Saturday Bicycle Heaven Ride

I rolled from my house headed towards Bicycle-Heaven at 6AM Saturday (instead of the normal 8:30 ride) with plans to ride 200k+ (124miles). It took me about 30 minutes to get to the shop and I was already soaked through with sweat, I could tell it was going to be a humid day.

At the shop I was surprised to see a dozen people ready to go. I knew that several or the riders would need to be back at the shop earlier but guessed there would be about 9 that would atempt the whole feat. At the start there were the 4 Slauson's (Jim, Teri, Will, JW), B-H reps Matt and Foxy, B-H team riders Phillips, Ayers and Bentley. There were a lot of Bicycle Heaven kits! The non-green/black outfitted riders where Park (Solar Eclipse), Dan Lazarine (the guy I credit my past cycling accomplishments to), Jun Longhurst (one of the first guys I met when I was working at Britton's Bike Shop), and lastly me in my Metro Volkswagen kit.

We rolled up Blanco Road over 46 past Edge Falls (bone dry despite the recent rain.) Stopped in Kendalia to eat (Will had 2 breakfast tacos) and refill fluids. From there Jim planned to head towards 281 then drop down Rittiman to keep as many riders together as long as possible, Nathan suggest continuing with the original plan and head up to Blanco on Crabapple. Good move as we might have bailed earlier on the ride if we headed back toward B-H with the riders going shorter. Plus the Crabapple, Trainer Wuest, 102 roads are some of the coolest roads to ride around.

I ended up with 114 miles, and was exhausted but the ride was a good one. Jun bailed on the longer ride a little earlier as we unfortunately rode fairly near his house at about mile 80 so he quietly slipped out of the group there.....

**Blog copied and pasted here from www.bicycle-heaven.com written by Jim Slauson-> Blog. I made some changes. I am a lazy slug...heheee**

Boise Wells Fargo Twilight Crit

It was kind of a last minute decision to do the WF crit in Boise. The air fair was just right and Nathan would let me use his bike so I wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of bringing my bike along. Woohoo! SO I fly up there Friday night and instantly fall in love with it! Hmm, I work for WF and the same department I work for is located in Boise as well. There may be a job transfer in the future~. So when I wake up Saturday morning I am happy to see my teammates Shannon and Ashley, and also got to meet Coryn. The host house we were staying at was almost unimaginable. It was located on this mountain road with the best view of the town. Me and the girls rode down the mountain into downtown where we met Nathan for breakfast at a little cafe. The weather was great and the feel for the town was great. There were people outside, and many of them were riding bikes. Not just race bikes either, all types/breed of bikes.

I haven't mentioned yet that Nathan's bike was just wonderful! It actually felt better than my bike! Go figure. So after the morning ride we just relaxed and watched movies until it was time to race. not many women lined up at the race compared to the other crit series races I have been to and quite a few of them seemed to be local riders. We waited 15 minutes for the Wells Fargo Stagecoach to make it around the course then we were off. I though I for sure was going to do well in the race until the second lap (also the second minute...the laps were so short) when my mouth dried up and it stung to breath. SO I guess we were at altitude. I lasted half the 50 minutes and then was pulled from the race. I got to watch the second half of the race and Kristen lapped the field on the last lap. Dang. So, anyways, only 15 girls finished, and more than half the girls were pulled. I was pulled. I still had a blast though and would have loved to stay in Boise longer.

Mountain View, AR (Day 2)

The beds/futons in the cabin were not that comfy to sleep on, and after a day of crashing and a rough night's sleep I wasn't too eager to start a day of adventure. Judging by the way my neck felt and how wet the grass was outside, I opted out of the morning mtb ride and decided it would be a great day to check out Blanchard Caverns. I only saw one bat but got to see a lot of bat pooh! This is a picture of the river coming out the backside of cave, it was 58 degrees but very clear!

Walking back to the car I could have sworn I walked into a spider web this big:

After the underground expedition, I was ready to go explore more trails on Daisy! This time I thought maybe Steve and I should take the beginner trail.

The beginner trail ended up being not so beginner. There were some parts that were easy but I was on my guard because I did not want anymore crashes! There was a lot of climbing...

...and it was worth it to see the view!

I was super glad that I didn't crash on this ride.

Mountain View, AR (Day 1)

I needed to break in my new hard tail (yellow Yeti named Daisy), so I found the Syllamo Trails in Mountain View, AR. Back woods, ya baby! 50+ miles of awesome single track.


(TREES)


(Getting ready for the ride)

After a rough 11 hours drive time, Steve and I pull up to the trail. We decided to ride the 7.3 mile Bald Scrappy Loop. There were dark skies and thunder off in the distance as we started the loop. I was quick to notice that Daisy had a much lower bottom bracket height than I was use to. The scenery was awesome but the rocks were covered in a slick moss because it had been raining the past few days (weeks?). So I slip over the first technical rocky descent and after a few choice words I am on the ground. A few more light crashes and bobbles later it starts to rain. Hard rain. I didn't mind because I was already completely drenched in sweat and covered in dirt/mud from rolling around on the forest ground. The rain eventually stops but my crashing does not cease. I try to hop over a fallen tree (normally I could do this with ease)but am unsuccessful as my chain ring catches it and I am sliding down the mud-slick trail on my belly. Nice. That one surprisingly did not hurt at all. Back on my bike I get into the rhythm and start adjusting to Daisy and how she rides. She likes to go fast. So I get comfortable and start talking to Steve, who is ahead of me and hasn't crashed once. I was mentioning how epic the ride was when I found myself laying on the ground again. This was the hardest of my 8+ crashes that day. Apparently my pedal had clipped a rock (again, taking time to adjust to the low BB) and sent me to the ground before I could even realize what was happening. Lucky for me, no major damage was done. Just a little whiplash, and some scrapes and bruises. That was my last crash. We were soon back at the car and I survived possible the longest 7 miles ever! And, I had a blast!
(The cabin)


(No cell phone reception)

WIPEOUT

Okay, so here is the reminder. Wipeout is on tonight at 7PM on ABC, you will not be sorry if you watch it.


Other than waiting for the funniest tv show ever, I am still waiting for my beautiful Yeti frame to arrive. It should be here any day now.

And, I have started my commute successfully 3 days last week. After riding in yesterday (Monday) by back was in a lot of pain from the heavy back pack I have been using. Sooooo, my awesome buddy and personal mechanic, Rick, has orded me the Topeak RX TrunkBag DX! I will get to try that out tomorrow. I can't commute by bike on Tuesdays since I have to get my weekly allergy shots...


This past weekend I did the local group ride and got to catch up with my old buddy, Abby, who is home this summer from college. On Sunday I did the University Oaks crit with the boys. I didn't do too good though, my legs are sore from the commute. Pathetic, I know. HaHa. I still was able to chase a few attacks at the beginning...lol.