Month: April 2011

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VT 300k Underway

The VT Lake Champlain 300k is underway… and I’m a DNF.

My ideal Friday plan of working, wrenching, and prepping for the ride turned into a marathon session wearing my organizer hat. Due to our almost great lake being well over record flood levels (and still rising) I had to do an emergency recon of the course yesterday. This meant a bike ride to the airport to grab a car rental followed by a 188 mile drive around the course + about 40 bonus miles added on to scout alternates. The first half of the course was easy to re-work, but 140 miles into the ride we had significant potentials to strand / trap riders with flooded roads – and no easy way to either rescue folks and sag them back or provide realistic, dry, and safe alternates. After consulting the NY DOT and VT AOT and not being assured 2 key roads and a ferry would be 100% operational if water levels continued to rise – we worked up a solution to continue the ride on a modified out and back course. This is a bit sad as some of the more challenging (and scenic) terrain had to be left out – but it is a great compromise to keep everyone safe, allow us to continue the event, and take advantage of the great weather today.

Once we had a solution I needed to make it happen. Multiple course changes to avoid flooding had me creating new cue sheets and brevet cards from scratch to account for the flood detours. And I re-cabled the IF on Thursday – so I still needed to wrap the bars. My Friday went from modest and relaxed to frenzied and stressed. I think I finally turned out the lights at midnight. The alarm rang at 3:15 so I could be at the start by 4:15.

I signed 9 riders in, handed out updated cues and cards, and sent everyone off. I tagged along at the back hoping to make it about 30 miles in to one of my favorite cafe stops where I could eat, get some coffee, and have a clear(er) head to decide how to proceed. I made it to the first minor uphill, maybe 4 miles into the course, and my elevated heart rate was very noticeable. I then went into a wheezing asthma attack.

So, I rolled it back to the start and hung out in case any stragglers arrived, then made my way home to rest. Greg has since called in that he was just leaving our planned breakfast stop – and aside from the wind (it will be a tailwind in 15 more miles) – he was having a great blue sky day. Wil is a bit further up the course at the first control and he’s annoyed with the wind – taking longer to cover the 51 miles than he thought. The wind will likely keep blowing this morning which will mean a tail wind to the turn around control. Hopefully it will die down this afternoon.

I’m envious and a bit sad that I’m not out on the course – but very thankful I was able to make this go for everyone who put in effort to get here and ride our VT events. As I learned last season – riding and organizing doesn’t seem to mix very well…

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Swamp Thing

Local trails, drying out. Areas that are wet will likely stay tacky through the summer. The real wet is on the two track and dirt road that was flooded in the Intervale, where most of this mess came from.

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Woods and Beach

re-Learning how to ride in the woods. Locally the high trails are dry. Rocks and roots are perpetually slippy. The lake is at a near all time high, cresting with all the snow melt and recent rain. Lots of crap on the beach. Nice morning to explore on fat tires, while trying to kick a bit of a cold I picked up from the little one.

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Expansion

Doubling the size of the garden = blisters on my soft sitting at a computer all day hands. Need to borrow a wheelbarrow and shuttle all the sod to the back of our lot, then get a load of topsoil / compost delivered.

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Chopped

B17, after some surgery. Trimmed to have a similar nose shape as my Brooks Swallow, and tied underneath with the left over long sides. The B17 has been comfortable for my ADK double century rides, the Fleche, and countless fixed gear rides on dirt and in the woods. The Swallow has always been hit and miss on rides longer than 200k – especially with lots of dirt or rough pavement – so I’m thinking this might be the best of both worlds for brevet season.

I don’t yet have the courage to cut a Brooks Imperial / Selle Anatomica style slot out of the center… but by summer’s end I might.

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Water, Wind(power), and Fargo

Good morning shakedown on the Fargo. Surprisingly capable bike, and even though I can’t pull in the reach anymore (I’m all out of stems!) – I was pretty comfortable on the bike path, road, and some trail this morning. Its snappier than I expected, and while it feels huge climbing aboard, I noticed that it disappears underneath me when I stop thinking and ride. Hopefully I’ll get a mixed terrain ride in this Sunday to put it through its paces – road, dirt road, maybe some connector trail. I’m thinking that the 2010-11 model will fit me better than the first generation frames. They’ve pulled in the ETT a bit, making the medium size closer to my IF. They also shortened up the chainstays and corrected the head tube so you can run a rigid or suspension fork. The Vulpines roll surprising well on pavement and hardpack.

My usual morning dirt / path loop is a bit flooded. I still have a pack raft on my list, so no mixed terrain / aquatics riding this morning.

Tesla Roadster parked in the ONE. Love the license plate.

Snapped a pic of the Fargo on the singletrack connector from North Ave. to the lakefront MUP. The Epic (Revelate) frame bag is really nice.

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Wreck

The little one took a full on downhill wreck on the bike path this weekend. Part lack of experience going fast, part helpful stranger trying to catch her. She freaked out turning hard to evade the guy who stepped into her path trying to slow her down and ended up with a skinned knee and some scratches on her hands. Lots of crying, but resumed the running and playing with a friend withing 15 minutes.

I almost cried when I picked her bike up – I remember the first time my bike broke when I was a kid – I was devastated. I’m thinking about making a new bar out of a piece of maple… I can unbolt the existing bar and trace it. I’ll just have to get creative with the bar ends.