Hunting for the 24

I have been searching all day for more and more 24-hour events. After all my searching I've concluded there are not enough of these events. If you asked me before this last event at Laguna Seca, I would have labeled myself a downhill/gravity/whatever inclined rider. The endurance aspect of riding kept me healthy, kept me on two wheels, but ultimately filled the space between events when I was able to point the wheels downhill and fly. The downhill and fly part are the same, but 24 hour racing has opened up a whole new element to riding! The problem with most events is that basically they are over in a matter of a couple hours, which always left me with a little hangover since you spend so much energy to get pumped up, and basically are sent home immediately after. Secondly, we show up at these events with friends, and ultimately are forced to compete with one another. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE competing with my friends!! The fact that Dusty beat me at this years Sea Otter XC makes me want to wake up in the early AM hours and crank out laps all the more!! But, I hadn't yet realized what it would be like to combine each of these people's riding skills and abilities into one! The 24 hour event required that of us, and we all so found that we were driven to push as hard as we could every single lap, and that that effort in the end benefited the whole team. That feeling alone created a tribe for 24 hours, and we have been living on that high for weeks afterwards! Personally, I'm ready for the next fix! I'm so proud to say that when it comes to these events, we have a TEAM. Zach, Dusty, Covey, Stacy, Davies and I with the help of Cyndie our awesome volunteer and hopefully a future rider! I just can't wait for the next event and for recruiting new riders like Dave, Novarro and Hutch and branching out into new catagories! There are events to come, and in the meantime lets get out and play, train, race local events. I'm going to list a few below as considerations. Most of the non-CA events require some travel, but a few are doable! Until next time, I look forward to seeing the CyclePathic Tendencies lining up once again!!

24 hours of Chamberlin

Granny Gear 24 hours of Moab

Montezuma's Revenge

24 hours of Adrenaline: Canmore, Alberta World Championships

Santa Cruz Fire Contained!

Finally after six days of fighting the fire, it has been contained. According to the Fire Map the demo is untouched! The fire burned a good portion of Eureka Canyon Rd. and got as close as the intersection of Buzzard's Canyon and Highland! Luckily people are being sent home and schools are opening today or tomorrow.

Santa Cruz Fire Update

Wow, well, much to my amazement after reviewing the fire map today, it seems the fire took a look at the demo and turned the other way. According to the map it hasn't advanced past Eureka Canyon Rd. in the direction of the demo. This is of course exciting news to a slim number of people in this case, and for the rest this fire may present devastation. I didn't mean to exclude that from my past post, but it should go without saying that I hope for the least number of homes destroyed and the utmost safety for the residents up there. I have a friend up in that area whose house and family I'm worried for. Adelia, hope the two cats and two dogs are ok!

As for the demo forest, we may be in luck for the fire would have (and still could) not only destroyed the wood structures but would (and still could) destroy the canopy and root struction that prevents erosion. Keep the fingers crossed. The fire is 50% contained and I hope residents will be returning home tomorrow!

Fire map

Paradise Lost?

Ironically I had posted the previous post shortly before I got the update on the fire burning in the Santa Cruz mountains, and had to double take on my choice of titles... When I checked on the fire map, I noticed the fire's edge had reached the intersection of Buzzards Lagoon and Eureka Canyon Rd.! I realized since the fire is far from contained that we're at risk of losing "the demo" as we now know it. Of course we love the landscape, but a great many of those trails are highlighted by well made wood stunts, jumps, logrides, etc. This is not to mention the beautiful trees up there. As devotees of that wonderful riding area, I hope everyone crosses their fingers that the fire is contained soon! View Fire Map

Paradise Lost...

It goes to show, not everything that sparkles is gold. The great old singlespeed project that was supposed to eliminated all of the annoyances of gear bikes, from chainslap to skipping gears, from extra weight and added complication, is not all it was cracked up to be. After setting off toward class this week, I decided to detour and take a main thoroughfare up toward mid-Santa Cruz. I knew that at the end of a small street was access to Arana Gulch, and a few hundred yards of singletrack dropping me into the harbor and delivering me front door to class. In my mind it was perfect. Firstly, any time you ride singletrack right up to your class, place of work, etc., it's a good day! Secondly, I had it in mind that the quiet simplicity of listening only to the sound of my tires thumping the ground as I enjoyed this brief ride would simply make my insides shine. Finally I would be on a bike, no matter how old or used that would allow me to ride silently down a trail, without the usual "clack clack clack clack..." Not so, I'm afraid for as soon as the wheels hit the dirt I discovered that the very chain tensioner necessary to convert my vertically dropout equipped frame in fact jumps up and down just like a manic derailleur and in doing so slacks the chain just enough to allow it to work its devil music on my frame. My annoyance by this was quickly overridden by the maddening skipping that came from me trying to crank up a steep hill for alas that same tensioner pulls the chain off the sprocket just enough to let it skip as if it were stripped... Evidently more work need be done to establish peace and quiet in Jesse's world...