STC threadwear business card/beer

www.STCthreadwear.com

It's 12:05am, and I'm starting to fade. The 3 hours of sleep I got between last night's shift and this one is catching up to me. I've got a really drunk guy sleeping off his booze in room 15. Lucky bastard gets to sleep. Maybe I'll crawl in next to him. Don't worry, I'll make sure I'm the big spoon.

While Jake napped, I met with Dan and Laura today to strategize. It was a good meeting. We have some direction. Laura is going to spearhead the campaign to enlist reps and call shops. I hope we can really get this thing ramped up in time for the holidays.

I also designed a new business card. If it looks like a can of beer, that's because it was inspired by a can of beer. I actually made a design similar to this for the Upslope Brewery folks to use as a coupon. They had already paid someone else to make a design for them, so they didn't end up using it. But I liked it so much, it seemed like a waste to not use it. Just another alcohol inspired misadventure I guess. But it does work nicely as a business card.

Happy Halloween from STC threadwear!!!

It's 2:40am, and I've got 3 psych patients in the ER. They are remarkably pleasant folks, and at this hour, they are thinking saner thoughts than me.

I sent out a design for a track jacket in the last post. It seemed to be reasonably well received, but I'm just still not sure. Dan likes the idea of vertical stripes. So I did a version with vertical stripes. We are planning to market one of these to the resorts. The left chest logo can be pressed to fit whatever resort is interested. One of the nurses here suggested putting the vertical stripes on the back. Not a bad idea. BTW, the front view model is actually me this time, rather than that metro American Apparel guy.

Just saw a little kiddo that's feeling lousy and probably has the flu. Her parents are really nice folks and appreciative of our care. Kinda makes me like my job a little more, even at 3am.

I'd love some feedback about the designs (thanks to those who've already given feedback on the first design). Sometimes I think they are good, and then sometimes, i just want to start over. As opposed to the t-shirts that we are selling, i would actually buy one of these jackets. Of course, it would have to be drastically reduced, but I'd be willing to buy it. This puts me in foreign territory because with the t-shirts i had to keep reminding myself that even though I would never buy a t-shirt (I have a million), other people apparently will. But with the track jacket, I have to ask myself which one I'd rather have. I think I want both.

I should go check on the baby with the flu, and then i've got to figure out what to do with my contacts that I forgot to take out before leaving the house.

until next time,

I'm out.

STC threadwear Track Jacket

(American Apparel Jacket,

STC threadwear design)

STCthreadwear.com   sparetirecycling.com 

As mentioned in the last post, I would like to put out a track jacket in time for the holidays.  Check out the pics and let me know what you think--design, colors, etc . . . 

The inspiration came from the old school IMBA track jacket they put out a while back.  I tried a number of different design ideas, but I just seemed to gravitate to back to this one.  The retro stripes was very popular at Veloswap, and I think the stripes work well on the jacket too.

BTW,

 that model is an American Apparel model, not a buddy of ours.  

Veloswap

STC threadwear       www.STCthreadwear.com.

www.sparetirecycling.com

We hauled our wares to Veloswap this past weekend to introduce them to the world.  For those who don't know, Veloswap is like a giant flea market for bikes and bike stuff. It was a bit of a nervous beginning as hordes of rabid shoppers busted through the gates of the Western National Complex on their way to consumer heaven.   The attached pic is of our booth the day before the event after setting up.  The stampede headed straight for our booth . . . and then kept on going, all the way to the depths of the complex where the mega bargains live.   The first couple hundred folks that come through the doors had been lined up for hours outside of the building, braving 40 degree weather for the chance to get the first glimpses of Veloswap's best deals.  Those folks blew by without even a glance.  They were focused.  Finally, a lady walking by our booth turned to her husband and matter-of-factly said,"I want that one."  She was pointing to the Columbines and Chainrings design.  Ah, at last, a sale!  As I scurried to the back of the booth to press out a fresh shirt, the flood gates opened.  For the next 4 hours, I barely had time to pee as the orders kept coming in.  Thankfully, Laura had come to rescue us just as things were getting really busy.  Both she and Dan worked the front of the booth as I tucked myself into the back to work the heat press.  At one point I turned to Dan and stammered, "This is more stressful than a packed ER, or even a patient trying to die!"  We got great feedback about the designs throughout the day.  I'm sure the "FREE BEER" coupons helped some (We partnered with Upslope Brewery to offer a free pint in their taproom in Boulder for every shirt sold.)  But for the most part, the designs held their own.  It was pretty cool.  We were hoping to just break even, but we ended up doing significantly better than that.  And considering we were selling at near retail cost in a wholesale, prices-slashed environment, that's not too shabby.  

BTW, if you guys have a Facebook page, you can friend us, or become a fan, or something like that.  Amy put one of our designs on as her profile pic for a while.  She started a trend because a number of other random people have done that as well.

Last thing.   Big props to Ryn and Cindy who crushed the San Jose marathon.  Ryn later told me that it was easy.  Show off.

I'm trying to convince Dan to let me put out some track jackets.  More on that in the next post.  But We'd like some honest feedback about the design.

Until next time.

out.

-wu

Check out our new website at http://www.sparetirecycling.com/.

STC update

It's 1:15am, and I'm waiting for a CT result to come back. The late night ramblings tend to be somewhat incoherent, so I apologize in advance if this post sucks. but Jon has been on me about the paucity of updates (none) since the Breck Epic.

I never provided adequate closure to the last stage of the Epic and the race in general. I had many things I wanted to say about it, but I can't remember them all now. It was the coolest and most fun bike race I've ever done, and I hope to be able to keep doing it in the years to come. one of the coolest things about the last day of the race was meeting Keith Bontrager. For those who don't know, Keith is one of the pioneers of mountain biking and frame building. I have 3 of his bikes. I happen to run into him after the last stage (read, I stalked him like Kathy Bates in Misery. "I'm your number one fan!!!"). He was really cool. Thank you, Keith, for not calling me out as the obsessed fan that I must have appeared to be.

In any case, the Epic was really cool, and I recommend it to all. There are so many things I want to say about it, but I'm too tired now. But I'm signed up for next year. Since Jon will be in New Zealand all summer, he won't be able to race with me next year. I enlisted a World Champion though to take his place. For those who haven't heard, Ken is the solo 12 hour clydesdale WORLD FREAKIN' CHAMPION! Great job Ken, you better start wearing the WC stripes.

I'm kinda burnt out on biking right now. I shut it down after Leadville, and have only ridden a couple times since. It's time to get back to ball sports, at least for now.

The big news these days for STC is that our online store is up and running. Thanks to Dan, we've got a full-on store with a check-out page and everything. See it at http://www.sparetirecycling.com/. Drew's kids are getting us some model pics to replace the mock-ups on the site, so it's going to look even cooler. Big thanks to Karen Hogan for being our very first online customer. We are looking forward to the day when a complete stranger buys something.

Last thing, we are taking our wares to Veloswap. Dan somehow sweet-talked the fine folks at Upslope Brewery (newest microbrew in Boulder) into giving us "free beer on the tap" coupons to entice people to buy our shirts. Pretty cool deal.



until next time,

-wu

Hard Day

You'd think that the last day would be easy- well it would be if I'd actually ridden it. Woke with a hellish migraine and didn't ride today. Emotionally disappointed. Under statement. So looking forward to rolling over the finish line today. Jeff rode the last stage solo and strong- just bummed that I was there for him. Bugger.
Experienced a migraine for yourself- yeah you know the feeling!

The whole experience this week has been amazing. Have ridden on some great single track in some breath taking locations. The climbs gave been tough- almost epic. Everything has been well coordinated and the race support has been perfect. Top marks for Mike and his crew.

Going to try and ride the last stage before the summer is out.

Later, Lynx

Butt Pus

So once again, you may be wondering what Butt Pus has to do with anything.  We'll get to that.

Today was the Wheeler Pass stage.  Jon and I have been getting stronger through the week.  We took some time from the Belgians yesterday, and I was glad to see that this stage was going to be hard because we seem to ride better on the harder stages.

It started well, we were towards the front of the field with team 303 Racing in our sites and the Belgians behind us.  The field crawled along the first singletrack climb, and it was tough to stay on the trail at that pace.  Many racers started walking.  We were able to stay in the saddle and move up in the field.  This was going to be OUR day. And then the wheels fell off the bus.  

At first I thought I just over shifted, but when I looked down my chain was dragging along the ground like a limp noodle.  As Jon would say, "It's buggered."  Crazy f__king British.

Even though I had a powerlink, it still took a while to put the chain back together.  We watched the entire field pass us by as we fumbled with that greasy bastard.  Once we got back on our bikes, we super-crazy-legged it to catch up.  But that took a lot out of us.  Plus, my drivetrain was making a funny noise.  When I finally looked at it 10 miles later at the aid station, I found out that I had misrouted the chain through the derailleur, and it was out in a place where is should have been in.  After fumbling around with it again, I finally got it right.  Despite the chain calamity, we would have been okay, but then we hit Wheeler Pass.

I've actually been on Wheeler before.  Things looked eerily familiar as we began the climb, and then I realized to my horror what was waiting for us.  Ken and I had taken that same route a few years ago when we did the Breck adventure race.  On that day, I cramped all the way up, and all the way down the pass.  All I remember about that forced march was that it was absurdly steep, and that I suffered.   Today was no different.  It was still steep, and I still suffered.  As we hiked our bikes over the pass, I knew I should be taking in the breathtaking views, but I had no breath to spare.   The annoyance of the scrubby bushes overgrown into the trail scratching my shaven legs (Yes, I sold out and shaved my legs.  But no more ashamed than losing the baggies and riding with gears.  The Breck Epic will make you do insane things.) was a welcome distraction from the hurt in my legs, which were making my eyeballs swim.  

I often compare having to do painfully noxious tasks with draining butt pus in the ER.  You might say it's my measuring stick for unfunness.  Hiking Wheeler with dead weight (not you, Jon) makes draining butt pus seem . . . quaint.  At least with pus, you get immediate gratification (even if a little hits your shoe), and the victim, I mean, patient, is uually grateful for your efforts.  There is no redeeming quality to pushing your bike instead of riding it.   Huck did put a silver lining on the piece.  "Hey, it's a ride you wouldn't do otherwise."

Huck, there is a reason I wouldn't do it.

But enough bellyachin'.   The Epic has been really fun, so I won't do anymore complaining.

We ended up in Copper and took the rec path back to Frisco, conjuring up more memories from the aforementioned adventure race.  That path has what seems like a relatively benign (pleasant even) downhill grade all the way Frisco.  Unless you are on mothergrabbin' rollerblades!  And then it's an EZ pass lane straight to hell.  Wearing those squirrely boots on wheels, I could barely stifle my girly screams as I careened out of control at mach 2 towards Frisco.  All the while, seriously considering laying down as a means of slowing myself, and also thinking, "So this is how it's all gonna end?"

Riding my bicycle on the path today was by comparison a far more enjoyable experience.

We finished the ride on the Peak trail, and came in around 15 minutes behind the Belgians, losing all the time we gained on them yesterday.  At the finish, I felt far worse than any of the other days of racing.  But two loaded bacon cheeseburgers later, I'm feeling better and more optimistic.  I told Jon I want to Podium tomorrow.  I want my revenge.  If that means taking out some kneecaps, so be it.

Here's a pic of the rehearsal for our crowning tomorrow.  Those guys to our left look envious.

 33 miles and 4500 feet of climbing tomorrow.  Tomorrow is OUR day!

out.

The dust has settled

Wow, what a stage. Someone said at the post race "look on the bright side you've just done a ride you'd never normally do!" Yeah, you're right, that was a one off experience (until I race it again next year!) Views from the top of the climb are stunning and after a beer it was worth it.
We had one of those days that didn't quite go to plan. Started well, then 'POW', Jeff's chain popped. Put us back a bit and I think we pushed a bit too hard - rookie mistake. Travelled (if you don't speak the Queen's English drop an L) up the resort on single track to 11,200ft. Then back down to the base 9,600ft, and then back up to 12,400 ft with the hikeover the pass. Drew, thanks for the tip "walk fast" - got it too late. Rolled over the pass into Copper base area- buddy Mark Woolcott was over there clicking pics. Check out his site
http://markwoolcottphotography.com/
There's a good chance you've seen him at Front Range races.
Anyways we rolled the bike path back towards Frisco and cut up the Peaks trail. Now that had a few kicks waiting for my Butt! Some good stuff there to race along.
Popped out at the Peak 9 area in Breck and I have to say - those racers hanging in the tent looked battered and lightly fried. Perhaps that was the indicator I missed about food today "fish and chips, not fake mash stuff!"
Big shout out to the number of folks how asked "you ok?" when the chain popped. Good atmosphere here amongst the racers. Plus some awesome organisation (Queen's) at this race.
Tomorrow is the day. Podium would be nice for the stage. Dream on rookie!
later, lynx

footnote- please excuse the English- I'm English! Hence it's not Bastardised English, often called American English on your spell checkers

these shoes ain't made for walking

but alas they walked the walk today! 1000ft plus of climbing by foot. Killer. You may recall from yesterday, that's if you actually read this thing, that I'm a biker NOT a hiker- well I crossed over to the hiker side again today and it really really sucked. On a high note the views up that high are STUNNING. You could even say incredible. Enough ranting. The mad man is done, oh, one more thing- if you're an Irish pub you can NOT put packet "mash potato" on a shep's pie. Sweet! Will be back later as the rants truely done, lynx

tomorrow we're over this

going up

Today we've improved ourselves. Finished 4th (in our cat) in the 40 mile 'queen's stage' of the Breck Epic. A stage that crossed a couple of 12k passes, had some stunning views and singletrack in a remote setting. The stage included a killer 'hike a bike'- sure there are some pics out there on the web somewhere, some white knuckle section and a mind numbing climb up America Gulch. All good fun. Both rode really well today, although the hiker bike section didn't suit me- I'm a biker not a hiker!!




Weather, have to mention it as English, has continued to be great- clear skies and warm without the expected PM thunderstorms. Has resulted in drier trails.

Tried the cold water treatment again today. Key to success- keep your shoes on, sit down and keep the feet near the surface- the waters warmer.

Had some service work to do- new cables. Other than that both bikes are running well. Loving the 6 inches in the rear on the Yeti. Awesome on the descents and with the lockout it climbs just as well as the Superlight. Key is to flip that switch. Jeff is loving his 'bargain basement' Haro too, only BMX out there!

Been using squirt lube on the chains, one of the race sponsors, and real impressed. There has been a guy at each aid station ready to lube your chain and get you going. Loads of Hammer product too. Swag is great and there is a promise of loads more at the post race party Friday night. Pics to follow of the goodie bag

Couple more stages left- tomorrow goes over the ten mile range and spits you out near Copper for a gentle spin back to town. So need to hit the hay so I'm fit and ready for the morning.

As a side note Deb was in Winter Park today- pre riding the w/e race course and met a black bear on the trail.

Later, Lynx

Talent

Rah Rah Ree,  kick `em in the knee.  Rah Rah Rass, kick `em in the other knee.

Jon and I had a great day in what was billed as the toughest stage of the race.  We did a large part of the Firecracker Course, in reverse.   Went over 12,000 feet.  Big, steep climbs.  We rode the best race as a team so far--and we are still in 5th place.   We did manage to finish ahead of the Belgian team, which is an accomplishment since they've been whoopin' us from the start.  Though I'd like to blame my lack of ability on my lack of training, the truth is that I really have to blame my parents.  And their parents.  And so on and so on.  I never should have done that stinkin VO2 Max test.  I could have continued to live my life in blissful ignorance.  But nooooooo.  I had to go and quantify my cursed limitations.  "What do you mean I'm born with that number? Can I change it?"

"No"

"I can't make it better?"

"Maybe a little, if you work really hard."

"But I want to have been born with naturally superior ability."

"Well, you weren't"

So there you have it.  I just don't have the genetics to ever be better than a marginally better-than-average mountain biker.  But being a non-contender has it's advantages.  I can sleep at night knowing that all the genetically superior bikers out there are . . . .  oh hell, I want talent!

TALENT!  T-A-L-E-N-T. TALENT!

Or I at least want a separate category for a Chinese/British men's duo.

But I digress.

We actually did ride a pretty good race today.  Team 303 Racing (who are tucked comfortably into 3rd place) saw us finish shortly after them.  Their faces said it all. "You guys?!  No, really, you guys???!!!"

Jon and I switched leads pretty evenly throughout the race today.  He is stronger on the easy to moderate climbs.  I am able to stay in the saddle a bit more on the heinously steep stuff.  Yeah, man.  I'm really good with granny.  The truth is that I'm just such a slow and pathetic walker (Ryn and Ken can attest to that), that I'll do anything to avoid it.

The course had some pretty sketchy stuff.  Mike did warn us of a steep little pitch on the other side of French Pass.  He warned us that we might want to slow down a bit.   Um, that was scary.  It was too steep to change your mind once you were committed, so I had no choice but to ride it with my ass on the rear wheel.  I don't think I want to do that piece again.

As a side note, Spare Tire Cycling is looking for sponsors.  We will shamelessly include product placement pics in our blog (see Jon's contribution).   We noticed that Squirt has a pretty stout list of athletes on their brochure.  Travis Brown, Jay Henry, Ned Overend, Conrad Stolz . . . .  

One question.  Where the hell is Jeff Wu on that list?  I'll have you know that I am the reigning Colorado State Short Track Champion for sport men 30-34!  (It was a stacked field too.  I beat a guy on a unicycle and an asthmatic (barely)).  Plus, I could use Squirt in the ER.  Who needs Surgilube when you have Squirt?  I'll use it for things like . . . well . . . for "procedures" that require lube.  We won't go into that. 

Tomorrow is another big day.  35 miles, 6000 feet of climbing.  The Wheeler Pass loop.

We still feel pretty good.  As long as we don't have any major mechanical issues (or any number of potential disasters) the next 2 days, we should have second-to-last place locked up.

More tomorrow.

out.

Tuesday's finish

Here we are after finishing yesterday's stage.- pic from Brandon, owner of Boulder Cycle Sport and currently standing 3rd in the Open mens cat. Cheers

Big Bucks! Big Bucks! No Whammies!

Or in your case...Big Push! Big Push! No Mechanicals!!! As the official Spare Tire Cycling Cheerleader and Support Crew, I feel as if I must actually do some cheerleading. :) I am highly enjoying this blog...and thank goodness I was not drinking anything when I read the projectile vomiting post! My family is so awesome...Breck Epic, Gigathlon, and soon Leadville! Y'ALL ROCK!!! (Oh, and as I am currently sitting in my office in Little Rock, rather than playing around in Switzerland, I have full access to my exclamation point key and thus will rub it in by using it excessively!!!) Keep the updates coming and I can't wait to come cheer all of you on in Leadville!!!!!!!

great job jeff and jon. i have no doubt that team spare tire cycling will move up several places once the cats and cramps start behaving and other teams start realizing what a threat you are. i love the blog. i wish i was there and that it did not coincide with our trip to switzerland. ...pretend there are lots of exclamation marks in my post--still cannot figure it out on this swiss keyboard. jeff, drink more and dont forget your tums and electrolyte pills. jon, dont push my brother too hard. and most importantly, have fun and i am sending you karma not to have any mechanicals . . . with your bike or your bodies. love, ryn

up and running- well walking in places

24 hours makes a world of difference. Felt soo much better and 'team spare tire' had a great day in the Epic. 28 miles, 4000ft just under 3 hours- pleasing. The race started with a natural roll out from the Ice Rink- the cop leading this had a heavy right foot and blew the backside out of the field, deja vu.
Couple of big climbs today and saw something that Jeff needs to try- a guy pushing his team mate- a lot, even running alongside pushing, leaving a bike at the top of a climb and running back down to push up! Sure that's not allowed, but hey, they're not in our cat!
Had our own 'advantage' today as taped a profile of the course to the handlebars- oh, how that helped with knowing what's going on. Also tried leg recovery other than compression tights after the ride- standing, waist (too cold), knee (still too cold) calf deep in a lake of freezing water- now that I'm not too sure about. Didn't last too long. Compression tights have it!
Midway point today - but, tomorrow's stage has as much climbing as the first three combined, and the mileage jumps to 40 and change. We've only covered 70 miles todate and there's still over a 100 to go, so will be on the heavy side of 'midway' tomorrow evening. Lets just hope it goes well as cross a couple of 12,000ft passes.
More tomorrow

The cats are purring

The first thing I asked Jon this morning was if he was feeling well.  (What I meant was if he was still shitting like he was pissing).  He said he felt fine (which I took to mean that he was feeling fine).   I had mixed feelings about Jon feeling like his old self again.  On one hand, I was glad his Cats were feeling better, and that we would be able to ride faster.  On the other hand, I knew that meant he was going to hurt me.  After all of my own cramping yesterday, I woke up stiff and sore this morning.  It felt like my hamstrings and quads were going to cramp just getting out of bed. It was an auspicious start to the day.  

Today's stage was an "easy" one.  28 miles and 4000 feet of climbing.  Jon went out fast in his usual style.  I puttered along in my usual style.  We eventually met in the middle once I got warmed up.  Once we got going, my legs actually felt good.  Suspiciously good.  The climbs were steep, but I felt comfortable, and I actually stayed around my threshold.  Jon was strong, and he showed no signs that he felt any residual effects from the day before.   I had made a bottle of Accelerade for the Aid station and dumped an unmeasured amount of salt into it.  I only realized that I may have put a bit much when my lips puckered.  But it went down okay, and it kept me going.  I was even able to hang with Jon for the race.   There wasn't a lot of mileage, but there was a lot climbing.  My new $600 bike (not a Huffy, but close) actually rides great.  It descends like a bowling ball and climbs like one too.  I got stronger as the stage went on and we both finished strong, both feeling good at the finish line.  Incredibly, I didn't cramp!  As Jon would say, "Yeah, that's alright, mmhmm."  Crazy F__king British.

As a side note, Jon had never eaten Totinos frozen pizzas, so we picked up a couple for dinner.  They are crazy expensive up here at altitude.  Like $1.60 per pizza.  I also introduced him to Eggo waffles.  If it weren't for me, poor Jon wouldn't ever get to sample some of Americas finest cuisine.

All in all, a good day.  We didn't change in the standings, but we can build on this.  Tomorrow is the biggest day.  42 miles,  10,000 feet of climbing.  

BTW, we didn't actually pay off Stuart and Steve to switch categories.  They moved to the 80+ division because they are . . . old.  Thanks for being old, guys.  Stuart, I still owe you some socks.

One last thing,  Jenn and Chris stopped their race so that they could help another team's member convert her bike to a single speed after her derailleur cable broke.   When I asked how their race went, they didn't even mention it!  Jeez, I'd be bragging about it to everyone who asked (and even those who didn't)!  Big props you two.

Time for sleep.  Big day tomorrow.

out.

Bribes

Okay.  Full disclosure.  The team in front of us that changed categories was Stuart and Steve.  I paid them off with a Spare Tire Cycling t-shirt and custom socks.  I can't believe they could be bought that cheaply.  I need to find more gear to give away if we want to move up anymore in the standings.  

chamois creme

Well I have to say that today really hurt. The TT yesterday was good. Today I had my worst day for years. Oh, the hurt-Stomach cramp! Would happily have packed the bags and gone home had it been a training ride, but alas it's the BRECK EPIC. Cramps arrived 5 miles into the stage and left after 25. Luckily we didn't drop too much time, just my pants! Big shout to Jeff for talking me through the fun.

Awesome stage with some of the best riding in Summit county. 35 miles with 4500ft of climbing- felt like a boat load more as the tank was empty. Stunning descents along the Colorado Trail. Just under 4 hours in the saddle.

Feeling better tonight and hope I'm good to go for the next 4 days- tomorrow looks fun.

Check the following for more info about the Epic

http://breckepic.com/

http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view/235344-breck-epic-stage-race

Projectile vomiting

Some of you are wondering what's up with the title of this posting.  We'll get to that.

Today was the first real test for the week.  37 miles and around 4300 feet of climbing.  Today was the Colorado Trail stage.  I never knew before why IMBA was so passionate about saving the Colorado Trail.  Now I know.   That's some of the sweetest singletrack . . . IN THE WORLD!  But before we got to the rippin' trails, we had to do some climbing.  And that's where we come back to the title of this post.

We showed up to the start this morning to find that we were 6th out of 7 men's open duo teams.   A little disappointing, but we are riding against an open class which contains a lot of really strong riders.  And at least we weren't last. The ride out of Breck was like being in "Le Tour".  The neutral start followed a police car, and the car traffic had to stop and wait for us.  Once we hit dirt, the police car split off, and then the climbing began.   The climb went on and on, and in some places was about as steep as the Link.  It was good terrain though, so it was ridable.  When I got to the top, I looked back and didn't see Jon, but I figured he had to be close since he's been so strong this year, much stronger than me.  I started the decent casually expecting Jon to pull up, but it turned out to be some other teams.  I pulled over and waited, and when Jon finally showed up he puffed, "My cats are killing me!".

I rode behind him for a while thinking, "Crazy F__king British."  Finally, I had to know what the hell "Cats" had to do with anything.  So I asked again.

And he replied, "My cats are killing me!"

The English may have been credited for the language, but they sure don't know how to communicate with it well.  

"What?!"

"My CATS are killing me!"

Oh, what the hell!  Do I really care?  When we finally slowed down a bit, I tried one last time.  

"What?"

"My GUTS are killing me!"

OOOOOOOOhhh.  Now I get it.

"I have to shit."

"Now?"

"At the Aid station"

"Dude, if you gotta go, you better just go now.  I see a nice patch of poison ivy to wipe with."

So we pulled over for about 5 minutes while Jon went into the foliage to do his business.  Then I hear gagging and coughing.  I don't usually associate shitting with coughing, so I turned around to see what was up.  And that's where the projectile vomiting comes into the story.  It was coming out both ends with a vengeance.  Poor guy.  

But Jon's a tough bastard.  He got his ass back on the saddle, and we rode on.   I actually felt pretty good, so I took the lead for a change.  Jon's insides were all twisted up, so we rode at a pretty reasonable pace, which allowed me to stay under threshold.   Despite that, I still managed to cramp up because I ran out of water.  But I rode through the cramps and we made decent time.  In fact, we even managed to move up a place in the standings.   (One of the teams in front of us changed categories).  But hey, now were in 5th place!  We just need 4 more teams to change categories, and this thing is in the bag.

Jon seems to have recovered.  We refueled right away, and we've got our compression stockings on.  (Thanks, Drew!).  Early to bed tonight.  Each stage gets harder.

out.

1 down 5 to go

The prologue is done.  As it turned out, the rain stopped shortly before our start time, and the sun even poked out to warm us up.  In fact, the trails were only slightly muddy, but for the most part, in great condition.  I wish my lungs were as well conditioned.   Jon set a pretty fast clip, and I just tried to hang on.  Despite riding in the red zone for most of the time trial, I actually felt pretty good.  Even more surprising, I recovered quick and felt reasonably healthy afterward.  Plenty of singlespeeders passed us on the climb up, but we didn't get passed by anyone in our class (we were the last to go).   The prologue was cut short by 700 feet of climbing (mercifully), so it was a nice little surprise when we hit the top of Nightmare on Baldy and saw the finishing tent.  The only drama of the ride was on the way back down, my bike started making a frightening noise. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR".  "What the?" "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR".   Jon figured out that the problem was with my freehub.  It was making that ugly grinding noise. We made it back to town, and we stopped in to see the guys at Avalanche Sports.  Outside, hosing down his bike, was Josh Tostado.  For those who don't know who Josh is, he's a local legend and crazy strong mountain biker.  He's won the last thousand Breck 100 races.  He had been out earlier marking the course and had gotten caught in that nasty storm.  I rolled in and told him about my bike troubles.  To my surprise he casually replied,"Is it going, 'GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR'?"  I looked at him incredulously and sheepishly replied, "um, yeah". 

 "It's your freehub.  It just needs to be cleaned and lubed."

"Oh, thanks."

"No worries.  Go talk to Rich about it, he'll take care of you."

I went in and began to tell Rich about my troubles.  Just as casually as Josh, he replied, "Is it going 'GRRRRRRRRRRRRR'?".

"Um, yeah"

"It's your freehub.  We can get you fixed up, no sweat."

What is it with these guys?  When a patient comes into the ER, I don't ever give em the "Is it going clickety clack, beep beep?  Oh, well, it's your mesenteric sciatic cerebellum .  We'll get you fixed up, no problem."  And certainly not before the registration clerk has shaken them down for the co-pay first.  

In any case, Rich hooked me up, and I'm good as new.  

Thanks, Avalanche.  You guys kick ass.

Here's a pic from the top.  I'm pretty sure that neither of us could look any goofier.

 

More tomorrow.

out.

It's raining, it's pouring . . .

. . . Jon is really boring.  We are huddled in our condo right now staging for the prologue, which goes down in 70 minutes.  Outside, the weather is crap.  Cold and wet.  Really wet.  Thunder keeps rolling in but doesn't seem to roll out.  On the bright side,  I'm not riding my trusty Bontrager, so I won't be the only sucker out there with a steel bike this time.  Not being a lightning rod is at least some consolation for the fact that we may be riding through sheets of rain.  Well, we hope it's only rain.  At 12,500 feet, it could be even worse.  

I shouldn't complain.  We have a real roof over our heads.  There are some brave souls who chose to camp in this.  Finishing a wet, frigid ride by returning to a wet, frigid tent is not my idea of a good time.   I'm glad we splurged on the condo.

Better check my tire pressure for the 4th time.  

Out.

Breck Epic 1st post

Word.

If you are reading this, you are either friend, family, or stalker.  Pretty much nobody else would be reading this.  We aren't picky, so whoever you are,  welcome, and thanks for tuning in.

The Breck Epic begins tomorrow.  Jon and I will be posting internet fodder for the enjoyment of mostly ourselves.  But if you are trying to kill time at work or need something to help you sleep, read on.

Today being our nation's Independence Day, we felt it fitting that we celebrate by riding.  Well, our respective wives celebrated by riding.  Sue and Deb rocked the Firecracker course and brought home hardware (free pint glass with the free post-ride beer from Backcountry Brewery).   Each wife took on the grueling 25 mile course tag team style.  For those of you who don't know the course, it comes out to 50 miles of rather challenging terrain.  Oh, who am I kidding, it's a scorned, vindictive, body-pounding bitch of a course.   It's the course that has been chosen for the Marathon National Championships, and it's a pretty cool event, despite the beating.  The course starts out on Main street of Breckenridge, and the mountain bikers are the main attraction of the 4th of July Parade.   Sue and Deb rolled down Main Street as rock-star celebrities, slapping high-fives and waving to adoring kids.  Then Deb left Sue at the Ice Rink to continue the first leg.  And that's when hell begins.  Afterward, Sue told me that the course was harder than I had let on.  She was right.  But if I had told her how tough it really was, she wouldn't have signed up.  

As a side note, the parade was full of candy-throwing paraders.  Syd and Jake successfully played the cute card for each one, and collected more candy than on Halloween.   Another side note, we discovered that our kids are rabidly afraid of fireworks.   In fact, no more than 20 seconds into the fireworks show, Syd cried out,"Let's go back inside! I want to go to bed!"  Now that's terror.   Jake was scared speechless, burying his disproportionately sized head into Sue's chest.  I'd be embarrassed for my boy, except that he gets that cowardice entirely from me.  I don't think I could sleep alone in my own room until I went to college.  Correction, I had a roommate in college, so it was much later than that.  On a positive note, however, I've discovered a fail-safe way to get these rugrats to bed.  "If you don't close your eyes and keep quite, WE"RE GOING TO GO SEE FIREWORKS!"

Time for rest now.  The prologue is tomorrow.  9 miles straight up a large mountain.  

Chow.

new designs

We've got some new, fresh stuff coming along. Bigger and better with each new idea. We have a really big idea. We are going to be the cycling version of girl scout cookies. Don't laugh. It's for real. More on that as things coagulate.

The jerseys haven't been moving on Ebay, so it's time for plan B. Or is it plan C now?
Well, I haven't thought of plan C yet, so if anyone has any ideas, we would be happy to entertain them.

hasta la pasta

t-shirt designs

So we got our first answer to the question, "So you want to put our t-shirt in your store?" The answer was a polite, but unequivicol "no". The feedback was that it was just all too simple. Well, that was the point. Singlespeeders like it that way.
But no worres. STC is devoted to satisfying our customers. "You want an x-ray? You want some Vicodin? Nooooo prrrroblemm. Here's a menu of tests and meds. You just mark what you would like, and I'll be back to top off your soda and change your bed pan." Oh wait, we're supposed to be selling t-shirts, not return ER customers. So the idea of keeping it simple apparently doesn't sell. We've got some new and improved designs, and I think the world is gonna like em. I'd like to do a presidential theme too (for Obama, not for dubya), but I haven't quite hit on the right idea just yet. If anyone out there has an idea for a good t-shirt (not just for Obama), and we use that idea, you will be compensated hansomely with an enthusiastic "thank you" and a t-shirt of your very own creation.
Keep thinking and keep blogging, everyone.
-wu

Night Shift - continued

Jeff's runaway kid came back: 24 hours later. They managed to hold him this time and he's off to the psych hospital.

At about the same time Jeff was wrestling with the runaway last night, a gentleman in Boulder was placing a tight, thick spring on his unit. (Presumably for fun). It was apparently easier to get on than off, as he showed up tonight on my shift, swollen and greatly distressed.

We broke a 3' pair of the firefighter's bolt cutters in trying to remove it (the spring, not the unit...). We successfully freed Willy with the pneumatic grinder that is normally used to cut people out of wrecked cars.

After all that, it's time for a donught from the lounge, though a jelly-filled kruller may be a bit too much to handle right now....

I LOVE my sparetire cycling jersey!!  I finished the Leadville 100 for the first time wearing it and people behind me were hungry for fries.  It's my good luck jersey that I wear for all my races.

late night cravings

Over night shifts in the ER are hard for many reasons.
Right now, I'm waiting for the CT tech to come in from home, so she can scan this alcoholic, so I can put him in a cab home, so I can go lie down. But alas, some kid is being forced to come into the ER for a "mental health eval". He didn't agree with the plan, so he bolted into the parking lot. Now his mother and Louisville Police are looking for him, and I'm sure he is faster than the cops. But they will eventually catch up to him, and they will then bring him into the ER, so I can work magic on him, which consists of telling him he can't leave and ordering some lab work so that the mental health workers will agree to see him. All of this just makes me hungrier, and now I'm contemplating raiding the docs lounge for a soggy sandwich to quench my discontent. I hope we can sell eleventy-billion t-shirts so I can be sleeping at this hour rather than blogging.

Hungry?

Hello and welcome to our family!
Glad you could join us. We could use the company. The Spare Tire Cycling clan hasn't exactly been treated to a land o' plenty recently. The economic downturn has been putting the screws to most everyone who would otherwise like to don a hot and fresh jersey. But we are resilient, and we have plans. Big plans. Although the Boulder Belle line of women's fitness apparel is on hold for now (not a good time to be coming out with another high-end product), we are pushing on with a new line of simple, but silky (cottony) t-shirts geared toward the singlespeed, 29er, fixie riders. Let's be frank, we singlespeeders ride one gear because it's fun, it's pure, and for gosh-sakes, so we can tell the whole motha-grabbin world that we ride one gear. 29er and fixie riders are as fanatical, if not more so (especially fixies), than we are. Keep your eyes peeled for them. We hope to roll them out this spring, and they are going to be hotter than the fries on the back of our jersey. Anyone have thoughts on whether you would like to see it offered in organic cotton? More $ of course, but fashionable for all the right reasons.
See you on the trails, party people.
-wu