Newbie Friendly Mountain Bike Ride at Santa Teresa County Park - Saturday, Sept 4th

Let's give it another shot!

ROUTE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DEPENDING ON PARTICIPATION

This ride is open to any MTB newbie wanting to go and explore. There will be climbing, but the pace is very relaxed, everybody waits and walking hills is okay. The biggest climb will be Coyote Peak (about 1,200' in 1 mile - I'm not lying... it IS steep), but again, walking is okay and once you get to the top, you will be happy you went - the views are spectacular. The route will loop the entire park, and the technical Rocky Ridge and Stiles will be avoided. The route may change depending on the group the levels of fitness. If you're experienced in MTB'ing, the pace may be a bit slow for you. I will stop and explain what to expect before entering a turn so that all are mentally prepared for what is to come and what terrain is to be ridden. I will also offer some advice about body position, how to handle off-road obstacles and general bike handling skills if people have questions. This is not a clinic, nor do I claim to be some kind of MTB'ing expert, but I have enough miles under my belt to help others get introduced to off-road riding if people have questions.

Good bike handling skills and good equipment is required. - this is newbie friendly, but not beginner friendly. Older Hybrids will be destroyed on the trail (new hybrids with knobbies and front suspension are okay, cyclocross bikes are fine), so mountain bikes are preferred. Please bring extra tubes, a small pump and tire levers as pinch flats are a common when riding off-road. Please wear a CamelBak or load up water bottles as off-road riding is a strenuous workout and hydration is important. Snacks and/or food bars are recommended. There is a water fill station in the park if you run dry. No helmet? NO RIDE. They are required on the trail and the Park Rangers issue HEAVY citations for not wearing one. Please use good judgment.

We will all meet at the Harry Rd. and Camden Ave. intersection in Almaden at 10:am, wheels roll at 10:15am. There is plenty of parking right there. Please [reply to this thread or] e-mail me at dion@uglypads.com if you're interested... and tell your friends! If you've been introduced recently to cycling in general, I'd like to take initiative and open people's minds to off-road riding. If this becomes popular, I would be willing to do a weekend ride later on so more people can join.

Look for the Wolf Jersey!

100 degree weather and overtraining.

Through the 100 degree weather and the nasty overtraining bonk, I managed to climb the rocks and get this pic...

CX Training for the Big N00B

Goofing off this weekend at the Santa Cruz High All-Class Reunion and not paying very close attention to training and diet (beer is not diet food), I feel I had a slight set back in my CX goal. Today I decided to HTFU and work on my dis-mounts and re-mounts.

Of course, this all started with a grueling hill climb where a dainty asian female tried to catch me. Let me tell you something about these little roadie chicks - I have been smoked many-a-time by them and I wasn't going to let it happen today! She almost got me, though :). Don't underestimate these women riders - they are light weight and can hammer road climbs.

I found a nice run-up at Santa Teresa County park next to the rest rooms, and a short one in the parking lot with a "barrier" (a tall 1.5ft. curb). I am definetely going to have to work on my hill runs because I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack on about my fourth run - which puts this whole CX racing thing into perspective: IT'S HARD. And I wasn't even in a race. Just training. Scary.

Got this sweet pic on my way home and did a little Photoshop on it. Things cooled off a bit here, but it's supposed to get hot again (I hate it). Until next time bicycle freaks.

1957 Mountain Bikers

Rappin' Kiwi's and drop-bar singlespeeds.

Hit the road, Mary - you need to clean up your act...

After mounting the gigantic 785mm wide lo-rise Race Face bar on my singlespeed, I had to do something with my On-One Mary bar. I tried to sell her, but I couldn't let her go - she had a purpose in my life, I just didn't know what.

Until last week.

I've been cruising the interwebz for a retro set-up like what I had in mind with my Surly Pacer. The Nitto Sparrow bar seemed nice, but just seemed a little narrow for my tastes - plus I didn't feel like shelling out any more money for an ever increasing pile of nice handlebars I have going.

I also lurked a few forums to see if anybody has flipped the Mary bar for road riding or touring; very few, but they are out there.

So, with full commitment, I decided to go full retro on the Pacer using my On-One Mary bar, flipped, with shellacked cork grips and bar mounted friction shifters. For some reason, the Rivendell downtube shifters just did NOT want to work with me, and off they went into a plastic bag and into the parts bin.

After reading a few reviews on the cheapo Falcon friction shifters, I decided to go that route - $10 for the pair wouldn't kill me. I had some old cork grips in my garage cabinet as well as the silver brake levers.

After finishing up the install a couple days ago, I decided to give it a ring today by attacking the big local climb of Hicks Rd.

I swear, somebody put a motor in my bike, because the big, wide Mary bar and positive shifting made a HUGE difference. In an earlier review of the Mary bar, I did mention how the wrist pain and numbness was diminished - well... with the road bike application, it proved even better, even flipped upside down. Not only did I clear the big climb without a problem, but after I descended I climbed the local smaller climb (Bernal Rd.) and cruised another 20 miles back to home.

The descends were a little sketchy compared to descending in the drops, but I soon got the hang of it.

I couldn't let this build be finished without shellacking the cork grips. That should keep them nice for awhile and they match my Nashbar seat a little closer.

Lastly, those cheapo Falcon shifters were INCREDIBLE. In 2010 with bicycle technology going well above the bar... friction shifting is, and seems to always be, just so goddamn spot on. My brother was raving about the Paul thumbies and friction shifting in general, but I never knew it could be so great. My downtube shifters - not so much, but my current set-up is outright sick.

I've been using my shifter on my drop-bar 29'er in friction mode. Unlike my index shifters, no skipping, no fouls, no clickity-clack, easy installation and adjustment... they work and work well.

If I ever convert my rigid SS back to a geared bike, I think I'm going with the same set-up.

Weird, old-school French Music Video about Bicycles...

Rest and Recovery Ride

After running stairs in the gym yesterday carrying a 20lb. barbell (I guess it's supposed to mimic carrying my bike in a run-up... yeah right), I'm a little burned out - from riding, from working long hours, from life. I needed a R&R day... and I also needed stuff for UGLY! Pads. So off to the fabric store I went via my Utility Bike.

It reached 110 degrees here in San Jose, so I had to wait to ride until night started to fall, although it was still in the high 80's when I left at 7:30pm. Fortunately, I was able to catch this wonderful lakeside pic with the iPhone 4.

Training for 'cross resumes tomorrow, and most likely in the gym due to time and heat. But the ride I did tonight was something I really needed.