what a weekend

Last week was a long week. It started on the Sunday after St Patricks day, work that is. I proceeded to work for the next 7 days. Did a bit of riding. There was a time trial on Saturday at the tapeworm trial. Check out photos here. I was having a great ride until I flatted. I forgot to check tire pressure and came the conclusion that I was running about 15 lbs of pressure just before the race. I didn't carry a spare tube or pump, so I ran for awhile. Did I mention that it had been raining all week and Saturday was no different. That cold rain that is unrelenting. So it was a bit of a disappointment to DNF, but better to make mistakes in a friendly time trial, than a race. I learned my lesson, one I should have a long time ago, always be prepared, or deal with the consequences. I dealt with them, but would have been more happy if I were able to fix the problem trial side as opposed to running.

Sunday, on 5 hrs of sleep I took off to Bellingham to ride with Kevin, it looked like rain but as I got closer to Bellingham, my eyes began to hurt, what was that yellow orb in the sky and the color blue, man it sure has been awhile since anything like that. It turned out to be a beautiful day, the trials were still muddy with a capital M, we had a blast chasing each other around the woods for the better part of the day. Lately the city life here has been getting to me a bit, I have been thinking about where I would like to live, not that it is terrible here, but I would like to be able to ride from my house to the trials and home if at all possible, I got to do just that on Sunday with Kevin. Danielle and I have been talking about moving sometime, that is if we can sell our house in Reno, don't get me started on that, I owe people money and can't pay right now and it hurts me deeply, finances are never fun to talk about, so I will stop, suffice it to say I am in a bad way until that house is sold.
So Bellingham was great, I got another taste of it and I like it. If I am to stay in the Northwest that is high on my list of places to stay. So Kevin and I chased each other around for 5 hours, we sampled a lot of the good on Galbraith, cant wait to do it again sometime. Kevin is a great guide, and i was lost for a better part of the day, meaning I had no idea where I was.
Now it is back to the grind, for a couple/four days and then my younger brother graduates from culinary school up in Vancouver, so I will be up there this weekend and then on sunday there is a race down outside of Olympia in Capitol Forest, Part of the Indie series. More to come on that.
as always keep pedaling.

How natty got his groove back....

As I am sure most of you are aware this weekend was St Patrick's day, a good excuse for most people to drink all day, wear green, act obnoxious all in the name of good olde st Patrick. God Bless the Irish. Well it was also the weekend that The Seattle Randonneur's held there 200km brevet. I had told a few people in the club that I was planning maybe to do this, but was hesitant to as I am still afraid of pushing myself too far and further being sick or doing a slow backslide in to the hole that I have been struggling to get out of. With so many highs and lows in the last year dealing with whatever got to me has been a valuable lesson, but one I don't wish to revisit. I was able to get the day before off, I didn't want to ride 200km or 126.8??? miles on little to no sleep. Looking at this distance was a bit intimidating, you may laugh, I have competed in long mountain bike races and even a few 24 hr races, but this distance would be the longest road ride I have undertaken, and nearly double the distance I have ever ridden on a fixed gear. After the 100km I went back and forth with gearing issues, should I stay with what I have been riding 45x18 or should I drop a tooth in the back to 45x17. I decided to just stay with what I have been on, not wanting to change anything right before a big day in the saddle. I was a bit worried about the weather, and not being the biggest road rider I was thinking what am I doing, I answered with its early in the season, much time to mountain bike and I really like the people they are really quality cyclist, no attitude just out enjoying a day in the saddle.
I will set the stage for you the ride was to start at 7am and it was about and hour from my house to the start, meaning i would have to be up way before I usually am. I got the night befores shift covered and hung out watching movies and taking it easy. Up at 5 eating and out the door to find my way to the start, yes I drove. Arrived at the start with 8 mins to spare till the start, register, spend time looking for Eric, he had a waterproof envelope for me to put the route sheet in so I wouldn't get lost, just before we roll out i find him and head towards the front of the 100 plus riders. We roll down the roads of Kent on our way towards Dash Point. I am so spun out on the 15% downhill, it is not raining and it is nice and warm. We are chatting and joking with one another, a few comment on my choice of bike, and make jokes about the fact that I am going to ride faster then them, they have googled me and the cat is out of the bag, I am a 24 hr mountain biker, no wonder I have endurance and such. I share stories with Chris Ragsdale, he has done some amazing things and has a big goal for the upcoming season. We are a group of about ten or twelve by the time we make it to the first check point of the day. We all stayed together until Green River Road at which time in short succession those of us on one speeds got spat out the back as the speeds reached 23 or 25 miles and hour. I tried to hang on but just decided that I would have to go my pace to finish and be in an ok state of mind. I gained a bunch of time back on the little climb out, catching most of the group by the time we hit the next checkpoint in Black Diamond. Flats have never been my strength and today I was going to have to ride my ride if I were to survive, my heartrate was a bit high in the begining, but calmed downa few hours in and stayed that way for the remainder of the day. I had a few stomach issues going on in black diamond that I had to take care of and missed the group of 5, including Chris by a couple of minuetes. It is here that my experience paid off, no one else wanted to leave and it is the time off the bike that kills your overall time so I was off by myself, where I stayed for the next 40 miles, riding by myself at my pace over flat and rolling terrain. The next section took us out towards the town of Greenwater, and out and back, I thought for sure that they would put big time in to me here, but I arrived to find them at the store in Greenwater, again I loaded up and rolled out thinking that they would eventually catch me, Chris and John did and Chris decided that it was time to go and that is what he did, he was gone, I briefly pedaled away from the rest of the group, but soon was caught and passed on a steep down hill, it wasn't the ups that hurt the most it was the downs as my legs were forced to spin at an ungodly cadence on some of the steep hills. It is here that I started to think about gearing again. We regrouped at the next checkpoint and now we were close to home, my goal of going under 8 hours was obtainable, it began to sprinkle lightly at first and as we got closer to the end pretty good for a few mins. We stayed in a group of 4 all the way in, arriving in 7 hrs and 35 mins. Mission accomplished. I was amazed to hear that chris came in at 7 hrs 18 mins tieing his time from last year. I am unsure how many more rides I will do with the Randonneurs again this year, mountain biking is still my major focus, but i had a great time and it is filled with lots of cool, quality people, I sure would like to get out for the 300km and maybe even the 400km, but only time will tell. Looks like next weekend will be a trip to Bellingham to ride with Kevin again, I hope the weather cooperates and we can enjoy warm temps and sun possibly, if not we will have fun not matter what. Thursdays are also devoted to mountain biking closer to home, last week Craig and I hit up Tokul West and had a great time.
as you can see from this picture I usually don't get up this early. This pic was taken by Kent Peterson just before the start of the ride on Saturday.

blood trails

This was sent to me awhile back and I meant to get it on here sooner. Bikes are they making a come back in the movies. Watch the trailer below and tell me what you think.



In other news I am planning on riding with the Randdonneurs this St Patricks day for their 200km ride. I will be riding my fixie to see how it feels to start piling on the miles aboard a fixed gear bicycle. More on that on Sunday. The race schedule is starting to come together and I am usually getting one or two mountain bike rides in a week. Not much else to say, hope you enjoy the trailer. as always keep pedaling.

when the weather.....

Gets warmer and sun filled for a bit, it must be taken advantage of. The guys a Swobo have posted a few times about 30 rides in 30 days. My loose understanding of the undertaking is that the challenge is to, for thirty consecutive days to ride thirty rides consisting of 1 continuous hour, each day, not a total of an hour in that day. no running errands and the such. I am now entering my 4th and final week of this challenge which I started on February 11th. I have made my commute to work at least an hour, thus getting about an hour and a half of riding minimum a day. I have been averaging between 10 and 15 hours a week and 150 to 200 miles, including off road miles. I am feeling better, and beginning to plan a season of racing. As most readers know I have been fighting with what I have dubbed "the sickness" for quite some time now, just about two years to be exact. Enough about that, now on to this past weeks undertakings.

Saturday: My friend Eric, who I wrote about awhile back, invited me to the 100km randonnee ride. I was hesitant to go, it started at 9 am and i get off work around 3 am, not much sleep. And I really like my sleep. Hesitantly I set the alarm, knowing I would probably go, but still giving myself the out. Well he had tried to get me a ride there, that fell through, so I used Danielle's truck and headed out. I ate what I eat most of the time for breakfast, Grape Nuts, and a banana followed by liberal coffee consumption. Leaving my house around 8 am. I had asked Eric about the course, and I decided I would roll the fixie, why not, what did I have to lose? Did I say that it was raining, not that sideways blowing rain, but steady drizzle, and the roads were wet, and dirty. I arrived at the start of the ride, the Redhook Brewery, or should I say Bud Hook, not the best beer, but beer none the less. Yes I am a beer snob. Oxymoron I know.
The ride started in mass and we were off, we were all given cue sheets that mapped out the ride, this would be our only method of staying on course, there would be no markings and such. Road riding not being my strong point I sat in for a bit and slowly made my way up towards the front. Chatting here and there with people, more quiet that usual as I was still waking up. We had a good little pace going at the front down the side of Lake Samamish, headed out of Redmond. Then came the first hill, Eric had told me this was the steepest and steep it was, out of the saddle I was. I was surprised my legs felt great. I was towards the front. We got to the top regrouped a bit, and then got to the first control. Papers signed we were off. The rain was still steady. More side roads and some descending latter most of the riders missed a turn and the bottom of a hill. More paceline work we were keeping a good pace. secret control, to make sure everyone is on course. 2nd control a coffee shop in Carnation, and everyone stops and is resting. I see one person sneak away and I am off. We are now a group of 10 I keep pushing the pace, it is wet and we are dirty, that is to be expected, I see now why full fenders are a must for group rides on the road in the rain. Just before the third check point there is a small climb and I am gone, I am surprised by this, but forge on. At the third check eric tells me I am a minute off the leader, now I am competitive and I understand that randoneering is more about the camaraderie than the speed, but I now think it would be great to catch the leader, why not. I charge. Catching him at the top of the climb, where i make a navigational error, not following him, and lose some time. Now I must go it alone, and I finally figure out how to read the cue sheet, which is drenched and soggy by this time. I make it in just behind the leaders, I am happy and throw a no handed skid in to the control, again why not.
I eat and head home to relax, but am amped.

Sunday: The plan was simple, drive to Bellingham and ride singlespeeds. Keith who had invited me out the night before, I turned him down, showed up with a raging hangover. I took the wheel, as I can drive, Keith not so much. We met up with the others and took off up the highway making it to Bellingham in 1hour and 15 mins. not bad. Craig had some other friends meeting us there and they had a few friends meeting them. Turns out I knew them from the racing world, and we were so lucky Kevin and Jeff know every knook and cranny of Galbraith, they took us on a great ride, dubbed the art tour of Galbraith, I guess we saw four of the five pieces on the mountain. It was slippery and I think everyone crashed at least once. I had so much fun. I am going up there more. The trails are just too good not to. Thank you Kevin and Jeff.

Swobo has their bikes out. Urban Assault vehicles.

Thanks to Elk for the Mcrad cd, brings back so many memories.

life little jokes

I am growing facial hair for the first time in 32 years. Right now i have some fuzz on my upper lip. I am hoping that it turns in to a great 'stash so I can finally give out some free rides of the moustache variety. haha. I however can not grow side burns oh how I wish I could. On the upside of things I dont have to deal with things like back and chest hair, yes I am a hairless wonder. thanks to my great gene pool. Well enough about me. I hope at least one person gets my sarcasm in the above sentence. who ever you are thanks.

I rode a bunch last week, skipped a race, it would have taken to much energy for the reward of getting there, plus I had no ride, and it was a ferry ride away. all together a good call as it hailed and sleeted and I heard it was cold as all get out. If i was to miss a race it seems that that one was the one to miss, plus it is an xc race not and endurance race, hence not worth as much to me as just a great ride. I however will be racing a few of the shorter length races to gauge fitness and just to have fun. Gotta get back in shape somehow.

I am doing some more exploring on the mtn bike, just trying to find all the good places to ride, and this weekend it is off to Bellingham for sampling of some great trials. hope to have some new people to ride with the old as well,as the circle of friends grows.

It is amazing how long it takes to get a community of riders around you, time in is time out, just like time on the bike makes you better, speaking of that I gotta go put in some miles before work today, after I run a bunch of errands.

New tires are on the way, soon, I am in the process of deciding just which tires I want to run, thinking of the Rampage, or the new WTB tire. I'll let you know when I know.

thanks all and as always keep pealing. I will leave you with this, I pulled in off of the Fearless Gearless site, it has been submitted to the Bicycle Film Fest. I like it. Great song to go with it. Tell me what you think.

inspiration

Watch this and tell me you are not inspired. It is good to see someone who is willing to put it all on the line. He already cycled around the country, his next project is to go around the world. Bikes are great way to express ourselves aren't they. Check out his website here.

Right now I am doing a lot of reading about he real costs of oil, in a book called Lives Per Gallon, as well as reading Big Box Swindle which is all about the effect that box stores are having on society. Both are very interesting while at the same time a bit disheartening, we as a society need to start seriously reconsidering some of our past choices and making much more informed choices in the future. Stay strong and as always keep pedaling.

Harmonic Convergenss

Harmcom was a blast. Like I said before I wanted to get down to this last year but didn't make it. This year it all worked out and I am so glad that I went. The day started soon after the night ended. As in 3 hours to be exact. I will back track a bit. Friday while on the way to work I crashed my bike yet again. I felt like a bit of a moron. It was raining a bit, the roads were slick and I was exploring a bit, so I was on unfamiliar roads. Intuition was telling me that it was dangerous, and that i had made a wrong turn. As I was turning at slowspeed going downhill i noticed oil on the road, before I could correct i was laying on the ground, and in pain. Everything would have been fine, minus the cellphone in my pocket. I had a really bad charlie horse, the kind that made it really hard to pedal a fixed gear, and walking was an effort. Well as you can guess I soldiered on. Road to work, worked and entire shift behind the bar. Medicated a bit with Vitamin I and you guess it a bit of product sampling, or should I say quality control. Left work, road home, telling my self that using it would force blood though it, thus helping it heal. The bruise had started to show a bit. 3 am went to bed. Keith, my friend and ride to harmcom called promptly at 6:20 and it was confirmed we were headed out. A. the weather looked too nice, B. I wasn't going to miss this ride again. The drive down was uneventful, and we arrived at the said location. There were familiar faces and lots of unfamiliar faces, but the vibe was all good. We caravaned out to the parking location and met up with some more folks. This is when the fun really began. We divided in to different groups and set off. I picked the group lead by Joel, most of us were on single speeds. To say we rode some trail is an understatement he showed us the way. To say we traveled great distances, not so. These trails are slow speed , twisty knotted routes. We had a blast. Log rides, mud, to say I had the wrong tires is an understatement, WTB NanoRaptors were not the best, but not the worst either. We rode around for a long time, then had a mid ride meeting for some barley pop and then some more riding. I met some great people. Oh are you wondering how the leg felt, stiff, and a bit underpowered, but I pushed through and no one else knew the difference, save for when I got off the bike and hobbled around. The black and blue was better than ever. I always mean to take pictures, but never seem to get around to it. I plan to work on this. Photos make all the difference. Heard about some great events coming up, more on that later. This is a worthy event. We had originally planned to stay the night, but the leg needed to be treated with a bit of respect, so we headed home.

All you myspace people out there. I know I caved in a set an account up. my address is
http://www.myspace.com/onegearonemind

as always keep pedaling.

what more to say

I have been occupied with a bunch of things, and am currently working lots while still managing not to have any free monies to devote to such things as bicycles. Why you ask. Well we currently own two houses and are paying said mortgages. The former one in Reno is about to be sold, which will do wonders for us financially. Meaning we can pay back all the debt incurred by having to pay two mortgages. There is money owed to friends for work done that I have not been able to pay back, and they don't deserve this kind of treatment, I thank them for being friends and being understanding. Well back to bikes, this blog in theory is devoted to all things bike related.
Last week consisted of working all seven days, but still managing to get 145 miles in, all but a few on the fixie and on the road. I however need to get some dirt on, which I will be doing this weekend. The Harmonic Convergenss, that is part of the Indie Series, looks to be rolling terrain, maybe I will race the ride is this weekend down the road in Longview, WA. Looks to be back to back days of new trails, and new friends. I am planning on bringing the Skull bike, and coasting a bit. The following weekend there is a short race over on the Peninsula, might take the fixie and see how it rolls out. Why not right. All in the name of getting more fitness back in these legs. Elk had a great post the other day.
Happy to say, I am part of the Bare Knuckle Brigade, cant wait to get the kit, so I can start representin. Hope to make it to some races on the east coast and Midwest to meet some of the other members.
I going to ride at least 10 hrs a week, thats the plan at least. Gonna make my commute to work an hour long and see how the body responds. It is terrible to say, but I am scared to push it too hard after what happened to me, but little by little I am getting stronger and stronger and more willing to push it harder and harder. The goal is to get to 200 miles a week or a bit more. I need to start getting more dirt miles in, as the road gets boring. I am trying to be realistic and just slowly move towards more miles and better fitness. Nothing like look ahead to races and having a goal again. This time the goal won't consume me though.
Looks like Tahoe finally got some snow. Shredder got a new bike, I would like to get one from the same builder some time, but more than that I would like to get some traveling in as well as some good old fashioned racing. Well enough is enough, its time to go track down the last of my W2's so I can get the money I so badly need right now. as always keep pedaling.

Beer and BBQ for Breakfast...

Here is how Wednesday started, 10am beer for breakfast, you do only live once. It was Pete's, in the blue vest, 32nd birthday. B was the theme of the day. First we started with a beer, pictured here, then it was off, on an empty stomach for the next B of the day, BBQ. I will attempt to fill this space with the back story on this event. A year ago to the date of Pete's birthday is when I happened to meet Pete and Keith, I had just started back at the Big Time Brewery, my first night back to be specific. Around 9 pm these two characters walked in and proceed to say they were out celebrating a birthday by riding around to numerous breweries in the Seattle area and sampling the beers, as I a sure you can guess we were the last stop, and they were mildly intoxicated. Keith proceeded to tell the same story multiple times, as he is prone to doing, but manages to make it funny each time. There is intricate math that goes in to finding the real truth in his stories, but none the less he is great, and I am happy to have met them. They truly have made living in Seattle much better than in would have been had I not met them, so thank you gentlemen. Enough, now on to the next stop of the adventure, Dixie's BBQ over on the East Side.
Here again is the birthday boy pondering his choice of breakfast meats. Did I just say Breakfast and meat, other than bacon in the same sentence. ouch. This one left a mark. Sitting like a bomb in each or our stomachs for the remainder of the day. After the experience that is Dixie's was complete, we were off to the Tapeworm trail in Renton for our next B, bikes. We had a great ride, complete with stunts, log rides, drops and even some jumps. Back to the picture, doesn't Pete look confused? he was. After the Tapeworm, which I had heard mixed reviews of, we were off for a bit of lunch, and then I was off to work. The Tapeworm is a marvel of packing trail in to a small area, twisting turning, logs, roots, lots of low speed stuff, talk about a skill improver. Not long enough,or enough elevation change to make for an epic, but fun none the less. Yes I coasted, I had so much fun coasting again, I still love scorchin too. It made for a long day to say the least, but memorable and totally worth it.


So I will follow all that up with a plug to go and sign this, we need to save PBS and NPR, feels like we just did this a few months back. I will ask a rhetorical question, is our president really that much of an idiot? as always keep pedaling.

scraped elbows and strained backs

Yes the title pretty much says it all. I have a bad back strain, allowing me to ride in the saddle, standing is not so much fun, and painful as well. Then on Friday I had the pleasure of crashing my bike on the pavement and getting scraped elbows, yes both. It happened at 3 in the morning and made for a great night of sleep. Pavement is not all that forgiving, but bound to happen at some point. I have been here a year and only crashed a couple of times, considering the amount of rain and time spent riding I am ok with it, however I don't wish to crash anytime soon. Crashing on a bad back did wonders for the pain, Saturday it started raining again and I spent lots of time watching movies. Saw This film is not yet rated. Lots of information about the film industry and the control exerted by a secret group of raters. I suggest you all go out, rent it and watch it.

So I am riding not as much as I would like, working more than I would like and spending more time not in motion than I would like.

As for the upcoming season I am trying to put it all together, but it really depends on the sale of our Reno house going through and how we come out of that, it will be great to be out from under that load, it has been sucking us dry of all our funds. Makes traveling hard, as i need to work all that i can, at least for the time being. I am looking forward to doing some races in BC, and will do some endurance race on a fixie, if everything goes as planned. Tomorrow is my 1 year anniversary at the Big Time Brewery, this is the same day that I met Keith and Pete on there Brewery tour on bikes, to honor the day we are going to go for a ride, I still have to work at night, but we are going to hopefully go ride some trails in the area. This weekend there wont be much riding, but over the weekend of the 17th we are headed down to Longview, WA for Harmonic Convergenss. The weekend after that I am going to race an XC race as "training" over on the Peninsula as part of the Indie Series.

My first 100 miler

I will try to set the stage as best I can. I had been racing Norba races, and competing on 4 man expert teams in 24 hr racing, in fact I had raced duo at one already before this race, but never a 100miler all in one go. I sent off the registration, after talking a friend, Nate Simonson, in to doing it with me, I wanted some company for the 8 hr drive from Reno to Brianhead, UT. I had become bored with the Norba attitude scene, and wanted a challenge. What better way to challenge ones self and endurance than to ride 100 miles off road in a day. Since I had been racing 24 hr races I liked the people more, out for a challenge, more supportive and just plain more fun. More like being part of the event, not the side show as the age group races are at the Norba events. I have always had a lot to prove to myself, kind of a self loathing, hurt to feel good, no pain no gain, looking for the edge kind of feeling. I was quite nervous at this race. This was 2003 and I had only been riding for 3 years to say I was intimidated, wondered what kind of hell I had signed on for is and understatement. Upon arrival I noticed some familiar faces, Uber super hero Steve Fassbinder was there on a 29er singlespeed, Sean Mclaughlin, Mike Janelle, who look veiny as all hell, he didn't look human i remember thinking that. We got there to 8,900 feet checked in to the hotel, registered and then we just had to stretch the legs a bit so we rode the first climb, I was riding gears still, yes it was that long ago. Then it was eat, have a quick drink, I believe we drank Guinness, and then off to bed.
Race Day
Wake up shower, get all things in order, lube chain, recheck and out the door, to ride up to the start. Mill around. Man was I nervous. My stomach was churning and churning. In to the line, an I wearing too much, not enough, ahhhhhhhh. One minute to start and I have to drop the kids at the pool, take the browns to the superbowl, not gonna happen, it will go away I say to myself. The gun goes off and we are off, pacing I know nothing I am just going for it, I want to run out front with the big guns. It is all climbing out of the gate up the pavement and then up to 11,000 ft then a really fun descent all the way to aid 1. I just ride through, it is at this time that I go by Steve Fassbinder, we exchange a few words, mind you we are on fairly flat terrain and I have gears and he doesn't. Big advantage. Through the lava fields, down some more double track, and in to aid 2 where i stop and fill up with water. I think all the descending is going to be climbing on the way back. After aid 2 it is more rolling and flat and I remember a horrible head wind on a road before we hit some ripping single track along the Virgin River Rim trail. Aid 3 m and m's and Sloane Anderson and I are riding together for a bit, we pull each other up and down some of the hills. Aid 4 same as aid two, my legs are really starting to hurt now, and that stomach hurt is really coming on. At 75 miles there is an informal aid station, I am really hurting but keep plugging on. I forgot toilet paper, the woods are super dry, i must wait until aid 5 to rid myself of these hostages that I am holding at this point in time. I get there and not soon enough. I literally drop my bike and run for the port a potty that is in the blazing sun and it is 90 degrees at 9,000 feet, it is like a sauna, before I get there I am fighting with my jersey,It needs to be off, why you may ask, well I made the big mistake of wearing bibs on a 100 mile race, not only do my nipples hurt, but it is a fight to get to the port a potty. I throw my shirt on the ground , jump inside the little blue sauna sit down, and remember that I first need to lower my bibs. I somehow manage to do this and avoid disaster, but I have to hold on to both sides of the box to keep my self in place. I am in so happy, and lighter. I finally am able to get up and out and people are laughing and clapping. Glad I made someones day. Now I must finish this race. 14 miles to go, how bad can it be. It was the longest 14 miles of my life. All up hill save the last 3 miles which went down. Almost two hours. I was dehydrated but determined to finish. I wanted to make it in under 9 hours so I could get my chalice. Well I succeeded 8:40 and change, 2nd in my class, that is if you take Mr Fassbinder out because he was on a single and won that class. 14th overall. not too bad. I felt good, had a few beers, with Sean, Eric Rector, who had done it on a single speed, and a bunch of others. Nate finished a bit later and was in good spirits. After the awards we just crashed anticipating the long drive home the next day. There you have it, if you made it this far thanks. as always keep pedaling. I will revisit races from time to time, next time I will get to my first single speed 100 miler, the Cascade Cream Puff.

tuffness....

I just started reading the book pictured at the left. Quite a tale, light read, and inspiring, Mike is tuff, just like the others mentioned below. From a 255lbs man to 170lbs racer, in two years, gave up smoking and drinking too. Committed to the end result of being faster on a bike. It is a good read. In fact quick as well as I picked it up yesterday before work and am on page 100 already. I suggest it to all you cyclists out there in cycle land. Nothing like having a goal to keep you focused and on track, oh I forgot to mention he also quit eating, all except for 3 shakes a day to lose weight and lost it at a rate of 5 lbs a week. Hats off to Mike and his tuffness.

I thought I was a bit tough this weekend by riding my fixie out to Port Townsend for the day, then I checked on my friend mark Mcdaniel's out of Reno, the land of no snow at this time, who rode his fixie up and down and up and down, without brakes. Geiger Grade on a fixie, Congrats mark. I bet your legs they were a hurtin for a few days. Geiger ain't no joke, and Gold Hill on the other side is 15 or 18 percent. Mark you just plain rock. I will put this one in writing, not as a definite, bu none the less in writing, makes me want to rock a large mountain bike 100 miler on my off road fixie, not sure which one, but I am thinking about it, lots of ups and downs. I am scared to say the least. Rich, any advice???? Mark is tuff, he and rich for that matter are inspiration for the title.
So I rode to Port Townsend this weekend, first time I did it, sure is fun. I will have to get over to the peninsula for some more rides.
I am trying to put together a race schedule that maxes the fun factor, is cost acceptable and I can get work off for. No easy task, also looking to keep it in the managable body wise as I don't wish to get sick again in the form that I was kind of way. Wow that was a run on sentence. Not willing to put anything down on the blog yet as it is all up in the air. I will probably try to fine tune some of my fitness by racing shorter local races, I want to get a 100 or two in, I have family back east. I am juggling right now.

a diesel engine

This is a picture of my friend Eric. He is a diesel engine, not the fastest guy out there, but he keeps going and going and going. He is focused and determined to reach his goals. Now a little back story if I may. I met Eric through my job at The Big Time Brewery, he would come in dressed in his cycling clothing, I saw a brother in arms so to speak, and the rest is what we call history. He is part of the Seattle Randonneur's, in fact I believe that he is a the head of membership, although I could be wrong. As I took out my camera to take a picture of him he got a worried look, as I think you can tell by the picture he said something to the effect of "what do you want with a picture of me?" The answer is simple to the left is a picture of the current record holder for most Randonneur miles in a year, it amounts to 7,500 miles or 12,000km if I remember correctly. I am sure most people that read this are familiar with Randonneuring so I will skip all the details, but basically it is long distance, open course, timed, light cycling touring ranging from 100km to 1200km. Each event counts only once, and he also holds down a full time job at the University of Washington, one can imagine he spends a lot of his free time in the saddle. This year he has set the lofty goal of 10,000 "event" miles, I have faith that he will accomplish his goal. Eric thanks for the inspiration and support. The title of this post refers to Eric a diesel engine and a great guy. Congrats and best wishes in the upcoming year.

down in This here picture is of one dirty Vulture after the ride down in Eugene. The camera didn't like all the sunlight and I was not in the mood to take more pics, but this turned out more artsy than I thought. I kind of like it. The weekend of February 17th is shaping up to be a good time. It is the weekend of the Harmonic ConvergenSS Longview, Washington. I plan on being there. Mark your calenders.

This weekends mayhem

This past weekend was a much needed brake from Seattle. I heard about the Disciples of Dirt's All Comers Meat in Eugene, OR, talked some of favorite riders in to rolling down there for a get away. It all came together and we were off on Friday morning, with the plan of stopping at a few breweries on the way down and making our way to Eugene early enough to enjoy some fun, and still get some rest for the next days debauchery. To say we had a great time is an understatement. While it had rained in the days leading up to the event, the day itself was perfect, sun, I hadn't seen that in a while. Since it was mostly a single speed ride, I thought why not ride the fixie, see how it rolls out on a longish ride. Lets just say I had lots and lots of fun, ran a 36x17 on 700 cc wheels and it was great. It took some getting used to and my back hurt alot the next day, but that could have been a result of the wrestling match that Keith and I got in to in the parking lot later, way later in the evening. Back to the event, which was a well executed event, for just a ride. 88 people showed up for the event, we traveled the longest distance, and it was worth it. The keg was tapped prior to the beginning of the ride and the beer was flowing all day, if you cared to partake. We all decided to jump in with the fast group, and it was the way to go. I was hoping that Wade, of Vulture fame, would be there, but he was not. Instead I met up with Eugene, who I have met before, and a few other folks, we ended up splitting off from the larger group and being shown the trails by Tom, it rocked. I had a great time, I will ride fixed off road again. The story could go on and on, but I wont bore you with the details, but it will be an annual event for the 3 of us. Below is short clip of me skidding my fixie off road while drinking a beer. Sure this could have been shot from a better angle and I could have done it faster, mind you I had a thin plastic cup in my hand and it was the first attempt at such a maneuver, it was shot with a point and shoot digital camera, so I know it is more to give an idea of all the fun we were having. This was mid ride, yes they brought the keg around to different spots and we rode to it. Without further adu:


So I hope you enjoyed it. Here is a link to mtbr and the photos from the event.
Now it is back to the daily grind for a bit and then this weekend I am riding out to Port Townsend, about 50 miles, for Strange Brew, Water Street Brewing's big party.
Looks to be big fun. Well it is sunny here again at least today, so I better get out and enjoy it all. As always keep pedaling.

snow and ice

Seattle has snow on the ground, not the status quo here. Let me tell you I am glad to be riding a bike in this stuff, to think about driving around in a tin can makes me sick. Well in fact I am sick right now so I spent the day downloading music from Emusic, if you don't know about them you should check them out, all kinds of music for your ears. I have been a member for over a year now and am never at a loss for new and old songs to download. And if you end up becoming a member tell em who sent ya. Please. Enough about that snow, when compacted on a cold street becomes ice, bet ya didn't know that, so I have been ripping around dodging the ice and looking for bare pavement, this can make hills somewhat interesting. On my commute home last night I had to walk a hill as I spun out and almost took a spill. The skill as with most things in life is not to overreact, go with the flow. Being sick reminds me of the last two years and I get frustrated and think that I might be headed back there, or not getting better. This truely has been a monumental challenge to keep in perspective, and like riding on ice not overreact and go with the flow. Rest can be good. I am hoping to get next friday off so that I can go to this. I wanted to go last year, but never made it happen. Also, I have signed up for this, I have heard that Dejay puts on one hell of a good time, and I would like to ride with Rudi, get some tips from the master about schorching. But thats enough, I will be sure to bring a camera on either of these excursions ifin and when they happen.
In other areas, I found this site today and liked it,the people at Bicycle Fixation have the right idea. Check it. I spent a bit of time browsing there.
As always keep pedaling. I am going to keep watching the snow come down and rest so that when the weather is better I will be ready to charge it, not that it is not fun out there right now, but the batteries need a little charging and what better excuse. as always keep pedaling.

you'll laugh I hope...

at least at one of these videos. Gonterian is a great guy. I have yet to meet him in person, but when I do I hope to do some scorching with him, of course that is if I am worthy. I have been practicing my fixed gear skills, and hope to get a bunch more off road fixing in real soon. Here is a video he made, I like it. Here it is.

And now that you have watched that, it is time to laugh, this is a test...... I think most will find this funny especially those of us who grew up in the 80's a time that was full of cheese so to speak. So here it is Justin Timberlake hits the mark here. Thats saying something cause for the most part I don't have positve things to say about him. ha ha Like I said this will make you laugh, you may have seen it and I may be beating a dead horse at this point in time, its catchy watch out.

I should have brought a camera....

to document how muddy I got yesterday. I should probably start with a little bit of a back story. Originally Keith and I had planned to go skate skiing/ him wanting to try his new toy out a rather large kite that he hopes will pull him around the mountains. Keith and his new toys, kites, I just don't get it, but then again I don't have to, it would have been hilarious to watch him put skis on hook up, with a harness, to a 7 meter kite and fly it for the first time in 30 mile an hour winds. Needless to say I would have had 911 plugged in to my cellphone and my finger on the dial button at the ready. So that was the plan, as you can tell it is not what happened yesterday. We left town, got on the interstate heading to the mountains and then while in the foothills saw signs that read "power outage at the summit" no problem, then this one was the final straw, "4 mile traffic jam at the summit", that did it we turned around and headed back in to the city. We both wanted to do something active, as it was a sunny, read not raining and too ugly, in Seattle, obviously in the mountains it was a different story, so we decided on a ride at St Edwards just north of Seattle. This is no epic ride, but enough to get an hour or two of riding in, two if you do the loops twice. We had a great time after we got rolling. It was a wake of vulture's if two can be considered a group, we both were riding Wade's master pieces on dirt, well mainly mud. We had a great time. Gonterian was right, fixed+dirt=fun. On a side note I rode in the Swobo shorts, they rocked. It was the first time I have worn baggies in a while and I can say that I enjoyed them. Speaking of having fun, Cubed Meat, down in Oregon is on the 20th, if I can talk a few or even one person from up here to go we will, looks like fun.
Looking ahead to this years racing I am still trying to figure it all out. More to come on me racing. I want to race some of the local Indie series races, some endurance races, the cascade cream puff, maybe 24hrs in the sage, Moab? , I have been tempted by the Ultra Series, and Boris' endurance week looks to be amazing as well. It really comes down to how I am feeling, if I keep feeling better and better, and I can get the money thing in order, I will travel and race more , if not it will be more local. As always keep pedaling.

this is a must listen...

he only forgot to get quicksilver into the song.


could have been a bit longer though. It is raining, and windy. I have to work this evening, sure wish I didn't cause then I would be at Fast Fridays. But then again it is cold, windy and rainy, so it might be nice to be inside pouring beer for the masses. Who am I fooling I would much rather be out breathing. I am off for a run and then to get some beer to the event. I am not the best runner but have been doing it as cross training for the moment, it is an easy way to get a fast aerobic workout in. Tomorrow I hope to get some skiing in, it will be good to get out of the city for a bit.

why is it that.....

I bet you were thinking that I was going to start with a list about why is it that....
I seem to be in my pj's in the early afternoon or
why is it that I wake up with coffee and go to sleep with beer or
why ride one gear when there are other options
or why would I bore you with a list of things that I do, so I won't what I really wanted to say was why is it that those closest to us get forgotten. I thanked everyone except those that live under the same roof with me, and share the same bed. The one person that needs the most thanking and honor for what she does 365 days a year. I neglected to thank the lovely lady in my life for all the support throughout the years. So here is it is thanks so much for all that you do for me Danielle, it it appreciated and sorry for leaving it out of any post for quite some time. I also need to thank my two dogs who teach me new things all the time about love, commitment, and life in general all the time. Moezlee the great who has had hip displasia since birth was given a short life sentence of two years and is in to his 9th, talk about pushing through the pain. Tanner the blissful who is all dog, but happy all the time, he is in bliss, however much I used to think that it was bad in the beginning.
So with that I will go back to the why is it that we seem to take advantage or take for granted those closest to us. They get to see us at our worst, best and in between, and why is it that they get treated worst sometimes. We yell at our loved ones, but not our friends, why.? We forget to thank those same loved ones, but thank strangers for the smallest things. why? So this year I am going to make a effort to thank those around me that are closest to me, hell I will thank those that inspire me, those that I haven't thanked in a while. So thank you Danielle, mom, dad, Manon, Stefan, Genevieve, tanner and Moezlee, grandpa and grandma Pellman, grandpa deal, Carol, Robert, Katie and Annie. I think I will start with the family and move out as it goes. Thank you all so much for taking this journey in life with me, what a twisted, rocky, fun road it has been. I love and appreciate you all. There I have done it, a totally sappy post and think it is only the 4th day of the year. more to come.
On the riding front I have been feeling a bit more invigorated, got 3 1/2 hours in yesterday on the fixie, with a bit of climbing, then off to work i went to stand and talk and pour beer for the masses. Oh in other news I am drying out for the month of January just to see how it feels, should make for an interesting time as well. I also would like to post a bit more this year. Well it is nice again here today or at least for the moment so I am going to sit in the window and enjoy some vitamin d while reading a book and resting the legs. as always keep pedaling.

2007....

Some thoughts on the new year. I am tempted to put up a list, but I don't really do the whole new years resolution list. I set some goals and revisit them throughout the year to check in on my progress. At times I slip and fall of the path, usually to later only get back on. I am a perfectionist by nature, and tend to over analyze the nature of things, of peoples motivations and attitudes, so a list of resolutions seems a bit silly. I like goals not resolutions, the word goal has a lot more positive ring to it. However in the new year i plan to post more regularly and I plan to ride and race my bike a bit more regularly. Seattle rang in the new year with a return to rain on the first day of 2007, nothing out of the ordinary for olde mother nature in the new year here.
I had my brother in town over the holidays and it was fun. He is 11 years younger than me and I realized how much I like being an older brother, we had a lot of fun. He is going to school to become a chef, so we ate well while he was here. Its funny we grew up on the east coast and here we are in seattle ringing in the new year. I was not around for much of his youth, he did have a couple great trips to Tahoe while we were living there, he let me know how much he apprecitated that.
So in the new year the goal is to get out of debt. there it is. There are a few smaller goals, but they all go along with the greater goal, simplify. I have been burning all my cds on to my computer, and will be unloading those as soon as I get a back up hard drive. Less stuff, less headaches, less to cart around. Simplify. That is all there is to it. So here is to wishing you all the best in the new year. I will again thank everyone at a later date, just because, why wait to tell those around you how you feel once a year under all this stress of the holidays. I am also working on a birthday challenge for this may. keep you all posted. as always keep pedaling.