Devils Slide Moves To New Date
Submitted by Bill on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 8:32am
It is unfortunate that race promoters can not stick to a classic date for their events. What happens when they keep moving their event date is that they will many times conflict with other races. Last year the Devils Slide conflicted with the Rockey Mountain Robeux and now this year the promoters Twin Rivers Cyclists will be in conflict with the Grizzley Man Adventure Race.
Tentatively we have scheduled Devil's Slide for the 19th of April. That's a Sunday as usual. We understand there are some conflicting events in Eastern Washington that day and will discuss at the next board meeting in January. Likely the date will stay unchanged. I think we may have already anticipated other conflicts and that day works best for us. We don't have this firmed up with USA cycling yet, though.
… You can email me any time or check twinriverscyclists.org under events to see if any changes have been made.
Corrie for Twin Rivers Cyclists
Butte 100 Is Official
Submitted by Bill on Sun, 01/04/2009 - 4:51pm
(From Gina Evans):
HI to Everyone! It is now 2009 and the 3rd Annual BUTTE 100 (Pretty Cool we are at 3) will be August 1. Most of you woke up to negative numbers. Butte -18. The snow will allow us to have trails open-but negative numbers that is just plain wrong.
Time to put Butte on your schedule for the Butte 100. Jerseys will be back along with a 100 mile loop that will test just about every skill you own!
The course will be on www.tripleringprod.com soon! We will begin to update the site in the next few weeks.
50 mile option- of course!
We at Triple Ring Productions appreciate all of you who have participated in the Butte 100 the past couple of years! Your passion for endurance racing allows us to keep this event going!
Gina Evans Event Coordinator -- Butte 100
Thankfully Stranded in the Right Place
Submitted by Bill on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 7:13am
The journey started about two days ago and I have never made it to where ever I was going. I sit here in Billings Montana at my uncles house where I have been sacked out for the last two days. I am unable to leave Billings because my car has stranded me here but things could be worse since I have family that is fun to be with. I am thankful that I am not in some remote little town held up in a motel.
This trip is going to cost me for a long time but in the beginning I did not plan it this way. Last Friday at work I notified my boss that I was done with a project and that I would take a couple days off to go to Lambert Montana to relax and recover from a hard year of trials and tribulations.
Friday night I couldn't sleep and I was excited to be finally going on one last journey for the year. I was up planning out my trip on Google calendar in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Again I tried sleep, again I would get up and start messing around with getting ready. Finally I just got up and started packing.
Around 9 in the morning I was finally packing the car with all my supplies that I gathered together for the trip. I finally locked the door behind me and was on my way but before leaving town I stopped at the City Brew to load up on scones and coffe.
The roads were not that bad and I made great time. I stopped by friends and family along the way. Then it happened my journey ended at around 7:30 PM Saturday afternoon in Custer Montana. My car’s “ifiot” lights went off and I rolled into town knowing that my cooling system was malfunctioning. Upon popping the hood it was confirmed that the car’s engine had just become extremely hot and was burning up. I shut it off immediately. Upon shutting off it proceeded to dump all its internal fluid upon the ground and I went looking for help.
I went to a open gas station and asked if they had a pay phone. “nope”, the lady said. Then I whipped out my Skype phone in hopes that this place out in the middle of no where had wireless internet. Hey! I had to try. I was astonished to find a small signal but not enough to call. I walked across the parking lot to Junction City Saloon which is this little place that seemed to be “thee place” to be in these parts (just off the interstate). My signal developed into a full on reliable wifi signal … wow!
I called my aunt and she suggested that I approach someone inside and ask for a mechanic. I did so and learned that there were no mechanics in Custer Montana. The closest one was in Forsyth which was about 50 miles down “yonder”. A couple nice gents took a look at my car and the usual “it must be the thermostat” and “it must be the water pump” was suggested. I tried a couple things but it was obvious that a little coolant did not fix the issue. I was having complete circulation because the system would pressure up and so it couldn't be the thermostat. I didn't think it was the water pump because the “fluid” was leaking out of the left fender well.
After it was obvious I was not driving the car any longer I arranged to have my uncle 50 miles away in Billings to come and get me. We towed the car back to Billings (about crashing on the slick road a couple times). We hauled my car on a flat bed. When we arrived back to his place it was midnight. I crashed on his couch around 1 AM feeling very ill and was wondering what the hell just happened.
In the morning uncle Bill made me some eggs and we hauled my car to a mechanic. I went to work with my uncle and worked some of my towing expense off by moving goals and renting skates. It was fun to be back at a ice rink although I don't remember freezing to death so much. During the day reports trickled in from the mechanic and it became apparent as the day wore on that things were getting complex. Parts were purchased, hopes were jacked up, and optimism was smashed with each frustrated call from the mechanic.
Now, this morning I sit here waiting to go back to work at the ice rink. After we do some stuff at the rink we are going to go get my car from the current mechanic and tow it to a “specialist” because obviously my car was built by “German ingenuity” and we could not figure out what was wrong with the engine. Maybe something internally and maybe something that the computer could diagnose (I took it to a American car mechanic that understood cars but just did not have to diagnosis electronics for my specific brand). I have decided Volkswagen is not something I should of entered Montana with.
Well … it’s off to the rink, everyone stay safe.
Ski Waxing Advice From The Pro
Submitted by Bill on Thu, 12/25/2008 - 9:40am
Chris Rose is a racing buddy from upstate (true upstate) NY and if you know how much I am into mountain bike racing then you will also know his passion for Nordic ski racing. I turn to him for advice as we all know I do not ski but go out and grind caloric energy into the snow. Really I seem to go no where at times.
Disclaimer: I am about to post his words and don't even think about emailing me to propose he may be wrong or take judgment with his advice. He is skate ski god to me and if you don't like it go eat bat crap. If you want advice from a world cupper … go find a world cupper and get out of my world …o/o
I sent him my question, “How often should I wax? I mean; every time I go out I wax em. But if I go every night and ski from 1 to 2 hours (cold snow) do I have to wax every time. It is getting exhausting but I don't want to dry out my bases either. Any advice?”.
Chris’s advice (I formatted and paragraphed to make a email seem more blog like):
Do not make ski waxing too complicated. The amount of ski wax that is absorbed into the base of a ski is very little. That's why skis seem to get faster the older they get due to the "layers" of wax they have developed over the years.
Cold weather waxing (below 14 degrees) makes a lot of people nervous The wax needs to go on at a high temp and people tend to get scared when working with a hot iron and vulnerable ski bases. Do not worry too much about this.
You want the wax to absorb into the base. If you are using a Swix iron turn it up to 7 and keep the iron moving down the base evenly and smoothly (15 second pass). It takes a lot of heat to melt or bubble your base - I have only done it once years ago on one small spot of the skis.
To answer your question: how often? Wax according to conditions. If you have two or three nights where the temps are really cold do not worry about re-waxing. However, it is a good idea to hit your skis with a warm wax (CH8, Swix base prep., Toko yellow) on occasion since this wax absorbs deeper into the base an acts as a lubricant/anchor for the colder/harder waxes.
If you are not skiing for a prolonged period of time (one or two more weeks) seal the skis with a warm wax and do not scrape them off. Since I have skis for different temps and conditions I might ski a pair one day and if conditions change I seal them, put them away and prep the next pair I need. In short, you do not have to re-wax every time, but make sure you keep the bases lubricated with a warm wax which helps anchor the cold/hard waxes.
Awesome advice … thanks Chris :)
Everything On Hold
Submitted by Bill on Wed, 12/24/2008 - 9:53amI am struggling at work. I have this project that has to be done in like 200 hours ago. So subsequently I have to put everything on hold until I get it done. So until further notice these facilities will be closed:
- Eating Lunch
- Christmas
Blogging(just broke that rule above)- Answering my phone
- Responses to emails and chat will be considerably slower
I will still keep the updates to twitter and work out in the evenings. I have been working non stop since Monday in hopes to go on holiday but it seems in the waning hours as all work mates leave the office I will be stuck here alone. It looks bleak folks, Christmas is definitely out and the trip to Lambert is in serious jeopardy and all hopes dashed if I don't get this thing done by this weekend.
Happy Holidays!
Ed Saves The Day
Submitted by Bill on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 10:11pm
Hello from Missoula Montana where it is dumping snow and hundreds of homeless people are packing into the Poverello Center. I know … depressing!
Today I was saved from the winter devil who tried to chill my soul and kill off my spirit today. It all started when I woke up this morning (at freaking 10) feeling depressed. I had eaten very badly lately and haven't been able to work out like I have wanted to.
I struggled for the rest of the morning putting away some groceries and finding every possible excuse to stay home and under the covers. But finally I broke free and I was on my way to the Good Food Store to finish my chores I started yesterday.
The first bright light came in the form of a excruciatingly good scone and some bean juice. This got me shopping with a smile and revived hope for all that is good with life. Leaving the store I headed for my friends house. I was a new man but if I went home right away I might fall victim to the winter devil.
Ed saved me. He agreed to join me for a ski outing at Patte Canyon. And that we did. I skied my ever loving ass off and we had a blast. Tonight was my maiden voyage in my new boots :) and they are awesome, not a fall all night.
I came home to find the winter devil packing it’s bags. As I swung the door shut on it’s ass I put together a freaking batch of arrow root scones. YAR!
So now … have to deal with the up and coming Holiday … what to do? Thanks Ed!