Sabertooth Salmon

2007 Bill Dellinger Invitational

2007-09-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Handicapped Mountain Goats and a Desert Fish

2007-07-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Richard Haight and I (the Handicapped Mountain Goats) finished Race Across Oregon yesterday in 32 hours and 32 minutes. What a blast! Our crew (Matthew Rider and Robert Johnson) was awesome. The weather was great. The course is spectacular. And the competition kept us on our toes.

This morning I ran across an article in the Oregonian and learned that Greg Pressler is competing in the 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon as I type. I've met Greg a few times at Paula's road races. He has a blog titled Desert Fish. Cool!

Photos of several pages from the premier issue of Marathon Magazine, predecessor to Runner's World, are posted on the Badwater website. They describe in detail Al Arnold's first ever Badwater to Mt. Whitney adventure. I especially like the following paragraph from the article. It captures some of my sentiments about the effect RAAM has had on me.

I'm less anxious and more patient than I was before the run. The ability I developed to last longer with a set of conditions as brutal as I went through enhances my living. I wasn't necessarily an impatient or frustrated person before the run, but now, it's not even part of my vocabulary. I have the ability now to analyze a situation and convert it into a learning experience rather than have it frustrate me.

Speaking of running... Did you hear about Alen Webb? On Saturday he ran 3:46.91 to break the American Record in the mile and post the eighth fastest time in history! I also learned about this historic event in today's Oregonian. Greg, you picked a nice day to be featured in the sports section. Of course, Dyestat has great coverage of the race.

Go Jenn!

2007-07-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday Matthew, Laura and I drove to Woodland to help with the Green Mountain Criterium & Hill Climb. I brought a bike for the hill climb but didn't use it. Instead, I enjoyed watching some exciting crit racing while trying to keep traffic off the course.

Across the street from where I was standing, the VFW was serving biscuts and gravy, eggs, and coffee for $4. Jackie, who works for the Woodland Chamber of Commerce, brought me some. Yum!

All the races were fun to watch. During the womens race, I cheered for someone who was off the front and showing no signs of coming back. Afterward, I found out who she was - the famous Jenn Wangerin. The Oregonian ran a neat article about her last Monday, so I was tickled when I had a chance to hang out with her for a while. Jenn and I are both from Indiana. We chatted about the movie Breaking Away. Turns out she lived on one of the streets where the movie was filmed, and I just watched it a few days before leaving for RAAM. I tried to get Jenn to ride on a two-person team with me at Race Across Oregon next weekend. She seemed to be interested, but a friend of hers who she is riding to Alaska with next Monday shot us the evil eye and informed us that she is NOT doing RAO the weekend before their trip. Oh well...

Go Jenn!

Pictures Speak Volumes

2007-07-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here are several of my 2007 Race Across America photos.

Oh the Places We'll Go!

2007-07-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

http://spectrum-cycles.com/51.htm

I've got two thirds of the new tandem. UPS misrouted the package containing the fork and the center tubes. Supposedly it has been found and is in transit to the correct destination.

Are you between about 5' and 5'10"? Want to go for a ride?

The Single Speed Bikes of RAAM 2007

2007-07-06T12:13:00.001-07:00

Dad and I in Hillsboro, OR on 5 June 2007.

Lots of people have asked about the bikes I rode during RAAM. I heard rumors that I had several bikes or that my crew was swapping cogs and chainrings during the race. Neither is true. Here's the scoop.

The tires on all my wheels (yes, I did have several wheels) were 28mm Continental Ultra GatorSkins. Tubes were Continental Race (butyl) tubes. Tires and tubes were both courtesy of Highway Two, the primary US distributor for Continental bicycle tires. The whole race, I only had one rear flat (after some rain in Ohio, I believe) and one front tire that went soft (Upton helping with the flats issues - somewhere in AZ, we had the front tire go soft, upon inspection, I found a little piece of steel belt sharp was worked into the tire, right on the edge of the tire liner, and the flat in OH was after the second rain in the race, which the tired had an 1/8 inch gash which the entire inside of the tire was soaked, so some grit was the ultimate culprit of the second flat. The gash occurred where the tire liner was, protecting the tube for a good while). And if you think 28s are too fat, feel free to ride across the country on something skinnier. It's your ass.

DiNotte Lighting supplied headlights for both bikes, including the incredible L-series flood attached to the Vanilla. Until RAAM, I had been almost exclusively a Schmidt hub generator guy. Although I'm not about to give away my Schmidt wheels, we carried two of them with us on top of the follow van and never used them. The DiNotte lights, batteries, and chargers were perfect for a supported race like RAAM. And the DiNotte lights are better than anything I've ever used for those wet, pitch black descents on overcast winter nights that render a 3W halogen bulb practically useless.

Ira Ryan photographed on 16 June 2007 at 4:36 PM race time (EST) in El Dorado, KS.

My orange bike was set up for comfort and speed on the flats.

The frame and fork were built by Ira Ryan. (Note Ira's name in reflective tape on the down tube in the picture above.) The frame is steel with Henry James lugs, braze-ons for a rear rack, caliper brake mounts, and horizontal dropouts (sans derailleur hanger). The steel fork is threaded.

I built all my wheels. The Ira bike is shown with 32 hole Chris King single speed hubs, Velocity Aerohead rims, Wheelsmith DB14 spokes (dipped in Wheelsmith spoke prep) and brass nipples. A Chris King 15 tooth steel cog is mounted on the rear hub. The tubes sit between Velox rim tape and SpinSkins Race (?) Bike tire liners.

The rest of the drive train consists of a Phil Wood 116mm stainless steel bottom bracket (and cups), 165mm TA Alize deluxe track cranks (note that the fifth arm of the spider is "hidden" behind the crank arm), a 39 tooth TA Alize 3/32" tandem chainring (tandem rings do not have ramps and pins like other 3/32" TA chainrings), and a Wippermann chain.

Beneith my rear, a Thomson Elite seatpost supports a brown Selle An-Atomica Titanico LD saddle.

In the front, a Nitto Technomic stem slips into a Chris King Gripnut headset on one end and holds 44mm Nitto handlebars on the other. Nice (and VERY nicely priced) Soma brake levers activate a pair of Shimano R600 caliper brakes. Relatively inexpensive Profile Airstrike aerobars were temporarily attached to the otherwise classic bike just for RAAM.

Vanilla photographed on 22 June 2007 at 5:17 PM race time (EST) on the podium in Atlantic City, NJ.

(This post is a work in progress.)

Probably Made In China

2007-07-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

On our way back home, we stopped at a rest stop by the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. A sign describes the "famed measured mile" and several world land-speed record runs.

Next to the sign is a foot wash that comes in very handy, since salt cakes to the bottom of your shoes when you walk out onto the salt flats.

A high resolution image of the Foot Wash sign reveals a sticker that reads "Probably Made In China".

Twelve Days Two Hours Eleven Minutes

2007-06-29T15:51:00.001-07:00

Thank you RAAM for a fixed cut off time this year! In my opinion, that's the secret to attracting average Joes like myself. That said, a finish within 48 hours of the winner would be a good carrot to chase next time. Could it be done on a single speed? Good question. I definitely have room for improvement in the training department as well as the execution of the race itself. I've heard that people tend to burn out (or maybe "peak" is a better word) after about four RAAMs. Not sure where the money or crews are going to come from. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I had a couple of nice conversations with Greg Pressler and Perry Stone yesterday.

Sunday we leave Indiana for the trip home. We plan to take about four days to drive back with the kids.

Internet access has been limited, and I won't have a computer handy on the way back to Oregon. I've also got over 1000 digital pictures to sift through. Sooner or later I'll get some more pictures up on the blog and see how many details I can remember from the race.

Time for some pizza.

Bye!

We did it!

2007-06-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

Your thoughts, cheers, and encouragement were like a tailwind pushing us to the finish. I'm humbled by all the attention. Thank you!

I've said it before - RAAM is not about the bike. Every rider who makes it to the finish overcomes his or her own unique set of obstacles. I'm certain that many riders were tested in ways that make my race seem easy in comparison. I hope you take the time to learn about all the wonderful stories that unfolded this year. I was deeply touched by many of the riders, and I hope to share some of my experiences with you in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Now, regarding certain rumors... I am NOT considering doing RAAM on a fixed gear - ever! That WOULD be an impressive accomplishment, though. Is there anyone on earth crazy enough to try it?

Two Hundred Fifty One

2007-06-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Rider here (it's been me for the last week) for perhaps my last guest post.

He didn't just finish RAAM, but, well, there's this too.

"The Ian Sandbach award is presented to the rider or team that is the most inspirational and demonstrated the highest level of sportsmanship."*

He's an official RAAM finisher!

2007-06-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

At 2:45 EST our hero John Spurgeon completed his 3042.8 mile ride to Atlantic City with an official RAAM time of 290 hours and 11 minutes.

Way to go John!

He didn't use gears and he garned huge respect along the way to Atlantic City.

I don't know how to express how happy I am.

What can be next? He's already talked about doing it fixed.

Two Hundred Forty Nine

2007-06-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Average speed is still up. 10.49 through TS 42. I haven't had contact with the crew for awhile so I'll have to assume that an average of 9.69 mph between TS 41 and 42 was the result of time off for a good (and well deserved) rest. 684 miles to go.

Pictures of the Sabertooth Salmon on the RAAM website.

Two Hundred Forty Eight

2007-06-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

Average speed in mph:
10.5 mph at TS 31 (Collins, MO)
10.49 mph at TS 32 (Camdenton, MO)
10.46 at TS 33 (Jefferson City, MO)
10.41 at TS 34 (Marthasville, MO)
10.44 at TS 35 (Mississippi River, MO): The speed starts to rise - 11.31 mph average between 34 and 35
10.49 at TS 36 (Greenville, IL): Speed is still going the right way! 13.33 average from TS 35
10.50 at TS 37 (Effingham, IL): 11.07 average from TS 36
10.56 at TS 38 (Marshall, IL): 14.01 mph average from TS 37!

TS 38 is 2142.7 miles into the race!

Way to go John! Bank that time for those West Virginia hills!
Julia and the kids are on a plane to come cheer you on. Keep those legs turning and keep that speed up!

Two Hundred Forty Seven

2007-06-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Rider...
How much do you push? I think that question is something John's crew has been struggling with from the start, but the question seems to become more and more pressing as the race goes on. John's average speed through the most recent time station is 10.46 mph and competitors behind him are slowly succumbing to the time cutoffs. Is it best to take frequent breaks and keep up spirits, or is it better to push through (saving time now but potentially costing time later)? Up until this evening John's crew was still going with the 15 miles of riding and a 10 minute break though it sounds as if they'll start pushing for longer periods of time on the bike as the temperature drops with the evening. John has started having neck problems and the heat of the day was getting to him (99 degrees in the shade and very humid) so frequent stops were scheduled, but each minute sitting still on the side of the road decreases average speed and must increase stress levels. I think the crew would like to push a bit more but if they push too much John could crack, or rebel.
Does a balance need to be struck between getting along with John and getting him to the finish? When the race is over and John can look back on it, will the ends justify the means?
However much I want to be there to push him along (and I desperately, desperately want to be there) I'm glad I'm not faced with those real decisions, it's easy to be 2000 miles away and say "get back on that bike and ride," it's different to be there and say it to his face time and time again.
Keep it up John. Keep it up crew. You're all doing a wonderful, challenging thing.
Let every action and decision be guided by what will get John to Atlantic City within the time cut.

Two Hundred Forty Six

2007-06-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Rider again...
John has just gotten into time station #32, (I'm not even sure they have even called in yet) and John is taking a rest in the van. The plan is to have him sleep for about an hour and a half but he often gets up after an hour so I'll be calling back then and might get a chance to talk to him.
John spent 3-4 hours in a hotel after getting through time station 30. That's got to be the explanation for the low speed (7.72) between time station 30 and 31. Hopefully the rest did him some good and he has started building back up some safety over the cutoff speed.
John's been having some trouble with the heat and again, I hope the rest he's taking now will get him through the heat of the day and he can go strong into the night.
I wish I was there. Or do I? It's easy to be encouraging and chipper when I'm not sleep deprived, hot and seeing the effects of sleep deprivation on a good friend. I was just talking to Julia who is going to be flying out to see John and I told her that despite how tired, or grumpy or angry John might be, to tell him to get back on that bike and ride. He might be hating his life but he's likely pushed himself as far past whatever limits he thinks he has and he needs the crew to do the rest.
Go John go!

Hi Josh!

2007-06-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

Great to meet you at the last time station! I hope those gloves work out for you. Give me your address and I'll send you a surprise.

Your friend,
John

Two Hundred Forty Five

2007-06-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Rider again...
I just got off the phone with Mike and John seems to be doing great. He's 30 - 40 miles from the Missouri border and coming up on time station 30. John is recovering from the mountains, Mike said John did really well going over the mountains but suffered a bit afterward and he lost much of the time reserve (over the cutoff speed) he had but he's building it back-up in preparation for the climbs in West Virginia later in the race. The switch in crew schedule seems to have worked well for both crew and John, and the current schedule for John is to ride about 15 miles and take a ten minute break in the van. John is usually riding about 15 - 17 mph and with the breaks in the van he's averaging about 13 mph (which is going to build up a good reserve over the 10.4 cutoff speed).
At a recent time station John and the crew enjoyed a barbecue and John has had a couple interviews recently while riding. He's also listened to American Flyers and Breaking Away (with the crew watching and describing some scenes to him) and is now listening to books on CD to help pass the time. John has been leapfrogging with John Jurczynski for quite awhile. Mike says John J and crew are the nicest people. If I understood correctly they have a motel room at the next time station that John (our John) will be able to use to get showered and perhaps take a rest in. I'm sure it's nice for both of them to have the other there for the camaraderie, and it's probably nice to be rabbit and hare to help keep the motivation up.
The weekend has brought out lots of recreational cyclists who encourage the racers and some towns have people with roadside parties to cheer the cyclists along. As Upton reports below other crews are very supporting and encouraging. Mike said some have bowed down in respect as John rolled by.
The sittings problems John had seem to have been resolved with the help from the crew and some hand problems which developed seem to have been taken care of by John succumbing to the crew's insistence that he wear gloves.
Mike says John's energy levels are high, his hydration is good (having problems with appropriate places to pee since he's drinking a lot and needs to go so often) and his stomach has settled down since he changed his diet (to fast food!).

I've found John in the Field Report 7 (starts at 2:11 - counting down) and 5 (1:48) videos. I haven't looked through the others yet, I'll link to them when I find something.

Post Two Hundred Forty Four

2007-06-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

Upton posting from Ft Scott, KS - This is where we plan to let John rest tonight, and my shift have driven ahead and got into a hotel. We had the day off, but met up with John in El Durado, KS, and planned on how far he wished or thought he could go toady. John is doing fine, and we are getting support from a lot of other teams. As the relay teams go through, we get a lot of encouragement for him. Yesterday, before the last major climb in the Rockies, a small group came over to the van and remarked about he is their hero. I had to motion them away from the van, as we planned a 90 min sleep break before the last accent. They did not even realise he was in there, but greatly respected that he needed the quiet but talked with Dan and myself.

Most of the way up the climb, a nice lady, whose name has escaped us all (email if it is you in the pic later) stopped and chatted during a brief break.

Also, Kandy Bennett of the Skyloine Service Station at TOp of Yarnell Grade Hill ) no we did not forget you!) just have not had internet service, came out to say hi and pose as well.

John's thoughts to the Rockies was best covered at the end of the 9900 ft climb, ending the major climbing of the Rockies by wanting this quote "I am holding my strength"

I have taken quite a few pictures of John and crew during the race so far... especially good candid shots of all. We are looking for a way to really post most of them... but you are getting the nice shots...

Two Hundred Forty Three

2007-06-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

Matthew Rider posting again because John is out on course pedaling away.
There's another article about John on the RAAM site.

"I've switched over to McDonald's and Burger King. It just sits better on my stomach!"

Man, there was a possible HUGE sponsorship idea there. McDonald's branded jersey and support vehicle. Get a member of the crew to dress as Ronald McDonald. Stop off at the occasional McDonald's on route and say "I'm lovin' it" to whomever will listen and get loads of cash in return. This single speed thing is drawing a lot of attention. Or Match.com - play off of the single speed bike and singles looking for a match. Maybe next year. What tie-ins could a fix gear bike have? I can only think of one and don't even want to know what branding would look like.

I recently spoke with Mike for just a bit and found out that the support crews are changing their strategy a little. The day crew is just finishing up a 24 hour shift and Mike and his crew are about to start a 24 hour shift. I'm not sure what prompted the change but it might provide a bit more continuity of support for John.

It's nice to look at the standings and see that John's average and current speed has risen a bit. As I write this he's between station 25 and 26 and if you look at the rider report you'll see John's between station average speed has gotten up over 12mph after a lengthy drop below 9. Of course the Rockies have affected his speed but it's got to feel good for him to speed back up and get some extra breathing room from the minimum speed cutoff.

Two Hundred Forty Two

2007-06-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

Matthew Rider again:
Another post on the RAAM website about John with an update on his status.
I didn't get a chance to make a call to Mike last night but based on the lack of progress I suspected that John is battling with wind and had taken some extra time off the bike.
I wish I could be there with him and push him along for a bit, I can't even imagine what he must be going through.
Hopefully not something like this.

And John mentioned again. I must not check the website enough, I didn't see this one on the front page.

Two Hundred Forty One

2007-06-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Matthew Rider again:
Just now I (obsessively) checked the RAAM website to confirm John is at time station 17 and what do I see but a front page post referencing the "Single Speed Mad-Man."
For those of you that aren't going to click through and read the short post, see how it closes

"...no one can deny you're one fantastic cyclist. See you on the boardwalk! I sense some history being written here."

I got chills reading that. Goosebumps.

I also saw a reference to John here.

"Brenden Dan is the Australian 24 hour solo single speed mountain bike record holder, so he asked me how single speed rider John Spurgeon was doing."

...and while I'm at it, half of this article is about John. This is a description they provide.

"Sporting a toned, sleek body clad in Spandex and a helmet."

Yeah baby!

Two Hundred Forty

2007-06-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

Matthew Rider here:

I just got off the phone with Mike and John (8:35PM PST) and despite a bad connection I managed to get the following...

John had just finished the (approximately 20 mile) descent off of Wolf Creek. A 20 mile descent sounds great at first, but I imagine it would get old after awhile. Of course I haven't been on a bike for three days, I suppose whatever soreness one might get from a tight tuck would be well worth the break from pedaling it might offer, and of course a 20 mile descent means one had to climb to get high enough to go downhill for twenty miles. The top of the ascent brought him up into the sun which must have been nice since he had to get bundled up for the descent. I don't have a weather report for John's location but the RAAM website says there is rain and wind to deal with a few hundred miles ahead of John so he may be on the edge of that.

While climbing John caught someone and then traded spots with him on the descent. John was also fortunate enough to have the company of two media crews while climbing. They talked with him as he stopped every so often for a bite to eat. I'm sure having the attention and someone new to talk to was a nice distraction.

As I was talking with Mike getting an update they pulled into a time station (17 I think) and Mike told me there were four teams there. Mike also told me John is having some problems with his, uh, sitting area but Upton (I think) is doing a great job taking care of John so he should be all right.

Unfortunately I don't have much to say about my conversation with John. I tried finding out if the Whopper he reported eating in his last post was a regrettable meal choice but the bad connection and odd sounds coming from the van's PA system cut the call short.

He's planning on sleeping for one hour then he'll get back on the bike.
...and I feel like I've had a long week.
931 miles down - 2111 to go

Go John!

Two Hundred Thirty Nine

2007-06-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks EVERYONE for all the words of encouragement. I'm in a Burger King having dinner (Whopper and fries). We'll be leaving Arizona soon. See you on the other side!

John

Two Hundred Thirty Eight

2007-06-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Posted by Upton Dabney - Today it finally started. I am sure that the last few days have been causing a bit of anxiety in John, although he would not admit the nervousness, seemed a little like a kid eagerly awaiting the Christmas morning, and Santa had arrived.

John got a lot of looks and comments from other bicyclists as he was going single speed for this race. Actually, a one point on the course, another team recovered his water bottle, and returned it by asking, "yopu guys are with the single speeder, right?".... He has been getting a lot of positive remarks from the other teams and support crews.

At Time Station 1, a lot of people were taking pictures of his bike... making sure that it was for real. The other qquestion we have been getting is whether he has different gears, and we tell them the two gear ratios he is using.

I took a few pictures today and hope you enjoy them.

Two Hundred Thirty-Seven

2007-06-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Upton and Allen

Previous RAAM Champions

John, Jure, and Upton

Solo Riders

Two Hundred Thirty-Six

2007-06-09T09:45:00.001-07:00

Julia, Andres, Jon, Mike, moi

Tuesday we left Hillsboro after lunch and stopped by Jon Wolf's house to pick up his bike. We took it with us to Oceanside. In a few minutes Dad is going to drive down to San Diego to drop off the bike and pick up my brother, Dan, at the airport. Jon departs San Diego tomorrow on an Elite Pac Tour.

We took the scenic route along Hwy 101 and arrived in Oceanside Thursday around noon. Our hotel reservations had been canceled by mistake. The RAAM staff reserved rooms at the same hotel and then cancelled. The hotel manager cancelled our reservations too. We ended up across the street at a Motel 9. All's well that ends well.

Yesterday we had some more drama when we couldn't find the car keys. After turning the hotel room upside down and making plans to get new keys, Dad finally found them under the bed. I think he planted them there.

Mike, our crew chief, is the the detailed-oriented engineer. He makes schedules and check lists for us every day.

Upton Dabney is the Head Athletic Trainer at Oregon Institute of Technology. He's been showing people how to give me massages and hook up the TENS unit to my tendon in case it acts up. Yesterday he lifted me by my shoulder blade to stretch my upper back.

Julia and Andres are grad students studying exercise physiology at Purdue. Yesterday they collected all my urine and Mike's. Today they drew some blood. During the race they'll be taking small samples to see how the race affects me.

After breakfast my dad reviewed the process for changing a flat tire on the van. Upton, Mike, Andres, and Julia are watching in the picture above.

I met Perry Stone yesterday. Perry is features quite a bit in the 2004 RAAM DVD. Then I had my pictures taken. I chatted with Rick Bothling and his mom for a while. They gave us some good tips about preventing and dealing with saddle sores based on Fred's experience last year.

The interview with Allen Larson and Danny Chew was so cool! I'm sure I sounded like a bumbling rookie, but I was thrilled to be talking 1:1 with two RAAM legends. Allen know a lot about me from RAO and Danny seemed genuinely interested in my story. The single speed thing gets people's attention. Both Allen and Danny seemed somewhat concerned about whether my gearing would be small enough to get me over some of the climbs late in the race. The issue is really how much of an affect fatigue is going to have on my ability to mash a relatively big gear up grades that could approach 20% at times.

Mike tells me that activity at the start is really picking up today. I can't wait to get down there and snap some more photos.

Later gator!

Two Hundred Thirty-Five

2007-06-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

Pacific Ocean

View of the start from the vehicle inspection lot

Inspection

Registration

Me on the Pier above the RAAM start line

Dad and I

Laura, Julia, Mike, Julia T., Andres

More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/sabertoothsalmon/RAAM2007

Two Hundred Thirty-Four

2007-06-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday morning, and we're in Oceanside. About 26 hours from the start! I'll post some pictures and more updates to the blog later today. Bye!

Two Hundred Thirty-Three

2007-05-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

In an email to the RAAM mailing list at Yahoo Groups, Cindy Lindsay wrote:

I just posted updates to the TS Info files on this Yahoo Group site. Some TSs are changed to match changes to the RAAM Route TS locations; some have clarification added for the location.

This files are compiled from the best information that I can find on the internet, but I cannot guarantee complete accuracy. If you find any discrepancies, use the information from the official RAAM Route Book.

Good luck on your ride!!

Here are copies of the files:

TimeStationInfo1.zip - CA through CO
TimeStationInfo2.zip - KS through NJ
TimeStationInfo3.zip - General Route

Two Hundred Thirty-Two

2007-05-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Lists of RAAM Articles

http://www.dannychew.com/raam.html
http://www.adventurecorps.com/when/raam/
http://www.ultracycling.com/siteindex.html#raam
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/Default.aspx?tabid=32
http://www.teamrace.com/raam/index.html

RAAM Articles by Year

1997

http://www.actc.org/stories/1990s/raam97.htm

1998

http://www.adventurecorps.com/when/raam/1988raam.html

2001

http://www.ultracycling.com/results/raam2001_stories.html

2002

http://www.dannychew.com/2002_RAAM_Reports.html
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/files/raam2002/days2002/dannychewreports.htm
http://www.rafcycling.org.uk/raam/raam02/race_report.htm

2003

http://www.velonews.com/race/dom/articles/4181.0.html
http://www.dannychew.com/2003RAAMChewsView.html

2004

http://www.lightningbikes.com/raam_2004.htm
http://www.teamrace.com/raam/raam2004.html
http://www.dannychew.com/2004RAAMChewsView.html

2005

http://www.dannychew.com/2005RAAMChewsView.html
http://www.adventurecorps.com/who/profiles/couturier.html

2006

http://stats.raceacrossamerica.org/2006/reports/overview.html
http://www.dannychew.com/2006RAAMChewsView.html
http://tinkerjuarez.com/raamlog.htm

Two Hundred Thirty-One

2007-05-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

Backward Scheduling from RAAM Start

Sunday, June 10th
9:00 AM: Solo RAAM Starts!
8:30 AM: Introduction of Racers
8:00 AM: Racers gather at south end of Beach Community Building

Saturday, June 9th
6-8 PM: Banquet
4-6 PM: Mandatory Racer Meeting
Pick up Dan in San Diego.
Get bike to Jon Wolf for his Elite Pac Tour?
Mike visits QSC in San Diego?

Friday, June 8th
6:10-6:30 PM: Video Interview
4:30-4:40 PM: Photo Session
2:40-2:50 PM: Bike & Vehicle Inspections

Thursday, June 7th
PM: Stay at the La Quinta Inn
937 N Coast Hwy, Oceanside, CA 92054
(760) 722-4235
5:00 PM: Registration Closes
2:00 PM: Latest ETA in Oceanside
Pick up Upton in LA?
Drive about 7 hours

Wednesday, June 6th
Drive about 10 hours

Tuesday, June 5th
Drive about 10 hours
AM: Dad, Mike, Andres, Julia, and I depart Hillsboro, Oregon
7:00 AM: Mom's plane departs from PDX

Monday, June 4th
Pack

Sunday, June 3rd
11:30 PM: Andres and Julia arrive at PDX
Final prep

Saturday, June 2nd
PM: Mom, Dad, Mike arrive in Hillsboro, OR
Clean house

Friday, June 1st
PM: Mom, Dad, Mike stay at Chris Svedin's house in Salt Lake City

Thursday, May 31st
AM: Mom, Dad, Mike depart Lafayette, IN

Two Hundred Thirty

2007-05-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

"The hay should be in the barn by now."

George Porter, my first manager at Intel, said that one year as the annual performance review process was getting underway. It's one of those quotes that's stuck with me for some reason. And it's certainly relevant today.

I've been thinking a lot about tapering lately. How much time should I take off? How many miles should I be riding per week? How frequently should I be on the bike? How intense should the workouts be?

I'm not sure what the best answers to those questions are, but generally speaking I'm convinced it's better to error on the side of "too little" rather than "too much" at this point.

In my quest for knowledge, I found this ultrarunning website:

http://www.ultrunr.com/

It has an interesting section about tapering.

Two Hundred Twenty-Nine

2007-05-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

Chris Kostman highlighted an article about Tendai Monks in the May 21, 2007 issue of AdventureCORPS News. Something to think about during RAAM. Sheathed knife and a rope anyone?

Two Hundred Twenty-Eight

2007-05-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Friday night I started feeling horrible. My nose was running like a faucet. For a while I thought it might be spring allergies, but I concluded it was definitely a cold. The Covered Bridges 400K, my longest ride of the year, was the next day and I couldn't afford not the be on the bike. Except for the cue sheet, which I had printed and covered with clear packing tape, none of my gear was ready. And all my wool clothes were dirty. After a couple of tablespoons of Tylenol Cold medicine, I set the alarm clock for 1:30 AM and sacked out around 10:00.

I think I woke up before the alarm clock went off, but I don't remember for sure. I made myself a big breakfast: fruit smoothy (a good 48 oz. at least), hot cereal, two slices of toast, 3 eggs, a few strips of bacon, a cup of decaf coffee, more cold medicine, and several Hammer pills. I packed my camelback with tools, 3 spare tubes, some solid food, my wallet, spare batteries for the lights and a cell phone. I topped off the tires with air, lubed the chain, and mounted two bottle carriers behind my seatpost. I filled two bottles to the top with Hammer Perpetuem powder and two more bottles with the normal Perpetuem/water mix. Then I showered and got dressed: long tights under wool shorts, long-sleeve wool shirt, wool jersey, wind vest, light weight shell, and Burley jacket. Shortly after 3:30 I was out the door headed to Newberg.

I took the round-about way, trying to avoid as many steep climbs as possible. On Tile-Flat Road I chased a coyote for a few hundred feet. Then, something that sounded like a bird squawked at me from a tree. I've been on the same road before at night and heard the same sound at exactly the same place. I'm beginning to wonder if there's a motion sensor attached to a speaker somewhere. It's pretty startling the first time.

When I got to the Travel Lodge, Susan was just starting to setup the registration tent. I helped her carry a few things from the van. Then I curled up on a bench to catch a few Zs, since I was pretty early. After a while I woke up fairly cold. I walked over to tent to pay my registration fee and get a cup of coffee. When I got back to the bench, Ken Carter was sitting there reading the outside of the bundle of newspapers that had been dropped by the front door. I sat down next to him and we chatted for a while. Then it was finally time to get moving again.

After the usual pre-race talk. I watched a pack of people take off. Given my condition and the distance that lay ahead, I was in no mood to go with them. Instead, I settled for a brisk but very comfortable pace. It wasn't very long before Jon Wolf, a friend from Salem who I've ridden with a few times, saw me and we started riding together. Jon is doing the Elite Pac Tour this year, which leaves San Diego June 10th, the same day as RAAM. So our training goals were perfectly aligned. We both wanted to finish sooner rather than later and keep stops to a minimum. In fact we ended up riding the entire 400K together, darn near EFI.

Jon knew the roads we were on a lot better than I did, so I could relax a little and not worry about getting lost. Even better, he had these great stories from previous Pac Tour rides he had done. If you ever get a chance, be sure to ask him about Mike and the banana, the teeter-totter salad, and skewering a dog with a broken carbon fiber frame. Be prepared to bust a gut.

For quite a while Jon and I rode side-by-side into the wind. And when a small group latched onto our wheels we stayed up front most of the time. I began to question the description of the course: "mostly flat". To me, there sure seemed to be a fair number of hills. Nothing very long, but not what I would call flat. Turns out the second half of the course WAS mostly flat, but that detail wasn't highlighted very clearly or maybe I missed it.

A train blew by us at one point, which surprised me. What are people going that fast doing behind us? I wondered. I wasn't going to let the chance to ride a little faster get by us though, so I sped up and got on the back. The pack didn't stay together for long, though. Between my body weight, the gear I ride, and my decent level of fitness, I have a tendency to get away from people on the hills. (Unfortunately, I don't fair so well on flat, windy sections.) As the pack started breaking up, Jon and I stayed together.

We rode with Nate Armbrust up and over some hills that had me snaking back and forth across the lane. Later we chatted with Peter Beeson for a while. I think Peter is also doing the Pac Tour with Jon, so Jon wanted to meet him. Peter was a little bit ahead of us after one of the controls, so Jon took off while I finished my business. Then I caught them as they were sauntering down the road.

Near Eugene, Jon and I got down to the business of getting home. As the course leveled out, we took turns pulling, with Jon doing about 80% of the work. As we neared the last control we saw someone coming toward us. Turns out it was Sam Huffman, although I didn't know it at the time. Jon and I made plans to stop by his house, which was just a 1/4 mile from the route, on the way back to Newberg. We took a slight detour, which Jon though was a nicer route than the one called for by the cue sheet. The distance was almost exactly the same, though.

When we got to Jon's house, I was greeted by his lovely wife, Tonya. I was impressed that she remembered me from the Peach of a Century ride a couple of years ago. Jon and Tonya were on a tandem along with my former boss, John Cartwright and his wife, Sharon. Tonya remembered that I was on my Country Road Bob fixie. I remember spinning like a madman trying to keep up with those tandems. Anyway, I had a cup of warm water with a packet of Emergen-C. And after about 10 minutes, we were on the road again.

As we got closer to Newberg, I picked up the pace significantly. Jon said I had ants in my pants. He was right there with me, though, and maintained the pace as he took over the pull. Near St. Paul, Jon waived me to the front and I had to admit that I couldn't (or at least didn't feel like I could) keep going that fast. So we backed off and rolled into Newberg around 9:45.

After getting my card signed, eating a piece of cold pizza and downing a can of coke, I hopped back on the bike and rode home. On the way home, I kept my attention focus on the next 2-3 turns. That was a pretty effective mental game that made those last 25 miles seem no-so-bad. I got home shortly before 11:30, quickly drank a large glass of Recoverite, swallowed a couple of Super AO pills, and took a shower.

I came home with one full bottle of Perpetuem powder. (About 1/2 way through the ride I switched to Powerade and Gatorade.) I had a couple of burritos at one of the controls, a packet of cliff shot bloks, a couple of Hammer gels, and a chocolate Hammer bar. After taking a shower, I weighed myself - 155. Exactly what I weighed before I left the house. Not bad.

Then I hit the sack.

Two Hundred Twenty-Seven

2007-05-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't touched the blog much lately. Seems like I'm spending every minute of every day on something important or unexpected. Getting ready for RAAM - physically AND logistically - is time consuming enough. Then there is work, the kids activities, business trips, certifying running courses, Julia's work, getting sick, the kids getting sick, yard work, gardening, house work, building wheels, cleaning the garage, and just relaxing once in a while. Maybe I'll find some more time to write as I start to taper. But don't hold your breath.

It's going to be HOT in California and Arizona, and my body doesn't see many warm days in Oregon this time of year. I had some conversations with Andres, an exercise physiology student who is on my crew. He says:

As little as 90 minutes training per day for two weeks in a warm environment can stimulate significant improvements in heat tolerance. In addition, aerobic fitness level is often correlated with improved heat tolerance due to a decreased initial core temperature.

At first, I thought about finding a sauna someplace. Then Julia told me that a yoga studio she went to for a while was really hot. The same day, I talked to Robert, and he said that Bikram Yoga is done in a hot room. I checked, and sure enough, Julia had been attending Bikram Yoga sessions on Hall Street:

http://www.bikramyogahallstreet.com/

Sunday afternoon I rode over and attended my first class, taught by Christy Maver. Monday evening, I went again. Eric Thorpe was teaching. We talked for a while after class. He asked if I raced (since I was wearing bike shorts). I told him that I did some long-distance racing and was planning to race across the country next month. He said, "You mean RAAM?!" He knew about the race. (Cool!) In fact, a friend of his, Gretchen, crewed for George Thomas one year. (Very cool!) I'm guessing it was his tandem RAAM with Katie Lindquist:

http://www.mvonline.com/tandemerica/bios.html

Today I went for my third session. Eric was teaching again. After class he and I talked about nutrition for a while. He mentioned hemp protein powder, available at New Seasons, and Maca. Eric said that he mixed equal amounts of each (a few tablespoons) with some carrot juice, and was amazed by how much energy he had after teaching a few yoga classes in a row. Eric says the Maca is expensive, depending on where you get it. Foodfront apparently carries it at a reasonable price:

http://www.foodfront.coop/

I'm lucky to have found Bikram Yoga when I did. I can't think of a better way to spend 90 minutes a day for the last 2-3 weeks leading up to RAAM. If I was a serious contender, I'd probably feel tempted to keep the secret to myself. But who reads this thing anyway?

Bye!

Two Hundred Twenty-Six

2007-05-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today is May 10th. It's about 9:30 AM PST. By this time on June 10th I'll be leaving Oceanside, CA headed to Atlantic City, NJ!

Stay tuned.

Two Hundred Twenty-Five

2007-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Nikon D40
2007/04/19 21:18:09.6
JPEG (8-bit) Normal
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
Color
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 50mm
Digital Vari-Program: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/60 sec - F/5.6
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

(new camera arrived yesterday)

Two Hundred Twenty-Four

2007-04-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Friday Matthew and I went riding. The 40x14 gearing was a little big for some of the climbs. Also, the rear hub bottomed out in the drop outs. So the chain wasn't as tight as it should have been.

Saturday I replaced the 14 tooth cog with a 16T, and I installed a rear fender. We drove down to Eugene to see Xiang. I spent the night at her place and then rode home yesterday, taking the scentic route around Fern Lake. I felt great. No aches or pains. I could have kept riding for another 100 miles easy (in good weather).

Two Hundred Twenty-Three

2007-03-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

The new Ira Ryan bike is almost done!

Friday I rode about 50 miles with Matthew. Saturday I drove down to Salem and hooked up with John Henry Maurice, Jon, and Dennis from the Salem Bicycle Club (which was founded the year I was born) and rode for several leisurely hours. Sunday Matthew got me out of the house (thankfully). We motored up 219 toward Newberg and then took turns pulling through some flats and rolling hills before easing up on the way back home. None of the rides were terribly long. But that was just fine, since I was nursing my left Achilles tendon. I wasn't very tired after Sunday's ride, but by Monday my thighs were pretty sore. I love that feeling!

A new yoga DVD arrived Monday. I have a related book. Both are great training aids. Boy am I getting tight.

Robert Johnson's 50th birthday was Sunday! Be sure to congratulate him.

And check out this neat website:

http://www.readytoride.biz/

Later.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two

2007-03-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a map of a loop I often ride on weekends:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=790808

The distance is about 48 miles. (Drats! I thought it was closer to 50.) I usually do one loop with two water bottles, stop by the house, refill the bottles, and repeat. The terrain is a combination of rolling hills and flats. There are a few stop lights on the way out and several stop signs, which I always stop for (and ewe should too).

Last week I did two loops in almost exactly 6 hours, including all stops (refueling took about 10 minutes). On the first loop I got to draft behind a monster tractor towing a spreader from about mile 35.5 to just past mile 38. That was awesome!

Two Hundred Twenty-One

2007-03-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I rode 100 miles last Friday and took Saturday off. So I was pretty happy with the way I felt Sunday at Banana Belt III. I wasn't racing smart, just having fun. That and the miles from Friday caught up with me after I led the Cat V field past the finish line on the second lap. I lost some steam and let the pack get away from me. I could see them all the way until the dam, but I just couldn't bridge the gap by myself. I kept pushing as hard as I could, though, so it was a good workout. I swapped chainrings Sunday morning and should have taken out one more link in the chain. I was just barely able to get the chain tight. At the end of the race, I passed a couple of people and then we started racing. That's when the chain finally popped off with about 300 meters to go. Figuring I'd get a jump on the 'cross season rather than get my hands all greasy, I picked up the bike and ran to the finish.

Saturday I got to hang out with David and Lara all day. Lara's old bike was too small for her, so we donated it to the Community Cycling Center and got her a new used one, as well as new helmets for both kids. I told them not to chew on their chin straps, but they just bahhhed at me. (Get it?) Yeah, well, anyway... Lara's happy with her new bike, and it fits her much better.

The CCC was packed with customers. While we were standing around I spotted a purple Peugeot "Super Randonneur" twin lateral tandem frameset hanging from the ceiling. I asked how much they wanted for it. When I heard $125, I had to take a closer look. The captain's top tube is 55 cm, exactly the same as my Lemond. With 700c wheels, there's just enough standover clearance for me in the front. I stared at it for about 10 minutes and then snapped it up. I might have to sand a 22.2mm stem down a bit. The CCC claims the ID of the steerer is 22.2, but I'm suspicious. It might be 22.0, which I understand is typical of older French tubing. The rear bottom bracket is French threaded, and the front eccentric didn't come with the frame. Phil Wood should be able to help me solve both of those problems. (I called them this afternoon to inquire about the eccentric. Brent answered the phone. When I told him my name, he remembered me! How cool is that?) The ID of the seat tube is either 26.0 or 26.2. QBP carries seatposts in both sizes, and I can get a corresponding shim for the stoker stem. The frame has long horizontal dropouts spaced at 135mm. Perfect for a single speed! I haven't decided whether to put a V-brake or two on the bike. Maybe I'll leave the brakes off and turn it into a track bike. The hardest part is going to be finding a place to put the thing in the garage.

Last week I was telling Mike and Robert about how ultra-distance cycling has taught me to expect the unexpected. I was referring to problems that sneak up and bite you in the arse. The next day I spotted a pair of bald eagles just south of the Hwy 26 / Mountaindale intersection. Their white heads and tail feathers were spectacular. What a wonderfully unexpected surprise!

Two Hundred Twenty

2007-02-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Jeff Stephens, VP of Sales and Marketing for RAAM, is arranging interviews with riders and their teams. Below are some questions he would like to discuss and my pre-meeting responses.

Q. Do you expect to ride a fixie the entire way?

A. Not this year! In general, I think people over-estimate how difficult it is to finish ultra-marathon races or rides on a fixed gear. However, the fixed gear does slow you down, especially on descents. Finishing RAAM within the time limits is very challenging, and I'm an average athlete. So I'm going to coast, and I'll probably use two or three different gears.

Q. What motivated you to attempt RAAM? What prompted you to commit?

A. RAAM is a natural evolution for me. I started running 5K and 10K races in high school. Then I progressed to the marathon. A few years ago I finished my first Ironman triathlon. Then I heard about the fixed gear division at The 508 and got involved with ultra-marathon cycling. After finishing a few ultras I started to think that RAAM might be possible after all. Then I qualified, almost by accident, at RAO last year. It really wasn't a question of whether to commit. It was more like, How could I not commit? The attraction was too great to resist.

Q. How long have you known about RAAM?

A. I first heard about the race back in the 80's. My brother and I liked to follow sports. We spent a lot of time reading the Guinness Book of World Records. I've always liked to speculate about what sports or activities are the hardest. So naturally, RAAM caught my attention.

Q. Your support charity?

A. I don't have a support charity per se. This is something that I thought about quite a bit. It seems like raising money for charities has become a popular thing to do. That's not a bad thing, but it's just not something that motivates me. It probably has something to do with the fact that I'm rather introverted, and I've never really felt comfortable selling things or trying to raise money. I'd rather think about how I can spend my own time and money in meaningful ways. And I'd like to encourage other people to do the same. The Causes section of my website summarizes some of my thinking and highlights a few organizations that I personally support, either with my own money or time.

Q. More about your partners & supporters.

A. I'm amazed by how generous people can be. So many people have really stepped up to help me achieve my goals. It's very humbling, and motivates me to think about what I can do to make a difference in other people's lives.

My family has provided a tremendous amount of support. My dad and brother have crewed for me. So have my wife and kids, who also put up with all my riding. It takes a considerable amount of time to train for these long races. I'm hoping that a new tandem will help us spend more of that time together.

Several good friends of mine have crewed for me in the past: Alex Bringas, Ed Schaefer, Joe Pope, Matthew Rider. Alex and Matthew work out with me a lot too.

For RAAM, Mike Jacob will be my crew chief. We didn't even know each other until a few months ago. An article in Ultracycling about an Indiana record mentioned Mike's name:

The official was Mike Jacob, professor at Purdue and an extraordinarily accomplished long distance cyclist himself. Among many long rides, he completed a self-contained 5,400-mile tour in 56 days.

Since I grew up in Indiana and went to Purdue, I thought Mike might be interested in my attempt at finishing RAAM. So I looked up his email address on Purdue's website, sent him a note, and the next thing I knew he was committed to be my crew chief. I couldn't believe it. Mike recruited his son, Adam, and Andres Carrillo, a student at Purdue, to join the crew.

Robert Johnson is another person I didn't really know that well before I signed up for RAAM. We sort of knew each other because he was the crew chief for a team of recumbents that raced in RAO both years that I did. We also bumped into each other a few times at 'cross races, and at the Terra Cycle shop where Robert works. (Terra Cycle shares space in the same building where one of my RAAM bikes is being built.) Anyway, Robert joined our team a few weeks ago and is blowing me away with all his energy, experience, and hard work. He got Dinotte Lighting to sponsor me, and is hard at work on some more leads. I'm excited about the Dinotte Lights, by the way. I haven't used them yet, but Robert showed them to me. They are SUPER bright and appear to be designed very well.

Mike, Robert, and the rest of the crew are taking care of EVERYTHING. There's practically nothing left for me to do but eat, sleep, ride, and spend time with my family. I feel sort of guilty, but it's awesome!

George and Terry, race directors for Race Across Oregon deserve special mention for their encouragement and advice. But more importantly, they made me feel so welcome at RAO. They'll be in my thoughts a lot during RAAM.

Dave and Paula Harkin are two more very special people. Paula owns Portland Running Company and organizes the best running races in Portland. I got to know Dave and Paula though some volunteer work that the Ironheads triathlon team was doing for the Helvetia Half Marathon. (That's also where I met Greg Pressler, who has been one of the announcers at the RAAM finish line.) One thing led to another and pretty soon I was certifying several of Paula's race courses. Paula is one of the most up-beat, enthusiastic people I know. She didn't hesitate a second to write me a very generous check to help with my RAAM expenses. In fact, she asked me if Portland Running Company could be one of my RAAM sponsors.

Bill and Joshua at Cycle Path have been long-time supporters of the Ironheads triathlon team. Same goes for the folks at Hammer Nutrition, especially Steve Born. I was one of the original members of the Ironheads team, and although my focus is mainly on RAAM, both Cycle Path and Hammer are continuing to support me as an individual this year. I thoroughly enjoy the personal relationships I have with people at both companies, not to mention their excellent products and service.

Mike Flynn, Melissa Markofski, and Andres Carrillo arranged the terrific experience I had at Purdue's Exercise Physiology lab this past weekend. Mike is in charge of the lab. Andres is committed to crewing for the whole race, and with some luck, we might snag Melissa too - she was such a fun person to hang out with.

Ira Ryan and Sacha White, two local frame builders, are building the bikes I'll be riding at RAAM. Ira crewed for Ricky Martin at last year's RAO and we shared a table at the post race banquet. I've been waiting for a long time for a bike from Sacha. We've tossed around several ideas. RAAM seems to have been the motivation that we needed to finally make some decisions and get moving on an actual bike. Needless to say, I'm thrilled about the prospect of two new hand made bikes. They are investments that should last a very long time and prove well worth the money. Ben and Scott, two top-notch mechanics that work with Sacha will be helping to make sure the bikes are in perfect condition before the race.

Just today Mike gave me some great news about support that I'll be getting from the Purdue Alumni Association. They plan to include an article about the race in the May-June Alumni magazine. They're going to tell people about the race so they can cheer for me along the way, especially in Oceanside, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Atlantic City. They'll have the Boilermaker Special (the Purdue train engine) leading the way through Indiana. And they're putting together a support kit of Purdue stuff for the crew and the vans. Can you believe it?

There are many more people who have supported me in one way or another. But this gives you some feel for the incredible difference that people have made in my life. It's remarkable when you stop and think about how the sport of ultra-marathon cycling brings people together.

Two Hundred Nineteen

2007-02-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

While I was in Indiana I stayed with my parents, visited family, met some of my crew, and got in a little training at Purdue's Exercise Physiology Lab. In the picture above, Melissa and Andres are observing the effects of riding for three hours without food or water, and then hydrating in the fourth hour. Every half hour they drew some blood from my finger tips, recorded my perceived thermal sensation, comfort, and thirst, and measured my weight. That and some Aerosmith helped the time go by fast. The day before we measured my VO2, maximum power output, and lactate production.

It was interesting to learn that my VO2max is 68.9 ml/kg/min. A score for men who are not athletes but are otherwise healthy is typically between 45-55 ml/kg/min. According to Tim Noakes, Frank Shorter's VO2max was 71.3, Steve Prefontaine's was 84.4, and Scandinavian cross-country skiers have measured as high as 93.

Two Hundred Eighteen

2007-02-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

First, I'd like to recognize some of my newest RAAM sponsors: Hammer Nutrition, Dinotte Lighting, and Terra Cycle!

The Support Crews page has been updated to better reflect the huge group of people who have come together to support me on our RAAM odyssey. Hopefully I didn't forget you. But if I did, please let me know.

Robert Johnson is a huge addition to the crew. He volunteered to be our "PDX Man on the Ground". Robert will be helping me with all sorts of things that need to happen before we leave for Oceanside in June. Already, he's made an impressive splash.

Training is going well. Most importantly, I'm still healthy and injury free. (I did have a little scare on Monday when I endoed on the way to work. I'll tell you about it, but only if you insist.) David and Lara both came down with colds recently. I tried to keep my distance, washed my hands a lot, and avoided the bug.

A couple of weeks ago I circled Hagg Lake seven times with Matthew, et al before riding home. Last Saturday I rode toward Lincoln City, flatted by Spirit Mountain Casino, snapped the valve stem off one of my two spare tubes, and then rode in the rain until a few miles past Tillamook. That's when I met Julia and Denver and hitched a ride home in the van. I called them shortly after changing tubes. I didn't have any spare clothes, and I would have gotten very cold if I flatted again. Not to mention that it was getting dark by the time we met, and Hwy 6 is kind of nasty at night. Alex and I are up to 6x30 push ups, 6x30 sit ups, and 2x10 pull ups about 3 times a week.

I leave for Indiana tomorrow, returning Tuesday. I'll finally get to meet my crew chief, Mike Jacob, as well Andres and Melissa, who've lined up some exercise physiology tests for me on Sunday and Monday.

Two Hundred Seventeen

2007-01-26T19:43:00.000-08:00

Pictures speak louder than words...

First shots of the new tandem...

Courtesy of Tom Kellogg, Spectrum Cycles.

Two Hundred Sixteen

2007-01-25T16:52:00.000-08:00

This week is pivotal...

Weather (ice) and family situations (Julia's work schedule) played havoc with my riding plans last weekend. And I've been a little worried (paranoid?) about whether my body is showing signs of overtraining. So I took a look at my training plan and decided to end my base phase earily, take a short break, and tack on a few weeks to my build phase. I'm also trying to use the extra time to cross off some items on my to-do list and reassess my training strategies.

Interesting things are in the works....

Two Hundred Fifteen

2007-01-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

The race organizers for RAAM asked for a picture of yours truly when I was a baby/youth. Here's the one I gave them.

Two Hundred Fourteen

2007-01-18T17:30:00.000-08:00

A rare treat greated us Tuesday morning... Snow!

Not only was it sticking, but there was enough to build snowmen, ramps, and lots of snow balls. School was cancelled for two days, so I "worked" from home while keeping an eye on the kids.

Riding very many miles on the road was out of the question, so I put in some more time on the rollers. Tuesday evening, Matthew and I got out the bikes with fat tires and had a blast riding around the neighborhood and behind the house. It was like 'cross with clean, white mud.

This was the view out back.

Here's David in a typical pose. Lara got hit in the eye once and bumbed in the head, but she survived. Boys will be boys, I suppose.

So how's the training going, you ask? Let's see...

There was that ride up to Woodland where I got soaked, suffered through two rear flats, a front flat, and then another rear flat before calling it a day. I hung out in a bar in some small town while Matthew, Richard, and Mike rode back to get the vehicles. Turns out there was a sliver of metal about a centimeter long hiding in the tube. It wasn't easy to find, especially in pouring, cold rain.

Last Saturday I woke up at 3:30 and headed toward Corvalis to meet up with a group for a ride. An hour into my warmup, my water bottles were completely frozen as were the tube and bite valve on my camel back. I stopped at McDonalds to thaw out the bite valve in a cup of hot coffee. Matthew caught up with me on the way about 20 miles from Corvalis and gave me a lift. Then I fried myself trying to keep up with the group before letting them go. That was an especially tough day for some reason.

During the week I've been riding on the trainer and/or lifting in the gym before eating lunch. At home I've been putting in hour+ workouts on the rollers, usually with my heart rate monitor on, so I've got good records for those rides.

Sunday I had my fit session with Sacha for the new Vanilla. This is going to be a very unique bike. If I struggle on the hills during RAAM, it won't be because the bike is too heavy, that's for sure!

Oh... Scratchy died suddenly and quite unexpectedly (sniff, sniff). I have no idea what happened. It was sad.

Those were some of the high (and low) points.

Two Hundred Thirteen

2007-01-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

Lara helped me build a wheel last night. She threaded the spokes and tighened the nipples while I held the rim and lined up the spoke and nipple threads. She enjoyed it and I was really proud of her!

I've started riding my rollers. I'm using my heart rate monitor and a book with a bunch of work outs to add some spice to my training. Cold, dark, wet rides get old after a while.

Matthew and I rode pretty hard on Saturday.

Vacation's over. It's a new year!

Two Hundred Twelve

2006-12-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to your new home, Sniffy. You're my... er, Lara's favorite Christmas present.

Happy Holidays!

Two Hundred Eleven

2006-12-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

I should have taken a camera to the Community Cycling Center's Holiday Bike Drive on Sunday. But I didn't - sigh. You'll just have to settle for a picture from the Oregonian instead (above). Another nice shot was on the front page of today's paper. It was an honor to be a small part of this wonderful event. I worked at one of the bike safety stations from 12-4. Afterwards, a few of us helped unload the left over bikes from a truck so they could be stored in a warehouse. I could keep gushing about the CCC. Instead, go to their website and see for yourself. Better yet, make a trek to the store and donate a bike, or buy a bike, or a bike part (the rear wheel that came with my Lemond is currently for sale - $60). Best, why not volunteer some of your time?

It's been a few days. Let's see...

Saturday and Sunday I was a safety marshal and a timer at the Paul Bergen Jr. International Championship hosted by the Thunderbolts swim club. A message on the Thunderbolt's website notes that:

Overall, the thunderbolts won 7 events, placed 2nd in 6 events and 3rd in 4 events! This was a very exciting meet with very fast swimming. If you missed it, you should mark December 7-9, 2007 on your calendar for next years competition!

Thursday I rode about 100 miles. I did the first 50 miles with Matthew, then I took a short break for a Northwest Earth Institute meeting, followed by another 50. Then I ate dinner and drove to the CCC to work on bikes for a few hours. I was orginally planning to ride downtown, but it was getting late and cold so I took the easy way out. Oh yeah - Matthew showed me a really neat road that I had never ridden before. (Thanks!)

The previous Sunday I packed everyone's bike in the van and drove to Champoeg state park. We rode around the park, which gave me a chance to do reconnaissance for some changes Paula asked me to make to the Hippie Chick course. The start/finish will be in the Oak Grove area next year instead of by the Pavillion. (Did I let the cat out of the bag?)

I'm already forgetting the details of my other work outs. I suppose I could remember some if tried really hard, but the thought makes my brain hurt. Too bad so sad. Time marches on...

Bye!

Two Hundred Ten

2006-12-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

Today I took the plunge and ordered components to build two wheelsets I plan to use during RAAM. The image above is from spocalc, which I used to calculate my spoke lengths.

Wheelset #1

1 x Chris King single speed front hub, silver, 32 hole

1 x Chris King single speed rear hub, silver, 32 hole

1 x Chris King cog, 14 tooth, stainless steel

1 x Chris King cog, 18 tooth, stainless steel

68 x Wheelsmith DB14 spokes, silver, 293 mm (292.7 spocalc, 3 cross)

68 x Wheelsmith, 1/2 inch, 14g Duristan coated brass nipples

2 x Velocity 700c Aerohead rims, silver, 32 hole, machined

Wheelset #2

1 x Chris King single speed front hub, black, 28 hole

1 x Chris King single speed rear hub, black, 28 hole

1 x Chris King cog, 16 tooth, aluminum

60 x Wheelsmith XL14 spokes, black, 286 mm (286.1 spocalc, 2 cross)

60 x Wheelsmith 1/2 inch, 14g black aluminum nipples

2 x Velocity 700c Aerohead rims, black, 28 hole, machined

Other

2 packs of 72 Velocity veloplugs (or 130 plugs if bought in bulk)

1 x small container Wheelsmith SpokePrep (color doesn't matter)

1 x DT Swiss spoke head driver

Two Hundred Nine

2006-12-02T07:18:00.000-08:00

Tuesday

During lunch: Lifted (legs and upper body).
After work: Bike maintenance (put secondary headlight on).

Wednesday

During lunch: 20 minutes spinning with pulse at 130, then stretched.
After work: About 30 miles. Extended the usual loop by turning right by the lumber mill and taking the road to sign that say "road closed 1.1 miles".

Thursday

During lunch: Lifted (legs and upper body).
After work: Rode about 45 minutes: C. Pass, TV Hwy, Hillsboro, Cornell, home.

Friday

During lunch: 25 minutes spinning with pulse at 147. Stretched.
After work: Rode about 20 miles on the usual loop.

Two Hundred Eight

2006-12-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

Here are the results of my recent blood test and some other metrics. I fasted for about 12 hours before the test.

Exam Date: 11/27/2006
Exam Time: 9:00-9:30am
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 149 lb
% Body Fat: 11.4
BMI: 22.0011

Cholesterol: 163
Triglycerides: 81
HDL Cholesterol: 53
LDL Cholesterol: 94
Glucose: 76

I've been monitoring my blood pressure for a few days. Here are the readings I've observed:

date, time, systolic/diastolic, pulse
11/27, 9:15am, 123/67, ?
11/29, 1:50 pm, 134/73, 54
11/30, 11:20 am, 121/71, 71
11/30, 4:45 pm, 121/75, 60
12/1, 9:30 am, 99/74, 80
12/1, 4:05 am, 123/73, 67

Two Hundred Seven

2006-11-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

Good summary of some recent events...

Mike,

This is great! I don't have issues with any of your suggestions. In particular, I'm thrilled to hear about Mike joining the crew.

I believe my training is on track. If anyone is interested, a spreadsheet outlining some of my objectives is posted at:

http://www.sabertoothsalmon.com/adventures/2007/RAAM_Training.xls

During my prep phase, I allowed myself some flexibility to deviate from the schedule so I could do things like cyclocross. Now that I'm in my base phase, I'm trying to focus and stick more closely to plan. Weather, work, and social obligations still get in the way from time to time. I believe the most critical months will be February to mid May. That's when I plan to be doing regular 200 mile long rides leading up to 500+ mile weeks during the peak phase. My priorities now are staying healthy and injury free, getting stronger and more flexible, working on my diet, and getting the miles under my legs so my body can withstand the high mileage and intensity to come.

I'll have two new "single-speed" bicycles for RAAM. So the bikes should be in excellent shape for the race. A few weeks ago, Ira Ryan (http://www.iraryancycles.com/) told me that my bike was the next one on his schedule. Sacha White (http://www.vanillabicycles.com/) is building the other bike. He's ordered the tubing and has been doing some prototyping for a lean climbing/'cross bike. For now I'm still riding the Country Road Bob everywhere, almost always with panniers. Now that I've got my "Bob Boltz" from Phil Wood, I've started pulling a Bob trailer too.

I received a Selle An-Atomica Titanico saddle a few weeks ago. For the most part I think it's great. The cutout does it's job very well, if you know what I'm talking about. However, I think my sit bones land square on the sides of the saddle where the frame supports the leather. I don't notice it if I'm wearing shorts with padding or if I have a padded cover on the saddle. But with nothing but a thin pair of trousers between me and the rawhide, I can feel the metal frame.

I've started looking into medical power of attorney forms. Here's one example:

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/estate_planning/medical_power_of_attorney.html

As the author points out, I might be able to get a form from a local hospital.

I should get the results of a blood test back soon. So I'll get some feel for whether my cholesterol levels are a problem too. I've got a book that was first published in 1985 called "Eat to Win - The Sports Nutrition Bible", by Dr. Robert Haas. Many years ago I followed the advice in the book for quite a while and noticed improvements in my blood chemistry. I don't think this is rocket science, really. Basically, I need to lay off the salt and sugar, eat lots of raw vegetables, plenty of whole grains, and a moderate amount of lean meat and low-fat dairy. I'll talk about these things more with my doctor.

I think we can start developing some lists soon - at least an equipment/check-list and a to-do list. I can post copies on my website.

Thanks again, Mike!

John

"Jacob, James M" wrote:

The last week, and the next three are going to be just insane here at Purdue. The fact that you haven't heard from me doesn't mean I've been ignoring the race, just that I've had to budget my time, and emailing has gotten the short end of the stick.

1. Yea. blood pressure of 130/80 is a problem for someone riding as much as you are. That is exactly what my MD told me too. I have some suggestions that have worked well for me. I'll pass them along later. For now, take a look at the Sports Nutrition info on the UMCA web site. I think there are a couple of good books.

2. Paul and I swapped phone messages all Thanksgiving week-end, but never were able to get together. We'll have to make that work as soon as I get my grades in.

3. I have a commitment from Mike Smolinski to join the crew (with your approval). He is one of my seniors, a Purdue cheerleader, and state wrestling high school champ. He'll handle all of the electronics (radios, cells, laptops, communication cards, handheld and pc based gps and programs, audio, and lights) as well as drive, navigate, feed, run errands, ... . I know no one with his level of enthusiasm. So, he'll be "in your face" cheering us all on, all the way.

4. I have made contacts with the Nutrition and Sports department, looking for a trainer/sports physiologist, someone to monitor your performance and adjust food, drink, effort level, sleep, ... , to keep you at the desired performance level, as well as drive, navigate, feed, run errands, ... We MAY even be able to do urine, sweat, saliva, and blood sampling on-the-fly. There are several candidates here, one a bike racer and mechanic, and another is a nationally known researcher and marathoner. I should have an answer shortly after the end of the semester.

5. I am also talking with our Nursing school, trying to get an emt, or ER nurse; someone to massage your legs and back and neck, dress your wounds, deal with Shermer neck and swelling, help monitor your health (not just performance), and to make the "He's going to the ER NOW!" decision, as well as drive, navigate, feed, run errands, ... .

6. My goal is a crew of 6, with one leaving in Indy and Xiang filling that spot.

7. In a perfect world, our errand car would be another van, set-up as much as possible just like the follow van, so that if your Honda fails, it's simple and quick to change vehicles and keep you moving while the "errand" folks deal with the dead van. I'm still thinking about that. Help?

What do you think?
How are you doing?

J. Michael Jacob (Mike)
McNelly Professor College of Technology, Purdue University

Two Hundred Six

2006-11-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

Today was a wake up call. Actually, the alarm went off yesterday, but I pressed the snooze button.

At work, I earned a $25 American Express gift card just by going to the health clinic to have my blood pressure, height, weight, and percent body fat measured; and to have a couple vials of blood drawn for some blood tests. I'll get another $25 after I fill out an online survey and meet with a health coach. Anyone who doesn't take advantage of the opportunity either believes they're in excellent health but too busy to bother (sounds like a contradiction to me), or they're in denial.

I'm never sure what's going on inside my body. (Kinda hard to see in there.) On the outside, I don't think I look too bad given the hand my parents dealt me. If you've been following the blog, you know that I get a fair amount of regular exercise. But for a few years I have been liberal with my use of fatty dairy products, salt, and red meat. Coffee is one of those on again off again things. My alcohol consumption is very moderate. So what's it all add up to?

Well, yesterday the "nurse" (was she a nurse? "health specialist" - how 'bout that?) took my blood pressure using my left arm. I wasn't paying much attention until she seemed a little surprised by my numbers. The top number ("systolic" - just looked it up) was 130 (I think). I'm not sure, but I believe the diastolic was around 80. My friendly health specialist thought we should check the other arm to be sure. When we did, my systolic pressure measured 123. So what's the logical thing to do? Cross out the higher number and go with the lower one! (Make sense to you?)

Today I decided to check again. There's a machine in the cafeteria that measures blood pressure. I checked both arms (it was a bit awkward with my right arm, because the machine is set up to measure your left). Both times my systolic pressure measured 130: pre-hypertension!

After watching one of my RAAM videos a few times, I've started thinking about how hard RAAM can be on the kidneys. Now I'm thinking about my blood pressure too! What would I look like without all those miles under my legs?

Time to start watching what I eat...

For dinner I had a microwaved baked potato, a bowl full of raw veggies (tomato, peppers, carrot, celery, and cucumber), hummus and artichoke/jalapeno dips, some fresh pineapple, and a banana. It tasted pretty good, actually.

Cold turkey!

Two Hundred Five

2006-11-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

Tuesday: Rode from home downtown and back to get my replacement Frog bearings from Joshua at Cyclepath. Rain.

Wednesday: 20 minutes easy spinning during lunch followed by some stretching.

Thursday: 27 mile loop late morning. Rain. 1st Turkey Day dinner.

Friday: 27 mile loop in the evening after Julia and Xiang got back from shopping. Dark and wet.

Saturday: Off. (Spent the day helping prepare our 2nd Turkey Day dinner.)

Sunday: Rode from home to Forest Grove, south on 47, then south on 99W through McMinville and Corvallis. Met Julia and the kids on their way back from dropping off Xiang in Eugene. Very wet and windy until McMinville. Then the rain let up. The sun even came out for a while. About 100 miles.

Today: 20 minutes easy spinning during lunch. Then stretched. Snow flurries.

Two Hundred Four

2006-11-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

I decided to do my long ride on Saturday instead of Sunday due to the weather forecast. I only rode about 100 miles (25 mile loop, 50 mile loop, 25 mile loop). On the 25 mile loops, I didn't take any food or water with me. On the 50 mile loop, I took a bottle of Ensure Plus, but it was spoiled. I didn't realize it was bad until I had a mouth full. That was gross. I intended to do one more 25 mile loop, but I didn’t get back on the bike after turning on the TV to see how the Michigan vs. Ohio State game was going. I only watched the last two minutes of the game, but the TV was like a drug tempting me to stay in the house instead of getting back on the bike. I’m not too worried about it at this point in the game. There are 29 weeks to go, and I have to maintain a positive attitude about training. I don’t mind being a little behind schedule as long as I’m healthy and well-rested.

I took Sunday off. This morning I hit the road at 10:30 for a couple of hours, because it was nice outside, and I’ve got meetings tonight that last until 6, and then David has Boy Scouts, so there won’t be any time to train when I get home. I added about 2.5 miles to my usual “25” mile loop by going to the end of Jackson School Road and turning around by the lumber mill. This afternoon I took a 15 minute break and stretched in the gym.

For the past week or two, I’ve been eating oatmeal with dried fruit every day for breakfast (not the instant, full-of-sugar kind). I’m also trying to eat more vegetables and less meat. In Danny Chew’s post-RAAM interview with Jonathan “Jock” Boyer, Chew asks Boyer about the differences between racing at age 50 vs. age 29. Boyer’s comments about diet are very interesting:

“I had without a doubt higher watts in 1985 during the RAAM. The equipment factor was for sure a handicap. In this year's RAAM, I had the best bikes and equipment available, and was able to take advantage of that aspect. My VO2 was not significantly lower, but I feel my efficiency has improved especially in my last 2 years - due primarily to my organic, healthful diet and supplements. I think that my real metabolic health is superior now than in 1985, just then I had more strength to dig into. I could not afford that luxury this year, and even learned quite a lot in my nutritional needs and supplements, and would change quite a few things that would enable me to extend my stamina and strength. The RAAM is a fascinating event that stresses every system that out body has, and keeping each system at it's optimum is so crucial, each choice we make in diet, hydration, clothes, and equipment has such an impact on them, it's critical we make the right choices.”

Two Hundred Three

2006-11-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

According to my training plan, this is the first week of my base phase. (The last three months were the prep phase.) Last Sunday I went to the 'cross race in Estacada instead of riding long, but since then I've been hitting my milage targets. I used Google Earth to estimate the distance I've been riding. It turns out that the route I followed Tuesday-Thursday is very close to the 25 miles I planned to ride. I woke up around 4:30, had breakfast, rode the loop, cleaned up, had second breakfast, and then rode to work. Wednesday and today I worked out in the gym. I did legs both days and upper body today. I've also been sqeezing in some yoga here and there. The forecast is for sun Saturday and wind and rain Sunday, so I think I'll ride long on Saturday. I started using my new Selle An-Atomica Titanico saddle late last week. The rails on that thing are LONG. I'm still experimenting with the fit, and I haven't ridden that far on it yet, so it's a little early to pass judement.

Two Hundred Two

2006-11-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

Saturday I rode to the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove and joined the Oregon Randonneurs for a 100K. It was fairly dry at the start, but we were TRES soaked by the end. We finished in Verbort. I had a couple of sausages, a hot cocoa, and some coffee at the sausage festival before riding home. I rode with John Climaldi for a while out to Snoozeville but couldn't keep up. He was too strong for me. I finished in a small group including Nate Armburst, who took some neat pictures.

On Sunday, David, Lara and I headed out to Barton park for 'cross. David and Lara rode in the kiddie 'cross race for the first time. I rode in the single speed race again. The course was REALLY fun. Some rain, lots of mud, water, steep hills - the works! I rode all of the technical stuff, including the ditch. The first lap, I hesitated at the edge of the ditch and decided to dismount and run it. On the second lap I watched someone else ride it, so I gave it a try and almost made it up the other side. The third lap, I took it full speed and rode it all the way through. Hugh Gapay was there with his son. We chatted for a while before the kiddie 'cross race. There are so many familiar faces at these races. It's great!

This morning I did some quick maintenance on the Country Road Bob before work: overhauled the headset, cleaned and lubed the chain, put the rack back on (using blue lock tight), installed a new rear fender, and greased some bolts on the stem.

Today's weather forecast in the Oregonian called for "Pouring Rain". My ride home should be fun.

Two Hundred One

2006-11-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Everything you've been dying to know and then some...

On the Saturday the 14th, I rode about 60 miles with Matthew and then a few more with the rest of the family. We drove the bikes out to the linear state park that goes from Banks to Verbort. I left my allen wrenches at home, so my front wheel wasn't on very tight. We ate apples that were growing along the trail until we were nearly sick and then took a bunch home with us. The 'cross race at Hillsboro was the next day.

My parents flew out for a visit on Tuesday, October 17th. They returned home Wednesday, the following week. Dad was busy as usual building shelves for the closets, installing a new air foil on the van, assembling bookcases, etc, etc. Mom accompanied me to the DMV on Friday, where I took (and passed) a driving test. Yes, I have a driver license again, but I don't use it much. It does come in handy once in a while. After surviving without one for a few months, I feel comfortable managing the responsibility. Sort of like graduating from rehab, I suppose. Saturday we went to a Boy Scout open house at Camp Ireland - very cool place, by the way! Sunday we drove down to Eugene to visit Xiang. Saturday and Sunday mornings were spent at the T-Hills pool for David and Lara's swim meet. Dad and I talked about RAAM and printed out the 2006 route. About half way through the printing process, I realized that we were probably consuming trees unnecessarily. Last year the complete route was provided in DeLorme's electronic format for use with their mapping software and, ideally, a GPS device attached to a laptop.

On the 28th, I rode to Salem. Less than a mile from the house, a strap from one of my panniers got caught on my cog. The fixie won that battle; my pannier is now a little worse for wear. I flatted crossing the bridge in Salem. A few miles later, I stopped at one of those road-side taco trucks for a $4.50 Super Burrito. (Note to self: Resist the urge to consume large quantities of hot peppers.) I met Julia and the kids at the mall for dinner. We had a bunch of coupons for free this and that. I don't think we spent a dime, in fact. Coincidentally, we ran into Joseph. Matthew was coming to pick him up. So we decided to split up. Julia went home while Matthew, the kids and I went to the Hillsboro fair grounds where we all took a ride on a monster truck. For $5 a head, the truck did donuts for a few minutes with us strapped into seats in the bed of the pickup. The girls screamed really loud. It's one of those things I'd do once, but not again. I prefer BIG roller coasters.

The next day I went to the Flying-M ranch for my third 'cross race. I was a little tired, and Matthew commented that I didn't look too excited. I did have lots of fun, though. A few beers during the race boosted my spirits. The weather was great. I had my first ever serving of Chris King pancakes. The Halloween costumes were awesome. Some funky bikes. There was even a tandem. I felt bad that I wasn't able to get anyone to come along with me. The kids would have had a blast.

I got pretty wet riding to and from work yesterday. The forecast is rain for about a week. Last night I hung a piece of 1" PVC pipe from the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom. That room really heats up, especially with a little portable space heater. It's a great place to dry clothes now.

Intel made me an offer I couldn't refuse. This year the company is matching gifts to any 501c3 non-profit organization. Any "Blue Badge" employee can give to a charity of their choice and Intel will donate an equal amount to local United Way programs. It was the perfect opportunity to give some money to the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

I mailed my deposit for RAAM today!

I'm still reading Road Fever. I'm also reading a new book about Lance Armstrong by Brad Kerns.

Work has already begun on the Spectrum tandem. Also, Ira tells me I'm next on his list. The amazing Mike Jacob has agreed to be my crew chief for RAAM. Life doesn't get any better than this!

Two Hundred

2006-10-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

We finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone tonight. Excellent way to celebrate 200!

One Hundred Ninety-Nine

2006-10-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

Single Speed Finish

Here I am at the finish with Joseph and David. The picture isn't very good, but you can sort of see all the mud around the brake. Under the head tube I've got a bolt and some washers I use to mount a fender sometimes. There's only a few millimeters of clearance between the bolt and the tire. That might have been part of the problem.

One-Hundred Ninety-Eight

2006-10-17T01:56:00.000-07:00

Single Speed Race

The course was muddy! I rode the beginners race on fat slicks and kept falling down. I went home, cleaned up, ate second breakfast, changed tires, took the lights off, and came back for the single speed race. Unfortunately, so much mud got stuck between my front tire and fork that I had to stop and carry my bike on some of the flats, because I couldn't get the front wheel to turn. Nevertheless, I had lots of fun at both races!

One Hundred Ninety-Seven

2006-10-17T01:55:00.000-07:00

Single Speed Start

This was the scene at the start of the single speed race at the Cross Crusade Series Race #2 on Sunday. "Beer... Beer... Beer..."

One Hundred Ninety-Six

2006-10-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

I made up my mind to use TA Alize double cranks on the new Vanilla and Ira Ryan bikes. I was able to get two sets in 170mm, which is perfect for me. I already have a set of TA Alize tandem cranks in 170 (captain) and 165 (stoker). If the tandem cranks yield the same chainlines as the double cranks, then I might be able to buy four identical square taper bottom brackets. That's great in terms of stocking a spare and minimizing the number of tools I need.

On his website, Peter White says the Alize double cranks use a 103mm bottom bracket. I assume this would translate to a 41mm inner and 46mm outer chainline with 3/32" chainrings. So a 119mm symmetrical Phil Wood stainless steel bottom bracket would produce chainlines of about 47.4mm and 54.4mm when using 1/8" chainrings and 1.2mm chainring spacers between the inner ring and the arms of the spider.

A Phil Wood KISS-OFF 135mm single speed hub is 45.35mm from the center of the hub to the shoulder. A White Industries freewheel moves the chainline out 8.73mm from the shoulder or 45.35+8.73=54.08mm from the center. An 1/8" cog screwed on "backwards" produces a chainline of about 45.35+1.5=46.9mm. The 7mm difference in chainlines is perfect for an 1/8" chain.

In an email from Chris King, I was told that their single speed hubs allow for 45, 50, and 55mm chainlines using a combination of a cog and two of their spacers, all of which are 5.2mm thick. (The math to the right of the decimal point doesn't quite add up, but it's close enough.) Using two 2.4, 2.5, or 2.56mm spacers, I can position two King Kogs at approximately 47mm and 55mm from the center.

If I use 700c wheels on the tandem, I should be able to swap wheels between all three bikes and have the chainlines for both the inner and outer chainrings line up almost perfectly with the chainlines for 2 King Kogs, a White Industries freewheel, and a Phil Wood cog.

For RAAM, I'm thinking about this combination:

On the Vanilla, I'll use 40T outer and 42T inner chainrings.
On the Ira Ryan, I'll use 42T outer and 45T inner chainrings.

On the Chris King hub, I'll use 16T inner and 18T outer Kogs.
On the Phil Wood hub, I'll use a 15T inner cog and an 18T outer freewheel.

Using the inner ring for the bigger gear is sort of backwards, but it's the only way I can get the chainlines I want using the 1/8" cog and the White Industries freewheel on the Phil hub. Hopefully, the 45T inner ring on the Ira Ryan won't hit the chain stay.

So for RAAM I would have the following possible gear ratios:

Vanilla+Chris King
40x18 outer (58.6 gear inches, 58 total teeth)
42x16 inner (69.2 gear inches, 58 total teeth)

Ira Ryan + Phil Wood
42x18 outer (61.6 gear inches, 60 total teeth)
45x15 inner (79.1 gear inches, 60 total teeth) - fixed

Or these if I swapped wheels:

Vanilla+Phil Wood
40x18 outer (58.6 gear inches, 58 total teeth)
42x15 inner (73.9 gear inches, 57 total teeth) - fixed

Ira Ryan+Chris King
42x18 outer (61.6 gear inches, 60 total teeth)
45x16 inner (74.2 gear inches, 61 total teeth)

The beauty of this setup is the range of gears I can get (about 60, 70, and 80 gear inches) with only two chainlines on each bike and two sets of wheels.

One Hundred Ninety-Five

2006-10-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

Mud Flap

I installed my old Vetta saddle on the Lotus in place of the one that came with the bike. It feels much nicer. I also added a mud flap to the fender. Pretty, eh?

Got an email from Joel this morning. He asked the ibike_or list for advice about where to get a new fixie. I was more than happy to help give him some pointers. Among other things, I referred Joel to the Community Cycling Center. Later I told Tuan about the CCC too. Ed even seemed mildly interested in bikes for a second. I wonder if I can get him riding again. That would be an accomplishment. He really likes his car.

One Hundred Ninety-Four

2006-10-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

Visitor

We had a vistor on the front porch tonight. David's class is studying insects. He wanted to catch it. I suggested we take a picture instead.

One Hundred Ninety-Three

2006-10-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

CCC Sticker

Today I gave the Community Cycling Center my Nishiki frame, a few wheels, and a bag full of components including some Ultegra derailleurs and STI shifters. While we were there we picked up Julia's new bike and bought a few tubes for the kids' bikes, new brake cables and housing for David's bike, and a couple of ferrules and cable crimps that didn't want to leave the store.

One Hundred Ninety-Two

2006-10-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

Julia's New Fender

Here's the rear coroplast fender I made tonight. It turned out very nice, if I do say so myself. I want to make more. But that's another story...

One Hundred Ninety-One

2006-10-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

Julia's New Bike

This is Julia's new bike - a Lotus - attached to the Bob trailer. Lucky for us, the Lotus came with a solid rear axle the right size for my Bob Nuts.

One Hundred Ninety

2006-10-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

David's Bike

David has been complaining about the brakes on his bike not working very well. There was a lot of friction in the cables, and the whole setup was a rediculous mess - just so you could turn the handlebars in circles. So today I tore off the old cables and installed new ones. I had a left over piece of Avid Flack Jacket cable housing that David inherited. He got a couple of Avid ferrules too, since we apparently forgot the generic ones at the CCC.

I also raised the seat and rotated the bars forward. David said it feels like he's riding a bigger bike now. He also said that when he applied the brakes while going down hill toward the driveway, it felt like the bike might flip over. (The right lever works the front brake now instead of the rear.) Music to my ears!

One Hundred Eighty-Nine

2006-10-08T02:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday (yesterday) was fantastic. I left the house aroud 6:15 in the morning and rode up Cornell, over Skyline, to the Community Cycling Center. Neal Armstrong, volunteer coordinator at the CCC, sent an email on Wednesday to people who attended the volunteer orientation class last Tuesday. Neal asked for help with a “Hands on Portland Day of Caring” event at the CCC. Volunteers from Liberty Northwest Insurance Company were coming on Saturday to help tear down bikes and Neal needed some help leading people through the process.

About 25 people from Liberty Northwest showed up a 9:00. I got to Alberta street around 7:30 and had a cup of coffee, two potato pancakes, and a scotch egg at a nice little dinner a couple of blocks west of the CCC. Shortly after 8:00 I started helping Neal set up tool boxes for the volunteers.

Each tool box is a different color and most of the tools inside are marked with the color of the box they belong to. The boxes contain a pretty amazing number of tools. I wish I had one in my garage. Although I don’t really need seven different freewheel remover tools, the CCC uses all of them and more!

I taught Paul and Laura, from Liberty Northwest, how to identify the freewheel remover required for a particular wheel, secure the tool in a vice, place the freewheel on the tool, and remove the freewheel from the hub. The shop had another bucket of tools for freewheels that couldn’t be removed with one of the tools in the colored tool boxes. Even with those tools, there were a handful of wheels that we couldn’t find the tool for. By 11:30 Paul and Laura had removed about 30 freewheels. There were a few wheels with cassettes, and I showed them how to use a chain whip and one of the Shimano tools to remove the lock ring and slide the sprockets off.

Most of the bikes weren’t worth trying to save. The objective was to salvage some of the components and recycle the rest of the material. In two hours, about 100 bikes were processed. There were a few frames that we wanted to keep. I had fun teaching a couple of people how to remove the cranks and bottom bracket from two of the frames that are going to be reused.

After things were cleaned up and the volunteers had left, I bought a used bike as a surprise for my wife, Julia, who has never owned a bike since we moved to Oregon in 1996. I forget what brand the frame is, but I remember it’s red. It has mountain bike bars, V brakes, 26” slick, moderately fat tires, lots of clearance for some coroplast fenders, Shimano components that seem to be in decent condition, and a kickstand. I’ve got an old Nishiki frame taking up space in the garage. I plan to donate the frame tomorrow when we pick up the bike. I’m excited. The other day Julia was saying she would ride a bike to the pool if she had one. Hopefully she does. I’m proud that our kids are good swimmers now, and Julia is making progress too. I like to think that I played a role in encouraging them to swim. Next step is to get everyone out on bikes more often. Oh yeah, I also bought two super bright Planet Bike taillights at the CCC. I put one on the seat post of my Country Road Bob and the other on the trail-a-bike. I've always been concerned that we don't have a light on the back of the trail-a-bike when I take the kids to school.

Hands on Portland had a celebration event at the Rose Quarter where people who had volunteered at various places around the city in the morning got together for lunch and entertainment. The Hands on Portland project has been growing by about 500 volunteers a year for the last three years. This year there was just shy of 2000 people who helped with things like painting schools and the bike tear down at the CCC. Outback Steakhouse served a fabulous lunch. I had to wait in line for a while, but it was worth it. Just as I was finishing my dinner, a lady sat down next to me, because she noticed my cycling clothes and wanted to talk to the “biker”. We really hit it off and talked for a long time. It was fantastic. Her name is Sharon and I gave her one of my Sabertooth Salmon “business” cards. So if you’re reading this, Sharon, thanks for the company!

On the way home, I decided to take Leif Erickson trail over the hills instead of sticking to the pavement. As I was heading up Thurman, the Fat Tire Farm caught my eye and I decided to go inside. I’ve often wanted to see what the place is like. One of the guys working there was real helpful and gave me some advice about keeping my feet and hands warm this winter. I bought a pair of Gortex socks and a pair of Descente gloves. They were a bit spendy, and the fact that the gloves are made in China doesn’t thrill me, but I felt good about supporting The Farm. I looked at some super expensive battery powered lights in the store (see http://www.bikelites.com/). I need something like that if I’m going to do much riding at night in the winter on roads like Old Germantown or off-road on Leif Erickson. I also got to hold a Chris King single speed hub for the first time. It reminded me of the first time I held one of my kids – sort of. I can’t wait to start riding one. It looks like I could put two cogs on at once and use both chainrings. I still love riding fixed, but I’m getting excited about coasting again too.

On the way home I did more thinking about life, work, riding, values, priorities – deep stuff that seems so profound at the time but often a little embarrassing afterward. I believe I had some pretty interesting epiphanies this time. I’m gonna sleep on it. Maybe I’ll share more later.

Lights out.

One Hundred Eighty-Eight

2006-10-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

Circa 10:42 PM

L to R: front wheel composed of SON hub, 32 DT spokes and DT black brass nipples, Velocity Dyad rim, (camera shy: Velox rim tape and Performance thorn resistant tube), Conti 700x37 Sport Contact tires; wheel with Jones counter for measuring road running courses; Paul Motolite V-brake with brake pad brackets installed backwards due to clearance issues with fork; black KoolStop pads; Nokon aluminum cable housing; Paul love lever; sporty grips; bell; E6 headlight with 3W bulb; no-name aluminum riser bars; Thomson stem; carbon fork (with canti boss that I repaired); zero stack headset; VanDessel Country Road Bob frame; Speedplay Frog pedals; 172.5mm Truvativ ISIS cranks; 118mm Race Face signature series ISIS bottom bracket; TA 44T and 40T chainrings; Izumi ESH track chain; original front wheel and knobby tire for 'cross; coroplast fender; Thomson setback seat post; Profile by Design water bottle holders; trail-a-bike mount; Koobi PRS saddle; DToplight Plus reflector mounted on coroplast bracket; Tubus logo rear rack; generator mount by Dave Levy; Busch & Muller S6 bottle generator; rear wheel (same as front except with shy Phil Wood fixed/fixed KISS-OFF hub and Phil 1/8" 16T and 20T cogs); Arkel panniers and covers; Lumotec head - er, taillight; RoadID blinkies.

One Hundred Eighty-Seven

2006-10-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Reused Aluminum

The mount holding the light is attached to a sawed off piece of my aluminum riser bars (which are back on the bike, by the way). The red lens came from my army issued flashlight. It's super glued to a spacer from a busted up bottom bracket. The spacer is attached to the light with caulk. The lighted is powered by a bottle generator. I'm proud of the setup.

One Hundred Eighty-Six

2006-10-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks again, Dave!

Dave Levy fabricated this generator mount attached to the seat stay on my Country Road Bob. He did a very nice job. However, I took the generator off after RAO, because I hardly ever used it since building up my front wheel around a Schmidt hub. After Ring of Fire I took off the generator powered tail light and started using battery powered blinkies instead. I wasn't happy with the light they were putting out, though, and I don't like batteries (too much waste). So tonight I put the generator back on. Now it powers a 3W taillight!

If you want to reach Dave, here's his awesome address:

15707 NW McNamee Road
Portland Oregon 97231 USA

And phone number: 503-621-9670

One Hundred Eighty-Five

2006-10-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended a volunteer orientation class at the Community Cycling Center, the largest non-profit organization in the country that uses the bicycle as a tool for teaching positive life skills to youth. There were 15-20 of us there - various ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. We began the class by introducing ourselves. Everyone said their name, described what bike they were currently riding, and what motivated them to volunteer at the center. My favorite reason for coming was, “I just really like bikes.” And the best description of a bike was, “Some old bike – I don’t know what kind it is.” I was blown away by all the bikes and bike parts at the center. The new mural on the side of the building is equally impressive. (I'll bring a camera next time.) One guy seemed to feel bad about living in the neighborhood for 15 years and not getting involved sooner.

On the way out of Hillsboro, I hooked up with two fellow Intel employees - John and Ku (sp?) - who work at Ronler and were riding into Portland on their way home. It was a great ride. John used to be a pro triathlete. Ku lives just a few blocks from the CCC; he said I made him want to get out on his fixie again. I love it when people connect like that. Ku and I stopped by Cycle Path and chatted with Bill for a while.

On the way home I took a wrong turn and ended up riding around the University of Portland campus. Things look different at night when you're going in the opposite direction you usually go. It made me think about how easy it is going to be to get off course during RAAM.

I was also thinking about RAAM - and commuting in general - as I was descending Old Germantown Road. Even though there was some light in the sky, the road was VERY dark. My 3 watt bulb barely provided enough light. I'm thinking that some sort of high powered battery setup might be nice just for sketchy descents. Otherwise, I'll be going downhill at a snails pace just so I don't end up in a ditch.

One Hundred Eighty-Four

2006-10-03T00:33:00.000-07:00

Completed my biography for RAAM tonight...

Occupation: Software "Engineer", Greens Keeper, Wan-a-be Bicycle Components Assembly Specialist

Family Status: Married with Children (Our favorite TV show is Malcolm in the Middle.)

Name(s) of senior educational facilities attended: Purdue University

What originally attracted you to athletic endurance events? lack of speed

What inspired you to take on the momentous challenge of RAAM? qualifying

What sacrifices have you made to enable you to compete in RAAM? I'm sacrificing a chunk of change for two new hand built bicycles: a Vanilla and an Ira Ryan. You do what you gotta do.

Has your participation in RAAM made an impact on your local community, or another community? My participation in RAAM has motivated me to get involved with the Community Cycling Center.

What are conditions like for cyclists/cycling in your local community? The best! (But it's September. Ask me again in a few months.)

Do you have any statements to make to people in your local community? Embrace the bicycle as a mode of transportation. Explore and protect the environement. Pursue a healthy lifestyle. Be civically active. Seek excellence. And have fun!

Race History (recent events, participation, and results): http://www.sabertoothsalmon.com/adventures/index.html

Other sports (spectator or participant) of interest: triathlons, golf, backpacking, BB gun shooting, skiing

What is your personal most cherished athletic feat? Why? My most cherished athletic feat is recording the fastest solo split on the finishing climb at Race Across Oregon in 2006 - on a fixie. I even rode the last 5-6 miles faster than Saunders Whittlesey, an incredible rider who smashed the course record that year.

Considering all sports, what were the events or outcomes that most impacted your life in both negative and positive manners? Learning to swim more than a mile. DNFing at my first ultra (RAO). Finishing Race Across Oregon the next year.

Who, above all, is your greatest sporting inspiration? Why? Bruce Lee. Amazing athlete and philosopher. Made terrific movies. Often weighed less than I do. Bet he would have been great at 'cross.

What is the largest "life" obstacle you have overcome to compete in RAAM? qualifying

When you first heard of RAAM, did you ever think you would one day enter the race? What were your first thoughts after learning about RAAM? No. Impossible.

What preparation have you employed to prepare for RAAM (in general terms): reading, riding, blogging, eating, sleeping, negotiating

What is your ultimate athletic goal? riding my bike to a job I love for the next 30 years

Obstacle to reaching your ultimate athletic goal: getting hired by Chris King; the west hills

What intimidates you most about RAAM? lack of sleep, fatigue, lack of speed

What attracts you the most about RAAM? the challenge

What special talents do you posses outside of ultra marathon cycling? (i.e., concert pianist, stand-up comedian, artist, other extreme sports, expert chef, hostage negotiator, etc. anything is welcome): fixed gear cyclocross (my "talent" is a work in progress), USATF road running course certifier, greens keeper

Please list all languages that you speak: English, some Spanish, more Chinese, Korean (numbers 1-8)

Do you feel your ultra marathon abilities have peaked or do you feel that the best is yet to come? The best better be yet to come!

Favorite quote, famous or not, that fuels your ambition: "I'm gonna do RAAM."

What would you like most to express to the world? It's simple to be happy if you're happy to be simple.

One Hundred Eighty-Three

2006-10-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

Community Cycling Center

Volunteer orientations are on the first Tuesday of every month from 7-9:30 PM. (Tomorrow!) I'm excited!! I plan to ride from Hillsboro over the St. John's Bridge if you want to join me.

One Hundred Eighty-Two

2006-10-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Travis and John

Tom Jacobson emailed this picture to me along with a nice note. Here's my reply and his original message:

Hi Tom,

Yes, that's me! Thanks for sending me the picture!! If you haven't seen it yet, this webpage has links to all my Interbike pictures and postings:

www.sabertoothsalmon.com/adventures/2006/Interbike.html

I know what you mean about riding lots and getting burned out. That's sort of how I felt after 2005. It was good to take the winter off and do other things (like learning to ski) to recharge the batteries.

Last weekend I rode to Hood River and did my first cyclocross race. George and Terri came out to watch. That was neat! Tonight I put some 700x37 slicks on my Country Road Bob and went exploring off road. I rode about 15 miles on Lief Erickson Trail and a few more up a fire lane. I've run on that trail countless times, but this was the first time on a bike. It was tons of fun. I really believe that trying different things and finding ways to have fun on the bike is key to success at ultra-distance cycling. It's easy to get tired of all those miles on the road.

Are you thinking about RAO again next year? Any other big races on your schedule yet?

Great to hear from you!!

John

Tom Jacobson wrote:

Hi John,

I have been enjoying reading your blog. I was looking though some pictures at velonews.com, and wondered if that is you in this photo to the right of Travis Brown?

I scaled back my riding after RAO - was finding it hard to get motivated for a couple of months. I'm getting out more now and am trying a real training plan over the winter. I think it will pay off - in the past I have just "ridden lots".

Best of luck in all of your future adventures and I hope to see you at another event.

Tom Jacobson

My good friend and neighbor Matthew Rider noticed too:

Matthew Rider wrote:

VeloNews article on Interbike has a picture from MTB Hall of Fame introductions and who should be there but the Sabertooth Salmon.

Article:
http://velonews.com/tech/report/articles/10955.0.html

Direct link to picture:
http://images.velonews.com/images/report/10955.16591.t.jpg

I see that Leonard Zinn took the picture too. His book, Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, taught me a lot about wrenching my own bikes.

One Hundred Eighty-One

2006-09-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Working Media

That would be me.

One Hundred Eighty

2006-09-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

Autographs

Chris autographed my program from his introduction into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. Tinker signed a picture of himself taken during RAAM. And I bought a copy of Mike and The Bike for David and Lara, and got it signed by Grammy Award-winning guitarist, songwriter, and avid cyclist Michael Ward, illustrator Bob Thomson, and narrator Phil Liggat.

One Hundred Seventy-Nine

2006-09-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Cool People

Greg Schmidt, Service Manager at Phil Wood, totally made my day when I took his picture and he said, "Thanks. No one ever does that." I asked Greg about his job. Among other things, he assembles and services hubs. He says it's great being surrounded by all the components. I want a job like that. Seriously.

I also finally got to meet Brent. Anyone who's ever sent email to Phil Wood knows Brent. Now you can see what he looks like. Seems like an awesome guy. (Strong handshake!) We talked about the latest batch of bolts they made - at my request - to let me pull my Bob trailer behind my KISS-OFF fixed/fixed hub. Sheldon ordered ten of them. They made something like 100, so if you want some, give Sheldon or Brent a call and they'll probably be able to set you up.

One Hundred Seventy-Eight

2006-09-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

RAAM and the UMCA

To my extreme delight, Race Across America and the Ultramarathon Cycling Association had a booth at Interbike. On Wednesday, I got to chat with "Nubs" and saw Jonathan Boyer. Jon seemed intently focused. A couple of guys came over to the booth and I heard them talking about a "Bikes for Rwanda" program. It sounded important.

On Thursday, I almost didn't come back to the expo center. Boy, am I glad I did. I had the best conversation with Tinker Juarez, another member of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. We talked about various RAAM topics - riding without aero bars, hand problems, the day before the race - and Tinker's ambitions to do Race Across Oregon someday. Of course, I offered to help in any way I could, and he genuinely seemed interested in taking me up on the offer, possibly as a crew member.

I also had a great time talking with Fred Boethling and his son Rick. Rick gave me some camera tips and Fred and I discussed the merits and pleasures of riding fixed gear bicycles. Fred says he rides a different bike every day of the week. Sounds fun!

One Hundred Seventy-Seven

2006-09-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

Mountain Bike Hall of Fame

The main reason I decided to go to Intebike was to attend Chris King's introduction into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. That turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.

The fun began when Zap introduced Travis Brown. I was spell-bound by the stories and warmth that permeated the room. I felt somewhat ashamed of how little I know about the history of mountain biking. It quickly became apparent that I was in a room full of legends. Something like 25 members of the Hall of Fame were at the ceremony, including Gary Fisher - a name that even I recognized.

Zap told stories about a picture he took of Travis when he got 10th place in his first pro race in Durango; bad times at the World Cup in Mazatlan when Travis broke his leg and failed to get into the Olympics for the second time due to injury; how Travis was the great bike hope of America; the time Travis came crawling into a hotel room "spewing the whole way"; a great shot of Travis shaking Lance's hand; how his Mom Sandy and his dad were super-freak fans; and on and on. Zap emphasized the importance of family in Travis Brown's life, and he talked about how his own proudest moment also involved his mom and dad. "It always comes back to family", Zap said. He also stressed what a big proponent of cycling advocacy Travis is.

Travis talked about how is wife is a big part of the reason he could keep going throughout his career. He said it's ten times as sweet when you come back after being in the gutter. He recounted the story of his parents thinking he was crazy for becoming a professional mountain bike racer after graduating from school, and how they kept those thoughts to themselves while supporting their son. Travis said he is totally in love with mountain bikes. It's what he does on vacation. It's still what he loves. Travis talked about how mountain biking is a thought catalyst and a social catalyst. He recognized his wife's contributions to the sport as the new Executive Director of Trails 2000. And he acknowledged all the support he has received from his sponsors, including Trek.

During Robert (Bicycle Bob) Gregorio's introduction, "Jonny Butthead" told us about two things Bob would always say during a ride. He began every ride with, "Let's ride!" And if anyone ever suggested a shorter way back home, he would say, "Complete the loop." There were stories of Bob hitting a pothole at full speed, being pretty jacked up, and saying, "I can make it... It's not a good ride unless you're bleeding." We learned about how Bob got vintage single speed back into mountain bike racing, his wheel building expertise, and "Les System Bob" - the product of a competition with Michelin to build a better tubeless tire.

Bob apparently wasn't the best bike shop guy. He would soak chains in oil and wax and put them in corn husks on the roof, making them good for another six years, before selling someone a new chain. He stashed bikes in places all around town, and probably has 80-90 frames around Durango today. Bob drank with the boys and knew how to have fun. He also appreciated the finer things in life, like fitting a hot chick for a new frame or tuning her bike to a tee for, like, three bucks.

Bob said he felt the love that night of the bicycle family, and he paid respects to all the heroes in cycling who are never noticed or recognized. He spoke eloquently about how cycling stands as a fitting metaphore for life, both involving choices and consequences. He noted that obstacles once faced provide confidence, and he highlighted the health and physical fitness benefits of cycling. Bob said that cycling is a healthy addiction, and it is the core reason we are here. Bob told us about Thomas Stevens, his first cycling hero, who rode a 58 pound high wheeler across the country in 1884 and then went around the world on the bike. Bob described "The Fleeting Moment" that happens as we ride down a path, pick a line, our body in the present, our rear wheel barely in the past, and our front wheel leading the way to the future. Finally, Bob extended an invitation, saying that if you ever come to Durango to be sure to get hold of him. "Let's Ride!", he said.

As Scott introduced Chris King, we were reminded of his fabulous components, but even more impressive were the stories of Chris King's dedication to his employees, the community, and the environment. Eight years of "Trail Days" brought hundreds of volunteers together to build and maintain trails near where Chris King's company was based in California. I listened with envy to the description of the kitchen Chris built and the gourmet cook he had on staff for his employees. To encourage people to ride to work, subsidies were offered that doubled or quadrupled what the next most generous companies, such as Patagonia, were offering at the time. Today King employees get paid time off in exchange for riding to work. It's not uncommon to come to work and find a room full of commuter bikes and maybe one car in the parking lot.

Chris told a story about how in the late 70's, Gary Fischer came by his bike shop, which was the size of a two car garage. He had a rolled up drawing of a mountain bike frame Joe Breeze had created. Gary predicted that mountain bikes were going to be bigger than road bikes. Chris went on to explain that he never could have made a living selling components to the road bike scene. And that it was 1987 when he was finally able to start making a living selling to the mountain bike community. Chris talked about how he really misses the days when 100-150 people would come out to do trail work, and that he thinks they'll start doing it again in Portland. Chris said it was quite and honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and that it "really feels good."

Travis, Bob, and Chris each received trophies commemorating their introduction into the Hall of Fame.

One Hundred Seventy-Six

2006-09-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

Exhibits

There were so many exhibits at Interbike. I was only able to focus on a few. Mostly, I just walked around gawking at the displays. Exhibitors are there to make contact with distributors to sell more stuff. I didn't want to interfere with that mission. In fact, I genuinely wanted to help in some small way if I could. Compared to a lot of people who attend Interbike, I'm pretty green when it comes to knowing the cycling industry. But I have started to develop my own sense of personal taste, and I tried to take some pictures of and talk to people about products I admire as well as anything that looked like it might be of interest to the fixed-gear / single-speed community.

My camera is an el-cheap-o Cool Pix 3200, and I am not an experienced phtographer. Nevertheless, I managed to get a few decent shots of an Ant Bike (note the front fender); a single-speed high-wheeler; the Nitto booth (love their bars and stems); some Suzue hubs; two Pacific Northwest studs (wearing Cyclepath and LogiTel jerseys) representing iNSiDE RiDE, makers of the most technoligically advanced rollers I've ever seen; the famous Vanilla single-speed tricycle; Rohloff hubs (up close and inside); Peter White's SON hub generator and light display, Speedplay's Museum of Pedal History (as well as some close-ups of their new cleat design); a bunch of American Classic wheels; some Cane Creek SCR-5 brake levers (affordable alternative to those spendy carbon Campy Record levers); the Henry James exhibit; and lots of great Phil Wood stuff: grease, oil and bearings, hubs and cogs, a spoke machine, Brent, Greg, and Greg's new bike with a White Industries crankset and freewheel.

One Hundred Seventy-Five

2006-09-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Interbike

This was my first trip to Interbike. Interbike is to the cycling industry what the Smithsonian is to our Nation's heritage or what the Library of Congress is to books. Massive. Everyone (well, almost everyone) has an exhibit at Interbike. I was a little surprised that Chris King Precision Components and Paul Component Engineering, a couple of my favorite manufacturers, were not on the list of exhibitors.

One Hundred Seventy-Four

2006-09-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Las Vegas

Getting to Vegas was an adventure in itself. I wasted several hours Tuesday preparing color copies of various pages from my website. In the end, I only handed out one of the packets. The business cards worked much better. Everyone is so busy at Interbike. No one really wants a bunch of handouts from some pesky Working Media guy like me. Tuesday night I was busy making last minute hotel reservations and figuring out how I was going to get to the airport. I didn't go to bed until 2 AM Wednesday morning, and my flight left PDX a few hours later at 6:05 AM. This email thread explains one of my multiple transportation dilemmas:

John,

Thanks for the e-mail. I hope you ride tomorrow!

You can park your bike in an enclosed and covered bike parking area at PDX. While this area is not locked, it is in a visible area near the terminal and next to our employee bike parking area. You also have the option of using one of the ribbon racks near the MAX platform. These are adjacent to the building.

Feedback from the bikeportland.org site led us to leave the main public bike parking area open to all and without a locking mechanism. Most respondents felt this was secure for them because of it's location near the Terminal, Concourse E and the employee parking area.

If you choose to park there, it is on the opposite end of the lower roadway from the MAX platform (MAX is on the south end and the main bike parking area is on the north, underneath the ramp leading to the upper roadway)

Jason A. Gately
Senior Aviation Planner and Project Manager
Port of Portland
7000 NE Airport Way
Portland, OR 97218

From: John Spurgeon
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 12:30 AM
To: Gately, Jason
Subject: Airport Bike Parking

Jason,

I got your email address from http://bikeportland.org/2005/12/13/airport-bike-parking-for-employees-only. I would love to be able to park my bicycle in a secure location at the airport. I live in Hillsboro and my flight for Las Vegas (to attend Interbike) leaves at 6:05 AM tomorrow. The earliest MAX train from the closest station to my house (Quatama) gets me to the airport by 5:41 AM. If I ride my bike to the Beaverton Transit Center, I can catch a Red line train that gets me to the airport by 5:26 AM. If I knew there was secure bike parking at the airport, I would ride to Beaverton, take my bike on the train, and park at the airport.

John Spurgeon

I won't bore you with all the details, but here's some advice if you're ever at the Las Vegas airport looking for a cab ride to the Strip: bring cash. I had $5. A cab costs $5.50. I ended up spending $30 on a limo. I probably should have begged someone for the 50 cents.

On the bright side, my flights on United and Ted were all on time; I had plenty of space in "Economy Plus" (or whatever they call it); my seats were all at the front of the plane; and the service was great. The pilots on one of the flights were a former B52 pilot and a Navy pilot. That was cool.

One Hundred Seventy-Three

2006-09-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Just sent this email to Andy Wergedal in response to some questions about my Albatross bars. (Check out this web page too.)

Hi Andy,

Sorry for the delay. I rode to Hood River and did my first cyclocross race yesterday on the fixie with the Albatross bars. That was FUN! I was pretty spent by the time I got home. And today I've been working on some designs for a t-shirt and getting ready for my trip to Interbike. (Yeah!)

What's your longest ride on a fixed gear? Do you still ride geared bikes too? What about non-fixed single speed? How far are you thinking about riding? I'm working on my first article for Ultra Cycling magazine about how riding a fixed gear some of the time can improve performance on a conventional bike. If you have any thoughts on the matter, I'd love to hear them.

About the Albatross bars...

> Do you find that you sit more upright with them, is that a problem or a benefit?

You can certainly sit more upright when your hands are on the ends of the bars. I put cork grips on mine and I like them a lot. For me, sitting upright is nice when you are going down hill. If it's a steep, long hill, the upright position feels more comfortable to me and helps you catch some wind so you don't have to brake so much. Also, I don't like to have a lot of my weight on my hands when I'm descending on a fixie. Sitting upright is great when I'm commuting, because it's easier for people to see me (I think) and I can take in the scenery better that way. For really long rides, however, drops are probably the way to go. I think you could do 500 miles on the Albratross bars OK, but you might not go as fast as you would go in drops. I'm planning to use drops on both my single speed bikes for RAAM next year.

> Why did you change to those bars? I read about your wrist hurting after RAO was there another reason?

I've had two pair of Nitto Albatross bars in the garage for a while (both sizes from Rivendell). I wanted to experiment with them, because I had heard how much some people like them. I'm still thinking about putting them on a custom single-speed tandem that I want Tom Kellogg to build for me. I did take the riser bars off the bike because my fingers were going numb (my wrists were OK, actually). The Albatross bars seem to be working better for me than the riser bars did.

> Why Orange tape?

I think the orange goes nice with the Country Road Bob. It came with orange tape on drop bars originally. Also (in case this wasn't obvious) I often ride with my hands on the tape instead of on the cork grips. It's always nice to have multiple hand positions on long rides, and the Albatross bars give you several. You can even put bar ends on the bars - sort of like aero bars - and then you have even more positions and more room to stretch out.

Tailwinds!
John

Andy Wergedal wrote:

John,I have read about you in the 508 and other things. I have been riding fixed gear bikes for a few years and am interested in longer races.I am interested in your new albatross bars on your bike and I have a few questions...

Thanks in advance,
Andy Wergedal
Rocklin Ca.

One Hundred Seventy-Two

2006-09-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

My application for a media pass to Interbike was approved today!

I intend to report on all things single-speed (including fixies, of course), RAAM and Ultra Cycling (they have a booth), and Chris King's introduction into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. I gave my word that I would NOT solicit for sponsorship or abuse my pass for personal gain in any way. (In case you were wondering.)

My plane arrives in Las Vegas the morning of the 27th and I depart in the afternoon on the 28th. To save a few bucks, I didn't book a hotel room. I figure there will be plenty to see and do all night. (???)

If you want me to take pictures of anything or talk to anyone in particular, let me know: john at sabertoothsalmon dot com.

One Hundred Seventy-One

2006-09-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

I added a new cause to my website today: the Community Cycling Center. I ran across a link to their website as I was browsing websites for local bike shops and daydreaming about being a mechanic. It looks like a super organization. I plan to attend the next volunteer orientation. Hopefully there will be some opportunities to get the kids involved too. It looks like a great place to donate some nice bike parts that I'm not using and maybe pick up a decent used bike or two for David and Lara as they get older.

One Hundred Seventy

2006-09-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Wednesday I attended my first cyclocross clinic on the Bob fixie with a rack and bag (that was interesting!) I couldn't believe how many people showed up. I got there (Alpenrose) early and went for a spin around the track a few times. It was a thrilling evening, let me tell you! Next time I'll bring the camera.

One Hundred Sixty-Nine

2006-09-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Discretion is a virtue.

One Hundred Sixty-Eight

2006-09-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

I finished my Downshifting essay today. Check it out.

(Then I updated it. Now it's a work in progress again.)

One Hundred Sixty-Seven

2006-09-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

ROF SAG Station

A few hours ago we arrived home from Maupin, the host town of this year's Ring of Fire 12 and 24 hour time trial races. If you weren't there, you missed out on one incredible ultra. The course was epic. The weather was made to order. The competition was phenomenal.

I rode basically the same bike I rode at Race Across Oregon - at least the gearing was the same: 44x17. I used 56 cm Nitto Albatross bars instead of the riser bars that made my hands numb at RAO. The bike only had one brake (a Paul V brake) and one headlight this time. (Unfortunately, my wiring was a little sloppy and I had some problems with the connectors coming loose from the taillight at night.) For tires, I used a comfy 35 rear tire, a 28 front, and thorn resistant tubes. The Van Dessel could have supported someone twice my weight with ease.

I'm happy with my "race". My mileage was composed of the day course plus three night loops and some change. Nothing to brag about, but I really wasn't trying to ride as far as I could. Since this was my first long ride since RAO, I wasn't sure how far I could go. My objectives were to get in a good training ride, test out the Albatross bars, see how Ensure works for me, and minimize my time off the bike. Three out of four isn't bad.

The first thing that lured me off the bike was the scenery. I couldn't resist stopping to take and pose for pictures. Otherwise, I did a pretty good job staying in the saddle during the day. But by the second lap of the night loop I was getting very sleepy and a little fatigued. It was tough deciding whether to push through or to give in to the temptation to stop. On the one hand, stopping seemed like such a cop out, especially given my aspirations for RAAM. But on the other hand, it was hard to see the point of risking injury or impacting my ability and desire to stick to my training schedule. I ended up taking a 2 1/2 hour nap after the second lap. Maybe I should have tried to keep riding. Maybe I did the smart thing. Who knows? In any event, I came away with a renewed appreciation for the need to ride fast and manage time off the bike.

One of the best things about this year's ROF were the people. I made a point to learn a few more names (seems almost everyone knows mine) and get to know my fellow riders a little better. Bill Nicolai greeted me at the start. My wife and frequent crew chief, Julia, snapped a good picture of Bill passing me as I was changing glasses. After the race Bill gave us a copy of his awesome RAO race report, pictures included. Near Little John Snow Park I started playing leap frog with Jan Acuff. Later, Julia helped Jan out with water as she struggled on the big climb up 197. I complimented Jan on her beautiful pink Trek. On the way toward Dufur, Tyler Tabor and I rode together for quite a while. Tyler doesn't like to descend, so he made the perfect partner for a guy on a fixie. However, he's quite a climber. As Tyler was disappearing up 197, John Climaldi caught me on his bent. John turned down the offer of an ice cream bar from his crew, so I got it instead. (Thanks, John!) I learned that John is good friends with Robert Johnson of TerraCycle. (Robert always gives me a warm welcome whenever he sees me visiting Sacha at the shop.) Another John - John Henry Maurice - kept me company on the long climb up to the Bake Oven Summit. John and I both work with computers (he works at PCC), so we talked some shop. At the turn-around George pretended to be a cone for us. Then we all had a brief party before getting back to business. After the race, we enjoyed breakfast with Glenn Johnson and his friend. Glenn had great animal stories to tell. One involved a close encounter with a raccoon (or perhaps a porcupine) that could haul ass. Just before we left, I got to talk with Kenneth for a while. I enjoyed our conversation very much. We would have talked longer, but Lara kept informing my that it was time to go and everyone was waiting. Of course, there were many other old and new faces: Ben Larson was there, I saw the perfect way to mount a headlight on Urs Koenig's bike, Chis Hopkinson was pretty in pink (pretty damn fast!), etc. And George gave me my first pair of ski goggles!!

On the way home we stopped at a park in The Dalles and at Multnomah Falls.

Thank you George and Terri for a wonderful weekend!!

One Hundred Sixty-Six

2006-09-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I

Matthew (R) rode with me during one of my few long rides leading up to Race Across Oregon this year. Here we are climbing Mt. Hood near the end of the ride.

Thanks again to the AthletesLounge for giving Matthew a new helmet! (See previous post.)

Be safe.

One Hundred Sixy-Five

2006-09-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

My good friend, neighbor, and RAO crew member, Matthew Rider, was hit by a car last evening while riding on Germantown road near the intersection of 185th. The sunset might have affected a driver's vision.

Matthew went to the hospital and was released a few hours later. He was banged up, but didn't seem to be hurt too seriously when I spoke with him last night. His bike is toast, and his cyclocross season may be too.

A few days ago, I was about to ride to work without my helmet. Matthew saw me and reminded me to put my "lid" on.

Matthew helped organize the OBRA Woodland Road Race. I was very excited when he got to park the OBRA truck in front of his house a few weeks ago.

Get well soon, Matthew!

One Hundred Sixty-Four

2006-09-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

BEAutiful

A few hours later - after sending Julia to the store for a new tube of super glue - the problem was solved, and I was finally able to relocate the start and finish lines for the Pints to Pasta 10K. (A car ran over my tape measure and put some nasty kinks in it just as I was finishing.)

One thing that went right this weekend was the new cable routing I created for my front brake. I really like it. In the back, the brake and cable were so gummed up with sports drink, that I decided to forget about a rear brake all together. I also removed the bottle generator, even though I love the mount that David Levy made for it.

By the way, Friday was my last day at the Reserve. I took some pictures and updated a page on the website.

One Hundred Sixty-Three

2006-09-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

Jones counter - apart

And here's what it looked like 15 seconds later. As I was about to hang the bike up on a hook, the train started moving, my whole body lurched forward, and the Jones counter caught on something. The counter part snapped off the drive shaft. Wonderful.

One Hundred Sixty-Two

2006-09-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

Jones counter - together

Sunday was a wash with respect to Pints. I met Lee at 1:30 and gave him Sacha's 18 tooth Chris King cog. Then we searched high and low for cork grips. Of course, most bike stores were closed today and yesterday. And the ones that were open don't carry the kind of cork I was looking for.

When we got home I did something productive - I forget what, but I know I did something. So Monday rolls around and I'm all prepared to get the job done for Paula. To save some time, I decide to ride the MAX down town. Above is what the Jones counter looked like when I got on the train.