The Same But Different

[10:45 PM EDIT] NICE!...

"Hey Y'all!

The trail is an ice sheet, it'll probably be crunchy, muddy, and just plain nasty for the race.

Perfect for the inaugural SNOTCYCLE!!"

Busy day today. First the Dos Niner needed dropped off at Pro Bikes for some love. LBofH is gonna put some new cables/housing on for me and re-Stan's me if needed. Then it was home to get my BIG ring workout in, do a bunch of house shit, make dinner and pack for Leesburg. I've never packed for an XC race before. I REALLY feel like I'm forgetting something. I'd have even less shit if this was a spring/summer race. But who knows how many layers I'll need?? Even with all those layers, one BIG ASS bag and a big ass wheeled bike will do. I'm used to my whole living room being stacked with tents, bags, bikes and equipment. It's kinda nice.

I saw that the Lumberjack 100 is now sold out. Man, I'm glad I signed up when I did! Speaking of hundies... while sitting at work today, not really working at all, I was thinking about how geeked I am for the coming season and my attempt to race at least four 100 mile races in the N.U.E. series.

I started looking back to 2007 (the last time I did some 100s) and read a couple posts from June of that year. I thought it was funny to see these quotes from me then:

"I regret not sticking to my plan of doing 4 of the NUE series or more this year. I wish I was heading to Michigan for the Lumberjack"

"I said it before, I'll say it again- 100 milers rock! Granted I've only done three (2 Mohican 100s and 1 (edit-now two) Wilderness 101 but those are three of the best races I've ever done. Not the best RESULTS, but the best races."

Nice! Looks like in 2009 I WILL be heading to the Lumberjack and I WILL be doing at least 4 of the races. I hope I feel the same way at the end of 2009! I have no doubt I will.

Gotta get some stuff done. Off to Leesburg with 3 other dudes and maybe one chicky tomorrow. How many bike geeks can you fit into one hotel room?? Race report Saturday night or Sunday. Wifey informed me that Spring officially starts the day I do my first race. So forget about the snow and ice!! WELCOME SPRING!!

Later.

A Foot In The Slush Puddle

Today just shit. OK, that's a lie. I took a personal day at work to just chill at home so a day off of work is pretty damn OK in my book, but my personal day of "chill" soon turned into the whole family home. Wifey's work got cancelled, B-Man stayed home too, so we were all stuck inside whilst ice, rain and slush piled up outside. Just miserable. I spent 5 minute outside all day and it just a miserable experience filled with the Xb sliding down a hill (thankfully stopping before the intersection) and my feet becoming soaked with ice and slush. But f*ck it. It's winter. That's what happens in the winter here.

The good(ish) news is that the next 3 days look to be pretty good down in Leesburg for Snotcycle. It might be cold but the misery should be at a minimum for the 4 or 5 of us heading down. Goal for the race? Top 20. There are 60 guys in my class and this is the first XC in a LONG time, so I'll be happy with that. I of course want to do better, but for 60 dudes, I'll be happy with top20. That and beating Fort James! HA!

I had planned on using the Mamasita saturday, but I want the Dos Niner's wheels, and I didn't want to get into all the cassett, rotor swapping, etc., So I talked to Tim (A.K.A. Little Ball of Hate) today and I'm gonna drop my Dos Niner off to get some minor work done on it tomorrow at Pro Bikes. It's be shifting like shit, and now I know why- the freaking housing is all f*cked up (A.K.A cracked) in one spot. So some new cables, housing, and a few other tweaks and she should be good for Saturday's XC sufferfest (at least for me). God bless bike mechanics. For they do what I know not.

Later.

'09 Race Geekness (12" Wintry Mix Version)

Wheels are SERIOUSLY in motion for the 2009 season and I have to say I've not been this stoked for a season in a while. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to and LOVE every race season, but this one just seems new and different, even though I plan on doing many of the same races as in years past. I'm not sure why?

I guess I feel pretty good about my potential fitness, and I'm TOTALLY psyched about my race bikes- the ever popular, much velo-sturbated over Salsa Dos Niner and the spanky new, direct from Salsa, yet to be built because I don't have all the parts yet Big Mama. I'm also pretty excited for doing more new N.U.E. Series races and less Solo events. Hell, I'm already officially signed up for 2 hundies-Mohican and Lumberjack, hotel rooms booked, etc. I dig the Solo thing and I of course look forward to the LBD in April. I've waffled a lot this winter on race plans but I have to say I have no real desire (this year) to go beyond the 13 hour mark. Solo 5, 6, 8, 12, and 13 hour races - you have my attention. 24? Not this year. Maybe it's the money, maybe it's the lack of enjoyment, or maybe it was the DVT scare that I still believe stemmed from Seven Springs? Who knows?

What I do know is that 2009 is all about the BIG RIDE! The 100 mile race, Marathons, all day ride in the mountains, and underground race shenanigans with my fellow race geeks. Then of course I'll be throwing in some "one-hitters" in the form of some XC races down in W.V.

I'm also pretty happy to finally have met some friends and teammates who are into the same kind of racing that I'm into. AND are into the idea of traveling to races together and sharing expenses. That takes some of the cash guilt out of the season, and just makes the race experience even more fun. Looking forward to sharing the joy of pain with those guys this year and introducing them to that which is known as "The Hundie"! I know I'm looking forward to them RE-introduce me to XC racing. Should be a fun season.

Gotta go, poop to do, Wintry mix on the way, and I got me a personal day tomorrow, to lay around and be a jag off all day. OR get in some spinning and core stuff? Hmmm.

Later.

IN JANUARY!!!

Only 5 days until my first race of 2009- Snotcycle presented by Plum Grove Cyclery down in Leesburg. This one feels strange because it's an XC race... an XC race IN JAN-U-F*CKING-ARY! WTF? This will be my first XC race in 6 or so years. Even though it's all for shitz and giggles to chase the winter blahs way (as far as I'm concerned) I'm still a bit nervous on how I'll do. Either way it should be fun and nice to get away from the Dubya-OH for a night. Even crazier than all that is the fact that there are almost 200 folks signed up for the race. IN JANUARY!!!

On the subject of racing, the April 18th Leesburg Bakers Dozen is OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT! 400+ spots GONE! In just a few days. SOME people failed to shit whilst on the pot, and now are NOT racing. To Brad's credit BikeReg.com threw him a registration c*ck block and was down for a bit this weekend. There are SEVENTY FOUR other riders in my class! This is the biggest solo field I've EVER been a part of. And there is a LOT of talent and a LOT friends and familiar names on that list. And that's just the Solos! I think I know more people coming to this race than I know in my neighborhood! I LOVE IT! I just can't believe a race in April is sold out.. IN JANUARY!!

Got some paperwork from my employer today. The clock is officially ticking. I have 45 days to sign 'em and have the weight of 16 years of stress and bitterness taken of my shoulders or endure more and risk a lay off anyway. I think I endure enough during races. Give me a pen. Just not yet! No use being off when the weather's shit! Eh?

Later.

Keep A Low Profile Sunday

I kept it reallllll chill today. Just hung with my family, cruised the Net and worked a bit more on my new "project". I also made some REAL progess on my Yakima rack for the XB. I was having a bitch of a time getting the Q-clips locked in place. The directions made it sound like they should "slide right in". Yeah, there is a LOT more finesse involved and I can't believe the directions have you doing the part with the rack in place on top the the car. There was NO WAY I was getting those clips in place with the think resting on the car. Eeesh. I could bitch more, but I did finally get them in, so I won't.

I have to go do some shopping for a seat post. Freaking eBay! There are some great prices out there on eBay, but you have to watch you don't get sucked into that I NEED TO "WIN" THAT!! Next thing you know you're paying retail price for a used seat post. So beware! eBay can be a cold, cruel bitch mother. eBay pulled an incredible marketing coup when they convinced people they were "winning" stuff, not BUYING stuff. Careful out there kids.

EDIT: Found a huge deal on the Race Face Deus XC Seat Post. This is the same post that comes on the the Big Mama Complete bike. This one will have a place on my Big Mama "incomplete" bike :)

I could continue to blather on about nothing in particular, but I feel like I should pay some bills instead. Thus avoiding Debtor's Prison.

Later.

Basking In The Glow

Don and Brad convinced me (OK, shamed me) into breaking me out of winter trainer hibernation and heading to Boyce with them for a ride in the snow today. Goddamn am I glad I did. It felt so freaking good to be in the woods on my bike.

We lucked out and after having temps in the 40s yesterday, they shot down like a bullet into the 20s today. This made the trails a combination of hard pack and ice, but without a trace of mud! I think the Mamasita is cleaner now than when I started the ride.

There were a few deep snow hike-a-bikes, and some slick ice patches that threw each one of us down at least once. But it was a hell of a work out and a blast nonetheless. I'm so geeked I went! Thanks for the shaming Don! Aaron did his share of shaming me into going too, but somehow didn't make it today. Maybe the next time? ;)

I felt strangely good on the bike. Granted it was hard to get a real gauge given the conditions, but I felt pretty spanky. Maybe it was just being outside to ride or maybe it was the 8ish pounds I've lost, but I'm feeling pretty good about my January fitness and look forward to next weekends Snotcycle race in Leesburg.

In the end it tooks us over two hours do 13ish miles, but it was a blast. Even smacking my elbow on the ice couldn't stop me from enjoying a ride in the woods with some good riding buddies.

The funny thing about the pic above is that it was taken at about mile 3 and my bottles were already slushed up. Nice!

I'm working on a new "project". I've been pretty obsessed with it lately. I was gonna save working on it until after I "voluntarily separate" from my employer, but figured "what the f*ck?" and have been knocking out some work on it. It's bike related of course and I hope to make some more progress on it in the next few days so that I feel more comfy sharing it with you all. Stay tuned. You might dig it... OR you might think it's shit. Either way, I'm happy to have some new motivation and goals for life.

Later.

Not As Planned

Friday did not go as planned. Friday should be a day of slack in my book. Do what you want, get geeked for the weekend. But oh no, I had to do REAL work today. Frig! The Steelers in the Stupor Bowl is really cramping my style at work. If I have to type "big game" "super savings" etc., one more time I might go insane! Oh well, my days there are winding down so f*ck it. :)

My plan was to then come home and get my Yakima rack on the Xb. Could Yakima make it any harder to do?? "slide clips in" slide my ass!! It's was like a freaking puzzle. After 2 hours I said "f*ck it". I'll finish it next week. NOW I have to do a ride tomorrow and put a potentially muddy as hell bike in the back of my 1 month old Box. Great. Freaking Yakima!! I curse you!!

Got registered for the Bakers Dozen today. Holy crap! 280 folks signed up in just over 24 hours!! 80 of the folks are Solos of some sort!! Some of the geared Male Solos include me, Plum Grove Pete, Travis, Matt M., surely Mr. Bob Anderson and MAYBE Pete W.!! OMG! This one is gonna be huge. This is what happens when you put on an event with great trails, free camping, great shwag, and DON'T charge an arm and a leg for entry.

Got my tires changed for tomorrow's snow/mud/sludge fest with the Argyle boys. Should be fun. Or not.

Poop to do. Later.

Do Your Remember The First Time?

Like the title says- Do you remember the first time? Meaning do you remember your first endurance event? Solo, Team 24, 100 miler, 12 Hour... Share. I'd like to know. What made you go back for more or what made you say "never again!".

Later.

Plans Continue

For it not even being Februar, race plans are coming together fast! Registrations are filling up quickly for a variety of races, and God forbid I don't get a chance to travel hundreds of miles and pay hundreds of dollars to suffer like a dog in the name of mid pack obscurity! Hey, someone has to finish 110th right?

Today I made the my decision- The Lumberjack 100 beat out The Fools Gold 100. The Fools Gold is probably more my style, but The Lumberjack won out due to it being closer, and giving me a longer break in between hundies. It's 3 weeks after Mohican oppose to Fools Gold being 2 weeks after The Wilderness 101. This should break the NUE Series up pretty good for me and still allow me to get 4 races in.
The bad part (or good part depending how I feel at a particular moment) is that from all accounts the Lumberjack is a real ball buster and has broken the spirt of even hardened professionals. It also throws a stick in the spokes of the best part of the a hundred mile races in that it's four 25 mile loops rather than ONE big ass 100 mile loop. Part of me says "who give a f*ck?" considering I've done 100+ miles in fourteen 7.5 mile laps. Now THAT is some mind fornication!

You do have to love this description:

"...fast rolling terrain offers twists and turns that demand constant power, and total concentration as the trails quickly turn to nothing more than green blurs of forest. (If you’re expecting easy, fire-road coasting, look elsewhere!) Ninety nine percent of the 25-mile, 4-lap race is comprised of this single track that will eventually push racers over 10,000 feet of total elevation gain."

Power? I'm all about POWER (Note sarcasm. Then again maybe I AM, considering I don't climb that well? Hhmmm.) 99% single track? Hell yeah! Gonna plant my ass on the Big Mama and power through 100 miles as best I can, hoping to come in less than 3 hours behind Eatough and his ilk. Either way, I'm stoked! Like the Jimmy Dugan quote I've used a million times before to describe endurance racing- "It's supposed to be hard, if it was easy, everybody would do it it's the hard that makes it great." Jimmy is wise. Or at very least Jimmy is Tom Hanks.

Tomorrow I need to throw down more jing for the LBD. Speaking of Leesburg... Don, Brad, The Little Ball of Hate and I are all heading down to Snotcycle next week. It's a amazing to me that there are currently 165 racer signed up for an XC race.. IN JANUARY! I LOVE IT!! I think that speaks volumes about what kind of race Plum Grove Rob puts on AND the love for the sport that we all share. When most folks will be in "Stupor Bowl Hibernation/Inebriation Mode 165+ folks are willing to pay to go out and have some fun in a cow pasture in the middle of winter. Some (we 4) willing to drive 3.5 hours to do it. Should be a fun time and a nice way to blow some stink off me.

Heading up to Papa O's tomorrow night to borrow his garage to put the bike rack on the Xb. Then I'm Saturday I'm meeting up with some folks to ride in the slop. Should be an adventure.

Later.

The Post That Got Away

Anxious for the end of the week so I can get some wheels in motion on some race plans. I also need to pick up a part or two on the cheap from eBay for O-Funk (Big Mama). I need a seat post 31.6 x 400+ for her and was damn close to a Thomson on eBay the other night. I was getting if for a sweet price with 20 minutes to go. Got cocky and went and watched some of the "Stillers" game. Came back 20 minutes AFTER the auction's end to see some rat bastard f'ed me. Frigin' STEELERS!! Grr!!!. I watch 20 minutes of a game all year and they f*ck me.

So I have a couple leads on some super good prices for a Race Face or Thomson, but I don't want to dip into the piggy until after pay day. I think I also want to register for The Lumberjack and get lodging squared away. I think I would rather do the Fools Gold course, but that's a longer drive, to the South, in August. So I'll make an attempt at registering for the L-Jack 100. If I can't get in, then Fools Gold it will be. Won't be too bad if I do the FG100 since it's named after one of my favorite Stone Roses songs. Right??

Still unsure how to get my bikes built up this year, here are some of the basic parts and most likely plan:

Frame: Salsa Dos Niner 29er
Fork: Fox 32 F-29, 100mm
Brakes: Hope Mono Mini, 6-Bolt, 180F/160R Rotor
Crankset: Shimano XTR, 44-32-22
Cassette: SRAM 11/34
Wheels: Stans Arch 29er Rims/Hope Pro II Hubs/Stan's Tubeless
Front Derailleur: XT
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X.9 or X0
Shifters: SRAM X0 Twists
Seatpost: Race Face Carbon or Thomson
Seatpost Clamp: Salsa Lip-Lock
Saddle: Fizik Nisene HP

Salsa Big Mama
Fork: Reba 100mm or Fox 32 F-29, 100mm (this year?)
Headset: NEED
Brakes: Avid Juicy Ultimates, 6-Bolt, 180mm Rotor
Crankset: Shimano XT, 44-32-22
Chain: SRAM 9-Speed
Wheels: Bontrager Mustang 29erRims/Hope Pro II Hubs/Stan's Tubeless
Cassette: SRAM 11/34
Front Derailleur: Coming Soon
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X.9
Shifters: SRAM X.o Twists
Seatpost: Thomson or RaceFace
Saddle: Fizik Nisene HP

As I mentioned the BIG MAMA will be the comfort bike and the Dos Niner will be built a tad lighter for races with a LOT of climbing and XC. I thought I had a plan mapped out to keep the Mamasita as a training bike/CX rig, but I think I would rather sell it and use the money for a Fox. I'm gonna try to sell it as a package first, to save myself the aggravation of tearing too much of it apart. Of course I will have some time on my hands in a month or so.

To be sold in some form (packaged or separate)

Frame: '07 Salsa Mamasita (Large) Black, w/small dent in top tube.
Fork: 2006 Rock Shox Reba Race 29er, Silver 100mm Headset included.
Front & Rear Brake: Hope Mono Mini, 6-Bolt, 160mm Rotor
Crankset: Shimano XT, 44-32-22T
Front Derailleur: Shimano XT
Shifters: SRAM X.9 Triggers
Cost? Hmmm... make me an offer: jmahokey1 (at symbol) comcast.net

I spend hours doing these "virtual builds". I love it. Keeps my mind going and focused on good stuff. Bikes, race planning and my attempts at winter training are the things that keep me going sometimes and avoiding the fact that there is snow and ice all over the place right now.

Speaking of attempts at winter training...
Why does this thing hurt me in so many ways??

Later, I got me bikes to virtually build!

Schedules, Goals, And Ideas

It happened today... Today was the day I looked at my potential race schedule and said- "This just won't do!" I need to get my races and goals prioritized! I know what types of races are most important to me. My "A" Races are Endurance Races- The solos, the hundies and anything over 40 miles on dirt. The "B" races will be my attempt at XC racing for the first time in what I believe is 6 years. The "C" races will be Cross races and anything in between.

OK, so I now have my races prioritized, now I need to focus on my goals for the season:

1] I would like to qualify for the NUE Series. Even if I'm DFL, I would like to get 4 races 100 miles races in. I think it would be cool to hit some new venues, see some new places, ride some new trail and meet some new folks. This will involve some travel, but that can be half the adventure of a race season.

2] I want to do at least 2 to 3 Solo events. They will be under 24 hours and I want to do well. I don't care about winning, but smelling a top 5 spot would be nice.

3] I would like to finish high in the W.V.M.B.A. points in Vet Sport. Whiv-Im-Ba races are some of the toughest on the east coast and as I mentioned above, my ass hasn't done a "ballz out" XC race in about 6 years. The trouble here is that I really don't know WHAT to expect of myself AND I need 5 points races to qualify. Working 5 races in amidst the planning, build and recovery time of an endurance season in going to be tough.

There are a couple XC races that I plan on doing that are sanctioned by W.V.M.B.A. but are non points races. Frig! I won't be disappointed if I don't do well or qualify. My main goal is to try to get faster, but doing fast races with faster people.

4] I plan putting together a few low key "large spirited group training rides" where the one who does the best gets some cash money. Some of you know about this already and will be getting more details as the season progresses.

5] Number 5 is bike and race related, but not really a "race goal". I realized today that I love the creative side of things when I can work on the creative things I WANT to work on (ahem- BIKES!) That's sort of why I blog so much. I love the writing, taking pics, creating my banners, etc. ALL in the name of bikes and endurance racing. I have an idea that I hope to bring to fruition in 2009 or worst case 2010. It will involve a LOT of what you see here on The Soiled Chamois but I want it to be bigger than me. It might even involve YOU too. I might just be riding some evening spin endorphin high, but I feel like I MIGHT have something just different enough to work and be fun. Much to think about on #5.

__________________________________________________________________

So having blathered on about the races, this is schedule. It looks like a lot, but keep in mind there is NO WAY I will be doing all of these, especially all the XC races. I just need 5 points races from those. I haven't got the time or talent to pull all of this off. Got me a Wifey and B-Man too. This is just thinking out loud, throwing shit against the wall type schedule planning.

The races in BOLD are Enduros and they take first priority over all else. And remember "A" does not mean I plan to try to "win" a race, it just means those are races I that will need/get the most attention from me in terms of prep, build, focus, and recovery.

01/31: Snotcycle XC (C)
03/08: Camp Hilbert 5 Hour (B/C, just want to test the legs)
04/05: Wilderness Challenge XC-No Points (C)
04/18: Leesburg Bakers Dozen 13 Hour Solo (A)
05/03: WVMBA Challenge at Mountwood (B)
05/17: WVMBA Tour de Lake XC (B)
05/30: Mohican 100 (A)
06/20: Lumberjack 100 (A) OR 06/21 WVMBA Applachian Classic XC (B)
or
06/27: 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey (A)
07/05: WVMBA Race To lil Moe's XC (B)
07/19: WVMBA Valley Falls XC (B)
07/26: WVMBA Little Beaver Challenge (B)
08/01: Wilderness 101 (A)
08/16: WVMBA Dirt Derby XC (XC) or 8/15: Fools Gold 100 (A)
08/30: WVMBA Black Bear Race XC (B)
09/06: SM100 (A) or Seven Springs Solo (A)
If out of N.U.E. "qualifying I'll just do 7 Springs.
09/20: WVMBA Henry Clay XC (B)

Thanks for letting me fling mental race poo tonight. Tomorrow- Bike choices and gear. The fun stuff!

Later.

To Improvise, To Adapt

Today was a Monday in every sense of the word. I slept like shit last night and paid for it this morning. It was the icing on the wet turd cake that was a weekend with only ONE hour of riding.

We got hit with a nice amount of snow yesterday and it sucked the motivation to train out of me harder than the infamous "golf ball through garden hose" chick we all heard about in high school. I just could NOT get any mojo going. I broke out the XC skis yesterday, but they never made it past the living room. So one hour on the trainer and 25 minutes of core exercises is all I got in two days off. Oh hell, maybe it was just my mind/body's way of telling me to take a chill week. So I chilled. I wasn't happy. But I chilled.

I spent two days looking for my heart rate monitor chest strap. I looked everywhere! It was driving me nuts! I thought I found it before my ride tonight, but it ended up being an old strap and didn't work. So I had "improvise and adapt". Forget what the monitors say and just listen to my legs. After a 10 minute warm up, I just found a gear that burned like hell and held it for 40 minutes. After a 10 minute cool down my legs had this to day- "I hate you". Oh well, I guess it worked then.

After my work out I did a bit more searching and sniffing for my chest strap. I knew I could smell sweat and saliva coated plastic somewhere. Sure enough I was lead to my bedroom. More searching and there it was! My chest strap! It somehow got mixed in with a basket of dirty clothes.

Once I was done basking in the glory of found fitness equipment I headed down to make some dinner. As I mentioned yesterday I've become a chipotle pepper fan. I also dig yams and had a couple in the kitchen. I knew I had read about someone making a Smashed Yams with chipotle peppers before. A quick Google search found me a few recipes. Non were really working for me, so I had to improvise, to adapt. Here's a basic look...

The found recipe:
5 large yams
5 tablespoon butter
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced
Pinch of salt

What I Did:
1 Large 380g yam
1 TBS Olive Oil
2 Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced
Kosher Salt/Pepper to taste.
All mashed up, and served as a side to some chicken sandwiches

NOTE: That I did all sorts of substituting BUT neglected to cut back on the chipotle peppers! Yeah, they tasted OK, but left some serious burn going down. I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow a.m.. Next time ONE PEPPER!! I really never thought about these two items together, but it really worked IMHO. I'll be trying them again soon, but with less peppers and a couple other slight changes.

Later.

Food Thoughts

Many of you know that I like to cook AND I love to eat. You may also remember me commenting in the past that I used to love to eat WAY TOO MUCH! Like 300 pounds too much. That was a good 16 or 17 years ago and I like to not think about it. Anyway, since defattifying myself, discovering cycling and becoming an endurance athlete (I have to say I feel embarrassed calling my self an "endurance athlete" but hey, the second you get that Bikereg.com receipt in your e mail's in box you become one in my opinion) I have become even more zealous about my cooking and eating.

I truly believe that athletes, both professionals and amateurs alike do more of their OWN cooking than the general public. Even when I cook "badly", that is to say with "extra cheese" or meats not all that great for you like sausage or pepperoni, I still like to be in control of the amount and and the sort of meat it might be. Leaning towards lower fat cheeses "bad" meats like turkey sausage or turkey pepperoni. I just like the control of the meal, EVEN when the meal is "bad" for me, I don't like it to be "over the top" bad for me. That's what beer is for! And I'm even loosing my desire for that lately.

I like to browse through magazines like Clean Eating, Oxygen, Cooking Light and books that Wifey gets from the library for ideas. I'm not sure if I've ever really followed a complete recipe from any of them, but I get a ton of ideas. So many recipes call for ingredients or procedures that are just too time consuming when you work 8 hours, come home, ride for 1 to 2 hours, shower, play with your kid and still have to make dinner. I mean I've read magazines where they'll want you to make refried beans from scratch. Seriously?? You really think I have time for that, when I can open up a can of fat free refried beans that cost me a $1.50? I mean I'd LOVE to make my own RFBs someday, just to say I did it and see how they turned out, but it's just not possible with a schedule like mine.

I also see recipes that in my opinion are just not that suited for endurance athletes. Some of the magazines that I mentioned above are geared more towards getting lean and dropping as many calories as possible from a dish rather than providing the athlete with meals to fuel a long workout or a race. I want "fuel", but I still want it to taste good and I want it to be fast.

I hate to repeat stuff I read or see on other blogs but this one bares repeating- Jeff Kerkove posted about a site called Culinary Competitor last week. What a cool site and a great idea! I'm not moved to send "fan e mails" too often, but within 20 minutes of reading their site, I found myself sending off an e mail to them giving them some serious props. Many of the meals I still don't have the time or the culinary skills to make (maybe Harp does!), but the whole concept of a web site devoted to athletes cooking for themselves is one that I'm REALLY into. The site is already good and has so much more potential. I really think that the site could be and will huge with athletes who like to do their own cooking.

Who knows, if they decide to create a section for culinary "ham and eggers" like me, maybe you might just see my turkey ballz on there some day! ;)

On one last "culinary note"
I'm now a huge fan of Chipolte Pepper in Adobo sauce.

I've Been making a chicken and rice dish with them and IMHO it rocks. It's a spicy, smoky flavored protein/carb kick in the rectum. Gotz to love the Chipolte Pepper ;)

OK, NOW I'm hungry!

Later.

Down With The O-Funk

As you may have noticed from today's earlier post, the Big Mama arrived from the land of 10,000 bike parts yesterday and is rockin' eleven-forty-seven. Super stoked to mount the Big Mama for long ass days in the saddle this year.

As I also mentioned earlier, I can't thank Salsa enough for the opportunity. When I started doing endurance races 5 years ago, I NEVER would have thought that I would get opportunities like this. I'm truly blessed. Long time readers know that you're not gonna see me on the box too often, but you will see me doing my best, pushing myself, and having fun in that "shit, this really f*cking hurts" kind of way. I'm glad that folks like Salsa, (as well as T6, Pro-Bikes, SRAM, Princeton-Tec, and Ergon can see past the results and see my passion and pure love of our sport. Thanks.

OK, now having said all that "I love you man" stuff, time to post some pics, and give some first impressions of the frame.

The frame is really a work of art. Not so much in an aesthetic way (although I do dig it), but more in all the forged parts and tube manipulating. The top tube especially will allow for nice stand over clearance in rock gardens and technical trails. It just seems like everything on the frame was truly thought out. Even down to the use of Enduro sealed cartridge bearings. Nice to see them used, you get a bunch of moving parts, being thrashed in the mud it's nice to have some quality bearings.

The "orange funk" is a much more subtle orange that of the Dos Niner. Some might hate it, some might love it. I in no way hate it, but I am more partial to the Dos Niner's in you face orange. I love the the new graphics that Salsa is using, Much more subdued than in the past.

One thing I did notice is that the Big Mama is indeed a big boned gal. She has a good 3.5 pounds or so on my large Dos Niner (EDIT- that' s an exaggeration, she's 2.5 lbs. heavier). BUT there's something about the way she feels that just feels "solid" and really that's what I want from an all day (and maybe all night) trail/race bike. The Big Mama is like the Serena Williams of bikes. "Bigger" than what most of the world expects a woman's body to be like, but built like a brick shit house, strong enough to shove a tennis ball down your throat with a 125 mph serve and still have some curves left to give me a stir in the loins. That's sort of what I think the Big Mama is gonna be like. You might not want to haul her around during a race with 10,000' of climbing, but you WILL want her jello on bed springs 4" of cush under your ass after 10+ hours in the saddle during a Solo effort or all day ride in the mountains. I'm lucky that I'll have two great bikes to choose from for racing this year. XC races and Hundies will have me on the Dos Niner and most of my Solo events will be on board the Big Mama (Code Name: O-Funk. Alias: Serena)

Now I need to get a few more parts and decide whether she'll get my Fox, my Reba or if the Reba will be sold with the Mamasita to pay for a new Fox. Hmmmm. Ok, enough about the Big Mama... for NOW! ;) For more info on the Big Mama click HERE and download a PDF information sheet.

_______________________________________________________________

We went to a great dinner party last night. Had a lot of fun and I drank beer for the first time in 16 days. I found myself not really enjoying It and feeling guilty for drinking it, yet I still drank a few (I'm an idiot) it made me ill and I sort of felt like shit this morning. I laid around in my P.J.s until 2 p.m.. Then I finally started feeling myself and had a great workout on the trainer. Did a set of twenty 30 second intervals along with a warm up and cool down. Who would have thought I would have felt so good on the bike after getting home at 1 a.m. and feeling like shit in the gut. I might be done with beer for a good while. Seeing the good results on the scale (down about 6 pounds now) and feeling good on the bike is a much better feeling right now than even a good beer. The lure of a good beer is strong, but the lure of dropping 10 more pounds and riding and racing better is much stronger.

Man, it's late, time for bed. I leave you with the quote of the week that a REAL friend posted on my Facebook page -

"Last night I was leafing through the city paper and came across an advert for the Moz show. My girl says, "Morrisey you gotta give it up." I punched her in the face and then listened to Louder than Bombs. - I.P.

Dude that was too much! It makes me laugh every time I read it. Thanks.

Later.

Hey Big Mama

I can't say thank you enough to Salsa for the chance to ride a Big Mama in 2009. Love will be given indeed! In the form of hundreds of miles, millions of calories, huge bonks, and top tube vomit incidents. It's a "special love" we'll share.

Gotta spin.

Later.

Slow Burns And Burning Calories

Damn it's cold. I mean friggin' COLD! I actually looked forward to climbing on the trainer tonight. That's about the only way I would be able to sweat today.

Tonight was LOW 50-60 RPM stuff. B-Man came down to visit me and asked why I was moving so slow. It's hard enough to explain to a 4 year old why you are on a bike going nowhere, let alone why you're on a bike going that slow. It was sort of the same reaction he had the other night when he saw me get down to do my Plank exercises and said "you're not even moving, why is that exercise". I of course was a jack off and told him to try it. It didn't take him long to figure out why it IS exercise! ;) Of course he schooled me good when he did push ups on his fists. OK, he only did 3, but that's 3 more than me, and he's FOUR! BTW if you clicked on that "how to" Plank YouTube video, you will have noticed that I think I discovered and untapped porn genre. Hot Chicks With English Accents Doing Core Exercises.

It felt great to sweat for an hour, listen to some tunes and even chat with the B-Man. Had some nice motivation as I registered for Snotcycle today. Who knows what the conditions will be like? I don't care if it's cold, I just hope it isn't that cold ass rain stuff that plagued me at the Murrysville Cross race and on my tempo ride on the rail trail last week. That shite just chills my ass to the bone. I'd rather have snow! No matter what, it should be a good time no matter what.

Brad, Don and I are all registered for the race., now we just need the newly titled "Little Ball of Hate*" to register and we'll be gold. *Don P. gets full credit for giving Tim (formerly Tim The Enchanter) the new nickname of Little Ball of Hate. I guess Don will want royalties every time I use the term now. Shit, then he'll want cash for "Jesus Jason" too.

I was also motivated by the fact that I got a message yesterday from the Head Nacho @ Salsa Cycles to let me know my Big Mama is heading my way. Shweeet. I just need a couple more parts. I have to find a new seat post... Looking for a Thomson, RaceFace, or Salsa Shaft size 31.6mm x 305-400mm. Found a Thomson yesterday for good price, but I'm gonna hold off for a week or so. Regardless, all of this Big Mama Snotcycle thinking added some nice fuel to the work out.

I'm FINALLY starting to see some weight loss happening. It's only about 4 or 5 pounds, but I'm glad to see progress. I have to chalk it up to the fact I haven't had a drop of alcohol in 15 days (although that may end tomorrow with a couple beers at a dinner part we're going to), getting off of the Big Z., and the fact that I've been measuring and weighing 99% of all my food. Buying a cool little digital scale was one of the best things I've done. Weighing my food and keeping track of all my calories, carbs, fat and protein on TheDailyPlate.com has been really good for me. Some people might think it's a bit psycho, but seem pretty normal to me. Then again...

I started using Stevia In The Raw this week. I'm a big coffee guy. 16 to 20 oz. of coffee with skim milk and sugar. The sugar was really adding up. Grizzly Adam and Dave Harris both told me about Stevia some time ago, but at that time you had to go to specialty stores or mail order it and it just wasn't worth the trouble in my opinion. Now you can finally get it in the grocery stores. Beware though, some companies add chemicals to "enhance" the flavor. Stevia In The Raw does not. I'm diggin' the flavor, to me iit doesn't have that medicine flavor that many imitation sugars have. Nice to have a natural alternative to sugar.

Time for some Wii, reading, maybe some YouTube "plank videos" and bed.

Later.

Wednesday Stuff

Before I get into my bike stuff, I want to say thanks to all the folks who posted or e mailed encouragement about my future plans with my job and the probable leaving there of. It was all much appreciated. I've made my decision, but now am just waiting to get the ball rolling. Planning it all out to make sure things my ass is covered in a variety of ways. Nothing will be official until March. I also have to say special thanks to Wifey. She's been after me to do this for a long while, and now I can make this leap with not only her support, but with little financial worry for close to a year. I guess that's what you get when you marry a laid back brainiac. Thanks babe!

In other good news we found out today that B-Man got into a local charter shool today. SWEET! They have a LOT of really cool programs for the kids and a healthy dose of music, art, and physical activities. Karate for kindergartners, I LOVE IT! Also a lot of great programs for parents too, like after school day care programs, for houses where BOTH parents might be working. ;) Anyway, we're stoked that he'll have this opportunity.

Now enough of all this shit and on to our regularly scheduled bike blog...

Have you checked out the Egon blog? Go ahead, do it now I'll wait. Scroll down a bit..... Yeah, right there! Ergon has announced that it will be the title sponsor of the W.V.M.B.A. Ultra Endurance Series. Woot! Woot! This is super cool. J.R. must be stoked to have Ergon on board and Ergon must be stoked to have their name associated with one of the best race series on the east coast if not the country. And to be the title sponsor of the Ultra Series is even cooler.

I'm glad to be associated with both. Oh yeah, BTW I'm "Mr. WVMBA #212" in 2009. I'll probably only make 4 or 5 of the XC events and most likely none of the Ultra events due to schedule conflicts and recovery time with some Solos and hundies, but I am looking forward to futzing around the Sport Vet XC scene and trying to make the change from my "long and slow" pace to my "short and slow" pace. 100 miles or 15 miles, time is the saddle is all good no matter what the pace.

In addition to Ergon, I also have to say thanks to my friends at Twin-Six for becoming part of the W.V.M.B.A. sponsor family in 2009. I can guarantee that their shit will be some of the first to get snatched up on the prize tables in 2009. Big thanks to Ryan and Brent for helping out. SOMEBODY has to help get race geeks out of their (our) sponsor logo-ed duds ONCE in a while! Hey lucky for me T6 IS one of my sponsors! :)

Lastly I got some Big Mama parts in the mail today. I had found a deal on some Avid Juicy Ultimates just a few days before I found out I would be getting some assistance from SRAM this year and they came today. No matter how I got them, the Juicy Ultimates will be the brakes on the Big Mama in 2009.

Why make the switch from the already light and well made Hope Mono Minis to the Avid Juicy Ultimates? Well I have a few reasons: I will be running a Fox (at some point I hope) on the Big Mama and Fox Forks use post mounts. On the Dos Niner I have to use an adapter and a larger sized rotor to make the I.S. brakes work. I don't want to do that with the Big Mama.

The Big Mama also has REAR post mounts. Again, I want to avoid adapters and big ass rotors (truthfully I'm not sure they even MAKE an adapter for rear post mounts?). Then you have the fact that SRAM/AVID are one of the biggest component manufacturers in the world. I like that if I f*ck up a brake while at a race my chance of finding an replacement part at the venue or from a local bike shop just went up about 95%!! I LOVE that.

Salsa Big Mama Rear Post Mounts
(as photographed by twentynineinches.com)

Lastly on top of ALL that, I think the Ultimates are just damn cool looking!

That's it. Time for some Wii soccer. I continue to get my ass kicked. Why is West Ham United so good? They KICK my ass EVERY time!

Later.

My Gameshow Life

First some non bike talk..

I had a very interesting work day. Nothing really happened (yet), but a lot of things were proposed to me (and others) that COULD be changing my life a bit. I don't want to go into it too much, but lets just say it feels sort of like a game show. I could pick Door #1 and walk away with close to a year's time to find what I want to be when I grow up and maybe do some side or part time work. Or I could pick Door #2 and gamble that my name is not picked out of a small hat of names to receive a booby prize in the form of Federal Unemployment. Door #2 does also holds the Wild Card that my name is not picked and I continue on as normal (at least for a while) in a dying industry. Oh yeah, we were all informed that there will be no wage increases in 2009.

So as you might imagine I have a bit on my mind today. Wifey, and some other folks whom I trust seem to think I've been given a gift to get my (work) life sorted out. But I don't know. Like I told Wifey, whichever decision I make, I have to make it the right one and not do any "what ifs and maybes". One thing's for sure I just MIGHT be getting that extra time to train real soon. Nothin' wrong with that!

OK, back to bike talk and my normal nonsense:

Picked up my leg warmers at Pro Bikes today. Ended up going with the Cannondale leg warmers. I wanted the Endura ones, but none were to be had as first thought, so I went with the C/Dales. Seem like a good fit and should be plenty warm. Beats the tights/bib set up I've been using and the trashy knee warmers I had. Thanks as always to Pro Bikes for the hook up.

Hit the trainer for a quick hour tonight. Had some other stuff to do, like fix the shitter in the upstairs bathroom, so i couldn't be on there too long. On long enough to realize that I'm freaking LOVING this CD:

You technically can't get it yet, but I stumbled upon 12 or so tracks and I have to say this is my fave CD of theirs so far. The single Ulysses is titz!! Take a look...

I'm telling you I LOVE this CD! I have all their shit, but the songs on this one are excellent with a mix of cool bass lines, harder rythms and better production. (IMHO).

Time to go update the Pro Bikes blog and roster pages.

Later.

The Feel of Monday, A BIG Deal, and A Race

Oh yes, Monday- The worst day of the work week. Actually if you ask me it doesn't matter if it's a work week or not, Monday just has "feel" too it. And it's the "feel" of suck (suck in a bad way). This is why I choose Monday night for intervals. What better way to cap off a suck day, than hammering out some aggression on the trainer, watching your heart rate rise and your veins pop out your neck? Like Monday at 5:01, Intervals feel feel damn good when they're OVER. Mission accomplished.

Question: Have you ever tried to get out of sweaty jersey after a workout and find yourself stuck, in a panic, thinking you might be trapped in sort of a bike jersey/straight jacket until help arrives? Yeah, me neither.

Got me an e mail today from Salsa Cycles World HQ asking me if I was down with the BIG MAMA. Answer? HELL YES! So it appears that wheels (29" wheels to be exact) are in motion. I am both thankful and Geeked! Below is a Big Mama that was over on the MTBR.com boards:

A friend recently mentioned to me recently that from what he has seen of the Leesburg Bakers Dozen course, the Dos Niner might be the best choice. He's right AND wrong, if that makes sense? The course is 7.6 miles without much climbing. The Dos eats up the deceptively bumpy course (thank the cows). I've got a couple hundred miles of riding and racing on those trails and I can tell you they will beat you up after 10+ hours and I'm THINKING the BIG MAMA just might be better. There's not a lot of climbing so any extra weight will not be a huge deal, and the big wheels/100mm front/rear suspension will soak up the bumps and leave me fresher longer. At least that's the plan. Either bike will be titz on the course and either one will be a blast to ride for 13 hours. Is it too early to be thinking about a race in APRIL on a bike that I don't even have?? (Yet.)

It might be too early to think about the Bakers Dozen, but it's not too early to think about Snotcycle on January 31st. Me, Donny P., Tim The Enchanter and B-Rad are heading down to race this weather be damned XC event. Should be a good time. Myself, I'm just racing the Sport race, looking to get 21+ miles of riding in on the same course as the LBD in April. Plus I'll get to see Plum Grove Pete. I mean that right there is worth the drive. Right? Looks like I'll use the Dos Niner for that one. Or maybe I'll use the Mamasita one last time. Clean off the cow shit and then say goodbye... (sniffle, sniffle, tear...)

EDIT: Found this cool video of the Fargo on Dirt Works Australia.
And you thought it was a "touring" bike! ;)

Fargo first ride from go kart mozart on Vimeo.

That all I got. Time for some Wii soccer and bed.

Later.

Not Caring, Not Riding, And Other Sports

Should I be more interested in the fact that the Steelers are in the playoffs? I just can't bring myself to care. Years ago I used to care. I no longer do. If you're into it, that's cool, everybody has their thing. Football is not mine anymore. Football has too much thuggery and show off shit for me. I always try to imagine completing a lap in a race and then, hopping off my bike and getting all up in someones face talking trash and pounding my chest. That would be pretty ridiculous eh? I find it just as stupid when I see a 300 lb. goof does it on the football field. I have much respect for the guys that train hard, play hard, keep their mouth's shut. But that's just me.

I really didn't ride today. Well that's a lie. I did ride the trainer for 30 minutes just to open up the legs a bit. I watched a bit of the video from Superprestige #4. What a great race. Snow, mud, etc., The video is available to download for watching on your iPod, iPhone or computer HERE courtesy of www.cyclocrossvideos.com.

EDIT: Just converted some Dutch .AVI of the 2008 Paris-Roubaix to iPod video. It's freaking great quality! SWEET!

B-Man has been playing soccer. Started last fall and he's playing indoor soccer this winter. I miss playing. I played from about age 8 to 12. Then I got fat. Then I stopped. By the time I lost weight and got thin I was too old to play in any leagues. When I played I was pretty good. Considering my age and that soccer was pretty new in the U.S. and I still love kicking the ball around with B-Man, but since I can't really play for real anymore, I picked up FIFA Soccer 2009 for Wii. WOW IS IT FUN! I'm still learning all the controls, and moves, but damn is it fun and potentially addictive!

Time to make some food.

Later.

Great to Bad In 190 Minutes

I was stoked to wake up and see that for all the masturbatory mouth frothing that the TV weather geeks were doing over snow, we pretty much only got about 2 inches here in W.O. That's fine by me! To hell with snow! The temps were cold enough that the rail trail would be frozen and a good way for me to get some steady tempo in. I was chomping to get some outside saddle time, so I grabbed the Dos Niner, lowered tire pressure to about 20 p.s.i., lubed up, chamoised up and layered up for 2 to 3 hours of riding.

I got to the Boston trail head and was one of 2 cars in the parking lot. I set up the Lake winter shoes some foot warmers, got the iPod set with a 2+ hour mix and headed off. I was feeling great. The trail was frozen, the snow wasn't that deep and I was cruising along happily at 80% MHR.

After a few minutes, I noticed another bike's tire prints. Hmmm... someone else is out here??? After and hour I was STILL following the tracks. Person is hardcore for sure, this isn't a seat-too-low-upright-bar end rider. The prints look to be CX tires and fresh, I will follow until I catch them! (sometimes you look for ANY kind of motivation!) I was felling good. I was warm (enough) and I was having fun, so I figured I'd go until 1:30 and then head back. That would give me 3 hours of saddle time.

At about the 1:10 mark I felt some rain. DOH! Freezing rain! Great. At 1:15 I felt sleet. And finally at 1:20 it was ballz out rain. Shhhhheeeeeit! I'm 1:20 away from the car, and although layered up, not ONE of those layers was water repellent. I went another 10 minutes, and STILL had not found the owner of those CX tires, but thought I better head back before I get too cold.

Well by the 2:00 mark I was SOAKED with bone chilling rain, the trail was now a 2" bog of ice, snow and water. The rail trail is a monotonous, 1% graded bitch, whom I HATE! But it serves a purpose. It provides a car-less, Stankmentless environment to do tempo work. Today it also served as a way to get some SERIOUS mental exercises in. I was freezing, wet, and it would take ALL my mental and physical energy to get back to the car. I really can't believe I'm saying all this about the freaking RAIL TRAIL!! A flat, limestone path would have me whimpering like a baby by the end.

At about 2:10 my iPod's play list ended and I was TOO cold, too wet and to brain f*cked to stop and push play again. So trudged on with just the sounds of rain, hitting my face, soggy slush under my tires and Turret's like cursing flying out of my mouth like a prison bitch with a bloody hemorrhoid.

I reached the point on my return were there is a side trail for some ghetto single track and quad paths that I ride on occasion. I knew then I only had about 25 to 30 minutes to go. Although I was bonking bad with only 1.5 bottles of Gatorade in me and a 1/2 of a Mississippi bought, Metro sent Snickers Charged Bar in my gullet-I put my head down and hammered as best I could. When I reached the Xb my hands were so frozen I couldn't get my jacket zippers opened to get my key. FINALLY I got it, got some towels down, jumped inside and blasted the heat.

ENTER THE PAIN- Now it was time to get the blood moving to the hands. As they warmed up they hurt BAD! I mean I was gritting my teeth and growling like a castrated pit bull in an attempt to lessen the pain. I just sat there for about 10 minutes trying to get warmed up whilst the Dos sat outside in the cold rain. Just as I was getting out of the car to get the bike to put in the back of my B. in pulls the dude I was trying to catch on the trail. Not sure who he was but he was sporting a nice orange Van Dessel CX bike and what appeared to be some water proof clothing (unlike my dumb ass).

I hurriedly got the Dos in the back of the B. and then shivered and chattered my way home to warm up. Eeesh, I got WAY more than I bargained for today with the cold wet weather. I rode for 3:10, burned about 2,700 calories and held a nice tempo HR the whole time. Not to mention the mental games and focusing I needed to pull out was great practice for Solos.
The rail trail is my last resort for riding. It's just not fun and I'm not a fan. But lately I find myself opting to ride it more, rather than ride the trainer. I think of it as an outside trainer ride that is USUALLY more fun than sitting in my basement. Today the trail took my nonplussed attitude towards it and buried it deep in recesses of my rectum. At least I had SOMETHING to write about tonight.

I need sleep and warm covers.

Later.

A Success. Sort Of. (99% Bikeless Content)

I had my follow up doctor's appointment today dahn at Mercy Hospital today. It was 90% good news! ALL of my blood work looks great! No signs of "sticky blood", immune issues, or cancer. So that rocks!

The 10% bad news is that there is still swelling in the leg which indicates that the clot is still there. The fact that the clot is still there means that I have to keep taking blood thinners for another 3 months. Not happy about that, but it of course could have been a LOT worse! He seems to think that in 3 months if the Doppler shows that the clot is gone he sees no reason why I would have to stay on blood thinners permanently.

Since all the blood tests came back negative, they still can't pin point why I would have got a blood clot. He mentioned that baseball pitchers can get clots in their arms from over use, but he's never heard or read of a cyclist getting one in the legs, that the vein size and blood volume in the legs would make it damn hard for a clot to form like that.

He then was trying to figure out why my blood isn't thinning proper with the medication. He asked me about my diet and if I eat a lot of green leafy vegetables. I of course said no. I love those vegetables (spinach, broccoli, etc.,), but since starting blood thinners I've not eaten them since the Vitamin K in them counteracts the blood thinner. "Do you eat a lot of other vegetables?" he asked, to which I replied "Yeah! A lot, everyday." He response- "Yeah, stop that." WHAT??

He literally called me a freak, and admitted that he RARELY has to tell folks to eat LESS vegetables, but that the fact of the matter is that just about ALL vegetable matter has a lot of vitamin K, and that I should look more toward fruits to get my vitamins, fiber and carbohydrates for a while. Frig! He also dropped the freak bomb a couple times about my "hobby" of riding my bike for 12 to 24 hours. What can I say? I'm just a vegetable loving bike freak I guess.

Another low light in that 10% was having to lay back on the table while he double checked my boyz for "lumps". Yeah, that was just great. BUT there were no lumps! So I guess that was worth the $30 co-pay. You would think for $30 I'd could have at least got a nurse and a happy ending! HEY NOW!

So all in all a nice bunch of news. I just have to revamp some of my favorite recipes and continue to be careful of crashes on the bike. I also need to start wearing a compression stocking all day to help get the swelling down. He said that if I noticed swelling while riding or racing I may want to consider wearing them during races. I can't imagine doing that unless I went with the Shelmire look...

Not sure I could pull the look off as well as Aaron, but I might be forced to try. Lets hope it doesn't come to that, eh?

__________________________________________________________

That's it, I'm off to watch the snow fall and plan either a ride OR a ski on the rail trail tomorrow. Under 4" it will be a ride, over 4 it will be ski. If nothing else in will be to the basement on he trainer to utilize a new gizmo I picked up today.

Tried it out on my TV and it worked great! Real happy with it! Opens up yet another options for trainer boredom. Now if I could just find something to keep the "Little J-Man" from falling asleep I'll be gold!

Later.

Nut Huggers and Tea Bags

I had some interesting e mail exchanges with some amigos today about bike shorts. It basically boiled down to the fact that some of us (me) pretty much ride in good ol' spandex nut hugging shorts/bibs all the time, and other folks (them) pretty much wear baggies all the time.

A couple e mails were exchanged, some analogies were made (Shrink wrapped tea bags?? Really?? I was eating!), some lines were crossed, and some laughs were had. All this from one question about the in-stock status of a certain pair of bibs.

When you get down to it, it's what you feel comfy in and what gets you on the bike that matters, but I still couldn't help but think of my own bike short evolution. It sort of went like this...

'92- Jean shorts. HOLY TAINT RUB!

'93-94'-ish- Baggy mountain bike shorts and maybe one pair of "in-between" baggies. They were form fitting, but not true spandex.

'95-'05- All spandex shorts. I can't wear baggies anymore. I don't even own any. There are none in the house.

'06 to present- Bib shorts only. I can NOT wear regular spandex shorts anymore. I love no plumber butt and the added belly retention ;) Have you ever been in a race and get stuck behind a dude with his big white hairy ass staring at you? Damn I hate that. Get some bibs! I will say I want to fly into rage when I see folks wearing bibs with no shirt on... ON THE TRAIL! WTF? Or OVER their shirt! Again- WHAT THE F*CK??

Now I'm not one these folks that can just waltz around in their spandex and not feel like a dork. I still wear over pants to the trail head, or when leaving from work and I'm rarely seen in my neighborhood wearing my spandex. It's not that I think I look bad, I just don't like to deal with the comments. Plus there are women and young girls in my neighborhood, and when you bring "the goods" to the table like I do... let's just say there could be repercussions. ;) JESUS! I'M JOKING! I'd just feel like a knob in my hood.

Anyway, yes I'm a proud spandex wearing race weenie. Nothing against baggy wearing folks. God knows I get crushed by a ton of them on the race course and my local trails, it's just a personal preference. Who knows what the future holds? Maybe some short running shorts will replace my bibs?

________________________________________________________

I was crushing (note sarcasm) the big ring with an hour of 50 RPM, BM inducing hill climb intervals. These are some of my favorite intervals to do. It's about as close as I come to "strength training" with equipment. It adds a nice mix to the week's work outs. No ride tomorrow. Saturday looks like it will be either the trainer, a snowy rail trail ride or maybe even a hike. I have a feeling snowy rail trail will win. But we'll see.

Plans are getting firmer for the January 31st Snotcycle race at Leesburg. I'm 90% in for it. 32 Riders in Sport?? WTF? HOLY OPEN CLASS! I'd like to do the Expert race for the length, but I don't want to set and "expert" precedent for XC racing, and risk term "sandbagger" being used when I race XC at the WVMBA races in Sport Vet. But 30 miles of racing on a course I will be doing a Solo at in a few months is sort of tempting to risk said label. Hmmmm.

Later.

Wednesday In The Aisle Seat

Not much going on today. I thought about doing a light workout of core stuff, and I did do a little, but couldn't concentrate and my eyes kept wandering towards my right leg which continues to be 1.5" larger than my left. How much weight gain do you think is in an extra 1.5" of blood? My rescheduled Doc appt. is this Friday, so I hope they can give me an idea on WHEN I might expect to have a more normal looking leg. And get off of these shit blood thinners. Not looking forward to racing on them. But f*ck it.

I can't bitch too much, because in reality it's not THAT bad. If you do a Google image search about DVTs you'll see folks who look like they have a small child stuff under their red and nasty skin. Jesus! How long did it take THEM to go to the f*cking doctor?? Every time I see shit like that I think back to when I read Lance's 1st book, and he talked about one of his balls hurting and being as big as a grapefruit, and that's when he went to talk to the doctor. WHAT? A GRAPEFRUIT?? If one of my balls was even as big as a golf ball I'd be on the horn wanting to know what the f*ck was wrong with me. Jesus dude! A GRAPEFRUIT???

Anyway on to better shit...

I've decided I'm gonna keep my Dos Niner for 2009. So the '09 bikes will be my Dos and the future Big Mama. The Dos will be built up lightish for XC and Marathon races and the Big Mama with be mostly X.9/XT stuff. A few upgrades here and there to both bikes and some swaps will happen. To pay for all that in the coming month or so I will be putting my Mamasita up for sale as a frame/parts package deal. Looks like this is what will be for sale...

Frame: '07 Salsa Mamasita (Large) Black, w/small dent in top tube.
Fork: 2006 Rock Shox 100mm Reba, Silver. (If I can find a deal on a Fox soon)
Headset: Race Face
Front Brake: Hope Mono Mini, 6-Bolt, 160mm Rotor (IS mount)
Rear Brake: Hope Mono Mini, 6-Bolt, 160mm Rotor (IS mount)
Crank Set: Shimano XT, 42-32-22
Front Derailleur: Shimano XT
Shifters: SRAM X.9 Triggers
PRICE: Who knows? If I include the fork, it will be more, and it will probably go on eBay so as to not have to set a price other than the minimum of what I want. It will be posted here for a day or two before it hits eBay. If anyone would be interested I can then be contacted via e mail in my profile. Gotta make sure of the time frame and other exact stuff, before I go selling shit. Don't want to end up bikeless.

I wanted to hold on to a hard tail to have for CX racing and shit road riding. I'm pretty smitten with the idea of doing more cross races in 2009. I'm thinking of more of a "real" cross bike in that regard. That's something I'll look into more in the late summer. There are many miles endurance races in front of me and the Dos Niner and the Big Mama look to be the perfect orange flavored tag team for that. I think I just bike talked myself out of a bad mood!

Back in the saddle tomorrow. My rack is due in town tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get it put on the Xb this weekend. I'm still geeked over the Xb. I'm still REALLY happy with the purchase.

Sad Bastard Song Of The Day... "Aisle Seat 37-D", by Grandaddy.



One of my all time favorite songs. EVER. I loved Grandaddy. If you don't own any. You should.

Later.