Thoughts from the 2nd ever Lumberjack 100...................................
First Lap: "Turn the gear, turn the gear, turn the gear!" " Man, this trail rocks!" " Hey, that looks like Mossimo! Mebbe I can catch him! Mebbe I can stay w/ him 'til the end of the lap!" " Man, it's hot, but it's gonna be okay, I think." " Drink, hydrate, drink!"
Second lap: "Okay, I got Doez beat, Moss has dropped out..........so I'm #1 HUP rider. It feels like I'm gonna finish for sure, just gotta stay hydrated and keep those cramps away." ' Turn the gear, turn the gear, turn the gear" " Damn, these climbs weren't half this steep or long last lap!" "I still think the S/S is faster but not havin' any suspension is tearin' me up!" " Man......I'm gettin' goosbumps on the downhills!?! Hmmm.........I like a godd descent as much as the next guy but they usually don't make my nipples this hard. Weird..........isn't this one of the signs of heatstroke or heat exaustion or heat stress or heat death or something?" " Keep drinkin!"
Third lap: " Uhh...............not good, getting r-e-a-l-l-y sleepy. Mebbe I oughta grab a nap by the trail for a sec. Wait! If you go to sleep you'll freeze to death! Just like a Jack London story! Stay awake!" " Screw turnin' the gear, just keep going" " Man, this sux. I havne' tseen anyone for an hour or so, I wonder if they'll find my body frozen by the trail if I don't make it?"
Short story is that I had two great laps and then the wheels fell off. Despite a more-than-usual-for-me focus on hydration and nutrition I fell prey to the heat and finished my 3rd lap delirious and shivering. Thanks to Krisanne and Mel and Chris and my homies for convincing me that 3 laps was gonna hafta be enough that day. ( It wasn't a huge struggle!) The race rocks! Rick and his crew put on a first class event and you oughta do it next year. I can't wait 'til next year! ( I'll probably do a sus fork on the S/S though!)
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Why So Many Jerks?
I've been at this whole bike thing for a while now and there's one thing I have yet to figure out.............why are there so many jerks and wankers out there on bikes? Now.........I'm not talkin' about you of course. Or me, or our friends. You and me...........we're good guys, right? We "share the trail" right? We wave and say "howdy" to other riders, even if their attire and bike would seem to indicate that their level of involvement in the sport is at a different (and probably lower) level than ours. We ride responsibly, on the road and off..........right?
Right!
It's those other guys I'm talkin' about. (It's always a guy too!) There we were last Sunday, me and my JDRF team, doin' a training ride outside of Ada. As we rolled easy outta Ada Park bound for Saranac on Grand River Drive this tool on a shiny new custom ti bike blew by us w/out a word of warning or hello. I'm not gonna say what bike it was, but it was a big custom builder who's name starts w/ "S" and it wasn't Seven. Anyway............my point is that sayin' "hello" as he went by would've been so damn easy to do! We still would've been impressed w/ his drive and fitness and outfit. (Or.....at least as impressed as we were anyway). Hell........this particular jack-hole musta had to pull over and pee, 'cuz he passed us again about 20 minutes later. Pretty studly there dude.........you managed to pass my wife and I on our tandem as we rode w/ my team member Karen. She bought her hybrid about 3 months ago so she can do a ride to raise money for diabetes research since her daughter has Type 1 diabetes. Good job passing her, musta been a bitch chasin' us down.
We saw a buncha folks on that ride........some waved and smiled when we did.........some didn't. My wife, who's much nicer than me in general, kept askin' me what the "non-wavers" were thinking as they ground by us, usually alone, on their aerobars and pushing a huge gear. I wasn't able to answer her.
There was a guy in the race last Wed. on the same brand of frame. ( Let's assume it's a coincidence) He had me thinking about how much of a difference there can be between pedaling a bike and riding one. He was strong enough to stay w/ the pack...........but he was way scary to ride near as he wobbled and wove his way down the track.
In the same vein there's obviously a big difference between purchasing a bike and riding one. I guess that's what I'm tryin' to talk about here.............the whole "tao of cycling" thing. (I copped that phrase from a great article from The Ride magazine. Read it on the Stories page of club-velo.com ( Yes.......I did get permission!) There's so much more to this sport that how fast you can go or what your average heart rate is or how cutting edge your bike is! I worry that too many riders are missing out on a lot of really cool aspects of this thing we call cycling..........and that'll lead to them dropping out as they get bored. Now..........there are a few dudes we might not miss, like the guy at the beginning of this rant, but if you start from the premise that more people on more bikes more often is a Good Thing.....and I do.......then we gotta keep the riders we have, right?
I'm just not sure that hammering down Grand River as fast as you can and ignoring everyone else will become a lifetime thing. That's all I'm saying.
On the other hand....................bike life has been good. Lots of rides, lots of time spent in the saddle w/ friends. Grattan has been fun and fast, the Tuesday Night Shop Rides have been a success, the trails are in pretty good shape, I sometimes feel that I am too, it's all good.
Right!
It's those other guys I'm talkin' about. (It's always a guy too!) There we were last Sunday, me and my JDRF team, doin' a training ride outside of Ada. As we rolled easy outta Ada Park bound for Saranac on Grand River Drive this tool on a shiny new custom ti bike blew by us w/out a word of warning or hello. I'm not gonna say what bike it was, but it was a big custom builder who's name starts w/ "S" and it wasn't Seven. Anyway............my point is that sayin' "hello" as he went by would've been so damn easy to do! We still would've been impressed w/ his drive and fitness and outfit. (Or.....at least as impressed as we were anyway). Hell........this particular jack-hole musta had to pull over and pee, 'cuz he passed us again about 20 minutes later. Pretty studly there dude.........you managed to pass my wife and I on our tandem as we rode w/ my team member Karen. She bought her hybrid about 3 months ago so she can do a ride to raise money for diabetes research since her daughter has Type 1 diabetes. Good job passing her, musta been a bitch chasin' us down.
We saw a buncha folks on that ride........some waved and smiled when we did.........some didn't. My wife, who's much nicer than me in general, kept askin' me what the "non-wavers" were thinking as they ground by us, usually alone, on their aerobars and pushing a huge gear. I wasn't able to answer her.
There was a guy in the race last Wed. on the same brand of frame. ( Let's assume it's a coincidence) He had me thinking about how much of a difference there can be between pedaling a bike and riding one. He was strong enough to stay w/ the pack...........but he was way scary to ride near as he wobbled and wove his way down the track.
In the same vein there's obviously a big difference between purchasing a bike and riding one. I guess that's what I'm tryin' to talk about here.............the whole "tao of cycling" thing. (I copped that phrase from a great article from The Ride magazine. Read it on the Stories page of club-velo.com ( Yes.......I did get permission!) There's so much more to this sport that how fast you can go or what your average heart rate is or how cutting edge your bike is! I worry that too many riders are missing out on a lot of really cool aspects of this thing we call cycling..........and that'll lead to them dropping out as they get bored. Now..........there are a few dudes we might not miss, like the guy at the beginning of this rant, but if you start from the premise that more people on more bikes more often is a Good Thing.....and I do.......then we gotta keep the riders we have, right?
I'm just not sure that hammering down Grand River as fast as you can and ignoring everyone else will become a lifetime thing. That's all I'm saying.
On the other hand....................bike life has been good. Lots of rides, lots of time spent in the saddle w/ friends. Grattan has been fun and fast, the Tuesday Night Shop Rides have been a success, the trails are in pretty good shape, I sometimes feel that I am too, it's all good.
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