Sunday, May 31, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
GCN: Chasing Marginal Gains at the Giro
Intersting stuff here...fat tires, road tubeless, low gearing, and more.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Bike Rumor Pic of the Day: White Rim Trail
Thursday, May 28, 2015
From Scott Hurst: Registration is Open for the Mountains to the Desert Ride and the Telluride 200.
Registration is open for the Mountains to the Desert Ride and the Telluride 200.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
The Chipotle Guacamole Recipe
Image copyright foodpeoplewant.com
Chipotle has built its reputation on fresh, high quality ingredients and in my opinion, a Chipotle burrito is absolutely the best ten dollar meal in America. Regardless of which variety of burrito, bowl, or taco you prefer, the one indispensible addition is guacamole. (Maybe one small disclaimer is in order. A Chipotle burrito is big and the calorie count is not trivial, so this ought to be your big meal of the day, not a random snack). Chipotle recently released their guacamole recipe to the public to emphasize their commitment to healthy natural ingredients. The recipe utilizes a total of six ingredients and is easy to prepare. The end product is second to none. You can do the math (multiples of two avocados) and adjust the recipe to produce the batch size appropriate to accommodate the number of people you are preparing for and their love of guacamole. For me, that is generally to start with six large avocados. As a note in the preparation, I am not in favor of vigorous mashing of the avocados. You can find the Recipe here: https://chipotle.com/guac-recipe
In a related story, Taco Bell announced yesterday their goal to remove unnatural ingredients from their menu by the end of 2015. Based on my limited experience dining at Taco Bell, that seems like a pretty tall order. They have announced two exceptions: co-marketed products like the Doritos Locos® Tacos which appear to be mostly made from unnatural ingredients, and sodas like my own beloved Diet Coke which is admittedly as unnatural as any other modern food or beverage.
VN: Phil Gaimon's Food Diary from the Tour of California
Phil Gaimon is the best writer and the funniest guy in the professional peleton.
image copyright Phil Gaimon/Velonews.com
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Rain and Lightning
There are few things that I like less than cancelling the TNR, but given the amount of rain and lightning in the area, I do not think we have much choice. In all the years we have done this I cannot recall a spring with more stormy Tuesdays or more cancellations. It is pouring rain outside my window right now. If there is a silver lining to this situation, it is this: I would rather have the storm hit half an hour before the ride than half an hour after. Hopefully, our fortunes turn around by next week.
As an aside, I just spoke to Joe. The number of people suffering from significant sunburn from yesterday is up to at least four. I am not always a big fan of sunscreen, but glad that I used it pretty heavily yesterday.
We Learn About Sunscreen
At least three people are dealing with some sunburn from the ride yesterday including the two unnamed individuals in these photographs. I guess it goes without saying that everyone in the area is at a higher than normal risk of sunburn after the long rainy spring in which most of us have not had any meaningful sun exposure. It is anyone’s guess what conditions will be like for the TNR tonight. Depending on the weather service you consult, the risk of rain runs the range from negligible to high.
Monday, May 25, 2015
The Pocatello Ride
Happy Memorial Day. A few years ago, John Summers heard about a ride that is popular among Pocatello area cyclists. The ride is undoubtedly known by various names, but I have heard it referred to as the Four Summits Ride. The route starts in Pocatello, and almost immediately climbs east up Buckskin Road. It turns south in the Rapid Creek area and continues to Inkom where it climbs to the Pebble Creek Ski Area. The climb to Pebble is one of the toughest in the area with over two miles of uninterrupted 12% grades. After Pebble, the route crosses the valley and continues to the top Of Mink Creek, a climb also known as Crystal by the locals. It finishes up with a climb of Scout Mountain and a return to Pocatello via the Old Bannock Highway.
In total, the distance is a little over 70 miles and the total vertical is in excess of 7000 feet. Quite a few Upper Valley cyclists have done the ride. Since John first discovered the ride, we have tried to go down and do the ride a time or two every year. Cynics are quick to dismiss the scenery in the Pocatello area, but anyone who has done the ride knows the scenery is absolutely outstanding throughout much of the ride and the topography varied and interesting. The ride is hard, but not soul-crushingly hard and it is fun. In my opinion, it occupies a prominent place on the list of truly classic rides in Southeastern Idaho.
In the Upper Valley, we generally refer to this as the Pocatello Ride. This morning, we drove down to Pocatello to do this much loved ride with a group of eight, pictured above at the top of the road to Scout Mountain (Cameron, Jeff, Kellen, Dan, Ryan, Tim, Joe, and me). Joe is not pictured because he had to bail prior to the final climb due to a scheduling conflict.
As far as the ride is concerned today, I have nothing but good news to report. Well, I guess almost nothing but good news. Over the past few days, I have heard from a number of Upper Valley cyclists who really wanted to go down today, but were unable to do so due to various scheduling conflicts. I am sorry we were not able to take everyone who wanted to go. Otherwise, everything went absolutely according to script with no mishaps, mechanicals, or weather-related issues. Often, we have suffered from significant heat on the climbs, particularly Mink Creek. The weather today was cool and mild throughout and the rain which was forecast never really materialized. Everyone in the group worked together very cooperatively and we were able to get through the ride pretty efficiently with a minimum of suffering.
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the ride today. For those of you who were unable to attend, there is no question that we will be back to do this again in the future.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Kristen Armstrong Wins National TT Championship
Image copyright Casey B. Gibson/cbgphoto.com/velonews.com
This is a happy day for residents of the great state of Idaho. I would not bet against another World Championship and Olympic Gold Medal.
Friday, May 22, 2015
VeloNews: Kristen Armstrong Faces Do or Die Moment in Quest for Third Olympic Gold
Image copyright Casey B. Gibson/cbgphoto.com/venonews.com
Thursday, May 21, 2015
inCycle Video: Remembering Fausto Coppi + Much More
Maybe the best way to celebrate the Giro is with a Coppi retrospective. You could spend an entire day watching Fausto Coppi videos. In addition to a short English language video introduction, I have included three longer documentaries, one in English, Spanish, and Italian.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
From Weston. 30% Pactimo Discount Coupon
At the beginning of the season I sent my cycling resume to Pactimo cycling apparel to be a Brand Ambassador for them. I was lucky enough to be chosen and have been riding their new line of bibs and jerseys for the past couple months. The quality is on par with any other high end kit I have tried and better than some team kits I've ridden/raced. Pactimo is based out of Colorado and they make a lot of custom kits for pro teams around the country.
They have given me business cards with a promo code to hand out to friends. The promo code is: BA15DUN
That will give anyone 30% off their first order from Pactimo. They also give you points for creating your login which equate to about $12.50. So, between those two you can get a set of bibs for around $60!
Hopefully this is beneficial to a few guys in Rexburg. I wish I was there personally to hand out some of the promo cards but I'll see you guys at Crusher!
That will give anyone 30% off their first order from Pactimo. They also give you points for creating your login which equate to about $12.50. So, between those two you can get a set of bibs for around $60!
Hopefully this is beneficial to a few guys in Rexburg. I wish I was there personally to hand out some of the promo cards but I'll see you guys at Crusher!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Wild Horse Plan B
Tim, Kellen, Joe, and I were all registered to ride the Wild Horse on Saturday and were not too happy when the organizers rescheduled the event based on an ominous forecast. In light of Saturday’s weather they absolutely made the right call. Regrettably, I will not be able to be there for the new date May 30th. Hopefully, the organizers will get good support and be able to put on a successful event. Since Kellen, Joe, and I all had other obligations in Salt Lake this weekend, we agreed to meet Tim for a road ride on Saturday morning as an alternative to the Wild Horse.
It was cold and raining when we started, but we pressed on with the irrational optimism that conditions would improve. After a little side trip to Tibble Fork Reservoir, we started up the Alpine Loop with only brief interruptions in the rain. As we climbed, the rain gradually changed to snow. The temperature at the top was 38 degrees Fahrenheit. There is one lesson that we should have learned over many years of similar misadventures, including Fish Creek. It is not that big a problem to climb in a storm. You generate a lot of heat and are not really moving that fast. The time you get into trouble is on the descent. The upper portion of the Alpine Loop was still gated and closed to traffic which generally was a positive thing. However, the downside is that parts of the road were littered with a substantial amount of rock fall which had not been cleared from the winter. On the way down, we maintained a high level of vigilance for the bigger rocks which could have resulted in immediate catastrophe. But we were also pretty attentive to the smaller rocks because no one was eager to attempt a tire change given the state of our cold hands.
By the time we reached the Ranger Station at Timpanogos Cave, we were pretty desperate to get out of the weather. We went in, took off our wet jackets and soaking shoes, and drank the hot chocolate they offered us. Thoroughly soaked and shivering, we decided our best option was to cut our losses and call for a rescue. Since there was no cell service in the canyon, I borrowed the phone in the Ranger Station. Dawn was comfortably ensconced in a restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City with Thomas and Claire when her phone rang. Seeing an unfamiliar number, she promptly put the phone back in her purse. With no rescue forthcoming and against the better advice of the rangers, we put all the wet clothes back on and went back out into the storm which had only intensified during our stop in the Ranger Station. We rode the last couple of miles out of the canyon in an icy blinding downpour.
Conditions began to improve by the time we got to the Suncrest climb. The final ten miles from Tim’s house to the hotel were largely downhill. The rain had mostly stopped and it was at least twenty degrees warmer. By the time I arrived, the bad parts of the ride were already fading in my memory.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
From the Wild Horse Organizers: Event Postponed
Participants in The Wild Horse and the Little Wild Horse:
The Wild Horse has been postponed!
The BLM has strongly advised us to not hold the event this Saturday, May 16, because of weather concerns. The event date has been moved to Saturday, May 30.
While the predicted amounts of rain might seem trivial, there are portions of roadways in the Cedar Mountains that become impassable to vehicles when they are wet. These are small portions, perhaps as few as four or five miles in the entire 76 mile route, but there is not a viable alternate route.
The current forecast shows a greater than 60 percent chance of rain during the event. We cannot take the chance of having any riders and volunteers unable to get off the course.
I am sorry for this call. It was difficult to make, but participant and volunteer safety is the top priority.
The plan is to hold the event on Saturday, May 30. Same location, same times, same taco truck finish. We hope you can be there.
But I also know that some of you will not be able to make this date. Should you choose to transfer your entry to a friend or take a rain check for 2016, please send me an email. If that will not work and you need a refund, please send me an email.
Registration will reopen for those who were interested in being a part of The Wild Horse but could not take part on May 16.
I apologize for the inconvenience this causes. I know all of you made plans for travel, child care, etc., based on the May 16 date. The call to postpone was not easy.
Why all the way to May 30? The forecast for the next week has rain, rain and more rain. Last Saturday many weather stations in the Cedar Mountain/Skull Valley area had record rainfall, so the ground is already wet. May 23 is the start of Memorial Day weekend (yup, Memorial Day is Monday, May 25), so BLM was not eager to see us out there, as there will be many campers and motorized vehicle traffic.
As always, updated information can be found at RideWildHorse.com/News and Facebook.com/RideWildHorse.
Chris Magerl
Chris Magerl
Quick Release Racing
801.595.8293
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Crusher Registration Available for Resale
Unlike many other events, the Crusher allows registration transfers when a registrant is unable to participate as scheduled. We currently have access to a transfer from a local cyclist who will be unable to do the Crusher this year. He is willing to resell his registration to someone from the area before he puts it back in the general listing on the Crusher website. If you would like to take advantage of this transfer, please contact me and I will put you in touch with him.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
KSL Investigates: Why'd You Steal My Bike?
Bicycle thefts have risen sharply in Salt Lake City in recent years. A KSL reporter puts a GPS tracker on his bike to see where it goes after it is stolen. If you have a few minutes, it is a fairly interesting video. Unfortunately, I am unable to embed it here.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Kenda Kountach Endurance
I have wanted to try this tire for quite a while now, based largely on Kenda’s advertizing. They market this dual-compound tread version of their popular Kountach clincher as a lightweight race-ready tire with an exceptional level of flat protection. The regular Kountach has been widely available, but the Kountach Endurance has been pretty tough to find. I was recently able to get a hold of a 25 mm set which I mounted and took out for ride today. It is probably impossible to tell a good tire from a bad after one ride, but I think this one seems pretty promising. I hope it proves to be durable and as reliable as advertized.
Joe has recently located a distributer for this tire and will be stocking it in both 23 and 25 mm sizes at Sticks and Stones if some other people would like to give it a try as well.
From Joe Hill: High School MTB Team. Meeting for Parents and Riders
Hey Dave,
Just thought I would see if you can help me spread the word about a rider and parents meeting that will be held next week on Thursday May 14th to talk about the 2015 Fall Madison County Composite High School MTB Team. The meeting will be at 7pm in the Madison High School Library in one of their conference rooms. We anticipate being able to explain how the organization works, what would be required from team members and parents who could be potential ride leaders, and what kind of deals participants in the program can expect from local shops like mine! It's a pretty exciting program and I'm excited to be involved for this coming season.
From Tony: Report on the St. George Half-Ironman
News from the St. George Ironman 70.3:
Last weekend was the St. George ½ Ironman in St. George, Utah. The race is marketed as the Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championships and there were an impressive number of Pros, both men and women. The rest of the field, 2586 registered athletes, was made up of age group athletes.
The course is considered one of the most difficult 70.3 courses of the Ironman series. But with beautiful views, cool and clear water swim, smooth road surfaces on the bike and an amazing vista of the city on the run, made it is easy to get distracted from the torture of the race.
Temperatures at the end of the run were 95 F with no wind or shade. Coming from a cooler climate in Rexburg made the high temperatures a challenge. Local athletes Tony Perkins, Nathan Meeker, Brian Bell, Cameron Patch and his wife raced well. Nathan Meeker finished with the fastest time of the group at 5hr52min. It was Brian’s first ½ Ironman and he posted an impressive time on a course not known for PRs. Word on the street is that Brian is considering racing more ½ Ironman events. Mike (Sharky) Whitesides, former resident of Rexburg, finished near the top of all age group classes with an amazing 1hr33min half marathon time.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Monday, May 4, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
RAD Report: Browns Rd - Three Forks - Mud Springs Loop
Ryan and I headed out on a little adventure this Friday, and I'm happy to report that it appears that most of the roads in the Big Hole area should be open for riding.
For those new to our neck of the woods, the Big Hole mountains are the range on the south from Piney Creek pass and the South Fork of the Snake River north to the Teton River. Teton Valley (Victor, Driggs and Tetonia) lie on the east, and Ririe, Rexburg, and Newdale border the range on the west.
Having grown up in Rexburg, I told Ryan that I really regret not spending more time up in these beautiful hills and valleys when I was younger. He agreed - it's a great place literally out our backdoor. You can hop on your gravel bike and ride yourself to any number of gravel roads and make any combination into a memorable ride.
If you're looking for more beta on the area, look no further than Randy Huskinson, who has a mental map of every turn, rock and tree and will be happy to get you on your way.
Friday, Ryan and I did a loop which ended up piecing together parts of previous adventures with Randy. We started riding east, up from Rexburg along Poleline road and turned south at Walker Siding (some call this the "Oz road", since the silos at the railroad siding rise up out of green potato and grain fields like the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz).
We continued south to 8000 S, and turned east again up the Lyon Creek Road (this is another one often referred to as the Moody Meadows road; which is where Ryan and I were eventually headed). But after turning south again we fairly quickly turned east onto a gravel road, called Browns road, and continued to follow this east to Moody Creek Canyon, and then wound our way southeast eventually past Bowan's Cabin - which serves as a snowmobile warming hut in the winter.
After climbing up to the major power line cut, the road wanders southeast along some sometimes deeply rutted areas. We dodged a few large areas of standing water that have gotten big enough that even the motorized vehicles have cut alternate paths to get around. Eventually we came to a fence line with a track on the west side, and a more worn dirt road immediately on the other side. We followed this road as it went from 4x4 terrain to ATV terrain, eventually to what would best be described as a wicked descent even on a full suspension MTB. At the bottom we arrived at one of the "Three Forks"; the confluence of Fish Creek and South Moody Creek. Had we gone north we'd have arrived at the confluence of South and North Moody forks where they become Moody Creek at Graham Hollow.
We first crossed Fish Creek, and then turned west and south to cross South Moody. From there the ATV trail climbs pretty much straight up and out of Sweetwater Canyon. I'm pretty sure Ryan climbed the whole thing without tapping out. Having gone down in a crusty rut earlier I wasn't taking any chances and will admit to stepping off a couple of times to negotiate rocks and roots on the 20%+ grade climb.
Eventually the trail takes you over the top to a more established road that hugs the south side of North Moody creek. The creek here cuts a pretty impressive little canyon through basalt cliffs. You catch brief glimpses of the cliffs through the trees as you descend back down the road to the creek itself. This is the only place we saw snow extending down onto the road, as we were in the shade of the north face of the canyon. Eventually the track is intersected by a couple of trails coming in from the south, but we continued upstream along the creek heading northeast until coming to one last wide crossing where we had to walk the bikes across a ford too cobbled to ride safely.
From there it was up and out to the intersection with the Mud Springs Road, which angled up north (to our left). Having been deep down in the canyon just a bit before, it was nice to see the valley open up into a wide, gentle south facing slope covered in sagebrush. The Mud Springs road is wide, smooth and well graded right now, and even though uphill, rode like a dream. Along the way we passed several slash piles (see the pictures) from logging last season. We also passed what must be the "mud springs", a couple of watering holes for cattle, one of which has a piped outflow from what must be an artesian well (good to remember if you're low on water).
From there the ride back was much faster. We turned back west at the intersection with a spur that heads over to the Long Hollow Road, and continued along the graveled road until coming out on the east side of Moody Creek proper. The road from Graham Hollow comes in from the south along the way, and after two intimidating climbs the rest is all downhill to Moody Creek. The crossing at the bottom is across a well maintained bridge, and then a long climb up and out to the intersection where we turned west again to eventually come out on Walker Siding road just north of the silos.
Were it not for a pretty brisk wind from the west it'd have been a perfect day. But when biking in Idaho it's a rare day indeed that you're not fighting the wind at some point. And now that the snow is melted out it looks to be a great season of gravel rides!
For those new to our neck of the woods, the Big Hole mountains are the range on the south from Piney Creek pass and the South Fork of the Snake River north to the Teton River. Teton Valley (Victor, Driggs and Tetonia) lie on the east, and Ririe, Rexburg, and Newdale border the range on the west.
Having grown up in Rexburg, I told Ryan that I really regret not spending more time up in these beautiful hills and valleys when I was younger. He agreed - it's a great place literally out our backdoor. You can hop on your gravel bike and ride yourself to any number of gravel roads and make any combination into a memorable ride.
If you're looking for more beta on the area, look no further than Randy Huskinson, who has a mental map of every turn, rock and tree and will be happy to get you on your way.
Friday, Ryan and I did a loop which ended up piecing together parts of previous adventures with Randy. We started riding east, up from Rexburg along Poleline road and turned south at Walker Siding (some call this the "Oz road", since the silos at the railroad siding rise up out of green potato and grain fields like the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz).
We continued south to 8000 S, and turned east again up the Lyon Creek Road (this is another one often referred to as the Moody Meadows road; which is where Ryan and I were eventually headed). But after turning south again we fairly quickly turned east onto a gravel road, called Browns road, and continued to follow this east to Moody Creek Canyon, and then wound our way southeast eventually past Bowan's Cabin - which serves as a snowmobile warming hut in the winter.
After climbing up to the major power line cut, the road wanders southeast along some sometimes deeply rutted areas. We dodged a few large areas of standing water that have gotten big enough that even the motorized vehicles have cut alternate paths to get around. Eventually we came to a fence line with a track on the west side, and a more worn dirt road immediately on the other side. We followed this road as it went from 4x4 terrain to ATV terrain, eventually to what would best be described as a wicked descent even on a full suspension MTB. At the bottom we arrived at one of the "Three Forks"; the confluence of Fish Creek and South Moody Creek. Had we gone north we'd have arrived at the confluence of South and North Moody forks where they become Moody Creek at Graham Hollow.
We first crossed Fish Creek, and then turned west and south to cross South Moody. From there the ATV trail climbs pretty much straight up and out of Sweetwater Canyon. I'm pretty sure Ryan climbed the whole thing without tapping out. Having gone down in a crusty rut earlier I wasn't taking any chances and will admit to stepping off a couple of times to negotiate rocks and roots on the 20%+ grade climb.
Eventually the trail takes you over the top to a more established road that hugs the south side of North Moody creek. The creek here cuts a pretty impressive little canyon through basalt cliffs. You catch brief glimpses of the cliffs through the trees as you descend back down the road to the creek itself. This is the only place we saw snow extending down onto the road, as we were in the shade of the north face of the canyon. Eventually the track is intersected by a couple of trails coming in from the south, but we continued upstream along the creek heading northeast until coming to one last wide crossing where we had to walk the bikes across a ford too cobbled to ride safely.
From there it was up and out to the intersection with the Mud Springs Road, which angled up north (to our left). Having been deep down in the canyon just a bit before, it was nice to see the valley open up into a wide, gentle south facing slope covered in sagebrush. The Mud Springs road is wide, smooth and well graded right now, and even though uphill, rode like a dream. Along the way we passed several slash piles (see the pictures) from logging last season. We also passed what must be the "mud springs", a couple of watering holes for cattle, one of which has a piped outflow from what must be an artesian well (good to remember if you're low on water).
Were it not for a pretty brisk wind from the west it'd have been a perfect day. But when biking in Idaho it's a rare day indeed that you're not fighting the wind at some point. And now that the snow is melted out it looks to be a great season of gravel rides!
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Friday, May 1, 2015
Morpher Folding Bicycle Helmet
The is not the most exciting video, but the product is pretty interesting. Skip ahead to about minute 2:30 and watch for 15 seconds and you will get the general idea.
Lemhi Valley Century Saturday June 23rd. Registration is Now Open.
100 mile starters. Jim Foster photo.
This is a photo of Kathy and Dawn at the start of the 2013 Lemhi Century. It was cold at the start and never really warmed up. Lemhi is a very fun and scenic ride with 100 K and 100 mile options and a BBQ at the end.
The century starts with 40 miles of gradual climbing and finishes with 60 miles of gentle downhill. http://lemhivalleycenturyride.weebly.com/
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