Bloomington Road Ride

Yup, just what the title says. Managed to get in 40 miles between family festivities yesterday. It's a little easier to break the 20mph average here in Indiana than in NC, got in the 40 in just under two hours of riding time.

Here and There

Lisa and I and my parents went out on Btown last night, and got the chance to do some post-Christmas shopping. We made a stop in at one of my favorite places here in Bloomington, Revolution Bike and Bean. I scored a great deal on some Mavic shoes and picked up some coffee beans...hooray!

Indiannannanannanna

For all the lack of posts recently, I have been occupying my time. Family pandemonium ensued in Ohio, and now that we are in Indiana we are visiting the other side of the family. I've been able to get onto the trainer a number of times, but the wealth of snow on the ground has not allowed me to get onto the roads or the trails. Yesterday, I got to check out the Big Woods Brewing Company in Nashville, Indiana.


After all the hubbub on the Hoosier Mountain Bike Forums, I had to give it a go since we were already in the area. The atmosphere is fantastic, the beer (especially the IPA) even better. I picked up a growler deal with some of their custom glasses, and was thoroughly impressed again later that evening!

Registered

And now to begin a few months of suffering to get ready....


Photo stolen from here

CL and Batch One

A heavily modified city loop was in order for today. It was the second back up, but still worked to be a fun ride.


Kunstler would be proud of this urban decay



Afterwards, JillyJill made us some pizza and another attempt at our own embro was made. This guy tells the story of how we felt about batch one:

Batch Zero

After having used some embrocation from Mad Alchemy, Erich and I had made mention of possibly trying to make some of our own. It was a relatively fleeting thought, but as we did some more research on the process and possible recipes, it became apparent that we could give it a shot. Our first attempt at making a batch was today, after having done some shopping around, and it came out about like we had expected.
And no, I wasn't doing some vodoo trick on the emrbo, that's just my natural look of disdain:


We decided that there needs to be some work done around the base of oils, we aren't entirely sure about the consistency. Also, we are thinking that our makeshift warming agent may be a little on the weak side and may need to buy some of the weapon grade capsicum. seriously.

Straining out the warming agent from the oil tincture:



The scent, and the look is pretty appealing, but we've already started to hatch some new plans about recipes. Be looking for Batch One soon!

The final product: Batch Zero:

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

What will it be? And how wicked? The latter has yet to be answered...

Beast of the Brushies

A great winter training ride is in the books. Right about 70 miles with 6100 feet of climbing. Porter and E and I had been talking about doing this ride for a while now, but hadn't been able to get together since the mini training camp. Porter entitled the ride, "The Beast of the Brushies" We met up at Traphill Elementary and we had a short moment to reminisce about our day at Hurt, Pain and Agony. I had to make a quick pitstop before we started out, and through the brush I realized there was a four legged voyeur across from me...the pony freaked me out! Anyways, the route took us away from Stone Mountain and towards the Brushy Mountains. Notable climbs on the route were Windy Gap, Balls Mill and Cherry Grove. After about 35 miles we had a bulk of the suffering out of the way in those sustained climbs.







We headed down Brushy Mountain Road and into North Wilkesboro. We made a stop at Talia Espresso and had heavenly white chocolate raspberry scones and some coffee.






The owners of the shop are kind enough to have sponsored Pirate Race Productions, and their winged logo is proudly displayed across the backs of our new kits. It was great to get to talk with Jim and Kathy, one of the baristas was kind enough to snap a photo of the five of us.


If you are ever in the neighborhood, I highly recommend that you stop by, everything was delicious!


After chilling for a few minutes, we got back on the bikes and got warmed back up. The route back was punctuated by a few minor climbs, and may dogs chasing us. By about mile 62, I had gotten incredibly hungry, and was getting pretty desperate to get back to the car. Once back, I rocketed home to eat some homemade chili and some cookies...hooray!

CL After Dark

And, Napolean deemed it good

OVT Night Ride

Chancey and I hit up a night ride at the OVT tonight. Much fun was had all around, a few near wrecks, some good laughs and hilarity. I brought mismatched socks, and as much as I try to convince myself that it was purposeful, it wasn't. At the end of the ride, one foot was toasty, one foot a block of ice.




As a side note, I got the new PRP kit tonight, and can't wait to break it out for Saturday's ride.

A Chill Night

Last night and tonight have been spent chilling with the spousal figure, the four legged figure and a paperbound figure.


The lack of recent posts on any form of riding have been because of a lovely bout with a sinus infection and bronchitis. I've been on the trainer in the basement a bit, but that hardly warrants any photos or any attempt at making it entertaining to read about. Thingshave gotten a bit chilly here in NC as of late, and there were some bouts of panic as we got more than an inch of snow on Saturday. The dog has been relegated (albeit self-imposed relegation though) to being bundled in pillows and blankets in the house.


Though it's been slow round these here parts as of late, there are some plans for rides over the next few days (including night rides tomorrow and Thursday night), so perhaps things might get interesting around here again. If they ever were, that is.


And, no fear, I am not getting rid of a bunch of cycling stuff to fund an Escobar enduced haze, I just would like to pick one of these up

Liquidation!

Selling some stuff off, check it out here on my Northstar for Stuff site.

To the Future

In little more than four months, I hope to be blasting through this bridge at nearly mach three with about 140 of my closest foes. Battenkill registration begins in roughly three weeks!

Mini-Camp

The Fall ClimbingCamp Test Run was awesome! Plans changed the week before, which actually worked out for the better, because I think all three of us were thoroughly spent after one day of riding; day two would have had me crawling on my knees in a roadside ditch. The final numbers for the day were 55ish miles and a bit over 8k feet of climbing. The mileage is slightly deceptive, because the gravel roads were pretty taxing on the legs, especially the final beast...Belcher Mountain. More on that in a bit.

After a hardy breakfast cooked up by Amy and JilliJill, E and I embro'd up and chatted up the route.

Porter came rocking in and quickly deemed his fifteen pounds extra to be detrimental to doing any sort of climbing quickly. An inward sigh of relief was had by E and I both knowing how strong a rider Porter is.


After shooting the breeze and getting started on our ride, we were summarily off route on the first turn. We farted around on some roads that we thought were right, but ended up back where we started after about 9 miles. Erich promised Porter that the first twenty miles would be mostly uneventful, but the first nine ticked by with over 1k feet of climbing. Oof, a rough start to warm up with to say the least.


We ended up back on route and headed down Squirrel Spur and were treated with some monstrous views of the Blue Ridge, Pilot and the piedmont. An alternate route, including some gravel, was planned for the link over to Willis Gap. An unplanned detour and requisite route checking, and we were at the bottom of Willis. I took advantage of a slight lull in the group and took off up Willis alone hoping to be able to hold off E. About two-thirds of the way up I hear a beckoning, "Baaaaary..." Crap, I was caught. E sent a quick text to our sag support vehicle and Bus met us at the top with some food and beverage.


We crossed over the parkway and onto some gravel. Along the way, there was some taunting going on from the support vehicle. Apparently, the night before, in a bout of madness, Bus installed a PA onto the front bumper of the 4Runner and was now using it to verbally whip our backs.






After some deliberation on one of the climbs on the Parkway, we decided to call in support. We had about 50 miles or riding in and were running low on daylight. Bus met us at Mabry Mill, and we loaded up the bikes. This was not to be the end of the ride, though.

The gauntlet had been thrown to the floor by coach, and I wanted more for dinner than just four tortilla chips and a tablespoon of salsa. I was told that if I didn't complete Belcher Mtn, that my caloric intake would be limited at dinner. I was also told by E that he gave us a 25percent shot at making it up. Bus stated that if he had been taken along on a ride like this one, that he would defriend E and never talk to him again. All the hype aside, Belcher was horrendous. Like, slap yo momma horrendous. In the lowlight E and I started our ascent. On the first really steep section, I got into some loose gravel and lost traction. I was able to remount the steed at a lowly 16 percent and get going again. About two hundred meters later though, I realized that I had flatted in the gravel. Luckily the Bus was right behind with the required supplies and we were quickly (in a relative sense) back up the road.


Brutality and Beauty in one spot; so often in cycling are the two intertwined.



After about 2.5 miles of climbing and over 1000 feet, my legs were done. I lacked the power to turn the cranks over any further. E toiled on though alone against the mountain. At every switchback, glorious views abound, and E made it to the top.


Truly a heroic effort on his part, afterwards I was in awe. Until we ate, then I was in further awe. V Sport knows how to put on a camp, and I can't wait until the official camp this spring.


I will, fear not, and I will have my revenge on you Belcher.

Apprehension

There is tension in my body at the moment that will not likely be relieved until after tomorrow's ride. The atmosphere seems charged with electricity, especially with a 4 mile cat1 climb 60ish miles into the ride...and oh, it's on gravel too






The bike is set up with the new wheels thanks to Mitch. The tools and some food are packed. The embro, lip balm, and chamois cream are all on the docket for the AM. A big breakfast followed by a big ride followed by an even bigger dinner should be great. Plus, it's going to feel so pro to have a wheel truck/sag vehicle following us the entire time. Meadows of Dan has no idea what's up.

Powerlines!

Mitch, E, and I met up for a powerlines loop. Much fun ensued, and now much food and drink is being mauled.

Stopping to refuel at a gas station somewhere on Courtney-Huntsville



A sure sign that there has been a few good days of riding had

Hanging Rock and Sauratown

After embalmi...er...embrocating myself this morning, E and I kitted up to head North. The original plan was to tag Hanging Rock and head back to my place, but plans would change in the midst of the ride.


After getting to the top of the fall foliage tunnel that is the road up to the top, we descended and made a key decision. We would also include Mickey road on the ride.


Mickey is beautiful, it climbs back up to one of the lower ridges off the southwest side of Moore's Wall and gives an excellent vantage point of not only Moore's Wall, but Sauratown Mountain, and the Blue Ridge further north in Virginia. With the view of Sauratown, we could not resist the Siren's Call...we had to climb it.


With all of it's radio/cell towered splendor, the climb up is measurable by how close you are to the towers. We ran into Bert the Hurt,Bob and Debra and chatted it up for a bit at the summit. The descent gave us the view of Moore's Wall and Hanging Rock and the undulating blanket that is the piedmont:

Once we realized that we were heading in the same direction back down 66, we hopped in together and rode like the obligatory bats out of Hades. We parted ways in King, and E and I were left to limp home without the aid of the slipstream. Today's ride was fantastic, made even more so by my beautiful wife having made us some chocolate chip pumpkin gingerbread to maul when we arrived home.

55miles and 5k feet of climbing

Veteran's Day Ride

I had to take advantage of yesterday's nice weather, and the day off, to do something outside. I waffled back and forth about whether to ride or to fish, but decided on the former because training camp is next weekend, and I've got to hold onto the wheel of a couple very strong riders. The route included a side trip to Cycletherapy to get some Shot Bloks. Gravel was also on the menu, so after heading down to Lewisville, I made the turn north and west towards some of my favorite gravel; Aquila Creek and Butner Mill. I snapped a few photos along the way, and just generally enjoyed the day. Great day on the bike, and now ready for Hanging Rock tomorrow.







As an aside, local riders, the first to post a comment and identify the road in the photo below will get a one ounce tublet of Enzo's Buttonhole Chamois Cream. The stuff is the real deal. If you do not use chamois cream, I will give you a pat on the hind end as payment...choose your poison wisely.