Dawn Patrol

dawn-patrol-feb-3 Another glorious outing to the Marin Headlands this morning. I was joined by my buds Peter and Brian. We're all pretty serious about our training. No more base miles to be had. It's time to put the hammer down. Riding alone I find it harder to push my limits. Not so when I'm with friends. They keep me motivated to push harder.

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Watch out for this guy. Brian only started mountain biking last year, and he's officially addicted. Not only does he fly up the hills chasing after me, he's in the middle of training for an Iron Man later this year. Crazy. He also owns a beautiful Moots YBB 29er.

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The sun is rising earlier, and soon enough I won't need to bring a light with me. It's still pretty cold out, but I don't mind. Once I get going and warmed up I'm good to go. I've also been ramping up my weekly hours in the saddle. I've managed to maintain about 13 hours a week, getting closer to 14-16. I've definitely fallen into a good routine.

Fog Patrol

fog-patrol I rolled out of bed and did an 'easy' ride out to the Headlands before work. It was really foggy and cold, but it felt really good to be out, having had too many pork buns and beer yesterday while watching the Niners lose. I had some major creaking happening on bike over the weekend, and spent a bit of time on Sunday getting the kinks out. This morning was the perfect time to test the tweaks.

I also, on a whim, decided to go back to my Racing Ralphs for a true comparison to my new Maxxis Ikons. I can say that there's a difference between the two. First, the Ralphs I have are about a half pound lighter, and feel so much more nimble than the Ikons. That extra rotational weight can be felt especially when sprinting out of the saddle and long sustained climbs. Corning is also a big advantage with the Ralphs as I'm able to just lean into anything without much hesitation. I never quite got comfortable with the Ikons. The Ralphs U-Block side knobs really make a difference.

I will say that the Ikons feel more secure overall with the larger and more supple casing, plus the confidence of knowing the sidewalls won't tear, but I've only done that once. I think I'll be riding my Ralphs until they need to be replaced, which is somewhat soon, another knock against them as they wear pretty fast. Don't get me wrong, I think the Ikons are an amazing tire, considering how well made they are, the weight and overall responsiveness of the tread design. I just think the Racing Ralphs are better for me and my style of riding.

Mountain Stroll

mountain-stroll-1 I got up this morning and watched the elite women's race at the Cyclo-cross World Championships online. What a great race. Such a dramatic ending. It got me inspired to get out and seize the day. Most of my riding buddies were already out on the trail, but somewhere south of me. I had a solo ride in mind anyway, and made my way towards the top of Mt. Tam, like most weekends. 50 miles and close to 7,000' of climbing. What a great early spring-like day.

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It quickly warmed off, and I was already shedding my arm warmers early. On my way up the first leg of Miwok I caught a number of riders towards the top, one of which recognized me from the Old Caz race. He asked me about my Open, how I liked it and such. "I love it!", I quickly replied. We chatted for less than a minute before I kept forging onwards and upwards.

I didn't see too many riders out on the trail early on until the return home where I ran into the entire Whole Athlete team riding up Coastal View on their way up to the top of Tam. It was really great to see the future generation of mountain biking in matching kits.

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I also got new shoes recently, some Mavic Fury's. They're super light and fit really well. I've been riding a pair of shoes that were a half-size too big. Feels good to have proper fitted shoes. I'm still dialing in the perfect cleat position on my right shoe.

I stopped and picked up a burrito before heading home. I had kept up with the rest of the cyclo-cross races via Twitter, and watched the elite mens race while refueling on my burrito. Then I dozed off for a much needed nap.

Sunday Tam

tam-sunday Did a long great ride with my friend Brian today. It was gorgeous outside, and I didn't get to ride outdoors on Saturday. The original plan was to go out to Dias and back up Middle Green Gulch, but decided at the last minute to climb to the top of Deer Park and descend down Coastal View. We ripped down everything. It was so much fun having perfect trail conditions, aside from all the hikers out. We covered 50 miles, and climbed over 7,000'. I definitely started to struggle at the end, but it was worth it.

Day Off

headlands-mlk I had the day off from work, so my friend Peter and I did a nice big ride out in the Headlands, down Dias Ridge and up Middle Green Gulch. The day started out very windy, but really sunny. It's starting to feel like spring finally. We were both feeling a bit wiped out from our race at Old Caz on Saturday so we didn't push to hard. We managed to clock in close to 40 miles with over 5,500' of total elevation gain.

It was also the first time my new Ikon tires saw Marin Headlands dirt. They performed rather well, but I'll say that the Racing Ralphs have the slight edge when it comes to cornering on gravel roads. They did feel way more secure over everything else, especially on the Dias Ridge downhill. Maybe it's due to the larger casing, but the edge of bumps got dampened nicely. Climbing wise they're about the same as the Ralphs, but I found better grip if I stayed seated while climbing. I'll be playing with PSI, and think I could go a pound or two less (currently 23/24 PSI). These are definitely a confidence inducing set of tires.

41 Degrees

dawn-patrol-40-degrees Had a great ride this morning with the guys. It was a frigid 41º for most of the ride. The sun came up later than expected, which made for some great pictures at the top of Miwok. I brought along my GoPro, too, but I think I forgot to wipe the casing clean. I checked my footage, and there's a nice bit of haze surrounding the frame. Regardless, I felt great to be back in the saddle after being run-down by food poisoning over the weekend.

Tam Exploration

tam-exploration Today I rode with a new riding buddy, Giles, to the top of Mt. Tam, and down the backside. It was really cold in the start, but quickly warmed up. I think it was around 39º by the time we started. It was a brisk pace to the top of Tam, and I wish I had brought my GoPro with me. Epic sweeping views for most of the way.

Once we got to the top Giles showed me the backside of the Tam. It was really gnarly, littered with sharp rocks for most of the way down. We got to a main junction, and decided to explore a bit of the backside. It was really fun and unexpected. I'm definitely going back to explore. We got a bit turned around once we dropped into the neighborhoods of Mill Valley before finding our way back to Tennessee Valley and through the Headlands and home. We rode 50 miles and climbed 7,000'.

Rear Tire Fail

specialized-s-works-renegade-1.8-2 I did a quick spin around the Headlands last night after work only to be dealt a bad hand by the Karma gods. My rear tire cut open, spewing sealant all over the place. No way to fix that mess. I knew I had half a charge left on my light, and no way of getting home other than calling my wife to come pick me up. I knew she wouldn't be happy about it, or the fact that I was mountain biking by myself at night. So ends my night riding. No sense in making someone else worry about my safety.

Surprise Sunrise

dawn-patrol-sunrise My riding buddy Brian and I rode our usual Headlands route, not expecting it to be one of the most beautiful mornings I've seen in San Francisco in a long time. Luckily I had my GoPro with me and got some amazing footage to go along with the above photo. The sun is rising a lot later as the days are growing lighter, making for perfect photo opportunities.

Mt. Sutro GoPro Video

Check out my latest GoPro edit on Vimeo. I'm having fun learning how to use my new camera as well as finding interesting shots and editing them. The trails of Mt. Sutro are just blocks away from where we live. It's been my recent go-to for when I need to fit in a quick ride. So much fun and challenging at the same time. Lots of vertical feet packed into such a small area. That's SF for you.

Easy Up

easy-up-tam This morning I rode up Mt. Tam with the Dawn Patrol crew. We all felt like taking it easy up the mountain. I pushed it in a few sections just to keep my heart rate up as well as warm. It was pretty chilly out there. We made it as far as West Point Inn before dropping back down the way we came. We covered 40 some miles  and over 4,000' of climbing. I was prepared for much more, but it felt nice to come home and not feel like a zombie.

On the way back the guys showed me the infamous Tenderfoot descent. Littered with roots and drops it was really overwhelming having not done it before. Plus riding the relatively smooth fire roads of the Headlands hasn't kept my technical riding skills up to snuff. It reminded me a lot of the Sandy Ridge trails outside of Portland, OR. I'll definitely be coming back for that trail if I can find it.

RIP Burry

burry-stander One of my favorite mountain bike racers died during a training ride today. He was struck by a taxi. Burry rode for team Specialized, a former world-champion, world cup racer and 5th place finisher at the London Olympics. You will be missed. You will be remembered.

Cold Patrol

DCIM101GOPRO It was pretty hard getting out of bed for a ride this morning. It was 39º when I left, and it didn't warm up much for the remainder of the ride. However, it was a beautiful sunrise. The trails were dry, and I was able to take my GoPro along and shot some great morning footage. I'm amassing a nice collection of clips, looking for ideas on new angles and ways to rig the camera.

This is a New Year

Well here it is, folks. My first GoPro video! Music is by Supercar, edited in Final Cut Pro. I had a lot of fun making it. Got me thinking about different angles and techniques. I'm not a video guy at all, but I'm pretty happy with what I made in a few days.