AntonioGG

Iain Hackett and the Canadians did several 24 hours of Adrenaline Wold Championships. There were several events claiming World Championship status since the UCI did not recognize this discipline, but these Adrenaline events were attended by the best of the best (Rebecca Rusch, Tinker Juarez, Jason English, Cory Wallace), so I consider them true World Championships. I stuck to Rocky Hill for my 24 hour fix. Yep, the EB in 2009 where I "finished" taking a nap on the big rock at Lakewood Club Park (after Emma Long) was the first time I'd ridden 50 miles. I don't even think I'd attempted to ride that long on the road at that point. In fact, I think my first 100 mile ride was in a MTB event. I routinely don't ride the race distance before a race and I don't worry about it (b/c you can't really ride a 24 hour event to train for one). I think after the EB, I signed up for the 6-pack (6 hour during the Dirty Dozen at Warda) in February 2010, met Iain for the first time at WC entering Windy Loop (he was wearing a Hammerhead Jersey) and he told me about a clinic that Sara Krause was hosting about endurance racing and he also talked about 24 hour races (I thought, "that's crazy!"). I attended that clinic, did the 6 hour event in horrendous mud (Hammerhead Bikes made ~$250 in parts because of that race) and I was hooked. Somewhere around this time I threw my name in for the Leadville lottery (when that was the only way to get in) and I got in...so I had no choice but to train. I didn't finish that one either...got through 76 miles but missed the cutoff then rode another 10 miles back into town and started digesting all the ways I'd screwed up. I trained with Sean Taylor for 5 years until we adopted our kids, then I retired for a while. Now I'm trying to make it back, but trying to enjoy the ride a bit more than back then.

Where are those ride reports?

I’m so slow right now that I’d feel bad holding you up, but I could lead a slower group if need be. (Except this week since my wife is out and I’m watching the kids.)

I would have been happy with just the BCGB. A big part of it for me is the ride from walnut to Zilker en masse, chatting with people you may have not seen in months, meeting new people,etc. This year I didn’t see any hair of the dog type instances like I did a few years ago. 🙂

No. I made the decision to bail after Emma. Had a beer, was low on water (100oz in almost 6 hours is not enough). I had hoped that a coke at Jester mart would keep me going but I ended up walking up all of Jester so I knew my day was done. I didn’t even try to turn left at Old Spicewood, I just kept going on 360. To be honest, this is what I expected given my fitness and sickness (coughing up half a lung this morning) but I had a blast and after maybe 30 minutes in the BCGB I started riding well. Before that my vision was bad, looking only in front of my wheel and picking bad lines...the kind of stuff you do when you don’t ride off-road enough. I rode everything well for me, but not HOL. Even on a shorter day I struggle with traction and I can’t make it all the way up. Well, it turns out briskly walking up HOL I PRed it LOL!!! i had a good ride on 360 and up Courtyard only walking up that last steep bit. I walked all the city park climb. I enjoyed Emma in this direction quite a bit. At some point my problem was I could make it up a punchy climb or obstacle but that left me depleted and took me 1-2 minutes to recover. I knew that meant Thumper was going to be impossible for me. I made it to WC (after turning the wrong way in Metric and making it to Oskar Blues) and had a couple of beers with the leaders (not something I usually get to do). I was surprised not more people had finished at that point (8 hours in I think) Thanks to the EB crew for another great event!

That’s the stuff that seems to give the shits to whatever eats it right? This time of year there seems to be a lot of beauty berry scat on the trail.

Well, here's my checklist: No rides in more than a week until today. Coming off 1.5 weeks with a cold Not much dirt riding all through August I'm not sure I've completed a lap around Thumper this year...maybe one. I've not done City Park in this direction since the last time it was in this direction. Tires aired Stan's topped up chain lubricated lights charged Infinit mixed Osprey pack packed up with tools, spares, and snacks Let's go!!

How's the weight coming off on October for you? I'm not doing the 100% sober part, but definitely limiting to one drink or none per day* and the weight is coming off fast!

Those look like hipster skinny sized jeans. I see they have some spandex, I thought UCI banned spandex for enduro and downhill.

Especially when riding Thumper and Emma Long. It's only BR because I've had terrible rides at Emma Long in the past, with about 30 bites from these flies in one ride. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/why-do-zebras-have-stripes-flies/583114/

I rode while at UT from 91-95 on my Univega rigid then on my Kestrel CSX. My buds and I would ride from Jester to BCGB, and we rode Emma Long and Bull Creek and probably other stuff that's long gone that I wasn't aware of (don't remember ever riding Walnut though). We stayed on the trail and never cut or shortcut anything. It would be sad if indeed younger UT students don't take advantage of all the goodness so close to campus.

I would love a neutral prologue. It's part of the whole atmosphere of this ride.

I can't seem to find the links to the GPX or the word descriptions of the routes or even in Strava (I only seem to find the 2012 segments). Since I haven't done the EB in a few years, I'm not sure of the route in the BCGB. Any pointers are appreciated.

I always knew "Doghead" as Elvis. Is the new name a Strava thing?

It wasn't in 2010. I didn't finish 2009 and didn't participate in the OG 2008 version but I think 2008-2010 were the same.

Is that a white wine bottle?

My wife reported that by yesterday afternoon, the east side was dry and very loose again. She had a bit of a low-side in the first part of the trail, got up, finished the lap, and did 2 more. She loves Peddlers Pass!

Wow! That's good to know. I've not had to bleed my road bike's levers but now I'll be expecting to need a new adaptor.

What are the chances Peddlers will be rideable by this afternoon?

Ha! So true. However, better a patch of mud than a dead rotting fish some bird dropped in my yard. Fish sauce smelling dogs = not good!

You're welcome to try my Woodchipper bars. I think you could try them without wrapping just to see how they feel on the road. I am pretty sure I've seen road bars with ODI style foam which would make it easy to install and remove.

Go watch the RHR24 hour race and you'll see quite the display of lights.

It was exactly those 2 round trips only, then I didn't use that bike case for a long time. IIRC $80 was the overweight charge at the time, so that was the max, which wasn't bad compared to any other option. Just smile as you approach the counter.

Yes, when I looked into bike shipping in a bike box to the PNW, it was close to $300 round trip. For $30 each way on Alaska, it was a no-brainer for me to buy the bag to keep and fly with it. I just had to ride ~3 times during my trip to come out ahead (bag + bagagge fees =$420 ) vs shipping ( $300 ). I've also rented bikes as well. It just depends on how much I am planning to ride. The other thing I didn't like about shipping, is how early you have to drop it off for you to get the cheapest price. Even one day later was a huge increase in price. I've gone with a huge bike box on Southwest airlines (well over linear size, and about 80lbs total) and I paid anywhere from $25 to $80 depending on the agent/airport. Travel was roundtrips Austin to Albuquerque and Austin to Atlanta.

They could have (by their rules) charged you the overweight/oversize fee which is I think $100. I put not much with the bike other than a few tools for assembly. On the way back I put dirty clothes in there. They also didn't weigh my bag.