Jail Trail- rim it

Jail Trail Race... Trail is a hoot. Twisty older school singletrack, sketchy in spots, herk and jerk flow, enough technical to keep you honest with your handling, no sucky climbs, some good rocks, and at least one fun tech type climb.

Sunday, perfect weather for bike racing. Dusty/ super dry conditions, decided to drop the tire pressure during pre-ride (what is pre-ride? shouldn't it be called pre-race?). Tis a fine line between tire grip and tire fold to the resulting rim it tap.

Caught a curve ball thrown by one RZ. Last blog post I commented on Zilla and his race last year. Guess what? RZ decides to use his expert license and series reg for this race... Ha, Point. Good one. Jimmay was all grins staring at me on the line. Good one Goons. LCR game on.

{Insert random pic here}

SS State Champ 2007 (LCR!) + 3rd place, 2nd? #1?

(back to current event) Got a kick out of the prolog ski trail lead out. Fast pace, grassy tight corners, random racers flailing into the sticks, bottleneck wasn't too bad. Found my filler spot and basically stayed there for the duration.

Thoughts of mention; Lap one, riding through the boardwalk, rooty trail, felt the rear rim tap. Dang it! Can not stop to decode for fear of the RZ looking to collect a big point. Kept riding, could feel the tire slowly but surely loosing air. Forced myself not too stop. Tire squish, slowing and lost contact with group race. Milked the tire and finished with it folding but holding. How about that! I don't believe in luck, but on the day I got lucky with the air loss.

2 for 3 in that 1 rock garden with the hecklers. Lap 2 dabbed, but informed RZ went out of medals in there. ha. Jim said he was 2 for 2. But that's NOT 3 for 3. Also told the fast guys just ran it... Point.

Finished out in my typical "filler" spot. Race was one/two laps too short. Finishing well under 2 hours. Flipside, another lap could have had me off the bike in a scramble adding air, and Richy grin'in. ha

Next target, Oct 6th and Levis Trow.

I'd like to try a park race sometime this Fall. Keep with my 1 day 2 race in 1 park every other year streak. Yap, I typed it. Will see or not.

Listen to Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden. Making a come back I hear...

Ghetto Light Commute

Relying on this light setup from the junk drawer to get me across N Iowa to work in the darkness...


~38 lumen (with fresh AAA)


Needing this... http://amoebalight.blogspot.com/

900 lumens

LCR has 2 satisfied customer's with the homebrew Amoeba lights from CO... I need to be the third.

Jail Trail race on Sun not Sat. Guess the threat of the Ed-duro don't exist anymore. So, Jim types to me, "you don't have to worry about Richy, he's racing Comp." ha! Last year Richy was on my wheel like flies on rice. Or is it white on rice?

With LCR all that really matters is beating each other down (on the trail and elsewhere).

Note- Fear the next coming of Jack Lambert. Crazy eyed tackling machine. I say to his dad on the sideline, "don't be one of "them" parents". Dad says, "as long as Lody backs it up, I don't care..." Myoot.

Oct 6th on the brain.

Then Nov 9th on the brain, with Oct 19-21 in between. Oh, and the return of 'Down by the River'. Need to recon and start trap setting. 

All hail the Hulk

In a hard fought fight with his wife for the office of Team Ricoh President... The (shrunken green) Hulk rules the roost of riddlers, cave dwellers, and lacra clad extreme novices.

Oath of office: Speak the language, defend yourself (I mean office), collect points.

Lon, years of this (flat on back/ crash/ out of medals) should set you up for success to defend (and defend off) the Goons... Remember this one? Henge caught you takin a nap. Happy Birthday Sukka!

12 hours of Farm 2003. Lon meets Chaska dirt. Point.

Note- Great job to the presidential runner up... Wonder Woman (aka Rebecca). If you get a chance to ride with Her, see how long you can carry on on a conversation before she drops you while still chattering on.

For me it was all North Iowa, no Cheq to officiate(last minute plan cancel). Not too fret, I didn't cheat myself. In fact, had 2 separate visits with a log spine skinny. The first sent me packing.

Note 2- With advances in mountain bike technical riding over past 12 years, Cheq40 has become a road race sponsored by mall fitness. Modern day Cheq grit is earlier in the year and it involves 100 miles of "mountain biking". Finding the interweb post race synopsis's and defeat interesting. How could a 40 mile mock road race have that many excuses? But it does. Finish in the top 100 and be PO'd about it, yag. Take up triatheloning then.

Sample of excuses- Start position cheated, leadout scetch, tire rub, rosy grass too long, dusty, no legs, roady draft pimped, such a long race season..., handlebar loosened up (my excuse once), bonk on birkie, dropped my bottle, "gel now" says the Goat, and of course the all time greatest roady excuse,"I'm sick".

Random (Note 8)- Jack ever gives you a jar of his canned ricoh pickles, use the juice to marinade some pork chops...

Jack's Juice Marinade. Delish pork chops! Ask him about his special sauce.

Note 3- Happy B-Day Lon-dog!!! Stealing your line, "Go Big!"

I'm no Proenneke

Very consolidated trip to Cheq. Mission accomplished. Off the grid for a moment. Got my ride fix, Ojibwa/ Seeley Pass, active recovery swim in Lake Namekogon at 8AM, the full enchelada in the rain/ lovely rain (Rock Lake- Hildebrandt forwards and backwards- Patsy- Namekogon).

"Seeley Pass" new trail (having too much fun to stop and take a pic) location, South off Ojibwa between C27-C28. Machine built Imba 2 way trail, flow and more flow with a 60' long downhill skinny (with consequence) that you can ride uphill as well. Trail dead ends, assume they (Camba) are waiting til next year to make final connection with trail north from OO. Spectacular!


Pre-ride active recovery in Lake Namekogon at 8AM.

Blissful wakeup

Hildebrandt and "my rock" covered in moss. That only means 1 thing, nobody's riding it.

Ride it.

Which line do you take when riding Hildebrandt during the Cheq 100?

Left line only. Point.

NOTE- Dick Proenneke a tough man of self-will and life, more tactful than Alexander Supertramp, less glamorous but of similar ilk to George Mallory which DBD strives to compare.

NOTE 2- Good work Gravel Conspiracy finishers. Proenneke toughness.


NOTE 3- Off to CHEQ again to officiate the Team Ricoh Presidentail Election. Only 2 candidates, the Shrunken Hulk vs. Wonder Woman. All former presidents are stuck in the metro vortex telling stories at backyard fires.

Oath of office- Defend the presidency, speak the language, collect points.

Alexander Supertramp

I'll have a bit more than a pair of rubber boots and a couple cans of tuna, but solo'ing off the grid I go for some pratice... Pratice. Yap, talkin about pratice.

Don't believe in luck, but "good luck" to those doing the gravel adventure up in the arrowhead. I signed up on a whim, then sallied when the Sisters acted like it didn't exist. Something like that event, you got to have a witness. Go Ed. May the flat tires not be with you.