a blog about motorbikes, bicycles, and the folks who ride them.
Since it’s October in Utah, that means it’s cyclocross season. It also means it can snow in the mountains pretty much anytime. That makes for some nasty conditions. Cross is hard enough as it is. This photo pretty much sums up the emotions that one feels after being in oxygen debt for an hour straight. Winning feels good. Second place sucks.
2nd place is the first loser. Here, two team mates share the love.
Nato posted a whole bunch of images from the 2008 edition of Loop the Lake. It was supposed to be a larger group, but the weather paired the group down to a hearty few: Darth, Obi-Ben, Esteban Frito, Moto, and Stanton (sorry Stanton, we need to think up a good road name). Below are a few of my favorites.
This section of dirt was hairball greasy. A few spills were had. Photo: Darth.
Obi-Ben, and the venerable KLR along the Golden Spike. Photo: Darth.
Stanton on the big bike, cruising along the railroad bed. Photo: Darth.
Darth and Esteban, heading out of Wendover. Photo: Darth.
Honestly, I can’t remember where this was. But it was cool. Photo: Darth
There always seems to be a “band photo”, for the next album. Photo: Darth.
The absolute “money” shot of the whole trip. Photo: Darth.
If you want to see all of Darth Nater’s photos, view the latest batch at Motodelicious.
Here is a video of cruising along on the old Golden Spike Railroad bed. It’s barely wide enough for two bikes with panniers, you have to watch out for old rusty railroad spikes, and the work-around routes that divert you around old trestles can sometimes be interesting. This is from Nato Cam, mounted on the Blue Angel.
We are back safe and sound after a soggy but rewarding Loop the Lake. A full report will follow, once we get all of our video diaries compressed, images collected, all that kind of digital stuff. But first, here’s some Monday morning commentary from our friend Dave Z:
Darth Nater has been anticipating the arrival of his new bike. He ordered it over a year ago, and after waiting patiently, it finally arrived. Or did it? When they opened the crate from BMW Motorad, this is what they rolled out. It seems the economy has caused BMW to slightly alter the original design of the new F 800 GS. The good news is the new model gets slightly better gas mileage than originally projected. It will be fun seeing Darth roll into Wendover, all pimped out with his new ride.
Yeah, I know. It says Honda on it.
Dave Z did it again, claiming a podium spot and a bronze medal at this year’s World Championships, behind Bert Grabsch and Canadian Svein Tuft. Here’s the story on cyclingnews. With the Silver medal he earned in 2006, there’s only one he hasn’t claimed. As far as the U.S. chances to do something in Italy, I am sure all eyes were on Levi Leipheimer for his commanding time trial wins in the Vuelta, that is, until his new boss announced his return to professional cycling. Levi certainly had the form ten days earlier to indicate he was going to crush it. Z Man wasn’t even on the start list posted by cyclingnews, leaving fans wondering if he was scratched. I think that’s Z’s style, fly in low under the radar, then drop some big bombs. Can a brother give me a Hell Yeah for Zabriskie? Leave a comment and say Hell Yeah.
It’s official, the date is set. Loop the Lake, first weekend in October. Travel light, because we’ll be spending the night in Wendover. No camping on this trip. Who’s in? Darth is in. Moto is in. Stanton with the big new bike. Maybe Bart on the big orange bike. Maybe the Brothers Simons? Do we hear any other takers? A-Train? T-Bird? Below is a classic Steve Fry “way suuuuuure pal” moment, after squirting about in the muck on the baja KLR, Loop The Lake 2006.
Way sure, pal. That’s what I’m talking ’bout pal. Photo by Nathan Rafferty.
Darth Nater sent this pic in from a recent stealth mission down to the Torrey, Utah area. A true road warrior, Darth had his Tahoe loaded with two-wheeled implements of recreation. Road bicycle in the back, KTM 450 EXCR on the back of the Versahaul. Location of this shot was described as Hall’s Crossing.
Darth Nater on another solo mission. Hall’s Crossing, Utah.
September is usually a quiet time in the newswires of professional cycling. You usually can get all the news you need by briefly scanning the headlines of cyclingnews.com and velonews.com. Vuelta results, riders changing teams, news from Interbike, then the World Championships. Mainstream sports news, let alone mainstream media rarely picks up any news of cycling unless it’s a doping scandal. But then Lance steps back in from the shadows. Maybe he’s sick of dominating the tabloid headlines with his personal life and wants to get back to the bike. Lance has announced and confirmed he will make a comeback, and all of the sudden, the TODAY show is picking it up, it’s all over ESPN, interviews in Vanity Fair, and the cyclingnews servers are overloading. The bike industry must love it. There’s no doubt that Lance mania has always brought a lot of new people into the sport of cycling. Hopers, dreamers and survivors. There’s no doubt Lance has done more for raising cancer awareness, and giving hope to those fighting the illness. It’s hard to hate the guy for that.
When Michael Jordan came back to play with the Wizards, it was sad. He was older, slower, but he was still Jordan. He could still toss in 45 points, but the Wizards still sucked. The tv commentators called him “Floor Jordan” instead of “Air Jordan” because he lost that skyward step. It was still entertainment, though, and probably the only reason anybody watched the Wizards play. If Lance just shows up, wins a time trial here and there, it will be looked upon as a failure. He has to come back and win. Lance didn’t just win the Tour de France. He dominated his rivals, broke their spirits, and crushed the hopes of a lot of pretenders. His main rivals at the time are all gone: Ullrich, Mayo, Vinokourov, Kasheckin, Basso. All out of the sport for positive doping tests or they are creeping back after serving suspensions (Basso), but won’t ever match up again. So what’s the endgame?
I’m waiting for when he will start working on his next book: It Was All About The Bike After All.
Glad to see our man Dave Z get another stars and stripes outfit for winning the U.S. Professional Time Trial championships for the third year in a row. He fought valiantly in Beijing to represent the U.S. of A., but I know his result there wasn’t what he was looking for. Good to see Dark Meat climb back to the top step of the podium. Read the story on cyclingnews.com. You’ll notice that DZ’s Garmin-Chipotle squad owned the top five, with Vande Velde, Cozza and Danielson.