Shakedown Ride

With the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek only two days away, I was itching to get out on the trail for one more ride. When I said I wanted to try to get out to a trail after work (instead of riding the road bike), Little Miss Sunshine suggested that I hit up the U.S. National Whitewater Center. I liked the idea, especially since it’s the closest place around here that has any kind of toughness to it. I packed up my bike and headed over there after work.


I was hoping for a trail ride so I could make sure that my bike was in working order, hoping that I would have plenty of time to make any repairs or adjustments. Also, I had another test to do. Even though I’ve done several reviews on the Awesome Strap, I wanted to try something else. Of course, the Awesome Strap passed with flying colors for it’s intended use, but I had another idea. Since I have a few extras, I decided to see if I could use one of them to hold my manual pump somewhere on my frame, rather than carrying it in my jersey pocket and risk losing it. The Back Forty was meant to hold a ton of shit, but could it manage holding a measly air pump all by its lonesome?





I didn’t have a lot of time, so last night’s ride was far from epic. I did however; get to test both my bike and my bike handling skills to their fullest. Just like the first time that I tested the Awesome Strap, I tried to keep from checking it the whole ride. Although I like my old shitty Kenda hand pump, it wouldn’t be a big deal if I lost it. Besides, I was testing the limits of the Awesome Strap, and I wanted the test to be accurate.


The ride went well. I didn’t blast through the trail at a super-human rate of speed (I’m not capable of that anyway.) I kept a decent pace though, and didn’t stop to rest. I did stop once though, because my sunglasses were coated in sweat and I couldn’t see. Even at that 5 second stop, I didn’t look down to see if my secondary Awesome Strap had lost its contents. I just cleaned off my glasses and got on my way.


After completeing my one and only lap, I pulled into the parking lot to see if I needed to buy a new pump. And wouldn’t you know, it was still there, in all its Awesomeness. The damn thing didn’t move an inch either. Even though the Back Forty is designed to carry tons of crap, it did just fine carrying one lonely, ancient hand pump. The folks at Backcountry Research are even more awesome than I originally thought. Big thanks to Richard at BR for hooking me up with extra awesomitude (yeah, I made that word up.)



Now I am twice as awesome.

I only found some minor things wrong with the bike, which was expected. I’m only working a half-day tomorrow, so that will give me plenty of time to correct the issues. I have a small braking issue, plus a few not yet identified squeaks to address. It will be another fun day of bike mechanicin’. I’ll probably be back here tomorrow as well, so lucky you again. See ya.

More Product Reviews

With all the Awesome stuff that was happening around here the other week, I failed to mention another product I received. One of our local club members did a presentation at one of our meetings last month, regarding some new anti-butt sore cream. While there are several products on the market that perform this function, I obtained a free sample of this new one that deserved a review. The name of the product is Keister Kreme, made in the U.S. of A. by SOYuRIDE. Their website had a few things that made me chuckle:


“Keister Kream anti-chafing chamois cream is the only choice to protect your vegetables from chafing and irritation.”

“NEW COOL MINT COMING VERY SOON!

- Cool Mint is...well...tingly! It has a slightly thicker consistency, and a light green color that won't stain your skin or your shorts. It has a menthol scent, and will provide a cooling, tingly sensation on application. We thought it was pretty weird when we asked our testers how to make Keister Kream better and they requested 'tingle', but we made it happen.”


The sample I have is the “original” version, so I guess I won’t find out what the tingly action is all about. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try.





Saturday morning, while getting ready for the 10th Annual CSC Spring Training Ride, I opted to use the Keister Kreme instead of my usual stuff, Chamois Butter. The website said to “Slap some on and head out for a 5 hour ride,” so I figured that a 56 mile road ride would be a good way to test it. I’d rather test it on a training ride and find out it doesn’t work instead of discovering it at the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. I applied the Keister Kream to my uh, nether regions and got ready to ride.


Thankfully there are no photos of me putting this junk on my well, junk. You’ll just have to use your imagination for that one, or block out that thought completely. I have to say that it wasn’t as greasy as other anti-chafing products I’ve used, so that was a plus. Also, it didn’t stink to high hell, nor did I have to use very much of it. Although I got mine for free, the retail price of $14.99 seems to be a great deal for the amount you get. Plus, they donate 5% of the proceeds to organizations and charities that give back to cycling and the community. The guy at the meeting (I forgot his name...oops) said that for every order placed from South or North Carolina, they will donate that 5% to our local club, the Tarheel Trailblazers. Sounds like a deal, but does it work?


Well, after applying the Keister Kreme, I actually forgot it was there. That’s a good thing, because no one wants to feel like they have a ton of grease on their taint. It performed as they said it would, and I didn’t have any negative side affects from spending four hours in the saddle. When I got home that afternoon and showered, I didn’t have to scrub my coin purse with a brillo pad to remove it either.


So, should you buy it? Well, my answer is yes, unless you enjoy saddle sores and crotch rot after you ride. I used it on a long ride and didn’t even know it was working, even though it was. While there are plenty of other products that do the same job, I really liked this one mo’ better. The ingredients are all-natural, so natural in fact that it’s been said that you can eat it (I wouldn’t want to eat that though.) Head on over to SOYuRIDE and order up some all-natural butt protection. You won’t be disappointed and your “vegetables” will thank you for it.

Bike for the Chili Man

I mentioned some time ago that I was building a bike for my neighbor, the nearly world-famous Chili Man. Between the rain on Sunday and the much-needed recovery time from my road ride, I had time to finish his “new” bike this past weekend.


Actually, it was about 95 percent complete last Sunday. I only had to install the shifter cables, v-brake bosses, and give her the ol’ tune up to be ready to ride. Since I had a lot bike parts lying around the shop, I only had to spend about 5 bucks on the rest of the stuff I needed. After installing the front brakes and shifter cables, I set out to adjust the gears. Since I only had seven speed shifters available, the adjustment was a breeze.


I did a little test ride to make sure everything functioned properly, and I was satisfied with my mechanicin’ skills. There was one final thing to be done before I delivered the bike:



I know it might seem a little silly, but I thought I would personalize the bike for him in case he misplaced it somewhere. This bike was custom-assembled for The Chili Man, so it was only right that it bears his name. While it certainly isn’t the best bike around, it will do the job and should last a long time (since his mechanic is only a few houses away.) Plus, it’s way better than some department store bike. Well, unless you are a hipster that likes to shop at department stores. Anyway, here is the finished product:



Hand-assembled in Charlotte, NC. We don’t use robots here at B-43. They cost too much.

I rode it down the hill to The Chili Man’s house so he could see his new steed. Ironically, he had just finished making the food he promised for me. How’s that for timing? He seemed very pleased with his “new” bike, but mentioned that it is a little heavier than bike formerly known as The Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth. I told him not to worry, since he’ll benefit from any upgrades I get in the future. His reponse was comical:

“When I see you come home from the bike shop, I’ll be waiting at the door for my parts.”

He’s right though, since I’ll gladly upgrade his bike with my leftover parts. That may not happen for a while though, since I’m still in the process of building my 29er project. He’s not riding big wheels yet. Anyway, I’d like to thank Bart at Southpark Cycles for letting me dig around the parts bin to find the crap I needed to finish building the Chili Bike. He and The Chili Man go way back, so he was happy to do it.


While I didn’t receive chili for payment, I did receive a delicious meatloaf. Meatloaf? Delicious? Yes, I said it. The Chili Man’s culinary skills are second to none, and I was more than happy to accept his gift of food. He hand-delivered this giant aluminum foil covered delight to my kitchen:



That was the biggest brick of food I’ve ever seen in my life. I opened it up and Little Miss Sunshine, Lunchbox, and I tore into it.



Yum.

Geez, that thing was big enough that I had second thoughts about building a bike for him. I really should have built a fleet of bikes for such a good meal. We feasted on that thing all night long. While it may not do anything for my nutritional needs at the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek, it certainly filled my belly. If you haven’t already done so, check out his Facebook Page and see where you can find him. You are missing out if you don’t eat what The Chili Man is cookin’.

Roadie Action

Saturday was my chance to play roadie for a day, and I have to say that I’m pretty happy about it. Since I normally only ride on the road to help my mountain biking, it’s usually pretty boring. Saturday was different though. Yep, a nice big group ride at the 10th Annual CSC Spring Training Ride. I arrived early at Harrisburg Elementary School to register and to chat it up with the usual crew.



The tent setup might look a little familiar, since it’s the same stuff that used for all of the local races around here. Cycling Event Promoter Neal Boyd put on this event, and as always it was a good one. There was a bit of sadness in the air due to the death of Adam Little, a local cylist who was killed while riding to work a few days back. Jonathan Lowe, reporter from News 14 Carolina, was on the scene:



I got to talk to Mr. Lowe for a bit before the ride, and thanked him for coming out to our events. He's a pretty cool guy. He actually remembered me from the last cycling event he covered, the grand opening of Southwest District Park last fall. He told me how much fun he had covering that story, and also how difficult he found mountain biking to be. He got some great footage from the trail while riding on a borrowed mountain bike. This time though,he stayed on his feet while filming. Here is a link to the story:

Bicycle Ride Raises Money For Late Cyclist’s Family

After mingling with the crowd for a bit, it was time to go. I met up with my pal RJ and we talked about how we weren’t sure about doing the 55 mile distance. It would be a first for the both of us. Another friend of mine, Cathi, joined us at the start and said she would ride along. We knew it would be a good thing to have someone along who has tackled such a distance, and could show us the ways of the roadie. We had a lot to learn about road riding.



Neal made the final announcements, and then we were ready to go.




We stayed with a pretty large group for the first part of the ride, and I practiced my Tour de France skills. As hard as I tried to keep a decent pace, I often found myself shooting up to the front of the group. I would pay for this later. We stopped at the first rest stop, and I stuffed myself with PB&J and refilled my water bottles. We still had a long way to go.


By the time we arrived at the second rest stop, we had lost most of the group. The three of us were still together, and there were a few people still with us. Once again we ate and filled our water bottles.



It was time to hit the road again. Since the pace had slowed down considerably, I decided to take my chances with some on-the-bike photography:


Here’s RJ keeping pace with another rider. This guy and his friend stayed with us for most of the ride.



Cathi is all smiles, probably because she’s done these long rides before.



This one nearly caused me to crash, but I had to prove that I was there.



We kept plugging along, and surprisingly, I felt pretty good. I saw some weird shit out there in the country, but I couldn’t get my camera out in time. The funniest thing had to be the ostrich we passed that started running along side of us. I laughed so hard at the poor bird that I nearly crashed into a ditch. Too bad I didn’t get a photo of that one.


As we traveled through four different counties (Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Union, and Stanly), I started to cramp a little. We ended up on a familiar road, and I knew that the next (and last) rest stop was near. When we arrived, I was amazed at how far we were from civilization.



Yeah, that was the Reed Gold Mine, the site of the first documented gold find in the United States. There was no turning back now. Since I was cramping a little , I made sure I ate some extra food and downed some Gatorade. One guy in our group was kind enough to give me some electrolyte pills to help with the cramping. There was no way I would quit, so I wanted to do everything I could to keep going. I briefly hoped that he didn’t slip me some acid, since that would have made the last twenty miles pretty weird. Well, maybe hallucinating would have been a good thing.


Cathi decided to take off with another group at that last rest stop, so RJ and I stayed with the two guys we had been riding with. We all pushed each other along through some horribly steep climbs and super fast decents. I looked down at one point on a downhill and saw that I was hitting about 40 miles per hour. That was pretty fun. When I saw that we had about eight miles to go, I forgot all about the cramping, the back pain, and the brick of a seat I was riding on. We started picking up the pace. In the meantime though, we dropped the other two riders in our group.


When we made the final turn onto Stallings Road, we knew the end was near. We picked it up a bit and headed for the finish line. RJ and I both said, “We did it.” I guess we had something to be proud of, because that’s the furthest that either of us had even been on a ride. I couldn’t have done it without him though, that’s for sure.


That ride put me one step closer to being ready for the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek this coming Saturday, although I’m still having my doubts. Mentally though, I know that I can push myself to keep going, no matter how much pain I’m in. I guess it doesn’t matter how many miles I ride, as long as I finish. I plan to do just that.

Share The Road

Tomorrow I get to play the part of a roadie for a day. In an effort to get in a shitload of miles, I’m participating in the 10th Annual CSC Spring Training Ride. The plan is to do the 55 mile option, but the course map shows the mileage as 56.8. While I’m not really prepared to do either of those distances, I sure can’t wait to try. My legs feel stronger than ever and I’ve been putting in some decent bike time, so I’m hoping for the best. Most of it will be mental for me anyway.


I’m hoping to find a nice group to settle in with, and I’d like to think that will make things easier. The last time I did a group ride, I ended up doing most of it alone because the group I started with decided to pull of at the first rest stop. I hope that I won’t need to rest, but I’ll probably just do whatever the group does this time. It really sucked riding alone in a group ride, and I enjoy following others and not thinking for myself anyway.


What is the 10th Annual CSC Spring Training Ride, you ask? Well, here is some info I jacked from the website:


The CSC Spring Training Ride is an excellent ride for cyclists of all abilities. We have three exciting routes on lightly traveled roads that will offer participants three different route lengths: 30 miles, 55 miles and 70 miles. Each route will be colored coded, VERY well marked and supported with loaded rest stops and sag support vehicles. The rest stop on the 30 mile route and the last stop on the 55 and 70 mile route will have a restroom.


After the event, stick around and enjoy food and fellowship with your riding pals. We will have tons of great food with homemade hot vegetable soup, pasta salad and other tasty post ride food.


Okay, you got me. I’m mostly doing it for the food and fellowship with my riding pals. The problem is that most of my riding pals that ride road bikes aren’t riding in the event. Instead, they will be working the SAG wagon, rest stops, and other assorted volunteer duties. Even The Dirty Party Cycle won’t be there. Instead, he’s opted for the Cooper River Bridge Run down in Charleston, SC, so who knows if I’ll get to ride with anyone I know.


My friend Neal (yes, I actually know this friend) is the promoter of this fine event, and the ride usually is a fundraiser for the Giordana-Clif Bar Cycling Team. This one is a little different though, since we had a tragedy last week in our local cycling community. Here is some text from an e-mail I received:


Also, as many of you know, we lost an active member of the cycling community last week. Adam Little was hit and killed by a car on his commute to work. Normally, the CSC Ride is used as a fundraising event for the Giordana-Clif Bar Team. But, in light of last weeks tragedy, this year the team will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Little Family.


I didn’t know Adam personally, but I still think that sucks. Regardless, I would be more than happy to give my money to his family. So, if you’re anywhere near the Charlotte area and you have a road bike, come on out to this event. Registration opens at 8:00 a.m., and it’s only twenty bucks. You’ll have a good time for sure, and the route is filled with beautiful scenery. Besides, I heard a rumor that Dicky might be in attendance, showing off his shiny new road bike. That’s worth the price of admission right there.

Mystery Package, Nutrition, and Other Nonsense

The other day I got a strange-looking package in the mail. If the Unabomber hadn’t been captured, I would’ve thought that it was from him. Granted, things roll into the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters all the time, but this was was really unexpected.



I opened the package, and there was a jar of “something” and a pamphlet chock full of information. Even after reading this informational handout, it still wasn’t ringing a bell. The jar was obviously a sample size, so I snapped a photo before I opened it.



When I order something via the Internets, I usually have a good idea of when it will show up. The name on the return address (and the pamphlet) was unfamiliar to me, so I used The Google to see what it was all about. As it turns out, the mystery package was from these people. I still didn’t recall ever talking to these people, until something right there on the home page jumped out and bit me.





While it’s not unlikely that I did indeed click there for a free sample, I sure as hell don’t remember doing it. I’ve been getting a lot of free stuff in the mail lately, so there was no need for me to be greedy. I even wondered how the hell I got to that web page. I looked around a bit, and found some information on the “free product” I received.

ISN Competition Endurance Formula

Competition has been engineered for maximum performance over the long haul. It is the perfect choice for ultra endurance events, road racing, mountain biking, swimming, or anything which requires your body to perform at its best for extended periods of time.

Well, there’s no doubt that I could use such a thing. I’ve been trying to come up with some kind of nutritional plan that doesn’t involve beer for a while now. Was this little jar the answer to my prayers? Come to think of it, I don’t remember praying either. Anyway, I guess I can try it on my next super long mega-ginormous bicycle ride, and see what they are all about. If I like it, then I’ll pony up and buy a full size jar. Maybe they only sell their products in baby jars. Who knows.


Anyway, you can be just like me and get yourself a free sample too. Just click here and try it for yourself.


Speaking of nutrition, I haven’t come up with any kind of plan for the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. I mean yeah, I’ll eat a lot of food during the “race”, but I’m not exatly sure which kind of food. I was thinking about some kind of cookies and crap like that, but I stumbled across an article that had me thinking a little bit (I actually do think every once in a while.)


NO SUGAR ADDED EXPERIMENT


The fine folks at Bike Rumor are conducting an experiment for people like me who are too lazy to conduct their own experiments. At first glance the article may look like an endorsement for Hammer Nutrition, but if you read through it you may see that it’s not the case. There’s some interesting stuff in there, especially the part about how simple sugars provide only very short-term energy, followed by a dramatic plunge in energy. Flash and Crash was the term, according to our Bike Rumor scientific researcher. No wonder why I burn out shortly after eating gel shots during a race. Maybe one day I’ll try this experiment myself, but I’ll most likely wait until I hear the final review (so I can benefit from someone else’s hard work.) With the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek a little over a week away, there’s no time for me to start doing weird nutritional shit. I’ll be winging it like I always do. Flying by the seat of your pants is the only way to fly.

Something’s Fishy

I’m back in the water, and it’s strange. I had taken a break from swimming for a while, concentrating on the bike only. With a few triathlon events on the horizon though, I’ve started back with my swim-bike-run routine, in hopes that I can enter one or two (or more if my schedule permits.) This week is actually the first time I’ve been swimming in months. My first swim back at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center was a little weird, to say the least. I managed to crank out 20 laps, and it hurt like hell. I was dizzy, but I had to press on for the sake of “training.” I’m pretty sure that it won’t take long to get my sea legs back, so I’m not too worried about it. I must have built a good base before I hung it up for a while. That’s encouraging.


While I was resting after a few warm up laps, I noticed that the guy in the lane next to me was instructing a couple of young kids. They were working on flipping over at the end of the lanes, and I overheard an odd conversation:

Instructor: Breathe out and flip over. That’s all you have to do.

Little girl: I keep getting water in my nose

Instructor: That’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with getting water in your nose. It’s completely normal and it won’t hurt you.

Uhhh, what? Isn’t water in your nose a bad thing? I know it doesn’t feel nice. Maybe that old wives tale about drowning in a teaspoon of water is just that…an old wives tale. This guy was a qualified swimming instructor, after all, so it wasn’t my place to ask questions. I finished my pool time and got the hell out of there before he started waterboarding me just for listening ito their conversation.


My first “confirmed” tri is the XTERRA Whitewater in July. I say confimed because it’s the one I’m itching to do most. While I may squeeze in one or two before it, the XTERRA Whitewater is a can’t miss race for me. Fellow B-43 members Mr. Shepard and Senior Oeste are coming up here from The Sunshine State to join me in the event. Mr. Shepard had ridden the trails at the U.S. National Whitewater Center before on his previous trips to Charlotte, but this will be the first time that Senior Oeste had ridden a mountain bike anywhere here in NC. While he is an experienced triathlete, an off-road tri will be new to him. He has montain bike skills no doubt, but hopefully he can get up here for a pre-ride before the actual event. We’ve been trying to coerce him into a trip, but our attempts have been unsuccessful so far.


The trails at the U.S. National Whitewater Center are right in my backyard so to speak, and my familiararity should give me somewhat of an advantage over the out of town competitors. With over 800 feet of elevation change, the trails are no picnic, but this will definitely make the bike leg a bit easier that the one I did last year at XTERRA Uwharrie.


Click the link below for a pretty nice video of the trails at the Whitewater Center.

USNWC Trails by Sir-Bikes-A-Lot

That’s pretty much all I have for today. My lunchtime fun rides are over for now, so now I’ll have to start hitting up the trails or the road after worky time. My next big ride is this Saturday, when I’ll be participating in the 10th Annual CSC Spring Training Ride. Yeah, it’s a road ride, but at least I’ll get some good mileage in. I plan on doing the 55 mile option, which should be a nice tune up for the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek the following weekend. Maybe I’ll squeeze in a nice mountain bike ride on Sunday if my legs cooperate. I need another chance to get Awesome anyway.