MTBDEE

The Walkabout Trail

2008-07-22T15:10:00.011-05:00

Sometimes trail names can be so benign as to make no connection to the place, or the experience ahead of you. I'm thinking here of a trail like the JB Hudson Trail, or the Arcadia Trail, in Arcadia. What does either name tell you about the trail or what you might expect to ride? Not too much. Unless maybe you know a good story or two about JB Hudson.

On the other hand a trail name like the Purple Panty trail at Lincoln Woods is so fitting on so many levels it's scary. Ditto with the MT Tom trail. Not so much the Tom part, but the MT designation lets you know you're gonna do some climbing and there might be some views. It evokes a challenge, and it delivers in style. Sandhill trail in Arcadia is also aptly named as well because, well, there's a crappy sand hill in the middle of it. You can't bitch and complain because you were warned, after all it was right there in the name.

Unfortunately no one ever names trails with really descriptive names like "worst ride ever", "pinch flat haven", "pickle central", or "the place some guy broke his face". Nope, it's never close to being that accurate, and that means you have to go find out for yourself. And, really, that's half the fun.

This past Saturday I decided to go ride the Walkabout Trail in George Washington State Park in the 100 degree heat and humidity. In this case the trail name gives it all away up front, and it provides some big clues on what to expect. Anytime you see the word WALK expect trouble, or masochistic fun, depending on your point of view. Also, when embarking on any trail named after a rite of passage one should expect some sort of challenge. In this case it's a 9 mile rock garden that can make you a better rider, or reduce you to a whimpering clown.

As it turns out the trail delivered on it's promises, and it handily kicked my ass during some of the slowest riding I've done in a long time. It took me almost 2 hours to travel those nine miles, and I can honestly say I only walked a small percentage of the trail. It's definitely rideable, but it's really tough in a mentally wearing kind of way. I repeated a few tricky sections just to learn the line and clean the worst parts. Mercifully there's almost no climbing on the trail itself. What you will find is a carpet of rocks, roots, downed trees, overgrown singletrack and a few swampy sections thrown in for good measure. And don't forget about the deer flies! Friendly bastards, they'll accompany you for most of your journey. And rest assured, they'll be certain to bite when your immediate attention is required to keep you from headwalking on the trail.

I rode out from the parking lot at Pulaski Park, a small parcel located within the ~ 4,000 acre George Washington State Park. I followed the Walkabout in a counter clockwise direction, but somehow I managed to lose the trail after I was back in the vicinity of Pulaski. It may have been the heat, but I completely missed the markers on the fire road and just kept riding. And riding, and riding. During the slow brain bake on the sun drenched fire roads I drained my water reserves while simultaneously heading in all the wrong directions. I knew I needed to go west, but every dirt road I picked would inevitably veer north, east or northwest at best.

After a little over an hour of brain boiling fun, and a loooong descent I didn't want to climb back up, I found a fire road heading due west and rode out as fast as possible. I hit a paved road and figured "it can't be more than a mile or two back to the lot". Right about then I saw the signs letting me know I was in Thompson, CT. Shit.. OK, well at least I was headed in the right direction. I stopped at Quaddick State Park in CT and asked the kid at the kiosk where I was, and how I could get to Pulaski. The directions seemed easy enough, then I asked him how far it was. His answer of 10 minutes in a car sounded easy, and I was psyched. That feeling lasted for about 2 seconds while my electrolyte starved brain did the math. That's when I realized that at ~ 50 mph a car covers almost ten miles in 10 minutes.

10 miles is 10 miles. It's no big deal usually, its' barely a warm up ride right? At this point, however, it was pretty bad news. I felt like someone stabbed me in the eye, and the anger sharks were definitely swimming in my head big time. I soft pedaled to the intersection the kid described, and then I saw a nice big hill waiting for me. OK one hill, whatever. Wait, there's another one. And, oh great, there's another! While nudging my way up the last hill I contemplated just getting off and walking, then I realized I was already doing this. Cool, no need to continue thinking it over! As I was getting back on the bike I realized that the power lines on my left were indeed the same power lines I crossed about 90 minutes earlier. They dump out about a mile from the parking lot.. There's nothing like learning the boundaries of a park or forest the hard way. Now I really know the lay of the land, yaaay for me..

No pics from the ride, but here's some quality entertainment for you. Thank you, drive through.

Happenings

2008-07-16T11:33:00.006-05:00

Warning! There's not a whole lot of bike related content below. I had a 50 mile + road ride planned for last Saturday, but the 2 hours of super charged riding at Lincoln Woods on Friday (not to mention the beers at the Fez) landed me in a near coma until 2 pm on Saturday. As Stacy put it "I don't think I've ever seen you quite like this". Indeed. So instead of riding I got my shit together, and we headed over to McCoy with Bruceapallooza himself to see the Bosstones/Dropkick Murphy's show.

There were a lot of people there, the paper reported that there were 10,000+ tickets sold. Pretty friggin' crazy! Anyway, the stage was set up in the outfield, and there was some temporary flooring laid down to protect the grass. Someone thought it was a good idea to sell the legions of "punch me I'm Irish" dudes beer in plastic bottles. Not too surprisingly an impromptu bottle toss/fight erupted prior to the Bosstones set. While it was slightly amusing to watch, it further cemented my well known feelings on the stupidity of most people.

So we dodged bottles and hung out near the front while waiting for the show to start. The Bosstones opened with Kinder Words, and then they blazed through an hour plus set (they did slow things down to bring Dicky's Mom out for her birthday). I'm not going to include the whole set list, but they did play some great songs that they haven't been playing a lot since the reunion. These included Illegal Left, Toxic Toast, Devil's Night Out and You Gotta Go!. The initial reaction from the crowd was kind of tepid, save the action from the already drunk 300lb fools seemingly out to crush kids just trying to have a good time. Watching big dolts in green Celtics shirts, and a few with Irish flag face paint, mow down much smaller people was kinda lame. Luckily the big goons got all tuckered out Clubber Lang style, and everyone resumed having fun after a while. All of the above is why I prefer to see bands in a smaller venue, but I'll take what I can get and had a great time anyway.

The really nice pictures above and below are courtesy of Mike Gaughan of Whatever Magazine and are used with his permission. He takes some really nice pics in general, check out the link above. Thanks Mike!

We moved to the stands to watch the DKM show. I hadn't seen them in ages, and they seem to have a whole thing going for themselves that works. Not really my kind of thing, but good for them. We made our exit during Barroom Heroes (one of the few DKM tunes I know) and escaped ahead of most of the crowd.

I did get out to Foxboro on Sunday for a good ride on the Schwinn. Rigid 26" riding definitely works me over now that I'm a pansy 29er rider. The beating I took on the trail far exceeded that which I received at the show on Saturday, though both were slightly less than what Margaret dished out Friday night. All things considered it's certainly no worse than the beatdowns local racoons are know to bestow upon my favorite bartender, so I'd say we're even..

Confessions of a Cycling Addict?

2008-07-10T11:27:00.009-05:00

Last night I threw my Kona Kula on the stand to work out some kinks with the shifty bits. I managed to finagle a quick fix, but I realized full well that the chain is on it's way out. Perhaps there are a few more solid outings in it, but this is assuming they're coupled with diligent post ride cleaning. The bike has seen plenty of crud from the winter straight through the summer, as we now seem to be living in a sub tropical thunderstorm rich environment.

Anyways...fiddling with the Kona, and thinking about replacing the chain, made me think about the ridiculous amount of bike crap I have. My place is starting to resemble a used bike lot without the pushy sales people. Granted some of my bikes have been with me for a few years, but how did I justify buying all this stuff? I ride a lot, but not so much that I could ever need all these bikes. I could probably just get away with riding the On One with two wheelsets (road fixed/'cross freewheel) and one geared MTB. Somehow I have acquired two rigid singlespeeds (one 26and one 29 for good measure of course), a 29er FS bike, a fixed/SS 'cross bike, a geared 'cross bike and a geared HT. WTF is wrong with me? Oh, I know I'm missing a proper road bike - that's what wrong with me..

Seriously, I envy those riders with one road bike and one MTB (and a 'cross bike). What is their secret? Do they ride less? Probably not. I'm willing to bet they figured out that maintaining multiple bikes is a PITA, and that they could live with less. Bummer for them; as they'd never be able to have conversations with themselves like the below example of what goes through my head when the mere thought of selling a bike meanders into the postholed muddy field that is my brain....

Me: Holy Jeebus H Crackers!! WTF?? DUDE you have wayyy too much crap. You asshole!
Me: What? Oh, yeah, well you see I need all this stuff. Why don't you go think about something else, or go shoot water at the cats, that'll keep you busy.
Me: Huh, oh yeah that was fun! Hey! You fucker! Seriously douchebag, sell some stuff and do it sooner rather than later.
Me: (Shit, I'm not avoiding this topic am I?) Er, well, ummm... yeah you see once again I need this stuff for all the different types of riding I do. I'm a veritable Tour de France of bicycle multitasking.. yeah that's it. Why don't you get it?
Me: I don't get it because we only really ride like 6-10 hours a week, and there's 6 damn bikes in this house!
Me: Well, it's not like they're wall art or anything. They all get ridden more than Seinfeld's green Klein at least..
Me: Whatever, you're an idiot - who references Seinfeld in this day and age? Aside from TV addled morons?
Me: Seinfeld is totally relevant (great, this is shifting away from the bikes!).
Me: Again, you're a tool - sell some stuff!

Me: Ok, fine here's why I can't sell anything.. The Surly: It got me into 29ers, and it's an awesome bike - so what if it's a 30lb singlespeed that makes our body sore for days after climbing a few miles on it? The Kona: This is for going sooo fast and pretending I still care about racing. No way that's for sale. The Niner: Jesus man, how else could I go sooo wicked fast and huck the gnar?? Really - how else? See you got nothing.. The On One - best bike ever, SS 'cross bikes are completely awesome and totally practical! Everyone should ride one screw gears.. Which, logically brings us to the geared Fuji 'cross bike. C'mon man! So, do you expect me to ride fixed, or SS, all the friggin' time? Of course you don't.
Me: Fine, what about the blue Schwinn?
Me: What? Oh, that. Dude it's freakin' Bass Boat Blue for crissakes! C'mooooon guy(channeling Carl from Aqua Teen here)!
Me: Yeah, it's sparkly and blue and, and err uh.... hey, look Family Guy is on.
Me: Again, that show is on like every five minutes..
Me: Yeah, it's the one where Brian is drunk and they reference pop culture like every 3 minutes without really having a plot..
Me: Oh, hey this is great!....................................

Not much happening around here...

2008-07-02T11:53:00.005-05:00

I rode with Uncle B from Providence Bike on Friday morning waaaay down in the hinterlands of Arcadia. I had to scope out a beginner/intermediate loop for Sunday's scheduled ride series event. We rode a bunch of the trails near Browning Mill Pond including the Arcadia trail and the 95 trail. Due to the high humidity the rocks and roots alike were all aglow with an icy green sheen. This unmistakable hue serves as a warning to air down and ride light. After losing about 50 pounds of water weight we headed back to the car and figured out how to cram the bikes in the back once again. My dreams of getting up to three bikes in the Fit are mostly shot down. I'm thinking maybe if both front and rear wheels are removed it might work with one of the rear seats up, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.

I made another trip up to Chase and Lincoln Woods on Saturday morning on the On One, and once again it was fun to bang around in the woods on that bike. Pinch flatting on a rock roller was not so fun, but luckily it waited until I came to a stop to go from full to dead flat in 2 seconds. Good thing, because that roller might've hurt me otherwise.. Later on Saturday I bumped into the road warrior known as Apples at the post Cox Charities Bicycle Gnar Gnar Huck Jam party that was graciously hosted by the Samartanos, and their wonderful friends Lyons and Judge. As for the race, well, I completely missed the 2/3 race but I arrived in time to catch the 50 lap (!) Pro race. I hear some serious bike wrangling took place in the 2/3 with Adam St. G almost winning all the prize money, and I also heard that Scotty lapped the whole field on the first lap because he was going soooo fast. Word on the street was the only thing that slowed him down was his skin catching on fire due to the excessive speeds.

The Pro race was fun to watch but admittedly I was kind of bored within about 30 minutes. Bike races (and rides) are more fun to do than watch. Also, not knowing anyone in the race makes it even harder to watch with out rapidly losing interest in the whole affair.

After catching up with some Misanthrope on a scooter (catchy band name maybe??) I moseyed over to Whole Foods with Billy Dee Williams (aka Noah "Colt 45" Jacobs) for party favors and beer. I then made Noah ride up Doyle on his rickety bucket of bolts, all so we could raid my fridge for more beer to bring to said soiree. Much fun was had by all and the rain held off which was a nice touch. I had to lead a ride the next morning down in Arcadia so I booked it home through a winding down Waterfire and hit the hay.

Rumor is someone I know (his name rhymes with James Grimley) would like to start some sort of underground 'cross race this fall somewhere east of Providence, adjacent to a path designed for bicycle riding. Keep an ear out for it, it might be fun.

Here's on old picture of when the Kula was rigid..

Dirt Drops and some woods riding

2008-06-22T17:46:00.016-05:00

I had a rare weekend full of nothing, no obligations meant I could go for a ride and try out my new bars. I picked up some WTB Dirt Drops a week or so ago via the online garage sale that is MTBR. Originally I intended to turn the Karate Monkey into a "monstercross" bike but I quickly realized I wasn't that cool, and I didn't want to mess with a good thing. So I figured I'd pop them on the On One and see how they work with a fixed/singlespeed 'cross bike.

They're really made for mountain bikes but I had a feeling this would be a nice bar for the Il Pompino. The first ride was weird, my body wanted to disagree with where my hands were and riding in the drops felt odd. The next ride things got better and I was digging the added leverage on the steeper climbs. Saturday I threw on my other wheelset shod with Ritchey Excavaders and a 16t ACS freewheel for a little off road riding. The 35c Ritcheys are probably about as big as it's going to get on the On One, there's not a ton of room back there. The gearing is steeper than I used to ride SS cross at 40x16 but I figured it would be doable. Here's what it looks like in 'cross mode:

I rode up to Chase the way I always do; N Main to Smithfield Ave and eventually riding in behind the school on Old River road. From this entrance you can ride a little bit of trail before hitting the wide open grassy sections. I rode a few laps of Chase and then did a loop of all the trail in the Eastern corner. The gearing proved to be pretty spot on for Chase and the road riding wasn't too bad either. I was never really in danger of spinning out while not feeling over geared, pretty much perfect. The bars elicited the feel of SS mountain biking with really wide swept bars when I was climbing in the drops. Being able to torque on bar that afford a ton of leverage made a huge difference, and this allowed me to make it up a few climbs at Lincoln Woods I otherwise would have walked. I almost made the long climb from the ball fields but I stalled out and walked a bit to where it levels off before continuing the ride to the top. After letting my heart migrate from my head back to my chest I wanted to see how secure things felt at speed. To do this I cut across the middle of the Coaster and shot down the old rock roller across the wall ride trail, and I eventually sped down towards Goat Rock. As long as I stayed in the drops things were great, and the more technical riding reinforced the idea that the bars are meant to be ridden in the drops while in the woods. I kept riding in LW and found myself riding much of my usual MTB loop with very few issues. The ride wasn't as fast as it would've been on a mountain bike, but it wasn't super slow either.

I headed out of LW via the trails on the South side of the park and hit Cobble Hill road. On my way out I thought about how much room for some new trail there is in that small pocket of woods. There's just enough room to build a sorely needed beginner loop - maybe something to look into.. Anyway, I decided to ride over to the Old North Burial Ground as it was on my way home, and it only sits about 2 tenths of a mile from my place. I don't ride in there enough. In fact I always think this after a ride in this cemetery. The decrepit state of the pavement in the burial ground makes it perfect for knobby 'cross tires. Instead of the squirmy cornering you become accustomed to on smoother (that's a relative term around here, I know) pavement you'll find the tires grip like glue in the cemetery. There's so many interesting nooks in there and a few little hills make it more enjoyable. In the south west corner you'll find a large plot of unknown graves marked only by numbers. These people were re-interned after the land known as the free burial ground was developed. It's a kind of depressing little place nestled between the river and Interstate 95. Not surprisingly no one is ever back there. Seeing the river out of it's latest commercial context is kind of cool, at least no one lights it on fire this far out...

I took a few pics before the battery died on me, lighting was tough mid afternoon with a really bright sun in the sky.

1000 feet of fun

2008-06-18T12:37:00.004-05:00

So last Friday Ben joined the Friday night crew for a tour of Lincoln Woods. He had a GPS unit with him, and as it turns out there's 1000 feet of climbing in the loop I normally ride. It's also about ten miles long. I'm not really surprised but it's nice to quantify it for those wondering what to expect. Descriptions such as "hilly with kinda hard climbs followed by fun descents" don't work for some folks. When I'm in shape the loop takes an hour, in the winter it's at least 15 minutes slower. The Friday rides take it easy, and it can take two hours depending on who's there and what they'd like to ride/re-ride in the techy sections.

There's a nastier version that adds another fire road climb, at least a few hundred feet and nearly another mile of trail (it repeats a descent). The fire road climb is particularly lame because it feels like you're riding up a road constructed entirely of marbles. Lots of fun. I don't subject people to that one, there's this pesky part of me that actually likes other people a little bit.. Anyways, 1000 feet ain't much for those residing near actual mountains, but for those of us near sea level this is about as much climbing as we will find. I'll take it though, at the very least it takes the edge off of those few times I find myself on an actual mountain each year.

Speaking of actual climbing.. when I do find myself shuffling up a larger hill/mountain like a withered goat I'm nearly always forced to reconsider just what it is we do in the woods on our bikes in a place like RI. Is it really mountain biking? Without the climbing is it more likely just woods riding? Is there anything wrong with that? Probably not, at least I don't really care. Just random thoughts being tossed out there.

For anyone wondering how life is with the Honda Fit all I can say is; Great! Last tank came in at 40.2 MPG. That's with ~ 70% highway and 30% city driving. It has enough room for a bike standing up with the front wheel removed, and a whole lot of extra space for gear. Ask Noah, it holds a lot of crap.

I may have mentioned it earlier but my Twin Six duds arrived a while ago. They design some really sharp clothing, the argyle jersey is snazzy enough to convince me to wear a lycra jersey more than wool. And I'm not just saying that because I get a small discount on the goods. I'd pay full price for the stuff any day. On a related note I noticed that a guy I used to ride(and occasionally work) with in Winston Salem, NC is also on the team. A fast guy by the name of Marc Driver. Marc, if you happen upon this drop me a line. There's no contact info for you on the T6 site.

No picture so here's some music. Fishbone's much improved version of a Sublime tune you may recognize.

Here's the video from Brad's comment --->

It's about damn time...

2008-06-12T09:35:00.005-05:00

I finally commuted to work in 2008. It seems I've definitely turned into a fair weather commuter this year. In years past I'd start in March or April, now it has to be 70 degrees and sunny for me to slog the mostly uphill 22 miles to work. Today's ride convinced me that the road tires need to be installed ASAP. Kenda Kwicks are neither quick nor are they actually the advertised 700x30, they're more like 32s. They're sloooow on the road. Not too surprisingly they felt fast on the roughest pavement. You know the kind that's porous and feels like Velcro with road tires? I'm talking about the kind of road surface that normally makes you look behind to see if you have a rear flat. Yeah, well apparently that stuff feels great when ridden with big ass 'cross tires. Too bad there's not more of that stuff out there.

The ride home is mostly downhill so I have that to look forward to. Well, that and the inevitable cluster f*ck that the Lincoln bikepath will become after 5:30. But I'll deal with that any day as it at least gets me away from Mendon Rd for a few miles.

I think I'm going to hang out at work for a little while after 5:00 to let the Franklin, MA Soccer Mom Deathcar Brigade thin out a bit. You DO NOT want to mess with little Billy's trip to his pre-planned activities.. no, no, no, you don't. Believe me when I tell you this; Don't fuck with the Suburbs. They fight back with blithely ambivalent driving skills piloting MiniSuVans equipped with XL Mocha Lattes, whining little angels, navigation screens, DVD players, cell phones and a nasty attitude. There's no room for hippies in "spandex", so get the hell off the road you fruits!

Cripes, don't I sound like a bitter asshole... What I meant to say was: Ride to work folks, it's good for your health!

'Cross Bike Recon and a Blue Schwinn Project Underground

2008-06-09T08:45:00.009-05:00

For those who don't know I procured a Fuji 'Cross bike last month from a nice guy named Nate in Providence. $600 bought me a barely used '07 Fuji Cross Comp with some nicer spec goodies and an Ultegra wheel set. I know it was barely used because I was the one to shake out all the kinks. During it's first ride up to the old Rehab Hospital trails in Woonsocket the following transpired; 1 loose cassette lockring, 1 crank arm self extraction, 1 loose brake pad and then I got a flat (my fault). And, to top it all off, I was bumped off the road by a car mirror on Cobble Hill Rd. This was the worst ride in recent memory by far. All that said I still enjoyed the ride and the bike immensely. The descent down the power lines in the Rocket back to the new bike path trailhead was a blast. The time spent in Chase Farm and Lincoln Woods was equally enjoyable as well. The bike is exactly what I wanted, something quicker handling than my old Poprad and also quite a bit lighter. Watch out C class goons, I'll be at least marginally faster on this rig!

For the second outing I decided to ride up to Cumberland to explore the "other side" of Diamond Hill. This is what was once Diamond Hill State Park but is now town conservation land in Cumberland. The parcel of land sits between Tower Hill Rd and 114 and it can be accessed from either road. I rode in off of 114 and went to work exploring the network of double track. The trails are really soupy at first but eventually things dry out as you get on the hillside itself. If you head up there expect to find a lot of loose rock trails running straight down the hill, these are intersected by more of the same running along the width of the hill. I spent about 40minutes grunting up climbs and blasting around on the rolling stuff. While I wouldn't recommend driving there to ride mountain bikes it does make for a nice 'cross bike challenge, and depending on your route, makes for a 40 + mile ride with some woods riding thrown in for good measure. Bring some bug spray as it is your atypical swampy Southern NE mess in many spots.

This Saturday I rode out to Rocky Woods in Taunton to explore the area for the first time in a long time. I used to ride there with the Providence Bicycle gang when I had first moved back to the area (1999/2000). This was when there was a regular Saturday ride leaving the shop, and we needed to find new riding spots to keep it interesting. I also raced there in 2000 as part of a now defunct racing series that included the Master Blaster race in Attleboro, MA. Ah yes, the days of local MTB racing... Anyways, back to the matter at hand. I had no idea what to expect and the reports from the NEMBA message board were less than stellar. I figured worst case scenario I'd get in a 50 mile ride on 'cross tires early in the day before it became hotter than the Devil's armpit. That plan didn't work out so well due to my spending too much time discussing Metalocalypse with Captain Stupid at the Fez. So I rolled out at 11:00 AM and proceeded to ride over to Rocky Woods at a surprisingly strong pace considering the singlespeed ride the night before at Lincoln Woods.

I arrived at Rocky Woods before it became unbearably hot and rode in right at the end of Glebe St. in Taunton. From this entrance I lucked onto what is apparently the best kept section of trail. Most of what I found was moto double track laced with the usual rocks, roots, mud and streams. Most of the swampy atv/moto ruts had cheater lines around them, and this allowed me to stay on the bike for almost all of the 45 minutes I spent exploring. After spending around 30 minutes out there I ran across a really big surly snapping turtle, at this point I decided life would simply be easier if I just yielded the trail and headed out. It seemed like a good point to turn back anyways. I popped out of the woods completely spattered with stanky swamp goop, and I must've looked like a rolling version of Pigpen while riding home. At one point I was joined by a Union Cycles rider 107 miles into his ride, and he asked me what the hell happened to me. I really hadn't noticed that my legs were completely covered in dust and mud, and that the bike was really nasty with big globs of crud all over the rear end. I'm slightly shocked the 10 speed stuff didn't explode on me. Word on the street is this stuff dislikes the mud. The rest of the ride home was uneventful, hot as hell, but uneventful. My FSA bottom bracket finally broke in on this ride, that was a nice touch.

Yesterday I built up a bike that's probably familiar to some of you. This is my third Schwinn Project Underground frame. I bought this last September for a ridiculously low price and I swore I'd get around to building it into a rideable whip. That day finally came yesterday, and I took it for an hour long shakedown ride at Lincoln Woods late in the day. Aside from the beautiful pewter Race Face Turbines the build is nothing to get excited about, but it all works just the same. For those wondering what's so special about an 11 year old Schwinn go here and read up. And yeah, you guessed it, that's one of my old bikes. I traded it into the wonderful bicycle museum Jeff Archer has built in Statesville, NC. The frames make excellent singlespeeds due to the overbuilt bottom bracket area, and the light weight doesn't hurt either. My new one is geared 2:1 with a 34x17 drivetrain, a Surly 1x1 fork and a DMR tensioner.

Riding this bike was like throwing on an old pair of shoes. Even though I haven't ridden a 26" wheeled bike in almost 6 months, and I hadn't ridden one of these frames in roughly two years, it was almost instantly familiar. I forgot just how much quicker a 26" mtb will scramble up steep punchy climbs, and how a taller gear will make you feel like you are on a rocket ship. The relatively light weight helps with this, but the fundamental acceleration difference in wheel size is so readily apparent it's kinda surprising. I think for longer climbs it's a wash between the 29er and a 26, it's on the short steeps that the 26 just blazes up stuff. I won't be ditching my 29ers to ride an old Schwinn anytime soon, but it's nice to have this ride to change it up from time to time.

Lincoln Woods Friday Night Rides

2008-06-03T09:52:00.006-05:00

Soooo fast, soooo fun. Faster than Adam even. You know you want to be like Frate, and go fast, and wear white camo and be cool. So show up and ride, OK?

Another Pleasant Valley (aka: East Side) road ride

2008-05-29T11:55:00.005-05:00

The air was cool, the sun was shining and I should've known better than to just ride loops on the East Side yesterday. I had the time for a longer ride out to Rehobeth but I opted to stay close to home. All the while conveniently forgetting the way nice weather lures those not prone to movement out of doors, much in the same way Craigslist attracts illiterate fucks selling over priced POS bikes they pulled from the rafters. The flat tire that greeted me when I went to grab my bike should've been a clear omen. The only way to correctly interpret such an signal is to utilize the tools at hand, namely beer, your couch and reruns of Seinfeld. After much reflection all is usually revealed. Instead of doing the smart thing I replaced the tube and hit the road, neglecting to notice that my stem was pointing to the right at roughly a 10 degree angle. Well, that explains the weird left hand turns anyway.

That issue addressed I headed over toward the nice part of town. The trip over was fairly uneventful, and the weather was just too damn nice to second guess my planned ride. As boring as loops of Blackstone Blvd. and the adjoining streets can be the area offers a convenient place to ride close to home, and it's a decent spot for some structured work like intervals and self TT riding. Not that it makes me any faster, but I like to at least humor myself.

Things were going swell, wonderfully in fact, until Johnny Law almost got me run over by a guy who looked like a fat Juan Epstein from Welcome Back Cotter. This all came about because a cop attempted to pull Epstein over on the Boulevard with little to no warning to all involved. He blazed up real fast, so fast it seemed like he was on a mission from God and there was a slim chance the smoking 20 year old shitbox might elude him. He then gave one quick BOOOOP of the siren for good measure. This action caused Epstein to shoot across the road from the left shoulder to the right in one decidely ungraceful display of driving. It was not unlike watching a crackhead spastically dart his way up Pleasant Street, peeking his head in trash bins hoping to score some discarded treasures.

This stunningly awkward action caused the car in front of, and to the left of me, to jack on the brakes. This caused me to stop humming Last Train to Clarksville and go all bug eyed as I nearly shit myself. Options were limited, and it really sucked, but I was quick enough on the front brake and got around everything in time to yell at Epstein. While I spewed a few swear words of my own concoction I noticed he was looking at me and laughing. I found this amusing coming from a crooked Afro sporting dude in a beat to shit Mazda MPV clad in a ratty T-shirt, with glorious stains of an unknown origin, and his equally attractive passenger. I'm guessing here, but I think his time with the fuzz on the East Side was less than enjoyable as he was held there for the next 30 minutes. One would imagine it's not exactly the neighborhood to be pulled over in when you look broke, and you don't fit the description of the majority of the residents.

Anyway I kept on cruising figuring my luck had to turn around at some point. That point apparently was to be a bit later on in the night as I had a few stop sign running fools almost take me out on the ride home. Loads of fun, I won't even get into the idiots roller blading with traffic in the bike lane wearing next to no clothing and, of course, headphones. Sorry if I scared the crap out of you when I passed so closely. I couldn't resist, and besides I didn't feel like cutting in front of traffic to accommodate your pasty ass as it weaves across the whole lane. Put some goddamn pants on next time, OK?

Fun Ride was Fun

2008-05-19T11:52:00.005-05:00

Yep, it was a good one yesterday. The weather cooperated and we were treated to warm sun and a cool breeze. We had ~ 100 folks turn up to ride a really nice loop laid out by Jim Grimley and company. Riding the Mt. Tom trail through the "Ledges" on both sides of 165 reminded me of why the trip down to Arcadia is always worth it. Being the dummy that I am I forgot my camera, so I unfortunately have no pics to share. It's hard to describe in words how hard, and ultimately rewarding, the Mt Tom trail can be. Everyone I saw who had ridden the loop seemed to enjoy the views and super technical riding. The food and drinks provided afterwards probably didn't hurt either.

Pete Gengler and I rode the Mt. Tom trail in the morning, and then we headed back for lunch prior to heading out to remove arrows. While pulling down arrows I ran into some folks I know from the Boston area. Knowing they were the last group to head out I swept the course behind them, and I eventually caught back up with their group. Before leaving I gave Tom and his crew a quick tour of the "95 trail" while making sure to finish with a nice long descent at ludicrous speed.Being the tough guy he is Pete re-rode Mt Tom to remove the arrows on both sides of 165. I was pretty well worn out by the time I left, and all the riding in recent weeks is catching up with me. I'm going to lay low for a few days before resuming riding like a madman again. My "training" to date has basically looked like this; Ride the road fixed, ride in the woods, ride SS in the woods, ride the road fixed, ride in the woods, etc.. That, my friends, is a solid 1/2 ass training plan if I've ever seen one! Let me know if you want an advanced copy of my forthcoming training guide entitled "Riding Too Hard, Too Often, and for no Apparent Reason".

From what I hear we raised around $500 for a local charity to be determined, and we had roughly 30 folks either renew or join NEMBA. Thanks to all the shops that provided raffle items! I also got most of the Trail Ambassador jerseys and supplies passed out which is a really good thing.

On a related note the Arcadia Ride Series starts in June, I posted the dates in a previous post and they are on the rinemba site as well. These rides are a free tour of Arcadia, just show up and go ride. Not too complicated if you ask me, so if you'd like to learn the trails check it out.

If you read RI Monthly be on the lookout for a short piece mentioning the Mt. Tom trail, RI NEMBA and the ride series. I'm not sure when it's going to be published but I'm guessing it'll be in one of the next few issues.

That's about it for now..

Brendan

Arcadia Spring Fun Ride Sunday 5/18

2008-05-13T09:47:00.003-05:00

Just a quick head's up. The RI NEMBA Spring Fun Ride is happening this coming Sunday. The rides leave from the Browning Mill lot on Arcadia Rd. Registration is from 8 - 11 AM. As per usual there will be two arrowed loops. One for beginners, and one for those interested in a longer haul. The cost is a measly $5 for members and $10 for non members (or join NEMBA and ride for free). There will be a post ride cookout for members, and there will be a water stop out on the trail as well. We will also hold a raffle with great swag provided by various local shops including Ski Market, Victory Cycles and Providence Bicycle among others. Proceeds will be going to Trips for Kids this year.

Directions:

95 N or S: take exit 5a onto Route 102, follow for 1/2 miles to the end then take a right onto Route 3 south. Follow for 1 mile to the blinking light and take a left onto Route 165 (Little Country Pizza is on the corner), follow 165 for about 1/2 mile and take a right onto Arcadia Road. Browning Mill Pond parking lot is on the right roughly 2/3 miles down the road.

I know that some of you are pissed this is competing with the Glocester Grind, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. There's only so many weekends available and we had to go with the 18th. We set the calendar early this year so we could be more efficient. There was bound to be some overlap considering all the different event schedules we need to consider (Root 66, EFTA, Regional NEMBA, Kenda Bikefest, Interbike East etc, etc.).

Some RI NEMBA news and other stuff

2008-05-07T08:52:00.006-05:00

When I'm not busy ripping apart other people's horrendous spelling and grammar (see post below) I like to get busy with some RI NEMBA activities. That said here's some of the things that have transpired recently..

Trail Ambassador Jerseys are here! I passed out 1/2 of them at the meeting last night. Leo Corrigan and I are going to figure out a date/time to dole out the rest of the jerseys and the other supplies. For those of you who are wondering, the TA program is simply a low key plan to keep RI NEMBA visible on the trails. It also serves to get folks involved in NEMBA in a really easy manner. Basically we're going to be out in the woods sporting the jerseys and doing what comes naturally. That means being friendly, offering assistance with directions, basic first aid and mechanical issues. Most of us do this already so why not pimp NEMBA while we're at it, right? The jerseys were produced by Champion Systems and they came out great. They are T-shirt style, and we had them done up in blaze orange. This is helpful now that hunting season extends into early summer, and it starts up again early in the fall.

The Lincoln Woods ride series rides have started. We ride every Friday at 6:00 for 1 - 1.5 hours covering most of the trails in the park. Most Fridays we have two ride leaders, and we lead an advanced intermediate ride and a advanced beginner ride. Remember, it's Lincoln Woods, so if you plan to ride the intermediate ride be prepared to climb a little as that's just how it is out there. We only go as fast as the slowest rider so please keep that in mind. It's not about me getting in a hard ride, it's about showing folks the trails. If it's raining the ride is cancelled. Any other cancellations will be posted on the NEMBA forum under the RI section: http://www.nemba.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27

The next issue of SingleTracks will include an article featuring LW, Arcadia and Burlingame. Hopefully this will expose folks to the great riding in RI. Also, RI Monthly may be giving us a nod in an upcoming issue with a piece focusing on outdoor activities.

The Spring Arcadia Fun Ride is coming up quick. It will be held on Sunday, 5/18 at the Browning Mill Pond lot, registration is from 8 - 11:00 AM as always. $5 for NEMBA members, $10 for non members or join/renew for $25 and ride for free. Food and drink afterwards and there will be a swag raffle to raise funds for a local non profit (to be determined). There are no led rides, the loops (easier/longer/hero) are arrowed and there is a water stop out on the trail. Jim Grimley always lays out a great course. I'll be helping out early in the AM with Pete and Al, and then we'll be helping Jim take down arrows.

I know this is competing with the Glocester Grind MTB race, but if you feel like participating in a lower key event, and you want to learn your way around one of the best trail systems in the State then come on down!

While we're talking about Arcadia... the Arcadia Ride Series starts up again in June. This is a free guided tour of the trails in Arcadia. It's a simple show and go style of ride. We'll have 2-3 leaders per ride and will offer slower and faster rides. The first set of dates is as follows: 6/1,6/15,6/29,7/13 and 7/27. Again, be sure check the NEMBA forums and/or our website (rinemba.org) if you are in doubt about the ride due to weather.

In non NEMBA news it seems like my Surly 1x1 is finally finding a new home. I'm also picking up a new geared 'cross bike this week. One in, one out. It's the best way to roll (especially when you live in an apartment). Also, my Twin Six duds are still in limbo, no big deal but I'm kinda hoping they show up soon.

In non bicycle related news I'm going to see the Pietasters on Sunday at the Living Room. Yeah, I know Ska sucks..ha ha FU. It should be great, even if I am damn near the oldest person there.

That's about all I have for now. I've been doing plenty of riding on the road and in the woods of course. It looks like mtb racing is going to be taking a back seat to NEMBA stuff for most of the season. But that's OK since I wilt like the pansy I am in the heat. Maybe I'll just channel all of my competitive spirit into flailing about on the 'cross bike this fall.

Take care,
Brendan

I'll leave you with some quality Hardcore courtesy of those bad ass mofos on the half shell. Take off your backpack and get your jump kick skills ready for the carnage that follows:

RI Bicycles Craigslist Post of the Year

2008-05-01T10:49:00.006-05:00

I know April just ended (happy May Day comrades!), but this one takes the cake. Read it, I dare you. I know it's devoid of punctuation and all, but it's completely worth it. You can really feel the despair of the seller. Poor guy pours his heart into his ads and folks just jerk him around. People please stop wasting his time and buy the bike. While he may not answer your calls, or text messages, he's pretty much guaranteeing you will enjoy this bike. He wouldn't even be selling it if he didn't need the cash, what with it being so good for excersize (a form of eczema treatment perhaps?) and all. That right there should tell you it's an awesome bike! Scarier still is that this is a follow up to his earlier ad about a cursing bike. A bike that swears?? Hell, where do I sign up?!

Without any further snarkiness here's the ad:

TREK

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to:
Date: 2008-05-01, 11:18AM EDT

i posted it a few times had a bunch of people hit me up bout it only to have them get back to me the next day sayin they jus bought one this bike is not like normal bikes your not all bent over wit ya back achin if you look at the picture the frame has a downward slope to it and if you look where the pedals are they are not directly below the seat like every other bike they are more toward the front of the bike wen i first got on it it seem very diffrent from a normal bike it is so much more comfortable no strain on the feet the legs or your back the seat is nice and big it has front shimano v brakes and back pedal breaks has 3 speeds so instead of having to switch thru 12 or 21 diffrent gears you have three that are perfect for any drivin situation has a 3 peace crank it is pretty much brand new i never drive it i used it for about 3 nights jus riding it around town there is absolutly nothin wrong wit it except it probably jus alittle dusty from sittin in my basement it is 400 brand new im only askin 150 well worth it for a trek bike def worth it if you use a bicycle to commute to work or school or even to excersize great for riding long distances i wouldnt even get rid of it if i didnt need the xtra cash so email me or call me or text me at 4---- cant promise that ill answer but if you leave ya name and number ill call you back as soon as i can and if you text or email i mite respond faster but to whoever does buy it you definetly will not b disappointed in your purchase the pictures dark too so if you are seriously intrested in buyin it ill take better ones and send them but if you jus gonna make me run around and wait and then not buy it then dont even bother hittin me up

Priceless..

Buy my Damn bike, OK?

2008-04-23T08:38:00.008-05:00

Since this is my little slice of Internet wonder bread and all I figure I ought to be able to post this without fear of feeling like a goon. Well, I still feel kinda like a boob but whatever. Buy my bike - $650 local sale. It's a good deal, please buy it so I can pay for the Kelly 'cross bike I sooooo desperately need to bang elbows with the bottom 1/3 of the C class 'cross racers this fall.

Here's the bike: '07 Surly in the medium size AKA: 18". Lime green with some PIMP matching rims. Roll like the breeze in Lou Feregino style.. I'm 6' tall and it fits me well. It rides like a MTB should. Nice and neutral and surprisingly forgiving for a 26" rigid woods bike.

Specs:

Medium (18") 1x1 frame - all the geometronical details are on the Surly site.http://www.surlybikes.com/1X1.html

Wheelset: Hugi hubs (hayes branded) laced to Velocity rims. Rims were powdercoated to match the frame by the original owner. These hubs are friggin' sweet and will last a loooong time.

Tires: Maxxis Larsen 2.3s. Very nice SS tires, they roll fast and take the edge off.

Crankset: LX 170mm with a Spot bashguard and a 32t Surly Stainless ring

Cog: 20t Surly cog

Chain: Sram PC 58 8spd

Tensioner: Surly Tugnutt

Seatpost clamp: Surly Constrictor

Post: Thomson

Saddle: Bontrager Race

HS: FSA Pig

Stem: Race Face Prodigy 115

Bar: Ritchey Rizer SC

Grips: Oury ODI lock on

Levers: Avid Speed dial Ti

Cables - Avid Flak Jacket (I still need to install the front for whoever buys it).

Brakes: Avid BB5 up front, and a BB7 in the rear. Roundagon rotors.

Extras: The other BB7 brake caliper I have (never got around to swapping out the front) and an 18t Surly cog.

I've owned the bike since late December 2006. It has a total of 33 rides under me and one race. The rear hub was serviced (routine) last Spring by a kick ass mechanic. It has the normal scratches one would associate with MTB riding.

* There is some wear from my heel on the non drive side. I sanded off a little surface rust and touched it up with auto touch up (blue). I wrapped some black electrical tape over it. I also treated the frame with Frame saver when I got it.

More pics by request - or just swing by palatial Jenkins St. Estates to arrange a private viewing. I'll have Russell the guard buzz you in.

Thanks for looking - post a comment or email me at mtbdee at hotmail dot com.

Under the Hood

2008-04-15T11:06:00.007-05:00

There was this sound coming from under the front end of my new ride. I wasn't really sure what was causing it until I pulled over yesterday and found this disc spinning around where the blinker fluid belongs. I removed it, popped it in the old CD player, and was pretty pschyed to hear some new/old music from The Cobramatics. Johnny "the Colonel" Maguire recently released this record on his own Original Recipe label. If you've never heard of the Cobramatics and you're wondering when the hell I'm going to get around to some bicycle related content just hold tight. It's coming, I swear it is..

So yeah, the disc. From what I can gather it's the only official release of all their songs. You may have heard the 'Gansett theme/ad song in the past, rest assured Matt Schulde it's on there. There's also plenty of other rockin' tunes like Jailbait, Jump onto my Rocket and a whole bunch more. If you like rockabilly/surfy/rootsy tunes go pick this up and support some local musicians. I'm in no way shape or form qualified to review music but I like it, so we'll leave it at that. You can contact Johnny on his MySpace page if you'd like a copy, and I'm betting he'll have some at Local 121 on Sunday evenings when he's doing his DJ thing. If I wasn't so old and lame I'd probably be hanging around at said establishment of drinky goodtimes past 10:00 PM on Sundays but well, I'm hopelessly dorky (as we all know) so it doesn't happen too often. Sleeping on the couch, uh, I mean "recovery time" takes over after 9:00pm most Sundays..

Bikes, - back to bikes right Adam? OK, well, uh, oh so there's this tune on the above mentioned record called Burrillville Bounce. It reminded me of a death march MTB race I reportedly participated in at Wallum Lake quite a few years back. I say reportedly because I can't recall much from that day (see below). The event was more of an exercise in self flagellation given the roughly 1000 degree heat and 90000% humidity. The race was held on seldom used trails that had the consistency of chocolate pudding and beach sand, all at the same time. There was also a 25 yard mud hole that required full on 'cross style running, and a WALL OF SAND right before the start/finish. Wheee. Anyway, I was on my way to winning the Sport race when some dread locked fakin' Jamaican dude I passed in the first two minutes of the race blazed by me. He then proceeded to run up the giant dirt mound like the Flash. This was demoralizing to say the least. So I wound up 2nd, OK with me any day, right? Sure. Except the heat stroke and the part where I passed out on the dashboard while Stacy drove my shelled ass home..

Burlingame Race Report and other goings on..

2008-04-11T17:32:00.005-05:00

Thanks in large part to the Rip 9 I managed to shave 2 minutes off of last year's time at the King of Burlingame time trial. It turns out that was fast enough to get me the win in the 19-39 Sport race. I didn't find out until I got back from sweeping the last race and pulling down arrows. It was a nice surprise, as was the retro style Specialized Stumpjumper jersey I picked up for my effort. Adam St. Germaine won a sweet Hub wool jersey for his efforts in the Expert race. I think he might have been faster if he hadn't ridden to the race from Pawtucket but what do I know? I have a feeling that's like a lap of Blackstone Blvd. for a guy like him.

The course was in pretty good shape considering all the rain that had fallen on Friday, the wet spots were wet and muddy but there was nothing too crazy. The course is technical enough to give mountain bikers a chance while the road sections allow the road riders to make the most of their love of tarmac. The bonier parts of the course gave a lot people trouble, but luckily there were no injuries and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Thanks to Lennon and his crew for running another great event! If you are inclined to race next year be sure to register early as the spots are limited. The word on the street is that there will be a few more slots open for next year's event.

There hasn't been too much else going on these days. I managed to get out on the road for a few miles this week and then took Thursday off to do a two hour tour of F. Gilbert Hills in the 70 degree temps. Amazing weather for April 10th. I donned the new Stumpjumper jersey and quickly discovered that a "large" racer cut is apparently made for folks built like me, except with seriously skinny arms! Anyone who knows me knows full well I'm not in possession of two tickets to any gun show, (more like two tickets to the laser light show) but wearing this jersey makes me look kinda like Rowdy Roddy Piper. The sleeves cut my biceps off halfway down and the sleeves are so tight my arms turn purple.. I guess this makes me more look like Rowdy Roddy Barney. OK, that's totally false. It really just makes me look like I hang out at the gym talking about bench presses before I go shopping for pre - distressed jeans and tight shirts. And who doesn't do that sort of stuff? I could probably wear it to McFaddens if I paired it with some shiny shoes and Rock and Republic jeans. Wicked Awesome... I'm going to wear it anyway because it's cool jersey, never mind the fact that I secretly like looking like Bowser from Sha Na Na on the bike ;)

Today's ride at Lincoln Woods was completely uneventful thanks to the lousy weather. There was a decidedly low creep factor out there today. No dudes reading the upside down newspaper in their cars, etc.. All the gates are open out there now which means the pickle parks are in business. Complete weirdness will commence any day now so if you ride at LW be sure to keep your eyes peeled, and keep it moving if you see anything odd. Don't hesitate to phone the local authorities (State Police barracks are right around the corner) if you run across naked "bird watchers" or other such shenanigans. The more legitimate users are out there the less creepy stuff will go on, that's the idea anyway.

That said the RI NEMBA Lincoln Woods ride series starts next Friday at 6:00pm. We'll meet in the big parking lot on the Twin River Road side of the park. Enter the park off of Twin River Road, take a right and the lot is a little ways down on the left. If you make the turn down toward the beach you went too far. We'll have two led rides; one beginner ride and one faster ride. Keep in mind LW doesn't really offer much in the way of "easy" riding but there is a lot of good trail in there if you know where to look. One of the points of the rides is to get folks out in the woods, and to expose them to the loops that are out there. All you need to bring is a bike and your helmet. Hope to see you there!

For those wondering where I found out about the future viability of thumbshifters, well it was from the future. If you listen closely to the below you'll hear something about 7 speed shifters and superfast cycle exercising in the reverb...

The Future Was Yesterday, Again.

2008-04-03T09:18:00.004-05:00

The more I ride the glow in the dark gnar gnar machine that is the Rip 9 the more I realize that the best parts on it are the shifters. 7 speed XT thumb shifters to be exact. While the Niner does sport honest to goodness "new technology", it also happens to be paired with stellar shifters. Who cares about 4.5 inches of travel, CNC rocker arms, Pro Pedal and all that phooey? I'm here to talk about the 20 year old shifty bits, so listen up!

The best part about friction shifting is how, much like single speeding, it requires low brain power (this suits me well!). At the same time it's a whole lot easier than riding fixed. This fact alone makes these shifters the ultimate in must have technology that no one uses anymore. It fits all the basic bike dork criteria for coolness by being A. Old B. Functional and C. Fairly Rare. Best of all though the shifters can't kill you if you use them in a completely inappropriate manner. Like, say, riding a converted Jetter fixie brakeless down Cyprus with a 10 year old rusted chain. Yep, mark my words; thumbshifters are going to be hotter than drop bar 29ers, touring bikes, chain wallets, ball bearings and brooks saddles in two years time.

My amazing powers of prognostication tell me that soon all multispeed trail bikes will utilize this ancient technology. Of course, it'll be repackaged and spun as a new development that will immediately devalue that 9 speed SIS/SRAM clunker you ride now. I'm thinking the "new" name will be something like "Thumb Glide" or "Friction Force". Whatever it's called it will cost an exorbitant amount of money, and of course it will only be available to Pros at first (I hear Adam "Apple Cobbler" St Germain already has his).

This alone will generate enough buzz to cause throngs of cyclists to ditch their Swobo fixies, Long Haul Truckers and NJS approved track bikes on the side of the road in short order. They'll become so cool that people will start scouring yardsales, and garbage dumps, for "vintage" thumb shifters so they can tell everyone how much longer than you they've been at it.

I can't wait. Craig Mello can't either, he's got a box of these things he'd love to sell you...

Ridin' and Raccoons

2008-03-23T20:34:00.006-05:00

Hopefully everyone got out a few times over the last few days. I took Thursday and Friday off and coupled with today's ride I got in a few days of quality MTB time. It was just way too windy to hit the road. I've already spent quite a few days being blown backwards on pavement this season, and I really needed to hit some trails to see where I stand in terms of racing fitness. As it turns out I'm not so sure I'm standing at all. Maybe it's more like leaning up against something and faking it while convincing myself I'm still remotely fast... it's sort of like Wesley in The Princess Bride lying in repose, unable to move, bluffing Prince Humperdink into believing he's still strong enough to dispatch him with ease. Or something like that.

There's plenty of power/strength available but unfortunately the motor can't run hot for too long. I'm working on it though, and with any luck I won't be the slowest schmuck at the KOB TT. Today's ride at F Gilbert Hills SF was ridiculously good. The weather was downright perfect, and I managed to clean a few really nasty technical sections I rarely pull off all in the same ride. Thursday's ride at the same locale involved 2 hours of drizzle while today's ride featured 45 deg. temps and bright blue skies. Perfect.

You may be wondering about the raccoon. No, he's not Robbie and Margaret's pal from the Fez. This guy was sleeping by my garbage cans late on Friday afternoon. He scared the crap out of me when I took out the trash, and I had my camera around so I snapped this pic. As it turned out that was the last time I'd see him alive.. A few hours later I was upstairs on the PC when the room lit up bright blue, and I heard what sounded like the world's largest bug zapper outside the window. Yep, that's right, old Sparky touched something that didn't agree with him and that was that. I was bummed out a little, any animal smart enough to make it in the city (especially with all the coyotes around) didn't deserve to go out like that. Yes folks, these are exciting times here on Jenkins St..

New Econo Whip and Race mumbo jumbo

2008-03-18T10:41:00.005-05:00

So I finally traded in the Subie and took receipt of my Honda Fit Sport ('cause you all know how sporty I am right?). As Adam would agree; it's a dorky car for a dorky guy. But, it's friggin' huuuuge inside, it gets some really nice mileage and the emissions are really low (more important than mpg to me). No roof rack for the time being, I'll just fold down the seats for bike storage and transport. How a car with 109 hp manages to pull so hard I may never know, but it's pretty quick and there are no issues with highway driving at all.

I know, this here blog is really supposed to focus on bikes.. But sometimes riding and driving intertwine. Short of riding to Lincoln Woods most of the "local" trails require a drive * . Luckily for me I can get my weekday rides in without too much extra driving as Foxboro, Wrentham and LW are all on the way home depending on the route. That said,the good news is it's time to start MTB rides after work now that DST is in full swing. I managed to squeak in a little more than an hour at LW last Friday night before sunset. I was also out there for almost two hours on Sunday. The trails are really well drained already and they are fine to ride. The usual wet spots are wet, but they'll be wet in August so no worries.

In other news I received a Delorme PN-20 GPS unit from the continental jetsetter Brian Danz of Ex-Providence Bicycle mechanic fame. He now works for Delorme, and he was kind enough to hook us (me and Pete Gengler) up with this unit. Once I figure out how it works I'll start writing a review that should appear in NEMBA's Singletracks, and I'll post it on various websites (Dirt Rag, MTBR, Ironspoke etc..). I'm really interested in using it to plot out some future trails at LW. It'll be nice to have a professional looking proposal to present to the land managers.

On a related note the regular Friday night Lincoln Woods rides will start on 4/18 ~ 6:00pm. We'll have two ride leaders to accommodate different ability levels, and we'll meet in the double lot off of the Twin River Rd. entrance. Take a right when entering and the lot is down on the left (before the beach area). I have NEMBA ride waivers for folks to sign, figure I'd mention that now so there's no surprises. This way if you fall and break your tuckus you can't sue my pants off. Sounds swell to me.

What else? Oh yeah, the King Of Burlingame MTB Time Trial looks to be all full up. If you missed the boat, well, I'm sorry. They will need volunteers so if one of your buddies is racing please head down and offer your services (marshals and reg. help). There will most likely be some post race riding as well so bring your bike. Since I know Jack at the Hub, the Providence Bicycle crew and maybe Matt at NBX(?) are one of the 4 people that look at this blog I'd like to say Thanks for being sponsors of the race! I'm sure Lennon has said it already, but it's worth repeating. I was psyched to see so many local shops supporting the race.

That's all I have for now.

* OK, rides in places like Big River, Foxboro, Wrentham etc. don't always require a drive. While it's fun to ride the 'cross bike to these spots (and some secret stashes) and hit the trails, you won't catch me riding my MTB on the road for too many miles. It's just not that fun rollin' 700x55 or 26x2.3 knobbies on pavement, you know what I mean? Sorry about the random pic, it's all I had on the PC at work..

Does it always rain in pothole city?

2008-03-05T13:55:00.005-05:00

Does it? Or is it just when I want, and/or, need to ride my bike somewhere? Saturday's 30 miler out in Seekonk and Rehobeth consisted of sun, rain, sleet and snow. Oh yeah, and a seriously stiff headwind most of the way back. Yeah, as you might imagine it kinda sucked. So, just my luck, I ended up back in Seekonk/Rehobeth last night dropping off the Heap of Leaks at my mechanic's place. I figured I'd just ride home since I wanted to ride a bit last night anyway. There was a light rain falling as I drove over the Henderson bridge, but I was well layered. Besides, the weather guys all said it wasn't going to get ugly until late. Well, they lie. Repeatedly. And they get paid for it, brilliant!

Sure as shit as soon as I dropped the keys through the slot the skies opened up. Grrrreat! It was really dark and foggy out in cowtown, and luckily I had one of my Niterider MTB lights, a Knog and a decent Princeton Tec commuter light. I rode out of my way to avoid coming down Arcade ave. and taking a left onto 152. This meant adding roughly 4 miles of unlit flooded roads to the mix. This was to, you know, be safer... Riding like a drowned rat on crack, I think I set a personal best for getting back to Providence from that part of Boonieville. 30 minutes, and 10+ miles, later I was home peeling off layers of sand encrusted and water logged wool and lycra.

There were a few moments where I honestly wasn't sure if the front wheel was going to get swallowed up in a hole I couldn't see under inches of water. On a positive note (brace yourself!); I must be getting used to riding fixed, because I pulled off a few emergency bunny hops without killing myself. Yaaay for me.

Newman avenue in EP was fantabulous as per usual. I'm still waiting for that whole stretch of road by the gas station to fall into the earth, never to be seen again ala Atlantis. Maybe in the future people will bring their kids there and tell stories of what used to be "see Gina, that's where the Dunkin' Donuts and Sunoco used ta be, it was wicked awesome. You could get a Coollata and then hit the Cumbies across the street, all while running some loosa on a bike off da road.."

On a serious note watch out for new potholes! Holy crap there are some big ones out there.

On the road again

2008-02-29T09:26:00.004-05:00

So after finally kicking that nasty ass flu I managed to ride all week. Monday - Thursday anyway. Pretty much all on the road, and all in the cold, but it was worth it. I've thrown any chance of being "seriously" fit out the window at this point. Still planning on hitting a bunch of early season races such as The King of Burlingame MTB Time Trial on April 6th and a bunch of the Root 66 races. I'm going to have to hit some of the more technical races to have any chance of breaking the top 5. The early races are way too roadie friendly for a guy like me to do too well, never mind the fact that the Sport class races are over in around an hour. It usually takes me a good 30 minutes just to warm up, never mind go full throttle from the get go.

It seems like riding the On One fixed has been helping with power thus far. It's pretty fun, and it had better be since I sold my only geared road bike recently. It's SS or fixed for the foreseeable future on the road. I'm sure the first commute to work next month will be fun... might need to slap on the FW for the ride home. I can't imagine trying to spin down Manville Hill road in WoonCumberSocketLand. That could get ugly real quick. Maybe I could put some pegs on the back and just stand there all the way down, sweet... I think I got an idea of what it might look like last Saturday while watching some brakeless dude blaze down Jenkins St. towards North Main. Next time watch out for the sheet of ice at the bottom of the hill buddy, it's a bitch. That nice headband will probably protect you though, so what do I know?

Oh yeah, anyone know where the hell Adam is? He went from 5,000 posts a day on his blog to none. What happened? Is he too busy mixing granola, talking to cows and driving Volvos to post? Step it up pal, we miss you...

Need a lift??

2008-02-16T00:02:00.007-05:00

Yikes, I'm 33 today. Well, I guess it was yesterday, seeing as how it's 12:03 AM on February 16th. Anyway, if you need a lift down to the Fun Ride on Sunday let me know, just be sure your tetanus shots are up to date. The Chevy is running a little rough these days, what with the missing engine and all.

In all seriousness, the Subaru will be departing the Camp Street enclave ~ 7:30 AM for the balmier climes of Charleston, RI. Should be a good time with plenty of riding and raffle prizes to go around. Hope to see you there!

Oh yeah, thanks for the beer Jamie!

Spring is almost here

2008-02-11T10:44:00.001-05:00

Given the recent spate of nasty weather how can I make such a bold statement? No, I'm not related to prognosticating rodents from PA, but I do have a pretty decent method for discerning the change of seasons. My barometer in this case is the local liquor store. Last weekend I stopped in and found not only Mike Bike, but my favorite springtime beer in the world; Harpoon Hibernian. What does this have to do with bikes? Plenty. As we all know beer and bikes get along uncommonly well. Well, Hibernian and bikes go together even better. Nothing could make riding on an icy night, while flirting with hypothermic shock, better than knowing a really great beer is lurking in my fridge.

Unless you're this guy you're most likely experimenting with new ways to keep yourself warm, or riding a trainer. More often than not our rides nowadays are cold, raw and windy affairs that offer frequent opportunities to get soaking wet, and freezing cold, all at the same time. Dragging your ass off of the couch to ride in a cold and dark environment requires some motivation. While new wool clothing and winter gear are always nice the novelty wears off after a bit (somewhere around the moment the blood flows back to your frozen extremities). So why not give yourself a good reason to ride in February and March? Buy the beer, drink the beer and ride! Just not necessarily in that order...

I know what you're thinking. “Why can't I just skip the bike riding and down a few every night to stave off the winter doldrums?" You most certainly could, but that would leave you a little on the portly side and definitely not ready for this fine event on April 6th. I suppose you could fill out a bit, and just "ride into form". But you know you want to be the real King of Burlingame, and not the guy sporting a muffin top because he can't fit into his lycra. Besides, nicknames like the Sausage King of Burlingame probably aren't flattering. Unless your real name is Abe Froman.

Speaking of events, RI NEMBA is hosting it's first ever Winter Fun Ride on 2/17 at Burlingame SF. If you've never ridden in Burlingame, and you live in RI, drag yourself down for some guided rides, a raffle and some chili and hot cocoa. $5 gets you a guided tour of a really great trail system. If you're a racer type it'll give you the chance to scope out the terrain prior to the previously mentioned KOB TT. All proceeds go to charity, as per usual. Get the details here and/or here.

That's all I've got for now. Get out and ride your bike, even if it is just to the liquor store dammit! Springtime is coming up quick...

Are you ready for some Foosball?!?

2008-02-01T10:27:00.000-05:00

Apparently the whole NE Patriots team works here... I didn't realize this until I came to work this morning. All I can say is wow, did they really let themselves go! I never knew Teddy Bruschi was a dumpy accountant. Maybe you knew this already, but it was news to me. Apparently that shifty dude in the mailroom is on Kraft's payroll too, he moonlights as Kevin Faulk on Sundays. Good thing for him Foxboro is just up the road. I wouldn't want his commute betweens jobs to affect his on the field performance.

I also heard a lot of chatter about how "we" were going to win and why the Giants will lose. Really? "We're" going to beat the Giants, are you sure about this? Because, honestly, I think we had all better get our asses on a plane to Arizona and get some practice in ASAP. Half the folks in this joint couldn't lug the chains around on the sidelines, never mind line up on the field. My favorite moments had to be the numerous discussions about the advantages of Under Armour. I know that I, for one, wear a base layer when walking to the printer or fax machine. This isn't Baskin Robbins kids. We're busy people, and busy people sweat. So hell yeah, I want a wicking fabric underneath my replica jersey while I'm running screens on my way to the bathroom. Besides, I never know when that mailroom creep might try to tackle me in the parking lot.

I know I'm a cynical douche bag, and that the above has little to do with cycling. But imagine how absurd the above scenario plays out with other sports... sports like swimming, polo, cycling and figure skating to name a few. What if I'm a HUGE fan of the above mentioned sports? During the Olympics can I walk into the office sporting a Speedo while wearing figure skates and clutching a riding crop? Maybe I could just ride my bike around inside while wearing a water polo helmet and lycra shorts. That should elicit some interesting responses. Maybe I'd hear things like "Hell yeah dude, we're gonna crush the Germans in the Butterfly!" or "Sweet helmet man, we're gonna own the Latvians in the pool"!

As it stands now I already get some wonderful responses when I ride into work, without wearing a Speedo. The general reaction as I walk (quickly) through the cafeteria to the showers is sometimes funny, occasionally hostile and sad all at the same time. Oh yeah, and in July everyone seems to think I know everything about the Tour. Do I look like Bob Roll (God, I hope not)?? Just because I ride bikes doesn't mean I know two shits about a race in France.

With all that said it's time to get back to work. Although I have to confess, I'm really not feeling guilty about posting from the office. Why should I when everyone is preoccupied with the life altering event that is the Super Bowl? So load up your school bus sized vehicles, grab your buddies to help dig up the corpse of Spuds McKenzie and get ready to party like its 1987. Don't worry about those pesky wars, elections and the economy. Crap, I gotta run. Laurence Maroney is headed this way, I think we're running through old car tires on the lawn at noon.