Gorilla on a Bike

Somthing interesting happened.

2012-01-20T14:02:00.002-05:00

First, happy new year.
Had my 2nd surgery for the shoulder, it feels like shit at the moment but I go back to the doc in a week and we'll talk about physical therapy.
To keep myself in some sort of shape I've been using the trainer in the basement while watching TV.

Tuesday night, the 17th, I'm down there pedaling away watching an episode of Shameless.
With shoulder the way it is, I don't evan hold onto the bars most of time. I just sit in an upright position and pedal away. I'm 30 minutes into my workout ,taking it easy doing about 14mph.
Next thing I know I'm falling backwards and feel a pain in my leg.
I cuss and hobble up and see blood splatters all over the floor. My leg has got a "huge" gash in it.
It looks like a huge hunk of leg has been torn off and I'm staring at the muscle.
Shit! This is serious.
I grab a "sweat" towel I have and wrap it as tight as I can around the leg.
Hobble up the stairs, and inform the wife she needs to take me to the emergency room.
She puts up no argument. She's seen me get wounded before and knows that I don't see doctors unless I think my life is in jeopardy. I grab a belt before we leave and tie it around the towel.
The closet hospital is only 10 miles away or so in Laplata. I try to act as calm as possible as to not freak the wife out. She doesn't do well in medical situations. As we're driving over, she's doing about 60?? Really? I'm worried about bleeding out in the truck and she's doing only 60?

Get to the hospital. She drops me at the entrance. I hobble in half bent over trying to hold this bright pink/red/blue beach towel around my leg. I'm wearing a nasty ass pair of workout shorts, and a beat up coat thats oversized to acccomodate the shoulder. I was a sight.
After 15 minutes somebody finally calls us into the "triage" area. I'm thinking, finally about fuck'n time.
This medical person, I don't evan think she's a nurse takes my temp, BP, and asks some questions.
"On a scale of 1-10 hows the pain?". I'm a man. I've had worse pain. Its about a 5-6.
"Is the bleeding under control?". "Well, I'm not moving the towel to look, and I don't see a puddle of blood on the floor, so I assume it is".
She than tells us to go over to this other area and doesn't evan bother looking at the wound??
I didn't realize it at the time, but she was sending me over to the area where the the low lifes go, who have a headache and are too poor to buy asprin so they go to the emergency room.

Finally after a fuck'n hour they call me back. It's now after 10pm, we walked into the hospital a little after 8.
I tell the wife to stay in the waiting area. If she see this she'll freak.
This little medical assistant (once again, not even a real nurse) has me remove the towel.
He takes one look at it and tells me to put the towel back on it and apply pressure and he'll be right back.
He come back with 2 doctors and 1 nurse (real this time, or as real as this shitty hospital has).
They have me move my leg and decide I hadn't sliced any real muscle. I think the doc took it as a challenge and said "yeah I can suture that".
They want to flood it with saline solution 1st. So the "not a nurse" sets a bottle of water up and runs a IV tube from it. He than has me sit on the edge of the bed with my leg over a bucket and hold this dripping IV tube over the wound.
Now, let me set this straight. He has ME hold the dripping IV over the wound. What is this? A self service hospital?
After 30 minutes of holding the drip with no one even checking in, the nurse comes in and gives me a tetnis shot, and hooks up some anti-biotics into the IV.
The doc finally makes his way back in, stictches up the 2 inner layers that have been cut.
Looks around and he can't find his "staple" gun. He leaves to find it. 30 minutes later he actually finds his way back, without the stapler. Leaves for another 5 and come back.
He finishes and finally bandages me up. BTW, the bandage goes to fall down my leg before I evan make it out of the hospital.

I get home at 2. I'm tired but want to see what happend.
The hole time I'm in the hospital I'm assuming the carbon fibre seatpost had broke.
Nope. The saddle was held onto the seatpost with 1 bolt, and it snapped.
When I fell backwards my leg snagged the top of the v-brake.

seeya

Post-pre surgery.

2011-12-09T08:36:00.001-05:00

Got the 2nd surgery set up for dec 13.
In my post op appt with the doc I got a few things straight.
All my shoulder muscles are in good shape except for the tendon that is ripped.
Its not attached, hence no blood flow.
No matter how much I try to exercise, its not going to grow.

The Doc said he isn't a "specialist" in shoulders. His specialty is knees and hips.
He is bringing in a specialist to do or assist, I'm not sure which with the surgery.

It's going to be interesting trying to x-mas shop and wrap presents with the arm in a sling.

I got out for an easy ride at the Rose with Doc,Barry, and Matt last Sunday.
Beautiful day in the 60's.
I could ride as long as I purposely put little or no pressure on the right arm.
It kinda makes you more effecient. You end up using the legs more and relying less on your upper body for momentum.

Surgery-Fail

2011-11-24T18:44:00.001-05:00

Atleast it wasn't my fault.
Show up at 6 for my 7 am rotor cuff surgery.
I'm all set, ready to be in a sling and have my daily routine turned upside down for the next 2 months, atleast.
(I've been in an armcast before, maybe I won't be in a cast this time but still down to 1 arm. It sucks)
I wake up from the anestethia.
I remember something about bad news???
Well atleast I'm not dead, or am I?
Is my wife really a ghost whisperer?
Just kidding.
Private joke for the wife, she loved that show.

From what I've been able to gather from my wife,what I remember of what the doctor said and my own deduction-
The rip in the rotor cuff is old, the recent injury must have just aggrivated it and caused pain.
Because of the age of the tear and the poor condition of the neighboring muscle, the doc couldn't do the procedure as he had planned.
Bassically he cut me open in 3 spots, had a look around and got scared off.

He wants to get togather with another doc in his practice who's a "speciallist" and get his assistance in doing a repair with a different type of procedure.

I'm going in to see him next week, to get the stiches out and talk to him while not doped up, to get a better idea of what going to happen.

If I don't like the way he talks I'm looking into getting another orthopedic doc.
I need somebody who specializes is athletes. Now that I think about it, his office is always full of old people.

seeya

Surgery is set to go.

2011-11-17T08:20:00.001-05:00

Got the surgery for the torn rotor cuff set up for Novemeber 23, the day before Thanksgiving. Guess who won't be carving the turkey this year.
When the nurse suggested the date, initially I didn't like the idea but after some thought, it'll work out for work.
The day before holidays are always slow and I've got 4 full days off before I gotta go back.
Been trying to take care of stuff that I won't be able to do with 1 arm.
Changed the oil in the vehicles, did some yard work etc.
Last thing I want to do this weekend is crawl up on the roof and adjust my satellite dish.

I had the pre-op meeting with my Doc yesterday. They've got to drill into bone to place the sutures. He tells me "sometimes" the drill bits break and rather than dig them out they leave them in there.
?????
Atleast he's honest and up front with that.
What do I care? I'm sure I've got a crap load of debris floating around in me from my days in construction.

Health update:
Hell, just to keep track of where I'm at.
Right around #215. Last time I had surgery, despite sitting on my ass most of the time and satisfying my craving for kettle cooked bbq potatoe chips, I actually lost weight.
Muscle atrophy? I don't know.
I'll see what happens this time.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can get 1 last spin on the Mt. bike at Cedarville this weekend.

seeya

Lets see where this goes.

2011-11-03T15:36:00.001-05:00

Not much has been going on since the beginning of September.
Riding went way down. A lot because I got burnt out from riding, and when I really did want to ride I've been having problems with the shoulder. It hasn't been bad enough where I "couldn't" ride. Its just bad enough where it made riding less enjoyable.
I've been trying to bulk back up by hitting the weights and the shoulder is holding that back too.
2 months after the injury and its not better. Ok, I go and see my orthopedic doctor. The injury happened back in the 2nd week of August.
After a few range of motion ,strength tests, and x rays he thinks I've got a torn rotor cuff.
????
Thats a new one for me.
He sends me to get an MRI. I've gotta wait a week for that and than can't get an appt with him for a week after that.
I go to the MRI expecting to just to be put inside the "tube". These buttheads tell me they've got to inject some crap into into my shoulder. I didn't come prepared for all that.
Anyways, they give me a disk (CD) with the images from the MRI. I can't wait a week to hear the prognosis from the doc so I load the disk up and look at the images myself.
As far as I can tell, I'm 5 months pregnant.......

Back to the doc yesterday, finally.
He tells me "yup, you've got a BIG tear, we'd better schedule surgery ASAP".
No "lets try physical therapy" or "wait and see what happens".
Fucker just wants to cut me open.

I've had surgery on the arm before. I had a torn biceps tendon fixed 11 years ago(from what I understand its a common injury among baseball pitchers. I didn't play baseball, just lifted really heavy things too fast).
It wasn't fun, and from what I've read this sounds like a pretty similar.
6 weeks in a sling, and than another 6 before I'll be able to fully use it.
Damn thing was feeling pretty good when I walked in his office.

I told him I'd have to talk to the wife and see whats going on at work before we schedule anything.
He says he'll give the info to his surgical coordinator and she'll call with a date. If it doesn't work , let her know. Pushy bastard. The recession must be hitting him too. Needs to make that Mercedes payment.

So, for a while the blog content will go from "Why I'm so Slow on a Bike" to "Why is Tom Picking his Nose with His Left Hand".

Bonus Info
SM100 Content.
I feel better now about not being able to man handle my bike on some of the hike-a-bike stuff during the race. Give me a break, I had a torn rotor cuff.
Oh yeah, I'm going to milk this for all its worth.

SM100 2011

2011-09-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

3rd DNF at this dumb race.
2 days after the race and my legs are still killing me.
I might have quit at AS4, but by god, I gave it my all this time.
Starting to have a few doubts at the moment. I keep wondering if I had continued would the cramps have gotten better and went away or would all that damn food I was eating finally metabolize and give me some energy back.
Oh well.
Like I've heard the only things we really regret are the things we didn't try.

So the official report. I'm going to make it sound really sucky so I don't read this in a couple of months and think, "it wasn't so bad let me give it one more shot".

Friday.
Leave work at 9am after being there 2 hours. I go home and cut the grass so Judys not staring at it all weekend (she might think twice before issuing the next hall pass). Maybe this attributed to my dnf? Any excuse at this point will be good. Get all my stuff packed and ready to go for Saturday morning.

Saturday.
Randy calls me while I'm driving down, through a thunderstorm around Front Royal. He's there, and has our spot from last year. Good, I can stop speeding and relax. Make it down and its hot and dry. Set up camp, register, fill up my 2 drop bags (lights at cp5,soda and powered gatorade for cp3) eat the spaghetti dinner and than back to camp. It was kinda warm and humid. No need for the extra blankets I'd brought.

Sunday-Race day.
Woke up @ 5 with noise of the wake up gong. Warm enough were I didn't need a jacket getting ready.
Sleeveless jersery was fine, unlike last year were it was freezing and I had to dig a sleeved jersery out of pile of crap from the truck. Had a breakfast of iced cinnamon roll and coffee. Walked up to the start line at 6:15. Just enough light say I could make out the road. They had a bracketed start like last year. Instead of lining up all the way in the back I lined up with the 12 hour people although I think there was only 1 bracket behind us. Chris Scott gave out last minute instructions which none of us in the 2nd to last bracket could hear. And the race started.

Start-CP1
Name of the game this year was 12.5 hours. I was treating this as more of race than I had in years past. I was passing quite a few people on the asphalt and fireroads to the first climb. Not pushing hard, just going a pace I felt comfortable with and not getting lazy and following someone cause I didn't feel like passing.
The 1st real climb started and it was so much nicer than last year. It didn't seem as croweded. I was still passing people, not alot, but I was passing more than being passed. Right before the top you had one final steep pitch that 80% of the riders walked. I rode it with 3 other guys.
The entrance to the single track had 10 or so riders waiting to get in, about 1/2 of what there was last year. While trying to weed my way in I had my 1st accident. I did one of those falls to the side while your clipped in. Nothing hurt, just embarrassed.
I was starting to get pissed on the ridgeline. I couldn't believe the shit that some people were walking. Come on dammit, get out of the way! Finally the decent. I bombed the hell outta it. My bike is noisy. I can't figure it out. Might be a combo of chain slap and loose stuff saddle bag contents but it works to my advantage. If someone was in front of me they always heard me coming and got out of the way fast. I saw 5 crashes on the way down, including 1 tandem.
Came up on CP1, I didn't need water so just blew by.

CP1-2
Took a minute on the road and sucked down some of gu they had given us, than I was back at it. I kept thinking about last year when I got passed by all the people I had passed on the previous descent. I kept a pretty good pace, a few people passed me, not many. I make it to the 2nd climb and join in the conga line of other riders walking to the top. You had a few riders who would try to ride, but they usually ended up walking a couple of hundred feet later. It was on this climb I was starting to get tired. I shouldn't be this tired this early. Not ragged out or anything just more tired than I should have been at this point in the race.
I get to the top and I see my buddy Pat who took me out a few weeks ago to Wolf Gap. Nice surprise.
While everyone else is taking a moment, I head down. Bombed down it at my normal pace. I must be getting better at descending, even tired I road well.
Hit the bottom and have a few miles of gravel and asphalt to cp2. I roll into CP2 not wanting to waste time. A volunteer grabs my camelback and fills it halfway with water. I grab what amounts a whole PB&j sandwhich and some chips. I pour some gatorade powder into the CB than take off. As I'm leaving I see Pat rolling in. Its 10:15 am at this point. 30+ miles in 3:40. I'm doing ok.

CP2-3
Roll along the asphalt to the beginning of the 3 miles fireroad climb. I figure out something is really happening on the fireroad. Its hotter than shit and my head is throbbing. I get off and walk 4 times before I make it to the single track. I rode this completely the last time I finished the race. Make it to the singletrack and I'm hiking it all. The tightness in the legs are now turning to cramps. Even got passed by some other folks who were hiking. At this point I see my buddy Pat. That SOB is riding this damn thing. He's making all us hikers look like shit. I tell him how good he's doing but he makes a general remark back. What is he mad at me for not waiting for him at 2? I finally make it to the top and he's still there. I chat with him for a minute and he didn't even realize it was me who he had passed. Must have been in the pain tunnel.
He takes off with a few other riders while I'm still resting and drinking. I take off and end up passing him and some others on the descent.
Get to cp3. have them look for my drop bag and they can't find it. I didn't really need the soda but I kind of wanted that gatorade mix. I see my buddy Sue there volunteering. I tell her I'm not doing so hot and she doles out some words of encourgement. Pat get in and leaves while I'm resting. With the way I'm feeling, I'm pretty sure I won't see him again. On the bike and to the next climb. Its 12:20.

CP3-4
I'm riding the 5 miles of road till the next single track. The sun is really pounding down on me. My pace has slacked off, I'm doing at the most 9mph on the mostly climbing asphalt. The cramping is starting to get worse. I try standing some and mashing. Nope, it doesn't help only sets off a different set of muscle cramps. Walk once to alleviate the cramps and now I'm getting a hotspot on my foot at the cleat. I'm not happy.
Get to the start of the single track. Before crossing the mostly dry riverbed I stumble and fall on a slick rock. Christ, WTH is going on. I'm falling apart before my eyes.
Theres is a steep little ledge that you've got to pick you bike up onto before the real singletrack climb. I'm bonking hard now and it takes me 3 trys to get the bike up.
I try to ride some of the single track up. I lower my seat remembering how it helped me on the pre ride. Nope not going to work. That makes the cramps even worse.
I finally settle for knowing I'm walking (stumbling really) the 2 miles to the top. I'd walk for 30 feet, stop and take a breather. Walk another 30, rest. Anybody who came up behind me I'd let past. Must have had 30 people pass me on that climb. The cramping is getting worse, my hands evan start cramping.
Finally I make the top and I can't believe it. Pat is there sitting on the ground?? From what he told me he must have bonked too and walked up the same way I did.
I try to lie on the ground for a few minutes but than my stomach muscles started cramping. All I could do was stand there and rest. Pat starts the descent, I take off 2 minutes behind him.
I'm not sure what it is but I could still descend with no problem. Maybe its the adrenaline that offsets the cramps. I don't know but I'm bombing the trail down. Caught up and passed about 6 riders, including Pat.
Make the bottom and I'm actually debating going on (still pumped full of adrenaline). Pat catches up to me at the bottom I tell him go ahead. There are a few small hills, and I mean small, till the next AS. As soon as the rush of descending wears off I'm back to walking and cramping. I finally make it to the flat section the last 1/2 mile before the AS. I can't evan stay on the bike and need to rest on that.
Thats it I'm done.
Finally make it to the AS. Its 3:15 1st person I see is Randys wife, Becky. She comes over to me and I tell her I'm bagging it. Pat has been there a few minutes and is getting ready to leave. He says he's feeling a little better and is heading out to AS5. I give him my baggy of endurolytes, I still have about 10 left. He ran out but has more in his drop bag at 5. I hope they work better for him than they did for me.
Me and another rider get a lift with Becky back to the campground.

Campground.
Becky drops me off and walks up to the finish line to wait for Randy to come in. I still felt like crap. I don't think I felt this bad when I finished 2 years ago. I sit in my truck with the a/c going for 40 minutes before I got the energy up to evan change outta my riding gear. Everytime I'd bend over to pull my socks off I'd get cramps in the legs and stomach. I finally get changed and than pack my camp up.
Randy and Becky come back (I wanted to go up and see him come in but didn't have the energy to walk up the hill). I talk with them a while. Becky packs up there camp and they leave.
I go up to the finish to get something to eat and get me and Randys drop bags from AS5. Talk a little with Denis and Chris. Drop bags finally get back about 8:30.
I get in my little pick up and leave.
SM100- 2011 is over for me.

Post thoughts.
I don't feel too bad about quitting. I left it all out there. You have good days on the bike and bad days. This wasn't one of the better days. Now that I think back, I'm not evan sure if I would have made the cut off for AS 5 if I had tried. I wonder what would have happened if I'd gone out slower. I was making excellent time till 34 miles in. I also wonder if I had left AS4 if I would have gotten one of those "2nd winds" and maybe the cramps would have finally subsided.

There's always next year. Bullshit.
Thats it for me.
Maybe I'll be back in 4 years to celebrate my 50th birthday and go Masters instead of Clydesdale.
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To my future self reading this: DON'T YOU SIGN UP FOR THIS RACE AGAIN IN 2012. DUMBASS.

Shakedown ride part deux

2011-09-01T20:11:00.000-05:00

Met Randy and Paul for an easy ride at the Rose for a last ride and to check out the bike.
Dennis S. showed up too. He's also doing the 100 this weekend.
Bike worked great.
Shows that shimano makes one cheap ring that only last a couple of months.
With the exception of Paul (who is not racing) we were all riding like a bunch of amateurs.
None of us wanted to chance either screwing up ourselves or the bikes.
Half way through I said " Maybe we should all just walk back to cars".
Randy evan carried his bike over one of the stream crossings so he wouldn't get his brakes wet.
Set the tent up in the house to air it out and to make sure the mice hadn't gotten to it.
In to work for a few hours tomorrow, back home and cut my grass than a little shopping and final packing for the weekend.

Finally, I didn't think this weekend would ever get here.
I'm hoping for a 12.5 finish. I'm not taking it easy this year. I'm not going out total race pace, but I'm also not going to be treating this like a long ride.
If I'm not resting, I'm cranking it hard.
Remember to eat and drink.

This is better than Christmas.

Shakedown ride.

2011-09-01T06:22:00.000-05:00

Went over to the Rose for a shakedown ride before the weekend just to keep the legs fresh and see how the bike does since its tuneup. Right off I'm getting some chain skipping. I can't tell weather its coming from the front or back.
Stand up on 1 one small hill, the chain skips and I'm thrown forward and rack "the boys" on the top tube.
Ooh that hurt, and pissed me off.
Stop to adjust the rear D to see if that helps.
I think it helped?
Stand up and mashing up another hill, it skips again and this time I go over the bars.
I'm glad no one was around to hear the quantity or quality of curse words that came out.
If I do say so myself, I do a fine job of joining curse words togather to really express myself.
I do rest of the ride in big ring now to see if its the middle ring.
Sure enough, no more skipping.
Now I'm kinda ticked off cause I just replaced the middle ring back in May. Freak'n Shimano xt crap.
4 months of service out of a damn middle ring? Bullshit.
When I ordered the last ring at the shop they ordered a 2nd to keep there for stock. Luckily they hadn't sold it yet. I took it home and installed it.
I'll do another shake down ride tonight and see what happens.

3 days out. Got the race brief.

2011-08-31T08:24:00.000-05:00

Spent some time downloading some songs to put on the mp3 player.
I want some "fresh" music to listen to for the road sections of the race.
Each song that got considered for the mp3 player had to pass a test.
"How would this song make me feel at 57 miles".
Slow songs got thrown out of the contest immediately. I'm a big fan of heavy metal, but on the bike when I'm tired I'm looking for high energy.
Yes, there's some techno on there.
I discovered a band from the 70's "Sweet". You might remember they did "Little Willy". I download some of there other stuff and it was good. They went on.
Off went Andrew Golds "Lonely Boy" and something by "Kesha" went on.
I've only got 2 gib of memory so things had to go to make room for the new.
I think I'm all set in the music department. Now watch me leave it home charging on the computer.

Got the SM100 race brief. Not alot of new stuff on it. Sounds like they relocated AS2. Everything else is pretty much same as last year.

I'd planned on going to the Rose for a ride last night, but something was wrong with my mom's a/c. Shit.
Am I ever going to be able to ride again before the race?
Went over there after worked and fixed it, well got it working.
By the time I got home I only had time to get on the trainer for 30 minutes. I pushed as hard as I could for 30 minutes trying to keep the pace consistant. "Fight Club" was the choice for tonights motivation. "What the 1st rule of Fight Club?"

The chance of t-storms during the race went up to 40% from 30% overnight. Oh boy. I didn't plan for "riding in rain" music. I might have to make modifications to my playlist.

seeya

4 days 21 hours.

2011-08-30T08:05:00.000-05:00

Not alot to report on.
Was supposed to work at the shop tonight, I skipped it.
It was beautiful outside. Eric called for an impromptu trailwork at Rosaryville to clean up from the hurricane.
I walked around for 2 hours with Greg and his son kicking sticks off of the trail and moving a few downed trees.
It really wasn't all that bad for just having been through a hurricane.
We did tackle one log that should have been left for somebody with a chainsaw.
It was 20" in diameter and sitting up off the ground. We'd each chop away for 2 minutes than trade off.
Chopping up logs is harder than you think.

Got home and played with my rechargeable camping lantern.
The POS is dead. Opened it up and took and the lead acid battery after letting it charge overnight.
Supposed to be 6-7 volts. Its only reading 3v.
No lantern at this years sm100 campsite.

Weights hovering around 206.

The weekend before.

2011-08-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

Well this weekend turned into a big pile of shit.
Hurricane Irene expected to hit us Saturday evening, I'm assuming I've got till noon to get some riding in before we get anything. I plan on going to Rosaryville, do 3 hours, go home and finish prepping for the hurricane.

What happened.
I get an email the night before, all the Md. parks are going to be closed starting Friday evening.
Me? I don't care.
Get up early (for me on a Saturday 7am) ride over to the Rose and its already starting to look nasty. As I'm parking in the shopping center next to the park, I hear on the radio its already raining about 20 miles east.
Hmmm. Ok, I might have time to do a loop.
Ride over to the trail and its still pretty muddy from the t-storms we got thursday.
I decide to bag it. I might be able to a lap before the rain starts but I'd still want to go home and ride the trainer some.
I ended up getting 2 hours on trainer (while watching Tucker and Dale vs Evil).
Not the workout I had really wanted.

Spent the rest of the day /evening sitting in a chair in my garage watching the wind blow and wondering which tree was going to fall on my house 1st.

Sunday (Post Irene)
Got up ready for the worst (maybe a tree on my truck). What I saw was the biggest let down ever.
I've had worse damage from t-storms. All I can assume is that the weakest of the trees have already been downed by the summer storms.
Theres one good sized limb across my driveway and a crapload of smaller branches.

I go to the bike shop and give the niner the final tuneup before the race.
Change out the shifting cables and housing. Put on a new chain, which finally got rid of that mystery noise I had been having. I guess there was a stiff link in there somewhere. Had to listen to Julius make fun of me for having 3 quick links in my chain. Cleaned the front d out in the parts cleaner and lubed it back up. Did final lubing .
Damn it shifts nice again. I don't know why I wait so long to change the cables.
What I didn't count on having to do was taking the grips off and sanding down more corrosion.
I just put the new grips on a month ago and I already had to beat them off. I fixed it this time. Slathered grease all over the bars.

In related SM100 prep.
I found my lantern and charger and put it on to charge. Keeping my fingers crossed that it'll work.
Pulled the air mattress out and made sure my rigged up AA batteries will work a few cycles.
Found my thermos , so I can have an atleast a warm cup of coffee before the race.

5 days and some hours to go.

Johnny come latelies.

2011-08-26T12:34:00.000-05:00

Damn losers.
The bike forum boards have been saturated lately with "I didn't think I was going to be able to make it but now I'm looking for an entry for the Shenandoah 100".
Most of these jokers have "1" posts.
Your going to sign up for membership on a board just to inquire for an entry.
I signed up 4 months ago when I thought I might need a knee replacement.

Just some gloating on my part.
"I've got an entry... and yoooouuu don't"

10 day forcast is up.

2011-08-26T09:20:00.001-05:00

Next milestone in the journey to SM100 2011, race day shows up on the Weather Channels 10 day forcast.
Could be better. High of 83, am clouds than clearing. 20% chance of precip.
I don't like the 40% chance of precip the 2 days before. Could mean wet trails which mean wet rocks.

The race excitement is subdued at the moment due to the impending arrival of hurrican Irene in 36 hours.
Its one of those rare storms thats going to track up the east coast. Right now , when it gets to us its forcasted to still be a level 2 hurricane. Where I live winds are supposed to be 39-60 mph.
Not good. That means I'll be up all night Saturday, staring out my backyard waiting for a tree to fall on my house. I've had it happen before.

Had t-storms last night so no ride. Worked at the bike shop instead. I wanted to go in and tune up the bike but they had a crap load of repairs to get done. I told him I'd be in Sunday than to work on my stuff. I didn't wanna hear him bitch.

I had a buddy of mine (co-worker at the shop) order a few parts for me from the shops distributor. When we order parts through the shop, they tack on a 5% fee for the franchise than we pay sales tax also. My buddy has his own account with the distributor, I'm still trying to get the details together on how he managed that. If I order with him no franchise fee and no sales tax. If we order enough, free shipping. It still ends up being cheaper if we need to pay shipping.

Weekend plans are up in the air.
I'm going to need to do some pre-hurricane prep around mine and my mothers house so don't wanna be gone all day Saturday. Might hit Rosaryville up in the morning and do 30 miles.

seeya

11 days out...oh yeah the Earthquake.

2011-08-24T08:36:00.000-05:00

So I experienced and lived through my 1st earthquake.
Don't believe what you see in movies. I was very dissapointed.
No broken water mains shooting geysers into the air, no buildings fell, not even 1 looter (although me and my brother did contemplate going over to the mall and seeing if we could get some freebies.).
For posterity, I'm about 20 miles south of Washinton DC and the epic center of the quake was 20 miles NW of Richmond VA. For you that are totally clueless, its the EAST coast of the United States.
We get our fair share of hurricanes and tornadoes, but earthquakes? Probly a once in a lifetime event.
About 1:50 pm, I'm sitting at my desk and feel a funny vibration. Is one of the big machine downstairs malfunctioning and shaking the building? Than the whole building sways and makes some scary ass noises. Me and 8 other co-workers look at each other head for the door.
It was mostly over by the time we made it outside.
And..... that was it. Nothing evan fell off of the walls.
We did have picture frames fall over at my house 10 miles south and it scared the shit out of my 14 year old who was home alone by herself.
I asked her if she went outside. No she said. I guess I never went over what to do if an earthquakes hit.
My bad.

Now the important stuff, SM100 training and prep.
11 days out.
32 miles RR with a 17.5 mph average. Threw a few 80% pushes in there. The legs are feeling it this morning.
In prep for the actual race, I found the air pump for my mattress and rigged it so it would work with AA batteries. I use the pump once a year, I'll be damned if I'm buying 4 D size batteries just to use this thing for 1, possibly 2 nights.
Found my shitty flourescent camping lantern but the charger is no where to be seen.
I might buy a new one. We get a few power outages a year and it would be handy to have around anyways.

seeya

2 weeks out-weekend update

2011-08-22T15:09:00.000-05:00

Not really a weekend update as I didn't do anything worth while on Friday or Sunday.
So just a normal Saturday ride update.
Met up with my "original" Shenandoah Mt. 100 training partner, Pat for a ride down in the Wolfgap area of Va/West Va. Pat introduced me to Wolf Gap the year I did my 1st SM100 in 2007(in which I'd dnf'd), and he did some pre-rides of the course with me back then. I think this is the 1st time I've ridden with him since then.
I could never figure out why he let me ride with him, he was alot quicker than me and did alot of waiting.

I meet him in Manassas and he drives us down.
Pat is now riding a hartail. This is ironic cause when I 1st started riding with him, he'd give me grief about riding a hardtail out there. He'd tell me it wasn't a good idea,blah,blah,blah. Now he's on one.
I'm not sure of exactly where we parked or of the names of where we rode. I had my GPS but it turned itself off 3/4 of the way through the ride. You can see it in the link below of what it did get.
Most of the ride
Don't know why it cut off, weak batteries.
The 1st section of single track we came too I did remember from previous rides up there. Before it had been 50% hike a bike for me. Today, it was 95% rideable.
This was an exploratory ride, Pat wanted to try to link up some different trails.
A few noteworthy items
-one of the descents ended up being a hike. That sucks having to climb and than having to hike the descent.
-we had to back track on 2 dirtroads. I didn't have the topo maps for that area loaded into my GPS. It would have helped. They're on it now.
-I pinch flatted on a down hill when Pat had me go ahead. Once again, the tube in my seat pack had a hole worn in it. I took one of Pats spare tubes. Had my 1st injury as the CO2 cartridge got so cold it stuck to my skin and ripped some flesh off.
- Accidently shifted into the big ring-big cog combo. My chain was just long enough to shift up into it, than completely lock the drive train up. The chain was stretched so tight I couldn't evan turn the cranks. Broke it apart and put in a quick link. I still need to take a good look at the rear derailer and see if its damaged.
-Ran out of water. I told yall I drank alot. I had started with a whole 100oz CB and 1 25oz bottle. Pat took pity on me and shared his. He still had 1/3 of his CB full. Somebody wasn't hydrating enough.
-I actually kept up with Pat, and was riding ahead of him on some the course. I felt excellent with this. Disclaimer: Pat is 59, and had a TKR 3 years ago. He's in good shape but its not like I was keeping up with a 30 year old.

We get back to the vehicle, and we both are wondering about the mileage. I cycle through my computer and see 32.4. WHAT THE F#$#. Thats it? Well I find out the next day, that was my max speed. Duh! We'd actually done 41 miles. That made us feel a little better. For posterity, ride time was 5 hours, but I think total time was 7 hours.

A few things I learned.
-I need to lower my saddle height. When we started out I thought it was too low. I kept meaning to stop and raise it but never did. I felt good though at the end of the ride and didn't have any cramping problems.
-when re starting on hills, left foot 1st, than clip in with right. Don't ask.
-my new shoes are much better to hike in than the crappy old Sidi's.

Last weekends shitty performance on the road ride is completely forgotten now.

seeya

15 days out

2011-08-19T08:34:00.000-05:00

Uh oh, I missed a day.
We'll never know what happened on day 16.
1st, one of the people I ride with normally on Thursday told me last night "I didn't know you had a blog".
So my viewing audience has officially doubled.
With all the damn traffic I'm getting I should think about getting some of those banner ads to raise some money.

Nothing notable I'm afraid.
Got out for 1 lap at the Rose with the "slow guys".
The scale went down another pound.
Not good.
I even ate a snickers before my ride.
It said 205 last night. Damn. That was after an easy night of riding.
Whats going to happen with a big ride?

seeya

17 days.

2011-08-17T14:11:00.001-05:00

Its starting to look like a post each day till the race day.
Today's subject: The need for bike computers.
A statement I read comes to mind when I think about last nights ride. This was on the newbie forum on MTBR. The discussion was on bike computers and of course you get the bike "purist" (nazi,who was probably also a Vegan and Democrat) who throws out "you don't need a computer, just ride till your tired."
If you read the forums long enough you get that on any subject;
you don't need ; gears, suspension,ipod, HR monitor, lights, saddle, etc.
So I'm at the Rose, 1st time back on dirt since last week when I screwed up the shoulder.
Originally I wanna do a time trial, see how I'm doing.
I'm feeling like shit. Legs are tight I'm breathing way heavier than I think I should.
I stop twice, once to adjust the saddle height the 2nd cause of some brake noise.
Well, if I can't get good time trial in I'll just ride and enjoy being out here.
Finished the lap thinking it just took me an hour but the computer says 47 minutes.
I still felt like shit, but I feel good about the time.

Judy had dinner waiting for me when I got home. Some sort of veggy/rice dish which had HUGE pieces of tofu as the main ingredient. Tofu doesn't even have enough character to call is nasty. Just tastes like your eating pieces of tasteless foam.
Reminds me of a line from one of my favorite movies, Gangs of New York ". You are neither cold nor hot. So because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth."
I didn't spew it out my mouth though, Judy was watching me eat.

Seeya

Cause I'm bored.

2011-08-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

The difference a year can make.
Last year at this time we had just put a family member in the hospital and I didn't really care about the upcoming race. This year I'm psyched and spend too much time at work playing on the web reading racing stuff.

I skipped the shop last night to give the shoulder some rest. It wouldn't have went over good anyways if I had to ask for help to get a bike off of the rack so I could repair it. The shoulder is definately healing. I can shampoo my own head again. Should be good to go in a few days.

Ran across these picts of stuff they were clearing off of the race course while they were out doing trailwork in prep for the race.

Good for them on fixing the course up, but do they need to get rid of these itty bitty logs.
Hardly a blip on the trail for me or my regular riding buddies.
Hell they add character.

What is it? 18 days.
Oh will August ever end?

Who am I kidding-shoulder still sucks.

2011-08-15T12:39:00.000-05:00

I'll be lucky if I can pull a 13 hour finish labor day weekend.
What a crap weekend for the training.

Friday
Rest night in prep of what will come tomorrow, as of Friday was nothing.
Normally I would have went into the bike shop to work, but the shoulders still hurts.
I couldn't even lift the bikes down from the ceiling hooks if I wanted to.

Saturday
No goods rides materialized. Randy did ask me about Rosaryville but I was out there 5 hours last weekend and Wednesday night. I decide on a RR but I'm not doing a century. Take off with some bottles on a different route. End up with 65 miles with a 16.4 average. I'm not feeling good about this at all. I had a headwind alot of the time but still the hills were kicking my ass. I just can't put out any intensity. I was going to extend the ride longer but the shoulder was really starting to get sore.
Later as I'm sitting on the couch with the shoulder throbbing at me, I'm not so sure I should have ridden any.
I can ride but its still stressing the shoulder.

Sunday
Woke up to rain. Heavy rain.
I wanted to go into the shop, but.....you guessed it.
As I sit her at the computer I've got to lift the right arm up with the left to put my hand on the mouse.
It was like that yesterday.
Basically, ~~sat around the house all day doing nothing~~, oh wait, I did finish truing my wheel up and fiddled with the bike. Around 6 I felt so guilty I went downstairs and got on the trainer for an hour. That went Ok.

2 weekends left to get in big rides, less than 20 days and I swear the more I ride the slower I'm getting.
I'm not too worried about the shoulder, in a few more days it will be back to somewhat normal.
The weight is still at 206.
I better check out my lights to see what kind of burn time I can get out of the 2 year old battery.
I'll be needing it at the 100. Its fun finishing up in the dark anyways.

I hate being associated with these type of people.

2011-08-12T08:23:00.000-05:00

An article someone sent to me through the Oxon Hill Bicycle Club list server.
I didn't read the article but it starts out like this..
"I'm thinking about switching my daily commute from four wheels to two. But I'm concerned about all the energy it takes to manufacture and ship a new bicycle. How many miles would I need to substitute a bike for my car before I've gone "carbon neutral"?"

It must be nice to go through life with so few problems that you concern yourself with shit like this.
I'd love to see the look on there face when I tell them about how I drive 3 hours in my truck just to ride my bike.

Fuck'n treehuggers.

Lets see how screwed up a ride I can do.

2011-08-10T22:06:00.001-05:00

Tuesday was a dud. I ended up on the trainer. Don't ask how.
I really hate that thing. The most I could muster was 17 mph in spurts, and I quit after 55 minutes.

So I go out to Rosaryville Wednesday. Wanna make up for last nights suck-fest.
Doc shows, then Laura and Billy.
Good, the fast group. Somebody who'll push me so I don't slack off.
1/8 mile in I ride through a small branch/vine thats growing into the trail, that SOB had thorns on it.
Ripped a cut in the bridge of my nose, now I'm got blood flowing down my face.
A mile later we're climbing a small hill, I'm standing mashing lightly.
I'm not sure if my grips turned on me, or what happen but my right shoulder collapses and I'm down.
I get up and can barely get my arm above my head.
Doc checks me over and says nothing is broke.
In doubt, I go ahead and continue the ride.
I was actually riding kind of good. I couldn't use the shoulder a whole lot so I used more body english and the legs to do all the work.
Finished the 1st lap (no inner loop).
By the time we finally got out for the 2nd lap we had to cut it short cause of lack of daylite.
See previous post.
So 2 wounds and only 1-1/2 laps, AND the pace wasn't that fast.
Like I said before, if your training its usually better to go out by yourself.

Pretty sure the shoulder will be fine in a day or two. I screwed it up like this before at the beach playing in the waves.

I hate this time of year.

2011-08-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

Between now and Saturday we lose 5 minutes of light in the evening.
Its the dangerous time for those after work rides when you think you've got 20 more minutes of light than you really do.
Sunset tonight 8:09 Saturday 8:04.
Just a little public service announcement so you don't get caught in the woods in the dark.

From "Can't wait" to "Meh".

2011-08-07T21:43:00.001-05:00

That describes my weekend plans.

Originally I was supposed to meet Rob and Pat down @ Todd lake on Saturday to ride some of the race course on Saturday. By Friday that got changed to riding Wolf Gap (Va-Wva border) with Pat. Just as fun, but a little less driving. Probably a little better than our original plans.
Friday evening I installed my new 36 tooth cassette and made sure the gear was ready to go for my early Saturday drive down to I81 in VA.
I call Pat @ 6AM to check about the weather forecast. There calling for a 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms by 11am. I've never been caught in a thunderstorm out there, but I have been caught in the rain and I don't want to repeat it, and neither did Pat. So that was out.
I went back to bed and woke up about 8:30. I checked my phone and Pat had called me back 15 minutes afte I talked to him about another ride choice that sounded good. Of course that was 2 hours ago.
Missed out on that!

So.....I sure didn't fell like road riding. I'm beginning to despise asphalt.
Down to Rosaryville.....again.
Did 4 laps a month ago, that means technically I've gotta do 5 today.
Uhgggg. Not much better than a road ride.
Later, I'm on my 3rd lap wondering if I can evan start a 4th lap. Bored,bored,bored.
Finish my 3rd, eat a snickers. If I leave now I'm just going to do nothing worthwhile rest of day.
Finish my 4th lap, the snickers must have kicked so went ahead and did my 5th lap.
Mission accomplished. I actually could have kept riding but it was getting later in the afternoon and I remembered a few years ago when I did 7 laps and STILL DNF'd at the SM100.
I got in my 5 hours of riding (ok 4:57 but close enough).
53.7 miles. Good enough.
Of course the Rosaryville marathon wasn't a good test of the new 36 tooth cassette, but it did shift fine. I was a little worried about my rear derailer working with the larger cog.

Sunday.
My ass hurts. I walked outside at 8am and the humidity was at 5,000,000%. Screw the slow guys ride at Cedarville. I'm taking the morning off. (Note to self: Wear different shorts for the race. The price point shorts suck). Maybe I'll do a RR later in the evening.
Go to the bike shop. I wanna work on my bike a little but go ahead and work for "the man" for a few hours first. Pay for that new bottom bracket that I need.
I did install a new bottom bracket, and worked on my Stans flow wheel. I replaced most of the alloy nipples with brass. The alloy were breaking off randomly for no apparent reason. I know I just added weight doing that, but your talking to a guy who uses Snickers as training food.
I never did get out on that evening RR, we got t-stoms in.

Healthfront-clyde status is in less jeopardy than it was last week. Sunday night I'm at 209.

Finally, under 30 days.

2011-08-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

Less than a month, 29 days.
I'm more excited this year than last (is it any wonder). This year, no family issues to worry about just normal work bullshit and my wife bugging me about replacing the carpet in the house.
Wasn't that damn deck supposed to give me a hall pass for the summer? No bugging me about anything till after labor day.
Got out to the Rose last night and did 2 lap of the exterior loop. 19 miles at pretty good clip.
1st time back on the bike since Sunday, everything felt refreshed and good.
Went to the shop afterward and rebuilt my WTB laserdisc hub. Real easy job, took me about 40 minutes being careful but I could do it again in 10 minutes. I ended up with a whole new cassette carrier including bearings. I thought the whole kit was over kill but noticed last night that the out bound bearing was shot, so it worked out.
My 36 tooth cassette came in so I picked that up. I'll put it on a wheel tomowrow evening. Putting on a cassette is an "at home job".
I've got a training ride planned Saturday on part of the SM100 course and want to give it a shot.
I've been looking at this cassette as using it for granny-gearing and maybe staying on the bike longer before I walk, but now I'm thinking it might keep me in the middle ring longer on the climbs. There's just a mental block I have. Once I drop the chain down onto the small ring, it usually stays there till I really need to go back to the middle or higher.

No weight update. I'm kind of afraid to get on the scale.

Sick or just tired?

2011-08-02T21:55:00.001-05:00

Didn't ride tonight and now I feel guilty as shit.
Thought I'd relax a few minutes on the couch before heading out.
Thats turned into a nap and afterwards I was still having a little nausea.
1 extra day of rest is probly good for me. I'd ridden 5 of the last 7 days.

I've officially set a goal for the SM100.
Under 12.5 hours.
I've got the fitness, training, and the bike for abuse the body will take from the descents and rocks.
What I don't have is the endurance to push the pace up a little from my finish in '09 on the flats and ascents.
I'm hoping that trying to lower my saddle on the singletrack climbs will keep me on the bike a little longer.
I keep thinking back to 09 and trying to figure out where I could have shaved time off.

Still more than 30 days to go.

What a joke.

2011-08-02T14:32:00.000-05:00

I found this video of a 100 mile "MTB" race that's held in Leadville every year.
This is what they consider technical?
No wonder it has over 1500 participants.
Any roadie who has ever been on a gravel road could do this.
They have balls to call this a Mountain Bike Race.

Sissy boy cassette.

2011-08-01T11:22:00.000-05:00

Ordered the 36 tooth cassette today for the bike.
I'll have 1 or 2 more big training rides out west (GW forest) to try it out before the race.
I ordered the rebuild kit for my hub last week.
Its all coming together.
Also, the registration for the race officially became full........HA!!!

Weekend update 33 day till...

2011-07-31T21:17:00.000-05:00

Well we can kiss another month of Summer goodbye, Seeya July.
Friday
Time for a rest day, I'm tired.
Cut my grass. Advice for the guys. If you don't really feel like the mowing the lawn and your not sure if it needs it. Don't ask the wife's opinion. More than likely the bitch will say, yes it needs to be cut. It was mid 90's and a shitload of humidity. I bet her opinion would have been different if it was her pushing the mower.
Later, my rear shifter has been having some sticking problems lately. I thought I'd just take the cover off and see how involved it would be to take it apart and clean.
Oh boy. Shouldn't have done that. There is no "just" taking the bottom cover off of a SRAM X9 trigger shifter. 1st thing happens is a spring pops out of its position. This is never good.
Long story short, got pissed off after 90 minutes and decided to leave it till tomorrow. So much for me getting an early start Saturday morning.

Saturday
Bright eyed and bushy tailed Saturday morning. Ok, lets look at the shifter with a brand new fresh optimistic attitude. After 20 minutes, it still doesn't want to go together and I'm just as pissed off when I quit last night.
I start thinking I'm going to have to buy a new shifter cause I can't get this back together. In my mind this is almost as bad as the guy who needs to have his wife pick him up from the training ride cause he's bonked.
A little searching on the internet and looking at diagrams and I give it another shot.
I don't know how, and I probably couldn't do it again, but it finally fell together correctly.... and actually worked better than when I started.

Load the bike up and make the drive to St.Marys River Park south of Leonardtown.
This is the park with the 7.5 mile loop that constantly beats you up. Root city. Theres no resting.
Not really looking at mileage , just thinking I'd like 4 hours of training.
I get in 4 laps at the place and am starting to feel it.
I managed to get in 1 more lap, which included my only crash. I was tired, almost hit a tree and went down with my foot stuck in the pedal. Thats what I get for not adjusting the tension on the new pedals yet.
38.5 miles and close to 4 hours of body pounding riding.
Once home I find that I've been infested with little black dots, that move.
I don't have a clue what they were, only that they itched like hell and it took 2 showers and a scrub brush to get rid of them.

Sunday
Easy ride with the slow guys at Cedarville.
My ass was killing me. I'd try to get off the saddle at the slightest little bump.
And as if I hadn't sweated enough for the weekend, over to Moms and mowed her lawn.

Health front: Saturday after my ride 206.4. I'm pretty sure this is the lowest I've ever been as an adult. Who am I kidding. I was fat kid. Its the lowest I've been since I was 15. By Sunday it jumped back up to 208, but the average is still slowly going down. If I can't keep the weight on, I'm going to have to change from Clydesdale to open male division. I'm slow for a clyde, it would suck being in the open division.

How to dissamble and put back togather sram x9 shifter

2011-07-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

I don't wanna lose these links.
Took me forever to find.
disassembly

Assembly

37 days.

2011-07-27T11:02:00.001-05:00

I like my new shoes.
I like my new brakes.
I like low humidity.

A good ride at the Rose last night.
2 nights riding in a row.
Tonight should make it 3.

The shops distributor finally got the re-build kit back in stock for my WTB hub.
I watched the quanity in stock go quickly down, so I told them to go ahead and special order it and I"d pay for the shipping. The shop puts all orders in on Mondays, I didn't wanna take a chance that it would be out of stock by then and I'd have to wait another 6 weeks till they got more.

The scale said 206.5 last night.
I've been stuffing myself at dinner time trying to keep the weight on.
6.5 more pounds and I'm no longer a clydesdale.
If you don't know me your trying to figure out what the big deal is.
On weight charts they used to ask about your body type, aka bone structure. I REALLY am large boned and look sickly being skinny.
Think Lurch (the adams family) with a beard.

38 days to go.

2011-07-27T08:48:00.000-05:00

Whats going on.....
Got out last night for a quickie road ride.
Gross. I was bombarded the 2nd half of my ride by these little gnat like bugs.
They got everywhere. I felt like a car windshield.
27.5 miles with a 17.5 average. I don't think its as good as I was doing last year and I can't figure out why.
I've been busting ass.
I'm going to start looking into recovery supplements. My legs are always tired and sore. I went through this when I lifted weights earlier in life. Sure I looked decent but was always sore from lifting. I'm starting to wonder if my knee surgery where they used part of my ham-string muscle as a graft has anything to do with it.

I'm looking at my training log from last year, and it was a year ago today that I lost my dad.
It reminded me of how crappy the summer of 2010 was and how this years been uneventful.
I'm thankful for that anyways.
I'm going to go home and have a talk with the family.
"Look last summer sucked shit for the family. This summers been good. DON'T FUCK IT UP".

I'm on a roll for buying bike parts and can't seem to stop this obsession.
My next purchase is going to be a 36 tooth cassette. My cost is only $38. Whats to lose?
I'm just worried that if I use it for the SM100, I'll use the 36T where I could've gotten away with the 34T, and it'll slow me down a little. Theres also the argument that a 36t might keep me on the bike longer with less walking.
??????? Decisions.

40 days to go. Weekend update.

2011-07-25T14:34:00.000-05:00

We're still in the midst of a major heatwave. 101 on Friday,100 on Saturday and a cold day on Sunday with a high of 95. Where did I put those arm warmers? I got these temps off of the weather channel, I think our real temps were a few degrees higher.
When it gets this hot I go into survival mode.
Training? Whats that? If I can just get out an burn up calories I'm happy.

Friday
In the shop to work after job #1. Tonight I got to work on a recumbent. Took me 10 minutes just to figure out how to put it in the bikestand.
My new shoes finally arrived from Shimano. (Only ordered them the 1st week of June). After finishing up work I clocked out and pulled some new pedals off of the shelf (bike shop employee perk). Put the new cleats on the new shoes, new padals on my bike and rode around the parking lot a few minutes. They felt good. More flexible than my Sidi's (something I really wanted) and they had more aggressive grips on the soles with real rubber. So far I felt good about them, but only a real ride would let me know if they were any good.

Because picts are fun!!

SATURDAY
Met up with Eric B and Tom W and did some trailwork at Rosaryville. It wasn't anything too strenuous. Mostly trimming back foilage from the trail. Things are really getting over grown out there.
It was hot, but it was all in the shade. Maybe I'm getting used to the heat, but I could've stayed out there all day.
Got home and put the new rear brake on the Niner.
Bikes all set. New brakes,grips, pedals, and the rear suspension has new bushings.
Only thing left is to wait for the free hub rebuild kit to get back in stock so I can put my Stans Arch wheel back together.
SUNDAY
Ok, I guess I should ride some this weekend.
I go to the Rose and do 3 laps. Was going to quit at 2, but Doc shamed be into doing a 3rd.

Actually if I'd had more water and I didn't need to be home I would have went for a 4th.
I think my endurance is starting to come back. As long as I can keep my own pace and not push it trying to keep up with a hammerhead, I can keep rolling.

This is encouraging me for the SM100. Now if I could only push my "endurance pace" up.

Weights sticking at around 208.

New brake.

2011-07-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

Damn its hot. A high of 100 with a crapload of humidity.
The slow guys cancelled the normal Thursday evening ride cause of the heat.
Bunch of sissy boys. Alot of the Oxon Hill Bike Club rides were being cancelled. That shows the difference between them and the real racer bike clubs.
I went out there and did a lap.
The heat didn't bother me one bit, but it seemed like I was having problems catching my breath.
Air quality was shit, code red. I'm assuming that was it.
I did an easy lap. Almost effortlessly as far as the legs went but when I'd try to push it, it was like I couldn't get the air all the way to the bottom of the lungs. I guess 80% humidity will do that to you.
I quit after the 1st lap. Partially cause of the air quality, partly cause I wanted to pick up my new rear brake from the shop.
This was my first ride with my new Hayes Prime front brake.
Compared to the old HFX9 it was sweet.
The power/modulation in these are great. I'd grab some brake and I hardly need any effort, but they still had plenty of modulation.
I had only replaced the fronts, but picked up the rear from the shop tonight.
Can't wait to have a complete set on the bike.

Why do I bother.

2011-07-20T10:50:00.000-05:00

Normal after work RR.
I had the intention of going out and working on my speed.
I didn't do any intervals, just kept the speed up to where my legs were always on the verge of quitting.
You'd think as a smoker the cardio would go 1st.
Kept the computer on max speed, so I wasn't eyeing my average or mileage.
Final stats for the ride, 30.5 miles with a 17mph average.
Fuck me. Here I am thinking it'll be 17.8 or .9 and its a shitty 17.
To make it worse I looked at last years training log. I did 27 miles with a 17.7 average.
I knew I was going backwards.

I did find my waterbottle that I lost on Saturdays ride, that might have knocked the average down a little.
Spent 5 minutes searching the shoulder of the road for it and just as I was about to give up, Score.
There it was. 1-25oz camelback polar waterbottle found un-scathed. No tire tracks on it and no rednecks had used it for target practice.
I also found a baseball cap and a hub cap to a volvo. I left those there. If you need one these items I'll be happy to give you directions.

Healthfront: Down a couple of pounds from last nights waterloss. I'll see how it stabilizes. Hot and humid last night. I sweated my ass off.

Excellent.

2011-07-18T14:18:00.000-05:00

Got an email back from Redline already on my Monocog Flight frame.
The rep asked me if I could wait 30 days till the new models started shipping.
Damn straight!
New frame for free for a bike thats been a clothesline for the past 3 months.
I'll wait.
It'll be good to be back on hartail again.
Maybe if I'm not pushing a 50lb RIP I can beat Doc again.

Rest day-lets work on bikes.

2011-07-18T12:42:00.000-05:00

The plan was to meet the "slow guys" in Clinton at Cosca Park at 9:30.
I woke up at 7:00, decided I had time for another hour of sleep. Woke back up at 9:00.
I must have needed the sleep. The slow guys will just have to miss my company today.

Pulled out my new front brake, the latest and greatest Hayes Prime. This is the 1st time I've gotten an item that is new (except for the Niner RIP). By new I mean just released. I usually wait for them to work the kinks out in the 2nd or 3rd generation of a product.
I'd also bought new grips. The old lock-on grips had corroded onto the bars. I had to drill holes into the lock rings and break them off, then slice the grips down the middle and peel them off. It was an ugly mess. The oxidization that was under the grips was unreal. 20 minutes with the wire brush and drill and it was clean enough for the new grips to go on.

Old brake with new grip.


New brake with new grip.

New brakes and grips on and its starting to get hot. I wanna go over my old Redline Monocog. Its having frame issues. Instead of sweating my ass off in the garage, I load up everything and go to bike shop. All the right tools, a real bike stand and its air conditioned.
Employee benefits.

The monocog's rear wheel won't center up between the drop outs correctly. I thought my brother, who I had loaned the bike to for the past year, had bent the frame. I heard though that a fellow rider was having the same problem and Redline ended up warranting the frame.
After inspecting it, and getting a 2nd opinion from the head mechanic, it was the same problem. The slider on one side, that the drop outs bolt into were deformed.
I emailed Redline and am waiting to hear back.
I was all ready to write the frame off so I'm looking forward to getting a new frame and getting back on a hardtail out at Rosaryville. The RIP is just too heavy and over kill at the Rose.

Finished the day out by pressing the iron, trying to put off a the upper body muscle atrophy.

Health front: sticking right around 210. Thats after hydrating and sitting on my ass all day Sunday.

1st full century

2011-07-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

I decided it was finally time for the dreaded road ride.
Left the house Saturday morning. Destinstion-Point lookout State park, 52 miles away.
I was doing this ride with no camelback. I had installed an extra water bottle carrier that hangs off of the seatpost and I got a small frame bag. I already had a saddle bag which had all my tools and spare tube.
The frame bags not very large, but it held some gu's, electrolytes, cell phone and cash.
Not much to say.
Made it down with a slight headwind that took down my average some.
Re filled the bottles, and took a small break at the park store.
No real problems until mile 78. Inner thigh started cramping. I rode it out and cut back the pace a little.
Last 10 miles was the normal, "I just wanna be off this bike" and "why do I do this? This isn't fun".
I hit 100 miles on the computer and my average was 16.6. Not too shabby for someone who's trying not mash.
Got home with a total of 102.5 miles and a 16.5 average.
I lost one of my new camelback podium bottles which pissed me off. One descent thats torn up and bumpy from those damn amish buggies.
I was happy with the ride fitness wise, but what really made me happy was the knee.
Although I nursed it (mentally pushed more with the good leg) it didn't give me alot of grief after the ride.
It didn't bother me at all that night, I got a good nights sleep.
I was worried that the hammerfest at Rosaryville had permantely damaged it.
I'm ready for the race NOW.
I wish the race was next weekend.

Too much for a weeknight-Knee is starting to fail.

2011-07-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

Thursday evening ride with Barry and the Oxon hill crew at the Rose at 6.
I get there at 5 and do my pre-ride lap. No time trial tonight, good moderate pace.
I purposely tried to go back to my old style of riding, mashing. Since the knee started giving me problems I've been trying to spin more. After last weekends ride where I used the small ring most of the time and spun more than mashed (and was the slowest rider), I decided I've gotta get back to my roots.
It did feel good using a lower cadence, but the knee did object.
Get back and go out with the fast half of the group, although tonight they weren't going out the normal race pace, probly cause Doc was somewhere out on the trail, lost, trying to find us. He did find us after the 1/2 way mark...and pushed it up to a race pace.
We finish the lap and Doc starts prodding us to do another lap.
Its almost 7:30, I'm tired but not dead so I go out with them.
Ended the night with 3 laps, 30 miles.
Pretty good for a weeknight ride when I've gotta go to work the next day.

PAYBACK
I paid for that mashing. Knee felt worse than it has the past few weeks, and for the 1st time since my injections it kept me up half the night until about 1:30 I got up and took some of the pain killers I had left over from April.
I made an appointment to see the doc. I can't get in to see him for 10 days. I don't know what he'll be able to do. I'm hoping to just get a re-fill on the pain killers.

Just as I'm starting to feel pretty good about my progress and fitness, the knee starts up again. I was really starting to think a 12.5 hour at the SM100 was in reach.
Its not bothering me too much while riding, but what good is that if I can't sleep at night?

Maybe I could limit my training to 1 long ride on Satrudays, afterwards drink until I'm drunk and pass out.
I'm still a novice at drinking.
3 beers and I'm out for the count.

Hot.

2011-07-13T07:26:00.002-05:00

Just for future reference.
It was hot, 95 easy and humid.
1 time trial at Rosaryville. 45:07.
I can live with that. 22 seconds worst than my best.
Than did a 2nd lap with doc with the interior loop.
21 miles total.

weights hanging around 210.
Evan Doc said I'm getting skinny.

Weekend update-7-11 Skymass

2011-07-11T11:19:00.002-05:00

Friday
Worked in the shop Friday night. I really wanted to just go in there and see if my new shoes had come in yet. They hadn't but I had nothing to do home, so I worked.

Saturday
Big ride planned for tomowrow so no big riding for today. Did a lap at the Rose.
Went to my moms and mowed her lawn.

Sunday
The infamous "Skymass" ride which I'd heard so much about.
This is a road ride which is 80 miles long and has 5000+ feet of climbing.
I left the house at 6:45 and met up with the group at 8:50 in Front Royal, VA.
It was Randy, Eric, and 2 friends of Randys. One guy had veins popping out of his calves, this is never a good sign. The other guy was wearing bib shorts.
There I was with my flat pedals, sneakers, and a triple ring up front.
No question as to who everyone would be waiting for today.
We rode to the entrance of skyline drive, paid $8 each to get in, yes even on a bike you gotta pay to ride on this road.
I grilled the guys alot about what was coming up, I knew it was alot of climbing so I really paced myself.
Randy road with me for 10 minutes, than slowly pulled ahead. He said we'd meet up at a gas station in about 22 miles. I said seeya.

I tried thinking about this thing as sections but it was just a plain bitch.
The ride starts with an initial 4 mile climb and there are NO freak'n breaks. It is ALL uphill, not evan a small flat section to recover on. I got a break after 4 miles for about 2 minutes, if that .
Than back to climbing.
This is the kind of climbing I hate. Long straight sections where you can see 1/2 mile ahead.
I think of these as soul crushers.

After 20 miles I get to the end of the "bad" climbing.
A few miles of mostly descending and I meet up with the group at the camp store.
I buy a few gatorades and a cliff bar, for me a small break as the groups been there 15 minutes and we're off.
11 miles of rolling terrain till our next regroup.
Randy slows down a little and I pretty much stick with him to the next re gouping at RT211.
We take the exit ramp down to 211 and see 2 guys waiting.
Weren't we a group of 5?
It seems that one of Randy's friend was riding between the fast guys and the slow guys (me) and missed the exit. How he did that is a mystery. There are very few exits off of skyline drive. How could you miss it?
We've got no cell phone signal so no way to call this guy.
Eric and the fast calf guy go back up to chase him down. From what I understand they flag down a motorist and ask them to watch for him. The motorist did find him and had him turn around.

The 3 of them get back. Since they've been gone, me and randy find out that the road we're supposed to take is closed because of an accident. They're not even letting cyclist walk past the scene.
So we do an about face and go back the way we just came.
All I can think about is that decent I took after 20 miles, I've got to climb.
Rest of the ride went by in a blur except for a few notable items.
-it got hot and I thought I was going to die.
-getting passed and dropped by some members of my group who stopped at the camp store for a break.
-it got hotter and I thought I was going to die again.
-coming down the final 4 mile decent, remembering that it had been a while since I serviced the bearings in my front wheel. (Long time meaning never).

Ended the ride with 66 miles and 6450 feet of climbing.
A hell of a way to bump up my hill training.

Feeling fast not the same as being fast.

2011-07-08T09:10:00.002-05:00

Did a time trial at the Rose before meeting up with the slow guys at 6.
Felt pretty good. Felt fast.
Time ended up being 46:15.
Not even close to my best time.
I did have to dismount for some deadfall and had to wait for a group of riders with kids to pass, but still that might have added 30 seconds.
Feel like I'm going backwards.

Trying to get a list of stuff together I need to repair the mountain bike.
I replaced the drive train a few months ago so thats good.
-new brakes (looking at the brand new Hayes Prime).
-new grips.
-rebuild the WTB laserdisc hub. (EVERYBODY is out of stock except those that want a premium for it).
-I've got new shoes coming anyday.
-new pedals (I've got play in them)
-new rear tire.
-re-build my whole rear wheel. The alloy nipples have been breaking at the rim 1 at a time. I want to sit down and just replace them all at once. I'm not buying rims again that don't have eyelets.

Is that all?
Thats enough for now anyways.

The dreaded road century.

2011-07-05T14:14:00.002-05:00

I'm back at work after a week off, having done a pretty decent ride yesterday.
I don't feel like working so I go over my training log from last year.
Sometime in the near future I've got to get out and do a road century, and I'm not looking forward to it at all.
From all my past centuries the thing I remember most are the last 30 miles, where its hitting 90 degrees and I'm bonking debating on weather to have the wife come pick me up.
Not something to look forward. It's not fun at all.
I'm really toying with the idea of leaving the house one evening at about 5:00 and finishing up in the dark.
The wife would kill me though. She worries enough about my daytime rides.

Independence weekend. update

2011-07-05T08:45:00.002-05:00

Ahh. Its nice being home.
Saturday evening I took an easy ride on the road bike. 22 miles. The 1st few miles I had familiar cramps in my quads. I usually get these when I get off of my standard riding pattern. They went away and I had a nice ride.
Got home and had a nice healthy dinner. No fried, no raw. Meat with vegtables and very little carbs.

Sunday
With no better ideas, and a ride at patapsco being cancelled cause of rain, I went over to Rosaryville. I did a lap there and bagged it. The trails were mostly damp but the mudholes were huge.
With dread I stepped on the scale Sunday evening to see what damage had been done from the previous 3 days. Still under 210. I was happy. Well not totally happy. I'm starting to feel like a skinny 12 year old boy again so I had an iron lifting session for about an hour.
If I'm going to be slow, I might as well look the part.

Monday
Met up with Billy,Laurie, and Harold at Patapsco for a 3-5 hour ride planned.
A couple of Lauries friends showed up. 1 was wearing a shenandoah mt 100 shirt. I'm making small talk and ask him about his time. He says "10:30" (10 hours,30 minutes). Oh fuck.
For reference my time was 13:02 and my fast friends come in at 11:30
Than to make it worse, they start talking about coming in 2nd at the previous weekends 12hour race.
What am I getting myself into?
The "racers" ended up splitting from us after a couple of miles.
Trail conditions were ok except for the wet roots. It had rained the night before. That and the humid conditons made the rooty hills tricky. I kept spinning out on stuff I'd normally ride.
Part of it I'm sure was the crappy tire I was using. This was something my brother had picked up cheap on the net.
By the end of the ride I was ready, and am still going to trash it. Couldn't blame its performance on age either. Its got less than 100 miles on it.
Finished the ride up with 3:45 ride time and 22 miles. Yup, like I said we weren't making the best time on the roots.

Finished the day off with a bbq at the father in laws.
His stepson, who is a downhill racer, was there so it wasn't as boring as normal.
Had somebody to talk bikes with. He was also a part time shop rat like me for a while.

God I hate the beach.

2011-07-02T12:27:00.002-05:00

I'm sitting here Saturday waiting for the wife to get home from the beach.
I left early to get daughter number 1 to her job.
That sucks. A week at the beach and you have to go to work the same day you get back.
This trip to OC was especially crappy for me.
Got there Wednesday afternoon, went out to the beach with the family a while, rode the bike a little to find a ATM, then we went out to dinner.
That was the mistake.
We went to an "all can you eat" place. That was a mistake.
I pigged out big time on fried foods (not sure exactly what they are until you bike into them). And I finished the meal off with raw oysters and clams. Thank you to daughter number 2 who found the raw bar hidden next to the desserts.
Who puts the raw bar next to the desserts?
Thursday we go to the beach a while, then me and daughter 2 go on an urban assuault on the bikes.
I don't feel worth shit. Tummy is making funny noises, I feel weak and dehydrated. We cut the ride short go back to condo.
We go to dinner and I can't eat.
I did manage to put down a milkshake later.
Friday I'm feeling like crap and stay in the condo most of the day sleeping while the wife takes kids to boardwalk, and out to lunch.
Finally around 5 I go with them out to see a movie. Appetite is coming back, so I eat popcorn at the theater. We finish up our vacation with dinner at dough rollers. What a piece of shit this place is. Nine bucks for a crappy sub, 1/2 the size of what I could have gotten at subway for 5$.
Don't go there.

3 days of the beach have probably knocked my fitness back by 3 weeks, and I'm afraid to get on the scale.
When I think about all that wasted money I just cringe.

Best part of my week vacation from work...riding Rosaryville on Tuesday.

That hurt, some.

2011-06-28T19:41:00.002-05:00

1st official day of my vacation.
Today I'm still at home.
I decide its time for my 1st Rosaryville marathon of the year.
Get there with the idea of doing 4 laps (yeah, who am I kidding).
Well, by god captain, I did 4 laps and one included the inner loop.
That last lap wasn't pretty, I evan dropped it down into granny gear a couple of times. My ass was killing me also the last 4 miles.
Thats what these long rides are all about anyway. Putting your body through pain so it adapts and grows stronger.
Can't wait to talk to the wife and explain to her about my "strong ass".

4hours, 4 laps +, 39.8 miles.
And it was hot. My on-board thermometer said it was 96. It likes to exaggerate a little bit just to make me feel good. Yes, you pay extra for that feature.

Weekend update 6-26-11

2011-06-27T07:16:00.001-05:00

Ok, let me get this down before I forget and in a year when I'm looking back, this won't be the lost weekend.

Thursday
No, this isn't some alternate universe where weekends start on Thursday. I was off on Friday so this started my weekend. Did an afterwork RR and got a flat after 7 miles. Everybody know on "after work " RR's you don't carry tools or spare tubes.
Had the wife come pick me. (no tubes but I had a cellphone)

Friday
I'm off work. Yeah!
Took the family and friends of family to Kings Dominion amusement park.
Damn that place has changed. This was a favorite of mine when I was kid.
Not much to note other than I thought I was going to black out for a minute on one of the rollercoasters. The "Intimidator". I blame it on my riding style which is just sit back and relax and let the blood get sucked outta your head.
I rode it again, tensed up like normal people and felt fine.
Stupid rides not getting the best of me.

Saturday.
Wife and kids leave for the beach. I didn't get rid of them till 11.
Went to the shop and picked up my bike and new linkage that came in Friday from Niner. I also picked up a 2nd seat bag ,CO2, a new hardcased 28c tire For the road bike. Now I don't have to switch over from the MTB and will have tools and tubes.
Got the RIP put back together and in working order.
Went for a RR although I didn't really feel like it.
Got 2 miles from the house and than remembered, I REALLY didn't feel like riding. Turned around, rode home and cut the grass.
At least I got some exercise in.

Sunday
Hmmm, too hot for a rode ride.
Take the RIP down to St.Marys lake for a shakedown ride, maybe try to push my ride time up for endurance sake.
I do 1 lap and am checking the bike out. The bearings in the rear wheel are loose. Crap.
Go home, pick up mower and go to Moms and do some lawn work. (I'm a good son, you notice I went for a ride first).
Leave moms, drive up to bike shop and fix my wheel. All the way up to Waldorf just cause I have yet to buy a couple of 15mm cone wrenches. That will soon be remedied.
Back home, jump on the road bike (still don't feel like a road ride) and get thirty some miles in at a less than stellar 16.3 mph.
Hey atleast I didn't turn around after 2 miles. (I had already cut everybody's grass, I didn't have anything else to do).

The wrap up.
Damn, after reading what I did over the weekend it was no wonder I didn't want to get up to go to work on Monday.

Weight was down to 207 Sunday night.
I'm going to start cutting back on the crap I eat after rides. I'm still going to pig out, just change the quality of the food. I heard that choclate milk is good for post ride rehab.
Did a really need to pick up a whole 1/2 gallon and finish it off?
Next time just a pint, and some water. Might switch out the bbq cornchips for pretzels and apples.

Training log for posterity.

2011-06-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

After work road ride.
33 miles- 16.9 average.
Took a different route which added a few more small hills.
I'm thinking about difference between 2 hours of road versus 2 hours of trail.
33 miles on the road is at least 32 miles of pushing the pedals.
2 hours of trail is about 22 miles which 50% is pedaling, 50% coasting.
Breaking the MTB might be good for me.

Weekend update part 2 -Ka-ching

2011-06-20T20:19:00.000-05:00

Taking the bike off of Randys car when we get back to So.Md.
"Thunk" as I set it down.
"Uh Oh, thats not normal" even for my highly un-maintained steed.
I got play in the rear shock bushing.
Try to take the bolt out and shear the head off.
Take it into the shop Sunday and get Chris's "expert" opinion.
First thing he does is pick up a hammer and trys smacking the bolt.
I was expecting something a little more technical from his years of experience.
In the end I need to get a new linkage, new shock bushing , reducers and a bolt.
I saved the shock.
So I'm waiting on the linkage from Niner, and a bushing and a bushing remover and installer off of ebay. Hopefully they'll be here friday.
Till then, I'm roadie. Unless THAT tries to commit suicide.
All this because my lack of regular maintance.
From now on, all bolts get taken out monthly, cleaned, and greased.
I also need, Ok I want new brakes and I need new grips.
Oh, and pedals. They're getting an awful lot play.

Kaching

And I thought the deck was expensive.

Weekend update 6-20-11

2011-06-20T11:43:00.000-05:00

FRIDAY.
Get home from job 1 and start getting ready for tomorrow. Going to Stokesville to train/pre-ride some of the SM100 race course. I gotta make sure I'm prepared for the 4hour ride. I zip around the yard a few minutes to make sure everything is shifting and moving the way it should.
Around 7:30 I get a call from my buddy Doc who's going also. He's been trying to true his wheel all day and has stripped out his Maveric spoke nipple tool. I don't have one.
I tell him to just come out tomowrow, I'll bring my extra wheel and we'll swap his out if its that bad.
This will come into play in a big way.

Saturday.
Up at 5am. Uhgg. Whose idea was this? Meet Randy at his house at 5:50 and ride down.
One stop in Va to meet up with Doc so he can follow us down and we get to Todd lake just after 9.
So the ride consisted of Me, Randy,Doc,Chris,Eric, James (Vescus), 2 guys I didn't really know also, Rob and Scott. Other than Rob and Scott I knew I was going to be the slow guy, so I was hoping one of them would end up sweeping. I don't mind being slow, just not the slowest.

We all head out of the Todd lake area, I'm 300 yards from the truck and my hub quit working.
There it is. I'm "that" guy again. Kind of reminded me of the guy in the race last year who had a flat in the 1st mile of the race.
I remember the spare tire I had brought for Doc to use, back to the truck , a quick change over, I didn't evan need to adjust the calipers and I'm back with the group.

We start the 1st climb, its the same as when you leave aid station 2 of the race.
2 mile climb, a tiny little break than 2 more miles to the downhill.
In the 1st mile everyone is pulling away from me....except for Rob.
There's my Bitch!
Thank you Rob for taking my position as the slow guy.
Oh yeah. Karma is going to kick my ass for that remark. Watch him train like a madman and beat me in September.
We all make it down safely, I enjoyed the hell outta the downhill.
A quick stop at the crappy quick-mart, which btw, only had powerade, no gatorade.
Then we formed a paceline for the 5 miles to the next climb.
We're going along at about 14mph. Rember we are on MTB's.
I'm behind Randy really wanting to get out of the paceline. He gets his turn at the front and bumps it up to 16. Evan I know that you don't do that in paceline.

We start the 2 mile climb. This is the worst section of the race for me.
At one point I'm by myself. I can't see anyone in front, and Rob is outta view.
I take a fall off the side of the trail and am pissed.
Start hiking again and hit a good spot to get back on and ride a little but I'm having a time just trying to throw my leg over the saddle. Its still in my normal "road/hill climbing" height.
I say fuck it and lower it....alot.
I'm grannying up the hill and realize I'm not having trouble staying on the off camber trail.
I get to the top and realized that I've just rode more than 1/2 of climb.
Thats more than I've ever done on any of the other pre-rides.
I was stoked.

I had one bad crash on the way down which Chris "heard". You know it was bad when people hear you crash. I was ok but had a re-play of my 1st time at the race. Had the brake lever pull out of the housing. This time it was the rear. I can live with that.

We do the last 10 miles back to the campground on fire roads and we're done.
I did this same pre ride 2 years ago and felt like shit when we were done. That year I finished in 13 hours. I was ready to do another 10 miles or so this time.

Makes me think a 12.5 hour finish it do able this year.

Perspective.

2011-06-16T07:02:00.001-05:00

Met up with Doc at the Rose and did a lap with him.
Although its pretty much known that he's faster than me now, he threw me in front.
I did my best to get ahead where ever I could, which with Doc, is fast curves and downhills.
I don't even try on ascents.
He was on my ass pretty much the whole time making me feel like I was dragging.
We get back and our time was 45:45. (my best was 44:45)
Thats pretty quick. 2 years ago, I'd been damned proud of that time.
I gotta ride with slower people so I feel fast again.

2 miles in on our 2nd lap my rear free hub decided it was tired too and quick working.
I walked out and rode straight to the shop.
It was the head mechanics night off though so I was on my own to fix it.
A few clicks on the internet and I had instructions.
Tore the hub apart, cleaned and re-greased the pawls and I think its fine again.

Gotta big ride this weekend, it better be fine.

After work RR

2011-06-15T11:13:00.003-05:00

Left a little earlier from the house wanting to put in a few more miles than last week.
Thinking 35 miles.
10 miles in, going up the only decent hill on my route the drivetrain starts to do some major ghost shifting and the chain gets sucked up between the small and middle ring.
10 minutes of yanking and cursing, of course I'm not carrying the 1st tool.
"If I just had something small and skinny I could use to pry it out with".
The tire skewer!
I'm a genius.
I get it out and discover what happened.
When I put the chain back togather Sunday, I must have gotten hold of a 9speed pin instead of a 7 speed, and the outter plate on the link wasn't evan connecting to the pin.
I limp my way over to my brothers house (8 miles) and borrow his tools.
Made it home and I was able to still do 30 miles with the 25 minute sidetrip.

Weekend update 6-13-11

2011-06-13T09:07:00.002-05:00

Friday
Legs are fried from the previous nights efforts. Get off day job at 3, run home take care of few errands. Go into the shop and work.

Saturday.
Plan was to go to Quantico and ride the trail, which should be marked for the upcoming race. My sense of direction sucks, so arrows are a good thing.
Listening to the news, there are 2 accidents and a work zone on the beltway and on 95 south. That will probly add 40 minutes to the normal 1 hour drive time.
Ok, new plan.
Back to St.marys lake down in the sticks.
Kind of like last week but today is HOT and Humid.
Did 3 laps, same as last week, but we're in training mode.
Pushed out and did a 4th.
The trail doesn't allow you to rest much, you get very little time to rest on your butt.
The bodies had enough mountain bike training, I really need to get in some endurance ride.
Finished up with 30 miles and 3 hour ride time.

Sunday.
Weatherman is calling for heavy t-storms later sometime in the early afternoon which will usher in a cool front.
I opt to get my yard work outta the way so I don't have to worry about it next week (when the weather will be alot nicer for riding).
2 hours of pushing a mower and weed-wacking with the sun blaring down on my baldspot.
I think I sweated off 5lbs of water.

Skies start to darken. I'm not chancing getting caught in hail storm like last week.
Take the road bike to the shop and do a tune up on it. Change out the cables , tear apart the drive train and clean everything up.
Those severe t-storms never materialized, we got maybe 5 minutes of rain than a cool breeze started flowing in from the north.

Next week.
The 1st day of the training program I have for the 100 mile race starts Monday on the 13th. Its gotta wait a day, I work tomowrow.

Weight front: still around 210.
I think I'm down 5# from a year ago.

Tour Divide 2011

2011-06-10T10:06:00.003-05:00

Crazy ass ride/race.
Goes from Canada to New Mexico , or the other way around.
I've watched the progress of the ride for the past 2 years, usually picking a random rider and paying attention to their progress.
This year a friend of mine is actually doing it.
Him and I started riding bikes at the same time, we'd show at the same "beginner" rides.
I think I might have been faster than him at one time, a long time ago.
Now he's doing a ride across the US and I'm fighting to finish a 100 mile race in 2 months.
Oh the in-humanity of it all.

Here's a link to the tracking page.
Here
His icon has DC on it, Denis Chazelle.
You might have seen me refer to him in previous posts as "that French bastard".

Testing the waters.

2011-06-10T09:41:00.002-05:00

No easy ride tonight with the brother in law.
I got no training in Wednesday, so Thursday is training day.
Got to the Rose an hour early for the OHB ride and got a half way fast lap.
I timed the lap to see where I was at.
47 minutes plus some.
Pretty good considering my best time is only around 45 minutes.
I wasn't evan going at race pace, just normal no playing around pace.

For my 2nd lap I took off with the fast half of the OHB group assuming I'd get spit out the back and ride with the slow guys after 20 minutes. Once again I surprised my self and ended the ride with them.
I was lagging behind on the hills those last 3 miles and thought I done but the "fast" guys aren't the best technical riders. I'd end up catching back up to them on logs, fast descents, and anything tight and twisty.

Still need work on the endurance but I think my "short" track fitness is coming along nicely.

Reason #1,021 and 1,022 I hate roadies.

2011-06-09T09:07:00.001-05:00

Both of these happened in the shop.

-roadie in full kit, in the shop, having something done to his bike. Holds up the whole bike adjustment process while he holds up different colored water bottle cages (way over-priced carbon fiber models) on the bike and gets everyone's opinion of which one looks better.
I wanted to tell him no one is going to see past his huge ass in those ugly ass green shorts anyway.

-"Team member", roadie who rides for the shop. Bought a bike and "he"wants to partially assemble it before he takes it home. Brings his 2 bratty , under 5 year old kids in with him.
So I've got to watch and listen to his spoiled brats run around and whine while he tries to put on a stem on.
I won't even bring my bike in on a busy week night cause I know they're so busy and crowded.

Dumbassess.

I don't know. You don't see MTBers come in the shop with the same attitude and sense of arrogance.

(1/4)Century +

2011-06-08T12:20:00.002-05:00

Stopped in the bike shop after work to get them to special order me some shoes.
Just pop in, give her my size and the model #.
I had to listen to 5 people try to con me into working.
Yeah, its nice working in a shop. You have to avoid the place if you if you don't wanna work. Forget it if you just wanna pop in for tube. I've mostly learned to plan ahead and stock what I might need.
I've got a half-assed training plan and Tuesdays are my ride night.
End of story.

As far as the shoes, I'm tired of my 3 year Sidi's. The velcro strips stopped sticking a long time ago, it looks like I'm going to have to re-glue the soles again soon, and they're just beat to shit.

PRODUCT UN-ENDORSEMENT
Don't buy Sidi's. They're over priced crap.
The only reason I bought them was for the MEGA width, well now others are jumping onto that.
I'm going to give Shimano a try.

My plan is to push the mileage/time a little each week for my training.
Last 2 weeks, 26.5 miles.
Last night I pushed it up to 31.5. I'll do the same next week, than go up a little more the week after. These are my normal after work rides. Weekend rides are a different animal.

Babysteps.

Cake

2011-06-07T07:08:00.003-05:00

This is the masterpiece of a birthday cake that my daughter Katie made me.

As you can see, you've got a blue stream, running under the doughnut bridge,
surrounded by green grass and speckled with the white rock gardens, while the bike is sitting on the brown singletrack.
I'm not sure if the candles are supposed to be trees or not.
No, the bike in the picture isn't edible.
I told her of all my bikes, no of them are purple.
What's the deal?

Weekend update 6-6-11

2011-06-06T08:07:00.002-05:00

Friday- went into the shop and worked, I owed them a day since I was off Memorial day. I also needed some supplies and they guilt me into working when I come in there on Friday afternoon.
I picked up a bracket that attaches to your seatpost for holding extra waterbottles (roadie thing). Thats in anticipation of those long road rides I'm going to do. Also told Chris to special order me some new shoes. I'm tired of those old, over priced Sidis with the velcro that doesn't evan hold anymore. Going with Shimano m161, extra wide. Of course the shop doesn't stock any of the extra wides.

Saturday.
My daughter had her last lacrosse game of the season so I played good daddy and went to that. Its a good thing I did. They had their first and only win of the season. She's one of the fastest runners out there and I gotta admit I feel a little proud when I see her out run the other players. She's like here daddy though, she hasn't built up her endurance yet. She's a sprinter.

After the game I went to St.Mary's lake in St.Marys county for something different.
Its a 7.5 mile loop around a lake. Down there in the sticks you'd think it would be an easy loop.
Not necessarily. Every hill, rather up or down your fighting roots. This had got to be the rootiest trail I've ever been to. Its a good place to hone your MTB skills. Kinda reminds me of Gambrills without the big climbs. You can't just "ride" your bike. Constantly up off the saddle fighting to keep momentum over the roots.
I did 3 laps out there for about 2:45 of training value.

SUNDAY
My Birthday. I'm 46, on my way to 50. Most of the guys I ride with are older than me so birthdays don't bother me anymore. As long as I can keep riding, I'm happy.
Nothing big today. Had an easy ride with the OHB crew @ Cedarville which was good cause the legs were more fried from Saturday than I thought.

Stopped by the shop afterwards and picked up a few more things, little b-day presents to myself. Nothing big, a new computer for the MTB, some tubes, cages, and few gels.

My eldest daughter made me a cake with a little MTB theme, which was neat.
Picts will be posted as soon as I can get my wife to email me the pict from her i-phone.

Seeya

I almost want one now.

2011-06-03T11:20:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was recovery day ride .
I took my b in law, a newb, to Cedarville.
Last week he could only finish half of Rosaryville, that should tell you enough.
Before the ride he's showing me an "app" that he just got for his i-phone.
I don't like Apple products and don't plan on getting a smart phone (cause I'm too cheap to pay the data plan) so I politely looked at it for minute than said lets ride.

He emailed me the results this morning though and I am impressed.
It tracked our ride just as well as my garmin 60cx could have and gave impressive stats.
Heres the link for the site with the data.
HERE
I know it's old news to alot of people, I don't wanna hear the comments now about the "old man" still living in the 80's. I knew about the apps but didn't realize they were that detailed or so easy to use.
You can see on the track too, where he got tired and we bailed to the road.......maybe its not such a great little app.

Upcoming weekend and I'm already stressing about what ride to do.
Its gotta be at least 3 hours and have some training value. I'm trying to play catch up with everybody else who's been riding for the past 6 months.
I don't know if I can keep this up till September.

Starting out June

2011-06-02T09:22:00.002-05:00

Pffft.
Severe thunderstorms. Since when is the weatherman right.
Got to the Rose and did a lap with interior, heard thunder off in the distance and had a few showers happen. As heavy as the canopy is right now, barely any of the trail got wet.
I meet Laure, Sue, and Dennis at the trailhead after I finish my lap.
They're getting ready to go out, but are looking nervously at the sky.
They decide to wait to see what happens, I've been watching it do this for the past 30 minutes so take off on my own for a 2nd lap.
15 minutes in it really starts to pour and the trees aren't holding it back anymore.
15 minutes after that I start to hear something bouncing off of my helmet.
Hail.
I called this one wrong.
It did stop though as I made it back to the truck, and 4 miles south of the park, it hadn't evan rained.

I got my training in though.
20+ miles for an after work ride on trail is pretty good.

The scale showed i lost another .5 pound last night, this was after purposely stuffing myself with water to re-hydrate.
Its a bitch trying to train hard without losing weight.

Wrapping up May.

2011-05-31T21:29:00.001-05:00

For posterity.
Afterwork 1/4 century. 26.6 miles, 16.7 average.
Tried to get it up higher but started the ride feeling dead anyways.
Weight was at 209.5. Too low.
Gotting start hydrating and eating before the rides.

Welcome June 2011.
Here's to hoping this summer is better than the last.

Its working again,product review, & the knee.

2011-05-31T09:42:00.002-05:00

For some reason Blogspot decided to work again at work.
I can once again waste my employers time by commenting on blogs.

I picked up a new waterbottle from the shop Friday. A new insulated camelback bottle with the fancy new valve. I don't fall for new hyped features that they add to basic products.
Come on, its a water bottle. Exactly what do you want out of it?
I picked up a new bottle cause I wanted more volume. It would hold a few more ounces than the normal cheap store brand. What I did like about it was the ease in which the water did come out.
Give it a slight squeeze and it just gushed out. I didn't notice it until I drained it, and than switched to my 2nd, old bottle. I had to forcefully squeeze it hard to get the same liquid.
I kinda sound like a pussy. I don't have enough strength to squeeze a bottle?
Anyways, I'll probly buy another. I wouldn't at full retail cost, but with the team discount, it's worth it.

I forgot to mention this in my last post, the knee.
I know, who gives a shit about the knee? I do and its my blog.
I was very happy after Sat and Sunday's riding.
The injections must have helped alot cause it didn't bother me one bit, and no post ride soreness.
This is really a big deal for me.
I see the doc next week for a post injection check up, I'll get him to give me a realistic time frame on how long I can expect this to last.
Just 90 more days and I'll be happy.

Weekend update-Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-30T20:11:00.002-05:00

Friday
Got home and completely sat on my ass.
Riding the past 3 days in row, needed to rest.

Saturday.
Thought about doing an Oxon hill road ride, I did an inquiry ride on my own. Thats a ride were I push myself to see exactly what I can do before I try to ride with a group.
Got in 53.5 miles. I was happy. I was only looking to do 47 and it was hot as a mutha. 16.2 average. Ok, so I'll need to work on that.

Sunday.
Gambrills state park with Billy,Laurie, and Harold. I know that they all are in better shape than me, but this would be Laurie and Harold's first time there.
I could always catch up to them on the downhills and the technical parts, which at Gambrills, its 80% technical.
No idea on the mileage but we started around 11:30 and I took off around 3:30.
Me and Harold bailed and left the other 2 on there own. Laurie's in training and not evan 30. She took 2nd in the womens sport a few weeks ago at Greenbrier.
Thats what I'm trying to hang with .

Monday.
Do nothing day. Hot as mutha and I need a break . Local gas station thermometer said it was 100 degrees. I did pick up some furniture for the deck that the wife got at lowes. With that I can pretty much hope I won't hear from her again about the deck.

How do I feel?
Don't know. I'll have to see how quickly the fitness comes back.
Not feeling too shabby about things.
I hope this summers not going to be as hot as last year. Its hard getting out for long rides when you know its going to hit 90 degrees half way through your ride.

Under 100 days.

Stupid firefox 4.

2011-05-27T19:58:00.001-05:00

I upgraded to firefox 4 at work and its screwing with blogspot.
Just for posterity (or me to look at in a year),
went back out and did another 1/4 century. Legs were still tight from the night before. Averaged 16.5 this time. Not as much fun.
I'm going to try to get out atleast 4 times a week, evan if its just easy rides. Need to the butt and arms used to the bike again.

1st (1/4) CENTURY

2011-05-25T09:22:00.003-05:00

Did you read it closely?
27 miles. Longest ride (distance wise) not including the trainer in a while.
1st roadride in long time.
My normal loop I'd do last year after work.
It felt good to be back out. If all rides felt this good and fun, I'd do it all the time.
Pulled into the driveway about 8:30. I gotta get a rear flasher.

For my stats.
27 miles, 90 minutes, 16.9 average. (not great, but not bad)
Weight is slowly coming off again. 212 or 213. Chest is getting flat again.
Gotta try to eat more and hit the weights a little more.

Weekend update part 2.

2011-05-23T14:45:00.002-05:00

Ok decks outta the way.
Time to start thinking about riding, training, the big race.
Not a real good start.
Looked back last year at this time, I'd already done 50 miles at the Rose.
Damn I'm Waaaaay behind.

So I go to the Rose Sunday morning, figuring I can atleast do 2 laps.
Nope, had a headache that wouldn't quit.
So one lap.
12 miles.

Pretty pathetic.

I did cut the grass later on. One day I'm going to get a pedometer to see exactly how far I walk when I do that. It was straight cutting for an hour and 20 minutes. If you assume 3mph, I walked 4 miles pushing a 50lb piece of steel.
After that I put a new computer on the road bike in anticipation of all the miles I'm going to need to keep track of in the up coming weeks.
Don't laugh, it could happen.

Seeya.

Weekend update. 5-23-11 POS is finished..for now.

2011-05-23T10:25:00.008-05:00

Friday.
Off work @ 1. That's for putting in 10 hour days.
Quick stop @ home depot for joist hangers and 5/4"x6"x12' and I'm off to work.
The big box home improvement stores might be cheap but I had to scrounge through the wood to find some decent pieces.
Getting close.
Just need to hang the last 2 stair stringers,
put down the decking, sink the post for and build the handrails.

Damn this pict looks like shit.
Thats what phone picts after sunset look like. Done for the evening.
The 1st time I've actually accomplished what I set out to do for a day.

Saturday.
Damn its nice and I wanna ride.
Ride...or finish. Damn, I hate being an adult.
-started early, using a hand saw so not to wake the wife and kids up. That sucks.
-up to 84 lumber for some 2x4's and 2x2 for ballisters. Bastards stuck it to me too.
charged twice as much as the big box stores.
-FINISHED.

Now I've got a space to hide my power equipment.

Coming in the Fall 2010, Lattice.

THE END.

Why I didn't ride last night.

2011-05-20T07:33:00.005-05:00

That should be the title of everyone of my posts for now.
You can see the concrete pad I poured over the weekend and the process so far.
By the time I went in at nine I had gotten 2 more stringers hung.
Real close to finishing.
Acutally our Thursday night ride was cancelled anyways because of the weather.

Weekend update-5-16-11

2011-05-16T07:53:00.000-05:00

1st, as the missing post goes.
I did get out on the bike and thoroughly enjoyed myself although I had mis-haps.
Am I back? I don't think so.

Friday.
Got off work around 2. Went home and scrubbed the deck.
That fucked up water sealer that I thought was OK after sitting around for 5 years turned out to be shit. It just sat on the wood turning the deck into a sticky/slick mess.
I don't know how you can be slick and sticky at the same time, but it was.
I spent a good 4 hours scrubbing at it with a floor cleaner (sodium hydroxide).
Turns out the water seal is nothing but a wax based solution.
Sounds like the same crap I buy to lube my bike chains.

Saturday.
Wifes graduation.
She got her masters in something....I can't remember what.
I spent all morning and some of the afternoon at the Comcast center in college park watching her and 500 other people get degrees.
(That's right, I married up outta my class)
I spent rest of the evening excavating, building the form, and pouring the concrete pad for my deck stairs.
Used an on-line calculator to figure out how many bags of concrete I'd need. It said I'd need 5-1/2, so I bought 7. It still wasn't enough. I was 3/4" short of the top of the form.
Shit!

Sunday
-went to meet the guys at Cosca (in Clinton) for ride. Too wet, so we cancelled.
-picked up 3 more bags of concrete and finished pouring my stair pad. Had 1 bag left over. Who wants 60lb bag of sand/concrete mix? You pick it up you can have it.
-2nd childs lacrosse tournament for a few hours.
-Cut my mothers grass.
-Back home and cleaned up the construction site.

Thats it. Another whole weekend and I managed to get zero riding in.
Not evan the trainer.

Good news is with all the work I'm doing the weight is still coming off.
Was down to 212 the other night.

I got out.

2011-05-14T10:28:00.000-05:00

I did it. I say that like it's an accomplishment.
I did a half lap at the Rose and than had to bail.
I felt good, was really enjoying the ride.
It didn't feel like I'd been off for almost 3 weeks.

Doc rode up as I was starting my lap, so I rode with him.
Half way through the inner loop he breaks his rear de hanger.
We rig it SS and take the road back.
I'd never seen anyone have any luck rigging a bike as a SS before, but we did a pretty good job.
It didn't jump off once the whole way back.
That was a first for me.
I wonder if it was because it was Niner?
I'm wondering now if we could have at least finished the lap out.
Oh well, he was wining anyway about how steep the gearing was we had it in.
Middle ring, #8 cog on the cassette.
In sympathy, I put mine in the same combo and left it there.
The things I do for my friends.

What the hell?

2011-05-13T13:20:00.002-05:00

I think blogger is going screwy.
I swear I made a post thats missing.
Time to save all this stuff and move on?

The attitude had better change.

2011-05-11T14:35:00.002-05:00

I could have, and should have went to the Rose last night after work.
But I didn't.
If this attitude doesn't change I might be selling my sm100 entry real soon.
Almost 3 weeks off the bike.
I did have alot to do, maybe with not so much hanging over my head I'll feel like it tonight.
I did
-water seal the deck.
-cut the grass.
-change the oil in the truck.
-layout some for the deck stairs ( i know I said I'd leave it alone, but I hate having things hanging).
-put string in the weed-eater (i'm grasping but i'm trying to make my "to do" list look large)

The bikes in the truck, its beautiful outside, and I get off of work in an hour.
What to do?
Go ride or layout the stairs and excavate for concrete.

Weekend wrap-up 5-8 Mothers day.

2011-05-09T08:14:00.008-05:00

Hopefully this should be the last weekend that I go without biking.
Its Monday morning and once again I'm glad to be sitting in front of computer at work.
I need a rest from the weekend.

Friday.
Get off work half-day. Got my 40 in, walk out the door ignoring the nasty looks of my co-workers who are ticked that I get to leave early. (Try working an extra hour each day, or coming in early).
Go home and work on the deck. I REALLY don't feel like it.
-Set all the railing posts and got them plumbed parallel to the deck. (Time consuming).
-Go back and checked plumb perpendicular, oh shit, I need to make adjustments.
It'll wait till tomorrow.

Friday night, yup I was out there till dark.

Saturday.
I go out to pick up some materials to give the wife a chance to sleep before I start sawing and banging.
-Adjust the posts as needed to make plumb. A big pain the ASS. Pull em down, miter them as needed, re-install and check.
-Finished the railings up that evening. That included cutting and mitering 70 or 80 2x2 ballister.

The more or less finished product taken Sunday morning.

Sunday (Mothers Day)
I got a shit-load of stuff I want to get accomplished.
My day.
-finished installing missing deck screws. Took down temporary support members. Basically finished what I wanted to get done for finishing the deck.
-cleaned the gutter out over the deck. (While I had the ladder out I ended up cleaning them all). During heavy rains the gutters over flow right where my new deck is. I don't want that so a little preventive maintenance.
-Go over mom's. Mow her lawn and trim. Do the mothers day visit thing.
-Back home. Hook up the power washer and try to get stains and paint off of new deck. It didn't work. What kind of dumb fucks use a regular paint on new lumber. If I'd known it was permanent I'd did a better job of trying to hide them.
-Clean up the construction site some.
A few different angles for posterity.
For the time being its done.
I'll work on the stairs when I have time.

Still no biking. Deck pict.

2011-05-06T07:25:00.001-05:00

-Trimmed up the decking edges.
-Cut the posts to size and put a decorative miter on the bottom.
-Layed out the post locations.

Before I trimmed the edges up showing my pile
4x4's.

I keep making stupid mistakes that are causing
me to have to re-mark things 3 times.

The light at the end of the tunnel. Still the deck.

2011-05-05T11:16:00.002-05:00

Once again no picts of yesterdays work, finished up too late in the dark.
Picked the 4x4's up for the handrail posts.
12 for $9?.00 Kach-ing.
Got the flashing installed over the ledger board and got the final pieces of decking installed.
Doesn't sound like alot but it was 3 hours of work.

Tonight the handrails get started.

Just Wednesday

2011-05-04T15:02:00.002-05:00

Got the last of the synvisc injections into the knee. I didn't see any improvement after the 2nd one, I hope this one gives a little more relief.

Picked up 20 more 16 foot boards for the decking. I thought I'd need to get more but I'm 18" from finishing and I've got enough to finish. Worked out there till 9:30 and was dog ass tired when I quit.
Once again no picts. Too dark.
Tonight I hope to finish the decking and install the post for the handrail.

I got Judy out there last night trying to make sure of where she wants the steps.
I've got to listen to 5 minutes of where she's going to put the plants, and the table, and the hammock.
Where the damn hammock idea come from?
Thats new to me.

seeya

Damn deck $$Ka-Ching$$$

2011-05-03T07:48:00.002-05:00

While figuring the cost of projects in my head I always under estimate hardware.
By hardware I mean screws, nails, brackets, etc.
That hit me head on yesterday.
I stopped by and bought the screws I need to attach the decking to the framing.
$104...............
Let that sink in a minute, $100 just for screws.
Except for paying taxes and traffic violations, thats got to be the least satisfying $100 I ever spent.
I could have gotten 3/4 of new front brake for the Niner with that.
I remember the good ol' day when you would buy $25 worth of 10d spiral nails. Now you have to use the high-tech, anit-corrosion, anti-wood splitting torx head screws that are painted to match the wood.
It could have been worse I guess, I could have needed to buy stainless steel.

Last night I worked till 9:30 laying more decking. I thought it would go really fast but every board is bowed one way or another and I've got to fight everyone of them to get it fastened down straight.

No picts today. Just take the last one and imagine that they are now attached with really expensive screws.

Weekend Update:5-2-11 I hate decks

2011-05-02T08:16:00.000-05:00

Manual labor sucks.
Working is not the same as working out.
I was so glad to be able to come to work Monday and sit on my ass in front of computer.
Anyways.

Friday.
Got home around 4:30.
Right away I started working.
-re-notched the posts, this time at the correct height.
-hung the beams.
-marked for joist hangers and the bolt locations on the ledger.
-drilled and installed the 1/2" carriage bolts for the ledger to the house.
I did the drilling with a hammer drill that was stuck in hammer mode. That was fun and noisy.
Finally finished up 10pm.

The site Saturday morning.
It was dark Friday.

Saturday.
-picked up rest of 2x8's for the joists.
-finished bolting ledger to house.
-hung about 1/2 the joists. The beam needed final leveling which really slowed things up.
-at this point, everything is level,plumb, and square.

The jobsite Sunday morning.
Once again too dark when I finished Saturday
night for picts.

Sunday.
I couldn't start the real work until the wife had her complete good nights sleep, which usually means she doesn't get up till 9am. I did what I could with banging a hammer, layed out the joists and marked for locations.
Went to 84 lumber and picked up some of the decking.
5/4" x 6" x 16 foot decking boards. 21 of them sticking out of the back of my standard size pickup truck. The gang box in the back actually helped out. You can wedge the boards under and don't don't have to worry about them flipping out.
I took all that they had in stock. They're supposed to get more in next week.
I hope this doesn't turn into a problem.
-Got all the joists hung, installed the rim boards, re-enforced the end joists.
-started nailing down some of the decking.

Sunday afternoon.

Sunday evening.
Finished for the weekend.

Getting tired of "Gitting er done"

2011-04-29T10:20:00.002-05:00

Well at least I couldn't have rode last night anyways. I ended up working with spotty sprinkles, and everything was still wet from the last 2 days.
Picked up 18-2x8x12 right after work. The truck was sitting low, not as low as I've had it before but it knew it was carrying something. I have had it overloaded before with top soil, so this little bit of wood didn't worry me.

I made a "big" mistake last night and am still kicking myself for it.
I notched the posts for the beam. As you can see in the pict, I got up 1 half of the beam. I ended up having to adjust the center post to get it all level. After getting it "perfect" I realized that I screwed up big time. I put the beam level with the ledger board when it is supposed to be 7-1/2" below it.
What can I say?
It was raining, the mosquitos were biting, etc.
So I have to re-do the cuts in the posts, which were a pain to begin with.

Here's a pict for the record.
It doesn't look it but it was after 8pm when I took the pict and getting a little dark.

The camera must do something to the exposure.

Big weekend coming up.
Hopefully I can get it fully framed and start the decking.

Still on the deck. Git er done part 2.

2011-04-28T12:34:00.002-05:00

Not a lot was accomplished last night.
Picked up more lumber before I went home.
Got the 6x6 posts anchored to the concrete piers, temporarily leveled them and marked for the beam location. By the time I had finally marked them it was getting too dark to make the cuts.

This was definitely a "thinking" night.
I'm a firm believer in the "measure twice, cut once" method of working but I take it to extremes.
Measure-mark for the cut-measure again-check the mark-measure again realizing I'd forgot to subtract for the decking-hunt down the pencil-re-mark for the cut. Etc.

No picts today, too dark by the time I cleaned up all the tools.

On a bike related subject, I did have to move my bike to get some tools outta the garage.
Yup, thats the extent of bike content today.

Git er done.

2011-04-27T10:14:00.004-05:00

I'm going to go with my 2nd choice for the deck build.
Get the damn thing done and outta the way.
It was with a heavy heart though, that I skipped my normal Tuesday after-work ride at Rosaryville and instead went home and worked on THE DECK.

I stopped at my local 84 Lumber to pick up 2-2x8x12' for the ledger board.
Fully expecting to get screwed on price (after all Lowes and the other ONE are supposed to be the price leaders) I was surprised to see they were almost 1$ cheaper per board.
That makes getting this thing done evan easier.
Cheaper wood, only 2 miles from my house, pull the truck right up to the lumber and load, and not having to deal with idiots who don't know the difference between a 16d nail and a 1/2 carriage bolt, make me actually look forward to getting the lumber.

So last night, what I got accomplished.
-picked up ledger boards.
-demolished my temporary stairs (that wasn't hard,just 4 screws).
-cut away the siding.
-got the ledger hung temporarily (right height and level)
-picked up carriage bolts, joist hangers, and 6x6 post base (kaching$-damn the hardware is expensive).

It doesn't seem like alot but getting that ledger up level and positioned right makes me feel better.

The site, so far.

Health front: This morning I went for the 2nd injection into my knee. I've seen some improvement in the knee since the 1st one, I'm hoping this one will help evan more.
Weight is the same.

Weekend wrap-up 4-25-11

2011-04-25T10:26:00.002-05:00

I own 3 bikes, and at one time I actually rode them.
Thats how I felt this weekend.
For a quick wrap-up, I rode NONE this weekend, BUT I got a shitload accomplished.

The wifes been bugging me for a deck for, well for at least the last 4 years.
(We've been in this house 5-1/2 years now.)
I decided it was finally time. The stairs that I "temped" to the house when we 1st moved in have rotted out at the bottom and this is the 1st year in a long time where we're actually getting something back from uncle sam.

For reference here are my temporary stairs. They were only suppose to last a few months.
I think I got my moneys worth out of them considering the lumber was free.
No its not pressure treated either.
My grill usually sits to the right of the steps but I'd started clearing for staking out the deck.

The wife is afraid to use them.
I don't understand why?

Friday.
Get out work about 1:30. Got my 40 in. Total crap for weather. Cold and rainy all day. I decide to go and at least pick up some material, just in case I wanna start the deck sometime over the weekend. 11 80lbs of concrette, stakes, re-bar, and string.
Started trying to layout the deck, but it changed from sprinkles to a light rain.
I quit. The rain wasn't bad, but with temps only in the 40's it sucked.

Saturday.
Woke up to sprinkles and still cool. Its suppose to be nice later so i go ahead and layout for the deck. Got it laid out and decide to start digging the footings. Get 1 of the footings dug out (16x16x24 deep). The weather had definately improved enough for a ride, but I'm on roll.
I get the holes dug, pour the footings and put in the re-bar.
Its now around 3, my biceps keep cramping up and I'm too tired to ride.
I wanna go sit on the couch, each fritos and watch netflix but don't wanna waste the time.
Picked up more material for the job. 4 more bags of concrete and tubular forms for the post piers.
I'm ragged out tired and proud of what I've got accomplished.
Does the wife appreciate it?
It seems that my 5 holes with concrete doesn't impress her.
To get her attention you have to at least have a board hung somewhere.

Sunday. (Easter)
I've got 5 holes with sharp steel spikes in my backyard.
I've got in-laws coming over later with their kids to hunt for Easter eggs.
Doesn't sound like a good scenario.
I've gotten permission to ride and get home in time to meet the in-laws but in good conscious I can't leave the yard like that.
Set the forms, fill the holes, pour the concrete, and I'm done.
In-laws show up an hour later and my day is shot.
Just to let me know what I'm missing, my brother did stop by while on a road road. He got in his 1st 1/2 century ride.

For the record.
The site area before excavation starts.
Its 25' from the left corner of the house to the right corner where the cantilever is.
The decks going to go 24'.

I've got a choice.
I can either drag this thing out, working on it in between rides, and have the wife bitch at me the whole time.....
or try to just bust it out. If I go with the latter I might be able to get it done in 2 weeks and be able to go the whole summer....bitch "free".

Health front: Weight bumped up over 220. It might be hard work digging holes and mixing concrete but it doesn't take the weight off. The "core" is feeling pretty good though.

Synvisc injection #1.

2011-04-21T11:21:00.002-05:00

For a reminder, Synvisc is the stuff that I was hoping would be a wonder drug and be the total cure for the knee. It comes in a series of 3 injections.
I had the 1st yesterday.
I was kinda nervous going in. I'd read on the web (big mistake) that the injection hurt like a mutha. Something about getting the needle under the knee cap... blah,blah, blah.
Turns out it was all bullshit. It felt like any other normal shot. The doctor was in and out in 4 minutes.
"How are you, have a nice day, see the girl at the counter" KaChing-$30 copay and I'm out.

I can feel some improvement, but theres still some pain there.
I'll find out tonight after my evening ride with the slow guys.
I've got 2 more shots so I'll see.

Went into the shop last night and finally got the new fork installed on my brothers bike.
I don't keep up witht the latest trends in forks, but my co-workers were impressed with the Reba XX (with remote lockout) that I was installing on it. They tell me its one of the best you can currently buy.
Unless I can get my brother out on the trails more, its going to be a total waste on him.
$600+ fork for riding on the road.
What a waste.

Weekend wrap up 4-18-11

2011-04-18T10:18:00.000-05:00

Friday-beautiful day. Can't ride. Get off work , take the wife to dinner for her birthday which was on Thursday. She let me go out for a night ride on Thursday, so I should be happy for that.

Saturday-Rain,more rain, and tornado warnings.
The forcast was for heavy rains by afternoon so I get up early (for me on a Saturday) to try to get a few laps in at Rosaryville before the rain starts.
15 minutes from the park and I ride into heavy rains (sigh). Oh well, no trail riding.
Later that afternoon I get 25 miles on the trainer while watching "Sniper-reloaded" on DVD.
Not a very good movie. It got deleted from the home network.
I tuned-up the road bike in anticipation of riding Sunday. It was in sad shape. The chain was rusty and had numerous stiff links. Got it in decent shape for riding though.
It really is one sad ass looking road bike.

Sunday.
Supposed to be a NICE day but I know any trail riding is out.(too wet)
I want to get a little yardwork out of the way, than I can go on a RR later when it really warms up.
1st step is to try to start the lawnmower.
Its been sitting outside all winter, whats the chances of it evan starting without me tearing apart the carburetor?
Well, hopefully this is a sign for the upcoming summer. One shot of starter fluid and it fired up.
Finally I catch a break.
I end up working in the yard ALL day (7 hours). I was making good progress and didn't wanna stop.
No ride in today but it freed me up for the next few weekends.
It was still exercise. I just look at it as working the "core".

Health update.
Knee- 7 hours in the yard put a toll on the knee. Didn't hurt alot while working but I paid for it Sunday night. It seemed like every 15 minutes the pain would wake me up, and I'd have to shift position. Felt like crap Monday morning. 2 days until I see the doc again.
Weight-218

I'm officially in.

2011-04-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

I gotta admit I'm starting to feel some excitement for the upcoming season.
I got my confirmation from the SM100 people (although they also let me know I didn't put down an emergency contact).
This isn't going to be like last year.
No leaving the house to go on century rides by myself when I really don't want too,
no 7 lap marathons at the Rose.
No time pressure constraints or trying to compete with guys 10 years younger than me.
Lets make a prediction now, 14 hours. Not as good as my best but certainly not 15 1/2 hours.

I've got an appointment set up for next week for the 1st of 3 knee injections.
What ever happens, happens.
If they don't help at all, I'll still do what training I can and just ice up afterwards.

Now watch. Have way through the summer I'll probly snap my frame or something stupid.

I did look back a year ago to see what I was doing. It wasn't so bad. I'm not that far behind and I've got those "life miles" going for me.
I've been riding now for almost 7 years.

20 miles on the trainer last night while watching "25th hour".
Not a great movie for the trainer, but I am a fan of Ed Norton.

Weight, still the same.

Weekend wrap-up 4-11-Just waiting

2011-04-11T10:09:00.002-05:00

Friday-got alot of rain in the afternoon/evening. Not only did this make no riding Friday night but screwed up any trail riding I wanted to do Saturday. Got me an hour on the trainer Friday night and 2 hours Saturday afternoon.

Sunday-Trail work at Cosca in Clinton. Not much excitement here. Worked for 3 hours on an easy re-route than went for an exploratory ride with Austin and ranger Chris. No training value, other than honing my ability to ride in jeans. I didn't expect to have the energy to ride after the work, hence the lack of shorts.

Sunday night my knee expressed its displeasure with the trailwork and riding. It woke me up atleast 6 times throbbing with pain, and this was with a couple of the pain killers right before bed.
I hope the doc calls soon and schedules those injections.

The weight was at 218 sunday night.

I'm almost afraid to look back at last years Aprils entries and see what I was doing.
I've probly already done a few centuries by now.

How the F#$K can people afford it.

2011-04-06T09:06:00.002-05:00

So I got a catolog in from Performance bikes yesterday.
Normally they go straight in the trash. I don't need it since I work in the shop.
I sat down with it last night though, just to look at the pretty color pictures, and started to look at the prices of stuff.
How the hell can average people afford that shit.
If I didn't work in the shop and get the discount I'd have to give the sport up.
And who the hell in there right mind our going to pay over $400 for a pair of shoes.
That was one of the biggest items that caught my attention.
If you've got a pair of $400 shoes.......Fuck you.

Weekend wrap up 4-4-11

2011-04-04T12:22:00.002-05:00

I couldn't take it.
I had talked myself into waiting until atleast June but Friday night I filled out the registration form for the SM100 and dropped it in the mail. I just did make the early bird deadline and saved myself $20. KA-CHING.

Saturday I was at Cedarville. I didn't wanna chance bad conditions at the Rose. We had some weird ass weather which I gambled would turn nice. I lost.
Just as I'm at the farthest point from the trail head, the skies darken up and it lets loose.
I get back to the truck soaked,muddy, and freezing.
I hate April.

Sunday I ride with the slow guys at Rosaryville.
I ended up finishing the 1st lap by myself. Too fast for the slow guys, not fast enough to keep up with Doc and Dennis. Went ahead and did a 2nd lap solo. It wasn't very good.
Didn't make me feel very encouraged about that registration I'd just sent in.
Afterwards I walked down with the axe and got rid of some deadfall.

The knee didn't bother me while riding, but I had to ice it down once I got home.

So I think I can train, I'm just worthless afterwards.
After the cool weekend we had, temps today supposed to be high 70's, I'm stuck in the office and scheduled to work at the bike shop tonight.
"Living the dream" and "Winning" (my newest favorite saying from Mr. Charlie Sheen).

Knee doctor visit.

2011-03-30T12:52:00.002-05:00

Saw my ortho doc this morning about the knee.
I was all ready go ahead and get the "synvisc" injections for the knee.
In case I haven't explained it, the "synvisc" is a viscous material that is injected into the knee between the sections where the cartilage has worn away. Thus, acting as a cushioning so that the "bone on bone" contact is limited. The optimum outcome would be less (or no) pain for 6 months.
I've read in worst case situations where the injections actually make the pain worse, but that seemed to be rare.
I find out today that they need to get an OK from my insurance co first, then order the stuff.
So atleast 3 weeks till they can do it.

Still making my mind up on weather to early register for the 100.
I'm really curious as to what kind of training I could do without knee pain. I've always had it, and it never really came into play until usually the last few hours of big rides.
It'd be nice to have one less pain after 6 hours in the saddle.

Health update: still somewhere under 220.

Weekend wrap-up 3-28-11

2011-03-28T12:17:00.001-05:00

Friday-got my 40 in at the real job. Went over to the bike shop and helped out at there tent sale till 7. It was crazy busy. Glad I was crammed in the back just doing repairs.

Saturday-Friends of Cedarville work day. We worked on final clean up of the campgrounds for the grand opening next weekend. The knee was feeling pretty rough by the time I left there, but I still did my 1.5 hours on the trainer when I got home. After that it was worthless.

Sunday-Look, snow in March. Only a 1/2 inch. Looked again a few hours later and it was gone.
I went back to the bike shop and helped out a few hours. I had worn the knee out enough yesterday, it didn't need to be stressed anymore today.

I've got a knee doctor appointment next Wednesday. I'm going to tell him to go ahead with the synvisc injections. If I can get 3 or 4 months of normal use out of the injection I'll be happy.

Weights back down under 220.

Weekend wrap up 3-21-11

2011-03-22T10:14:00.002-05:00

Aint that a bitch.
1 hour riding on Friday,2 on Saturdary, 2 1/2 on Sunday and I gain 4 pounds.
Fuck me!

I did 2 laps at the Rose on Saturday. I was thinking about starting a 3rd, then my $8 mp3 player that I ordered from China last year died. That killed my motivation and i quit.
Felt real good about what I did though. I was surprised that I could get 2 full laps in (plus the inner loop on the 1st) at the pace that I kept.

I paid for it that evening though. The knee wasn't happy at all.
Spent most of the evening on the couch icing it, and eating Frito's.
I see the knee doc next week and I'm telling him to try the synvisc injections.
I can't make things much worse than they are.

Sunday I explored Cosca in Clinton with Barry and Matt.
Nice easy ride, we cleaned up the trails some, got temporarily lost a few times, and did some bushwacking.
It was fun.

So, weights up to 222.
seeya

Not so good.

2011-03-18T09:38:00.002-05:00

Did a lap at the Rose with the more tech inner loop thrown in.
After going over some logs, a few drops and catching some air, the knee started complaining.
At the top of every rotation I could feel something in there clicking together.
Didn't so much affect my riding but it woke me up 10 time during the night with pain.

So at the next doctors appointment, on the 30th I'm going to have him go ahead and try the synvisc injections.

I took Harry out there at the start. His 3rd time trail riding.
He's got the worst luck.
He crashes about 3 miles in. He said he turned but the bike went where it wanted to.
I dismissed it as "newbie" talk.
I few minutes later we stop and I see his stem and bars got turned off center, pull out the mini tool and try to tighten his stem. I've got the bolts as tight as I can turn them and the stem is still just turning.
What the hell?
It finally dawns on me. I lift the bike up and see the crown on top of the fork has broke.
I've never seen that before, in the bike shop or on the trail.
So his bike is sitting in the shop waiting for a warranty shock from Rockshox, and he's back on my old Redline.
Its going to be too nice today to be bike-less. High 70's today.

weight-back under 218 with last nights ride.

seeya

The week in review-3-13-11

2011-03-14T08:10:00.002-05:00

-2 nights on the trainer during the week.Bout 20 miles each night. I'm trying to get my average back up to where it was last year. Damn I'm outta shape.
-Saturday-almost nice enough to ride but still real wet on the trail. 4" of rain in the past 4 days will tend to do that. I Grab the ax and mini saw and walk the green/brown trail at Cedarville. Cleared alot of debris and got in 4 miles of hiking.
-Sunday-Daylite savings switch.
Morning ride with Barry,matt and Doc at Cedarville. My endurance sucks. I started out strong but after an hour I faded fast.
Things are looking up though. With the switch in the time I should be able to start riding after work, other than on the trainer.

I ended up replacing practically the whole drive train on the bike to fix the skipping.
New chain-skipped.
New cassette-still skipped (Ka-ching,Ka-ching. Yes evan with a discount)
New middle ring-Fixed it!

Weight-still the same.

That time of year.

2011-03-06T12:08:00.000-05:00

Days are getting and warmer.
I'm starting to get that itchy feeling that I wanna be back on the bike.
I use the blog to see what I was doing this time last year, thats when I realized my idea of giving up the blog would suck for me of keeping track of stuff.

In case your wondering whats been going on over the last 6MONTHS since my last post.
-I tried downhilling (October '10). Went to 7 springs, rented a DH bike and rode the lift up. Not really my thing. It was OK, but not worth the drive (Almost 4 hours 1 way).
-2 weeks after the DH trip my arthritic knee decides to go out on me. Coincidence? Another reason not to try downhilling again.
-had surgery end of December so Doc could scope my knee and see whats going on. His verdict-knee is worse than he thought, will have to try more agressive treatments, maybe think harder about total knee replacement if the treatments don't work.
-after a 2 month vacation from the bike shop, I'm back there 2 nights a weeks. I did miss the idiots I work with and working on bikes. Just in time for me to get
-the last two weeks I've finally been able to ride without paying for it during the night with shooting pains in the knee. Will I be able to fore-go a knee replacement this year and ride? Time will tell.

So Saturday I go to the Rose. I haven't been on a good MTB ride that will push the knee for a few months. The knee did good, during and after. The bike pissed me off though.
I did the amateur thing, replaced a real worn chain without any other parts of the drive train.
No good. It skipped when under any load. So I've got a new middle ring on order (Can I get an "AMEN" for the bike shop discount).

I'm going to go a few more weeks, get some harder rides in and see how it goes.
Do I sign up for the sm100 again, just so I don't end my endurance career with a DNF?
Do I evan feel like?

On the health front- #220. Pretty good for coming into a season.

SM100 2010 abridged version.

2010-09-07T13:06:00.007-05:00

I'm posting this just to get it out of my edits que.

1st the facts.
DNF before aid station 2 and I'm fine with it right now.

Why?
I didn't feel like racing.
Sorry. I know your going "WTF is up with that?"
Someone I know did the same thing last year and I thought the same thing?
Plan all year for your "A" race and than quit for that shitty reason?
Well I understand now and I hope you never do.
The past 4 months has just been a freak'n rollercoaster of stresses.
Sunday it all came down to I've been doing enough crap that I really didn't want to do, but had too. Sunday I didn't really want to be out there racing but I had a choice this time, so I quit.
Actually in my head I never started, so I don't consider it quitting.
Theres been stuff going on that I don't post about here, lets just say I've got reasons.

I got out there about 2 and got the same camp spot I've had the past 2 years.
Chris and Randy shared the site with me.
This was Randys 1st time doing it. It was fun watching him prep Saturday all nervous.
I knew it wasn't going to go well for me. While everyone else had a nervous-excited anticipation, I was just going through the motions.
I had the bright idea of changing my brake pads on Saturday in the campsite.
It was a tight fit getting the rotor back into the caliper with the new pads so I resorted to an old trick for expanding the pads...letting out some brake fluid.
THAT didn't work out so well. The brake lever got to within 1/2" before the brake would grab.
Not the best senario for the race, but what choice did I have now.

Saturday I'm up at 5:30 and the 3 of us are prepping for the start.
As we're walking up to the start I realize I really don't wanna do this. If Randy and Chris weren't with me I would have not evan started.
Randy and I line up togather at the back of the start but as soon as we're let go i lose sight of him.
I'm passing quite a few people till the steeper section of the 1st climb.
"Was it this crowded last year". There was no real passing done unless you wanted to exert a whole lot of energy and take the bad line to pass so I took my place in line, passing the occasional "really" slow rider until the top.
I'm really looking forward to the top, knowing that technical downhills would be my strong point.
What I'm greeted with is the beginning of the technical (compared to what we've been doing) singletrack with atleast 25 riders lined up waiting to get into it.
It was at this point that I really mentally quit.
That was it. I was no longer racing, I was just going to ride.
I bombed the down hill, luckily I made so much noise that when I came up on someone they didn't want me riding there butts for too long, so they let me by.

Made it over to the start of the 2nd climb. This is the infamous
....
....
...
Thats it, as far as I'm getting with this story.
.........
Its now July 29th, 2011
I"m looking back through my blog entries and saw this.....
I"m going to go ahead and finish the race report up, as far as I can remember it a year later.
Its about a month away from the 2011 race. I'm entered and I'm psyched.

Anyways,
I get to 2nd climb. Previous years it's been a hike a bike with a conga line of people in front and behind you. If I was able too I couldn't have rode cause of the people hiking in front of you.
This year was different.
Very few people. At one point I was hiking all by myself. Nobody in front, nobody behind.
WTF. Had I entered an alternate reality and I was the last person left on earth?
Either I had totally slacked off, which I didn't think was the case, and I was at the extreme tail end of the racers or I was in some kind of void between the packs.
I finished the hike, by myself.
Did the decent and it energized me so I was actually thinking about trying to finish. Than I got on the fire road to AS2 and remembered all the road sections I'd need to ride. I really hate the road sections.
I thought about if my attitude at this point was so bad, and I wasn't even tired, what what it be like in another 30 or 40 miles?
So I came up to to the spot where a marshal was directing us to take a right to the AS2. I knew exactly where I was at and knew the camp ground was 2 miles away.
I told the marshal I was bailing. BUT just to put salt in the wound, I knew the marshal. I had been on some training rides with her 2 years ago on the course. I just wanted to slink back to the campground un-noticed. but I had to chit-chat with her as to why I was quitting.

Back at the campground I consider packing it up and just leaving but really want to see my buddies finish.
I do pack everything up. Go up to the finishing table and let them know I'd DNF'D.
Since I had quite some time to waste I drove to town, found a Hardees and enjoyed a nice burger.
I was there to see newb Randy finish in a surprising 11:30. Totally unexpected.
Now I'm just waiting for my buddy Chris to finish up. He wanted a 12 or 12.5 hour finish. He's been busting his ass training so I'm assuming he'll make it.
12:15 no sign of him.
12:30. Nothing.
12:45 He's still not there???
Its getting close to 13 hours and my attitude is starting to change.
If he can't get in by his goal time, don't let him beat my time from last year (13:02).
I'll be damned, 13 hours on the nose and here he comes through the campground.
SHIT! Little bastard beat my time by 1 minute.
I ate dinner and was ready to leave but had to wait for them to bring back the drop bags from AS5 which had my lights in them. They didn't show up till almost 9pm.
Got in my truck drove home and had my wife lick my wounds.

There, it officially done.
The SM100 2010 race report.

3 Days, 19 hours.

2010-09-01T10:33:00.002-05:00

I can't figure out why the weights not going back up.
Riding has been slim the past 2 weeks and the weight actually been going down.
I'm down to a steady weight of 210.
I'll worry about it in October if I don't start gaining it back.

I got out to the Rose last night for a lap with Doc.
It was a good time. Not like Saturday where I left cause I didn't feel like riding.
With my schedule I don't think I'll be able to get out for another ride before the race day.

I got the tent out and am letting it air out, found my lantern and charged it up.
It works so thats good.
Still got to find my air matress and make sure its in workable condition.
The bike had a few shifting issues last night, no big deal, a little cable adjustment will take care it.
I've got new brake pads and new tires on order, they hopefully will be in today and I can put them on Friday. Hell maybe I'll wait till Saturday.
I'll probably have some time to waste in the campsite.

Trying to be optimistic and find reason why I might not do as badly as I think I will.
So far I've got
-I quit smoking a month ago. (Seriously, no benefits that I can see yet)
-I'm 3 or 4 pounds lighter than last year. (oh yeah, I'm grasping here).
-another years worth of life miles. (I try not thinking about also being a year older and turning 45 this year).
-I'm totally accustomed to the Niner, where as last year I had only had it 3 weeks before the race.
-Last but not least, experience. (Really grasping now)

seeya

No, I'm not worried about dnf'ing.

2010-08-30T09:39:00.002-05:00

I've got the SM100 map out and am looking at routes that I can take back, by road if I decide to quit at an aid station.
Let me re-phrase that.....if my physical condition requires me to withdrawl from the race.
Thats freak'n confidence there.
GIT ER DONE!!

Last weekend before the race, what did my training consist of?
1 lap at the Rose including the interior Saturday morning.
12 miles.
Wait for it......... thats it.
I had to drop my daughter off in Towson at 7:00 AM.
Up at 5am and on the road for an hour and 40, dropped her off than drove an hour back towards home and stopped at the Rose. Did a lap, stopping half way to put air my tire. It had a slow leak.
Back at the truck, change the tube, only had my frame pump with me, so I got an arm workout.
Went back out to start my 2nd lap.
Got in a 1/8 mile and said fuck it.
I didn't feel like this shit.
I'm supposed to be tapering anyways.
I wasn't tired, just didn't feel like riding.

Sunday, same deal with the drive to Towson.
Was suppose to meet the slow guys at Cedarville @ 9.
Same deal.
Still don't feel like riding.

I did take the bike into the shop for a tune up for the race.
Change the shifting cables and housing, clean the drive train, and took apart the headseat and lubed it up.
I had one of the guys watching me who knew about the race next weekend and he kept bugging me to change the chain out.
I tried explaining to him, I change the chain I gotta change the cassette.
So far the drive trains been working fine so I'm not touching the chain, and don't wanna spend the money on a new cassette before the old one is wore out.
I had to order some brake pads, they should be in Wednesday and I'm not too worried about changing brake pads right before the race, but I gotta remember to change them, they are worn down.

10 day forcast.

2010-08-27T07:55:00.002-05:00

Like every year, when the race date shows up on the 10 day weather forcast, thats another milestone.
As of today its looking like sunshine, high of 83 and a low of 61.

Now time for another race prediction.
DNF at AS 4.

Still up in the air as to weather I'll be going or not. Conditions next week will decide.

My knee has been giving me real problems lately. Its getting to the point where its waking me up in the middle of the night. This worries me cause if I get tired I could always walk. With the knee flaring up, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to walk.

I haven't been on the bike since Sunday....oh wait. I did squeeze in 30 minutes the other night and to on the trainer Wed.
How pathetic is that?
30 minutes on trainer as training for 100 miles.

seeya

11 days

2010-08-24T20:02:00.002-05:00

Worked at the shop Monday.
Weather was a little damp so I skipped a ride Tuesday and decided cutting the grass would have to be my workout.
So keeping the race in mind I thought cutting the race in my bike shoes would help.
You know, get used to the hiking I would have to do, and get the feel for the new in-soles.
It wasn't too bad.
A little slippery on the hills and a new blister but I gotta prep for the race.
Seeya
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Just kidding.
What kind of eff'n idiot do you think I am.
Thats funny.
Just picturing somebody in a full kit pushing a lawnmower around.

Seeya.

2 weeks out, 12 days till race.

2010-08-23T09:32:00.002-05:00

Freak'n life is a rollercoaster at the moment.
One day I'm up, next I'm down.

I'm going by the assumption that I'll be doing the race in 2 weeks.
Could change, but I hope not.

So 2 weeks outs, supposed to be my biggest training ride last Saturday.
I did a little less than 5 hours on the road for 87 miles.
I would have pushed it out to a full century or more but I had time constraints.
Just couldn't push myself out of bed early enough to have 6 hours free.
I hated the whole ride.
I'm sick of the road bike, I'm sick of that same stupid route through So.Md.
I hadn't been on the bike all week and it felt like it.
Afterwards I got home showered and we made the trip up to Towson.
I wanted the rest so let the youngest daughter take shot gun while the wife drove and I sat in the back trying to catch a small nap.
That worked out well. Trying to get my 6'3" body comfortable in the back of a small suv.
I'd get a cramp in one the legs everytime I tried to shift.

Sunday I got a short trailride in at Cedarville with the slow guys.
I'd just replaced the saddle on the bike and wanted to check it out. My ass was still hurting from yestereday so I didn't learn much.

I also got some insoles for my bike shoes.
For the 90 minutes that we were out they felt pretty good.
They gotta work better than that piece of cardboard that Sidi puts in the bottom of their shoes.
I'm hoping it'll help with the walking part of the race.