I like to ride my bike all over town. I tend to show off my superfly on pavement, sidewalks, dirt, strangers front yard…anywhere I can get away with riding. Having so much time off the bike I have been making a point to put in some fun easy miles.
I pull into the parking lot that is a back entrance to some of my favorite trails and I stumble upon a group of cyclist. After riding through the parking lot I realize it is an all women’s road ride. Better yet I know a ton of the riders.

I found out that a local gal, Randi, started riding with a few women…and it grew!  I tagged along for a little ways before heading back to the woods.

When I made it back to the woods I had a big smile on my face.  It was nice to see so many women cyclist…but I began plotting how to convert them into lovers of the dirt.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am the crew member with the breathe rite strip tan line across the bridge of her nose!! I have been battling not being able to breathe out of my nose so I decided on surgery. 3 weeks of bed and couch time later I was released from my personal jail. I was allowed to ride!!
No sooner I had heard those words than I called up my training partner Tony and made plans to head out. We went out on the road since I was still in a good bit of pain and found myself reluctant to eat dirt.

Driving down the road I spotted a runner that seemed to be impersonating my favorite rep tpg.  I stared, I stared some more…then I wrote it off as coincidence.   I unloaded my bike.  I pumped my tires. (they were running way low on air since my road bike had been ignored)  I flashed my new nose and was ready to ride.  I turned to see a runner running straight for us.  It was tpg!!  I got a sweaty hug and a bon voyage….

16 minutes later…I knew we had to have already ridden 50 miles.  Tony and I raced up some hills, we debated on loco pops vs gellatto, but ultimately we enjoyed the longest 50 minute ride of my life!!

I love to ride my bike!!

As the forecast predicted, tropical storm Dan brought a monsoon for the start of the Cat2 Norcross Scurry in Ashford, CT, race #11 of the Root 66 Race Series. The race was held at a 1200 acre, 1st class boy scout camp [w/ hot showers and a fireplace] that proved to be a true mountain bike course with great singletrack. Got the holeshot on my Superfly, red lined it into 1st section of singletrack, only to get stopped in my tracks at the rocky stream crossing which lead to a hike a bike for the muddy uphill. Hopped back on for the downhill only to find out that I made the wrong tire selection. If it calls for rain=mud use the Bonty Mud X for traction! When we finally came out of the woods I was passed by two fast guys [Slyvan and Scott] who I’ve been battling all season. Settled in at a good pace, searching for any traction, making sure to shift smoothly so as not to get the dreaded chain suck and avoided sticks in my deraileur. I stayed upright for the entire 2 laps of 5.2 miles, covered in mud. Finished up strong for a 3rd place at 1:45 and those 50 series points. Once again, the Superfly reaches the podium!

It's all downhill from here.

Some rides are regular rides. The ones close to home base, done often, not boring but standard fare. Then other rides when you are pulled out of your element or your comfort zone or both, those are the special ones. They may be standard outings for others but mean something different for you. (more…)

When I first started mountain biking I was always told that ORAMM was the race that beats you even if you finish.  I laughed at that til I did the race.  It boasts 63 miles of mostlyl single track with 11, 000 feet of climbing.    I will never claim to be the most technical of riders, but I love to climb.  My first ORAMM beat me.  I finished.  I finished well.  I broke my fork in mile 20, crashed 3 more times, flatted 3 times…and swore I would never do the race again.

So this year when I found out my girls and the Fisher road team were going to do ORAMM I decided I would too!!  With  surgery on my nose the next day,  I figured riding with them would be fun and make the next few weeks off my bike more bearable.

We met the night before to plan out rest stops, recap the route,  go over potential mechanicals and just chat about the day ahead.  Since they had never done anything like ORAMM I wanted to make sure they were prepared.

So the girls were ready.  I was ready.  It was the boys i was worried about!!  Adam was only going to carry 2 bottles for the whole ride while wearing brand new shoes.

At the end of the day only Steve fell off the mountain, Lisa won a set of I9 hubs and everyone finished on a bike that worked!! It was a long but fun day on the bike. 

No thats not first place finishes, its doing things on a bike i have never done before. 1st season on a mountain bike team, awsome. 1st year on a 29er, awsome. 1st 60mile O-cup road race, not bad. 1st time on the top box of the podium, awsome. Teaching my son to ride, awsome, and my lasted adventure was trying a bmx race. Now at 36 i figured I was well past my days of 20″ wheels but with a son taking some interest i thought i better learn how. After a 1hr 45min session on a track i figured i was race ready. Well, i was ready to try anyway. With a full gate of 8 guys I was able to finish all 4 motos with 1-4th and 3-2nds and a 2nd in the main. Awsome. Now its back to training for our Ontaro cup final this weekend at Kelso ski resort in Milton On. Promises to be a tough ride with our longest hill climbs of the year, 2 per lap. Then it will be on to Crank the Shield in Sept. I will hopefully be doing the Iceman cometh as my season finally before i break out the ski’s and snowshoes. I don’t even like to think about that season yet. Hope everyone is having a wonderful season and best of luck down the finishing stretches… Cheers

Lots of riding around in the woods lately, with a slow to heal broken AC joint keeping me out of the woods and then the fed up feeling to just go anyway, I’ve been quiet. It took 2 months after a solid start to the season and a proper spring, the wheels are headed back in the right direction. Good results, better rides. So many years on hardtails and now the home office is offering up a full cushy machine? MattO says it will change your view on things. When anyone that smart says something like that, I listen, always worth a try, no?