This weekend was like an out of order four course meal

As the title states, this weekend was like an out of order four course meal.

The entree' came first. It was a small, but great ride. I met Jim, Chris and Steve for a little east side mtb'ing. After they were tired from trail maintence, I went and threw down some washed up expert beatin' on 'em. Helping my unexplainable urge to ride hard was the fact that I was on a full suspension bike - with gears. Something I haven't done in awhile. Man, you can really go fast with a big ring.

Then, I cleansed my palate with a nugget of a challenge. The boys (Jim and Steve) talked me into doing the Turkey Trot (5k, not the 10k version). It wasn't hard to do. A few minutes later at the after ride lunch at Tijuana Flats, Zak was comitted too.

Next up was the cheese and crackers. On the drive home I reflected back to the last time I ran 3 miles. It was with Dan over a year ago. The time before that was with RC, probably two years ago. On both occasions I was incredibly miserable and way out of shape. My problem ankle was, well, a problem. I started to think I had made a bad decision to do this run. So, off to test the waters I go. I put in about 25 minutes of running (at least three miles I hope). No real significant pain; probably due to the Mona Vie Active that I drink :)

I cleanse my palate again. This time, between courses, I opt for the hunching over the kitchen counter while trying to warm a bottle of milk and not pass out from oxygen debt maneuver. Success.

Then came the appetizer. Well it was like an entree' but there was not enough food to be considered an entree', so it was an appetizer. The wife and I had another date night. After a trip to Target, we headed to Tapas for some overpriced, ill portioned food. I have to admit, though, the food and ambiance was great. Because we got to Tapas so early, we had the whole place to ourselves. No one else. I can't remember what we had, but it came on large rectangular plates and the water was served in tall skinny glasses. Its a pretty cool place. Kinda like Mozaics and that other place I used to hate on Monroe Street. Not much bang for the buck, but definitely good food, good times.

The salad came in the form of reading through the ride emails for Sunday plans. I laughed out loud (thats LOL to some of you) when I saw Dariens emails. Saturday night he was this tough, single, care free cyclist ready to go ride. The only thing standing in his way of a four hour cross ride was getting the address for where the ride was starting. Then, come Sunday morning, he is daddy pee pee poo poo pants and not only is he not going to be riding that day - he probably won't even step outside of his own house.

Finally, dessert. We didn't get to select it, as in "by choice", but boy was it good. The 'ole lady and I were on a walk with the dogs and the baby. We were heading back from an ABC loop, walking by Bagel Bagel when we saw Steve ride by on his road bike. As he looped around to come greet us, he had the not so brilliant idea of trying to be cool. He came, full bore, rear wheel locked up slinging it out powerslide right up to our feet - on his road bike. For a second, maybe even two, Cortney and I both thought that he looked cool as ice. Now, that is someone with some skill. Some may try that on a MTB in the dirt, but rarely does anyone have the nuts to try to pull that on pavement on a road bike. Now I know why. Boom, boom, pow. Steve don't got no style.... Not only did he crash, AND flat, but he also shredded his rear tubular. The good news is that we had plenty of time to catch up with Steve on the long walk home.

ramblings about getting older with a little about bikes

Another birthday in the books. This blog's title pays homage to my years - 38. Friday was actually my birthday, but it was a pretty awful day. The only saving grace is it was bracketed by time with my wife and kids. Cards and hugs and kisses in the morning, then on to a small present and impromptu visit to a high school football game in the evening (Casey and Mia had a blast). I had a good time as well and it was funny to check out a real life Friday Night Lights.

Saturday was not much better because I had to work. Mia begged to go on the morning's first run so that was nice. On to work while the rest of my family spent time with extend family in town for Justin's wedding. On to my cousin-in-law's wedding at Goodwood. Very nice affair. It's still a small world and I bumped in to my man Bob with AB. He opened the door to talk about 180 Energy so obliged. I stepped through it and next year's sponsorship looks promising. Not a done deal but it looks good. I asked one of my other cousin-in-laws - Cord - if he'd been riding any (we sold him a Caloi back in the day). He played the question down but said he brought his bike. The beer had been flowing so I'm like ",dude we got to ride in the morning. I'm talking early!" Much to my horror he said yes.

So we're rolling by 7:15 at Tom Brown on Sunday morning. No BS, I feel great. I ask him want he wants to do and mentions he's heard of Cadillac. So I alter our course and lead him through part of Tom Brown, Cadillac, Piney Z and then the lollipop loop. We hit all the cool sections and loved every minute. Fitness level wise everything felt great. The only time I ever felt dead legged was climbing up the sissy route from the dike. We get back a little early and decide to hit some more singletrack at Tom Brown. It was one of the best rides I've been on in a very long time. Back at home I burn the next 8 hours renovating the kitchen.

Woke up yesterday and it was back to the grind. I was dead tired. Beat. I was starting to get grumpy. Then I did some thinking. What I've found is we all can fall in to the trap of focusing on the negative. That is what I was trying to do. In what was an otherwise aggravating set of circumstance and a not-so-great birthday weekend - there were some pockets of positive times, and some truly great times. So that's the focus now - positive.

Dragon

The Lost Boys

Wow, what a fun weekend of mountain biking. Saturday had me, Big Worm, Wrecking Ball and Spanish Mackerel loading up the truck and heading to middle Georgia for some mountain biking fun.

First stop was the Boy Scout camp (Camp Thunder) near Thomaston. With well over 2,000 feet of climbing per lap, past trips on this trail have turned out to be more hiking than biking, but this time it seemed to be the opposite. It’s amazing what you can do when you settle down and just find a grove. Big Worm decided to do things the hard way. About 2 miles in, and during the second climb, he breaks a rear derailleur. So now he’s down to about 3 gears. This is not the place to limit your gear choices. Riding behind the big man you would never have known he had a problem. He rode all the climbs the rest of us made and cleaned some that we couldn’t. The Mackerel gave his best impression of a mountain goat while running his mouth during the climbs. Me and WB were devising a plan to toss him over a cliff while at the same time breathing through our eyelids.

After the ride we head for Macon and try to find the big man a derailleur from one of the bike shops. After several calls it was not looking good as none had any level of Sram for purchase. As luck would have it, one of the wrenches offered to sale his XO off of his personal bike…..SOLD. So we get to the shop at closing time and the deal was done. Oh, and it must be said that Big Worm was “recognized” in the shop as a GSC participant. I made sure they realized that he was not only a participant but the GSC Clydesdale champion.

After checking into the Hotel, getting cleaned up, and drinking a few beers, we head out for some Mexican food. Good stuff, and hey since we are not racing the next day (thank God) why not hit Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Back at the hotel there was mention of a ten o’clock run to Five Guys Burgers but, thankfully, cooler heads prevailed.

Sunday we get up early and hit the free hotel breakfast before loading up the truck. Before heading to Dausset we hit Dunkin Donuts for some iced coffee and donuts (did I mention not a race weekend…THANK GOD). Off to Dausset we go. Unlike the day before, Sunday was gorgeous (sunny and cooler). The trails were a mess due to all of the rain days before. Very slick, and very muddy which made things interesting. Not even half way through the ride Big Worm, you guessed it, breaks another part. This time his saddle rails have snapped. He gives it a go for a while but decides he needs to head back to the truck. He hands SM the map, gives a few instructions and we part ways. Me, WB, and SM hit the “huff and puff” section of Dausset and struggle with the mud and water. WB was about to blow a gasket (bonked) and I’m having some “intestinal” issues (which I’m sure had nothing to do with the diet I enjoyed while on the trip). Overall another very fun ride.

Load up the truck, stop by JB’s BBQ, then head to the house. I can’t wait for the next guy’s weekend (RACING NOT INCLUDED).

Rotten Meat May Change My Life

Wow. I've never been smelly but recent events had me sniff-checking everything. It's no secret the Tahoe is a wreck. I'm OCD but have to combat that with being a complete slob. If I keep it clean then I HAVE to keep it clean. So I let it be a complete mess. That all may have to change. I did a prelim clean the other day throwing away the big chunks and putting the rest in piles. There's the front seat, back floorboard and cargo area. I'm feeling pretty good about myself - Rome wasn't built in a day right? Right about the time Silk was looking for his vest I noticed a little funk. Could it be the socks, shoes or helmet from Sunday? How about the krispy kreme box from Friday? Or maybe the near empty chocolate milk containers? Milk can get get funky. Forget it - let's wait a day or two and see (or smell) what happens. Unfortunately this morning set off an olfactory alarm of gagging proportions. On par with a triple-gagger diaper changing. Wife and kids were waving goodbye as I opened the car door so I had to choke down some puke, pull out of the driveway and roll down the windows as I left neighborhood. Gasping for air I cussed it aggravation. Aggravated because I'm frustrated with how nasty I am. Aggravated because something is in the Tahoe and I've got to find it. So I put the sniffer to work. Ran through the usual suspects. Mild funk but nothing a stick-up couldn't handle. Check under the front seats. Check the cargo area. Nothing. On to the back seats. Driver side - nothing. Passenger side door opens - dry heave. Damn, that's where the Publix pork roast went. I was all pissed at the bag boy for shorting me and it was MY fault. I had clearly shoved the shopping bag under the back seat when loading my groceries because there was nowhere else to put it. More cussing because I now know I am a piece of crap. So happy Friday to me. I am now committed to re-inventing myself, again. I'll embrace the OCD and clean it up. Washing and checking here I come. I'll try to snap some pictures of the Tahoe detox.

Dragon

Weekend Recap

Got in some miles this weekend. I met up with the crew both days for some fun riding. I jumped in on both rides, so I didn't get as many miles as they did. I guess I probably got in around 50 miles between the two days, based on them claiming 65 miles. I rode the Lynskey both days and had a blast with it. It needs some work now (more on that later) so it may sit on a hook for awhile until I get a chance to get to it.

Saturday had us riding east. Its been awhile since I have been on a group ride, so it was a surprise to see how mean everyone was to each other. They have either gotten more t0-the-bone with their insults, or I have gotten weak. We headed out with a pretty steady pace to do TB, Cadillac, the bucket loop and a whole lot of grass field riding. Tyler stepped up and took charge of leading the ride; which was awesome. However, we logged in a fair amount of miles on what felt like riding on a wet mattress; uphill; with a headwind; brakes dragging, etc etc. On the way back, we really lifted the pace for awhile on upper Cadillac. That was fun to see how the 29er felt at speed. When we got to Piney Z park, we found a camelbak that appeared to have fallen off of someones trunk as it was just sitting in the parking lot unattended. We went to take a look to see if we could find some identifying objects and we stumbled upon a newish looking Blackberry. Great! Now we definitely have the obligation of trying to find the rightful owner. I texted the two most recent contacts in her message list. She (the Blackberry owner) had been staying in close contact with "Kate" and "Nathan" since midnight and had been recently texting Kate. I let them know that we found the phone but we never heard back from them. While we were waiting on a return text, Juancho and the Big Ring Circus showed up for a couple jokes. They hurried along as they HATE to be seen on the trail with, or even near, us. I think its just bad for their rep. Before we left, Chris made the executive decision to call "mommie" and let her know that we had found her daughters bag and phone and that we were leaving it at the bathroom at PZ park. The gang had mixed emotions about that being a good idea, but we let it slide. Sure would like to know how that all panned out. Anyway, we road on, shared a few more words with the BRC and started to go our separate ways. I heard it was another TT back to Joes.

Sunday was north. I met the boys on the powerline and we headed out for some Red Bug, Phipps, Secret ST, Overstreet. We had the dragon with us this time and we were relentless on dragging him around for his Felasco prep. There were a couple of "sprints" on the otherwise tame ride. Some new routes were laid out by BW. On the way back from the lake, through a particularly technical section of flat dirt road, I grabbed Chris' handlebar just in time for him to tackle me. Seriously, we went down faster than you could say "big man falling". Not even close to the first time I have crashed with Chris, and probably not the last. We got back rolling quickly after some laughs of some of the witnesses and headed for Secret ST, Everything seemed fine, but I noticed later that my front rotor was very warped. (I did have to straighten my bars and brake levers after the crash) After getting home I realized my brakes were really dragging and it was hard to push the bike. Its possible that the rear wheel slipped in the dropouts. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet though. I know I have to work on the fork too, so it may sit idle for awhile.

I summary, I got 50 miles in this weekend, which makes a total of about 60 for the past six weeks. I had a blast riding with the gang and am super motivated to get back out again.

Now I get it!

Now I see that all the breeders are full of it. I was always curious if it really was true. The breeders will tell you that having a baby is a must-do and you will never be able to find as much joy as a baby. Maybe. Maybe not. I think that what is more likely is that they want to see you go down in a huge ball of flames. That will bring them joy. Unfortunately for me, most of my crew already has kids and I have zero victims-to-be on the back burner. Luckily, I have brought joy into my friends lives by wallering in the grips of misery for the past six weeks; but they are are liars and I hate them all for the truths they have sheltered. A quick run down of some of the crew will show that I don't have anyone to bring me joy in the way others have had with me. I don't have anyone to point and laugh at (except for Darien, but thats too close to my own misery. that will most likely be a simultaneous laugh and cry). Some of the guys are too young, some are too old, and only two are possible candidates. So, be sure not to let Steve or Tyler in on any knowledge of any of the misery of fatherhood. In the meantime I will have to decide whether to take the high road, or be deceitful / unscrupulous / unconscionable and join the ranks of the lying majority.
As far as bikes go, here we go. I have my wheels finally and the Lynskey is getting built today. I plan to meet the guys for Thursday lunch. I plan to watch a one time showing of a cycling "movie" tonight with the chain gang. So, yeh, I am on a come back and actually plan to get on a bicycle one day real soon.

Congrats Bike Chain

Way to go Bike Chain!

From the racers to the cheerleading section, the chain gang was in full effect this weekend. It definitely makes the racing much more fun to have the whole family out there in attendance.

Gotta give all the racers due credit; each rider brought something to the table. Tim, jeeeesh, what a breakthrough performance. Expert podium, not much more to say, that was awesome. Ric, prolly not what he would have liked under normal circumstances. However, to have been sick (in the lungs too), make a game day decision to race, and not have been run off from the soflo bullies - that was very impressive to pull off a 3rd place with mad consistent lap times. Its crazy to think that 3rd place in expert is a dissappointing finish for you. Zak finished a race!!! And got 3rd place in expert lite (singlespeed). He looked solid on the first two laps, leading some of it, until a couple crashes and a wall got in his way. Way to gut it out to 3rd. David won in sport class and made it look easy with expert lap times (very consistent too). Tyler did his first race, and won!! On a fully rigid bike by the way. Terry trained so much in the past three weeks that he caught and passed Steve (who beat him at the last race). Maybe Terry gets the most improved medal?? And then Steve, who showed up at like 10 or 10:30 wasn't even going to race. He finally got talked in to racing (luckily, he just so happened to have his bike and all necessary race gear :)) and raced with style - enjoying a quesadilla from Tijuana Flats while coming through for his last lap. I'm not sure how Colter and Jason did, but I know Colter was never going to race again at his last race; but he did. And jason seemed to be pretty happy with his race and more happy that it was over....

You guys be sure to go by Tijuana Flats and let them know how good the food was and that we all appreciate their support.