Great Day of Riding

I must say wednesday was as hot as a coon's bottom sliding down a hill. Man, crazy hot days, but you still gotta get your ride on. I did see Curtlo out there on a fixie, and to watch him ride through the WL was like watching Brian Botano ice skate. It was magical. No wonder he got the fastest lap at the 13 hours of howeveryouspellit....

Thursday was a bit cooler and a much better day for me. Tended to some bank business;), ate lunch w/ Goldberg, ran into an old friend, and then rode my usual loop at Cherokee.

I decided i was not going to hammer. The mountain bike messiah mike stevens appeared in my home earlier this week like an angel descending from the heavens, ok not really, he just kinda walked in w/o knocking. I remember the sage training advice that he gave me while riding in durango, co a few years ago. I took his advice to heart, and it seemed to work.

I rode pretty much everthing w/o getting worn out, and I don't beleive i put a foot down for nuttin. I helped a fellow mtb'er patch a tube and was reminded of the long forgotten days of working in a shop, oh wait, i never patched a tube, i always tossed em and just put a new one in. Probably another cause of global warming...sorry about that.

I am enjoying my 29er SS a lot. I can't say 100 % for sure that it is better than a 26er, but I do feel being 6'4, the frame does fit me better. I do like not having to raise my seat 20 inches out of the seat tube. I know, I know my old motto, well i got a new one, BC's skillz + 29 inch wheels = ? that's all i got, maybe you can give me a new motto!?!?!

Peace out!

And be sure to check out the hottest new forums, MTB Free. These things are blowin up and there is even some prizes!

Peace out again!

Betrayed

Like having someone you trusted lie to you, or cheat on you, or do any number of other bad things that are otherwise inconsistent with treating someone the way they desreve, I have been betrayed by one that I love. Though we were not always together, I ran to her when I needed comfort on a cool night or just had that special craving. It happened this evening when I ran out from work to grab a bite. My thoughts gravitated, I wanted her. Ten minutes later, I arrive and when faced with the question, I had a reply, oh brother did I have my reply.

"Can I help you?" she said
"Chicken molé, black beans" said I
"We no longer have the molé"

Qdoba, youve changed and I dont think I like what I see. Sure, mango salsa is nice, but when summer ends, I'm sure you will take that away too. I will continue to come around, but it will never be the same again.

Butler and the bridge

Butler was hot, but thanks to the efforts of Kymba, the trails were in pretty decent shape. I was tired, but in spite of myself and because of a lack of Ben Richardson or Brian Schworm, I won. So you ask "Anthony, you just won Butler, and its 100 degrees out, where are you gonna go now?" "I'm going to go stand in the sun on 2nd street bridge!" would have been my reply. Chips Chronan was killed on that bridge 6 weeks ago, the same one I ride on a weekly basis.

After racing and having to bust butt to get down there, it wasnt tops on my list, but Brad Swope had helped to organize and mobilize local teams to show up for the dedication of the right lane as a sharrow and memorial ride. Making a quick change and hoping on my road bike, my cramped calves agreed, they didnt want to go either. However, this was important. As usual in Louisville, positive change only happens with a cyclists death or a very near miss of the reaper, and it just seemed like showing was the right thing to do. I was glad I went. The fact 2k cyclists crowded the bridge on a sweltering hot day I think speaks volumes to the future of cycling in this burg. Hearing the Greek say "Clarksville Ateam mountain bike racing, come up here and roll out" made it worth it. So I have been riding to work this week feeling like a king in the right hand lane, mine, all mine! Well, until I hit the surface streets again and people continue to treat me with the same, or less, regard as a possum.

RIP Chips, I didnt know you, but Im sure youd be happy knowing you made a huge change in the city.

Our mayor for life, seen here sticking his finger in the wind showing his political decision making process.

Full story
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770812012

Butler

We showed up early and got a good pre-ride lap in. After shelling out $30 for my entry I headed back out and spun around, talking trash with anyone who would listen but mostly with Rusty and JoeDoba (sandbagger). At the starting line I realized I forgot to follow my normal pre-race routine but it was too late, no Red Bull for me. I also realized that I didn't have any GU on me. Oops. A camelback full of water and one bottle of weak gatorade was gonna have to be enough. I don't think it was an issue.

The dude says "Go" and I decided to step up my game a little. I went into the singletrack around 11th, which is a lot better than normal for me(I gotta change that). Things rolled well, my awesome Cannondale Scalpel flowed easily through the tight singletrack. I even rode the stupid off-camber stuff at the bottom without problem. I was around a couple of guys thru the first lap but pretty much by myself for the second. Coming through the start/finish at the end of the 2nd lap I was caught by Todd G. of Team Schellers. He was riding real well, and we were together for a while until I "let" him kinda ride away from me.

I did have a little problem on the third lap; I dropped my chain. Not just dropped it off the rings onto the bottom bracket, but completely off the bike. I was flying down the upper section that is out in an open area and started to pedal but there was no resistance. So I looked down and thought "Hmmm, I don't see a chain down there". So I came to a stop and confirmed that indeed, there was no chain there. I pretty much figured that my day was done at that point, but I remembered that I carry a spare quick-link, so I took my bike for a walk to find my chain. About 50 yards back up the trail there she lay. It turns out the quick-link had separated for some reason, but since I had a spare I put it back on the bike, connected it back together and I was in business.

As I was putting my camelback back on getting ready to get back in the race Anthony came flying by. Can you believe he didn't stop to offer help or inquire as to my well being? What a jerk. Just because he was in the lead of the Expert race he thinks he's too good to talk to me? I thought it was awfully rude of him. After I got over being slighted I jumped on my bike and managed to complete the race. I did catch & pass the 2 guys that passed me while I was making repairs, so it doesn't look like my breakdown cost me any places. I ended up 7th overall in Sport, 3rd in the my age group. JoeDoba (sandbagger) won the Sport class overall and the age group. I finished 3:15 behind Todd G, so I doubt that even if I hadn't had chain issues that I could have caught him. Either way, I'm happy with how the bike handled and how I rode except for the darn hills and the heat.

Oh yeah, my bike is WAY cooler than Rowbear's.

On that note, have you seen the 2008 Scalpels? Carbon frames, 100mm travel in the rear all for an additional $1000. Gonna be a serious awesome bike. But I'm glad I got mine this year, wouldn't be able to afford the new ones.

Waverly - tales from the back of the pack

What: Race at Waverly Park
When: This past Sunday morning
Why: Apparently because I'm dumb
How: Not very well

Showed up a little late, got my pre-ride on and decided it wasn't gonna be my day. Legs were dead and I was already hot. Went off with about 20 or so of my closest MTB buddies, hitting the singletrack somewhere near the back which was right where I wanted to be. Figured I'd get bottled up a little bit and that would help me conserve some energy early so I could get up all the hills each lap. That went according to plan.

Actually the start went well, I never really got too tangled up and was able to maintain a pretty constant pace up to the front of the park. Came across Canadian Greg from the Indiana Master's team sprawled out on the ground at the slippery bridge, looking like he really wasn't doing too good. He said he was OK, so I continued to ride. Passed a couple of guys going up Montana's and settled in to a sustainable pace. The rest of the first lap, all of the second and most of the third lap went well. I did try to crash on the slippery bridge on the last lap but managed to only bang my knee while keeping the bike upright. Then I managed to fall down on the big log crossing on the top by the golf course. I don't like that log crossing and did my best Cyclocross move to get over it on the first two laps. Worked great. On the last lap I fell down as I dismounted. What a moron. I thought I saw Trevor from the Scheller's team so I started chasing but could never close on him. Some other guy was chasing me and I figured if I could hld him off through the climbs up the new IMBA trail I'd be in good shape. I looked back when I got to the top and saw the guy, so I decided I was either going to beat him or crash trying. Fortunately I didn't crash and was able to hold him off to the end.

I had some cramping issues on the last climbs, but I was pretty happy with my bike handling for once. Maybe Butler will be better. I'm not sure how I placed overall, got 4th in the 40-49 class. Probably ended up around 10th or so. If the results were up by now I'd be able to tell you exactly how I placed. But they're not. At least they handed out medals and prizes at the race.

Edit: I placed 9th out of about 35. They finally got the results up.

Duane

Extreme Cross training

The video does this act of death defying feat no justice! this was bigger that 50 foot fall @ the x games.

i give you Super BC - extreme Kayaking:

http://picture.vzw.com/pub/share/guestMessage.do?invite=nEvr4D2d8zYzXLNYzky0

Wave Country - Ankie style

So, it was like a turkish bath back there in them south end woods. The rain did the trails a world of good, but the resulting steam was somethin.

I started kinda slow, first in the woods, but not killin it. My legs felt heavy and I was starting to feel a bit bummed as I am sick of fealin crappy on race day. But once over Montanna, they felt better, must have been the 15 minutes sittin on the start line. There was a problem though, my Hydrapak's hose wasnt connected = no fluids. I knew if I pulled over (at this point it was myself, Mike Stevens and Ben Richardson on top of Big Ring) Ben would get a gap that I probably wouldn't be able to close. But, if I didn't stop, no fluids would hurt a lot more. I was kinda affraid, given the heat, to really push it to the limit; if I went too far over and caught Ben, I might wind up cramping later. So I tried to just ride as high a tempo I could sustain and see what happens. I was able to pull Mike back at the end of lap 2, the one minute that I gave Ben held until the last lap where I was able to get it down to 30 seconds, but he heard me comin and dug a little deaper to keep the gap.

Oh well. given thats the first year I havent blown up at Waverly in a couple years, and I felt strong all the way through for a change, I was happy. Thanks to Barry and Mike who stepped up to help make this a great race. The new trails will make Wave Country an MTB destination fer sure.

robert's waverly

It was too humid for me to wear my glasses cause they kept fogging up. I didn't wear a heart-rate monitor either cause it said my heart was beating in the 220s or not at all.

I raced with the experts 4 laps so I was expecting a long day. I got in the woods next to last. Rode behind Rob Kendall for a while until I passed him on the side of the trail squeezing his tire. Then I caught a couple papa john roadies, mostly were stopped and getting ready go drop out. I was going pretty freaking slow because I knew 4 laps would be a challenge. At the end of each lap I wanted to quit and I finally decided to at the end of the 3rd lap. The rest of the day I've been sitting around wishing I had of finished it even though I would have been the last person out on the course.

first lap was a little over 37 minutes
second lap was something like 39
3rd lap was 43 minutes so I was at 1:58 and some change with another lap ahead of me. I think the thought of riding for over 2 hours and 40 minutes in that heat was what did me that plus I got super thirsty and just wanted to sit and drink and the fact that the whole front part of the course is unrelenting.

Good turn-out though. Good payout for the top 3 finishers. Those kymba boys did good work.