Photo

Photo by Denis. We were on Skink. I think I was trying to clip in the left foot.

Garmin Edge 305 (II)

Finally got my Garmin Edge 305 back from Garmin. It looks like a brand new unit. Charged up and everything works fine. Can't beat Garmin's service.

DT RWS

Ratchet Wheel mounting System, by DT Swiss. Solid 5 mm wheel skewers. No worries about loose QRs any more.

Bike Light Test Report

Here is the setup.

Andy and I used the flashlights while Rob and Jack were with their L&M ARC. We came back from Gambrill, skipped the Lawn Mower and took the road. After we jumped onto the trail we turned on the lights. We rested in the Hamburg lot for a while, and did the Knucklebuster out and back. Over all I think we had lights on for more than an hour.

Comparing to the L&M ARC, the flashlight has narrower beam so the perception of brightness on the trail was relatively similar. The color temperature is a little warmer than the ARC's super white.

The battery didn't get even warm, the emitter was slightly warm.

We both mounted the flashlights on the helmet. No flickering was noticed.

I wish it could be even brighter, but the light is sufficient for doing night rides. I rode fast coming back to the parking lot from Gambrill Park road, and it worked fine.

Overall I'm happy. It is also perfect to be carried in the Camelbak as spare or for emergency.

Saturday Shed Ride

Great ride! It reminded me how much fun riding on rocks is.

Bike Lights

Time in the year to prepare for night rides. From DealExtreme I recently got a cheap setup (<$50 total), 900 lumens, last for 2 hours (with a battery change), 190 grams including the helmet mount (a little heavier than the Light&Motion's 150 grams) but still bearable, and best of all, no cables. Here is the list:

• UltraFire 18650 3.7V 3000mAh Lithium Batteries (2-Pack), Item# 26249
• MTE SSC P7 900-Lumen 2-Mode LED Flashlight (18650), Item# 12325
• DSD 18650 CR123A Charger Black EKARP, Item# 0936 (I didn't buy this one because I already have a 18650 charger, but got it for Andy, Jack, and Rob.)
• Universal Nylon Mount for Flashlights and Lasers, Item# 12000

The light doesn't seem to output 900 lumens driven by a single battery. I'll do a field test this week.

BTW, it took about three weeks from the time I placed the order online to the package arrived from Hong Kong.

SM100 Recap

Weather was perfect and the trails were dry and fast.

550 riders launched from the camp ground at 0630. I was ahead of half of them so wasn't affected much by the huge dust ball.

Denis and I rode together briefly on the first climb. I fell in a pile of sand on a right turn, and never saw him again.

I was a little cautious about my pace. Last year I had an issue with my knees. I definitely don't want to revisit that. Also I didn't leave my lights in the drop bag, which means I had to reach AS5 by 1620, and have enough juice left for 25 miles more riding. So I rode hard, but reserved a little.

Went into the hike-a-bike section to AS2 with some pretty good riders so there was space for me to ride a good portion of the trail.

Between AS2 and 3, I cleared all the climbs , had only one dab on the descent, plus a flat. When I arrived at AS3, my knees were fine. I knew I had improved from last year.

I rode most of the trails between AS3 and 4. The rocks gardens were shorter than those in the Shed so no problem there. However I did make a stupid mistake and fell down the hill - luckily I was able to grab a tree to stop me from going too far down. I couldn't do some steep technical sections. It might have helped if I had a 34t cog in the back.

From AS4 to 5 was a long 19 miles of road and fire road climb. I felt pretty good on the road section and passed everybody in sight, including one guy who lost his middle and big rings pedaling hard with his granny on the road. Later there was a female rider (Bike Factory Racing) caught up and stayed on my tail for a good few miles. Sharp right turn onto the fire road, I scaled down quite a bit so I could keep pedaling, and she took off for good. At that point I realized my endurance was probably just up to around 70 miles or 8 hours. Nonetheless I pedaled up non-stop. I was so glad to see AS5 finally. It was around 1520.

Left AS5, I kept pushing up to the Apex. I got passed by quite a few riders. A singlespeeder passed by, I told him it was all downhill from there. Later we both found I was wrong.

The singlespeeder and I arrived at AS6 together. He recognized me from last year, well, he remembered my orange Vicious Cycles. We chatted a little, and he left AS6 about 45 seconds ahead of me.

I used the big ring on the road and caught up him turning onto the last long climb. He was leading at the beginning but soon had to stop and walk some of the climbs. I was able to go up non-stop in my middle ring so finally I was ahead of him.

I took the last long descent to camp ground easy and really enjoyed it. A couple riders passed me but I didn't care at all. At that point all I wanted was to enjoy the last bit of riding and to be home safe and sound.

When I hit the gong, the time was 11 hours and 29 minutes.

Over the course I consumed approximately 4 bottles of Gatorade, two cans of Dr. Pepper, three cups of Coke, a few pieces of PBJ, some bananas, a couple gummy bears, a couple chocolate sweets, and some mints. I didn't eat any Shot Bloks. Except for Gatorade and Dr. Pepper, the stuff I left in the drop bags all went to waste.

There was a photographer taking pictures at finish line and on the course. I'll see if I can find one of mine later once he posted them online.

The bike was cleaned and lubed the next day. A few scratches on the rear rim, probably from riding through those rock gardens. Oh, well.

BTW, that was my first ever camping experience. I fell into good sleep soon listening to a mother signing lullaby to her 11 month old baby in the neighboring tent. Wasn't it nice?

GPS trace: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/12762319

Discussion thread on a local MTB forum (MORE): http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16475

Fellow rider, Denis, posted an amazing time 9:30, took the 2nd in Clydesdale, and 3rd in Master.

Results on Cycling News