What luck.  First DB Cooper, and now this?  I can't believe they caught this on film!  I believe this was filmed in Georgia.

I'm not sure if this is real or not, but I believe I've just seen DB Cooper steal a cyclocross bike. This is amazing footage.

I'm getting a wee bit excited about cyclocross.  I haven't done anything to prepare for it yet, but it's always a good time.

I can't believe the schedule we've got stacked up out here in Portland.  Seriously - we will have a cross (or cross-ish) race scheduled for just about EVERY weekend from now until December.  It's just HUGE out here. 

Personally, I enjoy a cyclical cycling pattern.  It keeps things fun and interesting.  If I do the same thing with the same focus for too long, I get bored.  Quickly.  Here's my thing:

• January-March: 100% fixed gear rides in the rain.
• March-May: Break out the road bike, start going fast.
• May-August: Roadie Season.  PIR, Crits, whatever I can fit in.
• September: Hang up the road bike, break out the cyclocross gear.
• October-November: Cyclocross...almost every weekend (sorry, family).
• December - take a break, break out the fixed gear, locate all my winter clothing.

I do not like the fact that cyclocross is edging into the summer months.  The Olympic games are special because they take place every four years.  Your birthday is special because it takes place once a year.  Cyclocross is special because it takes place when it gets cold and wet (unless you're one of those soCal guys). 

The sport is hot right now, so I guess this is to be expected.  And of course, just because the races are offered, that doesn't mean everyone has to attend them.  Will the sport collapse in a huge ball of fire, the result of a collective burn-out of hundreds of cyclocross maniacs?  Who knows.

For me, cyclocross is a short, intense season.  My family can deal with me being a little nuts for a couple months, but not much longer than that.  So I'm probably going to stick with plan A.

I found this photo this morning.  I don't know where it came from, but I made into my PC's wallpaper (it's double wide because I've got two monitors).  To me, this is the essence of cyclocross.  This is what I am yearning for:

And you?  What do you think?

I was reading a little write-up on Shimano's upcoming 7900 Dura-Ace.  I wish I could find it now, but I can't seem to locate it anymore.

Anyway, the new brakes caught my attention.  Apparently, the new levers pull more cable!  I don't know if it's as much as a v-brake lever, but this could be good. 

I assume this is also a feature of the upcoming electronic Dura-Ace levers.  Though I doubt I'll ever shell out the cash for an electronic group, I would love to try it out for cyclocross! 

I try to set my bike up for maximum reliability.  I don't have the support required to repeatedly switch bikes during a race, so I decided last year that my goal should be configuring a bike that can last an entire 60 minutes in nasty conditions. 

One big barrier for a 60 minute bike is the rear shifting performance.  You can tweak things to help keep out the elements, like string one big length of shift cable instead of breaking it down into segments.  You can adjust things to better deal with the elements, like using an 8 speed drivetrain.  But the fact remains that the elements can still prevail and mess up your shifting. 

But what if no shift cable was involved?  The derailleur knows how far it has to move, and it moves just the right amount, no matter what.  I assume that means even with increased resistance due to mud, grass, whatever, you'll still pop into gear without any troubles.  Wouldn't that be nice?

I don't know if this would catch on with the PRO scene, since most of them probably wouldn't want to ride the same bike from start to finish, if just for the issue of added weight of all the mud they're collecting.  However, I'd certainly like to give it a whirl!

Ever since some friends of mine got iPhones, and my wife and I got Blackberries, we've been doing a lot more text messaging than before.  It's easy, convenient, and a good way to communicate in a not-so-interruptive manner. 

A text message is actually called a SMS (short message service) Message.  It was originally designed for user alerts (e.g. you have a new voicemail).  A SMS message has a maximum size of 140 bytes.  Given a 7 bit character set, that means the maximum length of an SMS message is 160 characters.  If your message is longer than 160 characters, you'll get dinged for two.

SMS has become a great revenue builder for wireless phone service providers.  .20 per message?  You can spend a couple bucks just figuring out where you want to eat dinner tonight.  With the number of messages surpassing 2 trillion, that's a lot of money to be made off of us suckers.  Good thing we have a package plan. 

Text messages are convenient, but I think they're overpriced.  Think about it.  160 bytes, max.  So for .20 per message, you're being charged at least $1,310 per megabyte by your service provider!  That's ridiculous. 

The solution, at least for internet-enabled phones (e.g. iPhone, Blackberry) is IM!  If you're already paying for internet service, why should you have to pay for text messages, too? 

My Blackberry came with several IM clients, which I use often.  However, I can't use them with my iPhone friends, because their iPhones didn't come with an IM client.  True, they could get a third party app, but I doubt any of them will do it.

I just find it a little irritating, that's all.

I'm back! 

Time to release that pressure!

Woo boy I am just getting back to normal here.  Took a week's worth of vacation last week at the coast.  It was nice, but what I thought would be some minor final preparations for the hill climb yielded some seriously stressful times.  I won't go into details, but the stress level was high, and the vacation time was low.  Since the weather at the coast was pretty horrible early in the week, it didn't hurt so much to be on the computer and phone all day.  By Thursday, things were mostly squared away and the sun came out.

The hill climb went well.  Very well.  We had plenty of people to help out, and it was going so well, I was even able to skip out and ride the course myself.  I was extremely stressed over this race going over without any problems, so it's nice to be done until next year.

If you've an OBRA-ite and never done this race before, you should really give it a try next year.  The course is just awesome. 

School starts next week!  Yahoo!  It will be nice having the girls in school so I can get a little more work done. 

This weekend, we visited my parents at their new place by Depoe Bay.  We hung out with them, as well as my sister Kristen and her two younglings, Brooklyn and Jackson: 

Next time, Uncle Erik will bring a couple extra helmets for them...

On Sunday, the plan was to head north to Nedonna beach, where we'll be staying for the week.  But first, the kids got in a few games of Uno with Grandma V:

Donna and the kids drove the family truckster to Nedonna, while I was able to ride my bike.  I wasn't super pumped about the thunderstorms floating around, but the weather was pretty great - 60s, very light rain, and cloudy.  My favorite. 

The route was a lot more hilly than I expected, but it was a great workout.  There was a ton of traffic on Highway 101.  I got buzzed a few times by big trucks towing camping trailers, but 99.9% of the drivers were just fine.  There was a lot of debris on the shoulder of the road, and I ended up stopping to fix a flat, and once more to buy superglue to plug a hole left in my tire by a chunk of glass.  Donna caught up with me with about 35 miles to go, and gave me another tube to carry along the way.  Luckily, I didn't need it!

I hardly ever saw the ocean on my way north, but there sure was some nice scenery along the way.  The scene still stuck in my mind is of thick white clouds merged with lush green hillsides.  It was a refreshing change from the 100 degree weather we'd been having in Portland.

Remember the epic climbing stages of the Giro and Tour de France?  Riders flying uphill, sweat pouring down, Phil Ligget comparing them to a motor bike...

Well, now it's your turn.  This is your Alp d'Huez, your Plan de Corones, your Mt. Aigoual. 

The OBRA Uphill Time Trial Championship is Sunday, August 24.  5.6 miles, 2000 feet of elevation gain (hey not too bad), and a nice closed service road that weaves up the side of Timberline's lower ski runs.  You're gonna love it.

So dust off your 43x19 and get yourself signed up now!   This is a pre-registration only event.  That's right, kiddo, no day-of-race registrations.  You'd best sign up right now.

The OBRA Uphill Time Trial Championship is coming, and I'm in charge of putting it together.  I finally got the good route lined up for this year's event.  Last year, they were building a new chair lift, and everything was blocked with heavy equipment.  The year prior, there was a logging operation, making the road impassable.  Not this year - everything was set to go, or so I led myself to believe.

Last week, I got an email regarding the course:

Hi folks--have just ridden the old Timberline road last Sunday (8/3), and it is passable by bike only if you dismount and climb over snowdrifts approx eight times on the climb.  There's also one or two fallen tress to negotiate,and a LOT of debris on the road leftover from winter windfall.  It is unlikely the snow will melt by the TT date.  Any plans to plow or to choose an alternate route (e.g. the main Timberline road)?

What?!?  Crap!  This was news to me. 

Today, I intended to see what I could do to clear up the route.  I threw my single speed 'cross bike in the car, along with a backpack, shovel, bow saw, and some extra clothing, and drove towards Government Camp (on Mt. Hood).

Just past Zig Zag, I came upon the biggest traffic jam I'd ever seen.  Have you ever seen that commercial where traffic is totally stopped, and people are barbecuing  on the highway?  It was like that.  Kids running around everywhere, even on top of motor homes.  Clearly, nothing was moving.

I had no idea how far up Government Camp was, but due to a late start, I didn't exactly have time to wait.  I parked the car on the side of the road, pulled out the bike, put on the backpack and rode up the hill.

I don't know how far it was up to Government camp, but it was not a super easy ride, especially on my single speed.  Furthermore, I did not plan on doing much continuous riding, so I did not wear cycling clothing.  Did you know heavy "cargo shorts" with boxers underneath are not nearly as comfortable to ride in as lycra bike shorts?  Yes, it is true.

I rode past countless cars, towards the obstruction.  A Life Flight helicopter flew away over my head as I approached.   Bad news.  I caught a glimpse of a really mangled Subaru, with a lot of rescue personnel running around.  I just looked straight ahead, riding through the grass to get around a large fire truck parked sideways across the road.   I didn't want to see anything nasty, and I didn't want anyone injured to see me gawking at them.  Personally, I'd hate that.

The rest of the ride up Mt. Hood Hwy. was against another endless stream of cars.  As I rode up, it seemed the driver of every 10 cars would yell at me and ask Hey...what happened down there?  At first I stopped a few times and mentioned I didn't really look, nor did I know when they'd be able to get through.  That got real old after about ten times, though.  Finally, I just said "half mile down the road, they're cleaning it up."  Of course, that half mile turned to one mile, then mile and a half, two miles...and then the turn off for Government camp came to view.  I was very pleased to get off that road!

I finally arrived at the start of the Uphill TT route, well drenched in sweat and feeling rather warm.  I took out my phone and snapped a picture of the first stretch of road, which looked great.  I mounted my bike, and headed up the hill, ready to dig snow or cut tree limbs.

At first, as I climbed, every turn was a victory.  Yeah!  No blockage here! I kept going, and soon I was just riding the route, the sun casting a strange silhouette with helmet, backpack, and shovel handle rhythmically moving back and forth as I pushed up the hill.  I love this road, and I started to enjoy the ride.

Then I began thinking about a book I'm reading my kids, The Rider.  In this book, Krabbe writes numerous times of climbing a mountain pass in a 43x19, pushing a little, but feeling strong.

I'm in a 42x20, and I don't feel that strong.  Maybe Krabbe wasn't wearing boxers and a backpack with tools in it, but I was starting to feel troubled.  Krabbe wasn't a pro, just a fast, respectable amateur racer.  Not unlike myself, or so I believed as I read his book.  I began to doubt myself.  Maybe Krabbe was just really small and skinny.  Nah.  Maybe he stretched the truth.  It is fiction, after all.   Nah.  When you're having a good ride (especially a race), you can push bigger gears.  That's what happened.  He was on fire that day in the Cols of Aigoual.  I was just riding my bike, looking for snow to shovel.

Pushing on, just past the half way point, I'd not encountered any major problems in the road.  This is fantastic.  A mile further, I passed a few mt. bikers.  One guy decided to ride with me, and we start talking as we climb. I explained why I had a shovel poking out of my backpack, and he joined me in my search for road obstacles.

We didn't find any, and finally reached the top of the climb, entering Timberline road.  No snow drifts, no fallen trees, but one very happy guy.  My new friend and I decided to get out some warmer clothes for the decent.  He pulled a jacket from the netting of his Camelback, while I threw my backpack on the ground, tossed out a bow saw to get to a vest, and then repacked everything. 

I rode down the same route I came up, just to check everything again.  If I missed a patch of gravel or snow while grinding up the hill, I'd certainly catch it while flying down.  Alas, there was nothing worth mention. 

I returned to Government Camp to see traffic had started moving, albeit slowly.  I rode down Mt. Hood Highway, again passing countless cars towards my parking spot on the side of the road.  Even though I rode an extra 10 miles or more, I'm pretty sure I still got done faster than if I'd waited in that traffic jam.

In the end, I had a nice little adventure on Mt. Hood with a very happy ending.  I stopped by Dairy Queen on the way home to celebrate.  Thin Mint blizzard?  Don't mind if I do.  I bet Krabbe never ate Dairy Queen.

I really enjoy criteriums.  The tight turns and high speeds are a real thrill, and the short courses are spectator friendly.  I raced two of them this weekend, and I had a blast.

Friday night's race was the Health Net Twilight Criterium.  The crowds were huge, the course was pretty fun, and we had over 60 people racing.  I started in the back of the race, and could not move up enough to stay with the leaders.  There was a LOT of crashes, but I made it upright through each one.  I probably should have sat down on the ground and regrouped at the pits with everyone else, but I just kept riding and falling further behind with every crash.  I just had fun while it lasted and chalked it up to a learning experience.  Several friends (and kids) came and cheered me on, which was really nice.

We stayed and watched the Pro race at 7:30, and everyone really enjoyed that one.  The kids saw a guy from team Jelly Belly (Aaron Tuckerman), and liked the colors on his shirt the best.  They didn't know what was on his jersey, so they decided it was Fruit Loops.  They started cheering for him, with every lap yelling GO FRUIT LOOP!  When I told them he was on the Jelly Belly team, they got even more excited, though they decided to stay with the nickname fruit loop.

Saturday's race, the Sunset Criterium, was held at Bethany Village, about a mile away from my house.  The field was a lot smaller; we had pile-ups on Friday night larger than this.  This course had a couple concerning corners, but there weren't any major crashes.  I was happy to be sprinting at the finish with the leaders, but came up short with a 5th place.  It was a lot of fun, and some of the neighborhood kids were there running along the course cheering for me.  That was cool.

Technical note - I raced both races with 180mm cranks (longer than probably everyone out there), and I was pedaling through a lot of corners that others coasted through.  I was a little worried about pedal clearance, but not any more!

And so, I had a lot of fun, and I am happy, if not a little surprised, to have all my skin intact.