oh no!

i got on my road bike tonight and felt at one with it, moreso than my mtb! that has to change real quick!!! however getting on it i realized that my mtb saddle is way too high. i need to clean it, get my bar ends on and some other stuff and i'll get it all measured out. my fore/aft may be bunk too.
i busted out the road bike after dinner tonight. no offroad tonight for reasons i don't feel like blabbing about. i got a whole 5 miles in. i went to hollywood and returned a couple of movies. real exciting. interesting though, as i got onto the path some dude in some sunbaum jersey with calves the size of baby butts and a noisy bike rode with me. it was fun talking to him but his bike was super obnoxious. i couldn't hear him over the squeaks and clangs it was making. i'm a total bike snob. i should talk though, last trip on my eriksen the chain was talking to me through the globs of dried dirt it was moving through.

home from work today

luckily its not cuz i'm sick. my gram watches the kids on tuesdays and she messed her back up while vactioning in florida.
i feel a bit better today. i don't feel like whatever was in my stomach is going to attack. it's not 100%, like i still have the gurgling. i am still feeling weak though. probably because i really haven't eaten since friday. once my stomach is 100% i will have absolutely no problem putting that 5 lbs back on.
driving to mario's tacos last night with john and the kids i was a bit bummed about feeling like this going in to iola. i wanted to be healthy.
being this weak and not able to get any miles in for over a week at this point sucks. but then had to ask my self why? in reality i'm not going pro. i race for fun and hopefully that will be had even if it is a slow start.
8:01 p.m. - ewhhh... i went for a ride just now. omg. i barely made it 11 miles. wow, i didn't think i was that bad off. hopefully it comes back fast. i felt like i had just ridden 50 miles offroad and was coming into the finish. absolutely no power whatsoever and my legs felt shakey. boo. my last two experiences on the bike have sucked.

for shits and gurgles

sigh. i still don't feel well. tired, weak, no appetite, constantly aware of my stomach whether it feels crampy or its gurgling. i hope i feel better tomorrow. i may have 6 miles on the bike since rock cut? i'd like to get some more miles in before heading into iola. i just want this weak feeling to be gone.
hopefully i'm starting to feel better as the m&m's in the vending machine kinda sound good. we'll see just how good they are...

trail maintenance

thanks to ben, jeremey, gage, mitch, nate, gina, tom, chris, beth, casey, zoe and john we got most of the mesa out from under the leaves. finish off sublime, outer leg and its loop, and garden grove and its done minus some bridge repair and tree removal. sweet. about a month ahead of when we did it last year. there seemed to be a lot more work this year.... probably because we didn't do anything in the fall.
i still am sick. this stomach bug has knocked about 5 lbs off me since friday. i have absolutely no energy and hiking and raking through the woods with the short ride after had me feeling it. i was pretty sick after dinner and practically passed out from exhaustion and the chills. thanks to john for making a fire to warm up. good news though, so far the pizza is still with me almost 4 hours later. not without stomach gurgles or anything but its still in there.
and last but not least thanks to ben for what luckily turned out to be something we could laugh about:



glad he was okay. the "shit" part still has me cracking up.

again, i can't thank everyone enough for coming out this afternoon.

home sick

i left work early today with a stomach bug. i'm thinking its what john had. luckily no race to be missed this weekend. iola is next weekend. i had my nasty cold for two weeks that ended a week or so ago and now stomach stuff today... so maybe iola i'll be able to race this weekend with no issues.
casey is doing fine. no guarantees that won't have permanent teeth issues in 20 years but i'm not going to worry about the what-ifs.
i need to ride. i haven't all week and feel terrible. this weekend's forecast isn't looking to pretty.
trail work day is sunday. hopefully we don't have to cancel it. i don't mind a little rain and mud but if it's too wet...

no ride

i left work a little later than usual for the planned wednesday night ride.
i was going to hit palos for the first time this year.
at first it wasn't looking good as the stevenson came to a dead stop. accident. all lanes closed.
while sitting in traffic i got a panicked call from john. casey had an accident on a trampoline and lost all 4 top teeth. She's stitched up and swollen. poor kid. luckily they are all still baby teeth. we'll find out today if they can see any damage to her permanent teeth. fingers crossed.


it's only 7:30 in the morning and already zoe is cruising for a day of getting in trouble.

sad day for the rainbow

i ventured out to the mesa last night. my back was still, sore isn't the word, effed up is more like it- twitchy, nervous, overstretched, weak. anyway i didn't want to push my ride time so i headed over to the mesa on my already muddy mountain bike. i lowered the stem and now its too far. meh. i put my original stem back on when i came home. anyway, the entrance was super soft. sucked the life out of me and my poor weak wicked back could feel the power of trying to plow through so i hopped off and hoofed it. right after the small creek crossing all was good. the downhill into racoon alley was dry with a few moist spots. it is in dire need of a good raking. which is what i'd say the majority of the trails need. a good old fashioned raking and a few people bending over to pick up all the loose branches, stan sticks and logs that made their way onto the trails.
i rode out to rainbow bridge and what i saw was depressing. she laid on her side. she can not be revived. i'm not sure if the weather did it, time or the punk party kids that left their fire leftovers and beer cans strewn in the middle of the trail. i was pissed. i realize these aren't my trails, but had we not built them and loved them these people would not have been able to get where they were. the irony.
my back was irritating me so i headed home sad, depressed and a little mad. i had a feeling of anxiety sweep over myself as i felt the task of getting the trails rideable to be completely overwhelming not to mention my back.

the mesa

i think i may head over there today and check it out.
my bike is muddy from yesterday so no excuses.
i'm just nervous about not seeing the trail. i'm not even sure where the rakes are, maybe i'd start raking.
my fingers are crossed for better than i'm thinking conditions.
now to talk some people into coming out to help rake.

i did the rock

my opportunity to race today was a bit bittersweet. john went to bed last night with a stomach bug and it continued on well into today. he was in no condition to race. he didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to hang with race fans and visit with the sun and shade for a few hours so we loaded up the kids, ourselves and all other necessary items for our first race day. we busted out a little after 8am and made it to rockford in just under 2 hours.
we parked next to some familiar faces- angie, russell, bubba, gina and tom.
jesse rode up and informed us of the long line at registration. boo. so i hurried and dressed and waited in line for what felt like a half hour. luckily they delayed the start by a half hour because of all the people registering.
i lined up all the way in the back and chatted with angie. i had no expectation on the day other than to finish and have fun. all the 10-miler peeps coming back said it was really muddy.
we were off. i felt fine, my legs felt fine but then a few miles in my back was hurting. i tried to ignore it but any pressure on the pedals and i felt i had to stop. i pulled off to do quick stretches, i stood on the bike and stretched. nothing seemed to work. finally being super frustrated i got off the bike entirely and stretched the shit out of my back, legs and arms. i felt a little bit better and was able to pedal. came through by john and the kids and hoped lap 2 was better. up until this point i hadn't had any fun yet. which to me is usually a why bother then, but i'd be lying if i said i'm not disappointed if i dnf.
the long stretches of mud sucked. literally. each step was a step closer to losing a shoe. i could feel it suction my foot at times. i'd be able to ride for a few feet and then just stall. hop off and start hoofing it. i fell in the mud once. of course in front of ron. it was a short section i hoped i could clear but a stick wedging its way out stopped me dead in my tracks as i couldn't get around it. my back didn't hurt so much this lap for some reason. i could feel it but it wasn't stopping me from pushing the pedals. at times i felt the pain almost making a come back, but it didn't. note to self: make appt with chiro tomorrow.
i'm not ripping on rock cut but there wasn't one spot on the course i looked forward to. well, okay, a couple of the downhills were pretty fun. but really i don't know if its the way i felt or what.
it was a good race to get the bugs out. going over that first log over i scraped my chainring. it didn't help that there were 8 people trying to go over it with me, but regardless its nice to get that timing back for the year. my legs felt great up until the 2 hour mark. not sure if i was cooked or just hungry? i'm sitting here and my legs don't hurt and didn't hurt after like they usually do after a race, so i'm thinking i may have just been hungry. i'm not used to racing for over 2 hours that's for sure.
ben apparently didn't take one of the log overs too well and his arm was slinged up as we left. hope all is okay.
my legs felt good, my back didn't, lungs felt fine, my stem is too high- need to flip back over, i missed my bar ends, i hadn't had a chance to change my grips and i really missed my old ones. hopefully i'll have all this dialed so i can enjoy myself at iola.
it was good seeing everyone again. i love race season.
p.s. and no camera. the battery was still in the wall at home. better luck next time.

c'est la vie

ugghhh... i just sat down to eat dinner only to realize that there won't be anybody to watch the kids tomorrow.
john and i start at the same time and anybody doing the 10 miler won't be back in time. bummer.

no pussy?

i left work early friday. all my buyers were at sea otter so my workload was a bit light.
i decided to come home and get a ride in. i took my 1x10 with the 50 and regretted about 1/2 way. my legs are pretty tired today. the wind was brutal!
after showering john and i grabbed a pizza at beggars and headed into the city to see reverend horton heat. nashville pussy was to open but apparently a family emergency kept them away. the reverend came on a little before 11pm. waaayy past my bedtime. i hung in there though. the covers were probably the most memorable, especially when they did paranoid by black sabbath.
i'll admit i was pretty tired. my body was aching from my ride earlier and probably age in general. i'm not used to being out that late anymore.
we were home and in bed about 1:30am and i actually slept in past 7am!
john and i grabbed some breakfast at lumes, everyone was wondering where the girls were. i had no idea we were that known there. afterwards we grabbed the kids at john's p's and headed home. we should probably run some errands today but with the rain on and off we haven't been very motivated.
i have gotten some little things done on the bike to, i guess, feel race ready.
i'll admit, i thought there was a very slim chance rockford would have the race tomorrow and not the rain date. glad its happening, but still amazed it's a go.
hope to see you all there.

do the rock?

are your fingers crossed or un-crossed for the rock cut race this weekend?
latest update:
The trails are 99% perfect. There didn't seem to be any washed out areas at all. There were just some areas in the singletrack that had standing water from frost melt still, but this was before we had our 3 consecutive days of wind and warm temps. Should be better now, and the pending rain should run off quickly as always. Should be great conditions.
i for one am hoping the race is this weekend as i'm jonesing to get out. most people i know are hoping for next weekend as they have plans this weekend or aren't ready. if you aren't ready most people probably aren't either. its not wors. no points. just a fast ride with friends in the woods and maybe you'll come home with a medal. but if its next weekend that's cool too as after this sunday it'll be something to look forward to next week. and then the week after iola.
lost starts back up next week and i'm pretty excited! have to make sure the dvr is set to record.
yesterday the girls and i with the rest of the neighborhood kids played outside all day! i was actually hot! i needed some shorts and flip flops that's for sure.

wfg

i had plans of riding palos but the last post on trail conditions implied it was more of a walk than a bike ride. whether he said it to deter other people i'll never know as i opted for sure miles at waterfall glen. i ended up riding with beth. i haven't seen or talked to her since last season. i don't know how many miles we rode but we were out for close to two hours just cruising, chatting and at times not able to talk. we both had our shuffles on for those times we were seperated.
we ran into the cambr ride and hung with them for a bit. everyone just happy to be on their mountain bike. its good to be out again and even though i wasn't able to satisfy my craving for singletrack it was a step closer. good deal for the mood.

hmmm...

palos trail conditions as of this a.m.:
Trails are in decent shape with some ride-around areas. They have all day today in the sun and wind to get even better. Don't be stupid and wreck muddy spots, and watch out for horse shoe shapped canyons, you will fall in and disappear forever.

sam had yellow eyes

for some reason driving in this a.m. i thought of a co-worker i had in the past. i was 16 working practically in the ghetto in harvey, il. sam was a black guy who worked as a porter. he was pretty rough. he was in his 30s. i was intimidated by him at first but as weeks passed he and i became buds. he was big into the mary jane, and alcohol i would later find out, and would come back to keep me company asking if i wanted a hit or just to chat. at times i think he was sort of watching out for me. i worked at night and on weekends. he'd walk me to my car at night. i was happy for that. people were shot and mugged in the streets surrounding the place, i wouldn't say regularly, but enough.
sam was a street smart guy. he had a couple of kids. i think the mom, from what i picked up, just got out of control on drugs. sam and his kids lived with his sister a few miles from the dealership we worked at. i gave him a ride home sometimes. i'd pull up and his sister would be there waiting for him with his kids. you could tell they were tight and didn't want any part of the whole thug thing.
sam was never into gangs- he was a really good person who just couldn't pull out of his circumstances. sam was an alcoholic. he became more and more trapped by this addiction as the year went by. he'd ask me for a few bucks now and then and he'd always pay me back. he used to say just this last time i promise. i knew it wouldn't be, but that was cool. people are who they are and there wasn't anything i could do to make him stop.
he disappeared one day. i think someone told me he was let go, fired. i'm sure he was caught stealing.
i missed him a lot when he left. he came into say hi a few months later, i was super happy to see him. told me to take care of myself. i never saw him again after that.
i don't know what made me think of him this morning.

hanging on

this cold has practically left. but there's a slight linger of congestion. nothing even bothersome, just enough to say i'm not 100% yet.
seeing the results and knowing people that hit sylvan island this past weekend has me wishing i went. maybe next year. sounds like a fun course.
yesterday we hung out at home. in fact i don't think i was outside for more than a minute. i finished up a book i was reading and watched star wars on spike.
i'm thinking rock cut the 27th. i don't even think they've opened the trails for riding yet out there. fine either weekend. one week won't have me more fit over the other.
i can't believe iola is 3 weeks away. there was a part of me hoping john would wanna hit ft. custer. no go. he loves the course at iola too much. which is fine, i was torn about going to michigan and not seeing the wors peeps.
maybe next year the races will be seperated by a week or so.
the weather for this week looks killer (edit: it changed but still okay). maybe i'll get more than 3 hours of riding in.
i'm putting my spot brand mtb on ebay as well as my surly steamroller. i'd like 1200 for the spot (15.5" or so, 21.75 eff tt- x.o, juicy, pink king hubs and headset, reba fork, carbon noir cranks) and 400 for the steamroller (49cm- mavic open pro laced to surly hubs and misc parts). minor changes to both bikes from the pics. if anyone is interested email me- spicyride at g mail dot com.

sick

not me. but casey came home from my sis' yesterday morning with the flu, the projectile kind. luckily she's not completely down n out. she still smiles and talks to us, she has an appetite but can't eat and if she does get anything down she loses it a bit later. i am proud of her though, she's made it to the toilet each time! i think that's a milestone to add to her book.
friday night was so uneventful. nothing to do. essentially just waited for sleepiness to occur and get to bed.
saturday morning had me doing laundry and other boring household chores.
we had a steady flow of people in the morning into the afternoon. jeremey and destiny were the first to arrive to try on some gear and work on zoe's bike. a bit later brad showed up with drake and troy in tow for his tubeless kit and just to hang out on an early saturday afternoon. a bit later we get a call from john's sis, who's in from cali, telling us their mom side swiped their rental in the driveway! do we have anything that can buff it out? sure, come on over. a bit later they showed up with ryder and saige.
soon after we rushed out the door for john's dad's birthday party without case. luckily my mom was able to watch her for a bit.
today i'd like to ride but it looks like i may have to settle on the trainer. boo.

trying to escape

more rain

it rained all day yesterday. no ride.
when john got home i headed out to get my hair cut. i don't think i had it cut or colored since well before turkey day.
i decided to go red and cut some bangs. the bangs are in spazz mode right now. mostly from the bounce the color gives me for the first few days and perhaps being weighed down for over 25 years.
its john's dad's 75th birthday dinner tomorrow evening. that's the only plans we have going right now. nothing planned for tonight.

is the end near?

yesterday i felt better. in the morning i woke up with a slight sinus headache.
i felt a little bit of relief towards the afternoon, especially after taking a tylenol cold and sinus. its either still working today or this is clearing... or maybe in hibernation and will attack when the weather turns pretty again.
i rode last night for an hour and thirty minutes. my second longest ride of the year. my feet were frozen by the end. i rode the bike paths and it was one of those rides where it never failed i'd have to stop for a long time at every stop light, crossing or whatever. i'm not complaining as i was happy to be out riding. but it can be annoying. the other day while i was out i was super lucky. i rarely had to stop and if i did, it wasn't for very long.
i actually road my road bike. it was weird. i still have to figure out the numb crotch thing. not sure if its the saddle, i'm not high enough, too close or too far away.
i won't spend a lot of time complaining per my monday post, but did you see the weekend forecast? bleh. bummer.
its raining right now and a bit chilly.
john's sis is in from california with the hubby and kids. we'll see them tonight. the deep dish pizza we'll be eating adds to the excitement.

the surly with the fleegle.

pressure

i still have this head cold. it'll be two weeks tomorrow. today the pressure from my sinus' is insane. i feel like my teeth are being pushed out and the mucous is so thick i can't even blow it out of my nose. not to mention it hurts when i try.
like wtf is this cold? everyone has had it for 2-3 weeks.
i rode the paved path with my mom last night. her first bike ride in well over a year. 12 miles. about the 8 and 9 mile mark i thought i lost her but she rallied back and we made it home before it was too dark. i came home freezing! i couldn't feel my feet or hands. i forgot that i wouldn't be working as hard.
i wish i brought some snacks in...

ride, again?

i was only out for an hour on sunday but i'll take it. it was a great day.
woke up with the girls and we went out to breakfast. zoe won for having the largest appetite. she had 1/2 a scrambled egg, 2 sausage links, some hashbrowns and a piece of toast. casey and i each had a waffle. we then went to target for some fun spring tees and other boring household necessities. i still think about christine's waffle maker and almost bought one there.
after that we hit the mega-jewel for some grocery shopping. i normally hate grocery shopping. it's hurry up and get the hell out of there. but today i was happy to pick apples with the girls, put them in bags. pick out tomatos, green peppers etc. for some reason they think this is some seriously fun stuff. grocery shopping with the kids always adds about $20 to the bill but yesterday was so worth it.
we played outside for a bit when we finally made it back home (it was only 10:30). bikes, skateboards, scooters. running, jumping, neighborhood kids. making them come in for lunch. eat. snack. and then right out the door again.
john came home from what turned out to be 5 miles short of a century. which then made it my turn. i did my loop and headed home for more play time.
i will try not to complain about the weather for a long time. to have those two wonderful days in a row was pretty sweet. and to have the sun still shining today is awesome. wonders for the mood, not to mention perfect weather to help the trails along.

ride!

i don't know what the temps were today but it had to be mid-60's or something. i wore jersey, arm warmers and shorts. doesn't get much better. 42 miles of 1/2 limestone path and 1/2 pavement on my newly made over surly and i can't wait to ride tomorrow. john n brad were on their mountain bikes to even the playing field a bit and make it a bit more of a workout for them. the surly was a 1x10 today because i couldn't find my front flat bar road shifter. so i big ringed the 50 all day. it made me push it when ordinarily i might've wussed out and shifted to a lower gear. my knees sure would've appreciated it though.
john's heading out on a 80-miler tomorrow. i'll go on a short one when he gets home maybe take the burley out for the first time this year.
i'm sort of bummed i didn't bring my camera. there were a couple great photo opportunities.

blog vacation

there doesn't seem to be a lot of blog updating. that or i'm really slow at work for the first time in a long time so it just seems that way. i'll enjoy it while it lasts.
i was sicker yesterday than the day before. not sure if it was from my ride outside and getting super cold or from lack of sleep, zoe pretty much pulled an all nighter.
i feel better today. she actually slept all night last night for the first time in a week.
plans for the ride we want to do tomorrow are hinging on a sitter. if that falls through it'll be another loner ride.
i had a dream that the forecast said 72 on sunday. i woke up believing that to be real until i watched the news.


casey and her bestest skull buddy from her sleep over last weekend. all they talk about is each other.

hope i'm not jinxing it

did you see the forecast for saturday? hell yeah.
i'm gonna ride all day and then eat and pass out.
i rode tonight. outside. i ran out of spots to wipe my snot.
the rockets were flying but didn't seem to wanna release. so thick.
gross. but it felt good to get it out.
i thought i saw tom aka slowpoke out there but it wasn't him. i buried myself to catch him which should've been my first clue (i kid). i caught him at the light and still thought it could be him but, well, it wasn't.
it was colder than i thought. my butt is still an iscicle.

still sick

boo. i actually sat on the trainer last night for 40 minutes just to get my heart pumping and hopefully feel a little better. i felt great afterwards but today i feel like shit again. i'm so tired and i can't stop coughing.
zoe's pretty sick too which doesn't help. she was in our bed last night super fidgety and restless so i didn't sleep. every time we went to put her in her own bed she would wake up. she finally fell into a deep sleep around 6am. just in time for me to get out of bed.
she woke up just as i was heading out the door. it was good to see her face wasn't covered in snot so hopefully she's on the upside of feeling better. she seemed to be running a slight fever though.
i'm hoping there are some peeps heading out to waterfall glen tomorrow. don't know what the trails are looking like after all the rain we had. sounds like a text message is in order to the ride leader.
still haven't ordered my rims yet. i'm slow. seems ashame to have these beautiful hubs sitting here with the spokes and no rims.
so far the 10 day is looking pretty good to get some miles in. i still may take a day off but it'll all hinge on this cold.