KATHY WITH BIG GRIN AND PASSPORT

Kathy and I have just arrived in Scotland for a Spring Holiday. I have been a best man, gone on two awesome mountain bike rides and visited some of my very best friends on the Planet, who just happen to live over here.  I won’t name them all but lets just say a good crowd showed up for today’s Bank Holiday ride.

That is not the point of this Blog though. It was getting here that I want to talk about. I travel frequently, in fact I have two valid passports, Canadian and USA. I want to make sure you know I am not bragging just stating a simple fact. Kathy does not travel frequently, the last time she left the country was 5 years ago, another trip to Scotland. I, the travel expert, who has two passports should be in charge of making everything is ready. I am the one who wanted to go in May, Kathy was great in agreeing to come along at at time that is really busy for her. I arranged the flights, the hotel everything. I did most of this last July. We have been planning this for awhile. On the Tuesday evening before our departure on Wednesday evening Kathy got out our passports. She was gathering thing together so we could leave at a decent hour. She looked at her passport and screamed. It was expired, by two years. Don’t ask me why I had never checked, I just didn’t. Don’t ask why she didn’t check, she didn’t think of it.

So what to do? Well in this modern world, after we had both got over the inicial shock we went to google. Emergency Passport renewal. What did we find out. One there is a passport office in Seattle. A litte side note here. I got our tickets with miles and the only ticket I could get went through Seattle with a 5 hour layover. Two we could make an appointment to see a passport officer 24 hours a day. HOPE. We made Kathy’s appointment for 9am. Three we had to get Kathy another ticket to Seattle because her orignal ticket was to Scotland and without a passport she couldn’t check into that flight. The only flight available left an hour earlier. Sweet another hour in Seattle.

It didn’t say anywhere they could issue a passport in an hour, we couldn’t call to find out it any of this was possible. So we were just going to show up and hope.

We arrived at the United Desk in Portland and asked for help, no self check in for us. The ladies were super nice. They changed my ticket to the earlier time for no charge so I could be with Kathy in Seattle. They checked our luggage all the way to Scotland under my name so we wouldn’t have to drag Kathy’s suitcase to the Passport office.

We caught the light rail from SeaTac to downtown Seattle about three blocks from the Passport office. We got to the Passport Office 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Went through security and got to the room with all the Passport agents. We turned in Kathy’s paperwork and waited for her appointment. We were listening to the gentleman in front of us. The passport agent told him to come back the next day to pick up his passport, not what we wanted to hear.

Now it was Kathy’s turn. The nice agent asked Kathy how her morning was going. Kathy replied, I am very nervous. How come? Well because I don’t have a valid passport and my flight is at 2 this afternoon. The agent takes all of Kathy’s paper, peruses through them and finally Kathy say, I can’t stand it can you get me a new passport. She smiles and says, sure it will ready at 10 am, “Watch us work”. RELIEF”

Back to the airport and off to Scotland. Were we living right, was there divine intervention or just dumb luck. I don’t really know, all I know is we are here having a great time. We dodged the travel bullet.

Don

However there is a downside to this. The trails west of Bend are not all open. There is snow, mud and the odd tree down. The sad truth is most riders don’t care or don’t understand the implications of this. Most riders choose to ride around obstacles instead of staying on the trail. This makes for wider trails and even new trails. There are many signs on the trails asking riders not to ride when it is muddy but it seems many rider  ignore this advice.

Except for really bad days the mud is not really a huge problem. If there is a small mud puddle and one has a fender it is possible to ride through the puddle, not do any damage and keep going. The fender keeps the rider from being mud splattered and usually where there is mud it is frozen an inch or so below the surface so no real damage is done. Of course, if the mud is real deep and a deep rut is created then it is time to turn around.

Snow patches are another problem. I use them as skill builders. I like  to see if I can make it through them, not around them. This keeps the trail narrow and it helps with skills. A little 29er note here. Crusty snow is easier on a 29er, in fact it is the one condition I can say for sure a 29er is better. So again don’t ride around snow go over it. It is good practice.

The last obstacle that seem to cause problems are downed trees. This is also the one obstacle that can be removed if you have the tools. I have two silkie saws that I carry in my camel backs. A small one in my race camel back (8 inches) and a large one in my big camel back (11 inches). I try to never leave a down tree when I ride. Yesterday I was on the river trail and I removed two trees from the trail. I spent about 15 minutes total and now no one will ride around creating an unnecessary scar in the land. Get yourself a small pruning saw and you can be part of the solution instead of the problem.

• The “On the Cheap”:   Basic Hot-wax and rill:  $20  
• The “Do Yourself a Favor”:   LF Hot wax and rill:  $25  
• The “Late-Start-Time=Dirty Snow”:   LF Moly (to repel dirt), with LF Hot wax and rill:  $45 
• The “Money-Well-Spent”:   LF Moly, HF Hot wax and rill:   $65 
• The “Give-it-all-You’ve-Got”:    LF Moly, Cera F hot wax and rill:  $85  

Yes, you all know I have been doing this a long time so lets talk about the others. This past year our team helped one of our younger members get a new bike. He had been riding his mom’s bike but like most 16 year olds he got taller than his mom and her bike no longer fit. Mitchell had been  racing cross but this was his first real mountain bike race. I think this would be award first race. Joanne told me he was a little nervous. Well he won and he had a big smile on his face. Made my day.

If you see the photo of the woman with the big smile , that is Jessica Smith. She joined our team this year in order to do some bike racing. This was also her first race. I was told she was nervous. Well she won. No reason to be nervous any more

Mark and David, veterans on our team also showed up. Both had great races with fast times, and again  big smiles.

The team had a stellar weekend with three first place finishes and a couple of near top 10s. We are in the hunt again for the series team win.

As I was racing many of the locals, who know me, were commiserating with us east siders having to race in the mud. Well I like the mud, I like the dust, I like the rocks, I like the steep drops, the truth is I like mountain bike riding. No, we don’t get to ride in the mud all the often. We do get snow, soft dust and sand. All this helps for the mud. The only thing about mud is one has to spend a couple of hours cleaning everything. Clothing, bikes, shoes, helmet body etc. Cleaning  a bike is good thing. I get to check it over carefully, maybe put in new cables, after all it is a mountain bike I am riding, designed for mud etc.

Fun times for all.

Racers take over the town of Echo.

This past weekend was the first Mtn Bike Race of the season, Echo Red to Red. It is out in the  North Eastern part of Oregon where they  grow wheat, raise cows and have rodeos. It is now even a place where they have vineyards. Every year in Echo we have used an abandoned building to register and the next year the building has a new business in it. I wouldn’t say Echo is booming but it is trying to make a comeback. Our race is held on a Ranch/Farm where the locals are allowed to build trails as long as they don’t interfere with the area that is used to grow wheat. There is is ravine  that runs through the farm. The trails are all in this ravine. Here is a map from my Garmin.

It is an early race and though I am in good condition I am not in top condition so I never know how I am going to go. There are always some tough competitors. This year was no exception. The race starts with long gravel road section, and this year we had a very strong headwind. I tried to hide behind some of the other riders and move up but my legs said no. They were not ready for a huge effort so I just sat in and hoped for the best. I had no idea what place I was in my group as we had almost 200 riders start in our wave (all Cat 2 categories). I did know I was not in the lead and probably 3rd or 4th. We got to the single track and I was with three of my teammates. If I have a great race I can usually be ahead of these teammates so the fact I was with them was a good sign. I wasn’t going great but I was going good. The single track section of the race is hard to pass. It has lots of small climbs where one has to go 100 % to get by just one rider. It is mentally easy to just sit in but in this race, and most races this just doesn’t  work. As I said I really had no idea what place I was in and two, because this race is close to Idaho and Washington there are racers who I don’t know.  So I just went as hard as I could and passed as many racers as I could. There was this one guy in a Chinook jersey ( a Washington rider) who I passed on a climb who then repassed me on a short descent. I then passed him back on the next climb and made sure he didn’t get by me again. With about 20 minutes to go I looked up and saw a rider (Dave Goodier), who has a distinctive riding style ahead of me. I knew he was in my age group so I again gave in everything and got by him. I have never beat Dave in a race so I knew then I was going better than I thought. I was pretty sure I wasn’t in first because I had seen Comic Miller ahead of me. At this point I was hoping for a podium.

We got back to road and had the hardest part of the race to go. A very steep climb into a headwind. My teammate Scott Brennan was just behind me. He passed me as we crested the hill and from there to the finish we worked together. He was stronger at this point but I took a couple of pulls. I was exhausted as we crossed the line. Another race to check of. Not my best but still a good effort.

When I went to see the results I was shocked to see I had won. Cosmic took a wrong turn and the Chinook rider  (Clinton), who I had put a lot of effort to pass ended up second. He was less than a minute behind, Dave was third.

The lesson learned was to pass every rider you can, and to assume that all of the riders are in your age group. A few years ago I lost a race because the rider ahead of me was in my group and I didn’t know it so I let him ahead of me at the finish shoot. I had no idea the Chinook rider would be second, I had also passed about 50 other riders. Anyone of them could have been over 55. It also makes for good racing. It is nice to win my age group but at the end of the day I look at all the racers and see how I did.

Thanks to Scott, Mark and Rich for being close and giving me a gauge of how I was doing, especially to Scott. If we hadn’t worked together at the end I would not have won.

Thanks for reading. Don

My First Suit

Yesterday I went down to Roberts on Wall and picked up my new suit. This is not just any suit but my first suit. I never had a reason to own a suit, living in the Northwest with the casual dress we have here even at the Opera in Portland Levis are not that out of place. Even our Governor wears blue jeans in public.

Kathy and I got married 41 years out in a sheep pasture on the California coast. No need for a suit then. In fact we were anti suit. The tie and the suit represented the status quo those in power, those who put us in a war (Viet Nam) that we thought was unfair and unjust. Before that, even though I was baptized a Catholic, my family did not go to Church so I did not have a first Communion nor any other reason for a boy to get a suit. In high school I did not go to any proms or homecomings as not only was I too shy to ask anyone out, I wasn’t really interested. I was more into riding my bicycle and being out of doors than participating in “school activities”.

Then came the anti establishment period (I think I am still in that period) where a suit meant part of those in power. And as I mentioned living in the NorthWest means you don’t really need a suit.

So why the first suit at the age of 61. Well I am going to Scotland this May to be The Best Man at Andy and Ros’s wedding. I have a tweed coat and I could have bought a tie and that would have been fine but really not quite right. You see this wedding is going to take place in The Tweed Valley, where Tweed coats come from. In the Tweed Valley, and much of Britain the Tweed Coat is worn by normal people at work. Butchers, gardeners and the like. I think it was even used to go up Mt Everest. It is not the choice for a wedding, and not what the Best Man would wear. I didn’t want to show up and have the other guests think I was the gardener. A wedding is one of the most important days in one’s life. I want to honor this for my friends so I decided a suit would be appropriate. I even looked forward to a suit.

My biggest clothing buying adventure was realizing I went from a 34 waist in my Levis to a 32  waist. So I went down to Robert’s on Wall to at least look at Suits. A couple of things happened. One is this very nice young woman, Carrie, greeted me. I told here I was going to be the Best Man at a wedding but not at a 60 year’s old wedding but at a 30 something wedding. She was great. I tried some on, found a tie that brightened things up and felt like I would be pretty hip at the wedding. The other interesting thing that happened was I looked at the label and the name was  familiar. It was Eisenberg. I was thinking I know that name. In fact I was on a trip with Joel Eisenberg a few years back to see the Tour de France. I knew he was in the Suit business. That clinched the deal. Great Service, a suit from a friend and I get to finally own a suit. Now I just need to learn how to tie a tie and I will be set.

Don

When I was at CX Nationals this year I was talking to Serena about innovations in cycling and in nordic skiing. I find it interesting that most racers do what the “pros” do not what they have come up with on their own. The  funny thing is a lot of us masters have more experience than the “pros”. We should be the ones dictating what works and what doesn’t. It doesn’t work that way. It takes a real independent thinker to come up with really great innovations .

The biggest one to my mind is skate skiing. When I started nordic skiing back in the 70 there was one technique. We now call it classic skiing. I went to many training camps to improve my skiing and one of the things we learned was how to corner in a race. We did a technique called the step turn. The step turn is the same as skating around a corner. We would step out of the track and step around the corner. We were told this was a faster way to corner. IN FACT WE WERE TOLD WE WOULD ACCELERATE AND COME OUT OF THE CORNER FASTER THAN WHEN WE ENTERED IT. In other words most skiers in the 70s were told that skating was faster, we just didn’t hear it that way. It never occurred to us we could accelerate out of that corner and then just keep accelerating by continuing to skate. It took some more rebellious skiers to figure that out. The story goes than a Finnish Skier (Sintonen if I remember correctly) was in a ski race where it was pretty flat and the was was just not working. He just started to skate and won the race by many minutes. At the time it was thought this was possible only because the conditions were icy and fast. It just wouldn’t be possible on normal snow. A few years later a couple of American skiers (Bill Koch and Dan Simoneau) took the world cup by the storm by skating in most of the races. We were told it would take an exceptional athlete to skate over 10ks.

Now of course skating is thought of as the easier technique, I always smile because we new about skating years before anyone was smart enough to do it.

Since then I have tried to be my own person when it comes to innovations. Not that I have actually invented anything, but if something comes out I like to try it and see if it works for me.

In cycle cross there are two things that come to mind. One is deep dish wheels. These wheels were developed for the aero properties . They are widely used in CX. I tried some years ago and decided they were not for me. The do not handle well in mud and they are heavy. Tests from some magazines show I am correct in my observations but they are still very popular. Neils Albert, our current world champion uses the smallest dish Shimano (his wheel sponsor) makes. The y are 32mm deep. He would prefer the 24mm wheels but they are not available anymore. I think when disc brakes become the norm we will see a move back to normal size rims to get the weight down.

The other innovation in CX that I do approve of are the auxiliary brake levers that came out a few years ago. I would be wrong to think I am as a good a bike handler as Tim Johnson or Sven Nys. I am not close. They choose not to use these levers. I think they should. I have seen both of them in sketchy situations where if they had their weight back it would have been easier. What I will say is with these levers it allows me to be closer to how they ride. At CX Nats this year there was a nice sand pit in my race. I was the fastest through it every time. It was no problem . Every one knows in sand you need your weight back. So why not have those levers which make it easy. I notice that the women have no problem with those levers. The two best in the world Katie Compton and Marianne Vos both use them.

The last thing is dropper seat post. I had no clue as to what value a dropper seat post would do. I though it was for riding really hard and steep trails. Adam Craig set me straight. He said in the Ashland Super D I would be 5 minutes or so faster. I tried it and he was correct. The thing about the Ashland Super D is it uses a similar downhill to The Spring Thaw cross country race. I am thinking if I can be minutes faster on the downhill portion of an XC race how much slower would I be on the uphill because of the added weight. Well I can guarantee it is not minutes.

I tested my dropper at Pickett’s Charge I rode the downhill section three times with the dropper (a Rock Shox Reverb) and three times without. I was very close to 2 minutes faster with the dropper. This comes to 4 minutes in the race. My guess is the added weight cost me maybe 30 seconds. I used my Reverb at nationals this year. When I got to the top in first place I knew no one would catch me, as I was the only one with the secret weapon. I flew down the hill, did the tricky rock fall with the full confidence that I would be fastest that day. I am thinking this year we will see some world cup guys trying a dropper. In not they will have at least pursued the idea (this I know for a fact).

My suggestion to to all of my reader is don’t look at the seasoned pro to decide what is best, I would look at the women (they ride more like us then the pros), or ask someone like me who wasn’t born in 1982 but who started to skate and mountain bike in 1982. We have the experience. just make sure you are not asking a retro grouch.

After the win

It has been a few weeks since my last blog, sorry about that. Christmas is a busy time in the world of retail and one thing or another made me procrastinate. First of all we have a new year, 2012. We are well into the 21st century now, it seems odd to me that I grew up thinking the 20th Century was something. I am not going to make predictions or worry about the future. The world of politics is beyond the scope of what I will write about here. So Happy New Year. The big news around Bend is we really do not have much snow. I have only been up a couple of times. Mt Bachelor has had some great skiing and it still does, but where I like to ski, Meissner it has been spotty. Instead I have continued to ride my bike. In fact I rode so much I decide to go to Cyclocross Nationals. I got back yesterday. We had a great crowd from Bend and Oregon and I can say we all had a great time. I ended up 9th in my race. Not my best but not my worst. I took one bad spill which allowed the group ahead to leave me so instead of fighting for a top 5 I fought for a top 10. 9th was not as well as I hoped but as the week went on it looked better and better as this course took it tole. The Bend crowd got one medal. Cameron Beard was third in his jr race. He was tough. He started at the back and just rode through the crowd of racers to the front. The rest of us did well and had a good time. We all learned something again and I would say most of us will be back. This was my favorite Nationals cross course. I have done 9 now. I do wish it could have been in Madison, Wi proper but I think Tom Shuler decided this was where the best course was. We stayed minutes from the course. Bill from the Bend Endurance Academy drove  out the van and trailer with all of our bikes, trainers etc so the trip was quite easy. No checked baggage, no bikes to get lost and we even had spare parts. It was the easiest Nats I have ever traveled to.

I spent a fair amount of time helping out. Fixing bikes, being in the pit, washing bikes etc. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It is great to be able to race and then be relaxed and have the time to help out the others. Serena was there in the pit for me on Thursday. Though I didn’t need anything it is a relief to have the help and know there is a spare bike (Thanks Damian) waiting for you.

The last thing I have to say is how I was treated. Trek Bicycles is locate in Wi about 40 miles from Madison. Because I have traveled numerous time to Trek I know quite a few people in Madison. Some of them have come to Bend so through the years we have  become friends.

We were picked up at the airport by Margaret and promptly taken out to Verona (the course site). She took some time off work to make this happen. On Thursday evening John and Margaret came and picked up at the hotel and took me out to dinner. I was able to watch John race on Saturday morning. On Saturday night my good friend Harry (newly retired from Trek) came and visited and then returned later to take me to dinner. We went to the Great Dane. A popular and busy place in Madison. And then on Sunday, Carolyn came to the races watched for a while and took me to her house for my last night and then at 4am took me to airport for my morning flight. It is nice to have such good friends who don’t mind dropping their usual routine to help out.

This year it was a last minute decision to go next year I think I have already decided.

Thanks for reading.

Don