Picts of the Stolen Bikes

White cable housing and Race Cyclocross Stickers.

The Cross Country bike is set up as a single speed. Ironically he managed to steal the cranks and derailure pictured.

STOLEN MOOTS

Find this guy and I'll pay your entry fees to Cross Crusade for life. Return the bikes to me for $1000. cash (each bike)

Moots XC
Description
Serial #
Color
Frame
Moots Mooto-X YBB
M6951
ti
Fork
Pace Rigid Carbon RC29
black
Wheels
Stans ZTR
black
Tires
Kenda Nevgals
Front Hub
DT Swiss 240 Disc
black
Rear Hub
White Industries Eccentric
black
Brakes
Avid Juicy Ultimate Carbon
Rear Cog
White Industries 17
silver/blue
Cranks
Shimano XT
Front Chain Ring
Race Face 34
Chain
SRAM PC991
Saddle
WTB Devo
White
Post
Ericksen Laidback
ti/blue
Headset
Chris King
black
Stem
Ritchey WCS
black
Bars
Easton
Black
Grips
Blue
Pedals
Shimano XTR

Moots CX
Description
Serial #
Color
Frame
Moots Psycho-X 56.5
56M7724
Ti
Fork
Alpah Q CX20
Black
Wheels
Stans XTR
black
Hubs
DT Swiss 240
black
Tires
Michelin Mud 2
black
Cranks
Dura Ace 7800
DA 42/39
Rear Cassette
DA 12/25
Rear Derailure
Shimano 105
Front Derailure DA
Chain
DA
Brakes
Paul Neo Retro
Black/Silver
Pads
Swiss Stop
Green
Post
Thompsen Masterpiece27.2x 330
Bars
Ritchey WCS
Stem
Thompsen Masterpiece Elite
Levers
Ultegra 10 Speed
Saddle
Fizik Aerone
Silver/gray
Bar Tape
Silver/gray
Cables
Gore
White
Pedals
Shimano XTR
Silver/gray

RIP Moots XC/CX

Ripped off. Storage unit broken into in the "secure" compound in the Pearl District.

Sickening feeling really. Wait, where's my 29"? Did I loan it to someone? Wait I just rode it yesterday, WAIT where is my cross bike. No- must sit down. This can't be happening.


Blood, Sweat and Tears. Love-Hate Pleasure-Pain all experienced on those machines. Parts of my soul left out on race courses and trails. Swearing off cycling numerous times on those machines. Now gone.

As I climbed slowly up a wet dirt road in Scappose this morning, I thought about Karma what I wanted to wish on those who end up with the Ti machines. It would be easy to wish negative feelings and don't get me wrong if I came across the j-bag(s) who stole from me, I would love to imprint Louisville Slugger across their forehead.

May who ever ends up with the Ti greatness be as stoked as I have, they are truly great machines- ride them well, you bastards.

It's Been a While

Saturdays Up Saltzman has been on a bit of life support lately.  Thought I'd post a quick update on what I've been up to.

As most of you know I've spend the fall back and forth from PDX to NYC.  My job with Kaiser allowed me to take 10 days a month to visit Anita.  I had an opportunity to do some cross racing while on the east coast.  I've met some great friends in NYC.

Anita is doing stellar at Columbia.  She is busier than I've ever seen her.  In addition to the volumes of reading her professors prescribe, she is also busy working on a documentary for her thesis/project.  Fascinating project actually, she's putting together a documentary on the effects of the traumatic events journalist cover on the journalist themselves.  

In mid December I accepted a position with Psychiatric Solutions, INC.  I was offered a position in their corporate Quality and Compliance division.  It's a boss I worked for in Boise. She's great, it is a fantastic opportunity, new challenge and overall a good fit for Anita and I.  Most attractive for me was the opportunity to work from home (where ever that may be these days).  So for the month of January I'm based out of New York.

Speaking of New York, last Thursday I flew into New York and was itching to get a quick ride in.  I took off for the Hudson River bike path and saw the US Airways plane landing in the Hudson River!!!  Crazy experience.

Life is good.  Sort of crazy lately as I'm back and forth from coast to coast.   Looking forward to getting back to PDX and just riding in some good old rain vs. the 17 degrees I rode in yesterday!!

Vini Vedi Vichi CX 2008

What a way to finish the season. USGP always dishes out some good weather. Spent a lot of time on the ground Sunday. Took a spill in warm up coming off the pave. A poor start and a few more crashes found me working my way back from last place.

I managed to finish strong, connecting into the top 5. On the last lap Butler and I worked together to hold off McCaffery and launch him onto the podium.

I remember this surreal moment when I'm hammering down through the Start/Finish on the rivet and I could hear the rain snapping on the bill of my hat. I remember briefly seeing a drop of water hanging from the bill. Time stood still for a moment, the droplet falls and I'm back on the throttle.

It's moment's like these that keep me coming back.

Staten CX- The Great Schlep Report

Staten Cross was a blast. Small field but epic conditions. Sideways rain, just a bit over the freezing mark.

Lot's of Belgian love for this race:

Ran into Kris Schampe at a trattoria prior to grabbing my red eye out of PDX. Kris was entertaining many Belgians for a dinner party so I'm sure some of their Belgian-ness rubbed off on me.

Managed to sleep soundly for about 4 hours on the flight to JFK despite the lady next to me having wretched smelling feet. Touched down and JFK to see what looked to be snow- quick txt message to Jed who confirmed the conditions were going to be nasty.

Grabbed a rental car and sped home to grab Anita, Sigmund and the Van Dessel. Quick stop at Absolute Bagels and headed to Staten.

Staten is only 20 miles from our Upper West apartment- but this is New York we're talking about things take 4 times as long. An 1:15 minutes later I make it to Staten Island, completing a 5 Burrough tour- Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten and PDX (the 6th Burrough). Rich Bravo pointed out I should have made a quick trip into the Bronx to complete the tour.

Once at the race the Belgian love continued to flow- Belgian waffles (the sugary crispy kind) were flowing hot off the grill from a real Belgian guy. Beligian department of tourism and Velo Classic tours were on hand to discuss upcoming trips. Started running into new friends I had made from other races, heck I'm beginning to feel like a regular LJB!!

Course continued to deteriorate closer to race time. I felt confident with the course and my single speed set up as it was really muddy and a flat course would favor the 42:17 gearing I have the Van Dessel set up with. Jed hooked me up with some Belgian Knee warmer tonic after zipping up into the Cyclo-Sportif lined skin suit and I was ready to rock!!

At the start line- guys were complaining about the conditions. I was a bit surprised, seemed more than the usual, "oh this is going to hurt". Small field of about 25- I was rocking the #1 call up so start position wasn't an issue. Long story short, I got a good start, legs suffered a little, then about half way through the race the legs came around and I started finding great lines. Guys were getting tired and gaping it up in the technical sections. I started looking for seconds where ever I could find them.

Resisting the urge to brake here, looking for a better line there, coming into barriers quicker, faster running. It all started to add up and I moved from 5th into second in the last 2 laps.

Netted some Beligian Chocolate from the raffle and 150 bucks for 2nd- good thing, I practically needed that much just for the tolls back from Staten Island.

Ended the day in Belgian style with some Pomme Frittes from a place in the Village.

Jed and Christophe did a bang up job promoting this race. Apparently some of the race directors in the east have already contacted them to do some promotion for their races next year. Word on the street is look for a Wednesday night UCI event next year on Randalls Island (Manhattan) in between Jersey GP and the Mercer Cup.

The Great Schlep

What could possibly motivate a guy to grab a red eye out of PDX with barely enough time to make a start on Staten Island the next morning? It's certainly not the coffee or the White Castle.

Why exactly am I making "The Schlep"?

This Saturday I'll board a red-eye from PDX to JFK. Rent a car and head to the Upper Westside to grab my bike. Swing by Absolute Bagles and make my way to Staten Island.

Living in Portland I have the opportunity to race in hot bed of cyclocross. The Cross Crusade is the largest cyclocross series in the world. It's not uncommon for over 1000 racers turn out and field sizes to swell to into the hundreds. Many weeks I am able to sleep in late, spin to the race, race and ride home with friends. In my visits to New York this fall, I've learned that I take the the cross scene in Portland for granted.

Enter New York City.

Nothing about living in New York is easy. Bridges AND tunnels to get to races. Long car drives, roadside diners offering meat loaf pre-race meals, and don't get me started about the coffee.

If Sara Silverman could flip Florida from Red to Blue I'm doing my part to support CX in NYC. Jed and Christophe have done an excellent job promoting this race. Hopefully by injecting a little love from the 6th Burrough the buzz they have created will continue and who know, perhaps soon there will be a cross race coming to a burrough near you.

Staten Times Blog Post

It's exciting to see the buzz Christophe and Jed have created for the Staten Race. Spending time in New York this fall has been electrifying, the city itself is a buzz. As I've spent time exploring the city, making practice courses- I've found it hard to believe that more people aren't racing cross in this metropolis. Cross is the quintessential cycling activity for urban life. It's almost as if when I'm riding around New York I expect to bump into the Shunters, the Millertimes, the Skerrits, and the hundreds of other guys and women you see riding Leif, Saltzman, Pier and Sellwood parks. In that sense you feel invisible to cross. I think it's my hope that by injecting a little Portland stoke into the New York scene, they too will be able to share in the buzz of cross.

Oh, and apparently I'm a "cyclocross coach" - awesome.


From the Blog Post:
Mr. Jammet designed the 2.2-kilometer racecourse around Wolfe’s Pond Park, on the Raritan Bay, with the help of Jed Kornbluh, who organizes impromptu training rides on Randall’s Island, and Patrick Wilder, a cyclocross coach from Portland, Ore., who will be coming to New York for the event.