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I didn’t want to put anything up yesterday because I felt Jonny’s post about Laurent Fignon was pretty important. He is really only one of three French cyclist I could call myself a fan of. Even when he lost to Lemond, I was still a bigger fan of him than my own countryman. The other two are Thomas Voeckler and Christophe Moreau. Voekler is pretty obvious, you just have to watch that little guy dance all over the pedals and bury himself in the pain cave on every single break he makes. Moreau is a little less obvious. Even though he is a badass rider, it’s not why I am a fan. I am a fan because every single French girl that I have ever met in her 20’s, knows who he is and wants to have his babies. Baller.
The other reason I didn’t post up yesterday was because I was worked over, completely exhausted in a pile on my couch. It all started with reading Little Jar’s words and one little part that caught my eye. The part about doing a century on a track bike. I have one of those hipster rides and I have never ridden it more than probably 50 miles. There was a break in the weather the next day (meaning less than 100 degrees) so I decided to see what it would feel like to not coast for 100 miles. I took it easy on myself and picked a nice long flat ride down to the booming metropolis of Coolidge. Granted it’s not the most visually stunning ride but the shoulders are wide and the road is flat. I have done this ride a few dozen times so I knew exactly where I needed to turn around to make it a century. I got to the turn around feeling pretty lousy and I am greeted by a headwind riding back the way I came. I have never been known for my fitness, but I do know how to suffer, and suffer I did. Alone in the wind with the heat from the pavement burning my feet, and no coasting. It was awesome.
Now I know that I can do it, there is no need to do it again… for a while.
Keep it dirty.
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I’ve always though Moreau was another one of those classy riders. It will be sad not to see him in the peloton next year
To see the courage of Voeckler in defending his yellow jersey earlier this decade to the bitter end over ol’ Uniballer was tear-inducing. Home Boy knew he was going to lose it eventually but wasn’t gonna just give it up in front of his home countrymen
Damn some a what you did, dirty. fixie to Coolidge is some kind of self loathing. Nicely done.
Man… fixie to coolidge, slightly sub 100 degree weather, headwind. I’ve been party to some dumb tricks but that one sits right up there. My hat’s off to you sir!
Next time you’re itching for a new punishment may I suggest single speed up and over the Four Peaks road and back. I can hear you now, it’s only like 60 miles, how bad can it be? at least I can coast…
Damn, you definitely know how to get yer suffer on. Hat’s off to ya sir. You’s a man.
thats a sufferfest dirty. better go get a nice massage….haha!
How many gear inches ya runnin? Got a brake? Me, I got fixed gear only. Crosscheck, Monocog and a nice bit of lugged 531 that seems to be the only thing I want to ride these days. All of them around 65-70 gear inches, all with a front brake.
There’s tons of flattish to rolling riding around here. Sometimes I hit a wall and have to walk, but mostly I don’t feel limited at all. I’m slow as fuck anyway, so…
Really, the only time I wish for gears is when I want to climb out of this stagnant little cesspool of inbreeding. But now that I ain’t got work (thank you, treehuggers) I might bust out of here, irregardless of having no gears. Hell, what’s a little more pain?
I’ve only gone around 50 with one of them thar hipster things. 71 gear inches and a brake. Mostly roller where I ride. 100K is a good distance for any ride but being old (did I mention slow?) I don’t have to prove anything. Keep on rolling.
Nice French rider list! To which I would add Laurent Jalabert. I had the pleasure of hearing Laurent Fignon commentate the TDF this last summer. Cancer had totally fucked up his voice but he didn’t let that slow him down one bit, always ready with an uncensored opinion! And btw, my fixed has been missing me lately, the usual late-season lump on my ass makes a freewheel sooo tempting. Keep the faith!
Fixie me likey. And Jalabert for certain sure.
Silas Kahl did more than one century, (I have done six, all geared) and one of them on a track bike (not a fixed gear road bike, a real track frame) and he is known to go straight from one job to another on his bike, then come up this hill, and while everyone, I mean *everyone* in Seattle has some excuse or another to drive a car every time, this man (how do I embed a photo again) represents… and he might be the person who will buy my Landshark.
*everyone* as in more than 95%
i wouldn’t call it “suffering” more like a “working meditation”. proud of u sir, hope you were able to achieve a nirvana known to only a few.
LJ, what does that have to do with dirty’s post? im not picking on you, just curious.
I’m glad to say I cannot count the century rides I have done. I’ve really no idea. Between 10 and, say, 20?
Because he didn’t specify, and I don’t want to take credit for that century.
And, to do with that post – Which mission is that?
Where is Coolidge?
Dude, that’s a Langster Tokyo frame on yer fixie. isn’t it?
Rare and pretty they are.
I agree that Jolly-Bear has to be in the Francophile hall o fame.
dude could hurt
…hunnert on a fix ???…that is definitely impressive, flat or no…props…
…jalabert is a “yep”…always an independent thinker on top of having the legs…
…interbike leaves las vegas…
…sorry about the non sequitur but it’s official…this year, 2010, is the last one for interbike in vegas…the organizers are negotiating w/ anaheim & salt lake city…
…on top of that, it’s moving up to early august, which makes ‘mo betta’ sense…euro-bike just ended & w/ them both earlier in the season it gives a better lead time for products…
They should have it in Kauai.
I’m just sayin.
…sounds good to me !!!…
…reality ???…long flights, expensive hotels, prob’ly worse riding than vegas & in all honesty, who wants to eat ‘poi’ ???…
Bummer on the interbike front. If it has to be moved, it should go to Denver. Full stop.
I’m actually glad Interbike is leaving Vegas. It should have years ago. Vegas is a shithole and is what’s wrong with the world. It needs to be wiped off the face of the planet. Even Reno would be a better town than Vegas. Anaheim seems like a bad idea. It wasn’t very good when it was there back in the early 90s. Interbike maybe should be in a maybe somewhat bike friendly town? Salt Lake has promise. Denver. Austin (although if they want to move it to August, that’s not really the place for it… Have people falling over from heat exhaustion on Demo Days) Hell, KC even. They trucked everyone out to Demo Days 30 min out of town. They could do the same to Clinton Lake outside Lawrence. Yes KS has some decent riding…
It should go to Auckland, New Zealand.
Clean, green & biggest city in NZ but 30 minutes in any direction & you’re in countryside.
But don’t tell anyone, we don’t want all these foreigners coming down here & spoiling things…
(except for DC folk, Y’all Welcome)
…the one good thing in particular about las vegas, in my opinion, are the restaurants…
…doesn’t matter what kinda budget you’re working with, there’s always good food on offer within any price range in vegas…
I think that’s true of any decent sized city. It’s not like they put conventions centers that could handle Interbike in the sticks. Austin is the home of the inexpensive taco trailer, being right next to the fancy foodie restaurant. One problem with SLC would be all the 3.2% beer. There are a lot of mid sized cities that have vibrant riding and nightlife scenes that aren’t gambling and strip clubs (I like boobies as much as anyone, but have you ever met a stripper that wasn’t fucked up in the head?) I think it would be good for Interbike to make a rotation through some of them. I think it would be good for the industry.
Anaheim is beautiful this time of year.
Don’t know where Colidge is, but a hundred miles on a fixie is still a hundred miles on a fixie, and completely insane.
Remember to rest and recover before you do anything that wacky again.
..::shakes head in wonder::..
Ahem- you don’t love boobies that much if a stripper’s mental game is your sticking point. Don’t worry about the back story, just enjoy the show!
SLC would straight up SUUUUUUUUUCK. The LDS is a proven fun killer.
Anaheim would suck, just like it did/does.
Vegas is a horrible, horrible place.It’s what’s wrong with the world. It’s also fun as hell once a year.
And I also enjoy watching Sandy Casar take a flyer.
I read once that Las Vegas was the least bike friendly city in America. It took only one ride there to show me that fact. Public drinking in every place is legal, and drunk driving is impossible to reasonably enforce.
flat fixie hundo? sounds like a silly/fun/stupid good time to me. rest your taint and crack a beer. you earned it.
…it’s true, littlejar, it ain’t a “bike town” but if you’re headed to ‘interbike’ & get out early in the week, the ‘dirt demo’ or the organized morning road rides would or should satisfy riding needs, despite the use of buses to ferry people out near boulder city…
…hopefully anyone as regards being a cyclist is only there for the bike show & maybe ya gotta give up riding around town for the duration but, ya, to live there & ride as a means of regular transportation would be idiotic…
…el jefe…i’m not defending the town because it’s totally a weird place for a bicycle show but the “thing” about vegas is that you can walk out of the ‘sands’ at the end of the day & stroll up or down the strip & actually “dine” in any number of high end restaurants, not just eat a meal…
…if yer tired from being on the show floor all day & don’t feel like walking, most any good restaurant in town is only about a $4.00 buck cab ride…’course i was overjoyed years ago when i discovered the “whole foods” market near the ‘green valley ranch’ turn-off on hwy 215…
…i don’t recall ever eating a ‘great’ meal in anaheim…there were just ‘places to eat’ but nothing memorable…
…the fun in anaheim was later @ places like “the doll hut”…ever get invited to ‘those’ parties ???…nice place down in some grimy industrial area…sleazy biker bar that got taken over for the night…shoes stick to the dried beer on the carpet, pool table w/ burns all over the felt but there were all the folks you’d hope to see after a day of stale ‘convention floor’ air & bright lights…
…as i recall, there was also that ‘late night’ go-kart track…whiplash city…hmmm…
…jeez…i wonder what salt lake city has to offer ???…prob’ly not much…
I live out here and I can not see the attraction of Anaslime. Yeah there is Dland and you can get to the beach in 30 mins by bike, but WTF are they gonna do about demo days. Put you guys on the loop? Maybe they will turn the Santa Ana River Bed into a demo area? They flooded one section and turned it into a jet ski course one year.
There is good food if you know where to look, Downtown Orange and Fullerton. If all the DC family is out here maybe we could all do a Fullerton Loop? Not that I am part of the family. But it would be nice to put some faces to names and see who can actually hold the liquor and who can’t.
One good thing about it being here is all of you that make it out here could do a brewery ride. 20-30 mins by bike from Anaslime Convention center are two excellent breweries. Bootlegger’s and the Bruery. Damn good beers. If you need a tour guide I’m unemployed right now and with my luck will still be by next year.
dirty – i am often at odds with your desire to suffer and your skills at simply chillin. i guess they balance each other out.
reno would be a great spot for interbike. it’s a bike friendly town (getting more so everyday…) with lots of fantastic singletrack nearby. easy airport access, casinos, buffets, and tasty brews. there’s even a pretty sweet convention center that is terribly under-utilized. i hear opportunity knocking.
…& the hookers are better priced in reno…
…or so i’ve heard…
gotta cross over the county line to get hookers – but it’s not far… closer than riding a fixie from tempe to coolidge anyway.
…rose…it’s not a habit, honest…(i think “not that it really matters” applies in any situation like this)…
…years ago, ‘rite of passage’, the old mustang ranch…had a great time & the only disappointment was that they were out of t-shirts…
…btw…cycling history…during the early ’70’s in the “tour of tahoe”, a 2 day stage race, the mustang ranch offered up a free night as prize for a mountain prime…it was won by the bay area’s keith vierra (who was later a teammate of lemond’s on the old ‘avocet’ team) & as the visit wasn’t the young racer’s ‘cup of tea’, i believe he finally turned it over to a rival, the grizzled vet nik farac-ban after much cajoling on nik’s part…
…& i’m sure nik left w/ cycling’s reputation as a tough sport well intact…
…true story…
el jefe – I’ve been across Kansas City on a bicycle as well and I was not impressed in the least. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started taking away bicycles as soon as you cross into Missouri. Been across the hoof, too – and it was pretty at times and an agricultural hell at others but literally NO other bicycles to be seen or heard of. Does MO have a hippie haven like Lawrence KS or Austin TX?
Fuck it, let’s just put it in Ashland, OR.
Dope riding
Great food
Shakespeare
Amazing beer: Caldera, Rogue, Deschutes
Naked granola chicks seriously, boobs all over
Legit skatepark open to bikes
Huge road loops
A Dairy Queen (blizzards with bourbon are rad)
No sales tax
Weed everywhere….
Lawrence KS is the hippie haven for KC. It’s only 40 min out. I’ve had a bunch of friends who’ve been to conferences in KC and speak very highly about it. CX nationals were held there a few times. An old buddy of mine used to manage a shop there. It’s not on my list of places to end up permanently, but visiting a time or two would be nice. Just don’t go swimming in the fountains. The cops don’t like that. Stone + water = slippery, slippery + person = fall down, fall down = P(break bone|split skull). After taking many people to the hospital, they’re pretty strict about it. Lawrence, is a great town, and much hillier than you’d expect out of KS. I’m trying to figure out how to post-doc there in a couple of years. Flat KS is west of the Flint Hills… and boy is it flat.
Fuck yeah, Ashland. That is my dream town. Too bad the nearest airport is Methford. (The teen pregnancy capital of the West) And, the nearest major airport is Portland. Let’s keep Ashland just like it is…
…’member the old “revenge of the siskiyous”…that’s ashland, oregon…
…sweet town to pull in to when ya gotta lotta hard, fast road miles out on hwy 5 under your wheels…
…peaceful & almost soothing stop just off the road when you’re burnin’ up or down the left coast…
…stretch, breath in some woodsy smelling fresh air, grab a bite to eat & leave feeling refreshed as ya once again hit the road…
Lemond has always been my favorite French rider. And Voeckler, my favorite German. I’m glad there aren’t any Greek riders. If there were, they would probably really put the “reek” in “Greek.” I’m just saying, you know? Go, Lemond.
Jacques Boyer
Yup, BGW.
Got 5 or 6 Revenges under my belt. That was a shitty first race to do as an expert…50 some-odd miles starting with the climb up to the ski park. Afterwards the original IRD guys had a scale you could weigh your bike on.
I was doing that shit on a 32 lb hardtail.
Miss that race, don’t miss the bike.
…monsieur trout…
…no wonder you’re enamored w/ that lovely town…i believe 5 or 6 ‘revenges’ qualifies you for “write in” status for the mayoral vote…
…el jefe can lobby to become become police chief & my educational standards are best suited for the most important job in town…i can become the trash collector…
…can we agree on “bikes only – no cars” on sundays & wednesdays, as a starter ???…
…snake hawk…i went geek to find you greek & the best i could do was to find you a rider w/ greek ancestry…
…Jean Apotre Lazarides, nicknamed ‘apo’…born in france…won a silver @ the ’48 worlds on the road, picked up a 9th & 10th in ‘le tour de france’ back when, along w/ 2nd in the ‘mountains classification’ one year…
…not much “reek” to that semi-greek…
I never made it up for Revenge. I’m sorry I missed that one. I did Oregon State Championships there one year, when they held it up on Mt. Ashland. What was that race up by Lake Shasta that always had bad weather? Three times I paid for that race, loaded the truck, and woke up in the morning to reports of rain and snow. Decided I did not want to rebuild my bike, again…
As far as the modern epic, in the vein of Revenge, make it out to the Mas o’ Menos in Terlingua, TX. Back in my racing days I did it a couple of times. Up there with the best races I have ever done. Few things beat desert racing in February.
bgw, I don’t want nothing to do with Sherrif. Town drunk maybe…
…m’kay, el jefe…& when yer up to it, you can ride shotgun on the ‘trashtruck’ n’ look for old bikes n’ shit to fix up…
I do believe that even the trash in Ashland smells of fresh pine and chronic…
…good point / good laugh…
Ah, my home race…Northern Cali’s finest…the Lemurian.
Hard as hell.
Overend
Tomac
Roll
Thomasberg
Price
Weins
Myrah
etc. etc.
Saw Tomac do a 2:09 on the old course.
Unreal.