Hack the Hat v5

Hey there!  I want to get this out of the way first:  Regarding the shiny new website – It’s absolutely a work in progress and likely will be changing even more over the next few weeks.  We, uh, desperately needed an update.  Ok, on to why you’re really here.

Hack the Hat 2015 – Cycle OverRide’s annual ride at DerbyCon
Saturday, September 26
7:30 AM
Meet in Hotel Lobby

The first year of DerbyCon, we actually cycled our way to the con from a few states away.  The last few years we’ve simply opted to do a ride after arriving by more conventional methods.  You’re welcome.

We’re not entirely sure of the route yet, but we’ll keep it under control with no major climbs (something Louisville lacks anyway). This will be a no-drop ride, but hopefully we can keep a decent speed and get around 20 miles in just over an hour.  Ok.  Maybe two.  Hours.  Not two miles.  I digress.

It should be noted that we likely will NOT be back in time for the first talk, but almost certainly by the 2nd slot of the day.  You are, of course, welcome to turn back early if necessary.

You’re best bet for this ride is to bring your own bike if you can.  Road or mountain or unicycle is fine – we’re not breaking any records here.  Unfortunately renting a decent bike in Louisville isn’t as easy as we’ve found in other cities.  There ARE places to rent and I’ll update this page with some links after I make a phone call or two.  We don’t have enough critical mass for this ride to ask a shop to open up early however, so renting may require you to pick up your bike the day before.  Again more details as I find them out.  The good news is that Louisville is planning to set up bikeshare stations and while this did get delayed until 2016, maybe it will be in place for next year’s ride.

If you’d like to join please let me know so we don’t leave without you.

2015 – 5th Annual Defcon Bike Ride

TLDR: Ride a bicycle with us at Defcon – signup here.

TLDR2: (8/6/15) Bike shop will meet us at 6am to hand out rentals. You do not need to go there ahead of time.

TLDR3:(8/6/15) If you need a ride we have a carshare sheet. DM your email to @cycle_override.

TLDR4:(8/6/15) We are very busy today and will answer questions as we can.

Dust off your cycling shorts, get out the chammois butter, ice the water, it’s almost time for another Defcon Bike Ride in Las Vegas!

The date of this years bike ride is Friday, Aug 7, 2014 at 6am. This is Friday of Defcon. We will meet outside [TBD location] at 5:30am. There [may/will] also be a contingent meeting at the Tuscany at 5:30 am.

Registration is here. This is just so we can get a count and arrange comms leading up to the event. It will also give us your email so we can blast out any details needed pre ride, or at 5:25am on Aug 7th .

Here’s the deal – we have partnered again with McGhies Bike Shop in Las Vegas for our ride. Yes – they will throw your clipless pedals and seat posts on if you insist. They have 3 levels of road bikes:  a ~$40 Cannondale Synapse,  and a ~$100 Lance Armstrong starter kit road bike (think Madone.)  There’s also a $125 level also.

Bike rental is first come first serve — there are about 18 $40  male road bikes and 5 female — after that it’s a hybrid or a $100 bike.  You can always ship out your bike for about $100 each way on most airlines.

Here’s what YOU have to do:

You need to go here and reserve your ride. You will need to pay with a credit card. You should note anything special here and you should indicate you are reserving for the Defcon Bike Ride.

Here is what you should put in the comment box: (your own specs of course)

“Defcon Bike Ride

Size: 54 cm – will bring my own pedals

Need bike at 6am”

And for pick up:

Please select pickup at store – Las Vegas

Use this chart based on your height and inseam to figure out your size and fill the comment box out accordingly:

You alone are solely responsible for your bike reservation. McGhies is aware that we are running this event and will support us, but it’s on you to make sure you are all set with a bike.

THE ROUTE

NOTE: This ride may be at a higher altitude than you are used to. (2600-3800 ft)

OK — last piece the route – you can see the route here. This is the same route as last year (and the year before). Basically the route is slightly uphill out – and mostly downhill back. It’s looking like we’ll have a car heading up the back. (thanks @myrcurial ) There may be a bigger loop for those interested – we’ll let you know soon (basically taking the scenic loop around and catching up w/the group on your way back) – but it will likely be unofficial.

We are looking for sponsors so let us know if you are aware of anyone interested in throwing in some schwag or some cash to help support this ride.

What do I do next?

Once you reserve your bike — all you have to do is wait for Defcon 23! Oh and keep riding!

Cheers!

The Cycle Override Team

PS if you have any questions — leave a comment so everyone can see the answer!

Reflections from the kids (and maybe a few from Mom)

Yesterday we trekked home.  Albany to where we live is about a 6 hour drive depending on traffic and we definitely hit traffic in the last stretch of the drive due to arriving during rush hour.  We only really stopped for lunch in Bethlehem, PA.  We ate at the Sands Casino which was only cool because it’s built on the property next to (or maybe on part of the property that used to belong to) the Bethlehem Steel Mill which went out of business many years ago.  This thing defines steam punk.After lunch and when the kids were a bit more awake I asked them to write up a few thoughts about our ride.

From Bobby:

This trip was extremely tiring but really fun. I should have really packed more clothes especially socks because I ran out really fast. [Mom’s note – this was due in part to Bobby not always delivering all of his dirty clothes to us to be washed, just saying’.] In the bags I was carrying I mainly hauled glasses cases, misc stuff, toiletries, some clothes, and games. My usual conversations while biking were of video games and of how many miles were left in the ride. I fell down once (stopping on a hill) and got a pretty neat cut (might become a scar) from it that stung for a while. I also got bitten by a horse fly right next to my right eye on the last day which came with quite a bit of swelling.

The weirdest thing (and in my opinion the funniest thing too) are the tan lines that all of us (including Daxton) got. One thing that bugged me out though was all the bugs, waking up so early, and not being able to go to the various stores along the way. However, my favorite things were talking about video games, sleeping, and the bumps on the trail. I could use them as mini ramps to jump which was so much fun. At the end of each day I thought, “I’m done with this, bring me ho…(falls asleep).” But at the end of the week it was fulfilling to ride the Erie Canal all of the way (but just to end up at the wrong hotel which killed the excitement of ending it). I think I speak for my family to not trust my dad in navigation.

And from Terran:

Well, to start off, I did not realize the extent of how much the luggage would slow us down; when I first turned that pedal, I knew we were in for a world of hurt. It soon turned into a mind game of, “It’s only 40 more miles, it’s only 30 more miles…” etc. Of course the trail itself made that ordeal worse; mile markers, boring stretches of nothing, and endless bumps. Then we got to each hotel and we knew we would do the same thing again the next day. The worst for me was when we were biking on roads, as the only thing I could think of was, “Oh **** we’re gonna die.”

However, all of that hardly stands up against the amazing feelings and sights. The canal’s water was full of both wild life and the many others who were enjoying the canal, and the many locks and villages among the lock were pristine and, in a way, cute. Many of the towns and cities we visited had great eats and their own attractions such as old ships, museums about the canal, and even just a fun main street. The people there were also a breed of their own, from druggies to other eccentric cyclists. And of course the sense of accomplishment at the end of each day (especially the last until we realized we were at the wrong hotel, and all that flew out the window). It is one of those trips where I cannot believe I did it, but in the end I’m glad I did.

And from Mom:

I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am of all by boys. Short of a few mornings where it was hard to wake them up they tackled this adventure head on. Even Daxton, who we were sure would have the hardest time, got up each morning with a smile and ready to get back on the bike. They really impressed me and I couldn’t be more thankful for the memories of the last week and a half. This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done physically (because I had to get up and keep doing it again the next day and then again and again…for hours…) and the encouragement from Bruce and the boys was endless. Seriously though. I wasn’t going to let them show me up.  😉

Tomorrow, or maybe later today, I’ll get some videos posted and then I think that’s it until the DefCon ride. Haven’t decided if I’m doing that one yet, but I am going to be walking a half non-athon on Thursday morning in Vegas (13 miles) if anyone wants to join me and the crazy non-athon crew. Let me know.

One last shot. As we drove into our hometown we saw this rainbow which seemed to be pointed right at our house, leading the way home.

 

Day 8 – Amsterdam to Albany, 31.7 miles

Last day of the ride had us up early and outside prepping to get on the road.  We were all pretty excited to be nearing the end of the ride and even better – we knew today was all on pavement.This process included the application of bug spray.  We learned to apply it early after the first few days.  The entire back half of my body is covered in bites – no fun to ride with, especially if you’re me and have interesting reactions to bugs.
Started the morning riding back down the hills I mentioned yesterday and then it was paved trail for about 10 miles.  We made a quick stop so I could get a picture of the marks we’ve been following for most of the ride.  This one is telling us to turn right – and pink generally means there’s some kind of caution ahead.  In this case it was a bit of gravel followed by a major road crossing.The path out of Schenectady had a rather huge climb.  Big enough that after we got to the top (I walked the last bit and I think the others did too) we laughed to see some other race’s marks on the pavement that said “atop the bitch.”  Yeah, that hill was, to quote another cyclist, “the fun part of the ride.”  I guess it is, if you’re going down.  A few miles after that we pulled over for a true rest at the last lock we’d be passing on this trip.  Also most locks have porta-johns.  This works out well for the one person on this ride who doesn’t easily have the ability to pee while standing up. We took a few family pictures.  One with the sun right behind us, but hey – there’s part of the lock.  Then we got wise and turned around.  It was hot and humid so we didn’t linger terribly long.  Coming into Albany there was plenty to see. We pulled over just to get a few shots of this vista.  From there we rode past the GE Global Research Center.  But even more exciting we watched several local police escorting large trucks carrying HUGE excavators into the Bettis Atomic Power Research facility. It was a big enough delivery that numerous employees were out front watching the trucks roll in… and we rode right through the middle of it all. Bruce thinks they’re putting a nuclear propulsion system into the excavators. The boys think it’s Black Mesa 2.0.

A few more miles and we pulled into the hotel and took these celebratory pictures.
As you can see, we were excited to be pretty much done with the ride.  EXCEPT…

Except that my wonderful husband.  The one I’ve been married to for almost 20 years.  Who has lead this family without fail through the entire country.  Who always knows north from south.  Who is one of the best navigators I know…

HAD LEAD US TO THE WRONG HOTEL!

Ok.  It was pretty funny.  Even funnier is that the kids and I had already gone in and eaten the free donuts they had set out for guests.  Thankfully the wonderful lady at the desk got us pointed in the right direction and we didn’t have that far to go.  She even came outside to send us off.  If you’re reading this – thanks again!  And thanks for the donuts!

Right.  So by the time we got to our true hotel, we just decided to call it.  The whole day had gone so well and it seemed right to end it on this funny note.  We got checked in, showered up and decided to go out and get a late lunch.  You might say there was a bit of excitement at seeing the car again.We thought we might go out again for a late dinner, but in the end opted to eat here at the hotel.  A few rounds of Heads Up, plus the endless antics of Daxton kept us in stitches and it was a great way to continue the unwinding process.  We’ve still got at least 2 more posts for you.  The kids are going to weigh in with a few comments tomorrow and I still want to post those videos I mentioned a few days ago.
Tomorrow = Home!