Orbea

So I got my new racing rig the other day. It looks nice and I assume it rides nice too, but thus far it has a total of 30 minutes in a frigid commute to work on it. Nothing else. I've tried to leave work early two days in a row to get in some miles, but alas it is Saturday morning and I'm actually in the office waiting to test an application that has been down for 2 days. What does this mean? No riding the new bike. Hell, maybe no riding at all today. I do have a picture to keep me sane though.

Can you say new bike

I got my new bike on Tuesday, the Orbea Oiz. Pretty sweet full suspension in the mold of the c-dale scalpel, now all I've got to do is actually ride it. Riding time has been limited lately because of a lot of stuff going on. I'm getting in minimal hours but trying to get in all the "work" (intervals) that I need to get in shape. Been riding about 1 to 1.5 hours max and doing a lot of tempo (high end aerobic) work. The weather should be nice this weekend so hopefully can get in some solid time outside.

Good news on the team front, we picked up a cash money sponsor, SouthEnders, a new coffee shop in the neighborhood. I met with the owners (Mel and Nancy) on Monday and they are great people. They want to create a community focused business to give the people who live in my area a true neighborhood joint. Coffee in the morning, sandwiches at noon and a wine/beer menu at night. Visit them at www.southenders.com for more details.

We'll be starting some training rides from SouthEnders soon, feel free to join us once day/time are set. I've got someone finalizing jersey's this weekend and can hopefully post pictures soon.

There are still spots open on the team, if you are interested let me know.

Also I've created a web site for the team www.racinggreenmtb.com, still a rough site and very much in progress but I'll keep working on it over the next few weeks.

A new Post?

I keep thinking I have a "profound" post in me, something on politics, cause I'm still bitter about Iowa, though NH is almost ok with me. But the reality is right now I don't have the brain to write (or is is right) the thoughts.

We did get a new baby today. No not the kind we've been trying for, but a lizard. Seamus' first pet. It's nocturnal, which means my 6 year old will now be a creature of the night.

Tomorrow big miles I hope. The first LookOut ride of the year. Always painful but the climb is somehow honest and reveling in more than a physical sense. I hope there isn't ice on the top.

Definitions

As a cyclist how do I (or any of us) define ourselves? I road over 6,000 miles in 2007 most of those 5,500+ on a road bike (or at least on the road), yet I don’t consider myself a roadie. I am a mountain biker. Why do I classify myself as a type of rider when, in reality, I spend very minimal amounts of time participating in that sport?

I enjoy road rides; I even enjoy road races so it’s not as if being a roadie is all bad. The past few weeks I’ve been spending hours at a time riding on the farm roads east of Denver. Rolling hills, minimal traffic, a few cows, and lots of beer cans on the side of the road. These have been some of the most fun and peaceful rides I’ve done in years. These solo rides, and I mean solo since cars rarely pass and I only go through one town once outside of Denver, have gotten me thinking about why I define myself as a mountain biker. So far I’ve not come up with anything concrete. Sure I race the mountain bike more, but that alone shouldn’t define me. For a long time I thought it was the solitude of mountain biking, but then I realized the road rides I’d been on were more isolated and independent than most mountain bike rides.

Maybe it is the challenge of a mountain bike ride, the fact that the same trail can (and does) present different challenges each time it is ridden. A section I can ride cleanly today may pose more problems than expected tomorrow. Cleaning a section I’ve never made before on a ride is unique and a source of (selfish) pride. On the road bike the challenges are minimal; on the mountain bike they are omnipresent. A challenge allows me to explore my limits and motivates me. Creates learning opportunities that aren’t always available, maybe those opportunities are what make me thrive and cause me to define myself as a mountain biker.

Oil's at $100

So oil hits an all-time high today. Tomorrow the Presidential campaign begins its official tally. Obesity is at an all-time high. Damn it's good to live in America.

Seriously I love politics, for those who don't know me you'll get a taste over the next 10 months. I'm a bleeding heart liberal whose candidate of choice will probably say game over on Friday. I hate the money in politics, right now it is not about who can best lead the country but who has the money to buy votes. The best candidates (in both parties) will be lucky to pull in 10% of the votes in the Iowa cacuses tomorrow, won't get in more money and will go home. On the other hand people pulling in 15-25% of the vote aren't the best candidates but will get elected.

The good news though is I can save you money and help your health with my liberal green ways. I've been preaching using the bike as a form of commuting for (at least) a year. Maybe with oil at $100 a barrell more people will consider it. The benefits are huge: Save Money on Gas, Save Money on Doctor/Medicine, Feel Healthier, Help the Environment. Cliff Bar has the 2 mile challenge, trying to get people to cut the short drives of 2 miles or less. These use a huge amount of fuel (green house gas) and take as long or longer than biking with time spent finding parking etc.

I know it is the dead of winter but try to cut out one trip in the car this week. Take your bike to the weekend coffee shop trip or breakfast, the gas savings alone will almost cover the cost of the coffee.

2007

Twelve months ago I started my effort to Race Green in 2007, with goals of trying to raise awareness about global warming, present some ideas and ways to reduce individual impact on the environment and raise some money for the Environmental Defense Fund, an organization that works with business, government and science to “find practical environmental solutions”. So after a year how did I do (being this is the time for 2007 in review posts on the web)?

Here are some stats that may give you an idea of my work. I rode my bike 6,000+ miles in the year. Of those miles about 2,000 were commuting miles, that is miles many people would have driven. I rode through January of 2007 when Denver streets were ice packed for weeks on end because of blizzards. During that time I had fenders on and rode on major streets which had less ice and obstacles. This clearly helped the environment as “Cutting a 20 mile trip out of your schedule each week can reduce your global warming pollution by more than 1,200 pounds a year and save you over $100 in gas expenses.” (Environmental defense web site) I also switched grocery bags from plastic to reusable canvas. I figure I used at least 5 plastic bags a week so a net savings of 250 bags. It takes an equivalent amount of energy to produce 14 plastic bags as it does to drive a mile, so some carbon reduction there too.

I also went out and tried to do more than change my personal lifestyle during the year. I met with staff from Congresswoman Diana DeGette’s office on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters, I went to a local school and discussed Earth Day and what each student could do to lessen there impact (including a portion on riding their bikes and bike safety). Finally I raised over $1,000 for Environmental Defense.

Overall I’d say it was a good year. In 2008 I’m going to keep it going. I’m starting a full team for racing and environmental awareness. The team is going to promote riding and the multiple benefits bike riding provides (health benefits and environmental benefits). I’ve already got an after-school program lined up at my son’s school to get kids out riding their bikes and hopefully more will come. I’ll still be out racing and trying to get fast too. Though riding fast and winning are tougher to accomplish then raising awareness the racing is fun.

Anyway don’t leave just because 2007 is over, I’m keeping things going, maybe a slightly different path but still going.

BIKE FOR SALE: A shameless plug for my bike YETI ASR Large I've got it for sale...drop me a comment if you're interested

Post Grad Reading Level

So I was checking out SLY's blog the other day and it had a link to tell you the reading level of your blog, well I must be a genius because mine came back as Post Grad reading level. For the few of you who actually read my blog consider yourselves highly educated people. I guess I should work on dumbing down my content, make the reading level a little easier. I assume if I did that more people would visit the site and I’d get more comments.

Cash Advance Loans

All I’ve got to say is this feature has got to be inaccurate.

Base Training with Eddy

Base miles, finally a chance to ride more outside. Today it was cold (30ish) and some wet roads from snow yesterday, but 2.5 hours outside in the cold is better than any time inside so I went out.

East of Denver is a little town called Watkins, one of my favorite rides for 2-3 hours of base miles. Roads quickly turn into farm roads, little traffic and rollers the whole way, in general a pleasant ride. But one problem, farm roads mean farms. Farms mean farm dogs. So today as I was spinning along I catch an object coming from my right and hear the growling of a mean a$$ looking dog trying to catch me for an afternoon snack. Just like in the scene from American Flyers where Kevin Costner takes his brother training with Eddy, this dog is on me. I sprint as hard as possible, look down and still see the dog right there, shift to the 12 (remember this is early season base training I shouldn't be in the 12) and give it another kick. Finally I get away from the dog, not sure how but glad he didn't get me for an afternoon snack.

When I lived in Iowa I road some with the Des Moines Cycling Club, one guy carried a little gun (pistol) to take care of dogs like these, which seemed more rampant in Iowa than in Denver. Not sure that was the best solution to the problem, but then again we never did extra sprints either.

Wow, Out of Circulation

I've been missing for awhile so here is a quick rundown:

Thanksgiving - stabbed by my sister in the eye (with her fingernail) couldn't see for a week
New York City - Business trip, cool town but I can only handle it for a few days
December - Cold and snowy way too many miles riding in the basement of the trainer
Work - time for writing reviews, man that sucks

The good news is I'm riding some and work should taper off soon.

On another note, the presidential primaries/cacuses start soon. If you are at all serious about the direction America is going look a little deeper than the famed candidates. I'm a hippie liberal who wants an eco-friendly candidate. I've been donating money to two people Chris Dodd http://chrisdodd.com/ and Joe Biden http://www.joebiden.com/home. I hope giving these guys a little will allow them to keep their voices in the debate. Seriously I don't care who you vote for, but make sure you listen to all the voices out there, give a little money to the lesser known candidates to help them as in many cases they have the best ideas and best potential to change.

Racing

I spend a lot of time reading other cycling blogs, there are way too many out there to mention, but this time of the year I see a theme: why? how long? what is the reward? Some of these guys will post about not knowing how much longer they'll race, why they race etc. Each year about 50% of the people who post about why don't race the next year. Burn out I guess.

There are two kinds of bike racers (really bikers in general) those who ride the bike because it is fun and those who ride the bike because they love it. Often times it is difficult to tell the difference between the two. I'd venture to say many people thought Lance Armstrong loved the bike, but I think he thought it was fun. He did it (really) well and for a long time. He trained in terrible conditions, but it seems now he isn't riding any more. That to me is a guy who thought it was fun (and also knew it was hard).

I fall into the love it group. How long will I race? Till the day I die. I may not be very good. Hell I savour mid-pack finishes if they were an improvement over last year, but I also savour riding home from work, in the dark winter, with snow falling. For me riding is more than proving I can finish a race, or finish a race faster than someone else. To me riding is, well in so many ways, me. I define myself as a father, a husband and a biker. Strangely I've been a biker longer than the other two but those are the three things that matter.

Me I'll race next week, next year and until I can't race any longer. For now I'm hoping for some snow, so I can ride home from work in the dark with the snowflakes dancing off my lights.

Greenhouse Gases

Well over the past few days I've read a lot of troubling news about greenhouse gases. It seems that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is significantly higher than previous "worst case scenarios" had predicted for our current point in time. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7271938. It seems Denver and Mayor Hickenlooper are trying to take some action, but local change can only do so much. Clearly we as individuals must work to enact change and force state and federal programs to assist.

Another article I read earlier this week stated that recycling in rural areas doesn't make sense because of the costs associated with transport and the issues tied to getting materials to recycling centers. It seems to me multiple benefits exist for rural recycling programs and the government should provide funding to help. First is protection of the environment; however, there are other benefits, specifically job and economic related. If the local/state/federal government would offset costs associated with local rural recycling plants there would be job growth available in areas that currently are under employed. The recycling centers would cost taxpayer money but the two-fold benefits of jobs and environmental sustainability seem to make the costs worth it.

It's on

The team is a go for 2008. I'm still working out details, but for now I've got Pedal Pushers helping the team out with stuff, including a hook-up on Orbea mountain bikes. Still working with a few other prospective sponsors but in 2008 Racing Green will be expanding. The team name is changing, Racing Green MTB, and the mission is expanding beyond raising awareness of global warming, but many of the concepts will remain.

For 2008 Racing Green's mission is:

Racing Green MTB is dedicated to empowering people to create a more sustainable lifestyle, both environmentally and personally, through the bicycle. Through community outreach and mountain bike race participation Racing Green MTB is committed to increasing knowledge about: human impact on the environment and providing practical measures to reduce individual impact through cycling and other lifestyle modifications and help individuals create a more sustainable health filled personal lifestyle.

I'm already working on outreach programs with a couple of local schools and more ideas are being worked on. Part of my concerns now center around getting some cash sponsors to help with the outreach. Even with dedicating my time for free most events require some costs to get things rolling. Hopefully the cash sponsors will come soon.

Jersey designing is under way.

commuting

Now is the time of year when bike commuters earn their strips. It is starting to be cold and dark during portions of the commute, not December bad but enough that numbers are way down. During the summer the building I work in is over run with bike commuters, probably 3-4 dozen bikes a day parked on the racks. This summer it got so crowded the building bought two new racks and planned to implement "parking permits" for bikes. This is a cool problem to have if you ask me. It means a lot of people are using the bike as an alternative way to get around, reducing their environmental impact and having a great time riding their bikes.

Now it is mid October and (in Denver at least) if you need to be to work around 7:30 that means commuting in while it is still dark. Bust out the headlamp, put on the flashing red rear light, long sleeve jacket, full finger gloves etc. The rides home can be nice, shorts and a short sleeve jersey, but riding in is cold and slightly dangerous with it being tough for cars to see you. This morning there were 5 bikes parked at my building. I'm willing to bet in the middle of December there will be 2-3, just a few hard core crazy riders trying to sneak in every mile possible.

I'll ride through the winter again, skipping the big snow days but not much else. Last year in our big blizzard run I rode a lot. Bad roads, dark, wet conditions; it wasn't easy but I wouldn't pass it up. Last year we got our first snow in mid October and I had to ride home in the dark with no glasses. I could barely see the entire way home with snow blowing in my face, no snow is predicted yet, but it will come soon. I can't wait for the ride.

Brief Notes

Independence Hall from a distance.

Spent part of last week on the east coast. Had a little time to look around Philadelphia, got in trouble at Independence Hall for cross the street (to get close to the building) prior to the official opening. I guess park security doesn't like that.

Overall Philadelphia is not a great town, but it was cool to look around the historic area. Here are some pictures of the graveyard Ben Franklin is buried in:

All the hotels I stayed in had low wattage, eco-friendly light bulbs. Very cool and I've taken to leaving a note on the comment card about the lights, either thanking the hotel or asking them to change.

Ade and I went out of town for our 10th anniversary, down to colorado springs. Had a relaxing night at a B&B, walked around Garden of the Gods some. Very cool area.

The team is looking promising, figuring out all the details on bikes, more on that later.

East Coast

So I'm on the east coast right now, Philadelphia and Princeton NJ. Crazy driving is one thing I've accomplished, making a lot of right hand turns out of the left lane, left hand turns out of the right. Detours miles long, all sorts of fun. The drive to Princeton lacked much adventure, but we did see this cool bridge. The picture isn't very clear as I was on the phone to someone and hung up quickly to take the picture, but the bridge says (in huge letters) "Trenton Makes the World Takes". I was unaware Trenton was the epicenter of the world, but I guess I know now.

Cyclo-Cross

So after a 10 day break off the bike I decided to race cyclo-cross this season. Not a full schedule, but enough to force myself to actually work at staying in shape. Planning on an opening race on September 23, then a few in October, and a pretty full schedule in November. Hopefully the racing will go well.

I've been working on putting together a team for next season, taking Racing Green to the next level. I have a few people interested in riding and hopefully can get some sponsorship dialed in. If I can get a sponsor the team will be on, if not I don't think I'll run a team without sponsorship. I'm hoping it works out as the teams mission will be to promote riding the bike as an easy means of sustainable living. I'm planning on working with a couple local schools to teach kids about riding and how it can be a fun, easy and non-environmentally impacting way to get around. Hopefully some sponsors will want to be a part of that. I should have more details by the end of next week.

Criminal Activity

We went up to Sheridan, Wyoming for Labor Day weekend. We met Ade's dad at the half way point between Denver and where he lives. It had been a while since we had seen him so it was nice to visit. Seamus loved it, he has this strange ability to recognize people who can (will) spoil him and warm right up to them, even if it has been a long time since he has seen them.

Grandpa Al wanted to take Seamus fishing so off we went. Seamus young enough not to need a license, Al and Ade smart enough to buy one and me, well just plain stupid. Things were going along well enough with the whole fishing thing (other than our inability to catch fish) when the Game Warden walks up asking to see our fishing licenses (which I didn't have). Long story short, an $11 license cost me $110 in fines for not having one.

Ade did catch a fish, but we succeeded in killing it before we could "catch and release". Note to fish, when we are around be careful. If you happen to stumble onto our line you are SOL.

On another note, when I got home I went to the grocery store and saw this.

Our grocery store has just started a bin to recycle plastic bags. Every time I walk in it is full or overflowing. I guess they didn't realize the demand from eco friendly shoppers. I hope people are reusing the bags a few times first to get the full value out of them, but glad to see they are getting recycled. Don't forget more than grocery bags can be recycled, for example the plastic bags newspapers come in, bread bags and others can be recycled. Just look for the number 2 or 4 on the bag and you can recycle.

Road Rash

One of the main concerns/issues I hear about commuting by bike is the risk, like being hit by a car or just a simple crash. Well I commute a lot, rode through January and February this year when the road were packed with a couple of feet of snow in the dark. Rode last October home from work, a blinding snow storm with no glasses and could barely see. I've commuted on the bike for 10+ years and yesterday had only my second crash ever while commuting.

The first crash was 10 years ago in June, on bike to work day when I worked about 20 miles from home. Leaving the office during a light rain (after a heavy rain) I crashed and hurt my hip. Swelled up to about the size of a grape fruit. No crashes since then while commuting. Probably thousands of miles just pure commute distance (not counting the "extended routes" taken to get in training) and only one crash in ten years.

Yesterday's crash happened just after riding with Seamus to school. The front wheel got caught in a gap between black-top and cement near the curb. I got cut up on the left side (hip, elbow, shoulder, knee etc.) but rode into work the rest of the way no problem. Sleeping last night sucked, but what can you expect. I didn't commute in today, but that was already planned because we had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon. Tomorrow I'm taking off and riding big. But you know what, I'll commute on Tuesday. One crash every ten years is worth it. The stress relief of riding, the environmental savings, the pure joy of riding a bike while looking at a bunch of people stressed in a car. The risks commuting by bike are minimal if you are aware and safe. Yesterday was a decade long wait between commuting crashes. How many car accidents have you been in during that same period?

Mission Accomplished

Well, I'm no George Bush so take the title as you like, but today's donation from one of my aunts officially put me at the $1,000 mark for donations to Environmental Defense. A few more dollars, in theory, will be donated from some matching funds from various companies; however, I have no easy way to track these, only the money sent to me to forward on or donated on-line. A huge thanks to everyone who has donated, I appreciate all of your support.

The last mountain bike race of the year is quickly upon me, the Tipperary Creek race in Winter Park. The course is about 25 miles with a good amount of climbing. This is one of the best courses around so should make a fitting end to the season. Wish I could fit in one or two more, but with other commitments that just isn't going to happen.

The Pink Dude Denver

So everyone who reads SLY's blog you’ll have heard of (or seen) the pink dude. If you’re in SLC maybe you’ve even seen him in person. On all my visits I’ve yet to actually see the Pink Dude, but today in Denver I caught a glimpse of the Pink Dude’s dad (and yes this is a guy). The picture is a little blurry, but a camera phone from 25 feet only does so much.