the hobo killer.. (and you know bike riding)..

Dear Readers,

Earlier this week the local papers had an article about the Hobo Killer, and that he and his girl friend had been spotted in the area. The Hobo Killer travels with his one legged girl friend and a number of pit bulls.

Saturday had a great 3 park ride with  Nick, Jen and Monk. I'll say it was Monk's best ride this year...

I shared the article with Monkey, and kinda half heatedly joked with her about seeing him on Main Street outside of the post office. We were both pretty sure he was there...

Later this week I was doing a ride over in White Clay. I was finishing up an effort and was appropriately in oxygen debt. As I came around the corner I saw a Hippie walking with his girlfriend. He asked me if I knew where there was a pond near by. I freaked out, being caught off guard totally not expecting to see anyone combined with, of course oxygen debt. "SHIT IT'S THE HOBO KILLER!" I thought totally freaked out...

"Excuse me?" I asked the hippie/killer. 

He responded patiently, "we heard there was a pond up here, we were looking for it, do you know where it is?"  

Sunday, I had a really fun ride down at Susquehanna with JH3 and Price! We ripped a sweet section of single track, and Pricey said, "nice FM, that was smooth, not Dennis Smith smooth, but smooth..."

"AHHHH" I stalled for time as I looked around, "no dogs. this is good." I thought to myself. Then I remembered, "the one legged girl friend" My head whipped to the right where the young lady was standing, "TWO LEGS!! SHE HAS TWO LEGS!!" I was stoked and felt a huge smile come across my face, the Hippie was just some dirty hippie and not the HOBO KILLER!" 

"the pond is 200 yards down this hill on your right" I pointed and gave directions with a huge, I'm sure goofy smile." I finished up my ride and called it a day.

In other news looks like the Hobo Killer has been apprehended. 

thank for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Tacos, Flat Bars, and Death-Mobiles...

Dear Reader,

Tuesday afternoon I got a call from Diane.

"What do you have planned for tonight?" she asked.

"I'm gonna ride the death-mobile and do a shake down ride and some efforts why?" I responded.

"I just saw the menu for Tuesday Night Tacos at Two Stones, and wanted to know if you wanted to grab something-"

I interrupted, "Stop. You had me a Tuesday Night Tacos. You didn't need to say anything else."

L-R Duck Taco, Sesame Chicken Taco, Key Lime Pie Taco, and Brunch Taco.

 We didn't sample the Key Lime... 

For most of this year I have been somewhat fixated on a flat-bar cross bike set up. Earlier this summer I set up my Blue Norcross with a flat bar. It required some other adjustments... Longer stem, changed the seat position, and still couldn't get it to work.  It never felt right. I tried some efforts. It was a disaster. The handling was off. The bike felt nimble, but bordered on twitchy. I couldn't get the cockpit comfortable. What I hoped to gain in handling when out the window. It was clear this bike was designed with a traditional set up in mind.

Still, I feel  my strongest suit is bike driving, and that somehow a mountain bike bar would allow me to play to my strengths in cross. Being as I have a limited cross season planned, I figured this might be the year to play with my set up. The initial plan was essentially a failure, I still held up hope.

flat bar cross bike looks fucking cool- functions like a knife at a damn gun fight...

Plan B: the Death-Mobile. I took my old mountain bike set it up with tubeless Michelin Muds, a rigid fork and ditched the bar ends. The bike is really ugly with skinny tires. A monstrosity actually. But riding around it was fun. But riding a bike on the bike path, and putting it through it's paces is a totally different thing...

I love this bike, it's so fun to ride. Not going to work as a cross bike for me... 

 It was time to take it to the test. Frankly, it failed miserably. All the benefits I hoped to gained were wasted. The bike couldn't handle as well as I wanted, and in sections that I compared to my times on the traditionally set up cross bike, I was way off.  I found myself actually more tentative on the flat bar, not playing the drift or cornering as well. Everything that I liked about how the mountain-bike handled went out the window with the skinny tires. Perhaps mercifully, I flatted about half way through my last effort. In theory, the flat bar cross bike or skinny tired mountain bike was a great idea. In actually application, for me it didn't pan out for me.

The upside of all of this is that I have two smoking sweet cross bikes, that I love to ride, and feel really good under me... As I stood winded, and exhausted with my now flatted mountain-bike with cross tires, I knew that this little experiment was now over...

I called Diane from the trail with my now flatted Death-mobile and said, "honey, I need an extraction. I gotta flat. Mission Death-Mobile is a failure. Let's get some tacos..."

thanks for reading...

respect
vanderbacon

pinnacle of my athletic career

Dear Readers,

Last weekend, I had my greatest performance ever as an athlete. And while it would have been awesome if it was at a bike race, it was not. It was at my parent's house, after drinking beer and eating crabs. It was a family battle royale of a game some call bean bag toss, but in this area is lovingly referred to as corn-hole.

 

My apologies for the country music in the video. It is my personal belief that country music is single handily the reason for the decline of western civilization.

But I digress,

The teams were pretty simple, my father and I, versus my two brothers. Let me say historically, I suck at yard games. I am usually the last picked, and pretty much everyone in my family knows that I'm God awful at these events. It's a burden I have to bear. The rest of my family are all stellar at yard games. The gene skipped me.  Sad, but true.

This day was different. Well, not at first. At first, the first couple of rounds, I was awful as usual. But then,  it happened. Three out of four in the hole. My brother Bryan, an incredible smack talker, gave me some jab, that I tried to ignore, but laughed at because it was awesome. Then I threw again, and two more went in the hole Then, then I knew I was in the zone. I couldn't miss. I was pretty sure that this lucky run would end, but it didn't. My father and I smoked my two brothers.... It was rad.

Let me say this, my brother Bryan, he talks shit better than anyone I know. He was giving it to me pretty good, and I dared not say anything, just smile, laugh, and drink. I wasn't fast enough mentally to keep up with his game, so I drank, and threw bean bags and for the most part, they kept going in the hole.

I was in the zone. My father, my teammate howled with laughter as I made shot after shot. We were all shaking our heads in disbelief. Perhaps a crowning achievement. If you told me that's how'd I play, I'd have told you that you were crazy.  And yes Al Michaels I do believe in miracles! 




That's it, the best of my best.

The next day as Nick and I rode towards Elk Neck, I suffered out of my brains, and my sweat smelled of beer. It was one of my worst days on the bike. I struggled., but the memory of being in the zone kept me pedaling. Nick smiled and let me hang on his wheel despite me begging to be left to die. That Nick is a good kid. I finished the ride and vowed to never drink again.... well, at least not until the next corn-hole game.

best to you all.

respect
Vanderbacon

Long Miles in August

Dear Readers,

Pretty uneventful weekend. Lots of riding. Good miles and lots of fun. Earlier in the week, Joe let me know that his buddy was coming into town for the weekend, and asked if we could rally up a nice little four park ride. We had a nice group show up and we set out for what was one of my favorite rides of the year...

L-R Joe, who I thought was John, Wilson, Eddie, Slim and Travis (no pink camel back shown).

Kathleen, Jenn (who rode with Monk), Nick and Ron

When you done checking out my rad new earring, that's Joe and David at the front in the background. 

They were the inspiration for this ride... 

Mad Alchemy Sponsor shot, and Joe and Scotty leading out. 

In the far right you can see Monkey and Jenn.

L-R B-F:  Slim, Shane, Dennis, David, Ron, Dave, John, Scotty, Nick, Travis, 

Joe, Eddie and Kathleen missing from this photo are 

Buddy (shoulder injury) and Travis S (marathon training)...

Here's the Strava data:

Sunday morning, I have to admit I was pretty destroyed. I had thoughts of slipping out for a few miles on the road. As Diane and I were drinking coffee she said, "I want to try a 3 parker today, what do you think?"
Now Monk has only gone over 2 hours on the bike a few times since her injury, this was going to be a bigger undertaking, and I was not feeling so fresh.

She did a great time and was crushing my soul  up these two road sections. I was proud of her, as we pulled in the garage just as the skies opened up. She continues to get stronger and get stronger. I'm stoked for her.

All in all a pretty mellow weekend. Miles and Smiles...

thanks for reading.

Best to you.

respect
vanderbacon

like finding lost sunglasses on top of my head

Dear Readers,

Last weekend, I had an amazing ride with Nick and Jake. Jake was in town for a few days from Colorado, and I was stoked to be able to give him a guided tour around fairhill. I asked him how the trails were, "like home.." he said. "Colorado riding is amazing, but we just don't have singletrack like this..." he continued. I miss riding with Jake. 

Shane starts to rally together the group (Shane, Jimmy V, John Wood, Thayer)

Nick and Jake both seemed to be riding well, and every time I tried to go, I just couldn't. After waiting for me at the top of one of many hills, I said to those guys, "man this humidity is rough, I feel like I'm breathing through a straw..."  They both laughed, "dude, it's not humid at all," Nick said. "damn, I feel like crap..."I commented.

That evening I had to recognize the facts. I hadn't been sleeping well for a couple of weeks. My last couple of intervals were brutal, and really not all that successful. As I planned out my August training/race plan, I wasn't excited about what was to come, but frankly approaching it like something to get through. Work had been stressful, and frankly if I look back I honestly haven't felt good on the bike since Nationals.

Chris Jackson put in the full endurance loop today!

While I was very disappointed to crash out of Nationals, I had worked really hard to have my best form of the year that day. I felt good. And while the bruise on my ass is almost gone, in hind-site that day was my peak, and while initially  I had plans to continue training/racing through August, I know that I cooked myself. I had cracked...

Not totally by choice, I ended up with 5 days off the bike this week. Given how my legs felt, and how tired I was it was for the best. I slept through the night for the first time in weeks Thursday and Friday.

Thayer was out slaying on his rigid 26er single speed today. Watch out in 2 weeks!

This weekend, Shane was kind enough to host two awesome rides around Fairhill. Saturday was the CAT1 course for the upcoming FH race, and Sunday was intended to be the 44 mile endurance course. Shane did a great job of trying to keep the groups together. Saturday, I felt awful- like I had never ridden a bike before. After two hours I sat up and went home, somewhat defeated.  Sunday, was an entirely different story.  I felt great. I'll admit, I was honest about only planning to ride for 2 hours, and I might have been pushing the pace a little. yeah, I know a dick move, and not my normal move, but as I said to Shane (I was second wheel at the time), we can slow down. When I had finally burnt all my matches it was Shane, Nick, Ron, Dr. Phil, Rich and I.  I dropped off the back of the group, and I rolled home. I was totally destroyed but also fully stoked about finally feeling good on the bike again...

Nick, Ron, Phil and Rich- Nick ordering Pizza to pick up at the parking lot.

So the heart of my season is done. Not planning on a cross season this year, which I'll admit is a little weird and leaving me with a little gap in goals. But you know what, I'll figure it out:

Hey now, I want to thank this guy for leading two awesome rides this weekend:

Crappy Picture- Awesome Guy- Thanks for leading two outstanding rides this weekend..

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

I was cited by the UCI this week..

Dear Readers,

Last evening I was in the garage tinkering with the death-mobile, when Diane came to the garage with an opened letter.

"Watcha got there Monk?" I asked.

"You got a letter from the UCI in Switzerland." She replied coyly...

"Whaa?" dread immediately filled my heart. While I have never had a UCI license, I did get into some hot water with a UCI official at Charm City a couple of years ago.  He was screwing up one of our starts, and I tried to explain how we staged the 45+ and 3/4 women. He wasn't happy that I corrected him.

My mind  immediately went to my last run in with UCI. The Philly Pro Race. Anne Rock and I hanging out of a car in the race caravan. We got yelled at by a UCI commissionaire.

"Man, this is not going to be good." I thought to myself.

My feelings of dread, turned to pure joy as I read this:

Yup,  I was reversed fined, as there was a crisp $100 bill in the envelope!

That's right I got a reverse fine from the UCI!

In the end, I really have no idea who or where this came from. It very well could have come from Peter van den Abeele, although based on my experiences with the UCI they don't like to give away money nearly as much as they like to collect it.  I can only guess as the envelope, while addressed from the UCI headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland, was post marked Philly. Whoever sent it, know that the sentiments are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. An outstanding random act of kindness for sure... My mind is scrambling with ways to pay this forward somehow...

feeling very lucky to apart of this community today...

respect
fatmarc

WORST GRAFFITI TAG EVER

Dear Readers,

I took the long way to work today. Passed through a small town that had their Burger King recently close down. The abandoned restaurant fell victim to vandalism as the world's worst graffiti  artist, with the worst "tagger" name had struck. I'll admit while not a graffiti fan, I can appreciate a clever tag name, or a beautiful piece of work. The "artist" tagging the abandoned Burger King in Oxford, PA doesn't appear to be very clever:

I am going to go with one of two theories:

1. Tom Hudson is in for a lifetime of bad choices and serious hurt.
2. One of Tom Hudson's friends is playing an awfully mean trick on him.

I'll guess the Oxford Police were at Mr. Hudson't place this morning trying to sort out  just which it was...

And then of course I felt so bad for Jack Bauer..

The POC helmets really are pretty bad.

anyway, thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride

Dear Readers,

Saturday was the Mountain Bike National Championships and I was pretty realistic about my chances but I punched my ticket, I was going to the big dance. Opportunities to race in a national championship race are few and far between. And when they are less than 2 hours from your house, you gotta take that shot.   As Hunter S. Thompson says, "buy the ticket, take the ride"

Coming in I had no delusions of grandeur, and instead set a finishing time goal of 2:03. The race started fast, and I felt good. I felt like I was climbing well, but the field was flying. I was having a tough time staying with my group. Perhaps because of this I was extra aggressive on the downhill and technical rocky stretches that Bear Creek is known for... It was working . I was passing guys, moving up and on track to meet my goal. (39 minute first lap)

The second time up the climb was tough, but again, I stayed steady and rode cleanly to the top. I stayed within myself.  Oh, I was suffering, and not climbing particularly well, but I was moving, and I was riding the technical very well. All the while, I kept saying, " make up time when it gets technical... "

Top out of the climb and I get aggressive again. It was rad, I felt great, I pulled back 2 dudes that passed me on the top of the climb. I'm thinking to myself how much I love this course, this style of racing... Quick time check, and I am still on track to make my goal. I cross the bridge that dumps out on to a rooty, gnarly mess, and I drive to the outside to pass another rider. On the edge, the trail undulates, and I stuff my wheel into one of these divots. I'm launched over my bars and do a Hulk Hogan Leg Drop/hip drop on a pile of rocks.

Reality sets in. I might really be hurt. Throwing yourself on rocks sucks. I can't seem to put my legs together, or stand up I seriously thought I broke my hip for a few minutes. (I didn't).

A couple of guys passed and asked if I needed a medic. I said maybe. I was trying to do a mental check list to see what was wrong, I still couldn't get up... Big thanks to both Mike Stevens and Hal Batdorf who both stopped to check on me. Class Acts.

I got up, and got going again. My hip and my ass were killing me. Strava tells me I was on the ground for almost 3 minutes. My mojo was pretty much gone at this point. My bell rung.  I crawled my way to the heckle pit and I punched it through the heckle pit one more time, because heckle pit:

Heckle Pit was awesome. Thanks Heckle Pit. Will remember coming through there forever...

I then limped my way back to the start finish. My ass/hip were throbbing and I was pretty defeated. I didn't feel like I could get any power down and so I just drug my ass through the start finish, and sat up at the feedzone, calling it a day...

Disappointing for sure. I was on track to meet my goal, I was suffering, I was having fun. I'm still very tender in an uncomfortable place. Diane and I  hung out for a bit and cheered on friends, drank a beer and had a hot dog. And Advil, I took a lot of Advil.  Getting away from the crash, I'm guessing that I gave myself an Atomic Charlie Horse in the gluteus maximus. I'm still struggling to sit, get comfortable, and get going...

Nationals was an amazing experience, and while it was my third time riding Bear Creek and my first time racing Bear Creek, it will not be my last. That was awesome.

Photo Norm Z..

So I'm  battered, and bruised and sitting on a pillow as I type this, but man what an experience... That was rad. I would be bummed if I hadn't seized that opportunity. Not happy with the DNF, but it was the right move. I'll lick my wounds, and get back to it soon.

Thanks to the Monkey:

We had a really fun weekend, atomic charlie horse to the gluteus maximus aside. The Cat room (that's a story for another day), that we stayed in was very nice, even though Monk and I are clearly not a  bed and breakfast couple. We had an amazing dinner at the Bethlehem Social Club, and had a nice visit to the Velodrome. Saturday it was amazing to see so many racing friends, that was amazing...

I didn't however, catch up with Scotty too Hotty. Dude owes me some hugs.

Thanks for everyone's support, and kind words.

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Stoudt's Summerfest

Dear Readers,

Stoudts Sumerfest has quickly become one of my favorite events on the calendar. Why you ask? A 4 hour relay/solo race racing around the Stoudts Brewery in Adamstown, PA. The course is short: 8-10 minute laps and the entire event has  an outstanding atmosphere and vibe. Dave Borden and his team pretty much personally greet everyone, and their attention to details like T-shirts, pint glasses and quick attention to the course anytime, anything might go south during the day totally exceeds expectations. There are three classes (solo, duo and four person) all very competitive, but at the same time the course and event is challenging and fun enough that it keeps your attention even if you aren't racing for the box. I get this style of racing is a little different than your typical  xc event, different is good my friends.  If you have missed Stoudts Summerfest these past two seasons, I'd strongly encourage you to mark your calendar and make it out next year... Thanks to the JB Bikes/Stoudts team for hosting a wonderful, challenging and fun event.

before and after shots. All smiles. A lot stinkier on the right!

Did I mention that the race is at the Stoudts Brewery? After the race they have amazing beer and outstanding bratwurst. The racers gather in the beer garden for awards, and more importantly a nice drink and food, and shares stories of the battles fought during the day. It is awesome. While I had an awful case of race gut and didn't get a chance to sample my favorite beer in the world (Stoudts Triple) I did have an awesome Stoudts bratwurst with sauerkraut, or at least half a serving before my stomach warned me that it allowed me to enjoy some, but not to get carried away. Diane said on the way home that the beer garden was one of her favorite things, and that she missed the social side of this game, and sharing the stories from the race. She was on cloud nine. I couldn't have been happier for her...

Gorka won the day. (photo from D.Lowe)

GORKA RACED IN A SPEEDO. That was kinda awesome. I caught up to him on one lap, and jokingly said to him "out of the way speedo!"  He looked over at me and started to laugh, commenting about this might not being the best idea. I hope he has a comfy chair at the office or home.

Our teammates, Consorto and Jenn Sears, were racing on another duo team, and seemed to have the worst luck with sidewalls on their tires today. First Consorto shredded one, and then Jenn came in with one destroyed. I was too out of it to help out, but Andy Di Michele, another of the great ambassadors/hosts for the Stoudts/JB Bike team came over and saved the day changing the flat, and booting the tire. It was awesome.  Thanks Andy... Let me add, Barry  came over and asked them where they cut their tires, and headed over to the spot with a crew to make sure the course was holding up, and fix the point of bother. Like I said, these guys are really good. Thanks Barry!

Dennis Bike making sure our compound is coming together well..

We had a pretty outstanding compound going, we had Dennisbike.com (BikeLine), Chappy(BikeLine), Schindler (BikeLine), Erik Mitchell (Spintek), Travis Harnish (BikeLine), Consorto (C3), Jenn Sears (C3), Heather H (WoodenWheels), Scotty too Hotty (BikeLine),Nick (TBR),  Blake (C3) , Diane and I, bordered by the TBR kids, who I am a big fan of.. It was a good group of folks to be around on a tough day... Wish I had gotten a group shot but I blew it...

photo by Robert May

Our race went about as good as it could get. Thanks to Monkey's over preparation, we kinda had everything we needed and some. She's good at this planning stuff.  We had made a plan early on, and followed it. I did the worst 50 yard dash ever, and screwed up the Lemans Style start, then charged past maybe 10 riders as hard as I could off the start.

photo Bill White

By the top of the switchback: "Goat Hill" I had clawed my way up to third. Nick Sears (Trestle Bridge Racing) was gone,

Dude Looks good in that kit...

and  Justin Sotdorus had enough of a gap that I wasn't bringing him back. Andrew Dunlap (Rare Disease Cycling), who would win the solo class would come around me as we passed the team tents. That was pretty good company and I accomplished my goal of giving Monk clear track from traffic for her first lap. We settled into our plan. (yes, we had a spread sheet).  As we got to the half way point it was clear Monkey was hurting a bit, so we had to adjust our strategy. We went from a 3/2 lap rotation to a 4/2 lap rotation. Monk wasn't recovering as quickly as we had hoped.

 I had 100% more cramps doing 4 laps per rotation than 3.  We were starting to slide into survival mode. As we got to the final hour, I allowed myself to look at the standings for the first time. We were in the top 10 and battling with Johan/Gary from Evolution and Werner (Easy Riders) for 8-10th place. Werner's teammate had broken his bike early in the race, and Werner kept plowing forward as a solo. With 15 minutes to go I  tagged Diane as she headed out for her last lap. I started to ask her "do you want 8th or 10th?" but refrained. Diane is not in shape. She's been riding for just 3 months now after a year off. She dug so deep today, I was so proud of her and how hard she worked. Her knee held up well today, and I know she was stoked, so where-ever we ended up, it was going to be a win. How do you ask someone who has clearly laid it all out there for more?

Photo Robert May

Diane finished her lap and sent me out to wrap it up with three minutes until the cut off. For those readers who like the final result, we finished 8th- totally exceeding either of our expectations. We may have been the happiest 8th place 4 hour duo relay finishers EVER today- totally far exceeding either of our pre-race expectations.

Our final transition... photo by Bill White!

One final note on how awesome this race is... During my last lap I came through the heckle/beer/party zone, and the crowd, which stayed energized all day long kept on screaming. I felt someone pat me on the back and calmly say , "you rode well all day today Marc, good job!" I'm not gonna lie, that was one of the many exclamation marks on this day...

thanks for reading.

respect
Vanderbacon

Sometimes you aren't meant to ride...

Dear Reader,

The plan was pretty simple, do some quick maintenance on my mountainbike, and then head out on the road to knock out a set of intervals.

What could go wrong?

boys are going to help out on this one...

Started out changing my rear tire. The new tire was a little tight, and after getting a blister on my thumb pushing the bead on, I figured things were going well. I used the Stan's injector and run down to the local gas and sip to use their air compressor and get going. I was a bit cocky and things didn't go well, as I blew Stan's Goo  all over the place and me. I throw the tire/wheel back in the car and speed home angrily. I finally get the tire back on the rim, spray soapy water around the tire, and finally get it to seat properly using up my last Co2 cartridges, and a mighty fast floor pumping action.

Okay, that did not go as smoothly as planned, but you know I can still make this work.

On to the drive train. I pull the cassette and quickly realize that the free hub body was broken. Nothing is going easily. So I grab my wife, and the wheel hop into the car and run down to the LBS. Thankfully Roger and Dwayne knock this out for me quickly, and I'm back in business.

It's starting to get, late, but my tire is changed, free hub body, and cassette are now ready to go, just a quick chain change and I can get out for my intervals. I mean this hour job is now going on 2.5 plus two car trips, but I can make it work. I'm frustrated and tired of bikes right now.

I get the old chain off, and measure the new. I start to trim some links off the new chain and my chain-tool breaks in half. "Are you freaking kidding me?" I exclaim. Can I get a break today?

Diane, watching the tour and me in the background, laughs-

I finish up the chain installation and exasperated said, "I hate bikes" hanging my bike back up in the garage and made myself a cup of coffee and sit on the couch next to Diane.

Diane says "I'm guessing you're gonna ride later?"

I did ride later with these guys. Photo OneLegMatt.

I hum-pf  a little bit and pout, pretty much hating bikes for the moment.

Later in the day, we come to find out that exactly the time I was struggling with my quick bike maintenance debacle, our friends Kita and Josh were driving out the exact roads that I was planning on to do my intervals. While they were heading out on this little twisty usually lightly trafficked road, it seems that some local meth heads took off an maddening run and on their way out the side swiped a couple of cars (including Kita's, and eventually took out another, and launched themselves into a ditch. Kita had sent over this picture of the conclusion of the meth head's mad run.

Thankfully, Kita and Josh were not injured, but there car was sideswiped.

In shock, Diane looked at me and smiled knowingly, "you were not meant to ride this morning."

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon