Better?

I've had better. 31.5 on the road. 2.0 hours and felt great, but sometimes life is a pain in the ass

Later.

Sunday A.M. Edit: My plan for Saturday was a trip to Big Bear to pre ride the 24 hour course. BUT the weather man had other ideas. Storm moved through the area over night and throughout the morning. I got on line to check the weather down in WV (about 1:30 away from here) and there were big blips of red/yellow radar goo all over the Morgantown area. Driving 1:30 to ride in heavy thunderstorms or what the storms left behind was not my idea of a fun Saturday so the trip was aborted. Drat.

I spent the morning hanging with B-Man and watching cartoons. Then Wifey came home from the gym and we put the Thule cargo box for the Soob. Glad to get that job done and out of the way. It should really help free up some room during race travels.

The rains started to let up as the morning went on, so a road ride was looking like a real possibility. Not my first choice but a good second for sure. By the time I got my bottles ready, ass chamoised and the bike prepped the sun was peeping out. Nice.

Temps were warmish and humid. Just the way I like it. My legs felt good and I was happy to salvage some ride time out of a day that was sort of shot to hell. The rest of the day was spent playing outside with B-Man and looking forward to hanging out with Wifey. BUT then as Wifey, B-Man and I were hanging out on the front porch she became a tad ill. Not the first time that I've made a woman sick, and surely not the last. Next thing you know she's in bed and I'm eating a big batch of Mexican by myself and trying to keep B-Man happy.

NOT they way I saw Saturday night shaping up, and I was less than thrilled. But Wifey bounced back this morning, so that's good. The weather for Sunday looks good, but family stuff prevents me from going to Big Bear, so it looks like more time on the road. Frig.

I've had better Saturdays, I've had better rides, but 2 hours on the road is better than nothing. Right?

Later.

Vaseline, Foxes and Ballz

The things I say, that I wish I hadn't,
that I can blame cycling for....

There was a woman in the lunch room who was trying to get a ring off her swollen finger. Apparently she hurt her hand over the weekend and the swelling jacked her ring finger up. Another woman was helping her by using some soapy water to try to get the ring to slide off. As I'm filling my water bottle up I say "I have some Vaseline if you think that might help it". "No thanks" they reply. Then our I.T. guy who was eating lunch says "why do you have Vaseline at work??" To which I say "Well, it's not at my desk or anything, it's out in my car!". "OK, why the hell do you have Vaseline in your car???" At this time I regretted mentioning the friggin' lube at all, I muttered something about never knowing when you might need lubrication and scurried like a rat out of the lunch room.

There was no way I was getting into how in a pinch I sometimes used Vaseline as chamois lube. I mean I really doubt the dude wanted to hear about me lubing up my ass while he was eating his lunch and I'm 100% certain that those two women did not want hear that I just offered up some of my personal taint lube to put on her finger.

In my defense I was just trying to help. Once again I put my foot in my mouth. This time I'm blaming cycling and my love of chap ass inducing long rides on this oral/podiatrical mistake. (Yeah, thats' right, I made up the work "podiatrical".

Here's some pics of the Mexican Creamsicle
That IS my Dos Niner Version 2.0...

Doesn't look like my Big Bear recon is going to happen tomorrow. Severe storms are expected. Not worth the drive. I don't know if I'll even be able to squeeze in a road ride. DRAT! Oh well, I guess there will enough time next week to learn the "good lines" on the course.

Of course you know this is/was Turkey Ball Friday. Ballz mixed, baked, eaten etc. Yum-ephing-ohhhhh. Not sure what it is about the ballz, but I can almost guarantee I'll be up at about 4 a.m. to cut some weight. Yep, for some reason the ballz cause a nocturnal dump. Weird.

Went to the chiropractor today. Back has been feeling 99.5%. Not sure whether I'll keep going or not. I dig what the c-practor can do, but I always walk out feeling like I just got suckered into buying something off of the Home Shopping Network or an infomercial. I'm always freaked out by how hard they work at "selling" you the treatment. I just want to say "dude, I buy it!! Just fix my back man!". We'll see if I go back.

My neighbors just lit up a chimania on their deck. It smells like my house is on fire and I can hardly breath. Time to stop. Drop, and Roll on out of here. Holy crap!!!!

Later.

Nothing Like It

I finally got my aging, sagging, buns back on the mountain bike tonight. It was just PERFECT there really is nothing like a ride in the woods. The road has it's moments, but 2 hours of weaving through the trees on tight ass single track is just the titz. PERIOD!

I was on the Mamasita tonight for the first time in a LONG time. It was sporting the Dos Niner's old Reba fork. I sort of miss the black Reba's looks, but the silver 06 Reba has always performed better for me and tonight was no exception. The last time I was on a mountain bike was in the mud and rocks of French Creek for nearly 6 hours. Riding the dry single track of Boyce seemed like a piece of cake.

Tonight was also another one of those rides that I could see and feel the progression of my '08 fitness. Call it being "in the zone" or finding your "sweet spot" or whatever you want, but you probably know what I'm talking about. An obstacle seems a little easier, a climb seems a little shorter, your pace a little faster, etc., etc., It's such a great feeling. I'm not saying I'm AM faster or getting better, just that the work on the road and some early season races seems to be paying off with a nice feel for the bike/trail. And it feels ggggooood.

The back was pretty much 100% all day today. Figures I have a 9 a.m. appointment with the Chiropractor and I'm feeling good. Oh well, I'm sure the back could use some work. I'm not gonna bitch too much about NOT having pain!

Picked the Dos Niner up from Master Tom tonight. The Fox looks and feels amazing on the Dos Niner. I'm stoked to FINALLY have it all done. Hope to throw up some pics tomorrow. I had a late night tonight with no time for bike porn. Always nice to eat dinner at 9:00 p.m.

What Would Jens Do???

Friggin' Win Stage 18 of the Giro!
I guess that mountain TT didn't take THAT much out of him.

Later.

Motion Suggests

The wheels that are in motion suggest that the time is drawing near for my first Solo 24 of the year. Just a little over a week until my Spicy 29" wheels hit WVDirt at the 24 Hours of Big Bear. This will be my 6th 24 Solo effort in now what is year four of my lackluster endurance racing career. I still get sort of giddy thinking about it. The SICK thing is I have NO IDEA WHY!!!

The current list of Solos for Big Bear include Plum Grove Bob A., Tinker, Rob L., Sologoat, Cha-Cha Steve S., and a dude that once mountain biked with the President, amongst others. It's gonna be epic just to get mid pack. BUT I have my goals, and a plan to have fun for a change. Yeah, I'm gonna suffer, cry, and as we all know too well probably vomit all over my top tube. That's all a given. But I'm also going to allow myself the time to make sure I'm prepared to get out for another lap. Too often my adrenaline is pumping, I'm geeked to get out and get another lap in and I realize- "Shit! I forgot to eat" or "Shit! I forgot to get a new bladder!"

You read all that stuff about Chris Eatough and his "Formula-1 like pit stops". I'm here to say I'm bringing mine down to (or keeping mine at) the Go-Kart level. I'm tired of pumping out 8 laps and then crawling like a half dead, molested dog pulling 3 hour laps until Noon Sunday. I feel that my pacing is off for these events. With some work I can do better overall and get the most out of my Solo experience. If my belly and bod say rest for 10 or 20 minute and absorb some fluids and nutrition, then damn it, that's what I'm going to do!

The goal is to place well of course. It IS a race and I have some kick ass sponsor that help me in my attempts to that. But I also to make sure I do things right. To push myself and improve as a racer. I've said it a million time here- if placing was the only thing I raced for, I would have given up long ago. What exactly I am racing for, I continue to search for. Is it the challenge? The satisfaction? The pain? Who knows? I'm sure it's a combo of all that shit. I'm more excited for this race than I've been for a race in a long time. Plus, I need to keep racing so I can keep writing this digital fish wrap. I mean I can only write about Turkey Ballz for so long!

_______________________________________________________

The Fox F29 is now on the Dos Niner. Tom reports that the transformation went smoothly and I'll be picking up the Dos tomorrow after a ride at Boyce on the Mamasita. Anxious to see it and to get my air pressure all set up for a planned Big Bear recon trip on Saturday (if the storms hold off).

_______________________________________________________

I finally pulled the trigger on a cargo box for the Soob. Went with a small Thule box to free up some room for the B-Man and his bike when we go to these events. When we went to Leesburg, we were just packed in WAYYYY too tight.
I ordered it from a place called ORS Racks Direct. The Thule Sidekick is small enough that it can be shipped UPS so it qualified for free shipping. Other places are charge up to $50 to ship even though it still qualifies for UPS. Hmmm. The Sidekick is not huge, but even if I can stash just the camping gear in it, it should free enough room for my unit (family unit).

_______________________________________________________

I finally got an appointment with the chiropractor on Friday. The back is MUCH better than it was, but I won't be happy until I can get it to 100%. Looking forward to it. As long as they don't try to convince me that seeing a chiropractor can make my teeth whiter and cure hemorrhoids it will be good. I just want some work on my back man!

_______________________________________________________

Is it just me or does Greipel look like George Dub-Ya? Holy crap! Looks like as soon as he crosses the finish line he'll start talking about how the U.S. in an economic slow down NOT a recession!

Spooky. One is PLENTY.

Time for sleep. Later.

Grow Some Corones Already!

You gotta love the comments Enrico Gasparotto made to CyclingNews.com
about The Giro's Stage 16 mountain time trial...

"It is too hard. It is not a normal day. It is impossible.
This stage is not cycling, if it was on a mountain bike then OK.
This is a ski pass, not a road for cycling."
-Enrico Gasparotto

Nice Enrico. Could you sound like more of a puss? I mean really! 145 other riders did the 12.9KM time trial to Plan de Corones and a guy who finished 86th and is 81st on GC is crying about 12.9KM? If the dude was in the top 10 and dropped like a rock because of the TT I could give him at least being upset. But in my opinion the dude just sounded like a big pud. I'm sure it was hard. The whole damn race is hard. If it was easy EVERYONE would do it, and what fun would that be Enrico??

With grades up to 24% it was ONE hell of a climb!

After I read that today I made my mind up that during tonight's ride I would make myself tackle one of the harder climbs available to me. Not the longest, but one of the steepest. I've avoided it all year, because doing it cuts 2 miles and some time off my loop. But tonight I made myself do it for the fist time this year. It's a hell of a nut dropper. The compact crank did take a lot, but not all of the edge off said nut dropping. I'm always amazed at the upper body and core strength it takes to get up a climb like that. Doing the climb is always a test of my fitness. I passed no prob, and as a bonus the other climbs during the next 29 miles seemed pretty tame!

Speaking of core strength my back as at about 97% today. It was a week today I jacked it up. I'm hoping that today was a sign of it getting full on 100% soon.

I finally got my adapter sitch taken care of and the Dos will be getting the Fox put on this week. Seems like I've had the fork for freaking ever and I haven't logged one inch on it! Hope to have it going for some Big Bear recon this weekend.

Time to get ready for bed and wait for the backlash from Enrico Gasparotto supporters!

Later.

R.E.L.A.X.

Pretty tame/lame Memorial Day here. The highlight/low light of the day was going to Home Depot to get a new bathroom sink. There was no ride since today is a rest day (Monday). I felt stupid not riding when the weather was good and I wasn't at work, but the legs needed some time off.

Sort of a lonely day. I hung out with B-Man outside and that was fun, but there were no parties, and no cookouts that I really felt like taking part in. Call it my antisocial behavior, or just me being a dick, I don't know. I just felt like hanging out at home today. Wifey was tired and feeling pretty down mentally, so I just spent the day skulking around the house until the afternoon when I felt it was socially acceptable to drink some Blue Moons. Yes Blue Moon. I KNOW Coors makes it, and Coors along with Bud have done WAY more than their share to bring down America's brewing reputation, BUT as readily available Belgian White Ales go, it's really not bad.

So instead of going to my in-laws for burgers or firing up the grill that I don't own and hanging out with friends, I'm home alone, listening to live Colin Meloy, drinking Blue Moon and making a freaking meatloaf. What's more American than being home alone, depressed, drinking beer, eating meatloaf, listening to sad bastard music?? Nothing baby.

Time to check my meat.

Later.

Product Feedback (Switchback 3)

Since I haven't been riding my bike due to my friggin' back, and have more than few minutes, I thought I'd give some feedback and thoughts on the Princeton Tec Switchback light system I'm been using in 2008 as per Metro's request. I did get some time with the lights at Leesburg, but not nearly as much as I wished due to dehydration and vomit. In the time that time I did have, I have to say I really liked the set up I have going.

I'm using the SB3 on my helmet and a modified (by PT) Apex on my bars. I had the Apex projecting about 3' in front of my wheel and the SB3 to see further down the trail. The combo worked great for me. The Apex provided plenty of light for seeing what was on the trail immediately in front of me, runs for freaking EVER, stayed perfectly strapped in my down tube bottle cage, and it's weight was hardly noticeable compare to the something like a Nite Rider bottle mount. As I said, I had it strapped into my bottle cage, but it can also mount on the top tube. The version of the Apex I was able to get hold of from PT is sort of like a combo of the Apex head lamp and the Yukon Extreme Bike Light.

The PT Apex modified for bike use. This thing an burn
all night and kicks out some nice secondary light.

The Switchback 3 provides some great light. The beam could be a little wider, but the distance was just fine and I found the color of the LED infinitely better than the bright but purple-ish/white HID light. I did need to play around with the angle of the light on my helmet a bit while out on the trail, but that was more from not having had a lot trail time with the lights rather than the lights themselves.

The battery is a little chunky, and not the lightest in the LED world- BUT! And this is a big "but"- it gets over 6 hours of burn time on high, the weight is not that different from an HID battery pack, and it can still fit in my hydration pack no prob. AND it charges in 2 hours!!

The SB3s' headlamp is the biggest of the Switchback series, but it's STILL damn small and STILL weighs less on the noggin than an HID headlamp. No neck issues or helmet issues. It does sit a little higher on the helmet than I'm used to, but I had no problems riding with it. It more just freaks me out to see it that high up on the helmet.

Here's a shot of the head lamp with a AA batter to get an idea of the size.

Another big selling point for me is the locking connectors. Man I used to HATE it when my cord NR sure-loc connectors would come out during a crash. There is also a very positive interface with the connectors. I found the sure-locs on my old HID to be a bit mushy feeling. I also appreciate the big rubber on/off button on top. Very positive. My old HID would turn on and then gradually light up. This one push-HIGH and ready to go.

I know some folks will say that there are brighter or lighter LED lights available, and there are. I looked at other LEDs from NiteRider and the Light & Motion before pursuing the Switchbacks. But Princeton Tec kept coming out the winner. Then I was lucky to get hooked up with PT. And that just plain rocked.

I think many lights and systems are more personal than folks think. Some lights will seem perfect for me, and suck for you. Some people's eyes react differently to various shades of light. I found in doing my late fall/winter research on a new system that there's always a trade off of burn times, charge times, accessories, etc. For a "semi-self supported" Solo racer like myself, it's nice to not have to worry about too many batteries, lights, etc.,

I have one extra battery, and that gives me 12+ hours of light. No need for borrowing from friends or scurrying to charging stations to make it through the night. If you do average night riding, or most of your night racing is one a team where you may only need one to two hours of burn time and time to recharge, then you may be able to bet away with a lighter light like the SB2 or one of the newer LED set ups on the market.

I can't say I won't replace the Apex with a Switchback 1 or 2 in the future, but for now this combo is great. I've also yet to flip my current combo and run the SB3 on the bars/Apex on my helmet. That would keep even less weight off my back and may light up the trail a little more.

Pros- beam length, beam color, locking cord connectors, accessories, burn time, charge time.

Cons- battery a tad bit heavy, helmet mount sits a bit high (personal pref).

Some may say the $350 retail price tag is high. Given the amount of burn time, and the fact that you get a 2 hour charger, a car charger, and all the cords and mounts you need, it doesn't seem all that bad. I thank PT for giving me the opportunity to roll with the SB3 in 08. I can also say that during my time with the light I never once missed my old HID. I hope I'll have more feedback after Big Bear in a couple weeks for sure.

Later.

Two Weeks and One Day

I realized today that it's been 2 weeks and one day since I was last on a mountain bike. Yikes! That's a lot of time off a mountain bike for someone who supposedly attempts to race mountain bikes. Between piss poor weather, a back injury, time restraints, parts issues, etc., it's just been easier to get out on the road to ride my bike. I'm not a huge fan of the road, but it's convenience is second to none when it comes to training and riding. It also helps that this year I've been enjoying road miles even more with my Salsa Campeon.

I loved my Trek 2200 and it served it purpose for 4 years. BUT the fit of the Campeon is SO spot on that it makes putting in miles even more comfortable. Plus it's super motivating to look down to see the blood red Salsa logo looking up at me. I've thanked Jason and Salsa for this frame like 500 times, but here's #501. Thanks!!!

I headed out to Scottdale today to visit with my Dad. As is the norm, B-Man tagged along with a bag full of super heroes, and Speed Racer cars so he and my Dad could play their asses off while I rode for a couple hours.

1 mile in I was feeling some of the effects of yesterday's 4+ hours in the saddle. Both in my legs and in my ass cheeks. The good thing about the road, and riding solo is that I was able to go my own pace until I got the blood flowing and soon enough the meat sticks came around and I had a good ride.

I ended up with 40 miles and 2:25 on the bike. 105 miles and 6:25+ in two days isn't too shabby for someone with a gimp back. Like sex on a Tuesday night, I'll take it and love every minute (or 5 seconds) of it.

Whenever I ride out in Scottdale (where I grew up) it's hard not to have a constant flow of memories, both good and bad. I pass the homes of old friends, dead relatives, and places where I used to play. I see the local public Jr. High School that I used to go to for Gym Class/Shop Class every Friday during 7th/8th grade. I remember the fights I would get into as a result of being the "fat kid" in class. Not great memories, BUT I take some comfort in the fact that many of the kids I fought have had "run ins" with the Police, or let their bodies turn to 35+ year old piles of beaten down friggin mush. I'm Sooooo sorry. HA!

Right out the road from my dad's house is the old public swimming pool that I used to go to as a kid.

Yep, that's the old pool. Where that big pile of dirt in the middle is was the "deep end". The area back by the wall as the area where my family and my child hood neighbors used to hang out. I can clearly remember the frozen Zero Bars at the snack bar, Steve Miller on the PA/radio, and of course the time that someone shit in the pool and they had to fish it out with a freaking net! Classic stuff. Now as you can see it's a dump for slag of some sort. Oh well.

The fact that I've been riding these roads for 15+ years can be so strange. All the memories both good and bad can make for an interesting ride. I love those roads, and I enjoy the memories for a variety of reasons. I enjoy seeing where I once was, what I now am, and thinking about what I might someday be.

Sometimes you need to look at you past to see where you want to be in future. Good thing the roads aren't going anywhere soon, 'cause I still l have a LOT of searching to see what the f*ck I want to be.

_______________________________________________________________

I now take this time to officially
welcome summer to Western PA....

We have FINALLY had some sun in the dark, dank, depressing, anus like region of the U.S. that IS- Western PA. With my time on the road the past couple days, I was able get one hell of a bike geek tan. Can you believe those "guns"?? Holy crap! I'm as ripped as a 15 year old girl except not as hot. EASY!! That's paraphrasing a line from Blades of Glory. I'm not THAT big of a perv. (yet).

I missed ALL coverage of the Giro on Versus today. For some reason it was on in the middle of the afternoon, not the normal 4 or 5 p.m. time. Great. Bull f*cking riding is on ALL night, but one of the biggest grand tour events gets 1 or 2 hours, 1 time in during the middle of a Sunday afternoon. WTF?? Ahhh f*ck it.

Time to finish a brew, watch some TV and hang with Wifey and B-Man.

Later.

Going Longish With My Back

Back felt about 80% today. Too nice not to ride though. Wifey stepped up her massage technique and used some Freeze It on it too. So I figured I'd roll 2 hours on the road and if the back started to loosen up I'd do 4. It did loosen up and I rolled 65 miles in a little over 4 hours. I didn't have the mobility that I would have liked early on that would have made my bod race worthy, but I definitely had enough mojo to get my ride in today.

The day was just pristine. Had some less than desired head wind at times but for the most part it was the titz. I loved seeing the sky pictured below as I climbed today. All I could think about was The Orb song "Little Fluffy Clouds"

I was paid back royally for taking the pic of the little dead "6 snake" below, later in the ride when I saw a VERY alive 5' black snake in the middle of the road. When it saw me it started doing some crazy ass sideways slither. I nearly shit myself. I was so spooked I think all last remaining bits of adrenaline left my body.

I love riding with the cows. I'm starting to get to know many of them. We usually just exchange "hellos" and go about our business. They don't seem to really understand what I'm doing. In the same way I don't understand cud.

Sorry for sort of a lack luster post. Gotz to do some stuff with the fam.

Later.

Best Choices, Ballz & Random (again)

A ride didn't happen today, and I'm cool with that. I had some plumbing issues and needed to run around looking for 75 year old parts that don't exist in 2008. Thus a NEW sink/faucet will be installed in the poop room soon. Oh well.

Today I KNOW I made the right choice not racing. My back just would NOT loosen up today. I tried all my normal stretching, ice, Tylenol, etc. The only thing that made it somewhat OK was some half hearted massaging from Wifey. Harder. Harder! HHHHHARDDDDER!! I need to get to a chiropractor next week for sure.

I worked my ass off today. I did more work being "off" than I do when I work. So much in fact that Wifey suggested I become a "house husband". Sad part is, she's NOT entirely joking. I told her to work on getting promoted and then we'll talk. ;) I did clean some sports drink, vomit, sweat, oil, grease, Power Gel, etc., off the Campeon today. Then I took it for a ride around the block. Oddly (and thankfully) my back does not hurt at all ON the bike. WTF?? I want to get some miles in the next 3 days on the road, and then really hope to have a chiropractor/doctor/witch doctor/priest/witch/wizard/hooker look at my back next week.

For tonight I decided to utilize the ULTIMATE in muscle relaxers.... Yep, good old DFH Indian Brown Ale (AKA "The Best Beer In The World") 7.2% off malty/hoppy goodness from the great state of Delaware. Does anyone else forget that Delaware is actually a state? Sometimes I just think of it as a suburb of Philly.

Side note: I love the cool max Ts that many promoters give out at racers now. They rock. BUT, you can really only wear them when it's REALLY warm out. It got chilly here this evening and the headlights are full on!! Thank God there are no new born babies in the area, or I would have one trying to suckle a "moob". Damn. Can I get some HEAT here???? For Christopher's sake!!!

So after a day of endless house stuff, hanging with B-Man, and crying over not racing, it was time to get my Ballz on. Yep... TURKEY BALL FRIDAY! Hell yeah, mother f*cker (I love getting all gangsta on your asses 'n shit). Could it be that I might be too much of a pasty white bike geek to pull that off??? Yeah, you're right, forget that "gangsta" shit.

I thought more today about why I love the Giro more than the prom queen that is the Tour de France. As I mentioned yesterday, much of it has to do with the Italian love of cycling. To me the French look at the Tour too "black and white". The Tour always turns into this "political" sort of race. Often it seems the riders are competing against the Tour organization as much as they're competing against each other and the race route.

Example: during this year's Giro, Stage 6 was shortened by 33K at the riders requests due to some pretty severe earlier stages. The Giro peeps seemed to comply without much hassle. The Tour de France peeps on the other hand would have been SUPER dicks about it. I could see them saying "shorten it 33K?? F*ck you! NOW we're lengthening it 60K!!! You lycra clad scum!".

It just seems to me that the Giro designs a hard route, but in the end, respects the beauty of the sport too much to sacrifice the riders health and sanity in the same way that the Tour de France folks would. Then again, I'm just a mountain biker, who road rides so as to burn beer calories and not make a complete and utter fool of himself out on the trails. What the f*ck do I know??

Time for my ballz and another beer. Good luck to the folks racing the 4 hour in the suburbs of Philly tomorrow.

Maybe I'm super immature (I know I am),
but this pic is just too much...

I'M SPENT!

Later.

Success! 2nd Guessing, The Giro, & Dreams

Success!

I was able to ride tonight completely pain free!! Hell friggin' yeah!! I planned to ride tonight no matter what. I needed to do something to loosen my back and muscles up. Through the early a.m. the back was how it's sorta been the past 24 hours. Ok when sitting or standing, but the PROCESS of doing either felt stiff and a tad painful. I noticed through the day that getting up and down out of my office chair no longer bothered me. Hmmm, it just might be getting better!

By 5 p.m. I was feeling 94% better and I was DEFINITELY going to ride. I hit my normal 30 mile post work road loop and tried to keep it in the small ring a lot up front to avoid taxing the lower back too much. I knew the first test would be at the top of first gradual climb where the grade would require me to stand. How would my back and core muscles react to the process? It passed with flying colors! I was thrilled!

It took a good 10 miles to stop thinking about the back and just enjoy riding. The sun was FINALLY shining after what has seemed like 20 straight days of rain. Temps were chilly for May, (in the high 50s) but no rain for a change was freaking great!

2nd Guessing...

Of course I went through those moments where I convinced myself that I could race Saturday, but eventually I suppressed those thoughts. I think I could do the race no prob. But what if the traveling takes it's toll on all the progress I made with my back? What if it starts to spasm after I drove 5 hours and spent over $100 in gas to get there? What if I f*ck up my goals for Big Bear by trying to push things too soon? I think it's best just to treat the beginning of this week like it was a rest week and go back to my normal routine 3 weeks out from a Solo 24. And stop 2nd guessing myself.

Giro

I think I may have come to realize that of the grand tours, I like the Giro d'Italia WAY more than the Tour de France. The whole Italian cycling atmosphere just speaks to me way more than that of The Tour. I only wish we could see more of it here in the States.

The Giro will be having some killer mountain stages coming up soon. I really hope to see some of that action. I mean they still had snow on the roads just a few weeks ago! Some of the gradients will be reaching over 20%! CAN YOU IMAGINE??

I've have been enjoying cruising the net, reading cyclingnews.com, Pez, VeloNews, etc., Until Americans tire of televised Ultimate Fighting, Poker, Dancing With The Stars and a billion other stupid "reality" shows I will be destined to READ about the Pros doing the sport that I love. And pilfer what video I can off the Net.

Dreams

Last night I had a dream that I was going to do a CX race with Rich B. I was going to race on a Chili Con Crosso (which I do not own). I pre rode the snowy, muddy course and felt good about it. We prepped for the race in my sister's bed room in the house I grew up in. I was set to leave for the race. But Rich says "Where are you going? The race doesn't start until 3:45!" I say "3:45?? Forget about that! Who came up with that time?? Forget it!" I mean I just went OFF about the 3:45 start time and how my day was ruined. Strange stuff.

I also had a dream that I was all geeked up because The Soiled Chamois was linked on the web site of fem German XC racer Sabine Spitz. I have NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOO idea why I was dreaming that.

I might need to cut back on the late night snacks or something!

Off work tomorrow. I was supposed to be traveling to the race, but I might just sit and yell orders to the guys siding my house. Yeah, that will go over big. On second thought maybe I'll go for a ride!

Later.

Sort of a Sucky Version of Heaven

My back is on the mends and I'm geeked. It's still giving me some trouble, but not the bight a whole through your lip, take your best friend's mother's name in vain want to throw yourself off a train" type trouble I had yesterday. I've been doing some stretching and ice/heat therapy and it seems to be loosening up. The best part was I rode for a whopping 35 minutes pain free today on the trainer! It was like riding for 35 minutes in a sort of sucky version of heaven. Damn glad it's not hell, but I'm mean really. If heaven is me riding my rusted trainer, in a smelly basement... Well I don't know what to think!

I was shocked that I had no pain on the bike. I could have rode longer but lets face it, after riding and racing from 2 to 13 hours outside the past few months, riding the Booger for any REAL length of time was just not going to happen. So 35 minutes was enough. It gave me time to listened to the new Black Francis EP "SVN FNGRS".

Despite the back being on the mends, I won't be heading out to Granogue this weekend to race. Sucks! I hope to get some riding in for sure, but I just don't think 10 hours round trip in the car followed by 4+ hours of racing would not do much for my back. I was looking forward to racing with some friends (BT6, Rich, Buddy, etc.,!!). I don't want to risk f*cking up my back more right now and screwing up my Big Bear solo effort. I think it's for the best. As Wifey told me today- "sometimes the mature decision isn't always the most fun decision". Wifey is very wise when she's not doing that thing were she's all bosomy.

Many thanks to the folks that posted yesterday. I believe your good vibes really helped ease the suckness that is an injury that keeps one off the bike. Many of your recommendations were implemented and/or being pursued. Thanks.

Thanks to Petite Chevre for recommending Bio Freeze. While I didn't have time to track it down, I was able to pick up it's bastard brother's cousin called Freeze It.

Check the cheeze of the commercial. Nice.

The stuff feels good on the back and if nothing else will be added to my pit stash at races to keep the back feeling good over the long haul. I just have to remember to keep the tube in a safe place in the bathroom so as not to confuse it with the Preparation-H or KY Jelly.

With some more rest tonight, I hope to get some low key saddle time in tomorrow and then try for some longer miles on the weekend. Fingers crossed.

Later.

I'm Down! (For Now)

So I get up this morning to you guesses it! More rain. But from looking weather.com it looked as if the worst of it would be heading out of the area by noon or so. I figured I'd put the Campeon in the back of the Soob to keep it out of the heavy rains all a.m. and hope for the rain to get the hell out of here by 5.

Well, I'm bending over putting the bike in the Soob, I'm sort of bent in cock-eyed position, stand up and WHAM! My lower back freezes up! A thousand "mother f*ckers" are being shouted in my head and I try not let them out for the entire neighborhood to hear.

First reactions aren't about getting to work, or the pain- It's "I HAVE A FRIGGIN' RACE IN FOUR DAYS!!" and "WHAT ABOUT MY FRIGGIN' RIDE TONIGHT???".

It doesn't hurt when I sit or stand. But the process of sitting/standing sucks or quick movements (I have none). I hung out at work for half a day and then said "f*ck it". Going home to do ice and heat. Now I've just finished an hour of laying on the rumpus room floor alternating ice and the heating pad, taking Aleve like candy and listing to Tapes 'n Tapes on iTunes. Great friggin' day. The Cycling God's are paying me back for SOMETHING, not sure what, but SOMETHING!

Time for more ice/heat. After the first round it's starting to feel looser, but that could be the Aleve too. I feel like I haven't been on the bike in days. Oh wait, I HAVEN'T BEEN ON THE BIKE IN DAYS! Might try to climb on the trainer later if I can get the rusted p.o.s. that is Booger to get out of 53/12!

Later.

P.M. EDIT: Tried to get on the trainer. I could pedal fine, but other movements bothered the back a bit. So I aborted and went back to laying on the floor with my legs raised. Seems to be helping even more and I'm hopeful for riding tomorrow. Racing is questionable on Saturday, but at least I have a few days to try to get it in shape. With Big Bear 3 weeks away I need to make sure it's all good. Later.

p.s. Did you hear that sound? That's the sound of my ever fattening belly from not riding for 3 days!

Blathering About Lidz

Monday = scheduled rest day and a Wifey gym night. So tonight it was me, B-Man, The Incredible Hulk and an hour of me pleading with the boy to eat SOMEthing! I mean who could turn down the "carb fest" that is buttered noodles & a big azz soft pretzel?? Apparently B-Man can.

With no ride, I have pretty much nothing to talk about except some sweet gear I got and am getting hold of. I apologize for not being able to not talk about shit like this. My bad.

All kinds of new lidz in the house and/or on the way to the W-Oh. First up I came home today to find that Twin-Six threw up all over my front porch. Sss-ah-weeeeet! Among my new kick ass jerseys, t-shirt, and socks I got, was the NEW T6/Walz cap...
The cap's fit is damn sweet, has a simple, but classy PRO style and is made by the cool (and nice to boot) folks at Walz. I sized up from my previous (plaid) Walz cap and it was good move. My skull enjoys the added room. New off the bike lidness includes the Twin-Six "team" cap. It rocks and has sweet fitted "flex fit".

Later this evening, I got the confirmation that my new Lazer Genesis lid is hurling it's way towards my house. Lazer really hooks up the Bikeman.com team with a great deal on these incredible helmets. They carry a hefty retail price tag, but if you really want a light helmet that has a kick ass retention system that does NOT make you head look like a a giant purple headed mushroom then I recommend the Genesis.

My current Genesis is two years old, so I figured I'd take advantage of Lazer's generosisty (Thanks!) and hook myself up with a new noggin saver. You can check out a review I wrote a couple years ago about said lid. I know it would be hard to spend that kind of jing on a helmet, but if you ever see one on close out or have some extra coin, I recommend the Genesis. Then you too can feel like Tom Boonen!

I posted the pic because of how hilarious T. Boonen looks in this ad, but I ended up a bit aroused by Gunn-Rita Dahle. Holy hot, Euro-Fem-XC-bod. Yikes!

Time to go enjoy the March like weather we're having by turning on a space heater.

I dig this YouTubing of the UCI Marathon in Manavgat.

Later.

Nada, Zip, Zilch

As the title implies I got nuthin' in ride wise today. I woke up to dark as night skies, heavy to moderate showers, and gusty winds. Great. I was only a little bit depressed about not riding. I would have liked to got out to work the legs for a couple hours, thus allowing me to hit double digits in hours this week, but I had little to no desire to ride in the rain, and may have maxed out my "road love" this week. With 8 hours of riding ALL on pavement, I think I was about done. I like road riding, but too much starts to seems like "work". The trails have to be pretty saturated and probably will be for the next few days given the rains and the forecast.

Since I'm pretty sure my miles will be restricted to the road until Saturday's race, I figured a day of slack will be fine. The rains moved out later today, but my road Mo Jo was gone and I'm resound to just sip some beer, watch some Giro and maybe flip on the Penguins once in a while. No big.

Master Tom figured out what was f'ing with my Reba Race on the Mamasita. It was a bent plastic o-ring in the Pop Loc. The bend was letting the oil out. Tom bent it back to keep the oil in for now, but a new o ring will be needed for me to feel confident about selling it or using it on a bike. Was the O-ring jacked in production? Did over using the lock out do it? Who knows?

Hot, hot, hot at NMBS #3 this weekend. How hot? Check out Georgia Gould's race report to read about how the heat can eph with you. Hope she heals up. She's got a serious chance at a medal at the Olympics this year.

Later.

Fear & Loathing A Sharted 65

I didn't know what to expect weather wise here today. Yesterday was typical Western PA rope/attic weather, with rain, gray and cool temps. Today was calling for thunderstorms all day. So last night after I made my T. Ballz, had some Dogfish, watched most of Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, and bitched about the fact I was sent the wrong adapter for my Fox, I did a kick ass sacrifice to the Gods of Cycling. Then onto the Weather Gods.

First I got super Pagan with the G.o.C.. I knelt in a circle of Tri-Flow, surrounded by candles, and photos of Eddie, Fausto, Bobke, Ned, and Tinker. I repented for my Fox lust, asked for guidance in obtaining the proper adapter, and promised big Saturday miles on the road to honor them. Then it was on to the Weather Gods. I just recited a mantra that was basically- "Weather God's, oh Weather God's. Give me 3 or 4 hours without heavy rain to ride or I'll be all dicked off." Not the most creative (or sincere) but hey, it worked!

This a.m. I got on the web and got things straight with The Goat today. Then I was able to get out on the road for some big miles. I got in 65 miles and a hair over 4 hours of saddle time. Felt real good and only hit some minor rain sprinkles. I do believe that the G.o.C. sent a demon spy in the form George- a fast, helmetless, cue ball bald, roadie. George came up on me at mile 41. We rode together for a while, but then parted ways after a few miles. I believe he was sent by the G.o.C. to make sure I was honoring the promised miles. When he was certain, that I would indeed be laying down 60+ he went back to the demon land from which he came. The land where they say Kilometers instead of miles, won't wear helmets, wear white socks and curse at you for not "taking your pull".

All kidding aside, I had a great ride. I did have a scary moment at mile 15 when I tried to release some Turkey Ball gas. I swore I had just sharted the chamois. Frig! Now what? I mean do I REALLY want to stop on the side of the road to check to see if I gambled and lost in the chamois?? Ah, NO! So I just "tightened up" and rode the next 50 miles hoping I was wrong. Thank God I was! That could have been bad. Real bad. Nothing like 65 miles with a Hershey's Kiss in the chamois.

B-Man is staying with my dad tonight. Wifey and I are going to chill with some beers, watch Into the Wild and chow down on some Mexican. We wanted go away this weekend, but things didn't turn out. This is our attempt at making sure we make some time for each other. Even without B-Man, I might still try to sneak in an episode or two of Kim Possible. I'm hooked. The show is hilarious, and K.P. is hot!

Later.

Low Keyed and Low Ballz With 60 Min.

No riding, no training tonight. Just a rainy laid back night with a couple of Dogfish Heads, some turkey ballz, and pasta. I picked up some 60 Minute IPA today at the Beer & Lottery store near Pittsburgh Pro. Good stuff. I had gotten a shitty case about a year ago and really overreacted to the quality. Sent DFH an e mail and everything letting them know the suck level of the case. Feel bad now. It's a damn fine brew. BIG hoppy aroma and BIG floral hop qualities. It's a nice balance to the few maltier Dogfish Head Indian Browns I have left (the best beer in the world in my opinion).

Dropped the Dos Niner at Master Tom's today. He's going to work his kick ass magic on the bike and put my new Fox F-29 on. So I should be rolling pretty plush up front for the Granogue Enduro next week. I was gonna sell the Reba that is coming off the Mamasita, but now I'm thinking I'll just hold on and see if I want to get another frame to put it on later this year. Who knows. I could use some light wheels for the Mamasita too. So selling the fork could help pay for that. Why did God make me so slutty???

EDIT: Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Speedgoat.com sent me the wrong %#@!**** part!! Now I need to RE-order and get the correct part. What the f°ck???????????????????????? No fox for Granogue now. Is this the bike god's way of telling me not to be such a freaking gear whore?? FRIG!!!!!!!!!!

I'm regretting not doing tomorrow's M.A.S.S. Marathon (F*ck!!), my dinner is done, I need a beverage, and I need to pray to the weather god's for 3 to 4 hours of rideable weather tomorrow.

Later.

Thursday Catheter Bag Ride

I'm thinking of using a catheter bag on rides from now on. Not that you care, but I should not have to stop for TWO road side nature breaks during a two hour road ride. Eeesh!! I think I need to scale back my post lunch water consumption. From 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. I drank about 64 oz. of water and ate nothing. Not only does it make for annoying road side pee breaks, but I believe it's flushing too many nutrients out of my bod before my bod has a chance to use 'em and pump them out via my sweat.

I've noticed this pattern before. Too much peeing and the next thing you know I'm cramping even though I hydrated and took in electrolytes during the ride. I should have ate some salted pretzels or something later in the afternoon, as I often do, but I was pretty busy at work and forgot. I think I'll try to scale back some of my afternoon hydrating, or drop a Nuun or Zym tab in my bottler to add some electrolyte giddy up to my pre-ride bevies. I'm also gonna get the latest in anti Nature Break Technology- The Uro-1000™ Catheter Bag! Time to get tapped and get rollin'!

All pee talk aside, sorry about that by the way, I had sweet ride tonight. Same 31 mile loop as Tuesday, but I did some of it in reverse. Including going UP the new smooth as silk, sweeter than double fudge puddin' 1.5 mile stretch of pavement that I bombed down the other day. I say GOD DAMN! It's just as sweet going UP. Yeah, I was going 15 mph slower on the climb, but it was ass buttah smooth.

Luckily the cramping I had in my calves was pretty mild and came in the last 15 minutes of the ride. Not stop worthy or anything, but a cramps nonetheless. I'm not one to cramp too often, so I'll use this as a warning sign and make some adjustments to my routine.

_____________________________________________________

Today I was checking out the Solos that have signed up for Big Bear so far.
Looks like Tinker is coming! Sweet!

Hey, if you're gonna get your ass kicked, get it kicked by a legend, right?? No word on whether Blog Father and Tinker teammate Jason Sager will be there to hand up bottles of Mona Vie or not. I'm sure other big names will be showing too. Should be epic. Maybe there could be a second solo division for Non Pro Sons of Slack. We could say the first three non Pro, non podium Solo finishers race for a Case/12 Pack/6 Pack of beer? Any takers? I wonder if Laird would approve?? Better yet I wonder if he'd pay for it will some of our entry fee dough?? HA! Then again, maybe another sponsor will step up with such a prize. Again, any takers? Maybe I just better plan on enjoying a couple beers of my own here at home as I recover. They'll taste damn sweet regardless of where I place.

Time for bed.

Later

Wednesday Tid Bits

Why is it that sometimes once the race season starts I end up working out and riding LESS?? The combinations of taper, recovery, weather, travel, racing, work, family etc., can often have me in the saddle less in May than in March. Sucks, but that's just the way it is some weeks. That's why I can never complain too much about my placings at the races. I have to do what I can with what I got. And that AIN'T much people! Doing what I can with 7 to 10 hours a week.

My right arm continues to hurt like a mo-fo. At least I think I know what it is. It appears that's it's not just a sore forearm from the braking and pounding over 46 miles at French Creek. It seems that I must have knocked my arm against SOMEthing during the race, since I have swelling, and some slight bruising. For the life of me I can NOT figure out where or when I did it during the race. The only thing I can think of is that I knocked it against my frame during one of the hike-a-bike climbs. Who knows. Hurts like a mo-fo, so I hope it goes away soon. It's not that bad, just in a bith of a location. I currently have ice strapped to my wrist as I type. Yeah, that feels just great.

Speaking of self induced hurting. My single malt scotch loving friend Rich B. has succumbed to the siren's song of Endurance Racing. Don't fight it Rich. It's too strong. Rich will now be throwing down in the Enduro Single Speed class at Granogue. Welcome back Rich, it'll rock! Speaking of Granogue you have registered right? Good.

More than anything I've been finding racing the enduros a better value. Yep, that's right. Value. I figured that Saturday's race at French Creek was about .69¢ a mile for me. Sport racers were racing at about $2.78 a mile and Experts at about $1.39 a mile. See it's more cost effective to race longer. Not to mention more fun! If I'm driving 4 hours to a race I sure as hell am not going to do only 1 lap! If I lived closer I might be more tempted to do XC races, but I don't. So I don't.

I'd love to see Western PA get some Enduros going. There are some in the W.V.M.B.A. Ultra Series, but 3 of those are in Virginia, and 2 are in deep ass West Virginia. So they're really no closer than driving to French Creek or to Marysville. There are a lot of great trail systems around here that include places like Seven Springs and Laural Mountain. Hell you might be able to do a series JUST a Seven Springs. Maybe a Marathon, a 6 hour or 12 hour, and then finish the year with the 24. Mix up the loops, etc., Do it as a points series. Ah, what do I know? I'm just bored and typing out my ass.

I leave you with this....

Later.

The Road More Traveled

Today was the COMPLETE opposite of yesterday. Yesterday was rainy, cold, warm bath and razor blade worthy. Today was warm, sunny, and frolic worthy....

PLUS! There was a ride!! I hit the road for 1:50/30.5 miles. The legs felt pretty good. My right forearm still feels like it got smashed under a tank, but I'm sure it will be fine in time. At least I hope. Doesn't affect me too much on the bike. More off the bike.

This time of year is my absolute favorite time to ride. The temps are moderate, the smells of spring are still kicking and many races still await. There are more miles to ride. More chances to try to better myself as a racer and more experiences to have.

The above pic was a welcome sight! The road was being worked on through all of the winter and early spring. The surface had been so bad during the winter, that I could get full travel on the Mamasita's Reba! It's now done and sports a new, fresher than fresh black top. A smooth twisty, low traffic down hill that gave me ample opportunities to double the posted speed limit and have a friggin' blast!

Not sure if I hit 150,000 watts tonight or not? I'm thinking nnnnnno. But I still had fun out on the roads via the Campeon. Another ride, another chance to mentally recharge. Thank God for cycling!

Later

Rain, Ropes, Attics & My Deuter

Wow, today was THEE stereotypical Western PA "rope to the attic" Monday. Gray, rain, high 40s, and it's friggin' MAY!!!!! What. The. F*ck?? Combine all that with the second day of not riding (Monday is always "off" and a Wifey "gym day") and I would have been happy just to stay in bed all day guzzling some sort of cough syrup/vodka cocktail. OK, that MAY be a little strong, but you get my drift.

Recovery from the race is just fine. Legs are fine and I look forward to riding tomorrow on the road. My forearms, especially my right one, feel like someone smashed them with a hammer. Damn! All that "brake pump" must have taken it's toll on my chick like arms. Not to self- either don't brake as much or WORK OUT MORE!

I did get to hang with B-Man and watch him whack the whiffle ball over the fence a few times tonight. I was shocked how he was smacking the ball around. Very proud. I cooked up a quick tasty meal of lemon pepper chicken breasts/brown rice & green peas. Mmmm. I got hold of some Tyson frozen chicken breasts yesterday. Good stuff. Some of the tastiest individually frozen breast I've got my hands on. Yes I know, I know, I just made a reference to my hands on frozen breasts. Dooley noted.

__________________________________________________________________

I was geeked to come home from work to find a box from Deuter USA (pronounced doy-ter). I have been lusting a new hydration pack for racing. In particular the Deuter Hydro M2. After making contact and talking with a rep of Deuter I was given the chance to use the M2 for racing this year. Very happy!

The M2 is a small-ish race pack. Holds 2 liters of fluids, and has enough cargo room for Co2, Tube, and a battery on night laps. It also has what Deuter calls the Air Stripes Back System. You can check out the graphic below (click to enlarge).It basically has two padded foam strips that not only add comfort, but keep the pack off your back to add ventilation to keep your back a tad cooler.

The M2 comes with the cool Streamer 2.0 bladder too.

The best thing (in my opinion) about this bladder is that you can open it up and clean it with no problem! You can get your whole hand, etc., in it too scrub it out. I think that's a nice feature. I'll be anxious to see how it handles a crash though. EDIT: I just did a test to see how well the pack would hold my current 50 oz. CamelBak bladders. It took 'em like a champ. Nice to be able to have addition bladders chilled are ready at races.

I'll keep you posted on how the pack fits, and how the bladder holds up. The biggest concern for me in looking for a new pack was it's stability on my back in technical single track. Last Saturday at French Creek my current pack was flopping all around, and sliding from side to side on the rocky descents. It was really annoying! I'm hoping that the M2 will help solve some of those problems. I thank Deuter for letting me try this pack in '08. I'll keep you posted on how it fits and holds up.

By the way, you may be asking why I wouldn't use the kick ass pack that Ergon has? Well, that's simple. Ergon's pack is an incredible design that would rock for an all day, self supported type ride/race. I do mostly (lack luster) lap racing. I can use a smaller "race" pack. It just needs to hold a couple bottles worth of hydration, a few small items like a tube/Co2, my Switchback 3 battery at night, and HOPEFULLY not slide around on my back.

BTW, when you buy a Deuter pack, you get a free tube of BIG Nuun for hydration packs. I was glad to see they slipped on into mine too. Nice bonus.

Time to get the Campeon ready for a post work ride tomorrow. Rumor has it the sun JUST might be out and the temps MIGHT get to 70!! (Gasp!!) Maybe I stop with the rope to attic talk, at least for tomorrow!

Later

M.A.S.S. Enduro #1/French Creek

Time for Mid Atlantic Super Series Enduro #1 at French Creek State Park in eastern PA (where they talk funny and don't say thing's like "yinz", "crick" or "pop"). This was to be a 6 hour event that would have racers doing as many laps on the rocky 11.5 miles course as they could. The course had about 1,800' of climbing per lap and a big extra helping of rocky east coast single track. The race would end up being cut to 5 hours due to the severe weather that soaked the trails the day before. That didn't make the race any less difficult (or fun!) for sure! The don't call the race "on the rocks" at French Creek because of it's uber buff single track, that's for damn sure!

I took the day off on Friday to get some house stuff done, spend some quality time with Wifey (oh yeah), and then make my road trip to Rich B.'s digz. Rich was part of the Beans posse that was putting on the race and would not be racing, but handling the registration duties and more. Rich and his wife were also kind enough to let me crash at their place the night before, thus saving me either a wet night in a tent, or a stay in a cheezy, pay by the hour, stained sheet motel room. Thanks Rich!

I was up early in the a.m. to shove some PB&J bagel and java down my throat and follow Rich to the race venue. I had already gotten lost on the way to Rich's, thanks to a Google Maps misprint, and was not looking forward to cruising up and down Rt. 100 again. By the way, if Rich ever offers to make you some coffee, let him! Dude brew up some FINE Starbucks® java.

I really was hoping that things would have dried out a bit more overnight. But everything was still pretty damn wet. Oh well, the mud will just add to the adventure, right? The race director pushed all the start times back an hour hoping to give the trails just a few more minutes to soak in Friday's downpour. In light of that, the 6 hour enduro was reduced to a 5 hour. Drat!

Not that I minded only racing 5 hours, it's just that one of my only strategies of "passing" folks and moving up in the results is through race attrition. The more folks that DNF, the more chances I have for a respectable finish! HA! Oh yeah, like you don't do the same thing?? ;)

On the start line I didn't see too many familiar faces, other than some of the VisitPA.com guys, and Ben from Beans. In other words, I spied some of the area's elite SUPER fast guys that were about to open up a can of 5 hour whop ass. No matter, I had my usual plan. Ride my own pace, ride as much as I can, and see what happens.

So at the start I got in my zone, and started up the double track/service road climb. Hit the single track and just kept on climbing. Mud, water bars, etc., A couple dismounts, some traffic and then the first down hill. Weaving through the trees, bouncing over rocks, mud splattering, fore arms burning, and seat/nut slaps. It was damn fun. OK, the nut slaps were not all that fun, but I just thought of it as "rough" play.

Soon there would be a nice stretch of level single track to weave through. It was a chance to recover a bit, take in some fluids and get ready for MORE climbing and MORE of the aforementioned nut slapping descents. The more serious climb in the last few miles would have me hike-a-biking a bit, but I didn't mind. The course rocked (fitting pun, but not entirely intended). It was "REAL" mountain bike course, if that makes any sense? You might not ride everything, but wondering if you MIGHT ride it, added to the fun. It reminded me of a better, more rideable Snowshoe, WV, course. Complete with the prerequisite mud.

Once the other classes got on course things got a little less fun, but not too bad. The elites, and sport guys were out there hard charging looking to get it done in 1 or 2 laps. So I tried as best I could to let them through. If that meant stopping or walking a climb, so be it. Those guys are in the red from the start. Far be it from me to come in between them and a chance at time on the box. I respect them. The course did start to get a little more deteriorated now. The mud became deeper, the roots got slicker, and the "good lines" became more blurred from hundreds of racers.

One of my favorite parts of the course was sweet single track section that must have had a ton of honeysuckle blooming. That smell was the BEST! Not to mention honeysuckle gets me randier than a sailor in a 50¢ whore house. But YET again, I've said too much. Of course there was also a swampy part of the course with a wooden bridge over it that sort of smelled like The Home For Wayward Feces. So I guess everything evens out.

When the race was 6 hours my goal was 4 laps, but aiming for 5 or more. Since the race was shortened, getting a 4th in was nice and felt like I was on pace to have got that 6 hour 5th lap no problem. Thing of it was, the fast guys turned out 5 laps on this course in the 5 hours! Many of the rest of us turned out 4. So I would have to take 4 laps, 45 mile miles, 7,200' of total elevation gain, and 7th place out of 13 geared, Male Enduros.

Not a great finish, but I was pretty damn happy with my skillz on the rocks (no crashes). Some of it was me, but much of it was the kickassness (I KNOW that's NOT a word!) of the Dos Niner and 29" wheels in general! I found myself behind some 26" wheeled guys thinking to myself "WHY in the hell are those wheels so small??" In the end, it doesn't matter all that much. Many of those guys wold smoke you/me on a $60 SmartyMart® Huffy.

I saw a couple other Salsa guys out there. One dude with an orange Dos Niner like mine had blown out a rear wheel and was doing the "walk of shame" back to the start/finish. He jokingly asked if he could borrow my rear wheel (as if? Ha!) I saw another dude on a sweet '08 El Mariachi! I have to say the paint and decals of the 08 E.M. is freaking classy. Nice stuff. Makes my Dos look like a street walking hoochie mama. Some might say that I'M sort of a late 30's, pasty ass white, bike nerd version of a hoochie mama, so I guess it works out just fine. Hooch it up, and shake what your mama gave you, right?

Damn fun race and now I look forward to racing/riding with some friends at Fat Marc's Granogue 4 hour race in 2 weeks. (Pre-register now! Fool!) Oh well, time to have a couple Dog Fish Head's, make some Mexican, and and watch some Giro d'Italia. Did you ever notice that you can sing the super lame Styx song "Mr. Roboto" and change the lyrics to Giro d'Italia? Example.... "Domo arigato Giro d'Italia, Domo arigato Giro d'Italia" Go ahead and sing it. It makes a suck song a little better. AND you can drive your spouse a bit crazy. ALWAYS a bonus! ;)

Later.

(BTW- sucks for Davey Z. at the Giro. Dude was in some argyled mustachioed pain)

Thanks to Dan for the action pics used.