Whew! This Bike Show thing is kind of a bitch when you get right down to it, y'know? By the time we all re-convened @ the end of the day Thursday it was all we could do to ride the escalator up a floor to our fav Mexican joint, re-load and limp over to out hotel to retrieve our bags and catch a taxi f or the airport.
I know.................you're bleeding for me right now, huh? I appreciate that, I really do.
On Wed I had several appointments but managed to get around the show a bit as well. Co-Motion's tandems looked great - not a lot new there really - and I checked out a buncha new stuff from Terry, Salsa, Surly and a bunch more that frankly escape me @ the moment. The big thing was the 'Cross Vegas rcae that night. Rumours were all over the show that His Lanceness was gonna make the scene and race but we were skeptical to say the least. We had the major hook-up through our friends @ Quality Bike Products and Lazer Helmets......we caught a ride in the Lazer bus, all neoned out and stocked w/ Belgian beer and pizza(I don't think it was Belgian pizza). They kitted us out w/ a sweet Lazer polo shirt, cap and cowbell and let us loose on the race. The Women's race was wild....Katie Compton slayed all on the grassy-n-wicked-fast course. By then the announcers had whipped the enormous crowd into a frenzy w/ his regular Lance Status Reports. ("He's in the airport!" "He's en route!" "He's here at the venue!!!!!"
And so he was............all kitted out in LiveStrong and on a nondescript red Trek. He held his own....considering this was the most stacked field EVER in a North American 'Cross Race. Ryan Trebon gapped Tim Johnson on the last lap to win and L.A. was 20th or so. The whole cowbell-ringin', beer swillin', taco eatin' scene was a stone blast!!!!! You shoulda been there!
Thursday was more meetings, more shitty Expo food and more walkin' the endless aisles. I met w/ Seven MajorDomo Rob Vandermark, the Felt guys, Pearl Izumi, an interesting new little clothing company called Panache, Sidi, CycleOps and a ton more. Stuff that made an impression?
Sidis new prices. (Ouch!)
Felt's tri bikes (Nice!)
QR's too. (")
All the new stuff @ QBP. (Salsa, Surly, Assos, Civia....tons more)
Easton wheels.
Blackburn lights.
Giro's gloves.
Lazer's new $110 helmet.........................and a bunch more. Stop in the shop, we'll have the stuff to show you!
So...I was home for a whole 36 hours, then I headed to Chicago for the JDRF Coaching Meeting. It's a quickie.....I'll leave for home late tomorrow afternoon......and then I'm really looking forward to getting back into the flow around the shop and back on the bike. Death Valley is 3 weeks away.................and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!! DV is one of my fav weekends of the entire season and it can't come soon enough.
So.....gotta go. The red-eye flight Thursday night, workin' all day Friday, giggin' last night and comin' here today is catching up w/ me.
Hope all is well in your world...............things are great in mine!
Oh yeah...KP would want me to tell you that the new VCC Hoodies are awesome and that they were all her idea. (Truth)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Interbike Report - Demo Daze, Part Dos
Hello again and greetings again from the weirdest city in the whole US of A. Here's a list of things that I learned today, our 2nd day out @ the Outdoor Demo Day in Boulder City NV.....
The "Tour de Lake Mead" kicked my ass! Also know as the "Hangover Ride", the "TdLM" has become a staple of the show. You line yourself up a road bike on Monday, (I had a dandy C-Dale Synapse) get your butt outta the sack @ 5:30 Tuesday morn, work yourself out to Bootleg Canyon, grab your bike and line up w/ about 200 other bleary-eyed showfolk. When the nice officer rolls out w/ his lights blazing (Police escort - gotta love it!) you head down Route 93 bound for a lovely scenic turnout on the shore of Lake Mead.
Here's the thing......it's 95% downhill from start to finish. And a large percentage of that 95% is WAY downhill! 40mph downhill. Ridin' the brakes once in awhile kinda downhill.
And we all know what THAT means, yes? Yep......let's just say that it takes me a helluva lot longer to do the return leg and leave it at that. Okay?
Shimano's new electronic Dura Ace drivetrain is pretty dang cool! Coming from a guy that doesn't use Shimano, doesn't like electronic anything and for that matter hardly ever shifts......that oughta carry some weight! If they actually get that stuff to market it's gonna be pretty dang cool. The battery only weighs 70 grams (and that's the TOTAL weight diff 'tween mechanical and electronic groups), is good for 1000+ miles and the front der. trims itself as you shift in the back. Pretty dang cool.
I rode the new Dura-Ace non-electronic stuff too......I like the new shape of the hoods and the hidden cables a la Campy and SRAM.
Salsa's new Pistola steel frame is sweet........Tru Temper tubing, nice and light. Still...I think for similar $ you could get a Gunnar, although I won't know that for sure 'til tomorrow. (Or whenever I get by their booth)
It's my fault that Ross isn't riding much. (www.rossschueller.blogspot.com) 'Tis a heavy burden to be sure!
I just don't like carbon bikes!!! I rode a sweet Look, and an even sweeter Felt (assuming that $ = sweetness) They look kinda different, one can assume that the designers had different goals and/or philosophies and.......they felt pretty much alike to me. Just like pretty much every other CF frame I've ever ridden. A decent tool for the job but not anything I'd ever find myself passionate about. (Olde Farte Rant Mode off)
The buffet @Harrah's kicks the buffet @ The Imperial Palace's ASS!!!!! Take my word on this one, it's not even a contest. (And that's before you get to the chocolate fountain!)
I think that's about it......I only had the legs to ride until about 2:00, then I "de-kitted" and walked around takin' pix and scorin' schwag 'til we all headed back about 4:00. Tomorrow the show proper begins....I have 4 appointments, which seems like a lot for a guy that was determined to adopt an "appointment-phobic" attitude prior to the show. Hopefully I won't be sittin' on that plane Thursday night brooding over the stuff I didn't get to see @ the show. We're goin' to the 'cross race after the show tomorrow night so it'll be a l-o-n-g day. If there's no post tomorrow night that's why.
Later, MC
The "Tour de Lake Mead" kicked my ass! Also know as the "Hangover Ride", the "TdLM" has become a staple of the show. You line yourself up a road bike on Monday, (I had a dandy C-Dale Synapse) get your butt outta the sack @ 5:30 Tuesday morn, work yourself out to Bootleg Canyon, grab your bike and line up w/ about 200 other bleary-eyed showfolk. When the nice officer rolls out w/ his lights blazing (Police escort - gotta love it!) you head down Route 93 bound for a lovely scenic turnout on the shore of Lake Mead.
Here's the thing......it's 95% downhill from start to finish. And a large percentage of that 95% is WAY downhill! 40mph downhill. Ridin' the brakes once in awhile kinda downhill.
And we all know what THAT means, yes? Yep......let's just say that it takes me a helluva lot longer to do the return leg and leave it at that. Okay?
Shimano's new electronic Dura Ace drivetrain is pretty dang cool! Coming from a guy that doesn't use Shimano, doesn't like electronic anything and for that matter hardly ever shifts......that oughta carry some weight! If they actually get that stuff to market it's gonna be pretty dang cool. The battery only weighs 70 grams (and that's the TOTAL weight diff 'tween mechanical and electronic groups), is good for 1000+ miles and the front der. trims itself as you shift in the back. Pretty dang cool.
I rode the new Dura-Ace non-electronic stuff too......I like the new shape of the hoods and the hidden cables a la Campy and SRAM.
Salsa's new Pistola steel frame is sweet........Tru Temper tubing, nice and light. Still...I think for similar $ you could get a Gunnar, although I won't know that for sure 'til tomorrow. (Or whenever I get by their booth)
It's my fault that Ross isn't riding much. (www.rossschueller.blogspot.com) 'Tis a heavy burden to be sure!
I just don't like carbon bikes!!! I rode a sweet Look, and an even sweeter Felt (assuming that $ = sweetness) They look kinda different, one can assume that the designers had different goals and/or philosophies and.......they felt pretty much alike to me. Just like pretty much every other CF frame I've ever ridden. A decent tool for the job but not anything I'd ever find myself passionate about. (Olde Farte Rant Mode off)
The buffet @Harrah's kicks the buffet @ The Imperial Palace's ASS!!!!! Take my word on this one, it's not even a contest. (And that's before you get to the chocolate fountain!)
I think that's about it......I only had the legs to ride until about 2:00, then I "de-kitted" and walked around takin' pix and scorin' schwag 'til we all headed back about 4:00. Tomorrow the show proper begins....I have 4 appointments, which seems like a lot for a guy that was determined to adopt an "appointment-phobic" attitude prior to the show. Hopefully I won't be sittin' on that plane Thursday night brooding over the stuff I didn't get to see @ the show. We're goin' to the 'cross race after the show tomorrow night so it'll be a l-o-n-g day. If there's no post tomorrow night that's why.
Later, MC
Monday, September 22, 2008
Demo Daze, Part Uno
So....in no particular order heres some stuff I learned today while riding 8 different mountainbikes on the twisty, dusty, rocky challenging singletrack of Bootleg Canyon outside of Las Vegas:
Every bike had a Shimano drivetrain. That's a huge shift! (No pun intended, really!) The trend over the past 3 years has been more and more SRAM stuff, at Shimano's expense. Not sure what it means but out of all three of us riding all day, only Ted had a bike w/ SRAM, and only the one.
I really like Hayes brakes. Actually.....I only really like the levers, 'cuz they feel good and have super-easy-to-adjust reach for my stubby digits. I don't really like any hydraulic brake over another - gimme cables!
I love riding in the desert! Okay...I knew that and have known it for 20+ years. Still......I frickin' love it!
After riding just about every state-of-the-art full sus design - Ellesworth, Ibis, Titus, Santa Cruz, etc - I really think that Cannondale has it knocked. The Rize I took to Moab and Fruita was every bit the bike all those fancy-ass ones are, for way less $. The Ellesworth Truth remains my 1st choice if you're buying.......but if it's my money on the table I'll be on a C-Dale Scapel, Rush or Rize.
I'm still 100% conflicted about the whole 29"/26" thing. I rode a Felt 29'r that claims to be the lightest on the market - it felt good. (The evening resounds w/ puns!) Then I ride the 26 version and like dit just as much. I rode Tony Ellesworth's personal ride....a pink 29'r Evolve......and it was fine. In fact.....I didn't even realize 'twas a big-wheeler 'til I was almost done /w a lap. (What does THAT mean, pray tell?) I rode a C-Dale 29'r and dug it, but more 'cuz it was a hardtail than any othr reason. (I had just done a lap on the much ballyhooed Ibis Mojo full-sus and it made me feel like I was shot and worn out for the day). So.......who knows? Not me, that's for damnsure.
Tomorrow is Demo Day #2.......Greg (who just arrived-fresh from finishing 11th in his age group @ the National Tri race in Portland), Aaron, Rick and I are gonna do the Tour of Lake Mead (aka "the hangover ride") first thing in the am, then I wanna ride some road and 'cross bikes. On Wed the Expo opens, then we go watch the huge "Cross Vegas Race then another day @ the show, then the huge crit, then we fly home to open the shop on Friday morning. We have a ton to get done in the next 3 days.........I'll try and keep you posted!
Later!
Every bike had a Shimano drivetrain. That's a huge shift! (No pun intended, really!) The trend over the past 3 years has been more and more SRAM stuff, at Shimano's expense. Not sure what it means but out of all three of us riding all day, only Ted had a bike w/ SRAM, and only the one.
I really like Hayes brakes. Actually.....I only really like the levers, 'cuz they feel good and have super-easy-to-adjust reach for my stubby digits. I don't really like any hydraulic brake over another - gimme cables!
I love riding in the desert! Okay...I knew that and have known it for 20+ years. Still......I frickin' love it!
After riding just about every state-of-the-art full sus design - Ellesworth, Ibis, Titus, Santa Cruz, etc - I really think that Cannondale has it knocked. The Rize I took to Moab and Fruita was every bit the bike all those fancy-ass ones are, for way less $. The Ellesworth Truth remains my 1st choice if you're buying.......but if it's my money on the table I'll be on a C-Dale Scapel, Rush or Rize.
I'm still 100% conflicted about the whole 29"/26" thing. I rode a Felt 29'r that claims to be the lightest on the market - it felt good. (The evening resounds w/ puns!) Then I ride the 26 version and like dit just as much. I rode Tony Ellesworth's personal ride....a pink 29'r Evolve......and it was fine. In fact.....I didn't even realize 'twas a big-wheeler 'til I was almost done /w a lap. (What does THAT mean, pray tell?) I rode a C-Dale 29'r and dug it, but more 'cuz it was a hardtail than any othr reason. (I had just done a lap on the much ballyhooed Ibis Mojo full-sus and it made me feel like I was shot and worn out for the day). So.......who knows? Not me, that's for damnsure.
Tomorrow is Demo Day #2.......Greg (who just arrived-fresh from finishing 11th in his age group @ the National Tri race in Portland), Aaron, Rick and I are gonna do the Tour of Lake Mead (aka "the hangover ride") first thing in the am, then I wanna ride some road and 'cross bikes. On Wed the Expo opens, then we go watch the huge "Cross Vegas Race then another day @ the show, then the huge crit, then we fly home to open the shop on Friday morning. We have a ton to get done in the next 3 days.........I'll try and keep you posted!
Later!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Vegas Baby!
That's what Ted says every time someone says the name of this town out loud. It's not annoying yet........but we just got here.
"Here" is the 2008 Interbike Show. Ted, Aaron and I got in a few hours ago, accompanied by our old buddy Rick "Snake" Plite, a.k.a. "Mr. KissCross". Greg gets here tomorrow night, fresh from his 11th place finish @ the National Age Group Tri in Portland yesterday.
"Here" is the 2008 Interbike Show. Ted, Aaron and I got in a few hours ago, accompanied by our old buddy Rick "Snake" Plite, a.k.a. "Mr. KissCross". Greg gets here tomorrow night, fresh from his 11th place finish @ the National Age Group Tri in Portland yesterday.
Agenda is to ride our asses off tomorrow @ the Demo in Boulder City a 30 minute drive from here. We have a buncha bikes and brands that we wanna check out on the tight-n-dusty trails of Bootleg Canyon. Tuesday is the Tour de Lake Mead and more test-riding, then the actual show kicks off 1st thing Wed morn. We'll be posting pics (hopefully!) and words here and on Ted's Blog as well so stay tuned!
Monday, September 08, 2008
I'll take that fixxie for 150 please!
and that's pretty much what I did. Saturday was O.D.R.A.M, aka the "One Day Ride Across Michigan and one of my favorite days of the summer. What's not to dig? You get up early (way early!), catch the Velo Ventures bus up to Montague, mount the lights, pull on your arm warmers and vest and start riding east. 150 miles later you're at the Bay City State Park. In between you rode your bike, met the VeloVentures Support Truck every 25 miles, ate way too many Golden Oreos, hit the lunch stop @ the church and ate homemade chicken soup and generally had a blast.
I rode my trusty fixxie all the way. I had my C-Dale in the trailer "just in case" but never needed it.
What a great ride! I strongly suggest you put it on your calendar for 2009 and beyond!
So that was Saturday. Sunday I went up to Cedar Springs w/ J2, Heather -n-Brian for a JDRF Ride. Can't say that my legs felf all that great...but I got by. That's my new thing, I guess.......no riding throughout the week due to travel-n-such so I gotta make it up on the weekends w/ 200+ miles.
Off to Whitefish again on Wednesday, for Round 4 of the big JDRF Traveling Circus. After this one there's "just" Interbike, the 2 Day Coach's Meeting in Chicago and Death Valley be fore I can put my travel gear away for a bit.
'Cross season is looming................not that I feel even remotely ready for it. Hell...as of right-damn-now I don't even have a bike - I loaned my Gunnar to a member of the Death Valley Team - so I'm not sure what I'd even race on. Not that it'd matter.
I had a chance to reflect on the season as we were rollin' towards Bay City on Saturday.......Fisk Knob, Moab/Fruita, Grattan, Sonoma, Lumberjack, Asheville, Holland 100, Whitefish, all the shop rides, all the Crazy Bastard rides.......man! How'd I get so lucky?
Don't tell anyone, okay?
MC Hammered
I rode my trusty fixxie all the way. I had my C-Dale in the trailer "just in case" but never needed it.
What a great ride! I strongly suggest you put it on your calendar for 2009 and beyond!
So that was Saturday. Sunday I went up to Cedar Springs w/ J2, Heather -n-Brian for a JDRF Ride. Can't say that my legs felf all that great...but I got by. That's my new thing, I guess.......no riding throughout the week due to travel-n-such so I gotta make it up on the weekends w/ 200+ miles.
Off to Whitefish again on Wednesday, for Round 4 of the big JDRF Traveling Circus. After this one there's "just" Interbike, the 2 Day Coach's Meeting in Chicago and Death Valley be fore I can put my travel gear away for a bit.
'Cross season is looming................not that I feel even remotely ready for it. Hell...as of right-damn-now I don't even have a bike - I loaned my Gunnar to a member of the Death Valley Team - so I'm not sure what I'd even race on. Not that it'd matter.
I had a chance to reflect on the season as we were rollin' towards Bay City on Saturday.......Fisk Knob, Moab/Fruita, Grattan, Sonoma, Lumberjack, Asheville, Holland 100, Whitefish, all the shop rides, all the Crazy Bastard rides.......man! How'd I get so lucky?
Don't tell anyone, okay?
MC Hammered
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Ouch!
So.....started 'cross training in earnest this morning. In this context "cross training" has a dual meaning - it involves other-than-bike stuff and it's designed to get me ready for cyclo-cross. Thus.........'cross training.
Basically for this chubby old dude it means haulin' my bulk up and down that flight of 170 stairs in Sanctuary Woods on 66th. It's about a 25 minute ride from home, then I jump off of "Ugly", my fixxie commuter and jog to the stairs, run up, try and run the 1 mile loop of trail @ the top of the dune and run back to my bike. It's not a pretty sight. I was somewhat pleasantly surprised to find myself @ the top w/out stopping (I had my head down counting steps) but I wasn't able to run the entire loop up top. My left Achilles tightened up in the way back up the the top and I got kinda freaked, despite the fact that my right one ruptured w/out any warning almost 6 years ago so I ran down the staris to Ugly and cooled down by riding home.
Assuming that my body holds up - and there's no real reason for optimisim in that regard - I'd like to add a little running into the mix. I have a lot of bike-less travel coming up (Whitefish and the bike show) and I always envy runners since all they gotta do is bring shoes and shorts. I'm gonna try but like I said.............no reason to count on it.
ODRAM this Saturday and a JDRF ride on Sunday so I oughta get my mileage back up to where it belongs easy enough. Assuming that my Sofa King gets back from MT in time I plan on using it Saturday - I think I can do 156 miles fixed but there's only one way to find out, y'know?
Back to MT on Wed, this time to work as part of the 'Route Crew" which means everything from shoping for bananas to marking the roads to pickin' up trash afterwards. Should be interesting. It'll be good to see everyone again...I miss 'em already!
Ride and Rock on!
MC
Basically for this chubby old dude it means haulin' my bulk up and down that flight of 170 stairs in Sanctuary Woods on 66th. It's about a 25 minute ride from home, then I jump off of "Ugly", my fixxie commuter and jog to the stairs, run up, try and run the 1 mile loop of trail @ the top of the dune and run back to my bike. It's not a pretty sight. I was somewhat pleasantly surprised to find myself @ the top w/out stopping (I had my head down counting steps) but I wasn't able to run the entire loop up top. My left Achilles tightened up in the way back up the the top and I got kinda freaked, despite the fact that my right one ruptured w/out any warning almost 6 years ago so I ran down the staris to Ugly and cooled down by riding home.
Assuming that my body holds up - and there's no real reason for optimisim in that regard - I'd like to add a little running into the mix. I have a lot of bike-less travel coming up (Whitefish and the bike show) and I always envy runners since all they gotta do is bring shoes and shorts. I'm gonna try but like I said.............no reason to count on it.
ODRAM this Saturday and a JDRF ride on Sunday so I oughta get my mileage back up to where it belongs easy enough. Assuming that my Sofa King gets back from MT in time I plan on using it Saturday - I think I can do 156 miles fixed but there's only one way to find out, y'know?
Back to MT on Wed, this time to work as part of the 'Route Crew" which means everything from shoping for bananas to marking the roads to pickin' up trash afterwards. Should be interesting. It'll be good to see everyone again...I miss 'em already!
Ride and Rock on!
MC
Monday, September 01, 2008
"Turn out the lights.....the party's over"
Thank you Dandy Don! (Don't get that?.........Guess I'm showin' my age!")
It's kinda like bein' in the circus.......the tents are comin' down, the riders are homeward bound, I said my goodbyes (more like "see you in a coupla weeks") to Trish-n-Aly and I'm outta here in a couple hours. The Bike Room is back to being 'The Glacier Room", a sterile, boring conference room w/ those adjustable walls. Hell..........for the last week it's kinda been the heart of the Ride, the one place staff, riders and family could hang out, connect and shoot the bull. That might have been the high point of the Glacier Room's whole life, 'cuz the Bike Room will be back in the old location next time.
Time to go home, see my other family(s). Lin and Sam are en route from NY as we speak, gonna meet me @ the airport. Katie Jo's holdin' down the fort @ home w/ the dawgs. Ted's on his way home from Brian Head UT and the rest of the shopfolk are enjoying their day off and coming to terms w/ the whole "end of summer" thing, hopefully. I'm anxious to get ODRAM done, then focus on the next trip out here, then Interbike. September will be full-n-fine!
Later, gotta pack and all that crap.
MC
It's kinda like bein' in the circus.......the tents are comin' down, the riders are homeward bound, I said my goodbyes (more like "see you in a coupla weeks") to Trish-n-Aly and I'm outta here in a couple hours. The Bike Room is back to being 'The Glacier Room", a sterile, boring conference room w/ those adjustable walls. Hell..........for the last week it's kinda been the heart of the Ride, the one place staff, riders and family could hang out, connect and shoot the bull. That might have been the high point of the Glacier Room's whole life, 'cuz the Bike Room will be back in the old location next time.
Time to go home, see my other family(s). Lin and Sam are en route from NY as we speak, gonna meet me @ the airport. Katie Jo's holdin' down the fort @ home w/ the dawgs. Ted's on his way home from Brian Head UT and the rest of the shopfolk are enjoying their day off and coming to terms w/ the whole "end of summer" thing, hopefully. I'm anxious to get ODRAM done, then focus on the next trip out here, then Interbike. September will be full-n-fine!
Later, gotta pack and all that crap.
MC
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