Monday, August 11, 2008

The Essential Epic Group Ride

The Epic Group Ride can start many ways. Keep in mind that you must keep your options open and be able to jump on the band wagon when ever the opportunity presents its self. While the Acacia crushing fest isn't where you might expect to find an invite for a mountain epic, this weekend it presented Care Bear and I with the a chance to ride a Colorado Classic, The Monarch Crest. 

The Epic Group Ride has some serious requirements:
1. You must have a mix of people, ie, racers, old guys, the token junior, bike industry folk and a foreigner. 
2. An early start complete with a mix of 7-11 and Donut Mill fuel
3. Classic Variable weather in Colorado
4. Mechanical Problems, preferably early in the ride. 
5. Post Ride meal plan that includes Pizza, Burgers or Burritos 

Our ride included all of these. Which elevated into epic fun status. Some of the highlights include a German SRM employee, Magura Disc brakes dying at the very top of ride(that means 5000 feet of elevation drop with little to no stopping power for that token junior), solid down poor on the Rainbow Trail section making the trails amazingly tacky and pizza in a little Salida Brewery 







Please go out and find your own epic group ride and don't watch to much of the Olympics

Ride
Mitch Hoke

Friday, August 8, 2008

Going Single

I don't know about you, but I hit mid-summer and the motivation to strap on the heart rate monitor and crank up the hill in carefully selected heart rate zone to achieve a good metabolic rate for my training ride. It's not that I'm not psyched for a little raging and elevated pulse, it just takes something more. So I decided that those 27 gears offer to much opportunity for slacking off and went for the single speed. The single speed and I have been friends for a long time but were forced apart for "more serious training". But were back now. 


So if your feeling a little tired trade those 27 gears and protein shake in for the single speed and a post ride PBR.



Two cyclists were killed this week in Colorado Springs because of a careless motorist. Please drive and ride safe.

Ride
Mitch Hoke