Coming in Third

I think I rode once last week. I tell myself that I'll ride in the morning, but it doesn't happen. When you ask yourself, "Would I rather sleep or eat?", cycling really doesn't have a chance. This is my first full week of work, and we don't have a system in place yet that works. That's ok. I'm no stranger to sleep deprivation.

Hiatus

I've taken a break from cycling but I have an excuse, not a good one, but I have an excuse. My wife and I had a baby! He was born healthy and happy on Oct. 18. Mama had some difficulties so she was in the hospital for some time preceding the birth. I was able to take leave from work. I haven't worked since Sept. 27th. That is a nice little benefit. The day before my birthday (Oct. 11) I found out that my job is being eliminated. I'm told that taking my leave and the job elimination are coincidental. I'm working until the end of Aug. and I get 3 months severance so I can't complain. I'll try to keep updating the blog plus I've added a blog for the baby.

Nice Ride

I took a short ride tonight.  I have some stuff to do around the house plus I didn't realize that I would be racing daylight.  For the first time, I mixed up some homemade power gel.  I'm not a super-mega-racer.  I don't even know what GU is.  I just know that if I bike more than an hour, I need to eat, and I've tried Clif Shots and they worked for me.  Fast Guy said that he had a recipe for some homemade stuff.  He wasn't around when I wanted to make it so I looked on the internet, and found something that looked like it might work.  I wanted something liquid.  It's just easier to deal with.  I tried it for the first time tonight and it worked well.  Intsy asked, "How was it," and she said I made a face when I answered.  I really didn't think it tasted that bad.  It's palatable.  The consistency and color are better than a chocolate Clif Shot.

 

I decided to try to stay in one gear tonight.  Partly to see what it would be like to ride a singlespeed and partly because my derailleur needs to be adjusted.  That was a mistake.  I remembered why I don't do that. It wrenches my back.  Part of it was cool, though. It made me go faster some areas.  It wasn't more dangerous.  It was just singletrack where I usually lose speed and don't push hard enough to go faster.

 

On Friday I was fast but today I only had glimpses of the speed.  It was all in the way I handled the bike.  I was off the seat and sometimes my weight was forward or back.  I leaned the bike instead of leaning with the bike.  I'll have to work on that some more!  It was a blast!  I think a handled the bike better than usual on Friday because I was not fatigued.  I actually had some energy.

Sweet Ride

I did get to ride with my sister in law and her man.  I took the Schwinn.  She wasn't too happy about it.  In the past couple of years, she has returned to the world of the bicycle.  It was great to see.  She was worried about being able to bike, but the adage holds true. You never forget.  Her man bought her a Trek hybrid, and it's a nice bike.  Her only complaint is that she doesn't coast as far as his.  I really don't know why.  He has a rigid, steel mtb.  The tires are fatter.  They must have more rolling resistance.  I'm assume the tires are inflated to similar pressures.  Her wheels have a larger diameter than his, so I would guess that there would be less resistance from the bearings.  The wheels would turn slower and the bearings would turn slower.  I would think the resistance from the bearings would be negligible.  I'm just trying to find a reason for less coasting.  Maybe the larger diameter wheels actually have more rolling resistance because there is a larger contact area with the road.  I also think aerodynamics are comparable.  He is probably less aerodynamic due to his height.  Who knows?  For the first time, I just thought that maybe the bearing cones are too tight.  That might be it.  I suppose the design and quality of the freewheel plays a large part in how efficiently the bike coasts.

 

Friday was my first ride with the guys in quite awhile.  All four of us rode at Crystal Ridge after work.  I was thrilled with the ride!  I'm usually number 3 or 4 and sloppy from fatigue and causing myself Frank-ccidents, but I fueled myself before the ride, and I rode strong.  I thought my legs were going to ball up into a knot, but they survived!  Fast Guy added a little altitude to the ride, but I made it!  We did three laps, and I enjoyed it thoroughly!  I had excellent speed on the straightaways.  I did ok on the climbs.  I'd like to climb better, but I know that will be a long process so I am satisfied with my current progress.  My singletrack skills performance was good based on my standards.  Fast Guy complemented me.  He said that I was pretty quiet (no Frank-ccidents).  Tight singletrack gives me fits.  I'm 6'8" and 220 pounds, and taking hairpin turns drives me crazy.  I'm learning where to put my weight to get around the corners faster.  I lean my chest over the inside handlebar and the bike turns a lot quicker.  I also had more energy, and I was able to stand up more often.  I like to stand up, but I usually don't have the energy to recover from it.  I know it's less efficient to stand, but when I lose momentum in the singletrack, I like to stand up to generate some power.  It was a phenomenal ride.  I can't wait to get out to do it some more!  

How? Anyway I Can Get It!

After working a stint of overtime, I am back to the carpool, but the return time was extended by about 45 minutes.  Good thing there is a gym at work.  Tuesday and Wednesday I had a couple short sessions on the trainer.  After a quick shower, I was ready for the ride home.  Saturday I'm going down to Kenosha to ride with my sister in law and her man.  I haven't fixed my wheel yet.  If I don't get it fixed, I'll have to ride the Schwinn.  That is, if it doesn't rain.

Ah, Damn It!

We went on another family ride this weekend with the little ones, and I did something I've never done before.  I swept the bikes off the roof on a low bridge.  It was at low speed and the car and the bike rack took the brunt of it.  The driver feels bad about it, but I was right there, too and I flaked it, too.  In the morning, I decided that it was not a bad thing to happen because neither of us will EVER do that again.  I'm not sure how his bike is.  He told his wife that the handlebars are messed up.  I'd have to take a closer look because something looked bent but I couldn't figure out what.  I got a couple scraps on the top of my handle bars and it split the material on the front of my seat, but it was on the bottom edge.  Not a big deal at all.  The seat was loose and we just tightened it up and it was fine.  It also busted my computer which is fine with me.  It was a $7 Bell from Wal-mart.  It was possibly the cheapest thing on the bike.  It also broke a spoke on the back wheel.  I pulled a spoke off another wheel I had.  I haven't had time to straighten the wheel but I think it's fixable.  I feel bad for their car, though.  It's a Honda Odyssey and it bent the metal above the driver door where the bike rack pulled loose and it dug a furrow about 15 inches long on the back of the roof.  Not a mortal wound, but there was no body damage before so it really hurts. He hit it with some primer today to fight corrosion and the driver door area doesn't look too bad.  I still think we should pull down the roof liner and pound out the long dent.  Just get it back to somewhat normal and hit it with some touch up paint and it will be unnoticeable.   

Card Game

I was exhausted this afternoon at work today, but I knew I had to ride tonight.  I could just feel it.  I rode last night, but it just didn't do it.  I wasn't satisfied.  I pulled the pedals off of the mtb and put them on my "road" bike.  That's the high end operation I run here.  I switch the pedals that were given to me between bikes.  And while I was pumping up my tires, I noticed that they said 110 pounds!  I thought they were 100 pounds!  Another example of the quality operation; stupifying attention to detail.  So I pumped them up to 110 while wincing.  In the last month, I've had 3 tires pop on me while pumping them up.  Even for me, that's excessive, but alas!  Properly pumped up and ready to go!  Sweet ride down to the prison/jail and back and I saw only three deer.  The others must have been at a card game or something.

Bad Biker, Bad Biker!

I didn't know what time sunset was.  That makes me a bad biker.  Or since we're having a baby, it makes me a biker who makes bad decisions.  Love and Logic folks let me hear ya'!  Well, it's either that or keep studying Nanny 911 episodes!

 

If you must know, I did ride tonight.  I felt good for almost 10 minutes.  I went down and up the hill at Crystal Ridge twice.  The second time, I had feelings in my legs that I never felt before.  That must have been because I am usually too out of breath to notice.  On the Mountain Biker Fitness Scale I must be at 1.5.  That's on a ten point scale.  What do I care?  I have a blast doing it.

 

 

 

 

Killer Ride!

I rode with friends today.  This is a picture of my main competitor's ride.  We went at it for 5.5 miles and he beat me by a nose at the end.  I sent the raw data to some rocket scientists , and they figured he peddled 29,000 revolutions on that ride.  It was a blast.  I got a little extra workout pulling his little brother. 

Madison Ride

I was going to ride in Pewaukee with a friend of mine today, but the rain  changed my plans.  I work in Madison, and since the rain missed us there, I rode  in Madison.  It was a nice change of pace.  It seems like I've been riding on  an empty stomach a lot lately and today wasn't any different.  I can handle it  for about an hour, but after that, I'm pretty much on a hope and a prayer.  I pulled through, and I got to see a bit of Madison along the way.


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A Couple More Pictures from the Weekend

I did have a passenger on the tandem. REALLY! I impressed her with my
exceptional ability to exercise poor judgment.

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Hooray!

Intsy and I went around Lake Michigan Thursday through Monday. I rode
everyday except Thursday. Bruno's Run, Mackinaw Island (on a tandem and
also on my mtb), VASA, and for the last ride, I cheated. I rode at home.

I'm from Illinois, and I thought Wisconsin was really cool with the whole
mountain biking thing, but Michigan is REALLY crazy about mountain biking.
It was awesome. I can't say the trails are a lot better than Wisconsin, but
there seem to be a lot of them. The trails seemed to be flatter than what I
am used to, but I didn't mind. I'm not hill climber. It did give me a
chance to get in some easy miles.

I did take the chance to jump in Lake Superior. I'll try attaching a
picture and we'll see what happens

I did a road ride yesterday because of all the rain. I was going to road
ride today, but I did take the chance to go over to Crystal Ridge to ride up
and down the gravel road killer climb. I also took great pleasure in
blowing away a couple scooters on 92nd street. I was on a hill, they didn't
have a chance. Of course, they caught me on the climb. I'll have my day.

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Test Run

I'm trying to email my entry to my blog. I can't open my blog in Internet
Explorer at home and I can't log into my blog from AOL at home so I flipped
the email switch at another location today and I'm hoping this works.

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Just Like Waking Up Late and Missing The Day

I just about missed summer! Not really. Summer was a blast. In early July we took a road trip to the Grand Tetons, Utah, Yellowstone, and the Badlands, not in that order. I rode a little. This summer, work has been CRAZY and struggled to find time to ride, but I did find some time. I rode tonight at Crystal Ridge and it was fantastic. I didn't do the hills and I hit all the singletrack I could. Just amazing!

What Is This "Morning" You Speak Of?

I am not a morning person by any means. As of a 1.5 years ago, I drank caffeinated soda and coffee by the gallon. I only drink caffeine occasionally now. I have no self control and I have impressed myself with quitting caffeine.

On Friday, for some reason, I decided that I was going to try not to sleep in on the weekends. I didn't do it yesterday. I didn't want to put Intsy through the torture of multiple snooze alarms. But last night, I was not so kind. I thought I would try it. I set my alarm for 5:30, and told myself that I would get up in one shot; just sit up and and go, and I did.

I have discovered another culture, "The Morning People". There is an entire society of people who in the early hours of the day (6:00-10:00) play golf, go for a walk, run, wash their cars, and do a variety of other tasks! I was stupefied!

Insty is going to fly to Tennessee to visit a friend. She is leaving this weekend and coming back on Wed. morning. I work, but I told her I would drop off the car and ride my bike home (10-15 miles). I don't know if you can ride your bike out of an airport, but I'm going to try. This morning, I was going to do a test run, but I got 2-3 miles from home and realized that I didn't have my under seat bag with tire patches and tire tools, and I knew this was a guaranteed flat. Plus, I didn't leave Intsy and note and this morning ride was highly irregular for me and she would be worried if I was gone for hours. So I looped back and picked up the necessities and left and note and rode another 30 minutes. I didn't go far, but I wanted to have a short ride today.

Flash bought a Trek road bike from his neighbor and it had separate brakes/shifters. He found a deal online and replaced them. He was kind enough to give me his brake levers. I tried them out this morning, and they worked great. I just need to add new bike to the brake levers and I am all set.

Been A While

Since the last post:

1. I rode
2. I rode some more

Last Sunday morning, Flash and I rode KM. The southern section of John Muir was closed due to wet conditions. We rode the connector, Emma Carlin and back. It was a slow ride which was a good thing. It was more tiring than I thought it should have been, but what do I know.

Tuesday, a group of us did a road ride south to Whitnall Park. Thirty six miles total. It was a good ride. I tried to trash myself and came away very pleased.

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.