NorCal Bikers

This is Bicycling!

2012-01-09T14:28:00.001-08:00

Giant Sully, a photo by fenriq on Flickr.

Do you remember that feeling when you first swung your leg over a bike and pedaled off on it?

The look on my son's face here is that same look, the expression of pure happiness in just the simple act of pedaling a bicycle around a dirt course.

In becoming a parent I am able to view and review the world through my kid's eyes. They are astonished by the world around them. The world is non-stop magical awesomeness to them.

And that feeling of freedom and self-empowerment when you pedal a bike all on your own is one of the purest and most wonderful sensations there is.

I love riding bikes with my kids because they make me feel like a kid again too.

Bike Build 2011 aka Turning Wheels for Kids

2011-12-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

A sea of bike boxes awaits.

This past Saturday was the Bike Build 2011 aka Turning Wheels for Kids in San Jose. The basic idea goes something like this, get a large number of donated bikes, get a large number of motivated bike mechanics, put them together and have at it. This was my second year doing it as I rather enjoyed it last year!

2700 bikes in 4 hours. I built 4 myself (I think I built 5 last year). Would have gotten more done but that stupid front derailleur was seriously killing me. Spent nearly 45 minutes on it alone. Had to remind myself that the kid this was going to wasn't likely going to be able to adjust the thing on his or her own.

Ooooh, right tilt.

Anyway, building the most bikes wasn't the point. Building bikes so that they were the safest possible introduction to bicycling was really the main point. A good thing to remember when your "building" blood starts flowing.

Ooooh, slight left tilt.

Here's a bunch of pics in sequence that might help give an idea of what it was like. I wish there was a sweet video of me riding an oversized trike around the whole place but that would be too easy and, apparently, I've done something to irritate my auto-focus.

Also, big shout out kudos to whoever got the Andy's BBQ for lunch. The pizza was fine last year and all but the BBQ this year really was bitchin'! The only downside is that all the bikes were done being built by the time we finished eating and got back inside.

Some dedicated and very fast build teams. I think the Team Specialized team had something like 18 or 20 of the Raleigh mountain bikes (the ones with the wonkedity front derailleurs) all arranged out in front. It was definitely a competition for them and they ripped it up.

Further on down the stack of bikes.

I didn't get as much of a chance to tour the floor this time. Just one quick buzz towards the end, the build went much more quickly this time around it seemed.

And there were quite a bit fewer over-inflated inner tube explosions. But enough to make it fun!
Better, or at least more, pictures down below.

Elf, Santa, Bike Angel! Sweet!

Cyco-somethings. Hard to remember, apparently easy to ride.

Wanted to try it, did not get a chance.

Final inspection and sorting area.

Eager bikes await some pumped kids to whale on them!

Even the pink bikes got all flashy excited too.

These guys did team handstands.

These ladies curtsied.

These toughies charged me!

A sea of health, hope, fun and happiness. (Needs helmets)

These green fellas wanted their bottom brackets rubbed.

Things get a little loose after graduation.

How many can you count on/in the dumpster?

Debris. Detritus. Splattzlegraffle. Whatever you call it.

Feets of cardboards

Mandatory Sidepaths Relegate Bike's to Sidekick Status, Sign the Petition

2011-11-29T08:50:00.001-08:00

The S. 1813 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act requires cyclists on Federal lands to use a path or trail, instead of roads, if the speed limit is over 30 MPH and a trail exists within 100 yards, regardless of its condition or utility of the path. What does that mean? It means bikes are being pushed into the margins and off the roads.

Bikes have every right and reason to use the roads we have in place, more so than the cars really.

Please go and sign the <a href="http://www.bikeleague.org/petition/">League of American Bicyclists Petition</a> even if you aren't a cyclist, you almost certainly have friends or family that does ride a bike and wants to be treated like everyone else on the road.

TiltShift Mojo

2011-10-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

Tilt shift miniature Ibis Mojo (yes, old school steel with the Hand Job).

Taken a few minutes after dropping in at Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos, California. It is not the amount of miles in the ride but the amount of ride in the miles that is the important part.

I do enjoy going on multi-hour epics, don't get me wrong. There's almost nothing better than starting the roll on of a four hour nothing but riding ride. Well, the nothing but riding part might not be wholly accurate, there are photo stops, hydration breaks, smoke breaks and bathroom breaks.

But the point is that there's something calming and special about setting off for a long ride, be it road or mountain. The adventure is just starting and it will unfold (hmmm, accidentally typed funfold first, new word, cha-ching!) just in front of your front wheel. It sometimes takes longer but, eventually, the cares of the day are left behind, the worries, the hassles, the arguments, the seething resentments and that nasty pile of dishes you should have done before leaving. Don't worry, they'll be there when you return.
But the promise and premise of the long bike ride is the ability to leave those problems behind you. One cannot, or at least I cannot, think about the last argument with my wife while also trying to pick a line to climb up or descend down through a technical section. It just does not work. And I learned that well on the one tough, technical climb early on in the Nisene ride. I had not gotten into the riding zone yet and, on a climb I can usually clean (that is, climb without stopping or putting a foot down) forced me to stop six or seven times.

Sure, some of that might have been the Vicodin fog I've been forced to reside in since last week when I had a fractured and dying tooth extracted. I've gone a few hours between pain killers and the bone ache in my jaw is manageable but its also constant and draining. The vicodin takes the edge off that ache and lets me think about and do other things.

Anyway, it sometimes takes a few extra miles to ditch the problems one calls "Life" by the side of the trail. But it does happen and you'll find yourself thinking down the trail ahead, taking in the natural splendor all around, hearing the rustle of leaves, the far, far off braying of the wild donkeys in the park, the rays of the sun glinting off dust in the air and making momentary light shows for you and you alone.

These days I usually plan on two loops of the track I've been running in Nisene. The combined mileage is somewhere between 10 and 12 miles with a good bunch of climbing and some very technical descents. But I had places to get to yesterday so I stopped after one loop but it was enough to break out of my brain trap this last week had gotten me in.

One other new aspect about my ride yesterday was that I headed to my gym which is close to the trail so I could shower up. I cleaned up, sat in the sauna for a few, washed off, sat in the hot tub for a few and then showered up. But what I'm doing while I shower is to have one shower head with regular hot water on my upper body and the shower head next to me set to the coldest water possible and that water is directed at my legs. What I'd really like is a cold plunge tank to climb into to push the lactic acid out of my muscles more effectively but I'm finding doing the cold water shower rinse has really helped me recover more quickly.

It is not the amount of miles in the ride

but the amount of ride in the miles.

Because They Could! Super Monster (36x8!) Fat Tire Bike!

2011-10-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

UndergroundVelo 36x8 Vintage Fat Bike, WTF!?

Saw this monster posted on G+ earlier today and have not been able to close the tab since. I keep coming back to gawk at this monster of monster fat tired bikes. Those tires are 36 inches high and 8 inches across, my current rather beefy tires on my mountain bike are a mere 26 inches high and 2.25 inches across.

I want to try it out and see just how hard it is to get rolling and keep rolling, how hard it is to climb even a moderate hill and what it would feel like while descending. I have no doubt it would roll well over packed sand but it might be too freakishly heavy for snow or loose sand. Heck, with some outriggers it might even float because of those big honking tires!

Some thoughts: It looks like it is set up for a nearly 1:1 ratio, maybe a little biased towards the rear sprocket but it looks close. It does not appear to have brakes. What is up with the spooge spot next to the front wheel?

But really, its just a freaking insane bike and sometimes insane is just plain fucking awesome!

There are a couple more pics on the link but not much more info. I expect there will be more info forthcoming as more and more bike folks get a gander and demand to know more!

Bike Stuff and a Ride Report

2011-09-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

First the links and news:
Monterey Bay Youth Outdoor Day is this Saturday from 10-4 at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville. The event is free! Free parking and free admission. The list of stuff they will have on hand to try out is impressive and it should be a great event. Roll out for it!

Bike Tech to School - "Scotts Valley High School is the latest in a string of area high schools to offer a course geared toward fostering students' interest in bicycles -- and teaching them lifelong skills along the way." Sounds good to me, wish this kind of curriculum was available way back when I was in school! More info at Project Bike Trip.

Share the Damn Road

- need a shirt that expresses your real feelings about riding a bike on the road? This site has you covered, you can go with the Share the Road, Or Else on the right there or maybe go with something less aggressive like this Evolution cycling jersey. They aren't cheap at $50 and up but they are pretty cool and fully functional cycling jerseys and that's gotta count for something. Hey, don't ask me, I'm an offroad cyclist!

Share the Damn Road also has a useful and free print out that you can give to the <strike>dipshit</strike> who nearly just killed you. Very handy and probably better in the long run than seeing how far you can put your fist through their face. Probably.

Triathlon News:
Give this guy enough room in the transition area or he's likely to abandon the race and tear your arm off to beat you with.

And now its time for another rousing round of What's Wrong With This Picture!!!

There is plenty that's right with this picture but can you figure out what's wrong with it? Look carefully, look at the full size image. Mmmmmm. I know, its hard work but someone's gotta do it.

And lastly, @Cyclelicious would like to remind everyone:

Got it? Good!

And now its time for the ride report:
Where: Nisene Marks State Park, Aptos, California
When: Sunday 9/18/11 11:30 am
Who: Me and my old hardtail Ibis Mojo

Despite my efforts I am still having trouble establishing a regular Friday afternoon ride. I'll get it in for a week or two and then something will come up and I'll have to skip the next week. I did get a good longer ride in on Sunday which was nice. Standard drop in down Aptos Rancho Rd. blast down the first section, cross the creek and then head into the forest proper.

One of the things I really enjoy about mountain biking is that there are little victories all through out the ride. One section that previously stymied me and forced me to step off and walk through, I rolled through this time. Another section got a little closer to getting figured out.

When Cardiac was blocked off by construction it didn't take too long for local cyclists to start to carve in a workaround. Climb the stupid steep water tower road up, duck in to the right of the fence, portage your bike through a good section of steep trail and, eventually, wind up a few hundred feet from where the old swing was on top of Cardiac but is now some rich dude's kitchen window view out over the bay.

Anyway, a couple of months ago, I was just starting up the stupid steep hill to the water tanks when a guy in a white van flagged me down. I'd just barely gotten to the other side of the big triangular gate blocking the road.

We got to talking and he eventually told me about a non-illegal trail entrance I could use down the road past his house (which turned out to be a freaking palatial Spanish mansion, seriously awesome and reminds me of movie set drug lord estate but without the machine guns and German Shepherds). I thanked him for the permission and set off to find the new trailhead.

Now, I won't pretend that this situation is ideal, it isn't. A good chunk of really excellent singletrack has become more or less off-limits since the new construction started. But the workaround works and I rolled back into the woods after a quick buzz down the gravel road. The backside of Nisene Marks is not well traveled and less so these days with the blockage at the top. But the trail is worth the effort to get to. It has full berms, jumps, descending singletrack, off camber turns and some really tremendous views out over the valley. It was such fun that I decided to do it twice. Not having that steep ass climb and portage through to the trails helped alot too.

The second run was faster and just as fun with the exception of a semi close call with a guy riding up the trail. What I can never understand is when bikers get back to the bridge in Nisene and then they duff it out on the road seemingly unaware that there's a ripping fun trail just off the road in many places. I bomb the trail and usually beat them out anyway. I did know that I had little to no chance of making the scrambly and steep climb out to the trailhead. But that's okay, sometimes its good to burn your legs up.

All in all, I'd give the Sunday ride a four out of five stars. There was a little too much foot traffic for my tastes and a bit too many "trail apples" as they are called (but it really just means horse shit on the trail). But the temp was perfect, hot in the sun and just slightly cool in the trees. The trail conditions were excellent too. All part of why I love having Nisene Marks so close by that I get to call it my riding ground!

Bike Links Round Up Redux

2011-08-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

I need to do this more often than I do because there are always awesome things happening in the bicycling world.Here are some that I've come across recently. Painstakingly reconstructed after Blogger got drunk and had its awful, mean spirited way with my formatting.

Tioga releases super thin axleless pedals. I'm not a clip-in guy, I've tried it, hated it and went back to my Power Straps. I like these pedals though it looks like they'd snap under a decent impact even if I'm pretty sure they won't (otherwise Tioga will be replacing lots of them for free!).

Duplex lever lets disabled cyclists activate both brakes with one hand. I am all for anything that helps as many people as possible get on two or three wheels and power themselves. Self-propulsion is self-empowering.

I have a test for you.

Okay. I know you've already looked at this pic but can you tell me what's wrong with it?

Yes, I can clearly see what's right with it.

And no, its not because she's not wearing a helmet or shoes.

She's dressed perfectly!

The Brompton Dock pilot project aims to make it easy for a commuter to rent a folding bike from a locker at a transit site, ride it to where they want to go, keep it for as long as they need and then return it when they're done and get billed for their time used. Seems pretty straightforward. It'll remain to be seen if the system can fly or not though.

Revolights aim to make you more visible and also make you look a bit like a light cycle from Tron. Not much but a bit.

I'm sure everyone reading this always wears a helmet when they ride but, if not, then here's a powerful personal example of why helmets are a very good thing (hat tip to Martha Stewart), Heads Up for Helmets even if they don't spell helmet correctly the first time (check the URL).

Paul Budnitz makes some pretty beautiful, clean, light and fast titanium town bikes. The one on the left there is the No2, the faster and more aggressive of the two bikes he's produced thus far. The bikes have great lines and are almost certainly fun and fast to ride. The only downside I can see is the price tag of $5500 for one. If I'm dropping $5k on a bike then its gonna be an Ibis Mojo, no question!

The Only "Wood" Frame I'd Consider

2011-07-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

Painter gives bicycle frames the woodgrain look:

Whether it’s the Renovo/Audi duo lineup, the just-announced Lagamorph, or one of the various bamboo creations, wooden-framed bikes (or in the case of bamboo, “wooden”-framed) are becoming more and more popular. While this is partly because of the ride characteristics and eco-friendliness of sustainably-harvested wood, let’s be honest – it’s mostly because they look nice. Unfortunately, they also tend to be pricey, with a single complete bike costing several thousand dollars. Well, if it’s just the aesthetic of wood that you want, now you have an alternative ... New Zealand’s Rob Pollock will give your frame a hand-painted woodgrain finish, for just US$1,500...
Continue Reading Painter gives bicycle frames the woodgrain look

While I like the look of wood and bamboo bikes, I'm not at all convinced they can last especially long. I've got a chromoly steel hard tail mountain bike that's at least ten years old and has had a ton of miles put on it over its life. Its my daily rider mountain bike. I don't worry about the frame one bit because its hard steel. If my bike were bamboo or wood then I would not have the confidence to drop off ledges and bomb down hills at speed, I'd be too worried about the frame disintegrating under me.

So yeah, a painted frame to look like wood when its really steel would be about as close as I'm coming to a wood bike for now.

RoadID

2011-07-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

If you are not already wearing one, take the time now to get one. I just ordered the new wrist id slim for myself and my kids too! You can get the replacement bands in different colors and switch them out as often as you like.

Bike Lanes, a Love Story

2011-07-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

bike lanes from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

Ticketed for not riding in the bike lane, Casey Neistat takes the good natured officer's words to heart and won't bike outside the lane again, no matter what is in his way. I just wish he'd put on a helmet as some of those getoffs look painful.

Old School Tall/Converta Bike

2011-07-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

via Chicks and Bikes
You could look at this photo for a few minutes and keep seeing interesting details. Like that it appears the bike's frame is really a bed headboard. Or maybe that there's no way to tell what kind of seat she has. Or how she stopped. Or why she's wearing high heels and a dress. And where is she riding this bike, it kind of reminds me of the Rose Bowl for some reason.

There are so many questions to ask and so few answers to be had.

But that's okay. The reality is that it is the asking of the questions that leads to the answers being found. In all things.

Keep asking questions. Keep wondering what's around the next corner. Keep yourself open to the myriad unfolding possibilities in every single instant of every single second.

Oh and if you are going to go riding a tall bike like this, maybe think about some protection for your head. Falling from that high would hurt an awful lot.

Bike Mounted Hydro System?

2011-04-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

The VelEau hydration system mounts on the bike instead of the rider but I'm not sure I'd want to have that weight, though it is only 42 ounces, sloshing back and forth under me. I'm not bothered in the least by having my Camelbak on my back.

I occasionally forgo the backpack and just use a pair of water bottles in the cages and haven't had any issues in getting a drink when I needed to.

The article seems to indicate that perhaps this invention is for racing as that is when its hardest to reach down and grab a water bottle at speed. However, this unit requires going one handed to get the mouthpiece from the handlebars to one's mouth (though they do get bonus points for the mouthpiece being on a retracting cable).

I guess I'm just not seeing the real value. Maybe for those people that really are bothered by hydro packs but it should also be noted that 42 ounces is less than half the hydration I can carry in my pack.

Trading Diamonds for Hoops

2011-04-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Radical-looking RoundTail bike claims radically smoother ride because the traditional rear triangle of the bike's frame is replaced with two round hoops that are purported to help soak up bumps and provide a gentler ride.

I'm always interested in bicycle designs and this one seems like a rather interesting solution to a bumpy problem. I don't think this would work in a mountain bike set up as it seems like the rough surface would induce more of a pogo-ing effect.

But I could definitely see this bike on the road in skinny bike form as pictured here or, as one commenter suggests, as a cruiser. It could also be set up as a commuter/town bike too and those rear hoops could easily double as pannier mounts to go touring.

I love clever and this is a pretty clever solution. Even if it will take a while to get used to the hoop-y style frame.

Douchey Anti-Biking Satire is Still Douchey and Anti-Bike

2011-04-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

P.J. O'Rourke on the Scourge of Bike Lanes

I used to get PJ O'Rourke, I've read a few of his books back when I actually read real paperbooks. I thought he was reasonably funny, had some good lines but was sort of a pale and not even remotely as funny spinoff from the Hunter Thompson vein of wild journalism.

But here's the thing. Being a douche about people who ride bikes, even if its satire which I assume every single thing PJ O'Rourke writes is, is still being an asshole about people who are moving themselves to where they need to go by their own efforts resulting in less pollution, better personal health, less traffic and a better connection to the world the cyclist inhabits (as opposed to the climate controlled interiors of most cars which make as much of a distinction between outside world and inside as possible).

He doesn't like the fact that cyclists have bike lanes in cities because it takes away from the so much more practical personal transport vehicle. Cars are, compared to bikes, ridiculously complex, overly cushy, inefficient, stinky, expensive and ungainly.

Heck, cars compared to motorcycles are the same. When I ride my motorcycle in traffic, I'm often struck by just how stupidly excessive ninety percent of the cars people are driving are. Even a four seat sedan usually driven by just one person is tremendously wasteful and inefficient.

O'Rourke says his ridiculously huge Suburban seats 8 people. How often does it actually seat 8 people? How often does it even seat 2 people?

Bikes go nowhere and carry nothing? As trolling goes, this is pretty poor and transparent and really just plain stupid. Unless you need to carry an entire Suburban's worth of something everywhere, all the time, you're more likely to have a briefcase or backpack, both of which are easily transportable via bike.

Even as satire though, the article is mean-spirited and ugly and, well, stupid. It makes poor arguments, backed up with worse premises and foregone douchey faux-witty conclusions.

Seriously, PJ, you're taking slaps at trying to make Americans fitter? With a third of the adults in the country considered obese, you're really and truly going to make fun of the need for more people to get off their fat asses and exercise? How about being fit because it makes you feel good? How about being fit because you get sick less, you can play with your kids more and, here's a good one, have better sex and, presuming you're having better sex with your wife or husband, strengthen the relationship resulting in a happier house, more well adjusted kids growing into well adjusted, healthy, active adults.

Good for PJ, he wrote another column, got paid again and can pretend to be some kind of writer.

Why the Wall Street Journal would publish this piece of shit is another question altogether though. I mean, really. Its not funny, its not inciteful, its not of any value whatsoever and demonstrates that PJ O'Rourke is an unfunny, wasteful douche.

(Side note, no, I wasn't trying to break the record for the use of the word, douche, and I apologize if I offend anyone with its repeated use)

Help Mikaela, (Maybe) Win a Mojo

2011-03-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Donate $5 bucks and get a chance to win an Ibis Mojo SL worth over $5,000. EVERY PENNY of the contest proceeds benefit Mikaela and her family with their transplant-related expenses. The more money you donate the more we raise to help this beautiful little girl and her family with her life saving liver and kidney transplant and the more chances you have of winning this bike. The winner will be drawn at random on April 29th 2011.

About This Bike
The Mojo SL is a super lightweight, efficient pedaling, strong and versatile carbon fiber trail bike. This Raffle bike comes with a Lopes Link, Carbon monocoque frame and swing arm, 5.5" (140mm) rear wheel travel, FOX RP23 2011 shock, DW-Link Suspension, FOX Talas 32 150/130mm Fork, and a SRAM X9 Group Set.

Why You Should Donate more then just $5 bucks?
It’s simple math, for every $5 increment you donate, the more chances you have to win this Ibis Mojo SL. And more importantly, the more money we raise for this worthy cause. The Sienkiewicz family needs an estimated $150,000 to pay their transplant-related expenses.

How This Contest Works
You recieve one chance of winning for $5 or 5 chances for $20. Every $5 donation will represent a chance to win. For every $20 increment you donate you get 5 chances. If you donate $100, that’s 25 chances to win. At the end of the contest, each unique entry will be assigned a number. On April 29th we’ll use Random.org to determine the winner. The Winner will be contacted by “Mojo for Mikaela” and iRide in Stowe, VT. will get hoppin’ on building your bike.
You get to choose the color and size of the bike.
Winners located outside the US are responsible for the cost of shipment at actual cost.
You can also donate at The Ski Rack in Burlington, VT, Earl’s Cyclery & Fitness in So. Burlington, VT and iRide in Stowe, VT and at select cycling events this spring.
To get more info about the Mojo SL, go to www.ibiscycles.com.

via mojoformikaelas.com

Let's recap, donate to help Mikaela and you could win yourself a brand new Ibis Mojo SL. I'm headed off to donate right now, you should too.

Bike Stuff Round Up

2011-03-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Get ready for the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival | April 9th and 10th, 2011 in Aptos, California being put on by the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz. I will be there, you should be there too. Also, check the first link for the sweet promo video the club put together. It should be a grand old time! Plus, you could win yourself an awesome Santa Cruz bike! Or get your photo taken by the roving photographer (me).

When designers smoke crack and design stuff.

Get Pumped Up While You Cycle with Airspresso via Incredible Things - Since we stopped drinking coffee several months ago, this isn't quite so personally compelling but it is a neat idea for those hard-core Java hounds who also happen to be hard-core cyclists as well.

The image to the left is of the Limousine Bike, clearly a statement bike without any practical application unless you happen to have ten foot long arms. The statement the designer is making is, supposedly, that more isn't always better. That's not really what I get though, I get more of a "Thou shalt not smoke crack and design bicycles."

iBike Dash CC turns your iPhone into a cycling computer - this is less about the software since I've got at least three apps on my iPhone right now that function incredibly well as cycling computers (including one that speaks my times and splits to me in a rather sexy voice). This is about the protective case that mounts on the bike and keeps the iPhone from flying off or getting soaked in a downpour (both very good things). My current mount requires me to paradoxically remove my iPhone from its protective case to secure it to my handlebars.

In many ways, I really like the idea of Cycling by Candlelight, it evokes a certain romanticism but the practical reality of using a candle as a headlight means you'd have to keep your speed way down as it would be all too easy to outpace the meager light given off by the reflected flame. It might work as a rear light given its flickering nature but this is more fashionable accessory than useful add-on. But I could be wrong, I'd like to see how it does work.

It does evoke a certain train-like romantic charm though.

Need a new bike, why not print your own bike with your 3D printer? We're not quite there yet but the race just got alot shorter with the introduction of the EADSAirbike. They call it Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) technology but its basically using a tech'ed up printer to printer layer after layer of material to build out a 3D shape. Not sure how it would ride but it would definitely be a solid conversation starter.

And, finally, via the ever thought-provoking Bicycle Design, the Drymer, a reborn e-bike with a roof, articulating wheels, an electric motor and, possibly, a future. Probably not much of a real future in the USA since we tend to the bigger must be better philosophy. Here's the link to their site but its all in Dutch and my access to Google Translate is, oddly, blocked behind the school district firewall.

A Clever Powered Folder

2011-03-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

The Voltitude Ultra Folding Urban Electric Bike is a kind of neat little crossover bike with some great features. It is not currently in production as the company is looking for investors

Some of its features include: integrated lighting front and back, standard bicycle geometry (it doesn't look it but the site specs this out clearly), almost instant folding to an amazingly compact package (24 inches by 33 inches) that can easily be stored in your trunk (or boot as the site calls them) or under your desk, wide wheels for stability and ability to deal with urban road hazards (potholes, roadkill, taxis, etc.), integrated locking mechanism, strong hydraulic disc brakes. Its also electrically powered, has a 20 - 40 km range on a max four hour charge.

I'm not saying or suggesting this is the be-all, end-all to the world's transportation solutions but it could be a really nice solution to a great number of people who live pretty close to their work and don't really need a car.

The main downside I can see is that its a bit of a beast to carry at 40 to 50 pounds depending on battery pack. But the only time it would need to get picked up is to put it in a car trunk. Otherwise, it should be rollable even closed up.

Needs More Cupholders!

2011-02-18T13:14:00.001-08:00

Needs More Cupholders!
Originally uploaded by fenriq

As anyone who's tried to ride a bicycle while holding on to a cup or bottle can attest, it is dangerous and difficult. Which is why someone came up with this rather cool solution. Build the cup holder into the bike.

They even included a bottle opener, those thoughtful souls!

I'm definitely a fan of clever implementations like this. Its elegant, won't throw off the bike's balance at all, is safer than riding with a bottle in your hand and adds some flair to an otherwise fairly mundane cruiser/town bike.

Two thumbs up!

Buying The Best Mountain Bike

2011-02-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

This Ibis Mojo'd do me just fine!

The Best Mountain Bike: What is your best option?:

What is the best mountain bike for you? This is a question that every single mountain biker asks as they look to replace a current bike or get into the sport for the first time. With all of the available options in today’s market, you have a wide range of possible suspects which is a good thing…but it can be crippling in your search as well.
Here are some things I would consider while searching out the best mountain bike for your trails and budget.

Some Golden Rules In Finding Your Best Mountain Bike

As you look for your best mountain bike, keep some of these golden rules of mountain biking in consideration.

Money doesn’t buy happiness…but if you try to stay in the $1,000 and up range, you will have a much more trail worthy bike.
The 5.5″ rear travel 26″ trail bike and 4-4.5″ 29er is the most popular full suspension bike for a reason right now. This is a great place to start and move up and down in travel from there when testing different options.
There is no one mountain bike that will be perfect for 100% of your riding. Try to find the bike that covers 75% of it really well and make adjustments for the remaining 25%…or have multiple bikes.
Decreasing weight drastically increases price. It is often easier and cheaper to get into better shape (assuming you are not trying to take a 35+ lbs bike on XC trails). Getting from 28 pounds to 27 pounds could cost you a grand without even being able to feel it on the trail.
Shorter travel bikes are better climbers and longer travel bikes are better descenders. Chose a travel range that fits the needs of where you ride…not what you wish you were riding.
Correct fit is very important. Consult a local bike shop that is credible and knowledgeable to make sure your best mountain bike is the right size.
Just because your friend likes his (or her) shiny new rig, that does not mean it is the best mountain bike for you.
Take reviews with a grain of salt…especially on online forums. Most of those guys spend more time online than they do riding. Only you know if a specific bike will be your perfect ride.
Last years brand new blowouts are a great way to get a better bike for a lower price.

and most importantly…
Ride the wheels off of it. Once you get a new mountain bike, it is very easy to get obsessed about the details. You can get yourself into a tailspin of trying to get every single components and color perfect…or you could be out riding. I am as much of a gear junkie as anyone, but it is still all about the ride.

There is more to the article but I wanted to highlight some good and smart advice about buying the best mountain bike you can. What is ideal for me is almost certainly not ideal for you. Make sure to click the link and read the full article, there's good info there!

Beautility - Beautiful Utility

2011-01-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

I've kind of developed into a bit of a design geek over the last year or so. I read several design blogs (and yes, I mostly do look at the pictures) and sometimes find bicycling gems hidden away. Don't know if this made the rounds or not already but I was fascinated by the design and its great utility.

The copy from the site reads:

Shopping Bike is a folding bicycle that offers multiple functions and new ways to bring a green lifestyle to reality.

In “Sport Mode,” Shopping Bike is a nimble bicycle for travelling with ease. The addition of a convenient storage container at the rear puts the bike into “On-the-go Mode.” Folding the bike achieves “Shopping Mode,” in which it functions as a trolley that can be pushed in front or pulled behind the user as they walk. Shopping Bike has been styled to complement city life and to be suitable for use by both sexes. It has been designed to integrate with multiple contexts, from the market to the shopping mall. The frame incorporates two L structures that have been joined such that sitting on the bike makes it more stable.

I'd definitely take it out for a test ride and review.

There are an incredible assortment of other design award winners at the Red Dot site. If you dig on good design then you'll probably really enjoy the site too.

And yes, Beautility is another new word I've invented. It will be added to the Fictionarium soon.
Beautility - the beauty of something that's really useful.

All Mountain Trials Action

2011-01-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

Came across this on Bike198 the other day and have watched it a few times since. These guys have some pretty awesome riding skills and a bigger set of balls which is a quality combination. Check out this fairly short but entertaining All Mountain Trials riding.

Nicolai All Mountain Trial from Whyex Productions on Vimeo.

Round Up and Link Down

2010-12-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

Lots of stuff going on in the two wheel world. Here's some of those things that have made me take a second look. Note, use of the words two wheel world, is just a loose guideline and often links will be about machines that straddle different categories of vehicle.

Green Pedal and Mikey Baroni could use your business if you are in the Montery area and need stuff delivered locally. His rates are reasonable and he's a good guy. Give him a shout at 831-920-8181 and keep his wheels spinning. Tip o' the helmet to BikeMonterey for the info.

When biking and camping collide – the Bikamper The whole thing weighs in at 1.63 kg (3.59 lbs), and stuffs down into a small pack that can be strapped to your handlebars or rack. This is a cool idea but does have some limitations (like you're not riding your bike once you've set up your tent for the night). But it could be quite useful.

Quadro to sell four wheeled tesseract-style motorcycle - building off the success and, reportedly, hooliganizing fun of the Piaggo MP3 and Yamaha Tesseract, designer Luciano Marabese's new venture, Quadro, promises to push the envelop with beautiful and highly functional machines that defy categorization.

The Hanebrink electric bike is not your standard electric bike offering. It has massively wide tires, a fairly traditional frame and it laughs (probably robotically) at steep, steep hills.

From Kent's Bike Blog: Rumble Strips Can Be Done Right! Rumble strips that take up space in the bike lane effectively ruin that bike lane for use. There is a better way and Kent has the map to it.

Unsure of what to get the pedalhead in your life? Check out Richard's Cyclelicious 2010 Cyclist Gift Guide for some good ideas (though I can admit that I am not anywhere near the sock fetishist he is). And what the heck, let's add in a few more gift guides for cyclists and triathletes. About.com's generic ideas but does have some rather good advice (buy upgrades for your cyclist but don't have them put on). Here's Ten Great Gifts for Triathletes and REI's Gifts for Cyclists.

And if an electric motor on your bike seems a little tame (I'd lean more towards lame but that's me) then maybe you'd prefer a rocket powered mountain bike?

And lastly but not leastly, No More Senseless Bicycle Deaths! - Sign the Petition at Change.org.

How a Ride Write Up Should Be Done

2010-12-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

I saw a link to Lee Likes Bikes: First Descent at Left Hand Canyon in my Twitter stream and am really happy I clicked through to read it.

This is how a trail write up should be done, with great humor and good pics.

I don't know where Lee lives but he's got some ace trails to thrash on!

And, oh yeah, he's also written several books including a couple with Brian Lopes! Good stuff indeed!

Worshipping at the Altar of Dirt

2010-10-31T23:03:00.000-07:00

I don't quite know how and I don't quite know why but there is a meditative side to bicycling. I'm not talking about the roadies eating up 70 miles on an afternoon. I'm talking more about the meditative quality of picking a line up a steep hill, dropping into your granny gear and motoring up that hill. While you climb, you can't think of anything else, there are no problems save for the next turn of the wheel, there are no worries except whether your tires will grip that wet root, there are no fears except the fear of legs or lungs not carrying me to the top.

Bicycling is an act unlike walking or driving in a car, it is serene but can be marked by periods of intense speed, great technical need and, yes, the occasional puff of weed.
Today was like a beautifully wrapped present. We'd been promised deluge but we were gifted with bright, warm sunshine. And when life gives you a present, you best unwrap that sucker and do something good with it.

As I did. I loaded up my bike and headed out to Nisene Marks State Park knowing that my ride could be kiboshed early on if the trails were too wet or muddy or rutted up. That's the thing that sucks about getting older (aside from losing lung capacity and recuperation speed), that one becomes more responsible and actually give a damn about trail use. This means being conscientious and not ripping trails up when they are too wet and muddy.

But today wasn't too wet at all, it was perfect. Just enough moisture to make the dirt good and tacky and the only place traction was an issue was where there was a heavy ground cover of fallen leaves. Some of those turns were a bit hairy but that's all part of the fun!

I dropped into the trail system at my usual place across from Safeway a few seconds after another bike went by. I chased him a bit and then he let me get by on the first stream crossing near the old flipped car wreck. There were a fair number of walkers out but not too many and everyone seemed pretty pleased to be out in the woods instead of stuck at home on a rainy day.

After riding my fairly usual path to the top of the Mesa Grande Trail, I came to where I would usually cross over, go through a field and then climb up to the top of Lower Sand Point where there's a great hard climb to the top and a rope swing to enjoy the fantastic view of the Bay. Only someone bought the land and is now building a house or bunch of houses up there and they've decided to put up a barbed wire fence across the whole area. Which sucks. I hate, hate, hate closed off trails.

And today I decided to see about finding another way to the top. I rode down a nearby road that ened up in someone's private estate that looked like a drug lord's villa in the woods. I decided not to see if they'ed "mind" me riding through and turned around. I could see the water tanks well above and right near the top of Lower Sand Point and knew I could just bushwhack my way there if I needed to. I saw an opening and headed into the field to start working my way up.

I stopped to relieve myself and heard and then saw a group of guys on bikes back near where the barbed wire was, they were headed up so I was like "Fuck it" and went to follow them. They were just coming back down from being told there would be no riding through. We said hellos and I helped them get their bikes back over the tall and annoying fence. Then we headed up the gated road (yes, we went through a closed gate) and climbed the short but really steep access road to the water tanks.

We headed in one direction at the top but one of the construction guys was there to tell us to go away (seriously? what a lame job he's got). So we went around the other side, did a little bushwhack trail building as other bicycles had already started the work and we were just building a workaround. A little hairy bushwhacking and we were back on the trail again.

From there it was all fun and games down. Riding with four other guys is pretty fun though we had to stop pretty often for a newer off-road rider who was having fun but taking it slower.

Now, my usual riding pace is go for a long time, stop for a quick break, hydrate up and then go again. But we had to take it a little slower with five of us. Still fun to rip up the backside of the Lower Sand Point trail again. I've missed it on my other rides in Nisene.

We bottomed out on the trail and headed back towards the Safeway trailhead. Unfortunately, one of the other guys had a mechanical breakdown with a chain that came apart. I waited with them for a few minutes but then realized I needed to get rolling to get home and cleaned up for the Giants game!

I finished out my ride strong and, even though I could feel my quads starting to protest a bit, I finished the very tough last climb up and out of the trail. I felt great as I loaded up my car and headed for home!

Thanks to those four guys from Monterey for making my solo outing into a pretty fun group ride!

Building 2500 Bikes in One Day!

2010-10-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

I heard about TurningWheels for Kids last year but it was too late for me to make plans to take part in this fantastic explosion of bicycle building and gifting to kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to have a bike.

This year I am taking part and, if you're anywhere near San Jose on December 11th and you're a two wheel lover then you should come by and do some wrenching too. I know there's a group from the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz headed over to help out and I've signed up to join them.

Professional Bikes

2010-09-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

@bicycledesign retweeted PROFISS�ES (here's the translated from Portuguese version) on Twitter this morning and I thought it was worth a post here because these bikes are real working bikes. Love the first one, you can go for a bike ride AND sharpen your knives at the same time.

Not only are they cool to look at, they are also "green" machines and we'd do well to try to bring back this style of professional bicycle.

Is there anything the humble bicycle cannot do? Or is there just something that someone hasn't converted a bike to do yet? I tend to lean towards the latter rather than the former.

Amazing Trials Riding On a Carbon Road Bike

2010-06-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Equivalence - SMIDSY = GOTFRA

2010-06-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

So there's a saying the Aussies (and probably others) use when they accidentally nearly run a cyclist off the road or worse, it is SMIDSY which stands for "Sorry, Mate, I didn't see you." I've been thinking about what the American equivalent of SMIDSY is and, sadly, the best I can come up with is, GOTFRA which stands for "Get off the fucking road, asshole."

It is a sad commentary on the state of bicycling and bicycling acceptance in the US that this is my most recurring equivalent to SMIDSY which includes a sorry and a tacit recognition that the driver is at fault. But, as has been noted widely, SMIDSY still is no excuse for causing an accident.

When even a visiting dignitary on a bicycle tour of Washington to see how much has been done to improve bicycling there is yelled at by a cager to "Get off the road" it is quite clear that we have many, many miles to go before our country even approaches the levels of acceptance the Europeans have already.

The simple fact is that many (too many) Americans are overweight, lazy gluttons who see bicycles on the road as an impediment to them getting to the next drive-thru fast food poison dispensary. We are a fat nation, we are a lazy nation, we are an angry and reactionary nation and we love our bigger is better mantra. By the way, I saw we meaning the nation not me personally.

Personally I like small cars, I don't eat fast food more than once a month, I ride a bicycle at least a couple of days a week and I can see my feet without looking in a mirror or leaning so far forward as to need to hold myself up.

In the US, all too often bicyclists are seen as targets, as objects of ridicule because they are too poor to own a ginormous SUV. I wish there were a way of penetrating the lipid encrusted brains of my fellow Americans to get them to recognize that bicycles are not only fun, they are good exercise, they are "green" and should be strongly encouraged in every community. This means bike lanes everywhere, this means police enforcing laws to protect cyclists, this means prosecuting fully the jerks who throw stuff at cyclists. Until cyclists are treated exactly like other people on the road and not like second (or third) class citizens, bicycles will remain a fringe activity in this country.

And rather than a polite SMIDSY moment (hopefully) we will continue to have GOTFRA moments and clashes between cagers and two wheelers.

Two Wheel News Around the Internets

2010-06-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

Paper Boneshaker - "Just how much does Japanese designer Shinichi Iwami love bicycles? Enough to have 1/24 scale kits laser-cut out of 0.5mm black paper with enough precision and detail that they require a scalpel, tweezers, glue, instructions, and nerves of steel to assemble." This is so beautiful and awesome that it just kills me a little bit. The graphic to the right is how the kit arrives. Found via the new-to-me and awesome BikeHacks.

Md. Bicycle Racers Injured By Tacks On Race Route - There were some pretty unpleasant injuries (unless you like fractured knees) resulting from some jerk intentionally putting large tacks on a corner of the course. The link has video shot by one of the racers via his helmet cam. Here is hoping they catch the perp or perps and make them pay for their stupidity.

Why am I hungry for tacos all of a sudden?

SF Police seek help in finding stolen Buddy Bike ridden by 9 yo autistic girl.
Update: The bike has been recovered and will be returned to the girl! Woot!

Live Oak father shot at while retrieving son's stolen bike - I've got nothing to add to this except that this whole story is pretty effed up all the way around.

Shuttle Smith Debuts - A Bike Shuttle from Aptos to SDSF/Nisene. It isn't inexpensive but it sure is convenient unless you need a 12 mile vertical climb to get warmed up properly. He's got space for 9 bikes, riders and all their gear inside the truck (no bikes hanging off the back) via MBoSC.

MotoCzysz demonstrates superior electric power with IOM TT Zero win - For those of you who have never enjoyed the insanity that is the Isle of Man TT Races. Check out this video of a practice lap by legend John McGuinness.

Nokia's Bicycle Charger Kit a stroke of genius that strongly resembles the exact same tech from forty years ago used to generate a weak beam of light while simultaneously wearing out your tire sidewall a hundred times faster than without it. I guess genius is in the eye of the PR person.

And I'm going to go ahead and skip linking to the guy who turned a monster truck tire into a new tall bike. You've probably seen the video. Its a neat idea on paper but the on the road reality is that propelling a massive tire like that takes a huge amount of energy and the thing would be soundly defeated by even a slight incline. Add a bunch more seats and the ability to share the pedal load with your pals and it'd be much cooler. Add a flamethrower and dancing platform and it'd be perfect for Burning Man.

You Want Speed? You Can't Handle The Speed!

2010-06-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

John McGuinness takes us along for a practice lap at the Isle of Man TT. Hold on tight because he's cooking!

Via 2 Wheel Tuesday

Today's Ride By the Numbers

2010-06-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Distance ridden: 16 miles
Time: 1 hour almost to the second
Surface: Paved and occasionally covered in loose gravel
Crashes: None but came very close on one gravelly corner

Epiphanies realized: 4 or 5
Epiphanies forgotten by the end of the ride: 4 or 5

Blog posts thought up: 5
Blog posts written down once back at home: 1, this one

Interesting sights: A teenage couple dry humping on a bench next to the slough, three times. They vamoosed after the third trip.

Snakes seen:2
Ticks found: 1
Ticks found attached to me and sucking my blood, the little bastards: 0
Ticks squished into icky messes: 1

Good deeds: 1. Returned a lost bag to a couple walking their punt dogs.
MILFs: 2
Not-MILFs: 6
Times I wish I'd worn bike shorts: at least 2 dozen and not because of the MILFs

No matter what, even a bad ride is better than a good day at the office and a great ride pretty much trumps everything.

Rotational Therapy

2010-06-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Like many cyclists, I find that my mind is most at ease when I'm spinning my pedals and eating up miles. I tend to find that I think through my problems more clearly, that obstacles don't obstruct me so much and that the niggling voices can't keep up with me quite so easily.

Cycling is, for me, therapy. It is exercise for my body, obviously, but it is also an opportunity for my brain to crunch through the flotsam of my work weeks, nearly unmanageable tasklists and frazzled out staff and faculties.

When I lapse into a bad mood and catch myself wondering what the hell has gotten me all riled up and crazy, I immediately think back to when I rode my bike last, how far I rode and how the ride was.

I won't try to shine you when I say that I've fallen off the training wagon since completing the Sea Otter Classic and Avia Wildflower Mountain Bike Triathlon. I have and its showing some. My weight's climbed back up into the mid-170's and it can be hard to seize the opportunity to ride when I do come across a window.

And when I do get up off my butt and go get on my bike, I'm reminded of how pleasurable something as simple as a bike ride can be. It is important, for me at least, to remember that not every ride has to be a barn burner, that it is sometimes permissible and even welcome to slow down, enjoy the scenery and just ride.

Bumping Up from Theft to Attempted Murder

2010-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Live Oak father shot at while retrieving son's stolen bike.

This is kind of a messed up story and it involves some pretty serious dumbassery on the part of the thief and his pals. Going from a pretty simple bike theft to attempted murder is a rather large step up in menace to society level. And, hopefully, police interest in finding the perps.

And the odd fact that the father sought help from a nearby house and was refused aid. Not knowing the back story there (could be a half blind little old lady living there who won't open the door for anyone or anything), it seems pretty cold to not try to help someone out when they need help. Especially when they've got some moron busters in a truck popping caps at them.

What could have been done to prevent this theft in the first place? Putting the bike away or locking it up. It sucks that it was stolen off the family's front porch but thieves are brazen these days. Lock it or lose it, sorry!

Glad the dad was okay and hope the punk losers who stole the bike and then took a few shots at the father get caught and sent up the river.

Golden State Race Series - Presented by Rio Strada Racing

2010-05-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Come on out to Rancho Cordova on Saturday 5/22 and Sunday 5/23 for the annual Golden State Race Series. This year we will be featuring a criterium on Saturday and a circuit race on Sunday! Free kids race on Saturday!

Check out Rio Strada Racing for more details, event flyers, maps etc.

Thinking about Bikes and Bike News

2010-05-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff going on in the cycling world these days. Some good local action too as the Amgen Tour of California sped through town earlier this week. So I thought I'd tap out some thoughts on both the national and international cycling news as well as my own personal cycling news.

Tour of California - Unlike last year's long, long wait in the rain up on Empire Grade, this year's tour had the cyclists finishing up by riding one of my favorite cruises in the whole world, along West Cliff from Natural Bridges State Park. I was able to get there, meet up with my family and find a great place to post up to watch the race fly by. We took a few pictures too, click the gallery of pics there to see more of them.

Floyd Landis - Cheater, slanderer, douchebag. Pretty much all I have to say. No wait, there's more. Floyd Landis is a known cheater, a known liar and a known fraud and he actually expects anyone to believe him when he tries to lump in other cyclists into his little PED club? Sorry, Floyd, but you've spent every last micro-iota of credibility with me years ago. I'm not saying there aren't cheaters in cycling, there clearly are, but I'm going to wait for proof before I put Lance Armstrong over in the cheater camp. That is, Floyd's word just ain't even close to good enough for me to change my mind about other cyclists like Armstrong and Zabriskie.

Bike to Work - I wish I had the kind of job where I could ride my bike to work regularly. But I work at four different sites minimum in any given week and I sometimes have to make school visits all over the district. It is, sadly, just not feasible for me to ride to work often. I like to do it when I can but that's not often enough, ya know?

Trail Access - I went for a mountain bike ride after work today. My first in a little bit as I've been sliding ever since completing the Avia Wildflower Mountain Bike Triathlon a couple of weeks ago. My regular route in Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos is to drop in on a trail head near Soquel Drive, cross the stream and go up and out of the park only to loop back around and re-enter the park above Aptos to bomb the backside of the mountain. Yes, a small portion of my ride is on semi-private property but its been understood that this use was semi-sanctioned by the owners. Well that sanction is, sadly, no more. Construction has begun and access has been withdrawn which means the really fun portion of my regular ride is currently unavailable to me. Which sucks. I'm not generally a scofflaw type, I try to respect rules and laws but I'm thinking that I'm going to be figuring out another way up to the top of the Lower Sand Point lookout.

Be Prepared - The other main thing I took from today's shorter ride is that I need to pay better attention to my gear when I'm packing it up. I forgot my underseat toolbag and my totally lame but very handy fanny pack which meant I had to carry my car's remote in my cycling shorts as I had no pockets at all. Kind of stupid of me really. I also need to clean off the rest of the racing number residue from my frame and the sides of my helmet. I was also low on water and had to scrounge some mostly empty water bottles from the backseat. This is the result of packing up my car this morning rather than last night. I will do better next time.

Gloves - Maybe the last thing this post, not sure yet. Against all advice, I bought some new gloves the day before I raced at the Sea Otter Classic a month ago. Conventional wisdom says don't change anything in the last few days before the race unless you can test it out to make sure it will work. I did not do this and bought a pair of gloves with comfy gel inserts and a short cover on my thumb. Over the course of the race, that exposed thumb got abraded all to hell by my SRAM gripshift (probably helped by the Cherry Bomb goo pack that dripped on me). By the end of the race, the inside of the knuckle on my thumb was rubbed completely raw, stung like a mofo and took several weeks to heal up. Another lesson learned. Along with the whole make sure to hydrate like absolute mad the day before and morning of a race, that's an important lesson I won't ever forget!

Next post will be a round up of cool, interesting and odd things I've found or read recently on some of the many blogs I regularly visit.

Breaking News over on ESPN - Landis Admits to Doping

2010-05-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

I had faith but I now see that I was fooled just like everyone else. What a shame.

Landis comes clean on PED use.

A Bike or a Stroller? It's both!

2010-05-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

Check out the Taga bikes / child carriers. Pretty cool way to safely pedal around leisurely with your children.

Elongated

2010-05-07T12:25:00.001-07:00

Elongated
Originally uploaded by seabright hoffman

Riding bikes isn't always about speed or jumps or downhill bomber runs that force tears straight back from your eyes. Nope, sometimes riding bikes is about cruising in the late afternoon sun along a path with a friend.

Slowing down to enjoy the ride is never a bad idea. Unless you're a professional bike racer in the middle of a race and then its probably not a great career move.

2010-05-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

I'm logging my miles for May is Bike Month in the Sacramento Region. If you're in the greater Sacramento area you should be doing the same! If you're from a different area, then lookup your local events over at the League of American Bicyclists.

Tour of the Gila Podium Girls

2010-04-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ummm, wow. What else can you say. Some of the comments people have made are pretty darn funny!

Go here for the full article on VeloNews.com

Motivation

2010-04-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

The following excerpt came from the Peaks Coaching Group eNewsletter. If you ever need motivation to do that extra interval or head out in the rain for a training ride, just come back and read this from time to time. It really hit the nail on the head for me.

>>>

I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse.
Florence Nightingale and JENS VOIGHT

This is a short rant... by Sam Krieg

This past weekend was my 4th weekend of racing so far this season. Race after race I constantly overhear the same bull shit excuses from riders. No one wants to take any accountability for sucking. They lay their groundwork before they even turn their pedals 360 degrees. In the past I was annoyed ... now it just pisses me off. All winter we knew bike racing season was coming. Most of these racers are riding $5000 bikes and worry more about bike weight and how cool they look than how hard they should train. If they spent just 10% of that energy and money on moving forward as an athlete they might just find some personal success instead of catastrophic failure. Most of us are completely lost and don't search out the people who have the answers. We will spend thousands on bikes that make us only seconds faster when a good training plan, coach, or just some good old fashion hard work is the answer. Most racers can rationalize why they suck and don't mind swimming in the vomit pool around them. They have become so used to their own excuses and others' excuses around them that you never hear anyone speak positively before a race.

Before the time trial this past weekend the father of one of my old team-mate asked me how I felt. I said "I am ready to bleed to win this thing"; I meant it. I respected the crap out of the other 60 cat 1-2's who were there and my ego wasn't about to give an inch. I knew I had a fight on my hands and I wasn't certain about the outcome at all. I was scared as crap, but I was 100% committed to throwing down. I was prepared to suffer mentally and physically the entire effort.... I was going to earn a good or a bad result.... The entire time trial I pictured myself as a rat in a trap trying to eat the damn cheese that was just out of reach of my broken neck. I kept trying to nibble and lick the piece of cheese. I was going to win or lose this damn TT with the best possible effort I could manage. I even shoved my time trial bike at the finish line to get an extra .01 seconds. I had gone as fast as I could. That is all you can ever do.

After the Time Trial a rider asked me what my power was. I told him I averaged 305 watts... he was shocked... he said he had ridden close to 400 watts for sure!.............. I had finished over 1 minute in front of him. After a few sentences he implied that he was stronger than I was but just happened to weigh 40 more pounds. According to him I guess I didn't win the TT or have the fastest fucking time of the entire day. So I guess finishing ½ a mile behind me makes him the next Fabian Cancellara? I should have told him to go look at the damn results again. They post them in black and white and from first to last. This is the way it is, and always will be. I almost suggested that he should calibrate his damn power meter or go on a diet. He was insulting me and didn't even know it. Three days later and I am still a bit tweaked when I think about it. He has the same disorder that almost every racer has. Why can't athletes realize that every race is an opportunity to gain knowledge and increase your skill. Instead of pointing out he was obviously much stronger than I was, he should have been critical of his effort, his training, equipment choice, anything instead of telling me how fast he was for a big guy with an over eating disorder. Don't hate on me for being skinny... Hate yourself for not being what you want to be. Bad results are an opportunity to trim the fat and get lean and mean.

A real failure does not need an excuse. It is an end in itself.
Gertrude Stein

Last season at the GILA I woke up in the morning dreading the coming stage; I had traveled down with a good friend who quickly pointed out that I should be stoked.... "You get to race your bike today." We train so we can race. Then on race day we forget that racing is why we ride. Racing is the gift. Racing is what you should be stoked about......... not a new set of carbon wheels... or a cool new cycling kit.... We ride so we can race. We train so we can crush people...... then in the race when we get crushed... we should figure out how to train better, harder, smarter. etc....... instead we make up all sorts of crap.....ignore the gift of racing and never improve upon our past performances because we are blind to what is holding us back.

It isn't flat tires and heavy bikes that slow us down.... It is our FLAT SQUARE MIND..... Leaking air and spewing crap all over the place. When you show up for a race and people ask you how you are doing tell them you are ready to rumble... ready to hurt... and hopefully you can end up on top today. Don't tell them about how hard your work week was, that you have been sick, that this isn't an "A" race, that you haven't started your V02 block of training yet.... Blah.... Blah..... Blah.... If you are going to spew excuses then I suggest you take up a different sport. My good friend Jason has more legitimate excuses not to train than anyone I know. But he rarely ever uses any of them. At 4 a.m. almost every day that dude is on the trainer or out on the roads 350 days a year crushing it. It doesn't matter if he is sick, didn't sleep, or if the damn sky is falling. He has missed very few days of training in 7 years. His hard work is what motivates me. I can't quite live up to his standards but I try. He was the first rider I knew who had a CTL of 100, 110, 120. It didn't kill him; it made him stronger. I gave it a try and I can't describe in words what it did for my riding; I let it speak for itself on the bike.

For the most part bike racing sucks, hurts a ton, and training sucks even worse. If you are lucky you will have a handful of great races over several years. So for every 1000 times you ride your bike you might just have 2 or 3 incredible days. Most riders never actually win a race. So you have to endure the bad. I went 100 races without a win.....but during that time I learned a ton. I learned how to lose...I learned how to train... I learned how to want to win.... I thought I wanted to win... but winning is almost impossible. Go look through anyone's race results and see how rarely even the best local riders win. It takes time and tons of attempts to make a race go your way. I had to learn how to "shut up" and pay attention to the details. I had to learn to stop throwing out excuses and start looking for answers. I know the answer-get on my bike more. I have found that if you can't compliment yourself... compliment someone else. Seek out the racers who win..... pay attention to them.... do what they do.... give credit where it is due...when you fail go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan on how to improve, and try not to make the same mistakes again. It takes an honest rider to realize that every time you race you probably gave it your best shot and your best just wasn't good enough. Don't use this as an excuse but as an opportunity to learn and make changes. You can't improve if you are not critical. If you think you are doing everything right you need to probably look in the mirror a bit closer. Bike racing is definitely a journey with a very abstract destination.

"I find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success."
- Thomas Edison

I respect my limitations, but I don't use them as an excuse.
Stephen R. Donaldson

Two Wheel News Round Up

2010-04-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff has been happening in the world of bicycling and I wanted to grab a few bits I've noticed to share.

The first is the accompanying photo to this post, it is my submission to Kona's Shoot the Ride Contest. Don't know when the deadline to submit is but they will be announcing winners in May so it's probably soon if you want to get in.

There are Catlike helmets on the way to the US. I'm not sure what I think of them, they remind me of golf balls.

Congrats to Cyclelicious for topping London Cyclists' Top 50 cycling blogs of 2010!

Lazer Urbanize Bicycle Helmet has an integrated headlight and taillight. Looks like it could use some venting or it might get a bit hot but otherwise its a pretty good looking lid. And for a mere hundred bucks its a bargain, unless the lights are crap...

Hotel offers cycle for your supper deal where hotel guests can pedal to provide power and, if they exceed 10 watt hours (which I'm not quite clear on) then they will get a free meal from the hotel. Sounds like a great idea to me!

And sad news, Bahati rider, Jorge Alvarado, killed during training ride in Southern California. Donations to his family can be made through So Cal Cycling.

Paul over at Bike Intelligencer has been killing it lately with posts. His Sea Otter coverage was far better than mine and he wasn't even there!

Also, in the wake of my cramptastic Sea Otter Classic cross country race, I am devouring race prep information so as to avoid making the same mistakes (I prefer making brand new mistakes!). Here are some other resources I am tapping to knowledgify myself. Common Errors in Triathlon Training and Racing, BeginnerTriathlete.com - Race Day! and Racing Your Bike – Race Preparation for Non-Racers via the always excellent Mountain.Bike198.com.

There will be more to come, I'm sure!

Recovery Monday

2010-04-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Sunrise on the way to the Sea Otter.

One metric I forgot to add in my quick write up from yesterday.

Random moans - Beyond my ability to count.

And another metric I just came up with.

Bedtime - 9:30. Could not maintain verticality and crashed very, very hard for a good night's rest.

My legs are, as you might guess, a bit fried this morning. Not as bad as I was fearing but the worst may yet be to come as sometimes my legs take 36 hours or so to "bloom" to full pain levels.

I did not place DFL (that's Dead Fucking Last) in the race yesterday, I came close but there is only one DFL per race and it wasn't me. Of all the racers who did finish, there was a cut off, I placed 85th out of 87. Not impressive but really not all that horrible given how much time I lost in having to stretch my quads out so many times. At the end though, my quads were locking up on me, my hamstrings were locking up on me and my calves were strongly threatening revolt as well. It made the last couple of miles feel like an epic struggle. And it will make next year's race much better as I'll head in better prepared, much better prepared.

But it made me feel pretty damned good to hit the track again and coast down the hill to the finish. My wife said another rider came to a stop at the end and fell over because his legs had locked up on him as well.

The finish line where my family waited in vain.

I've been thinking about what I did wrong leading up to the race and have settled on two main things I screwed up. One, taking my medication was a bad move. It is a diuretic and I knew this and two and two never added up to four in my plans. I will not be making that mistake again. Two, not making sure I was going in fully hydrated. I was on kid duty on Saturday and did not make sure I was drinking as much as I now know I really should have been drinking.

One thing I wish I'd been able to do at the Sea Otter was to spend more time taking photographs. I have, quite literally, two pictures in my camera from the day. One of which my wife took. Last year I took tons of pictures, with the superb company of Cyclelicious, who was on a different schedule this year and we didn't even see each other at all.

I did take the photo at the top on the way down to the race yesterday morning but it doesn't really count since we were 20 miles away from Laguna Seca at the time. But the realities of being there with my family and the fact that they rolled out with me at 6 and then had several hours to enjoy the festival while I huffed and puffed (and stretched and grunted) on the trails meant they were done by the time I was finished. And when my two boys are done, they are done and it is time to go!

I didn't even get a chance to swing by the MBoSC booth to say hi! But I did worship at the Ibis Airstream for a few minutes before slowly pedaling out to the parking lot. Next year, next year will be bigger, better and more immersive! I want to bring the family down again and camp for a couple of nights and get the boys into some events.

I love the Sea Otter Classic, it is one of the bicycle world's highlight events and it is truly awesome to have it nearly in my backyard! Anyone that enjoys bicycling should make an effort to go and enjoy the fun, spectacle, the incredible skills on display and to soak in the bicycle universe. The awesome was everywhere!

Post Race Quick Thoughts

2010-04-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

A quick rundown of my first mountain bike race, this morning's Sea Otter Classic Cross Country Category 3 40-44 year old men (the largest group riding the cross country this year).

It is lots more fun to think about doing a race than it is to do the race. It is also more fun to talk about the race you just completed than it is to race. That goes double or triple or even more if the last quarter of the race is spent battling systemic leg cramps.

No ADHD meds! - Note to self for future races: Don't take Adderall the morning of the race, the diuretic effect along with the heat and pace of the race caused me to seriously cramp up. I nearly cramped out of the race altogether but gritted my way through it (had to get my money's worth, ya know?).

Pee as late as possible - As Jay noted in the comments on the previous post, I should have used the bathroom before the race started. I had to stop to go (ironic sentence there).

Poo goo - Whatever the Clif Bar goo was I was handed during the one water station was not good, it was like having a mouth shot full of peanut butter while still trying to breathe. Plus the stuff was a very strong mocha flavor and that really wasn't the right flavor right then.

Hardest part of course - as Karen Kefauver notes in her short write up, the downhill sections through deep sand were rather insane.

Observations - goo is really gooey when it drips on your bike, handlebars and brake lever. Also, its really hard to enjoy the ride when your legs won't bend or won't unbend.

Place - I finished. No idea of what place I got, it could very well be DFL (that's Dead Fucking Last for them's that aren't knowing). But I finished when every fiber of muscle in both of my legs was demanding to stop. Results will be posted online eventually.

Missed fun - Finish line had been closed by the time I finished. So no Tour de France style awesomeness. Oh and the whole cramping thing, that was not joyous in any way, shape or form.

Smoothies spilled - 1, the leftover one in the truck when we were loading up to head home. That was nasty!

Sunscreen - Huh? What's that and why does my skin feel so warm now?

Thirst - unquenched as of yet.

Mechanicals - 0

Crampicals - I lost count.

Blisters - 1, on my thumb of all places.

Shout Outs - To the organizers of the Sea Otter Classic, lots of support, everyone was helpful and marshals were on the course to keep us, uhhh, on the course.

It was a good time in the end. I learned a bunch for my next race, didn't bash into any trees, didn't run anyone else into a tree and I did finish the race even though the cramps were potent enough to stun an elephant.

More to come, I'm sure.

Questions about Racing at the Sea Otter Classic

2010-04-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

It is now T-Minus 2 days until my first mountain bike race at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey (which kicked off yesterday!) and I'm finding that I have some questions that aren't being answered by Sea Otter FAQ's and whatever other resources I've been able to uncover.

So I thought I'd write up a quick post to see if I could capitalize on all of the collected knowledge of my cycling friends who've many years of experience at the two wheeled delight that is the Sea Otter Classic.

So here we go:

In the Sea Otter Athlete FAQ they say I need long pants, a long sleeve shirt, a helmet with a mouth guard. This seems excessive and incredibly hot and I've got photos of numerous racers in shorts, short sleeved shirts and no apparent mouth guard. What's the real deal?

If I drive down to the race on Sunday morning, how much time am I going to need from arrival to registration to getting to the line for the start?

Is there any place to stash extra gear (like warm clothes) during the race so I don't have to leave every possible thing in my car?

I'm guessing hydropacks are permitted but I haven't seen anything specific saying so. Yes on hydropacks?

Are kids 12 and under really free? I saw it on one of the SOC pages but haven't seen it anywhere else.

I'm sure I'll develop more questions as we move forward and will try to get back here and add them but these questions should get the ball rolling. Any insights would be most welcome!

Ready to Roll

2010-04-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Andrew can't quite reach the pedals yet on Lex's old bike, but he sure likes to try! We'll have to look into getting him one of those scoot bikes without pedals, or maybe one with 12" wheels. For now I just have to push him around like this while he rings the bell.

Dry Creek Road in Auburn, CA

2010-03-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

So today I had the fortunate opportunity to ride with no time constraints. My wife took the kids down to the grandparents in the bay area for a few days during Spring Break. After I got them all packed up and sent them on their way, I ate some lunch then saddled up for a nice long ride. It's mostly the same route that I've done before but with a bit more climbing on some new roads that I've never been on before. The weather looked kinda sketchy, but the roads were dry. It was colder for late March due to the storms passing through. I put on more clothes than necessary, including my wind jacket, but I'm glad I did. As I got up into the hills of Auburn, the temperature really dropped. I was constantly zipping and unzipping my wind jacket and jersey all day to regulate my temp. In the end it all worked out great. I think what I need it one of those ultralight compact rain shells that you can stuff in a jersey pocket. Then if it does start to rain, you can pull it out and put it on.

Overall a great route. Not sure I'll ride on the new roads again. Joeger Rd, Dry Creek Rd and Bowman Rd all have a decent amount of traffic on them. Also I notice that riding during the week there just seems to be a lot more cars on the road in general. Guess that makes sense, and why we most often ride early on the weekends when most people are still in bed or at church.

Let me just say that riding almost 60 miles by yourself it a lot harder that riding 60 miles in a group. There is no hiding from the wind and there is no drafting. By about mile 50, my legs were cooked. I just shut it down at that point and tried to spin my way home.

Now I've had a nice hot shower, a recovery drink, and a super carne asada burrito from Rudy's. Life is good. I will sleep well tonight!

Below is my Garmin Connect map and details from the ride. I was a bit irritated with my Garmin Edge 500 today. As I got to the top of Baxter Grade I tried to hit the lap button to mark a lap so that I could later see how fast (or slow..) I just did the climb. The unit wasn't responding and seemed to have just crashed. I pulled over and after pushing a few buttons at the same time it rebooted and started working again. Looks like there is a firmware update that I need to install, so I hope that fixes it.

Bikes That Go Nowhere

2010-03-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

So, as part of my training program for the mountain bike triathlon coming up in five weeks I've been a regular at the gym. The combination of equipment, daycare and a large swimming pool a block and a half away is hard to resist. I'm not a huge fan of riding bicycles inside that don't move nor running on a machine that gets me nowhere (aka treadmill) but they do have their uses.
One thing that I really like about my new gym is that they have a small bank of bicycles from Expresso Fitness, they also have some recumbent versions but I don't really see much use in them at this point.

The Good:
The wide selection of courses is awesome.
The adjustable pace rider is nice.
The ability to race against yourself as a ghost is really nice.
The leaderboard for each course is a great motivator to kick tail.
The incorporated heart rate monitor and data on screen is total nerdvana for me.
The need to steer helps keep me engaged.
The gear shift adds to the experience as well.
The Expresso Fitness - User Portal lets me see how many times I've ridden, total miles and lots more. Really nice to be able to access my data online.
The ability to race against someone on the bike right next to you is cool and fun.

The Bad:
Get rid of the glossy screens, the reflections are very distracting.
I could use a dedicated perch for mp3 players.
If the bike is not on the network then you can't sign in and save your data to the server.
The heart rate monitors are only built into the narrow grip portion of the bars, it'd be nice if they were also on the extended bars

The Meh:
There's a button on the console to watch TV while riding. This does me little good since I'm much more interested in the data I'm creating by riding.
I'm not a fan of the sudden hard pedaling when you hit a hill. It goes from smooth to "crunchy" very quickly and is jarring.
I'm also not a fan of having to pedal to maintain speed on downhills. When I'm descending on a real bike, I do not have to pedal, I coast. If I stop pedaling on the Expresso then I slow down immediately (even on a 15% downhill grade) and that's just stupid.

Suggested Improvements:
Go one step further and make it even more like a video game and let me shoot the other cyclists or launch attacks on birds or something. Integrating triggers into the handlebars would be trivial to do and would make the riding even that much more fun.
Add an air circulation system, I sweat like a rutting pig while riding these bikes for any real length of time. Air blowing from near the monitor would add to the simulation experience too.

Overall:
I give the Expresso bikes very high marks for an engaging and information packed workout. The bikes are fun to ride, deliver a good workout, good motivation and engage the rider in various ways that all equal a pretty good time.

2010 Madera Stage Race

2010-03-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

This was my first ever multi-day event. I wasn't sure how my body would react to multiple days of racing, well 2 days if you want to be exact. I drove down to Madera early on Saturday morning and quickly noticed that the north wind was ramping up. As I drove further south into the central valley of California the winds only seemed to get stronger. Any flags I saw were blown straight out and were whipping violently in the wind. I knew some major suffering on the bike was to be had today.

My first event, the criterium, my least favorite, was scheduled for just after 11AM. I arrived with plenty of time, found my team mates, and set up my trainer to get warmed up. After a nice warm up I was very nervous, but ready to get the racing under way. Of course, as typically happens, the races were running about 20-30 minutes behind. So we just continued our warm ups by cruising around the north end of the course, trying to stay loose and warm. Finally the race was under way. This was a basic 4 corner crit, and the speeds started out pretty quickly in the 24-27 mph range. On the north and east sections of the course we experienced nice tail winds on wide open streets with good pavement. As we hit the south end of the course you turn into a nice cross head wind, and positioning was key. I decided to stay on the outside for the first few laps. Good protection from the wind, but bad position in that people kept swinging wide and pushing me out into the edge of the course where there was a line of orange cones. Some people hit the cones, and one went flying right into my path. Luckily it was laying sideways and I was able to roll right over it without incident. I shudder to think what would have happened if I hit the bottom (base) of the cone... Any ways, back to the action. I was feeling good and able to hang with the pace without any problems at all. This was a first for me. As I'm usually gasping for air at the back of the pack struggling to maintain contact. I even managed to find myself riding at the front of the pack, which is where you want to be anyways. Well not right on the front, but in the top 10. The finishing stretch of the course was a dead on into a 15-20mph headwind. As you made the last corner, position was key on the right side of the course. After a few laps I found myself feeling strong and took a wide line on the outside of one corner and just kept the gas on. Soon I found myself out in front of the pack. Nobody chased me, so I just kept going. I probably had a 5-10 second gap, and knew I would just get got so I started soft pedaling and was absorbed back into the pack. I sat in for a while and recovered, then did it again on the 2nd to last lap. This was my big mistake. I should have just continued to sit in but work my way up to the front. I rode the lap out front but when I hit the wind my solo attack was over. I managed to hang onto it across the start / finish line going into the final lap. As the pack swarmed me I couldn't quite hang on as they were ramping up the speed on the final lap. I did my best to catch back on, but ended up about 30 seconds behind coming into the finish. My team was all over the race, multiple attacks off the front and covered any breaks that tried to get away. We ended up with a 3rd and 7th and everyone else finished in the pack. Ok, first goal accomplished. Finished the crit, didn't crash and felt pretty good. After the race we rode the trainers for about 15 minutest to cool down and slammed the mandatory recovery drink.

Next up in the afternoon was the individual time trial. 10 miles on dead flat roads, as fast as you can go. But first it was off to get a sandwich and then to the hotel to relax for a bit. We had about 3 hours in between events which was just enough time for some stretching, bike maintenance and relaxing. Since I don't have a TT bike (yet..:-) I was on my standard road bike. I didn't even bother to get clip on aero bars. I'd tried them a couple years before and just found them too uncomfortable. You really need to dial in a position (adjust seat, handlebars, etc.) in order to be comfortable in aero bars or a TT bike for that matter. For this race though, I'd just decided to ride in the drops and do my best to keep a steady pace and not to explode. Did I mention the wind? Most of our start times for the TT were after 3PM, so we got the full on maximum effect. First 5 miles were mostly tail wind with a slight cross push. I was easily rolling along at 27-30 mph. These were farm roads, so while mostly smooth, there were some serious potholes that had to be avoided. It required intense concentration to look for the potholes, and pick a smooth line. As I made the 2nd to last turn into the wind it was a head cross wind from the right. Then the pain really set in. I went from 27-30 mph, down to barely able to maintain 17mph. The final right turn on to the finishing stretch was a dead on block headwind and my speed dropped even lower. At times I noticed it in the sub-16 range. Oh and thanks to some excellent information from team mates who rode the course earlier, the actual distance was 10.44 miles instead of 10.0 miles. So knowing that there was that extra .44 miles really helped pace out the effort in the end. I finished below 30 minutes for the 10.44 miles, and knew I'd lose considerable time here to everyone and their tricked out TT bikes, aero helmets and skin suits. Just as a reference the fastest pro rider clocked in a 20:39 - smokin!

After the TT we rushed back to the hotel for a quick shower then headed down to a nice Italian restaurant for a team dinner. Loaded up on pasta, lasagna and salad, and even had a couple of beers too! Great time but we were all pretty darn tired. Sleep was not an issue that night. It was a pretty funny sight though. 4 guys in one hotel room along with 7, yes 7 bikes!

For the 51 mile road race we had the plan to try and protect Matt's 2nd place overall GC position. We rode at the front to cover and breaks and basically just hovered around Matt for the first two laps. A couple of riders attempted to get away but they never got more than about 40-50 seconds and were swallowed up on the hills of the 2nd lap. There was a 2.5 mile section of road that was some of the roughest pavement I had ever seen. It was so rough water bottles were getting ejected left and right. Even heard stories of Powertap head units and Garmin 705s being popped off on the rough roads. On the final lap Team Bicycles Plus went to the front and drilled it through the rough section. Then we hit the hills and the attacks started. We were able to cover everything and Matt got the win and also secured the overall GC for the weekend. Mike scored a nice 3rd place in the road race as well.

For my first time at the Madera Stage Race I think I did pretty well. But most importantly I had a blast racing with my team mates. One thing is clear, the TT is a very critical stage of the race. This is where you win it or lose it.

Photo Links

Final GC Results

USA Cycling Results

I'm in this video in a few places, you'll have to watch to find out where! I think around 19:50 or something like that. Nothing too exciting, maybe just the last few minutes of the race. It's a good perspective of what it's like to be in a road race though!

2010 Madera Stage Race - Daulton Road Race - 35+ 4/5 last lap from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

Ten Bucks Off Sea Otter Classic Registration!

2010-03-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

$10 Off SOC Registration Thanks to BikeRadar.com | (Sea Otter Classic - April 15-18, 2010)

BikeRadar.com is proud to offer, for a limited time, a $10 discount off your Sea Otter registration. Follow these instructions for great savings:

Go to Sea Otter Classic Athlete Registration and decide which event to register for.

Click on the 'Click here to register' button
Complete the online registration process.

Enter coupon code SOCBIKERADAR at checkout

*This offer is good until Mar 21st at Midnight Pacific time. Offer not valid for camping, merchandise, festival passes, or exhibitor space, and may not be combined with other offers."

Tip o' the helmet to NorCal MTB Racing for the heads up! This might just be the extra push I needed to get off the fence and register to race the Cross Country race.

Reactions to Lance Armstrong's Conversation with Tony Kornheiser

2010-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

In the wake of Tony Kornheiser statements the other day about running down cyclists on the road, the internets lit up like wildfire and the de facto king of all Cycling, Lance Armstrong, took up the fight. I just listened to the interview on Kornheiser's radio show.

I may try to get a transcript of the whole call but from what I heard, Kornheiser doesn't really seem sorry for what he said, he seemed much sorrier about getting called out for it and had no idea of the kind of firestorm his stupid ass comments would bring down on him.

This latest stupidity comes on the heels of a two week suspension for making dumbass remarks on the air about Hannah Storm. I make no bones about the fact that I think Tony Kornheiser is a blithering idiot. I've really disliked him for years now and pretty much ignore him whenever his face-made-for-radio is splashed on the tv. I find it ridiculous that he got a suspension for a stupid sexist comment about Storm and doesn't seem to be facing any repercussions for calling for grievous bodily harm against cyclists. What is up with that, ESPN?

The main problem most cyclists have with an attitude like Kornheiser's is that we already feel very exposed out on the roads. We don't need some asshat national sportswriter painting an even bigger target on our backs. I have been lucky enough to never have any road rage drivers grief me on the roads but I ride on the road much less often than in the woods (partially because of this) but I have had nearly every one of my cycling buddies get some kind of hassle. One buddy who was just biking to work had some jerks throw a soda can full of pennies at him on the way by, he's very, very lucky it missed him because the can weighed like three pounds and would have seriously hurt him. Other cyclists I know have been "doored" (when a car opens its door into a bike lane and catches a cyclist), Cyclicious relates a story of some wanker in a BMW tapping his back wheel in the Santa Cruz Harbor.

There is nothing funny at all about running down cyclists, there is nothing funny about calling for harm to be caused to other people and I don't think Kornheiser is truly sorry, I think he's sorry he set off a firestorm and just wants to keep his cushy job yapping about sports that he's not talented enough to play. I had no respect for him before and now I'd probably be just as likely to punch him in the face if I met him only now I'd feel more justified in doing so.

I wish Lance had taken him more to task, I wish the conversation had been less about the new social media landscape and more about the affront to decency that Kornheiser represents with his opinion and words. I understand Lance needed to be diplomatic and represent our sport as a cool, calm super stud that he is. But it would have been nice to him drag Kornheiser's worthless ass across the coals for a bit.

But then I've been told that I'm often too reactionary when I should be more thoughtful and deliberate. On that same token, I think the whole world could do more to be more thoughtful and deliberate.

What was your take on the interview and the controversy?

10 (or More) Reasons Bicycles are Better Than Cars

2010-03-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Riffing off The Kneeslider's recent post, 10 Reasons Motorcycles are Better Than Cars, I thought I'd put together a quick list of some of the reasons why bikes beat cars.

1. You can fit 10 to 12 bicycles in the space needed for a single car.

2. Bicycles use no gas at all unless you count methane production from post-ride burritos.

3. Erg for erg, bicycles are far more efficient than cars. If a cyclist could convert gasoline to energy like a car then the cyclist would get more than 900 miles per gallon.

4. Bicycles can be taken apart and rebuilt at home with just a few specialized tools. Try that with a new BMW.

5. Bicycles cost less to purchase and less to maintain. You can buy a new bike for what you pay in insurance every year on a car, a pretty nice bike if you've got high premiums.

6. Bicyclists pose virtually no danger to other motorists on the road.

7. Bicycling is tremendous exercise. Riding on hilly roads/trails is very close to interval training which studies have shown is the most effective way to get in great shape.

8. Riding a bike means you are getting fresh air. On trails in the woods you are getting the freshest air possible.

9. In addition to great exercise, bicycling develops good coordination and balance.

10. Bicyclists are part of the environment rather than being boxed up inside a car with climate control, stereos and heated seats.

11. Commuting to work by bicycle can qualify you for tax credits.

12. Bicycles cause virtually no damage to the environment or the roadways.

13 Bicycling is fun and can be a great family activity.

What are some other reasons you for bicycles being better than cars?

Site Redesign

2010-03-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

So I got a wild hair tonight and wanted to see what the new template designer could do with NorCal Bikers and did a quick site redesign. Believe it or not, going from the old site to this new one took less than 15 minutes and a good chunk of that was playing around with settings.

I'd like the background image of the mountain biker to be more prominent but I'm interested to hear what folks think. What works, what doesn't work, what needs a tweak to make it better?

The other new feature I'm planning on making more use of is the Read More to let Jay and I post long posts but to not utterly dominate the home page with them. I like a quick loading page and I'm sure others do too.

Anyway, let's hear the good, the bad, the WTFugly!

If You Ain't Crashing, You Ain't Pushing The Envelope

2010-03-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

I come from a school of thought that crashing is instructive. If you aren't pushing skills to the edge and occasionally over then perhaps you need to step it up some and push a little harder. Conversely, if you are crashing hard every time you get out on the trails then you should perhaps dial it back a couple of notches.

Oh yeah, this crashing is good mentality doesn't really apply on the road. Crashing on the road generally means very bad things. And usually a road crash isn't even the cyclist's fault, its usually some impatient cager who passes dangerously and clips the cyclist or an asleep behind the wheel sheriff's deputy or someone making an illegal turn in front of you.

Can you guess that I'm not much of a fan of road riding? Too many factors are out of my hands on the road, too many hurtling loonies rushing around without regard for others, too many I've-had-a-bad-day assholes. Nope, I'm a trail rider.

I used to think that trees were better because they don't jump out into your path only I had one jump out into my path yesterday and side swipe me on my way by (yeah, I know it was really rider error but it makes me feel a tiny bit better to blame it on the tree). And I'd expected the scrapes to have purpled up by this morning but nope, they look like a bear scratches on my side, not too bad but kind of annoying.

Anyway, back to the post at hand. You can learn from crashing, you can learn what you need to work on, you can learn that your bike's brakes need adjustment, you can learn that pricker bushes are no fun to crash into, you can learn how to more gracefully go over your handlebars and tumble without causing massive harm.

Of course, it should go without saying, before you go out and push your envelope, gear up. Get a good helmet (maybe even one of those full face motorcross looking ones), gloves, maybe some arm guards and leg guards if you're really going to go wild. Riding off road without protective gear is really, really stupid. But then, I'm now old enough to have learned just how breakable the human body is. I don't go full on crash gear, usually sticking with a good helmet and gloves but that's mostly because I'm not a jumper, I'm a cross country rider who occasionally gets off the ground. I'm learning how to safely jump some but its a slow learning curve for me.

Have fun and push yourself a little further and a little harder each time and you'll find your skills and your enjoyment of mountain biking increasing too.

** Photo credit is from Injury.com **

Possible Future Bikes?

2010-03-04T23:40:00.000-08:00

Custom Bicycle Concepts: 10 Amazing Bikes of the Future bills itself as a list of ten possible directions bicycle design may go in the future.

Well, no. Several of these are already available now and several others (notably the hubless styles) aren't really practical in the real world though they do look bitchin' in a design program, that's for sure. Why are hubless wheels impractical? Here, read the Wikipedia entry. Basically, they look cool but are expensive as hell to make and would require lots of maintenance to keep in good working order and don't really provide any huge advantage over regular hubbed wheels (yes, they can be more aerodynamic but they can also have a way higher rolling resistance which would negate the aero savings).

So let's take a gander at the gallery assembled and purported to represent the possible future of bicycling.

The Artikar - There's nothing groundbreaking at all about the non-bicycle Artikar, its a four wheel recumbent with a neon bubble frame thing going on. Its neat but it ain't no future bike.

The Cube Urban Streetbike concept looks pretty fast and has the practical side of foldability but it loses the practical war in how the seat set up works. If you don't fit this bike then you are out of luck, the seat cannot go higher or lower, just further forward or backward. That pretty much eliminates it from any practical consideration.

The forkless cruiser is cool but totally impractical for anything but Burning Man and parades.

The Intelligent Bike Concept is neat but will never see the light of the day in any practical way. It would be way too expensive, it has a solar powered electric motor back up but no place for solar panels and more of the cool looking but not gonna happen anytime soon hubless wheels. Intelligent? Nah, I'm think more like flight of fancy.

The Simplicity bike is absolutely worthless for any kind of distance travelling. Cramped, no gearing, flexy frame and almost certainly super twitchy handling because of that super short wheelbase. Its also kind of silly looking, no?

The ECO 07 is a neat idea in that the whole bike can be broken down and stored in a briefcase (including the modular wheels). It looks cool too but I don't need a bike I can store in a briefcase, I need a bike I can ride hard.

The Peugot B1k gets the lists nod as the sexiest bike of the bunch but it looks uncomfortable to ride, has a hubless rear wheel, joystick handlebars and an odd drivetrain system. Regular handlebars work well, I'm not sure if the joystick bars are more aerodynamic or just neat and the short wheelbase would again be scary at speed. It looks cool, sure, but how cool would it look stacked up off a hard turn?

The last in the list, the Plus Bike Concept is interesting. I'd worry about frame flex but otherwise it seems like a reasonably usable design. It doesn't evoke anything in me though.

My favorites of the bunch are the Wire Bike Concept (reminiscent of the Slingshot) which is pictured at the very top and the Furious Sports Bike pictured on the right. I'd prefer a wider set of handlebars and a more recognizable seat but it looks pretty cool even if the drivetrain is on the wrong side (unless I'm totally misinterpreting the design).

If I were a betting man then I'd probably put my money on the bike of the future being some sort of plastic design for cheap production, use and recycling. It would have to be accessible by all strata of person (some of these concept bikes would elicit questions about how to ride them or just outright WTF?s) and would utilize tried and true technology like hubbed wheels and regular bar handlebars.

Don't get me wrong, I love checking out bicycle designs, I love seeing what people can dream up but the reality is that nearly all of these bikes can be safely eliminated from the running for Bike of the Future consideration.

For a great place to read about bicycle design, check out the Bicycle Design blog. Always interesting content and James, the writer, has a great handle on the practicality or lack thereof of concepts.

Sacramento CX Season Wrap Up

2010-03-04T15:02:00.001-08:00

IMG_9999
Originally uploaded by JN56

Well the 2009 Sacramento CycloCross Series wrapped up on January 16th and I'm already looking forward to next year. I've been meaning to write-up a short post for a while now but just haven't had the time.

I completed 4 out of 5 total races and finished up 13th overall out of 100+ Men's C racers. Not too bad for my first full season of cross. Next year I'll race in the 35+ B group. This will be good for a number of reasons. One, I won't have to get up so early as these races are usually just after noon. And two it will be easier for me to bring Lex to the races so he can do the kids races held at noon. He had a total blast on the Granite Bay course ripping through the sand and mud. And the third reason will be to race in my age group and not worry about 18 year old kids blowing me out of the water. The competition won't be easy, but at least it should be more balanced for me.

I'm also planning to stop my road racing season in August, and take a good rest, then do some cyclocross specific training in the fall & winter. I've already noticed coming into spring this year that I'm a lot stronger on the road bike as compared to previous years. The high intensity cross races are really great training and help keep you very fit through the winter months.

Cyclocross is such a fun sport I can't even begin to describe it. It's something that you just have to try for yourself. Even if you don't own a cross bike, just head down to a local race and jump in the C group with your mountain bike. Heck last year the kid who won the C series was on a 29er mountain bike. It's a good group of people who like to have fun and race bikes in the dirt. The courses are always different and pose a new challenge each race. Of course the conditions can range as well. This past year we had pretty good weather. One day was 100+ while others were cold, windy and wet.

My favorite race of the year was out at Lange Twins Winery. The mud was described as "peanut butter" - which pretty much sums it up. A major energy suck from your legs trying to pedal through that stuff. The course had a great mix of fast pavement/gravel sections, some tricky off camber hill sides, some steep short climbs, and of course the mud!

Many thanks to the Sacramento CX crew for putting on a great series of racing. Can't wait til next year!

Watch Out, Here Comes the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival!

2010-02-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

This upcoming weekend is the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival with good stuff going on both Saturday and Sunday. Though if there's too much more rain then the Saturday ride will likely have to be canceled.

Anyway, here's a quick rundown of events, there's lots more info on the other side of the link.
Saturday, February 27th at 9:30 am: Group ride at the Soquel Demo Forest with some of the stars of the new movie, Awesome Land: Women of Dirt. After the ride there will be some trailwork and a bbq. Also, Titus Bikes will be there to give riders a chance to demo their El Guapo 6 inch all mountain machine. If its half as nice as the 29er Rockstar I demoed a few weeks ago, it should be a blast to roll on.

There will be ample opportunities to purchase raffle tickets for a pretty amazing mountain of schwag including a brand spanking new El Guapo that will be given away at the Sea Otter Classic later this spring.

Sunday, February 28th from 10-3: Jump Jam at Depot Park in Santa Cruz sponsored by BlkMrkt Bikes. There will be riders demonstrating aerial wickedness, demo bikes, instruction, and good fun for all. Having seen some of the demo jumpers at last year's Sea Otter, these jump sessions are often truly jaw dropping.

Sunday, February 28th at 7 pm: The California premier of Awesome Land: Women of Dirt at the Rio Theatre at Soquel and Seabright Ave. The movie will also feature a Q&A session with Lisa Myklak, Emily Johnston, Tammy Donahugh and Kathy Pruitt will be present at the premier, along with the filmmaker Mark Brent. The session will be hosted by Karen Kefauver, a local cyclist, journalist and Spin City columnist for the the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

It promises to be an awesome weekend of mountain biking magnificence. I was thinking about trying to make the Saturday ride but am realizing that I'm unlikely to actually get rolling early enough to do it. So I am instead planning on heading out to the Jump Jam, snapping some pics, having some fun and maybe trying to make it to the movie premier as well.

There are a ton of local sponsors, the aforementioned mountain of raffle schwag and the money raised at the event will go to a good cause, to repair and reopen the parking area at the Demo Forest which has been closed due to environmental concerns. Which is all gravy really because its a freakin' Mountain Bike Festival and that should be plenty enough to get you up and out to have some fun.

Proof He Doesn't Need Training Wheels

2010-02-22T11:51:00.001-08:00

Proof He Doesn't Need Training Wheels
Originally uploaded by fenriq

We are in the process of weaning Grady from his training wheels on his, now too small, bike. While he did really, really well without him, he's not emotionally ready to remove them for good just yet. But he's getting better and better and only forgets that he needs to put his feet down when he comes to a stop.

I can't wait until he's off the training wheels because it'll open up a whole new world for both of us (he gets easily high-centered on any off-road riding now).

I'm in no big hurry though because of how much I have riding around with my boys now. But I know even better times are ahead and that just makes me really excited!

Bike Links

2010-02-16T22:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some bike links I've come across recently and wanted to pass along. That beautiful old bike pictured there is a 1949 Famous James and was found among bcgreeneiv's Flickr stream, more vintage bike pics linked at the bottom of this post.

Worldbike - cargo style bike for use in rural areas where it can have a great impact on a farmer's income, at least that's what the link says.

Japan's two-second folding bicycle - the link is pretty light on detailed images of how the bike folds so quickly but the video does a pretty good job of showing its action. And its action is slick!

Firefly bike light detects traffic and lights you up for greater visibility with lights on your back and on the street under your bike. And greater visibility means that the soccer mom yakking it up on her phone while wandering lanes in her oversized SUV will be that much more likely to notice you and not obliterate you. One of these days I'll have to post a short video of me demonstrating my latest personal lighting system (still undergoing testing).

The Shimano Alfine 11-speed hub costs about a quarter of a Rohloff and weighs a bit less too. Suh-weet!

French judge issues arrest warrant for Floyd Landis for allegedly hacking the computer systems at the agency doing drug testing on his urine samples that eventually caused him to lose his Tour de France win and get a two year ban from the sport.

And finally, A Treasure Trove of Vintage Photos of Old Motorcycles

To Helmet or Not To Helmet

2010-02-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

Among the many things that cyclists and motorcyclists will debate over is helmet use. Since there's no way in hell I'd ride my motorcycle without a helmet (getting into a crash and slamming your helmeted head on the ground is a pretty solid convincer) I'll skip on over to the bicycle side of the debate.

It is my current frame of thought that there are extremely few reasons to ever throw a leg over a bike without strapping a helmet on at the same time. Absolutely for damned sure when I go riding off road for obvious reasons. And yet, I still occasionally see people out riding mountain bikes on single track in Nisene Marks sans lid. It boggles the mind. I'd not ride if I forgot my helmet. The risk versus reward calculation just doesn't balance out.

I don't know if that's because I'm a bit older and quite alot more aware of the myriad frailties of the aging male human body. I used to ride motorcycles in Arizona without a helmet. I used to take what looking back now are ridiculous risks with my life and am lucky enough to have escaped mostly unscathed though with loads of battle scars (which someone once told me chicks dig but even that mostly no longer matters).

Anyway. Helmets.

Are they always, always necessary? Nope, they're actually only necessary when you crash and fall off your bike. Which generally happens when you least expect it though will sometimes happen when you expect it. So if you have perfect knowledge of when you are going to crash on your bike then, by all means, where your helmet only on those days.

Oh what's that? You don't know for sure when you are going to crash next? Hmmm. That presents a little bit of a problem then doesn't it? Probably makes sense to be prepared unless you like to gamble with your higher brain function.

What about if you're playing around on your bike in a park on nice soft grass, there are no other things to smack your head or face on if you biff? Okay. Go for it. The risk versus reward is pretty balanced.

But riding my cruiser out on West Cliff? Nope, I am strapping up.

Others choose not to because their personal risk versus reward calculation came up groovy to go without a helmet. Which is neither good nor bad unless they happen to crash and then it is bad and likely worse for the lack of some safety gear.

In the instance that caused me to write this blog post. Fritz's post of Pink riding a too small road bike and I commented that she looked pretty good with the exception of not wearing a helmet. Someone else commented that she didn't need to have a helmet on since she wasn't doing anything special or going fast. I should have responded that she was riding a bike on a four lane street where there were obviously cars around her and that the situation, in my mind, absolutely called for a helmet. Instead I acted like a tool and am thankful that Fritz's blog allowed me the grace to delete the comment myself.

On top of everything else there's a semi-hypocrisy in mandating that children wear helmets when riding bikes. I'm not suggesting helmet laws because we've got plenty of laws already. But if kids always see adults without helmets and they have to wear them then you can be sure they'll ditch them the second they are no longer required to wear them.

I wear a helmet not only because I don't particularly like concussions or fractured skulls or worse but because I want to set a good example for my kids and other kids around me. Did I mention that I work at three elementary schools? Yeah. That probably clouds my thinking and judgment a tiny bit but only to add a little foam to the fanaticism.

But part of me wishes I'd kept the motorcycle helmet I had on when I catapulted over the stupid car that stopped in the fast lane. That thing had a serious crack where it saved me from a wickedly bad day and merely made it a pretty bad day (destroyed motorcycle, wonked knee and a four by eight inch deep purple bruise from my gas tank from one thigh to the other, yes, across my balls and yes, it was a brutally unenjoyable first night after the crash). It would serve as a great reminder of the kind of forces that can occur. I was only going 30 or so miles an hour, I can easily (well, maybe not easily) hit that on my bicycle.

Photo attribution: Found at TreeHugger on this article about a confirmed helmet wearer who saw the light (almost literally) after waking up from a coma.

Want more pro-helmet ammo? Check out the results of this Google search. There are truly no good arguments for not wearing a helmet just as there are no good arguments for not wearing a seatbelt in a car. You either value your brain's ability to process thoughts or you do not. Short trips, long trips, testing a bike in a parking lot, any of them can result in you falling and smacking your head on the ground and if you smack your head on the ground without protection,the ground wins and you lose.

At least that's the way I see it, I'm pretty fond of my higher brain function. And somewhere I know I just made my mom smile.

But hey, I'm open to dissenting opinions. Got something to say? Leave it in the comments.

Levi Leipheimer Descending Pine Flat Road

2010-02-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

Super sick video!

Levi Leipheimer Descending Pine Flat Road from Roger Bartels on Vimeo.

2010 Cyclocross World Championships

2010-01-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice collection of videos from the 2010 Cyclocross World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic.

Check out the 1 lap helmet cam video! Super sketchy corners...

http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/600

Quick Review: Titus Rockstar 29er

2010-01-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

I was one of the few bicyclists that took advantage of Titus being in Santa Cruz for a demo out near Delaveaga Park. I wasn't surprised that turnout was on the low side, it rained last night, at times it was raining very, very hard. And normally I wouldn't go riding on trails after such rain but Delaveaga's trails are pretty sturdy (with a few spots that will definitely need repairs once things dry out).

Besides, today was beautiful, sunny and warm and really quite nice. I was tempted to wear my tank top and did wear my riding shorts.

When I got to the Branciforte trailhead, I saw the great big Titus trailer and a rack of bikes near the back just waiting for some trailside punishment. I met Mike Wirth, the demo guy, and talked with him for a little bit about the company, some of the bikes and how the day had gone so far. He had, to that point, had less than ten riders take out bikes for demos. Which seemed like an awful shame.

After discussing my riding style (I'm a cross country rider, I don't jump much and I actually rather enjoy climbing but I also like bombing trails too). He had two options for me, one hardtail 29er and the aforementioned Rockstar 29er. I decided to give the Rockstar a go since I'd never had the pleasure of a 29er and don't usually get to enjoy the more comfortable ride a full suspension rig offers.

Since I'm not really a regular bike reviewer I'm not quite sure how to attack the review so I'll just go with Good, Bad, Ugly and Awesome. I'm working on the video I shot and will post that later on when I've whittled out the boring parts and laid on some phat trackage for aural spice.

The Good:
Those big wheels impart a rather nice sense of invulnerability and rollability. I felt like I could power my way up and over most anything in my path (the gnarly rock waterfall excepted). For a full suspension bike, it climbed really well thanks to its big wheels and well dialed suspension (I could detect virtually no pogo'ing at all). It tracks cleanly and the big wheels allowed me to recover from slight directional mistakes or when a wet root would try to make the front end slide out.

The Bad:
Not the bike's fault but a 29er raises the bike's center of gravity by a bit. Not enough to be really problematic but enough to be noticeable. I got used to it pretty quickly though. Hard to really nit pick about other issues I had since they'd be sorted out in a proper bike fitting and component replacement if it were my bike.

The Ugly:
One problem that I will run into with virtually any bike I demo is that I'm not a paddle shifting guy, I'm not a clip-in kind of guy either. I like my grip shifts and I like my Power Grips (yeah, I'm one of the very, very few that rides them and I love them!). So I spent a good portion of the ride shifting in the wrong direction but that's not the bike's fault. Other than that I can't really think of anything even remotely glaringly bad about the bike, it rode beautifully and felt great.

The Awesome:
29ers are great on trails like Delaveaga, there are roots, rocks, ruts and more. Some spots require taking a very specific route on a regular 26 but the 29er, due to its larger wheels, can go places that make a 26er pause. It was really pretty fun to approach an obstacle and watch and feel that front wheel just roll up and over it. I think I'd have had a ton of fun if I'd had the time (and legs) to take a second run up and down the trails.

Overall Score:
I'd give the Titus Rockstar 29er two big thumbs up, four and a half stars and a big ol' muddy grin (did I mention the trails were wet and muddy?). It is a great bike, confidence inspiring, comfortable, fast and definitely trail-worthy.

Titus is going to be doing another demo day tomorrow, the 31st of January, in Aptos at Nisene Marks State Park. I expect the weather will be as nice or nicer, the trails should be a bit drier and I'm hoping that alot more folks come out to try out these nice bikes. If you do, let Mike know I sent you and maybe I'll see you out on the trails too!

PS. I'd link to the relevant pages on Titus' site for the Rockstar but their site is currently down with a bandwidth exceeded notice. I'll try to add the pertinent links when the site is back available.

Update: Paul Andrews of Bike Intelligencer took out the Rockstar on Sunday at Nisene Marks and put together a very good write up despite some pretty sloppy trail conditions. Paul is also an Ibis Mojo rider so he's definitely good peeps (though I'm guessing he's got one of the new super sweet full suspension models unlike my old steel hardtail!).

Titus Bikes Demo Day in Santa Cruz This Weekend!

2010-01-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

When: Saturday, January 30th, 2009 – 9am to 3pm
Sunday, January 31st, 2009 – 9am to 3pm

Where: Saturday - DeLaVeaga Park
Sunday – Nisene Marks

Please bring - ID, Credit Card, Your own pedals, Helmet, Your own hydration

Come sample the new 2010 offerings from Titus Bikes! We’ve got some beautiful new full-suspension designs that are born and bred in the Arizona desert. We’ll have our “X” cross-country bike, the FTM 5-inch trail bike, and the all-mountain El Guapo – all available for demo on some of the best local terrain.

No charge for demo.

For any additional information, contact THE SPOKESMAN at 831.429.6062 or Jason at Titus Bikes 800.85.TITUS

I'm going to try and make it to Delaveaga tomorrow and I know Cyclelicious is going to try and make it out as well. And we'll both be sporting cameras for some suh-weet action shots! And there are bound to be some MBoSC members there too! Come on out and let's shred together!

Surf City Cyclo-X Tomorrow

2010-01-09T15:55:00.000-08:00

Anywhere near Santa Cruz and like bicycles? Come on down to Aptos High School off Freedom Blvd. tomorrow to see some crazy cyclocross action. Its the finale of the Surf City Cyclo-X season and should be a day of great races and fun.

I'm planning on getting out there with my kids and my cameras to see what kind of cool action shots I might be able to get.

Here's the course, my only question is where is everyone going to park?

View Aptos High School in a larger map

Oh To Be A Rich Man

2009-12-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

Ibis Cycles, Inc :: Ti Mojo ltd.

"We bet you weren't expecting this one. For a limited time Ibis will be offering a reproduction of famous Ti Mojo last produced in 2001. These frames are being produced for us by Lynskey Titanium in the US, and utilize the same geometry and high end features of the venerable Ti Mojo we produced oh so long ago."

I would almost kill for this frame but then, if I were going to kill for a bike, I'd probably just go ahead and kill for one of the brand new Mojo SL's and be done with it.

But man, this is one hot frame! I bet it almost levitates itself because its so damned light.

Get Your Photo On MBA's Cover

2009-12-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

Get Your Photo On the Cover of Mountain Bike Action Free

I wish I'd seen this a couple of weeks ago so I could have done some fun stuff with it for Christmas. Oh well, better late than never! Time to start creating my covers!

Tips For Healthier Mountain Biking For The 40 Year Old Rider | Mountain Biking by 198

2009-12-26T12:02:00.000-08:00

Tips For Healthier Mountain Biking For The 40 Year Old Rider | Mountain Biking by 198

I have officially passed over from young buck to old fart with my recent birthday and am now a 40 year old mountain biker. It was good to see this guest post covering some of the smart things I can do to help prolong my riding, keep from getting hurt and to wring the most out of my rides.

Quick summary here and much expanded on over there:
Warm up
Eat smart
Strength training
Carbon fiber handlebars
Quality sleep
De-stress your life
Don't write checks your backside can't cash

I would add some post ride recovery info and how to effectively refuel your body to supply it with proper nutrition to repair muscles. But definitely a good article and worthwhile read even if you haven't quite crossed the barrier into your 40s yet, eventually you will.

The Fat Cyclist at Team Radio Shack Training Camp

2009-12-18T11:05:00.001-08:00

These are some great videos. Truly amazing what was accomplished by The Fat Cyclist in such a short time. Very inspiring!

Part I

Part II

Part III

Finale

Banned from Cycling for 15 Years for BUI?

2009-12-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Student Caught Biking Drunk Banned from Cycling for 15 Years

Biking under the influence gets a cyclist a 15 year ban? How in the name of all that makes reasonable sense did this judgment get handed down?

I'm not advocating for drunk biking by any stretch but, from what I know, drunk driving laws are in place to protect people from causing massive damage and death by piloting a several ton vehicle while impaired. There is simply no possibility of a drunk bicycle causing even a tenth as much damage or harm that a drunk driver can cause.

This case makes no sense to me really. The only person put in harm's way by riding his bike drunk was the cyclist and he seems to have survived intact.

Yes, he was three times over the legal limit but so what? His potential for causing harm to anyone else was minimal.

Actually, what's gotten him in the real trouble is because he ignored a letter telling him he had to report for medical and psychological testing (for a mere 500 euro) from the driver's license bureau. Since he ignored it, he got a second letter letting him know he was forbidden from using any non-licensed vehicle for at least 15 years.

Which is, of course, ludicrous and stupid and wrong and a total waste of time and money to even consider trying to enforce.

An Assortment of Bicycling Goodness

2009-11-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

Here's a bunch of links I've had in drafts for a little while now so I thought I'd mash them all together into one linky pile of cycling awesomeness. Enjoy!

Josh Hadar - Hadar Metal Design

PedalPower+ charges cyclists' phones, GPS, iPods

Singletracks - a very strong collection of trails across the entire country. Good info.

BikeMapDude - need a trail map for places in California? Check this site out. I was able to download a free PDF trail map of Nisene Marks and the Soquel Demo Forest for signing up to be on his email list. The maps are aces!

Bike Party: Beach Blanket Bike Along - "See, in theory, Critical Mass ought to be a fun bunch of people showing that you can commute just as effectively as drivers. But, at least in San Francisco, it's just a bunch of ass-clowns. And if you hurt any number of my favorite San Francisco residents while they are commuting via public transit because you *have* to ride on the sidewalk to show how macho you are, you are not my bicyclist brother and I wish nothing more than you get the world's worst saddle sore the next day."

Gyrobike gyroscopic training wheels help kids learn to ride and features an internal spinning disk that helps stabilize the bike, reducing wobbles and slowing falls.

Reflective Roadway Tape Lights Your Bike Day or Night for Cheap [DIY]

Video from a Ride at Delaveaga

2009-11-15T22:13:00.000-08:00

Video shot by Richard of Cyclelicio.us while riding my bike so I could test out the Breezer (yes, a full review is on the way but I need more saddle time). Trail is at Delaveaga Park in Santa Cruz, California and one of my favorite rides around.

An Interesting Two Wheel Ask MetaFilter Question

2009-10-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

realpseudonym asks: Is it safer to do a 5 mile commute on city streets on a bicycle or a motorcycle? on Ask MetaFilter.

Let's say we have a 5 mile commute along fairly busy 4 lane city streets. Cars are parked on the curbs on both sides of the streets. Some of the streets are very commercial with cars coming in and out of driveways. There are city buses.

Assume that I am a perfect driver, and that accidents only happen because somebody doesn't see me or sees me and misjudges how close they are to me.

Am I safer riding a motorcycle with full safety gear (going up to 35 mph) or riding a bicycle with only a bicycle helmet (up to 15 mph)?

My first thought was that the bicycle is obviously safer because of the lower speeds involved. On the other hand, I thought the motorcycle might be safer because you move at the same speed as traffic; whereas on the bike, angry drivers will constantly be trying to pass you.

All other things being equal, it is an interesting question and one that I don't think has a perfect answer.

I'm both a biker and a cyclist. I ride a streetbike and an off-road bicycle primarily. Yes, I do ride my bicycle on the street but not as a general rule. I either ride to a trail or am crossing a road to get back onto a trail.

My quick response to this is the motorcycle because I have far more control over a less controllable environment on my motorcycle on the street than I do with my bicycle. In the woods, I have yet to see a tree jump into my path. I have yet to have a branch suddenly appear and knock me off my bike.

I think a motorcycle is probably going to be safer on the commute. Now keep in mind that this question doesn't ask about total cost of ownership or anything but the factor of safety in doing one or the other over the same stretch of road.

If the question were framed differently, say that the commute was the same length but the bicycle was able to make the journey through a park system without other vehicles then the bike wins hands down since it is far harder to get run over when there aren't any cars around.

I'm interested in what other cyclists might think about this question given the framing. Please reply in the comments.

A Dozen Deadly Motorcycle Safety Myths Busted

2009-10-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

A Dozen Deadly Motorcycle Safety Myths with my comments for flavor..

These are all expanded upon in the link above but here's the rundown:
Myth 1: Other Drivers Don't Care About Motorcyclists - Actually, other drivers don't care about other drivers either so its not really any big news.
Myth 2: Loud Pipes Save Lives - The only way loud pipes would work as a safety feature is if they faced forward and then the bike would look ridiculous, breathe like crap and probably still offer no greater safety. Loud pipes annoy people, period.
Myth 3: Motorcycle Helmets Break Necks - And seat belts break sternums if the impact is hard enough. If your neck is going to get broken by your helmet whipping around then you have almost no chance of survival in the first place.
Myth 4: Helmets Block Your Ability to See or Hear Danger - You can hear a car that's about to hit you? No, you can see them and that's why situational awareness is so important. Keep your head on a swivel and know what's going on around you, your helmet is no impediment to using your senses at all.
Myth 5: A Helmet Won't Help in Most Crashes - Um, what? I've been three motorcycle accidents over the last 20+ years of riding. If I'd not had a helmet on in any of them, I'd be a vegetable. At best.
Myth 6: A Helmet Will Leave You Brain Damaged in an Crash When You Would Have Simply Died - More likely you will be paralyzed and alive instead of being dead because your head will not have been crushed.
Myth 7: A Skilled Rider Should Be Able to Handle Almost Any Situation - A skilled rider is prepared, a skilled rider is dressed properly, a skilled rider wears a helmet because he/she knows that you can't control every situation. Accidents can and do happen and it is far, far better to be prepared for the worst than to hope for the best.
Myth 8: If You Are Going to Crash, Lay It Down - If you lay it down then you have crashed. Simple as that. Bike brakes slow you down far more effectively than sliding on your side.
Myth 9: One Beer Won't Hurt - Legal limits mean nothing, if alcohol impairs your senses then it can be the difference between crashing and having your wits about you enough to avoid it in the first place.
Myth 10: It's Better to Stay in Your Lane than Split Lanes - If I couldn't split lanes then I might as well drive my car for all the good it does.
Myth 11: I'm Safer on the Street than on an Interstate - The interstate has everyone going the same direction, streets have side streets, traffic entering and exiting and all kinds of other distractions and obstructions. This one is just stupid.
Myth 12: A Skilled Rider Can Stop Better with Conventional Brakes than with Anti-Lock Brakes - Anti-lock brakes pulse far, far faster than any human could ever think to pump their brakes. There's a reason every single test shows anti-lock brakes annihilate conventional brakes. Not only for braking distance but maintaining control during the hard braking.

Ibis and Fat Cyclist Work Together To Fight Cancer

2009-10-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

From today's Ibis Cycles Newsletter:

We've got a lot of Ibis news coming at you very soon, but we wanted to send this news as a stand-alone newsletter so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. It has a lot to do with bikes and Ibis, so please read on.

Many of you may know about our good friend Elden Nelson. He writes a very popular and funny blog called Fat Cyclist. Unlike many blogs, Elden's has a purpose, and that is to fight cancer.

Elden lost his wife Susan to cancer this year. It was a very long and difficult, tear-jerking battle that he chronicled beautifully in his blog. She was young and they have 4 kids.

However, Elden spent no time feeling sorry for himself. Even before Susan's death, he put his energy into fundraising efforts that benefit cancer research. As we write this, this year "Team Fatty" has raised $695,290.00 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation -- a record amount. We think that's an incredible accomplishment.

Last year Ibis helped him raise $40,000.00 by raffling off a Silk SL road bike. All of that money went to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Every penny. This year we're doing it again, but a little differently.

We at Ibis appreciate your attention to this. It's for a very good cause, cancer affects all of us.
Raffle Details

* Winner chooses any complete Ibis he or she wants. Choose from:
o Mojo SL
o Hakkalügi
o Tranny
o Silk SL
* Choose your size and color too.
* The winner also gets a ride with Elden "Fatty" Nelson, Scot "Chuck Ibis" Nicol and our super duper special guest, Andy Hampsten.
* Winner then gets a plane flight from wherever they are to wherever we collectively decide we want to ride, as long as both are in the US of A.
* This raffle is only open until midnight (Mountain time) Tuesday, Oct 20.
* Raffle tickets are $5 each. That's all. The more you enter the greater your chance of winning.

You can read a lot more (and funnier) information about the raffle on Elden's site.

Chuck even spewed a bit about it.

If you could (after you personally donate), please spread the word to your friends, co-workers, fellow slackers and maybe any websites, twitter, facebook, blogs or wherever else you feel people might like hearing this story and be willing to help.

Don't leave it up to others to donate. Do it yourself and pass along the word.

DONATE

Not Convinced? Look at the Bikes the winner will get to choose.

MTB: The Ibis Mojo SL

Road: The Ibis Silk SL

MTB: The Ibis Tranny

Cross: The Ibis Hakkalügi

Convinced now?
DONATE

Which is to say, for a mere $5 that you were probably going to waste at Starbucks, you can enter into a raffle for a fantastic cause with a chance to win a fantastic bike of your choice. This is what is called a win-win situation. I know what bike I'm hoping to be able to choose with my donation. What about you?

Cycling for change: After-school program helping thousands of Pajaro Valley children get fit

2009-10-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

Cycling for change: After-school program helping thousands of Pajaro Valley children get fit.

Stephen Alfred seems to be making the most of some forced downtime from his racing career by working to impart some of his love of the sport of bicycling to local kids.

Regardless of his suspension, the program he is working in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District is a good one.

While the linked article may make some data mangling conclusions about the rates of obesity here and elsewhere, the underlying fact is that kids these days do not get enough exercise. And many kids don't grow up riding bikes as we did when we were young. Two things that add up to unhealthy children.

Not only is it long term cost effective to get kids healthier now, it is better for their mental and emotional development as well.

I wish I had some extra time to volunteer to work with him and his program.

Update: As BicycleDudeGuy points out, the linked article above is out of date and, about one year after the first article was published, Stephen Alfred received a lifetime ban from the sport of cycling. Regardless of the professional issues he has faced, I really like what he is doing in the school system and hope he is able to instill some of the passion for cycling that he has had.

The Cruzbike Silvio - A Racing Recumbent with Standard Parts

2009-10-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

The Cruzbike Silvio - form and function in a front wheel drive

For many, the words “recumbent bicycle” conjure the image of a strange-looking vehicle with the rider set low to the ground achieving less than remarkable speeds. That perception could well become a thing of the past with the Cruzbike Silvio, the world’s only recumbent racing bike that is not only fully compatible with road bike components, but aims to eliminate many health problems associated with standard cycling.

Um yeah, this thing may alleviate genital numbness but is not going to, in any way, shape or form, going to alleviate the image of recumbents as strange looking vehicles. This looks stranger than most recumbents. I do like that it works with standard off the shelf parts. But I'm not going to be running out to get one anytime soon either way.

2009 Sacramento Cyclocross Race #1 Report

2009-09-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

From Sacramento CX Race 01 - Del Paso Park

First of all I'm glad my race (Men's C) was at 9:30AM yesterday, as it was a scorcher by mid-morning. Decided not to bring the trainer and just warm up on course. The course was at Renfree Park just off I-80 & Watt Ave exit. Starting stretch was all hard packed dirt with enough room for 2 maybe 3 bikes wide. I was in the 2nd row on the starting line, should have been in 1st row. After the start it was a mad dash and a huge cloud of dust (think Northstar). Couldn't see a damn thing in front of me for about 1 minute until it got strung out a bit. There was one long straight dirt section, a decent left hand turn that you could pedal through, or drift a bit, depending on how fast you entered.. Then a long flat straight stretch of dirt heading back toward the grassy area of the park. There were a few sandy areas 1-2" deep that you could easily avoid or just plow right through. A sharpish left turn over a small wooden retaining block onto the grass. Then two sets of barriers to hop over, a bunch of tight switch backs in the grass. I went down quickly in one turn where a guy on a mountain bike couldn't quite make one of the sharp turns. I rolled up on his back wheel, buzzed his tire then tipped over. He had pretty much come to a complete stop. So I just hopped off and pushed my bike through the remaining turns and quickly remounted and headed back into the dirt section. The dirt was pretty much all about maintaining your speed and not letting any one pass you, big ring hammering! The then grassy sections was where guys were starting to hurt, and you could easily pass them as their momentum slowed. Tire pressure was key on Sunday. Started off high, then after a few practice laps lowered it down to about 55 front 60 rear. I ran the WTB Cross Wolf tires, which I was very happy with. They hooked up well, and rolled really fast on the hardpack. Everyone kept saying the Michelin Mud II's were the tire to run around Sacramento, but my buddy ended up with 2 flats on them, so dunno... I ended up 19th out of 50. Not too bad for very little training over the past month. Next race is October 11th. Oh and in some of the photos, it may look like I'm missing some teeth. No I haven't gone full redneck, it was just dirt crusted on to them...

Great race course! Thanks to Team BEER and SacramentoCX for putting it all together!

Gary Fisher Interview at Interbike

2009-09-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

Great interview from The Fredcast with Gary Fisher at Interbike 2009!

fivefivenine magazine Premiers

2009-09-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Check out Issue 1 – fivefiveninemagazine which features some of the top mountain bike photographers in the world displaying some of the photos that make them the best.

Some really inspiring photography, makes me want to go hit the trails with my camera!

James Martin is a TOTAL DOUCHEBAG!!!

2009-09-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

I read this article and was pretty much appalled, pissed off, whatever. If you're going to write an article about a cool new electric car (which by the way the Tesla surely is), then let's not try to hurt or kill anyone in the process ok? I'm surprised that his employer would allow such rubbish to be published. Why would you intentionally try to run cyclists off the road well knowing that someone could potentially get hurt or even killed? It shows a total lack of respect for life in general. Just because you live out in the country does not mean you own the country roads asshat.

I've already sent my letter to the editor: editorial@dailymailonline.co.uk - and expressed my feelings. Take a moment and please do the same.

Metisse Motorcycles Makes the Steve McQueen Desert Racer

2009-09-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

Metisse Motorcycles - Steve McQueen Desert Racer, a replica of Steve McQueen's 1966 motorcycle. It is a beauty, that's for sure.

Complete bikes are ready to order now utilising a fully reconditioned period Triumph TR6 engine complete with a single Amal carburettor.

Faithfully built encompassing the ideals employed by Steve McQueen all those years ago. These include styled footrests made to his original design, 35mm Ceriani forks, with seven inches of travel which he found to be the optimum. The yokes are from BSA being his preference because of the handlebar position, set behind the steering stem for better control.

This Desert Racer faithfully adopts a Mk III chrome-moly, nickel plated, oil bearing frame. Chromed steel wheel rims, period chromed exhausts, scramble rear tyre, trials front tyre, Amal competition levers & twist grip. A period Triumph front hub with BSA rear, along with an authentic colour coded tank, seat and panels complete the specification.
This bike is sold in its original form as a thoroughbred competition racer.
Price: £13,999
(+ VAT where applicable)

That's around $23k for a bike with 1966 technology. But each bike is signed by Steve McQueen, somehow.

So You Think You're Fast?

2009-09-06T21:52:00.001-07:00

Watch this and tell me whether you still think you're fast going downhills on a mountain bike. Daaaaaamn!

Bicycle Movie “Freedom Riders” Benefit Show in Santa Cruz on 9/17

2009-09-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Bicycle Movie “Freedom Riders” shows in Santa Cruz: Mark Davidson, President of the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz wrote to Spin City to announce the club is presenting one showing of the film “Freedom Riders” at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz (corner of Soquel Avenue and Seabright) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept 17. For ticket information and details about the movie, keep reading!
- Karen Kefauver
MOVIE DETAILS:
“The film is about an unauthorized trail system which became legitimate through a partnership between local riders and land managers. This is a story which could be repeated in Santa Cruz County if there is a willingness for both sides to work together. We plan to invite land managers from the State Parks district and BLM to see the film.” - Mark Davidson

BENEFIT FOR STATE PARKS
Proceeds from the movie raise will support the local State Parks district to replace the sign at the entrance of the Wilder Ranch back country (~$4000). Any leftover funds will be given to the district to pay for capital maintenance costs.
RAFFLE
A list of items will be hosted here in a week or two.
TICKETS
$10 at the door and available here (cash only):
* Another Bike Shop (ABS)
* Scotts Valley Cycle Sport
* Family Cycling Center
* Sprockets
* Bicycle Trip
* Spokesman
* Trailhead Cyclery (in San Jose)
* Passion Trail Bikes (in Belmont)

New Mountain Bike Race at Henry Coe in Gilroy

2009-09-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

New Mountain Bike Race at Henry Coe – by Karen Kefauver

Race Director Gary Richards announced that the South Valley Bike and Run Club is presenting the Henry Coe Mountain Bike Challenge on Saturday, Sept 19, 2009. It is now USA Cycling-sanctioned. “This is the first race held in Henry Coe in many, many years. Enjoy it,” wrote Richards in a press release. Keep read for more information! — Karen Kefauver

RACE DETAILS:
*** Pre-riding will be guided on the 12th and 13th. More information is on the website.
Beginners (Cat3) doing a roughly 15 mile loop with tons of climbing.
Sport (Cat2) and Experts (Cat1) will do a 24 mile loop.
LIMIT: 150 riders and is selling quickly. We fully expect this one to sell out.
PARKING: please carpool, space is limited
COST: Registration is $40.00 for non members, members are $35.00. Registration goes up $5.00 on September 10, 2009. Please register as soon as possible so we can setup your awards, swag bags, and food.

I'm seriously considering giving this race a shot. I've been wanting to start racing and this is close enough (and short enough) for me to give it a shot. Anyone else up for a little bike racing action?

Dirt Jumping on SF Bay!

2009-09-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

Not much to say, just watch the video! Cool how they pulled the barge right up next to a SF Giants game!

http://bikemag.com/av/flash/red-bull-kona-riders-san-francisco-barge/

Tried to embed the video here, but Blogger doesn't like their HTML code, so just click-through to the video.

Submitted for Specialized's Approval

2009-08-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post is my official entry into the Specialized Trail Crew contest. Why I should win and all that good stuff.

My first mountain bike way back in 1987-88 was a Specialized Rockhopper. I went away to a boarding school in Vermont where I started to learn how to ride on trails. I'd already done several long biking trips, tours through Maine and across sections of New Hampshire and Vermont. But it was an entirely different experience riding my bike through the woods, shushing my way down a pine needle padded fire road or grunting that bike up sharp hills.

And in the winter, I made my own ice tires by screwing wood screws through a tire and mounting it on the back. I wasn't smart enough to make a front right off so I spent a lot of time just cruising down frozen streams with the studded back tire as my only lifeline to something resembling control.

I rode that Specialized as hard as I could. I treated it badly because I didn't know any better and it really never let me down. Sure, I flatted out but the bike never just flat out broke.

Since then I've owned a good number of other bikes, mostly Ibis Cycles but with a Fisher, a Diamondback and Mongoose in there too but I will always fondly remember what a great fun bike that Rockhopper was.

Nowadays I get to ride in some of the finest areas in America. My regular trail is through the redwood trees in Nisene Marks. In the next year we plan on doing an epic Nisene to the Demo Forest and back down.

I also have outfitted my bike with a handlebar mount to shoot video while riding which has resulted in a few good videos. I'm very interested in mountain bike photography as well.

www.flickr.com

Here's what it boils down to. I love to ride my bikes. I would ride everyday if I possibly could. I write a bicycling blog (yes, with motorcycles too because I love riding my motorcycles). I am in the planning stages of a new and much more specifically bicycling dedicated website/blog. Being part of the Specialized Trail Crew would be great fun, I'd love having an awesome excuse to go out and ride my (well, your) bike, tweet about it from the trail and then come home and write up some sick trail tails.

If I don't win then no worries, I'll still be hitting the trails as often as I can and doing an awful of grinning along the way.

Here are some videos and photos I've created, videos were shot from a homemade handlebar mount with a Canon pocket camera.

Donate Your Mileage

2009-08-10T09:19:00.001-07:00

Ever since the Sea Otter Classic I've been donating my mileage through a cool site called Plus 3 Network. You select a charity to donate to, I'm donating to the IMBA (International Mountain Bicycling Association) and, because I don't have a swank GPS unit to do it for me, I enter my rides in by hand.

But if you've got a supported Garmin GPS unit, the system does it all for you AND donates triple the amount of a hand entered ride.

It isn't hard to do either way though and it makes the rides that much more worthwhile.

I am Erik Orgell on the site, join up and we can become pals. Or just join up and put your mileage to better use. And, oh yeah, free to join, free to be a member of and free to donate, as in someone else makes the donation based on the number of miles that you ride, run, swim or walk.

Get to it!

What if a Motorcycle has 4 Wheels?

2009-08-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

That title could have just as easily been, Is a 4 wheeled motorcycle still a motorcycle? What makes a motorcycle a motorcycle, is it the number of wheels or the way that it moves on the road? If it is the latter than the 4MC is definitely a motorcycle and maybe even a game changer of a motorcycle at that.

Gizmag does the 4mc test ride and reports that this crazy contraption has much to offer the traditional two wheel motorcyclist. The short answer is that it has a ton to offer, as in, nearly impossible to lose traction and wipe out. The four tires offer a crazy amount of contact patch with the road and the mechanical system makes it full leanable even at a standstill without falling over.

It is a pretty amazing machine and I'd love to check it out first hand by giving it a test ride. It could very well change the face of motorcycling and make it way safer. The other interesting bit in the story is that it is classified as a trike (despite the clearly visible fourth wheel) which opens it up to operation by people with regular car licenses.

Now imagine this motorcycle with a big old screamer engine like a Hayabusa or V-Max in it! It could cook like nobody's business! Coolness indeed!

Asheville Firefighter Shot Bicyclist - Greenville News Story - WYFF Greenville

2009-07-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Police: Asheville Firefighter Shot Bicyclist because the cyclist was riding on a busy with his child. I'm not sure what lesson he thought he would teach him by shooting him in the head but it was lost in the gun blast and now this firefighter is going to go to prison for attempted murder.

The cyclist? Well, the bullet penetrated his helmet but didn't make it all the way to his head so it can truly be said that helmets do save lives.

Wow, this story just blows me away and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess Mr. Charles Alexander Diez has some mental problems.

Tahoe Mountain Biking - June 2009

2009-07-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

Chris put together this great set of photos from our mountain biking trip in June 2009. Most of the photos were from two rides we did in North Lake Tahoe. One ride was near Northstar / Truckee area, the other was on the Tahoe Rim Trail and various other trails near Tahoe City. We had a great time despite a couple of early crashes. I will have a scar on my shin to remind me of this trip for the rest of my life. Probably should have gotten a couple of stitches, or at least a couple of butterfly stitches. After my two crashes I lowered the air pressure in my front tire as it kept washing out in the loamy decomposed granite on some of the trails. The weather was perfect and it was a nice little mini vacation for me. We enjoyed many fine cocktails, excellent lasagna prepared by Matt and a nice bottle of Malbec!

Ibis Unveils the New Mojo HD

2009-07-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

From my Ibis newsletter just received in the last half hour...

Big Ibis News

Mojo HD Hits the Slopes
It's time to let the "HD" out of the bag.

Over the last couple years, we've been working on a new 160mm travel big brother to the Mojo Carbon and Mojo SL (each with 140mm travel), we're temporarily calling it the "Mojo HD". And now we think it's about time to tell you about it.
Introducing the Ibis Mojo HD
Before we tell you about what nitty gritty details we're willing to divulge, we want to let you know that we've already been putting this bike through the paces, some of them rigorous.

Already a Race Winner

Brian Lopes spent the last week in Vars France, getting ready for and then competing in the Enduro Trophy des Nations. This is an enduro style race, becoming quite popular in Europe these days, where riders compete in a number of stages over a two day period with "beaucoup" downhill. This particular event had 10 stages over two days and featured over 10,000 M of descending. If you're bad at math (or don't like the metric system) that's 32,808.4 feet of descent. Or 6.21 MILES straight down, measured vertically! This race also had a bonus stage at 10PM on saturday night that didn't count for the overall time, but the winner got an extra 500 Euros of party money.
Brian teamed up with WTB's Mark Weir and Jason Moescheler to form Team USA 1. Brian notched the first win for his prototype Mojo HD on its first day of racing by winning one of the stages on Saturday, propelling the team to second overall on Saturday night.

Brian is very happy with the bike, and told us a couple things in text messages received over the weekend.

"bike is awesome"

OK, we understand typing is not that easy on a Blackberry.

Brian's Sunday Night Report
Seriously though, here we we have an extra long Blackberry missive from Monsieur Lopes:

"The Enduro race was a lot harder than I expected. The toll it took on everything: wheels, tires, brakes, suspension, the body, and of course the frame were beyond what I imagined. The new "HD" Ibis never missed a beat. For only getting the frame one week ago & with only one ride on it before packing it up for this race, it couldn't have gone through any more of a test than the abusive one I gave it here in France. With 10 demanding races, 3 of which ended with flat tires, the French won all but one race (which I won!). It was hard to beat them on course they knew better than all the rest, basically they were on their home track at times, where knowing the course saved them time.
It's hard to believe that this bike isn't much heavier than the standard mojo, as it was eating up courses that were worthy of full-on DH rigs. The added travel, stiffness, clearance for larger tires and a 8" rotor allow you to take on the toughest terrain you can throw at it, but it's still efficient and light enough to pedal up any hill. Another weapon is added to the ibis line up...

Wow, so there you go. The only non-French winner of any stage was Brian, and they ended second overall. We think that's pretty impressive. Without further fluff, here's a bit more about the bike.

Mojo "HD" Prototype Specifications

* Price and delivery date are both to be decided.

* 160mm of rear wheel travel.

* DW Link Suspension.

* 26" Wheels.

* Target weight for the frame and shock: 6.2-6.5 lbs. (we're not there yet but are fine-tuning the layup).

* 67 degree head angle with a 160mm fork (Brian was running a 170mm fork this weekend, you can also run a 180mm).

* Chain stay length: 17.125".

* Top tube lengths are the same as regular Mojos.

* 12 x 135mm Maxle rear axle.

* Post mount magnesium left dropout, carbon right dropout.

* Compatible with the new tapered steerer standard: 1 1/8th hidden upper, 1.5 traditional lower.

* Compatible with both Chris King InSet and Cane Creek Frustum headsets.

* If you want to run your current straight 1 1/8" fork, we've got you covered too. We will have an adapter available, and you will be able to use a King headset top and bottom.

* 2.35"-2.5" rear tire depending on brand and height of cornering knobs.

* Dual row angular contact bearings in the front of the lower link that have less play than standard sealed bearings. Preload adjustment is not necessary. Large 28mm x 15mm x 7mm radial bearings in the rear for stiffness and long wear.

* The leverage ratio, like the Mojo and Mojo SL is designed for air shocks. The Mojo HD comes with a 8.5" x 2.5" Fox RP23. A DHX air will work on all but the small size. A coil shock is not offered because the linkage rates weren't designed for it. We lowered the top tube to get slightly better standover than the regular mojo while having a higher BB because of the longer travel (we managed to retain the DHX air compatibility in 3 of the 4 sizes).

* The Bottom Bracket height is 13.8"-14" depending on tires.

* Chain guide development is well on its way, we'll announce compatible brands soon. The frame will not have ISCG mounts so it will not be Hammerschmidt compatible.

* The HD runs full cable housing. Rear brake and rear deraileur run on the down tube, with hidden swingarm housing for the rear derailleur.

* Front derailleur (if you use one) and adjustible seatpost housing (if you use one) run along the top tube.

* And once again, just to make sure you got it, price and delivery date are both yet to be decided.

Stay tuned for more.
Ibis

Looks like its time to start saving my pennies for another amazing Ibis ride.

Cue the Tron Music

2009-07-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

Peraves Ecomobile, Monotracer, E-Tracer and X-Tracer Cabin Motorcycles

A cabin motorcycle is a fully enclosed cabin two wheel vehicle. These things are motocycles but with full bodies, full rooflines and trunks and A/C and outrigger wheels that pop down at stoplights and low speed.

They are funky and curious and not for most bikers I know but they might be a good machine for someone looking to commute more efficiently, with less impact and with the ability to split traffic.

Unless I was putting on serious miles I can't see myself really wanting one of these but they are definitely their own brand of cool.

Um, You Pedal Bikes

2009-06-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

Elmoto: Stylish and economical electric biking in one lightweight package however it isn't really honest to call this thing a bike, you can't pedal it. Also, I'd have to say stylish is in the eye of the beholder because I find it pretty well butt ugly.

That said, its kind of an interesting concept that could be quite useful for people who have short commutes in crowded cities.

But it definitely ain't a bicycle.

Mix It Up to Keep It Fresh

2009-06-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

The trail that I ride most often runs through a portion of Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos, California. The trail goes out of the park and then back in after a steep and tough climb up to Sand Point which looks out over all of Aptos and out into the Monterey Bay.

It is a fantastic trail with very technical sections, singletrack along the edge of a hill with occasional hundred foot drop offs a few inches away, wide redwood lined trails and some high speed bomber run areas. There are even water hazards, bridges and the occasional wild donkey braying somewhere off in the deeps of the woods.

It is, in just a few words, some of the best riding I've had the pleasure of being able to hit regularly.

But even filet mignon gets tiring if that's all you ever eat. So, yesterday, I mixed it up a bit and reversed my normal course. I opted to climb up the backside of the mountain, a sinewy track with carved in berms, single, double and even triple jumps. Coming down this trail is phenomenally fun even though I'm not really much of a jumper, I do rather enjoy hitting a nice berm and ripping around a corner sideways.

The ride down is lots of fun but I found that the ride up affords a very, very different perspective of the trail. I saw so much more, saw numerous new routes, shortcuts, alternative tracks and tons more. It was also damned hard work because of some of the steep sections and other sections criss-crossed with roots at all angle.

I also made sure to keep my ears and eyes open not only for the occasional mountain lion but for other bikers bombing down the hill at speed. But today I saw no one until I was just about out of the woods entirely at the end of my ride. I toiled my way to the top, having to climb off and push my bike a few times.

At the very top, I took a break, drank a whole bunch of water, soaked in the magnificent view and, for some reason or another, put my bike on the swinging bench and took some pictures of it.

From there, I kept on my reverse course and dropped down the hill in the bright sun. Its an old access road that's gotten badly rutted out and I nearly went tumbling after getting a little out of control. After getting things back into a more stable state, I headed back into the park and down from the Mesa Grande trail head.

The ride back down from there is pretty familiar territory as its part of the original loop I've ridden for many months now. Its well overgrown right now and there are prickers growing out into the trail all over the place. But it is still pretty fast and always good fun. It doesn't hurt that there are rarely other people out on the trail away from the parking lots.

I also got a chance to stop near the bottom of the trail to photograph one of my favorite derelict cars. I love seeing this car slowly be absorbed back into the earth over the weeks and months and years. I was also sorely tempted to go for a quick swim in the really cold creek but was running a little tight on time so that'll have to wait for next time.

All in all, a great and refreshing ride with a new perspective, a new appreciation for the bombing run downhill on the backside of the mountain and a really good sweat.

Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner to race the 2009 Nevada City Classic!

2009-06-16T15:33:00.001-07:00

Just saw multiple tweets come through on Lance & Levi's twitter feeds,
that they along with Chris Horner will indeed be racing the 2009
Nevada City Classic this coming Sunday. This is very cool news to
have them racing here in NorCal again! I assume they will be wearing
the Mellow Johnny's kits again like they did at the Tour of the Gila.

http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong

http://twitter.com/Levi_Leipheimer

http://twitter.com/hornerakg

Cycling Bolivia's World's Most Dangerous Road

2009-06-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Biking down the World's Most Dangerous Road though that billing could be called into question now that there's another road nearby that drastically cuts down on traffic. Even so, it isn't the road itself but the sheer 600 meter drop off a skid away.

But the views are pretty spectacular and it would be pretty cool to say you did bike the most dangerous road in the world.

Might just have to add this to my bucket list.

Santa Clara County sheriff's deputy who killed cyclists demoted - San Jose Mercury News

2009-06-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Santa Clara County sheriff's deputy who killed cyclists demoted to technician.

What's the message being sent here? He fell asleep at the wheel, ran over two cyclists and killed them and he is merely demoted for it? What would happen to me if I'd done the same thing? I can damn well tell you that I wouldn't be walking free, I'd be in jail pending trial.

That he has publicly stated his deep remorse at what happened is a good thing, it shows a little bit of what his character is. But he is responsible for killing two people who were merely riding their bikes.

He still faces sentencing for two charges of vehicular manslaughter but they are misdemeanor charges and unlikely to land him in jail.

I'm sorry but this feels like an incredibly light slap on the wrist for his actions that resulted in two cyclist's deaths.

There are accidents where "I'm sorry" really just doesn't even being to cut it. This is definitely one of those times.

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

2009-06-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the appearing and disappearing comments and trackbacks, I am working on it but it might not be fixed until tonight.

Goodies from Makai Bikes

2009-06-04T08:28:00.001-07:00

Because I follow a good number of bicycling Tweeps on Twitter, I was one of the lucky ones to respond to @MakaiBikes offer of some cycling goodies. As you can probably guess, one of the things I received in the mail from Makai Bikes was the small saddle bag posted to the left there. Inside the bag is a patch kit and some tire levers just in case I flat out (which, now that I'll say this will probably happen the next time I ride, I haven't had a flat in a very, very long time).

The bag this one is replacing is a bit larger and has an outside pocket which I use as a rolling piggy bank. I've taken to dropping two or three bucks in the pocket every time I go out for a ride. Kind of my low tech way of saving a few bucks to replace cables, tires or what have you.

The M Wave small saddle bag doesn't have the pocket but it does have a decent space to put in the patch kit and tire levers but it was a bit of a squeeze to fit my Topeak Alien tool in along with the other two pieces. But it did all fit and that's the important thing since the Topeak is my be-all do-everything tool and I really do not leave home without it.

Attaching it to my saddle and seat post was easy, fast and results in a really secure, snug fit. The velcro straps go up and over the seat rails and then back down along the side of the bag to make an easily customizable fit. I'm not sure how the velcro would hold up over the long term if the bag was moved from bike to bike with any regularity but, if it was going to be left on a single bike then I can't imagine it loosening up anytime soon.

One really nice thing I like about the little saddle bag is the bottom of the bag that is exposed to the wheel and all the mud it throws off is curved and non-porous, unlike my previous bag. This means it'll stay cleaner, drier and nicer looking for longer.

All in all, its a good upgrade from my old bag. I might wish for a little extra space and a wee pocket to stash some duckets but I'm not complaining as it'll look good for a good long time.