Bentcrank

Looking for updates?

2009-02-12T22:30:00.001-05:00

If you are looking for updates, please move on over to my new blog http://bentcrank.wordpress.com/

I see a lot of people stopping by, but not moving on. This is my last update to this site unless I start turning off everything.

So, please update your links to the new address http://bentcrank.wordpress.com/

I'm moving

2009-01-27T11:52:00.000-05:00

I am going to go ahead and make the change. I hope that I am not sorry for that, but oh well. It would not be the first time.

So, please update your links to my new word press blog if you are interested in keeping up.

http://bentcrank.wordpress.com/

New Year - new Blog

2009-01-16T07:53:00.000-05:00

I am trying something new. Not sure if I plan on keeping it or not just yet. Only time will tell.

So, stop by my new Wordpress site and tell me what you think.
http://bentcrank.wordpress.com/

Happy birhday to me!!

2009-01-14T18:38:00.003-05:00

First I have to start off on what I call a sad note. My trusty steed is going to be no longer. It's time has come and gone and it is now time to let someone else enjoy her. If it was up to me I would hold on to it just in case I would ever need her again, but there is too many ponies in the stable and the cabbage is running low. So, if anyone is in need of a sweet Surly 1x1 16" frame let me know. As soon as I get it tore apart and cleaned up, I plan on posting it on Dirt Rag and HMBA before I sink to ebay. So I raise my bottle to my first SS love and say my good byes.

The only good thing about good byes is there is always hello's that follow. I want to introduce my next pile of pleasure. My new Surly 1x1. But this time there are a few changes. This beauty is a 18" and not the 16" that I was riding. This one also has the options of using disc brakes where my old one does not. So, I hope that this is an overall improvement on a real good thing. Meet my new love.

2008

2009-01-11T14:23:00.002-05:00

2008 had come and gone as everyone knows. Not sure it if will be any better in 2009, but one can only hope. I did a few things last year on the to do list, but not everything. I suppose that if I would end up doing it all I would just make a new list anyway.

Here are some things that I pulled off for 2008:

Completed the RAIN ride (Not as fast as I think I could, but still had a good ride)
Finished the 60 mile route in the Brown County Breakdown (I have been wanting to ride in this since the first one. I am glad it finally worked out this year)
Completed the HMBA Century. (This is one hard century)
Had a total of 2000 miles for the year. (That is the most I have ever done in one year)

For 2009 my plan is to not miss the HMBA Century or the Brown County Breakdown. I just hope to not be late for the century and the plan is to complete the 100 mile route on my SS for the BCBD. It does not matter if I do the RAIN this year or not. It all depends on what a few other people do. The rest is still up in the air. I would like to race a hundie some day and I would like to race the Tour de London since I didn't make it last year. The problem is I keep thinking why pay to race. I can take that money and take a trip to Pisgah or some place for some of the best riding one can do. I will just have to see.

Going to the darker side

2009-01-05T23:19:00.003-05:00

Well I have started my journey to the even darker side then SS. I picked up an old Schwinn 10 speed at a yard sale this fall for the staggering price of $0. I finally started to work on it tonight. here is the original image.

I completely striped it down to the frame, fork and stem/bars. I have a lot of cleaning to do before I can start to put it back together. I also have to figure out what gear to put on it. I think I have some cranks that I can use with a 42t front ring, but I will have to see if that works out. I think the BB might be different. Lots of work yet.

I also made a big decision today. I will not be throwing my hat in to the 29er game. I don't normally have a lot of extra money laying around to really get what I want, so when a option that I have been throwing around in my head actually showed up, I had to jump on it. I just purchased a newer Surly 1x1 frame and fork. The one that I am riding right now is a 16" and a little on the small side for me. The other problem with the current 1x1 is that it does not have the disc brake tabs. That is not a complete deal breaker, but when fall comes around I just hate getting all those leaves stuck. That also opens the door for me to pick up a set of 650b wheels and make the 1/2 jump. That will not happen for a little bit unless I happen to sell a lot of stuff.

I just posted a link to some parts on Dirt Rag, but I have more stuff that I need to clean up and post. The one thing that is bad with this new frame is the fact that I don't have an extra set of disc brakes lying around. Even if I did, my old Palmer fork does not have the disc brake tabs either. So, if you happen to have an old fork collecting dust in the garage or some mechanical disc brake calipers from where you upgraded to hydro's let me know. But, I warn you, I am bargain shopping. Unless you need any of my parts or a Proflex frame. :-)

First ride of 2009

2009-01-03T17:55:00.002-05:00

I made it out for my first ride of the year. After Friday's weather teasing me all day, I knew I just had to get out for a ride today. The weather was not looking as good as Friday, but good enough. The weather was supposed to be 45 degree, but there was a chance of scattered rain. I looked like I could get a good ride in with out getting wet, but that was not the case. I started out with out a real plan of a route. A little bit in to the ride I saw a rider coming from the other way. I waved and said hi. That is when I noticed who it was. I was Linda, a biker buddy that I have not rode with much the last year or so. That is when i knew I should turn around and chase her down.

It wore me out to catch her, but she was going at an easy pace since it had been a while for her to get out. That didn't bother me. I was just happy to be riding and not alone. We did some catching up as we pedaled. I did some adjusting on her brake to help it from rubbing and I tried to pull the best that I could. Not long after the brake work we started to feel some sprinkles. They were light and it was not bothering me too much. The sprinkles changed how hard then were coming down and how often for the next few miles. After a little bit it started to come down a little harder. Linda was not feeling like riding too much farther so we turned toward her home. After she turned off, the rain seemed to let up. So, I headed a little farther out in stead of toward home. Everything was going real good until I was just about home and it really started to come down. That put my last half an hour of my ride in a down pour.

It was still great to get out, but I could have done with out the hard rain. I could have gone a little farther, but it was still good to get 30 miles in. I just hope to get some more miles in January.

I'm mobile

2008-12-31T12:16:00.002-05:00

Well, I finally picked up a laptop. I have been wanting one for a while, but never had the cabbage. I didn't really have it this time, but what the hell.

Well this has not been the complete bliss that I had hoped it would be. Yea, it is great to be able to surf anywhere in the house or on the deck grilling supper. But, there have been some snags. The main reason I could work this in is because the plan was to be able to do work more places. I do a lot of work from home and tied down to the computer. This was supposed to let me do work more then just at home. This was the start of the problems. Good old Vista does not work too well with some programs. I already knew that Autocad would not run on here, but I was ok with that. But, my drawing viewer does not work and I have been having lots of trouble using my Quark too. I need to upgrade to a newer version of Quark and that should fix the problem. I have to work on that.

I went to put my riding program on here the other day. I searched the web and it says it is not certified to work, but several people are using it with out any problem. So, I start the install. I don't have any trouble getting it to work and run. Ha, so much for the problems. Then I felt a red spot accross my face where I was slapped with out warning. The IR device will not operate with this program under Vista. So, the convienence of having a built in IR port did me absolutly no good. So, I have uninstalled the Polar software and decided that it really does not matter. Not like I can do anything about it. I even tried to install my USB IR device and that does not have Vista drivers and tells me it is useless. So much for the complete bliss and champain flowing. I will have to settle with this just being a good way to play Texas Hold'em on facebook. Oh well, is still does the normal things.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!!!

On the road again

2008-12-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

I have not been riding much the last few weeks. The weather or things going on have not worked out together to let it happen. Some time off is not all that bad, but I know I need to keep my foot in the door. When I heard the weather was warming up again for a day or two, I knew I had to get out. Friday was warmer, but it was rainy all day. I figured I would hold my breath and see what Saturday had to offer.

Good thing too. I woke to 65 degree weather and not currently raining. The roads were still wet, but that is better then raining. So, I suited up and headed out. I could hardly keep the grin down on my face. It was so nice to be out on the road again. Actually, just riding the bike felt good. With the trails being so wet, this is the only way it can happen.

I had a normal route planned. Nothing too hard. The wind was a little noticeable when it tried to blow me off the road. But, at the 20 mile mark I finally turned south. Wow!! the wind was really blowing. I never felt that when it was tail wind. Here I am at a long stretch of road with on heck of a head wind. There were times that it was all I could do to hold 10 mph.

I finally make it south as far as I needed to and headed back east toward home feeling completely whipped. Turns out the just over 30 mile route ended up being 40 miles. I didn't think that little change would have made that much difference. The temps were up to 70 degrees and there was a wind advisory warning out with gusts up to 34 mph!! No wonder it felt like I was rolling backward at times.

Overall it was just great to be back riding. My legs hurt and I could not be happier. Nothing like riding in shorts in December. Hard to believe since it was just 7 degrees less then a week ago. I can only hope to get back out soon.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T23:17:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a nice Christmas and get everything that you asked for. I am sure that I won't get everything, I just hope that I get some good stuff. I know I won't get everything because a winning lottery ticket is on the top of my list and that is something that is hard to come by. The people that have that usually don't want to give it up. Especially to me!

The first thing I would do is buy a few new bikes. Then I would have to get me a house or apartment in Brevard, NC. That would cover most of my wishes.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday season.

Time is crazy for the holiday's

2008-12-15T20:34:00.003-05:00

Well I have not made it out for a ride since my last ride that was worthless. I have thought about it a few times, but other things have been in the way. I sure hope to get out again before the end of the year. Not sure if that will happen with the weather getting nasty. But I am sure the weather will change again as it normally does.

I hope to start getting in better shape this winter so I can start off the new year better then past years. I really don't have racing on the schedule like I do every year at this time. I normally think up a big schedule that I want to race and normally end up not racing anything. So, this year I am going to try and not do that so maybe I end up racing something. I just never know. I still would like to participate in a hundie one year. Maybe this is the year. I also know that I will be asked to ride in the RAIN ride again this year, but I really don't care if I do. I have done it and that was the goal. if I ever do it again, the plan would be to do a lot better time. We will have to see.

bottom of the barrel

2008-11-24T16:01:00.001-05:00

I made it out to Ferdinand again for a ride. My cold finally got the best of me after coughing and stuff for the last week. I was only doing one lap, but that was hard enough. I could not get enough air in my lungs to keep me going. I thought I was going to pass out and that was just over 1 mile in to the trail. I ended up doing close to a complete lap, but I sure had to take a lot more breaks then I would have liked. I was just glad that I didn't take the SS for this ride. The granny was too much for most of the climbs. This was very dissapointing after was I just did the last weekend in Pisgah. I sure am glad that I was not in that condition for that ride. It would have been a wasted trip.

The Indiana Dino series has released there schedule for 2009. Here is a list of the races.
5/2 Warsaw: Winona Lake Trail
5/31 Nashville: Brown County State Park
6/13 Fort Wayne: Franke Park
7/5 North Vernon: Muscatatuck Park
7/26 Versailles: Versailles State Park
8/16 Logansport: France Park
9/5 Indianapolis: Town Run Trail Park

Other Mountain Bike Events
4/11 DINO Spring Tuneup, Avon
9/19 24 Hours of DINO, Versailles State Park

Too bad all of the races are a little farther then I would like. I would not mind traveling for a few, but for every race would be a bit much. Maybe I will take the 3 hour drive and check out the Versailles trail for the 24 hour race or maybe not. I would prefer to just take more trips to Pisgah for some full weekend rides. Normally the kids have something going on that would keep me from most of the races anyway.

Pisgah!!!

2008-11-18T16:04:00.008-05:00

What a weekend!! I could not ask for much more. The weather was scheduled to be better then home, but still could have been a little cold and wet. Everything worked out and I could not have asked for much better weather. Things were a little wet on Friday, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

The whole weekend is one big blur as usual. I have a hard time remembering what trail we are on, where we are going or where we have been. The only thing that I could remember is we either are climbing or will be just around the bend.

This is what I am told we did on Friday. We started up Pilot Rock for 100 yards or so and hopped on Pilot Cove - Pilot Cove Connector/loop to 1206 - Laurel Mtn trail - Pilot Rock. It was right around a 6 hour tour. Good thing it was not any longer since we were running out of day light. It was starting to get dark way earlier then planned. It probably had to do with all of the overcast, rain and fog. The darkness made the decent down Pilot Rock even more interesting then normal. But, everything worked out with out any major problems.

Saturday was a bigger day in the saddle. The ride ended up right at 8 hours and took the lights along this time because we knew we would need them. The day was up from gauging station on South Mills River to Black mtn. - left to Turkey pen - back on and down South MIlls River to Mullinux to Squirrel gap and then back to South Mills River. That was a hard fun day. He said there is normally issues with runnning out of water in the summer, but the weather was better and no one had any issues and the lights held up. I was getting a little nervous when we were riding in the dark and I kept seeing those Bear sactuary signs. Every little noise I heard I kept thinking I was prime pickins to be some bear food. I was the slower one of the group so I kept falling off the back just waiting to be supper.

Sunday was planned to be a short day so we could head on home. The weather showed it was going to be the coldest day of our trip. I woke up cold and bundled up to handle it. The problem was it really did not get as cold as it sounded and the snow was not in that area. So, I peeled all the layers off that I could fit in my bag and just dealt with what was left.
Sunday we moved from our prime parking area and went up to the ranger's station. From there we went up Claw Hammer road to Pressley Gap - right on Black Mountain trail to the M loop. From there we went down Sycamore cove to finish the ride off. It was close to 5 hours in the woods.

There are so many trails we did not hit I can't even imagine what I would do if I lived there. I have decieded that I am not waiting 4 years to go back. I need to make another trip before the end of the mystery machine's winter tour.

If you have never been there, it is a must for any serious bikers. Pisgah puts the mountain back in mountain biking. It kind of puts all these hills around here in perspective. I just wish it was not 9 hours away.

South bound toward Pisgah town

2008-11-13T07:25:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that I am actually going to be riding in Pisgah tomorrow. I can hardly wait. It has been since 2004 that I was first down there. The weather does not look too good, but it will be all smiles to be riding there again.

Three full days of riding. That should get my November miles up to where they should be or at least my hours on a bike. I just hope my sinuses straighten out by then or it will be on heck of a hacking time. Should be worth every cough.

Back in the saddle again!

2008-11-05T23:18:00.003-05:00

I have not been on a bike since the BCBD. I have tried, but it just has not worked. With the hunting season underway and the night falling faster with the time changes, the weekly wed. night rides have started. I could not make it last week, but I knew I needed to get out this week. I have been going stir crazy not getting out.

Since I knew who would be attending, I decided to take the Giant because I know I can't keep up with them on the SS because we are riding Ferdinand. It has been a long time since I rode that bike last, but it was rolling fairly smooth considering all the things that could go wrong with it. I did figure out that I probably need to move my seat forward because I was having trouble keeping my front end down on the climbs. Speaking of the climbs, that thing sure seemed to climb slow. I don't know if it was because I could not put the power down that I wanted too or was it just because I was used to riding the SS or even the fact that I have not been on a bike in 4 weeks? Hard to tell, but probably a little of all three.

After riding tonight and thinking about the possibility of riding Pisgah real soon has me kind of thinking. I know I want to work on getting a new bike for next year, but should I get a kick ass 29er or should I get a bigger gearie that would be good for the bigger places? I know people ride SS and even fully rigid at Pisgah, but I also know they walk. I am not above walking some, but if it is a lot then that would be too much. The perfect solution would be to get both, but there is no chance to come up with that much money. Maybe I just need to grow some nads and really get to climbing the SS. Maybe not.

Winter is on the way

2008-10-27T18:05:00.002-04:00

Man the weather sure changed last night. It is starting to feel like winter is just around the corner. Oh well, I will deal with it as I can.

I have been worthless for the last two weeks. I went 4 wheeling in WV, but I have not rode a bike for too long. I really want to get out before shotgun season opens. When that happens, I will have to hit the road.

I have been eye balling the 29ers since the breakdown. I really want to get on one soon. The problem I am having is finding something reasonable. All the good deals I find are too big. I either need a small or medium frame depending on stand over height. I checked out a few 18" bikes and they were border line too tall. I could ride it just fine, but I was not comfortable with the stand over clearance. All the other bikes that are on the cheap side are not that great. I really want something chromolly and would prefer a shock on the front. It is crazy that I can find a FS geared bike cheaper then a hard tail SS! It must be the demand.

Brown County Breakdown break down

2008-10-15T06:30:00.000-04:00

The 4th annual Brown County Breakdown is in the books and what a day it was. There were no complaints about the weather. Nice and cool in the morning and perfect all afternoon. There were 325 people signed up, but with no shows and everything I think the starting total was close to 300. I don't have the break down of who rode what route yet, but there were several people who made it to the cabin.

I originally wanted to tackle the 100 mile route. I still think I could have done that, but it would have been a different ride then what I did. After our shakedown ride at BC two weeks ago it was decided that the 100 might be a bit much for the group. So the goal was changed to me riding the 1x1 and us riding close to 70 miles (we were going to modify the 60).

I was very happy with how I was riding. I few up to Hesitation Point despite all of the early traffic on the trail holding me up. Normally I would have just sat back and went with the flow, but the SS has a mind of its own. There are some spots that momentum is a bigger deal than others and that wore me out more then I wanted it. I did pass several riders and ended up on the ride and smile train. That was just about right and we cruised up to HP. At that point I decided I should stop there and wait for the rest of the group and parted ways with R&S.

After a little break and checking out some sweet looking 29'ers that included one belt drive Spot, the rest of the group showed up and we were ready to press on. The next section was still fun as one could imagine. From there I flowed up to the camp ground area and settled in to wait for the group.

After the camp ground we headed down the road just a little to meet up with a horse trail. I was not sure about how the horse trail would be, but it was not bad at all, kind of like a fire lane. That tied into a private trail that took us down to the cabin. The cabin was a great rest stop. There was music playing and good food to snack on. After the re-group and rest, one of the group decided that was the end of the line for him, so Jim headed back toward the park. That left Damon and myself to decide the rest of the ride. I think this was the point that we were thinking that our idea of riding Nebo back and not Combs Road was a bad idea. This was later confirmed as we made it to Maumee rest stop and decided to head in on Combs rd.

It was great to be back on Nebo. It has been a while since I rode there and this was the first time I was sitting 25 miles into the ride when I was heading in to that trail. The trail was a little harder then I remembered, but that might have something to do with how far I had already gone. I was still riding well and stretching the gap on Damon between re-group spots.

At this point the amount of riders were thined out alot and we kept running in to the same groups. One group even had a rider peal off and join us because the other group was going a little farther then we were. Before we were done with Nebo the one turned in to two other riders. That is fine with me, the more the merrier.

Back at the cabin for the second time I was beginning to wonder how well I would ride the rest of the way. A refill of liquids and some fresh hot pizza got me read to head out. I had to tell Damon no matter how hard he begged, I was not bringing the truck back to pick him up! LOL
The hill from the cabin is just brutal. Almost straight up and fairly long. I decided that I neede to walk that one. I don't think that anyone actually made it up that hill.

The trip in there there was getting a little hard to remember. All I know was I was ready for that beer at the truck! I cruised in to the pool parking lot ready for a break. I dropped my gear and grabbed a beer and sat for a spell. After I cleaned up and changed we went over to grab some of the good grub that was being served along with a few more beers. When I went and picked up my shirt and glass I found out that I won a door prize and picked up a nice pair of Salsa socks.

Overall it was a great day in the woods. I think I could have finished sooner if the re-groups would not have been there, but it was good to not be alone out here (if you can call riding with 300 other people alone). I ended up with right at 60 miles in and only walked on 3 hills. I didn't get hurt too bad except I did knee my stem once when I spun out on a loose rock.

I highly reccomend this ride to anyone! If you are not in super human condition you should at least try to make it to the cabin. I am more mad at myself then I was before about not making the first 3 breakdown rides. Hats off to all that made this ride happen. There was a lot of work that went in to this and it is much appreciated! I can't wait til next year!!!!

Back in Ferdinand

2008-10-06T17:24:00.003-04:00

I went out to Ferdinand on Sunday to see how the train clean up was going. The forest service had all of the big trees cut and some other kind souls moved most of the smaller limbs. So, the trail was in great shape. It could use a little more rain and less leaves, but who is to complain.

With the trail being so good I would have been much happier if the legs were in as good as shape as the trail, but not today. I took the SS out being stoked as to the killer ride I put in Monday at BCSP. Granted, Ferdy is not like BCSP, but I thought my legs would have a better showing then they did. I was miserable for the whole ride! I mean the whole ride. Even the gravel road leading up to the first trail head. I thought the legs would shake out after a little and things would go smoother, but that really never happened. They got better, but that was only up to sub-par performance.

The performance was so bad it has me re-thinking about riding the SS for the Brown County Breakdown next weekend. I am not sure what to do just yet. I know if I ride the geared bike I would not be fully happy. I just love riding my SS. I also know if I am as weak as I was this ride I would be in for a very long day. There probably only a few sections that I would have trouble with the SS on this route. Most of that I don't see being an issue since we will not make it there. The other stuff I have never seen, so it is hard to tell.

After touching base with the sofa rider, it looks like the concensus is for me to ride the SS with the plan to only ride the 65 mile route. Even at that, it will be a big day on the bike. Should be a good measure for my future racing hundies. We will have to see.

Brown County State Park

2008-09-30T12:18:00.001-04:00

I finally rode some of the new stuff at BCSP. It has been a few years since I was last there. The original two loops are a blast. They are the closest thing I can find to a trail being down hill both directions!! That is hard to do, but this trail is as close as it get's. Nothing but smiles and smooth lines.

But, the trail workers have been very busy since then. They have added Hesitation Point Trail, Campground connector trail and they are trying to finish up the expert loop. Let's just say I was not disappointed with the new stuff. Both directions of Hesitation Point and the campground trail are a complete blast!! There are some wood bridges, rock gardens and rock bridges thrown in between the smooth ups and downs just to keep it interesting. So much of the trails here are just like riding a roller coaster. You can pump the back sides of the dips and curves to keep enough momentum that it seems like you never pedal.

The new expert section is like nothing I have seen in the area. Technical sections and very tight singletrack sections that have big consequences. This section is not done, but what is done is great!! This section is not reccomended for beginners. There is some true bike skill that is needed to make it through this part. Even with skill, I am sure there will be more then one *oh shit* moment.
Here is a link to a video that is some of the expert section Some areas were not completed yet.

Expert Trail Video

Note: Don't be fooled by how easy Ron makes this section look.

The picture above is one of the rock bridged that are optional sections of trail.

The complete trail with Hesitation Point and the campground trail rode both ways, the ride was 35 miles of smiles.

Damn you Ike!!

2008-09-22T12:12:00.000-04:00

I took the 1x1 out to Ferdinand on Saturday for a quick ride. I was not sure of the condition of the trails, but I really needed to ride. The ride didn't get off to a good start. The first section of singletrack had a tree down right away. I moved it out of the way and continued on. Not too far down the trail I found another tree down. I moved what I could and noticed that just up the trail was another one down. So, instead of riding, I just pushed my bike a few feet and proceeded to work on the next tree. I could not clear everything, but it was down to only a few sections that you actually had to get off. So, back on the bike and rolling again it looked as things were starting to go good. Then I felt something and noticed my front tire going flat!! Probably all the debis that I was plowing over. I worked my way to a little clearing that was just up the trail, but not with out moving more sticks as I went.

I made quick work of the tire and was off heading down the trail again. Still plenty of sticks all over the place. The next section of fire lane was not too bad, only a few more big trees down. I still moved the bigger stuff out of the way that I could not ride around or over. It was a good ting I had my SS since I did have one stick that stuck right in the back stay and surly would have ripped a derailleur off. I was then bombing down a hill with clear sailing ahead. Something grabbed my bike and slowed it down a lot. I found myself up close and personal with my front tire and both hands off of the bars. I looked around a little bit waiting on my big crash, but after it didn't happen right away, I figured I should just sit up and grab the bars again. I felt real lucky with that one!! I felt even luckier after the pain started to settle in where I hit my stem. I then realized that 2 more inches lower and I would have had my bits scattered all over the trail. Sheesh!

I proceeded to cross the road and head down fire lane 7. Not too far down the trail there was another tree down, but I could clear it with out too much problem. The trail was in fair condition after that. Still a ton of limbs down, but only one or two places I had to do a lot of work. Right near the end of the newer section of trail that ends up at the house, I ran in to a wall of trees. That section was in real bad shape. Probably 8 to 10 trees in a real short section of trail. Good thing it is close to a parking area.

After I worked my way around all of the trees and down to the shelter house, I figured out that it took me 2 hours to go 5 miles. How is that for some good average!! I was on somewhat of a limited time schedule and was wore out from moving all the big trees that I decided to take the dreaded road back to the car. So, I was greeted with the nice and steep road climb toward the camp ground and then the gravel road back to the car. Over all it was great to get out even with all the hastles. Next time I will have to pack a folding bow saw in my pack.

I am sure there is still plenty of work to be done on the other trails, but they will have to wait another day.

Wind blew the weekend away.

2008-09-16T12:21:00.000-04:00

Well, the wind from IKE really messed up my plans for a ride. The schedule was to ride Ferdinand on Sunday with the SS and see if last week was a fluke. Now I guess I have to wait another week to find out. I could go out Wed. night, but I still have a lot to pick up in the yard. Tons of sticks and limbs laying all over the place. If my yard is like that, I am sure there are more trees down across the trail. If so, that will make the next ride really suck.

I have gone and done it. I am signed up for the Brown County Breakdown. I registered for the 100 miler, but we will have to see how the day ends up. We will need to keep the pace to finish in the allotted time. Also, I am still kicking around the idea of riding the SS. I know there are a few places with some hills, but it is all just riding.

Single again

2008-09-09T06:47:00.000-04:00

Well, after the bike crying in the corner for so long, I finally felt guilty enough to take the 1x1 out for a spin. Sunday I took it to Ferdinand for what I thought would be one heck of a suffer fest. I have not been off road more then then twice in the last two weeks since Feb. Taking the SS to a place that is not the easiest was probably not as good of an idea as it could have been.

Well I started out and not too far in to the trail I was still in agreement that I was in for some serious pain. But, I really wanted to get that bike out and I was in for the long haul. I decided to hop off and walk up a short but real steep washed out section because I know how much it normally takes out of me to climb it. I was liking my shock being back on the front. It is not much, but I was riding better then with the rigid. As I finished fire lane 6/keyana section the smile was still going strong. But, I was not sure how long the legs would last. That section hurt more then I thought it would. The good thing is that fire lane 7 section is a blast!

I decided to just take it easy when I needed it and stopped for a breather a few times too. When I got to the top of the new section I decided that I should head up fire lane 1 for my favorite fire lane out there. This section is not part of the trail, but I really think it should be. I know it takes out the one technical section, but it is too much fun to miss.

At this point I was done with the easier stuff and came down to the field where the Dino races start. I really hate the section right after the field, so I decided to do it old school and head out over the dam and enter the trail section there. I wimped out and skipped the real steep trail section and took the fire lane around, but that is nothing out of the ordinary. I really surprised myself on the back side of the lake by not walking anything!! There are a few hills in there that were not easy at all.

I then dropped in to Foxey hollow feeling good about the ride so far, but knew the end was not easy either. I rode the first part with out a problem. After the creek crossing section and was not sure how I would fair on the next hill. Being a two stage hill, I took the time to catch my breath in the flat section and shocking myself, I climbed the second section of the climb. I am not sure if I have ever climbed the second section of that climb all the way. I kept climbing everything and was feeling really good about it. I hit one section that I know I never climbed on my 1x1 and thought this might be the time. Well, I did make it up most of the hill and just about fell over. So, I had to walk the very last part of the hill. As I was walking I looked at the trail and said to myself, what the heck are you doing walking this section when you just climbed that hard section? So, I hopped back on and climbed the rest of it.

I actually only had to get off of the bike two more times and one was a root section where the bike stopped while climbing. I felt really good about how I rode and looking forward to the next ride to see if I can do it again.

On the road again....

2008-09-03T21:10:00.001-04:00

I was back on the road last weekend. I knew I was running tight on riding time and since I would much rather ride with someone then by myself, I decided to join a group that I heard was going out. I am not sure how good of a decision it was, but it was a decision. It was good to ride with some of the guys I have not road with for a while.

Over all it was a great ride. I did end up with a little sunburn and very tired legs, so it must have been a good one! I knew going in to this, the group I was joining usually rode faster then my normal group. That is not always bad. In fact, next year I want to spend much more time with these guys and my legs will be even stronger. The ride ended up being right at 60 miles. We also climbed a little over 2600 ft of elevation gain. Those two numbers alone define it as a good ride, but the fact that my average ended up just under 20 mph means we were flat out flying. If the road didn't have some of those hills, I would not be that shocked about the speed. But, on some of the flats I looked down when I was pulling and we were running 23-26 mph. That is way faster then normal. But, I like it!!

The 1x1 has been calling me lately. Enough that I have put the shock back on the front, the new seat post and changed seats. It looks sweet and ready to hit up the trail. I still have not put in too many miles on the carbon bars I put on there this winter. I hope to get out on it this weekend. We will have to see with all the soccer games scheduled.

I also see that I am slowly getting close to 1000 hits. Some times I feel like I am the only one reading this. So, if you are reading, please take the time to post a comment and tell me what you think or at least give me some encouragement to keep putting stuff on here.

Back in the woods

2008-08-27T11:39:00.002-04:00

Well I cleaned up the NRS and decided to head out to the woods and give it another try. So, after work I loaded up everything and off I went. Everything started out good. I was feeling good and climbing strong. It actually took me a little over 5 miles before I used the granny gear. That is not too bad for riding at Ferdinand. But, then I hit the back side of the lake and used it several times. I probably didn't need it for some of them, but when it is there it is hard not to use it.

No snakes to scare the crap out of me this time. That is a good thing!! I did see a nice sized deer. The one thing that I didn't miss was all of the damn spider webs that seemed to be every 10 feet. I had a few large spiders crawling on me and I really didn't care for that.

The NRS was a much more plesent experience then the Proflex was. But, I already knew that it would be. The disk brakes are easier to squeeze and that helps my bad wrist. The drive-train is much nicer and shifted accordingly. They rear shock was nice on the down hills, but I think the Proflex climbed better. Too much movement going on all the time. I will have to try and use more air next time.

My Surly keeps catching my attention, but I have been hesitent to ride it. I know that I am not in good SS shape and I don't have an easy trail to ease into shape. With me dismantling the Proflex, it will free up the shock that used to be on the 1x1. I also have a new Thomson post to put on it. I sure miss riding that thing, I just wished it had the disk brake tabs. Maybe I need to trade it in for the next size up. Then I could get a set of 650b wheels to try out.

With the extra set of wheels left from the Proflex, I am thinking about seeing what kind of gear combo might give me that magic gear for the Caloi. If I can find one that works for the road, I plan on getting a Tomi cog and try some playing around fixed. Could be interesting.

Time to bury my head in the sand.

2008-08-18T21:54:00.002-04:00

Well, over the last few years I have become what I guess I would call a retro grouch. I have enjoyed singlespeeding just for the pure simplicity and fun. That does not mean that I do not have some newer toys. Actually, I purchased a Giant NRS to bring me some what in to the 20th century in biking. A far cry from what I had raced and rode for years. I do like the disk brakes, but some of the other stuff I could do with out. I have a fork that moves freely through the travel depending on how much force is applied to it. I thought this was a good thing, until I went over my first big log and just about ate it because my shock kept going when I didn't think it would.

I didn't like the shifting that came with it, but have since swapped out for some SRAM stuff that I do like. The biggest problem I have had was the fact that even though I didn't ride it a lot, my rear shock decided to no longer hold air. I needed a bike before I went to Colorado last year and didn't really have the $100 to fix the shock. So, I purchased a replacement shock off of evil bay. The problem was that the spacers were not interchangeable. Well, I put my head to it and ended up with a stack of washers as my spacers. This actually worked quite well and survived the whole week out west. Actually the spacers and shock is still on the bike and working.

Well, this spring I was going to do my part and stick it to the man that wants everyone to spend a ton of money working and upgrading their bike all the time. I have a 1997 Proflex 857 that I built up to ride. I figured that it worked great back then and still works good, why not use it. Well last weekend I finally got off of the road bike long enough to take it for a spin. Needless to say I was not pleased with my experience. I am ready to strip it apart and put it on ebay. Actuall it is not the frames fault. Everyone would think that an old bike like that could not stand up to today's standards, but it does climb very well and is really light.

The problems of the ride started when I was having some ghost shifting problems and my chain wanting to slip over the teeth when I put a good load on it. Then when I put it in the granny gear, it was grinding even more and ready to slip and hurt me. So, I just kept it in the middle ring and did what I could.

Then I started to hear a sound that reminded me of a cracked frame. I thought great, I just what I needed. But, it turns out that my head set was making all the noise and sounded like it was ready to explode. Top that with my rear break cable not working as smooth as it should, making my wrist hurt for the next two days. I am ready to take the plunge and buy a new bike. I really hate to, but I just think I need to. I know I could ride my SS more and get back in to shape enough to ride that bike well. But, I have plans to ride more at Pisgah this winter. I don't think I am up to that challenge. So, that puts me in the bike market with no money. Just where I wanted to be.

The only positive out of the problem is, I plan on putting my shock back on my SS to help with my wrist problems. Rigid was fun, but I have abused my body too much over the years to deal with the after math.

Brown County Breakdown

2008-08-12T07:14:00.000-04:00

Fourth Annual Brown County Breakdown HMBA Epic Mountain Bike Ride on Sunday, October 12.

$50 Early Bird registration begins on Monday, August 11 and ends Sunday, September 14.
$65 General registration begins on Monday, September 15 and ends Friday, October 10.

Online registration closes at 11:45 p.m. on Friday, October 10.

Choose route lengths of 20, 35, 50, 75 or 100 miles!

Go to www.browncountybreakdown.com for registration, up to date information and event FAQ's.

The HMBA Century

2008-08-11T20:33:00.002-04:00

Wow, what a great weekend for riding. I could not complain one bit about the weather. Friday night I headed up to Damon's to crash and get half way to the starting point for Saturday's ride. Well, that was my excuse anyway. It was not really 1/2 way, but it was closer. It also helped that Damon was going to ride too, so we could share the trip. I also needed to hang out with him since it has been so long since I have done so.

Friday night was great. Huge bonfire and company to chill with and get ready for the ride. The lack of sleep for the week and the time I went to bed didn't start out the ride on a good note. Damon set his alarm for the wrong time and for some reason my phone was in my pocket. I guess I was afraid it was going to fall off the bed and the dogs were going to eat it. The problem with the location of the phone was the fact that it muted my alarm more then normal and we didn't get up as planned. After we were up and moving, we got everything ready as fast as we could and headed out the door.

We were not real late, but too late to see most of the group leave the parking lot. By the time get were fully ready we were already 30 minutes behind everyone else. Not too far down the road a rider caught us and as he was passing I was told that he looked like my pace and I should hop on. So, wanting to get a good ride in I did just that. Mike was great to ride with. Being an ICS team member helped me feel like I knew him more then just a few seconds. We cruised way faster then I should have been going, but I was hanging and wanted to stay as long as I could. I knew that if I had to fall off the back I could always recover some by the time Damon hooked back up.

Well I can not complain one bit about Mike. He kept waiting for me at the top of all the hills to make sure he didn't drop me. I could ride with him on everything except the hills. I already knew that I didn't have my climbing legs that I normally have. Some of those hills were by far the steepest and hardest hills that I have road up. That should have been one heck of a jump start to my climbing training. Now I just need to hit the woods more.

Over all I rode good all day. We ended up averaging something like 16.5 mph. Not that great, but considering the climbing involved and how chicken I was to really let it all out on the down hills, it is not that bad a pace. We ended up climbing over 6000' of elevation for 106 miles. Great rest stops and good road markings. This is on the must do list for next year. The only thing I want to do different is first of all, plan ahead more and get some more climbing in and secondly, make it to the start before everyone leaves so I can see how long I can hang with the fast group.

I really need to get a copy of the map so I can head back up there and do parts of the loop again some time.

It must be getting hot

2008-07-31T06:55:00.000-04:00

It must be that time of year again. I seems that every year around August I start to fade. I have been calling it my August burn out. This year it showed up a little early. It all starts with a few bad outings, being tired and just not having fun. Then I loose motivation to go ride. A few rides skipped and then I loose some fitness and continue down hill.

I know all I need to do is make it a few more rides to get over the hump. It is easier then it sounds. I need to catch up on some sleep. I know I have been eating more and drinking a lot more beer. My weight that has been dropping all year has gone two weeks with a small incline each week. I did hold the same weight the third week, but that is not the trend I need to be going.

I was told to go ride last night or I probably would not have gone. I think it is a good thing too. I actually didn't feel too bad. It helps that they started the ride fairly slow. I picked the pace up after we were out a bit. I wanted to see if my legs really were feeling good and they did good. Not as strong as I want them to be, but better then they had been.

I am doing the big Strassenfest ride this weekend and planning on doing the HMBA century next weekend. Both of those rides should be a good time and help break out of this funk. I guess time will tell.

Time to start going up

2008-07-25T06:51:00.000-04:00

I got out for a ride a few days after the Rain and I felt much better then I imagined. Then I didn't make it out over the weekend so I figured I would hook up with a new group for a Tues. ride. That was a good thing, but a not so good thing at the same time. The good thing is I have found a new group that I need to spend some time with if I want any chance at being in the shape I desire before the Tour de London. The bad thing is that they absolutely killed me! Hell, this is Friday and my legs still hurt!

In all of my years of riding I have never yacked from riding. I have been real close several times, but never actually done it. Tuesday I thought it would be my first time! I was miserable. I never saw my lunch, but it would not have surprised me at all.

The one thing that it did tell me, even though I already knew it, is that I need to do a lot more climbing if I plan on having a chance to improve my ride in the TdL.

2008 Rain Ride

2008-07-14T12:33:00.000-04:00

Well I can finally say that I have done the Rain ride. It was a long day full of interesting moments. Standing at the starting line with clouds as far as you could see and lightning bolts all across the sky, I knew it would be interesting. The rain started a little before the actual ride started. I am not sure how long it really rained, but I was getting wet for the first 70-75 miles. If it was not raining, the road was really wet and all of the tires were making it feel like it was raining.

We started off with a real nice pace and several riders around to always be able to find groups to hang with. Just past the first rest stop (we did not stop), I was feeling the urge to take a natural break. I was not the only one, but not everyone was stopping. I could start to feel the pace taking it toll on my and figured that we better back off a little if we were going to make the whole thing. This was only 45 miles in to the ride. So the two of us let the group pull away and I started looking for the spot that I was going to pull over. After a quick break, our sag vehicle went by and pulled over to make sure if we needed anything.

After being out on our own for a little bit, there were a few guys that came along so we hopped on to help us on our way. Not too far down the road was the second rest stop. After a little stop we were ready to head back out on the road feeling much better. We settled in with a small group and everything was going good. Crossing 67 there was a rider that was almost a squashed bug. If his buddy would not have yelled at him that a car was coming he would have be a goner. Up the road from there a little ways the road was branching off to the right just down a little grade. The guys in front yelled that there was gravel on the road. We were cruising about 23 mph and the road was a little wet yet. The guy two in front of me slowed down too fast or something and the guy behind him got tangled up in his back wheel. This threw him down right in front of me. I was trying to get out of the path, but his bike kept sliding left and I could not miss it. I ran over the back of this bike and hard telling what else. Next thing I knew I was sliding down the hill and then my head smacked the road real good. After all of the sliding was done, I picked myself up and checked everything out. Nothing was broke, just some road rash a few places. My helmet didn't look as good as I did, but it was still in one piece so I put it back on with a few more vents installed. The other guy was good, so I said I needed to get back to riding before the pain settled in and I would really hurt.

Not too much farther we rolled in to the lunch stop. This was a much needed stop to re-group. We did end up staying there a lot longer then I wanted to, but some of it was needed. I changed jerseys and socks and took in a good inventory of the damage. After some food I was ready to get back out there. The section after lunch was not easy. We did not see very many groups, so we were cruising along all on our own. We finally ended up meeting up with a group of 4 and tied in with them as long as we could. Eventually we were split and we were out looking for more riders.

This continued on and off for the rest of the ride. We did stop at the last rest stop to top off the bottles and down some much needed food. From there I knew we had just over 1 1/2 hours to make it under the 10 hour mark. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but that was the point I didn't want to pass. So, we came out of there screaming and tried to make the time. We did hook up with one other guy that we were riding with earlier and we helped each other get to the end. Just before we were at the finish the other guy fell off of the pace that was being put out. Forrest said if he slowed down he just might fall over. So, the hammer was still on and the finish could not come soon enough.

Eventually we did make it up the hills and found the finish. 9 hours and 46 min. after leaving Terre Haute. I was very happy to make it in under the 10 hour mark. I am even happier after looking at some of the stats and seeing that we had an actual ride time of 8 hours and 15 min with an average speed of 20.25 mph. We are now prepared to train a little better, take some time out of the rest stops and finish in the sub 9 hour mark for next year!

Not sure how soon I am ready to get back on the bike, but I better not wait too long with some of the big rides I have planned on the horizon.

See you on the road.

Getting close now

2008-07-08T06:57:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I made it out for a good ride. When I started my legs were not feeling very good and I thought I was going to have to call it a day early. There were only two of us, so the drafting was minimal. When we made our first stop to decide the route I noticed that we were averaging just a little over 18 mph. I was very happy with that since I felt like I was barley moving. We decided to head back toward home to ride less traveled roads.

Over all it really ended up as a good ride. We put in right at 60 miles and also hit a few hills too. Much better then what I was expecting with my legs feeling bad.

Well this weekend is the big weekend. I am about as ready as I can expect. I could have planned a little better and been ready to really tear it up, but I am happy with my condition. I am not sure how fast we will end up going, but I am fairly confident that I will finish.
I just hope my legs are good. I am busy all week and with the chance of rain, it looks like my chances for miles this week are between slim and none. I guess some rest might be good too.

After this weekend it will not let up either. I have the Strassenfest ride that is a hilly 62 mile route, but that should be easier then previous years. Then I plan on doing the HMBA Century that apparently has a lot of climbing too. All this climbing should lead up to my next section of training. I really need to start hitting the hills to prepare for my revenge on the Tour de London.
After all that is settled, I plan on doing the Brown County Breakdown 100 mile mtb ride. I guess I will have to hit the woods sometime before then.

Double up!

2008-06-25T12:56:00.000-04:00

I doubled up this weekend for rides. At first I thought I was going to get a nice and long ride in on Saturday, but realized that I needed to be someplace earlier then I thought. So, my ride Saturday was cut short and I only put in 60 miles. Only 60 miles? It is crazy to hear me say that! Last year that would have been one of the longer rides.

I actually didn't feel too bad after Saturdays ride and decided to join another rider on their Sunday ride. The way it sounded the selected route was very hilly. I talked them in to doing something easier so I would join them. My legs were dead for most of the ride, but I was still moving fairly good. We ended up with just under 50 miles. So, I guess there is nothing wrong with 110 miles in for a weekend. My legs sure did hurt after that ride and the next day. That is the most that they have hurt for a while. I supposed it is a good thing and I hope that means they are getting stronger.
I guess I will have to see on the Wed. night ride. Speaking of a lot of miles, it is hard to believe that after tonights ride I will have over 900 miles in for he year. That is one good year for me and it is not even July!!

Time is ticking away

2008-06-17T12:39:00.001-04:00

I have officially signed up for the Rain Ride. Now I can not come up with numerous silly reasons to back out. Our sag driver just said that they will not be able to drive this year, so I guess a sag support is still needed. I am trying to work some stuff out for that.

This last weekend I stepped back my riding some. I have had some knee pain on and off for the last month or so. I am sure that my riding is part of the problem and lack of sleep is probably the other part. The problem is with the Rain right around the corner I can't back off too much.

I finally got the wife out on her bike last night. We went out on a 20 mile loop. I think she had a good time and was not too sore this morning. I hope to get her out a lot more this year. She would be a very good rider if she got back in to it. At one time she raced for the Proflex regional mountain bike team in the expert class. Maybe we both were not exactly top of the class expert racers, but we held our own compared to the number of fast riders at that time. I don't think I will ever get to that point, but that really does not matter to me anymore. I just hope to get to a cat 5 or even 4 level some day.

My first century

2008-06-11T12:10:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning we headed out early for a long ride. We were planning on heading out at 6 for a 100 miler. One ride had an issue on time. So, after some debate our plans were changed to accommodate everyone. The train left at 5:00 in the dark. We took some back roads toward our desired direction. By the time we needed to hit the main roads, it was getting light enough for the cars to see us better. There were a few bikes with headlights on and everyone had tail lights just to be safe. The route was changed with the plan to get us back near home for the one rider to break off when he needed.

The ride started out a little slower then I thought it would, but I knew it would be a big day so I was not that worried. Two of the riders were starting to fall off the back. After we re-grouped it was decided for the front group to go out on their own. After this, our pace picked up some. We were making real good time and then one rider had a flat tire. It took us a little bit to get it changed because we were really needing a short break. I had to make adjustments to my seat. Side note: I forgot to mention that the day before this ride I put a new seat on my bike, new pedals and cleats on new shoes!! Not the smartest thing to do before a long ride.

After we fixed the flat, we were back on the road and moving good again. We made a short rest stop at the designated spot. Time was being estimated and it was decided to call for a ride to meet down the road. So off we went trying to hit the check point before the driver made it there. We made it there in plenty of time, so as we waited the riders who were continuing filled up bottles and were getting ready to head out. The 2 riders we left early in the day came rolling in. So the group was back to 4 riders to head toward home.

Close to home I started looking at my mileage and we decided that we needed a little more to make the 100. One rider bailed off with a good day in the seat. I can tell you I was really starting to hurt by then. Legs were getting weak and my body was just tired of pedaling. Those last 10 miles were horrible. Good thing we headed out for flatter road because I would have really struggled if there would have been too much elevation gain.

When I got home and out of the shower I was tired, but the feeling of accomplishment was worth more then the pain. As I laid there for 10 min. I rememberd that I needed to finish packing because I was driving 6 hours to Chicago for work in less then 1 hour!! Silly me!

After work stress relief

2008-06-04T22:19:00.002-04:00

Well I actually made it out during the week again. I need to keep that up if I want my legs to keep improving. We went out in to wind and a cloud filled sky. We only had a few drops fall on us so it was all good. I actually could have used a little rain to help wash off all those nasty worms that are stuck all over my bike from Sunday's ride.

We ended up going out for right at 40 miles. The average was a little slow for how hard it felt like we went. We did do a few hard efforts that really took a toll on my legs, so that might have something to do with my lower average. It really does not matter, it was just good to get out.

I just hope to recover some before Sunday's 100 miler. That should be an interesting ride. I am thinking about riding to the starting point in stead of driving. I hate driving to a ride, but it depends a little on how light it is. I do not like riding in the dark during the morning hours on a road just up from my house. If I can make it past there it is all good. The only problem with riding to the start point is that it will make the ride more like 110 miles and end climbing back toward home. I guess we will have to see.

To make matters even more interesting, after our ride I have to head home, clean up and then load up to drive 5-6 hours to Chicago for work. That should be a fun drive!! Good thing is the food and stuff will be on the company.

The wheel turns around and around

2008-06-02T17:21:00.002-04:00

Another weekend of riding down that road. Well, this weekend was a road less traveled this year. The group of guys that I have been riding with tend to do some different routes then I would pick by myself. There is nothing wrong with them, just different. This weekend we did a version of a route that I would normally do. I thought it would have been a lot more hills then it was. Don't get be wrong, it was not an easy ride, but the elevation gain was not what I thought it would have been. We only ended up with 1,815 ft for 58 miles. It was more then several of the routes that we normally take, but we have also taken routes that end up with much more gain. Two weeks ago with did a 60 mile ride or so and was over 2,200 ft gain.

Overall it was still a good ride. My legs did not feel as good the last two weeks as they have several weeks before. I still managed to ride good enough for the group. Some of the hills didn't seem to hurt as bad as previous times on the same roads. I guess that is showing my that I am actually getting somewhere this year. I know I am down 8 lbs and a pants size smaller, but I am still not where I want to be.

Work has been crazy and I am been busy with other stuff too lately, so I am sure that has effected my recovery. I just hope to continue to improve and be able to ride the Rain Ride strong. That will keep my confidence up for the rest of the year. I still have a few things on my mind that I want to work in. The hundie for the Brown County Breakdown and I want to redeem myself at the Tour de London. If that all works out and I can hold some strength through the winter, I want to try the 3 State/3 Mountain race. I hear that is one heck of a nice ride. That is all yet to be seen. The only thing I know for sure, well as sure as I can be is the Rain Ride. My personal goal is under 9 hours, but not sure if the rest of the group is up for that. 18 mph average should be a possibility by then.

Well, this weekend we are supposed to get in that century. We will have to see if that happens. We are leaving early and I hope to get done as early as we can because I have to drive to Chicago that afternoon for work. That should be a fun drive!! NOT.

Singing in the rain

2008-05-27T20:36:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was quite a ride. After a few days of good weather that I could not ride in, I woke up Monday morning to a overcast sky and a real good chance of rain. I figured if the guys were game, I was up to it. I didn't think that we would do our planned route, but any ride would be welcomed.

We showed up at 6:30 am and the weather was holding. A loop was decided with the back up plan of if it looked like it was going to get bad we would turn around. We thought that we could make it to the outer part of the loop before the rain hit. Well it started out good. The roads were wet in spots like it just rained there, but we were not getting rained on.

We made it to the turning point and up to that moment we had not been rained on yet. It sure looked like it was going to, but so far it had not. One gentleman at the gas station heard us talking about the rain. He asked us what way we were going and after we pointed, he said 2 miles up the road it was pouring. Good thing that we were not going that way today. That section was in the original plan. So be started heading back in the direction of home with almost 40 miles in with out getting rained on. We headed up the next section of road with some concerned looks on our faces, but at that point it really didn't matter any more. We figured 40 miles in the morning were much better for us than the couch.

Next we were faced with the option of what direction to head home. One direction was a little shorter, but had a lot more hills. It was decided to take the highway back and skip those bad hills on the back road as up till now we were making some real good time even with a head wind. Not 2 miles past the turn off for the back way, we were finally rained on for the first time of the day. It didn't really last too long so overall it was not too unpleasant. Little did we know that was just the start of it. The closer we got to the next little town it started to rain more. From there on home we were rained on for most of the way. Most of the time it was not too bad, just a steady rain. There were only a few sections that it rained a little hard on us.

As we were getting closer, one rider started asking about calling for a ride home. I said at this point, I am soaking wet and we are no more then 10 miles from home. I was planning on riding it out. So, I guess he didn't want to be the only one not riding home so we all continued on. Overall it was a great ride. I wish it was not as wet as it was, but it was a good hard ride. It was easily the most rain that I have ever rode in. I just hope I didn't mess any of my bearings up.

After sizing everything up, we ended up with 75 miles and averaged right at 18.5 mph

Still riding that train

2008-05-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

For being a so called mountain biker, I sure don't ride in the woods much. I have done almost nothing but road riding this year. Oh well, it has been fun and I have sure put in more miles that I would have waiting on the dirt to dry.

This weekend I thought we were going for a 70 miler, but when I got there the route that was picked didn't sound like it would be that long. The good thing is, it would have a few more hills to make up for the distance. It was a great day, but the wind could have been a little nicer to us. The hills sure added up by the end of the ride, but my legs were needing that to keep on the improving path. I am not sure what the group ended up with in miles, but ended up with a metric century and over 2200 ft of elevation gain. Not too bad.

This weekend we are supposed to go out for a 100 miler, but we will see about that. I hear talk about a 90 from some of the group. What does 10 miles really do to help? I figure if we are going 90, I am going the extra 10 with or with out the group. I have never done a full century. I have been close, but not complete. It sounds like I will not have a problem with that this year. The group has a 120 mile route that take when it gets closer to the Rain ride. Then again that it self is 160 miles. Sounds like a good year for miles!

The plan is to follow that ride up with a off road hundie. I have been wanting to do the BCBD since it started and this year I will be in my best shape so far. I will have to see what the schedule has on it as we get closer to the date.

Just another day

2008-05-16T23:44:00.002-04:00

Well, I guess it has been a little while since I put something on here. I have been very busy and the days seem to run together. I have had a few good rides since the last post. Tuesday I put in a hard 45 mile ride after work. I felt very good about how I rode. I have been wondering how well I would ride in the woods. I can't believe how little I have been off road this year. When I really was thinking about it, the weather was not cooperating. Now that there were some days that I could have rode, I didn't even think about it. Oh well, I really need some road time since I plan on doing the Rain Ride this year. 162 miles is a long time in the seat. That should get me ready for anything that I can make it to this year.

Well, I had big plans about some races early this year. As the time rolls on it seems that time and money keep talking me out of doing it. I am sure if I would just do a few races I would be hooked. I know I was looking forward to the next race after the Tour de London last year and I don't think I could have road any worse with out wrecking or something like that. I guess we will see if I can actually make it to a race this year.

Big ride planned for Sunday. I think they are looking at 70 miles or so. I sure hope the weather is good.

More time on the road

2008-04-28T06:55:00.000-04:00

I managed to get out on the road this weekend. I joined a group that was planning on a 60 mile ride. I was a little hesitant as I know these guys usually ride a fairly fast pace and the route they had in mind I have never done. Knowing I really need to ride, I decided to join them anyway and just deal with the side effects.

I showed up by 9:30 for the start time. After everyone was there the discussion started about the options. Being an outsider to the typical guys, I let them make the decisions. Well it ended up that the route was changed and I felt a little better knowing that I have rode that route before, but it was still not an easy road to ride, but they said it was easier then the other route.

It was fairly cold when we started. There were 6 of us that headed out. The pace was fairly fast, but nothing crazy as we started, 18-22 mph. I could handle that in a group. 10 miles or so in, I decided it was my turn up front. I think I held my own, but there sure was more wind up there. Toward the end of the road heading north there was one guy that was starting to fall back some. One rider fell back and road with them. The pack slowed up so everyone could catch up, but the gap was created more often as we went. Turns out he was having trouble with his hamstring. When we finally made it to the rest stop, he decided to not continue with us and head back on his own and call for a ride home.

After the rest stop the pace was picked up a little and we were cruising down the road. I was still not feeling too bad and took my turn up front. I was running 20-23 mph for a good little stretch and was starting to feel it. I should have pealed off sooner, but I saw a hill coming and thought if I peal off I will not be able to recover and get dropped. Well, I should have tried it, because I was getting dropped anyway and I already dug too far in to my reserve. It took a while, but I finally started to feel better and caught back up to the front group. At this time there was another rider that was starting to hurt and two of them fell back a bit. The pace was never really slowed up enough to let them catch up, so down the road we took another stop for everyone to regroup.

After everyone was there and ready, we took off toward home. Some how I ended up in front, but I was not feeling too bad so I stayed there. I was told to keep it 15-17 and see if everyone stayed on. That seemed like a good speed and everyone followed me home. It ended up just over 57 miles, but it was enough for me. I hope to join them next week too. I get in much better shape when I ride with them. I am even thinking about signing up for the Rain ride. I guess we will see.

TIme sure fun when your having flies.....

2008-04-24T13:15:00.002-04:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted something. Not sure anyone actually noticed anyway. I have been pulled way to tight the last few weeks. Baseball practice as started, spring soccer and then work has gotten crazy, and bowling was not finished for the season yet. The times that I could actually ride usually were the days that it rained.

I did get out last Wed. night for a night road ride with a group of 8. It was a blast, so much fun that I decided to go back out last night. The normal pace for the night ride is a conversation pace that tends to move good at times. Well, last night there were only 4 that showed up and the pace increased a lot over last week. Some of that was my fault. The bugs were bad and I think I was the only one wearing glasses, so I had the lead for the first section of the ride. I tried to keep a decent pace, but it was a little faster then last weeks. Oh well, I needed a good work out.

I am jumping in to the fire this weekend and heading out with an old group that I used to ride with. The plan is 60-70 miles. The longest ride I have in this year is a 35 mile ride or so. Needless to say it should be so called "fun".

Working on the chain gang

2008-03-18T01:05:00.000-04:00

I spend a few hours in the woods this weekend clearing trails. Everything was too wet to ride off road and I just felt the need to do some trail work. There are a few different re-routes that have been worked on all winter and with the crazy weather we have had there were several trees down.

So, Sunday morning I headed out with my chain saw to do my part. Almost 2 tanks of gas and 3 hours later, most of the trees were cleared off of two sections. I am sure there are more treed down on other sections, but they will have to wait another day. My chain was dull and I was wore out.

I can't wait for it to dry out so I can try the two new sections. They look like so much fun!!

Back in the saddle again!

2008-03-13T13:32:00.000-04:00

After looking out the window all day, I could not take it anymore. With the new time change I was rewarded with an extra hour to be out. So, I baited my hook and casted it out to see if I had any takers that would nibble. Sure enough, one little fishy took a nibble and he was hooked, no backing out now.

So, with some what of a plan figured out, I headed home and started throwing all my stuff in a pile to throw on and head out the door. I was not sure what to wear. I was very hot at work and the temp in the car said 66 degrees. I was thinking about shorts and a long sleeve shirt, but the fish was very cold and talking about a lot more clothes then that. So he talked me in to putting a little more on my rear, but I didn't get carried away.

Long tights and a long sleeve jersey and down the road I went. Forrest was headed toward my house, so as soon as I got ready I took off to meet him half way. What a great ride it was. I was plenty warm at the start of the ride and had some second thoughts about those shorts I wanted to put on, but it was too late. We took off thinking it would be a nice and slow ride since we have not been on the road much. I guess someone forgot to tell my legs, because a little way down the road I looked down and saw I was pulling at 23 mph. It sure did not feel like it to me, so I kept pedaling. There was some good head wind here and there, but overall it was not too bad.

Toward the end of our journey, we hit a few hills that were bigger then the previous road sections. Add that to the increased head wind for that direction and we were really starting to hurt. The temps were dropping as the sun lowered and I was thankful I did not have those shorts on. We kept on the gas as much as we could, but it was more of a struggle.

We ended up with 32.5 miles and averaged 17.5 mph. Not too bad for my second road ride of the year. I sure am ready for spring to show up so I can get out a few more times.

slacker

2008-03-11T17:09:00.002-04:00

I sure have become one heck of a slacker lately. I last rode on March 2nd. It was actually my first road ride of the year. It was nice to get out of the basement and ride the bike. I didn't go crazy but still had some fun. I ended up with around 30 miles with plenty of head wind to keep me company.

I am looking forward to the next time I can get out side to ride. The weather has been crap. Pouring rain, tons of snow and then more rain. The best chance I have at riding again will be on the road. All the trails are beyond muddy.

I did take in some sights last week. I have do fly out to Philly on Wed for work. We got our stuff done earlier on Thursday then we thought we would so we walked around down town for a little while. It was neat to see a lot of history things that I normally would not have seen. I checked out the liberty bell and Independence Hall. If I had some more time I would have made sure to check out some of that war and fort sights. Tons of cool little buildings to see all over town.

Had an argument with my girl

2008-02-28T07:55:00.000-05:00

After seeing the snow coming down yesterday, I could not take it any more. So, I went home at lunch and plugged my batteries in and made sure the 1x1 was in working condition. I felt it was only right to choose the 1x1 seeing how I have not used it much lately and with the weather conditions deemed the best bike for the job.

So, after work I busted it to get all of my stuff together and head out to the trail. I wanted to get there as soon as I could to do as much of the ride in the daylight that I could. Right away I ran in to my first problem, downed trees. I could not believe how many trees I had to climb over for the little bit I rode. The trail was in good condition considering and I stopped to take a picture, but my camera decided to not work. Oh well.

Enough with the small stuff, right on to the start of the argument. As I was making my way up Foxey I started to get a little irritated, but I didn't say anything yet. By the time I made it to the Fire tower connector I was really starting to get upset. Thats when I could not take it anymore and started to complain. I asked why she is being so mean to me? I was ignored as she turned her nose up and looked the other way. The real fight started closer to the end of the Fire Tower trail after a few comments back and forth. I finally hit my breaking point and started calling her names and threatening to never use her again. I figured she should start to comply or at least ease up on me, but just the opposite happened. She was even meaner to me.

As I hit the road section, I put my foot down and said I was just taking the road back and hanging her up. She did was not happy with that at all!! So, as I cruise down the road, I keep hearing something about taking the trail on the left and then the one on the right. I heard something about it not being her fault, it was mine for leaving her sit for so long. After I passed the first 2 trails up, I think I even heard her call me names like wuss and stuff. I continued on down the road and things seemed to be better, I guess it was just the riding on flatter ground that did the job. Well, low and behold she talked me in to taking a left at my last option for trails before the car. So, I drop in and have to turn on my light. What a joy! I was treated to some of the best snow covers sections of trail and night riding in the snow made it even better.

As I am cruising down the trail I start hearing whispers to take the next left and extend the trail sections. I guess I was having so much fun that I forgot all about the names I called her and next thing I knew I was taking a left. I was immediately met with tougher trail conditions and colder air. I continued on because it was not that bad. Well, I remembered all of the names when I hit the first hill!! Damn she makes me hurt.

All in all I really don't know who won the argument. I think we are both right. If I used her more, it would not be so hard. So for now, I guess I will have to leave it at a love hate relationship. Maybe some more time it will be come more of a pleasurable one. Over all it was a great ride first snow ride of the season and the first night ride of the year. Only 25 degrees, but sure was fun for all the pain.

Tour of Cali

2008-02-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to watch all of the coverage on Versus on the current race. I am still a stage behind, but good thing I have my DVR to save the next day's race for me. I have been trying to not look at places that would tell me who has won or who is in the lead. I would rather see it for myself.

Now, I am not a big road racer. I have only had a road bike for the last few years. But, one thing I just can not understand is the fans. What kind of dumb asses are out there watching these races?? Get the hell out of the way!! If you really like bike racing, then why must you be the one who causes somebody to not do as well as they could? I know, the thought of being on TV is too strong for some, but I just can't understand the running next to the riders or all that. I would not want to do that one stage in the le tour where the mob of people are on the road and just get out of the way in the nick of time.

Granted, I did like the dudes huge rack on his head!! That was something else. He also must be in good shape because he did put in one hell of a run, but if that rack would have caught one of the lead riders, I think I would have had to beat the crap out of him before I continue with my race.

I guess it is a good thing I am too dam fat and slow to ever have to worry about that! I prefer to stick to the races where the racers are the ones wearing the funky stuff!!

sup?

2008-02-18T07:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I am not sure what is up with me. Other then I have not been riding enough. Damn weather can't make up its mind if it is winter or spring. We went from several day's of ice storms to 40-50 degrees this weekend and now it is 35 and supposed to snow! Go figure.

I have been on the trainer a few times, but not near enough to really make a big difference. I have been trying to figure out what events or races I plan on doing this year. There are several that I would like to do, but I am not sure I want to jump in to racing that much again. I should just take more trips to Pisgah instead. I am supposed to be making a trip that way soon, but I can't get the country boy to give me any dates that he can go.

I am also trying to save up for a 29'er. I am not doing such a good job of it right now, but I did give up beer for lent, so I should have a lot of money show up extra some place. I just don't know what I will end up getting. I really want to pick up at Shamrock Cycles frame, but not sure I will be able to save up enough money for that. I really need to get some stuff up on ebay!!

I do have a few side jobs in the line up, so if they ever show up I should be good to go.

24 Solo

2008-02-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I have finally seen the movie. I liked it. It was very interesting. There were lots of good riding shots and I feel it did a good job of trying to get the feel of actually being at the race. I was getting excited near the end with the possibilities of the catch even though I already knew who won the race.

I can not believe how much pain some people put there body in and don't stop. I have always wanted to do a 12 or 24 hour race to see how many laps I can do, but it would not even come close to what these guys do. I always pictured taking some breaks and stuff.

Still, not too bad of a way to make a living. I guess every job has its bad days, but a bad day riding is better then a good day working!!

Time keeps on tickin, again

2008-02-05T07:55:00.000-05:00

Well my so called training has been a little weak lately. That is not saying much. If it is weak from what I was doing, then it is really bad!! I tried to ride the other night, but both of my floor pumps went out on me. I know, I could have used one of my c02's or my hand pump, but I really didn't feel like wasting 2 cartridges or blowing my arm out trying to pump a tire up to 100 pounds.

It seems that I might want to really start working on training some more. I have been talking about entering a team in the Pisgah MTB Adventure Race but I don't know if it will happen or not. I am scheduling a trip down there with in the next month. I have a lot to learn about that place if I plan on surviving that race.

New training plan

2008-01-24T07:55:00.000-05:00

I think I have stumbled upon a quick any effective training plan that anyone can do! All you do is spend an evening puking 80% of your guts up and then craping another 10% of them out. So you actually end up with a net loss of 90% of your guts. Imagine how much weight you can loose like this!

To add to this you alternate between shivering and cold sweats all night so your muscles contract and eventually start cramping. Now not only did you loose some precious weight that will help conker the toughest hills, you have completed a good work out for all of your muscles.

The only down fall I have found to this plan is it does require a rest day or two before you can recover enough to get back on the bike. But, how can one complain after such a good work out.

So, I hope everyone goes out had tries this great new plan tonight! It is a blast!

More ditch diggging

2008-01-14T13:26:00.000-05:00

I went out to the forest and did some more bench cutting this weekend. The new re-route is getting close to being done. I can only hope we actually get some weather that will allow me to ride it.

We have another section to work on after this section is done. I am looking forward to both sections being completed. The other re-routes that have been done over the last two years has make a huge difference in the fun factor for my normal trail. It is not just because it is different, the flow is so much better.

I was going to try and get a road ride in Sunday, but I woke up to rain and some snow trying to make its presence known. I guess I need to hit the rollers again tonight. Oh well...

Trail work

2008-01-07T07:55:00.000-05:00

Well the weather warmed up this weekend, but it brought along some rain with it. Saturday I did some trail work at Ferdinand. There are two re-routes that we want to get done this winter. Bench cutting is one heck of a good work out!! I am sure I will be out there all the weekends I can until the work is done.

I really should work in some of my own trail work. I have a lot of potential in my back yard, but it needs some work. The trail I have now is a little on the short side, but if I would add the sections that I want to add, it could be a lot of fun. It would also be a good place to get the boy to start trail riding. Maybe this will be the year! what ever.....

The Proflex is looking real good now! I put the new skins on it this weekend. That sure does make it look good! All I need to do now is adjust the brakes and then line up the levers/shifters where I want them. Then I will be ready for a good test ride. I'll put is on my scale to night and see how it fairs compared to the NRS. Not that it really matters what it weighs, but I am sure it will be lighter, just not sure how much.

getting closer

2008-01-04T07:55:00.000-05:00

Well, a few more parts showed up for the Proflex and I ordered a set of Conti's for it too, so that should just about finish up what I need. I cleaned up the cranks and set up the shifters and brakes. I think the brakes need a little adjustment yet, but that will wait until I have the tires on. It is actually starting to look like a bike. I am ready to test it out as soon as I get tires put on it.

That might not be as easy as I would like. The problem is the weather has been too cold for me lately. I guess I need to just man up and go ride. But, night rides with the temps below 20 does not excite me. I think this weekend is supposed to be a little better, so maybe I can get out with the sun up.

One issue I might have is being torn between what bike to ride. On one hand I have the Proflex that I am excited to test out and on the other I have my SS looking at me in disgust for leaving it sit there for so long. I really want to see how well I can ride it. I know I have a lot of work to get where I want to be with my riding and it it even farther to get there on my singlespeed. Oh well, I guess we will just have to see.

Here it is just a few day's into the new year and I am already backing out of some races. I do have the itch to do a hundie or at least the short version of one. Money and the lack of confidence that I will be ready in time is trying to talk me out of doing one. The Fools Gold is the race I wanted to do because it is later in the year, but the total cost for me to go and take the wife is a higher then what I can spend on a race. If I could find someone from around here that is going that might make a difference. The Mohican looks like my best bet, but I would need to register by the end of next week. It is also the end of May, that just seems so close. I guess I could be ready in time?

I wish Kentucky would get some of their races listed. That is probably the best bet for me to hit a few regular XC races. Right now the schedule is full of good looking road races. I hope that I have find some dirt in there someplace.

Pieces and parts

2007-12-28T07:55:00.000-05:00

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

2007-12-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-12-18T13:55:00.000-05:00

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

2007-12-12T07:50:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-29T13:53:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-25T20:00:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-20T15:59:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-15T13:37:00.000-05:00

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??

2007-11-05T13:46:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-31T12:10:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-22T23:08:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

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??

2007-10-08T13:53:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-01T13:10:00.000-04:00

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....

2007-09-27T16:29:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-24T17:25:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-18T13:45:00.000-04:00

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!!

2007-09-15T13:24:00.001-04:00

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

2007-09-12T11:42:00.001-04:00

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

2007-09-09T17:25:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-05T23:44:00.001-04:00

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

2007-09-04T22:49:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-29T08:48:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

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!!

2007-08-26T14:28:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-24T16:28:00.001-04:00

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

2007-08-22T12:14:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-20T16:20:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-18T11:51:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-08T19:16:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-01T18:14:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-31T15:44:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-01T18:30:00.000-04:00

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

2007-06-03T17:46:00.000-04:00

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.

time flies

2005-11-14T15:32:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted on here. I will try and do better since it is getting out of summer.

I went for a night ride Friday night. I had to get it in at night since opening day of deer season was on Saturday. Lots of hunters were camped in the area, but we never got shot at.

The ride was fun as usual, the only problem I had was that my HID burned out part of the way in. I am glad that I mounted another light to the bars for extra light. That turned out to be my main source of light for the rest of the ride.

I even managed to take a trip over the bars. It has been a long time since I have done that, but it was a rather large log that I tried to go over. It was all fun.

After the ride I crashed at the Bloomfield Inn and had some good burgers and some beer. We kicked back and checked out the bright moon lit sky for a little bit before we crashed for the night.

Another race this weekend

2005-05-19T15:12:00.000-04:00

I guess if I am going to try this racing thing, I will have to go to the race this weekend. It looks like it will be a little wet and probably muddy. Not that it will make that much difference, but it is something to think about. One thing that might be in my favor, is my decision to ride the Surly again. I know I was going to take the Giant after the last race, but I think I might give this one a little more time. Besides, the Giant is not shifting that well right now and if you add mud to that, it can only get worse.

I started working on putting the commuter back together. I need to save some money somewhere.
I am trying to decide if I want to make it a SS or not. I could see where a few more gears would make the ride easier, but if I had to spin one gear, it might be better for me. And I will not have to do much to change this into a ss to let other people try it.

Well, that is it. I guess I better figure out what gear I want to run. See ya.

ssdd

2005-05-17T15:56:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been a few weeks of bowling since I posted last. I think I will like this summer league. It will give me some time to have some fun and learn a few things.

I got a good ride in Sunday. The weather was good and not raining. After the rain we got on Friday and Saturday, I thought it would be a little wet, but the trail was in great shape!!

I took my geared bike out to do an extended ride. That is exactly what I got. I put in two laps insted of my usual one lap. I also did the backside of the lake and I have been staying away from that. Now I remember why! I did have a lot of trouble with my shifting again. I have worked on it since then and I hope it is fixed. I will try to get out this week and test it before this weekends race. I am leaning toward taking the SS again, but I guess I will wait and see.

More bowling

2005-05-05T17:35:00.000-04:00

Well, against my better judgment, I am bowling in a summer league. The wife wanted to, so it will not be too bad. I was just hoping to not be tied down one day a week for awhile. The league will be good to keep me in form for the tournaments this summer. I guess we will see how I do tonight!

Tons of trees must have fell from the last storm. The night ride did not go as smooth as normal, but was not all a failure. I did get a good ride in, but had to move too many trees. I plan on getting a saw out there tomorrow if I can work it in.

Have a good weekend!!

Dino series kick off

2005-05-03T15:21:00.000-04:00

Well, last weekend was the first race of the Dino series. It was also my first race on my singlespeed. There were no complaints about the weather. It was supposed to be raining all weekend after raining all week. Fortunately for the racers there was no rain for the race. We were also thankful that there was no mud either. It was hard to believe, but no mud!!
I did not do as well as I would have liked to do or thought I would do. I finished 22 overall and 13 for my age group. Not too bad when I look at how many people that were in my class. I hate to admit, but I feel like I could have finished better on the geared bike. It was not that I can't ride the SS there, but the fact that I was not in as good of shape that I thought I was. The gears would have just helped me limp through some stuff better.

So, my goal before the next race is to do some harder training to see if I can ride better at the next race. I guess we will see in 3 weeks!! When we get closer I guess I will decide what bike I feel like taking.

Rain, rain go away!!

2005-04-29T10:28:00.000-04:00

Well once agian I am a little slow on posting on here. I just need to make it a habit to update something.

I bowled again last weekend in the Tri-state tour. Well, I guess I participated because I sure didn't bowl!! I thought I would do fairly well since I am used to the lanes that we bowled on, but they did not react the same after the first two games. I really started to struggle the third and fourth game. It seems that once I get out of my comfort zone, it is really hard for me to find a groove. Oh well, I had a good time and didn't have to travel too far to do it.

This weekend is the kick off of the Dino series. I will be attemting my first mtb race on my singlespeed. It should be interesting will all of the rain that we have been getting. Where is all that warm weather we had a week or so ago??

I am not too worried about the race. I am planning on just having some fun and not get all bent out of shape. I keep telling myself that it is just another ride. But, it will be interesting to see how well I do. I have decieded to start out in the beginner class. I know, it might be sand bagging a little bit, but untill I can see how I do against other racers, I figure it is a good place to start. If I do real well, then maybe I will move up to Sport for the next race.

I feel that my SS will really help me this weekend. The course is not too hilly and as long as I can keep some flow going, I should do well. With all of the rain and mud I will also not have a problem with my shifting!!

Well, I am out for now. I am headed north. I hope to let you know how I did on Monday, but it will probably be more like next weekend the way I have been going.

See ya!

more rain

2005-04-13T11:21:00.000-04:00

Well, I can tell already that I will not like mowing this year......again! It seems like the grass is growing way too fast already. I tried to squeeze in some mowing last night before the rain. All I can say is I was wet when I finished mowing a small section of my yard.

With the weather being the way it was and I was actually home, I figured that I could work in the woods some. So, with the rain comming down and the lightning in the sky, I headed out to the woods to clear part of my bike path. I even started on a new section that I was wanting to do over the winter. Well guess what? I didn't get it done. So, now I am out in the rain working on it. Since everything is growing so fast, the sticker bushes were growing too and my legs are scratched up.

Last night I also took the bb and cranks off of my bmx bike and they should be making it on the SS real soon. I hope before I can ride it the next time.

See ya next time

summer is near

2005-04-12T15:19:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems that summer is comming. I went on a super 16+ mile ride last Sunday and could not complain about the weather. 80+ degrees all day long!! Next thing we will be wanting it to be cooler again. Go figure.

I have another bowling tournament this weekend, but this one should be a blast. It is a team event and the main goal is to have a good time and maybe get drunk once or twice. The only bad thing is the 6 hour drive to get there. Good think I will not be driving. I will be sitting back enjoying a in flight movie or two. I do hope that I can bowl good enough to win some money. I need all I can get.

I hope I can save up enough to head up to Warsaw for the first Dino race at the end of the month. It will be interesting to see if I am the only one on a single speed in my class. It does not matter! They will all want one when I am done! LOL

It does look like I am getting closer to being able to go to the SSWC05 in PA. I sure hope so. That will be more.........fun that should be allowed!

blah blah blah

2005-04-06T11:11:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems that once again it took me too long to post anything in here. Oh well.

I have been busy with the summer getting ready to take off. I have done a little house and yard work in some free time, but I have a ton of stuff to do yet. I need to mow already!! That sucks!

I have been doing some good night rides at Ferdianand still. The plan is to try to make it down to the cave this weekend for a good ride. Not sure if I will make it or not yet.

Next weekend I have the Moose bowling tournament to go to. It is a long drive, but it should be a good time. Plenty of beer will be drank, that is for sure!!

Well go out and enjoy the sun while it lasts. It is supposed to rain for the next three days. Yeehaa!!

This is so Damon can understand.. Come on cuz! Getr off yer duff and on da beik.

L8er

I choked again!!

2005-03-14T10:29:00.000-05:00

Well the bowling didn't go too bad last weekend, but I did not win any money. I was close on some side brakets, but it just didn't work out. I did make the first cut to 32. But, I did not do so well in my roll off game. I started out good, but the ball started comming in to early and I started to struggle. The four games started out good. I rolled a 204, 236, 172, and 172. The last two games I had the same trouble at the roll off. The lanes were drying out and I didnt' adjust enough, soon enough.

Those games are not too bad but not great. If you add in my handicap they look much better. That is why I made the cut.
With Hcap 238, 270, 206, 206 for a 920 4 game series. That averages out to 230 a game!!

I sure hope the rain holds off this week so I can get a night ride in.

Hope to get a big ride in Sat. too.

L8er

I have seen the HID

2005-03-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

WOW! is all I can say about my new HID. What a difference! It felt like someone turned the light on last night. I took my new HID out for a night ride. That thing has more light than be two old lights put together. Unbelievable! Those are a must have for anyone who does night rides.

I also tried out my new Lake 165 shoes. They felt real nice and kept my feet warm too.

I would have liked to get in a longer ride, but I started late and didn't have as much time. I was only out for about 1 hour. I did climb a few more hills though. If I keep at it, maybe I will be able to do a full loop one of these days with out walking.

I have a bowling tournament this weekend. I sure hope I can do well enough to win some money.

See ya

It's me again

2005-03-08T15:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it sure is hard to find time to update this thing. I keep thinking of things to put on here, but by the time I get to a computer it is too late.

So much going on that I am not sure where to begin and I am sure I will forget some things.

I had a great ride last weekend at Otter Creek. Perfect weather and the trails were in great shape. There were 4 of us that were riding together. I did see a pink P.U.S.S. getting ready to head out to the woods as I was leaving. It looked real nice!!

I picked up a set of HID lights. That should help with the night riding. Now if I can just keep the rain away. I also picked up a used pair of Magura rim brakes. Those should have enough stopping power.

I should be bowling in Henderson this weekend. It is the second round of the Tri-State tour. I guess I will see if I fair better than the last event. Speaking of bowling, I didn't do too bad last night. It went like this 234, 208, 170 for a 612 series. I think I was getting a little tired for the last game and messed up my shot a few times. Oh well, a good night overall and a good note to take out this weekend.

Till next time. I will try a little harder to update a little more often.

what day is it?

2005-02-23T16:02:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how fast time flies. It just seems like I put something on here just the other day. Well, I have been back to Ferdinand a few times now for some sweet night riding. My new Surly also came in and has been put together. I took it out for it's maiden trip last Friday. I had so much fun that I am going back again tonight! I can not belive how ummm...... fun that bike is going to be. All I can say is if I ride that thing at Ferdinand every week, I will be ready for my next trip to Pisgah.

I had a good night of bowling Monday after a few weeks of some real bad bowling. It didn't start out too good with a 152. It got a little better the second game and ended up having a 194. I was content with my performance after that game. It was much better than what I have been doing. But by then I had a few beers and seemed to fall into a groove. I knew the third game was going good, but I did not really pay attention to what I was doing. It got down to the 10th frame and after the first strike I noticed that I had several strikes in a row. Not enough for a 300 but still good. I ended up striking out the 10th and finished with a 258 and that gave me a 604 series. I could not believe it. That is only the 3rd 600 I have had this season. Several 500's, but the 600's have eluded me when I got near. The thing that makes me mad is if I could have just bowled my average te first game, I would have closer to 650. Oh well, I can't complain. Let's just see if I can bowl next week.

Here is a pic of the new bike.