There was really good turn out today to build the Zipline trail. Over 30 people worked different parts of the day with Medicine Wheel. Zipline will connect the Section 16 parking lot to the Bear Creek Main Trail. The map above shows the section of Zipline that is now built.
Here are a few more photos.
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I’m fortunate to live where there are plenty of trails for mountain biking, hiking, running and even cross-country skiing on the occasions we actually get enough snow. Now Medicine Wheel is building another trail.
The new trail is currently being called Zipline. It will be an important connector between Section 16/Red Rock Canyon/ and the Bear Creek Main Trail.
I frequently connect between those trails. Now it means riding about a mile on a narrow, paved section of Gold Camp Road. It will be much nicer to ride singletrack to make the connection.
This Sunday, May 31st, is a trail building day for Zipline. No previous trail building experience is needed and all tools are provided. I’ve worn blisters building trail so you may want to take a pair of gloves.
There are 3 different shifts starting at 10 AM, Noon or 4 PM. Please send an email to Jim at jim@medwheel.org so he knows you’re coming. See the Medicine Wheel page for more details.
Related Link: If You Build It, They Will Come
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Bicycle Dreams is a new documentary about the 2005 Race Across America (RAAM). Bicycle Dreams won the Best Documentary Feature at the Fallbrook Film Festival.
RAAM has been called the world’s toughest sporting event. The top racers ride their bike 3,000 miles from coast to coast in only 9 days. More people have stood on the summit of Mt. Everest than have finished RAAM. It’s more than just an event. It’s an extreme journey.
I first became fascinated with RAAM over 20 years ago. I found a book about it at the library when I was in high school. I continued to follow the race but for many years I didn’t think I’d actually compete in it. In 2006 I did race in RAAM although I dropped out at the Mississippi River, 2,000 miles and 8 days into the race.
Because the racers are riding more than 20 hours a day and end up spread across several states, it is a difficult event to cover. Filmmaker Stephen Auerbach and his crew traveled inside the riders’ crew vehicles to get an inside look at the race. They used 18 cameras to capture the scenery and the highs and lows of the racers.
Auerbach doesn’t cover the race much from how the racers are doing in the race standings but focuses on their own personal battles. Battles with things like sleep deprivation, hallucinations and physical ailments that come from pushing the body to the extreme.
One of the things that the film tries to answer is why someone would attempt to do an event like RAAM. In trying to find the answer, it looks at the history of some of the racers and how it motivates them.
The 2005 RAAM was the year that tragedy stuck and Bob Breedlove was hit head on and killed instantly. Bob was a 5 time RAAM finisher. Bicycle Dreams follows Patrick Autissier as he tries to deal with Bob’s death on top of his race battle.
I have seen several RAAM videos over the years and Bicycle Dreams shows the emotions of the race the best. RAAM fans will love the film. Even non-cyclists will enjoy watching it and seeing how riders deal with pushing their limits.
Bicycle Dreams is now available on DVD from Amazon or from the Bicycle Dreams website. I suggest you order your copy today.
For more about RAAM, check out my Race Across America FAQ. The 2009 race starts on June 17th.
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It was with some trepidation that I prepared for The Fat Cyclist’s 100 Miles of Nowhere. The nowhere in the name literally meant a ride going nowhere on a bike trainer. About 8 years ago I rode my trainer for 5 hours and said I’d never do it again. A realistic century with my current lack of fitness would mean 6+ hours on the trainer.
Given that I had said I wouldn’t ride that long on a trainer, you’d think I wouldn’t have had any interest in riding the 100 Miles of Nowhere. The thing that got me though was it was for a good cause.
It was a fundraiser with most of the entry fee donated to Livestrong. Fatty’s wife, Susan, has been battling cancer for a long time. Unfortunately most of us have also been touched by cancer. My brother-in-law lost his battle with cancer last year.
Since I was going to be on the trainer so long, I decided I’d do it on the CompuTrainer. It allows you to load courses and then it varies the resistance to simulate ups and downs. You can also use a pacer to keep from slacking off.
It was afternoon before I got started on the 100 Miles of Nowhere. It had been a while since I used the CompuTrainer and I failed to revive the old computer with the software.
During the first couple hours of my ride, there was quite a bit of rain. That kept it cool and also kept me from wanting to be outside. It also made it very humid for Colorado.
The time and miles ticked by faster than I thought they would. I did get a few strange looks from neighbors but no one came over. A cyclist rode by a couple hours apart and looked at me and gave a smile the 2nd time he went by.
I’d be lying if I said it was all easy. You don’t generally shift around on the bike as much while on a trainer. I was certainly feeling it in the seat and my legs seemed to get tighter. My left shoulder is also sore today.
It ended up taking me 6 hours and 12 minutes plus some break time to ride 100 miles on the CompuTrainer. That’s over an hour longer than I said I’d never do again. It was worth it though to raise money for the fight against cancer.
The entry fees raised over $20,000 and many of us are working to raise even more money. Please donate on my page for a virtual ride of the Seattle Livestrong Challenge. Even donating $5 will make a difference.
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A month ago I signed up for The Fat Cyclist’s 100 Miles of Nowhere. Just like it says in the name, it’s riding a bike 100 miles to no where. Amazingly 420 other people also signed up to do it.
Today is the official day for the 100 Miles of Nowhere. I’ll be spending a good part of the day sitting on my bike trainer in the garage. Others around the country and world are doing the same thing in their garages, basements and other places.
Riding on a trainer for around 6 hours will be tough mentally and physically but it is nothing compared to what cancer patients endure. I’ll be using twitter to update how I’m doing.
Since part of the entry was a donation to the Livestrong Foundation, over $20,000 was raised to fight cancer. In addition many of us have signed up for a Livestrong Challenge to raise even more money.
I just signed up to do the Seattle Livestrong Challenge virtually. Go to my Livestrong donation page to donate to the cause.
Other twitter users doing the 100 Miles of Nowhere
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Last evening was the annual Ride of Silence. It’s a ride honor and remember those that have been injured or killed while cycling on the roadways. I’ve taken part in the Ride of Silence 2 out of the last 3 years.
Last weekend I checked to find the date of the ride this year. I found out that it was this week. I also found that one wasn’t being organized in Colorado Springs this year. David Peal offered to help organize a ride. We got busy getting the word out and making plans.
We had about a dozen riders show up at Old Town Bike Shop for the ride which was many fewer than for last year’s Ride of Silence. I was happy with that since we didn’t plan in advance.
After reading the Ride of Silence poem, we had a moment of silence for this killed or injured. We then did a loop around downtown before heading over to where EJ and Jayson were killed. We had another moment of silent at the ghost bikes before heading back to Old Town.
Although the risks of riding on the road don’t stop me from riding, they are something I think about. Especially when I was training for RAAM, I was riding thousands of miles on the road. The deaths of Bob Breedlove and EJ and Jayson have impacted me the most.
KKTV 11 News covered the ride. You can view the video and report online.
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The 2009 Ride of Silence is this Wednesday, May 20th at 7 PM. It’s a ride in honor of those killed or injured while riding a bike. I believe we need to raise awareness of cycling safety issues.
The ride is slow paced with a maximum speed of 12 mph so anyone can take part. You can also ride any kind of bike.
I’ve participated in the local Ride of Silence 2 out of the last 3 years. There are 260 rides in the US and more internationally. There isn’t one listed for Colorado Springs this year but I’m checking to see if anyone is organizing one.
Update: David Peal is helping me organizing a Ride of Silence for Colorado Springs this year. Meet at Old Town Bike Shop at 6:45 PM. The route will include going to the ghost bikes where EJ and Jayson were hit last year.
Related Links: 2008 Ride of Silence report | 2006 Ride of Silence report
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It was cool and overcast for the 1st race of the 2009 CTS Sand Creek Series. Just before the start of the Pro/Expert race, it started drizzling. I wasn’t able to stay so I don’t know how long it lasted for them. There were about 100 racers combined between the 3 races.
I took a lot of photos. Here are a few of them and I’ll try to get more posted in a few days.
Update 5/16/09: Sand Creek Series #1 photos have been uploaded.
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The 7 race CTS Sand Creek Series kicks off this Sunday at Bear Creek Park. The race course loop will be done in the clockwise direction for this race.
There will be 3 different race start times with the Experts/Pros going last. I’ve copied the start times and categories below. Check the official race flyer and the Sand Creek website for details.
I won’t be racing this time since I’m having trouble getting fit. If it wasn’t Mother’s Day I might go ahead and race. I plan to stop by for a little while but can’t stay the whole time.
In addition to racing, there will be mountain bikes to demo at Bear Creek. I have the complete Sand Creek Series schedule posted.
19-29 Category 3 (Beginner) Men
30-39 “ “
40+ “ “
Cruiser/Clydesdales (200lbs+)
Junior 15-18 “ ”
19-29 Category 3 (Beginner) Women
30-39 “ “
40+ “ “
Junior 15-18 “ “
Junior 15-18 Category 2 (Sport) Women
19-29 Category 2 (Sport) Men
30-39 “ “
40-49 “ “
Junior 15-18 “ “
50+ “ “
19-29 Category 2 (Sport) Women
30-39 “ “
40+ “ “
Junior 15-18 Category 1 (Expert) Women
Pro & Category 1 (Expert) Men
19-29 “ “
30-39 “ “
Single-Speed
Junior 15-18 “ “
40-49 “ “
50+ “ “
19-29 Pro & Category 1 (Expert) Women
30-39 “ “
40+ “ “
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Today and tomorrow you can test out new mountain bikes in Colorado Springs. Intense, Kona, Rocky Mountain and Scott will be here with their demo bikes. With the demo bikes, you can generally do much more riding than even during a test ride at your local bike shop.
A couple weeks ago at the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, I demoed the Intense Spider 2. I rode a couple hours at the Grand Junction Lunch Loops. It was the last day and they were going to be packing up or I think they would have let me ride even longer. Intense has a demo schedule on their site so you can see if they’ll be in your area.
Today the demo is at Palmer Park so there will be plenty of opportunity to ride on technical trails. Tomorrow will be at Bear Creek Park for the kick off to the CTS Sand Creek Series. Both days the demos are from 9 AM to 6 PM.
In addition to the mountain bike demos, there will be 2 mountain bike movies shown at Stargazers Theater on Parkside Drive. Both New World Disorder 9 and the new Red Bull Rampage “The Evolution” will be shown.
The demos and movie are brought to you by Ascent Cycling. You can read the announcement on their blog
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