its thursday.

Today I took the day off after riding two days at Ruby I was feeling it the second day so though it would be a good idea to just clean-up the bike and rest, so I doing some stuff, secret stuff for Lisa’s birthday which is on the 22nd, cleaned up the bike and then got home from her trip so I spent some time with her. We got this “No Stress Chess” game that teaches you how to play, because neither of us knows how to play, which is kind of weird, but checkers…we are masters!!!

so its what I do, learn new things.

Some Sweet Videos

checkout these Videos from Mashers Media

Bloomer
http://revver.com/video/851959/expert-elite-classes-bloomer/

this Bloomer video has crashes!
http://revver.com/video/852753/the-2nd-bloomer-video/

Brighton Stage Race
http://revver.com/video/965085/the-brighton-stage-race-sat-6708/
at 9 mins is the STXC race

Ruby Race
http://revver.com/video/898009/ruby-campground-july-20th-2008/

Ruby Pre-Ride

Yesterday Greg Kuhn and I went to the Ruby course to pre-ride. What I great trail!! Gonna love racing it, just my kinda of course, tight twisty, steep climbs, tight switchbacks and water crossings! Yesterday the water level was down, just above my ankle.

ride, crash and the hobble home the RIDE OR DIE way.

when will I stop hitting the ground!?

Since I fell the day before the Stony Marathon I haven’t been riding much, but kind of taking a little time off too. So yesterday I get back out there and start the training again. Road from home to do the World cup lap at Bloomer, then I did this other World Cup loop at Bloomer that I made-up. I did each 5-times. Theses are pretty tough laps that last about 2-mins, then after rode the trails at Bloomer. By the time I left there I had about 25 miles, no big deal. I was feeling great! So here I am heading to Stony to ride the tails and do my Stony Cup Loop, which I did 5-time too, then I headed into the single track, at about 40-miles. I was hammerin in the single track hitting everything like I was racing a time trial, still feeling great, then I come up this roller with a downhill right hand turn on the other side, next thing I know I was on the ground, handle bars twisted around, ripped my spoke bracelet of my wrist, I hit my head a little, elbow, knee, calf, chest and back all had scrapes on them. So I went back to see if I could see my tracks to find what happened, my front tire skipped over a root and when it landed I guess I didn’t have enough weigh on the front tire, I could see where I was out of traction and the tread was sliding through the loose dirt. It was a rough fall, hurt like hell, so as I standing there I felt my left quad started to tighten up, I look at it and its all red and is starting to feel like the injury I had to my right leg over the winter, which resulted in a bruise that showed 2-weeks later and lasted about 20-days. I hope that doesn’t happen again, cuz I could hardly walk, much less ride the bike.

So after I start riding again, and soon after I hit a tree with my shoulder and it tosses me off the bike and when my bike lands on the rear rotor landed on a log and got bent to hell, it was so bad the tire wouldn’t turn past he bend, so I had to disconnected the rear brake and find a way to keep the caliper out of the spokes. I wasn’t feeling good, so I tried calling to get a ride home, which was pretty weak of me, but nobody was answering and it was in the middle of the day before everyone gets off work. so I started riding around the lake to keep the leg loose, never heard from anyone and ended-up riding home. So as I heading out of the park I reach into my jersey pocket to get my last gel for the 15-miles home only to pull my hand out covered with gel, and a gel pack with gel running out of it and all over my top tube of the bike. I guess it’s ok to assume that it had exploded during one of the times I fell, but I was happy I brought $5 with me so I stopped to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola, which got me home. By the time I got home I had 64.8 miles on the bike, Lisa came over and we got in my pool and I cooked salmon grill and pasta.

a Dream I had this morning.

Last night I had a dream that I was racing the carbon bike and the frame cracked. I guess It was a bad dream. I don’t know where I was riding, what trail, but it was a difficult decent. I felt the bike was riding weird, I looked down and the frame was cracking just behind the head tube on the top tube, I hit the brakes and it got worse and worse, finally the head tube separated from the top and down tubes. I didn’t fall, didn’t get hurt. The next thing I remember is putting the bike back together and everything being ok, but still broken, I continued to ride and when I got to the bottom of the decent I rode the bike into the shop, the alarm clock went off, end of the dream.

Yeah I had a problem with the frame but not that bad.

Anyone ever have dreams like this?

I want to ride.

Since Friday the Day before the Stony Marathon I have had some knee pain. The Taurine is out of commission so I was riding the SS bike the day before the race, hammering, getting used to the bike again, since it had been 2-weeks since I rode it. Yeah I fell on my knee, right on a rock. It hurt. Friday night I had to work, Saturday was the race, Sunday I had to work, which requires a lot of walking.

So since I haven’t been riding I got around to it and I started a recycling bin that I will be taking to the recycling center, every other week or so. My roommate doesn’t recycle and since I have lived here I was planning on starting, so I did, finally.

Yesterday I was working on the SS bike for about 4-hours cleaning and checking everything. I need a new raceface BB, mine is shot from the mud race. But after a massive cleaning effort everything else is good. I have this room on the back of the house its a sunroom porch that I use for the bike. I don’t have a work bench or table so I found some wood in the trash (would that be recycling or reusing?) and some wood around the house. I built a bench, a table for working in the bike. its nice, I also found some old aluminum weather stripping that I was able to use as edging, helping to stop things from rolling off the top. I will have to take a pic and post it.

One thing nice about the time off I got to spend lots of time with Lisa on Tuesday, she didn’t have to work, I made us some Salmon, asparagus, whole wheat paste with a lemon butter garlic sauce, and ended with some brownies. It was very good.

Stoney Marathon Race.

Stony Creek Marathon was yesterday. I was originally planning to race the Taurine in the Elite class, but was having problems with the bike that can’t be fixed by simple means, so the next choice was racing the Single Speed bike in the SS class. I bet a bunch of people would have much rather raced on a SS.

It had been raining for the last week, just about everyday before the race. Certain places of the Stony XC course can handle the water quite well and others not so well...period. Most parts of the trail that were extremely muddy were taken out of the race, which I agree should have been since it would have completely destroyed the trail, as I’m sure some parts are a disaster.











After the classes left the starting line before us all the pro/semi-pro guys and girls, expert guys and girls, my guess about 50-60 racers, it was soon our turn in the single speed class. The race started as I expected the 25ish people in the single speed leaving the line and a small group of four of us hammering in the beginning right off the start, but soon after maybe 3-miles the 4-man group divided into 2 groups. Eric Tompkin and I were in the lead group taking turns pulling, Eric and I work well together, so we were hammering trying to put as much space in between us and the other guys as possible. Knowing that there were many other people in the classes before us we made and constant effort to make good passes, thanking everyone that was so kind as to let us around. Our first lap was 39-mins. Soon enough half way through the second lap Eric and I caught up to some 20-29 expert guys which was the second group to start. passing maybe, 40-45 people. Ending the 2nd lap in 40-mins. With about 1-2 miles to go on the second lap Eric started to make a little distance on me going up some hills. I was pushing a little bigger gear them him and was having a little trouble on a few of the climbs and extra muddy sections, so he pulled away. I caught a few more expert guys here and there that worked with me a little but I was soon away from them either in the single-track or on some climbs. At the end of the 3rd lap I was told Eric was 3-mins in front of me. I didn’t want to push it too hard in the mud and end the race hurt so I just kept a steady pace for a 42-min lap. But only later to find out that Eric was only 30-seconds in front of me. That is a big difference 3-mins compared to 30-seconds. So I didn’t try to hard to catch him, and was hoping that I wasn’t in danger of being caught by a guy in 3rd. So I ended the race in 2nd place.

Lap Times 39, 40, 41, 42.

No crashes only a couple close 2-wheels drift in the muddy corners that I was able to save. It was good day, I don’t mind the mud.


I want to thank my wonderful Lisa for the perfect bottle hand offs, I can’t thank you enough and I wouldn’t have done so well without you, seeing you every lap helped motivate me and kept a smile on my face even though I had mud in my eyes.

Bye Bye Coilair

The other day I finally sold the CoilAir. I didn’t use the bike much; a 6-inch travel bike in Southeast Michigan just doesn’t make much sense, so thought I would use the money for other interesting things. I did love riding the bike in Utah, Colorado, North Carolina and Vermont. While I was racing it brought me to a 4th place finish at the Colorado Super-“D” race. Took if off a few drops here and there, the biggest 9’ or 10’ some really nice downhill runs out of state and in northern Michigan. So, in memory of the bike...


The VeeDub kind of seems like a hearse taking the bike in its casket to its final demise, the UPS store. May you have a better home in Gainesville, Florida. Are there any mountains in Florida? I’ve never been there.

My Addiction

I have had an addiction that most of you might not know about, you can read about it below.


Driving south from Rochester all I can think about is how bad it hurts, how little patients I have, how much I can’t take it any more. I gotta get it! Here I am driving, I know I got $10-dollar bill in my pocket. Oh yeah, I can get just enough to make myself feel better! After driving for a while, passing mile road after mile road, the drive seeming like a life time, I finally get to my destination, I sit in my car hesitating to get out, I really shouldn’t do this anymore, its happening every day now, even a few times a day. I’m not hooked, no, I can stop any time! The thought goes through my head, what has my life come to, am I a failure, is there something wrong with me? Ok I’m stressed, things are fucked up again, I just need something to help calm me, help me escape, this is the last time! Maybe not, who am I kidding I’ll be back here tomorrow. These people are always happy to see me, they’re always here when ever I need them, yeah, they know my name just like a friend should, you would think they're my friends the way they say hi to me but they aren’t, there are just here to make money, they don’t care about my addiction what is going to happen to me, where I’m going to get the money for my next fix. Who fucking cares, what am I waiting for I should be in there already, so I pulled the keys out of the ignition and step out of my car.

As I walk across the black top, up the curb across the grass, taking the straightest and fast path to the door, all I can think about is what I’m about to have in my hands in a couple minutes. My heart starts beating a little faster, I get a lump in my throat, can’t swallow, I can’t get there fast enough with out running, I know what’s about to happen and its just like the first time over and over again. I open the door, it kinda smells like burning dirt, but the smells that are putting my senses into over drive is what I’m after and it smells so good! its dark inside and everyone is sitting on these old chairs and broken down couches doing their own thing, enjoying what I need. I’m jealous of them they already got what I want. They look at me as if they know I have a problem, the same addiction. I think to myself “I’m not like them I can stop anytime!” Yeah right who am I kidding, remember I’m here everyday! Ah, I see my guy, he’s always happy to see me, almost as happy as I am to see him. He says “I got something new for you, think you might like it, if not its free!”
I say, “no”
“oh you want the usual” he said
I said “Yeah that’s it”
I hand him the $10 bill.
He gives me what I’ve been craving for hours, for that long enduring drive, I go find a spot in the corner to sit all by myself, I put the substance of my addiction up to my lips and take a bit hit, I say “OOOh, its hot!” as I burn my lips and tongue.
I think to myself with a feeling a satisfaction, “there is like a nothing like a dbl-short-no whip-café mocha”

Crashing Sucks.

I went out for the team ride today, Well Greg Kuhn’s ride. We were riding this section of a park with paved trails I decided to take a dirt path which I rode the other day with the SS bike. today I was on the Taurine.

I drew a picture of the trail, it started with a little hill a drop which my shock compressed on it didn’t extend and I fell into the hill. The handle bars hit me in the ribs. You can see where the red spot in the pic


The spot in the thoracic cavity that the handle bars hit is the joining point of the false ribs, false because the last 3 7th, 8th and 9th connected ribs are connected to the sternum by a single cartilage extension. Fortunately cartilage is flexible, bendable like, so it didn’t break, just hurts like hell when I turn to the left and right, laugh and breath deep.

I got lucky that the end of the bars didn’t hit my abdomen or closer to the middle and hit the xiphoid process, you know that little spot in the middle that sticks out.

Just as my shoulder starts to feel better, I hurt my ribs. I hoping it will be better sometime the next couple days.

Stoney Creek Marathon Race this Saturday.

This weekend is the Stony Creek Marathon Race, my first Race of the Year, which was also my first race of the season. What better way to start the race season than to start it with a 60-mile XC race. I’m still undecided between but leaning toward racing the Pro/semi-pro 60-mile course in the geared class or the 40-mile course in the Elite Single Speed Class. Last Year I raced the Elite Single Speed, placed 2nd. Eric Tompkin got 1st. I slid out in a gravel corner the beginning of the 2nd lap, he broke away from me there which was also the beginning of a hill, then got a flat tire on the 3rd lap.

Just Learning

The start of the 12-hours of Addison Oaks 2006

Mark Hendershot is on the left 351. in the black. I'm in the right in the yellow 304

it was my first endurance race, very rainny and muddy, I was just trying to learn form Mark.

he beat me by I think a lap and some time, but hey he beat me.

Endurance Walker

so last night was a long busy night at the restaurant than an adventure until about 5:30am when the song birds started singing. I don't ride much on the weekend, work, walking in circles for 8hrs takes a lot out of my legs, requires alot of energy and I really don't feel much like getting on the bike for a hard one. so since I don't ride but work I try get out with the friends. but yesterday I went for about an hour spin in a local park on a few trails and paved paths, just so I refresh "my happy place" for work purposes. plus I still feel shitted on.

the shoulder doesn't like carrying trays of food.

laughing peanuts

My life makes me sometimes feel like I have shit on my face. sometimes it stinks, it has this reoccuring bad taste, stops me from seeing clearly and causes people to look at me like I'm fucking crazy. then you find and peanut and it makes you laugh once in a while.