Sprint Night #1

It was the first official Sprint Night of the year and we had a really good turn out around 17 riders.  Sprint zones were Centennial, Tanks, Pipeline, Fireman's Lodge, Tastefully Simple, Voyager, and Shalom. I felt pretty good as long as the pace was constant. I was lacking in the jumps and had nothing when it came to the sprints. Still I was in the top 3 in close to all the sprints, and won the last one. It was great to get out and ride with some new riders. Troy, Nan, and Mike are all going to be great additions to the rides. Some of the older guys where being more aggressive and Eric was extremely fast, between him and Angie I'm really going to have to work on getting some of the sprints this year. Now if we could only get some more big guys out there I'll be able actually feel what drafting is all about.

Great first sprint night of the year. Thursday we'll be leaving the shop at 6pm sharp for a mellow road ride and on Saturday there will be a group ride leaving at some time during the day. Will post on Facebook at what time ride will leave. As for me on Saturday Ross and I will be leaving the shop around 6am to go out and get a 60-70 mile gravel ride in.

Riding season is here, we'll see you on the trail.

Foggy Glenwood Hills

The plan was for Ross and I to meet at the shop at 6am and go do a 50-60 mile gravel ride. A couple of things happened that changed those plans one the wind wasn't coming out of the right direction for the route we had planned and two somebody slept in. So instead of riding gravel we jumped on the road bikes and headed towards Glenwood.

Things were a bit sketchy when we left the shop. It was still dark out and when the sun started to rise we found ourselves riding through some dense fog. Not the safest conditions to be riding on a busy highway, but we needed quality miles. To add to the fog there was a stiff headwind on the way out, if we were to paceline we would have made some better time, but when Ross and I ride together we see it as a sign of weakness if the other needs to be sucking wheel.

If your not familiar with West Central Minnesota, we don't have many hills, it's not flat but the hills our power rollers. Glenwood is the exception, the climbs are not world class and would probably be considered rollers in areas with actual hills, but for us we find our versions of Alpe d Huez, Gavia, and the Tourmalet. Once we got to Glenwood the real fun began, first up was the East Climb. This short little beast has an average grade of 9% with a max of 19%, great climb to rip your legs off on. After that we went over to Snake hill (Pamida) this ones a real leg burner, average grade is about 5% with a max of 17% all over a mile. Ross couldn't handle my Contador-esque accelerations and I danced up to the summit alone. Next we head over to the Golf Course Climb and Don Dero Climb. These are short but steep, and again my light 250lbs body danced on the pedals and left Ross in the dust. Next up THE Glenwood hill...

The Glenwood hill isn't the steepest but it's a grinder. The top of the hill is always staring right at you and unlike the other hills in Glenwood that have some real steep sections to break up the climb, the Glenwood hill keeps a constant grade of around 7-9%. I felt pretty good climbing, but I had a pretty easy week. Ross on the other hand was struggling, but according to him it was a high intensity training week.

Once we crested the Glenwood hill it was a tailwind all the way back to the shop. We had two more unexpected stops, one for some Gatorade, and the other to fix a flat. Having the wind at our backs we were able to set a pretty good pace without having to work to hard. Next week were aiming for a longer gravel ride 60+. Good news the Bike and Fitness Company Weekly rides have started so if you're in the area Tuesday Night Sprints and Thursday night social road leaves the shop at 6pm sharp. So get out and ride you bike.

Peruvian Mountain Bike Adventure 2012

Peruvian mtb adventure 2012 from Bike and Fitness Company on Vimeo.

Here's the video from my recent ride in Peru. I used the chest mount for my GoPro but when I put my Camelback on it shifted the angle of the camera. I'm going to have to invest in the view finder. Still turned out alright.

Enjoy

BRRR 30

I left the shop at 12:30 when according to my IPhone app it was suppose to be the warmest part of the day, a scorching 17 degrees with a 19mph NW wind. I headed out on 22 and cut across Centennial to get to the gravel. The first gravel section was around 10 miles long, this was the coldest part of the ride, there was a cross headwind the entire time. At the end of the gravel my Low battery indicator on my Garmin came on, so I took that as a sign and started making my way back to the shop.

I had two goals for the ride: ride Browns Rd, and check out Moe Hall Rd. With my Garmin acting up and my foot frozen solid I wasn't able to ride Browns. There are some nice short and steep climbs on Browns, so I was kind of bummed that I didn't ride it, but the survival of my feet is more important. I did check out Moe Hall which is going to be a great addition to some of my gravel loops. It has some nice rolling hills, a couple of turns and trees, fun little road.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, the tailwind section was fun. All in all it was a fun ride and it was great to get out and ride. The only things that got cold were my feet. I haven't been able to find a solution to keeping my feet warm on the colder days. I had ordered a pair of the new Defrosters from Specialized but they sold out immediately and I wasn't able to get mine. Hopefully I'll have them for next season. Hopefully this was the last cold weather ride of the year. This week is suppose to be nice out, so expect so more rides. If any one is interested in riding this week, Ross is planning a ride for Tuesday afternoon, and on Saturday morning we'll be doing a 50-70 mile ride. Check our facebook page for any impromptu rides.

Georgie's Peruvian Mountain Bike Adventure

Peru could be cycling heaven, for mountain biking there is something for everybody cross country type single track to epic downhill 11,000 feet in 35 miles!!!(Olleros Trail) If you brave the traffic or get off onto some of the back roads there's climbing everywhere you look. I played around on mapmyride and found a ton of climbs ranging from 1-20 miles, all within a 20 mile radius of Claudia's parents house. Since I'm so addicted to Google earth and mapmyride I also came up with the ultimate century ride. It's a killer.

This is the second year I've ridden in Peru with Jamie Quiroz from Peru Bike. Peru bike specializes in cycling tours all over the country. I really want to do the Olleros trail and pretty much every other tour they offer in the future. Peru is an amazing country and I couldn't think of a better way of seeing it than on bike. Since Santiago is still a baby I can't really see myself leaving him and Claudia for a week, while I get to pedal around Peru. For now I stick close to Lima and do the Sacred Valley of Pachacamac tour. In Pachacamac everywhere I looked there seemed to be single track going up one of the surrounding mountains. Since it's so hot and the sun is so strong most of the upper trails are used in the winter months only.

Jamie came and picked me up around 8am. Once in Pachacamac, we got the bikes ready. This year I got to ride a 26" Haro Hardtail. I installed my pedals and Garmin, made sure the Gopro was on and off we went. The ride starts out with a nice 2 mile climb up to the single track. Once on the single track it is constantly up and down. There weren't many long climbs once on the trail but they were steep most between 16-26%. The downhills were even steeper, on one I looked down at my Garmin and it said we were going down a 30% grade. The trails in Pachacamac range from loose gravel to extremely rocky. Most of the single tracks are on the side of mountains and are pretty off cambered. There are definitely place were I didn't want to fall, if I did I’d still be tumbling down the side of the mountain.

Last season Jamie totally kicked my ass and we had to cut our ride short. I wasn't in the greatest riding shape, didn't know what to expect and I totally bonked, the heat in Lima sucks all the life from you. This year I knew I was going to ride with Jamie again so I made sure I was in better shape. I knew the heat was going to suck everything out of me so I made sure I was hydrated, plus I had some Nutella sandwiches along with some Cliff Shot Bloks to snack on during the ride. I had no excuses, this time I wasn't going to let Jamie kick my ass. Little did I know Jamie had knee surgery and didn't ride for 2 months, so he wasn't in the best shape. The little guy could still ride though and I didn't have any problems staying with him on the climbs. I out weight him by over 100lbs so anytime I can stay on a little guys wheel while going uphill or climb a section he couldn't I consider it a victory.

In the end it was a great ride. We didn't go super far or fast but it was just what I needed. Now only if I would have remembered to put sunscreen on I wouldn't be in so much pain as I write this.

Peruvian Alpacas

Nice little shrine at the top of one of the climbs.

The Sacred Valley of Pachacamac

       The Village of Mal Paso

Thanks Jamie, it was a great ride. I'll see you next year!!!

I'd like my arms and shoulders well done please.

Gopro footage wasn't the greatest but I'll post a video in a few days. 

Foggy Fun

Did pretty much the same route I did on Thursday. It was pretty eerie out, it was foggy and the trees were covered in ice. Visibility wasn't the greatest but luckily I didn't see any cars out.
All in all it was a fun ride.

Ride Report: Gravel Exploration

Mid 30's in february, couldn't pass up the chance to go out for a ride. I've been wanting to map out some of my gravel routes. Instead of jumping in the truck, I grabbed my bike and jumped on the trail.

Trail was clear in some areas, slushy in others, and snow covered in the shade. Trail conditions forced me to push a little harder than I wanted to during my "warm-up". Once I got off the trail the real fun began.

My Tacx ergotrainer is awesome but nothing can compare to actually getting outside and ridding. Skittles tackled the muddy gravel and I couldn't be happier with the new bike. Skittles is extremely comfortable, handles great, and is pretty snappy.

I was pretty bummed last summer when 2 key roads in my 20 mile loop were closed due to the lakes flooding. One road was redirected, the other is still closed, luckily the water is frozen and I was able to navigate across.

It felt great to get out and enjoy the awesome weather. Bike was awesome and I need to get some hours in the saddle, I leave for Peru in less than 2 weeks and have a mountain bike excursion planned. Last year when we went I wasn't in the best shape and the mountains kicked my ass. This time around I'll be doing the ass kicking.

Stay tuned...