Single Speed

 A couple years after I built the cyclocross bike I decided to build a single speed mountain bike, don't ask me why. I bought a Niner One Nine frame, scandium, super light. I built a set of wheels and bought cool single speed components. I think the finished bike weighed about 18 pounds. I was racing a short track cross country series in Jacksonville with my geared mountain bike and took my new single speed to try during warm ups.When I drove up to the race site I heard "Oh good, Dave brought his single speed we can have a single speed category tonight". So I had to race it. It wasn't as bad as I had feared. There was a long uphill gravel section at the start where I had to stand out of the saddle but the rest was woop de do single track downhill. I think there was only one other guy riding single speed. I kept riding it in the short track cross country races. There were several Short Track race series that year and I raced them all. There were only a couple other guys racing single speed so I always finished on the podium, so to speak. The Jedi Mountain Bike weekend was the State Championship so double points. There were only two single speeders in the short track race. The other guy lapped me twice. At the end of the season OBRA listed me as the number one single speed mountain bike racer. The guy that lapped me twice at the Jedi race was second. It was kind of bogus but I did race a lot of times. 

Start of Cyclocross for me

 It's been so long since I even looked at this I'm not sure how to post. For a while now I've been thinking that I should do this again. In my old age I'm remembering a lot of stories that should be written down. I just today read on Facebook that the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross race series won't be held this year. Back in about 2005 I built a Cyclocross bike. I didn't know anything about Cyclocross but I thought the bikes were cool. It was my first time building a bike. I bought most of the components on eBay. I didn't know how to install a headset so I contacted Molly Cameron in Portland and she installed it for me. When I picked up the bike she said people had admired it and said that I had to race it. I went to a Cyclocross clinic put on by Jana Jensen owner of Cycle Analysis of Jacksonville, Oregon. She encouraged me to race so I did. My first race was at Emigrant Lake. It was tough. During the first lap I thought "this is too hard. I'm going to quit at the end of this lap". Then I thought "OK one more". I finished the race. That was the beginning of my Cyclocross career at age 61. I'll continue the story in my next post. 

Genius

 I'm sitting in the Sweet Spot listening to music. I first listened to a Beatles Compilation. It's pretty amazing and greatly satisfying to remember that these, mostly uneducated, untrained lads were such musical geniuses. Then I listened to Time Out by Dave Brubeck. Totally different but still genius. Then I thought about my background in music. I was, if you can be, a music major in high school. I played the trombone. I was pretty good. I'll tell you my favorite story about that time. I was taking private lessons from a guy named Woody Thompson. He was a trombone player and he was the musical director at Arcata High School, we both lived in Eureka, across the bay. Back then there were dinner clubs where you could have dinner while a dance band played for you. Woody had a dance band. There was actually a musicians union. The union had a band that played at local events for free. Woody was the director of the band. When I was a junior in high school Woody invited me to join the band. My mother drove me to the first practice and I wasn't late but everybody else was already there. I got out my horn and went to the trombone section. The other trombone players were already seated and the only empty spot was first chair so I sat there. One of the other players, a grown up who got paid to play trombone, said "Mr. Thompson will assign a place for you to play". I hollered "hey Woody, where do you want me to sit?". He replied "you're good right where you are". Take that asshole. I wasn't a genius though and I split my lip later playing a fourth of July parade with the Musicians Union Band and ended my musical career. 

The Sweet Spot

I'm sitting in the Sweet Spot, a protected from the north wind exposed to the south sun corner on my deck. It's raining at times and sometimes hailing. I'm under the eaves and have a half patio umbrella to protect me from the rain. I have a propane fire pit with a really cool heat projector thing. I'm comfortable and warm. I like being outside. I have some new outdoor speakers for my streaming stereo. I usually don't play them very loud because I don't want to offend my neighbors who are wonderful.  It's winter, it's raining, they won't be outside to hear my music. Pink Floyd,The Dark Side of the Moon.

New Post

I worked for the City of Arcata from about 1964 to 1981. Most of those years I worked at  City Hall across from Flynn's Inn which was myArcata home bar. One year I was the inspector for a contractor doing TV inspection of the sewer lines. The crew was "old guys" probably about thirty years old. One time we went to Flynn's after work to drink and play shuffleboard. We finished a game and went to the bar so the losers could buy a round. When we went back to the shuffleboard table someone had taken it. An argument ensued and all of a sudden it was the four of us at one end of the bar and everybody else at the other end. A college kid stepped forward and one of my "old guys "stepped up. My "old guy" took off his shirt and he looked like Popeye, tattoos and muscles. The college kid went "Oh my god". No fight occurred.

Rambling Thoughts

I'm sitting on the deck, in the Sweet Spot, with the propane fire pit going and a glass of wine. I have some rambling thoughts going and was going to share them on Facebook. This is a better space to share rambling thoughts although they may not be read by anyone.

For some reason I am remembering Oregon Ducks sports, probably because Susan just posted photos of masks she has just sewn and some were Ducks fabric. We became Ducks fans because my buddy Jeff Boyer went there to grad school and Eugene, with big time college sports, is just four hours drive away. Our interest was mostly football but some basketball. We went to a couple games at McArthur Court, the old brick arena. One game was a Ducks game and our seats were near the ceiling. It felt like we were looking straight down onto the court. The fans would all stomp on the floor in unison and the whole building would shake. They had to pause the game because the backboards were swaying too much. Another game we attended was an NBA exhibition game between the Trailblazers  and the Pacers. Our seats for that game were about four rows off the floor but behind one of the goals. Not the best but Paul Allen was sitting right behind us.

I'm Back, I Think

I think that I want to start writing to my blog again. This post is a test to see if it is still available to me.

New Saddle

I rode Spring Thaw a couple of weekends ago. Notice "I rode" not "I raced". I've decided I'm not a mountain bike racer. I just ride the Cat 3 course and enjoy myself. My stock answer when asked how my race went was "Uneventful". One high point of the day was that I won a new saddle in the raffle. Check out how good it looks on my cross bike. It's perfect. Thank you Amy, and whoever donated it.
Last weekend I rode a loosely organized ride in the Illinois Valley near Cave Junction. The people who own the local bike shop in Crescent City have a cabin near O'Brien and invite friends to come ride and have a barbecue afterward. We had a good time but my young Chinese friend crashed on a downhill about five miles into the ride. He was pretty banged up and got taken to the hospital in Grants Pass. He did a face plant into the gravel shoulder at about 45 mph. He's okay but his face is pretty scraped up.
Next weekend is Return on the Jedi. I'm taking my trailer again and spending the weekend. I'm racing short track on Saturday with my single speed and "riding" cross country on Sunday. I again opted not to race the Super D Saturday afternoon. I'll just kick back with a glass of wine to prepare for Sunday morning.

Pork BBQ

I cooked some pork barbecue yesterday, and took pictures.
I injected the meat with a mixture of apple juice, brown sugar and salt at about 6:00 a.m.






Started the coals at about 7:00 a.m.







Applied a mustard moisturizer,







a seasoning rub,







and placed into the cooker at about 8:00 a.m.







Initial temperatures, 248° in the cooker, 41° meat internal temp.







It's going to be a long day. I need to be comfortable. The coffee cup later became a bottle of beer and eventually, a glass of wine.






The final product at 7:00 p.m.







There were some intermediate steps that I didn't photograph. After about 3 hours, internal temp 130°, I sprayed the meat with apple juice and continued to cook. After about another 3 hours, internal temp 160° I double wrapped the meat in foil after pouring on a wrapping mixture of butter, honey, brown sugar, yellow mustard and water. Then back into the cooker for another 2 1/2 hours to internal temp 192°. Then wrapped in plastic wrap, insulated with beach towels and placed in a cooler to rest for about an hour. Then unwrapped, lightly coated with the seasoning rub and back into the cooker for about 30 minutes. Then drizzled with bbq sauce and into the cooker for another 20 minutes. This is from my favorite cookbook, Serious Barbecue by Adam Perry Lang.

Oh, it was delicious.

I'm Back

I decided that, since I get irritated when other people don't post to their blogs, I need to post to mine. I doubt that anybody cares. Does anybody read this?
My last post was after the nationals in December. Since then I raced a road race, Cherry Pie, and a TT series, three races in Medford. I got dropped about a third of the way through the road race, way better than last time, and Vern kicked my ass in the TT. Both were fun though.
The big news is that I built a new cross bike. Most of it is used stuff off ebay. The shifters and derailleurs are off my road bike. I upgraded it to 10 speed. I haven't ridden the new bike on any kind of cross terrain but it feels really good on the gravel roads I ride on. BB30 really feels solid. Old Blue will now become my B bike in the pits.






Dura Ace 7900 on the road bike.


















I'm having trouble getting motivated to race mountain bikes. I didn't do Horning's and I'm not doing Mudslinger this weekend. I signed up for Spring Thaw and I'm doing Return on the Jedi for sure. Those may be my only races until STXC starts.

Cyclocross National Championships 2009

I haven't posted anything for quite a while. I didn't have anything to post about until now. I raced the National Championships in Bend this week.








Here I am with Jeff Boyer before the race. I stayed with Jeff and Tracy at their house between Bend and Redmond.



As you can probably guess from the photos, it was cold. Actually it was warm...compared to what it had been. The night before I got to Bend it was 10 degrees below zero. When we got up the morning of my race it was 1 degree above zero and by my race time it was almost up to freezing.
This is what most of the course looked like. It was very slick. I started slowly and after the first lap gained some confidence and picked up my pace somewhat. I was moving up in the standings when I went down twice in the same lap and decided to revert to survival mode. I stayed upright for the rest of the race but didn't pass anybody else. On the last lap a guy in my age group caught me. We got to the run-up at the same time but he stumbled a little. I beat him to the big drop and didn't look back. I sprinted the last couple hundred yards on pavement and almost puked at the finish. When I looked back after the finish line he was nowhere to be seen. He must have fallen on the drop.

There was a set of stairs to negotiate.












I felt pretty good after the finish. Glad to be done.


















On day two I was a spectator, eating some frites.

It was a fun experience. I finished eighth in my age group and didn't get hurt. I'm looking forward to next year.

Outlaw Cross '09 #3

We raced again on Saturday for the third race of the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross Series. There was mud again. Only a couple of places on the course were muddy but it was a sticky mud that caused a derailleur carnage. The last count that I heard was 13 broken derailleurs out of about 60 racers. I saw two derailleurs broken during warm up laps. I decided I didn't want to ride the course until it was time to race. I was surveying the course and spoke to Thom Kneeland who is an experienced cyclocross racer. He said "work the edges and power through the sticky stuff as fast as you can go". I did that and I survived the race. I not only survived, I finished ahead of several people who always beat me. Steve Law was one of them. He broke his derailleur on about the fourth lap. I think that I might have been able to beat him even if he didn't break down. I was passing him at the end of the course on every lap. He would then catch me but always after the start/finish line.
Look at him. He knows I'm coming and he's hurting. Doesn't it look like he's having some kind of attack trying to stay ahead of me?
















There was a run up that was really muddy. That was the only section that I didn't ride. There were a couple of other muddy sections that I was able to ride without clogging up.
















This was Vern's bike after the race. I lapped him again. For some reason I didn't feel bad about lapping him this week. In fact I had to speed up right at the end to catch him before the finish line.













I feel pretty good about my racing. I think I'm still getting stronger and I'm continuing to learn how to race smarter. I'm think I might be on track to peak for the Nationals next month.

Photos by John Raedake

Outlaw Cyclocross #2

We raced yesterday in Grants Pass. We had mud. It was the Halloween costume race.














I started out going what I thought was pretty easy. I am still hurting from crashing last week and really didn't want to crash again. I was hanging right behind Vern and I quickly realized that he was setting a pretty fast pace. After a couple of laps I noticed 7 on the lap board and started to worry that I might not be able to keep up for that long. Vern started to fade after about three laps and I passed him . He told me his wheels were clogging up with mud. I was running my carbon wheels with the Dugast Rhino tires and they were working pretty well. I was still picking up a lot of mud and it got harder to ride as the race went on. About half way through the last lap I caught Vern. I decided I wouldn't lap him as that might be pouring salt into his wounds. He stopped to clear out the mud and, with a grin on his face, threw a handful at me. So I stomped on him while he was down (figuratively) and lapped him.
This was my bike after the race.













It's pretty amazing that it was even functioning.













The race really took it out of me. When I was walking back from picking up my pit wheels I felt like I might need to sit down a take a rest so I could make it back to my truck. Maybe I shouldn't have ridden 30 miles the day before. I usually don't ride the day before a race but the weather was so nice I just couldn't resist.
Next week we'll be at the Speedway in Medford.

Ugly Race Photos

Have your children leave the room before you view these Photos. They may be upsetting.
I raced yesterday in Yreka. It was the first race of the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross Series. It started well for me. I was going hard. Richard Bush was riding right behind me. I don't know if he was holding back or I was going faster than normal. At about two thirds of the way through the course I came to a hard, bumpy section. I was still going pretty fast and decided to move to the right side of the track which I thought might be smoother. I was riding gripping the hoods. I hit a rock or something and both my hands came off the bars. I went down, hard. Now I know why people ride rough stuff in the drops. From a review of my injuries I hit on my right knee and rolled to my hip and onto my back. My head also hit the ground as my helmet mount popped loose. Here's some photos taken after I got home.









To add insult to injury, when I finally got ready to continue, my rear tire was flat and I had to run quite a distance to the pit. It should go without saying that Vern beat me.
I'm OK though. I'll be back next week to race at Paradise Ranch in Grants Pass.

KFCX '09 #2

I raced in Klamath Falls again on Sunday. I've been putting off posting about it while I waited to see if I could find some photos. I didn't find any of Vern or I but I found some that showed parts of the course. Speaking of Vern, I beat him this week. I don't want to gloat about it because Vern is a good friend and a fierce competitor but, having said that, I SMOKED him. I had decided that I really needed to figure out how to ride the sand pit because that is where I caught up to him each lap at the last race. Vern and I discussed the sand pit and decided that the left side looked ridable. The tape was a little wide of the pit so at about half way through you could try to bounce out onto the grass.
This shows the sand pit. It is the right side and from the clouds it is the first race. The weather was much nicer this week.















I decided that I needed to go through it ahead of Vern on the first lap so I passed him on a 180° turn prior to the pit. I hit the sand pit going pretty fast and was able to coast to a spot where I could exit on the left side onto the grass. That didn't work every lap but, when it didn't I was able to pedal out to the end. Then when I got to the uphill pavement section I pounded it. I hit it hard. I had noticed, in earlier races, that if I let Vern stay ahead of me for very long he seemed to draw on some inner power to keep ahead of me. Anyway, Vern had trouble with the pit and I didn't. After a few laps I was far enough ahead that I could back off a little on the uphill.
Here's a photo showing the steps after the uphill section. Actually there is a short downhill before the steps that allows for a little recovery.















On the next to last lap Steve Law passed me. I thought that he was lapping me but he said "Now I'm on the same lap as you". He had flatted earlier. If I hadn't backed off maybe I could have beaten him. That would've been sweet.
This weekend starts the Southern Oregon Outlaw series in Yreka, CA.

Cross Crusade #2 2009

I raced the Cross Crusade race on Sunday at Ranier High School near Ranier, Oregon. I try to do at least one of the series each year. I go for the experience not expecting to be competitive. It was an experience. I think there were nearly 1,200 racers. My race included Masters B 35+ (107), Masters 50+ (68), and Junior Men (26). Staggered start but still over 200 racers on the course at the same time. I'm always amazed at how well the OBRA racers are run. My race went OK. It is a tough course with a long, killer hill and a short, steep forced run up. I just tried to survive. I finished 62nd out of the 68 50+ riders. Some of those guys are 14 years younger than me. That's what I have to remember as about one third of them lapped me. I didn't take any pictures but you should look at these to get a feel for the race. You can also read about it here. I did find some pictures though.
I look like I was really going fast here.












I lose weight and get fit, but I'm still an old, fat guy trying to be a racer.











Here's Thom Kneeland going fast in the Masters A 35+ race. It was really great for me to be racing 300 miles from home, all by myself, and come around a corner to find Thom and Scott Churchill rooting me on.

Next week I'll be back in Klamath Falls for finish the two race series there. Then it's the Southern Oregon Outlaw Cyclocross Series.

Cyclocross Klamath Falls

My cyclocross season has now started. I raced at Klamath Falls on Sunday. I picked up Steve Law in Grants Pass and headed over the mountain on Highway 140. When Steve put his stuff into my car I thought that it didn't look like he had enough clothing. When we got near the top of the mountain and it started snowing he said "What's this?". I asked if he hadn't read the weather forecast. "No. Is it supposed to snow in Klamath Falls?" They had been forecasting snow all week. All my Southern Oregon cycling friends on Facebook had been talking about it. Steve needs to get connected. Lucky for him I had thrown some extra clothes in at the last minute. So he didn't freeze. It didn't really snow at the race but it was really cold.
Here's Steve looking good with my cap and long sleeved shirt on under his jersey.

















I guess I can't delay any longer saying what all my loyal readers want to know. Big Vern beat me again. He bested me on all parts of the course. He was able to push a bigger gear up the longest hill. I didn't have my legs. I couldn't quite catch him.
The course started on an uphill section of grass that didn't look difficult until you tried to ride it. Grass makes a hill steeper than it appears to be. Then some more grass through a couple of switch backs leading to a volleyball court sand pit. I had successfully ridden the sand pit during warm up laps but crashed into the sand on the first lap. I ran it after that. Then more grass and onto an uphill paved road. That's where I couldn't seem to catch Vern. Then downhill on the road to a set of stairs where these pictures were taken. Then onto a dirt trail downhill to an off camber grass downhill to the parking lot. Then along a concrete path with a couple of sets of stairs back to the start. Each lap I would catch Vern at the sand pit but then just hang with him on the uphill and he would get away on the downhill. He was strong. I wasn't.
I was sporting a new jersey advertising Drop Top Amber Ale. At least I looked good.
I rode the wheels with Mavic Reflex rims and Tufo Flexus tires at 26 and 28 psi. Worked fine. I just need to work a little harder.
I'm racing next weekend in Portland. Cross Crusade at Ranier High School. They had almost 1,500 racers last weekend at Alpenrose. I hope there's not that many next weekend. I'm sure I won't do well enough to get any points but the experience will be worth the drive.

Photos by Jamie Douglass

Catching Up

I guess, since cross season is about to start, I should catch up this blog. Also Brooks just updated his long ignored blog so I should follow suit.

I've been racing STXC in Grants Pass on my Niner One 9 single speed. There have been five single speeders in the series. My usual rival, Vern, has been off his game and not a factor, until the last race. Usually I'm faster than him on the uphills and he's faster on the downhills. In the last race of the series he passed me on one of the uphills and I never could quite catch up with him. The only other notable happening during the series was when I crashed twice at the third race. Once during warm up and again during the race. Different corners, same ribs. One month later I'm finally able to sleep without pain. My mountain biking buddy, Brian, did the series and finished second overall in Cat 3 riding his single speed. Before he bought a used single speed he couldn't understand the attraction. Now his full suspension geared bike sits in his garage most of the time.





Last month, August, Brian, Ethan and I took a road trip. We hooked up my trailer and drove to Sam Brown Campground near Grants Pass between Hwy 199 and the Rogue River. We met Steve Law who guided us. We rode the Jedi trail and the Briggs Creek trail. It was great fun.
We camped at Sam Brown where Brian learned that he likes red wine. We drank my red wine allotment for the whole trip the first night. We stopped at Safeway in Roseburg the next day to replenish our supplies.












We drove to the McKenzie River where we camped at Paradise campground. A nice spot. A different experience from Sam Brown where we were the only campers.










We were right on the river.













The next day we drove to the upstream trail head and rode about 21 miles back to our camp. I had hooked up with a guy from San Francisco on one of the forums who camped and rode with us and provided a shuttle back to my truck.









The upper half of the trail is really scenic.
































It's really rough, though. If I ride there again I won't do the upper half.












The lower half is just as scenic and a lot easier to ride. The upper half took 4 1/2 hours and the lower half 2 1/2 hours.




































Now it's time to get ready for cross season. I'm racing in Klamath Falls this weekend. I'll be racing the same old Blue cross bike. I'd love to get a new bike but I can't afford it. I haven't been working lately and I'm broke.

Mill Creek Ride

Yesterday I rode what's known as the Mill Creek Acquisition. It is the land formerly owned by Miller-Rellim Timber Company. It was purchased by the Save the Redwoods League and donated to the State in 2002. The State hasn't decided what to do with it yet. They are doing watershed restoration and decommissioning some of the roads. It is only open to the public for day use on weekends. It has tremendous potential for recreation use. 25,000 acres with old logging roads all through it. The riding on the old logging roads is pretty good but very steep. Our ride yesterday included over 3,800 feet of climbing in 18 miles. 1,800 feet in 3 miles at the beginning. A lot of hike a bike. Coming back down is great fun.
Here's Ethan and Billy walking up one of the hills.













You can see the ocean from here but there was too much moisture in the air for it to show in a photo.











Very rugged country. I can't imagine how difficult it was to log here.












If you enlarge this photo you can see where we started riding. It is the light spot in the exact center of the picture right over the ridge in the center.










This is the view to the east.













We were the only vehicles in the parking lot at the trail head. This property doesn't get much use. I fear that the State budget cuts might cause it to be closed to all use.

Here's a link to the activity on Garmin Connect.