Big Guy on a Bicycle: Mountain Biking

Weenie Roast Ride

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:54:29 GMT

Tonight was the weekly Weenie Roast Ride at Haw Ridge. I hadn't been planning on riding tonight, but...

I was supposed to ride last night with the rest of the Clydesdale group at IC King Park, but as you might guess from yesterday's post, I didn't really feel up to it. I was disappointed that I'd missed my last opportunity for a mountain bike ride before Mexico and surgery, but then I remembered that the Weenie Roast Ride was tonight.

The premise behind the ride is to show up, ride with whatever group of people you are comfortable riding with (and there are usually at least three groups of five to ten), finish back at the cars, and break out the hot dogs and buns (and hope someone brought a grill). Sometimes there's beer involved from what I hear, but I don't usually stick around. I typically leave when the food comes out because either 1) Mrs. Guy is in town and I figure I should go home and spend that time with her, or 2) Mrs. Guy is out of town, and I figure I should go home and spend the time with the dogs. Tonight she is out of town (in Princeton, NJ).

I was expecting so sloppy conditions due to the morning thunderstorm that went through, but as it turned out the trails were in very good shape, with only a few puddles or slop-spots. I guess it had been dry enough the previous week that the rain actually helped out in most locations. I rode with a group of about ten intermediate riders tonight, at least for about half of the ride.

We had been looping around the outside edge of the trail system, but at one point I followed Dave up Silo trail into the interior. And then I promptly lost sight of him when my chain came off. I climbed hard up and over the ridge to try and catch him, but I soon realized that I was alone. No one else had come that way, and I must have missed where he took another trail off of Silo. Nothing to do but keep going, so I did, passing a few other cyclists (you always see other cyclists out there) and a couple of trail runners. I reached a point in the trail where I knew that continuing on would take me to the Power Cut (and away from the rest of the group), or I could take a trail to the right that I'd never been on (I'm usually headed toward the Power Cut at that point). Right, then.

The trail led down into a bowl that had two other trails coming down into it. It was quiet, pretty, lush, and I kicked myself mentally for never having visited it before. I took the right trail out of the bowl toward what I assumed would be the group. I was wrong on that count, but I did find Dave.

At about that time we saw another group of three and decided to tag along with them. Had we known how much climbing they would put us through, we might have picked a different direction, but it turned out to be OK. We stayed with them all the way back to the cars, and I never saw my original group again, except for Jimi and Doug, who showed up right as I was pulling out of the parking lot in my car.

One of these days when Mrs. Guy is in town I'll have to have her meet us out there for the Weenie Roast portion...if she can stand eating in the company of two dozen or so smelly cyclists, that is.

We leave for Mexico early, early on Friday morning. I will, however, be posting trivia tomorrow. I somehow doubt that I will be able to post anything from Riviera de Maya, but you never know. I will at least try to make some report on Tuesday evening after we return, but then I go under the knife on Wednesday, so posting may be sporatic for the next couple of weeks. I apologize in advance.

I Dig A Pony

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 03:34:09 GMT

Phillip and I went mountain biking at Haw Ridge today.

I also had a song stuck in my head (on the radio when I stopped the car). <You might want to stop the media player for this one if it's playing. Just sayin'.>

[getting out of car] (to self) "That was cool hearing that song. I haven't heard that in forever."

[getting bike and stuff out of car] "Hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm...." (also to self)

I had to wait about ten minutes for Phillip since I was early, so I took the time to re-lube the chain and check the shock pressures.

I, hi-hi-hi hi-hi-hi, dig a pony
Well you can celebrate anything you want

Such as performing bike maintenance?

Yes, you can celebrate anything you want
Ooh

Hmm, I guess so.

Phillip arrived while I was tooling around the parking area making sure my shifters were in proper adjustment. He got ready and we hit the trailhead with Phillip in the lead.

I hi hi hi hi hi hi, do a roadhog
Well you can penetrate any place you go
Yes, you can penetrate any place you go

Well, the only penetrating going on was us going into the woods. I'd rather keep any part of the woods from penetrating me. I've seen such things on the trail before, and have even had to extract a few small sticks from an arm or two (someone else's, and not my own so far).

Phillip: Which way do you want to go here?

Big Guy: I dunno, right?

P: Right, then.

BG: Right.

I told you so

We went right at the next couple of intersections as well, and ended up taking the Western Shore trail. Somebody has done some major grooming over the winter. The last time I rode here was the day back in October that I broke my right clavicle, and I wasn't on this trail that day. The grooming here isn't necessarily a good thing. There was plenty of controversy. It used to be more technical, and some think it's been "dumbed down".

And the chorus was playing in the back of my head (causing me to wonder exactly where Mrs. Guy was on the road from Raleigh):

All I want is you
Everything has got to be
just like you want it to
Because...

We stayed right on Western Shore all the way back to Lake Road, where Phillip made me take the lead.

BG: Twister?

P: Sure, Twister.

I hi hi hi hi hi hi, pick a moondog
Well you can radiate everything you are
Yes, you can radiate everything you are
Ooh

Twister is an appropriately named trail that dives off of Lake Road and winds around until it comes back out on...Lake Road (albeit further down). Right near the exit point of Twister is a complex S-curve and a creek crossing (a 2x6). If you don't exit the curves just right you'll drop a wheel off the board for sure, and will end up 3-4 feet down and into the creek bed. Phillip and I both forgot about the exit criticality, so we dabbed and then ended up just walking over it.

P: Wanna take Red Shore?

BG: The-which-wha-who?

P: They finally named "New Trail".

BG: Ah. OK, but you're leading again.

We took Red Shore to Red Hill and across the timber road (logs set perpendicular to travel in a low and often muddy area) and then over the rock bag route (similar, but somebady replaced the logs with quikrete bags and let them harden in-place with the surrounding water. I preferred the logs).

P: Which way?

BG: Right?

P: Good, I don't have the momentum to go left.

Phillip ended up making me pass him, and I led us out into the Briar Loop. We were about halfway around when Jeremy called Phillip's cell and told us to meet him and a couple of guys at the K2/Rollercoaster intersection.

I hi hi hi hi hi hi, roll a stoney
Well you can imitate everyone you know

My plan at this point was to ride behind Jeremy and try to pick up on his technique on the technical descents.

Yes, you can imitate everyone you know

I told you so

But apparently I would have to pick someone else to shadow. Phillip and I got to the intersection and were watching for them to come over the hill. We saw them after about 5 minutes.

BG: Here comes Jeremy.

P: Do you see anyone else with him?

BG: ...six, seven,...eight,...nine,...yeah. There's twelve of them.

P: Twelve?

BG: Twelve.

Jeremy was in front of the line. Phillip and I joined in the back. No shadowing his moves today. About that time I heard the tell-tale "Boodle-ee-doop" from my cell phone in my jersey pocket.

Eric: What was that?

BG: The Bat Signal. Mrs. Guy is within an hour of home.

Which got me going again...

All I want is you
Everything has got to be
just like you want it to
Because

We dropped down Low Gap and headed west on Middle Road, right past the scene of my October fall. I saw the log I must have hit, lying at an angle out on the left quarter of the trail. Easy enough to avoid this time.

I hi hi hi hi hi hi, feel the wind blow
Well you can indicate everything you see
Yes, you can indicate everything you see
Ooh

We headed back on Lake Road back toward the parking area, but Jeremy wanted to take Western Shore. Phillip and I had already done it once, but decided to go again with everybody else. Somebody had a flat about 200 yards in, and Jeremy and someone else waited with him to get it fixed, sending the rest of us along. We got to the actual shore (again, for Phillip and me) and I could see a couple of guys in kayaks out on the water.

Oh, how appropriate. I'd forgotten the next stanza until just then.

I hi hi hi hi hi hi, cold and lonely
Well you can syndicate any boat you row
Yes, you can syndicate any boat you row
I told you so

We hit Lake Road at the end of Western Shore again, and I decided to head back out, while Phillip stayed with the rest of the group going further back into the trail system. My thighs were really tight - I guess I was still sore from Sunday's hill ride - but I also wanted to get home before Mrs. Guy so I could go ahead and shower.

All I want is you
Everything has got to be
just like you want it to
Because

I got back to the car, put the bike in and headed out to leave. The radio was still on the same station when I turned the car on. Then I got a different song stuck in my head on the drive home.

Warning, live without warning...

Impromptu

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 03:40:49 GMT

I got a couple of calls on my cell phone today. I didn’t have it with me, so I found them when I got back to my office at almost 4:00 pm. I work mostly in two different buildings; one is where my office is, and the other is where our field work is done. We’re not allowed to take cell phones into the second building, so I miss a lot of calls during the day. So you can see, it’s not all bad.

Call One was from Mrs. Guy, letting me know that she was at the airport in Dallas and headed home. Call Two was a semi-cryptic message from Wally, which essentially told me that I needed to be at I.C. King Park for a mountain bike ride at 6:30 pm. Not a lot of notice, but I’m up for the challenge.

I had to run home first of course. Dogs had to be walked and fed, and I had to change into my bike clothes and get my bike, naturally. It was nice not to be hurried, or feel hurried, for once to make an after-work ride (they all usually start at 6:00 pm). I drove over to I.C. King Park and was actually slightly early. That gave me a little time to check tire pressures and all that, while also talking to a few others who were there.

As it turned out, there were nine of us there altogether that were doing that particular ride. We very quickly split into two groups, though, to no one's surprise. Gary, Steve, Matt and Bob were in the 'A' group (read "very fast") and Brian, Wally, Ron, Jay and I were in the 'B' (or 'not quite so fast') group. The front four got away from us very quickly, but we ended up catching them quite soon. Matt had a flat within the first mile, so we all stopped while he changed the tube out. We 'B' riders should have just gone on, because they would have caught us soon anyway.

We took off again with the front four going off fast and Brian and I trying our best to keep them in sight. We were successful for a few miles, but eventually they got a few bends ahead of us. We stopped at the far point of the south loop to wait for Wally, Jay and Ron, and soon saw the front four way above us on the switchback climb. Those guys are animals.

The back three arrived soon after, and we continued on up the climb. We were about half-way up when Steve came back down the trail to see what was keeping us. We got to the top of the first climb and found the other three of the 'A' guys waiting until we all got there. Then we went again, and again they got away from us.

About this time I realized that it was getting later than I'd intended and that I needed to get home to Mrs. Guy. Brian and I ended up chasing the 'A' guys until they stopped again, and I decided that I would have to go on alone. The instant I made the decision, but before I could say anything, the 'A' guys were off again before the trailing three arrived. I ended up telling Brian that I hated to leave the others behind, but he said he'd wait on them, freeing me to go on ahead.

I caught the 'A' riders at their next stopping point and kept going, explaining on the way by that I needed to get home. I kept expecting that they would catch me on the way out, but they never did, maybe because of the mud. Today's ride was a total of about 8.5 miles. The first 7.5 miles was on lovely hard-pack trail. The last mile made up for that. I was riding through slop so deep that I could barely maintain forward momentum at times. At other times I was tracking ever which way, with the front and rear wheels often going in different directions.

I got back to the car with a good coating of mud from that last mile. I'm glad I carry a towel for that purpose, because I hate cleaning mud off of leather seats. It's really a pain. I got home about 5 minutes after I'd intended, but mostly because a friend called me on my way home and I pulled off the road to talk to him (don't you wish everybody did?).

And then dinner with Mrs. Guy. Man, she really is a good cook.

Surprise

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 02:32:38 GMT

On Sunday, during my race, I noticed the sound of my tire rubbing on something every once in a while. I didn't think too much of it, because occasionally my hub will slip just slightly (I can't seem to get it quite tight enough without risking a hernia). As I said, it was during the race so I decided to ignore it and go on. I didn't think much of it after that, even when I was cleaning my bike (I just loosened, "reset", and retightened my rear hub as I sometimes have to do).

Tonight I decided to take the bike out of the garage and put it in the basement while I was bringing two other bikes up (more on this later). As I was riding the bike around to the basement door, I heard the rub again. "Hmm," I said to myself (because I was talking to me), "there must be more to this." And indeed there was. My rear wheel is way out of true. Thinking back, I know just when it happened.

When Phillip and I pulled in to the registration area's parking lot, we had to pull off into the grass since the lot was full. We had to go through a shallow ditch to get there, and the bikes on the rear rack (mine and Derek's) must have hit the pavement as the truck's rear wheels went through the ditch. Derek's bike was sitting higher, and his front wheel (which would have hung down further) was off of his bike.

So now I guess I get to have my rear wheel re-trued (at least it was only the rear, and it was obviously still rideable). The other thing is, I could hear my rear disk brake dragging as I spun the wheel to check its true. I think I might also need a new rotor.

So now my 4th place seems a little better to me than before.

Tomorrow night promises to be busy. I will leave work early to go to a seminar at UT that is scheduled to end at 4:55 pm (let's just say 5:00 pm). From there I will go to the Bike Zoo and also stop and get something to eat. At 6:00pm I'm meeting people to ride on Cherokee Blvd until 7:30 pm or so, when we will head over to a local church where the bike club is renting a meeting room for the monthly Movie Night. Tomorrow's movie is The Triplets of Belleville,which I will be bringing since I own a copy. That will put us leaving at 10:00 pm or a little after, and I will likely be home after 10:30 pm. I am telling you this to let you know that the weekly trivia will be late tomorrow night, probably being posted sometime between 11:00 pm and midnight.

The two bikes I brought up are for tomorrow. One is my road bike for riding on the Blvd. The other is my singlespeed mountain/urban assault bike. From previous experience, I know that parking will be scarce at UT tomorrow afternoon when I get there. I will instead park at our church and ride the singlespeed the mile or less to the building where the seminar is being held.

Botched (and whoever else is curious). I am an engineer. A civil engineer. A civil engineer who can actually write better than most other engineers he knows. I do love bicycles and to some extent cars. I would love to open either a bike shop or an Irish bar as my retirement business, but I figure it would be risky to combine the two (though think of the entertainment possiblities).

And when I say I'm a civil engineer, don't get the idea that I design and build stuff. Most of my career has been spent tearing stuff down (building demo) or digging up dirt and burying it somewhere else (environmental restoration). But then I do write about what we did afterward.

No, I'm just kidding. I really am a helicopter pilot. <Yeah, I wish.>

Chickasaw Trace

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:41:52 GMT

Long post tonight, but a lot has happened in the last 24 hours.

Today was the Chickasaw Trace Mountain Bike Classic. But first, a little about yesterday.

I drove to the Bike Zoo to pick up my new club jersey and shorts (and vest and cycling cap, too). While there, I talked to Jeff again, and he reiterated that the course was a good one and that he thought it would be fun for us. I left there, ran a few errands, and then went and spent the afternoon with Mrs. Guy. Phillip showed up to pick me up at around 6:10 pm and we loaded up my stuff and headed to Panera Bread to meet Jeremy, Derek, David and Joel. Only Jeremy and Derek were there when we got there, so we went ahead and ate while waiting and were joined by David and Joel after about another 10 minutes. We finished eating and went out and loaded four bikes and most of the luggage on and in Phillip's truck. We left Jeremy's Jeep at Panera and left for Columbia, TN with Phillip and me in his truck and the others in Joel's car.

After a couple of stops we arrived in Columbia at the Days Inn at around 10:00 local time (Central). Phillip checked us in, and then we loaded the room with six guys, luggage for six guys, and six bikes. Tight fit. It was the only hotel room left, though. I just made sure I wasn't one of the ones sleeping on the floor (being the "old man" at least has that advantage). After a quick walk to the gas station next door for a beer for everyone but me (the selection was limited to stuff I don't really like anyway, plus I don't think I would race well on beer). We probably got to sleep right around midnight.

The alarm clock, Jeremy's iPod alarm, and the wake-up call all came seconds apart at 6:00 am (why take chances, right?) and we got up and headed to the free continental breakfast (bagels, apples, dry cereal, etc.) except Phillip and Derek, who had brought stuff with them for breakfast. We got suited up for the race (five in SCO jerseys and Joel in a plain jersey since he's in another club, but doesn't have a jersey yet) and left for Chickasaw Trace Park just outside of town.

We went in to pick up our race numbers (most of us) and register (Derek), where I ran afoul of the Race Nazi without even meaning to. She must have been the NORBA official, and she started barking at us the moment we walked in. I was a particularly bad boy since I had forgotten my license and had to go to the truck to retrieve it. I tried my best to smile and be nice to her, though, and she eventually let me get my number and free water bottle (which was nice to get since I'd forgotten to bring one).

We saw some others we knew at registration including Randy (who's been mentioned on this site before), and Randy followed us down to the parking field when we moved our car. Since we had an hour before the Beginner's race, we decided to go check out the last part of the course, which was supposed to be the most technical. Randy and I went while everyone else were dragging their feet, so I was back before they ever got going.

We headed up to the started area at about 8:55 am. Derek raced Beginner Men (19-29) and started at 9:00 am. Phillip raced Beginner Men (30-39) and started two minutes later. Randy and I raced in the combined Beginner Men (50+) and (40-49) respectively, and started after another two minutes. There were twelve in our field.

We were bunched up from the start through the first little gravelled lefthand curve section, where I was off to the right and lost a few positions. I made them up on the straight and was right behind Randy before the big drop down the hill (very fast and steep) and off right into the first singletrack. The trails at Chickasaw do a lot of switchbacks so they can get and eleven miles of trail from the acreage available, so I could see the rock garden that messed me up just before making the quick hairpin turn into it. The guy in front of Randy slowed him down, and I ended up having to put a foot down. Because of that I got over to the right to get out of the way while I got back on and lost three positions in an instant. I got in behind the third guy, but he was going slower that I wanted to go and it took me a long time to get around him, so I lost sight of Randy. I started catching stragglers from Phillip's group, and they slowed me further trying to get around them. I saw Randy on the switchbacks, but was having trouble getting back up to him. We finally hit an open field and I passed a bunch of guys to get to a position behind Randy, but still about 150 yards back.

Just then the first three guys from the group that started after ours (Juniors 15-18) went around me. I hooked onto the last guys wheel and followed them back into the singletrack. We passed a few more slow riders and then I saw Randy on the side of the trail right after a big drop through a ravine. He'd had a flat, but said he had what he needed, so I went on. There went the rabbit I'd been chasing.

The people I started catching up to next were a little faster than before, so I started pacing on them for a minute or two and then passing to move up to the next guy. That was great for recovery, and probably helped me out later. On the third or fourth one of these another (40-49) started catching up before I could pass the rider in front and would call out "on your left when you get a chance". When the rider in front would ride to one side, I'd go around first and then get over to let the guy behind me by. But he never came by me. I was dropping him, and after that I'd catch a guy, pace until the guy behind caught up, and then go around again to the next guy. We did that for about four miles.

The last two mile section was the hardest, though. The trail became more roller-coasterish, which ups and downs and twisty turns. It was at the top of one of the uphills that I got put off-balance by a guy who stopped right at the top of it. The rider in my class who'd been behind me got around, as well as a (15-18) and a (19-29) I'd already passed. I passed him again, and staid right with the (15-18) for the next 3/4 miles to the finish area. A guy tried to come around me as we left the singletrack and I decided to make a race of it since I though he was in my race class. My calves were cramping badly by then, but I put my head down and ignored the pain through to the finish, edging him by about a bike length. Turns out he was a (30-39) I passed previously, so it didn't affect my placing anyway. I went over and collapsed next to some trees near where Phillip and Derek were talking to Jeremy, and when Randy came in a few minutes later he collapsed next to me.

Jeremy, Joel and David raced in Sport Men (19-29) soon after, so we went out on the course to watch them. During the race we found out that they'd already posted the Beginner fields results. With that in mind, we figured that they would do the Sport fields results as quickly during the Expert races. We decided to wait for said results since it looked like Jeremy took third, and thus would win some schwag. So we hung around. And waited. And waited some more. And watched the Expert racers go by. And waited. And asked if the results would be out soon. "Oh, yes, very soon." Soon turned out to be about a half-hour, and only when the Race Nazi decided she'd had enough people asking her about the results that she went and badgered the guys figuring the scores herself.

Jeremy was inded 3rd, and Joel came in 7th, I think. David had crashed a few times. Derek was 7th in his race. Phillip was 15th in the largest Beginner field of 29 (exactly mid-point). Randy won his category, but then he was the only one in his category to finish. And me? I finished 4th of 11 finishers in my field in only my second mountain bike race. I'll take it.

Off to the Races

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 14:26:25 GMT

In somewhat of a last minute decision, I am leaving today for Columbia, TN with Phillip, Derek, Jeremy, and a couple of other guys to do the Chickasaw Trace mountain bike race. I shouldn’t say “last minute decision”, as it was more of a last minute permission, or capitulation, if you will. Mrs. Guy doesn’t really like the idea, but I think she understands my wanting to do the race.

My race (Beginner Men 40-49) is at 9:04 in the morning on Sunday, starting two minutes after Phillip’s (Beginner Men 30-39). I hope to have a chance to see some of the course before I go out, but there are no guarantees as to how much time I’ll have in the morning. Jeff at the Bike Zoo says it isn’t a very bad course and that I’ll be OK without a pre-ride, but he’s in a different class of mountain biker than I am. Worst case, even if I do poorly, I’ll at least be able to tell Jeremy what to expect since his race (Sport Men 19-29) doesn’t start until after my race is done.

I won’t get back home until late tomorrow afternoon, and I may not know the race final results yet, but I’ll try to post some kind of report on the race tomorrow evening if I have time.

Right now I’m getting ready to head down to the Bike Zoo to pick up my new team uniform, which just came in yesterday or Thursday. It will be nice to do the race in the new colors.

Mountain Roads by Moonlight

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 01:57:30 GMT

I went on a moonlight ride on Friday in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Ten other stalwart souls showed up at our meeting place at the park boundary on Rich Mountain Road and got ready to ride. We had Wally, Ron, Phillip, Bob, Jeff 1, Jeff 2, Alan, Jim, Caroline, Stephanie, and me. Everyone had lights, but I ended up borrowing a spare battery for my secondary light since I had a problem with charging mine that day (a mental lapse, I’m afraid, as I plugged the light’s extension cord into the charger, but forgot to check that the extension cord was actually connected to the battery). Wally had Jason’s for some reason, and it had a full charge, so that’s what I used.

Wally had reported that there was to be an 84% full moon on Friday evening, and it turned out to be plenty of light for climbing up the gravel road. The leaves are still off of the trees, so visibility is good enough for going relatively slow up a climb on mountain bikes. I ended up riding part of it with Bob, and about the time Bob decided to go catch up to the Jeffs (and took off like a rocket), Alan came alongside and I finished the climb with him.

Just over the crest of the ridge is an overlook, and this is where we found the Jeffs and Bob. Bob had brought some decent beverage with him for sharing, so we had just a swallow of that each while waiting for everyone else. The view from the overlook was of the western end of Cades Cove, and it was incredible. Cades Cove sits in a valley, and there was fog in the lower lying sections. The fog wrapped around a bit of higher ground, making it look like a meandering river, only one with an eerie glow.

The rest made their way to the top and we all stood for a photo op. I think it was Bob taking the pictures, but I couldn’t really tell since I was effectively blinded. Maybe I’ll get hold of one of those pictures at some point.

The lights came on and we took off down the hill toward the Cove. Bob mentioned stopping at another overlook a bit further down the road, which we did so we could regroup again. Four or five of us went down the hill pretty fast, and the others took their time through the gravelly ruts and potholes (I remember going through one rather soggy one). We stopped at the next overlook and realized that Stephanie hadn’t shown up with everyone else. Bob took off back up the hill and returned with her in about five minutes (she’d had light trouble).

Again the lights came on and we rode down toward the Cove. I was behind one of the Jeffs (Jeff C., I think) when he hit a really soft and loose section of gravel and had his rear wheel slide out from under him. Down he went, and I just had to hope that he didn’t roll over to the left, because that was the only place I could go. He didn’t, but if he had I either would have hit him or I’d have gone off the side of the hill and into the trees. We stopped again at the old church just past the bar gate that I have mentioned before on this blog site. The tin roof of the church had an ethereal cast to it, and the skies above were clear, so we just stood and stargazed for a little while before hitting the paved road around the west end of the cove.

There were a couple of additional stops around the Cove, and we kept our eyes open for coyote, deer and bears (but didn’t see any). We took the Hyatt Road cut-off through the middle of the Cove, which is another gravel road, and then took the pavement back over to the church and began the long grinding climb back up the ridge.

Now by this time I had been riding for a while and climbing a bit, and my legs remembered the abuse I gave them on Wednesday when I went running, and they decided that it was time to remind me of that. Climbing back up Rich Mountain Road was not as fast as it might have been, and it seemed like it took forever (as it always does – that’s the longer side to climb). Anyway, Phillip and I stayed together on the climb only because he was willing to slow down a little for me. We stopped again at the top overlook and had a good long wait until everybody got back up.

The ride back to the cars was almost uneventful, except that at somepoint I heard something behind me as the other Jeff hit some deep gravel and went down. He was OK, though, so Alan and I (now out front) rode the rest of the way back to the cars and started putting our stuff back up. It wasn’t long before everyone was back, and we discussed the “after” part of the ride. Jim and Caroline back out of that, as did Alan, Stephanie and Phillip (I know Stephanie had to work the next morning). That left Bob, the Jeffs, Ron, Wally and me to hit the Waffle House near the airport on the way home. There’s nothing like a waffle and hash-browns scattered, smothered and diced after a good moonlight ride.

Epiphanous Bag

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 00:27:29 GMT

I got something new in the mail yesterday. I got a brand-new Bango Brothers saddlebag courtesy of the Fat Cyclist and his semi-weekly Bike Bag Giveaway. I was lucky enough to be the chosen recipient based on my answer to his question: "Tell me of a bike-related epiphany you have had". My answer is paraphrased below the bar.

It's a good looking bag, I must say. It's their medium-sized under-the-saddle model, and I will be putting it to good use. There are several things I like about it already. One in particular is the closure system of the strap that loops around the seat post. It is a better design than on the Jandd bag I have on my road bike, and the Jandd is a bag I have been pleased with. Maybe in a month or two I'll say more about how the Bango Bros. bag is working out for me.

My epiphany: Since I'm primarily a roadie, I would have expected my greatest epiphany to come while riding a road bike. While I have had some good ones on the road bike, the best one I ever had was on my mountain bike last year.

There were 3 particular sections at the Haw Ridge trail system that I couldn't clean for the life of me. I was timid. I was trying to think them through. I was trying to carefully and slowly pick the best lines through them. Then, one day, I was riding behind John B. and watched him just blow right through one of them. I near-biffed, trying my usual method, but it got me thinking about why I was having so much trouble. While my brain was occupied thinking about what had happened and how he could go through so much better than I could, I followed him right through my second problem area, and didn't even realize it until he stopped at the other side with a "Hey, way to go!"

"Huh?", I said.

Then I realized, I had always been going too slow and thinking too hard. Speed was what got me through. I've never messed up in any of those spots since, and have ridden through stuff I would never have considered trying before that day. Since then, I found a great quote from Julie Furtado to live by on the mountain bike, which is below.

Now, long-time readers will remember that I had a bad crash back in October that shattered my collarbone, requiring surgery and a plate with 12 screws. What happened? Well, I was going slow. I was waiting for someone to catch up to me, and instead of stopping like I should have, I was just slowly turning the pedals. I have no idea what I hit with my front wheel, but it was enough to twist my wheel sideways and I couldn't recover and went over, hard. Had I been going faster, I likely would have breezed right over it.

Why am I relating this here? In the hope that someone else can learn from my mistake and avoid the pain I went through. I will soon get to go through some of that pain again, when I have the surgery to remove the plate not only from that collarbone, but from the other one as well (an injury I've related previously). Having both taken out at once should be interesting, but I'm told I will be able to use my arms to some degree immediately (I would like to be able to go to the bathroom by myself).

"The secret of mountain biking is pretty simple. The slower you go, the more likely it is you will crash." - Julie Furtado

King Me

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 23:48:34 GMT

I went riding with John B. and Wally today. Originally I was supposed to meet Wally at his placeat 10:00am and we were going to do a road ride at House Mountain. He'd said it would be about 40 miles or so. I haven't been on a road bike since sometime in December, I think, so I was looking forward to it. However, when I called Wally this morning, he'd decided to delay it until 1:00pm since it was colder than expected here this morning. I don't know exactly how it happened, but while we were talking we decided to go to I.C. King for mountain biking instead, so we decided to meet there instead. It was in the mid 60s yesterday (while I was stuck at work), but it never got out of the 40s today. Mountain biking was a better choice.

I won't bore you with the long story, but I will say that I learned two things. First, the trail conditions were about as close to perfect as I have ever seen them. Second, my conditioning is worse than I'd feared.

I lost track of time this morning and ended up running about 5 to 10 minutes late. I didn't see Wally's car when I got there, so I just started getting ready figuring he'd show up soon. Five minutes went by and I called him, and he was just leaving his house...he'd lost track of time worse that I did. As I hung up, I saw John coming back out of the woods. He'd actually shown up on time and had ridden the short loop and come back. We decided that while we were waiting on Wally, we'd go ride another short loop. That short loop, all 2.5 miles of it, about wore me out. It could be that I was following John, who has ridden all but one day this week, whereas I have ridden exactly zero miles this week. And, I was trying to keep up with him.

After Wally showed up I was a little better off. Wally hasn't been riding much either, so John had to slow down some for the two of us. It made me feel better that he wasn't slowing down just for me.

We rode for about an hour-and-a-half, and then decided that was enough. John was hungry for lunch. I was about dead. Wally claimed the same, but he had a lot more energy when we were standing there talking in the parking lot than I did.

So, the Condition Mission begins in earnest today.

Trivia Answers for 2/23

1. Who wrote "Charlotte's Web"? E.B. White wrote "Charlotte's Web". I don't know why that book came to mind recently, but it did.

2. What is the term used for a scotch whiskey that is made from one batch and not blended from several batches? As a man descended from Scottish forefathers, I have a leaning toward scotch whiskey, especially single malts. Mrs. Guy refuses to drink any scotch but single malts, and nothing less than 15 years old.

3. What carmaker's name translates to "Three Diamonds"? That would be Mitsubishi. Don't ask me which part is "Three" and which is "Diamonds".

4. What woman represented the United States in the 2004 Olympic Mountain Bike Race. This was part of the storyline in the documentary movie "Off Road to Athens". Depending on who you listened to, the sole woman who won the spot was either Susan Haywood or Mary McConneloug. In the end, it took a judge to decide, and Mary got the nod (and came in ninth - not bad).

5. What is the primary meaning of the reference, "The Fourth Estate"? The first three estates refer to the different branches of government (administrative, legislative, judicial). The "Fourth Estate" was the name given to the press, as the press was deemed to have the authority to keep the first three honest. Lately it turns out that the press has their own problems with honesty.

Movie Night

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 03:24:11 GMT

I just got back from my bike club's once-a-month winter season movie night. Last month's movie, which I missed, was "A Sunday in Hell". This month's movie was "Off-Road to Athens", about the competition leading up to choosing the American representatives to the 2004 Mountain Biking Olympic Team.

What an incredible movie. If you have a chance to see it, I would recommend it, especially if you are into mountain biking at all, but even if you are not. There's lots of action, intrigue, and drama to be seen. I won't spoil the movie by going into any more detail than I have already.

We haven't decided on the next movie, but I'm going to put forward "The Triplettes of Bellville", which I happen to have on DVD. This is another movie I would highly recommend. Even Mrs. Guy, who isn't really into the whole cycling scene, really enjoyed it.

Just my $0.02.

Trivia Time

I know this is what you guys really come by on Thursdays for. Please see the link for The Rules at left.

1. Who wrote "Charlotte's Web"?

2. What is the term used for a scotch whiskey that is made from one batch and not blended from several batches?

3. What carmaker's name translates to "Three Diamonds"?

4. What woman represented the United States in the 2004 Olympic Mountain Bike Race.

5. What is the primary meaning of the reference, "The Fourth Estate"?

Bell

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 02:31:24 GMT

The title doesn't refer to the brand of bicyling helmet, though there's plenty more to say on the subject (in fact, see the comments on the previous post). No, this is actually about one of my favorite "gag"-type gifts I've gotten for Christmas over the last several years.

She-Mom is well know for her 'stocking-stuffer' shopping skills. There are always some real gems to be found, and then there are the little things that make you wonder how she ever came up with them. They are always fun, though. There are a couple of these things that grace my bike, specifically my mountain bike. First is the set of little blinking lights them screw onto the valve stems and are set off by a not-too-hard jolt (just right for trail riding, perfect for night riding). One of them went missing on after I took it off to replace the batteries and misplaced it (I do hope to find it again), but the other is still on my rear wheel.

But my favorite of all time is the bicycle bell she gave me. It's the kind that mounts on the handlebar near my right-hand grip, with the little spring-mounted thing that you flick down with your thumb and release to make it ring (not the ratcheting type). It also has a fluid-filled bubble that pokes out from the top with one of those things inside that always floats right-side up, no matter which way the bike is pointing. I've seen these before with little compasses in them. Sounds pretty sensible so far, right?

What makes the bell noteworthy is the decoration. The bell itself has little multicolor dinosaurs on a white background. And the little floating thing is an eyeball, and a bloodshot one at that. What could be cooler than that? There is often quite a bit of discussion about my bell when I ride with people who have never seen it before, and sometimes with those who have. I'll admit that it doesn't have quite the same charm(?) as wearing a dead pirranha around your neck, but it does nicely for me. Some people ridicule it, some compliment it, but I wouldn't trade it away without a large cash payout being offered. Sure, it was made intended for a kid's bike, but riding a bike makes me feel like a kid sometimes anyway.

This just makes it official.

"Fear is something you have to learn to control and use to your advantage because everyone has it. The difference is how you let it affect you. You have to be confident. If I'm at the top of the course and I notice a racer with fear in her eyes, I go up to her and say, 'Be strong and find the way of the peaceful warrior...you're gonna do great.'" — Missy Giove

Dupont Forest

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 04:55:02 GMT

Well, we ended up riding at Dupont Forest near Brevard, NC today. When I left the house this morning I still had no idea exactly where I was going to be riding today. Four of us (John B., John X., Randy and me) showed up at the designated meeting place and talked it over until the concensus was to head for NC instead of Kingsport, which was the other option on the table. Actually Raul showed up too, but he was there because we parked where he works, and he had to cover for his boss (who was sick) today. Sorry Raul, but you missed a really good ride.

I rode with John X. over to Dupont Forest and we got to the trailhead just before noon. We'd stopped along the way in at a local bike shop and got a trail map (and a new handlebar and stem for Randy since the price was right), so we decided to kinda play it by ear as to our route. We consulted that map a lot, so it was (John B.'s) money well spent.

We started from one of the many trailheads located around the forest area and rode in on a fast if not sandy fire road. In fact, most of the riding we did was on fire roads. One improvement we would suggest for the map would be to have it indicate which trails are singletrack and which are not. We rode inward toward the center of the park until we came upon the "Private Property" signs. Well, the trail looked like it continued on into the signed off area. Luckily there was a local rider there who told us that as long as we stayed to the right at each turn, we'd be OK. We took him on faith, and his directions led us directly to the top of Bridle Veil Falls.

We needed to cross over to the other side to get back to the trails, but it didn't seem to be a great idea to go through the water to get there. As it turned out, we were able to go under the falls without getting very wet at all.

The trail on the other side didn't really exist in rideable form, so we had to beat our way through a grove of laurel trees for about a tenth of a mile or so. Not great fun, but not too bad. From there we got down to the bottom of the falls and were able to look back up. Note John B. in the photo for scale.

We picked up again and took off toward the next falls over hardpacked fire roads, dodging horse...stuff...along the way. We got to a covered bridge in the road (with some hikers milling about), and looked left to see the top of High Falls. A short cut over to our right brought us to an overlook so we could look back at the falls.

After another quick look at the map, we hit another trail that went to an overlook to Triple Falls. There was an older fellow there looking out at the falls as well. We talked to him a bit and he was waiting for his wife and son to come back from walking to the base of the falls (he had gotten tired).

We left Triple Falls and headed down the first real singletrack on Galax trail, but it was only about 1/4 mile and over way too soon. That put us out on the main road, so we rode down from there over to Hooker Falls. It was at Hooker Falls that we saw insanity unfolding in front of us.

Today was a relatively warm day. It was in the 60s, and we were able to get by with shorts and short sleeves. However, it had been cold there earlier in the week, and even overnight, and some of the snow was still melting that fell last weekend. The water was cold. Cold, cold, cold. There were three kids out swimming in the pool at the base of Hooker Falls. And they looked very, very cold.

From Hooker falls we decided to ride over the Sheeps Mountain Trail, which we later wished we hadn't. We had to climb up the road to get to the trail, and then the surface of the trail had us climbing through loose sand. That wasn't very fun. The descent made up for it a little as we dove down through another too short section of singletrack to a powerline cut. The powerline cut was hard riding too, as it was loose sand again and had been torn up by frequent use by horses.

At the top of the climb on the powerline cut we turned left onto Cedar Rock Trail, which went over the closest thing we have in the east to the slickrock found at Moab and other places out west. It was more climbing, but at least it was on a solid surface, so it wasn't so bad, and the view from the top was wonderful.

[That's my bike in front, but someone had to take the photo. That's John B., John X., and Randy left to right.]

We dropped back down from the top of the hill on the rock, which was great fun until I missed seeing a shelf with a oddly placed rock just under it. I saw the shelf, but I was dropping off of it already when I saw the rock. Of course I biffed, but the good thing was that I was behind the other guys, so they didn't see it happen (though John B. heard it and stopped to see if I was OK). I got a nice scrape on the side of my shin, a bump on my thigh near my hip, and a scrape on my elbow. My pride was hurt worse. And my confidence. I went down the rest of the drop more tentatively than normal after that.

I didn't realize until we got to the bottom of the hill that we were back at the trailhead near the cars. I finally got a good look at my scrape. We also got a good look at the scrapes everyone else but me got going through the laurel grove. I guess it was kismet that I had to get a bang-up in before the end. I cleaned my scrapes out using water from John B.'s camelbak. That stung like crazy.

We have a good samaritan to thank. Randy apparently dropped his keys out of his Camelbak at Bridal Veil Falls without realizing it. Someone found them and took them back to the parking lot where they located the car they fit and left him a note. No name on the note, but that was a really cool thing for them to do, so thank you, whoever you are.

Randy took off for Louisville (Kentucky, I assume) and the rest of us went to Brevard for a quick bite of mexican food. Then the drive back home, and here I am watching Snowboard Cross on the Olympics coverage.

Race Place

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 23:15:36 GMT

I finally found out my placing in the Icycle Race at Fontana Village last Saturday. I came in 8th out of 26 in the Men's Beginner XC class. That's actually a little better than I thought I'd done. I would have been satisfied with just being in the top half of the field, so I'm rather happy to have placed as high as I did. In fact, all of my friends that came to the race together were in the top half of the field, so I'd call that a successful day. Add to that the fact that Jeremy won his race (Men's Sport XC), and I'd say it was a great day.

Here's a photo that Jeremy sent of me coming into the finishing field near the end of the race. I honestly wasn't even noticing the snow at that point.

"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew--and live through it." - Doug Bradbury

Icycle

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 04:41:31 GMT

Today I completed my first ever mountain bike race. It's hard for me to really believe that sometimes, but it was the first. I have raced a road bike many times, starting back in the 1980's. I started racing cyclocross back a few years ago. But today was my first mountain bike race. All things considered, it went a little better than I'd expected.

I met up with Phillip, Jeremy, Derek, Eric, Josh and Chris at the WallyWorld in Maryville at 8:00 this morning. Actually, it was a SuperWallyWorld, because Jeremy and I were able to buy bananas and energy bars. We left in three cars, with Jeremy taking Derek and Chris, Eric and Josh riding together, and Phillip and me in his truck. After stopping so Jeremy could get some gas, we headed over to Fontana Village through Deal's Gap.

If you ride a motorcycle, you might have heard of Deal's Gap (AKA, The Dragon). It's a very popular road in the Spring/Summer/Fall with motorcycles and sportscars. The road is famous for its' 318 curves in 11 miles. Yes, you read that right. It is an amazing road. I used to drive my convertible through there every month or so for years. I think that the only reason I no longer get motion sickness as a passenger on that road is because I know every curve pretty well. You can check it out here if you like.

We got to Fontana Village about two hours before the race. It was cold and lightly raining, so we went ahead and signed up for the XC race. Then, having nothing better to do, we drove over to Fontana Dam to take a look. I'd been there before, but several of the guys hadn't. It's an impressive dam, even more so when the water level is up (they lower it in Winter). Fontana Dam is the tallest dam east of the Rockies and the Appalachain Trail crosses over the top of it.

By the time we got back over to Fontana Village (with still an hour until the race) the rain had turned into sleet. "Oh, well, we've already registered", someone said. I wasn't too worried about the trail conditions as far as icing, though, as it had been 60 degrees the previous day and I knew it would take a lot of sleet to start to ice things over. We all headed for areas where we could change into our cycling gear. I found a spot in the arcade restroom and changed there. Outside it was just getting colder and colder, and the rain/sleet was starting to come harder.

Phillip and I took a brief warm-up on our bikes and got a look at the first singletrack entry section. I was glad we did. There was a brief section of grass between the road and the climb into the singletrack that looked solid at first, but was so soft it just about threw me over the handlebars when I hit it. That knowledge helped later.

By the time the racers' meeting started the sleet changed over into snow, so that was pretty cool. The wind picked up a little too, so we were very chilled standing out int he middle of the start field (I could not get my hands warm). We learned at the racers' meeting that the course was shortened from seven miles per lap to only five, due to a really slick section that the organizers were nervous about. Since my group was only doing one lap, my pacing strategy changed a little. They also decided to shorten the start stagger times from five minutes for each field to three. I guess they didn't want the Experts (who went first) to catch up with us Beginners (who went six minutes later instead of ten).

Jeremy was the only one of us not to race in the Beginner class, and he went out with the Sport class. We think he won that class, though he wasn't entirely sure. He started in the lead and one guy passed him at one point, but he wasn't sure if that was the same guy he passed later or someone from the back of the Expert field.

Chris decided not to race since his arm was hurt (at UT Socer practice earlier this week), so he was taking pictures with Jeremy's camera. The rest of us were in the Beginners' race. It was a LeMans start, and Josh, Derek and Eric all beat me to the bikes and were further up the field than my and Phillip, who were together for the first little while. We hit that grassy area I mentioned before and were able to get around some of the unsuspecting riders there. The climb was a mess, as everyone was off their bikes and walking it by the time we got there. It was about 100 yards of slop that I'd ridden up earlier, but when the guy in front of you is off his bike on a narrow section, there isn't much chance of riding it. I passed two or three guys on that part with Phillip right behind me.

At the top of that climb I was passing a guy on a downhill bike as we both were trying to get on our bikes. Some jerk ran up from behind us and shoved us both over to get around us (we weren't the only two guys he was p!ssing off, either). That was the only real jerk I had to deal with, so that was good. I got around the DH bike guy and rode on , but I think Phillip got stuck behind him for a while. I was able to pass a number of other guys along the next several miles (and was surprised that I was able to keep Derek in sight), which was mostly a gradual, but really muddy climb. I passed Eric somewhere near the end of the climb, and Phillip passed him soon after, but not for long. Phillip apparently had trouble in the next section.

The next section was a really technical downhill through a rock garden. I saw Derek stopped on the side of the trail and asked if he was OK. He said he was fine so I went on, getting passed by two guys on DH bikes in the middle of that section. Then we hit some less steep downhill rocky sections through a series of switchbacks. I had some trouble on a few of the turns with sliding, but nobody caught me on them. Then we got into another rock garden on a big drop. I can't tell you exactly how I was able to ride it as well as I did (and I did), but I kept wondering if I was going to end up having dental surgery about then.

More switchbacks, passed a couple of guys with mechanical problems, passed one of the DH bikers who'd passed me, and then got into a mile-long rollercoaster section behind a couple of other guys. The guy in front of me was a kid wearing jeans and Converse All-Stars. The guy in front of him was dressed the part of a biker, but kept getting off his bike every time the trail headed up. It took forever to get around him because he wouldn't let us pass, and by the time we walked up the sections behind him, he'd jump back on and take off again. Very frustrating, but that's racing, sometimes.

Derek caught back up to me right after we got around that guy and I let him on around me. He got a good ways ahead, and I was following the kid out until we left the singletrack and hit a large field (more like a bowl, really). At the bottom of the bowl was a turn...and lots of mud. I took the turn and felt my bike sliding, so I put my inside foot down to steady myself while still pedaling with the other foot. Have you ever seen those motocross racers who ride around short tracks going sideways the whole time? That's what I looked like.

Heading out of the bowl I caught a glimpse of Derek as he crest the short climb out of it. we went up and down a few more rollers and through a few more switchback and started to climb a hill past an old cemetary when I saw he was running up with his bike and that I might actually catch him. Just then a girl behind me ran into my back tire, which was just enough to throw my rhythm off and I lost my chance to catch Derek. I think she actually went over, but I never saw what happened with her. She never caught me after that, so it must have stopped her completely. I must say that it was entirely her fault, as I was following a line on the left of the trail, and there was plenty of passing room to the right.

We dropped back into the start/finish field and had to climb back up the other side to the actual finish line. I lost traction about 1/4 of the way up, but at that point I was ab;e to walk the bike as fast as I could have gotten back on to ride, so I pushed it the rest of the way. I finished right behind Derek, who finished maybe one or two riders behind Josh. Eric was next behind me, and Phillip finished soon behind him. Josh must have gotten a really good start, because I don't think I remember ever seeing him once the race started.

While I was waiting for Eric and Phillip, I walked over and leaned up against a nearby SUV (it was that or fall over, I think. Derek joined me while we waited, and then we all went and washed our bikes down and changed out of our muddy gear. A little later I walked back by the SUV and saw a big muddy spot on it. "Hey, look at that, somebody left a big muddy...um...oh, that was me, wasn't it?" (Thankfully the owner laughed about it when I saw him and tried to apologize).

Phillip and I had to get back to Knoxville, so we knew we were leaving before the scores were posted. Turns out, the other guys decided to go ahead and leave too, even though there was free beer to be had in about 30 minutes, because it was warmer to get in the car and drive back home. In other words, I have no idea what the offical results are and how I really did, but I think I was somewhere mid-pack (and I'm good with that). I will post an update when I find out.

So here's a brief rundown of mud-related problems today, other than the three to four pounds of it each of us were wearing at the finish. I got mud into my rear disc brake and could hear it dragging, but it didn't really slow me down enough for me to complain. I also couldn't get out of my little chainring after about the halfway point, but that wasn't really an issue for me (I could work around it). Phillip had chain-suck problems and couldn't get into his little chainring. Derek had problems with his glasses getting covered (he was taking them off the time I passed him) and then had chain-suck problems at the cemetary climb (which was why he was pushing his bike there). Eric also had a few chain-suck problems, but not too bad. I didn't hear of any problems Josh had. Derek, the only one of us to do two laps (Sport class), lost his brakes somewhere during the second lap, and ended up having to run his bike down the steep rockgarden the second time through. The last problem I had was having to hose down my race gear in my driveway for ten minutes to get enough mud off of my stuff to be able to put it into the washing machine without clogging the filters.

And then I took a nap.

"I'm lucky that mountian biking wasn't around when I was 20, because I wouldn't have won the Tour de France. It's my kind of sport - hard, individualistic, and not a lot of tactics." - Greg LeMond

Hero

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 19:04:28 GMT

Gary is my hero today. Gary is one of the shop guys down at the Bike Zoo. My replacement shock is in, and it is already on my bike. Not only that, but he adjusted my shifting for me as well. I'd noticed it was off a little on my last ride, and had planned to work on it, but he got it without me even having to ask.

Side Note to Wen: Rule #1 for a new cyclist - Find yourself a dependable LBS (local bike shop) and get to know the staff. These people can help make cycling a wonderful experience for you if you pick the right LBS.

I was down at the Bike Zoo earlier today to pick up a cargo net for a different bike, but I didn't have the wagon with me so I couldn't bring the bike home then. I'll head back down in a little while and pick it up. While I was there, though, I did get to see Jeff's new bike. Jeff is another of the shop guys, and was just getting ready to take his new bike off for a ride. He bought a 29" singlespeed from Independent Fabrications, and it is a thing of beauty. The frame is painted in two different blues, one metallic and a little darker, with a flame transition.

It seems that everyone around me is buying 29" siinglespeed bikes lately (29" refers to the wheel diameter, whereas the standard mountain bike has a 26" wheel). I haven't gotten the bug yet, but if everyone keeps signing the 29"SS praises around me, all bets are off.

Tomorrow is the first mountain bike race of the year, and will be my first mountain bike race ever. I know I'll just be pack fodder, but it should be fun anyway. Too bad Jeff didn't offer me his bike to ride (just kidding - it wouldn't fit me anyway...but Jon C.'s would...Hmm...).

And snow is a real possibility overnight. <maniacal laughter>

As I was sitting here typing (and listening to iTunes), I realized just how beautiful Allison Krauss's voice can be. And Sarah McLachlan just came on. Ah, is this what the angels will sound like? Where's my old Sade disk?

Trivia Answers for 1/26/06

1. What is the more common name today for "Van Diemen's Land"? Tasmania. Abel Tasman was the first European to get to the island and named it after Anthony Van Deimen (his boss, more or less) in 1642. The name was changed to honor Tasman in 1856.

2. Where will the 2010 Winter Olympics be held (careful, now...read the whole question)? I put the last part in so I wouldn't get a lot of Turin/Torino answers. It is actually Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

3. Name the song in which these lyrics appear:

"No his mind is not for rent
To any god or government
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is"

OK, OK, I'm a Rush junkie. Peart writes some great lyrics, such as these from "Tom Sawyer" off of the Moving Pictures album (which was the first Rush album I ever owned).

4. Douglas MacArthur once proclaimed "I shall return." What country's citizens was he saying this to? Ol' Doug was in the Phillipines during World War II when he made this famous statement. And he did return.

5. What was the self-proclaimed name of the supervillain in the final scene of "The Incredibles"? I'm surprised no one got this, but it was a character whose voice was provided by John Ratzenberger. He came in (up) just as the Parr family was leaving Dash's track meet. "Behold, the Underminer! I'm always beneath you, but nothing is beneath me! I hereby declare war on peace and happiness! Soon, all will tremble before me!"

"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks." - Scott Martin

Challenged

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:04:16 GMT

Last night I spoke briefly about a Challenge. I have also had another challenge laid upon me about the mountain bike race this weekend. My manhood was all but impugned. And surprisingly, it was not done by my fellow cyclists, but by someone at work to whom I just happened to mention the possiblilty of my racing on Saturday. I mentioned that it was not a foregone conclusion that I participate due to a number of factors, at which point they referred to me with a term that does little but question my courage, fortitude, and endurance (and, by inferrence, my manhood). All this from a person who has never raced a bike, has likely not ridden a bike since age 7, and by the looks of things has not done much more in the way of exercise during their leisure time away from work than doing 12 oz. curls* and pushing the buttons on the TV remote (not counting the walk back and forth to the fridge). I'm not sure if this meets the classic definition of irony or not, but that's the word that popped into my head, along with a few other choice selections that don't bear mention here.

As it turns out, my participation in the race depends on a couple of factors beyond my control. One of these is whether or not my bike is ready by then (though Gary assured me at the meeting last night that the new rear shock will be in by tomorrow). Another factor is the weather. I will race in rain. I will race in cold. I will race in cold rain if I have to (though it is far from my first choice). I will even race in snow, if only for the novelty of it. But I will not race on ice or in sleet, and either or both are a (remote) possibility for Saturday at Fontana. I would still go, though, just to make sure in person what the conditions are.

If it is rainy or snowy, I expect that I will come in last or quite near it. I have never been on the trails at Fontana before, and I don't think it would be smart for me to go blasting full speed down a trail I have never been on before, especially if it is slick. That's OK, because someone has to come in last, right?

To be honest, Jeremy has volunteered to let me ride his bike if mine isn't ready (he's taking two, one for the XC race and one for the downhill, so I would ride whichever one he isn't in the XC race). That's nice of him, but I'd hate to be riding an unfamiliar bike on an unfamiliar trail and wreck it. Maybe I should just plan on taking my singlespeed (with the built-in excuse for being last).

I realized today that I also have a rolfing appointment on Saturday morning to try to correct an issue with my leg, but I'm thinking I will cancel that and race after all. I guess I have finally talked myself into it.

Though I doubt for some reason that I will see my coworker there. Oh, of course I invited him to come to the race and show me how it's done so that I might gain the benefit of their expertise in the matter. I'm going to assume that "Errr..." is not their way of showing acquiesence.

Tell you what - I'll let you know about that one.

* "12 oz. curls" refers to lifting the beer can to your mouth as many times as it takes.

Trivia Time

OK, this one is all music trivia. Why? Why not? I can do it if I want to. After all, I did make The Rules.

1. What singer did Paul Simon marry in 1992?

2. Who might you reach at 867-5309?

3. What "band" put out the album Smell the Glove?

4. Finish the lyric "Ever since I was a young boy, I've _______".

5. What is the name of the wind instrument so popular with Australian aborigines?

Bonus Question: Name the other two women Paul Simon was married to.

Tanasi

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:49:39 GMT

Something new this year among the people I often ride with is the Friday Hooky Ride. I think John B. is the one who actually came up with it. The idea is that we meet up on the last Friday of the month and go somewhere that isn't one of the local trail systems for a ride. I don't work on Fridays, and John B. only works when he wants to (self-employed), so it won't usually be a problem for either of us to make it, but others will have to play hooky from work (hence the name). Since John B. is in Jamaica this week, we did the main Hooky Ride a week early, but Phillip decided it would be a good thing to do another one at Tanasi. OK, I can go for that. Besides, I'd never been to Tanasi, and I'd listed it as one of my goals for the year.

I met Phillip, Raul, Randy and John X. back at the fireworks store at Watt Road (I call him John X. because I don't know his last name, but still want to differentiate him from the dozens of other Johns I know). We drove down to the Ocoee Whitewater Center, which we had passed last week on the way to Aska Trails, and which was the site of the 1996 Olympic Whitewater events (and is now the site of some great mountain bike trails).

We drove down to the lower parking lot and started getting ready for our ride. Now, let me state that there's always something that goes a little wierd on these rides - something that someone has to overcome. Last week it was Philippe forgetting his left mountain bike shoe and he rode with a Chaco sandal on one foot. This week it was my turn. I pulled my bike out of Phillip's truck and sat down on it only to find that the rear shock was almost all the way down. Huh? I had just pumped it up last Friday, and it shouldn't leak pressure that soon. Besides, I'd just had the thing rebuilt for the second time. We hooked up Phillip's shock pump -- and it had 200+ pounds on it. ??? I tried pulling up on it...and it pulled back against me. ?!? It's like it was trying to work in reverse or something. We tried letting all of the air out of the shock and pumping it up again. Same thing.

I am truly impressed at Verizon Wireless after Friday, because I was actually getting all five bars of signal strength as I called the Bike Zoo. Gary answered and looked up the problem in the Fox Shocks Big-Book-O-Problems. "Try letting all the air out and pumping it up again."

"We tried that, but it's still doing it."

"Hmm. It says here that it will sometimes do that."

"And the fix?"

"They don't list one. My advice is to lock it out and ride anyway, and we'll get you a replacement one next week under warranty."

"Am I still under warranty?"

"Trust me."

"'Nuff said. Thanks."

I locked the shock out, but still had the problem that the geometry of my bike was drastically changed. I had to raise the seat but still felt like I was on a cruiser bike. The cranks were also lower to the ground, so I would hit the occasional rock with the pedals and my Crank Bros. Eggbeaters would dissengage (if you have them, you know why they'd do this). I also realized that while I love the saddle on that bike, I really love it when the rear suspension works. I won't go into further detail. OK, enough whining, I still rode, and the riding was good.

We climbed up a long singletrack grade and took a left onto a long doubletrack climb. Then we went along a long rolling singletrack trail that had wonderful views. We climbed up another doubletrack to the Quartz Loop trail. Phillip stopped for a nature break, so the rest of us went ahead figuring to all meet back up when the loop came back around. I thought Phillip was going to come after us, so I took it a little easier that the other three around the loop, thinking he'd catch me. He never did, and I realized why when we got back to the loop's beginning. Phillip was standing there waiting on us. Oh well, it was nice to do that section at a slower pace anyway. I was suffering a bit due to the strange position I was in on the bike, and a bit because I'm heavy and not in the best of shape to be perfectly honest.

All that climbing paid off next, as we bombed down a nice singletrack trail down to another doubletrack trail. On the climbs I was last or second to last. On the descents I was up a little further, mostly because Raul was riding on narrower tires (for cyclocross) and had to take it a little easier. On better tires he might be able to smoke me on the downs as well as the ups. Maybe. Maybe not. My descending confidence is starting to come back.

We took the River View loop next, which wound around the side of the mountain somewhere near the river, I'm sure, but I never actually saw the river, and my eyesight is pretty good (better than 20-20). I fell back from the others pretty early, but again decided that I'd be better off riding my own pace rather than blowing myself up trying to keep up. As it turns out, I wasn't very far behind when I got to the meet-up spot four miles later. From there it was another flying descent down to the same trail we came in on and back out to the cars.

Randy suggested Mexican food for a late lunch, so we headed to Cleveland to look for one. We found Rosa's, which is a truly authentic Mexican spot, right down to the Spanish-language soap operas on Univision on the TV. We drove back to Knoxville afterward, getting back just in time for me to make it to the Bike Zoo and let them wonder at the mystery that surrounds my rear shock.

I just hope it can be replaced by this weekend. I think Phillip has talked me into doing the Icycle XC race at Fontana.

There's still a question unanswered from Thursday's trivia (#5). I'm just sayin'.

Here's a pretty funny post my brother recently put up on his blog. We Scottish-descended males gotta stick together or else the terrorists might win.

"I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like. It's got a basket, a bell that rings and things to make it look good. I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it." -- Pink Floyd, 'Bike'