I should be sleeping but I had to post my weekend plans before I drive away at 3 AM.
Drive 3h 37m using highways 405, 5, 14, 395.
Arrive in Lone Pine at Eastern Sierra InterAgency Visitor Center to pickup Wilderness Permits at 7 AM at junction of highways US 395 & SR136 (1 mile south Lone Pine). Head to pancake breakfast in Lone Pine.
Drive backdown 395 to Olancha (21 miles), head west into the Sierra’s towards Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead. Begin hike 9 AM, Friday morning.
First night, South Fork Lakes.
Second night, Cottonwood Lakes.
Hike out on Sunday morning to Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead.
(Photo courtesy of KEN STEINHARDT at The Orange County Register)
A long time ago in a far away place I went to Journalism school. So now when I read headlines about boring newspapers cutting staff I get nostalgic. And then this morning I found this great article by Katherine Nguyen in the Orange County Register - that sadly doesn’t include our favorite bike shop - Rock N’ Road Cyclery, with four convenient locations in Orange County. Putting that aside this article discusses how people are picking the bike back up with the rise of gas prices. Click here to check it out.
The latest Competitors Radio Show is up on their iTunes podcast and Web site. The topic: Johan Bruyneel. As you all know he was the team director and mastermind behind Lance Armstrong’s seven consecutive Tour de France titles.
Product for Review:
Pivot, Mach 4
Size: Medium
Geometry: (100MM Fork)
Seat tube: 18.5″
Top Tube (effective): 23.25″
Head Tube: 4.5″
Head Angle: 70.8
Seat Tube Angle: 73
Chainstay: 16.75″
Bottom Bracket Height: 12.8
Stand Over Height: 29.5 Product Strengths: Aesthetically (Its Looks): Amazing and the anodized finish is great on a mountain bike so one does not have to worry about paint chipping and little nicks that are always happening. Rear suspension design- This bike has the stiffest rear suspension that I have felt in a four inch travel bike. I loved Chris Cocalis’ original creations, the Titus Racer-X and Moto Lite, but this bike is on a new level in comparison. This beefy rear suspension system allows a rider to really rail the bike in corners and ride much more aggressively than one would normally do on a four inch bike.
The rear suspension system used also allows the bike to stretch out/grip or grab the ground better from its dual pivot controls. This was the one of the best features that was noticed in comparison to the Titus, Racer-X. One can really climb and descend on this machine. Direct Mount Front Deraileur- The Front derailleur mount used for this bike is also a plus as it creates one of the fastest and definitely the strongest shifting experiences on a mountain bike. The mount allows the derailleur a lot of backbone so that it gets its maximum potential because of the stiffness provided from the frame. Integrated Bottom Bracket- The bottom bracket is stiff. It allows the bike to put out the most power possible with each pedal stroke and again help provide a nice solid base to the frame when turning and pushing down on the outward pedal.
Product Weaknesses: Weight- If you are a weight weenie sorry but it’s on the heavy side. If the bike is being built for racing one might get frustrated with a bike that is 23-24lbs. This is about the average wight of our builds composed of Shimano XTR and Sram XO components, Stan’s No Tubes Wheelsets, and a lot of other expensive carbon/weight weenie junk.
However, if you think about the frame and how it comes with a front derailer, bottom bracket cups, and headset 6.14 lbs is not too heavy. Similar Products Used:
Titus Racer-x (4″ travel)
Titus Motolite (5″ travel)
Pivot Mach 5 (5″ travel)
Pivot Mach 429
The Bottom Line:
The bike rips! It’s a 4inch bike on steroids… It can be ridden like a trail bike with its slack angles and fantastic suspension system.
American Mountain Classic Announces “Gas Relief” Entry Fee Incentive Program
Press Release
July 29, 2008:
Sho-Air Internationalis pleased to announce a “Go-Green” entry fee incentive/relief program for all
competitors in the American Mountain Classic Stage Race in Brian Head, UT set to run August 21-24.
In light of the recent escalating prices at the gas pump and the slowing economy, event title sponsor Sho- Air International is extending a rebate incentive program to all currently registered riders, plus any new rider who sign up for the event.
“Its no secret that prices at the pump and the sluggish economy makes traveling to the races more taxing on the wallet these days” reflects Sho-Air’s marketing director Ty Kady. “As a result of early entry’s exceeding expectations for an inaugural event, we want to give back to the person who wanted to race in America’s most prestigious MTB Stage Race, but was feeling the pinch in their pocket book. We hope that the $50 rebate can be spent towards gas or some other event related costs. We are also encouraging people to car pool with a friend, hence why we created a “buddy” rebate program for new registrants that sign up with a friend. Remember to Go-Green when ever possible!”
Effective July 29 through August 19th all currently registered athletes that get a new registrant to sign up for the American Mountain Classic will receive $50 refund on their entry fee, along with the new rider. Additionally any new rider who signs themselves and a friend up, who are not currently registered for the event, will each receive a $50 rebate off each their entry after proof of purchase.
Upon completing registration, all registrants who qualify should contact Ty Kady with their entry receipt
for a rebate access code. Ty can be reached at Ty@shoair.com or 800-227-9111.
If you happened to pass the Portola Arby’s this morning then surely you would have heard two grown men laughing - all the way up the canyon. At six we dropped into the sand pit called Whiting Ranch and took two laps away from those who were still sleeping. Andy is getting my race tactics in shape for the Tinley Mountain Bike Tri.
I followed him through one lap of the newly minted racetrack and then he called me past him giving me ten yards. He caught me time and time again. But, I rode with reckless abandon. Now you see why we need to wake up so early. We would have bummed out the running crew. And quite frankly with all the mountain lion signs - they have more courage then I do - so we give ourselves a head start.
After two hours we headed over to Tully’s for some quality wakeup drinks. We covered Tour race tactics, OutsideAllDay, and I even got some coaching tips. Andy was in great form today - even at the coffee shop. The 100% compostable coffee cups are sweet.
This Sunday, July 27 on the island of Molokai ocean paddlers will embark for Oahu. This 32-mile rough water race across the Kaiwi Channel that separates the Hawaiian islands of Molokai and Oahu, from Kaluakoi to Koko Head, is one of the top two paddling events in the world. This year will be the 12th Annual running of the QuiksilverEdition Molokai to Oahu Paddle Board Race.
The update that follows outlines how three of my friends are prepping for one of the most grueling races held in the ocean. It is written by Body Glove wetsuit staffer and South Bay ripper Matt Walls (photo courtesy of Body Glove).
Just wanted to drop a line from the Donkey House (our local South Bay, paddleboard crew) here in Hawaii Kai. We have been here for a few days now and are having a blast. Kyle and my trip started out great by volunteering to get bumped off our first two flights to Hawaii and we received $1400.00 each in travel vouchers and upgraded to first class on our third flight. Good times.
Our house is beautiful. It is right on the water in a lagoon right behind the finish line. We have a dock on the back of the house and the finish line is about a few hundred yard paddle away. We did a finish line paddle two days ago. We got dropped off at sandy beach and paddle to the finish line. It is about 5 miles. The first few miles were so rough that it was really hard to even stay on your board. We learned a new paddle boarding term on that paddle,” alligator wrestling”. The next part felt a little better because the waves were only coming at you from 3 sides. After that it started to clean up. We paddled yesterday for a little while and caught some waves. It has been really windy and rainy but we have managed to have fun. We watch the Tour de France a few times a day, Roebee goes to Starbucks about every other hour and then we watch all of Kyles motivation movies that he brought. Today we are watching a documentary on Bruce Lee. Yesterday’s motivational movie was “Road to Paris” a documentary on Lance Armstrong’s battle to winning the Tour De France.
Kyle Daniels in training - courtesy of BarkOcean.com
We checked into the race last night and picked up our race numbers and jerseys. We will do our last paddle today, a three mile down wind run. The paddlers over here have been super helpful in showing us their routes and giving us tons of helpful hints to help us out during the race. The forecast for the race is supposed to be really good. Really windy with some pretty good sized waves. Hopefully it is fast.
Tomorrow we fly over to Molokai.
Many thanks to Matt Walls for providing the update.
A few months ago it became clear that we would be near the tour during our trip to Europe. We are back now and here is what it was like to see the end of stage 8 of the Tour de France 2008, in the pouring rain. First off, on July 11, the night before we wisely figured out that it would be hard to get a taxi from where we were staying in Cassis, France to its train station a short 5 km away. At 5 in the morning - no one in France is awake.
Now it was only 5 km from our hotel but it was all uphill and with our bags - walking was not going to happen. So we found a cab driver the night before and he gave us number for a cab driver for the next morning. When we rang him in the morning - he was a bit surprised, we understood that even with the language difference. But considering that it was free to get into town from the train station and he charged us 15 euros - well, he won. So we arrive at the train station in Cassis at 6 AM, wait 20 minutes, train for 30 minutes to Marseille, wait two hours, train for four hours to Toulouse. We arrive after 1 PM and it’s pouring. Luckily the hotel was across the street.
We quickly change into our warmest clothes and walk the 9 blocks to where the stage is going to end. We are getting near soaked and it is 2:45 PM. I grab my wife a Tour poncho and we wait - for the Grand Caravan (the sponsors cars and parade).
It is raining so hard the cars race by with little fanfare and few freebies.
We push ourselves as close as we can get. The north side of the street is fenced off. VIP this, VIP that. On the south side of the street you can get right up on the gate, but once you get to the finish line, you are stopped by a grand stand for sponsors. The below picture shows a VIP area across from where we stood.
At 5:05 the race came by at full speed. We were about 60 yards from the finish so they came by so fast that one picture was all I got.
It was awesome. The last rider crossed over at 5:29 and we shuffled over to the stage where they present the jerseys. Congrats to Mark Cavendish.
We had been traveling and in the rain all day and were toast but luckily we got an amazing meal at Restaurant L’Entrecôte, Toulouse which is a steak house. It was filled with locals - always a good sign.
Looks like the pressure to dope transcends more sports than cycling.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — American swimmers depart Friday for the Beijing Olympics but whether or not Jessica Hardy will be among them remains to be seen. The 21-year-old swimmer reportedly tested positive for a banned substance at the US Olympic trials that concluded July 6 and could face a ban that would keep her from making her Olympic debut next month at Beijing. Swimming World magazine reported that Hardy, who was set to swim the 100-meter breaststroke and 50m freestyle plus help on relays, had tested positive and was no longer at the US training camp. NBC television’s Olympic website reported that both “A” and “B” samples from Hardy tested positive for what was believed to be a stimulant and that hearing procedures had already started to decide Hardy’s Olympic status.
On August 5, 2008, uber ultra-runner Karl Meltzer set off on the biggest race of his life. His challenge: to run the entire length of the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail in less than 47 days. Definitely daunting. Absolutely grueling. Probably insane. But when he does it, he’ll rule the AT as the guy who conquered it, all of it, the fastest on two feet. This is going to be Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Clock – and it’s going to be good.
I am no detective, but figuring out this last one did require a bit of tenacity. I was joyfully plodding through my latest VeloNews when I came across an ad for Origin-8. The ad displayed a beautiful urban three-speed bike called the “Cykel 3-Spd”. I love urban bikes. Especially ones in the Belgian fashion. If I had a commute I would grab one of these. But since I work from home I will stay with shoes.
I jumped on the laptop and typed in www.origin-8.com. Nothing on the site has anything about the bike. Crazy. It has images of beautiful frames for everything but the urban dweller. Now I was engaged.
Off to google typing in, “Cykel 3-spd origin 8”. One item from a terrific blog I have visited in the past: BikesForTheRestOfUs. Bingo. But they call it the “Cyckel”. Looks like Sun Bicycles makes it. Special thanks to Fritz at CommuteByBike for the final leg of info and image.
Here are the 2008 specs:
Frame: Lugged steel (52, 54, 56)
Fork: Lugged steel
Brakes: Chang Start Alloy Lever w/ resin body
Handlebar: Classic Alloy Scorcher bar
Saddle: Classic with coil springs & brass rivets
Shifter: SRAM T-3
Hub (rear): SRAM T-3 internal gear hub, 36H
Rims: Weinmann ZAC-19 Alloy rim, 700C x 36H
Tires: Kenda K-198 Eurotour 700 x 35C
I snuck away from office email tonight and rode south on the strand away from here. Every month, or so, I use this course as my fitness test. Close to the turn around point with fitness test results on my mind I rode across the base of a local pier – passing signs and flashing lights reducing riders to walkers for safety reasons. As I approached the center of the no cycling zone I spied a local Policeman. He promptly waved me to a stop. I was caught in cycling shorts.
He asked if I had seen the signs – only later to mention that I had passed 16 of them. He was quite firm but also right. He asked for my information and I complied. One problem, I did not have ID – I never carry ID. I will now, as I learned from Mr. Policeman, if I had a driver’s license with an old address and gave him my new address – he would have no choice but to arrest me for the discrepancy – which is potentially a lie. Keying his mike he confirmed all my information to be true. One final time he told me how unwise it was to ride through that zone, there’s lots of foot traffic, and in response I told him that as a local lifeguard I couldn’t agree anymore. I was totally wrong. And then he got excited. “Who are you a guard with?” he asked. I replied, “The County”. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” “Because I was totally wrong and I am not looking for a favor.” “Well you should have told me, you were about to get a ticket for $126.” Sputtering I said, “OK and thank you”.
With that I was free. But not before he said, “Tell your cycling community not to ride in the walking zone.” Done. I walked quickly through the zone and rode even harder. I didn’t have a cycling light and the sun was quickly setting. I couldn’t afford another run-in. Before I reached home I stopped at all four stop signs and one red light.
Felipe sent over my ALL cycling, 15 hours a week custom training plan tonight. Recently, Breakaway Training has been working to get me back on track with a pure focus on cycling, no running or dreaded swimming, all bike riding all the time. Receiving the plan is like getting a shot of EPO in my arm, I’m freakin pumped to ride my bike! The entire 6 week plan is already in my Entourage calendar and synced to my phone. I know I’m a crappy age grouper but there’s something about having a professional coach helping you spend your 15 hours a week a little more wisely that exciting. Time is valuable and I want to spend it as strategically as I can to get maximum results.
Felipe’s goal is to have me ready to go by Cyclocross season. The plan is a nice combo of different heart rates zone focuses, road vs. mountain and the time spent in the gym lifting and stretching. I love how perfectly it fits my life. If you’re interested in a plan like mine please take a look at what Breakaway Training has to offer. They have a team of coaches that specialize in all different areas of sport to help you reach your fitness goals.
She kind of looks like Sheek. I can 100% visualize Dave sitting in front of his house with Dean and Eric working on these stunts and the 3 of them being super competitive about who was the best.
Greetings readers! When I left you last the wife and I were perched at the foot of what can only be described as a hellish staircase carved into the side of Apu Salkantay, just a few hundred yards from the pass. To this point in our journey we’d mostly escaped the symptoms of altitude sickness but for a few slight headaches. As we edged up this last stretch of incline I began to feel a bit light headed and woozy, a condition that I leveraged into even more frequent rest stops than before. I could see several trekkers atop the pass whooping and celebrating having conquered the switchbacks. This being a family website I will not repeat here the bitter and ugly thoughts I directed toward them and their merriment as Kayte and I proceeded at our injured snail’s pace. Alfredo was especially helpful at these moments, urging us on with visions of a delicious lunch and the promise that within minutes our uphill portion of the day would be concluded. We reached the top just after noon - some five hours after we’d departed camp. At the pass our group performed the time honored Andean tradition of rock stacking, an offering to the local mountain gods for our safe journeys. We then commenced with the time honored obnoxious American tradition of posing boastfully next to the signs marking the altitude. The sense of accomplishment didn’t sink in until much later in the day, partly owing to my woozy head and associated desire to get downhill ASAP.
Once we began to move down I allowed myself a smile at the thought that we’d made it past the toughest section of the trek. A few minutes later these smiling thoughts had bloomed into full blown hubris and a sense of invincibility. I began to entertain wild fantasies of besting Kilimanjaro and the Himalaya. Everest, I reflected, was no match for a man of my superior talents and endurance. And then just as these rapturous visions reached a crescendo with me imagining myself on the cover of Outside Magazine making a zoolander face under a headline reading “Andersen declares his next climb will be a volcano on the planet Mercury”…. I fell. Yes, that’s right, I fell hard and fast on the easiest breeziest=2 0little sloped trail, my body collapsing into an asymmetrical pile of limbs and trekking poles. After it was established that I hadn’t sustained any major injuries outside of a few scrapes we all had a good belly laugh at my atrocious sense of balance. Naturally I blamed the altitude sickness. No one bought it.
This little portion of the trek was, to these eyes, the most beautiful - no small feat during a week in which we regularly gasped due to sheer sensory overload. We were winding down through a long valley dotted with grazing sheep and granite boulders the size of houses. The valley floor was still and green, shielded from wind, as though God had scooped and then set apart this secret paradise out from the moist crust of the earth. The colors and vegetation reminded us of the great rift valley in Kenya, a place that Kayte and I have never forgotten. I promptly christened it “the valley at the end of the world” and made a mental note to amend my last will and testament so that my ashes may be scattered in this place when I die. We ate lunch next to a small stream, spooning soup and swiveling our heads around in wonderment, drinking in the fire of the blue sky and the smooth curvature of the valley walls. After a while we set out again, walking by a pair of wild horses drinking from a stream oblivious to us awestruck wanderers. The radical shifts in topography and vegetation that can take place inside just a few hours on this trek are truly extraordinary. At the end of the valley at the end of the world lay, shrouded in green mist, the beginning of the rainforest. Considering that we began the day alpine hiking above the tree line, it was borderline disorienting to be stumbling into a jungle scarcely seven hours later. We hugged a mountain wall as we continued our steady descent, with camp still four hours away. Orchids of differing colors began appearing beside us on the trail. I told Alfredo that one purple and yellow flower combo was hereby to be called the Laker flower. He returned a blank stare.
The downhill began to take a toll with camp still two hours to go. It was at this point that our knee joints began to feel gelatinous. As a child I remember reading with genuine puzzlement the stories in Exodus of the Israelites repeatedly turning upon Moses after he led them out of Egypt. Now that I reflect upon Alfredo’s wild swings in popularity with our group I think I understand the phenomenon much better. He was our hero after he got us to the pass but here we were the very same day, our legs aching and rubbery, questioning loudly if perhaps there was a more direct route to camp that he’d overlooked. Al fredo, to his great credit, took our fatigue induced moodiness with good humor, always replying with a smile and the maddeningly vague assurance “almost there”. Day two spanned eleven hours when all was said and done. Camp was a little ranch in the middle of a jungle clearing. Chickens, puppies and small children all took turns chasing one another over the grounds as twilight turned to dark. Our hosts sold us water and we sat quietly drinking, envying the poetry of this simple life. We ate and then slept, knowing that morning would bring with it a soreness unequaled by any other in our lives thus far.
Truth be told, the morning was creaky but not as bad as expected. Alfredo enticed us to arise early with a vicious lie: he said that today would be mostly a leisurely stroll along a broad flat path running parallel to a river. He later added that by flat he meant “peruvian flat” a linguistic distinction that did not amuse us. The trail did hug the river, but it was a rollercoaster of hills, up and down and there were constant muddy stretches to negotiate. It was much easier than days one and two and yet still it challenged us psychologically, mostly because we kept waiting for the promised wide and flat part. At times the trail would snake so that it lay just next to the river and you’d feel the wind coming a cross the water, cool on your face, the view clear of trees so that you could look forever into emerald hills without the slightest blemish of civilization. Then the trail would move back into the thicker, hotter jungle, and biting flies would circle your face, impervious to your feverish swats and you’d yearn for a long soak in deet jello. I have a feeling that last sentence won’t quite make the Peruvian Tourism Ministry’s official brochure. Just a hunch. Alfredo shamed us successfully by mentioning casually that the kids we met at camp walk to school along the very same trail, three hours each way, EVERY DAY. During one of our forays into the dense foliage a striking blue brown butterfly came swooping down and landed on the bill of my hat, refusing to move for several minutes. I took off my hat and took pictures of it at point blank range and still it just posed and stared, shimmering under the flash. We quickly became fond of this butterfly and were very sad to see it depart, flapping its way back into the impenetrable green. Near the end of the day we came to the beginning of a small town, with tiny houses set twenty and thirty yards apart. We passed by a hotly contested pickup soccer game, the locals blurring back and forth in bright jerseys, shouting at one another in clipped spanish. We were mesmerized, staying to watch until night threatened to swallow our path to camp in darkness.
The fourth day saw us weave through still more small villages and towns, the sights and sounds of which were nearly as captivating as the natural wonders we’d passed earlier in the trek. We saw a man and his son skinning a cow right by the road, a quasi Abrahamic image I won’t soon forget. The animal lay prone on its back, its blood fresh as they peeled, with great skill, long strips of its flesh until only meat remained. Alfredo was quick to remark that these people were careful not to waste any part of the cow, even down to the jawbone. Whether that’s true or not, it does seem that there’s something more honorable in being so intimately involved in the preparation of one’s sustenance. In the West our eating is so far removed from the animal itself, its as though all meat falls mysteriously from the sky into the grocery store freezer like manna from heaven. We stopped at some hot springs, nature’s jacuzzi, and soaked for an hour or so. This marked our first shower in four days not counting haphazard baby wipe baths in the tent. I felt like a new man afterwards, and looked like one too thanks to the new beard wrapped around my face. The beard, by the way, got mixed reviews. Kayte liked it but one of our fellow trekkers told me it made me look like George Michael, which I found horrifying. When, in the face of my visibly hurt feelings, she did not withdraw the comparison I vowed to be rid of the beard just as soon as we returned to civilization. That night we camped in a small town who’s name escapes me, the hard work of the trek now behind us. The train on to Aguas Calientes, and Machu Picchu were still waiting for us, we were excited to see them with our souls so refreshed by the countryside, and the beautiful people of Peru. We lay awake in our tent, listening to the moths fly blind into the nylon, wondering… Would the famed lost city of the Incas hold up to the hype? Time would tell.
Go to VeloNews.com right now and check out the new products tab at the bottom. You’ll see our friends at Fluid Recovery with a sweet new article on their incredible line of recovery products.
The blog is packed with a shmorgeshboard of athlete interviews, video blogs, nutrition tip of the week, exercise of the week, workout of the week, Fluid athlete of the week, etc. It all exists to promote good stuff for active healthy people or people who wish they were.
A few weeks ago Alison and I decided to run the Lake Forest 5K on July 4th. It was a perfect morning for the run. The temperature was in the mid 70s and a little overcast. We both started off quick and ran a good first mile. The second mile we both ran a little slower because there was a giant hill that we had to run up. The third mile we both finished strong. Needless to say the Alison destroyed, she finished first in her division. I finished 5th in my division and more impressively beat Alison by 18 seconds! This is just the start of the race season. Two more races to go by the end of summer, the San Luis Triathlon and the Hood to Coast. Look for more posts to come.
This weekend I restarted my training for Tinley’s off-road tri. Last year was my first glance with the race and I loved it. Everything was super organized, staff was super kind and race course was phenomenal. On Saturday I road Mandeville Canyon to the Old Nike Missile Site Trail in the Santa Monica Mtns. Three hours of putting the hurt on. This morning I pounded out 4 miles of a trail run with the intent of getting my legs back. We spent three weeks without a serious workout - and it felt great. It was a full system reboot. But when I checked my email this past week and saw registration info for the October 3, 4, 5 party at Lopez Lake - I knew it was time to hammer. Come join us. Chances are high you will be able to meet Tinley himself.
