Sneak Peek Friday

Friday July 30th, 2010 | 10 Comments | Kid Riemer

TGIFSP. Full skinny on this one coming Monday morning. Enjoy your weekend.

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This post filed under the topic(s):Kid, Sneak Peek

Closer to fine

Wednesday July 28th, 2010 | 7 Comments | Tim

When I get out into the wild, I crave the silence and the solace of leaving the societal world behind. Something about the digital distractions of our everyday life clouds the mind with some permanent state of white noise. I try to escape, but its hard to break out of the grip of alternating current, its interesting to see what small piece retains the hold.

In this case, it was a song by the Indigo Girls. My mind would not quiet, even with the large expanse of air surrounding me, trying so hard to give space and relieve the pressure. “I’m trying to tell you something about my life, maybe give me insight between black and white”

I am out on a 6 day trip with 3 good friends, and one new one. I went to college with Adam and Justin, we have ridden thousands of miles together, and this time they brought along Matt, a new friend that I seemed to have known for a long time. The other good friend was El Mariachi, as I brought out one of the new prototypes with the Alternator dropout to do product testing. We were setting off on a 6-day trip to ride the Kokopelli trail, White Rim, and a smattering of other Moab area trails to connect it all together in bikepacking wanderlust.

“The best thing you’ve ever done for me, is to help me take my life less seriously, its only life after all” the words kept coming in my head. I couldn’t shake the remains of city life, but I suppose it was better than Britney Spears or Justin Bieber.

El Mariachi and I have been friends since 2007, and this third reincarnation brought back all the good memories of our times before. It was that old friend, the one you knew for years, you get together and don’t miss a beat, its an easy friendship, one you know will always be there. It was great to have my friend El Mariachi along in this capacity, as this was the same experience I was having with Matt, Justin and Adam. Sure, we went to school together, but now are spread out across the country, and really are only able to congregate a few weeks a year for good mountain biking trips. But as with any good friends, we can always pick up where we left off.

Leaving Fruita with 26 lbs of gear dry, 300oz of water, and 300 miles of trail ahead, we had the butterflies of the long trip ahead, but the excitement of what adventures these 6 days would bring us. We had done Kokopelli the year before, so the first day was very familiar. We did however find that an MSR ceramic water filter does not work as well in the muddy Colorado as it does in the crisp, clean streams of Minnesota. The first night was spent 62 miles in, with no water, and dry EasyMac for dinner.

“I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains, I look to the children, I drank from the fountain. There’s more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line. The less I seek my source for some definitive, The closer I am to fine.” The ladies kept singing into my ear, even in the painful dehydrated night, and while I could not shake the noise in my head, the lyrics they were telling me were soothing, giving me reason to why I was willingly out in the desert suffering. Healing. Being out, not knowing what is next, adventure. It heals my wounds from a consumerist metropolis lifestyle.

A night void of water for the body can only be followed by dry oatmeal and cold, hard to swallow Pop-Tarts. Those first 25 miles were painful, but soon after another crossing of the Colorado, we found a nice flow out in the slickrock domes, devoid enough of silt to allow the little MSR to fill us up. As the heat of day picked up, it felt good to finally be rehydrating. Throughout the pain of dehydration, one piece of comfort was the El Mariachi was beneath me, acting faithfully as ever, working perfectly without complaint, showing that even some new clothes wont spoil its inner beauty.

“I stopped by the bar at 3am, to seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend, I woke up with a headache like my head against a board, twice as cloudy as Id been the night before, I went in seeking clarity” Clarity is what I was seeking. But reaching the next stream on the map that was supposed to be clear and a source for water found us with an opposing force of the desert heat only a few hours previous; snow. We were camping up above Onion Creek at around 7000 ft, and the steam was frozen. Prepared for the desert with our 45 degree down bags, we froze, dehydrated again when the temperature dipped to 23 degrees. Clarity is why I came out here. I swore a few times that night wondering what kind of idiot does this for fun?

Taking a break at our halfway stop in Moab, we went into one of the local gear shops to ask how they got water out of the Colorado. Alum. Take the muddy water, let it sit in a container, add alum and it helps precipitate out the sediment. Then filter. Local knowledge is precious. Mental note, ask first next time.

The next few days were spent out in Canyonlands National Park, the only one where you can ride a mountain bike off-pavement. With knowledge of water harvestation, gorgeous views, and a full belly of Denny’s Grand Slam, the next few days seemed to be more exciting than the last. Plus, the altitude is only about 5000 ft, so it wouldn’t be as cold.

“We go to the bible, we go through the workout, we read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout. There’s more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line. The less I seek my source for some definitive, the closer I am to fine.” The 5th day was my 29th birthday. I was out, enjoying the most gorgeous country on my favorite 29er. Some of my yearning concerns and questions were beginning to fade into the red rocks. My mind was clearing. We reached camp, I went to the river to start some filtering, and found a naked man. He was bathing where I wanted to get drinking water. He sure was nice though, as he offered up 4 gallons of fresh distilled, jugged water and a 6 pack of ice cold Bud Light. What a birthday gift. Thank you naked man.

Closer to fine, the name of the song that remained in my head, over and over for 6 days. I felt it. As I rode my adventure with all of my good friends, human and steel, I felt every day that I was getting closer to being fine.

(Gear list to follow next week)
 

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This post filed under the topic(s):Tim Krueger, El Mariachi, bikepacking, 29'er

Sneak Peek Monday

Monday July 26th, 2010 | 17 Comments | Kid Riemer

'Tis the season for Sneak Peeks. There's more than one new sled in the house these days!

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This post filed under the topic(s):new product, Kid, Sneak Peek

Sneak Peek Friday - More Cowbell!

Friday July 23rd, 2010 | 11 Comments | David

In the coming weeks I'll be gluing tubular tires to rims and taking the occasional whiff of embrocation to adjust the senses for cyclocross season.  During this time we will be releasing small bits and pieces about the new Chili Con Crosso to get you thinking about the changes we are making for the 2010 cyclocross season! 

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This post filed under the topic(s):cyclocross, chili con crosso, David

Breckenridge 100: Happy To Survive

Wednesday July 21st, 2010 | 0 Comments | Gerry Pflug

Last year I raced the Breckenridge 100 NUE Series Race and was completely conquered by the course. I also had a mechanical problem on top of the first long climb that made an attempt at winning the race impossible for me. But, even with the mechanical issue and the difficult course, I was very happy to pull off a second place finish last year. Feeling that I could only improve on how I did in 2009, I decided to give the Breckenridge 100 another try this year.

There is no doubt that Breckenridge is a super hard 100-mile MTB course. The overall high altitude of the race, which is held at between the elevation of 9500 and 12000 feet, combined with well over 12000 feet of total vertical climbing on three different and distinct loops is a brutal combination to overcome. Of course, doing the race on a singlespeed bike only makes the fight against all the climbing and the high elevation even more difficult to complete.

To make the race a little more bearable than last year, I decided to use an easier gear and also thought that knowing the course layout from my previous attempt would help me improve my finishing time. But, even with these two advantages over my 2009 race, I knew that I would still need to contend with attempting to breathe at the high Breckenridge elevation with a much lower oxygen amount than I am used to breathing at my home in Pennsylvania. Knowing where I was on the course and my better gear selection certainly did make the race less difficult than my 2009 attempt, but my inability to collect enough oxygen with each breath was enough to keep me in a world of hurt for the majority of the race.

At most of the NUE Series Races, the race begins with groups of riders forming in packs of equal ability and working together. This is a good thing, as it seems to make the miles and time tick away a little quicker. At Breckenridge, however, things immediately split up during the first long, one-plus-hour climb up and over Wheeler Pass, which starts off the race. From that point on, riders come and go, but there is little opportunity to develop any long lasting working relationships on the trails. The race becomes a long solo journey, with an occasional hello to another rider here and there. Fortunately, there is plenty of natural beauty around the surrounding mountains of Breckenridge to enjoy and help pass the time during the race.

I put in my best battle against Breck this year, but she did not make the competition an easy one. I thought my preparations for my journey this year would make things easier for me than my 11 hour and 6 minute trip of last year. I was wrong. Yes, my time was faster. Almost an hour faster than my 2009 effort, as a matter of fact, but Breckenridge still put me at a level of hurt that no other course has done. The hard effort I put out was good enough for a third place finish in the singlespeed class, but the beating the course gave me did not make me feel like a podium finisher.

Yes, I am happy about surviving and finishing the race. It was certainly a hard task to do on a course that completely defeated many race starters by placing a DNF next to their names. So, I guess that I should not feel completely conquered by you, Breckenridge. But, I will never again let myself feel like my pre-race preparations are enough to help me claim victory over you, for you will always be one of the hardest races on my list and should never be underestimated. Breckenridge, you have my total respect for kicking my butt not once, but twice; and, all the while doing it with a complete look of magnificence.

So, with the Breckenridge 100 complete, I have now finished four of the eight 2010 NUE Series races this season. Currently I am leading the series in the SS class, but a lot can still happen since only a racer’s best four of the eight races count for the overall. My plan is to do all eight of the NUE Races, with the next race being one of my favorites of the series, the Wilderness 101 in Coburn, PA on July 31st. A week later I will travel out to Bend, OR for my first attempt at the new NUE Series Race, the High Cascade 100. The last two races of the series, the Fool’s Gold 100 in Georgia and the Shenandoah 100 in Virginia, are also two races that I really enjoy doing. If you’re doing one of these races, I will see you there. If not, you should really consider getting your name on the starting list before it is too late.

Happy Trails, Gerry

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This post filed under the topic(s):Gerry Pflug, Salsa Team, NUE Series, Selma