Summer employment

You know who's hiring? Kingdom Trails is. All sorts of summer employment stuff, including being a mountain bike patroller. Need something to do between May and October? This could be it.

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Weekend outing

As you may have heard, the D2R2 now has a more formidable little brother, the Green Mountain Double. It's 205 miles long has 25,000 feet of climbing (4,912,578 meters). 80% of it is on dirt. Sandy sent some pictures (including one of a place called Swearing Hill, that has a 62% grade and swears at you when you on it) and intimidating words ("a double century in miles only, it rides like a sextuple") of it to fellow snails. Unlike the D2R2, one must qualify to ride it by doing a 300k brevet, double beforehand or something to prove you're awesome.

I have no idea if I'd actually be able to complete this ride. The longest I've ever ridden in a day is about 120 miles. I'm pretty sure that I can do a double and plan to try in the spring. This, however, falls into the category of ultracycling (I mean, it's on their website) and I doubt that I'm an ultracyclist.

Nonetheless, I have begun training. Johanna and I went up to the mountainous green state this weekend. I rode! On snow! Up hill both ways! With studded tires! for 16 miles... It was very pretty, though. I have no idea how people do 100 mile races or 350 for that matter (1100??). Actually, I could probably manage a 100 mile race with checkpoints.

So, anyway, perhaps I'll take a weekend in June to ride Sandy's new impossible ride.

Swearing Hill, I can't wait. Photo credit to someone (I didn't take this picture.)

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If you were me...

Would you drive up to Vermont this weekend for the Circumburke? While only 26 miles, it sounds like an awesome back country race. I know some of those trails near Kingdom Trails that aren't maintained and they're pretty awesome. It's a lot of driving for only 26 miles of racing. Read more!

Brendan and Johanna ride a long way again

You may recall that two years ago Johanna and Brendan rode a long way. Since then, we've ridden other long ways, but this weekend, in honor of us turning 27, we rode the original long way.

We arrived at Crystal Lake and it was early and misty. It was cold, but we wore wool and Johanna had arm warmers.

We rode to Derby Line library and I peed in Canada (without telling Boarder Patrol!).

Then we rode through the hills of Holland, which look like that Microsoft windows default desktop.

We rode and rode some more. The whole route is paved, which is weird for the North East Kingdom

We ate lunch at Island Pond and it was very good. Chili, vegetable soup and two kinds of ziti.

Then we rode some more and then it was done.

I crashed once, because I was waiting for Johanna on the beach of Lake Willoughby. Riding a road bike on sand and in ditches is stupid and I fell down. It hurt.

Then we finished. It was great!

no more books at the BOOKS

The next day, I rode the beloved BOOKS loop.

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Birthday party!!

I won't actually be able to attend, but I encourage everyone else to go to catalogue this weekend:

Hello All Hello Autumn,

Announcing our September CATALOGUE: Adam McHose, Superorganism

Saturday, September 18

8:00pm

56 Arbor Street, Hartford, CT

Suite # forthcoming

Adam does identity. He deals in the things that visually make us up, and distinguish us from one another. We can see we're unique, yet we're also pieces of information. Adam paints people, both digitally and analogue(ly), graphs them, flattens them and makes them new. There's something thing-ish, un-reproducible about his work, but ones and zeros are still its foundation. His work is like fractals. It's portraits. Both discrete and continuous, and very colorful. Supercolorful. That's just me talking, though. Check out his website!

http://www.adammachose.com

CATALOGUE is a monthly event that showcases artists, musicians and other creative endeavors, and is hosted by Joe Saphire, Nick Rice, and Joel VanderKamp (our newly-wed!, ever-absent advisor). The event is a collaboration between artist, curator, community and space. Contact us for directions or questions: CATA.info.LOGUE@gmail.com, and please pass this invitation along to those we might have missed.

Joe Saphire, Nick Rice

I'll be off doing something along these lines:

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Sundry

Firstly, Johanna & I were riding to get some Mexican food from the West End last night. When we passed through Pope Park, we saw deer. That was pretty cool. They were just chillin in the, well, meadow. I guess that's what happens when don't mow the whole lawn.

This weekend is the Coyote Hill Race. I've always wanted to do it because the rumor is that it's a fun course. So, we'll see. I like fun and I'll be in Vermont anyway.

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Violations

I've been sort of derelict in my blogulatory duties lately. Perhaps my interest in blogging waning. Perhaps I'm a crappy writer. Perhaps I've got writer's block. That would be funny, because I'm not a writer. Some stuff:

1. Riding a bike in a Hartford park is now legal, even if you do it off road. This allows you to ride a bike in Bushnell Park... not that anyone was being prevented before. In fact, bicycles were technically not allowed on the bike path along the CT River. However, this is also opens up the opportunity for riding on dirt. So, Keney Park "mountain biking" is now legal. As you can imagine, I had a little bit to do with this ordinance.


2. I'm not very good at riding a rigid bike.

I thought that I was, so I rode my rigid stumpjumper at the Winding Trails race. I came in 11th (14 seconds out of points). Fun & fast race, though.

this isn't winding trails.

3. Thai Food on the Wheels in back in Bushnell Park, so my lunch opportunities have been expanded.

this is fungus soup in a bowl

4. Hi water has receded, so one can ride near rivers again.


5. I'm sort of antsy to go to Vermont and ride for long on dirt.

6. I fixed my mom's bike (well, as well as I can fix a bike). Maybe she'll start riding it again.

that gel thing + the giant saddle weigh as much as the rest of the bike

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Vermonsters & leaves

So, in middle of an epic ride (kidding) my shifter broke on my Stumpjumper. It answered the question what the rattling was in the shifter/brake lever contraption. I thought that it was brake cable stop or something like that, because that brake lever had a little bit of play in it. But, nope, it was the shifter falling apart. So much for the reliability of XT (XT circa 1996). Anybody got one of these? I'd really appreciate it.

So, I did some hiking instead.


On Saturday, Johanna and I found the elusive summit of Mt. Hor. Actually, this preceeded my shifter braking. I broke it when we got back.


Sunday was the day of actual bikelessness. I think that if I give myself eight or nine hours, I can do all four (five?) peaks of the Franconia Ridge Trail. But, I only had time for three on Sunday. Hiking still makes my legs hurt and coming down the Mt. Flume trail is really difficult.

Fucking cycalists!

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A few items for consideration

1. >I don't want to get shot this weekend. Once again, I'm returning to Vermont. I don't usually go during hunting season. VMBA advised to wear orange or red and not ride where people are hunting a lot. VT Fish & Wildlife says that you can hunt within like ten feet of a road. Much of the land where I go in Glover is posted no hunting. However, the people who own it can hunt there and might do that. I plan to stay on roads, but some of those roads are pretty quiet and I've seen blinds near them. Any advice? Only ride at Kingdom Trails, where hunting isn't a concern?
2. Why wouldn't you want to say hi me? I'm a nice guy and look non-threatening on a bike. Last night, though, I had like a half dozen unreturned greetings at the Reservoir. I'm hurt. At the onset of the ride, there was a nice guy with whom I was leap frogging picking up blow down from the recent high winds. There weren't over the top or anything. Just "hey" to someone who's oncoming or someone whom I'm passing.
   
3. Chris is at Interbike in Providence. Cool, eh? He's also spreading the word about Hartford 'Cross. He better write up something cool for us.
   
4. Speaking of Hartford 'Cross. If you come day of with a usable part or tool for the Urban League, the $5 surcharge'll be waived.

I have no plans to run in the marathon.

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I'm a liar

You may recall yesterday that I said that I was going to do a ride out in the Northwest Corner. Well, I'm not. I'm going up to Vermont again. So, even though no one indicated that they wanted to come ride with me, even if someone did, they can't. Also, even though it's a few days late, it's too bad about Fat Cyclist's wife, Susan. Obviously, a big important blog like that doesn't know who we are, but I feel compelled to say anything anyway.

Also, Joel and I (and then Ken) went to the Wadsworth's Blog This!. I have always liked the Wadsworth. I've had several friends who've worked there and two friends who painted the Sol Lewitt "Whirls and Twirls" (I can't find an image of Wad's, only the one at MassMOCA) in the stairwell. The event was cool in that the museum reached out to us, but I'm prejudiced because I already liked the museum. At the same time, I'm trying to think up a good way to incorporate the Wadsworth into a blog about riding a bike. Is there a way to do that? Who knows? On a happy note, they've hired a new contemporary art curator and the Matrix will be back in January or February. I also learned that the previous contemporary art curator (or was is director), Joanna Marsh, who was really good, was hired away by the present Wadsworth director, Susan Talbot, when Susan was working down at the Smithsonian. So, it was her fault that there was no contemporary art person at the Wadsworth when she arrived.

Louise Bourgeois at the Hirshorn.

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Big hill & Vietnamese food

One thing that I forgot to mention about my trip to Vermont was the big hill I rode up, Burke Mountain. It's really big! Like 3270'! We don't have anything that high in Connecticut. And, unlike that wussy hill climb race they have (just kidding), I climbed half of it on the nasty & unimproved Civilian Conservation Corps Road out of Kirby. Well, anyway, it's not that big of an accomplishment, but I highly recommend it. It has a really pretty view from the observation tower. So, does Monadnock Mountain in Essex County. However, you cannot ride your bike up Monadnock Mountain. Also, if you've never been to this site, you really ought to.

Riding down the mucky Kingdom Trails singletrack of Dead Moose Alley and Moose Alley and all that stuff was also pretty cool. In my opinion, the trail network on Darling Hill is pretty cool in its buff-ness and twistiness, but the Burke Mountain trails are so much longer, tiring and better.

This is the view from Monadnock's fire tower:


I find it weird that two of New England's monadnocks are simply named Mt. Monadnock or Monadnock Mountain. The drumlins of the region aren't all called drumlin. Other places are able to think up more creative names.

Also, the new Vietnamese place, Hiep Phat Vietnamese Fast Food, on Park Street at Dorothy Street is really good. I highly recommend it. Very authentic, or at least, it seems authentic to a guy named Brendan Mahoney.

*I stole that Burke picture from Snow-forecast.com.

ps. Sorry for subjecting y'all to my crappy attempt at a narrative about riding at Kingdom Trails.
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Not dead yet

While I'm glum that Josh is no longer writing in these parts and that we're got some personal turmoil floating about, I'm not going to let that derail the blog. My guess is that our few readers were here to read about (greater) Hartford & bikes not other, more dramatic things.

So, I'm going to write a bit about some bike stuff.

First, I met with Art & Jason last night about our plan of attack for Hartford 'Cross in October. I think we're in a good position to make a pretty awesome race. So, if you're part of some kind of something and want to do some sponsoring, shoot me an email at oiseaux@gmail.com. Otherwise, come and race or come and watch. You really should come, it's much easier to get to than that race in Maine.

Second, the D2R2 is in two weeks and I'm sort of terrified. I think that I'm in ok shape, but like, it's supposed to be the hardest ride in the world. It's like the Leadville 100 meets Alpe d'Heuz times 50. I've decided that I'm going to ride my rigid mountain bike with semi-slick 1.5"s on it. I don't know if that's a good decision of not. Maybe someone can counsel me. It's a light and comfortable bike with low gearing. That seems like a good choice, right?

Third, I'm doing my first Cat 2 race on Sunday at Hodges Dam. I'm making the jump from beginner racing to mediocre racing. I'm expecting a last place finish. I also haven't raced since two months ago at Winsted Woods, so I'm totally out of practice.

Fourth could have been about my vacation to Vermont and riding my bike, but I didn't take any pictures of it. No one wants to read my narrative about getting muddy at Kingdom Trails.

This is Still Hill Rd in Glover, VT. Imagine if you got to commute to work on this!

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Vacation

If you're unmarried, like me, you don't give much thought to your left ring finger. You don't point at stuff with it or don't make hand gestures with it. It's just sort of there. Now, I'm giving lots of thought to it because I broke it on Sunday at the Reservoir. I'm leaving for vacation soon and I'm down a digit. It seems to be healing quickly, but I'm certain it'll be a bit of time before I can mountain bike with it. It looks like I won't get the Kingdom Trails time that I was hoping for.

Anyway, anybody have recent broken finger stories that can clue me into healing time? When I get I start riding my road bike? Tomorrow? In a week? October?

However, I will get to spend lots of quality time with Johanna!

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Johanna and Brendan ride a long way

I have this on a t-shirt now.

After complaining about not riding up and down enough a few weeks ago, Johanna and I decided to go to Vermont, where things go up and down a lot more.

On Saturday, we did the 11th Annual Claasen Memorial Northeast Kingdom Century and it was great. We saw lots of lakes and took no pictures, so I can only use a google image search to show you where we went. The route had four well stocked rest stops, and at one I got sneak into Canada. If you've got nothing to do on the third Saturday of September, I highly recommend the ride. Johanna liked it so much that she decided the standard 100 wasn't enough and added an extra sixteen mile jaunt to it. I wasn't as hardcore and was in dire need of beer, so I only rode 100.

This is Derby Line. The left side of the room is Quebec and the right side is Vermont. This rest stop is where I snuck into Canada. Don't tell anyone. Here's a Times article about it.

Johanna's family has a lake house up there, so it was fortuitous to learn the roads better so that we can better invent our own rides up there. You can only do the "books", Parker Pizza, East Albany, or Perron Hill loops so many times.

Lake Willougby is pretty.

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summer's waning days

Photo credit goes to Bill and Kent. I don't know who they are, but I know where this is.

It appears that summer is coming to a close. I went for a ride at Penwood last night, back and forth from the chimney, and on the return climb from that road whose name I forget, it was already getting dark. I returned to the car to discover it was only 7:15. Labor Day weekend is almost upon us. Anyone got any cool plans? I'm going to Vermont (again). Read more!

Vermont

Johanna and I went to Vermont this weekend:

This is not Savoy Mountain State Forest. This is some regrettable deforestation in Glover, VT.

On the way up we stopped at Savoy Mountain State Forest. We went for a ride on the fire roads that go through the forest. They were pleasant and it appears that there are more involved trails for mountain biking. Johanna's Lotus, while looking cool with cross tires and having some cyclocross bike characteristics, will never stop being a road bike. Thus, it's tough for it to ride around with rocks and mud. If only the bike we looked at last Friday wasn't so gigantic. The picture below is of Balanced Rock. Johanna is in the process of unbalancing the rock.

Afterwards, we continued on to North Adams to go the opening of Badlands at Mass MoCA. It was pretty awesome, with an even awesomer book designed by Dan McKinley, though the good art definitely helped in the book he made. It was very important for us to stop at the opening. The show is about the contemporary landscape. We spent the entire weekend exploring the landscape.

That evening, after the opening, we soldiered on to Vermont.

I've heard many things about Kingdom Trails in East Burke. The first is that it costs money. That part kind of sucks. The second is that it's really good. It's true. It was very much worth its $10. Look how happy I am after about 90 minutes of riding:

There are lots of nicely banked switchbacks, twisty singletrack, things going up, and things going down. They are also very well maintained trails, in the sense they are technical, but not so technical that there are not a lot of things that would cause one to crash. The hills are bigger in Vermont than they are in Connecticut, so after 4 1/2 hours of riding I was pretty tired:

There was about one more mile of singletrack after the above picture and I spilled out on this road, which had a nice view of where I'd been:

There was a Mountain bike race this weekend in Vermont in West Fairlee, which is about 90 minutes from Johanna's cottage. That would have cost me $25, was shorter, and would have required me to get up at 5am. I'm happy with my decision. Read more!