Nipple + Issues = Nipple Issues

Sweet ass ride after work tonight. Hit Boyce for 2:00 hours of riding and just under 18 miles of single track. Kept a nice tempo, and other than a wiz stop and one stop to let two oncoming riders by, it was all pedaling. Uber fun.

Some observations made while riding tonight... I LOVE SRAM X.O twist shifters!!! Seems like they're out of fashion with many folks now-a-days, but they are soooo freaking easy to shift in tight or technical situations when you really don't want to be moving your hands around on the bar. I have X9 Triggers on the Mamasita, but I think this will be the last year for 'em. They shift great, and are just as precise, but I love the twists more. I guess it's all personal preference, but I'm going on record for all 5 people that read this blog and saying that X.O twists are the BALLZ ballz! (Definition #2/Usage #1).

99.9% of the ride was great.
Until the spin to the car when I realized that THIS happened!...

Yep, another spoke bight the big hairy one! Frig! At first I was all mentally foaming at the mouth about the fact that I broke another spoke at the nipple. Then I noticed that the spoke is bent in the middle a bit. I must have hooked on something or got molested by a stick unbeknownst to me. This is the 3rd spoke in about a year. At this rate I'll have all new spokes in a year or so!

THOUGHT: If the park police caught me with hand down the front of my shorts smearing Vaseline on my undercarriage, do you think they could arrest me for "lude behavior" or something?? From the action I've seen there, I'm sure I wouldn't be first person who's lubed up with some "jelly" in the park, but maybe I'll try to take care of that when I change next time. Jusssst to play it safe.

What the fork?

Where's my Fox fork you may be (but probably not) asking? It appears that Fox is "inbetween" model years right now. '08s are history and according to Fox, the '09s are just beginning to ship. So in other words. When it gets here, it gets here. I'm sure it will be worth the wait, but I am getting a little be anxious. I saw that Fox has added a remote lock out for their 2009 forks, but not sure if mine will come with it, or if I really even want it. I really don't mind reaching down to flip the knob. (Was it wrong to say "flip the knob" so soon after talking about Vaseline?) The Reba Race remote on my Mamasita has busted 2 or 3 times. I have enough shit that breaks, no need for another one.

EDIT 9:21 a.m. Looks like the Fox shipped. Due in the W.O. tomorrow. Sweeeet!

Have you seen this thread on the MTBR.com Endurance forum about Cohutta?? What the f*ck? This may be the most commented on post that MTBR has EVER had. Spare me the drama folks. I have nothing to say other than I check the post 20 times a day because people are funny/sad. I will say Dicky's photo posts and Tomi "bumping" pages has been pretty entertaining. The rest of the folks just need to chillllll.

Now it's time for me to chill.

Later.

No Man's Land XC Funk

Man, what a friggin' boring my day at work! I was jumping out of my skin to get outside and ride OR run out into traffic. Whatever it would have taken to ditch the boredom. Of course a 'tall Starbuck's NFVL didn't help the "jumping" part either. But it was ggggoood.

It sort of sucked too, because I knew that I wouldn't be doing any "real" riding tonight. Jim The Siding Man was here to let us pick our color (gray) and kabitz about the job. When he left, and Wifey and B-Man split for B's swim class, I headed down to the Stankment® for an hour on the trainer. TRYING to simulate some of the seated climbs I would have done on my road ride. I won't bitch too much though. I did get a nice sweat on and still had time to cross train by mowing the grass. So now I will NOT to have to worry about it on my weekend time.

MTBS.cz has some great photos from this past weekend's Offenburg World Cup Race.

Between watching all the recent World Cup action, and reading the blogs and web sites about some of the recent local XC events (Greenbrier, Bear Bear etc.,) I can't help but think about where I would even fit in in the XC world. The last time I raced XC, I raced Sport Class. I THINK that was about 2001 or 2002 at a couple Month of Mud races. I raced a WVMBA Marathon in '05 and registered Expert, but it really didn't matter THAT much since there were really only 2 classes- Open Men and Open Women. They just needed to know what number plate to give me if I did the regular XC race the following day (I didn't).

So since the early 00's I've not done ANY XC. I've raced many, many miles for many, many hours and for all I know in the world of XC racing I should STILL be in Sport Class!!! I do appreciate XC for the reason that you can more often compete against folks your own age, and ability. And you can gauge your progress. Unless your a sand bagger.

Endurance racing can be so much different. Most of the time, shmucks like me line up against anyone and everyone who wants to throw down. I've done races with J. Bishop, Chis Eatough, Tinker, Hendershot, Kerkove, Rob. L., Ernesto, etc. And they've pretty much kicked my ass. It IS cool to race with these folks, but it CAN often feel like I'm not so much "racing" them, as I am riding the course while THEY'RE racing. Imagine a Cat 5 Roadie racing in the Tour de France! Sometimes I get in a funk and THAT'S what I feel like.

I know that I can NOT allow myself think like that. When I race, I HAVE to just race MY race. Race it for myself and the love of pushing myself. It can be difficult to gauge progress though and many times I find myself in sort of a "no man's land XC funk". Someday, I'd like to get back into XC racing (Beginner Masters?). For now though, I can't imagine racing anything other than Marathons and Solos. A race isn't a race until my nuts are numb, my ass is raw and there's some dry heaving. Right?? ;)

So funk be gone! Post work dirt time schedule for tomorrow for me and the Dos Niner. That will blow the funk out.

Later.

A Day Of Rest

Little to nothing going on today. The temps have dropped about 20 degrees and things were pretty moist around here today. I thought I was pretty much done with arm/knee warmers and vests for rides, but it looks like it's a good thing I didn't put them away just yet.

I planned on a road ride tomorrow, but it looks like Wifey and I got approved for our loan (apparently my bank will approve anyone!) and we have a brief meeting with a contractor after work tomorrow to pick out siding colors. I'm happy that soon we'll no longer be the eyesore of our neighborhood. but I'll be more geeked when he's done with the siding and gets to work on our kitchen a bit. We hope to FINALLY get a dishwasher and sadly I may have to give up my vintage stove. I dig the stove, but it's needs too much much restoration. Light fixtures, wiring, thermostat and more. Anyway, it looks like my ride may be reduced to the trainer OR some tempo on the Hell Trail if it stays dry.

Get your Swerve on!... Sometime this week I may be able to share some info and impressions on the new Princeton Tec Swerve tail light. Stay tuned.

Other than that I'm a tad bored. Time to go wash some chamois and lube some chains or something.

Later.

Planet Of Sound Sunday Ride

"this ain't no rock and roll town
this ain't no fuckin' around
this ain't no planet of sound"
- Planet of Sound, The Pixies

Headed out to Scottdale with B-Man today to see my Dad. Typical spring/summer plan. B-Man plays with his cousins and I get some road riding in on some great roads. The weather was once again perfect for riding. Low 70s, sun, and FINALLY hardly any wind.

I've said it a million times before, I LOVE riding out there. There are just so many loops for me to choose from. Plus since I know the roads, I know the bail out areas in case any bad shit goes down with my bike or physically.

Today's loop would be a sweet 40 miler. Most all of it was on two lane back roads, and about 2 miles on "town" roads. I mean hell, Scottdale is NOT exactly a metropolis. Even the roads IN town are only slightly busy. I got NO road "tude" from motorists either, and that is always a bonus.

My legs felt pretty spanky and I enjoyed a nice 2:15 on the road. I continue to just LOVE my Campeon AND my compact crank. The combination of these two things has really brought a new level of enjoyment to my road riding. I always thought my Trek was perfect. But the fit and ride of my Campeon is just SO much better. Combine that with the R700's ability to allow me to take on Western PA's steep inclines without dropping a f*cking nut on every ride and you have the making for some road rides that just ROCK!

I played with my camera's video button today to take some stupid video. Don't ask me why! I'm just a nerd. It's not like I was seeing anything cool. Thanks for letting me be a big ol' nerdy self. Now when I'm stuck in "cubical hell" this week at work I can hit play and get a mental "rub and a tug".

The road that I took this video on is one of my main "pee roads". 0% traffic, and plenty of areas to pee. Sorry, no video footage was available of me peeing. I posted that over on www.2hotforpeeingcyclists.com.

I had just an INCREDIBLE weekend on the bike. A spectacular 20 mile mountain bike ride yesterday and a perfect 40 mile road ride today. THESE are the weekends that you dream about during those cold, hard nipple days of winter. The weekend was a great end to a "recovery week". Now to start thinking about building for the French Creek 6 hour in two weeks.

THIS AIN'T THE PLANET OF SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOUND!!!!

Later.

A Ride In the Sweet Spot

"Jose Jones

told me alone
his story"
- "Crackity Jones", The Pixies

Woke up the a.m. and was geeked that we had yet to get any of the thunders storms the weather doofuss's were calling for. A quick check of the radar showed that I the storms were pretty far off and I should have no problem getting my ride in.

I had it in my mind to road ride and even had the Campeon in the living room ready to go. But as I slammed down some java and a "big-as-your-head" PB&J bagel I watched the 2007 Offenburg World Cup on the Net.

It was all over soon as I started watching. I started getting pretty geeked to get on dirt and there was NO way I was riding the road after watching these PROs race. I'm just in awe of how they take corners. Cornering is something I struggle with a bit. I try to be smooth, but often it just doesn't feels right. I'm sure I'm better than I once was, but I still lack that "hardly touch the brake" style that the PROs and riders like Bad Luck Glen have.

After I ate, digested and made a few deposits at The First National Bank Of Turdville, I lubed up, chamois up and headed to Boyce with the Dos Niner (A.K.A. "Jose Jones") with the plan to get at least 2 hours in of laid back riding in.

It was the titz. The trails were in great shape, the sun was out, my legs felt good and the forest just seemed so ALIVE! You could almost HEAR the flowers and plant life blooming.

I had a freaking blast! Rode for two hours and got 19.5 miles of single track riding in. I was tempted to just keep going, but this IS a recovery week and pushing the bod too much after last week's 13 hour solo would be a recipe for illness.

It was nice and warm and as you can see I was once again pumping out some serious sweat. I must be the SALTIEST person in the world. EVERY warm weather ride has been leaving me looking like a human salt lick.

All in all, a great day in the saddle. The weather looks to be shit this coming week, so I was glad to get a nice ride in the dirt in.

The Dos Niner was great today. The Dos continues to be my favorite bike. Have you ever been doing a ride and experience what I can only describe as finding your "sweet spot" on the bike? Today through a few rooty climbs I just felt "right" on the bike. EVERYTHING just seemed to be working together. I had this a lot at Leesburg, felt it on the Campeon on Thursday evening and then again today on the Dos Niner. I can only hope it sticks around. 'Cause it feels ggggooooooooood!

Time for time with WIfey and some food. Hope you are all having a great weekend. And to Salsa Amigos MG and JM I say- GOOD LUCK! As they roll at Trans Iowa today.

Later.

When Cheeks Meet Leather (Again)

My ass got reacquainted with my road bike tonight for 2 hours and 31 miles of love. I was shocked how good I felt on the bike after having just busted a nut (figuratively speaking) for 11+ hours on Saturday. Yesterday I was REALLY jonzing to ride and was tempted to, but decided that ONE more day of R&R would be better. I'm glad I did, 'cause the legs were nice and spanky tonight and I felt 100% recovered.

Tonight was one of those PERFECT spring road rides. Warm temps, sun, and all the smells of spring in the air. Honeysuckle, fresh cut grass, burgers on the grill, and fresh spread fertilizer. I went on what I THOUGHT was an easier loop, and it sort of was, but it really didn't take ANY time off my loop. I've come to the conclusion that just about EVERY loop I do ends up being about 2 hours in length. I did take my time a bit tonight though and just enjoyed the spring evening on my bike.

I got "Go Lanced" for the 3rd time in 2008 tonight. ACTUALLY I can't say for CERTAIN that the dude said "GO LANCE". The name got a bit garbled. He could have been saying "Go Jörg Jaksche!" for all I know. I also got "hoots" of some sort from two separate cars of teenage boys (my most hated road hazard), one honk (the good kind), one wave from a semi-hot blond woman, and one wave from a little girl on her bike. The road sure can be interesting sometimes.

I'm all registered for the M.A.S.S. 6 Hour Endurance race at French Creek. I hear the course is going to be brutal this year, but that's cool. Should make the 6 hours go a bit quicker. My buddy Rich B. from the Bean's team it helping out with the race. Do him and yourself a favor and if you're racing it PRE-REGISTER!! Putting on these races is NOT the easiest thing in the world, save them and yourself some time on race day and sign up now. I hope my Fox is here for the race, to help smooth out all those rocks, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I had a nice "score" today. I went to the beer store to buy some Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale . While I'm there the woman who works there and some dude start talking about the DFH limited release- Black & Blue. They ask me if I've tried it. When I say I haven't the woman insists that I take a big bottle "on the house". She says she knows from my buying history that I appreciate fine beers and that I'll enjoy it. Good deal! Much appreciated!
I look forward to trying it out this weekend with Wifey. My normal Friday rest night tomorrow and then some miles on the weekend. Sweet!

Later.

Rest & Random Continued

Today will be my 4th and final day off the bike. To tell you the truth I feel great. Legs, ass, hands, etc., All feel fine. Whether I have any mojo in my legs is different story. Not riding is f*cking boring, I'll tell you that much. I've pretty much been doing nothing but working, eating, sleeping, and cruising the Internet for 4 days. Throw in treating myself to a few Stoudt's Pale Ales and you have a yummy, but boring and sort of guilt ridden few days.

Speaking of hands, and how they feel.
I got a box of green goodness in the mail while I was gone...

I can't say enough about what Ergon grips have don for my hands. Last year at The Bakers Dozen I wasn't using Ergon's yet. After the race my hands felt like someone smashed them with a mallet and I had a blister on my palm that looked like a flesh eating bacteria. This year- nothing! My hands were aces! I think I can only come up with ONE thing I don't like about my grips- the shape of the bar end. For 10+ years I used small, straight stubby bars ends. The Ergon's are short in length, but slightly curved. I would prefer to have something a tad more straight. That's my personal pref though. Thanks Ergon!.

That's about it. Back in the saddle for SOMEthing low key tomorrow. Might do some small chain ring road riding. Slow and easy like. I hope.

Check this out. Apparently Arnold Ziffle won Tro Bro Leon.

Snort, Snort.- Nice!

Later.

What If's And Maybe's

"ooo, ooo, what if maybe?

ooo, oooh, what if maybe?
ooo, ooo, what if maybe?"
- "What If's and Maybes", Bromheads Jacket

First let me say I feel kinda cheezy with this post 'cause I read Dicky's blog and he has a similar theme going on pondering race "what if's". So thanks for the inspiration Rich.

Saturday as I rode/walked/puked/cramped/crawled around the race course on my 14th and final lap I told myself that this was the last lap. No regrets. Be done. Be happy with the result. 3 days later I find myself steeped in the "what if's and maybes" of my race.

My big mistake was looking at the final results. I saw that I completed 14 laps in 11:14 and places 6 through 8 had 15 laps but with some significant time gaps ahead of me. Should have I pushed on? What did I f*ck up? Could I have moved up a couple places? How long would #15 have taken me? Given my "state" would it have been dangerous? I mean two of those laps were done while dry heaving clear stomach juice all over my legs. What if? Maybe if?? Grrrr!!

The thing that is the strangest with this racing is how f*cking FAST we (I) forget the pain. I was dry heaving, cramping, bug eyed, and as salty as the rim of a Mad Mex Big Azz Margarita and NOW I sit here wondering if I should have kept going?? What the hell is wrong with me? No, I'm never going to be a "big dog" on the race course, but I KNOW I had the shit to be more competitive that day and f*cked up my hydration/nutrition.

I'm not 100% on how I f*cked up, but I have at least one theory. I was pumping out a TON of sweat. I knew I would. I used my hydration pack filled with varying combinations of Nuun, Zym, or Elixir combined with my "go to" fuel- Universal Carbo Pro Plus mixed to accommodate a 50 oz. bladder. I figured I've done shorter rides with this simplified combo, so I'd use it for the race, suck down some gels and be good to go.

It worked for the calories I needed, but I think that too many carbohydrates were jacking with the osmolality of the drink, taking longer for my body to absorb the much needed water and electrolytes and hydrate my cells properly. Result- dehydration and all the fun shit that comes with it.

In hindsight I should have gone with the Nuun, Zym, Elixir, in the pack and sip my nutrition from the bottle and gels when the course allowed or in the pits. I'm just spit ballin' here, but this is my theory that might help me sleep tonight! HA!

Believe me the irony is NOT lost on me that I've spent the last few month researching sports drinks, but overlooked some key points of hydration combined with calorie intake. I'm so f*cking retarded!! Oh well, there's still MANY more miles to race this season. Enough with the What if's and maybes. Except for THIS ONE! ('cause it ROCKS!).

In better news the Fox F29 is going to be a reality for me soon. Big Al from Bikeman.com ordered it from Fox yesterday, but if Fox doesn't have an 2008 in stock I may have to wait about a month for the 2009 model. I have to thank Bikeman.com 'cause without some help, this purchase just would NOT happen.
The plan is to get my good Reba on the Mamasita, the Fox on my Dos Niner and the currently "on the fritz" Reba fixed and then sold. Anyone want to by a Reba Race? ;)

Finally I leave you with this....

Nothing like a pro photographer catching your son, waiting on his mom while she's in the Porta John. Nice. Real nice.

Later.

'08 Leesburg Bakers Dozen Race Report

Friday a.m. Wifey, B-Man and I loaded up the Soob to the brim with every piece of camp/bike equipment we have and headed to Leesburg for Plum Grove Cycles 2008 Bakers Dozen.

I was pretty excited for this race. It would be my first race of 2008 and I did the race last year and it rocked. Rob and the folks at Plum Grove put on a hell of an event and I was anxious to get back. This time Wifey and B-Man would be coming too. Wifey would be there to help me out in the pits a bit and B-Man was set to throw down in the Bakers Dozen Kid's Race.

When we got down to Leesburg it was a nice, hot 80ish degrees. It felt so damn good! B-Man and I took a little walk and ran into Plum Grove Pete. Pete directed us to a great spot in the Solo Pit area right along the course. Just down from the Start/Finish, and close to, but not in the "smell zone" of a the porta potty. Close to the crapper = good. Close crapper smell = bad.

Wifey and I then set up The Worst Pop Up Tent In The World® and our new 4 person tent. We soon agreed that the tent rocked, but The Worst Pop Up Tent In The World® would be going in the race venue's dumpster when we left! (It did!). After everything was set up, I got a quick pre-ride in, then we headed to our hotel for a night of pizza, grocery shopping and watching Ben Ten Alien Force with B-Man. I SORTA slept, and woke up early to get 2008 on it's way.

In the a.m. we got to our pit to see that Mr. Bob Anderson and his wife Blair were now camped beside us. I was happy to see Bob. Bob is one of the fastest, AND nicest guys you will ever meet at the races. I've had the pleasure of racing with Bob numerous times and Bob's "race attitude" and the way he and his wife run their pit is incredible. It's not too far off of what I try to do, Bob's just way more organized and successful! HA! Anyway, it was nice to be next to them again to feed off the vibe.

The weather was perfect and seemed to be a WEE bit cooler than Friday. It was still warm though, and hydration would be key. With this being early spring, even time in the woods could leave you a bit exposed to the heat of the sun due to the just budding trees. I would use my hydration pack filled with a variety of Nuun, Zym and Elixir, combined with some Carbo Pro and gels to keep calories coming in.

At 11 a.m. the starting line was PACKED with a bout 180+ racers ready to get going. Plum Grove Pete and I tried to get up to at least the middle of the field so as to stay clear of major bottle necks. As with any start the bottle necks still happened, but they could have been worse. Oddly as Pete and I made our way through the mass of racers we were smacked in the face with every Dead Head's favorite "stank mask"- Patchouli Oil! I mean REALLY! Who the f*ck is wearing that stuff during a race??

As we entered the single track Wifey and B-Man were up on top of a big ass rock. B-Man yells "Go Daddy!! Venga! Venga! Venga!" Everyone around me just started cracking up! I was so proud of my little Tour de France watching boy! I'll need to track him down a vintage ONCE mega phone! The site of the long line of racers snaking though the open field single track was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I'm sure there will be some cool pics of it.

The first lap eventually got spread out and by laps 2 or 3 I was shocked at how much time I spent riding alone. I was feeling good. I was taking in fluids, having a gel every lap, and my legs felt strong. I was confident in my nutritional plan, and just kept reminding myself to drink and eat.

I have to admit the want to go faster got the best of me. I found myself having to tell myself to lay off the gas. Through the entire race I never took the Dos Niner (which rocked!) out of my middle ring. I don't doubt that many of the stronger guys big ringed a lot of the course. I had to try to avoid burning out too quick!

Through much of the first 10 laps the only real issue I had was my lower back. Not sure if it was a position thing, or if I was pushing a little too hard of a gear at times. A few Tylenol cleared it up. At least for a while.

About mid way through, Wifey said that I was going back and forth with some guys for 4th through 6th place. Not bad at all I thought. I did begin to notice I was no longer going through bladders like I had been. I had been averaging one bladder every 2 laps. Now after 2 laps I had nearly 3/4 of a bladder left! NO flavor of ANYthing seemed to do the trick. Everything tasted like dog balls (not that I know what dog balls taste like, it's more of a general assumption of the supposed taste of a dog's balls).

After lap 12 I believe, I did a little (OK a LOT) of dry heaving in the pit. My apologies to nearby campers for the sound of my stomach trying to find SOMETHING to project out my mouth. All it found was a little bit of sports drink and some half digested gels. Wifey then helped me get my lights on. Something that is MUCH easier to get done when you haven't been riding for 90 miles. Then I headed out for lap 13. It was a lllllong lap.

The ONLY good part of lap 13 was the fact that I was sporting my PTSB3 for the first time. I was very happy with the way it performed in conjunction with the Apex on my bars. I needed to play around with the light's angles a couple times, but that's to be expected the first time in single track with a light system. I found the beams length was great and it was plenty bright. I was digging the fact that I didn't feel like I had a 2 pound weight on my helmet like my old HID light. I really didn't have to pay attention to anything but riding, which is great. It was also nice to be out and not even have to think about burn times.

I clawed my way back to the pits. My stomach a mess. Heaved up sports drink running down my legs, and eyes and veins bulged out of my head from the dry heaves. I had a seat and now decided that I would do one more lap. One more lap would put me over 100 miles for the day which was another goal. One more lap would do. For lap 14 I alternated between riding, standing along the trail letting riders pass, and craving a giant beer belch. I have to thank Plum Grove Pete and Buddy for stopping to make sure I was OK as they passed me during that lap. My man Fernando T. also made sure I was OK as he passed. Much appreciated.

That easy roll through the team pits up to the finish line was such a good feeling. I rolled across the line. Lap 14 done. And just exhausted and done. There would be no lap 15. Drat! But I did get over 100 miles of single track riding and ended up in 9th place out of 37 Solo Males. At 11:30 I was in 6th, but some other Solos were able to keep in going and knock me back a few places. Congrats to Bob for ripping it up and coming in first with I believe 21 laps. Also congrats to Pete for a great job on his 4th place finish.

I was stoked that my fitness seemed pretty on for this race, but jacked that the nutrition plan that I THOUGHT was on, was clearly OFF! There was no doubt I was badly dehydrated. I must have just been pumping out WAY more than I was taking in for sure. During the race I had one trail side "nature break". It was like pop corn butter, so I knew I was getting dehydrated. After the race, I drank over a 1/2 gallon of water and STILL did not even have the urge to "go" even a little until I woke up in the a.m.. And that was like tying to get water from a rock. Not to mention you could see every vein in my forehead, making me look a tad more like a freak.

The best part of the weekend was seeing how much fun B-Man had. He raced in the kids race and had great time. When I came into the pit after his race he could not stop talking about it. It was a blast to see him when I came in the pits. Every time I left the pits he would yell "go daddy! I love you!" If that couldn't keep me goin' nothing would!

On top of that, all of his climbing on the rocks has renewed his interest in going to the climbing wall at REI. It was awesome to see him enjoying being outside, climbing, riding and excited to be sleeping in a tent. Wifey was tops too. I never had to fill a bottle or bladder, and she was the perfect tough but loving Pit Boss. Thanks!

The REAL downer for the weekend was coming home to see an e mail from Rob (the race director) informing everyone that his personal Moots YBB that he had made available for demoing had been stolen by some d*ck head! This truly sucks BIG time. What the hell is wrong with people??? This selfish action has put the future of an outstanding event in MAJOR jeopardy. This dude put on a kick ass race, provided racers, their families, and friends with a great time and THIS is how he got paid back?? Karma has a way with catching up with people. I can only hope that Mr. Moots Stealer suffers. From what I hear there has been an outpouring of support and the 99.99999% of us that aren't Moots stealing d*ck heads can surely help Rob regain his faith in mountain bike racer kind!

Later.

Action pics where used with the kind permission of toofattorace and Gearshift Photography. Thanks!

Back In The 'Hood

Mega short post right now, 'till I get some rest and get in the zone.

The Leesburg Bakers Dozen rocked. Had a blast (mostly). I felt super strong on the bike for most of the race and hung around the 4th/5th/6th position for a good while. Around my 11th or 12th lap my belly started revolting against ANYthing I tried to get down my throat (enter guttural dry heaves AGAIN!!!). My place started plummeting and I ended the day with 14 laps and a 9th place finish out of 37 Solo Males. Upper mid pack rep- INtact baby! But hey, I got to ride about 105 miles on some great trails and B-Man had a BLAST!. More later.

Later.

Get My Back 'Till I Get Back!

Ahhhh, the end to a fast week. This week has been a f*cking blur! All winter I turn the pedals in the Stankment®, work hard, and dream about these weeks. Yet I've been a mess of nerves, organization, and excitement all week. All to pretty much put my body through a sort of hell for 13 hours. And I can't wait! This IS going to be fun. Right? Of course! Yet I still feel like one of those freaky businessmen that you read about that are real uptight, suit and tie guys by day, but at night belong to some sort of secret sex club that involves diapers, spankings, nipple clamps and lots of hot wax. Well, it's SORT of like that. Except with chap ass, leg cramps, dirt, and two big ass 29" wheels of Salsa love. (I'm gonna get SOOO many hits from perves!)

Wifey and the B-Man are coming with me. Wifey is gonna help in the pits, and B-Man is set to throw down in the kid's race. Having the family along will be great, but it does add an element of "bringing everything but the kitchen sink". Last year I did this race out of the back of my car. This year I will have a big ass tent, pop up and The Red Headed League as my pit crew. Might be overkill just to ride my bike, but it will be sweet to see them every few laps or so.

I picked this up for Wifey today...

If you can't tell, it's a Princeton Tec Fuel head lamp. I was at Ricardo's picking up some 'pane and I couldn't pass it up. My sponsor whoring even got ME to buy one. Now Wifey can work the pits at night and more importantly the porta johns "hands free" for 50 hours plus!

So for now that's all I got. Heading to Leesburg with in the a.m.. If you're racing this weekend, which it seems a TON of folks are- Good luck and be safe!

Until Sunday sometime. Watch my back and have a great weekend.

Later.

Low Key, Falling Down & Wifey Approved Lust

Not much to talk about today. After work was some more organizing and making some more control adjustments to the Dos Niner. Getting the brake levers set the way I want. I had them one way, opted for another and now went back to my original. Full circle like.

Mixed up some serious pasta stir fry. Whole wheat pasta, mushrooms marinated in red wine vinegar, garlic, onion, red/green peppers, EVOO, red pepper flakes/pepper/kosher salt. Then I sat it aside and hung with B-Man till Wifey got home from getting her Gym on. Once she got home I hopped on the Booger for 30 minutes to spin the legs. After than and a shower I FINALLYI got to fill my face with my pasta/veggies and ALMOST finish the last 20 minutes of HBO's John Adams (Part I). Excellent so far. Once I got past Harvey Pekar as John Adams. I think HBO does the BEST period pieces.

Gotta love a Wednesday bike race. That being today's Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen (I don't even know if I SPELLED that right let alone try to pronounce the f*cker!!) Anyway, I can't believe that Boonen has enough energy left in him to compete just few days after Paris-Roubaix! And he ALMOST won!

Boonen thought he won. Lots of folks must have thought he looked like a D-Bag raising his arms in victory just has Cavendish snuck under to nip the line?

But I'm sure a ton of folks thought CAVENDISH looked like a D-Bag falling on the stage?? I bet you he made a mental note to NEVER wear cleats on the podium again! Video is HERE if you like to watch people falling down.

Got the freaking green light from Wifey today on getting a Fox F29 if I decide I want one. (I just peed my pants a little bit). I found out today that Bikeman.com is now carrying Fox Racing Shox on line (again with the peeing) so that means I can more easily use the "lovin'" they give me to acquire said pants pee worthy fork. Joy!

Time to go tinker with my lights and then get some sleep.

9:30 EDIT: I just woke every dog in the neighborhood up as I rode my Dos Niner with it's loud as Hope hubs through the alleys. SB3 & Apex piercing through windows. I'm officially the most hated man in the neighborhood. It was hit or miss before because of my house being in disrepair, but now it's OFFICIAL baby!

Later.

Second Chances

Tonight I had a great ride in the dirt. Post work at Boyce with the Mamasita. The trails were primo. Dry and/or tacky. A couple muddy areas, but overall just fantastic! I got a nice 1:45 of riding in covering about 14.5 miles.

One of the things I love most about mountain biking opposed to other types of cycling is the chances you get to redeem yourself each ride or IMPROVE yourself in the skills department. I've been a little rusty this spring. Too much time on the road and not enough dirt. But each ride I get more of my "feel" for the trail back.

There is one short little rocky climb up near the slag pile at Boyce that I've done HUNDREDS of times! Twice this year including tonight I let my eyes look where I did NOT want to be. Lost momentum and spun out. (BOOOO!) BUT I made sure I included that climb on a second loop. This time... Bingo! Just like old times.

Another example- Remember a couple weeks ago when I bit hard on new log pile and hyperextended my thumb a bit? Yeah, I've dismounted that log pile since then. I dismounted once tonight, but it was gnawing at me that I did. Soooo. I also included that trail on my next loop. The next time I nailed it, no problem! See what I mean? I love that feeling!

On the downside, it looks like the Mamasita's Reba is going to need a "third chance"! It just had new seals put in recently (I should say "complete seals", since the original was shipped minus one part) and the lock out fixed. Tonight I didn't feel like I was getting full travel, then after I got off the dirt and attempted to put the lock-out on for the pavement back to the Soob- nothing! Then I look down and see oil on the crown and leg of the fork. Grrrrrr!

My Dos Niner's '06 Reba is great. No major problems. The Mamasita's Reba Race has been plagued with problems. Luckily the Mamasita is the back up to the Dos Niner for Leesburg, and I'm getting some travel out of it, so I'm gonna avoid the stress of having it fixed until after the race. But I have to say, my patience with it is wearing thin.

But hey, you ride, shit breaks. It will be taken care of in do time. I'm not going to let an equipment issue put a damper on a great spring ride on single track. I'm just gonna look at the bright side- it wasn't on the Dos Niner and I know that Master Tom will get the Reba going again in the future. OR help me get a Fox put on if I can sneak that one under Wifey's radar! ;)

Came home to find some different flavors of Salsa on the porch. Always a bonus to get a sweet ride in and then find a box full of spicy shwag on your porch. The Big Nacho at Salsa HQ sent out a couple banners for my pit and some other goodies. Muchos gracias.

Time for some rest. Low key saddle time tomorrow in one form or another. Might be some time on the "hell trail", er, I mean rail trail.

Later.

Slowly Coming Together

1 work day down and 3 more days until I head to my first race of the year and 4 more days until I can FINALLY get this side show that is my attempts at racing back on the road. I am not a fan of race weeks. I have so much organizing to do that even when I do get the chance to ride I don't enjoy it as much. I'm going to TRY to change that this week but I'm not counting on it. I'll relax when my pit is set up and I'm out pre riding the course. Then everything seems to come together.

Spent much of tonight getting some stuff together so I don't have to worry about it as the week goes on. Organizing and making lists of all the shit I need is NOT my favorite part of this sort of racing. I hate the fact that I can look at a bin full of water bottles and feel like I might not have enough. I mean WTF? I only use one about every two laps for nutrition and my hydration pack for my, well- HYDRATION! When in doubt, pack it!

The good thing about organizing and packing thing is that by the time the race comes the riding part seems easy. At least for the first few hours! ;)

Did some testing on the Switchback 3 batteries this past week. Both got at least 6 hours of burn time. May have gone longer, but I got tired of wait around for them to drain. So I pulled the plug at 6 hours. So that's 12+ hours of burn time between 2 batteries. For the Bakers Dozen I'll only need about 4 or 5 hours, so one battery will suffice. Gonna try to get out later in the week to get the position dialed in. Racing will be the big test though.

Can SOMEONE tell me what Leif Hoste and Tom Boonen are doing in this picture?
Pissing off a pier or comparing the size of their BIG chain rings?

I'm going with pissing onto the beach. VERY Euro.

Lastly check out this video montage of Paris-Roubaix circa 2007.
VERY well done. When you get to the scene that I took the screen shot of,
check the dudes arms! I don't know how he even kept his hands on the bars!

Later.

Cobbles, Boogers & Cake

Pretty low key Sunday. I spent the a.m. first cruising the Net looking for live video of Paris/Roubaix. There was none to be had, since I think Cycling.TV strong arms all the live feeds into blacking the coverage out in the U.S. in an attempt to force folks to buy what would otherwise be free. Ah capitalism.

It was a great race though. When it came down to Boonen, Cancellara and Ballan I was sort of geeked. I dig Cancellara and would have liked to see him get the win, but I like Boonen too, so I figured ONE of those two was most likely gonna pull it off. In the end, Boonen just put the Moose Knuckle to wall and nailed it.

Photo of Boonen & M. Knuckle from www.sportwereld.be

The photo below that I horked from sportwereld.be is one of my fave photos that I've seen from the 2008 PR. It's of Rabobank's Rick Flens. He looks like he has shell shock. A classic pic.

Enough of the pro roadies. The weather dropped down into the 40s from yesterday's 60's and mid week's 70's. Damn! Since I have race in less than a week and I'm a snot rocket away from reaching my week's goals, I decided that an hour of sweating on Booger in the Stankment® would suffice.

I put '08 Flanders on the DVD, The Wombat's "Black Sessions" on iPodious and sweat out some of last night homemade guacamole/Guiltless Gourmet binge. It wasn't a "dream day" in the saddle or anything, but it was good enough to burn a few calories and zone out for an hour while I thought about next Saturday's race.

Later in the day we headed up to Papa-O's. It's his B-Day Tuesday, so we celebrated tonight. I avoided the cake! The key is not to taste it. If I taste it, I'm done. I don't even like cake, but I think they put some kind of drug in the icing that just makes you want to stick your head in a vat of it and go to town. Birthday wishes given, fun had, and back home.

Now I'm just gonna hang out, watch some TV with B-Man and Wifey and eat some dinner.

Later.

A Ride, Classics, Bitching & More

One week 'till race time (JOY!) this time next week I hope to be ballz deep in lap 5 or 6 of my first race of 2008. Today though, it was all about getting some road time for the meat sticks. I hit my regular road loop but added in a couple of extra climbs and a few extra roads to bring the mileage up closer to 40 miles and the time up around 2:30 on the bike. Not going to be rocking anyone's world with bike time like that, but given the loop, the climbs, the pace and the fact I have a race next week, it will do.

Today the freaking wind was rocking it big time again. This is the most wind I remember dealing with in a long time. Why is it that it's always on the busiest roads that a bitch slap cross wind seems to come up?? Like it's not hard enough to ride in traffic without 20 to 30 mph cross wind gusts!!

Tomorrow is Paris-Roubaix. This is my second favorite road race. For some reason Flanders remains my fave, not sure why, just is. But having said that Paris-Roubaix is the BALLZZZZZZ! You have to love a road race that in the past has had folks coming up with full suspension and rear dampers to try to ease the pain of the cobbles. Add in some shitty northern European weather and you have a classic Classic.

I appreciate the racer that excels in a race like Paris-Roubaix. The "hard men" of the sport. Not the guys that you'll see "dancing on the pedals" during a long ass stage race mountain climb, but guys that will bite the head off a muddy, Belgian rooster, wash it down with a Duvel, kick the cobbles in the junk and piss in showers of the the Roubaix Velodrome to seal the deal.

In the end I believe my appreciation of the Spring Classics comes from being a mountain biker that rides the road to train and stay fit. I see the Classics as sort of like mountain bike races. The guys that do well and kick ass every year are the sort of folks that I imagine lining up with for a 12 or 24 solo. Guys that like the pain, like to suffer, and feed off of it. Blood? Vomit on the top tube? Pain? F*ckin' A!! It's PART of the racing. If you want to bitch and complain stay away from the Spring Classics, stay away from endurance events. It's the HARD that makes it fun.

I remember doing the 24 Hours of Snowshoe. The course was a bitch. Rocks, mud and rain EVERY year. I never did it Solo, but on teams. I could not BELIEVE the folks that just BITCHED non stop about the course, about the rocks, about the mud. WTF?? It' a mountain bike race in the mountains of West Virginia. There's going to be rocks. There's gong to be mud. After all Snowshoe is like a freaking rain forest! I suffered. I hated parts of it. I was unhappy that it was muddy and wet. But bitching and crying does nothing but make you look like a freaking puss. Man up and do your lap. You want to bitch? Bitch to yourself, or to your wife on the way home. Your teammates or your pit crew will think much more of you if you just keep it the f*ck inside!

I love many of the Classics for the same reason I love Endurance racing. Much of the time it's not about "winning" it's about FINISHING!! Can you do it? Many a Pro STARTS Paris-Roubaix, BUT do they FINISH the race??? I line up with some fast ass racers. Get my ass kicked, but in the end, If I finish, If I drive home knowing I did whatever my 36 year old body and marginally talented self could do- Then it was a success.

Remember, If it was easy, EVERYONE would do it. And that would be sort of lame. Right?

So good luck to Pros racing P-R tomorrow, good luck to the folks hoping to throw down at the first M.A.S.S. XC race etc., etc., Weather here looks to be coming off the cold, wet underside of the Witch's Teet. So I'm not planning on anything too major.

I will be topping off my Saturday with some fine bevie and some White Trash Mexicana. Hope you enjoy yours.

Later.

Good Enough & More Ballz

Not a great Friday, but good enough! Everything worked out with my job stuff, so that's good I guess. My position is basically unchanged and I can just "keep on keepin' on". Some folks did lose their jobs or got reassigned to other offices and that sucks. Sooner or later I need to make a career switch though. I just need to find something I'm passionate about (I think we know what that is) and want to do for another 30+ years.

I was busy enough to make the day go fast, and in between proofs I had time to f*ck off looking at bike blogs and web sites. The Head Pepper (Butcher!) has some signage shipping our from Salsa HQ today for me to put up in my pits. That's cool. Let people know- here's the pit of a slow ass dude, on a fast ass bike! ;)

No work out tonight. Just relaxing with a brew or two, hanging with B-Man and thinking about the fact that this time next week I'll be in Leesburg ready to kickoff my 2008 season. I can't wait! I'm anxious to see how I feel, to see some old friends, and to meet up with some new ones I've made via the blog and e mails.
I can't believe race season is here already! Geeked, but still finding it hard to believe.

Nights like this when I think about racing, what my goals for the race are, and all of that. I find myself thinking that there were 41 folks stupid enough to sign up for 13 hours of Solo fun. That's a lot of freaking Solos. I work for top ten, hope for top 20m and pray for top 5. Other than that, it's just me riding my bike for a long time. And brother THAT is the shit.

Tomorrow will bring some miles on the road, and Sunday looks to be crap for riding, so I want to have a good one Saturday. I also need to get my tent's seams sealed and slack as much as I can watching pilfered Spring Classic video and drinking beer.

Of course this is Meat Ball Friday. Ballz are done, and my pasta is done. Time to go eat.

Later.

Easy Meat & A Reasonbly Good Buy

Had a day home from work today (cough, cough, sneeze, nose blow). Took the Soobie up the street for some work. I had a feeling I was going to need tires since I'm HORRIBLE about getting them rotated, and sure enough I did. But my mechanic got me a hook up on some tires, and got the Soob all ready for this spring/summer's race travels in the Mid Atlantic.

I heard from theeee BIG CHEESE today for the first time ever. The big cheese being Davis Carver the owner of Bikeman.com (my team) and Carver Bikes. A rep from CamelBak took notice to my posts on Bikeman.com (See HERE or HERE) about electrolyte tabs, noticed that I've yet to give any input on their Elixir product, and contacted Davis to get my contact info. Davis contacted me so I could be in touch with C-Bak's rep so as to get some product samples including their new orange flavored, caffeinated Elixir called "Alert".

I look forward to testing these out and the only reason I haven't already is because I've been too damn cheep to buy any! The best part of the e mail from Davis was him saying that he digs my articles and checks them out. I'm a sucker for good feedback! Thanks Davis!

So far (if you're keeping score) I dig the taste of the Zym Lemon/Lime the most, but Lemon/Lime and Orange/Ginger Nuun are the front runner because they're slightly better to put in a hydration pack. Zym Catapult edges out Nuun Kona Kola in the caffeinated tabs. We shall see. I just know it is/was fun comparing all these drinks. I've never done a test like this and it's been great to work with the companies themselves to get product info. I've also noticed that working with folks in the outdoor industry is just ballz out great. I hope one day that I can shed my McCubical and join them. I thank them for answering my questions and hooking me up with samples.

Once I finally picked up the Soob I was able to chamois up and get out on the road. The weather was SSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOO freaking great. 67 or so, sunny and with hardly any wind. And what wind there was was soooo much more bearable being that it wasn't cold as hell making my nipples like diamonds and my bones ache!!!

Since I got a slightly later start then I wanted I opted for my normal 35 mile loop, but up the intensity. I stood on more climbs, and often opted for "the harder gear" to make up for the lack of time. The legs felt spankier than a bachelor party stripper working for tips. I was pretty geeked about feeling this good, especially with my first race 9 days away! F*cking-A! All this spankiness still might only earn me mid pack, but WTF? Better than feeling like shit and envisioning myself coming in last!

So that's a Thursday playing hooky. I did check in at work today and found out some production folks got laid off today. My thoughts are with them 'cause that would just blow. AND my thoughts are with ME and that I don't walk into work tomorrow to see HR standing at my desk. ESPECIALLY since I bailed on an interview for an industry position this week, feeling that I had too much of my life (15+ years) invested in THIS job (and a "conflict of bike related interest") right now to consider moving. But check in tomorrow I might be posting my resume!!!

Time for some dinner, some liquid refreshment, and then some B-Man time.

"it may all end tomorrow
or, it could go on forever
(in which case: I'm doomed)
it could go on forever...
(in which case: I'm doomed)"
- "Piccadilly Palare", Morrissey

Later.

Rest, M. Knuckles & Lunch Meat

Nothing too exciting on tap for tonight. I was gonna stay off the bike completely but then when I got home I decided to spin my legs for 30 minutes on the trainer while I listened to some of the new Tapes 'N Tapes on iPodious. I just needed to do something so as not to feel like a total slug. I know, rest days are meant for rest, but I don't think 30 minutes of spinning is exactly a "work out".

The Soob needs some work done on it tomorrow in the form of tire rotation, oil change, and a "rubbing" noise that that needs investigated, so I'm taking a day off from work to get that sh*t done. I hope they can get it done ASAP so as for me to hit the road for a couple/few hours. I also hope I don't have to sell a kidney to have said "rubbing" noise repaired.

I was futzing around on the Internet today and I stumble upon some funny bits involving Tom "The Belgian Moose Knuckle" Boonen. I guess he represents a lunch meat company called Fresty Fresh. That sort of old news. But on the Fresty Fresh web site there are these ridiculous pic galleries of a Fresty Fresh in store promotion where they body paint two women up in a Fresty Fresh Tom Boonen "kit". It's so absurd.

This is my favorite pic (which I combined with some FF packaging)...

Why is this "ritzy looking dame" (who could be the Queen of Belgium for all I know) copping a feel on one of the ladies??? Odd. Very odd. Funny! But odd.

I am completely blocking out the fact that the past two days have been 70 degrees and some weather folks are calling for 40s and rain/snow within the week. Of course others are calling for 50 and cloudy. So I guess it's just another example of how weather people just guess at shit when it's anything beyond 12 hours. Remember the 15 day forecast? Yeah, right. You know what I say? I say May 3rd it's gonna be partly cloudy, a chance of rain with temps in the mid 50s to high 70s. There. I'M a weather man. I just need a suit, and a feecus eating grin.

Oh well, time to watch some video of Flanders that I obtained via the Internet from what looks to be Belgian TV.

Later.

That Felt Gooooood...

"That my friend is how babies are made"
-Chazz Michael Michaels

OK, tonight's ride wasn't all that, but it WAS friggin' boss. Perfect weather, dry trails, and my Dos Niner betweenst my legs. I have to say I'm pretty certain that the Dos Niner is my favorite bike. For me the geometry and handling is just spot on. I'm starting to think that the El Mariachi would make a good addition to the family someday, since it shares the same geometry. It also helps that my Dos Niner sports a better set of wheels in the form of Bontrager Mustang hoops laced to Hope Pro II hubs. MUCH snappier and lighter. At least it makes me FEEL faster if not go faster.

I've been riding with my hydration pack to ready my back for using it during the coming race season. Not a fan of the pack, but during a race that seems the only way I can be assured that I'm taking in enough liquids. Tonight I used the new Orange Ginger Nuun in the pack. I was unsure of it, but it tasted damn good. When I got home I checked the pack for stickiness and there was nothing. Rinsed it out and now it's good to go. Even with some quality refreshments, I still hated wearing the pack.

In the end I got two hours of steady tempo riding in, doing two 8.25 mile loops of tighter than a bugs ass single track. Damn did it feel good.

Some Roadie Tid-Bitz- You have to check out Team Slipstream-Chipotle rider Mike "Meat Ball" Friendman's blog for a cool recap of his recent time in Belgium racing the Classics.

Then I finally found some video of Angel Gomez's SICK crash...

Grosse chute tour des flandres 2008
Uploaded by maple16

Just WHAT the hell was he doing? It was like he was TRYING to crash! How could he not see a 12" curb with a Belgian cop in front of it??? Oh well, I hope he heals up. Hat to see anyone go down like that. Yeye, yeye, yeye, yeye, yeye!!

Later.

Resting And Preparing

Nothing going on tonight. It was a rest night of hanging with B-Man, cooking some grub, laundry, and making a few more adjustments to the bikes. I'm also preparing for the spring allergies that I can feel creeping up on me. Today's post nasal drip is tomorrow's full blown allergy snot fest. Oh well, it means spring is here so I can't bitch too much.

I plan to get the Dos Niner out on some dirt tomorrow. Can't wait! Trails should be in pretty good shape after today's nice warm temps and ready for some two wheeled, pedal powered, chain driven love making. Welcome spring! Even if you are about to bring me a nice dose of snot.

This is what I'm gonna have out in front of me
when I'm on the road from now on....

WTF????

Later.

Give Me The Hair Of The Dog!!!

I had a pretty sweet Saturday. A good, but muddy ride on the Mamasita, a great night out with Wifey, and a semi restful nights sleep. That's a pretty good day in my book. My Sunday was pretty damn good too. Not like Saturday, but good.

Today called for road time on the Campeon out around my Dad's. I had a nice loop planned and I was pretty geeked that WPA seemed to finally be getting some spring like temps and a few peeks of sunshine! I was able to ride in shorts and arm warmers (sweet!)

Legs felt good from the start. There's something about shedding the knee warmers and tights that just makes you feel good mentally and feel faster, even though you're really not. I felt good on the climbs and was having a great ride. At mile 40 I did have a bit of bad luck when I got bit by a f*cking dog!!

I came up on a dude walking on a farm road. I see he's holding a leash. Where's the dog? Oh there it is, looks like a Golden Retriever or some such dog taking a piss on the side of the road. I slow down to a near stop, the dog barks, comes over and before I could get a word out of my mouth the dog snaps at my leg. I don't think he punctured but he got a good teeth scraping on my leg. Then the dog runs to the dude. I yell back and ask the dude if the dog has all his shots. He says he does. I say "cause you know it just BIT ME!!" Dude just says "son of a gun". Great. "Mr. Laid back old man dog owner".

In umpteen years of riding I've had my share of close calls with dogs. But this is the first bite. I'm not a dog fan. I don't hate them or anything, I really dig a lot of dogs. I just wish that if folks are gonna walk their dogs or have big ass dogs they would keep them on a leash. So I guess it's more a "people problem" than a "dog problem". Oh well, could have been worse. It could have been a bear. OR a friggin' SNAKE!

I finished up the ride with 46.5 miles and 2:45 in the saddle. The last 6.5 miles sort of sucked though. I couldn't stop looking at the bite and wondering what toxins were coursing through my veins. And I don't buy that "a dog's mouth is cleaner than a humans mouth" crap! When was the last time you licked a turd, a dogs ass, or your own balls?? On second thought PLEASE do NOT answerer that!!! I BEG YOU!

Once home I had the pleasure of watching the sort of lame, but better than nothing, coverage of the Tour of Flanders. Damn what a great freaking race. Rain, cool temps, hail, tough climbs, Not to mention I was able to kick back with a goblet of fine beverage in my rumpus room.

Take away the friggin' dog bite and Sunday was pretty damn fine too. Nice road ride, a great bike race to watch, a fine beverage and a soon to be cooked kick ass dinner of pasta and turkey sausage. Mmmmm.

Later.