The G-Rant : Grant's Rants on Adventure Racing

July 2007 - Posts

• Tour de France and envelope pushing

  I finally got a bike a few days ago and I've been itching to tackle this one big climb around here, but since I've been fighting off a killer head cold I've been reluctant to push the envelope.  Well, this morning I decided the envelope had to be pushed.  The cold can't keep me down forever!  I think it was hearing the news about Rasmussen being out of the Tour that put me over the edge and compelled me to stop watching so much cycling and get back to actually cycling.  The Tour de France is certainly entertaining, even with all the doping and allegations, but it is no substitute for the actual experience of riding.  Biking is fun.  No amount of professional pharmaceutical hijinks can derail my 2 hours of hard climbing . . . and then 30 minutes of blissful descending . . . on the bike this morning.  Sheer pleasure, and the more I climbed today the clearer my head became.  It was hard work at times, but I was rewarded at the summit of  the climb with the clearest Swiss skies we've had since arriving in Zurich.  There was a lot of clarity going on, both in the atmosphere and in my head, and it turned into one of those memorable rides where every turn, ridge, and tree will be with me for a long time to come.  The summit was so clear I could see the snow-capped Jungfrau and mount Rigi from the top (just a side note: we're going to Lucerne for this weekend which is at the base of Rigi).  It is important to keep things in perspective, and the soap opera of 150 highly trained (and, for some, highly drugged) bikers in France shouldn't misdirect us from the activity of biking that is why we got into cycling and racing in the first place. So, put all the negativity of the Tour de France journalism up on a shelf.  That's not really cycling, at least to me.  Cycling is about getting out on two wheels and feeling your muscles gel with the bike.  I suspect I'll always follow the Tour de France, it's a July ritual around my house.  Truly, there's nothing else worth watching on Swiss TV!  But make no mistake about it,  I don't consider the Sopranos to be "what real life is about" any more than I consider the Tour de France to be "what real cycling is about."  Cycling, like life in general, is best experienced as a participatory activity and no Tour de France drama will change that.  Go out and push your envelope! Posted Jul 26 2007, 07:31 AM by gkillian with 5 comment(s)

• Patagonia Team, Lactic Acid Travel, and Contador

  Slowly but surely, we're bringing our Untamed Adventure Team page up to speed.  We've got a team blog of sorts; Rob, Sherry, Joel, and myself can all contribute and Joel and Sherry have already posted initial entries: Joel sounds like he's having second thoughts Sherry promises to "represent" for the girls out there I intend to keep my posts specific to Patagonia preparations over on the team site, maybe once a week or so, but keep this Cyclebetter blog rolling for most everything else.  If Brendan (the owner of Cyclebetter) ever gets tired of my Swiss travel photos and endurance/adventure content I could just move my entire blog operation over to UntamedAdventure . . . but I'm happy right now to just keep plugging away with Cyclebetter for most stuff and use the Team Site for Patagonia items.  If nothing else, you'll have two websites to peruse for distractions from your real jobs! Lots of other stuff going on.  At some point I'm itching to share details on operation "Untamed Swiss Adventure Travel."  I'm talking real adventure travel and not just passively looking at birds or driving through a wildlife preserve.  Adventure travel has become such a fashionable word I'm inclined to coin a different term . . . maybe lactic acid travel and build on the whole "You come back rested from a good vacation, you come back sore from a great one" thing we had going with Virginia Beach and Virginia Beach AdventureFest.  Ah, the good ol' days of AdventureFest . . . Of course, I can't let this Sunday post go without a shout out to Contador and the Discovery team.  Great tactics to stretch the field and put the hurt into the competition, and cap it off with Contador climbing to the stage win.  Between the Eurosport English feed online and the Swiss TV broadcast (in German), we're able to follow the Tour fairly well.  More great Tour action still to come! Finally, I want to congratulate all my budies racing out there in Roanoke with Odyssey this weekend.  I tracked the action as best I could on the live site, and was with you all in spirit.  Posted Jul 22 2007, 01:48 PM by gkillian with no comments

• Paddle and Pear Bread

  Man, I've got a ton of blog posts rattling around in my head right now but I don't have the chance to get them all committed to digital paper.  For the time being, I'll share a couple photos from a recent paddling excursion on Lake Zurich (the Zurichsee).  I went to the far east end of the lake to find a rental kayak -- a big beast of a boat: the Prijon touryak -- I need to find a closer option, and I'll probably just buy my own boat once we move into our permanent residence starting in August.  First off, here's one of me on the water sporting a new hair cut (finally -- the long hair hippy phase isn't over, just taking a hiatus during the summer heat).  There are no cheap hair cuts in Zurich, and the stylist said I now looked like a Swiss person. Here are a couple shots from on the water, the first is looking north at a small town . . . . . . and this one is looking the other direction.  Those are the Alps looming in the background! I tried a new energy food on the paddle that's pretty good.  It's called "fit hit" and made in Switzerland.  Kind-of like a fig newton but bigger, with dried pear in the middle instead of fig.  I'll have to see about sending some back to some of you in the States . . . or maybe I can coerce them into sponsoring our effort down in Patagonia?  Posted Jul 22 2007, 01:33 PM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• Amen to that

  From Ben Saunder's latest post (citing this interview with a T-Mobile bike rider): “When you’re out cycling up a big hill and it’s cold and raining and you’ve 40 miles to go and you’re aching all over and your directeur sportif is shouting abuse at you from the car, do you ever think to yourself: ‘What the hell am I doing here? I wish I had a proper job.’ There are times when you do think that, but I’ve worked in a bank before and I’d rather do 300km on the bike in the pissing rain every single day than go back to that.” Of course, I say "Amen" to all this but I still have a "real" job of sorts.  At least it's not at a bank -- although I certainly did some time working for the man!  And I get to take days to play with these folks now and again! Posted Jul 17 2007, 03:20 PM by gkillian with 5 comment(s)

• Summer in Zurich

  It never fails, as soon as I comment about the rainy weather here in Zurich we're assaulted with day after day of 90+ degrees and sun.  It's very pretty, but very hot.  And the Swiss have a cultural aversion to air conditioning, seriously, so things are a tad uncomfortable!  It's Summer in Zurich!  I'm also fighting off a head cold, probably brought on by over-training mixed with dramatic swings in temperature, so I've been taking it easier the last couple days.  I've been watching a lot of the Tour de France and trying to sort through the German and French commentary to make sense of the action; Levi is certainly a long shot to podium at this point, but it's really interesting to see how it all is developing.  I have to admit to being a big fan of Rasmussen (aka "the chicken") and his climbing-centrism; anybody who has raced/trained much with me knows I'm lousy on bike descents, but I really like the ups.  I heard it said once that "anybody can climb, it's going down that takes the skill" and I suppose there's truth to that . . . but my heart really goes out to Rasmussen as a guy who so clearly embraces the lactic acid from all the climbing and sticks it to the "big Tour contenders" in those mountain stages.  If I designed the Tour course I'd have uphill finishes for every stage!  It looks like Contador for Team Discovery is another one of those pure climber types . . . so I'll be rooting him on too. I know there are a lot of map geeks out there who might be interested, so I'm posting my route and map from a recent trek/run I did out here.  A trek/run means I generally run the flats and downhills, and trek the uphills unless I'm feeling really ambitious.  Anyway, here's the map (beware: clicking on the map will prompt a 1 MB download): Now, I don't have a cool topo-program for Switzerland (yet) so you've got to make do with a digital photo from my map case.  It took around 3 hours and total to 12-15 miles.  My route, shown in red, ran generally clockwise from the upper right corner (there are arrows on the route to indicate my direction).  The climb up to the Falletsche feature, the crazy set of contour lines in the lower center of the map, is dramatic and a good challenge.  I don't know if some giant meteor made that pocket  in the mountain or what, but it is very cool.  When I get my bike out here, lots of fun climbing will be had!  One of the cool parts about this route is that it visits several small and, a bit, stereotypical Swiss towns.  You know: manicured lawns with flower pots as borders and decorative woodwork.  I half expect the Keebler elves to pop out and offer me a cookie as I'm running through these places!  So, I thought I'd include one of my photos of a village taken from the ridge line: Finally, it's not all exercise out here.  Jill and I had a drink on the lake the other day and this was our view: Now that the sun is shining you can really see the Swiss Alps in the background.  I'll be making some day trips out to those Alps, of course, probably budgeting one day each week for that kind of longer adventure.  We're nearly settled here and I can probably start that this week or next.  By the way, Jill has coerced me into taking sailing lessons with her, so we'll be spending lots of time on that lake outside of a kayak! Posted Jul 17 2007, 03:05 AM by gkillian with no comments

• Sucker Hole

  Zurich has had rain nearly every day we've been here.  I actually enjoy it, honestly, as it keeps the temps cool enough to wear long pants and long sleeves and the rain makes for lush forests and green spaces.  I work from our apartment or from the local Starbucks, and both venues give me lots of windows to look outside.  Once in a while, the sun will peak through and it looks like the day is going to turn glorious . . . you know, one of those 60 degree days with bright sun.   When I see that sun peaking through, I put my work aside and go out for a run; I want to make the most of the sunny weather! This has happened to me a couple times, now, where as soon as I get about 15 minutes from home the sun disappears and grey clouds move in.  The wind picks back up and then comes the rain!  This is a classic sucker hole scenario, where I've been lured outside with minimal gear and then mother nature says: Sucker! and unleashes some fury on me.  I'm left to continue my run soaking wet and with goosebumps.  And so I do.  All-in-all it's probably good training for me.  Builds mental toughness or whatever.  I've been saying it a lot lately, but I'll say it again: I've always been a contrarian and this all-weather training suits me fine.  I always liked playing soccer, even up to the collegiate level, in the rain; in a way I've been training for bad weather since I was 4 years old on those youth soccer fields!  This is just another chapter in the same book. Hey, the sun is coming out now . . . I'll have to continue this post later . . . Posted Jul 11 2007, 06:47 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• $250 to come to Zurich ASAP!

  So, our master plan of leaving the bikes behind and having them shipped after we've arrived and settled in Switzerland is not going so well.  It turns out it's nearly $500 to ship it from my wife's family's place in New Hampshire to Zurich.  $500.  That's 50,000 pennies.  Alot of pennies.  I like my bike, though, and absolutely must have one to ride around here (can't miss out on rides like this bad boy: dubbed the "pizza cup horror of East Switzerland" by the locals -- I know, 4,000+ feet of climb sounds like a great training day and not a "horror" to an adventure racer, right?!). My plan right now is to rent a bike, and beat the heck out of it, until I get my real Gary Fisher in my hot little hands.  I have a trip back to America in Sept so I could bring my bike back as baggage and not pay the $500 to have it shipped special.  Another option is to coerce somebody else to bring my bike over the pond, and with airfares in August hovering around $600 (per my wife's last check), I could save $, hassle, and time by contributing $250 to that person's ticket.  How about it Pam, I know you're just like me and don't have a "real" job . . . or how about you Rick "Gary Fisher" Bartels . . . these local bike shops could use a bit of GF and Trek evangelism.  Russ, Val, Crash, Splash, MNewlon?  Any takers?  Your family wouldn't miss you for a long weekend right?  You can stay at our posh apartment and I'll give you the preview tour of the "Untamed Adventure Experience: Switzerland" as it pertains to Zurich; think of an adventure race on new and fresh terrain every day, but you sleep and eat in nice places.  In a word: heaven.  Of course, I'd have to get my bike to whomever is flying over . . . maybe this plan needs a bit more tweaking.  Anyway, one last item to tempt your tastebuds.  This is a photo taken from the summit of one of the climbs near where we live.  It's about a 15 minute run from our apartment (if I had a bike, I could get there much faster!) . . . and the climbing starts straight away.  The sounds of cow bells will even greet you at the top, courtesy of a small local farm!  On foot, it's a good 60 minutes to the top taking the most direct and steep route.  1,000+ feet of elevation gain. Posted Jul 08 2007, 03:04 PM by gkillian with 9 comment(s)

• Tourist Stuff and Team Untamed Adventure/Movenpick

  We secured Jill's work Visa today so she can start bringing home the bacon, go get 'em hun!  Over the last couple days we've done some touristy things like checking out the Grossmunster cathedral: and I sampled the local hazelnut ice cream, Movenpick, as part of my pre-Patagonia "bulking up" phase: So, yes, Untamed Adventure will have a team entered in the Patagonia race next Feb and it's going to be interesting.  We're all in way over our heads, but that's why we do these things and if it wasn't a challenge why would we bother?  If I have time I'd like to get a team blog set up so you can follow Joel, Sherry, Rob, and my preparations for the race . . . Sherry has a cult following already and might land some giant Shera-sponsorship at the rate she's going.  She's  phenomenal, and so are Joel and Rob (Rob did some pro mtn biking back in the day, as I understand it).  This would be a way to share the experience vicariously and all.  Maybe I can send you some of my lactic acid as I push up these hills around here, sharing some of that too?  Too much Movenpick for me, no doubt, but that' the secret to my mental toughness! Posted Jul 05 2007, 01:22 PM by gkillian with 4 comment(s)

• Alive in Zurich

  We made it, pets and all, and we're starting to wrestle the internet/telecomm challenges of Europe at the moment.  I'm at a Starbucks getting a bit of work done (yes, I actually do some honest work once-in-a-while) while the wife is meeting with her new employer at the university.  Hopefully she'll get some tips on establishing a local bank account, getting hooked up with cell phone service, and internet in our apartment. I know it sounds pretty mundane, but don't think it's all logistics around here.  I've gotten a few great runs in since we landed including one with an amazing view over the Zurichsee (the big lake south of the city) and the general Zurich region.  Check out this photo from up top of the run this morning: Can't wait to get my bike out, but it'll be a week or two while it ships over.  A challenge for later this summer is finding a place along the lake where I can stash a kayak . . . Posted Jul 02 2007, 09:00 AM by gkillian with 4 comment(s)