Monday, December 26, 2011

Seatpost Bag



I finally sat down at the sewing machine this week. I was amazed that I spent a solid two+ hours making it.  Most of that time spent getting the zipper pull back on after pulling it too far. The zipper is sewn into a separate piece of fabric. I think next time the center portion will be one continuous piece. and I learned to cut the triangle bits with curved corners, I think it will sew easier and look better. I even added a bit of the grosgrain stuff over the seams.

I made a little gas tank earlier w/out much planning and learned a good bit.  I've applied those lessons to the tank you see now.  This I think is good enough for the TD, it will just hold my tools and tubes next to my seatpost.
I have a pattern ready for a frame bag for my commuter bike. Once I sew that I think I'll be ready to make small things to sell.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Why I do it

I was asked why I was going back to the Tour Divide for the third time, the best answer I could give was "why not".

I just went through all my TD photos today. Each one elicits a flood of emotions. I can look at each photo and tell you how I felt that day, what song was going through my head, what I was thinking, what body part ached, and what I smelled.
I couldn't all of that into words though(and not for a lack of writing skills).















To many of you these photos are just miles and miles of endless roads.
To me they represent hard earned memories.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

What a single cyclist does on a Saturday night


I have three wheels to build up. Front and rear for my cyclocross bike and a a singlespeed for my belt drive. All use Chris King hubs, DT Swiss revolution spokes, aluminum nipples, and Stan's Crest rims. And 3x lancing of course.


My wheel building kit is complete, and nice and tidy.
Nipple driver and starter in the lid
Spoke wrenches, spoke prep, tensiometer, and chart in the base(not pictured foam separator).

Saturday, November 19, 2011

The Bicycle Museum of America

Oddly enough New Bremen(middle of nowhere) OH houses The Bicycle Museum of America.
I made the trek up through corn fields and old adorable townships in the middle of said fields on a nice cold day.
It is worth the trip and the three bucks admission.
They have boneshakers, penny farthings, 1950s cruisers, head badges, wodden bikes, monowheels, some modern bikes, and there were even a few belt drive bikes.
I'm not sure what was my favorite, but if you forced me I'd probably take the pedal boat motor thing.
This first thing I saw was this 30+ lbs pump pedal bike, which had a jammed chain...which I fixed.

Monowheel

My new Tour Divide bike



The gentleman running the museum let me have free reign of the basement which was filled to the brim with bikes, I started counting, but gave up..

more photos here.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Broke a Belt

After about 1700+ miles I broke a belt.
I think I had the tension too high.
So yes, it can happen, fortunately it happened in Cincy instead of the middle of nowhere.

Friday, September 16, 2011

New T(ys)ools!

Cycle Sport and Tri in Loveland went out of business and my brother raided the place.  We missed out on the work stand though because Al ran out of money.
Park TS-2 work stand(gotta check if it's centered
Park spoke wrenches
Park WAG-5 dish tool
Park TM-1 tensiometer
Wheelsmith tensiometer(gotta get that adjust/repaired)
Park TW-6 torque wrench
Park CRS-1 crown race setter
Park RT-2 headcup remover
Park HHP-2 bearing press

Damn near a full shop.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

TNGA was a bust

Lots of rain due to the tropical depression, but it was fun to catch up with Dave Tremblay, Cricket Butler, Ray Porter, and make new friends.  I think I'll go back and finish the second half as a lazy bike packing trip during the next holiday.

A nice fancy post with some good news coming up.....when I'm not feeling lazy.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

TNGA

I'm starting to make a pile of stuff for the TNGA.
Hopefully I'll have a new rim for my front wheel and have it all built up by Friday.
Tracking should be here somewhere, and call-ins here.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

JB 6HR write up

This is going to be lazy.
JB was fun.
I started off for a bit, until Marty passed me somewhere on the first bit of single track.  On the second bit of double, James passed me along with two others.  I followed James for a bit then he passed the guys infront of him and picked up the pace.  I was dropped.
I don't remember much after that.  I had to stop for a real "pit stop" *wink wink*, and I had to sit down and eat some Cheetos and a sandwich or two.  I guess I'm still in divide mode, hunger beats all other desires.
The best part was listening to Butch sing Angel of Death while running full tilt.  I think I'll start every race with some Slayer.
The Rogue camp put everyone else to shame too.
Photo from Kimberly Sink

Oh and I have a new fancy Sella An-Atomica saddle, with new chromoly rails.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

20:13:11

That's not official but by my math pretty damn close.
It was a great experience.  I'm very proud of what I did, and I want to come back again to improve.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Leaving for reals this time

Just got out of the hot tub, shower, sleep, breakfast, epo, hgh, clenbuterol, and some spun out blood, and then leaving 6am.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Getting packed

packing up, last minute additions, printed the re-routes(dont' want to use them), freaking out, super nervous, etc etc.


Track me here: http://tourdivide.org/leaderboard
or here when it's up: http://trackleaders.com/tourdividei.php?name=stephen_huddle
listen to me here: http://mtbcast.com/site2/feed/

Friday, June 10, 2011

June 24th ITT

I will be ITT'ng the Tour Divide on June 24th 6am sharp(ish).
A few weeks ago Cricket and I looked over the maps and figured out where most of the reroutes would be. We both decided that it would not be the race we wanted.
Cricket has the flexibility to delay her start by three weeks. I was fortunate enough to delay mine by two weeks. That should give the snow ample time to melt, and the trails to dry out. I'm anticipating similar conditions to last year.

It is weird not being there at the YWCA for the start this year. I have missed the opportunity to connect with old friends and make new ones.
I will defiantly miss riding with Cricket.

But I will now have the opportunity to challenge the GC, even if there is a forest fire(unless it's super dangerous).

I think the hardest part of doing an ITT is the solitude, I will have no one to talk to for weeks essentially.
I might go crazy.
or crazier.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Final Form

Just about, I need bottle cages for the forks and to put more junk up front.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Singletracks.com coverage

Singletracks.com
I loaned a few of my photos to these guys, check them out.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

How to ride 100 miles indoors

Prerequisites: have no life
The goal is to fight boredom.
I used to have to watch Japanese cartoons(I was into that in college but not anymore), since they had something to watch, listen to, and read.  I need all that to keep my mind active and to keep from getting bored.
This time around I wound up watching science and space shows from the BBC.

 
You'll need a few things.
Fan(s)
Computer(or media player of some sort)
loud speakers
remotes
something to hold the remotes(a ladder works well)
food(scooby snacks in this photo)
bike and trainer

I broke it down to 5 hours with a break between each hour, and a nap after 3. It was not that boring or hard. Much easier and quicker than the first time I did it.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Revelate Bags

My new frame bag and saddle bag from Revelate Designs came in today.  They are feature rich, I'll have to write about all that tomorrow.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

88th Place Cohutta 100

Great Weekend.
I made it to the campground around 3:30, a little later than I'd normally show up, but I had to stop in Vonore to pick up some parts for my truck. The campground was packed, but luckly Ed from the Team Ed reserved two spots. Setup camp and registered and then Cricket showed up with Andrea and Scott.  We had dinner and I had a great night's sleep, first time outdoors since October.
The next morning I found Gary, Dave, and Evan, and before I knew it, the race started(4 minutes early by my watch). I paced behind Ed for a bit, and Cricket and Scott caught me so we road up most of the asphalt until the last downhill.  I think I got ahead of about 4 or 5 other people before the single track.  I passed a few guys on the single track, and I didn't get passed, except by the top 3 65 milers. After a while my feet started hurting, I'm not exactly sure what the issue was; new shoes, new insoles, and taking it easy on the saddle, probably all added up to hurt feet. I stopped at aid station 2 to get new bottles(this is where I quit last time).  Some time afterwards Cricket caught me; we road together as much as possible, she'd dust me on the climbs, I'd dust her on the downhills.
The Serotta would absolutely fly down hill, much faster than the 26'r. Unfortunately it was pretty skittish around the loose gravel corners.  I'm running the same tires on the Serotta as my 26'r, but they're narrower, and probably had too much air.  The Crossmarks are my favorite, so I'll just have to deal with that on the TD.
After a while I took out the arch support from the shoes, and then the metatarsal pad on the right shoe, but my feet still hurt.
The rest of the race was uneventful somewhere before aid station 5 Ed caught and passed me at his steady pace. I caught Cricket at aid station 5, we did the next climb together, and then I never saw her.  I was pretty gassed by then, and I walked a few of the gravel climbs and most of the single track climbs after that.  Even with that I was still on pace to just squeak under 10 hours.
I time trialed it down the asphalt(no actual TT bars this time), and even passed a few guys to finish 88th with 9:52:00

My only complaint(besides aching feet) was that I put too much dry ice in my cooler and my chocolate milk was frozen.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

OOOOO Shiney

Sidi Dragon 2  Super niceI've only ridden them indoors when Kathy fit me.
It's too wet for mountain biking, so I rode 51 miles in off and on rain.  Hopefully the rain will hold off for tomorrow and I'll be able to get another 50 miles in.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Ride the Divide Esquire March 28th Cincinnati

RIDE THE DIVIDE,
AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY FILM,
COMING TO CINCINNATI MARCH 28

Ride The Divide, the award-winning feature-length documentary about the world’s toughest
mountain bike race, will premiere in Cincinnati on Monday, March 28 at the Esquire Theatre in
Clifton. The screening is a fundraiser for the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance mountain bike club.

The film chronicles the story of several mountain bikers who attempt the 2,711-mile race named
the Tour Divide along the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. The movie was named
the best adventure film at the 2010 Vail Film Festival.

This film has become an instant cycling classic, and made its television premiere in September
on the Documentary Channel. But the Adventure Cycling Association said the film should be
seen on the big screen: “The cinematography is stunning!” Added UpaDowna, “Ride The Divide
is one of the most inspiring real cycling movies … in a long time.” Epic Riding summed the
movie up as follows: “In a word? Fantastic. In more words? Moving, funny, inspiring.”

Ride The Divide embraces the inspiring stories of three of the racers who experience the
immense mountain beauty and small-town culture as they attempt to pedal from Banff, Canada,
to a small, dusty crossing on the Mexican border. There’s Mike, a 40-year-old family man who
uses this challenge to chart a new course in life; Matthew, a leader in extreme endurance racing
who’s competing for his fifth time; and Mary, the first female rider to race this route. As they
set out, they will attempt to accomplish what very few have been able to. Over the course of a
few weeks, they’ll attempt to climb over 200,000 vertical feet along the backbone of the Rocky
Mountains.

They’ll experience mental breakdowns, treacherous snow, hellacious blisters, and total fatigue.
Above all, they’ll race with no support – at times in total isolation. The tests of endurance and
the accomplished moments throughout Ride the Divide prompt us to reflect on our inner desires
to live life to the fullest.

Ride The Divide made its debut at the Vail Film Festival and was named the best adventure film
at the event. Outside Magazine proclaimed that “(t)he toughest bike race in the world is not in
France,” after reviewing the film.

Ride The Divide will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Esquire Theatre, located at 320 Ludlow Ave.
in Clifton. Tickets are $15 at the door, and $10 in advance at www.IMAthlete.com/Events/
RideTheDividemovie. This event is sponsored by Bio Wheels, Cycle Sport & Tri, and Trek Store
of Cincinnati.

Media contact: Garry Harrington 603-209-5010 gharrington3165@hotmail.com


Oh and I'll be doing the Q&A afterward.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Sub 9 Death March

I made it to the Boy Scout Park after a long windy drive in the dark. Camping out was a nice way to spend the night though.
P1000092 by sluttyduck
P1000092 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
P1000093 by sluttyduck
P1000093 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
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P1000094 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
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P1000097 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
We left at a good pace which came to a crawl when we hit the gravel. They dumped fresh gravel just a few months prior, it was like riding on ball bearings. Things sped up when we hit the single track where I learned not to follow butch when he's on a CX bike.
P1000100 by sluttyduck
P1000100 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
P1000099 by sluttyduck
P1000099 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
All smiles, but this was the first cemetery. The belt rubbed against the front ring in the lower gears, annoying, but it didn't bother me. I ran over a downed log that popped up and hit the ring, luckly it didn't bend. It's not like a chainring, where I can bend it back.
P1000101 by sluttyduck
P1000101 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
Butch flatted out, but that didn't delay us to much. We ran into Stanley from TN, I've raced with him in the SE quite a bit.
P1000103 by sluttyduck
P1000103 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
We caught up with the bulk of the Rogues at the tower, but decided to not climb it. You could actually see it swaying in the wind. freaky.
P1000107 by sluttyduck
P1000107 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
The ride to Todd was great. I launched on ahead and was feeling great. After that we had a nice downhill on asphalt

P1000109 by sluttyduck
P1000109 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.

We played it safe and went to the cemetery instead of just the sign.
Cute couple right?
P1000110 by sluttyduck
P1000110 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
Starting to get a little fatigued, and gassy?
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P1000111 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
Getting to Callahan was via the single track, it was a mostly gravel path for horses. We made a wrong turn at an unmarked intersection but that didn't slow us down too much. Parts of the forest were a beautiful pine grove, which reminded me of Washington state.
P1000112 by sluttyduck
P1000112 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
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P1000113 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
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P1000116 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
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P1000117 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
getting silly
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P1000118 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
nasty asphalt climbs.
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P1000119 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
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P1000121 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
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P1000120 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
Last one, super fatigued, but just a climb or two away from finishing in just over 5 hours.
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P1000126 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
Heather
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P1000127 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
Sherrie
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P1000123 a photo by sluttyduck on Flickr.
Riding Dirty