I’ve had little motivation to write lately. I’m uncertain as to why. I rationalize time and time again that everything has been said, and otherwise there is nothing worth the effort. But, that is probably because I have not been riding any further than Pay ‘n Take which is 400 yards from my door. I think that has a lot to do with the decline in any ability to put cycling logic to print. It’s been a bummer of sorts personally. Riding use to be everything. Now, not so much. C’est la Vie n shit.
Fortunately, an overnight ride with my friends from the valley and Tucson had been ‘on the books’ for some time. It was to be a trip around the Cabin Loop over on the Mogollon Rim near Strawberry/Pine. As I said though, I had not ridden in weeks, maybe months. As that was, all my bikes were in some form of disrepair all the way up to the day prior. Thus, the evening prior was spent first determinng what I wanted to ride. Then, upon deciding to go single, cobbling together a onie out of an old xc Titus frame. 34×20 was the gear. Four hours after the thought, I got it finished at about 2am. Here it is a week later and still quite perfect in its simplicity:
The next day, after a round of errands to finish supplying for the ride, I was two hours late to the rendezvous point by Blue Ridge Reservoir. The holmies were already set to pop, so we made our way to the trailhead and out from there onto the ride. Although I took a few pics, I’ve been unmotivated to record or document any aspect of life so the pics are ultimately unispiring and I’ll sample a few shots from Yuri @ upsideout here.
It's more of a hike, than a ride
From the above pic, you might think that there was some hiking involved, and you’d be right. For every downhill, there seemed to be a hike back uphill in return. The deal maker however, was how lush the area was. One of the dankest (yes, I said it) areas I’ve ever seen in Arizona. So dank in fact, it might have been the northwest had I not known.
Foggy Morning at camp
The preceding photo is of the fog on Saturday morning at camp. Thing is, you don’t often see fog here, so it was pretty cool.
DC socks dry in the sun
I said it was dank right? It was. Mid day on Saturday we set up for lunch at one of the many historical cabins on the loop. There, everything was set out to dry in the midday sun prior to the next deluge that would occur that evening like clockwork. The springs all around us were gushing. Lush I say.
Of course, no pictures were taken of the brew on hand, but a sample of Bavik was provided by Yuri and it was some of the finest canned beer I’ve sampled thus far on a bike trip. Essentially, as it passed my piehole down to my gullet, I had a dream that I was experiencing Budweiser before it became “an american original”. It’s a Belgium Pilsner, and like Budweiser, it has a similar flavor, but it’s cranked up to eleven on the flavor chart. It comes on clean, has a heavy pilsner mid punch, and leaves with only a whisp of an aftertaste to remember that last glug by. Delicious. Being a canned brew, it’s perfect for packing on the rides. I highly recommend it if you can find it.
Upon returning to the trailhead, I was overcome with a desire to sleep, and ultimately stayed horizontal until the morning upon which, I bugged out back to home for more sleep. I suspect this was due to not riding at all for the past few months, then singlespeeding (and hiking) with a full overnight setup for that day. Nonetheless, I’ll recover and more importantly, it sure felt good to ride a single speed once again. I look forward to the next outing.
Aside from that personal endeavor supported by friends, I’ve been stuck in a post Tour slump these past weeks. I don’t think I got enough while it was in session. This was my own fault of course, which was due to my lackadaisical effort to watch it. It has become so formatted, that nothing new is garnered. Sure, Schleck, Contador, in with the new, out with the old… All that. It was good fun, but it was like a massaged script that already ran last year, and the year before, and the year before that, and so on. Like a bad sequel again and again, so it was boring until those sporadic yet underwhelming moments in the mountains. I wanted it to be more than dude’s in a studio pumping Lance, or the race itself, but it seemed there were never any significant insights, or perhaps I just missed them. I was blinded by Road ID advertisements instead. That, and dreams of Odessa. Regardless, over the last few days as I search for the scraps, the images, opinions and whatnot of this year’s Tour strewn about the web, I happened to stumble on a few videos worth their mimutes. The interviews of Horner are top notch. I’ve never heard that guy speak, but only know of him through his actions (less talkie more doie) until now, and for the record he’s a fantastic and simple minded cyclist, both on and off the bike. Proven through strength and dedication to his team. Always the American dark horse. I hope he prospers through his remaining years…
- Horner on stage 19 TT.
- Armstong on expectations
- Armstong, Schleck. Other shit. (disclaimer, the dudes on the set in this vid are long winded, but past them, are good interviews)
- All of Horner’s interviews on Competitor.tv.
Another thing, I know everyone’s all ‘yee haa’ or ‘fuck him’ when it comes to L.A. But, I’m alright with the dude on a ‘that’s cool’ level. I don’t care about the doping issue he’s up against. Well, actually I do care. It’s no way to send off the greatest American cyclist in history. He really has done too much good to be taken down in such a way. He should be commended, and respected. He did everything everyone else was doing, only he did it better, like we expect from any American champion. And if’n we need to be offended because he is brash, I take the attitude with the grain of salt it needs. He’s American, and more importantly, he is a Texan and who can deny him the right to be as he is? I can’t imagine what it is like to stand on top of the cycling world for essentially two decades, and receive what he has been given. Indeed, there are millions of dollars and fame around him, but much of the time, nothing but shit is thrown at you while you are the king, and I believe he has had some shit thrown at him. Regardless, I think he’s done an excellent job navigating his endeavors as a cyclist and, perhaps more importantly, a businessman. We all should wish that for ourselves as well. I’ll never understand the contempt anyone has for him unless it is wholly derived from his omnipotence and the envy it attracts.
And just to keep the tab on the dope..
Petacchi won’t talk:
The Italian ANSA news agency, quoting informed sources, previously alleged that two banned substances were found at the 36-year-old’s home — PFC (Perfluorocarbon), an alternative to the banned blood booster EPO, and human serum albumin.
source: velonews
With that, the rain is subsiding and my singlespeed is calling.
Keep the cheddar schredded,
g
July 28th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
9 out of the 10 days of the year you sit there, arms folded, spraying hate like a clown head sprinkler hooked up to the neighbor’s hose. but you get a little shine on your 34×20, go spirit hopping your way through the gay forests of the west, and come back all happy.
it’s madgjick. you’re magik. a goddamn wiccanpedia of spiritual fortitude. i hear you on the post-big-event-blues. we got to live in this little world, albeit an i-don’t-hummerstand-what-all-the-drama-is-about world, but they moved in with me. after 3 weeks of watching my television, eating all my shit, and greasing up my couch pillows, they left. just left. nothing but damaged furnishings and burned up chest hair to show for it. kind of like after husky visits.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Well said Snake. I like it when the Gnome goes for a lovely ride as well.
Horner is definitely the man domestically, has been the man internationally, and will be the man to more and more as he keeps pedaling.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Gnome,
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I’m kinda in an eddy similar to yours. Cheers, man. And you might be underestimating your Pay-n-Take yardage. I assume your figure was one way. Hey man, you’re at least twice as hard than credited. And “dankness in AZ” is always worth mentioning…
July 28th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Right on Gnome. I feel the need for a reshuffling that puts the bike back at a high priority as well… That second pic makes me miss the epic rides where someone gets the Magellan Award…
July 28th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Lance… tired as fuck. Someone get him a lawn chair and a cold beer.
July 28th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
“It’s more of a hike, than a ride”
Life can be like that. Enjoy it, brothers.
July 28th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
That ride looks like a double rainbow to me. Hell yeah.
July 28th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
If you ever loved riding..you’l always love riding.
Word.
July 28th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
…must be something in the water…
…less miles under my wheels this year also but a couple a’ hours today helped…
…post-tour “meh’s”…glad to not be dedicated to “having” to watch something but at the same time it’s kinda like “uhhh, hey…this is my time, the one time of year when ‘other’ people wanna talk bicycle stuff, so ya mean it’s over ???”…damn…
..horner, lance-ster, petacchi, jens, the whole fucking lot…they’re all ‘the man’…that’s some serious, serious shit out there & none of us ever achieved that level…not even close & personally, i know the pain i’ve put my legs through over the last 40 years…
…enhancement ???…ya, it’s been out there for years & while the thought is nasty, it’s still about long, hard fast miles & a lotta fucking pain…
…i can respect that…
July 29th, 2010 at 4:52 am
Horner may be fast, but he’s a world class asshole. The last time I listened to anything he had to say was when he was whining about once again not making the Olympic team.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2008/08/road/horner-says-he-not-mccartney-deserved-olympic-slot_81477
July 29th, 2010 at 5:25 am
I told my wife the other day that all the dudes I’m a fan of are all near retirement. Not just Lance, they ALL are: Horner, Jens, whoever. Who’s next?
July 29th, 2010 at 6:43 am
Art , fuck off ……….
July 29th, 2010 at 8:18 am
Agreed. Art shut up.
The Olympic selection process for cycling is retarded and Horner said it. To say he’s an a-hole because he “whined” about a selection system that rewards mediocrity and “brown nosing” while ignoring actual hard faought race knowledge and experience is the height of interweb desk jockey DS BS.
Sit down before you hurt yourself.
July 29th, 2010 at 9:29 am
From the article:
“There are only a few guys in America capable of staying with the best in the world, and I’ve never seen Jason riding the wheel of riders like [Spain’s Olympic favorite Alejandro] Valverde.”
Now, maybe if Horner wasn’t busy working on his excellent wheel sitting skills during stage 14 of the previous year’s Vuelta, he would have had a pretty nice view of McCartney winning it. Regardless how you feel about the Olympic selection process, that was an utterly classless and unprofessional thing to say. Besides, what would he have done if he had gone to Bejing? Sit on wheels in the pack? As bad as the US selection process is, I have to give the committee some credit for accepting the fact that no American rider had a shot at winning that race in a bunch sprint and putting riders on the team who might have a good go at a breakaway.
July 29th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Sigh…
Obviously you and I have differing opinions on the pertinant arc of that article. It is easy to see why some would not like the attitude of frustration that comes through in his comments (I’d be pissed to if I missed out on 3 seperate Olympics because of lack of communication from the commitee, rumours of health and a ridiculous selection process centered around one race rather than a season).
After thinking a bit, I think that the main reason for my retort to your comment was because Gnome was just saying how cool a rider seemed whom he had never really gotten to hear first-hand and the first thing you decided needed doing was to shit on him (the rider).
Gnome doesn’t need anyone defending him or his opinions, but why would your only comment towards his post be essentially “Horner’s an Ass”? I apologize for the vitrol, I just like the dude.
One last bit. Sitting on wheels is what a good supporting rider does to opposing riders. Sit in, watch, and try to disrupt. His role at Bejing would have been a support rider and most consider him much better at that than McCartney.
Oh well, spilt milk at this point. :)
July 29th, 2010 at 11:27 am
The Olympic selection process is tedious at best. We’ve heard complaint on top of complaint from cyclists in all disciplines regarding the process for years. It’s nothing new for the USOC to snub the clearly capable due to irrelevant number crunching or a competitive process that focuses on inappropriate events schemes. In fact, I’ve never heard the process referred to with any fondness. Ever. From my limited understanding of it, I would only give them (USOC) credit for being warm bodies maintaining a flawed process. As with any Committee.
Unlike politicians, It’s refreshing to read and witness genuine responses from professional cyclists. I can’t imagine how it would be worthwhile for them to respond otherwise.
July 29th, 2010 at 11:35 am
…chris horner…like a well made home brew…
…delightfully refreshing, with a solid bite & always gifted with a good kick…
July 29th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Followed Horner since Nutri Fig / Colorado Cyclist. My homie was their wrench and said he used to race, then go ride for 3-4 hours after while in the US. On “off” days, Horner was riding for 3-4 hours. To lose weight, would eat toast and drink Tea, then ride for 5-6 hours. that’s it.
Horner is the guy that has the balls to say what others won’t when it counts. The US selection process is fucked, and as much as I like Jay Mac, Horner is a better rider – period. Tactically, it is not even close. He has been fucked more than Jenna Jamison when it comes to being selected, his frustration is well earned.
We don’t send anything less than our Dream Team in basketball, why would send anything but the best available in Cycling?
July 29th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
…hump…we are in total agreement on this one…
…horner ain’t afraid to rock ‘the committees’ boat…they don’t like that & so, have always had excuses to try n’ subjugate the lad…
…thus, ultimately, said committee, horner & we as cycling fans, all lose out…
…go figure…
July 29th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
goddamn i am glad you took that spam addition shit off the comment section. i never even saw it and a bunch of comments didn’t come thru. whatev.
gnomy, riding makes you happy. i love it when you post your bike trips. i am DEF not a camping type of girl, so i live vicariously through your posts.
July 29th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
I’m down with camping. But I like having a whole lot more than eight pounds of gear. Sure, I’m a wuss and all that. Whatever. I need an ice chest full of beers and a pizza. At minimum.
July 30th, 2010 at 3:34 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2010/columns/story?columnist=ford_bonnie_d&id=5410814
July 30th, 2010 at 3:47 am
Nice pics gnome. You need to get your ass down to the Copper Canyon one day…..EPIC.
well you may want to wait a few years on 2nd thought….
July 30th, 2010 at 6:23 am
I apologize for stating that a bit more harshly than I should have. It’s just that when I first read that article his tone struck me as that of someone frustrated with going from rockstar to bottle carrier upon moving to Europe and blaming everyone but himself for not producing the results needed to make the team.
I think we can agree that the Olympic selection process is a wreck in the US. The process seems to be an attempt at being fair while including big names (like Armstrong’s automatic selections for winning the Tour). I have a lot more respect for the Italian model where it all comes down to one person to build a team around the course. That’s probably even more open to accusations of favoritism, but at least it gets results.