Before there were good trails and mountain biking was fun...

...there was Ceasar's Creek. Lets just say, comparing Ohio trails to Ohio trails, Mohican's the Brown Gargantua, CC would be the Green one that just wants to eat people. Plenty of mileage and ups n downs, but no flow, tons of ruts and even stinky, sloppy mud despite being bone dry mid-August. And I hate to loose to that troglodyte from Cleveland (I believe the official tally when we've squared off, year to date, is him; 2 wins, me; 25,000), but man I hate CC even more and was willing to roll over on this one. I just did it for the Benjamins.

I felt tired and had zero motivation to race knowing there was no redeeming quality to the next 2+ hours other than it would end, so I wanted to dictate the pace from the gun. I took the hole shot only to get passed when I slipped in some deep and funky smelling mud a couple miles in. Brad Wilhelm came shootin by and proceeded to light it up like it was a race or sumpin. Oh yeah, I guess it was, but thats not the point. The point is he was goin harder than I wanted to. Did I also mention it was hot? Center of the sun hot? Welp, it was. After hanging on Brad's wheel for a bit, I pulled aside and let Jean Shorts and Ben go around cuz I had no desire to try to keep that high a pace.

So, within a couple miles Brad had already blown it all out and I rolled by him. A lap later we rolled by Nano who had taken a wrong turn (despite only having to follow us. I love the Beaner) and was now hanging out trail side but jumped in for the rest of the ride.

Next (last) lap, I was considering the big ol DNF, cursing my current 3rd place hoping a buncha people would pass so I could be all "well, i'm out of the money, might as well put my butt on ice" but then the opposite happens and I catch Ben, (who was suffering a case of vacation legs) and I passed him to move into second. I had to finish now.

Jean Shorts was still impressing himself wayyyy off the front while I set back and rolled at a comfortable pace for second place. I'll make another trip to Ohio to make things right, just not to Ceasars.

Vote Mo in 08

McCain? Obama? Who cares, vote Mo in '08 and know your vote will count. I got a giant animal to feed, help a brother win some support via the wave3 fat cat contest. You'll be invited to the after-party, milk and catnip will be provided.
http://wave3nation.wave3.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=2112131&item_index=1&all=1&sort=NULL

or click the title

Brand new!

The all new Camelbak Hamster Bottle® System



This is just a prototype, but look for the product launch at the Louisville USGP.

Dust, sweat and pointy insects

I'm glad the weekend is over. I mean, wow, if it coulda happened, it was happenin last weekend. Not that it was a bad weekend, but it will be nice to sit here and get some down time. I mean, I'm not comin in here 40 hours a week to work, its recovery time.

So after not touchin the bike on vacation, the legs have been a bit slow to come around this week, I wasn't sure how Sunday was gonna work out. The weather was awesome though. Waverly can be like a broiler when it gets hot, so the relief in temps was especially welcome.

Rustys start line design, well, it looked like he was chasin his dog Hank around with some yellow tape attached to his butt, it ensured there was plenty of bumbin and bar rubbin. Despite that, I managed to get into the woods first. However, not 20 yards in, some bug with a pointy butt flew into my helmet and commenced to the stinging. I think at some point the little jerk was using my helmet to leverage himself to try to crack my skull with his stinger, man it hurt. I tried pokin it with my fingers through the vents, but he was crafty and was avoidin the poke every time like the hillbilly fleas livin on the dog on the old Warner Bros cartoons. I had to pop the helmet off (while trying to maintain pace) smoosh him and throw the lid back on. It felt like I had a hot match on my head the rest of the ride. But luckily it didnt swell up to twice it's normal size, otherwise people may have thought I was Mayor Jerry.

So while all this was goin on, Ben and I (surprise) separated ourselves from the pack. I wasn't feelin it. I just couldn't get the engines to really fire. I tried to attack a couple times, but just couldnt keep a high pace after the attack. Well, until lap 3. The legs didn't feel super strong, but I was giving all I had up Montanas and only getting a slight gap on Ben. As I was nearing the top, I saw RJ run down to meet Ben with a bottle. I happened to look back just as he was giving him a push up to the top and I got pissed. Not that I have never been pushed, or resented Ben for it, but man, if he was getting help up that hill while I was suffering alone, I was determined to make the rest of the race miserable for us both.

I dug deep on the next little up to Big Ring Ridge and then wound the 44x11 out. The next lap and some change went pretty much the same – paranoid Ben was catchin back on while I tried to keep the pace up. Some cramps set in the last time up to Big Ring, but I knew the worst of it was behind me from that point on and all I had to do was keep it upright and I managed to do just that. Good to keep the streak alive and arrive at the line un-bloodied for a change. Also, i would be remiss if I didn't throw out a special thanks to Sarah for handing up my bottles, (while snapping pics no less), like a champ and generally taking everything in stride. Youre the best.

So ending the day in a Beer and Benadryl induced stooper (note, many savings on beer can be had with the addition of just one of these little tablets. You may not be able to move, open your eyes or close your mouth after the second frosty one, but hey, you cant argue with the savings), it's nice to get back in the office for some shut-eye. Just wake me up when it's time to go-go.

KY mtbing's bad boy

I just checked out the point series updates. Looks about right. I was bound to get disqualified. I just can't handle rules. My momma raised a mad man. You ain't man enough to open this cage. Click on the title of this entry and you'll see.

WoW

Rowbears recap, it was like he had a camera on my shoulder. 'Cept I crashed on the first lap. And I was thinkin about my phone charger on lap 3.

Rode yesterday for the first time since the race. Its amazing what a week of beer, wine and fried fish will do for your form. Watch out Waverly!

And on that note, a vacation recap; best one ever. Pics to come for all you facebook losers.

I'm related to Ben Richardson

here is the proof, found it on the interweb today:

Solomon Turpin (quite possibly my kin), born: Pulaski Co., KY in 1854; died: Somerset 1910. Buried in Somerset, KY. He may have gone by name of "William" as that is name listed on his daughter's marriage license to Edward Gerrard in Warren Co., OH, 10/17/1908. Daughter was Elizabeth Turpin b: 1888 in KY. Solomon's wife and Elizabeth's mother was Lucinda Ford, b: 1858 in KY d: 1917 in Montgomery Co., OH, buried in Somerset, KY. Solomon Turpin & Lucinda Ford were married 6/13/1878 at the home of her parents Elijah T. Ford and Mary Ann Hopper from TN, in Russell Co., KY. Bond signed by James Burden.
Have some information on the other children. Would like to identify Solomon Turpin's parents. Will share pictures, etc., data I have in exchange for anything you may have on these ancestors of my husband. There are some Taylor and Richardson (quite possibly Ben's kin) connections possibly in and around Danville, KY., as well as Somerset, Pulaski, Russell Counties.
Thanks,
Carole J. Troup

Cherokee Classic

Umm, it was fun, hot, and dusty. Anthony is at the beach so I'll recap his race. He started out with Ben hot and heavy. Josh Gerlach and the mike stevens were chasing, I don't know if they were together or not. Josh had a wreck pretty early on cause you could see dirt on his jersey in the photos. Ben had a couple wrecks and anthony slipped away. He sang Flight of the Concords songs to himself as he and his get-away-sticks did what they do best, got away. At the end of the third lap he was thinking more about his packing list for the vacation trip to north carolina that was going to begin minutes after the race finished. He was trying to remind himself to pack sunscreen and his digital camera. During the fourth lap he slowed down for a minute to fart, then he took a drink of gu2o and then began pedaling some more. He also had a crash because he was trying out a new line and thinking about his motorcycle while trying that new line and subsequently the branch or sappling or whatever it was caught him by surprise. It wasn't enough to keep him off the top of the podium though. The end.

I got into the woods sooner than I should have so I let a gap open pretty quickly, I think it was McShane in front of me and I didn't want to be right behind him anyway because last time I rode behind him was winter at Waverly and he was going down more than a vegas hooker. Someone behind me said, c'mon clarksville, so at pulled the gap back a little and then at the top of hogan's fountain I pulled over and let a group through. Once they started to ride away I was like, oh, maybe I should try to get on a wheel. But man it was fast through that section and it was a new section to me. Then I had a small group behind me, 3 riders I think. When we got to the kymba downhill I opened up a good gap but anna jean/niki pulled me back in the flat section before the climb up toward cochran. On that climb I dabbed a bit so I let the three riders go through. See what a nice guy I am. Then I think it was only Bo King and the sport class behind me, slowly I would let many of them through also. My second lap was even slower than the first, the third lap was probably the best because Dulin yelled at me with disappointment (deservedly). And the fourth lap brought some leg cramps, prolly because I pre-rode a lap and sweeted a lot during it. I think it is dumb for me to stop on each lap, unzip my cooler, get a water bottle out, zip the cooler back up, take a big drink and then ride. Obviously, I wasn't very motivated. I think I need to start at the back and try to hang next time. All and all though, I had fun out there.

Laws? We dont need no stinkin laws.

The "cycling lane" on Second Street seems to be more of a suggestion than a rule now. It was nice, our bike friendliness lasted all of, uh, maybe a year? The sharrow markers on 2nd Street bridge are even fading as fast as the memory of Chips Chronan and the accident that spurred their creation.

But, thats a shared lane, I'm talking about the "bike only" lane that goes all the way from Oak to Broadway (because that 1.5 miles was really needed?). As pathetically short as it is, clearly just eeking out enough distance to meet federal requirements for some cash-ola, it is still a designated bike lane. Well, unless you are in a really, really big hurry it seems.

I have seen people driving the whole distance almost every day now, bowing out only to miss the occasional parked car or hover-round utilizing the lane (which I find really amusing for some reason). Even our beloved law enforcement officers are getting in on the action. In fact, this cop followed another car for almost 1 mile last week. I thought "Oh good, hes gonna site this chick." Nope. After she turned right, he just accelerated down to Broadway. At the light I asked why he was driving in the bike lane just to be ignored. I was pissed. I filed a report and am sure that absolutely nothing will be done, well apart from my anticipated, and totally unrelated, receipt of a moving violation in the next few months.

I was going through St. Matthews on bike one afternoon not long ago only to be almost run down by an officer blowing through a neighborhood stop sign. So I followed. He proceeded to blow through the next 8 or 9 signs (as did I, but I was on a mission of justice, so it's cool). Where was he going you wonder? Being the crime addled mean streets of St. Matthews, the mind races as to what the emergency could have been; murder, rape, robbery in progress, duck being harassed by some skateboarders in Brown Park? None of the above. He was in a hurry to get back to the station. I took a picture of the plate and car #, thanked him for his ability to both follow and enforce laws (well, as good as I could after sprinting my butt off for the last 12 or so blocks).

I know cops have a tough job, one I don't want. But geez, is not driving like a meth fueled redneck in a supercharged Nova SS asking too much? Polly is, so in the meantime I just want my bike lane back.

Clarksville Ateam mid week update

It's Wednesday, get back to work.

What I learned this weekend, part 2

I learned you can ride off a bridge and have yet another helmet cracking crash (I have no brains left) and still have more fun doing 9 laps of an mtb crit than I ever could riding circles with roadies.

Oh, and I'm now a gold medalist, a Bluegrass State Games gold medalist (the short bus cousin of the Pan Am games – thats a really short bus). Regardless, Ben made me work for it. I rode off the bridge on lap 1, chased my butt off only to crash hard when I was about to bridge up. That fueled some aggression and I was able to catch him with 3 laps to go and grab the win in the last 2.

Whew. I am starting to feel pretty beat down. I think I have some good form right now, but a total lack of sleep in the last few weeks and the cracked rib are taking a toll. (I planted a food hard in a corner in Cherokee yesterday and let out a loud welp as the shock rang through the rib. I think the troll about 20 yards down trail believed it to be a mating call.) An easy week of training followed by what is sure to be an absolute beat-down in Cherokee will be rewarded with a week of beaches, mountains and maybe some white water (I never tire of trying to kill myself). It's gonna be a good couple weeks, and hopefully, a real sweet 2nd half of the season.

Lots of racing yet to come. See ya there.

What I learned this weekend

Apparently, some roadies feel that you can avoid accidents by anticipating them. I tried to explain that it's no longer an accident if it can be anticipated, but hey, I'm the one who was almost taken out by not fault of my own, so what do I know, right? Pay for a race, get a little free advice thrown in. What an idiot. Another quick reminder of why I rarely put a race number on the road bike.

Anywho…the crit was OK. It was fast as heck and and just as monotonous, almost 40 freakin laps around the same course. Geez. Sorry, but you have to simple minded to find that crap fun. I made some moves, went for a prime, covered some breaks and tried for the big W, and prolly coulda scored at least a top 5 had I been smarter, but it didnt work out. Thats cool. I'm pretty satisfied considering it was my first road crit in almost 6-7 years.

On a semi related note, we went to see "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" (http://www.biggerstrongerfastermovie.com/) at the Village 8 yesterday. Great movie, (Floyd is in it so you get your little 2 wheeled fix). I think he may have been a bit biased towards the use of roids, but there was some good info in there, like the fact Carl Lewis tested positive for banned substances the same year Ben Johnson was disgraced. Whoops.

Frankfort is lookin like it will be dry and fast next weekend. I’m too tired to think of an amusing close, so make up your own joke or just giggle at this…

I'm a fancy lad

Much in the same way you sometimes just really have to put on a nice dress and go dancing from time to time (you do, don't you?), just as I ripped on the roadies, I will join them this weekend. I mean, heck, an NRC event 1 mile from my house, might as well go join in the fun.

Pressure is on though. I mistakingly invited people, important people, (maybe more important than you, but not as important as Neil Armstrong, he went to the moon. I wonder if Michael Collins is pissed he stayed in the ship. Who is Michael Collins you ask? Exactly), to come down and watch. Fish is getting just a bit outta water here. I know what I can do on a CX bike or MTB, but a 2-3 crit? Not sure how this is gonna play out, you can't just pound people into submission as easy on the road bike. But after a Kashmir buffet for lunch and lasagna for dinner, I might be able to just fart people off my wheel.

Anyhow, throw on a nice dress and come down and watch me go down in flames, should be fun.

Muscatatuck DINO

Well, it was fourth of July weekend, and man it was a bang. This week, we (by we I mean me and the flys buzzing around my office) are doing a photo recap of the race. Well, captioned photo. This and (ugh) 5th place sums it all up;



I was really hoping to win this one. I love the course and felt my build-up was good. I think I would have challenged had it not been for the unfortunate circumstances before and during the race. But hey, stuff happens.

NATZ!

So every local roadie over the age of 30 is justifying the large lot of time and money they spend away from their families by trying to win races against other accountants, dentists, doctors and lawyers within a 5 year age span (oh the drama!). While I am happy an event of this caliber is taking place in my fair city, it ranks up their with the 2010 Equestrian games as far as my level of enthusiasm is concerned.

However...

Not one to miss an opportunity to get a set of stars and stripes by beating 5 other guys in a race, (I have come to understand, in the local cycling community, the more "National Championships" you win, the bigger jerkoff youre allowed to be. The rewards come quick too, I can beat up children after only 3 titles. I can't wait.), we are entering the Tandem Unicycle road race. Word on the street there are a couple circus bears that are hungry (so to speak) for the win and are heavy favorites. They sleep at altitude for 6 months of the year, so they will be, uh hem, animals. The bears seem to be our only real competition so far. Scouting reports have come back with this shot of the only other team that will be lining up.



I think we can take em. We also might line the course with salmon related snacks that will hopefully distract the bears long enough for us to build a big gap and give them a little stitch in their sides. If the race goes well, the downtown hotspot "The Connection" will be sponsoring us in this event in the future. Wish us luck.

Get my motor runnin

So the Suzuki has been legal for almost a week now and man, it's awesome. Taking a bit of time to get used to; being an old bike, it's quirky and my motorcycling skills are on par with Rowbear's mountain bike skills. Also, I have to keep a stick mounted on it to beat the ladies back, now I know how the Beatles and Elvis felt. Yup, cruzin around, I'm feelin about like this...



But in reality, I know it's more like this...




And you know how you go to an event and have to park like 10 miles away just to see some jerkstore on a motorcycle pull up and make up some choice spot right at ground zero? Lets just say...



It's OK, you can get me back when you see me caught in that pop-up thunderstorm.

You've got it all wrong

It's not that I am too proud to ask for directions, it's that i feel someone who's career path has taken them to the heights of gas station cashier are dubiously qualified to dispense travel routes. Yes they work at a place that is a keystone for the traveler, but just because you provide the fuel for motorists doesn't mean, well lets just say, would you ask the cashier at McDonalds how long to cook a roast? Take your next 3 rights, I'll see ya there.

England Idlewild; hot, tight and damp

The title pretty much sums it up, but I love talking about things that involve me and you love reading it, so here's more.

Luckily the heat had let up a bit from previous days because despite only being in the low 80's, it felt like a broiler. Had it been warmer, it would have been a death-march. Laps were not super fast, about 40-ish minutes each and I felt each minute.

Weird little set of trails they got up there in Northern KY; tight single, northshore stunts and lots o roots. It was hard to get into rhythm with all the wash-out and roots. After sliding out in a corner, Ben ditched me and I was more than happy to just ride in second, I was feelin tired and just tried to roll a steady pace. Feeling a bit better by the last lap, Ben was sufferin and I caught him in the last few miles, just before he flatted. I didn't realize he had a mechanical so I kept pounding and rolled in for the win.

Anyway, the folks put on a great race; lots of food, great prizes and it's always good to see my Cinti peeps. Lookin forward to racing Cherokee this weekend. 8 or 9 years ago, who woulda thought that could ever happen.

I'm tired now, nothin else to say.

right place at the right time

fate smiled on me last night on the Tuesday night world ride in lex-town

we were doing a two lap race with an intermediate sprint. Coming around for the first lap everyone started making an echelon that started on the left side of the road, I was on the right so I was totally open. I went and I guess it was early cause only one guy went with me, he came around right at the line so he probably got me but it was close. Anyway, that wasn't the fortunate thing, about a mile later I was still up front with a few seconds all of a sudden I hear someone yell "slowing" and then I hear mass braking, scraping and thuds, I looked over my shoulder to see the pile up about 20 yrds behind me.

Something like 10 people involved, most got away okay except for Greg, he broke his collar-bone. I was lucky to be up front at the time, the rest of the ride I had been sitting on in the middle somewhere. I'm not sure what caused it since we were on a straight stretch of road, someone said it was this one dudes fault because he started braking for no reason, the guy he was talking about is the same dude that I saw sitting on the side of the road last week because he wadded it while riding with two other people, the guy seems pretty mouthy on the group rides. I'm definitely going to try to stay away from his back wheel in the future.

It sure is a good idea to stay up front, especially if you're just out for a work-out (like me) and not actually trying to win the race, unless there is an easy opportunity for it. I'd rather get in a good break than sprinting for 50 yards

Best pictures ever

An unusual break from the pics where I am either riding through a rather uninteresting grassy field or my mouth is just hanging open with some spittle dangling off my chin and i look a bit special needs...from Brown County...