Flying Clydesdale

We kicked the off the 3rd Annual Bike, Bonfire, and Beer Exchange last night with the customary night ride.  After about 45 minutes banging around on slick but passable trails, our imposing 9 rider express train bombed the Quarry Trail and  started accelerating down the Struble heading for home (and of course the beer).  As most of you know, that section of the Struble is straight and level and encourages excessive speeds.  That stretch is also very muddy and when frozen is littered with rock hard ruts and gullies perfect for twisting a front wheel and violently ejecting a rider over the handlbars.  And yes, the "days since last crash" counter on the mo7s blog has now been reset.  Quipped one of our riders who had a bird's eye view of the crash - "it's never pretty to see a flying clydesdale from behind." 

Yes it rained...and it sleeted...quite a bit.  But that did not appear to dampen spirits at all, possibly due to some other spirits and our 8' rip roarin' bonfire stoked with a kiln dried treehouse.  I would like to recap some of the high brow competitions like the synonym game, the Angelina Jolie game, or even the other "game that doesn't have a name yet" but honestly I would not be able to do them justice, so I will focus on the less cerebral competitions:

Fire jumping.  Not that anyone we know would ever attempt such an insanely dangerous feat, but hypothetically, if some were to attempt this, it is apparently best to use someone else's bike. Also some extra momentum will apparently make up for insufficient altitude. 

Competition for best beer presentation:

• Entry #1 (reigning champion) - very large in scale (striking resemblance to a parade float) festooned with festive images not appropriate for this blog.  Very high marks for combustability.  
• Entry #2 - festive holiday theme, nice attention to detail, demonstrated high quality joinery and woodwork.  Bold use of family hierloom, almost backfired.  Very high marks for execution.
• Entry #3 - creatively combined carnal knowledge and sisterhood/brotherhood without quite crossing the line, very elegent in it's simplicity.  Very high marks for incorporation of negligee.  

Unfortunately entry #2 had to be DQ'd due to the "must burn to win" contest criteria (read the small print).  And while last year's champion was definitely competitive, the judges agreed that entry #3 set a new standard in debauchery and therefore must be awarded 1st prize. Congratulations CD.

Kudos to us because we managed to fit all this (and more) in well before the 2am deadline. Thanks to Kirk and Mike for cleaning this morning - it couldn't have been pretty.  By the time I got down there after lunch today, the only evidence was a still smoldering firepit.  

Chris

"All problems in mountain biking can be solved by going faster, except the ones that are caused by going too fast."

Lookee Here

Lookee here, see what Santa brought.  Looks like some wrenching this afternoon!

2 for 1 Deal

Sunday morning's "wintry mix" froze into a crunchy and downright grippy coating - great conditions to kickoff the ride.  As the ride progressed it gradually loosened up to the consistency of pea gravel - not the most efficient riding surface.  In the end, 2.5 hours of riding felt a lot more like 5 which, depending on how you look at it, that is actually a pretty good deal ("2 for 1").  

Welcome Kirk Thibault to the mo7s fold.  Kirk (both of them actually) turned in solid rides, but KT's ride was all the more impressive because he did it on an old-school all-rigid cyclocross bike (pictured here).  Hoping to see a lot more of both Kirks on future rides.

We are looking forward to the possibility of some opportunistic rides in the last 2 weeks of 2008 so stay flexible and close to your email.  If weather conditions cooperate even a little, we should be able to squeeze in a bunch of local rides and maybe a few roadies before the 6th when the party ends.  Stay tuned.

Chris

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a bicycle, must be in want of another one."

The Fine Line

Today Andy Sokol had a brilliant idea.  "Since Chris has so accurately determined when the solstice occurs (7:04AM) we should be riding at that time [at Wissahickon]."  The thought of hitting the trail at the very instant that the sun hits the Tropic of Capricorn is incredibly alluring and a stroke of genius on Andy's part, and I am ashamed that I did not think of it first.  

Alas an early Saturday ride at Wiss is not in the cards for me personally.  But I can try to avoid such an embarassing scheduling snafu in the future so I started looking at the ride schedule for 2009.  And of course that little diversion snowballed into something a little more ambitious.  Here are the highlights:

• Vernal Equinox - sun crosses the equator on it's way north - Friday 3/20 @ 7:44am - looks like an early happy hour ride, count me in
• Summer Solstice - sun reaches northernmost point, the longest day - Sunday 6/21 @ 1:45am - ouch, might have to miss this one
• Autumnal Equinox - sun crosses the equator again, this time heading south - Tuesday 9/22 @ 5:18am - maybe our last early morning ride before hunting season, count me in
• Winter Solstice - already explained ad nauseum - Monday 12/21 @ 12:47pm - xmas week, traditionally slow at work - this is a no brainer
• Full moons - Sun 1/11, Mon 2/9, Wed 3/11, Thr 4/9, Sat 5/9, Sun 6/7, Tue 7/7, Thr 8/6, Fri 9/4, Sun 10/4, Mon 11/2, Wed 12/2, Thr 12/31 - weather reports not available yet, but clear skies would make these strong night ride candidates.
• Hibernia Duathlon - 5mi trail run + 11mi mt bike race at Hibernia Park - Sunday 4/19 - low-key event and traditional kickoff to our spring riding season, may be run as solo event or relay.  great mental goal to keep your head in the game through the winter.  I have a daughter who can run like the wind so I am ALL IN baby!  believe it or not, registration  is now open
• Sunday Rides - well established and reliable - 52 +/-1 of these next year as well
  
• Happy Hour Rides - late afternoon on Fridays, scheduled in ad hoc fashion - there are 52 +/-1 of these babies next year 
• Roadies - at least 1 per month, would like to up that a little bit so let's call it 1.5 per month which means 18 of them in 2009
  
• Weekday rides - ad hoc during the winter season, more reliable schedule during the summer months, but every weekday is a possibility so let's call this 261 opportunities next year
• Chelsy's ride - let's make our new years resolutions to get back onto the 1x per month schedule

1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 13 + 1 + 52 + 52 + 261 + 12 = 395 rides to fit into 365 days next year, so cinch up your chinstraps and get ready for a busy year in 2009!

Chris

"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

     -- David St. Hubbins (This is Spinal Tap)

Sunday Solstice Celebration

This Sunday at 7:04am marks the winter solstice - the point at which the sun begins it's long trip from the Tropic of Capricorn back toward our neck of the woods in the northern hemisphere. This also marks the beginning of winter (and hopefully some colder temps and passable trails) and the point at which our days begin to get longer rather than shorter.  

Please contain your excitement, this gets even better...  

...we will celebrate the '08 solstice with a Sunday morning 9am ride. Accuweather is promising us snow and temps in the low-20s Saturday night, so Sunday morning should be one friggin' awesome ride. Some of you Nancies (you know who you are) need to take off the skirt and climb onto your bikes for this one. There will be plenty of time for lounging around in your PJs later next week.  

Chris  

"Bicycles don't insult you if you're a bad rider"

 -- 'Corey from Kitchener, "Why Bicycles Are Better Than Women"

Relive our (mis)adventures at mo7s.blogspot.com

The News - Good for Nick, Bad for Duke and Buster

Thanks to you guys Nick will be driving a spanking new radio controlled All Terrain Mini Desert Truck around the Calvaresi household Christmas morning.  And it's not one of those cheesy Radio Shack trucks, this puppy is the real deal from Hobbytown in West Chester featuring oil filled shocks, real bearing transmission, adjustable clutch, and all replaceable parts.  Special thanks to Rob (our resident RC geek) for meeting there and helping to pick this beauty out.  We decided against the helicopter (fragile, a little tricky to fly) and are confident that Nick will have a blast with this machine (what 10yr old boy wouldn't?).  I also picked up a couple of $15 iTunes gift cards for his siblings (Sammy and Pete) so they would not feel left out.  

I am sure Nick will enjoy tormenting Buster and Duke (his dogs) with the truck, but most importantly will get a real charge from knowing that "the Dads" are thinking of him.

The total tab is just shy of $180 so $10 per person will do it.  You may:

• give it to me personally
  
• mail it to 101 Kaiser Drive, Downingtown PA, 19335
  
• or do it via PayPal (seriously, let me know if interested)
  

Thanks,

Chris

Finest Hour (not)

Cool nighttime temps so Sunday morning the trails were in pretty good shape.  I wish I could say the same for myself, not my finest hour (not my worst either, but definitely not my finest).  Was nice to see a few fresh faces we haven't seen in a while including Kirk pedaling up with a hot coffee in one hand and Coldplay on the iPod.

This week's forecast is for a double whammy of warm and wet, not terribly promising but we'll see.

Chris