Bill's Blog (Web Log)
Thursday Night Ride Report
Submitted by Bill on Fri, 09/25/2009 - 2:43pmThe Missoula Thursday Night Ride once again lived up to its potential. There was single track, beer, and Ice Cream. Doesn't that cover all the bases?
Our route started at the Rattlesnake Rec Area Trailhead and we hit the Spring Gulch trails up to the top of Turkey Run. Mostly climbing I found myself pumping out frustrations of the currents events with my car and cancellation of Stone Temple 8. Once on top though I was basking the the sunset with friends planning our post ride activities.
We bombed down to the trail head and quickly gathered into small groups, some in cars, some riding. We headed to Rattlesnake Gardens where we put down some Double Hauls, Cold Smokes, and other assorted tall cans of beer.
Then it was of to Big Dipper to test out the latest Cold Smoke Ice Cream. I was overcome with the desire for a double scoop and opted for a Ginger scoop and a Double Haul scoop. I actually ended up taking the last bit of Ginger so my TNR mates were a little angered at me. I shared and ate most of it. Ginger is real strong but good none the less. The Cold Smoke was awesome. Not too strong like I thought but almost like a vanilla flavor with a overtone of hops
Car Saga Continues
Submitted by Bill on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 9:13am
Hello from a cold Missoula morning. I just left my car at Four Season Motors the official Missoula Volkswagen dealer. This morning I tried my battery pack one last time and of course it failed. Luckily a friend dropped off a battery (deep cycle, whatever that means) for me to jump start off of. At first it did not do anything but I let it sit with the new battery hooked up and that gave me a couple cranks and the piece of shit finally started. I quickly ran it down to Four Seasons and abandon it.
Last night I tried my jump start idea three times ... fail, fail, fail. I tried to push start it and that provided me with a dashboard light show and clicking sound that made me fear that I started a fire in the instrument panel.
I called my friend Sten to provide a excuse in case I was to bail on this weekends race plans in Laramie. He suggest to pull some fuses so I went to pulling until I had at least cut the throat to all the power sucking elements that I could see. This actually seems to help as I went to bed I gave the jump one more try and got three cranks out of it.
So now I sit at work and the race this weekend looks real bleak. I will await the phone call from the mechanic. I cant wait ... should be, "um Mr Martin, your car ... um .... better off dead".
Laramie WY or Bust
Submitted by Bill on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 10:03am
It is hard to tell what exactly wrong with my car. I do know the electrical system is messed up because I get locked out all the time and I need to make sure all the enterior lights are disconnected because they will not shut off. That is why I don't just go get a new battery. I have to find the root cause or short in the electrical system or risk ruining another battery.
So I picked up this baby and I don't know why I didn't have one in the car already since they are way more inexpensive then I thought. I got this for $30 bucks at OReillys Auto. So now I am hopeful to make the Laramie trip this Thursday.
After that big acusition I was still left with grocery shopping to do and I couldn't use the new contraption untill it charges up for 20 hours. So instead of taking a 3 hour mountin bike ride I went grocery biking. I had to do 1 load per store and did Good Food Store, Orange Street Market, and Patte Creek Market. All in all a 25 mile ride for 2 hours of ride time (including the OReillys trip).
That left me with a hour to work out so I decided to hit Orange Street Trail with my friend Ross who just happened to bump into me at the last market.
Today it is laundry day but first I try the new contraption. Cross your fingers
Broken Down
Submitted by Bill on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 10:32am
The electrical elements of my car have been going out since last winter when I was stranded in Billings (broke down of course). Since then my car locks me out, all electrical gadgets stop working, and I have had to disconnect all interior lights.
So now the car's battery is ruined and I am afraid to put a new one (like I can afford that) in it.
I went looking for a garage but the VW place is closed on Saturdays. I went looking for someone to help but all were gone or working/busy. So I went home and plopped down on the couch and have been there ever since.
Now the big project is figuring out bow to get groceries. Backpacking them home is what comes to mind first. As far a future races. All gone. Stranded.
East Fork Gang
Submitted by Bill on Wed, 09/16/2009 - 9:50am
Sunday I traveled down to the East Fork Road near Sula to meet up with the Red Barn Gang. I call them the Red Barn Gang because Chad is the owner and chief supplier of equipment for these weekend endeavors. These are not your typical mountain bikers and the Bitterroot Valley does not have your typical mountain bike terrain. It is rugged, beautiful, and usually involves a butt load of climbing. The bikes have to be up to the task and you saw no one in the group with a assembly line style bike (like Trek, Specialized, etc.). They would never hold up to this kind of stuff.
My Turner cross country rig was even inadequate as I was hitting my cranks and was unable to pedal over some of the rugged terrain. We are talking about big rock gardens and rugged backcountry terrain that requires big travel bikes. I would of liked to have a 29er fully for this ride. The Turner made it through but without 2 crashes. One took out my brake lever and the other the skin off my arm. Good fun!
The ride ended up around 23.7 miles with 4,303 feet of vertical gain. The ride took us 6:17 but the ride time was 3:39 giving a rough idea on how social the day was. Great ride!