The first 1000

On Saturday I crossed a silly little milestone.

Which is a wonderful time to reflect on the custom bike experience.

I was first measured and questioned for the bike the beginning of December 2020.  They wanted to know my riding experience, what my current bikes were, intended purpose.  After submitting all these tasty tidbits, we waited for a drawing.  Due to some holiday in December, It took a little longer than anticipated for them to get that done.  Once done, we had to clarify a couple details and wait another week for the final drawing to sign off on.

Custom graphics and being a weirdo who wanted a frame designed to only be a singlespeed caused lead time to be longer than quoted.  This is something I wished there was greater transparency on.  But all was good, I loved the bike I was riding; it would have been nice to have a quarantine project though.

Anyhoo...

I got the bike.  A Seven Sola SL SS.  The Velveteen Coney.  It was built up with exactly the parts I wanted to put on it.

I"ve been and still am a fan of Shimano brakes.  After building a number of road bikes with Campagnolo disc brakes, and loving the feel of them, I decided to go a different route and try Magura MT8s, which have been wonderful.

 

I thought a USA made drivetrain would compliment the USA made frame so I mated A White Industries M30 crank, chainring and bottom bracket with a Wolftooth stainless steel cog.  Hear that?  No?  That's right, silent.

Does the carpet match the drapes?  You betcha! WI headset

So how does it ride?  Much like a bike.  A very refined bike.  Subtle.  One of the questions asked and submitted was "which is more of a priority, weight or ride quality"?

 Ride quality!  

duh.

Never been a weight weenie, and consider it a very minor property to be concerned with.  I want to get to the end of the ride, not have the lightest ride.

The standout feature of the bike is it's sexy ass that effortlessly leaves the ground following the arc with which I choose

That's it.

It's a stable, well handling bike that floats beneath me and holds a line when needed.  It goes over logs better than any bike I've ridden...

and rides like a bike.

Domnarski Farm 6hr Marathon

This was going to be just the facts and nothing but the numbers  and data.

But how bout a little story time?

I have raced Domnarski Farm many times.  Even won it once (expert age group).  The course is rugged, old school with a good deal of climbing; a few of my favorite things.

The marathon was an open class; any age, sex or bike.  It also had the largest field of any category. 

In the race itinerary e.mail the promoter stated the race would be staged in waves based on previous best time, fastest first.  The Marathon would line up behind me...thanks for the target on my back Matt!

Lead up to the race is textbook, even the yahoos trying to impress by revving their sports cars took it easy the night before so I could get a good night sleep.  Being only an hour away gave me plenty of time for coffee, breakfast and morning constitutional.

I'm nervous.  It's been a year and a half since I raced a bike.

I keep telling myself I'm just riding my bike in the woods with friends for 6 hours.

After signing in, I have a couple of minutes to noodle around before heading up the hill to the start. I see a couple of familiar faces, but the majority are an unknown quantity.

The countdown to the start is rather anticlimactic; the timer says go..and we go!

I get a short lived, slow motion holeshot which is for naught as we turn off the starting straight into the woods and the first technical climb.  

Everyone is off their bikes.

Back on and I'm sparring for position with 3 guys before the first significant climb.  I'm reminding myself not to get caught up in it, in the excitement, and ride my own race, it is six hours after all.  They pedal away.

Before the first series of 2x8 bridges, there are a lot of these, I hear a rider come up behind me.  Ok, when he passes me I'll be in 5th.  That's fine.  There's a long way to go and I'll still be in the top 20%.  The race predictor had me at 15th.

Wait. what the?!  It's one of the trio who rode away?  He had rode off course.

When I get to the long powerline climb, it gives me an opportunity to look back a couple minutes to see if anyone is in sight.  Nope.

On the last descent to the start finish, I'm catching a lot of traffic from the beginner race.  Just in case they slowed me down as much as it felt which in reality probably wasn't hardly at all, I don't stop at my feed coming through the start/finish.

(Dear Beginners, Domnarski Farm is not your typical race course!)

On the first long climb there's a lot of "excuse me, can I squeeze by, when you get a chance can I get by, on your left up here ok"?

I'm relieved when we get to the course split, but what the...the rider who went off course the first lap is coming from the beginner's split; he went off course again!

The rest of the second lap is uneventful.

I stop at the feed, swap bottles  and have a few bites of PB&J.

At the "Ten Dollar Pass" just past the 7 mile mark of the third lap, the leader of the pro race catches me.  The second pro catches me at the most technical descent, fortunately it opens up soon after so I'm not holding him up.

Swap some bottles and head out for #4.

Lap 4 isn't fun.  Arms and hands have taken a beating.  Knowing the course, my tires have a couple extra psi to hopefully ward off flats. 2012 saw me walking off the second lap when it took out a tire.  I'm not enjoying the first long climb which usually is cherished.  I'm being caught by leaders of the expert race, on a few occasions stopping entirely to let them pass.  

That's it, 4 is enough.

From $10 pass I'm going back and forth with a friendly guy, I let him take the lead for the last descent.  When he sees me starting another laps he asks "what, you haven't had enough"?

Yes I have but

there's just too much time left.  

"Marathon" I mutter and soldier on.

5th lap I have the course all to myself.  I tell myself "walk if you have to but just keep moving".

When I get to the first bridge it is no longer there.  The water is warm and thigh deep.

Turns out I'm not alone; I catch a woman at $10 pass.  She tells me she's going to stop and take a picture.

From there it's all downhill to the finish...with 10 minutes to spare.

Stop reading now unless you're into dorky numbers.

dorky numbers:

4th place

51 miles

(the winner Jake Inger did 6 laps so over 60!)

6300' of climbing

Gear: 34x20

lap times: 64:34, 71:11, 71:30, 73:59

Median age of the podium: 29

Average age: 36

Calories consumed 700

(600 liquid 100 PB&J)

Official Results

Coneystock Day 3

 Day 2 was a winner of a failure.  I got to donate toys and ride my bike, but couldn't stay on course.  Will Day 3 be more fruitful?

After a rest day of shoveling snow and home projects with my Lovely (she got 8" of heavy wet snow), our riding options were somewhat limited.  

We would have to drive a substantial distance somewhere to find rideable trails.  We could drive almost back to my house to find something rideable. Or we could drive 1/2 hour out of our way so I could finally meet the latest Grandbaby, then almost an hour to The Summit General Store, ride Tiny Tim, and both have an hour drive home.  

Some people are worth an extra hour and a half driving.

We both successfully uploaded the course to our prospective computers, emblazed ourselves in orange, lubed our chains, checked our tires, and HIT START COURSE.

Climb up a road through a residential area to a cul de sac, where our computers tell us to continue straight.  Ok.  We find the trail, navigating around giant puddles on a dirt double track.  Above we hear the white noise of the windmills.

My Lovely has a tendency to smell the roses and snap pictures of them and other randomness along the way.  I'm prompted to turn right.  She's not insight so it would be best to wait, just in case.  With an ear to ear grin, she blissfully rides past the turn.  

Shouting after her, she pulls a U-ie and joyfully spins up to me with tales of all the nature she's captured in the last half mile.

Looking down at her computer, it's screen is blank.  "Aren't you following the course" I ask.  "I'm following you, but I have it if I need it" she replies,

Now I'm responsible for not getting two people lost...great.

Riding with eyes glued to the screen, waiting at intersections, comparing and contrasting my location on my phone with the image on my Garmin, looking at the sky, looking at the clock, wondering if Christine is warm enough, hearing shotgun blasts all around...nerve wracking.

But every time we reconvene, she has some positive spin; "aren't those canal like puddles pretty," or "doesn't that gun powder smell nice"?!

She's having a blast so maybe, just maybe I should mellow the fuck out?

I'm starting to see some familiar landmarks from Day 2; how often do you see matching gold Trans Ams?  It's dark, but we are in the home stretch.  I have blinky lights and my Lovely has a head light.  As we yo-yo down the Trestle Trail, doing  puddle slalom, I begin to relax and realize this might actually be fun and would have been more so If I could just be in the moment a bit more.

, 

Coneystock Day 2

 

Using GPS to navigate; how hard can it be?  Recently, I used the mapping screen to find my way around a new riding area.  Granted, it was small, park but I never got more than semi lost.

There's annual Christmas toy drive in Rhode Island. This year due to the obvious, is a virtual affair.  Two different loops; Bad Santa at 50 miles, and Tiny Tim at 20.  Bad Santa was being promoted as 32% road, 49% gravel, 19% shit.  

Sounds good!

With a pocket full of pizza, wrapped in blaze orange, I crossed the border with some toys for tots.  The Summit General Store was kind enough to be the dropoff depot for toys.

Turn on my Garmin, go to the route, hit start and begin following the big blue on my screen.  

I along the Trestle Trail I run into  a group doing "Tiny Tim", the 20 mile version.  We chat a bit about navigating with gps and it sounds like I'm on the right track.

Keep on following that big blue line.

I guess Jim has routed us along the North / South for the first leg of the loop.

As the trail gets a little rowdier, I'm thinking "he wasn't kidding about shit"  I'm on the Coney LTD with a 34x18, so boulder strewn, bombed out moto trails aren't too much trouble, but a lot of people are doing this on cross and gravel bikes.

At this point it occurs to me I haven't heard or seen any navigational prompts.  There's supposed to be prompts, no?  Where are my prompts?!  I want my prompts!!!

Turns out you actually have to start the "course" you're looking at and not just the Garmin.

Ok, so 5 miles off course.  I've plenty of daylight left, so maybe it'll be a metric in steady of a 50 miler?

Back on course, using both my phone and Garmin to navigate, I'm getting my prompts.

Things are going pretty well, this is actually not too hard to follow.

The course turns down the Quinnabaug Trail in Pachaug State Forest , which has a legal 65 mile motorcycle trail in it.

This is fun, ripping down a moto trail towards what my computer is calling Hell Hollow.  Cross the dirt road, and follow the trail and prompts start shouting "OFF COURSE"!

I go back to the dirt road and turn left up it.  Now it's telling me I'm .7 miles off course.  Go up the other way, again .7 miles off course.  Go back the way I came; off course.  Start back down the trail that I think is right "MAKE A U TURN".

I look at where I am on the dirt road.  I look at the sky.  I look at the clock.  I have under two hours to find the course, and stay on it before dark.  I'm guessing if I can stay on course, I have about 30 miles to go.    

Signs point to unlikely.

I give up on following the course, and use my phone to navigate roads back to the start.

Still 42 miles, and toys for tots.  

Coneystock will continue...

Coneystock Day 1

You might have heard there's a global pandemic going about.  In such people have found a new appreciation of the common bicycle.  Unfortunately the bicycle industry was caught in the perfect storm of high demand / low supply as manufacturers do their best in a new reality.  Even repair parts to fix that much loved bike that "was fine when I put it away" (stored at the bottom of a swamp for the past 15 years).

Everyone in the bicycle industry has been working super hard this year.

Beyond 11.

Nonstop.

Which brings us to the last page of the calendar with personal days that will turn into pumpkins if they aren't used before midnight.

Ideally personal days are used to go somewhere on some great adventure.  These days, you redefine those terms.

Coneystock.  A long weekend of adventure as far as my bike and a tank of gas will take me,

Day 1

What better way to start some home spun adventures than with the Central CT classic TdT  The TdT for those not from this niche of a niche is a ride from West Hartford to Tariffville following the Metacomet trail across the Talcott Mountain ridgeline (Tour de Talcott).  The first time I did it was the day Jerry Garcia died (8/9/1995).  I only did it one way that day as I met my a friend in East Granby at his house for a ride before dinner when he got home for work.

Subsequent TdTs have been out and backs.  They have been stretched to 50 miles, 100Ks, even a 100 miler.  The "standard TdT goes from West Hartford to the Chimney in Tariffville and back. 

Trying to use the available pallet of trails to create a route with as little redundancy is half the fun.

The Enduro Boys  have made that challenge easier and funnerer

I stopped to snap a pic of their awesome new launch and sign but no way was I going to miss the fun of the berms and earth jumps to stop and take pics.

The weather couldn't have been more ideal at the 2nd cookie stop.

All in all a great start.  

Will the use of internal combustion aid adventure and increase the fun?

Traditions

 Warning:  Sappy Content!

I can't remember the actual year this tradition started, or the year the second ride happened so it could be considered a "tradition"  but it was a long time ago.

Every Thanksgiving, I go for a ride. 

No matter what.

There have been some beautiful days shared with friends and solo rides in snow.

This was the second with rain.  Not too bad for twentyish years.

The first rainy Thanksgiving, I rode over to the Rez to meet Officer Jeffery.  It was a steady, solid rain, with temps in the upper 30s.  

Then the wind started.

When we finished a pretty standard loop, and a ride home was offered, pride was happily swallowed and I jumped in the truck.

Today's rain was wet, but the temperature was mild, so it wasn't too hard to motivate.

It did briefly stopped while I was eating breakfast, but had resumed by the time I was kitted up.

The tradition is important because what the bike means to me.

It saved my life,

diverting me from becoming an over weight, alcoholic smoker.

It is freedom.

It has carried me through my darkest days.

It supports my family.

The tradition is gratitude.

and of course, as soon as I get home, the rain secedes

Who am I shitting; riding bikes is just fun!

Rabbit Season

 Ah 2020.

As we've seen with the biking boom, the corona virus is also giving hunting  a bump.  

Either that or people are trying to protect themselves from socialist forcing affordable health care down their throats.

I digress.

Hunting season began last week.  Well shotgun season, people have been bow hunting since September. but that's like singlespeed so the majority thinks you're some primitive weirdo doing things the hard way. The actual date it started varied by source but some time midweek.

We have a lot of great places to ride in the Nutmeg State.  State and town parks, MDC land, even some private land that owners have built trails on and promote their use!  

These great riding spots abutt or are also the limited great hunting spots of this tiny densely populated state.

They say hunting is best at dawn or dusk.  Ok, I buy that.  

I see a lot of deer riding.  It is unusual if I don't.  They don't seem to pay much mind to me.  They'll look up from their grazing, give me the ol' "hey guy" nod and go back about their business.  Sometimes they'll saunter off.  Rarely is there any urgence to their retreat.

I have a theory that deer can sense a hunting pheromone that hunters are emitting.  Clearly I do not have it.  On my rides deer don't care.

Last Wednesday must have been one of those days that hunting season may or my not have begun.

The Stone Rd trailhead was empty...wait over the crest of the hill, a white pickup.

Hmm.

Climbing the White trail to one of my favorite pee spots I hear a shotgun blast from the other side of the hill.  

Yikes.

Shortly there after deer gallup West

and 

then East.

and

this continues  for the next 4 miles.

It's well after dawn.  Clearly there is no shortage of deer who didn't get the memo.

Cromwell Rd, another pickup, but this area is more landlocked and both deer and hunter are out of sight.

I've ridden this area during hunting season for 25 years and have only twice run into hunters.  First time, two bow hunters at the top of "the fat kid climb"  on a weekday afternoon.  The second on a Saturday morning ironically on "poacher" ("poacher" was built to avoid a particularly nasty hiking trail).

I don't want to be a buzzkill or be dead, but much like with new and renewed interest in cycling, there is/will be an increased interest in hunting.  "Noobs" often enjoy the sweet nectar of low hanging fruit.  They want the "flow" trails and the easy access.  They don't want to have to go over logs and navigate difficult terrain.

(thank you captain generalization)

This means more hunters in less remote areas.

Respect their short season, and stay safe.