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scheduling a portland trip at the end of september and i'm looking to do some rides!

any of you pdx folks got a good shop i can rent a road bike from? or, if you have a spare road ride (i'm 6') - i'll bring the saddle+pedals.

 

also, since we're on the subject, i LOVE good beer and can only function on good coffee.

please point me in the right direction.

 

thanks!

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http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_172815_-1_202650_10000_202613

 

 

Just put in my order for this little guy. I also got some SKS 23mm fenders for it. pretty stoked only paid 480 after shipping... I am thinking of putting on 25mm tires (dude on the phone said it would fit). Anyone else here ride or at least took a ride on these?

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scheduling a portland trip at the end of september and i'm looking to do some rides!

any of you pdx folks got a good shop i can rent a road bike from? or, if you have a spare road ride (i'm 6') - i'll bring the saddle+pedals.

 

also, since we're on the subject, i LOVE good beer and can only function on good coffee.

please point me in the right direction.

 

thanks!

 

 

Yeah, Waterfront is the direction I'd point you towards.

 

Dang, wish I had my roadie so I could show you around some of the steeper hills West Portland has to offer. To point the way though, all the close-in hills from downtown are basically off Skyline Rd. What we do to get big elevation in is basically zig-zag the hills that connect Skyline and HWY 30 - Germantown, Newberry, McNamee, Cornelius Pass and Logie Trail are some of the more well-known/well-ridden ones. On that note, Logie Trail Rd. IMO is the closest thing PDX has to Pinehurst, minus the insanely narrowness of that road. The switchbacks are fierce, though, and on the way up that hill seems like it's never gonna end.

 

If you have a bit more time, the Multnomah Falls ride is basically a rite of passage for roadies here, but it'll take a good 4.5+ hours to do. Great views though.

 

Rubbertothread.com has a nice list of routes btw, so check it as you get closer to coming. You're going to be here around the time cross season really starts heating up so if you can squeeze it, definitely try to check out a CX race or two, especially if it's the Cross Crusade series - it'll change your whole view on what a race venue is and should be.

 

Coffee and beer are two things I can't live without and Portland has tons to offer for both. Thats's another post in itself - 12oz is glitching on me right now so I'll get into it another time.

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Re: coffee and beer

 

As far as coffee shops, we have a handful of really good roasters. Stumptown basically started it all here and they're the behemoth but IMO have gone a little downhill in quality over the years. Still, if you like nerding out on different single origin stuff, the annex on Belmont or the shop @ Ace Hotel is worth checking as you can order a pourover in a variety of different

 

Water Avenue Coffee is super good and not that well known right now. Easily up there with Blue Bottle in Oakland - actually, kinda like BB it's in the industrialish area of PDX. Definitely recommended on the quality tip.

 

There's also Courier Coffee, Ristretto Roasters, Barista, etc. All good, all smaller operations. Just depends on what part of town you want to venture into.

 

In terms of beer you have three main options: go to a beer bar (Horsebrass and Bailey's Taproom are two of the best), go to a brewery (there's a shit ton just in city limits) or go to a bottle shop. But hell, even 7/11 and your standard grocery store has a decent selection of microbrews here. Plenty of places to go on all of them. If you're like me and can't get enough Belgium beer, there's a new spot called Bazi Bierbrasserie that has a bunch of Belgiums on tap and bottled, as well as frites and other Belgium choice Belgian food items.

 

Aight, that's it for now.

 

Pics of my track racer + a report of last night's omnium events at the velodrome in a bit...

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For sure.

2b9caac3.jpg

All business track racer.

 

Had a ton of fun at the cat 3 omnium night last night at the track. Second time back at the velodrome since I had a freak crash a year back where my front wheel ejected and I went straight from 44 degree banking to head on concrete. Needless to say, a year later I'm just now getting my balls back.

 

First race was a miss and out. I played the 'devil' at the back, which is basically a tactic where you sprint the last person in line while boxing them out. Kind of a dick move but really standard in that race, and basically the best way to roll if you don't want to break the wind at the front. At the end of the race they leave 3 guys left to duke it out match sprint style - so at that point, some poor sap was luckily in front of me and I just rode his wheel like a dog while he tried whatever swervy match sprint tactics to get me in front. (Dude probably should have launched a 'fake attack' and then eased up and got on one of your wheels when we decided to blow a wad.) Anyways, that shit didn't work and I came around up top at the 200m line to arrive first at the line. Felt good.

 

Second race was a 15 lap points race, sprints every 5. Since it's such a short race, I knew every sprint would count - so first time around I came around a few people to take 2nd, and then again on the second time through as well. Sometime in between, two guys were vying for the same spot in the sprinter's lane and put metal on metal - sounded like a crash was gonna go down but they recovered and the race went on. Had me spooked for about half a lap but that's racing. With 5 to go, the dude from the last race trying to coax me off his wheel (a fat boy match sprinter type) made an attack and half the field said 'yeah, he'll get reeled right back in so fuck it'. Woops. Somehow he stayed off the front and 4 of us worked our asses off a half lap later without reward. Took 3rd on the last sprint, putting me at 3rd place in points.

 

Last race of the night was a standard 15 lap scratch. There was a three way tie for first place omnium points - me, my good friend JM, and fat dude match sprinter. I sat out of the wind and let other people call the attacks while following close behind - with each attack the field got split slightly more, until with about 2 laps to go iit was just me and my buddy JM. I tried to come around a bit early, couldn't quit squeeze the gap @ 250m and kept pounding. JM did it smart and guarded the sprinter's lane without actually diving in - a really tactical play because it usually results in the guy behind you dicking around tryin to figure out if he can safely squeeze the gap on the low side or just come around up high. Being a little too cautious from only getting back on the track a few days before, I chose the latter. Bad decision. Didn't quite have the leg speed to come around at the finish line, so JM took 1st and I held in at 2nd, putting us at 1st and 2nd overall, respectively, for the night.

 

One more mass start next week and then it's time for CX.

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I knew I was slow but I didn't realize how slow I was until I got on Strava. I love it. We'll see how long it takes before I'm fast again. Hopefully soon.

 

Until that happens I did some research on all these "E.B. MUD: PROTECTED WATERSHED NO TRESPASSING" signs. Says here as of 2009 it's only a $50 fine. Sounds like a $50 ticket and 80,000 acres of Ebmudland is officially open.

http://www.ebmud.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Watershed%20and%20Recreation%20Rules%20and%20Regulations_0.pdf

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Rest week... finally. Been trying to get my body ready for 60 minutes of hell come September. I recall being spent at the end of every cyclocross race I did last year, and they were all only 45 minutes long. It'll be interesting to see how that extra fifteen minutes plays out on my body. The long, high wattage intervals I'm doing will hopefully help, but I bet the short max wattage intervals I'm doing help more. I need to get going on some barriers... that's where I really suck!!

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Re: coffee and beer

 

As far as coffee shops, we have a handful of really good roasters. Stumptown basically started it all here and they're the behemoth but IMO have gone a little downhill in quality over the years. Still, if you like nerding out on different single origin stuff, the annex on Belmont or the shop @ Ace Hotel is worth checking as you can order a pourover in a variety of different

 

Water Avenue Coffee is super good and not that well known right now. Easily up there with Blue Bottle in Oakland - actually, kinda like BB it's in the industrialish area of PDX. Definitely recommended on the quality tip.

 

There's also Courier Coffee, Ristretto Roasters, Barista, etc. All good, all smaller operations. Just depends on what part of town you want to venture into.

 

In terms of beer you have three main options: go to a beer bar (Horsebrass and Bailey's Taproom are two of the best), go to a brewery (there's a shit ton just in city limits) or go to a bottle shop. But hell, even 7/11 and your standard grocery store has a decent selection of microbrews here. Plenty of places to go on all of them. If you're like me and can't get enough Belgium beer, there's a new spot called Bazi Bierbrasserie that has a bunch of Belgiums on tap and bottled, as well as frites and other Belgium choice Belgian food items.

 

Aight, that's it for now.

 

Pics of my track racer + a report of last night's omnium events at the velodrome in a bit...

 

imma co sign on water avenue. i'm glad it got recognition from someone.

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So i did a dumb thing today. I don't know what you call them but there's plenty of deep grooves in the trails from once-running water. I wasn't paying attention, took a bad line and bashed my front rim into one and bent the rim. Was able to make it home but tomorrow I've gotta take it in and assess the damage. Brake surface is rounded/bent outward, rim itself is rounded inward. Doesn't look good. Can't really blame the AC420 for that one.

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Crit tactics i should look at? May have my first coming up. Still not sure if its gonna be a lap race or a 2 mile 1 lap.

 

Racing crits is fairly simple on paper but can be complicated in real life depending on how aggressive the field is and how unwilling people are of giving up the wheel they're on.

 

Generally you want to:

-stay in the top 3rd of the race field for as much of the race as possible

-shift to an easier gear before every sharp corner, then shift to a harder one after you're accelerating out.

-avoid the crashes by staying near the front and not half-wheeling anyone.

-don't attack off the front.

 

Any actual tactic/strategy depends on a few different variables: are you racing alone or with teammates? Are you hedging bets on a sprint finish, or does the course favor a breakaway? What direction is the wind blowing on the finishing stretch?

 

Generally I like to start the race attacking hot off the starting line (because if I don't, someone else can/will), and immediately get the pain going. Then I'll respond to attacks and hope/assume a breakaway is going for go for the first half of the race. If, at the halfway point of the race, the field is aggressively chasing down everything that tries to get away, I'll hedge my bets and assume the race will end in a field sprint, and then ride accordingly (hide behind a wheel and take no pulls, then try to get in a good position near the end). This works, but not always: late-race breakaways can and do get away, especially when someone is wise and smart enough to attack immediately after a bunch of guys killed themselves bringing in a flyer.

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Crit tactics i should look at? May have my first coming up. Still not sure if its gonna be a lap race or a 2 mile 1 lap.

 

Everything Rubbish said is spot on.

 

A crit is all pain. If you stay near the front (not at the front, just near it) it hurts less. The further back you are the more you have to work (especially out of every turn) and the more stressful it is dodging tired guys making big mistakes. The first ten to fifteen minutes are going to be balls out. Stay in the field through that and it should ease up for a little bit. With about three or four laps to go it'll rev up again and that's when you want to be in the top five or six guys for the sprint.

 

Best of luck!!

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Thanks guys. Everything you guys just said validates everything else ive read on the subject, say near the front, attack at the end. Hopefully I'm better at suffering than anyone else. Its some real unofficial shit we're trying to plan on the Grand Prix of Baltimore course. 2 miles. No clue if its gonna be laps, 1 lap, what. I do a group ride every wednesday night called the Six Pack Ride, just riding bikes fast and drinking, and its just us trying to figure it out and race it. $10 buy in. We're gonna talk about it tomorrow night.

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