Holy Barf Bag! It's Build 1 Interval Time!!

I can't believe how the training periods have been flying by.

Started Build 1 tonight with two hours of chamois time containing a heeping dose of snot flying, sweat dripping, lung seering, barf-bag-using anaerobic intervals. Fun! Started with a 1/2 hour warm up then on to a 1/2 hour 30 seconds intervals followed by 1 minutes easy spins then a 1/2 hour of 1 minute on/off. Followed by spinning through 39x9 for a 1/2 hour.

Since I broke my HR monitor at the Wilderness 101 last year, this year I'm going sans HR monitor. Going completely on Perceived Effort. I have a few reasons- I never wear one during races and long training rides anyway since I find the strap irritating. In a race I know when I'm "blowing up" and need to back off. I don't need to look at my watch to figure that out. I DO like them for Threshold Intervals though, since that is more of a target below going anaerobic, but I feel like for the few weeks that I'd use it, it's not worth the investment right now. I'm not ruling it out in the future though.

My El Santo and Dos Niner plans are coming together nicely. El Santo should be here any day now. I'll post some Salsa porn when I get it.

No ride tomorrow, gonna rest the legs after my first interval day and just hangwith the B-Man whilst Wifey is out teaching.

Later.

Goodbye Titus

Said goodbye to Titus as the deal went down at the "Gay Fish" out on Rt. 51. The "gay fish" is a what I call this one restaurant out on 51 that's painted completely pink and has a big fish on the sign.

Anyhoo, Some kat named Kevin bought it. Real nice dude. Owns a Santa Cruz Blur that he hates due to shock issues etc., and wanted to return to the hard tail. He'll be able to give Titus what I never could..... Full XTR and a Chris King Head Set.

It will be hard having Titus local. Riding the same trails as me with a different engine. If I run into them it will be like seeing an ex-girl friend out with her new boyfriend. All the questions in my mind... "Is he a better rider than me? Does he clean the drive train more?" etc., etc.,

I had some great rides on Titus. Team 24s, My first Solo 24, riding at 11,000' in the mountains of Colorado, mmmmmmemories.

Acutally it wasn't that hard selling knowing I'll be getting something brand new. Not like I was selling it to pay the mortgage or for a hit of crack..... (yet)

I am suffering a bit from bike withdrawal. El Santo is now out somewhere in the weirdness that is Kansas (a state that can break even the strongest of cross country travelers, like Wifey). The Titus is gone and my road bike is over Tom's getting some new rings, cables etc. installed. All I have is my Jamis Booger (my old Jamis Nova CX bike that I have on my trainer).

So it looks as it my chamois will be on Booger today. Watchnig some Roubaix and iPoding.

Hope all are having a good weekend. Until next time this is Wild America.

Later.

Five Inches In The Rear

No, it's not the title of a gay porn movie (not there's anything wrong with that. A persons genre of porn is nobody's business but their own), but I digress...

If you total up the amount of rear suspension I'll be riding this season it equals five inches. I have the 4 inch rear travel El Santo due to arrive this week...


This bike is soooo plush with the Manitou Swinger 3-Way.

And now that Titus is gone, I will have one inch of rear travel courtesy of the Salsa Relish shock on the soon to be ordered Dos Niner



Looking forward to using both of these bikes this year. They should help me finish mid-pack in style! Thank you shout outs to Bikeman.com for the team deal and to Salsa for hooking us up.

Our Small Mountain Bike World

Well, Titus is history. Sold this evening. eBay reaches like a gabillion people world wide and a dude from not more than 30 minutes from my house saw it and is buying it. Wierd. Deal's going down tomorrow night. Frame and fork are gone. Now I can talk to Big Al about ordering up the the El Caliente Booger a.k.a. The Hot Booger, a.k.a., the Salsa Dos Niner. Pardon my Spanish (I failed it in H.S. along with almost every other course)

Been going over the build sheets figuring out what to put on the Dos-Nine. Some of my Titus parts will go on, but I want to update to full 9 speed. Oddly it's cheaper for me to upgrade to full SRAM rather than Shimano even though I'd have to buy a brand new X9 rear derailleur. BUT it would also be nice to have all the parts the same for ordering purposes, BUT it would also be nice next year when SantaSram visits Bikeman to be able to order up parts on the team tip. Hmmmm. Much to think about.

Was going to spin tonight, but with Wifey sick and me fighting germs like Han f-ing Solo all over the house I thought it best to lay low, conduct my e-business and maybe look at some crime fighting on the internet or something....cough, ahem....

"Salsa is now the number one condiment in America."
"Do you know why? Because people like to say 'Salsa!'"
- George and Jerry, in "The Pitch"

The word condiment is Seinfeld code for "bike" of course.

Gota bolt.

No more songs about sex, drugs and rock & roll...

Short post. eBaying continues as more bids come in on one used cycling jersey. WTF?

Went to the gym tonight for some Stair Mastering and light (off week) weights. I totally destroyed the stairmaster. I must have looked like a god damn fool. Red faced, heart pumping, pool of sweat beneath me. It was like I was having sex with it. Okay maybe not that bad but there was some heavy breathing.

Man at gym tonight working out in dress "slacks", button down and dress shoes. Again I asky you WTF??

Arctic Monkeys released this Tuesday. I've "aquired" many of the songs via iTunes and other "sources" that I'm not sure If I'll buy it. You should though. Make up for my mpThreivery. (I just made that word up). Feel free to use it.

B-Man is rocking. Wifey is not, she gotz the flu. Eeeeewwwww. I mean, poor thing. JUST kidding (about the Eeeeewww).

The movie Starsky & Hutch freaking rocks.

Later.

May I Present: Mr. Richard Cranium

Man, I've been kind of a dick the past couple days. Not sure what's up. I think the cold, lack of outside exercise and all this eBaying crap is bringing me down. I mean I'm selling some jerseys over on the Bay and they have been getting mad hits. Used clothing = response, Used titanium = no response. Whatever. Just tired of winter and want to get outside without loosing my toes. In due time, in due time.

I was reviewing my training over on TrainingPeaks.com and what-a-ya know, this is a rest week. So I did an hour on the trainer with some high cadence, low resistence speed work. Like to get over to Tom's this week to get some TLC on the road bike.

My plans for Titus and the Dos Niner are as follows, I'm selling (hopefully) the Frame and Fork and keeping a bunch of parts, then uprading to full XT 9 speed, with Rock Shox Reba 29er sans remote lock out and Salsa Delgado Cross/XT wheelset. Why the Cross instead of the new 29er Delgado you ask? Well, I'd like to maybe throw on some narrower tires and maybe a rigid fork come fall and do some CX races with the Dos Niner and the new Delgado rims are too wide for CX tires. Dropped a line to Salsa and they assured me that the Cross rim would be the way to go. I'd like to get 36 spokes if possible to stiffin it up, but If not the 32 will do. Would like to have gotten some lighter hubs, but don't think I can do it in this year's budget.

Props to my three time pit neighbor J.B. for getting it done this weekend. Dude rode nearly 400 miles in 24 hours. Way to go man!

Wonder how D.K. is doing now that he ACTUALLY has a job. J.H.C.!!!

That's all I got. Rest day tomorrow with the B-Man.

Sunday.. BLAH!

Cold as FREAKING TITZ HERE TODAY!!! My GOD!! Oh well, I guess it is February in WPA what do I expect.

Spent an hour on the trainer this a.m. just doing some high cadence speed work. Probably ride it again tomorrow for 2 hours. The gym is all but played. Don't mind getting the work on the weights, but I'm sick of that stair master and all the other cardio machine are just plain silly. Only good thing is the "kittens" but they are few are far between too. (Wifey if you're reading this I'm JUST JOKING!)

Glad to see spring training is starting. My bro just got a 20 game season ticket package for the Buccos for his B-Day and he said any games he can't make Wifey and I are welcome to the tickets. Sweet! I think we have the Chi-Sox coming into town this year. Nice. Bucs should be 20 games back by that point. Oh well.

Later.

Old Head Getting It Done

Thomas Frischknecht seem to be everywhere right now. Featured in new SRAM ad, interviewed on VeloNews.com and a few months ago he was interviewed in Mountain Bike Action.



I did this PhotoShopping back when "Frischi" won the Marathon World Championship, but never got around to posting. He's the man. Check out the VeloNews.com interview.

I love how the press goes on about him being old. I KNOW he's not like the young guys but he is ONLY 37. THREE YEARS OLDER THAN ME! Yikes!

Speaking of "Old Heads" I got two hours in on the the trainer today. Funny how you dow 2 hours enough on that beeeotch, it starts to not seem as long. I told Wifey that and she just said it was because I was a freak. Hmmm. Thanks?

Other cool-as-f news: The makers of Off Road to Athens are getting read to shoot a new film called "On The Box" a movie about the 2006 World Cup. This is going to KICK MAJOR ASS! If you haven't seen ORTA, shame on you and get it now. I swear I've watched it 20 times. If for no other reason than it like the ONLY film EVER to cover XC racing and how great it is. The coverage of Houffalize is worth the cost of the film. That would be a cool race to ride or watch.

Ok that's it. Have great weekend.

Later.

p.s. "I'm Ron Burgundy?"

Striking a Blow With My Pimp Hand

Got two hours in at the gym tonight. Felt like ssssssssssssssheeeet, but by the last 20 minutes of the stair master I was feeling good. Then got my weights in with some extra leg work, this has been a real push week for the legs.

I've been keeping the upper body down to 1 set of 50 reps on the chest press and 3 sets of bicep and tricep work with the dumbbells. Easy spinning to keep the legs loose tomorrow.

Sponsor News and Sponsorship Updates:
Bikeman.com frame sponsor and all-round cool ass company Salsa has updated their website and is showing all the 2006 frames, soft goods, and components. Including this green spicy morsel...

Salsacycles.com

In personal sponsor/Bikeman.com news...

First the bad(ish) news: It looks like I will NOT be using Maxxis tires this year after all. I was fortunate enough to be promoted within the ranks of the Bikeman.com team this year and with that comes some added responsibility to our sponsors. In this case Panaracer.

I've used Panarcers for years and even raced two races on them last year when I had a side wall tear on my Maxxis Advantages. I contacted Maxxis today to explain the situation and to thank them. I'm just glad I had not made an order yet for '06. It's really a win/win situtation for me. My only complaint about Panaracer's is the lack of mud shedding ability on the Fire Pro. In dry conditions the Trailblaster rolls fast and light.

Downside is I'm looking to get the Dos Niner and as of year Panaracer does not make a 29er. There are hints from Bikeman HQ that one may be in the works. Also that I waited year for the new Ignitor 26 x 2.1 and won't be using it.

UPDATE: 11:03 PM Sent an e mail out to Panaracer tonight about 29" tires. Got word back a few minutes ago stating: "The Fire Cross is a 29 x 1.9 and we're coming out with a 29 x 2.3 in July. "

The REAL Good news in personal sponsorship: It looks like I'm gonna be hooking up with Twin Six Alternative Cycling Apparel to pimp some product for them this year. It's not so much a sponsorship, since as you know I'll be out there on race day in the red, white and black of Bikeman.com, but more of a "club" of racers that share the common interest in having fun racing our bikes and getting the word out about the awesome new cycling threads that Twin Six have.


The Brew Pub T

They've hooked me up with a generous package of products and goodies and I hope to be training in that sweet Argyle jersey this season. I might even get a pair of thigh-high argyle leggings to wear in lieu of leg warmers and a sweet valor fez to wear on top my lid.

Check them out. Soon ordering info will be on the web site as well as some on-line retailers like Velogear.com and other shops near you. I hope to have a jersey and/or t shirt at races for folks to check out, so if you see me floating around before or after a race, stop by the pit and take a look.

So throw out that garish, cocky Primal Wear jersey and strap on some duds from Twin Six.

I now leave you with today's Moment of Zen:



This is what happens when you Google Image search "Fez"

Later.

Two Hour Wednesday

Got two hours of riding on the trainer Wednesday night. Felt real good. Did a 20 minute warm up followed by 10, 15, and 20 minute force intervals, then a rest spin, then about 10 minutes of 1 min. on/off high intensity intervals, then warmed down with some steady spinning, working my way up and down 39x9.

Big Al from Bikeman.com informed us today that frame orders are being made this Friday, so in a week or two I should have my new El Santo. Maybe I'll luck out and someone will buy the Titus tonight and I can order TWO frames. That'd be SWEET!

Been figuring out my build kit for the Dos Niner and it should be pretty good. I THINK I'm gonna opt for the Reba 29er without remote lock out. The Fox doesn't have remote but for as often as I use it I think I can reach down and flip a switch. I fear that it's just one more thing to break in a crash during a race. But we'll see, the idea of flipping a switch on a long fire road climb sounds kinda sweet.

That's it, gotta get B-Man up for his day and grab some Java.

Later.

Monday Night Nut Dropper

Gym tonight for two hours. Typical night. 1 hour sweat fest on the S.M. followed by weights. Not much to speek of. I'll be glad when the gym work is fully replaced by saddle time. Weather just sucks too much right now for significant saddle time. I like the gym a bit and it does help break up the time riding indoors but... oh hell you know what I'm talking about. Riding just rules. PERIOD!

Got my schedule for 2006 pretty much hammered out. I'm sure other races or events will come up but these will be my focus:

April 22- M.A.S.S. 6 HOURS (French Creek)
May 7 - 12 Hours of Lodi Farms
June 10- 24 Hours of Big Bear
July 1- M.A.S.S. 6 HOURS (Marysville)
July 29- WIlderness 101 (State College)
August 6- M.A.S.S. 6 HOURS (Susquenhana)
Sept. 2- 24 Hours Champion Challenge
Oct. ?- Iron Cross (this year I SWEAR I'll make it!!)

That's about it for today. Rest day tomorrow with B-Man.

Later.

Another B-Man Party Sunday

Hit Papa-M's for B-Man birthday party #2 of the weekend. Yikes! Kid is cleaning up.

Tried getting on the trainer pre-party today and my but was having none of it. So I waited till this evening and did an hour of easy spinning on the trainer to loosen my legs up. Watched the '05 Paris-Roubaix. I love that f*cking race!

Later.

B-Day Recap & Sat "Ride"

Friday was B-Mans birthday. Turning the big 2. Good time. Gave him his bike. Gotta say dude was NOT into it. I think he thinks it's one of mine. Although be it VERY small. He did venture on it a couple times today but I don't want to force him.

Did two hours on the trainer today. I didn't have another 25* ride in me. Mostly did force intervals with a 15 and 10 minute lactic threshold intervals in the mix. Had a f*cking killer mix going on iPodious with- The Raveonettes, Rev. Horton Heat, Social Distortion and some live White Stripes. Real "cock sure" rock 'n roll on an indie-punk tip.

As I eluded to in yesterday criptic post, the Titus is back on eBay. I can't stop lusting over the Dos Niner. Hope to be riding the 06 El Santo AND the 06 Dos this year. I rode the Titus on Thurs. and decided it's just a bike and I want to go with the chick I brought, or brought me, (that chick being Salsa and Bikeman.com) if it doesn't sell I got a killer Ti bike, if it does I get a super, scandium green machine (El Dos Niner Loco De La Green-Go)

Might spin the legs for an hour tomorrow, then on to Papa-M's for B-Man birthday part II.

Later.

Maybe...

Maybe I'm not as weak as I think I am.

Word.

One HEED Slushy Please!

Off "sick" from work today to watch the fo-real sick B-Man. Took him to the Doc's. He's just has a bad cold. Got some meds, came home watched the 2001 World MTB Championships from Vail on DVD together then he sacked up for a couple hours....


Here's he is napping with "bunny".

When B-Man got up from his nap he was feeling a lot better and more his playful laid back self.

Once Wifey got home from work I chamoised up and decided to hit the local rail trail for a couple hours to spin my legs. First hour or so I'd be in daylight the second would be dark, so I charged up the Niterider Storm and headed out around 4:40.

In theory this all sounded good. Except for the fact that it was just under 30 degrees when I started and only got colder the whole ride. My hands were ok, the worst was my F-ing FEET! 2 layers of wools socks didn't do shit for me.

I had bottles of Heed and Perpetuem with me and both turned to slush. Nice.

By the time I got to the E. my toes were killing me. The worst was taking those shoes off an feeling the pain as they started to warm up. Not sure you can tell in this photo of my talons but they were bright F-ing red.


Red is better than black I guess.

Hope B-Man is feeling better tomorrow. "Cause tomorrow is his birthday. The big DOS. We're having a small get-to-gether with my inlaws on Fri. night and my family on Sunday when we go visit Papa M.

B-Man is the THEE Man. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you, shit I'll tell you I was NOT into the idea of being a dad. But Wifey and I were blessed with a great son. Smart, funny, loving , good natured and cute as poop. Every day he amazes me with something new. Of course tonight it was him repeating me when he overhead me saying "F me!, F me!" as my feet warmed up and were hurting me. At least I was only saying "F" rather than the whole word. THAT would have been uber bad. So HAPPY DAY-BEFORE YOUR BIRTHDAY TO B-MAN!" Hope to get som pics of him on his new bike tomorrow. SWEET!

Later.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT GYM

Got to the gym for a nice 2 hour workout tonight. 1 hour of high intensity Stair Mastering, followed by weights for an hour. Got some serious weight moved on the leg press. Did 1 set of my max weight then 2 sets of 50 at half that.



Side note: it's funny to read all the blogs and see how many of us our pretty much on the same training schedule. Most others are getting way more hours in than me, but we're still in the same ball park of WHAT we're doing. I wish I could get more chamois time in, but weather, work and legal night riding play a big part in me not. I've made an effort to cut back the frequency of indoor cycling workouts. Last year I'd sometimes to 4 to 5 a week. Mentally draining. So this year the gym and cold weather rides are kinda refreshing.

B-Man is officially sick. Slight fever, cough, tired, etc. Soooo I'm "sick" and will be taking off work tomorrow to hang with him here at our crib. Think of me at about 10 a.m., sipping coffee, laying on the couch watching The View with a sick two year old laying on me. I pray there is no vomit to be spewed forth at anytime, I hate cleaning that shit up.

Later. Gotta scrub up and hit the hay.

TUESDAY'S NUT SHELL

Work.
Hanging with a sick(ish) B-Man.
No training today.
Gym tomorrow.

Later.

Aren't you glad you just wasted 20 seconds on my blog?

2 Hour Monday

Got two hours of chamois time tonight. Felt real good. Except I'm rocking some chap ass (in February???).

Had good nutrition day. I've been trying to eat even more fruits and vegetables. Today's list (in no paricular order) Blueberries on Bran Chex, Navel Orange, serving of Raisins, Granny Smitz Apple, Salad with iceburg lettuce, spinach and tomatoes, and whole wheat pasta with spinach.

Sent the El Santo on its way to Kansas, but not without it's problems. Boxed it up last night and took it to the UPS Store. Dude measures and weighs it etc, and says "That'll be $147.00" I just said, "ah, yeah, I don't think so". So he does some figuring, tells me how much of the box to cut down if I can etc., So I go back to work, cut the box down, drive BACK to the f-ing shop and got it down to around $50, but THEN the dude I sold it to apparently lives in the middle of f-ing nowhere, so there's ANOTHER $5 buck. RUINING my profits man!!!

Soon as my team manager gets back from vacation I hope I can get the order in for the 06. Yesssss!

Later.

Ugly, But Sweet!

2006 El Santo Loco Rojo-a-Go Go!!

The 2005 El Santo is history thanks to some dude out in Kansas! WHooo HOoo Now I can get my cheeks on the sweet-as-f 2006!

It's Super Terific Photo Lust Time:









Oooooooohhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhh.

Get one today my brothers & sisters.

That's it. Gotta hit the trainer before me and B-Man head out to Papa-M's house.

Go Stillers!

Wack-Job Saturday

Wow, what a wierd day of training. Started out good with a ride attempt, but then 40 minutes in it started pissing down some cold-ass rain, so I aborted and finished with 1:15 on the bike. Drove home and headed over to the gym for 45 minutes on the stair master and then various (mostly legs) weights including 5 sets of 270 lbs. x 10 on the leg press. That should make up for only a little over an hour on the bike.

Exciting trip to and from the gym. Half way there I noticed I was low on gas. Then the light comes on. O.K. I need to get some gas stat. Oh SNAP! I left my wallet with my bike stuff at home! So I made it to they gym, scrounged around the E. for change and came up with 60¢ covered in sticky, spilt coffee (WIFEY!!!). I actually put 60 cents of gas in my car!! I must have looked like some sort of crack-head going in and paying with change, smelling of B.O. from the gym. Fact: 60¢ gets you .25 gal. of gas. Nice.

I want to bake up some white pizza stromboli tonight, so I figured I'd stop at the wine store and pick up some Red for Wifey and I (for enhanced "super powers"), then go to Shop N Save for some extra ingredients. Wine store went fine but when I went to S'nS it was f*cking chaos!!

Music blaring Steeler fight songs, people attacking a table full of Steeler merchandice like it was Goddamn free money, everyone in the store (except for your's truly) in Steeler jerseys etc., etc., I tell you this now. If they lose, there will be a riot. These people are putting every ounce of good mojo they can scrounge from an otherwise mostly despressed (litterly and figuratively) area into this game and this team.

I couldn't stand it anymore and left. I'll make do with what I have for the strom-boes. I know this sounds wacked, but I was actually getting sad watching these people. Then pissed at them 'cause 90% of these types are the same ones that yell "FAG!" out the window when I'm out on my bike. Oh well. I'll watch the game and win or lose I'll go to bed, get up the next morning and go to work with one thing on my mind. "I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE 2006 RACE SEASON"

Don't leat your meat loaf.

later.

p.s. THIS just about sums it up. Sad, very sad. Maybe I should change Brennan's name to this to honor Lance?

NEWS FLASH!

The Split!

Lance was reported to have said: "She was way hot, but her music sucked, I'm glad it's over." Oh no, that was me. Sorry bad info.

Gotta go. About to drop some coin at Bikeman.com on some new Ultegra rings and pads. Later.

Nothing...

Not much going on. Was gonna spin for an hour, but weather looks crap tomorrow. Not sure I'll be getting outside to ride. Might be another 2+ hours on the trainer and two trainer sessions within24 hours is NOT my bag.

Cooked this up dinner:

Getcherself a Cake Pan
Filled with low-fat Baked Tortilla chips.
Fry up some 95% lean ground meat mixed with onions, peppers, tomatoes/green chilis black beans and taco seasoning. Top with low fat mexican cheese and salsa. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

I totally inhaled this thing!...


That's about all it got for tonight. That Bat Signal has been shown, so I'm outahere.

Later

By The Hair of Ben's Beard!

Back to the gym tonight. Hit the S&M pretty hard and then did my weights. Still doing some pretty heavy weights with the legs to make up for not being able to ride outside during the week right now.

"It's a very deep burn" -R. Burgundy

I gettng pretty excited to get this race season on the way. Geeked up to try to hit more 6 hour and marathon races this year. Uber "jacked" at NORBA. What the fuck?? Check out this Marathon schedule...

March 24, Nova Desert Classic, Phoenix, AZ
May 5-7, Southridge Park, CA
July 7-9, Deer Valley Resort, Park City, UT
July 14-16, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA
August 4-6, Brian Head Resort, Brian Head, UT

Hmmm. I guess we don't like to do long races on the East Coast? NOT ONE race less than 3 days drive. If you ask me there should be NORBA EAST & WEST 6 or so races on each side of the Sates and then the points leaders get prime starting for the National Championship at the end of the year. Fuck 'em. I know I can find some Mid Atlantic area races to finish mid pack in come the 06 season.

Got a box full of goodies coming from Bikeman.com for the B-Man tomorrow. Gotta make sure Wifey doesn't cave and open the box. Dude's got another week to go befor he hits the big #2. Yikes! Salsa Bell, T-Shirt, Stickers, and boss Lazer helmet...



Super Bowl weekend, also known as The Big Game In Detroit as recomened by the ad guidlines we were given at work the other day . Super Bowl is copy writed. I had to pay one MILLion dollars JUST to use it here.

If you're from Pittsburgh you know what it's like around here right now. Parties at work, "black and gold" days, houses decorated, little old ladies in "Bus" jerseys, Big Ben Beef Jerkey for $5.99 a pop. It's madness. B-Man even has a Tail Gate luncheon tomorrow. Dude will be pounding Irons with Miss Irene.

My buddy D.K. a.k. "KoKo" from F.L.A. with sweaty genes here in WPA sent me this link. It pretty much sums up how pathetic it can get around here...

Bensbeard.com



Sweet JESUS! I gotta move. Thanks DK for pointing out that 9,000+ Pittsburgh area Yinzers had nothing better to do and signed up to be part of Bensbeard.com.

Later.

P.S. You KNOW I'm #9850!!

I'm A Weak, Weak Man...

Ok, I'm not so weak I didn't bust out two hours on the trainer tonight listening to a super mix on the hi-fi, also known as "iPodious" and watching old bike race videos. But weak in that I canceled my eBay listing for Titus.

I just couldn't do it. Not my baby! We shared too many good times together (cue sappy music).... Three 24 team races, a 12 hour Duo, my first Solo in '04 and two trips to my fave place on earth- Crested Butte, Colorado. It was there for me when I had to sell that piece of shit Dean Colonel with its out of spec alignment that caused constant chain suck. It restored my faith in the smaller sized frame builder.

Plus I think it reminds me of a day when Wifey and I had the disposable income that allowed me to buy a frame like Titus. Might not happen again. Of course I'd never be able to afford a frame like the El Santo or Dos Niner either if it wasn't for the generosity of Bikeman.com and our bike sponsor Salsa Cycles.

Don't get me wrong I want the Dos Niner in a super bad way and if it was just getting the frame, it would be no big deal. But I'd also need a new fork, head set, and wheels.

Hopefully I can get one next season. I know I cold have paid for 80% of this just by simply selling Titus and the Fox Fork, but that's not the way I wanna do it. I like doing it up right and not feeling like I have to give something up.

I still plan on updating to the new bad ass El Santo. Racing it this season and gettin the word out about a kick ass company like Salsa.

I'd also like to lighten up Titus with some new wheels, stem and bars. I told myself this year was going to be the year I focused on fitness and racing more. I can't race more with no dough in the piggy. No more bling... unless necessary of course!

Maybe next year or later this fall I'll get the Dos Niner. Of course I'd love that Surly Cross Check too. Hmmmmm.

Later.