Month: September 2008

I picked up Marcy’s ashes today, dont quite know what to do at this point.

I ventured to Mackay for the White Knob Challenge Mountain Bike Race, an experience I’ll cherish forever and plan to repeat. It was an incredible weekend filled with camping, racing, and unforgettable rides. The photos are a testament to the adventure!

I deeply miss Marcy, the circuit’s queen. Soon, I’ll be picking up her ashes, carrying a heavy heart.

I just heard a rumor of a 24 hour race that includes the Sheep Mountain Loop. It will be called Counting the Sheep I believe.  I for one am as excited as all of you granny gear mashing freaks.  I cant wait.

Last night I abandon the TNR and picked up some comfort food. Self destruction at its finest.  Larry D stopped by to add to the carnage.

Good … day … where did morning go? I seem to lose time and space lately.  Along with no motivation I find that my memory is shot.  I cant remember names or what I just did. I am glossed over and in auto pilot.

I think it is like a movie that you take certain scenes from until it doesn’t make any sense. My companion Marcy has been taken out of my movie and nothing makes sense. I cant believe she is gone.

There is hope as I smell a BBQ coming up this weekend and a epic ride as well.  Just what the doctor ordered, a race, BBQ, and singletrack weekend. Contact me for details!

Last night I set out aimlessly to pre ride legs 5 and 6 of the RMVQ. I rode from work to Check Point 4 (point six road gate) which is about 12.3 miles and took me almost an hour due to a beast of a headwind.  I did not feel comfortable and wished I would of just went home.

Leg 5 runs up to the Snow Lodge on top of Snow Bowl in 6.8 miles and 2,903 feet of climbing. I figured about 45 minutes but soon I found myself in difficulty and struggled to make it in an hour and 15 minutes.  Now I am thinking that the RMVQ will take longer then I thought.  Maybe not even possible.

Leg 6 is the decent down to the lodge via the Beargrass Highway.  It is a sweet trail and I started to regain my mojo.  Finally I wanted to be there riding … just where I needed to be at that time.  I started to look forward to this weekend and my friends. I descended to the Ravine Trailhead (check point 6) in a little over 44 minutes for the 11.4 downhill trek.

Not feeling very good any longer I pedaled my aching body Z(I think the loss physically beat me up) back to town and was home 10.8 miles later. In all I had trekked 41.3 miles and climbed 4,000 feet in 3.5 hours.

Tonight is TNR and this weekend is a mountain bike race (the muletrain is reportedly coming) and friends.  An epic to Sheep is on tap for Sunday … who is in?  Stand up and be counted!

Keep an eye out for this bike!  Here is the message from Julie H.

Be on the look out for a silver Specialized Expert Mountain Bike. It was stolen yesterday from our garage sometime between 10am and 9pm. We have another report of a stolen bike from a garage on Hastings street in our neighborhood too.

Contact Me and I’ll let you know her contact info (not posted here for obvious reasons).

Hello from City Brew where I am feeling very alone in this western town that suddenly seems foreign to me. Today is hike day to recover from the weekend but where do I hike? Even more scary is the fact that I have not hiked alone in over 10 years. My hiking buddy has always filled the position of trail companion.  Not only that and inspiring companion. We both wanted to be at the top of some mountain and we wanted to be there before the other.  Without a buddy like that what is the point of even hiking at all?

Imagine the active and energetic friend in this photo, tongue white, lying limp, moments from death. Do you continue to try to help her continue to breath? Even though you don’t know what to do (maybe I could of opened her up and drained her lungs???). Or do you just hold her and look into her eyes so she will have companionship as she dies? I hope I picked the latter in time for her to be with me and not alone on the side of Interstate 90 at exit 197. Marcy has been every stretch in every state from Boston to Idaho on I90 and at 11:30 I said goodbye to my hiking buddy.

So here I am in Missoula and hiking is not in my book of things I want to do any more.  Besides every trail has memories that I just cant face. The only thing I do alone is biking so I guess that is what I will do. Really, I wonder what is the point of anything?

Time to run home to find my old copy of Sim City.  I know I can get lost in that game and don’t even need the outdoors.  Time to leave behind reality and exist in fantasy. Who wants to be out there any way, its raining!

Thank you all for your thoughts. What is everyone doing today?

Hey folks, the 2007 MORS bash is a wrap, and we’re throwing a big party this Sunday, Oct. 7th at Pablo’s Pizza and Tap House in Butte. Mark your calendars from 1:30 to 4:00 pm for some serious fun. We’ve got a raffle, championship awards to hand out, and plenty of drinks to go around. Expect some cool swag like Bridgedale Socks and Optic Nerve Sunglasses among the goodies. And hey, if any Montana shops or reps wanna chip in with some gear for our awards, hit up Dave Peck pronto. Our awesome athletes will love ya for it.

Big ups to our champs! Below’s a sneak peek of the top scorers by category. Head over to http://www.montanacycling.org for the full lowdown.

EXPERT DUDES

• William Martin’s leading with 120 points
• John Curry’s on his heels with 95.5
• Alex Lussier’s not far behind at 67

EXPERT LADIES

• Lisa Curry’s smashing it with 62.5 points
• Amy Chiuchiolo’s right there with 62

SPORT GENTS

• Rich Chandler’s topping charts with 110 points
• Josh Crutcher’s chasing with 84
• Guy Mackenzie’s in the mix with 62

SPORT WOMEN

• Lydia Brown’s killing it with 130 points
• Susan Sheard’s holding strong with 83

BEGINNER MEN

• Looks like a mystery this year

BEGINNER WOMEN

• Emily Brown’s leading the pack with 118 points

Points were all about those top 5 finishes, and a shoutout to those who lent a hand at events for extra points.

Team shoutout goes to GAS/Intrinsik who crushed it with 406 points, leaving Montana Junior Cycling Federation in the dust with 216. Kudos, Juniors! Enjoy that team dinner courtesy of Montana Ale Works in Bozeman. Sorry, no silver medals here.

2007 was lit with five downhill events. Major props to the 70 DH warriors at Lone Peak Revenge. Let’s get those downhillers on board for an epic series next time.

If MORS gave you a thrill, spread the word. Our numbers were down, so let’s amp up the buzz for our sport.

Huge thanks to Charla Carter and her crew in Red Lodge for a stellar event on Sept 15-16.

Massive appreciation for the MBRA board, officials, sponsors, and volunteers, especially John Coulthard (stats guru), Al Prendergrass (web wizard), and Don Russell (top official).

MORS SPONSORS

• Montana Ale Works, Bozeman – 406-587-7700
• Windbag Saloon and Grill, Helena – 406-443-9669
• Patagonia Outlet, Dillon – 406-683-2580 – Check it out
• Bridgedale Outdoor Limited – Top-notch socks
• Coldwell Banker/ RCI Realty, Bozeman – Jason Basye, 406-587-7653 – More info
• Yellowstone Loan, Inc., Bozeman – Nick Lieb, 406-556-1800
• Mountain Shades/ Optic Nerve Sunglass Co., Edgewater, CO – Sunglasses here
• Rocky Mountain Truck Center, Belgrade, MT – Corey Biggers, owner – Visit them
• Eagle Mount – For amazing therapeutic recreation – Learn more

Thanks a ton to all the racers for making the 2007 MORS series epic!

~Dave Peck

Hey there from Missoula, Montana! So, my weekend was a bit of a bust. Did some shuffling around the house and managed to squeeze in a hefty ride on Saturday before the skies opened up. And then? Rain. Non-stop. Initially, I was kinda pumped—thought I’d knock out some chores, get my mountain bike in shape.

Ended up dropping 7 bucks on a socket to dismantle my free-hub body, then… well, that was it. Parked myself at home, glued to the TV, and caught up on some serious nap time. No workouts, no chores ticked off the list. And yep, I’ve been sipping on Double Haul for the fourth day running—can’t complain about the brew, though. But, ugh, totally dropped the ball on sending out those sponsorship requests this weekend. Feeling like a total loser here!

But hey, didn’t wanna hit the hay without doing something productive, so I’m throwing up some pics from the Red Lodge race for you guys to check out. Heading to bed now, with plans to tackle laundry and grocery shopping tomorrow. My pantry’s echoing, and my wardrobe’s a disaster. Plus, cross racing kicks off this Wednesday, so I’ve gotta step it up.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for my trip report from Saturday’s epic ride down in Hamilton, Montana. More on that soon!

Now that I am ranked #1 in Montana as a mountain bike racer I feel a sort of responsibility to help my fellow riders with my experiences.  Now I know I broke my chain 3 times in Helena this year but that chain was two years old.  Why so old … I am the master at chain maintenance (well that is up for debate).

Hello from my apartment in Missoula Montana. I am sore and my back hurts. Tuesday I went out for a cyclo cross training ride in the rain and last night I ran up University Mountain and down the ridge to Sentinel (2 hrs, coming out in the dark). Work sucks as usual and I am about to go do that.  But first, here is how to maintain your chain (pic courtesy of Blue Collar MTB):

Step one: Crack open a Double Haul!

Step two: … ah heck just check out this page [click here]!

Notes: I do not recommend degreasers, chain cleaners, or tri-flow(even though it smells good)!

Have a great day everyone and see you tonight at the TNR.

We had a pretty good field (John Curry, Ben Parsons, Butterfield, Procter …) but it was the usual Ben, John, and Myself that took off the front on the first climb. Half way through out the first lap John twisted his chain and had to retire. I chased down Ben and settled in behind him.

On lap two I passed Ben on the climb midway through and powered away. With one lap to go I had 4 minutes on Dan and tons of time on the rest of the field. With a couple miles to go my chain snapped.

Instead of settling down and fixing it properly I elected to try and run it in. Soon I realized I was too far out and tried to fix the chain. I went 100 feet and it broke again. Ben passed me and I made my bike into a single speed. It broke again, this time three others passed. I finished on a single speed in 5th.

It was quite a race … My current status!

• Headset – sounded like a bad bearing so I took it apart and cleaned up so I will have to wait and see if the crackling sound pops up again. Should be good to race with.
• Bottom Bracket – Unaffected by Sundays catastrophe.
• Chain Ring – Arrives today!
• Chain – New one is on the bike and looking good.
• Cassette – New one is on the bike and feeling light.
• Rear Dérailleur – Stressed and bent, needs replacement. Tweaked and adjusted … Works fine and shouldn't break down anytime soon.
• Rear Cassette Body – (questionable) Bearing worn out probably from the cross gearing Sunday. Cassette has excessive play but shifts ok. "Should" make it till end of season. Bearing needs replaced. I'll need a 17mm deep socket to extract.
• Brake Lever – bent! I was able to bed back. Time will tell if this will hold up.
• Myself – broken but repairable with time. Going to race Sunday.

The worst part is that I made an ass of myself at the parking lot as I threw my bike in the car (busting the brake lever). That is the part that I regret the most.