The Celiac Cyclist

Alice Cooper Won't Shut Up!

2011-06-15T20:36:00.002-04:00

Remember that scene in Richard Linklater's 1993 masterpiece Dazed and Confused when the school year finally ends in anonymous town Texas in 1976? You know, the final bell rings, kids throw their books at their teachers, paper suddenly blasts off into the air as if struck by two sticks of dynamite, the school doors stay ajar as moppy-haired kids wearing polo shirts and bell bottoms leap and scream in delight at the potential of freedom provided by three months off for summer break. Remember that? Well, that's not at all what it's actually like.
And I wonder if it ever, indeed, was ever like that scene. A sudden explosion of excitement and of cavalier disrespect for the custodial staff of the school. I doubt it. No, as a teacher, I've learned that the last day of school is a long and protracted event, anticlimactic even, designed to squeeze and twist all potential of vandalism and youthfulness from potential students. The first graders are even strip searched on their way into school this day, just in case any of them decided to sneak in M80s in their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And the fifth and sixth graders, the class I teach? Oh, man. They're systematically and mentally beaten until they nearly lose their very will to live.

Actually, none of this happens, of course, but I am feeling that the last day of school (as I type this, it's tomorrow, and it's a half day...for the students, a full day for the staff) is turning out to be kind of, well, blah. I have School of Rock, another Linklater movie oddly enough, waiting in my PO box from Netflix. It has been my plan all along, all of a day and half, to have my students watch this movie for the, essentially, 2:30 that I am responsible for them tomorrow. Yeah, there's the occasional swear, yeah there's some beer drinking in it, yeah Jack Black is a borderline pedophile, but so what? It's about school and rock music. At least once a week there's something that happens in my class that reminds me of that movie. And, yes, there are so many days where I just want to, a la Jack Black, say to my kids "just go have recess, all day." I think it's going to be a hit and many of the students have already seen it. And is that irate parent who is angry at me for exposing his precious little tot to such horrific content going to remember me in the fall, back when I'll begin to care again?

The last day of school is upon me. I have a feeling I won't know what to do with myself for a couple of days once it's done. I'll be busy with the dogs, with cleaning out my classroom, with, what's that? Time to ride my bike???!!! What a novel idea! To ride a bicycle. Apparently, this technique vastly improves racing performance and potential. Who knew? To update my loyal follower, I am not sure where I stand with the BUMPS series this year. You see, I had not anticipated a year as a teacher would stand up there against any of the challenges provided by the hill climb series' courses. Actually, teaching was much harder and much more rewarding. Whiteface is this weekend, a good opener for the BUMPS series because of its length and its ease into the steepness factor that later climbs provide. It's also late in the day so you can get other stuff done before you head over to the Wilmington, NY, mountain. I won't be doing that race this year. A good friend of mine, a bike racer and ex-teammate, Nick Bennette, is getting married to his long time girlfriend, Carrie, in Shrewsbury, VT. Not too far away. Julie's coming with me and her good friend lives right down the road from the wedding so we'll have a place to stay.

Next weekend is Okemo. I plan on doing this race. Julie's parents are coming up from Asheville, NC, to spend some time with her, to camp and, apparently, to see me race. WHAT? I guess I'd better start training. No, I'm not in that bad of shape, but I do need to tighten up the screws. Still not sure about Newton's Revenge. I've got to say that I really don't care to spend $300 to support the Tin Mountain Conservation group. There are plenty more worthy causes that I'd rather donate money to than that one. And why is Mt. Washington, the exact same race, an extra $50? Name recognition. That's all it is. Which tells me that no expenses or donations matrix has been applied to these races. All it tells me is that the Tin Mountain people simply charge what they want to because they can.

I'll still probably end up doing Washington, but only because I'll have to to compete for the BUMPS overall. After Newton's, the next is Ascutney. I can't do that race but I don't quite remember why right now. I might be able to race up Equinox; the schedule seems clear at this point. Mt. Washington we discussed. And then there's Burke which is in conflict with my beloved Green Mountain Stage Race. You lose out, Burke. Greylock, meh. And Allen Clark might happen, if I'm still feeling at all peppy that late in the season.

What I really want to do is, for once in the past 10 years, just to go for a long, hard bike ride without thinking about how it'll affect my training and racing performance. I live in perhaps the most beautiful state in which to ride a road bike and I've often found it sad that I've never come to really appreciate this. I'm always training, listening to music, focusing on my cadence, my breathing, how gosh darn steep this or that road is. It's tiring. I'm starting to feel like I just want to ride.

That just might be what I'll do.

February Lynskey Helix OS Special at The Bike Center

2011-02-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

The top of the line Helix OS racing frameset made by titanium specialist Lynskey (and the frame of choice of yours truly) is on sale this month at Middlebury, Vermont's, The Bike Center! Normally $4195 gets you just the OS frame in bare satin finish, but with this special pricing you get a hand-brushed frame, and Enve (formerly Edge) 2.0 fork, and a 100 ZS 44mm headset. Click here for details

Still Kickin'

2011-01-09T21:53:00.001-05:00

25 degrees here, a couple of fluffy inches there, what color wax do I use on my skate skis today? All fitting observations for a motivated cyclist in training, right? Eh, no. Okay. My first race is a good four months away and honestly, I'm thinking more about report cards due in late January and how I'm going to explain the dog vomit spewed into my car's rear seat latch mechanism by my otherwise healthy, happy and beautiful dog, Ellie. Winter has been in and out so far this year, like many recent years. And, like many recent years, it has me regretting not buying a Prius one day and opting for the V6 whatever the next. Okay, no, I'm not that shortsighted. It is almost debilitatingly frustrating when you ski in 22" of snow one day and then three days later it's rainy and 75% gone. Add to that that you have to drive back from vacation to go be a teacher again and, arrgh, I swear I had thoughts of driving straight into one of many endless groves of spruce trees and ending it all. But I digress....
I'm writing mostly with no bike-related updates or celiac-related updates. I just wanted to remind all of my readers (me) that I'll be back in full (and much better) force come April, when the snow starts to wane and I'm no longer feeling like strapping on the skate skis. I have temperamental motivation these days, I think due to two things: that I'm getting older and that I have so much freakin' responsibility as a school teacher that I don't know how I'm supposed to fit in anything else into my life. But there's always that voice, constantly at surface level, nagging me, coaxing me, seducing me: you are a bike racer; get on your fucking bike! That voice is insufferable and irresistible at the same time.
The Helix OS is on the trainer, I put in a solid five hours of various endurance activities this weekend, and I'm looking forward to the snow that promises to keep falling this week. The alpine and Nordic areas need it. Winter is just as short as summer and I'm in no rush to be hitting the pavement. Happy skiing.

'Tis the Season...

2010-10-27T16:04:00.001-04:00

...of a skier/cyclist's discontent. I'm staring out the nose-imprinted windows of my classroom at a partly cloudy sky and a very mild-looking block of warmth. It's nearly 70 outside and it's the end of October in the mountains of Vermont. Just three days ago there was enough frost on the roads to make biking down the gaps a deadly endeavor. It's these flip-flop weather patterns that drive me nuts this time of year, almost more so than a January thaw or a July cold snap. One moment the weather taunts my yearning to wear my ski boots around the house in an effort to stave off early season shin bang. I've even brought my skis in for a stone grind the second weekend of October (very early for me). The next moment, however, I'm shedding the leg warmers, removing the fleece cap from beneath my helmet, and considering only wearing a jersey with arm warmers and maybe a vest. Mother Nature is continuously trying to convince me to practice polygamy:
I'm supposed to be wed to both skiing and cycling at the same time. It's this enduro-sport tug-o-war that really begins to gnaw on my patience after awhile. I'm always thinking that the grass is greener on the other side as a bike ride can often turn to pining for skiing this time of year, and skiing can often turn into a cycling reverie while on an April chairlift ride. It's difficult for me to be content within the season. I have no patience, I'm too involved in the anticipation of something else, not the closure of the present.

Perhaps that is what fuels my passion for these two sports though. It's certainly why I could never live anywhere without genuine seasons. And the notion that not being able to have something only makes you want it more truly applies. I wait with baited breath as the first real snowstorm delivers its crystalline bounty. The woodsmoke permeates across the hillsides, the last of the beech leaves cling tenaciously to their branches, not even a raven glides across the view, and that first white meteorite of frozen precipitation catches my periphery. Winter is about to descend upon me.

Until then, though, I'm still married to my bikes, thinking about them in the early afternoon as I begin to make plans for my post-school activities. The riding is still good on the roads, and even though it gets dark so quickly now, it's kind of nice to know that you can only ride so much before returning to the illuminated brilliance of your house. I guess I'll just have to try and enjoy the moment, in this transitional netherworld where tight singletrack and full blast GS turns co-exist.

Appalachian Gap'd at the Allen Clark Memorial Hill Climb

2010-10-09T22:43:00.002-04:00

24:27. 32 seconds faster than the previous Allen Clark Hill Climb record set by Stefan Bumbeck in god knows when. Unofficial records seem to indicate the the record stood for 12 years. Do the math. Okay, I'll do it for you. 1998! I was a freshman in college in the fall of 1998. Wow! Back in the fall of Elliott Smith's XO, which played on repeat in my 1992 model JVC stack stereo my dad purchased for me for my birthday in 1992, when I was in seventh grade. Man, that stereo sounded so great. Thanks, dad. Anyway...
...yeah, so I haven't written in awhile. But really, who cares? Haven't you gotten sick of the bloggers you've followed repeating ad nauseum that "they haven't written in awhile"? Really? Gee, I couldn't have figured that out for myself, since the last time I wrote was August 11, in the year of our lord, 2010. Holy Smokes! so much has happened since then. I can honestly say I have good reason for my blogging truancy. You see, I was recently hired as the new 5/6 grade teacher at the Ripton Elementary School in beautiful and lung-busting (at least by bike) Ripton, Vermont. My days have been chalk-full (no pun intended, as we do still use the chalkboard) of classroom management and, well, ummm, that's about it. No, really, I'm enjoying the heck out of teaching and if I could only get my 16 students to stop talking over one another, they'd be so much better off. Anyway, my days are devoured by teaching, EST meetings, Lunch Recess, Bus Duty, Morning Meeting planning, pencil-finding, and occasionally, some sleep. Bike racing has taken its place way far back on the burner.

Looking back at my schedule over September, however, one could easily assume that I've been racing almost more than I have during the summer. In some ways, yes, this is the truth. Over Labor Day weekend, I raced in the Pro/1 division of the Green Mountain Stage Race where a lackluster performance in the time trial on the first day, due to my being five hours late of my start time because of teaching, did my hopes of any high placing in right from the get-go. It was a blast to race for my old team, MetLife presented by GroSolar, anyway and thanks to Nick Bennette and Andrew Gardner for making it happen. I scored a sweet new 2010 MetLife kit, one which I wear while out on rides from time to time with great pride. After GMSR, I took a one week break and Liese and I got some much-needed vacation time in Maine (home state). The next weekend, I was back in Maine at the 12 Hours of Bradbury with race teammates Jake White and Matt Redman. I've known Matt through Liese for two years and it was great to watch him own the course on his 29" Singlespeed, walloping most of the geared riders out there in the process. I met Jake between laps and I must say, the dude is awesome and he can really ride. Seems like us grad. students need more time to ride though as Jake said he wasn't firing on all cylinders due to school (Jake finished 5th at Cat 1 Mountain Bike XC Nationals this year). 12 hour racing is where it's at, at least if you've got great teammates like Jake and Matt. Thanks, bros! I want to go again.

The next weekend I sulked my way into my least favorite city in New England, Boston, where the TD Bank Mayor's Cup circumvented City Hall. Bissell's Daniel Holloway, the 2010 US Pro Crit Champ, was there and he won...big deal. He looks like he should audition for Mad Max 4: Revenge of the Troglodytes (I'm saying he wasn't very nice and very ugly-the faux hawk is SO 2007). I finished the crit, let's just leave it at that.

Seven days later and I showed up ten minutes late for the 2010 Allen Clark Memorial Hill Climb up the east side of Appalachian Gap. Out of 126 people, I went last, thanks to my unprecedented ability to show up at the very last minute for this race (I did the same in 2004 and my time reflected it). In 2010, however, while I did register 10 minutes past the closing of registration (thanks to Mr. Peter Oliver, race director, for letting a slacker like myself register late) I did manage to put my start time in the 11:00am range in a race that saw the first time trialist go off at 10:00am. After changing into my spiffy new MetLife kit, I had about 35 minutes to warm up.

Now I lived in Waitsfield for nearly six years prior to my move over the mountain to East Middlebury. I know all of the roads. In fact, I know all of the cracks in those roads. Off I went on a glorious Sunday morning in October warm-up mission. A loop around well, the Loop Road, of course would suffice. Past my old boss Drew's house, past the daycare house where my old co-worker Amy started a nursery, past the Old Center Fayston Road, past the huge Silver Maple tree whose leaves I love to stare at, and back. I felt good. At least, I didn't feel bad. When it was finally time to go (thanks to Ian Buchanan of Fit Werx for giving me a great bike hold prior to start), I relaxed, took a few last second breaths, and off I went.

There's math to this TT. Even though I've only done it once before officially, I used to live here and, like I said, I know not only the roads in the area, but the cracks as well. I knew that if I could make it from the westward side of the Valero gas station at the junction of VT Routes 100 and 17 - the start of the race - to the Hyde Away Inn in five minutes, then I'd have a pretty good shot at the record. I got to the inn in 4:30. Game on. Then, I knew if I could make it from the Hyde Away to the Battleground, where the real climbing starts, in another five minutes, then I'd really have a good shot at the record. When I passed the Battleground, my computer said 9:25. The game was really on. From this point, the road turns skyward, my speed went from a steady average on the flats of 22mph, to a steady 12-13mph on the lower slopes of the climb. By the time I reached the kick before Mad River Glen, I was picking off the time trialists in front of me like a scene from the video game Road Rash. I was picking up momentum. Past MRG, and I fired heavily on the pedals, out of the saddle and trying to blast off toward the radio tower atop App. Gap. The wind was slightly in the riders' favor, out of the northeast. It helped propel me along the last painful kilometer of the climb. By the time I reached the last steep pitch along the course, I was well within reach of breaking the record. If I could just keep my speed above 8mph (yes, 8) then I'd almost guarantee myself the record. I put my head down, thought smooth thoughts, tried to use every motion within each pedal stroke and then...I crossed the line. 24:27, beating the old record of 24:59 by 32 seconds.

This record is the most important to me out of all of the Mad River Valley climbing records I have to my name. The Allen Clark Hill Climb has always arrived just a bit too late in the season for me to really feel fit enough to go for the record. But this year, since I moved all of my training back by months in an effort to focus on the BUMPS series, my fitness was not lacking in early October.

And not to stand alone, Marti Shea of Marblehead, Massachusetts, beat the old women's record by two minutes, too! It was a day for records to fall.

Anyway, I finished fourth overall in the BUMPS series. How, may you ask, is that possible? Well, let's just say the scoring system didn't favor my lack of racing the Mount Washington Auto Road Hill Climb. My younger brother got married on August 21, the same day as the MWARHC and I was his Best Man. Sorry cycling, family will always take precedent over you.

You're a close second, though.

Thank You, Steven Slater, For Your Inspiration To Update My Blog And For Having A Great Character Name For A 1980's Movie

2010-08-10T21:42:00.004-04:00

I have no excuses for not posting for 20 days. Except that I had a final interview with the school board at the Ripton Elementary School for the grades 5/6 teacher, I got the job, I've had issues with my endorsement areas and therefore my qualifications as a teacher of all subjects, I've gotten the go-ahead with the contract signing and paperwork, I've gotten a key to the school and I've brought my dogs into the classroom as of today to help make me feel at home.

For those of you who don't know (okay, anyone who reads this thing knows this; who am I kidding?), I went to graduate school at the University of Vermont this past year to get my certificate (license) to teach at the middle level with language arts and social studies endorsements, and with the ultimate intent to get my Masters of Arts in Teaching. In Vermont, the "middle level" is designated as grades 5-9, even though there are various combinations of those grades and their categorizations as elementary/middle/high. At my new school, grades 5 and 6 are designated as elementary, designed to continue to foster pre-adolescent education, to prolong the joy that is childhood. At Williston, my intern site, middle school was grades 5-8 (apparently by the time you're done with fourth grade there, you're ready for Spin-the-Bottle, slow dances to Stairway to Heaven and a heavy bombardment of name-calling and puberty's-progress comparing, consequently leading to ones status as a social pariah...I seem to have digressed. Anyway, I am now a teacher* *license pending.

Perhaps these past few weeks of getting a job, in accord with the absence of hillclimb races, excuse me somewhat from my lack of posting. But frankly, sometimes I kind of hit myself later on down the road of these blog projects because I never keep up with them. They always seem like such a great idea in my head until I actually have to start executing them. This is supposed to be about hillclimbing on bikes and the Vermont Celiac life, and so far I've addressed neither of those two subjects in this post. Let me get started.

On August 7th, I finished second at the Gear Up For Lyme (a very clever name) Mt. Equinox Hill Climb. The race generates money for Lyme Disease research and the event enjoys a great reputation for fine weather and a family-like following. Jake Hollenbach decided he needed some rent money and registered day-of, as did I, to take the first mile prime of $500 and the win itself. He made off with said $500, a night stay for two at the Equinox Inn in Manchester, and won a raffle prize of a dinner at the local sushi place; I got a medal. I don't want to sound too bummed by this but...I guess I don't know how to finish that sentence.

Jake launched his ferocious attack with about 100 meters to go before the one-mile prime. Knowing he'd have to slow up after such a rocket-propelled pace, I slowly reeled him in. At 1.1 miles, I caught him, dropped the other two guys with us, one of them Ian Gordon, second place overall in the BUMPS series, and led the rest of the way up the climb with Jake right on my tail. I thought Jake might let me take the win but with 500 meters to go, I heard the click of the gears dropping down the cassette and off Jake climbed, gaining 23 seconds on me by the finish. I have absolutely no kick this year and that performance showed it. Ian came in third place, just 14 seconds behind me.

The Skyline Drive up Mt. Equinox is a perfect climb for those that like a little variety. It's not incredibly steep and it isn't very exposed. The road opens into a spruce forest not very far below the course's finish line, just below the summit. At mile four, it was difficult to keep focus, as I was faced with stunning early morning sunshine that lit the tops of the clouds and burned away the fog. Just west of the mountain is a monastery which looked slightly imaginary in my race-scrambled brain. The weather was cool but not chilly to begin the morning, but once on course, the sweat began to pour off of everyone.

What I liked most about this event was that the Manchester Rotary volunteers its time to help out and that the race director feels genuinely connected and indebted to the racers that support the event's cause. He said it well just before the podium ceremony: "The 140 or so people that started today's race, I consider part of my family." And that's truly how it felt, more so than the other hillclimbs I've done so far this season.

Thanks to Burke Mountain Hill Climb's Keone Maher and family for the ride down post-race (you're not allowed to ride your bike back down a la Mt. Washington). Unfortunately, I won't be making the trip up to Burke for the climb this year because of the Green Mountain Stage Race, which happens during the same weekend (sorry, Keone). Thanks also to Steve Francisco for taking some photos of the podium ceremony and for coming out to give me a scare on the climb for a bit (it's your first one of the season; you're only going to get better). And thanks to Jake for passing me with 500 meters and making me look like I was going backwards. Seriously though, Jake, thanks for making me go faster.

Oh, and what does this have to do with a disgruntled and extremely frustrated JetBlue flight attendant? Nothing. I just wrote this on the same day that Steven Slater's status went from ho-hum steward to pop cultural hero.

Just one of those weekends...

2010-07-21T16:39:00.000-04:00


Here I'm radioing to the laws of physics: "Please make this pain stop!"

Six days after my first ascent up Mount Washington on a bicycle, which resulted in a second place finish, I took the biggest beating of my hill climbing career on Mount Ascutney. Being the BUMPS point series overall leader, I received a super neat polka-dot jersey before the race start. Much to my chagrin, I did not do my new tunic victorious justice. In cycling, there's a myth of the curse of the World Champion. The person who wins the World Championships, either in the road race or time trial disciplines, has a horrendous season the following year. Perhaps there is a curse of the BUMPS polka-dot jersey? I doubt it. Besides, I think the jersey's pretty cool and would be really disappointed if I was defrocked of my lordship of the hill climbs.

I climbed Ascutney at speeds slower than those of the Trojan Horse as it was pushed by the Greeks into the city of Troy. As seen from the expression on my face in the photo, I am most definitely not enjoying myself. I'm not sure what happened. I got a great night's sleep in my own bed, I had the car packed up and ready to go the night before, I had my favorite summertime dinner, and I was all jazzed up on the triple espresso that is the Tour de France. Game on.

But as soon as Phil Wong, coming straight out of retirement, shot off the start line like it was cyclocross race, I knew I was going to have to race harder than I have this year. To make matters tougher, Mr. Jake Hollenbach made a locals' race appearance, as did good friend David Glick. Add to those guys Brent Mellen who beat my record by :16 seconds at Burke, and the usual suspects Paul Runyon, Ian Gordon, and Gerry Clapper. Ascutney was as stacked as a game of Jenga. Phil's weightless ascent up the first kilometer of the mountain coaxed Jake and David with him, and soon Brent was passing me, too. Considering my overall score in the points series, I was somewhat content just to try and beat Paul and Ian. Not quite. Although Paul faded early, Ian dieseled forward and soon had a sizable gap. All I could do was to try to limit my losses and make sure I stayed ahead of Paul. By the end of the race, I was more than three minutes behind Jake's winning time of 25:25, just :35 seconds shy of the record. Now, Jake's an amazing rider, but statistically we're pretty evenly matched when it comes to climbing. This day, however, he was clearly on form. Congrats. When the points were calculated the next day, I remained in the lead but second place now went to Ian Gordon while Paul bumped down to third.

Former teammate Tim Mitchell leads me around the bottom corner


Blast off up the hill

After Ascutney, I put my sorrows in a sack and drove the back way, the waaay back way into Maine to spend the night there to do the Yarmouth Clam Festival race the next morning. This race is almost always hot and sunny and the crowds, the atmosphere, and the fact that the course passes my high school each lap make this a must-do-even-if-I'm-retired race each summer. What was great for me this year was that I wasn't on a team and could wear any clothing I wanted to, literally. Another former teammate of mine, Alain Ferry, wore a baggy cotton t-shirt and day-glo orange board shorts. I donned the Bike Center's Middlebury kit. It's a little ambiguous: Some people think it's the Middlebury College cycling clothing, others recognize that it's the town of Middlebury's cycling clothing. Both are right. Not surprisingly, I heard a few "Go Midd!" cheers from the crowd. I did not go to Middlebury College. Snake from The Simpsons presumably did, but not me.


I'm really paying more attention to the concession stands to my left

Anyway, I was mysterious and unrecognizable, and I was riding very well, if I do say so myself. About three laps in, Tim Mitchell dove through the course's second corner and I followed, bringing with us two other breakaway companions-to-be. The four of us kept a healthy pace going for a lap, but poor cooperation and pacelining slowed us during our second lap and suddenly Jonathan Page was breathing down our necks. I took a rest the next two laps but never hitched a ride near the back. When another CCB rider took off solo, I moved to the front to drive the pace and soon found myself in another breakaway, this time bigger and more threatening. This was it! I could feel it. This would be the year I was going to get a decent result at the Clam Fest, perhaps even a top-3, perhaps even a win! However (and you could just tell this wasn't going to end well, right?), with two laps to go, there was a little "Argy-Bargy" as famous cycling commentator Paul Sherwin likes to say. After some physical altercations between two riders in the breakaway, I thought for sure the pack would catch us. As I moved back off of my rotation in line, I bumped a rider and then hit a crack in the road, which caused my computer sensor to dive right into my spokes. Nothing was broken, or so I thought, but it became quickly obvious that I would have to pull over to take the thing off. Unfortunately, I had to take my wheel off as the sensor was hanging off of the outside of the hub, and by the time I got that sorted out, the pack was upon me. As I sprinted to catch the tail end of it, I felt tremendous hesitation in my front wheel and saw that my front left brake pad had come loose during the incident and was pushing hard against the rim. For the next mile, I rode one-handed, attempting to move and tighten the pad down while chasing the slowly fading-in-the-distance peloton. And that was it. I fell prey to the wheel goblin that was my computer sensor. A 10 gram piece of plastic and electronics took me out. I will do that race again though, even if I have to count the seconds between telephone poles to gauge my speed. Long live the Yarmouth Clam Festival Race and happy 30th anniversary!

Next up: Equinox on August 7th.

2nd at Newton's Revenge (the first climb of the summer up Mount Washington)!

2010-07-11T22:27:00.000-04:00

I will post more soon, but I'll have you know that I finished in second place today at the Mount Washington Hill Climb called Newton's Revenge. Garmin-Transitions Tom Danielson won, and, let's face it, kicked my butt. He missed beating his record time set in 2002 of 49:24 by nine seconds! And, he raced it on his training bike, with training wheels, a powermeter, and a 39t chainring. Crazy. Anyway, after today's success, I should have a sizable lead in the BUMPS hill climb series, since my competition finished well off the pace in 10th. Pics and a complete story soon. Promise.

Weighted down by bronze

2010-06-28T10:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, okay, I'll start out with the prerequisite "it's been way too long since I've last updated the blog." It's been way too long since I've last updated the blog. Since we last spoke, I've raced two hill climbs, Whiteface and Okemo, New York and Vermont. While I wish I could report better news, I'm afraid I've got some lackluster results to share. I got third place overall in both races, second in my age group at Whiteface, first at Okemo.
It seems the BUMPS competition will be just that this summer, a competition, which is a great thing for the series. Back when series was in its infancy (it's now in its toddlercy), it seemed that each race would be dominated by one or two climbing superheroes who might show up for two races out of the series. This summer, however, there are a number of folks showing up to each event, and they want to win. Based on their performances thus far, and based on the confirmed riders lists on Bikereg.com, there are some really talented athletes who want to wear the white with red polka dots BUMPS Series Overall Leader's jersey.

I want that jersey. But a young gun by the name of Paul Runyon (yes, that's Runyon with an R) is slowly pulling away from me withe jersey. This kid is good. When he was 16, he tackled Mt. Washington with a time somewhere around the 1:01 mark. If I attempted to climb that mountain when I was 16, I might have done it in under 1:30. Paul is talented, a persistent climber who I've really got to mark if I'm to have any chance at the overall.

At Whiteface, Paul was in a different wave, but I had 2009 Canadian Elite Road Race Champion Aaron Fillion to contend with. I felt decent enough for the first two miles, and the two of us pulled away from the rest of the field and one other dangler before forming our own rhythm. I thought I might be hurting Aaron as he was coughing and sputtering the whole way up. He rides bent over like an unfurled fern, his arms like they're reaching for levers that are far out beyond the ends of his shifters. Halfway up, Aaron's pulls began to hurt me a bit more, and he wasn't letting me control the pace when it was my turn at the front. Suddenly, it just felt too fast for me. He didn't really attack, but I just couldn't stay on his wheel. I decided to cut the corners to my advantage, take the inside line, draft off of riders from previous waves and use all of my experience to keep Aaron within seconds. I'd get him at the top where it flattens out and we could sprint. But Aaron must have been pedaling 10 watts more on average than me, and by the top, he beat me by more than a minute and a half. What I didn't realize in thinking I had second place in the bag was that Runyon, in the 20-29 wave, crossed the line :30 seconds fast than me. The block headwind prevented any chance at challenging Dan Cassidy's 2007 record, but Fillion's time was fairly close considering the gusty conditions. Third place for me. Okay, well, at least I've got my starting point.

Okemo. Third again. Runyon and I attacked early on, with Mainer Judson Cake taking a couple of pulls at the beginning of the climb. Runyon knew he had to hurt me early on as I was perhaps a little too eager to show my cards within the first few miles. He put in an attack on the deflating stretch of the climb that ascends the lower ski slope at Okemo which didn't make me want to cry, but certainly made me pout. If there was anything nice about it, the attack wasn't impossible to chase down, wasn't too fast, wasn't Tom Danielson or Anthony Colby in front of me. I knew if I could just keep a high pace going, I could reel him in. Which I did, except that Gerry Clapper, 49 years old and capable of putting out enough wattage to pick up where Vermont Yankee will leave off, began to challenge me. This was just like last year. I was riding defensively since the third mile and I was not recovering. I was deflecting, actually, and suddenly another rider caught the three of us, Ian Gordon, from Rhode Island, a flat lander! This was not going well. Gerry, thankfully for me, began to fade but Runyon and Gordon decided to put the nail in my coffin and attacked, quickly opening up a five second gap. From there, Runyon put in one more slow motion attack and dropped Gordon. By the top, Runyon had about :30 seconds on me, and Gordon had about :15. Third again. Grrr.

Newton's Revenge is up next and word on the hill is that Tom Danielson, left off of Garmin-Transition's Tour de France list, will be there, as will a number of other high quality pros and Cat 1s. Yay. I've looked at my training and some adjustments have been made, specifically that I need to begin a much more structured training pattern.
Paul Runyon leads the BUMPS series by a point over me. I hope I can accrue a few more than he will at Newton's on July 10.

Game On.

2010-06-19T11:51:00.002-04:00

And so it begins...

Saturday, June 19, 5:30pm Whiteface Hill Climb

Three days 'til the season kicks off...

2010-06-16T22:39:00.000-04:00

...and I've got a cold. Yeah! I attended a middle school graduation on Tuesday and woke up with a headache and a really snotty nose. The timing couldn't be worse with the Whiteface Hill Climb just days away on what is supposed to be a beautiful and hot June day in upstate New York. I had always planned on recon riding the course but I never could make it over to Wilmington.
The Lake Champlain bridge is out, i.e. not there, i.e. blowed up good and gone, which somehow hampered my motivation to cross the lake on a training ride basis. The ferry in the bridge's place, however, is free. Start time is 5:30pm, in the thick of the early evening heat. I hope it's humid as Hades. Those are my kind of conditions.

The Lynskey is all set up and ready to go, although I'm on the fence about using a compact or a standard crankset. The average grade for Whiteface is just a hair over 8%, not the steepest climb around. But I've been using my compact all season so far and have gotten really used to it. Just this week I throw the standard on just for old times sake, and to remind myself that, yes, I used to be able to push a 39t up anything that came my way. I didn't really notice much of a difference, although I did feel like the mid-range gears were a tad bit harder to push (which they were, technically). We'll see. I'll probably make up my mind 24 hours pre-race, and then I'll make up my mind again halfway up the climb during the race.

To tell you the truth, I'm a bit nervous for this event. Even though I raced at Sunapee back in mid-May, I really haven't participated in a full-on TT event since the GMSR prologue back in September. Grad. school ate up all of my time and motivation and training took a back seat - the back bench seat in a Chevy 15-passenger van, not the back seat of a VW Rabbit; the WAY back seat.

Conveniently, I live in bicycle climber's heaven (or is it haven, or is it both?). My good friend Andrew Gardner and I have been assaulting VT's gaps for two months now and we're both feeling a lot better about ourselves than we did back when the snow was still dwindling on the ground. I need Whiteface to gauge where I'm at physically, to remind myself that I am still an athlete and can still climb hills. Even though Okemo is next which, in my mind, is a difficult little climb, much steeper than Whiteface, I'm sure I'll be more relaxed than I am right now.

If you don't hear from me within the next couple of days, wish me luck. I'll have a full report Sunday or Monday.

Green Mountain Bike Club Crit

2010-06-09T12:42:00.000-04:00

I can't sprint. In fact, your chances would be pretty good to bet on a gerbil on a wheel sprinting faster than me. I work on sprinting sometimes. I go out, try to look composed as I "power" my bike faster and faster along the road's shoulder. I must look ridiculous for so much body motion and effort, for me, only leads to a top ground speed of maybe 31mph if the wind is right. Whew! I'm winded just thinking about it. Sprinting. Yuck.
But last night at the GMBC Tuesday night crit, I really tried to throw it down. Not the sprint, mind you, but a sustained time trial-like effort. I arrived 15 minutes pre-start, and within the first 100 meters of the race, another racer meandered casually off of the front of the pack and I, for whatever reason, went with him. While I exchanged breakaway partners for the most of the duration of the race, I was constantly off the front. My Lynskey Helix OS dove around the tight course with confidence and gusto and the early evening sunlight must have looked glorious reflecting off the titanium's spiraling metal sheen. Aah, summer. I don't have a power meter so I have no idea how many watts I was putting out. Let's just say 3,000 because that's what it felt like. I didn't stay away but my efforts chased down the late race break to try to set up ex-teammate and great friend Andrew Gardner for the sprint finish. I think he ended up in third or fourth. Not sure. My eyes were too blurry to really see straight.

I'm starting to move and I want to tell my three followers that. Okay, maybe five, if you count my parents. It's refreshing to know that I can still find my legs after having spent the winter months in a seat, couch, or library chair instead of on my bike saddle.

Whiteface hill climb is next Saturday, June 19. Stay tuned for a full report, reflection, and impression. I can't wait to show the climbers my new bike.

A couple of quickies

2010-06-01T08:49:00.000-04:00

First off, a HUGE congratulations to Mr. Ted King for finishing his second Giro d'Italia! No, not some hackneyed, American, junior, amateur version of a giro. No, I'm talking about the real deal, the big dance, er, il grande ballo. Way to go, Ted! I remember when I could stay in front of you in collegiate mountain bike races...for 24 seconds. For those of you who don't know, Ted is a New England native, a Middlebury College alum, and a great reciter of lines from the movie Dumb and Dumber. He's an all around great guy.
I spent Memorial Day weekend in Maine with Liese and JS. To the confusion of many locals back here in Vermont, I had to repeatedly explain that I would not be participating in the reincarnated Killington Stage Race, directed by my good pal Gary Kessler of Green Mountain Stage Race fame. This one was hard to avoid but I managed through sheer will and the constant reminder that I was indeed months behind top physical shape, at least, in order to compete with the top guys. However, after racing around coastal Maine this weekend, I feel as if I would have done pretty well. And, after racing around coastal Maine this weekend, I will no longer complain feverishly about the shape of Vermont's roads. Maine's peninsula roads are deplorable. My backside hurts more than the patience of the old man in the '91 Taurus with the sideways yellow ribbon magnet that looks like a Jesus fish who was trying to pass me to make it two seconds earlier to whatever flea market he was heading to. Most of the drivers were somewhat courteous, if not, unaware that I was on the road and therefore didn't notice me to begin with. In that area of Maine, I suppose, you are always playing defense as a cyclist. It was a good lesson anyway and a good reminder to be extra cautious just in case.

Aside from the riding, there was much lounging, putting the dock in (a big first) cleaning out the barn and joyously tossing old junk into a giant dumpster in preparation for my brother's wedding in August, and lots and lots of dog management. Our dogs were having the time of their lives, and in the process, often annoying all of the company that came up and BBQ'd at our farm on Sunday. But the barking, whining, and jumping were well worth it and the constant comic relief the dogs provided was automatic silence filler when people began to run out of things to say.

Thanks, Maine!

First hill climb is now just over two weeks away!!! Up, up, and away.

What's that elephant doing in the living room?

2010-05-24T14:16:00.000-04:00

Okay. I'm going to do what very few other cycling-related blogs are occupying themselves with these past few days and refrain from talking about Flance Landstrong. Who cares what I think? I know neither of the guys nor do I feel like I can even make an educated guess about who did what to whom, etc. It'll sort itself out...someday.

A lot of my friends and fellow racers sounded like broken records this past Saturday at the Lake Sunapee Road Race in Sunapee, NH: I thought you were retired, I thought you were retired. Well, I guess I was Lance Armstrong retired or Michael Jordan retired, or even Arrested Development retired. Actually, no, scratch that last one. I was not brought back by popular demand and, so far, my "comeback" has been anything but funny. I signed myself up for some intensity that only racing can provide. The Sunapee race is a 70 mile course with some short sharp climbs, bad road surfaces, and one final 1k ascent up the ski resort's access road. I was mostly pack fodder for the race, content to sit in an just get that burning feeling going in the muscles again. In retrospect, I actually fared well considering it was my first race back after only moderate training for two months. I never tried to get to the sharp end of the peloton and therefore was in no position to make the breakaway when it exploded from the front of the field about a lap and a half into the race. But, it was nice to see the speedometer reading a consistent 28mph for most of the 2.5 hour ride. Unfortunately for almost all of us, there was a big crash with one mile to go in a field that went ahead of ours. Officials were forced to shut the race course down which prompted a one hour delay. One moment we were speeding toward the exciting finale, still trying to reel in the breakaway and the next, we come screeching to a halt as a line of traffic a quarter mile long blocked the road. It was impossible to get the legs going again at the level they needed to be in order to contest what now would be a one mile sprint. After an hour, race organizers let the breakaway get the head start they deserved and then waved what was left of our field through to the finish line. My legs felt like creaky floorboards at this point and with about 400m to go, I tried to look cool and sat up. So cool.

There were parts of the scene I missed and parts I definitely did not. I realized I missed the racing, I missed people checking out my bike (of which they did a lot, looking at my Lynskey Helix OS); I missed the pain in my legs and the ability to push my body further into the red zone than the average person could never comprehend. I did NOT miss the 5:15am alarm clock, the force feeding, coffee, bathroom all before 6:00am, the rush to make it to the race with plenty of time to spare, the next bathroom break. I did not miss all of the category 1 and 2 racers acting as if they were the most glorious and celebrated rock stars of our time, with their oversized designer sunglasses, shiny and oiled legs, and the occasional stare down with rivals from across the Subaru-strewn parking lot. And then there was the one kid from Dartmouth who was blaring Third Eye Blind from his Toyota Corolla's open doors as he pinned his numbers. What is this, 1997? I think he was on his way to see American Pie post race. Dartmouth, I mean, c'mon.

vermont gluten free

2010-05-14T08:48:00.002-04:00

I told my mom years ago that she ought to start her own gluten-free bakery. No store-bought product came close to the breads, cookies, brownies, and cakes she was making me. Of course, it's no surprise since she can make even dandelion greens taste good. She's an amazing painter, too, her true calling in life, which is one very good reason why she never went into the baking business. Her painting is the gluten-free community's loss. Oh well. At least she still makes incredible blueberry cake for me when I visit.

During my internship as a middle school teacher-to-be (hopefully), I met Joye Mudgett, who came back to the University of Vermont MAT program to finish her teaching internship. She was part of the 2008-2009 cohort. She mentioned that she and her mother had started a gluten-free baked goods company and this is where I knew Joye must become my friend. Originally called "It's Gluten-Free," and with plain Arial black font printed on a small strip of white sticky paper, the burgeoning business' marketing pop wasn't doing justice to the bakery's unsurpassed taste. I had purchased the random loaf of bread or brownie from local health food stores in Burlington in the past year and really fell in love with the brand. But I had no idea what the deal was with the company, given that rival West Meadow Farm Bakery seemed to have its marketing and distribution down.

Joye is a lovely person and is very open to suggestions. I offered that she ought to think about changing the labeling of her products. She replied that the business had already hired a graphic designer and that the name would be changing to Vermont Gluten Free Great name, catchy logo, problem solved! I realize that there is still a limited market of those wishing to purchase gluten-free items in Vermont, but Celiac Sprue, or just people wishing to avoid gluten in their everyday diets, is on the rise. Joye and Jean of Vermont Gluten Free make the best GF bread I've ever had (sorry mom). I highly, HIGHLY recommend the honey oatmeal. Gluten-free products are often dry and grainy due to the various substitute flours used to replace wheat. Somehow, Vermont Gluten Free has found the magic ratio of flour to oil to butter to egg to magic. I don't know. It's good, that's what I do know.

The best GF baked products are in Vermont at Vermont Gluten Free. Thanks Joye and Jean!

Clearly, I need more pictures

2010-05-12T23:52:00.000-04:00

With so much eye candy at my disposal, I am ashamed to admit I can barely share any of it with you visually. So far, these posts have been rather wordy and, alas, so, too, this one will be. But I'd like you to get a taste of what kind of bike bling I was fondling today.
Let's see. Oh, I know. I guess I'll start with the fact that I was holding $1400 at one time in my hands in cycling gear yesterday. A frame, you ask? No. A set of fancy-shmancy carbon wheels? Wrong again. The contents of our bike shop's upstairs cash register? In our dreams (we never have anything close to that in our Samsung ER-290)! No, I was holding two Cannondale Hollowgram SL cranks in my hands, of course. Two! And, because they're so freakin' light, I forgot I was holding them. What else? Oh, yes, several sets of wheels, including Topolino's new ATR 3.0's. They're very light for clinchers (1350g) and they look like a mash-up of Lightweights and DTswiss aluminum box rims. I rode them tonight with a pair of Michelin ProRace3 Lights. A good time was had by all. I hope I get to "test" out this pair again soon. Are you still having a hard time finding those new Edge Double Wheel Bags? You know, the black and orange ones? We have three of them! Don't ask me how or why. Let's just say that Edge has top-notch customer/dealer service. They've set the bar higher than any other company can even attempt to vault over.
Other notables: a couple of artisanl Lynskey titanium frames; a Sram XX cassette; and two Forever Bikes:

With my dogs, Ellie and Railay, as witnesses, I can safely say that I've already tinkered with, installed and/or assembled, and breathed on bikes and bike components worth more than what I owe the University of Vermont for grad school.

Lynskey Helix OS Specials for May

2010-05-05T11:55:00.002-04:00

http://www.lynskeyperformance.com/a/pages/lynskey-titanium-bicycles-for-sale---promotional-specials.php

Happy May!

2010-05-01T22:57:00.001-04:00

I woke up to 5" of heavy snow and 34 degrees on Wednesday morning. Yes, just this past Wednesday morning, as in April 28, just three days from May. Today, Saturday, May 1, temps got up to nearly 80 degrees and all but a few pathetic piles of shaded snow remain from Wednesday's interesting weather.

I did some more gap climbing today. The training is going okay, considering I'm nearly (though, not really) done with all of my school work. I'm feeling much better on the climbs and can tell my body is getting used to recovering while climbing. A month ago, I was a sweating, wheezing, crying mess trying to get my pasty carcass over Appalachian, Brandon, or Middlebury Gaps.

Here's a beautiful image.

Suck it, April 28.

School

2010-04-30T13:55:00.002-04:00

Maybe, just maybe by the end of today, I'll be done with my work and I'll be done with this semester. And then I can ride my bike and have a life again.

So, Charles, just what the heck is this all about anyway? 2010 Schedule.

2010-04-27T13:04:00.035-04:00

At the end of the 2009 season, I decided to call it quits. I had been racing in the pro/1/2's since 2005, on the road since 2002, and competed in my first mountain bike race in 1994. It's been a long, amazing, un/productive, memorable, incredible ride.
In 2008, I felt like I reached the peak of my fitness and the zenith of my interest in the sport. I basically limped through 2009, distracted by work and looking forward to grad school. About three months into school though, during one particularly warm November day, I was sitting at my desk in the office, which has a window view of route 125, aka Middlebury Gap. The low afternoon light provided just the right amount of illumination to make the three bicycle riders on their way up the mountain look like glowing apostles. I suddenly realized how much I missed racing. I mean, really missed it. Perhaps it was the twelfth paper of the semester in front of me, or maybe it was just that if it had been any other year, November always meant time to get back on the bike. But there I was, static in my office, an early winter's beard slowly taking over my face, my cycling clothes hanging dry and a little dusty in the closet, the bike tires deflated. I wanted back in.

Last summer I started thinking about my future with cycling. I took a long look at my strengths, and I examined my weaknesses. Despite all the pain and suffering that cycling produces, there has always been one area of the sport that, for whatever reason, I think I'm just good at: climbing. I'm no Contador or Danielson; I certainly won't break the Mt. Washington record. I think, however, that I can hold my own against some of the region's best and would like the opportunity to prove it.

Last year, the directors of the various hill climb races around the northeast got together and created the BUMPS Hill Climb Series. "The BUMPS (Bike Up the Mountain Points Series) is the only series of its kind in America – a series that recognizes the talents of riders who do the hardest thing in cycling: climb steep hills. The series comprises nine races on eight mountains of the Northeast, on courses of varying lengths and pitches. Any rider who enters a BUMPS event will automatically be entered into the overall series points standings. There is no need to enter a separate BUMPS category. Riders will be scored according to their accumulated points in up to five races, and the totals of riders who enter more than five races will be determined by their best five scores." -hillclimbseries.com

I've raced the Burke climb twice and ate Anthony Colby's (two-time Mt. Washington winner) dust at Okemo last year, but here was an opportunity to focus on my cycling strengths, probably to do pretty well, not to have to travel too far, and not to commit an entire year to training. This is my kind of bike race series. So, in 2010, I've left MetLife Cycling, put together a very small program with the help of my sponsors, The Bike Center, Lynskey Performance Designs, and Edge Composites, and have set my sights on winning the overall points in the BUMPS series. I will also compete in a couple of USCF races, too.

Here's my schedule:

May 22             Lake Sunapee Road Race Sunapee, NH
May 31           Cape-Able Bike Race Arundel, ME
June 12 Whiteface Road Race Wilmington, NY
June 19       Whiteface Hill Climb Wilmington, NY
June 26       Okemo Hill Climb Ludlow, VT
July 11              Newton's Revenge (Mt. Washington) Gorham, NH
July 17              Mt. Ascutney Hill Climb Brownsville, VT
July 18              Yarmouth Clam Festival Yarmouth, ME
August 7            Mt. Equinox Hill Climb Manchester, VT
Sept. 3-6            Green Mountain Stage Race Waitsfield, VT
Sept. 11             Mt. Greylock Hill Climb North Adams, MA
October 3          Allen Clark Hill Climb Waitsfield, VT

In addition to the races, I hope to participate in several centuries and hope we can get a crew together to tackle the 6-Gap ride...maybe more than once this season.

Stay tuned!

TNW

2010-04-16T12:05:00.002-04:00

It’s a national cycling institution. Every great cycling community has its version of TNW, the local hammerfest, the shootout, the big ride. Whatever you call it, the pace is fast, the breathing is loud, the yellow line is crossed and drivers are pissed off. Actually, the Green Mountain Bicycle Club does a pretty good job of self-disciplining itself when it comes to driver/cyclist relations and rules of the road. But, without fail, there will always be the guy or guys who begin their town line sprint way too early and veer wrecklessly all over the road for pride points.
The crowd at the GMBC TNW last night was big, big for April, and speedy. The tailwind starting out moved the pace right along. Some of the local big shots showed up but more importantly, the host club, generally comprised of masters racers, really impressed me. These guys are enjoying great early season form. In no way were they going to let the young whippersnappers dictate the ride.
Anyway, if you’re in the Burlington, VT, area on Tuesday nights, join us at 6:00pm (5:45 in April) at The Sports & Fitness Edge in South Burlington for a quick 1:30 of pedal pounding.

Saddle choice and the end of the good weather

2010-04-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

I’m a Fi’zi:k guy (notice I got their logo right!)

I really hate all bike saddles, but the best of them are F:iz’ik saddles. I prefer the Aliante over the Arione and recently got an Antares. It’s flatter and harder than the Aliante, but I like the flatness and the range of positions it provides. After some recent back problems, however, I switched back to the Aliante. I’m having trouble deciding which one I like most (or, which one bothers me least). Maybe I’ll just have to switch between the two.

Anyway, looks like April has finally decided to rear its ugly head. We’re in for some cold, some rain, some snow, some depression for awhile. Yay.

A Review of the Lynskey Helix OS

2010-04-13T12:00:00.002-04:00

16.2 lbs as seen here. With Edge 1.25s, it goes down to 14.6lbs!

A review of the Lynskey Helix OS
Why go Friendly’s when you can eat Ben & Jerry’s? Why tolerate Bud American Ale if you can splurge on your favorite local microbrew? Why endure another year on another carbon frame when you can ride a Lynskey?

Wait! Lynskey, you say? Don’t they make titanium frames? And isn’t titanium so, you know, the year 2000? Answer: not any more it’s not. Behold the second coming of titanium glory and fix your eyes on Lynskey Performance Designs’ newest frame, the Helix OS!

This is a racing machine.

Lynskey has been around the bike biz for decades, originally as Litespeed in 1986 and 20 years later as Lynskey Performance Designs. Each frame is beautifully crafted, whether custom or stock sized.

While the company has remained true to its traditional titanium frame building roots, it has really popped the cork with the unveiling of the Helix and Helix OS. Made from 3al/2.5v, this signature frame has twisted top and down tubes as well as seatstays, which provide greater stiffness without adding weight. This, of course, is the mantra that gets fed to bicycle consumers year after year: more stiffness; less weight. The Lynskey Helix, however, cuts through the marketing fluff and has created a product the family from Chattanooga, TN, can easily say is an incredible racing bike.

Available now, the Helix OS ratchets stiffness and performance levels to even greater heights with a beefy oversized headtube and the soon-to-be-industry-standard BB30 bottom bracket shell. I’ve built my frame up with an Edge 2.0 fork, a Cannondale Hollowgram SL crank, and a smattering of superlight Sram Red and Bontrager parts. Since I worked at Fit Werx in Waitsfield, VT, which is one of the most respected boutique bicycle shops in the country, I’ve ridden dozens of high enders: Serotta Meivicis and Legend Ti, Parlee Z1s, Guru Geneos, Cervelo R3SLs, Trek Madones (5 and 6 series). All of these brands are highly respected and make fantastic products, each with their own unique characteristics. I’ve also been riding and racing since I was 15 and I’ve got to say, that even with all of the carbon featherweight frames out there and all of the aerodynamic test results shooting from the pages of Velonews, my Lynskey Helix OS is my favorite bike of all time.

For me, this frame represents balance. Now for the superlatives. It’s sublimely smooth and stable. It’s also quiet. At 145 lbs., you’d be ill-advised to bet on me to be your go-to source for bicycle stiffness. I can offer to you though, that it feels stiffer than a Trek Madone 5 series with Dura-Ace 7800 cranks I had two years ago. It won’t leave you speechless with its weight, but it isn’t portly, either, at 14.6 lbs with my Edge 25 race wheels. It’s snappy, crisp, and agile, and SO fun to ride.

The Helix OS represents the pinnacle of titanium craftsmanship. It’s stunning to look at and even more fun to ride. I can’t praise this bike enough.

wow

2010-04-12T12:28:00.000-04:00

April

2010-04-05T12:06:00.000-04:00

April is like a…(insert clever, pop culturally relevant simile here)

The weather’s been amazing this April. Not one ride with a thermal jacket yet! Normally, I’m watching the weather like Jim Cantore, but this year weather.com is wondering why my computer’s URL address isn’t registering as much. I have a feeling we’re going to pay for this though.