and it's hotter than i like, too hot

damn near 90 for the past 4 days

which doesn't work when looking

at leaves of crimson, gold and yellow

and wanting to drink a stout or a porter

but the temps say to drink a saison or

a hopped up ale with citrus nose and

clean palate for the imbibed pleasure

was out mtbing in brown county and

made love right then and there like

it was meant to be, that hour or so of

pleasure twisting and turning up and

down, flow felt as one being happening

in time and place that won't be duplicated

I had expected an autumnal ride of slips and showers and dressed accordingly. Instead the riot of fall colours was steaming in the late summer heat. Shorts were a better choice than my Gore Profi 3 trousers but long sleeves did save me from the whipping of the undergrowth.
I love the trails at this time of year as it makes it a challenge to find the dry ones and avoid the mud. The least known tracks are covered in a camouflage of leaves so many of them are left to the familiar.
Whiteways car park was filled with Hogs glinting in the sun but we found space for all of us and after coffee AND NO BACON BUTTIES we pedalled out and up. We looped through a few sections of single-track in the trees including the new Rich Reward linking old with old and ran down some of the main runway stuff before heading out over the hill.
The man from the meadow, (Monsieur du Pre), and I slipped twice at the bottom before he was spurred into an attack on the hill and sprinted off with me chasing. Three quarters of the way up as I faded Alec was in the perfect position to jump onto his wheel but with the disdain of a top twenty place recently achieved in the night time trial over the South Downs he informed me that he “had nothing to prove”.
Rob trundled up ahead with unassailable lead.
We raced through the next sinuous section with a couple of our new faces performing with aplomb. Pete lost the trail for a second but showed me an opportunity for a new link.
We separated a little as we ran the ridge trail with Nick keeping a wary eye on this slender trail. He seemed to enjoy it as he followed the rear wheel of the Gary Fisher down the hill. Almost too close as Pete somersaulted over the bars after hitting a log but he landed softly in the leaves. At the bottom a certain Blur rider confessed that he had done exactly the same and he has no excuse having ridden this countless times over the years.
Over the horse jump logs I challenged Mr. Donne to clear the lot and in a flash he was off. And in a flash he was off; at the second log wrestling to hold the bike and spoiling a clear run with a dab. “Puncture” was the cry, as Pete’s tyre went down whether as the result of the acrobatics or the cause will never be known. Time for a munch while he played mechanic. Nick’s nice, light Fuel brought out an engineering lesson for the second group with Rich eventually settling for “just tell me what to buy?” That’ll be VPP, Rich. Mike swapped his patriot with the S works of Rich for a bit as the puncture was prepared. Rich zoomed off and Mike used the S works chain ring as a saw on the next large log.
The other Mike ran ahead through the overgrown trail to grab a picture or two. The main group should have been intrigued by the bouncing log that we had laboriously sawn through the previous weekend as a trail obstacle, but it seemed to be just a log. The sweat was not worth it.
We hit that little climb next and dug in. Not very long, not very rocky, not very narrow and not very easy and a few pushing up to the top. Always hurts me that one. Around the quarry ridge, dry and clear with v brakes shuddering behind me as Mike tested out the braking of Rich’s racing steed with the security of hitting me rather than something solid. I sprinted to get away and did fine until I hit three or four of the strongest uprights in the panda garden. I stayed on with skill and aplomb proven by the appreciative gales of laughter from the two Mikes at my maestro demonstration.
More single-track, some roots, some happy walkers encouraging us on and another mechanical. Alec’s tubeless had come unstuck. Very rare as he rides so light but as he have bottomed his fork perhaps he was carrying extra speed into the gullies. A new tube and we rode around the road section after a democratic decision which went against me.
The little hill on the last leg of the way back found us running out of water as the heat took its toll. The last run down through the two main runways brought us back to the final climb that reminds you that your fitness is never good enough.
So that was my ride as sweeper. How was your ride?

Die Daten :

Tour 1

Startzeit : 08.00 MEZ, 13.10.2008
Distanz: 12 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde: Taiga, Rookie
Zeit: ca. 70 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 300 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 0 Grad, Untergrund fest, Sonnenschein

Tour 2

Startzeit : 11.15 MEZ, 13.10.2008
Distanz : 12 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde : Cheyenne, Nemo,
Zeit : ca. 70 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 299 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 5 Grad, Untergrund fest, Sonnenschein

Und hier noch ein Foto von Cheyenne und Nemo beim wässern :

The race started just before dark at 6:00pm.  To start, teams had to punch their card at 5 points that were shown on our first map.  It was a mad dash, as all 5 points were easily attainable in less than 5 minutes because they were all around the perimeter of the huge parking area.  Then came our first mystery event.

Teams were allowed 1 frisbee per team, the object was to throw your frisbee into a 4' fire pit about 40' away, and each team member had to make it in the pit. This was pure chaos, as all the teams were lined up, throwing and retrieving the discs.  People were running in the way and getting hit as they were trying to pick up an errant throw.  Someone was yelling "on per team!", intending to let us know the one disc per team rule, but confusing some teams into thinking that they meant one make per team.  It was really rather hilarious.  Jonea made her 3rd throw, and I think I took about 5 throws, and then we got the next map and were out on the bike leg.

We took the longer but faster pavement route partway to CP1, and arrived there just as there was no more light at all in the sky.  It was a gradual uphill the entire way to the CP, and Jonea's legs were having a hard time getting going.  She was frustrated that she was struggling, but kept pedaling, and eventually her legs muscles decided to get in the game, and we pushed on to CP2.  We were now 8.8 miles of up hill into the ride.  On the way to CP3 we were crossing a whole bunch of little sandy washes, and some of them were pretty soft and deep.  Every time I would hit one, I would yell out to Jonea, "sand!" so she would know it was coming.  After I barely stayed on top of my bike going through one, I heard a yell from behind me, and when I looked back, Jonea's bike was still upright, but facing perpendicular to the trail.  The sand had almost put her into a huge cactus!  We caught up to one of the teams that passed us earlier at CP3, then started the 2+ mile descent toward CP4.  The other team made better time than we did going down the ridge, but we were still really moving fast for it being pitch black and a single track trail.  We got to CP4 just in time to see some other team's tail lights heading down a trail that we knew was the longer of the two ways that we could go. This gave us a spark, and we blasted through the campground then headed back toward the TA.  In the last half mile, Jonea's front tire finally succumbed to the cactus incident, and she flatted.  She was yelling to me that she had a flat, and I was yelling back that I know and just keep riding!  We made it to the TA, and on to the next mystery event at CP5.

In this event, each team was allowed to have five pieces of 2x4 that were about 12" long. With these they had to move from behind a line and around a cone about 15' away and back across the line without touching the ground.  I have done something like this before, but it involved bricks on an uneven surface.  This was smooth wood on fairly smooth concrete, so I just stood on two of them like skis and bent over and grabbed the front of one as I slid my foot forward then did the same with the other.  This worked great, and I was done in about 1 minute.  Jonea was employing a different method using the other 3 blocks, but switched to the lift-n-slide after she saw the success that I was having.  We were done in a jiffy and then went to change our shoes for the trekking leg to come.

As soon as we got CP6, we turned off our lights and used the bright moonlight to see the trail.  We ran down a trail that paralleled a wash then at CP7 when the trail crossed it, we took the wash itself further down the canyon.  In the wash we came upon team E-Lyte, where Hollon's team mate was lying down in the sand while Hollon was stretching out her leg cramps.  We asked if everything was ok, or if they needed anything, and then kept on toward CP8.  In an attempt to operate in "stealth mode", we only used our lights when we needed to check the map, hoping other teams wouldn't see us and either know how close we were getting to them (wishful thinking), or follow our lights (more likely to really happen).  The route from CP8 to CP9 was on the competative mountain biking trail in the park, so it was pretty gnarly.  We climbed up and over a ridge and were all the way down the other side punching our card at CP9 when we saw the first lights top out on the ridge behind us.....or....where other teams using stealth mode???  hmmmmm.

I am not a runner.  It hurts my knees, I get cramps in my calves, and I really don't enjoy it.  BUT, for some reason at this race, I had some weird mojo going on and was able to run about 80% of the 6.1 mile trekking leg.  We had to look around a little for CP10, but once we had it, we were finally headed for the finish line.

We finished the race in 3 hours and 15 minutes, which was good enough for 3rd place overall, and 1st in the co-ed division!  Not bad for two old timers!

This was a super fun event, and racing in the moonlight was amazing.  I look forward to trying another night race.  The volunteers were great as always, and Rick and Kim put on another successful event.  If you haven't tried it yet, sign up for a beginner friendly adventure race and get addicted!

I had my first ever photos shoot with a photographer by the name of Vaughan a few weeks ago.

At first I was a bit nervous and didn’t really know what to do, but that all changed as we got started.

Vaughan was great and was really, really good at the whole thing and made me feel like I was a natural and had done it before.

The shoot was taken on a rather fresh winter night at my dad’s place. The shots would involve me getting into the nice cold pool for a water and paddling shots as well as a cycling shot that took place just on the edge of the pool.

I got the photos back a few days ago and man oh man did they turn out good. Most of them were winners with the best coming from the cycling shoot which had me set up on my stationary bike and going no where fast.

The paddling shots were taken in the pool with my nose rested on the side of the pool and then stroking away to get the best shot. My pour boat took a bit of a beating but it was well worth it as it was just a tripping boat and the photos were amazing.

Vaughan is a really talented Photographer and has got some of the best photos I have ever seen on his Web page, so go and check out my links and see what he has got.

I went down to the Karoo to watch the Fish river canoe marathon with good friend and 3^rd father Wayne Ashford, Linda his girl friend and Mark his partner for the race.

We had an awesome trip and stayed with the most amazing host whose farm is called The Orange Grove Farm and is about 10 min out Side Cradock.

The family where extremely welcoming and made us feel rite at home and provided us with 5 star meals.

The racing was great with Grant and Hank taking the hours in the over all mens race. 

Good friend Barry Lewin and partner Wayne Wilson where having a good race until they raped at Keith’s which ended up been the decider with 4 out of the top ten boats making it down.

The whole experience was a bit tough for me as been an old peddler bought back old memories and made me miss it quite a bit.

The thing that made it the worse is the fact that the first day we got there Barry Lewin asked me to Jump in the front of the double and trip the last section of the river with Grant and Hank which I was quite hesitant about as is was my first time steering a double down a river, but all was good and we made it down safe.’ Was so was stoked about that”.

Wayne and Mark were there for the medal and managed a clean sweep down the river with no swims. They seemed to have a good time and did really well with coming 220^th over all. Not bad considering the amount of training they did and the fact that there were about 1000 paddlers.

The whole trip was awesome and has got me back in a boat for a while as I get my knee back to full strength and full use.

Die Daten :

Tour 1

Startzeit : 08.45 MEZ, 11.10.2008
Distanz: 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde: Taiga, Rookie
Zeit: ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 288 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 4 Grad, Untergrund fest, leicht feucht,

Tour 2

Startzeit : 11.00 MEZ, 11.10.2008
Distanz : 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde : Cheyenne, Nemo,
Zeit : ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 287 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 5 Grad, Untergrund fest, leicht feucht, etwas Wind,

Aquí va una historia de amor y nostalgia. Como quizás sabéis, me compré una bici nueva a principios de verano, la estrené y probé y me enamoré de ella por sus curvas.

A finales de julio, después de hacer la Cambrils-Tarragona, me decidí a limpiarla y enghrasarla, debido al barro acumulado. Para la limpieza hice lo de siempre, la puse panza arriba y la estuve limpiando durante hora y media. Al acabar la puse de nuevo en su posición correcta y no la toqué.

Al día siguiente noté la horquilla bloqueada, que no bajaba, si es de 140mm, bajaba 10-20mm. Monté un poco pero estaba muy dura y no quería cargarmela. Miré el libro de instrucciones y especificaba que de llevarla en el coche o puesta boca abajo el aceite (es una horquilla de muelle y aceite) se podía ir hacia arriba y luego le costaba bajar, que en ese caso hiciera el recorrido de la horquilla de 20 a 30 veces para hacer fluir el aceite.

Pues nada, lo hice como 100 veces y seguía igual. Al final deciidí llevarla a la tienda donde la enviarían finalmente a la casa de Madrid, ante el curioso caso.

Total que pilló agosto, que cerraba la casa, y la horquilla seguía en la tienda por precaución a que no llegara a su destino. A principios de setiembre la enviaron a Madrid y ayer mismo me llamaron que ya tenía la horquilla y que me la estaban montando. Así que ya sabeis lo que me toca!

Lo que no entiendo como puede pasar eso en una horquilla de estas características, una RockShox Pike. Al final he estado todo el verano sin ella, snif, snif...

Die Daten :

Tour 1

Startzeit : 01.00 MEZ, 10.10.2008
Distanz: 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde: Taiga, Rookie
Zeit: ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 278 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : minus 2 Grad, Untergrund angefroren, Sternenklarer Himmel

Tour 2

Startzeit : 02.30 MEZ, 10.10.2008
Distanz : 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde : Cheyenne, Nemo,
Zeit : ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 277 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : minus 4 Grad,  Untergrund angefroren, Sternenklarer Himmel

Die letzten drei Tage waren anstrengend ich bin mit meiner Mutter Fahrrad gefahren.

1. Tag: Die kleine Runde die wir eigentlich immer gehen *einfach ausser der letzte Berg * Dauer: ca. 13 min

2. Tag: Schon härter ich war echt schlapp (mein A***h tat tat so Höllisch weh) und es war so bergisch ... Dauer: unbekannt

3. Tag: Heute wurde ich so gequält und Mama wusste den Weg nicht genau und wir sind über einen Weg nagut Weg kann man das nicht nennen ....Da waren berge aus umgefallenen Bäumen vom Sturm Kürill oder wie der hieß egal und Um 14 uhr kamen wir nach Hause......HALLO wir sind 17 Kilometer gefahren  aua aber gestern tat mir alles noch mehr weh Heute fast gar nicht .   Dauer: Zu lang

so und morgen geht es weiter

Rock Racing Clothing

Rock 'n Republic is bringing high fashion to cyclists with the release of the Rock Racing Cycling clothing line.  The Rock Racing booth was all pimped out and the pro riders in attendance (Tyler Hamilton, Freddie Rodrigez) looking like they just came off the fashion runway.  This premium clothing line ain't cheap, but it sure is nice.  Insiders tell us it will be available at Pedalhead Road Works in '09.

Tim Heemskerk posing with his Euro team that he is joining this winter in the Netherlands for Cyclocross.  Tim plans to race the full ‘cross schedule in Alberta before heading across the pond to Europe.  Along with Tim, 2 young espoirs will join him during this European ‘cross campaign.  Keep track of Tim and his project at www.timheemskerk.com.

Fizik's new MTB saddle dubbed the "Tundra". 

Real Italians serving real Gelato at the Outdoor Demo.  (Almost as good as DaCapo)

Cervelo's test ride take off.

Cervelo's R3 SL w/ Zipp 202's & SRAM Red

So I looked at their Backcountry Orange. I prefer the orange shading over red and yellow on ski goggles usually, and Backcountry suggests expertise that I plainly do not possess. Sort of Ray Mears for a day stuff.
The range was only 45% to 15% so my concerns were over the sunglasses ability.
I looked for dealers and tried one in Brighton. They had a sample pair of different lenses but they could be ordered. Helpfully they had left on the USA sticker of $60. They wanted £60 though. When I questioned the price I was disappointed by the response so I left without placing an order.
I looked for other dealers but eventually realised I would have to buy without trying somewhere on the internet. But then I found a picture of an orange pair. Form and function. Shallow perhaps but I looked in earnest. I found lots of nil stock but eventually in stock and discounted at www.cycleshopping.co.uk. For £26.66 delivered.

The Tifosi’s are great. The range is good and I do not carry separate sunglasses. I tried all the dark to light and back in and out of the trees and back again and they change quickly. It may be that this is due to the reduced range to be covered but I have used them on bright days, on dull days and even at dusk and they have been excellent. I still use clear lenses for night riding but for all other days I just take the one pair.

The frame design fits closely so they do not slip and they are snug to your eyes to prevent insects getting behind them and even when wearing a rain jacket and steaming gently they rarely fog at all.

There is a fault though. If you wear coloured lenses colours change so the sunny day that you are enjoying is not shared by your riding buddies. When you remark how lucky you have been the weather they all look at the grey skies above and wonder what you have in your Camelbak.

Last night, Diddy stunned us all in the world on the "I Want to Work for Diddy" finale when he asked both of the final two contenders to join the Bad Boy camp as his assistants.

Tonight, I'm watching the presidential candidates debate but I couldn't wait to find out the future of my favorite pop group, Danity Kane. I haven't seen the MTB4 finale yet, but I've already heard the news. I'm disappointed because I love the show and all of the girls, and I've already been through this twice before with Destiny's Child.

What happened?

Can you believe it?

Will this change things for you?

Speak on it! Or you can choose not to. But let me be the second to warn you that it gets real dark and lonely...

UPDATE: This was only the first part. The drama will be continued on next week's show. This is an ongoing news story, this is an ongoing news story!

UPDATE # 2: I finally saw it. My only major reaction was that I never noticed that Aundrea and Aubrey don't really talk! And I watched MTB3 so there's no reason why the apparent demise of Aubrea wasn't so obvious to me. And I was surprised to hear that Aundrea was thinking about quitting but I knew her reason would be innocent. 

UPDATE # 3: I don't think there's anything wrong with a Dawn solo project. Just like there's nothing wrong with Aubrey on Broadway!

UPDATE # 4: And now for my favorite Diddy quote of the show: "That's the beauty about America: You can leave. I ain't got no shackles on you."

UPDATE # 5: I just had to add this picture. This is the look on Diddy's face AFTER he told the girls anyone who wants to leave can go with Aubrey. It's interesting to me because, it looks almost as if he's scared that someone might say, "Actually Diddy, I'm out, too."

Buzz Up! this story

Die Daten :

Tour 1

Startzeit : 11.00 MEZ, 07.10.2008
Distanz: 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde: Taiga, Rookie
Zeit: ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 268 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 6 Grad, Untergrund leicht aufgeweicht, Sonnenschein, Wind,

Tour 2

Startzeit : 16.15 MEZ, 07.10.2008
Distanz : 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde : Cheyenne, Nemo,
Zeit : ca. 65 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 267 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 5 Grad, Untergrund aufgeweicht, Sonnenschein,  Wind,

Red bull RAMPAGE 08 ...

Unfortunately I missed the park where I was able to get on to the cycleway and wound up going through the streets of Ashfield, Campsie and Canterbury, until I found a point were I was able to join the cycleway. When I got back I wound up going to Tempe Velodromefor the spin session with Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club - my club. I rode to the velodrome only to have the chain snap at Tempe station. I lost half the removable link.  I searched desperately but could not find it.

I met another guy on his way to the velodrome who suggested I continue on to the velodrome where someone would be able to help me. I went to the velodromeand caught up with Lindsay Munks who sorted out the chain issue. He had the tools and was able to get the chain linked together. It was strongly recommended that I see the guys at Ashfield Cycles and find out what went wrong. It was also recommended that I get a new chain as the chain was too tight.

On Friday I rang the guys at Ashfield Cycles and was told that they did not remove the chain for the service. I get the feeling that things were not going to get any easier despite the dead chain. On Saturday I got up and prepared for Slowies only to find that the rain was going to put the kybosh on the event.

I went out to Coles in Monterey for a Birthday present for a friend of mine and a carton of UHT Skim milk. I took the fearless gear-less to see how it would handle the path. There has been some changes but the fearless gear-less handled everything quite well. I got the milk but did not get the present as it was not in stock. As I went back to Tempe my rear tyre blew out. I cursed and swore and got the bike to a shelter used for picnics. I took the rear wheel off using a spanner from my multitool. I found that the tyre was worn out at the side rim, with the tyre coming away from the bead. I replaced the tube with a thorn proof tube. I intended to get back to Tempe pushing the bike but wound up riding it.  Towards the end the issues with the tyre became problematic. I copped the fishtailing as I turned and wound up slowing down. I got the bike in and changed the tyre. I will now be running WTB slicks from the Iguana.

I will write back with details of how the Fearless Gearless preforms with Slicks.

The other issue was major. On Sunday I was still in Sydney for some overtime. I decided to go to Waterfall with DHBC and had prepared myself for the event. It would have been my first Waterfall and I got myself down to Mick Mazza cycles at 06:30 after getting a new chain from Mick I headed off. The drive train seized up with on the way which was the reason for the new chain. After the Club President gave his speech outlining the risks of cycling and stressing that we accepted the risks if we rode with the club that morning, we headed off. We headed down Warren Rd and went through to Gannon Street. We got on to the highway and went past a RBT station and were going down Marsh Street when the rear derailleur came off.

Geoff said it was the end of my ride and I concurred with him. I walked the bike back to Tempe and met a guy who left the peleton due to concerns about rain. He said that the bike may be dead because the hanger is bent and may be elongated as the derailleur bolt has been sheared off. However he reckoned it would be repairable. I got the bike back and put it into the car for the trip to Bike Minded in Wentworth Falls. I took the Green Trek out for a ride. Woolys Wheels was open but it is booked out till the 18th. I dropped into the Addison St Markets at Marrickville after checking out Cell bikes and Stanmore Cycles (both closed due to the long weekend). After the week end I went back to Lithgow.

This morning I took the Red Hybrid to Bike Minded in Wentworth Falls. They reckon it may be dead but it will be wait and see. They will try to get the bolt out and then straighten the drop out. If all is well there will be a new derailleur and everything realigned. If not I may either make the Red Hybrid a single speed or take it and stip it for parts to be put onto a frame either from Europa Cycles or Peter Bundy in Riverwood. In short it was not a good week. God has had an ear bashing from me and I am not a happy boy. But there is always next time. I will also be willing to get out and give everything a go when the Red Hybrid - or it's replacement is ready to roll.

Die Daten :

Tour 1

Startzeit : 11.30 MEZ, 06.10.2008
Distanz: 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde: Taiga, Rookie
Zeit: ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 258 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 5 Grad, Untergrund leicht aufgeweicht, Regen, Wind,

Tour 2

Startzeit : 22.00 MEZ, 06.10.2008
Distanz : 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde : Cheyenne, Nemo,
Zeit : ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 257 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 1 Grad, Untergrund aufgeweicht, Regen,  Wind,

We met Hal at the place where we park on Iron Springs to ride in "the pines".  The three of us headed up into "the pines" and climbed up and through the tunnel then up onto the old railroad grade.  This part of the grade is now considered part of the planned Circle Prescott Trail.  That was our plan for this afternoon, to ride about a third of the CPT.

We left the grade as trail 332 headed south and over a hill then down into Fireplace Springs.  It's called Fireplace Springs, because a large stone fireplace is all that is left of what once was a homestead along a small creek.  From there, we continued on 332 to the south.  The 332 is now a single track on what was once an old road, but the boulders that the Forest Service put in to narrow it as well as all the weeds that grew throughout our wet summer have successfully masked the road.  The 332 ends when it reaches Thumb Butte Rd.

From there we rode the 392 up a long canyon and then further up the switchbacks on the north face of a hillside where we could look out across all that we had traversed so far to see the afternoon sun reflecting off cars headed up Iron Springs road.  This is Scott on that section of trail.

At the junction where the 392 hits the 326,  Hal had to cut his ride short and head back toward his house, but we took this photo before he left.

Scott and I pressed on.  We took the 322 down some fun single track to the 51.  The 51 is a forest road, so it was relatively smooth compared to a lot of what we had been on so far, so we made pretty good time on it even though it was mostly uphill riding.  At the bottom of one of the short downhill sections it crossed a rocky wash, and as I went over the rocks, my front wheel kicked up a foot sized rock that went into my rear spokes and broke one of them out.  Bummer.  I twisted the broken spoke around another spoke, and vowed to take it easy on the back wheel the rest of the ride.  Before long, we came to the back of Camp Perlstein where the 393 takes off of the 51.  Scott and I plugged along up the switchbacks, and stopped for a CLIF bar and some water for a few minutes.  I took these photos on the 393.

We passed a couple of women walking their fluffy white dog at the top, and they couldn't believe that we had started over on Iron Springs Rd.  We finished the descent to Copper Basin Rd. then took ( I should say hike-a-biked) the 48 up to the 9401L. This is me where when we could get back on and ride again.

We rode the old forest road that is now closed to motorized vehicles around the south side of Wolverton Mt. to the junction where we would head down the 9415 single track toward the "white spar" some people call quartz mountain.  Little do they know that this is where White Spar Rd. got its name.  This section of the CPT is pretty awful (so much for taking it easy on my rear wheel).  Lots of loose, scrabbly rock and pretty steep and narrow.  Scott did a great job coming down this section of the trail, as it is what I would call pretty technical riding.

After we went around the Spar, we only had the 9707V descent before we made it back to Scott's truck.  We were like horses running for the barn as we bombed the 500' drop in only a little over a mile on the rough and rocky forest road!

Just as we made it to the truck, I heard Scott say "oh, no!"  He had left the keys to his truck in my truck almost 16 miles behind us!  Dan-dan-dadah, Tracie to the rescue!  I called my wife, and she very kindly drove up to where my truck was and retrieved Scott's keys, then drove all the way across town to deliver them.  What a gal!

What a ride!

stats:

• distance: 15.6 miles
• total riding time: 2hrs. 12 min.
• avg. speed 7.0 mph
• elevation gain 2368 feet
  

Kakaomælk for protein.

Kørte MTB fra 19.30-21.00, det er fandme blevet mørkt efterhånden. Jeg kan huske at jeg vred mig sidste vinter da jeg købte min Sigma lygte - også i dag var den alle pengene værd. Nat-kørsel er sjovt og giver masser af mental-træning for mig. Jeg har haft min Cube i snart et år, og jeg er stadig øm omkring den. Jeg bliver overrasket igen og igen over hvad jeg egentligt kan på cyklen uden at smadre den.

Om natten kan jeg kun se det der er lige foran mig, huller er meget sværere at se og jeg kan ikke se hvad der er på den anden side af træer - så for at få den fart jeg elsker kører jeg hurtigt hele tiden og opdager først lortet når jeg sidder i det til halsen, men opdager også at jeg sgu egentlig klarer mig godt i situationer hvor jeg normalt ville ha blokket bremsen.

Jeg tog en tur på ringvejen bagefter for lige at køle ned, brug for at slå hjernen fra igen og ta' en slapper rundt. Kyllingfillet til restituering, fedt!

I morgen er der duathlon i idræt, jeg håber sgu at jeg kan gi den gas til løb. Ellers står den på hyggetur med gutterne.

Die Daten :

Tour 1

Startzeit : 10.00 MEZ, 05.10.2008
Distanz: 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde: Taiga, Rookie
Zeit: ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 248 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 4 Grad, Untergrund leicht aufgeweicht, Regen, Wind,

Tour 2

Startzeit : 15.30 MEZ, 05.10.2008
Distanz : 10 Km, Strasse, Waldweg,
Gewicht ca. 100 Kg ( MTB und ich )
Hunde : Cheyenne, Nemo,
Zeit : ca. 60 min.
Höchstgeschwindigkeit:- km/h
Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit: - km/h
Gesamtdistanz: 247 Km
Positionen: -
Außentemperatur : 2 Grad, Untergrund aufgeweicht, starker Regen, böiger Wind,

Eine schöne Fotoserie, als *.rar mit insgesamt 15 Fotos von der heutigen Begegnung mit den Rentieren findet Ihr hier. ( 700 KB, Datei speichern, von pdf nach rar umbenennen dann gehts  )

Pia Sundstedt oli tällä viikolla tutustumassa kilpailureittiin ja radalla olleella jalkautumisosuudella nosti pyöränsä olkapäälleen kantamista varten, jolloin hän loukkasi niskansa. Niskaan tuli paha tulehdusvamma ja hän päätti palata takaisin kotiinsa Saksaan. Hän oli jo lähes varma, että finaali jää hänen osaltaan ajamatta.

Sundstedt sai kuitenkin kolmen päivän ajan kahdesti päivässä fysioterapeutiltaan hoitoa ja vasta kilpailupäivän aamuna hän päätti matkustaa takaisin Ranskaan. Hän starttasi kilpailuun ja se alkoikin kohtuullisesti. Kuitenkin jo kilpailun alkuvaiheessa hänen pyörästään irtosi poljin. Hän sai sen korjattua, mutta putosi joukon viimeiseksi.

Tiukan takaa-ajon ja mutaisella radalla muutaman kaatumisen jälkeen hän nousi neljänneksi. Mutta jälleen kohtalo puuttui peliin. Hänen pyöränsä ketju meni takarattaan ja pinnojen väliin niin, että hän ei saanut pyöräänsä toimimaan. Ketju ei meinannut irrota satimestaan millään. Takaa tuli kuitenkin toinen suomalaisajaja Carina Ketonen, ja sääntöjen puitteissa tapahtuneella yhteistyöllä Sundstedtin pyörä tuli ajokuntoon. Sen jälkeen Pia Sundstedt pääsi Ketosen kanssa maaliin sijoittuen kuudenneksi. Ketonen oli seitsemäs.

- Ilman Carinan apua ja tukea maailmancupin voitto olisi jäänyt saavuttamatta. Olen hänelle erittäin kiitollinen. Hän uhrautui hienosti auttaessaan minua. Kaiken kaikkiaan nyt viimeisten viikkojen ja erityisesti nyt viimeisten päivien aikana on ollut vaikeuksia niin paljon, että usko on meinannut loppua monta kertaa. Olen joutunut taistelemaan itseni kanssa monta kertaa, mutta se kannatti, kertoi Pia Sundstedt.

Tulokset

Naiset 60 km, Ornans, Ranska
1.  Petra Henzi (Sveitsi) 3.38.12
2.  Esther Süss (Sveitsi) + 2.14
3.  Blaza Klemencic (Slovenia) + 2.47
4.  Sabrina Enaux (Ranska) + 4.20
5.  Michela Benzoni (Italia) + 8.45

Tulokset kokonaisuudessaan:
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderResult_XCM_WE.pdf
 

Miehet 83 km 
1. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon COL 4:17:22 
2. Lukas Buchli SUI +0:02:04 
3. Karl Platt GER +0:03:13 
4. Alban Lakata AUT +0:04:26 
5. Urs Huber SUI +0:05:58

Tulokset kokonaisuudessaan:
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderResult_XCM_ME.pdf

Maailmancupin lopputulokset

Naiset:
1 Pia Sundstedt (Suomi) 380 pistettä
2 Esther Süss (Sveitsi) 360
3 Blaza Klemencic (Slovenia) 310
--- 
6 Carina Ketonen (Suomi) 230

Miehet:
1. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon COL 390 
2. Thomas Dietsch FRA 370 
3. Alban Lakata AUT 350

Tulokset kokonaisuudessaan:
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderRanking_XCM_WE.pdf 
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderRanking_XCM_ME.pdf

Lisäinfoa:
http://www.piasundstedt.com
http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI5/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUzNjE
http://www.extreme-sur-loue.com/

CAMERA....NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!!!!

Here is a great link for more info about mountain biking with a camera. SLR Camera bag for MTB

]]> http://hitchcockphotography.wordpress.com/?p=211 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:56:35 +0000 mtnmama http://hitchcockphotography.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/05/fall-mountain-bike-photography/ I had a blast today riding mountain bikes with my husband and some friends! It was awesome to ride but also a great opportunity to get some sweet photos. Check them out here!