This Might Suck

10:11 a.m.- It's currently pissing down rain here, and doing the same in the State College area and it forecasted to piss down until this evening or later.. NOT looking forward to a damp evening/night of camping. Totally not regretting sucking up an early drive and getting a hotel in State College. Frig! Oh well, I'm trying to stay positive on the weekend's race. I mean they are calling for sunny skies tomorrow. Sure the trails will be slick, but hoping that the rain will just make the forest roads hook up a bit better. I could be wrong. The worst part of this race is that just about all of the single track is in the 2nd part of the race. Once you're tired and beaten down. And don't even get me started on the last section of single track a few miles from the finish. Yikes! By that point I'm usually stumbling around like a buffoon.

Taking my Lake shoes with me, haven't used them all year, but they have such a good rubber sole, that I'm thinking of using them. Stumbling around on wet rocks is going to be hard enough without slipping on the Sidi's plastic sole.

Oh well what's an endurance race without some ENDURing? ;)

Time to finish up some packing stuff and get ready to roll around 1:00.

Later.

Sweet Relief...

Got out for a nice 2:25 spin today on ghetto road climbing and rail trails to shake down the Dos Niner and see how the shifting was. Worked great. That is a relief. Legs felt pretty spanky too- and even bigger relief. Now I just have to finish packing the all my bike and camping shit and get my ass to Coburn tomorrow.

In other news- XXC #3 as you know is done. I have re-posted (with the help of a MTBR.com poster) the mag in a smaller and compressed version for faster downloading. It's still a bit large at 8.5MB but that's down from a whopping 64.5MB. My bad on the file size. Look for more changes in the coming months on how XXC is downloaded and viewed. I hope to make the experience a little better for the reader.

I got a case of Pomegranate juice in the mail today from the folks at Pom Wonderful today. I've always wanted to try this "super antioxidant" juice, but would never let myself part with the coin. Some Pom Wonderful person saw my blog, wanted to know if I wanted to try it (I did), and POW! Got me some pomegranate juice in the fridge. Thanks. What I tried so far is good. The flavor is a little intense, but I think with some ice cubes it would be better. Oh, how 'bout with seltzer? That might be a little fizzy kick, or better yet vodka! I'M KIDDING!

Gotta split "I have a headache and the runs". Actually I don't, that's a quote from School of Rock which is B-Man's new favorite movie seriously he has like the movie memorized, except for the cuss words, he gets screamed at for that (ok not screamed at). I've now seen the movie like 20 times this summer! Why do I have the feeling that Saturday when I'm 6 hours deep into the 101 and suffering like a dog, I will NOT be able to get quotes from that movie out of my head?? Which leads me to this YouTube find- B-Man is gonna love this!

uhhhAAAHHHHaaaahh, uhhhAAAHHHHaaaahh... We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.. HAMMMER OF THE GODS....

Later

Closer But Further Away

As the 101 creeps closer and I get a bit more excited/worried/nervous/scared out of my mind. Not sure why? This will be my 3rd 101. I know the race, I know what goes down. Maybe that's why I'm nervous!! I mean it's just a ton of climbing, rocks, climbing, gnarly rocky down hills, climbing, rocks, endless forest roads, snakes, bears, and climbing. Pffft! Nothing to worry about!

If this race had been 2 weeks ago I would have been geeked, 'cause I was feeling pretty stoked about my fitness. Now? Not so much. My normal rides have even been a struggle, both physically and mentally. But stranger things have happen on race day. Adrenaline has a way of kicking in and my legs often get some new found energy to sneak my way into the mid pack. Not to mention thoughts of burgers and beer(s) at the finish line.

The Dos Niner is 98% ready for the race. I have to test out a cassette tomorrow to see if there are any issues with a new chain. I wanted to just get the cassette today, but the shop only had an 11/32 in stock and I roll a 11/34. The M'ville shop is gonna get me one from Squirrel Hill just in case, it doesn't work out during tomorrow's a.m. ride. I hope the old one works though, I hate this race week bike drama shit. I actually thought I had more time to get the bike ready. That of course was until this past Sunday morning when I woke up and realized the race was THIS coming Saturday and NOT NEXXXT Saturday (the 8th). Thhhhat through me for a bit of panic. DOH!

But hey, at the end of the day, it's a day on the bike. Can't complain about that. Just need to release the stress, find some race zen, get a ride in the legs tomorrow, and take care of shit as it gets handed to me. There's a saying- "If life hands you a pile of shit. Just throw the shit back in life's face and move on." Or was it something to do with lemons? Nah, gotta be shit. Who would complain about lemons, they taste good. shit doesn't taste good. Either way, time to just let go any stress and focus on enjoying the pain AND the fun that is a hundie, and the 101.

Time to go jump start my Zen and listen to some Yo La Tengo tracks before bed. Mmmm, noisy meandering guitars and noise for 15 minutes. That should drowned out my tinnitus just a bit. Or make it worse? ;)

Later

What Now?

I went for a ride at Boyce today and felt "OK" but I can't say I'm feeling stoked about my fitness for this Saturday. The trails of Boyce Parke are a strange beast. Part of the trails were so dry that the earth was cracking, other parts had pockets of deep mud and/or slick clay and roots. On one little dip that's covered with roots my front tire shot out from under me and the next thing you know I'm off the trail and over a bank in mix of sticks, thorns, and God-knows-what.

Boyce used to be my favorite local places to ride, but with each ride I do there this year I get a little less enthused about riding there. Part of it's me. Part of it is the trail conditions and weather, and part of it is just boredom. I've been hearing good things about South Park from my friend in Mo'Town, maybe it's time I gave that a try?

Jezzzus! I was antzy today. I mean I JUST finished XXC v.3, I have a race coming up, fading fitness, a race bike that's in the shop, no job, and to top if off- the Tour is not on! My God how I long for the siren song of Phil and Paul's voices. Not that I'm that much of a Euro Road Dog, it's just that when the Tour is on, everything is right in the world. When the Tour is over there is nothing. Baseball? Please. I used to dig it, but I just can't watch it anymore. Pro football teams are reporting to camp! Dear Lord I'd rather shoot myself in the face than watch, hear or listen to ANYthing to do with pro football. 300 lb. steroid freaks and criminals? No thanks.

Sure Pro Cycling has it's flaws, and I by no means am it's biggest fan, but I long for a day when we can watch NOT just the Tour, but the Classics, ALL of the Grand Tours, UCI World Cup Mountain Biking, and Cyclocross. Yeah, I know there are web casts of the races, but half of them never work and even when they do, I really don't want to sit at my desk and watch a race. I will say this- BIG PROPS to Cyclingdirt.com for how they covered the U.S. MTB Nationals this year AND most recently the UCI races in Mt. Saint Anne. Damn good stuff. Maybe the BEST of the possible two (?) web sites dedicated to XC racing.

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

The only thing I would recommend to Cyclingdirt.com is that they offer some .mp4/movie/quick time downloads of the races. It would be bad ass to be able to download them, make a compilation and watch all together. I know that's a bit greedy, but I AM a bit greedy. And I love to watch me some bike racin' when I'm not racin' myself.

Today I made the "executive" to f*ck the tent for the 101, and sleep in the xB. For one thing I gotta say- I hate camping! OK, I don't HATE it, but when I need sleep I hate it. And have you ever tried to sleep in a field of 40o endurance freaks, half of whom are enjoying some fine libations? It's not easy. The last time I did the 101 my friend Rick hooked us up with a place to stay. It was the condo of some PSU Art Proff. that had a generous collection of vintage gynecological equipment. I slept OK then, but not that great, 'cause I kept having the feeling that Rick was gonna sneak up on me with that vintage speculum!

But I will make the best of it. I'm going into the 101 with only the hopes of besting my '07 time which was just awful due in part to HIGH heat, humidity, and bonk. For this one I'm going in with an open mind. Hell I may even take my camera with me on the race. The riding in the State College area is beautiful, not to mention I'll need some "content' for Issue #4. ;)

Gotta split. The house is empty right now and I want to enjoy the peace.

Later.

It All Comes Around

So after a morning filled with getting out XXC #3, and an afternoon filled with doing Dad stuff, I lost my desire to ride, especially since that ride was just going to be a rail trail tempo ride. I figured, I get done what needed done today and open up tomorrow morning for some single track. Which is MUCH better IMHO.

I know I've mentioned this before, about how I (and only me) started the compression sock revolution last year. My friend Aaron will try take credit for it 'cause he rocked argyle knee socks at last year's Seven Springs 24, but we all know it was me and my Deep Vein Thrombosis. I mean I took the "bullet" for the revolution with a little thing called "almost dieing!" and a 1/2 year on blood thinners! NOW all these bandwagon jumpers are getting on board the compression sock band wagon. I mean even Euro XC dudes are wearing them on the podium now! I mean look at this-

Do I get any royalties from this shit? NO! WTF??

I'm kidding of course. I think sporting the socks post race is in no way a bad idea, especially if you're doing a lot of driving or flying to get to and from the race. While I can't speak on whether they actually help performance or not, I can say that they do promote blood flow through the legs and help ward off swelling, clotting and DVT.

Since it seems that compression socks are catching on, I would like to see someone get a little flare going. How 'bout some designs? Argyle, Dr. J retro 70s tube socks, striped, polka dots, etc., Why not? A. In most people's opinions we already wear some of the most ridiculous clothing ever made to ride our bikes and B. If you're wearing the compression socks you already look like a knob, so why not just EMBRACE it. Go ahead, make the socks! Someone will do it and make some cash, and I'll still be sitting at this desk, writing this drivel. BTW I saw that CompetitiveCyclist.com has the Skins Sports Sox for $45. Just an FYI- I paid like $11 for basic black at my local pharmacy when when my leg was swelled up like a well fed anaconda. But then again mine were compression socks, not compression "sox." ;)

I guess what spawned me to talk about the socks again, was that I have my 3rd and hopefully FINAL Doppler on my leg next week followed by a follow up with my Doc. So far the leg has been great and I've been off the blood thinners since April, but I still get a bit nervous.

OK, I need to decompress and digest the white trash super food I made up tonight. Oh yeah, I would kick ass at Iron Chef: Double Wide. Dijon Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese Pasta. Frig it was good. I ate enough broccoli to be regular for the next 3 months. Speaking of "regular" have you seen the "colon lady" commercials?? Holy shit! (no pun intended)

Sorry for the ghetto YouTube video, but it's all that was available. Oddly I saw a video when I was in college that had a woman called "the colon lady" in it, but that was a WHHHOLE other sort of video and genre!

Later.

My "Work" Is Done For Today

Spent my a.m. working instead of riding. That is painful. But I'm happy to say I got #3 done. Might be able to squeeze an easy ride in tonight once Wifey gets home, but if not Tuesday and Thursday will work great for the BIG ONE on Saturday. EDIT: I chose not to. Just 'cause I needed to work on my mid-packness.

I guess I should go take a shower, maybe get out of my smelly "fat pants" or something?

Later.

A Mountain Of A Headache

After throwing down coin for the 101 yesterday, I was anxious to head up to the mountain to enjoy some climbs and mountain single track. I took off early-ish, so as to NOT let myself get sucked into the Tour, and believe me that was harder than it sounds!

Once I got myself out of the house and up to the mountain, I parked in my normal place up by the snowmobile trails parking lot off of 31, figuring I'd ride Fire Tower Road over to Seven Springs, do a lap of the race course, and then come back for more single track and forest road climbing. The goal would be to come close to 40 miles. That would not happen. As soon as I set off down Fire Tower I started to get a headache. I haven't had a headache in ages, so this was strange. I figured it, along with that dump I was holding back, would fade after a few miles. The dump faded, the headache would remain the all day.

Once I got to Seven Springs, I did the 2nd half of the course first so I could finish the course and take a forest road up to the pavement that lead down to the North Gate. I was a mess in the rock garden. I've ridden this rock garden so many times I can't even remember them all, and while I don't clear the WHOLE thing too often, I usually do a LOT better than I did today. Eesh. I was all over the place. Not good. After I passed the Paint Ball area, I started up some more single track and what do you think I saw??

More freaking tighty whities!! WTF?? I now truly believe that I am an underwear magnet. This is a new single season record for the amount of underwear I've seen on the roads and now trails. I am speechless.

Once I finished the first part of the course, which today was actually the 2nd part, it was on to the first part, which today was actually the 2nd part. Jezzzus!! I think I just confused myself! I just sort of plugged along, not wanting to push too hard since I was sill hoping that my headache would fade and that I would have the desire to hit the forest road climbs on the other side of 31.

I had just finished some of the newer single track that was put in last year when I saw a rider in my peripheral vision soon to be followed by someone shouting MAHOKEY!!! It was my Pro Bikes teammate and fellow Salsa Mamasita rider Don, who was out to get some single track in his legs before tomorrow's WVMBA race. We rode together and discussed a variety of things from bikes, to soap operas, to racing. It was nice to ride with Don a bit, but we parted ways when I headed to the North Gate and Don readied for the climb up the ski slope.


I was still rocking the headache and some disappointment as I headed back on fire tower road. I figured that the ride was not going to go as planned but that shouldn't stop me from exploring around. I found some newer trails off of Lookout Loop, and even found the Fire Tower that gives Fire Tower Road it's name. Sadly it's gated up and looks a little distressed.

A quick look at the crumbing tower and then it was down to the Lookout Loop and then some forest road and single track back to the parking lot. I wanted to do more, but my head was killing me. I'd love to complain that my ride wasn't that great, and while it's true I didn't have the legs that I had just a week or so ago, I did spend almost 3 hours riding on the mountain on some great trails. The trails were in great shape too considering the daily thunderstorms and showers that we've been getting as part of the W.S.E. (Worst Summer Ever).

Time to figure out how to get my legs back to where there were two weeks ago. I think I jinxed myself by saying I had great legs. Now those legs are gone and I have the legs of a pot bellied 75 year old man. But I will add that even though I SORTA feel like shit on the bike, I DID get carded tonight when Wifey and I went to Mad Mex. I just turned 38! Take THAT haters!

Later

So Much and Not So Much

I aborted any ride today to get work done on the mag, and to save up energy for a BIG ASS ride on the mountain tomorrow. I need to test some shit out, since as of today I am officially registered for the Wilderness 101. Part of me wanted to forget about it and do the Big Bear Ultra. But as we all know I'll probably end up doing the BBU too. 'Cause I got a problem. An endurance race problem. It' s sad really. I'm really too young to be stricken down with such an issue.

Look at this course profile for the 101. Who could resist???

Up, down, up, down, etc., etc., etc., This will be my 3rd 101. It's obvious that I do NOT learn from my mistakes, and keep on signing up for this pain. The total elevation is on par with some other hundies, but with the 101 it's the shear amount of big ass climbs that seem to come one after the other. The rule is long, everlasting climb UP and long, steep, rock filled decent. Having done Mohican, The Lumberjack, and the 101, I have to say even though the 101 has the least single track out of the three, for me it's THEE hardest, and the one that really makes me feel like I've done something in the end, and that's pretty damn cool. Not to mention I'll know about 50 of the 300+ folks there. Nice to race with friends.

The key to my ride tomorrow will be getting out of the house before getting sucked into the Tour. I HAVE to remember that it WILL be on ALL day, but my time to get a big ass ride in the mountains will NOT be available all day. F*ck you Phil and Paul! I CAN resist you!! The mountain I can NOT resist and will have some pics n'at tomorrow.

Time for bed.

Later.

Humidity and Torpedos

Got out before the rain today for a 30 mile road loop. I did get rained on at about the half way point, but it was welcomed for sure. Damn it was HHHHUMID today. It was the kind of humidity, that even had moisture wicking bike duds clinging on to sweat like a sponge. On top of that I've had two nights of suck sleep, which left me with some burning legs today. I thought about a pre ride coffee enema, or Starbuckian Speedball of caffeine and sugar, but I ended up just going with breakfast and coffee. The speedball may have been better.

As I rode along, about to finish I my ride, I thought of adjectives that would describe the ride. All I could think of was that is was hard, sweaty, hot, wet, and felt great. Then I thought "can I even type that? It sounds like I'm writing a freaking Penthouse Forum letter??"

"Dear Penthouse Forum, I never thought I would be writing a letter like this. That is of course until I went on a 30 mile road ride on hot and humid Thursday morning. I admit I was feeling randy in my tight spandex, and had a lot of adrenaline built up from watching the Tour all week" ...

OK, OK, I'll stop! If for no other reason than I think I was starting to turn myself on with all that talk of riding and Tour watching. And also because the story was absent of any nubile co-eds from small north eastern colleges. Not to mention it lacked any real action.

Today was one of those rides that felt just felt hard the whole time. There was no real part of the ride where I found myself thinking that I was just spinning along. I felt slow and sluggish pushing through the humidity and rain. I expected to end the ride and see that I put in an embarrassing average speed, and time. What I saw was one of my best, if not thee best time of the season. So either I was pushing harder than I thought, or I had tail wind and didn't know it. Yeah, my bet is on the tail wind.

Gotta spilt. I must TRY to get some sleep tonight. I even broke down and forced myself to have a couple of Sierra Nevada Torpedo's tonight in an attempt to encourage rest. It was tough, but I did it!! You should too. One of the best widely available beers out there.

Later.

A.M. EDIT: Curse you spell check for not picking up mistakes such as on vs. one, etc.,. It really would make my life simpler if I could just dictate these manic ramblings to someone.

The Bone Was OK & Kenny's Out.

I asked for the Tour to throw me a bone on a stage and see some real ballzy, Phil and Paul frothing at the mouth type action today. While I didn't see EXACTLY what I asked for I DID see some amazing racing on those climbs. Damn! The mountain stages are fun to watch. Wouldn't want to drag my ass up those things for any other reason but just to do it (probably with a triple chain ring!) but they are fun to watch.

I posted a video the other day included Kenny van Hummel doing all he could to make the time cut and remain in the Tour. Even though he continued to struggle each day he kept making the tim cuts. Well today he crashed and is now out of the Tour with just four days to go. That sucks. There's a story up on the Skil/Shimano web site you can check out. Sure folks like Levi Leipheimer crashed out, but Levi never had to worry about struggling to make the cuts. Barring crashing (which sadly happened) dude was gonna make it to Paris, the only question was how high on GC would he be. For a rider like KvH making it to Paris WAS the goal. I'm sure most folks give two shits about seeing a guy who could barely finish stages drop out, but for some freaky reason watching that video and wondering if he would make it to Paris spoke to me. Maybe next year Kenny.

Took the day off the bike and continue to plow through some pages for the upcoming XXC mag which SHOULD be available Monday. Got some stuff in last minute that I wanted in, so I held the non existent presses so as to include them. Might have to head out for a back roads/rail trail ride on the Mamasita tomorrow.

I got an e mail today reminding me of the 24 Hour Champion Challenge on Labor Day weekend. Just sayin'.

Later.

Throw Me a Tour Bone

Every mountain stage of the Tour I've tuned in waiting to see a vicious attack by a big name rider, and every mountain stage I'm just a little disappointed. It's not that there aren't attacks, or I don't love watching the mountain stages regardless, it's just that I long to see some cheeky, ballzy move that sticks. I want to see someone go all "Cannibal" on the peloton's asses, put the hammer down, pull away from the Yellow jersey group and steal the jersey.

I want a move that would get Phil and Paul so worked up that they would be cursing and spitting into the microphone uncontrollably like two drunken English madmen- "Jesus Christ Paul look at the f*cking move this cheeky c*nt is pulling, and IT'S WORKING!! This is the one that will stick, this is the one where he says to this lead group, that does contains the maillot jaune- "Take a look at my ripped buttocks and f*ck off! I'll see you in Paris". I agree Phil, he's one strong mother f*cker, and I dare say he reminds me of a certain "cannibal" who was known to rip your legs off on a climb such as this, lodge them in what the French riders call your "âne désolé" and ride away to the finish. Of course that "cannibal" was Eddy Merckx".

Then I imagine when the race is over the camera cuts to them and for some reason they are both shirtless and have blood splattered all over them, yet continue on as if all is normal. THAT'S what I want to see!

OK, OK, I might be asking too much. OR I might have an overactive imagination. Yes, there's been moments- Contador getting all pissy and kicking it up the final kilometers of Stage 7 was a little exciting, if nothing else just for it's entertainment and high school drama value. The Brothers Schleck get-a-way attempts are OK, but would be better if they worked and seeing Wiggins up there contending has been fun.

The final climb of Stage 15 was exciting, seeing who would come out on top, who would take the win, and who would take Yellow. And It WAS amazing to see how Contador pulled away on that climb up to Verbier, I mean that guy can CLIMB. Of course it was a let down to see him do that cheezy "El Pistolero" thing crossing the line. It was even cool to see Armstrong come across to the lead group today. Strange to see him in this "support role", but cool that be had the ball, and the legs to get back on the lead group.

But now all that is done now. The Astana drama is sort of over, the yellow jersey was taken, and a climbing clinic was put on by Alberto Contador. NOW I want to see someone make a move. Get in a break, make up mad time and shake up the podium. I don't want to see status quo the whole way to Paris. You know I'm gonna watch every stage 2 or 3 times a day, just 'cause it's on, so please throw me a bone. Tomorrow's stage is a real chamois soiler. Should be a hoot to watch, but will be a BIGGER hoot if someone make a move that sticks and shakes things up.

_________________________________________________________

For my own time on the road today, it went about as I expected. It was freaking HHHHUMID, dank, and damp. My legs felt like Hefty Bags full of wet, dirty diapers and I entertained thoughts of aborting at mile 2. Not sure what the problem was. I went from having some killer rides for like two weeks, to feeling like a still warm dung heap at times the past few rides. I ended up getting my 31 mile loop in despite my suckness and had to be happy with pushing myself, and earning some Turkey Ball Calories. Of course with my current inability to shed weight, I should be eating nothing but Slim Fast Shakes and laxatives.

There was also the added comic bonus (I guess?)
of a THIRD roadside underwear sighting during today's ride...

This may be career high. We now have a black thong, some tighty-whities, and now one pair of pink cotton gutchies. I'm starting to think people are planting them along my loop. There just can NOT be this many underpantsless (word?) people in Western PA!! Maybe it's all the humidity and moisture we've had this year? Every one's trying to let their shit breathe, who knows?

Need to get a ton of work done tomorrow on the mag, and since my legs felt like dung, I might skip a ride tomorrow, get some work done, watch the Tour and wait for that "cannibal" move from someone.

Later.

Glad I Got That In

Wow, been busy. TRYING to get mag stuff sorted (an going mad trying to track down some race pics from various sources), trying to get some riding in, and still trying to do all my dad/hubby stuff too.

I took a day off the bike yesterday. It was sort of an unplanned day off. First I got sucked into the Tour and even though Versus replays the the stage 12 times a day, I STILL refused to leave the house until it was over. Then I got sucked into working on some stuff. Then I was hungry, then it was lat afternoon... And lost that urge to get out. Sad too, 'cause it was beautiful yesterday and I'm not sure I left the house until after 3 or so.

I was able to get out this morning for a sweet 16 mile loop at Boyce and just beat the rains. Glad I got it in too, because as expected it seems that our week and half of sunny weather is gone, and the weather nerds are predicting rain in some form or another for the next 9 of 10 days. So we can resume the W.S.E. already in progress. Sorry for that brief sunny interruption.

As I said yesterday's Tour stage sucked me in. I could not look away. I was not shocked or all that disappointed to see Contador get the win, and Yellow. It does sort of suck that it seems like it's pretty much all over and the rest of the Tour will be spent watching who gets 2nd and 3rd. I hope I'm wrong. I'd like to see some surprises and make it more interesting.

I love this video. It shows that not every racer is fighting it out for a podium spot, some are just trying to finish within the time limit (Like many of us!). Check it out.

He was a bit more upset at the end off yesterday's stage though.

Later.

Mountains & Cancelled Plans

I went up to the mountains today with the Mamasita. Hit mostly double track and forest roads with a lot of climbing. I did hit some of the Lookout Trail single track and the dirt and roots were in fine shape. I had anticipated some pretty wet trails, but it was all good. Made me regret not heading over to Seven Springs for a lap on the race course. At one point I did take a wrong turn on it and ended up on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (a no no!). I soon realized it and backtracked off of it before any tight assed hiker type could bust my balls over it.

Lookout Trail. Mmm, that's some
east coast rooty, ferny goodness right there!

Even though my Mountain Feed Bag didn't come in time (altough it did come today ), I went sans pack for the ride. The combination of no pack, and and a light efficient hard tail only made me feel like a half bag of human suckness on the climbs rather than my usual full bag of said suckness.

I think I need (want) to search for a stiffer crank for the Mamasita in the distant future. My XT feels mushy compared to the XTR on the Dos Niner. Not saying it needs to be an XTR, OR that it will make me faster (that would be a friggin' miracle), but something stiffer might make me happy! Hell for all I know maybe some different rings and/or bottom bracket would make a difference. Thoughts?

Even though I stuck mostly to the forest roads and the snowmobile trails, it was still a kick ass day on the bike. The temps were only in the mid 60s up there today. It as nice, but Jesus it IS summer! WTF? Of course I wasn't bitching when I was cranking up the encless climb that is Camp Run Road.

I encountered ZERO cars during the main part of the loop. The only in The Fern "Where Your Privacy Matters" Mountain section of CRR did I get passed by some lady in a Cadillac. That whole Fern Mountain "compound" can suck it. Just what the mountain need, more villas and condos. TWO other folks on mountain bikes where spotted down near Lookout Trail, ONE runner on Camp Run Road, ONE hiker near North Woods, and ONE deer sprinting down the road in front of me on one forest road. I LIKE them stats and THAT is why riding up on the mountain rocks.

The plans Wifey and I had tonight have been shelved. Seems like someone (her) ate or drank something that did not agree with her and is a tad sick. Oh well, it would have been nice to have a "date night" but I'm more comfortable eating my own food and hanging out at home anyway. I'm sort of a freak like that. I know she was looking forward to it though and is a little bummed. There's always next weekend.

So it's staying in tonight, having a few Torpedo's and some Mexican. I am going to totally unleash a world of hurt on some chips and refried beans right now. I mean I will do unspeakable hardcore XXX things to them. Looks like I'll be sleeping solo tonight. ;)

Later.

A Gift On Friday

With the gloom in the air this morning I really didn't think I would be feasting on any dirt today. With the radar images I saw on weather.com thought I would be sucking down some gas fumes and road soot at best. BUT Somehow, I don't know how, maybe from making some false promises of primal, pagan, love makin' action with Ma Nature or SOMETHING I was able to finagle a short 11 mile loop of sweet, sweet dirt before the rains came tumbling down. While it wasn't EXACTLY what I had in mind, it was better than the road.

I got the newly acquired, newly dialed in, newly can't say enough about hot it looks Mamasita to Boyce today. Explored some new route options, forced myself to attempt some new log pile obstacles that I thought I didn't have the talent to ace (I did), and generally just futzed about for 11+ miles before the clouds got mega dark and started spitting rain to warn of what was to come. After the loop I chucked it, and spent the rest of the day happy that I chose to ride the dirt for 1:25 rather than the road for 2:00.

Later in the day I did some mag stuff, hung with B-Man, watched a new back porch get put on my house and of course peeped some Tour action. Today's stage was something. While Mr. Lance thought it was "cold and boring", it was nice to see such emotion expressed at the line. The only suck part is that because it's a Pro road race I have to reserve judgment and wait a few weeks to see if the dude was all hopped up on high altitude sheep's blood or something. But for today it worked for me, and sometimes that' enough.

The hot enough for a freakish fantasy U.S. Mail lady brought a package full of goodies from my friends at T6 today. I must say I'm stoked and stalked up for a while...

Everyone (B-Man, Wifey and I) seems to love the Til Death T-Shirt, and me and B-Man are in agreement that the Bareknuckle Brigade Brigade T is too f*cking cool (my words, not B-Mans). Big thanks to Ryan and Brent for the duds. Yet another step in helping the lame look cool. Believe me I need all the help I can get! Much appreciated.

Not sure what's going on tomorrow. Might head to the mountain, might hit the road. The legs felt like shit today, so who knows? Wifey and I have a date night and a sitter schedule for tomorrow night. We plan to hit Pipers and then on to the OTB Cafe for some drinks to celebrate our 12 year anniversary and my 38th birthday. Can't wait!

Later.

Tempo Thursday and Being Out of The Publisher's Closet

An a.m. doctors appointment put a big ol ride block on any single track plans today. Frig I say! I did get out for 1:35 of steady flat tempo riding this evening on the rail trail. Wasn't "feeling" the road, and really did NOT feel like driving 25 minutes to ride Boyce tonight, I'll save that for tomorrow morning. It was still nice to get out, plus riding steadily in the big ring tends to really work my legs and my aging, yet heaving (in every bad sense of the word) but-tocks.

I took just one bottle with me tonight. Why you ask? 'Cause I only gotz one cage right now! Anyway, I rode to West (no relation to Wayne) Newton, and there was a water fountain there. "Sweet!" I thought. Cold water to freshen up Uno Bottle-leto (FYI that's Spanish bike lingo for "one bottle"). Sheee-it, little did I know that apparently they like their water temps about 98.6 in the W-N. Damn, the sweat falling of my cap's bill was colder.

I worked more on the Mamasita's fit today, and got her all dialed in. One head set spacer swapped out, stem flopped negative and the fit is feeling good. Also switched out the post from the RaceFace carbon post I had on to an old Salsa Shaft post. I feel more at ease with the Shaft's clamp, even though after my ride tonight my saddle had slid back a good inch on the rails. WTF? Why do some clamps just refuse to hold a saddle in place? What can be done? I already ham fist it tight. BTW I hate saying the term "ham fist" every time I say it/hear it I immediately think of barnyards, inquisitive farmers and Vaseline. Any tighter and I KNOW I'll bust that bolt like a Tic-Tac. I think I have it nice and tight now, but I'm not overly confident. I blame my previously mentioned, yet still vomit inducing to think of, heaving buttocks.

Forgot to mention the nice b-day gift that Wifey gave me the other day...

She got the cover of XXC Issue #1 printed out and framed for me. It looks killer, and I love it, but I can't help but wonder if one day I will look back at it with pride and fond memories of having done something pretty darn OK/pretty not that bad, or will I look at it and think "Jesus dude, you really f*cked that up!" I guess it's the whole glass empty/full thing. I'll just go with it's a cool and thoughtful gift and leave it at that. Thanks Wifey.

Speaking of "publishing". At the Docs today I was talking with the physicians assistant and she asked me what I do. My mind was thinking "hmmmm, what do I do? What DO I do??? Should I joke and say I do nothing? Unemployed? Explain the Trib buy out thing and leave it at that? Lie and say I'm freelancing? Yikes!!!!" But I just blurted out "Well I worked as a graphic artist for a newspaper for 16 years, but then took a buy out package so as to stop doing a job I hated and find one I love. I also started my own online magazine about endurance mountain biking called XXC."

To my surprise she didn't feign interest, have no idea what I was talking about, and move on, but instead started asking me more about it. What all I do with it etc., etc., I was also surprised that I didn't have that embarrassing apologetic feeling I have when someone mentions my blog to me, or Wifey tells someone about it. I mean really, this borderline narcissistic dross is nothing more than an often failing, humorous public outing of my mind. Odd, how I recognize this, yet continue on typing. ANYWAY I was happy that I was finally able to come clean and out myself as a "publisher" when asked. By the way issue #3 is set for next week. If I could sum up the issue in one word it would be a long unpronounceable one like- GrandLoopDirtyKanzaMaahDaahHeyMassanuttenBunch-o-CoolPicsAndaBunchMoreAlidocious.

Hope to hit some dirt in the a.m., so gotta get some sleep.

Later.

2 Rides & 2 Bikes

I got two rides in today. I would be happier about that, but they were both super lame. OK, not super lame, I mean I got to ride on some dirt, but neither was what I had in mind.

Ride One:

I hit some local trails right here in little old W.O. Park. I rode a couple of sweet trails, realized there was some potential, but found myself duped by one too many deer paths, and false trail heads to get any more than an hour in. And half of that was me back tracking. Oh well at least I tried and know what's available if I need a quick dirt fix in the future.

New frame, sort of:

Later I headed over to Pro Bikes where
a little somethin' - somethin' was finished being built up...

Yep, I'm back on a Mamastia for my second bike.

The lure of a hard tail 29er is strong, and this summer I found myself using the Dos Niner for EVERYTHING but pure road rides. The Big Mama was overkill for these rides, and it wasn't being ridden at all really, so rather than have bike that's not being ridden, I discussed some plans and issues with the fine folks at Salsa and they worked with my other peeps at Pro Bikes in Monroeville and we came up with a plan for me to swap out my Big Mama for a Mamasita without having to delve too far into the piggy. I have to thank both Salsa and Pro Bikes for working with me. Much appreciated.

A steel frame may have been more my style, and I entertained thoughts of the El Mariachi, especially since I dig it's Dos Niner like geometry, but most '09 EMs in my size were spoken for by dealers, and I'm not crazy about the EBB since I have no desire to ever run single speed.

Right now I'm just happy to have two bikes that are pretty interchangeable. If the Dos goes down and I need a bike for a race I know that the Mamasita will be a perfect replacement to drag my ass up and down climbs for 50 to 100 miles. Who knows, this fall I think I might even try out a rigid fork on the Mamasita, and if I go crazy and get a job I'll build the Big Mama back up lighter and faster.

Ride Two:

After getting the Mamasita home, I did what I needed to do to get her "ride ready". Later on once Wifey was home I split to get some more trail time in at Boyce with the new Mamasita. As much as I THOUGHT I had the fit dialed in before left, once I hit the trail it was clear I did not. The bars felt WAY too high. The handling was quick, precise, and felt great. It was the position. Grrr!

While I matched some of the numbers, but I think I need actually flip my stem to negative, and maybe swap out a spacer to get the position I want and copensate for some geometry differences between the two bikes. Shouldn't be too hard, but I really didn't want to be doing that sort of thing out on the trail or in the parking lot, so I aborted after just 50 minutes. Tomorrow I will work on the fit a bit more and hopefully get out for some riding befor any storms roll in.

I like to live in world where two rides in one day would have resulted in some sweet hours in the saddle. But, today was NOT that day. But I DID get a new bike/frame, and ride a few new trails, so there really is no bitching to be found here.

Later.

Dead Battery, A Good Ride and Trail Gnome Debates

Got me some dead batteries. Thankfully the dead batteries I speak of are my digi-cam's batteries. I forgot I left them in the charger a few days ago and now they are kaput. Then I used regular AA batteries, and they lasted about 2 uses. Time to go fetch a couple more rechargeables. Damn! Oh well I guess I'll just have to take less pics and ride faster now?

After a great ride on Sunday I decided to take all of Monday off and get a ton of work done on the mag and around the house. Issue #3 of XXC should be ready to drop next Monday.

We here in WPA continue to SOMEHOW avoid rain. Something is amiss! I guess my "drought dance" worked. Cool! Now I don't feel like the fine I paid for public nudity and lewd behavior (it was part of the drought dance!!) was all worth while. So with fine weather I was drawn to dirt like a junkie to bag full of smack and a box full of needles.

Got 16+ miles of single track in and think I might have got but a couple specks of mud on the Dos. Good times! I continue to feel strangely good on the bike. And I don't really understand it. I weigh about the same as late last season, but 10 pounds heavier than 2 years ago. My diet is probably worse than it has been in years past (that means I eat too much meat, too much cheese, and enjoy a few too many craft brews) yet I feel like I have way more power and endurance right now. WTF? Had I known this before I would have been riding with a keg on my back and gnawed on cheese dipped turkey legs instead of gels at races. Hey, I'm not bitching, I'll ride this out as long as possible before I inevitably collapse in a pool of my own human suck.

Even with good legs, I continue to waffle on my race plans for the rest of the season. There are many choices. Doing some means missing others, but doing others means saving cash, but doing some means maybe going against what I said this season was gonna be all about for me. I guess it's sort of my prerogative since I'm the one doing the pedaling (read: suffering), and really there is no WRONG choice, they all equal miles on my mountain bike and THAT is the point.

Mentally Debating The Work of Trail Gnomes

I had this strange inner debate with myself and the Trail Gnomes today. If you're local don't take this the wrong way. I'm neither supporting or bitching about various trail work. Just making some observations. I can adapt, learn to ride shit, or change loop directions, not a big deal. Just making some observations. Folks can draw their own conclusions/opinions/etc.

I've been riding the trails at Boyce for years now, as I rolled down one trail I noticed that a Trail Gnome completely removed a few roots that were about 2" high. Which means they were pretty non existent. I thought to myself how strange that seemed. Why take the time? Even on 26" wheels they would have gone unnoticed to all but the most novice of riders.

Then I rolled on a bit further on the trails that are behind the baseball field. These are some trails that I MUST get there to clip back. It's riding blind through about 80% of them due to the vegetation. As I approach a false flat, that gets progressively steeper there is a new well constructed log pile at the top of the climb. Since it's at the top of the short grunt of a climb and I wasn't expecting it, I had no real energy to clear it. I guess coming DOWN the hill it would be sweet and add some speed, but going up it becomes a bit of a flow-kill. Again, not bitching. Now that I know it's there I can adapt, and be ready. But I will admit to not understanding hacking out small roots and leaving the larger stuff to ruin a trails flow. This is now the 3rd newer (2009) log pile to be a the crest of a hill. Maybe I'm the only on going UP on these trails? Ha! Seriously I think most trails there are ridden in both directions by folks. There should probably not be a right or wrong way to ride a loop. But what do I know?

Last observation: As I get to the section that most locals with know as the Pretzel Loop, I ran into some sort of trail work crew. Matching T-shirts and all. I've seen them a few times in the past week when they were trimming some trail bush. I thanked them and rolled on. Today as I ran into them again I noticed they brought out the big guns and were hacking apart every log on the loop with axes and raking the trails. UG! Trimmed Trail Bush = Good! Trails void of all thing technical and raked = BAD!

So you see I find myself in a strange Catch 22 debate in my mind with the Trail Gnomes. There seems to be an odd Yin/Yang going on amongst them as far as what's being done, who's doing it and to what extent. As a rider and trail user I'm not sure at what level I need to be, or should be involved. Hey I want the trail bush cut, hell I'm willing to do it. Yeah, I love when a big tree blows over (a daily occurrence at Boyce) that most often the tree is removed and the trail opened up. But I also don't know how I feel about Operation Devastation on some of the single track? The trails at Boyce are by no means that technical. The most technical trails have man "enhanced" obstacles (log piles, etc.,) or become technical due to slick mud, erosion, roots etc.,.

Anyway, that's my inner Trail Gnome debate. Pro/Cons on both sides. With me riding happily in the dirt no matter what.

Found Money?

Finally got around to ordering my Mountain Feed Bag today. Went to check out and noticed that they use PayPal for their ordering. So I logged in to make sure that it was set up proper with my correct cards, etc. and SWEET DAY IN THE MORNING! I had a chunk of cash in there! It's like the Feed Bag was "FREE". Except not. It was $30 plus S/H. Anxious for this thing to come, 'cause I gotta tell you I've been riding "pack free" lately and LOVE it. Two bottles, seat bag, and jersey pockets have been great. The Feed Bag is gonna open up some opportunities to even race XXC races packless. At least that's the plan. Then again, the result COULD be the whole "me, collapsed, pool of own suck" thing. But it's worth a try.

Oh well, weather looking sweet for more riding tomorrow.

Later.

Good Roads and Good Legs

I avoided the road as much as I could this week. But today I cracked. I entertained thoughts of a trip to the mountain to get a big mountain bike ride in, or a multi hour assault on Boyce Park, but I started looking at my schedule and realized that I might not have a chance to visit with my Dad and let B-Man play with him, etc, for a couple weekends, so I figured it would just be easier to ahead out to his place with B-Man and while I was there throw a nice road loop in.

It was a perfect day for riding, and I was kicking around the idea of extending a part of the loop to see if I could get it closer to 50+ miles, but my computer (of course) was acting up and I figured what's the point of trying to figure out a 50 mile loop if I don't know how far I went?? So I bagged that idea about 5 miles in and just threw down my 40 mile loop.

4 or 5 miles in the road was closed. I figured how "closed" could it be an pedaled on. I came to the bridge that was out and sure enough if was pretty damn CLOSED, save for metal cat walk across the small drainage. Hmmm. So I shouldered the Campeon and made my way across the cat walk. It was going swell until I got about half way across it and it started wobbling like fat man's belly. I thought I was gonna bite it. But I saved it and soon enough was back on the road. Note to self: Next time TAKE THE DETOUR!!

Not even 10 miles in, I knew I had pretty good legs today. I was shocked! This ride would have me well into double digits of ride time this week, and I really expected the worst. Having good legs even for lame 2:20 road rides is such a great feeling. It often reminds me of playing baseball and connecting with the sweet spot of the bat. Everything just feels "right".

I did hit some "oil and chipped" roads today (seen above). Not happy about that, but when the legs feel good, it's amazing how my attitude towards them can change. I still don't like them, but what are you gonna do? I think I can see my computer is registering 0 MPH in this pic. Figures! P.O.S.!

I couldn't have been happier with today's ride. The sun was out, the legs felt good, and the roads were fun. I don't often have these sorts of feeling towards a road ride, and often just view road rides as a necessary evil to insure that I don't re-become a Tub-O-Lard™, but today's 40 miles felt damn good.

_________________________________________

Since I'm talking about the road... For the first time in the Tour so far I found the last couple stages uber boring. None of the big boyz wanted to make a move yet, and there were no changes overall. Baring Contador's move the other day to try to assert himself as team leader, the Pyrenees left me wanting. Wanting the freaking Alps and more moves by Contador, Evans, The Brothers Schleck and maybe even Wiggins and/or Vande Velde!

Alright, time for some hydrating and sleep. Hope to maybe get some dirt in tomorrow. But who knows?

Later.

Big MIles With B-Man

Wifey was out of town on a kayak trip with some chickies this Saturday, so B-Man and I hit the rail trail for some big miles and some trail side lunch.

Even with lunch at the 1.5 mile mark, B-Man suffered an epic bonk with just .5 miles to go in our huge 3.0 mile effort.
Dude pushed through the "pain" of an epic and we had a ton out there. Good stuff.

Can't make up my mind what to do today. Mountain? Road? Mountain and Road? Eeesh TOO much pressure! HA!

BTW Happy Anniversary to Wifey! Today is 12 years. Who'd a thunk it? I think sometimes we even amaze ourselves! LOL Thanks Wifey!

Later.

Capping Off A Great One

Wow, this week was good. I really needed a hard core mental enema like this week. The weather has been great, the riding has been great, my legs have felt great, and I got a ton of work done on #3. AND I hit up Boyce for a SWEET 15 mile loop today, and it was titz. Perfect trail conditions.

Another bonus to this week was getting to chill and watch the Tour, often with B-Man who at 5 is now "getting" the whole Yellow, Green, Polka-Dot (my personal fave) jersey thing. It's been so cool to have him ask me questions n'at about the race. Although I do have to say it was WAY cooler watching 24 Solo with him the other day and see him just light up and LITERALLY say how much cooler he thought the racing was compared to "the racing we watch on the TV". No to mention as soon as he saw the pit areas, etc. he commented about how it was just like the races he has been to. The whole viewing was spawned by him asking about whether they race bikes in China, which was spawned by the fact that there is a Chinese girl in his class at school which he MAY or may NOT be smitten with. I remembered there was a bit in the movie where Eatough is racing in China... BOOM! B-Man hooked! No matter WHERE it came from, it's always fun to talk bikes with B-Man. I don't want to FORCE him into anything (except not being like me) but I have to admit it is damn nice to VeloChat with him.

Time to split. I think I need to watch today's Tour coverage... AGAIN! Why? Because I CAN!! :)

Later.

More Miles, Gutchies, and Tour

My goal this week was to avoid doing road loops. Not avoid the road completely, but the standard road loops that I do on my road bike. I enjoy time on my mountain bike too much and continue to think that it is actually helping me more to ride the Dos on the road than my road bike. Dividing up my time on single track, roads, rail trails, and crap roads has been fun, and provided some killer workouts.

Rather than drive 25 minutes each way to Boyce Park every day to put in dirt loops (not a bad idea, just not cost and time effective), I spent time this week time doing steady efforts on the rail trail and in today's case looping 14 miles of trail trail in with 21 miles of road and crappy WPA roads with some nice climbs.

The weather has been perfect and its been fun
just to be out in the sun on my mountain bike.

For some reason the folks here in WPA continue to dump their gutchies on the sides of the roads. Not sure why. Not once have I been driving along and though "I think I'm gonna throw some undies out the window!". So in the past month that makes one rail trail thong, and one pair of gray (soiled?) tighty-whities. WTF?

The plates on this broken down "pirate trailer" are from Maine.
No signs of any I Heart Racin' Rick bumper stickers though.

It's been a nice week on the bike and I hope to continue it with some single track tomorrow.

_______________________________

Is anyone else getting the vibe that Tom Boonen angered the Bike Gods with his nose candy antics? So far this Tour de France he's had a severe case of diarrhea, missed out on a Stage 2 sprint due to a pile up in front of him, and crashed today. I'm sure he's hoping to tough out the next couple stages, maybe he'll do some penance, sacrifice a live rooster covered in chain lube to the gods or something, and then try again with some flatter stages next week.

Ok, time for some Refried Bean Burrito digestion, and chillaxing. Or as much chillaxing as one can do with a 5 year old running amok and a belly full of spicy beans. By the way I will not be talking to any commentators from Sporza about tonight's possible (and likely) refried bean gassiness or my past history of flatulence de la Mexicana. The comments that were made about me were offensive and uncalled for.

Later.

Boonen photo snatched from CyclingNews.com without any permision at all.

Brunch Rides And Trail Bush

Since we here in WPA continue to have a rare streak of nice weather, I hit up Boyce a "brunch time" ride. The weather was just perfect, the ride was fun, and my legs felt spanky.

The ride started interestingly enough when the local high school's girls cross country team felt the need to jog to where I was parked and then proceed to stretch for 5 minutes while I was trying to get ready for my ride?? Jeeeezus! I KNOW I'm twice their age, I know that I may end up in jail JUST for typing this, and I KNOW this makes me sound like a big f*cking perv, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAN! I AM human! Of course you know I rolled off feeling like a fat, depressed, creepy, pseudo-jobless old guy in comparison to them, so in the end, they won.

80% of the trails are in just PERFECT conditions. The remaining 20% aren't really muddy, but are overgrown. I'd love to get a machete so as to take some time and trim back some trail bush (I love saying that), but I'm not sure I have the sort of personality or luck that should have easy access to a machete. I see me using it to threaten some kid throwing his potato chip bag in my yard, or lopping off one of my arms trying to trim back some weeds.

With about 4 miles to go today I hit a root that was hidden by the aforementioned trail bush and went sailing over the bars into God-knows-what sort of weeds, poison, thorns and brush. The bike was fine and I'm fine (enough). One knee to top-tube, shoulder to ground, and hip to a root later, I was up and off to finish the last few miles.

Sometimes I think just riding on is the best thing after a crash. Get the blood moving and the mind off the thumping going on at the point of impact. I will say this- as much as I love riding 29ers, sometimes crashing on a 29er feels like I'm throwing myself off of a two story building. Maybe it's just in my head, but falling seems a long way down via a 29er.

_________________________________________

I TRY to not talk about too much Pro road stuff anymore, since when I do I usually get a bunch of pseudo anonymous comments about how lame I am and how much I don't know (all true), but I can't help it...

I'm not gonna lie to you. Originally I was NOT into the idea of watching the Tour this year, with the Lancesturbation, and inevitable drug busts, but it REALLY has captured my interest. And it has nothing to do with Astana, other than all the drama. (Hell there's probably less drama on the high school running team that I mentioned above). But each stage, EVEN my most hated- the Team Time Trial, has been interesting.

Today it was cool to see a break succeed, and nice to see Thomas Voeckler get a win. As I mentioned to one of my blog/FB friends today, Voeckler has to be a sponsors wet dream. The dude always manages to get in some breaks, and if nothing else for the last 5 years he seems to get a ton of TV coverage for his sponsors.


So like the allure of a strip club's "champagne room" I can't say no to the Tour. Because I'm afraid if I don't check it out, I might miss out on something, even though I know I will most likely be let down in the end, or at least feel guilt for having given so much time and energy to watching Pro cycling. But hey, it's feeling good right now, I'm just gonna go with it. Not too mentioned it's pretty much the ONLY thing on TV that has nothing to do with freaking "Wacko Jacko".

_________________________________________

It seems I won a free entry into the Tahoe 100 in September. Long story, but I posted a reply on MTBR.com to a post, and the dude replies back with an offer of a free entry. I PMed with him and it's all legit, but I can't go anyway. 2,500 miles in a long way to go for a race. It was a nice gesture from the race organizer and I thank them.

Check out the original post, I actually do really dig it. Seem the Tahoe Sierra 100 will be having Age Group Categories for the race. That is pretty damn cool, and I hope some of the other NUE racer directors will follow suit in the future. With 300 racers, I see no reason why some of the kitty (or at least prizes) can't be split up a bit more. I mean 150 guys line up, and they pay out top 3 or top 5? Eeesh. And NO I do NOT think I would even be in age group contention for placing, but it would be a TAD more motivating. Of course I'm not a 100 mile race organizer either, and can't imagine how hard a race of that magnitude is to organize.

Time to go. I think I can catch the 4th showing of today's Tour stage on Versus.

Later.

Tempos, Issuus, Zinios, Etc.,

Yesterday was a 1.5 hour loop at Boyce to get some single track in, today was a steady tempo in a constant head wind on the rail trail. Eeesh, big ringing it into headwinds and crosswinds, at 17 to 19 mph really worked my glutes off! I think the legs were more sore after today's constant effort than they are after a hilly 2 hour ride.

Tomorrow should be back to single track. We're in a stretch of sunny days here in WPA. Do you have ANY comprehension of how rare that is??? So, I plan to hit up more single track in the a.m.. and avoid the road for as long as the sun shall shine.

Part of me is kicking around the idea of doing some two-a-days in the near future. I don't have time for a 4 hour ride on a weekday, but occasionally I do have time for two 2 hour rides. I'm thinking like 2 hours of dirt in the a.m. and maybe 1 or 2 hours of flat bike trail stuff in the evening. Not sure it will happen but I am kicking around the idea.

Finally getting caught up on some XXC stuff. Still have more that needs done, as well as continuing to send out some advertising information. Begging is so not fun, but I do it just the same. I'm also kicking around different ideas of how to present the mag and ways to make at least a couple dollars off of it in the future. The PDF format is working and I like it being fully digital, but tracking down load information to provide to potential advertisers can be fuzzy, and the files are huge for folks to down load.

The Scribd site, is OK, but there are better ones out there. In the future I would also like to have issues available for super low cost purchase. There are a couple sites I'm looking at. One is issuu.com. Here's a link to an example of XXC Issue #2 at Issuu. It's very nice but there is currently no way to purchase eMags published on Issuu. It did monkey with the boldness of a couple fonts in the Tinker story too. And that was strange. Also note that XXC in it's current state was not meant to be read with facing pages, so there are some issue with page numbering, etc., this would change of course if I move the mag to a host such as this.

The other is zinio.com. This would have everything I want, but still have to talk with the dude about the costs. If it costs a shit load of coin to start up, it's a no go. If anyone knows of a similar service, drop me comment or e mail me. The free-er the better, since I continue to rock XXC as a "not for profit, but not for lack of trying" enterprise.

Sorry this post had little to do with ACTUALLY mountain biking. Then again, not sure anyone would care.

Later.

A Biketastic Monday

OK, first off an apology for yesterday's lack luster and self pitying post. Instead of using some of my frustration to fuel riding, "training" and racing, I let it get the best of me. I will most likely be at the 101. I mean I did promise a certain Canuck that I would be there with a feather boa on. While the feather boa, might not happen, I'm pretty damn sure I will be there.

Today was one of those days that just about everything I did had to do with bikes in one way or another. Check this day out, even the most trivial of days can be Biketastic!...

As usual I get up, suck down some high powered colon blow coffee out of the "bean pot" as my friend Dave calls it- a mug that I bought in Winter Park, Colorado about 6+ years ago. I answer a few e mails from some bike friends, and do my morning reads of a long list of cycling blogs and web sites.

Once B-Man is off to school, I chamois up, grab the Dos Niner and head to Boyce for a quick 1.5 hour ride in the dirt. It was great! It's still a bit overgrown there, but overall the trails are in pretty good shape considering all the rain we've had and my legs felt 200% better than Saturday's ride. Wish I would have had time for more.

Once home it was a quick shower, and then a trip to Pro Bikes Monroeville with B-Man to pick up Wifey's bike that was there getting a tune up and hang out a bit. I also left Big Mama there with Little Ball of Hate, and in a few days, she just might return as her skinnier, brighter colored, sluttier little sister.

While we were there B-Man got all fired up to ride and wanted to go ride bikes when we got home. So we drove home, picked up our bikes and helmets and headed out to ride around a local paved walking circle for an hour or so. He's all geeked up to get his training wheels off, but we needed to work on some stuff (stopping!), as well as skip stones in a nearby creek (or "crick" as they say in Western PA).

Finally we made it home after 4. I took care of a couple XXC things, got B-Man some grub, and since this IS July I watched the replay of Stage 3. Good stage. Usually I find the early stages of the Tour SUPER boring, but today was cool and fun to watch.

After dinner it was time to finish an XXC page layout and do this blog post. Bikes were just an unavoidable pert of my day. In other words, it was great. And like I said, the day was BIKETASTIC, and it's not over yet! I hope you were lucky enough to have a biketastic Monday.

Later.

Possible Changes

Another rare sunny day here in WPA. That makes two in the past 60 days (that's sort of a joke). It would have been a great day to ride, but after two hours of hauling around the two useless hunks of flesh that claimed to be my legs yesterday, I decided to just chill. So that's what I did. Luckily the weather looks pretty good this week and I'm hoping to get out for some fresh dirt.

Whilst chilling, I re-thought a bit of my schedule for 2009. I think my plan to do at least 4 hundies has gone away. I spent too much time with my head lodged firmly in my own rectum, failed to register early for the 101, and now registration is up to $165. Not sure I can justify spending that sort of coin to haul my ass up and down the mountains of central PA just to come in 90th. Not 100% certain, but it is looking that way. I figure maybe I'll ditch the 101, do the WVMBA Big Bear Ultra on August 8th and save about $120 or so. Maybe I'll try to hit up a couple XC races between now and then, work on my mapping of an epic in the WPA mountains and see what what I can come up with for the rest of the year.

I had written a lengthy post about becoming disenchanted with my racing and one poor performance after another while doing my best. But it came off like I was crying and moaning. There is definitely writing on the wall. Not only about my racing but other things as well. For now I choose not to read that writing. I will attempt to ride on blissfully ignorant, unaware, and hoping for the best. It's time for a mid season mental enema, maybe try to loose a few pounds, and work on some skills. Sometimes life, riding and racing can be a series of attempts at reinventing one's self, and redefining goals. Time to kick start that. At least I hope.

Later.