PASKENTA CENTURY RIDE! my first century (and soon to be second)!

The plan was simple. Stick together (my brother and I) and draft off riders better than us. Stick together - Fail.  Draft off riders better than us - semi success. It sounds like my brother did better at staying in a group.  I stayed with a group for maybe the first half and then solo for the last thirty miles or so.  I figure near 300 riders showed up for this FREE epic century ride/race.  It's a ride, but it turn into a race once you get out of town.

Everyone meets up at One Mile at Bidwell Park in Chico, CA prior to 8:00am on Super Bowl Sunday.

So last year things were starting out nice, I seemed to have stuck with the main pack going down the Esplanade after someone crashed (having lost my brother almost immediately - as he went off talking to someone he knew), but as we were picking up speed someone almost took out my front wheel by swerving violently to the left (no idea what they were thinking) sending me into the centerline which had reflectors and was graded making for a bit of a bumpy ride until someone let me back into the group.  All would have been well but my saddle bag had come undone and was beating against my right leg.  I had to stop and lost touch with the main group. 

Someones shot of the promenade down the esplanade. ( I forgot where I got this picture)

I think the worst part was that we (the main group) had already made big gap between us and everyone else and I thought my bro was in the main group still.  So i had no one to ride with for quite some time.  I tried in vain to catch up but just wasted A LOT of energy. Soon I was caught by a group of riders, some of whom I recognized from the area, who were getting on quite nicely.  I dropped in behind them and took a sort of break. I made my way along with them taking my turns in the rotations when I realized I was already wasted. We were moving pretty good and I was still tired from my chase attempt.  After under 30 miles I wasn't able to hang on and was dropped.  I for maybe 5 min with no one until a UC Davis clad guy came screaming by me.  My first thought was DRAFT! So I did a little sprint and tucked in behind him.   The plan was to get back up to that group I was with.  It Worked!  This guy was cruisin'.  He dropped me off when we caught up to the group, I thanked him for the ride, and he continued screaming along. 

Ian Boswell @theboz91 · Feb 1

It's a big sporting day back in the USA today, Paskenta Century and some Superb Owl game. Let freedom ring...

  Everyone  stopped in Corning at a gas station which was nice.  I ate some food and had some drink and waited for everyone to be ready to go.  Here began my semi solo ride.  The group was going to be split into smaller groups because not everyone was riding the full route through gravel.  I was determined to ride the full route and maybe find my bro along the way.  I set out with a group and soon a few people broke off to shorten the route.  Next I decided I'd just spin at my rate to my own liking since there was still a long way to go which caused me to drop of the rear.   I road alone and was passed by a few people until the Paskenta market where the group I was with had stopped again.  Instead of stopping and grouping up with them I continued on since I still felt good having been going at my own pace.  I was passed by them again before we hit the 4ish/5 mile strip of gravel road in Paskenta.  In the gravel I picked people off one by one and finished the gravel before most of the group that had passed me.  They passed me again after the gravel and that was the last I saw of them. I lost one of my new Camelback insulated bottles while rattling along in the gravel. 

One of my favorite pics from the Paskenta gravel showing how it makes you feel.  This is actually from the Chico Stage Race which takes the gravel road on in the opposite direction from the Paskenta Century.

 After riding 20-30 min. alone another small group which was moving pretty good came up behind me.  I rode with them for quite some time until the group disintegrated.  Again alone I pedaled along the 32.  Me and another rider then played leap frog as I would stop for water, or to eat, or just being tired, and I guess he was doing the same.  I was very tired at this point.  I finished off the last of my food and drink and stood on the side of the road watching cars pass by knowing I was only 10 or so miles from the finish.  I finally felt like I could continue on and it must have been after the gatorade etc. got into my system because I felt pretty good and was able to maintain 20mph (which was very impressive to me at the time) the rest of the way in.  Happiness was having my bro and his wife there waiting for me to give me a ride home!  All the time I thought my brother was ahead of me when apparently he had gotten behind me when we were still on the Esplanade.  I guess he had spent the beginning of his ride trying to catch up to me!  He ended up taking the 80 mile route and riding with a group not from the area.  
       I think a day later, my brother called and said he thought someone had found my water bottle.  It turns out they had!  Big thanks to the Wentlands for finding, picking up, and returning the bottle!

Date's wrong.  Me, alone, somewhere before Corning.  The news was there covering the ride.

Things I learned and would recommend to others :

- Know yourself and how much food you need! If you're not sure, bring more.

- Either be in the leading group which has a Motorcycle lead out or be in a group who knows where they're going at least until you get to corning! After that it's pretty simple.

- Leave at least some water in both of your bottles so that they'll be less likely to rattle out in the gravel (the water bottle I lost was empty).

- Stay seated in the gravel! You need the weight over your rear wheel or it will just spin and you will be likely have to stop.

- Don't pick a gear too low.  Again all of the torque will cause you're wheel to spin in the gravel.

- Go your own pace.  Taking it easy will likely make the ride more enjoyable.  You'll be able to take a look around and enjoy the beauty.

- Don't ride alone.  Coming from someone who almost exclusively rides alone this should have some weight to it.  On long or difficult rides it is all around better to be with someone.  Not to mention it will be easier.

- Do the Paskenta Century Ride/Race! It's fun !

Big Thanks to Rodney for putting this on!

Backyard Race : GEDC 2nd Edition (Golden Eagle Dirt Classic)

BACKYARD RACE

What could be better to do on such a beautiful day than race and ride your bike?
I took this after the race on my way home. What a day!

Before:


Not everyone has a big backyard and some people might not even know someone with a big backyard.  Furthermore the percentage is made smaller by those backyards that have an awesome single track mountain bike course! This past week I had got an invite to the Golden Eagle Dirt Classic put on by the Golet family.  For me quite the honor since I consider my cycling skills to be fairly minimal and I'm pretty anti-social (you'd be pretty hard pressed to find someone in the cycling community to put my name to my face - I guess that's what happens when you do the vast majority of your riding in the dark).  Luckily my mother in law was in town to watch my kids so I could go and race.  But there was one conflict: My "training" schedule.  I have been trying to ride ever day and climb three to five thousand feet every ride for the month of January and going to the race would put a damper on my days leading up to the race.  Instead of ruining my schedule I actually was able to take some really easy rides a couple days before the race and I decided that I would only race the first half hour then take pictures the rest of the race and then go on a long ride after the race.  Another reason I figured a half hour would be quite nice is because all I really wanted to do was try out the track that Greg has in his backyard since I follow him on strava and see him digging trenches with his bike around the course quite often.  The other reason a half hour for me was good was because of the people who were also on the track.  I don't know the guys but I know who they are and know that they are quite fast and on a fairly short course (.7 miles) I could cut the times I was lapped down by cutting down my time on the track. 


Day Of:

So Saturday morning I set out to my first mountain bike race on my 31lbs beast of a mountain bike, which I've only owned for three months, with an extra 10ish lbs of camera equipment and other cycling supplies I take along for longer rides.   After making my way down the canyon (seeing more cyclists on this route in the 9 min decent than I've seen all year on my early morning rides) and on to the climb up the other side I was passed by quite of few vehicles with bikes - mountain bikes. Even though I'm fairly antisocial there's something about seeing other cyclists that makes me feel good.  In my short time since getting "into" cycling (2 years) I have come to the conclusion that the majority of cyclists are "good people."  Maybe it's just that we share a common love for spinning our legs in little circles for hours at a time or maybe it's the de-stress effect you get from being outside and exercising that makes me feel like I'm amongst good people.   Either way, in going to cycling events I can be pretty sure that there will be plenty of nice people on location.  I was not disappointed upon arrival.  There were probably already 20 plus riders either getting to know the course or getting to know each other.   I grabbed a number signed in and introduced myself to Greg.  Then did a few laps around the course which for me was daunting.  I don't think I'd ever ridden a berm and there were berms a plenty.  All of the downhill I was hanging on and steering for dear life but was quite happy when there was an uphill section.  My first time across the bridge or should I say on the bridge I realized I didn't get a straight entry onto it and had to bunny hop off.  Luckily it's only about 2 ft. off the ground so upon landing I didn't crash or have to dismount.  After doing some laps I hung out for a bit, a few words were said before the race, everyone lined up, and the race was on.  My time in the race pretty much went like it did in getting to know the course (crazy going down, happy going up) only progressively better.  I did my best to get out of the way for the fast guys and just ride and have fun.  I discovered that I am a decent climber because it was fairly easy for me to keep up or pass people on the uphill sections though I hesitated to pass a few time knowing that the downhill was right after and I wasn't out to have others sitting behind me.  It was definitely a huge learning experience.   After riding for a little over a half hour I climbed off my bike grabbed my camera and started to shoot.  With something like 40 riders(I think every local bike club was represented) on a 0.7 mile course there was always someone to take pictures of.  I had fun and took LOTs of pictures.  When the race was over I said my thanks for putting on this great event, packed my camera bag back up and headed home to my kiddos (taking the long scenic route).  After I left there was a kids and others(those just wanting to ride around) race and a BBQ!  The winner of our race was none other than Greg Golet himself (I don't think anyone can truly claim he had home court advantage because he'd probably beat them anywhere).  Something I thought was really impressive were the medals made and given out for the winners.

Besides these awe inspiring medals for the A/B and kids top finishers the Women 1,2 and 3 got gift cards AND there were other prizes for standing out in some way i.e. awesome facial hair, vintage style etc. 

And now for some of the pictures I took.  I took something like 200+ pictures and these ones made the cut to be edited because I liked them.  I hope you like them too. Some of them are uhm... more artistic. 

Pre-race chatter going on while the bikes sunbathe.

This was actually a cool segment of shots.  79 (riding a fixed gear) was being passed when this guy jumped over and gave him a good push launching him forward and avoiding the pass. (the picture was a lot more green but I took care of that so the people would be the focus)

Three riders screaming downhill.

No school like the old school! '85 Specialized Stumpjumper - The chain broke right before the race, luckily mountain bikers come prepared and a spare was on hand. 

The Man (or Beast) of the Hour 

Just liked this one.

Mountain biking in the canyon on a beautiful day.

Fun in the sun - Mountain man.

Shredding
SHRED: Negotiating trails with sufficient speed and elan to evoke awe in fellow riders or onlookers. Doing it with a higher-than-usual level of expertise.

Can you see all 7 riders? This shot didn't take much editing at all so you get an idea of how nice it was.

asdf

Draped in original GEDC Eagle apparel and handling the new tree feature for this 2nd GEDC event.

Have Fun and Ride On

The Poor Strava Cyclist : Stava Challenges - Do 'em

To start I must say that I love using Strava on my rides and seeing my progress.  I don’t pay for the premium because well I don't really think it's worth it for me at my level.  So, I did my first Strava challenge this month.  I saw a friend was doing the challenge and thought to myself that I could do that challenge easily.  The challenge was to climb 20,000 ft. (6100 some meters) in the month of January.  I finished the challenge in about 7 days and am still participating in the challenge and have challenged myself to get in the top 1000 by the end of the month.  I figure if I stay consistent at climbing for the rest of the month I'll meet that goal.  Right now with 17 days left I'm sitting around 2,500th out of 60,000+. Because I have finished the challenge I now have a "trophy” that says I've done this challenge in my profile. Cool. AND, because I've finished this challenge I have unlocked the right to purchase a limited edition January 2015 Strava climbing challenge jersey for cough - cough $149 choke - faint - thud on the floor.   Don't get me wrong.  The jersey is really cool.  I'd sport it for sure on some rides.  I'd love to buy one.   But, since for the price of the jersey I can feed my family of four for a week I will have to pass.  I understand that cycling is a fairly expensive sport but really some things come under the category of ridiculous. YOU'VE WON THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND MORE MONEY! - falls under that category.  I know I'm hating here but I guess it's just because I'm poor.  If I had the extra cash I'd probably lay it down.  Either way I still think it's funny to win the option of spending money.  For now I'll add the jersey to my new collection of... uhm... pictures of jerseys I won the opportunity to buy -          

                                                  Really I like the Strava challenge and after completing it I joined two more challenges. If you've never done one I recommend them.  They give you little goals to go after.  I personally like goals and set them all the time for myself but these everyone can see so you have that little extra incentive.  I'd recommend starting with one you're pretty sure you can finish to build some confidence and then go crazy and try them all (maybe not all of them but ones that might push you a little bit more than you're used to). If you want you can follow me on Strava. Just look up Andrew Gates and there's a good chance you’ll find me.  Just keep pedaling.

Why marijuana is not my cycling friend : The Skunk

I've never smoked the stuff and don't plan on it. So, really marijuana wasn't my friend to begin with, but now it's made it onto my unfriendly to cyclists list (I don't really have a list but now I might make one).  Here's why:

Marijuana - Stinks!

Marijuana - Makes people poor drivers!

Marijuana - Stinks!

Marijuana - Is often grown illegally in areas that would be great for cycling!

I've come across some not so pleasant smells while mountain biking in my area. http://newamericamedia.org/2014/03/unregulated-cannabis-wreaks-foothills-destruction-in-california.php

Marijuana - Stinks!

Marijuana - Causes confusion!

Marijuana - Stinks!

Marijuana - Makes my rides unpleasant!

Marijuana - Stinks!

Jeff Mitchell, Getty Images C     Cute little stinker.  http://banana1015.com/skunk-smell-is-now-probable-cause-in-michigan/

If you didn't notice marijuana stinks and this is what causes confusion because a certain variety of weed is nicknamed skunk for its foul and extremely skunk like stench. So, I, in my little world, didn't know that weed had such a skunk stink until we moved up to northern California.  I was on a bike ride and thought there was a skunk nearby but was informed it was most likely just marijuana somewhere nearby.  Lovely. Or not.  Still when I'm out riding I must be cautious because there might be a skunk nearby. Dead or alive I don't want to be too close to source of stink.  Skunks luckily are fairly skittish ad like most animals have the flight trait hardwired into them.  If I see a skunk I usually shine my light at it and whistle so it sees a large moving mass coming towards it in the distance and it will scurry off.  Of course they don't always go away in the right direction or far enough off the road for my liking upon which point I decide it's a good time for a sprint interval and hope that the bugger has bad aim as I jet past. Anyway I don't usually have to sprint away from marijuana but it can make for some moments where I get less oxygen to avoid the smell.  If weed is growing nearby I most likely don't need to worry because it's not going to run across the road or spray me unless I'm in the mountains on a dirt road (then it's a rare and wild running spraying breed of marijuana plant-jk). Then there are the growers who might be nearby to shew you away which is uncomfortable.  I haven't run into any growers myself but I've heard some stories of other local cyclists having this experience.

Conclusion -  Stay away from skunks and stay away from weed.  Have a happy ride.

Note: I don't mean for this to offend anyone who is for the use of marijuana for whatever reason.  I am simply not a fan of weed.  It just seems to drift into my life when I'd rather not have it around at all.

P.S. Not all marijuana stinks like skunk.

Cyclenews' : Top 10 inCycle videos of 2014 - Yelling in a cycling sprint train!

Here are some videos just in case you missed them.  They're all worth a watch but the first one is, in my humble opinion, bar far the most intense and telling of what goes on in the peloton (i.e. my favorite of the bunch and hence the reason I felt like sharing it here).  Check it out below or check it out on cyclingnews' cite.

 I think this shows how much effort goes into keeping a lead out together.  Here, it's for John Degenkolb who I believe is the one with the bandage on his elbow.  Cycling = contact sport. These guys make sure you know where they are.  The talking, that is shouting, going on lets you know how important it is to communicate while riding in a group and on a team.  This is good stuff. Ride on.