Recon

mclaren-course-recon I'm out early this morning to do some McLaren Park short course recon, which is hard to do when it's still dark outside. The course wasn't marked yet, but I slowly found my way through a lap using Google Maps, the course map and Strava. Should be a fun one on Saturday. I think there'll be a few folks out on cross bikes, but I definitely think an XC bike will be better suited. Everything's ridable and fast. My bike is all dialed in after having ripped off the derailleur hanger last weekend at Demo. I've got a new chain, too.

Bailey

Another hot Bailey loop lunch ride in the books. I started out feeling pretty strong, but quickly faded halfway through. Too many fast guys today! It was good for me to put in a few hard efforts. I got caught by the chase group and worked with them for the remaining 10 miles or so. We had a killer tail wind all the way back to the office.

McLaren Short Track Challenge

Looking forward to this weekend's race. It's at John McLaren Park, just a couple of neighborhoods away from me. I've been riding the trails here the past few months. Should be exciting as it's San Francisco's first legal mountain bike race and festival. My legs are pretty much done for the season, but I'm hoping to do a few good hot laps. A lot of my friends will be out on course, racing and spectating.

Demo

demo I got out to Demo for the first time. Finally! The trails here are pretty insane. Like Skeggs, it was pretty dry and washed out, but it didn't limit the fun I had. The group was pretty relaxed. I went up with Jeremy, who's doing the enduro race here next month. He needed to do some course recon. Everyone was on a full suspension bike except for me, and boy do I wish I had one.

We first dropped into the top loop of Bacon. I nearly lost it on a few steep sections, but managed to hold my own. Then we did Ridge and dropped into Sawpit, where I ripped my rear derailleur hanger on the transition climb. I had some helping hands convert my bike to a single speed. I thought I'd call it a day, but there was Braille left to tackle. So glad I grunted up the climb to do that trail. I plan on coming back, but with a more appropriate bike like a Stumpjumper FSR.

Skeggs

skeggs-trifecta I'm finally back on my bike, and what better way to get in some miles than to do a serious session at Skeggs in the peninsula. I had my friend Jeremy show me the way, taking me on the Trifecta route, which covers most of the trails at the park. The trails here are pretty dialed in, a true mountain biker's dream. Lots of fast descents and lung burning climbs. It's challenging to say the least. Well, glad to be back. My legs didn't feel as bad as I was expecting them to. A week off the bike is a long time.

Specialized

20130830-101857.jpg Specialized did a great job of bringing the outdoors inside. I was really happy with how our booth turned out. I helped with the massive graphics surrounding the outside perimeter. Cool to see your hard work in the wild, larger than life.

Eurobike

20130830-101335.jpg Greetings from Eurobike, the worlds largest bicycle trade show. Almost every bike brand known to man is here showing off their new wares. It's so overwhelming. After a while you get glossed over by the same things, carbon wheels, 650b, e-bikes, matte black, vertical compliance, and it keeps going on. I spent my time roaming the booths searching for something I haven't seen before.

We're only here a couple of days. It's really cool to be here, but I'm so ready to head back home and ride my bike.

BMW Welt

20130830-101044.jpg Before heading out of town we got to check out the BMW museum. What an incredible space. We were also fortunate enough to get a brief tour of their internal brand center where we learned about how they teach new employees about the brand. State of the art facility.

Munich

20130830-100810.jpg We arrived in Munich safely. We spent the afternoon checking out the town. Found a really cool outdoor store called Globetrotters. It's like REI on steroids. We're here just for a couple days before we head down south to where Eurobike is.

One Last Ride

headland-crew-reunion-3 I got in one last ride before I head out to Germany this evening for Eurobike. What was supposed to be an easy taper-off ride turned into a full on bonking sufferfest, at least for me. My buddy Josh is recovering from an injury, so we started off with a good brisk pace. After running into a bazillion trail runners we split the group in two, those of us who had to head back home, and those that wanted more miles. I was on the fence at that point and regretfully opted for more miles.

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A familiar scene, the Marin Headlands covered in fog. I've ridden by this spot countless times, and not once have I been down to the beach that's flanked by mountains.

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This guy was hot on my heels. Mat, who I've seen at races and rides occasionally, joined us this morning. He crushed it up the hills and was the one who got me to do more miles than planned. Surprisingly this is only his fourth mountain bike ride of the year. Lots of trail to show him.

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Slow and steady. Peter and Josh make their way up the steep climb.

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The sun finally came out to play. At this point I had climbed up Deer Park and bombed down Coastal, only to suffer my way up Middle Green Gulch and crawl my way up Marincello.

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On the way down to last and final climb in the Headlands I spotted a hiker picking fruit from an unsuspecting tree. I pulled aside and gobbled up three apples. What a find. I brought just enough food for a three-hour ride, not a five-hour one. I'll have to remember the location of this tree the next time I find myself on the struggle bus.

It was a great day to be out on the bike. I rode close to 60 miles and climbed over 7,000' in about five hours. It was really good to catch up with friends, and ride with new ones.

Marin Magic

marin-magic-2 This morning I had to take my car in to get the tires replaced. It was going to be a few hours, so I brought my bike along and went to China Camp early in the morning for a little dirt action. I think the trails at China Camp are underrated. They've got a nice flow for very little climbing. I did the main loop twice, in both directions.

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The wildlife was in full force. I saw at least twenty deer and 10 wild turkey roaming about.

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First time I've worn baggy shorts in a long time. It definitely put me in a casual trail mood, but I managed to scorch some lap times and segments at the park.

Dirt Connector

20130822-075506.jpg Finding some new dirt is always good. This time was at the top of San Bruno Mountain, dropping over to McLaren Park for a bit more. I've been missing my morning Dawn Patrol rides with the fellas. Hope to make that happen again. In the meantime I'll be scouting the southern parts of the city for some trails. With only an hour or so in my mornings it's hard to find enough time to get in a good trail ride. I'm glad that I got my Open back up and running. It's been sitting in my bike bag since Leadville.

Bailey

This is my favorite lunch ride of the week. It's pretty intense, with lots of opportunities to attack and practice riding in a fast paceline, averaging over 20mph over an hour and some change. I was a bit off today. Still getting back up to speed since getting sick last week. I'm slowly finding my legs again.

Eurobike

I'm very excited that I'll be attending Eurobike this year. It's been ages since I've been to a bicycle trade show. The last time was Interbike, back when it was in Anahiem, CA roughly 14 years ago. Specialized has a great looking booth this year that I was able to be a part of and contribute my creative energy towards. It'll be cool to see that work in the flesh and at larger than life-size. I leave this Saturday evening for about a week. In the meantime I'm trying to log in as many miles possible in the likelihood I won't get to ride that much, even though I'm going because of bikes. How ironic, eh?

Feeling Good Again

I'm back in the saddle again. Today's lunch ride felt good. My power isn't back, but it's only been a week since Leadville. I'm nearing the end of my race season, and I'm looking forward to tapering. I've got a handful of races left over the next couple of months.