Is Belgium part of France? At the Tour de France! #tdf12

Tour de France =  Annual bike race/circus around the country of France.

Liège = City in the Ardennes of Belgium.  Very beautiful area, probably the prettiest side of Belgium.

 

I am just returning form the start of the Tour de France, in Liège Belgium.  I know that makes no sense.  I think France is either confused, or maybe they are being imperialistic.  You know, attempting to annex some or all of Belgium, while they are not looking.  After all, there is no government in Belgium.  How hard can it be to take over a place with no government?

It actually appears that Belgians do not care that they do not have a government.  (No they do not speak Belgish there Hanna.)  In fact, they probably have it right anyway.  Who really wants to have to pay attention to elections and the whole silliness of Republicans and Democrats anyway?

When you think about it, why wouldn’t France want to take over Belgium.

-       Happy people

-       Ronde Van Vlaanderen, best bike race of the year, would be in France then.

-       Liège Batogne Liège, 2^nd best bike race of the year, would be in France then.

-       Frites.  Then the French would not have tolerate Belgium making the best French fries in the world.

-       Cyclocross – well just because it is.

-       They have an Atomium there.  They wouldn’t have to keep answering what happened to the Holy Grail then.  They could just keep saying “We have an Atomium.” 

-       Trappist Ale.  Having this would help to counter the embarrassment of Lourdes.

Gratuitus Atomium Picture!

 

This past week, ahead of the Tour de France we introduced the rest of the Domane line (Fabian’s bike for the cobbled classics, that has turned into a fantastic bike that is nearly the perfect every day race bike), and the All New Madone.  If you are reading this, you know it is a big big dealeo. 

Wow, 2 new bikes introduced this year, and both in Belgium.  It would seem that all roads cross in Belgium for me.  This is the 3^rd time in Belgium this year for me. 

Madone vs. Domane... This is epic.  I do not know which to use.  Which weapon on the day.

 

 

 

July is a great time!

1. It is summer.  Duh.  You ride your bike with just shorts and jersey.  You get tan lines.  The smell of sunscreen.  Belgian beer (just threw that in, as it is one of the hold overs from all the other 7.3 seasons).  flip flops.  Girls with less clothing...

2.  The Tour de France.  It is not just a bike race, it is the Tour and the biggest circus of the year.

3.  New bike intro's.  Madone, Domane lineup, and who knows what else will come...

(Did I mention it is summer?) 

 

We stayed in Francorchamps near Liège.  The best area of Belgim, as noted above.  This is the land of Fleche Wallon and LBL.  Bike racing is everywhere here.  Roads are stained and painted from many races that have gone through.  They show the names of riders, written over the past years on the climbs.  Gilbert, Andy, Frank, anybody with Van something in their name…  Truly cool and inspiring.

 

We intro’d the bikes.  You can take a look at the photo’s and video’s below and see all of the evidence. 

 

Because the TDF12 was starting here, I stayed for the start.  Wow, what a start it was.  Fabian Cancellara stormed the course and put 7 seconds on Bradley Wiggins in 2^nd.  Holy cow…incredible. 

 

I know I am the luckiest person in the world, with the greatest job in the world.  Yes, I got paid for this week. 

 

Until next time.

Joe

Those are some nice shoes!

That is 4 very fast guys.  Jens Voigt, Andreas Kloden, Frank Schleck, Chris Horner.  All on stage during the New Madone intro talking about the new bike.

RSNT guys out on their Speed Concept bikes the day before the prologue.

No comment really necessary.

"I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel."

That was the view out of my hotel room for a week.  The week before the TDF is unreal.  And, it is in Belgium.  We were just down the road from Francorchamps F1 course.  The motor noise from F1 tire testing was incredible.  (BTW, I am told that is Jacky Ickx house in the background.)

This statue of Eddy Merckx is at the top of Col de Stockeu.  It is a famous climb that is used in Liege Bastogne Liege.  It is brutal.  Plus, we did the climb and the descent in the rain.  The descent in the rain was sketchy.

You gotta eat.

Frank at the team presentation the Thursday before the TDF starts.  That is the new Madone that he is on.

Roger (the worlds best mechanic) building the all yellow Domane for Fabian to ride after he won the TT prologue.  It was a 4 hour build in the night after he had won the tour, it is that precise.  There was no complaining from the mechanics though. 

@TrekJordan @joev3 @TrekRaceTeams ‪#Domane for Fabian.

Beautiful.

The man warming up before the race.  He is a machine.

Maxime Monofort cooling down after his TT.  Seems like harsh duty for such a nice new Madone.  (Maxime said that he needed me driving behind him and Jordan talking on the radio to do a better TT - like Suisse)

He was awfully happy after his win.

 

 

I do not even know what to say about this one.

 

 

Another Belgium Post! I think I have a complex.

I am not Belgian.  Let's just get that part straight.  I do love it there - I think.  I lived there once, for 2 years.  I was a kid though.  I remember it, but I was 16-18 years old.  There are other things that are more important to a 16 year old than the lore of bike racing and how Belgium is the center of that universe. 

But, I lived there.  I lived on a cobbled street even.  I would love to say that I knew from then, just knew that a cobbled road and all the greatness that goes along with that would be super important to me in the future.  Alas, I was just a kid.  16 and stupid.

Now of course, just the mention of Belgium and I get all goose bumped for the thought of crosswinds and cobbles and epic racing.  Yow.  It is only 10ish months till next years race season starts and we are back in Belgium.

In the mean time, here are the last pictures from our Roubaix trip this year.

That is it.

More good stuff coming to this space soon though.  Stay in touch.

Joe

Another Post On Belgium: What The Hell Am I Doing Here?

 

Crosswinds.  They are not like hills. 

The crosswind saps your energy unlike a climb does.  A climb is something that presses on you, pressing you down and standing in your way.  Gravity becomes stronger on a climb.  It is a bit like when you are pumping a tire up, the last 10 psi are much harder to push the handle down than the first 10psi.   When riding on a climb, it is like trying to lift something heavy and bigger than you to the top shelf in the garage while standing on a ladder – over and over again.  It is hard, it can go horribly wrong, but if you are lucky and maintain your balance you get the heavy bag to the top of the shelf.  When the task is all said and done, you are tired and your back is sore, but after you rest and recover you will be fine.  After the climb, you will even be stronger. 

Generally speaking, the best climbers will have a really slender build.  The Schlecky’s will probably tilt at about 55kilo (less than 140lbs).  Climbers are long limbed, and small muscle.  If you cross-sectioned a climber, you would see no fat and lungs that go to the knees.  They breath rarefied air so much, that the insides of their lungs are pink – pure.  They count calories, they talk about carbon bikes and wheels.  They turn really small gears at an impossible cadence.  They count the grams of weight in their shoes.  They do their offseason and preseason training on slopes at stupid high altitude.  Some of us are like that, only just not superhuman versions. 

 

A classics rider is not like that.  They are carved into a mass of sinew, veins, sunken eyes, narrow shoulders and a huge ass and legs – typical of a survivor of the toughest game on two wheels.  A classics rider is more likely to tilt at 85+ kilo (180lbs).  A classics rider revels in a crosswind.  A classics rider has a face that is hardened and pocked. A classics riders face probably has scars from hitting the ground while ripping apart a cobble section of parcours at 50kph.  A classics rider probably is not French speaking, or if they are they speak it with a growl.  A classics rider probably speaks Flemish and knows the difference between a Flanders flag with red claws and one without.  Flemish is the ancient, semi illusionary dialect of a downtrodden people who revere cyclists as symbols of cultural pride.  A classics rider is a  Vlaamse-Man.

 

Belgium is the center of the universe for a classics rider.  It has impossibly steep climbs, that are probably cobbled over.  Not only does Belgium have cobbles, Belgium has the other consistent item that makes a classic not the same as a climber’s race.  Belgium has crosswinds.  Unlike a climb, a crosswind does not make you stronger.  A crosswind pulls you down.  A crosswind tears at your skin, biting and clawing your body back into the gutter.  Down down and down, tearing and ripping.  A crosswind is a pack of zombies tearing at your legs and calves and arms and shoulders.  A crosswind is blood thirsty.  After a day in a big Belgian crosswind, you will not feel like it made you stronger.  A day in a Belgian crosswind rips you apart and leaves you for dead. 

 

Those Dutch kids are hard as nails.  That is what a crosswind is like.

I weigh a buck 55 with my cycling kit on.  That is not the super light gazelle pulled rubber band of the climber, but it is a long long way from the Vlaamse-Man. 

 

So I found myself this past weekend on my 5^th cobbled ride.  I found myself riding the Paris Roubaix course for the 2^nd time in a week.  And, of course I found myself with a bunch of 185lb guys, in the rain with a huge wind trying to get to the velodrome in Roubaix.  Ugh… It hurt.  I found myself arriving at the velodrome, “with no one in the photo”, but not in the good way.  Not in the way that you want to have "no one in the photo".   I had been left for dead on section 5 going toward Roubaix, and I was arriving much after everyone else had.  It is amazing just how slow you can go when the curtain has dropped on your reserves.  Black.

 

I had battled gallantly and made the selection down to 15, then 10 then 6.  But, when in a group of 6 it is really hard to hide from the demons of the crosswind.  You bounce around trying to stay out of sight of the crosswind, but eventually he finds you.  And when he does, he just keeps biting and tearing.  Eventually enough of your muscle is gone that when he again finds you, he hits bone.  When he does, your done.  You fall off the pace so hard that you can hear your ass dragging on the road.  That was my tail end on the road. 

 

I was out of food and out of water.  I got lost.  I found the route again.  I hugged the gutter on the road, I rode the path on the side of the cobbles.  I blew sky high on the little rise into the headwind near the 10k to go point.  It was raining and it was windy, really windy.  I was shattered, but I battled on to Roubaix and eventually found my way there.  I found the velodrome, and a beer in the café. 

 

A beer never tasted better.  What the hell am I doing in Belgium?  I love this place, but I am definitely not a classics rider. 

 

Below is a short video to show you what my 2 weeks were like there.  Bikes, beer, cobbles, bike racing...Ah.

 

Out (I cannot wait till next spring),

Joe

Oh What A Lovely Squeak!

Those are not cheese curds!

You really cannot stand.  There is not enough traction. But, you cannot really sit, the pitch is so great, the cobbles so rough.  So, you sit and then you stand and then you sit and finally you stand.  You try to think of Fabian and the huge power that he is putting down while pushing ever forward.  Your heart rate is all the way to max.  In fact, your bouncing of the rev limiter.  It is pounding in your chest, your throat and your head.  Your going Full Gas, yet your just barely moving. Squeak.

Push on the pedals.  Left, Right, Left, Right...Squeak.  It happens a few times.  Slowly, you realize that it is rhythmic.  If you shift it is still there.  You try standing, it doesn't really help.  Your shoulders are rocking.  You push on the shifter again, but there is nothing left.  In the back of your head, you can hear Mr. Scott, "I cannot give you any more captain". 

You slide forward, you slide back.  The saddle position does not seam to help.  Squeak.  What is that squeaking sound? The hill seems to go on forever.  How in the world do the pro's push such a gear up these climbs?  Wow, those barricades are tight. Squeak. Imagine how it must be during the race.  A tunnel of sound with what would feel like the whole country on the side of each climb.  Squeak.  Imagine what it would be like to be at the front of the field, pushing the pace up the Koppenberg. 

 

 

It is impossible.  Squeak.  The cobbles are impossibly rough.  I have ridden mountain bike rides that were way way smoother than this.  Squeak. The sound slowly starts to dawn on you.  It sounds as if some one is running along behind you, noshing cheese curds with their teeth.  Only, there is no one behind you and no running in evidence.

Finally, WHAT IS THAT SQUEAK?  Slowly it begins to dawn on you...That is the tire loosing traction and sliding under power as it comes up off the cobble for just a split second.  OMG.  It is the coolest sound ever.  Squeak.  You love that sound.  It will become your first revelation about the spring classics.

I have always known that spring classics in Belgium were special.  But what I did not know about was the waffles.  I did not realize that the waffle was going to be such an important piece of my spring classics lore in Belgium.  It is a perfect ride food.  Small, round, can be prepackaged, has little pockets that you can fill up with things (syrup, peanut butter, bananas...).  It is perfect.  I buy them by the dozens.  They are mine.

Turn your computer sideways to see that one.  You bet, waffles provided the horsepower.

The waffle and the cobbled spring classics are somehow related.  The waffle and spring classics are tied together in some sort of parallel universe I think.  I do not think that one can exist without the other.  It is like the waffle was originally made on a really hot day by pouring batter on the cobbled road.  In fact, that is my story - that is how they came to be.  It is the story of laurent the waffle kid and the cobbles.  Of course he lost his life in the storming of the castle when the large bunny came flying over the wall and King Arthur screamed "Run Away!!!"

The King weekend of the spring classics is Flanders and the Queen is Roubaix.  It is amazing how different the regions are, yet how the races over the cobbles have come to signify everything great in cycling in my mind. 

Dorks looking at their phones instead of the square.

This year, we organized a trip of 10 or so of us to go and ride the Flanders course, race the citizen Roubaix event and then rush to a pub to watch Flanders with a bunch of Belgians.  Our intention was to cheer for Cancellara while they of course would be cheering for Boonen. Everyone knows at this point how that turned out. 

We all were smiling in the morning.
 

It has been an epic trip.  We rode the cobbles of Flanders.  If you do not ever go anywhere else in pursuit of your cycling fantasies, you need to come to Flanders.  Flanders is the absolute galactic center of cycling.  I wrote that before, so I think you already know that.  The races are legendary.  There are bike lanes everywhere.  It is a part of the world that is in love with bikes and bike racing and bike racers.  You have to see it to believe it.  Oh, and there is beer. 

Then, we went to St. Quentin to ride the citizen Paris Roubaix race. Northern France is and has always been pretty dismal.  The name "Hell of The North" kinda says it all.  I always thought it was because of the cobbles.  The Inner Ring did a great write up just the other day telling us all what it really means, check it out. 

The start.  We were cold.

The race is 5 hours of bashing your brains out over cobbles.  It is 5 hours of being convinced that there is no way your bike and your wheels and your body can hold it together.  You enter the cobbles at an impossible speed, which turns out is in fact impossible to hold over the length of the cobble section.  You end up with a huckabuck experience and your retinas nearly detached from your brain. 

You better have a healthy back, neck and wrists just to give it a try.  I do not want to think about what would really happen if your bike came apart in the middle of the section.  You have to run really big tires, I ran FMB tubulars which say 27 on them but they are probably bigger than 30mm.  Run some really stout bottle cages, because anything wimpy will just self destruct somewhere along the way.  Run double gel bar tape, it feels way to big but trust me - you will love it later.  Don't worry about the cycle computer, even if it continues to work you will not be able to read it.  Tape your wrists, make sure your glasses fit really tight, pile on the chamois creme of choice (Raffa stuff is the best), get rid of all your watches and jewelry as it will just bother you somewhere along the way. 

Oh, no matter how bad you think the Arenberg forrest is, trust me - it's worse.

I rode the cobbles this year.  I tried not to ride the gutter.  That was a mistake.

In the end, there just isn't anything better.  I'll be back.

Out,

Joe

Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Liz on the Koppenberg.

The obligatory top of a climb shot. Eickenberg.

My steed for Roubaix.

This was the constant reminder that there are a lot of cobbles still to come.

Still smiling at the finish.

Less carnage than last year, but still some blood and a couple of stitches.

Frites, beer and Flanders watching in a cafe in Kortrijk.  It filled up by the end, and we had to cheer loudly for Cancellara in a room full of Boonen fans.

She's blond and bitter.

 

 

 

 

I went to Arizona, escaped the weather - I feel good about it!

IT, is being out of Wisco when it is cold there and snowing. 

Guilt.  Guilt is a funny thing.  Generally, I think guilt is for left handed people.  A G is a letter that looks ok when written by a left handed person. Not sure why that it is, but I kinda like it that way. Any way, as I said - no guilt over the whole thing here.

It finally turned to winter at home. I saw it coming, so I got the hell out of there. Cannot really say I have anything good to say about winter thes days. Everyone out there should realize that snow and ice are actually water in a few of its various frozen states. I don't want to go all science on everyone, but in order for water to get into that state the temperature has to be below freezing. WTH?  Wake up everyone, cold is not comfortable.  I am not making this stuff up either, right here on the Smithsonian Web Site it agrees with me.  When water freezes, it is cold out!

We are going to dominate this trail.

So Arizona it was. Pretty much certain that it wasn't going to freezing water and slapping that stuff down on me there. Loaded up the family, mountain bike stuff and supercross watching paraphernalia and headed to the frequent flyer website. Cashed it all in and beat it to AZ.

Before you go all J. Alfred Prufrock on me, just remember...it's cold in Wisconsin. Damn cold. Freeze your boogers cold. Humans just were not meant for that kind of cold. If we were, we would have a lot more hair. And don't start with the "where's your hair dude jokes". If I could grow a mullet again I would. Dang that was a hairstyle for the ages. In fact, I saw a chick with the most spectacular mullet, maybe ever, just yesterday. Yep, kinda makes you want to go and listen to some Journey or old Metallica right now. (not that newer shaved head Metallica either).  Go down the stairway at my house, and you will see a picture of me with a mullet.  I wasn't even trying back then, and I had one.  If I could grow one now... Because, a BB gun is a good gift, a football is not.

So, Arizona. Sunshine, cactus, girls with less clothes on, MTB riding, burritos, more riding, sunshine and burritos. Yes, I did put up burritos twice. I just put it up twice, because putting it up 5 times would be really redundant.

We really didn't have a huge plan when we left, but we did have MTB shoes , sunscreen and a credit card along for the ride. So here is the summary of the days.
Wednesday - MTB ride, Mexican food
Thursday- MTB ride, Mexican food
Friday - MTB ride, Mexican food (I think it is a law or something there)
Saturday - MTB ride, Mexican food, Supercross race.
It was nearly the perfect few days. There was more that went on, but if you want to bail out now - you pretty much have it from there.

I am a simple person.  Give me a 2 wheeler, some sun, some Mexican lunch everyday - and I am pretty much pink.  Throw in my family and friends to do it with, and I am all topped. 

I think it is a law there or something.

We rode a few different rides.  (Even though I can eat the same burrito over and over for lunch, I do like some variety in my riding.) 

South Mountain!  I hear pointing is the way forward.

South Mountain.  I have been there a few other times over the years.  We use those trails for testing in the winter all the time.  I remember riding there back in the day, when Gary and I were working on Genesis Geometry.  (That is showing my age again.)  But, I got to show it all to Liz and the girls, so I got to be the one that knew all the routes.  I kinda like being mister know it all, in case you hadn't caught on to that yet.  Liz and I found a trail I had not ridden on the 3rd day, and for good reason.  Turned out to be an hour long hike a bike.  Ah, the joys of a new trail.  Regardless, it was super fun.  Did I mention how much I like the Remedy I was on?  Geez.

Black Canyon trail.  I cannot say enough about how much fun it is.

Black Canyon trail.  Wow.  What a difference.  Where South Mountain is rocky and technical, Black Canyon was super flowy and huge amounts of fun.  We rode a loop called Little Pan Loop.  It was beyond cool.  If you go, bring the Remedy and do it counter clockwise.  There is a super payout in the second half of the ride with 30 minutes of flowing downhill.  Brilliant.

Looking forward to doing it again.

Now off to Brussels Belgium for work for the week. No riding, but it will be nice and cold and rainy.  Can you say "I wish I was still in Arizona riding my MTB", of course you can - you just did to yourself.

Self Explanatory.

Out till the next one,

Joe

 

Stepping Into The Void

This is one of the most anticipated trips of the year for me. Since I was a kid, I have always wanted to go to Australia. Somehow, I think I will need a big knife or something. I really hope I have to wrestle a crocodile or box a kangaroo or something. I hope I can figure out the Australian Rules Football thing.  I hope I do not have to sit through a whole Cricket match.  (What is that game anyway?) I hope I don't die from a poison fish or man eating plant or or Hoop Snake or from one of the other 67.8 unique ways you can be killed in OZ.

Wish me luck that I don't get lost in the outback. Just sounds exotic saying it that way.

As I said, I have always wanted to go.  I think that maybe it is like a full time Mad Max set. You know, your mind does strange things to you when you are a kid.  I always thought that when I did go, I would travel through the outback in a jeep or something like that. This trip will not be like that, but I am still hoping for the Kangaroo ride.

I can dream, can't I?

Out.

Japan to Arkansas - I don't need to tell you that it is strange.

Last week I was in Japan. This week I am in Arkansas. I do not know if there is a larger difference in cultures that a person can experience in the period of 2 weeks. I mean, let's think about it for a minute:

Japan = lots of bowing, soft voices, more bowing...

Arkansas = jacked up pickup trucks, both country and western music...

Just sayin.

Last week started out with a Sunday 24 hour journey to get to Osaka.  I got the the Madison airport at 5am for a 6am flight, and was informed that my flight had been cancelled.  Not a great sign, but you learn to go with the flow.  I suppose there are people that fly through Madison even more than I do, but they know me by name there.  (which is kinda embarrassing)

Since I was on Delta, and I have exactly 4,564,791miles flown on that airline, they will take care of me when something like a missed/canceled flight happens.  Delta rerouted me and got me to Osaka at the same time that I was meant to get there in the first place.  Funny, when you are making the arrangements before hand there is nothing available except the flight that goes through Capetown South Africa. But when stuff hits the fan they can get you on the one that makes up the 2 hours of lost time in the original schedule.  Funny.

In Japan I attended our Asian country manager meetings and spent a day at Shimano.  Of course there were a few good dinners.  I kinda like Japanese food, so it is pretty cool to be there and get it from the source. 

1st day - meeting at our office is Osaka.  Lots of reviews with various country managers and great discussions about opportunities in each market for product development and marketing stuff.  I kinda like that sort of stuff, as that is what I am meant to do in my job.  I like it when my business card actually matches what I am doing on a given day. 

Not too different there, but we did eat it with chopsticks.  Lunch at the office.

That evening, we had dinner with a few different people from Shimano Japan.  It was fun to see and to talk to a bunch of people from Shimano that I have known for 20 years.  It is really amazing that some of the same people who were once our account representative or something like that are now directors of global functions at Shimano.  Pretty cool. 

We did have a great meeting at Shimano. We talked about a bunch of future developments and efforts together.  But, I cannot show you or tell you those.  Just know that it is going to be some pretty cool stuff.  Stay tuned. 

We had to take our shoes off at the door of the restaurant.  You can guess which shoes are mine.

Lots and lots of great courses in the meal, all presented like this.

I think we would call this Tempura at home, but I do not think we would have this cool Japanese chef at a restaurant that was over 100 years old cooking for you. 

The meal with Shimano did have about 97.6 courses in it.  Here is the list I took down.  Of course I gained at least 17 lbs eating that meal.  Off season is great.

Dinner in Osaka
- kelp tea
- beer
- sea urchin and tofu skin
- cod fish, shrimp, sea weed
- more beer
- sashimi, halibut, tuna, squid
- long slim Snapper, called sweet face Snapper
- more beer
- shrimp tempura, dipped in sauce
- sake
- sand fish tempura, dipped in sauce
- potato tempura, dipped in salt
- more sake
- mushroom tempura, dipped in sauce
- squid tempura, dipped in lemon and salt
- more sake
- lotus root tempura, dipped in sauce
- swordfish tempura, dipped in salt
- more beer
- corn tempura dipped in salt
- ginkgo nuts tempura dipped in salt
- potato with sweet bean tempura not dipped
- gluten tempura dipped in sauce
- sea eel tempura dipped in sauce
- onion tempura dipped in salt
- kakiage tempura (shrimp and veggie cake - sweet potato mushroom lotus roots spinach/green something or other) served on rice with seaweed + mushroom miso soup. This was desert.
- finisher = fruit plate. (stuffed to gills)

The next day, we took the bullet train to one of the south Islands of Japan, and went to a factory that makes internal gear hubs and cranks.  Really precision stuff with lasers and robots going at full steam.  Felt a little like a scene from the Terminator.  Kinda creepy, but man is it cool stuff.  I was asked not to take photo's in the factory, so trust me it was cool.  I did snap some photo's of some of the cool stuff there though. 

Bullet train that we were boarding.  Dang is that cool or what?

Feels kinda like a Japanese video game. 

My guides for the factory tour day - Dave and YT from Shimano USA and the factory manager.  Sweet hats we were made to wear.

Test course behind the factory, for testing internal gear hubs.  I am coming back to train here before Paris Roubaix.

Lunch at the factory.  Not the same as a factory in the USA.

The next day we went for a great road ride in the mountains on Japan island.  I can describe the ride in a few words: steep, narrow, wrong side of the road (for me), sweet. 

We rode for 2 hours and it was great fun.  Saw monkeys, stopped at a waterfall, raced a climb with Sitoshi and lost, tore down the other side on the opposite side of the road which felt weird and then finished in a little village.  Crazy cool. 

We stopped at a cool waterfall.  People thought I was a pro Leopard Trek rider - NOT! (Who is the old guy with Andy's fat day kit on?)

The week ended with another ride, some quality time spent in a Japanese Starbucks, listening to christmas music already.  Basking in the glow of espresso and weird little fish snacks. 

These things can best be described as Fish Jerky.  Dried little hard fish snacks.  Definitely not the same as a cookie or chips and salsa.

 

Arkansas

If you know me, you know that I regularly say "The rednecks have inherited the best parts of the USA."  I actually mean that in a really good way.  Deep down, I am a redneck as all of us mountain bikers really are.  The woods is where we feel best and the best woods are in the non populated parts of the country.  People refer to the locals there as rednecks.  I suspect that is ok with them, as they truly have inherited the best parts of the country. 

Arkansas is one of those places.  If you haven't been there, you need to go.  My brother and I have been going there and enjoying the riding for years.  Now that his kids are grown, as are mine, it is a great time of doing some multi-generational family mountain biking.

I arrived home on Friday night from Japan.  We got ourselves loaded up on Saturday and left to make the 14 hour drive during the middle of the night early Sunday morning.  Drove all day, and arrived during the storm of the century.  8.5" of rain in 24 hours.  Yes, it was a spectacular flood.  Kind of a build the ark and gather the animals type of feeling. 

So here I find myself in the land of jacked up pick ups, Walmart and both country AND western music.  (Neither of which are my style, as you would it is hard to find that on a Pearl Jam album).  But, we are doing some sweet riding, in the mud and after it dried out in the perfect tacky traction that is always those first couple of days after a huge storm.  Sweet. 

Here is a 5 minute video of me following my nephew and brother with the helmet cam.  It is XC, so not as exciting as a DH film but it is riding and it is always fun.

 

 

Out.

Joe

Weird "Science"

Sometimes things just happen that are pretty weird. Sometimes they are actually beyond strange and could even be called bizarre. We have security on our computer system at work. When we upgraded from abacus's to computers back in the stone age (remember, I am actually older than dirt), I was asked to create a password. I started with the password “xxxxx” on my email account.

We have a stupid system there that makes you change the password on a regular basis. I don’t even know how often (all too frequently is all I know). Seems like you just are getting to where you have it changed everywhere, and you are being asked to change it again. Geez. Being of limited brain capacity, I just could not be bothered. So, I did what any of us would have done,I added a 1 to the back of my password when I was told to change my password, giving me “xxxxx1”.

I have been adding 1 to the previous number ever since (xxxxx2, xxxxx3 and so on), every time I have been prompted for years. Yes, I am that lazy, and that unconcerned with my computers security. I am now on “xxxxx50”, and I am 50. There must me some sort of law of probabilities that affects that.  And I do not mean like speed limit laws.

Weird.

I think it might even be science. At a minimum it’s a math thing, and math is hard.

Out. Joe

Math is Hard!

Copper Harbor. It's WAY WAY up there!

Open up your map.  You know, the Gazetteer.  (It's tattered and in your car somewhere.  I know you mostly use the GPS unit, but it is in there somewhere...)  Turn to the Michigan page.  Now look at the part that is called the UP.  Find the Keweenaw peninsula.  Most likely, it is in a separate little box, because IT IS TOO FAR NORTH TO FIT ON THE PAGE!  That is how far away it is.

It's a peninsula... that means it is surrounded by water on 5 of it's 4 sides, right?

I mean, holy crap!  I think you can see the polar caps from a high spot.  It is THAT far north.  Wow.  But, Wow is it worth it.  Geezz.

I have now found what I believe may be the absolute best MTB riding this side of the rockies.  It might be hard pressed to convince me that there is better riding anywhere in the midwest or east of here.  I am willing to try to find out, but right now I am pretty convinced. 

For a long time Hansi Johnson, the IMBA rep here in Wi., has been trying to get me to go to Copper Harbor and try the riding there.  "It's fantastic Joe.  You will not believe it."  I didn't.  I still cannot.  Before I went, I could not believe that Hansi really knew what he was talking about.  Now that I have been there, I cannot believe what I just experienced. 

Check out this link.  This is the site for the trails at Copper Harbor.  

There are a ton of great trails (something like 37 miles).  There are great XC trails, great flowing trails, great DH trails.  You can ride up, and earn your gravity or you can take the shuttle up from Keweenaw Adventures. 

There is a trail called The Flow, that is out of this world. 

 

We were in Copper Harbor for some planning meetings.  We were there to do the planning for the 2013 model lineup.  We met, we figured out a lot of great things for the lineups.  Of course, I could tell you but...  The meetings went well, but as you can imagine, that was secondary to the fantastic riding.

(Please do not tell my boss, that the riding was fantastic there.  I do not want to have to justify why I was out of the office for more than a week.  We were working is the answer.  Ok?) 

Serious Plug. 

Aaron Rogers is the president of the club there, and he is a trail builder extraordinaire!  He and 2 other builders have built every single mile of the 37 miles of singletrack there.

The locals call it CH.  That would be for Copper Harbor, not Switzerland.

Sam at Keweenaw Adventures will set you up with a shuttle, take you kayaking in the harbor etc...  Great stuff. 

Aaron Rogers and I.  He is one of the most talented trail builders around.

Berms are fun.

The Corkscrew.

Artsy.

Don't ask.

Keweenaw Adventures

Apparently South Park has been abandoned in favor of North Park.

Wood

More wood.

Trailer full of fun.

Which way should we go?

The Flow starts here!

Get yourself to CH.  You will not regret it.  Tell them Joe sent you.

Cheers.

Joe

 

 

Chequamewamwamagan - or something like that.

It is a MTB race.  Up norther there eh?  In the woods of Wisconsin, step aside my Johnson (Red Hot Chili Peppers). 

Bike races are FAST!  I am not FAST.  I pretend, but in reality I am not.  If the dog could talk, we would all know the truth.  When did the dog become that smart anyway?  Have you ever noticed that your dog always seems to know the truth?  If you were to make up a story about why you did not get that work project done, you would not be able to tell your boss on the phone that made up story about why it is not done.  If your dog was watching you while you were telling the story, you would not want to make eye contact.  Your dog knows better.

So we decided that it was time to get back to being a bike racer.  Rather than start out with a fun XC 1.5hour singletrack race, we decided to do that 40 mile road bike race on a MTB bike.  Dirt roads and the Birkebeiner trail.  Rev it up baby!

It has been a while since I had a bike with a number plate on the front. 

If you do not know the Chequamegan 40 mile Fat Tire race and Festival, it is huge.  The race goes from Hayward to Cable.  It follows much of the same trail as the Birkebeiner ski race (only in reverse), and then a bunch of dirt roads.  It finishes at Telemark Lodge across the ski runs.  It is a tough race, but not because the trail is technical.  It is a flat out road race.  It starts on the road and goes 3 miles on pavement before it gets to the ski trail.  It is a flat out 30 mph pace line.  This year was led by Christian Vandeveld and Jason McCartney.  Holy crap, is all I can say. 

Look closely.  I am in there somewhere, along with at least 2500 other people.

There were a couple of things to note. 

1.  There is a group of pirates that serve rum on one of the hills.  It was a riot. I actually took the rum and took a sip of it.  It was actually pretty good. 

Aye Mate!

The Pirate Gang!

2.  It is impossible to have 2500+ people on singletrack.  The Hayward area has become known for it's singletrack.  This race uses none of it.  In fact, you go right by some really sweet looking pieces of singletrack during the race. I found myself saying "what about that piece of singletrack?"  We did not hit any of it.

We did a great singletrack ride on Sunday morning.  It was raining, but we rode for 2 hours on really sweet singletrack south of OO.  It was called the Makwa trail (Little Bear in Ojibwa - We did not see any bears).  Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Out.

Joe

Goatee of filth.