Beautiful British Columbia

Man, I love epic cross-country riding clips like this, even more than that X-treme downhill, free-ridin' stuff. Technically I guess it's considered enduro more than cross-country. Thanks for sending this Andy. Hope to ride this someday.

The movie above is part of The Story of XTR by Anthill Films. The series thus far is after the break.

The Story of XTR - Part 1

The Story of XTR - Part  2

The Story of XTR - Part 3

The Story of XTR - Part 4

The Story of XTR - Part 5

Recovering

Still feeling a little weak from last week. I had a cold, got over it quickly, and put in some major hours in my legs. I probably jumped back into training too quickly, but I was in the mood to go mountain biking, which I hadn't done much of this past month. Starting my week up with some good workouts in hopes of get my power back.

Tire Choices

I've been riding this tire combination for the past 6 months or so, the Specialized S-Works Fast Trak 29x2.0 up front, and the S-Works Renegade 29x1.9 in back. They're both really fast and very light weight. The Fast Trak has a lot of grip especially in looser conditions. I can really lean into a turn much better than the Renegade. It comes in at about 520 grams, which is very respectable. I run both tires tubeless at around 23-24 psi. 

With the upcoming race season I'm contemplating running the even lighter and faster rolling Renegade 1.8" tires. They have low rolling resistance, but require a bit more skill and finesse on loose and technical terrain. That's about a 1/4 pound of rotation weight savings, which is substantial for a race bike. I'll wait for dryer conditions before I pull the trigger.

Bethpage to Stillwell

I did a Sunday ride on one of my favorite trails in New York, Bethpage to Stillwell. It's an hour east by way of the Long Island Rail Road Ronkonkoma train. It starts off at Bethpage park and flows north on some very nice fast rolling single-track through Cathedral Pines ending at Stillwell Woods. The terrain often transitions from dirt to loamy sand. It's a true cross-country ride with just enough climbing and technical features over the 20+ mile round trip.

I did two loops at Stillwell Woods and only came across a few riders out on the trail. There was a fair amount of mud along the exposed sections of single-track, but luckily most of it was tacky, leaving me fairly clean, but I can't say the same for my bike.

I had the front and rear shocks full-on with their Brain adjusters, meaning super stiff for climbing and pedaling, yet fully open on the descents. It's such a great bike for cross-country riders like myself. I've been riding my road bike so much it takes a while getting used to the full squish.

Bananas, I Love You

I dedicate todays epic ride to the banana. Without them I would still be out on the road suffering like a dog. They're cheap, everywhere, biodegradable and pack a lot of easy to absorb calories. I started to bonk big time at mile 50 and regret not taking my go to snack of trail mix with me. I thought my delicious egg sandwich could hold me over for the entire 75 miles. It didn't. In addition to 3 bananas I had a Pay Day and some sweat tea. That's why I'll always carry at least one dollar. You can usually score two to three bananas, which, in my case, gets you another hour of solid effort. I may even consider getting one of these.

Cycling Rules

Everything stated in the cycling rules above make sense except for the minimum wheel size. What if I really love to ride my BMX or foldable bike? I've ridden Henry Hudson Drive enough times to know how strange some of these rules seem to be. Anyways, I'm just glad to not be sick anymore. I've been off the bike for two whole days *gasp which feels like a long time to me. I did some short tempo intervals to ease myself back into pace the other day, and I'm glad to have my strength back. Cycling rules.

Someday

Been sick the past couple of days. First time since May. It's just a cold. I think the weather finally caught up to me. Been dreaming about warmer days and flying down single-track like the guys in the video. Someday.

Road-Rash

I got beat up this weekend. It started on Friday when I got my hand caught in the leg-joint of my Cyclops trainer. It took a big bite off of my skin. It was an early morning workout and I just wasn't paying attention to where my hand was at. Then on Saturday I hit the deck twice, once on pavement, resulting in the road-rash pictured above, and the other on slippery wooden planks of the Brooklyn Bridge. I've got a number of smaller bruises, but I'm otherwise okay. Fine additions to my collection of war wounds.

Bleakness

Another photograph from my ride yesterday. The concrete jungle never ends, that is until you cross over the Hudson. I'm approaching 5 solid years in New York City. I moved to New York on my birthday in 2007. My perception of the city has changed so much for a city that changes all the time.

50 Mile Snow Ride

Woke up at 7 am this morning with a mission to ride rain or shine, including snow. It wasn't as bad as the snow storm we had a few weeks ago, but I upped the ante by pushing 50 miles to the Palisades and back. I was the only one out on the road for quite some time, till I spotted a few brave souls, whom all opted to do 9W instead of the more rugged Henry Hudson Drive like I chose to do.

The gnarly climb up to the ranger station at the end of Henry Hudson Drive, aka. River Road.

It was a great ride up until about 5 miles from home when I hit the pavement a couple of times. First crash was due to my fiddling with jacket zippers. So stupid. The other one was on the Brooklyn Bridge. Note to self - don't ride the Brooklyn Bridge after it has snowed. The wet wooden planks are quite dangerous. I nearly took out a tourist in the wrong lane who caused me to crash.

The George Washington Bridge crossing over into Manhattan.

Don't Do Drugs

It's been an odd couple of weeks for professional cyclists involved in some sort of doping scheme. Lance's case was closed by the feds; Alberto Contador was retroactively banned for two years, stripping him of the 2012 Tour de France and Giro title(s), and faces two million Euros in fines; and Jan Ulrich, although retired was given a similar two-year ban for doping. So there you have it. All within a week. So kids, don't do drugs.

To Shave or Not to Shave

I've always wondered about cyclists and shaved legs. I've never done it before, but I've always been curious. Are there any benefits? Is it purely aesthetics? Tradition perhaps? To me for the longest time it's been the identifier if you're either a 'mountain biker' or 'roadie'. The thing is I love both disciplines equally. I liken the whole ritual to that of people getting tans.

I used to be really self-conscious about my legs because I'm so skinny. But now I'm not afraid to wear lycra shorts as I've slowly sculpted my biker legs over the years. What do the ladies think? Is it sexy or gross to see a man with shaved legs? What would my wife think? I've never asked her before.

While there's isn't much to justify the benefits of shaving your legs, which includes aerodynamics, heat dissipation, road rash (wound treatment), deep tissue massages. The main reason I'd consider shaving my legs is to show my commitment to the sport, that I'm serious about cycling. But does one need smooth legs to show that?

The closest thing I ever got to a tattoo was wearing a bicycle chain around my wrist, no clasp, secured as if on a bicycle. It was a bitch getting on, and I wore it for many years. Since I can't grow facial hair could this be my mustache phase? I'm really interested in knowing what everything thinks, cyclists and non-cyclists alike. What say you?

[Update: I did not shave my legs.]

Tough Shooter

I love camera gear almost as much as I love Apple products and especially bikes. I always have a camera on me at all times, whether it's my iPhone or Canon Elph. They take great pictures, but I'm always a little apprehensive when the weather turns for the worse. I've had my iPhone freak out and shut down if it rains or if I get so sweaty it permeates through my jersey fabric. I've had my Canon PowerShot Elph 300HS completely lock up due to its fragile casing, especially its retractable lens cover. It takes great pictures and the focus is unbelievably fast for a point and shoot, but it's toughness is something left to be desired.

I needed a rugged camera that I didn't have to worry about, which is why I picked up Nikon's new Coolpix AW100. It has a large 16 megapixel CMOS sensor, fully waterproof and shock-proof casing, as well as a GPS geo-tagging feature, plus 1080p HD video shooting capability. What I also like about his camera so far, while not as tiny as my Canon, is it's relatively small size and non-retractable fixed lens. I'm still getting used to how everything performs. I'm used to Leica's and Canon's, but so far it's easy to use. I'll be posting a followup review as I get more familiar with it.

No Turning Back

The 2012 mountain bike racing season is just around the corner. I signed up for a few races so far, a Leadville 100 Qualifier, a race in Pittsburgh (The North Park XC Challenge) and another in upstate New York (The Dark Horse 40). One of them is through USA Cycling, which requires a license to race. To my surprise my name and race history were already there, meaning I only had to renew my license rather than signing up for a new one. It was an Expert  class license, which transferred over as a Category 1, something I'm not entirely clear as to when and why that happened, but this was big decision for me. I jumped right in and renewed as a Cat 1 racer, rather than downgrading a level down. This adds pressure for me to do well or at least better than my last race, which was in 2002. I definitely feel like I'm a stronger and wiser rider now.

Being 31 I'm also bumped up into another age bracket, masters. I started as a junior (18 and under) jumping to the expert class in two years; took a brief break from racing; got back into it and kicked ass as a senior Sport class, but got beat down when I upgraded to Expert, then stopped entirely for years. It'll be interesting to see how I fair in my older age yet better form. I'm a bit nervous about letting myself down especially after the focused training year I've been having so far.