a milestone in photographic history: kodak retires kodachrome..
bike stuff later this week!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
real bike racing
check out this great urban 'cross race put on by Bilenky Cycle Works in Philly!
the amazing, bilenky junk yard race.
the amazing, bilenky junk yard race.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
le cirque!
if you can make it to leesburg VA this weekend, you can ogle a terrific roo
mful of vintage bikes and memorabilia. always fun for the afficionado and the collector. have look here. congrats to all who rode the morrisville 600K this past weekend and double nod to those completing a SR!! you cyclers rock!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
long strange trip
just a quick announcement about someting I've been working on for a year:
not drinking. how's it going you ask? well, it's been a year. 4/23/09
35 pounds less of me too. skipping 140 gallons of wine helps alot.. in many ways.
thanks for all the support everybody, lets go for two!!
geof
not drinking. how's it going you ask? well, it's been a year. 4/23/09
35 pounds less of me too. skipping 140 gallons of wine helps alot.. in many ways.
thanks for all the support everybody, lets go for two!!
geof
scorching run to the pottery
4/25/09 morrisville 300K
after what was a smooth, comfortable 200K, I figured 300K was just another 4-5 hrs. and eating and drinking more... wrong..
we'd been enjoying mild early spring weather and out of nowhere, bam! low 90's..
the heat came early and wasn't playin'. but first, let's take it from the top:
I needed 30min. to get to the ride so with 45 to go I topped off the air in my tires.
HHHIIIIISSSSSSS! damnit, the stem pulled right out of the front tube! no time to change,
tick-tock. I ran to my lightspeed, and pulled the front off it as it has strong mavics and the brakes would line up ok..I used a different pump after throwing the silca out back and headed out. I tried to be cool and not go too hard but it was gonna be close..
nope, empty lot. I checked in and Al said they left about 5 min. ago..i took off and he called me back for my control card. now i'm off. hustling. after 6miles I passed gary and sara who were doing a repair (already!). that's all the riders I saw afor a while.
I hammered to frosty's (30miles)thinking everyone would fill bottles because it was warm already. not! frosty's was closed. onward. 20 more miles to snow camp and there they were! problem-fast, hard start. 50 miles on 2 bottles. I would never recover from this. I drank a couple drinks at the store and chased the dozen riders to siler city. at the control we ate and drank more. off they went (again!) and I was stuck at the light.
i rode with one or two riders to seagrove, stopping for more drinks at the halfway.
the highlight of the ride was Dean's fabulous set-up at the turnaround: ice, cold water, gatorade, bananas, fig bars, sunscreen, tires, tools, and chairs! I took full advantage of this, hoping for some rejuvination to come into me. it never really did..
byron and I left for the return and stopped 10 miles out for more fluid. a gallon jug with "RUSA" scribbled on it rested on the newspaper rack. we topped a bottle and put some in our cyling caps ( this feels good,btw). off we went. the heat was oppressive.
with only 5miles back to siler city i faded and byron rolled on. i simply pulled off the road and sat in the grassy shade. after a minute i got another text from my sister who was worried and I said come on out if you can. chuck rolled up, and off I went, feeling a bit better. back in siler city, byron was hanging and we chilled a bit when bob rolled in and dean drove up. we visited a few and I announced I was done. 200 was all I had on this day. a top three high temp horror story for me and one I won't forget soon.
I did learn some important things about fluid and fuel. need alot!
don't leave anything to the morning: should have pumped those tires night before.
coming next: I'll tell you about the Acorn bags i'm running now (300 was first run).
they rock. i'll get some pictures and post soon!
geof
after what was a smooth, comfortable 200K, I figured 300K was just another 4-5 hrs. and eating and drinking more... wrong..
we'd been enjoying mild early spring weather and out of nowhere, bam! low 90's..
the heat came early and wasn't playin'. but first, let's take it from the top:
I needed 30min. to get to the ride so with 45 to go I topped off the air in my tires.
HHHIIIIISSSSSSS! damnit, the stem pulled right out of the front tube! no time to change,
tick-tock. I ran to my lightspeed, and pulled the front off it as it has strong mavics and the brakes would line up ok..I used a different pump after throwing the silca out back and headed out. I tried to be cool and not go too hard but it was gonna be close..
nope, empty lot. I checked in and Al said they left about 5 min. ago..i took off and he called me back for my control card. now i'm off. hustling. after 6miles I passed gary and sara who were doing a repair (already!). that's all the riders I saw afor a while.
I hammered to frosty's (30miles)thinking everyone would fill bottles because it was warm already. not! frosty's was closed. onward. 20 more miles to snow camp and there they were! problem-fast, hard start. 50 miles on 2 bottles. I would never recover from this. I drank a couple drinks at the store and chased the dozen riders to siler city. at the control we ate and drank more. off they went (again!) and I was stuck at the light.
i rode with one or two riders to seagrove, stopping for more drinks at the halfway.
the highlight of the ride was Dean's fabulous set-up at the turnaround: ice, cold water, gatorade, bananas, fig bars, sunscreen, tires, tools, and chairs! I took full advantage of this, hoping for some rejuvination to come into me. it never really did..
byron and I left for the return and stopped 10 miles out for more fluid. a gallon jug with "RUSA" scribbled on it rested on the newspaper rack. we topped a bottle and put some in our cyling caps ( this feels good,btw). off we went. the heat was oppressive.
with only 5miles back to siler city i faded and byron rolled on. i simply pulled off the road and sat in the grassy shade. after a minute i got another text from my sister who was worried and I said come on out if you can. chuck rolled up, and off I went, feeling a bit better. back in siler city, byron was hanging and we chilled a bit when bob rolled in and dean drove up. we visited a few and I announced I was done. 200 was all I had on this day. a top three high temp horror story for me and one I won't forget soon.
I did learn some important things about fluid and fuel. need alot!
don't leave anything to the morning: should have pumped those tires night before.
coming next: I'll tell you about the Acorn bags i'm running now (300 was first run).
they rock. i'll get some pictures and post soon!
geof
Friday, April 10, 2009
cycling (among other cool sports) on TV!
hey, check this out..although my onscreen guide duplicates the line above it (NBCHD), NBCSD is actually NBC Universal Sports..alternative, olympic, cool stuff. this week is the basque tours. they run it midday and 10 at night!! check their schedule here.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
off and rolling
it's that time of year again. yes, pollen!! that also means the brevets start for the NC randonneurs too. also known around here as 'Al's series', Al Johnson is the RBA and has hosted this set for years. for the second week in a row, the weather was crazy (read rainy and stormy) during the week and cleared by ride time on the weekend! blustery winds at times gave way to tailwinds when we needed them. a cool start saw everyone in warmers and vests but a warm afternoon had us peeling layers on the way back and digging the spring rays! it was a beautiful day to be on the bikes. what makes rando'ing so much fun IS the randonneurs. after the main group (30 something!) divided I spent the first half of the day with byron, branson, teddy, and kurt and victoria from charlotte. branson was getting along nicely on a fixed gear after byron "I can fix that witha zip-tie" morton reattached the front fender stay with; well, a zip-tie..
after seeing the leaders go by with a few miles to the control, I felt we were doing OK..
kurt n victoria left ahead of us and branson suggested a lunch stop at Ye old country store. everyone was game, and besides a tasty snack and friendly service it was nice to sit and chill with the cyclers. an hour passed quickly and with about a gallon of tea in EACH of us, we saddled up to get it done. it rolls pretty good out of snow camp, and after the 'three sisters' and a lively tear across chicken bridge road, Branson claimed he could "smell the barn" so we topped off the bottles at frosty's where a bunch of riders were doing the same. i take a bit of ribbing for MY 'style' but "stylin' Sally" had me beat on this one. (i took her photo w/byron) we non-stopped it from here to the finish at Al's where the 'welcoming committee' was enjoying cold beverages and making everybody feel like a champ! mike D was snapping pics. can't wait to do it again in three weeks for 300K! thanks, to riding buddies big and lil'B and teddy! see ya soon!
rando's r smart. see all that reflective stuf?
fuel, southern style..
mooo....transgender steel bovine
"stylin sally" with byron
the end, fabulous
after seeing the leaders go by with a few miles to the control, I felt we were doing OK..
kurt n victoria left ahead of us and branson suggested a lunch stop at Ye old country store. everyone was game, and besides a tasty snack and friendly service it was nice to sit and chill with the cyclers. an hour passed quickly and with about a gallon of tea in EACH of us, we saddled up to get it done. it rolls pretty good out of snow camp, and after the 'three sisters' and a lively tear across chicken bridge road, Branson claimed he could "smell the barn" so we topped off the bottles at frosty's where a bunch of riders were doing the same. i take a bit of ribbing for MY 'style' but "stylin' Sally" had me beat on this one. (i took her photo w/byron) we non-stopped it from here to the finish at Al's where the 'welcoming committee' was enjoying cold beverages and making everybody feel like a champ! mike D was snapping pics. can't wait to do it again in three weeks for 300K! thanks, to riding buddies big and lil'B and teddy! see ya soon!
rando's r smart. see all that reflective stuf?
fuel, southern style..
mooo....transgender steel bovine
"stylin sally" with byron
the end, fabulous
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