Bogstomp

I found a video of the race I did last weekend. This guy was able to ride the whole course. He must be tougher than me. He rode the 30 minute race. The course was more torn up when I rode the 50 minute race.

Winter

Winter is here, finally. Saturday morning I loaded my cross race stuff, including my pop up canopy and heater, into the truck and headed for Eureka. It was snowing lightly on Crescent City hill, snowing heavily on the Redwood Park bypass and raining heavily at lower elevations. It reminded me of something I always tell people new to the Pacific Northwest. If you plan an outdoor activity and the forecast is for shitty weather, just go do it anyway. It almost always works out. By the time I got to Eureka the weather was almost nice. It didn't rain at all while I was at the race. It rained hard as I was getting ready to leave the race. Perfect.
The race was called Bogstomp and was held out on Elk River, enlarge the picture and you can see route from my Garmin. It was on the Wrigley property which was an apple orchard until Pacific Lumber Company raped the forest and caused the river to flood every year killing the apple trees. There's a book's worth of story about that. As a child I used to ride my bike out there to go fishing and sneak into the old abandoned town of Falk. The race course was two sections of single track through the woods connected by old road sections. The single track was so muddy that I, as well as most of the other racers, ran it carrying our bikes. Even the roads were muddy to the point that you couldn't ride a straight line. It was the muddiest race I have ever done. Muddiest cyclocross race anyway. The Horning's MTB race was muddier. It was fun though and rewarding to finish. I think the some people abondoned the effort. I raced the long race, 50 minutes. It took me slightly over an hour. It was fun to meet new people who like to race bikes. I beat a couple of people.
That was my last race of the year. It even snowed at my house today, at sea level, so I didn't ride. I now need to figure out my training for the next month and a half. I probably won't race again until the Cherry Pie road race in February. Base building I guess.

December?

Is it really December? I can't believe the weather lately. Friday I rode my cross bike at Cadra Ranch and it was beautiful.











Saturday I raced the Stomach Churn down near Arcata. I've raced there the last two years and I remembered that it is a rough course. I took my single speed Niner as well as my cross bike. It was a good move as I ended up riding it. The course was really bumpy. I saw a lot of bikes get their chains bounced off. It was a hard race. Maybe it would've been easier with gears. At one point I realized why it's called Stomach Churn. I felt like hurling. I raced the thirty minute race and at the end of my third lap I waited for the leaders to lap me so I didn't have to do another one.
I think I'm going to race in Humboldt County again next week. That will be my last race of the year.

Psycho Cross

I raced Sunday in Eugene. I have delayed writing about it because it was fairly unremarkable. We had been in Portland since Wednesday and left early Sunday morning so I could race. I've raced at this location before and have enjoyed it. The course was slightly different from last year. There was a long section around the agricultural fields. Some of that section was muddy but it was sticky mud. Kind of slippery but it only got on the tires. There was some single track, a stair runup, a steep downhill switchback, a steep rideable uphill, and some barriers. I was outclassed by everyone in my race but one junior so I was not very motivated. I didn't dog it but I didn't push it either. As I said, unremarkable. I stayed upright and I finished. It's probably my last OBRA race for the year. I'm not going to Portland for the USGP race and I probably won't go back to Eugene in two weeks. I'm going to race in Humboldt County this Saturday and maybe the next weekend too. I've raced 32 times so far this year with no races in January or July. That's almost every weekend.

Outlaw Cross #5

Yesterday was the final race of the Outlaw Cyclocross series. It was held, again, at the Paradise Ranch development on the site of a future golf course. It was, again, muddy. Way muddier than last time. I decided that, even though I'm still sick, I was going to go out hard and see if I could keep up with Steve Law. Steve is a friend of mine who turned 50 and is racing in the 50+ cat for the first time this year. He always beats me unless he breaks down. I started hard and hung with him for a little while. He soon pulled away from me though. He ended up winning the 50+ race. We race with the rest of the B cat so there's a lot of other people on the course with us. I beat about 6 people. I beat Joe Davis who always beats me and I even lapped Vern. I didn't beat them with my riding skills or my fitness. I beat them with equipment. My wheel/tire combination was right on for the day. I ran the FSA carbon wheels with Dugast Rhinos. Everybody had problems with mud and leaves clogging their wheels. I should have taken a picture of Vern's wheels. He probably took a picture. If he sends it to me I'll add it. My wheels would feel clogged and hard to turn at one point on the course but on a following downhill section they would clean out somewhat.

We're going to Portland for Thanksgiving and I'm going to race in Eugene on the way home Sunday. Then I'm going to do a couple of races in Humboldt county and that will be it for the season. I'm already thinking about next year. I'm going to be way better.
Here's Vern's bike. You can see why he had problems.

Outlaw Cross #4

I raced at the drag strip again. I didn't take any pictures but here's a nice picture of Kristy Green taken by Chet Collins.
I was sick all week and didn't train at all. Well, I rode a couple of times but really easy. I don't get sick very often so I don't know how to act when I'm sick. I raced anyway. I took it easy to guarantee a finish. I just hung with Vern. He knew I'd been sick so I think he was trying to drop me. He wasn't going easy anyway. I decided to make my move with 3 laps left. I figured I would get lapped so it really would be 2 laps. When the lap board said 3 I left Vern on the hill and pushed to stay ahead. That lap was hard. The next lap almost killed me. I didn't get lapped by the leader and had to do the third lap. I survived. I raced for 1 hour and 2 minutes. I still haven't recovered from my cold or sinus infection or whatever it is that's bugging me. I hope I'm better by this weekend. I'm planning on racing hard. It's the last race of the series.

Outlaw Cross #3

I raced on Saturday in Medford out by the drag strip. If you've read my earlier posts you know that I did a couple of races there last spring. That's when I learned that a drag strip goes uphill at the end. The hill is still there. The course was mostly on hard dirt with loose gravel on top. It started down a little hill and then alongside the drag strip in dirt. Then it went onto the drag strip and up the hill. It was a pretty good climb. Very tiring. Vern had added the hill at the last minute before our race started to spread out the field and make it easier to score. After the uphill it was, suprisingly, downhill for a while. The downhill was on pavement so it was fast. Then it went up a slight hill to a runup with a barrier at the top and then a steep, short drop. Then it zig zagged around in the field to end with a couple of barriers. I got ahead of several people during the first lap but then didn't catch anybody until the last lap when I passed a guy in my age group who stopped to add air to his tire. During the fourth lap my rear tire felt really low and when I looked at it I thought it was flat. I pulled into the pit but found that it had just lost pressure. I thought it would be okay so I continued without changing it. I must have picked up a Goat's Head thorn and the Stan's sealant held. I'm glad I added the Stan's. I did have to slow down on the pavement section as I was afraid I might roll the tire off.
It was a good race. I worked hard and finished near the middle of the B class, 14th out of 21. I think I need to warm up harder and start harder. I get behind at the start but then don't lose a lot of ground. I'm always thinking about next week and next year. Then, all of a sudden, I'll think "wait a minute, I'm f***ing OLD. How many more years can I do this shit?". I guess I'll just keep doing it until I can't.
I found this picture of Lillian at the SSCXWC race in Portland this weekend. I bet she had a good time.

Mud

I raced yesterday in Grants Pass, Oregon. The second race in the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross series. It was wet and muddy. The course was on the site of a future Jack Nicklaus golf course. It was flat and would have been fast if dry. I guess I don't ride aggressively enough. I stayed relatively clean.








This guy rode a single speed mountain bike.


















Vern got dirty, even though I beat him again.


















There was a nasty run up.














A few guys were able to ride it.













My bike survived. I rode the Challenge Grifos at about 28 psi. I bottomed out on every bump but they worked well.

Next week the race is in Medford, out by the drag strip.

Yreka

I did the first race of the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross Series Saturday in Yreka, California. Yes, an OBRA race in California. Some of the regular southern Oregon racers live there and have put on a race two years now. It's a nice course. Some grass but mostly single track. There is a hard, rocky section so I left my carbon wheels in the pit. I raced my Racing Ralph tubeless setup again and it worked well. Several people flatted using tires with tubes including a guy in my age group who always beats me. He flatted twice so I came in third out of four in the 50+ age group. I kicked Vern's ass. He is in a different age group but we still race at the same time. The course included quite a bit of climbing and a very difficult run up.

I took a couple of pictures of friends of mine on the grass during the A race.

Richard Hogan












Thom Kneeland
It was a beautiful day. The series continues next weekend in Grants Pass. Guess who gets to design the course. Vern. I probably won't have a chance of beating him.

Bling

I want to build a single speed road bike so I've been looking at pictures on the forum to get ideas. I spotted a bike with a white crankset and thought that it looked really cool. I did some research and discovered that it was Shimano Sante, a groupset that they made in the late 80's. It was between Ultegra and Dura Ace. I've been told that they quit making the line because it was consider too yuppie. I first found the brake set on Craig's List Boulder Colorado and then the crankset on ebay. Brand new twenty year old stuff. This is just the start of my project. I don't even have a frame yet. I'm leaning towards a Soma Delancey. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Cross Crusade

I did the Cross Crusade race yesterday at Ranier Oregon. It was a great course. Mostly on grass and dirt paths. Lots of climbing but with long sections of downhill to recover. Check out the photos on http://pdxcross.com/?p=284 to get a good feel for what it was like.

The race started on an uphill section and I took it kind of easy so I wouldn't blow up right at the start. Once we started downhill the guy in front of me was going too slow so I passed him. I continued to take it easy because I hadn't pre-ridden the course and had only walked part of it. The course was over two miles. I went back and forth a couple of times with the guy I had passed but eventually I got ahead for good. I held on but couldn't pass anybody else. There was a steep uphill section of hard gravel with some loose stuff on it. I must have had too much air in my tires because I couldn't get traction near the top and had to get off and run up. Well, I didn't really run. The Masters 50+ class had 48 starters. I finished 42nd. Maybe I need to push harder at the start. The other age 60+ guys didn't finish very far ahead of me.
Here's my heart rate with elevation. I guess I'm more fit than last year. Some times I wonder about that but I don't ever feel like quiting during a race like I did last year. It was a tough race though.

Next week is the start of the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross series. That's my favorite series racing with the people from Southern Oregon who have become my good friends.

KFCX #4

I did the final race of the Klamath Falls series yesterday and got my ass handed to me by Vern. It was bitterly cold. At one point during the race I was remarking to myself that it was just a few weeks ago that I was complaining about how hot it was at races.

The race started at this spot on pavement.






The first part of the course was up this dirt road. It was a fairly long climb and steep enough that I was out of the saddle about a third of the time with my single chain ring. There were three barriers at the top of the hill. Then there was a long, fast downhill on the same kind of dirt road. I'm too old and scared for fast downhills. I was on the brakes and Vern just let her fly. He was WAY faster than me. The end of each lap was slightly uphill on the pavement back to the dirt road uphill. I would just about, but not quite, catch Vern at the top of the hill on each lap. At some point I realized that I didn't have a chance to beat him unless he crashed. I would not only have to catch him I would have to get way ahead of him before the downhill section. It didn't happen.






Hail to the Victor, Vern. We each beat the other twice during the series but the last race was double points. Vern got second for the series and I was third. It was fun. A good competition.

KFCX #3

I just got an email from a faithful reader telling me my blog was not up to date. Wow. I must have a huge following.
I raced in Klamath Falls again yesterday. I didn't take any pictures so I've posted my Forerunner chart showing heart rate and elevation. I don't think that my heart rate really went up to 214 at the beginning although that's when I pushed hard to get ahead of Vern. That's my new strategy, get ahead of him right at the start and hope that he can't catch up. It worked yesterday. I beat Vern but the other masters racers in the B race both lapped me. I finished third out of four.
It was muddy so I ran my Challenge Grifo tires at 30 psi. They worked well. I could feel the rear tire bottoming out but it survived. The race was at the same location as last week but laid out slightly different. Fewer barriers. The rock garden was still there but the approach to it was slower and a track had developed through it. It wasn't as rough. The mud wasn't the thick, grabby kind you sometimes find in the northwest. It was thin and slippery. Neither my bike nor my body had much mud at the end. My tires, pedals and shoes were packed though.
The starter/lap counter guy was new and I'm pretty sure he screwed up. It was supposed to be a 45 minute race but we were out there for nearly an hour. I went by the finish line with the lap board reading zero, pulled over, stopped my watch at 54 minutes and was told that I had another lap to go. I don't want to be critical though. We need people willing to be officials so that we can race. He'll get it right next time. Next Sunday is the final race of this series. I'm in second place in the Masters 40+ B Division.
Check out the beautiful photos on the pdxcross site. Not of this race but of the races in Portland. I have a link on my Blogs of Interest.

Ghetto Tubeless

I bought a set of Racing Ralph CX clinchers a couple of weeks ago. I was going to put them on my single speed mountain bike and try it for cyclocross. I decided against that and, late last week, mounted them on my cross training wheels. I mounted them ghetto tubeless on Mavic Open 4 rims. They are predecessors to the Open Pro rims. I used Stan's yellow tape and a cut up 26" tube with Stan's sealant. They aired up and sealed easily. I raced them yesterday in the second Klamath Falls race. It was a perfect test for them. Lillian, the race promoter, had told me that the course would be flat and fast. It was neither. It was rocky and hard dirt with a lot of loose sand on the surface. There was one section that was about 20 yards of big, loose rocks. Rocks 4 or 5 inches in diameter. It scared me but I figured out just go pretty fast and hang on. There were a lot of barriers. Some of them led to slightly uphill sections with loose dirt. It was a physically demanding course. I ran the tires at 40 psi. They survived the banging through the rock section and provided traction in the loose sections. And they held air the whole race. A lot of people flatted on tires with tubes.
Oh, by the way, I put the hurt on Vern.

Vern

Here's a picture of me chasing Vern up the stairs at the first Klamath Falls race. In a previous post I said he was my nemesis. That's not true. The definition of nemesis is "an opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome". I can best or overcome Vern once in a while, about half the time. I think I need to change my strategy to improve my record against him.

Wa-hoo!

I'm torn. I'm tickled to pull this page up and see my name in the number one position but I feel bad for the guy who is now number two. I worked real hard just to finish these races and I raced a lot of times but, other than Verne a couple of times, I've never beaten anybody. I raced with the now number two guy at Return on the Jedi and he lapped me, twice. Do I really deserve number one?

KFCX #1

I raced my first cyclocross race of the season today in Klamath Falls. I didn't take any pictures and my Garmin charts aren't very interesting so I took a picture of my bike as I raced it. I didn't know anything about the course so I didn't know which wheels to take. I decided to take the coolest wheels, the FSA carbon wheels with Dugast Rhinos. They were totally inappropriate but were the coolest wheels there. That counts for something doesn't it? It was a fun race. They are all fun when they're over. This one was fun during the race too. My nemesis, Verne, was there. Actually we are good friends and each of us races harder when the other is there. It was a 45 minute race so I wanted to conserve energy. The course started on an asphalt path then there were two short sets of stairs then grass, uphill for a while and level for a while then a barrier with short runup leading to an uphill section of asphalt road which leveled out to a long stair section then downhill on an asphalt road which led to a short dirt transition to a grass off camber section then downhill on grass back to the asphalt path. I just hung on Verne's wheel most of the race. He would get ahead of me on the downhill section leading to the grass. I was almost airborne a couple of times on the dirt transition which scared me. Then I would catch him on the uphill sections. On the last lap I passed him on the uphill section and screamed downhill to the off camber grass section where he caught and passed me to nip me at the finish line. It was fun. I'm going back next week. I didn't sign up for the whole series because it's such a long drive but now I'll probably do all four races.

Pistis STXC

That's my trophy from the Pistis STXC series. 1st place, single speed. The final race was, again, uneventful. I was the only single speeder. It was hot. I didn't have Susan's Volvo and my truck doesn't have a thermometer so I don't know how hot, but I think it was the hottest of the races this year. I felt bad during the race and was sweating like a hog at the awards afterwards. I won a saddle in the raffle. A Serfas Stinger RS. I put it on my road bike. I think I'm going to like it.
Next Sunday is the first of the Klamath Falls Cyclocross series. I'm going but I haven't signed up for the series. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive each way. I'll do the first race and then decide if I want to do the rest of the series.

Check it out!

I know it's bogus because I participate in races with only 2 or 3 competitors, or even sometimes only me, and the other guys participate in actual races, but it's still cool to see. It's for the whole state of Oregon, all ages.

Mountain biking and STXC

I've been riding my mountain bike lately with a couple of guys I've ridden with in the past. The first ride was in what is know as the Mill Creek Acquisition. It is 25,000 acres that was purchased by the Save the Redwoods League from the Miller Rellim Timber Company and given to the State Parks system. The State has no budget to manage it so it is only open to the public on weekends. It's a huge piece of property that was actively logged so it contains a confusing system of old gravel roads. This is a picture from the high point on our 16 mile ride that day. You can see Lake Earl in the background.

The next weekend we rode the Little Bald Hills trail. It starts out on the South Fork of the Smith River and ends up in the Redwoods on Howland Hill Road. We shuttled to the trail head and started up the hill. The first mile is a steep trail with switch backs up to the top of the ridge. We walked that portion. It is too steep to ride unless you are an animal. The trail climbs gently for the next 4 or 5 miles to the high point shown in this picture. It is mostly old jeep road at this point.




Once the trail starts downhill it becomes a sweet single track that enters the forest. A long section of the trail is new with gravel surface about three feet wide.
















The trail ends in the Redwoods. It is spectacular.


















Sunday evening I raced STXC in Grants Pass again. It was pretty uneventful. It was hot but I survived. I was the only racer in the single speed class. There was another guy riding his single speed but he raced in the regular Sport class. He beat me but not by very much. Next week is the last race in the series. The following week will be my first cross race of the season. I'm racing a four race series in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Then it's the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross series. It's a really fun series with great raffle prizes including a Desalvo frame raffled at the last race. You can see the bike that was built from the raffle frame on the Plus One Lap blog. There's a link to the right.

Race

I raced in Grants Pass again yesterday evening. It was hot. It was 93 degrees when I first got there but it cooled considerably by the time I raced. It was still hot. There were only two single speeders. Me and Verne. Verne is a guy I met when I first started racing cross in Southern Oregon. He's a nice guy and is about my speed. He's younger than me, mid forties, and a strong cyclist. He whips my ass on road bikes. He's a big guy, bigger than me, so climbing takes a lot of energy. If I beat him it's because I outdid him on the up hills. His technical skills are superior to mine and he's braver going down hills. I have to push myself to beat him. I did beat him yesterday though. It was a good race. I think it was the first time that I "raced" and felt like I accomplished something. The course started uphill on a power line road, loose dirt, then some fairly technical single track, then uphill on a gravel road leading to more single track that came downhill to the start. I had ridden the South Fork of the Smith Saturday with Susan Roberts and my legs felt like they hadn't recovered yet so I was conserving energy from the start of the race. I just wanted to stay close to Verne. At one point during the third lap I bobbled and went briefly off the course. I was afraid that I had lost him but I caught up pretty quickly. The race was five laps but we got lapped during the fourth lap. I was feeling pretty worn out but I passed Verne on the gravel road uphill section on the last lap. You can see where on the chart. It's where my heart rate went to 182. It almost killed me passing him but I figured if I pushed hard I might demoralize him so he would back off. He stayed close so I had to push myself on the technical downhill single track. I was beyond my comfort level but ended the race with a pretty good gap on him. A good win. There are two more races in the series. I should win the series if I don't crash or break down. I've got two firsts and a second and Verne has a second and a third. The guy that won last week didn't show up yesterday.
I love my tubeless tires. Racing Ralph 2.4 at 28 psi in front and Small Block 8 at 30 psi in the rear. They hook up well in these dry conditions.

Race Wheels

Last week I said I would post a picture of my race wheels. Here there are. From the left: Velocity Deep V Elite rims on White Industry hubs with Challenge Grifo tires, FSA RD488 carbon wheels with Dugast Rhino tires, Mavic Reflex rims on White Industry hubs with Tufo Flexus tires, Lew Palermo carbon rims on White Industry hubs with Tufo S3 Lite tires, and Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheels with Tufo S3 Lite tires. On the bikes are: Mavic Open 4 rims on White Industry hubs with Panaracer CTX 737 tires on the cross bike, Stans ZTR 355 rims on Chris King hubs with Kenda Small Block 8 on the rear and Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4 on the front of the single speed 29er, DT Swiss wheels with Geax Saguaro tires on the geared 29er, Mavic Open Pro rims on Chris King hubs with Continental GP 4000 tires on the road bike, and FSA RD80 wheels with Vitoria tires on the TT bike. Am I a poser or what? I always read criticism of old farts who show up at races with fancy bikes and carbon wheels only to finish at the back of the pack, but that's all us old guys have going for us. We can afford nice toys.
I raced STCX in Grants Pass again. Susan was with me and took some pictures. Here I am in my California State Champion jersey. There were two other single speeders this week. I came in second. Next week is a different course. I felt pretty good this week and am looking forward to next week.

My Arsenal

I was washing a couple of my bikes today, the cross bike and the single speed, the ones I've been riding lately. They were leaning against the trailer drying and I decided to get all my bikes out and take a picture. I think I might need a couple more bikes.

Maybe next week I'll take a picture of all my wheels. I'm re-gluing some of them right now.








I raced Short Track Cross Country last evening in Grants Pass. I was the only single speed so I won. Actually I came in last in the Sport race. I wasn't geared quite right. I had emailed one of the promoters and asked what the course was like and how should I gear my bike. He said gear it easy. I put on a 21 tooth cog but it seemed too easy so I put on a 19. I should have left the 21 on. It wasn't massive climbs or even long climbs but it was either up or down, no flat. Some of the ups were almost like run ups in cross. It's a five race series so I've got four more races to try to get the gearing right.

Race Wheels

I bought a set of wheels on ebay. I can't afford to buy stuff like this since losing my part time job but I just can't resist. These caught my eye and they had a reasonable starting price so I set up an automatic snipe at slightly higher. We were in Jacksonville for Britt when the auction closed but when we got home I found that I was the only bidder. Lew Palermo wheels. They were the predecessor to the Reynolds Stratus wheels. Reynolds bought the company and put their name on the wheels. They have White Industries hubs. Reynold now uses DT Swiss hubs. I now have four sets of wheels with White Industries hubs. I like them. I have another set of hubs too. I was going to take the stickers off but I think I'll leave them. They are quite a bit lighter than the FSA carbon wheels that I raced with this year. My bike weighs 16.86 pounds with these wheels. I should get rid of the old Performance saddle and save some more weight. The FSA wheels will become my cross racing wheels. I think they're tougher than these wheels. 20/24 spokes versus 18/20 on the new wheels. I'm going to mount my Dugast Rhinos on them.

I haven't raced since Return on the Jedi. I'm racing STXC this weekend on my single speed. It's a five race series in Grants Pass. It should set me up well for cross season. Cross Crusade starts Oct. 5 and the Southern Oregon series starts Oct. 25. There are some other races in Portland and Eugene before that. I'm planning to race the whole Southern Oregon series and as many Cross Crusade races as I can get to.

I'm feeling pretty good. I rode 132 miles last week. I'm feeling stronger but I'm not sure if I'm fitter. I'm starting to do sprint intervals. Maybe if I keep doing big miles I'll lose some weight. Also I could quit drinking wine. I don't think so. Maybe I should try this http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/34225/title/Finding_the_golden_genes

Return on the Jedi

I hooked up the trailer and drove to Sam Brown campground last Thursday. It's located on Forest Service land near Grants Pass between Highway 199 and the Rogue River. Nice campground.










Jake went with me. It was HOT. I don't' know exactly how hot but the forecast said high 90s. Too hot for a dog with a fur coat and an old, fat guy from the coast.










Jake spent most of his time in the back of the truck and I spent most of my time here. Note the cheese and crackers and wine glass.
















I race STXC on Saturday morning. I rode my single speed. There were only two of us so I got second place. The other single speeder lapped me twice and won the Sport Class overall. It was a neat course. Uphill on a gravel road from the start and then downhill on a fire road leading to single track that looped around the campground, all slightly up hill. It was hard. It was hot. I had to ride about three laps more than I wanted. It was a 30 minute race. I'm used to the first lap being timed and then a lap board showing the remaining laps to make approximately 30 minutes. This race was 30 minutes plus one lap with everybody finishing on the same lap as the winner. I was out almost 40 minutes, seven laps.
You have to click on this picture to see what it is. Yes, it's a rattle snake in our camp. He didn't hang around for long, though.











Sunday morning I raced XC on my geared bike. It also was a neat course. A lot of climbing though. I felt pretty good on the first part which is the lower loop in the picture. The upper loop is all uphill to the top of the loop and then downhill on the Jedi Trail. Actually it's uphill from the bottom of the lower loop to the top of the upper. I bonked. Badly. I've never bonked like that before. Once you get to the Jedi Trail it's mostly downhill. Mostly wasn't good enough. Each little uphill killed me. I had to walk the uphills. I was so lightheaded I thought I would crash unless I stopped and rested. Then I got a cramp in my thigh and thought "Great I can't ride and I can't walk. How am I going to get home?" Then, as I was walking along the trail I heard bzzzzz. I knew what it was and that got my heart going good. I knew I would finish the race because that was the only way back to my trailer. Eventually I felt better and rode to the finish. I was surprised that I came in ahead of some people. I'm not sure what went wrong. I was well hydrated before the start, I ate a gel pack before the start and during the race, I drank a bottle of Heed mix and had a hydration pack. It was probably the effects of the race the day before and the heat. There was one good thing that happened. I braked to a stop at the finish line and let them take my tag and then peddled off. The next time I touched my rear brake it didn't work. I had lost the pivot pin, right after the finish. Perfect. I went back later and found it.

Ride to the Ocean

I went out on my road bike today for a while. I really wanted to ride my single speed though. I just installed a new 19 tooth cog, I'm racing the single speed at the STXC at Jedi next weekend. So after I got done with the road bike I came home and got the single speed. I went out to the Cadra Ranch (see my earliest posts from last year). I rode one loop at Cadra and then decided to explore. I rode to a nearby trail head and took off.
None of these crossed out symbols looked like a bike.


















I wanted to see if I could ride to the Ocean.













I took the straight ahead route which took me here.


















I came out of the forest onto vegetated dunes.













Some places the sand was deep enough that I got off and walked. I probably could have let some air out of my tires and ridden through but it would have been more effort than I wanted.















I was actually able to ride through most of this.













I reached the ocean. If you enlarge this picture you can see the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse.













Here's my bike, on the beach, looking north.
I live in such a beautiful place it never ceases to amaze me. And people here are always complaining that "there's nothing to do here".

I don't have a race this weekend. Next weekend is Return on the Jedi. It might be my last mountain bike race of the year other than the Pistis STXC series in Grants Pass in August.

I'm taking the trailer to Jedi and spending the whole weekend. I might do the Southern Oregon Thursday night race and then drive to Jedi from there. It should be a lot of fun.