Hard Plastic Wheels with Precision Bearings

Got an email today from Randy today

"The long awaited rear wheels for the Trek MOD are finally available. Trek did a special batch of only 500 units. We have 100 en route and will re-order if needed. I have a feeling that this will be the last batch of replacement wheels from Trek, forever."

The Bigwheel races have been a little slow recently, mainly because everyone has burned through their stockpile of wheels. The famine hit some harder than others. Those who were not prepared missed out on some great riding but truth be told I have really missed the race car drivers at the weekly Bigwheel races, they bring a level of insanity to the ride and it just wasn't the same without them. Hopefully the wheels will show up before the snow files and they close the road. The next bigwheel rally will not be one to miss. And yes the offer still stands if you want to ride let me know, a few dollars to my livestrong page is all it takes.

I haven't posted for a while, been pretty busy. We went down to Las Vegas to Interbike to scope out an Asian supplier for our own Bigwheel. We found a vendor that makes a steel frame Bigwheel similar to the MOD and showed him our Youtube video on Randy's IPhone so he could get a feel for what we were looking for. He didn't speak any English so we had to communicate through an interpreter. Here we are trying to explain to him that this plastic wheel we have sitting here on the table is the same one we used in the video He just couldn't comprehend it.

The Mad Dog site has been getting a lot of people asking to buy Bigwheels but since Trek doesn't make them anymore and even if they had them they couldn't sell to non-local people because the Dealer agreement restricts selling over the phone and shipping product out in boxes, we are pursuing avenues to spec and import our own model that we will be able to sell to anyone regardless of their geographical location. Very exciting! This is going to be huge.

Interbike was fun, but you know what was more fun? The parking garage of the Venetian. The security guard was too busy watching videos on his phone to pay any attention to us. I almost got taken out by a Corvette.

After Interbike we went out to Boulder City to ride in some of their drainage ditches, followed up by a quick detour to Brianhead on the way home to make a couple of runs down the canyon. We took Dwayne from Media Works along for the ride so there should be a new video coming out as soon as he finishes editing.

One of the best parts of the trip was the drive down and back. Experienced race car driver + Subaru STI + Radar Detector= very little strain on the bladder between St George and Vegas.

Make a Donation, Ride the Bigwheel

If you haven't noticed I am only half way to my $1000 fundraising goal for the Livestrong Foundation. I think it's time I bumped my fundraising efforts up a notch. The Squaw Peak Bigwheel Rally occurs every Wednesday night at 8:00 PM until further notice. A donation of your choosing to my Livestrong page will get you the ride of your life on my personal pink bigwheel. Trust me you will not want to miss out on this.

The details. Meet at the base of the Squaw Peak Road between the times of 8-11:00 PM, bring what ever body armor you feel necessary (minimum helmet and light if you have one). It usually takes us 20 minutes or so top to bottom so if nobody is there just hang out, we'll show up.

The Rules

1. Really there are not rules, just loose guidelines

2. Pushing from behind is a completely acceptable practice, just make sure if you push aim for the seat of the person in front of you, DON'T HIT THE BACK WHEELS YOU WILL FLIP OVER BACKWARD AND GO SLIDING DOWN THE PAVEMENT ON YOUR BACK click this link and go to 2:20 to see what I am talking about

3. Stay in your own lane, if at all possible, this is not a closed course and you are not a professional driver

4. Throw down some cash for the shuttle service($5)

5. If you get hurt don't blame me. These are kids toys that were never meant to do what we are doing on them, RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK

So join with me in having an outrageously good time and raising a little money for an excellent cause, I can't think of a better combination.

This offer good every Wednesday night as long as we are planning on going, send me an email ryanthom@gmail.com so I can get a count of how many people to expect, four or five is probably the limit per night since that is usually the number of runs we do and I only have one bigwheel to loan out right now.

Leadville Trail 100 Report

Our first stop in town was to pick up supplies that we were transporting to the top of Columbine for the race. After loading the supplies I asked one of the other volunteers who was obviously a local if there was any good camping around. With out any hesitation she looked over at her husband and said Lee do you mind if they camp on our property? With that Calvin and I followed them to their house. Lee gave us a tour around the yard and suggested a couple of spots where we could set up camp, then showed us into his garage where there was a bathroom next to his metal shop, "The door is always open, just come on in if you need to".
I have heard others say that Leadville is really about the people. I couldn't agree more, Lee turned out to be a super cool guy who makes his living as a metal artist. He makes some of the most beautiful copper fountains that I have ever seen. Check them out here. Lee is also a long distance cyclist who rode in the Colorado Trail Race as well as Leadville a few times.
Thanks for the hospitality Lee and Joan
This is one of the best pictures I have ever taken, Lance preparing for a pre-race ritual.
Don't forget to lube boys and girls.

With that taken care of here he is ready to go, riding up to the start of the race.

Moments before the start

After we watched the start we headed out to meet the riders at the top of Columbine, I got choked up a little when I saw this sign. Elden has a lot of good friends and people he has never even meet rooting for him. I don't know who put this up but thanks. The saddest thing about this poster is that he crashed out early in the race and never got to see it. Crushing blow

Old cabin at the top of Columbine

Calvin took this picture of Lance as he flew past us at the top of Columbine. No competition in sight.

I brought my stand figuring it may come in handy for some of the racers. I am still a little foggy on the rules of providing mechanical support for the racers. I am not going to admit to anything, and I am certainly not going to review the rule book, my conscience will feel better that way. I will say that there were a few riders that were happy that there was someone with some mechanical skill at the top. I think chain lube was the most popular request at the top of Columbine. My 2oz bottle of Dumonde lube was gone in no time so we raided the support vehicles for a quart of Pennzoil. I lubed dozens of chains with this stuff.

"Does anybody have any chain lube?"

"I've got Pennzoil."

"Great!"

I think most people were just surprised that we had anything. I got nothing but praises for the Pennzoil and to tell the truth for those kind of conditions I think it was the perfect choice in lube. I heard a few stories of people trying some pretty desperate things to get their chains to behave.

One poor soul rolled in with no rear brake and wanted to know if we had any mineral oil to top of the reservoir in his shimano brakes. The best solution we could come up with was antifreeze. We handed him the bottle, I told him it was pretty inert and likely would not hurt a thing. I recommended that he flush it out when he gets home. It was just the thing, topped off with antifreeze he was no longer sucking air into the master cylinder and he was up and running. There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

Here is a shot of the volunteer work force. I kind of felt bad for some of the racers, they were 5o miles in at 12,400 feet and being swarmed by people asking them what they wanted, as if they were going to drop dead if they didn't get something to eat right that second. I do think the racers appreciated it though. Some of the racers seemed unfazed by the climb while others were on the bring of collapsing. I remember looking at some thinking I was really glad that I wasn't in their shoes.

Calvin was a great sport even when the sleet started coming down sideways. I think he actually had a good time up there.

After the race I meet up with Dug, Elden, Ricky, Kenny, Rick and Gary, we got some take out pizza and headed over to their hotel with the infamous stairs, what they failed to mention is the incredibly creepy nine foot tall Santa at the base of the stairs. It was really nice to see some old friends and catch up a little. It meant a lot to me to be able to hang out for a little while. If you have a minute check out Dug's story about a family waiting for their husband and father at the finish line. He does a great job of capturing what Leadville is really about, Friends, Family and the average Joe competing along side the worlds best cyclists.

Here is the race promoter counting down the minutes to the 12 hour cut off. If you cross the finish after the muzzle loader goes off, No Belt Buckle!

Summer in Leadville, we woke up to frost the day after the race.

It was a great weekend until we went to fill up on the way out of town. A fellow parked his shinny yellow Harley Davidson at the end of the gas pump island while he went into the service station to use the facilities. Of course I didn't see it and while trying to negotiate the crowded parking lot backed right into it and knocked it down. I waited outside for him to come beat me up. He didn't but as you can guess he was angry. The first thing he said was "You couldn't pick it up!" I just didn't think my buck fifty frame had it in me to heft it. I gave him my insurance info apologized profusely and assured him I would make it right. It didn't do much damage but I am sure it will be expensive. I do know now from experience that Harley's leak more oil sitting on their sides than they do upright. I wanted to take a close up picture of the bike to document the damage but chickened out, I couldn't resist snapping a picture as he rode away just for proof that the bike was at least rideable post collision.

Moab is a 30 mile spur from I 7o so I couldn't resist stopping by on our way home. Calvin had never been there and I wanted to open up a new world for him. We went up to Slick Rock and rode out about a mile. He did a lot better than I thought he would but I did not want to push him the trail is above his technical ability and I didn't want him to get hurt. The below picture gives new meaning to Scary Bathroom. This guy was hanging out in the shade in front of the outhouse door in the Slick Rock parking lot. Rattle Snake sighting #2 for the season.

Calvin's first ride on Slick Rock

The End to a great weekend, can't wait till next year, I think I might have a chance at getting in.

Columbine Mine Aid Station

Leadville has been illusive for me. When I was 19 I filled out the application all the way down to the point where it said that you must be 21 to enter. I put it on the back burner for a few years then sent off another packet at age 22-DENIED, again at 24-DENIED. Gave up until this year and again at 35-DENIED. They don't want my money. This years rejection letter came with a note that said if you are a race volunteer you will have a better chance of getting into the race in 2010. In February I blocked the race weekend out as Vacation on my calendar. Up until this week I have been undecided as to whether I would actually go or not. On Monday with very little thought I responded to the volunteer request on the web page thinking surely this late in the game they probably won't even respond.

The response took one hour to come back. They wanted to know if I have a 4-Wheel Drive with good ground clearance. I don't but my wife does. I was shocked when she said sure you can take my car. I am not sure she has any idea of what I am going to do to her car. I have been assigned to the Columbine Mine Aid Station. Since I have never made it into the race I have never been there but I do know this it is at the 50 mile point which is the highest and furthest point on the 100 mile out and back race and sits at an elevation of 12,440 ft. I'm sure it is not as bad as it looks.

I am going to take Calvin, he's really excited to spend some time camping with dad. I just hope he doesn't get to bored hanging out at a bike race all day. He likes bikes now I hope I don't ruin it for him.

I am sure Lance has his own people providing support but it sure would be cool to be able to give him a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as he flies by. I think this might be his year.

In leiu of flowers

In Lieu of flowers I have made a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Won't you do the same?

http://www.fatcyclist.com/2009/08/05/dont-say-she-lost/

My condolences to the Nelson Family

San Jose Livestrong Challenge 2009 Ride Report Win Susan!

$64,286.90 is the amount of money raised by Team Fat Cyclist for the Livestrong Challenge in San Jose this year which was more than any other team participating in the event. One of the perks of being the top fundraising team is being able to line up at the front of the "ride" directly behind the Police escort. There were some pre-ride instructions and for a brief moment they opened the mic to our Team Captain Matt Chapek and gave him a minute to explain who Team Fat Cyclist Fighting for Susan was. He did a great job as Captain, thanks for all the time and effort in getting us organized, well done. After Matt was done there were more instructions "This is not a Race", we were told not to pass the Police escort and off we went.

Riding behind the Police escort was great, they kept us at an easy pace for the first 15-20 miles. It was nice to ride as a team for the first while and be able to talk a bit. After a while I noticed a lot of green jerseys forming at the front, little did I know at the time but these guys and gal would serve as my personal domestiques through the majority of the ride. I later found out that these guys were from team Beat the Clock.

A small gap began to open between the green jerseys and the rest of us. This is just a "Ride", yea right. I made a break for it and was able to bridge the gap, my plan was to hang on the wheels of the lead group as long as possible until I cracked then I would sit up and take a more leisurely pace and enjoy the ride.

Around mile 40 the group had thinned to 10. We pulled into an aid station to refill bottles an fuel up. We talked briefly and were off again. Usually I start to hit the wall at about mile 50 but today I felt strong, I even made a couple of token pulls on the lead group. It felt good to be at the front but I was obviously the weakest rider of the group and quickly found myself sucking wheels again.

At Mile 60 we went through some rolling hills and I started to fall back, I looked up and one of the guys from team Beat the Clock was coming back for me, I got on his wheel and he reeled me back in to the group. I wish I had a picture of this guys legs. It was all I could do to hang on his wheel and I am pretty sure he wasn't even breathing hard. I have never met these guys in my life yet they were treating me as if I were one of their team members.

Metcalf Road was around the 70 mile mark, I got dropped hard. I actually did the walk of shame three times before I got to the top. That thing is steep. "If I only had one more gear..." At the top of Metcalf was an aid station where I could see team Beat the Clock gathered, I figured that I would continue and soon enough they would pass me and I would get dropped again.

After the summit of Metcalf was a screaming down hill, I was glad to be able to ride it alone big groups make me nervous, it was supper fun. As I suspected my break didn't last long and the lead group came screaming by me, one of the riders yelled out grab a wheel as they went by so I did and was able to ride on their coat tails to the finish line. The lead group of ten all crossed the finish line together with a time of 4 hours and 48 minutes which is by far the fastest century I have ever done and really the only one that I felt relatively strong all the way to the end. It's amazing what riding at 7-9000 feet will do for your fitness at sea level. I had one of the best rides of my life today, it was amazing.

I just want to say thanks to Elden and his supper power. You know when he asks you to do something you have to do it. This year our family summer vacation had a purpose. At the appreciation banquet for the top fund raisers Matt Chapek shared this from Elden's Blog, a post about what he would say to cancer.

"I've got a lot of friends, and we're working together to help fight it. Sure, it's just a little drop in the bucket, but there are a lot of us. And we're all going to put or drops in the bucket. And someday that bucket will be full, and we will have beaten you, cancer. And that's a good reason to do this.
Because I can't bear the thought of my kids having to someday face cancer themselves."

Here are some links to other team member ride reports.

Pink Bunny Ears

Judy

Kathleen

Team JD

Others coming soon as I find them.

Road Riding on Antelope Island

Next Sunday is the Livestrong Challenge ride in San Jose so I figured I should start putting some miles on the old road bike. I set out from my house and made my way across the causeway out to Antelope Island. Despite living here for two years now I have never ridden across the causeway on my road bike. Last year I rode off road on the Island twice and got puncture weed flats both times, haven't been back since.

The ride out

After paying my three bucks at the toll booth I shifted into the big ring and hammered down. This is probably the flattest road in Utah and had a slight tail wind so I just kind of zoned out as the miles flew by. The lake is kind of stinky, kind of like the hot pots up Diamond Fork Canyon, you get used to it after a while.

The Island

Once you get on the Island there is wildlife almost everywhere you look.

The road goes from flat to rolling hills which is a nice change of pace. The two tiny dots in the center of the picture on the beach are Coyote's (I promise).

The lake stinks and sometimes there are a lot of bugs but to make up for that there are some spectacular views.
Buffalo

After cranking through a few miles of rolling hills I ran across these guys.

They seem pretty harmless, kind of like big cows that make scary snorting and grunting noises when you go by.
This guy was all by himself out humping a rock. I thought it was kind of funny. Ok maybe he was scratching his stomach.
Tail Wind

On the way back a monster storm rolled in. It looked like I was going to get soaked so I pedaled as hard as I could. The wind was picking up in front of the black wall off to the West and I could tell that if I could get in front of it before it hit the causeway I would have a direct tail wind. When I hit the causeway the road turned exactly parallel to the gale force winds. It was like surfing an imaginary wave on a bicycle. This was one of the strangest things I have ever experienced, I was completely spun out. I could see the violent wind bending the grasses straight to the ground along the sides of the road but since I was traveling at the same velocity as the wind the air directly around me was eerily still and quiet. I am guessing that I was cruising at 45-50 mph as I blew across the causeway and the farm roads leading to my house at a pace closer to freeway driving than bicycle riding.

As near as I can tell this is about a 45 mile round trip ride from my house (note to self, replace computer batteries), no major canyon ascent and descent but still a very nice ride. I did it three times last week. I think that this is just the thing to get me in shape for San Jose.