I wish people didn't get married...

... then I could race, lol. Tomorrow morning I have rehearsal for my oldest cousin's wedding, that leaves the afternoon to do what I feel like, I'm thinking either of doing a 3-4 hour sufferfest on my Road bike or driving down to Muir for a 4-6 hour ride on my geared and/or single speed mountain bike. I haven't had much quality time on quality dirt for quite some time. If I go to Muir all I know is that I should probably bring about a gallon of OFF mosquito repellent. I really really need to start to clamp down on training and base miles for 24-9.

There is a possibility I might just go over by Expedition Supply in Beaver Dam to help with the clean up because I owe mike more than one.

What's Ta...Ta....Training?

Since I've been working full-time hours I've failed to get in near the training mileage I should be. Last night I hammered out between 22-25 miles. My Garmin is having issues, I think it has a short in it or something. I'll be calling Garmin on this soon. I turn it on it runs for a while and turns off, sometimes its a minute or two other times its 10-15 minutes. It has a full battery though so I don't know what is going on. Amazingly I actually felt fairly decent a few drawn out efforts on some of the flats and gradual inclines. A few sprints mixed in too. I haven't been on any rides on my road bike since mid-may I think. Maybe longer.

Random post of "What the hell have I been up to lately"

As far as racing goes, I have had a dismal June with the exception of 9 mile. Subaru Cup and Reforestation Ramble we really really bad to me and disappointing. I actually like the Reforestation camp course on most days. cup, the heat mostly did me in. Admittedly I haven't been training as much as I should so I think that might have something to do with it. I haven't done a single metric century on my road bike yet this year. I think I might do something about that this saturday. I drank a whole bottle of fluids within 15 minutes of my start and it ended up yielding me one hell of a stomach ache causing me to DNF, when people tell you to DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. Don't do it, do what works for you. I've been bitten by taking other peoples advice in the past, I should have know better. I had a good start for the first 2-3 miles or so but my legs blew up and I slowly faded until I could barely turn the cranks on my geared bike.

I am nearly certain I will be skipping the Levis Trow race saturday, as I'm standing up for a wedding. I'm debating about skipping Eau Claire in favor of the UW-Whitewater Time Trial. I love time Trialing. Its one of my favorite things to do on a bike.

I really ought to post some pictures. I now possess my new 2008 Salsa Moto Rapido in totally completed form. The only exception is my race wheels are still a work in progress and I want to upgrade my rear cassette to a Dura Ace 9spd 12-27 cassette. I actually don't like the gearing of a 12-34 cassette. Some of the jumps between gears are too big and my cadence is all screwed up.

I sorta lost my cable to my camera so that is why I haven't been posting many pictures in the last few months. I will try to change that.

Off Weekend = John Muir

Anyone from the Hartford Area that would like to join in on the carload that will be going to John Muir on Saturday afternoon, let me know. I have to work till noon and the plan is we'll leave shortly there after. I have room enough for 5 people and 5 bikes, I know I can do it but have only tried it with track bikes, never mountain bikes.

The Salsa Moto Rapido SHOULD FINALLY be done. I wouldn't mind a break from single speeding. I must say though I have grown a fondness for it, but I don't think I'll get to the point of 1 gear all the time I especially don't care for 1-gear on the road. Gears still have their place in my mind.

9 mile

Last year 9 mile was a freaking disappointment. I actually like 9 mile though, this year it treated me a lot better. I rocked the Redline in its WORS Debut rocking a 32x16 on the 29er. Which was totally the correct gear, I was worried it would be too big but was not. I wish I had an easiar gear on Ho Chi Min but everywheres else it was 100% correct. At the end of the day I got a 17th out of 19 finishers. 6 DNFs in the 25 person field, Just finishing was lucky. The 29x2.3" tire @ 35 PSI gave me a perfect ride and kept me from flatting, I did have a moment that scared me though. I met my goal that I set out at the start of the day; to finish 15 minutes or less behind my class winner. Goal Met @ 10:53 behind. 172 out of like 300 or so starters. Its not spectacular, but not god awful either. I did have a fair bit of fun on the bike this weekend. I know I should be focusing on Enduro when it takes over 10 miles for my legs to feel warm and powerful and I can hold that power all day long. I sprinted against a 17 yo from the 90 degree turn before the finish, started out behind him on his wheel and won by about a length and a half or so. When your on the verge of spinning out a 32x16 on an uphill sprint you know I prolly just peaked over 700+ watts. I've been over 1000 watts, I know what its like. Until next time kiddos...