Santa isn't real.

I am terribly sorry if you had small children that were in the room when you pulled my page up. But an over weight dude that lives with a bunch of elves at the North Pole, flies all over the world giving gifts to only the good children of the world does not exist in a tangible form. The spirit of this imaginary person does exist in the hearts of parents who once a year have to prove to their kids that they actually love them. It is not enough that all year long they sacrifice their hopes and dreams to work at jobs they hate, drive cars that are anything less then the GTO they dreamed of owning, and hemorrhage money for food, clothes, and other material items that will be discarded when the Johnson's kid get something newer. That said, I do live Christmas.

Not so much the people that embrace this horrible corporate image of bigger, better, brighter that we have been slowly forced into over the years. Its these people that really bumb me out. Even more than the kid who gets socks from grandma instead of a Wii. I deal These delinquents and their parents (who were delinquents as children themselves) at both of my jobs. I normally brush their behavior and ignorant questions off and go on about my business. However, today one customer brought in her attitude and ridiculous question and I just could not let it go. The conversation went as follows:
"Do you have bikes for a small child and what size would I need?"
As I tried to formulate the best answer i could for her as confused look was displayed on my face. Due in large part to the fact that the definition of a small a small child is relative and how am I supposed to know the right size for someone who is not present. Before I was able to answer she vomited up more information to help the obviously incompetent sales punk.
"She is about 37 inches"
Once again I am given information that is worth about as much as POGs. Her child could be anything from 34-40 inches tall which greatly changes the size of the bike. However, I resort to her tactics by giving her just as vague information back.
"It sounds like a 16inch wheeled bike or a 20inch might be what you are looking for but without actually sizing her I cannot tell you for certain. Different manufactures have different frames and sizes to help fit children as they grow." I smirked on the inside like Peewee Hermon before he was cuaght.
"Well how is Santa supposed to bring it to her if you have to size her?" She said it like Paris Hilton talks to the media.
I wanted to replay "I don't know maybe you shouldn't lie to you kid, lady." However, I settled with a slightly different answer.
"It not up to me to answer that question. It is a safety issue if the bike is not sized right. That is why we like to have the child present when it is purchased."
As she turns to leave she mumbles something that sounds like "Yeah. You and every other bike shop doesn't want to sell me a bike for Christmas."

It brought a tear to my eye as she climbed into a huge SUV and drove off into the cold in search of the perfect size bike for her daughter, who in all actuality, probably would rather have a Hanna Montana track suit or the Johan's brothers CD more than a bike. I wasn't crying because I felt bad that I couldn't help make this Christmas better then last year's (or better then the one here dad and step mom would give her) I was truly disgusted with the fact that this is what Christmas means to people. I am not going to go into what Christmas means to me because that is lame. Instead I am going to tell you to go the CX-mas unless you want to be weak sauce and run around complaining to sales people who really don't care about you or your kids. Because CX-mas is going to be a bunch of rad people who see Christmas for what it really is.

PS The first person to translate to what Nazi Santa is saying gets a six pack of your choice

I havent done jack....CUZ IM NOT GAY

First off I am sorry that I have not posted since October. I am sure that you all have missed Casey Ryback's duty updates. Basically I have been being a good student. You know staying up late studying and working hard on projects. This go getter attatude was left me with no time to ride and even less time to work out. My lack of fitness was made evident by the personal training session that I had. My personal trainer was was this little chick who was about 105lbs or pure steel toed boot. The summery of a 25min work out was a max HR of 190bpm and feeling like i had to puke 3 times. I loved it. So now with the new year about 21 days away It is time to start eating better (or not eating at all) and working out more. Next semester should give me more ride time so hopefully i will be able to see some of you more then i have. pe@ce

The BT Epic

Three short years ago I started racing hill bikes as a lowly pee-on in the beginner class. If you had asked me then to ride 55 miles my response would have been "Like in a week, dude?" yeah I talked like that it explains why I didn't have any friends. A lot has changed for me since then. I use the term dude sparingly and only in it literal sense (a hair on an elephants butt). Also I has taken to the masochistic ritual of racing endurance races. I raced three 50+ mile races this season and loved each and everyone of them. Most recently being the Berryman Trail Epic put on by the Springfield Cycling Club and they did one hell of a job.
The start of the race was at 830 and just a little below perfect temperature. The DRJ power house had a nice showing of riders (Wes, Chris, Jim, Tom, Scott, and myself). Everyone was stoked to be out there as we goofed around and acted like mountain bikers on the line. Around 8:30 some Dude, who had been telling us what to do, yelled go and everyone decided that was a good enough start for an all-day-in-the-saddle-race (Just the clarify all day to Chris Ploch is 4hours and 42min.) We fallowed the race car down a paved road and onto a gravel one then we were directed onto another gravel road which we climbed for about three miles. I was warming up and feeling like I had some gas so I stepped on it and entered the woods around 20th. Not to shabby for a fat kid who has not been ridding his bike. I was rocking out to my Race day 2 play list and managed to pass a few guys before the 10mile check point or as I call it the place of disaster. Heading into the check point we had to cross a creek which had a very sketchy bridge build over it that we had to walk. I did this then hopped back on the bike to ride the thirty feet to pick up my shinny yellow zip tie. Some how I managed to cut both side walls in this short stretch. I flipped the bike upside down and began to watch my place get closer and closer to the rear. I got a new tube in the front tire borrowed a floor pump and soon found out that as some random dude said "you've got problems" he almost had a punch in the face after his Einstein epiphany. The tube had a puncture so I began the process over again (with a tube that had a patch on it). I got the Gu packet in place and once again began inflating the tire. This time I had success! I check the back tire and the Stan's No Tube had worked by sealing the cut (or so I thought) so i inflated it, grabbed two cookies and hopped back on the bike. Up the road and just into the woods the rear tire was flat again. I reached for my third and final tube. It was a 26 I ride on 29s. Good thing rubber stretches or I would have been screwed and there would be a lot of bastard children running around. With the tire seated I hit it with the CO2 and actually looked like I knew what I was doing. That is until I flipped the wheel over and realized that there was a rock wedged in between the tire and the rim. I let out all of the precious air and then hit it with the CO2 again. I didn't have enough to inflate it fully so I bummed a mini pump one of the last racers that I had seen in the last 10min in topped it off before sending him on his merry way chock full of good karma. I packed up my trash and made a note that I had nothing left with which to fix flats. I had to ride uber clean! That said I put the bike back on the trail and realized the front tire was in fact flat again. What now? Well I believe the last two riders of the race where just getting ready to pass me and they gave me a 26inch tube and the use of their mini pump. I changed the tube (I was really good at this point) thanked them and head back to the check point to Catch a ride back to the cabins. HELL NO! I haven't DNF'ed all season I wasn't about to start now. I did go back to the check point to top off my tires with the floor pump and more cookies. Needless to say I was frustrated. But I took that frustration and threw it in the frying pan like butter when i grilling pancakes and melted it into sweet savory goodness.
My play list was still rocking so I set the pace fast enough to catch people. Which I started to do. I gained back about 10-12 places as I clawed my way up the climbs, ripped my way down descents, with a smattering of flossing in the flats. The trails where in amazing shape and the weather was perfect for a long fall ride. I was still grinning (my race grin is crusted drool around a gaping mouth) as I climbed up to the last check point, picked up my back zipp tie, and was told that I looked fresh. My guessing is that old boy told every racer that but it helped give me a boost as a pointed the bike down the 3 miles of grave road that we had climbed that morning. 6hours and 37min was the official time that I crossed the line. I was beat and just wanted a shower and some food.
This race is already on my calender for next season so I suggest that you make it a point to be there as well, otherwise you can be weak sauce for another winter.

Welcom to the Future!

As many of you know (and by many I mean 3 out of the 5 people who read my blog) at TC Man we grill for lunch almost everyday. As things have progressed and the common man has develorped grater control of fire we have branched out from pig lips and assholes. One of our greatest achievements was the chicken sausage braukito. The recommended way to prepare this delightful treat is to purchase Jalapeno chicken sausages from trader Joes wrapped in a whole grain tortilla with pepper jack cheese and Maull's Jalapeno BBQ sauce. Once this little bit O' heaven has parachuted into the cavern below your lungs and heart you can thank the lack of customer flow at our store for giving you this Nobel peace prize quality treat.
Another wonderful thing that the good old fire pit as sparked is us seeing how many times we can grill in one day (I believe the record is 3 in a 10hour day). Because of this we normally grill breakfast on Saturday mornings which normally brings the rather large (I am being nice) hair stylists out the back door to our stoop to drool and comment on how we eat so much yet are so thin (It call riding a bike aka exercise). Today we set out to let God guide us on our fiery journey through edible bliss it ended next to the Pillsbury section of the freezer of schnucks. BATTER BLASTER. It is an organic pancake mix in a nitrous oxide pressure can much like ready whip. Not only can you huff it but is make the pancakes that French royalty ate before they had their daily white flag raising. I am sitting here wishing it was breakfast all over again so I can enjoy the pure ecstasy of cramming handfuls of syrup covers chocolate chip pancakes into my mouth (Can you tell I was a fat kid). I urge you all to purchase this product and will be looking into getting them as a sponsor for the 2009 season.

Stars @ Blues 10/16/08

I was there. I witnessed this. The let down of missing the home opener was tough to swallow but worth the burnin'. My first game this season was the blues forth and third home. My seat was 4 rows from the top but I was in the house and that is all that mattered. Goose bumps infested my skin when Charles Glen began belting out "Oh when the Blues go marching in." and the blues delivered. Many stood on his head and every line scored. We taunted Turco which got in his head and allowed out team to score on him 5 times (ok so it might have been the back to back games with the traveling but still he did wasnt happy with the erie chant of TURCO...TURCO). Boyes have goals in all four games as does Tkachuk and Kayria has 9 points. We are hott and we are definently going to have an awesome season! Will you be a part of it?

Some dude snapped this photo of me at burnin' and it looks like I know what I am doing. So thank you to whoever you were crouching in the leaves on that first corner I owe you a beer.

Feel the Burnin'

OH MAN OH MAN! Mesa Cycles out did themselves again. This race would be fun even without all of the hard work that they put into it. However having real time scoring, giant checks for the winners, an endless river of golden American Pabst, and Leadville style belt buckles for the winners will keep us mountain bikers, and what few roadies showed up, talking till next October.

THE RACE
I volunteered to be the first man up for my team. This does not seem like a big deal until you factor in that the start is la mans style with everyone from every category starting at once and running around a field to their bike which you are hoping has not been stepped on or have a smoke bomb near it. I was still waking up when the horn ripped open everyone nerves and we started sprinting in out carbon fiber race shoe that were designed for only one purpose. I got to my bike which was next to a smoke bomb and headed down the paved road at 30+ mph looking about about the 10th spot heading into the woods. I blew up like and kept getting passed. I was deep in the red and horribly shaken and never settled down. Fearing flats I had way too much pressure in my rear tire and was spinning out on the short yet wicked steep gravel climbs. Nothing went my way and I crashed hard twice one time tearing my rear drerailuer cable housing leaving me without some of my high gears. Not a very good foundation for my team of Scott and Mark. Both of who did awesome out there and kept it interesting.
My second lap I felt like the afterburners were finally engaging. After going over the handle bars on the first rock in the woods I found a groove. I was railing corners like, scorching the earth on the descents and keeping my momentum through the climbs. My music was blasting though my ears and straight into my muscles and was feeling fast.
Lap three I came out of the gates pissed at myself which means I was going all out and going to hold it till the legs exploded in lactic acid and which point I would have pedaled with my hands. The bike however was to thrilled with my over zealous riding on this lap and the rear tire when flat in mile two of the twelve mile lap. As a thank you for asking if I was okay or if I needed anything, by all who passed me I dropped the hammer and caught all but one of them (Dan Furhman) before crossing the line.
Scot had a flat and a mechanical on his night lap which kept me from going out on a forth lap which I was really counting on. But that is racing you prepare and you lay it all on the line and if you can say you had anything left then you really did not race. As for myself and my team we had nothing left at 9:30pm when LB (Mark) rolled out of the woods and across the line. I would not have traded anyone of them for anyone else and an stoked that I got to be a part of this awesome race.
Big shout out the DRJ racing's A team of Chris (Fastest Lap at 59:59, Wes, And Bob, who had an apocalyptic battle on their hands and emerged victories with those shinny belt buckles and bragging rights for another year. D-Wayne putt his heart into it and smiled like always. Mad respect for your insanely hard season and 9 grueling laps. Jim, Reevis, Tom, Jon, and John also threw it down like titans proving once again that DRJ Racing is like legendary like the yankees except everyone likes us. Ninja Dave came in with 5 laps in six hours and earned his belt buckle too then gave me a trade mark over the head low five making me feel just as pro. Thanks again to everyone for the words of encouragement, the competition, the stories, and most importantly making this race rock like new years 1999.

DARKNESS

1. the partial or total absence of light 2.wickedness or evil.
So there you have it night time in the woods it evil. Well then get be a black cloak and an alter because I enjoy riding bikes in the dark. You are forced to ascend to a higher level if you want to come back from a night ride with all of your blood still flowing through your fragile veins. Friday the 26th of September Castlewood hosted a night ride so I did the logical thing and charge my batteries. We (Jack Tagert, Casey Ryback, Jay Tiegs and CO.) rode all of the familure trails. The trails that we bomb down without thinking because they have been burned into whatever part of the brain controls the memorization of mountain bike trails. This time they were all different. It was as if the trails themselves where serpents that had been in hybrination until now and were furrious that were were riding down there spines while our HID light blinded them. I loved every second of it. So when the post went out on the DRJ message board that we would be doing a double ranch ride one being shrouded in wickedness. I once again had to call on my logic to get myself to ditch school and load up the trusty Niner. The first lap hurt. The second lap hurt worse. mostly due to being the slowest of the four team members (Bob, Wes, Jim, and myself). However, it was good race day practice because as we know BURNIN' AT THE BLUFFS is October the 11, 2009. The two hard laps equaled to about 25miles which wil always equal volcano tacos from TB on the way home.

What it is What it is

I am sitting here at Starbucks with about 17min till I have to clock on. One of my teachers decided that they just didn't need to show up for a 3hour studio art class at 8am. If I make that decision my grade suffers if he makes that decision he still gets paid. If you can't tell by now i am just a little hacked off so lets look at the positive: I was given the gift of 3hours of homework time, it is one more day checked off of the list of 32 (2 classes a week for 16 weeks) bringing the magic number down to 24, and lastly it is a good chance for me to complain about people. See now I feel better.

Now for the cycling update.


DT Swiss 240 hubs rock! Well mine did anyway I need to figure out why the cassette bodies that I ordered aren't working. Once someone explains what i am overlooking they will once again rock the trails here in Missouri and beyond. Till then Bob was kind enough to loan me a spare wheel. I was expecting a pretty decent beater. what I received was a Industry 9 laced to a stans rim already to roll with a maxxis crossmark tubeless tire. If you have no Idea what i just said be thankful because you are not crapping your pants. I9's are sick the wheel is uber light and feels like I am riding on a solid disc. Thank you very much Bob!

ZOMG

Say what you will but I have never been to a cyclocross race. All I heard last year is "CX ROX!" So the other other day my mobile blew up and Casey Ryback axed if I wanted to roll out to quaint river town of Hermann Mo. for the oping race of the CX season. I said fo sho. And since Mason Storm had his Shiny new Major Jake in the shop I was stoked all day Saturday to witness the pain fest known as CX racing. It lived up to its expectations and more. It was kind of like when you see a boob though all the snow on that porn channel late at night. Except instead of a boob it was dudes in Lycra and instead of snow it was mud that "smelled like the zoo" or Hoffmeyers wedding. Either way I was exhilarated to the point that i dropped half of my pulled pork sandwich cheering on the always Hollywood Dave Breslin (don't worry Dave I implemented the 10 second-shoe-print rule). All I really have to say is I really want a CX bike so I can see where I fall in the mix. Nice job to Dave, Drew, Matt, and the rest of the Mesa crew looking forward to Burnin'. Also a huge shout out to Mason Storm wearing those killer Team Seagal kits and racing CX for the first time.

I am sitting here waiting for class to begin. It has been 2 weeks since I got on a bike. Needless to say I am itching to get out and ride. It is a relief that the Chubb TT has been canceled. As much fun as this race would have been I am just not ready for it. That, and Team Seagal's non-race last year would still have been way better.


There as talk among the elders of DRJ that the OZ Epic would be a nice race to dominate. However, I think that Sunday the 21st would be better spent at the Scotch Tape Center at the St.Louis Blues Fan Fest. Go ahead and laugh at me but admission is free and the OZ Epic will cost me precious cash that I already do not have. Not to mention when the Blues win the cup I will be able so I was there through the worst of it.

Alright so I was wrong as Nico pointed out. But I knew there was a race on Sunday and i figured out where it was before Sunday. I was looking forward to getting out on the bike and the greensfelder coarse is always nice. However, my bad luck continued. I woke up extra early so that I could swap the cassette on my bike for a shinny new one that the chain would pop off of when i laid down the kankle power. This happened at Chubb (happy BLM) and my steer tube of death harpooned my taint Moby Dick style. I was still waking up as I removed the lock ring and tried to slide the cassette off. It did not move. I had put down enough torque in the riding i had done that the cassette splines had dug their way into the cassette body I worked on it for about 30 min before giving up. I headed out to the race and called numbers for Bill Howard and gave my support to my team mates. Oh and I got to hold EP's jacket and arm warmers which smelled like Australian gold. Not the way i like spending Race day but why not support the sport if i can not partake? Moar later. Until then enjoy this clip.

Chub

This trail sucks! However, this is way all of us love it. Its that one bull at in the PBR that everyone wants to tame but when you are sitting on its back you are thinking one thing "Am I stupid? this is going to be awful."

I have not be out to Chub since the beginning of the season, so with the Chub TT looming now just a week away I figured i had to man up. I have been getting out there early due to school and work. both time we completed the the full lollipop loop in about an hour twenty. Not bad but no sub hour madness. We will see what the adrenaline pumps will be able to do next sunday.

not your average group ride

Sunday rolled around and I found myself with a morning off. I decided that it would be a good time to resurrect our TC Sunday Morning Road Ride. The dynamic duo of Casey Ryback and Myself where joined By SSGT. Tiegs from the Army Recruiting station next to the shop. We headed out at 815am which is a bit later then we had planned but still gave us ample time to do a tour of west county before returning to open the doors at high noon.

We ventured up Sulphur Springs cut through some subdivisions to Ries enjoyed a quick lap of Castlewood where I was cut off by an old grumpy Navy Veteran. Back on Keefer Creek to St.Paul continuing on Ridge. I am trying to recover from a cold and my breathing was suffering as we neared Old State. I coughed up everything I could as we stuck out through Lake Chesterfield to Old Manchester. Matt was bombing the down hills and put a gap on my as we descended Woods. I have not felt confident on negative grades in almost a year. A quick stop at Smokey the Bear to refill bottle and it was time for the pain. Melrose, Doberman, Orville and Khers Mill were the final climbs back to Baxter and the hammer fest back to the shop.
18mph average for 42 miles. Always enjoy this ride I have next Sunday morning off as well if you are interested let me know because I am sure we will do something similar next Sunday as well.

Cyclewerks Cr4nkF3st

I love the coarse that the good boys of Cyclewerks down in Cape hae created. It is fast if flows and it does its very best as kicking you suqare in the lycra covered keester. The Dr.Js met at Wes's house and and headed out. Chris, Jim, Scott, Wes, and myself were all ready to rock seeing as we were the only people who were signed up . A close call with the Highway Patrol and passing fellow racer and resident old guy Tom Albert and were were slidding into bibs and applying chamios butt'r In no time (not to eachother 'cuz we aren't gay...not that there is anything wrong with that).

Considering how mild the weather had been it was hot on the starting line. Everyone chattered about Dwayne and Keeven runing a 12hr solo and a 6 hour solo the day before and still racing today (Dwayne 3rd and Keeven 1st). We lined up and waited for an unusually long time for the gun (by gun I mean offical yelling go) to sound. It came and the rain came with it. Rian in the form of spinning legs, whizzing chains, and giant drops of sweat. I was started in too low of a gear and peaked on the climb heading into the woods. I was looking forward to railing the berm that was a new addition this year but found out quickely that the fast line was on the inside as two cyclist past me one being Mike Teiber. It was now offically on. I reeled them back in as the pulled up on Scott and the four of us rocked though the woods like Rage Against the Machine at the democatic national convention. Somewhere along the way Scott go passed by the cyclewerks rider and Jim Krewet caught us and proved he was still in shape by gapping us before we popped out onto the sidewalk around the halfway mark. I big ringed in and set my lazers from stun to kill hitting the small grassy climb back toward the woods at warp seed and passing Teiber and Scott to suck right up on Krewets wheel through the S-turn. I was trying to lay the hammer down as was everyone else Krewet got way as Scott and I dropped Tieber.

During the second lap Tom albert (Who missed the start) caught us and politely asked for a pass I gave it to him and watch him waste me. An endurance rider caught up to us and proceeded to ride two laps at our pace giving all of us the urge to push that much harder.

Lap three the bottom dropped out. The whole body was tingleing and I couldnt hold my lines. The is where teammates make the differance because Scott told me to just keep pedaling and kept the presure from behind on forcing me to find my focus angain. Dodd had caught us earlier on in the lap and keeven caught us as we exited the Maze. I was now sitting behind The Endurance rider who was behind Scott. I was coming back aroudn thanks to the Cyto I had stashed on my frame. Lap for and I was back holding onto Scott's wheel through the single track and up the climbs then going for the pass heading into the woods. I started to apply the gas the turbos spooled and I sucked the last bit of water out of my camblebak. I ditched the dead wieght and put my head down giving lap five my all.

I kept looking back trying to see where someone was then telling myself to worry about who is in front of my and let whoever is back there worry about me. This worked I had put a nice gap on who i thought was Teiber but was really Pfood himself. I had to just ride solid for lap six and I finished in just under 2 hours and 3 minuets for a 12th place finish. The results on Cyclewerks page show that I DNF'ed but if you look I had all 20min laps and one 40min lap. Trust me on this I did all six laps and had an average of 11.6mph.

An interesting side note at WORS I raced pretty much the same pace as I did in cape. That just shows how much faster that coarse was because I did not feel any where near as good and relied on the downhills to keep my pace up.

Nice Job to all who ventured down south to race in the dust and heat that make this race one of a kind.

WORS

I am sorry for the time between post. My schedule has acted as an old flower mill by griding me down in to a fine powder. You can also thank Dave Breslin for giving me crap which is why I sit here pecking at my lap top.

WORS-Sunburst Showdown
I have heard (I don't know why this wont stop typing in bold sorry) a lot about the Wisconsin Off Road Series so when I was asked if I wanted to venture up to Milwaukee to race in the the biggest series in the states I naturally said yes. I did what training I could in the weeks prior to the Aug. 11th race.

Aug 9th we met up at the residence of Mason Storm (Team Seagal) at 6pm. It was myself, Brad Hicks (also a member of the superior single speed team), and of coarse the one and only Mason Storm (Matt Hoffmeyer). Loaded our bikes and gear on/in my Mopar gas friendly automobile and it was on like Donkey Kong. Everyone was tired and I wasn't 100% on the directions so we ended up in Chicago before realizing we had gone two hours out of our way. 2am we arrive at Matt's sisters apartment AKA Best Hotel in Milwaukee and crashed.

Saturday was Pre-ride out at the Sunburst Ski Resort which has created a wicked fast trail network complete with a pine maze, berms you can rail on, a sadistic lung-busting-seeing-spots-do-they-make-a-smaller-ring-then-a-22? climb, and a white knuckle downhill. The actual trial is not very technical with maybe three rocks but when it went into the woods it turned on a dime. We enjoyed two laps and headed back to town for some fine eats and a solid 8 before Judgment day.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! The fruit smoothies went down easy and we set off for the race. As we suited up and made final preparations more and more compeditors showed up. The number of enterants was about 600. As I warmed up I could not shake my nerves and the bike just did not feel right under me. I was in the Elite field which was Pro, Semi-Pro, and Expert. Brad was Comp. singlespeed and Matt raced Comp. Clydesdale. It was pretty cool being on a starting line with 43 other dudes and having them call out the huge names. The horn sounded and Lightning exploded in front of me and I struggled to hold on. The dust was thick as we made the prologue lap but I was able to gain some spots back as we hit the coarse. I pulled back one or two on the first couple of switch backs that started the ascent. I bobbled on a turn and lost three places mid-climb. I was already knew I was in for a long race. Coming down the back side of the mountain my lines where sloppy and I was not trusting my brakes. At the bottom heading into the maze my front shifter started to sick and continued to pleg me for 3 laps. At the time I could not figure out why but when the clamp broke off on the 4th lap I was able to put the pieces together. I let all of this get into my head and started to stress the lines stayed sloppy and my composer disappeared faster then beer at a frat party.

Lap two found me getting my ass kicked by a chick. She was hella fast and super cool and we traded places till the climb on the third lap where I stopped to give a comp rider my spare master link and multi tool to fix his chain (I was hoping Karma would work for me). I was caught and passed by another elite female rider and passed her back gaining a little boost before the line came around again

Lap three was brutal and I just kept thinking okay I only have to go the hill two more times. The down hill was still difficult for me and I ate it on a near vertical drop in. I was fine so was the back so I hopped back on and continued on, getting passed my more comp riders.

Lap four I was digging and trying to stay focused. On the down hill I was pushing the chain into the big ring when the Avid Matchmaker Clamp I had on my shifter broke off and left my shifter to dangle down by my fork. I had to stop to pick it up and held it the rest of the way down the hill and though the maze where I was passed By Brad who was on a party cruise. I stopped again and taped the shifter to my stem. While doing so I was passes back by the second Elite female raider who gave me some encouragement which was a nice booster. As I came through the start/finish I could see most of the Elite field watching me and when I passed the gate and headed back out again I could feel them grimace of me. I rode on getting encouragement from the good folks who were heading down off of the mountain. On one of the sections I noticed Matt a little ways up ahead of me and started to chase the rabbit. However, I was still mentally doubting my ability and zigging when I should have been zagging. I gave Matt all of the encouragement I could through the maze and kept my pace as high as possible trying to real him in. He had his heart in his legs and kept the gap wide all the way to the finish.

It was a hard race to swallow but it was a huge learning experience for me which is what I will take from it. Brad snapped the wrists of the comp singlespeed class beating out the 2007 overall champion and taking 1st. Matt took a respectable second in his class. I took 7th out of 7 finishers and 9 total. Everyone up there was uber cool and I am really looking forward to next season to do more of their races.

update

Its been a little while since I posted last. for this I am sorry. Truth is nothing has really been going on. Three weeks ago I crashed while bombing down Blue Ribbon and sprained my shoulder so I have been baned from the bike...until today. I am tired of not riding so I am going to see if i can manage a road ride today. I should not have any issues. The shoulder is feeling much better and I am back to 90% range of motion. The main problem is the fitness I have lost in the last three weeks. This season has seriously been a black one for me hopefully I will start to see the light in the last quarter.

THE TOUR

Happy 4th!!!

Hello and welcome to my corner of the interwebs once again. The rumors of a group ride on July 4th finally became actual plans at 830pm July the 3rd. We were going to follow Casey Ryback though Dtown St.Louis and into Furby's playground. Don't tell him though because it was just too nice a day to "Stay the hell out of Illinois!" Five of us met at Forsyth and Skinker; Casey Ryback ("Guide"), Captain Jack Tagert, Gino, Shop Minister and myself. We cut though Forest Park, jumped on Bike St.Louis trail network, and shortly found ourselves crossing the swollen Mississippi. The weather was beautiful and despite the hammer fest in the rain the night before at Cwood (AKA the Short Track Series which you should be attending) the legs woke up and were ready to lay down some miles. Once we entered the state that's only claim to fame is Abe Lincoln and the worst Baseball team on earth we made short work of their trail system which is head an shoulders better then the previously mentioned baseball team. It even gave us warning of potentially sliding sideways.


I honestly didn't pay much attention to what we were riding on or where we were going because the legs just felt to good to focus on anything else. We stopped off at the Lewis and Clark site to break the law before heading back toward our home state. This is where our coarse and superior attitude were both put to the test. However, we recovered and found an alternate route though hell and high water back to the city that is home to the boweling hall of fame (which is fleeing). Back at our starting point we bid fond farewells and kind sentiments before heading our separate ways.

62miles with a 17+ mph average is a pretty good ride no matter which way you type it. Enjoy this video clip of Casey's Bike after the mud fest.


This is how the ride left me=> => => => +. => => =>

Still single ladies...Call me!


PE@CE~

Dirt Crits!!!!1

My first mountain bike race was one of the short track races. I showed with a full suspension, cargo shorts, a free ride jersey, and stood out against all of the lycra clad riders on hardtails like a fat kid during dodgeball. I was stoked this year when I heard the short track series was coming back. A huge thanks to Pfoodman for putting this on! Thursday night was a uber rad.

Instead of handing of $25 to pay for a one day licence and entry to the "C" race I forked over $50 to cover me for all 6 "A" races. I lined up in the field with 19 other BAMFs wearing lycra straddling my hardtail (a lot has changed). I was positioned behind Chris hoping I might get a lead out. This was a mistake because he was gassy and the smog before the race didn't help me much. The siren went off and it was time to grip it and rip it. My pseudo hopes of holding on near the front were shattered pretty much when I clipped in but I sprinted none the less as the pack started to spread like jelly on wheat bread.

I yo-yoed with a group of four riders one being a super sport rider Drew Black, another being fellow DRJ teammate Tom Albert, another Mesa rider (they are always a threat), and Mr. Velo Force Pace Setter. I watched as the pace began to take its toll on the guy from Mesa and Velo Force and started digging to get up with Tom who was losing Drew slowly. The road bike must be having an effect because I caught up to him and we started working together for the middle part of the race. I got in front and started pulling as much as I could as we came through the start finish " 24 min and some change" we where told. "3 laps left" I heard Tom say over the pounding of my heart. I asked the legs for more hoping we could pull Drew back in. They answered with a "HELLZ YEAH" the start/finish line came around pretty quickly "29 min and change" the time keeper said "Now three more laps" Tom said with a sheepish tone. I did not have the legs left to hold my pace and Tom went around me. I still had to worry about the Velo
force rider so I kept the self motivation up. I managed to pass Scott on a surly cross bike and he said something about no legs. I came through the start/finish with Tom and Drew still in sight but slid out in the grass and pretty much rode to hold my place from there on out. I have not had that good of a time on a bike since lost valley when I felt like superman flyin' through the sport class. But this post has gotten Dave Breslin (who was mysteriously absent on Thursday) long so I am going to pe@ce out.

Since I normally have to be at tarbucks at 445am and I get off at the bike shop at 8pm riding from home means I have to leave my house no later then 345am and I wont be returning till after 9pm. The solution to this problem: A semi-commute. I pack everything I need in the back of my MOPAR rocket and drive to sbux. After my shift I don my gear like the portly cycle dork I am and head off to job two at TC. Once my time there is completed I again mount up, ride back to sbux to pick up my hooptie and grab a soy chi for some protein replacement on the drive home. The route to varies depending on how much time I have between jobs. So far this is the longest route I have done.

Two days and just over 70miles kind of weak sauce but I'm getting it back.

for your enjoyment!

I gave blood today. And that is not one of those clever tourist trash saying found on a t-shirts you buy after wrecking on porcupine rim. There was a blood drive at one of the local area starbucks. I was scheduled to do a bike safety demo for the kids but none showed up so I let the good folks from the American Red Cross have some AB positive and took the day off from the bike. I was planning on a nice ride but after losing a pint you are not supposed to do anything physical for 5 hours. My blood type is only found in 3% of white Americans and can only be used for other people with AB blood types. If you want to donate click here.

Armstrong, Merckx, Boonen, Cycling Sprints, Crashes

word!


***tripping acid optional***

Bikes are fun

So no real new news I rode Chub the on Monday. I had to hammer it because i was meeting some friends for sushi (which is eff'n expensive). Averaged 8miles an hour and only did 7.55 mile due to flooding and time.
I have decided that instead of trying to do a full commute I will drive to starbucks then ride to TC and then back to my car when i get off. I tried this out on Tuesday. Taking a little longer route into the shop 141 to via des pares to clayton to henry. Then the more direct back hanna to vance to 141. Not sure of times because I haven't ponied up the cash for a computer but its all good i just need to log miles. With that I will put an end to my rambling, pe@ce love and phil wood grease!

back on the road

I finally ordered all of the parts in order to build up my road bike. Friday night I finished dialing it in and putting on the pedals. Saturday was a perfect day to day it out for a nice ride to start my legs back. Chris and i set off from his house and did a 52 mile loop through west county in just under 3 hours. Pretty laid back with some descent hills orville being the crown jewel. It felt good even though the legs lost power pretty quickly and Chris had to slow his roll on many occasions. I'm going to go ride tomorrow, Pe@ce

FFFFSSSSSSSSTTT

That is the sound made when you open a soda. Now if you do not drink said refreshing beverage once opened it will go flat. And unless it is root beer it will not be refreshing or enjoyable. I am a soda that has been opened and not enjoyed. Sunday sucked for me. 2:15 for 15+ miles with a 6.9mph average. I am seriously having hard time this season.

As promised long awaited photos of my new race rig. Took her out to castlewood and was having a pretty good ride till this happened. I had an X-7 that I put on so that I would have a bike to ride. The chain is a little short now but whatever. I went for a urban mountain bike ride with Dr. Wesley McClaren from Team Seagal and everything worked well we kept a 15+mph average for about an hour and twenty min. Other then that no news so go ride. First watch this sweet vid.

Beautiful Day

U2 had it right. That is if Bono was singing about last Saturday which would be impossible since that song was release a few years prior so I guess they got it wrong. Regardless, the 17th was one of those days you just want to spend outside riding bikes. So the bat signal was flashed and the DrJ's headed to the ranch (Well Chris John Matthews and myself). Things where setting up for a good ride: great weather, great trails, and a bike that hadn't had a mechanical in three weeks. Then I got on the bike. I think it was a culmination of still getting used to the new bike, My lack of nutrition, lack of sleep, lack of training and mostly lack of drive to correct any and all of the above. Anyway you want to slice this lemon it was sour. I was pushing through it trying to kept the pace when I clipped a tree with my handle bars and decided my knee and stem needed to become married in painful matrimony. It was the basic "that hurts! is there blood? crap no scar." thought pattern and I kept riding only to bobble a little while later and do the same thing. This time the pain was lingering. On every up stroke I was feeling pain in my knee. I am no doctor abut I do know continuous pain means that things are not working properly. I was able to finish the 13mile lap but the plan to do two laps had to be scrapped. The knee does feel better but still hurts. I am giving it one more day but I cant pass on time off so I'll be at the wood tomorrow.

Super fast Nice guy Dave Breslin took a Top Five slot in the WORZ race up in Wisconsin on the 18th. Nice finish man!

This was parked next to my car the other day while I was slaving for the man. It is very unsettling to walk out of work and see that the car next to yours looks like it could be a crime scene. I did notice that the driver was courteous enough to double park his vehicle as to no scratch mine when he threw open the door to snatch up his latest victim. I am sure if I had waited around any longer I would have been offered some candy or a ride to back to where my parents were. Keep your eye on America's Most Wanted. Keep in mind it was also repainted by hand.

PS-Trails where muddy today

Home Field Advantage

This really does not exist at Castlewood because everyone all ride/trains there. However, this was DRJ sponsored race so our logo would have been painted in the center of the field and the fans would be waving big blue and yellow foam fingers, if such things existed for mountain bike races.

The conditions were the standard for this race season: WET. Coming down Lone Wolf I completely drifted a corner. No brakes, both wheels spinning, cranks turning, and the bike moved sideways around the bend. Pretty sick and I felt like a BA till I realized I was still in 9th. I caught and passed Mr. 8 and almost caught Bob who was holding up the 7th spot. I came up on him on the last lap as we climbed Love. Determined to not let the fat kid beat him he stomped on the gas and dropped me until the last down hill where I gained enough ground back to finish only a few seconds behind him. A very sarcastic thanks to whoever yelled "Robert is right there" as I snuck up on him at the finish. Congrats to Chris on again taking 1st for not realy being stoked to race he sure cleans house well!


I used this Race to Officaly unvail my new race rig; A Niner Air 9. I got a deal that I couln't pass up from Craig Basler an up and coming cyclist on the STL scene. I managed to get my hands on a Fox F29 with 80mm of travel to keep the front soft and set it up with an X9 drive train. The wheels have some sweet green King hub that were part of the deal as well as King headset and Easton EC70 seatpost. I switched over all of the other goodies: XT cranks, Thompson stem, Ritchey WCS Carbon bar, and selle XLR seat. the weight is just over 27lb but that cool cause I am no Davey B.

when i locate my Camera and she is clean I throw some actual pics up.

50 miles

I haven't been training or watching my diet so 50 mile on a road bike sounds painful. 5o miles on a mountain bike seems like suicide. I am a masochist. I couldn't wait to get my new bike (I'll post more later still looking for the camera to take some pics) out and spend some quality time in the saddle. To give you an idea of what I was in for the 15mile pre-ride hurt. I had two flats and watched Chris disappear more times then I can count. Prepping the bike Friday night had me a little uneasy the rear hub wasn't staying tight and I was now low on tubes. I packed everything up and settled in for the night.

Saturday morning was a little chilly but the Burritos chef Scott cooked up where hot and I felt ready too race after my morning glory. Dwayne was more excited then I have ever scene which got me amped and the Gino from Team Seagal hooked me up with an extra tube and I was stoked. I lined up next to Little Buddy ready to just ride.

We were off and the first hill was a killer 9/10 of a mile at an 11% grade. No idea where I was going into the woods and I really did not care. Rocketing along on 29s with some music pounding my ear drums and just flowing through some rocky technical single track. Life was good. Then I flatted right around the 5 mile mark. I checked the hub and it was already loose. I changed the flat and got the hub as tight as possible. I hoped it would last as I started moving through the long line of riders that had passed me as I worked on my bike. No dice. The hub kept coming loose and i had to stop several time to hand tighten it. I was moving along again and broke the master link in my chain. I had packed an extra one and was rolling again after a gu and some mechanical finesse. The trail was amazing it never let up. Rock gardens upon rock gardens followed by technical descents and leg busting-need-a-rope-and harness climbs. In short I was loving it. I got to the last downhill (the same climb we started on), congratulated the guy I came out of the woods with then dropped him as I scorched the gravel at 30mph. I was getting and giving metal fingers and thumbs up from everyone i saw as i came through the start/finish. Keeven, who had destroyed everyone on his Superior Single Speed flash a million dollar grin at me as I passed him. I was toasted and stoked. I was doing what i loved and have missed: riding my mountain bike. 7hr 18min for 50mile and 103 overall.

I rolled up to a table of buzzed DRJ's who were feasting on burgers and dogs. To find out Dwayne and Chris had both had trouble with flats Little Buddy hadn't finished yet and Scott had bee about 40 min ahead of me. I was bummed for My teammate because i knew Both of them had a change for the overall but Chris was still fast enough to win his division so the we had reason to gorge ourselves on Mexican food later. All in all a good weekend of riding with some awesome riders sights are now set on CW race hopefully the legs come back. see you all out there.

wwe Kurt Angle vs. John Cena Battle Rap

Pump the Sponcors

Hello and good day to all you interweb surfers. I recently stumbled upon something that revolutionized the way i will intake enorgy. One of DRJ Racings many prestigious sponcors is 180 enorgy. As I am a junkie of these extreme sports supplements that have no proven health benefit and only make you dependent on their over doses of caffeine and B12 to stay awake I always enjoy a refreshing 180 every chance I get. Sadly the caloric intake is more then I should consume on a frequent basis. Friday night however threw me a change up. Sugar Free 18o and Low Carb 180 Blue with Acai.

Sugar Free 180
Taste: Very similar to regular 180 but with a hint of aspartame.
Calories: 5 per serving/10 per can.
Can Graphics: pretty sick with the upside down label
Energy Drink story: N/A (what the EF)

Low Calorie 180 Blue
Taste: It tastes like blue and not in a bad way
Calories: 15 per serving/ 30 per can
Can Graphics: A little more chill then then the sugar free still pretty extreme
Energy Drink Story: again no story don't they understand this is the reason I repurchase a majority of energy drinks?

To bring this Coach Casey Ryback taste test to a festering head these new beverages are going to be staples in my nutrition regiment for the rest of the season. They Best part is i scored them on sale for $1.47 at schnucks. "Inexpensive and great tasting?" you may ask in amazement. As gold medalist and WWF super star Kurt Angle would say "It's true. It's true."

Many Thanks

My hand is feeling much better and I have been able to keep the bandage off for almost 24hrs. A lot of friends have offered me a lot of help during this aweful start to a season. For this I am very thankful. I cannot stress how lucky I am that my friends and the mountain bike community here in Missouri is so rad. Thank you all for offering me frames, giving me deals, letting me vent, helping me get parts, and dealing with me when my mood is no where near pleasant. With out your help I would have hung up the jersey for good.

I should have my new secret MTB weapon up and running by saturday and will put a full post with pics up. Till then keep the rubber side down and let me know if i can do anything for you.

Carnage in Herman

Warm-up

I wish the title of this post referred to me to me crushing the cat 4 time trial and then repeating with the road race. But, it does not.

This was the first time trial I had ever done and even though I did not scorch the earth like Levi my time of 25:33 was good enough to place me 11th on the ten mile coarse.

The road race started out nicely with sunny 70 degree weather and then went way south for me from there on out. I completely blew up on the second KOM climb and got dropped. I am not sure how much of this had to do with back to back races but I blame it on lack of training and abundance of junk foood. I was determined to hang in there but soon lost sight of the pack. It was now about finishing. I started working with another rider with the hopes we would be able to pick off some of the other stragglers. We sighted one and started to reel him in. We were pulling each other along at 25mph just about to catch rider X. He came around me to take his turn pulling, I caught his slipstream with too much heat, took off like a rocket, and rubbed his rear wheel. One four letter word later and I was telling him to keep going I would be fine. Note the definition of fine here is how females use it when you ask them whats wrong.I ended up with some road rash, a dented frame (suspecting that it is now unsafe to ride), and wounded pride from getting dropped then crashing because of a rookie mistake. On the bright side I did not cause him to crash and I did get sympathy from the female medic that doused me in alcohol.

"Why do we fall? so we can get back up"

Hope everyone enjoyed their Summer like Sunday better then I did.

bored ride

Crit racing is a rush. The intensity is a 10 for the entire race and you fight to hold lines catch breaks and snatch primes right out from underneath the $5000 road bike of the guy next to you. The sense of power one feels when the blow past a group at full sprint has to be what Zeus feels when he hurls lightning bolts. Friday night i made the choice not to race Saturday. I was feeling very tired, I was stressed, I was uncertain to weather I would be able to handle my bike safely with my wrist, and the all powerful nail in the racing coffin cash is on the endangered species list in my life. So I slept for 13 hours, got up at 11 ate and suited up for a ride. I did not really feel like pushing myself and with the heavy winds, random bullet like rain drops, and struggling 40 degree temps. I was forced to retire after only 37 miles with a 16.7 average. I then ate an entire pizza and went into work for an unscheduled shift. A pretty mild way to spend my day off. Oh well I'll melt my face next weekend at the Tour Of Hermann, enjoy the pics!

Can you tell what intersection this is?

Aright which dirty scoundrel knows what you can find this?

Typical NORBA race conditions

wahcheeta

I blow stress out of my system when I ride. Maybe that is why I break so many bike parts. 60 miles will blow out more then stress. It can eat your soul if you are not careful. The Ouachita Challenge was epic for me. My goal was to finish. I have been having trouble juggling work schedauls with races and broken bikes which has left me with little or no time to just ride. Well everything came together for me despite the whirrel wind of stress that blew in on Friday. Let me begin at the beginning...

I blew my fork out and toasted my brakes at Rim Wrecker. Monday I spent searching for a new fork. I am a little skepitcle about riding a reba after blowing one out twice. I settled on a Marzocchi Marathon Corsa world Cup and got it order on Tuesday and shipped 3 day air from UPS. I ordered in some sweet Avid Juicy 7's to replace the 5 year old Deore's I was trusting my life with.

Friday found me sitting at the shop waiting for brown with my bike completely disassembled. The UPS truck drove past. I waited...and waited...and waited...then called Marzocchi got a tracking number and located my fork in Des Moines Iowa. I called UPS and was told that if the fork was shipped on Tuesday night 3 day air meant it would not be delivered till Saturday and since they do not deliver on Saturday I wouldn't get it till Monday. Morel of the story UPS sucks because if you do the math there are 3 days between Tuesday and Friday.

I bumbed a fork (A pretty sweet Fox F100) off of Matt AKA Casey Ryback and started throwing my bike together at 5pm. I put her all together and couldn't get the rear Der dialed. Add more stress and I was starting to lose my cool in a major don't-think-I-am-going-to-go kind of way. Enter Drew AKA Sparky a former Co-worker, friend, and Mechanic extrodinare at Ghisallo. Drew ran home and brought me up a set of Sram X.9 shifters and a X.7 Derailleur. 830ish and Airin is in working order and sporting a wicked XTR/XT/X9/X7 drivetrain and running off of friendship so pure that you would have to dilute it under normal cercumstances.

Saturday I drove down with the Seagal boys and their Single Speeds of Supiority and checked in. I got a ACE bandage for my wrist which I had some how sprained and ignored hoping that it would cease to exist if I neglected it. Now it hurt too bad to keep out of my thoughts.

Sunday morning came with awesome weather. At one point I saw God smiling on all 150 riders lining up to put themselves through pain Arkansas style. I kept asking people if they were ready to get awesome as our roll out start moved down the fire road toward the womble trail. Suddenly we were in single track heaven. The womble was in pristine condition. We climbed and descended and hit the pavement. I was feeling great and after chatting some more hooked up with my new found friends for a 25mph pace line to get to the single track faster. This ended up being mistake. I blew up heading up Blowout Mountain which is pretty much pinch flat hell. I was sucking down any energy gel, power bar, fresh fruit, cytomax ect. I could get at the rest stops and was caught during a bindge by Marc and Brad from Team Seagel at the last rest area, 14miles and one mountain from the finish. I started up Big brushy and was forced to walk. I couldn't do this well either and kicked my rear derailleur, bending the hanger and limitting me from using the last cog (something I realized after jamming the chain between the hub and cassette twice). Mud was keeping my front Derailleur from shifting into the granny and I was forced to walk or grind. I did both and traded places with a few riders on the way to the top. Once there the down hill melted my face and gave me new life. I hit the road and again hooked up with another rider and we paced each other. I dropped him later. It was sweet considering how crappy I felt. I big ringed it all the way back on the roads as I drained the last of my cytomax. I crossed the finish line at 5:35 and some change good enough to land me 36th overall. I finished with my soul intact and a pretty muddy smile.

Awesome trip awesome company and one awesome race!

Fork Wrecker

The first time I ever ventured down to Council Bluffs to ride the epic 13 mile loop I met God out on the trail. At once point blasting around a corner, the sun filtering through lush green foliage, not another person in the world around, and all the concerns in the world far behind me everything seemed to make sense life just seemed right and I was certain heaven was around the next corner. Sunday I was back on the same trail this time I met the devil. I stared Lucifer in the face. He was in the form of saturated mud and driving rain. and he was intent on ripping my soul out of my legs and leaving me to die trail side. Lucifer came close but he underestimated the power of Snickers and I managed to ride up stream, over slick wheel throwing boulders, and through the icy bullets of rain. I completed 2 laps in about 2:50 min and posted up till the 3 hour cut off for the marathon class expired. Why didn't i try for the third lap that might have bumped me up onto the podium? Because the fork that Sram Corp. rebuilt and sent back to had blow out again. Oh and my brakes sized up. Such is racing.

Highlights:
Wes kicked some serial ass on his SS taking second to a fast dude by the name of Breslin
Jumping my toasted bike and muddy self in to the frigid lake from the small boat dock.

Road Trip

Flooding makes sense. I mean we have had a lot of precip this winter which has made riding extremely frustrating. So the fact that 141 sank beneath the murky watter of swollen rivers isn't out of place. What was out of place was the pure white snow that was falling in stark contrast to the grungy sewage water also known as the meramec. As sped my American made econo car across lake valley park by means of interstate 44 I swore I saw a horseman riding in from the north followed by a swarm of locusts. I pressed the accelerator harder for i was on a mission. I had a hockey ticket to a Blues Blackhawks game at the United Center. For those of you who are asking if the Scott Trade Center was renamed it was not. Easter morning for me headed to Chicago. The land of deep dish pizza, high winds, and horrible rude people who think they are New Yorkers. Well two stops for gas and 300 plus miles later I was parking my car wearing team colors. It is alwasy interesting watching a game as a visiting teams fan. I have found out that everyone thinks that they have the best venue for the sport. However, Chicago does have one of the best. It does have one major thing wrong with it. The Untied Center is in Chicago and the Hawks play there. Move it to the Lou have the blues call it home and it would undeniably be the best place to watch hockey. The game mirriored the saeson ; started out promising and ended as a let down (4-3 overtime loss). And so I made my way back home. I cut an hour off of my time and complete the up and back trip in 14 hours. Not a bad way to spend my day off. I just wish I had been able to ride.

Airin is back!

I bled the brakes today at work and they worked beautifully! I was a little uncertain of how to actually bleed them because the manager at TC always did took car of those repairs. After lost valley I know I had to delve into the would of preasurized fluid. The first attempt didnt to jack so we (Casey Ryback of Team Seagal and myself) force bled it and it worked like a hooker on Burbon street. The new XT cranks look pretty fly as well and felt uber good at the last race. However, that could very well be because averything else felt like crap.

Rim Wrecker is next weekend and I managed to work it into my schedual. I will be "racing" endurance class in order to get a long Ride in before the Ouachita Challenge. I am stoker for this event. 60 miles on a mountain bike is my definition of an awesome ride.
I plan on commuting on my mountain bike just to get used to the feel of it. Anyway this is getting boring so PE@CE~

Spring is here

I woke up late for work today. It was bound to happen and I kind of figured that i would over sleep last night when I went to bed. Oh well the bloodshot eyed, caffeine addicted zombies wielding their tumor inducing cellphones all received quality beverages with minimal wait times.

I haven't ridden a bike since Sunday. My eyes tickle like I am about to shed a tear as i pass the old school yellow squared commerce bank singe that saying the temp is 56 degrees and I am in a car. Yes producing smog, depleting oil reserves, not training, and munching on a Hersey's bar. What do I have to say for myself? nothing really I just shrug my shoulders. I'll be on the bike again soon most likely tomorrow.

Update: my fork is at Rockshox what they have accomplished I have no idea.