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 What is an S24O? It is an acronym that stands for Sub 24-hour Overnight bicycle camping trip, coined by Rivendell Bicycle Works! I say that this was my first successful S24O because, last year, I attempted one with a couple of friends and we made some poor decisions. I’ll leave it at that for now. :-)
Anyway, my friend Travis Poppe and I decided to give it another shot this year and this time we were going to keep it simple, easy, and fun. We decided to camp at the Goodenough camp grounds near McCammon, Idaho and just bring along the bare minimums. Ok, actually, I went a little crazy and also packed 6 cans of beer as well. After all, the destination was only about 30 miles away.
 We set out after work on Friday, August 29 at around 6:30 pm. We met up at Travis’ apartment and we lifted each other’s bikes to compare packing weights; both bikes felt very heavy even though we really didn’t pack a ton of stuff. Cycling toward McCammon felt very easy to us, however; we thought it may be due to the fact that our momentum was enhanced by our mass. By the time we began cycling up Goodenough Road in McCammon, darkness had fallen and we were very glad for Travis’ hub dynamo and uber-bright headlight on his Surly Long Haul Trucker touring bicycle to light the way. Upon reaching the campsite, we used Travis’ little flashlight to set up the tent, drink our much-welcomed beer, and eat our dinner. As we ate we called a friend and chatted with them about our experience so far.
During the night we heard an owl constantly as well as the occasional yapping of some coyotes in the nearby hills. I slept very well, but Travis didn’t fare so well. Between his insomnia and the owl, he only got about 4 hours.
The next morning we walked around the area a bit and Travis shot a short movie with his camera. We took everything down, packed up, and cycled further up Goodenough Road to check out the other camping areas. Then we cycled into McCammon to get some much needed coffee! After that we were off back to Pocatello. Again and again we exclaimed about how much of a perfect success this S24O was. Especially compared to last years. But that is for another blog entry sometime… :-p
Here is the photo gallery of this expedition as well as a movie that Travis made at the camp site!
 Just about every Sunday morning, my friend Travis and I go on a long-ass bike ride. However, last Sunday the 27th of July, he wasn’t feeling well, so I went off by myself. And here is how it went.
After learning that Travis wasn’t going anywhere that morning, I thought that I would try the ride around American Falls Reservoir I’d been planning. Or at least I’d scope out the territory a little. So, I headed for Fort Hall to find Ferry Butte Road which is the southern most bridge across the Snake River on the north end of the reservoir. As you can see on the map, I kind of wandered around before finding it. But, hey, it’s fun to wander and just see what there is to see! There aren’t very many landmarks out there, except for the one hill that looks like a lump in the vast Snake River Plain: Ferry Butte. It was how I knew I was in the general correct area, but I was on the wrong side of the butte. Doh! There was a bit of straw on the side of the road that I ran my bicycle through merrily, and shortly thereafter I got my first goathead thorn deflation. Actually, thorns were stuck in both of my tires and so I had to repair both tubes. This wasn’t supposed to happen since my tires were supposedly made with Kevlar. Obviously the Kevlar wasn’t thick enough. After making repairs and chatting with a local farmer who came to my aid, I carried on. Note to self: stay out of the debris on the side of the road!
At the Ferry Butte crossing, there’s a parking lot and restroom where people park and can enjoy the scenery or go boating on the river. After taking a look around (and finding that my camera batteries were dead), I continued west and then turned left on Hilltop road towards Rockford.
Hilltop road seems to go on forever, but it is very smooth and I had a south wind pushing me to an easy 25 mph. The houses along this road look very pretty and picturesque and they got even prettier when I turned right onto Thomas road. Lovely landscaping and giant homes; it made me want to move to Blackfoot… almost ;-) After cycling over the bridge and going through a bit of Blackfoot, I was on Highway 91 going back to Pocatello. And then I felt the familiar wobble in my rear tire. Gah! Another flat. Sigh. This time I angrily pulled my patch-polka-dotted tube out, stuffed it into my trunk rack and replaced it with a brand new tube. I was growing tired of flats on this journey.
I cycled on toward Pocatello at a slow pace of 15 mph, pushing against the south wind. I got into the drops and spun at a low gear, then shifted into my highest gear, stood up and do a slow cadence to rest my weary quads and my sore hiney; lather, rinse, repeat. Soon I was in more familiar territory on the northern end of Hiline Road. I saw a hill ahead so I shifted up, stood up, and began climbing the small hill. My balance began getting wobbly and I thought to myself, “gah, I must be bonking or something” and then it dawned upon me that my front tire was going soft. Yes, another frickin’ goathead thorn. I swore to myself as I performed the repair that I didn’t care what it cost, I was going to buy the most expensive nuclear-bomb-proof tires on the market. I mean, really, I had taken great care to stay away from road-side debris for the last 40 freakin’ miles and I was still getting flats. As a matter of fact, the only place around Pocatello that I seem to get flat is in the Fort Hall Reservation area. Hmph.
By this time, I was hot and pissed. The temperature outside had risen to about 95 degrees and I just wanted to go home and drink a gallon or two of cold beer. Luckily I made it home without anymore flats. I drank a few refreshing beers, took a shower, and then drank some more. Ah, there’s nothing like soothing sore muscules with a hot shower of lots of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Mmm, life is good.
P.S. My trip meter on my bicycle computer said 68 miles at the end of the trip. Also, for reference, the wussy tires of which I speak in this article are Hutchinson Quartz Kevlar tires (700×23) that I bought from nashbar.com on sale for like $9.99 a peice. Yeah, for that price, no wonder they didn’t perform the best agains the evil thorns. In the past, I’ve purchased Specialized Armadillo tires from a local bike shop for about $35 a peice and I never got a single flat in those tires for thousands of miles of riding.
As I have stated in previous posts, I love my bicycle basket. It works great for shopping, taking a lunch to work in a cold-food bag, and other various package hauling. Recently I discovered that the basket fits a 24-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon perfectly! Here’s some photographs I took of it:
  
Cycling around with 20 pounds of beer on the front of your bike takes a little bit of finesse. Steering feels heavy and slower and I wouldn’t recommend whipping around any corners or performing any other tricks while hauling heavy objects. Also, as you can see in the photos, I have a bungee cord strapped firmly over the top of the beer since hitting bumps tends to toss things out of the basket. However, this is a very convenient means of hauling stuff around without having to fire up the family sedan. Save money, stay fit, and enjoy your beer!
 Just when I think I’ve conquered all the toughest road climbs in the area, I meet a longer, steeper road. But I guess that’s life in the Rocky Mountain Range, aye? That and I’m pretty new to cycling compared to many people I know :-) Inkom, Idaho is on the west side of the Portneuf Range which contains Bonneville Peak and the Pebble Creek Ski Area. Green Canyon Road is the road that goes up to the ski area and this is the road that I set out to climb two weekends ago. I didn’t quite understand what lay before me!
A friend of mine told me that the road turned to gravel at some point so I decided to take my trusty mountain bike. After cycling to Inkom, I refilled my water bottles at the local park (Glenn Park Field) and continued on to Green Canyon Road via US Highway 91 and Inkom Road. Upon entering Green Canyon Road, I felt that I knew this place and almost immediately I recognized it as the place my mother grew up. I remember her showing me the house and the pasture so many years before and I stopped to take some shots of the house. As I continued my cycling, I was shifting down, shifting back up and standing up, and doing every other technique I knew to keep pushing on at a decent rate. Either I was tired or this road is pretty friggin’ steep; later I found a sign that proved that the latter was true!
 The area is pretty scenic and green, thus the road name. I passed forrest and pastures and felt like I was in Hobbitville or something. After pausing to take some snapshots of some birdhouse art (see the gallery), it was confirmed that I was indeed in the land of Hobbits. A pretty cool work of art and congrats to whoever built it! After pausing for a rest and a granola bar, I came upon a sign that said “12% grade 2.2 miles” and that confirmed for me that this was one of the steepest roads I’d ever cycled on.
After getting to the part of this road that begins switchbacking up the mountains, I realized that I needed to get back home since I promised Emily I’d be back by 2:00 pm and the time was nearly 1:00. I knew this probably wouldn’t be a problem because I’d probably break the sound barrier on the downhill. And the downhill was absolutely exhilarating, hauling ass down the snaking road. Lots of fun. I recommend this ride to anyone who loves a good hillclimb!
 Commuting by bicycle to work everyday is a great way to get into shape, save a ton of cash on gasoline, and emit less pollution. I love riding to work everyday and it seems to get more enjoyable everyday. There’s nothing like getting some endorphins flowing while feeling the wind flowing over you, smelling the sweet morning scents in the air and waving to other cyclists commuting to work. It is the perfect way to start your day. However, as you continue your cycle commuting lifestyle, you find ways of making your commute more useful and enjoyable.
 One of the best investments I’ve ever made is buying a Wald Bicycle Basket! When cycling home after work, I like to stop by a local grocery store and pickup some ingredients for dinner, beer, or both. Previously I had been carrying my stuff home by cramming it all into my small trunk rack, but I soon realized that better solutions had been invented for transporting items by bicycle. I had seen bicycle baskets before on old bicycles and in movies (think Elmira Gulch’s bicycle in the Wizard of Oz) but you really don’t see them very often nowadays. Searching Google’s Product Search, however, brings up quite a few good deals.
After measuring the interior distance between my drop handle bars, I purchased the Wald 198GB Multi-Fit Basket from one of the Google search results. I bought this model since it is the most versatile of all the baskets as far as getting it to fit on your bike. My drop handlebars were just barely wide enough to fit this basket, by the way, so make sure you measure carefully.
 And as you can see from the photos, this basket works great for transporting quite a load of groceries. I decided to buy a six-pack of my favorite beer, Pilsner Urquell, to christen my new bicycle accessory. I quickly found that I needed to buy some bungee cords to keep things from bouncing out of the basket, and I also found that the basket I bought can hold a lot more than a tiny six-pack. On my next ride, I bought a couple of six-packs and rode home fine with them (didn’t have a chance to shoot a shot of that, sorry folks). On grocery ride number three, I bought a couple of large bottles of wine and some frozen veggies, also part of the gallery. Are you seeing a pattern here? Yeah, I’m a cyclist who loves his beer and wine :-)
Today, I use my basket every day to carry my lunch to work in a cold-food pack that fits perfectly in my basket and a few of my co-workers have asked where they can get one. Just remember, get the black painted models if you don’t want your bike to look too feminine! And be extra careful when you’ve loaded up some heavy items into your basket since the bikes handles differently. But, don’t worry, you get used to it quickly. It’s a snap.
Happy cyclo-shopping!
On Wednesday, May 28, I got a mass email from Dave Hachey, the guy currently running the local cycling club (Idaho Cycling Enthusiasts, http://www.idahocycling.com/) reminding all the club members that the first Scout Mountain Hill Climb was going to take place that evening at 6:30 pm. I was excited about this because I actually had the time to participate in this event! Yeah, my life’s been pretty busy lately… somehow that never changes very often, either. :-)
I dashed home early from work, donned my cycling clothes, stretched, and headed off to Scout Mountain on my road racing bicycle. I thought to myself that most of the racers would probably drive to the event, since it is a few miles south of town, but I always enjoy cycling to an event if I can. Cycling is just fun, whether you are racing, cruising, shopping around town, commuting to work, or trail riding. Also, I knew that I sure as heck wasn’t going to set any records, this being my first cycling season, so getting to the starting line fresh probably wasn’t going to help much. I probably shouldn’t even bother participating in races, but I think they are fun and they are a heck of a good workout. And in a small town like Pocatello, everyone is encouraged to participate as much as possible in community activities, since activities like this are lucky to have a handful of participants.
Rain was predicted for the evening, and this actually made it more exciting since it would be interested to see how things turned with the weather. While cycling to the starting point, it began to steadily rain, but the temperature was high enough that it wasn’t very bothersome at all. After getting to the Cherry Springs parking lot near Scout Mountain, I saw a few familiar faces, put my name on the race list, got my number pinned to my jersey, and continued warming up by riding along the roads around the starting point, even though the 8 or so miles I cycled to get to the race was plenty of warm-up time! While dawdling around waiting for the race to start, I noticed that I was the only one with a “granny gear” (the #3 small chain-ring) on my bike. I really don’t mind showing my naivety, so I exclaimed to another contestant, “wow, I think I’m the only one here with a granny gear!” and he replied, “yes… just remember not to use it!” I gulped.
Soon, the lady coordinating the race (Smitty Faure was her name I believe), began taking the roll call and then the first contestant was off, and then the next and the next in 1 minute increments or so. I was the 4th person off, and later on I was really glad of this since if I had been one of the last people to go, I would have held up the race coordinators waiting for my slow ass to finish ;-) After starting, I kept a pretty grueling pace (for me, anyway) and was determined not to let the guy behind me overtake me… even though I knew it was probably going to happen.
Next, a couple of the racers behind me had overtaken me, including the 60-something guy with the big, white chops-style beard… yeah, that guy is seriously hardcore. Soon, I was seriously getting exhausted… about midway, actually. I was alternating from shifting-up-stand-up to shift-down-pedal-fast… this is my own method of working both aerobic and anaerobic systems without fatiguing either… even though both were pretty danged fatigued by now. And at the same time I was pretty proud of myself: I was in the best condition of my life and I knew I was doing something that a year ago I couldn’t do. So I trudged on…. More cyclists passed me, each of them saying something like “good job” or “hey” briefly. By this time, I didn’t really care, I only wanted to finish this torturous race! I had ridden this road before at much slower pace, so I had an idea of how much further I had to go.
Soon, I could hear the folks at the finish line and then they were in sight! I gave it one last push, crossed the line, laid my bike down, and walked around catching my breath. After a few gulps of water, I put on my windbreaker and headed down the long and winding road off to home. All I could think of was a nice hot shower and eating the equivalent of a full-size cow. On the way home, Sam Krieg hollered at me from the passenger side of a car: “Wow, you’re a tough guy, want to warm your hands by my heater?” Hehe, Sam’s a funny guy.
The next day, the results showed that I made 21st place out of the 23 contestants and I had finished with a time of about 36 minutes. Yayz! The course was 5.1 miles with a 1500 ft elevation gain. Whew.
The company I work for sent me to Roanoke, Virginia for two weeks to work on some new projects. I met a co-worker of mine there who lent me his Trek Navigator comfort bike for the weekend since he was headed off on some business. He also suggested a few good areas around Roanoke for trail riding and gave me a few maps and pamphlets. This business trip wasn’t going to be completely dull for me after all! Previously, I had packed some cycling shorts and a polyester sports shirt hoping to land an opportunity to rent a bike somewhere for the weekend, so this was a super deal for me.
 I got up Saturday morning, flipped through the maps and pamphlets and decided to explore the trails around Cravin’s Cove Reservoir on the northwest end of town. Water plus thick forest is always a great idea for some scenic riding. The bicycle, however, needed it’s very-dry chain oiled, brakes adjusted, and its high stem pushed out and down for a more mountain bike riding position. After a quick check of Google Maps, I set out for Cardinal Bicycle shop since it was closest to my inn and had some good reviews. When I got there I bought a foldable set of Allen wrenches and a bike mechanic there let me spray the chain and rear dérailleur down with oil. After about 40 minutes of adjusting and pumping up the tires, the bike was ready for riding.
 I took a gallon of Gatorade and some granola bars and took off for Cravin’s Cove with the bike in the back of my rental car. After a few track-backs and turn-arounds, I found the road leading out to the reservoir. The Cove requires a $2 dollar day pass for out-of-towners and then you park near the trail-head of the trail system. I strapped my camera onto my handlebars and put my 32 ounce water bottle in the cage; I didn’t really want to buy a camel-back or backpack since I was only going to be using the bike for one day, so I was stuck with this meager supply of beverage. However, I soon found out this was just about the right amount for the shady trail I was to be riding on.
 I started pedaling out into the forest and it was like stepping into the realm of a fairy tale. The trees and ferns were vibrant green, the air was filled with the sound of a hundred different kinds of birds and the fragrance of dampness and sweet smelling plants. The trail was marked on the map as a “beginners trail” so it was wide with only a few steep parts; then again, the region was only hilly with no really steep or large mountains like I was used to in the Pocatello area. All the trails here were shady due to the density of the forest trees which was yet another stark difference to the treeless desert paths of the majority of Idaho. After about 4 miles or so, my water bottle was two-thirds empty so I thought I’d better head back. Being the foolish adventurer that I am, I decided to try out an intermediate trail that led back in the general direction of where my car was parked, or so I thought. Navigation in treeless Idaho is much easier than in real forests, just in case you didn’t know ;-)
 Going down the intermediate trail felt a lot like the City Creek trail of Pocatello, except the City Creek trail is tougher. There was some roots to go over on this single-track trail, twists and turns, a log to hop over (I dismounted and pushed my bike over… I’ve never learned how to bunny hop ;-p), and a stream to splash through, which I relished! After a mile of this trail, I thought “hmm, ok, I’d better play it safe and head back the way I came. I know what is behind me, I do not know what lies ahead of me on this trail.” So I raced back to the car at top speed, which was exhilarating. Not a bad ride at all. The next time I come out to Roanoke, I’ll bring a backpack so I can carry more hydration and really give this trail system a good exploring! Enjoy the photo gallery!
 A few other people seem to have invented this word before I could. Rats. Ah, well, it’s a great hobby nevertheless, and one that I’ve started last week! Driving a car around to take interesting photos is too fast; you miss a lot in a car, I think. Besides, a car can’t go all the places a mountain bike can. Heck, a Hummer can’t go where a mountain bike can either! And hiking around for photo opportunities is kind of slow and time consuming. Thus, cyclophotography is the answer! If you take a look at my blogroll, you’ll see that I’m certainly not the first one to discover this.
The camera I use is a Sony Cybershot (4.1 Megapixel). Yeah, not a stupendous camera, but it does the job for at least web-quality photos. I then use ImageMagick programs and a few Perl scripts I wrote to auto-generate different sizes of each photo, sharpen them, and produce an HTML gallery. Yes, to most people this is kind of crazy since there are much easier ways to create web galleries than this, but then again those are the kind of people who drive to work everyday instead of riding their bicycles, right? ;-)
 So anyway, this is my very first official cyclophotography gallery taken along Gibson Jack road in southern Pocatello, Idaho while riding my favorite road bicycle. It was around 7:00 pm and the sun was getting close to setting, but I took a few shots before it got dark. Not a very wonderful gallery but I’m sure I’ll find some more interesting scenes to shoot as the warm season goes on… or rather if it ever gets here!
Last Sunday (April 13) the weather was wonderful, finally. And I could tell everyone else in the area was grateful; lots of motorcyclists and bicyclists were out along with people doing yard work and even a few people just laying out and sunning themselves. Yes, it has been a long, cold winter and spring.
So, I decided to explore an unexplored territory for me: Blackrock canyon.
It’s a rather nice place with restrooms, picnic tables, gazebos and a table map of the trail system. According to the map, you can go up one of the trails that turn to the left and it goes all the way up and over China Peak, down to Barton road and back to Pocatello. I’ve gotta do that trail sometime. Anyway, I explored as far up each trail as I could go without getting into mud. About 500 feet up each hill and you run into “glacial runoff” as I call it. I even slipped in the mud while try to see what was over one of the ridges; ah, but what is a mountain biking adventure without getting filthy? Blackrock Canyon seems to be a favorite among equestrians; I saw about 10 or so horseback riders up there. That’s actually one of the no-so-attractive things about this area: the trails are pretty beaten to death by horse hooves so the dirt is rather loose and so spinning out and sinking in the loose dirt is commonplace. Oh, and here’s a pic of the bike I was riding… yes, it’s another Taiwan special :-)
I would have posted photos of the area but, alas, I forgot to bring along my camera. Meh, anyway, I’ll remember next time. I promise. :-p
Last Tuesday evening (April 1), I did my first Tuesday Night Ride with Idaho Cycling Enthusiasts (ICE), which makes my second event participation with ICE (I did the practice Time Trial as well, previously) . About 5 other folks showed up, one of which I recognized from the practice TT. The majority of the other riders had bicycles with names and features that look rather foreign to me, whereas I was riding this thing:
Oh, yes, I can just hear the oohs and ahs and the smell of green envy in the air. ;-) This is a geniune 2008 Mercier Galaxy made by the good people at the Kinesis factory in Taiwan! If you’re still wondering what the heck you’re looking at, just google around for some of these keywords and you will be enlightened.
Anyway, on my with my story. Yes, I was wearing my baggy windbreaker outfit and riding my rack-sporting road bike; quite a stark contrast from the aerodynamic clothing and carbon fiber bicycles of my companions. But, hey, I’m a newbie and I wasn’t afraid to fit the stereotype :-)
So, the ride began. We were all pedaling along at around 16 mph or so, quick cadence with a light gear. It was easy and I was mainly focusing on practicing my drafting. The lady I was riding next to (sorry, I’m horrible with names) was giving me some helpful coaching which I appreciated. I was told before the ride that the first rides of the year are purposely easy to acclimate the riders for the season. So, I was really glad I got into these rides early. Even though I’ve been riding a lot for the past year and a half or so, I knew that the folks I was riding with had been at it for probably centuries. TEE HEE, I love puns! :-)
Riding along with ICE felt pretty fun and it was interesting to ride with people I don’t normally ride with and just soak in everything about the experience; their clothing, their riding technique, and so on. After we turned around in Inkom, I was shifting gears and my chain fell off. DOH! Yeah, something I must adjust ASAP. So I stopped, fed the chain back onto a chain ring, and by that time the cyclists were far ahead, even though I could tell they were slowing down so I could have the chance to catch up again. As I continued cycling I noticed another rider had stopped and was tried to adjust something-or-other on his bike… this made me feel a little better! I was huffing and puffing to catch up after a while and my good friend Steven Parker fell back a ways and was pushing on my bike to help me catch up, much to my shame! Hehe, yes, I know there’s no shame in accepting help when you need it but… meh. Anyway, it was rather startling at first because no one had ever pushed on by bike before… I thought my rear tire had gone flat or something…. and then I was like … what the heck… OH, HI STEVE!
During the last quarter of the ride, I was really starting to poop out. And then it happened… the steep hill going up under the underpass near Century High School happened… oh, the burn… I felt it… in my thighs… ARGH, THE LACTIC ACID, IT BURNS! On past rides I usually haul ass up this small hill, but none of my past rides were quite as fast as this one. I fell behind. Way behind. Sigh. I eventually pedaled to the Ross Park parking lot, said goodbye to the few riders who were still there, and slowly pedaled home, chugging from my water bottles all the way. I felt pretty dang pooped and almost dizzy. Yeah, I’ll eat more before the next ride. Carbs are good. :-)
Anywho, this is my first cycling blog article and I will try to do another article at least once a week. I hope I give encouragement to other folks who are new to cycling and I’m sure I provide amusement to the experienced people! ;-)
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