EARLY MORNING CHUCKANUT RIDE

Sun was up a little after 5 this a.m. and we were on the trails a little before 6. Another early morning Glenn Gervais and the Logos crew ride, always a great time. Up Cleator (on a single-speed, it ain't easy), down Double-Black Diamond (admittedly, I walked much of it), 2-Dollar and back to town. Great way to start the day!

Before heading down, Glenn takes a moment to catch 40 winks.



SINGLE-SPEED HURTS SO GOOD

Above, note mega-smile playing about the lips of our Titanium Cancellara whose wife, Gail, suprised him a week or so ago with a Valentine's Day single-speed, the Redline Monocog 29er. It's the same model I've been enjoying the past year-and-a-half (as well as spent a fair amount of that time in the pain cave) and well, now that Scott's got one, the single-speed rides are sure to get more fun. (And more painful.)

Last week was Scott's maiden S-S foray and I could tell it was love, lust, and long-term commitment from the first mile. He Ioves the simplicity--no shifting, no potential chain-suck, no choices really--just pedal.
"It's so quiet; it's like running," he said at one point.

I echo his sentiments. Now we just gotta Johnny Boy Clark (below) to take the plunge. 

Today's route was down the Interurban, up Fragrance Lake Road and the Lost Lake Trail--seriously steep, but S-S Cancellara rode it clean the whole way whilst I had to walk at three spots. (That's good for me). Then down into the Lost Lake basin and out north to Arroyo Park, with a detour for Lower Hush Hush.

The stretch north from Lost Lake is in a sort of slot between Chuckanut Ridge and Raptor Ridge and is always a crazy fun ride: arrow straight with a few dips, doodles and obstacles to keep it interesting and overall, slightly uphill. But you can ride it pretty fast if you're motivated and of course, we always pretend we're in the Arenburg Forest in Paris-Roubaix and push it as hard as we can. Today was no different; I hung onto Titanium Cancellara's wheel as long as I could and then had to let him go. So much damn fun!

While up on Chuckanut, we got off the bikes and went exploring to see if we're any closer to being able to use the So Easy trail. I'd say no. They've been logging up there for about six months don't look close to being done. Great views of Lummi Island and the rest of the San Juan Islands though.

Below pic is me after riding the Fragrance Lake Road stretch, trying to keep Scott in view. It climbs 935 feet in less than 2 miles and I think I rode it as fast as I ever have on the single-speed (heart monitor read 183 at one point), which probably explains why I look a bit knackered.

FORT EBEY MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE

Headed south to beautiful Fort Ebey State Park for the SingleTrack Cycles West Side Mountain Bike Series race number 4. Part of the BuDu Race Series. First race since what, last August or so, and first single-speed race ever. (Hope it won't be my last.) Extremely, extremely hard.

There was one heat for all single-speeders regardless of class or age. Thus, I finished a sparkling 9th out of 12. Doesn’t sound great but my time (1:28) would’ve put me 5th (out of 22 or so) in the 40+ sport (geared bikes) category. So I’m not sure what to make of that. (Jump into the sport 40+ race on my single speed?) Looking down the line of SS bikes at the start, I saw some Niners, Gary Fishers, and a couple Felts; nobody was rockin’ the low-end steel bike with rigid fork like me. (Is it obvious that I'm attempting to make myself feel better for finishing 9th out of 12?)

'nother thing: the flyer implied the race would be about 50 minutes but the course was two laps of 7 miles, with 1,000 foot climbing in each, so it took me almost 90 minutes. (Single speed winner was like 1:11.) Kinda like showing expecting to run a 10K but finding out you’re running a half-marathon instead. (Not really, but again, I'm trying to make myself feel better.)

All that said, it was great to race again! And Fort Ebey has some amazing trails--twisting, winding and narrow with lots of steep climbs and descents. But they're pretty darn dry, sandy almost in spots. Must be the rain shadow effect. And race organization was tops too!

MORE OF THE SAME, JUST DIFFERENT

'Nother killer weekend of MTB behavior. The Galby on Saturday, the Lost Lake Around on Sunday. Each ride about two hours 45 minutes. Sunday's was especially killer--first time I've ridden the single-speed to the top of Fragrance Lake Road--Lost Lake Trail: 1,400 climb in 3 miles, a couple stretches of which were darn slippery and thus don't exactly make the climb any easier. Had the jimmy legs hamstring shake on one section but was able to make it through. (Comparing mountain bike climbs to road bike climbs is like comparing apple pie to orange juice, but for those of you scoring at home, the steepest part of the Mount Baker Hill Climb race is the Powerline Hill which climbs roughly 600 feet in about two miles. In other words, this is a helluva lot steeper!)  

Above, Mellow Johnny maneuvers up through Arroyo Park, just moments after breaking a spoke on his front wheel for the second ride in a row. (I think he's trying to challenge me for the spoke-breaking jersey.) And just moments after starting the descent into the Lost Lake basin, I got a flat tire. And just moments before our Woods Coffee-Boulevard Park stop, the Titanium Cowboy almost lost his back wheel hopping off a curb. Eventful ride, that's sure. 

Lastly, I wanna thank DK Reinemer for a really fun eight-week Improv 200 session at the The Upfront Theatre. He's a hilarious performer and a great teacher too!

WORDS TO FOLLOW

Friday, took me sister down to the Skagit Flats area to see snow geese by the thousands. A couple bald eagles flew by and sent the geese skyward in a tizzy. (Whereupon various hunters, unfortunately, took aim and brought down a few. Seemed a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, if you know what I mean.)

Saw a couple dozen bald eagles too, including this regal eagle high above the banks of the Skagit River.

That was Friday; Saturday Mellow Johnny, the Titanium Cowboy and I rode together for the first time since TC broke his scaphoid in the late '50s--I mean, August. Took the Interurban up to Fragrance Lake Road to Burnout Road, which boasts the best Samish Bay-San Juan Islands viewpoint on Chuckanut Mountain. (Saw our trail angels Laura Todd and Val Thompson on the way up.)

Scott turned around here, John and I continued up where things get nasty--four really, really steep pitches, the last of which is unridable now because of some huge drainage ditch-culvert thingees that've been dug into the road. Walked our bikes that last bit then had the fun, screaming descent partway down So Easy before detouring over to the Dictionary, the Lost Lake Trail and back through Arroyo Park.

Sunday, Steve "Professor" Vanderstaay joined Mellow Johnny and I for a couple hours on Galbraith, me pretending I'm hard-core by riding the single-speed. Mega-fun. (In the afternoon, Clark and I saw the Cody Rivers Show which, again, was brilliant.)

Shot of Mount Baker from the Skagit Flats.

AREA MAN DIGGING THE SINGLE-SPEED

Feels odd not to be doing Sunday’s Mount Baker Hill Climb, but I think my racing itch has been scratched for 2009. This past year, my first as a full-on MTBer, I did nine mountain bike races—six of the Indie Series, an 8-Hour down in California, Test of Metal (aka, Test of Numbskullery), and Ski to Sea—and that feels like enough.

Then there’s the money thing that played into my decision not to do the hill climb. Indie series races are $30; Ride 542 is more than twice that. Feel bad pointing that out that b/c I do like the Charlie Heggem a lot and all that he does, but hmm, $75 is a lot of scratch.

In other news, I’m having a blast riding this rigid-fork single-speed. (Oh, did I mention that it’s a 29er too? See below post.) The simplicity is really cool and it forces you to rely on momentum and muscle to make it up hills. That's probably not something I want to do every time I ride, but for a strength workout, it’s pretty killer. I’ve got one Galbraith ride under my belt including a trip to the top of the Towers; that one had my legs shaking.

Finally, a shout-out to Beau Whitehead (http://paddlesurfnorthwest.blogspot.com/ ) who's heading to San Diego this weekend to compete in the Naish SUP (stand-up paddlesurfing) championships. Beau won four races in Seattle a couple weeks ago. Go Beau!

AREA MAN JOINS CULT OF ANNOYING 29er RIGID FORK SINGLE-SPEEDERS

Bellingham's Mike McQuaide took delivery yesterday on a Redline Monocog Flight 29er. (Not sure what to make of the cowboy hat or the guitar.) As he likes to tell people--even people who aren't the least bit interested in this sort of thing--it's a single-speed with a rigid fork. (Good for you, Mike. You think you're so special.)

Later that same day, McQuaide commenced riding said bike up at Galbraith with John Clark and Steve Vanderstaay nearly blowing a gasket, busting a gut, and blowing out his quads out rassling the darn thing to the top of the Towers. But McQuaide, who resembles a much better-looking and much younger-looking Johnny Depp, got the job done.

"This thing is either going to kill me or make me strong as a horse," he said later. (He then repeated that sentiment several times because he thought no one had heard him the first few times. They heard him; they just weren't interested. Could you blame them?)

In other news, area man's son--also known as area son (and as Baker)--returned to the skatepark, dropping in several times at the bowl, something he hasn't done for maybe a year-and-a-half now.

"I don't know why, but it all came back to me somehow," area boy is reported as saying.

Great to see his hawk pose again.