Foxy's Fall Century

Last Saturday, October 18, 2008, I attempted my second century ride. The final outcome was not as I had hoped but I made some new cycling friends and had a great time.

The night before the ride I had dinner at Matt's place with his family and some friends who were going to do the ride in the morning. Some of us were signed up for the 100mi, some for the 100km, and some for the 50km. We all ate a bunch of spaghetti, garlic bread, salad and pie.

I got up at 530am to start my journey. Arrived at the event at 630. We all signed in and were on the road by 730.


It was a chilly morning as we headed west out of Davis, CA. We turned south down a farm road and saw a spectacular scene of sprinklers in the morning sun, these biker chics really wanted to be in my picture:


I pushed pretty hard for the first 25 miles to the first rest stop where we refueled with bananas, bagels and Fig Newtons.

After the rest stop we took it a little easier for the next five miles. At mile 30 the trails split. Those who chose to do the 100km went one way and we went the other. So we bid farewell to two of our teammates and went our separate ways. At this point I just started to feel some discomfort in my right knee.


A few miles down the road, we took a wrong turn which took us up a crazy unnecessary climb. By the time we got to the top of the hill my knee was telling me to stop soon. We finally made it back to the course and at mile 50, I decided to call it a day. My right IT band was inflamed and it was just going to get worse so I called my buddy Brian to pick me up in Fairfield, bummer.

Matt, Mia and Dustin continued on to 58 more miles of hills and wind. Matt rides a hand bike, Mia hadn't ridden her bike in quite a while and Dustin was on a fixed speed bike. They are nuts...but they finished! 12 hours and 108 miles after the start, these three finished in the dark!


Matt and Mia looking exhausted


Dustin enjoying his lasagne...don't get that red sauce in your moustache!


I saw a couple other Ride Ataxia Teammates that day. I ran into Roberto in the morning, he was sporting his Ride Ataxia jersey. Roberto was unable to sign up that day (just missed it) so I saw him on his way to do a few miles on the bike trail.

I ran into another guy sporting the Ride Ataxia Jersey. I found out that Ashley Hartigan is his niece and he is doing his part to raise awareness.

I was also fortunate enough to get a picture with a couple other teammates after they finished the century. Nice work ladies.


Terry, Me, Crit


I am going to take a few weeks off from cycling to get my knee back into shape but please stay tuned there is a lot going on. Registration for Ride Ataxia III will be available in early November!

DE:TERMINENCE

Sean Baumstark (27, FA) was a huge contributor to Ride Ataxia II. Because of his experience with Ride Ataxia and the huge support he has received from friends, family and coworkers he has started an effort to push the limits of one's personal physical ability. The effort is called DE:TERMINENCE and it launched on September 28, 2008 at the Autism Speaks fundraiser at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute here in Sacramento, CA.

Peregrine Bike Works

This is my 100th post! How appropriate that I am writing about the place where it all started, Peregrine Bike Works (PBW) in Chico, CA.

I visited PBW today. The owner, Hugh, hosted an open house. He had more trikes than you could imagine in one place.

It was a great place to go to test ride the best trikes as my need for speed develops.

Here is a list of all the trikes I saw today at PBW:

** Recumbent Tadpole Trikes **

ICE:
Q with mesh seat & 20" rear suspension wheel,
Qnt with hardshell seat & 20" rear suspension wheel,
Qnt with hardshell seat & 26" rear wheel,
T with mesh seat & 20" rear suspension wheel;

Greenspeed:
X5 (16" wheels, sport folding),
GT3 (16" wheels, touring folding),
GTO (20" wheels, touring take-apart);

Catrike:
Trail (20" wheels front & 20" rear),
Speed (16" wheels front & 20" rear),
Road (20" wheels front & 20" rear),
Expedition (20" wheels front & 26" rear),
700 (16" wheels front & 700c rear);

HP Velotechnik both 20" wheels and rear suspension:
Scorpion (20/20 aluminum frame w. suspension,
Scorpion FX (20/20 aluminum frame w. suspension & folding)

Wizwheelz (Terra Trike):
Cruiser (20/20 - steel frame fits the budget conscious);


** Recumbent Delta Trikes **

Hase:
Kett-Wiesel (27-speed, aluminum frame),
Lepus Comfort (14-speed w. Rohloff);

Greenspeed:
Anura (18-sp, with differential and Schlumpf Speed-Drive);

Sun:
M3-UAX (budget)

There was a lot to choose from to say the least.

I am looking for a bit more speed. Currently, when I am in my highest gear I sometimes find that I could use one or two more gears to power the trike at higher speeds. Higher gearing mainly means that I need a bigger wheel in the back (drive wheel).

So I mainly looked at two different trikes: the ICE Qnt with a 26" drive wheel and the Catrike 700.

ICE Qnt with 26" drive wheel

This is the same trike that I ride currently except that it has the 26" drive wheel. I was naturally very comfortable on this trike because it rides just like the one that I have ridden for 7,000 miles. I love the feel of the steering and I am a firm believer in drum brakes which come standard. I love my current trike, it is very dependable, solid and comfortable. The fact that I could get higher gearing from the same trike is very attractive.

Catrike 700

The main attraction for this trike is the 700c drive wheel. This huge wheel will not only allow higher gearing but this is the standard wheel size for upright road bikes. Therefore this trike will accommodate a standard racing wheel at a reasonable price. One can save a lot of wind resistance with blade spokes or a full carbon fiber disc in the rear.

This trike is much lower to the ground making it more aerodynamic. However the seat angle does not adjust so one needs to be comfortable with the laid back position and reduced vision.

All Catrikes have direct steering. The feeling is way different than the indirect steering on my ICE. This would take some getting used to. Also Catrikes feature disc brakes and do not offer drum brakes which would be a consideration for me.

Thoughts
These are both great trikes. The bottom line is that I want to find the fastest trike available. The true test would be to take each of them out on a 10 mile time trial, may the best trike win...maybe next time.

Along with the trikes we saw other great items such as this crazy contraption:


Somebody showed up with this great traylor hitch rack, which doubles as a sweet display stand for trikes. Hugh does not carry this product but I'm sure if you are interested, he could find it for you.


It was a great event and PBW is a great place. I believe Hugh will ship a product anywhere in the country (World?). If you are interested in a trike just visit the PBW web site or stop by for a test ride if you are in the area. Say hi for me.