Pieces and parts

Well the Proflex is getting closer. I ordered some brake levers and shifters that I needed. I had a little time and figured that I would start the big swap. I have parts from three different bikes getting shifted around to make 3 different bikes, but at the same time the same bikes I had. Go figure.

I had done some of the work that is needed to be done last week some time. I pulled the Girvin fork off of the Proflex, pulled the Palmer fork off of the SS and put the rigid fork back on.

This next step was started by putting the carbon riser bars on the SS because I will be using the riser bars on that for the Proflex. After that was done, I put the Girvin fork on the Caloi and took off the brakes and stem. I basically finished up the Caloi except for the rear brake. I need to get some new hoses for the rear Magura rim brake.

After a quick test ride on the rollers, I pulled the Proflex down and started working on that. I put on the fork, stem, bars and brakes. I need to wait for my parts to come in and have some cleaning to do, but it is much closer to being ready to ride.

Lunch Lady

Since my Wed. night rides have been canceled and I have had so much fun on the rollers, when I heard a few guys were riding at lunch yesterday I knew I could not pass it up. For some reason I didn't really want to go, but knew I had to.

Wed. night I put in 9 miles on the rollers because I was trying to talk myself out of riding Thursday. Well, I tried, but I knew what had to be done. So I packed my bike up and went to work. I was a little concerned because it did not get as warm as it was supposed to and the sun did not shine. It actually looked like we would get some rain. The rain held off and we had a great ride. It was a little cooler then I thought it would be, but nothing I didn't bring clothes for. So in 45 min or so we put in 12 1/2 miles. Not too bad for the first time on the road in a long time. We were not trying to kill ourselves, but over all it was a good ride. Much better then the rollers!

Are we there yet?

Just when I thought I was actually starting to do something, the weather comes along and messes everything up. I have been on the rollers a few times, but not what I really wanted to do. Now I am stuck in between the its too cold to ride or its too wet to ride rut.

I have been trying to figure out exactly what I will put on my new/old bike. How much will I steal from my NRS and how much retro stuff I will use. I was bidding on some old school thumb shifters, but they went out of my current budget. I was planning on keeping the 8 spd that is on there and just making it work. I also need some V-brake levers. I have thought about almost stripping the NRS to get this thing working, but I am just not sure.

I am sure there are several people that would wonder why would I stop riding a 2004 bike with disc brakes for a 1997 bike with V-brakes. Well, the brakes are not the reason. I have come to like disc brakes, but my old frame does not have the mounts and neither does my fork. I have thought about putting the new fork on my old bike, but that is part of the reason I don't want my new bike. The fork just moves too much for me. I know it is some spv set up that the harder it is compressed the better it works, but I don't want it to move that much when I am not doing anything. More then once it about threw me over the bars on a big tree crossing. When the front wheel hits the ground I usually expect it to stop, but not with this fork. It keeps dropping....

The big thing that pissed me off about this bike is the fact that my rear shock had blown its seals just sitting in my basement. I know, it was almost a year since I rode it, but hey I was having fun on the SS. I refused to pay $100 to rebuild a shock that did not get enough usage. I found the same thing on ebay for 1/4 the cost, but I had to come up with some spacers to make it work with the frame. It does not look the best, but it held up for Fruita and Moab.

Here is a sneak peek at the new ride.

more changes in weather

This weather is really starting to suck. Why can't it just make up its mind. Last week the Wed. night right was bailed on because of the temperatures, it was 31 and dropping when it was time to head to the trail. This week it has been doing nothing but raining all week and it is too warm to snow, so the trail is mush. No ride tonight either.

This has left me with my rollers for the only company I could find. The only problem with that is I have not been on them near enough to really make a difference. I have a lot of catching up to do to get back to where I once was.

I started working on my other bike. I can't wait to get it riding. I am putting together a '97 Proflex 857. This will be my main geared mtb to ride. It will have a green Palmer fork on it and some hi-tech 8 speed grip shifters if I can get them to work. This thing should be a racing machine! The frame is light since it has the carbon rear end. I had always loved how it climbed too. I am just getting tired of new technology. My NRS has too much stuff that goes wrong with it. I am still riding on a rear shock that has washers for spacers. I also don't like how much the fork moves. I kind of like the old school boingy boingy forks.

I will post pictures as soon as I get something together.

another stroll in the dark

Last night we went on another night ride. This weekly night ride has been working out great so far. I am sure the weather will become an issue sooner or later. Last night was much colder then the last two rides. At least it was not as wet. It is breath taking how much the temperature can change in a few feet. There were times it felt like I hit a cold wall. That made the ride at times a little cool. I probably could have used a little more gear on. I will know better next time. I just need to keep an eye out on the weather. The temps were not too bad when I left work, but they sure dropped fast after that. I can't wait until next wed!

Still in the dark

What another great ride Wed. night. We went a little faster and farther then last week, but nothing epic yet. I thought we had an even bigger chance of being rained out this week then we did last week. It was raining most of the morning and supposed to rain all day, but it cleared up early enough for us to go ahead and check to make sure. Well, all I can say is it is a good thing we didn't bag the whole ride. The trail was great! I think it was in even better shape then last week. It did try to rain a few times while we were out, but it didn't amount to much. It was more like a heavy fog.

I sure hope I can keep this weekly ride up. It sure helps to be out riding with people and riding every week. I did get on the rollers Friday after the big Turkey day. I just hope I can keep that up too. Only time will tell.

2008 DINO Series

2008 DINO MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES

Sat May 3 Warsaw IN: Winona Lake Trail
Sun Jun 1 Nashville IN: Brown County State Park
Sat Jun 14 Portage IN: Imagination Glen
Sun Jul 6 North Vernon IN: Muscatatuck Park (AMBC)
Sun Jul 27 New Castle IN: Westwood Park
Sun Aug 17 Logansport IN: France Park
Sun Sep 14 Indianapolis IN: Town Run Trail Park

DINO SPRING TUNE-UP
Sat April 19 Avon IN: Washington Twp Park

24 HOURS OF DINO
September 27-28

Stranger in the Night

Hold on to your seat, I actually rode my bike yesterday!! Can you believe it? I even road off road in the dark! I think the last time I charged my lights was for the possibility of a night ride in Colorado, but that did not happen. So, I got an email on Tuesday about a night ride on Wednesday, so I clear the calendar and charged the lights. I knew I needed to do this ride no matter what.

Well, it was of to a slow start. It started raining just after I got home from work and started getting my stuff out side and ready to be picked up. At that point I didn't know if everyone else would ride or not, but I was ready no matter what even if I had to go by myself. A few minutes later my ride, Kurt, showed up and we were off. It was good to have him drive since he showed me a new way to get to the trail. I think it is a little shorter then the way that I take and plan on using it from now on.

Every one got there lights hooked up and off we went. The rain had stopped too. We made it to the top of the hill and realized that we were supposed to wait until 6 before leaving to see if the 4th guy made it. So, one went back down the hill to check, but no one showed up. So, by the time he made it back up the hill it was time to turn the lights on as we continued on the ride.

The bike sure felt weird. It felt like I was riding some big hit bike with the ass all squatted down and the suspension all squishy. I could not believe the amount of movement that my bike had. I was back on the NRS since I knew how the guys would be riding and I am not in any shape. I was holding my own except for falling a little behind on the hills. I was really having a hard time climbing. The front end was light and I could not move forward enough to help. So, half way threw the ride I stopped and made some adjustments to the seat and post. What a difference it made. I was no longer sitting on the back tire, I was actually up on top of the bike. From there on out it was a much more pleasant ride. Even with the rain trying to start in places.

Overall I could not ask for a better ride. The way it looks this just might be the answer I was looking for. The guys wanted to try and make this a regular weekly ride as long as it is above 35 degree. So, we will see it we can keep it up. I sure need someone to ride with to help pull me up off of the couch. Now I am itching even more to get the Proflex back up and running. I don't need all the bells and whistles of the suspension on the NRS, it moves much more then I like. Give me some good old school 80mm fork and I am good to go.

Should the towel be in the air??

After this weekend I feel like I should be like in the Rocky movie and throw in the towel. After this week it will have been 3 weeks since I have been on a bike. I say after this week because I just don't see myself getting out any time before next weekend. I am out of town for work Wed-Friday. I have stuff going on Saturday morning. So, Sunday will be my first chance.

Here I have all of these big ideas about riding and doing some races, but I am passing up my chance to really make a difference in myself. My weight is almost back up to where I was at the beginning of the year. So much for all of the work I did to loose it! Also, I keep eyeballing those hundies or wimping out and doing to fifty mile version, but who am I kidding. Right now a 20 would hurt. Here I have a good start to a work out plan for the winter and I can not say that I have actually done anything on it yet. Granted it was not a perfect plan, but I do have to actually do some work for anything to make a difference.

I have a lot of things going around in my head and also thinking of my yesterdays. When I could race the sport class or even the expert class. I would head out in to the woods for a normal 5-6 hour ride with out a second thought. Hell just a few years short ago I was riding in the snow for night rides with it being below 40 degree and my water freezing on me and loving every minute of it.

How can someone want to do something so bad and not want to do it at the same time? I fear that this type of depression state will set anchor. The only thing I can think is I really need to find a good riding partner. A riding partner will make the worst day of riding seem better.
I would not have thought it would be so hard to find someone to ride with, but the truth is I can not find anyone around. Everyone that I could ride with is either 2+ hours away or now working 5 day's a week and his off day is a work day for me!

It is just about time to throw in the towel and have that extra helping of cookies and milk or those extra 8 beers on top of the 6 I already had..............not like that will really help.

First dates on the Calendar

Well it looks like there are finally some dates for the calendar.

Posted on their website http://www.usmtb100.com/

Latest News
10/29/2007 - Tentative 2008 Schedule:

Cohutta 100 Tennessee April 19
Mohican MTB 100 Ohio June 7
Lumberjack 100 Michigan June 14
Breckenridge 100 Colorado July 19
Wilderness 101 Pennsylvania July 26
Fool’s Gold 100 Georgia August 16
Shenandoah 100 Virginia August 31
Tahoe-Sierra 100 California September 6

Best 4 out of 8
All ties broken at the final event

Now all I need to do is figure out what one I want to do. I plan on doing the 50 version for my first one. I hope to work up to a 100 for next year. Maybe I should shoot for the early race with the possibility to jump to the 100 for a later event?? Or maybe I am just dreaming as usual.....

on the road again

I was almost as lazy as last weekend and didn't get out. I had a lot of things going on so my schedule was not as open as I needed. Well, my wife of all people kind of talked me in to going out Sunday morning. Since time as limited, I hopped on the road bike for a nice and easy ride.

It was a beautiful day. I completely over estimated the weather and was stripping layers with in the first 5 miles. It did not take long before I had all of my stuff off because it was supposed to be a little chilly. I didn't get all of my ride info because someone was not awake yet and didn't hit the red button to start my recording...... But, I did get 25 miles in.

I also noticed why I keep having bad rides at Ferdinand. I kept an eye out on my heart rate and it was way lower then what I would have thought I could ride. I am sure on my SS I am getting my heart rate up to high and out of my comfort zone. As I was riding I could tell that when I was 130-145 bpm I felt great, but when I would get above that I would start to struggle. I figured I would have been able to ride 160-170 with out too much problem, but I guess I had too much couch time the last month or so. Looks like I really need to start doing some intervals to build my strength in the upper zones.

My last post I didn't think I would ever get a 700. Well friday night the boy had to pre-bowl for his league, so I decided to roll a few games of practice. I started out with a good game of 234. My second game I thought I might have a chance at a 300 after rolling the first 8 strikes, but left a ringing ten pin for the 9th. I did finish up with a 276 for my highest game ever. My third game I figured would fall apart as normal, but things didn't go too bad and I rolled a 237 to finish with a 747 series. Too bad it does not count for anything! Maybe I will get an official one this week.

Will I ever make 700

First off I should start by saying I was a wimp last weekend and didn't even get in my one ride a week. I felt like a truck hit me when I was supposed to get up so I just stayed in bed. So, my motivation of keep riding once I am on the trail seems to only be getting worse!!

I have been trying to recruit someone to ride with. I know it is much easier to keep going if I am not by myself. I guess we will see how that goes.

Back to the title. Last night should have been a monumental moment for me. But, it did not work out. I won't say that I actually choked, but it is very close to that. I have always wanted to bowl a 700 series, that is averaging 234 for 3 games. Last night was as close as I've been. I started out stringing the first 7 strikes in a row for the first game and ended up with a 250. The second game started out with a 10 pin, so the thought of a 300 was not there. I put a good run of strikes together for that game too and finished with a 247. The third game was the bad one. I started out with the first 2 strikes and tried not to think about the 700 and get all mental.
I think I did a good job with just bowling, but the pins were not cooperating. I was putting the ball in the pocket, but the strikes were just not falling. I did cover all of my spares except one 10 pin. I finished the game with a 190 and that gave me a 687 series. One more strike would have make the difference.

The good thing on the evening is I seem to be bowling better then the last two weeks and I have raised my average back up to a 200. Now we will see if I can keep it up for the season.

Is there an end??

I got out for another ride this weekend. I guess it was my 1 a week ride but I did get 10 miles in. I know that only riding once a week does not help my problem, but I still can not believe that I am riding as bad as I am. I have had some good miles this year. I don't expect to be king kong or anything, but I can't believe it feels like my first ride of the year every week! I am so disappointed that the next time I go out I plan on taking the geared bike. I know I can ride better with that, I just hate all of the extra stuff that comes with the gears.

Work and everything else just has me not wanting to do anything. Normally riding is the cure, but now it is just as bad as the other stuff. That is scary! That bad thing about all of this is it is almost winter! That will put a bigger damper on my riding. With the weight going up and the riding going down, that is not a good mix!

Well, I was planning on hitting up the Race to the Canal race in a few weeks, but after this weeks ride I have scratched that off of the list. Just another event/race that I backed out on to add to the list.

Still rolling slow

I got out for a ride this weekend. I took the 1x1 back to Ferdinand to see if I could ride any better then I did the last time out there. Well, unfortunately I did not. My legs are still feeling dead. I didn't do to bad climbing, but the gradual inclines were killing me. I was really starting to feel concerned about riding the singlespeed. It has always been so fun to ride, but these rides are not fun. I know, you say but you have not rode it all summer.....blah blah blah, but I should still be stronger then I am! I do understand that I have not been riding as many miles as I should be.

The problem is I want to head back to the car after 3 miles! That is just crazy. This ride I actually skipped a section of the loop to ride some of the easier sections. I messed around on them and similar stuff for a while to get some distance in. I ended up with 10 miles and very disappointed.

The one good thing about the ride was that I think I had a revaluation about my struggles. I was paying a lot of attention to when I had issues and it seems to me that maybe I should put my old cranks back on and see if that helps. I am currently running 180 mm crank arms. I didn't have any trouble with them last year, but I spent more time on that bike. This year I have spend much more time on my road bike and that has 170 mm crank arms. Taking in to consideration that I am not that tall, I think if I put my old 175 mm cranks back on the 1x1 it would help with my troubles of turning over the pedals. Not sure, but it seemed to make sense to me while I was riding. I sure hope it makes a difference because gears are starting to look good again!! I would hate to go down that road again.

After putting in such a bad ride in the morning I had to soak in my sorrows that night. We went to a nice birthday party with a camp fire and guitar for entertainment. I know I drank my share of beer to cover a weeks worth of drinking. But, I forgot all about my bad ride!! Not sure why I had a head ache the next morning....

Time keeps on tickin, tickin....

I have not rode all week and I sure can tell it. I just don't feel myself. Those 6 miles last weekend does not count either. I don't like rollers or trainers, but I really need to make it a point to use mine at least twice a week. I guess I could start running again at lunch. That would be better then nothing. I want to try and work in a ride early Saturday morning or I just might not get a ride in. I don't want to try and make it up for a ride Sunday since I am going to a b-day party Saturday night and have a strange feeling I might drink too much. Go figure....

Bowling went well this week. I actually raised my average up one pin. I rolled a 192, 234 and a 205 for a 631 series. This brings me up to a 206 average for the year. Not too bad, but I just hope that I can hold it. I have been asked to sub next week at Washington, so I will get a good idea of how well I am rolling since I will be at a different house.

Too many projects, not enough time!! Will that ever change?? Some how I don't think so.

running around in circles

Well another busy but short weekend. It seems like there is something going on every night and I don't think this week is going to be any better. I am starting to wear down with the list of things I need/want to do and little time to do it. I am wanting to get in a lot better shape then I currently am and be able to ride stronger then I currently do or well, even then I could a few months ago.

I am still not loosing any weight, not even a pound. The good thing is I am not gaining any weight either. My miles are going down per week and when I do get out I feel like a tub of lard. I was camping this last weekend with the Cub Scouts, so when I saw there was a little trail at the park I figured it would be my old time to sneak away and get any riding in. This statement was true. With out taking my bike I would not have rode any miles, not that it really mattered since I ended up only riding 6 miles. No, I did not have a problem, I just didn't feel like riding. We had been there all day and did a lot of walking and hiking. I had to carry my youngest son for most of the hike. We did check out a neat cave, but it did not take that long. I went out while they were fixing supper. I felt free as I cruised through the campground. But, that did not last long. I started up the trail that was only 2 miles in length. Not much to get me excited about. Not really singletrack and not really dirt. Mostly gravel with only one good climb on each lap. The problem is my legs were weak and I could not talk myself in to riding around that loop very many times. I did see they had a interesting "jump" park. It was more like a pump track that didn't have a lot of flow. I messed around on that a little bit, but didn't stay long because I didn't want to get hurt. I didn't have a tool on me to lower my seat. So, if I would have had a bmx bike it would have been more fun.

What do I have to do to get out of this rut? If feels like July or August burn out in my legs, but I really have not been riding enough to get burned out. I should be much stronger then I have rode. Of course it could be that I have been on my 1x1 and not a geared bike, but I don't think that is all of it since I am climbing good. I can't believe that I really want to try a 50 mile ride on my SS. I must have had a few to many to drink that day.

I did have a good note on the weekend. I put one more piece of my puzzle together for getting the Proflex back together. I traded my old road bike for a good set of mtb wheels and some pedals too. So, I am getting closer to getting all the stuff I need. I need to pick up that other shock that a guy is holding for me and then I am down to needing some brakes and could use some shifters/derailler, but what I have would work if they need to. The problem now is the funding to pick up these pieces. I have a set of Magura HS-22 hydrolic rim brakes to sell on ebay, but I have not messed with trying to sell them yet.

I would like to be able to make some plans for next year and see what kind of races I want to do. I don't know if I want to try more road races, normal xc races, ss xc races, or longer endurance events. Either way I really need to get in some better shape or just say the heck with all of it and drink more beer.

Dedication/Motivation

I don't understand why I am having so much trouble completing what I want to do. My goal for the year was to ride a lot more and loose some weight. I guess I have done both to a point, but not to where I am happy about it.

Let's start with my weight, at one point I as 13 lbs down from last December. Right now I am closer to 6 lbs down. I know there are things that contribute to the change, but I have been having some trouble to get the trend to start dropping. I had a few weeks of being out of town for the weekend or whole week and I did not get to ride or eat well. I knew it would not help, but I never thought after a month later I am still not dropping anything I put back on. I break down every now and then with my eating, but I don't think I am that far from what I was doing when I was loosing weight.

My riding total is up from earlier this year. Although it is a little different types of riding, more road then mtb. I am already over 800 miles for the year and that is a lot more then last year, so I am up, but I don't feel like I am riding often enough to keep me happy. Things are always going on and I never seem to have time. I really need to be better about making some time and either do night rides or hit the rollers in the morning, lunch or before bed.

I am at a loss on what I need to do to increase my motivation to be more dedicated on my goals. The year is not over, but I am running out of time. I have even loftier goals for next year, but how I finish this year will make a huge difference how my ability to accomplish next years goal.

Back in the saddle again!!

After only riding on the road the last few months and a long grueling day in the saddle last weekend at the Tour de London, I knew it was time to get back in the woods. The weather broke this week and it was fall like temps, just the way we like it. I didn't just want to get back in the woods, I wanted to get back on the 1x1. It has been even longer since I rode that. The problem is that there are some hills that just kill me on the only trail around.

So, I got up early this morning and headed out to the trail head. It was 45 degrees when I started my ride. Not exactly what I had in mind for fall temps, but it had to work. I tried to warm up a little and then took off. A little down the trail, I began to think that I picked the wrong bike!! But, the good news was I climbed a few sections that I don't normally climb all the way, but I did have to walk 3 times in the first 3 miles or so. That sounds bad, but actually with all things considering, it is not as bad as it sounds. Most of the 3 sections are hard to clean on a geared bike. From there I continued on and things went a little better. There was an over abundance of spider webs out. I was getting covered almost non-stop. As I was cruising down one of the fire lanes, I noticed a guy walking up the way. That is when it crossed my mind that maybe squirrel season might have started, the obvious thing might have been the gun slung over his shoulders. I was hoping that he was not mad at me and would fire a shot my way.
Things were rolling smooth as I came to the road crossing and before I was thinking that when I got there I would make a right and go to the car. But, I was feeling a little better and figured that since I am out there, I might as well do a full lap. The back side of the lake is normally even harder then the first section of trail when I start at Foxey Hollow. This time I was actually doing good and rode several sections that I normally have trouble with.

Over all, I rode 10 miles with about 1500 ft of elevation gain. I only had to walk 5 different sections. Not too bad for the condition I am in and now little I have been on the SS. I am tired, but looking forward to the next time I can make it out. Not sure when that will be since I am booked up most of the week and next weekend too. This is not good for riding!!

Back to normal

Last night was back to normal on the lanes. I went into the night carrying a 212 average, but I did not hit it one time. I started off fairly good. The second game was not bad, but not as many strikes. Then came the third game and I started off is a pocket 7-10 and three frames later I get the same thing!! I could not get much to strike, but most of the hits did not look too bad. Oh well, I knew there would be nights like this. I figure part of my problem is still being tired from the weekend.
I rolled a 206, 194, and 160 for a 560 series. That dropped my average down to a 205.

Speaking of this last weekend, the results are now posted and I finished 18th. Right in the middle of where I figured. Just another slap in the face that I need to be in much better shape for the next one. I sure hope I start to feel better soon!!!

I am off to play some golf. Nothing like some free golf with some free food and drinks!! I will see just how bad I hit the ball, but if we do well, there are always good prizes too!!

Tour de London

I have now raced in my first road race, well I guess you can say raced but it was more like entered. Looking at the profile leading up to the race I knew there would be a few good hills. I was not overly worried about them since I have some routes that are similar in elevation gain. I was going in to the weekend not sure how well I would ride because it was two weeks since I could really get on the bike. I did spend 20 min. on the rollers a week ago, but that was not near what I wanted to do.
So, I didn't expect to be running up front at all, but I thought I would maybe stay with the second group or so. The start was going along ok, I was in the lead pack and not working any harder then I wanted to. We were moving at a fair pace, but I expected that. Well along came the first big climb. Half way up the climb my hear rate decided to peak out and render me just about shot. I slowed to a crawl and could have fell over at any minute. I finally made it to the top and settled in to a decent pace. Looking around I could not see any riders in front or behind me. I knew there were some riders behind me, but not sure how many. My legs were starting to hurt on a long flat section. My calf muscles were feeling like they were going to cramp!! I look down to see how far I had gone only to see 5.5 miles. How the heck can I be cramping already?? It felt like I hit a brick wall and really struggled for a little bit. Time seemed to stand still for a while, but that is because my trip showed 5.5 miles for a real long time. I knew I went farther then that so after a little checking I figured out that it stopped recording so I hit the start button again and everything was back to normal. Except I was feeling shot and had no idea just how far I was.
At one point I could see another section of road and could tell there was a group of four riders in front of me, but they were a long was up there. When I reached where they were, I could see one rider behind me just about as far back as I am of the riders in front of me. I pushed it as hard as I could to try and catch up to the other riders, but I could not get any closer. It didn't help with the strong head wind I was getting and they were working as a group.
Right before the half way point I reached an all time low. I was thinking that my seat was a little low for some reason. I began to think that might be part of my problem with my leg strength so on a hill that was just about to kill me, I decided to get off and walk. I hate to admit it, but I did. This was the first time I had ever had to walk my road bike. Almost at the top there was a section painted in the road that said half way. That made my computer almost 4 miles off, but at least I now had an idea of where I was. At the top I took this moment to catch my breath and raise me seat a little. Shortly after I took off, I downed my gel packet that I was wanting to wait till I was closer to the big hill but I could not wait any more.
I was feeling a little better for awhile, but I was still far from feeling good. I did alright until I hit the big hill that I knew would be a problem. I almost made it to the top and could not go any more, so I had to hold my head down and do a little more walking. At this point the rider behind me caught me and made it up the hill. I got back on and climbed the next little hill and managed to catch the other rider. This was the first positive thing in my ride. I had been so lonely and hurting it was really nice to ride with someone else. I road with them for a while and then some time after the 10k to go sign, I some how dropped the rider on a climb. I just tried to ride the best I could for the remainder of the race and ended up finishing where I was. I actually don't know where that was, but I think it is between 15th and 20th. I will not be sure until some results are posted. We waited around for probably 3 hours to see the results, but it was still not figured and I was ready to be home and still had a 4+ hour drive.
Over all it was a great race and had some great volunteers. The sad part is it was the absolute worst day of riding I had ever had on my road bike. I have not made up my mind if I want to come back next year, but I need to figure out why I had one of my weakest rides of the year on that day!

No more BMX

I just finished packing up my cruiser frame to ship out tomorrow. That leaves me with my cruiser wheels if anyone is interested. I hated to sell it since it was my second favorite bmx bike, but I just can't see letting it sit there and not be used. I did not want to race it anymore and selling it would be the easiest way for me to not get the urge to race again. Don't get me wrong, I loved racing bmx. I just can not justify the cost for the return on my investment. I was never racing to make any money, but it is not like I would have ever made it to where I could. Even if I race the expert class and finish in first place, you only get something like $11 nbl bucks. Not even cash!! I can get a cash payout if I raced my mtb. It takes just as much dedication to training to be at the level to compete.

The other big cost issue is, for a National race you drop down $90 to race both days. That does not include the long drive and a place to stay. If there were not enough riders who showed up, I might get as few as 4 laps on the track for that $90. That is what I don't see as a good return on my investment. Heck, if I would get in to this endurance racing it would cost me the same price to race a 100 mile race and be on the bike for 8-10 hours!!

The thing I miss most about racing is the people. Such great people at every race. I have so many friends that I would only see racing bmx. For that I really hate not racing. I also miss riding a smooth section or busting a sweet jump, but I do not miss eating dirt! Two broken collar bones in 9 months will make you a little cautious about that new section!! For now I will keep off the kids bikes.

Down a step, but not much

Well, tonight was the last night before our new averages would be established. I have been holding the bar way to high for the beginning of a new season. I thought tonight my true self would show up and tank it when I needed it most. Well, that happened a little, but not too bad. I actually was fairly happy with my performance tonight. I was not all crazy like the last two weeks, but I actually held my own when the strikes were not falling. I held on for a 193, 204, and a 207 to pull out a 604 series. That should drop my starting average down a little from where I had it, but two weeks of 217 will keep it from dropping below 212. Now we will just have to see how long I can hold it.

This weekend is the Tour de London race. I sure hope I am ready. I am not going about this the correct way. I didn't get any real riding in over the holiday weekend. Instead I hung out at Prides Creek and did a little fishing. Not the best thing to do before a race, but that is what I did. I did manage to get on the rollers Saturday morning for 22 min., but I don't think that will be enough.

The plan is to get on the rollers again tomorrow to keep the legs moving since I will not be able to ride again until the race. I guess it really does not matter since I was just testing the water to see what this road racing thing is about. I just hope to not make a fool out of myself any more then I normally do. The main goal is to hang with the front group as long as I can and see what happens.

After this weekend, I think it is time to get back in the woods. It has been way too long!! I am feeling the need to get back on the SS and really make it hurt!! I need to put some miles in and get strong since I have penciled in a 50 mile race next year. I know it is a long way off, but it will not be easy. The goal is to do one or more 50 mile next year and then try a full 100 the following year. I need to get it in before I get too close to turning the big 40. Not sure how long I will be able to keep that up. That is if I ever get there!! LOL

More bowling

I started out not hurting and was very thankful. I forgot to take some IB before, but it really did not matter. After last weeks performance I was feeling positive about my bowling, but part of me was thinking that a bad night would be a good thing to help my starting average. I hate it when I start out on fire, but then fall off terribly after the averages are established.

I was not rolling the ball the same as last week, but it was working fairly good. I was carrying a lot of strikes that were borderline. But, I am not one to complain about that. I have been left with a pin staring at me after much nicer hits.

I ended up with another real good series for the week. I had a 219, 246 and 192 for a 657. That puts my average at 217. I will have to bowl less then a 500 next week to drop my starting average below 200. I really do not want that to happen, but it would be good for the team. I would rather just keep rolling good games and keep my average above 200. That has been my goal for the last two years and keep falling short by the end of the year. I guess I will just have to see as the weeks go on!

Called in to sub

I was called in off of the bench last night to sub for the Monday night bowling team that I used to bowl as a regular for my first several seasons. I was feeling optimistic after my performance last Tuesday, but I was also feeling a little weak after all the climbs my legs took me up on Sunday morning. I am a little concerned about how well my legs will do for my normal Tuesday night league, but actually I figured it would be alright since I could stand to no do as well last week. See, I get a new averaged established after the first 3 weeks, so after last weeks 650, that starts me off with a 217 average. Now don't get me wrong, I would love to carry a 217 average, but my past has shown me that my scores go down as the year goes on. So, I would rather start off a little low and work it up all year.

As the night started I was rolling a good ball it just was not carrying. I left 10 pins the first few frames and then I left a 8 pin. I struggled to get it back together by the end of the game. I didn't end up near where I would like even for a bad game, but I have to take what I get. The second and third game was much better. I didn't carry all the strikes, but at least I was picking up most of my spares. I ended the night rolling 137, 204, and a 214 for a 555. I hope that 137 is by far my lowest game for the season. I guess we will see tonight how well it rolls.

There are fools in them hills!!

What a tough ride today. I planned on taking us out for some hills to get a good work out for the upcoming Tour de London race. Three of us headed out on what was a planned 46-48 mile route. I knew I was in for a long day when my legs were weak on the first climb. I need to figure out why my strength is fluctuating so much each week. I have one good week, then a bad week and so on. That is not good since the race is going to be on my bad week!!

I managed to climb all of this hills with out walking. There were a few places that I wished I had a triple ring up front or even a compact set up, but no, I was limping along on my old 8 spd gearing. I keep telling myself what does not kill me, makes me stronger. I think my legs were disagreeing today! Above you can see the log for the ride. The gray section is the elevation profile. It showed right at 2100 foot of elevation gain for 54 1/2 miles. We did average 17 mph. I was happy with that for how bad the hills hurt.

As we were finishing with the route I had planned everything was going good so I came up with this dumb idea to skip a turn and add a few more miles. I figured they were flat miles and should not be that hard. Considering we were just finishing up a long stretch running 24 mph, I actually was not feeling too bad. That was until the first little grade we came up. It seemed like a monster, but was not much at all. All three of us worked it through fairly well, that is until the last turn toward home. This is a long stretch of road that looks flat, but really is going up the whole way. Add that to a good head wind and we were all hurting. At one point I thought I was going to actually just fall over. Some how we managed to struggle home.

It was good to get the extra miles in after all the hard hills. It was also good to push myself past my comfort zone. This all should help in my building process. I just hope I can work out some good legs for the race.

Tour de London

Well, I have decided to try my first road race. It is the Tour de London. I am going to kick back and try out the citizen class to see what is going on. Not sure how ready I will be since it is a 40 mile race with a good amount of hills, but it should be fun either way. I have had an interest in trying road racing and this looked to be about the best chance I could find.

All of my mountain bike races/events that I wanted to do this year have had some conflicts, so I am making time to actually do something. I am not sure if I will do future road races, but it seems like something I could do alright in the lower classes.

I have told myself several times over the years to not do any more mtb races. Well, that bug is trying to bite again, but it has not taken full effect for most of the same reasons I keep telling myself not to race, but there are some new things that are starting to take interest. I tried to do a 13 hour race last year, but they stopped the race early. I have also been checking out these 100 mile races. I am sure I am not even close to guys like Team Dicky, but it would be nice. I think I am even more mental for the fact that racing it on my singlespeed sounds interesting. I guess I will have to wait and see what I end up doing. All I know is I better start riding if I plan on doing anything but getting fat!!

Bowling again

It is hard to believe, but bowling started last night. I am glad because I enjoy bowling, but that is really a bad sign for summer. I better cram in all the riding I can before winter gets here. I am sure that will be soon enough since it seems like we should be closer to spring.

We went out to eat after work since it was my son's birthday. Well, I think they lost our order because we sat there for a long time. I kept watching the time because I was on a limited time schedule before I had to be at the lanes. Well, the food finally showed up and I stuffed my face as fast as I could and out the door I went.

I was running late so I didn't get a lot of practice and I figured I would have a real bad night. Well, I was not that worried about it because your average gets re-established after the first 3 weeks. I would rather start on the low side and work it up instead of starting hight and not being able to keep it there. I am not sure what happened between practice and the first game, but when the game started it was rolling good. I have the first 5 strikes and left a 10 pin in the 6th frame. From there it went down hill some, but I managed to hold on for a 212. Not bad for the first game of the year. The second game didn't go as well in the start, but I was making all of my spares. I put a good string of strikes together in the second part of the game and finished strong with a 226. The third game started just like the fist with strikes the first 5 frames and a 10 pin in the 6th, but this time I didn't pick it up. I got back on for a few more strikes, but that is about all. I finished a little on the weak side and ended up with another 212. That gave me a 650 for the night and a 216 average. So much for starting on the slow side!! I guess I have two more weeks to bring it down to normal. If not, then I guess I will just have to bowl that good all year!! Yea right! Only time will tell.

2007 Brown County Breakdown

2007 Brown County Breakdown Registration Open!

This is HMBA's largest fundraising event of the year. All proceeds go directly to HMBA for continued trailbuilding in Indiana. A new, truly-epic 100 mile route will be unveiled this year as one of the ride options.

When: Sunday, September 30, 2007
Where: The start/finish is at Brown County State Park
Registration fee from now until Friday, August 31 is only $45!
Registration fee from September 1 until Friday, September 28 will be $60. Registration will be available the weekend of the event and the day of the event for $75.
Stop by HMBA for more information!!

Granny's 9 town tour

Well, I went out on a ride today with the JCC for a 9 town tour that has a few good hills mixed in to keep it interesting. There were 6 of us who started the ride at 5:45. The weather was good compared to what the normal temps have been. We started out a little faster then the ride was planned. We were averaging 18-19 mph. I was not complaining, but I knew it would be a long day and not sure if I am ready to hold that for the whole trip. Well after a few miles it slowed down and settled in at a nice pace. As we got closer to our first stop in Holland, there were 4 of us that pulled ahead some and hammered a long road section.

After some snacks and regrouping, we headed off toward Zoar where we picked up a 7th rider. We continued on threw Velpen and on to Otwell for our next stop. After a short break there was a small problem shortly after we started. The road had been getting some work done and there were some large rocks in the work areas that covered the whole width of the road. We eased our way with out a problem and headed toward Ireland and back toward home.

We ended up putting in 55 miles in 3 hours and 25 min. of ride time. That put it right over 16 mph average. We also did 1680 foot of elevation gain, I think. My computer is not set up exactly right yet, so I have been getting some incorrect elevation readings, but the total gain and ascent should be correct.

Strassenfest Ride

I put in a good ride for the Strassenfest ride. I originally was going to do the 62 mile route, but decided to help out with the sign up area in the morning. So, that changed to working and then doing the 35 mile route. It was probably a good thing. The weather has been crazy hot and with the lack of my riding lately I was feeling worse after the ride then I thought I would. I really need to get some miles in if I plan on doing the 100 for the Breakdown.

Strassenfest Bike Ride

The Jasper Cycling Club's big ride is this weekend. So, if you are in the Jasper area, stop by and check out the Strassenfest activities and get in a nice road ride on Sunday morning before the parade. Routes are available from 20, 35, 48, and 62.

If you are not that far south, the HMBA Century ride is also this weekend. Stop by www.hmba.org if you are interested in that one.

New Toy

My riding was been terrible this month. I plan on stepping it up for August. I did make it out one more time for the month. It was a 44 mile ride that had a little climbing, but nothing crazy. I did get a new toy to play with, but I still have a few bugs to work out. I now have a Polar S710i that will help record my riding actions. I have been looking for something that has elevation on it and this one comes with a nice program that logs all of my data. So, when I get it all figured out, I will post a graph of the rides. That is it for now. Keep the rubber side down!

Back on the bike

I finally got back on the bike after the last 2 weeks. I sure can tell that I have not been riding and to top that I have not been eating like I should. The weight is back up some and my fitness is down from where I was. I ended up doing 38 miles. Not too bad I guess. I wanted to ride more, but my knee was really starting to hurt. I figured that I would stop so I would not hurt it too much.

Prides Creek

Road ride down to Prides Creek again this morning. I took a little different route this time and it ended up being right at 28 miles. It was a good ride even with some head wind and ended up with a 18.5 mph average. I spent the whole day down there doing lots of different things. As it was getting later in the day, the wind was really starting to pick up. We got to thinking that it would be a good tail wind for the ride home insted of driving. So we hopped back on the bikes and headed for home. Even with a strong tail wind, it seemed like there was a head wind. We were making good time until I ran over something large in the road and flatted my rear tire. I had a little trouble fixing the tire so it took much longer then I wanted. Finally the tire was fixed and we were back on the road. The break took a lot out of our legs, but we were still doing good. Before the flat we were averaging 24 mph, but it dropped down to 22 mph by the time we got home. Still a good ride in all.