Team Bar2Bar (or is it Beef?) Rides Again!

In one week Jonny Rocker and I will head to Salida, Colorado, for the start of Ride the Rockies 2017. Although the ride officially starts in Alamosa and ends in Salida, we are meeting up with our teammates in Salida on Friday and will ride 80 miles to Alamosa on Saturday. That way when we roll into Salida on the following Sunday, roughly 520 miles later, we will be back at the start!

In true Team Bar2Bar tradition, The Hankster had T-Shirts made with the official team bars in each of the overnight destinations and the official team motto, "drinkers with a cycling problem."

So, you may have noticed that various times I will talk about riding with Team Beef and Team Bar2Bar and maybe even Team DFL. So which is it? Well, it's complicated!

After a one-year hiatus, Team Bar2Bar returns to RTR for the Reunion Tour 2017!

On my first RTR in 2005 I registered as a team of two with my friend David from Kansas City who had recently moved to Colorado (I still lived in KC at the time). On the evening of Day Zero (the day everyone arrives and registers) we met two amazing women who called themselves Team DFL

"What does DFL stand for," I asked innocently. 

"Dead 'Something' Last," was their reply. 

I met Patty (left) and Kris (right) on my first RTR in 2005.

I got the point. DFL is the moniker given to the last rider on the route. Imagine 2,000 cyclists trekking around the Colorado Rockies and the significant logistical challenge of keeping track of them all. The organizers and volunteers can't pack up an aid station until the last rider comes through. Imagine being that rider. Kris took pride in it!

Team DFL President Kris with Team Bar2Bar legacies Lora and Robert "Woody" Woodworth.

Don't get me wrong, Kris is a strong rider. She is also one of the most social people I have ever met. She can (and will) talk to anybody who will listen. Kris and Patty would set up temporary tattoo parlors at every aid station, apply Team DFL tattoos, and make friends with the other riders. The end result is they were often among the final riders on the route -- occasionally dead something last. We became fast (slow) friends. I rode with them for several years after that as an official member of Team DFL. 

Kris applies a Team DFL on the Mayor of Chama, NM, on RTR 2006 (the only time Ride the Rockies has left the state of Colorado).

Sometime during that first RTR Kris and Patty introduced me to a group of riders that call themselves Team Bar2Bar. The name is derived from their habit of riding directly to a bar (the first on one the left, unless it's on the right) in the overnight destination town. We became fast (drinking) friends.

Team DFL and Bar2Bar reunion at the start of RTR 2006 in Cortez, CO.

Seriously, though, these guys had the plan. Ride straight into town and to a bar. While everyone else rides straight to the campsite (typically a school) and sweats in the midday sun they were sitting (usually a local brewpub or dive bar) eating and drinking -- refueling for the next day. I have been a member of Team Bar2Bar ever since, whether I registered as part of the team or not.

The official T-shirt is a Team Bar2Bar tradition.

So where does Team Beef come in? Just prior to my second RTR in 2006 I interviewed for a position at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in Denver. I have always loved beef, grew up visiting my grandparents in Colorado, and was hooked on riding over 12,000 foot mountain passes after my first RTR. This was my chance to combine all three. They offered me the job and I took a week to think it over -- while riding on RTR 2006. I made my decision about halfway through the first day.

The first official Team Beef was just me and my friend Shawn.

After joining NCBA we came up with the idea for Team Beef when several of my colleagues signed up for a 10K run in Denver, sponsored by Arby's. At the end of the run Arby's employees were handing out coupons for a free meal. I eagerly took one anticipating an Arby's roast beef sandwich. The coupon was for a grilled chicken sandwich. "What the something?" I asked. "We figured runners would want something healthy," was their reply. Wrong answer.

I have been promoting beef on Ride the Rockies since 2007!

Thus the impetus for Team Beef -- now numbering thousands of beef-loving athletes around the country demonstrating that beef is powerful fuel for physical activity and an essential part of a healthy, active lifestyle. 

From left: The Hankster, Woody and I rode as Team Beef one day on RTR 2013.

Team Beef registered an official team for the first (and only) time in 2014 but, just like Team Bar2Bar, many people consider themselves part of Team Beef and sport Team Beef jerseys on the ride. This year is no different. Seven of us registered as Team Bar2Bar but on any given day 10 of us could be wearing Team Beef jerseys. Either way we will be enjoying plenty of beef and beer. That's just the way we roll.

Ride on...

Daren

Just in time for Ride the Rockies. It's the BEEF Bike!

The BEEF Bike visits a cattle ranch on its maiden voyage.

You guys. I did something crazy this week. I got a new bike and plan to ride it on Ride the Rockies -- in two weeks! Actually, this bike has been a work in progress. It started with my daughter Haley giving me a Brooks B17 Standard Saddle for my birthday last year after I told her about my dream to build a Surly Long Haul Trucker. I guess she called my bluff!

The Brooks B17 Standard Saddle is a key component of the BEEF bike. Just like a regular saddle, it has to be broken in and molds to the shape of its rider!

My dream was to build the BEEF bike. A one-of-its-kind bike built for multi-day rides like Ride the Rockies and Cycle Oregon. A bike that maybe, someday, I will ride cross country. As I researched bike shops in the Denver area it became clear that Yawp Cyclery in Edgewater was the only choice to build a custom Surly. Their gallery of custom Surly builds (which now features the BEEF bike!) sealed the deal.

The first two pics on the Yawp Cyclery Custom Surly Builds page are the BEEF bike!

On my first trip to Yawp I explained my vision to Levi "To Kill a YawpingBird" and Brian "The Lord of the ChainRings" I knew I had found the right shop. My vision for the BEEF bike was a cross between a road and a mountain bike but not a traditional hybrid. I wanted Shimano Total Integration> (STI) road shifters with mountain bike gearing for long, steep climbs.

The combination of the Tanpan with clutch-equipped Shimano Shadow+ rear derailleur

The solution they recommended was going with an 11-speed mountain rear derailleur paired with a road compact double crankset. As Levi explained, "you'll end up with the widest possible gear range if we go with an 11-speed mountain rear derailleur paired with a road compact double crankset. The alternative would be using a road triple crankset, but that would mean using a road rear derailleur as well, which would leave you with a more difficult "granny gear." Thanks to a cool little gizmo called a Tanpan, we can use a Shimano road shifter with a mountain derailleur. Neat!"

Up close shot of the Wolf Tooth Components Tanpan for Shimano 11-speed, which "amplifies road shifter cable pull to allow for seamless communication with mountain derailleurs."

I bought the frame in powder blue, had it stripped and powder-coated BEEF red. Pristine Powder Coating did a great job matching the color. It is exactly what I wanted! For several months I contemplating building this beast myself. I put the big ticket components on my Christmas list and got the shifters from my mom and crankset from my siblings. I also got an awesome hamburger saddle bag and a leather six-pack carrier!

But perhaps the coolest gift was the DLC 11 red and black bike chain> from Leslie. It was like getting jewelry. Unfortunately, it is not long enough for the 11-speed mountain rear derailleur paired with a road compact double crankset.

I found a hamburger bike bell at a bike shop in San Diego while shopping with birthday money from my mom!

As Ride the Rockies approached and the frame and Christmas gifts sat in the garage, untouched, it became apparent I was not going to find time to build it myself. So, Haley and I loaded up the parts this past Sunday and took them back to the boys at Yawp. Five days later I picked up my new ride and yesterday I took it out for a 50-mile ride (my longest of the year).
I love the ride of this bike. I'd compare to driving a Cadillac versus a sports car (like my Cannondale Synapse Carbon 3). The ride is so smooth and comfortable. It's luxurious!

Time to head out for another ride. Have to break in that saddle!

Ride on...

Daren

Ride the Rockies 2017 Training Update: Three Weeks to Go and We Still Have Snow!

Egad. There are only three weeks remaining until the start of Ride the Rockies 2017. How did that happen? It still feels like winter in Colorado. Maybe that's because a late May snowstorm hit us this week dropping more than a foot of snow the Denver area. Fortunately this year's route is in the Southern Rockies!

Spring snowstorms in Colorado are not unusual and quite beautiful.

The late spring on the Front Range continues to make it difficult to get in some long rides on the road. I've only been out four times so far in May. Normally I would be logging some serious miles riding two/from work by this time. However, I have been hitting the trainer hard and am feeling pretty good about my training to date. 

Rocker and I riding along the coast in LaJolla, California.

This past weekend my family gathered in San Diego for my nephew's graduation from San Diego State, Mother's Day and birthday celebrations. Brother Jon (Jonny Rocker) brought his bike so I rented a nice ride from The Bike Revolution and we went on a couple of short morning rides (32 and 20 miles). Rocker said he is finally feeling excited about RTR and could "do it today." I agreed but am still glad we have a couple of weeks to reach the peak of our conditioning. I don't want to just ride the Rockies; I want to rock it!

The view from the Mt. Soledad National Veteran's Memorial is well worth the ride up!

I've recorded 1,469 miles in the saddle since January 1 in 96 workouts burning a whopping 129,354 calories (according to my Garmin 810, which notoriously overestimates calories). My goal is to ride 2,000 before the start of RTR. I'd have to ride 183 miles per week in the final three weeks to get there. That's still possible but factoring in tapering it's not likely. Besides, I haven't ridden that many miles in a week yet this year!

My goal at this point is to pack on as many miles as I can in the next two weeks then scale back the final week. The sun is out today and the streets are fairly dry so I am going to venture out. 

Ride on!

Daren