The Velcro Tire Training Ride AND Video

The Velcro Tire Training Ride AND Video

September 8, 2014

Yes, velcro tire (tyre).

K-Dogg
K-Dogg with bad dress sense.

Definition: A wheel sucking road surface, typically consisting of sand and water, akin to wet concrete.  The surface is so power robbing, it is like riding velcro tires (tyres) on your bicycle.  Tyres from 1.8″ to 2.0″ (Specialized Renegade or Schwalbe Furious Fred) fare no better.

Suggestion: Stay home, or borrow K-Dogg’s lawn mower, which has 14″ wide tyres.  From K-Dogg, “I could drop you bitches on any surface you can throw at me.  Provided you don’t go faster than 9mph”. 

Or, shut up and ride bitch.

Maryland to Maine

Maryland to Maine

September 5, 2014
During my recent road trip to the Dirty 40 race in Vermont, I went a little out of my way to visit friends, and cross off all of the New…
JOM’s Dirty 40 Race Bike

JOM’s Dirty 40 Race Bike

September 4, 2014

For those who don’t know me, I’m a bit of an equipment nut.  I source the parts and assemble most of my bikes myself.  Not a fan of out of the box, pre-assembled bikes.  This ensures I know what’s going into the bike, and have myself to blame when something screws up on the bike.  I also hate riding the same stuff as everybody else; it’s cool to have a unique bike.

I’ve yet to learn how to build my own wheels, because I’m lazy, but in most instances, I am using American Classic wheels, which are virtually handbuilt wheels any.  I eschew proprietary spokes and that sort of rubbish.  I choose reliable equipment, with parts I can easily replace.  I tote along spare parts (or a spare bike) to most races, so no worries there.  Onto the bike…

Road Trip Cramming

Road Trip Cramming

September 4, 2014

How much stuff do you take on a cycling road trip?

Before I began my recent gravel grinding road trip, which would encompass North Carolina, Washington D.C., Vermont, and every between, I figured I need to shoot for maximum petrol (or gas if you prefer) mileage efficiency.  Not counting my hotel fee split with K-Dogg and Dr Pain in Marion, NC for Savage CX, I would be traveling solo.

I purchased a Toyota Prius recently, which thus far has proven stellar for being lean on the gasoline consumption.  Jokes about Prius owners are welcome, so submit your cheeky comments!  Apologies to anyone on Facebook who is sick of hearing me talk about the Prius, or posting photos of my dashboard mileage gauges 🙂

Dirty 40 Race Video – 2014 Edition

Dirty 40 Race Video – 2014 Edition

September 3, 2014
Greetings and salutations viewers, I have returned to Florida.  In between work, washing clothes, squeezing a slacker ride in, grabbing my mail, pulling weeds, and unpacking the car, I managed…
JOM’s Dirty 40 Race Report – 2014

JOM’s Dirty 40 Race Report – 2014

September 1, 2014

About the Race

The Dirty 40 was the 5th race of the American Ultra Cross Series, held in beautiful DerbyDirty40Logo, Vermont, very close to the Canadian border.  The second edition of the race took place on August 30, 2014.  While advertised as a 60 mile race with approximately 40 miles of gravel roads, in reality it is a 70 mile race (113 kilometres as I prefer) with about 55 miles of gravel.  I found this out first hand courtesy of my course pre-ride, or tribal knowledge scouting as I prefer to call it.

My race video documenting the experience is HERE.

Accommodations

I must give kudos to the Four Seasons Hotel in Derby, where I’d based myself for three days leading up to the race.  Uber convenient location to the race, beautiful surrounding scenery, and comfortable accommodations were perfect.  Because Derby is so close to Canada, people have no excuses to make a trip by bicycle or car, over the border.  Just don’t forget your passport!  Here is what I got up to on Thursday and Friday, before the race.

Crossing borders, not your average Friday ride

Crossing borders, not your average Friday ride

August 29, 2014

The day before a race, one should ride easy.  In my case, a Friday morning ride from Derby, Vermont and north into Canada by bicycle.  44 kilometres of planned goodness, with lots of gravel.

Crossing the border on a back road

Crossing the Canadian border at a lesser traversed immigration station can be a cool experience, especially on a bicycle.  The Canadian immigration officer took care of my passport check, and told me about the sweet cycling in the area.  In between the few incoming vehicles into Canada, we spent about half an hour chatting about cycling, culture and life in general.  A really nice welcome.  My return trip into the USA wasn’t as in depth, but the folks there were interested in hearing about my Canadian ride, and the Dirty 40 race.

Urban Cruise in Montreal, Canada

Urban Cruise in Montreal, Canada

August 28, 2014

The Great White North

This was my first trip to Canada.  What better way to do it, than drive across the US / Canadian border from Northern Vermont, into the province of Quebec.  Having a .00001% grasp of the French language, what could go wrong?  Thankfully, I had my little smart phone, with the Google Translator application installed, and the French language saved offline.  No data plan for outside of the USA means I had to think ahead a little bit.

Riding Around

I found a fantastic 65 kilometre urban route around Montreal, courtesy of a nice gentleman who shared his ride details on the ridewithgps.com website.  The route profile was very flat, perfect recovery considering I pre-rode the entire Dirty 40 course in Vermont yesterday.  I researched where to park the car, and chose a grocery store parking lot.  Thank you Google Street View!

Dirty 40 Ride Preview 2014 – The Full Monty

Dirty 40 Ride Preview 2014 – The Full Monty

August 27, 2014

Trendsetters, greetings from Derby, Vermont.  I’m visiting this beautiful area of the country, because this weekend, I’m racing the next round of the North American Ultracross Series; The Dirty 40 (or the Dirty 70 as I prefer to call it).

Today, I rode the entire course.  How can I do that considering the organizers are keeping the course secret?  Answer: I begged the organizers to provide me with the course file.  Considering I’ve made the trip from Florida for this race (and a vacation), they were extremely nice and took pity upon me.   Earlier today, the organizers released the course, so the secret is out.

New Hampshire Gravel Road Cycling

New Hampshire Gravel Road Cycling

August 27, 2014
Some photos from a gravel road training ride in the beautiful state of New Hampshire, August of 2014. Click a thumbnail image to see full size (hosted by Flickr). [alpine-phototile-for-flickr…
JOM’s Savage CX Race Report – 2014

JOM’s Savage CX Race Report – 2014

August 25, 2014

About the Race

Savage CX 2014, race #1 of the Blue Ridge Monster Cross Series – August 23, 2014.

From the event website – SavageCXLogo“Savage CX is held in the only designated Wilderness area in North Carolina, it is wild and scenic.  Often called the Grand Canyon of North Carolina, you will be in for a treat as you circumnavigate the gorge and push yourself to the base of Table Rock Mountain.”

 

Let’s Try This Again

That’s what myself and the Gainesville, Florida lads decided a few weeks after we appeared at the 2013 edition (2013 race video).  Some of us didn’t have the best of luck at Savage CX 2013, and figured we should make amends in 2014.  A bit of tribal knowledge from 2013 goes a long way in 2014.  This year, K-Dogg, Dr Pain and JOM made the trip to Nebo, NC.  Irish Ed had relocated to DC, so no Savage CX 2014 redux for him.

Next stop, New England

Next stop, New England

August 24, 2014
Saturday, myself and two of my teammates raced Savage CX in Nebo, NC.  I will spare everyone the details until the ride report is written, but suffice to say, everyone…