Alex Moll

Yes - bucket list for sure! The route was "about 60 miles" on day one. It's out and back course to Kila, MT, only the middle section is different on day 2. Day 2 might have been slightly shorter but "9 mile climb" after lunch was pretty tough. It's the last 5 miles that are quite steep. It's mostly exposed, and the 80 degrees felt hotter than that. I had a tough time keeping the stinging sweat out of my eyes. I should bring a sweatband next time!

The pictures don't capture how rough some sections were - probably because we couldn't take pictures on those sections! It was challenging, but oh so fun.

Sir_Name 

My goodness, guys. That looks like an adventure to remember, thanks for sharing.

Drillium Dude 

Day 1, Chapter 1

Okay, time for at least one installment from me - but bear with me as I took a lot of pics and still have to research a name or two!

Alex met me at my place around 0730 on Friday and we were on our way by 0800. We stocked up on Red Bulls and coffee for the drive, which was scenic and beautiful in its own right. We had a bit of a driving adventure, of course, just to get to Kalispell as did lots of other out-of-staters.

Along the drive we made a stop at the Wal-Mart in Smelterville, Idaho - scozim would recognize these shots.

Our conveyance at Smelterville, Idaho:



Trail of the Couer d'Alenes looking east:



This was the halfway point in our July ride on the Trail in July 2013. It was pretty cool to see it again after over a year.

I like taking pics of old, rundown or abandoned buildings. I got a couple good opportunities over the 4 days of driving and riding.

An old restaurant near Moses Lake:



Some interesting menu choices here:



Good weather held, so we got into Kalispell and the Motel 6 right around 1900 and after getting a quick dinner at Subway headed over for a short visit at Dave's 100-year-old place just across town. We had a few beers, snacks and just basically shot the **** for about an hour before heading back to the motel and turning in.

Although my feet hung off the end of the bed, I got a good night's sleep (how Alex dealt with the small beds is beyond me) and felt okay the following morning. I did have some concern about my gearing, and of course my tire choice, but what the hell. Once at the little school in Kila we parked and unloaded all our gear. Our overnight stuff went into a U-Haul and the food (for both pranzas) was also taken off our hands. I stuffed two spare tubes into my jersey pockets along with my iPod (hah - never felt the need for that so I stowed it away in my overnight bag for Day 2), camera, tire levers, allen keys and my small Swiss Army knife. And some other stuff in my small seat wedge that I won't mention

I have never seen so many beautiful, vintage rigs in one place outside a show. Ever. And that fact was pointed out by Reed in the "driver's meeting", during which he praised the majority of the field for having the cahones to come out and put these beautiful machines through hell. I was waaaay impressed; the variety was deep and almost all were in very good condition or nearly mint. Most were geared, but some hearty souls (Matt included) were riding fixed or flip-flop single speeds.

Here's a general view of the pre-ride milling around. Note Northbend and Ty to the right in the grass:



Matt and Alex before the off:



Matt - The Face of Cino (well, at least for me!):



Sam with his Fuso before the start - he'd be my lifesaver on the course later in the day:



The group is ready for the start:



More - much more - to come!

DD

Drillium Dude 

Day 1, Chapter 2

Oops, I missed the pic of the "driver's meeting":



Oh, yeah - I was there, too. Myself and Alex just before the start:



My pristine and spotless Colnago Mexico before the start. It wouldn't look like this for long!



My rider number:



And we're off at around 1000. Nice flat, then slightly rolling pavement for a little while before beginning a gradual climb that turned into what I like to call "pave" about 10 miles in. I hung back to get a few pics of the pack and scenery before moving up to the first third of the field to take some hub-level looking-back shots. I think I got some good ones. Take a gander:





Our support crew was with us right from the start to the bitter end - can't say enough good things about these guys!







Retro look for a retro ride:



More...

DD

SJX426 

How do you take the hub level shots, dismount?

CV-6 

Saw the B&W shots on your photostream. Those are cool and really capture the feeling of the ride.

How did the 25mm tires work out for you?

rhm

As envious as I am, I must admit this photo scares me:



Fast descent on gravel? Mmmmm.... bring a change of shorts.

Drillium Dude 

Day 1, Chapter 3

"Team Specialized" - Dawn and Dave (mountaindave) Cummings flying in formation:



Matt (northbend) looking fresh and happy:



Pretty soon it was time to put the camera away, because we hit the first section of gravel/dirt/rocks - whatever it happened to be at any given time! - and I needed both hands and my bailout gear to keep up a nice, steady, seated pace up the next few miles of uphill stuff. For now, my 24t was just fine and I even did a few experimental yards standing up to get a feel for the traction. It was okay, and so was my wrist - but I never felt the need for a protracted stand. Once at the top of one of these rises, I stopped and took some pics.



Hard as it was for me to believe, this woman was riding in low-heeled pumps!





The man in the middle and woman on the right made their own Kalispell Cino Cider and brought it for the pranza that afternoon. Great stuff!



Down a fairly short, mild descent and onto a flat section on the valley floor. Spectacular scenery:



The curve leading into the valley:



More riders coming through:



Riders coming up the last true climb before pranza:



More...

DD

Drillium Dude 

It's only scary when you look at it from that kind of angle (funny, I never saw that view)

Honestly, I felt totally at home at speed and off the brakes for a majority of the downhills. I'm sure a big part of that was fatter-than-used-to 25mm tires. The descents, for me, were the highlights of my own ride!

DD

Drillium Dude 

I just extend my arm down and point the camera backwards, all the time just hoping I get a good focus!

I dismounted for most of the other pics on this thread, though.

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thanks, Lynn - and the tires were great. I would go up to 28mm next time, I think, just to get a little more insurance, if you will, but overall I was plenty happy with the way they handled everything.

DD

crank_addict

DD and others- Thanks for sharing.

Talk about eclectic! A woman riding in low heeled pumps? Fixed and single speeds? Bullhorns?

etherhuffer 

Hey, did anyone get my artichoke/mushroom quiche or asparagus goat cheese quiche at pranza? Somehow I just did not see these and hope that they got used. I was shooting for Pranza Award two years in a row!

Drillium Dude 

Day 1, Chapter 4

Now it's time for the first true off-road-on-a-roadbike descent and it starts out a bit technical. I take it slow and am riding the brakes a lot for the first mile, getting a feel and trying to gauge the road surface conditions with the added bother of shadows making it a bit difficult. But the road gets a bit better, the corners less acute and I get used to the shadow/sunlight transitions. I really start to fly. My chain is banging holy hell out of my chainstay, little stones are popping up, hitting the underside of the down tube and my pedals, my handlebars are creaking madly and the brightwork is getting dustier and dirtier by the minute and I'm LOVING IT.

Looking down:



View from the cockpit on one of the less-exciting sections:



Drivetrain and rear wheel both taking a beating:



Typical curve and road surface on the middle section of the descent:



Getting dirty now:





I did, however, end up getting the dreaded speck of dust under my right contact lens, so I had to pull up, pop it out, rinse it with my waterbottle and pop it back in.

While stopped, one of the guys stopped to see if I was okay. I got a pic of him with his camera and he did the same with mine:



Riders continue down the last bit before pranza:



The youngest rider this year, all of 13 years old!



Pranza; lunch is served!



More...

DD

Alex Moll

Pretty sure I saw one of them on Day 2 - sounds delicious!

etherhuffer 

Good, I must have arrived too late to see them go out. Not much food lasted very long at Pranza. I basically was shoving food in fast and it felt like I had not eaten a bite a few miles later.

scozim 

It's definitely a stressful descent. There are riders, though, that just cut it loose down the hill. Or at least it appears that way.

Drillium Dude 

Day 1, Chapter 5

Cake...



And Campy toolboxes...



What a beautiful spot for a picnic:



Alex relaxing at lunch:



Repairs went on all through lunch for some riders. Worst I saw was saddle-less seatpost (after the fixing bolt fell out, never to be seen again) and the odd chainring bolt lost here or there:



After lunch, we began a decent climb over some softer sand/moondust and rocks. I found the going tough a couple of times when the front wheel tried to wash out in the deeper stuff at slow uphill speeds, so I got off the bike and walked a hundred yards or so each time to locate some better road surface! Once over the top, it was time for the descent I'd only heard about, but boy, was it a revelation! I actually thought I'd do some damage to my brain as I could almost feel it getting knocked about inside my skull from the pounding! The overly-rocky surface beat the hell out of the bike and body no matter the speed. I figured the faster I got down the quicker I could put an end to the misery, so I let the Colnago run. Exhilarating!

Old homestead building:



Alex passing an old homestead building:



At the bottom, I swear only about 1/4 of a mile onto the flat section on the valley floor, I had a puncture. Mine was not as spectacular as Matt's - and I got no warning at all, just "pow!" - but it was a bit worrisome as I'd cut the sidewall on the driveside. Fortunately, Sam rode up and offered up half of his Park Tools tire boot (I was going to use a $1 bill). Got it pumped up with my mini-pump and was on my way again.

Here's where I flatted the first time:



Well, I guess I didn't get enough pressure in the tire or some small speck of foreign matter got into the tire casing because within the next two miles I flatted again. Out came my last tube. Once I got it changed out I waited for Vince on one of the support motos and used his floor pump to ensure I was back up to 110psi. No more flats for the day.

At the site of the second flat:



While I went on, this poor guy did not:



More....

DD

Drillium Dude 

Day 1, Chapter 6

The rest of the day's ride was pretty much uneventful. I worried a little bit about a third puncture, but after a couple more miles with the higher pressure now restored to the back tire, I forgot about it. We only ended up with about half the originally expected pavement at the end as it was recently covered over in loose chip-seal type gravel. The deep sections made riding interesting, but over all it was a nice, consistent surface. The last water stop was good for freshening up and having a cold Pepsi. Then it was on to the pavement, one final climb and a fast decent into Hot Springs. I stopped at the beer truck and rode in with a cold bottle of beer to the day's finish. Were my legs tired and sore? You bet - hell, my whole body ached. The shower, dinner and late-night soak in the hot springs pools would fix that, though.

Bike decoration:





Jeff and Dirk coming up one of the last little climbs; Jeff beat cancer last year and Cino was his goal. He and Dirk must have hung together the entire way on both days because I never saw them more than this far apart:





Pavement! The final climb of the day can be seen off in the distance:



The headboard in our hotel room. There was a matching cutout on the mirror surround, too:



Al fresco dining at dinner:



Alex and I donned some old duds left over from our previous jobs:



Alex:



Me:



Wow, I took a lot of pics! And there's still Day 2 to post! Tomorrow...

DD

mountaindave 

You never saw it that way because your eyes were glued to the road trying to avoid the rocks/boulders that some genius decided to grade the road with. I still have visions of that road in my head where it seems like a black diamond run we are about to go straight down. It's not actually that bad, but it is the same pitch (view from the top) where I took the pic of my wife walking down (right where that closest cyclist is) - the only one she walked. I went down nice and slow because last year the washboards were insane and nearly bucked me off my bike.

Great photos DD, keep'em coming!

Ed.

Looks like a fabulous time, and that a fabulous time was had by all.

etherhuffer 

The true spirit of Cino:

Wildwood 

Bravo gentlemen. Enough gold there to challenge Fort Knox. I only mustered 4 years, even starting as a ROTC Ensign.

Barrettscv 

Great photography of an epic event, thanks for sharing.

squirtdad

ok add to bucket list 2016 (when kid is in college) I might have enough time to get in shape and lose the weight I need to survive

very cool guys