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.

New bike, new shocks on the car.

So, I bought a new race bike last Thursday. The next day I got $30 worth of new parts upgrades and spent a few hours making modifications to fine tune the geometry. A few numbers: 69deg Head angle, 67deg Seat angle, 11" BB height, 20" Standover, 12.5" Chainstays, 19" Top Tube. Tires are Goodyear's 16" version of the Comp III. Saddle is the SDG BigBoy. Why put together such a contraption? For the 2008 Pixie Repack in Colorado Springs, of course. Very short LeMans start followed by 4 miles of winding dirt road descent and 1 mile of pavement. Coming into the first corner, you could smell buring grease and rubber from everyone's shoes and coaster brake. I made sure to go as fast as I dared and use the coaster brake just enough to keep myself out of trouble (they can seize if overheated). About 2 thirds through, I hear the guy behind me, coming up really fast and really out of control. So, I move to the left to get out of his way and also begin to laugh, as I find this situation quite amusing. Not only do I get passed, but the guy isn't even on his bike. Needless to say, this is the funniest damn thing I've witnessed since the last pixie get together and I find myself cracking up for the remainder of the race. I managed to pass a couple more riders on the pavement, which seems to have put me ahead of all the other racers who didn't have a hand operated brake in addition to the coaster. Average speed was close to 20mph(!). There's a good possibility that I'll put up a couple more detailed pictures of Peppermint Swirl and all its white and pink and square tube glory... Notice how in the first photo, Chris is already dragging both his feet and already off the saddle as he passes me; in the original file, you can see me grinning very widely. The second photo shows the splashdown.

In other news, my Volvo guy replaced a few bushings and installed my new Bilsteins today. It's like driving a new car. Not only is my ride much smoother and quieter, but the extra stability and consistency from the suspension will allow me to take corners a little bit faster, thus saving gas. Next on the to-do list is a new set of slightly larger, much less cracked and much more round tires.

Copper Harbor Fat Tire Race

I drove up to Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula for the coolest race ever over Labor Day weekend with some stops along the way to see family and friends. It's interesting how one forgets just how cool the trails are up there. Most of them are on actual dirt, there are lots of trees to dodge, and lots of trails which are turn after turn of late apex awesomeness. Another nice thing is that you don't have to climb for 40 minutes to get just 10 minutes of fun descending.

The Copper Harbor Flat Tire race would be a more apt name. I found out 3 miles in that my front tire setup, which I have been using all summer for riding and racing in Colorado, is not enough for Michigan. I'm pretty sure that I got a pinch flat on the feature for which the Rock 'n' Roll trail is named. After two minutes or so, I was back underway but unfortunately lost some more time being held up on singletrack by slower riders. By the second and final lap, I knew from the mild cramping in my legs that there was no way that my original strategy of sprinting for the last 5 miles would work. Plan B: follow the top female racer, who had just passed me. I was able to get ahead of her by the time the real descending began, and kept passing people until 2 miles from the finish. Braaapp! This time, I'm pretty sure that I got my second pinch flat in the front tire from bombing down Paul's Plunge (where all the spectators are) and hitting the big drop with all the sharp rocks in the landing area. The cheers made getting the 2nd flat tire and losing another 3-4 minutes totally worthwhile. I ran for about 100 yards before deciding that it was better to ride the rest of the way. Thwapp thwap thwap.... The inevitable Fat Tire cramping came when I washed out in a tight corner. "Are you okay?" asked some guy who passed me as I was doing my damnedest to bend my legs so that I could get back on my bike. Thwapp thwap thwap.... 33rd place overall, 33 minutes behind the winner (who was riding a singlespeed, which is awesome). Can't say I was disappointed with that result.

Interbike is approaching. Goals: pick out a new Super D bike to replace the Cake when it breaks again, ride some DH bikes, do some work, check out the electronic shifters, watch some cyclocross, make fun of dumb new bike stuff with Ryan.

News

Well it's as I suspected. Blogging is a dead art (at least to the contributors of this one), but none the less here is my entry.

I had a phone interview with Bike Magazine a few days ago. Went pretty well. I made them this: www.hu.mtu.edu/~rdlabar/bikemag.

So at any given point I could be moving out to Dana Point, California in 3 weeks.

If the Beastie Boys were a bike race...

..I'm guessing they'd be the INTERGALACTIC PUMP TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS!

About a month ago, when I first heard about this event, I knew I it was time to put Blue Steel back together with the fattest, stickiest, blackest tires alive. Unfortunately, my chainstays are so awesomely short that even though there is enough clearance for a 2.7" rear tire, any tire taller than a 2.4 will hit the front deraileur. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for the 42 durometer Bling-Bling on the rear.

When I got to Sol Vista on Friday morning, I did a few laps on the pump track on each of my two bikes to warm up and then took the chairlift up to get some practice on the Super-D course, where I would be vying for the Men 19-29 Colorado State Championship the following day. Lots of tight corners, brake bumps, sand, berms, one short climb, and a series of flat corners to finish. I decided the pump track race would be done on my XC tires and the Super-D on the fat tires and my new tubeless wheelset.

The Super-D did what I call a reverse cowgirl start, which involved sitting on the front tire, facing backward, with both feet on the ground, and getting on the bike any way possible after the gun went off. I was in second position shortly after getting on the bike and easily passed the lead rider just before the singletrack, just in time to mess up a few turns before getting myself back together. I was still in the lead at the climb, pedal, pedal, pedal, but I could hear riders behind me, so no rest. Sand and berms and arm pump followed. I heard the 2nd place rider, who had beaten me at Snowmass, approaching as I took a little bit of a breather just before coming out of the woods, "On the left!" The guy wasn't even there when I set up a late apex to turn left down the fall line. At that point it was too late for him, as I was more that prepared to pedal my ass off and wail hard on the flat corners coming into the finish. Margin of victory: 3.3 seconds after 7 minutes of racing and 6 seconds adrift of the winning Open time. My third ever race win, first State Championship title, and first new jersey in about 3 years. Sweet!

Later was the pump track. The last time I actually hit some berms on Blue Steel was at the Nathrop DS three months ago. We were all instructed to "bring it, foo'." I brought my 'fu instead, probably because I was still amped up from my Super-D win and wanted to impress (and do my best to beat) Chris Boice, Lee McCormack, Brian Lopes, and the Princess of Slovakistan. My qualifying run was two laps, each 10 seconds, flat according to the UCI official timing system. Enough to get me in the top group. Don't remember much other than hearing Lee say "Nice corner!" and getting squirrelly out of the last berm. My first two race laps were again 10 seconds flat and I managed to uncork just a little more speed on the third and final lap for a total time of something like 29.83 seconds. Just under 4 seconds behind Brian Lopes! I think I tied with Chris Boice, which is pretty cool considering I've made a goal of cornering like that since the start of the race season. I definitely didn't expect to be mixing it up with the pros, but I suppose Blue Steel is a magical bike.

The first lap in the XC race on Sunday went well as far as climbing fast, but not the rest of the race. I also had a hell of a time being smooth on the singletrack and descents during the first lap, probably due in part to a weak front brake and worn tires. Thankfully I was able to make adjustments and have some fun during the rest of the race. I managed to find a safety pin with my rear tire on the last lap (not very safe, huh?). After a quick change of the inner tube, I was able to finish very smoothly at 15psi.

Next on the calendar are Eldora Escape, and a drive out to Michigan for the Copper Harbor Fat Tire.

Mt. Evans

I've noticed that my friends haven't been making many new posts lately, myself included. My hypothesis is that we are too busy doing stuff to waste time telling others about it on the internet, which is pretty cool. I'm pretty tired, so I don't feel like putting much effort into this one.

I decided to ride my 30lb mountain bike up Mt. Evans today. The 28 mile climb took me exactly 5 hours, including bathroom breaks and stretching. I stumbled around at the summit for 20 minutes or so and probably had some strange conversations with a few people. The first 2/3rds of the descent was pretty decent (hah!!). Lots of switchbacks and overtaking of cars and motorcycles. Look, brake, look, turn, accelerate, enjoy the scenery. Stats from my new HRM: 5:00 duration, 3329 Cal, 136 bpm average, 3:40 in zone (>132 bpm), 165 max bpm.

Of course, this was all done the day after doing a 3 hour ride off road which included 40 minutes of lactate threshold training. That's how pumped I am for the Fat Tire.

LaBar Update: Red Jacket Blue Sky Cycling Team

Well I'm officially on a cycling team.


I'm racing Expert/Elite/Pro class now... and I'm not DFL.


My legs feel good. Two rides over 30 miles off road this week. Pre riding the upcoming race course.


I'm riding tubeless again. Feels good. The tires I'm running are michelin's harder compound, heavier XC tire.


The 2.25 crossmark tires are almost too tempting.


New frame, shifters, tires, chainrings, cassette, chain, peddals, Grips (bartape), and top cap--new fork coming soon too.


Oh, new favorite quote:

"Here's the routine I'd advise for the evening before a race: a pheasant with chestnuts, a bottle of champagne and a woman."

-Jacques Anquetil

Saturday's Adventure

I decided to go on a long ride today. You know, one of those rides where you leave a little after noon and try to get home before dark. Wound up riding for 6.5 hours and about 50 miles. I stopped by a dirt jumping spot tucked into a small patch of woods in Bear Creek Lake Park that I found a couple years ago. What was a few overgrown and under-maintained jumps is now the most amazingly groomed jump park I have ever seen...and incredibly huge. Like, 7' tall, 8' wide, 45º lips and 20' gaps huge. There were some 10 guys there working on the 3rd set and trying to convince me to, "hit 'em up. The first couple are ready to go!" No thanks!

I rode a fair amount of singletrack. A trail in the aforementioned four-noun park, which reminds me of pump tracks and the Outer Limits Loop, reaffirmed that at 40psi, my front tire is not the same as at 25psi. I also rode the Dinosaur Ridge trail, which was a long, super-technical climb followed by a very strange and short descent; next time I will try riding it the other way. This trail has some spots that look like they are straight out of Moab. I want to go to Moab.

On my way home, I got to thinking that when riding singletrack 20 miles from home, one doesn't need to worry nearly as much about wrecking tires and rims on a mountain bike as on a road bike. Then I got to thinking that roadies are sissies for not going off road in the middle of a long ride. Then I got to thinking that my mountain bike could be considered a crutch under these circumstances. After all, I used to take my old Bianchi Eros on trails all the time. Whatever. I don't care if I'm soft; I like riding my bike.

What can I say?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqNxrK-hkHA

The new hobby

COFFEE ROASTING.......not only is it cheaper it taste better!!!!!


"Big" 1 lb Batch roaster

This is the Whirly Pop Popcorn maker modified with a motor (torn out of a nut roaster I found for $7) and an older thermocouple. With the motor and the thermocouple it's a hands free roast allowing me to pay closer attention to the temperature and stove setting. Resulting in roast profiles of perfection.






Small 1/4 lb batch roaster.

The small batch roaster is a fluid bed (jet of hot air) roaster made from a $3 popper from Goodwill and the same model thermocouple. My dad and I used a dimmer switch to control the fan and separated the two heating coils for more adjustable temperature.

I must be doing something right.

I found this under my windshield wiper this morning:


Bike to Work Week is approaching, so be sure to participate in moderation. Otherwise, your car may be impounded! :)

NO SHAME!

SHAMELESS

Sunday's Theme: Trail Braking

The highlight of this weekend was an AutoCross event here in Denver. My boss, Todd, was gracious enough to allow me the privilege of racing his Acura RSX Type-S for the second time. Just in case you haven't figured it out already, this post has a lot of nerdy cornering-related content.

Here's what my first run in Todd's car looked like last November...
Possible titles include "If autocross were supposed to be easy, they'd call it drifting" and "CWNED!!1!"

Fail!

Back to last Sunday... My first two runs were pretty uneventful, just working out what lines to take and how to control the car. As planned, I tried running the optional feature of the course in the opposite direction on the 3rd run and took eight very significant tenths off my previous time. Though much of that could be attributed to the fact that I drove a bit better than in my previous runs, I decided that some of the improvement was because I had initially made the wrong choice regarding which direction would be faster.

Before my fourth and final run, one of Todd's old friend's who has lots of autocross experience advised me that I should focus on doing a better job on the one corner where I thought I had screwed up the most. Good advice, really. Just remember to get that one corner at the end that gave me trouble, and drive the rest on autopilot to avoid thinking too much and getting mixed up.

About 30 seconds before hitting the course for my final run, I hear that some guy in my class driving a Subaru was almost a second faster! The Subaru must be beaten at all costs, and I'm not going to gain a second on a single corner. My only option is to just go flat out from start to finish. Priorities: above all stay 100% focused from start to finish, eyes up, keep a very delicate grip on the steering wheel and push the front tires just hard enough, and jump on the brakes at just the right moments. Off I go. The first part of the run was nice and smooth; I was putting the car where I wanted it and was doing a pretty good job of managing my traction. There was a u-turn at about half-way, which was very tricky because of it's decreasing radius and a second u-turn in the opposite direction immediately afterward. This corner also required very early commitment and lots of braking, since it was the end of the fastest part of the course. I've driven corners like these many times before, so it was prudent to go by the seat of my pants and charge in fully committed, giving no consideration to any possibility of overshooting. I ought to know what I'm doing, right?

The first thing that ran through my mind when I got on the brakes is that I would overshoot the turn, which was coming up extremely fast (Todd was riding with me and told me afterward that he had thought the same thing); I knew that I had gotten on the brakes a couple car lengths later than any of my previous runs. Nevermind. The only thing that matters at this point is to get as tight as possible on the last pylon on the inside of the turn (at which I am now looking through the side window) and set up for the next turn. Despite what any driving instructor might tell you, it is quite possible, to brake and turn at the same time. This I did, and did, and did, and managed to get on the gas reasonably soon and clip that last pylon just as I had wanted and pointed in just the right direction, awesome!

Soon after was a decreasing radius 90 left followed by a straight that was just long enough to set up for the hairpin right which followed. This is a very special set of turns because: 1.Any extra speed coming out of the left hander will be lost since it feeds into a very slow corner, so a late apex isn't necessary. 2.There is enough room to cross over to the left and set up for the hairpin, so a late apex isn't necessary. 3.The corner was preceded by a fast section, so a late apex would require a fair amount of early braking. In short, this is a very rare instance where a ridiculously high entry speed and early apex will be fastest. Early Apex!!! I took another seven tenths off my time on that last run and took first loser honors in the class. Still a bit over a tenth of a second slower than the guy in the Subaru.

Next time...

Moral of the story: Look where you want to go. Fear nothing. Be like water.

Look at what LaBar found

Work Gloves

New hotness...

Some dude in I've never met before gave me this... to keep:



I just wanted a picture, but I ended up rolling it home.

Ever go on a long, random ride...

...and wonder where or how far you went?

Google Maps is sick.

Blue Steel rides again.

Its back, and stiffer than ever.