Kids like to party.

I could post about Ephrata. 27mph all weekend. Midpack finishes all weekend. Really boring stuff.

Instead, here are photos from a party we had the other week for the kids. I guess it was a "spring party." Pizza and cake were had. Billet, who pretends to be a tough guy, is a real softy and gave a bunch of his girls' old clothes for the kids.

We screen printed T shirts for the kids. They say "Lil Kiziguwaz" on them. Lil Kiziguwaz is the hip hop group a couple of the teenage boys are in. Amy prints their shirts for them, and we had enough for each kid to print their own. Kizigua is a divergent language spoken by their tribe, The Somali Bantu.

2 minutes in and we had the first spill.


Then dancing. Somali weddings are 8 hours of dancing. No food, nothing, just dancing.


Screen printing setup.


This got them really quiet.


Youngest to oldest. Brehemu kills it.


Sharfai showing off her work.


Chubby Molite.


If you are old enough to crawl, you can attend social activities.


My dude Ramazani killing it.


Amy shows off a onezie for a baby that was coming soon and is now here.


Some Ninja moves.


All the done shirts. Me doing what I do best.


Brehemu with an Easter egg? Make note of his sweet watch.


How can you not love this kid?

Here is to your 10,000 dollar bike.

We are constantly told what we NEED to buy. While I was at a rest stop this weekend, there was a commercial on the muzak or whatever, and I was forced to look at an ad for a store while I stood there doing my business. Sometimes advertising can be overwhelming, sometimes it is downright comical. It works though.

Even with bikes. Fast dudes are given fancy nice stuff and they do well on it. People who want to be fast dudes then feel as if they need the fancy nice stuff to also do well, and then they buy it. But the fact is, the fast dudes are probably going to do well on just about anything.

Sunday was Battenkill. The race was insane. 125 miles. 170 starters. 10,000' of climbing. Tons of dirt roads. Lots of fast dudes. Lots of DNF's.

A guy who is between teams right now, and raced with us on Haymarket Bikes placed 6th. I honestly feel that this is proof that you dont need a crazy fancy bike. He raced this, which would maybe fetch 800 bucks on ebay? (minus the powertap)

I was kind of embarrassed to take pictures, so it had to be discreet.




- cannondale cad whatever frame (no number.... hmm?)
- yes there is 10 speed, essential for the wheel changes at Battenkill
- SHIMANO 600 brakes/cranks. This stuff is from before I raced.
- make note of the duct tape above the brake bridge. Rowley guessed it to be for a fender or tail light.

I will guess that the weight difference between this and the lightest bike in the pack was about 7 pounds.

Awesome.

Tour of bottlle kill... battenkill... roubaix... Your 10,000 dollar bike

Saturday. 82 mile road race. pro/1 field.
Dudes went APESHIT on the first climb. I really didnt think that I was going to finish at mile 5. Saturday we had a 20 mile bonus loop before doing the 62 mile loop. The break got away and stayed away from there. We noodled for 60 miles then started racing with like 8 miles to go. I think the break put an hour into us. I was a one man show, so I wasnt about to chase at all, however there were a few 8+ man shows who didnt chase either. I think Joe Whitman chased harder than an entire team. Maybe I dont understand bike racing?

Anyway, there was no denotation that I can remember until 1k to go. I had to go by RPT (real perceived time) since I was going commando (no cycle computer) since my powercrap would not work in cyclecomputer mode. I had to rely on Colin and Adam from gpoa for updates on distance.

Guys were attacking. I sprinted figuring that I would get the dick spot (first spot not paying) which was 21st. I got 22nd. HA!


Ill post about sunday later with some pictures.
Topping the list is my "teammate" (in quotes cause I did nothing to contribute short of saying "hey bro.. you need anything?" like twice. ) Jamie Driscol was riding a bike with shimano 600 components and a frame that was maybe 8 years old. He got 6th. Pictures soon.

Oh yeah, anybody who has done the Iron Cross.... You know when you are going downhill at like 100 miles per hour and the road is dirt and you keep thinking about how you are going to die? ... OK now imagine that on road bikes.

Sweet, the bell lap...

only 62 more miles...and 5000 more feet of climbing.

I guess that I should post about this project finally.

Last year I wanted to get something together to keep track of local racing in the Western PA area. Unfortunately my busy schedule kept that from happening. HA.
Actually it was the technical know how that really stopped it. Then bjanzaek stepped in with that, and we are rolling.



So far we have a calendar, blog links, race results, race previews, etc. These are all around Pittsburgh or involve Pittsburgh bike racers.


Put it in your RSS. Have fun.
Awesome.

The Hell of the North Hills.

I have very few memorable Easter Sundays. In 2003 I was with my number one girl riding across Germany. OOSTER SOONTAG, which was also 4/20. Awesome.

Yesterday was memorable. I made the podium of the PGH Roubaix. There were 4 starters and we made the route up as we went. Aaron, Babik, Patty, Me. We hit a bunch of dirt roads north of the city including: Old Mill, Rawlins Run, Old Mill (other half), Shaefer Run, Cedar Run, Shephard, and the classic ghost road Dellenbaugh.

For those not in the know, ghost roads are roads that were once there, and then are no longer maintained but are still passable.

Only three of us were left as we crossed the bridge to do our 1.5 laps on the Washington Blvd oval. Its crazy to think that Friedman was racing on the oval not so long ago, and then he was actually in Roubaix yesterday. Sick.

Babik attacked the hell out of me on Washington Blvd and soloed 50 yards in front of me for the win. There was one single spectator on the bleachers. I think she was reading a newspaper. The three of us laughed about how we are 30 year olds (at least Babik is) playing make believe on a Sunday afternoon. Good times.

Next weekend: A real race. Hopefully I last long enough to have a blog post about it.

Clearly Mr. Rogers fault.

For those not in the know, Mr Rogers was from Pittsburgh. He lived off of Frew st by CMU and filmed at WQED. The set to the kingdom is still there, and if you use the bathroom or water fountain while messengering you get to see it. King Friday and all.
Amy saw him one day in Schenley park and almost cried. She just said "Hi Mr Rogers."

I am glad that fox news also confirmed that he is in heaven, I was losing sleep over that.

Went to Colorado for a wedding. The wedding was actually awesome. I also ended up riding a good bit. This is 2 weeks or so ago.
If you live there, then you know how amazing it is. This was some of the best riding I have ever done in my life. If I were a rich man, I would move.


Borrowed a dope bike from Stig.


DAY 1:
Denver - Golden - Up to the pass at Pinecliffe - Peak to Peak highway - Golden gate canyon state park, ended at Golden. 4.5 hours or so. 75 miles or so.









Pinecliffe.


Next range.

Day 2
No photos. Climbed up to 12,000. 3.5 hours.

Day 3
Golden - Idaho Springs - 113 whole length + 2 miles on Mt Evans. 4.25 hours.


Bike Path along 70 to get me to Idaho Springs







And the fun begins.






Mt Evans in the distance.


The road behind.


9 miles of climbing until snow.


Switchbacks ahead and above.


From above looking back.


Road went along the ridge and around to Echo Lake.


Echo lake park. Evans in the background.


Frozen Echo lake and some sick mountains behind it.


Mt Evans closed.


OR NOT!


At this point I had climbed 14 miles and the top of Mount Evans (highest paved road in North America) was still another 14 miles. I got about 2 miles up and hit LOTS of snow. Sick.


9 miles along a ridge until the next pass. Bergen Park is on the flat again.


View to the east toward golden/denver.


Found another pass along the way.


Looking West from pass.



Note to self: it is 20 degrees up here. You have a baldhead. Put more clothes on bro.