in my...

attempt to provide more 'knowledge' to those who i'm trying to 'wrangle' into cross; you need to check out this link about being a 'new-be' to cross for some pointers. after watching these; the sad thing is, and the reaffirming thing is, i do have o.k. skill; i just need to be faster.

next race is on sunday; check it out.

the best time to get into cross is while the weather is good, because when it gets too cold/muddy/icey, you're not going to want to come out into the real cross weather.

amitabha...

first cross race...

end...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear

for thousand eight is in the books.

upon initial inspection of the course, technical. not much room for mistakes. the b group (as we later found out) had fifty riders. yeah, fifty. ben was in front of me by a couple of guys, we all just jammed in together. about a hundred yard sprint, to start. i was on the inside, and a couple of guys jammed in and started kicking up the cones to denote the course. thanks.

a couple of 's' turns later and up the first climb, i noticed guys dropping back (there were a lot of flats, i may have to start brining extra wheels). i caught a couple of guys up the first hill, and around to the technical 'hill'. the course took us onto the side of some hills, always tricky. up the side, and into a one eighty dirt turn. a lot of guys had trouble here. i held it pretty well. down the dirty and dusty side and around onto a gravel road [ninety degree turn into gravel; good times (hug the grass and keep going)], around a field, onto a road (some guys had problems here, i just lifted and went) that took us out to an old light house, round-a-bout, and back, either run or ride up the dusty hill (i choose run, and again where i caught people), into some more 's' turns out onto the beach (some muscled it, i ran it; again catching people), over some barriers, more 's' turns, over gravel, and back to the start/finish.

played cat and mouse with one guy on an ibis, but then i lost him. last lap...i noticed i was alone. no way of catching the guy in front of me, and if i held on, no one was going to catch me...i was wrong. on the round-a-bout one of the women caught me, and then we bounced on and off of one another till after the beach. and at the beach another guy (we'll call him fifty-three eleven; because that's what his jersey said). i knew i could pass him again. the barriers came, and i was going to try there, because i was so good on the runs; but he was too big to get around. just massive. caught up to him on the 's' turns to the finish. i was going to take him on the inside, but he hugged it too much, and i didn't think i had a shot on the outside...i was wrong. mashed to the outside, i heard ben yell, and i went for it, sprint finish, and i got him. i was so freaking happy.

final results...out of fifty; twenty-sixth and ben was fifth. man can he ride.

it pisses me off...i'm good on the technical stuff, but i lack speed. something to work on.

looking forward to painsville next week. hope to see you there.

amitabha...

think you...

know your favorite trail?  every nuance?  every turn?  think again...

because of my messed up schedule, and recent lack of riding, and cross season is here (first race this sunday); i have had to resort to some unusual riding.  night riding.

no worries; right?  just put on a twenty to thirty dollar light, and have fun.  wrong.

how good are these lights?  not real good when you ride on paths (metro or tow) that are pitch black.  so enter the more expensive lighting systems.  for me, my hope and nightrider.  one on the bars.  one on the head.  one for where i am.  one for where i am going.  (i know theres some deeper philosophical meaning there, somewhere; but that's for another day)  now lets have some fun.

hit the road last night.  now you have to be careful; you don't want to blind drivers.  so i keep it low key on the road.  just one light, flashing.  as i got down to the tow path, and away from traffic, both lights; solid beams.  headed down the path to the metropark mtn trail (hell, i don't even know if this is legal.  i suppose i ought to check that out).  through the entrance the shadows play tricks on you.  how close something is.  how deep is that groove.  how quick something comes up on you.  needless to say the rabbits jumping around.  i see a lot of them.  the small insects and arachnids that litter the ground.  hell, i think i built up some bad karma.  how the rocks sit in the trail.  how the roots are.  it plays with you.  the turns.  the blind turns.  the flow of the trail.  everything just 'comes up on you' pretty quick.

during the day you are able to look ahead a little bit.  to see where you are going, and how you are getting there.  at night, you are only as good as your light.  side-note:  i loved the way the shadows played off of the trees while i was riding.  side-note aside; i tended to forget where on the trail i was.  i kind of had an idea, but where and how soon the next turn was...no.  i tended to forget, because i was concentrating so much on where i was at that moment.  the initial climb seemed to be shorter than it feels during the day.

another thing to take into consideration...the cars are not aware of you.  more so at night.  be aware.  be safe.

so...anyone up for a night mtn bike ride?

amitabha...

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waiting for this video...

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enough said...

in moots i trust...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear

i'll admitt it...

i'm not a smart guy, or at least a hip guy. a student admitted to me yesterday that i am more geek than she initially thought [she was in one of my other classes, and i get to know my students pretty well when that happens (at least better than if i only had them in one class)].

so pardon the scratching of the head when i read and see this...now it's not the jones bar that i take issue with; rather it's the comment about no top cap. is he serious? so i mosey on over (yes, you can mosey on the internet) to his flickr to the page of the picture, and it is labeled "faith fork". a quick search on yahoo brings up nothing.

so my quandary deepens (how about that for a metaphor?) the top cap 'brings everything together'; headset, fork, stem...so how are you able to go without one?

i'm confused...

amitabha...

and new for...

zero nine:

giant has their next years models up on their site now. gone are the ocr's, and now we have the defy series of bikes. different set up from last year (thanks to this whole re-vamping of their line thing) i built up one last week, it doesn't look bad; but i am interested in how it rides. the one i built was a little too big to take for a spin. as stated before giant has four new fixed bikes this year.

and kona has had their new line-up up for awhile now.

nothing new on the felt site yet...

just an update...

amitabha...

just a couple...

trek after night ride...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear

product notes.

first the lezyne l-caddy seat bag. we got some of these at the shop. the l-caddy is lezyne's bigger version. it's big enough to hold everything you need in a saddle bag. however the big plus is that everything is kept separate from everything else. there are two 'compartments' to the bag. the upper portion holds a couple of tubes (mtn or road), tire levers, patch kit, and a place for money/credit card. the lower half holds a multi-tool, and a pump. now the advantage to this bad is that everything has a 'place', everything is kept separate from everything else. there are little compartments and sleeves for the appropriate thing.

why is this an advantage? as tools and such are able to rub against the tube or tubes in the bag, then you compromise the integrity of the tube; which would lead to possible other problems with the tube when you need it.

the bag fits under the saddle rather well (it's been used on the vw and the slider). it's not bulky, but it is 'long'.

i also picked up a new light...the hope vison two led. great light. i was planning on using it today at a twelve hour race, but other circumstances took precedence; however i did go out on a night ride the other night and was really impressed with it. it has a wide beam. three different beam strengths, and a flashing mode. i kept it in flashing mode while i was on the road, low beam on the tow path, and bright when i was riding off road at the tow path/metro-park trail (i'm not sure what they're calling it); i would have done more except i didn't have a head light for going around corners.

as you may (or may not) know the hopes are made in england, and they demand strong stuff...therefore this light is strong and stable. a good investment if you're looking for an awesome 'to see' headlight (this is different than the 'to be seen' headlights). it does come with a price though...the price. it's expensive, but if you plan on doing night rides where there are no lights (i.e. mtn or other paths) it is well worth it.

well, i'm going to see if i am able to get out on this rainy weekend for a spin. enjoy...

amitabha...

new for zero nine...

bowery seventy-two...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear

is giant's bowery seventy-two. their retro fixed/singlespeed with flip-flop hub. leather saddle. double strap pedals. old school style stem, and handlebars. seventies style bar tape (only half wrapped). gold chain.

nice bike.

quick handling. great feel.

it's at the shop, and ready for a ride. check it out if you get a chance.

amitabha...

i am not...

surprised. and i really don't care.

here is the story if you want to give it a read.

at a time where ever other freaking athlete retires, and then comes back...insert name here.

and as i've stated before...lance isn't a great cyclist. he's a great tour rider, maybe the best. but what else has he done? the only thing that he has ever trained for has been the tour...if it's the hardest, why not prove that you are the best ever, and go out and win the other grand tours? compete in other races. go out and beat the field.

my wife said that he wants to bring more awareness to cancer. my retort was that if he didn't have cancer no one outside of the cycling world would know who he is. and that's true. in america people enjoy that comeback story. a beat the odds type of thing. if he didn't have cancer, and still won the tours, he'd just appear on a late show somewhere, and be done.

not to sound too much like a prick...but i hope he does do great things for cancer. but i still remain un-impressed with the rest.

amitabha...

september sixth...

early morning fog...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear

two thousand eight. four hours. six minutes. thirty point four miles.

the mohican ride: the four of us met at the trail head at about nine am. headed out from there. the morning was a little cool, so we all started with some sort of shell/warmers, but after the first climb...we started shedding.

the mix of fog, and morning light presented some wonderful scenery. the trail was just a little tacky...you know the not-dry/not-wet feeling. the grip of the trail was wonderful. everyone was riding great. ben stayed up ahead (like the hammer that he is), followed by a mix of ken, jon, and myself.

as the morning went on, so did the heat and humidity. no major issues. always a plus. one spill from jon, and one from me. at mile nineteen there's a bridge crossing followed by some rocks. well in my excitement i forgot that rubber and wet wood really don't mix that well, and down i went. big bruise on right knee, and some messed up fingers later.

and never say to jon or ken that this is the last hill. never. because if it isn't...you'll never hear the end of it till the end of the ride. so be sure.

after the twenty-four miler, ben and i hit the wilderness for a loop. as we pulled up and got ready we saw an ambulance pull up. not a good thing. from what we gathered...some kids were doing the downhill, and one messed up a jumped and broken his collar bone. other than that he seemed to be o.k.

the trail seemed to be a little messed up as far as the direction was going. we missed the 'rock garden', and the bridge leading up to the second half of the loop was gone, and the 'last part' of the loop was taped off (which i thought we could ride after labor day), so we just finished up and took off.

good times...

amitabha...