Friday, June 20, 2008

Boulder Day III

vacation is nice, I need to take them more often. Friday after my morning cup of coffee, I packed up my bag and headed back to Luby's shop to get ready to meet Bil for a road ride. Bil is another ex ONAG'r who moved out to Boulder. Bil showed up around 9:30 and we rolled out for a good 2.5 hour ride. I don't know exactly where our ride went, but I do know we rode "the wall". The Wall was section of an old Coor's Classic course that may or may not have been made famous when Kevin Costnor road it in American Flyers.

Bil pushing the big Dog all day

More from my vaction and the wedding to come.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

time off

This weekend my cousin is getting married in Estes, CO, so I decided to take some extra time off work and use the trip to CO as an oppertunity to meet up with some old friends and get some riding in. I arrived at the Denver airport around 10:30am on Wed. and hopped the shuttle bus to Boulder to meet up with Luby. Luby is still working out of the Maverick building and that is where I met him. After I arrived, we hung at the shop for awhile while he finished his up his work, then we headed to the Boulder Brewery to grab a bite to eat. After lunch Luby sized me up on his Maverick ML7 single speed and we took off for a ride at Heil Valley Ranch.
I don't have a lot of experience riding full suspension bikes and the terrain around here is different than anything I have ridden before. The trail was a lot of fun, a good 8-10 mile lollie-pop loop with some rocky climbs and fast rocky decesnts. The bike handled great and I was loving the 5 inches of travel on the rocky downhills. The ride took about an hour and a half but was a perfect way to loosen up after the trip.


Later that night Luby and I met up with our Friend Taylor for a quick pub ride to get a beer and then spend the rest of the night at Luby's hanging and catching up. Taylor is and ex ONAG'r who is living in Golden and working at Golden Bike Shop.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

I just didn't have it today...

Today was the Afton Alps race. Sometime last week I decided I was going to race my single speed. Last night I re-geared my bike to 32:19 and and left it hang in the stand until morning. This morning after making breakfast I went down stairs to dial my bike in, pack my gear and get ready for the race. After cruising the bike up and down the alley for a bit I loaded it onto the Jeep and went inside to make my water bottles and make sure Katie was ready to go. Around 11:30 we were on the road. I felt a little behind schedule but was not too worried.

When we parked at the race it was around 12:15 and I had about a half hour to register and sign warm up. I immediately grabbed my bike and rode to registration. When I was leaving Katie was at the door waiting for me. When I saw her she asked, "Where is your gear bag?".
"Shit"
"Did you forget it"
"Yep"
"What do you want to do now"
"Race"

This started my quest for Shoes(preferably with Time cleats), Helmet, and some shorts and jersey. I was less worried about the shorts and jersey but luckily I ran into my friend Jesse's girl friend who found a old Penn Cycle kit in J's car. Jesse was out warming up so he had no idea I was wearing is old gear. Alright, jersey and shorts down, helmet and shoes to go.

Next I ran into a new co-worker of mine who pointed out an acquaintance of mine, Porter, who had just finished racing the Sport race. Conveniently, Porter wears the same size shoes as me. The down side was that Porter doesn't ride Time's. So, we swapped out pedals, Porter gave me his helmet and I was set to race. Not quite, Porter may have average size feet, but his head is way above average. Porters helmet felt like I had a gallon bucket on my head. I said I would take the helmet and use it if I couldn't find another one.

Enter E-Fred, another QBP employee who also just finished up the Sport race.
"Erik what size helmet do you wear"
"Small/Med, but it is narrow, so I have a lady's helmet"
"Im not scared, if it fits, can I wear it"
"Sure"
The helmet fit like a glove, better than my old helmet even. I think I will give Lazer helmets another try.

Alright, I found all the gear I need and I had 10 minutes to spare, so I cruised up and down the walk way for a bit and noticed that Porters pedals are way different than mine and was really hard for me to clip in. Well beggers can't be choosers, so I rode to the starting line and put my game face on. Game face? Yeah right, I could careless how I did in the race, I was happy to have the gear to ride.


New Penn Cycle/Lazer Team Rider Fryn Porky

And how did the race go? It actually went pretty well, I felt like I road as good as I could have on any given day, I road good in the single track and had some good power in my pedals on the uphills. The only real problem was when I would have to clip in and out of my pedal to walk or run some of tougher sections. This wasn't a big deal until the last lap when my legs were really fatigued and I was fighting back the cramps.

In the end, I don't know my exact place, but I finished strong. I was on the course for about 2hours and 45minutes. Judging by the people crossed the line with, I was in the same field I normally finish.

So Yeah, I had quite the interesting day today. Unfortunately I couldn't fly the Salsa colors today, but I got to represent Penn Cycle instead. Special thanks to all my "other" sponsors, Jesse Rientz, Erik Fredrickson, and Porter.


Now playing: Desaparecidos - The Happiest Place On Earth
via FoxyTunes

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Our first remodel

Immediately after buying our house, we decided to install carpet in the upstairs and use the space for our bedroom. Well the carpet was installed on Saturday morning and Katie and I planned on spending the afternoon moving our furniture upstairs.

With a little help from our friends we started hauling the head and foot board up, no problem.



Next up, the queen size pillow top mattress; with a little leverage and some choice words the mattress squeezed between the door frame and up the stairs. Can you all guess where this story is going?

Finally, the low profile box spring.
Eye it up, tilt it to the right and give er.
Nope.
How about flipping it over and tilting it to the left?
Nope.
How about going to Hom furniture and about buying a new split box spring?
Nope.
How about ripping apart the box spring, using some powers and cutting the box spring in half. Once it is upstairs, reassemble it?
Yep, sound good.






Two plus hours and a few beers later the box spring was reassembled in its permanent home and the mess downstairs was cleaned up.




If this is what I have to look forward to as a home owner, I am going to need more power tools.

Thanks to Zach for ditching the in-laws to come help a brother move instead. And a special thanks to Joe and Anni for stopping by the house for a drink of water and staying for the afternoon to shenanigans.


Now playing: The Chemical Brothers - If You Kling to Me I'll Klong to You
via FoxyTunes