Not Cool II - an Ateam style watch

Mohawks and mustaches - old and tired.

Egg drapes and neck beards - new and hot.

Trust me, everyone is goin clean on the top of the head and face and lettin the sides, back and neck go wild.

Not cool

You ever notice how certain people wearing/owning otherwise fashionable or nice things doesn't actaully make them look better, just makes that thing look less cool? Thats all.

Snake Creek Gap III and the Organic Rabbits

So there was an Organic Farming and rabbit convention suckin up all the hotels in Dalton Friday night. Nothing like paying $70 for the Econo-Lodge that looked like a low budget horror film set. I mean, why mount electric devices on the wall when you can just dangle em from the wires? And who sent the not to Pakistan - "Move to America, buy a hotel, it's a goldmine!" Not to be racially insensitive, just that wow, there are a lot of Hindu's runnin hotels these days.

So anyway, the race sucked. I never felt very together Saturday, definitely out of sorts. The laundry list of issues; oversleept didnt get properly caffinated prior to racetime, Camelback leaked on me until it just leaked dry 1/2 way into the race (nothing like the feeling of being wet and sticky) leaving me high and very dry, brake pad was stuck to the rotor (I didnt feel like I was working hard enough, needed the extra resistance), double flat on the front, dropped my 5mm tool in the leaves, went over the bars onto a rock. Seems like I am leaving somethin out, but that pretty much sums up the suck. I still finished around 3:12, which was bittersweet since without issues, I could have broke 3 hours.

Oh well. There is long season ahead, many more flawless rides and catastrophes await.

yee haw

anyone that wants to do some motopacing, come to lexington cause I bought a motorcycle today. Now I just need to learn how to ride it and get a permit. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lexington is putting me in touch with my inner Crab Orchard redneck side. Oh yeah, motopacing will be $1/mile regardless of the fact that the motorcycle gets 50mpg. It's a 1979 hondamatic cm400a with 7,400 original miles, it's been in the same family since it came off the showroom floor in '79.

waiting on the UPS man

It was a beautiful afternoon for a bike ride but I had to wait around for the UPS man. We had already missed him twice so this was the last chance and the note said he would be here between 2-4 or later. As soon as I titled this blog the doorbell rang, too bad it is 5:08 now and the sun is going down, it's getting cooler out there. Dang! Least I got my new phone (emergency only) I'm canceling my cingular plan and going to pre-pay wireless since I only use around 50 minutes per month. Now I got a t-mobile with the strength of Jan Ulrich. Also got a used Ipod from the ups man. Guess it was worth the wait, not like anyone wants me to go ride anyway cause then I'll just go too fast in the KYMBA series this year.

I'm glad Nick Barbieri isn't my ups man, he would have wrecked before he made it here.

Very special Valentine part II

Hash browns and bacon strips
I like the way that you lick your lips

Lemmy, youre so romantic, nobody could have said it better.

A very special Valentines Day note

So the big day is coming up, and let me be the first to say, I love love. From candy hearts to flying naked babies with weapons, what more can a person ask for? So on this most special of days were we celebrate our love for one another...

take hold of the one you love, look deep into their eyes and...

tell them you love them...

cherish them...

would be an empty shell of a person without them (you prolly still are, but work with me)...

and they will be getting nothing on this day created by the corporations to move product at a slow time of year. This should free up plenty of time to go ride. You're welcome.

What a weekend

What not to do the week before a race; most everything I did last week. Not so much on purpose, it's just the way things went. But, you can't sweat what you can't change and just gotta roll with it. So I did and what a great weekend, from top to bottom, it turned out to be.

The day was turing out perfect; 60's and sunny. Despite all the rain a few days prior, the trail was still in great shape. I rode smarter this time, took it easy at the start and kept my heart rate out of the red zone the entire ride. About 45 minutes into the race (most of that first section is climbing), I realized that I had been in the big ring the whole time and I just felt like I could push forever.

I caught the last rider to start before me just before the 1/2 way point, I didn't expect to reel him in. I didn't expect anything out of this ride except a marginal improvement over last race and here I was already catching someone who put 10 minutes on me last month. Once i crossed the 17 mile mark and started climbing, I checked my time and couldn't believe I was about 15 minutes better than my last TT and just felt like I was cruising. I started to come apart a bit toward the end and had to really focus my brains to forget my leg's pain and my body's completely depleted fuel supply. I came in at just a hair over 3 hours (by just 37 hairs to be exact), 9 minutes better than last March; 26 minutes better than last month. I hated that I was so close to a sub 3 hour time and not have made it, but still, couldn't be happier with my ride. I probably need another 5 minutes off my time next race to keep 2nd place for the series as I don't think I can equal Turners 2:50 from January. But hey, I never woulda thought I could roll a 3 this weekend either, so who knows. John wouldn't have thought he would pull 40 minutes off his time, but he did. Congrats man, thats awesome - 40 freakin minutes.

We got in another great ride at Raccoon Mtn on Sunday as the rain started to fall right as we pulled out of the parking lot. Perfect ending to a great weekend.

I had a wreck

In my bathroom last night. It was around 4 in the morning and I was taking a pee. I bent over to lean against the wall or sink or something and when I straightened back out the room started closing in, I thought about sitting down real quick but it was too late. I fell forward banging the right side of my forehead on a cabinet door handle and then went down to the floor nailing my adam's apple/throat on the toilet. Freaked the wife out pretty bad and today I can barely swallow plus I have a big knot/red mark on my forehead. I guess it could've been worse, I could've knocked my teeth out or something. My wife always tells me "the bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house." I believe her now.

Some good news though. Today I got a response email from a professional cyclist on the Rock Racing team. I want to interview him as a potential/likely source to use on my paper for my History 700 class this semester which may also go toward my thesis and dissertation work on cycling in the U.S. Anyway, he sent me his phone number and told me when I should call him. I think that is pretty awesome of him to make himself so available.

Thought you all might want something to look at. Here are two photos of me from my first mtb race ever at Capitol View park in 2003. It was muddy, I raced beginner and got 3rd in my age group.

SCG II - the reckoning

Snake Creek Gap, the second. And one thing is for certain, 3 men will go, only 2 shall return. John Hughson will die on that mountain. Well, that sounds more dramatic and makes you much more likely to come back for the recap, but I guess it would be sad if the little guy didn't make it. Especially if he had the keys.

So, goal for the second edition is just to shave 10 minutes or so off last months stroll through North Georgia. And the weather is looking like it's gonna be pah-reeeeem-ohh. This should be just what the Dr. ordered.

I've got a question

I've been thinking about this lately and can't quite figure it out. Winter = base miles right and also strength training. So this is the time of year that some people are doing squats and maybe even pushing a little bigger gear than normal at slower rpms. This makes me wonder why one of the guys I've done some road rides with, who has a powertap, is pretty strict about not pushing too much wattage. Why isn't it okay to push extra watts this time of year if it's okay to squat and push big gears? I can understand not wanting to get your heart rate or too high or too much intensity but I don't understand why this guy doesn't want to go over 350 watts or whatever. I've personally dumbed everything down this winter. I'm not wearing a heart rate monitor, no power tap, no logging of miles, nothing, I'm just riding my bike those one or two days a week when I get a chance. This is a big difference from last year. If i was on my bike then my hr monitor was on and I was writing in my journal afterward. I think I might have overthought things.

sincerely,

clueless about power

My wife and I have a big announcement

We adopted a doggie.

What a difference a week makes

Last week at this time I was a single man with two cats living downtown, now I am single man with two cats living downtown and I think I have insomnia. Maybe I need that giant demon butterfly from the commercials to come crap on my head or whatever it does to make you sleep.

Criminy I am getting old. I used to wonder "how can you not just sleep???" (I wondered this passionately, hence the 3 ?), I still wonder, but have no answers, well, I have ideas as to the cause I guess. I think it could be overtraining. I am becoming too awesome too fast and my brain is trying to keep up with my rapidly developing awesome powers, it just cant comprehend it and needs extra time to take it all in.

But really, it is amazing, at times, from one week to another how much things shift. Lets hope momentum continues for the positive.

I didn't die but I sure do hurt

Did three hours at cave run with schworm today. It hurt. First time I've ridden my mountain bike since July. I officially ride a mountain bike like a roadie now, like worse than Mandrola. The ground was kind of messed up on a lot of the trail from stupid horses. It was like trying to ride on freezer burnt ice cream. I walked a lot. there was one section of trail that was pretty good, I think it might have been buckskin. With over 3 hours of riding we only got about 20 miles in. That's how slow I was rolling.

I really love Steely Dan

Who else has written a song about Kings Richard and John?

Thats all, I have to go hop back in the custom van and listen to my other 8-tracks now.

ironic facial hair strikes again

I may not know how to be tuff but I sure know how to look tuff

An open letter to the roadies

Dear Roadies,

We mountain bikers have noticed something. Lets start here; maybe it is because many of us mtbers have accepted the fact that we are setting aside great amounts of time to play, er, exercise (as we tell parents, sig others and anyone else we blow off to spin some cranks for hours each day). We do this because it is fun, a release. When we see one another on the trail, we usually greet each other and have even been known to, gasp, stop to chat. I know, this is crazy stuff. Its funny, I guess because we are engaged in the same activity we feel a kinship, even if we dont know each other.

So anyway, many of us do also ride the road, which brings me to my point. When you see another person (solo or in pack formation) lift his/her hand and move it back and forth or up and down (some motion of that sort), it is a greeting known as a "wave". This may also be followed with a verbal from of greeting such as "nice day" or "howdy".

I have found natural instinct for the roadie is to stare, mouth agape, like a hick in the big city for the first time. Rather than stare like a yokel, try waving back. Really, you're just riding a bike and truth be told, you're not that special, not that being special is any reason for not being civil (I know your mom would not agree with the latter, but she would also probably be upset to know you're not being nice while your out playing on your toy). I realize this "waving" could waste precious calories, and maybe even disrupt airflow, so if this is a concern, try the "head nod." Quick, easy and you dont even have to remove hands from bars - you're craning your neck anyway, might as well return a greeting.

With every other car trying to flatten us, a little civility within our own group just seems, well, civil. Try it, it just might make you feel good.

Love,

Your Knobby Little Buddies
(that probably drop your sorry butts anyway)
Oops, sorry.

dust off the old record book

I got in a 5 hour ride today counting the two stops we made. 76 miles in total. It's the first time I've ever broken 70 miles. Awesome. Luckily I had a couple tug boats to get me through it, Alec Sim and Royden Kern. I guess I need to get the riding in now before the semester starts to get super busy.

Snake Creek Gap TT

Well, that wasn't so bad. Pretty good actually. After being off the bike 5 weeks in November, 2 of those post-surgery doing nothing at all, and not exactly killing myself in December, I'm pleased.

The conditions were far better than last years slop, when Garth and I first tried this little devil of a trail, with partly sunny 50+ degrees and perfectly tacky soil. Also having raced the course before, it was much easier knowing what I was in for this time.

Not really feeling the long-winded writing bug right now, I'll say it was a great weekend; Good beer supplied by Yazoo, Snake Creek Saturday and we hit some reallly nice trail a top Chattanooga on Sunday (Racoon mtn). I'm glad John Curtlo Jonnycakes Birthdayboy Hughson got to join us. Lookin forward to Feb., I hope we are as lucky with the weather then as we were this past weekend.

Hawk vs Duck

Hawk wins.

As I came around the golf course trail this morning, I disturbed a hawk havin some breakfast. The large bird took off clutching another large bird, a nice juicy mallard. I dunno, somethin seems wrong about pickin on a duck, especially by another bird. They seem like the chubby kid in school who tells jokes, kinda fun to have around, pretty harmless, cute in his own way. But, never the less, impressive to see the hawk flying around with a meal about as big as he.

I'm sure the duck would not agree, but it was a great morning and a kick-butt ride. I still feel super slow and this weekend's race should prove that out. But man that scalpel, well lets just say it's only limiting factor is its engine. The ground was frozen perfectly, like summer hard-pack minus the dust. Traces of white dotting the trail and woods, tires makin that "crunch-crunch" sound in the softer areas, all made me forget from time to time that it was all of 15-20 degrees. As much as I love a perfect 70 degree day, there is something to be said for that slap in the face feeling of a winter morning ride. Lets hope I feel the same at 5 am tomorrow morning.