10.12.2016 | 2:36 pm
I’m still away from home, working a lot of hours…and riding very little. (OK, none.)
For some reason, when I can’t ride much, I tend to think about riding even more. And — and this is the part The Hammer needs to worry about — I start thinking about my dream bike more often. I ask myself, “If I could have any bike at all, what would it be?”
Or sometimes I start thinking about some kind of riding I would like to try — bikepacking or track racing — and my dream bike dreaming will run down that path.
I can’t be the only one who dreams about dream bikes. Can I?
Well, I put together this little survey here to find out. Take a couple minutes to answer it if you would be so kind (it really shouldn’t take you more than a couple minutes).
There’s no trickery here — I’m not collecting any info about you, much less any personal info. In other words, you’re not going to get a call from a bike company if you happen to answer certain questions in certain ways.
Next week, once I get back, I’ll share the interesting bits of how you answer.
OK, enough caveating and preambling. Get started!
Comments (37)
09.29.2016 | 11:38 am
A Note from Fatty: If you came here hoping for The Monster’s LT100 Race Report, Part 2, well…you’re going to have to wait for a while. She’s a full-time college student and the soonest she’s going to be able to write part 2 will be during this weekend. I’m guessing part 3 (because I’m guessing this is at least a three-parter) might be yet another week away.
I’m probably the only person in the world who gets outrageously busy, unexpectedly. Right? Oh, that happens to you too? Good. You understand why I’ve disappeared for the past several days.
Let me assure you, though: the registration for the 100 Miles of Nowhere 2016 edition will be coming soon (I know, I thought it would be this week, but it’s going to have to open this Monday instead).
Here, let me show you what the t-shirt will look like:
And since that GPS is a little bit tiny, here’s a close-up of the fields:
Between the old-time horror movie title treatment and the GPS fields, I feel like this is the most accurate 100 MoN t-shirt, ever.
But I haven’t shown you everything about it. Further, I am coyly happy to announce that the part I haven’t revealed is probably something you won’t have expected. And it’s not the back of the t-shirt, either.
I will tell you that this will be the least-expensive 100MoN ever. And that there won’t be much (OK, any) swag beyond the t-shirt. This year, it’s going to simply be about raising money for Camp Kesem. It won’t cost you much, you’ll get your t-shirt soon, and more of your money will go to Camp Kesem, instead of overhead.
So, watch for the registration to go up this Monday, and mark November 11 (the Saturday during the Camp Kesem Leadership Summit) for doing your ride (of course, you can do it later or sooner…that’s the beauty of the event).
NEW! Paceline Podcast
Of course you know that I participate in the Red Kite Prayer Paceline Podcast. And I love every single episode. But I especially love this one, because at the very end, you get to hear Duke go completely nuts when the doorbell rings.
And also you get to hear me contemplate how weird it is to find that I am now blocked by Lance Armstrong on Twitter.
Listen to The Paceline below:
You can also get more details at Red Kite Prayer, or subscribe on iTunes. Or both. Yes, now that I think about it, I definitely recommend both.
New Pinnacle Podcast
I’m also working with Yuri Hauswald on the GU Pinnacle Podcast — inspiration and information from athletes and experts at GU. In this episode, we talk with Magda Boulet, who has done a lot of inspiring things. Like, an insane number of insipiring things.
She’s represented in the Olympics — where she endured tragedy and came back stronger. She’s won the Western States 100. She’s been the NA Ultra Runner of the Year.
And most recently, she’s clobbered the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB), the toughest, most prestigious 100-mile trail race of them all.
When she’s not destroying the field on the trail, Magda leads Innovation & Product Development at GU Energy Labs. Magda is an incredibly smart and inspiring athlete. You’re gonna love this episode of the GU Energy Pinnacle Podcast:
You can listen to it above, download it directly, or subscribe on iTunes.
What About the FattyCast?
You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t released an episode of The FattyCast in a while. That’s because I just…don’t have time, what with a new job and working on three other podcasts.
Will there be a new episode of The FattyCast? Ever? Honestly, I don’t know. I really liked doing that podcast, but my life is pretty full right now.
What About Regular Posts?
I have stuff I want to write for this blog: a post about gloves I love (really!), a post about my new road bike (hint: it’s not new and it’s not a road bike), and a writeup about the Crusher in The Tushar (I’m guessing it’s about a five-episode story, and is hardly at all about me, and is therefore a lot more interesting).
And In Conclusion
Come back Monday morning, ready to register for the 100 Miles of Nowhere. It won’t cost an arm nor a leg. (In fact, it will cost $39.95 including shipping.) And it will do a lot of good — I’ve seen myself what an amazing charity Camp Kesem is — and you’ll get an awesome t-shirt.
Huzzah!
Comments (27)
08.15.2016 | 6:37 am
A Note from Fatty About the “Choose How Fatty Rides Leadville” Fundraiser: I’m incredibly excited to announce that the “What Should Fatty’s Leadville Focus Be / Monster Vs Hammer” fundraiser was a massive success. Here’s how the results went:
So I changed my registration and rode my singlespeed as The Hammer’s domestique. When I begin the race report (tomorrow, probably — although I have a lot of day-job work to get caught up on today, so no promises), there’ll be a lot more about that.
What was more interesting was where the competition between The Monster and The Hammer wound up:
This wound up being an incredibly tight race. Although it should be known that it wasn’t an exact tie. Here’s what the chart looks like when I don’t have it round to the nearest percentage point:
With only one percentage point separating them, well, it couldn’t have been much closer.
And with a total of $4210 raised for NICA, this fundraiser won no matter how you look at the pie charts.
2016 LT100MTB Race Report, Part 1: Family Photos from Last Week
Over the next several blog posts, I’m going to tell the story of The Hammer’s and my Leadville 100 (and I’ll ask The Hammer and The Monster to write their own reports, too).
But before there was the race, there was a week of vacation. And before that, there was a week when I was in Ireland for my day job. So today, I’m just going to catch you up on some of that before jumping to the big drama at the starting line.
How will I catch you up on so much, in just one post? With a bunch of captioned photographs, of course.
The Hammer and I wanted the twins to be able to participate in some of the rides before the race, so we surprised them with new Felt Surplus 70s. Just before I took off for Ireland, we showed them off to the Twins, and then The Monster was going to take them for a ride. I showed the girls how the big volume tires could take a hit by just riding straight up a curb without lifting a wheel. One of the girls followed my lead…and immediately got a pinch flat. The thing is, we had not spare tubes and I had to go to the airport right then. So The Hammer and The Monster got to learn how to change big 27.5+ tires in a trial by fire. To their credit, they got it done and the bikes haven’t had another flat since.
A newspaper from Ireland, to prove I was there.
I didn’t read this article, but am pretty sure I would have enjoyed it.
I got home from Ireland late at night, got some sleep, got up, and it was time to pack the truck. But since six of us were going (The Hammer, The Monster, The Programmer [formerly the IT Guy], The Twins, me) and The Hammer and I were each bringing two bikes (just to be safe), we needed to take two vehicles. Here’s my truck, loaded with about half our gear and 3/4 of our bikes. The Programmer’s truck held the balance of bikes and gear. Big families have a lot of stuff.
While walking around town in Leadville, I stopped in Melanzana, where I usually buy a beanie or hoodie. There, I saw Floyd Landis as he was leaving the building. I wanted to chase after him, but The Hammer stopped me, telling me to leave the man in peace. But I tweeted about seeing him, and he replied, telling me to swing by Periodic Brewing (Pb, get it?) and say hi. I did, and we wound up hanging out and having an incredibly interesting, heartfelt, honest, and fun conversation.
A mural on the side of a building in Leadville. I’m not 100% sure I approve of where The Hammer’s got her hand. Nor the Monster’s for that matter.
The Hammer, The Monster, and I tended to coordinate outfits when we pre-rode sections of the race course, and over the first few days, we rode about 75% of it, so The Monster had a great idea of what she’d be experiencing. And we took a lot of photos, too. Here we are at the top of the Columbine Mine turnaround point. All smiles right now.
I’ve been to Leadville twenty times now, but this is the first time I’ve ever been on the awesome hiking trail right by the Fish Hatchery. Combining the race with a family vacation was an awesome idea.
Car and Couch strike heroic poses upon a rock of considerable size.
Posing behind the fish at the Fish Hatchery. Not an actual fish.
Skipping rocks at Turquoise Lake. As it turns out, kids will skip rocks for hours if you let them. Which we did.
We got to town right as a racer in the Leadville Boom Days Burro Race was finishing. I’d explain what a burro race is, but I really have no idea. Good for him, though.
One of the things I love about getting to Leadville a week before the race is the Boom Days street fair. And street fairs mean street food, which include bacon-wrapped sausage and fried turkey legs.
We visited Frisco (close to Leadville), bringing our bikes, because there’s a beautiful bike path alongside I70. Colorado is so beautiful.
The Monster and Couch, taking a break during our ride.
We rode the Leadville train, which goes a whopping 5mph, for about eight miles. I stayed awake for the first half of the ride, but on the return trip took a little nap. It was glorious.
One of my favorite moments from the whole trip was when we rode the ziplines. Six of them, from the top of a mountain down to the highway.
Car coming in for a landing.
Leadville has a great bike path loop — the Mineral Loop, I think it’s called — that goes around the town. Our friend Rohit was nice enough to join us and act as ride photographer, and now I’m pretty sure we’ve got our Christmas Card photo nailed.
Or maybe this should be our Christmas Card photo.
Finally, of course we got a photo of us at the famous “We Love Leadville — Great Living at 10,200 Feet” sign that greets you as you enter the city.
Honestly, I believe this was the best, most relaxing family vacation I’ve ever been on.
And then the race began.
Which is where I’ll pick up in the next installment of this race report.
Comments (14)
07.19.2016 | 11:48 am
A Note from Fatty: My Rockwell Relay report will resume on Thursday.
I’m incredibly excited to show off, start selling, and — this is especially awesome — start shipping immediately — the new Fat Cyclist gear. I’m doing things a lot differently than I ever have this time. Here’s how and why:
- Smaller quantities: I really don’t want to beg my readers to buy stuff from me. I’d much rather make too few of things than have to do a big ol’ fire sale later.
- Different look for men and women’s gear: You’ll notice the men’s and women’s designs are completely and utterly different this time. This has allowed me to not have design compromises for either, and has resulted in the two best-looking designs I’ve ever had.
- Available now: This stuff is in (mostly) in-stock. If you order today, we’ll ship tomorrow. However, the women’s gear has turned out to be a lot more popular than I expected, and I’ve re-ordered more. So depending on the size you order and when you order, you may need to wait to get your gear ’til August, in which case your order will say so.
A Few Notes About Questions, Shipping Costs and Availability
- If You Have Questions About Sizing or Shipping or Whatever: Please email ryan@dnacycling.cc.
- Shipping is a flat fee of $5.95 within the US; $25.00 outside the US.
- For Men’s Gear: we will ship immediately.
- For Women’s Gear, we will ship immediately for in-stock items, but will ship in August for items noted as (August). If any items in an order are noted for August delivery, all your items will ship in August.
This is, without question, the second-best-looking Fat Cyclist jersey ever made (many women have let me know that the women’s jersey is better-looking), and it’s also the absolutely best-made, best-fitting one. It’s a light, comfortable material, which breathes nicely but is not a pure race-cut mesh, which means you can wear it from Spring clear into Autumn.
This is DNA’s “Century” cut, which means it’s a little looser-fitting than the race cut. For those of you who are comparing to recent Twin Six sizing, this means DNA Century cut fits a little looser than the equivalent Twin Six pattern. More to the point, I fit fine in a Medium DNA Century jersey, but need to wear Large in Twin Six.
This is going to be your very favorite jersey, and it’s the one I’ll be wearing at the Leadville 100, as well as on most every training ride.
Details:
- Fabric: Hydro Fit
- Respire Moisture Management
- Ergo Stretch Performance
- Front Comfort Banding
- Full Hidden Zip
- 3 Full Back Pockets
- Audio Port
- Relaxed Fit
- Made in Italy
Want to Complete the Kit?
Until I tried out DNA bib shorts, I was a Rapha bibs guy. Sure they’re expensive, but the fit and high-quality chamois were worth the spend. Here’s the thing, though: I haven’t bought any Rapha bibs lately, because I no longer need to.
These Race Bib Shorts are that good.
They’re incredibly comfortable, they’re absurdly light, and the chamois is simply outrageous. Honestly, at less than half the price of an equivalent pair of Rapha bibs, these are every bit as good. And of course, they go with the new Fat Cyclist jersey a whole lot better.
A Note About Sizing: These fit approximately the same as your old Twin Six shorts (but are about twice as good, to be totally honest, and the chamois isn’t even comparable).
Details:
- Fabric: Performance Lycra With Miti Shield Endurance
- 4 Cm Compression Banding
- Smart Panel Design
- Ergo Body Positioning
- Suspension Braces
- DNA HD Ergo, 3 + Hr Chamois
- Made in italy
OK, I want to be completely honest: these are plain black bib shorts. No big Fat Cyclist logo, no bright colors. Just — quite simply — the best deal in top-of-the-line bib shorts you’re ever going to get.
For one thing, these bibs go with every jersey you own, not just with the new Fat Cyclist jersey (although these bibs definitely go with the Fat Cyclist jersey).
More importantly, these bibs are just off-the-charts good. Incredible chamois, beautiful, comfortable material and fit. And of course, made in Italy.
Even if you get a pair of the Fat Cyclist bibs, you should probably get yourself a pair of the Asolo bibs for the days you don’t wear the Fat Cyclist jersey.
Details:
- Fabric: Compression Power Base Lycra
- Anatomic Cut and Pattern
- 5 cm Compression Banding
- Integrated Suspension Braces
- Cytech Multi D Comp Carbonia 5 + HR Chamois
These are bold socks, and not everyone is going to have the confidence to wear them. If you just can’t make yourself do it, that’s OK. You could wear the Blue Summer Sock or the Yellow Summer sock (or one of each, which is my preference) and still look great.
But if you’re remotely daring, I will tell you this: the striped socks look awesome with the Fat Cyclist Men’s shorts and jersey.
Details
- Double Welt Top for Comfort and Fit
- Arch Support Reduces Foot Fatigue and Increases Circulation
- Smooth Toe-Seam Adds Comfort
- Mesh Instep Aids in Breathability
- 88% Poly / 8% Nylon / 2% Elastic / 2% Lycra
These Socks go amazingly well with the Men’s Fat Cyclist kit, but they go even better if you wear one blue one and one yellow one at the same time. Sure, that means you’ll have to buy two pairs of socks, but you know you’re going to lose one sock before too long anyway. By buying a pair of Blue socks and a pair of Yellow socks, you’ll get to watch with interest to find out whether in the end you lose both of one color first, or one of each. Exciting!
Details
- Double Welt Top for Comfort and Fit
- Arch Support Reduces Foot Fatigue and Increases Circulation
- Smooth Toe-Seam Adds Comfort
- Mesh Instep Aids in Breathability
- 88% Poly / 8% Nylon / 2% Elastic / 2% Lycra
Every cycling woman (my wife, my daughters, my sister, my niece, friends) I know tells me this is the best-looking Fat Cyclist jersey ever made, and it’s also the absolutely best-made, best-fitting one. It’s a light, comfortable material, which breathes nicely but is not a pure race-cut mesh, which means you can wear it from Spring clear into Autumn.
This is DNA’s “Century” cut, which means it’s a little looser-fitting than the race cut. For those of you who are comparing to recent Twin Six sizing, this means DNA Century cut fits a little looser than the equivalent Twin Six pattern. More to the point, I fit fine in a Medium DNA Century jersey, but need to wear Large in Twin Six.
This is going to be your very favorite jersey, and it’s the one The Hammer and, the Monster are wearing at the Leadville 100, as well as on most every training ride.
Details:
- Fabric: Hydro Fit
- Respire Moisture Management
- Ergo Stretch Performance
- Front Comfort Banding
- Full Hidden Zip
- 3 Full Back Pockets
- Audio Port
- Relaxed Fit
Want to Complete the Kit?
These shorts look great — I mean, just look at them — but they’re more than just great-looking. The Hammer tells me that these shorts don’t bind at the waist, the chamois is super-comfortable, and of course it’s a lot easier to take care of peeing than it is with a pair of bibs.
Also, The Hammer would like me to let you know that she wear a Small (while she normally would wear a Medium), because she has no butt. This is worth pointing out, I guess, because The Monster wears a Medium…because evidently she still has a butt. You have no idea how uncomfortable I am talking about my wife and daughter’s butts.
Details
- Fabric: Performance Lycra with Miti Shield Endurance
- 4 Cm Compression Banding
- Yoga Waist Banding
- Smart Panel Design
- Ergo Body Positioning
- DNA Ladies HD Ergo, 3 + HR Chamois
Want to Complete the Kit?
The Women’s Fat Cyclist kit is bold, blue and beautiful…and these socks bring that look to a whole new level. I know, you didn’t even know there is another level. There is another level, though, and you’ll almost certainly reach it by getting these socks.
Details
- Double Welt Top for Comfort and Fit
- Arch Support Reduces Foot Fatigue and Increases Circulation
- Smooth Toe-Seam Adds Comfort
- Mesh Instep Aids in Breathability
- 88% Poly / 8% Nylon / 2% Elastic / 2% Lycra
And now, just some photos of my family, friends, and me wearing the new gear:
The Hammer and me on Mt. Nebo, wearing the (not for sale) race-cut version of the men’s jersey and Asolo shorts
Annnd…the view from the rear.
Ben, on the attack.
Lindsey and The Hammer, post-Crusher.
The Hammer runs alongside The Monster at the Crusher finish line. Note: Froome totally copied The Hammer, who started the whole “running to the finish line in biking shoes” trend.
Almost there!
Comments (19)
07.7.2016 | 7:48 am
A Note from Fatty: World Bicycle Relief is doing its annual dollar-for-dollar July fundraiser, this year focusing on bikes for Malawi students.
Take a moment to check out this incredible program, and be sure to donate. This is not only a charity where your money does immediate good in a lasting way, but it does double immediate good. And that’s incredible.
2016 Rockwell Relay Race Report, Part 7: No, You Go On Without Me.
You’ve all been very patient. I’ve promised you for six posts now that things were going to go completely off the rails during this race, and you’ve been very patient as I told what has been — apart from the slowness I exhibited during my leg of the race — an absolutely stellar racing of the Rockwell Relay.
No errors.
No mechanicals.
No poorly-executed strategy.
Just a family team, having fun while more or less eating our competitions’ lunch.
Well, all of that’s over, starting now.
Today the whole thing goes pear-shaped. Off the rails. Jeapordized. In a way that could be both very injurious and very expensive.
And, as you might expect, it’s all my fault.
Hi and Goodbye
One of the things I love about The Hammer is the intensity she brings to racing: I understand it and feel like it’s one of the things that ties us together. When we race, we race hard.
So I know that she’s not going to to slow down to chat when we pass by her, yelling encouragement. I know she’ll take the time to smile, but not slow down.
When she’s riding, she’s riding. There’s a reason “This ain’t no time for jibber-jabber” has become known as her catchphrase.
So after loading Ben into the van and driving forward to catch up with her, I wasn’t surprised when she simply shook her head and gave us a “thumbs-up” when we hollered, “Need anything?” at her.
Hey, it had only been ten or fifteen minutes since she had begun her leg of the race.
Hi and Goodbye, Again
We piled back into the van and passed her on the narrow, climbing canyon road.
And, like countless times before, the hunt was on. And by “hunt,” I mean we began hunting for the next possible place for us to pull over on the side of the road.
In some parts of the race — the wide, flat desert parts — you find places to pull over all the time. In this part of the race, however, I knew from experience that pullouts were few and far between.
Still, in a few miles we found a good one. We pulled over off the side of the road, going forward so at least one other race support vehicle could slot in behind us. (It was rare, this early in the race (just the fourth leg), that you’d be the only vehicle stopped and supporting a racer.)
I left the car running so the air conditionning could keep the inside of the van cool; we didn’t expect to be staying in this place long. All three of us piled out of the van and stood at the side of the road, watching for The Hammer.
Within a few minutes, we saw her. Just flying up the road. I’ve become good at reading The Hammer’s body language on the bike, and could tell: she was feeling great. Strong, fast, focused.
“What can we get you?” I hollered?
“Cold water at the next stop!” she yelled back. Not a surprise: in heat like this (I had noted that the outside temperature had just clicked over to 100 degrees, and there was a very mild tailwind, making it feel like a still, dry sauna to the rider), cold water is the best treat you could ever hope for.
One More Goodbye
I began walking back to the van when Lindsey had a suggestion. “Let’s wait for the Beauties and the Beasts rider to go by, so next time we see Lisa we can give her a split.”
A great idea. I knew The Hammer would like to know how she was doing against our competition, the “Beauties and the Beasts” (BatB) team.
Lindsey started the stopwatch on her phone, and the three of us continued staring down the road for a couple minutes.
Then the van began rolling away.
Certainty
I saw the motion of the van out of the corner of my eye, and I didn’t understand, at first. Then, realizing the van was rolling forward on its own, I ran at top speed to the driver door.
The car seemed to be accelerating, rolling toward a slope and then a six-foot dropoff into concrete ditch leading to a pipe, where rainwater could run under the road.
I managed to open the door, hoping to press the brake with my hand.
But even as I did this, I knew I wasn’t going to make it in time. I knew the van was going to go down the bank, then plummet nose-first for a six-foot drop into a concrete floor.
I won’t say that time slowed down for me, because it didn’t. However, I will say that in the half-moment while desperately tried to save the van, I had plenty of time to think about how this was my fault. How this was the final moment before the van — and probably everything in it or attached to it (including tens of thousands of dollars in road bikes) was totaled. How The Hammer was off on her own. Most of all, how I was just not going to get to the brake in time.
I don’t know how I had time to think all these things, but I promise: I did.
Ninja
What I didn’t realize, however, was that I was not the only one trying to rescue the runaway van.
Lindsey had seen it start rolling away, too.
While I had dashed for the driver’s door, however, Lindsey had run around the passenger side, where the side door was open.
She dove through.
The van accelerated.
She scrambled to the front.
The van began tilting down into the ditch bank.
And as I was opening the driver’s door and having guilt-laden epiphanies, I yelled, “It’s going over!”
Lindsey made one perfect kick at the brake.
The van skidded. Then — to my astonishment — it stopped.
All was well.
In a Predicament
No, just kidding. Everything was totally not well. Everything was absolutely completely the opposite of well.
Things were, in short, unwell.
The van was tipping nose first down a steep ditch bank, literally inches from going over a short-but-effective concrete cliff. It was tipping so steeply, in fact, that the rear-left wheel was high in the air. About two feet in the air, I’d guess.
Let me show you how things looked, van-wise.
I know, it’s grainy. But it’s the best we’ve got. We weren’t thinking about photos at the time.
Ben hung on the back of the bike rack, using his weight as leverage — maybe it’s what kept the van from sliding over, I don’t know.
“Let me take the brake!” I yelled. “You get out!”
“I can’t take my foot off the brake!” Lindsey yelled back.
She was right.
“What do we do?” I asked, my mind completely blank.
And it occurs to me now: it would be practically criminal to not end this installment of the race report here, when — finally! — I have an actual, literal cliffhanger.
Comments (43)
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