If it has been a while since you have visited the Kelson website, you will probably enjoy taking a look now. The content and formatting have been completely revised. Along with the familiar custom bikes, Brian is offering a new service: custom wheel builds. Many of our readers will recognize the bike and legs of this Kelson owner (Clinton Mortley).
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Lifeguards Needed for Rexburg Youth Triathlon
Hi all,
If you or anyone you know can help lifeguard in the water at the youth
triathlon Sept 6, please let me know and I'll get you more info.
You'll probably want a wetsuit. It's a ton of fun, and very rewarding.
If you have kids doing it, you can swim with them and get out with
them for the transition, then swim again with the next wave if you
want (or stay out w/your kids if you need to).
Please pass this along. You can reply to me or Tom Anderson.
Thanks!Steph
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
AMA Challenge September 27th
The AMA Challenge which starts in Ashton and benefits The American Diabetes Association has become a very popular event for local cyclists. It features a variety of distances up to 100 miles. The 100 mile ride is pretty tough and includes two laps up the Ashton Hill and down the Scenic Byway. You can get more information and sign up here. http://www.amachallenge.org/
Congratulations to Idaho Mountain Trading
According to Today's Post Register, Idaho Mountain Trading has purchased the building immediately south of their current location (previously occupied by the Idaho Youth Ranch Thrift Store). IMT plans to move into the new building which is twice the size of its current location sometime in September. They plan to sell or lease their old building. Idaho Mountain Trading (previously know as Mountain Trading Company) has been in business for what must be getting close to 40 years. It is a downtown Idaho Falls institution specializing in cycling, skiing, climbing, and backpacking equipment. Everyone benefits when local businesses prosper and I am always happy to see support for traditional downtown business districts.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Thanks to Everyone Who Came to the BBQ
I am not entirely unbiased, but I think there is a pretty strong consensus that this year’s party was one of the best ever. With rain falling steadily in the mid-afternoon, things looked pretty grim, but we had faith in the hourly forecast and it did not let us down. One of the high points of the evening was the entertainment which featured loud and lively classic rock covers (including Dylan and the Beatles) by DJ Live, David Peck and Jack Harrell. These guys were so good we have already issued an invitation back for next year. We also had some impromptu entertainment with Sam reciting a spectacular original slam poem as well as cowboy singing, guitar, and harmonica by Jens Christensen.
It takes a lot of work to put this on and I am grateful to everyone who helped to set up, cook, and clean. I am already looking forward to next year. Here are some pictures.
.
Monday, August 25, 2014
We Think This is Going to Blow Over
Here is the hourly forecast. We are putting up tents. Scott Wood is bringing a 20 foot dome tent. Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
BBQ is Tomorrow NIght
The forecast is looking better. The BBQ is on. We will have some tents in place just in case. Looking forward to live music from David Peck and Jack Harrell.
Bike BBQ
Monday August 25th 6 p.m.
Dave and Dawn Anderson home
Please bring a side dish, salad, or dessert.
Bring your family. Bring your friends.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Chris Horner Talks About His Withdrawal from the Vuelta
photo copyright Tim De Waele/TWDsport.com/velonews.com
Readers of the blog know that I am a fan of Chris Horner, so I was pretty disappointed to hear that he would be unable to defend his Vuelta title. Horner went on a six hour bike ride to find some solace. http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/08/news/horner-finds-solace-bike-controversial-vuelta-exit_342172
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Rebecca's Private Idaho Registration is Open
The date for the second annual RPI is Sunday August 31st. I missed the first one, but I am looking forward to going this year. Everyone who participated last year said that it was an outstanding event. http://www.rebeccasprivateidaho.com/ The picture of Brian and Ryan from last year’s event appeared in a story that ran in the Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stefani-jackenthal/idaho-wine-tasting_b_4283398.html
Monday, August 18, 2014
John Gets VIP Treatment from Life Flight
As some of you know already, John is recovering from surgery in a Boise hospital following a motorcycle crash on Saturday. The accident occurred near Glens Ferry as John was participating in a multi-day mostly back country motorcycle traverse of the state and resulted in a tib-fib fracture of his lower leg. John is very experienced with motorcycles and almost indestructible, but it is essentially the same story as a bad bicycle crash. Sometimes in spite of every precaution you take, it just happens. We all wish him a quick and complete recovery.
The story has an interesting twist. About a month ago, John, Jeff, and I rode a loop out through Osgood and back through Idaho Falls. That day, John was talking about the membership program offered by Idaho Life Flight Air Ambulance. You pay a membership fee and Life Flight will pick you up and transport you to a hospital for zero out-of-pocket expense. I told John that I had never been transported by Life Flight and was skeptical about buying a membership. John felt like it would be a good idea to sign up. He had no way of knowing that his first helicopter ride was just weeks away. His membership was probably the best return on investment any of us will ever make in our lifetimes. Read more about Life Flight membership here: http://www.lifeflight.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=67
From Weston: Meeting Tate at California Criterium
For those who don't know, I haven't been at the TNR lately because I've been in California for the past few weeks trying to make some money during the 6 week break from BYU-I. There is some killer terrain here to train on and I feel like I am on track in my preparation for LOTOJA, but I still wish I was riding with all the guys in Idaho. I miss the friendship and camaraderie that exists in our cycling community.
I was, however, lucky to be able to catch up with Tate this weekend at a crit that was just 7 minutes from my place here. Tate has been back from China for just a few weeks and is already ripping people's legs off. He drove down from Vegas with the Allegiant Air team and sported their kit for the race. It looks to me like they will be offering him a permanent spot on their talented and well funded team. Tate said, "It's crazy working with these guys man. They just told me where to be this morning and they picked me up. I get here and they ask what I want in my bottles and what pressure I want my tires at. I'm used to being the underdog at these races and hiding my keys under the bumper of my car!" Allegiant Air is sponsored by Diamondback and all of their guys ride team painted Diamondback Podium 7's that are almost as beautiful as Tate's baby blue Kelson.
Tate raced the Pro/1/2/3 race and there were some serious teams out competing in the 97 degree heat. The most notable teams were, the KHS-Maxxis pro team, Jelly belly cycling, and Allegiant Air. The announcer said the field had 70 guys racing in this 7 corner crit. Tate's Allegiant Air team had 7-8 of those guys. The race started our quick and after only a couple laps you could see that the heat was killing some of the racers. Tate moved up to the front third of the pack and tried to conserve energy as much as possible. There was a nasty wind that Tate later told me felt like a "blow dryer in your face." 35 minutes into the 70 minute race many guys had fallen off the back and quit due to the heat and I could see that Tate was struggling (It might have been the Del Taco burrito he said he ate on the way to the race haha). A group of 4 guys broke off the front and the main field was pushing hard to reel them in. The pace picked up and attacks were coming one after another. With about 20 minutes to go Tate dropped out of the race after losing the front bolt from his cleat. He put in a solid effort and the Allegiant Air team director was impressed with his performance. With this being his first and last crit of the season, I think he did fantastic.
It was good seeing Tate and he told me to tell everyone in Rexburg hi for him and let us know that he misses all the guys in Rexburg.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
USA Pro Challenge App
Starts tomorrow. Here is a link to info on the Tour Tracker app which is available free from the Apple Store and the Google Play Store.
http://thetourtracker.com/apps/
From Zac: Pierre's Hole MTB Race
We had a great day at Grand Targhee! Nate and I raced in the 50km group. Race was really well done, they had about 300 riders. The course was amazing!
Saturday, August 16, 2014
The Ghost Ride Century - 15% OFF
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Thursday, August 14, 2014
From Steve W: Tour de Suisse Stage 5 Finale
It can get pretty rough in the pro peloton. I felt a little motion sick just watching.
Victor Velo Posts 2014 Cross Calendar
The cyclocross season is one of my favorite times of the year. Dave Bergart posted the official schedule of the Victor races today. You will notice that the schedule also includes the Cube as well as the new Great Pumpkin and Blue Goose in Idaho Falls. It should be an outstanding cross season with an abundance of local races.
2014 Cross! Victor Velo is back at it. So many races happening
Kross Kick off Sunday Sept 28th
MooseCross October 11+12
Spooky Cross November 1st
BIG NEWS! MooseCross has formed a cyclocross series with Sandpoint, Missoula, and Coeur De Alaine called the WildWest Cyclocross Series
CrosstoberFest in Sandpoint, Idaho, October 4th and 5th
MooseCross in Victor, Idaho, October 11th and 12th
Rolling Thunder in Missoula, Montana, November 1st and 2nd
Wild West Series Final in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, November 15th
Here are some more dates to add to your calendar These races will be a blast
Great Pumpkin - Idaho Falls, ID October 18th
The Cube - Rexburg, ID October 25th
Blue Goose - Idaho Falls, ID November 8th
http://victorvelo.blogspot.com/
Bike BBQ Monday August 25th
Bike BBQ
Monday August 25th 6 p.m.
Dave and Dawn Anderson home
Please bring a side dish, salad, or dessert.
Bring your family. Bring your friends.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
The West's Toughest Gravel Grinders from Cyclingwest.com
Brian and Ryan. photo copyright Rebecca's Private Idaho/cyclingwest.com
I have not been a regular reader of Cycling West, but I plan to start. It looks like a pretty nice publication. Its list of the toughest gravel grinders includes the Crusher and Rebecca's Private Idaho as well as a new event I am curious to read about, The Montana Hell Ride.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Danny MacAskill's Imaginate
I know. This is a year old and 23 million people have seen it already. I did not watch it until today.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Ulitmate Challenge 2014 Recap
Here is a recap of the Ultimate Challenge, the now officially "ride not a race" evolution of the Thousand Warriors race which follows the same course as the queen stage of the Tour of Utah. This ride had been a favorite of several of the locals, and the year's prior ride was detailed by Dave in his post last August.
I think when most of us saw that they were making this year's course even harder we chose to opt [wimp] out, but a few of the hardcore went ahead and gutted it out. Many thanks to my cousin Dan Mills, PT for this excellent write-up that makes me wish I'd been there instead of riding up Fish Creek with Dave, Ryan, and Brian. (Well almost wish I'd been there).
I think when most of us saw that they were making this year's course even harder we chose to opt [wimp] out, but a few of the hardcore went ahead and gutted it out. Many thanks to my cousin Dan Mills, PT for this excellent write-up that makes me wish I'd been there instead of riding up Fish Creek with Dave, Ryan, and Brian. (Well almost wish I'd been there).
The 2014 Ultimate Challenge, aka the Queen Stage of the Tour of Utah, did not disappoint. Billed as the hardest single stage on American soil by some previous pro participants, the atmosphere is unique in American cycling. It may not be Alpe d’Huez, but the Queen Stage has become a showcase for the beauty of the Wasatch Front and had the world’s attention this weekend.
The amateur-filled Ultimate Challenge has been described by some as over-priced and a bit under-supported. The early registration was a great option in theory, however, for those concerned about the significant amount of climbing, the final reveal on the route didn’t come until less than 60 days before the race. That criticism aside, it was a great ride this year. Piggy-backing on the tour means street cleaners had hit a lot of the route, police presence was adequate, and most importantly, small town locals were expecting to see lots of bikes.
As a disclaimer I’m a Utah native, and reside less than a mile from mouth of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. This means I’m painfully familiar with each switchback, pothole, and climb. Hopefully this review will reflect the good with the bad.
The route deviated somewhat from last year. In a sadistic twist, the gentle descent, followed by rollers, was replaced with a climb up Emigration Canyon over Little Mountain and Big Mountain. With large numbers of cyclists riding these climbs daily, it’s not unusual to see more bikes than cars. Emigration (to Little Mountain) is generally perceived as the easiest of the Salt Lake Canyons (considering Mill Creek, Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, and Suncrest). However, Big Mountain does require a little time in the “pain cave.” The decent into East Canyon and on to Henefer involves a small climb but otherwise begins gentle rollers for nearly 50 miles. The elements were not a significant factor, however, because of the early climb and subsequent separation, the peleton wasn’t nearly the size as 2013 (I’d guess over 60 riders at one point in 2013).
The route takes you past 3 of Utah’s reservoirs (East Canyon, Echo, and Rockport) and near to Jordanelle reservoir.
The Browns Canyon climb had dramatically less wind this year and outside of not recalling the exact location of the false summit, it was uneventful.
The aide station in Park City was an area to transact all last minute business before the last two peaks of the day. Every aide station was stocked with water dispensing and EFS electrolyte in 3 flavors (EFS was more available this year) and an assortment of ergogenic comfort foods, including oranges, bananas, pretzels, and granola bars (sounds like a youth soccer game at halftime right?) Most were happy for the EFS, water, a banana, and a last trip to the loo.
The climbing out of Park City to Deer Valley and the Empire Pass are some of the most beautiful, and steep, and painful that I know. Follow this with the last 5 km to Guardsman Pass and you have a recipe for a special kind of pain. Empire Pass is well-paved and takes you through some of Deer Valley’s prime real estate. Guardsman hails at just under 10 k elevation but worse, involves a pocked patch of ill-repaired chip seal pavement with a max grade of 16%. It is the type of ride where stopping may leave you unable to clip back in without a risky downhill loop. What a beautiful thing! Onlookers gather at the last 200 m in preparation for the pros and eye you as an amateur with a combination of disbelief, awe, and respect. The conditions on this day were beautiful: a slight breeze, occasional cloud cover (depending on your timing), and a cleaner than normal road on what we dubbed “Utah’s version of European cobblestone.”
The recovery coming down Big Cottonwood is enjoyable, occasionally technical, but a wonderful chance to recover. Of note, Cadel Evans took full advantage of the contours to spare more energy than the other 3 in the lead, resulting in fractionally more power in Little Cottonwood and a stage win.
The festive atmosphere in Little Cottonwood is the closest to what I have only experienced second hand with the Tour de France. Fan numbers continue to expand. The offers this year included: a saddle push (highly recommended); cool water over your head; hot dogs with condiments of your choice (I would have enjoyed watching the execution of that one if the thought of a hotdog at the moment didn’t make me throw up in my mouth); cold cans of coke (recommended), ice pops (recommended); cold beer (your call on that one); and donuts offered from the end of a stick (didn’t try it—wouldn’t recommend it). The costumers and general rabid cycling fans outdid themselves this year, in fact, I think cosplay isn’t just at Salt Lake Comic-Con anymore.
The take home message is, yes it hurts, but watching the pros from the comfort of the big top tent on a giant screen, with your feet propped, a cold beverage in hand with fellow pain cavers just might be worth it. I chatted with one of the United Health Care pros afterward and asked how it went. He saw my finisher’s medal and asked me the same thing. I pointed out that our experiences definitely wouldn’t be the same. He said, “The pain is the same, we are just going faster.” Ah, true that from a fellow masochist. In the words of Princess Bride, “To the pain!”
[Editors note: If you're ever in need of a world-class physical therapist and in the Wasatch metro area, Dan is your man.]
The Best Multimedia in Cycling
I just finished watching the 7th and final stage of the Tour of Utah. It was a great race this year from start to finish. I feel a pretty strong connection to the event for a couple of reasons. I have attended many stages in person going back to the early years of the Tour of Utah and I have ridden a lot of the roads, particularly the ones that have been utilized for the Queen Stage to Snowbird/Ultimate Challenge. Over its ten year history, the Tour of Utah has grown from a fairly provincial affair to an event of international stature. As the race has grown and matured, the quality of its coverage has improved as well.
I have followed every day of this year’s Tour of Utah using the live video feature of the Tour Tracker, including watching the video of Stage 2 which we saw finish in Torrey. The quality of the commentary and the video is very good and here is a big bonus: you can watch stage replays.
If you have not watched any of this year’s Tour of Utah, I will recommend what I consider the three highlights:
- Finish of Stage 2 in Torrey
- Finish of Stage 6 at Snowbird
- Finish of Stage 7 in Park City
Go to the Tour Tracker and select “replays”.
Bart Flies at Leadville
Congratulations to Bart Miller on an outstanding 8:32 finish at Leadville yesterday. I believe he will be posting a full report on his blog. http://cyclingstrong.com/blog-2/ I asked Bart for a comment for this blog: "I couldn't have done it without all my friends and cycling buddies. It was the hardest ride I have ever done and I am so grateful for all the support everyone gave me to make it happen! Thank you so much to everyone who called or texted me-it really meant a lot to me."
Friday, August 8, 2014
A First Hand Look at patchnride
Patchnride had a booth at the finish line expo in Torrey. I had a chance to look at the device and talk to the sales representatives. The meeting seemed pretty fortuitous since I had written a post about the device only a few days earlier. Overall, I came away with a pretty favorable impression.
There were a couple of things that I probably got wrong in my earlier comments. I made the assumption that the device was designed for clinchers only, not for tubulars. It turns out that the company believes that the repair of tubulars may be one of the strongest points of the device. The potential value in tubulars is elevated by the high cost of tubulars and difficulty in replacing them.
I also speculated that the process of inserting a patch might damage the tire. At the patchnride booth, they had some examples of high mileage tires which had undergone multiple repairs with patchnride. The reps contend that the thin rubber stem that protrudes from the hole in the tire after the insertion of the patch actually helps to provide a permanent repair to the tire as well as the tube.
The device utilizes a small disposable cartridge which contains a two step repair of adhesive and a patch. It looks line a smaller printer cartridge. They plan to market kits specific to various types of tires such as road, mountain, and I believe tubular.
Long time readers of the blog know that I own an American Classic Road Tubeless wheelset which I tested at the Ultimate Challenge last year by hitting a porcupine. I have never had a flat with the Road Tubeless and I believe that it is a potentially valuable and underutilized technology. Even though these tires are amazingly resistant to flatting, they still depend on fairly fresh sealant and punctures small enough to reseal. The current patchnride would not be able to fix a tubeless tire, but apparently they are developing a flat repair system for tubeless which reverses the order of the current system inserting the patch first and the adhesive second.
The biggest limitation of the patchnride system is that in its current configuration, it will never fix a pinch flat. The reps told me they are even working on that. The cost of each cartridge will be more than a replacement tube and you will still need a CO2 to inflate the tire, so it is not the most economical way to fix a flat. However, in circumstances that match up perfectly with the strengths of the device (typical penetrating puncture) it may well be the fastest repair method as well as a very viable option for people who lack the skills or just do not want to change a tire.
The patchnride booth was offering a promotion to visitors willing to preorder and pay by credit card. It included the device, some leak detectors, and a couple of replacement cartridges. All of this retails for $35, but they were promoting it at $20. I purchased one kit. The device itself is probably a little too big for most seat packs and I do not really intend to carry it on all my rides, but I will definitely stick it in a jersey pocket for the Tuesday Night Rides. The devices will not ship out for about 6 weeks. Hopefully, it will arrive in time to fix some TNR flats before the end of the season.
If someone else wants to try this out, the patchnride reps indicated they would be willing to send me a couple of additional units to demo with some strings attached. You would need to be willing to do a real evaluation of the device including a little write up on the blog maybe a picture or two. Let me know if you are interested in doing the demo.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
The Fish Lake Loop
As I mentioned earlier, Brian and I rode the Fish Lake Loop Monday. Dawn rode with us as far as Fremont but opted out of the big climb to Fish Lake. Starting from Torrey, the loop around Fish Lake is 85 miles. It meets every single criterion for an epic hard ride: abundant climbing, high altitude, spectacular scenery, and minimal traffic. On Tuesday, we had to deal with a ridiculous amount of wind. Most of the sparse traffic on the loop comes from the south. We rode from north to south, climbing on open roadways.
Heart of Idaho Century This Saturday
If you are looking for something to do on Saturday, don't forget to check out the Heart of Idaho Century Ride. Details and registration can be found here: http://www.theartmuseum.org/Century.htm
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Tour of Utah Stage 2
Dawn and I returned home about midnight last night from our trip to Torrey to watch Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour of Utah. It was such a great trip and exciting Tour stage, that it is going to be really hard to write this post without the end result sounding like gloating.
Brian's mom Charlotte hooked us up with a hotel room. Someone, I don't know if it was Kelson or Brian's dad Rob who is a county commissioner in Torrey, put some VIP passes in our hands. We watched the stage unfold on the Jumbotron from the comfort of the VIP tent surrounded by food and cold drinks. I am very grateful for the generosity of the entire family.
I will backtrack a little bit to repeat something I have said in the past when writing about the Capital Reef Classic. Torrey is one of the best places I have ever been. It is an idyllic little town with a long cottonwood shaded Main Street on the edge of Capital Reef National Park. It is surrounded by stunning scenery and outstanding cycling.
On Monday morning, Brian and I rode the Fish Lake loop. (I will try to post a couple of pictures and write a short commentary on Fish Lake tomorrow). Yesterday morning, Dawn and I rode the Torrey to Teasdale circuit, riding into town over the final kilometers of the stage finish.
If you have been following the Tour of Utah in Velonews or elsewhere, you know that yesterday's stage has been praised as one of the greatest stages in the ten year history of the race.
Rather than retelling the details of the entire stage, I have included a link to the VeloNews story. Here is how the stage unfolded in a nutshell. BMC rider Michael Schar, former Swiss National Champion and recent Tour de France finisher, was off the front most of the day including the massive climb from Boulder to Torrey. Schar was cramping and in obvious pain ahead of a fast charging peleton on the descent into Torrey and the long finishing straight. The announcers commented that he looked like a man passing kidney stones. At one kilometer, he had a gap of ten seconds over a rapidly closing field which was being driven by the sprinters' teams. The spectators at the finish were desperate for him to stay away. At 1000 meters, I would have bet my life savings against him holding on for the win. He came in at a full sprint right along the barriers on the right side of the street where we were watching. Dawn snapped a photo of his face as he passed. Michael Schar managed to hold a gap of two seconds all the way to the finish.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Saturday, August 2, 2014
A New Gizmo for Your Flat Tires
This is a story that also comes to us from skinnyg214. I am always fascinated by gadgets and the PatchNride is a pretty cool idea. You fix a flat by pinching a section of the tire and injecting a patch utilizing what we would call in medicine an autoinjector. I would be pretty reluctant to do this with a road tire because in my experience even the smallest penetrating damage to a road tire leaves a spot that wears out pretty quickly. Plus most people that have repaired a thousand flat tires don’t have a big problem fixing flats the old fashioned way. On the other hand, think of the people who hate to change flats. Think of the times like Lotoja (assuming you are not running tubulars or tubeless) when you might be a long way from support and time is of the essence in making a repair. If this thing works as advertized, it could come in pretty handy.
I had one more thought about this which kind of puts it in perspective. Most of the flats I have dealt with lately have been things like pinch flats on railroad crossings and torn valve stems. The only repair in that situation is to replace the tube. As clever as PatchNride is, it is specific to one type of a very wide variety of possible causes of a flat tire.
I had one more thought about this which kind of puts it in perspective. Most of the flats I have dealt with lately have been things like pinch flats on railroad crossings and torn valve stems. The only repair in that situation is to replace the tube. As clever as PatchNride is, it is specific to one type of a very wide variety of possible causes of a flat tire.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Tubeless Tire Failure
You have to watch this to believe it. Thanks to Garrett (skinnyg214) for this link.
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