2013 Vassago Optimus Ti - First Ride

 

 

Anticipating the arrival of my 2013 Vassago Optimus Ti for several weeks, I was really excited when Fed-Ex dumped off some very conspicuous boxes earlier in the week. I unboxed and drooled over each piece and set them aside for a few days until I had time to build it up. I got it done and could not wait to get on the trail to see how it would ride.

 

I have owned every iteration of the Optimus since its inception so I have a wealth of experience to compare this one to all its cousins. Tom @Vassago had been telling me how different these frames were going to be from the others and I noticed some big (literally) changes right off the bat.

 

 

 

Changes like the fat 44mm head tube and the beefy bottom bracket that went from 68mm to 73mm on the new frame.

 

 

All the tubes are slightly bigger yet the frame is still just over 3lbs which makes me curious about the butting in the tubes. The welds are pure art.

 

 

Another piece of art is the one off vertical drops they made for me. Production frames are all going to have Paragon Sliding drops like earlier versions. Nothing wrong with sliders and Paragon ones are the best. I got vertical ones on this frame because I am special (plus I have a Optimus SS already and this bike is forever going to be geared)

 

Enough bike geek love. How does all this stuff feel on dirt? Glad you asked. Immediately after my first ride (and I mean immediately, I was still in parking lot and had bike gear on) I shot Tom @Vassago an email with the subject line: Holy S**t Tom! and that was pretty much the first thing that entered my mind within the first mile of singletrack I rode. This thing feels amazing. It feels strangely like a carbon frame in the way small bumps just aren't there. I never knew how flexy the older Opti frames felt until having something else to compare them to. The new Optimus handles amazing. Having not seen the geometry yet (Hey I trust my peeps! I just said build me a bike and make it ride sweet) I can't say where the difference is but I am guessing it's in the tubing and it looks to me like the head and seat tube may be kicked back a half a degree, I am not dure about that though. I do know the "Wet Cat" geometry should be called Wet Cat on Crack geometry now. I pushed this bike in the twisty stuff just to see if I could get it to fail in some way and I did over cook some turns and drifted a bit but the effort it took to get there surprised me. This bike is stable and turns are unbelieveble. Onto faster, forest service type roads, the bike kept on delivering the goods with great handling and stability. There is one rocky descent that normally makes me a little nervous because most of the  baseball sized rocks aren't attached to anything and I felt much more stable and descended quicker than normal.

 

A couple of component highlights worth gushing over are the SRAM XO 2x10 group, specifically the type 2 rear derailleur and the brakes. The T2 derailleur has a tiny clutch inside that prevent it from moving forward freely and that all but eliminates chain slap. It is freaky to ride a geared bike through a rock garden and it be as quiet as my singlespeed.

I have ridden Formula brakes for the last decade and Hayes before that. I had heard some horror stories about Avid discs and was a little concerned but after today, no more. Set up was simple and since my brakes had about 3 miles of extra hose once I got them in place, my set up included bleeding both brakes. Bleeding is probably the most complicated thing you can do with hydro discs and these weren't bad at all. Stopping, modulation and lever feel are super.

 

I really can't say enough good stuff about this bike. They are legit and have stepped up their game in the 29er market. But don't take my word for it, find out for yourself. You will be glad you did.

 



2013

If the Mayans were right, the world will end in 2 weeks and none of this will matter. Two things about that bother me though, didn't the Mayans world end a loooong time ago? The second one is the bible says nobody knows, not the Mayans, not the crazy guy Texas and keeps coming  up with the "real day", nobody.. That's good enough for me. 

Where was I? Oh, yeah. I am looking back over 2012 and gearing up to race my bike again in 2013. I haven't done much racing in the last couple of years and having just re-signed with Vassago Cycles for 2013, I am looking at races and actual training n stuff. I just ended my cyclocross season (actually, due to being sick and work, the season ended for me in Oct but now it's done, done) and a quick glance at the stats shows that I ended up in 47th place in the series overall for Cat3; 23rd in Masters 45+ and 1st in the Mountain Bike category. In the state of TN, USAC shows me 15th in Cat3 and 1304 in the whole US.

Hmmm......  I'm not sure what to think about that. One thing I do know is that I'll bet I could have done a whole lot better if I had actually made a little effort to train. I went into this season with whatever fitness I had on hand from riding and racing my bike for the last 30 years. I didn't train. Heck I barely rode my bike 1 or 2 days a week. I haven't ridden as little as I did this year in a really long time. Some of the kids I raced against (and that whipped my arse) were half as old as the number of years I've been racing! Maybe I'm getting too old for this.....

BULL! 

I have a plan for training and for racing that includes time for family and time to excel at my 50+ hour per week job. I just have to nut up and get started. I do have some disciplinary adjustments to make and maybe throw out the old training model that says do a buttload of base miles in the winter and slowly build...blah, blah, rest, blah, blah....... I need some hammer time and better eating habits and yes, I will need rest but I get plenty of that. I need to just do it.

Some of the events I am planning to do include The 6 Hours Of Warrior Creek, Three Peaks, Pisgah 111K, Boone Roubaix, ORAMM, Pisgah Monster Cross, and of course a buttload of cyclocross in the fall/winter. I am not planning on killing myself with events like I have in the past and I want to stay fairly close to home. Fortunately, we have a plethora of races and cool events all within a 2 hour drive.

Vassago Cycles is working on my new racing tools, an Optimus Ti for the dirt and a ti framed Fisticuff (with disc brakes! Joy!) for cross and the ultra-cross stuff. I am excited to get them and put some miles on them both. There is plenty of good stuff coming down the pike from Vassago Cycles and more than worth a look if you are in the market for a new mountain or cross bike next year.

First I gotta work on the motor.

Getting the Band Back Together

In 2009 as I rolled across the finish line of the Black Bear Rampage in Chattanooga, little did I know then, my world was about to be rocked. In the course of a few months time, I lost my job, my mom, nearly my life and needless to say, racing became a back burner sort of affair. I hardly noticed when my longtime sponsor Vassago Cycles quietly closed the doors for good. Misty and Kris are good friends of mine and I applauded their efforts but understood their motivation to move on to something else. Picking up the pieces, I found a great job that I love to do, I never stopped riding my bike (it really IS about the bike regardless of what you may read in the media nowadays) and I still race. Racing however whet from 24 hours to 12 to 6 and now 45 minutes of WFO, choke on your heart kind of events - Cyclocross. I love racing but more than that, I love riding my bike. Road, mountain or cross, it makes no difference. I love bicycles.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by former teammate Tom Ament about Vassago Cycles. It seems Tom got together with some investors and a few shop monkey types and they are going to relaunch Vassago Cycles in 2013 and I am going to be a part of it again. I am excited to be hooked up in the bike industry again and to ride and race some really cool bikes with some great folks. As I sit here on the 46th anniversary of my entry onto this planet, I have my training plan pretty much in place and I know where I need to focus my energy and effort vis a vis training to be where I need to be next Spring. My program will be a bit smaller than the past - insteand of 15-20 races a year, I am looking at a more realistic schedule that works with my rather busy work schedule. I am planning on some short XC type events, a few 6+ hour events, maybe a hundie or two, possibly another 24 and the Pièce de résistance - The Pisgah Stage Race. I will finish out the year of course with a buttload of Cyclocross.

Should be fun. 

TTFN
Duckman

Some People are Cutters, I Race Cyclocross..

This past weekend was the opening two rounds of the Mud, Sweat, and Gears Cyclocross Series and every year since its inception in 2004, I have vowed to reach September fit and ready to race. This year was no different than the others - I came, I saw, I was ready to suck.

Here's how it unfolded:

After a spring and summer of working 50+ hour weeks, I found myself riding my bike once, maybe twice a week. Sure there is the trainer I could have ridden. I could have also stuck toothpicks under my fingernails and learned to play the Harp too. Where's the fun in that? After working the first half opening day, I arrived at the venue armed with my mountain bike instead of my cross bike and planned to lay waste to the mtb class. No, really, for the first time ever, I planned to win a race and I did. It rained and the course was a total slopfest and there is one thing I can do and that is ride in slop.
We lined up and in 3, 2, 1 we were off. I dug deep and got a sweet holeshot, led the first lap and pissed it away the first trip through the barriers... So much for great plans.  No losing my cool, I got on the new leader's wheel and just followed him to see where he was strong and where he may be vunerable. About a lap later, I passed him and that was the end of it. Game, set and match to Duckman. It was a small field and I probably had more slop riding experience on fat tires than all the others combined but hey, I still had to pedal the dang bike and stay off the ground. I'll take it.

Sunday was a different story however. I lined up first in Masters 45+(1234) and initially there was some confusion as to how we were starting. They had us (all 50 35+ and 45+ combined) headed straight into this really narrow and slick off camber section that was sure to produce great loads of carnage. After and appeal from pretty much everyone, the start was moved to a straight and boom! We were off. I came through the first turn in 6th and made it through the barriers and first part of lap one pretty good. My demise came when we got to a log laying in the middle of a turn. I had ridden it several times during my hot laps so I knew it wasn't a problem. The guy in front of me didn't know that though. Nuts, meet stem. Stem, meet nuts. You are going to be good friends. For the next 45 seconds, until the urge to vomit subsided, I was passed by I dunno... 4, 5? Meh.... Just turn the pedals and go.
The next place to give me a fit was a steep, muddy little run-up that had no traction anywhere. I got great scores in creativity for my unique grouping of cuss words. It was frustrating but it is what it is. I tried to ride as clean and fast as I could for the remainder of the race and my lack of race fitness was more than evident as I bled positions until I bottomed out at 14. Dead mid-pack. Hey, not bad for not training all summer.
I rolled right around and right to the line for the start of the Cat 3 race. When I burn out, I want to scorch the earth.... I had no illusions whatsoever of doing well in this race my goals were simple: Not finish last, not crash and not get passed by the entire women's Pro field that was starting behind us.
I actually got a decent start, somewhere mid-pack but the fade to the back came much quicker than in the previous race. Fifteen minutes into the 45 minute race, I was in 20something place and suffering like a Yak giving birth to twins. I was so tired, I mis-timed one of my dismounts and raked my shin across one of the barriers and then tripped over my bike trying to remount it. I was filled with joy from this. Some people are cutters, I race cross.
I didn't sandbag though and I rode with whatever I had left for the remainder of the race and when I finished, I was finished.
I looked around and saw women still on course, I didn't crash (although I was bleeding from 2 of 4 limbs) and later check of the results would show I missed DFL by 2.
#Winning!

Thus begins my Cross season. Maybe I will train for next year. 

Yeah, riiiiight.

Nuttin' Up

This time a week ago, the 2012 Monster Cross wasn't even on my radar as something to do on my Saturday. I originally had to work but that was changed and since my sister was going to attempt it I figured what the heck. Doesn't matter that I haven't trained much and that I haven't ridden my cross bike since January. I'm Duckman and I (used to) live for this stuff. Uh..... riiight.
Put the names Eric Weaver, bike event and Pisgah National Forest together and you will have something evil. Eric comes up with some pretty wicked events and the Monster Cross, although probably the easiest of Pisgah Productions events, filled the bill. 70 miles, 10K feet of elevation gain, gravel roads, a long section of the Blue Ridge Parkway... Yummy.
I lined up with Megan, Anet Lamberson (sans Bob) and Michael Ritter (a good friend and former Dr Skip's Medicine Show teammate) and a hundred or two other assorted crazies and soon enough we were off.

 

 

After a short section of road we turned into the first section of FS road and I immediately jam my chain into my spokes. Crap! Maybe in addition to training, I should have also looked at the bike closer. Once I got that fixed, I found myself in DFL and chasing the main group down. Uh.... what am I doing that for? Didn't I just mention that I haven't trained much lately? I need to back off and just ride. Unfortunately it took me until I caught a good portion of the pack before coming to that conclusion...

 

The race becomes a ride now.

 

That would soon change. I was riding a climb about 4 miles from CP1 with Michael and when I stood up, my seat just felt funny. Well it should have felt funny because a bolt in the seatpost broke and it flopped around like a dead fish. I failed to see anything philosophical or funny about that. I was beyond screwed. I managed to get it set to where it was at least somewhat stable as long as I sat on it and I rode onto the CP. Descending on gravel roads while staying firmly seated is kind like trying to walk while holding a roll of quarters in your buttcheeks.. It ain't easy. I got passed by tons of people: little old ladies with walkers, a pack of Girl Scouts on bikes, a herd of turtles and two kids on strider bikes (would have been three but I shoved the third one into the weeds - don't judge). I made it to the check and a guy from Liberty Cycles zip-tied my seat and got it at least rideable.

I decided to try it, what did I have to lose?

 

The ride now becomes about survival.

 

I had 26 miles on the BRP and then mostly down to the finish. Sweet right? Yes, but I (along with others) missed a crucial turn that was poorly marked and after climbing about an hour after the turn I missed, I found myself atop a ridge looking dead ahead at the Smokies..... I was pretty sure I was waaay beyond screwed now. Turning back, I wanted to quit. I had no idea really where the turn was and I was sick of climbing and out of food and almost no water. Time to "nut up" and finish this thing. I found the turn and was greeted with several glorious miles of paved DOWWWWN. Yes!" The best thing was there were still people on the "70 mile route coming to the turn and I was now assured of not finishing LAST! Yay me!

The final 16 miles were part gravel, partly paved and had a couple of short, steep climbs and was pure joy -not. I got to the final 5 mile section of pavement and put my bike in the big ring and pushed as hard as I could. My suitcase of courage was empty so I tore the bottom out of it.

 

I finished. I don't know how  long, I don't care. I finished and that's enough. Megan finished the 70 mile ride (hahahahaha, I'm gonna call it that now) a little ahead of me and that made me happy. Michael and Anet did well too. None of us crashed and it was a good day!

 

Thank God for zip ties.

 

 

 



No Really, I am a Bike Racer.

I am midway through my taper for the upcoming Pisgah Monster Cross this weekend and I am slowly remembering what it is like to race a bike. Unfortunately my legs won't remember until about 3:00 pm Saturday. Similar to PTSD patients in the third or fourth month of therapy. I've ridden in Pisgah before, I've climbed 10K plus feet in Pisgah before. No big deal right? Um... yeah. For the last 7 months I've been riding my bike roughly 200 miles a month. What used to be a decent week of riding has been displaced by life stuff and well........

It is what it is.

I will line up Saturday and I will have my raceface on and I will be ready for battle, even if

 

the battle is in my mind. Who knows, maybe I will be inspired to actually do actual training and get into actual, you know... like shape. Who knows..

 

In three days time, I'll crack open my suitcase of courage and we'll see what's in there. 

Riding on the "D" Train

I'm baaaaaaack.

Looking back through the archives, it seems that I used to do some really tough races on bikes. At one time I was in pretty decent shape and on at least two different occasions, I cross-dressed to race my bike.....Hmmm.
All that stuff seems like a lifetime ago. My life after racing has been really busy and my fitness, well lets just say "she ain't what she used to be" referring to the blonde, double G alter-ego that I have been associated with. I've been busy with a myriad of things, work things, house things, dad things, thing things and more things. I still ride bikes, love bikes, need bikes in my life, and even race bikes once or twice...... a year.  I have seen my fitness fall way off from what it has been but anybody who has been in this sport for any amount of time knows about that. Layoffs are inevitable and on the D train, every seat sucks and the only destination is Hurtsville, population - me.

I am riding, once or twice a week but riding nontheless and in typical Duckman fashion I have decided to do the Pisgah Monster Cross Race. I started training for it today and the race is next week. Time to taper....

Cyclocross is coming up beginning at the end of the month and after that, who knows. I'll bet there will be a bike and a certain level of discomfort in there though.

That Sham-Wow Guy Annoys Me........

Ah the things that goes through one's mind whilst riding in circles. After 18 months away from mountain bike racing, heck forget racing, from my mountain bike period! After 18 months away, I jumped back in head first at the H8R 8 Hour Race at Haw Ridge Park last Sunday. Part of the three race Tennessee Cup Series, the H8R featured some really nice singletrack that ranged from fast and flowy to hilly, rocky, rooty and dry, dusty slick. Having not trained a bit nor barely even ridden my mountain bike since a bad road crash a year ago, I was looking to just see what would happen if, and get my feet back in the endurance game.

I got there the night before the race and since I have ridden and raced at Haw Ridge bunches in the last 10 years, I felt no need to pre-ride. I put the Honda into caRV mode and sat down with a good book to read and waited.. The threat of storms (something East Tennesseeans take very seriously now in the wake of some recent deadly ones) had me a little nervous and I surveyed the area for the best tree to park my car under.I figured the one most likely to be struck by lightning or a tornado would be actually the one that would be spared so my logic seemed sound and I felt safe. Night y'all..

Sunday, race day. I was looking forward to getting on my bike and to see what I had left in the tank, so to speak, after not riding (I have ridden, lots, just on my road bike not my mountain bike. I wasn't sure what to expect). With raceday formalities despensed of, we lined up and hit the trail at 9:00am. I went into the woods about 7 back from the front and was greeted with a really rocky and rooty climb that should have been no problem but it drove me batcrap crazy! I couldn't find a rhythm and felt like a monkey f.....  uh, err,  nevermind. I slipped a few places due to my riding like a bull in a china shop and settled in somewhere... I don't know where. I was pretty much alone which was fine with me. I was trying to figure out where the heck I left my technical skills. Oh.... 18 months. Uh, yeah. Well I have some stuff to work on and a little rust should be ok huh?  *******!
I rode the first two laps non-stop and stopped on the third only long enough to change bottles. My pit crew was nowhere to be found, oh, I am my pit crew. Well nevermind. By my third lap, I felt much smoother on the rocky, technical parts and the big-ring stuff made me smile (uh..... big-ring. Yeah. After riding only singlespeeds for the last 6 years, I added a 2x9 drivetrain to my 2011 Vassago Optimus and I love it! Make all the jokes about female parts and my manhood if you wish. It's my bike and I'll ride what I want).

I began to really groove on my third lap, just in time for my legs to begin to complain and for a couple of blisters to form on spots that never used to get blisters and I got a little sloppy and bounced off a few trees slalom style (except these trees don't break away like poles on a DS course do.

photo courtesy of Elizabeth McCalley

At the end of my third, not knowing where I was (dang I need a pit crew to give me info), I stopped for some food, real food that I could chew. I was off my bike for about 10 minutes and headed out for lap 4. By now it was hot and my pace had went from "Greyhound" to "Dachshund" and I was just trying to be consistent and smooth, wasting as little energy as I could for the next 4 hours until the race was over. Lap 4 was slower significantly than the other 3 and I had to stop again at the end due to severe pain in my nutsack and my shoulders were getting really tired. I was paying for my time off my bike for sure.
I set out on my 5th lap and got about a mile in and nearly crashed twice, once hard, because of stupid stuff and I said enough. I turned and went back to my car and called it a day. My experiment was over and I got what I came for.

I ended up 8th in solo and know that I just need to ride more and ride my mtb more to get back to where I was before my time off. With that, I have two more long events (a 6 hour and a 75k monstercross race) with the option for a third depending on schedule conflicts, planned for this year. I am doing a full load of cyclocross in the fall/winter and then we will see about a bigger schedule for next year. My main thing is to have fun and remember why I race in the first place. The past year has been very hard for me personally and I am thankful and blessed to just be able to ride my bike.

Everything else is just a bonus.

Run, Bike, Run, Puke..

It's officially the crap season in North America. It's cold, dark at like 3:00pm and cold and wet and dark. For solar powered lovers of outdoor exercise and related Tom-foolery that poses a bit of difficulty to our lifestyle. Given that and my need to punish myself physically and have fun, I accepted my sister's invitation to enter the Double Trouble Duathlon at Bays Mountain in Kingsport, TN yesterday. After signing an affidavit that I would not have to run any, that I was merely going to be a hired gun on the mountain bike leg, Megan entered us and it was on.

The format was a 5k run, 15k bike and 5k run. The bike portion was hilly but skipped some of the nasty climbs at Bays Mtn and I was looking forward to getting out there and playing some. Megan warmed up while I played on my bike.

And took time for some candid shots with my peeps.....

Soon it was time to get serious and race. Megan lined up with 40something other competitors and they were off. She would be out for about 30 minutes and then it was my turn to unleash the devastating power of the Pato.

She had a decent run considering she hasn't been running much lately (the Archer kids rarely overtrain...... :p) and she came in with a respectable (and injury free) time.

Now it was my turn to do what I do best. I took off and immediately caught  several riders that had the nerve to get out of the transition ahead of us. On the first climb I caught 7 more and over the next few miles, I caught more. Fifteen total. I was having a load of fun. Granted, many of the people I was passing weren't strong in cycling and could assuredly whip my butt if we were running. But we weren't running and that is the difference. I had some strong friends of mine out there with about a 9 minute head start and my goal was to catch them but it wasn't happening. I got off the mountain and back to the valley road and just cruised into the transition.

Megan took off on the second run leg and she pretty much left it all out on the trails. I am proud of how she can dig down deep and deliver the goods when it counts. She did great! We ended up 15th overall and 2nd in Co-Ed and had a load of fun in the process. I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks Megan for inviting me and many thanks to Varinka for the pics and the cowbell ringing that could be heard all over the valley. It definitely helped! I'm glad you were there.

El Pato Rides Again.......

Ok so I am a little behind in blogging about the life and times of the greatest female impersonator and legendary cycling icon - me. I am sure nobody has lost any sleep over it. I have been doing some bike racing believe it or not, in the form of the Mud, Sweat and Gears series final on Dec 4. 

Here's the 411:

The final round of the Mud, Sweat and Gears cyclocross series rolled into The Farmhouse Gallery in Unicoi TN amid cold, frigid air and snow. Ok fine. Cross people are used to crappy weather and we wear it like a badge of courage. The unfortunate thing is when it "warmed" up enough to rain. Rain @ 34 degrees pure sucks but at the same time is strangely fun. My agenda was the Masters 45+ race then Singlespeed later in the day. I got dressed and got my bike and tried to warm up before the Masters race which was pretty much a joke. It was cold and I am a baby. I tried to channel some toughness from Jens Voigt and suck it up and really it wasn't that bad. The bad was coming.

I got a decent start, 4th or so and really didn't feel that great. The course was really nasty in places and very slick. I ride great in stuff like that but I managed to get caught in a few mishaps when others around me had problems and I faded to 10th by midpoint of the race and that is where I stayed until the end. Soaked and cold, I went to the car to warm up and get my clothes for the next race... Uh..... about that.

It seems that I brought only enough warm stuff to stay warm if I stayed dry. If this was my first year of doing stuff like this we could excuse me and say ok, lesson learned. But since I have been racing cross for 6 years and racing and riding my bike in crappy weather for much longer than that, I have no defense excpet to plead temporarily stupid. It's ok my sentence would be carried out quickly and my suffering was ensured.
I had 2 hours to contemplate putting wet clothes back on and racing again. The rain never stopped and neither did the shivering. I was shivering at just under my threshold pace and warmth was something that happens to "other people".  Time ticked away and I was doing more waffling than a politician a week before election day. Finally as they called singlespeed to the line, I was getting my bike off the car and airing the tires. Wet clothes in the cold is tough. I rode to the line with no warm-up and expected to die quickly but I was going to die on my pedals and not like a little girl cowering in the front seat of my car with the heat on.

Jens would be proud.

At the start, instead of falling over in a hypothermic state of shock, I got the holeshot and led the first lap. I went with it and tried to formulate a strategy but I knew I had a couple of really strong guys behind me. I had to push hard if I was going to stand a chance to win.

  

By now, the course was waaaay sloppy and I was happy to have the fat tires of my singlespeed and disc brakes.

I got passed by my friend and Pro 1/2 racer Mike Seek and we traded spots back and forth but he eventually got tired of playing with me and rode off. I wasn't cold anymore at least. As the race got into the final laps, I crashed on a sloppy off camber and slid on my stomach all the way off course. I laughed. Another buddy, Steve Stidham, got by me and paid me back for beating him in the Master's race earlier. On the final lap I made an effort to catch him back but my legs said no and I settled for 3rd place.

Brown is the new black. I'll be warm by Tuesday.