Pike's Peak Hill Climb

Well, after a mad dash to get to Colorado and being inspired by the Pike's Peak Hill Climb... Michael and I took off for Colorado Springs. The Ducati set-up was impressive despite their recent loss of their Promotions Manager :) We spent the day walking around the staging area and watching competitors take to the mountain. All of my Ducati friends were fun and we even got to run into some friends from top Ducati Dealerships around the country.
Gregg Tracy and Alexander Smith are the two riders for Team Spider Grips Ducati and put the smack down on the mountain and class in which they raced! Gregg took a First in class while Alexander finished Third after crashing during his run-up. Very impressive!
We had a great time. :)

Day Hike in CO

Mom, Michael and I went to the mountains to escape the heat in Boulder and to take a hike.

Get to CO ASAP!

I woke up in ID and knew that I had to get to Colorado in order to make the events at Pike's Peak. My rear tire is burning up fast so I decided to pull over and make a few calls to Denver Ducati dealerships in order to set an appointment for new "shoes". After a couple of calls I got it settled with Erico Motorsports. They agreed to install two new tires first thing Friday am, the very next day.
At first the weather was perfect. It was still early morning and they air was light and cool. As time moved forward the temp heated up quick. I was running fast and sticking to the boring flat highways in order to make good time. Then... my bike started to swerve all over the place. I knew immediately that I had a flat tire. I pulled off the road to confirm that my rear tire was completely squished. SHIT! I had just crossed into Colorado and was basically in the middle of B.F.E. Fortunately for me, I had cell reception. After calling my insurance carrier, Foremost, I was told that help was on the way. The mechanic arrived after an hour and 1/2 and took 45 minutes to plug my tire... which ended up putting me way behind. I was expecting to arrive in Boulder by 10pm at the latest but I had now idea when I would arrive after this small set back.
I rode, rode, rode. I ended up missing much of the great scenery as I was riding through the evening in the dark. I noticed deer and other wildlife many times and that made me quite nervous. But in the end, I arrived safely at my Mom's home in Boulder where she and my brother were waiting. I think that I got there around 1am.
After feeling pretty beat up from riding all day I decided to hang in Boulder for a couple of days and take it easy with my peeps :)

Road Trippin'

It's been a few days since I have been able to post and there is a good reason. I've taken to the road on my moto :)
I left Portland on Tuesday afternoon with the Pike's Peak Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, CO as my intended destination. I took my time roaming through the mountains (and volcanos) of Eastern Oregon. I camped Tues night in Ochoco National Forrest. It was BEAUTFUL! Huge redwoods everywhere. There was another solo motorcyclist camping there. "Wayne", invited me over to his site for beers and story swapping. Considering that it was my first day out, I was fresh out of tales... He on the other hand had plenty. Wayne has been taking a month off for 15 years to roam by Harley and really enjoys it. I could totally see why! Maybe this is my first trip of many to come.
I got up early the next day and after looking a bit more closely at the map the night before I realized that there was a lot of ground for me to cover in a short time period.
I ended up taking some advice from Wayne on roads that may help reduce the time and was actually impressed with Northern Utah. Did you know that it is really pretty there??? I didn't! I was blown away by the changing scenery from high plains desert to high elevation mountain passes filled with more evergreens :)
Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Idaho. I rode across the bottom of Idaho and it was just boring and HOT! I couldn't get through there quick enough. I'm sure that Northern Idaho is pretty as I could see large mountains off in the distance. Maybe later I'll have time to make a run through. I ended up on Pocatello, ID for the night and stayed with our friends at Motel 6.

Racing in the Short Track Mtn Bike series was a blast. Actually, it was pretty rough but in the end I had fun. After speaking with an official during sign-ups, I entered in Men's Cat 2 35-45 years old. I was worried that I'd be riding with others way better... It turns out that I was :( At one point I even considered quitting but a competitor encouraged me to keep going. I finished the race in the last third of the field. I wasn't happy with my level of fitness but I still had tons of fun. Kayla and Shannon came to cheer me on and to ring the cow bell :) They both took lots of pictures!

Short Track Racing in Portland

Final Load!

Here is a loaded truck waiting to make the trek from the Bay Area back to Portland. I'll be glad when the moving is done :)



Ray Crepeau

Trail Head Cyclery kicks ass!

The good folks at Trail Head Cyclery took care of me today. They put both of my bikes up in the stands together and went right to work on them. It will take them no time at all to make them shiny! :) But better yet, the bikes will perform like they should.

I'm off to have lunch with my friends at Ducati one last time. Should be good times.

Time for bike service!

Mt. Shasta on the way back to San Jose

I'm back in California tonight. I came back to pick up the remaining items that I left behind. It is a good thing too... Being without my motorcycle and road bicycles has been a bigger test than expected. I left Portland very early this morning so that I could ride with Ben. I made it in time and we decided to work out with some hill climbs in the Los Gatos area. Apparently I have been pushing myself a little too hard lately because my right knee is not happy at all! It is hurting at the beginning of rides and at any point in which I let it rest or cool down. Hopefully this is just a result of my stupid idea of jogging the other day, or perhaps a period of conditioning as I increase my training work load. We will see...
I saw some really cool imagery of Mt. Shasta again and took photos with my phone. I'm trying to upload them but am having a little trouble. Hopefully I'll get it resolved and will be able to share.
I plan to stay in CA through Saturday and drive back on Sunday. On Monday, MotoCorsa is hosting a track day for motorcycles and also the Portland Short Track Mtn Bike Race Series starts that evening, both are to take place at Portland Imternational Raceway. My goal is to do both :)

Wednesday, June 16th
I'm in Portland! I have been here for almost a week now and I LOVE this place! Well actually, I have been reminded why I love and hate this city. I hate it because of the rain. I've been reacquainted with the frickin' wet stuff, both the regularity of it as well as the impact that it can have on outdoor activities... But despite the weather, Portland has shinned upon me, and it's easy to remember what makes this city so unique and special. As soon as I arrived, I checked in with the local mountain bike specialty shop, Fat Tire Farm, so that I could buy a trail map and get up to speed with the bicycling events on the upcoming calendar. It turned out that there was a large bicycling event in North Portland off of Mississippi Ave that featured some criterium racing right around the corner.
With the news of the event and freshly armed with a book pointing out all of the local hot spots I needed to find some peeps to hang with. I called my friend and former work associate, Quentin, and his wife Shannon. Unfortunately, Quentin was away on business but would be back for the weekend and he and Shannon were totally into hanging out on Mississippi to watch the crit races and have fun.
I dove into my mtn bike guide book and decided to head out to Scappoose to check out some local trails. Along the way, I met another rider who suggested that I take a loop trail known as the "roller coaster" due to its high speeds, jumps and up and down fun. Well, I couldn't resist riding a trail with that kind of description. It turned out to be one of my worst riding days, EVER! The rain had been falling in Portland for about two weeks making the trail ridiculously slippery. I was spinning and falling all over the place. At one point I was going pretty fast down a double track and as I turned to follow the trail to the right my front tire lost traction and I slammed hard on the ground. Good thing I was wearing a helmet because my head to a decent hit. After wiping the mud off and clearing my mind of WTF?, I rode on a bit more cautiously. I realized that riding in my normal aggressive manner alone could end badly so I backed off and just looked for some hills to climb (there were plenty).
The weekend came and Quentin, Shannon and I went to the Cirque de Cycle. It was a blast!There were tons of Portlanders to look at ;) (Keep Portland Weird). The racing was awesome!

We witnessed a pretty gnarly crash in which one rider sustained some pretty heavy road rash. He got up and kept going... Ouch!

It has begun

I know that I'm not alone in my desire to travel and see new and interesting things. I have often dreamt of "taking off" to explore and get lost someday... Well, someday is now and I'm preparing to do just that. This blog will serve as my diary and a way for me to record events as they unfold on the road. I hope that I'm able to articulate my experiences in a manner that brings them to life.

I have been in California for some time and for the past couple of years in the employ of Ducati motorcycles. Some of you think that I'm crazy for walking away from that opportunity and for all I know, you may be right. But for all of the great opportunities that have been a direct result of this job, I can only imagine what may lie ahead. Throughout various times in my life I have thought of travelling around the U.S. and now I'm going to do it. I don't have a particular plan, (I know that is surprising), so I'm just going to "wing it".

I have thought of some places that I'd like to go and here are a few that have made the short list: Montana, Wyoming, Canada and Alaska. I plan to ride my motorcycle for some of these outings but will mostly travel by four wheels. I have really gotten into bicycling over the past couple of years and want to do some of my exploring by pedaling.

I think that I'm getting ahead of myself here with talk of a short list and mode of transportation and such.... So let me switch gears.

To start the recording of this adventure properly, I think that the right thing to do would be to record things in a logical manner; date, time and event format.

Ok.

Friday, June 4, 2010 - I'm sitting at my apartment in Los Gatos, CA after packing and preparing to move back to Portland, OR (which will become my home base).
I have begun my blog and am very excited about embarking on new adventure. But before I leave, I'm going to go for a couple of "last" bicycle rides with friends. There is even talk of a BBQ party on Sunday to send me off properly. Hopefully these will take place and I'll have pictures to share :)

Its kind of funny how a few friends have just discovered mountain biking and we've been going on a regular basis. Ben has definitely been the most excited and has single handily changed my mtn biking experiences in CA. He is super enthusiastic about the new-to-him sport and I often hear him laughing as we descend single track pitches and gain speed. Unlike me, Ben tends to research things online, finding endless lists of trails for us to discover. Its really too bad that I don't do that myself. I've been here for two years and only ridden one or two trails in the area... LAME! I'm going to take Ben's lead and research places to ride.

TJ is taking to trail riding like a duck to water. Thanks Sonja, for the mtn bike. It is now with a new owner who seems to be regressing in age as he learns how to giggle like a small child :)

Riding with these guys reminds me why I got into cycling.
I was starting to take the sport too serious. Competing can be good and bad.