Mulled Spices?...Yes Please

I recently bought another batch of 22oz bottles at Fermentation Station so now I can have two batches bottled at the same time...that was the last step in really getting my setup to be completely cyclical. Now there should never really be a point where I will have to wait for carboys, bottles, etc. to get free'd up.

Today i started a Spiced Winter Ale that should be ready right around the same time my stout is ready to drink, so we'll have plenty of apres ski brews. This batch is probably going to be my most interesting to date. .75oz of mulled spices were added while boiling the wort and I have to add another .25oz when I transfer it to secondary. they smelled really good I cant wait to see how they affect the taste.

I'm guessing the boiling of the spices creates the nice spiced aftertaste and adding a bit extra during secondary gives it a nice aroma, but I could be completely wrong....either way its gonna be spiced up and delicious.


*UPDATE*: This batch is bottled and will be ready to drink in 2-3 weeks. I got a chance to use some of my christmas presents while bottling this batch...and they made it so much easier. Gina got me a bottle tree and some flip top bottles. The bottle tree makes it way easier to drain the bottles and it takes up a lot less space, which in our kitchen is a good thing. Flip top bottles are just cool and i dont have to cap them which saves time at the end when you just want to be done.

I dont think I have ever posted pics of the bottling process...so here you go.

we also got a new kitchen table from my lovely parents so our old one is now making the brew portion of the manarea quite epic (thats a lot of homebrew, I will need several cannonistas to help drink it all)

FYI I tried this beer and its ridiculous, def a Winter Warmer clone. 100% tastes like Christmas.

New Year's Resolution

Build a Winter Bike AND starting in Jan of '08 ride a mountain bike on trails outdoors at least once each month, every month of the year.

I have decided my old Jamis Durango SX frame (a.k.a the Chopper) is taking its next step in its hilarious journey of being every kind of bike there is. after this I think I will have to weld another frame to it and make it a tandem and then after that melt it down and use the metal to fashion jewelry that I will then wear to my grave.



I think this project is going to come together a lot faster than I had even hoped. 30 minutes before this pic was taken the chopper had been completely stripped. I was able to salvage the headset and fork off that Wahoo frame that Jomo found...it fit and the color even matches almost perfectly (like it was meant to be...) That alone is going to save me a lot of lead time...I have all the parts I need to finish this project free of any additional charge...minus the $7 i spent on screws for my home made studs

3 down...lots to go (rear tire).

finished tread pattern for the front tire

*UPDATE*: DUN. The ice bike is ready to ride. (unfortunately the weather is looking crappy tomorrow otherwise this thing would be shredding ice and snow within 24 hours. Finished the tires up today got them mounted and picked up some cables at Rhino and some booties to keep my feet warm when I head out.

lining the inside of the tire with old rubber and DUCT tape

It's time to get my two wheel Tundra on.

*UPDATE*: Got my first ride in this afternoon up at Smarts Brook...and I am hooked. Wasn't even really the best conditions but I still had a blast. Tires worked GREAT. cant believe how well they did. clipless may not really work in the long run I will have to try a few more times to see how it works in better conditions.

Mountain Track Rides Again

so this thread started as a dumpster bike that jomo found, that I then subsequently screwed up with an experimental seatpost operation...but then my rents came to town and my dad brought my old Trek Mountain Track 800.

Cleaning this ride back up brought back a lot of memories...mainly how retarded I was in the early to mid 90's...case in point the BMX mongoose seat I put on this bike seen in this photo:

I don't know what the hell I was thinking with that one.

This bike hasn't been ridden since probably the one time we went to snow mountain and did some lift serviced riding...if you have ever ridden a rigid bike down ski trails you can guess that right after that ride I decided I was going to buy a bike with suspension. Then began the long journey that has been my biking career that has most recently ended in me racing a rigid bike once again...full circle. And just like before after a season of that I promptly bought some more suspension.

It has been stored indoors since then and is in actually pretty good shape. cleaned up real nice. true'd the wheels, adjusted the dérailleurs and brakes and tweaked a few things so that it will fit jomo a bit better and then ditched that stupid mongoose saddle.

Aww NUTS!

It's almost halloween which means lots of things:

1. I need a costume
2. I'm another year older
3. We just had Squamtoberfest
4. It's time to get ready for Thanxmas

And my new thing is to prepare for events by brewing beer. Originally I had wanted to brew a 'winter warmer' type beer for thanxmas but I only have about 6 weeks and most winter warmer recipes call for 2 stage fermentations of at least 2 months. sooooooo I went with a Nut Brown (think Newcastle).

Action Shot

Brewing went well. I'm really starting to get into a routine now...cutting down on brew time, getting more efficient and organized. So organized that I can even multi-task while I brew.

Season 3 = Ridiculous

*UPDATE*: This batch was drank at Thanxmas to rave reviews. I think the general consensus was it was my finest batch to date. I would tend to agree...although I think my stout has quite a bit of potential, but we won't know for a while still with that batch.

See you in '08

First Stout = DUN.

Basement is getting close to being too cold for fermentation for most types of yeast / brew (except lagers, which is what I will be doing in a month or two) so I wanted to get this stout started so it could ferment now and then condition for a LONG time in a nice cold, dark basement (aka dungeon).

I have been told that stouts need a solid 3 months of conditioning to really take on the flavors they are supposed to so we wont be drinking this until the end of January. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.

This is the first time I have used a dry yeast...I'm fairly sure I did everything I was supposed to. I'm hoping I don't have to repitch to get this going, but if I do I can always just run down to Fermentation Station and get some liquid yeast or something.

pre-wrapped in blanket

Fermentation started within just 6 hours. Fastest I have seen to date. I checked it this morning at about 40 hours and fermentation was already slowing down and will probably be just about done by tonight or tomorrow morning. We may even be ready to bottle this during the end of Squamtoberfest.

Brew day +30hours

**Update**: I finally got a chance to bottle this brew during the snow day yesterday. It had been sitting in secondary for quite a long time (3 weeks maybe). I had been trying to read around to see if that was too long...but again like all things home brew there are two schools. Some say 1 week tops otherwise funky chemistry can happen but the other school says 'relax, drink a beer'. I tried a bit when bottling and I think I am leaning towards the later. More news on this batch in January when we drink it.

The Pinnacle Challenge

This past weekend I participated in my first 'Double Duathlon'. It consisted of a 5 mile Road Run, a 6 mile Mountain Bike course, a 13.5 mile Road Bike course, and a 3.5 mile Trail Run.

My friends Adam, Christina, Natalie and myself competed in the Co-ed team division. This was just an end of season fun race for me and Adam and a introduction to racing for Christina and Natalie.

Team Blue Zoo ended up 2nd in our division (out of 10) and we put up the 18th best time of the day out of a total of 71 competitors.
results: http://www.team-pinnacle.org/race-results3.php?results=8

Christina put us right where we needed to be after the road run...she put up a solid time out of a very strong field of runners and kept us in the hunt. Adam put up the fastest time of any MTB'er there and gave us a great lead going into my leg of the race.

I put up a fairly good time on the day coming in 20th out of the 71 overall. I wish I could have gone a bit faster than I did, there was a really strong headwind for the first 6 miles and I didn't warm up at all before heading out. (something I will remedy next year.) All in all my HRM said I rode about as fast as my body can take so I feel good about my effort.

Natalie finished real strong on what many described as a very tough trail run...straight up a mountain...scrambling up rocks at times!

Unfortunately there was another co-ed team present that had an extremely strong road biker (second best time on the day) and trail runner (seventh best time on the day) and Natalie and I weren't quite able to hold the lead Adam made for us and they beat us by just 30 secs at the end of the trail run.

Awards for the top 3 in each class were jugs of Grade A 100% pure NH Maple Syrup. Not bad for a mornings work.

Spoils of War

Manifest Destiny

I made a proverbial 'Louisiana Purchase' this afternoon. I swung by a homebrew supply store that I found out existed in Meredith, NH...Fermentation Station. Its a nice little shop with just about everything you would need for supplies and an owner who seemingly knows WAY too much about brewing beer.

I have a feeling its going to be a great resource...i talked to the guy for like a half an hour and the highlight was a recipe he told me about for a stout that he described as: "you need a knife and fork to drink it and its so heavy you need a spotter to help you pick up the glass..." 'nuff said sir, where do I sign?

long story short my homebrew operation is getting serious. please notice the SquamyBrew LLC brew operation channel on the right sidebar for 'what is brewing where' type info.

i now have three 6 gallon carboys. This allows me the option of doing either three 1 stage brews at once or 1 two stage and 1 one stage at once or two 1 stage and let an old 2nd stage condition nice and long or....you get the point.

I also added some sweet peg board for that authentic manarea feel.

EFTA 2007 **El Fin**

The season is officially over. The last race was last weekend in Maine...I didnt attend due to driving distance and my results already being written in stone.

1 BUCHANAN, SCOTT             1,358 
2 GRIGGS, DEREK               1,156
3 ORLOWSKI, KEVIN             970 

(**the amazing thing about riders in New England is that they are all awesome. Both Scott and Derek are pushing 50 and they still are FAST**)

and there they are, the final standings in the EFTA 2007 New England Championship Series (Single Speed Class). I am pretty proud of my third place overall. Granted I am actually probably one of the slowest single speed racers in New England, but I'm consistent and I can take a beating and that paid off this season.

on average i shed about 20 minutes off my course times from last year, and I gained a much better understanding of what my body can actually take and I think I will have a much better off season of training and will come back even stronger next year.

My goals for next year are another podium finish in the overall, and I want to shed another 5-10 minutes off my times so that I can really be in the SS 'pack'. I have found that I really need a wheel to hold to keep pushing myself mentally. If I can just get a tiny bit faster I will actually be racing SS riders for 20 miles instead of riding by myself about 5 minutes behind them. It basically just comes down to learning how to suffer better...which is what i will be doing on my trainer all winter.

Squamtoberfest Oktoberfest

Fall is quickly approaching and that means Oktoberfest or more importantly Squamtoberfest. Last years event was the first annual and quite the hit. Head count for this year is already looking to be on the high side and you can't keep that many people happy without home made beer.

I kicked off a 'Oktoberfest' style brew today in hopes that it will be ready for Squamtoberfest which is slotted for Oct 20th. It's gonna be cutting it real close. That gives us about 5-6 weeks. Probably wont get enough time to condition in bottle but oh well....we do what we can with what we've got.

This was a part grain / part extract brew that was fun to make. I had to toast some of the grain in the oven and there was even an ounce of chocolate barley, should make for an interesting flavor.

This is my little setup so that I don't have to hold the muslin bag while steeping the grain. You dont want to let it touch the bottom of the kettle because the grains might burn. Ingenious? No. Crafty? Yes.

Chill out.

Down in the Dungeon and ready to ferment. We are using a different yeast this time around, hopefully it kicks off with no issues. (otherwise your ass is grass Shaun)

**UPDATE**: This batch has been mostly consumed. Some bottles were more cloudy than others but all in all it came out great. This pic is pretty horrible, but the color was nice...bit darker than I thought it would be but the taste was a bit lighter than the color would suggest. Very smooth tasting, and Masha thought it was better than all the other store brand beer that was in the house. and if the Russians think its good....its good.

Mt. Cardigan

I dont normally post about hikes but I have to expand the foot print of this blog because i'll be expecting my students to post regularly so I have to step it up as well...or I could just go with the old 'do as i say, not as i do' thing...i'll have to think that one over.

We cruised out to Canaan / Orange, NH to trek up Mt. Cardigan and get the pooch some exposure. I wanted to get Wylee above tree line to add to her "Gnar Rating". (**i dont know exactly what a gnar rating is or exactly how i want to quantify it because i just made that up... possibly more on this later**)


very dog friendly hike, 3 miles round trip...easy up easy down. Although Gina did not agree with my comment about the last .2 miles being easier mentally because you can see the top...she clarifies as easier mentally yes, but physically much steeper.


Wylee loves cliffs, chasing birds riding thermals and crapping in the woods. but then again who doesnt?

in closing: wind makes our hair sexy x 10

EFTA #8 The Pinnacle

This one will go down in the books as a 2h 40ish minute visit to the pain cave.

Two big climbs each lap, that were 100% NOT taylor made for a single speed. I was fighting back cramps starting at about 3/4 through the first lap. After that I just put my head down and suffered through the rest. Thanks to some huge storms that rolled through central NH saturday night all the rocks and roots were real slick. Luckily I didnt have any serious bails although I had plenty of hail mary's that could have ended horribly.

After summiting Coit Mountain there was some very steep descending that I loved. The kind of steep where you are completely behind your saddle, brakes locked and you are still flying. That is the kind of terrain that I can ride better than a lot of other racers, even with a rigid. I passed a few people on that section on each lap and rode it cleanly both times. Then it dumped out onto a less steep rocky/rooty technical descent that shook the crap out of me and most of the people i passed on the steeps passed me back on their full suspension rides.

I passed a lot of bonked souls on my last lap, this race ruined a lot of people. I came in around where I usually do, about 10 minutes out from the rest of the single speed 'pack'. got 6th (AKA last). First and Second in the standings both finished in front of me and I think the way things stand after this race is probably where they will stay. I'll have to decide whether or not I want to drive all the way to Georgetown Maine for the last race in mid-Sept. It's quite a haul and I have third locked with little to no chance of moving up.

So my MTB race season might be over. Huge improvement over last year, and when I add my fork for next year and watch even more MacGyver this off season, I'm gonna take New England by storm (AKA last)

Blue Cross (Blue Shield)

Figured out a name finally. Its like the HMO but not. The Chopper has been put to sleep for now...i know it was just reborn and I made a big deal about it but this frame was cheap and new and I can consolidate parts from two bikes and keep this one and give the PUCH to Ashlee so she can cruise Tewks. Circle of Life.

Thanks to the lovely people at the United States Postal Service there is a slight ding in the head tube, but I was still able to press in the headset cups and cosmetically its barely noticeable so i dont think its gonna be worth the trouble trying to make an insurance claim.

Done...kinda. I'm waiting on some new brakes, but everything else is set. Cables are in place and just need to be attached to the brakes when they get here. I think I will eventually add some racks and maybe fenders and try some light touring trips or maybe some of the extended cross rides coming up next month.

EFTA #7 Fort Rock Revenge

To sum this race up i think ill go with...."I'm getting suspension for next season."

This was probably the most consistently technical course of the season, but it was the kind of technical that is still really fast, and without suspension that roughly equates to feeling like you just got beat up in the parking lot after a push up contest when you get finished with 18 miles.

This was the first time i really felt like riding ironman was holding me back, my legs and heart felt great and i really wanted to let loose but i was going as fast as the pain in my hands and arm joints would allow and as fast as i could manage without crashing. I would have liked to have come in about 10 minutes faster and I think I probably could have even with the terrain but I checked out of this race mentally around mile 14 of 18 and it turned into survival after that. (for a split second on my last lap quitting even crossed my mind, and for anyone who knows me that never happens. luckily my masochistic side immediately starting making fun of me and that was that)

So yeah i'll finish off the season ironman, add that to my bragging rights, and then go buy a fork for next year. Ended up coming in 5th out of 6 finishers (10-12 people started). I am currently in 3rd in the overall standings and i believe I have that spot secured...i.e. even if the guy in 4th wins the next two races and I don't show up I will still have more points than him. There is a chance I could move up but it would require the other two guys to either DNF or no-show.

Now I can start to focus some of my attention on some fun races (pinnacle challenge) and maybe a century ride.

EFTA #6 Bradbury Mountain Enduro

Didn't actually go to this race, but i figured that when i did my next race recap my thousands of readers would notice that i went from EFTA #5 to EFTA #7 and there would be mass pandemonium.

I skipped it for various reasons. A week's vacation in maine with no bike riding to speak of isnt the best prep for the longest race of the season (30 miles). it was an early start with a long drive to get there meaning i would have had to be up and on the road by 6am. not an incredible feat i just wasnt feeling it.

in addition this race draws out a lot of very fast SS racers and i busted my ass at this race last year and only came in 13th scoring no points towards the series final. So i decided to get back on the bike after vacation, get some solid miles in and save my energy for this weekend's race.

Turns out it was a good strategy because i am rested, have gotten some good rides in, and i heard that someone who usually beats me by about 5 mins came in 11th so i probably wouldnt have scored any points again, AND i heard the heat and humidity that day was brutal.

Home Brew....part duex

Sticking with the SquamyBrewLLC organizational goals we have begun another brew in order to have it bottled and ready for consumption at this years narolakerage. I believe this time around we are going with an English Pilsner, a typical english 'pub ale' i guess. Guy who sold it to Jomo said it was a good one to put a lemon slice in which it what we are all about in the summertime here at SquamyBrewLLC.

This brew was much easier than the last kit..dont know if thats a good thing or not. all it was was boiling water, adding malt syrup, and you're done...no grains, no pellet hops. but it is just a light pilsner beer so i guess thats all you need.


Here is the current blow-off tube setup. I went with a bigger tube this time around to try and clear more of the foam so cleaning the carboy will be easier.

Clearing wicked foam guy.

**UPDATE** The beer is bottled and ready to go. Had to prime it with table sugar because the special 'brewer's sugar' that we got in the last kit didn't come in this kit. I read around and some say table sugar is okay some say its not, but thats all i had. Didnt bother taking hydrometer readings this time around...kit says it has potential for 4.5-5% and thats good enough for me. made 54 beers this time around (well 55 but gina cracked the neck off a bottle while capping it with her She-Ra strength).

**UPDATE (again)** I tasted the 2nd batch last night...and I think it will be a good beer for narolakerage. I think the guy who sold the kit to jomo was right and it will probably be pretty good with a lemon or orange wedge. Still didnt have much head on it but hopefully another week of conditioning will take care of that. Its still a bit cloudy but I think i may have screwed up the pour a bit. all in all i think our first batch was better, but for the simplicity of this kit and it being a very light beer i think it came out good.

EFTA #5 The Horror at Harding Hill

"Riders in the past claim that our course combines the best of single and double track riding. Several areas of the course are techincal while others allow you to grind it out."

this was the quote on the race flyer for this course...here is what it should have said:

"Do you love fire roads? Do you love climbing? Is that all you love? would you rather do that than anything else while you are riding a bike? Then come to Harding Hill! (except dont bring a single speed, cause that would suck)"

so yeah i guess technically it does combine double and single track just at about a 90%/10% ratio respectively and several areas are technical, but they only last .25 mile combined and the rest of the race defenitely was a 'grind out'.

I rode pretty well, climbed better than I thought i would late into the race (even though all my leg muscles were cramping something wicked) and came in just over 2 hours, which for about a 20 mile course with that much climbing, I am very happy with. Came in 5th (AKA last, once again jipped by DNF'ers) about 5 minutes behind 4th. Once again i get a bit faster so all is well....

except for my legs which are quickly getting stiff. Tomorrow morning is gonna be awesome. Im looking forward to a few weeks off from racing AND to some sweet R&R up in MAINAH

c'mon

EFTA #4 All Out In Moody Park

Wicked pre-race meltdown guy.

i forgot socks AND my helmet. no idea what was going through my head this morning. socks, not a huge deal i can manage...no helmet = show stopper. lucky for me I have met some of the mtbmind.com guys and since sport was before expert there were a few guys that had already raced but were staying around to watch the experts. So I got a helmet that BARELY fit and was able to race. (many thanks to Dave Michaud for the hook up)

Race itself was fast and dry. I broke 2 hours for the first time on a 18+ mile course at 1h:56m, came in 6th (AKA last)...but i chipped some more time out of the rest of the group and only finished about 10 mins behind some very fast guys. 10 minutes is still a lot, but last year it was 30 minutes so thats good. and i think i might have been a bit faster if it wasnt for some drivetrain issues halfway through my third lap. My chain was clicking real bad and I was worried it was going to snap so I had to baby it in spots, which on a SS doesnt really work, at one point i even stopped for a minute or two trying to fix it.

so yeah im getting faster, but apparently i am also getting retarded. Hopefully lesson has been learned and i wont forget my helmet ever again.

EFTA #3 Assault on Clifford Park

This year was much better than last year as far as course conditions go. Course was primarily dry and the weather was great.

I thought I had a pretty good ride, i cut 20 mins off my time from last year on the same course, which i think is fairly impressive considering how technical this course is and I rode it with suspension last year and without it this year. (my hands are probably the sorest thing on my body right now) We had the biggest SS class i think i have ever seen in my short EFTA racing career. Over 20 SSer's started this race!

race itself was pretty uneventful for me, no major crashes or anything else funny to report so i just cover some quick facts:

Ben Moody is so fast i think he might be an alien.
casualties were very high, i think there was something like 40 DNF's out of around 150 people starting.
Adam was doing awesome but ended up flatting.
i kept my bike working, rode all the technical stuff clean and came in at 2h:15m, give or take a minute, I think only about 15m or so off the winner.
during the race i felt like i was about mid field in the SS class (it was hard to tell with all the traffic on the first lap) but turns out I think I came in sixth (maybe results were kinda still screwy when i left) out of only 7 finishers in the SS class (remember when i said casualties were high? (over 20 SS starters down to 7.....)
this leads me to my next rant: I'm tired of people DNFing and making my results look less impressive than they are. this happened at this race last year as well. I was not 6th out of 7, I was 6th out of 20+. If they couldn't finish that probably means they chose bad lines and flatted....i chose better lines and finished = i beat you and I will include you in the results so that I look more cool. that is all.

EFTA #2 Sterling Sizzler

Watch out....I've got a taste for PODIUM.

Thats right race fans, I came in 3rd. (but dont worry, my streak is intact....there was only 3 of us haha)

I came in 20 minutes after the winner and about 10 after the guy in second and got $15 for my efforts...probably just about paid my gas to get down there. Still showing improvement, i used to come in 40 minutes after the leader.

Course was brutal, guy who won SS was riding a full suspension that was converted. Def the bike you needed for this course. actually a dirt bike would have been perfect which is what these trails were for. Course was highlighted by the mud creek we had to ride UP, with mud puddles that were knee deep in spots, and a 200-300yd gravel fire road climb where when you got to the top you turned right around (literally) and came back down. oh and then there was the rest of the course that shook the shit out of me and was so rocky and rooty that i can safely say i never found a rhythm and probably hike'd a bike for at least 1-2 miles per lap (of a 5mile loop)

needless to say im sore as hell and have some sweet battle scars on my legs, but I could care less cause I scored some awesome points and got my first (default)podium.

From Taiwan w/ Love

Dumpster diving this weekend brought me to another frame in great shape and thanks to all the rain I had plenty of time to get it pretty much completely built up. all it needs now is wheels. Gonna be my fixed gear boston whip since I am trading the other one I built for art.

probably wont ride it a whole hell of a lot but whatevah. its a 'Takara Advantage' all red with white decals and the wheels i bought have yellow (edit:blue) rims. its gonna look real nice and it will probably (edit: defenitely) get stolen in .4 secs in beantown. Its gonna be geared huge 51-16, should be (edit: is) hilarious.

here it is. took it for a test drive around the block and the gear is BURLY. but whatever, my man legs have bent chainrings into 'S' shapes, so i think i can handle it. I really like the way this one came out considering it was a fast, unplanned project. i hope to ride it in boston at least 5 times before it gets stolen....gotta have goals.

The Chopper v3.0? v4.0? I dont even know anymore

okay first a little history on 'The Chopper'. Arguably started as a Specialized FSR full suspension back in 2000 then changed out to a lighter Jamis Durango hardtail in '01. Many of the parts carried over to the new frame. Some, due to compatibility issues, did not. Hence the beginning of its hybrid, frankenstein, chopped up existence.

It had been upgraded over the years continuing the bastardization until finally after repeated manglings of my rear dérailleur i converted it to a jerry rigged single speed (many zipties were used).

It has been recently retired from regular MTB use when i 'upgraded' to a rigid 29er for my race bike. It has been hanging in my basement dormant ever since....and I'm not gonna let the Chopper go out like that. I have recently been introduced to a 'go anywhere, no terrain is unridable, cyclocross-ish' group ride that has the Chopper's name ALLLLLLL OVER IT.

ITS ALLLLIIIIIIIIVVVEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

EFTA #1 Glocester Grind

I came in last and finished 40 minutes behind the 'main group'.

BUUUUUT

I flatted twice and had to run the entire last lap because I was out of tubes. Translation: This race, all though it didnt go very well, demonstrated some promise for my title chances this year. The last lap alone took me 1 hour so I would have been right in the thick of things for sure.

First flat came about 2 miles into the first lap, I was sitting in about 5th or 6th( out of I think 10) having beaten some guys off the line. By that point I had put some time into them as well and I was feeling good. Adam had just caught me and I was going to try and hold his wheel as long as I could to put even more time into them and hopefully catch some people in front of me. Then my front tire went flat. probably took me 10 minutes to fix and i was passed by everyone.

Got back rolling and actually caught 2 of the SS'ers who had passed me while I was fixing my flat. which kind of amazed me because at that point I was sure i was screwed for the rest of the race. so mentally i was feeling pretty good, riding well. first lap took 40 minutes, second lap took 30 minutes, 3rd lap took about another 30-35 and right before the finish of my third lap my rear tire went flat. I was out of tubes and pretty pissed at this point because I was going so well, so in typical 'me' fashion i said screw it and started running. Running turned into walking and i pretty much ran/walked the entire last lap (5 miles). last lap took 1 whole hour and I finished in about 3 hours.

My main rival from last year came in 5th at 2h20m and if you do the math of my laps 40m - flat tire =30m + 30m + 35m + what im assuming probably would have been another 35-40m last lap - having to walk and im in at around 2h20m give or take. This is a dude who beat me by usually around 20 minutes last year.

so officially the race was shitty but promising.

Here is a pic of me I found on the interweb from the race (i believe its from my first lap right after my flat):

And the Huffy Sweepstake winner is....

Brian Moore! (aka Joseph Patrick Moore the Sixth)

There is no before picture because i didnt really change anything. Except for flipping the cruiser bars for that gnarly late 19th early 20th century look. Its an English built Huffy, probably mid to late 60's(?). I rebuilt the headset and the front hub because i think somewhere in this bikes past someone used glue instead of grease, but they are both working great now. This used to be a three speed (Sturmey-Archer rear hub) but it wasnt working right so I took the cable off and now it will just run as a single speed.

Brian will most likely get all the UNH girls while riding this around Durham, it is that bad ass.