Unique lines

I competed in the SCCA RallyCross National Championships on October 10 and 11 with my Volvo wagon. I feel that I accomplished my goal of showing that the largest and possibly most under powered car at the event can be quite fast if driven properly. After two days of racing and 14 runs, I wound up second in the stock rear wheel drive class by a mere 5 seconds. Next time I will have the proper tires!

Article from SCCA's website.

At the end of the fastest section from both days, much to my liking, I found a sideways braking double apex festival of speed.

The highlight of last weekend was working on the Lyons Bike Park pump track with Lee and Farid. We added a small roller to a dead spot between one of the berms and the tallest roller on the track. One very quickly gains quite a bit of altitude from a well timed manual from the small to the large roller, as well as a lot of speed. The dirt was obtained by transforming one of the straightaways into what Lee rightly calls "3-dimensional love adventure." A good pump track seriously makes you feel like a fighter jet or a Formula 1 car (or anything else that is awesome and pulls a lot of G's, for that matter). Seriously.

Lee McCormack photo.

I'd hoped to race on that track today, but the weather unfortunately had other plans. Maybe next weekend. On the plus side, I was able to spend more time hanging out with friends and watching other people suffer at the cyclocross race at Boulder Reservoir. The night was capped off by team competitions in "corn hole" and blindfolded-inner-tube-replacement, put on by Mafia Racing and PBR. Appearently, Lindsey and I are not as good as people from Wisconsin in the former case, and Garmin-Slipstream team mechanics in the latter. Can't win 'em all.... At least it was great fun and I got some sweet PRB bike socks and cool stickers. Yeah!

100 Laps of Pump.

I did my first 100 laps on the pump track at the Lyons Bike Park today.

Procedure (adapted from leelikesbikes.com):
Ride 10 laps and take time split.
Rest until heart rate drops below 145.
Switch directions and repeat until 10 sets have been completed.
The last two sets were each 10 figures eight.

Bike Setup, track condition:
Blue Steel, fork locked out with light threshold, flat pedals.
Well worn Maxxis Ardent 2.25 @ 35psi front, Maxxis High Roller 2.35 @ 45psi rear.
Moderate bumps in north berms, ruts between one pair of rollers, dry after recent rain fall, slightly loose surface.

Summary:
Total time: 31:58.2
Ave. HR: 172bpm
Max. HR: 189bpm
Calories burned: 525
I took about 50 seconds of rest between sets.
3-4 miles distance, 1300 bumps and berms.

Splits:
2:43.2 CCW
2:47.5 CW
3:19.4 CCW
2:55.9 CW
3:15.2 CCW
3:14.7 CW
3:06.9 CCW
3:12.8 CW
3:47.8 (figure eight)
3:35.1 (figure eight)

Conclusion:
This is soooooooo much better than doing intervals on a hill or the road. I'd like work on pace and get more consistent times. My rest periods didn't seem to get any longer toward the end of the session, though concentration became more difficult.

I was so pumped afterward that I rode up one of the agro lines on the Rock Pyramid without pedaling. I also spent some time hitting the jumps on both Blue Steel and Peppermint Swirl, my 16" bike. I've done better with the table tops in the past, though I have gotten much better at the first step up. Super fun day.

The definition...

Memories

Toaster oven.

Turkey Day.

The long weekend began with some Blue Steel skills action. I rode a tiny berm over and over again, crashing twice. Seems I should work on turning to the right. I also rode a teeter-totter a few times; "He did it!" quipped a spectator, who I estimated to be 7 years old. It's all about the fans...

Its hard to beat Thanksgiving dinner with friends and wine.

I also went to a concert at an art gallery that was shutting down. The show began with a few Anarchist-type acts which I didn't much care for. Then The Jack Trades came out with some ass kicking blues which went a little something like this:
"Man, my baby ain't treating me right
[much wailing on guitar and drums]
Gonna get in my car and drive fast all night
[much wailing on guitar and drums]...

I ate turkey sandwiches for lunch today and yesterday. Apparently, leftovers were not enough!

This guy is a genius:
http://xkcd.com/5/
http://xkcd.com/123/
http://xkcd.com/153/

2008 US Señor Open in Colorado Springs

I competed in my first pixie stage race last Sunday. It was pretty much entirely stupid and hilarious. I had two 58 second runs back to back in the P3, my first times under one minute. Congrats to George for the overall win.

Stages:
Half Course PMX
Full Course PMX
2 Lap Pixie Helltrack
Pixie Super D(rink)
P3 Gravity Enduro

Pictures. Drinking is difficult after scrambling out of a steep ravine. Frame modifications to Peppermint Swirl can be seen in the header image.

In other news, I got to ride Blacksheep's yard'r at the RMBS last weekend. Much like driving a Cadillac, both in length and steering response.

I have been fortunate to continue on the pump track path to mountain bike domination recently. I am not there yet (maybe Brian just likes to take naps in that position), but getting better with every session. Eric and I believe that a new dizzydrome record may have been set.

Happenings Since Halloween

I spent this weekend in Boulder to watch some cyclocross, hang out, and ride my bike for no more than a couple minutes at a time.

Observations:
The People's Republic of Boulder does not allow public endorsement of candidates other than Barack Obama.
After about 20 goatheads, it appears that no amount of Stan's will reliably keep a tire sealed while riding a pump track.
Short stems are rad.
A handlebar and shin do not make a good couple.

I'm starting to rediscover the joys dorking around on a bike. Bunny hops, wheelies, manuals, riding backwards, curbs, jumps drops, pump tracks... I've also noticed that removing your clipless pedals in favor of platforms will change your outlook on life. Just hop on and ride.

Lee McCormack, the patron saint of pump tracks and bike nerddom, recently published some tire research which he performed a few years ago. Hopefully, I will get a chance to review it soon. My initial impression is that his methods may also be very useful for determining the impact of changes in other components and even training. Rad.