Saturday Ride: Jesse and Stacy's Adventure.

6:45am: Lu Lu's. Slapping my camelbak down on the counter and pulling money out of a plastic bag the barista slides the jet black americano across the counter. Stacy pulls up and after a few sideways glances we cruise coffee in hand to the Santa Cruz metro station.

7:15am: Running to the bus, we grab the last two bike racks and plop into the seats for the ride to Aptos. The guy behind us seems nervous and stares out the front of the bus while making a throat clearing noise. Across the isle a Mexican woman scribes a crusifix in front of her as the bus departs with her right hand, in her left is a plastic bag with two cans: a Tecate and a Natural Ice. To my left two young girls obviously departing an all night party sleep leaning against each other. I love public transit Dropped off near the train tracks in the morning fog we strap on the helmets and depart.

8:00am: I'm standing up and cranking up the fire road of Nisene Marks State Park, roughly 3 miles in to the ride. Ol' Yeller and his one aged gear are in top shape (relatively) and my legs feel outstanding. Unfortunately single speeds are an antisocial ride machine. I simply HAVE to crank ahead and maintain speed or I am stuck. Stacy pulls up shortly at the pull out I've chosen for a stretch.

9:10am: 9.2 miles of constant sandy uphill has me stopped at Sand Point Lookout. I chat with a few guys as they get ready to descend and they ask what I'm riding. I tell them "Braille. We're headed for the Demo." The long haired blonde guy sporting a Mark Weir mustache eyes my one rear cog and flimsy tensioner and says as he lets 10 lbs. of pressure out of his tires, "Oh man, on that?" Yes my friend... on this. If you could only cast a glance at my yard, Leon in parts and then my bank account, you'd have a clear idea why. Stacy pulls up not long behind smiling huge and stoked! Stacy never seems to lose her positive swing on anything! She's just as happy about this ride as she was 9.2 miles before. The fog obstructs what would be a clear view down to the ocean, but adds a cool temperate feel to the ride. The ride up from Aptos to Sand Point seemed at this point, well, kinda easy. Ok, at least it went by faster than I thought...

10:00am: Intersection of Aptos Creek Trail and Ridge Trail, 12.2 miles into the ride. Stacy swings by as I'm stretching out on a tractor left behind from the recent fire. "Ok, we had to earn those last 3.5 miles." Stacy replies, "No KIDDING!" The climb, which has yet to relent once immediately went steep after Sand Point. My calves already sore from the work out two days before were screaming. Not the scream of a fresh muscle being stressed, but of a tired muscle giving that stinging stale ache that begs, "What are you DOING to me?" The 3.5 miles to the top of the Ridge Trail were brutal, broken only by two brief downhill relief sections. I feel strong, but a fair bit less interested in climbing anymore.

10:15am: Stacy leads us down Ridge at an impressive clip. I enjoyed watching her navigate that trail with skill that she has learned in such a short period of time! Ridge soon leads to Braille and after negotiating the dips and drops of that awesome trail, we are spit out onto Hihn's Mill Rd. Realization sets in. We're roughly 15 miles into the day, just under 13 of which were straight f-ing uphill. From where we sit I estimate we're roughly 33 miles from my house, and NOT as the crow flies! If a crow ever flew the route we had to take to get home, I'd slap its silly face.

10:45am: I always hated that climb out of the demo. Least of all after climbing up from Santa Cruz, made worse still without the luxury of a granny gear. 18.2 miles into the ride, I chill with Stace in the only slim patch of shade in that god-forsaken parking lot, where on a normal day rides begin and end and where today I would NOT be loading up my bike for the drive home. No, we needed to saddle up and climb back to the top of Ridge. Halfway up, in the now shinning sun I can see the damage of the summit fire and just how close it came to our riding paradise. Halfway up I begin to feel my right knee ache every time it raises up the upstroke. Halfway up Stacy exclaims, "I'm hosed..." After a brief discussion on the medial collateral ligament and a brilliant insight on the knee when pedaling by Stace we're off again. This time were offering less excited encouragement..."We're almost there..." "Not much longer..."

11:15am: Top of Ridge Trail, 25 miles into the ride. "Ouch" says the legs. I'm guessing that at this point our total elevation gain has to be in around 3000', but i really have no idea... I feel daunted by the 12.2 miles left to Aptos, and the 10 miles left to get to my house. A nice loud POP! relieves the pressure in my knee, and the ache in the MCL abates. We relent to the trail almost in resignation. Our legs are TIRED, dusty and shaky. Luckily we have a LOT of downhill left, but that goes fast and was ever so relaxing! It reminded me of being a kid when Zach and I would take the old mountain bikes up Centerville Rd. to the rim of the canyon I grew up in, then turn around at a look out on that dusty gravel road and ride MILES back down. Fast gravel downhill turns are scary but aways remind me of that.

Sometime in the afternoon: Aptos. I've lost track of time, and Stace seems to as well despite the time keeping machine strapped to her handlebars. The ride is done, but the getting home has yet to happen. It seems twice as daunting as the initial ride up did earlier that morning. These 10 miles not only include hills, wind, etc., but cars... We wait forever to get going, and I exclaim, "You realize we're subconsciously waiting for a bus or a friend to happen by..." With a chuckle we head off... The ride through town was agony. As we turned through a stop sign to climb out of Capitola Village a Mexican dude on a bike too small for him pulls up next to me and grins a huge grin as he says, "Wanna Race?" I must have looked an easy target at that point... I won... barely. A brief swing by Family and we are able to dribble tri-flow on our ridiculously dry dusty chains. This adds a relief from the noise and drag, but does nothing to take away the remaining 7 miles...or whatever...who cares...

Some other time in the afternoon: Seabright Brewery. We got some odd looks as we plopped down at our outside table. We must have looked haggered, but all we could think of was food. We toast to an amazing ride and devour our food. Once we gather ourselves, we complete the remaining miles home. After parting ways and noting the total milage: 48 miles. We proudly hug and head to respective homes to crash. I have since fallen asleep three times in 30 minutes. The Demo rules, and there is no better way to appreciate it than getting yourself up there on your own power! Downieville, here I come!!

Good luck to Dusty and any of the other Miracle racers competing in the Central Coast Cross-Country tomorrow!

Just me and Ol' Yeller

Oddly the height of my training comes just past the halfway point in the season, but clearly it makes sense as the course work and testing has ended temporarily and I find myself with far more spare time that I had just weeks ago. Slipping back into a relaxed rhythm is not necesarily easy and not the least bit automatic. I found in the first few days I was just as busy as I had been during finals, but I appeared to be busying myself with the task of relaxing. Almost defiantly I just sat on the couch and-- almost rushed to sit on the couch-- and just do nothing. Luckily thought, once the pace of relaxing and recharging set in, effort toward training soon followed.

Leon

Leon, the Chameleon is up on the rack for an undisclosed period of time for some long overdue replacements and repairs. By the time the Downieville Classic comes around in exactly one month I anticipate that Leon will shinning and ready. This begs the question, will Jesse be ready? By luck I managed to eeek into the lottery for the highly coveted All-Mountain division, which includes a 30-mile point to point cross-country race on Saturday, and a 17 mile downhill race Sunday. If that weren't enough, I assure you the devil is surely in the details here. The race saturday begins with an 8 mile climb, averaging slightly above 10% grades at elevation and with a gain of 3000-4000'! The second half of the course descends the grueling Downieville Downhill, chalk full of rocks, hills, cliffs and speed. This will of course be the same course I must race Sunday. The trick of this event will be that riders are unable to change any aspect of their bikes, causing them to choose a machine that will be suitable at best for each event--a gruely XC and one of the most exhausting and challenging downhills. Leon is undergoing the proper preparation. Is Jesse?

Well, beginning here is the story of Jesse and Ol' Yeller, the old, reliable and steadfast bicycle. Not long ago, I took the old machine, a 1998 Specialized M2 Stumpjumper built on a 2000 M2 frame and removed the entire drive train, shifters, derailleurs, etc. I spaced out the XTR hub and put on a tensioner. With the help of 5 lock rings I cranked tight the bolts holding the 10 year old 32 tooth chainwheel onto the 10 year old stock specialized cranks and alas now call it a single speed. Side note: I'm not real big on this new "single speed movement". People talk about these bikes and the people who ride them as this odd subset of riders. Really, until the mid to late 80's there were no such things as gears, derailleurs, etc. ALL off road bikes were single speed, and we didn't call them single speeds we just called them "bikes". What you find when you return to riding with just one gear and a freewheel is that it feels just like riding bikes used to feel like: quiet, simple, efficient. It comes equipped with gear that was top of the line 10 years ago including XTR V-brakes, XTR Hubs, answer allumilite bars and a Rock Shox SID 100. Having this bike around has changed the way I look at my every day rides, and suddelny when I no longer have the luxury of a granny gear, I now ENJOY long uphills. I even look forward to them.

So, this new inspiration from an old worn out machine, jury-rigged together as a mix of both top of the line bicycle components and hardware purchased for cents at the local hardware store, has me up and training hard and often. I divide my time between long uphills, and steep short sprints. I like to get equal parts sitting in the saddle and standing up cranking. I have visions in my mind's eye of Sierra trails, rocks and cedars that keep me focused, and a constant flow of affirmations keeping that focus ahead of me, rather than behind. Thanks to Stacy guiding my strength training I wake up two or three times a week with screaming sore muscles. The featured muscle this morning: the gastrocnemius, otherwise know as, my calves.

July 11th is the beginning of the event. Until then, rest assured you'll be able to find me and my old yellow machine somewhere up in the hills around Santa Cruz making the most of my time off.

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...