"It's not that bicycling is so important, it is that everything else is equally unimportant."

Race Weekend  


There's another race this weekend, the Panorama Paranormal. It's going to be a 6 hour event, costumes encouraged (in fact you will be rewarded with a time bonus), and the race goes from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm (which I think is a pretty good time to run a 6 hour race). I've mentioned it to Kristin a couple of times and if I can get my stuff together and ready ahead of time, I'll be heading down to Charlottesville to race solo. We might have some friends blowing into town, so I gotta play this one by ear. Seems like it would be a creepy fun time though!



Also just started perusing some more endurance related race sites - Ride424.com and Trioffroad.com

DT
posted by DT at 1:23:00 PM
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Weekend Update  
Spent the weekend getting in some trail kharma. Saturday I went out bright and early to help Randy (MORE's CCT liaison) flag some new trail and decide which projects people would be working on, depending on how many people the day saw. We ended up with 16 people and completed all the projects we had in mind right around the time we wanted to finish up. We managed to cut some brand new trail, move some old trail to higher ground and reclaim old stuff, cleared the corridor big enough for horses, and reopened a water crossing that was flooding the trail. The day was a definite success and we saw representatives from all user groups! We even found a piece of the ancient Old Dominion Rd. bridge, back when it was all steel with rivets instead of concrete...

The day itself was beautiful. After all the grey rainy days we've seen the past two weeks, the warm sunshine was a welcome sight. The urge to ride the dirt was super strong, but I managed to hold out for another day to let the wind and sun do their job.

On Sunday, Kristin and I ventured over to the Claude Moore Colonial Farm where it's currently 1771. We toured the farm, saw the animals, asked questions about the tools, and got our fill at the Autumn 18th Century Market Fair. Cheap and greasy grub, lots of crafts, and even Tuppers Hop Pocket on draught...very 1771 indeed. Kristin said the Tuppers was quite good and I'll vouch for the Ginger Beer, unique and soothing. Definitely a fun time spent outdoors on a beautiful autumn day.

I also took part in another form of trail work on Sunday and helped to compact soil on the new trails at Wakefield. Of course the best way to compact the soil is to ride it, over and over again... I took the cross bike out, only I didn't have the cross tires on, just rode the 23s. It's my first time out at Wakefield since the volunteers finished up the work over a week ago. Since then it's rained almost non stop and this is a testament to how well the trails were built. Just a couple of days of wind and sun and the trails were ready to ride! Rich Edwards of IMBA and the rest of the MORE volunteers really gave it their all and it shows. Wakefield looks and rides better now than I can ever remember. The newest section really takes advantage of the powerline land. They put in some curves, took the trail up high, and even added in some TTFs (Technical Trail Features) in the form of rocks, which look totally natural and yet totally badass. Awesome work volunteers!

While out at Wakefield I also managed to find the work they have been doing on the CCT, lot's of poured concrete and paved path, but it's nice to be able to get under the 495 exits without having to bushwack along the fence line while smelling all the fumes. Figured while I was out, I might as well take a quick visit at the dirt jumps (not that I would be jumping on the bike I was riding). The guys riding the new stuff must definitely be going big. Nobody was out there jumping, but a lot of great work has been done and I hadn't seen any of the really big stuff before. The sun going down cut my visit a little short. With the temps in the low 60s and the weather being clear and breezy, I couldn't ask for a better time to hit the dirt. Fall is here, the colors are changing, and some of the best mountain biking weather is yet to come. Be sure to set some time to the side to relax and enjoy whats left of the year. Reflection is a powerful tool...

DT
posted by DT at 12:36:00 PM
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26"...29"...who cares?  
Idea of the "country bike" by Rivendell, in the reader.

Thanks to a link that SSO put on his online zine a ways back, I started reading up on the Rivendell Reader. While Grant and crew at Rivendell have a decidedly retro grouch outlook, I feel as though it's only because the stuff they advocate on bikes simply works and doesn't need replacing every year. Grant has a unique outlook on what bikes are, what they should be, and what they could become. So while reading my first two issues of the reader it didn't surprise me to see that Rivendell is trying to design a new bike based around a new wheel size. It's bigger than a 26" wheel, but smaller than a 700c wheel.

Well at Oktoberfest this past weekend, sitting in a coffee shop to escape the rain and warm up for a bit, Spearmint and I got to talking about this new sized wheel. Spearman is in the "why" camp, more specifically the "why do we need another wheel size". At least that's what I came away from the conversation with, he might have more to say of course and maybe he will discuss it on his blog, haha. I know there are those out there that can't see the point or maybe feel it's not worth the effort or any number of other "why" thoughts. I on the other hand am in the camp of "good for you". Tradition is responsible for the 26" and the newer 29" movement. A 29er is simply a 700c road wheel with bigger (hopefuly) tires. Now the reasoning behind the 29er is that the bigger wheels roll better (complete oversimplification of course) and they especially fit larger riders better. After all, why should two people that vary in size by a foot have the same size wheels, kind of along the lines of crank size. I have a feeling the 29er movement came out of these needs and the fact that an existing wheel already existed, the 700c road wheel. I figure just because there was already a larger wheel that existed, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best wheel for the job. It was the easy solution.

So why would you need a new wheel size? After all, according to the naysayers if you couldn't ride a section, that's a skills problem, not a wheel size problem. Yea, I'll concede that with mad skills you could ride a BMX bike on the Elizabeth Furnace loop. That would be all skill and not due to bike design. Maybe if you don't have those exceptional skills you ride a 26" mountain bike, cause up until a couple of years ago, that's all there was. Woah! Now you can ride over rocks without having to constantly power and jump the bike over them. The ride is slightly easier and you ride faster. Then you discover more new gear, the 29er. Now those rocks that made the ride a little rough on the 26er are no issue. The 29er floats through the rocks with ease and you set your sights on more technical aspects of the trail.

Now my brief stint with 29ers has been limited to riding other people's bikes. I've taken the Pista offroad and while that has 700c wheels, it's not a 29er. I'd vernture to say that a 29er has on average tires that aer 1-2" taller than road tires. I really enjoyed the Pista offroad, because I could feel it flowing down the trail faster, but I moved a little slower in the rocks and at larger obstacles. That feeling was only amplified on a 29er. Any riding requiring aerobatics felt extremely awkward.

Now what if you designed a wheel around the complete size of a road wheel with road tires. You could use a smaller rim with a big tire and the overall size wouldn't be larger than that road wheel. You get a faster rolling wheel, but a wheel that is more manageable. Maybe it's nitpicking, maybe it's too much money involved to get started, maybe it can be compensated for with better skills, who knows? But I say thank you to Rivendell for giving it a shot. Defying tradition in search of possibly a better technology...and this from a bunch of retro grouches.

Lot's of thoughts floating around on this. I'm not sure exactly where I stand on the wheel size, but I do applaud Rivendell for giving it a go. What's that? Is there a ray of sunlight peaking through 8 days of clouds and rain...

DT
posted by DT at 10:10:00 AM
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Volunteers Needed to Oct 15 to Build New Section of Fairfax Cross County Trail  
Volunteers are needed for construction of another new section of the Fairfax Cross County Trail on Saturday October 15 at 9:30AM. The new section near Great Falls will eliminate two stream crossings and put the trail on public easements. The Fairfax County Park Authority has just rebuilt the parking lot and the first several hundred yards of new trail between Georgetown Pike and Difficult Run, and volunteers will now continue the trail south. We'll work as far as the bridge over Old Dominion on this trip.

Projects will include some light widening of the existing trail, heavy clearing for a new route and potentially constructing a tributary crossing -- something for everybody. This project is a great way for mountain bikers to build bridges with other user groups since volunteers will include hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers from Fairfax Trails and Streams, Great Falls Trailblazers and MORE.
Bring water, gloves and sturdy shoes. The MORE tool chest will be there but you are welcome to bring your favorite loppers, saws or other tools. We could probably also use wheelbarrows for hauling rock to the tributary crossing.

Directions: From the Beltway, go west on Georgetown Pike (Rte 193). Continue over the Difficult Run bridge. After couple more curves look for the gravel parking lot on the left. From the entrance to Great Falls Park (the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and Georgetown Pike), go east on Georgetown Pike down the hill and around a curve. Look for the gravel parking lot on the right.

For more information, contact, Randy Kerr, MORE CCT liaison, lerrkerr@aol.com, cell (703) 926-6779.

To learn more about the CCT, which will run from the Occaquan near Route 123 to the Potomac at Great Falls, visit http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/cctinfo.htm.
posted by DT at 10:20:00 AM
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Ch, Ch, Changes  
Recently made a few changes to the Pista since it's the bike I've been riding the most lately. It took me a little getting used to it, but I've pretty much always enjoyed the quick handleing of the track bike geometry. The toe overlap is kind of a bear when riding offroad, but this bike was never made with the intention of riding the dirt. Now the bike has gone through a transformation and I think I've taken the bike to it's limits.

First I added a set of Hutchinson 30mm knobby cross tires, the biggest tire that would fit the Pista's frame. Next I changed the stock gearing of 48x16 to 39x16. This was actually good in two ways - first it was an easier gear for riding offroad and on the road I was able to make the steep hills we sometimes encounter (seek out), second it helped with tire wear since I've been told you need to run an odd/even (or even/odd) gearing combo to avoid wearing the same place in the tire from skidding, which is pretty important when your not running any brakes. That leads me to adding a front brake. After riding Wakefield a couple of times and riding out in Reston a couple more times, the need for a front brake was apparent if I didn't want to rip up the trails. Luckily I had thought about adding a front brake (and purchased a couple of items) way back when I first purchased the bike, but soon found brakeless riding easier than I first anticipated. Armed with a Tektro inline cross lever and a Shimano 105 rear brake, I was able (with some hardware help from City Bikes) to turn the rear brake into a front and with some old mountain bike cable and housing eliminate the need for the cross lever to be inline. Next thing you know I'm up and running, cross tires, easier gearing, and front brake. Time to hit the dirt again!

From previous posts you might have read that my first offroad ride with a brake was my most horrendous ride up to that point. Problem was my brake was only accesible from the flats and I really preferred to ride in the drops, combined with not using a brake on that bike for the past couple of years and it was a recipe for disaster. In additionto this track drop bars are NOT comfortable offroad, hell they aren't all that comfortable on road. Next task was to fix my current issues.

Again, with the help of City Bikes I was able to procure an On One Midge dirt drop bar. It's very similar to the older WTB dirt drops with a couple of important changes - one being the drops are more shallow meaning there is no need for extreme stem lengths/angles to get a proper fit, just bolt and go. You can google these bars to read reviews or click on this posts title to check out a review by Matt Chester (he gives them a thumbs up). I'll be sure to do a mini review after more use.

So I bolted on the Midge bars and ended up with a set of Cane Creek SCR-5 (possibly the C I think, basically shorter reach) road brake levers and hooked one of them up to the 105 brake and left the right one to flop in the wind, because I like being able to put my hands up on the hoods.

Now I've only been riding this setup through the weekend, but so far it is proving to be far more comfortable, at least on the road as the recent downpour has kept me off the dirt since last week. So far the new levers and bar are working great. I'll grab some pics so people can see the setup and give a more in depth review once I've spent more time on them, but for now I'll say the bars provide ample hand positions, the drops are super comfortable, and it's super easy to grab the brake lever from either the drops of the hoods, which is always a good thing. The wider width of the bars is also quite a blessing when putting down the power.

I believe I've taken this bike way beyond it's intended limits, but so far it's been able to handle everything I've throw at it. That's the sign of a strong bike and toughness is not something the Pista lacks. It's an incredible fast and nimble bike on singletrack and really eats up the dirt, but I would be wary to take her deep into rock country. I don't think the wheels could handle it. I've got more plans in store for this bike in the near future, but you'll have to wait...

DT
posted by DT at 10:10:00 AM
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Good/Crappy Weekend  
I was making last minute decisions going into the end of last week. Ashmore had a packet for the Sea Gull Century up for grabs, so I could essentially do the race for free (with the exception of still having to drive 6 hours roundtrip and spend the money on gas). I think it was Thursday that the sky opened up, maybe Friday, but it started raining and pretty much didn't stop until sometime Sunday. Between the guilt of leaving for the weekend (the wife was laying it on thick) and thought of riding all day in downpouring rain, I chose to pass on the century and wuss out. I didn't however let the rain keep me from riding and having fun.

Saturday was a slow start. It was full on raining, but Steve and Donna still had plans to head to Cap City Oktoberfest. While they had breakfast at Clarendon Grill, I suited up and headed out of the house. Took the streets to the W&OD into Arlington where I met up with the two of them before we headed out to Shirlington to check out the beers. Before Clarendon, the rain had let up to more of a light rain/mist, but leaving Clarendon it started to come down full on. We took Four Mile Run and we were treated to sights and sounds of a flooding creek. Actually quite the site, but we are lucky the trail is set much higher than the creek so there was no trail flooding. Once in Shirlington we locked the bikes up and checked things out.

Beers looked good and there were a bunch of smaller brewers there, which was nice. I was majorly disappointed to find out that Dogfish Head only brough 60 Minute and their Punk In Ale. Shenandoah Brewing was there this year (don't think they were last year) and they brought a keg of their Chocolate Donut beer. According to Spearmint "this is the best it has ever tasted! Ever!" and "Damn, smell this!" Overall a fun Oktoberfest. Granted it's Oktoberfest so there are a lot of oktoberfest beers, so overall I was a little disappointed with the amount of creative beers on tap.

Ran into Foley, Trish, and Mike. Kristin made it down for an hour. Pretty entertaining to watch the really drunk people. I don't ever remember being that bad, but then again, they probably won't remember either, ha. It's quite the awakening. Many know, but if you haven't ridden with me in the last couple of weeks then you probably don't know. October is a month of sobriety by choice. Call it a test of will power, "plain dumb" (thanks Foley), lame, etc., but I think you might be surprised how hard it actually is to do. I know I'll make it now as I've been on a couple of TNS rides (one with 13 people), family functions, drinking/movie watching party with free beer, Oktoberfest, and I have yet to give in. The first week or so was definitely tough simply because when your with others who are drinking you definitely crave it...and you know it would taste good, ha.

Anyway, it was a fun day, pretty uneventful ride back, waters had subsided and it wasn't downpouring. Ended up being a nice day on Sunday. I took to the streets again since the trails would most definitely not be rideable. With the cooler temps I set my sights on Bethesda and headed out. Took Chainbridge instead of the path and headed down to the C&O where I could actually pick up the Capital Crescent Trail and took that on up to busy Bethesda. Everyone was out, guessing this is a side effect of people being stuck inside because of the rain. Made it to Bethesda and jumped on the Georgetown Branch Trail over to Chevy Chase and stopped by the City Bikes shop just to see how things were going. After spending a bit in the shop giving Sean a tough time, I headed back home. Took the same way back and ended up with just over 30 miles on the day. Not bad for just deciding to head out and see where the wheels take you.

DT
posted by DT at 12:36:00 PM
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TNS and New Blog On the Block  
First things first, Spearmint has joined the blogging world. Check out

Wrench In The Gears
for all his writings. He only has a few posts so far and not all bike related, but it's good stuff. Join him in Shirlington this weekend for an education in beer at Cap City's Oktoberfest and take in some great films in DC.

So the recent TNS ride was a success. I left from my house and met up with the TNS crew and we rode into DC to meet up with the Pirate crew. Introductions all around and a few stickers were passed around. We then set off for Dremos to start. By the time we hit Dremos I had 18 miles racked up, so I knew it was going to be a long night. Leaving Dremos we headed for Rock Bottom in Bethesda, MD. I thought this was going to be super far away, but it was really cool to take the CCT (Capital Crescent Trail) for the first time. 7 miles from under Key Bridge right to Bethesda. A few blocks on the streets and we were there.

We all got food at Rock Bottom and hung out upstairs in the nice comfy couches. Around 10:20pm everyone packed it up and the group started to head for RFDs back in DC. The regular TNS crew decided to head on back since we need to truck it back to Falls Church. A little before midnight we hit the 7-11 just past where Stoner and Spearmints car were parked. Picked up a couple of Gleukos and then headed back to the cars where Spearmint was cool enough to give me a ride back to the house. I just wasn't real excited about climbing Great Falls Rd., so I wussed out and took the easy option.

Ended up with just over 45 miles on the night. Not bad for a Tuesday. Thanks to the Pirates for putting it together.

DT
posted by DT at 2:28:00 PM
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TNS #35 - 10/4/05  
Tonight should be a fun TNS. We're actually meeting up with a ton of people called the DC Pirates. Thanks to Rickyd who pointed me to their thread on Bikeforums. They are meeting at 7pm at Sherwood (14 & K). Seems like they got a plan to do a lot of riding, a lot drinking, and it's going to be all over the map. The TNS crew will be leaving headquarters at 6pm to make it to the meeting spot by 7pm. The first place up on the trip is Dr. Dremos, so we'll be biking back to VA, then off to Rock Bottom in Bethesda, MD (I've never been to this one), then back into DC to Cap City. Possibe other attacks might be made on RFDs and Gordon Biersch. Guess we'll see where the night takes us, sounds like it will be a late one!

DT
posted by DT at 3:37:00 PM
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Offroad or Offride...  
I don't know, maybe I haven't been filling up the kharma bank as much lately, but our last TNS I rode like butt. Don't get me wrong, it was one of the more exciting rides we've done lately. Mt. Reston, at night, in reverse, on skinny tire fixies - what could be better?

It wasn't until after the ride - to be exact it wasn't until after my 4 crashes and a flat in just over an hour - that I realized what was up. I now have a brake on my bike! The track bike has never seen a front brake before and it's not drilled for a rear (cause why would you do that on a fixie, ha). So I've been riding this particular track bike for a few years now, never really needed a brake, but always thought in the recess of my mind that it might be a good idea. I'm the first one to admit I've crashed the bike, ran into inanimate objects, dropped my chain and couldn't stop...all because I don't run a brake. I guess I've been lucky...but Thursday night was the first time I've ever said "I crashed because I have a front brake!"

You see, when you've been riding brakeless for a few years you learn to ride differently. Not only are you very aware of everything that's around you, you also take it easy on the super steep hills that end with a turn or in the middle of traffic, etc. Now take this offroad and it's not much different. You have to be more aware of what's 50 yards ahead of you while also being super tuned in to the next immediate 5 yards, be prepared for hidden logs, and work on controlling your speed downhill so you don't mess up the trail by skidding down to the bottom. Well the nice thing about riding Reston is you can throw all that out the window. You can tune out a little when you know the trail really well. There aren't any super duper major hills, so it's pretty much just rolling along, some technical, one or two good climbs in series, and one good downhill with a killer right turn at the bottom (going in reverse of course).

I started the night off right with a flat only so far into the ride. Fixed it and we were off. I took a couple of spills, mostly not going fast enough in some technical stuff and pulling out the endo magic, but my one great crash was on the big downhill. It's not really that big, but it packs some speed, a right turn, lots of scattered trees and a gulley. I made the right turn and was picking my way through the trees, was headed right for one, looked right, saw the gulley, looked back and WACK!...nice to meet you tree. Direct hit, straight on, tire into the tree, bike rolls up and head rams tree. It was one of those NOT so slow motion accidents. Shook me up something fierce. Once back on the bike I had to get back off and readjust the front caliper so the wheel could turn properly.

One back at the parking lot it hit me like a bomb...never ride like you have brakes if your not going to use it. I knew I had this new great brake for stopping, all I had to do was pull the lever situated on my flats. Problem is I ride in the drops most of the time and with a brake I tend to ride much more aggresive.

Long story short it was a great ride, but a rough night for me. The other guys did great and cleared everything. I'm sure they were happy to get rid of me at the end of the night. I brought a Rogue Crustacean Barleywine to share afterwards and Spearmint popped a Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale for the crew.

DT
posted by DT at 3:07:00 PM
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