More weekend notes

As Ben mentioned, there was great turnout for the Ride For Clive last weekend. It was great to see so many cyclist out on the American Tobacco Trail, ranging from little kids to dudes on racing bikes to dudes on rusted old cruisers to a dude on a bike from Duke's bike borrowing program. The latter aforementioned dude was Ali, pictured below holding court behind his comically oversized Amsterdam bike.

Also pictured are Jay, Rachel, K-Law, Ben, and the Notorious L.O-.G. (aka Loggie Smalls). The photo has not been doctored; Ali's bike's handlebars are as high as his chest, Ben is twice as tall as the Suntrust building, and Linus is wearing cutoff jeanshorts. After the ride, Linus confirmed that cutoff jeanshorts do not get the Bull City Cycling seal of approval for a non-cycling specific product recommended for cycling. I actually didn't take any pictures during the ride because I was helping to direct traffic and didn't want to actually cause anyone to run off the trail.

But back to the ride. I don't really know what to say except for thanks to everyone who helped out. Thanks to all of Clive's coworkers at the McKinney-Silver marketing firm, who did so much to turn this from simply a big group ride into a fitting memorial and celebration for a fallen friend and cyclist. And thanks to the bicycling community of Durham, who were so kind out on the trail and appeared to be having a great time. Please keep fighting the good fight, riding your bike safely and confidently while enjoying all it has to offer. 

Quite a weekend!

Before I forget, I wanted to give a big Congratulations to McKinney and Silver for putting together such an amazing event on Saturday. Jay and Ali put in countless hours of planning and running around on the Bull City side of things. The result was 100+ people in attendance.

If you did not make it, it was really special. All day on Saturday, I felt like we had accomplished what we had set out to do when we started this team over a year ago. We truly had an impact on the community. I am very thankful to be a part of this team and I am proud of my teammates. Great Job guys!

Riding the high from Saturday's event, Chris, The Professor, Oishi; Daniel, Chef Caesar, Schurr; JD, the leg breaker and I rolled out for a MTB ride. The temps reached the 80's I would guess, probably hotter in the forest.

It was a great ride with everyone taking strong pulls. My legs are torched today but it was well worth the effort.

Next weekend is Carolina North, we are planning on pre-riding it on Saturday to get a feel for the flow of the trails. Hope to see you out there.

riding out the storms

east coast is getting pelted with rain.


only the east coast. but this too shall pass in time for awesome weather for the Ride for Clive. see you tomorrow!

JD the Hammerhead

It's funny....seems like just when you think you are starting to feel good and gaining some confidence in your riding someone comes along and lets you know what being fit is all about. Or maybe it's just me.

I headed out with Daniel and JD yesterday for an evening ride and from the gun JD was straight killing it. Daniel and I were joking about JD's single speed being fast as hell...The bad news for me is that is wasn't a joke.

I found myself hanging on for dear life for most of the 2+ hours of riding. To make matters worse, as we slowed the pace a little bit on a flatter section some guy passed us like we were standing still!

So what did I learn from yesterdays lesson:

1. I have a long way to go until I am in shape again.
2. The nice guys are the ones to watch out for, they will rip your legs off
3. Be humble, there are a bunch of fast guys around here
4. Getting turned inside out on a ride is better than sitting at home on the couch any day of the week.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading.

Rushmore

Off topic, but the Times' A.O. Scott reminds us how great Rushmore is. Amen.

saturday

back on the road with Jay, Linus, and Ali (L to R).

Did a nice 85 miler down to Saxapahaw, driven by Jay's super strong pace setting, Linus' super fast county line sprints, and Ali's super quick wit. I set a new personal record for nature breaks (it's starting to get warm and I'm still getting my hydration figured out). We also stopped at a convenience store and chatted with a local dude who was looking forward into converting an old road bike into a brakeless fixed gear to ride on the rural roads to Carrboro. While I found this idea strange, both due to the ubiquitous trendiness of fixies and the ubiquitous impractical application of fixies, I can only tip my helmet to folks who want to ride bikes.

Also of note, the awesomeness of the Snow Hill area of the piedmont. Snow was nowhere to be seen, but we rode a long stretch of BASS Mountain Road. Some people pronounce "bass" like the fish or like Gossip Girl character Chuck Bass. 

However, given the fact that the funky-fresh M.C. Broom's church is on this road, I'm quite certain that the mountain is made up of subwoofers, kicking out that sweet, low-frequency bass. Unfortunately, I didn't hear any of this bass, which is too bad because it would have made a nice beat with the clicking sound that my bottom bracket was producing. Match that with some of Pirate's dope rhymes and we'd be ready to take the show on the road.

More Wisdom

A few hours mountain climbing turns a rogue and a saint into two roughly equal creatures. Weariness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity—and liberty is finally added by sleep. —Nietzsche

Taken from the Tour Divide Site

Matt Lee's splendid Tour Divide is only a few weeks away from kick-off.

Geoff

Memorial Day

Memorial Day ride with the Professor in pictures.

The Professor's beautiful Circle A:

Ride for Clive

Bull City Cycling and McKinney Associates have partnered together for the Ride for Clive event on June 6, 2009, to remember our friend Clive Sweeney, who passed away in a bike accident in June 2008. Please join us.

New Bike/Mystery Owner

Who could this belong to?

Look-y Here

One word: Wow.