Onopordum acanthium

Onopordum acanthium - The botanical name is derived from the Greek words onos (donkey), perdo (to consume), and acanthos (thorn), meaning 'thorny plant eaten by donkeys'. The common name Cotton thistle derives from the cotton-like hairs on the leaves; the name Scotch thistle comes from a legend that the plant's thorny thickets helped protect Scotland from the Vikings. Oral folklore holds that as Vikings attempted to sneak up at night to attack and raid Scottish villages, they were stuck by the thistles' thorns and cried out in pain, alerting the townsfolk to the attack and allowing them to fight back and drive back the invaders.

I've found that I am no tougher than the ordinary Viking, and have cried out when striking this very plant with my hand as I passed by on my bike. Notice the proximity to the trail... I'm not allowed to kill this plant due to feelings of some of our more sensitive riders.

C-Hill to 55B

Today was the 1st day this year that we've done the South Side of C-Hill Run. The bottom half is pretty well defined, but we got lost on the upper half. Nature has reclaimed a lot of the trail, and we lost sight of it quite often. We found a new route out of the canyon that drops us back on Curry Street behind the Forest Service station, bypassing the most dangerous section of Curry street. Patrick and I decided to rename the canyon trail to 55B. See if you can find out why next time you ride it...

Yuk!

Scott wanted to make sure we had a clear representation of the damage done to his finger. Hey thanks bud!

Bicycle Ro Sham Bo

When working on your wheel, keep your fingers out from between the spokes and disk brake calipers. The Sarge demonstrated that in the game of bicycle Ro Sham Bo, finger always loses. A cut right through the finger nail!!!

Spring Colors

New Spring Colors for the Blog. Comments anyone? Too bright? Ghastly? Sublime?

Bike to Work Week

Carson City celebrated Bike to Work Week May 15th through the 19th. I've been biking "at work" for 5 years now, but never "to work". After some nagging from some fellow cyclists, I decided to ride to work. Nobody said I had to ride home from work, so I thought what the heck. On the last day I set out on my road bike at 06:50 from Gardnerville. I reached the north end of Minden and the bank clock said 7:20. It was taking longer than I though it would. I was skeptical I'd make it to work by 9:00! I got onto HWY 395 where the traffic hits 70 mph. This was totally unnerving. About a mile later I hear a hissing from my rear tire. Nooooo...I didn't want to change a flat here! My cell phone was in my pack, and I was tempted to call my back-out ride. I decided to quit crying and just changed the tube. I was on the road again. My back-out ride drove by about this time and waved...I was committed now. About this time though the road seemed wider, and the traffic not so bad. The miles were starting to go by quickly. I had crossed the Carson River and was nearing Indian Hills. I wasn't sure how tough this hill would be, but it was no big deal. Fairly easy in the middle chain ring. From the top of Indian Hills it was mostly down hill all the way to work. I took a side street through Carson City that has a designated bike lane. This was great. I was actually passing cars here. It was a 25 mph zone with frequent 4 way stops. If you were in a car, you'd have to wait for a while as the cars were bunched up. On the bike, you went to the front of the line. I finally arrived at work. 17.1 miles. And it was only 08:10. Without the flat tire, I would've been on time. It was a great experiment, and I plan to do it again. I may have to take a different route to avoid the 70 mph zone though...even if it adds five miles. I hitched a ride home with my Mother-In-Law...didn't have it in me for a return ride. Oh...and by the way...if you lost your Freedom Magnet or Support the Troops Magnet...I found them. Freaking Litter Bugs!

Seattle

I'm still up in Seattle, and haven't ridden a bike for days; however, I am surrounded by bikes. They're all road bikes though. I haven't seen but a few mountain bikes. If we worked in Seattle, we'd be roadies for sure. There are some impressive hills here! Residential streets that are steeper than most anything we climb...and the traffic...whoa.

Not a Good Single Speed Day

Today, I had one of my worst rides in recent memory (but it was still better than bellying up to the buffet table).

I decided I was going to try the tree run and maybe part of Deer run if I had time. I changed that plan as soon as I hit C1. The whole climb was deep mud, but I wasn’t quite bright enough to turn back. Instead, I had to stop three times on the climb to keep my heart from exploding.

I finally got to the water tower and decided to cut my losses and head toward Stewart’s run from there. The mud on that mild downhill was as slick as snot. I tried to stay in the middle of that off camber trail, but eventually gave up and rode the washout on the right side of the trail.

I then decided to try and ride as much of the fast path as I could. That was another mistake. I nosed into a washout and pinch flatted and then spent time cursing at my replacement tube because I couldn’t get the CO2 cylinder to fill it properly.

To top it off, the thick mud had gunked up the whole bike, so the front brake was dragging all the way back home.

Would you like some cheese with this whine?

My 1st Front Wheelie

It has been about 5 months since I joined the gang and although I have crashed a lot it has mostly been what is called the clipless pedals learning curve. In fact, I have been known to actually get blown over by the wind. Until today that is… I am riding down the backside of Lakeview and I get to that spot where it is like a garden, the fresh loamy dirt. My front tire digs in and turns and I feel my back end going up in the air and suddenly I am flying through the air….and did a face plant straight into a bush. I get up and there is a perfect hand print there in the snow. You know the kind that you make for your mom out of plaster. Then I hear Jeff yelling from the bottom of the hill “you ok?” I got back on my bike and rode down the rest of the hill. It was rad.

Ride of the Eunuch

As it turns out, my GT Ruckus never materialized. They must have been pretty popular because the bike shop and GT rep couldn't locate a medium sized one for me. They gave up last Friday and I started shopping again.

I first checked out a 2006 Kona Eunuch (or maybe it was Unit) and didn't expect to be impressed because I had already ridden one a couple weeks previously. For some reason, this one felt much better than the one I tried earlier. I talked to the bike shop owner about it and he told me Kona made the frame much lighter for 2006. It really made difference. The new Eunuch felt as zippy as Jeff's On-One that I had been riding the last couple of weeks.

There was one other bike I wanted to try. I saw a Gary Fisher 29 inch single speed at another bike shop and had to give it a try. It felt kind of like driving a truck. It was big and heavy (probably due to the disk brakes and front suspension) and also cost $1100, which was way more than I wanted to spend.

I went back to the first bike shop and picked up the Kona Eunuch. I made sure the one I rode was my size because I didn't want to screw around with ordering a bike that might or might not show up again. I locked the bike up in my garage for the weekend and sat on the front porch with a rifle across my lap waiting for scumbag thieves to try and to steal this one. I didn't see any, so the land mines in my driveway must have discouraged them enough.

Today was my maiden ride on the Eunuch. It was a beautiful day, probably the best one of the year so far. We decided to ride Deer Run. This would be a good test for both the bike and me. The Eunuch felt feather light on the climb. I don't know if it was something to do with the bike, my fitness after riding a single speed for a couple of weeks, or the euphoria of having a new bike, but I was able to climb seated in several sections where I had to be out of the seat on Jeff's On-One. It will be interesting to compare the two of them directly on a future ride.

The Eunuch felt both quick and fast on the downhill. I misjudged several of the Deer Runs single track turns because I am still used to the slower steering of my long lost Enduros (sigh). The Eunuch flew down Stewart's hill, the DB Highway, and the paved roads all the way back to the Facility.

After this glowing review, I have only one concern with my new Eunuch. After the beating I gave it today, I wonder how durable it will be. Hitting rocks at high speed on the downhills has to be rough on the wheels, solid fork, and frame. We'll see how they hang in there.

Where is Bill?

"Where is Bill?" It's a question I hear pretty often. Bill told us today that he's down in Texas gearing up to do some low altitude mountain biking. Bill joined the riding group sometime in 2001...sometime near the beginning. This was back in the day when we'd do the Winnie Lane Loop and call it a huge ride. There was one time Bill almost passed out at the "top of the hill"... a place that we now think of as the beginning of the dirt trails. Bill gained fitness with all of us and was soon doing all the rides up at Lake Tahoe. There were a few bumps in the trail though. One was the separated shoulder incident on the sandy downhill. And who can forget the infamous care flight ride for the pulled hamstring? Don't make jokes with the EMT...it'll cost you! Bill retired last year, but has continued to ride with us off and on since then. And unfortunately, now that he's down in Texas, we will see even less of him.

The picture above was taken from one of our "Hole in the Ground" trail rides. The picture shows Bill telling one of his famous stories. I think he may be exaggerating a little bit...

Full Pack

Today Barbara had to leave from her training class and was forced to bring all her belongings on the ride...street clothes, book, lunch, etc...all stuffed in a hand bag. Luckily I brought the camera to capture this awkward moment...

Sarge Update

Here's a recent shot of the Sarge building up his new bike...the Racer X from Titus. This is the bike he'd be kicking your ass on if he still lived here.

Farewell Special Eds

Two weeks ago, I joined a club that nobody wants to be in, yet most members of the Facility Bike Club are already in. I had a bike stolen. Actually, both of my mountain bikes were stolen from my garage along with a bunch of my other stuff. Fortunately my old Trek avoided that fate by being on loan to Barbara. Her bike was stolen a month or two ago.

Both of my stolen bikes were Specialized Enduros. The original got its name "Special Ed" after a lunchtime ride up a sand wash a few years ago. It was summer and the sand was deep, dry, and soft. I fell over 5 times on the way up the hill and Jeff said "Your bike may be a Specialized, but the way you ride it is more like Special Ed". I took the cue and taped over every 'IZ' on the bike that night. From then on it was known as Special Ed.

Special Ed started to get tired last year so I decided it was time for a replacement. I bought Special Ed II last March and barely got to know it before it was removed from my garage early this March.

The day after the theft, I let the group know I couldn't ride because I didn't have any bikes. Barbara immediately told me she would give me my Trek back and Jeff said he would let me ride his single speed. I was already thinking about buying a single speed and I wanted to keep as many people riding as possible, so I took Jeff up on his offer and told Barbara to keep riding my Trek.

I had to take my first single speed ride alone because I had meetings scheduled during lunch hour (stupid work!). I took an easy ride, paced myself, and was glad I hadn't eaten lunch early because I would have left it at the top of the climb. My second ride was with the group and we did a tough climb; Hail Mary, aka Race Loop, aka C1C2C3, aka Hell - Fire - Damnation. This time, not only would I have lost my lunch, but I also considered coughing up a lung, although in a masochistic sort of way I was starting to enjoy it.

By the end of the week, realizing it would be a while before I could replace my Special Eds, I was hitting the local bike shops and checking out single speeds. After riding several of them, I ordered a GT Ruckus and am now waiting for it to arrive.

I guess the moral of the story is; when life hands you lemons, borrow a single speed and take your agressions out on the hill. Thanks for loaning me the bike, Jeff.

Also, there are several ways to booby trap your garage entrances with hand grenades. Learn them if you are going to own nice bikes.

More Snow...

Only six more days until Spring begins, and winter is still going strong. Today's blizzard ride was a blast nonetheless. The snow was coming down hard, but it wasn't sticking to the roads. Three and a half months now of riding in the snow...we know the routine. You just don't really expect anything exciting. Today seemed pretty fun for some reason though. We ran into our jogger friend on the bike path, and he advised us to chain up. I figured we had our snow tires on, so we pressed on. We did the Lakeview climb, and the closer we got to the top, the less visibility we had. I was concerned the cars wouldn't see us it was that bad. The descent was crazy. I warned Sandie that our brakes didn't work very well wet and to control her speed on the hill. Either she didn't care or didn't hear me, because she disappeared into the blizzard. Barbara didn't have any glasses on, so she was hanging back some. I did my best to keep a moderate speed, but the icy snow stung my face. It felt like a thousand tiny needles. I couldn't look up the road for more than a couple seconds, and then had to tuck my head down out of the blast. The snow had picked up and I lost sight of the rider in front of me and in back of me. Either Sandie was hauling ass, or she went off the cliff...wasn't sure. I finally got to the bottom and Sandie was waiting for us. Barbara showed up a few moments later, squinting from the icy breeze. She had grabbed the wrong tights today too...the ones with a saucer sized rip in the knee. A cold, red, wind burned knee was peeking out of the hole. The next couple miles were just a leisurely pedal. We were just trying to stay warm. We ran into Patrick on the way back. He had his snow goggles on was headed out for his own adventure.

Hell - Fire - Damnation

After last weeks struggle with C1, C2, and C3 I respecfully request to the group that we rename said hills. From this point forward they shall be known as......hell, fire, and damnation.

Code Yellow: Estrogen Levels Elevated

Last year we were shocked to pick up a female rider. We were even more shocked when she started keeping up with us. Well it has happened again. Sandie has joined the group this winter, and has quickly gone from calling Washington Street "a big hill" to knocking out the Lakeview Loop in a lunch hour. I sense Barbara is pleased to have another female companion around too. Pleased yes...but it has also bred some competition. On some days, Sandie is the Snake to Barbara's Mongoose. Or is it the Mongoose to her Snake? I don't exactly remember. Either way it's fierce! Sandie is still riding a heavier hard tail at the moment, but plans to buy a race bike this spring. So fellas...don't let your guard down and keep training hard. Start thinking about race tires and titanium parts so your machismo is not too badly bruised...

New Trail

I had the fine pleasure of riding by myself today, so I thought I'd go do some exploring. Exploring usually turns into a death march, so it's best not to drag the whole group through the experience. Today's exploration was no different than the typical, although it was mostly because of the particular bike I was on (single speed), wet sandy mud, and a good head wind. There is a new fire break that goes from King Street all the way to the canyon behind C-Hill. I made all the climbs except for one, but my heart rate was near max the whole trip. It was a bit better on the way back without the head wind, and I took an early out off the trail to get back to the road. I think the trail will be more fun as the dirt dries out.

And since the trail came out near the trail head of our South Side of C-Hill run, I was able to check out the trail conditions. We haven't done that trail this year, and it looks a bit different than last we saw it. The most notable difference is that the dry creek bed is not dry anymore. It will be interesting to explore the upper part of the trail since it crosses the creek bed several times. And of course there are the excavation scars from last year, but it doesn't appear to be any worse than last year...that may be good news.

FUH2

One of the things you learn to hate as a cyclist is the unnecessarily giant SUV. You're trying to share the road with these things, but they usually fly by inches away from your elbow. Not only are they too big for the road, but the occupant is always on the phone or watching a DVD. This site HERE pretty much sums up how I feel about the king of them all...

1st Snow

Today marked the 1st snow day of the season. It was only a dusting, but we were pretty chilled by the time we made it back to work. It started to snow pretty heavily on the way back and caused vertigo in more than one rider..