The Velcro Tire Training Ride AND Video
Yes, velcro tire (tyre).
![K-Dogg](https://cdn-0.gravelcyclist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/K-Dogg-142x300.jpg)
Definition: A wheel sucking road surface, typically consisting of sand and water, akin to wet concrete. The surface is so power robbing, it is like riding velcro tires (tyres) on your bicycle. Tyres from 1.8″ to 2.0″ (Specialized Renegade or Schwalbe Furious Fred) fare no better.
Suggestion: Stay home, or borrow K-Dogg’s lawn mower, which has 14″ wide tyres. From K-Dogg, “I could drop you bitches on any surface you can throw at me. Provided you don’t go faster than 9mph”.
Or, shut up and ride bitch.
Maryland to Maine
Road Trip Cramming
How much stuff do you take on a cycling road trip?
Before I began my recent gravel grinding road trip, which would encompass North Carolina, Washington D.C., Vermont, and every between, I figured I need to shoot for maximum petrol (or gas if you prefer) mileage efficiency. Not counting my hotel fee split with K-Dogg and Dr Pain in Marion, NC for Savage CX, I would be traveling solo.
I purchased a Toyota Prius recently, which thus far has proven stellar for being lean on the gasoline consumption. Jokes about Prius owners are welcome, so submit your cheeky comments! Apologies to anyone on Facebook who is sick of hearing me talk about the Prius, or posting photos of my dashboard mileage gauges 🙂
Live Oak, Florida Limerock Ride, happening September 7!
Crossing borders, not your average Friday ride
The day before a race, one should ride easy. In my case, a Friday morning ride from Derby, Vermont and north into Canada by bicycle. 44 kilometres of planned goodness, with lots of gravel.
Crossing the border on a back road
Crossing the Canadian border at a lesser traversed immigration station can be a cool experience, especially on a bicycle. The Canadian immigration officer took care of my passport check, and told me about the sweet cycling in the area. In between the few incoming vehicles into Canada, we spent about half an hour chatting about cycling, culture and life in general. A really nice welcome. My return trip into the USA wasn’t as in depth, but the folks there were interested in hearing about my Canadian ride, and the Dirty 40 race.
Urban Cruise in Montreal, Canada
The Great White North
This was my first trip to Canada. What better way to do it, than drive across the US / Canadian border from Northern Vermont, into the province of Quebec. Having a .00001% grasp of the French language, what could go wrong? Thankfully, I had my little smart phone, with the Google Translator application installed, and the French language saved offline. No data plan for outside of the USA means I had to think ahead a little bit.
Riding Around
I found a fantastic 65 kilometre urban route around Montreal, courtesy of a nice gentleman who shared his ride details on the ridewithgps.com website. The route profile was very flat, perfect recovery considering I pre-rode the entire Dirty 40 course in Vermont yesterday. I researched where to park the car, and chose a grocery store parking lot. Thank you Google Street View!
Dirty 40 Ride Preview 2014 – The Full Monty
Trendsetters, greetings from Derby, Vermont. I’m visiting this beautiful area of the country, because this weekend, I’m racing the next round of the North American Ultracross Series; The Dirty 40 (or the Dirty 70 as I prefer to call it).
Today, I rode the entire course. How can I do that considering the organizers are keeping the course secret? Answer: I begged the organizers to provide me with the course file. Considering I’ve made the trip from Florida for this race (and a vacation), they were extremely nice and took pity upon me. Earlier today, the organizers released the course, so the secret is out.