Just a Little Ride

Since the Hardcore...

2007-09-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

we rode a little....

j did 12Hours of Pat Peak...

we moved...

attended the 24Hours of Great Glenn in New Hampshire...

took a little overnight in "The Islands"...

spent 4 ENTIRE days in Killington...

rode a bit more in my new threads; designed by me!

Hardcore 24 Naples NY

2007-06-19T06:51:00.000-04:00

We arranged a 3 day weekend for ourselves, spent the previous week packing, finished it all up Thursday night/Friday morning and took off for Naples, NY at 6.5 hour ride says Mapquest.....they lie! Some goofy pictures on the ride and a couple of incredible Tractor sightings and a stop at the Coleman factory outlet store...

7.5 gruelling hours later we arrived atop a mountain in NY at a huge Boy Scout camp. I promptly starting setting up camp, begging for "just one more piece" to put in place before we pre-rode the course. We suited up and off we went to ride 8 miles of rolling double track and fire roads with SEVERAL hills/grass walls! Jason was on this brand new Vassago cruising away from me with each pedal stroke shifting through his gears to push on the flats and effortlessly climb in the interesting collection of hills. I decided I wasn't up for grinding my bumm butt muscle through a chase on singlespeed so i headed back to take a little nap. Jason was back shortly after and we cleaned up and made some dinner.

Up bright and early Saturday morning, ticking away at the 6 hours before the race I made baggies of stuff and dumped powder into water bottles, we ate breakfast then promptly at Noon all the riders took off in a Lemanz start.

35 minutes later Jason grabbed a bottle as he cruised by our pit about 3/4 of the way through the lap. 15 minutes later with the little guy from Earl's on his tail J finished his 1st lap at 50minutes.

The next 4 laps ticked by in a similar fashion in the heat of the day. I took pictures of my chilling out and of my bike gleaming in the sun begging to be ridden and of the mess J leaves behind after a pit stop! On Lap 5 I switched the nice clean dry polka dotted jersey in my hand for the wet limp horribly funky jersey and baselayer off of Jason.

He took a little break to let his tummy settle down in the heat of the day, choked down 2 more laps at just over 1 hour a piece and came in for a full clothing change and some "dinner".

Our little friend from Earl's had about 1/2 a lap on J over the past 2 laps and was starting to fade just a little. I watched David(Earl's guy) come in not 10 minutes after he took off for his 9th lap. Strange, I thought and promptly pushed Jason to take advantage of his break and take back that 1/2 of a lap lead and maybe hammer down another. Ok...push, push, push then he was off to my surprise. Ok I thought, it's cooler, dark now, he loves the night ride experience and with 14 years of riding under his belt I thought he had jumped on the lead for at least 3rd place. I was working on picking up the mess he made in the pit when we got a tummy turning notice from out on the course. A rider was down about 3 miles into the lap and they were temporally postponing the race. Yikes! My stomach rolled, the race directors sent out a crew for First Aide, and I watched the minutes tick away on my watch until J as supposed to show up. 5 minutes before he was due in he showed up. I told him of the past events he changed into dry clothes and we waited. He had 8 full laps under his belt and was sitting in 3 or 4th place at the moment.

The race was called at 8:58PM and we waited to hear what had happened. We went to bed with the knowledge that one of Park Ave Bikes' own had gone to the hospital after 20minutes of CPR in the woods. Sunday morning we had awards but under the cloud of knowing Ben from Park Ave had died on the way to the hospital.

We packed our stuff and headed home..grateful that we would be home much before we would had the race finished at Noon on Sunday, but riding the long 7 hours home with a funk in the car...not the smelly kind, the mental kind...for us the preparation and anticipation of the trials and tribulations of the 24 Hour race were left unexplored, but worse a fellow rider, a lover of bikes and the culture they cultivate, a young kind fun guy had lost his life doing what he loved.

I struggled with this fact until late Monday afternoon when we found a Blog and news article that further explained the course of events. The story that we heard and probably partially formulated in our minds about a skilled biker crashing down in the woods after a long time riding dissolved under Ben's health issues. Ben had a heart condition that was attended to with open heart surgery not long ago to replace a bad valve. Ben's heart failed under the increased stress of long, hot gruelling laps, he was found slumped on the side of the course by 1st a cardiologist and 2nd an EMT who promptly began CPR and a 3rd rider who rode back to notify the race officials. Ben got the best care and prompt attendance he could have. Once at the hospital 25 minutes away, the Doc's pronounced him dead on the scene...the opened him up and found that he had an aneurysm on his heart. Ben passed away doing exactly the one thing he loved, rest in peace!

A dear loss to the bike community, a reality check for all, and an unfortunate opportunity to learn about Jason's response to racing and about the love we have for the people in our lives that are dear to us and that are complete strangers that share a common view of life.

Not the race report I would have liked to write but it is what happened. We did enjoy our adventure ending with a dinner of champions, hot dogs and perogies!

Two Months Later...

2007-06-13T14:18:00.000-04:00

Two months later...

...a trip to Killington to visit J's parents and a 4 hour ride on the back roads of Woodstock, a trip to the Northeast Kingdom then Maine for a graduation, then a smooth flow-y trip on the River Trail in Richmond topped off with a grind up Honey Hollow Road in Jonesville, A NEW BIKE (thanks sweetie!), inaugural ride with George & Aliza on the River Trail one evening, followed by a ripping trip to Catamount the next evening with them, another trip to the Kingdom to camp out at a super secret picturesque "campground" to return to Burlington with a hurt wrist for Jason and a little moaning from my butt muscle, an afternoon spent fiddling with positions on bikes and spit shinning them to brand spankin' new condition, a trip to a new trail system for us, Arcana Trails, --cool, fun trail that NEEDS to be ridden in!-- then an old favorite at Mobbs all with one contact--note to self, do not repeat!--, not so much riding for the past 2 weeks for me, but an interruption in my defeict with a race at Catamount--surprisingly, not a bad finish time--a trip around the woods behind Stonehedge then over to Dorset Park late one evening--bridges need to be constructed back there!-- will do in our free time once Jason gets his hands on a chainsaw(in the works I believe) and/or a machete--yikes, a boy's dreams! Finally a new bike for J last weekend generously offered up by George at Bike29--his own Vassago frame, which he deconstructed and spit shinned while we rode up in the Waterbury trails, apparently gaining the respect of a gaggle of our Canadian counter parts because we were on singlespeed, hardtails climbing this crazy hill! We topped our outing off with some bread, fresh cheese, fruits and veggies from the morning's adventures at the Farmers' Market and returned to Five Hills Bike Shop to collect Jason's new ride! Georgie got him the frame but a reliable friend with "a bike just hanging out in the garage" "lent" him the parts to build up a complete cycle. What a pumped little boy he is...gears for the 24 Hour race in Naples NY this weekend!!!

Now this stream of consciousness is finished, some pics follow this post, and hopefully a more timely posting occurs as I have made some time for myself.

Check out the trailer for the Hardcore 24 at http://www.thehardcore24.com/, which we will be attending Friday, Saturday, Sunday this weekend held in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of Western, New York. All Race Proceeds will be donated to the Otetiana Council of the Boy Scouts of America..always like a good cause but this means I am on pit crew with out a beer or a little "cream" for my coffee! No big deal, gorgeous weather and a amped and well trained bike rider will make up for no beer! More to come after this weekend!

Hope you enjoyed the ride! Cheers!

we said hmm...look at that road, then I said this hill goes on forever... literally 2+ miles some how i got to the top, as you can see it there is still plenty more hill, then down, down down!

a picture of a road sign just to make sure we could Google map-it when we got home then plot it against an elevation grid; then we found our way into the heart of Woodstock riding the hills there!

then we were off to the Kingdom for the 1st time this year, season pass in hand, i couldn't wait to hit Webbs on the demo Epic...man, some day I'll have one! then i posed for a picture after climbing the big sluggish grass hill!

we hopped in the car, drove into St. J to pic up my little bro for a brutal drive over to Maine for Katie-Kate's graduation! J took the scenic route from Farmington to Augusta and caught the damn in action as well as his dream cement slab for sale!

now for the best part...my NEW bike!!! Thanks J! fantastic buttery steel frame with my old parts from the GF Rig. a bit heavy right now, but soon we will shed some grams!

A little shake down ride with George and Aliza and Jason along the Richmond River Trail.

Off to the Kingdom again this time the highlight of the trip with Oregon Brook Camping! Up in the hills of Sheffield, VT we found a darling 'campground'! I want to blabber on and on about it but it is a hidden gem! Rent this cabin for $55/night! Key feature: your own outhouse at your 2 acre campsite!

Gorgeous Day

2007-04-19T20:23:00.000-04:00

Thank those that be!!!!! The SUN was out all day today, it was warm, skies clear, and very light breeze all day. It was almost a phenomenon here in Burlington.

I woke up at 5:55AM to the gentle hum of my roommate riding the trainer and the excessive chirping of the birds! I glanced at the clock...too early to get out of bed I said...5 minutes later I was up, computer on, morning sprint to the johnny, weather check complete...I made a bee-line for the shower and 30 minutes later I was dressed, packing my bag and out the door. Yup, only 7AM! an hour later I was gleeful as I arrived at work (short lived but present for a bit!).

Something said take the camera with you. Check, had the camera and a route planned for my venture into the great city of Burlington.

I mentioned in my first post that I grew up on the side lines of the local cycling races watching my Dad. Well, much to my surprise he "let me borrow" his 1975(ish) Bob Jackson FastBack, his 1st brand spankn' new race bike last summer. After a year of hunting for the the right size stems, handlebars, chains, working breaks and new cables it is running again thanks to my "personal mechanic"! I've ridden Bob on a couple of short rides into town with so so weather.

Today was Bob's day to shine!!! So did my smiling eyes...thanks for "letting me borrow it" Dad and thanks for fixin' it Honey!

Something Inspiring for April Snows

2007-04-15T22:49:00.000-04:00

The week has officially come to a close, a meager 8.5hrs of training this week with most of it on the teles and the trainer!
I sit here writing in front of a huge window overlooking my backyard covered in 6 inches of snow! It's still dumping! The mountains let all of their staff go early this year because of the rough start to winter so there is no hope of a ride up till 2008! Skinn' it will be....jjassvt, George, my roomie. myself and maybe a couple others might finally make the trek to the cabin for some beers, grilled meat and a headlamp ski down later this week!

I am brand spankin' new to this endurance business, but man...it's addictive! I willingly search out others' blogs, websites and race results, plan theoretical trips to places I would love to visit by the seat of my bike, races I am not even close to prepared for and gear that my salary cannot afford!!!!

Enough chit-chat...read this, be inspired, bike or ski lots this week!!!!

"The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times-- although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is something that we make happen. Such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur, yet these could have been the best moments of life." -MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI

How'd I get Here?!?!

2007-04-10T08:52:00.000-04:00

I love to ride my bike! "So, do I" you say!

What do I have you ask? Nothing special, a hand-me-down actually...My fesses (that is French for butt cheeks) currently sit on a Ti-Butterfly attached to a GF 17"Rig. Yup, single speed. Yup, 29'r for me!

My Dad, raced his bike on the road. He had a little shop in our garage he titled M.D. Cycles. My Aunt hand painted his sign and from the day I was born until I was about 10yrs old I spent Saturdays and Sundays at local road races. I always thought it was 'cool', but never devoted the time, energy and money to any type of cycling career until I was almost done college.

In the Fall of my senior year at St. Michael's, I started working at the Skirack in downtown Burlington. To make a long story short, I stayed for 3 years, became a manager, met a wonderful guy, took up tele skiing, bought my 1st road bike, worked off my hand-me-down Rig by babysitting, sold my road bike to move to Boston(I didn't end up moving...), left Skirack for flaws in their business plan (I'll play nice), and "acquired" another bike from the same friend the Rig came from only to spend a weekend with their kids in a hotel room in Boston as a large chunk of the pay off!!!

Sometime last year between all of the above, I started to spend more and more time with one of the guys from the shop...the new guy!! I thought he was a cutie when he first started working there, but I was his pseudo-boss and he was, afterall, another shop guy...uggh! I got over all that, saw his legs in spandex as he rode through the shop to stock up for a long road ride, then asked if he wanted to "carpool" to a weekly local race. I started riding a shop demo, an Epic nonetheless, at Catamount , then a trip to The Kingdom Trails with some other folks, then super early morning rides at Catamount..I was hooked on something... the bike or the dude?! Both!!

I became very bumped and bruised, scrapped and scarred, but there was a new sparkle in my eyes and a smile on my face. This is about the time I scrapped up enough change to purchase my Cannonade Synapse Alloy Feminine...a great bike, a great ride...but I wanted my very own mountain bike! I rode my friend's Rig with its way too long stem and way too wide bars on one of those early morning Catamount rides. I was whipping through the single track, plowing over little boulder fields and finally making it up the rock face that was the source of most of my bruises. We got back to the parking lot and I was absolutely high!!!!

I wanted that bike...I got it!!!! The late summer, fall and even early winter my fitness was like nothing I had ever had before, tele skiing kept up most of it and the 1st few rides this EARLY Spring have been enjoyable, and have been feeding an addiction I just realized I have.

My very special guy friend is an endurance mountain biker and has gently pushed me that way too! When we started, I just wanting a little instruction on some basic skills, then I followed him into hidden trails on our ride to work, finally a repeative yet inspiring..."Kris, just a little ride ..." 2, 3, 4, 5 hours later we are home again!

Here I am.
I love it!
Keep it simple, 1 gear, 2 brakes, big wheels...just a little ride!