by 
Another 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is in the books, and as always, the folks over at Epic Rides put on one hell of an event. I represented DC the only way I know how. Obnoxiously.
If you have never been to this little piece of heaven in the desert, this is what you are missing:
It was a fantastic day on the bike. I set a personal lap record and I couldn’t be more thrilled. The support from all of the DC readers was amazing and it definitely got me through some rough spots. Thanks goes out to all of you. Thanks to the Gnome for trying to feed me that beer at 3am, to Uncle Pat and the Moustache riders for that bad ass t-shirt, to the random strangers yelling “GO DIRTY!” on Sunday morning, to Future for smacking me on the ass while he flew by in a spandex blur in a horrendous headwind, and to everybody else that fed me beers and high fives when it was all over. We are all one big family and we stick together. I can’t wait to see you all out at the Whiskey. That’s about all I got for this week. I hear a recovery pint calling my name. Keep it dirty.
by 
Mega!!
9 laps on the SS. Damn nice work Dirty. Damn nice work indeed.
9 laps ?? 16 miles each ?? 144 miles ??
How did a fat fuck like you manage that and still manage to pound down beers ?
Compared to you sir, I am weak and worthless.
Congrats.
Way to get it done. As much fun as you were having , I figured about six laps. Hell I’m thinking you could have pulled ten since you were handing around a handle at the top of the high trail at 11:40. Way to represent DC , bummed i didn’t get to party with you.
Done good work!
Thanks guys.
Gnome, where is your weekend report? Let’s hear it!
Bravo, sir. Outstanding achievement in the field of excellence!
Nice to have a face with the name, I believe we crossed paths and chatted (drank) a bit in Durango. That AZ/DC shirt helped with the memory kicking in. Nice run for sure. I give one of my nuts for an HOUR on single track now (I want the trail up front). We have two feet of the white shit on the ground here in PA.
Get your terminology right, DB. That’s not a recovery pint, it’s a way of life. A good one.
What would a good day be on a fixed gear?
Props, btw.
“What would a good day be on a fixed gear?”
cog— about two hundred laps on the velodrome?
Sorry, that was just too easy. :)
Don’t ride on the ‘drome. I ride everyplace else you could think of on a fixed gear, and afew you might not have. And I wasn’t talking to you.
So dirty biker-Now that I’ve dispensed with Skippy the Wonder Wanker, did anyone ride the Old Pueblo fixed? And how did they do?
you should probably talk to BGR about this one
“And I wasn’t talking to you.”
cog— let me get this straight— you ride a track bike, but not on the track? Okay. Stay safe, dude.
@mikey. I thought we was ignoring dan ??
just dave/notme…
@ mikey: yep.
Next time the “fancy” ones pass you saying, “on your left,” your war cry should be, “On Your Mom!”
No, I don’t even OWN a track bike. Surly Crosscheck, 1976 Carlton Raleigh Supercourse, Redline Monocog. All fixed gear. Ride ’em everywhere that I ride, which is everywhere. Never been to a velodrome.
Figured that surely someone in the singlespeed class might have taken it to the next level and rode fixed. Somewhere along the line I got the impression this is a cycling site. My mistake.
I’ve seen a few people ride off-road on fixed. A mechanic that worked for me at the shop did and one of the guys from Team Hughass came through town (they’d ride 24hrs of Cannan on the same bike AND same pair of bike shorts… or at least that was the legend… ewwww…) They’d actually survive some of the more rocky places we rode, but it always seemed like a way to make mountain biking less enjoyable…
Think of it as year-round crosstraining.
Well, I ride only one gear at any given time, and it’s fixed in one direction of rotation, so I guess it’s all good. On today’s ride, I expect to have my ass handed to me, as I’m still feeling the after-effects of climbing Amabilis Mtn. on skis Tuesday. Took us half an hour to find the summit in the fog, trail was snowed/blowed over. Yeesh. Made the 6.5 -mile descent in about 40 minutes, that was cool.
Freewheel is not fixed. Not that I give a poop what anyone rides as long as it works for ya. Dual squish, crabon fibre with ten cogs out back, crappy tenspeeds with bumbars, beach cruisers-It’s all good with me. And just because I’ve found The Way, it don’t mean it’s someone else’s way. We each gotta find that for ourselves. But I was kinda wonderin’ if anyone rode the Pueblo fixed, because every style of riding has something to teach us all. Hell, I know folks back here (Appalachian mountains) that ride rigid MTBs with a fixed gear on SCARY technical singletrack. And yeah, I’m too chicken and too brittle by far to even think about it. But I learn a fuckload watching just the same. Sorry to interrupt the pill party with bike content. I’ll go now.
BGR attempted the Great Divide race fixed. I think he got an abscessed tooth and had to abandon. I believe there is a person out there that has done it fixed. I believe he or Rudi Nadler did the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo fixed some years back. BGR still goes off on fixed gear mtb tangents when the wind is right. He’s like that.
I however, don’t understand why anyone would give up the privileged of coasting.
And I don’t understand how any otherwise prudent individual would give up the control of direct drive. Hell, last time I rode a freewheel I almost smacked into a wall when I tried to slow down by resisting. It feels scary to me when I ride a freewheel-Like I’m not in control. But to each his own. Bikes good. Me like. And I still have my old road frame and some nice Shimano 600 sitting around, so maybe someday…
“And just because I’ve found The Way, it don’t mean it’s someone else’s way. We each gotta find that for ourselves.”
Someone buy this enlightened fellow a drink. Use all the money you saved buying a 16t instead of a whole fucking ten speed D-A cassette.
Ten speed cassette? Good Lord what would I do with all that? Seven was plenty enough for me, back in the day.
Word.
“Arguing on the internet is like the Special Olympics; even if you win, you’re still retarded.”
All you elite fixie nerds: shut up, turn off the intertubenets, put on some tight black jeans, and go ride your bike (even if its not on the velodrome).
For those of us who were at the Old Pueblo this weekend, we know two things: 1) Ride your bike
2) Have fun
Ken, I’m hardly an elite fixie nerd. I’m just a middleaged fat fuck who loves bikes. Tight black jeans? Nah, you don’t want to see me in those; trust me. And I haven’t shit in common with-are they still called “hipsters”?-or whoever. As to the velodrome, I lean more toward cyclocross-style riding as it was practiced in the early part of the twentieth century. Riding on and off road, portaging when need be. It’s a shame we don’t have events like that anymore.
Truth is, I was brought to fixed gear by the late and beloved Sheldon Brown. He was a curmudgeonly middle aged sort, and I, being of similar demographic and already fond of the singlespeed, thought I’d give fixed gear a shot. Life ain’t been the same since. You might check him out. There’s a veritable Fort Knox of knowledge there, on all things bike.
And I never argued shit. Just wanted to know if anyone raced the Old Pueblo fixed, and how they did. But good luck with your Special Olympics; I’m sure your mom is very proud.
Uncle Pat @#31, that’s all I was trying to say. Why does everybody want to fight over the minutiea when there’s so much of the big picture that we all agree on? Jeeze, run for Congress or some shit.
Dirty Biker is the man!!!! Way to represent NY
“And I haven’t shit in common with-are they still called “hipsters”?-or whoever.”
cog— except for riding fixed outside of a velodrome. Damned hipsters.
“Hell, last time I rode a freewheel I almost smacked into a wall when I tried to slow down by resisting.”
If that’s true, you’re just plain fucking stupid. But I think that story is a load of bull shit, I doubt that really happened; if it is true, it speaks volumes of your (lack of) cycling skills and abilities. Maybe if you rode the fixie more and whined less on the internet, you wouldn’t be such a fatfuck. And stop pretending you dont know what hipsters are, only other hipsters do that. And I dont care if a Philadelphia Eagles player turned you on to fixies, I’m still gonna laugh when this trend is over!
Well if it’s a trend, it’s bloody well set the record for long life. It started back in the 1890s, tha knows, and it still works fine for anything I’d care to ride. But run what you like; it’s all cool with me. Thought I made that plenty clear, even for the likes of you. Got comprehension much? Didn’t think so.
Tell ya what-Come over to the house NOW. Bring your pedals. I’ll put them on one of my fixed gear bikes and we’ll see who’s stupid. When you ride something everywhere and all the time you just get used to it, I suppose. Hell, I bet if I put you on a bike with friction downtube shifters you’d be lost. But I digress.
As far as knowing aboot hipsters, eh, there really aren’t any in this Podunk little shithole. Make of it what you will. “Philadelphia Iggles player”? Where the fuck did that come from? Been a Picksburgh Stillers fan all my life an’at. Yinz should know that at the very least.
And before I forget, good luck again with your Special Olympics. Don’t forget your helmet, and remember-Everyone’s a winner.
Oh, and sweetcheeks? “Whined less on the Intardwebnet”?
Pot.
Kettle.
Black.
Now someone get this sorry piece of shit out of my sight and fetch me another beer.
Guys. Relax. Seriously. REeeeeelax. It’s Friday. Drink something. And relax. Then ride whatever the fuck makes you happy.
sfb, word!
Way ahead of you.
Sliante.
The first people Meet riding fixed gear off rode was Team Hugh-ass. Not in a race, but for fun, and on any trail. And they had more fun than most anyone I’ve rode with since.
And as for this.
“Hell, last time I rode a freewheel I almost smacked into a wall when I tried to slow down by resisting.”
I’ve done the same thing. But I did smack into a tree, and I’ve blown alot of turns switching from coasting to fixed. If you don’t understand that feeling, than I highly suggest you take a different bike on your same old trail and have that feeling. It could be a coaster brake , a fixed gear , single speed, unicycle… It’s all trails, and it’s all faster than walking.
Making fun of the special olympics is horribly offensive. Good day sir.
Obviously Ken is new ’round these parts.
And I should read ALL the posts before pounding my keyboard like some drunken hedgehog on meth.