SUNday on a Friday

Keep this short. Let the pic do the talkin'. Short 1:30 on the bike today at Boyce to get the legs semi-spanky for the weekend.. Back on the Ti El M. God I love this bike! Plan on some mountain time tomorrow with some peeps. Should be good. Hope to get it all in before any storms move in.


Later.

Low (and to the left)

Not much riding going on today. A mere treadmill jog was about it today. Mucho work and house stuff to do. But I also got to do some fun stuff, like pick up my new wheels from Pro Bikes- Yep, finally got 'em laced up. Hope Pro II hubs (from the old set), Stan's 355s, Supercomp spokes, yada, yada, yada. Man what a difference the 355s are to the old Bontrager Mustangs I had. Not that it will make me 1 mph faster, but it might make me THINK I can go faster, and LOOK faster, and that is 90% of being fast according to .0001% of all MTB coaches. It's a fact.

I also got to do super cool man stuff, like weed whack with a spanky new $30 weed whacker I got myself from Home Depot. I hate that f*cking store. 1) I hate it because it's huge and I can never find what I'm looking for, and 99% of the time I have no idea what I even need. And 2) it's like the biggest collection of products under one roof that I have NO F*CKING IDEA HOW TO USE, AND/OR INSTALL PROPERLY. I even dreaded buying the freaking weed whacker because I thought I would have to put it together. Luckily there was just a handle that needed screwed on. All that DYI bullshit. More like DYI then have to pay someone to come fix it for me and hope they don't take my money and run like that freaking siding guy did. Ricardo Cranium!!

Hope to get a quick spin on the dirt tomorrow, if not the road will have to do. Then some bigger miles Saturday. Hard to believe I have another race coming up on the 15th. Not 100% sure that it will happen, but I am registered for it, so I might as well ride it. Not sure why I registered for 2 lap races back to back. I like lap races because of what they can offer in terms of having a pit, etc., but 90% of the time I would rather do one big ass loop, or two rather than 10 short loops Maybe it's adult ADD?

Sleep beckons.

Later.

Mid Week Getaway

Yesterday was sort of a non ride ride day- riding the rail trail can be as much like mountain biking as flogging the bishop is like baby makin'. So today I vowed, to get some dirt in. Wasn't sure the con-dish of the local park single track, so with little to do on the mag front right now (waiting for some shiznit to come in), and my desire to do yard work at about a negative six, I loaded the xB with the Dos Niner and headed up the mountain on an exploratory mission of sorts.

Went down one road that I thought I wanted to take. Turned out not to be the road, but I was treated to this classic sign. The next logical step is to have "THIS MEANS YOU!!" written below it. I felt uneasy just STANDING in front of the gate.


I headed over to Auckerman. I wanted to climb to a road called Skyview (which was to be on my left), drop down to pavement and the take that over to Felgar Road and make my way to Laurel Mountain. Felgar will be integral, to planning out a hundie now that the Turnpike Bridge is out of commission.

I took what I thought was Skyview, and stared to lose all the just gained elevation (which I expected). But then up ahead it looked like the road became a private drive with some homes. Hmmmm., not one to investigate hidden mountain retreats without a backup, I decided to chuck it, and head back up the mountain to parts more familiar.

According to the satellite map, and in theory, it looks like I could have kept going, but like I said, I'm not one to investigate too much on the mountain when it comes to private property. Mountain folk fall into two categories- 1. Friendly as all git out and non caring. 2. VERY protective of their property and have no care about sending a couple buck shots your way. I fear #2. So I retreated at speedy 3 mph.

Now THIS guy had a bad winter.

It was chilly here in the Oak. It was of course cooler up at the base of the mountain, and it was freaking COLD by the time I climbed up Auckerman and got to the top of the mountain. I mean it was spitting snow flakes cold. I shit you not! I was standing there on Tunnel, taking a wiz and felt something hit my face and heard something hitting the leaves. Thought it was rain, or spring flowers or pollen floating around. Turns out it was sort of was rain, except it was frozen. Only lasted a few seconds, and was just spitting here and there, but nonetheless, it was freaking snow. NOTTTTTTT what I expected. In my light ass jacket, and knee warmers. Headlights onnnnnnn.

Hit some nice trail on Mountain View, but eventually it was soon slow goin' due to a lot of downed trees and a ton of derailleur hungry sticks of every shape and size. Also had some fun on Mountain Streams Trail which wasn't as muddy and ruined from horses as it was all of last year.

Truth be told the ride really didn't go how I wanted. I never made it to Felgar and I was freaking wet and cold. I rode about 17 miles, did a lot of climbing, and had fun but it took over 2 freaking hours of ride time to do just 17 miles. Granted some of those 3.5 mph climbs were stuck turd slow, so that would play a part. I guess I should just look on the bright side, and realize that a Wednesday ride in the mountains is pretty much a gift. And the chance to ride some dirt is ALWAYS a good thing. Many of the trails/roads I ride up there are not exactly single track, BUT they are steeper and often more challenging than anything in my neck of the woods.

Now to do some work....

Later.

Rolling Easy?

After riding 6 out of the past 7 days I took Monday off the bike. Needed to get some work done and it was no real loss since the weather was best suited for a warm bath and razor blades. So I plowed through a layout or two, tied up some mag stuff and creeped ever closer to XXC #7.

Today I had some loose plans to maybe get up the mountain for a quick forest road loop, but I pissed and skulked around this morning fighting off the creeps, and missed my window of opportunity and lost the desire to drive 40+ minutes to ride. I really was/am lacking mojo. The working at home Wifey pretty much kicked me and my mood out the door to ride SOMEWHERE. I figured maybe an easy day spinning out funk on the rail trail for a couple hours would be the ticket. Nothing to think about, just pedal and let Lemmy and Bruce D. scream in my ears for a bid.

After some pretty warm riding, I was surprised to find myself in knee/arm warms and a wind jacket mid morning. There was also a cool breeze blowing that was stiffer than a shirtless pedo ice cream man on a hot July day. The breeze, although cool, was great at the beginning because it was a tail wind. I think it added at least 2 mph to my speed.

Of course tailwinds become headwinds on out and backs. Then I was LOOSING 2 to 4 mph of speed. At this point, pedaling a flat, boring, lifeless trail was not all that fun. So I figured I'd kick it up a notch and make the most a what the wind was offering, shifted into 44/11 and did several sets of kneecap destroying seated hill climb intervals on the trails massive 1% grade. OK, I know it's not a hill at all, barely a grade, but it was sort of like a doing leg presses on the bike and a way to keep myself from steering my bike into the river out of boredom and the annoying howl of the wind that was preventing me from properly enjoying Running Free.

In the end, I'm not sure the time salvaged my crap mood, but it did burn some calories and get me out of the house before Wifey threw something at me. Hope to get my ass in gear earlier tomorrow for some real dirt of sorts.

FRIENDS SIGHTED IN THE CYCLING MEDIA....

My friends Brad and Rob (they of mini kegs in post Michigan hotel rooms and the KSF'ed Up Weekend) have been sighted on Cyclingnews.com. While I would have RATHER seen this pic show up on another site, It's cool to see them out on a real cycling site. Photo by Jim Synder.

Speaking of photos. I was enjoying my friend GNAT's blog today and he was talking about taking more action shots wit the camera. That got me thinking of MTBS.CZ (my fave Czhech website, and we all have them). They have the best race photos on that site. So with the the completion of a recent World Cup in Dalby Forest, I knew for sure there would be some sweet pics up. I was right.

This one is one of my faves from the race...

There are also plenty o'pics of women's winner and super fast, hot buttocked Russian, Irina Kalentieva. Sadly, no photos of her from behind though. But there is this one were she's making out with her Rotwild. All in good fun.... All in good fun....

Later.

Dead Legs And Mountain Miles

With the forecast for rain, and what I thought was some family commitments, I had completely put thoughts of a long ride on the mountain out of my head. But I woke up to blue sky and sun, and a Wifey who volunteering to fill in for me for some of said commitments. Thank you Ma Nature and thank you Wifey!

Off I went to the mountain to ride a variety of earth: forest roads, double track, single track, snowmobile trails, etc., The first non climb false flat had me thinking this trip was unwise. My legs felt heavy and dead. Soon though the road evened out and they warmed up to my normal heavy dead legs.

After about 10 miles of up and down on wide rocky double track and forest roads I was ready to roll on the Red Oak snowmobile trail. Look down to my right and OF COURSE see a freaking pair of undies. I truly believe that the amount of underwear I encounter has reached freakish proportions. I gotta say, I'm feeling a little disturbed about the whole thing.

After quick pick to document the freakishness, I was plugging along on the undulating, at times power sucking trail. Then I got to hit some rooty single track up to 31 as I headed over to the second part of the sort of figure 8 loop.

The sky often looked threatening, but I safely completed the ride without having to put on the rain jacket. Glad too, 'cause the air was warm and humid and putting on a rain jacked was not on my list of things I wanted to do on the ride. But then again, maybe it would have acted as a sauna suit to promote my ass to sweat off some pounds. Dehydration be damned!

Hit a few long climbs on the ride. Always nice to get in some steady climbing. As I made my way back down Tunnel towards Auckerman, I spied a HUGE pot hole/sink hole. Someone wisely, but humorous nonetheless, marked the hole for folks with a huge limb. There was also a big rubber boot stuffed in it. Not sure the reason for the boot.

I guess it worked though, because there was not chance I was going to endo into that hole. And I HOPE that any vehicle speeding down this back road could look being their Keystone Light can long enough to miss it. Not that all folks driving on the back roads are drinking Keystone. Just an observation based on the amount of empty cases seen along the forest roads.

Finished up with some of the Mountain Streams Trail and then zoned out in sweaty haze and climbed Camp Run at mall walker pace. To the snake I ran over going a blazingly fast 3 miles per hour, I apologize. If it's any consolation you still scared the shit out me.

Not a long ride mileage wise, coming in at just 30 miles, but the amount of dirt, mud, and climbing pushed the time to about 3:20 of saddle time. Not one of my best rides physically, but mentally it was nice to enjoy an unexpected day in the saddle.

Later.

Something's Wrong

Well, Friday was a sweet way to top off the weekday riding. Hit Boyce for another session of single track and sun. I really didn't got that much longer just a few miles extra from my normal loop, but is was still the funnest [sic].

Daily doses of dirt are the best medicine for post race angst. Hell it's the best medicine for angst in general. This past week has reminded me of a summer back in '04 or '05, I can't remember, but anyhoo, we had a dry ass summer (strangely enough), and at the time I was working just a couple miles from Boyce Park. It seemed that I was at the park everyday after work riding dirt. It was the best. I love cycling in general of course, but mountain biking is the shit. So to do that "shit" almost daily is tops in my book.

Last year during the Worst Summer Ever it seemed like I spent way too much time on the road. It helped me keep fitness (although I continued to gain weight), but not all that fun, and not my ideal way to spend time in the saddle. This spring has been great. Dry trails, nice temps, and the chance to be a mountain biker again. I know where I live (Seattle without the coffee or Sub Pop Records, England without the castles or music scene, but all of the rain and more that those locals share) and I know that the dampness will return in time. Of course there is hope, I have been doing drought dances almost daily, and have made several weather people voodoo dolls to stick pins in if the weather turns wet. Except for the doll of Julie Bologna. That one I just sort of look at.

Speaking of wet.... Something must be wrong with me. Brad, J-POK, Ruth, Gerry, and a bunch of my other race friends are down racing Cohutta today. What is wrong with me that even though I looked at the weather a little bit ago and saw that the Ducktown area is getting POUNDED with rains, I still feel poopy (a Wifey term for depressed) that I'm not there. Soaked, praying for the finish line, surely bonking, dealing with chain suck, mud and ruined bike parts. Issues.

The El Mariachi's (sort of) new wheels should be ready on Monday. I say sort of because the 355 rims/spokes/nips will be new, the hubs are still my standby clickity-clickity Hope Pro IIs. Geeked.

Time to go do something that's not riding my bike 100 miles in the rain.

Later.

Some Earth Lovin' Baby Makin' Two Wheeled Dirt Worship

Earth Day is the day where tight assed conservative types/conspiracy theorist odd balls get the day to make fun of environmentalist wacko types, and environmentalist wacko types get the day to be themselves under the guise of a proclaimed day. Me, I get the day to do what I do everyday, subscribe to no philosophy whatsoever except the word of bikes, beer, music and boobs.

That's not to say I don't have some basic thoughts on the matter. I do, but I care little for either side of any socio-political debate and find such arguments a waste of time and the little brain cells I have.

My thoughts on the earth, nature and all that is basically this... C'mon step into my sweat lodge and fire up the peace pipe....

Have you ever seen the sun rise over the mountain in the morning, or evening's aspen glow? Have you ever put your bare feet in the freezing cold rushing waters of a mountain stream? Do you love the feel of trail under your feet or tires of a bike? Have you ever seen a bear in the wild, or heard elk call though the early morning mist as you climb a ribbon of dirt? Have you ever been in awe of a view that was totally void of man made structures?

Now think about life never experiencing any of that. Or think about not even having the chance to experience it. Not cool. Personally everyday I ride dirt is a day to throw up some thanks for the gift of the earth, mountains, woods, and the trails I ride on. Maybe it's my Native American heritage that makes me think this way? Shit, I forgot... I'm a pasty ass Eastern European dude. My bad.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if you're some land loving trail closing hippie that wants to forbid bikes from trails because it ruins your supposed solitude, experience or whatever- CHILL! And if you're some dude that thinks that the "green" philosophy is some left wing political agenda to drag the county down, I also say CHILL YOUR ASS OUT! If we destroy our land, all of those things I mentioned above that so many of us have enjoyed will be gone. Conversely, if we get militant about who and what can enjoy the earth/nature, then that also destroys the experience. Capeesh? Democracy is compromise.

But then again, what do I know? I'm a non voting, non news watching (although I've seen enough of Fox to know I do NOT like it), non caring liberal who digs the earth day vibe, but doesn't put my beer bottles and bean cans in the recycling bin because the f*ckers never picked them up when I sit them out. My life is composed of blissful ignorance and steeped in contradiction. *sigh* It sort of rocks, but I don't want to live forever.

.....................................................

Don't cross the wires!

Sometimes single track is where you find it. Sure I'd rather not have a giant electric tower near my park trails, but hey, just 100 yards later I got this...

And this...

It was great to be out on the trail again today. I really do feel like a crack whore with them. I can't resist their twisty dry goodness. Once more hit, just ONE more hit tomorrow, and then Saturday will be a chill day.

Saturday is usually the BIG ride day. But Wifey is out of town Friday and most of Saturday with some gal pals doing whatever ever it is they do (never as good as what goes on in my head). So my Dad duties will be turned up a bit. It's the least I can do after dragging her to yet another race to watch me fail last week. I think the LBD might be the last one. Consistent failure is something I'm used to, but having your lady see you consistently fail is starting to be a real downer. Oh well, there are plenty of things to dump my ass about (no job, personality, generalized misanthropy, dysthymia, lack of social skills, hermit, etc., etc.,), and I do NOT think being a lousy bike racer would be on her list! LOL!

Oh well, the trails look to be good again tomorrow. Hope to push a little longer, but that means getting all my shit done asap in the early a.m.. Hmmmm.

Later.

Getting Used To It

Wow, I am sssooo getting used to fast dry trails. I know it will end soon or later, but I'm trying not to think about that, I'm just trying to think about the fun I've been having breaking in the El Mariachi on some twisty dirt. Not only for half of last week's LBD (attempt), but also this week, right here in the twisty, suburban single track that is Boyce Park.

With about 70 miles of dirt under the wheels I can truly say the frame is great. I'm finding it more compliant than my Mamasita, but not noodily at all under my big boned body. Any nit picking I've been doing has purely been with my set up of stem/spacers/post/grips. Not sure if I can blame the frame for slipping seat post. The frame itself: finish, look, ride feel, geometry, etc., is the best.

Occasionally, I find myself forgetting to let my bung hover above the saddle, and remain seating through some stuttering trail sections, as if I was relying the Dos Niners' Relish shock to ease the bung slam. As you can imagine, it only take a couple times to be reminded that I'm on a hard tail. BUT having said that, the overall feel from the trail is amazing. You feel connected to the trail, but don't feel like it's beating you down. If I was to give it a number on a 1-10 comfort scale, the E.M. is at about a 6, while the comfort level on the Dos Niner is about an 8, with a FS bike being in the 10 range. That is TOTALLY acceptable to me.

For a race or ride that is mostly single track and over 5 hour long the Dos Niner still seems the right tool for the job. Given my habit of keeping my bung in the saddle. But for races/rides that include double track, forest roads, and pavement along with that single track (Mohican, 101, SM100, many of my mountain epics) the Ti El Mariachi seems my likely choice. For me, a Ti hard tail has all the benefits of racing a carbon frame, but with increased durability and piece of mind, and all the benefits of a steel frame with no weight penalty or corrosion issues. Although Niner, and Salsa, make some KILLER retail steel frames. I've been lucky to attempt my racing with two bikes to choose from, but if I had to have JUST one, NO DOUBT it would be a Ti hard tail. After all I can always throw on a Thudbuster to ease the bung.

I guess this was long winded way of saying I love my new frame, I got out for a nice 1:40 ride today, and I apparently find it super easy to work the word "bung" into a blog post more times than an ass fetished man with a collection of wine barrels.

Later.

Adjusting My Minderbinder

1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder: I want to serve this to the men. Taste it and let me know what you think.
[Yossarian takes a bite]
Yossarian: What is it?
1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder: Chocolate covered cotton.
Yossarian: What are you, crazy?
1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder: No good, huh?
Yossarian: For Christ's sake, you didn't even take the seeds out.
1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder: Is it really that bad?
Yossarian: It's cotton!

With all the seat binder bolt talk of the last day or so I can NOT get Milo Minderbinder out of my head. And for some reason the name Minderbinder makes me think of the term gender bender, and that makes me think of Seinfeld, and that makes me laugh. Just like Catch 22 and Lt. Milo Minderbinder. But then I start to think about the followup to Catch 22 called Closing Time and THAT book sucked. Sucked hard. Then THAT makes me think of that song Closing Time. And that song like the book, SUCKED! I know, therapy is probably a good idea.

What does NOT suck, is that at least for today it seems my Shaft (Salsa Shaft, purv!) is good to go in the E.M.'s binder. Rode in the dirt today for an hour and a half with no shaft slippage. And the bike felt aces! Once my new wheels are on and I get some of the other upgrades done, it will be T.I.T.Z.

The shop looked at the Dos Niner today and fixed it up. Bent hanger and wheel out out of true from when the chain got stuck betweenst the spokes and the cassette. Once I pick it up I can can get E.M.'s new wheels built up.

Read a great line on Young Sam's blog today that he wrote back in March- "My advice: Don't race when you are really out of shape. It makes you feel bad about yourself." Not sure if he's talking to me or not, but I'm taking his advice. LOL! Then again, if I didn't do all the things that make me feel bad about myself, I'd never leave the house. Wait a minute....

From the looks of it even though I felt like a fat turd on the bike today, I'm gonna hit more dirt tomorrow. Part of me wants to go for a quick loop on the mountain, but part of me wants to hit Boyce again, so I can stop by the shop for the Dos.

Just a couple/few weeks 'till XXC #7! Geeked. Cool articles, some new features, and contest with some cool prizes from some super cool sponsors! But 'till some races are raced, and some stories are written, there will be tweeking and riding.

Later.

Spinning and Honking

Not much on tap today as far as riding goes. Just did a quick 1:35 spin on the rail trail to get the legs loose from a weekend of riding and extended car travel. Made some slight stem adjustments to the El-M to get it more dialed in. Still think I need to flip the stem, and that might get it closer. Also had a big problem with my Ergon grips too. By the end of today's ride, my hands were completely numb! WTF? I thought I had them pretty good. I guess I was wrong. MORE adjustments needed!

Two freaking things almost happened to me on the R.T. today. 1. I got a stick stuck in my spokes/derailleur! And 2. I almost got run over by a service vehicle that was driving on the trail. Granted the vehicle thing was SORT of my fault because I had Lemmy screaming in my ears, but the stick in the spokes? W-T-F?? The trail is freaking limestone path!

Also took the time to honk down more on the seat clamp in attempt to keep my Salsa Shaft post from slipping. It was a bit better, but it still slid down about a quarter inch over the ride. FRIG! Dicky advised me via Facebook to put some grease on the binder bolt today and then honk down more. An Internet search turned up the same advice given by the late great Sheldon Brown, so I figured why not? Greased it and honked it this afternoon, then I took care of the seat post. (That's a joke... sorry).

If this doesn't work I might need to look into some sort of carbon paste or Ti prep to help it get a grip. Feel free to give a recommendation. Tomorrow's time in the dirt should tell me if the Sheldon/Dicky advice worked.

Later.

Undone (Not The Sweater Song)

Short LBD recap post, 'cause I'm tired and no one really care who finished in 50th.

The Bakers Doz. was a great time. Sadly, for me the race never really developed as I crashed about 5 or 6 laps in and jacked my derailleur up, forcing my chain into the spokes, and that took my wheel out of true to the point it was rubbing the chain stays. I switched to the wet dream ready Ti El Mariachi, but I never set up the stem, spacers, etc., to mimic the Dos geometry, as I had done on the Mamasita. So I was all over the trail and using way more of my back to generate power than I wanted to.

On top of all that the E.M.'s seat post kept slipping and I would need to stop every half lap to adjust. So after about 7 or 8or laps I said "f*ck it" and just rode the course taking some photos of folks. Then I quit all together and hung out with Wifey, B-Man, and K. (Brad's wifey). Ended up with 10 laps (I think) Might be 9. Orrrr, it might be 11.

Yeah, I know I could have taken the time to make the adjustments to the E.M. in the pits, but after you have 80+ miles in your legs, your head really isn't working proper.

Brad kicked ass and came in 2nd in the Solos with 20 freaking laps! It was great to pit with him, cheer him on and help K. out with the pit b*tch duties. It was also cool to see him kick ass like that. Not to mention we had lots of fun as per usual.

Lots of good folks at the LBD this year that I got to see... Fat Marc, Dan K, Loretta, Travis, Ian, Matt M., Pete, Stu, Jake, Gerry (thanks for the prank phone call. Freaking room service....), etc., etc., All good peeps, and all good to see.

The best quote of the race- As I slowed through the pits the racer coming up being me says "dude, that quote on your butt is the best!!" Speaking of the XXC Mag "fun hurts" quote on the back of the XXC kit.

The best moment in Soiled Chamois racing history ever happened on what I think was my next to last lap. I came through the field near the end of the lap and B-Man and Wifey were there. B starts running along side me screaming and cheering "Go Daddy! Go! !Venga Venga Venga! It was the best. EVER!

Later.

Packed & Ready (Enough)

Bags packed, gear ready, bikes looking fine, me in a semi sober state of sexed up bike racin' lust. After many plans falling through to race in 2010 (see Southern Cross and Camp Hilbert and my inability to make the rescheduled dates), it feels good to FINALLY be off to one that looks to be on.

I can't stress how much for me the weekend is NOT really even about the race. I'm really not a competitive person. I don't care that much who makes it up the hill first, crosses the line first or has bigger balls. Sure, I will leave at least a few months of my life out on the race course, as well as some dinner from the night before, but the weekend, nay the week as whole is why I love this shit.

The anticipation is pretty sweet. The anticipation for a race is like a date with your finest lady love. What could happen is soooo different than what will actually happen, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to think about. I mean who knows? I could get c-blocked and DNF, I could make it to 2nd base finish mid pack, or I could go all the way and 82 other guys could get sick on cow patty juice and I could podium. You never know.

What I do know is that racing for me really comes down to opportunities to see old friends, meet new ones and ride my bike all day. Sure it will be several 8 mile loops and not one big ass loop which I so often prefer, but an attempt to ride all day on the bike nonetheless AND an attempt to justify all the time and money I spend on bikes. That's enough for me.

Weather looks OK for the race. Chance of a storm tonight and cool and windy tomorrow. Could get pretty chilly when the sun goes down. The cooler temps could help with sweat output, but could also hider my hydrating. I tend to not drink when I'm not hot, so forcing myself to hydrate according to time will be key.

Wifey and B-Man hope to come down and watch on Saturday, but any plans with outdoor activities and a six year old is often written in sand. If they do make it will be nice to see them. Even if it is for a few minutes in the pit every so many laps.

So in a few hours I will off to Leesburg to romp around in a field of cow patties and fast single track for the weekend. I could do 16 laps, I could do 1. All that matters is that there is dirt for my knobs.

Later.

The Pants Party

One pin, some antibacterial medicine, and the encouragement of my friend Plum Grove Pete and the undercarriage issue is gone! Well at least gone enough! Popped, bled, cleaned and cared for. Swelling is gone and I no longer feel like my taint is smuggling a pus filled grape. Best of all, I rode 99% pain free today! Woot!

Did my 120 minute road ride today, had virtually no discomfort, and good legs. Tomorrow will be spent working, gathering all my gear together, and celebrating Papa-O's B-Day with copious amounts of fine local pizza. Cheers to carbo loading! AND cheese loading.

I'm a firm believer in getting as much melted mozzarella cheese as possible into the system the days before a race. See, not only does the body burn carbs during prolonged efforts, it's a known fact that it also burns cheese. I'm pretty sure this is why my friend Brad has been excelling at endurance races as of late. He's from Wisconsin originally and tests have proved that his blood is mostly cheese. Like more than half!

Once home from my roide today, the working at home Wifey let me know that the shop called (Pro Bikes, with 3 locations to serve you), and said the El Mariachi was ready! HELL YES! And as an added bonus we got our tax return today, so I ACTUALLY had the money to buy it! LOL!


Jordan at the shop did a fine job transferring all the parts from the Mamasita to the E.M.. I was so stoked upon seeing it!. I still have some wheels to have built, and my XTR/Hope/Thompson bitz transferred over to it. But even as it is its' freaking SWEET!

It's gonna be real hard to resist not racing this one this weekend at the LBD. If the Dos Niner wasn't running so damn smooth and so damn dialed in right now, It wouldn't even be a question. BUT as it is I am a creature of habit, and the Dos will get the call for the race. That's not to say I won't sneak in a few laps on the El M. The Mamasita will be up on eBay in the coming days. I will post up a link when it's clean and ready for sale. It's less than a year old, size large. If you want to make an offer before I putz it up on eBay send me a note (see e mail in my profile).

There are 85 racers in the geared solo cat at the LBD. HOLY SHIT BALLZ!! I have some goals, but when I think about them stacked up against EIGHTY-FREAKING-FOUR other dudes, they seem damn laughable. So I will just do as many laps as I can, have as much fun pushing myself as I can, and do what I can to not dehydrate and puke. A wise woman who knows a thing or two about racin' bikes for long periods of time once told me that when I get in that sitch it's better to take a break, to let the fluids and fuel be absorbed, rather than keep pushing on doing more damage. Sensing WHEN to take these breaks will be key. I guess I'll have 13 hours to figure it out.

Tomorrow I will surely share more words of nonensense and wisdom. I know you don't want to miss that. Now go eat some cheese!

Later.

Focus Darn It!

WARNING: Talk Of my Manly Undercarriage. No pictures, but talk. And that is enough to puts some tight asses right over the edge. Of course it's also enough to have pervs sending me invites to online chat rooms, ANNNNYWAY....

Not the pre race week I had planned. I've been off the bike since Sunday trying to rehab/lance etc., an under carriage "issue" that I'm sporting. Think it should be good to go by tomorrow. For the first time in my life I would rather have a big ass zit on my nose than where it is right now. Funny thing is, I stopped using Bag Balm because of reports that it could cause zits in said area. Fail.

Time to go buy me a new tin of utter cream.

In good new, I talked to the wrench at the shop today, and I SHOULD have the Ti El Mariachi in my possession tomorrow. It will not be in it's final form, but I will have it 90% there. During next week's race recovery time I hope to get some other key parts transferred over from the Dos Niner. More when I get it.

It has come to my attention (I looked up) that my blog banner is a good two years old now. I should probably work on a new one when I get time. One that shows off those 20 additional pounds I put on and highlights my fall from mid pack wunderkind (exaggeration) to borderline weekend warrior. I smell Cooper Black.

Funny pic over on Pez. Check it out.

Gotta split, time to make my packing list for the LBD.

Later.

Because...

Because I have nothing to talk about and no one wants to hear about how I'm trying to heal up a painful zit/pinch/sore/boil/thing on my under carriage, I figured I'd post some random videos I found whilst searching for highlights from yesterdays Roo-bay.

Team Sky recon video with some old school Chem Bros. Better take some Dramamine before you watch. Please refrain from any drug use, glow sticks or shirtlessness during the video. Thanks.

The there's Saxo Bank's video made with Spesh. Again super cool.

This one is almost a replay of last week at Flanderszzzz... Check it at 2:15, Cancellara like freaking bullet through the group. I guess that recon, and great legs paid off!

Ooo, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la... Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom...

With a 13 hour mountain bike race coming up this Saturday, I shouldn't be looking at road races to get motivated! But then again, it IS Paris-Roubaix, and I have to say I really don't need motivated to race my bike for 13 hours. OK, I might need motivated at 9 hours or 10 hours in, but NOT before hand!

Later.

Holy Roller Sunday

After yesterday's mileage feast on the gravel and dirt of my local mountain roads, I spent most of the night eating Mexican food and drinking beer whilst hangout out with my crimson haired bosomy gal pal Wifey. I then stayed up until almost 1 a.m. watching The Pacific on OnDemand. In other words I took a pretty 'tard recovery approach to a 4:30 ride. I spent the morning watching Dutch TV's live web video of Perry-Roo-Bay in conjunction with Euro Sport's audio (GOD BLESS THE WEB! It ain't just porn and bike blogs after all!) It was great!
However I wasn't going to spend my whole day WATCHING guys ride bikes, when I had some riding to do of my own. I I was Glad to see F.C. win. I really thought that he and Sniff would burn out in a wattage pissing contest and someone else would sneak in for the win. I was wrong of course. So I left the office/man cave/den of stench (I eat a lot of beans) and headed with B-Man to hang with my Dad and get some road mileage in. I hoped for the best, expected the worst and got a little bit of both.

Today's ride was not easy on tired legs, but it was still great. A few quick steep ups, and a lot of rollers. That was fine by me after yesterday's long dirt and gravel climbs.

This week will have a few short rides and Saturday's Leesburg Bakers Dozen. One of my fave races of the year. Earlier this year, I hoped to compete for a top 10 at this race. I still hope to do well, but I think it may be best to hope for top 20, considering there are like EIGHTY in my class!

Tomorrow is a day off of the bike and day ON the computer and some XXC work.

Later.

A Day In The Saddle

I have no recollection where I took the photo above. I just know it was somewhere along the 47 miles I rode on the mountain today. Stuck to gravel and dirt roads for the most part to save body and bike for next Saturday's season kickoff at the Leesburg Bakers Dozen.

I took other pics, but figured this one summed the day up. Going up hill, on a gravel surface. In the end I got over 4:33 of ride time in, rode 47+ miles, and climbed over 4,300 feet. I explored a couple options and need to back track, so in reality the ride was only like 45 miles and about 4K of climbing. Oh well.

Later.

Mr. Test Tube Head

No ride. Work, work, stop at Pro Bikes, write, write, laundry, clean, Dad duty, drink some beer. 40+ gravel/dirt ride planned tomorrow in the chilly mountain air. Yeah, chilly. Temps dropped 40 degrees in less than 24 here.

Can SOMEBODY tell me WTF that head is above? The only person I assume who would know is Fatmarc. I'm sort of freaked out by this. It sort of looks like a bald me.

Later.

SNEAK! SNUCK! SNUCKED!

I admit it, I have a problem. It's riding my bike on dirt. Or is it "in" dirt? Never sure on that, I mean I'm ON it not IN it, but mentally I guess it's sort of IN. Oh well, that doesn't change the fact that like a meth head would rob his granny for hit, I rushed around like a fool this morning to make it to the park early for a quick hit of dirt to soothe my soul before the predicted "rain showers, with a rumble or two of thunder" arrived.

Success.

I have a ton of shit to do for the mag. But I hemmed and hauled (spelling on that old phrase is lost on me. EDIT: Pete says it's hawed. Who knew? Pete I guess.) and pulled a ton of excuses out of my aging, flabby, saddle sored, MAYBE could use a good porn bleaching, 38 year old buttocks on why I needed, NAY, I MUST, ride some dirt. EVEN if it was just a quick little 12 mile loop to satiate my lust for dirt. The trails are too fast, too fine, too "I would sell my wife into slavery for one more loop" good right now. I needed to get taste before the rain came.

So I rode.

I rode and it was the best. Too short, but worth every second that I will be forced to stay up late working on layouts, rather than sleep in the coming days. I mean that's what coffee is for, right? I swear, I will take tomorrow off. I will do some work. I will... I must... I HAVE TO! Plus taking tomorrow off will make the legs all spanky and randy for big ride on Saturday.

Gotta get some work done.

Later.

Stealing Away

Today felt like a day off, a vacation day. I am currently in that time of having some stories for XXC No. 7 done, some still out there, words but no pics, pic but no words. In other words I gotznuthin' to do right now (as I type this a boat load of stuff just came in. Cool!)

So after the B-Man was safely off to school, I was off to get a quick ride in on the mountain. I normally don't dig mid week adventures up there. I feel rushed, and limited on what I can and can't do. I need to make sure I'm back in plenty of time to fetch B-Man, and at least pretend to have done something around the house for Wifey (sadly she knows better).

The plan was some singletrack near Hidden Valley, some doubletrack,, some gravel climbs, some Seven Springs singletrack, and then gravel back to the car. It sounds epic, but it's really only about 2 hours or so of riding.

First some rooty single track.

Then a gentle climb up the back side of Seven Springs. The only thing gentle about it is the hard pack gravel surface. It is a SLOW climb (for me) with some steep grades at times. Eventually you hook up with some of the 24 Hour race course on your left, which I took of course. D-POW knows this climb (up and down).

The trails were freakishly dry, and my tires had WAY too much pressure. Oddly I didn't stop once to let some air out. I'm an idiot. The trails at Seven Springs are always good and bad for me. Good because I've logged HUNDREDS of miles on those trails, they are fun, rocky, but not TOO rocky, rooty, but not TOO rooty... they are just fun! Lately after I ride them I seem to always come away pissed off. Today it was seeing more and more lot markers. Yep, much of that single track after the paint ball area, it marked off for some rich bastard to buy up a lot. Condos = cash for ski areas, trails = dead beat mountain bikers like me using the trails and paying nothing but the occasional race entry. In the near future some of my favorite trails will be condos for Biff and Buffy to park their Beemers, and to entertain and impress a bunch of the knob headed friends. Sorry for the rant.

Once I started down to hit some of the newer singletrack I realized I wast taking too much time. Some singletrack would need to be aborted. No big, this day was a gift, and much of the singletrack was littered with branches from the winter, and causing me some stress. So when I hit the F*ck Tree I took a second to think.

First I thought "who takes the time to carve "f*ck" into a tree??" Then I thought, "I'm pretty sure the road I'm about to cross is Neals Run!" And it was. So I thought better of doing more time sucking but smile inducing singletrack and just took the right up to and across the slopes. It was a good move. A move field with a few slow grunts, but a good move. Doing the extra single track would have put me too far behind schedule.

Finished the ride with a bit over 2 hours in the warm mountain sun. 2 more hours would have been titz, but I'll take what I can get. I could have just hit Boyce for 2 hours and ridden some buff twisty single track. As much as I can dig Boyce, it will be there when time is even more crunched. It was mentally worth it for me today to steal away for some long climbs and rocky singletrack.

Weather is about to get more seasonable here, meaning less 84 degree days and more 50 degree days. No complaints though, it's been a nice couple weeks of sun to help melt the nightmare that was Winter 2010.

Back to work tomorrow.

Later.

Unexpectedly Dry

As I typed last night I had plans to hit dirt today, so I was sort of disappointed to be woke by the rumble of thunder and the flash of lightening late last night. I figured I was doomed to the road today.

But after I tied up some early morning mag work, I knebbed around the dirt near my house, and realized that the for all the flashing and banging last night, we did not get all that much rain. I figured "how bad could Boyce be?" So it might be a little slick in spots, big deal.

Much to my amazement/pleasure/geekness, etc., the trails a Boyce were in FINE shape. There was the occasional sign that the park got some rain, but you never would have known it from the trails. Bone dry and tack in spots. Perfect!

Rolled 2 hours, enjoyed the perfect dirt, and the warms sun. Then I stopped at the shop to get my wheels re-gooed with Stan's. While I was there I ran into a dude that reads the mag and this here blog. I was stoked that to meet someone who digz the 'zine, sorry I didn't have any stickers with me, and embarrassed that he reads THIS digital fish wrap. LOL!

The more I think about it, I think I'm NOT going to get the Salsa Ti built up 'till after Leesburg. I'm leaving for the race in 9 days, and just think it would be too much pressure to hope that both bikes are good to go and dialed in for a 13 hour race. I have all season. I am stoked to see the frame though.

While I was doin' all that thinkin' I decided that I will probably part with the Mamasita rather than my Dos Niner once the TiEM arrives. See no point in having TWO hard tail 29ers. And with new wheels on tap the ONLY think that won't be Titz on the Dos will be the crank and bottom bracket. I plan to move the XTR set up over to the Ti bike. NOT that there's anything wrong with XT, I just dig my XTR one more. Plus I doubt a VERY, VERY well used Dos Niner frame is going to fetch all that much on eBay, but a Mamasita frame that is less than one year old might get a bit more. So if you're in search of a Mamasita (Large) keep an eye on the blog, and I'll let you know when it's available.

More dirt tomorrow? Hmmm, with good trails, and my work load sort of light right now I can't imagine why not!

Later.

p.s. I would like to add that the above photo sort of blows. I only took 3, this one came the closest to helping me document the rides existence. :)

A Lot Of Not Much

Sadly even with perfect weather the past two days I was not able to ride. Easter Sunday family activities and B-Man off from school today sort of put the hold on any ride until tomorrow. But that didn't stop my cycling world from going on....

Sunday- Tour of Flanders. What a race, the effort that Cancellara put forth to get a fresh bike, get himself back through the field and then put the hammer down on that climb and eventually pull away from Boonen was friggin' AMAZING!!

Two great videos from the race....

The cheers when Boonen came by were so deafening it gave me chills!

When the video hits 2:32 it gets SO goo. Love it!

______________________________

Today was more of Operation Lose The Training Wheels with B-Man. AND HE DID IT!! First it was 10 yards, 20 yards, then a full lap around a small paved oval near my house, then he worked his way up to 3 LAPS without me holding on at all. I was running along side the whole time, and sweating like a damn fool! He was so stoked! And in turn I was stoked, proud, and just amazed. It was one of the best bike days ever and I wasn't even on my bike.

At one point B. was pedaling and mentions that he was sort of like "that Tom guy, from the bike race yesterday." Stoked again!! Well of course I hope he doesn't EVER hit the booger sugar like Boonen did! LOL!

_______________________________

Lots of other stuff happening too...

The Ti E.M. should be in the 'Burgh soon. Then it will be hoping that through some of the personnel chaos at the shop I can get it built up quickly. Fingers crossed!

XXC #7 is coming together nicely and I'm in the process of putting together a nice little contest for readers. Should be pretty cool.

I had some movement with a brain constipation issue that I was suffering from, and have figured out how to combine two mountain loops of mine to make a pretty damn big epic ride that will single track, double track, gravel and just a few miles of pavement and maybe only a slight back track on one trail. The ride SHOULD clock in around 65 to 75 miles, with a TON of climbing. With the climbing and the single track, this one will be an ALL day ride for sure. Just need to tie up some questionable trails/roads that show up on some maps but not others.

Dirt of some sort tomorrow.

Later.

The Bald Mountain Heat

Today, err, I mean yesterday (too busy to blog last night) was the first day on the mountain for me in 2010. Even though my plan was to just hit forest roads and a little pavement for some extended low traffic climbing I felt like it was the first day of school. In fact it's very much like the first day of school. How did the mountains change since last year? How did the 3 million inches of snow that we got this winter reshape the mountains? And how will I FEEL dragging my ass up the climbs that the mountains offer?

The weather has been wonderful lately and unseasonably hot. I mean it was 85 in Pittsburgh on Friday. Wow! And Saturday even at 10 a.m. on the mountain it was about 75 degrees, sunny and the still leafless trees were offering NONE of their normal shade. It was like the sun beating down on a bald man's head.

The ride on tap was the Mahokey/D-Pow ride that I did last summer. The ride should have been about 33.5 miles, but a wrong turn on my part lengthened it a few miles and shot the total elevation gain to over 3,000 feet in just 35ish miles. All the climbs were middle ring-able, just long and sustained. The steepest climbs were actually on some of the 5 miles of pavement the ride contains along Indian Head Road and Harris Road.

The local red necks here in WPA put confederate flags on their garage doors, or sticker on their car. On the mountain they actually mount the flag in the back of their truck to flap in the wind. Unique way to celebrate Pennsylvania's southern heritage. Oh wait, we're NOT in the south. Hmmmm....

There were a still a few patches of snow here and there on the mountain and crossing the slopes of Seven Springs on Neal's Run Road showed just how much of a base the Springs must have made and received over the winter.

After crossing from 31 to Seven Springs, it was down to some pavement for about 4 or so miles of climbing. Of course there was also a 47 mph descent in that 4 miles too, so that was cool.

Soon the pavement ended and once again I was back on gravel and dirt. Except for about a mile the rest of the ride was on gravel or dirt of some sort.



The ride was fun as hell, and it was so great to do and extended ride with long climbs and not have to worry about cars that much. I think I was passed by about 10 cars all day, and that included the road sections.

The ride was going fine and I was remembering the ride without my map that I couldn't find in my ratz nest of an office. But at about mile 22 I over shot a sharp left turn and in the process went about a another 1.5 miles out of my way with the back track. By this time I was getting freaking hot. As you can see from the pics there are no leaves yet. Many of these roads are usually tunnels of shade, but not today.

I was starting to feel the heat, and getting hungry. I was down a bottle, more than half way through my 70 oz. bladder and the remaining 2nd bottle was turning nasty from the heat. I was also regretting not having any Perpetuem for calories and had to rely on 2 gels and Gatorade. Lastly I was regretting only eating about 3oo calories for breakfast.

Soon I was back on course and climbing back up to Seven Springs. From there it would be back to Jones Mill Run and back to 31. I wanted to do about another 10+ miles on the other side, but knew a bonk would be inevitable without more calories. So the ride ended at about 36 miles and over 3,000 feet of climbing.

I'm anxious to get back to add in my trails and newly sighted snow mobile trails along the route. More trails + more gravel = more miles that is always good.

So the first day on the mountain was great! I made some mistakes by underestimating the heat, not having enough calories, and not eating enough in the a.m., Every trip up the mountain has the potential to be an epic day in the saddle, and that is why I love me some mountains.


Later.

Oh Yes

Not much going on today. Me and B-Man practiced riding without training wheels, I did some minor work with my friends at Ergon with XXC, some house work, and chilled with some Hop Devil and bad red wine as I contemplate tomorrow's adventure to the dirt roads of the mountain. Who knows, maybe there will be more, but need to get high before I can judge what I can do.

My Brothers of Velo are doing JR's Morgantown Road Race tomorrow. Good luck to them. Better them than me. I know this post is lame, I know you want more. Sorry.

Did I mention my Salsa Ti El Mariachi is on it's way?????????

Joy.

Later.

Just About Perfect

Wow, what an incredible day in the saddle. Good legs, great trail conditions, and 2.5 hours of freaking dirty fun! I would go more into it, but all there rally is to say is- it was gooooood. Well that and I don't have time because I took 2.5 hours of my day to go ride my bike. DOH!

I love this time of year. The forest is all pubescent and sprouting green all over the place. Soon the smell of honeysuckle will be tickling the nose holes and poison ivy will be ticking the legs. It's all good! Bring on spring, bring on summer, bring on two wheeled, rubber side down, hot, stinky down and dirty, love makin' on two wheels.

B-Man is off tomorrow, so he and I will be heading out to do some riding together. No epic miles, but epic smiles with my number one dude.

EDIT: IT is almost here!! SWEET! Now the question... to have it built before the first race of the year or not.... Hmmmmm.....

Later.