Catch Up & An Eye On The 401

Catch Up...

Wow, Friday really got away from me. Brad and I rode Boyce yesterday for about 2:30, then with Wifey off and B-Man around there was a lot of house stuff to catch up on. By "house stuff" I mean I needed to get some serious Wii soccer playing in (A.C. Milan still rocking it... Kaká!!), talk to my friend Tom for a bit on the phone, hang out with Wifey, play with B-Man, and cook up some kick ass Whole Wheat Rigatoni Hot Turkey Sausage Pasta Bake whilst enjoying a few beers. Wifey says I many have had one too many, but I was all caught up with my domination of Serie A. Can you blame me?

The ride on Friday was OK. I sort of felt sluggish and felt like I was holding Brad back. He's in some killer shape and rocking a new Salsa Moto Rapido. Unlike me, the returning cold temps did not phase him. I think it's the Wisconsin blood in his veins. A combination of cheese and Schlitz makes him impervious to the cold. Anyway I didn't have the planned 3+ hours in me Friday. Riding with Brad made me realize I REALLY need to work on my corning skills. I waste a LOT of energy with my hard braking in the corners. I lack "flow". Gotz no flow. Still 2:30 in the dirt was nice, even if it was colder. Wifey did point out to me last night that 6 months on blood thinners might have SOMETHING to do with my sensitivity to the cold. She might be right, but that also makes me feel like I'm about a season away from adult diapers and dentures.

_____________________________________________

Practice For The 401

In 2009 I hope to get 4 hudies in. One of which being the Wilderness 101, which tacks on an extra mile, so I'm aiming for 401 miles of racing in the N.u.E. series. I'm calling it "401 Miles In The Pursuit of Free T-Shirts and Beer". Practice for those 401 miles of racing started today with a drive to the mountains of Western PA, 3:40 in the saddle and 30+ miles of dirt and forest road. With a TON of that time spent going UPhill. Uphill slowly I might add. ;)

Actually I felt pretty OK on the climbs. The Dos Niner is such a great bike for a ride like this. I also experimented with getting out of the saddle on the climbs more. With the Fox locked out, I was able to middle ring much more of the climbs, and give my ass and back a rest. It also got me up the climbs faster.

Most of the trails were dry or tacky. On the climb up from the warming hut on North Woods I did need to hike a bike a stretch as the there was a bit more mud and it was at the most inopportune time, making it just as fast to walk. I ditched the long rocky descent down Mountain Streams trail. Opting for Auckerman Road. Auckerman is still a junk kicker, with lots of loose gravel, embedded rock and steep 28 mph parts. 28 mph is great, but hard to enjoy when you know that when you get to the bottom you will eventually have the BIG ASS climb up Camp Run Road.

My saddle was a real pain in the ass today (no pun intended). I switched to my Race Face CF post. It's a great post, but the saddle would NOT stay put in the clamp. Long climbs on rocky, rooty trails, there's a lot of saddle sliding betweenst my aging, flabby ass cheeks and it would cause the saddle to move fore/aft. I can NOT clamp in down any tighter. What the frig??

The temps when I got to the trail head were in the high 30s. Cold but it it HAD been in the low 20s in the early a.m., so I guess high 30s was sorta better. It would climb to the high 40s. With the amount of climbing I did today, it didn't take long for me to ditch my jacket and just go with arm warmers (BTW I FINALLY found my Cannondale arm warmers!!) and leg warmers. Would have been nice to have had some temps in the 60s or 70s for the ride, but hey, at least the snakes stayed at home!!

It was great to return to the mountains for the first time since last November. I've missed it. Riding up there is my fave. There just so much varying terrain- forest roads, double track, snow mobile trails, single track, some short road sections, and climbs that you can just NOT get from you local county park single track loop. I Heart Mountains!

Now I introduce my foray into erotic poetry...

Supple white skin but with a golden brown hue.
Soft to the touch, With a scent of spicy passion.
I longed to taste her.
She felt warm in my hands.
I peeled off her layer of tight plastic wrap.
The smell... the taste... I missed her so...
GOD DAMN I LOVE THE HOMEMADE PEPPERONI ROLLS
AT THE 6 PACK SHOP/PIZZA SHOP
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MOUNTAIN!!

Really enjoyed the drive home, listening to some tunes, sore from a long ride and munching the best pepperoni roll I ever tasted.

Time to cook up some food, have a beer or two, and hang with my best mates (Wifey and B-Man).

Later.

p.s. I made it into the "teens" in ride hours for the fist time in a lllong time this week. SWEET!