Bicycle-Heaven

ToNB 2010. Prediction? PAIN!!

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:12:00 +0000

Innocuous enough looking course map.

Not so threatening looking course profile.

Got a chance to knock out 2 laps of this Saturday's ToNB RR course. Dickerson, Foxy, Park and I took an easy first lap with the Schleck bros, Turk and Moe. 2nd lap was anything but docile.

The race will play out a bit differently than today's ride - there probably won't be a steady 25mph wind out of the West!!

Some notes from the course.

16 miles with lots of turns, narrow roads and enough rollers. Near 1000 feet of climbing per lap. It will be interesting to see 50-100 man groups getting it on in the first road race of the season.

Turn #3 (Right off of St. Hedwig onto Zigmont) Watch out. Downhill approach, narrow road, >90 degree off camber turn will catch the unawares off guard and there will be a wreck in some of the races. Don't be in it. Ease up and treat this turn with respect.

Turn #5. 200m after this turn onto Stuart there is a 10' section of road under repair. Loose dirt. Leave a little extra room going into this and watch for sudden moves and a touch of wheels going in front of you. Don't be involved in a pileup here.

Do not go off the road on this course. There is barbed wire a'plenty lining this course.

When you make your last left turn onto Real Rd, there is 1.5 miles to go. It is a looong 1.5 miles. Expect people to jump to soon for the finish and blow here. There is a leftward sweeper with 1 mile to go which starts about a 1/3 mile uphill section. This is where it gets really tough with continued false flat to the finish.

Our "Hot Lap" today took 45 minutes. Expect lap times in the neighborhood of 40 minutes on saturday.

Kudos to Rob for a brilliant course. Should be a barn burner.

If you haven't yet volunteered, please do. Contact Rob directly (email.rob.kane@gmail.com)

Hope to see you out there.

2010 Mini Camp - Rain Foreshortened

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:38:00 +0000

Day 1. Boerne, Welfare, 473, Kendalia, Edge Falls. Ice on the falls (see photo down below.)

Day 1 Profile. 93 miles. 5000 feet climbing. Our flatlander sisters from Dallas who joined us enjoyed the hilly terrain.

Day 2. Garden Ridge, 3009, Cranes Mill, Startzville, Sattler, River Road, Gruene, Landa Park, Krueger Canyon.

Day 2 profile. 99 miles, another 5000 feet climbing.

Day 3. Down South. Out and back the Missions and Mission Trail along the San Antonio river. Rolling around the farmland (in the cold and rain!!)

Alot less hilly down south and out east. 80 miles with 1000 feet climbing.

Edge Falls had water this year (no water for the past 2 years, until 3 months ago!) Unusually, there was ice formation.

Group photo. Monday we had out largest group with pals GG and John Lampe, B-H riders Matt and Bentley, Tom Bain and Kim Ciolli, George Thomas, the Dallas ladies, and Lara and yours truly on tandem.

Down south we generally stop at Jacks corner mid ride. Cold and rainy. All smiles, nonetheless.

"Southern" Philosophy.

Annual photo shoot at the Alamo. Lara and I on tandem, Kim holding her own in the middle. Matt and George on the right.

Muddy day. Rob is generally not freckled.

Well, we only got 3 days, but it was worth it. Several of our favorite rides, great company and outstanding training.

Monday we had our biggest group - around 12 riders - pictured above at Edge Falls.

Tuesday we did an new twist on an old ride and really nailed it. Great ride. Terri and Craig joined Lara, George, Kim, John Lampe and I. Terri had the ride of the day, earned the "game ball" and acquired a new nickname "Turktani" coming out of River Road. That is what, 8 nicknames for her??

Wednesday we met in Alamo Heights. It was raining and 50 degrees and a few who showed bailed, but there were enough of us not saying no so we saddled up and went forth. We rode in the rain the first 30 and last 30 minutes, in the middle it was just fine. Thanks to Rob's leadership we got a great ride in and salvaged the week!!

Enjoy the rain the next couple of days. See you on Saturday's shop ride. Ink in January 10-14 2011 and we'll do it again. Next year we should see alot of new faces as George is growing his Hill Country 600 race (again this year in March) and offering our rides as a intro/training camp for potential racers.

Check out Georges races at Race Across Oregon particularly the local Hill Country 600k race set for March 13-14 this year.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 16 "Final Destination"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:23:00 +0000

No rain. Until boxing up the bikes, natch! We rolled out of beautiful North Conway after our group photo at 7am sharp. Easy rollers up to Kennebunkport, ME (Bush Country that is) for lunch. Then up the coast with several glimpses of the Sea to our Final Destination - Portland, Me. We had the bikes 80% boxed before the last of Hurricane Bill's rain started to dump on us. Quick recovery into the motel, all good.

Lots of fun and a little drama for the last day. Spartaca and I got tangled up when I sat up to point our "Potter Bridge Road" to her. Using our bike hangling daft skills, we stayed upright and she only banged her knee hard on the bars. Distracted her pain from her Achilles so that was a good thing.

Our Australian frend, Andrew Puddy, has personally restored order to the United States and possibly global economy thru his use of Chamois Butter. It streams out the back of his shorts during the ride and leaves a mark on the lunch benches. Course, my sweating leaves a similar mark - so you just have to wait a few minutes and if the mark goes away its mine, if it persists it is Andrews.

Our last Austrialian jargon was received today, just in the nick of time. Lebowski hit lunch and "spat the dummy." (That means he packed it in, or decided enough is enough. A dummy being Australian for a pacifier) He and BV rode in together in the lunch truck, giving them a little personal PACTour time for the day!!

Funniest comment of the day went to Klaus. He is german, so obviously highly intelligent. I had led our small group most of the way to lunch (I kinda knew the roads around there.) The way had been a bit confusing, but we got there without any difficulty. Klaus said "you are a great navigator, we will stay with you after lunch to the hotel." Ha! 5-10 u-turns and redirections later we did indeed arrive at the hotel, maybe a little different course than the route card had plotted.

Anyways, wonderful trip as always. If you ever have any inkling to sign up for a PACTour, just do it, you won't be disappointed.

Off to the celebratory banquet, Lobster!!!!

I'll think of some vignettes to throw at you all over the next couple of days, hope you have enjoyed listening to our adventure. We have appreciated all of the support and encouragement from home, thank you!!

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 15 "Fair Suck of The Old Sauce Bottle"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:22:00 +0000

Alright. Penultimate day. Tomorrow is last stage. We leave the White Mts of VT for the Green MTs of NH. Spartacus and I get dropped by the group we towed around yesterday 15 miles in, paying for the previous day's efforts. Lebowski, aided by his imported damsel's strength, showed up in full battle gear and made the split.

We rolled thru Norwich, VT (had overnighted in Norwich NY a couple of nights back. Thru Hanover NH, home of Dartmouth College. We were tentative early because we saw a significant climb on the profile from mile 69 (the sign of Cancer) to mile 75 where lunch was held. We were completely caught off guard by the climb before it - around mile 50!! Hors Categorie 4 miles 8-15% Spartaca muttered somthing about "sagging" and I said "absolutely not" not 1500 miles into a 1600 mile ride. I rode off leaving her and Lebowski to discuss. This unexpected challenge was "a fair suck of the old sauce bottle" the Aussies might say most easily translated as a real bite in the buttocks.

That descent was terrifying. 7-10%, frost heaved jagged roads, which were wet with earlier rains and had signs announcing "Pavement Ends." Comforting at 45 miles per hour. Fortunately the pavement only ended for 6 foot sections, no problem.

Quick rest stop before last climb of the Tour - up the famous Kancamangas Highway - which at Categorie 1 was feared, but made quite softer by the earlier beast. Plus lunch was at the top!!

We descended from mile 75, 5 miles at 7% then 15 miles of 2-3%. Woulda been phenomenal except that Hurricane Bill aka Hurricane Opa, had found us. We could barely see the road in some stretches, but there was only 1 place to go - down. The rain let off before we got to the hotel - Red Jacket Mountain View resort - glorious view of Mt. Washington, if you could see it - not today!!

Some how we cleaned the bikes and got our room keys and finished another day of the Tour, tired, but successful.

Tomorrow is the last day. Mixed emotions. Tired and ready to go home, but, sad to put such a wonderful odyssey behind us. Tonight we celebrate with Lebowski and BV and Lon and Susan at dinner in our hotel. Tomorrow we ride a quick 100 miles, box up the bikes, banquet then head to Opas to get ready to return to SA!!

Thanx for reading.

PACTour Eastern MTs - Day 14 "Lon Almost got Snotted"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Hard, Hard day. 141 miles, 7000 feet climbing. Out of NY, into the Green Mountains of Vermont.

Day started well - no rain for first 4 hours. Busy rollout in traffic. Small group overreacted to road obstacle and Spartaca almost hit the tarmac. Trust me she mad a save that shouldn't have been saved when she rubbed wheels. Mad cyclocross skills.

That fired up her adrenaline and she shot to the front, where she stayed all day. Her efforts whittled the grou to 8 and eventually 6. The mood was serious because of the length of the stage and we were in a phenomenal group. Fast and worked well together. Reminded me of the socialistic nature of cycling - from each according to ability, to each according to need. We covered the 77 miles to lunch in under 4 hours. With 4500 feet of climbing.

Our group include Naughty Ann, the other Craig, John from Portland, Klaus from Germany and occaisionally Charles Breen and Karl. We rode kinda hard to lunch, then it was decided to roll easy afterwards. That went well until the rain started!! The pace lifted quickly, Spartaca again doing the lions share of the work - she was in a "Purple Patch" today (Aussie for being in the zone or in cycling parlance having a no chain day." The rain lifted as we rolled down along the rivers. Lon treated us with 4 miles of dirt road (still wet obviously.)

The route card claimed 136 miles with 4500 feet of climbing. We ended up with 141 miles and 7000 feet of climbing. When we hit 136 miles and weren't at the hotel Spartaca was unhappy to put it mildly. I heard words after that girls mouth I hadn't heard since the Turk and her south Philly sisters got together at a wedding. I hafta talk to David, the navy seal, tomorrow Spartaca is obviously ready to enlist in the Navy!!

Lon was in the parking lot when we pulled in and I'm suprised he hadn't been "snotted" (Aussie for punched in the nose) by then or by Spart. All good we were done!!

Big highlight of the day was Opa and Peg picking up Vernette for Craig at the airport and dropping her off with us. She gets to hand with PACTour for the next 3 days.

Into NH and MT Washington tomorrow, until then!!

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 13 "Moses wudda been impressed"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:36:00 +0000

70 of our 125 miles in the NY rain. Phenomenal day. Warm so rain capes barely needed. Lotsa climbing early, then we roded into Cooperstown at mile 40 for coffee and cookies. After that very little climbing but the rain started. And stayed. Until we were 10 miles out.

Had my first flat today - slow leaker from rear tire which was in need of replacing. Blew some sealant in and no prob. Lebowski'll be happy because he was sure I was teasing the gods when I mentioned in the ride that I hadn't had a flat yet!! Put on a new rubber at the hotel, and all good.

Late in the ride the rain had stopped and I was texting Phillips about a crankset so we went "Bush" (Aussie for off course or lost.) We had missed our turn by 3 miles (funny how we only go Bush when John Lake's with us?!?!) Fortunately we ran into a young convenience store clerk who actually knew where we were going and where we needed to go to recover and we regained our route only adding 1 mile!! So, we didn't arrive at the hotel completely "knackered" (Aussie for wiped out, Aussie 101 continues.)

Andrew Puddy continues to teach us Aussie slang and says I use it way too much that it loses its effect. I think that it helps and if I ever go to Australia they will think I am native Austrailian or at least "raise there."

Speaking of my being raised. Lebowski and Spartaca are starting to get a little weary of hearing all of the places I was "raised." New York (we spent the last 2 days riding in New York.) New England (about to get there and our final destination.) Germany (when I'm talking to Klaus our fellow PACTourian from Germany. Indiana when I pout over missing my fellow Hoosier Catie (Beautiful Aleeza is from Indiana but won't admit it so don't pass that along.)

Anyways the fun continues, we are getting fitter and skinnier, seeing lots of stuff (Cooperstown and a whole lotta rain which we Texans haven't seen in way too long.) We are all getting homesick for the Turk, BV and Parkchop. At least tomorrow we get to see BV for the last few days as she flys in to spend the final 3 days with us. Opa picks her up at the airport so I'll get to see him too!

Trip is winding down, we are a stones throw from New England. VT tomorrow, NH Sunday, ME Monday, then home to SA!!!!

Oh, followup from Alex's key and rental car misadventure yesterday. He rode the 30 miles back to the hotel we started from and somehow fitted his bike and carcass into the car with the 3 ladies. They drove him to the first sag (where he had turned around) and he rode the final 65 miles on his own, off sag. He ended up with 125 miles for the day, the ladies were treated with a day in Coney Island, so we haven't gotten their side of the story yet!!

Thanx for reading, 3 more days!!!

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 12 "One Woman's Chamoisltoe is Another Womans Pinchflat"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:02:00 +0000

Well, we are into NY. 3 states left. Kinda getting tired!! Easy little recovery ride 2day. 93 miles. 5500' climbing. Kinda like Vanderpool to Camp Wood and back ;-)

Day went well. We figured we'd ride easy to get ready for the last 4 days. Lebowski back in the game today we all rode together. Naughty Ann joined us for most of the day. Small rollers and big chuckles all day. Spartaca and Naughty were laughing about the chamois cameltoe which Lebowski promptly labelled "Chamoisletoe.". Naughty mentioned something called a "pinch flat." thats when yours truly drifted off the back to pee and stay out of that conversation.

A little rain after lunch (brats and sweet corn, yay!!) Nice fast descents. Phenonomenal scenery. Unique Barns and houses every mile. Light traffic. Highlight (lowlight!?!?) of the day was picking up my computer bag and noticing it was like 5 pounds lighter than I remembered. Yeah, I had left my computer at the hotel in the am. A few phone calls later and its on its way home yo San Antonio.

That pales in comparison to poor Alex. His wife and two daughters follow him in a car. Well, Alex arrived at the first rest stop and we saw him getting into his PACTour bag. Turns out the car keys were in his bag. PACTour stops or waits for no one, so Alex had to ride 30 miles back to the hotel. Don't have closure on that story yet. Did he then have to turn around and ride the entire 90 mile stage?!?! Doubt he and his bike fit in the car with the 3 ladies and his bike...

Sorry for the short blog. Hard to write on the phone. I'll find a computer next time.

Keep up the faith in us!!

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 11 "And Atlas Shrugged"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:33:00 +0000

Todays pix at B-H FB per usual. Sorry I can't post em here, blogger.com and B-H site don't like each other anymore??

Phenomenal PACTour day. Lebowski didn't start the stage, needing a recovery day. The morning started inauspiciously. We had crashed at 930 last night (barely making it to 930.) Woke up to pee, pitch black, thought (great I've got 4-5 more hours to sleep!! _15_ min later the alarm went off. It was time to get up. Oh, well I guess that means I slept really, really well1!

With the strength of Atlas, Spartaca "shrugged" off yesterday and was full of piss and vinegar this am. Combo of things - 8 1/2 hours sleep, Lil Jon' massage, favorite food (pizza.) Plus prolly a good dose of she and I yesterday being passed by a rider at mile 15 who exclaimed "I can't believe I'm still only catching the slow guys!! How far up the road are the fast guys?!?!"

Spartaca force the pace and a selection of 4 of us, 2 more would later join, in the initial miles. 8 mile climb Cat 1 starting at mile 16 confirmed the selection. All of a sudden we were riding with the "fast guys" this am. It was so humid that a climber rode past us near the summit and commented on the trail of water like a leaking air conditioner he could follow (from yours truly, natch.) We got tailed off and "Bushed it" at a turn (daily Aussie lesson "bush" is jargon for getting lost or going off course. No problem, the road had just the right degree of rolling and we regained our escape group at the first sag.

After the first rest stop we had a stinging little Cat 2 climb then lots of rollers. Our group of 6 worked well together. Craig, who rode with Will and I on the Ridge of the Rockies last year. John, from Boise, who rides the "best bike" = Cannondale SuperSix. Klaus from Germany who lived in the same town I lived in as a child. Wayne, our crewmember, lunchtime cook from Cali who is a CHiP (Cali Hwy Patrolman.) The boys decided to go for hilltop sprints for somereason late in the stage. Craig was rewarded with a flat tyre at the top of one, so we had a little break there (Klaus comment was "that's more than 2-3 minutes, eh??"

Spartaca and I decided that the stage finished at lunch (which was at delicious as always, brats and Fresh Sweet Corn!!) After lunch was recovery pace, we caught Joe, our 70+ PACTourian. We didn't go super easy, and there was 3500 feet of climbing in those 40 miles, and damn if Joe never left us. Never even got in trouble (a little more cautious than us on the decents.)

Rainstorm caught us out with 5 miles to go, so we rolled into Starbucks a mile from the hotel. I did my #2 there (road rules, no #2 in the hotel room.) Probably first time ever #2 with helmet on. Got a little cold there, but made for a nice end of the day. When the heavy stuff stopped we cruised to the hotel where a previous PACTour rider had driven up from Philly with tons of Philly Soft Pretzels and shaved ice. Awesome recovery meal.

Tomorrow will be chill. 92 miles ride with 5400 feet climbing into Norwich, NY. Hell, what will we do in the afternoon???

Thanx for reading.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 10 "A Chink in The Armor"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Today's pix at the B-H FB page, natch.

Today we left Breezewood, PA. The worlds largest truckstop. The group was way too big to start - ie the whole field. This sorted itself out early since we climbed 1500' in the first 7 miles!! Spartaca dropped her chain in the early slopes and had a little trouble getting it back on. We stopped and fixed it. Lebowski made the classic mistake of waiting when he shoulda kept rolling so when Spartaca and I came by we couldn't slow down, the climb was too step.

So the two of us took off on our 107 mile solo "raid." Very very cool ride. Lotsa small back roads, windy, twisty, incredibly steep grades (I saw 26 and 27% on one 500 meter stretch. It rained, but ahead of us so we rode on wet roads, but not in rainfall. The descents were similarly steep (8-12% today, like the climbs as opposed to the 6-7% grades on the Blue Ridge Parkway.) We had to be careful in the corners and use brakes liberally today.

The scenery is phenomenal. We are on back roads of Pennsylvania with tons of old houses, churchs, barns and farms. You could stop 4 times a mile and photo something unique. We didn't have a ton of tree cover, but the am overcast and earlier storm kept it a bit cooler today.

Spartaca actually got into a spot of bother today. She felt like she was riding on two flats and her legs were probably sore. Achilles is better, new cleat position has her utilizing new muscles. Plus the fact that we have been on the bikes literally for _3_ days out of the last 9 probably contributes.

We had a 2.5 mile 8-12% climb just before lunch that put a big hurt on. We stopped at the top to recover and take a few photos. Rolling downhill to lunch then flattening out I mentioned that we had 3 miles to lunch. The response was "What Kind of Miles?!?!" That became the laughing point of the day "10 minutes to the sag." "What Kind of Minutes?!?!" and so on. Good stuff.

After lunch we had alot of rolling, flat downhill, plus the company of John Lake, so that made the miles tick by quickly. 1 2 mile steep climb where I tried to follow Cat and Marc (they popped me 1/2 up , I could only manage a heart rate of 169!) We regrouped at the top for the nice ride in and here we are, in Lamar, PA. Another truck stop essentially. Hey, you gotta stop where the hotels are, yah?

Tonight we are in a Comfort Inn. The rooms are honestly a mile from the PACTour vans and breakfast. And we have to lug bikes and bags. Crazy, huh? I'm gonna ask Susan to put a rest stop on the cue sheet, BEFORE, breakfast.

Spartaca gets a Lil' Jon massage tonight, so with her favorite food (pizza) in her belly and a good night sleep, I'm sure the tiger will reawaken tomorrow. For 125 miles and 12,000 feet climbing!!! Yee haw.

Lebowski did very well on this tough stage today. Rode from start to finish. He didn't realize that Jen and I went into his room when he was sleeping last night and performed a bilateral Orchiopexy. Now that they are fully descended and can't pull back up in, he is fully committed!!

Until tomorrow.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 9 "We pissed it in"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:43:00 +0000

Today was a great ride. We left the 6 days of Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive behind us and re-entered the "real world" of PACTour today. Yes, even perfect roads, continual vistas, trees and shades, gentle grades and low traffic can get boring. Today we had to ride with some traffic, did some piecing together of less travel roads thru towns and on major roads, faced some steep climbs (and descents) and spent alot more time exposed to the sun. And, I loved every minute of it.

Initial worry of the day didn't bear fruit - Spartaca's tender Achilles responded remarkably to icing/anti-inflammatories, and then cleat repositioning coupled with ankle taping into the "ballerina" position. She had no pain riding (except muscular pain from using different muscles in her "new" position and also the fact that we rode a little hard early on to get thru a bit of the more traffickey areas.) She made it nearly 70 miles until the top of her foot hurt to bad from the taping and we stopped by the roadside to free the sucker. From then on no worries, even with the majority of the climbing after lunch at mile 75. Her pain was about 4/10 today compared with 7/10 yesterday. That would be 10-12/10 for the average mortal, natch.

Ride of the day was Lebowski!! He rode with Spartaca and I the whole day, very little grumbling and no leg pain. Looks like he's back in the game. He did complain that he missed the first rest stop, fortunately I had an extra bottle to give him and a Powerbar that I'd been carrying in my back pocket for 6 days so he got thru to the next stop OK. Let's see. The rest stop is marked on the cue sheet, was in plain sight in a church parking lot 100 feet from the road (the church was the size of Cornerstone Church) and there were 30 cyclists, the PACTour lunch truck and mini van and the Evil van all in plain sight there. Yeah, it was easy to miss?!?!

I started behind the group - you know Slauson time, takes me a little longer to get ready and going in the am than most. So I pushed the pace a little to catch on, which made me miss a turn about 5 miles in. I realized this within 1/2 a mile and looked back to see Mr. Evil just behind me. We turned around and regained the route (hey he's in the military and oughta be able to navigate without difficulty me, you know I have a good sense of direction!! ;-) Since I had led Evil astray I figured I would just follow in the path of Evil for a while - I knew he'd set a fast yet comfortable pace. Passed Lebowski who had been going just a little slower that Spartaca then sat up when I rejoined her. We all got back together after the first sag, (member Lebowski had missed that one) so we picked him up on the road at around mile 30 and he hung on the rest of the day!!

After lunch (funny how we don't miss that stop) the climbing began. We were on 2 climbs of around 2 miles which were 10-18% grade. Spartaca's achilles held up and Lebowski held on. We rode alot with Naughty Ann who can hammer up those damn climbs too!

The savior of the day was George Jahant who set up a spontaneous sag halfway between lunch and our finish town. We hit it after the two big climbs and the temps had gone up into the mid 90's. So we arrived at the hotel happy, healthy and hydrated, rather than grumpy, salty and parched!! At lunch we had asked Lon what was in store and if there was going to be a last sag (there was none on the cue sheet, but I suspected that George was going to do one when I saw him speed off in the caravan from the lunch stop.) Lon described the route and said that George was going to do that sag, in 10 miles which we would get to in "about 2 hours!!" That sounded a bit excessive and Lon's little "Stanley Roper smile" gave away that he was exaggerating some. Anyways, that stop made the day since we could drink all we wanted after lunch then refill and drink all we wanted for the last 9 miles (drinking today for tomorrow, you know!!)

Our friend Andrew Puddy is an experienced PACTourian and is Australian. (Real Australian, you know the kind who lives there.) He is teaching us some Australian jargon. We say things like "Good on ya" which means great for you, or nice job. The expression "Pissed it in" means that what ever you did was a "breeze" like when you do something hard but say it was easy or a breeze. So today we just "pissed it in!!"

Tomorrow we were supposed to ride 135 miles with 7000 feet of climbing. Looks like route has been changed to 109 miles with 10,000 feet climbing. As they said in Dancing with Wolves, "that sounds like a fair trade."

Pix as usual are at B-H FB

Gail Collins NYT editorial on Woodstock explains in a way that I cannot why we do these types of trips. The essence of the message was that "A takeaway lesson from attending Woodstock is that when someone asks you to do something off the wall, you should really try to do it."

Thanx for reading, tune in tomorrow. Mental faculties and backwoods wifi permitting!!

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 8 "Hump Day"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:14:00 +0000

Todays Pix are @ B-H FB.

Lotsa action today. Here's the highlights.

We left Waynesboro at 7am per usual. Stayed in a small group, like we were sposed to. Done with the Blue Ridge Parkway! Onto Skyline Drive (in the Shenandoah National Park.) 105 miles of blissful, low traffic, gentle grade, undulating course with long climbs and super long descents.

Spartaca had a rough day. Achilles hurting. Stung by Bee. Lunch didn't agree. Homesick. Achilles hurting. Lon taped her ankle at lunch, which immobilized her achilles but cut off the circulation to her foot, so that only lasted 1 stop. Icing achilles, cleat repositioned time will tell. Shes tough, but won't be stupid.

Lebowski rode a bit more. Looks like he's back into the game. He spotted a very large women in the gas station with a Playboy necklace and "Miss July" on it. Wondered if she is the missing match to our Mister Yuly?

I loved the day, best ride so far. Mellow, lotsa gentle climbing and the most descending we have done so far. I did get a gnat in my eye after the last stop, but Jen got it out no prob. You can tell you have been climbing alot with 0-1% grades seem downhill, 1-3% seem flat, 4-5% seem like false flat uphills and you really don't feel like you're climbing until you hit 6-7%!

The tale of today's tape was 107 miles, 6:54 ride time, 11,000 feet climbing. Since we are 1/2 done with Tour de PAC we looked at our cumulative totals - 834 miles, 67,500 climbing, 57 hours 54 minutes ride time (yes that is 2 1/2 days on the bike.)

Another great, reasonable meal in small town Front Royal, VA. Steak #7 with Crabcake appetizer. Decent hotel tonight - Quality inn. Last night was one of those "eveners." The Afton Inn in Waynesboro was one of those you see in the movies - you check in, all goes to hell and you end up violently, even the pizza delivery guy and sheriff are in on it. Obviously we made it out...

We were a bit despondent to find out that the "real ride" actually took place near San Antonio today - Vanderpool to Camp Wood and back. Oh, well we can't make them all! We'll try to tackle that one when we get home. Of course we'll have to plan a ride for the afternoon that day, so we get a full day in, natch.

Tomorrow we pass thru 4 states, VA, W.VA, MD, PA. We were at dinner and hadn't looked at the route, so we asked Lon to give us the skinny. He told us about the 18% climb, the rollers, etc and that it is 94 miles "But, it will feel like 100!!"

With that I better get to bed.

Thanx for following.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 7 Down the Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:15:00 +0000

Photos on the B-H FB site.

Today was the "Queen" Stage. 125 miles, 12,000+ feet of climbing. 8+ hours on the bike. Great ride. Lebowski started at first sag, rode strong then knee hurt at end so iffy for tomorrow. Spartaca attacked at the end to put the hurt on the boys. Fun day on the bike.

Long climbs, short climbs, 15 mile descent. Cool but humid. Hamburgers for lunch. Tiny bit of rain late.

We got yelled at by Lon for riding in too big a group at the beginning. First sustained climb sorted that out, natch. Spartaca and I rode a smart pace and felt strong all day. Yesterday's recovery pace really helped.

We rode a lot with Lil Jon today, a bit with Lebowski on the long descent and early slopes of next climb. John Lake got us from Lunch to the last sag (I bonked 5 min after lunch but got my energy back after a half hour or so.) After the last sag Marc attacked us 3 times - I could follow the first two. Throwing a "Cat" amongst the pigeons caused Spartaca to ride super strong and set the tempo of the final hills of the day.

Big drama of the day. After the 1st rest stop Jenny found mold in the lid of 1 of her bottles. Since I had filled them for her at that stop she accused me of switching one of my lids (which I didn't.) George saved her by cleaning out her lid at the next stop (she didn't drink a drop from that bottle until then...)

Almost 1/2 thru - tomorrow is hump day. Very tired tonight. Earned it.

See ya. Thanx for following and encouraging. It helps so much.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 6 Rest and Recovery

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:13:00 +0000

Todays pix on the B-H Facebook page.

Chill day. You could tell the group was a bit tired this am. Slow moving thru breakfast. Lebowski off the bike, nursing. Spartaca and I started slow, got passed by a bunch of people, saw alot of stuff, rode easy, ate alot, took a bunch of pictures. And still had to kill an hour in Starbucks so we didn't get to the hotel too early!!

The am weather was cool, 60's, very humid (foggy.) Blinkies on, we pedaled towards the Blue Ridge Parkway and rejoined the route. The day seemed easy as advertised (81 miles, 6000 feet of climbing.) We rode w/ a few folks, mostly let peeps roll by us, and took our time at each rest stop. Spartaca did notice her heart rate peaking in the 140's as she would push a hill, so she must be fatigued too.

We dallied at lunch and then rode the last 19 miles to Roanoake, VA with the Jahants (George and his son Jon.) George is PACTour vet and crewmember this trip. Jon is masseus #1. Jon's first PACTour was around 6 years ago on this very route - hooked him! We had a fast 5 mile downhill approach to Roanoake. Washed the bikes, adjusted the gears, showered and chilled waiting for dinner.

We missed the shuttle to dinner - BBQ at a rider's house who lives near Roanoke. Oh, well that happens sometimes on "Slauson Time." Had a nice meal next door (my 6th consecutive steak, I believe.) Now time to chill, hydrate and get ready for tomorrow's tough stage - probably the Queen stage on Tour de Pac. Roanoke VA -> Waynesboro VA. 124 miles, 12,600' climbing. Yikes. Glad I got 2nd bowl of ice cream with dinner tonight.

Lebowski will be back on the bike tomorrow. "Hi-lights" will be the lowest point of the Blue Ridge Parkway at 600 feet. And lots of climbing. And Hot. And long.

Tomorrow's stage is dedicated to our sig others. Relationships are hard work but oh, so worth it, like tomorrow's stage (credited to Spartaca.)

Thanx for reading.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 5 It Evened Out

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Pix on B-H FB page

Lo fallutin hotel tonight. Isolated Days Inn with nothing around. We are gonna have to shuffle today. Apparently this is the part where the hotels even out.

1st break of the day - Blue Ridge Parkway closed outside of Boone, so we detoured and cut out 5 miles, reducing the day to 93 miles. Still managed 8,000 feet of climbing and 5:45 on the bike.

We were spoiled this am with a hotel breakfast (not that the PACTour breakfasts are bad, but we get to go to bfast a little more on our time frame and linger a little more.) Out the door and on the bikes at 7am, as we had done. The first 10-15 miles were on the Blue Ridge Parkway Detour, so it was traffickey, but nice - rollers with ripping down hills. We did hit a 3-4 mile stretch of the detour which was 2 lanes 2 directions with a bit of traffic so we whipped up the pace there.

Once we turned towards the parkway, the traffic was gone and the climbing beginning. The pace was reasonable to the first rest stop, then from there apparently "Tour de PAC" began. A group of around 15 went hard on a downhill, then a small selection happened on a 1 mile climb. Spartaca missed the split, I happened to be at the front so made it. Soon there were only 3 of us. I came off a few climbs later, but there was no group close behind so I kept going.

I saw Lebowski in the middle of a climb and planned to sit up with him (he had started at the first sag nursing a knee problem.) Mr. Evil came flying by so I jumped on his wheel. I think he tried to ride me off it, which played to my favor as soon the 2 that had dropped me were in sight. Once we touched them for some reason Mr. Evil sat up and I stayed on. After a few more climbs I was hanging on by my fingernails. It was so hard for me that even on a flat 2-3 mile section all I could do to stay on. I dug deep a few times to keep contact to the second sag so got my first hard effort of the "Tour" in.

The odd thing was my max heart rate for this effort was 165!! Normally I am comfortable up to 180+ and max at 196. The volume and intensity of riding over the previous 4 days has reduced my perceive exertion/cardiovascular ability to 20-30 beats below normal. Interesting.

The rest of the day was docile, chit chat and fun. We rode with alot of the Ultra Distance guys today and learned alot about their experiences. The weather today "evened out" yesterdays environmental challenge. Today was sunny, cool, just perfect. The views were fabulous and continuous. Ride time was 5:45 compared to 8:15 yesterday.

The legs are sore!!! Gonna be interesting to see how the legs and heart rate respond in the coming days.

We are in Fancy Gap, VA, tonight. Reminds me of JW "Fancy Boy" Slauson. I miss the Turk )-:

We miss Contador and hope Ken is recovering well.

Thanx for reading.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 4 Into the Rainclouds

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:59:00 +0000

Blogger will not let me upload pix. So, check out the B-H Facebook page for photos.

Nearly epic ride today. We rolled out of Ashville, back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, and straight uphill for the first 20 miles. Rest stop 1 at 22 miles, refueled and headed down hill, as the heavens opened up. Torrential downpour for the next 50+ miles!!

Fortunately it wasn't too cold and we had our rainjackets so we were doing fine. There was the Mt. Mitchell option today at mile 28. 4.5 mile climb, then back to the parkway. We planned to do it, but with the heavy rain I questioned it. I threw it to Spartaca to decide and without hesitation she announced "I say we do it!" Mt Mitchell is famous in cycling for the annual Assault on Mt. Mitchell 102 miles with 11,000 feet of climbing (kinda like we did today!)'

Lebowski was nursing a tender calf (he thought he had gotten thru this and announced last night at dinner that his testicle had descended...) After the big first climb and descents he packed it in and enjoyed the rolling festival known as the PACTour support crew for the rest of the ride (and helped us with our bikes and bags when we rolled in, pretty tired.)

So at mile 28 we did the 4.5 mile 1400 foot climb to the highest point east of the Rockies, around 6700'. Heavy rain on the way up, and unbeknownst to me Spartaca was questioning her decision about 1/2 up!! Not much to see up top (we were in the cloud and fog all day) so we used the facilities and headed back down. Tough descent in the rain, hard to see, switchbacks and limited braking power. We made it down (seemed to me to take longer to descend than to get down and continued up the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Unfortunately we descended for the next 5+ miles so we were pretty cold by the next rest stop. The climbing, descending and freezing continued until lunch at mile 86 where Susan and crew treated us with coffee and hot cocoa and a lunch of hot spaghetti and meatballs. This good hot meal, coupled with the rain lifting gave us wings and we set off toward our overnight destination, Boone, NC.

Spartaca dedicated todays ride to our friend Catie (who shoulda been here!!!) Catie is known for her fearless descending. I calculated that Catie might have actually walked her bike down 20 miles of rainy, foggy descents on wet roads.

Classic Lon tonight. We walked across the street to a steakhouse and ran across Lon. I commented on the "High Fallutin'" hotel we are at tonight (Holiday Inn Express with multiple floors, beds with 4 pillow, no cigarette burns on the mattress or exposed wires from the walls.) I told him this was above usual PACTour standards. Lon simply commented "Oh, it will even out."

Tomorrow we continue the trek up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Fancy Gap, VA. 100 miles, a little less climbing and rain isn't expected til the afternoon (so we'll ride fast and hard to avoid it.)

Tomorrow is certainly dedicated to our friend Ken, who is sick in San Antonio and will be in our thoughts and prayers all day (and for the rest of the trip.)

Thank you for reading.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 3 Into the Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:12:00 +0000

Last night at dinner, Lil Kim, aka Cav, caught this critter. Look familiar? Hint, look thru the previous day's blog....

Kim was in search of magic potions today and found this for me. Wonder how a Cougar reacts to Badger sore muscle rub??

The room was wonderful, on the river. So peaceful.

Of course a town named "Cherokee" would sell Mocassins!

Into the Great Smoky Mountains. Our first major mountain range of the Tour. Sorry bout the shaky picture. The sun is low in the am and the iPhone dislikes low light conditions.

Today we entered the Blue Ridge Parkway. Which we will ride the next 4-5 days!

All of the ridges and gaps have, err, interesting names. Here Ann poses with Contador (Lil Kim is no longer Cav, but Contador after today's ride) and Spartaca.

Me taking a picture of Lon taking a picture of the girls climbing. Tourists??

"What kind of Bump?!?!"

We were well above the clouds at spots today. Or perhaps those are smoke signals from Cherokee, where we had no Mobile phone or internet service last night??

Spartaca practicing her descending technique. Training wheels?

Flowers at 5000 feet.

Contador and Spartaca made some new friends at the "highest point of the ride." Contador calls this "sharing the road!!)

Climbing to the 2nd rest stop. The climbs were steady 6-7% all the way.

The Devils Court house. The Indians called the devil "judakula." There is a cave in these omnious rocks and the legend is that the devil held court in here.

Jenny was stoked after the 2nd 5+ mile descent (made us forget the 7 mile climbs to get there, right? Right?!?!)

Ah, the provie. Immediately into a Cat 1, followed by a Cat 4 the Cat 3. 8000 feet (of 10,500) climbing in the first 45 miles (to lunch.) The next 45 was smooth and alotta downhill!!

Ascent view of the day. 85 of 89 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I hate to hyperbolize, but this was probably the best ride I have ever done. The roods were like glass (apparently North Carolina doesn't believe in chip seal.) The climbing was tough. The descents were fast and safe. The only time we had to brake was when we came upon a "Spiral Curve." Yes there was a "Spiral Curve" sign (which I had never been to before.

We started in Cherokee (actually I thought about faking an injury and staying at the hotel, it was on the river and so peaceful.) We started riding at 2000' and had climbed to 6000' in the first 15 miles. It was cool but super humid.

We rode through at least 12 tunnels (mostly short.) which was cool. On the parkway we are required (and all had) to have a rear and front lights. We were supposed to ride in groups of 1-3 which was easy given the toughness of the course.

There were prolly 50 areas to stop and overlook the Smoky Mountains. The air was drier and cool the higher we got. The descents rocked. The company was perfect.

Lebowski made a Floyd Landis like comeback today. Carefully tending to his pulled calf muscle overnight paid off and he made this tough tough ride. He had to sag in from 10 miles to go due to the biblical rainstorm which made the last stretch of the parkway and to the hotel dangerous. We were all standing in said rainstorm at the hotel, waiting for our rooms to become available which was fun also.

Great meal tonight, at the Fiddling Pig. Great Barbeque and Bluegrass music!! We bought the CD.

If you ever have a chance to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway - grab it. Better than riding in Silver City, my previous favorite.

Unfortunately we lost Contador today, speedy recovery to her better half!!

Til Tomorrow. The Queen stage of the Tour. Back on the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a Mt. Mitchell option. Sposed to be rainy and highs mid-70's!!

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:24:00 +0000

The girls were ready to ride, after lunch. Facing the first real climb of this year's PAC Tour. I'm calling it a Cat 2. 3 miles - 5-7% grade, late in the stage.

Heading toward our true initial destination - the Blue Ridge Parkway. Apparently we will ride 400-500 miles on it!!

Quick little ride today. Quite a bit of climbing early, but we hammered it. First taste of a real climb late, w/ ripping descent.

Cherokee, NC is where we overnighted. Indian heritage, tourist destination (with obligatory casino.)

Like giving birth, the end result (getting to jump into an ice cold river) erases the memory of the pain of getting there. We actually were happy!!

Eat your heart out Jaime. The girls are in the river!!

We were so glad to jump into the cold water, we kinda set the bikes down oh so not gently.

Getting out of the river was tough, with the mossy rocks and our tenderfoots....

Lotsa bear in the woods of North Carolina. Fortunately this one seemed tame!

Good thing Cav didn't know that she was swimming around with these - Golden Trout!!

John Lake is experimenting with the new "clipless" seatpost. Not sure whether this will "catch" on??

Outa bed at 555, Breakfast at 630, on the bike at 715. PACTour is not a race. Lil Kim, aka Cav, didn't start today which left Jenny "Spartaca," Craig aka "Lebowski" and I. We rolled out easy for a mile or two, then Spartaca lifted the pace popping Lebowski who nursing a pulled calf muscle. Spartaca felt we were to far out down on GC so we lit it up.

Hammered the first 40 or so, then chilled to lunch. Lunch was a nice state park. Cav kitted up at lunch and jumped in with us. (Nice thing about PACTour, unlike that OTHER Tour, you don't have to ride every inch to stay in the game.)

Fueled by a little spat between Cav and me, we tackled the Cat 2 climb of the day - 3 miles 6-10% grade, in the heat of the day. Spartaca flatted at the top, giving us a nice break in the shade.

Onto the descent. 7 miles, top 5-8%, lower 3-4%. Turns out Cav had never done this type of descent before. A couple of miles down I hear Cav shout "What type of bmpbm?" "What?" I say. "What type of Bump is it!?!?" Turns out there was a "Bump" warning sign on the side of the road. Well, fortunately we still don't know what type of bump it was and weren't launched into outer space so it must not have been too bad.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, until we were about 3 miles from the hotel. We were close to the woods, rolling along nicely when we heard a big rustling sound in the grass near us. The hugest woodchuck you have ever seen went scurring up into the woods. Cav screamed at the top of her lungs, which sped up its exodus. A second later she had recovered and commanded "come back!!" as she wanted a photo of the critter. He must not have heard her as we didn't see him again.

A mile from the hotel we came across the river, and didn't need an invitation. Nice way to finish a hot hard day, in a cold, shallow, fast flowing river.

Tomorrow the real work starts - 88 mile ride with 11,000 feet climbing. Apparently there is a 15 mile climb in there some where!!

Real low point of the trip - Cav is leaving the Tour tomorrow for a family emergency. Pray for an optimal outcome and that she can rejoin later on in the trip!!

PACTour Eastern Mts - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:56:00 +0000

Jen and Little Kim, henceforth know as Spartaca and Cavendish. Ready to start day 1.

Lon leads the crew (Craig aka Lebowski just behind Cav) early in the day. The girls attacked Lon on a steep limb and he couldn't respond with his singlespeed!!

Our Georgia peach, enjoying a Georgia peach.

John Lake hauling the ladies across Georgia (off course, adding mileage, natch.)

Later in the ride, this Georgian joined us for a spell.

Marc and Cat, renewed their vows at the last rest stop. Marc wearing his tux. Tough to see the detail on Cat's jersey, but it was a bridal gown!! Now the direction of Marc's attention and the implication it has on their future is unknown at this time.

Relentless undulating ride today. And hot!! Notice, in the middle of the ride, the downward dip after rest stop 2, then back upwards to rest stop 3. Yeah, that was us getting off, then back on course.

Different aspect. Laps are done at each rest stop, cept I missed the last one!!

This is the official state car of Georgia. The Ford Mustang. We saw at least 30 on the roads today.

Post meal (great steak dinner) spirits are up. Back to our hotel, the Dandelion Inn!!

Sorry for the late post, no Wifi for a couple of days.

Day 1 was a great way to ease into PACTour. 125 miles with only 3000 feet of climbing! Well the course was relentless, Lon seemed to find it necessary to take the climbing up to 7000 feet, and we brought our TX heat with us so we didn't have that sissy first day we thought we faced.

We rode together for the first 40 miles, then I think Spartaca and Cav started sprinting for City Limit signs which dropped Lebowski. Good thing for him as we got lost (my first time in over 10,000 PACTour miles) and added 5 miles to the ride. Ha, jokes on us.

PACTour is top notch as always, the rest stops perfect, lunch delicious and nutritious. We stayed hydrated and fed and arrived at the hotel as expected. I have to be honest, that was the most tired at night I have been. It'll be interesting to see how the next 2 weeks and 1600 miles plays out. Stay tuned.

Observation of the day. Georgia cows seem to have more smarts than TX cows. They stand _under_ the trees!! We then remembered that TX has no trees. Shot holes in that theory kinda quick.

PACTour Eastern Mts - Travel Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:15:00 +0000

We flew to Atlanta, to start Eastern Mt. PACTour, at 3:30. We thought it would be a good idea to do the State Time Trial in the AM.

Out and back course from Castroville.

This is how not to do a time trial. Power Curve on bottom. Musta gone too hard in beginning - notice the steadily declining power output over the 1+ hr 40k...

Onto the plane. Kim fanning herself to get ready for the wind in her hair and sails for the next 2 1/2 weeks.

Always gotta think about Wes. Nice Xmas idea for someone reading to get Wes for his truck.

You can tell someone in the airport is going to PAC Tour when their carryon consists of a Helmet pod and a metal laptop briefcase.

George Jahant, Kim and Jenny. Jenny memorized rule one of PACTour - Always Be Safety. George is the SWAT officer in San Antonio so he will help to ensure this!! He is also Jon's father, you recall Jon from the past, super masseus, mechanic, rider, crew member etc...

Stay tuned, we start tomorrow. Eastern Mountains Tour. Harder and hotter tour than Will and I did last year on the Ridge of the Rockies. Should be interesting.

Electronic Shifting - the new old school

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Latest Build. Cervelo S3 with Shimano Di2. Electronic shifting is here!!

The shifters have up and down "switches" and no internal moving parts, making them far lighter than traditional.

The front wiring harness ties it together and displays battery power (estimated at 600 miles usage!)

Alternate view.

Rear derailleur with servo motor makes shifts precise.

The front der harbors the "brains" of the system. It auto trims to eliminate any chain rub as you shift the rear cassette up and down. It drops the chain to the inner chainring in a 2 step process to avoid unshipping the chain.

The battery pack mounts into the downtube bottle cage and is easily removed and replaced for charging.

Shimano also offers a "bottle cage mover" to move the seat tube cage upwards so the bottom of the bottle doesn't hit the battery.

Alternate view with the cages removed.

Stop by the shop and check this beauty out. Electronic shifting will be on all top end bikes in the next couple of years and will be offered as an option on top end bikes in 2010 or 2011. Shimano is the first to pull the trigger (no pun intended) on drivetrain electronics. Campy alleges to have it but is waiting for the global economy to improve.

The shifting is precise and smooth, far more than usual mechanical shifting. Plus the derailleurs make a cool noise when actuated. I'm wondering if Lance might get a remote shifter and throw Contador into the 53/12 at a critical point on the Ventoux next year!?!?

Oh, and the frame is sweet too. Rode it in this weeks Tree of Life Crit and took 3rd, which is unusual. The aerodynamics of this frame save you alot of energy, you can do alot more coasting and recovering in the peleton.

600k - So Easy a Caveman could do it?

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:33:00 +0000

Apparently we had a couple of cavemen show up for the ride?

7am Saturday am. 11 strong. All smiles (nervous?) 1 rider up the road to meet us in Pipe Creek.

Rolling outta Helotes. Nate and the Turk lead the group with the follow vehicle keeping an eye on us.

Not too far down the road Myhre has a flat. Nate had flatted earlier. We had 4 flats the first day, none after that.

Leaving Bandera we rolled thru a country fair - natural for the "Cowboy Capitol" of Texas.

Will employing the "poor man's" aerobars.

Vanderpool rest stop. Group still doing well. Hadn't hit the real big stuff yet.

Once we were thru the big climbs fatigue started to set in. Catie taking a break.

The last day the boys seem to be about done. We are at the Bat Cave outside of Fredericksburg with 60 miles to go!!

JW getting ready for a great meal the first night at the Angora Inn in Rocksprings. Yeah, we ate alot.

Befor day 2, Catie and Jenny give our hostess a kiss goodbye. Lucky hostess!!

The beautiful vistas of West Texas. Why does west Texas look so green while we get no rain in San Antonio?!?!

Rest stop on day 2. The heat was on - around 109 at this point...

No one was in a big rush to get back on the bikes.

But we made it to the pool and everyone was all smiles!

Getting ready to roll the last day - still 11 strong!

Early slopes of the 32 mile climb out of Llano. Turk was struggling so jumped in the car 1/2 way up when we did a road side rest stop.

Gary climbs pretty well in the recumbent. And descends like a rocket. He's keeping an eye on Will and JW midway up the climb.

The livestock was keeping an eye on us. Amused I'm sure.

Beautiful Vernette all smiles keeping us safe. Don't know how she did it. We were grumpy, demanding and smelly!!

The boys keeping an eye on Craig.

If Wes had been with us, I imagine he mighta come home with a new vehicle from Sisterdale. This beauty was for sale!!

BV in the follow vehicle kept us fed, watered and safe.

Back at Bicycle-Heaven. A little tired and haggard, but still smiling!!

The "cavemen" made it look easy.

Pre-PAC Tour "training camp." Jenny and I are getting ready to tackle the PACTour Eastern Mountain Tour in two weeks (16 Days, 1800 miles, 112,000 feet of climbing!) We had 1o riders (Will, JW, Terri, Gary, Doug, Jeff, Craig, Catie, John, Nate) join us for our 3 day, 395 mile, 20,000 feet climbing adventure this past weekend. Basically a little bike ride out to Junction and back.

We met at Bicycle-Heaven 6 am Saturday am, with plans to roll at 7. Pure Slauson fashion we started pedaling about 730. Hell, we had 145 miles to ride that day to Rocksprings. What was the big rush??

The day went well, at least to Leakey. We pretty much rode as a group thru Helotes, Bandera, Medina, Vanderpool and Leakey. Once we started the big climb towards Camp Wood we split up into 3 smaller groups, similarly towards Rocksprings.

Foxy was impressed with JW - he seemed shattered leaving Camp Wood, but stayed on his bike and made it all the way to Rocksprings. Jenny and Nate were the strong woman/man of the day arriving at Rocksprings first - 145 miles with about 12,000 feet of climbing. Myhre rolled in delirious - and didn't recover, paying for it the next day.

The whole group got to Rocksprings by 730 pm, showered up and ate a lot of food. Nate abandoned there - he had to fly to New Jersey the next day

Day 2 we woke at 6, breakfasted at 7 and on the bikes by 830 towards Llano. Turk had struggled in the hills, day one, but this more favorable terrain on day 2 suited her and she was the day's impressive rider. Myhre cracked at around mile 90 of the 125 mile day. He hadn't rehydrated or recovered from the previous days effort.

The thermometer was showing upwards of 109 degrees heading towards Llano. Fortunately we had a tailwind the first 2/3 of the day so had covered alot of ground quickly. The last 35 miles, Foxy and Park kept the pace strong into the headwind. We hit Llano around 6 pm, jumped into the pool, enjoyed some beer and Prosecco, and ordered Pizza Hut to the pool. I thought I had overdone it ordering 6 large pizzas, bread sticks and salads - we ate it all except for 1 pizza! People were hungry. Terri celebrated her monumentous ride by crying herself to sleep.

Day 3 started earlier - we were on the bikes before 8am. Good thing too. We started the day with the 32 mile climb out of Llano. Headwind all day, coupled with alot of climbing. Turk paid for the previous days efforts by getting in the car for the middle part of the ride. We know the women are stronger and faster than us, and they are certainly smarter than us so when they jumped into the car for a few miles climbing to the bat cave south of Fredericksburg it was time to reevaluate the ride.

Instead of rolling across 473 to Kendalia then Edge Falls, we decided to continue on to Boerne out of Sisterdale road. It wasn't shorter, but the hills were at least as hard so that was a good decision?!?! Fortunately Foxy and Myhre were riding strong and setting a great tempo so we kept it together to Boerne. We took our time there and drank a lot at the last stop so spirits were good rolling across Amman, down Blanco and back to the shop. Another 7+ hour 120 mile day in the bag.

Great, tough, epic weekend. A life event. The perfect mix of personalities for this journey. Perfect mix of cycling styles and strengths. B-H pre-camp predictions were that none of us would be talking to each other after the ride. Somehow we are all friends and probably closer now. We certainly have increased respect for each other, we all know how hard this was and that we all got through it.

Beautiful Vernette was the perfect support person. She fed, watered, and iced us at each rest stop - due to the heat we had 6-7 stops each day!! She drove behind us (15-18mph for 400 miles) in the Denali, equipped with flashing lights, bike racks and bike race signs. A huge plus about having this type of professional support is the respect we get from other vehicles on the road. We only got yelled at like once during the 3 days and never got buzzed - try that without a support vehicle.

Jenny and I are certainly as ready as we can be for our PAC Tour adventure, with Kim, in two weeks. We really appreciate the others for joining us for this crazy 3 day ride, to help us get there.

Hope to do this again next May? Stay tuned for PAC Tour reports in 10 days!!

"Oh Yes It's Ladies Night"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:07:00 +0000

Heading into the driveway and this Saturday's crits I decided to do a little Michael Jackson tribute. Notice the Black and White motif - Black tire on rear, white on front. (Actually this was more of a fact that I wanted a 25mm tire on the back and 23mm tire on the front and that's what I have on hand.)

Ah, ladies night at the Driveway Series. 1st Thursday of the month is Ladies night with special clinics and races and prices for the ladies.

Team B-H has the most beautiful soigneurita, Beautiful Vernette. She is getting the "Thriller" ride ready for action in the men's master's race.

If you are extra lucky, your beautiful racing partner will pin you before the race. Here Catie hooks me up. Foxy looks amused.

This is not a teenager! This beautiful little woman has boundless energy and runs around the crowd collecting money for the cash prime each week. Besides racing and doing registration, etc.

Life is good when you have a little Moet et Chandon in hand to watch your team race.

Catie and Jim are ready to go. Catie looks half asleep, but trust me she wasn't sleeping in the race. She is a great and powerful racer.

Our Houston Buddies, Nathan and Angela. Aren't they cute. Nathan has the privilege of supplying B-H with Shimano wheels and parts and Scott Bicycles.

Before we raced we got to see or favorite San Jose racer, Rachel, who had raced earlier. Craig looks very bemused in the background - and this is before he had the ride of the night.

We were on the lower loop of the driveway (in red) as the Ladies Night activities were held on the upper loop (in gray.)

Superfast race tonight, nearly 27 miles per hour. Docile for first 4-5 laps, then steady and hard.

Every Thursday is a great night to race at the Driveway. This was post race last week! Catie and I had raced the Master's race together for the first time.

Turk and the boys are still in Myrtle Beach today. Here JW is recreating the famous Beatles "Abbey Road" album cover. 1 degree of separation - Michael Jackson owned the rights to most of the Beatles songs, as I recall?

Another action packed, fun filled Thursday night at the Driveway in Austin. As mentioned before, the course changes each week. This weeks was held exclusively on the 1 mile lower loop, which is wicked fast (and safe.) Last week on the full course we had 2 wrecks, and the whole race was a bit sketchy. Tonight was smooth smooth smooth.

Craig, Doug and Jim have been making the trip regularly on Thursday nights, the racing, crowds, organization and venue are just that good. Turk has joined us for a couple and Matt for one. Catie has joined us for the last few (man the car smells better with a woman on board, what's up with that.) Tonight BV was able to join us making for a rollicking trip.

2 weeks ago, Jim stacked it solo in the 180, last week Doug wrecked spectacularly coming into the final turn. They licked their wounds, learned from their follow and got back on the bicycle, as the saying goes.

Tonight the course was fast. It's always so fun to race with Catie because she will attack which always gets ooohs and aaaahs from the peleton. Jim attacked 3 times early, without success. We had hoped to get Catie across first for a prime, and almost got that done. Doug rode across to the 2 man break with another rider with 3 laps to go and we thought we had the peleton in check to get him on the podium. Unfortunately he and his erstwhile companions blew with 1/2 a lap to go and were swallowed by the bunch.

The ride of the night belongs to Craig. Craig made it thru the whole race - for the first time!! We're not sure if he is getting faster, if BV's presence and cheering stimulated him, if it was Foxy's threat of making him walk back to San Antonio, or a combination of the above, but he did it. And now that he has done it it all gets easier, right???

See you this weekend at the local University Oaks Crits. And join us for a Thursday night foray up to the Driveway!!

Fredburg RR - "The Heat (and rollers) Was On"

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:39:00 +0000

Team B-H stepped up and helped the race. Beautiful Vernette drove the follow vehicle for the women's 4 race.

Yeah, we were out in the middle of nowhere, kinda. Doss, TX. 20 miles NW of Fredericksburg.

And this is why. No traffic, tough tough course. Significant climbing and nonstop rollers on the on all the sections - uphill and downhill. No chance for any rest or hiding in the peloton on this course.

I got popped after the feed on the 2nd lap. (2 lap race, feed zone in the early slopes of the climbing.) Knew I was in trouble seeing heart rates in the 190's on the first lap. Notice the continual rolling nature of the course (and my heart rate on my 2nd lap, essentially solo.)

Power, cadence, speed and heart rate from the Garmin.

Our favorite Ford Fellow, missed out on this since she blew off the race. Pity too since only 7 women lined up for the women's open race - with $700 on the line!

Turk didn't get to ride or volunteer today, since she was graduating from BMW "M" school this week. Yes, she gets to keep the helmet.

Just so you don't worry about me while the Turk's outa town, I was able to put together a fancy schmancy post race meal. Maracona Almonds, Manchego Cheese, Proscuitto, and Anchovey stuffed Olives.

Interesting day. Started at 1am when I got off work and drove the 100+ miles to the race start - Doss, TX. I didn't know what to expect when I got there - the parking area was completely empty, and dark. So, I blew up my aerobed and lay down to sleep. Took me a while to get to sleep, had my alarm set fo 7:15 since I had volunteered to drive a follow vehicle for the early race.

Craig had decided to race at the last minute, so we talked the night before and it was decided that BV would drive with me to follow the race. BV knew she would probably do the driving so I could rest a little more. In their true selfless pattern, when I woke at 7:30 (had somehow turned my alarm off) they had been to the volunteer meeting and had all the details for our duties. The had gotten there around 6am, parked next to me and let me sleep.

When I woke up, in a pool of sweat of course as the sun was now up and it was already hot, the parking area was completely full with 200 cars!! As we say, once I'm asleep, a nuclear bomb won't wake me.

BV drove, we had the pocket nazi official in our car, and we followed the lovely ladies of the Women's Cat 4 race. All went well so I got ready for my race.

Well, the course was too much for me. I was ready for the 100 degree heat, using a camelbak, and hung in for the first lap. The climbs in the first 8 miles were tough with constant rollers. I stayed to the front on the first climbs, then flew to the back going up the steep 200m to the KOM. From there I suffered like an animal for the rest of the first lap, never getting up towards the front of our 60+ man field. The roads were narrow, constantly rolling with lots of chicanes and 12 cattle guards per lap, so the back was not the place to be. We would constantly accordion into the obstacles, the stretch out in single file coming out of them putting excessive pressure on those of us on the back.

My ticket was punched early in the 2nd lap after the feed. I had anticipated this so had given Ryan Haglund a bottle of my coveted (no longer made) Powerbar Endurance Suntea. I still stopped at two volunteer areas and filled my water bottle with cold water. I totaled 1 60 oz Camelbak and 3 water bottles for the 53 mile 2:45 race.

Looking in the retrospectoscope, I probably should have raced the 40+ race. It was earlier, so slightly cooler and 10 miles shorter. Foxy, my racing partner, and I had decided to do the 3/4 race in lieu of the 40+ race. Course, he stacked it in the finale at the driveway last week so had to bail today d/t injury. Humorously, I was gonna bail on "Cut Off" road which would have taken about 10 miles off the last lap and brought me in before my group so I could see that finish. Foxy was course marshalling the turn off at "Cut Off" so my pride wouldn't let me do that in front of my teammate!

I was concerned about the course - lotsa cattleguards, low water crossings (only 1 with water currently) rollers and twists. Fortunately the race was safe, in no small part due to the excellent organization and logistics. Kevin Barton of Joe's Pro Bikes, and Lisa Nye of Hill Country Bicycle Works, knocked this one out of the park. Since I raced a lap with the group, then rode a lap essentially alone, I had a chance to see how well marshalled, and marked the course and its challenges were. Hat's off.

Come on out to our own Drew Akin's race this Saturday - Univ Oaks July 4 Crit. I'm personally signed up for 3 races, which should be interesting...

Why We Like Drew

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:14:00 +0000

Sunday, Drew put on the 4th crit this year, at University Oaks.

You can't beat a race like this. First you ride to the race, from home, in 30 minutes, getting your warmup and "keeping it green."

Then you ride around, like a gerbil on a wheel, for an hour.

Finally, recover by riding 30 minutes home!!

My data from the race, courtesy of SRM, Garmin and Ascent.

We are blessed to have people like Drew, his band of helpers, race officials and race support to put on races like this. Local, safe, consistent and convenient. I'm working 4pm to 2am shifts this weekend, but was still able to do this race because it is so close to home.

I asked the Turk if she wanted to drive over (I would ride for my warmup) then I would drive home and she could get her ride in.

She said she was riding to the race and home with me! Doh. Why didn't I think of that.

This race was a little different than last week, now that everyone knows who to mark. The first 10 minutes were docile (unlike last week when it was balls to the wall from the gun.) Then the fire works started (you can see that above by my heart rate and power curves.)

Team B-H is no quite finding its form yet this year - we're close. Just not quite getting a rider in the right break, and just not quite able to help our e'sprinter in the last 2 laps, but hey that's why we line up right? To give it what we got.

After the race Craig had much welcomed ice water. During the race it helped alot to have Killer, Pammo, Turk, BV, et al cheering during the rough sections. Thank you all.

Turk and I rode home, only mistake we made was riding up Blanco from Huebner to Wilderness Oak - that stretch of road is still not ready for bikes!!

Thanx Drew!! Keep these coming!!

See you July 4th for a special version of this race.

Compact Gearing - Magic or Mental?

noreply@blogger.com (Bicycle Heaven) — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:06:00 +0000

Everyone who rides compact (generally 50/34 chainrings) proclaims it is an improvement over traditional gearing (generally 53/39.)

I planned to, then rode, compact for the first time at this year's Tour of The Gila. Afterwards, Matt asked me what I thought - he was a bit dismayed with my report that "gears are gears." Caveat, I am one who jokingly refers to compact as "ladies specific gearing" and now that I have ridden it "senior specific gearing!"

Back up, to the genesis of compact gearing, as I know it. The compact "revolution" might be attributed to Tyler Hamilton. Apparently he figured the easier gears would allow higher cadence climbing. My cynical position was that he used it to prevent his riding away from the bunch on flat stages - that would draw attention to his doping!!

Prior to the compact gearing era, I was intrigued by a time trial Lance rode (and won, natch.) I believe it during his 2nd Tour de France victory. The course was rolling, say 25 miles, and his average cadence was 108! This has stuck in my memory to this day.

Conventional science has positioned the freely chosen cadence around 81 +/- 7, the energy optimal cadence at 73 +/-5 and the theoretical mechanical optimal cadence at 90. It seems Lance, by chance or science, had found a better way - his average cadence of 108 is way above any of these and he was known for his high cadence throughout his 7 victories.

Part of this reason this intrigued me probably has to do with my affinity for all things German. Those that know me know my preference for German - cars, foods, cycling teams, etc. For some reason. German cars run at about twice the RPM's of a comparable American car at a given speed. So maybe higher RPM's is better. It certainly is different.

To train my cadence I race crits and Tuesday nighters using a 25/15 cassette. I figure that this will force me to spin and I rationalize that if I ride in the 11,12,13,14 I am not "racing." I'm simply sitting in "just riding along." You never attack or chase from getting dropped in the 11, you spin your butt off when you are "trying."

Traditional training was to ride fixed gear in the off season, train your spin and don't push big gears. Then came the era of incorporating weight training into your training plan, particularly during the off season to build power.

I ran with this and have decided to push big gears in the winter ("off season") and spin in the spring and summer. I ride with an 21/11 cassette in the winter and 27/12 in the summer (now 28/11) and that is where I initially came up with the idea of using "junior gearing" 25/15 cassette for the Tuesday nighters and crits.

Here's what I'm talking about. Driveway crit w/ 23/11 cassette. Average cadence 92.

Driveway crit with 25/15 cassette. 102 average cadence. Limiting my "biggest gear" to 53 x 15 took my average cadence up 10%! After these type of training races I now find my "normal" cadence higher than before also, which is the goal.

Of course in our sport there are always those who must be different. Our friend Jason Sager rides only compact (teasing him I started referring to compact as "ladies specific gearing.") He now seems to feel that the optimal chainring combination is 52/38 (how that is "compact" relative to a standard 53/39 is beyond me, but hey, Jason is about 50% faster than I on the bike, so I have to let him have that.)

My conclusion is that compact gearing is indeed magic for us cyclists in that it saves us from ourselves. We don't have the discipline to keep the gearing "easy" when we get stressed on the bike, we subconsciously drop it in the biggest gear we have when we get into a spot of bother and this is counterproductive.

When in danger of getting dropped, if you make the gear easier, you enhance your chances of staying on. This is not intuitive or natural. When we increase our cadence we feel as though our heart rate goes up which will ensure we get dropped. Subconsciously we drop it into a bigger gear which paradoxically feels easier. We maintain contact for a very short time, but this seals our fate and we get popped.

My conclusion? Compact Gearing - Magic or Mental? Yes!!

Gears are gears. Ride compact, and don't put on an 11 tooth cassette, if you seek to race and do group rides at the best of your potential. Compact can save you from yourself and save you from losing contact with the bunch at crunch time (plus give you the easiest possible gear to spin when the road tips significantly upwards!) So if you want to maximize your potential, race and train with a combination of "Senior Specific" (compact chainrings, and "Junior Specific" (14/25 or 15/25 cassettes.)