Kevin Montgomery's Cycling & Adventure Blog

In case you hadn't noticed, I never update this anymore

2010-02-06T13:39:00.001-08:00

Costa Rica and Panama pictures

2009-01-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

I'm still sorting through approximately 1000 photos from a 3 week jaunt down south, so I'm still too busy to do any formal write-ups. However, here is a sampling:

Looks like I didn't miss much

2008-10-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

I was pretty bummed earlier in the week that I wasn't confident enough in my hands to do Dave Harris' Trans-Utah race. Looks like I shouldn't have been too upset about it.

No finishers. Brutal.

Scratch

2008-08-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

I did some serious nerve damage to my hands, presumably because of the broken fork. I've been pumped full of steroids the last few days... I cannot sleep more than a couple of hours and feel slightly out of it; on top of that my hands are still numb. If the steroids don't do anything, I'll have to go back to the hospital for more testing.

Anyways, my hands are my livelihood, a permanent injury is something I cannot risk, especially as I just started a new design/development business. Therefore, I don't intend on riding my bike in the foreseeable future. Thanks to Andy Buchanan and Mary Collier for offering to overnight a fork to Butte for me. I wish the circumstances of my hands would have allowed me to accept one of those offers...

Soon I'll writeup my thoughts on doing the route in August. In short, my limited experience on the route in August tells me that June is more ideal: longer days and the weather seems to be a little less erratic. I'd rather tour the route in August for sure though... there are a lot more people on the route to interact with, both fellow tourers and general people enjoying nature. ALSO, all the blowdowns were cleared (this made me so happy). It was fun.

Fork shit the bed

2008-08-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

This probably explains the numb hands. I cannot afford to buy a new
one. No love from sram until I'm back in sf... Ideas? I'll have to
make some decisions. 2000 miles on a noodle is not my idea of fun

Sent from my iPhone

Ovando wind storm

2008-08-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

Tour Divide ITT 2008 #11

2008-08-26T20:21:00.001-07:00

Gabcast! Tour Divide ITT 2008 #11

Photodump while waiting for dinner

2008-08-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Starting in 20 Minutes...

2008-08-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Cold morning in Banff. It's only 40 degrees (f). As you may have guessed, I won't be checking in until I'm stateside tomorrow, as I'm cheap and don't want to buy a Canadian calling card.

ITTing the Tour Divide

2008-08-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

The cat's out of the bag for the most part on this one, but I've decided to give the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route another go, this time as an individual time trial. On the morning of Saturday, August 23rd, I'll begin descending the North American continent with my Salsa Dos-Niner and a small bundle of supplies. After all the planning and training that went into this years failed race, I feel that I have an obligation to myself to go out and do this before I move on to another junction in my life this fall.

Despite the potential insanity that surrounds this effort, especially after how much I messed up my heal two months ago, I'm more excited for this attempt than I have been in the past. 3 weeks of truly being out there: no other racers to ride with, no mass of spectators on the web and the occasional local driving out to the route to meet the blue dots descending down a digital map, and very little pressure. The ITT is the lost-yet-not-forgotten form of divide racing that, to my knowledge, has only seen one finisher (John Stamstad '99) and only a single attempt in the new millennium (Mike Curiak, '03). I can only imagine that the divide depression will set in sooner, the rain will seem to fall harder, and the nights will feel colder without the comfort of having fellow racers nearby; but maybe that makes this more enticing.

Testing photo post from cellphone

2008-08-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

A flood of bikes

2008-07-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

I finally can feel like one of those dirty gear-obsessed cyclists again with the recent development of 13 bikes living in my garage now. I finally finished building up my new road bike this weekend and, frankly, I don't know where to put it. If people are interested, it's the one with nice clean red bar tape in the background.

100-miler this Saturday

2008-07-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some really light riding this week and I believe I'm ready to start doing some endurance racing again. I'm doing a low-key grass routes 100 miler that starts in San Francisco and loops through Marin this Saturday. Depending how this goes, I might have to start adjusting my August schedule to make for some bigger plans...

I'll update after the race. Tragically I'm missing Tour de Fat to do it; hopefully the course is worth it.

Divide attempt 3 and the future

2008-07-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

I mountain biked 968 Miles in 7 days. 138 miles a day. This is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, yet, after watching Alan and Dominik finish their ride today after riding with them on and off for days, I cannot help continue feeling depressed about my Tour Divide performance.

For those who don't know the backstory, I thought I tore my Achilles' Tendon riding out of Lima, MT. My right foot became so inflamed throughout the morning that by the afternoon I couldn't fit my foot in my shoes. My thrilling extraction via hitchhiking took almost all day as I was stuck in the middle of a low-traffic dirt farm-road on the Montana side of Red Rock Pass. After I finally got to a real town, the doctor assessed it as a only a really bad sprain. Apparently when you twist your ankle hiking through deep snows mile after mile, you probably shouldn't hop on the bike for a huge day doing 4 major climbs. Although I don't need surgery, I was told I'd have to take a month off the bike...

The problem with not finishing a third time is a find myself longing to go back. This, in my opinion, is a real problem. There are so many things I still want to do, can I really dedicate another year to divide racing? In reality, if present US-section record holder John Nobile is any sort of gauge, I still have 21 years left to complete a crazy-fast ride, so I suppose I have good reason to rush back, however the trail calls.

Part of the problem that I'm starting to encounter is the "what if" game. Going back and having something potential go wrong so I don't finish again would be even more crushing. The 8 months of borderline obsessive training that I put into this year's race was not always fun. Getting up at 6:15 am to ride 35 minutes through packed San Francisco city streets in a cold fog and light rain just to get to some "decent" riding wore thin after a while. Maybe this is part of the challenge. However, right now it does not sound super-appealing to do all over again. In truth, I wish I could go back to Banff in Mid August and give it another go while I'm still strong and finally put this baby to rest. But that isn't happening.

All that said, I need a year off. So, if I show up to Banff next year, someone slap me before the start.

Up in Banff.

2008-06-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ya'll know the drill.

You can follow Tour Divide using our Learderboard or our Blog, where I'll have call-ins to a 1-800 number transcribed.

New Salsa is built up and ready to go!

2008-06-08T21:45:00.001-07:00

Finally the Salsa and all its bags from Jeff over at Carousel Design Works has been completely put together and put to an epic test. First off, this is definitely my lightest divide bike and divide setup. The bike is around 23 pounds (although I have no scale for an official weigh-in) and my gear doesn't add that much weight. Looks like I should be able to hit the 35 pound mark this year.

I took it riding over in Marin this afternoon after a morning full of gear-geeking. The frame bag Jeff made has stellar storage capabilities (the advantage of being tall and using an XL frame) and, to my surprise, handled the strong cross winds while biking over the Golden Gate Bridge extremely well. I was slightly nervous about running a frame bag because of some of the windy sections in the Basin and New Mexico, but this puts that fear to bed.

The handlebars are really crowded this year. The handlebar bag swings a little more than I'd want in this position, so I'm going to attempt to extend some of my cables again to get it in there properly against the headtube. Missing are my computer and a small emergency flasher...

Here the Salsa in its native habitat:

Accident, Recovery, Frame Bags, and the countdown begins

2008-06-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just under three weeks ago, I was taken out by a blue BMW riding down Mt. Tam. I went out to Mt. Tam to do repeats up and down the mountain so I could get a lot of elevation in a relatively low-mile ride. The ride was going well, I've had been feeling stronger than ever lately and I barely blink an eye at the long Bay Area climbs anymore. However, on the last descent back into Mill Valley, a crazy driver, who had to have been going upwards of 60 mph on a dangerous road, decided to make a stupid pass on a switchback. Because the car forced me to hug the white line while I was riding fast myself, I was left with the choice was to either hit the car or bury the bike and hit the pavement. Before I could even think, my bike fell out from beneath me and I was rolling and sliding down the hill.

I managed to limp off the road with a slight sprain on my left leg and some bad road rash on my right arm, knee, and hip (as well as a few chunks of flesh missing from my right hand). Miraculously, my helmet and face didn't have a scratch on it. Basically, I did a harsh baseball slide against the pavement at 3x miles per hour. I was unable to walk normally for 5 days and the use of my right hand was somewhat limited, but that has mostly cleared up. I've only been on the bike twice... once for a 85 mile road ride and other time for a 45 mile-5 hour mountain bike ride around Mt. Tam. I also did a 6 hour hike, so I'm pretty confident I'll be able to race the Tour Divide. I had been putting off my last minute gear purchases because of the uncertainty, but I finally decided yesterday to pull the trigger and get everything. It's pretty safe to say "I'm in"

Who knows how it will affect me in the Tour Divide. I hope not very much. I've been reassessing my goals because of this accident. Anything under 20 days (especially in these weather conditions!) will be welcome. Not as grand as I once hoped, but it's more than the experience for me than anything else.

I spent some time tracking the amount of time I've put into the race this year... the training, the gear research, maintaining and developing the website, and helping generally co-organize it. It seems since December, i've averaged over 25 hours a week on this. A 1/7th of my time has been put into this... it is truly a labor of love; how could I not race it because of a car accident?

In other news:

Jeff Boatman over at Carousel Design Works just finished up my awesome new frame bag. This is going to help me run a truly "superlight" setup this year. Kudos Jeff! I cannot wait to stuff the bags this weekend and take them out for a singletrack spin!

Also, after hours of Yahoo Pipes and Google Maps API documentation, I finally have the Tour Divide / SPOT Leaderboard online! If you have checked this out, you should. It is going to make the race so much more fun to watch. The realtime satellite tracking will be a much welcomed addition over the callins.

New bike for Tour Divide!

2008-05-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I finally received almost all my new bike parts for my Divide Bike. The whole thing is more than $5000, so I really hope that it doesn't break down as my bike did last year. I'm running a new Salsa Dos Niner softtail with a Reba fork and a bunch of really nice King stuff. Bike + Divide gear (excluding water) is hovering around 30 pounds. This is a *superlight* setup.

Riding in Sedona / Flagstaff

2008-04-01T23:15:00.001-07:00

Some photos from my trip to Flagstaff / Sedona

It's been a pretty good trip to the southwest so far. Finally got to ride in Sedona, AZ for the first time. The riding is, as you could imagine and see from the pictures, truly epic. Pretty nice weather in the 70's too. Unfortunately , my front derailleur snapped in half within 2 minutes on the trail. I broke it off completely and just did the entire 4 hour ride without shifting up front, which surprisingly worked out fine. I also got a flat after hitting a cactus. It clearly wasn't my day.

I've been doing some random hikes and bike rides in Flagstaff. Today I went down to the Grand Canyon w/ Paul to hike it for the first time ever only to be kicked out after 45 minutes because we had a dog! It was really irritating because we were told dogs were fine as long as we had him on a leash. The rangers were just rude, which sort of spoiled the first half of today. Went to some pool hall after dinner though and made up for it.

Remember me?

2008-04-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Long time since I updated this, but that doesn't mean I haven't been riding! I finally got my old superlight built up again thanks to a new front triangle from Santa Cruz. They hooked me up really good.

I've been ripping Skeggs, Sedona AZ and Flagstaff. I'm about to head down to the Grand Canyon to do my first hike down the canyon. Lots of pictures from all these rides will be going up soon...

The Brides of March

2008-03-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

More fun in San Francisco: The Brides of March

ACA Press Release

2008-02-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

The Adventure Cycling Association sent out a Press Release regarding the Great Divide Route and the races on the route a few day ago. Nothing really of note, although it is cool that Tour Divide is getting a little more press these days. A cool side note (that doesn't really matter too much) is that they use a picture of me from the 2006 race in their release (although you can barely notice it is me). Neat!

Tour Divide / Great Divide Route Photo Gallery

2008-02-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

This morning I finished putting together the master Tour Divide / Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Photo Gallery. Hundreds of photo organized in order from Banff, Alberta (Canada) to Antelope Wells, NM (USA). If anyone really wants to learn about the GDMBR, this is a great way to find out about it!

Around the world in 100 days?

2008-02-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

I'm pondering

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/02/16/frazier.record.breaking.ride.cnn

San Francisco: Ideal for base miles

2008-02-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

The weather the past few days has been absolutely amazing. I might be able to lay down 22 hours of base this week! (Of course, this is a little bit more than I'm supposed to do, but I feel obligated to take advantage of this and enjoy it!)

Things are really looking good for this year's Tour Divide race. I've been able to put in more base miles this years than the first two years I did the Great Divide Race, so I'm hoping this will translate into a great race for me.

What to do after Tour Divide? Easy - race 10,000 miles.

2008-02-04T22:35:00.001-08:00

Well, after racing my mountain bike 2,711 miles, I cannot imagine I'll be too psyched to ride my bike much more. I had some grand plans, however, I think now I'll be doing either the Mongol Rally or the Africa Rally. These are rally races from London to Mongolia / Cameroon in "crap cars" that require the cars to have engines under 1 liter (aka, cars so small they don't even bother selling them in America). I signed up for the Africa rally because the Mongol one is completely full, however the organizers in a response to my email mentioned they'd have no problem if I just did the race as an unofficial competitor... which I'm very interested in doing.

I've been talking to Ben Doug-something and Mike K. about doing the race with me and they both seem rather interested. Mike bringing foreign language and regional knowledge skills to the table. And Ben, an experienced European traveler and probably will be pretty mean on the camp stove and GF.

Kenny told me about the rally and wants to do it, but who knows if he's on board for 2008.

Anyone else interested in some of our open spots on TEAM WINNNOOOSSSKKKIIII? (note, team name subject to change) I mean, who doesn't want to be subject to forced deportations, being cased by bandits, or be threatened with beatings by a dwarf?

(Interesting side note - my mom thinks I'm crazy for doing this and likely thinks I'll wind up dead. My sister inquired if I "ever work?")

Snowboarding and Rally Cars?

2008-01-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

I suspect Matt McFee will like this one:

From Time to Time

2008-01-29T23:55:00.001-08:00

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson

New portfolio: From Time to Time Drupal Design

It's tragically not very complete... There are two more projects in the works.

Xmas Tree bonfire on the beaches of San Francisco...

2008-01-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

I was recently turned onto the Danger Ranger's Annual Post-Yule Pyre which is, in short, an enormous bonfire of tossed out Christmas trees on a beach in San Fran.

An annual San Francisco tradition occurs at this time of the year, when the last stand of sidewalk fir trees is logged by the Friends of the Rootless Forest and then piled up on the beach for some very rapid composting. Saturday, January 5th, meet at the Carousel Diner, 2750 Sloat Blvd at 7:00 PM. Look for the giant Doghead in the middle of the street. We’ll hang out for half an hour and then head west, using caution, stealth and tom-foolery to avoid the white tiger that prowls the Great Highway. Bring a christmas tree and libations. No glass containers on the beach, you assume the risk, no one is in charge, your mileage may very. And for those who are infused with gift-giving guilt and holiday cheer, carbon credits can be purchased to offset the footprint of our dedication to christmas consumption.

My friend informed me that people often lasso trees on the side of the road then drag them to the beach from their bike. Bonfire + bikes = win. This is definitely going on the list of crazy adventures to experience multiple times before I die.

Anyways. I went to "family board game and 40 night" last night. Naturally, I showed up and 40s with bright orange "$2" circular stickers were being quickly consumed. I casually mentioned the game Edward Fortyhands and, to my complete and utter surprise, no one there had ever heard of it with the exception of two others. I told them the premise of the game and some were left in awe. Someone mentioned that it sounded like a "religious experience." I ended up not really drinking and playing poker with a couple of others. Good times where had, and all that.

Condensing blogs & powerstrip in the swimming pool

2008-01-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

Steve requested that I condense my two blogs because it's annoying to follow me on two. I've always ran this one about adventures, travels, and, of course, biking, while keeping the mostly personal stuff on my other blog. Whatever... I'm going to start posting the non-obnoxious personal stuff on this blog as well, for the easy of a lot of my friends.

In the mean time, here is a picture of a surge protector running through a pool.

Tour Divide 2008 - 2711 miles on the Great Divide Route

2007-12-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated this blog lately... a lot has been going on. I'll be racing along the Great DIvide Mountain Bike Route for a 3rd time this year, only this year I'm starting in Banff doing the Tour Divide race.

I actually designed the website (anyone need any web design help???), as this has been a project I've been thinking about for a while. I've also been told by a number of people that Canada is the most stunning section, so I'm totally pumped to be lining up from Banff!

I've started some base training, although that was interrupted by a week-long visit to Massachusetts. I'm really glad I am in California now so I can focus of training through the winter, as opposed to being a slave to the weather forecast!

Lots of riding, bikes back in action!

2007-12-08T08:13:00.001-08:00

So, I luckily got a check in the mail reimbursing me for the destroyed front road wheel. My carbon fork was also bent and in really awful shape, but I didn't think it was right to ask the person to pay for it since it was already in very poor condition. So, I replaced it with the only fork I had around... my Kinesis cross fork :) Having Canti's and a cross fork on a Trek Project One frame does look very funny!

Anyways, Santa Cruz also hooked me up with an awesome deal... they replaced my cracked front triangle of my superlight with a new brand new orange ano one for 250 bucks! So, I have both bikes back in working order for very little coin. I also had a good excuse to drive down to Santa Cruz, CA for the day again to pick up the frame, so I got in a decent ride and took in SC. It was a little foggy, but not a problem!

Since this is technically my rest season (although I do need to start gearing up some regular base riding soon), I've been taking it pretty easy and doing some nice rides in South Bay and East Bay. I did a decent climb from Palo Alto to the top of Skyline Blvd. I will say, this area is stunningly underdeveloped and quite beautiful...

And, of course, I've been doing some standard 7am rides over the Golden Gate Bridge before work, just to burn off the weekly grind

Cheers!

Kill the road bike

2007-11-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Today was a holiday so I headed out at 8 am to go for a quick ride. Anyone who is a biker and lives in S.F. knows that really the only option for a ride is to go over the Golden Gate bridge, of course, there is a big city and nasty roads between my place and the bridge. Getting to the bridge is, to say the least, a huge pain in the ass, with long lights, road-that-might-as-well-be-freeways, and bike paths. Today, I was going down a bike path to avoid the rush hour, when I came up on a group of joggers. I slowed down and suddenly, some crazy lady just popped out behind them right into my lane and BAM! hits me dead on. Front wheel is taco'd and the front fork is bent to hell.

After cracking my superlight last week, I am down to ZERO ridable bikes. Miserable.

R.I.P. my Santa Cruz Superlight

2007-11-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

2003 - 2007.

The passing of this frame is pretty significant. This bike has seen close to 20,000 miles. It was with me on my first flight in a plane, did 4 24-hour races with me (including my first one), came with me for my first two attempts at the Great Divide Race, was one of two bikes to come to California with me, traveled to and from college, and was part of my first trip out of the United States.

There was no glory in cracking the frame. I was doing a hill-climb race in Pacific, a town south of San Francisco. I was locked out and hit a pot hole, and that was the end.

The weld below is completely gone...

6,000+ miles on a road tire!

2007-10-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well, this Bontrager Hardcase tire certainly has convinced me to not talk ill of the Trek-manufactured product line ever again. I have about 6 large on this tire and still only have had two flats. This tire has soo many glass holes and slices in it, I have no idea how it held up this long. Today, I noticed that in one area, the rubber had ripped off completely down to the kevlar. RIP old buddy. (Pretty interest how a strip of the rubber literally tore from the tire. This isn't even from skidding!)

Dirt Rag TV - Interview with Jay Petervary

2007-10-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

Interesting little interview with Jay Petervary who broke the course record in the 2007 Great Divide Race. It's a little goofy at times, and factually inaccurate (ex. You do not need to cover 150 miles a day to meet the cut-off time), but still worth a watch nevertheless.

Back in the Saddle Again

2007-10-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I got out for a long overdue two rides this weekend. Saturday I did a 55.5 mile road ride up the infamous Mt. Tamalpais (or Mt. Tam -- the view from the summit is pictured above). That was brutal. I can definitely feel the time off in my legs.

Sunday I did a more mellow day, doing a 45.6 miles in more "flat" territory in Marin county (For those who don't know, there is no such thing as truly flat in these parts).

Anyways, I've been doing a lot of thinking. At this point, I believe I will have enough time to train properly for the GDR next year. I have no interest in doing the race half-assed this year, but I believe I can work out a more flexible work schedule and do the necessary training. So, for now, you can consider me in. However, I do not think I'll be lining up with the GDR on June 20th. I pretty sure I'll be doing the Canadian Section with a few others. I am very excited about what is to come...

Haven't been riding.

2007-10-27T10:31:00.001-07:00

I haven't been on a bike in two-weeks outside of commuting to work and a halloween-edition critical mass ride. Part of it is I spent a week visiting Boston with no bike, the other is I just haven't found a good way to ride around my whacky work schedule. I'm hoping to get out for a decent road ride today, as I really need some time to think if I will have enough time to properly train for the 2008 Great Divide Race... If not, I'm going to try and find some other activity to do this summer (maybe spend a month section hiking the Pacific Crest Trail or the the Appalachian Trail)

In the mean time, this is what my cell phone looks like now, courteously of duct tape and me loosing the back of it...

24 hours of Whiskeytown

2007-10-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

I went up to the 24 hours of Whiskeytown up in Northern Cali, just south of Mt. Shasta. It was held by Team Big Foot and was apparently their first 24 hour event. It was during their annual 9-5, so I figured there would be a good spill over crowd. I went up there with Matt and Kate, and arrived at midnight. Quickly learned that it would be around freezing at night! Didn't quite have the right cold weather gear.

The course was pretty awesome, an 8 mile loop that started with a long double-track climb up a sizable hill (read: mountain). The only problem? There were only 2 teams and 2 solo riders. The 9-5 field was huge, but after 5 PM, it started getting really lonely out there. A large part of keeping motivated during the night is being pushed by people on the trail and having competitors to talk to and ride with. This, unfortunately, was not an option.

I ate dinner at around 8:30 PM, it was already pitch black out and below 40 degrees. By the time I completed my next lap, it was 34 and my rear brake shit the bed. I could fix it, but I opted to take a nap instead. Tragically the nap lasted longer than expected, so that was my race.

Overall, I'd recommend it if they could deliever larger crowds. Maybe if they held it during the end of August when the nights are warmer. I'll give Bigfoot the benefit of a first time. Seems like a really awesome organizing team!

Been lazy.

2007-10-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Howdy all. I'm in SF/Berkeley now, working for Chapter Three LLC. They're a Drupal web shop, and they just hired me on fulltime Friday after doing a 6 week contract, so it looks like I'll be out here for a while. Still homeless, so I am not sure which side of the bay I'll be on. I will say though, I'm loving the riding in the Berkeley Hills/Orinda/Layfette (East Bay in general), I don't love the commute though.

I've been lazy about posting, I have some awesome ride pictures to post. 'will do that soon.

The Chinese Bike Crash Photographer

2007-08-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

Apparently a photographer is under fire for hanging out by a pothole submerged in water waiting for cyclists to crash...

If all of life's problems could be so mundane (and hilarious!): http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1399668.html

Riding in Philly

2007-08-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

I have been slow to update this blog. I'm in LA now, so I have some time. Being on the road definitely made me care more about riding and seeing some country and less about updating my cycling blog.

Anyways, the trails in Philly were interesting. We rode through an old mill valley that is completely grown in and now a city park. The singletrack has you ride across old sewer pipes. Note this trail:

They also had some odd bridges. This is called "the Finger Bridge" because it is bent like a finger.

I would also love to see someone ride down these stairs:

Hike up Mt. Monadnock

2007-07-02T03:08:00.000-07:00

Still without a solid mountain bike, I decided to hike up Mt. Monadnock in southern New Hampshire yesterday. I was expecting some trail solitude--boy, was I wrong. According to wikipedia: "Monadnock is often described as "the second-most-climbed mountain in the world," with 125,000 climbers yearly[2], behind only Mt. Fuji in Japan, with about 200,000 yearly climbers. Bus routes that head part way up Mt. Fuji opened in 1990, and it has been suggested by some that Mt. Monadnock may be in first place if Mt. Fuji's bus riders are not counted." According to one of the park rangers I talked to, 800 people climbed the mountain Saturday alone. Yikes.

I compare the summit of Monadnock to the summit of Mt. Washington. It's a tough climb up, and you see a reasonable amount of people on the way up, however, not enough to really detract from the hike. However, the summit is full of people, most of whom are picnicking, and whining mercilessly about being "sore" or "tired." Needless to say, I turned around fast. The one thing that impressed me was the quantity of little kids, 10, 11, 12-years-old, that climbed the mountain. Seemed like the parents were more whipped than the 3-and-a-half-foot-tall youngsters!

Another interesting side note: I was wondering how a 3,165 foot mountain could have a tree line, it seemed far to low to be natural. Turns out, I was right: "In the same period [19th century], uncontrollable fires — some supposedly set to drive wolves out of thickets to be shot (the last wolf killed in the state of New Hampshire was in 1887) — destroyed crucial vegetation, permitting severe erosion and creating a tree-line that still persists, though the mountain is too low to have a naturally bare summit."

Silly Wednesday Ride

2007-06-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

I went out for a planned 60 miler yesterday. When I headed out the door, it was 91.5 with 85% humidity. I was on the bike to a grand total of a two minutes before sweat began to beed on my chin. I scrapped the mid-sized ride for an uber-short 23.52 miles in 1:32 (avg 15.61).

It's only 79 right now with 83% humidity right now, so I might try to do the ride again (gotta start base training again for another long race sometime in the future :-P )

Nothing really interesting to report with all these slow days (and still not having a mountain bike), my posts ought to get interesting again soon. On a non-bike-related note, my house was over a hundred degrees yesterday, so I opted to go to the movies in the first time in 2 months. Saw that new Die Hard flick, Live Free or Die Hard. I was thoroughly entertained, only for the cheese value though. I wouldn't call it a "good" "film."

GDR Documentary

2007-06-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

I was keeping a video log of my race experience during the Great Divide Race this year. Unfortunately, the video is extremely low quality and, because I did not finish, I didn't invest much in production value. You still may enjoy it, so I'll post it anyways:

GDR 2007 Photo Gallery

2007-06-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

I'm still putting together a GDR recap. For now, you can look at photos and the comments.

GDR 2007 - Pre-race
GDR 2007 - Day 1
GDR 2007 - Day 2
GDR 2007 - Day 3
GDR 2007 - Day 4
GDR 2007 - Post-race

Back on a bike

2007-06-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

I did my first post-GDR ride yesterday. I did a really short 40.83 miles in 2 hours, 45 minutes (incredibly slow, recovery pace at 14.91 mph).

It was really weird getting back on a road bike after doing almost 400 miles on a mountain bike covered in gear. My sense of balance on a bike was totally destroyed. I sat down on the bike and pedaled out the driveway onto Moody St. and the bike felt flaccid beneath me. I literally just about fell over. It took about 5 miles to start going in a straight line. By the end of the ride, it felt natural. Almost needless to say, I rode clear of busy roads.

Anyone who has been to Brandeis...

2007-06-24T09:50:00.001-07:00

...will understand why this is funny.

I also have a VERY LARGE GDR write-up coming.

(Building found in Denver)

In Helena

2007-06-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the library in Helena... not really sure how I can keep going. It's going to cost at least $1,000 dollars to leave town today. I just don't think I can swing it.

I could overnight a new shock, but that would cost $400 and I'd basically be DQ'ed from the race because I would not make it to Steamboat in 13 days. Shittttyyyy.

Interview for MTBcast

2007-06-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

Side note - I did an interview with Joe for MTBcast. I'm guessing that will be online either tonight or tomorrow.

In Montana

2007-06-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

I've been staying at the KOA between Whitefish and Kalispell with Joe Polk from MTBcast and Scott Hodge from Addictive Cycles in Georgia. There were at the airport trying to meet up with Ashley, who had just left, and decided to take me along.

The cabin we are staying in is beautitful and this place is basically a resort. Free breakfast (with eggs, etc), heated pool, laundry, showers, hot tubs... It's a great warm-up to the GDR.

I've been shooting video and the footage is coming out pretty good. I should be able to put up some solid video onto YouTube when I get home.

More details later. Maybe some pictures if I can find a USB cable.

To err is human; therefore, cows can do no wrong

2007-06-11T18:44:00.001-07:00

A rancher told me that while on the GDR last year. Hopefully, this year will be equally full of memories.

GDR Bike Ready!

2007-06-11T14:02:00.001-07:00

Note - Zip ties are not clipped because I'll be undoing them for shipping.

My cockpit is very cluttered

I cut a piece of wood to make a second handlebar for my lights and heart-rate monitor. Initial tests are positive--let's see if it survives the Great Divide!

I closeup of my second-handlebar.

My handlebar bag from Jeff at Carousel Design Works.

Two waterbottle cages I pipe-clamped to the fork. I'm going to need that water in New Mexico.

The Carousel Design Works saddle bag. This bag is really top-notch.

And, of course, where I'm going to plant my butt for the next 2,500 miles.

The Biggest Challenge of the GDR

2007-06-09T10:36:00.001-07:00

The biggest difficulty of the Great Divide Race is deciding which 2 gigs of mp3s to put on my mp3 player for the next 20-something days...

The Point of this Blog

2007-06-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

I've created OMG Bikes! out of the shell of my former "The Full Monty" blog, which has tragically been deleted from the internet. This will primarily be cycling, adventure, and outdoor oriented: not a whole lot of "personal" stuff here.

In the short while, I'll be posting about my adventures doing the Great Divide Race starting June 15th. I am also bringing some video equipment with me and I'll be posting some stuff on YouTube from the race and updating readers about it here. Be sure to subscribe to my RSS Feed if you want to stay up to date about my projects.

Aero Bars on a Mountain Bike

2007-06-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Great Divide Race is coming.

(EDIT - Info on how I put aerobars on my Mountain Bike below the photos)

This post has been really popular for people looking for information about installing Aerobars on a mountain bike. What I did is rather simple. First, I traded in my riser bar for a old, cheap, aluminum flat bar. Typically, carbon mountain bike bars cannot handle bar ends, so I highly doubt they will be able to take aerobars.

I decided to use the Profile Designs t2+ Cobra because they were both light and compact. I didn't have to shim them at all, however using some old tubes probably couldn't hurt.