coffee and donut Ritual
learn Anthropology
Indian food Naan-N-Curry
more coffee Blue Bottle
more learn Ellen Messer
sandwich Love N Haight
snack Rainbow Grocery
hip hop Immortal Technique
Category: travel
Salmon falls trail- Folsom, Ca
Rolling dolo on some post-feast single track. A chill 16 mile out and
back along the river. Working off all that tofu.
SF: How sweet you are
Death Valley (again)
Two weeks ago 5 of us piled into a (borrowed) car to head to Death Valley for the Fall double and century. Morgan, Stacy, Luz and myself were volunteering (my third time!) and Budge was going to ride his first double. Driving separately were Max and Michael who were volunteering and Jack and Megan who were riding the century on the tandem. Below Morgan hops on in Megan’s place before the start.
‘I hate the desert. This is stupid. I don’t know why anyone would want to ride out here.’
-about mile 400 of the 508 last month.
Okay, so I am not a huge fan of the desert, but after years of trips to Death Valley, I do really appreciate it. The mountain ranges are gigantic and they rise from the vast valleys in such immediate contrast. It is like nothing back East. And it helps when you have Dr. Morgan Beeby, walking Encyclopedia, with you to rattle off unknown facts and figures.
Stacy chillin the best way she could
1) I really enjoy being out on the course and helping riders who are on their first century or double or in Death Valley for the first time, finish and feel good about it. 2) I want to give back to AdventureCORPS for making all of these rides possible 3) I don’t want to forget the scale of what I have been through and 4) my experiences can help the riders who are out there. 5) I love a free trip.
Budge crushed it for his first double and the little training he did. He finished in just over 13 hours! results, photos, write-up here.
Hiking on Sunday
This is obviously awesome
After a great hike on Sunday we drove back via the 395, with great views of Mt Whitney and more stories from Dr. Morgan Beeby, I walked from Mexico to Canada through the mountains, the whole way.
Tahoe Sierra 100 mountain bike race
Another hundred miler! (the veterans call them ‘hundies’):
Scene: Zeno’s bar in State College, PA. A live band is playing and we have to almost yell to be heard.
Characters: Matt, Steevo, Steevo’s bike racer friend Straub, Straub’s roommate Rich
Characters: Matt, Steevo, Steevo’s bike racer friend Straub, Straub’s roommate Rich
Straub: Matt and Steevo are racing the Shenandoah 100 this weekend and Matt is racing the Tahoe-Sierra 100 the weekend after that.
Rich: I’ll be at both of those too. Sweet.
Matt: You are going out to CA for the 100?
Rich: I work for Giant Bicycles, so I fly back and forth between CA and PA a lot.
Matt: Maybe you can help solve my dilemma. I need to get my bike from one to the other and it is going to cost me a ton. Any ideas?
Rich: Hmmnn. I’ve got a trailer full of 2009 demo bikes in CA. You can ride one of those, unless you have to ride a rigid single-speed.
Matt: Whoa, really? I’d hate to be responsible for one of those bikes.
Rich: No man, it’s what they are for.
(Steevo nudges Matt’s leg under the table)
Matt: Okay. You sure?
Rich: Yeah man. I’ll have a 2009 Anthem in your size waiting.
Matt: Sweet!
So three days after getting back from the PA trip, I am flying to Sacramento with Sufiya. We stay at my Uncle Bob’s house, the same awesome Uncle I stay with for the Auburn Triathlon (2006, 2007, 2008), the first night. On Friday we drive out to the campground start/finish which 45 miles on one windy mountain road from the nearest town.
This is what a lot of the course looks like
Definitely in a beautiful area
more
Friday night we camp, which is Sufiya’s first time camping. Ever. It went well. The stars were amazing and it didn’t get too cold. She asks me where I am meeting Rich in the morning. When I tell her we just said that we’d see each other she expresses concern that we have no plan. You didn’t set up a meeting point? Oops.
In the morning, after walking over to registration for some coffee, I notice a black SUV parked next to our car. It’s Rich and his crew. Who needs a plan? He hands me the bike. We roll over to the start and at the gun I take my first pedal on a bike I’ve never ridden.
Stole this photo that I am in from a forum on mtbr.com.
This is getting long so here are my notes from the course:
zero single track
super dusty
hot as hell all day!
5-mile climb twice in first 25 miles- brutal
undulating sections, lots of climbing
gravel, rock, dirt, double track
big rocks on dirt road downhills hidden by thick dust
not as fun as Virginia, course and riders
finished strong: passed about 12 people on the last two climbs and descents
no veggie burgers at BBQ. Only thing I could eat was corn
a rigid single-speed 29er is a lot different than a 26inch full-suspension cross-country bike
Stories and a good blog:
teamdicky.blog.com
Thanks for the bike Rich. And congratulations on finishing 7th overall!
stop 6- Shenandoah 100 mtb race
The best way to describe the Shenandoah 100 is as a 24-hour party with a 100-mile mountain bike race in the middle. The race has beautiful views, long climbs and fun, fast technical single-track. An awesome awesome first mountain bike race.
Saturday afternoon we hung out at the group campground and pavilion where the race starts/end with hundreds of other riders (and there partners, kids and dogs). Ate, kicked it with the Dirt Rag magazine guys, went for a short cruise, scoped the observatory and settled in for an early night. Then there was a huge thunderstorm! I was dry in a bivy sac, but it was raining so hard it was hitting me through the material. Lots of lightening and thunder. Man, I dislike rain when I have to deal with it, but a thunderstorm in the summer is such a beautiful thing. It stormed about an hour. Then within minutes fireworks went off. Ah, the east coast. Apparently some West Virginia kids think the ride only counts if you party the entire night before. Love it.
Here is the recap in Cycling News and Steevo’s account of the day.
Race starts at day break
500 people signed up for the race. How would they corral that? Well, they didn’t. They said go and everyone rode away. I stayed way in the back, unsure of where I’d end up, riding rigid single speed and all. With that many riders the first 15 or so miles were tight.
Virginia woods
As I have never raced mountain bikes or ridden one 100 miles, I had no plan. Just ride and stay safe. I love riding single speed. On long dirt or gravel sections packs would form and I was able to stay with the faster geared guys by just tucking and pumping or riding a wheel really tightly, both skills acquired from BMX and road riding, respectively that apparently carry over. Sweet.
Luckily only a few short sections early on were like this
The course had awesome downhill single track. Miles at a time. Nothing like cresting a hill out of breath and cross-eyed and then navigating rocks, ruts, roots, turns, trees and wet leaves at 15 MPH. It was scary and amazing at the same time. Again, I thought I would be passed on these types of sections, but it rarely happened.
During the really fun sections
I didn’t want to stop so this is what you get
I didn’t want to stop so this is what you get
37th/71 in single speed and somewhere in the top third overall at 10hr 55min. It was a long day, but so much fun. Will road riding seem boring?
At the post-race meal I ran into an old BMX friend I have not seen in many years. That’s always fun. Jamie had also just seen Steph Surch another former BMX at a mountain bike race and the same friend I ran into at the Philadelphia marathon in 2006. Crazy.
Then Steevo and I drove 5 hrs to Pittsburgh, I packed, slept a few hours then flew 4 hours back to Los Angeles. Totally worth it. Thanks Steevo and Amy!
stop 5- Virginia (it’s in the south)
In Harrisonburg, Virginia we ate at a Workers Collective called The Little Grill, after barely getting in the door before closing (at the odd hour of 3pm on a Saturday). Kids who look like they are in all of the bands I went to see as a teenager served us average vegan food for decent prices. But how often do you get to eat at a worker-owned spot? Exactly.
In the south people take dogs for rides in convertible 3-wheeled vehicles
At the campground where the Shenandoah 100 starts/ends:
I was trying to shoot the dogs playing. Really, I was!
Pasta with marinara the night before the race? Yes. Thank you.
stop 4- Philadelphia, PA
An amazing thing happened here. I was in Philly and ate none of the following:
soft pretzels from the pretzel factory
vegan chinese
govinda’s
vegan chinese
govinda’s
Our total time there was probably only 12 hours. We saw my good friend Mary who recently collaborated with her husband on a project to produce a new person called Jayna. She is a combination of both their genes. When Jayna is the same age as Mary was when I met her the year will be 2029. Will one of the Bush twins be President? I hope Jayna has a couch I can crash on when I am in town.
stop 3- Bethlehem, PA
The obligatory Vegan Treats photo (peanut butter cup cheesecake!)
trip playlist:
Chokehold, Content With Dying
Ignite, Call on My Brothers
Morcheeba
Morissey
Embrace
The Get Up Kids
Chokehold, Content With Dying
Ignite, Call on My Brothers
Morcheeba
Morissey
Embrace
The Get Up Kids
Wed night- Attempted to ride Jordan Woods with my long-time BMXer turned flat-track racer friend Mark, but had some mechanicals and darkness. Rode through Allentown in the dark sort of street riding.
One of Mark’s bikes
Thursday- Salsibury Mountain in am with John from Action Wheels and John from Steel City Tattoo. Fuuuuuuun. Some BMX-y sections with berms and drops, fast parts, tight turns and packed dirt. Good times. Thanks Johns!
Attempt to ride trails behind Lehigh in pm, but Steevo hit a grey chain over a grey road that should not of been there. He kept all of his teeth, but we still had to fix his face. See his post (with photos) about it or my previous post.
Friday- Jacobsburg Park in am. This is where I rode when I was in High School, also on a rigid! Really fast-packed over-maintained trails. Got a little lost in the rain. Didn’t matter. In the parking lot a kid in a Audi recognizes me from BMX. Small world.
State College continued
After the dumb pipeline cut our ride short we got back to the prius and into town for food. Burritos? My favorite joint- Burritos as Big as Your Head- is long gone, but we spied another taqueria. We park right in front, surprisingly, and an older guy comes out and says, ‘How’ve you been? Welcome back.’ I don’t know this dude. His taco shop wasn’t there last I was in State College, let alone 7 years ago when I lived there. wtf?
Mediocre burritos made by the slowest, stoned white boy who has ever made a burrito. And I think it was his first. We spent the rest of the night looking at girls discussing if being thin and wearing black-rimmed glasses made us look gay.
Tuesday: After a long chill session at the local coffee shop, Webster’s, we decided to ride bikes.
Rode about 4 hours on the Stoopid 50 course.
Our 56.2 MPG whip. 1300 miles on less than $100
4 hours of single track with no overlap
All the technical riding would set me up for the Shenandoah 1oo course
Back in State College we jumped on the ‘530 ride’ which leaves from the Atherton Bridge and heads to some woods a few miles from campus. Was a fast ride. Inside it was technical and what I would call, using a new-to-me term, ‘rake and ride’. I hadn’t refilled water and was pretty burned out after one lap. The fast people did three. I jumped on with another single speeder to get two in. He’d later take us to the local cool shop, Freeze Thaw.
Later we hit up my favorite Indian restaurant of all-time, India Pavilion. Then we looked at girls some more, went a bar that is now smoke-free and hung out with Steevo’s bike racer friends.