Get on your fixed gear bicycle and ride!

I still feel that varable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear! --Henri Desgrange, L'Équipe article of 1902

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

24hr craziness

Friday I head to Wisco with Trent and Dave to meet up with Brian for our first assault on the 24hrs of 9 mile ,this weekend, that should be interesting, gonna do it Fixie style!! Be on the look out for 24hr crazy man, National and World Champion Dejay Birtch at 9 mile also!!

I have gotten confirmation for the 24hrs of Afton :We have recieved your entry for the race in the solo category. You are qualified for the T shirt and socks. Being that you registered for the solo category, you are also qualified for the Loony bin. See you the last Friday in August. Can you say EXCITED!!. Also doin it Fixie style!

Monday, July 17, 2006

54 miles yesterday

You'd think I'd be so tired I would be snoozing away, I am still a bit wired from the ride so at almost 4am I am unable to sleep and felt compelled enough to update the blog........I was a bit motivated by Simmons' blog entry about riding up to GF from Fargo, putting in 84 miles, so I thought, I should do 85miles and one-up him by doing on the fixie....nice thought, and now know it was an overly ambitious thought......LOL........I was only 31 miles short!, but, when you think about it, it was 95 degrees today, I rode gravel and minimum maintenance roads, some pavement, and single track on 29inch, 2.3 wide tires....he was on a road bike, on pavement, the whole time......soooooo, I feel it all equals out! The first 36miles I was kept an average speed of just over 14 mph, as anyone that rides in ND can attest, you always seem to be heading into the wind.....the next 18 miles I averaged in the 11mph area, doesn't sound like much of a difference, but you really notice it!

I left GF at approx. 12:30pm Sunday, rode to Manvel ND via the Lama Loop, and as soon as possible getting on the min. maintenance roads, took those into town, got some water, and a KING size Snickers..YUM.. and then down the road to the Mekinock turnoff, a gravel road for several miles, road to the Dairy Queen by the base and hung out a bit in the air conditioned goodness, was getting the chills and feeling a bit nauseous by this time, might have been the heat, not sure ;o).....rested for about 1/2 an hour, then headed into Emerado, onto freshly graded gravel roads again until I hit Arvilla, then onto Turtle River; at this point I had 45 miles showing on the computer and I was starting to cramp. I needed some quick energy so I bought a Coke, shook it up until it was flat, no fizz, added some E'mergen C and started to come back to life.

I relaxed a bit until Greg A. and Simmons showed up figuring I'd force myself to "try" and keep up with them while riding around TR, I wasn't cramping to bad, but I did feel it trying to stay on their tails, but then again I thought, you're doing good because they have 'fresh' legs, and you have 45 miles on yours, so I'm happy with my attempt.....It was fun(?) trying to keep them insight as they are much better riders than myself; permit me to pat myself on my back ok?...oh yeah, and they were riding "geared" bikes, even self proclaimed fixie addict Greg A.....I don't know G, knee problem or not, I'm wondering about your dedication to the fixie life. After a hard 3/4's of a lap....you can laugh now...I decided I better save my strength since "Maah Daah Hey Trail Kim" was coming out, I couldn't be shown up by her, which she could easily do, so I rested a bit and re-energized...good thing I did!

It was fun seeing Greg "Maverick, or is it Goose" A. again, and Simmons, even though he's only been gone a couple of weeks, and of course Randy L, and Steve S. were there also. The post ride pasta, and whatever other food I could eat was fantabulous, I think that's just because I was soooooooo hungry anything would would have tasted great. A little post ride massage was certainly needed and enjoyed. Well, 24 hours of 9 mile is coming up soon, hopefully I'll be ready to hit it hard, getting excited, giddy even, like a little school girl!

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Maah Daah Hey weekend

Brief run down....Only the GREATEST mtb trip I've ever been on!!!...great riding, and even better company, thanks Kim, Chad, & John!....I was/am in the best biking shape I have ever been in......Kim & I arrived at Bennett Creek appox. 3am in the morning, set up camp and enjoyed(?) the hollowing coyotes, if you like looking at the stars you couldn't ask for a better place!! We found out after the fact that a new Bennett Creek Loop had been completed last fall and is not on the maps yet, the company that built it said it was by far the most trecherous section of trail they have constructed....Jennifer M.from Dakota Cyclery said it is her new favorite riding spot on the trail(Loren is back in Medora, riding bike and driving shuttles....recovering quite well!).

We rode Bennett Creek to the MDH and up to, and past China Wall.....Kim did as I predicted in the last post, she ROCKED the Maah Daah Hey Trail!! I Loved riding the fixie, set up a nice spinning gear, 32x21, and cleaned everything, so I was pretty happy! The day was warm, but we had a nice breeze so the temp. felt much cooler.
We packed up and met up with Chad and John, also riding 29ers, at Magpie campground Sat. evening, met two guys loaded with panniers doing the whole trail, also scam'd some firewood from the horse people, must have been a dozen of 'em, so lots of fresh crap on the trail, also met a group riding the trail using the shuttle service provided by DC.....very busy camp area.....around 10 am we rode out to Devils Pass and beyond, enjoyed a leisurely ride back, stopping a couple of times to relax in the shade and enjoy the view, and what a view it was ;o)....got pretty hot that day, not much of a breeze either. We packed up and headed to Medora via an exploration of the back roads.....absolutely worth the extra time, we had to drive the truck through the Little Missouri River....stopped and took a dip in the river, so refreshing after a day of biking in the hot temps!
We visited Elkhorn Campground just to check it out, then hoped we'd find our way to a main road, see, the map we had didn't show where all the roads went, so we 'explored'....eventually my sharp eyes spied a fading sign that said I-94 15 miles....fun times were had by all! Met up at the Medora Campground with Chad and John and set up camp for the third time, we were pros by this time. Enjoyed an evening of bs'ing and Guinness!, got up early & prepared for another ride...The 4 of us headed towards the Buffalo Gap Trail and then decided to just ride to Sullys Creek, etc.....found some looooong decents, crossed the Little Missouri River 4 times FUN!!....We explored a bunch of trails. We tried the Pitchfork Fondue Monday evening, YUMMM, nothing like a deep fried steak!...after three days of camp food it felt good to eat a prepared meal, drank some wine, and again, enjoyed the view/scenery....such a beatuiful area!
The best three days of riding I've ever had on the Maah Daah Hey Trail, not to mention Kim, who riding platform pedals, did awesome!!! She easily would have ridden me into the ground had she been on any of my previous MDH trips, watch out boys, there's a new sheriff in town! Both Chad and John mentioned that they were VERY impressed with her riding ability! The fixie Monocog rode like a dream, LOVE the 29 inch wheels! Thanks to C & J for letting us share the campsite and their company. BTW, Guiness and hotdogs make an EXCELLENT breakfast! I've never drank more and rode harder...must be the fixie!