perspective

sometimes, you need a little feedback to make you realize you're a fool. I've been foolish. if you like to see someone get a big fat dose of you're a fool and you should shut your fucking mouth, then check this out.

damn! doesn't feel so bad to learn something the hard way, at least I've got some perspective.

probably dropped a few notches on the ladder of the local hammerheads, but, you know, you can't please all the people all the time and today, all those people where to local cycling community... whew... now I'm feeling pretty bad...

thanks to Cast-L-E for telling it like it is from his perspective. I respect that. obviously.

tomorrow's a new day... what will it bring?

Just some thoughts...

I like to gripe, but I hate myself for it. I try to avoid it here, because there's already entirely too much negative energy floating around, but today is an exception. couple things on my mind.

Montgomery Bell Trail Closures
this weekend we experienced Colorado Spring-like conditions here in the Nashville area. it was gorgeous, warm, and dry, perfect for riding. Montgomery Bell closes when super wet or when freeze/thaw conditions exist. for the uninitiated, freeze/thaw is the term for the worst thing ever, when the moisture content of the ground is uber-high and it freezes, causing "heaving" which, if ridden on, results in a completely fucked trail. the rangers at Montgomery Bell close it up by locking the gate when this happens. they locked it up this weekend. it shouldn't have been locked. people rode anyway, it was the best weekend of riding I've had out there in a long long time. there's a very interesting thread on the Nashville Mountain Bike board that you can soak up if you want a little more context.

Prairie Home Companion
the radio dial in my car stays on NPR. I love it. except for Sunday morning at 11 when it's hijacked by Garrison Keilor and the rest of the Prairie Home Companion crew. this show is not funny. not even remotely. when it comes on after Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me, it's particularly irritating and un-funny. the music is impossible to listen to, the dialogue is like gravel in my ears and the jokes... I love The Writers Almanac, his voice and tone is so soothing and the content is always interesting. "Be well, do good work, and keep in touch." love it. how could someone responsible for this gem could have gone so awry over the years. this show used to be tolerable, even somewhat enjoyable. those days are done...

as a musician who's music somewhat parallels the usual fare on this program, I will no doubt be killing any possibility of ever appearing on this show with this public opinion, but I just can't keep it to myself anymore. I can't take it.

cinematography, dirt, jumps:


I stumbled on this nasty crash on the track. I had a similar experience my first night racing at the velodrome in Colorado Springs when I was 16. I still bear the scars, couldn't sleep on my left side for 3 months (still can't and I believe it's because of the conditioning of that sleep-period).



I think if more NASCAR fans knew about this type of thing, there would be a lot more velodromes in this country.

tomorrow I will return to positivity, blame it on a case of the Mondays.

Stybar repeats as Cyclocross World Champion

stayed out till 2 dancing to Toubab Krewe. woke up at 6:45 to try to stream the World Championships. was able to find a stream and watch the entire race. Stybar attacked early and kept a 17-20 second gap over Nys. Jonathan Page was the top US rider, leading early and riding well until he flatted, still managing a 12th place finish. Jeremy Powers landed in 16th, Tim Johnson crashed out while in the top 20 and Driscoll landed 27th. great day for Team USA.

last two laps:

"hey birds, you guys have little bikes?"

this shit is severely funny.  Portlandia!



Cyclocross World Championships are tomorrow in St. Wendel, Germany. Live coverage on CXMagazine.com at 7am. I'll be up, because I can be, then I'll be headed back to Montgomery Bell to follow up on one of the best days of riding I've had in awhile.

man power

"if we all learn to pull our weight, nobody... nobody...  will be able to siphon away our high life."

last two laps from the U23 World Championships:

pump track expansion

decided last week, in the van, I was going to try to wedge an s-turn into the pumptrack.  the goal is to create the most interesting track in the minimum of space.  so after almost two straight days digging, I'm getting closer.

the 180 at the top is now a choice, you can 180 then roll down the re-worked front stretch, or do about a 220 and roll into the s-turns.  I had to move a lot of dirt to get it to flow.  I can't decide if my technique needs to improve or if I need to move more dirt, but it's not quite right.  yet.

this photo was taken from right next to the hay bale.

amazing what subtle changes will do to the flow.  it's true that you're never done with your pump track, there's always dirt to be moved. 

in Nashville news, the meeting for the Warner Parks expansion was well attended by mountain bikers.  I said my piece, so did a lot of other riders.  I'm optimistic, but not holding my breath.  at one point, a guy stood up and said, "I don't want mountain bikes in the Warner Parks.  you need to stop being selfish."  this got the expected response from the gathered.  clearly, if you have 0% of something, you're not being selfish asking for less than 10% of something owned by the public.  it seems more like the anti-mountain bikers, by wanting to keep us out of the new areas, are the selfish ones.  is it not enough to have 100% of Radnor Lake (children can be fined for running there, it's so uptight) and 100% of the vast Percy and Edwin Warner tracts?  there's only so much open space on the west side and you can't deny the mountain bike user group forever.  share that shit, people!

The Sun

I hadn't seen it since I'd been home.  After last week in California and Utah, I was getting pretty used to it.  This time of year if you get one sunny day a week in Nashville, you're stoked.  It ain't right, just a reality.  This morning I flung open the shutters (we don't have shutters, it's just a saying) and to my surprise, there it was, in all it's flaming glory.  The Sun.  My best friend.  I think it's a sign.  Odds are by the end of the day I'll be pumping the pump track. 

Stumbled upon the biggest dirt jumps I've ever seen hit on a 20:



A little mini-velodrome action?



Tonight the mountain bikers of Nashville will hopefully descend on the Warner Parks meeting at the Nature Center at 6:30 to help determine the future of the new land acquisition. 

Mountain Bike Trail in New Warner Park Acquisition?

Nashville is a good city. The people are fat and docile, it's cheap and the greenways are expanding, as evidenced by a discovery today that I didn't photograph but will explore in more detail later. One thing it's severely lacking is decent urban singletrack, especially on the more mountainous south and west sides. There are several large public parks, but while one allows horses, the the other doesn't even allow trail running.  No running at Radford Lake.  Civilized, slow walking only, please. Bicycles have been restricted from the Warner Parks since the late 90's, I think (I should check on that). Every city dweller deserves some singletrack within' 20 minutes, but the closest trail to my house is Montgomery Bell at a severe 42 minutes travel time.

The Warner Park system, consisting of Percy Warner Park and Edwin Warner park has recently acquired an old growth forest to the tune of 453 acres adjacent to Percy Warner Park on hwy 100.

10 miles, 20 minute drive, 40 minute ride. I could ride trail from my door. This is a revelation. In fact, there's plans to extend the Richland Creek Greenway all the way to Percy Warner Park.  This would cut my total time on city streets to less than 5 minutes.  I need this.  Please help me.

Here's the scoop from SORBA as quoted from joyride on the NMB forum.

Warner Parks will be holding public meetings to determine the use of the new Warner Parks land acquisition (on the other side of Hwy 100). It has been a dream of many to have mountain bike trails in Warner Parks. This is an opportunity to have your voices heard. It has been documented and understood by the Metro Planning Committee that mountain biking is an underserved community in Nashville. Show up in numbers to drive this point home. If you ride a mountain bike, know someone who rides a mountain bike, or would like to ride a mountain bike, PLEASE come out to these meetings and show your support!

The Master Plan meeting dates are held at the Warner Park Nature Center (7311 Hwy 100 Nashville, TN 37221) at 6:30pm and the dates are:

Thursday, January 27th
Tuesday, March 22nd
Thursday, May 5th

for more information contact Carolyn Heichel via email at president@sorbamidtn.org or

The SORBA mid-TN board's email is board@sorbamidtn.org

More info at their website http://sorbamidtn.org/
__________________

 Hopefully I'll see you all on Thursday.

juxtapose

stumbled on a couple sweet cycling videos from two ends of the cycling spectrum.  first, cyclocross:

Cyclocross in Our Words - Pt. 1 from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.

now for some gorgeous dirt jumping:

VANS Team edits: JEREMY MULLER from Vans Europe on Vimeo.

in cyclocross, reigning world champ Zdenek Stybar has gone to the road, which disappoints some. I don't really care as I don't think much of him, his statements, or his style. I tried to find a photo of his terrible euro-hair, but instead stumbled upon this photo of the prettiest 'cross racer I've ever seen, since my wife doesn't race:

in other news, we've hit the rain cycle in Nashville and it's making it increasingly hard to get out and ride. considering giving myself some real down-time, but I'm not a pussy (if I keep saying it it must be true) and I want to dish out The V next year, so I probably need to get up out of this chair and suck it up. time to consult Rule 10

Utah's got a bad reputation...

Let me try to sort out the last three days into something coherent.

ORshow
The Outdoor Retailer Show was in full force at the convention center. We spent a couple days hanging out with our new friends at Mountain Khaki, a killer outdoor clothing company. We even played a happy hour set right on the convention floor. There was some crazy stuff going on out there, like this:

there was literally thousands of cool products, but the only one I really cared about was the new split board from K2:

 

It ain't pretty, but if it rides anything like my K2's...

Toubab at State Room
Two nights with one of our favorite bands, Toubab Krewe, at the State Room. Both nights featured some really sweet sit-ins at the end of the show, Saturday Dave and I rocked Double Bass' which usually sucks but ended up being completely badass. Dave is my favorite and his rhythm and hair are inspiring.



Epic day at Brighton
Last time I was at Brighton, I completely fucked up and crushed my leg. I've been patiently waiting for a chance to redeem myself and the snow was flying all day Saturday, so during the show that night I called out for a ticket. After the show a nice gal came up to the stage and gave me a ticket, and 5 minutes later I'd rented a car and solidified a plan to shred Brighton. In bed at 3:15, 6:15 wake-up call and by 9:15 I was on the lift with my bro Zingg. One of the best days of my life. We slipped over the backside, out of bounds and I took 20 of the best turns of my life.

If you look closely, you can see, in the center of the photo, Casey ripping right beneath the big rock.  The turns coming down the gut, those were the best I've ever had.  Zoom in, take a look and imagine how that must have felt...  this line required a several hundred foot hike out but was absolutely worth every bit of effort.  I went back later in the day and rode the still untouched spine beneath the cliff band on the left...  I get a semi just thinking about it. Brighton is now at or near the top of my resort list. So much great terrain, so many good features, best snow in Utah and a laid-back, old-school vibe you won't find at Snowbird or Solitude. Did I mention it was a bluebird day? Or that a strange couple in a Hummer hooked me up with one of these in exchange for some beginner snowboard advice?

Utah's got a bad rap, partially deserved, but unfair none-the-less. The Wasatch are some of the most incredible mountains I've ever been amongst, the snow was the best I've ridden, the people at the shows were awesome and we managed to get some good beer (not just Steel Reserve).

In Cyclocross news, Knoxiecross this weekend. Looks like I'm headed out there Saturday with Jeremy. Hoogerheide World Cup this weekend. Here's the last two laps:

mysterious bruise

found a mysterious bruise under my left arm last night. if I wasn't looking at myself in the mirror I wouldn't have seen it. I like to look at myself in the mirror. vanity is only part of it, there's just a simple curiosity, especially when the body's been acting as a vessel for adventure. so there's a mysterious bruise on the inside of my arm, almost in the armpit. it's not that mysterious, actually, I know it happened surfing, I just don't remember when. that's the mystery and a sign of a good time.

fausto coppi. the look on the photographers face says it all

crossresults.com

crossresults.com is a great idea. compile all results into one algorithm that figures out how you really shape up compared to the guys you race against. in TN, a lot of the races we do are part of disparate series. from Nashville, I race in 4 different states within' 3 hours. crossresults.com compiles all of that information, theoretically and puts it in a format that enables and encourages comparison, something that cyclists are practically addicted to. for example, here's how I stack up next to my rivals. it shows win/loss ratio with every rider I race against, and a bunch of other useful information that I don't have to try to remember. here's an old video in which crossresults.com is mentioned.

Surf

San Diego, 78 degrees, wetsuit and a surfboard. paddled into and caught my first wave. battled repeated washing-machine sets. perfection.

the view of the break at Terramar from the cliff-top patio

sunset with the crew

days like these it's good to be alive.

Downhill/Freeride Showreel

I cruise pinkbike.com sometimes to get a look at what could have been.  Back in 1996/97 when I was big into junior racing in Colorado, I'd go the big state races, the CORPS series, and race cross-country and downhill on my Cannondale F-1000 which looked a little like this:

I would never have put bar-ends like that on my bike.  Just need to make that clear.  I also flipped the stem which, I realize now, was far too long.

Anyway, I'd do these CORPS downhill races and race against guys on 4-5 inch travel bikes.  The technology on those bikes wasn't great and the courses were still rideable on a hardtail, so I usually did pretty well.  I was also doing really well in the local dual-slalom series, as long as the jumps weren't too big.  There was a time when I was trying to scrape together enough money for a downhill bike, and I think there's a good chance if I had, I would have made something of myself.  Maybe I'd be one of these dudes on Tim Lake's Showreel:



not likely.

Tennessee Cyclocross Champions crowned

Last weekend's races in East Tennessee, the State Championships and Kingsport Cup UCI, crowned the seasons State and Series Champions.  The consistently fast and always upbeat Jeremy Chandler was victorious in the TBRA Series both in Pro/1/2 and Single Speed categories.  Here he goes over the barriers.  Note the beard and visor.  This is anti-Velominati in every way and a style I fully endorse and often sport.

 Here he is mooning someone mid-race.  I post this without permission.

I really like and respect Jeremy and I'm glad he attends so many races.  Cyclocross in Tennessee would be much less interesting and challenging without him.  I finished 3rd in Single Speed and tied for 3rd in Pro/1/2.  I did not, of course, repeat as State Champion, I was on a mountain in California, but Adam Meyerson showed up again and stomped the boys after a strong ride for 3rd on Saturday at the UCI in Kingsport.

Another TBRA season in the books, but the hard-core winter racers still have 8 races in 4 weekends in Knoxville as part of the KnoxieCross Series.  I might hit one up, or I may be done.  Time will tell.

Beautiful drive from Tahoe to San Diego today, eastern Sierra's, an incredible view of Mt. Whitney and a desert sunset.

Sliding

Snow sliding, in it's various forms, is addictive.  I'm addicted.  My personal addiction is strong, honed over several years in the San Juan Mountains at Purgatory, Wolf Creek, Telluride, and Hesperus ski areas and in the back-country around Silverton.  Today at Kirkwood was my first day on snow in awhile and it had all the elements, most importantly, it proceeded at it's own pace and in a natural arc.

Best line of the day was through that big gap at the top of the ridge.

In cyclocross, World Cup goes to France:



This is the only one of these I've seen all year that I've seen American racers.  I'm not ultra-patriotic, but it's important to me that we're competitive with Europe in cyclcross.  You can see Timothy Johnson at right in the still-frame.  There's a great moment at 7:30 where mountain bike specialist Fontana is leading the chase group and he goes down scattering the field.  It's excellent.  Pauwells grows some balls at 11:05.  Borish course, but a fun and fast last lap.

name this bike

I watched a lady ride up to the paint store next to the diner we ate at this morning in Santa Cruz.  I ran across the street and took a couple pictures of her bicycle.  I remember reading an article written about these bikes in something somewhere, but I can't recall their name. 

 

check out the seat on this thing.  beautiful.

she seemed very comfortable and relaxed, almost tranquil.  It made me want to ride it.  If you know what these are called, please let me know.

ed. note:  Ed Jaramillo, a man who's virtues know no end, informed me it's a Pederson Bike.  Ed, hopefully one day, you will live in a state where people has some idea how to pronounce your last name.  Until then, I'll keep trying to teach them when we talk about you during your race.

Monkish behavior/ Kingsport Cup

We've been in southern Oregon and northern California all week, and you know what that can lead to lots of local produce and a laid back week.  Now we're headed to the ocean, then to the mountains, then back to the ocean, and onward to the mountains.  

In cycling news, Kingsport Cup this weekend in eastern Tennessee. Theoretically big-time racing comes to Tennessee, the start list is expanding with 16 signed up for the Elite Men including Adam Meyerson and Andy Reardon, who beat up on me a few weeks ago.   It's good to see racing in January, I wish I could be there.  I thought the State Championships last year in January was one of the best races of the season, and if we'd have had decent field sizes, I really think it would have been epic.  We'll be in Tahoe on Saturday night and riding at Kirkwood on Sunday, my first day on snow since last February. 

Here's the band the other night in Ashland:

crossresults.com

crossresults.com is something that some dudes up east started, but they're starting to input more and more results and they're including the Southeast now, which is very cool and gives you an idea of how you stand relative to the rest of the country, not just your region. They identify your nemesis' as well as your top victims and do a thorough job of tracking your results. They got all my TBRA, as well as my Louisville, Atlanta and Birmingham races in there, by far the most complete. Go to the website and input any riders name, check it out.
www.crossresults.com

Belgian Elite National Championships

Think again, I did.

Tervuren last week. Very tough looking course, some really gutsy riding.

Everything's harder in Belgium

This time of year, it's all about cross for me.  Tomorrow the Belgian National Championships will be contended and since there's 9 Belgians that regularly place in the top 10 in World Cup Events, it's going to be a good one.  I can't wait to watch the last two laps.

Ryan Iddings just got back from racing in Belgium.  He had some things to say, even rode Sven's wheel, which must have been amazing.



He talks primarily about how hard it is, which is something that I think everyone who races cross here should hear. ITS SUPPOSED TO BE HARD. Technical, especially. These "grass crits" have got to go! Seriously, we're making things entirely too easy on ourselves. HTFU, North American Cyclocross Scene.

Here's the last two laps from Zolder, there's a great sequence of the descent Iddings talks about at 6:00, the leader, Lars Boom almost loses it there at 14:40. Check out the corner at 11:40 and the run-up at 15:10, Boom uses his free hand to help climb the hill! What a course!

Ski Tour Boo

Ski Tour 2011 is under way.  We've been in Seattle all week leading up to our show at The Tractor last night.  I starred in a short mystery we shot in the house we rented.



Belt Bikes is a sweet blog featuring belt-driven bikes. This was today's bike, a bamboo Cyclocross model from Boo Bicycles.  As cool as this bike looks, I wonder if a bike made out of a material who's structure is compromised when exposed to moisture is the right call for cyclocross. 

That said, I think this bike is absolutely beautiful.

In other news, the Tennessee Bike Racing Association posted the preliminary summer schedule. I don't really like to race my mountain bike, it's usually less fun than riding and I've developed a tendency to cramp during the hot races of the southern summer, so I doubt I'll be at many of these.  Already ready for the fall Cyclocross Calendar, but that usually pops up in April or May.

Sven Nys

Yesterday I posted a video of Sven Nys at the Sven Nys race. Conveniently, CXMagazine.com posted their Ask A Pro interview with Sven today. One of the questions is mine. Incidentally, Sven's got a smokin' wife.

In the spirit of spirited borrowing, I picked this up on the BIG RING RIDING blog. They picked it up from Bianchista. From Matt Loyd, of Omega Pharma Lotto in reference to Euskatel's propensity for crashes.

“They just fall off. There’s no reason why. You’ll just be riding along and there they’ll be like a bleeding carrot in the middle of the road lying in pain.”

that's funny

Epic Battle

I want to take this blogging thing seriously. I really do. I just don't really know what I have to say. There have been times when this blog is little more than a journal. Other times it's been worse; a training journal. Who cares about my latest single speed road ride under gray skies in Nashville? No one. I've only managed 2,000 views on this thing in several years. I've put up that many posts. Do the math.

There are posts about music, these tend to be more valuable. There was even a brief time I thought I would help the Nashville bicycle dialogue by tracking any and all cycling related developments in Nashville, but that was no fun, especially since I don't spend that much time in Nashville. I don't know what to do, it seems to continue on a path of journalistic journaling will only serve to support my fading but tenacious narcicism... does this thing have spell check?

So, to my loyal reader, these next few months could get strange. I don't really expect anyone to read this, but I'm going to find a groove here, create something useful, original, or interesting (maybe just best 2 out of 3). I've noticed on the other blogs I read, much of the content is borrowed. Apparently, if it's new to you... you know the slogan, I don't, actually. Anyway, to that end, here's a video I've watched over and over again this week. Sven Nys and Zdenek Stybar locked in an epic duel at the race named for Sven. It gets really good around the 10 minute mark.



There's no one tougher than Sven. HTFU.

Seattle

Arrived in Seattle last night. 34oz Guiness, some picking and bed. Spent the day playing music with the 'Dusters, but I got out for a sweet 4 mile run through Discovery Park. We're only a block away so I'll be out there tomorrow again. Chris Pandolfi's stop-animation video got picked up by the Sharpie blog. It's very cool, featuring original music and animation by CP.

On the Road, again.

"When I go, on the road, I go fast, I go slow.
It gets cold, don't you know, won't get home, much this year.
And the stories, I will tell, when I've nothing left to sell,
wonder what's happening somewhere's else, won't get home much this year."

John Hartford

It is with tired legs that I board a plane in 3 hours bound for Seattle. The last two days of riding have been exceptional, the pump-track is all covered up with pine needles and pine boughs (so don't come over here trying to ride it) and the gear is all packed. 6 bags. Yep, 6. Timbuktu, gear case (both carry-on) suitcase, gear bag, flight-case (with bass) and snowboards... this will get expensive.

Shows in Seattle, Portland and points south. You can see the full tour schedule here: www.thestringdusters.com

Updates will be coming from the road, lots of running and a few days snowboarding the next few weeks. Hopefully some substantive thoughts as well, but no guarantees.

Happy New Year

New Years Day is a great day for a long ride. Changed the cross bike over to winter road mode last night. That entailed changing the gearing from a 39/18 to a 42/16 and putting on a set of slicks. Left the house around 11, got back around 3:30. 60-70 miles maybe. I can feel every one of them.

After dropping the parents off and before the rains yesterday afternoon I spent a few hours on the pump track, riding mostly. Every other session has played out as mostly an exercise in digging but yesterday was all about riding. So. Much. Fun. I hung a light in the tree and rode a few laps at dusk, I'm thinking I'll mount three or four lights to a board and secure it to the tree, like stadium lighting, so I can ride at night... Pump track grand opening party is imminent, perhaps at the end of the month when I return from my California adventure. Drop me a line if you want on the guest list.