Every summer I search high and low for a couple of choice tracks that I always know will easily slip me into the perfect summer mood. Just when I was about to throw in the towel, NPR came rushing to the rescue.
I’d start with the Higga Boom track here and relax into a nice cocktail.
I don’t normally say this, but—Keep the Party Going!
Three months of head scratching, knuckle scraping and endless hours spent with shop manuals has almost come to fruition. My 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado police is nearly back on the road and ready for a Summer chock full of roadtrips. This past weekend I managed to rebuild the carbs and install a GPS. Just a few more projects and it’s time to put her back together and get it fired up! Just in time for Summer…
The Dukes of Flatbush roll in style and are always up for a challenge. For some time, we’ve been meaning to join the Iron Butt Association – a distance riding group. You must ride (and carefully document) a trip that covers at least 1,000 miles in 24 hours to gain entry. A good friend and fellow Duke is getting married this summer in Wisconsin. The distance from NY to the wedding? 1,139 miles. A plan is born!
I haven’t written in a few months because I’ve been holed up in my barn working on my 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado Police. Doing the Iron Butt is no small challenge, but doing it on a motorcycle that is 35 years old poses additional issues. You need to make sure everything is in perfect order and carry all the spare parts that are otherwise impossible to find. Although I’m a huge motorcycle enthusiast, I’ve never spent much time wrenching so I’ve had a steep learning curve. It’s going well though. I’ll show everyone how it turns out once I’m done…
For those of you who may not have noticed we are in a little bit of a lull here as we are just getting over the NYC Marathon and the Taste of Fall (pictures and post coming soon).
I myself am taking the time to escape to Key Biscayne and Miami. Here are some pics from 12th floor of the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne where I am ensconced for the week. This weekend I will be heading to the ultra luxurious Sike Spa in Miami. For those of you who have not heard of it, sorry, it must remain a secret
Received this transmission and just had to share. Submitted by a roving wild-man adventurer who we’ll call Hazard. Shit is so ill – makes me long for the mountains:
I have been back from Yosemite for almost a week and trying to re-adjust to “normal” life. Just wanted to share a few photos. I went to Yosemite on September 7th to meet my friend JW and climb for two weeks. C joined us on the 12th for five days as well and we gave JW some time to prepare for his El Capitan (ed: !!!) climb. JW was planning to do the ascent the week of September 22nd with a German climber, Felix. Unfortunately Felix got sick the second day and they had to rappel down from the climb.
JW and I did mostly cragging, which consists of short multipitch climbs. The valley was very dry but the temperatures were perfect and there were not too many tourists. After September 15th there was a large influx of climbers including three very famous climbers. JW could tell you their names; I don’t pay that much attention.
The most noteworthy climb we did was Royal Arches. It’s a famous climb set up in 1931 by a climber staying at the Awanie Hotel. He was convinced that he could find a route up the cliff face to the top. After several failed attempts, and one bout of heat stress, he finally did. The climb is 16 pitches (rope lenths) long and about 2,400 feet high. In 1931, when the climb was first established, it was rated a 5.7. Most climbers today would agree that it is significantly harder. In 1931 the hardest rating was a 5.9, today the hardest routes are rated 5.16d.
JW
Hazard being sweet
JW and I started climbing at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. We climbed non-stop and finished the last pitch of the climb at 9:00 p.m. at night. We bivied on a small but comfortable ledge and the next morning hiked 8 miles up over the ridge by North Dome and then back to Camp 4. We finally arrived back in Camp 4 around 3:00 a.m. and promptly went to the Awanie to celebrate.
Gotta say, that’s a totally serious effort. Arches may not be the most technical, retarded-spiderman climb, but 16 pitches and a night spent on the rock in Yosemite should qualify as righteous in anyone’s book. Rock on with your bad-ass self Hazard & thanks for sharing.
The internet is abuzz with rumors about the 2008 Baja 1000 course. This was posted on a Baja.net forum:
“At the Primm 300 this past weekend, Sal Fish announced the 2008 Baja 1000 would be about 660 miles and follow this route: Ensenada – Ojos Negros – El Condor – La Ponderosa – Rumorosa – Laguna Salada – San Felipe – Azufre wash – Morelia Jct – San Matias – Mike’s Sky Rancho – Valle de Trinidad – Llano Colorado – San Vicente – Santo Tomas – Ojos Negros – Ensenada.”
I spent time in Baja earlier this year and heard from many people that loop races might be a thing of the past. This speculation was largely based on the growing popularity of the race, both in the number of entrants and worldwide media attention. A loop race (Ensenada to Ensenada) only benefits businesses in the North, while a point-to-point race (Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas) spreads the wealth. A point-to-point race is more dramatic and highlights Cabo which is the biggest tourist draw on the whole peninsula.
If this rumor holds true, it seems loop races are still in the mix, but the most shocking thing is the distance. That’s almost half the mileage of last year! If that proves true, my guess is that the course would be insanely technical.
If anyone hears anything else, please post a comment…
This note was delivered this morning by winged foot messenger form an intrepid Northland Duke…..glory was his this weekend and he’s kind enough to share.
My Esteemed Dukes,
It is with great honor and sense of obligation that I have joined your exalted ranks. As a sign of my good faith and dedication, immediately upon returning to my native lands I set about a conquest to claim lands for the ever expanding Flatbush empire to the north. I am pleased to report that the summit of Mt. Katahdin was claimed for the Dukes as well as all territory visible from its summit (see attached picture). All vassals encountered upon the way were made to grovel before the Flatbush flag, and I would have dispatched any Los Compadres encountered, but I am sad to report that none were spotted. Becoming hungry during our expedition, I hunted down one of Maine’s alpine parakeets with my bare hands. My trusty assistant is seen in the second picture holding our substantial feast immediately prior to roasting.
For the glory of the empire!
Res Firma Nitescere Nescit
-The Duke of the North
With body and mind still recovering from the Reach the Beach juggernaut, I can assure you that there has been no shortage of wine consumed in our house this week. Ran into a delicious little gem acquired from the NH State liquor store on the way back down and thought I’d share. I normally shy away from any vineyard that aligns itself with the “new school”, or relies on cheeky names and such. Generally I find their wines sub-par and the approach ill conceived. Yeah, I’ve suffered through more than my fair share of sharp tannins and unbalanced ho-ha garbage at the hands of Bonny Dune Vineyards.
But every now and then I take a gamble, and the purchase of a bottle of Ro Sham Bo Winery’s Reverend Zin paid off. Granted it’s primarily Dry Creek, which is known for some excellent Zins, but this is a damn tasty bottle of wine. Nice fruit, tanins and and full bodied without going overboard. It puts me in mind of another favorite Zin – Renwood’s Jack Rabbit Flats. Anyway, if you dig Zins, check it out. And I must say, the Ro Sham Bo folks seems to have a delightfully zaney approach to their craft to boot. The Dukes may just have to make a trip to the left coast to take in the annual Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament next year…
I spend a lot of time on the East End of Long Island. Apart from Shelter Island, my favorite spot is Montauk. It’s got a great local vibe, tons of great bars and restaurants and most importantly, feels a million miles from the Hamptons. When I’m in Montauk, I always do two things. I swing by Ditch Plains to get a little sun and watch the surfers hang ten. The second is an obligatory stop at St. Peter’s Catch to pick up as much smoked marlin dip as I can carry. I’m not normally a fan of smoked fish, but this dip is outrageous. You spread it on a ritz cracker, top with a jalapeno slice and you’re off to the races.
I have four Jalapeno pepper plants that produce around 40 peppers every two weeks. With the help of a friend, we put up five jars of pickled jalapeno slices the other weekend. The jalapenos are ridiculously fresh having been picked moments earlier. Can’t wait to introduce these little fellers to St. Peter…
If you are serious about motorcycles, you’ll want to visit the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, AL. They have over 1,100 bikes in a building reminiscent of the Guggenheim in New York City, surrounded by a world class track. It is truly an unbelievable experience. The Dukes took a trip down there earlier this year to soak it all in. There were far too many bikes to document in one trip, but I hope these images whet your whistle…
03 Sep
Posted by Graham as Adventure, Run, Sports, Training, Travel
The Dukes of Flatbush have fielded a 12 person team to race in the 2008 Reach the Beach relay race next Friday. If you haven’t seen the other posts, it’s a continuous 24 hour relay race that covers 210 miles. We’ll each do three legs, running one leg every 8 hours or so. I just downloaded the .kmz file for Google Earth so I could get a bird’s eye view and I gotta say, this is some pretty impressive distance for 24 hours. The course starts in the Northwest corner of New Hampshire and runs all the way to the beach in the Southeast corner. All I can say is “Res Firma Nitescere Descit”.
I spent time in Baja this year riding a dirtbike from from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. Along the way, I heard tall tales of a creature named the Chupacabra – a bloodsucking beast that prayed largely on farm animals, particularly goats. I know everyone has been caught up with the Montauk Monster, but here’s some video taken by a cop down in Texas of what he believes is the legendary Chupacabra.
We seem to be having quite a mythical year. What’s nhhkjkkjkhxt? Nessie? Bigfoot?
Having recently returned from an excellent road trip to Michigan’s lower peninsula, I have to say that the state does right by it’s motto : Great Lakes – Great Times. Also have to give a serious shout out to the cherry, a vastly undersung fruit. Traverse City, in addition to being an amazing lakeside summer town, is arguably the epicenter of world cherry farming. We were there at peak season and let me say: Hole. E. Sheet. The cherries were out of this world…sweet cherries, semi-sweets, sours for cooking….all of them had robust and complex flavors that are hard to imagine if you’ve never had them fresh off the tree.
I guess the same can be said for any fruit, but we were definitely blown away by the sheer cherry awesomeness. If you’ve never slurped the juice that collects at the bottom of the bowl you’re using for pitting cherries, you haven’t lived. We muled about 10lbs home; most are frozen awaiting future diabolical cherry plans, but some yielded an amazing cherry/balsamic reduction for a grilled pork loin. Is there no end to the cherry’s excellence?!?
True indeed.
Yellow Sweets
Mixed sweets pickin’ pail
Fresh cherry pie!
Also of note; they show appropriate reverence for the jerky in Michigan. I’m having all of my mail forwarded here immediately.
Few things in life turn out to be as good as their name, but Punkin Chunkin is definitely one. Every year, a bunch of people get together to see just how far they can throw a pumpkin. You are probably thinking it’s a strongman competition where giant Swedes throw gourds over a 20 foot wall. No. It’s much better than that. The classes in the competition merely hint at the insanity – Air, Centrifugal, Catapult, Trebuchet, Human Power, Human Power Centrifugal, and Torsion Catapult. I could go on, but a picture is worth a thousand words. Check these out…
Just how far are we chunkin these punkins? The world record currently stands at 4434.28 feet, a little under a mile. Are you kidding me? The event is held in Bridgeville, Delaware from October 31 – November 2 this year. Count me in. I’ll blend in perfectly…
The Dukes are gearing up for our Reach The Beach relay race in mid September. I’ve recently begun to slowly target my running towards the goal of being able to effectively run 3 legs of varying distance in a 24hr period. It’s kind of a wonky requirement and I’ve been at a bit of a loss on how best to tailor a program. Fortunately I came upon this bit in July’s Runner’s World (pg. 40):
Q: How should I train for a road relay in which I’ll run about five miles three times in 24 hours?
A: Train as you would for a half-marathon, but add these strategies: (1) Do two-a-day runs of five miles each at least once a week starting six weeks before the event. (2) Run a hilly route once a week to increase overall leg strength. (3) head out for a few runs in the dark (with friends, reflective gear and a headlamp); night runs are an inevitable part of the relay experience. (4) Find foods you can digest easily because you’ll be eating at all different times of the day and night.
The cumulative mileages vary for each runner on the RTB team and some will log a good deal more than 15 (more like 20-22). But this seems like sound advice and a good place to start. Seeing as the author is Sean Coster, I’m guessing he knows what he’s talking about. I can’t say as I’m looking forward to initiating 2 x days much, but think I’ll get cracking on that this week. My dogs be barkin’ just thinking about it.
Stay tuned for more Dukes RTB updates from our RTB Captain: The New Guy.
Subscribe to this site's RSS feed.
DOFB