It's 2007 All Over Again...

Race report to come , but in the mean time some random thoughts:

I missed my 12 lap goal. Did 9 laps, just like in 2007. I had time for 10. but the allure of parking my ass a the finish line for 10 minutes until noon was too great. Speaking of my ass, it feels like someone took a heated cheese grater to it. Lap 9 had MUCH standing. I think I left a hunk of taint in the chamois.

For some reason I thought it was a good idea to sleep in the hatch of my Soob for 5 hours. In hind sight, NOT a good idea. Wifey got me back out on course about 4:45 or so. Big thanks to her.

I'd like to say I felt disappointed with 9 laps and God knows what place. But I can't. I got in a hair over 100 miles of riding on some of the best trails in Western PA. Plus there was too good of a vibe at the year's race. There are so many friends and good folks to thank, give shout outs to, etc., that it will have to wait for the report. I'm very lucky to do this as my "hobby". I truly love it. No doubt it's the greatest sport ever!

Time for pizza, wings, and beer. Hold the guilt please, I just raced for "19" hours! ;)

Later.

Gettin' Up ,To Set Up,To Get Down!

After a morning of errand running, I shot up the mountain to set up the pop up and mark my terrietory. I'm pretty much in the same place as last year, but ditched the spot near the trees due to increased bug activity for Wifey to have to deal with. I sat up the pop up easily by myself, keeping it low right now to avoid any wind, staked in down and begged some familiar race faces nearby to grab it for me if it would happen to blow away during the evening.

I'm right along the course and right at the top of the big ass climb at the 3/4 lap mark. I can shoot right in off the trail, get some food and get going. Or at least that's the plan. This grass section will take you right near the down hill park, and to P.S.H. Rock Garden and the last 4 miles of the course.

Weather looks to be aces for the weekend....

Should be comfy during the day. 54* Is a pretty sweet night time temp, but from experience I gotta tell you that 54 on the mountain feels like 44! I am prepared for night time teeth chattering. Happens every year. At least there's no hurricane like in '06!

Tonight will be nice to chill, have a couple beverages, eat some Chamois Ballz (They need a new name eh?) and hydrate. Big thanks to Wifey in advance for being my pit crew. Damn lucky to have myself a chicky who is willing to give up a holiday weekend to sit in a field and help me. Thanks!

Later!

Week's End and What I Want

Last day of work in the books. HELL YEAH M-F'ER!!! I won't have to sling any shit until next Wednesday. Woot! Woot! I can't imagine not having a job. BUT I can easily imagine not having the job I have.

Post work I hit up the grocery store for some last minute race nutrition and then it was home to haul all the camp/pit shit up out of the Stankment®. Now my living room looks like some sort of yard sale. Oh well, I've seen worse.

I have to say I'm feeling good about this weekend's Solo and what I want from it. I used to care about who was coming to a race and I would try to think if I could get on the box or not. I really don't care anymore. I know what I want to feel good about my efforts. I want 12 laps. I've done 11 laps twice, 4 laps (DNF), and 9 laps. I don't care if the winner does 20 laps. As long as I get my 12 I'll be pretty stoked. I want to be consistent, not puke, and get some cool night riding in. I don't care if my effort wasn't good enough to place. I care if my effort was good enough for ME. There are a lot of talented racers out there. I know I can't beat too many of them, but I DO know I CAN hang with a few. I'm just anxious to race and get in as many miles as I can on my favorite 24 Hour courses.

It's been a long time since I raced. I needed that. I needed to see how much I wanted it. What I've come to realize is that I love the races, but I don't have the talent or the physiology to do too many a year. Next year I will either focus on a small number of Solos (3?) or a few Hundies. No more trying to mix in 6, 12, and 24 Solos with Hundies. I can't see myself even scheduling more than 4 races for the year. The rest of the season will be focused on training, XC for shitz & giggles, and long rides for the sake of long rides. It feels good to finally see what I want. I don't want to try to be Chris Eatough anymore. I just want to put in as many miles as I can and write about it here on this digital fish wrap. Sorry for the "on the couch" rant. But I was just "feeling" it.

Tomorrow I'll head up the Seven Springs to secure my pit spot. Then I'm breaking the tradition of staying at my Dad's house the night before and opting to come home to cook a good dinner (you know I'm doing up some Ballz) and get a good night's sleep in my own bed. Then Sat. A.M. we'll head up to mountain and get it on.

There will be lots of my peeps up on the mountain this weekend. I wish you all the best of luck- Ian, Don, Aaron, Brad, Travis, the Pro Bikes guys, Dirty Harry's etc., etc., I hope to see you out on the course having a good time. Just give a holler when you need to pass! ;)

Time to get some sleep and let the Mexican I made for dinner tonight turn my stomach into a boiling cauldron of acid.

Later.

A.D.R.D. In Full Effect

Dammn, as I mentioned to Don P. in the comments yesterday- I am about useless right now. All I can think about is the race on Saturday. I have even LESS of an attention span than usual. I mean I can't even muster the urge to look at porn!! I call it A.D.R.D. or Attention Deficit Race Disorder. I thought about offering some school bus stop hooligans $20 if they let me in on their stash of Ritalin that they are most certainly holding. But I thought of the potential consequences of a 37 year old man offering a kids $20 for prescription drugs. Not good. Not good at all.

Anyway A.D.R.D. pretty much renders my mind more useless. I forget things, lose things, have trouble concentrating, and often times have full conversations with someone and not hear a word they've said. I mean I can be pretty self absorbed (so I've been told in domestic arguments), but damn, this is ridiculous! Sadly it will get worse before it gets better. If you see me wandering around Seven Springs with one shoe on and one shoe off or just wandering around in circles you might want to shake me or something. Just watch my back!

I asked my doctor about A.D.R.D. once. She said it can really only be cured by doing a perceived endless run to my bike, getting on it and then attempting to ride it for 24 hours. Oh, well, I guess I'll give it another try.

The Dos NIner is back in the W.O. and ready to rock. Tom did a kick ass job and even did me the favor of stopping at Dirty Harry's on his way home from work to get my bearing cups. The bike is looking good, feeling good and ready to roll. Brakes bled, new b.b. cups installed, new chain, middle ring, brake pads, spokes tensioned, bolts tightened and checked. Big thanks to T. for hooking me up with some sweet wrenching and to Dirty Harry's actually having the cups in stock. I am not a fan of the outboard bottom bracket and replace roughly 1 set of cups a year. Grrrrr!

One thing I have thought about for a few weeks now is maybe putting together a little "event" later this fall. Kicking around the details in my head. But here's a hint of what might be involved...

If the 3 things above look interesting to you. Let me know. Once my A.D.R.D. is cured I'll see about actually pulling this off.

Time to hit the sack.

Later.

Second Base (and the getting there of)

Did up a post work quickie tonight. The trails were aces and since my only goal was to get a fast (for me) houri-ish ride in and keep the legs spanky, I mixed up some of my loop and hit some trails in reverse. I also rode a few trails that I often opt out of since they cause me to have to have to double back and eph my loop. It was refreshing to "rediscover" some of my fave trails by doing them in reverse.

In the end I only rode for 10 miles, and a hair over an hour. It sort of felt like only getting to "second base" on date night. I mean I was happy to spend some time on the trails, but when your used to scoring, "second base" feels just sort of "there". But I'll take it! It felt great!

Tom called with info about the Dos Niner. Looks like my XT bottom bracket cups are shot. I heard some clicking coming from it on Saturday, and it was confirmed "shitty" today. Frig! Looks like I need to go bust ass looking for some tomorrow around the 'Burgh. I hope I don't have to hear "we don't have 'em, but we could order 'em" a million times. Oh well, if this is the worst of my race week worries, I'll be happy.

Time for bed.

Later.

1 Down

Today flew by and I won't complain one bit! Lots of non work personal stuff got done to boot. Hit up the Chiropractor for some "adjusting", then dropped the Dos Niner at Master Tom's to let him get all freaky with his torque wrench and make sure everything is spinning, stopping, shifting and rolling the way it's supposed to. I can't say enough about the "magic" that he performs on my bikes. I race like a Novice Clydesdale on acid and he somehow manages to keep me rolling. It's "mind bottling" (see Blades of Glory).

I had some time to stop at Pro Bikes too. I've been longing for THE Endura Mighty Mitt and PB has 'em, so I like bought 'em man. Also got to see Timmy C. hobbling around on his f*cked up hip. He says it's getting better. Hope so. Hate to see a rider down.

Since tonight is Wifey's gym night there was no ride. I found time to make sure all my essential clothing is washed and ready for Saturday. I only have one or two rides on tap this week, so I want to make sure I'm not wearing my best duds for a "slum ride". Bikeman.com clothes (check), Twin-Six socks (check), arm warmers, knee warmers, rain jacket, (check, check, check). Throw in some nasty ass cycling caps and I'm good to go. :)

Check this!...

I THINK I need to buy some new Bag Balm. This one did NOT take kindly to the heat of my car. Grrr! Oh well, I gotz to keep my bag balmed, so a trip to the pharmacy is in order.

Time to make some grub.

Later.

Dirt, Freebies & Room 212

Sorry for the lack or a "real" post yesterday. I was all caught up in Maja Silver Medal Fever as we (me) call it around here at The Soiled Chamois (again- me). But there WAS more to the weekend than just fawning and cyber stalking (Wifey's words not mine) after young Polish XC Olympic Silver medalists. There was some riding of course. I tried to stay away from the mountains (Busssssssssssschhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Sorry about that but I told Wifey that every time she or anyone I come in contact with says the words "mountain" or "mountains" I will immediately say Bussssssssssssssschhhhh!!!). Annnnyway. Like a moth to a flame I found myself instinctively driving to Seven Springs. I mean another couple laps couldn't hurt! Right?

I felt 97% good. The 3% that sucked was the part of my body that was still fighting off the stomach germ that I think I got from my CamelBak bladder. Or the germ that Mrs. Racin' Rick sent down to me via some sort of bizarre Maine based Internet transmitted shit illness. Instead of blathering on about the ride that is most likely as familiar to you as it is to me, I will shut up and photo blog....

All in all a good ride. No complaints and I'm glad I went. There were a ton of cars parked up at the Tahoe Lodge but I'm not sure where the hell everyone was? I only saw like 4 people over two laps. The must have all been parking up there to get there down hill on. Whatever floats your two wheeled boat I suppose.

One rider that I did see and who followed me for a bit until I pulled off to piss and he got suckered into giving directions to the to some clueless dude. Was an older gentelman, sporting knee pads and NO helmet?? What the f*ck?? I mean the trails at the Springs are not THEE hardest in the area, but there is enough rocks and shit on the sigle track to do some SERIOUS damage to your friggin' skull. As well as damage the opportunity to ride some of the best trails on the mountain (bbbbbbbbbbbuuusssschhhhhh) for the 99.7% that DO wear a helmet. I mean he was wearing knee pads to protect his knees and NOTHING to protect his skull!! That thing that supposedly contains his brain! The thing that controls everything he does! I JUST DON'T GET IT!!!

I believe I spotted some other Solos out getting one final low down on the course too. I'm 99% sure I saw Schultz, disguised as a "casual" mountain biker. He was sporting some baggies and a plain jersey to appear super "non racer" like. And EVEN went so far as to use a female rider to make things look all "casual couple" out for a ride. Sneaky! ;)

I also think I saw a member of Rob Lichtenwalner's Militant Vegan Army out getting data on the course, just in case Rob decides to destroy the course again this year. The award for ultimate undercover course spying HAS to go to Brandon Draugelis. Check the photo below and look closely on the left hand side of the pic!

I mean really! A friggin' bear costume??? I acted like I didn't see him and just pedaled on by. I wasn't 100% sure it was him until I got further down the trail and saw his Cannondale Team Scalpel on the side of the trail with his Iron Hill number plate STILL attached. SMOOOOTH move B.D.!! Once the ride was in the books it was a quick stop for a pepperoni roll, and haul ass back to the W.O. to clean up, fetch Wifey and head BACK to the mountain (Busssssschhhhhh).

After we dropped B-Man at my Dad's. We headed up to Hidden Valley for a night of "us time" in Room 212 and dinner at the John Harvard's on 31. Get this story... We opted to sit at the bar and eat. A bit later in the evening it gets a little more crowded. Some dude asks me if it's cool to sit beside me and starts chatting. Nice guy and apparently he likes his "tea", since he started with a Double (soon to be made a triple) Vodka Tonic. Later the dude asks me and Wifey to do a shot of Crown Royal with him. We of course decline (I got called a pansy for like the one millionth time in my life), but he insists on buying us a beer. OK, no prob. So we chat a bit more. I must say the dude was funny in a "wow this guy is so unlike me" sort of way. We chatted about very un-bar fly topics like F.L.W.'s Falling Water and befriending local hillbillies.

Then about 15 minutes later he tells his friend the bartender to cash him out, and to put our dinner tab his bill!! WTF?? We say thanks, but no thanks, but he insists! The bartender gives him the bill and all the guy says is "Jesus! You two must eat like birds!" He then paid our $80.00 dinner/drink tab. After he left the bartender assured us that it was all cool and the dude does this sort of thing all the time for folks he likes, that he owns a successful construction business and is not hurting for cash at all. Too freaking funny! He MAY want to lay off the Triple Vodka Tonics, but I do have to say "Thanks for the dinner Mr. Triple Vodka Tonic and 1 Crown Royal Shot Dude!". Much appreciated. Take it easy and drive safe out there. Please.

Wifey and I had great time and it was nice to spend some "one on one time" with her. I'm not much for breaking my weekend routine, but this was a sweet, fun way to repay her in advance for the work she will surely do next week as my pit crew!

Time to cook some grub. Later!

Late News Breaking, This Just In!

Maja Wloszczowska scored a Silver Medal in Beijing today! In an interview she said she was motivated by dreams of Gold and her growing International fan base. "That Soiled Chamois web site in the U.S. really digs my vibe and has supported me for years. That means a lot!"* Maja said in broken English as she climbed down off the Silver step.

We here (me) at the Soiled Chamois congratulate her. Now she can sit back and rock some cabbage rolls and coffee! :)

Time to ride.

Later.

*This of course was never said. But hey, it might have been. Right?

Gut Issues, German Potatos and More!

I woke up this a.m. and felt like I got hit by a truck!! Bones hurt and 20 minutes into my day I was squatting above the porcelain thrown making a SERIOUS deposit with some serious waves of nausea! Not good. Not good at all. Ok, Ok, it was all good after 5 to 15 minutes, I'm good to go, right? Wrong! Waves of nausea faded in and out all day long. My mind was racing trying to figure out what it was! Why now?? Why do I have a serious case of screaming feecus??? Then I remembered. I had the same thing go down last Sunday morning. The day after riding using my Deuter with a Camelback bladder. YESTERDAY I used the SAME Camelback bladder. Hmmmm. Me thinks I need to do a serious soak and clean of the bladders. Oh well, it's nothing 4 Tums, 2 Pepto Tabs, 6 Ibuprofen, and 5 beers couldn't kick. I needed to cut some weight anyway! ;)

Not much else going down today. I did another attempt at German Potato Salad, and this time it ROCKED! The thing with cooking is you have to try things and learn from your mistakes. I tried to go by the recipe last time. This time I took the potato's ballz in my own hands and got it done proper. Wifey and I threw down some of said G.P.S. with a couple burgs on the Incinerator® and washed it down with a couple beers. Good stuff.

Not sure what I have going on ride wise tomorrow. I may go to the mountain for one final shake down, I might road ride here, or I might chuck it all and relax after today's ass rain. Tomorrow night Wifey and I are heading to Hidden Valley for a little "us" time. It will be nice to get away from the land of unfinished siding and early bed times for a little adult one on one action. If the condo's a rockin', don't come a knockin'! ;) Kidding of course, we just want some time alone to talk and catch up. ;)

Later.

Now THAT is a Thursday!

Dear Mr. Manager Type Person whomb I give two shitz about,

I will be taking a sick day today. August 21, 2008. I hope to return to the office tomorrow.
Thank you. I hope this poses no inconvenience.

Thank you,

Jason D. Mahokey

___________________________________

This week was something else. Nutz-oh work stuff, wasp/hornet/bee stings, swollen ham fists, a 24 Solo coming up and my sanity hanging on by a chicken bone vein. So today felt a bit sick (cough, cough). The way I see it, I was miserable yesterday, typing with a hand the size of a canned ham, and still turned out some serious deadline work. Today. Asses (mine) can be kissed. I really don't even care if someone where I work would happen to see this. I say to you- If you can find someone else to do as good a job as me, by all means show me the door! ;)

___________________________________

So with me "sick" the only thing I could really do was ride. Right? So I figured I'd hit up a little local adventure on the Mamasita. First I hit the Rail Trail for 10ish miles. Then it was on to parts of my normal road loop with some healthy doses of shitty farm roads that I don't dare attempt to ride on the Campeon. After that it was back the rail trail, a side adventure poaching some utility service double track and then back to the rail trail. In total I got in just under 3 hours of riding and 41 miles of just about every type or riding that one could find so close to home. It was a blast!!!

The Urban Hick Graffiti was out in FORCE today!!



Oddly, some of this was spaced 10+ mile apart. NAK was "gay" at mile 15
AND at mile 25. Some people get to take pics of trails, mountains, wildlife, etc.
I get big dicks spray painted on the road. Nice.

Great time in the saddle. A nice mix of all things hick. Rail trails, farm roads, road, quad trails, etc. I had a blast! Plus I got a ton of shit done around the house. Wifey continues to half joke about me quitting to become a House Husband. Some days, I think I JUST might take her up on the offer.

Today I attempted to order THIS bad ass long sleeve jersey for my chilly night laps at Seven Springs next week. But as (bad) luck would have it, it's sold out and now discontinued. DRAT!!!! Oh well. Ghetto arm warmers and vests will get me through another year I suppose.

I guess since I'm feeling "better" I have to go back to work tomorrow. Grrrr.

Later.

Ham Fisted

So as many of my comment buddies pointed out yesterday/today, my left hand does indeed look like I ate too much friggin' ham. The hand continues to look like the hand of a bloated, river fetched corpse and feels about as good. I ditched riding tonight, even though I could have since I do at least have function of my digits. But, work was a bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbeottttttch with an extra helping of miscommunication, incompetence and apathy (the apathy would be me). Did you ever get the feeling that your "career"/sanity was hanging on by a thread?? Yeah, me too.

Glad I didn't want to ride tonight, because my whole leave work at 5 P.M. routine was thrown off due to the above mentioned miscommunication, incompetence and apathy. I didn't get to the W.O. until roughly 5:50. Given my hand, my sanity, etc., I saw a million reasons to justify having a few Dogfish Head Indian Browns (A.K.A. The Best Beer In The World). I could not love a human baby as much as I love that beer. Oh, wait that's my Italian made whale bone hair brush that I'm that in love with. Also made another attempt at perfecting my whole wheat pasta with grilled chicken and vegetables. All was good.

Might try to hit some dirt tomorrow with my one good hand and my one good ham. I will be attaching a bug sprayer to the bars of the Mamasita and riding in a haze of insect repellent so as to show the f*cking bees, wasps, hornets, and no see'ums who the f*ck is boss! Dirty bastards!

Is it wrong that it's 8:35 and I'm ready for bed?

Later.

p.s. 10 days until the Big Show. I'm geeked!!!!!!!!!!!

Sting, Stung., Swelled, Swolled,

Rode at Boyce on the Mamasita. Trails were bone dry and the legs felt good. I would love to write more about how good the ride was, but 3 miles into my 13.7 mile ride I got stung by some mother fornicator of a bee/wasp/hornet/buzzing bat, etc., etc., M-F'er went right through my glove and all the way to the bone of my thumb's knuckle. There was pain. There was cursing. There was 10.7 miles left to ride!!

I have not doubt in my mind that whatever stung me did it out of shere hatred of me. It was done SO on purpose! I could hear the mocking in the buzzing as it fled. This was like a suicide bomber insect. I may report this as a hate crime. I shit you not.

I'm kidding of course. It wasn't all that bad and luckily the sting was on my left hand and Boyce Park is a very 1x9 friendly area. So all I had to worry about was my front braking. The pain went away, but the swelling was setting in. A few hours later and THIS is what I'm dealing with...

One hand that looks like an old man/decomposing corpse and another one that looks like a freaking flesh bubble. The picture doesn't do it justice. I'm not allergic to bee stings, but I have to say I've never really had a reaction like this before. I blame Wifey. Not sure why? I just do. Seriously, I've never had a reaction like this, but to bee honest (dig the pun??) I'm not sure if it's a bee sting or not. I felt the sting, THEN heard a buzz. But then the sound of my own voice screaming obscenities filled the air.

Oh, what the hell, it's just a insect bite. You play in the woods enough, this shit happens. The ride was good and, the trails were fast. I'm getting a bit more used to the Maxxis Cross Marks. At least I'm getting used to how freaking fast the roll in dry conditions!

Time to get some more ice.

Later.

Monday Is Like 53/12 And 19%

Monday is always the worst for me. It always feels like I'm about to hit a hill with an average grade of 19% and the only gear I have is 53/12. It's a rest day. I hate rest days. I feel too slack and get no enjoyment. Monday is also a very slow day at my job. No deadlines and not too much going down. This make for a llllong day.

I do sort of like the extra time I have to cook dinner on rest days. Tonight I was able to fire up the Incinerator® and grill up some chicken and roasted red peppers. Mixed it all up with some E.V.O.O., whole wheat pasta, and various spices and I had myself a tasty ass meal. Damn good. I love my grill.

A few weeks ago Marla "tagged" me. I avoided it, thinking I could ditch the questions and not be part of the cult that is the chain e mail. But today GNAT tagged me. Damn! Now I have to! Avoiding 2 peeps, one of them being the head honcho of one of my main enablers, is just ASKING for some bad Karma. I'm too lazy to type out the questions and most of you know the questions that are going around (same as GNAT's), so I'm cutting to my answers...

1. I love my Dos Niner. I wish it were Ti.
2. I'm doing nothing to get a Ti soft tail. Scandium is just fine.
3. I would/could ride the Colorado Trail for the rest of my life.
4. Non bike geeks would force a person to ride only one bike for the rest of their life.
5. I prefer to ride dirt because of the lack of cars on the trail.
6. No triathlons. But I've still thought about strangling myself with dental floss.
7. I could easily give up ice cream. I get no joy from it. Unlike bikes.
8. If you were a porn star, what would your name be? Mine would be Larry.

I'm pretty sure I may the last one in the world to have to do this. Or I should say I'm the last person in the wold too superstitious to NOT do it when asked more than once. I'm gonna take one for the team and end it. If I wake up in a coma in the morning, you'll know why.

I hope to hit up some dirt tomorrow or some rail trail tempo. Rigt now I just plan on sitting here and wonder why my neighbor has a party every Monday (Monday??) night and feels the need to light a camp fire in the driveway?? It's a neighborhood!! Smoke is pouring in my windows! What the f*ck? This isn't the county or Camp Winatubesockie!! Grrrr. Would it be wrong to call the police/fire department?

Found this photo.
I dig it.

Later.

The Sunday 40

I wasn't sure what sort of ride I was in for today. We did up Mad Mex proper last night with some serious Wingo Burrito action, and a few incredible brews-The ALWAYS perfect Dogfish Head 90 Minute I.P.A., the Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale and some Bells Two Hearted Ales. Mmmmm. Then Wifey and I stayed up late watching Superbad. So as you can imagine between the beers, the bung-hola-of-fire Mexican food, and staying up late, I was pretty certain today's road ride would suck.

Thankfully the ride did not suck. My legs felt good and I was glad I didn't bail on the ride. It was nice to be out on the back roads of Scottdale and enjoying the sun. Rolling my 40 mile loop was a real nice way to end to the weekend.

Not much planned tomorrow. Heading to the chiropractor for some back love and that's about it. Have you ever looked around your house and just been completely overwhelmed with what needs to be done and what is SUPPOSED to be being done by your stupid contractor and isn't??? If I could do it all over again, I would go with a town house. Home ownership sort of sucks. I mean everyone says that renting, etc., is a waste of money. But I have to tell you the odds of me living to see the day when I'm not writing a check for a house payment are about one in a zillion. Weeds, grass, siding, paint, windows, furnace, oven, ceilings, basements, sidewalks, etc., etc., etc.,

I picked the wrong Sunday to stop sniffing glue. F*ck it. At least I had a great weekend on the bike.

Later.

Long Quick One

There's something to be said for when a 24 mile mountain bike ride is considered "short". I hit Seven Spring today and rode a lap with Aaron, Brad and Don (Jesus Don, get a link! This looks f*cking ghetto, ha!). B.A.& D. are some super cool local racers (Brad is a Bikeman.com teammate) who invited me to slow them down for a lap today as they got their pre ride on. We had a fun lap together and riding with them upped my lap time by 10+ minutes. Thanks guys! After our lap together I headed out for lap two and they went to the car for some water and gels before heading back out. They would later catch me at the 8 mile mark as I took on some more fluids and food at the Soob. They were riding super and should have a kick ass race. Jesus can Brad hammer that big climb. I felt like a Touring cyclist out there.

I headed back out to finish the last 4 miles of lap 2 and think about whether I wanted to do another lap. I of course WANTED to do another lap, but thoughts of my back yard's knee high grass, the fact that Wifey and I are supposed to meet some old friends of hers for dinner tonight, and my want to road ride tomorrow filled my head and lead me to call it after two laps. Really, with 2 weeks before the big show and now a little over 14 laps completed on the course any more would just be Velosturbation®. And although it feels damn good, I've heard you can go blind from that. So I think until race day I MIGHT be done with the course. I wouldn't mind sneaking up for a night lap in the next two weeks if anyone is interested, but I'll survive if I don't.

When I got back to the Soob, Team B.A.& D. were heading out for another quick lap. We chatted a bit and then they took off. Hope to see them again soon. They're a real nice bunch of riders and pretty damn fast. I look to see them on the podium at Seven Springs for sure. I also had a chance to meet Steevo today. Steve is a local Cat 1 (that of course means ballz out f*cking fast) road racer AND fast as shit mountain biker. Nothing like standing next to an elite level athlete to make you feel like your 6'1"/180 lb. body is just one big tub of shit! HA! It was nice to finally meet Steve, since I've been reading his blog for some time.

During my second lap I ran into Trail Builder Matt and his Side Show Bob hair. He was trimming some bush (typing that was oddly arousing) on the trail and I stopped to chat a bit. I thanked him for his work and mentioned how I thought this was the best Seven Springs course so far. He agreed, but added that he hoped it wasn't the last. This made me sad. The rumor mill in the area has been churning out some pretty strong rumors that this indeed may be the LAST 24 Hour Champion Challenge. God I hope not! It's such a great venue and course.

But then I started to think. F*CK IT! It they can't keep a race going, not my problem. They made close to $1,000 off just me over the past 5 years or so. Maybe if they didn't insist on having it Labor Day weekend, which is the same day as the uber popular SM100, maybe they would get more of a turn out, which IMHO has always been pretty damn good!). For a race, all we need are some trails and more than one person. If there's no 24CC next year, I'll race anyway. You, me, and that guy over there on the vintage GT. We'll get together and ride for a bunch of hours. You don't need fancy number plates, big prizes, t shirts, and a title sponsor to have a God damn race. Just some folks who want to see how far/long they can go. Who's up for the 12 or 24 hours of Chamois Soilage??? No prizes unless you bring one. Entry fee is a case of non shit beer OR food item to be eaten afterwards. Date, time, course, to be determined. I'm only SORT of joking about this.

I got out of the chamois, loaded my gear and headed down the mountain. I made my stop at the Six Pack Shop for my pepperoni roll and the day's batch wasn't out of the oven yet and it would be about 25 minutes. FRIG!!! THIS is why you do more than 2 laps!! Had I done the 3rd lap I would have made the drive home shoving the best pepperoni roll on earth down my pie hole at 75 mph. I guess I saved some extra calories and now I can double up on guacamole at Mad Mex tonight.

Once home, I got to see the B-Man before he headed out to a swim party with Wifey. Damn he looked cute in his Spider Man trunks and Spider Man water shoes (if that's what they call those things, hell I don't know). I then quickly did a half assed mow job on the lawn, washed my Dos Niner and ate some grub. Time to finish the last few words of this digital fish wrap, enjoy another Hop Devil (2nd Best Beer In The World) and watch a the movie Superbad that a co-worker lent me.

Road ride tomorrow if my ass isn't on fire from tonight's Mexicana.

Later.

Not Much & Ballz

Not too much going on today/night. Another day in cubical hell followed by a kick ass evening looking under rocks for bugs, playing wiffle ball and playing with Spider Man figures with B-Man. Found time for a Dogfish Head Indian Brown and a couple Hop Devils before I cooked up some Turkey Ballz for the first time in weeks. The fire is now fully stoked for tomorrows trail time on the Dos Niner.

The highlight of my day was other than playing with B-Man was finding a new chiropractor. I could not be happier with my choice. The dude was super helpful and so much better than the last dude I can't even tell you! I really can't wait for him to do more next week. Mucho happy with him.

That's about it. Time to organize for tomorrow's early trip to the mountain to meet up with some locals.

Later.

How Do You Rock When You Roll?

Last week B-Man asked me to play Spider Man guys with him. I said sure, but wanted to put some music on the hi-fi while we played. He agreed and said "you love music don't you daddy?" I said yes of course. Then he says "You love bike racing and music the most in the world huh, which one do you love most?" I said "Well I love YOU and mommy the most, but after that, I like riding and racing my bike the best. Then music." I then fired up the iPod, the music went on and Spider Man and Green Goblin had a serious throw down on the living room floor as we listened to some tunes by The Wombats. They're one of B-Man's faves ("Metro" and "School Uniforms"). Not sure what that says about me that my 4 year old boy digs the music I listen to. He's either REALLY hip or I'm REALLY lame. Please don't answer that!

Later on I started thinking about the two "loves" (bike racing and music) and started to see some similarities with the two in the form of types racers or riders. I decided to make a list using some broad stereotypes and this is what I came up with in no particular order....

1. The Beginner- The beginner mountain bike racer or rider is similar to the kid JUST getting into music. His music collection is pretty basic and is all over the place. He's not sure whether to listen to what everyone else is listening to or what he really wants to listen to. So he might have some heinous Third Eye Blind right beside some old Pavement his hipster brother has. He might have even picked up a cheap Wal-Mart electric guitar that his Camaro driving uncle taught him to play a few chords of "Smoke On The Water" on. The beginner is just starting. Treat them well and guide them on the trails. Also, please tell them to start listening to more of their brother's music and stop hanging around with his burn out uncle.

2. The Local Neo Pro Level/Elite Racer- This racer is like the dude that plays guitar in a local hair metal band. The focus is on musical ability, rocking and scoring with tarted up too tan club girls! Big hair, big guitar solos, notes galore, maybe some leather pants. They'll only play the best guitars and amps that money can buy. EVEN if it means pimping out their girl friend or selling their uncle's Camaro unbeknownst to him. In racer terms they are all about performance and winning. They want the lightest bike that their credit card can buy, refuse to pay retail for anything, and never met a sponsor they didn't like. They rarely hang out with girls, will work, but only in bike shops so they can a discount and for the opportunity to talk down to The Beginner. Indie rock, punks and alterna-kids need not apply. They mean well and of course aim to be a pro someday. Often they are just XC freaks of nature. I admire them in many ways. In other ways- not so much. For some racers, this is just a phase. For others it becomes a way of life. The next thing they know, they're 40 years old, living in their parent's basement, doing nothing but looking at some old race trophies and listening to White Snake CDs. For a precious few this phase will end early and they will one day be PRO (see #5 or will be happy being a #3).

3. The Expert Level/Elite Racer Who MAY Or May NOT Race- These are the Punk/Indie rock bands of racing. They usually have little, few or no sponsors (record label) and don't care if they do. They can woop every one's ass on the race course or local group ride and you never here a cocky peep from them. They will kick your ass on a $200 frame, $3000 dollar frame, single speed, 1x9, 2x9, fixie, full geared whatever it takes. They enjoy beer (usually Miller High Life or Pabst before/during/after a ride or race) but they can also appreciate a fine Belgian beer or craft brew come Cross season or when finances allow. Fat Marc, Buddy and their eastern PA/DE/MD peeps come to mind here. Dicky (Rich Dillen) comes close, but his love of bad beer ALL the time and hair metal disqualifies him. Plus Rich talks some serious smack (although be it funny and light hearted) Still, I'm sorry Dicky, you are in a class by yourself. Congrats.

4. The Content Expert Level Racer/Talented Sport Racer/Rider- These riders often have no hope of being a #2 or #5. This is a fine line and much akin to the indie band that signs to a major label. The indie kids think he/she sold out and the hair metal guitarist dude thinks that they have no right being on a major label to begin with. They are talented, but still have a lot of creative license. In racing terms- these folks can hang with the Elites for a few miles (or feet if you're me). They race when, where and how they want. Mostly by choice, but sometimes because they've used up all "three chords worth" of racing talent. They have jobs, family, and commitments beyond racing. They may have sponsors, but make no money. They are happy just to get some free tires or a frame at or below cost. These folks are usually hooked up with folks or shops they really like, thus making no compromises. They are kinda of like Sonic Youth or Pavement. They make/made some kick ass music, enjoyed some time on major labels, don't make any real money, and 90% of the American music buying public has never heard of them. They are also a lot like indie music fans. They can tell you about a Superchunk 7" they bought in 1989, but not be able to play one note of "Slack Mother F*cker" themselves. In bike terms it could also be the bike geek/racer geek. #4 is the genre I sort of hover around on a good day when all the stars and planets are aligned. And I gotta tell you being a Pavement (#4) can be much sweeter than being a Warrant or Poison.

5. The PRO Pro- The PRO pro is sort of like Modest Mouse. You did your time playing in shit clubs to 10 people all over the world and you now cherish your time in the big leagues. But will be fine with going back to playing to those 10 people again when your time at the top is done. In PRO bike terms this would be someone the likes of Adam Craig. Adam is PRO. He knows how to win, and how to lose. He loves the racing, but still knows how to not take the whole thing too seriously. He's professional, works with his sponsors and you can imagine that when he's done being a PRO, Olympian, etc., he'll still enjoy riding and racing his bike or drinking some beers, and maybe listening to some Modest Mouse after a day of white water kayaking. He's living the PRO life.

There are a ton of other racer/music types that I could expand on too. I mean you have the Herb Loving Hippy Rider/Racer with the dreads, patchouli oil and Phish tapes. The Angry Messenger Guy with his collection of hard core and vintage Minor Threat vinyl. The Roadies with their satellite radio tuned to whatever it is that roadies like to listen to. Seriously, what do roadies listen to? I'm sure the Euro's are listening to some Kraftwerk of Daft Punk. Or some French house music that would surely suck if it was being played anywhere else but on the iPod of some Euro Road Dog's iPod as the warms up for a time trial thinking about when his next drug testing is, and what his chances of passing are. For some reason I get a real Dave Mathews Band vibe from the U.S. road scene. Sort of that "safe" "gray" area of music.

There are a ton of sub genres and cross genre breeding and exceptions that I just don't have the fingers to type. In the end this is of course is all in jest. To each their own. The thing I love most about the cycling community, at least amongst the Enduro freaks and riders that I know, is that no one really gives a shit about anything other than the fact that we're all on bikes. Respect the bike and respect your fellow racers and riders. Ride your ride, race your race, listen to what you want and have fun on your bike. You get two wheels and one life. Don't waste it.

Later. I have to charge my iPod.

P.S. In #5 the term PRO is used. This term was stolen right from the pages of Belgium Knee Warmers. Radio Freddy has done and does it all. Mountain, Cross, and Road. I know what kind of music he likes, and it ain't shit. He gave us PRO. Learn it. Know it. Live it. Thanks Radio Freddy!

The False Downhill

I had one of those mornings where I was so tired that I could not fathom the idea of riding after work. I waffled back in forth for over an hour this morning on whether to throw the Campeon on top the Soob or not. Finally after about 30 oz. of coffee AND the fact that I saw there is way more of a chance for thunderstorms tomorrow, I figured I'd just take it. Big deal if I bail. It's not like I would have to come home to neighbors running out of their house screaming "YOU SUCK! YOU WONDER WHY YOU NEVER WIN ANYTHING! WAY TO BAIL, LOSER!" They might someday run out to ridicule me, but I have a feeling that it will be more about my uncut grass, untrimmed hedges, and STILL unfinished siding job (don't ask).

As the day progressed I got more and more anxious to ride and I was clock watching more than usual. OK, that's not true I'm an obsessive clock watcher from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. That time is meant for clock watching, thinking about my ride and planning races. If I HAPPEN to squeeze some mind numbing hack art in there, so be it! If anyone I work with is reading this (doubtful), I'm just kidding of course. I love my job and am focused on it through the entire day.

Before you know it I was in Stall #2, the spacious and inviting handicapped stall of the men's room (my personal fave) squeezing my ass into my chamois and getting ready to head out to my ride. I have to say I still hate changing in the can if someone else is in there. I imagine them thinking that I'm one of the freaky type people that takes all their clothes to take a dump. If anyone I work with is reading this (doubtful), I do not suffer from Fecalunclotheaphobia™ ! If I took me clothes off every time I pinched a loaf, I'd spend most of my day naked in the men's room (ewwww). Freaking high fiber diet!!

Annnnnyway, I made it to the ride and was glad I went. I was feeling good and content to do less concentrating tonight. In many ways that's why I love mountain biking. There's so much going on that the ride or race can fly by. I have NO idea how ultra road racers do it. I could not handle that at all. BUT having said all that, tonight I was content to ride the road and not have to do too much bike handling. OK, I did have to do a bit on one downhill towards the end, when a pick up truck was RIGHT beside me (about a foot or so) and of COURSE there was some washed out rippled patch of PA road suck. So I kept my line, bunny hopped one part of it and then eased back to plow through the rest. What really chapped my ass was seeing the doofus move clear to the left to avoid some walkers up ahead. Grrrrrr!

Have you ever encountered a "false downhill"? Not a false flat, not an uphill, but a road that you SWEAR is going down hill, but you find yourself having to pedal as if your were going up hill and there's NO head wind! What the freak? One stretch of road that I ride has a section that from what I can tell is definitely going downhill, and I KNOW it is, because this part of the ride is an out and back and I KNOW I'm going uphill on the way out! Again I ask- What the freak? It screws with my mind man!! I find myself checking to make sure I don't have a flat or that my brake isn't rubbing, EVERY time I hit this section. It's one of the cruel "f*ck with the mortal" games that the Ride Gods play on me.

At about the 1:30 mark, the legs started to get sluggish. At this point I just wanted to get home, eat and see the B-Man. Some days, the work/ride schedule just burns me out a bit. Time to take a couple days off and then hit an extended ride on Saturday in the dirt.

I just found out that Snickers Charged is a limited edition!! SHIT!!! I'll be heading out tomorrow to buy up ton of that .79¢ chocolaty, caffeinated, race "nutrition" tomorrow. To the good folks of Snickers I say... WHAT THE FREAK?? By the way, how is it that a blog about candy gets like 40+ comments and I often have to pull out all the stops to get like 3? I guess if you dig candy it does seem to be THEE resource but dammmmn. That's a lot of candy loving. I guess I need to write more about male lactation, Team Scott/American Beef, moose knuckles and Tom (the sniff) Boonen shitting the chamois at Paris-Roubaix 2 years ago if I want to draw more readers and comments! Or I guess I could just ditch the bike talk about focus on candy? Nahhh! I'm content with bikes and my peeps.

My bed beckons.

Later.

P.S. THIS song continues to be played on iPodious almost EVERY day. Damn I love it. Good stuff.

Dirt, Crap Tires & Bugs

I rolled the Mamasita at Boyce tonight. I felt much better on the bike tonight than the last time I rode it. I took some air out of the Reba's positive chamber and made some adjustments to my Ergon grips. A couple weeks ago I thought that I could make an adjustment to help me feel more at ease with the X.9 triggers. But the adjustments just made me feel all katywampuss in the cockpit area. So I went BACK to the old grip position and just realized I will never be fully comfortable with triggers given how cow eyed in love I am with the X.0 twists on my Dos Niner. It all seemed to work and I felt much better with my hand position tonight. Next year I'm ditching the triggers for sure. Personal preference.

Here's a shot of the new bridge and drainage that the P.T.A.G. folks put in at Boyce. Prior to their efforts, there were two choice to make it through a big ass mud hole.- Across a 2'x4" or through several inch deep mud. An outstanding job.

I gave the Maxxis Cross Marks another try tonight. I felt a little more comfortable with them, but I think that had to do with conditions being a smidge dryer. They roll SO fast I can see why XC race type would love them. But I'm just not feeling the love for them. Down hills with corners are frightening with them. I think I'll just stick with the IRD Fire Pros for an all rounder and the occasionally put the Panaracer Rampage on the front to add some cush. I have yet to try the Cross Mark with an Ignitor on the front due to laziness, but truth be told I seem to be having more issues with the rear. Braking into a few corners I found myself almost fish tailing and skidding. Something that I can only recall doing during the most brake grabbing emergencies in the past. So if you were to ask me if I would buy the Cross Mark again I would say- no. I will used it for long rail trail/road rides, but for my racing and riding I have to pass.

One highlight tonight was choosing to hit some old trails for the first time in a llllong time. It had been so long since I hit the trails that are across the road from the log cabin parking lot that I wasn't even sure if they were still there! They are and they were in sweet condition. There's a tree down at the base of the climb, but once over that it's up and to the right for some nice buff single track through the woods. During another sweet section I was bit by some sort of but that felt like a syringe going into my thigh. They can put a man on the moon, but the can't make insect proof Lycra!! My quad has a welt the size of a freaking grapefruit! I could see if it was a bee or wasp, but I couldn't even see what jacked me up! Grrrr!

Legs felt good and I felt good on the bike. I didn't feel like riding too long tonight. Just sort of bored with Boyce right now. So I tried to up my intensity a bit to compensate for only riding 1:30. Boogied home (literally I was shaking my ass the whole way home) and cooked up some chicken, brown rice and one of my new faves- a big, fiber full, gut blow out, salad with about a million veggies.

Off subject, but freaking strange. 5:55 a.m. today, a car drives up our front street and a dude screams on top of his lungs "I WANT YOUR DAUGHTERS!!" Nice wake up call. Idiot.

Later.

That Sucking Sound

Not much going down today. Bike related activities were limited to sending in my 24 Hour Champion Challenge registration (you have 'till this Friday to avoid the late fee, so giddy up!!!), making some adjustments to my Mamasita, and surfing the Net looking at bike shit.

I grilled up some burgers and zukes tonight. There was so much garlic on the zucchini that I have a feeling my tongue will be sprouting hair smelling of fermented garlic over night despite planned attempts to combat it. Oh well, I don't plan on making out with anyone too soon. Except Mamasita tomorrow of course.

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I saw this coolness on the Princton Tec blog:

The new Princton Tec EOS has 50 lumens is pretty impressive for a small ass, self contained light! I think my Apex (modified) is close to 60+ lumen (EDIT: my Apex has closer 80 lumens) or so, but weighs a little more since it runs on 8 AA batteries. Not sure on what the run times will be. The old EOS model had an estimated 6 hours of regulated LED light on high. I look forward to seeing more about this in the coming weeks. I'm very anxious to see how the EOS will compare to my current Apex light for secondary lighting and to see if any of the other P-Tec models, like the Switchback series, will be getting upgrades in the near future too. I'll keep you posted as I get info.

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Did you hear that sucking sound coming frome the White Oak area today? That was me getting TOTALLY freaking sucked in to Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel. Dude (Andrew Zimmern) was in Taiwan. I was intrigued since I've read and seen some of Jason B.'s travels to Taiwan (and China) and wanted to see a little more. OH MY GOD! It was insane! Chicken testicles, deep fried hen's head, chicken uterus, and Stinky Tofu. Dude sucked it down pretty good,but had to spit out the Stinky Tofu. If you're interested you can watch it right here....

I love a lot of Chinese food and my buddy Tom can cook up some SERIOUSLY good homemade Korean food, but I just cannot imagine eating some of that stuff. EVER! I mean if I was starving to death I guess I could suck down some chicken testicles but until then- I'll pass.

So there you go my Monday in a nut shell.

Later.

Sunday On The Mountain

After two days of not riding I was stoked to get back in the saddle and even more stoked to leave the road and suburban park single track behind for the ferns, rocks, and dirt of the mountains. There are many trails to choose from in then mountains of South West PA, but it's no secret that I am focused on one thing right now- NOT making a complete ass of myself at the 24 Hour Champion Challenge at the end of the month, as I seemingly have done all year at races. So to Seven Springs it was.

I've hit these trails about every weekend for the past 5 weeks now. I STILL have not got bored of them. They are just so good. My local post work single track is Boyce Park. It's tight, twisty and fun, but right now it's a tad weedy and overgrown in parts. Not to mention that the trails in the mountain seem to dry/drain better and from what I gathered in the a.m. we got a round of storms that I never heard, saw, or tasted. But from the looks of the roads both here and up at the Springs we did indeed get some rain. The trails were tacky, and sweet though.

I felt real good on the Dos Niner and it was rolling sweetly over the mountain's rocks and roots. I'm feeling real good about my race pacing, hydration and nutrition right now. Granted on race day it could all go out the window! But for right now I'm geeked. Enjoyed 1.5 bladders of Camel Back Elixir, 2 bottles of Carbo Pro (mixed with Gatorade and Hammer Endurlyte Powder), 2 Power Gels and 1 Snickers Charged bar.

I ended up rolling 3 laps/36ish miles in a about 4:45. I think my 3rd lap was actually my fastest. Wifey had dinner plans with a friend, so I need to make sure I could finish up 3 laps, stop for my pepperoni roll, and drive the 50 minutes back to the W.O. in time for her to make dinner on time. So I put the hammer down and let the Dos Niner roll just a tad faster on lap #3. I can't say enough about my Dos Niner. It's my fave bike. I only wish it had about another .5" of cush. That would rock. The bikes is SOOOO much more comfy than a hard tail, but it is in NO way a full on full suspension. That's why I will most likely be looking at using a Big Mama for races like this next year. BUT I'M also anxious to see what Salsa has planned for the Dos Niner in the near future. I'm not ruling out Dos Dos Niners! ;) Having my back NOT hurt during a race or long ride would rock. So it's either more time with a chiropractor or the Big Mama. I think I'm gonna go with the Big Mama. I trust her more! ;)

I had one of those moments today where I thanked God for my helmet. I was going through the P.S.H. rock garden at the 3/4 point of lap 2 and I tried to take the same lines as I took on the dab free lap one attempt. But this time I f*ck up my gearing, and ran out of some steam when I needed to dig a little deeper. This resulted in me tipping over to my left and having my head smash down on a slab of rock. THAT my friends is why you ALWAYS WHERE YOUR F*CKING HELMET!!

Once home it was clean up, hanging out with the B-Man and making up some Whole Wheat Pasta/Hot Turkey Sausage Casserole. I may or may not have enjoyed a couple or three brews from Dogfish Head too.

Rest day tomorrow. I need sleep BAD!

Later.

Not Even Close!

The closest I came to a being on my bike today was passing a few cars with bikes on top on my way to/from my nephew's birthday throw down. Even though I can NOT recall a Saturday void of saddle time in the last 6 months, I did my best to block that and put a half smile on my face. I hope to make up for it tomorrow. I need to get my "vertical smile" in the saddle to get some "horizontal smile" on my face.

The day was long with Wifey, B-Man and I leaving for W.V. at 11:30 and getting home around 5:45. Eeesh. We salvage some quality time by drinking a few beers on the front porch, then cooking up some White Trash Mexican (which is cooling as I type). I will probably pay dearly for the Mexican during my pre-ride weight cutting tomorrow, but hey you only live once. Right?

My timer just went off. Dirt tomorrow.

Later.

By Friday, Life Has Killed Me...

I can't recall a time that I've been happier for a Friday to make it's appearance. The beginning of my work week started off boring as shit and I found myself running out of www. addresses to legally go to at work. By Wednesday things picked up and as is the norm, but Friday I was ballz deep in automotive sales dross. I found myself salivating at the mere thought of a bevie.

I couldn't even wait until 5 P.M. today. At 4:45 I found myself with my ads cleared and unable to take anymore shite. So out the door I went. I had stopped a the local 6 pack shop to pick up a few "summer brews" (Heffe's and Hop Head stuff) at lunch time, so I was anxious to get home to hang on the porch and down a few. On top of that I cooked up some German Potato Salad and kick ass Chamois Burgers on the grill. Friday is Friday. The best day of the week. Bob Smith says- "Friday I'm In Love", Steve Morrissey says- "By Friday life has killed me" I say "It's Friday, chill your ass out, have a beer (or five) and think about where you're gonna ride this weekend!"

I'm not sure I see a ride coming tomorrow with the family stuff I need to partake in, but Sunday should find some longish saddle time if the weather cooperates. As for today I started looking to the upcoming 24 Hour Champion Challenge at Seven Springs and started to wonder if I wanted to dub my Solo 24 attempt with a "team" name or not. I came up with a few. Here they are...

1. Salford Lads Club (Solo) Presented by Bikeman.com
2. Ann Coat's Sings- Another Bikeman.com Solo Effort
3. This Charming Solo Man: 24 Hour Bikeman.com Mix

What do you think? I like them all. Who can tell me who Ann Coats is? Tell me and win nothing!! ;)
I have a feeling it will be Jason Mahokey/Bikeman.com but I like the idea of giving props to the Salford Lads Club. Who knows?

Time to finish a beer and see if I can get enough sleep to ride in the early A.M.

I was a Junior in high school. This song along with prior Smith's live recordings would help me through some of the most painful years of my life and would help me realize that the easiest roads in life are NOT always the most rewarding. Who knew?

Later.

My Dodo Legs (Can you smell my slack?)

Not sure what happened, but the legs that I had yesterday during my road ride went the way of the Dodo Bird. Work was busy as f*ck, I was a bit stressed at some incompetence that was surrounding me, and I didn't eat and hydrate as well as I normally do. All these could have played a part in the dead legs and the sort of dead brain I had on the ride tonight.

By most folk's standards I DID have a great ride. 1:30 and a quick 12.5 miles of twisty single track. But for a week night ride on single track I like to aim for 2 hours. I just felt all out of sorts tonight. Legs were OK, but not great, and was feeling odd on the bike (Mamasita). I have absolutely NO faith in the Maxxis Crossmarks beyond the rail trail and/or road. I guess I'm just too used to the IRD Fire Pro 29er bailing me out on my bad line choices. If the trail gets the least bit wet or muddy I just WAIT for impact. I can't say I'm happy with their performance on single track. At least on the front.

The Reba felt all strange tonight too. I blame the Dos Niner's Fox fork for that. It just feels SO much better to me. The Reba just felt harsh to me tonight. It's a good fork, but I just wasn't "feeling it" tonight. I also think that I have spent SO much time on the Dos Niner lately that I was way over steering the Mamasita. It's geometry is too quick handling for that. Oh well I still spent 1:30 riding some sweet trails that were 98% bone dry, even with getting a quick thunder storm a bout 30 minutes before ride time.

I also have to comment on the work that the P.T.A.G. and P.O.R.C. folks did on the trails. WOW!! Fallen trees gone, a couple of SWEET bridges put in and some preemptive drainage installed in some real troublesome wet spots. There were also a couple of tricky off camber areas that the did a little bench cut to allow them to hold up better and ride better. The only down side to seeing their work was the guilt I felt for not helping them out. From what I hear they had about 50 folks helping out and I can almost be certain that all 50 were smarter, more helpful and cooler than me. I figure I didn't get in their way and have to deal with the "how lame is this guy?" looks that I surely would have got over the day. Big thanks to them. Outstanding job!! I haven't seen kick ass trail work that since some of my trips out West. Somebody did some serious I.M.B.A. trail building research and it's going to REALLY pay off in the long run for the trails at Boyce Park.

This week has been lllllong. I'll be glad for it to end. No ride tomorrow and if I get out Saturday it will be a quickie in the a.m., since I have a family birthday party to got to in the afternoon (rideous-routineous-interuptous). But that should free up my Sunday for some hours in the mountain dirt instead of the stale road.

8 more hours of mind numbing dross left in this week and then some Friday night chillin' with B-Man, Wifey and two to four Dogfish Head Indian Browns (A.K.A. The Best Beer In The World).

Later.

Rides & Olympic Rants N'at

Do you know that feeling you get when you slip into a warm bath, or the how you body tingles when you the first drops of java start to course through your veins in the morning? Or better the way you feel when first drops of an Imperial Stout wash over your tongue on a Friday night?? Well that's how tonight's road ride felt. It just felt ggoooood. Combining 3 days of rest with many more hours of technical mountain biking in recent weeks has REALLY made the road flatten out a bit. It was pretty sweet but I'm anxious to see dirt again soon!

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So I guess there's a big Olympic hullabaloo about 4 American cyclists arriving in China for the Olympics sporting masks issued by the U.S.O.C. to guard against the air pollution. They were told they may "offend" the host country! WTF?? Don't get me wrong, I am MORE that aware that MANY Americans go swaggering around the world offending folks, thinking that everyone should speak English and act the same as folks in the U.S. But this is sort of absurd! Say what you want about when and where the athletes should wear the masks, but why the hell were they given the freaking things if they weren't allowing folks to wear them??

"When they handed us these masks,
they never said, 'Here they are, but don't wear them."
-Mike Friedman

A BIG deal has been made of the pollution in Beijing and rightfully so. It sounds bloody awful. I'm sure it would be bad in many other cities in the world too (including some right here in the U.S.). Making a big deal about freaking masks does nothing to help these athletes who have worked hard to get to the Games focus and do their best.

Austrian Thomas Rohregger had these things to say to ORF (Austrian TV)- "I hadn't thought that it would be so bad...(it's) Really awful, my lungs and even my eyes are burning. The pressure on my lungs was nearly unbearable. Three hours of training felt like six hours." Were the Chinese offended by that? Is the Austrian Olympic committee all jacked off at Thomas? Again, do not mistake me for some red, white, and blue, USA! USA! chanting, flag waving, face painted, jingoist. I hear and see many of my fellow Americans do a LOT of embarrassing things around the world. BUT I have to say that a few cyclists wearing air masks in an air port to protect against pollution and illness in the days leading up to one of the biggest events in their sporting life, is NOT really one of them. On the bright side, this is probably the most coverage U.S.A. cycling will get at the Olympics from the press! At least Joe Six Pack knows there IS cycling in the Olympics.

So to Meatball, his 3 mask wearing friends, and to the rest of the cyclists getting ready to roll on China I say... Forget this shit, wear the masks if you want, relax, have some Kung Pau, kick some ass in the saddle and then relax with a couple Tsingtaos while you heckle the silly run/walkers and synchronized swimmers.

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As far as the Mountain Bike Event goes you can check out the course profile [HERE]. Some folks on the forums were saying it looks lame, and while it's not exactly a single track course, that I would wan to ride all the time, but for an Olympic event in the middle of Beijing I don't think it looks to shabby. Looks to be a lot of room for folks to pass, so hopefully the racers wont have to get all "Euro World Cup" and start cutting across the tape when they can't pass as I've seen them do.

The course is not even 3 miles long, but it seems that the Olympics are a lot about spectators and TV, so that has to help in that department. By the way if you want to watch the Mountain Bike events they will be on 3 A.M. Eastern, August 22nd (Women's XC) and August 23rd at 3 A.M. (Men's XC). Yeahhhh, I'm not really seeing myself up at 3 A.M. to watch it. But you all out West will only have to stay up until Midnight!

I have to ask, will the Chinese be offended and will the U.S.O.C. be up in arms when they see Adam Craig on the start line with that white breathing shit rolled up and stuffed in his nose? Hmmmm. Could we have ANOTHER International incident on our hands??

Later.

*Thanks to CyclingNews.com for some of the quotes and the Adam Craig pic.

Routine of Suckage

Last night I got the road bike all set for a ride ride today. Tires pumped, computer cleared, bottles ready. Then as thoughts of traffic, and the same old roads filled my head, I said "ah f*ck it, the dirt beckons". So I ditched the road bike, grabbed the Mamasita and was geeked to hit dirt after work today.

20 minutes after I got the Mamasita ready, I came up to the rumpus room to check e-mail and shut the Mac down for the night. I double checked the weather for today. 60% chance of strong thunder storms with gusting wind and hail in the a.m. and afternoon. WHAT?? I dropped an atomic mental "F-bomb" and plunged into an unholy funk. I tried to tell myself "Hey there's a 40% chance they're full of shit". Right?

Ahh- NO! Woke up at 6:30 to light rain and by 8 a.m. B-Man was running in the kitchen to tell me that his cartoons were being interrupted "with that thing that comes on and says it's going to rain really bad!" Yeah, that would be the N.W.S. issuing a storm warning via the E.B.S. on the T.V. That all left me feeling a bit J.A.C.K.E.D. O.F.F. to say the least. Not only because it was going to suck missing a planned ride, but more because it was gonna suck for the trails at Boyce Park that the P.T.A.G. folks just did a ton of work on. If we're lucky the heavy stuff missed the Monoroeville area.

In any event I ditched the ride all together. And of course the rain mostly cleared out in the late a.m. and the afternoon storms never materialized. Sure, I could shot home grabbed my gear and made it out for a ride of some sorts, but I'm a creature of habit to a medicated fault. The "ride routine" was ruined in my eyes. That and I structure my eating and hydrating during the day around the ride. Today being non ride day found me drinking less water and eating snacks higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates and calories. So I was pretty ravenous by the time I got home. This week does have me cutting the hours back a bit to get some mojo back in the meat sticks so it's not that big a deal. Tomorrow looks to be rain free at least, so I'm sure I'll get some saddle time in.

So tonight I'll ride the couch, cruise the Net and fire up the grill. 'Cause that's my non ride routine for a Tuesday night.

Later.

Are you ready Eddie?? It's a Direct Hit!

Near The End

Today is the second day off the bike. Got some quality sleep last night but I crave more. So much that I took a small cat nap in my car today on my lunch brake. That helped break up a day that was so boring that I had to will myself not to cry at the pathetic state of my work life. Oh, well, willing one's self not to cry beats digging a ditch. Maybe. I don't know. I'm glad this little two day rest is about over. I'm anxious to get back in the saddle tomorrow.

Speaking of saddles and the getting in there of...

My beloved 3 year old fi'zi:k Nisene HP is in it's last days. The seems are splitting, the cover cracking, and a rail is bent. We've been through a lot. We've shared a couple thousand miles I'm sure. My ass loved it so. Through the good rides and bad, my anal cleft and aging glutes felt a home on it. I must apologize to you for the many morning rides that you felt the business end of "Mexican Night" or hour 24 of a Solo effort with a 24 hour old chamois. But through all the sweat and butt stank you supported me, my boyz and my sagging buns. When you do leave me, worry not about me, for I have 2 of your brothers to keep your memory alive and my boyz rolling in comfort. Our remaining time together looks to be short. But I promise to make your last days fun, and comforting. Sigh.... Memories...

Later.

I like the sound of this...

From the Speedgoat blog...

"Salsa should be really proud. They've stepped up and delivered a very solid full-suspension 29er in the Big Mama. Most importantly, it's clear even from a test ride that the bike was designed with an emphasis on fun and on rides that last all day. That's positive vibe is no easy thing to build into a bike, but the Big Mama has it."

Rides that last all day? Hey, I DO rides that last all day. Is it September yet? ;)

Later.

The Hair Of The Dog Is Overrated

Saturday night was filled with the watching of Scooby Doo 2 (holy Sarah Michelle Gellar!! What? WHAT??) with B-Man and pizza and a few brews with Wifey. I planned on taking today off the bike and usher in a couple days easier week in the saddle. But, I had a great night's sleep and when I woke up to sunshine and blue sky I was ready to hit the road today with the Campeon and fresh Maxxis rear rubber. But as departure time approached my bod seemed to be running out of steam. In other words I was ssssss-loooooooowwwww-ing ddddddowwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn.

There was no way I was gonna pull of a ride. Nor should I try to. The bod said rest. So THAT is what I was going to do. I'm not so good at resting when it's beautiful outside, BUT that's what I did. Even though I would have loved to spend the day napping and just chilling, family obligations and want/need to give Wifey some solo chill time still had me heading out to my dad's with B-Man. Oh well, I just convince myself that after 4:25 of saddle time in the mountain yesterday, a road ride today would not have lived up to expectations. Deep down I know I'm right! There is no way that a road ride was EVER going to compete with 30+ miles of mountain single track. Not in my world at least.

Tomorrow brings work (Jesus I hate my job. Always have. Always will) and more resting. Tonight brings burgers on the grill, maybe some grilled zukes, and some corn on the cob. Time to make like a banana and get out of here. Or something like that.

Later.