For the longest time the thought of a particular cycling challenge has played in my mind over and over. Originally it was the idea of riding the area’s popular climb (Longquan for those who know what’s up) every day for a week. Then it manifested in setting a target distance to cover a set time …
I’m hard on myself. Excessively hard. If I can’t get something right or get it perfect it turns into a downward spiral of frustration, anger and self-loathing. It moves from feeling unaccomplished to a raw fury focused inward. It’s not a pretty character trait, but I’ve been witness to what happens when I let it …
In college I worked weekends at Kinko’s helping folks make copies. Being in the heart of the city’s university area we got a veritable crowd of customers: New York designer pomps, humble tenured professors, self-loathing graduate understudies, shrew-handed panhandlers and so on. My favorite was older folks; Kind, patient and with a penchant for speaking …
There’s something to be said about pushing your boundaries and exploring outside of your comfort zone. But really, it’s once you’ve carved out your comfort zone that you know exactly how and where you can push yourself. Riding the Second Ring Road is a fine complement to this idea and knowing how to explore my …
Nobody likes riding in the rain. Generally. That instant your socks soak through it becomes a battle morale. But if you’re riding in bad weather, it means you’re a badass. Period. Outside being a badass here are a few other reasons ripping in the rain makes for a solid ride: 1) You still get a …
My favorite rides have always come as the consequence of making a wrong turn. It’s not necessarily taking a left over a right, but often includes misreading a map (or taking liberty of interpreting what is a road), coming to a fork and taking it randomly, disregarding intuition, or refusing advice (ignoring it or imposing …
I’ve made my thoughts on the Longquan climb up the 318 pretty clear. It’s nice and familiar, but if you’re looking to get away or get a challenge in, it kind of sucks. Fortunately, there’s a cornucopia of climbing to be had in the surrounding areas if you’re willing to break the shackles of familiarity. …
For the uninitiated, many moons ago a cycling blog, Velominati, began assembling an extensive list of of rules they deem the complete canon of cycling etiquette. “The Rules” are uncanny in that they’re at the same time funny, poignant and casually inspiring for any self-proclaimed cyclist. I don’t need to go into the full list …
A week ago I finally found myself with a week’s window. I’ve been riding a lot but one of my aims this year was to do what I haven’t done much of before: explore Western Sichuan, solo-style on two wheels. I was looking at roughly 800km with thousands of meters climbing and elevations north of …
The plan was to start and finish the ride early in preparation for day three. Ravenous, I stuffed myself on 米粉, 油条 and a warm bowl of soymilk. I over-ate and riding down the block out of town had a rolling spew of breakfast. Apparently my nerves were on high in anticipation of the ride. …
I set out at sunrise, making sure to eat enough to get me going without having to puke. Today was going to be big. I’ve done climbing before and I’ve done distance. But this was different. The route showed 135km roughly to the pass, increasingly steep as the road wound higher up the mountain. I …
Woke up feeling absolutely wasted. There was a steady rain outside, so I took the time to adjust course. I figured I’d make the most of it and use the day for recovery. After a late breakfast and roll-out I coasted the short stretch to Songpan, a city with a rich history of trade and …
