motivation

i can't seem to get motivated to post. i had two good mtb rides two days in a row and have been content to read about them here and here.
i also have a new bike completed and haven't been motivated to take pics and post. hopefully i'll get more fired up soon.
SRAM cup tonight. should be fun. 2 graduation parties tomorrow (ugghhh). sunday is planless. get some good rides in for sure. maybe finish my road bike, mount my tires, blah blah blah. no eau claire this weekend which is a bummer as i loved the course minus that longer than needed lead out. it's a little too long of a drive. blue mounds next weekend though. out.

want to cry

i wanted to post pictures of my eriksen. i wanted to get pics of my wheels. but going to change gears on the walt the slider bolt is stripped and stuck in the frame. can't get it out. at least i hope it's the bolt and not the frame that's stripped. so pissed and trying to tell myself it's a frame. worst case i have to send it to walt and get the dropout replaced... then deal with the paint and hope the decals won't need to be replaced.

eye 9

my wheels came in. loud. my headset may have to be changed or i may need to order up new decals. i'll decide tomorrow.

weather

the ride for today is up in the air. supposedly strong t-storms on the horizon.
looks like there are some south of here but nothing west... yet. i know it can change at any time but i can only hope that mother nature doesn't thwart my plans.
my coworkers were making fun of me for bringing my bike in. like didn't i know it was suppose to rain... whatever. now i hope even moreso that it doesn't so i can laugh at them for not bringing their gear.

eriksen

done... kinda. just under 20lbs according to my ultimate scale. still waiting for my own wheels and a different fork lower. thanks to john for letting me borrow his brand new never ridden race wheelset to get this little honey going.

wi state ss champs at the hpt

(I really should have been eating at this time instead of taking pictures)














It was awesome. The run sucked. I haven’t ran since H.S. I’m dead serious. Like a ¼ mile run. I surprised myself that I actually ran the whole way though. Thought for sure I’d finish walking it.



















Murphykate was off the front… She’s a cross country runner so was way up to start. She blew us other girls away.

It took me forever to recover. The whole ½ start lap I couldn’t breathe. Let me first tell you that I purposely ordered endless cogs (23, 24 and 25) for this race. Got them and they wouldn’t slide on my freehub! So I ended up running a 32:21 which I knew would be too big, but I tried not to focus on it. Well, I really focused on it that start ½ lap… holy crap. It was switchback after switchback with steep climb after steep climb. I was miserable. I had doubts about finishing if the whole course was like that. I attempted to count the monkeys that were all over the course, but to be honest I kept getting stuck at 8 and 9. I still don’t know how many there were… those two frisky monkeys were having way more fun than I was when I passed them at one point.


Anyway, I came through the start finish lap finally starting to recover. I headed out to do a complete lap. I was actually starting to feel good. I came zooming down this widetrack and saw Murphykate on the other side. At this point I had no idea how close she was. I had no idea until I reached the end of the widetrack and made the turn. Holy crap. I could win. Nah, probably not. But still. I just pedaled along and didn’t see her anymore. I figured she saw me and stepped it up. I knew I’d see her in the singletrack. And I did. The singletrack was killer. Off cambr log crossings. Bridges. Cut out trees, bridges, rock gardens. Sweet. I was riding behind her talking. I think I made her nervous. I never passed her. It’s funny, I didn’t have any desire to. I knew she’d blow me away out of the singletrack and I was just content to ride with her (I’m so competitive).

We saw a sign that said “passing ahead”, or something like that, so I figured it was going to flatten out. It didn’t. It was a switchback which had a wide open climb. Boo. Murphykate can walk way faster than me! She was gone never to be seen again. I didn’t even try to find her… but even if I did, I don’t think I would’ve won anyway.

I was super low on water and no food. Did I mention I pulled a lame-o move before the race and didn’t eat? I was starving. I also didn’t know how many laps. I was sure Jesse, Marko and John would’ve lapped me by now. They hadn’t so I thought I was on my last lap. Boy was I wrong… I heard Jesse, saw him and cheered him on. Marko was shortly after. Then nobody. But the wind was let out of my sails… I had one more lap… I was starving, had no water and was a bit bummed.

So I recovered from the bum out about as quickly as it came and was on my way to the start finish area. No water boy? Where the fuck is James? Great. There is no way I can finish a lap without water, in fact, I think I needed two! But I wasn’t about to quit even though I thought about it like 23 times.

I saw some fellow WORS racers who are practically my neighbors and asked them for water. Tom tossed me a bottle… it didn’t reach me and landed on the ground and opened up. CRAP. So I grabbed it real fast to save as much water as possible… I didn’t want to ask for more. They were doing 12 hour solo. So I at least had some water.

I rode the singletrack much better this time even. It was super fun… but the gel started to wear off, my stomach was growling and I was trying to save water for the other side. I could feel my left leg- you know that feeling when you know eventually you were going to cramp? Yeah, that was happening.

I was starting to feel the effects of no food, no water, etc. I was just getting ready to pass to the other side. I was sort of dreading it. It took forever. My left leg was cramping at the slightest motion and my right foot was starting to cramp. I tried to make sure I kept my foot straight to pedal. With all the climbing and being dehydrated I pretty much walked the last half lap. I felt like I walked way more than I rode. I think I even walked flats thinking they were climbs. I couldn’t even clip in. I just put my foot on the pedal and eventually it would go in. There was this one step up between two trees… when I got to it for the third time, I swear it was way bigger than the other two times. How did I ever get passed this thing those other two times?

I felt dumb. How long have I been racing? How the hell did I forget to eat? And how many times had I been burned by people supposed to be feeding me water? I kept thinking about sitting and tell the next person who passed me to get me water. Or I kept hoping for John to come get me… I felt like I was out there forever… I kept thinking about the Mississippi river and how close it was. I just wanted water.

I finally finished in just under 3 hours I believe… around 10 minutes behind the winner and 30 some minutes up on 3rd place. There were a lot of what ifs like there usually is for me… I seem to learn my lessons more than once. But in the end it’s always fun and that's all that matters. I’m glad we made the drive.

I found out that endless had a bad run of cogs… so I’ll be calling/emailing them today to get the skinny.

The only thing I regret from the weekend is not checking out Jesse’s basement.

Thanks to Jesse for letting us stay on his hard floors. As hard as they were it was way better than waking up at 3am. As much as I wanted to kick James’ ass I appreciate him being there getting me water (when he remembered) and taking pics. Thanks to Tom and Gina for the water. And of course thanks to Twin Six for making such cool stuff and sharing it with me.

On the way home the Montee's thule case popped open from all of Murphykate's well earned hardware. I was just getting ready to make fun of them and they pulled off the road.

ride

i went out to palos last night. i didn't know who was going to be there but knew there'd be people out there. 6pm wednesdays is a pretty standard group ride night out at mt. forest. i pulled up and right away saw john siwinski. cool. i tagged along on his ride. 7 of us total. it was by no means fast or anything... it was a fun pace. we chatted and stopped every so often to regroup. i was able to ride some of the new trails that have been built within the last year or so. i have such a poor sense of direction i hope i remember it all if i venture out on my own.
i went down once... i rammed a stump hidden in the weeds. 29er wheels roll over most everything easy but not everything. it was also a reminder why to keep your brake lever sort of loose... had they been super tight i probably would've damaged my bar or broke a lever.
hopefully this'll start a routine for wednesday night again. there's a summer solstice ride going on tonight... i'd like to go, but doubt it'll happen. i have so much to do. we are heading up to lacrosse on friday night.
it's amazing what a simple mountain bike ride does for your soul.

hump day

exciting things on the bike front and hopefully on the ride front tonight.
the new "race" frame has arrived and all the fun parts ,except for wheels, are already here. may have to borrow john's til mine come in.
it's been a meh start today. i spent too long drooling over my frame last night and hanging as many parts as i could- i started at 10 or so- and didn't get upstairs to brush my teeth til after midnight. as i'm brushing my teeth and picking shit out of the holes that used to be molars, zoe wakes up. i roll my eyes in disbelief. murphy is definitely not on my side. i wait to see if she is just having a moment. it's a pretty long moment... but she's not screaming yet. she's only playing. maybe she'll just lay down and sleep. no way. i give her more than a few minutes of desperate-come-get-me-crying before i break down and get her. she's wide awake. so i try to get her to lay down... no go. i ended up having to get her a bottle. this helped and she fell asleep shortly after. but the damage was done, it was late and i knew i would be super tired. and i was. john woke me at 6. crap. i feel like i need at least another hour. i hadn't felt that tired on wake up in a couple weeks. so i hopped in the shower hoping that zoe's late night party would keep her in bed and delay even further her usual 5:30am rise and shine. just as i stepped out of the shower she woke up. no big deal, but it would have been nice to get ready for once without having to clean up all the feminine hygiene products she so enjoys to play with while i blow my hair dry... or the lotion she tries to eat... or unraveling the toilet paper... or eating my shoe... or trying to escape to another room. my late wake up furthur screwed things up as today is go to my grandma's day- which means that it'll take me that much longer to get out of the house and i need to make an extra stop. i finally make it out and head to work. i'm thinking an iced coffee would be nice. i need caffeine and wasn't in the mood for hot. fuck. i'm at dunkin donuts and realize i forget my phone (ultimately not a biggee) and inhaler (big time biggee)... mostly because today i'm going straight from work to ride my bike. ugghhh. turn around go back home get my stuff. surprisingly the drive in is uneventful but still long. i get to work and then stepped in gum. how annoying. people are fucking ignorant.
i've been kind of bummed i haven't gotten any riding in, real riding, for a long time and was super irritated from my morning, but then i read this. it put things in perspective.

BOO

no riding since last tuesday night. i'm going to try and head out tomorrow for the wednesday night mtb ride out at palos. totally sucks but its not like i'm sitting on my ass or anything. life is just busy i guess.

wednesday post

hit the mesa with tony last night. super mellow ride bullshitting about this and that. cicadas were there, but not in palos-like quantities. one flew on my leg and i freaked. i kept telling myself i wouldn't freak, but i did. i went off the trail a bit. thankfully no ledges or drops here.
casey's last night of soccer tonight. it's the kids against the parents. i hope they are all up for getting their little butts kicked.
hopefully i can restart the wednesday night rides at palos again next week. i haven't done one since like 2005. i used to ride in the fast group, i think i'll be in the kinda fast group hanging on. crossing my fingers the cicadas will be almost gone. maybe i'll rock the bkb kit, mine arrived today. thanks to those guys for getting all that stuff organized and shipped.
in other news...

soccer n things

casey has played soccer every monday and wednesday for the past month and a half. it's been fun loading up the tot rod and all heading out on our bikes to watch her play. bee swarms is what they call them. it's funny as that's exactly what it looks like out there with every kid following the ball. watching them i can totally understand how there are "those parents" that yell and scream at their kid. i hope to never become like that and i don't think i will, but i can see where it comes from. don't get me wrong, i loved every minute of watching her play, but really it is kind of boring. last night was great though. it was probably one of the most fun and hilarious half hours of my life in a long time. i'm sure every kid out there was in bed early last night.
as much as this pains me casey started gasp cheerleading last night. my sister has her own gym in mokena. every cousin of mine (they are all girls, all 13 of them) have been cheerleaders. i was the black sheep. when i was younger living at home my sister would constantly harrass me to "watch this" as she'd show me her new "routine" she had created. she'd make pyramids out of the furniture and cheer and dance. gosh i hated that. but she loved it like i love biking. casey is now interested (all my younger cousins are cheerleaders as well as her cousin). i'll be honest there is a part of me that hopes she doesn't take an extreme liking to it... but if she does, i'll be there for her every practice and competition and will like it and be happy because she's happy.

three triangles times two

(thanks to mark for the pic)

got one exciting phone call on friday and an equally exciting email on friday... pics to come hopefully by next week. (edit: pics of one this week, pics of the other for sure next)
saturday morning john and i loaded up the element and headed up to the southern kettles. we signed up for the 6 hour duo. since we weren't up for ditching the kids we brought them along and just had a mellow race. we tented with 6 hour solo participants jeremey, jerry, lori, dave, aaron, 12 hour solo chris and chris' sis in law kari. thank you kari for making pee breaks not so stressful as well as putting up with 100 questions and "watch this" from casey. i gave john the nod to take the first lap. as much as i love running, i thought i'd share the love. not even finishing the start he sheared off his front chainring. kind of a bummer when you are running one gear. so he came back and stole the walt. i can't even imagine how uncomfortable he was on a singlespeed that was geared way lower than he would ever gear and a saddle way too low. it must've been like riding a big bmx bike. while he was out i ran to the car (thanks again kari) to get our "singlespeed box" to replace his chainring bolts.
i headed out and had no idea what to expect course wise. i was pleasantly surprised with some awesome singletrack! it was a blast. i made everything out there on the walt except for the end of, i think its called peanut butter hill. my heartrate would sky rocket as i reached the turn and i'd have to get off... everytime! i need more fitness. i would love to see a video of myself climbing that last steep climb near the end.
john's second lap had him on his own bike... he was back within minutes with no chainring bolts again. wtf! damn spot brand chainring. he had that on the ziggurat and had all kinds of problems. (we threw it away when we got home, bad juju or something) i was right in the middle of feeding zoe so nobody was out on the course for us. no biggee. i just hoped john could get his bike running so he could ride. i finished feeding zoe and headed out for another lap. came back and john was ready to go with a truvativ ring up front. i didn't see him until 20 some minutes later. he stopped and asked if i minded if he went out again. no problem.
we had a good time. it definitely wasn't a race for us. just some good riding with some good friends around. i woud totally do it again. i am totally envious of all you parents who have your shit together and all runs smooth. no matter how many times we do this, we still always run late because we don't leave enough time to pack it all. but in reality, we are like that with everything.
sunday we had plans on hitting PAMBA, but with getting to bed after midnight (zoe was trying to pull an all-nighter, i think she was overstimulated from the day's activities), it just wasn't in the cards. instead we went out and had a great breakfast. we headed out to the bookstore for a new atlas and to let the kids have fun in the kids' area. casey loves looking at the books and playing with the trains. the train table was heaven for zoe. old navy was right next store, so we bought the kids some new summer tanks and hoped to find a cool dog collar. hooters was right across the street and they were having a car show, so we walked over there. casey loves the old cars. she had a good time pointing out all the cars she dug. she now wants a hot rod or a big caddy. next up was best buy and then home.
the rest of the day was spent picking up, yard work, casey left for my aunt's to swim, more errands and a kick ass dinner on the grill... fish, peppercorn, asparagus, olive oil, sausage, salad... yum. i regret not going for a ride, but my ass hurts like it does after that first ride after the winter...

out of sorts

i can't put a finger on how i feel today. crabby, nervous, guilty, annoyed, upset, calm, bugged, the list goes on. the wind is blowing pretty darn good right now... sucks for riding in the open, but good for drying the trails. all in vain though, its supposed to rain. meh. dora the explorer is on for the 3rd time today. nobody is watching it, the tv is just on. i want to finish the rig but i'm missing tires and a long enough chain.

wtf

i thought this was only supposed to last a couple of days! my mouth is still sore so i still can't eat a burger. i'm getting crabby about it to say the least. and what's up with the stitches on the left side? they seem to be in my cheek? did he miss? did he mess up and have to stitch my cheek? and bruises... that's just crazy that you get bruises. like how hard are they yanking on your jaw to get those bad boys out? i'm annoyed.
casey has soccer tonight. no ride. maybe i'll sneak out for a short one or something, anything.
this on saturday, 6 hour duo, me n john with the kids along and this on sunday if we can find a sitter. hopefully the weather cooperates. i'm itching to ride and hang out with friends.

swollen

so the doc was right... the third day i'd be most swollen. no joke. i'm pretty bruised too. i feel like somebody clobbered me. i guess if it's going to rain, now is a good time since i don't feel like riding at the moment. no soccer for casey tonight. bummer i was looking forward to it. it was her snack day too, so she was excited. i'm going to kill my dog before the evening is over...
stitches poking my tongue making it super sensitive. still want solid foods... hamburger. mmmm... the thai beef basil i tried to eat this afternoon at work didn't work out so well.... the rice was fine, the mushrooms were okay, the meat- i coulda choked. i had to just leave it at the rice and gravy. no worries... i'll just have leftovers. that's all i got.

crossing my fingers

i could have something killer from the brown santa by next week and something even more killer from the brown santa in two weeks. they'll hopefully make for some good photos. but we all know how dates of delivery are... but one can still hope.
i'd like them by june 17th though for lacrosse. that would be saweet. or wait, i forgot, i might do single there. but still have it built and ready to go by next race.

yeah... sucky

6 teeth pulled saturday morning. misery ensued for a few hours after. barely slept last night... today, no pain meds, however i wouldn't mind something to take the edge off. i can close my mouth today. i resemble a chipmunk. i miss food. i love food. solid food. tonight i could go for a grilled hamburger but have no desire to eat it through a straw. looks like soup again. bummer. hopefully tomorrow night i'll be able to chew but i'm thinking more like tuesday.

weekend death

my weekend will officially die tomorrow at 10:15 when i get shot up with an i.v. to have 6 of my choppers yanked.
hoping riding will resume monday.