Return of the Swamp Thing

Swamp-like. That is the best way to describe West Michigan lately. As I write this, it is raining again. The rivers here are pretty darn high, trails are muddy and it is just damn gloomy; again. We have had the weirdest spring this year. One day of 80 degree temps and then 3 days of 50’s and rain. No consistency and that has really played havoc on my riding. I had planned to race tonight in the first Milk Jug series event but given today’s rain, I am not sure I will bother. I had already planned to race this Sunday at Fort Custer, site of my first SS race and my first DFL last year. So, given the weather forecast, I decided last night to take advantage of the lack of moisture to get out and put some mileage in. The best bet was to either road ride (it was windy and cool) or hit the gravel. I chose the later but this time on the newly restored Inbred. Sporting a shiny new Surly chainring (round and flat as can be!), I headed to the park right after work. The creek is running as high as I have ever seen it.

Given the depth and current, it is best I don’t let my dog in there right now! The poor boy would be paddling his ass off!

The grassy areas are still very mushy, so I stuck to the pavement all the way to the first gravel road. From there it was 20 miles of sandy, rocky roads with some good climbs to test my new crank bolts. They held up like champs. First stop was at the rail crossing along a line that is supposed to become a very nice, long rails-to-trails route. However, given the State’s budget shortfalls and a host of other, more immediate concerns, this will not happen for some time to come. It is a frustrating but understandable situation.

Onward. After about 15 miles in, I came across this very unique grain silo. I have never seen one with a clerestory (the wrap around windows at the top) before. Not even sure why that is there, but I have a feeling there is a ladder or stair inside leading up to that crow’s nest. The silo sits at the top of a plateau that looks out over the river valley a good hundred feet below, so I’ll bet the view is amazing. But the bonus of the night was the bald eagle sitting on a branch right next to the silo. If you go to my Flickr page, and blow up the photo to the larger size, you will see him. We have a number of them in the area and they have even been known to make a stop by my house from time to time, but it is still rare to see them. Very cool!



Around mid-ride, I hit a stretch of paved road between sections of gravel. At one of the turns, I ran into a couple older guys out pedaling and said hi as we rode up. Both of them gave me the cold shoulder! What the? I couldn’t believe it! One was wearing a full Bissell Team kit and he was hacking and wheezing like he had just lost a lung up the last climb. So, to spite them for snubbing me, I cranked up the SS and hung right on their wheels for a mile or so. They finally tired of me (or the sound of my knobbies on the pavement) and rode away. Thanks guys. Appreciate the friendliness and camaraderie. Putz.



Back to the gravel. After a series of hills, I passed by a local farm where I found a swan making the moves on a couple ganders right in the road. They high-tailed it when I came by but I have a feeling the ladies probably hooked back up with him after I was out of sight!

Heading back, I decided to hit the park trail. It was in good shape despite the rain, but near the river, things got a little more damp. The water is running high and fast right now, which is amazing. In the summer, the Flat is typically a very shallow and lazy river. This is a small stream where you usually can ride across without getting wet. The rain has really created some “beautiful plumage” this Spring.

After ride beer selection: Breckenridge Brewery – Vanilla Porter. Good beer. Go get yourself some!

The weather looks gloomy for the next couple of days, but Sunday is predicted to be sunny and in the 60’s for the race. We will see. This was the course water crossing from last year.

I might want to look into a wetsuit for this year’s event! Keep your fingers-crossed that I can keep a chain on and ride all the way to the finish this weekend!

Plans are finalized for our trip to Tahoe. I could use the vacation now, but like a kid at Christmas, we will just have to wait. But that also gives me more time to get in shape for the high altitude riding!

Last and least, my dorm project for a local university is finally taking shape after a lot of frustration and difficulty. The brick-ies are just about done installing the facade and it looks pretty good. And in about three months, the first kid moves in with his mini-fridge and blacklight posters.

Nothing else to see here. Have a great day!

Sit Down, Stand Up

Another weird week here of ups and downs. The cold rainy weather on Sunday stuck around for the first half of the week and that combined with a serious project deadline meant no bike time. Speaking of Sunday, here are two pictures from the TT race.

Start.

Finished.

Pretty much says it all.

So, last night was my first chance to get out and ride, but first I had to stop by Ada Bike to pick up my replacement chain ring. Surly wouldn’t spring for it, so I had to bite to bullet and pull out the credit card. Consider this my “economic stimulus” contribution! We are now at 12.6% unemployment here on the West side of the state, so hopefully this will help keep the Shop lights on for a little while longer.

I headed out to the Ski Hill trail for the first time this year and on the way over it started to rain. I was bumming a bit but determined to get a ride in. That eventually cleared and it ended up being a great night out on the trail. Well, except for my lack of conditioning. The hills were kicking my butt last night and I was barely able to get 3 laps in before hanging it up. There was a few lingering piles of snow on the hill, the last remnants of winter clinging to the slope.

On my first pass, I rode through a section of the trail that cuts across the hillside and just about bashed my brain on this.

For some reason (I am sure it wasn’t intentional), the lift had been stopped so a t-bar was directly in the path of the trail. If you were standing on the pedals while riding through there, it would have smacked you right in the face! I saw it at the last minute and was able to duck under, but it caught me by complete surprise. I have ridden that trail a hundred times and there has never been a t-bar hanging in that spot!

The trail was in great shape and fast (if you weren’t a slacker like me) thanks to the moisture we had this week, which helps to compact the sand. It appeared that a couple re-routes are in the works as I saw what appeared to be new sections being marked out along one hill. The area is one of the worse for trail erosion and sand, so from the looks of it, they are planning to make a fix. I need to check in with the MMBA group and see when their doing the trail work.
We originally were planning to head to Chicago today and visit some friends, but decided to put it off for awhile later. Life is really up in the air right now and it is probably the best to stay close to home for the near future. Minneapolis may be back on now with some changes that are happening at Sun (can’t say anything yet, but the word starts with O and ends with Racle), so we are considering all our options.

We have made a commitment to the June Blogger’s Ride in Tahoe this summer and in the process of finalizing our accommodations there. Right now it looks like we will be renting a condo for 3 days at Incline Village, so anyone who can make it up there from June 26th through the 28th are welcome to hang with us. Really looking forward to the trip and riding the trails, but excited to see the folks from Oakland and Carson City again.

Of course, that is if Jeff promises to buy the beer this time!

Have a great weekend and get some riding in!

Flat Broke

What a weekend! Saturday was our first really warm day of the year (70+ degrees!) and we took full advantage of it. After running to my office to deposit some old electronic at our sponsored recycling drive, Rene and I headed downtown to visit my favorite record store Vertigo for National Record Store Day. The place was packed which was nice to see. I joked with the owner that it felt like the good ol’ days when you would be elbow to elbow with folks going through the bins, looking for music. Those days are sadly behind us now I think.

I did pick up the new Appleseed Cast release “Sagarmatha” on vinyl and a sweet package it is. If you have not heard this record yet, by all means, give it a listen. Very good; maybe their best ever. My other purchase was the new Silversun Pickups release “Swoon” on CD. Very tasty as well. Rene went digging in the used bins and found her music: Elton John’s greatest hits, Billy Joel’s greatest hits and the Chili Peppers greatest hits. I am sensing a theme to her purchases!
After that outing, it was all yard work, all the time. We raked and cleaned and trimmed until I thought my arms were going to fall off. A good start, but plenty more to do. We walked the Boyz and then had a nice pasta dinner on the deck, all the time watching a gaggle of goldfinches devour our birdseed.

It was a beautiful day. So nice, I actually wore shorts for the first time this year!

But that all came to an end on Sunday morning. I woke up to rain and gloom and much cooler temps. And it was race day. First event of the season for me, the annual Deep Lake Trail Benefit Time Trial. Almost every year this race is a scorcher with temps easily into the 70’s and plenty of sunshine. This year was the exception. It rained pretty much from the onset, though the first couple groups got off before it started. My buddy ex-XTERRA Matt was there and racing in the expert category, which was bumped up to a 2-lap race for the first time this year. Here he is show-boating for the crowd at the starting tent!

He finished strong and about mid-pack but out of the medals.

Danielle was there with her husband Scott and I was able to get the first official photos of her non-production, super-secret full suspension Tomac race bike! Very nice. A virtual carbon bonanza with even a carbon wrapped suspension fork.

She finished well with a strong second place in the Elite class and Scott finished first in Expert.

Then came my turn to race. I decided to race single-speed this year and having ridden the course a couple times on the Inbred, I felt comfortable doing that. It was raining at the start, but the rain actually seemed to help solidify the sandy course, which will eventually dry out and get slippery as summer comes. It was fast and I was able to maintain a good pace consistently throughout most of the first half. The climbs here are difficult and it did take some cranking to get up a few. As I got further into the back section of the course, I noticed a consistent clank coming from the bike. It sounded like the creaks I hear sometimes when the rear loosens up and sure enough, the chain looked slack when I checked it. So, I stopped, twisted the Surly’s a bit and started up again. Went for another mile or so and the clanking was back, so this time, I thought the quick release may have been loose. Checked it and it didn’t seem loose, so I kept on going. At this point, I still hadn’t spent much time off the bike and felt like I was maintaining my speed. And then disaster struck. Coming out of the hilly section of the trail, there was more loosy-goosy going on, so I was forced to stop again to tweak the stays and the two guys I had passed, got back by me. I was determined to make up the time and catch them, so I set off cranking. Just as I started up again, we rounded a turn and rolled into a short but steep climb. That is when the bike broke. Bang and two bolts on the crank sheared off, which immediately left two to carry on and they in turn, torqued the chainring from a circle into an oval. The bike came to a screeching halt as the chain fell off mid-climb. I was so pissed! I put the chain back on and tried to pedal, but the crank would only turn a half-rotation and then jamb or throw the chain off. My race was done. At that point, I was still 4 miles from the finish of a twelve mile race, so I started hoofing it home. I would roll on the bike on the longer downhills and run the rest of the way, but needless to say, it took some time to get back. Determined to not DNF, I actually walked my bike over the finish line sensor for DFL instead. A few of the folks at the finish were looking at me funny wondering why I was walking. And then they looked down and saw this!

Morgan mentioned that it looked like a Rotor Elliptical chainring! But alas, no; just a Surly steel 34T, no longer in service. I wonder if they have a replacement warranty? Not sure yet if the chain is damaged but we will see tonight when I get a chance to look everything over. I just didn’t have the heart or the ambition to spend any time with it when I got home.

And so, the racing season begins with a bang! Hopefully, we can get back on track here and finish a race on the bike. The plan is to enter the Milk Jug Race Series, which starts next Thursday. I plan to race single-speed again, but we will see. The next XC race is May 6th at Fort Custer, which was my first SS race last year (and my first DFL too!).

Maybe I’ll bring the Sinister, just to be safe!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Pictures of Bliss

Last nights ride in pictures (sort of). They equal a thousand words, so that should save me a lot of time!

Trying to decide if I should go short or long. I wussed out. But I did make it home before sunset.

I love remnants I find along my rides. This used to be a barn. From the looks, it hasn't been one for some time.

Break time. Bike needed a rest. Trek was slacking a bit, so I took pity on him. But he really needs to step it up.

Mutt and Jeff stopped by to say hi. They kept their distance, but let me know they were watching. Good guys.

Spinning along. This was a long stretch of flat gravel that goes on for miles. Not sure if my cell works out there. Hmmm . . . .

There are a couple places along this stretch where (I think) the view is so cool. I love these trees both now and in the summer when the leaves make this section feel like a tunnel.

Last stretch just before home. The roads are extremely dry right now and every car crop-dusted me as they passed. This is a cloud still hanging in the air a good 5 minutes after the car went by.

I finished up with about 22 miles in and it was a slog-fest. Some of the ride was smooth and packed but much of the route has become loose stones and gravel. I love riding out here, but it is a workout. It was still windy and cool, but I will take what I can get right now. Thanks again to the two teenagers on quads for the gravel shower on White's Bridge road. Your parents must be so proud!

I need to check out my left shoe cleat when I get home tonight. Woke up with significant pain behind my left knee. That has never happened before and I am suspecting it will be a crooked or loose cleat. Stay tuned. Hopefully, it doesn't linger too long.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Don't forget to watch Paris-Roubaix this Sunday; Hindcapie's last chance to win!

Been a Long Time Cousin

It has been awhile, I know. Call it a lack of motivation or whatever you want, but basically, I haven’t felt compelled to post. Maybe it’s writer’s block. That sounds better than “I got nuttin’ to say”!

The past couple weeks have featured some riding, but it has been sporadic and rarely features any sunshine. I have yet to roll without knee and arm warmers in place. Some rides, have been downright chilly. But you have to get out there regardless.

I skipped out on Barry-Roubiax this year. The week before the race, I was only able to get out one time to ride. I did 3 nice loops at the State Game area on the Sinister but that was it. I would have liked to have raced but the fitness just isn’t there yet.

So, not feeling up to the challenge of a 31 mile race (ride) this early in the season I instead rode a shorter 23 mile gravel-grind of my own that same Sunday. It was windy, cold and grey by the time I got out. It took a lot of effort to stay out and finish the loop.

The gravel roads here have really dried out and were very loose, which made riding the CX bike hard work. My buddy ex-XTERRA Matt finished 8th in B-R right behind Danielle’s husband Scott in the single-speed category and after my ride, I think the SS would have been the right bike choice for the race. The bigger wheels roll over the gravel instead of bogging down into it like the skinny tires. Later in my ride I had a run in with a large, German Shepard, but luckily for me he turned out to be a “good boy” and just came by to say hello!

After that Sunday, I was not able to ride the rest of the week thanks to the weather, work and a car that has been acting up. As we speak, it is at the Volvo dealership for the third time in 2 weeks. Thankfully, Rene has been home the past couple weeks so I have “roadside-assistance” but this is getting ridiculous. I know, I should be riding my bike to work which would allow me to never again worry about inconvenient breakdowns. The difficulty is my job. I have to be able to randomly leave the office for construction meetings, client meetings, etc and most are not right around the corner. When I can plan it out in advance, there are days where commuting by bike will work. But for the days that I can’t, having a reliable car is a necessity. And mine has not been lately.

Car issues aside, the weather finally cleared up on Saturday and I went back out to the State Game area to ride the single-speed. It was still in the 40’s and breezy that morning, but the sun finally came out for the day. I did one lap and near the end came across a couple guys from the MMBA doing repair work on the trail.

I stopped to chat and from the tone of our conversation it appeared they were not too happy that so many folks were riding that day. We had some rain earlier in the week and that coupled with the saturated ground, left some muddy areas along the trail. And folks like me were plowing right through it, causing further damage. I typically avoid the trails when they are in that shape, but honestly did not expect it when I set out that morning to ride. And I had no clothes with me to change into to lend a hand, so I was feeling a little guilty.

I decided to finish up the loop, do the first section of the next lap (which had one small area of mud) and then head out on the roads to do a gravel-grind. It actually worked out well and I finished up with about 25 miles in for the whole ride but in the process, found another “secret” loop in the State Game area that did not appear to get any riding. It is only a little over a mile of trail, but featured some fun up and downhill singletrack sections.

The hunters in the area (and horseback riders) have left their mark on the trail, so maybe that is why the bike riders don’t frequent this section!

The area was littered, literally with old tires, bedsprings, even part of a roof overhang with shingles still attached! It amazes me that we riders get such a bad rap for our tire damage to the trail (which we are guilty of from time to time) and yet much more serious offenses such as this do not illicit calls for a ban on access. And horses are not even allowed on these trails. They cause significant damage to the SGA trail earlier in the Spring that has only recently been “cleaned up” by an increase in riding.

Regardless, it was a great day out on the bike. There have not been too many of those yet this year and with the weather we have here now, it may not happen again until late this week. We here in West Michigan lucked out on the Sunday/Monday snowstorm, but it has turned cold again. We could see temps back into the 50’s by next weekend, so keep your fingers crossed.

My first official “race” will be the Deep Lake Time Trial (MTB’s) on the 19th. I hope to continue to get some riding in before then. It is a fun event which raises money to help in the maintenance of the trail system, so it’s a good cause too. Besides the Iceman and Ore-to-Shore, it typically has the largest number of entrants for any race all season. If I can get into shape, I may even race single-speed this year. Maybe.

Hope things are warm where you are!