on the mend

Well I have not been on the bike in 7 days, 7 whole days of no riding, housework (aghhh!!!!) and rest, interspersed with a little work. I have used this time to get everything that was bothering me done. I even went to another doctor, well actually a nurse practitioner and guess what, her son is a road cyclist and has over trained before so we bonded. She called me a crazy cyclist, nuts, hell bent on my own destruction, of course laughing the whole time. She is running blood tests just to make sure it is overtrainig and not some hideous disease. She helped my breathing by diagnosing a sinus infection of massive proportions, must have been all the shit in the air. So she gave me antibiotics, I really dont like to take these, but I figure after fighting the fight for well over 5 weeks I should try at least. She also made fun of the ENT for not diagnosing the sinus infection. I really didnt like him anyways, he was one of those doctors who takes one look at you and then makes a diagnosis with out really even having a conversation with you or asking you any questions, I felt like he just wanted to collect my money and send me on my way. He is the reason I dont go to doctors, I can not stand people like that.
Back to the nurse so we laughed she told me to use my head and pay attention a little bit and maybe next time I will catch this a little earlier. Blood results on Tuesday. She shared a story about her son overtrianing and he is flying again so there is hope. I still plan to race the Puff even if I am just there on a week back in the saddle, have fun and see alot of my friends. This years course looks to be amazing, brutal, good in a masocistic way, just what I like. I have renewed hope that the season is young and I am going to be on it later in the year. The trans Rockies course looks to be great as well. Day two looks to be brutal, but very enjoyable.
I have been working on a suprise for the Vulture guys www.vulturecycles.com and plan to give it to them when I see them at the puff in 4 short weeks. I think that they will be stoked. Wade is building me a cross bike with forward facing drops and the derailer hanger (yikes) still on. NO plans to use the hanger until I am old or touring or both, but it will be nice to know it is there. Other than that the restaurant is set to get crazy tonight. I wish I were racing at one of the many races going on but hence I am in a race of my own and the finish looks to be in sight, just a week or a little more away. I can breath well again which is a big relief. Send me lots of good thoughts please. Thats all for now later. Keep pedaling.
One more thought I just read UltramarathonMan by Dean Karnazes. Talk about a book that all endurance athletes should read, for that matter all of man kind should read. He is inspirational. This guy is the spirit of endurance he is endurance. He has run 262 miles in one shot, WTF, running hurts like hell. He is not the fastest but he certainly has run the farthest. Check it out at www.UltramarathonMan.com I read the book in two days, it is a fast read because you dont want to put it down. Later. agian

over training

I think that i have overtrained myself and that has contributed to my foul mood and not so interesting posts. The redundency to be exact. I have not been my normal self at all and must apologize for dragging on like I have. I am currently off the bike and waiting for my resting heart rate to get back down to where it should be, not at 58 in the morning, when I just get up. I raced last thursday and it was very lack luster, basically I sucked and my body did not want to help me. So it has been a very rough time for me lately as I want to be charging and riding and getin it done and all I can do is look outside enjoy the sunshine and rest. The last 4 days I have been sleeping alot, resting and watching movies, aside from my trips to work, which has also been better money wise which has helped my mood. So I am on the mend I hope. Has anyone else overtrained to the point where their body is just worked over? What did you do? and how long did it take to get better? Again sorry for the redundencey I wish I were talking about racing and training a being super postive.
The new Star Wars is awsome. Dark and filled with betrayal and lies. I wanted to rent the first Star Wars right after so I could see how it all comes together. I forget so much of that movie it has been a long time since I was a kid. I have not watched the new remastered ones, since childhood just 3 new ones. I have some catching up to do.

doctor?

Well due to the fact that whatever I have just wont go away, I am going to the Ear nose throat guy tommarrow morning, so hopefully I will have an answer to my illness then. Since tonight is a local hammer race I plan to go to see what my body does. I have been waking up with a raised heart rate. Yoga today was good. The thursday teacher is just brutal with so many crazy poses it baffels me. I however can not do half of what she does, but making progress. So even though I am not a fan of the doctor after 6 weeks of not much but trying to get rid of it by every way I know how I must bite the bullet and go to the doc to see if he can give me some information about what might be going on in my throat. I am actually hoping that he has an answer, it will make sense at least. More after that. If i feel like shit I will not continue with the race tonight, it is not necessary. However I am hoping to get a good work out in. It is a very flat course so I have put a bit bigger gear so that I can hopefully stay in contact with the front of the race. It is also super windy again, but life goes on and any day really is a good day for a ride. Wish me luck.

nuff said. These guys rock. Bikes and Paint like no other. www.vulturecycles.com

Jon brown is the man

It seems to me that endurance racing is on the rise, that the events are getting harder and it is the hardest ones that become the most appealing. Man I wish I had gone to the Kokopelli, but as my mood is much better today I think that it still was the smartest thing not to go. 4 finishers out of 15, that says something. 3 of them on singles and 3 of the 4 finishers on 29ers also speaks volumes. Jon brown is the man. He was fucking haling ass. To finish in under 15 hrs. I must say John Brown you are the man. Rumor has it he was running a 34 X 16 gearing. Check out the mtbr thread for more. I would love to do this race next year. I am going to try and stay healthy so that it can be a reality. Good job Mike for puting on such an event.

Look swobo is back. check out www.swobostore.com, nothing more than this will pop up or I could not get anything to open, but can you dig it, swobo is back. Check out their post on www.carsrcoffins.com Sweet. I am stoked. I love their jerseys that I have. It will be great to see them again.  

Sunday is here...

I decided to not race as my focus recently needs to be on recouperating and getting better and I woke up still feeling sick and tired so I decided that it would be better to stay home and relax. Life has been super stressfull with lots of responsiblities that just have to get done and require lots of focus and attention to detail. I am feeling close to being ready to race and test my limits again, but today was not the day so I am relaxing and taking care of myself. I had really hoped to be ready to punish myself agian, but it was just not the day. I saw Kent yesterday out at his job while out spinnig around Seattle and Redmond on my singlespeed, we talked about how easy it is to overdo it and end up in a hole that takes a long time to get out of. I hate to sound like a whiny bitch, I have been riding, I am just not as motivated as I have been. It is very difficult for me to deal with, but I am thinking happy thoughts and being nicer to myself as each day goes. My body feels pretty good, my mind is getting there but not quite yet. I wonder how everyones races went this week end. Roger raced the Adrenalin race as did Chris, I wonder how it went. I wonder how the Koko went. How fast was it done on a single? When I find out I will definatley post what i know. think good thoughts.

These glasses rock. It is super easy to switch lenses, they are super light weight. Check em out on the web at www.axleyusa.com . I am going to have dinner with Micheal the man with a plan. I spoke with him today for a bit. These glasses have the potential to go far as they are in their 2nd year being in the states. They have some really cool glasses in addition to these. Today was pretty relaxing, I explored Seattle a bit and talked with some friends in the area. Matt Chenaworth now lives here, he raced solo 24 hr races for the last couple of years and is now taking a break and having more fun on his bike now than when he had all the pressures of racing on him. We may hook up and ride tommarrow after the race he plans to be out there in the afternoon. Who knows maybe he will ride with Sloane and I that certainly would be fun. I may get a rude awkening tommarrow, it is supposed to rain, and the course looks technical. More on that later, now it is time to relax before dinner. Later. 

Its my birthday.....

Today is my birthday and I am stoked. Hopefully I will soon be on my bike for a little bit today. On Wednesday after I got the call from work I was off. Completed a couple of errands and then it was the open road for me. At about 9:30 I was in Bend, OR hanging with the Vulture crew. They have some new water cut dropouts that look sick. Wade is also putting out a cool zine. Go to www.vulturecycles.com sign up and he should be shipping them out soon. It is about all things bike. Wade really make great bikes, they ride like no other, they track well, the are stiff and he is absolutly obsessed with getting you the bike that you want. Derek is an amazing painter, he can take care of your wildest graphic desires. Check out the pictures on the site my bike has a sick paint job. I have seen some of the other bikes he has painted and he rips.
Derek and I stayed up talking about all the riding in the area, what trails I should ride the next day, and a ride that he has plans for in September, that may at sometme become an race. More after we ride it, as for now I dont want to divulge too much. Wade went home to be with his very sick child. Rio was down for the count and not happy, coughing all the time.
Wednesday I woke up to have breakfast with Wade, and Rio and to do some catching up. We talked about his first ride in Leadville and all things bike. He is a constant innovator. Always striving to make a better product, one that rides better, smoother, stronger, etc. Always trying to improve what he does.
After breakfast Wade sent me to the trailhead to meet up with some of his friends Hefe and Dan another Nat couldn't make it at the last minuete. We met at Phils trailhead. What can I say the trails in Bend are awsome. Twisty turny funride. The dirt was perfect. I would recommend a trail map as I got totally lost after I left the locals, eventually finding my way to all the trails I had been told about, but man was I confused. Got back to Wades, ate at Longboard Louies, major huge burritos, I got the shrimp one. i had planned to stay but due to Rios sickness and the fact that I am just getting over sickness, I decided to make the drive to Seattle, so here I am. Like I said today is my birthday so I am going to get out on my bike here in a bit, nothing too much, I have an appt at the acupunturist and then I plan to have a good dinner. Fucking 31 years man where did they all go. My dad always told me that time flies, but seriously it seems like yesterday I was a skateboarder in Burlington, VT, in high school just havin fun thinking 30 was death. Well here I am and still I feel young, but time has a way of pickin up speed. Later I have fun to chase.

this is a quick one

well here i sit waiting for work to call so that I can be officiall off for the evening. The winter weather has put a real damper on those tourists that pay my bills. As soon as I get the call it is off to Bend to ride with the Vulture boys, Wade and Derek, I hope, then on to Seattle to see my love and to get some business out of the way. While there I hope to race, the body and mind are not fully healed but seriously on the mend, so I am going to do a couple of races on Saturday and Sunday I think. I plan on hooking up with Sloane Anderson to do some riding after the races so that I can get a good day of training in. That is if my body is still not protesting. I have had a stuffed nose, read not able to breath through my nose and a frog in my throat for about a month maybe a little more now. It is horrible in the morning gets better mid day and comes back with a vengence at night. It really sucks and I dont like it but then what can I really do about it nothing seems to make it go away. Rest you might say, well I did that for over a week and it did not improve. Unfortunalty life has a way of going on and I know that I will get better it is just a matter of when. But the good sign is I feel as though I can attempt a race to see where it goes which means it must be almost over. It sure has been a learning experience. Well lunch is ready and I hope to be on the road soon. I should be able to post again in a couple days, Bend I am so looking forward to the trails i have heard such good things but never had a chance to experience them. Tommarrow, tommarrow the sun will come out tommarrow, thanks to little orphan Annie. Forgive me I had a sister, and grew up in the eighties. Keep the rubber side down. later

random thoughts

So I just heard, well last week sometime I heard that the TV program that Park City Television did about the E100 www.thee100.com is actually finished and I am going to recieve a copy in the mail hopfully monday. Dude, how exciting. Ahh the memories. More after I check it out.

Any one think that a documentary indie film about the single speed culture would be cool. I have so many thoughts. Life just needs to be documented. It is not as expensive to do as I once thought.

More thoughts about ditchin work and just traveling around single speedin the days away. No time like this year. This plan is still in it infancy but who knows.

I am thinking about going and doing the Whiskey off road race. www.epicrides.com in Prescott AZ, but am unsure if my body, the illness is fully gone. We will certainly see.

Mothers day is tommarrow, Happy mothers day mom. Dont forget to call or visit mom tommarrow, it is very important. Love to all moms out there. If it werent for you we wouldnt all be here. Thanks

winter is still here

Yesterday was supposed to be a race day but when it rains like it did the soil on Pevine turns in to a sticky mess, so they cancelled the race. I was looking forward to pushing it again to see just how my body would respond, but it will have to wait. Instead I got to really put the rain gear to the test. Dr. Dooms goods work flawlessly. Enough venting, and i stayed dry. It was really raining hard for some of the ride, then let up a bit towards the end. Last night instead of punishing myself on a bike I went out drinking a had just a little too much. Still feeling it today, but it was a planned rest day so that is what I am doing. That and the wind is absolutly howling right now, as it seems it has been doing all year. Reno is usually windy, but not this windy. It is unusually dismall this year. Well it is forcing me to do some of those things that just wouldnt get done if it were beautiful and sunny. The hills around here are amazing and the wild flowers are something else. I have never seem Reno so green, in that way it is a relief. Old Crow Medicine Show is what has been in the cd player as of late. Nice and twangy. My friend Mark turned me on to them. www.crowmedicine.com check em out. Not much else to report, except I am getting a new camera, and returning the old one. MOm worked some deal out. So happy I am. Later

these are the shoes I have been riding. I really like them, especially the sole. More below in the thick of the post. 

back in the saddle.....

I think. I rode today and felt much better. Tommarrow there is a local race, short very short, I think we race for an hour. But I will see how it feels when I punch it. I still have some alergy type symptoms and such but not much else. I have named it the eternal lump in the throat. Well that said the weather was not so good today, but held out and I raged around with friends on the local trails right behind the house. Pevine one of the largest mountains in the reno area and Keystone canyon trailhead are literally a stones throw away. Not bad. So then had a few beers and then picked up some of Ritchey stuff to outfit my bike with. I love the Lake shoes I have been riding. I'll try to get a picture of them. They are not their top teir but are very comfortable and the sole rocks. I have been enjoying them.
Then a phone conversation with my team mate Rich, to see how he is doing and to put some final details on to the plans for the Trans Rockies. I can not wait. Anyone wishing to get in to this race should think fast as there are only 15 spots left. Considering they only had 119 teams last year and they already have 160 thats great. What an experience. We are renting a camper van for the trip, so we can cook our own meals and be on our own program so to speak. My girlfriend Danielle the wonderful, will be our captain. She just loves smelly bike racers who are punishing themselves. Really she is a great support. I have been thinking about quitting my restarant gig in August and hitting the open road for a couple of months, to get a change of perspective. Scary I know, but think of the memories and experiences. I would have to go to the Single Speed Worlds, in State College I have heard epic things. I wonder how the Fruita Fat Tire fest is going. At some time I would like to check it out. Maybe next year. Lots of Brainstorming. Ahhh gotta go relax, walk the dog and check out a movie. Motorcycle Diaries tonignt. Pedal hard.

this guy has the right idea. I took this off the net from pictures of a trackstar party in nyc. I thought it was great. Cars are the enemy. as Kent Peterson would say " any distance is biking distance"  

dissappointment

I can not for what ever reason kick this sinus infection/throat issue that I have. I have been riding a little, but due to my inability to process oxygen well, and that my throat only seems to get drier in doing so I have not been able to train so I dont think that in my condition it would be a good idea to race the Kokopelli. Maybe next year. I have been tossing this around in my mind for awhile hoping that I would just get better so I could go and do it, but I must make a smart decision Trans Rockies is my real focus this year so that is what it must be my real focus, no sense in getting really sick and tired and not being able to do that. I just dont have that kind of money to throw around. I am feeling better than I have been though so I may do one of the local Thursday night races, on thursday imagine that. Put on by the Reno Wheelmen. All in all I am commited to getting back to 100% so that I can be in top form for the end of the season which is when I have most of my big races anyways. Scary that Creampuff is only 2 months away. Jonathan Baker the cancer survivor that I have spoken of is not even on his bike yet, and plans to do it. Inspiration. Tough. Dedicated. I know that eventually I will get better, it is just the way things happen in the world we live in and that pushing it will only delay getting back to a 100%. So I hate to sound like a broken record. This year has been the year of the sickness, and struggle for me. It has been quite a learning experience, and not so fun. I said that this blog would be about cycling and lifes little struggles. Recently it has been more about lifes little struggles, and being held back in a state of darkness, but somebody said "the darkest moment always come right before the light" Well I sure hope it doesnt get any darker in here, because my lights aren't charged. Ha Ha. Well I wish all those racing The Laguna Seca race, the koko, the best. I will hopefully in a small base/build/ riding my bike a whole lot more stage. Rest is the hardest thing for me, actually sitting still is quite difficult, so this time has been gut wrenchingly,is that a word, for me. STill is. But I figure that rest is the only real way for the body to heal. So I am dissappionted about not going to the KOko but what can you do. I am where I am so that is that. I can fight it all i want, but there is no sense in forging on at the expense of my entire season. Keep pedalin.

Boris has made 10 postcards to hand out to promote his race. This is one of Mr Baker, he will be trying to do the creampuff, the brianhead epic, the Durango 100 and the e100 this season. He is still fighting cancer from my understanding. Much respect 

will it ever end...

Winters grip is not losening here in the Reno Tahoe area. My drive home last night was snow filled. Huh? Makes me want to scream wtf. I rode my bike yesterday and felt better but still not 100%. I plan to go for a little road spin today. It rained last night and I think that the trails will be muddy, here that means that the clay sticks to everything and sooner than not you are walking a 50 lb bike. The TV program that PCTV produced about the E100 is finished and I should be getting a copy in the mail soon. Yesterday I recieved the E100 literature. www.thee100.com from Boris so I can start promoting, getting out all the information and talking this up as much as I can. This race is truely awsome. All you out there should think about doing it, screw that every endurance racer looking for one hell of a challange should give this one a go. Trust me you wont be disappointed. There are a bunch of postcards and I am on one. I think thats pretty cool. Time to go walk the dog and then out for a little spin. Peace out.

sweet moves

A friend just emailed this too me. I thought that it was worth putting out there for you to view. This airforce guys got some moves, trust me you will laugh. here is the link: http://glumbert.com/media/dancewhiteboy.html

This is a movie worth seeing. Mind you it is not a happy feel good movie, but on that makes a statement about our president, and what he is really like. It is about the book the Fortunate Son. I am not a huge fan of the bush man at all, in fact I think that he is some sort of antichrist put in power to motivate society to change the path it is on. www.hornandhalos.com 

These are Ibex wool undershirts call woolies. THey rock. Never stinky and they dont irritate my skin at all. www.ibexwear.com Check it out 

Todays quote:

"the only true wisdom'lives far from mankind, out in the great loneliness, and can be reached only thruogh suffering. Provation and suffering alone open the mind to all tha is hidden to others." Taken from The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell.
I thought this realted to my journey and probably the collective journey of all us endurance athletes. It is while suffering that we see the light, sometimes, it is in suffering that I have some of my best and obviously worst moments as well. It highlights times, people and experiences. When I am alone out in the wilderness I am at times overwhelmed by the grandness of it all, I am also weary as I know that if it all goes wrong I am a long way from help. This can be a great time of growth. My experience as of late has been one of learning through not listening to signs and signals and know that I must start to pay attention, for the last weeks have been dark and stormy inside my mind and I am simplfiying all that I do. I am sleeping more, worrying less and through it all staying present and aware. Taking care of myself is what I am learnig to do through not taking care of myself. Randomness. Here is another quote that I liked taken from the same book:
"People say taht what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive."
Again not to sound like a broken record but this is what cycling and endrance racing in general have brought to me. I find that I feel more alive while suffering, and more connected with what I call the Human Condition, read being alive, real. At the end of the day we are all just trying to make it through another day feeling alive and valid. Why do you think that drug abuse is so prevalent? It melts thing away and provides an outlet. Emotions come out, that is where the " I love you man" thing comes from. Natural highs take more than sitting in a crowded bar. Cycling, running what ever it is that helps you to feel more alive do it, it is the best high going. It is also the most connection that you will feel. The vibe at a 24 hr race of 100 mile race is so good, everyone is there to see what they are made of, win or lose, everyone wins and connects due to the respect of just being part of these races, the comraderie is amazing, from the winner on down. So here comes one of those hippy says "love thy neighbor" because to reitterate a point we are all just here trying to make it through the day, feeling alive and validated, "treat others as you wish to be treated" If you made it this far thanks. Keep pedaling it is a way to feel good and connected.

I got this tattoo last winter, it is not finished yet as color needs to be added. It is my challnage for this year, to Believe, not in god but just to believe in myself and what I do.
I think that being a bike racer, and especially an endurance racer forces you to confront demons and vices and at times can lead to self doubt and exahustion. It has forced me to, or persuaded me to define boundaries and limits. I had a very interesting conversation with my mother the other day, and one phrase that stuck with me was:" moderation has always been your challange." I live with the throttle wide open most of the time, constantly in motion, constantly engaged in some form of time constraint, rushing from here to there, and always with a list of chores, activities and events to do. If the throttle is not wide open it usually means that I am the exact opposite, hibernating so to speak. While being in hibernation may sound like a good thing a time of reflection more often than not for me it is a dark hole of self doubt and punishment. I am learning through racing and living and talking and reflecting how to relax, but it is not easy for me. All the time on the bike is my meditaion time to get in touch with me and to work through my mental matrix. Usually after a 24 hr race or an endurance race my mind is at ease and the craziness subsides for awhile, always returning. I am proud of myself recently because I was able to set a limit and stick with it. The real problem is I seem to be prone to over training and overworking myself, and being an endurance racer we have to train for riding while tired, even exhausted so walking that fine line between healthy and over worked/train is difficult, hopefully I will listen next time so that I can catch it a little sooner.
I wonder who won the Trans Iowa. Fassbinder, Curiak, someone else? I am sure we will know soon. Thats all for now.

Thought on the upcoming weekend....

In a way I wish that I were on my way to the 24hrs of Temecula or even the Trans Iowa, but given the condition of by body and mind I am glad that I am at home and not riding. This year has been about overtraining or gettin sick or just learning some skills in ways to relax. My body and mind have been in a hole of some sort and I wish I werent this way but I am. Maybe I trained with too much intensity, or just tried to get too much done. Since my last bout with what I called the sickness at that time, I have not stopped and not taken much time to recover. Endurance racing takes a lot of mind over matter and walking that fine line can be a dance with the devil. It appears that I need to take time to see what has caused this. So now I am back to working 5 days a week and maybe at times less, I will take a day a week to just relax and not think about all that needs to get done, watch movies and put my feet up, and I am going to simplify, how I am not sure, but I will. As for the last days I have spent them putting in tile in my bathroom, and not much else, that has taken a lot of time and energy. I am working on getting some articles in magazines and sleeping. The next two days will be spent doing as little as I can except going to work, and reading. I also got a new camera and was so excited that after downloading my pictures to my computer I got up and walked away with it pluged in and it hit floor with authurity so now it is off to Canon to get fixed. An expensive lesson, and no fun, I was soooooo bummed but what can you do these things happen. So I will have to use old pictures until I hear about the camera from Canon. Send good thoughts, I need them. Thats all for now, off to work I go for the first time in a week, I can not say that i am too excited about this, can you blame me?

Me at the Cool race, one of the muddiest crazyiest times in the rin, at one time it was hailing on us. 

This is some unfinished work on my left leg. What do ya think?, notice the tan line, and to think this was taken in early march and it has been a grey year. 

Happy man!!!!
This is my first attempt at posting a picture. Me a few days after my crash. Two days to be exact.

Well its been a long time.....

since I have posted and all. I got back from Sea Otter where I did not do nearly as well as I would have liked. I ended up not being able to kick the sickness, laying in bed and hoping it would all go away. However I did enjoy being in Monteray, I know I just spelled that wrong but what can you do. So I ended up 11th overall. On a high note my friend Dave won. He was flying I think I saw him for all of a couple mins off the start...
So I went down on Thursday to get away from it all. I needed to go in to the city to pick up some WTB product from Chris Cosentino. He has a sweet new 29er Jericho frame that Josh custom built for him and plans to put in to production called the Cupcake, one of Chris' nicknames that he picked up from Mike Curicak awhile back. I believe that they were in England and Chris was complaining about it being cold or something and Curiak said "ok cupcake" and it just stuck. So if you see Chris out there "cupcake" it is. And believe it or not he is getting a geared bike which will be the Cupcake with Frosting. The bike is beautiful. Josh also made a custom bar stem combo that looks similar to an H bar, except it will accomodate thumb shifters. It is awsome. Man I wish I could have taken pics of it all. Maybe in a couple of weeks or in the near future when I get down there to ride for a couple days. Chris is a dad so I met his newborn son Easton, soo mellow. So after leaving there it was on to Monteray. I arrived in Monteray checked in with my teamates on the Ritchey team and got some shut eye.
Friday I ran around pre rode the course with my friend Dusty, and cheered his girlfriend on. That night I went to the Off Road to Athens premier. www.offroadtoathens.com and it was an amazing documentary about the points chase to get in to the Olympics. Gripped films did an awsome job. I breifly talked to the producer flimer, one of the two who made it happen, it was basically filmed with one camera. When you see it think about that. This movie is soooo worth seeing even if you are a non cyclist the drama and just the whole thing is awsome. Saturday I went and watched the Short Track events and thne just hung out at the hotel or the beach trying to get better.
So the story goes. I didnt feel great and my seatpost kept slipping so what can you do when you seat keeps sliding to the height of Slalom bike, not much push on and try to maintain with lots of standing. I persevered and made it to the end. Then the long drive home. Good times and now it is snowing here so I am laying low and watching movies.

Sea otter

Sea otter is just around the corner now. It actually starts on Thursday the XC race is not until Sunday afternoon though. I plan to get down there on Friday afternoon to hang out and have a good time. I plan to go see the Off Road to Athens www.offroadtoathens.com movie premier. It looks to be a good one. So now I am resting and packing all my stuff for the weekend in Monteray. The celebration of the bicycle. That all for now, not much to report. It looks as though the weather is supposed to be good for the race. Keep pedlin.

Finally.....

The weather is sunny still a little chilly but 100% better than it has been. Since I have not been riding much in the last couple days I had some time to surf the web and came across some site that I like. www.trackstarnyc.com has some really good fixed gear riding. Along with links to the messenger worlds and other such events of the culture. www.cinecycle.com has a documentary coming out at the bicycle film festival, www.bicyclefilmfestival.com titled messenger which looks to be very interesting. Check it out.
That and I have been thinking about ways to carry water and supplies and what filter or tablets to get for the Kokopelli. Well even though I am not feeling a 100% I am going to go stretch the legs out on the local trails then maybe spin on the road bike and of course off to work after that. Last night was a definate increase in business since about two weeks ago, what a relief, I needed the money. My birthday is coming up 2 days before the Koko actually, my mom has already informed me that I have a digital camera. Excitment. I hope I get it sooner than later.
Steve Fassbinder raced in Texas this weekend I wonder how it went for him. Youll know as soon as I do. Well out the door I go.

Snow and other random thoughts

Yes that is right it is snowing like mad today, earlier it looked as though I would be able to get out for a quick ride, but mother nature has given me another day of rest. In someways I am thankful, as I have been fighting a low grade infection of some sort for about a week and it only seemed to be getting worse. Thanks to the teacher that made Airborne, www.airbornehealth.com which i have been pumping in to my sytem I seem to be on the up and up. This stuff just works, it has stopped what ever it was in its tracks and hopefully it will be gone by tommarrow. I am thinking about doing, as I wrote this I recieved a call from Steve Fassbinder, funny thing is I was about to write about thinking about the Kokopelli and that is just what we talked about, among other things. He makes great custom rain gear. I wish I had a camera so I could post pictures of them right here. The last of the garments that I ordered are about to be made. The rain pants sure would help me out right now, so would fenders on my bike but now we are splitting hairs. So it looks like I will be doing the Koko, with his encouragement and all, now there will be at least 3 single speeders at this race, Curiak, Steve and myself, maybe more. I also found out that Steve is racing the Trans Iowa, looks like it is going to be the Steve and Mike show there, throwing hammers at one another. I am excited to see the outcome.
As far as the Koko goes water is my biggest worry, how to carry enough or filter it along the way. That and what gear to run, how big or how small, I have heard that there is alot of rolling terrian towards the end but then again I havent ridden the course so who knows what to expect.
Well time to do some research to see what might be the best option for lights and water etc.

Day of rest

Today was a day of rest, well it was really a day of household chores and hopefully a night of rest to come. Sorry for the wrong address to Kents site here it is for real this time http://www.mile43.com/peterson/MonoLog/MonocogLog.html check it out. Last year I helped promote the e100 endurance race, www.thee100.com by putting up posters and getting people involved this year Boris, the man behind the suffering, has come up with some great postcards and large posters, I am on one of featured riders on a postcard. I am very excited about this, these will be unvailed at Sea Otter. All you endurance riders this is a must do. Besides the course which speaks for itself, boris is such a great person, so passionate about what he does and an amazing artist to boot. www.borisart.com check it out. Thats all for now. I had something come up so I will not be at Granny gears Temecula race but will be at the Moab race. I also had a long talk with work and have some time in may off I believe that I will be participating in the Kokopelli race. I am a little intimidated by the whole thing, but think that it will be such a learning experience. Happy trails.

ONe tuff cookie

check this site out. http://www.mile43.com/peterson/Monolog/Monocoglog.html Kent is doing the great divide on a single. The site has pictures of his bike and lots of great info about him. What an inspiration. Tuff to sum it up. That and he hasnt had a license since 1986. Awsome, commitment and dedication. Check out this website, www.carfree.com more of us should not drive and push for better bike routes and give public transportation a good name, not the I'm too poor to have a car,or its been taken away name that it seems to have in our society now. I challange more of us to drive less and ride more. Just imagine what our society might become if we all did this. Think about it.
As far as me I have been riding, did another epic ride in Auburn the other day with Roger. Auburn is a mecca of single track and steep I mean steep climbs all of them I dont think that we did one moderate climb all day. Great for the power training. And even the weather held out for us. However it was overly humid for the desert rat I have become as of late. That and the weather breaks momentrily and then hammers us again with cold gail force winds and grey ness. This was a grey bird kind of year.
Other than that just settleing in and getting ready for Sea otter and then the 24 hrs of Temecula. Too Bad for granny gear there is so little interest in this race, whats the deal. I think right now there are 17 team signed up, one solo female and 3 solo men. What up? They put on great races and seem to have a dwindling turnout, while adrenalin thrives. Why? Any thoughts let me know.

The weather has finally.....

broken and the sun is out. The wind is no longer gail force and that is a good thing. I had jsut tried to post a huge entry and it didnt happen so I dont have the time to re post the whole thing. Man can computers and things make me crazy, so now it will have to be the condensed version of all that has gone down as I have run out of time to post at this time. It never seems that there is enough time in the day for all that must happen. go go go, if only I had another two hours a day to get all the little things and some of the big things done.
So Thursday, my one day off this week had to be filled to the brim with activity. Woke up ate the usual, a banana and grape nuts with a coffee back and emergen c shooter. Ha ha. Then off to yoga, which I havent seen really improve my flexibilty but has through staying in touch with the breath brought me more in touch with the breath, which is a good thing for any cyclist. Get out there and do yoga yalll. Then off to eat lunch at my favorite modern mexican joint Buenos grill and then home to work on my bike before a little ride. Well the little ride turned in to not so little a ride as my friend mark and I were enjoying the dirt and the conversation. After that it was home for some tasty recovery drinks and what I thought would be the end of the day. Mark had other plans and he took my roomate and I to the climbing gym, Rocksport here in reno, this is awsome, man my forearms kill me now.
Yesterday was aday of recover watching the movie PRO, a documentary about the uspro road championships, awsome more people should watch this it is great. more later. later

The weather has finally.....

shaped up here and the wind has died down to a dull roar, not the blazing 30 plus that it had been there for a while. I looks as though a minor disturbance is coming through within the next couple of days and then I and alot of other cyclists and even some of the skiers are ready for the winter weather to be over and for summer to be here. In Reno and Tahoe for that matter there really are two seasons snow removal and construction, well I am ready for the construction season to begin. That means trail riding and lots of it. Tommarrow I am going to drive, oh how I hate to be a fossil fool, to Auburn to ride with Roger. He has a nasty route planned with much suffering. I cant wait.
The last couple of days have been action packed with new and old experiences alike. On Thursday, my one day off, I did yoga, I havent noticed much of a flexiblity difference but I have noticed a more clam feeling and I am more in touch with my breath, a good thing for a cyclist since i have started this practice. After yoga it was home to work on my bike a little, after a bite to eat at my favorite new age mexican joint Buenos Grill. After that I did a blaster of loop up Keystone Canyon and back to the house to meet my friend Mark. Mark is a little ray of sunshine and I always have a good time with him. This was however our first ride together so off we went with a series of loops out in Evans canyon, gotta love the little short bermed section it is always my favorite. After some more climbing it was back to the house to enjoy some tasty recovery drinks, and then we were going to eat. Well isnt it funny how plans can change quickly as he invited my roomate and I to go to the climbing gym with him. Mind you I have never done climbing of this nature. So on my bike and off to the climbing gym I went. This is an activity that all should try. WE started with a little bouldering, man were the shoes tight. I did some of the easier ones but it was not easy. My forarms got worked so quickly. They hurt today in fact. The whole activity helps with line selection and calming your mind in tough situations. I really dug it. Then it was off to get some pizza, back on the bike to chase the others in cars down. Then finally on to Mark and his wife Amandas place to enjoy some good company and eat some food. One large pizza didnt even slow us down so we ate a bunch of pasta after that and then some heath bar crunch. That was a good day. THen is was back to the grind for me. But tommarrow should be another epic day in the saddle. Today I will probably just go for a little spin if at all. I may do some yard work instead. oh the joys of home ownership. late

wind, weather and a foul mood

Well it has been a little bit since I have posted I have just not been in a great mood and work has been bogging me down. 14 hrs on easter is not exactly good for the body or mind, alright on the pocketbook, but not so good on my feet and legs. The balls of my feet were destroyed after that day. My superfeet footbeds did help to ease the pain though. www.superfeet.com These things are great.
The weather has been less than cooperative for riding. The wind has literally been gail force out there, tumbleweeds, dirt and debris of all sort flying around. I did yoga today, my muscles, hips etc are do tight that this is a great training tool. That and the breathing, with the concentrated breath and the focus on the breath it helps with the on the bike breathing and that is the most imporatant compliment to me.
I watched the movie The Hard Way, a documentary about the Net Zero team and their trials and triblations to make it on the american road scenc. www.prothemovie.com has a link and is the next movie that I plan to watch. This was a great movie. Although it did cut in to my sleep time which was not the best. 2:00 am bedtimes are not the greatest.
Lack of sleep and weather and crashing and racing my first really hard effort and working overtime have all contributed to my foul mood, which I feel lifting and am sorry to blog you down with. I am going to take the single speed out for a short power effort on the local trails in the howling wind, good for the mental side of training. Hopefully tommarrow it is supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees so I can get in a long ride on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday is my only day off this week, but I have a good vactation coming up when I go to Sea Otter and then on down to the 24hrs of Temecula. I hope the course is recovered after all the fires and floods. Speaking of 24 hr races what was the deal with Granny GEar and Adrenalin fighting as suing each other over who had the idea and could do what where. Craziness, I want to say cant we all just get along, after all we are all cyclist and should be honored just to meet one another, we are part of the choosen, those that get it so to speak, if only more people got it and rode just a little bit we as a society would be in a much better place. I am so glad that I have found cycling it is just the best thing going. It is my me time, my time to socialize, reflect, contemplate, decide and meditate, Thank you cycling and thank you for reading if you made it this far, I know that at times this can be long and boring and for me it is a place to get it all out in the world. Tiime to go suffer in the relentless wind.

you stupic f--k

There I am riding along enjoying the moon and clouds as well as paying attention to the speeding cars beside me and this is what I here, "you stupid f--k!!!!" Me the stupid f out on the bike enjoying myself and minding my own business. How bout you the stupid fu-k behind the wheel of tons of steel, you Bush loving priasing stupid fuck. tHere I wrote it. As of late I have been very angry, I have been having those vigilante fantasies where I chase them down and its a show down where they get beat up by the stupid fuck on a bike. Whose stupid now asshole. Sorry for the nasty rant but I have to release it somewhere or it leaks out in the world when I really dont want it to, and karmically speaking that would be a no good. I really think that we could all benefit from a little fight club in our lives the realease of angry and frustration but bonding in the same light. Call me crazy that has been my mood lately. I have just been raging and peoples stupidity is baffling at times and my fuse is a little short lately. If we were all a little more commpassionate and not so judjemental it would be a lot easier. I just get so upset with the way in which people chose to live and be and it all seems so hopeless at times and why bother, and I can relate. Dont stay there and it does all matter and we are all interconnected and we all should honor and love one another. There I go from fight club to loving one another all that hippy shit, thanks mom, thanks dad. Ying Yang and we all go full circle. All is good I just needed to get that out there. I challange you to Choose something each day that matters to you and do it, however small and honor yourself for doing so. Look at things from anothers perspective so that you can relate, this doesnt mean you agree but you can see how they may see things that way even if you dont and honor them and yourself just the way you are. Well this rant needs to end because it probably is too much, but it matters to me and cycling matters and damit i am going to ride at night because I want to, because it saves me money on gas, which is so high it is astounding, but we are not entitiled to dirve the biggest most gas gussling cars because they feel safe or what ever the reason my be. Be less car dependent, be more independent. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Out. I am still fired up about stupid drivers and people that get upset with me for riding my bike, but less so because I have left it here. Thanks agian

The Cool Mtb race

Last night after a long night in the restaurant I was greeted by a white out for the lovely dirve over Mt Rose. One hundred mile an hour winds and the snow combine to make for a rather sluggish drive home. I began to wonder if it would continue how would the drive over Donner Summit be, and was it worth taking my newly wounded body out for a full on race pace effort. I imagined crashing again, was the crash in seattle just a warning, and all fashion of other things. So after a short 6 hr sleep maybe less I awoke to snow, here in Reno, and for a moment stayed thinking why bother with all the travel and possible not being at my best because of the injuries.
After tearing myself from the warm embrace of my bed I started through the morning routine of coffee and running through the pre race checklist for the 10th time so as not to forget any key ingredients or items for the day. "wouldnt it suck to get to the race just in time and not have my shoes or my helmet?" I kept asking myself what else I might need. Finally the checklist complete, I loaded up and headed out in to the nasty weather. If my drive was precursor to the day I was in for a real treat, even if the sun miracuriously came out it had been raining cats and dogs in the Auburn, Ca area for the better part of 36 hrs. The Cool race has a way of bringing bad weather and since they moved the date from February to March the gods obliged and opened up the heavens for our racing and driving delight. Well the drive over was filled with bad drivers and on the lighter side a deep talk with my mother. I was worried about getting there on time, not worried enough to leave early, but certainly worried. I arrived with a few moments to spare, dressed got my number plate and prepared to suffer, mental I felt relaxed and ready to go, I wondered just how my body would respond. After the crusier class full of inebreated cyclist took off in the opposite direction, we were ready to race and the skies were just about to open up.
The mega phone told said go and we were off at a sprint, the course quickly funnels in to singletrack and it reallly helps to be out front with all the mud we were to encounter. I got a great start but that was not the case for everyone, a woman was cut off by a rabid back of the packer and sent to the pavement, it turns out she broke her collarbone, all so someone could get ahead. The start is important but not the end of the world. Those who want to start fast should get up front to begin with.
Soon I was out front with the leaders of the pro expert, me and my pal Roger and Rich Maylay? one fast older fellow on a single. We diced it up for awhile, and when we hit the first real climb Roger seemed to be struggling a little with the mud, he looked to be carrying a massive gear, Rich and I got away and that is the way it stayed. For the next two laps we traded back and forth and tried to keep our eyes from sealing shut. Half the time I could not see a thing. Toward the end of the second lap I was able to get a slight advantage on the last of the steep climbs and thought I had sealed it up, that is until my eyes crusted over and I had to stop for fear of crashing hard in the deep puddels. Rich caught me and we were once again locked in a battle of which he ended the victor, by a couple seconds. I thought for a second I was gonna catch him, but he got me. I ended up 2nd but first because he was in the older age group. On the whole this is a great race. It goes to benefit trail work in the area. Big props to Auburn bike works www.auburnbikeworks.com and fatrac www.fatrac.org on this one. My teammate Monty ended up second in my class and Roger ended up 3rd. So it was a podium shot. Unfortunately I thought I had to work and didnt get to stand up there with them. However I didi end up with the evening off and oh how sweet it is to put my feet up and relax. I plan on watching the Tripplets of Belleville, and having a tasty malt beverage. Ciao

seattle,kent peterson, and the next post

First off I must say that I have been meaning to post for awhile now, and I am sure why I have not will become evident in the upcoming paragraphs.
First off I traveled to Seattle to see my bettter half, Danielle, so we had catching up to do and time to spend together. However with the new Ritchey Breakaway frame I had a bike so the plan was to see what it would be like to not use a car for transportation, we did pretty good. She is not the best cyclist so just riding around is somewhat challanging, although she makes up for her lack of skill and speed with her enthusiasm. So the first day we rode to the local pub had a few beers, Seattle has so many nooks and cranies, it is awsome. She lives in the GreenLake area so we visited Greggs at Greenlake bicycle shop and the pub up the street from there, a subsidiary of the Elysian Brewing company. Makers of fine ales and lagers right in the Seattle area. I am a huge fan of craft beers so there are just too many options up there, and the beer has a very distinct taste. For those of you in the know as well as those not it tends to be rather hoppy. I had the Immortal IPA, and she ESB, and the name of it escapes me now but they were great. The sun was out and the talk at the bar was about how we were all gonna pay with either a dryer and hotter than hades summer or one where the weather makes up for lost time and rains all summer. Either way the people were super friendly and I left feeling uplifted. Danielle and I went out for a great dinner and pondered the weather, for Wednesday was to be a long day in the saddle for me as I was to met Kent Peterson at the Sammamish bike shop in REdmond for a day on the local trails in and around that area, but the weather was to be the worst it had in 2 months, typical weather rainy and windy, not sunny and beautiful. But like Kent said any day is a good day for a ride. Tuesday was a mellow day of riding to the store and then watching movies, something I had been longing to do for awhile, given the work and training load I have been under as of late.

Wednesday rolled around and the weather was challanging to say the least and not something that I am accustomed to. I head out just after nine for the 20 mile road and bike path ride to Redmond. It sprinkeled a little, but the biggest challange was the wind, thank god for Reno it is always windy here so it was not that difficult, but did slow me down, I was hoping that Kent was waiting and not too upset by my delayed arrival. He was not and for two guys who have talked breifly a little over a month together we feel in to the typical banter that two passionate endurance cyclists tend to do. We talked of wool and all its great properties, he had these great Swobo gloves,in addition to that we could have been walking bilboards for Ibex, he with the knee warmers and me with the 3/4 knickers. I also got to test my new rain vest that I had just received from Steve Fassbinder aka Dr Doom, I am going to have to find out the origin of that nickname, the vest worked flawlesly over the next 4 hrs.
I had no idea where kent was taking me but we talked over the histories of our lives and all that is possible. I was shocked to find out that niether he or his wife has had a licence since the mid 80s, I took that as inspiration, what it must be like not to at all be caught up in the car culture that is so prevelent in todays society. I must say he is one hardy indivdual and I hope to spend more time picking his brain and riding to far off places. So off we went, he knowing where we were and me having no idea. We rode over Redmond Ridge and hit what was called the Pipeline trail on our way to Carnation and the Tote? trail system. I was borrowing a bike from Mo Lettevin and Kent was on his Divide Rig. Me light with a fairly easy gear 32 x 18 and him weghing in at 45 lbs with a 32 x 17 gear. He has been logging mostly gravel path miles in antcipation the divide race and I love the twists and turns of single track and have been logging most of my miles in that fashion, so when we arrived at the trail system I slide away under the twists and turns and would wait here and there, mind you we ended up getting lost, which he said we would becasue the trail system has more routes and trails in a small area that I thought possible, we could be half a mile apart and be right next to one another going in opposite directions. As we left this area it really started to pour, my feet were really the only sore spot but we got a break in the rain a little sun on our return to Redmond. We returned to the shop where I bought a new pair of socks, the Defeet Woolie boolies which saved my toes from certain removal and parted ways. On my way home it started to hail and was the worst rain I had ever ridden in. The next post will be on the details of my return home, where I got another first out of the way. My face and the pavement met under less than ideal circumstances, kind of like redneck family members at a wedding. I ended up bruiesed and batter, not really enjoying my slice of humble pie. Tommarrow I am supposed to race the Cool race, but the weather is getting in the way as I must cross Donner Summit to get there. My ribs and shoulder are also protesting but I imagine I will rally and get myself to the start line.
So I am sure by now it has become aware why I have not posted sooner. I also hope to post some pictures of Kents rig in the upcoming days that is if I can figure out how to do that. Ciao

Sunday epic ride

In life as in cycling the word epic is in the same place as the word extreme, over used so that the meaning is lost. It becomes mute and not what it should be. I could probably write that in a different way with more prose if I could come up with the words, but the mind is slow today and at a loss for the words to convey what it is I am really trying to say. But the point is when I use these words I feel that what I have done truely defines the word being used. It was epic 6 hrs in the saddle, with 7500 ft of climbing and I am unsure how many miles. Epic is the word.
Myself, Roger and Monty met at the Harmony Ridge Market on Rt 20 just outside of nevada city with a plan to ride to bite off a huge chunk of trail. I had been having dreams about riding the South Yuba trial as a loop, but no real knowledge of how to make it happen, roger knew the area well so he was our guide, other than having ridden parts of the trails at other times we had never undertaken such a ride so it was going to be an adventure.
So we hit the trial at just after ten am after a warm up on the Pioneer trail we turned right on a non descript trail and then we did a bunch of fire road descending eventually winding our way to the Round Mountain trail, sweet switchbacks and blazing fast single track were the order of the day as we headed down towards the river. After winding our way along the rocky outcropings with amazing views we finally hit the river and from there a bunch of climbing awaited up past the South Yuba camp ground and on the Makalakoff digins finally up towards Relief Hill and the Missouri Bar trail. On this section the 29er really performed, the climb was moderate and I was absolutely flying. On the Missouri bar descent I flated, my first flat on the 29er . AS i was fixing it and almost done, Rogers tire flated, it was a strange event as we had been stopped for a least five mins before it happen. We had been talking about stomach distress and I thought his flat was the realeasing of pressure, which would have been extemely impressive, but very inhuman. So after fixing the flats we were back on course, and all the climbing and ups and downs that the South Yuba trail has to offer. Eventually winding our way to the town of Washington. We refueled at the little store and then faced a 7 mile 6% grade back to rt 20, this was agony it hurt so bad to climb this thing, after that it was just a handful of miles on the Pioneer trail back to the cars. It was on of the best rides i have ever been on. I want to do it again, but make it a bigger loop next time. I was amazed with my fitness and very relieved that I felt this way in March on a big ride of this nature. Roger should post a comment to better describe the trail, so check it out. Big thanks to roger and monty for this ride, lets do it again sometime soon. See you all at Cool. Tommarrow it is a big ride with Kent Peterson, Mo was supposed to go with us, but duty calls and he can not get away from work. Well I am looking forward to exploring some trials here in the Seattle area. Keep the rubber side down.

random thoughts

I really have trouble coming up with blog titles. They just never seem to be focused or direct enough or I am posting about so many different things that one title doesnt really do what I am posting any justice. Thanks for bearing with me. Yesterday was a beautiful day, as mr kerkove said the other day time to work on those tan lines. Funny thing is mine are still around from last year, so it is more a reestablishing of them than anything else. The high desert sun has a way of leaving its mark quite literally. I must say it is good to see the sun again.

Yesterday was another day on the Geiger climb with my friend Dave, he rides for WTB, www.wtb.com , and is quite the hammer. He just got back from the marathon and the stage race in Texas where he had a blast, not his best race, but it is early still. We beat each other up on the way up, he eventually got away and beat me to the top, but still we were flying. He post a 35 min time and me a 37 min and 45 second climb. I was happy. Then of course I had to go to work and deal with the masses of guests. yeah.

Tommarrow I am doing a ride with a one Mr Roger Lackey, yes of the Franchise Tax Board, ha ha, outside of Nevada City, Ca, on the South Yuba trail. Should be in the 50 to 60 mile range, on the old single speeds. I need to get some bike time before I race Sea otter, and then the following week while others are suffering across Iowa, www.transiowa.blogspot.com I will be suffering for a mere 24 hrs at the 24 hrs of Temecula, www.grannygear.com . I say mere because the afore mentioned folks will be going untill the finish the 300 plus miles. Oh how I love april.

Lately I have been listen to Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Tom Waits, and Lou Reed, I am liking what I am hearing.

On Monday I go to Seattle to visit Danielle, I am going to contact Sloane and I am definatly riding with Kent Peterson. I am going to try to get hold of a digital camera so that I can take some pictures of his great divide set up for all of you to view. I am actually going to try to get more pictures up on this site, but computers are new to me to bear with me please. Out to do a small recovery ride then weed the garden, finish packing and head on out to work.

The great race

Sunday was the day of the Great Ski Race, a cross country ski race from Tahoe City to Truckee, totalling 30 km with a bunch of climbing, not sure how much but a bunch. I was intially going to race my bike this day down out of Sacramento, but work and a bunch of other things lead to signing up for this instead. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day, sunny, with a little wind that kept the snow in that perfect condition for fast sking. I wanted to beat my time from last year which was 1hr 40 mins. I was a little worried as I had not skied in a couple of weeks ansd was wonder where the fitness would be. Also on Saturday I ate a big slice of humble pie on a road ride, the Saturday hammer fests, by getting blown out the back. I am not a roadie and have lots to learn in terms of sitting in and all those roadies things. So there I was lined up and ready to go, heart beating fast as the start is always the worst, the gun sounded and we were off. I knew right away that I was doing well as four of us pulled away right away, and soon we were passing people from the group ahead of us and I was happy. THe snow was really fast, and my friend got the wax right so I was ripping along. The snow did not really gett to mashed potatoy or anything and it was great. The down hill has some wicked berms and twist and turns and was a blast, unlike last year where I ended up on my ass a bunch of times, this year I was having a blast and my downhills were on. I did however get passed by Kristen Krone, an ex olympic downhiller who I must say had some skills and let it hang out on the skinny skis. That was Sunday mornng, then I tried to get out of work, no dice and had to work. Not the perfect ending, but the day was one to remember.
Monday was an easy spin followed by about 50 miles yesterday, up Geiger, but I took my friend, who is a complete novice and that kept the pace way down. Today I am packing up the Breakaway, and getting ready to go to Seattle again. I am getting a bike from a friend and going to ride some mtb with Kent Peterson and hopefully Mo lettvin, www.drizzle.com/~lettvin/moblog.html I am super excited, I hope the great Seattle weather holds out. Gotta go, now I have house work to take care of before a little spin and then some relaxin I hope.

report

I have not posted recently, I have been going, going, going. Riding, Riding, Riding. Work, Work, Working. All good times of course. Rather than bore you with the details I will give you the power point. Sunday was a little recovery ride, legs somewhat sore from the previous days activites. Monday not much, just lots of rest and other house activities. Yard work, ahhh the joys of home ownership. Tuesday was Yoga in the morning, yes I love the hippie in me, then riding to pay the bills and then a little climbing and return ride through the countryside. I did however almost have a bad encounter with a old lady in a Jaguar. There I was day dreaming in the bike lane and what interupts my peace, a loud horn and a jaguar hood with in inches of me, I almost lost control, but when I regained control I was furious. Usually I can laugh it off, but I could not that day so I tore off after this lady, wanting blood, and nothing less. Lucky for the both of us the light up ahead did not turn red and she got away. I will remember that car though, so I hope I dont see it again. What is it with people in cars? They suck. I aspire to be a good motorist, if I must drive. I really strive to not drive a car.
Wednesday it was suppposed to be Mountain bike time, but noo, the weather over the summit was less than inviting, snow, and I figured what the heck, it is really early in the season so why get stress, there will be plenty of time to ride soon. So I was determined to put in a big ride and that is exactly what I did. 90 miles on the road in the exteme wind, with bunches of climbing. My back ached and I wanted to stop but I always struggle at some point during a ride so I toughed it out and felt better at the end of it. In total I was in the saddle for a little over five hours. That night I ordered some raingear from the infamous Steve Fassbinder. Custom and all. MOre on this later.
My big delema for the weekend was do I race an xc mountain bike race or do I do the Great Ski race, www.thegreatskirace.com , I have decided that I will do the great race and hopefully beat last years time. I am a little nervous as I have not been on the skis for a little while here so I just hope to be ready. I am prone to being nervous and the such so this is normal, due to the fact that I have not raced any time in the recent past. Well I must go do a little ski to get my legs back under me.
I have also been plannning what to do around the Sea Otter and the 24 hrs of Temecula. I am taking ten days off and doing a little traveling, going to seee the California Coast, or the sections that I have not yet seen. Gotta go. Busy, busy.

drag race

This is some amazing footage, bike handling skills galore. It takes a couple minuetes to download, but if you like watching messangers race through the streets of NYC this is worth the wait. It is filmed from a helmet cam so you get a real perspective of what it is all about. here is the link http://www.digave.com/videos/red-web.mpg It is awsome. Out

the last couple daze

Daze, that is exactly what it has been for me. I had planned to complete a larger ride on Thursday, but woke up in a haze, utterly exhausted. After 6 nights of work in a row, and not a one of them even close to being easy, I was at the end of my mental rope. It was ski and skate week where all the schools in California have vacations, so they all migrate from the city to the lake so it is a virtual myriad of SUV's and children everywhere. I swear people leave their brains and manners at home when they go on vacation, I hope to not be guilty of this myself, please help me if I do. So needless to say I was a wreak, so I did a few errands on the fixie seeing if the mood would strike and it definatly did not. So I had good conversations with my girlfriend over the phone while I enjoyed lunch and a mid afternoon beer. That night I picked up my Ritchey wool trainer and my breakaway frame set, I was able to unbox it and put it together in under 30 mins, if I,the not so mechanically inclined soul, can do this it must be easy. That night I enjoyed a movie, riding giants, about the history of big wave surfing and went to bed. What a day.
The next day I did what was supposed to be an easy ride, my friend Scott Fifield calls all his rides easy and he proceeds to drop the hammer. Which he did, so me on my fixie spinning like mad or grinding up a steep slope, 2 1/2 hours of fun. My legs were a little sore so on the communte to work I gave my legs a little self massage, and boy did it work wonders. Work was not that bad, but I did have the slowest section and was on my way home at a decsent hour. I hoped to be feeling better the next day becasue I wanted a 4 hr ride to be part of the day.
Saturday woke up and was ready to rock. My legs felt great and off we went in to the overcast day. We did a bunch of climbing on our way to Gieger Grade, one of the local training climbs. Geiger Grade is approx 7 miles and 1400 ft of climbing, steeper at the ends than in the middle. I was feeling good so I hit it pretty hard and completed it in 37 min, not earth shattering fast, supposedly Greg Lemond did it in 27 mins in his prime, and the fastest roadies here hit it in about 33 or 34 mins, but for this time of year I was happy. It started to get cold but we forged on and did the Lousetown? loop that ends with a short steep climb that I have named the peanut butter climb, because my legs always feel like peanut butter when I climb it, it was also in the shade so it was really cold. Then down and home, barely making it home in time to shower and head back out the door to work. OH boy. We got pretty slammed at work and I was ready for it to be over at about 7 but no dice, I was on my way home at 11:15, not too bad for a saturday. I thought my legs would be shattered today, but I think I will put in a hour today to spin the legs out, nothing more. All in all it has been action packed. My next day off work is Wednesday, where i hope to get in 3 to 5 hours on the single speed outside of Nevada City, on the other side of Donner summit down in California. Later

report

A big thanks to jeff, www.jeffkerkove.bolgspot.com for the support. I must say after reading Sloanes, http://geocities.com/sloaneanderson/index.html report on the Old Pueblo race, www.epicrides.com I am impressed. Congrats to Sloane on his victory. It sounds very undesert like and epic. I mean epic in the sense of epic and out of this world hard. Much props to him.
Today was supposed to be a long day in the saddle, but I was far too tired and out of it to put in those hours, so I went to yoga, and then spent the rest of the day sitting outside a nice Mexican Restaurant and talking, on the phone, to my girlfriend in Seattle. Now I am at home after a decent, 1 1/2 ride getting ready to go to go pick up my Ritchey Breakaway bike and wool trainer. Not much else happening, just wonder how to attract more people to this site. Is my life not interesting? Let me know what more I need to do. My season keeps mutating as I add and subtract races, such is the bike racers life. I am trying to keep it sane this year so that I dont lose my mind mid season. My priority is to stay sustainable and to not use my car as much as possible. Cars bad, bike good.

sponsors

Well I have some sponsorship info. Ritchey, www.ritcheylogic.com will be helping me out this year. I look forward to riding their products. They are based here in Reno which makes it quite convenient. Due to the fact that my girlfriend currently resides in Seattle, I believe that a break away frame is the order of the day. Ritchey also has some nice Wool trainers that i would like to get me hands on.
Speaking of wool products, ibex www.ibexwear.com will be helping me out as well, they are a Vermont based companty that specializes in wool products of all kinds. I love wool and all that it does for me and they are putting it out in some creative ways.
Crankbrothers, www.crankbrothers will be the platform under the shoes, I have ridden these pedals pretty much since their inception and love them. That is all for now. I am excited about the upcoming season and look forward to all the races.
Superfeet, www.superfeet.com is taking care of my feet, these footbeds rock, if you have never tried them out you should, they make a huge difference in foot comfort which makes a difference over the long haul. These are invaluable. Check em out.
E-Caps/Hammer Nutrition www.e-caps.com is taking care of all my recover needs. I love the Recoverite, it is magic, the mito r caps and supreme caps are awsome as well. Sustained energy, Perpetum, Heed, all they products are too long to list, but they work.
I think that the first race of the season will be the Cool Classic. Hope to see you there.

community/small world

When I ride i have all these thoughts about what it is to be alive and what it all means and they all seem to make sense, but when I try to put them on paper a lot of times they dont come out the same, or what it really is, is I cant quite remember how it is I wanted to say what it is I wanted to say. That probably makes no sense what so ever.
As mentioned before when I was in Seattle I rode out to Redmond to see Kent Patterson, and had a very wonderful conversation. That conversation coupled with the trans rockies undertaking, in which I have yet to met my partner face to face, have truly made the world a smaller place. It is interesting observation. As I get more and more in to this sport I am meeting more and more like souls, people on a similar path. We are all connected by our love and passion for the bike. For finding out what is possible and for pushing out limits. Age is unimportant, and as Kent said and I am sure I am paraphrasing a bit here " it becomes more about the passion and the shared ideas than about geography." Rich is located in North Carolina, Kent is in Washington, other people live in the bay area or Vermont or Arizona, oregon. But to me this is so mind opening, it goes along with my post about being mindful, it is helping me to be more and more a part of the world than apart from the world.
I had a very nice conversation with Chris Cosentino the other day, the new dad is doing great. IF anyone is looking to purchase an unridden, single speed airborne 29er he is the man to get ahold of. It is going to be built up sweet and sold for a really good price. Some of the highlights are Jones H Bars, www.jeffjones.com a new wheelset, ti laidback seatpost. If you have any interest let me know and I will let him know.
Well its my day off so I will probably, since I worked so late last night, god bless the holidays, that I missed my yoga class this am, I couldnt seem to wake up and make it all come together in time. So I will be reading, today it is Ghost Rider, by Neal Peart, of Rush. It is a travel book of sorts, about a very rough time in his life and the traveling he goes on in an attempt to cleanse himself. Very interestign so far. He travels by motorcycle, which makes it somewhat parrell, well maybe not, but it is a good read so far. Then another lovely night at work. Last night was busy, but like all nights should be people having a good time, laughing and relaxed, and of course taking care of number 1, me. Ha ha ha

ride report

Well, the weather here in Reno is anything but typical. Man have I been spoiled for the last two years, when I thought overcast, or even partly cloudy for that matter, was bad. Today I awoke to the slight piter pater piter pater that has become all to familiar. I was full of excuses why I shouldnt ride and why I should. Constantly searching out new and interesting feelings on the bike I hit the override but on all the mental banter and headed out in to the rain. I decided to do a ride in to the North Valleys around Reno and also that way looked the least problomatic. So off I rode, with one water bottle and no food in to the chilly wet weather. I actually enjoyed myself, but two and a half hours later I was finally home and hungry as hell. It was fun. I realized that over half the battle is getting out there and doing it. I also tried out some pants that were meant for trail running by patagonia that worked out great. Water stayed out and I stayed dry. I have been putting down the miles by day, and getting killed in the restaurant by night. Good times. Hi ho hi ho its off to work I go.

mindfulness

I read on Matt Chesters blog, www.mattchester.com , a long post on this subject and it touched a cord with me as I have been reading books and trying myself to be mindful. Being mindful and present in the moment is not as easy as it sounds, letting thoughts come up and pass through your mind so that you are only engaged in a single activity at one time is not a prevalent thought in our society. For me, this journey of self improvement and self awareness, which I think parralel the idea of mindfulness, started at the begining of last year and a time where I was not making healthy decisions, and what a strange journey it has been. Take a moment to think about all the times you are doing one activity and at the same time your mind is not even really focused at all on that activity. How many times are you daydreaming about the future while driving, while eating, while on your bike. This idea of mindfulness and living in the moment is for me a challange, there are days when I do really well and feel very in touch and connected, there are days in which I dont do so well and feel so not a part of anything and filled with such dought. Then I am reminded that in a quest for mindfulness isnt that I will always be happy and part of being mindful is noting and not fighting the bad feelings, not fighting the flow of feelings. I sometimes think that it is a search for constantness, is that even a word?, but what it really means to me is to create and awareness and knowledge of the self. Aware of motivations and who we really are as humans. One thought that has really helped me to be more aware and more mindful, is to tell myself that we are all a part of a large meaning and that we are all humas just trying to get throught the day and we are all struggleing for happiness and to feel a part of the larger picture. We all feel so small and disconnected, we need to feel more a part of the whole and more interconnected if we are to last as a society. Me, Me,Me. instead of We,WE,WE. That is what being mindful is for me. The biggest skill that has helped me and seems to be at the center of the mindful practice is to pay attention to your breath. Pay attention to all the feelings and more importantly when the mind wanders bring it back to the breath, the simple in and out of the breath. It doesnt need to be deep but usually with practice and focus your breath will deepen, but if it doesnt it doesnt. Another phrase that has helped me through it all is "it is what it is, it isnt what it isnt" THanks for reading the rant, and the meditation thing is not at all easy, I have found that walking meditation works well for me. More later.

thoughts from Seattle

Well it is not typical Seattle weather, ie it is not raining cats and dogs sideways at least part of each day. It has been very enjoyable weather, maybe a little chilly but other than that it is sunny and beautiful. The scenery here is amazing, when it is clear you are basicaly confronted with spectacular mountain tops graced with snow wherever your eyes may look. Rainer, the Olympics and the Cascades, just awsome. It is probably these things that keep everyone here. I took the opportunity to rent a bike from Greggs GreenLake Cyclery, and to spend some time in the saddle to get my barings so to speak. I have found that on a bike I feel more a part of what i am experience, more interacitve possiblities and just plain more alive while in the saddle as opposed to being in a car. I feel more out of the box, not so confined and just more connected. I can't really express it any other way than it makes it all seem more alive, and I have more vivid memories, I can create more lasting impressions in my mind than I can while in a car, and I can see more than just walking around, even though at times this is a very effective tool.
Yesterday my girlfriend and I rode through a majority of the neighborhoods in Seattle. She had participated in a group ride last year called the Spawning Cycle, and we attempted to recreate the route. We mad a few mistakes but had a great time. She is not much of a competitve cyclist, much more recreational than i so we took our time, and I must tip my hat to her, i was very impressed. For someone who has not been riding much at all since last year and before that she just rode casually, she did very well. For her to ride 40+ miles and stay mostly intacted except for one low sugar point is awsome. Today I needed to get out and do some more riding so I rode the Burke Gilman trail over to Redmond to meet Kent Patterson, at the Sammamish Valley Cycle, www.sammamishcycle.com, i was hoping that he would be working, and low and behold he was. We had a nice conversation and I wished that i had a camera because I took a look at his rig that he will be riding in the divide race, www.greatdividerace.com, but more on that conversation later. For those of you that dont know who he is he is going to compete in the Great Divide Race on a single speed bike, we connected immediatly and it was nice to meet another soul on a similar path in life. I hope to stay in touch with him. Time to be getting moving agian, tonight we are going out with Danielles parents and then tommarrow I am back to REno and all the guest waiting in the chairs at the restaurant, but it sure has been a nice break to be away from the daily grind and all.

graphics soon

I hope with the help of Jeff Kerkove over at Kerkove Media, www.jeffkerkove.blogspot.com that soon I will have some tasty graphics for you all to look over, to spruce up the old blog. I know it is kind of bland looking right now, but I have some plans that will hopefully be to everyones liking, and if you dont like them, well hay I tried and we are all entitled to our opionions. I have seen this mans work and it is all good. I am excited about what it will look like. I hope to have a list of links to other sites that I like and other racers pages etc. I hope the racing blog sites continue to grow. It is an interesting experience to write your life down for others to read and comment on. Make every day a new day and always strive to make it interesting, I hope.
I just put in a huge week on the bike and skis, not much rest considering the resturant was busy all week and I was up till the early morning hours, little sleep for little old me. I went for a 60 miler yesterday with a bunch of climbing, I would have like to go longer but the monster we all call work got in the way again. Nuff said. I am just going to ride to the bank and back today as due to another holiday that we all call Valentines Day I have to be a work way early so I can get ready to deal with all that goes down, taste the pre fixed menu and drink lots of coffee. Not to say that I dont like the holiday it is just another way to keep us buying things for our loved ones that isnt really necessary, people get all twisted around the idea that things have to be a certain way, I've got an idea, how bout we all celebrate valentines day the day after the official holiday that way you can get roses, I mean lots of roses at a discounted price and use the left over money to do something fun with your lover, not stress, just tell her you are looking out for her and that from now on you will celebrate the day after the holiday. More bang for your buck. If you get my drift. Well enough on that subject I have a very short ride to take, then a couple days off, as i am going to seattle to spend time with my better half. I plan to do some riding while up there, but I put in a huge 3 weeks and now it is time to rest and relax a bit. I might post while up there if I am struck with the interest, if not I'll be back on Saturday. Man it sure is good to get away for a bit. Then I come back to the crowds of Presidents Day weekend, makes me wish I were going to Tucson for the race. THat Old Peublo race is a fun one. later

humble pie

I like the phrase we all need a little hmble pie, i.e getting our asses kicked when we think that we are really in a good place. I like this in the phyicaly arena beacuse it give you something to shoot for, it inspires us to push harder, train harder, be more dedicated to our goals. Any goal the more focus and intensity at which you approach it will directly relate to the outcome. The old energy in energy out kind of phylosophy. Everytime I feel myself getting high and mighty a slice of humble pie is just the cure,then I am brought back to earth and again start to dedicate and attack. It gives you a time to rethink, evaluate, it is a sort of refreshing do over. It is lifes way of asking you to reconsider, to be humble, to be human. So here is to Humble Pie, and when you get a slice dont get upset use it as motivation and focus. Be human be real, because when you stop doing this usually life will give you a slice of the pie. Thats alll for today. I have been exersising so much that today it a scheduled day off, just housework and then off to work for the joys of Saturday night. If I dont get off to late I am heading to a friends birthday party, it should be a good one, by the time I get there everyone will be beyond so it should be an interesting study. Have a goood one.

another auburn epic

Today was a epic day in the start of what I hope is an amazing season. Although I could feel the fact that it was early season and my fitness is not exactly where I would like it to be, for the first single speed ride of the year, I feel a sense of satisfaction. The trail locations can not be revealed but the views were stunning, the climbs steep and the decsents were steep to rolling and everything in between. Stats or as many stats as I am going to keep were 4 hrs and 40 mins of riding with 6100 feet of elevation gain, and a majority of the climbs were steep with no brakes or time to rest, I tried my best not to walk but a few times was forced off the bike.
Sunday the black label bike club shindig was intesting and like nothing I have ever experienced. Tall bikes and custom make bikes were the order of the day, with all sorts of wild antics to boot. Too much for words is the thought that comes to mind, other worldly is another thought as well. I am beat and am heading to bed for some quality rest and reading. I have been reading the Metal Cowboy, www.metalcowboy.com it is very well written stories about all that bike touring can offer, by Joe Kurmanshie, I butchered that but dont really have the energy to go and get the book, it is on the other side of the house.

random thoughts

Well I have been using the Dell DJ, this thing really packs on the songs, it is great, easy to use and all, and hold something like 10,000 songs, crazy. The headphones that it comes with absolutly suck but I am about to get some new ones to deal with that issue.
Yesterday a few of us put in some miles in the range of 75 in under 4 hrs on the road, cant say we did too much climbling, but we either had a huge headwind, read slow speeds or a huge tailwind, read high speeds, it was great, my legs felt good the whole time. I got home just in time to shower and head to the restaurant for some fun times. Last night was busy and what better for my recover than to stand on my feet until 11:30, such is life. I am really looking forward to the ride in Auburn on Tuesday. Today will just be a little rest and then off to the Black Label Bike Clubs party at the Jazz Club here in reno. The weather has been marginal, but yesterday it was something like 35 degrees when we started but absolutely beautifly sunny so we were all psyched because it felt so warm, you know it has been cold when 35 feels warm and you are feeling overdressed. Still putting the finishing touches on the season and trying to finalize what races I am going to do, I am probably going to do 5 ro 6 major races. And a handful of shorter races. It takes me so long to get warmed up these days.
At the gathering I am going to be taking my Surly flask out for a test ride, it is the perfect size, not to much but enough to get you through the day. Little Jamesons Irish Whiskey for the day. The Street dogs www.street-dogs.com show on tuesday in Davis,CA should be a good time, I cant wait, Tuesday is going to be one of those days to remember. Good riding in Auburn in the warm weather and then a show, what more is there. Enough rambling for now, I plan to get a short ride in tommarrow to open the legs up agian and then it is tax time, I am hoping for a big return. Hope with me.

today

Well I sure would like to make this more interesting, but I haven't had that much interesting go one lately, just the everyday grind sort of stuff. Trying to stay healthy in the restaurant business this time of year is ever challanging and the vitamin regiment has been high and offten. Lots of Emergen C this stuff is great, I even take the one with chondriotin and glucosamine, I know I butchered that one. I am just gearing up to go nordic ski and then another fun filled night at the restaurant. Tommarrow we plan on a big ride and then sunday is a bike superbowl party, good times. As far as the restarant business goes my mom sent me an interesting article that appeared in the New York Times, I don't agree with it totally, but it had links to some interesting sites, www.bitterwaitress.com , www.waiterrant.blogspot.com just to name a couple, in the high stress waiter world where nothing is in your control, but you are resposible for everything people need to find a way to let go, other than going out and pounding drinks at the local watering hole, and these seem to provide space for that. I must say not all of us have the outlook on the websites, but most of us can certainly identify with what they are saying. Anyone who deals with the public has similar stories but for some reason when people go out to dinner they seem to leave their brains and a lot of them seem to leave their respect for others at home. I could recite many stories that most people would gasp at in just the short 5 year period in which I have waited tables. YOu are treated like a servant by some, bartenders on the other hand are defended, they have the power of the drink, I cant imagine why people would insult someone who is about to bring your food, not that I would ever do anything, but fuck, do you really want to take that chance. I believe in karma, so what goes around comes around and the world will take care of it for us. Sorry for the rant, I'm off to ski, to keep my santity so I dont have to rant so much about these things.

activities

Well training is in full swing. Today was a day of rest, well sort of, today all I did was ride to the coffee shop and then to my get my hippie on at yoga class. I have found that even though I have only gone to four classes the breathing exersises really pay off. I can already notice a difference. So I imagine I will keep going. But I am so unflexible that it is not even funny, well I bet it is really funny to others. I will keep going no matter what.
Yesterday was a good day I rode about 60 miles with a bunch of climbing, I went to the top of Geiger Grade, a local climb. The descent was cold, by the time I got to the bottom my feet were ice blocks, and I still had 20 miles to go. I got home and thawed out, the shower burn is what I call it. Not much else to report here, just working towards putting it all together.

trans rockies

The trans rockies is a go. Rich Dillen and I are going to tackle this thing on single speeds, you may know him, he is the mutant that did the La Ruta on a single speed last year. I am really excited about this. Anyone want to sponsor us? I also had this crazy idea last night to auction off a specific dimension area for a tattoo, that would finance this race, and maybe even this season. Crazy I know, but an idea none the less. Anyone else got any ideas. I am also going to try to keep as many posts during or right after the race on this blog. It is my idea to document this as much as I can.
Did some more crazy hippie yoga, actually I think that this commplements cycling, with the breathing and the streching, I know a little esoteric and not action oriented, but I like it. You know me and the 50 something and up ladies. We are all here just trying to make it throught another day.
Superbowl sunday, the Black Label Bike Club is holding a tall bike joust contest among some other stuff, should be interesting and fun to see all the other bike nuts in the community. All for now, the blog should be getting a little more interesting soon, as Jeff Kerkove may be spicing it up for me.
Sunday I did a two hour nordic ski, yesterday not much and today it was yoga and some more sking, which I need to go an do, and of course work both nights all nights, it is hard to get everything done that I want to with all the work, 6 nights a week for over a year now, I am on a mission and will not stop until it is finished. Ciao