Gone Racin' - Back On Sunday

The time is nearly here for the first 100 of the year. Looking forward to it. The 100s are great events. Got all my shit packed and should be on the road by noon tomorrow.

Need to hydrate well on this one. Temps in the HIGH 80s. Will make the times in the woods damn nice. Chance of storms too. If the temps get that high and then we get some storms there is the potential for some SERIOUS monkey butt! I'll need to lube up the nether regions damn good.

In other news: Keep your ballz peeled to TwinSix.com. The Twin-Six/Walt Works frame should be on the site soon. I saw some spy picts and I gotta tell you if I didn't have a frame coming I'd be depleting the savings account that IS my MasterCard credit limit! Super classy. Not over the top in your face. Just a well crafted steel 29er frame from a top notch builder that has some super T6 class. SSSSHWING!

Time to finish up some shit and get some rest.

Have a great weekend and if you're racing good luck.

Back on Sunday sometime.

Later

Wednesday Night Shakedown Ride

Hit Boyce Park tonight with the Dos Niner for a shake down on my drive train and my new grips. Trails continue to be fast as shit, bone dry! Freaking nice!

I found it hard to concentrate at first. I was thinking too much about everything. Should the grip feel that way? Should we have cut them down more? Is my tire leaking? Is my shifting ok? Plus I was worried that EVERY stick, rock or pebble was out for me. Just waiting to break bike parts two days befor a big race. It was sucking the joy out of the ride.

Finally I just said "just f*ck it Jase, just have fun". So that's what I did. Tore through about 13 miles of trail PDQ. I did have to stop for a few moments to coarse a snake off the trail. Think was sitting so still for a while I thought he might be dead (no such luck).

Later in the ride I stopped to chat with Tom (who was just starting a ride with another dude) and take a few moments to slide the cleat on my left shoe back a tad. Wish I could have got to ride with Tom a bit, but I was just about done. Soon man!

Once I stopped thinking about EVERYthing, the ride became fun. The grips felt real good, but after Mohican I may chop a little more off of the grip to let my hand get to the twister with less movement.

_______________________

Saw this quote on MTBR.com today from Jason @ Salsa Cycles concerning the Mamasita...

"We've got another larger shipment coming in the next 5-7 business days. This is assuming all things go through customs with ease and deliver to us on time. They will then need to go through QC."

_______________________

Sound like I MIGHT have the Mamasita fo the Cranky Monkey at the end of June.

Oh well, if I do any riding tomorrow it will be an SUPER short spin on the trainer just to get a sweat going and then packing for Friday's trip to Oh-High-Oh and MOHICAN!

Now for your Moment of Zen courtesy of B-Man's "creative play"....

Who knew you could rip Green Goblin's head off and replace it with Sand Man's hand????

Later

Tweeked A Nipple...

Sometimes getting out of bed is overrated.

I'm lucky to work close to home, so after a lunch time Wal-Mart run for some stuff I stopped home to get the Dos Niner for tonight's wrench session with Tom.

Wheeling the bike to the car and I hear a rubbing noise. Look down. One of my rear wheels spokes is waving in the wind. SHIT!! MY NEW WHEEL!!!! I tweeked a nipple! And NOT in the "champagne and ripple" good way!

Not to be all "JRA" on you, but I just rode last week and the wheels seemed fine! I had noticed a little bit of play, in the rear but I attributed it to lowering the Relish's air pressure. I suspect foul play! They're out to get me! Them people! I know it!

So I TRIED to relax, knowing I was heading to Master Tom's anyway. Deep breaths, deep breaths....

THEN I pull into my parking lot at work. And go around to look at the wheel again. That's when I hear pssssssssssssssssssss......

What's that? My bike tire? NNNNNNNNo! It's the Subaru's right rear tire!! There's a giant big ass industrial sized staple sticking in it.

So I'm late from lunch as it is, NOW I'm out in the parking lot sweating like a damn fool putting on the little f*cking donut.

Then I have to drive to the local gas station by my house and get my tire plugged. Thankfully they weren't busy and in two shakes of a sheep's member I was out of there.

Finally after two hours I finally got to eat my lunch which given my stress level gave me IMMEDIATE heart burn and the overwhelming desire to lay my head under a bus.

I know I had to be kicking from the sweat. I was now the "stinky guy" in the office. You know the one. The one that smells like canned chicken soup and makes your eyes water. Oh well, they just had to deal with it today. Tomorrow I'll of course be rocking it high class with my Axe effect.

I swear to you race weeks are stress-f*cking-magnets! I SWEAR! I hope this is all the bad mojo for the week.

ANYway, the good news is it was just a blown nipple, and Tom's came through like a champ with another race week bail out. Replaced the broken one and 2 of it's now weaker neighbors, and got it all in true. I can't tell you how many times he has saved me. Thanks man!

In other (better) news- ERGON is GO!

Got the initial set up feeling pretty good. Since we were cutting down regular length grips for use with SRAM twisties it took a couple cuts to get them where I needed them so as to really reap the benefits of the design.

A few rides up and down the block helped to get them dialed in further. Some trail time this week should help me make sure of the position for me, followed by 100 miles of testing come Saturday.

Big thank you to Jeff and the fine folk at Ergon for hooking me up with these grips. Hopefully these will help relieve that "just whacked my hands 100 times with a mallet" feel that I get after a races. Should have some feed back by this time next week for sure. We shall see.

Time to try to get some sleep.

Later.

Steeeeeeped In Ennui....

I felt steeped in a bed of ennui today. A planned rest day from the bike, but with no other real plans I was bored as shit. It was like being at work. I just long for the day's end and sleep.

Y-Nizzle invited me and the fam to a M.Day picnic at his crib, but Wifey had some previous plans and I didn't feel like flying solo so I just sulked around the house most of the day day like bored little kid.

I did get to chat with Tom on the phone and that's always nice. He was giving me the low down on his roll in supporting Holly down in Conyers. I know from experience, when Tom's in charge of the pit, shit runs smoooooth! All you have to do is ride. In someways support sounds tougher than doing the race. Well, almost.

Heading over to his house tomorrow for some bike prep stuff. Alway nice to go into a race knowing that your bike has been looked over by one of the best.

A couple times today I almost just said screw it, I'm riding! But the heat of the weekend kinda zapped me and with the Mohican 100 coming up, I know it's best to rest, and get the legs spanky.

The only other real highlight today was tracking down the full audio of the White Stripes DVD "Under Blackpool Lights". Good stuff.

Later. Time to go do SOMEthing.

Master Ride Debater

This a.m. aftter some coffee, I went down and checked the Maxxis Detonators on my road bike. Upon inspection they were starting to become "square" so I thought now was as good a time as any to get on the Extreme Evo2's that Panaracer hooked the team up with this year.

DDDDDamn they were a bbbbbbbeotch to get on. The front went on no prob, but the rear was a real lesson in patience. Thought my tire lever was gonna bust in two. These should be a real joy come road side flat fixing time.

Not sure how these will wear, but I do know the tire has a nice sticky surface. Time will tell.

After mounting up the tires I sat at the computer checking out the blogs, Cyclingnews.com, sucking down some java and debating on whether to ride today or not. Part of me just wanted to relax and part of me wanted to get out in the summer sun and get some miles in.

Summer sun, and miles won.

Went out to Pappy-M's with Wifey and B-Man and took along the road bike. Told myself I'd ride for 1 hour, see how I felt, and go no longer than two hours.

The sun was hot, and the legs were a bit dead at first but after a few miles they came around.

Rocked my fave socks today...

The T6 Argyle. Can even make a poor boy feel swank.

Hit many of my normal Scottdale Loop roads, and enjoyed such things as another big ass dead black snake (3 in 2 days) and the smell of freshly shat manure juice running across the road baking in 85* sun. Riding out there is my fave place to road ride. Snakes, smells and all!

Low(er) traffic farm and back roads, perfect for miles on the road (if you have to) and showing off my too fuzzy side burns and ear hair.

Only took two bottles, so at nearly 2 hours and 33 miles, I had abort and head back to Pappy-M's for some grilling. I made up some super lean big ass burgers. This was the first red meat I've had months! Glad I saved it up for those burgers. I did good.

Nothing says "welcome summer" like "bike tan". Wow, check out the gun show.

Hope you all are getting some miles in and having a great holiday weekend. I'm looking forward to NO work tomorrow and a 3 day work week. Friday will be a travel day to the Mohican 100. So only 3 days of mind numbing monotony. Joy!

Later.

A Road Ride By The Numbers...

1 hot ass day.

2 dead legs.

1 belly full of undigested double espresso made with Cyrious Java Attack Blend.

3 burps that let me taste said espresso again on the first big climb.

1 flat. Pssssssssssssssssssss. DOH!

1 prayer for my Co2 to work and not leave me in full Bikeman.com kit in the middle of nowhere.

1 Co2 prayer answered

3 snakes (2 dead, one soon to be dead since he was stretched the whole way across the road)

1 cyclist not giving shit about said snakes since he hates snakes.

1 tandem bike passing in opposite direction.

4+ dead ground hogs

2 road kills that looked like melted Wookies and smelled like Wookie's ass.

3 bottles (1 water, 1 Gatorade, 1 Gatorade with 2 scoops of Carbo Pro)

10+ nubile teen girls at charity car wash near red light.

1 "pervy perverson" (Wifey's word) looking at said nubile teen girls from behind the Tifosi Q3s.

1 "pervy perverson" (Wifey's word) thankful for the compression of lycra.

1 fully kitted Bikeman.com cyclist mistakingly waving to a car that was no doubt honking/waving at nubile teens NOT said fully kitted Bikeman.com cyclist.

1 very embarrassed Bikeman.com cyclist.

2:15 of ride time

38 miles

1 tired ass ready to go home and chill.

2 sets of Ergon team issue grips waiting for me upon my arrival home.

Later.

Of or Being On White Rice

Finishing off this work week felt like relieving one's self after holding in 4 exits on the turnpike. We did get to scoot out an hour early so that sorta rocked.

Friday is Friday in my house. No big deal, but damn relaxing. I don't do any riding since Saturday a.m. is my thing, so I'm gonna fire up Terence The Oven, cook up some white pizza and throw down a couple Southampton Double Whites. Maybe watch the Sponge Bob Square Pants movie with B-Man and My nephew. "I'm a Goofy Goober- Yeah!!"

Back to the Southampton White x 2. This stuff RRRRRRRRRRRRRocks! Comes recommended from one of my buds and I must say he done me gooooood and I'm on it like white on rice. Think Hoegaarden but with a big kick in the junk and a bit more spice.

Anyone else not paying attention or even caring about the amount of racers (and now OLD racers) coming out of the EPO closet? Who the f*ck cares? I'm about ready to tell them all to just get a job, and join the rest of working, riding and racing because it's f*cking fun!


One week 'till Mohican. I'm getting all tingly. Lots of good racers at this one. It's gonna rock. ROCK! I say. Who's in? If you are, good luck to you and let me draft now and again on the road sections, please?

Looking forward to seeing folks. Hope the first section is a LITTLE less wet than last year. I'm in NO way putting my hubs/drive train through THAT shit again. I'll carry the bike! ;)

Not sure what The Ride Gods will give me on Saturday. Dirt? Road? Both? Nice to have a choices.

Oh well time to fire up a 50+ year old stove to 400 degrees in an kitchen that is about 80 degrees right now and cook up some mean garlic heavy white pizza.

Later.

My Ass Is Minty Fresh

Another great ride on the dirt at Boyce tonight. Mixed up the trails a bit, did a few more climbs and got 1:40 in and just under 14 miles.

I love riding in the late spring/summer evening. The leaves are at their greenest and the evening sun is the best shade of orange. It's just too perfect for my feeble words. It's nights like this you ask why would one NOT want to do this? I wish I could have got some picts, but the trails were too good to stop.

Rode with a couple different guys tonight. That's the most "group" riding I've done in about a year. One dude was new to the park and I told him to follow me. I lost him after about a mile. Sorry dude. Hope you enjoyed the trails though.

Another dude- Jim P.... something (I forgot) was keeping a nice pace and I accidentally ended up following him on a few trails and vice versa. It was like we were doing the same loop but with just the slightest difference. Seemed like a real good rider and a nice guy though.

Funny thing, he asked me how I like my 29er. I of course told him I loved it. That's no surprise of course, but I also found myself telling him (and I believe this) that the bike isn't BETTER than my former 26ers, it doesn't make me faster or any of that mumbo jumbo, but I do FEEL better on it.

I was then thinking to myself that feeling good on the bike is a pretty damn big step in being a better rider. I also dig that I can get much of the same from it as I did a 26" FS, without all the maintenance worry or weight. Just my 2¢ and believe me it's worth less than that.

There are still a TON of 26" wheeled bikes that my cheeks lust to ride on. But I started to ponder. If I had the casheesh, and could drop it on something custom, what would I get? I think without a doubt it would be a 29er. Most likely a Ti hard tail or soft tail. So I guess SOMEthing in the Kool-Aid took. ;)


After Tuesday's W.O.A.D. incident, Assland Security® issued a code orange warning today strongly suggesting the use of some Greyhound Juice Anti Friction cream on the any potential danger area.
I heeded the advice, and rocked the chamois with a comfy ass and a minty fresh scent or as the catalog says... "a pleasant, invigorating scent". Thanks Greyhound Juice people!

Oh well, Time to get me and my formerly minty fresh ass to bed.

Thank God the weekend is almost here. Work ennui is at an all time high.

Later.

More Road Dogs To Go On Olympic Dirt...

"Chicken" is now making an attempt for a 2008 MTB medal?

You can check out the VeloNews.com story HERE.

The kick ass mountain bikers seem to leave the dirt for the money of the road, but come back to the dirt for their medal attempts. Funny.

Report implies that Rasmussen may ACTUALLY eat something in his preparation to head back to dirt.

Now it's time for ME to go eat something and down some java to get me through a day of work dross and time in the woods tonight.

Later.

We Are All Individuals!... Not Me!

So I thought I could hold out. Be that one guy with beat up hands not running Ergon grips. But JK is persuasive and generous salesman who I truly believe wants to see America change it's colors from the red, white and blue to the black, white and lime green. Not that I'd mind, I mean red white and blue is kida played.

So in a matter of days I will be joining the ranks of some of the top endurance riders in the country to be running these grips- Jeff of course, Ernie, Sloan, Mr. Dave Harris, Lynda, Adam, Nat, the list is endless. Thankfully it's endless, 'cause if it did I'd be last for sure. Seriously if THAT many folks are using these bad boyz you have to think that Ergon is on to something.

Of course there's also the theory that I'm using the grips to have Jeff, talk to Irina to talk to Maja on the start line to... Wait a second. Wifey reads this blog. These grips will provide comfort for hours in the saddle...

I might be in trouble. Later.

That's A Helluva Thing

"That's a helluva thing." That's what my late Grandma Helen used to say about anything over-the-top or off-the-wall. In short she said it a LOT to her youngest grand son. Me.

I was thinking "that's a helluva thing" tonight during my ride because I could NOT get the phrase "weapons of ass destruction" out of my mind. I first heard the term from my friend Fernando who I believe was once on a Duo team at an 18 race named W.O.A.D. (not his choice). I also believe it's also a series of porn movies (so I'm told).

Annnnnnnnnyway the reason I was thinking of the term Weapons Of Ass Destruction tonight was the fact that my high fiber diet, combined with the industrial sand paper/toilet paper my place of work provides, left me with a scorching case of cheese grater ass after tonight's ride. Why not just give us a freaking stick to use?? Do I need to start taking my own TP to work? WTF?

So, in the end (pun sort of intended) Natures Cloud® or whatever they're calling that stuff is officially on my W.O.A.D. list and has been reported to the "powers that be" at Assland Security.

Weapons of Ass Destrucion? THAT's a helluva thing! Very true grandma. Very true.

Aside from the bit of tail end discomfort the ride rocked tonight. Trails were aces, the Dos Niner was spot on and the legs continued to feel pretty spanky. The ride was a short one- 13.7 Miles/1:27 ride. But it was a freaking blast.

Working me a 1/2 day tomorrow. Wifey needs to get caught up on some lawyering credits if she wants to try to get back in the law game in the future, so I'll be leaving early so as to pick the B-Man up. Might ride, but most likely I'll be tending to my .000000000000001 acres of land. I promise not to weed whack myself again.

Later.

Sweet Road Goodness

Got a nice 2 hour post work road ride in tonight. My normal loop. 2 hours, 33.5 miles. Weather was just incredible and the legs felt snappy.

Tonight was one of those rides that you somehow feel like your season's fitness is in bloom. Don't worry, I'm not getting all cocky on your asses, I just mean that my legs have that good "this climb isn't as tough as it was 2 months ago" feeling and that makes me happy.

The 2007 SRAM X9 Group got a great review over on CyclingNews.com. I run a mix of 2006 X0/X9 on the Dos Niner and will be running 2007 X9 Triggers/Drive on the Mamasita when she gets here, so seeing a good review makes me feel good.

You want some good reading check out Dave Harris' account of his attempt at a Grand Loop Solo TT last weekend. It's a good read and damn cool adventure.

And for Kerkove I give this nugget.... We've all seen his teammate Irina Kalentieva on his site. Well I found this interview with her over on www.fonsmtb.be.

Same kit as Jeff sports, but I gotta say, she's better looking. But hey, that's just me. ;)

I can't really understand it but if want to see a fast as hell Euro-chicky working the Ergon charm on folks you can fetch the download HERE.

Oh well, time for some sleep. Hope to get some dirt time in tomorrow.

Later.

Nothing

I got nothing, No ride today. Family stuff and the pursuit of the "hopiest" beer I can find.

I used to hate hops. Now a beer called "Hop Devil" does not have enough!!!!!! I need more. Give me that crisp, dry, bitterness. Bring it!


Did you know that Hops is the legal cousin of Cannabis?

Later. Time to cook up some cheezy tuna pasta bake. Post work road ride tomorrow.

I'm All About Going Metric Now

Not sure why, but as I was getting chamois up this a.m. I could NOT get the old Juicy Fruit Gum song (complete with sexual innuendos) out of my mind...

"Get your skis shined up
Grab a stick of Juicy Fruit
The taste is gonna move ya
Take a sniff
Pull it out
The taste is gonna move you when
you pop it in your mouth
Juicy Fruit, it's gonna move ya
It chews so soft, it gets right to ya
Juicy Fruit, the taste, the taste, the taste is gonna move you"

Anyway, I hummed along, got in my kit, grabbed the Trek and headed out for a multi hour road assault on the White Oak area.

The plan was a 2 to 6 hour ride to test out some new nutrition and get some saddle time in. Every two hours I planned to take in 2 bottles. 1 bottle of straight water and 1 bottle I would be a blend of 1 scoop Gatorade/2 scoops Carbo Pro. I also had 1 flask of Hammer Gel on my person.

First lap/2 hours I felt great. Legs were good, nutrition good, weather was the tops, etc., etc, As I pulled in to the Soob at mile 32, I exchanged bottles, finished off my gel and headed back out. For lap two, I opted for the tougher of the two climb choices I have to get up out of the Boston area. Legs were nice and warm so the climb was pretty smooth.

At about mile 45 I started getting some rubbing on James Westfall. Not good. So a couple slight adjustments to the ol chap's two brothers and all was good.

The legs were continuing to feel good, but I was blowing through this set of bottles PDQ. The temps were up now and I was taking in more liquids. I should have stashed a third bottle in the jersey, and remembered my 2nd Hammer Gel, but I didn't, 'cause I'm sort of a moron.

At mile 50 I was starting to get "road crazy". I was still feeling good, but I was thinking every passing car was giving me attitude and I was generally getting bored with road and sick of cars. Give me the woods and dirt! Then at about mile 60 I was just super bored. I took a couple different climbs to mix it up a bit, but I kinda knew that the century was not going to happen.

Finished with 65 miles and 4 hours in the saddle. Got some great saddle time in, hit some fun hills, worked on my "bike tan" and felt real good about adding Carbo Pro to my nutrition. Should have remembered the 3rd bottle on lap 2 and the 2nd Gel, but I never felt hungry over the 4 hours and the legs felt good.

I also should have mapped a 50 mile lap rather than trying to do 3 of the same. Too boring!! It might have worked with more folks but solo it was just annoying by the end. A solo century might be more fun out by my dad's too. I can get bigger loops in and know the roads so much better. All in all a great day in the saddle. I felt good knowing that the legs/stomach could have gone another 2 hours, but the mind was just sick of the road and cars. At least I did a METRIC CENTURY+ ! Viva la Metric System! 104.5K M'Fer!! HA!

Time to chill the Victory Hop Devils, thaw some chicken and get ready for some Tortilla Fa-HEAT-tah bake.

Hope you all got some miles in this weekend and if you're racing- good luck and may the Force be with you.

Later.

What Have You...

Now don't be going and taking this the wrong way. And please take with a grain of salt, because even though I log thousands of miles a year on the road, I looke at life through the eyes of a thirty something mid pack mountain bike racer. I am defending no one.

Greg LeMond has given we Americans some damn good nuggets of cycling glory in his career. I respect and admire his accomplishments. BUT, since then he's kinda been a whining douche bag. What gives? I mean are THAT many people confiding in Gret LeMond about their "sins" like he's their f'ing priest??

Anyone have Greg's # ? I got some shit I need to get off my chest. This one time at band camp...

I gotta give props to my buddy KoKo who sent me this quote from Floyd Landis about LeMond:

"For the record, I don't know Greg, and have no more respect for Greg than I have for people who go through life blaming others for all of their problems. You are not a victim of others Greg, you are a pathetic human who believes that if others didn't cheat & I'm not sure about you, you would be the President and all the peasants would bow to your command. Join reality with the rest of us who win some and lose some and keep on smiling."

That shit is gold. I mean whether Floyd doped or not (probably did, hope he didn't) isn't the issue. It's the f*cking circus that this all is and how a bitter 50? something cyclist can throw some gas on an already out of control fire.

After today I have NO care about doping in cycling. Assholes will do it. Some assholes will get got. and some won't. The sport which is already looked at as one step above badminton in the U.S. looks like even more of a joke.

OK, 'nuff about that. Good luck to Dave doing a crazy solo Trek 'round Utah this weekend and to Adam doing the KTR. Much respect for you all. Bigger balls than I, THAT'S for sure. Also good luck to the folks racing down in Ga, Ga, Ga, Georgia this weekend as well as MASS Marathon #1 in the big D. Good luck with the organization stuff Marc!

Myself. In order to try to salvage some good vibes about this week and myself, I've devised a plan to ride anywhere from 2 to 6.5 hours tomorrow (It won't be 2!). Bottles are mixed, gels are in their flasks and chamois is clean. Ready for the soilage of a multi hour, big mile road assault. Let's hope for the best.

Made up some white pizza tonight and enjoyed a couple Hop Devils. Time to wind on down for sleep and riding tomorrow.

Later.

Can I Command Z This Week?

The week started off sweet enough. Great ride on Monday, with great legs, but the rest of the week has thrown me a real training c*ck block. And left me in kind of a d*cked off mood.

Missed out on a ride yesterday due to the rain, tonight I missed out on one due to the rain knocking at the door and then NEVER coming! GRRRRRRR!

I had the bike, rain jacket and was ready to ride, but when I left work the weather radar show some SERIOUS rains coming and I figured I MIGHT make it through the first hour but I didn't want to risk getting caught out on the road during a serious down pour.

Sssssssssssssssssoooo.... I ended up with an hour on the trainer. Actually wasn't that bad and it was a good work out. It just wasn't my two hour ride on the road. Week's hours are at a dismal 3:30 right now. I do have a big ride planned on Sat. rain or shine. So they should make it to my average weekly hours, but this is NOT fun.

Sometimes I really don't know how folks like myself with jobs, kids, etc., do this stuff sometimes. Do I need to just accept the trainer as part of my life now? How do some of you other folks get your weekday training in and in what forms?

Commuting, early a.m., lunchtime rides are not an option for my work/family schedule and responsibilities. What are realistic goals for the week. Right now in my life if I hit 10 hours of riding in a week it was a DAMN good week and 7 to 8 hours is average. Then with weeks like this when I DO get the time and the weather f*cks me it can really be frustrating. I work hard to be this average. Sub par clydesdale is right around the corner! ;)

_______________________________________

I also ended my auction on my NiteRider HID light. Figured even if I got what I wanted for it, I'd still need to fork over a little bit of cash towards the PTSB3 I want. Being that I still need some parts, the Mamasita, my Wilderness 101 entry fee a AND that I somehow forgot to pay my Cable/Internet bill last month, I figured I'd better hold off till later in the year. Drat! I'm a f*cking moron.

Why didn't I just go see Morrissey tonight like I really wanted to?? THAT would have soothed the angst.

Alright 'nuff bitching.

Read a good article about Ryan and Brent from Twin-Six the other day. Good background on them and how they got into the bidnezz. You can download the PDF from their site- HERE.

Also some good reading on the Salsa Amigos Blog with Salsa Pro- Jeff Hall. Check it out. Jeff is in full on mode to try to get UCI points for the Olympics. Good luck Jeff! Did I mention that Jeff is part of the T6 group of riders too? Well he is!

Don't think that because I haven't written about the Floydis, the Hamilton twins, Basso, etc., etc., etc., or the other drug scandals that much that I haven't been paying attention. I just don't see the point in talking about it. Oops I guess I just did. Folks had more talent in one finger than I have in my whole body and the f*cked it up. Paid to ride their bike and the f*cked it up. Nice.

Later. It's time to go read some good news to help plan my post ride festivities on Saturday

Shleprock!!

Rained all a.m. here, but the weather looked to just be cloudy for the post work road ride. BUT as I got within 3 miles of my ride's launching pad it started f'ing pouring! Sh*t! I had no rain jacket, it was a cool rain and I had NO desire to get soaked, cold and nipply. So I aborted and turned around to head home. Then the road I took to come home was under construction and I got stuck in it. 35 minutes later I arrive back at 1147.

Needed to burn off some work day/no ride rage (guy sees FIVE proofs, on 5th proof says he want cars in order by year! UGGGGGG!!!), so I got on the trainer and did a quick spin to loosen my legs. Riding the trainer in the spring/summer is the ultimate kick in the junk. Nothing like spinning, looking down and seeing tan lines peeking out to rub your shnoz in the fact that you're NOT outside. Grrrr!

Trainer session done. Rain stopped. Mother Nature. Yyyoooou BITCH! ;)

Oh well, at least Grande Alberto's team e mail update was promising. Looks like Salsa is gonna help out the team by making sure we get enough Mamasita's on the next shipment. Best case- in 20 days I'll be able to get my white, sagging ass on it. JOY! Thanks as always to Salsa, and Al at Bikeman.com for the generosity and hard work.

I leave you with this gem sent to me by my buddy KoKo.

How This He Rolls Like

Later.

Nick Knack My Leg Got Weed Wacked

Good Lord! 25 hours of racing in 3 weeks, countless hours in the saddle and I get my worst injury this year starting up the f*cking weed wacker!!! Let me just say Ooooo-f*cking-uch!!! Slapping the bare skin of one's outer leg with an industrial strength piece of plastic twine is a tttttttttttttad painful.

No E.R. needed though, so not too bad. Makes me wish I would have gone riding for sure though.

In about 84 minutes I will have the entire 2007 EuroSport coverage of the 2007 Paris-Nice on DVD. S-ah-weet! Visual Hub rocks!

Need Light? Get it here. (Auction ended. Holding off. Sorry)

Kind got used to the routine of racing the past few weeks. I know it's best I don't do any 'till Mohican (financially, mentally, physically, etc., ) but I really wish I was racing this weekend. Oh well, got me some big miles planned this weekend to test out some new fueling.

Later. Time to look at (bike) porn.

Three Days - Spent

Wow, got out for a nice 2 hour/33 mile post work ride tonight. Damn I'm spent though. Felt great the whole ride then got to the last gradual up hill and I could just feel my legs start to go. Damn nice ride.

One of those days. Work all day, ride 2 hours, come home, make dinner, hang with the family a few minutes and the next thing you know it's bed time. Makes for a long day, but fun in it's own way.

Time to TRY to convince the B-Man that it is indeed bed time.

No ride tomorrow. Need to rest a bit after 3 days in a row. Little cross training with yard work. Great. I can't wait.

Later.

Mother of A Ride

I tried. I tried to take the day off from riding today, I did. I just couldn't do it. The temps were to good, the sun was too bright and the legs were jonzing for saddle time.

So after Wifey, B-Man and I downed some mega sized mother's day blue berry muffins and I crushed about 4 cups of java, we loaded up the Soob and headed out to Pappy-M's to hang.

Wifey and B-Man hung with Pappy and I headed out on the road bike to work the legs a bit. First stop was the cemetery out the road to say happy Mother's day to my mom (or at least her grave stone) and to my grand mothers. Nothing like walking through a cemetery in full kit to make one feel sorta like a freak.

Once that was done I mounted up and hit 31 miles of back roads for the next 1:50. Not sure if it was the result of good recovery or more hours on the mountain bike, but the ride kicked ass. I think it's a lot from all the time on the Dos Niner lately.

You don't realize how many more things are going on when you mountain bike. Twists, turns, logs, roots, obstacles, shifting the body around. THAT is why mountain biking will ALWAYS kick ass.

I wish I could have gone longer today, but I knew that even though I had good legs, pushing too many hours the week after a 12 hour race could be bad. So I called it at 1:50/31 miles and headed home for some pasta.

This coming week I hope to start building again towards the Mohican 100, and start working on some new nutrition plans.

I've professed my love for Hammer products here many times, but call it the "evolution of my stomach" or just call it "tired of the taste". I can't continue to not keep foods down on rides/races beyond 6 hours. So I'm gonna try some other drinks and products, along with continuing to use Hammer Gel. I'd like to do ONE race this year without feeling warm vomit on my legs.

Hope everyone got some miles in this weekend.

Dirt Worshiping

First, Friday...

Wifey and I had a few friends over on Friday night for some pizza and beer. Nothing like a warm evening sitting on the porch with friends, tipping a few back, and catching up with each other to make one feel good.

I braved parkway traffic at lunch on Friday to head into McBrooms in Regent Square. Hands down the best beer distributors in east Pittsburgh. Picked up some Bell's Two Hearted Ale.

Good stuff. 7% kick, smooth at first with a big hop finish to warm the cockles. IF you know what I mean.

Saturday came in with sweet sunshine and some Bikeman.com "Attack Blend" beans being ground and downed at breakfast. Big thanks to Chris Cyr for roasting the team up these smooth beans. Muchos Gracias.

After about 6 cups of this java goodness, and few trips to drop the kids off at the pool, it was time to chamois up for some dirt worshiping at Boyce Park.

Weather has been sooooo f*cking perfect. Mid 70s and sunny. Almost felt like riding deep in the Whales Vagina (San Diego). That's some Anchor Man reference for you hipsters in the know.

Probably should have hit the road being that this is recovery week, but f*ck it, this is fun time. So it was just me and the Dos Niner taking advantage of the rare bone dry trails of Western PA.

I was having a great ride, with a nice tempo, and then about 7 miles in I hit root parallel to the trail at an odd angle at about 14 mph, and it slammed me down harder than a jello shot off a co-ed's belly.

Got up and checked the Dos Niner , my bod, and then realized that my computer was missing. So 5 minutes was spent going through trail side brush looking for it. Finally I found it.

Then it was back in the saddle to finish out a 2 hour session of sweaty meditation to the gods of dirt.

Continued to rock the IRD Fire Pro 29ers and think I have enough info to give Grande Alberto at Bikeman.com a decent review.


Then it was home to get Wifey's Madre's Day gift all wrapped. Just a quick shout out of love to her. She does some MAJOR loving to the B-Man and deserves much more than I can ever give her. JoErin, thanks for being a great wife and even better mother. I love you.

Also got my NiteRider system all cleaned up for selling today. I'm going to put it up on eBay this week. It's an HID set up with 1 extra battery. So you can get yourself 8+ hours of HID. If you're interested, make me an offer via jmahokey1 (at) comcast.net and we'll see if we can work something out. PayPal/USA only.

B-Man hung out with Papa-O a bit tonight and it gave Wifey and I a chance to hang out, drink a couple beers and do that thing we do where we talk and realize why we got married in the first place.

Good times, good weekend, good miles.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers! Especially to Double-K down in F.L.A.. Enjoy your first mother's day! Hope you, Dave and Harrison have a gooder.

Later. Time to do more warming of my cockles with some good beer, Mexican food and The Pixies.

I Want To See The Boy Happy

Great googly-moogly what a sweet ride tonight. Hit up Boyce after work and was treated to 15 miles of tight, dry single track, the smell of honey suckle, and good legs.

I had such a blast tonight. Really wanted to push through some turns and see how the Fire Pros handled. They really hooked up well. All systems are go on these tires. Really digging them. Pavement has proven their only down fall so far. More thoughts as miles accumulate on these.

The only downside to the ride was that I got lit up by some sort of gang of insects. I must have 5 or 6 welts on my back. Prickly pricks.

Last Saturday when I stopped down to talk to Fat Marc and the Spot/T6 folks before the race, there was song playing on the hi-fi in the background with some horns going. It was SO familiar and the name of the song was on the tip of my tongue all through the race. In fact I blame my sub par result on it. (kidding of course). Then tonight as I drove home listening to THIS Morrissey bootleg, it hit me- "I JUST WANT TO SEE THE BOY HAPPY"!!! I KNEW it!!

"I want to see the boy happy
with his arms around his first love
is that too much to ask?"

Later.

Givin' 80%, Doin' 75% & Feelin' 100%

Back in the saddle tonight for an abbreviated road ride. Went at about 80% of my normal tempo, did about 75% of my normal post work loop and felt right about 100%. Granted I wasn't pushing hard, but still felt good. I was also amazed at my recovery after this race. I made the mistake of having 2 or 3 beers after the Leesburg 13 hour. The key is 6 or 7.

"Does the body rule the mind
or does the mind rule the body?
I dunno..."
-Morrissey, "Still Ill"

Seriously, the mind and body are freaky. I felt like shit on Sunday a.m. and couldn't even imagine looking at my bike. Here we are two days later I'm back in the saddle and I'm preaching the gospel of chamois soilage once more.

Operación Puerto Exclusive:

"I admit it. I am Barilla"
Ohhhhh, Birillo!!!

Basso. What a D. Bag. I love the "ok, it's mine, but I didn't use" excuse. Man, there's a bunch of folks using that same excuse everyday when the five-oh find a dime bag in the glove box. Knob.

Oh well, not my problem. Time for some sleep.

Later.

Whole Lotta Random Bike Crap...

Figured since I needed to let the fine folks at Bikeman.com in on some of the gear I rolled at Lodi I'd share it with you as well, since all I had to do tonight was mow grass, play with the B-Man and stare at my kankles.

First, the Dos Niner was FLAWLESS! 30 p.s.i. of air in the Relish gave it a super nice feel and 100mm of travel in the Reba was PERFECT! I can't say enough about how good the Reba felt this race. I noticed no issues with climbing or with cornering with the shock at 100mm.

I have to say if you do longer races/rides and don't have your Reba set to 100 you owe it to yourself to at least TRY it. You can always go back if you don't dig the way the bike handles. The shock felt buttery smooth too, with it's fresh seals and oil. Thanks Tom!

The Fire Pro 29 tires were superb. Not as fast rolling as the Ignitors, but a perfect all conditions tire. And oddly they got all sorts of conditions this weekend. We had mud, wet roots, slick mud, ankle deep mud, and then by Sunday a.m. may trails were bone dry hard pack.

So far I've used The Maxxis Ignitor, The Panaracer Rampage and the IRD Fire Pro 29er tires. ALL are great tires for a multitude of reasons. The IRDs just went to the top of my list though. Time will tell of course but after 12 hours this weekend I'm pretty stoked on them.

My new Lake 230 shoes continue to rock in the comfort department too. No toe smush, and no heal flop.

I was happy with my night riding for a change too. Being able to run 2 HIDs helped a lot. But even when I was only running one I felt better and more confident. I guess I just need to do it more and I'll get more comfortable with it.

Having said that, I did get to hook up with Justin from Princeton Tec to check out their new Switch Back Series. While I didn't run them on my bike, we took the SB3 over to some dark single track before the race to test it out, and I must say the SB3 would be the perfect light for me!

It's brightness is nearly as bright as one HID light, but it's light color is so much better that you can actually pick up more of the trail (in my opinion, according to my eyes). The battery is not that light, but the light it's self is light as a feather and you can get a burn time of nearly 7 hours on one 2 hour charge.

I also like features like locking connectors, a solid feel when you push the button, 2 hour charge and more. The only thing I'd add is a 2nd battery allowing one to never have to borrow, lights from folks again.

The SB1 is so small it looks like a light that a proctologist might use for bung-hola inspection. I mean the picts in the catalog must be enlarged 300%.

I'm sure there are folks out there (like Dave Harris!) Making some feather light, supa bright LED lights. But myself I dig out of the box convenience with a known lighting company to back up the product.

Needless to say wheels are in motion to roll these later in the year or next year. Not sure there's any dough in the piggy this year, but next year maybe. It would be sweet to have at the 18 Hours On The Farm though. Thanks for all the info Justin! Hope that stomach gets better soon.

Hot & Spicy Bike News....

I've been getting restless about the fact that I have a box full of brand new parts and no frame for them due to the fact that the Salsa Mamasita is in hot demand and not enough frames can be found to fulfill customer demand and our Team Bikeman.com order.

I started to look at other options, like keeping the Dos as my sole race bike and picking up an El Mariachi to train with. I wanted a lighter hard tail though, so I also looked into frames from Orbea, Niner, On One, and Kona. Many are damn nice frames but not having the Mamasita and without going custom frame like a Quiring or Walt Works, I'd feel like I was just settling. I mean I've been talking and lusting for Mamasita from before it was conceived!

Well, Jason from Salsa posted over on MTBR.com today that a larger shipment of frames should be hitting the U.S. come the 3rd or 4th week of May. I HOPE this will get the shop enough frames to satisfy customers and let the team get theirs.

Now this might not be soon enough for me to have her for The Mohican 100, but at least I feel a LITTLE better about the possibility of having it by mid June and in time for the 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey.

If doesn't work out that we can't get them before mid June, I may just go with an El Mariachi or an orange 07 Dos Niner and try for the Mamasita in 08. I'm hopeful though. Not holding my breath, but hopeful. Thanks to Jason for keeping me and other folks in the loop.

Later.

2007 12 Hours of Lodi Farms

2007 12 Hours of Lodi Farms
May 6, 2007
Fredericksburg, VA

In reading many of my past race reports I realized that the reader must leave thinking WHY would anyone do this stuff? It doesn't sound like he's having fun. I suffer a lot during races. I don't gloss over that, so I think many of the negatives come out when I write. I hope the positives come out too. I'm not sure WHY I do this, that's another post, but if you're up to read about HOW I totally flog myself by all means keep reading...

Another Race In The Mercy Seat

"My body is on fire
And God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climb"

My expectations for this race were low. I wanted to race to work on my night riding, see some friends and get some hours on the mountain bike that I hadn't been getting out of competition. I of course still wanted to be at least a LITTLE competitive and not make a complete fool of myself.

Many folks would call this "training through a race" I don't particularly like that phrase since I feel it's often used in hind sight after a poor performance. I call it "C" level race. Racing but not gonna lose sleep over where I placed. I pretty much KNEW I wasn't gonna place, but really wasn't expecting the suffering that would come.

The reports of The 12 Hours Of Lodi Farms demise have been greatly exaggerated. It was in fine shape this year. Yes, they lost some trail, but they also put more trails in, they did a great job and are already planning for 2008. Do the race. It's cheap and it's fun, whether it's dry or wet. Kinda like picking up an ugly hooker whilst drunk.

This was my fourth year at Lodi and 3rd as a Solo. I dig the tight, rooted single track. It's very much like some of my local trails and I look forward to racing here each year despite the 5+ hour drive each way.

What I don't dig are races in the rain. Ma Nature dumped showers all over Virginia on Saturday night, making for some soggy camping and slick trails. Lucky for me, Wifey and B-Man that we were on the business end of the generosity stick and would be camping inside my friends Fernando and Loretta's Prowler® RV. (Thanks guys!)

Wifey drinks coffee from the crystal chalice that is Loretta's Dolly Parton mug.

Made it down to F/Burg late afternoon, poo-pooed the pre-ride for the sake of keeping my bike in good condition and my ass dry and warm and just got all our gear set up.

Later as I walked through the venue I ran into FatMarc, and received a hand shake and a wet kiss on the cheek, given under the orders from Twin-Six's Brent Gale. I told Marc, "you know Brent told me to give you a big kiss too, but I didn't take it so literally!"

Speaking of Marc, the Spot Brand/T6/Henry's guys had a set up that was roughly the size of a small shopping center. B-Man and I stopped down to say hi later in the evening and B-Man even got some tasty birthday cake thrown his way. Thanks guys! It was great to see you all and meet some of the other Henry's folks.

B-Man munches on some birthday cake provided by the Spot/T6/Henry's folks.

After I cooked up some pasta and olive oil I took a nap in the Prowler® and listened to the rain fall. It was a bummer that it was raining, but I was happy I at least brought my rain jacket. I also had to keep asking myself why I was there. I didn't pre register because I told Wifey "If it looks like rain I'm not driving 5.5. hours to race in the mud". Well, there was a 90% chance of rain in the forecast and I was there? I might have some "issues".

Lodi Farms Mud

After my nap, I lubed up the Dos Niner's chain, put on my bottle mounted light (courtesy of Tom/Kevin), got my pack loaded with my helmet mount and got my race food ready.

I would be rolling the Dos Niner exclusively again for this race and was looking forward to trying out my new IRD (Panaracer) Fire Pro 29er tires and and my Reba now set to 100mm.

Once I was satisfied with my bike/light/nutrition set up I headed over to the Princeton Tec trailer to talk to Justin and check out the Switch Back series of lights. DDDDDDDDDDAMN these are some nice lights. I ended up riding with Justin on part of our first lap. Anyway, I was super impressed with the gear. More on those later this week. Thanks for the info Justin!

Before you knew it it was time to chamois up for the rolling parade lap start (thank goodness! my 2nd race with no running start!).

Gettin' all gussied up for the dance.

Started with my rain jacket on, since it was still looking like rain and the night air was damn chilly for Virginia in May. The jacket made it through about 2 miles before I had to pull over and stuff it in my jersey pocket. Damn I got warm. From the looks of it I wasn't the one one pulling off stuff either.

The first lap there was a LOT of bottle-necking. The slick roots, and muddy climbs made for a lot of riders dismounting. Normal 1st lap stuff. It's a long race so no big deal.

With no pre ride I was using the first lap to feel things out and get familiar with the course. Laps 2 and 3 I found a pretty nice groove, found myself riding alone for much of them and was enjoying myself. Lap 4 was strange, not sure why, but I was getting sloppy on the course and went down hard a few times off of some slick roots hidden by mud. The bike was staying in once piece and that's what I was most concerned about.

After lap 4 I switched out my batteries and headed back out. The sky was really getting clear now. The moon was out in and riding alone at times through the woods and fields in the moon light was a seriously cool experience that every mountain biker should experience.

During one climb as I got to the top there was bitchin' Cammaro and a group of "course marshals" camped nearby listening to southern rock and getting drunk. They were having some political "discussion". I was freaking giggling like a school girl as I ducked into the woods.

The cool parts of lap 4 were being interrupted by the fact that I was realizing I was not eating or drinking enough. Nothing was tasting right. Heed was nasty, my Perpetuem/Hammer Gel mix was worse. This was a bad sign. I wanted to use this race to work on some alternative eating plans. Not eating and drinking was NOT the plan.

Soon the sky was getting light and before you knew it the sun was peeking through the trees. I defy you to find a racer who's mojo doesn't shoot up during the sun rise lap. Good stuff.

Sadly after this enjoyment of the sun rise lap I found myself doing some serious damage control. I switched to straight water, since the taste of Heed and Perpetuem literally was gagging me. When I stopped I changed out of my wet jersey for a new one and tried to choke down some fig bars and continue on.

Trying to get it done. Photo via Gary

On this lap I could NOT escape two guys riding together with a boom box strapped to one of their bikes blasting bad heavy metal music. You gotta love 24 hour racing! Puking solo racers, single speeders in skirts, naked post race riding, and more.

Each lap was getting harder for me. I wanted to stop. But figured I didn't drive 5.5 hours to sit around. I took a little brake, and tried to drink a little Gatorade. I also took a couple sips of coffee to try to jump start my sleep deprived body.

And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.

After what I thought was my 8th lap I chatted with Spot Paul for a bit at the check in tent and then told them I was going to go sit down for a second. I wasn't sure if this would be a second, a few minutes or an hour and a half until the end.

As I sat there I decided I would at least go out and get my 9th lap (I thought) in. So I mounted up and started out for a nice hike in the woods with some occasional mountain biking.

During one climb I heard the familiar voice of Bob Anderson (the eventual winner with 14 laps). Bob and I seem to end up at just about every race together. He kicks ass and is a super nice guy. He had the time to stop and chat a second with me as I hoofed up the hill.

Then in his friendly southern drawl says "c'mon, lets go" he put the hammer down and I jump on his wheel. We went flying down some sweet single track, weaving in an out of trees, down some sweet rooted descents, and then I bonked. HARD. Bob was gone in a flash, that 2 minutes on his wheel gave me some good mojo and the tow and motivation was much appreciated.

I then mounted up and tried to get going again. I soon stopped and had some SERIOUS dry heaves. I'd call it puking but since I was eating and drinking nothing, it's was dry heaves. Guttural roars echoed through the woods as my eyes nearly popped out of my head. All I wanted to do was make it back to the start/finish.

I was sure that I wouldn't be back to the finish before noon, but I was back at 11:45. There was a group down the trail waiting for the clock to hit noon. I joined them. Somewhat content in getting that last lap in.

Waiting for the end.

Noon hit and we rolled in order to the line and clocked in. I was sure I finished with nine laps. Not sure if it was an error in my bonked mind or an error in the scoring but it looks like "officially" it's 8. This may have been the difference between 5th and 8th or 9th, but seriously, Who cares? This is a great run grass roots race, run by some great folks and I'm not gonna bitch over something that may or may not be my fault.

Getting undressed interrupted by needing to lay down.

One of the highlights of my dismal finish was as a laid in the sun, with my eyes closed (see above), B-man comes over, kisses me and tells me not to be sad. That made me very happy and very proud. Thanks B-Man.

Even though I went into this race with low expectations and knowing it was a "c" race, I didn't expect to walk (crawl) away from this race with the mental drainage that took place. On one hand I did what I sat out to do. I got some quality night racing in, saw friends, and got some riding in. 25 hours of racing in 3 weeks for someone with my less than stellar abilities may be too much. Hell it may be too much for seasoned pros.

Consider yourself webbed.

Race nutrition was off the charts bad. No reflection on the products themselves, they've worked in the past, but HEED, Perpetuem and Hammer Gels just have not been working for me during races this year. I need a Plan "B" when shit goes bad. I plan on working on that over the next month or so and have some things in the works.

No racing for a while. Next up is the Mohican 100 in June. Time to get my shit together.

Sorry for the long report. Thanks to Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and Troegs Brewing for providing inspiration. Lyrics reprinted without any permission or care what-so-ever.

UPDATE 5.23.07 Official Results have me in 7th Place, doing 9 laps, as I thought, out of 28. The odd thing is that they have my finish time at 12:14, even though I crossed the line at just after noon. Hmmm. Strange.

Later.

Back From Lodi

The short recap:

• Mucho rain, but a still a good course.

• Too much too soon after Leesburg.

• Could not keep ANY gels or sports drinks down.

• Rode like ass after 5 laps.

• Swore I did 9 laps. Right now the score sheets says 8. I'm sure there must have been some confusion on some part. My placement is unknown. Thought I was 5th or 6th, but it looks like it could be 8 or 9. Who cares really? Just a number, I sucked. I didn't expect much out of myself for this race given my lack of real recovery time and that's exactly what I got.

Full report and photos to come.

Time To Roll 29" On The South (again)

I was all kind a in the stress zone tonight. Not sure why, just was. Mucho apologies to Wifey and B-Man for doing a spot on imitation of one Richard Cranium.

I did finally get all my shit together for our family road trip down to the 12 Hours of Lodi Farms in Fredericksburg, VA. Conception site of my friend and now new father- KoKo. Why he felt the need to share that with me I'll never know.

Weather looked to be good, but now there may be some showers. No prob. Just do what I do and hope for the best.

I meditated inside a circle of chain lube tonight, asking the god's of cycling and speed to bless the Dos Niner and keep me free of harm and lead me firmly into the mid pack. Most likely a waste of 3 oz. of chain lube, but what could it hurt?

Got a nice e mail yesterday from Justin, he of rotten egg freeway vomit and Princeton Tec, inviting me to stop by and try out the Switchback lights down a Lodi tomorrow night. Looking forward to checking out these LED lights. I'll be running twin HIDs for about 4 hours and 1 HID till daylight. but still want to check out these lights for future lusting.

In case I'm all caught up in race day nervous energy tomorrow I want to say good luck now to Fernando, Loretta (doing Solo), Mr. & Mrs. FatMarc, Paul, Matt, and all the other fine folks I'm lucky enough to have met and race with.

Later. Time to get some sleep.

My Eyes (Not My Wheels) Are Starting To Wander

Hit Boyce Park after work for a short 10 mile shakedown ride, to test out some shock settings on my Reba and dial in the bike for Sat.

Played with two different air pressures. Decided to go with a 10 psi increase in my (+) chamber from last night. New seals, oil change, increased travel, new air settings, feeling P. LUSH. Thanks for the help Tom!

It was only a 10 mile ride, but I'm feeling pretty stoked about the Reba at 100mm. I'm not the type to be railing corners at high speed and what not, so I notice no handling issues. Climbing felt great too. The wheel didn't wonder at all on me. I have the fork set about 10 to 15 psi lower than it was at 80mm and It felt damn good. I can only think that any handling issues will be made up for in comfort.

The IRD (Panaracer) Fire Pros felt good too. Rolled well through everything tonight. Roots, mud, hard pack, gravel. Many miles of testing lay ahead though. If I'm lucky near a 100 by Sunday at noon! :)

Been hooked on reading this cat's blog for a while now. He rolls a Dos Niner and an El Marichi at great speed out in the mid west. Check him out.

OK, I'm outta here. Time for sleep. Work tomorrow followed by packing, organizing and what not for Sat. a.m. departure for Lodi Farms. Should have plenty of time to spew forth some nonsense tomorrow.

Later.

Shocked, Mounted and Aired

Stopped over Tom's this evening and got the Reba good to go for Lodi Farms this weekend. New seals, oiled up, etc., etc., World of difference. Feels nice, plush and ready to roll.

Also borrowed a battery so I can light up 2 HIDs (bar/helmet) on Sat. night for at least the first 4 hours of the race (Midnight to 4 a.m.) then the last two hours of darkness I'll just burn 1 helmet mount.

I've really been interested in the new LED lights that are coming out. Princeton Tec is going to have some Switchbacks down at Lodi Farms, so I hope to see how they compare to HIDs. The HIDs are hella bright, but I have trouble picking up the trail in the white light. Rocks, roots, mud, they all look the same to me. So I'm a bit interested in checking out some new stuff. I'm thinking by '08/'09 LED will be in my future.

When I got home I mounted up the new IRD (Panaracer) Fire Pros. Looking sweet. Amazing how compared to the Rampage 29er they look like CX tires. Then I tooled around the neighborhood taking some steps, curbs and turfing my elderly neighbor's yard to play with the shock settings.

Saw on Salsa's site that a dude finished Tans Iowa on the new Mamasita. 320 miles. Congrats to him. Myself, I'm getting a tad excited/anxious about mine. The box full of parts sitting in my living room is begging for a frame and I need to resist the siren's song of El Mariachi and just be patient. Deep breaths, deep breaths.

I saw a bumper sticker about trout fishing today. For some reason when I looked at it I could have swore it said "ONE LESS TROUT" similar to the whole "ONE LESS CAR" thing. Not sure what it said, but I'm pretty confident that it did NOT say "One Less Trout"

Then I saw an ACTUAL bumper ticker said something like "GET A TASTE OF RELIGION- LICK A WITCH". Sure. Lick a witch and the next thing you know your a newt!

Later.

"How do you KNOW she is a witch?"

The Break That Stuck

Sweet road ride tonight. Had to ride the last 10 miles like I was in a solo breakaway though. Somewhere nearby was getting a good thunder storm and I really didn't feel like getting caught in it, so I had to put the hammer down.

The wind was so f'ing strong that last 10 miles. I had to pedal my ass off to go 20 mph down hill on a decent that I normally push 30 to 35 mph. Finally in the last few miles the winds let up a bit and I was able to make it back to the Soob before any rains hit. So it was a break that stuck!

Other than the hard winds and the potential rain, it was a sweet ride. Legs felt good, my blister on my hand is healed, and I even hit a new road that has a sweet 3/4 mile climb. I've named it Hog Grind hill. Since when you finally make it to the top and the main road there's a busted out lighted sign that someone has spray painted "Hog Grind" on. Not sure what all that means. Not sure I WANT to know what that means.

Tonight was the kind of road ride you long for when it's February and sleeting outside. A warm 80 degree evening with good legs. Good times and a great way to spend 2 hours after work.

Came home to find that I got my IRD (Panaracer) Fire Pros. Anxious to try these. I don't anticipate them rolling like the Ignitors, but I've always found that the Fire Pro was a great all conditions tire. Not a good mud shedder, but I will say that the tread pattern on the 29" version looks a tad wider than it's older 26" cousin. So they may have some potential.

Got my lodging squared away for the Cranky Monkey in June, thanks to JB for taking care of that one.

In other new, Maja Wloszczowska- Everyone's (ok, my) favorite Eastern European pro racer has updated her site with an English translation option. So boil up some pierogie and read up on life on the World Cup circut. ;) Word on the street is that she added the option once she saw the mad amount of hits she was getting from the link on The Chamois.

Ok, time to split. Heading to Tom's tomorrow to help him finish up the work on the Dos Niner's Reba and play with the travel a bit. Getting all dialed in for the weekend's race.

Later.

P.S. "Why did you eat Snail-Po® ?"