Takin' What They're Givin'

My last day at the Trib ended rather anticlimactically. Sign paper, put paper in interoffice mail, done. Then go out with Wifey and a bunch of chickies I work with to Mad Mex for drinks, where a dude that I never met before, but is "friends" with one of said chickies picks up the tab. Thanks dude.

The night was in no way near as "wild" as you would think, given the fact that I was leaving a job after 16 years. Sure I had a few beers, but nothing ridiculous or dangerous. Came home, made some whole wheat pasta with fried eggs and watched an episode of Flight of The Conchords OnDemand.

I did get a damn sweet gift from the chickies-

Thanks!

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Thankfully I was in check last night, because I had more than enough energy to chamois up and hit Boyce for a couple hours with the Big Mama.


Conditions were not great. In fact on a scale of 1 to 10 they were about a 4, BUT last week they were a bout a 1 or 2, so I'll take it! I find myself absolutely LOVING the Big Mama. I'm sorta shocked. There is just so much about her that works for me. I think the big thing is is that she handles SO differently than I expected.

I expected, sluggish and slow to get up to speed, but that's not the case at all. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's as "snappy" as a 26" bike or a 29er like the Mamasita, but to ME it in no way handles like it's a 28 pound, full suspension 29er. Maybe it's the low top tube clearance, or other geometry but it just seems more "flickable" to me and really easy to carve the trail with. Granted my speeds on the trails today were about 1 MPH shy of standing still, but it still rocked!

This is now my second ride on the Big Mama, and I'm getting REAL used to the full suspension, REAL fast. Example: I was climbing a section of single track with a good deal of roots on it, on the Mamasita or even the Dos Niner I would have to shift my weight etc., to get the rear wheel up and over the roots and maintain traction. All that body english adds up over time and takes a toll on my back and bod. Today I just pointed the Big Mama forward, kept a nice cadence and let the bike's big wheels and suspension do all that work for me. She took in like a champ.

The trails at Boyce don't really call for a FS bike at all, and doing a two hour ride like today really didn't require one either. BUT I had NOOOOOO back pain at all (I wish you all knew how much that meant to me!!) and felt no fatigue at the end of my two hours. Now I think about doing a 12 or 24 hour race and I'm CERTAIN that no matter what the course, the Big Mama is my girl.


The ride was not without it's issues. Some of the trails were UBER muddy, and then said mud froze to my down tube, rear derailleur, chain stays, etc., There was also a LOT of sticks on the trail too. At one point it seemed like every 100 yards I had to stop an take a stick out before it ripped my derailleur off! NOT FUN!


My rear shifting was f*cking horrible! And NOT when you would think. It would skip all over the place when on the RIGHT side of the cassette when I was on the flats, or service roads. WTF? I made a few adjustments and by the end it got better, but I'm staring to think I have a chain line issue that Pro Bikes is gonna have to look at.


I think my rear brake needs bled too. I made some pad contact adjustments the other night, and it improved, but it's just not where I want it. The front brake is PERFECT, but the rear just feels a little bit soft. Stops no problem, but just doesn't have the feel I want.

Even with those little ride flaws, I can't complain. Two hours in February on a new bike, in temps that were cold, but NOT not cold enough to freeze my bottles was pretty nice. I felt good fitness wise, but it was hard to get a gauge on it given the trail conditions though.

This time next week Don, Brad and I will be hurling ourselves towards Camp Hilbert for Sunday's 5 hour. I can't wait! Time for a some beer, some Mexican and some lovin' I hope.

Later.

The End And The Beginning

"Lets push things forward"

-M. Skinner


Later.

Ripe For The Plucking

Man, I had NOTHING tonight. I went three nights in a row on the trainer and attempted to make tonight the 4th, but it was just NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN!! I lasted 10 minutes. I had -0.3% mental mojo to sit my ass on the trainer for an hour.

So I did what any man of my slack would do....

1. Did a quick two rounds of core exercises.
2. Showered
3. Opened a Hop Devil
4. Played Wii soccer and continued my unbeaten streak as A.C. Milan.
5. Opened a second Hop Devil
6. Made some mushroom/brown rice/pork stir fry.
7. Watched iCarly with B-Man.
8. Washed dishes.
9. Proceeded to get blog on.
10. There is no 10, but stopping at 9 seemed lame.

Wow! Now THAT is how seasons are made!! LOOK OUT ENDURO PEEPS!! What I lack in fitness I will make up for in knowledge of iCarly dialogue.

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7.5 more hours of work to go and then I can start another chapter in life. Remember yesterday when I talked of another newspaper biting the big one? Well I have MORE news today! Adios R.M.N! Good grief! If Denver can't keep two papers going why in the hell does Pittsburgh and its whole lotta nothing think that IT can keep two going?? I have no idea, but I'm not stickin' around to find out.

I will miss a lot of the folks I work with. We have fun, even when shit sucks. I wish them the best of luck and am looking forward to tipping back a few with them tomorrow night.

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Gotta play with the Big Mama's Juicy Ultimates tonight. The rear brake's throw just does not feel as good as the front. Might just be able to adjust it, or it might need bled. It's not horrible but for new brake they need to feel better than they do.

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Hope to get out on the bike this weekend. Which one, I have no idea, but one of them for sure. My Campeon needs a new cassette/chain before real road miles can be logged and I'm still waiting for them to come in. The Dos Niner needs a new cassette, and the Big Mama is good to go. What might happen is swapping the Big Mama's cassette to the Dos Niner (since it's brand new) and then put the new cassette on the Big Mama when it comes in. OR I might jus say f*ck it, ride the Big Mama, and use it in next week's race even though the course would not demand it. Hmmm. Much to think about. Or not think about, Jeezus it's not that big of a freaking deal!!

Oh well, poop to do.

Later.

Tasted Like Chicken. Bad Chicken.

How do you know when it looks like you've made the right decision to leave your job and pursue a new line of work? Answers: 1. I've done about 10 minutes of work in the past 16 hours of work time. 10 MINUTES!! 2. Then I hear that yet another newspaper has bitten the Big Richard. PULL UP! PULL UP!! IT'S GOIN' DOWN!! Oh, well, in 2 days it will be none of my concern.

What WILL be my concern is kick starting my build phase of training, and going to town working on XXC. I have the cover and a few pages already done and should have the first issue good to go by the first week in April. So far the book is really taking on a warm south, south western, California feel, which I must say has been both fun and frustrating to work on sitting at my computer in the suck weather arm pit that is Western PA.

Book 1 will feature images and words from races like the Mas o Mentos 100K, Vision Quest, Counting Coup , the 12 Hours of Santos, some cool training articles, as well as some chillaxing out of the saddle bits on music, food, and one of my favorite topics- BEER! And a bunch more. I'm really excited for the way the fist issues is shapping up. It's looking strong and there won't be one burst or any disclaimers about the inclusion of "rebates, college grad, military savings, and $3,000 cash or trade". At least I hope not!!

Trust me, things get more clear every day. Give me a month and I hope to put out something, that folks will at least look at and say "that looks pretty OK." ;)

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For the second time this week I made some chicken stir fry and my chicken just wasn't working for me. Little tough. Very frustrating, since I could make some of these dishes blind folded! Could it be bad chicken? Does it need choked? Oh well, time to go to bed and pray I don't get some sort of chicken ass rain syndrome.

Later.

You Know That Guy?

As per my conversation with Wifey after work tonight...

Me: You know that guy you see on TV all the time that lays on a bed on nail, sets himself on fire and then takes two spoons and scoops his eyes out?

Wifey: Ah, I pretty sure that person doesn't exist.

Me: OK, maybe not, but IF he existed, I would rather do ALL of those things than get on the trainer.

5 minutes later I kitted up anyway and climbed on board the Campeon. 85% of my brain said "just do some easy spinning for an hour, get a sweat on and call it a day. 13% of my brain said "BAIL! BAIL! Make some dinner, sit your ass on the couch and watch Bizarre Foods whilst eating some not so bizarre food!!". And then 2% of my brain said "hey douche bag, if you're gonna sit you ass in the basement, pedal a bike and go nowhere, why don't you get a QUALITY work out in, instead of pointless, empty spinning?"

I went with the 2%. Sure it was only 2% but it was a bitchy little 2%!! And I feel MUCH better having turned out some real vurp up your lunch intervals rather than mindless spinning, or watching some chubby bald dude eat deep fried goat anus in South America.

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In cruising the net I finally got my peeps on
the new Salsa Chili Con Crosso

I have no confirmation on whether this is the CcC Complete bike build or not. I'm sure SOMEONE will let me know (hint, hint). I am REALLY digging the red and this thing just looks fast. Of course I REALLY liked the green too and I be you in the coming months you'll start seeing some close out prices on the 08s.

For the way I ride road/cross course (slow and on crappy roads) I continue to be a bit smitten with the La Cruz. I dig the look, the steel, and the discs. Although I'd like to see more frames with the OPTION for discs OR cantis, similar to the Redline Conquest.

The thing that I thought was interesting is that Salsa lists the 51 cm complete La Cruz WITH mechanical disc brakes at 23 pounds and Redline lists the Conquest with cantis at 22.3 pounds (no size specified). Seems to me that the Salsa La Cruz might make up for not offering a canti brake option by offering a frame and fork in steel, which can be more than a tad bit more forgiving than aluminium, provide some kick ass stopping power, and have the ability to run up to a 42cm tire.

Please note I'm not talking about pure cross race machines here (see the Chili Con Crosso and similar bikes for that), I'm talking about a ride big miles on shit roads, farm roads, forest roads, double track, take the long way home, hit some single track, jungle cross, do Iron Cross, maybe race it a few times, hope to not finish last, cross bike.

I'm not a Cross racer and won't comment on what makes a great RACE bike for cross. I mean I KNOW what makes one, but since I don't race Cross (that much, or that well) my opinion really means nothing. All I CAN comment on is what sort of bike I'd like to have along side my soft tail, full suspension, and road bike for training.

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Despite the apparent problems that BikeReg.com was having this weekend, I was able to register for the Camp Hilbert 5 Hour Enduro with no problems today. Looking forward to the race, road tripping with some friends, and blowing some winter funk off me for 5+ hours in the woods.

Wow, I really had some bike stuff pent up. I guess I let it all out tonight. I'm spent!

Later.

B.R.O. vs. U.R.D.

Bike Readiness Obsession or B.R.O. has assumed control of my mind. How many days until my first race? Are the bikes good? Drive train dialed in? Stans fresh? Tires? Should I change that stem length? Etc., etc.,.. I know that in my race world, what crank I use, what bike I'm on, or what tire pressure I run makes about a .001% difference in where I place. My doc said that I most likely developed B.R.O. in an attempt to take mind mind off the fact that I suffer from severe (but non fatal) Unprepared Racer Disorder or U.R.D..

U.R.D. is a common side effect from too much time on the trainer, not enough time in the dirt, snow and cold fornicating my brain like it's a gimp sheep, and too much real life shit hitting the fan just 2 weeks before the first endurance race of the season (Snotcycle doesn't count since it was only a 2 hour race).

Actually I'm not really suffering that much, or all that worried. This year I'm going old school and "racing my way into form (or the lack thereof) ". Some time on the trainer, some nice "build" rides in March, a 5 hour race here, an XC race there, some recovery days here AND there, and the next thing you know my first "A" race will be here in mid Apri. And I'll be ready! Sounds good to me or at least good enough.

Racing is fun. Riding is funner. Er, I mean "more fun". But racing and riding is not fun at all if I'm in a mental lather about whether I'm ready or not. You go into the season with the legs that brung ya, do your best and see what happens on race day. Yeah, that shit doesn't fly for the Pros, but for my goals I think I'll be just fine. Plus with only 30 work hours left at my current job, my "on the bike time" is about to get shot in the ass, as my "go to work and make money" time drops. HA!

Hell, even Eddy spent some time in the Stankment® getting
ready to bite the heads of his competition in the spring classics.

And if time in the Stankment® was good enough for the greatest bike racer of all time. It will be good enough for a 37 year old mid pack endurance mountain bike racer. Question: What's Belgian for "Stankment"?

Later.

A Low Key Saturday

With only 5 days left in my current "job" it's been hard to concentrate on anything really. I have some things in the works and a ton of miles and races in front of me, but currently I'm rocking "limbo" big time and as anyone close to me will attest, this is NOT the place for me.

Today's weather would have normally had me outside getting some miles in. It was cold, but not THAT cold, but after yesterday's frozen bottle sludge fest I was looking to just zone out, listen to some muzak and watch some bike racing on the TV.

So I laid down a quick 1:30 on the trainer and did a variety of workouts, all while listening to some sweet new to me tunes from The Smoking Popes. It was hard, because I WANTED to be outside, but my bod is soooo DONE with frozen fingers, toes and slushy bottles. F*ck winter. I just wanted to sweat without the layers of clothes.

After the spin it was off to Pro Bikes where they threw my new XTR crank on the Dos Niner. I hung for a while talking to Tim, Chuck, Jesus Jason and a shit load of racers. At one time I think every Pro Bikes racer and/or friend of a Pro Bikes racer was in the shop. If a bomb had gone off 30% of all the racers in WPA would have been destroyed. The only ones left standing from Pro Bikes would have been Todd, Jake and Don P., ha!

I stopped to pick up a some fine adult bevies on the way home and then spent the late afternoon hanging with the B-Man, working on XXC and listen to and watching music on the hi-fi.

Today was not the best Saturday in the world, but it by no means was the worst. My A.C. Milan Wii soccer team remains undefeated, the Dos is sporting XTR, B-Man continues to crack my ass up, and Wifey is still aces. Two weeks until the 5 hours down at Hilbert. Not sure what bike I'll roll. At this point, all I want is time in the dirt without putting on 5 layers of clothing.

Frost Bike is going on as I type. I hope to have some pics of some new Salsa CX gear in the next 24 hours. Oh yeah, C.c.C. Complete (me thinks!).

Later.

For Better or Worse

After a busy morning of laundry and replacing an outlet that got fried during the wind storm/power outage last week, I caved to lust and took the Big Mama out on the trails of Boyce Park. I swore I would NOT let myself get layered up for another so/so ride in the snow with frozen bottles and numb fingers, but that's JUST what I did this a.m.

This would be my first ride on the Big Mama. I wish the ride conditions would have been better so as to really get a feel for what she has to offer, but it was still nice to get her out on some single track.

I did make some observations during the ride- The first thing I noticed was how "centered" and "neutral" my position felt. I am WAY more stretched out on the Dos Niner (which will be changing soon as I plan to shorten my stem). The trails were not great for testing out suspension for the first time due to the layer of snow, ice, permafrost, leaves, and downed sticks and leaves. At times I had no idea where the trail was and whether it was the suspension that was working, or sinking in the mud and permafrost.

I love(d) my hard tail Mamasita and I love my Dos Niner. I love them for how they make me feel more connected to the trail and how much giddy up they have after coming off an obstacle (say a log pile). I love hard tails for their simplicity and light weight. BUTTTTTT! Having said all that, it took only 10 minute of single track on the Big Mama to realize that while my brain might dig a hard tail, my 37 year old body was LOVING four inches of suspension under my ass!

I am by NO means using today's ride as a judgement on the Big Mama, or the bike's suspension. The conditions where just not good enough and the ride not long enough to do that. I only rode for about 1:20 or 1:30, so that is in NO way enough to judge the bike.

There were a few nice stretches of trail that only had a dusting of snow, and were littered with roots. I've done this trail a million time and it calls for pedaling and hovering above the saddle letting the big wheels and front suspension eat it up. NOT today!! Today I went a gear higher, sat my ass down and pedaled easily over the roots, it was SWEET! On a few stretches I also tried to replicate how my handling gets when it's late in the race and my skills slack off, you know when the rear wheel is just NOT making it over a log or obstacle the way it did earlier in the race... And Big Mama was there to pick up the slack for me. A bail out for poor skills! Just what I need!

It's been a few years since I rode a FS bike (my 2006 El Santo), and the BIG Mama's feel was so much better than I remember it. It handled better and rode better than I ever thought a 28 lb., 4" travel 29er could. Like I said, my only regret is the conditions. They just were not that great.

The one time I didn't like it was when I jumped out to the saddle to do service rode climb. It was bob-tastic. BUT not from the rear suspension as much as from my Fox fork. I sat back down, threw on the lock out and all was right. Then for shits I put on the Pro Pedal on the rear shock and the bike took off like a hard tail. I can count on two fingers the times I got up out of the saddle like that during a Solo. If I'm up out of the saddle and standing, It's probably because my back is hurting. With the Big Mama's suspension and fit, I don't see that being an issue.

I only got 1:20 of riding in. The conditions where just not fun. There was a lot of downed trees from last week's wind storm, a lot of frozen ruts, and I was freaking COLD. Not sure it was worth the time and effort to do a single track ride today. Part of me thinks I may have been better off just doing an 1:20 on the trainer. Who knows? In the end it was a relief to ride my new bike and see what she's gonna have in store for me this season. I can' t wait for better conditions, and more time to really see what the Big Mama can do. THINK SPRING!!

Nice travel. More Slush and a happy(?) rider.

I was also pretty geeked with what the scale told me today- It said that my weight loss total since December is up to about 13.5 pounds. SWEET! I should easily be back to my "normal" race weight in a month or so.

Not sure what I have planned for tomorrow. Pro Bikes is having a HUGE sale, I need some shit, and on top of that I need to do some training and some house stuff ANDI think we're supposed to get more snow

Later.

Shot In The Ass

This week is shot in the ass. I'm utilizing my last personal day tomorrow and will happily end this week early. IFFFFF I can get motivated to deal with the cold I might take the Big Mama out for some miles tomorrow. And that is ONE BIG F*CKING "IF". There is snow in the forecast and my ass officially f*cking DONE with winter. I really don't know if I can do it. The layers, the cold, the frozen fingers and toes, the wet, to hell with it. NO, to hell with ME! At least it's warm there!!

Don't get me wrong, my brain is fffff-ahh-RIDE on from the trainer, but I have to tell it's a real toss up on which one I prefer right now- warm and boring or frozen and fun. I can make a case for either and will justify my descision at length when the ride is over. How bad do I hate winter right now? I pass time doing things like THIS to make myself feel better....
If I do do the trainer tomorrow or Saturday, I just may go all O.B.R. on your ass and throw down a multi hour Lord of The Rings spin. Really get things numbed up. But then again, I might not be able to watch it proper due to worrying that I was turning into my favorite (be still scared of being like) Dungeon Master- Plum Grove Pete.

I also need to get the Dos Niner to Pro Bikes to get in race shape by March, this might be a good week to get her there. Chain, cassette, Stans, Ignitors, crank install, etc., etc.,

Later.

A Loss

Sort of at a loss for words. Head spinning with lots of different things right now and I needed some time off the trainer tonight. Not so much physical, but mental. I just wanted to chill with the family and eat some grub.

I did spend a chunk of my day over on Embrocation. Those folks have kicked it up a bit lately with some great videos. I've enjoyed watching those videos more than ANYTHING I've seen on TV lately. So ditch me now and got check those folks out.

I need to ride outside SOON or someone (me) is gonna go off their freaking nut! I can't wait to race down at Camp Hilbert in a couple weeks. Hell, this races is just a "C" race and I'm geeked up like it's an "A" race. I care little, it at all where I place, I just want to feel dirt under my tires!

Later.

Another 1/2 Percent

While my bod is not putting out enough power right now for me to feel all that great about my state of fitness, the fact that I've ridden 1:15 two nights in a row after the way I felt for a week IS pretty damn impressive to me. Cheers to the body's ability to recover and bounce back from 'da funk. While still not 100% I did move another 1/3 percent closer.

I so wanted to take the day off from work today and get out on the trails with the Big Mama. But since I knew I wasn't feeling 100%, had some work to do at work (gasp!) and will have plenty of time soon enough, I thought it best just to lay low, and just keep clawing back to my fitness via the trainer for the next few days. The weekend will see me on dirt or at least a frozen facsimile of it.

With the end of my work days nearing, I now have the "not as fun as designing it" XXC task of tracking down some content for the first issue (OK that part is sort of fun) and trying to sell the idea to some industry types to try to get a couple pennies in the piggy. That part is in no way fun. I believe in what I can someday produce but trying to convey that to folks is sort of embarrassing to me. But it can and will be done. Just might take a while.

Got poop to do.

Later.

A 97 Year Old's Max Heart Rate

I felt about 95% today, which is to say the best I've felt in exactly one week. Thank God! I was this close (fingers pinched) to madness. My ass is made to be in the saddle. Seriously it is. There's a big saddle shaped scoop that allows me to ride more easily than most folks. OK, I'm kidding, but I know you know what I mean. I HAD to ride, EVEN if was just the trainer.

I picked up a new battery for my piece o'shit HR monitor today and replaced the strap's battery. Seems to have helped it pick up a signal a little better. I have to admit as soon as I got home I snuck the Big Mama out the front door for a 2 minute helmetless jeans and Vans ride up to the next block and back to see how she felt. Felt nice, REAL nice. But I had real work to do, and needed to get chamoised up for time on the trainer.

Tonight's plan was to ease the legs back to the bike with an hour of higher cadence small chain ring stuff. I did a variation of what I call "iPod Intervals". Start in 34/25 and drop a gear each time a new song comes on. I would normal start in 34/25 down then back up then switch to the 50 and repeat. But tonight was just the 34.

Not sure if it was the monitor or what, but I was having real trouble getting my heart rate up. Legs felt great, body felt great (except for a couple coughing spells) but my average heart rate for 1:15 of riding was like that of a sedentary 97 year old man. Strange.

Lots of folks recommended monitors to me yesterday, I went with the battery swap. My days on the trainer are numbered and that's the only time/place I really use one. Never use them in races, and if use one during rides, it's just for shits, giggles, stop watch and calories burned. I have enough going on during a ride or race the last thing I need to do is be looking at numbers that I can do very little to control.

Mamasita shipped out today, the Reba goes tomorrow. I guess I need to pay for some of Big Mama's parts! Now that I have the Big Mama taken care of, I need to get my shit together for the Dos Niner's 2009 upgrades. Some of which won't happen until the SRAM goodies come it, but some can start- the XTR crank needs to go on, Ignitors on the Stan's wheels, etc., Fun shit!

My days as an employed member of society have entered the single digits. 9 more to go. This will either be the best thing I've ever done, or the dumbest thing I've ever done. Not sure. Everyone tells me I'm doing the right thing, I just need to focus on the positives, because on paper the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Now to leave you with this. This was played at a live BBC radio performance last week. When I heard it I got goose bumps all over. I feared I was gonna stroke out.



It's not right that after 37 years, music has such and effect on me. Oh, the songs that saved our lives...

Later.

A Little Bit Felt Like Much Less

I am in utter shock at the fact that today has me entering my sixth day off the bike. I can not remember the last time I spent this long off the bike. It REALLY sucks. Not just being off the bike, but NO training what-so -ever! No core, no cross training, not one sweat had! My body was just destroyed by this flu funk I got.

I did actually spin my legs for about 5 minutes on the trainer just to remind them of why they're attached to my torso. I had planned on going for 30 to 45 minutes, but my heart rate monitor refused to work properly and even though I was not really using it to monitor my HR today, but just for time, it was driving me CRAZY!! First I could NOT get a signal *NO SIGNAL* *NO SIGNAL* NO SIGNAL* flashing over and over as I tried to get it going. I swear to God I wanted to smash it with a hammer (and still might!). FINALLY I got a signal, starting spinning and noticed that no matter how fast I went my heart rater would hover at around 113 max.... so I stated pedaling harder and saw it go DOWN to 108!!

Can someone, somebody, something, MAKE A F*CKING HEART RATE MONITOR THAT WORKS!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much hate I have for heart rate monitors right now (Sigma monitors in particular). And while I'm throwing hate around... To person that passed this viral germ to me and brought my training to a dead 1 hour and zero miles on the week stop I salute you with multiple middle fingers, and f-bombs.

OK, glad I got all that out of my system.

Later.

Salsa Big Mama- Done

I'm so done. I'm so toast. I've so had it. My attempts at Super Slumber were FOILED!! I slept a total of 2.5 hours last night. I guess sleeping 40 of the previous 48 hours jacked up my sleep rhythms or something? On top of that, the illness WILL. NOT. GO. AWAY!! Suckerfruckfarkinsucklottafrig!!!!

Having said all that, Chuck @ Pro Bikes called me today to let me know that the Big Mama was ready and I could go pick it up. So I loaded my hacking, zombie-esque ass in the xB and headed to the land of soccer moms, strip malls, and red lights to pick 'er up.

She looks great. Super happy with the build and I have to thank Ralph for doing a great job on the build. Double J also did a great job of keeping me posted on what was going down with the build and relaying some info between myself and Ralphy.

As I mentioned yesterday, I wasn't OVERLY concerned about weight, but with the Salsa "complete" Big Mama (medium without pedals) coming in at 29.5, I was unsure if my LARGE Big Mama would be able to stay under 30!

As Chuck took it to the shop scale I said "I really hope it comes in under 30" he laughed and said "I'm really hoping for a Ferrari too, but I don't see that happening". He puts it on the the scale, it does its thang and BOOM- 28.5 with pedals. Nice.

I still have to dial in the shocks more, adjust my grips, etc., but she is looking good! Very happy with the bike. Can't wait to feel well enough to get her on the trails! Big Mama is going to compliment my bike quiver very nicely. Thank you Salsa and thank you Pro Bikes for getting her all built up for me.

Time to cooks some Valentines Day steak, lay about and NOT "get any" due to being a sicky sickerton.

Frig.

Later.

The 13th Ain't Got Nuthin'

After the past 3 days I've had both mentally and physically, I awoke this morning fully prepared to walk out into the front street, lay down and pray that the first primer gray Camaro that came down our street would take full aim on my skull and end it all.

After a 10 minute scolding hot shower, I only SORT of felt like doing the whole street/Camaro/skull thing. And after some coffee and some Tylenol I pretty much chucked the whole idea and just went to work.

While not operating at 100% I was operating at 60% which was sorta like feeling 100% better. Know-what-I-mean? And I would have loved to have had a easy zone out sort of day in my walk way non cubical, BUT it was not to be. I was pretty much doing shit from the time I sat down until I left at 5. In the end that was OK by me. It took my mind off not feeling great, and helped me stop thinking about all the other shit (fallen trees, paint chips, mortgages, etc., etc.,)

I did find time to escape to Pro Bikes on my lunch hour in hopes of fetching my Big Mama. Sadly Chuck was dealing with a variety of shop issues a brake shim was forgotten at the South Hills shop, so the rear brake is not good to go yet. But I did get to see the build and hang out with her for a bit. I am SUPER stoked. She looks great, and is lookin' mean.

While I didn't put her on the shop scale or anything, I'm pretty certain that she'll weigh in the high 20s. (27.75? 28.4? I'm joking). I was impressed with how the bike felt just picking it up. I really expected it to feel like more. It didn't, and that's a good sign to me. Me thinks she's gonna be JUST what I want her to be- Soft in the right places but butch/leather bar tough.

Today was a nice reprieve from bad luck. House painting stuff was taken care of, the fallen tree is gone, the Big Mama is almost done and I'm feeling a tad better. I have some appetite back, and I even let myself enjoy a 90 Minute IPA tonight. Not sure the burning cough in my chest will allow a ride tomorrow, but if not I will lay about, hydrate, and look to enter next week's training rested and healthy. My next race (and first 2009 enduro) is only about 3 weeks away. Sweet!

In the end Friday the 13th had NOTHING to give me that the 10th, 11th, and 12th didn't already hand me. So to you Friday the 13th, I drop my pants and moon you whilst slapping my ass cheeks in a taunting manner. Pffft! Maybe next time brother.

Now, I'm going to bed where I plan to sleep my ass off and NOT have chills mixed in with heavy sweating and fever fueled dreams all night.

Later.

Don P., Are you the sort of guy to wear dress shoes with full spandex?

One To Forget

Still sick and still tired, but I just had to put out there that the week can officially NOT get any worse. On top of the the Doc saying that I have a virus that I just need to "wait out", we had a HUGE wind storm here in PA last night. Power went out all night, and I woke up to THIS in my back yard...

So the day was spent hacking up sticky brown goo from my lungs, wanting to pass out and getting a tree guy here to cut up the fallen tree. Iron Mike is on the case and shit will be gone tomorrow. We're REALLY lucky that this hunk o'tree missed our house as well as my neighbor's house.

But things got even better later today (I'm kidding). I mentioned the other night that Wifey and I are doing a re-fi on our crib. Got a great rate... yada, yada, yada, yada.... The dude calls tonight TONIGHT to tell us the loan is being held up because of chipping paint on the front porch and garage. And that it needs to be scraped and painted before the loan will go through. WHAT???????? IT'S FEBRUARY IN WESTERN PA and the dude wants me to paint my porch within the next 2 days?? I was going to do it and do it right in March or April, but NOT in February! Trying to make a long story short here... the dude must REALLY want his commission, because he admitted it was his fault that he messed up the paper work and is driving up from Maryland with a buddy to paint my porch and garage while I attempt to go back to work tomorrow. I'm still in utter dismay at the week we've had. It must end.

My Reba was set to sell on eBay, then I get an e mail today informing me that the dude retracted his bid. WTF?? He wasn't even the high bidder at the time, but his f-up screwed up the whole process!! GRRRR!!

The ONLY bright spot I had today was talking to Jesus Jason at Pro Bikes and finding out the Big Mama should be good to go tomorrow. IF.... IFFFFFFFF I could PPPPPPOSIBLY be feeling better, I'd love to get her out on Saturday to dial the shock and fit in. Not counting on it though.

OK, I'm going to bed before anything else bad happens.

Later.

Can't Get Out of My Own Way

Stayed home from work today. Pretty much stayed in bed all day. It was 60 and sunny and I spent the day under the covers freezing my ass off in a feverish haze. Frig! I did take a few phone calls from Pro Bikes with some brake issues my Big Mama build is having. Nothing serious, but a pain. Looks like I might bump my rotor size up to 185 on the Big Mama.

Speaking of the Big Mama.... As you know I'm selling my Mamasita. Why is it that an eBay member felt the need to post a "question" to tell me he rode the Big Mama during a test ride and didn't like it- he used THIS phrase: "It can't get out of it's own way on climbs. Better stick to the hard tail." My response?

Thanks for you input. I must say you are the first person I know who has not been impressed with it on some level. Everyone expects different things out of their bikes. Sorry that the BM did not live up to your standards. Salsa in no way bills this bike as a light XC bike and I'm also not sure what "can't get out of it's own way on climbs" really means. I would ask that in the future you use this forum to ask questions about the item for sale. Thanks and good luck.

Hell, I in no way live in a wold were everyone likes every bike. I myself lust a TON of different bike. The Big Mama is a lot of bike and in my world is marked for long days in the saddle where comfort is my first priority. I'll have the Dos Niner for a light weight race bike. I love that folks can express opinions, but not sure why the dude chose eBay as a forum to express his opinion? What about MTBR.com, the Amigos Blog, or right here? Strange.

Oh well, the misery of the flu bug I have prevents me from caring too much. That and the fact I'll be riding a couple of kiler bikes this year. I just have to remember to get out of my own way on climbs. ;)

Sorry if I'm coming off like a dick tonight, the flu sort of does that to me. Frig.

Later.

Slow Leak

There are times on a ride, you feel like a tire MIGHT be have a slow leak, so you keep stopping to check it. You can't make up your mind if it IS going flat our just under inflated. So you keep plugging on, because you're too lazy and too into the ride, AND have no desire to stop to put a new tube in. Then as you get deeper into the woods you round a corner and you hear it. The sound of a deflated tube whipping around the carcass of your tire. You slam on the brake, let out a couple f-bombs and go about changing it.

That's the best way I know how to describe what my body has been telling me the last 24 hours. I did the spin last night and felt great. But later on I sorta had a nasty taste in my mouth. During the night I had a couple coughing fits. I assumed it was just dry air. This morning I got up and felt ssssuper tired. The short cough bursts came back. And then by 2 or 3 today the bod was in full on ache mode. Yep, I'm sick.

I hope this is as bad as gets, but I'm not hopeful. A million folks at work have been sick, I braved the pediatricians office with B-Man last Friday and then got exposed to a BILLION more kid germs at Chuck E. Cheese. It was bound to happen. Time to let out a couple of f-bombs, man up, and deal with it. Frig! The worst part is not knowing if I can take any medication for all of it since I'm still on the blood thinners. I mean I want to sleep, but I don't want the BIG sleep!!!

No ride due to potential flu, but I did have B-Man birthday cake. He turned 5 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAY B-MAN!! I love you dude!!

5 and 1 To Grow On.

Later.

Un-Foiled, Scientists & Thrice Fried Frites

It seems The Bike God's were appeased by my offers of fresh leg shavings and race entry fees to intervene jusssst enough to allow me to get in a kick ass hour on the trainer! Thank you!! Mr. Mortgage Man had to reschedule for later in the evening, so when I came home there was a note taped to the door from Wifey informing me that I would have the time to ride, so get crackin'!!

I wasted no time in getting out of my civilian clothes and into a chamois for fast hour of aerobic tempo on the trainer. Just wanted to get the legs moving, blow some stink out of them and try to sweat out the 100,000 mg of sodium that I probably took in on this weekend's nacho bender. These workouts are sort of cathartic. High cadence, but not high intensity. Time to think, listen to music (We Are Scientists thank you very much) and sweat.
It makes me feel like I'm just sitting in on a group ride, making all the "real" roadies do the work while I spin along not wanting any part of their skinny tired pissing contests. OR better I'm cruising along like Boonen in the lead group of Paris-Roubaix. Legs pumping, camera men chasing, and 16 year old Belgian girls worked up hotter than thrice fried Frites! The only really difference being that HE'S busting his adrenalin and coke fueled ass for 5+ hours at race intensity over shit roads and cobbles, and I am spinning along singing and sweating all over myself for an hour and calling it a ride/workout. Still fun though in it's own way.

I guess I could have just said- "I had a chance to spin tonight. It was fun". Nahh, what's the fun in that.

Later.

Foiled

I knew that my Sunday would be spent at Chuck E. Cheese's celebrating B-Man's 5th birthday (which is Tuesday). Nothing wrong with that, I love him and I knew he'd have a great time (and he did). I figured that today would be a "rest day" and I'd come back tomorrow ready to get some training in, even it would be on the trainer.

Then Wifey hit me with the news that some kat is stopping over tomorrow evening to have us finalized some docs for the mortgage re-fi we just did. "It should only be about a 1/2 hour" she says. Again I say Frig! 1/2 hour might as well be 4 hours. It throws a stick in the Monday evening training spokes- not early enough to get a work out in after, and not late enough to get one in before. Did I say FRIG!? Well I'm SAYING it again brother! This "work" thing is shit for the birds.

I tried to force myself on the trainer when we got home late this afternoon. That lasted about 2 minutes. I just had NO mental mojo for the trainer after a nice ride yesterday. Seeing the last rays of sunshine fade on another 50 degree February day in Western PA didn't help either. There will be plenty of riding coming my way soon enough, missing a couple hours in February is NOT going to be the difference on whether I finish 1st or 50th at Leesburg in April. But I'm sure you all know the feeling of missed hours. It's part guilt and it's part just feeling like you're missing out.

My goal tonight is to NOT look at any blogs or Facebook pages. I don't want to know how many more hours you rode than me today and this week. I KNOW you rode more! And Rick you're banned, because you miss rides to do things like building your own house! And that talent/cool factor blows a ride in February out of the water!

I'll just be fordec to hit up the Stability Ball of Pain tomorrow. That thing is freaking killing my stomach! I LOVE IT! Push ups on the ball rock. I never would have thought a giant beach ball could be soooo eeeee-veillllll.

Check out eBay if you're looking for some deals on some used gear...

2007 Salsa Mamasita (large)
2006 Rock Shox Reba Race (100mm, 7.5" steerer tube)

Buy 'em fool!

The living room is a big pile of BIG MAMA right now. I have all my shit together to get the build done. Should be able to visit Pro Bikes this week and let them do their thang. I think it will be solid/cool build. I hope to keep it under 30 lbs., and not use anything stupid light. Maybe on the Dos, but not the Big Mama. Remember this is a bike for BIG days in the saddle and to keep my bod from getting beat up.

• Big Mama
• Fox Fork RLC 100mm
• X9 Rear D.
• XTR Front D.
• X.0 Twisties
• XT Crank
• Avid Juicy Ultimates
• Bontrager Mustangs/Hope Pro IIs/Ignitors/Stan's Goo
• Ergon Grips
• Race Face Post/Fizik Nisene Saddle
• Etc., etc., etc.,...

OK, that's all I got, Anxious for Tuesday when I can FINALLY ride again! HA!

Later.

Super Macho

Killer Saturday. I'm pretty bushed, so gonna make this as quick as I can (have you ever noticed I tend to blather on about nothing almost daily??).

Sweet 2:30 in the saddle today. Did a "Knoab Ride" (that would be a road ride on full knobbie tires). Temps were in the mid 50s and it freaking ROCKED! Arm warmers, leg warms and a base layer is all that was needed. I hit some of my regular road loop and some shit farm roads, which were literally covered with GIANT heaps of cow shit today. Jeezzzus, one turd was the size of a VW Bug!! They were also covered with a film of mud, salt, and patches of dirty ice. Thank God I took the knobs.

The legs felt damn good fo a Feburary ride on the road, on a soft tail 29er with full knobbies. I was real happy with the way I felt. In another 3 weeks I'll be able to do similar rides (or longer) almost daily, and really build up some endurance. At least that's the plan.

Why another shot of the Dos Niner's Relish shock? Well I've run into a couple Relish "doubters" over the past week. 1 dude thought the Relish didn't really do anything, the other said he had to run 0 p.s.i. to get travel from the shock. This is a visual Pffffft! Check out the pic above. I got a nice chunk of travel just on a ROAD ride! Granted Wester PA roads are pretty shit, but still. That's a nice little bit of travel for being on the road running about 50 p.s.i.! Remember- ride the Dos like a hard tail and she'll be the most comfortable hard tail you've ever ridden. Ride her like a full susspension and you'll be dissapointed. At least that's my 2¢.

Speaking of full suspension bikes.... Got my Fox fork in the mail today! Buying a used one off of a good friend for a killer price. I also got my front derailleur. I hope to get the Big Mama to Pro Bikes this week to let them build her up. I can't wait to get her all dialed in for the Bakers Doz. in April. Should be nice and comfy for 13 hours in the saddle. If I was on a team, the weapon o'choice would be the light weight Dos, but 13 hours, 37 years, and a shit back call for Xtreme comfort. In other words it calls for the Big Mama.

Once home it was a quick bite to eat, hang with B-Man for a while and then Wifey and I hit Mad Mex for some killer Mexican food and a couple Nugger Nectars. You HAVE to love a BIG hop beer like Tröegs Nugger Nectar. Oh sweet Louise is it good!! The soft tacos were friggin' killer too!

Oh well that's all I have time for, which was STILL enough for you to wish you had the last 3 minutes of your life back. B-Man's 5th birthday party is tomorrow. Dude does't turn 5 'till Tuesday, but tomorrow worked best for the par-tay. Did I mention that B-Man got his first CD ever yesterday? Yep he all about the Spectacular sound track. NOT my first choice, but dude is IN to it, knows all the words, and that makes me happy.

Later.

Groovy

Off from work, and off the bike today, but I still worked my ass off. Eeesh! This IS Friday you know!! B-Man's doctor's appt. was a scene. First the place creeps me out due to the stupid shit they have hanging all over the walls and most of the people that work there are on the shitty side of rude. On top of that, B-Man needed four shots today! And the idiot doctor announces this to him 1 minute into his physical. So THAT made things REAL fun! After that it was a million house things that needed done and grocery shopping (joy). When did a can of black beans become 85¢?? They were like 69¢ about a year ago. That's a serious ass price increase on the magical fruit.

On the bright side of the day- I am REALLY digging the trial version of Freeway that I downloaded yesterday. Super easy! At least so far. I think I will be bypassing any blogger sites (Blogger or WordPress) and just getting a host and laying it out myself. I'm not sure I want the core of XXC to be the web, but I do want a presence there. I want it to look decent AND I want to be able to alter the look without doing code and what not. This seems to fit the bill. I do want it to look nice. In time I'm sure it will expand, but for now designing it this way should be cool. I got 2.5 of the 3 tutorials done, so I think within the week I should be able to get rid of the Blogger site for XXC.

I thought it was funny that I checked out the site where I have the prototype hosted (Scribd) and apparently XXC has made their "hot list". I thought that was cool for about 5 seconds, 'cause I also noticed that some eZine/book about the dangers of early umbilical cord clamping was ALSO on the list. I can see where that would be a cool read so I'm not disrespecting it or anything. OK, maybe I am. Sorry.

With the Big Mama just a box of parts right now, the Mamasita being in various states of "for sale" and the Campeon having a f*cked up chain from it's time on the trainer with a an old road wheel, it looks like me and the Dos Niner will be taking some full knobbies out to cruise some roads and shit farm road tomorrow. Wifey is working some O.T. in the a.m., so I won't be able to get out until after 1 sometime, but it should be nice and "warm" by then. After Wednesday's a.m. temp of 1 degree, tomorrow's high of 48 should feel like Death Valley. OK, by me.

Check out The tee shirt of the month!

Might have to pick this one up for me and/or Wifey. Probably a better option than the one I almost bought her and the 38s the other day. Something told me not to.

Later.

The End Of Weeks

Glad to get this week over with. Man, it just ooozed along like a slug on a dog turd. Damn. Taking a personal day again tomorrow. B-Man (who is fast approaching 5 years old) has a check up tomorrow, so I'm taking him to the Docs. Then I have the day to f*ck around.

I might get some riding in, or I just might do some XXC work. I think I found a web design program made for folks like me (designers who hate/don't know/don't WANT to know HTML). It's called Freeway, I downloaded a free trial version of it, so I might piss around seeing how it works. So far it looks really promising. Kind of like Illustrator meets Quark meets DreamWeaver. A.M. EDIT- Doing the Freeway tutorial. Holy crap! Very happy with the download. I think I can do this! I hope I can do this! Sure, I can do this. Right?

I also need to start getting some stuff on eBay. The Mamasita, Reba, and Hope Mono Minis are all ready to go. I'm sad to see the Mamasita go. It's such a fast bike. Way faster than me! But the Big Mama and the Dos Niner are a better fits for my racing and training needs.

I also need to pay for some of the upgrades I'm getting done to the Dos Niner and some new parts for the Big Mama. The frame does have some signs of tough love with small top tube dent and some chain rub on the stays, but hey, it's mountain bike that has 2 seasons on it, what do people expect?

I thought about keeping her and turning her into a rigid "monter cross" training bike, but it's not worth it. I'd rather pay off some purchase feeling that there's gonna be some hot shit at Frostbike.

Big thanks to Ralph The Mechanic and the folks at Pro Bikes Monroeville today for taking the time to get my crank and head set off of the Mamasita. They're are ballz deep in inventory, but still made the time for me. Much appreciated.

Now that I have all the parts off of the Mamasita, all I need is the Fox (which is coming). Then I can get it to Pro Bikes sometime next week for the build. I'll need some small stuff like housing, cables, chain, and what not, but that's all stuff that the shop will have in stock and ready to go. There might be some parts moving around later in the spring when my SRAM stuff comes in. The goal for the Dos is pretty light weight, without being stupid light. Remember- 184 pound endurance racers should not try to run uber light weight, or shit will just implode.

Speaking of 185 pound endurance racers (me), I'm pleased that that 185 is DOWN about 8 to 10 pound from late winter. Hope to be in the 170s again, by April I think once I ditch my job, the weather improves and I get more real riding and racing in, that it's totally doable. I REALLY can't believe how that weight snuck up on me. The combo of too beer and the Big Z, really packed it on. Thankfully I no longer need the Z. and I've been SUPER strict about my beer intake. Last week I had 3 the whole weekend. I can't believe how much better I've been riding and feeling since I cut back. It's also great to have some focus on the coming season and Project XXC.

On the subject of "projects" a fellow 'Burgher, Blogger and racer has a new project you're going to need to check out, especially if you're local...

Good luck SteevO, pghracing.org should be a real asset to the local race community once you get it up and full running.

Good luck to Little Ball of Hate and Chrissy B. this weeken. They are heading down to the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial this weekend. Look forward to hearing how it went.

I think it might be time to go play some Wii. Or go to bed? Hmmmm.

Later.

Fueled Up.

Before I get to my regularly schedule blog, I need to say a big "thank you" to all the folks that commented on the blog and e mailed me regarding my attempts to launch XXC. I have a feeling it's a pretty good concept, but I was amazed and extremely happy that folks reacted so positively. At one point today I actually got all goose bumpy and tingly after getting a certain couple of e mails.

I can tell you right now I have NEVER got all goose bumpy and tingly for ANY reason at my current job. Enraged, stressed, depressed, angry, sad, mad, beaten down, and stripped of all dignity- YES! Goose pimply and proud- NO! So thanks folks, it all meant a lot to me. On second thought, I MAY have gotten "tingly" at work once or twice, it was either the time I got so enraged about some bone headed new rule that I nearly stroked out. OR it was the time I scored a boob shot on a hot female co-worker. Not sure.

Anyway, the comments really helped add fuel to my creative fire, and judging from some of the e mails and posts I read, more than a few of you got your creativity fired up too. And THAT is one of the things I want to see happen. I not only want to motivate folks to ride and race harder and farther, but to create and use their talents and skills. I'm NOT just talking about art, photography and writing. But other stuff too. You might not be able to take a photo to save your life, but you just might have some cool ass tips on how to prepare for 200 mile gravel grinder or tips on water filtration. It's ALL good.

OK, I'm done, back to my regularly scheduled session of verbal diarrhea-

Since we're on the subject of fuel, it occurred to me today, that in the coming weeks my rides are going to get longer and longer and and by this time next month I'll be getting ready to race a 5 hour enduro. (SWEET!). My standby fuel is CarboPro mixed with Gatorade (powder). I currently have none in stock, so I figured I'd better order some stat. I went to place my order and realized that at $22.95 plus shipping, and given that I signed up for 2 hundies in the past 2 weeks, I should hold off a day or two until I get some dough in the piggy.

THEN I got an e mail from GNC today letting me know that they were having a sale. I checked out the e mail site and saw some CytoSport stuff. I've never used CytoMax, etc.,, so I went to the the CytoSport site to do some research. Nothing was really catching my eye until I saw CytoCarb II™. They say- "...100% natural complex carbohydrates with zero fat, very low sodium, no flavoring, colorings or additives, CytoCarb II enables you to customize shakes and juices ..." I say- "that sounds an awful lot like CarboPro!". So I figured I'd stop at GNC and see if they had it. YEP! They sure did. AND it was pretty cheap...And it was on sale... And if you bought one you got the 2nd for 50% off... AND if have a Gold Card (I do) you save more.... yada, yada, yada, long story short- I got 4 pounds of "fuel") A.K.A. Complex Carbohydrates for about $17. Sah-ah-ah-ah-weeeeet!
Don't mistake me finding a deal on some carbs with me saying this shit works! It MIGHT suck. But NOW is the time to find out. In February and March. I do NOT want to be in the middle of a 13 hour race and through the haze of a bonk realize "hey this CytoCarb II™ stuff sorta sucked!". I'll let you know how it goes. But now I need sleep.

Later.

An Idea With The Best Intentions

As you may or may not have read, recently I've been working on a little side "project" that I hope to get going in 2009. I've shared the idea with a handful of fellow racers and riders, but now I'm gonna put my plan out there for Soiled Chamois-dom.

I'm in the process of creating a web site/web based publication called "XXC". XXC is of course the abbreviation that many race promoters use to note that a cross country race is marathon in length or a multi lap, multi hour endurance race. The UCI says that a marathon XC race is any race between 24.9 miles (40 km) and 74.5 miles (120 km). I say- "why stop at 74.5 miles??"
XXC will highlight marathons, multi-hour, multi-day endurance races, as well as all day epics, big training rides, off road touring and everything in between. There are plenty of road and mountain bike magazines, and a growing number of cyclocross magazines. But VERY few (if any) magazines dedicated solely to endurance mountain biking.

There are some great resources and sites out there for endurance mountain bike junkies, and I'm not attempting to compete with them. XXC will be about YOU and ME, by YOU and ME. It will highlight riders and racers of all abilities- from Joe Pro to Joe Six Pack. Sharing stories of a victory, a mid pack finish and or a struggle JUST to finish. Hell, share some thoughts on your DNF! I want to show the variety of emotions that play a part in our racing.

I want XXC to be a creative forum for words, photos and information about epic races and rides. Once in a while there will hopefully product information and testing geared specifically towards XXC racers and riders. I want to take what I love about magazines like Embrocation, Rouler, Urban Velo, BIKE and Dirt Rag and try to create something that endurance mountain bike freaks want to read, look at and/or be a part of.

Will this ever get off the ground in 2009 or will it be 2010? Will I loose motivation? Will it ever be anything more than a hobby and ANOTHER blog? Will it ever have advertisers? Will links and props be enough to satisfy contributors for a while? Will I ever be able to PAY folks for contributions in cash or shwag? I have NO idea!! And that's a bit scary. If nothing else, all this will allow me to get some creative work done when I "separate" from my employer in a few weeks.

XXC has a temp home on a Blogger account and things are going to be pretty ghetto for a while. Bare with me. I hope to move it to Word Press in the future to allow multiple pages, a gallery, etc., First someone (me) needs to learn how to do all that, HA!

Along with being a web site or blog, I want to publish a PDF eMagazine to view on your computer or to print out. There is currently a 10 page prototype available for folks to look at and get a basic idea of what I want to do. It's available at www.xxcmag.com. I was lucky and some fellow bloggers and photographers hooked me up with some information and great pics to use in the prototype (Thank you!!). I encourage you to click around on the PDF. Many of the pages have links embedded in them to take you to the writers web site, blog or photo gallery.

I'd like to have a real "issue" ready at the end of April sometime. At least I'd like to. Who knows? This is gonna be a work in progress for a while. If you have some words, pics, info etc, and would like to get it out there drop me a note at xxcmag (at) gmail.com.

For the first issue I hope to highlight some of the following events:

- Snotcycle (an XC race yes, but cold, snow, and ice made this one epic)

- The Arrowhead 135

- 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo

- Mas O Menos 100K

- The Camp Hilbert 5 Hour Enduro Race

- 6 Hours of Warrior Creek

- The Michaux Mass

- The Leesburg Bakers Dozen

- and a bunch of other cool stuff.

You don't have to be a pro with words or a camera. I'll tidy things up, link you up and post it up. Send me some stuff. Lets see if we can make something cool!

OK, enough about all that. I need to go organize a Big Mama bike build. Did I mention I scored a SWEET deal on a Fox shock for the Big Mama? OH yeah, It has a few miles on it, but it's a Fox!! The Big Mama is gonna be damn sweet for some all day epic adventures of my own!

Later.

Hungover

The Monday Morning Hangover was in full effect this morning. No, not a hangover from swilling bad beer, watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl and setting couches on fire in the city streets 'till all hours of the morning, although I'm sure plenty of locals were feeling the effects of THAT this morning. But the Monday Morning Race Weekend Hangover.

I know you know what I mean! The alarm goes off, and you're slapped in the face with the reality that you are expected to show up at work and "do stuff". Expected to talk about things that have NOTHING to do with bikes whatsoever! Seriously?? REALLY??

No way can you concentrate. You just can't stop thinking of lap times, equipment choices, and what you ate, or DIDN'T eat, during the race. You think about where you placed, who placed in front of you and who placed in back. How can you be expected to go to work?? It's just not right!

Unlike many folks who spend their hangover mornings renouncing alcohol kneeling at the porcelain throne, or sucking down some "hair of the dog", you KNOW you're going to do it again. If you won, you want to win again. If you DNFed, you want redemption. If you finished just off the box, you want another shot. And if you just plain ol' had fun, you want to have MORE fun! Is that so wrong??

But today is Monday. You need to roll your ass out of bed, get ready and get to work. You know you'll be useless to your employer today. You'll spend most of your day hiding in your cubical, cruising the Net looking for updated race results, Googling for race photos, and hitting Bikereg.com to lay down another 30 bills or more to race again.

It's not your fault it's Monday. People will just have to deal. Maybe you'll get 'round to working tomorrow, but not today. Today is your day. To get focused. Not on their work, but the REAL work at hand- The next race.

By the way, the updated results have me 11th not 10th, maybe if I would have used my hydraton pack I would have drank more? I think I need a bike fit, I ran too much tire pressure, I have found no race pictures of myself and my next race is the Camp Hilbert 5 Hour Enduro on March 8th. Gotta love Monday.

Later.

Snotcycle XC Race Report

A few months ago I got an e mail from my friend Plum Grove Pete telling me about a race that Rob (he of Plum Grove Cycles, he of the Leesburg Bakers Dozen, and he that is the putter on of kick ass races) was hosting a winter XC race called "Snotcycle". Snotcycle would be an XC race on the same course as the Leesburg Bakers Dozen and would quite possibly have rain, mud, snow, ice, sleet, blood and various amounts of the weather man's winter weather fueled fecal matter involved. Pete casually mentioned it, thinking there was no way I would drive 3.5 hours to race a 2 hour XC mountain bike race in January. Pfffft! Not only did I sign up, I got 3 other racers to sign up and make the trip to Leesburg with me!

I decided early in the off season that in 2009 I would make a return to XC racing. I spend too much time training and racing at endurance pace. I don't do that many group rides, so doing XC races should be the perfect way to try to get faster on the bike and work my system in a way that I just can't achieve on my own. As I've mentioned in prior blog posts I haven't done an XC race since 2004 (I think), so I've been a bit nervous about how I would perform. I figured an XC race in January, in the middle of off season training would be a good way to get my feet wet (literally).

In the week leading up to the race, the mid Atlantic region of the U.S. received daily doses of snow, ice, rain, and freeze/thaw cycles that would make Snotcycle just what it was billed as on the registration page- "a weather be damned" rain, sleet, the nastier the better, race."

My companions to Snotcycle would be my Pro Bikes teammates Tim C., and Don P., as well as our friend and member of my former Bikeman.com team- Brad S. (one half of "The Schmalzers"). A fun group of folks that included one angry "little ball of hate" caffeine meets meth brained Pro, two fast Expert class racers and one Sport class, mid pack endurance racing doofuss (me).

As Pittsburgh got pounded with another blast of winter weather during the day Friday we ALL thought that we may have just made a horrible mistake in signing up for this race. Luckily we would be proved wrong. By the time we loaded up Don's cruising vessel on Friday night the snow had stopped for the most part and the PA turnpike was in fine condition for the drive down to Leesburg. A stop or two for Tim's infant sized bladder, some food (Quiznos subs sort of suck IMO, and the mistakenly poured Sprite/Peach Iced Tea tasted just as bad as one would think), a couple wrong turns (my fault) and we were there. Before you knew it 4 guys and 4 bikes were stuffed safely into the warm, yet odd smelling confines of a Days Inn, working on bikes and getting gear straight for the a.m..

6 A.M. came early, we all got chamoised up and made the trip to I.H.O.P. (not the Luna song) for some grub. It was cold. DAMN cold. But there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Granted the ground was covered with ice glazed snow, but it was still nice to see the sun and know that I would be racing today.

After an hour of food shoveling and bike talk, it was time to head to the race venue, get checked in and get a pre ride in. The trails were indeed covered with snow, but barring the open field leading into the single track, the Dos Niner's IRD Fire Pros were getting pretty good traction in the woods. It was also clear that I was overdressed for the pre ride and was putting out a bit too much sweat for it being 20 degrees. I also left my friggin' bottles in the car so I did the whole 7.5 mile loop with no hydration. DOFUSS!!

I ran into a bunch of folks I knew before the race... Fernando and Jenny, P.G. Pete, P.G. Rob, James, Travis, etc.,) Always nice to talk to the familiar faces at the races. All that really helps to calm my nerves. The more races you do, the more folks you meet and the more the races seem like "organized group rides" rather than races.

Brad's Kona (soon to be a Salsa Moto Rapido),
Don's Mamasita, and My Dos Niner.

Soon I was on the start line, ready to take off through a slippy hard packed snow and ice covered cow pasture for my first race of 2009. The gun/whistle/Rob yelling "Go", went off and I found myself in the lead group of 5 or 6 heading into the woods. SWEET! I was pretty worried about my start and was happy to make it into the woods in the lead pack.

Once I got in the woods it was time to put my head down and keep power to the pedals. The 7.5 mile loop has about 12 feet of elevation gain and is just power, power, power. The snow made my middle ring feel like the big ring and my low back was soon telling me that I was pushing some harder than usual gears and in need of an expert bike fit. BUT I was doing pretty well and was on the wheel of another racer for 85% of lap one.

The dude in front made a few bad line choices and even commented out loud on the fact. I knew there was a short steep rock slab coming up that had two lines- one line to the left that 90% of the folks were using and one line right up over the big slab. P.G. Pete clued me in that the line right over the slab was totally doable as long as you kept your momentum up. I had a feeling that the dude would for sure take the left line, so as we entered the climb I backed off, let him commit to the left and then shot myself up over the slab and dropped him. SWEET! This move would work for me two of my 3 laps today.

Once I hit the open field heading to the start finish line I reach down for a bottle, went to take a swig... DOH!! FROZEN!! So I tried my second bottle and got a few drops of water. This was a bad sign for lap one of 3. But there was nothing I could do but keep going.

Lap two was much like lap one, but I found myself riding alone more. This sort of sucked because I surely backed off the gas a bit with no one to chase. Towards the end of the lap I entered an icy corner a little too quick and was slammed down like a dead pig to a butcher's block. Ouch! But adrenaline was flowing, so I hopped right back up and took off.

I'm not gonna lie... as I crossed the start/finish and headed out for my final lap I was relieved that this was the last one. This was fun as hell, but I was cold, wet, thirsty and was wanting it to end. I crossed the start/finish and headed out for lap 3 with a ton of motivation to get this one in quick.

I hit the fast single track in the pines, and put the hammer down. About 200 yards in I saw "the woman that Travis lives with" (AKA his wife). I shouted out a hello and promptly hit the deck hard. If the last crash was like a dead pig slammed on a butcher's block, this one was like a bovine dropped out of a 3rd story window to a city street and sidewalk. OUCH x 2!! I couldn't help but wonder what my body was going to look like in the a.m.. Remember, I'm STILL on blood thinning medication for last falls DVT issue. This might be ugly in the a.m.!!

Again, I picked my spandex encased carcass up and headed off. This time my legs were cramping as I remounted. Surely a combination of big efforts, very little hydrating during the race and NO electrolytes. Sheeit! Oh well, only 7 miles to go! I spent much of lap 3 either alone or mixed in with the tail end of some other classes. The course was starting to melt and there were many more muddy, slushy parts now. I was cold, and glad to be finishing before getting too wet.

I finished the 22 mile-ish race in 10th place with a time of 1:55:53. Given that there were 60 guys registered in my class (maybe more, maybe less, I need to see the full final results to know for sure how many folks lined up) I'm pretty happy with that result. My goal was a top 20 and got top 10 (EDIT- Final Results now have me finishing 11th, my ego is wounded! HA!). There is still a TON of work to be done before the W.V.M.B.A. series starts in the spring, but I'm feeling good about racing XC along with my endurance schedule.

Congrats to Fort James who finished ahead of me in 4th place, and to Plum Grove Pete who finished 3rd in Sport Geezer. BIG congrats to my teammate Tim Carson who won the 30 mile Expert Pro race and to Don P. and Brad who finished 9th and 10th in the Expert/Pro class. Nice job guys. All in all a pretty good showing for the 'Burg folks.

Big thanks to Rob from Plum Grove for another great race. I can't wait for the Bakers Dozen in April. I just hope for a LITTLE bit warmer temps! HA! Also thanks to Pro Bikes (and Tim) for getting the Dos Niner dialed in for race day. Even with the snow and ice the bike shifted great. Thanks! The Dos Niner is a great bike for a course like Leesburg. I do plan on using the Big Mama for this April's Solo race though. 13 hours on this course will beat you up for sure and the Big Mama should help smooth it out.

This was a fun race weekend. It was great to make the trip with other folks and we had some fun. Tim kept us entertained and Don got us there and back safely. I learned a lot about XC racing this weekend, and am anxious to go again, but hopefully in some warmer, snow free conditions. I also learned that a Denny's is NOT the place to get a nacho platter. Yikes!

It was once again nice to race and be 95% coherent rather than 3% afterwards. A guy could get used to this! Yeah right!

Hope to get some more pics in the near future.

Later.