Circa 2000

Fell in love with this song (and Album) while living in Tempe AZ. Saw their reincarnation (Mars Volta) 2 years later at the 9:30 club. Rumors of a ATDI reunion floating.

Everything (racing) Is Over

Capital Cross this past Sunday – last race of ‘09.  Went better than expected – which wasn’t much.  Mud and snow: Isn’t that the way a December cross race should be?  Epic indeed.  I finished 7th and had a great dual with Chris.  Bastard rode smoothly the last lap while I started to fall apart and make mistakes.  He nipped me at the line.  Damn him.  But I am happy given how the end of November went…

Totally effed up my last two MABRA CX races and fell from 2nd overall in the Elite Masters to 6th.  MABRA champs I pretty much imploded.  Good start.  Crashed, sitting fourth, before lap 1 was over and went backwards the rest of the race.  I had the same shifting issues I am sure everyone else had, difference was, my brain was unwilling to overlook this and focus on racing.  Couple that with my effed up back seizing after hitting the deck, which resulted in my legs generating geriatric quality power, and I was a waste.  Came very close several times to throwing in the towel.

Actually, I had sabotaged my race before it even started.  Taking advantage of the holiday week I got some extra riding time in – 3 days straight of hard efforts before Sunday’s race.  This was retarded.  I hadn’t ridden 4 days straight since May (mountain biking Memorial Day weekend).

My back on the other hand has just been a curse.  A total nuisance since crashing at Kelley Acres hopping over the logs.  One bad hop, hit the deck, and my left side back and IT band have been nagging me  since.  Arghh.  Massages, ice, heat, baths, gels, balms (and no one can tell what a balm is going to do) – nothing has relieved the pain.  I even resorted once to punching my IT band to get it to stop agitating me – like a lunatic.

Next prescription – Rest.  Ah, rest.

CX season was a blast and I did better than I expected.  I had some reasonable consistency and descent form, especially given the short season of summer racing and 3 hours a week of training this fall.

Cadillac

Scrub A Dub

Had to wash the disappointment from yesterday’s race off…literally (the poop smelling mud) and figuratively.  A good race on Saturday saw me finish 3rd in a 3-up battle.  I was bummed my gears were misfiring in the last muddy sections which caused me to get gapped, but I was satisfied I felt strong and hoped Sunday would bring another good result.

I should have paid better attention to those shifting problems.  In fact, the problem in the rear is new, but throwing the chain in the front has been going on for the past week +.  I throw into, and over, the big ring.  Unaware for a split second as to what has happened I keep pedaling and the chain gets wrapped around the crank arm and jammed between the chain ring.  See the banner here for an example.

An issue, indeed, but no biggie if commuting or on the trainer.  Slow or stop and remove the chain.  Mid-race = disaster and stress.  Twice yesterday I had this problem.  The second time required me to flip the bike over and rip on the chain like I was hauling in a tuna.  Couple that with the incessant skipping in the rear and my day of frustration was complete.

So to shake it off I had a beer(s), burgers, and a bath with my boy.  It was a clarifying moment – like a priority adjustment intervention.  Hard to remain down when your 8 month old is having a blast just splashing water with you.

Zoo

Took Drew to the Zoo last Saturday.  Best part was even with gorillas running around right in front of him it was the other children running around he was most interested in.

Although he did like the bears (below).

Monday Ridin’

Tacchino was a blast.  The course at Rosaryville was better than I expected and I hope Coppi can repeat there next year.  Had most everything you’d want at a cross race.

1.  Beer, obviously.

2. A little bit of tech off-camber stuff, some at high speed, some at low speed.

3. Power sections – gravel and pavement.

4. Tight fast turns, slow turns.

5.  Some mud.

System Six for Sale

2008 System Six road bike – 60cm
Frame is practically brand new (3 months old) – it was a replacement frame because my original frame developed a superficial crack in the clear coat. Cannondale was good enough to warranty it for me.

Components:
SRAM Rival drive train and brakes/levers.

Yokozuna cables/housing increase the performance of shifting and braking and are only 3 months old.

Cannondale C2 carbon wrapped seatpost

Cannondale C3 stem (120mm length)

Fizik Arione saddle

Ritchey DS Pro wheels (these are several years old, but true, stiff, and roll great – a solid wheelset that has held up great).

Vittoria Revolution KXS tires

The right brake lever and cranks have normal wear-and-tear scuffs. The frame is spotless though and all together the bike is awesome shape.

More information about the specs and geometry can be found here:
http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/08/cusa/model-8RST4D.html

Finally,

some justice

All Hallows CX 3/4 short video

All Hallows CX 3/4, originally uploaded by eaelupus.

This was the first lap when the 3/4 men were exiting the single track. Speeds weren’t very high given the sloppy, wet conditions, but the course was a lot of fun and required concentration to avoid getting sideways and hitting the deck.

All Hallows – “Chip Hoover” Experiment

This past summer Chip Hoover traveled with his daughter and Lance Lacy to race in North Carolina – sans Mommy.  The experiment: 2 Men and a Baby.

Saturday I decided to give this a go.  I made the logistical plans with Kim and Judd.  She would have a day to herself and Judd, Drew, and I would travel an hour south to race the All Hallows CX.  The rain made travel slow and playtime at the race less than desirable, but the experiment was a success.  Drew, as usual, was happy and mellow – content to be held beneath an umbrella and watch bike riders going in seemingly random directions.  Judd had about 10-15 minutes of warm up but had a secret weapon.  He was still drunk from the night before.  Using this beer-power he paced himself early and allowed the alcohol to fuel his muscles…kind of like an alcohol funny car only at slow motion.  He took 3rd and this was in conditions that one could easily be allowed to assume would not be to his advantage – slippery, sometimes rooty, and slow.  Take notice all those staying off the sauce to hope for greater achievements.  Steve “I’m on Fire” Fife and “The Todd” Todd Bickling finished a 8th and 11th respectively.  Fife was not too psyched to see Judd beat him given how little Judd’s done to prepare himself for racing this season (using the minimal-training-plan) and specifically for this race by showing up hung over and with 30 minutes until go time.  Like roid-range this one time fluke was likely due to beer strength.

My race prep included getting the umbrella jammed in the hatch back of Judd’s VW, giving Drew his bottle, changing his diaper, and passing him off to Judd.  I rode around the start/finish area and then we were off.  I’ll spare the long-winded blow-by-blow…I won.  The course was a lot fun.  No terrain to speak of but they made good use of what they had including a barn ride-through, a rooty single track section, and a sandy horse corral of sorts.

So, lessons learned.  #1 Don’t put an umbrella near an auto latching hatch back.  #2 Drinking the night before a race is akin to carb loading.  #3 Diaper changes can suffice for warming up.

An alternative to Judd’s approach, but perhaps more effective is the knowledge that you will get drunk after your race rather than before.  Jared Nieters followed this game plan perfectly…taking the W in the Elite Mens field and then throwing back copious amounts of alcohol at the Reef later that night.

 

 

A bit grainy, but you can see Drew was briefly subjected to parental Halloween abuse.  He was dressed up as Count Boobula – a nickname Kim and I came up with sometime ago given Drew’s ravenous appetite.