Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Crossroads

 

Daylight hours quietly getting shorter…

Cloudy skies, cool temperatures, an extra blanket on the bed to fight off the morning chill…

The road season winding down, team rides become social endeavors rather then leg ripping suffer-fests…

Anticipation is in the air, an almost palpable feeling in the community. The closeness of the new season can be seen all around; the signs are everywhere if you know where to look.

“I’m not happy with how my body feels after running for the first time in months…”

Let the debate begin: Tubes or Tubeless”

Where is that link for home PVC barriers?”

Jesus, my bike still smells like cow poop!”

Cross season is almost upon us. (Glee!)

Last Wednesday Traci came home after visiting Russell with a gaggle of bikes and not so subtlety told me “Russell said this frame fits best.  Since tomorrow is the woman’s CX clinic with Tina, Russell said you should skip your workout and build up this frame for me.”  Okay, she didn’t exactly say that, but it was pretty close.

I got home at 5:15, went inside to change my shirt and wentphoto(2) back into the garage.  Five and a half. hours later this beast was born.

Traci will be sporting a VeloForma Carbon Cross this year.  This is the same make of frame I’ve ridden on the for the past two years and while I absolutely loved the ride quality of the bike, the frame geo just didn’t work out for me from a remount perspective. (I’ve got short legs!)  VeloForma owner Mark Duff was kind enough to trade me down a frame size in the hopes that I didn’t fit between frame sizes, and unfortunately I did.  Traci however, fits on this new frame perfectly.

She went out the next day and properly baptized it in the fields around Alpenrose at the clinic.  The smile on her dusty face was worth the effort.

I’m currently sans cross-rig, but I’ve got a few lines on super sekrut weapons of mass distraction. I’ll hopefully have some news about that soon.

Here is some cross pr0n, complements of Pain on the Peak 2008.  I still get goose bumps watching this.

Now that we got you all excited for cross, Pain on the Peak 2009 is right around the corner.  (September 12th to be exact.)  Same location, slightly different course, most likely more pain.  We’ve got some great prizes and vendors lined up this year.  Official announcements will be up on the OBRA list in the coming days as we solidify final sponsors.

Stay tuned. :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Baked or Broiled?

 

I survived the heat wave of ‘09.  How hot was it?  Well, a few days the temps here in Portland were hotter than the were in Austin TX.  My drive home from work out in Hillsboro was 106 on Monday, 108 on Tuesday, and 113 on Wednesday.  113? WTF?  You know its hot when people on Facebook start complaining about the people complaining about the heat.

I’m not a huge fan of the heat, and exercising in that weather when your body isn’t used to it can be downright dangerous.  Props to the officials who canceled racing events or had some other creative ways of dealing with the heat.  Oddly enough, on Thursday when it was only 95 on the drive home we had the windows and sunroof open and no AC on.  Its good to be a mammal!

I took an alternative path to beating the heat.. I rested. :)  For 6 days my bike sat in the garage and I sat in my house sipping on Gin & Tonic or beer, and eating nachos in the AC.  The weather had cooler temperatures coming late in the week, so I busted butt at work to get everything done early, and took Friday off.  It was a great week.

The team sent a bunch of folks to Cascades last week, and they had a great time and brought back a lot of good stories.  With Cascades and the State TT Championships done and Crit Championships just around the corner, the road racing season is coming to a close.  Saturday rides become more mellow and training plans start to have threshold intervals in them again.  That means cross is right around the corner!

Contrary to some of the rumors out there, Pain on the Peak 2009 is in fact happening, and will be at the same location as last year.  Website and flyers are being built, sponsors are being finalized, and the course is being planned.  As with most of the world, the finances are tight so prize packages might not be as good as last year, but we are working hard to make it as exciting of event as it was last year.  Keep watch for more details!