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Thursday, December 18, 2008

I've been skiing and stuff. Free skis.

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Tim, Bart and Alex on Dawn Patrol 12/17/08. Cold. Jon had a heart attack. Matt forgot his poles. I left my beacon in the car. Kris came to accept the hard fact that telemark bindings and boots are slow. Tim surfed some scrub oak on skinny skis. Alex brought cookies from Vermont in a ziploc that had some hippie save the earth sticker on it. Bart has not shaved yet and filled his stache and beard with frozen snow, and other stuff, like slobber. It's early in the season and sketch as far as avy conditions go, but we got some good exercise and some good turns.

 

Some aspens up Porter Fork on 12/13/08. I made my way towards Gobblers, but bailed because it was snowing hard, I was wet and alone.

 

I got the Bluehouse Districts mounted with Dynafits. Chris at White Pine drilled them and I mounted them.

 
FREE SKIS (the Rossignols, not the ironing board). If you want them, you can have them. They have been used, mounted, but probably would work.

And I'll do a lot of my posting over here this winter.

http://www.bluehouseskis.com/bluehouse-dawn-patrol/its-time

Saturday, November 22, 2008

I Might be Too Old For This

So, I'm sitting here watching the BYU/Utah game. Reed just made a sweet catch. I'm cheering for BYU. Ethan, my son, is cheering for Utah. He's saying, "Utah Utah we love you. . . ." At 10 pts down, Ethan is (over)confident and trash talking me. Still one half to go. And for the record, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a rabid fan, I am 1.4, whether it be college, NFL, BYU, Utah, Blue, Red, Purple.

Here is a picture of one of the obstacles at today's CX race today:



Ethan seemed to negotiate it okay. I didn't. Maybe he can teach me some skills. That log caused me lots of pain. It's not that big, but it comes right before a lefthand turn. If you take it with speed, you go shooting of into the tape on the other side. If you try to turn in the air . . . well, you just can't. So, you have to hit it with the right angle, scrub speed, and POP, hard. Otherwise, you'll crash, like me.

During warmups, I ran it the first time. But Sean Hoover's kids were disappointed and told me I should have bunny-hopped it. Not wanting them to be disappointed, I flipped around and very cool-like bunny-hopped. Something went wrong and I stacked it up pretty good. At one point, I was on my back, with my butt in the air, looking between my legs at the sky. That was a much bigger show than Sean's kids were expecting. What can I say, I aim to please.

The problem is, I caused myself some damage. I damaged the top of my left hand, which swelled up. And I damaged my left hand, spraining my thumb. And I smacked my head on the ground. And I tweaked my back. And I scraped my toe. And I got grass stains all over my skin suit.

And then it was time to start. We lined up. We started. We came to the Log, which by the way, was the smallest of three log obstacles. And I did EXACTLY the same thing I did during warmups! Again, at one point I was on my back, my butt in the air, looking between mylegs at the sky. I threw in a twist, which involved me not clipping out completely. So my view of the sky was slightly obsucred by my bike, which rolled through with me. If one had snapped a shot at the right time, the order from top to down would have been like this: wheels highest, then bike, then my legs, then my head -- exactly upside down. That one hurt too. Talking to Sam K. after the race, he said that he ran all of the logs. Why didn't I think of that?

Those two crashes rattled me. My helmet retention system broke and so my helmet was rattling around on my rattled head. I took a recovery lap and then tried to make up some distance. With one lap to go however, I couldn't hold on to my handle bar anymore and my back had had enough. So I DNF'ed. Disappointing. For the record, I did finally figure out how to get over those logs.

I've got to tip my broken helmet to Team Rico though. He was an inspiration today. He took the SS champ'ship. Then he outrode everyone to take the A champ'ship. Looks like he needs a 1 hr warmup to get that big diesel running.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

How Jon Got Off

So, a few months ago, my friend Jon got a speeding ticket for going 37 mph in a 25 mph zone. If any of you know Jon, you would be surprised at this since driving with him is an exercise in patience. He drives like the sterotypical senior citizen, except he is 37 years old and he drives an Acura. What is more surprising, however, is the fact that he wasn't driving when he got written up; rather, he was riding his bike. Yep, he was cruising down Wasatch, behind the zoo, when he got nabbed by a motorcycle cop. As he passed Michigan, the cop pulled out, flashed his lights, pulled Jon over, reprimanded him for "speeding" and not having an ID, and after secretly checking out Jon's physique, which was thinly masked masked under not-so-subtly patterned lycra, became jealous and handed Jon a ticket. I don't remember how much it was for, but that doesn't matter.

What matters is that Jon protested it. In the interest of self, justice, ego, preserving the unalienable cylcists' natural rights, and having a really good story to tell, he told the state and the prosecutor that he was an innocent man, and that he deserved to walk free. The prosecutor didn't buy it, and offered him community service and/or probation. Still insisting on his innocence, Jon refused to cut a deal. The prosecutor refused to let him off. They were at an impasse. He said "stick it." She said, "no." So they went to trial.

One thing you have to understand is that Jon is a lawyer. Birds of a feather flock together and Jon has lots of lawyer friends. Like me, and like Bates. (Really, no one likes to stoop to befriend lawyers so we're forced to mingle with each other. Most of my non-lawyer friends make me sign reverse NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) prohibiting me from letting anyone know that I am a lawyer and their friend.) Moreover, we all are litigators, which is really just an ancient way of saying, we sue people, or try to get people who are being sued unsued. Because we are litigators we are used to going to court. You could say that in addition to knowing a bit about the law, we know a bit about "how to get one off" (notwithstanding his or her innocence or guilt).

I'm not saying Jon was guilty. In fact, I don't think he was, which is why, in part, I agreed to be part of his defense team. Our goal as a team was to "get Jon off," to defeat the charge made against him for speeding on his pedal bike. We prepared. Bates was appointed defense counsel. I was designated as an expert witness. Jon assumed the innocent man/persecuted plaintiff role. Leslie, his wife, came in as the chief fact witness to persuade the judge to 'believe her,' an expression which she liberally and effectively used.

When trial began I had that rare feeling of excitement that bike racers get when they line up as they size up their competition -- that I'm going to kick your a-- kind of feeling. Like I said, it rarely comes to me, but I know it when I feel it. At one table sat a gaggle of sharply dressed savvy trial attorneys: Jon's team. FYI, Bates used to make a living throwing drug dealers into jail, and immigrants out of the country (just the bad ones). At the other table sat a young prosecutor, maybe 1 or 2 years out of law school (who to her credit was also sharply dressed) and Mr. Motorcycle Cop. He seemed cocky. He wouldn't be for long. The other team had lined up with the wrong category. They were Cat 5s (not that there's anything wrong with that) that had mistakenly registered in the Pro/1/2 field. And they didn't even know it. I almost felt sorry for them, but not quite.

The first witness called to the stand was Mr. Motorcycle Cop. He sauntered up, swore to tell the truth and then proceeded to give his testimony, which included the following very important facts:

(a) he was a cop
(b) he was a traffic cop
(c) he rode a motorcycle
(d) while being a cop on his motorcycle, and while he was purportedly enforcing traffic laws, he radar gunned Jon riding down Wasatch
(e) he "clocked" Jon at 37 mph

On cross examination, Bates elicited the following facts:

(a) he liked being a motorcycle cop because he got to wear knee high leather boots
(b) he liked the show "Chips" growing up
(c) he could ride his moto and eat a donut simultaneously
(d) he felt bike riders riding at 7:00 am on a residential street posed a threat to the safety of sleeping citizens and therefore needed some law enforcement

Kidding. If I were defense counsel, these facts would have been on the top of my list. That's probably why I wasn't defense counsel. Really, the following key facts came out:

(e) he wasn't trained to use a radar gun to clock cyclists
(f) he was taught to shoot his radar gun at large reflective surfaces, like a windshield, and Jon's head was not a large reflective surface
(g) he did not believe the radar gun clocked the spinning wheels or the spinning cranks
(h) he did not recall whether Jon was in the drops in an aero position
(i) he did not show Jon the radar reading of 37 mph

Jon followed and his testimony was basically, I'm an innocent man. I wasn't speeding . . . to my recollection. I do not recall to my recollection that I was speeding, and similar iteratiions thereof. Clearly, the glove did not fit.

Then Leslie, the star fact witness, was called to the stand. She, like Jon, testified that they weren't speeding, that they were on a leisely ride. When asked, the question, "how do you rate yourself as a cyclist," she threw her shoulder back, flipped her hair, and said, "pretty good for a girl!" Later, after the trial, the judge commented that she could "drop him." We're not sure if he meant that she could drop him on a bike or just drop him . . . hmmm. I'll not comment on whether that was an appropriate comment. The fact that it was irrelevant was irrelvant since most of the testimony was bordering on irrelevant.

Finally, I fulfilled my role as the expert. Expert on what you ask? Expert on nothing. You see, a time-tested and true litigation tactic is this: if you can't beat them on the facts, then confuse and obscure. My testimony could be reduced down to this:

Point 1: why would a cyclist exceed what is a reasonable speed when he or she is essentially wearing nothing but his underwear?

Point 2: it is very hard for a cyclist to go 37 miles per hour. Case in point: Dave Zabriskie, one of the best TT'ers in the world, rides an aero bike, wears an aero helmet, and skinsuit but doesn't go that fast. Case in point: all out sprints often happen at speeds less than 37 miles per hour. Case in point: for me to go 37 miles an hour where Jon was clocked I would have to be in an aero position, in the drops, and spinning a mean gear.

I also succeeded in taking a dig at Leslie. When asked if I was Jon's friend (in attempt to show I was biased), I said, "no. I used to be, but that was before his wife made him stop racing his bike." The judge interjected, "that's because they have 4 kids." Thanks for the advice, Judge. I thought you were supposed to be unbiased. Sheesh.

In the end, and I know that you're hoping that this will end because it's gone on for so long, the Judge ruled in favor of Jon. The judge determined that the defense had established reasonable doubt. The judge said he could not conclude that foundation had been established by the prosecution to support the radar reading. He said that it was questionable as to whether Jon really exceeded the speed limit. And he made darn sure that we understood he was not ruling that it's okay for bikers to speed.

Jon was free to leave.

Jon's trial, however, resumes in the court of public opinion. Do you descend Wasatch and Michigan at 37 mph?

Monday, November 17, 2008

Stomping Out . . .

No. 1: A Cold

My brother thinks he knows a lot about health (even though he's a doctor) and makes fun of my routine for stomping out colds. I swear by it. Last week I was plagued with a cold. Now it's gone. My routine included:

a) gargling and swallowing a little Listerine -- the cold started in my chest after the Heber race and I didn't want it to get into my sinuses. I'm prone to sinus infections. So I cut the cold off at the throat. I did get a sore throat, but it didn't last long.

b) eating lots of Cayenne pepper in the form of Tabasco, Frank's Red Hot sause, and Tuong ot Scriracha. Last night I was dumping Frank's into a teaspoon and swallowing it. I think the chile pepper and vinegar have redeeming powers.

c) Airborne. Lots of Vitamin C and Echinacea.

d) Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby. For comfort only.

No. 2: My Desire to Ski

The sure fire way to get over the urge to ski is to go ski in really really crappy conditions, like I did on Friday. I knew conditions were crappy since it was so warm in the valley. As I skinned up the mountain, I could tell the descent would be a mix of ice, breakable crust, and very coarse sandpaper. But I skinned anyway. The views were good. And I was happy to be starting the ski season.



But then I started descending. It was horrendous. I zorroed all of Davenport hill at least three times. At the base, I left a human sized crater where I caught an edge and shattered the breakable crust with my forehead and hip and elbow -- all with an audience in the Alta parking lot.

I now have absolutely no desire to ski. It has been totally stomped out. . . . until the skiin' gets good of course. :)

No. 3: Bart's Winning Streak

Is anyone else ready for a change in the script? Won't someone rise up and dethrone the king of the Utah cross scene? I've lost count of the winning streak. And I'm getting bored following the results. Bart Bart Bart Bart . . . blah blah blah blah. I told him that I was going to start a "Beat Bart" campaign. He laughed and said that had been done before, without saying, of course, that it also hasn't ever worked.

Disclaimer: This is not an attempt to throw a friend under the bus, but really a reverse Samurai mind game to encourage a friend. . .



Looks good, huh? Trust me, it's not.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Heber CX and the Berry

I raced my 4th CX race of the year. More than anything, I was looking forward to redeeming myself from last month's Heber race where I felt like I was going backwards and got tangled in the tape. The second time around on Saturday was much better, and I was quite happy with the way it turned out. Part of the reason I had a decent race (by my standards) was because I cheated at the start. If you look carefully in the picture below, you will notice that both my feet are clipped in and I am holding on to the race track rail. (I don't know what Reed is doing.) I'm hoping that by admitting I cheated, my sins will be forgiven. The following photos were borrowed/stolen from Mother Teresa.

 

Because I was clipped in, I was able to shoot straight to Reed's wheel and assumed the 4 spot.

 

I only made it 1 1/2 laps before I got dropped from Bart/Ali/Reed. After I got dropped, I got passed by Robbie and Connor. Later, Rico, Caveman, and I joined up with Connor and we rode a large part of the race together.

 

Still together . . .

 

Not together anymore because at 4 laps to go, Rico (with his self-proclaimed bad legs) put in a surge that only Connor could follow. I ended up finishing 7th. I tried to trash talk my way past Rico, but he was having none of it and I think it made him speed up. (Check out the the massive Timpanogas in the background.)

 

After the race, Sam, Ethan, and I headed up to Strawberry for some stillwater fly fishin'. The lake was calm and we trolled the old fashioned way with oars and a flyrod. The Cutthroat trout have moved into the bays and in the span of a couple hours we caught several toothy, healthy, fish. 3 were over 20 inches. Sam(urai No. 2) and Ethan pulled in this little guy.

 

Ethan in a hoodie that doesn't fit reeling in a 20+ incher.

 

It's been a good week. I got lots of work done, spent some quality time with the family, hung out with friends, I climbed a mountain, skiied powder, raced CX, and went fishing. No wonder I'm tired. SLC is a great place to live!!

 

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Call of the Wild



The sunrise was nice this morning -- something about snow that makes the light almost tangible. I can hear/feel something calling/pulling at me through my window. I'm pretending I can't hear/feel it . . . na na na na na.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Rainy Commute

It was actually nice to ride in the rain this morning. I guess when your time is limited and most of your day requires you to be at a desk, riding in the rain isn't a bad thing. I'll take anything I can get.





Here is my makeshift clothes drier. With the porta-heater going, the clothes are dry within an hour. Still, I've heard my office described as smelling ike a "gym," a "wet dog," and "weird." For the opportunity to ride, I can put up with that.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Lots Happening

Busy at work. Busy at home. A new samurai came into the world. His name is "Hiro."

 
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I picked up 2 Fox Bucks (that float) at the last cross race:

 
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I managed to bury my front wheel at exactly the wrong time during the race, and launched over the bars. Somehow, I took a bar in the thigh and a Crank Bros in the shin. 2008 hasn't been good to the legs.

 
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Weird SS Fascination

This might be the one.

I might be slightly autistic, or something. Every once in awhile I get fixated on something. Lately, I've been fixated on single speed cross bikes. This isn't the first episode. I had an episode a couple years ago, which led me to getting a Surly cross bike (the cheap route). I had a couple episodes last year, which resulted in a really heavy 29'er steel single speed (again, the cheap route). These episodes phase in and out as evidenced by the fact that the Surly was geared for a year or so. Now it's SS. The 29'er is in several different pieces in various places and has been pirated for parts needed elsewhere. I'm feeling the urge to get it back together again.

Part of the reason the SS Fascination phases out is because I go out and ride, and feel limited -- too big of a gear, spinning out too fast, etc. What did I expect, right? Maybe it's because I took the cheap route, but probably not.

The thing is, the thing that makes this odd fascination recur, is that every once in a while I'm reminded that there are guys that can ride a single speed really fast. And for whatever reason, I think that's cool, and elegant, and, well, downright tough. So I won't do much to curb the fascination for now. Maybe one of these times I'll get the combination right, meaning, I'll be able to go single AND go fast.

Any CX single'ers out there?




Monday, October 20, 2008

Keeping it Zen

Some Zen thoughts from a mediocre, but content, racer:

Rico, who finished 6th at this week's Weber CX race complains of being a mediocre bike racer. The Samurai heard this complaint while floating happily on his post-race high, relishing in the fact that not only had he finished a race, but finished in the top 10(barely). Upon hearing it, he almost fell off. The Samurai began to think something like: hmmm, if Rico's mediocre, then what am I? . . . does my apparent satisfaction wtih mediocrity make me a Fred? I quickly jerked the Samurai back onto the post-race cloud and rebuked him starting down the non-Zen path. I am happy to report that the Samurai is back on the Zen path and is, once again, well-centered (while acknowledging that the Emperor likewise considered himself well-centered in his "new clothes").

Hoping not to appear so presumptuous as to think that the Samurai can guide racers, to the Zen path or that racers ought to find the Zen path, the Samurai nevertheless offers the following tips, most of which were learned and/or employed in his ever-continuing quest for well-centeredness (the definition of which is not completely known, includes "keeping it real" (whatever that means), but does not include getting down on oneself for being "mediocre"), and many of which are cliche.

Tip 1: Visualize. Visualization is a powerful tool, but only if used correctly. I suppose there is some debate as to how to correctly visualize, but let me share a couple things that work for me. On Saturday, when I lined up, I was slighty psyched out. I was surrounded by lots of fast skinny guys with pro licenses. So I did the following: I pretended I was a VW Bug (a Ford Pinto would also have been acceptable), surrounded by a Ferrari here, an Aston Martin there, a Lambo over there. I won't say who was the Ferrari, etc. because I don't want them to get a big head, or to make them feel bad by getting beat by a VW Bug . . . not that that happened. So as not to not inflate Rico's head and to pay a compliment at the same time, I imagined him as a muscle-y Mustang. Remember, I was a Bug. By visualizing in this manner, I automatically set myself up for success. On paper, as a Bug, I should have been destroyed. Had I been destroyed, it would have been ok -- I'm just a Bug. But, as it turned out, I didn't get destroyed and rode relatively ok. And for a Bug, my performance could have been construed as pretty good, even though I didn't even come close to winning. It was a total win-win situation.

One might ask, Isn't it better to visualize oneself as an Aston Martin? To that, my response is threefold. First, neither I nor you are an Aston Martin. Second, if one thinks as oneself as an Aston Martin, he/she is cocky and deserves to get beaten by a Bug. Third, even if you are Sven, you can't always perform like an Aston Martin should; therefore you set yourself up for disappointment, i.e. non-well-centeredness. As they say, better safe than sorry.

Tip 2: Set Realistic Goals. If you want to be well-centered, the operative word here is "realistic." I've told one of my training buddies that one of my goals this season is to not get lapped by him. In fact, although it goes against principles of well-centeredness, if it ever appears that I'm going to get lapped by him, I will pull out of the race, crash myself, fake a mechanical, or yell "damn you" before getting passed. As you can see, this goal motivates me. That is key. Your goals must not only be realistic, they must stretch you. Ideally, as you hit each of your goals, they should grow loftier. One day, you might find it both natural and realistic to actually set a goal to win. Until then, there's nothing you can do but try and have fun.

Tip 3: Be the Race. Allow me to wax philosophical. The Race is a living, moving, breathing thing. There are the off-cambered turns, the barriers, the wind, the crowds, the cowbells, Gardie and Bruce, the racers (some of whom are Pintos and others of whom are not), the gaps, the chases. As zen masters say, it's best not to work against it, but to work with it. Submit to it and become one with it. As the race evolves, you must adapt. To think a race is simply to be won or lost is dualistic, over-simplistic, and not zen. So long as you have "become" the race, there won't be anything to mope about. Starting to get weird, so enough about that . . .

Tip 4: Pack Your Suitcase of Knowledge. I find that if I am getting schooled, I'm more well-centered if I focus on what I can learn, rather than on what I don't know. If you allow yourself to be awed, no matter what happens, you'll come out ahead because you will have a new tool in your suitcase of knowledge, or, at least, something new to aspire too. In thinking about the race, I was awed at least three times. The first time was during warmup when Bart opened up a fat gap by jumping the horse jump -- a high log stack meant to be jumped during a horse race, not a bike race. The second time was when Mitchell hopped back into the race after a mechanical and promptly threw down, making me and Alex look like we were going backwards. His attack was so cool (and effective) -- right through the spectator section -- that I tried to mimic that same attack on the last few laps. I'll file that one away in the "All Out Attack" file. The third time was when me and Bryce Young, a single-speeder, got locked up in a back and forth battle. I attacked him -- Mitchell-style -- no less than five times in my 44x12, and I couldn't drop him in his 39x17. He was spinning more than 140 rpm. I guess spinning can be effective.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Here's to Winter '08-'09

(Thanks to Todd (I knew him before he was skinny) for my new banner photo.)

In light of the white stuff we received today, I thought it appropriate for a recap:




Before the skiing though, I have to do a few more cross races. Strike that, I have to finish at least one race. I got caught up in the course marking tape mid-way through Heber's race, got thrown on the ground, smacked my head on the ground, and re-opened my Harvest Moon road rash. I admit that even though it hurt, I was a bit relieved to have a good excuse to quit since I was having a tough time hanging. I kept getting gapped in the corners and punished in the wind. At least it was good training!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Holy Grail CX Wheel/Tire Setup?

(Note that I am following the Rev's suit and playing off a religious theme.)

Over the course of my short CX career I've battled with wheel and tire choice. In 2006, when I first started racing CX, I showed up at the RMR with some Ritchey cross tires inflated to 75 PSI. The roadie mentality is fill 'em up, and I did, all the way. While warming up, I blew one of the tires right of the rim, breaking the kevlar bead at the same time. Not knowing that lower pressure is better, I promptly put on my spare wheel with a Kenda tire, also inflated to 70ish PSI. That race was a bit of a blur, but I do remember slip sliding all over getting jarred by the hard ride, and crashing several times -- not that the tires had anything to do with it.

Over the course of the 2006 season, I also experimented running Stans system with Ksyriums, standard box rims, and a variety of tires. I eventually gave it up, but not after I had tried packing tape, Stan's strips, split BMX tires, voo doo, and after I had blown a couple Kenda tires off the rim, ripped out the kevlar beads, and burped some Muds (while winning a race -- twice). Oh yeah, since Bart seemed to have luck with his Stan's setup I asked him to lick my wheels; unfortunately it didn't help.

Not completely learining my lesson in 2006, I made a run at using Stan's in 2007. The benefit of Stan's (in theory) is that you can run low pressure without pinch flatting and have protection against goatheads, of which there are many on all Utah courses. Needless to say, my attempts at using Stan's failed, and I raced on Muds, tubes, and Ksyriums.

Not completely learning my lesson in 2006 and 2007, I made yet another run at using Stan's. And guess what? It worked . . . or seems to be working.

 
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Reynolds DV UL with Challenge Grifos on the left (4.4 lbs), Reynolds Mid-V Clincher with Hutchinson Bulldogs on the right (5.3 lbs) -- (and a trick Edge KOM on the far right, but that's another story)

Two key factors have changed. I'm not using Ksyriums and I'm not using Michelin, Kenda, Ritchey, or Maxxis tires. Instead I'm using some Reynolds mid-V clinchers and Hutchinson Bulldog CX tubeless tires. Using the Reynolds over the Ksyriums means that I have a tight tire fit. Tires are really hard -- bloody knuckle hard -- to get on the Reynolds rims. They are so tight that I was able to air up the tires without an air compressor. Because there is a tight tire fit on the rim, it's hard(er) to burp the sealant and air out. Using the Hutchinsons over other tires means that I have a better, beefier, and more flexible bead, which also prevents against burping and ensures a good seal. My hope is that the bead is also stronger and will not spontaneously self destruct.

So, today, running below 30 PSI (I could push the tire to the rim quite easily), as I was rallying (to the extent I can do so) through soft dirt, bark, and off cambered grass WITHOUT BURPING or air loss, I wondered whether I had discovered the holy grail wheel setup -- especially after I picked out several goatheads from my front tire and the holes immediately sealed up. Those thorns can make tubulars really frustrating and expensive (Grifos have latex tubes in them that don't work well with sealant).

But, having given it further thought, there are two things that stop me from actually declaring that this setup is the holy grail wheel setup: weight and suppleness. Compared to a DV UL with Challenge Grifo setup (without sealant), the Reynolds Clincher Hutchinson setup (with sealant) weighs nearly a full pound more. That's a lot of rotating mass. While it probably wouldn't make a whole lot of difference to a fast guy, it might (at least in my mind) mean the difference between a mid pack to a back-of-the-pack finish. Like that should matter anyway. Though somewhat of a secondary point, the tires are less supple than tubies. The sidewalls fold at low pressure and hard cornering is a bit squirrly. That's at really low pressure -- I shouldn't complain because it's amazing that the tires can be run at tubular pressures.

The huge advantage of the clincher setup is that they self-seal, you can get 6 clinchers for the price of 2 tubies, they are easy to mount, and they won't roll off the rim. And like tubies, you can run them at low pressure without pinch flats.

Holy grail? Close, but as is the case with most things in life, there are trade-offs. I'm just happy that after 3 years, the Stans isn't blowing out all over the place.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

OCM

This is a "training and adventure" journal. Hot button topics like religion and politics are not (usually) raised here. Even so, consider this a "life training" post:

OCM

Monday, September 22, 2008

Fall MTB and Fishin'

 

Saturday I did a nice ride. Started in Mill Creek Canyon, went up Big Water to the Mid Mountain connector, across the Mid Mountain trail, got lost in the Canyons, eventually ended up at the Mine Road, up the Mine Road to top of Guardsman's, up Puke Hill, across the Crest, and back down Big Water. It rained on the PC side, but just a drizzle. I'm sure it was because Rico was fasting and praying. I ate a Cliff bar during the first hour of the ride, and rationed two gels the rest of the ride. I bonked on Puke Hill, but recovered to almost ride the Spine -- one day I'll make it. All in all it was a great fall ride. Photos taken with my phone.
 

Leaves are changing.
 

Rain on the PC side.
 

That's why its' called the mine road.
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Nice views of Solitude, Silver, Days, and Cardiff forks. Snow will be here soon.

After the ride, I took the kids to Strawberry reservoir where we watched spawning kokanee salmon. We also fished for a couple of hours. That's a Bonneville Cut.

 
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Sunday, September 7, 2008

River Rats

 

 

 

 
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Allergies have prevented me from biking. That's ok since I've had some good times on the rivers with friends and family. Green (A Section), Snake (Canyon Section), and South Fork of Snake (Dam to Conant) -- in two weeks.