Max and I volunteer at Badwater Ultra

The Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135-mile running race from Badwater, Death Valley, negative 282 feet below sea level, to Whitney Portal, over 8,000 feet above. We took a trip out to help Chris and the webcast team. We did some interviews that you can listen to here. On the right is Scott Jurek (vegan!), current course record holder and second year winner. Max and I had a blast being out there and just being a part of it all. The most surprising thing the whole weekend was the normalcy of the runners. Listen to the pre-race interviews; they could be anyone. It makes this stuff seem so inclusive. So different from that iron-man bullshit, etc. Chris does a great job putting on these events. It was our pleasure to be there. I also hung out with Catra Corbett, a semi-famous trail runner who was there crewing for a runner. Check out her blog.

Grand Tour double

Today Jack, Brian and I rode the Grand Tour double century. The triple was one year ago? Wow. I thought a lot about why I am interested in ultra-endurance cycling (and running? Or endurance events in general…). Others write about accomplishment and reaching goals, etc as motivation. This, along with language that talks about achievement or ‘hard work’ or ‘for the challenge’, has never appealed to me. It is very similar to the language used by high school guidance counselors to funnel students into college and/or an ‘important career’. And it is often used as a justification for fucking people over in business (‘Starbucks is so successful because they worked hard and achieved their goals of shutting down all other coffee shops. What a great achievement.’).
Then why do I ride these? It may, for good or for bad, be very simple. It is a great way to spend the day. It gets me up in the morning and out to see a lot of the world. Also, I especially enjoy the emotional ups and downs. The lows can be so low, that everything I’ve ever cared about comes into question. Once on a ride I almost convinced myself that I was not going to do another one ever again. When it is going well I think about how with a little more training I could probably win an iron-distance triathlon (ha!) or how much I love my friends and family. I’ve made phone calls immediately after finishing to tell someone I was thinking about them. Maybe for some people their range of emotions is increased by being in difficult environments (this probably relates to my interest in going to places like Chiapas, Palestine, etc).
But where does it end? A solo 508? Race Across America? I don’t know, really. The appeal of things (riding or otherwise) seems to come and go without reason. Right now I am stoked on these rides and even more excited to have friends to ride them with. I’ll take it day by day for now and be sure not to get ahead of myself.

The ride:
Brian and Jack forgot to eat and drink enough and the near 100 degree heat in the valley made this slightly problematic. I got them through the hot part of the day and then I struggled to hold on for the last 50 miles when they were both back to their normal fast selves. I’m not sure what our time was. Jack or Brian? If you know, post it. This may the oldest double in the world, but I imagine the route was much nicer 40 years ago when there were about one million less cars on the road. A lot of California may be bike friendly, but the other 95% would probably rather see us dead.

Bicycle Film Fest Art Show

After some Chinese food a grip of us rolled over to the Bicycle Film Fest art show in mid-city. There were lots of people there and I was surprised at how interesting and diverse the art was. Not enough LA bike riding artists for a such-themed show, but entertaining nonetheless. Two pretty amazing things happened. One is that somebody put a sticker up all graffiti style on an advertisement for that Obey clothing company. Pretty funny.

The other, more amazing thing, was the huge stencil print Alec made of LA bike riding legend Tomatoes. We got it up in the front and no one seemed to of noticed. It was a huge stencil of a picture that was taken of him awhile ago. Great job Alec. It's unknown whatever happened to the print or if Tomatoes ever saw it. Does anyone have a picture?

Good bye A-house

We had a fantastic 27 months. Great people have come through and wonderful things have happened. Will be missed greatly.

King of the Mountains Century Challenge

This past Saturday we rode the Heartbreak 100, which was stage 3 of the King of the Mountains Century Challenge. Your time is added up from three of the most difficult centuries. The others are the Mulholland Challenge and Breathless Agony.
Unfortunately I don't have any ride reports written! If you check the results from Mulholland, we are top 20, only 35 minutes back from the fastest time. We were pretty stoked.
Breathless had a steep bit early and I was feeling miserable at first, then felt better and got an okay time. Jack did extremely well on this one and on Heartbreak most recently. Max and I chilled out; I was tired from the triathlon the week before and it was fucking cold. Like 42 degrees and windy at the start. WTF? Looking forward to next year.

Auburn half-iron triathlon

Second triathlon. Good fun. Got a wetsuit for this one (which is a story in itself, please ask in person so I can tell it with proper visuals). The Auburn Triathlon is billed as the world's hardest half iron. To me that means that the bike and run are a lot more interesting. And they were!

At the start I was super nervous. All these people who look like aliens, wearing wetsuits and goggles. Then I look down and see that I look just like them. The swim was in this beautiful lake, you swam out, made a left then did a long out and back and then sort of arc'd back to the start for the 1.2 mile distance. I stayed towards the back in the start and then just found a comfortable pace with a small group. I had done a ton of 'technique work' and had not swam a lot of distance. This was my gamble after my horrible swim performance in my first tri. It was aparent that it paid off: I was taking almost half of the swim strokes as those around (that means much less energy spent). When I saw the dock was close I stepped it up a bit and swam away from the group I was with. When I got out I noticed that the guy in front of me had a half sleeve as I was taking off the top of my wetsuit. The announcer said, 'Here come the first participants in the heavily tattooed division.' Funny. Swim time: 34 minutes

The bike route was through wonderful, hilly back country. I saw a kid with a USC jersey and asked him if he knew my friend Michel and he did! She had mentioned me to and gave me some props for jumping into this one. I told him how Michel is the only person I know who has done a triathlon. When I rode away he said, 'See you on the run". What is that suppose to mean? I was so stoked on the bike. They stopped traffic for you! I passed a ton of people and when I saw an 'LA Tri Club' jersey I'd yell 'Yeah LA represent!', but no one responded.
Bike time: 3 hrs 15 min

The run was a figure-8 almost all trail. I got tripped up twice! Actually hit the ground. It was so hot that they would sponge you with cold water when you passed the check points. The route was SO hilly that lots of people were walking. Only a very few passed me. Had some stomach issues, but I knew I'd struggle a bit on the run from going so hard on the bike. Not too bad though.
Run time: 2 hrs 10 min
Overall: 6 hrs 5 min


This was really really fun. The organizers did an awesome job and the feel of it is actually 'grass roots' as they claim. Thanks to my Uncle Bob who gave me a place to crash in Folsom and took us out for great food pre and post race. And to my father for the x-mas present registration fee.

Ride of Silence

Colin and I organized a Ride of Silence here in Los Angeles. It became a little too personal when Morgan got hit. A lot of people showed up because Morgan is still in the hospital.

May Day

Day without an immigrant protest. Call in sick!
crew
















bananas

LA Marathon

Wake Up and Bike Tour
Sleeping in my own bed (or a bed at all) makes getting up at 5am a little easier. Squeeze down some leftover pasta for breakfast and hang out with the people meeting here to ride to the bike tour. Throw all my running shit in my bag. Decide to wear my running shorts under my cargo pants and forgo spandex to avoid having to change later. Roll out of the house about 8 deep heading to USC.

Bike Tour
Straight to the start! We hop in and try to stay together. Imagine the streets closed to all traffic, both directions for 23 miles. Amazing, despite the thousands of bikes that literally caused a traffic jam. It opened up and we cruised through the city running into people we knew all the way back to USC. Here we pull over just before the funnel into where they try to get you to buy shit. Jack and I head up the 25 blocks to the marathon start where I’ll lock my bike.

Marathon Start
25,000 people run the marathon. The start time was 830am. I thought it would take a decent amount of time to get them through, but when I was there at 845am or so it was only a trickle a people heading down Figueroa! Jack takes my bag, I lock my bike and strip off my clothes (well, except my running stuff) and take off. The hectic morning was probably helpful; was distracted enough to not get super nervous about the endeavor ahead. But, two things came up: probably did not eat enough beforehand and I had to pee when I started running. That sucks. Really sucks.


First Ten Miles
‘There’ll be restrooms soon. Soon. There’s got to be.’ First group of them had at least 75 people in line. Same with the second group around the second mile. Am considering peeing myself. Is my time that important? No, but the mental consequences of standing around for ten minutes are detrimental. Pushing on I hold back. Around USC I see some dudes that took to the trees to solve the urination problem. I look around for cops (cause if anyone got a ticket during a marathon it’d be me) and see none. I hit the trees nervously and pee for an ungodly amount of time. Running again I feel ten pounds lighter like the Ice Cube song. Around mile seven or eight the hunger comes on. Damn! I have two gel packs and consume one. It helps slightly, but not much. On a positive note my legs are loosening up and I try to ignore the hunger. At mile ten I see volunteers handing out Clif shots and I eat three straight away.

Miles Ten to Twenty
Calories = Energy. This was immediately apparent. Turn left on Venice Blvd and I’m feeling great, but still pacing conservatively. Mentally I am pleasantly surprised that I am doing well. Hit the halfway point (2 hrs 5 min) and see Alex! He is on his bike and rides along asking me how I am doing. Sometime after I answered my cell phone because Heather, who is running the marathon as well and helped me with my bib ‘situation’, called to see where I was. We never met up, but did see each other later at Food Not Bombs. The Angelinos along the route were fantastic, giving out fruit and cheering on runners. The best bit was through Leimart Park and up Crenshaw Blvd.

Twenty to Twenty-Six (point 2)
Jack agreed to meet me around mile 20 because I thought some Sustained Energy would be good to drink. It was! He had met up with Alex as well and the two of them rode along. Since I started so late I am passing tons of people and it gives the impression that I am running faster than I am. Having two friends bike along was super fun, like I had my own escort. Since they both qualify as real athletes, they were pushing me along and my pace quickened. Then, anticlimactically, downtown was in view, I was feeling well, and they had to peel off. My right foot was aching, as it did on my 3-hour training run, but I ignored it. Pushed on through and went as fast as I could for the last 1.2 miles. Crossed the line, looked at my cell phone to confirm my time, and hobbled to a stop.





Finish
The finish area sucked. No food. Was funneled all the way around to 2nd street through the market to buy things before I could head south to where my bike was. Foot pain started to kick in (I’d end up limping for two weeks and seeing a doctor, but no injury). Met up with Jack, Alex and Molly, who had made, in perfect teacher fashion, a fantastic sign. We sat around downtown eating and drinking before riding back to the A-house for some proper food. Great day. Time: 4.04

Portland

Went to Portland to see Vmaas, Lisa and Ryan Jacob Smith. Spent a lot of time at Food Fight the vegan grocery store. I did a talk on vegan nutrition though Vmaas and Chad spent most of the time pointing out how many donuts I ate every day. Listen guys, I was training for the marathon and needed the extra calories.

Collared shirt makes me an expert


'Hey look, it's Fidel Castro'. No one at the Microcosm film fest thought my joke was funny. Vmaas thought it was funny enough to make this picture. Thanks man.

Death Valley double

Second year in a row! I don't have a proper write-up for this, but here we go with some details:
Five of us piled 5 deep into Molly's car after I read some Dr. Seuss in her class for a national reading day. My vocab word was 'deforestation'.
Got to Furnace Creek and checked into our room. Room, what? Megan, Molly and Jen volunteered so we got a free room. Jack and I slept in here and Morgan, John UCLA and another UCLA friend of theirs camped.

In AM we met up for start and Chris Kostman informed everyone that the 17 miles to Badwater was mostly gravel b/c of construction. What the fuck? First I got a flat. Then the UCLA snapped off his derailleur hanger on a $10,000 Colnago! Holy shit. It got hot (surprise!) and our crew was struggling a bit. The course is a 150-mile out and back and then a 50-mile out and back from the start. Last year a bunch of riders quit here. Jack showed some signs he is not invincible and had a rough time on the last 50, but pulled it off. 508 winner Kenny Fast Truck Gecko Souza rode the course in like 10 hours. Geez.
Start

Hiking on Sunday

Tour De Drugs

For the Amgen Tour De Drugs race the South Bay crew (Alec, Bryan, Max, Jenny) organized a vegan BBQ and brought out the fun bikes: swing bike, drunk bike, tall bikes, bull horn bike, etc. A bunch of use rode down from LA proper and had a fantastic time. The race was boring so we entertained everyone by setting up the bikes next to the course and letting everyone have a go. Alec made caps and even pill bottles with candy in them. Thanks guys!

Swing bike!

Bike Winter Art Show

For the bike winter art show I put up some photos of my trip to Belize. Unfortunately I do not have any of them in digital form, but I wanted to post my 'Artist Statement'.

California to Belize by Bicycle.
'Belize was my introduction to Central America. After spending two months there in 2001 I decided that next time I'd ride the approximate 3000 miles from California to get there. Justin Cummings, a long time friend from BMX, and I were free of girlfriends and jobs in the summer of 2002 and decided to make it happen.

Deserts, rain forests, small villages, huge cities, mountains, flat sections, rain, heat; this route has it all. Fully self-contained, we were under ten dollars a day and made everyday activities, like eating and sleeping, an adventure. Quit your job and ride south.

Thanks Justin!

(you can read the reports from this trip in the 2002 archive section )

Bike Winter Ride to India Sweets and Spices

When LA had Bike Summer in 2005 I organized a series of rides to vegetarian restaurants. We had a great turnout and it was super fun. Since Bike Winter is so short we limited it to one ride. Thanks to everyone who did the ENTIRE route through Griffith Park.

Razor on my hat and my own spork


Did Morgan know there was a skull on the tv?


Thanks again Lisa Auerbach for photos

Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer results

Congratulations to Jack 'Mego' Lindquist for winning Feel My Legs. It was a tough, cold, rainy day and the competition was fierce. Thanks to all the volunteers and especially Luz and her kitchen crew that cooked up a great pancake breakfast.

First and only dry hill


Stephen Krchmer and broken chain on hill two


Jack's technique was to go hard early and hope no one caught him


Feel My Lingerie


Thanks to Lisa Auerbach and Megan Dean for the photos

Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer

The flyer is done for the Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer event. Click on the image below to see the higher quality version where you can read the text.

New Year's Eve 2005

I guess my life is different than 10 years ago. My high school girlfriend would probably disagree.
This is at a party in downtown LA on a borrowed bike.

6th/Valencia pre-Budge to island

Yum.

Joshua Ploeg dinner

Our friend Joshua is a traveling vegan chef and makes the best food I have ever had, anywhere, anytime. Super gourmet creations from all over the world with attention to detail and culture. Norwegian soup? Icelandic appetizers? He is on it and we love having him come down to LA and spend time with us.

A-house bike parking


Joshua


Vegan girl lawyer club, nuff said


consume

Morgan at Furnace Creek 508

Morgan 'Goat' Beeby finished the Furnace Creek 508, a non-stop bicycle race through Death Valley, in 41 hours, only 7 months after his first double century (also in Death Valley). Morgan you rule!

Rider and crew morning of start (Satan not pictured)


All riders get pre-race mug shots


Devil horns


Finish in 29 Palms, Sunday night


Max, Megan, Morgan, Myself and Chris Kostman (race organizer)