1976 Jaguar XJ6L ~ For Sale!

1976 Jaguar XJ6L 

73,500 odometer (true original miles)

Silver exterior

Fantastic red leather interior

Automatic Transmission

Electric Windows

Power Door Locks

For Sale: 2011 Santa Cruz Nomad Review - Carbon frame, Stryker Wheels, Fox, Formula R1, and more

The 2011 Carbon Santa Cruz Nomad Review ~

The redesigned nomad is fun to ride and I haven't had an issues with it yet.  The only thing that happened was the stainless steel chain slap protector came off for no reason just riding along the singletrack.

The bike does climb, but certainly has a handicap that can't compare to other bikes that climb much better.  Once the grade tips downward, you can easily catch anybody that dropped you on the climb :)

The bike does everything well, but goes through rough descents best.  It really comes alive at high speeds in rough terrain.  The fun starts when the rocks really start kicking up (and so does the paint off the rims of the WTB Stryker wheels).

6 Hour Kirkwood Super DXC

Last year the contestants were all bummed out about how much pedaling there was and that I was able to win by choosing to not ride the first chair and pedal up to the second chair instead.

They must be really upset about this years race then.  It was much harder with even more pedaling.

I got off to a good start on the pavement and could have holeshotted the first chair, but having never ridden the course I did not want to lead the first lap.  I had seen the helmet cam footage of the track and knew it wasn't super simple

So I took second chair with Curtis Beavers in front of me and John Morrison behind me.  They both went ahead on the first lap and I never saw them again all day.  I guess at the end of 6 hours I was only 3 minutes behind Beavers, but I didn't know that during the race :(

The course was very technical, rugged, loose, duffy, snowy, switchbacky, and non flowy.  It felt like about a thousand feet of climbing every lap.  I did 8 laps.

Very tough day, and I was happy with 2nd Pro, 3rd Overall.

2011 Tahoe Sierra 100

The Strava Suffer Score is an analysis of your heart rate data. By tracking your heart rate through the ride and its level relative to your maximum heart rate, Strava will attach a value to show exactly how hard you worked. The more time you spend going full gas and the longer you ride, the higher the score.

448Strava Suffer Score
What is this?

 

• Leisurely 0-49
• Moderate 50-99
• Tough 100-149
• Extreme 150-249
• Epic 250+

According to Strava.com this ride is almost a double epic. It stops ranking after 250.
 I did a 448. O. U. C. H.

I started the day with zero warmup and the first 10 minutes at 300 watts. Unfortunately this effort was spent catching the back of the field rather than going off the front of it. That's because after lining up scrambled and panicked at 5:59am, I realized 100 ft after the gun went off that I didn't have glasses. And I wasn't about to ride all damn day with no glasses. So I peeled off the race to back to the car and get my glasses. Which was funny because I was so panicked I got to the car to get the glasses and then locked the car back up again with them still in it. Had to open the car again to actually get them the second time. Some times you have to slow down to go faster.

From there I blasted through the field until I find Gregg Stone running slow and steady. I figure, if he's not in a rush then I don't need to be either. Going down to the first aid station I almost ate it big time right in front of him. He stopped at the aid station and I rode on alone. My game plan was to avoid stopping as much as possible. I learned in RAAM that you had better press on than hold up. To be able to not stop at the aid stations I brought 3,800 calories and 100 oz of water with me from the gun. The food was all liquid diet: SPIZ and EFS.


(photo credit - racer Jeff Barker)

The course surprised me. For one it was tougher than I had feared, mainly the last 3 canyons. For two, there wasn't as much ripping tahoe single track that I had expected. It was a tough course to pick a bike. Running my carbon SC Nomad wouldn't have solved my problems but some suspension would have been nice. All the descents were very rough with rocks, drops and debris. On the flip side there were hours of fire road and pavement climbs that well suited my Superfly 29er HT.

By the top of the second canyon my legs were serving up the most difficult cramps I've ever ridden through. You could reach down and feel golf balls in my legs. After one leg finished being locked up, the balls would roll on over to the next leg.

There must be some deep human mental need to accomplish and achieve. Because otherwise nobody would pay $200 to suffer like that.

2011 Downieville Classic race report

This year I learned what it takes to be that guy looking down from the top step of the Expert All Mountain World Championship podium at Downieville.  About 5,000 miles, in fact. And that it feels pretty good.  For 5 years I've stared up at the guys on the Expert All Mountain podium, wondering how it could be possible.  Now I know its just a lot of hard work and time on the bike.

Good fortune was really on my side too.  Stosh Bankston flatted in the DH which was a bummer for the team, but good luck for me.

Here is my 2011 Santa Cruz carbon Nomad built up by Curty at Bicycle Emporium in Auburn.

Here is a pic of me and the boys on the Expert All Mountain podium:

2011 RAAM Race Report

TDL Team Live Forever completed RAAM yesterday with a sub 7 day finish time. We had no accidents, no crashes, 4 bike flats (no mechanicals), 1 car flat, and a new appreciation for the comforts of everyday life.

Our race was very competitive early in the week, arriving at the desert time stations like Flagstaff, AZ well ahead of top level teams. Unfortunately, we failed to execute a crew rotation system that could support full speed race pace. Crossing the country safely without delays requires certain tools and leaders that we overlooked. We basically rode the wheels off our train.

By Kansas, our unstructured rotation plan had taken apart the team. We were so mis-directed that I had to ride into Missouri solo after 15 hours on 2 man shift without steady racer and crew rotation taking place.
This resulted in some infighting amongst the team. Some people prioritized rest and safety, others solely focused on riding fast.

The conflict boiled over when a fatal car accident closed the race course near Greensberg IN. Some wanted to take the opportunity to rest, others wanted to find a way to keep racing. By this time, members of our crew had already contacted the RAAM headquarters to report that our team was a safety hazard. The race officials agreed and put a mandatory rest on certain crew and 1 racer.

So for 8 hours that day, we stopped racing and tried to sort out our issues. By this point, our competitors were far enough ahead that the race took on more of a relaxed tempo. Our transitions and our stopped time and frequency increased greatly.

We were able to bring things back together, have moments of efficiency and conquered some difficult terrain but ultimately the mixed agendas and priorities tore the team apart. We were also able to ride the last 70 miles of the race together as a unified team with all 4 racers on the road and a full support crew marking the course and keep us fresh going to the finish line (picture attached).

The race rewards prepared teams who limit their lost time. Its so easy to make quick mistakes, yet so hard to gain time. Pushing 1 or even 2 miles per hour faster for several hours requires a lot of precious energy and effort and only gains a few minutes. Stopping for minutes, let alone hours to rest takes you out of the race.
To all of the team, thank you for coming along on this wild ride. I'm sorry I couldn't be more clear on what was to be expected but until you've done RAAM (none of us had), you can't properly prepare for it.

I hope we can all take away something new, something learned, something worthy about ourselves and others. Please feel free share your pictures and memories...