gettin' ready

♥♥♥ BOO ♥♥♥

i only rode 4 miles yesterday... when forgetting to take my inhaler hit me. i was freaked out riding by myself anyway. real creepy.
casey is super stoked its halloween today. she has pretty much been talking about it all year. she's padmé from star wars. zoe is yoda. i'll hopefully get some good pics tonight.

procrastinating pack rats

john and i have pretty much ignored our house for 2 years now. we put hardwood floors in feb 05. we had to tear some railings down and still haven't put them back up. our basement is full of clutter and junk. not even fun junk.
our attic is full. you can't even walk into the office or kids rooms there is so much stuff.
i need to get a dumpster to make room. i remembered to make the call when i hadn't decided to get one for sure and now that i've decided we need one for sure, i keep forgetting to call!
to start i'm going through the clothes. i just filled over 6 garbage bags full of clothes to give to goodwill. i haven't even hit the cycling clothes yet. tons of good jerseys i don't think i wore more than once. socks. i plan on getting rid of everything i haven't worn in a year and maybe then some. and then when the new twin six jerseys hit, i'll get rid of more.
i used to not be able to part with anything. it was usually practically new. but i like new things. i like keeping it fresh. i never wear things i keep just in case. the last two years or so i get the urge to purge. it's that time of year.
now i just need to work on the shoe thing. i have a real hard time parting with shoes.
once we purge the basement and attic (and garage- yikes) the clutter upstairs and the other rooms will have a home.
the weather looks to be sweet tomorrow. 66 and sunny. i probably won't get a chance to enjoy it, but who knows, maybe i'll need to go home early. wednesday is halloween. casey is super stoked. she can't wait to dress up. sunday brings another competition at st. xavier college. another big one. at least its close.

ride n cheer

packed friday night for the first gal's ride. i had to leave at 6:early to be there on time.
thoughts of leaving my family for a day, friends and music filled my mind on the 2 hour drive.
it was a bit chilly, but not as cold as i had thought it would be.
i pulled into the lot and regina was hanging out. the rest of the girls slowly pulled in. amelia, angela, soni, sonia, brittany, christine, lori, amy, claire...
we all headed out overdressed. some of us stripped at the first bench.
blue to connector to emma and back.
i fell once. i don't even remember. i just sunk in some sand in a turn. when i was sitting on the ground i almost laughed out loud. i just toppled over.
the trails were in good shape. lots of leaves. big holes of water. some i thought you'd get lost if you rode through them.
i had a really good time. it was nice riding with people who weren't way above or below your own skill level. the pace was good. sometimes fast, sometimes perfect and sometimes easy.
i've ridden the connector once before. this was my second time on it. i didn't know what was different to be honest? perhaps if i rode it more before they changed it, i might've picked up on it.
afterwards bunch of us stayed for a small picnic. amy d joined us. good times. i look forward to more rides.
saturday evening had me bummed for a bit but then we started on john's costume and that cheered me up.
drawing question marks over his tight bod was a pretty good time. when he took the unitard off we had to wash all the question marks off his skin.
sunday i left around 10:30 for the competition already getting over the fact i was missing halloween cross. it was pretty boring. i wished i had given john the camera as i 'm sure his pics would've been way more fun.
it was in a small high school gym with one bathroom for a ton of women. casey's team took first. she was a bit of a crank today. afterwards my mom took me to get a belated birthday present, so that was fun.

scooter girls and hugs

quick 13

the drive home has been surreal this week. i've been getting home at 5:40. its amazing the difference between getting home before 6 and after 6. last night i beat everyone home and headed out for a quick 13. it was super windy but man was it great to be outside. i don't think i could've dressed more perfect. knickers, two upper layers with a windvest, wool socks. i could've used some toe covers though. riding into the wind the piggies got a little chilly.
saturday ride at kettle. dare i say they took the rain out of the forecast?
sunday isn't looking so fun. a suprise added competition for casey. kind of bummed as i was hoping to hit washington park with the kids all halloweened out.

the drive home

listening to the radio as i drove bos to the train station i heard blah blah blah wide open blah blah blah. i thought to myself the damn ryan is open. it sure as hell was! took me less than 40 minutes to get home (usually an hour and 20)... but having to hit the bank and the grocery store i was actually in the house about 6:30 or so. woo freakin HOO dammit. hopefully the inbound opens soon. i'm not counting on tomorrow. but soon.

funk

i'm in a funk today. i feel really tired and bummed. i'm super bored and lazy at work. i have plenty to do but just not motivated.
i'll leave here and by the time i get home it'll be dark. not to mention i need to go to the grocery store and bank after work. bleh.
i have bike stuff to do but just am not motivated to do it. remount wheel, finish casey's fisher, cross bike (but i guess i need parts for that) and they all need to be washed.
at least i have a ride at kettle to look forward to on saturday, provided the weather cooperates.

good times

we spent all day in peoria for casey's competition. she ended up 2nd out of 7 teams. it was a super long day but at least it ended on a good note. she stayed with reese overnight in the hotel room and swam til she couldn't swim anymore so i hear.
i wanted to try my hand at cross this weekend. but i didn't know if wanted to try it because i couldn't. there was no way i could go to janesville with john today because someone had to be here for casey to get back. i didn't want to ask anyone to take the kids again for 8 hours while i tried cross. as it was i already had to ask my gram to watch zoe for an hour or so.
woke up sunday not sure if i'd be going to the poker ride. not sure how that's fair, but whatever. i called my gram to see if she'd watch zoe for an hour or so. she said no problem. i had to leave at 9, but john wouldn't have to leave til, i was thinking 11 or so.
i left for the poker ride on an empty stomach. i had only eaten a piece of toast. when will i learn. anyway got there and helped set up a bit, took some registrations, got dressed and everyone started milling around to leave.
the lots at palos were packed. everywhere. i think everyone that owned a mountain bike was out there today.
i couldn't decide if i wanted to do the fast or intermediate ride. i saw people i knew in the intermediate ride and nobody i knew in the fast ride. then i saw tony, ed, stan, rick and ryan in the fast ride. ha, i can hang with them so i wandered over. i knew the intermediate was going to be on the slow side. which i don't mind, but its definitely more fun riding slower with people you actually hang out with.
the ride started. at times the pace was probably like a sport women's race and at times slower. but it was fun and i felt the burn more than a few times. it took awhile to adjust to riding rigid again as well as the 29er not to mention the singlespeed.
the route we went couldn't have been more perfect.
by the time we hit 3 ravines i was tired and hungry (i had a gel, but we were almost done, or at least i would be i had to get zoe). the rigid felt very well, rigid. i didn't even stop sweating and i was on my way to pick up zoe.
grabbed us some lunch, casey joined us and we headed back out to the ride. what else were we gonna do? it was too nice to hang out in the house.
it wasn't what i expected. the people i thought would still be there weren't. but that changed as i got into a different groove and casey started playing the games. she won the bike limbo. it was so cool. she was so excited. the crowd would go wild when she went under on her micro mini redline. she won easily of course. she got a new seatbag to match her new fisher.
she's still stoked.
we headed home around 5:30 or so and hit up the plush horse to get ice cream... for dinner. mint chip in chocolate sprinkled cones. yum. i think it was the first time zoe had ice cream.

quickly

no birthday celebration as casey had a "pep rally". so no cake*, but i did get my gifts. i was too lucky (spoiled).
i told the fam i wanted to hit breakfast on saturday morning for my birthday breakfast as i've been dying for a strawberry waffle.
after that, peoria. then sunday the poker ride for me and probably cross for john. but things change.
no matter what happens hopefully i'll have some fun stuff to post.

*i did stop at portillos today and ordered a piece of their chocolate cake. casey and i shared.

10.17.1973

i was born at 2:09am.
i'm on a mission to get cake today.
barely any orange inbound on the dan ryan today. now if they just finish the ramp from 57 we'll get to see if all this construction was worth it.

useless thoughts

i went outside for lunch today essentially to think about how i wanted to build the crosscheck. like what stem, bar, crank, post, saddle, bartape, etc. i forgot to think about all those things. instead i thought about the weekend.
friday night we have an engagement party for john's cousins. saturday we head down to peoria for casey's competition, sunday is a cross race and the palos poker ride.

bru n boo

a long beechwood report

i had heard about the beechwood race the first year they put it on. it was 2 years ago and i was sick. bummed i couldn't take part in something that i knew would be a blast. a fun race on trails i've never been on, how could it not?
last year i had just had zoe and wasn't feeling the most fit (after racing it finally, the shape i was in last year i'm not sure i could've done one lap).
fast forward to 2007. i totally forgot about this race until brittany posted a comment on regina's blog. once i saw that comment i made it a goal to be there no matter what.
i had originally planned on doing 2 laps and of course john would do the 4. we could bring the kids. i then found out all the gals were racing the 3 laps, which i really would have liked to have done anyway. casey ended up sleeping at reese's house and my gram volunteered to take zoe.
it was nice to not have to leave at the buttcrack of dawn to make the 11am start for the 2 lapper.
beechwood is in the middle of nowhere. we took a couple wrong turns but made it with plenty of time to chat, pre-register and even warm up a bit.
my bike is in dire need of a tune up. new cables and housing along with a bottom bracket service. pre-riding made me realize how long it had been since either had been done. my guess is i'll get all that done along with the industry nine wheel put back up front, polish her up and retire her for the year. i'm thinking the walt will get the call from now on.
the weather was unbelievable. i thought i'd be racing in an undershirt, jersey, arm warmers, kneekers and wool socks. at race time i was in a single jersey and short. nice. it was perfect, i mean PERFECT weather for racing. i never got super sweaty and was never chilled.
anyway, there were 5 of us ladies- lori, brittany, meghan, i think her name was gabriela? and myself. they started us 3 lap people with the 4 lappers.
shot gun start. we're off. neutral roll out, which is really good for me. lori was gone never to be seen again. i was at one point in second in the start (how could this be). it didn't last long. i was passed by brittany and the other girl right away. i didn't see britanny for awhile, but i saw gabriela on the parts of the course that went back on itself.
my first lap had me feeling pretty slow especially not knowing or having any clue what was ahead. i was bunched with people at the start and ended up having to dismount a couple sections. the log drop was just that, a log drop. for some reason i had it in my mind that it was more of a logover. i popped over it a little unsure of what was going to happen. no problem and i was off.
i was trying to stay with bubba but he dropped me very early on.
i don't remember much of the first lap other than i thought it was a lot of climbing. grass climbing that reminded me of kewaunee but steeper and i think a bit more interesting. a couple singletrack climbs with switchbacks. one section on every lap got me everytime. the first time i went in my bar end grabbed a small tree and tossed me high and knocked me back down almost over the edge. then i had to foot scoot it around the really tight switchback. at the exit i saw gabriela ahead. it gave me confidence to see her and a bit of satisfaction that this might actual be a race. i ended up catching her on the last section of singletrack with the rock garden. i heard the superfans yelling and knew something good and probably dangerous was coming. i started picking my way through rocks, saw gabriela standing there?, passed her down into the rock garden. i was going a little too fast and not knowing the line had to slow it down a bit and had to put my foot down. i regained control and exited to start my second lap.
i saw bubba on the sidelines with a mechanical, i though he had a flat tire. at the time i passed him i didn't even think to ask if he needed anything. i thought about it when i hit the singletrack, sorry bubba.
the second lap had me enjoying the singletrack a lot more. i knew what was coming and i had my 1 lap warm up. the climbs seemed a lot easier. i had to walk one spot every lap. there was like a loose dirt climb with rocks. i just never found the line. no biggee. i tried to keep up my pace. i knew gabriela was behind me and so was meghan, not to mention maybe i could catch brittany. and if lori had a mechanical (not so far fetched ;)), well then anything could happen.
dropped the log okay on my second lap. saw gabriela a couple times. and saw glimpses of brittany.
going into the singletrack with the tight switchback i came in too high and almost went off the side again, wtf. note to self don't come in so hot next time.
i ate fine. drank fine. but wished i had made two bottles of electrolyte replacement instead of one. i could feel my left leg getting "that feeling". i made sure i sucked down plenty of water and just was super conscious of my pedaling stroke. i saw brittany a couple of times and less of gabriela. not saying she was that far behind, i just didn't see her. i missed the rock garden big time on the second lap. i overthought it and came in too far left. i should've reminded myself that they were little rocks and i had really big tires and wheels. i still loved the section leading into it and coming out of it. that's my favorite kind of riding. reminded me of blue mound a bit.
came out to the start finish area and waited for my bottle. thanks amy. off i went. i knew brittany was right up ahead. i figured lori was long gone. had no idea where meghan or gabriela were. i knew meghan could be a creeper and had no idea about gabriela. i just kept riding.
i was for some reason thinking that when i pulled through on my second lap to start my third i wouldn't see the 4 lappers. about a 1/2 mile later i was like, wait, i will see them. i then made it my goal to not let john catch me. there was a part of me that would've liked it because i could've said hi.
i felt like i was getting closer to brittany. i seemed to see her a lot more. i just stayed patient and rode my race. crossing the small road up into the singletrack to climb i passed her at the top as we were both gasping for air. i had to remind myself to pay attention. after that climb i was pretty redlined and you come around a switchback with a loose turn to a downhill. i could see her in spots and after awhile i didn't. soon after starts a lot of up and down. as i turned the corner to hit the climb, i dropped my chain. fucking great. i'm going to get passed because i lost my chain. luckily it went right on and i didn't miss a beat.
i could feel the elite riders coming. first up was ron. he passed me on the long climbing section. i followed him down and then up that really long uphill after the downhill and he was gone. a bit later bender passed me followed by carlos. i knew melcher was coming as i saw him when i glanced back earlier. as luck would have it, the timing couldn't have been less perfect. the exact moment where he was to pass was the entrance to the tight switchback singletrack (the one i cheesed on my first two laps). instead of redeeming myself i hit the brakes and let him go in before me. i wouldn't want him stuck behind me in there no matter how short it was.
after the double steepish climb the hard parts for me were over.
i hit the rock garden singletrack and was excited i was almost done. i cleaned everything in there including the rock garden and big ringed it to the finish waiting for people to jump up screaming yelling go, go go, like brittany or meghan or gabriela were right on my tail. luckily for me nobody got excited and i finished in 2nd place. brittany rolled in shortly after, then gabriela.
my whole body felt like it was going to cramp and i was getting cold. i cursed myself for not making another electrolyte bottle. but in reality that was a long race distance with the climbing for me. i was happy to have finished strong.
while back in the truck they announced meghan and bubba's finish. they rode together. how freakin' awesome is that! i hope casey and zoe want to ride and race their bikes with me.
john isn't sure how he finished. we think maybe 6th?
we both had an awesome time. thanks to the beechwood dudes and to everyone else who helped for taking the time to put this on. it truly was a fantastic day. we'll be back again next year.

i wanna

race beechwood (how many laps?), watch cross and go to the WORS banquet if only for the ride at standing rocks. i need to come up with a plan. talk to my other half. everything is far away it seems.
it's our anniversary today.

edit: bummer. sunday's cross race is out. wors banquet is out. we's got kid's stuff going on.

ferrous

©rusty rules

john raced the ferrous 29 this sunday. he loved it.

sheboygan

saturday we loaded up and headed up to sheboygan to pre-ride. pretty uneventful. it was great riding with dano and lori though. my kind of pre-riders, more talking and less riding. i rode the elite course. i've never done it before. the turn was fine on pre-ride but i'm guessing during a race it would be hard redlined and all. but the pucker thing? perhaps people talking about how scary it is for years had numbed me to its difficulty.
we had a pretty kickass weekend planned with the kids. we were staying at the blue harbor resort in sheboygan with a whole cast of characters. jeremey, gage, mitch, bryan, dion, their daughter hayden, vanessa, brad, their sons drake and troy, barb, jerry and mackenzie. it was a blast. we were at the water park all day. walking up and downstairs. barb and i joked that we had an excuse if we finished poorly. our legs were tired from going up and down the stairs for the slides like 20 times.
after the water we did a group dinner thing. way too much food. but it was nice.
more water park, guitar hero and then bed.
i was relieved that it was going to be warm. i always have a problem at sheboygan with the crisp cool air, being sick, allergies and then throw asthma into the mix. but i always have a good time.
sunday was to be no different as far as good times are concerned. thanks to dano for vip parking we pulled right in with no fuss and i started getting dressed right away. registered and then went to get the bike ready. i decided against the flask and instead taped the gels to my toptube all dork style. number plate, electrolyte pills, etc. waited forever for our start. i had changed my seatpost last week thinking that a little more movement would help my back (even though my back doesn't hurt from riding or getting slammed). ever since i swapped it i haven't felt right on the bike. the whole race i felt like i was pushing against my bar. nothing to impede me, but just bothersome. i can barely move my left arm today, but i think that is mainly due to chasing and carrying zoe. anyway, the race started. i was sitting more towards the back of the pack. not being called up and being a lame starter can do that. but at least i never lost touch with some of the girls. the fast starters had a nice gap going into the prime. i was hoping to not lose too much time in the singletrack. i ended up catching a good train of girls at the switchback section. each time i came to this section during the race i thought of dano and him telling me this section was his.
the first lap is a blur. as usual i had a tough time recovering and every hard effort had me struggling to get oxygen, not asthma struggle, like hyperventilate struggle. my body felt numb. traded places a few times. i had no idea what place i was in. creek crossing was fine (that lap). the evil root spot, a rider came to a complete stop in front of me and i went over the bars. bummer. i lost a spot but i don't think i lost that much time. it was more irritating. got back up and chased the girl who had just passed me. i hate the first lap. i thought i was going to die. i passed her at the log jump, she bypassed it and i didn't... then i almost lost it in that left turn as i was coming in way too hot. i felt like a rookie. i was redlined and sloppy.
the equalizer was uneventful. i was still trying to settle in. maybe made it a quarter of the way up and then ran. on the bike and off for lap 2.
my plan was to eat on the road at the start area. this didn't happen. i was mouth wide open trying to take as much air as possible. trying to recover and settle in (yes, this takes me a long time). i finally started to settle coming out of the woods into the prime area. ripped the clif shot off my toptube, sucked it down and drank some water. sweet. uneventful, just as it should be. i know i passed a few girls on the second lap. i was sloppy in the singletrack on my second lap. i still had thoughts of dying on parts of the course. caught riders were starting to become a factor. one guy in particular... we kept trading places and when he'd pass me, he'd fall. it never failed. so i gave it all i had to try and get past him which left me hurting. if you ride sidi shoes then you know that sometimes, if not all the time, when you ride you have to retighten them. i didn't. my left foot was super loose. when i hit the creek crossing my foot flew out of the pedal as my front tire fell off the rock. i was suspended on the up part of the creek exit. stalled for what seemed like forever. ahhhh. but whatever. a girl passe me though (i think the gal i passed at the log jump). she was an age grouper too. she probably thought i need to get away from this girl, she sucks in the singletrack. the guy who kept falling got ahead of me after my dumb creek effort. he fell in front of me again.
i remember passing people but can't remember if it was my 2nd or 3rd lap?
i was getting low on water. i didn't have a hand up as john had it rough at the truck with the kids. i wish i had known or made other arrangements... i was almost out of water and still had a 3rd lap. luckily i saw amy. she was a lifesaver. i gave her the workout of her life as she went to get me water. yes. thanks girl!
i made it up the equalizer on my second lap. well pretty much. i wasn't hurting or struggling at all, in fact i was surprised at how easy it felt, but right at the smoking guy there were 4 riders all bunched and i had to clip out. but in my mind i made it and that's all that mattered to me.
headed out for my 3rd lap. everything was good. i felt good. i had no idea what place i was in other than top 10. i ate in the same spot as my 2nd lap uneventfully. i knew i had an age grouper right in front of me. i got into the single track behind a guy. i wanted to pass so bad. it was hard being patient. right when we came out to cross the road he said go get her and i was off. i don't remember where i passed her, but i know soon after coming into the roots downhill i saw a flash of orange and white. i wasn't sure if it was brittany or her teammate. i just raced my race and eventually caught up to her after the gravel climb (it was brittany). after the gravel climb to me the hard parts were over. i didn't dread the equalizer as i did in years past. it didn't seem steep this year. anyway, i tried to pass in a shitty spot.(sorry brittany i suck at passing and am trying to learn to be safe yet aggressive) i was able to catch and pass and yelled for her to grab on going towards the underpass. i never looked back (or i'd fall). i thought i saw a girl on the equalizer and wanted to obviously grab another spot. i didn't even make it half way up. i chased what i thought was a girl, but turned out to be a sport guy. looking at results, i probably did see a girl but mixed her and the guy up after coming off the hill. oh well. i finished 5th overall and 3rd in age and was more than happy with that. bummer it was the last race just when i got this eating thing down.

boogers suck

still trying to feel better. at least today i feel like moving. no plans as of yet for today.
john will be gone all day. after work he's going to eric's house to help him replace brake pads on his truck. sounds like mad fun. i should make some dinner plans or something fun with the girls. or maybe go get casey a bike lock. she wanted to ride her bike to school today and we didn't have a lock for her. the new york chain we have is overkill.
chiro tomorrow morning. pack for sheboygan. hopefully the rain holds off and i don't have to switch tires.
and since you obviously have some free time go order your twin six goods. don't forget to add this. if you read this blog, you know yer a nerd.

for all you cool people

twin six is having another 4-day sale. it starts thursday 10/4. get the goods while you can. i don't think i'll have any problems getting the free shipping...

sick

the official sneeze happened about 5 minutes ago. my throat hurts. i feel like crap.
i just want to go home and put my head down. i hope i feel better for the weekend.
couldn't it wait a week?

22.44

that'll be lower by the end of the week. pretty impressive for this steel frame.
fisher ferrous 29
bontrager carbon switchblade
dt 190 hubs laced to stans arch rims with some dt super comps
ust python tires
bontrager race x lite stem
bontrager big sweep bar
king pewter headset
juicy ultimate brakes 160f 140r
x.o twist shifter
bontrager grips
bontrager race x lite post
bontrager kick ass saddle
noir cranks with spot guard
salsa 34t ring
n gear chain stop
pc 990 cassette
pc 991 hp chain
roach chainstay guard
crank bros pedals