Iphone 3GS - Test Videos
Jeff and I took a spin through Whiting today and I thought it would be a good time to test out the 3GS video capability. Here are some short clips I made and uploaded directly from the phone. Pretty cool for a cell!
For anyone that wants to follow me on YouTube its http://www.youtube.com/lostmanifesto.
2010 sexiness
Ran across this image today on BikeRadar.com of the new 2010 Specialized Tarmac SL3 that will make it’s first public appearance next week on the Tour de France. The new Tarmac is going to weigh in at an astounding 13.1lbs without pedals. Damn, that’s light! Looks like the 2010 Roubaix is going to be essentially exactly the same for the new year. I am in no way a roadie enough to drop this kind of coin on a road bike but damn is it sexy.
The Flying Scotsman
I just finished watching a truly epic tale of Graeme Obree aka The Flying Scotsman. This movie is the true story of Graeme and his bike built from washing machine parts breaking multiple world records. He is one of the pioneers of our sport and is still riding to this day. Rumor has it he is going for the indoor record again this year.
Bicycle Film Festival
The Bicycle Film Festival is coming soon. I ran into this neat little clip promoting the event. Check it.
Shutter Island
Damn, this looks good. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio.
12hrs of Rim Nordic - Video
One of the guys on the Don’s Bikes Race Team wore a helmet cam for the first lap of his race. I thought I would share it here to give you all a glympse of the course! Enjoy!
12 hours of Rim Nordic - My First Podium!
I was a little nervous going into this race as it was my first 12 hour solo. That definitely didn’t help the mental side of race preparation. I started my normal routine of hydrating and fueling for the race mid-week. Friday morning, Chris and I headed up the mountain and met up with Stephanie and Dan to setup our pit. Stephanie had VIP pit access which meant our pit was going to be in a sweet location right up front by the finish line, yes! Just like at the 12 Hours of Temecula we pit next to Traci, Neil, Weyland and the rest of the STR gang. Chris (Boats) headed up mechanic duties as per usual (thanks again for the help my friend). After we got all setup we made the trek into Big Bear city and crashed for the night at Jen’s pad.We didn’t get any pics but we had some sweet Dance Dance Revolution going! Turns out I DO have rhythm 
6:30am and off to the event we go! Here I am doing some pre-race tuning while Steph gives me some course notes.
Front row pit spot!
Setting up the fuel for the day
Jason does an amazing job putting on these events. He is also a racer which means “he gets it” instead of just being a race promoter who doesn’t ride. 8am, Jason waits for everyone to gather for the pre-race meeting.
About an hour before race time I finally started getting mentally ready for the day.
Steph and I ready to shred some singletrack. The womens Pro and Exp classes were combined which meant you was going up against some really strong Pro ladies. Although she wasn’t super stoked on that she did an amazing job and took home 3rd place!
Getting ready to go
Jason and his daughter getting ready to lead up on our double parade lap
and were off!
Nekit coming in from his first lap and going strong! The Troupe guys asked him to ride for them and he was stoked to be sporting the team green colors.
Steph and Dan have a great system for making sure she is well fed and hydrated throughout the day. This is something I need to work on. After seeing how they worked things I definitely picked up some tips. She started and finished strong turning in right around 1 hour laps most of the day.
Neil came around looking good but something was wrong after Lap 1. He jammed his wrist pretty bad and may have broken it. He is definitely no quitter though, he through on some bandage and headed out for a second lap.
I am pretty sure this is me coming in after Lap 1. The cluster of people on the first lap really slowed me down. The course was amazing, 80% singletrack with some fire road mixed in. Each lap was a little over 9 miles with 1300 feet of elevation gain. This would make for a long 12 hour solo day.
Steph coming around to the finish zone after her second lap passing people left and right!
Tim from Troupe took home 10th place in the Open/Expert Men. Good work man!
Nekit coming around for another one of his 7 laps or was it 8?
Bandaged up, Neil still pressed on for a second lap. He was going to be done for the day, until….
Lap 2 was definitely my best lap. The course opened up some more and my legs started to warm up. The Niner was treating me good but my back was hurting early on.
Lap 3 was in the books and starting to wear on me a bit, can you tell? I was pretty tired and my back was hurting.
As I sit there suffering, Steph heads out for Lap 4 looking like she was fresh.
You mean I have to do more? Okay, off to complete Lap 4.
“Hey Steph how you feeling? Just great Chris thanks pal!” Justin and Alison Mann made an appearnce and did a lap with Steph. I think she just wanted to remind Chris what podium place she wanted!
4 laps in the books, Im tired, hungry and ready to sit down for a while. Could someone hold my bike for me?
Fast fwd to the completion of Lap 5. I thought I was done, I was pretty tired and my breathing was sucking. After checking out the leader board and realizing I was sitting pretty in 3rd place I started to think about another lap. Chris, Neil, Traci, Dan and everyone convinced me to get back on my bike and get out there. I am very thankful for my friends and I am happy they helped push me on! Wounded and bandaged up, Neil got back on his bike and rode my last lap with me. I cannot thank you enough Neil for getting back out there with me!
I believe this is around Lap 6 time for Steph. Finally, this machine of a women shows some signs of wear and tear. Knowing that the 1st and 2nd place girls ahead of her were going strong she had no intentions of quitting!
Westsiiiiiiiiide! Even after 7 laps she still held a smile and a sense of humor.
Suddenly, a hush fell over the crowd as everyone thought Justin and Allison were going to be competing. There goes everyone else’s chance for a 1st place medal!
“Chris, if you don’t get this camera out of my face you are going to do Lap 8 for me!”
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8! Keep going girl!
“Seriously Chris, what did I say? You are SOO doing Lap 9!”
Locked and loaded with lights and off to complete lap 9. Now, if she can only figure out how to work those lights (you had to be there)
Let the sun come through and shine down upon me! haha! Lap 6 in the books and I am done! Considering my last few laps times there was no way I was going to make the 9pm cut off for one more. I cannot thank Neil enough for showing me how strong he is on his SS, I mean riding my last lap with me!
I’ve done more elevation gain, but never been in the saddle for that long, done that much climbing all over 7000ft or burned that many calories in one day.
As here is your womens Pro/Exp 3rd place winner!
Dan and Steph followed us back to Jen’s pad for a hot shower and a real bed. The weather started turning south around 8pm. It got cold, like 35 degrees cold. That tent they were aiming for was looking pretty rough.
Stephs Garmin = A Machine!
All of the SOLO riders got a special placard to hang from our seat posts. This was really awesome to have during the race. As people passed me they all said “Good job Solo keep on going man” it was really great. They also knew that because we were riding SOLO to cut us a little slack in corners.
I now have my first bike medal! Overall, it was a lot of work but well worth it. I pushed myself harder than I ever have. I learned a lot and got to ride with some great friends. It sounds weird to say considering how much my butt and feet hurt right now but I can’t wait for the next one!
Skinsuit Video
Chris, Gene, Craig and Gregg decided to take the journey up Blackstar and descend Skinsuit. SS is a singletrack downhill trail that descends down the back side of the Main Divide into Corona. In order to get to it you need to climb BS and keep going past the golf ball a couple miles until you read the trail head on the left. I’ll see if I can get some more input from the guys as to the exact location. Checkout the video below that was mounted to Gene’s helmet for the descent. Pretty steep in sections and very loose. I would say this is definitely an upper intermediate to advanced level trail. You don’t need a big travel bike but you do need sharp skills.
Another one bites the dust
Our original plans of going up Holy Jim and coming down Trabuco changed this morning. Instead, Chris and I decided we should venture up West Horse Thief for some awful reason. Neither of us had been up it so why not. Next year we will have to do it during the Vision Quest so why not check it out now. I had also never been down Trabuco. I know I know it’s just one of those trails I never seen to hit.
The great thing about most of this entire route is it’s singletrack. Gotta love it!
Making my way up the bottom portion of Trabuco before heading up WHT.
Aside from the enormous amount of poison oak everywhere these trails are a blast!
Don’t go in there!
Chris said, “You know what, sometimes you just gotta stop and smell the flowers along the way” (no comment)
These trails are fun, until you reach this point. This is where WHT and Trabuco meet. Onward and upward we go!
You can ride some portions of WHT but most of the 1.5 miles is spent doing this. It’s pretty steep, rocky and tight.
Finally, I can say I have been up WHT.
Some great views from the climb up
After reaching the top of WHT we made our way over to the top of Trabuco and took a break. Up until this point I was wishing I had my Niner with me. From this point on I was really happy I had my Ellsworth!
Trabuco has to be one of the best downhills in OC if you love singletrack. Really fun, some decent exposure, tight turns, loose rock, good times!
Thanks to Chris for getting some pics of me today for a change! Ya!
A little bit of the exposure from today… watch those corners!
On our way down Chris took a little tumble. Apparently, that big boulder snuck up on his front wheel! doh!
Good times were had and I cant wait for my next trip down Trabuco, hopefully up a different way. 29er coming through!
Technical difficulties
The sites experiencing some technical difficulties. Photos should hopefully be back by tomorrow.