Racer Boy in the making...

Uh ohh...

I got my first heart rate monitor yesterday. Took it right out to Dutton road to put it (and myself :P ) through its paces.

This thing has a whole bunch of bells and whistles that I'll probably never figure out, but it'll be fun to play with, anyway. I'm not sure I've got the mental capacity to figure out max HR, Vo2 max, etc... but I'll give it a shot.. ;) That's what Old Joe is for, right??

Weatherman don't know Sh!t

Well, I'm not sure what's going on with the weather. That's puts me in the same boat with just about every weatherman in Michigan!

We were supposed to get all sorts of rain and bad weather Friday thru Sunday. Friday night, after catching the Tool show (rock!!) it was pouring down cats and dogs.. We decided that there was no way the TTC was going to happen. So we headed on over to the Mills for a few more. I ended up getting to bed at about 4am. When I woke up at 7:30 and it wasn't raining out, I admit I was a little put off.. :D But I managed to get up, and get my ass out to Poto by 10 am. And boy am I glad I did.. What a great day for a ride. It was mostly overcast all day, and a little humid, but the trails were in fantastic shape, and the company was good. The folks at Tree Fort Bikes and the Potowatami chapter of the MMBA put on a great ride covering 46 miles of the Potowatomi, Waterloo, and Lakeland trails.

Paula and I joined a group including a couple guys from U of M, Don training for Iceman, Bill M (mr. TTC himself), Kim "Happy all the time" Sokol, and Jedidiah (thanks for the pulls!!). We started on the Poto for a few miles until it intersects the Waterloo.. I. LOVE. POTO. So much fun. And it was hooked! The Waterloo was a nice addition. Nothing amazing, but it was nice to blaze some new trail. Ohh.. please.. don't remind me of the Lakeland trail =( Thankfully it wasn't very long. But what it was was several miles of horse trodden rail trail. It was pretty soft, and bumpy from all the horse tracks. Not fun on an all aluminum rigid single speed. Sucky. And Paula was really hatin' life in 2:1. Thankfully, not long after turning off the Lakeland trail we were back to Poto. I let it rip for the last 5 or so miles. Did I mention I. Love. The. Poto! What a great way to finish off the ride.

When we got back to the beach parking, there was chili and beer! My kinda recovery food! And to top it all off?? it was FREE! Of course, they ran out of beer... But then they went out and got MORE!! Again, these guys put on a GREAT RIDE! All they asked was that you purchase a T-shirt or cool pint glass, with proceeds going to the MMBA Poto chapter. So I got a T and a glass. $20 total. A Shirt, Glass, all you can drink beer, and food, and 46 miles of nicely marked trail, all for $20?? THAT has got to be the best deal going!! If you missed it this year, I highly recommend coming out next year!!!

Today I caught the UCI/Tailwind Cyclocross racing at Springfield Oaks. Man, does that look like it hurts!! I can't wait to try it.. :D

CROM Hates us.

Someone has angered CROM...

He has been pissing on us all week. The one really nice day to ride this week, I was meeting with teammates to discuss 2007. It was a good meeting, though. I think we made progress.

Tonight is the U of D Night ride. I'd been looking forward to this all summer. But alas, Alden came up with some tix to go see Tool!! The U of D ride will be there next year... :P The ride, for those that don't know, is set up as an introduction to the city for incoming University of Detroit Mercy students. It is a police escorted, 30+ mile ride around the city starting at 10pm. The last two years have started right on time at about Midnight, with festivities wrapping up close to 4 am.. We hit some local points of interest, such as City Airport and Lafayette Coney Island. I don't remember much esle, thanks to a 100 oz. CamelBak full of Vanilla Stoli and Vernors (another Detroit original!) Many local Mtber's descend upon the poor, un-suspecting (well, I think they have an idea by now) students and organizers of this event, and basically make total azzes of ourselves. But in a save, respectfull manner (errr... ummmm)

Tomorrow is supposed to be the epic Triple Trial Challange. That is if we're not all scooped up by Noah on his way out to sea. I dunno.. So far, I haven't seen any liquid from the sky, but it sure don't look purty up there.. Right now it sounds like everyone's going to make a gameday decision on whether to ride or not. Damn. I need to get on my bike. I got's some strees to mash into my peddles!! And I keep hearing great things about the Waterloo trail, open only for this event..

Sunday will bring a little beer brewin'.. haven't brewed in a while.. My last beer, an attempt at a Scottish Ale, wasn't all I'd hoped it would be (is that a pun? is it hoped or hopped.. ahhh whatever..) So, if you've ever wanted to learn to brew beer, com'on over.. If you've ever wanted to learn how to brew GOOD beer, go see Sam F'in Adams.. :D

Laters.

soup

No more of this!

Well.. errr.. umm... hmmmm....

Pardon me.. I'm just going a little stir crazy here.. Sorry..

It's been a week.. A WHOLE friggin' week since I've been on my bike. Rain, travel, two stupid fockers getting married have conspired against my ability to ride this week. At first I thought a break would be good. I just finished the summer mountain bike race season. I'm about to start training for Iceman. I'm gonna try some CX races. Now seemed like a good time for an intermission. But, ya know what?

I MISS MY BIKE!

Stoney XC and NORBA Series Finale

I can't believe the season is almost over.

Nothing left but Iceman for me. But I can use the break.

I wrapped up the "serious" racing season at the Stoney Creek XC race this weekend. Going into the race I was sitting 3rd in series points, needing a top four finish at Stoney to win the Series. This seemed like an attainable task, but leading up to the race, my bike seemed determined to mutiny!! 2 flat tires (none previous this season), 1 broken brake cable housing, 1 broken pedal.. I just kept reminding myself that it's better all this happend BEFORE the race.. ;)

I was not feeling all that hot Sunday morning. I was lethargic, and probably a little dehydrated, but anxious to get the racing over with. We lined up at 1pm. In the field was the current points leader who I would need to finish in front of, and Jeff Weaver, my stiffest competition for the race win.

Robert from Tailwind blew the wistle and we were off. After a brief issue with spandex caught on saddle and mooning the field (oops... ) I got situated, and jumped on Weaver's wheel. We went into the rollercoaster that way, caught behind a slower rider. I began probing on corners and climbs to find possible passing opportunities, letting Jeff stay in front, hoping to tire him a little. When we got out to the two trace (of which there was plenty) we were able to clear the slower traffic. It became apparent that Weaver was a bit faster on the flats.. He took off sprinting, and it was all I could do to keep him in view. I pulled him back in when we hit the hills, and was able to put on a slingshot pass going up the last hill on our way back out toward Mt. Sheldon. I stayed ahead in the second half of the roller coaster, and maybe even opened a little space on him. Coming back out to the flats, though, turned the favor back to Weaver, and he passed me just prior to the sled hill and the start finish area.

I started to feel like I'd given too much on the first lap in the back and fourth with Weaver. I took part of lap 2 to recover. Coming to the second section of the rollercoaster again, I was a littel surprised to see that Weaver had come back to me. It was at this point that I had a decision to make. Fight it out for the win (risking REALLY blowing up) or protect my current position as I was where I needed to be for the series. I decided to try to just use him to pull me to the end. Not my proudest moment, as I would have rather duked it out for a hard fought win, but I was pooped. My legs were starting to feel like cement on the climbs. So, again, I tried to keep him in view and pace myself to the end.

I ended up in second place, and took over the series lead in the final race! I plan on savouring this, as I expect racing Expert next year to not be so kind =( But, on a positive note, I don't expect to be in serious contention for any series, so I'll be able to give it my all each and every race.... (yaaayy... I think.. :? )

So goes my 2006 racing season. Now the long pause until Iceman. I'll still post (there's always stuff to complain about when training in the cold and dark.. ;) ) And will certainly want to recount the Iceman shenanigans for posterity.. So stay tuned!

soup