Monthly Archives: August 2009

The barn cometh – Crystal Falls

Posted on 23 August, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Crystal Falls
August 23, 2009

The barn cometh.
Crystal Falls has an old barn, that we ran right through.  It was really cool.  Kinda alarming.  You would go right into it from the sun, it would go completely dark and the only thing you would see is the light of the doorway on the other side.  Yow.  But, it was really really fun.

It is also about the most awesome course in the entire district.

This was the 2nd time I had raced here.  This time it was more than 7 miles around.  We did the whole MX track of a really great old school outdoor MX track.  A couple of doubles, but mostly big hills table tops and great berms.  Then into the woods, then out to a great grass track, then back into the woods, then out to another grass track, then through the barn, then out to another grass track, then back into the woods, then back on the MX track to finish the lap.  Very GNCC like, but much tighter in the woods sections.

It took me 2 kicks to get my bike started, so I was last into the 1st turn, but when we left the MX track Jim was in 1st, John right on him in 2nd and me right on John in 3rd.  Perfect.  The next 3 laps were a huge huge amount of fun.  The lead changed about 12 times per lap.  We were all 3 right on each other.  No one could get an advantage on anyone it seemed.

Unfortunately John and Jim got into a little tussle on the 1st lap.  Jim got frustrated with John passing him and Jim cut through the middle of a turn and knocked John down to the ground.  I slowed enough to make sure everyone was ok, but then went off on my own.  A guy on an old KDX somehow appeared out of nowhere at that time and jumped in front of me.  I was ok with that, except he was riding about 11 feet wide.  He was impossible to pass.  I finally did get around him when he chose a crummy line through the mud hole.

Jim and John made it back to me and as I noted earlier, we traded the lead for the 1st 3 laps.  On the 4th lap, John got a front flat and I moved clear of Jim by 1.5 minutes.  That is how we finished.

I managed 11th overall, but had lap times of the 7th place guy, but we started 4 minutes behind.  Not too shabby.

-    My RMZ 250 is the perfect motorcycle.  I am convinced.  I know the 2010 is fuel injected, and I am looking forward to one of   those somehow.  But for now, I cannot imagine a better motorcycle.  Wow.
-    I ran shinny new Pirelli Scorpian mid hards.  They were incredible.  So much better than the stock Dunlops that came on the bike, which I ran for a bit as I did not have any new Pirelli’s.  But OMG.
-    I still have about an inch of gas in the bottom of the tank.  That is the stock tank, for 2 hours and 1 minute.  That thing just does not use much gas.
-    The Rekluse clutch is incredible.  No stalls, no arm pump (at least from the clutch operation).
-    Looking forward to getting my suspension back from Factory Connection.  The stock stuff is good, but the rough trail made it tough today.
-    The race gas the Mark at Vesrah provided make the RMZ super clean running.  No bog, no hesitation, just sewing machine like response from the right wrist.
-    After the race, I was showering off with the sun shower, when this little kid asks me “what are you doing?”  Washing off.  “Why?”, I am dirty.  “Are you leaving?”…   What is up with that?

Enjoy the photo’s.

Out.

Joe

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Going to yooper land!

Posted on 22 August, 2009 by | Leave a comment

August 22, 2009
Heading up to do the D16 HS race in Crystal Falls Mi.  As I sit here writing this, things are just a bit off.  I am not staying in the trailer, and Scott is not with me.  Seems like I have been doing a bunch of racing without Scott this year.  That is not really right.  Kinda jonesing for the camper and Scott and I going through the routine of the GNCC weekend.  I know that is a dangerous way for me to think, because that is exactly what got us into that whole thing in the first place.

But, I just cannot help it.  I have a bike that I really really feel good on, the season here just isn’t what it used to be, I know I could do better at the GNCC thing now than I did a year ago.  I think maybe it is time for a bigger schedule again.

I’m just sayin.

oh yes, my stead nestled into the back of John's truck!

oh yes, my stead nestled into the back of John's truck!

So, John Buechner and I took off today to head to the race.  John has become my racing buddy in Scott’s absence.  He is a good guy.  Not the same as traveling with Scott, but it has it’s own quaint kind of feel to it.  He and I race the same class, so it can be a bit weird after the race if one of us gets the better of the other.  Lately, John has been the man.  He has beaten me at every race we have done together this year.

Aztalan was close, but he definitely still beat me.  We will see how it goes tomorrow, but I am ok with it either way.

We are staying at John’s uncle’s place in Green Bay.  You have probably figured out that I am not much of a football fan.  I am not.  In fact, I cannot tell you when it was the last time I watched a football game.  When we arrived here, they were watching the Packer game.  It was kind of interesting.  But, not much different than it was 20 years ago.  I think I am fine with not watching another one for another 20 years.

Good god, the last 7 minutes of a football game takes forever.  The clock says 7 minutes to go, and an hour later they are still playing.  I am used to soccer where 7 minutes to go pretty much means there is about 7 minutes left to play.  I understand why the rest of the world thinks that football is a stupid game.  That would be because it is.

I’m just sayin.

Out for the night.

Joe

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Garage is almost finished!

Posted on 22 August, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Super excited about this.  The man cave is almost done.  No women allowed.

All winter, I will be able to be out working on bikes and motorcycles.

- walls finished with super grade of plywood.  allows me to attach anything to the walls without having to find studs, and way more durable than sheetrock.

- insulated walls and ceiling.

- gas heater on a thermostat.

- epoxy sealed and chip coated floor with clear coat applied.

- old cabinets from kitchen arranged to make shop.

- laminate top countertop for easy cleaning.

- separate area for lawnmowers etc…  keeps the motorcycle, bicycle, car areas cleaner.

- tons of lighting and electrical outlets.

- separate electrical box.

- stereo

still to come,

- refrigerator

- more tools

- more slotwall

some pictures below

Joe

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Racing this weekend!

Posted on 20 August, 2009 by | Leave a comment

YES!!!!!!!

Spooned on new grippy donuts, new clutch plates, changed the oil and filter. Fresh air filter and grips. Going Racing.

Hoping for some race gas…

Holy cow, I love this whole thing.

Joe

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Dyracuse and its magic dirt

Posted on 19 August, 2009 by | Leave a comment

I was too busy riding to take any pictures so if you need pictures to get through my blog, skip this entry. Joe’s recent post has some photos for to ponder.

The dirt at Dyracuse this past weekend was pretty phenomenal.  I was thinking, as I lay in bed the evening after my 2.5 hour ride, with sore shoulders and aching hands and wrists, that I have a lot of experience with dirt.  I mean I’ve been racing on some sort of two wheel, off-road rig for more than two decades and I’ve ridden on five continents (over 30 countries) in conditions that range from 105F and 90% humidity to 70F and pouring rain to 20F and frozen.  I might even consider myself a dirt connoisseur.

It rained for much of the two-hour drive to Big Flats but that wasn’t a concern to us.  We know that the more it rains in August at Dyracuse the better it is. There is so much beach sand that it is drastically better when it packs down with a little moisture.  The portions of the ride park that are not beach sand – the DIRT – does have a saturation point and it turns to peaty, boggy, sink-to-your-hubs soup with too much precip (or in early spring).

But last Sunday’s ride provided some hero moments for me, that for certain.  When you trust the connection the bike has with the ground to the point of on command drift of both wheels with both feet on the pegs, sometime while on the gas and sometime under heavy braking, you know its good stuff.  Neither tire I had on my RM-Z was any where near fresh – not a single knob had a square edge – yet when I wanted to push the pace I had ample confidence in both end of the bike.

Let’s break it down: why was the dirt so good?  I’d say it was because it packs up and gives you something to push against, whether that’s when on the gas, braking or turning.  Moisture combined with organic/decomposing matter and sand makes it pack easily.  Having something to push against translates to grip in every direction.  Don’t forget that Factory Connecti0n suspension and Pirelli tires help out, too.

And my RM-Z250 is a pleasure to ride.  It’s got power where I need it and great trail manners.  Can’t fault it anywhere!

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We’re Back!

Posted on 17 August, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Summer break is a long time.  A lot has changed, so let’s get started.

During the break, I did some bicycle racing and some decent training, but mostly I just felt like I got fat.  Fat is not good.  Makes you feel fat.  Not like “Hey I am Phat!”, but more like oh god my pants feel tight.  I always have wondered what it was like to wear really tight girl pants, now I know.

Time to get back after it all.

A few things have happened

- I sold one of my RM250′s.

- I have been riding the RMZ, and that thing kicks butt.  I am going to rebuild the other RM250 as the Ricky Carmichael replica that it started life as, and sell it off.  I do not think I will be riding anything but that RMZ – it is that good.  Also means that I will have a bunch of RM parts to get rid of on here and on Ebay.

- I am adicted to FRS.  If you haven’t tried it, do.  OMG!

- I am listening right now to David Lee Roth, minus Van Halen.  I know that is wonked, but I am doing it anyway.

- I finished my garage.  It rocks.  If it is empty later today, I will post up some photo’s.

- The coffee is good this morning.

So, yesterday… Scott and I got off our butts and rode.

Me behind the wheel of the trusty steed. Getting us there!

Me behind the wheel of the trusty steed. Getting us there!

  • No Candi, as we know the way. Scott's new Sirrius unit rocked us there. She was pissed.
  • No Candi, as we know the way. Scott’s new Sirrius unit rocked us there. She was pissed.
    • A beautiful sight, but no premix!

    A beautiful sight, but no premix!

    We slid up to Dyracuse in the rain.  The skies parted as we arrived and it turned out to be the most epic day of dirt ever.  I suppose it has been super dry there all summer, and the sand became the really dense loam that added up to being the most fun you can have.

    I mean, you could not have designed better dirt.  That place is great and all, but sometimes when you show up it is just powdery sand.  This is the time that you dream about.  The dirt that keeps you coming back hoping to find it again.

    2 shots.

    That is the MX track. mmm....

    That is the MX track when we were leaving even.  mmm…

    cock your head sideways, and you will see what I am talking about. Oh ya!

    cock your head sideways, and you will see what I am talking about. Oh ya!

    Suited up like the nervous dorks that we are.  15 minutes after arriving, we were taking a look at the loop.  Dyracuse park has purchased another 300+ acres adjacent to the park.  We added a ton of new singletrack in that new area to our loop.  The loop if now over 20 minutes long.  Holy Cow!  20 minutes!  You still get to know it and it can become redundant.  But, when you say to yourself “Ok, one more.”  You better mean it.

    I felt really good.  I would say that I am ready to roll.  The second half of the season is here.

    - Crystal Falls D16 race.

    - Valders WIXC race.

    - Long Lake D16 race.

    - Dresser D16 race.

    - Rhinelander WIXC race.

    - Dyracuse D16/WIXC race.

    - Crawfordsville GNCC

    - OMA “The Race”

    Not a bad way to kick the season to the curb.  Not ready for this one to be over, but ready to get back to racing.

    I love the chaos of the first turn.

    Joe

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    Trek ride camp in Austria

    Posted on 10 August, 2009 by | Leave a comment

    I work for a bike company – Trek bikes, to be exact.  We recently debuted several 2010 mountain bike models to a group of magazine editors and select dealers in a tiny ski hill town named Altausee, Austria.  I was along for the trip as a technical advisor and race team liaison.

    IMG_2885

    The view across a very deep and cold lake near our lodge.

    Austria is beautiful.  The people are super friendly and our accommodations were superb.  But our work load was heavy and required our group of six to assemble 120 mountain bikes so our guests could all sample a Trek ride.

    IMG_2932

    On the other side of that railing is a 1000ft drop. The trail we were on paralleled the railing for 150 feet. Spectacular view for sure.

    Part of hosting the media is doing the rides with them.  Upon arrival I figured the riding in the area would be stellar but I was grossly disappointed.   Most f what we rode was fire road and double track.  But we did have some long rides with superb views and stimulating conversation.

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    The guy on the left is Jose Gonzales. He's one of the reasons Trek full suspension bikes are so good these days. Jose spent years running Kawasaki's MX program before making Manitou suspension successful. Here he's being a dweeb with Joe.

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    A fire road climb with some of the European magazine editors. I think we climbed for 45 minutes in our smallest gear on this day

    Part of the media event that Trek hosted included a huge marathon mountain bike race that the magazine editors could race our bikes in.  The event is called the Salzkammergut. It would have been a good time to ride a 2010 Trek bike up and down some amazing roads with 4300 of your closest friends if it wasn’t for the bucketing rain and frigid temperatures.

    Real men signed up for 100 and 200km distances but both of those races were canceled due to snow at the higher elevations.  I did the 53km race and froze my ass off but still managed to have a really good time.  Portions of the course were literally rivers with rapids and along some of the cliffs that towered overhead were waterfalls that dropped down on our heads.  I’ve done some unique rides but this one took the cake.  Because it was dumping at the start of the race, and I had nothing to prove, I waited until the start gun shot before I even mounted my bike.   So I started the race at the back of the 730 rider field but finished 54th.

    IMG_2940

    The Trek World Racing compound at the Salzkammergut race.

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    This the damp crowd at 5pm after the Salzkammergut race. The rain had stopped but it was still only 45 degrees.

    IMG_2927

    Proving my metal by riding along he railing with my eyes closed.

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    The Session in Whistler, BC

    Posted on 8 August, 2009 by | 1 Comment

    Since I haven’t been racing motos, let alone riding motos, what have I been up to?  Family commitments have kept me busy between work outings that’s for certain.  But that’s time I like committing to.  It’s the hours and hours of time spent in airports and planes that drives me nuts.

    Over the past five weeks I’ve been to Canada twice, Europe once and San Diego just this last week.  The first trip to Canada was for a work-based but uber-fun 3-day suspension test in Whistler on a fleet of Trek Session 88 bikes.  If you’ve been to Whistler you know the euphoria that I can’t truly describe.  If you haven’t been and you like riding mountain bikes, put a trip to Whistler on your Do Before I Die list.

    A technician sets up my bike before one of the test runs I did in Whistler

    A technician helps me set up my bike before one of the test runs

    I’d never ridden a big-hit bike before riding in Whistler and I hadn’t been on flat pedals since I did wheelies on a BMX bike in 8th grade.  But I have ridden mountain bikes for nearly 25 years so I did have some experience to draw on, just not any experience on bike with eight, plush inches of travel at each end.  Perhaps one way to describe Whistler is to compare it to skiing where you ride the lift up with your gear and choose from several fun ways to get back to the bottom of the hill.  Then repeat until you have run out of light and do it all again the next day.  It was a smile a minute with all the jumps, berms, rocks, roots, wheelies, skids and near misses.

    There are trails at Whistler that would permit 40+mph coasting speeds, some with repetitious jumps that go on for several minutes and others that are so steep, wet, technical and rocky that walking down them would be hazardous.  I wore a Giro Remedy helmet, my full under-jersey body armor, my Leatt brace, padded underwear, full knee and shin protection and a pair of heavily padded (but thoroughly cheap) hightop basketball shoes on every run and was grateful to have all that stuff as insurance.  I never fell but that was just good luck.

    Some of the parts we compared on the Session 88

    Some of the parts we compared on the Session 88

    Suspension comparison and testing is a gas.  Most of the stuff we were comparing was blind to the test riders so we were just asked to provide our impressions and not told anything about what the actual fork or shock settings were.  We did set sag for each piece we evaluated but after that it was up to each test rider to search for ride character in each piece.  Some of the stuff we rode was dreamy and other bits were just average.  For certain, Whistler is the place to go for this kind of stuff since you can ride terrain that matches the Session’s abilities over and over and over.

    I had such a good time that I hope to return next summer with some close friends and my brother.  Hope to see you there too!

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    Back in the saddle

    Posted on 7 August, 2009 by | Leave a comment

    Holy cow I’ve been busy and out of the moto scene. I haven’t ridden my RM-Z or RM since Lakewood – more than five weeks ago. But I’m back and plan to be hitting my weekly routine hard in preparation for some September and October events!

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