"Adventure" ride

Well, last Saturday my Honey was out-o-town playing in the snow at Keystone, so the time was right for an Adventure ride. One of those rides you know may be stretching the limits of both sensibility and endurance, and I was able to con Mississippi G and 4father into doing it with me! Here they are pulling up to the meeting point at the start of our 'Cross bike assault on Rampart Range Rd. The idea was to ride from Chatfield south through Sedalia, climb to Rampart Rd and head south to an previously unexplored exit road heading east, which comes out on Perry Park Rd, then back to Sedalia and homeward.

Things went well until we got all the way to Rampart Rd. With every ride into new territory comes the risk of encountering the "unknown factor", and this ride was no exception. Rampart Range Rd. is gated this time of year, due to those couple of poor S.O.B.s who attempted to hike up to the Firewatch Tower in midwinter a couple of years ago. They ended up freezing to death, and made it so the F.S. closes the road now every winter. It's only accessable to ATVs, motorcycles and the hearty Hellclimber on a 'Cross bike.

What my smaller than normal brain didn't take into account was that the closure of the road meant no maintenance too- DUH!! The road had deep snow on it with deep ruts cut my hundreds of ATVs and then frozen and re-frozen each evening. We got about three miles down the road and had to turn back, as keeping 5 m.p.h. was a pretty agressive pace. Coming back was a great bike handling experience. Imagine taking your road bike on the Olympic Luge run......Got alot of weird looks from ATVers. We're gonna try it again in a couple of months.

Sports on TV

Recently there was a good discussion between 4father, Mississippi G an myself about the minimal coverage cycling gets in popular media, especially TV. Major cycling events like the Le Tour have started to get coverage primarily because of the superstardom of Lance, but if you want to see an event like the Tour of California you'd better take a few days of vacation from work, because you'll need to stay up late in the night to watch it. However, if you want to see fishing, pig wrestling or NASCAR you can get a constant supply of it on OLN or ESPN in prime time. It's a sad reality that cycling is a fringe sport in the US. The people interested in watching races are mostly those who participate in races. It seems it will only get worse as time goes on and Lance's star begins to fade, which is an inevitability now that he's retired. We really don't have a cyclist to take his place in the spotlight as a major sports figure. Most of the Hellclimb Gang aren't Baseball, NFL or NBA fans that I know of, so what interest does sports on TV hold if you don't get cycling, running or skiing event coverage except on rare occasion? When you think about it though, sitting in front of the TV watching something is counter intuitive to our lifestyle. I'd much rather be outdoors doing SOMETHING than sitting inside watching TV, except on those evenings when I'm curled up with my little Honey watching a movie after a hard day of working and riding.

Anybody see or hear what Bryant Gumbel had to say about the Winter Olympics? Anybody wonder why racism still exists in the US? I think he's an idiot, so I can brush his comments aside, though I respect his right to say anything he wants and don't believe he should be censored in any way. I just want what he's said to be recognized for what it is. I don't watch his show because I have limited interest in the sports he would consider to be "real Sports".What really bothers me about this is that what he said is so racially inflamatory, but he'll only be minimally if at all accountable for it because he's black. Seems it's justified to be a racist or make a racist statement if you're of any other race than white. It's a disturbing double standard, and I hate double standards. Here's the worst part of this racist's comments made on "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel":

"Finally tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who don't like 'em and won't watch 'em. In fact, I figure when Thomas Paine said these are the times that try men's souls, he must've been talking about the start of another Winter Olympics
"Because they're so trying, maybe over the next three weeks we should all try, too. Like try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these Games to those of the ancient Greeks, who never heard of skating or skiing.
"So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that make the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."


Tell Shani Davis that. Reminds me of what a joke it is to call the winner of the Superbowl the "World Champions" without the rest of the world being involved in any way. To me this attitude is an example of what separates sports that most US citizens consider to be "real sports" NFL, NBA, and Baseball from fringe sports like skiing, ice skating, running, cycling , soccer etc. Wonder what Gumbel thinks of cycling.

Latest Oney convert

It is with great excitement I announce the conversion of Danaco from a geary to a oney (called "Onezie" in Mississippi) rider! Check out the sweet little baby the Stork is bringing home to the proud new papa soon. A schweet, schweet steel Bystickel custom made ride with eccentric BB and Headshock. Kinda makes me want to swap the BUSS out for a new model....What am I sayin' I'd never abandon the BUSS after all it's done for me, 'til it breaks anyway. Good news though, we'll have to gather the Hellclimb Gang oney crew together, take Danaco out and break him in right.

Caution: Genius at work

Well here's one to file under "things you see while out on a ride". I've been taking my camera out on rides alot more lately, 'cause it seems I never have one when I see something noteworthy. I happened by a number of frozen ponds last evening while riding the Kelly on the Highline Canal and Lee Gulch trails. On one of them this young fella was standing on the ice, and beating it with a log. Not sure what he was trying to accomplish, other than breaking the ice around himself. It was one of those times where I felt I needed to hang around in case something disastrous happened. I did stay for a few minutes until I was satisfied he wasn't making alot of headway towards cracking the ice that was supporting him. It would've been a shame if I'd had to ruin my nice ride by diving into that icy water to try to rescue this knucklehead.

First Hellclimb of 2006

Due to popular demand and by order of Hellclimb Gang Supreme Commanders Jeffy and Mikey the Oney King, the first Hellclimb of 2006 will occur 21 MAR 06, departing at 1700 hours local (5:00pm). Marshalling/Staging area is Mikey the Oney King's corner, 9th and Illinois, Golden CO, USA. This is of course weather dependent, but plenty of pre-operational weather intelligence will be flowed down to all Hellclimb personnel. The objective of this first mission will be to go up as far as possible, yet return at or before darkness as is always the case with these early Hellclimbs. More or less a test of fitness and re-familiarization with the route. Can't wait to get it started.

Poor ol' Lance

Looks like Lance is truly becoming a Star. Worldwide fame, tons-o-money, unlimited supply of bikes and gear, and now the true mark of a star, the inability to keep a relationship going. Guess he and Sheryl are breaking up. I feel bad for him in a way. I mean the guy's got everything now, and he's overcome incredible odds and worked his ass off for it, but in the end it doesn't mean much if you don't have a schweet little honey to share it with. That's just my opinion anyway. Maybe she was cutting in too much on his riding time or something, who knows? I wonder if she was too high profile for him....I'll bet he was wanting to try for number 8 and she was saying no. Then again maybe she wanted him to take up playing the guitar, or be a backup vocalist for her next tour but he'd have nothing to do with it. Well whatever the case, it's too bad. Maybe this opens the door for him to get back together with his Ex, that'd be cool.

Garage sales: A bike geek's best friend

All of you who know me are aware that I'm subjected to garage sales every Saturday morning with my beautiful wife Trish during the spring summer and fall months. I've always hated going, but being that it's an inevitability, I've tried hard to make it pay off for me somehow. Last summer I was scorin' like James Bond at the sales, finding alot of dirt cheap parts and other cycling goods, but the coop-d-grass was the 2 bikes for a dollar deal. As we pulled up to a house in Highlands Ranch I quickly scanned the junk displayed in the driveway without exiting the vehicle. This is my normal procedure, as it keeps me from getting out for no good reason. I immediately spotted a Graber hitchmount rack and a couple of old bikes. I ended up snagging all three items for $6.00. That's a schweet score when you figure the bikes were Novara Randonee 'cross/touring models, early 90's vintage, with full Deore 7-speed gruppos, bar end shifters and 105 levers. The frames fit me perfectly.

I took one and made it into a 29'er oney (called "onezie" in Mississippi), the other I gave to Hellclimber 4Father so he can join in the painful 'cross fun for a minimal investment. You'll note the metamorphosis of the 29'er oney in the pictures above. It went from the blue "as found" state to the schweet new paintjob. You guessed it ,that's official Dodge "Go Mango" laquer with GM "Fathom Green Metallic" laquer on the lugs, with lots-o-clear laquer squirted all over the whole thing. All the bosses for the shift cables were ground off, making it a oney only bike. The Thomson seatpost was acquired at a garage sale too. Unused, it was $15 bucks!! Cruises the trails real nice, but it's gonna have to be a solo ride bike. I made this decision after riding it with Mississippi G, Deadly Fredly, and Danaco late last fall and taking a horrible faceplant up on the top of Deer Creek Park. The skinny 'cross tires and full rigid design make it so that I have to slow the descents a tad over rocky terrain. You know if I'm with any of the Hellclimb Gang I'll not be slowing down, for ANY reason. I guess my desire to go fast overcomes the limited amount of common sense I posess.

"So what the hell's the point here?" you ask. Only this: don't overlook the local garage sale, it can be a potent source of oddball parts to keep the creative fires in your cycling soul burning.

Congrats to Brady and Alex

Man, I want to say congratulations to Brady (48th U-23) and Alex (35th juniors). Those guys did a great job at the 'Cross Worlds. I mean, to me going there period is just the coolest thing in the world. I marvel at the boys. Thinking back to when I would pass Brady on a climb and he'd look over and say "Damn!" to where he and Alex are now is amazing. Having lined up against them in the Open at Snow Mountain Ranch and seeing how fast they took off and left me was scary. Then Alex blowing by lapping me....To think there are Euros faster than them is eye opening. So for an over the hill racer/cycling fan it's an honor for me to be associated with such fine young men as these two. Keeping up the good work will make them get faster yet, I think their future is bright.

Groundhog Day

So, sadly I report that Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, meaning six more weeks of winter. You skiier types will find this good news, though I'm sure there's enough snow to last until July the way the mountains got dumped on so far this winter. For us one dimensional sport guys who live to ride, it means lots more riding through slush/cold. Oh well I shouldn't complain, this winter has been easy on the Front Range.

You know what was surprising and quite a curious spectacle was the "live feed" of the Groundhog ceremony on Channel 9 news at 5:00am. They actually showed the whole thing. Guys were dressed in top hats and long coats. They pulled the groundhog out, he reminded me of myself as he was quite chubby, and he immediately started pissing on the poor bastard in charge of handling him. That really didn't phase anybody and they went on with the ceremony. One guy even gave him a smooch. There was a large crowd in attendance to see it.Interesting....

Let's try this again!

Well, here's the second try at the Hellclimbgang blog, hence the title Hellclimbgang II. Nothing has been posted to the original blog since April of '05, and I guess that's due to the fact that I had that horrible dial-up connection and it'd take an hour just to look at the thing, let alone make a post, and administering it form work just isn't an option. Now that I have this cable internet connection (which is a thing of beauty) the blog now takes shape once more. I'm sending out invites to all you fine Hellclimbers, so I hope you'll join again.

The Euroboys blog gave me the itch to try this again after reading of their 'cross adventures.We old farts have some cool adventures of our own that are worthy for putting out there, so lets give it another go.