Sunday, December 19, 2010

Christmas Came Early

And took a big dent out of my wallet. Sorry mom I'll have to pay you back some other time.
Serotta has charged me for the frame, so I'm assuming that means they started. I'll have to bug Scott for pictures on Monday.
More parts came in.
Formula R1 front and rear and all the accessories(I wish they weren't seperate items)
Several brake pads
two sets of cleats
two ZTR Crest 29er rims

I've only ridden once in the past few weeks due to the damn snow. I did get my fixed gear setup on the indoor trainer, but it's hard to get motivated.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Carnage

Went out for a ride in Loveland with the guys from Rouge Racing.

View Track201011210816 in a larger map
The map is in two parts for some reason.

This is what I came home to.
Not sure why it's sideways.....

I did some trail work last weekend at Devou.  Here is a map of the trail, out and back.

View Devou out and back in a larger map

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010

More Toys

I did an employee/pro deal on some new hubs, headset and other goodies from Chris King, and a pro deal from Phil Wood for the Rohloff belt cog.  I also ordered Formula R1 brakes, and picked up a set of TT bars Profile T1+.  They're made for 31mm handlebars, but have an adapter for 26mm, but I'm not confident in the adapter part.  If they don't work well in the Gravel Grovel race, I'll have to find some 31mm bars instead.

Gee how should I open this?  Really sharp knife, really dull knife, or scissors.....I think I'll go with the scissors.
I had to remove a stitch the other day, it was to tight, and that allowed me to go ride!
Off to Tower Park

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

2001 A Space Oddesey

Que the theme music

Sunday, October 31, 2010

12 Hour of the Hill of Truth and 7 Stitches

This shale be brief for reasons you will understand shortly.
12hr HOT was epic!perfect weather awesome route.  I did 9 laps and earned 6th place.  2 guys hit alow tree on a night lap and had to go to the hospital.
I managed to cut my left hand Sunday morning i only nicked the muscle, and no nerve damage.
sorry  no before pictures, but  here are some during.


Monday, October 18, 2010

Fancy Pants Helmet and Single Speed


I finally have a single speed bike.  It's a 38x13 with On-one Mary bars and some spare parts.  The seat post and saddle will be used on my other frame for longer races/rides.
Speaking of longer rides I have 12 Hours of the Hill of Truth coming up.  Due to work I'll probably sneak in by the skin of my teeth.  Hopefully I'll be able to do more than 4 laps.
On to the fancy pants helmet.  It's a Catlike Whipser Plus and man does it breath.  You can tell by the size of the holes, but that's juts half the story, they actually let air out!  Air comes in one end, flows over my head and out the other.  It's great; much better than the Giro Atmos.  It's not flawless though.  The retention system on the back is not adjustable with one hand.  Which means I'll have to take the helmet off when I need to take off my hat.  It's worth the compromise though, I'll be hotter more than I'll be cold that's for sure.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

2 Weeks in Charlotte

I procrastinate too much.
I spent the last two weeks of September in Charlotte for work.  I had the best intentions too.  I mapped out 10 trails to ride for the weekdays, and I was going to hit Pisgah on Sunday.  The weather and my health were against me.  I went riding 3 times, got sick and then it rained for most of the last week.

Monday Cricket took me to Springs Center in South Carolina.  Great trails, fast and very few roots and almost no rocks, but a little light on the climbs.  My gps logger wasn't working right, so no maps of what we did, but It was around 11 miles.  No pictures either.

Tuesday I hit up Renaissance park.  It took me a while to find the other half of the trails.  Flat as a pancake, but fast and fun.

View Renaissance Park in a larger map
I'm not sure what's up with the gps but it's saying 21 miles.  That sounds a bit off......

Wednesday I hit up the White Water Center.  It costs $5 to park there, but it's worth it.  fast flowy, and finally some climbs. I only managed 11 miles, but Cricket said I missed a big chuck somewhere. my map is incomplete of that, but the 11 miles I did correlates with the Tarheel Trailblazer's site.  Check them out for the map of all the trails in Charlotte.

After that I was sick in bed until Saturday. 
Saturday morning I met up with Cricket and Grayson to do a mountain bike skills clinic for diabetic kids. 
We had 3 teenage boys 2 younger boys and 2 girls, and Grayson. They did a slalom course, learned how to hop over obstacles(logs), limbo, and a little tabletop ramp.  After doing that we split into two group and rode.  I rode with the younger kids which was super fun. 

Sunday Cricket and I met Chris at Colonel Francis J. Beatty Community Park, another fast and smooth trail.  Cricket loaned me her Superfly single speed.  Very nice frame, but geared a little low for me. We spent most of the ride in the pouring rain, luckily the trial held up as we rode.  The rest of the week was a wash(no pun intended). 

We finished up with some road intervals on our mountain bikes for a little less than 2 hrs.
Photos by Chris Baker

Back in Cincy on Sunday I did the Tower Park race.  There weren't too many people since there was a cyclocross race in KY.  It was nice and cold around 49 degrees.  Three laps with a heinous climb to start. I was infront for most of the 1st lap and 2nd lap, until Darrin passed me when I was walking up a short climb to the double track. I kept him within my sights as best I could, and then I was passed by Bill when my left leg locked up on another hike-a-bike section.  I was pretty cooked by then, but I kept up with them and finished 3rd, and 1st in my age group.  Pretty happy with that, and that clinches my lead on the CORA points series.

That's just about it for the race season.  12hrs of the Hill of Truth is coming up but I might miss it because of work.

Cat 1 for 2011!

Monday, September 13, 2010

TNGA

TNGA was super hard. 
Being brought back down to Earth is good for you though.
I was plauged with problems before the start.  Weak front brake(despite a quick if sloppy bleed), leaky camelbak, and no Henry the Big Green Engine.

Right off the bat I missed a turn, fortunately I wasn't the only one, Shey made the same mistake.  After that mistake I wound up riding with Cricket, Jeff, Ruth, and Charley.  I probably would have quit had Cricket not been there.  The course was not easy to navigate, and almost every turn required a discussion and a quick search for previous tire tracks.  The roads were not well groomed and very few climbs could be done out the of saddle, due to the loose rocks.    We did 60 or so miles the first day, and luckily found a little marina with a short order kitchen for dinner.  I spent the first night only getting a few hours of sleep due to the cold wind(no sleeping bag). 

The next day was a little better, but not with out mishaps.  We had to go down an old abandoned road with barely a trail on it.  Lots of down trees and freaky spiders(really freaky!).  Everything was going fine until I came to an abrupt halt.  There was downed tree hiding behind a bush, it jammed into my left ankle and threw me off the bike.  nothing on the bike was broken, but I feared I wouldn't be able to ride.  I lucked up and it didn't hurt to ride, and soon I didn't even notice the injury.   Karlos caught us in Helen after getting lost, getting a flat, losing his pump, and buying a pump off a roadie.  We began a huge road climb in the noonday sun, and soon lost Karlos, but caught Jeff and Ruth who skipped the grocery store for a gas station.  After that climb we got to rock downhill for a bit.  I broke my previous record and did 51mph on a loaded mountain bike(on asphalt).  Scary and fun all at once.  Cricket and I kept our normal pace and talked about hiking, biking, 2011 TD, and car racing(She used to race a 911).  We decided that in order to get back to work on Thursday we'd have to leave Ruth and Jeff and start riding a little faster.  Jeff and Ruth had already proved themselves as competent bikepackers by that time.

Cricket and I had an early start, and were thankful we did not continue on into the night like Karlos had.  The road was freshly bulldozed and was sandy and rocky, not fun at 6am, or 9pm.  We made good time and found a nice quick stop that was open and serving delicious biscuits.  We had breakfast and Cricket grabbed lunch to go.  The next convenience store was close, but they had a working spigot so we lunched there.  At the next stop we caught Karlos again, but soon lost him on the road.  We hit our first bit of single track, and it was not easy, lots of pushing, and double checking the GPS.  One turn took us about 30 minutes to find.  A good chunk of the trails were pushers, which made me worry about the Pinhoti sections that were coming up.  I was starting to realize that I'd be cutting it close, with a 5+hr drive home and work on Thursday.  I managed to hit a soft spot on the edge of some single track and flipped and hit my head.  Luckily I did not crack my helmet. Per the usual I talked about quitting, but Cricket would talk me out of it.  We hit the Pinhoti section east of Mullberry, and it was beautiful.  A good part of it was an overgrown road with just a bit of single track on it.   It was nice and smooth, and there was a good early evening/late afternoon breeze.  We rode on into the night, only to be caught by Karlos.  He was headed to Mullberry gap for a meal and sleep.  We planned on skipping it as to not get caught up in a vortex.  We marveled at the stars for a bit and rode on. I complained that I was running out of gas, and would look for a good spot to bed down.  Not long after that I snapped my left pedal.

I was done, even though I had spares at Mullberry, I just didn't want to go on anymore.

That night was the best nights sleep of the trip.  I woke up said good by to Cricket, traded my Chamois butter for her garbage and she was off, I went back to bed.  I one legged it about 4 miles to Mullberry, grabbed a meal and headed to Dalton to find Cricket.  She flew through Dalton, I probably missed her by about 30-60 minutes. 
Lesson learned, light weight parts for XC only, heavy stuff for touring/bikepacking.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

TNGA

TNGAI'm just wrapping up my cue sheets at the last minute.
gotta pack up and head south.  hopefully I won't get lost or something horrible.
I want to go fast by myself and try out new strategies for the 2011 TD, but I might wind up taking it easy with a group.
spot should be here: http://trackleaders.com/tngai.php?name=Stephen_Huddle

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Serotta Build Step 1


Step 1 complete.  Measured and had the paperwork faxed to Serotta.
I'll call on Monday to iron out the details.

Also I won the E/I race last weekend. woo!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Bam! 4th place
My back hurts
photo coming soonish.

Upcoming
Caeser's Creek OMBC race
England/Idlewild CORA race
TNGA(pending vacation)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

First Podium Finish

I guess all that riding has paid off.
Versailles is a nice park, and the 1x9 was perfect.
No pictures, but below is my gps(phone gps) recording of the race.


View Versailles Race in a larger map

Saturday, July 10, 2010

26:09:50

26 days
9 hours
50 minutes
 that's me on the right.
I'm very pleased with my time, but I'm thinking about trying again next year.
More photos on Flickr, but not as many as last year.

Monday, June 7, 2010

New Link

http://trackleaders.com/tourdividei.php?name=Huddle__Stephen

that is the official link to stalk me

Finished product


Ergon backpack model something or the other.  It has my first aid kit, flash lights, bladder, spare bladder, maps and cue sheets, and whatever food I can fit in there.
Imagine a map case with a cue sheet in the middle.  Henry the Big Green Engine front and center, two computers, one on the rear and one on the front, and a bear bell.
Epic Designs Alaska handlebar harness and bag.  20L event waterproof bag.

the most important thing is on top.  Toilet paper.
2 tubes(same from last year), multitool, tire levers, 8mm box end wrench, swiss army knife, patch kit(need to get new one), spare valves, grease fitting for the pedals, bleach, hand sanitizer, head lamp, toilet paper and wipes, brake pads, chamois butter, spare derailleur hanger, sun block, and zip ties(not pictures).

Sleeping pad(from shipping the bike back last year), long sleeve shirt, the sleeping bag liner is in the saddle bag now, shoe covers, kiffiyeh, leg warmers, tent steaks, tent pump, and I ditched the neck gaiter.

Oil change times two

As I was changing the oil in my truck, the oil change kit for the Rohloff showed up.
Waiting on it to finish draining right now.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Mohican 100 and 62

The Mohican race was super muddy.  Not as muddy as the HOT in October.  Fortunately the mud wasn't as bad, but man it was everywhere. I'm lucky I did not break or wear anything out besides the brake pads.

At the 3rd sag station, I switched to the 62 mile race.  I'm glad they let me do that.  I've quit enough races this year.  In all honesty I should have signed up for the 62 from the get-go. 

The last gear photos and write up are coming.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Worried? No. Excited? Yes!

Ok I'm a little worried.
My Rohloff leaked a bit of oil, not sure how much.  I left it on it's side for some time(sealing with Stans).  Stuff happens.  Supposedly you only need 12ml of the 25ml that I put in there.  Hopefully there is enough left.
I did just order(3rd try) some oil and paid through the nose for shipping.  Hopefully they actually have it in stock.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Frame Bag and Saddle Bag

All bags are from Epic Designs Alaska
Mountain Standard Saddle bag for the Thudbuster LT
My sleep system(minus the pad) and the tent are in here.  I learned last year it's a pain to get things in and out of the saddle bag.  This year it holds my sleep system(minus pad), and the tent.

License tag as extra protection.  I found it on the Foothills Parkway last year.

Nemo Gogo tent, Golite Ultra 20 quilt, and a sleeping bag liner in the waterproof bag.


Custom frame bag from Epic Designs Alaska.  Beefed up by Eric after the 12 Hours of the Hill of Truth.
It will hold semi frequently needed gear.

O2 jacket, Hat, gloves, lube, tent pole for rear of tent, spare spokes, pump.  The dr Bronners has been moved to the toiletries bag.  The rest of the bag will be for food.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

New Bike

Unfortunately the rear end of my blue Ziggurat is a little too flexy for my taste.
I bit the bullet and plunked down some cash for another bike.  Same frame, but newer.
Now I have a bunch of spare parts I need to get rid of.
Almost complete

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Mascot

The Howards have given me a mascot for the race.  It is Henry the Green Engine from the Thomas the Tank Engine show/books.  Paul's children are big fans of the show, and while the four of us(Paul, Per, and Trevor) were riding down an old railway bed we all pretended to be characters from the show.  I was Henry, Paul was Thomas, Per was Percy, and Trevor was.....drawing a blank here.  Let me consult the well written and hilarious Two Wheels On My Wagon.  Ah yes. Trevor was James.

Thanks to Paul and Catherine Howard.  And especially Molly, Benjamin, Thomas, and Freddie.

I will do my best to get Henry all the way to Antelope Wells

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Finished Product

The drive side has 5 layers by Jaques, and the left side has 4 by me.  I messed up a bit  so near the top the weave is a bit wonky, but I think over all they look great.


Monday, May 10, 2010

New Sponsor

Thanks Cane Creek for your awesome Thudbuster.


My butt also thanks you.

Carbon Repair

This turned out to be easier than I thought.  Especially with the skilled hands of Jaques.

Step 1: prep the surface, my little scratches with 600 grit paper were not enough. Jaques took it down to the first layer of carbon
Step 2: clean with acetone
Step 3: cut carbon, dacron, vacuum bag, and felt stuff.
Step 3: mix epoxy
Step 4: paint a bit onto the frame
Step 5: paint into the carbon fiber following the grain, not too much not too little
Step 6: fold over aluminum foil and cut the carbon fiber to fit the frame
Step 7: roll onto frame(no pictures because I was helping)
Step 8: roll on dacron
Step 9: roll on vacuum bag

Step 10: roll on felt

Step 11: wrap tightly with electrical tape
Step 12: let cure for at least 8 hours under heat prefered.


This past weekend I did the otherside myself, in order to stiff it up in relation to the drive side.
Hopefully it all holds up.

Knees are Fine!

Doc said to suck it up and stretch his way.
Sure 'nuff it worked.  Unfortunately I was too much of a pud to complete the Cohutta 100.
I had a blast hanging out with Cricket though.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

What, Me Worry?

That's right people, step right into the wide world of neurosis.
I am worried about my knees and thighs.  They ache right now and I think my IT band is a little wonky.  The left knee hurts a bit too.  I'll have to stop riding, but then I'll be out of shape(running!=option).  So I have to wither away, and maybe even miss the Cohutta 100.
I am also worried about my bike(in two ways).
1. it will be damaged on the flight to Canada.  I have a lay over in Texas, and I'm worried on either leg they could load it the wrong way up.
2. there was some damage to my bike from my feet rubbing.  It's on the fancy carbon fiber.  Some of it wore off amazingly enough(or not).  Well one shop said that it's not covered by warranty(understood), and the guy said it was worn paper thin; to my surprise.  It's not that bad, but it's still something to be concerned(needlessly?) about.  I did measure it though, about 2 millimeters was worn off.  To some people that's a lot(lots of people are touchy about carbon), to me that's not much.  But I am about to put 3000+ miles on it(cohutta 100, mohican 100, TD, plus training etc).  Hopefully Jaques can patch it for me.

Ok well now that I've typed all that, it doesn't seem too bad.

There is always beer and duct tape!

Monday, April 5, 2010

It's in!

Paul's book Two Wheels on my Wagon was on my door step.
Yes I did dance around and giggle like a little girl.
I cackled at quite a bit as I paged through it.  There is even and excellent group photo of Me, Paul, Per, and Trevor. woo!
I'm looking forward to reading it many times over.

I have the latest maps.  The updates aren't that much compared to my cue sheets.  I'd like to return them, but it is best to err on the side of caution.
Things to buy:
200$ canadian
new sunglasses lenses
5l dry bag
chamois butter
computer mount
leatherman squirt p4
rite in rain journal
silnylon mits
and I think that's it for the non bike stuff(from REI).
I've got a big list for TVB and Oakley cycles.

I think I'll just ride 3 days a week to nurse my knee back into shape.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Knee Pies

I have been slowly amassing parts and supplies for the TD.
I just bought 3oz of ibuprofen(~270). Too many I should say; I think I'll halve it and buy what I need in Steamboat.
I have the latest maps, and I'll be updating my cue sheets from last year. I've got a list of things to buy from REI, and I need to make a list of things for TVB soon.
Right now I'm icing my knee, which has been hurting a bit.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

41lbs 10oz

Fatty mcfat fat fat


Saturday, March 13, 2010

04:42:17


Well I beat last month's time by 1:05. whomp whomp whomp.
The Rohloff performed well. I however did not. My chain popped of about 10 times That was not the worst part. My legs started cramping really early, just after the first 15 miles. The big climb was pretty painful, but I only stopped once. Not sure what the deal was, but it's probably my diet.
The last 9 miles were pretty bad, my legs locked up quite a bit.
Well I've got some diet work to figure out and some fancy new parts to buy(yay! bonus from work!).

Monday, March 1, 2010

Rohloff German for Badass

Ok, maybe not, I don't know German.
First big news:
Paul Howard's book, Two Wheels on my Wagon has hit the review circuit. Tour Divide repost of thewashingmachinepost.net review. Guess who took the photo featured in the review?
So technically I'm a "published photographer". Not bad considering all the crap photos I take. It will be out in the UK on April 1st. I don't know when it will make it to the states.

Bam! Rohloff on a Stan's ZTR Flow with Sapim spokes and brass nipples.
It's heavy, with the crossmark tape and stans goop it comes in at 7 lbs.
Installing it was easier than the directions make you think. Mount the speedbone, and the axle plate with the external box thing and you're done. It takes some time, but it's easy. Setting up the cables was a little harder. The instructions aren't entirely clear, but Scott and I got it working. I'll probably have Oakley Cycles fix it up after the Snake. I'll definitely buy a spare set of cables to swap out before I leave for the TD.

Shifting is a little different. You have to pause just a bit, and it's hard to shift while under a load. It's a bit noisy, but that will quieten down after the break in period.
Bike weight with out bags, 28lbs. :(

Third bit of news.
I'm in Adventure Cycling Magazine. The Oct/Nov 09 issue has a little blurb about the TD, and I am one of the riders in the picture. It's small, and it doesn't mention my name, but it's me in the handsom Tomato Head/TVB kit. woo.
I'll buy a few issues as keep sakes, and frame two of them(tastefully) and give one to TVB and keep the other.

The last Knoxicross was that weekend too. TVB was out in full force. Several were gunning for the Gentleman's competition.


Will won.
The rest of the photos are on Flickr.


Monday, February 22, 2010

Snowmageddon 2010


Snowmageddon 2010!

Nice little cross race in the snow. It was a great way to celebrate the wonderfull weather of last week.
30 minutes. Snow balls were fair game(except the face).
After a few laps I got nice an hot and had to zip down. Which just made me a big target for the kids. After a lap or two w/out a shirt I could hear them yell "open chest guy" as I came near and WAM! No mercy. I fell over a whole bunch, but got up to throw a few snowballs and even squirt them with my water bottle. I definitely didn't win, but had plenty of fun.