am
I don’t approve of sexism. I don’t want to be sexist. I try to not be sexist. Really, I do. But I sometimes fail. And I fail to not be sexist (take a moment to untangle that linguistic snarl if you would) more often when I am on my bike than anywhere else.
I have examples.
Racing
When racing, if a guy passes me I will only pursue if I think there’s a reasonable chance I can hang on. If a woman passes me, on the other hand, I will pursue no matter what.
I don’t know why. Maybe it’s so I can club her and drag her back to my cave. Or to demonstrate my great skill at beating my chest and throwing leaves in the air.
I just don’t want to be passed by a girl, that’s all. I’m sure I’m the only guy like this.
Riding
When riding with women, I generally don’t treat them any differently from men. They’re just part of the ride. However, I do seem to be more easily affected by trash talk.
Last Summer, for example, a group of us were riding the Nebo Loop. We were on the 20+ mile climb, and Sam, Rick Sunderlage (not his real name), and Dug had dropped me. "Fine," I thought to myself, "I’ll see if I can hang with Lisa and her friend."
So I did, and I could. I was riding at what felt like the perfect pace to me. And since it had been a while since I had ridden with Lisa — a good friend and neighbor for more than a decade — that was a bonus.
And then Lisa’s friend — sorry, can’t remember her name right now — said, "I can’t believe you have to ride with the girls."
Yep, just like that.
I couldn’t think of anything to say. The only possible redeeming response I could conceive of at the moment was to stand up and ride away, as fast as my legs would take me.
So I spent the rest of the ride in no-man’s (and no-woman’s, too) land, unable to catch the lead group, and unwilling to drift back.
You have no idea how difficult it is for me to be such a dork.
Interbike
I recently got a chance to make a sexist fool of myself at Interbike, too. No, not in that picture with the booth babes. That wasn’t a sexist picture; that was a silly picture. If seven-foot-tall men in bear costumes had wandered by at Interbike, I would have gotten my picture with them, too, and for the same reasons.
Here’s where I’m being sexist:
What? You don’t think I’m being sexist here? You think I’m just riding a trainer? Well, that means you need to see me from a different angle:
You see how I’m being sexist here? Still no? OK, here’s a closeup of the same picture, this time of the screen (click the image for a larger view, if you need to):
You see, I’m trying out RacerMate’s VeloTron DynaFit Pro trainer, which puts you on a simulated course, then shows all kinds of interesting stats.
And there, on the screen in front of me, is…a woman.
So, even though I am in street clothes, even though people are staring at me in disbelief, and — above all — even though the woman is just videotaped, I am racing my heart out.
After a minute or so of this pursuit — during which the videotaped woman stubbornly stayed in front of me — I gaspingly asked the guy at the booth, "What does it take for me to pass this woman?"
"You can’t," he said. "It’s a videotape. When you go faster, so does she. You’ll pass her at the same point on the climb no matter what speed you’re going."
Oh. Yes, well. I suppose makes sense. In which case, I realized, I no longer cared about passing the woman.
In other words, it didn’t matter to me whether the woman was real or not…just whether I had a chance at demonstrating my manliness to her.
I slowed down and climbed off, realizing three very important things:
- I am part neanderthal. A bigger part than I would like to admit (even though I just did).
- A simulation-style trainer like this would be more fun if you could race actual people instead of a video where you pass people at certain points regardless of their speed (It looks like Tacx does this with the Fortius Multiplayer. Gee, I wonder if they’d like to loan me one?).
- I was sweating profusely. Actually, Kenny was the one who noticed this first. "Man, you are soaking through your shirt," he observed. "You’d better go towel off."
More important than any of that, though, is that I now have photographic evidence that when I feel like it, I can ride at a sustained 454 watts.
At least, I can when in the defense of my male chauvinist pig-dom. Which I’m sure is unique in the universe of male cyclists.
My question is: do women do the same thing? That is, do women (real ones, not the ones in virtual reality simulations) attack when guys go by?
I kind of suspect not. But I kind of hope so, because that would make me feel 30% less stupid about myself. Which would be nice.
Comments (114)
09.26.2008 | 11:33 am
I had three main purposes in attending Interbike this year:
- Talk at the Web 2.0 panel
- Goof off
- Write about goofing off
I also had a sub-agenda to start a rumor that I am also Bike Snob NYC, but I couldn’t seem to get any traction with that.
Along the way, I saw a bunch of very cool stuff, and met a lot of very cool people.
And — call it vanity if you must, since that’s what it is — I really, really enjoyed it whenever someone came up to me and said they like my blog and conveyed that their thoughts and prayers are with Susan. In many cases, it gave me a chance to — finally — put a face to a name (or, as happened several times, I would have no idea who the person was until they told me the handle by which they post).
Whenever it occurred to me, I asked Kenny to get a photo of me with folks. So here we are:
And I’m pretty sure a few of you got pictures with your own cameras. If you don’t mind, email them to me, so I can add them to this post.
I’ve got a few more Interbike-related things I want to write about in the next few days, but for right now it seems like a good way to kick off the weekend is to say thanks for reading my blog, and — more importantly — for supporting my wife and me. I’m an extremely lucky guy to have so many friends.
PS: And an extra-huge thanks goes to Kenny, who did a great job with the photos, had more than his fair share of ideas of what we ought to go look at next, and was generally fun to hang out with for five days.
PPS: And an even huger thanks goes to my ma-in-law, who did a great job of taking care of Susan and my family while I was gone.
Comments (43)
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