tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62461803164615871592024-03-05T14:08:26.525-05:00Big Ring RacingTurning and burning MTB style for the off season.the original big ringhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10865105701772620245noreply@blogger.comBlogger264125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-5031167413960004152011-01-03T09:45:00.001-05:002011-01-03T09:46:25.279-05:00Roller Racing at Elmdale TavernPapa Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11182649975084429433noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-90142320109189044112010-08-10T14:16:00.000-04:002010-09-23T14:17:40.549-04:00..and we're back.. Eurotrip Day 7 part 2Sorry loyal fan for the delay in part two. My excuses in order are apathy, distraction, heat wave, something better to do and something else I forgot.
whatev.
So, upon rejoining SS38 headed north from Grosio, buoyed by the notion of my own wee getaway sticks heaving my ass up the badass Mortirolo I churned on up towards Sondalo where as mentioned in previous post I made a stop at a Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-68084102598918748762010-07-08T23:25:00.001-04:002010-07-08T23:38:45.528-04:00Eurotrip Day 7 part 1Big day. Awaking to another brilliant day of just the kind of weather I like. Hot, Hazy, Humid. An uncharacteristically early start had me on the road shortly after 9am having watched several riders go by me while I loaded my packs onto the bike out front of the hotel.
(the hotel was right on the main street leading out of town towards Bormio) It was early Sunday morning and Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-14491775941530170892010-07-06T08:45:00.002-04:002010-07-06T08:45:00.103-04:00Eurotrip Day 6So Day 6 I leave the Lakes area and head east toward Stelvio. My plan was to jump a ferry from Lecco to Colico knocking off around 45km and enjoy my last little taste of the rich and famous lifestyle. Or the nearest approximation to "rich n' famous" I could make given I was travelling with 2 pair of socks and 1 pair of underwear. ..but they're wool so it's cool.
Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-41737608208576497042010-06-23T10:13:00.151-04:002010-07-03T22:04:05.160-04:00Eurotrip Day 5Day 5 Has me waking in Lecco on Lake Como. Worried about the swelling in my knee and pain up my i.t. band. I rubbed about 2oz. of arnica into it last night, did every stretch I know and woke to thinking 'hey, it doesn't feel too bad' Then I did a slight squat and thought "fuck. I might be ending my tour on Lake Como." which was really not part of the program, so I Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-8501823618887769972010-06-21T08:59:00.146-04:002010-06-22T10:13:17.381-04:00Eurotrip Day 4Today is a planned easy day. The whole reason for the marathon rush to get to Monza yesterday was to make an appointment with the good folks, and new friends at Cicli Casati.
By way of backstory, I picked up the Casati Laser I'm riding a few years back from a guy in Kingston. I knew nothing about the bike other than it was in my price range and size for a used road bike was brazed Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-44169083524020098192010-06-18T09:25:00.205-04:002012-05-10T12:00:05.981-04:00Eurotrip Day 3Day 3 I woke up inside a cloud. Literally and figuratively. The combination of Jet lag and Jimmy legs has played hell with sleep patterns so rather than a sleep pattern, I have a sleep chaos. The upside is I wasn't planning to do any arithmetic today so being sleep deprived shouldn't be a huge issue.
The forecast (looking out window) looked a bit grim with light rain and 5 Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-53604709622029592902010-06-17T09:27:00.002-04:002010-06-17T09:44:57.759-04:00Eurotrip Day 2This day starts wtih the Grimsell pass, a category 1 climb with a 9km descent "to rest up on" for the Furka. An HC climb. Originally I'd intended to clear the Gotthard pass on following the Furka, but too much time was wasted at the top of Grimsell warming up with soup and cappuccinos, so Gotthard got pushed back a day.
..just as well. Furka is the dramatic big climb thatKarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-46525252117899629612010-06-16T10:20:00.001-04:002010-06-17T09:45:56.964-04:00Eurotrip Day 1Riding out of European cities can be a challenge with finding the right roads and not getting turned around but my start went really well from a navigational perspective. I did have an issue with establishing tire pressure to get started as I didn't bring with me a luftdruckeanseiten (aka. "pressure gauge". Thanks to the woman at Radsport-center bike shop in Meiringen for the Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-82337135202071153142010-06-15T10:22:00.001-04:002010-06-15T10:23:13.749-04:00Eurotrip in the books.I'll post up a few images and highlights of my Swiss alps "training camp" recently attended. Training camp in parentheses because that really wasn't at all the focus. example. The first days arrival-celebration-training camp orientation consisted of several pastries, at least as many cappuccinos all washed down with a pot of hot cheese and 12 beers for dinner. Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-72778934684962925042010-05-27T15:17:00.000-04:002010-05-27T15:17:34.554-04:00Race bike to Euro-mule conversion.This is how the Casati looks all loaded up. Thats pretty much exactly how it will look for the next couple weeks in Switzerland and Italy. Actually, I'll be on top of it most of the time, but it looks better without my ugly ass in the frame..
The bags are Epic Designs from Alaska. The seat bag is a 'Mountain mini' model, the bento box thingy is a 'Gas tank' (size small) Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-25765266723074113892010-05-25T23:03:00.002-04:002010-05-25T23:05:04.655-04:00EurotripPreparations are wrapping up nicely. Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-46796919443692707902010-05-10T21:09:00.008-04:002010-05-10T21:43:37.095-04:0012 hours and 300kms laterMy Ride to Conquer Cancer fund-raising ride last Wednesday was a grand success. I started at 0600, riding at a crisp 7C and was just starting to warm up when the rain began falling. Fortunately, it only lasted about 45 minutes or so. There were many geese, wild turkeys, deer, and a coyote out to cheer me on. The wind picked up as the day progressed but I spent most of my time marvelling at Peter Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235327594833264444noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-8326043201822795362010-05-02T11:12:00.003-04:002010-05-02T11:23:27.417-04:00Ride to Conquer CancerHey Everyone!I'll be doing the Ride to Conquer Cancer on June 12-13 on a team of medical physicists (who do both cancer research and treatment) from the Princess Margaret Hospital. The ride consists of 100 miles (a century) each day with the funds raised for Cancer Research.I was inspired to do this ride as I've watched a number of people around me struggling with cancer, and because I have Peter Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235327594833264444noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-31496177236184905152010-04-27T09:06:00.001-04:002010-04-29T11:31:25.720-04:00Day 5 - Asheville NC Industry Nine!! Warning. Massive post.So, today we drive home. nothing to look forward to there except warm temps, windows down driving. Sitting on our arses going from fried food outlet to fried food outlet. At least until we'd left the deep fried states and entered the truck stop states.
But first. Drew and Eric from Industry Nine (who'd we'd rode with a couple days back) said it would probably be ok if we stopped in Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-30117914586050646902010-04-26T13:11:00.002-04:002010-04-26T22:42:37.919-04:00Day 4 - Asheville NC annual MTB road trip #4Day 4 was a "recovery ride" day.
so we pointed our bikes up a mountain and rode for views and vistas. Surprisingly the legs felt pretty good. ..until they didn't.Par for the course I suppose.The trail was exceptionally beautiful. Smiles make themselves when you're spending time in this landscape.Laurel mnt trail was a nice even grade incline for the most part.Nevertheless, a lotKarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-26460237005018613142010-04-22T21:09:00.002-04:002010-04-22T21:15:10.228-04:00My friend John Large from the West Quebec Wheelers sent this to me. Sounds like fun!Papa Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11182649975084429433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-41145043864561989292010-04-22T15:01:00.001-04:002010-04-22T15:06:17.081-04:00Day 3 - Asheville annual mtb road trip #4Day three was embarked upon with trepidation.
The plan was for a group ride with people all of whom I was certain were going to be stronger, faster, more skilled and with boatloads more endurance than yours truly.
guys with Pisgah in their backyard.
guys that can tear legs off strong people.
guys that actually win races.
guys that have tactical shotgun training. (relevance = none. just thought Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-73697020664540900852010-04-21T11:43:00.000-04:002010-04-21T11:43:24.751-04:00Day 2 - Asheville NC annual mtb road trip #4
Day two. Dupont.
Time was spent perusing the internet the night before and we decided to set our sites on the Dupont state forest IMBA epic ride. We'd ridden Dupont a couple time before and knew that it was a labyrinth of great trails. The map looks like two plates of spaghetti dumped into one bowl so while we knew that we'd be spending a bit of time looking at the Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-46944614525624563852010-04-20T15:54:00.000-04:002010-04-20T15:54:28.768-04:00Day 1 - Asheville NC annual road trip #4The OBR and I headed off south this past weekend for our fourth annual trip to ride Bent Creek, Pisgah, Dupont and whatever else we could jam in.
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let the photos tell the bulk of the story with captions for context.
Last Wednesday we departed a bright sunny Ottawa for a brighter and sunnier Asheville. Spriits, expectations and Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-23333451051932354242010-04-06T21:55:00.002-04:002010-04-06T22:01:15.925-04:00New BabyMy darling wife surprised me out of the blue with this on Thursday:That's right, a brand new Cervelo R3 with full Dura-Ace components. Weighs in at just over 16lbs I think.Took out it for a spin in the park on Friday where I ran into Craig on his way out. Gorgeous bike, can't say enough about it.Saw Mark while I was out for a run on Sunday, then Anthony mountain biking on Sunday. To top it allPeter Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235327594833264444noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-17544386083977481612010-02-05T16:17:00.000-05:002010-02-05T16:17:06.692-05:00Spring skiing in early February.Hey, old man Winter. what gives? Parc ski conditions are listed as "arduous" in places with less than 5cm of snow cover.
Hey Winter. Get back to work!! We need snow, and we need it in a bleedin' hurry! It looks waay too much like spring out there and as beautiful as that is, it's friggin February! get with the program and gimme minus 27 nights (before wind Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-9666875599056972332010-01-31T22:06:00.003-05:002010-01-31T22:13:19.735-05:00Two videos you got to see!These are two great cycling-related videos - one is hilarious and the other is amazing!http://www.youtube.com/user/nqtv#p/u/2/wOur8qXvpnkhttp://www.flixxy.com/amazing-bicycle-skills.htmEnjoy!Papa Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11182649975084429433noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-24337511218658117592009-12-04T11:45:00.000-05:002009-12-04T11:45:19.982-05:00Magic *and* TragicAs a self confessed gear whore, I spend an inordinate amount of time mewling and hand-wringing over gear selection. Two ways too. Selection for purchase and selection per outing.
As such I thought I'd share a bit of magic and a bit of tragic of late.
The Magic:
Loeffler Colibri Überhose.
Really. read that twice if you need to. Überhose. With a name like Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246180316461587159.post-6608896400386310092009-12-02T10:28:00.000-05:002009-12-02T10:28:00.224-05:00Magic or Tragic?Its just come to my attention that the venerable Phil Wood bicycle co. has released a limited edition track hub set.
24k gold plated.
Yeah. I'm not shitting you. real gold..
on hubs.
for sale via a few select stores.
Holy crap. Words barely convey how ridiculous I think this horror show is.
(You're welcome to disagree via the little x to the right Karkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05755441932425569362noreply@blogger.com5