2014 Vassago TKO First Ride

I learned that Vassago Cycles was planning to build a cyclocross/gravel grinder machine early last year and that it would be based on the wildly successful Optimus Ti platform. It took some time to get things in place but finally mine came a couple of weeks ago. After building it and waiting for the winter to stop throwing freezing crap all over, I got to get it out and put some miles on it. 

 I wanted to do a ride and pretty much throw everything at my TKO that I could. I hit roads, gravel, dirt, singketrack, rocky, rooty singletrack and grass. I have it set up for the classics season so it has some supa-fat and durable roadie tires and a compact crank. Other than that, component highlights are blue collar cyclocross goodies: Easton EC90 SL3 bars, Easton stem and seat post, SRAM Rival group, Easton EA90 XC wheelset, Whiskey carbon TA fork and Shimano CX70 Disc Brakes (more on those later).

On the road, it felt nimble and quick with a stiff bottom bracket and precise handling. Compared to my benchmark BMC Road Machine, there was a little more road feel transmitted to me on the TKO and the steering wasn't as quick but that's a good thing for a cross bike. It needs to be stable not twitchy and my TKO gets a gold star there. I wouldn't hesitate to hop on it for a century or long Gran Fondo if needed.

On the dirt/gravel/rocky singletrack. I realize that I asked this bike to do a few things that it wasn't necessarily designed for and I further shot myself in the foot by trying this stunt on road tires. If I had proper cross tires inflated to something less than 80lbs it would have performed much better on trails. That being said, it really shined in the grassy (typical cyclocross course) stuff and despite the tires, the gravel felt good. On the singletrack I survived (and turned a few mountain biker heads in the process) and it rode and handled much like my Optimus (with really hard tires). Overall, I felt like my TKO, like all the other Vassagos I have is a solid bike and does what it it made for very well.

Two component highlights that really make me happy are the Whiskey TA fork and the disc brakes. If I could, I'd go back and have thru-axles on both ends of every bike I have. The added stability and rigidity make a huge difference in the way the bike feels and handles. Second is the brakes. I think every bike needs disc brakes. They are amazing and better at stopping you when you want to stop anytime, any place in any conditions... period! I have Shimano CX 70 mechanical brakes for now due to the current production issues industry wide on hydro road discs. I have faith that the industry as a whole will catch up and make a reliable hydro disc set up for road levers but until then, the brakes I have work fine. Haters gonna hate, I say give me discs. I don't care about the: weight, wheel mounting hassel, maintenance (never understood that one. Once set up, hydro brakes are pretty much maintenance free) and any other cons I've heard going around about disc brakes on road/cross bikes.

The Vassago TKO is going to make an amazing cyclocross race bike. I can't wait until cross season begins!

 Set-up with Continental Gatorskin tires and compact gearing, it's ready for the classics.

 The EA90 XC wheels are too flexy for mtb use but they fill the ticket for cross/gravel grinding.

 Thru axle forks are the bees knees for bikes. So are disc brakes!

Perhaps my favorite touch is the top tube cable routing. Every mountain bike and 

cross bike should have this.

Vassago's welds and craftsmanship are top notch.

It's Over... Time to Begin Again..

The fat lady has sang on my 2013/2014 racing season and by all accounts, it was a successful experiment for me. I say experiment because it was just that. I have a job that I love - a lot. The thing is, I am good at it and because of that, I get a lot more of it. It is a huge blessing. Combining that with bike racing and the requirements of training and thinks get a little.............. challenging.
In 2012 I had the same job and I rode my bike when I could, all outdoors and generally pretty hard since my rides were limited. I stressed over training and schedules and crap. It was stressful. Not why I race bikes!
I went into the Cyclocross season and had my arse presented to me, not on a platter.. nope I wasn't good enough for that even. It was given to me in a Glad bag. Out of the 11 or so races I did, I never even cracked the top 5.

I needed a new plan.

What I came up with was nothing new, not at all. It was bad medicine though and something that would take a lot of determination to pull it off.

I moved it indoors. I rode my bike like I normally would if I had all the time in the world. Sometimes that "time" was 4 am and other times that time was 9 pm (after working 10 or 11 hours) but I did it. I still rode outside too when I could, on average once a week. It took me about a month to get past that feeling of being stuck in a Turkish prison with a bike trainer and a minion with a stick to keep me honest 

and to be honest, some days I was scheduled to train I just couldn't make myself do it. I'd rather stab that minion in the throat with an ice pick instead of getting on that bike. I learned a lot though and the experiment showed me that an indoor trainer can get you into pretty amazing shape if you just do it. 

So.... how did I do this cross season? 

In 12 races, I got 5 podiums (2 -1sts, 2 -2nds and a 3rd), second OA in the MSG Cross Series SS cat, second OA in the TBRA Tri-Cities Regional Series SS cat and 9th in the MSG Series Masters cat. Last year I couldn't break into the top 10, this year, I never finished outside of it. I missed a lot of the races too because of my work so my series results reflect that. 

Now it's January 2014 and time to take what I learned and expand on it. I start racing again in March with the "classics" Tom Dula's Revenge, Boone Roubiax, and the Love Valley Roubiax. Those will get me some outdoor miles to take to my first race ever in the west - The Whiskey 50 in Prescott AZ. I get to go race and hang out with my friends from Vassago Cycles for a few days in April. The second part of my year is a little foggy because of races not having dates set just yet but (in no particular order) I am looking at the Iron Mtn 100K, Tennessee State Championship MTB race, the Sugar Rush 6 Hour Race, the Fall Fear MTB race,  and a couple of road races - the Roan Groan and Benge's Revenge. I like those just because they have a buttload of climbing. Before cross rolls around again, I am also going to do a couple Gran Fondo type events - the Beech Mtn Metric and the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo. These both are special because of the EPICNESS of them. 

All this gives me something to get on my trainer for and a reason to stay fit. Life is about living and your body is about moving. Move it or lose it....

Base Miles......

First let me say Happy New Year to everyone that happens to see this. How was your 2013? Was it everything you hoped for (and committed to do on Jan 1 2013)? Can you make 2014 even better?

I think you can..

We are all creatures of habit and many of those habits are no bueno for sure. You just have to decide what you want, when you want it, and  

I noticed several people on Facebook posting their yearly miles ridden and I wondered what mine looked like. I never keep track of miles but thanks to modern technology, I don't have to. This year was dramatically different than years past because I spent a lot more time on my bike inside. Just because I work a lot is no excuse for a weak engine. With a quick look at Strava, Ridewithgps and Trainer Road I found that I rode a little over 1500 miles outside....ugh. Kinda weak from my pre-responsibility days of 8 and 9K years. What surprised me though was the fact that I rode nearly 2K miles in my basement. It took some determination and there were some days that what was planned and what was done were worlds apart but it was all blue-collar engine building...

I started 2014 out with an actual ride on actual roads in the cold (but sunny) clear blue world and it was nice! Three hours of shammy time reminded me that while being a hermit holed up in my basement busting out 2x20 intervals will give me a big engine, it's the outside and roads and trails that stoke my fire. 

I need that engine though. I have a few biggish events that I am doing this year like the Whiskey 50 in April and the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo in September and a few other things (mostly in dirt) that I am waiting on dates to be announced for. In the meantime, I am doing a 9 day, mid-winter stage race Jan 25 - Feb 2'  The Tour of Sufferlandria. Nine stages, several mountains, a lot of pain and I won't move an inch. It's all indoors...

If you can't find a way, make one..

Re-Boot

Time to re-light this candle. It's Christmas eve.. The gifts are wrapped and the stage is set for the magic to happen on Christmas day. Much has changed in the past few years and the adult Christmas is way different than the kid Christmas. The older I get, the more I am faced with the reality of things in this world and although much is not good around us, there is so much still to marvel at and the mystique of the Christmas season still holds a lot for all of us. I find myself more thankful these days for everything in my life. Simple things like walking, talking, hot coffee on a cold morning, the voice of my son calling out my name, the people God has placed in my life - some to help me, others to challenge me, all to make me a better, stronger and more resilient person. All made possible by the first Christmas.

Another candle is my racing. What once was a raging fire died down to embers.. I still race and ride my bike but it has become much more challenging due to work and the life of a single parent. I love my job and I love my life and the joy of raising my son. Racing for me is what it is, an outlet, a vehicle to keep moving. I thought that there nay be others out there who share the same struggles as me, the same challenges, same hopes and same dreams. I have decided to write about my experience again and in doing so, maybe someone will find something useful, funny, happy, sad, inspiring or encouraging.. Who knows.

I am teaming with Vassago Cycles again for this coming year and I am excited and happy to have the relationship that I do with them. It's been 7 years now since I started with the brand and it is a company that has mountain biking in its soul, it's run by people with a passion for big-wheel bikes that are fun to ride.

I am near the end of my cyclocross season now and I am looking at a few off road events for 2014 and of course a load of cyclocross again next fall on my new TKO cross bike from Vassago (review coming soon).

Until then, guess I'd better put down the Christmas cookies.

Merry Christmas

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.

Roast Duck. It's What's For Dinner.

Saturday was round 7 of the Mud, Sweat and Gears Cyclocross Series and a beautiful day graced the event held at Steele Creek Park in Bristol, Tn. I have been trying to do three races: Masters 45+, Singlespeed, and CX4 to pimpslap myself into fitness. Last week the classes were spaced with about an hour between each. This week to allow time for collegiate races, the Masters race was first and the SS/CX4 races were at the end of the day and back to back.

I have learned from past experience that my body responds well to tough love when it comes to training. Having said that, I have never done back to back cx races before. On one hand, the back to back races in question are only 30 minute races and that was an hour and a half after the 45min Master's race so it's not that bad. On the other hand, this is cyclocross and my inner child was about to throw a tantrum.

After warming up a few laps on the Dwayne Letterman designed course that included one set of barriers and several off-camber down/up combos that would surely cause some consternation from the masses. I went to the line and, hmmm.... Seems a bunch of people got there before me and I was on the second row. Crap! I fought hard to get as close to the front as I could and I did ok. I was sitting in the top 5ish and stayed there until we got to one of the short n' steep dips. Somebody messed up and we suddenly had a donnybrook, a free-for-all. I scrambled to get going again asap and don't really know how many people passed me or where I was for that matter. I was irritated but hey, crap happens. I regained composure as quickly as I could and started searching for friends I could kill, hahahaha... The first buddy I saw was my brother from another mother - David Hayter. I watched him for a lap and saw that he was weak on the long climb from the finish line to the top of the course. I attacked him there and got a nice gap between myself and him plus several others that were behind us now. I was on the rivet and waaaaaaay down deep in my pain cave. So much so that about 2/3 of the way into the race, I blew a corner and allowed two people to get close and eventually past me.... CRAP!  I buried myself to try and get those spots back but to no avail, I ended up 9th.

I had about 1.5 hours until my back to back SS/CX4 events so I ate and hung out with cowbell in hand to cheer on some of my peeps. I wasn't sure what to expect, I left pretty much all I had out on the course in the Masters race. Hmmm. This was going to be interesting.

I grabbed my singlespeed and went for a ride around the venue and when the Pro 1,2 race was over, I hopped on course to see how I might feel. Having spent more time on my singlespeed in the past few years than any other bike, I always feel better and more relaxed on it. I love my Vassago. They nailed the geometry on them perfectly. Nothing handles like my Optimus. Therefore, I felt really good in the off-camber parts and the short, steep up/down stuff in the woods. On the downside, my legs were CRAP.
On the start, I went as hard as I could but didn't get a very good one. I was discouraged and resigned myself to the fact that it was what it was and I just need to deal with it. I did manage to catch and pass a few people and by the end of the race I had worked my way into 4th. Now for a jersey change, a quick swig of water and slam a Hammer Gel and a bike change.

I didn't even bother with riding a hot lap before the CX4 race. I was as hot as I could be and I knew the course like the back of my hand. I just rolled to the start line and waited.......
At the start, I did a solo break off the back and found myself alone and DFL by the time we got to the top of the hill. I contemplated quitting but then I remembered how much I'd hate myself later for that and figured I'd get all the pain and suffering over with in one day instead of dragging it out over several weeks. About 1.5 laps in and I started catching and passing people. This fueld me a little and I pushed as hard as I was able at that point. I caught a few more and made it up to 19th by the bell lap. I had no chance of catching anyone else but for craps and giggles I still pushed hard in the final lap and even sprinted across the line.
I thought I was gonna puke....

It was a good experience (that's easy to say two days after the fact) but I was really trashed afterwards. I am excited to see how much fitness I gain by the time round 8 rolls around Dec 4.

I heart cyclocross....

Climbing hurts but couches can kill........

Pain comes in three's

After last weeks triumphant return to racing for me, I knew I had a looong way to go to feel like I was in somewhat decent shape. From riding my bike all summer at pretty much a tempo pace, I have a good base but I lack high-end fitness that you need to do well in racing. Above all other forms of bike racing, in cyclocross there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Round 6 of the Mud, Sweat and Gears Cyclocross Series rolled into Johnson City and Winged Deer Park Saturday. The threat of snow and frigid temperatures got me really excited and reminded me of the State Championship race at this same venue just 10 months prior where it snowed 4 inches. The snow held off but the cold was there to stay. Ahhh cross weather.....

My goal after last weekend is to race my way into decent fitness and try to do well in the upcoming State Champs race in January. With that in mind, I signed up for Masters 45+, CX4, and Singlespeed. The classes were staggered just enough to give me about an hour between each race. Just enough time to get cold and suffer more when it was time to race again, yummy! Having said that though, I don't think I am ready to go 1:45 at or above my AT just yet, nope I think I might just puke if I tried that. After a pseudo warm-up, I took the line for the Masters race where I got the holeshot -yay me!  I have learned from nearly 30 years of racing (good GOD I am old!!!) motorcycles and bicycles that the start is critical. Get a good start and go backwards if you must but it's a lot easier to stay at the front if you are already there. Plus you stay out of all sorts of trouble by getting a good start.

I had no intentions of staying at the front this day however and about half a lap in, I started making my way to mid-pack where I would set up shop for the next 40 minutes. I felt - meh... Not bad but definitely not good. Perhaps the only thing I had going in my favor was I was there, doing what I love and I was no longer cold! In fact, I was starting to roast and my tights were causing me problems on my remounts by getting caught on my seat several times and subsequently ticking me off. I pushed hard until the final meters of the final lap and then sat up and rolled across the line in 10th place. I headed to the dirty orange box that I drive to rest and get some fluids before the CX4 race.


I didn't get such a good start in the CX4 race and that was fine with me. I still felt some of the effort from the Masters race and was thinking that I was happy that this was just a 30 minute race instead of 45. By now the course was getting slick in some of the off-camber sections and in one corner I went down. It was nothing spectacular, I just fell over like a dork, costing me time and nearly costing me positions. I was determined to defend my 14th place or die. I just kept telling myself that I am training and these races don't matter, heck none of it really matters in the big picture. I don't have anything to prove... Try telling that to a competitive soul on a course with other people on bikes. I pin a number on and I change. Who doesn't?
Despite falling and having a few wardrobe malfunctions, I had a decent race and as far as training goes, I was having a great day. After the 4's I went to get a Coke and a smile and chill out until my final event - Singlespeed.


In SS I got a second place start right behind my pal, Neo-Pro Wes Lamberson who races for Union College. I knew I'd be following him only as far as I could so I just tried to settle in second and that soon became third then fourth (dangit) but I managed to stay there for the remainder of the race. At that point it was all about blue-collar suffering. I began to get real sloppy and fudged a few corners and tripped on the barriers at least twice. Training, training, training, I'm only training, I'm only training.... I kept telling my legs to shut the **** up (thanks Jens) and push onward. I pushed as hard as I could until the end. Everytime through the Redline run-up (a steep bank that was kinda slick), I attacked it like my life depended on it as opposed to a death march or crawl up it. Fitness is coming back to Duckman's house one way or another!

Three races hurt and I was really knackered at the end of the day, only speaking with one syllable words and using a lot of hand gestures. I was happy with how I did and am anxious for the rest/recover/rebuild cycle that brings on the gains in performance that I am expecting. I will get a chance to gauge my progress next week at Round 7.

Until then, Arriba, Arriba, Arriba!!!

I put the "Suc" in Success..

My return to racing came this weekend in round 5 of the Mud, Sweat and Gears cyclocross series in Johnson City. I was looking forward to returning and especially since this was Halloween and Spooky Cross! My 6 month no racing mandate had passed to allow my skull time to heal and although I have ridden a lot since the wreck, my race shape was expected to be lacking. Boy was I not disappointed.

I rode around to warm-up before the Masters 45+ (my 44th birthday was Saturday so that meant my "racing age" for cross is now 45, I am officially old) and I was thinking about how the pain was going to feel...ugh. Hey, this is cyclocross, it hurts! Deal with it. The Dwayne Letterman designed course was fast and flowed really well and included two trips through the sand. It was fun. At the start, I was sitting on my top-tube and mentally prepping when the USAC official said "Ok gentlemen have fun" and everyone took off! CRAP! No ready, set, go; no GO! no fanfare, nope, just a sweet little, soft spoken lady saying ok boys have fun. I was expecting cookies and milk later..... Consequently I buried myself deep in anaerobic hell trying to get into a good position on the first lap. 45 minutes later I rolled across the line in 16th. Whatever. It was training for me and my first race in almost a year so I didn't really care a lot about position.

My next race was a few hours later so I went for lunch. Maybe a burrito complete with jalapeno peppers wasn't the best idea before another anaerobic effort. That's all I will say about that for now. Readying for the CX4 race I was rather upbeat and looking forward to it. This time I was going to be ready for the start lady. If she even passed gas I was outta there like a thief on a new bike. I got a much better start and was in 4th place going into some dips and swoopy turns on the upper end of the course. I bobbled on one of the dips and almost crashed. I saved it but lost all my momentum and went from 4th to about 15th just like that. CRAP! I buried myself again trying to regain some positions and it was about then that mr burrito came back and merely suggested that I might want to eat something different before a race in the future. I rode around (some say there was a race going on.. hmm, I was riding my bike in circles and trying not to puke) and crossed the line in a dismal 21st. I was pretty unhappy with that and had to remind myself that I knew it was going to be bad, to suck it up and put on my big boy panties and deal with it.

After a birthday dinner with my sis (and a beer..yay) I rested and considered my plan for Sunday's Tornado Cross on the campus of King College in Bristol.

Sunday morning I woke up and my legs felt baaaaaaad. After getting to the venue and registering, I got on my bike and rode for about 40 minutes to try to warm-up and get my legs moving. They were pissed at me and not talking. The course was interesting with a swampy section and some woods complete with good, old fashioned singletrack. King College is a beautiful campus and a great place for an event like this. I only did Masters 45+ since I figured I had done enough for the weekend and I took the line not really knowing what to expect. We had a actual whistle to start and that went and I went - not so hard this time. Still, I found myself in second (for 45+, 35+ was out there too so I was about 8th or 9th in the field and I tried to go hard as I could but still remembering that I had 40 minutes left to race.
I got passed and was comfortably in 3rd for most of the race until 2 laps from the end and I messed up coming out of the woods and got tangled up in the marking tape - doh! My buddy Dwayne the saw blood and put in a dig to catch me and I dug as deep as I could to prevent that from happening. 1.5 laps later I sat up and soft pedaled the final 100 yards to finish 3rd.

Overall I was happy with the weekend. I knew returning to racing would really suck in one aspect but it still is a whole lot of fun and that's why I do it.

Things that go bump in the night...

You know how those worse cas scenario questions play out? You get a nearly impossible situation and are supposed to figure out what you would do. What would you do if you were descending a mountain road on a road bike at say 40 mph and suddenly someone threw a bike in front of you?

That question was presented to me on Jun 24. I was on a weekly group ride with the folks of Johnson City Cycling and we always go over Buffalo Mountain in Johnson City. This particular night it was sprinkling slightly and there was some lightning off in the distance causing a few to turn back. That is the last thing I remember. The next 36 hours of my life may or may not ever come back to me but eyewitnesses and painful scars (oh and some scary MRI scans) have helped me put together what happened.

As we rode on that evening, the rain never really materialized after a few sprinkles. By all accounts it was a pretty typical ride and we reached the base of Buffalo and everyone climbed their own pace and we regrouped at the top. The roads were damp in places but by no means all that wet (or so I was told). We rode off the mountain. Here's where things for me get a little weird. I have been riding and racing bikes for 22 years and some rules I never break....ever. One of those is on wet descents I always mind my own business and I don't follow wheels, especially in corners. Not having the luxury of knowing what happened exactly I am still really troubled by the crash. I just don't  understand how I got where I was just before another rider lost it in a left hand corner and his bike slid right in front of me. I tried in vain to bunnyhop the bike but I failed. I had zero time to react and hit the road at 40mph head first. Road rash on my head, hands, knees and shoulder says I never even had time to take my hands off the bars. The other rider, as far as I know, had road rash and that was all. I layed in the road unconscious as friends watched over me and called 911.

Day 1 - ICU......

Day 3

At the hospital, road rash was treated and stitches were applied to my left eye and chin. A MRI would show several facial and jaw fractures and a subdural hemotoma. I was admitted to ICU and that is where I stayed until Sunday. Sometime on Saturday, I became somewhat aware of what was happening to me. Still very foggy and very much in pain, I learned of the crash, the damage to my face, the bleeding on my brain (which had THANKFULLY stopped) and the amazingly wonderful job my Bell Volt helmet did in saving my life. The rest of Saturday and Sunday were spent with me becoming less "foggy" and starting to improve. By Sunday evening I was moved out of ICU and by Monday I was released from the hospital. I had a prescription for some wonderful pain meds and some good old R&R. After couple of days of that I was climbing the walls. I don't do idle time very well.

I figured out by using some math equations that I hadn't used since college that at the point of impact there was over 10,000lbs of force on my head and neck. I got scared... really scared. I have crashed a lot over the years and have had a lot of broken bones and assorted injuries. Never broke my head before though.
I felt very blessed to still be around to bitch and complain about how much pain I was in and how my fitness was abandoning ship like rats from the Titanic. Over the next week I healed a lot and was able to return to work the day after Independance Day. By the following Sunday, I was ready (physically, amazingly) to ride my bike again.
Mentally however, was a slightly different story. I was scared. I still had skull fractures that were healing but made my melon weak. Crashing was not an option. If I hit my face (before this crash, the last hard crash I had on the road was over 10 years ago so the odds were decent.... still I was scared ****less) I would be screwed to impressive levels of screwedness. A mile into the ride I wanted to turn back. I was nervous, my legs felt like crap and my balance was screwed up... I was scared... I went on and was flanked by some good friends that made sure I kept myself out of too much trouble. We rode for a couple of hours and although I felt better at the end, the fear and uneasyness never left me completely. I made it though. I dealt with the fear pretty much how I always have, I punched it in the face.

I have ridden a few times now since the accident and every ride feels a little better and my fitness is (sloooowly) returning. I rode the exact climb and descent that almost killed me and although it was scary and I roasted my brake pads all the way down, I did it. My prognosis is good. The fractures in my skull and jaw will all heal without the need for surgery. My brain has a small amount of blood between the halves that should go away on its own. The damage emotionally will also heal with time too. I have scars on top of scars on top of scars....Nothing new there, skin heals too.... My fitness will return and hopefully I can improve (I lost 11 pounds but unfortunately most of it was muscle...) on it. Time will tell.

I want to thank everyone that helped me that night, that prayed for me, sent me encouragement and helped me and continues to help and encourage me to this day and forward. I have a great circle of friends and I appreciate each and every one of you...

Day 5.. Going home......

Lastly, I can't encourage all of you enough (and hopefully this is preaching to the choir), please wear a helmet. Make sure everyone you ride with wears a helmet, a properly adjusted helmet and for God's sake make sure your kids wear helmets when riding bikes, skateboards or anything else that can cause serious damage. Helmets save lives..

Oh yeah... Mountain bikes... I ride those too.

I have spent so much time on the road recently that I almost forgot that I ride mountain bikes too. In fact I ride them quite well and have fun doing so. I loaded up my 2010 Vassago Optimus today along with the first Chupacabra in existence that the really cool people at Vassago sent me to build, ride and give my opinion on.

So here goes.

The first thing I noticed when I unboxed the Chupa was the beefy chainstay bridge and chainstays. The welds are all clean and rather industrial looking - I like that. It is definitely an aluminum bike, no questions about that. A couple of additional frame notes are it has a built in chain guide mount at the bottom bracket and replaceable horizontal drops. Not having been briefed on the target market for this bike, I am thinking it may be more for the all-mountain crowd. there seems to be decent clearance for biggish tires and a rather beefy headtube/downtube junction for a long travel fork (I have no specs on it so I don't know yet what Vassago recommends).

After building with a fairly high-end set of components: Thomson seatpost and stem, Easton Monkeylite bars, White Bros Rock Solid carbon fork, Formula Oro Puro Brakes, Middleburn crank, DT Swiss/Stans wheelset, Chris King headset and of course WTB tires and saddle and Ergon Grips, I loaded up and headed to the trails at Warriors Path State Park. II have ridden hundreds of miles there and knew it would be a good place to see what the Chupa would do. I also took my Optimus along to compare the two.

I hopped on the Chupa first and rode around the parking lot some to make sure I tightened everything (you never know) and then headed into the bush. The first thing I noticed was that this was definitely an aluminum frame. It felt solid, not that harsh but a different feel than my Optimus or the steel framed Jabberwocky, both of which I have plenty of saddle time on. The Chupa climbs like a monkey with it's tail on fire. The beefy chainstays allow all of your energy to go to the dirt where it belongs. I felt like every pedal stroke was moving me somewhere and the bike had a nice quiet (gosh I love singlespeeds) and solid feel.

I got into some fast, twisty turns and the handling seemed to be typical Vassago. Forget the myth that 29er's can't turn well. Poorly designed 29er's can't turn well. Vassago's turn superb. I was railing corners like normal and had all confidence in stuffing a bike that I have only ridden a mile into a corner at speed.
Bumpy, root infested corners pushed the Chupa's handling to the limit. It didn't perform badly, just different than my Optimus. It's not a fair comparison really - apples to oranges. Still I had a lot of confidence based on my experience with Vassago bikes added to the secure, stable ride the Chupa was feeding me.

Rock gardens were no problem as were the many short and steep climbs at Warriors. The Chupa handled them equally well (unlike my legs that had 73 miles of mountains from the previous day and my gearing of 34X17 really caused me to grunt especially going up to the top of Ridgetop). The final trail at Warriors is Magic Carpet Ride. It goes down and has fast and twisty corners. The Chupa really shined here. It turns probably a little better than any of the other Vassagos I have ridden.

I didn't have time for serious, all-day miles so I can't comment on long ride comfort but my initial impression is that this is a fun bike and would be great built up with a 100mm or better fork and maybe a 1X9 drivetrain for some mo-betta serious trail riding and maybe even some dual slalom.

Pictures:

Chupa vs Optimus

Chain guide mount and chainstay bridge - beefy.