The Gateway Drug

This post was almost called "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy" And/or "Big Wheels" But the first one is a fairly obscure Who reference and the second one just seems sort of obvious. The Gateway Drug really sums up so much about my life right now. Those 3 handsome gentlemen pictured above are 3 of the 5 people responsible for my current two wheeled bliss. The two not pictured would be Mike Zanconato and Sailor Jerry. The picture above is from Ice Weasels. And those three are giving me the "look" Well Matt and Matt are. The look is "whatyoutalkingaboutWillis? You better be racing singlespeed! I helped put on a singlespeed cx series with Mike, Matt, Jerry and a bunch of other fun loving criminals. My dark secret was I didn't race it. I was "working" so how could I race. But there was no hiding out at Ice Weasels. I had just come off getting crushed by a 16 year old in a vicious sprint for 32nd or something. All I wanted to do was drink beer and eat grilled meat. And in large quantities. But I sucked it up and raced. And had a blast. Singlespeeding is NOT an equipment choice. When people say this it just shows they don't get it. At. All. And while singlespeed cx is a blast it is hard to not notice how many badass singlespeed mountain bikers reside in New England.

When I first started down this dark path of going from hating East Coast mtn biking to giving it a chance and learning to do it my mentor Sara Bresnick rode a singlespeed. And she crushed it. Everything. And it blew my mind. Then Mikey and Leah raced 24 hours of Great Glen on ss. Again my mind was blown. Their laps were as fast or really close to my geared laps. For the whole 24 hours. The other thing I noticed was singlespeeders are just better riders. They were way more technically savvy than most of the geared riders I knew. And they were fun. You could hang out with them literally all day. So I was hooked. When Mike told me he wanted to build me a 29er ss so we could shred this summer how could I say no? I was nervous. I won't lie. I am short. Tyrion Lannister short. Ok maybe Willow Koebler short. But when you think 29ers you don't think short. But Mike has been working on 29ers for at least since I have known him. He rides a lot. His team rides a ton. They know mountain bikes. A lot of prototypes went into the design of the bikes. And its Mike. My god his bikes are gorgeous. I have always wanted to have one. So when he asked me I was all in. 

The bike is made of steel. Not 100% sure but I believe it is Columbus Life. The seat and chainstay cluster is beyond sexy. It has such a nice curve to it. Sort of like the rear end of a Porshe Boxster. Wide and swoopy and all business. The first time I hopped on it it felt perfect. I have been riding a 26 inch wheeled Seven Sola for some time. And its a great bike. But compared to this it feels like a clown bike. I say that lovingly I swear. 26 just feels so slow in comparison. Even just rolling on pavement. I hate to drive to a ride. So I have a couple of loops that connect a bunch of parks to ride the trails. The ride on the pavement on my 26 inch wheels at 20 psi is painful. Doing it singlespeed is even more painful. But on 29er wheels? Not painful. Yeah you spin out a bit here and there but the big wheels roll. And keep their momentum. On the trails it translates into pure bliss. I have about 4-5 rides on the bike. On very different terrain. I have one loop through Cutler etc that is what you would describe swoopy and maybe rooted. Nothing technical. Some nice rollers and berms. The biggest difference I noticed here was number 1 speed. It just accelerates so fast and holds that speed through corners. You can go wayyy deeper into a turn. Like a cx bike. On the little wheels the same tire would break away once you leaned it over. Not the 29er wheel

I also did a couple of rides in Needham Town Forest. NTF has been the bane of my existence for about 3-4 years. That may seem dramatic but its true. I FEAR that place. And I hated it. Its like Teahupu. Some may not get that reference. Its a sick wave in French Polynesia. It is an insanely heavy wave that crashes over about a foot of water that covers a sharp coral reef. Thom Parson's said to me once that NTF is the mother of all axe head rocks in NE. I believe him. There are rocks and then there are axe head rocks. In NTF all the rocks want to rip your flesh off your body. It was the bane of my existence because it is literally 5 minutes from my house. And locals who know I "mountain bike" text me constantly to meet up for rides. I make excuses, hide out. They are so good in there. I am not. It shatters my already fragile view of myself. But when I first converted my Seven to a singlespeed I started riding NTF better. Like night and day. So much for a ss being an equipment choice. It is an equipment ADVANTAGE in these conditions. You stop thinking. All that energy you wasted on shifting now goes into thinking about how you will attack the terrain. Shifting does not encourage attacking. You can't spin up some horrible crag of a boulder. You have to attack it with momentum and use body english. I learned more in the month I rode that singlespeed in there than the entire 5 years I have been riding mountain bikes in New England.

Now when you go 29er singlespeed you bring a whole other weapon to the table. The big wheels roll over the axe heads. Even climbing its an advantage. Oddly my biggest challenge is climbing stuff. Dropping off stuff is more a mental game climbing up is all technique and brute force. With a dab of ninja/ballet finesse thrown in for good measure. The first time I took the Zank into NTF I started laughing. I wasn't afraid anymore. I went from fear to oh interesting that line looks good. I stopped taking the 'b' line. I rode stuff I have never ridden before. Then I got a text from Artie. Ok awesome. I am in. I met him and got a big dose of humble pie. You think you have seen good bike riders. Come to NTF and watch Artie ride. I have no idea how he does what he does. And he is not a young kid. He is just a touch younger than I am. And he is the nicest guy you will ever meet. Literally. We rode for 2 hours in there. I bailed on some stuff as the mental part just wasn't there. Still I rode wayyy more than I ever have. He knows stuff in there that would blow minds.

So to say I am stoked about the bike is an understatement. The picture above is not my bike. That is my good friend and wingman David Deitch's bike. He had an umm mechanical. Dave, Jeff B and I went out to Landlocked last night. We were a funny crew to say the least. I was on a 29er ss, David was on a long travel DH bike and Jeff was on a sweet Seven. At one point we were climbing a fireroad and then David was GONE. Like gone, gone. Like the Bermuda triangle or some Zombie swiped him from our midst. We looked everywhere for him. Couldn't find him. We rode some gnar. In Landlocked the 29er ss was beyond the perfect bike. Sara used to ride in here all the time on her ss and I never understood how she could stay ahead of me on my geared bike. On a 29er you go sooo fast. Faster than I have ever gone before. When you point it downhill those big wheels just go so fast. But it doesn't feel out of control like the little wheels. I rode all the bridges. Never in my life has that happened. And the weird thing is my back doesn't hurt. It used to kill me. Not sure if its the position, the steel or just that Zank mojo but it sure is nice to not have your back screaming in pain at you.

Ok life is not all sunshine and rainbows. What doesn't it do well? You can not flick it around like a 26er. I have gotten used to it so its more nimble than ride #1 for sure but you have to set up turns like a cx bike. And exit with speed. That is really the only area I can think of that it does not out perform a small wheel and frankly its a trade off I have no problem with. So stoked with the bike. Thanks Mikey you rock my friend!

Foxboro

Foxboro is the answer to ALL the mountain bike questions. Where can I go to get rad? FOXBORO. Where can I go ride off sick boulders? FOXBORO. Where can I go ride where they hunt: Crows(?), Black Bears, Frogs and other Amphibians? FOXBORO. Where can I ride berms all day? FOXBORO. Where can I freak out hopping logs? FOXBORO. Where can I see motocross bikes riding the trail with me (brrrraaaapppp!!!)? FOXBORO Where can I ride ALL DAY LONG? FOXBORO

A huge thanks to my mechanic and partner in grime Scott Novick for taking me out and taking me on a crazy ass ride. And not killing me. That part can't be understated. I haven't been on one of these in a long time. And I seriously needed it. I guess to put it in a box you would call it an adventure ride. I did say all day when he asked me how long we should ride. Foxboro is gorgeous. In a kick you in the nuts and force you to ride your ass off to keep up type of way. I was back on the Seven with its 26 inch wheels and I have to say they felt soooo slow. It was weird after being on the 29er. It did feel nimble and the time on the 29er and riding singlespeed helped enormously. There was all kinds of crazy though. We rode to Warehem in a bushwacking/freeriding down gravel sort of way. But all the suffering and slogging through mud bogs was worth it. We got some sick bermed descents. Rode some insane rocks. And rocks freak me out. But when you are following someone who knows the place like the back of his hand all you have to do is follow his line and don't think to much. I ended off into the trees a few times. Had to crawl back up a boulder after overcooking a turn. But all my bones and even my ego were intact

We did find "Rocky" not exactly sure if this is a memorial to a person or a pet cemetery. Either way its a nice spot to rest in peace. 17 miles hurt a lot. I was bonking pretty hard. Which led to another conversation. Cait Dooley tweeted a while back about a conversion rate for mileage on a mountain bike. At the time I wasn't in the mood to get sucked into one more twitter fight. But it was something I had been thinking about a lot. Its a very valid question for someone coming from cross or the road. I mean you look at the distance for a sport mtn bike race and you are like "10 miles!?" Are you kidding me? Then you go ride ten miles on a mountain bike in New England and you feel destroyed. You try and race it and you are broken for days. Granted there is the "jackhammer" factor and you must consider elevation as a lot of what we do is more "woods" biking than mountainbiking. But its hard. Today's ride almost broke me. But its fun so you suck it up have a Gu and keep riding. But in fairness to her a more honest answer may have been helpful. So here you go 3:1. I think that is a fair conversion rate without factoring in terrain features etc. As an average 3 to 1 makes a lot of sense.

Riding with Scott was awesome. He has mad skills to say the least and is fit right now. I am not fit. At all. Amazing how you can lose so much fitness in two weeks. Funny how that works. If you don't actually ride your bike you get slower. Weird. I guess I better start riding more than three days a week...

The Lobster of Flanders

Paul Sadoff has built me some amazing bikes. He built me my first cx bike. A school bus yellow Rock Lobster that began my descent into total addiction to all things cyclocross. He also built me my latest cross race bike. I have been coveting a scandium road bike built by him for about 3 years. But I put it off for many reasons. I had a perfectly fine steel road bike. There was no reason to really replace it. Then I read one of his blog posts and had to act. Scandium is all but gone. And what is ironic is that Aluminum is now back in vogue. At least with those who ride. Its funny how it has made an upswing of late. Paul has been spreading the gospel of how great aluminum is forever. Its again funny and ironic now that carbon has "killed" one of the finest aluminum tubesets ever made that it is now being lauded by many as the perfect material for both cross and aggressive road riding. The first time I stomped on the pedals of my aluminum Rock Lobster I was sold. And frankly I was never racing on any other material. But bike frames are way more than the material. Its the builder. And Paul is one of the best. And he knows me and rides a ton. Those two things can never be underestimated when picking a frame builder. Not sure which part is more important. I think the riding part. But having a friend build your bikes is nice too. And one as cool as Paul is just a bonus. He really is one of my heros. But that is a whole other blog post.

I was so stoked to get this frame and fork. And was really looking forward to seeing how it would compare to my old steel bike. What was bizarre is that when I hopped on it, it just felt so right. The sky didn't rip open and I didn't hear Angels singing it just felt perfect. I went on a two hour ride in a rainy drizzle. It had poured earlier so all the chip seal was sketchy as hell. I took it up the Bossburg. Well our version on the Bossburg. I never had to stop once to adjust anything. Not a tweak here or a tweak there. It rode so much like my old bike. Just better. People say Aluminum is harsh. Not at all. The LoF soaked up just as much road chatter as my steel bike. But what it did differently was very subtle. But made ALL the difference. It was livelier. Big time. I felt it in the saddle almost instantly. My pedal stroke was so much smoother. I swear I could flex the bb on my steel bike just stomping on the pedals while seated. Standing up the aluminum bike would just accelerate. No flex. No brake rub. Just woosh. That was not the case with my steel bike. All that flexing especially while climbing would just make me crack mentally. Nothing is more demoralizing than putting watts into the pedals and have them be for nothing.

The lines of the bike probably are more aesthetic than providing any huge performance advantage but damn that is a sexy rear end. The welds are impeccable. And the paint Paul picked is just gorgeous. I went out on a real familiar loop just to get a feel for the bike. But I kept forgetting I was supposed to be "testing" a new bike and would get lulled into just riding. I sort of would fight to get into a good spot on my old bike. The position on the Rock Lobster is maybe a touch more aggressive. The seat angle is steeper. If my steel road bike and my aluminum cx bike hooked up and made a baby this would be their offspring. It has that same responsiveness of my cx bike but still for such a stiff bike is super comfortable. I need to change up a few things. Mainly as the two frames are different in some key areas. I need to replace the Thomson post with a carbon post with setback. One of my good friends in cycling loves bikes almost as much as I do. Like me he is a big fan of all custom bikes. We text, email and dm each other constantly about our dream bike. He had one of the funniest things to say about the Thomson post. Its funny as Coach Al said the exact same thing. Albeit with less anatomic references. And I don't think Al used the word "Jackhammer" but I could be wrong.

Rolling over the top of the Bossburg...our own little piece of hell in lovely Hale Reservation...I can't wait to take it on more long rides. I thought a lot about Norcal while out riding. I mean how couldn't I? It was equal parts nostalgia and equal parts just think how lucky I was/am to have met so many cool people back there who gave me this amazing gift of the bike. I never rode before I moved out west. Not sure I would have found my way to cycling if I had stayed in Boston. I love that the people who brought me up and taught me about riding and loving bikes still are as passionate about the sport as they were back then.

If I let myself I could pretend I was surrounded by Redwoods. But then would come back to reality quickly as some quick turn or descent would force me to put all my attention back to the task at hand. But again the bike was just so solid that you could do all those things. That to me is probably the most important thing a bike can do. It can transport you to a place and let you be there without having to constantly worry about the road surface or how it will react in a corner. Granted it was wet and I was on brand new tires but I had to see just how it would corner. And it railed them. Really nicely. Thanks Paul for rocking so hard!

46 Ford

This photo is awesome. It was at one of the coolest points in the race course at Singlespeed-A-Palooza. There is a burnt out 46 Ford in the background. When Ryan and I saw the cameraman in the bushes we laughed. Hup/Team Awesome photo mashup! Ok my face may not look like I am laughing. But I swear I was laughing on the inside! What a great race. I bought this photo because it is so damn awesome and I have way too many photog friends who have to explain to people why they can't use their photos for free. Art isn't free my friends. Support this type of work. Seriously. Kudos to the photographer

Ride to the Ride

Ride to the Ride. Very simple idea. We like to think cycling is so eco-friendly. And it can be. For commuting etc. But bike racing is NOT eco-friendly. AT. ALL. Pretty sure that is why Dan Timmerman retired. And he had a point. People seemed pretty outraged that an International mining company sponsored a Pro cycling team. Why? Have you watched the TDF? Even the Classics have a full entourage of cars, vans and trucks. Choppers are in the air etc. Cycling promotes an active healthy lifestyle (barring the doping) but its not green. But we try don't we. And someone who is trying harder than all of us is Doug Jenne. He is taking the Ride to the Ride concept seriously. I first met him at the Ronde de Rosey. He rode from CT. On his singlespeed. Then he raced the Ronde on the same ss. Then he rode back to CT. He is taking this concept and running with it. Or riding with it as it were. We bumped into him again at Singlespeed-A-Palooza. I seriously need to do a straight up interview and get to the bottom of it. For now he has inspired me that is for sure. I am not going to whine about a slow ride to the trails on 20 psi ever again. Check out his blog and think about it next time you drive to some trail head or drive to some road ride that you can ride to. Leave the car at home. You have a perfectly good mode of transportation sitting right in your garage. Its not a toy. I swear.

Singlespeed-A-Palooza

Best. Race. Ever. Got sort of tricked into this one. Well I have sort of been tricked into this whole mtn bike thing to be honest. Resisted it for sooo long. But everyone has been so patient. And I am finally at the point where I am seemingly no longer a danger to myself or others. Obviously as now my friends are inviting me to actual mtn bike races!

Singlespeed-A-Palooza is a singlespeed mtn bike race down in NY put on by Darkhorse Cycles. About a 2.5 drive from Boston. We got down in time for a pre-ride the night before. Stewart State Forest houses the nicest trails I have ever ridden in my life. They remind me so much of Skyline in Napa Valley. Only nicer. They are just so much fun. Buffed super twisty with some technical bits. Drop ins etc. Nothing scary at all just fast and fun. The area is really funny. Darkhorse cycles reminds me of West Hill up in Putney. In a barn/house super cool people. How many race promoters have beer for you at registration? Ok I know one or two dudes but other than Colin/Thom? Yeah that is what I thought

They also allowed people to camp out in the yard next to the shop for the race. And had a fire that night for people to hang out and drink beers. We went to dinner at a restaurant across the street from the shop called the Cauldron. I kept expecting Dennis Hopper to walk in and demand a Pabst Blue Ribbon. A bunch of the NECX went down for the race. Team Awesome was in full force and it was awesome to hang out with them. We also bumped into Doug Jenne the guy who rode to the Ronde from ct. As in rode his singlespeed to the Ronde, raced the Ronde and rode home. Such a cool guy. I was exchanging texts with Todd P and Kerry all night just getting stoked to see them and race the next day.

It really is worth a trip just to ride the sweet trails get a nice dinner etc. That alone would have been worth the trip. We went to bed watching Resident Evil. Perfect movie for the night before a 27 mile ss mtn bike race!

I stressed out all week about what gear to pick etc. In the end I had the "perfect" gear aka what I had. But in all seriousness 32 x 18 was perfect for me. David Wilcox is once again a hero for not only getting my bike ready so fast (less than 24 hrs) but doing it so PRO. My bike worked flawlessly. Dropped the chain twice at the end cause I was bonked out of my head and riding like a bull in a china shop but it was no big deal. Its a singlespeed race. You just get off and put it back on and keep pedaling

I went down with Matt Aumiller and Leah. Such a great crew. I love hanging out with those two. I missed my start for the second mtn bike race in a row. I say missed as its just way more casual than cx. People mill about and then some one says go. I was talking with Ryan White and Bob Morgan at the back of the NJ wave when I hear an air horn go off. It really was no big deal as we had two miles of fireroad ahead of us before the holeshot. I openly admitted I was not going to pedal 150 rpm for 2 miles for a holeshot. Either way Ryan and I moved through a ton of riders. We got to the singletrack top half or so. It was hard to tell who was in your category and it really didn't matter to be honest.

 When I say singletrack it was just that one track about a wheels width. Super fast no brakes style. First descent some dude crashed and took out about ten guys. I just squeezed by the wreck and kept going. I had a good first lap which was the opposite of Hopbrook where I crashed about 20 times on the first lap. Second lap my back was crushed. It hurt sooo bad. Obviously you have one gear. You have to use a lot of core etc to keep going. There was about 3-5 runnups/walkups. I named them after cx runnups. Noho, Lowell, NBX, Sterling...it became a bit of a mantra. Early into the second lap Ryan caught me. He must have gotten caught in that crash early on. We chatted for a bit and then he took off like he had a jet pack on. I couldn't believe how fast he rode away from me. He ended up 9th

Todd P caught me at about the half way point of the second lap. Again we just chit chatted etc and had a great time carving the singletrack etc. I dropped my chain at one point and he got away from me. I closed down the gap and we rode fast together. I don't have that same mindset (aka Killer Instinct) as I do in cx. I really don't have any "I must beat x dude" at this point. Maybe when I get better at this but really I can only go the speed I can go. I am loving it but haven't figured out how to race it. And I was bonking pretty bad. I guess Todd was as well and he was trying to hide it by joking etc. But it was a race so I turned on my tactical part of my brain and got a plan. I knew we had a pretty long fireroad section right before the final singletrack into the finish chute. I knew that who ever led on that singletrack would beat the other racer. There was only one place to pass on that section and it would have been tough physically and mentally at the point. 

So when we popped out on the gravel road I hopped on one of the local Darkhorse cycles riders wheels and rode tempo up the road. I peeked under my arm when we got to the top and we had popped Todd P off. I followed the Darkhorse guy the whole way in. Just talking about how amazing the trails were and the beer and hotdogs that were waiting for us at the finish line! I came in 26 and Todd came in 27. 

We all hung out at the end. It was like Ice weasels. Only warm! One big keg party. People hanging out and smiling. I am sooo hooked. Wish I reg'd for the Darkhorse 40.

Leah had a rough race. 2 flats, a bunch of co2 etc. But she is such a badass. She finished strong and as always was smiling. It helps that they had beer stations ON THE COURSE! And that the trails were 100 times better than anything we have up here. It was so fun road tripping with Leah and Matt. They are awesome. They keep me from totally freaking out. And I am learning so much about mtn biking from them. Can't wait for the next one!

Ronde photo dump

There were so many cool images to be captured from the Ronde. But I could barely breathe or eat so shooting photos was really out of the question. Of the images I wish I had captured were Aumiller's Johnny Cash socks. They were high and black and Johnny Cash was flipping me off and telling me to stop being such a weak puke and pedal harder. Dana Prey handing me a ziplocked bag of fresh bacon. Actually any photo of the Pedal Power ladies. They looked so stylish in their new kits and were smiling at all times. DJ Roberto and his boom box. Why do I love Robert Hale? There are a ton of reasons but that is sure one of them. Dude shows up at a brutal bandit cx race with a boom box on his his bike. Luckily boom boxes have gotten smaller in the 21st century so there is that but still people were riding slicks and trying to eek out all the speed they could out of their bikes. Respect. And it just sums up Robert in general. He is tough as nails and so fast. He also has mad ninja skills that I never even knew he had. But he's fun. Like a lot of fun. And a great guy. I am so glad that he finally invited me on Camelstache.

Ok so those are some of the photos I wish I had taken. Here are some that I did take that are just gems:

Ramponi sporting the old school Yo Eddy kit and riding one of the sickest Firefly Monster cross bikes you have ever seen.

Belgian tan lines and real tan lines were the order of the day. It must have been 80 degrees at points. I have a savage tan right now. Pretty much at August levels...

There were some sick bikes at the Ronde. This may have been one of the sickest. Pete's new Stoemper. One sexy aluminum cx killing machine. It was also my first chance to see the new Mad Alchemy kits in person. They are gorgeous. And as I rolled out locked behind Pete's team I noticed one really cool detail. Each rider has a frame builders name on the back panel of their shorts. Each rider is "sponsored" by a builder. I wish I could have shot that. It was so cool. Zanconato, Rock Lobster, Stoemper. That is a serious line up to say the least.
Pete rocked fatty slicks. Mind boggling. But fast guys want to go fast! And they tend to have the skills to cash that kind of check

Go, Go Godzilla...this may be the best headbadge on the planet...

William Johnson looking ready to crush it. A lot to love in that photo....

Hup's own Big Tomeke. Man just oozes style. So tough and such a nice guy. It was so great to see him. I see some serious mtn biking with the big man in my future this summer.

Geekhouse. Love the Geekhouse crew. I am way too old and unhip to even associate with them but they get major props from me for channeling the early days of Fat City...

Ahhh my good friend Roger Cadman of Newbury Comics....great, great friend. And to be honest that is what the Ronde is about. You cannot recreate the type of bonds you forge on a day like Sunday in a more casual setting. Racers may scoff at this type of event. Saying its a group ride. Fine. Go race your races. Its cool with me. I am wicked proud of my friends who went to Battenkill and Myles Standish etc and rocked it. But these type of events are different. Its like going to war. Or on a expedition etc. It tests you. You find out the true nature of people. You support each other, push each other farther than possible. You learn to adapt. Love it. Thank you to all of you for being so rad. Hup! Hup!