WINTER STORM 2007

IT LOOKS LIKE WE ARE IN THE CLEAR FOR NOW. ABOUT 8 INCHES ON THE GROUND WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING UP TO A FOOT IT LOOKS LIKE THE RIDING IS ON HOLD FOR NOW. TIME TO GET OUT THE SKIS. IT LOOKS LIKE THE FISCHER RCS CARBON LITES THAT I BOUGHT LAST YEAR (BUT NEVER USED AS THE TRAILS QUICKLY TURNED TO SHIT) WILL BE BUSTED OUT TOMORROW. WHILE SNOWBLOWING THE DRIVEWAY I WONDERED HOW MANY MILES THE HERMITMAN WAS LOGGING TODAY....

THE TWO MONTH COLD

WELL IT IS OFFICIAL, AS USUAL BY THE SECOND WEEK OF DECEMBER I HAVE MY FIRST SERIOUS COLD THAT WILL MOST LIKELY LAST UNTIL APRIL. COUGHING, HACKING, PHLEGM THE WHOLE DEAL...GREAT. THIS DIDN'T HOWEVER STOP ME FROM RIDING THIS WEEKEND. COUPLE OF RANDOM THOUGHTS....

1. PONTIAC LAKE IS DIALED RIGHT NOW. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SOME ICE ON THE ROAD LEADING TO THE TRAILHEAD TRACTION IS AWESOME AND YOU CAN EVEN STAND AND HAMMER UP THE HILLS.

2. THE DEAD DEER THAT WAS LAYING BY THE SIDE OF THE TRAIL WAS BEING REMOVED THIS MORNING BY MARK THE TRAIL COORDINATOR. THANKS MARK... I DIDN'T MIND CUTTING DOWN TREES BUT I WOULD HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE AT GUTTING BAMBI.

3. THE WIND ISN'T SO BAD IN THE WOODS.

4. MY FEET ARE STILL COLD

5. ON A SIDE NOTE NOT RELATED TO CYCLING. THE LIONS SUCK...AND I'M PISSED OFF THAT ONE OF MY FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAMS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM THE PLAYOFFS. I ENDED UP SCORING THE SECOND HIGHEST POINTS FOR THE WEEK BUT OF COURSE THE ASSCLOWN I'M PLAYING HAD TOM BRADY AND RANDY MOSS...NEEDLESS TO SAY HE SCORED THE MOST POINTS THIS WEEK. OH WELL THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR. IT JUST KINDA SUCKS WHEN YOU DON'T GET ANYTHING ON YOUR 75 DOLLAR LEAGUE ENTRY FEE...

KICKING IT OLD SCHOOL

I know what does this post have to do with mountain biking? Well after reading Timmy's blog tonight I became inspired. You see long before I gave a shit about actually racing my mountain bike I simply rode for the pleasure of riding. When the weather turned cold some of my friends and I would turn to snowboarding. Alpine Valley in the heart of Highland Mi was where I used to LIVE in the winters. Season passes, you might say I had a few. I think in 1990 was when I got my first. I remember the days when snowboards first came out. The wooden Burton Performer was my first. Concave bottom and three aluminum fins. Couldn't turn that thing for shit. Recalling some of those early boards it's hard to believe that the ski resorts even let us ride at all. I remember Alpine let us ride on Thursday nights after 6pm when the lifts re-opened after the grooming/dinner break. This was back in the day when Pine Knob, Mt Brighton and Mt Holly wouldn't even allow snowboarding (imagine that now). As technology grew and boards got better more and more kids took up the sport. We even had the Alpine locals (or the AVC) as we were known in the day. Guys like Scott Ray, The Dean brothers Scotty and Jimmy, Scott Hope, Matt Globke, Mike Lantzy, Jay Wahl and even a skinny kid named Billy Holmes (who always said he was trying to get sponsored to ride a snowboard but that Mountain biking was what he got paid to do). Yeah OK whatever Bill. But anyway we were there riding for the comraderie almost like an extended family. You never really kept in touch with many of the guys in the off season but you always knew that as soon as AV could start making snow you would surely see the same faces lining up in the park to take runs in the pipe or digging out hits on some of the parks gaps. Unfortunately as most of these kids grew older they got into drugs. I remember Scotty Dean was smoking pot by the age of 12 and doing acid and shrooms shortly thereafter. Soon the core group of kids that used to hang out there were more into looking to score their next bag of weed than they were into riding. Familiar faces didn't show up anymore and I kind of lost the passion. It's funny I ran into this guy Gregg who was working at the Apple store in Somerset about two years ago. He used to ride AV on occasion and kept in closer contact with some of the kids we used to ride with. Apparently most of the guys have turned into delinquents and I guess Scotty Dean totally lost it after doing to much acid and was permantely living as a ward of the state in some mental health institution. It's to bad because that kid had the most talent of anyone. So, Tim I know what you mean by running into the same loud mouthed punk kids AKA "the winter friends" every year. I miss some of my old ones and wonder what they are really up to. I hope everyone is doing well. I even think this winter I'm going to break out the old Joyride El Feugo 154 (only true AV locals will remember that board) and take the kids out to the hill, errrr old trash heap. I do wonder if I'll run into any of the old crew but I doubt it...TC

RIP

Evel took his final ride today. Who could ever forget that failed attempt to jump over the Snake River Canyon on his rocket powered "Skycycle". I still think that he pulled the chute on purpose after take-off effectively ruining any chance of clearing the canyon. Any guy that has a 70's pinball game named after him was truly the stuff.

GETTING READY FOR WINTER

TODAY'S RIDE THROUGH THE RAIN AND SLOP HAD ME THINKING IT'S TIME TO PUT UP THE CARBON STEED AND TIME TO SLAP THE FENDERS ON THE OLD CRACK AND FAIL. SINCE THE HEADSHOCK REBUILD FAILED AGAIN I DECIDED TO HAVE THE LBS SEND THE FORK TO CANNONDALE FOR A FACTORY REBUILD. IT LOOKS LIKE THEY GOT IT RIGHT. HOPEFULL NOW CAN GET IT OUT ON THE TRAIL AGAIN.

SLEEPING WITH ONE EYE OPEN

Gripping your pillow tight....EXIT, LIGHT .....ENTER,NIGHT...TAKE MY HAND WE'RE OFF TO NEVER NEVER LAND.... What Lyrics and how appropriate. Thanks for the inspiration Timmy. The funny thing is today was the opening day of firearm deer season and as DC and I were spinning around PLRA I always feel a little twitchy knowing that somewhere out there could be some KOOK with his .30-06 Bolt action Remington glaring down his sights at us. This time of year we usually run into at least 4 or 5 guys out there who give you the stink eye as you roll by them. Tonights loops included one lap forward then one lap backwards including the horse trails, which were part of our original trail loop before the separation. Not one hunter seen on first loop, however on the second loop by the horse trails we came upon a older gentleman toting his rifle. As Don rolled by the hunter I could see the disguist in this guys face, as if our presence was scaring off all of his precioud deer. The second lap concluded at about 5 pm which put us at about 2 hrs for tonights ride. Not bad at this time of year. The funny thing was when we got there there was only one other car in the parking lot. As we were leaving about 5 other guys pulled up getting their lights out for a night ride. While I admit back in the day we used to do alot of night rides this time of year I really don't miss them especially since the leaves are getting so wet and the trail was getting rather treacherous. ENTER NIGHT..... Now on a post script if Jamie G reads this blog or if anyone reading it knows her can they convey a simple message to her? Now that TRHWoOC is back on the air can she PLEASE BLOG ABOUT IT? What happened to that OC energy drink guy ? Did he die?

LUSTING

Damn these things look sweet. I want one but Timmy told me today that he heard that they are ALREADY SOLD OUT!!!! HELP!!! ANY IDEAS?

Never leave your bike unattended

This is the first rule of mountain biking as stated per Cathy....Back in the day if you went in to use the outhouse at PLRA by the time you came out your bike was usually about 10 feet up in a tree hanging by its rear derailer (yes Cathy was a nimble climber). Today's recipient of the Cathy bike prank was none other that Timmy Finkelstein. After riding for a while at Stoney I came out to check the parking lot and noticed that Tim's car was in the parking lot and his loaner bike was leaning up against the bathroom. So in memory of Cathy I decided to move his bike slightly (only around the corner of the building) making sure to make some noise in the process to alert him of my prank...I couldn't help but wonder if Tim heard me and if he did what was he thinking...was somebody stealing his loaner bike...How would he explain that one to Cullen? How many insurance claims could one have on the same bike? Well I didn't take Tim to long to find his bike (I don't think he was that pissed). Well that's all for now...hope this provided Mitch with some new blog material as I found out today from Tim that she is self-professed "blog geek". CYA TC

CAMO MAN

I've never been much of a deer hunter. I figure it is just a way "the guys" can get away from their wives, drink some beers and try to kill something. I've had several encounters with hunters while riding at PLRA this time of the year. It's funny because they always look so serious as they are walking down the bike trail (as if deer run the same trails we ride). What is even funnier is that most of these guys are dressed up in all of their camo trying to be all stealth so as not to alert the deer to their presence. Today near the end of panty ridge I came across this guy walking up the trail towards me with wearing pretty much every piece of camouflage you could imagine. He even had one of those camo masks over his face. Now like I said I'm no deer hunter but from what I've heard deer are supposed to have a keen sense of smell and the most wiley of hunters try to do everything to keep their scent (read body odor) from escaping and alerting the deer to their presence. It was funny because even with all of his camo and scent block crap on I could still smell the stench of beer and cigarettes on this fool. I wonder if he got the "big one" today.

JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A CROSS BIKE DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO RACE

Those words were spoken by none other that Tim Finkelstein after tonights ride. Well not that we actually rode together it was just that we met up accidentally in the parking lot after we both got done with a few laps at Stoney. I had been tossing around the idea of not racing tomorrow or sunday as I would much rather get up early ride for a few hours then spend the rest of the day with the kids. My decision not to race was made easier tonight as I got home to find my son was puking which was then followed up by a bout of diarrhea (I know TMI for AK). Sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it shooting the whole day in the ass driving to AA then racing for 45 mins only to come home by 3 or 4 pm when I could have a couple hours of good riding in early in the morning and be back in time for lunch then a quick nap before off to swimming class. I'm still undecided about Sunday but if my son is still feeling sick I'm sure I'll be at home. Good luck to all the racers out there and thanks Timmy for the good advice....TC

It's hard to figure this biking stuff out

The past week was kind of a lost one. Late last week I felt like I was coming down with some kind of cold. As a result I took off Friday and didn't ride much Saturday since the weather was so nasty. The thought of riding on Sunday didn't seem to appealing but I decided to head over to PLRA for 2 laps and then some light backroad work. Monday was more of the same as again I headed to Pontiac and downed 2 laps fairly easily. Here's where things get sticky. Tuesday comes around and mentally I feel strong but my legs are feeling tired and sore. So I decided to ride out to from my house to Stoney. It is about 12 miles and I figured that would give me a good warm up before hitting the trail (in case anyone is wondering texting is a good way while riding to kill some miles at a warm up pace). After hitting the trailhead I proceeded to rip off two laps that were 3 1/2 minutes and 4 minutes faster than my lap times at the last Stoney XC race. I mean I was flying up hills that I was dragging my ass up last September. I finished up my ride with a quick spin on the road before heading back home. Overall it was a great ride and a great day. So today is Halloween. The plan is to shoot over to PLRA after work to rip off one hot lap before heading home to take the kids out Trick or Treating. The problem is my hot lap never materialized. I had every vision of killing it today but my body wouldn't cooperate. I had no legs on the hills or one the flats. I'm pretty sure that any choad out there today could have passed me and there would have been little I could have done to counter. It is funny how one day you can feel shitty but have an incredible ride and the next day your mental edge can be there but the body just isn't willing or able to go. Well at least I got to take the kids out for Halloween. For the most part we had a lot of fun. We did happen upon one house where one adult was dressed up as a skeleton sitting in the bushes. The kids were interested to see if he was real or not however when the person made an attempt to get out of his chair both of the kids FREAKED OUT and Jenna practically lept into my arms. Zach was scared too but he just proceeded to walk off stating "I don't like that skeleton anymore!!!"

Stoney Trail re-route part deux

I must admit that although Stoney is really close to my house it's not a place that I choose to ride on a regular basis. I like the singletrack section of the trail well enough, however the only problem is that there just isn't enough of it and the two track that connects the three singletrack sections seems kind of lame. Well about three months ago the TC at Stoney (He goes by the name of Wingz on the MMBA board) decided to do a re-route of a washed out climb in the "roller coaster" section of singletrack. Admittedly the hill did need to be re-routed however the new trail that they put in lacked the flow of the old section and quite frankly it was really lame. The biggest flaw of the new section was a 180 degree off-camber turn at the end of it which then redirected the rider back up a small hill and onto the old trail. Well upon riding at Stoney yesterday I was suprised to find that they had finally bench cut in some of the new trail so it wasn't so off camber and they had totally changed the end of it so that it now took you further down the hill before changing direction (in not such an abrupt manner) tying back into the old trail....WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!! The new trail not only restores some of the flow of the old section but it also allows the rider to maintain some speed to as well. If you look at the picture above you can see some logs up in the distance that run off to the left this is where the old reroute used to turn left to reconnect with the trail. Now the trail just heads downhill and straight. Well done. It's not like I am going to go out of my way to do a Stoney ride anytime soon but it is nice to see that they took some time to correct an obvious flaw and the result is much better. Thanks to everyone that put in the time out there to do the maintanence. TC

Tough as nails

This is a picture of Terry Farnsworth's finger following his crash tonight at PLRA. The accident occured after Butt rounded a corner and stuck a pedal. He didn't seem to go down to hard but I knew something was wrong as he immediately popped up holding his right hand. The first words out of Terry's mouth were "my finger is broken". DC made a quick exit to go back to get the car to pick Terry up and I ended up walking/riding out with him. Not once did he wince in pain and he even rode all the way back to the parking lot via Gale road. Hope you get better soon Butt....It is too bad because Terry has been riding really strong lately.

Top 10 reasons why this weekend sucked

10. I had to work which always puts me in a foul mood

9. I was starting to catch a cold from Zack

8. Fighting the oncoming cold made me tired and cranky

7. Riding was held to a minimum secondary to numbers 9 and 8

6. The weather sucked

5. My 2 fantasy football teams got throttled (thanks to Uncle Art

who convinced me to start Kurt "pop" Warner over Derek

Anderson)

4. Michigan won

3. Did I mention that I worked

2. When I did get out on Sunday it started raining half way into my

ride

1. The Thai food I ate on Saturday night gave me one mean case of

colon blow

How's the fit look

Here's Zach's new set of wheels. After fighting with his sister all summer because she wouldn't let him ride her "big bike" I finally broke down and got him one of his own. It is amazing how easily kids can learn to ride a bike and this little guy has no fear. His greatest pleasure is pedaling faster than his sister so that he can beat her in a race around the block. Cornering seems to be his only downfall as he has yet to realize that he needs to slow down before trying to rail around the sidewalk.

What a difference a day makes

Tuesday was a beautiful warm fall day. As I arrived at the entrance to PLRA I had my training plan in mind. Today's goal was to ride 2 laps the first one being a hard lap, attack the hills and then recover followed by a more casual tempo controlled lap. I must admit I rode 2 laps on Monday and felt great. The legs were a little heavy at first but as the ride progressed I felt stronger and stronger. Today's laps would not be the same. From the start of today's ride I didn't feel right. Mentally I was prepared but my body was not responding. I never felt comfortable attacking and to top it off I was starting to get some lower back pain. After descending down from the first big climb I noticed a guy riding a specialized FS bike a little way down the trail. Seeing anyone in front of me usually causes me to wick up the pace and I soon found myself within 20 yards of the rider. I caught him at a section we call Terry's tumble (that's a story for another day). I slowed down and I figured he heard me coming because he slowed and moved to the right side of the trail. Well unfortunately for this guy the place he decides to move over at is slightly off camber and as just as I was passing him he starts to loose his balance. He didn't fall but didn't look to gracefull as he dismounted his steed. I breezed by not thinking much about the situation then from behind me I hear the guy shouting "Hey asshole slow down next time". Well that is definately one way to get my attention to which I respond "well maybe if you could ride faster this wouldn't have been a problem" I slowed down only because I was interested in what this guy was going to say next. Nothing really to interesting but I got the impression that he thought I was a dick. That incident kinda killed my motivation to ride (that and the fact my back pain was getting progressively worse) caused me to abort the ride after one lap. After getting back to my car I looked at my saddle and noticed that my wonderful Easton EC 70 post had slipped allowing my saddle to tip upwards, which I assumed was causing my LBP. I decided to go home and correct my saddle positioning but more importantly I finally got off my ass and ordered up a Thomson Elite post. I know there are sexier and lighter posts out there but I've had enough of the old slippage of the saddle. My attitude adjustment will have to wait, just ask the dude on the Epic.

Stoney CX race report

To say today was hot was an understatement. It seemed way to hot for a cross race and the thought of running that beach in the heat seemed unbearable. I decided that since my training has been coming along and I'm feeling a little stronger that I'd line up on the front row. It seemed like a good idea until 3 more guys decided to "squeeze in" pushing me to the far outside left. When Robert gave the go, Terry Ritter who was directly to my right bumped into me killing any momentum I had forcing me to the back. I have to admit it kinda sucked. The start out seemed fast again, but not as fast as Bloomer and I kinda got back up with the main pack. About midway through the first lap the main group broke up into 3 groups and of course I was in the third group. Oh well my race went well with the exception of running that fucking beach for 5 laps. I was kinda battling with one guy (sorry don't know his name or team) but once I got rid of him there wasn' t much else to ride for. I wasn't going to catch anybody in front of me and I wasn't going to get caught. In the end I think I got 13th or something like that. I might have been able to do better if I could have caught onto another group and rode with them. I do take pride in the fact that I didn't get caught by some of the faster masters 45 guys like I did last week and I do feel like I'm getting stronger on the bike. I didn't get to stay for all of the A race as I took the kids to an open house hosted by the local fire department. It was a blast as the kids got to use the hose to put out a small fire (with the help of a firefighter) and they got to climb all over the trucks. All in all not a bad fall day even if it did feel more like summer.

Bloomer CX report

After helping Robert set up the course yesterday I knew it was going to be fast. The start was really long leading into a cool little wooded section then back out onto the parking lot and the rest of the course was pretty much typical Bloomer. Right out of the gate I was up in front. I would estimate in about 8th place. I knew however that the pace was blistering and that I couldn't hold out for long. About 3/4 into the first lap on the climb behind the larger play structure I could feel some guys breathing down my neck. In what seemed like an instant 5 or 6 guys went past and I never could recover. From there on out my race pretty much fell apart. I was JRA until I got caught by Ken Oday and from there on out we were able to work together and pick off a few guys. I have found that this year I just don't have the ability to suffer out of the corners and push myself. I would have liked to think that I felt better and rode better today but in all reality I probably did worse. I'm not sure what's going on. Terry Ritter was talking to me after the race and he said that I was probably not warming up enough and putting in hard efforts that is why I blew up 3/4 into the first lap. I'm going to try warming up more before Stoney next week. Probably the best thing about the whole day was that I got to hang out with my daughter and watch the A race. She was getting kinda slaphappy from some of the Mountain Dew that I gave her but the good thing was that by 8 pm she was asleep. Oh well back to the drawing board for next week. TC

BIKERFOX

Thinking about tubbies

After taking care of some business at the Vet clinic/boarding place I decided to do a nice recovery ride out of pontiac. Joeberon called earlier in the day and we were going to hook up something nice and casual as I was trying to loosed the legs up after 2 days of racing and Joe was fresh off of a 3rd place finish at Addison Oaks yesterday. Rumor has it he was in 2nd going into the last lap and he accidentally took a wrong turn allowing Kuhncappi to pass him and grab the runner up spot. Well anyway to make a long story short we had some time to kill before we met up with Brian so we decided to take Gale road out to Teggerdine then head back into the park and finish up the last mile of trail before heading out to the parking lot. Oh did I forget to mention that I was still riding the CX bike as my MTB is out having the SID (aka the floppy flier) worked on at the LBS. The first attempt at PLRA was a success as I actually felt comfortable riding down the last downhill before making the final climb and riding back to the lot. After picking up Bro Brian the plan was to ride the backroads, nothing crazy and to chill. Everything went well and on the way back the plan was to ride in through the back of PLRA along the campground road and back out like Joe and I did on the first lap. Well this time things got a little twisted. I felt good swooping down the last downhill but on the last little uphill I felt a rock bounce off of my front wheel , pinching my tire and flatting it. NBD as I had another tube but in the time it took to remove the old tube and replace it with the new one I must have gotten bitten by 10 misquitos. Little bastards. Well we got the tube inflated enough that I could ride out and get back to the car. Afterward I kind of felt dumb for trying to ride my CX bike out there. Did I really think that I could get away with riding a gnarly trail like PLRA without flatting. Which made me ponder something else on the drive home. Would I have flatted with tubulars and would they really make that much of a difference racing CX. Joe said he read an interview with Page today in which he said that tires and wheels make a huge difference in CX. I would like to think that they would help but realistically at the current level that I'm riding I'm not sure they would make that much of a difference. But still the thought of some of those Reynolds Tubulars make me salivate. I'll have to keep checking ebay for now as the new ones are just to pricey but who knows the temptation may be to much to overcome and I may have to give in. TC

UCI Weekend

This isn't going to be a race report detailing saturday and sunday's races. What it will be is a collection of my thoughts about the weekend. First off I must say the weather was unreal, although maybe a little to hot and the courses were nice, although I would have liked some more technical sections and not so much of the long grass straight aways, but oh well. I always feel like a deer in the headlights at these big races. I really haven't done much training this year because of all the stuff going on with my family and my only goals really were not to finish last and not to look like a buffoon. I know I didn't finish last in either of my races but I'm sure I somehow managed to look like a huge buffoon. Having raced saturday I really wasn't feeling up to racing today. In my mind I was thinking up a hundred excuses to skip today's race but the reality of it is that I know I'm not in top shape. I was about 12 lbs lighter at the end of last years MTB season and I now realize that the extra weight is really a penalty (I wish I could be as lean as the Pony but I know my genetics will never allow that). So for now my goal is to keep riding, continue to get stronger, stop making excuses and just keep training. As for the rest of the weekends racing what else can be said....Page, Tilford and That Swiss dude showed what true professional cycling is all about. Those dudes have speed that I could never imagine (unless I was on a CR 450 F). Thanks to everyone who cheered me on (JW, MW, RS, Massey, AB and event the Cubbes who made it to both day's events). Hopefully as the season progresses there will be more 2 cheer about. TC

Pop-pop's girls

I received a phone call from my wife this morning while I was at work and asked one of the receptionists if she could speak with me. This struck me as odd because if she ever needs anythhing she usually sends me a text or pages me (which she did but unfortunately today I left my pager at the other office at the hospital). My mind raced, what could it be? Maybe one of the kids was sick or maybe she just needed me to get something on the way home. But I just had a funny feeling about this call and I could feel my gut wrenching. Well apparently my mom's dog passed away this morning. Katie was being borded for the past week as my mom was out east visiting some family and closing down the summer house. She was doing well,
according to the lady at the kennel but when they went out to feed her this morning they found her dead in her crate. I couldn't believe what my wife was telling me. Katie was only 10 years old and she always seemed healthy. She was a little hyper like most weims are but otherwise she had no outward signs of being sick. Talking to my mom was difficult. Katie was really my dads dog. He was the one who walked her, hunted with her and gave her her nightly bowl of ice cream at 9:00. I really think she missed my dad. It was funny the whole time he was sick she stuck by his side and after he passed she was never really the same. That is why I took the news so hard. I feel guilty that she wasn't staying with us but my mom wouldn't allow it stating that she would only be gone a short time and that she didn't mind staying at the kennel. So now I am torn. My mom doesn't get back home until saturday at 5 pm. The kennel said they would keep her body until then and my mom could either have her creamated or we could take her home to bury her. I'm sure my mom wants to see her one last time but I'm not sure how she is going to handle it. I want to see her as well and I know I'm not going to handle it well. Life just doesn't seem fair lately. I do know one thing for sure I know dad and Katie are probably playing up in heaven together looking down on all of us. Dad I hope that you two are having fun and I want you to know that mom is ok and we all miss you. Love Tom

Things I like

Today I will start a new thing on this blog, I'll be doing a running list of "things that I like"on a certain topic. Today I'll start with things related to cycling (feel free to add anything)..

1. Wearing new bibs on a 4 hr training ride
2. Flying down Fox lake road after climbing that Fucker!!! (this only applies to a select few)
3. Riding PLRA at night with lights in the fall or better yet in the winter when it is snowing. There is nothing cooler than a HID lighting system reflecting off of the falling snow
4. Eating those tiny donuts and drinking cider after a cx race
5. Hanging out after the Iceman(drinking a cold one) and watching the Simonster killing them as they cross Williamsburg road.
6. A fork that works well
7. Running a new set of tires (always makes the trail feel more cushy)
8. The idea of trying a new 29er (hopefully either a Fisher superfly or the new Specialized)
9. Riding with Cathy....she is just that hilarious
10. The idea that even a bad day on the bike beats the best day at work.


Things I don't like about cycling
1. Changing in my car before going out on a winter ride.
2. The gastric distress caused by drinking to much apple cider
3. Dealing with certain people at Iceman after they have had to much to drink
4. Chaffing in the nether regions
5. Back pain


That's about all for now...Keep on checking back for more updates...TC

Awaiting the start of CX season

While some people got to start the season at the Ithaca GP (AKA The amphitheater of pain) I was stuck at work. It really wasn't so bad because like my buddy Tim I have been struggling with burnout and lack of motivation lately. I still enjoy riding every day I just don't enjoy the suffering that accompanies training. Sometimes after a day of riding I feel so totally spent that even taking off my shoes seems like a chore. Add in the extra responsibilities of being a father and working full time (well kinda) and it is easy to see how one can get burned out. The problem is that even though I know I'm not really as into the upcoming CX season I'm still going to get bummed out if I don't do well. There are certain guys that you know you can and should beat and even though I try to rationalize my results there still is a certain amount of pride (and ego) involved in racing. Having said all that here are my personal goals for this season. Have fun and not take it to seriously (no matter how bad I get my ass handed to me). I would like to end up the season feeling stronger than I did at the beginning and most importantly I want to stay healthy (ie. no more back explosions) so that I can continue to train and get stronger.

Seussing around

I loved this book. One of the most underrated children's books ever. Who could forget the big dog in the wagon getting pulled by the little dog. Everyone should get a copy of this classic...

The week in review

This week started off with the Stoney XC race. It can be summed up like this....really humid, glasses kept fogging up so being the idiot I am I took them off. Bad move. Got poked in the eye by a branch..Freakking painful...Thought about bailing on lap 2 but didn't...still riding and feeling like shit. Finished the race with some incredible back pain. Good thing Kuhncappi was there to offer up some Vicodin. Monday 2 laps at PLRA. Tuesday the CX training race at waterford hills. Felt good riding and was pleased with my results... but was left to wonder why Jeff and the Rhine Ho's don't do this every tuesday and open up the track to cyclists who aren't part of their silly club. Wednesday another 2 laps at PLRA....met up with Phonak for the second lap and while he did drop me on a climb towards the end of the loop I mashed it down to catch him which I think suprised him as it appeared that he backed it down significantly (which I don't think he did on purpose). Finished off the ride on his wheel only to have him ask me at the end of the lap "what do you do wait out here to find someone then try to kill them?" Thursday another 2 circuits of PLRA...Saw Phonak heading out at the start of my second lap (his first) but had no intentions of riding with him today as I was cooked from my first lap....I'm finding that I enjoy riding alot at this time of the year, don't ask me why maybe it is because it isn't so hot and I don't overheat as quickly. I do know that this probably isn't the best way to train for CX but I've decided that I'm going to ride everyday for my enjoyment (which does mean riding hard at times) but I'm not going to take racing so seriously. If I do well fine, if I don't that is ok as well, no excuses. Tomorrow I have to day off of work and I will either do some riding from the house out to Bloomer then ride through Rochester and then take the Paint Creek trail to Dutton road for a few hill intervals then off through the back roads to Stoney and finally head home. Either that or I will be doing a few laps at PLRA....

Finally home

Well vacation had to come to an end and I'm sure going back to work on Monday is going to BLOW MASSIVELY but oh well that is the way it goes. Riding the MTB today as I am preparing to get my ass handed to me at Stoney tomorrow. It never ceases to amaze me that after two weeks of only riding the road bike how foreign the MTB feels. Creeping out of the parking lot of PLRA my legs felt HEAVY...like lead. The first big climb hurt but after that I started to loosen up. The second lap felt much better than the first but I still didn't want to do either all out because I'm trying to save something for tomorrow. My goal is to ride a strong race and not go to crazy out of the gate. We will have to see how things work out. Another thing occured to me on today's ride. It seems that the only thing that is more addictive than bikes (at least to me) are my kids. It kinda saddens me to see them getting so big. My son is not a little toddler anymore, as a matter of fact he is kinda a flirt and a big ham. He had all of the people at the airport smiling at him as he made the rounds asking everyone "what's your name" then followed by "I'm Zachary Thomas Clark I'm two". So while on vacation my wife and I discussed having another one...I have doubts I'm 40 now (I know kinda old) but financially we are set and if we were going to do it now would be the time. I think that as I get older I'm starting to understand the value of family more and especially after losing my father earlier this year I'm starting to feel more of a responsibility to my kids and wife...So here we go. I'm hoping for another girl but as long as they are healthy I will be happy with either. TC

Working on the tan

This has been one of the best vacations I've had in a long time. The kids have been behaving, the weather has been great and the water is warm. Riding has been sweet as well. Today's ride had me heading to the North as the wind was out of the dead north and I wanted to ride the tailwind home. Two hours out and an hour and 20 minutes back not bad,,

Let's try this again

Since I am stuck with an ancient inspiron and no cordless mouse I've decided to try this link again. So here it goes again...I am here. I think that should work better. Now for some off of the bike observations...Since this is a seaside community with beautiful beaches much of my afternoon is spent observing people on the beach. Is there anything more tacky than the tramp stamp? You know that nice little tatoo that girls get on the small of their backs. Nothing says aim here more than the old lower back tatoo. Secondly, why is it that moderately obese middle age women still find it acceptable to wear the bikinis they had in college. Memo to wannabe MILF's COVER YOURSELVES UP!!! I think they call it a sarong (sp). Lastly to my neighbors who think they are to good to talk to me or my family thanks for leaving early the day before labor day. Your hot tub was really relaxing last night and don't worry I didn't Pee in it or anything...CYA next summer Muthas..

Vacation thoughts

Kuotas (sp?) must be the bike of choice where I'm at. See more people on them then anything else. Right now I'm here it is basically an island that is seven miles long. There are routes to the inland and I have done most of my riding there, but every now and then I like to spin along the main island road. Really it is a nice place. There is a dedicated bike lane and there always seems to be people out riding. The only problem with New Jersey is that it it is flat. I mean flatter than Michigan flat and there always seems to be wind, which can be good and bad. Today's ride was pretty brisk there was a local running race going on and I wanted to get out before the runners began to block off the roads. About half way into my ride I noticed a single rider pulling out about a half a mile in front of me. I was pedaling back in to the wind and was really in no hurry but the persuit of this rider had me wicking up the pace to catch him. It appeared that we were riding about the same pace and no matter how much I tried I couldn't reel him in. But persistence pays off. About 3 miles later I was passing him as he blew up pretty hard. I kinda expected him to sit on my wheel until the end of the island but he was gone. Oh well so much for my excitement...TC

Relaxation time

With the cx season about to begin I find myself with two weeks of free time on my hands..No I haven't been fired yet but I did get to take a vacation at the convienience of my boss who told me that if I wanted a vacation this summer the next two weeks would work best for her. Never mind what would work best for me or my family, so here I am out on the east coast enjoying the beach sun and sand. Haven't had to much time on the bike lately and it kinda feels good to rest the body and soul. Will have pics and a contest to win a sweet jersey. Tim U will have to ask Brandon about the Jersey ordeal. So for now I'll try to keep busy by relaxing and watching the people running up and down the beach..TC

Excuse my is that Poo on your shoe?

The Spanky saga rages on.....That F#$ker continues to lounge on my front yard and in my flower beds. I've had polite conversations with my neighbors, tried spraying my lawn with dog repellant and have even squirted him with the hose to no avail. So last Friday while cutting my lawn I picked up some of the turds that were laying about my yard and tossed them on my neighbors side walk way right next to their garbage can. My intent was simple by putting the turds in such an obvious place they would surely have known that I did it and maybe they would start keeping an eye on him more or even picking up after him. So all day Saturday I kept an eye on the pile to see if they would pick it up. I mean how could they not have seen it? Right next to the trash can, come on did they think their dog actually crapped there for their convience? Well I went in to eat some lunch and when I came out I noticed that one of the idiots had stepped in my poop trap!!!!I was laughing to myself all day. I wonder what they thought when they did it or if they even noticed...I was kinda hoping that they would have accidentally walked through they house with their shoes on creating a poop trail..It's kinda funny now I really don't seem to mind as much when Spanky cuts one on my lawn because I'm now looking forward to stacking piles along their walk.

I am complete

This post was way overdue...As some of you may know someone burned down my office last fall. I figured that the DNR would rebuild it but I was suprised to see that it took them till the end of summer to "Git er dunn". I must say that I haven't been inside yet, as the front door is still nailed shut with a 2x4 but when she is finally opened up I will be complete again. I still don't like the fact that they haven't added any roof vents but I'll have to live with it.

Who is this man and why is he smiling?

Is he Happy because

A. It's his Birthday
B. He can't believe that people pay money to ride with him...(Just ask TC)
C. He is looking towards another stellar performance at Chaquemagon
D. He didn't run into any assholes in the parking lot of PLRA
E. All of the above

I'm a hazard to myself

I'm having one of those weeks were I don't feel like doing anything related to riding a bike. I know last week was supposed to be a rest week and this week was supposed to be the start of higher intensity training in prep for CX, the only thing is I feel kinda crispy and not to motivated. The kids have both been sick which only makes me really cranky especially when they are up at 1:48 am screaming "I want my daddy". Racing is fun and all but sometimes I wonder when does all this training become more like a job and riding your bike becomes less fun? So for the last two days I have been totally off of the bike and not missing it at all. Well maybe missing it a little bit (I had planned on riding an easy lap at PLRA or something from the backroads out to Bloomer then Stoney) but my lack of sleep last night was just to much to overcome. I have also decided that I need to avoid pop altogether. I had been off of it for like 3 months but recently got back into the habit of sneaking one here and there at lunch. I must admit it has been my one only guilty pleasure, the only problem is that a few hours after drinking said pop I bonk like a MoFo and lose all energy. So for now I'm trying to stay the course and eat right, get enough sleep and train smartly....The SET program as Cathy used to call it. We will see how it works out.

The world hovercraft championships

Yep that's right!!! In our own backyard...Well kind of. After riding ILRA this morning the Wiz, Butt, DC and myself rode over to the beach to check out this event. They had a PA set up playing music and plenty of parking set up for "RV's and Trailers". It looked like they were expecting a HUGE turnout. The only thing was we didn't see that many hovercraft. Maybe 10 at the most. So after spending about 20 minutes watching a guy out on the lake setting up bouys we decided that the event most likely wasn't starting until later in the afternoon. Then a voice blasts over the PA system "drivers meeting in 10 minutes at the tent". Hilarious where else could one compete in a "world championship" with a one out of ten chance in winning it. Also most of the hovercraft looked to be at least 20 years old and to call them rickety would be an understatement.

762

The significance behind 762 is.......

A. number of calories in a coke and hostess cupcake
B. the number of home runs Barry Bonds will evertually end up with
C. the number of text messages I sent last month which inflated my phone bill to over $200.00



If u answered C. u would be correct.

For booby prize see Terry Farnsworth (AKA BUTT) for a pair of slight used Pearl Izumi shorts (included are skid marks)

Whitpenn green, Germantown Academy and some pop

I got lost on the first ride of the day (planning to go to PLRA later to meet Joe for a couple laps but that is another story). Well not lost literally but figuratively. Somehow everything must have been aligned perfectly as I took off from home and for a minute I wasn't some 40 yr old dude riding along on my MTB wearing tight lycra shorts looking like a geek instead I was transported back to my youth and I felt as though I was riding my bike to one of my early morning swim practices at good old GA. It was almost like an out of body experience. The smell of the summer air, the humidity, the chirping birds, everything around me seemed to transform my ride. No longer was I riding old quattro but instead it felt like I was gripping the bars of my old Mongoose. I didn't really like swim practice, the pool was always cold especially at 8 in the morning and the Coach at the time Richard "DICK" Shoulberg was a real ASSHOLE. The only thing that made it bearable was riding my bike to and from it. There were all kinds of trails that could be found along the way and I usually ended up skipping practices (I didn't like kickboards being whizzed an inch from my head) and goofing off on my bike. There was also an old train station on the way which used to have a Coke machine out in front of it. I don't remember how much a Coke was back then (my guess is 50 cents) but I do recall that it used to dispense Cokes in the old glass bottles and they seemed to be ICE COLD every time. I guess that is why I still like riding my bike to this day. It allows me to goof off and not have to worry about what is going on in the world around me and it can allow me to relive some of my good childhood memories. I guess that is why half way through this mornings ride I found a party store and bought a Coke (and a hostess cupcake as well). The Coke tasted the same but somehow plastic bottles don't get as cold as the old glass ones do. Well 3 1/2 hrs later and I'm at home. Gonna get some rest and hopefully have something in me for tonight. If not I'll have some good excuses, right?

762 is way to many

Does anyone have any idea what is the significance of this number? The most creative answer or the person who correctly answers this question wins a prize (which does exist and may have some value to somebody).

SNOW DAY

Yep today is a snow day or at least that's what I call them. The patient volume is low and whenever that happens I let the scheduling girl know that I can be called off if need be. So this morning after exiting the shower and brushing my teeth I got the call. The only thing is that I can't decide what I want to do. I'm sure some lounging by the whale pool and some riding will be in order. There may even be some bike building to be done, but I don't want to put to much on my plate at one time. It's good to be able to relax especially when there are other people who usually spend all summer relaxing who have to work today. I'll be thinking about you Tim as I ride down to get a cup of coffee this morning. Caribou maybe?

Stoney TT report

Not much new to the Stoney course. It seems that after multiple races at the same venue you get to know every rock and root. I pre-registered as usual the night before the race (thanks again Uncle Robert) and really was not looking forward to racing today. I rode 2 laps rather hard out there yesterday with DC and the Wiz (who didn't race today) and my legs were feeling it this morning. As I rolled in to the Bayside lot I could see that the usual suspects were on hand. Christian was going to be the guy to beat at his home course as the Simonster decided to skip the event and do a backroad ride with the Lumpy. The big question in my mind was who would take 2nd and 3rd. As I lined up at the start I was kinda bummed to find that I didn't have a starting partner. I always find that going out with another competitor lets you gauge how hard you should be riding. Anyways I rode out through the grass feeling kinda lame. In my mind I already knew I didn't have the power in my legs today and I knew that it wasn't like I was going to find it anywhere out on the course. So I settled into a comfortable pace but never felt like I was redlining it or pushing myself to hard. DC caught me on one of the uphills (he was supposed to be racing elite but something happened and he ended up starting about a minute behind me). As he stood up to climb I knew that I should do the same but my legs didn't have anything to give so I watched him ride off. It was to bad he didn't catch me on one of the flat sections because it would have been good to draft off of him for a while and recover a little. Well anyway I caught some other guys and never was passed by anybody other than DC and the top expert 19-29 year old guy (also on a climb with no chance to wheelsuck DAMN!!!) Oh well the river crossing at the end gave me a chance to practice some CX dismounting and running (which felt pretty good). In the end I came in 5th in my class. Not bad but not what I wanted. Oh well I guess if I had ridden smarter yesterday the results might have been different. The elite results came back with Christian winning by like 2 and a half minutes over Chris Goddard. I'm not sure who was third and I think fourth was either John Meyers or Greg Kuhncappi. After the race DC and I decided to go ride around and survey some of the other races. We went down to the water crossing but didn't see any good crashes or dismounts gone awry. The funniest thing had to be watching the SS's....Jeff Weinert was absolutely hauling ass (I'll have to look up his time compared to the geared guys but I'll bet he was up there) coming down the downhills with his foot unclipped ringing the bell on his handlebars yelling "ice cream". Freakking HILARIOUS. Actually as I write this I wonder how Jeff would have done on a geared bike against Christian...I bet it would be close...Well that is all to report..Oh yea one last thing that RS girl was flying today...HA HA HA

Haven't had time to blog

With only 200 some pages out of 784 down I haven't had much time to blog...Book review thus far...This book hits out of the gate with action (unlike the last book which took some time to get going). It seems that Voldemort is back with a vengenance (sp?) and that Dumbledore is indeed dead....Oh and a note here for Joeberon a "Muggle" is a non-magical human.

P.S. big shout out to Cathy who came back into town to kick our asses again...
P.S.S. Nice job 2 Erin Vicary (AKA Erin-beron) who took 4th in expert women @ Nats....

The Blue Screen of DEATH

Last week I left my computer only to come back an hour later to find the dreaded blue screen of death....It had been awhile since I last updated my Norton anitvirus protection so I decided to log on (after rebooting in safe mode ect....) The thing is now when I attempt to log on I get a series of pop ups from some Win mark anit-spam blocker pops up...Now WTF is this? I have no idea what Win-mark is and I can't even minimize it or delete the program as it locks up my PC before I can even get into start-up mode....I think I could be seriously F@#KED. This is definately above my head...It might be time to take her in for surgery...In the meantime I will try to keep blogging from work (always a risky business as you never know when management will come sneaking around the corner). Any ideas out there?

I've had ENOUGH!!!!

This neighbor dog thing is getting really ANNOYING!!!! They left that FU*#ker out until 9:30 pm last night...I think just to piss me off. I had to tell Spanky to go home 8 times. I think he is starting not to like me. I am headed off to the Utica Farm Bureau to pick up some of this stuff. I will keep updates on how well it is working. I really wanted to get something that would make him smell like skunk or dead fish if he layed on my lawn but I guess they don't make stuff like that...Either this works or I go with the AK plan....

Not to complain or anything

But........after riding PLRA tonight (With Joe and Erin Beron) one thought kept running through my mind. I couldn't help but wonder why no trail maintainence has been done to cut back some of the overgrown weeds and facewhackers. The guy who had been the previous Trail Coordinator (Hmm wonder who that was) seemed to do a much better job of shall we say whacking the bush!!! Now I know this seems like a petty complaint but there are times when you come flying down a hill or around a corner blindly and you just kinda hope that nobody is coming the other way (yes it has happened) or has crashed yardsale style all over the place. And yes it does seem that the poison ivy is worse this year than ever...I, um.... I mean the previous TC used to spray roundup in certain areas that the nasty foliage was known to grow. Oh well I guess I will have to fire up this bad boy againand get to work.

Performance appraisal

Two words I hate to hear. Came into work this morning and the secretary tells me the supervisor (remember her.....back cleavage lady...aka the laughing hyena) is running late and our meeting is going to be a half hour later.....WTF Performance appraisal...I must have missed the memo.. Well to make a long story short after about 10 minutes of the scheduled 1 hr eval I was so checked out I didn't hear a word of what she said. I do remember hearing the phrase "taking it to the next level" several times and something about Omega crap and green or yellow belts. Blah blah blah...I want to know when I started working at a Karate school. I guess this is all part of some new kind of pay for performance raise system...Yeah whatever Beaumont. I gotta get out of this place.

Let me introduce Spanky....He is my neighbors 11 yr old pit bull. Now before I start this rant let me state that I am a dog LOVER!!! I have had dogs ever since I can remember and one of the worst days ever was last November when I had to put down my yellow lab. Having said that....This dog has become a royal pain in my A**!!!! My neighbors think it is nice that they can leave their dog outside all day and that he never bothers anybody. The fact of the matter is that he really is harmless but he doesn't know his boundaries. He routinely follows the shade as the sun moves overhead which usually leads him to my front yard or in my flower beds....I can't believe that I let this bother me so much....He has kinda of become like the gopher in Caddyshack and I'm Carl the gardener. Everytime I pull in my driveway I walk over to him and tell him to go home which he usually does the problem is when I go into the house he moves back in....It's freakkin MADDENING and I have talked to my neighbors about it but they just Poo-Poo it saying he's just being a lazy dog...Speaking of POO......Yep he has even taken to cutting turds and peeing on my lawn.....This is where I draw the line...the last time I cut my lawn I had to remove 4 piles from the front and side of my lawn (which I picked up with a shovel and hucked back onto my neighbors property). The thing that irritates me is that I would never have let my old dog get away with such behavior and it irritates me that some people could be so IRRESPONSIBLE....I hope I'm not turning into that angry neighbor guy but I don't know what else I can do. Talking to my neighbors doesn't seem to do anything and I can't be home 24/7 to keep an eye on my neighbors dog...I need suggestions....Oh and by the way I was trying to sneak up on him to take that picture but he conviently moved out from under the bushes and started walking towards me as I snapped it.

Stoney kids race....Note that JRC is wearing a helmet...I picked this picture because of the headlock she had on her brother. The race started out at a blistering pace. Robert included a steep climb out of the gate and a nasty off camber downhill leading into the finish. I think we came in 4th to last but had a blast doing it. If we had another lap I'm sure we coulda caught some more kids but the fun was in just pushing my little girl around. TC

Summertime fun with the kids....This pool was new this summer (as the last one made through two years before it ripped and needed to be replaced). The whale already has 2 holes in it (unbelievable) which have been patched with duct tape.

Todays thoughts...... You know it's time to end the buggy (burley) ride when your daughter announces that "something smells back here I think he pooped his pants".....My son did have a full load.. Stereo man....Who is this guy that rides all the time at PLRA....In case U haven't ever seen him he is this guy with an 80's huge jam box rigged up to the back of his old stumpjumper with bungee cords and duct tape...Joeberon said he saw him today crossing the campground road and the guy tried to stay with him...the whole time blasting quiet riot. Quattro...I will have a much more in on her later....maybe a full blog when I do decide to retire her...but seriously Timmy we have a special bond..Even though I do have other bikes she is still my favorite...she knows her way around Pontiac like no other...The only thing is that harsh C-dale ride is starting to wreak havoc on my back and I am starting to think about Ti...but I'm not ready for a FS bike yet..at least not in Michigan...By the way she got the knickname quattro after I got 4th at the iceman last year in the old geezers 40+ expert class. Not bad considering John Meyers came in 1st, DC was 2nd (these 2 shoulda been in the elite class) and some other local guy came in 3rd. One funny story about last years Iceman...I was in the bathroom with John Meyers before the race and overheard him telling his son that he was just using the Expert race as I warm up and that he was going back after he won it and was going to race the Elite class. I'll have to double check the results but I'm pretty sure he didn't race elite...

Fun with Headshocks

Thank god it was raining at my house this morning. AK has set up a Poto ride and when my alarm went off this morning I wanted to throw it across the room. Riding 5 laps at PLRA in the last 2 days had left me sore and wanting sleep. Instead I headed over to DC's to do some bike maintainence (sp)? Last night I heard something snap inside of my fork (never a good thing) and when I loaded my bike into the back of my truck my fork had about 1/2" of forward/backward play in it. After a quick inspection DC said "It's no big deal I think that you have a broken headset bearing...I've got an extra one...it's a five minute fix". So with the rain failing and my body sore I figured some bike work would be the best way to spend the morning. Well after taking apart the whole headshock we found that all of the needle bearings had essentially exploded inside the fork and the new dampening cartridge that I put in 2 weeks ago had literally broken into 2 pieces. The contents of the fork looked like the bottom of s swamp. Lots of black goey stuff mixed in with some remnant bearings. Good thing DC had all the parts to fix her up...After putting in all new bearings and reassembling the dampening cartridge the fork is as good as new...Smooth like butter. By the time we were done it had stopped raining. We drove out to the trailhead at Highland and attempted to ride in backwards to see if we could find Billy, Cathy and the Bird (they had called us mid fix asking what our plans were, if we got done in time we were to head out and meet them). The trail was wet from the morning rain and the wet overhanging branches made for a shitty ride. We only lasted a few minutes before we decided to scrap it and ride the back dirt roads. We never did find Cathy...although she called later and said the trail was "Awesome" Yeah right.....She's getting to be a bad liar in her old age. AK did text that he and AB did the double Poto...It would have been nice to try it today but with the rain this morning and an hour and a half ride to Poto I didn't want to risk it. The best part is my bike is fixed, the fork is working smoothly and I did get somewhat of a ride in...TC

Stoney 1/2 Marathon report

Yeah I know this was supposed to be a marathon race but oh well I guess 30 miles is better than nothing. The weather was nice for the start of the race about 67 degrees and not a breath of wind. DC and I were talking about some strategy...he wanted to go fast out of the gate and see who could hold on...he eventually wanted to catch up with the Elite guys and ride with them. For anyone who has never done the Stoney Marathon the start is a gradual climb which opens up to a shorter steeper climb then eventually feeds into some singletrack. Don was gone off of the start. I was in second with Keith Reige behind me. I was trying to hold on but I soon realized that if I rode that pace the whole race I'd be fried. So I decided to back it down, Keith went past me and we kind of rode like that for a while until Keith and Tim Collins got away on the crest of this climb midway through the 1 st lap and started working together. I eventually caught a younger guy who started ahead of me and we were making up some ground. The only thing was that this guy was stronger than me in the 2 track but he held me up huge in the woods. At one point I had almost got back to Keith (maybe 10 yards) but then he wicked it up on the the 2 track and I couldn't keep up. I really do think there is something about a 29er on the flats he could definately accelerate quickly. Well I decided to back it down a little and the young guy caught up with me again. We worked well together and midway through the single track on lap 3 I got around him and gapped him good. I had just gotten onto to the 2 track that would eventually lead back to the start finish area when I noticed my rear wheel was going flat. You know the feeling you get..the back end gets squirelly and although you hope it is something else you know U R screwed. I stopped and looked at my sidewall which had a nice gash in it. I knew I had a spare tube in the car...I woulda carried one but I lost my 3rd inflator in two weeks the other day and I still hadn't bought a new one so what's the use in carrying a tube. Oh well after a walk to the car I thought about fixing it but I noticed my kids were running over to me...Oh well Marathon done. The best thing was that I got to push Jenna around for her first kids race. All the kids got a medal...It was cool definately the highlight of the day. She was so proud of herself. DC who was watching (he dnf'd after 2 laps because a stick found its way into his new Mavic SLR wheelset and tore out 4 spokes) said we coulda won if I would have pushed faster. Oh well all in all not a bad day. I would have like to have finished but that just wasn't going to happen and I got to push my daughter around on her first race. Pics to follow...TC

The Manitou FS

Does anyone remember this one? Look at the rear triangle basically another fork mounted as a shock. There used to be one of these frames at Tom Nell. I wonder if anyone ever bought it and what this thing was like to ride.

More nostalgia

Who could ever forget this dynamic duo? Tom probably sold more of these in that hot purple color than everone else in all of Michigan combined. The brakes were weak (but I thought those little cutout holes were cool) and the levers were so flimsy it felt like you were pulling on spaghetti noodle. Keep an eye out for future blogs where we will cover the Kooka and Sweet wing cranks, Ringle seatposts (in blue) , and the ever popular mount titan rims. TC

I've moved on to cupcakes

Mmmmm chocolatey (is that a word) goodness. I've moved on from the Ho Ho and I've got to say the cupcakes were much kinder to the stomach then the old Ho Ho's. I've got to thank AK for that one. Today's ride started out in the sweltering heat (think oven) and for as crappy as I thought I was going to feel I actually think my conditioning is starting to come around. After a month of training sporadically and kinda going through the motions on the bike I am now starting to feel stronger. I still don't have the top end yet but it is coming. Maybe after I shed a few more pounds it will get easier. Since 4th of July is right around the corner it is time for every neighborhood wannabe pyrotechnician to start lighting off the fireworks...It seems like we go through a good month of bangs, pops and whistles. As much as I miss my old dog I used to hate this time of the year as she would get so nervous everytime a firework went off that she used to crawl in the bathtub ( it didn't even matter that the kids were in it taking a bath). Ah yes the good old dog days of summer. Well that is all for now. TC

Nostalgia day at ILRA

Today was nostalgia day at ILRA....Well make that yesterday...As DC, Terry and I pulled into the lot at the trailhead we saw two guys with their Y's on their racks. Brought back some memories...I had one just like this back in the day...I'm not sure what year it was but according to Tom Nell I had to have one. These guys were eager to talk about how they have updated their bikes through the years and that even though they ride newer FS bikes they still love the old Y. I have to say while I had a lot of good memories of my bike I wasn't to sad to see it leave. DC had a friend named Ford who wanted to buy it (before the days of EBAY) and I couldn't wait to unload it. I even saw the guy riding it a few times at PLRA and talked to him but that was a few years ago. I'll never forget the feeling of compressing that rear end and waiting for it to rebound or the way that bike used to pogo up the hill when you stood up and tried to hammer. But anyway I knew that today was going to be a ballbuster. Friday's ride was supposed to be an easy recovery ride at PLRA that saw Butt wick it up from the get go ...I love those hot laps. So needless to say I didn't have much more to offer only 12 hrs later. Well the ride did start slow but once we crested the sand hill by the lake that all the tri-geeks swim in it was on..DC was up to warp speed and I was cooked. Terry and I finished off one lap and I was actually contemplating only doind one lap but Terry coaxed me into another lap..."come on we'll take it slow and let Don go" Yeah right...We did let DC go but Terry wasn't taking it easy on me.. He dropped me before the train tracks on the second lap but the gap was always small enough that I could always keep him in my sight on the longer straights. I did finally reel him back in after about 2/3 of the lap and we rode out together. When we got back to the lot another 2 Trek Y's had appeared..DC commented that maybe people that still own those bikes don't ride much so they don't realize what a pile they are. I'm not sure but that was enough for me. I did have an interesting ride planned for sunday that fell through as I took the kids to see this. It was time well spent and after the show we walked around Comerica park and looked at all the wonderful things Downtown has to offer. Gotta go...CYA TC

Jobbie Nooner

Although I've had a boat on lake St. Clair for the last 12 years I've never made it out to this. It did seem however that today at least 5 different people asked me what I was doing later today. "Are you going out to Gull Island"? "What are you doing here today". I'm thinking about running a water taxi service to the end of summer one if I'm in town that week. Better check the calendar and put in for some time off. TC

Just when I think I've got it fugured out

Along comes the Lump man with his new rig...Now WTF. If I would have ordered any Ti bike in the last week I think I would be kicking myself. It looks sweet...actually downright FILTHY. I'm dying to take it for a spin but since Jason is about 4 inches taller than me I'm sure the fit would be for crap. I am interested to see what he thinks about the carbon top and seat tubes. Oh well all I can say is the next time he crashes in front of me I hope that the Ti makes for a more supple landing than the old steelie. Does anyone know what kind of seatpost he is running? Hmmm it looks pretty sweet!!!TC

It is official I'm fat, old and slow

When these become your pre-ride meal you know you have officially thrown in the towel...The were quite tasty but after an hour into my ride I wanted to puke..TC

Random thoughts

As I set out for tonights ride I had several random thoughts running through my mind. I usually don't like wind but today something was different. The lake at Stoney had small whitecaps on it and there were several people windsurfing. I used to teach windsurfing...Orchard lake lessons starting at 10 and 1. It was awesome work for a 17 yr old kid. Five bucks an hour cash under the table it was sweet, sun, little real work and the chance to sail all day (plus occasionally there were the hotties that came up to the boathouse in their bikinis). I would ride my bike from my parents house (about 3 miles away) work until 5pm then ride home or occasionally to my brother's house on cass lake or even PLRA in the day. I had this job for like 5 years until I finished college and I made some of the best friends through working at Michigan Windsurfing. Sadly,Jim Coulter the owner of the shop really didn't have much business sense and ran the place into the ground. The original store which I helped build is still located in the plaza in Keego Harbor but now a store called The Windsurf Company TWC is housed there. Well anyways seeing those people on the lake brought up some old memories. I always loved sailing the only thing is that in Michigan there really isn't much wind except in the late fall or early spring when it is freaking cold and unfortunately I got to the point where unless it was blowing sailing wasn't fun anymore. Well so much for the walk down memory lane. Just wondering if a trail is well marked and suppose you have ridden it before how can one get lost even with a poor sense of direction? Just wondering...TC

Happy Father's day

I still miss you buddy. The last month has been hard but it is getting better. The emotional healing takes time. It was weird taking mom home from the airport the other day I kept on expecting to see you there. The house doesn't seem the same. I wanted to go to the cemetary today but I just couldn't get myself to go. I hope you understand. I talked to Aunt Emma today and she said that she couldn't remember either of my grandparents funeral. I guess she was just 16 when grandmom passed away so she thinks that had something to do with it but she said that she was 38 when grandad passed away and she thinks it is weird that she couldn't remember anything. I guess that time does heal all wounds and while I don't ever think I could forget your passing I do know that things will get better. Keep looking down on us I hope to always make you proud. Your loving son..Tom

MUST READ THE POOTER HOLE

Work was slow this afternoon so a bunch of us got to talking. On the weekends there is alot of contingent staff that works (read college kids that need extra cash). This one girl I work with (we will call her Louie) starts talking about her boyfriend...well not really her boyfriend but a friend with benefits. She was telling us he was like the second guy she has ever been with. Her first relationship ended badly...she thought they were going to get married (even though they only dated for like 4 months) and now she turned into this super horny chick..Well anyway her FWB and her were fooling around and after much work this guy talks her into some bung hole sex. She told him to stop after a couple of seconds as it was to painful...Now imagine here is a room of like 6 people 2 guys and 4 girls that she is telling this story to....3 of the girls had the look of sheer terror in their eyes..The other one just walked away.I wish I could have videotaped the expression on this one girls face...but the story gets better...She told him that she NEVER wanted to do the Poo hole again but the other day when they were having sex again (doggystyle) the FWB "Accidentally" goes again in the region where he wasn't supposed to go...Louie freaks out on him and tells him that she doesn't want to have sex with him again. Now she is asking everyone's opinion... She hasn't talked to him in several days and is wondering what she should do. "Do you guys think I was to hard on him" Everyone is cracking up...I can't believe she is telling us this crap....My money is that in a week she is back with the guy.....Brandon hope that one cheers U up...TC

Stuck at work with nothing to do

It sucks that I have to work today. It is freaking nice outside and I'm jealous of everyone else who is off just enjoying the weather riding their bikes or competing in the Lumberjack. WTF? The only thing good is that on the weekends there is no supervisors around so once you are done with your work it is goof off time. Oh well. I should mention that I crashed earlier this week at PLRA while riding with Don. It happened right after the airplane field on the downhill with the sharp left at the bottom. Yeah I know who the fuck cares where it happened but the funny thing was the whole time as I'm going down I'm thinking screw this I can pull this out.....but apparently I couldn't scraping my hip and lower leg up pretty good. Afterwards I was thinking of about a million excuses as to why I fell. To much pressure in front fork, tires worn down etc etc etc....but DC was having none of it. "how about because you suck" That was probably right on....TC

Bloomer race report

There are a few things that I should have learned in my many years of biking. Rule number one is don't replace a rear derailer cable the day before a race. But oh well you live and learn. Today's race was fun. That is tough to say about Bloomer but coming into the race I didn't have any expectations. I thought that I would finish last. Out of the gate I knew I didn't have the conditioning or the bike (rear casette skipping) to be up front so I settled in midpack. Robert sent us down the sledding hill early and after getting stuck behind Darrell Whatshisfucking name I knew I had to get around him fast or I was going to get stuck in the singletrack. Darrell races cross and I found it funny that he was warming up on his cross bike on the trainer for 1 hr before the race but couldn't make it up the first hill. Oh well whatever I never did like that dude. Anyway I was leading a pack of four riders going through a new section of singletrack when I ate shit hitting my shoulder on a tree and then going over the handlebars. Watching the other guys get away I thought to myself ....oh well just ride and have fun. So that is what I did. Jim caught me and I could tell that he was trying hard to drop me. So I let him burn himself out then I cruised by and pretty much rode with myself until Erin came up looking for the 1st place girl. So together we worked until she caught her and then I decided to pull out after 3 laps. It was nice to finish a race at Bloomer without my back killing me. So what if I didn't finish all 4 laps. I had fun and I realized I missed racing and need to ride more. TC