WNG

What an epic event! C&V spirit all the way. Sounds like you guys had a hell of a good time, flats and all.
Wonderful photos and recaps, everyone!
@Drillium Dude and @Alex Moll You guys sure made a statement in your dress blues. Very sharp and dapper.
Jeff, glad the golden Colnago survived its battle with the gravel. I hope that Rigida-rimmed wheel I straightened for ya held its true from all that pounding!
@northbend Wow, a major effort and showing on your fixie. Congrats! The Alex told me about your down time from riding, so even more so of an epic result.

+1, got to put this on my to-do list. Looks awesome.

thinktubes 

Great pics guys- thanks for sharing!!!

Chrome Molly

Someday... Wonderful ride, fine food, and great camaraderie.

northbend 

Dude, my Cino buzz is beginning to fade. please finish your story so we can relive the glory daze

WNG

Public Service Announcement: Jeff told me today his Portable T-Mobile Hotspot went on the fritz and needs a bit of tech support!

Drillium Dude 

Actually, I now suspect with 99% positiveness that it's my wireless mouse. I'll pick one up tomorrow during our travels and hopefully finish my story with pics. There are still some moments to share...like answering this important question: did the Heuer Trackmaster survive the banging and bouncing without scrambling its mechanical brain? Stay tuned...

DD

Drillium Dude 

Day 2, Chapter 1

Soooo...finally got my brand-new wireless mouse and can get a bunch of pics uploaded without the jerks and starts I was dealing with last time around. Technology, I swear; once it goes on the fritz, this modern stuff? Toss it into the can and go buy another one. I hate that...oh, well. So let's talk about old-school bikes on old-school surfaces, shall we?

Symes Hotel on Sunday morning:



Cool birdhouse condos:



Before heading off for the second day sendoff group meeting, Alex and I rode down to the old Main Street to get some pics. Hot Springs is a small town.

Me on Main Street in Hot Springs:



Before we left, all of us gathered in the big grass area (where the campers set up their tents the night before) and there was a neat, impromptu gift-giving. It was basically a raffle of bike-stuff; I was pretty surprised when my number was called!

My gift:



Note the sweat-stains; that pic was taken at the end of the day!

Anyhow, after a group photo of the BF C&Vers, we got on our merry way.

The gang's all here:



Selfie heading out of Hot Springs - sporting my new cap:



"H" is for Hot Springs:



The group heads out; Alex is off to the extreme left:



We re-traced the route from the day before for the first 10-15 miles, so the first thing in the morning was a climb up the paved road which of course we'd descended into town the day before. No biggie - we were all fresh and it was paved; I didn't even go down into the basement myself. The interesting part of the new portion of the Sunday route was the hard-packed dirt portion. It was almost like riding on pavement, although here and there was some fairly deep sand to catch one out if one wasn't paying attention! I noted after awhile that something seemed to be missing, and after getting back on the gravel, I realized what it was: the rolling along was pretty quiet on the hard-pack and I'd been missing the sound of tires on gravel

We made a left onto another stretch of gravel road and saw a cooler by the side of the road at the intersection. I was almost out of water, so that cooler looked for all the world like an oasis to me. Ha ha - joke's on us: empty! I thought that was needlessly cruel, but one of the more savvy riders told us that it was only another 1.5 miles to the pranza stop, so I could forgive and forget!

Alex was already there when I stopped. I immediately filled up my water bottle and low and behold, there were a bunch of bottles of San Pelligrino at lunch! I snapped one up, filled my plate with salami, crackers, some cheese and a couple bananas and joined Alex on one of the tarps spread out beside the roadway. The stop was at a T-intersection, so one could look up the base of the T and see the beginning of 9 Mile Hill just waiting to be tackled after our refueling stop. No alcohol for me on this occasion - I wanted to be ready for what was supposed to be a harder climb after lunch than the day before.

Alex had hit a rock pretty hard on one of the descents on the way to pranza and had really put his rear wheel out of true. He tweaked it on the road, but intended to put some more time into it after he ate. I limited myself to 30 minutes at lunch, then took off up the road to settle myself in for the loooong climb.

The Colnago handled the not-so-rough stuff well enough to allow for a cockpit shot or two:



More to come...

DD

Drillium Dude 

Day 2, Chapter 2

More pics of the course prior to Sunday's pranza:







The pranza setup on Sunday:



That's where we're heading next...



Support personnel gotta eat, too!



Alex truing his rear wheel. Note the beer:



Sam G. and his Fuso:



I took off on up the hill as soon as I'd eaten (and drained that entire bottle of S. Pellegrino). I wanted to get at that thing and begin eating it like an elephant: one small bite (or victory) at a time. For the first few miles it went up, but very gradually - it was 80 degrees, however, so it was hot and I was sweating anyway! Once it began to get a bit steeper I simply settled in, dug deep and concentrated on continuing to make the pedals go round and round. It's more difficult than it sounds with a 42x24 and gravel/sand surface, of course. I'd been warned, and I went up it with what I had. I ran into difficulties four or five times where I got caught in some sand that just wouldn't allow for my slow and methodical forward progress, so I was obliged to dismount and again walk sometimes as much as 50-75 yards until I could find a surfaced that was either more packed or simply rocky to get going again. At the halfway point on the climb, I stopped to slam a Pepsi at the refreshment station - Matt had already caught me (gave me a bit of a push, too!) and passed me at least a mile earlier. Damn, he looked like he was really suffering, and he was passing me up! I think Matt got a lot out of this one, and had to dig deep, riding Cino fixed. Balls of steel on that guy

Here are some pics of the climb:



More to come...

DD

Drillium Dude 

Day 2, Chapter 3

More pics of the climb; this one is looking back towards pranza as I'm going up the lesser bottom slope:



The rider ahead was on a 1972 Colnago Super - Molteni orange, natch:



Just before it began to get steep, I could still shoot pics of stuff like this from the saddle! The later pics all required a stop:



Yes, it's as steep as it looks:



There ain't no shame in walking here!





These next two are kinda cool. I got the first one while stopped just before the two riders passed by and then I took a second shot of them. And yes, it goes around the corner and continues to up!





We started the day somewhere waaaay down there...



Finding shady spots on the climb was pure heaven!



Still more to come...

DD

rootboy 

Wonderful, Jeff. I just love that territory. Big Sky. Yous guys who did this are monsters. With a capital M.

Drillium Dude 

Day 2, Chapter 4

Almost to the top. Can you spot the dragonfly accidentally captured in this pic?



The final push - only about 3/4 of a mile to the summit:



Alex caught up to me just around the refreshment stop and we chatted a bit, then he moved up the road about 30 yards into some shade. I missed that he took off before me. When I reached the top, I hung around awhile waiting for him to ride in with him on the 18 mile downhill section into the finish. After about 20 minutes I realized he'd probably already gone over, so I took off down the mountain the same as the day before - but this time, I pretty much knew what was ahead of me as we were back to yesterday's route again. About 9 miles of rocky descent and then 10 miles of paved road were all that stood between me and a successful completion of Cino 2014.

The summit "party". For whatever reason, the promised beer was absent



Last known pic of my bike with the Heuer Trackmaster stopwatch still snug in its handlebar clip:



Support vehicles at the summit:



Looking down at the beginning of the final descent:



So began the final part of the day: the last descent. Part rocks/gravel and part paved, I was full of confidence after 1.5 days of this stuff; I surely didn't feel green any longer and in fact was already thinking like a veteran. I let the bike bike lead me and go where it wanted and just flew on down the mountain, passing between 15 and 20 riders before I reached the paved portion. Then...

For almost the entire ride on both days I'd been running the stopwatch and stopping it only when I stopped. It hadn't missed a beat and was still ticking serenely away as I started down the long final descent. About 2 miles into the paved section, I was right in the middle of the road, tucked low with my hands on top of the bar and as close to the stem as I could get them. My left index finger knuckle was just beneath the stopwatch/holder on the left hand side of the bar. Suddenly I hit a substantial bump of some sort - a jarring shock that amazingly didn't cause me to lose control. But - my left hand must have bounced upward and hit the stopwatch and popped it right out of the holder. All I knew at the time was that I hit the bump hard and heard a metallic crashing noise behind me a second or so later; my thought was that I'd run over something metal. It wasn't until I was slowing down to make the left turn into the school parking lot about 8 miles later that I looked down and noticed the Heuer was gone

But I came out safely, and the bike did, too. I can always find another stopwatch. I just hope nobody hit the mangled remains and perhaps flatted because of it!

Off to the Kila Pub for some food, beer and conversation before heading back to Kalispell and the Motel 6:



114 made it to the finish in one piece:



A few more...

DD

Drillium Dude 

Day 2, Chapter 5

Okay, so this report wouldn't be complete (visually) without a pic of my booted rear tire. I never had a flat on Day 2, which was a good thing since I completely spaced putting my two remaining tubes in my jersey pockets! I hit up Vince before we left and handed him a $20 against the possibility of my needing to snag a tube or two from him off his support moto. Luck was with me, the boot held and I had no pinch/snakebites (I firmly believe that keeping high pressures allowed me to avoid these on Day 2).

Looks like its getting ready to give birth to something, doesn't it?



So, that's it, really. I lived, I made it with my limited gearing and 25mm clinchers and feel a better man for all of it. Thanks again to Matt for planting the seed in my head a long time ago, and taking care of my registration while I was still out on Diego Garcia. Matt, you the man

Thanks also to Alex for providing the transport vehicle and setting up all the accommodations ahead of time. It was cool that I got to do my first Cino with a fellow Brother from the CPO Mess. Looks like we'll both be planning on doing it again in 2016.

To those of you out there that may be thinking: "could I do that?", well, I would say sure you could. Fat tires, high pressures and a bailout of at minimum 42x26 would be a great start. If you don't hit gravel stuff often, practice a little - but is that a requirement? Not really - I mean, the most off-road I got prior to the event itself was maybe a mile or so on the gravel fringe of the Centennial Trail about 4 days before we headed for Montana. It's not impossible, that's the main thing to remember. And if a thing's not impossible, it stands to reason there are a million and one different ways to get it done.

If you try next year, good luck - and I'll be there on support. Who knows? Maybe I'll help you with a flat or some other mechanical. Next year, I want to give back

DD

etherhuffer 

Park tire boots. Invaluable! Jeff, I may volunteer next year as well, and my friend from Spokane who rode may as well. He has motorcycles, scooters, and a WW2 jeep! Love the pics. That ride is such a hoot. 9 mile hill was NOT a hoot! Too bloody hot this year!

northbend 

Thanks for finishing up your story. Sorry the stopwatch didn't make it.

I am glad you and Alex had fun getting immersed in the Cino spirit.

Well done guys!

-holiday76

great pics everyone!
i signed up for the ride this year but far too late - no spots left. Next year!

pastorbobnlnh 

Macho Kudos from the wilds of New Hampshire to all our C&Vers who completed Cino! Those parts of Montana make our area look like the heart of civilization! I'll see if I can figure out a way to do Cino by or before 2020!

Jeff, next time you need that special Regina I built, 14-16-18-20-22-31.

SJX426 

I would like to add my appreciation to all the contributors as well. The terrain is very familiar to me and takes me back to my college days in eastern Washington. There is a unique beauty to that part of the country and it was good to see it captured in the pictures!

Well done all!

mountaindave 

Amazing pics, DD! I'm simply amazed at your cockpit-shots - I barely took a hand off of the handlebars the whole time let alone long enough to take a picture, and really good ones at that!!!

My condolences to the watch. One time I was wearing a Swiss Army watch, a gift from my mother, while tubing behind a boat. The last time I got on, one of my friends said, "Do you want to take your watch off so you don't lose it?" I replied, "It hasn't fallen off yet." It's now at the bottom of the lake.

photogravity

After seeing this thread and reading about it for the last couple years now, this is most definitely on my calendar for 2015. I have already put in and gotten approval for leave during this time period. Now I need to figure out a fool proof way of making sure I get registered for the ride. Perhaps someone here knows a way to make the cut. The initial plan is that I'll do the ride and then head up into Canada to visit my aunts.

northbend 

The rules change a little each year but I don't think 'making the cut' is something you need to worry about. We will make sure you know when registration begins. The key is, sign up early then don't sweat it. The hard part is just setting aside the time and getting there with a bike. It's kind of remote.

I am really excited to hear you will come out for the ride. Make sure you plan an extra day to climb up Logan Pass.

See you in September!!

photogravity

The crazy part is that less than two weeks later, we were headed out to Alaska and then, on the return trip in mid October, we passed just north of the ride route as we drove along US 2 heading back east. Anyway, this is on my bucket list and it is absolutely on the calendar for 2015. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the west coast contingent for the first time.

scozim 

You won't regret it even while suffering, partying, fixing flats and mechanical issues - etc. Cino is so worth it.

BluesDaddy

@photogravity are you going squeeze in a trip down 95 to the Road World Championships?

photogravity

Unfortunately, no, since I'll not be back until after it's done. I put in for 4 weeks off which won't have me back from the west coast until October.

photogravity

It sounds like a real blast, for sure. Based on the ride reports I've read, it seems right up my alley.