A Couple Off Days

Last week I got a nice bit of riding in. Discovered some new trails less than 5 minutes from my house and pumped out more sweat than a circus Fat Lady during a July heat wave. Then I ended the week with 4+ hours of riding in the mountains. Now I need a recharge both mentally and physically to ensure that I ride up to my mid pack best at the Mohican 100(k) this coming Saturday.

To pros and racers who aim higher than a mid pack finish, an off day means light spinning, short rides, etc., To me it's time off the bike, completely off the bike. Some may see this as a FAIL. Not me. I see it as the way I've been able to race for the past 6 years and ride for the past God knows how many without getting burned out on the sport. A couple off days has my buttocks aching to be back in the saddle and my mind refreshed.

And beyond a couple days...

I have Mohican coming up, and yes after 3 Mohican hundies, I am doing the 100K version. Again- mixing it up a little to try to keep my mind fresh. After Mohican I have no real race plans. I have no plans to do the Wilderness 101 this year and there isn't much else out there that I believe suits me this year. Maybe the Fools Gold 50 if anyone else is heading down, but other than that I think I might just concentrate on covering some races for the mag, maybe shoot some video, possibly volunteer at a race or two, and generally re-charging my race mind and focusing on getting my bod, mind and business in shape if I plan to keep this all going (by "all this" I mean riding, racing, marriage, dad stuff, magazine, and general mid packness).

But saying all that doesn't mean I don't have any ride plans. There are some places I want to go ride, some places I ride that I want to ride longer at, and some things I want to do to make the mag better.

I know I how I feel after a couple days off from riding. The anxious feeling I get to hit dirt (or even the road!), taking some time to see racing from a different perspective might be just what the mind needs to recharge for more.

Then again, often times all it takes is for me to think out loud and write all this down for me to change my plans. We'll see.

Enjoy your Memorial day. Thank a Vet for their service, or at least think to yourself how damn lucky we are to be free and able to worry about things like where or when to ride or race.

Later.

PS. Remember to eat your hot dogs AFTER you ride, or face the wrath of chunks o'dog on the top tube.

Hot Mountain Miles

Quick update just 'cause I feel like a big blog slacker. Got up the mountain today for some miles. Was going to do a forest road gravel loop, but then taste some single track, and opted for some double track before I hit said gravel roads. So instead of 3ish hour ride, I got a 4+ hour/40+ mile ride and it was dog ball hot. I sort of felt like a limped back to car. The ride was great, had some solo fun, but my head at times was not on right. Strange.

I did get some photos and video, but right now I'm all caught up in some 60 Minute IPA and Mexican chow in the oven. So, to be continued....

Later.

So anyway...

I was going to do the forest road loop to get some climbing in and avoid what may have been some soaked trails from the previous night's thunderstorms in the area. As I started out down Firetower I noticed that it didn't seem like the mountains got the same downpours we got the night before. So I set out down some single track. Seeing that it was in perfect shape and the ferns where now out in force I couldn't resist staying on the Endor like trails for a bit more and then some double track.

Eventually I made my way on to Beltz Rd. (which really isn't a road, but a wide double track) and as I made my way down encounted a mud puddle that was more a mud pit that I swore to God was going to suck my whole bike in. Once second I'm pedalling on dry dirt the next I was in almost to my top tube in mud. OK, maybe not THAT much but it was over the hubs for sure. I still don't know how I didn't come to a complete stop.

Once Beltz was done, but was climbing on forest roads of various lengths and gradients of suck for the next 35 miles or so.

I changed things up a bit from some of my normal loops up there and increased some mileage just by weaving up and down some roads and track that weren't even that far from each other as I made my way over to Seven Springs.

Once at Seven Springs I went down, down, down, down, to some road and then of course had to make my way BACK up and around the mountain to the back side of the resort via forest roads. I thought MAYBE when I got to the top I would hit more single track, but at this point it was hot as ballz and my ass was sizzling like a hairy, glowing white, fatty piece of bacon in the sun. Yikes!
Since I had at least another 5 to 10 miles (depending on which way I went), I headed for the xB over on Rt. 31.

If I would have bombed down the back side to the resort and taken Jones Mill back to Rt. 31 I probably would have finished with 50 miles on the day. But I was happy enough take some pavement through the Springs and return on Firetower.

As I pulled my ass up one of the last little gravel climbs passing a cabin where some folks were mowing the lawn, etc., A big dog (some Retriever type thing) comes bolting down the road in full on spring at me. I just froze and gave it my deepest "man yell" to spook it. That sort of, almost worked. While it didn't run away, it didn't bite me either! AND it got the attention of the surprising apologetic owners (a first for me?) which came and got him away from me.

I was relieved to be at the top of that last climb and able to pretty much coast down to 31. It was a long, hot day in the saddle that ended with about 42 miles. I didn't feel all that great, and the thought of having to go 20 more miles next week at the Mohican 100K left me feeling a bit let down. I guess I do have to look at the fact that I started at 10:30 a.m. NOT 7 a.m. when it would be cooler, I didn't exactly start a "taper" this week riding almost daily in the 85 degree sun, nor did I really hydrate properly on Friday. Not sure if several Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPAs qualifies for re-hydrating from a hot week in the saddle. Oh well, sucking hard on the teet of race misery is something I am quite good at, so I don't rest, hydrate and taper proper this week I will be right at home.

Later.

Think Yokal, Ride Local

Last year I attempted to explore some of the local trails in the park a couple miles away from me. I found a couple and a lot of dead ends. Curses.

Then recently I was e mailed a map of some trails the hard working PORC/PTAG peeps have constructed in the park of late. Wow! I say wow! Nice work folks! Now there aren't 20+ miles of trails, hell there MIGHT be ten if you add in some road and grass, but to have even that much just a few minutes from the house is damn cool.

Some really nice single track, some off camber stuff to keep you on your toes, and some nice little grunt climbs to make the legs burn. I am damn happy to have trails riding distance from the house (if I brave the 48/Lincoln Way intersection). Cheers to those folks for their hard work. I guess that blows theory that I'm the only mountain biker in White Oak out of the water! LOL!

Not to mention there are sickly looking
deer that won't get out of the trail!

Jesus, eat SOMETHING!

I did have a couple "near spoke ending experiences" during the ride.
At least I thought they were "near"...

What is it about new(er) wheels that make them f*cking stick magnets???
Damn!! Off to the shop tomorrow! Grrrrr!

Today's ride was so close to the house I was still all sweaty and sticky when I got home. Then when I tried to pull my jersey up over my head, rather than unzip it (it has a sensitive, "might break soon" zipper) it got stuck on my head. THEN said zipper blew apart and shot across the room like a bullet. Nice.

Later.

That Guy

You know that guy that you hear Phil and Paul talk about as "struggling" and being "all over his bike," trying to get up a climb? Usually it's a HUGE 175 pound (note sarcasm) sprinter at the tail end of a mountain stage in Grand Tour. Yeah, that's me EVERY road ride. OK, every RIDE! Jesus, I must look ridiculous trying to haul my so not a Pro, so not a sprinter, so not a climber, so not a good road rider, soooo not 175 pounds anymore ass up the hills of WPA.

BUT! That doesn't seem to stop me from continuing to go out and flail around on the roads like a fool in order to shed some poundage (- Double digits now! Woot! Woot!) and flirt with fitness for racing (riding) my mountain bike. Today's flailing got me a nice and hot 2:15 in, on one of the hillier of my local loops. Legs felt like poop for some, gold for the some, and poop again. Didn't really eat that much yesterday and I think I paid for it today.

Today was brilliant weather wise. Blue sky, warm sun, and little breeze. I continue to eat this up after last week's weather suck fest.

I know my blog posts are lame. I got nothin'.

Later.

Spinning Funk

After a great ride yesterday, I of course wanted to ride again. But I didn't feel like road riding, and after the deluge of of rain we got Saturday, I was unsure of the trail conditions at Boyce. I thought about exploring the new to me trails in W.O. Park, but it came down to wanting to spin the legs and still have time to finish up some projects that have been in limbo during mag production (finishing a mulch job, installing the A/C units, etc.,).

So a short 1:45 out and back on the rail trail would have to do. There's not much to say about a trip on the r.t.. Hell there's not much to do on the rail trail except listen to music, push 44/11 when you want it to be hard, spin 44/something else when you want it to be easy, and try not to go mad.

To aid with madness I took along the Kodak PlaySport to fool around with. I mean what's more boring than riding the rail trail? WATCHING SOMEONE RIDE THE RAIL TRAIL! Didn't stop me from doing it though....

When you look at it like this, it seems way less boring. LOL! Clearly I got some of my projects finished, given I'm making goofy videos on my Mac.

Actually I bust the RT's limestone ballz, but it's actually a great resource to get folks out and moving. Not my first (or second) choice, but better than not riding at all. It's a great place to just pedal and blow the funk out of the legs (or the brain).

I'm glad I did ride to get that excess mind funk out, because when I got home and got my preview issue of XXC #7 in the mail today I was less than thrilled and was funked up again. It looks great, and I'm pleased with it, but in my finishing up of the book and the need to bump the mag up to 64 pages from 60, I failed to remember that this indeed changes the paper that MagCloud uses. So the paper for #7 is 60 lb. paper, not the better 80 lb. paper of #5 and #7. Some may not care. I do. I could have got away with less pages (62), but in laying the mag out you have to go in increments of 4. So it was either 60... or 64. CURSES!! Oh well, more people buy the eMag anyway and I learned my lesson. Mag will have to be capped at 60 pages in the future to get what I want.

Oh well, hope to get a better quality ride in tomorrow. Either on the road or in the dirt. Also working on trying to fix my mag problem, but I don't think I can really do anything about it.

Later.

The Creak Goes On

Yesterday, as I thought, was a complete wash out. Rained almost all day. I had enough of the rain on Wednesday's ride and my bike is STILL paying the price by continuing to creak with every freaking pedal stroke. If it wasn't for the fact that today's 2:30 on the road was perfect in every other way (good legs, nice warm temps, little wind, great roads, etc.,) I would have stopped and chucked the f*cker off a bridge.

Pretty sure all the water on Wednesday has either blown the grease from my bb cups, or from the crank bolts. I can feel the vibration coming through the cranks, so I assume that is the target area. I thought I got most everything re-lubed on Friday (minus the b.b.). I'll try again, but then it will be off to the shop with it. Let someone who ACTUALLY knows what they're doing work on it, rather than just stand their with with a bottle of lube scratching his head willing the bike to fix itself.

Oh well, last week, this past week, whatever... sucked. Rain, bad vibes, and general malaise. Hope to get better rides in and MORE dirt this week. God I need dirt!!

Time to enjoy some Sunday night porch time.

Later.

EDIT: Tour O'Cali was a blast to watch today. I like having people to root against. Makes it fun. All I'll say is that there are some wormy racers I was glad to see not win the stage and glad to see how it played out on GC. Except maybe seeing DZ on the top spot.

Accused, Cranking & Creaking

Today I woke up to find more allegations from Floyd "Patch on my balls" Landis. No, not at the Uni-baller, but at me! He claims that over the past few years while I was traveling out of state to races, and even as recent as last week while at the Cranky Monkey, I called him to check on the beer in my fridge and that I repeatedly instructed him on how to drink beer with ABV levels of over 7% to excess. These allegations are positively false. I have no affiliation with Floyd whatsoever. Never have. The beer did NOT need checked on and was just fine in my fridge. Furthermore, while I do enjoy many fine beers with ABV levels at 7 to 10%, the beer in my fridge was in fact Sierra Nevada Stout which comes in at a mere 5.8%. I have asked him to STOP texting me, calling and e mailing me. I seriousy don't know how the dude even got my number. I will not be pursuing legal action. I have dealt with these accusations my entire sub par, extremely amateur, racing career and won't waste my time or money to once again clear my name. So put that in your little crack pipe of accusations and Floyd!

Now, more about me- Wednesday was a wet 2.5 hour ride in the rain with great legs. Thursday was mere 2 hour ride in the beautiful sun with legs that felt like they were filled with cement and a bike that was feeling the effects all that rain and grit. The creaking from various moving parts and some NON moving parts was maddening. Especially when trying to haul my lycra clad carcass up the hills of WPA. UG!

There were several points during the ride (miles 1, 5, 19, 15, and 20ish) that I was going to abort. But instead just told myself to keep pedaling, 'cause even though I feel like a sack-O-feecus, the sun was out and I was craving vitamin D like a smack fiend craves... well, smack I guess.

Even though it looks like the rain will hold off 'till later, and tomorrow looks like a wash out (so far), I am chilling, doing some work, and working my slack. All that, and lubing the Campeon beyond the chain.

Time to start my day I guess.

Later.

Extra Moist

Finally, back in the saddle! Sunday was a "recovery day" (code for a day to sleep, eat and drink beer), Monday was a "bust my ass to finish up XXC #7 day," Tuesday was a "curse the rain and PUBLISH XXC #7 Day," and today was the day to grunt out the mental constipation of 3 rideless days, chamois up, and ride.

In the rain.

Curses.

I looked at the radar before I left the house, there was some rain coming, but I thought it would miss me. It didn't. But luckily it wasn't TOO cold, so I was able to rely just on lycra and a thick isulation built by beer, beans and cheese.
What started as a mist, turned to a drizzle, then to a steady rain. Aside from being a tad cross eyed from looking through water covered glasses, and the feeling of cold, dirty water exiting the chamois pad and entering my keester's orifice, and probably spawning a pinworm or two, it was pretty darn, not bad to be out on the road in the rain.
The rain was nice and steady for a bout the first hour, hour-fifteen of the ride. At one point I thought about turning back, but in the end said "what the 'f", I'm already wet" and kept on. Glad I did too, 'cause the legs were spanky and the brain was sucking on the newly spawned endorphins like a champ.
The change in scene (road, not dirt), and the change back to WPA's normal weather (rain, not sun) was also a good kick in the creative nads too. I mean what's so fun about pics of sun? The trusty EasyShare 7430 was kicking ass today, caring little for it's own safety and getting the shots. I kid of course, I would trade a few random rain shots for 2:30 in the sun any day!

With about 5 miles to go I went a bit further so as to take a left that I thought would add just a couple miles, and avoid a road I hate. It didn't. I missed a 2nd left turn, and kept on trucking. In the end it took me close to 10 extra miles, no where near the road I wanted, and on to a road that was busy and not all that fun to ride on. Again, I say curses!!!

3 hours later the sun was out (after over 72 hours without), the Tour o' Cali was on TV, and some LCD Soundsystem was stuck in my inner Hi-Fi (NOT the dreadful single "Drunk Girls" which was left off the iPod. That song is dead to me. LOL!). So the day was a nice way to bounce back from 3 days off the bike.

The newly cleaned Campeon was covered in layers of mud, dirt, and water. Serves me right for washing the dam thing! Of course I was covered in all that too and I had to stop at the Post Office post ride, to mail some mag stuff. So I did a quick change out of the soaking wet chamois and jersey so as not to be walking around the Giant Eagle with a wet ass, looking like I just shat myself. As I put my bibs and socks in the car, I saw my fave T6 Argyle (circa '08) on the roof of the xB. Thought to myself, "shit I can't forget that!" 2 hours later.... DOH! MY JERSEY! So a quick drive with B-Man later, there was my Argyle laying on the road, but in one piece! LOL!

Did I mention XXC #7 is out? No? Well it is. ;)

Looks like sun for the next two days, so I hope to continue with some mileage.

Later.

Straddle It

All is right in my racing world. My flabby ass is comfortably straddling mid packness. Ahhhhhh.... it feels good. The results from the Cranky Monkey 9 Hour were posted. Here are some observations....

Solo by class- I finished 7th out of 15 in my class. Upper mid pack, or back of the front pack? Hmmm. I also noticed that my semi conscious decision to miss the chance for a 9th lap had no REAL baring on my position. Had I gone out, it would have moved me up to 6th and taken me out of the mid pack. And that is crazy talk.

Had I raced Solo Open- I would have finished in 9th place out of 21. There were 20 in the class, but if I had raced in that class it would have be 21. Again- right in the mid back straddle zone.

Rocking my mid packness & my new favorite bike.

Overall Results- I finished 81st out of 160 teams. AGAIN with a full on straddle of the mid pack. Some racer types would be disappointed with these results. Not me. The mid pack is my domain. For me to fall from it is to fail. Then again, some folks get pissed because they always finish 2nd.

There were no photos to accompany tonight's post. In my Google search for appropriate photos, I saw WAY more than I wanted to see. Who knew Googling "straddle" could turn up Flickr groups dedicated to chubby bearded men in wrestling trunks, you guessed it- straddling?? Yikes!! Then on the other end it was a lot of pics of strippers and porn stars and well as a "crime fighting" position guide dedicated to Christian Nymphos. Again I say "YIKES!!" Google is a dangerous, dangerous, search engine. I feel like I need to take a shower. And/Or erase my web history.

Later.

9 Hours of Cranky Monkey

My short take on the 9 Hours of Cranky Monkey (for anyone that gives two shakes of a lingam). I didn't podium or anything crazy like that, but I had a nice consistent race. The course was a nice mix of fast, flat hard pack single track around a lake and rocky climbing/descending (a very nice mix to keep things interesting). I got in 8 laps on the 9 mile course.

The cut off to go out for a lap was 7:00 (thus making it more of an 8 hour race than a 9 hour race). I crossed the line at 7:00:01-ish literally as they were announcing the cut off. Not sure it would have made a big difference or not in the standing, AND I'm not sure I had the mental stamina to do another lap. Curse you non-competitiveness, curse you! LOL!

It was great to finish a race feeling physically strong(ish) and without vomit on my top tube. No cramping, no vomit, no walking along the trail mumbling obscenities under my breath, praying for the end. So the podium can sort of suck it (speaking of placing, not the folks who were atop it), I rode for 72 miles in the woods, and got to see some friends.

I may expound more on the race later (again, for caring of shakes).

Later.

Another Go

It's aainst my better judgement, but there's nothing I can do about it, it's an illness. Yep, it's time to give this racing thing yet another go. 9 hours of loops. The course nor the 9 hours worries me. The same 9 mile lap course for 9 hours worries me! And before anyone suggests it, iPods are banned at this race. Not that I would use one anyway.

So I guess I will set goals each lap and play the mental games that keeps madness at bay during races. Hell during life for that matter! LOL!

Seems like a good amount of Yinzers heading down to MD for the Cranky Monkey. Couple from team, a couple T.O.P. folks, and a few other locals. Good luck to all of you. See yinz out there.

Back lllllate tomorrow night.

Later.

Wormy Fork Ride

Closing in on the final details of XXC #7, and the final couple days before race #2 of 2010. Geeked for the both! I'm also geeked that while there has been no dramatic weight loss since the season started, I have been feeling very good on the bike. And if I can race as good as I've recently been feeling on the bike I say "f*ck the weight loss hand me a another beer and roll me another burrito!"

Easy Cow-Pal, I didn't say a BEEF burrito!

While the extra 10 pounds I'm dragging around are not doing me any real favors in trying to beat any of my concave chested friends (no offense) up hills, and I won't be moving out of the mid pack anytime soon (if ever) the legs have been feeling stronger than they have in ages, as well has been the bod in general. Now to just transfer some of the power and good vibes I've been feeling on the training rides into race day performance.

The weather was funky today. As humid as the inside of a Sumo wrestlers gutchies, but still cool. One moment I'm sweating like a suckling pig on spit, the next minute I was all nipply. But there was NO wind! SWEET! One of the first road rides I've done in months were I didn't have to deal with wind. Just the road in it's various states of tolerable-ness.

Even with good legs, I still had bunch of shit to do, so the ride was capped at 2 hours. Not only was there more mag stuff to deal with, there was some things I wanted to do "just 'cause," like wash the Campeon for the first time in forever. Did I mention that after the ride I saw a small worm crawling on the ass of my fork near the bottom of the steerer tube? Well there was. Creepy.

Yep, that's it Jase. Wash the bike, let those weeds just keep on growin'.

I also mixed up some semi-homemade salsa today. Canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, etc., etc., All this spawned by not digging any of the store salsa anymore. Too runny, too thick, too bland, too "is this even salsa??" It turned out very well. Wifey totally digz it. Me? I think it needs more spice.

Later.

Giro d'Gluteus

Cool temps in the 40s and rain made today the perfect November day. Nothing to do but work, snuggle with my lady, and end it with a stout. OK, I know it isn't November, but it sure as hell feels like it. Only in PA can you get July temps in April and November temps in May. Oh well, it'll do. For now.

Two days in a row of making time for dirt meant that it was time to get shit done on the mag. Deadline is ffffffffffffast approaching, all the ads are in, and all the stories WERE in, but then I got the bright idea to add one more story. DOH! This started as no big deal, but with print that means that I have to increase the mag by more than just page or two. Sooooo, what I'm saying is, I went from 60 to 64 page PDQ. It will be worth it though. The story I made room for is going to be killer and I have no doubt people will dig this issue. There is also plenty else to talk about with the issue too. Format choices, a contest, etc., but all in due time.

Because if I keep it low brow enough the blog
might get picked up by Fox....

So far this year's Giro has been all about crashes and the exposure of a lot of race ass. Thus making it the Giro d'Gluteus. Monday I tuned in to the highlights on Universal Sports and saw this...

Then today I went back to Universal and saw there was even more unfortunate carnage, and even more displays of rectal areas.

All in good fun of course. Hope those guys are OK. Crashing on dirt or rock is no fun. Crashing on pavement at 40 mph has to suck even more. I know (especially since I posted this) that I of course will someday suffer the fate of crashing and having to ride home, not in front of fellow riders and sympathetic TV/computer viewers, but in front of the Western PA motorists who already take great pleasure in mocking and hurling insults at me. Seeing my flabby ass flapping in the wind should REALLY fire them up! I can just hear it "Get off the road and get that thing bleached!!" or "Look, Lance is smuggling two big baggies full of cottage cheese!!" I just know it. Yet, I just keep on typing this shit.

Later.

The Assignment

So B-Man's assignment was: Cut a favorite picture out of a magazine and write a sentence or two about it. One old Outside magazine and one forgotten question mark later...

I guess I race a bike on occasion, so that makes me a bike racer. I wonder if he actually thinks I'M COOL? Please don't answer that, just let me have my moment. Thanks!

Speaking of Outside magazine... My web friend and XXC contributor Heidi Volpe wrote a killer blog piece for Outside online. Heidi had the chance to interview Emma and Wes Wallenfels. Yep the kids of Lynda Wallenfels, of one of my fave endurance racers, bloggers and coach type people**. The piece is killer go check it.

** Not that Lynda coaches me, I'm un-coachable in my love of junk miles and apparent contentedness with sup par mediocrity. Just wanted to mention that. I didn't want people thinking that someone with my legendary non results had a coach helping him achieve such grandiose lackluster performances. Clear? Good.

Watched Race Across The Sky tonight. I really dug it. But then again, a bike movie has to suck pretty bad for me to not like it. I'll probably blather on about it at some other point this week here or on the XXC Magazine blog.

After yesterday's 2 hours in the dirt, I couldn't stay away today and returned for another 2 hours of dirt love. The Fox fork on my El M is feeling soooo good after it's servicing. It is just eating up everything and making the E.M. feel even better! Looking forward to spending the day on it this Saturday.

Later.

Think Again

The plan for the day was to of course celebrate Mother's Day with Wifey and let her know that she rocks when it comes to producing a perfect kid (B-Man). The day started with cards and gifts from me and B-Man and then I cooked up some Spicy Egg, Cheese & Italian Sausage Omelet Type Things and java for her (and me). We had then schedule a little family bike outing, but what we hadn't counted on was waking up on Mother's Day to temps in the low 40s. So Wifey said "eph that" (sort of), and the unit ride was aborted.

Wifey must have been all caught up in post Cheesy Sausage Omelet orgasamy bliss, because she was going on about how she was content with the day and since I spent all day yesterday painting, I should go out for a ride. Who am I to argue with a mother on Mother's Day. It's just not right!

Since it was late morning when the call to ride came via Wifey, I had no real plan and knew the ride would not be epic by any means, but still- A CHANCE TO RIDE! I had little desire to drive to the mountain, NO desire to road ride, and was unsure about the condition of the trails at Boyce after the rain Friday and Saturday. In the end I banked everything on previously dry trails and blooming water thirsty trees and tried Boyce.

Of course the trails weren't as dry as they have been, but they weren't that bad either. A couple slick roots here and there, and a little muddy in a few spots, but in better condition then they were most of last summer. They high winds of yesterday didn't do too much either. Some saplings over the trail here and there, and ONE big ass tree down (on the trail past the exit for "the wall"). But as a whole it was MUCH better than I anticipated.

Saw a few other riders out as well as a couple hikers and a kick ass Trail Gnome trimming back some brush (Thanks again!), but other than that the park was dead! Surely it was the cool temps and not folks not wanting to enjoy the park.

So at the end of the day I got a 2 hour ride in, when I had not expected any ride. Sometimes the best rides are the ones you didn't expect, and sometimes JUST when you think your day is going to NOT include a blissful ride in the dirt, think again!

Later.

Paint Drying & Giro Disco

Started this non ride blog post last night. Got sidetracked, etc.,

Damn, what a suck-ball day! HIGH WINDS blew hard all day. I'm talking blow like a (EDIT - -EDIT--EDIT!!) with a protein deficiency, power going out high winds! Not to mention the falling temps, late night storm, dogs and cats living together, wrath of God types event of the early morning! Add in a front porch that soooo needed painting and what you had on your hands was a suck day, out of the saddle, too lazy to drive to the mountain, not wanting to be blown into an on coming bus by the wind out on the road, on the front porch painting my ass off, grump! Oh well, I guess I'll have 9 hours NEXT Saturday to be in the saddle.

I see the Giro started today. Everyone in chase of the Labia Minora Pink jersey. Not sure what was going on on Versus. They had the Tour of somewhere not Italy on, and not the uber boring Prologue of the Giro. I see that as a plus. Watching a prologue is like watching paint dry, only without the mind altering bliss that can be had from huffing paint chemicals.

Bradley's champagne bottle sure was backed up.


Not enough of this coverage on Versus.

Speaking of watching paint dry, I took 2 hours of video today while painting the porch. I just have to sync the music and I'll post it up for your viewing pleasure.

I'm kidding about the video of course.

Mother's Day today. Happy M-Day to all the mother types. With the day I sort of reckon that I will continue to rest today (that means eat, drink beer, watch TV, play on the Internet, hang out with my family unit, and not ride in an attempt to ensure I don't accidentally develop any race fitness and ensure my former mid pack, now known as "Jesus just let me finish this race without dying" status. EDIT: Looks like I will get out for a ride (not that changes my status). SWEET!

Thursday Roadness

Other than proofing some stories and fixing some layout crap-ola, there wasn't much going on today. I put in a few hours on the mag and then headed out on the road for a couple hours. To be honest, I craved more dirt, but some pretty good T-storms came though the area early this a.m. and I didn't feel like dealing with the Boyce. If I would have been able to ride later in the day, they probably would have been perfect, but I couldn't. So I didn't.

I mean the road was OK, but it's the road. And my legs just weren't that spanky, so my mind was even less spanky. But in the end it was a good ride in some nice sunshine and sweet temps. I could have done without more headwind and crosswinds slowing my girth down, but I'll take what I can get, when I can get it.

I took the new camera out on the road today. No I won't be doing anymore Les Stroud film projects, but I did take some random shots, iMovie them and put some muzak that I've been obsessed with lately on it.

That music has been The Cure. Sometimes I go MONTHS with no Cure. Then BAM! I can't stop! Bootlegs, live, studio out takes, singles, I can't get enough. I have a TON of Moz and Smitz stuff, but damn I seem to have a lot of Cure on the hard drive too!


Nothing special about the above pic of the Campeon, just more testing of the camera. Very impressed with the quality of the outside shots from the camera. This pic was not retouched in anyway, yet is very crisp and clear. The stills are only 5 mp. Just goes to show that mp has a LITTLE to do with a good digital image, but it's NOT everything. A good processor, etc., is also needed. Than again, the pic might be TOO clear. You can really see that I haven't washed the Campeon since about February (2009). I think my mountain bike is cleaner! LOL!


**BTW I had this post ready Thursday night. Vimeo wasn't loading the movie. YouTube was removing the audio and it was too long for Flickr. So because I REALLY felt the need to share sub part random shots of my road ride with the music I wanted, I waited until this morning to edit it down. Oh, how I suffer for my art.... (please note sarcasm in this paragraph. I assume you know, but I'm trying to cut down on the amount of folks that think I'm a total douche).


Later.

Testing... 1-2, Testing....

After a quick mag work session this morning I headed over to Pro Bikes to pick up the Ti El M. Wheel fixed, new oil and seals in/on the Fox, etc., etc., The bike was Dreeammmyyyy. I'm talking jello on bed springs, love me some size 16, alive not dead, young Marilyn Monroe bosomy dreamy. I love the El M. There I said it! I rode it for nearly 2 hours of singletrack today, and it was just dreamy.

I love my Dos Niner, but I think I MIGHT officially love my Ti E.M. more. The jury is out on whether the wheels will hold up to my Clydesdale status (see last night's post), and the XT bottom bracket sucks balls compared to a Hope ceramic bottom bracket, but overall- T.I.T.Z.. I

I have now ridden 5 different 29ers (all Salsa frames) in various models and years (Dos 2, Dos 3, Mamasita 1, Mamasita 2, Big Mama, and now the Ti E.M.), and this one is the best. Easy. It's light, durable (so far), compliant, and flickable for me. Like 26er flickable. THAT is what sells me. To be able to move the bike underneath me easily. So far, so good. It's a long season, but right now I am sssooooo ddddddign' it.

Rode for just under 2 hours today at Boyce. The first half hour of the ride I took the time to get all Les Stroud with my new Kodak Play Sport camera and attempt to once again become one with my narcissism. I think it worked. Check it out (click HD for best viewing)...

I am mucho impressed with the Kodak Play Sport ($129 @ Amazon). It's rugged, water proof, and takes some killer video for the cost. It takes video in several formats including full on 1080p HD video, and 5 MP still shots. Drawbacks? No zoom, no flash for still pic inside shots, and port for an external microphone, just the built in. All the pix on today's post were taken with the Play Sport, except for Les Stroud. Surely one of his Canadian Survivalist Mafiosos took that shot, eh?

I'd like to say that I got this camera to start doing XXC Mag recaps and interviews at the races this year, but I'd be sort of lying. The whole basis for the purchase is to compete with Top 50 Dicky. Kerkove has been taking video for a while, but when Dicky gets video ability, well then you better shit or get off the Blogger pot. Since I'm still bitter about being left off the Top 50, I decided to start shitting, in full on HD video! Seriously who doesn't enjoy reading about a neurotic, dysthymic, depressed, beer loving, weight obsessed, half assed bike racer who never wins anything??? I mean this shit is gold!! Top 50 my ass! LOL!

Well that is today. Tomorrow I will get back to taking more about my body dysmorphic disorder and neurosis.

Later.

Road Rides & Jerry Lewis Heads

Choice: Do a quick 30 mile loop on the road bike or a quick 28 mile out and back on the rail trail. Road ride won.

Felt like I had a belly full of coffee and PB&J as I left the house. Mainly because I DID have a belly full of coffee and PB&J before I left the house. SOMEHOW, my gut got it digested by the time I started the ride, and I actually had one of my stronger, although be it shorter rides on the road. It has been a a while since I graced the road with my ever growing Lycra covered ass, but other than the occasional headwind, they were kind to me. Thanks.

It was nice to do a couple of my climbs and actually think "hey, this didn't hurt so bad today...." Progress I suppose. Slow, but sure progress.

While I've been feeling strong (for me) on the bike, I am getting discouraged with the whole weight thing. I shed about 5 or 6 pounds from the winter, but I'm still about 10+ pounds heavier than I was this time last year, and about 20 pounds heavier than I was about 3 years ago! Much of the weight gain came from some medicine I was taking. Been off of said medicine since January, but the weight hasn't exactly fallen off like I thought it would upon stopping. It's pretty frustrating.

The strange thing is, I STILL wear the SAME size clothing as I did 3 years ago. How does one gain 20 pounds and STILL wear the same size?? From the looks of it most of the weight is in my head an face. Soon I will have one of those jacked up old man Jerry Lewis cartoon heads where my head is like a big bull dog, then a big gut and tiny little legs.

While I'm still 100 pounds or more lighter than I was at age 20, I still am sort of jacked. Half the fun of having the blog was to feed my raging narcissism that I didn't even discover until my late 20s. LOL! Now I'm going to be 39 and it just feeds my neurosis, anti social behavior and new found fears of looking like Morrissey moonlighting as a Jerry Lewis impersonator. I'm kidding of course, but it is frustrating to coming to grips with a slowing down metabolism, and lack luster performances on the race course.

Tomorrow I will continue ranting with the subject of how it might be time for me to seek real employment in attempts to get some structure back in my life. Stay tuned!!

Took delivery of a Kodak Play Sport HD today. Super stoked to get it out at the races and get some footage for the mag site. That or just use it to make homemade porn. BIKE PORN!!! Jeeezzz!! Relax!

The El M's fixed wheels and the tuned up Fox fork is ready at the shop. Actually Jordan busted it out PDQ and it was ready Monday, I've just been too lazy and too busy bitching about my head girth to go pick it up. I guess I should do that tomorrow. Than and get my ass in the dirt.

Later.

Endurance Design

Put my pointy, hair filled nose to the grindstone today and not only busted out a bunch of pages for XXC #7, but also got the first layer of paint on my back door. The layouts were fun, because I had plenty-o-fine pics to work with and some killer topics. That = fun. Painting of back door... not so much.

The morning was a monsoon (sort of like all day yesterday), but this afternoon was nice, sunny and breezy. Maybe that will help dry some of the trails out? Doubtful though, we got DUMPED on with a ton of water the past day or so.

Tomorrow I need to go to another school production of B-Man's, and bust some more work out... AND get a couple hours of ride time in, or I will be a full on tub of goo, rather than just a tub of goo in progress. Might opt for a iPod and steady tempo on the rail trail or a quick road loop. Haven't been on my road bike in a long while. Sort of miss it. Sort of don't.

Had a dream last night I was getting sized for a cross bike at the shop. Strange.

If the bike rolls across the line
without the rider, does it count? Guess so.

Later.

Mountain Gravel & Dick Longwood

My plan, as often as I can, is to hit the mountains on the weekends. Try to get some extra time in on the mountain bike and avoid having to do multiple laps in the local parks, or worse yet take to the busy Saturday roads filled with multi tasking soccer moms and and aggravated DIY dads. This Saturday was no different. I made the 45 minute trek up to the mountain, but this time I was meeting some fast(er) friends- Don, Aaron and Montana. These guys are strong riders and getting stronger every season. They are also my Pro Bikes teammates and quality pimpers of XXC Magazine (thank you very much).


There are soooo many options for rides on the mountain. Rooty single track, rocky single track, smooth forest roads, rim busting forest roads, double track, snow mobile trails, etc., etc., They let the ride up to me. Since Don and Montana were racing the wha-vimba Mountwood race Sunday, and Aaron was schedule to race skinny tires and a road crit, I opted to give them a nice tour of the mountain via the extensive forest road network and save more taxing stuff for a non race weekend. Well, that and I knew I MIGHT be able to keep them within my view if we remained on the forest roads.

If you're gonna climb, you might as well jump right in. So that is what we did. STARTING with the long climb up the mountain via Camp Run Road. Montana and Don were on single speeds and crushing the climb up and out of the saddle, while Aaron and I were on geared bikes. As I was spinning up the climb I noticed Aaron was slipping off the back of M & D's pace, and I was gaining on him. Hmmmm, SOMETHING is amiss.

Soon I was right along Aaron, and remained there to the top of the mountain, and eventually dropped him on the flats past the cemetery and towards 31. Again I say... Hmmmmmmm. We all knew something was up, obviously A. was sick. No doubt. That didn't stop Don from first making fun of him for trying to keep his pace in Zone One, and racing road bikes too much. But soon we realized he was indeed sick and in no shape to continue on. So car keys were swapped, plans were changed, A. headed back down the mountain and the three of us continued on, on what can only be described as my version of an increasing popular gravel grinder.

After Aaron headed back down the mountain to the Mini, we headed down Fire Tower, and over to Seven Springs. Amazingly enough there is STILL snow clinging on! Montana and Don killed time riding some snow while I caught up and snapped some pics.

We continued on the gravel road cutting across the North Face and dropped, down... down.... down... to a short section of pavement up Indian Head Rd., to Pritts and the gravel of Longwood Road. A road who's name I only remember because when passing it on the OTHER of the climb I noted that it sounded like male porn star's name. Dick Longwood.

Taking Longwood (that sounds so nasty) turned out to be great. Not only was it a way to cut out more pavment, it was a chance for me to see Don have to walk a climb. The ONLY time he would do so all day long.

That spec on foot at the top of the climb is Don. Nevermind the random car doing a 3 point turn near some logging. Long would was steep and had some deep fresh gravel on it, making it hard enough for my ass to spin the El M up it. So for Don to make it almost the whole way up before walking, and Montana clearing the climb was damn impressive.

After a quick little descent it was more up, then more up, then some more down, The WAY more up. Don relayed a classic Montana line to me after the ride- "Hey look, we're at the top of the mountain. For like the SEVENTH TIME TODAY!" Ha!

The photo above is one of the ONLY times I was in front of Don and Montana all day. I had to take a picture to commemorate the moment. It wouldn't happen again all day, and probably won't happen again in my lifetime.

Most of my views of them were like this...

Yes, that's orange and purple together.

Don rocking the XXC kit, and the El Mariachi. Steel, single speed, rigid.

After we descend the back side of Seven Springs, (or the front side, I guess I depend on what side you came in on, ha!) we took a short stretch of pavement over to Jones Mill and down to Tunnel. Once up the STEEP section of Tunnel we headed down the road in name only Auckerman.

Auckerman starts off easy enough, but then changes to a rutted, fast down hill filled with big chunks of rock and stone. I never saw two people fly down this road like Don and Montana did. I'm glad there were so far out ahead of me, because at the speeds they were going I'm sure I would have been cringing and fearing disaster for them.

As I was making my way down at a fast for me on this road 20+ mph I felt the rear wheel (yep, my new wheel) bottom out HARD!! Yikes! Seemed to still be in true, but I feared some busted spokes. Soon we were at 381 and spun back to the car, where I confirmed that indeed, I did break one spoke and loosened another when my fat ass hit that big chunk of rock. Frig. Oh well, I had to drop Don back at Pro Bikes anyway, I could just leave it.

We got in about 43 mile of riding, and I got in 3:50 or riding. I think Don and Montana got about 30 minutes less! Oh well, the great thing about leading the ride, is that they have to wait for me! I just hope they weren't taking notes, or I might be obsolete soon!



Later.