Well, at least it’s not snowing. …

May 15, 2011May 15, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 6 Comments

Reflections — Ah, it's the old "trees reflected in the puddle" shot again.

The poor bastards at the Amgen Tour of California are facing weather that the Chamber of Commerce would be cheering — if this were a ski race.

Alas, it’s a bike race, and with cyclo-cross season behind us it’s looking like the lads will face a shortened course. No word whether they’ll be running the Emerald Bay KOM.

Here in Bibleburg, meanwhile, it’s rain with temps just above freezing. Good for the trees, but also bad for cycling, if you’re a sissified geezer like me, anyway. I’m almost jealous of Herself, who is off to my old hometown of Alamosa this morning, where temps should hit the 70s by afternoon. She and a colleague have some work to do with the local biblioteca and plan a visit to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

Me, I’m sentenced to rumormongery without parole today, with both the Giro and the AToC going on. Oh, well — it beats shoveling snow. Or racing in it.

• Late update: As you know already, organizers pulled the plug on the Amgen kickoff after the weather got ridiculous. My friend, colleague and fellow Bibleburger Casey B. Gibson, who’s shooting the race for VeloNews, says six motos went down 20 minutes after the race was canceled, so it seems organizers made the right call. So the racers got a day off, but I didn’t. You’d be astounded how much crap there is to post about a race that never was.

Man down

May 9, 2011May 9, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 23 Comments

Wouter Weylandt (Leopard-Trek) took a horrible digger in today’s Giro stage. He was on the deck, bloody and unconscious, for quite a while; AFP reports he required cardiac massage at the scene and was evacuated to hospital. More as I hear it. Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed, and be careful out there.

• Update: Weylandt has passed. He was 26. Condolences to his friends, colleagues and family.

In the pink

May 7, 2011May 7, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 10 Comments

The Vespa LX50 — Il Douche remained parked today. Porca madonna!

I had hoped to take the Vespa out for a spin in honor of the Giro d’Italia, which began today with a team time trial, but it was not to be. It remained parked next to the lawnmower, which at least got rolled out of the garage and then rolled right back in without so much as a tug on its starter cord.

Those In Authority at VeloNews.com had thunk up a couple of new wrinkles they hadn’t told me much about until D-Day (the off-site contractor is always the last to know) and so the usual Saturday chores took just a wee bit longer today and involved several of the famous words that introduced George Carlin to the Supreme Court. The only two-wheeler I straddled, briefly, was human-powered, if you will concede that I am human, which is a subject of debate in some circles.

The fun continues tomorrow with a mostly flat stage that all agree practically has Mark Cavendish’s name spray-painted all over it. In the Manxman’s honor, however prematurely, I’m drinking beer instead of wine. We have a jug of Yellow Kite pilsner from the fine folks at Bristol Brewing, and a sixer of Red Chair NW Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery, a longtime favorite here at the DogHaus.

We’re likely to need all of it to put out the fire from the tinga poblana I made last night. It’s a stew with chunks of pork, chorizo and chipotle chiles, and I think I put in a couple-three chiles too many, because the goddamn thing is nuclear. I’m surprised the leftovers didn’t burn their way straight through the bottom of the refrigerator and head straight for the earth’s core, which is only slightly hotter.

Take it to the bridge

May 6, 2011May 6, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 6 Comments

Goin' down — Parachute training at the Air Force Academy.

The Blue Zoomies were at it again today, jumping out of perfectly serviceable aircraft for no discernible reason.

I was taking a recovery ride out to the Air Force Academy’s North Gate and back, and stopped to take a snap when I saw the chutes unfurling and the gliders catching a tow into the blue.

Then I stopped again almost immediately thereafter because there was a cable across the New Santa Fe Trail and a sign stating that it was closed at the bridge, which is undergoing repairs, through October. October! On weekdays, anyway. On weekends you can apparently barge right on through. Like I want to ride this fucker on weekends, when the Small Hat Sizes are out in force. No, thank you.

Happily, I know a top-secret workaround. Don’t tell the Air Force. Or the Small Hat Sizes.

Heading for the hills

May 6, 2011May 6, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 14 Comments

Cinco de Mayo on Gold Camp Road — This is about where I called it quits, having run short of food, water and legs. That's downtown Bibleburg in the distance.

I felt adventurous yesterday, and the weather was more or less cooperative for a change, so I took another stab at the Gold Camp ride. No bears this time, but the Universe tried rolling rocks on me in a couple of the pucker-passes, so my Get Out of Danger Free card must still be expired.

The last time I was this far up Gold Camp Road — 20 miles from Chez Dog — I was coming down, not climbing up. A few of us thought it smart to ride mountain bikes up Old Stage Road, then descend Gold Camp to Bibleburg. Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time … until it began raining lightly as we started the steep, seven-mile grind, then sleeting, and finally snowing.

By the time we hit Gold Camp it was a full-on whiteout, and none of us was prepared for winter weather. What a fun descent that was. I had new respect for Andy Hampsten’s Gavia ride after that one.

Defunct tunnel — The far side of the collapsed tunnel. Looks like a fine place to house crazy Uncle Louie.

No snow this time around, but it wasn’t exactly toasty warm, either. I kept the knee warmers on throughout and rolled the arm warmers back up for the descent, which was a little dicey on the Voodoo Nakisi with wire-bead 700×38 WTB Allterrainasauruses. Gold Camp is in decent shape from where it goes to gravel up to the High Drive parking lot, but the surface gets a whole lot looser past the third tunnel, which is collapsed and requires a brief, steep, single-track detour with a water crossing. I had to get off and walk for 50 meters or so on one climb, which was rim-deep in pea gravel and sand.

The 40-mile out-and-back involved five tunnels, all told — four navigable and the one collapsed — and man, is it nice to have a set of Rudy Project prescription shades for that action. Just flip up the sunglass portion and you can see where the hell you’re going, kinda, sorta.

But I miss my old Avocet altimeter. I’d love to know how much vertical gain I bagged yesterday.