Weekend Update

After many ideas and plans, we decided to go to Minneapolis this past weekend. We really enjoyed it. The hotel had a pool and a great breakfast. I think I ate my body weight in waffles and hard boiled eggs. I rode the Minnesota River Trail. It was a nice, nontechnical trail. I didn't need anything difficult since rode so hard on Friday. The high point of the trial was the raft. I wonder how liability of a raft compares to the liability of a bridge. I'd think it would be the same liability but the chances of injury are much lower on the raft since you are not riding your bike on it. It's a creative solution.

On the way home, I rode at Devil's Head Resort. It was...rustic. I was good to ride somewhere besides KM, but it wasn't like a normal mountain bike ride.

Aw Yeah

I shouldn't be on here too long. I have to pack for our weekend before I go to bed, but I wanted to write down what an awesome ride we had. We did the John Muir blue loop and the connector. The last few weeks, I felt like I was pulling an anchor out there, but today was phenomenal! I tuned up my bike last night and everything worked great even with two hard crashes. I use to skateboard, and I have the skater mentality: It wasn't a good ride unless there is a couple good spills.

I have been mtb'ing a couple years and I don't have tons of bike setup knowledge. I've been messing with tire pressures for awhile. I use to go with 40-45 pounds. Because I'm 220, I'd get pinch flats if I went with any less, and I couldn't handle the rough ride if I went with more. The last few months, I've been thinking more is better so I have been going with 60-65 pounds. I think most mtb'ers would think I'm insane or an idiot, but I like the speed and flow I get with the higher pressure. Front wheel traction has been a concern the whole time, and today it I think it contributed to a crash. With some decent speed my front wheel rolled off the trail and the trail was higher than the ground next to the trail. I turned a little bit to get back on the trail and the front tire washed out. It's a good thing skating taught me how to fall. I did a little nice tuck and roll and came out of it relatively unscathed. I just grabbed the bike and kept hammering. I don't know if the high tire pressure caused it, but I have my suspicions.

The second crash was on the blue trail after the connector. It was a downhill and I don't know what I did, but I must have hit something and my hips moved clear up to the handlebars! I got my right foot out of the clip and it felt like I rode on the front wheel for 10 feet! I'm sure it was more like two feet. I was going to go over the front and I had visions of a broken collar bone but I did my best tuck and roll and avoided the nasty injury. Luckily something (I'm guessing a sledgehammer) slammed me in right in the back of my calf. Man, that knotted up so bad I was wondering how I was going to ride my bike. I just stood up the bike and leaned toward it to stretch my calf for a second or two and hopped on and rode away. It was a spectacular wreck!

I was able to keep up for most of the time tonight. I walked the last hill. It was just too steep and intimidating to try. I didn't want to get frustrated after such an awesome ride.

We got back to the parking lot and after a few minutes I realized that my middle finger was hurting pretty good. I thought that it might be broken since I could bend the last knuckle back about 70 degrees. On the way home, I was trying to figure out how to tell my wife that I'd have to go to the emergency room tonight before we left on our trip tomorrow. I did some experimenting and I can bend back 2 other fingers on that hand the same way, but not on the other hand. I must be double jointed on the left side. I decided that I jammed it or pinched it between me, my handlebars, and the ground, and it was going to be ok. There is almost no swelling, minimal pain, and full mobility so I don't think it's that bad.

I think this ride went well for a couple reasons. I think I have not eaten enough in the past and I haven't eaten during the rides. I grabbed a Big Mac, fries, and Coke on the way there (If you haven't guessed, I'm not a nutrionist), and I stopped at Backyard Bikes and picked up a couple Clif Bars and a couple Clif Shots or whatever they're called. I used one of the shots about two-thirds of the way through the ride, and it did help. I really haven't used anything in the past, but it looks like something that I should start doing.

Here's to an awesome ride!

"Race"

I'm not sure if what I did yesterday could be called racing. It was pathetic, but I think I won in my height category. I should get bonus points for each branch I hit with my head. If you hear something behind you that sounds like a Buick rolling down a hill through underbrush with an intermittent "dunk....dunk" sound that's just me and my helmet.

It was my first race of the year and I'm glad I did it. It sure let me know where I was at-almost last. Well, I did alright. I mean, I was faster than some of those guys and they probably didn't even fall down....twice. And, the lap I stopped to adjust my seat height was not my slowest lap. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Tomorrow, we are going to KM if it's not too soggy, and if it is, we are going to road ride.

[Expletive]

Nothing specifically went wrong today, but it was just one of those days that makes you wonder if you're stepping forward or stepping back. I was having IFL Battleground fantasies today. A nice flying elbow. Not to anyone. Just my computer monitor. Just stress boiling up. I'll be better tomorrow when I get a few miles in. I'm not sure if I'm going to make the race tomorrow. I'll try. Heck, I haven't seen how much it's rained. We might not race.

I spent the night watching NCIS and tuning up my bike. On Saturday, guy-with-no-nickname-yet pointed out that my rear derailleur was bent, so I bent the hanger closer to a proper position. I also adjusted my rear brake which will guarantee that it will drag or squawk or both. I adjusted the cones or whatever they're called on the rear wheel because there was some play in the wheel. We'll see what the adjustments do. Oh yeah, I retightened the seat post clamp. With these adjustments, I should give it a test ride, but I'm saving up my expletives for tomorrow.

What Can I Say?

"My wife's sick in bed says she'll never get well,
and all the kids these days have gone to hell.
And all that government paperwork caught up with me.
Had to hire a bean counter for an outrageous fee."

I'm always drawn to this song. It's funny has hell. Look it up.

Went for a walk with my wife and a friend of ours after work. It was nice. We had a nice talk. Very relaxing. It's what I needed today; some relaxation.

Before we went for a walk, I went down to the LBS to get a non-quick release seatpost clamp. My clamp has been slipping. The shop guy said I can just "crank down" on the Allen head on the opposite from the QR. So I did that instead of ordering a new clamp. Of course, I undid the QR when I was showing our friend what I was doing so I think that it will not be clamped tightly now and it will slip so I have to remember to redo it before I ride. I did get to lube the chain though which is good because we got caught in the rain yesterday.

A day in Kenosha

I rode with my sister-in-law's boyfriend today in Kenosha. He mentioned the velodrome and I jumped on it. I've never ridden in one before, and I was dying to try it. Even though I was on my mountain bike, I thoroughly enjoyed it. We rode for about 2 hours total. I took about 6 or 7 laps in the velodrome, and pulled out because I knew we had a wicked headwind for the ride back. I was cold anyway, and then, near the end, we got caught in the rain. I was really cold then. That's ok with me. I was just glad to be riding. I took a hot shower when I got back, and I was as good as new. I felt stronger than yesterday. I rode the velodrome right to gasping, but I backed off and still felt pretty good. I felt strong in the headwind all the way back. I'd like to race Wednesday night. Insty is making plans for Memorial Day weekend. One day is Chicago, one at Devil's Lake and one at Madison. I hope the weather is nice. Between her sickness and today's bad weather, we need to celebrate our anniversary (of our engagement) properly. We usually go back to the Arboretum and walk and talk, and just be happy. We went last year 3 days after my hernia surgery. I think I walked hunched over, and I slept a lot afterwards, but I think it got me back into shape quicker. I was back to work on the 4th day...still hunched over.

Popper's Broken

I was going to ride tomorrow, but there was a change of plans so I rode today at KM. Right from the start, I had no pop. I don't know what it was. Maybe I'm getting sick, or I haven't eaten enough lately or I have just over done it. We were going to take the connector and do the Emma Carlin trail, but I bailed at the connector and just finished the blue trail. I'm kind of bummed. I wanted to ride more. I was sitting here at home and scratched my head and found a tick. I always forget to check. I did a check and found another one. It's the first time I've ever found any.

How could I be worried that this blog wouldn't be interesting?

Found a diary from when I was a baby

Day One - Still tired from the move.
Day Two - Everyone talks to me like I'm an idiot

Steven Wright
Comedian

I'm on day two of the blog. I can't believe I'm back. By the way, will be the last post.

I tried to catch the Thursday Beatdown. I've never done it before, and I'm glad I missed it. I watched them stream by and it looked like they were going a million miles an hour.

Instead, I went home and tuned up the bike. I lubed the chain since it was skipping at the end of the last ride. I also spent five or ten minutes trying to free up the cable for the front derailleur. I did get it working again. Hurray for me. I put some air in the tires and off I went. I went west on Janesville Rd. and caught College Ave. I've never ridden out there before and it was a nice ride. I ended up out on Racine Ave. I was about ready to turn around and I got a flat. Eventually, I patched it, and rode home. The $7 bike computer says 15.16 miles in 51 minutes.

I plan to ride either Sat. or Sun. Have to wait and see.

I've been thinking about starting a blog for awhile. I've never finished anything I've started and I didn't want to add a blog to the list. We'll see how this goes. I figure that my new blog has a chance. It's about biking and I've stuck to that for 2+ years. Plus, a couple of the blogs I've been reading had me cracking up this week! No promises as to the quality of this blog. I am just going to consider it for my own entertainment.

I have a low end Trek mtb and a 1975 Schwinn that I got from Goodwill for $10.00. Of course, I have probably put $100 into the Schwinn. Yesterday, I finally took it down to the bike shop to double check the seatpost size before I try to hammer my new seatpost into the frame. It turns out that the hole is out of round and it cost ten bucks to bore the hole out to the right size. I can't complain. I come closer to actually fitting on the bike now. So I went home and tried it out. I would have gone mtb'ing but it had been raining.

I have raced the Citizen class in WORS 3 times in 2005 and once in 2006. I usually ride/workout for about an hour. I have been having some trouble getting ride time this spring. Things are better now that the weather is getting better. I have been riding with a few friends of mine out at Kettle Moraine and this spring we did a few road rides which is new for us. Our rides have been longer than an hour which is good since the only racing I am going to do this year is going to be on Wednesday nights.

So to keep the ride times up. I rode the Schwinn for 2.5 hours yesterday in the rain. I rode down to Wind Lake and back all on the small ring. I'll have to look into that. If the weather is decent this weekend, I'll ride at KM or Alpine Valley, if not, I'll try to catch the Sat. morning road ride.