Uni-fied Friday

Although I had a busy weekend full of two-wheeled goodness, it didn’t start out that way. Even though I mentioned that I might head on over to the U.S. National Whitewater Center to ride a few laps on The Big O, my plans changed. I also told you I might take the mountain uni over to Sherman Branch, and that’s just what I did.



As I got ready to hit the trail, I got some pretty strange looks. People were staring like I was some kind of circus freak, which was understandable since I was about to go ride a unicycle. Maybe next time I’ll start juggling to complete the look. Anyway, I hopped on my one-wheel monster, made sure the trail was clear, and took off. This was gonna be so much fun.


I took off slowly, navigating the bumps, roots, and rocks with ease (at first.) It’s been a while since I’ve dedicated a whole ride to the uni, and I was quickly reminded of that after about five minutes on it. I was beat tired already, and my heart was racing like it does during the start of the Summer Series. This was gonna be a good workout, since I haven’t really had much uni-practice over the winter.


I didn’t do too bad, keeping a decent pace and not falling off too much. Falls are commonplace (or at least they are with me), so I was happy to be moving along. I did stop quite a bit to catch my breath though; which gave me time to let the two-wheeled crowd pass me by. Most of the time they would give the usual statements, like “Hey, that looks crazy!” and other assorted unoriginal comments. I would usually reply back with, “Wanna race?” or “Hey, do you wanna try it?” No one took me up on my offer. Too bad.



I realize that this may not sound too interesting to the non-uni crowd, but I really enjoy it. The peace and tranquility I get riding on one wheel through the woods can’t be beat. It’s a great way to clear your head, not to mention the exceptional workout that goes with it. Riding a uni is probably three times harder than riding a bike on the same trail, so I thought that this might be a better way to wear my legs out. I was right. I’m still hurting from it, but it’s all good.


If you don’t ride a uni, then that’s too bad. If you like other bicycle crap and nonsense, then come back tomorrow to see what kind of “other” adventures I got into over the weekend. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. Well, you might, but that can be fixed. Just lower your standards. It works for me.

Facing Forward

There is no reason to look backwards to my shitty race on Wednesday, so I’ll just look ahead. This weekend is shaping up to be a pretty good one. I would love nothing more than to immerse myself in the “bike scene” for the next two days, and it looks like I might get my wish. If I was wishing for a nice relaxing weekend though, then that one probably won’t come true.


If all goes well, I’ll be heading out to the U.S. National Whitewater Center after work today for some quality time on The Big O. I’m hoping to “ride ‘till I puke”, which just might be the case if the MadSS joins me there. Hooray! On second thought, maybe I’ll just take the mountain Uni out to Sherman for a different kind of fun. Either way, I’m in for some pain.



Tomorrow morning, we’re heading down to the Dilworth Criterium to watch a little roadie action. I know, I know, it’s roadie action, but it will be pretty cool. A criterium is a pretty neat thing to watch, since they do multiple laps on a short course. Plus, they haul ass, so that could make for some interesting crashes and close-calls. Check out the website for more info, and come on out too. I even heard that the good people from DeFeet International will be there. Come down and get some cool socks while you watch some super-fast roadie action. Damn, that sounded weird.


Sunday should be fun as well. It is the next scheduled Tarheel Trailblazers Kids Ride, but we’re changing it up a bit. This week’s ride was supposed to be at Sherman Branch, but we’ve decided to move it. There is already a club function at Fisher Farm park in Davidson, so we are combining the two. If the weather cooperates, then this will be a fun, fun time. Check out the website for more details, and come on out if you live around here.


I know, it’s not that exciting around here today, but deal with it. My weekend should be packed full of cycling goodness, the likes of which I haven’t seen in a long time. In fact, from now on there will be plenty of bike stuff going on, and I couldn’t be happier. Don’t forget, the 6 Hour Grind On The Greenway is coming up next weekend too. Will I survive it all? Tune in to find out.


Before I get out of here, I thought I would let a little of my inner bike geek come out for a minute. I really dig all of the technical crap that goes along with bicycling, so I thought I would share a video with y’all. My buddy Jason from Cane Creek Cycling Components stars in a nice video presentation about Cane Creek headsets. Check it:

No Easy Pedaling

Do I even need to tell the story of last night’s kickoff of the 2010 Charlotte Mountain Bike Summer Series? Of course I do. This is a blog about bicycling you know. What the hell else am I supposed to talk about? Well, it does say nonsensical crap up there in the blog header, but I’ll save that for another day.


When I left work yesterday, I was reminded about how much I hate travelling to each of these races. While I do enjoy being able to ride my bike “competitively” during the week, getting there is actually most of the battle. The after-work traffic around here sucks, and last night it sucked the big one for sure. I arrived at Colonel Francis Beatty Park with only about twenty-five minutes to register, warm up, and get to the start line. Only two of these three tasks would be accomplished.



After I registered Lunchbox and I for our races, we had to change into our riding gear. Once we were finished, I saw that we only had about 10 minutes to get to the start line (about a mile away.) I told Lunchbox that would be our warm-up, so we high-tailed it to the old dam/Gravity Cavity (where we had so much fun on the last Kid’s Ride.) When we arrived at the start, I was amazed at how many race participants we had. In my class alone, there were thirty-six, and Lunchbox had nine in his. I tried to avoid the usual pre-race chit-chat, as I had my electronic music listening device playing “motivational” music to help me along during my laps. I’ve never ridden an event with music before (I forgot to use it at the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek, although I did use it on the last visit there.) I did talk to a few of my fellow racers though, and I gave Lunchbox a little encouragement before his race too. This was gonna be fun, or so I thought.


When it was time for my group to go, I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. Since I didn’t really get in a proper warm-up, I had trouble even fighting for position. I know it’s the first race of the series, but I expected to be a little faster. I way overestimated my ability for sure. Once I got going, I realized that I was still somewhat in the middle of the pack. It wasn’t a fast pace at all though. In fact, I kept running up on the wheels of the guy in front of me, while the guy behind me kept trying to get by. I wasn’t about to let him pass, because I would have just had to run up on him too.


Eventually, we started to spread out. It was at that moment that my lack of a warm-up really got me. I had an almost unbearable pain in my stomach, like someone hat punched me with an iron fist. I found it hard to accelerate at all, but at least The Big O kept up my momentum when I did get going. I hadn’t even made it halfway through the first lap when I started wondering if I could even finish the race. Weird.


Before we even crossed the finish line the first time (my race was supposed to cross it three times), I saw the MadSS down and out on the trail. I asked him if he was okay, and he responded with, “I got a flat.” While I felt bad for him, I figured at least I would stay out of last place now. I hadn’t planned on beating him, so this was a surprise. All I had to do was finish now. I tried to keep the best pace I could, but people started flying by me like I was standing still. That really started to frustrate me, but I hung in there hoping that the pain would go away.


All the way through the first lap, I kept getting passed by people in my class. I had decided that I would just pace myself until the stomach pain went away, and then I would turn it up and hopefully catch up to some of those guys. I’m a lot faster these days (especially on big wheels), but I guess my body wasn’t quite ready for this style of racing.


The music was a big help, by the way. The pain eventually subsided, and I started picking up the pace a bit. I passed the finish line for the second time, and tried to dig in for my last lap. I used the momentum generated by the 29-inch wheels of The Big O to help me along, and made sure I didn’t get passed again. I would go down fighting to stay out of last place if I had to. About two miles into the second lap, yet another rider in my class attempted to get by me. I wasn’t having it this time though. I gave it all I had, and started slowly pulling away from him. He eventually caught up on one of the climbs, but a mistake on the next downhill section would prove to be costly. As we were descending, he tried to overtake me and instead became intimately acquainted with a large tree. The horrific-sounding crash made me look back to see if he was okay, and I was happy to see that he had hopped right up (only to quickly kneel down again.) As I rounded the top of the next climb, I saw him back on the bike and back in the race. I would never see him again though.


I felt better as the second lap went on, probably because I had finally started warming up. I didn’t see anyone else for a while, aside from one unleashed dog that nearly took me out of the race. After a few choice words to the dog’s owner, I sped up again. At this point I heard someone coming up quickly behind me, and I heard him say, “Get some!” “Holy shit,” I said as I looked back. It was the MadSS. I asked, “Did you fix your tire?” He said, “Nope, I just grabbed my spare bike.” And then just like that he blew by me. Oh yeah, I tried to keep up, but it wasn’t happening. That was demoralizing, to say the least. He had a flat tire, was able to go grab his spare bike, get back in the race, and blow by me before the race ended. I gotta ride with that guy a lot more. Shit.


Anywho, I didn’t have much further to go at that point when another guy in my class came up on my rear wheel. I snapped out of my haze, and stepped on it. I had been mostly riding alone (aside from getting blasted by the MadSS), so this was a little unexpected. I didn’t know where I stood in the race, but I knew I wouldn’t finish last if I kept this guy at bay. I gained some good ground on him during a long windy downhill section (thanks to my bigger wheels again), and muscled through the climbs. No more pain at this point, but I still had some hard work ahead. When I hit the very last section of singletrack, I knew I was home free. I gave it my last bit of fight and crossed the finish line, ahead of my unknown challenger. I wound up 32nd out of 36 riders. Shitty, but not last place. Hmmph.


Lunchbox finished ahead of me, and I was very happy about that. I thought for sure I would lap him, since I did two laps and he only had to do one. His race experience was similar to mine, aside from a small mishap where he crashed a little and hurt his ankle. He would recover, thankfully.


No race photos, unfortunately, as my usual photographer Lunchbox was obviously too busy to work the camera. Hopefully my shitty blogging skills have sufficed for today. The first race was definitely a learning experience, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series (even though it will probably be just as rough.) Maybe I’ll just go back to drinking beer instead. It’s much easier.

Ready Or Not, Here Comes the Summer Series

I know, it’s still spring, but the 2010 Charlotte Mountain Bike Summer Series kicks off tonight at Colonel Francis Beatty Park. This one really snuck up on me too. Although I’ve done a few races already this “season”, I’m nowhere near being ready. I have a new bike, The Big O, which should fare well in this cross country race format, but I’m still not totally used to this fine machine.


Don’t get me started on my “fitness” either. I haven’t really done enough cross country riding to make me even remotely ready for the grueling sixteen race series. So much for a training plan, huh? Well, if drinking lots of beer and watching the NBA playoffs is considered training, then I’ll take the podium every race. That’s not likely though, so it looks like I’ll be suffering in the back of the pack, which has been customary for the past two seasons. Sure, I’ll eventually get better as the series wears on, but so will everyone else. Oh yeah, did I mention that we pay for this kind of fun too?


After squeaking out a top ten overall finish in last year’s series, I felt it’s time to move up to the Sport class. That and I pretty much have to since I’ve been racing in the Beginner Men’s class for two seasons. I have the skills no doubt, but can I handle the extra distance? Who knows, but at least I might die trying.


I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, because I actually like racing in the summer races each week. I enjoy the social aspect as much as the competitive part; probably more actually. There’s a good group of people out there at these events, and it is a great thing for our local cycling community here in Charlotte. I just wish I had more time to train. Well, I would probably waste that extra time, but whatever. At least I’ll be Awesome this time around. If you come out to the races looking for me, I’ll be bringing up the rear of my class sporting some sweet apparel and shiny bike bits from Cane Creek Cycling Components.


Wish me luck.



“Good luck kid, you’re gonna need it.”

Somebody Loves Me

A wise man once told me that it was better to (not) know people. I now understand what he meant with the latest round of bicycle love I received. My friend Jason at Cane Creek Cycling Components recently took a little trip to Pittsburgh, PA to visit the crew at Dirt Rag Magazine. I was hoping that he would score some schwag, like a few stickers or something. I really didn’t expect anything, especially since I already get goodies from the fine folks at Cane Creek. A few days later, I got a message from him that he got me something, and that our mutual friend AJ (my neighbor) would be hand-delivering it to me.


Yesterday, while I was out riding The Big O up and down the street, AJ pulled up like some pervert and told me he had something in the trunk for me. Although I was slightly suspicious, I followed him to his house. He didn’t have a trunk full of candy or puppies, but he did have some cool shit for me.

Where should I put this?




Cool socks for me, free advertising for them. What a great deal for us both.



The last thing he pulled out of the truck really surprised me. It was an official Dirt Rag 20th Anniversary Jersey. Wow. This was totally unexpected, and I was super excited. Check it:




Now, here’s the coolest part. Although I was already happy to have such a fine work of art, there was a surprise on the front. It was autographed on the front by the entire staff at Dirt Rag.



Where’s the love? Well, I’ll show ya. Check out the close up:


In case you were wondering, Chris is my government name.



With all the cool shit that flows into the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters, this is one of the coolest. I don’t even know the folks at Dirt Rag, even though I am a subscriber. Do they love all of their subscribers like this? Do they read this pathetic blog? I doubt it, but if they did they would probably want their jersey back. I wouldn’t blame them.

Anyway, big thanks to my pal Jason at Cane Creek Cycling Components for taking care of me yet again (this time with another company’s wares.) Also, huge thanks to Maurice and his crew for writing on a jersey for me. Since they all took the time to sign their names on it, there’s no way I could wear it during a race. Maybe I’ll wear it once and pose for a sexy photograph for them. I don’t think they have a “Sexy Yet Pathetic Mountain Bike Racer” section in their magazine though. It still might be worth a shot. So, what should I do with it? Little Miss Sunshine said I should ride in it once, take some photographs, and then hang it on the wall all stinky and nasty. That would make the B-43 shop smell real nice, huh?


Since the folks at Dirt Rag were so cool to me, I want y’all to be cool to them and head on over to their website and become a subscriber (if you’re not already.) If you are, then buy some stuff from them. Maybe they will love you too.

No Big Deal

I thought for sure this past weekend would be full of mountain biking adventures aplenty. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. I had some mechanicin’ to do, but nothing really exciting. With the Charlotte Mountain Bike Summer Series starting in two days, I needed to make sure the fleet was ready. Several test rides on The Big O has left me satisfied that it will work perfectly for the short cross country races on our local trails here. I took a neighborhood test ride just be sure, and I didn’t need to make any adjustments. Lunchbox’s bike (Clark) however, was in need of a little work. He does a few of the races in the series, so I had to make sure his machine was ready to go.


Since I retired the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth in favor of the Big O, I was left with a set of Kenda Small Block 8 tires. I guess he’s heard about how fast they roll on the trails around here, so he wanted in on the action. I removed his knobbier, Nevegal tires and replaced them:



After a few other adjustments on the brakes, shifters, etc., he was ready to go. While he is no speed demon on the race course, he will surely appreciate his new tire setup. I guess we’ll find out this Wednesday at Colonel Francis Beatty Park, the first stop of the series. Me on the other hand, I guess I’m as ready as I can be. I was hoping to get out for a “race lap” over the weekend, but that never happened. Thank you, oh lovely weather.


Since it rained quite a bit on Saturday, there was no chance in hell that I would get to ride a trail. I ad to do something though, so Little Miss Sunshine suggested we take the road bikes out. She had originally planned to go ride with a friend of hers, but that person bailed on her. It looks like she was stuck riding with me. We had a good ride though (for a road ride anyway), and I felt pretty good. While we didn’t break any long distance records with that ride, it was good to get out. The imminent threat of rain kept us from doing a really long ride, but she seemed happy to be out on the new road machine.


Since there were no mountain biking adventures this weekend, I guess that leaves me with little else to talk about. I did get to a party for one of the children of the MadSS and it was cool to hang out over there. We got to talk bikes, racing, and homebrew. It was a great time. Thanks to the MadSS and the Mrs. for having us over. Also,I have some really cool shit to share with y’all tomorrow. I can give you a hint that it has to do with me getting some more love from some biking industry types, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the full scoop. I’m pretty stoked about it, cause it’s so rad (yeah, I grew up in the 80’s.)


In the meantime, check out this video I found. Apparently, there are some B-43 impostors out there in the world of The Internets, and they think they have some skills. I'd like to say that this is a tribute video to us, but I doubt it. I have no idea who they are, but this shit made me laugh quite a bit. Enjoy.

B-43 Impostors

What About The Kids?

Good question I guess. Since I missed two days on here this week, I somehow forgot to squeeze in my report of the Tarheel Trailblazers Kids Ride last Sunday afternoon. I know, I was too busy talking about my visit to Defeet and my trip to Warrior Creek. No worries though; there’s no way I could forget about the kids.

Lunchbox and I headed down to Colonel Francis Beatty Park to get this thing started on what was one of the most beautiful days I’ve seen around here in a long time. Since the Kids Rides are just starting back up again after a long winter, I didn’t really expect a huge turnout. Once everyone arrived though, we had a pretty decent-sized group. Heck, even local wheelie legend/grill master Benson showed up with his doggie, Black. Everyone posed for the obligatory group shot.



We had kids of all sizes, ages, and abilities. We even had one little boy who had just gotten his first mountain bike that very morning. I was excited for him. After a short chat with everyone, we headed out on the trail. Lunchbox lead the way, and showed the little ones how it was done. The kids were all smiles:






Benson gave everyone a clinic on how to ride the trail with a leashed dog:



After winding through the singletrack, we stopped at everyone’s favorite: Beatty’s own Gravity Cavity. The kids (and the adults) practiced their jumping skills for a while:













We hit the trail again, and headed for the next trail feature. This one would be the little log skinny. I didn’t think the kids would find this one too interesting, but I was wrong. In fact, they circled around the trail to hit it over and over again. This gave me (and Lunchbox) the opportunity to take some photos:








Even I got in on the action:



Benson impressed us all with a wheelie on it:



We continued on the trail, stopping at the little rock garden so we could practice yet another skill:







All of this fun would not come without a price. One of our little daredevils got a bit too ambitious when he tried to do another skinny, and took a small tumble. Luckily though, our local chapter of the National Mountain Bike Patrol (just me in this case) was on hand to patch him up. Before I patched him up though, his uncle suggested we take a photo so he would remember it:



The little guy was okay, and he eventually was able to continue. All it took was a little bribe of cookies, chips, and Gatorade to keep him going. We all made it to the end, and enjoyed some snacks at the picnic area:



The kids had a great time, and so did I. I really love doing these rides, and I hope that we can continue this for a long time. I may have said it before, but I would give up the racing and all the other riding I do just for these if I had to. If you are local to the Charlotte area and want to come and and help (or bring some more youngins), let me know. If you haven’t been out on a mountain bike ride with kids, then you’re missing out on all the fun. Having fun is the reason we all should be riding.


With the weekend coming up, I have no definite plans (surprise.) I hope to get out on a ride of course, but nothing is set in stone. With the Charlotte Mountain Bike Summer Series and the 6 Hour Grind On The Greenway coming up soon, I’ll need all the saddle time I can get. Maybe I should just stick to the kids rides., because at least there’s no suffering for me there. Well, maybe I have a thing for suffering. Fun and suffering seem to go hand in hand for me on a bike. See y’all Monday.