didn't get it

i didn't buy a new bike tonight. in fact, i didn't even go to the bike shop. during the afternoon, i remembered seeing a post on the mmba board from a shop that has a full fleet of demo 29ers....sunrise sports up in fenton. so i gave chad a call and he said he has a 17.5" paragon for me to demo. what a genius idea! there's no obligation to test ride their 29ers on a trail which will go a long way in helping me make a determination whether or not it's the right type of bike for me. that way i don't have to buy one to test out and then eat the 'depreciation' if i sell it because it's not working out. i also called a stocking salsa dealer in chelsea. they actually have dos niners in stock! one of the shop guys rides a medium so i'm gonna stop by next tues. to check it out. i really think i need a small but i'm worried about toe overlap. we'll see.

i was really hoping the rains would hold off tonight because i really wanted to take the demo to pontiac tomorrow. with the downpour we had tonight, i'm almost positive the trail's gonna be sloppy. so, i guess i'll have to find a dry day next week.

i hate spring weather! i'm not even sure what the plan is for tomorrow. i do know it's gonna be windy. if i don't hear from anyone, i guess i'll just do a paved ride by myself. yankee has been iffy because of the weather. right now it's not looking too bad. i think it's only a 30% chance of storms in the afternoon. we may be good to go!

this has been a long week. this lack of sleep has caught up with me. i'm dead fucking tired. no workouts tonight. i'm going to bed!

damn 29ers...

so i'm still up in the air about buying a 29er. american cycle and fitness sucks. they're having their big 'super sale' today through monday, and i was hoping to get a good sale price on the x-cal. well, i called and it's the same price as normal--$1149. they told me it's normally $1249 but that's bs because i've called in the past and they've always told me $1149. so, i think that's a little out of my price range. with tax it'd be over $1200 and i would still have to swap out the shifters and rear derailleur. now i'm thinking i may go w/ the bottom of the line cobia. i can get it for $850 out the door. if i like it, i'll just sell it along w/ the fango and get a dos niner or a custom from quiring. i'll stop by after work to check them out.

last night's ride was AWESOME! it was so nice being back out on the trails. i'm a little frustrated at where i'm at conditioning wise but it's all good. i was hoping i'd be a little faster out there but i was slow as hell on the climbs. it's hard to believe that climbing used to be my strong suit. i'm definitely not in race shape yet but i still have 3 more weeks to get there! i was pretty impressed at my "endurance" though. it's still march and i did a double out at pontiac without cramping! riding the second half of the trail behind erin, i was amazed at how fast she can accelerate! she hits a flat, stands up for a few pedal stokes and off she goes! impressive. there's definitely gonna be some good battles out there for the women's expert class this year!

so we're thinking about going to yankee on sunday. unfortunately, the weather forecast has changed and now they're calling for storms on sunday. i guess we'll have to play it by ear. i really want to go out there this weekend and pre-ride the course. plus, talks about a stop at the fort is always enticing.

well, back to work...i may come home w/ a new bike tonight!

back in the market...

...for a 29er! i've decided to sell my beloved cross bike and take that money to buy a fisher x-caliber. i HATE big brand bikes but i don't have much choice right now when it comes to complete builds that are reasonably priced. i was thinking about picking one up on friday at one of the "other" shops. they're having a super sale w/ everything in the store on sale. i'm also hoping they honor the mmba discount on top of the sale prices so i can get it for about $1k out the door. that would be a steal! of course, there's tons of fishers that get sent back because of cracks or whatnot. hopefully, it doesn't happen to me. if i love the 29er concept then i'll just sell the fisher along w/ my fango and get a nice, high end 29er. yeah, i know, i'm already jumping the gun. that's just me and how my stupid little mind works.

grrrr...an early morning for me tomorrow...and friday. we've got some ridiculous statistics workshop we have to attend at work. 18 hrs over the next two days. blah! whatever. i get to ride tomorrow after work. and it's going to be on a trail. and it's going to be 65 degrees tomorrow. yay! i just read that pontiac is in pretty good shape. soupy and i were thinking highland BUT if pontiac is in good shape, i think i'd rather go there. it's just more familiar.

okay, time for bed. i'll be dreaming about my shiny, new orange 29er!

i thinks i hurted myself

what a ridiculous workout i had tonight! i hammered so hard on my bike i literally couldn't walk up the stairs afterwards. i couldn't believe i maintained such a hard pace...on a trainer of all things! i did a one hour workout to try and mimic the yankee race. i gave it ALL i had. my legs are WAY more blown out than after riding 35 miles, WAY more blown out than running stairs, and WAY more blown out than a trail run. and if that wasn't enough, i just did a ton of squats going 20lbs heavier than last week. mmmm...pain. i don't think i'll be able to walk tomorrow. oh well, that's what easy days are for.

i'm just chilling out to some wilco right now. i'm in a strange mood tonight. it's weird how listening to certain songs brings you back to a certain point in your life. i'm not so sure that's good for me right now. "...when the truth proves it's beautiful to lie."

a new love

after work, i went for my first-ever trail run! i've actually been enjoying my road and track runs as of late which is very surprising. i used to HATE running! i decided to hit maybury on my way home. i've hiked the xc hiking trail in the past and know there are a few small hills. much different than the basically flat roads i normally run. i took off at ten after six which would give me about 45 minutes of daylight. i looked at the trail map and it said the entire loop was 6 miles. i figured i wouldn't have time to do the whole loop since i assumed i'd be pretty slow my first time out. i did the loop out and around the pond and back to the lot and then went back into the woods for the other loop. i don't think i did the whole trail. i didn't want to go into uncharted territory with the darkness quickly descending upon me. i ended up doing forty minutes...i'm guessing about 4.5 miles. and a splendid 4.5 miles it was! i couldn't believe how much fun it was being out in the woods all by myself and enjoying the scenery rather than focusing on the trail while i'm pedalling my ass off! it was actually easier than i thought it was going to be. granted, maybury isn't the most technical trail, but it isn't flat like the roads either. i thought the hardest part was maintaining control going down the hills! i can't wait for the brighton x-terra race. i would like to do the novi trail race as well. i think that's sometime in june.

i've just been feeling pretty damn good lately. i lifted hard tonight since it's been about 4 days. bench, lat pulldowns, rows, shrugs, ez bar curls, reverse curls. unfortunately, i'll be stuck with the trainer tomorrow night. other than that, the week is looking pretty good. nice weather for wed. and thurs. i'd like to do a trail ride on thurs. if the conditions are okay.

oh yeah, a stroke of good luck! after getting back from a run last night, i noticed on the roof of my car, wedged under my bike rack were my Rudy's! after the ride saturday, the first thing i did was take off those road grime encrusted glasses and set them on the roof of my car. miraculously, they stayed on the car despite 75mph highway speeds! it's about time something went my way! it really would've sucked to have lost my $130 Rudy's i so adore. plus, it would've drove me nuts trying to figure out what happened to them!

saturday post-ride pics

feast fit for a king!

mmm....nachos!

pound that cherry dr. pepper, boy!

i'm purdy!

say 'nacho cheese'!

yum! wet, smelly socks!

brrrr!

the weather forecasters dropped the ball on this one. there was only a small chance of precipitation and light winds. well, we encountered a stiff headwind along with snow, rain, and sleet. still, after waking up to snow covered grass, nine of us braved the elements and met at andrea's house in novi. the ride started off dry but cold with the winds laughing at us as we headed north and west towards kensington. the pace started off easy, but as soon as we hit the dirt roads, the fasties took off. the first two big hills on buno rd. kicked my ass. it was very impressive to see soupy power up the hill on his big geared ss, macromius hammer out of the saddle on his ss, lee spin by me on his fs, and erin spinning like a mad woman on her carbon hardtail. poor ol' me was thinking the activites during the week cashed my legs out. i pushed on. by the time we regrouped at the edge of kensington, large, white, fluffy snowflakes were descending upon us. i felt good when we hit the hills at kensington. i just find a comfortable gear, get in a groove and spin my way up the hill. pain is good. the view over kent lake was spectacular. foggy, snowy over the chilly waters. that's what riding is all about. miserable conditions brings out the beauty of the ride. it still wasn't enough to keep us out for the full route. most of the group split off at the ilra/kensington crossroad but the "hardcore" riders, soupy, myself, lee and mike decided to head into island lake. it's funny that i say hardcore because we rode about a half mile in when talk started about turning back. the winds had picked up, it was a mix of rain, sleet and wet snow and we were wet and cold. the lure of beer back at andrea's was too much so soupy locked 'em up w/ me on his tire going 16mph. um, that was a wake up call to say the least. we pull a u-ey and head for mt. trashmore. the rest of the ride back to the house was punishing to say the least. more hills, more dirt, more sleet, and more rain. what a great way to spend a saturday!

after we got back to andrea's we had post-recovery food of champions. beer, bbq chips and nacho dip! you can't beat that! not even with a stick of slim jim.

ride stats
ride time 2:10:30
total distance 31.7 miles
avg. speed 14.5 mph
max speed 33.1 mph

ready to ride!

i spent well over an hour cleaning my bike tonight. like i said previously, i have not cleaned it since before o2s last year. it was trashed from the unfortunate mudfest at island lake last weekend, so it was inevitable that clean my baby before the next ride. even though she is beat up asthetically, i still found myself alone in the garage just staring at her. well, not that that's anything new. i pretty much stand by myself and oogle hot chicks all day anyway. yep, i'm pretty much a loser. i didn't spend too much time on the drivetrain. surprisingly, it's in pretty good shape. the chain was bone dry, but there was no rust to be found. i gave it a nice lube job and she can't wait to be ridden. of course my crappy ass back wheel is out of true. i had to tinker w/ the brakes so they don't rub and slow me down anymore than i need to. the only thing it needs is new front brake pads and a new fork. i was telling soupy tonight that it's better than riding it rigid. well, maybe not. i'm sure a nice rigid fork would be a lot stiffer than the noodle that's on there.

i can't fucking believe it's snowing out right now! the weather has sucked all week. hopefully, the dirt roads won't be too muddy. i hate cleaning bikes! i'm assuming we're doing at least 35 miles so this will be a true test of the heed. i'll make my own "sustained energy" formula by adding some hammer whey to the mix. i think 18g of protein for a 4 hour ride should suffice. i can't believe i'm such a tech geek when it comes to stuff like this. it must be the geeky scientist in me that's coming out! maybe i should ride in my lab coat. yeah, whatever. i told ya i'm a dork!

today was a complete rest day. the only thing i lifted tonight was the fat burrito i had for dinner. well, i did two reps since i had dos large burritos tonight. then i had some potato chips. not the pansy-ass baked or reduced fat bullshit, but the full-fat, cellulite on my ass potato chips. then i felt guilty so i grabbed a bag of baked pita chips. that was 4 hours ago. i'm still full. we'll just call that carbo-loading and glycogen replenishment. probably about 1700 calories in one sitting. sick. well, i'd better get some recovery rest as we're getting an early start tomorrow. i like to sleep in on saturdays. i must be motivated. or is it the lure of the dark horse girls?

volumizing hair spray

i like big hair. you know, big eighties hair. think bret michaels of poison back in the day. back when you were crazy about them and you thought they were hot....hot chicks! c'mon admit it. you thought poison were a bunch of hot chicks. i'm not afraid to admit it. but then again i was just a pimply, prepubescent teen too. well, okay, i wasn't a teen. i was like ten. why the hell am i talking about hair, anyway? maybe i'm just a bit delirious. i avoided amanda's whip cracking tonight, but it looks like dana took the brunt of that abuse. HOT! i cracked my own whip tonight. please, this is a family blog so get your mind out of the fucking gutter! i went to the local high school track to do my own torturous stairs workout. i could've had devo dancing in my head..."crack that whip!"....but i didn't. why would i torture myself with bad music during a workout? so this was my workout: 6 laps/1.5 mile jogging warmup, then one set of stairs consisting of 5x up and 5x down for a total of 90 steps both ways. remember, this is a family blog? then back on the track for a one lap/0.25 mile recovery jog, lube up and repeat until something comes out...like sweat, you pervert! what were you thinking, gosh! a grand total of five sets on the stairs and 12x around the track for 3 miles. sound like fun? well, it was. because of time constraints, i had to cut it short. well, it was supposed to be an easy day after all. oh well, i've just been really motivated as of late. i even lifted weights tonight too. so, an easy spin tomorrow to prepare for a long ride on saturday w/ the dark horse girls. ooo-la-la!

old joe to the rescue!

i was a bit confused about all this training business. since i'm training for both a 12 hour race and a 13 mile sprint time trial, i didn't know if i should do some sort of specialized training. old joe to the rescue. he suggested doing three days/week at race pace and four days/week long, endurance/recovery pace. i knew about active recovery but i didn't know you could ride every day. if the elite guys are working out this hard then maybe these workouts will payoff for this modest sport racer. speaking of modest, looking at the yankee results from the past two years, i'm going to retract my statement that i'm going to win. top ten would be more like it. there were a number of fast guys on the podium the past two years. there were even some fast guys who are now in the elite category who didn't even place. yikes!

i've got a LONG ways to go. I did a 15 minute warmup and then 25 minutes of HIGH resistance intervals. my legs were shaking violently at the end of the 40 minutes. i guess i build from here. four and a half weeks until yankee. that will give me three and a half more weeks to build another 20 minutes to the 95% effort workouts. hopefully, that will prepare me enough for yankee. maybe i should take the advice of another thirty year old; race for sex and fame. yeah, that's the ticket.

8 minute buns

omg! it feels like i've done 24 minutes of the 8 minute buns video. i cannot believe how sore my ass is! i guess those squats are doing their thing. as a hetero-male, i really don't want anything to do their thing back there, but to each his own.

hoping to move some of the toxins out of the muscles, i spun an easy gear on the trainer for an hour. i felt good the whole way and will probably do another easy, recovery day on the trainer again tomorrow.

so, i'm already getting anxious about the yankee race and it's still four and a half weeks out. i'm racing this to win so i have to be ready. it's the only race all year that i have a chance at winning so i'd better make the most of it. the thing is, i really haven't done any race specific workouts. i need to go out and ride 1:15 at race pace. that should give me plenty of reserve on race day. it's just so hard to find time to do it. it seems like on the weekends i need to get extra saddle time to prepare for the 12 hour race but i can't neglect this sprint race either. i'll do a race effort one of the days this weekend, probably by myself. i need a course with some hills. either a triple kensington or an out and back on hines. it's funny that i actually care to train this year. it's still fun training so i'll keep doing it until it's no fun anymore. sort of like sex except sex will always be fun!

breakin' the law, breakin' the law

if old joe knew i did a heavy weight workout the day following a stair workout, i think he'd have a...well, we won't go there. the point is, i know better. it's just my legs were feeling pretty good tonight and i had a little bit of motivation. squats, deadlifts, leg curls, and calf raises for the lower body and some heavy bench presses and wide-grip upright rows for the shoulders. my whole body is sore! that's the way, ah-huh, ah-huh, i like it!

i called sbs to find out what the hold up was w/ the monocog 29er's. i guess they were unhappy w/ the headtube gussets of the first batch of frames so they're re-doing them and waiting for shipment. so now they're saying the second week of april. i've decided (once again) that i'm going with the ss. the least it'll do is make me a stronger rider especially on the hills, plus, i'll have fun doing it! so, i probably won't have it for another month at the earliest. boo-hoo.

the first week of spring is going to prove to be a cold one. temps in the 30s the whole week. i'm still hoping to get out one night this week for a post-work ride. easier said than done. a run sounds more realistic.

financial blues

i was so ready to go out and put the fisher x-caliber on the credit card this weekend. i so want a 29er geared bike it's not even funny. probably worse than anna nicole smith wanting a brain. i thought i could get it for $1050 w/ my mmba discount from rochester bike shop. i just called and they were mistaken on the price. they have it for $1250 instead of $1150. american cycle and fitness has it for $1150 but they don't offer the mmba discount. it is just not feasible to buy this right now. we have taxes to pay not to mention selling the house as well. so should i just wait a couple more weeks and get the monocog 29er as originally planned? after riding island lake this weekend, i just don't think i'd be cut out for single speeding. the little sandy climb would've had me walking. i don't like walking when i know i should be biking. yeah, i know i'm a big pussy, but i still like my gears. i know i'd be way faster on my geared bike. so what do i need to do to get $1200? sell my other bikes? sell my soul? how about prostitution? i need to find a way. it's so addicting like drugs, only worse.

sunny, late winter days

ahhh, another beautiful late winter afternoon! surprisingly, i was not hungover today. i drank LOTS from 3-11 yesterday and went to bed at 3AM but got up at 10. that's much earlier than i expected. i thought i'd crawl out of bed at noon. i didn't feel like driving 45mins to rochester for the ride and am kinda glad i didn't. i thought i got my fair share of mud yesterday. the fango really needs a thorough cleaning. in fact, i haven't cleaned it since ore to shore! it still has the reddish iron ore stains on it. yes, i'm very lazy.

i made a pot of my city-famous chili, experimented with a little cunnilingus(i had to type that because it's such a stupid word!), and then hit the local high school track. i threw the football around w/ mason on the brand new artificial turf field(that's where my tax dollars are going!) while jackie ran her hiits. after she was done, i did a couple of warm up laps and then hit the bleachers for my first ever stairs session. so you could say that i'm a stairs virgin. the bleacher's steps were made of concrete and were very steep and tall. they were probably 18-20" steps. there were 18 of them. i decide to do 4 up and 4 down for one set. 72 steps up and 72 down then i would go run a lap around the track to recover...lather, rinse and repeat. i did 4 sets and left it at that since i was afraid of the soreness amanda reported after doing stairs for the first time this week. i ran a couple more 400's as fast as i could and my legs were getting pretty tired. the stairs were good for me. were they good for you? i'm no longer a virgin and plan on turning into a stairs slut. oh, the benefits!

good thing i had cooked beforehand, because a nice hot bowl of chili was calling my name. mmmm...good recovery food. another fun weekend...they just go by way too quickly. back to work tomorrow. i'm hoping to charge up the lights this week and go out for an after work ride. yankee is only five weeks away.

eventful day

lots accomplished today! lots of drinking that is. started the day a bit later since i had to tinker with my bike this morning. i met amanda at island lake with the intention of doing some trail riding. we did the yellow loop and was disappointed at how soft and muddy it was. i really didn't want to head out onto the open roads and battle the winds but the sunshine was calling me. we headed into kensington and attacked the hills. my legs were feeling A LOT better than they did last week, and i thought i climbed the hills much faster. the wind was still a bitch though. we decided to call it a day after kensington since the lure of guinness was too much to overcome. 21 hard earned miles deserved a reward as grand as a tall pint of guinness. we had a good late afternoon lunch and a couple pints of guinness and then parted ways. since we were just up the street from bonfire, i decided to trek up there to see how many of the tree farmers were still there. most of the crew was leaving as i got there but hung out w/ some long time pals...adam, paula and mike. after a couple of porters we decided to head on over to the deadwood. good times w/ some old friends.

so, since i drank all day, i'll have to sleep in tomorrow and miss tom's ride. looks like some running is in my sunday forecast. what's the fun in training if i don't have fun...right?

how much do i suck?

it's really not my fault. i tried to ride the bike but someone was occupying the saddle. i tried to lift some weights but someone was on the bench. don't worry. i took care of the first one. i plan on taking care of his friends, too, just to make sure they don't come back. don't hate me if i'm slow on the bike tomorrow.

damn computer!

it looks like i'm still having problems w/ my computer at home. i had typed up a nice entry last night including a pic, but i kept getting an error when i tried publishing it. so, i lost everything. computers suck sometimes.

and so do trainers! i rode that torture device last night. not for very long. i had a constant pain on the left side of my chest the entire time. not sure what to think of that. i actually still have it. i can feel it when i inhale deeply. anyway, i did a power workout. highest gear and highest resistance. yes, it burned and hopefully this will get my legs a little stronger for those sprints.

i tried the HEED i bought yesterday. it's not too bad. quite mild, actually. all the endurance guru's swear by hammer products so hopefully it'll work just as well for me. i'll test it out this weekend. i heard the yellow loop at island lake is rideable. i think i'll do 2 loops and then hit kensington. and if i'm feeling really ambitious, a trip around mt. trashmore as well. that should make for a good saturday ride.

okay, one more day of work and it's weekend time again! what i would give to go have a couple pints of guinness right now! happy st. pat's day!

procrastination defeated

i finally finished my resume tonight. i will send it off tomorrow and hopefully my sis can hook me up! if i land this job, i WILL be getting a new bike. funny, that's still the first thing that comes to mind.

so, i spent the whole night working on the resume and didn't have time to work out. i can't believe it's already going to be thursday tomorrow. i haven't been on the bike since sunday. no wonder i'm so damn slow. not that i've been sitting on my ass. i've lifted heavy this week. i'm sooo sore. my legs didn't feel too bad this morning but now they are HURTING! i guess it's more in my butt than legs. my back is really sore too. maybe i'll have some time to sqeak in a few sets on the bench tonight and some tris.

i can't believe we're supposed to get snow tomorrow! michigan weather sucks! i want to get on the trails. which reminds me...we need to plan a trip to yankee! hmm...it's supposed to be 40 and sunny on sunday. maybe a good day for a road trip! oh yeah, i forgot to mention that julia stiles is smoking hot.

computer issues

i don't know what's wrong w/ my computer. i tried installing software to eliminate annoying popups and now it seems like everything's fucked. well, i finally got the internet to work again, but it doesn't seem normal. sometimes i wish i was a computer geek so i can figure these things out.

my legs are completely fried. my goal was to squat until i couldn't walk. well, i managed that quite well. i'm going to have a hard time getting up the stairs. just as i had suspected, my legs aren't really strong. i'm willing to bet i can bench press more than i can squat. so, i plan on doing strength workouts twice a week and see if that improves anything. oh, i can't wait until doms sets in. then i'll really be hurtin'.

we met w/ the realtor tonight. we about the only ones in this world who buys a house and then loses money. after paying the exorbitant realtor fees, we're gonna end up owing about $5k. that's ridiculous. i'm willing to pay the large price to get outta here though. i guess the plan is to sell the house and then move into a condo for 2 years while we pay off our debt and then get something we really like. i guess it all depends on whether or not i can land a new job. it sucks that the insurance didn't pay for my surgery. that's what has put us into debt. i guess it's better to be in debt than be six feet under.

shit fuck damn fuck fucking mother fucker!

okay, so i'm pissed. doesn't take a microbiologist to figure that out. not a bad day at work. the boss is on vacation so i can do as a please. it all started when i went to pick mason up from daycare. i didn't eat enough this afternoon and was famished on my way to the school. by saying i'm a little grumpy when i'm hungry would be an understatement. so i get to the school and mason doesn't want to go home. he threw a huge shit-fit! when i say shit-fit, i mean the fucking devil had taken over his little body. kicking, screaming, punching. it took A LOT just to get him strapped into the car seat. off we went with him crying bloody murder. he finally calms down after about 10 minutes. so all's good right? wrong. i turn down our street and see these two girls walking down the middle of the street. these little bitches decided not to get out of the way of a moving vehicle. i'm sick of being fucked with in my own neighborhood time and time again by punk-ass kids so i decide not to move either. so they step out of the way of the car and the tall girl basically moons us. i SLAM the brakes on throw it in reverse and floor it. so i have a little chat w/ the prepubescent teens. after our little talk i take off and they yell "fuck you". nice. so, once again i slam on the brakes throw it in reverse and floor it. i ask them what their problem is and we exchange a good number of f-bombs all in front of mason. great. i'm a really good role model. i get home and apologize to mason as he's swearing up a storm. i try to explain to him why those girls did what they did.

overreaction on my part? i don't think so! we've been here for almost 3 years and jackie will not even go out for a run or walk by herself because she's afraid of the teens. bullshit! there are so many little fuck sticks on our street it's not even funny. i refuse to have myself and my family harassed by these punks. but in reality there's nothing we can do. all they do is talk back. what are you going to do? beat them up? so, i grabbed the phone book and called a real estate agent. we're meeting with her tomorrow. yep, the house is going up for sale. i don't care what we get for it, we just need to get the fuck outta here. mason will be out playing and making friends very shortly and we sure as fuck don't want him being influenced by these kids. it all goes back to their parents. they just don't give shit. no respect for adults.

that was enough motivation for me to put my resume together. i wrote it up and now have to put it in word format. i need to land this job at pfizer so we can afford to get out of this ghetto.
okay, time to blow off some steam and lift some weights.

mmmm...beer

nothing like a cold bell's after lifting weights! notice my favorite website is up on the computer!

another be-u-tiful day!

okay, so i stole today's group ride pic from tom. thanks tom!

i have to remember to bring my camera one of these days. ride pics are always good. it ended up being much warmer than i thought it would be. around 70 degrees. we started w/ a huge group. i don't know what the head-count was but there were probably 20 of us? same route as last week. this cold must've taken a lot out of me since i felt much stronger last week. i felt pretty good on the way out to b'ham but after the break, my legs were feeling pretty tired. maybe it was my rear tire going flat. it's completely flat now sitting on top of my car. yeah, that's it, the flat rear tire slowed me down. that's my story, and i'm sticking to it.

it was very tempting to have a post-ride adult beverage at tom's but i knew if i had one, i'd have another, and well, you get the point. so instead i came home, had my indian leftovers from friday and had some of my own beer. it was fantastic! so, 4.5 hours on the bike this weekend and my ass is sore! i can't wait until next weekend!

ride stats
ride time 1:43
total miles 24.29
avg. speed 14.0
even though this week's ride was faster, for some reason i felt slower.

post-ride notes

what a beautiful day it was today...much more so than the weather people predicted! i ended up doing 36 miles with a ride time of about 2:30. even though my legs were hurting pretty good during the ride, they feel surprisingly good right now. i guess being sick and off the bike for a week has set me back quite a bit. i realized i have a long way to go after seeing amanda just hammer me today. all that training has definitely paid off for her because she didn't seem to be working too hard the whole ride. that girl can ride! soupy was equally impressive pushing a 42x17 for 42 miles. although he was cramping up towards the end of the ride, he still pushed that gear up the hills i was crawling in my 32x24. the endurolytes and efuel worked like magic. i thought for sure i was going to cramp up on the mt. trashmore climb on the way back. i popped 3 more endurolytes and took a hit of my efuel and off i went. i wish i had some sort of lactate buffer but pain is good. after the climb, my legs were starting to feel good again and i rode the last 2 miles very strong. all in all, a very good day in the saddle. looking forward to tomorrow's ride!

nothing like a phat burrito after a long ride! we made a stop at the local baja fresh and each blew out a tasty burrito. so i have the option of going to a wine party w/ jackie tonight or going to a movie. i'm leaning towards the movie since i don't really feel like drinking. still sick and i'm sure the riding today didn't do a whole lot for the immune system. plus, i need to get up semi-early tomorrow to make it over to tom's by 11.

time to ride!

a wise man once said, 'everybody's workin' for the weekend'. oh wait, that was mike reno of loverboy. silly me. the weekend is upon us, my belly is full of chicken chilli masala, and the weather is looking good! i'm still not over my cold yet, but we won't tell old joe. i'm ready to ride! looking to get in 40+ miles tomorrow and another 25+ on sunday. tomorrow's ride should be higher intensity than sunday's since it'll just be me, soupy and amanda tomorrow. rain, rain stay away! sunday's forecast is looking awesome but tomorrow we could use a little bit of luck. a little rain never hurt nobody, right?

grrr...i have to make some decisions...and quick! i really, really want that 29er, but since finding out that my fork can't be rebuilt, i really, really need a new fork, too. jajones from the mmba board has a practically brand new fox f80rl for $250 which is a frickin' steal! amanda's pimpin' a brand new f100x on her new ride. lucky. hmm...is it time to bust out the plastic and get both? it sucks being broke! okay, i will get my resume together this weekend because i need to land that job. procrastination is like a disease.

met the boss

i drove up to the my new shop after work. it's quite a hike. according to mapquest it's 46 miles from work. it took about an hour. i expected ernie to be, um, let's just say...older. ernie's the man! super nice guy. i'm really happy to be riding for his shop. so i tried on the jersey and shorts and hope verge comes through and gets us our team kit by yankee next month. ernie was really helpful in answering all my stupid questions and he may even get the 29er for me. i also found out that i can't rebuild my fork. ernie made some phone calls and apparantly manitou doesn't make rebuild kits for stuff older than '03. looks like i'll need a new fork too. ouch! this mountain biking stuff is already getting WAY expensive and the season hasn't even started! time for a second job? dan's working two jobs to support his habit too!

i'm still feeling crappy. the cold has worked its way into my lungs. i'm tired with another very long day at work tomorrow, but i've mustered up enough energy to lift some weights. actually, typing between sets right now. it's actually made me feel a little better. okay, a couple of more sets and then i need some rest. the weather forecast is still looking decent for the weekend, and i still plan on getting out both days!

shitty-ass day

the title says it all. what a crappy day i've had. my cold isn't getting any better. it's migrating south, which isn't good. it's already thursday tomorrow and i'm supposed to be ready to ride on saturday and sunday.

work fucking blows. what the hell am i doing with my life? do i really want to spend the rest of my working days pipeting liquid into little tubes and then loading them onto a machine? a fucking high school student can do that! is anyone else as incompetent in their daily jobs as i am? i don't know what the hell i'm doing. but do i really want to be like my boss who knows the ins and outs of his profession? he knows so much it's almost ridiculous. maybe it's just that i don't want to invest that kind of time to become an expert. i've put off putting together my resume for too long. i need a way out. sometimes i just feel so trapped. this is something i have to do. it's just part of life, right? well if it is, life sucks.

new chapter

well, after 4 years on the same race team, today i start on a new one. all of this came about very quickly. it was all very unexpected. during our ride sunday, tom mentioned that there was one last spot available on the cycletherapy team. i didn't think too much of it since i had already signed with trails-edge again this season. then i got to thinking. i ride w/ the guys on cycletherapy WAY more than the guys (and gals) from trails-edge. in fact, i couldn't even recall one ride i did w/ any of the teo cats last year. that's pretty sad. it's not a knock against the te crew. i just did my own thing. i've actually made a lot of friends the last 4 years through the team. mike is a great guy. he was totally cool with what i was thinking and totally supported me. i have nothing against him or his team. all a bunch of great people who i will still see on the trails, at races, and at parties. i wish them all a wonderful race season!

tom, told me things would be cool with the team. i was wondering if he wanted me to meet the team members who i don't know, including ernie, but i guess both jay and ernie were cool w/ me joining. i was already so looking forward to the race season. now i really can't wait! we had a great season last year and this one is going to be even better! thanks again, tom, for making this happen!

sick day

i played hookey today. okay, maybe not the traditional skip work and go ride kinda day off but a sick day. i slept much of the morning and then took mason to see a second eye specialist. the doc we saw today will be doing his surgery. it'll be done on april 28th, the friday after yankee springs. it's almost sad how i use my race dates as references.

my long time friend, stu, who lives out in la-la land emailed me today and said he's getting married. not the smartest thing to do, but to each his own. unfortunately, it's on may 6th, just a week after mason's surgery so we'll probably have to be out. i really liked l.a. when i was out there for my surgery. i'm kinda bummed i can't go. knowing stu, it'd be quite a bash...hollywood style! it's funny to actually see him settle down since he was quite the playa in college. steph is a good woman though.

funny, i didn't sleep very well last night. i woke up just before 5am and was wide awake. what was i thinking about? racing. i was envisioning the boyne race and my strategy. night laps. fun in the dark. ya know, i don't even have a team yet and i have no idea who i'm going to race with. maybe it's not too early to start asking.

i hope i can get over this cold quicker than the cold i had last summer. i was sick the whole month of july. i remember dana was sick too and we played hookey to go ride. i think we ended up w/ like 30 trail miles that day. now that's making the most of a day off!

it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and had to restrain myself to not go out for a quick run. thanks, amanda! rest may be good since i can't stop sneezing. so it's time to catch some zzz's and hopefully make it back to work tomorrow.

the good and the bad

first, the bad. i'm getting sick! mason has been sick most of the week after starting in a new preschool. i was hoping i wouldn't pick it up but just before going to bed last night, i felt my throat getting sore. sure enough, my throat hurt quite a bit when i got up but i wasn't going to let that stop me from riding.

i ventured over to tom's and was joined by dustin, scott, amanda, and chris. we rode into downtown b'ham and stopped for a coffee warm-up break. one scary moment on the way out was a string of pvc's or skipped heart beats. i just started getting a ton of them and they wouldn't stop, so i pulled over for a minute. they settled down after that but it's still unnerving to feel your heart do that during a ride. by the time we got back to tom's, my fuel tank was empty. i was a bit jittery from being low on fuel not to mention all the caffeine from the depth charge i had at the coffee shop. my legs were fine. i just needed some calories.

mexican sounded fantastic after a good ride so i called jackie to see if she wanted to go down to mexican town for dinner. after 3 chorizo and 3 al pastor tacos. i'm stuffed. unfortunately, i'm feeling worse by the minute. hopefully, i'll be over this by next weekend as it's supposed to be 60.

ride stats for today...
total ride time 1:46
avg. speed a modest 13.8mph
miles ridden 24.5

good day

what a beautiful day it was today! brilliant blue skies, fresh late winter air...this is what it's all about. i had a couple of errands to run so i decided to go to the local high school to run on the track. Jackie and Mason joined me. Jackie's doing awesome. She did about 3 miles today. She'll be more than ready to run in her first 5k race in may. i didn't keep track of all the laps i did...i'm guessing around 5 miles. i know i'm getting faster because i had my stopwatch today timing my laps. my last lap was 1:46. about a 7min/mi pace. it'll be awhile before i can maintain that pace for 5+ miles but it'll come. i never thought i would enjoy running so much. i feel so awesome after a run. i felt so awesome i picked up a double burger and stawberrry milkshake on the way home. mmmm....

it's supposed to be equally nice tomorrow. i think i'll join tom, chris, amanda and others for a mtb roadie ride. i'm hoping to get about 2hrs. saddle time and enjoy the sun. it'll be good to get back on the bike outside.

i looked at the long range forecast and it's supposed to be in the 60s next weekend! i hope the rain holds off because that would be awesome spending 3-4hrs. on the bike and not freeze! i've already got spring fever!!!

pussy!

okay, so i passed out. well, the nurse said i didn't actually pass out but it sure felt like i did. so we didn't finish the procedure. i will spare the horrible details, but the doctor cleared me to ride! how embarrassing. and i thought i was doing so well. i don't know what happened. maybe i should start taking the drugs instead of taking it like a man. kinda like the time i had carpal tunnel surgery. i opted for a local instead of being put under. bad idea. at least i can handle the dentist w/o anesthetic. don't ya just love the drill?!

enough about that! i get to ride! i get to run! unfortunately, i told amanda earlier in the week i would need some recovery time so she already made plans to ride w/ dan tomorrow. i think i'll go for a long run and then maybe a quick jaunt around hines. maybe a longer ride on sunday. amanda said she was thinking about joining tom. if i feel like venturing over to the east-side, i may join them.

okay, so i'm not perfectly healthy. that's okay. that's expected on this long road to recovery. maybe it's not even a road to recovery. this maybe as good as it gets. but i'll tell you what, every breath of that fresh spring air i take is one breath that some poor soul isn't taking. that's enough motivation to keep me going. yankee springs, here i come!

can't wait

i read a good review on the monocog 29er in bike magazine tonight. i can't wait to get it. sherp emailed me today and said he sent his application in to seattle bike supply. hopefully, he'll be able to order in 2 weeks. i want to be the first kid on the block w/ the new toy.

tomorrow's the day. i'm trying not to think about the procedure but will probably be a little more nervous as the time creeps closer. i think i'll be just fine. i just want it over with. i'll see ya on the other side.

12 hours of hell?!

so i was thinking about the upcoming race season while driving home from work tonight. that's nothing new. i was thinking to myself that i'll be so ready to tackle the 12 "grueling" hours of addison come may. then i thought back to my conversation w/ todd scott after last year's race. i think he bonked after 10 hours and 25 laps. i've heard some people's goal of 24 laps. mine is 20. maybe people don't really realize how difficult it is to ride for twelve hours. so, i thought back to when i got up this morning. 5:45. damn, that was early. i was wrapping things up at work at 5:45pm. wow, 12 hours. i had a really long day. now pedalling all that time really puts into perspective how difficult finishing a 12 hour race is. yeah, even if the course is easy like addison. looks like i'll have my work cut out for me after my minor surgery tomorrow. i've read that you're not supposed to exercise for at least two weeks! scary. mucho hours on the bike is in my future. luckily, i have the perfect training partners to motivate me!

i am so itching to go on a road trip! this crappy weather is making me long to go somewhere warm. i would luv to go on a trip to moab or even sea otter! allie and lorena are so lucky to be going next month. at this point i would even settle for a trip up north. maybe some snowboarding and some xc skiing. almost another winter's gone by and no skiing or snowboarding for me. i really wanted to try something new this winter. i've still got time.