ridden

thanks to everyone who made it out to the Ride For Clive. it was very nice to see Clive's friends and family--as well as people who never got the chance to know him--get together and do something special. and, once again, it was a showcase for a fine cross-section of the Durham cycling community.

we'll post pictures and more stuff later, but for now, on behalf of Bull City Cycling, thanks and ride well.

Ride For Clive by cdkorps at Garmin Connect - Details

Ride For Clive by cdkorps at Garmin Connect - Details

Growl Growlin Growler in Gunnison

Ok....well I survived. It wasn't pretty at times, but how well can an endurance mountain bike race go for someone who has not raced in two seasons, never in Colorado, never against a Colorado filled field of some of the best mountain bikers around, not for some lazy bike shop employee (me) who hasn't logged a mountain bike ride this year that is even half the race distance......excuses. I'm good at them. But, it always takes something like this to get my ass in gear and get going. A front tire wash out and a faceplant to face to usher in my late start to the season. Luckily the only "real" crashing I did Sunday was in the form of caloric crashing......I did take two minor spills, but both were slow and only left me with a small raspberry to the left hip. Check out the beginning of the race below. Video of the rollout of town to the trails from www.singletrack.com. It gets more action packed as the video rolls.



Also I finally made it to the Interwebs in press!! Check this. Half of me made it into the photo. The far right hand side of the photo. Look for the BCC colors!

Inspired by Korps' Garmin post from the other day.....I give you the Growler Data. Second half.....not so pretty. See excuses below. Off to train more.



Finally some things I learned this weekend:
1) Train
2) Don't Bonk
3) Bacon is great around mile 50
4) Don't get food poisoning the day before an endurance race
5) Colorado mtn bikers are crazy strong
6) I hate single speed 29er mountain bikers.....or secretly I wish I was one.
7) 75% of the racers were on 29ers
8) I think I won the 140mm Travel full Squish 26" category
9) racing in the desert is odd. 38 degrees at the start and 80+ at the finish
10) Bacon really tastes good aroud mile 50....ummmmm

and last but not least....the Baily Hundo is 2.5 weeks away!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

The Baily Hundo is a 100 Mile Mountain Bike race organized by 4 Colorado State Senators and benefits Trips for Kids and the Colorado High School Mountain Bike Association. My entry is a donation that goes to these two awesome programs for kids and mountain bikes. If anyone would like to donate and add to my entry donation, please let me know or donate directly through the linked Baily Hundo Site. Thanks!!

et tu, spartacus

if you haven't seen the video yet, check it:

personally, i'm not sure what to make of it. it reminds me of some conspiracy-theory documentaries i've seen that present their theory in a way which leads you to conclude "well, shit, obviously this crazy theory you're proposing is totally true"...but, like, 3 weeks later someone shows you some contradictory evidence that leads you to totally realize that that conspiracy theory, while possibly raising some interesting questions, is mostly rubbish.

however you see it, there is one awesome, hidden cycling component that leads to awesomeness:

in case you missed the flawed but laudable Universal Sports coverage of the "Giro of Italy", Simoni chose to ride his final race--the final stage, which was an ITT--of his long-ass career with this crazy kit underneath his team skinsuit. he actually stopped after the finish line, unzipped his skinsuit to reveal this alternate kit (you could actually see the pink tie while he was racing), hopped on a special pink bike and rolled into the Coliseum in grand style.

a Hollywood moment, if ever i saw one.

day in pink

did i mention we got shot?

last saturday, actually. north of town on New Sharon Church Road at Terry Road, some punk teenagers in an suv peered out of the window and the next thing i know some piece of junk is ricocheting off my shin and i hear it hitting a bike behind me. Corey exclaims and we stop to see that he's been hit in the leg with a paintball. neon pink.

so, support strict anti-pantball legislation. in fact, if NC legislators can propose crazy laws--like limiting cyclists to riding two abreast, unless in sight of a car, at which point they need to scamper under rocks like detestable little roaches--i propose that we initiate an around-the-clock curfew for all persons under, say, 30. they don't vote and they wreck all our cool shit. so if they're not in school, or working at Cold Stone Creamery, or racing bikes, lock them in the basement.

then local cyclist "Famous" Ray drove by after picking strawberries and gave me one. juicy, like a paintball, but much sweeter. i don't think anyone actually calls him Famous Ray, but i was just thinking about the battles in New York about a number of pizza places claiming to be the Original Ray's or Famous Ray's or some variation on that name.

also, support your local farms.

Geoff and Corey's Training ride.

Training Ride. by cdkorps at Garmin Connect - Details

Wake Up!

Raced the Historic Downtown Wake Forest Criterium this past weekend and received a rude awakening. [pause for laughter.] People say that puns are lazy writing. But that's just a lazy response to a pun. Regardless, I'm a lazy kind of racer--the kind who doesn't mind working hard in races (I actually dislike races where not much is going on enough to make a lot of stupid attacks), but also the kind who can rarely be bothered to actually organize and get himself to a race. So much planning. And the driving. And what if the weather's bad. And so on.

But Wake Forest was too close to disregard and the rainshowers looked like they'd clear up by race time (I was watching the radar until the last minute, still thinking about bailing out). As it turned out, it didn't totally stop raining, although the brunt of the downpour missed historic downtown. So, adding wet roads to a 4-corner, Cat-3/4 crit with one downhill turn gave me reason to worry. After a sketchy start with lots of braking, the field strung out. I still couldn't figure out the line to take through the downhill turn. To quote Cadel Evans on his appraisal of his descending on Monte Grappa, I was "a disgrace".

In addition to manipulating the front end of the bicycle, I wasn't feeling great working the back end either. Not too much snap, so after a test attack, I decided to chill out a bit and observe. I thought I was riding somewhat smart, near the front, efficiently. But at some point 3 or 4 guys opened up a gap, probably right after a prime, and some strong looking dudes from some strong looking teams represented, it looked like a good one. So I chased. Me and one other guy, actually. Caught out in no-man's land for about 4 or 5 laps. We almost bridged up, but I started fading and wasn't getting much help from my bike driving skills. So we ended back in the pack, where I resigned myself to stick it out for the bunch sprint. Second-to-last side was a short uphill stretch, which suited me alright, so I hit the last corner with decent position. Held my position, passed some dudes (including i-Sac from one of the Bike Chain's satellite locations), but out of nowhere got pipped by Bitter Dose's Brendan. I hadn't seen him since the startline. He had ridden a very conservative, but smart race and threw in a solid sprint (not that beating me in a sprint makes you a good sprinter).

9th place overall, which I'm fairly happy with. No cash or fabulous prizes. No upgrade points, so I'm likely destined for yet another season battling it out in the Cat-4s, which, in all seriousness is where I'm realizing that I probably ultimately belong.

just ride

Last year, Clive Sweeney was riding his bicycle in north Durham and was hit and killed by a reckless driver. Clive's is an all-too familiar story of an avid cyclist meeting a tragic end at the hands of a motorist either too distracted, too disrespectful, or frankly too dumb to respect a fellow human's life and well-being. But Clive's story is more than just another cautionary tale of the perils of motorists (note that I did not say the perils of cycling, which is a generally safe and healthy endeavor, but the perils of motorists, who can cause great harm to cyclists, pedestrians, and other motorists if they are not taking seriously their responsibilities as a driver). Clive's is a story of a person. A person with a family. A person with friends. A familiar face beneath a bicycle helmet on the local roadways. A person who is no longer a member of this wonderful community.

And it is for these reasons, these stories, that we would like to invite you to join us for the second annual Ride For Clive, to celebrate the life of someone who loved cycling by, what else, cycling. Saturday, June 5th at 9am at the American Tobacco Campus' Diamond View Park. The route will take along 12 miles of the American Tobacco Trail, a flat, car-free greenway (with several road crossings). Since it's an out-and-back route, you can do as much or as little as the ride, as leisurely as you like (no racing on this one--join us Tuesday evenings at 5:30 at the Bicycle Chain in Durham if you want to go fast).

The ride is free and some light refreshments will be provided by Bull City Cycling and Clive's coworkers at McKinney. Please check out the site that McKinney have set up and RSVP: Ride For Clive.

BCC Bombshell Dropped Today....

In a stirring string of emails circulated yesterday, BCC stalwart Pirate admitted to having doped en route to completing his PhD over the last 7 seasons. During the time in question, Pirate admitted to using substances such as Coffee, CookOut, Bourbon, and occasionally sausage products.

When reached for comment via text message, a response was simply issued saying "I'm not the only one.....SmAli and the Professor are guilty too!!"

Reports from Durham issued by The Professor and SmAli vehemently deny any allegations of the usage of meat products, claiming "vegetarianism"? However unanswered questions remain as authorities ceased garbage bags from the Professor's luxurious loft apartment and SmAli's historic manor in Watts Hillandale this morning. It has been reported that numerous CookOut milkshake cups and used coffee grounds have been found in SmAli's debris. While shockingly the Professor's recycle bin turned up 7 empty Olympia beer bottles and 4 PBR tall boy cans....crushed (obviously trying to hide them).

It appears that BCC and Dook Cycling have a lot to answer over the coming days......more details can be found here.

Der Kaiser: Don't Call it a Comeback

Get all the news at Jan's myspace. His blog is worth a look for insights into the Pro-tour. Be sure to use your best "Uter" from The Simpsons while reading these posts.

Wishing Everyone a Safe Bike-to-Work Week

Juicy Fruita...

I answered the phone yesteday at work and to my surprise it was a fellow North Kackalacky transplant, Derrick from Chapel Hill lore. Derrick and I met back at Franklin Street Cycles way back around 1999. Oh the good old days. Derrick caught the bug that I caught for Colorado and moved to Fruita with his family a few months back. A bold move.....but one that I am starting to hear more and more these days. You see Derrick didn't just up and move to Fruita, he made a major life change that was fueled by this need for uninhibited and unlimited access to mountain bike bliss. Much like numerous other BCC'ers.....Derrick completed his PhD and was working on a couple of post docs in the world of academia (Go Tar Heels!!).....but as his blog explains:

"After that trip, I went back to my postdoc job in neurobiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, then did another in genetics, only to realize that my love for science wasn't enough to overcome how miserable the indoor activities of science made me feel."

Anyways, fast forward to now and Derrick has begun an ambitious plan of starting a new company called Juicy Fruita. His goal is to first provide "beta" to incoming mountain bikers who are not familiar with local trails, giving them the essential knowledge that will ensure killer rides and keep them out of hypothermia's grips. Colorado is a different beast than hitting up the loops at Crabtree or Chapel Hill North. If you don't come prepared, if you don't respect the weather........you might not make it home in one piece. In other words Juicy Fruita will provide you with the knowledge and guidance you need. Currently, Fruita and Grand Junction have been "beta-ized" and Crested Butte is soon to follow. Below are some sample taken from the website.



Juicy Fruita is also working towards offering turnkey trips for anyone wanting to visit the sweetest Colorado singletrack hotbeds. Clients will be able to book a trip that includes everything from rental car, bikes, food, guidance, lodging.....etc.

So there is still hope for all the BCC academia types out there.......ummm....SmAli, Professor, Pirate, Senor Curveship......