24Hours of Hot August Nights!

So here we are on the cusp of the second most awesomest 24 hour race... I have rode this race but twice as i usually end up in the 'promised land' this time of year for whatever reason.

Not having a team to ride with after some failed negotiations, i came up with a very simple deal with these guys...

Yes, i will be riding through what appears to be some sour weather, i just love how all those a$$hat meteorologists/weatherpeoples call for sunshine on the weekend all week and then come Friday change thier tune to dooom and glooom! Let's face it, these kids don't know what the H they are doin' and should go back to sticking crayons up thier noses.

With all that watery stuff in the forcast i am going to complete at least one lap on one of them cute little misfit singlespeed numbers, hoping for hot pink or orange but either way it's going to be painful...but a good time. No matter the colour, the real treat is that the new Dissent (fe) , is hand crafted but Hugh Black of True North Cycles. If you know not of True North, you should do yourself, and your fellow man ,a courtesy by becoming edumacated in the ways of all things good...you may want to put a bib on or get your drool cup ready.

They're interweb personas are larger than life, but who can't spew BS all over the interweb.

No matter what the weather does, this weekends performance will be nothing short of brilliance.

Road Trip! T&R's Ubersweet MTB Adventure - East Coast Edition - Days 6 Sleepy Hollow

So we left the Old Stage coach Inn, in search of more riding. Rumour had it that there was riding a plenty in the hinesburg area, but after watching the stage of Le Tour we gathered that much of it was too soggy with the exception of Sleepy Hollow. Saddle up partner, it's time to ride! Great drive through the Vermontian country side, Garmin set us up with a super sweet route. Hit the top of smuggler's notch and the poor Vdub was givener all she had not to scream bloody murder. Stopped at the top for photo ops...

Then...there it was...the sign all roadies dream of....

A roadies dream that is if you are heading in the proper direction...needless to say this poor soul wasn't....

and we don't pick up hitchhikers...not even the friendly ones...

The rest of the drive out there was rather uneventful.

Got geared up and paid our dues and took Eli's advice and did the red loop...starting just behind the sauna...if you thought a sauna was hot, you should have seen me nearly naked at the top...behind the sauna the single track began immediately, all in the upward direction...guess this was karma for not picking up the hitchie on the way in. Although lungbusting, even Randall thought we should have warmed up, hindsight being what it is, we kept on given'r and the trail was well laid out, with a mix of rocks, roots and dirt! I love Dirt!

The trails were free of any major obstacles that would impede our flow with few exceptions, there was that one 45degree loose climb that even a billygoat on 'roids would have faltered on. There was a whole quasi-geeky Starwars theme going on, not that i mind, or think that i am above geekie but it was a little wierd.

I am much more inclined to like trails with names like 'this gunna hurt' or 'rocks aren't your friends' over 'millenium falcon' or 'yoda's way' although Yoda had some preddy dam nice single track...impressive to say the least.

Amazingly the rain held off and we had a great couple hours here. Only complaint is the last section of trail before you pop out should be labeled as such as it is an absolute treat that should be savoured by all.

Big props to Eli and the gang at Fellowship of the Wheel that keep this place kickin' a$$.

I celebrated day 6 of riding in the parking lot with a offering by Long Trail . And graciously, left my empty on the rear bumper for on some car sporting brotherhood of PoPo plates...figured if i gave him money it would be good karma for the remainder of our travels!

Just as we finished up with the bike wash and got ready to get movering along, yes you guessed it, a storm rolled on in and it rained.

We started on towards our next local in Barnes Corners, NY where rumour had it you could ride your mountain bikes...we like these kinda rumours lots!

The drive was quite eventful, it involved lots of storms, a well executed 270 degree turn, some deer, and two white guys dressed in indian drag attemptin to unstuck their Quad before the real indians showed up to kick their white hienies! After 3 hours of driving through storms we decided to call the remaining day of our trip off as even if it did stop raining, which it eventually did, the trails after this much rain would be absolutely awful.

Since we called it early we decided to take a detour...short cut...through the adirondacks...this drive was quite incredible and i will def make a point of returning...that much woods must have some bikeable trail in it after all.

Crossed the border back into canadistan at kingston at midnight and after a few questionable responses to the border guard we were permitted to pass out of the United Capitalist Republic of States. I was tired, i drove, Randall arrived safely in TO before his bed time, i drove on to the hammer and got stuck in the normal 2 am traffic when some knob up a head cracked up his car and closed the highway! performed Uey! on QEW then up the trafalgar onramp and around finally arriving home at 3am.

Great Adventure had by all....Thanks Randall!

Loooong weekending!

So after a tough week at work, year all four days of it, cause working friday's is for suckers! We grabbed our passports, the monster and our finest camping gear...well it's still our finest even though the aforementioned dog chewed it, and headed out for a weekend of fun in the Ellicottville area of Western NY. Now this isnt the first time we've done this and you would think we would have learned our lesson by now but apparently i am a weee smidge sloooooo on the uptake. Our lodging for the weekend is at Allegany State Park. Now don't get me wrong, the park is nice and the water is wet, and there are plenty of hiking trails but every time we go there there seems to be more water on the site than in the river! the last time we went there our site was under 2" of water, so we traded it for a raft, this time was no exception, well it was only 1/2" of water and there was nothing to trade i for. Well one thing was for sure, the monster didn't mind one bit. We decided to go to the beach in seach of some dryness in hopes that the sun would dry out our site but as it was at the bottom of the hill nearly it was hard to expect such miracles to come true. The beach was surprisingly good, covered with bird sh!t and sticks and whatnot, truth be told it's a man made beach next to a large resevoir, so first order of business is to see if the monster can swim. Best way to find out is the same way i found out...send her out with the lifeguard to the deepend and chuck her in! Or just throw a stick! Well she was hesitant and once in she made a valiant attempt to drink/inhale the 'lake' dry but alas it was not a success we had hoped for. I guess she is my dog after all...cause if she were my wife's she would be a natural swimmer. Upon our return we set up camp, still wet, in the blazing sun, with not a tree in site to shade our weary heads. Well unless you count the 3/4 dead 4 year old silver maple sapling about 50' away...wasn't even suitable to tie the monster too. Our friends J&A arrive, fashionalby late, but its great that they made it, with them they bring little E and the dog known as Dewert. Next morning, we had a splendid breakfast and I headed out of camp to get some reception for my phone call to arrange the time for the mountain bike ride with the True North gang et al. Made the call and found the schedule some tight...requiring departure 10 minutes ago. To add insult to injury there was a Triathalon being held in the park and we would have to drive through the park (slower than the interstate). Alas, got our gear and pushed the go-go-gadget rally car button and floored it out of there! Met up in e-ville and drove to some remote location to ride the bikes...the trails were wicked awesome and wet and challenging...was having a great time shooting the shit with Adam about the benefits of SS 29ers and his recent conversion to 'squish' in the front...when it all went to shit. I endo'd on a relatively simple section and landed poorly...by poorly i mean i dislocated my shoulder! We were well ahead of the rest of the gang and when Adam no longer heard my constant bantering...he returned to find me laying at the side of the trail. As he approached he actually got to watch as my shoulder reduced itself back into place! It's gross. So this isn't the first time this has happened and according to history will not be the last. I have seen a specialist who wants to cut me up and fix me for the low low price of 1 year getting fat whilst doing buttkiss. Rode for some time as it was mostly downhill and the after trauma adrenalin was pumping hard...eventually i was convinced to hike it out to another trail and rode fire roads back to the cars arriving seconds after the rest. Had J load up the bikes as i count reach my roof anymore and headed back to Allegany to relax and pick up wives, kid and puppies. Back at camp i started on my pill conconction that was perscribed for a bad back but does the trick for shoulder dislocation quite nicely. Then went to the beach where our 'the monster' showed us that she had learned to swim! Yeah Monster! Had a great barbeque at the Prouse's later that evening with good food, good convo, a wide assortment of beverages and a huge fire. Then headed on our way back out. the rest of the weekend was blurry and was highlighted by some ornamental iron shop, J's birthday dinner, and picking out our nursery bedding at pottery barn. Life is good (usually).