131.2

driving in this a.m. visibility was super low. not a lot of snow, but very slushy and wet. north is supposed to be hit harder than us south. i'm hoping we don't get accumulation (as i'm sure everybody is). maybe it will be melted by monday. i can only hope. weird to have snowy conditions for easter.
john's having a gamer night tonight. halo nerds galore in the basement. i kid. they should have a good time. i'll be picking up their gamer food on the way home. i thought it was doritos and mountain dew, but was told the cheese causes your hands to slip off the controller, not to mention making the white controllers a nasty yellow-ey orange. so far the requests have been m&ms, licorice and swedish fish (my ultimate favorite candy). i don't think the swedish fish will make it downstairs.
i've decided i'm going to bust out of here early which means i better get to work

winter storm watch

great. i look forward to the snow should be awesome.
watched the hawks kill the capitals last night. it was boring towards the end so i went to bed.
i have a caffeine headache today. no coffee or caffeine yesterday and so far none today. i forget how painful these can be.
i've been waking up well rested a bit after 5am lately but today i feel a bit like dragging. maybe it's because i overslept?
hoping to get a ride in later this afternoon, beat the snow.
no real plans this weekend. easter sunday is about it. we'll split our time with the family.
john wants to have gamer night on friday and invite some friends and the neighbor kids over to play video games. i may have to find an alternative.

yuck!

what a shitty day! at least its not snowing i guess. i suppose this rain'll wash all the funk off the roads so that's something.
spokes and hubs are in the house. now i just need to order those rims. next paycheck maybe.
blah. it's 2:48pm and i just wanna go home.

yep

the weekend was pretty uneventful. for john and i at least. casey had a lot going on.
we got some small things done around the house, some errands taken care of and each rode our bikes for a short time.
i felt like shit yesterday. i wasn't sick or anything, just real tired. i had no energy.
i feel great today. went to bed at a decent hour and woke up a bit before 6am feeling very well rested! i have not felt like this in awhile.
i was in the office a bit early so i'm hoping to get home early. maybe beat the rain and mess that they are forecasting. doubt it, but i'll figure something out.
no plans for the week really. just try to ride or be active i guess.
i still need my hair cut.
rock cut is about a month away. i still think no way. but i'll think positive from now on.

mellow

bmx plans were foiled again. the fun fair at school took precedence and then it was her best friend's cake and ice cream birthday party.
she has chuckee cheese tomorrow and sunday some princess party. her weekend is booked!
zoe is hanging out refusing to go to bed. she must realize its friday night.
saturday no plans other than errands and cleaning, rides hopefully. sunday more of the same.
for some reason both john and i are exhausted. hopefully early in bed and fingers crossed zoe sleeps through the night.
i am hoping my weekend is more exciting than this post.

color

i'll get a better pic when someone is awake to take it or my patience cells recharge.
and probably when it's not swollen, shiny and sore.

fuck trainers

I’m seething mad right now. And wait til you hear why. I’m not laughing but you might.
The cyclops took a shitter last week. So we bought a new one. John says he fixed the old one, go check it out.
So I go downstairs (it’s late because I had color on tat today) to get some form of exercise in. So I get in my new road shoes (I've never ever worn road shoes or cleats) that I just put cleats in (I’ve had them for over a year) and walk around slipping all over the place (even more reason why road shit is lame (i kid so don't get your panties in a bunch))… So I get my bike all loaded up into the trainer, get on. Dammit. It’s not fixed. So now I’m slightly irritated mainly because it takes me a really long time to get my bike in it (I’m embarrassed to say how long).
So now I have to put the new trainer together. Mind you I’m sitting on the floor in my road shoes with ipod shuffle and earphones hanging off myself. The fucking headphone cables keep wandering in front of my view, so I irritatingly ripped them off. I go to crouch but fall over spread eagle because the fucking cleats on the road shoes don’t allow my foot to go flat so I lose my balance.
I can read directions fine, but following them is a different story. I couldn’t figure out how I was supposed to put the pin in the resistance unit being my uncoordinated self! Finally I figure it out. It takes me a while because it’s all about lining shit up and I’m in a dark corner in the basement. I’m almost crying I’m so mad at this point. It was so nice out today and I missed riding outside for a good reason but still.
So I finally get all the bolts lined up and go to put the little nut on and the directions say “make sure you put the bolt in the square side first.” Ooh lemme guess which side I didn’t put it in! Fuck. I’m so mad, I’m still mad. So I take the bolt back out, put it through not so easily because I have to realign it all up again.
Finally through both holes I start to put the nut on and it’s hard to put on… so I think I’ll get back to it after I put the skewer thingee on.
That was easy. Okay, it took me two tries but I expected that. So I get it all put together and decide to put the bike on. “must use skewer supplied.” Dammit. Take my skewer out and put the saris one in. it won’t tighten down neatly because of my dropouts. I’m really, really pissed now and ready to throw my bike and the wooden block next to me and then kick the trainer.
I get the skewer good enough. Try to get it in the dropouts and realize just how much of a moron I am when it comes to putting a bike on a trainer.
So I get the bike on the trainer. Ah, finally. Then realized I didn’t tighten the fucking nut.
So I think it’s one of the 3 wrenches hooked on the bench. So I grabbed two. Mind you I had to walk all the way across the basement (painted concrete) in my fucking road shoes there and back. Get to the trainer and neither fit. It was all I could do to not throw the wrenches. I walk back to the workbench grab another wrench, back to the trainer knowing this wasn’t going to work and gave the fuck up.
The only good that came out of it is my heart rate was skyrocketed the whole time so maybe I burned some calories. But really the only thing I did was reaffirm to myself that TRAINERS SUCK!

sexy bars

i rode my mountain bike last night. i love mountain bikes. i can't explain it. there is something about them that just makes me feel more alive than any other type of bike. i try to find drop bars sexy but i can't. sexy to me is my flat bar with a 9 degree bend. i feel like my mountain bike is a part of me. i have yet to feel that with any road or cross bike.
i'm going to swap my drop bar on my cross bike back to a funky bar and see if i can't fall in love with that. at least until i'm back offroad.
speaking of sexy, thanks to john for putting cleats in my lake winter shoes for my lazy ass. i don't know how i've ever ridden in the cold without them. if you don't have a pair you must figure a way out to get them. it was strange to come home after my ride last night and not have burning white cold toes.

busted

impatient and dumb would be how i'd describe sunday's ride outside. i have a sore knee and arm to prove it today.
john and i went on matt's memorial ride last night. his family was there, all avid cyclists. also there were a good group of people that were touched by matt.
headed home and in bed early last night only to still not be able to get up this morning. late for work.
now i just have to motivate myself to get to working. so tired.
tuesday color. wednesday nothing so far. thursday's lost episode is rumored to be killer and friday hopefully hit the bmx track.
supposedly the weather is supposed to warm up a bit. i'll believe it when i feel it.

desperate

it was sooo icy. i had to walk a lot. should all be melted mid-week and then all we can do is hope it doesn't snow again.

more fucking snow

sigh.
edit: it has melted already. sweet.

no bmx

i felt lost. what to do on a friday night? we got nothing. so we sent casey to the neighbors and grabbed some tacos. now hockey. i like good hockey and the hawks have been playing it lately. casey should be walking in any moment. john's sleeping on the couch with zoe cradled in his arm. the dog is cuddled in a ball at the other end of the couch and i'm contemplating giving up on the night... but it's only 9:30!
i wish we had another day like last weekend. looks like its gonna be another cold weekend.

dang

am i the only one who hasn't gotten their new wors book yet? we'll probably be the two week waiters.
the sun is out today but it's butt cold.
reading about palos trail conditions was kind of a bummer. ice from beginning to end. studs are even dangerous.
i will be sane for the next 20 minutes, after that i will lose all sanity for 5 hours due to picking up a few kindergardeners from school.

tuesday

nothing new really. i was driving home tonight and looked down at the clock. it was 5:47. i thought after this sunday it would be this light at 6:47. kind of exciting really. it's not that hard to get me excited these days. i'm so looking forward to riding. yeah i know, who isn't.
my front hub arrived today but no rear. lame excuse as to why it didn't show but was promised i should have it by the end of the month. i don't have the rims anyway, so it really doesn't matter.
one week til color.
this weekend no plans as of yet. i don't think anyway. none for the rest of the week really.
i should make an appointment for a haircut. i'm due. it's like puffy or poofy or something. i end up having to use product to tame it.

my ass is sore

it was wet and now its sore. first time on a bike in quite some time.
i ventured out on the bike path yesterday afternoon. it was a lot more slushy and snowy, but just as wet, as i thought it would be. good for the bike handling skills i guess. at first i thought i'd be turning around real quick, but then i realized i just had to get used to my bike. it turned out to be pretty fun. it was so warm!
before then john and i did some bike washing. finally i can get to work on some maintenance. zoe had a blast in the water... but then was so soaked i had to take her in. she passed out on the couch. casey pretty much spent the weekend playing with friends. i kinda missed her.

forced

i've come to write a blog here a few times today. each time i've signed off for lack of anything to write about.
i don't really have anything to write about now, but maybe it'll keep me from coming back here just from feeling i need to.
i've caught up with lost and am watching the 4th season as it goes. i much preferred watching the discs but there is no way i could wait til they released the box set.
i can't believe february is over already. i feel like it just started. i can't believe it snowed again this morning and can't believe it will snow all next week.
i mean, i guess i can. i just keep waiting for that break in the weather where there's a tease. a few days at least of about 40s. something to let us know that yes, spring will be here. as much as i hate being teased i do like getting a taste. it excites you in a way. it does for me at least.
yesterday we went to matt's service. it was a wonderful service. he will surely be missed by those who loved him. i only wished i had the privilege of meeting him. he fit a lot in his 29 years. i think being there helped john a lot.
today will end with bmx and who knows for the rest of the weekend.

foo

john and i saw the foo fighters last night. i like dave grohl. always have, even when he was with nirvana.
it was a long night. i felt old. not because of the crowd or anything like that, but because i started to get sleepy standing there at about 10:30. i ended up coming around and screaming my head off. upon leaving my back was so stiff i couldn't even bend down.
the drive to and from was nasty. i'm glad i wasn't driving. the snow was like warp drive or something.
6am came real quick this morning. i would rather not have gotten out of bed that's for sure.

other thoughts

i can't stop thinking about my earlier post. there's a part of me that wishes i were a bit numb to it but glad i'm not.
monday seemed to come quick. i never made it outside today. if i pushed it i'm sure i coulda made it happen, but little things just kept making it a pain in the ass.
john made a run to walgreens, i asked him to pick me up a ding dong. for some reason i had a taste for one. i got a hoho instead. they were out of ding dongs. i ate one and now i feel like shit.
zoe had a late nap so i think its a late night for us. she's currently playing smash up derby with matchbox cars on the dog. sucker. i can't believe he's just sitting there taking it.
she tortured casey so bad earlier that casey surrendered and just want to bed. after zoe snagged a chunk of hair i really don't blame her.
i'm going to try and think green warm happy thoughts.

risks

a guy riding in the tour with john today was hit by a truck and killed.
john said it was the most horrible thing he's ever seen happen. like out of a movie.
it goes without saying that you hate it when you hear about things like this. all the what-ifs that go through your mind.
my heart goes out to matt, his wife, his family and friends. i also feel for the driver of the vehicle and his family. it all just sucks.

two crashes

casey crashed twice last night. she all of a sudden became an aggressive rider. it could've been that we told her for every rider she passed she'd get a buck. morgan was there and it seemed to get her fired up. first time was coming into the last turn before the rhythm section. not sure who was a at fault but casey and a little boy got tangled up. she got up right away but still came to the bench crying. she want right back out. second time came later in the evening. the gate just happened to be all little kids. coming out of the first turn casey cut it a little bit, didn't go up high enough and tangled with another little boy. an older boy got her moving again. her back was pretty scratched up and she wanted to sit out for a bit. she wanted to go home, but we made her go out a couple times so she wasn't afraid, but it was obvious she was super timid in the turns whether there was another rider or not. hopefully next week she'll have her magic back. it was a bummer to see her get her confidence up and ride so tough in the beginning and then have her confidence knocked away so fast. it was as if she went back to day one.
but at the same time she's tough and likes to do it, so this week i'm sure she'll get it back. she likes putting money in her piggy bank and we already owe her $5 just from two runs last night.
nothing going today. i may go check out how snowy/icy the trails are later. clean a little. i think my mom has reese and audrey so we may take the kids for pizza tonight. tomorrow john has the tour. i'm all caught up on lost so i don't even have that. i'm sort of relieved though, as fun as it was, it was taking over for a bit.

friday, bmx and whatever

i wanted to get my eriksen in some sort of order to start working on it, but its just too dirty. this weekend's forecasted 30s will probably feel like spring compared to our sub-zero readings lately. I may have to bust out the hose and do some rinsing.
i'm torn between leaving 25.4 up front or moving on to 31.8. i much prefer the 25.4 and am sorta bummed that everything is 31.8.
i have minor annoying things i have to take care of to finish it up. things i should probably be doing right now.
bmx tonight and who knows for the rest of the weekend.

session 2

one more to go. color. i sat for close to 3 hours yesterday. session 3 is march 11th and then i go in a month later for touch ups.
it's kind of hard to take a self portrait of your arm.



pics don't do it justice. well, my pics anyway.
zoe was up at 4:30 this morning. it's just her, me and tegan and sara right now hanging in the kitchen. luckily thursdays are my days to not deal with this crap.



i have to figure out birthday party plans for casey, trip to AZ and some other things.
my hubs didn't come in yesterday. i did get an email yesterday that i had a package from dt swiss, i was pretty stoked, but it was just the spokes. total let down. apparently my hubs are shipping today, i must've misunderstood in my over excited nerd state when i placed the order. ah well, something to look forward to getting next week. my rims aren't in my hands yet anyway.

03.04.2004

for some reason i don't think this march 4th we'll be out in fleece jackets with no snow.

work

i'm bored. not from lack of anything to do, quite the contrary. i'm feeling a bit burnt out really.

sibling rivalry

zoe, aka the devil, tries to snag casey's ds any chance she gets.



if casey knew zoe had it she definitely wouldn't be smiling.



saturday the girls were at the kitchen table, casey was reading her star wars sticker book. zoe tried grabbing it from her and ripped a page. casey freaked and grabbed her by the neck with both hands and started screaming. they both were screaming. casey let go and continued to read her star wars book. zoe cried. i'm amazed at how early the fighting starts.

precipitation

anyone else freaking out that the amount of rain/snow we are getting won't stop once spring and summer hit? i'm hoping for a normal spring and dry summer. i know its dumb to worry about something we have no control over, but i'm wondering if we'll have to start making north shore-esque trails. not the crazy bridges and stuff but just raised off the ground a touch to avoid the muckiness. i hope not.
we hit bmx practice friday night. casey did the best she's ever done... partly due to her trying to do wheelies up and over every jump which forced her to use her upper body a lot more.
saturday it was her 6th birthday. she told us she was almost 7. woah... let's enjoy 6 first. cake, presents, food and she capped it off by spending the night by her cousin's house.
john and i didn't do anything really. we hung out with casey at my sis' til about 8 and headed home. not much to report on sunday either. i went outsite once to take the garbage out. it was warm and wet. we had a mini lake in our front yard. it was a great sunday morning of just coffee, breakfast, newspaper and the internet. i watched a bit of lost. john napped and played video games. zoe played, danced, fell off chairs and jumped down stairs and off the couch.
i still can't believe how fast february is moving. wednesday i go in for session two- background and shading.

time flies.

i can't believe its february 12th already. this month is flying.
spring will be here before we know it. i do have a feeling its going to be a long time before we are off road.
i've read that palos is flooded with ice. it's good to know the trails there are built really well and should hold up.
i was going to order some hubs today but i believe i left my wallet in the car. i bought a coffee this a.m. and must not have put it back in my bag.
tomorrow for sure.
i saw a new sid team today. a white one. i'm pretty stoked. it looks rad. we will be making multiple decals (all colors will come in the box)so you can switch it up. one of the colors is orange. i've got my bike built for the 08 season in my head already, few details left to figure out, but its gonna be sweet! i should start stripping it. it needs new everything. maybe grab myself a ceramic bb.

no internet

wow! i went through all of saturday and sunday without visiting the internet. never checked mail, no blogs, etc. it was weird to check everything today and see i didn't miss anything.
bmx friday night. casey's heart wasn't in it when we first got there. she ended up finishing the night pedaling all the way through and pumping in the pump track.
saturday brad came over with the kids and we hung out for a bit. sunday i sat on the couch for a lost marathon. last night we were up for over 3 hours with zoe. she was ready to party for some reason. we probably both would've been more sane had one of us just brought her downstairs and rid her of her mysterious energy.
i'm pretty tired today.

work

i'm trying to ignore it and be okay with it. but i'm swamped beyond my control.
i've had high managers approach me and say we know you are dealing with a lot, we are working on a solution. hmmm...
i'm starting to stress and feel burn out approaching.
update: i asked a co-worker to help me out. i feel a lot better. it's nice as a temporary solution. i guess once i get out of this hole, it hopefully won't get this bad again. if it does, i'll take jeremey's advice and watch that star wars video on youtube.
i'm home already. john is home too. we had casey's parent teach conference today. it went really well. we are totally proud of her. although, at the moment she's downstairs crying because she didn't win at wii against josh. and to add insult to injury zoe keeps hitting her with the remote.
bmx tonight. we are going early to get home early.

fresh.... ink

listening to the news on tuesday night i expected to wake up yesterday morning to thick blankets of snow. i laid in bed a bit longer than usual expecting there to be unfathonable amounts of snow on the ground the way they were talking, i was going to be late anyway, so what the heck. instead i looked out the window to rain. more rain.
it was pretty nasty out with low visibility, rain, slush, blah blah blah. i kept hearing on the radio about how bad it was up north. they went on and on about the storm that was to come. i ignored it, there was no way i wasn't going into the city. i had been waiting months for this day.
pulling out of the neighborhood the e slid a bit from previous snow having turned to slush from the rain. half way into work visibility got worse. there were thick lines of slush from tire tracks. switching lanes was something that required concentration.
morning radio shows and thoughts of tattoos made the drive seem super fast.
i walked into work. almost a ghost town. on my side of the building i think there were a whole 5 of us. i sat at my desk antsy. kept looking at the time. i wanted to leave in enough time to grab some lunch and with the weather in the city, who knows. i was a little nervous. i still had yet to see a drawing, what if i hated it? spacegirl, raygun, skulls, stars- how could i hate it, but still.
got in the car. the snow was starting to come down pretty good. i didn't care if it was going to take me 3 hours to get home. i wasn't missing this. made a stop at subway for a turkey sandwich.
found a parking spot around the corner from deluxe, finished up and walked over.
everyone was moving back into their spots. they had just had the floors redone. harlan walked over with his sketchbook and opened it up. WOW. it was just what i wanted.
i made two changes. waited a bit for him to clean up the sketch and got to work. when he was checking out the size of the sketch to my arm to see if he needed to shrink it i was like no way, he's gonna have to shrink it. it looked huge. he put it on my arm and said actually it's perfect. cool.
the only thing i regret is not taking a picture of my arm before he started.
it took an hour and a half to do the outline. two sensitive spots... top of my shoulder (bone) and where my armpit meets my chest (ouch).
i had mentioned that harlan, my tattoo artist, was a mountain biker. it was nice to chat about bikes and riding to keep my mind off of the needle. he prefers palos over kettle. my kind of guy. we agreed palos, peoria and THEN kettle for riding.
two more visits and it'll be done.

umhhh...

yeah. woke up to no snow. more rain. as i got closer to the city it was all slushy. like 2" of slush. nothing my gravis cirques couldn't handle.
apparently all the snow is north. turning on the street towards work, the cars coming from the north had snow on the roofs of the cars and windows. hopefully it takes its sweet time getting down here.

more snow and tv

geez. this is the worst winter ever. actually its raining right now and has pretty much melted the 15" we had... so there are lakes in the lawn. i get irritated when the dog has to pee. he practically requires a bath when he comes back in.
since i'm coming into some extra cash thanks to this guy, i may go get john and i some snow shoes. i almost bought them two weeks ago but couldn't bring myself to admit defeat as far as riding outside is concerned.
since being stuck inside i finally listened to brent and put lost in my netflix and now i'm obsessed. i put the episodes in my queue but after watching the first two discs and freaking out about having to wait days for the next disc... i went to best buy and bought season one. i'm actually watching house now. one of my fave shows, hugh laurie is a total hottie.
i really need it to be spring.

super bowl

best game ever. i went to my aunt's house with the kids. it ended up being giant fans upstairs and new england fans downstairs.
i personally didn't care who won but i'm always a fan of the underdog. so of course i was rooting for the giants. i moreso wanted to see new england lose. i tire of that kind of mega-hype. tom brady this, tom brady that. hell the press had new england super bowl champs before they even played the game. so the upset was that much more fun.
the tv downstairs had a 5 second delay from the one upstairs and we had a good time messing with the pat fans downstairs. it ended up being a great time. everyone talking shit. i didn't think i'd enjoy myself as much as i did.
much better than saturday. i slept all day and my ass hung out with the porcelain god.
more snow tonight. it's to the point now where if i dropped zoe out there she'd disappear.
speaking of all the snow, you know when it snows and they plow all the lots and you get those big ass mounds of snow. it's like my measurement of when spring will start or when the weather will change for the better when they disappear. now it seems so far away. those snow mounds are huge.

♥ twin six love ♥

Twin Six is having a sale again. hurry up before they sell out of stuff. i missed out on the jesus tee last time. i see they've restocked.
Twin Six not only makes kick ass gear they also give back in a big way. they have raised many many dollars for cancer research through their fat cyclist gear. and now part of the proceeds from this sale will go to "jenny's light", a foundation to help build awareness, detection, and treatment for postpartum disorders. Jenny was a friend of Twin Six and lost her own life and son to the tragedies of postpartum depression.

thoughts

of bikes are back in my mind. not new ones, but giving the ones i have some freshness. maybe i'll start with a hose.



time to make a list.

yawn

bmx last night. bmx racing tonight. it was fun.
still directv issues. the tech guy who was here friday left without us having any service at all. john called and we now have service but all the problems we have had are still there. more wasting of time.
we now have supposedly a case file number. whatever. we'll see what happens. they'll be here monday.
i kinda started getting excited about bike parts today. some of them bmx parts, but mostly mtb.
i scored a mountain hardwear sub zero jacket the other day. i'm kinda stoked on that! wish i had it this past week.
ride tomorrow.

sprouting legs

to add to the directv mess we also can't find our remote.
when i say we've looked everywhere, i mean everywhere- toilets, garbage, under couches, inside cushions, toy boxes, inside toys, laundry, under cabinets, in cabinets, the fridge, my gramma's house (she babysat yesterday), bags, dog stuff, dog food, dishwasher. we even looked in all these places twice, some three times. we looked outside too. where did it go? my mom used to always say, "well it didn't sprout legs and walk away!" after looking for the remote i do in fact believe that things can sprout legs.
so i had to order one from directv for $15 and it'll take 3 days to get here. lame.

directv

i fucking hate it. customer service blows. they've been here 3 times in the past 3 weeks and we still have the same problems and now we have more! anyone have dish?

things. stuff. whatever. bored. busy.

let's see. hmmm... nothing new. but still felt the need to update my blog.
no new bike parts if you can believe that. still lusting the dt 240 ss bolt on hub and that's about it. i also want to build a new wheelset. dt 190 hubs laced to some stans rims. but in reality i have to get my mac fixed. the h thing and no return is driving me mad.
the 190 hubs are mad expensive and probably aren't worth the price difference compared to the 240. but my mind doesn't work that way.
i still need to buy a calendar to put all the race dates on there. people's weddings, etc to make sure they don't conflict with any races. better to break the news to them now rather than later. or maybe there is still time for them to move their date.
i guess i hadn't shared that my mom had a breast cancer scare. she had to have some outpatient surgery for a biopsy, but everything came back benign. huge weight lifted off all our shoulders.
tattoo is two weeks from today. seems so far away. casey has bmx friday and saturday. john will be riding the tour this sunday. hopefully i can get some form of riding in myself.
i miss my bikes. two of them need some major love. i tried visiting with them but its hard with a 1 year old. she ends up putting her head by the chainring or almost gets her fingers caught in places she may lose them. never fails.

bmx wii and pizza

casey had a blast at the bmx camp today. in her group it was her and 3 others including keegan.



she has 5 more hours of it tomorrow. john said it was awesome to see her progress.



she mastered both feet on the pedals while standing in the gates and then pedaling her ass off after it drops. i'm so glad she's having fun!



when they got back jeremey, jerry and mackenzie were hanging out playing wii. it was fun to hang out with some bike racer geeks again. we ordered some pizzas, talked bikes, first races and wii.

bmx

we hit bmx practice last night. you could tell casey was tired. her and john just headed back to the track this morning for a clinic. i wasn't going to sign her up. but when i heard 6 year old morgan did and it did wonders for her confidence we decided to have her take part. if casey is half the rider of morgan i'll be stoked!
as for me and zoe... we have a wreck of a house to clean. i really feel she should clean herself, she created at the very least half the mess.

turned on

a friend sent me this link today. his local trails. i'm mega-jealous. looks to be my favorite kinda riding. i can't wait til the trails are rideable again. i wish i could obsess about something else at this time of year. i've tried, everything fails.

the weekend

my knee is finally starting to look like a knee again. i tried to get a pic but none of the photos even showed a bruise. i have bruises/one big bruise from the top of my knee to just past the middle of my shin. my whole knee area is super tender. luckily it doesn't impair my ability to ride a bike. although riding in tights yesterday, the fabric kept snagging the scab. shoulda worn a band aid.
friday night we hit bmx with casey. she actually asks to go. we were going to actually hit the race on saturday... but a stem snafu and a birthday party kept us away. sunday john hit the tour da chicago while i sat at home doing nothing but web surfing, kid entertaining and coffee drinking. my day didn't change much other than changing clothes and heading out for a ride. which wasn't awesome, but great to be out anyway. my tube came popping out of my tire. i always have a seatbag on my road bike with a co2, etc. but not today! so i limped home in hopes of having no tube explosions. i quick got the tire fixed and went back out. but i could never warm up. i was frozen.
the day ended with zoe falling asleep downstairs, casey up way past her bed-time and john and i sucked into the end of the chamber of secrets. we really need to get to bed earlier. i'm super tired today.

yawn

man. things have been pretty lame around here lately.
nothing new. no new bikes so far this year. we are pretty set. maybe some new parts here n there. bmx tonight. birthday party tomorrow. what else?
hmmm... i need to sell stuff. really. like really get motivated to do it.
look fork, easton road fork, redline micro mini, ultegra 9 speed, stems, handlebars, ziggurat frame and more. i really need to organize.

i was just putting together a race calendar. it irks me that the close indiana races are the same dates as some of the closer wors races. on may 4th weekend we have iola, ft. custer, the pamba mtb fest and the dino race. lame. all 4 are fucking bad ass courses.

yeah, that feeling

i haven't been on a ride since dec 15th. i busted out today. 62 degrees. i was overdressed. it felt great. i forgot how great.
it ended crappy. i slid out turning a corner and came down on my right knee blowing out my swobo knickers. boo. i was more pissed about that. my knee looks like a grapefruit. as long as i can pedal tomorrow, who cares.

snow.

if i had a mountain up the road i wouldn't care. if it didn't turn to ice i probably wouldn't care.
trails were good. now i'm not so sure. i'm waiting for someone to give a report.
my back is hurting again. call to the chiro is in my future.
i'm pretty exhausted and am not looking forward to being back at work. its been nice being at home with the kids.

appliances

the washing machine was not working intermittently. it'd get to the rinse cycle and just stop. you could eventually get it to drain but it was a pain in the ass to do laundry. it finally got to the point of doing it all the time. i did some ordered a timer just before christmas eve. they said delivery would be this past thursday. of course it didn't show up. i emailed twice and tried to call... but after being on hold for over 20 minutes i hung up.
desperate for underwear i either had to deal with our machine or run over to my research and it could've been suds lock or new timer. to have a guy come out, min it was 150 plus whatever parts would be needed. we didn't pay that much for the washer, so we opted to order the timer. googling the problem, seemed that was our best bet. i parents. i asked john if he was in desperate need of anything washed. he showed me he was wearing his "last resort" pair. so i grabbed a bunch and hoped for the best.
it washed no problem. i chanced a second load, then a third, fourth, fifth. it is still going strong. wtf? was it suds lock, or will my timer problem rear its ugly head? my gram does our laundry when she's here, i wonder if she's been using too much soap?
anyway, doesn't matter. i caught up on the laundry, still have a couple loads left and i'm done, well not done. when is the laundry ever done?
now we have to buy a dishwasher. that crapped out a couple months ago. i miss it.
and then a new keyboard or whatever for the macbook. can't find the battery charger for the sd750. and then my date with harlan is coming fast.
i need to sell some bike stuff...

what's happening?

not much going on with the Gattos.
Christmas was fun. busy, but fun.
it was a greay year with the girls. casey's in the swing of it and you could just see the excitement in her leading up to it. zoe is a character. she is very animated.
we all received lots of neat stuff. from video games to tees to cool underwear.
it's been fun watching the girls play together now that zoe is getting older. they can play up in casey's room for hours. they fight now too. zoe is pretty physical.
i kinda took the week off of work. mostly just checking email and falling behind. but it shouldn't be too bad when i get back into the office.
its supposed to snow tomorrow. i hope we don't get too much, i'm ready to ride.

blog reading

i've been blog reading in between availability checks at work. it's amazing how many people are "down". (i just came out of a funk) i hope everyone starts to feel better soon.
the weather is depressing for me, but i'm too busy to enjoy it, even if it weren't nasty right now anyway. spring will be here before we know it!

what a weekend

bmx friday. mars scavenger hunt and party saturday. drive home after midnight in a snow storm. star wars exhibit on sunday. we're exhausted. hopefully more details later.

bmx night

we took casey to hobart tonight for some bmx action. she'd never been and frank had mentioned he was taking keegan last week, so we decided to hit the track today.
it was just as i expected, she was freaked out and nervous for the first hour we were there. john took her just to the end of the course, the rhythm section, and had her ride that a few times. she warmed up pretty quick and soon was over at the gates.
by the end of the night she was pro. you could see the competitiveness come out in her. it was real exciting. nice to be around bikes again.
she made friends with 6 year old morgan, who was killing it out there! she rocked. i hope casey will work to that good.
i can't believe how much she's grown since we've gotten that bike. i remember not being able to get the seat low enough, and now the bike is too small. she's ready for a mini now. but first we'll probably just swap the bar out... unless anybody that reads this is interested in the micro mini? i plan on selling that and getting her a new one. really, its just an excuse to go bike shopping. i don't need or want anything so why not want it for her?

so much to do

i started xmas shopping in october. i think i started too early. i kept putting it off thinking, well i already started. i have a lot to do between now and next weekend. and of course i don't have the weekend to do it. but that's cool.
i'll be partying it up on saturday. then sunday we're taking casey to see the star wars exhibit.
the lemond leaves the basement this weekend to a good home. christmas will be here next weekend for the most part. new years. before i know it, it'll be feb and i'll get my tattoo. and then it'll be sea otter and wors opener. i'll wonder where the time has gone.
time seemed to go so much slower as a kid. now it seems to go by so fast. it should remind me to enjoy it. its so cliche, but life is too short to not. there wil always be hurdles but life is what you make of it. you can choose to be miserable or happy. sometimes being happy can be the harder choice.

i miss my apple

the mac does everything except let me type o, i, u, l and enter. bummer. i'll give it another day or so and then i'm ordering the keyboard.
i don't do anything on my mac that i can't do on my pc... but when i'm at home using it i'm mainly playing with photos or on the web. my pc graphics can't touch the mac. not even close.
its monday morning, well afternoon at this point, and i'm sitting at my kitchen table waiting for the directv guy to leave. i hate directv.

fuck an apple

and screw mac. i'm so mad right now.
apple's protection plan only covers their screw ups? lame. waste of money for a protection plan that doesn't cover what you might screw up. it should be labeled as an extended warranty.
i need to read fine print better i guess.
edit: i've cooled off since. heat of the moment post. really its only a computer. my fault that the computer is in need of service- zoe threw my dunkin donuts cup at the computer and the 2 sips that were left went through the keys. none of my keys work (well okay i, c, y and q work and u sticks). i'm letting it dry out and/or will try an external keyboard and see what happens. if that doesn't work i'll have to take them up on their $300 minimum repair after i purchased what i thought was a protection plan. my ignorance i guess. but the customer service person was a dick... i'm totally a nice honest person just looking for some help or advice. sometimes i hate that i'm nice and honest. i need to work on being a bitchy liar.

it's snowing right now. casey's last competition is saturday. i'll miss the ladies ride on saturday which is a bummer, but at least its a good reason. sunday is the last chicago cross race. maybe i'll make it out there. i haven't been to spectate a cross race since last year. very weird.

lunch date

with this guy. probably some kick ass pasta or mexican. but whatever he decides it will be kick ass.

a week later

no rides to post of. no exercise to speak of. i'm getting sloth-like and must do something to get out of this feeling lazy funk.
i walked in my door friday night after saying good bye to julie, ryder and saige and didn't leave til this morning for work. we all just hung out. we sang and danced with the girls. we played guitar hero and lost planet. i surfed the web for everything and nothing. saturday night we were looking forward to watching the blackhawks play. casey was even in her jersey, but having directv the winter storm effed with the signal. oh well. it worked out fine, i finally saw little miss sunshine and laughed throughout. good movie. unfortunately john missed it while trying to sleep off a migraine that started on friday night. sunday i watched the bears lose. i'm glad i don't care about football, i would've been pissed off.
this week i hope to get some form of exercise to feel alive again and get some christmas shopping done. i hate last minute shopping.

unblog

i've only ridden once since last post with the girls in mke which was fun. other than that, i've got nothing going on but work, kids and stuff.
i have no desire for a new bike, i didn't think that could ever happen, i may have to check myself into a hospital or something. the walt, eriksen, cross check, steamroller and moots have satisfied my bike needs for now. yeah, there are some parts out there that i want... namely a dt swiss bolt on ss hub. but other than that, nothing really. well okay, the ferrous still has a spot in my heart, but i don't see me getting one anytime soon if ever.
my thoughts have been mostly on tattoos. finding inspiration for filler.
thoughts of unclutter, dumpsters and christmas lists. family and friends.

dermal pigmentation

i've thought about tattoos for awhile now. i got my first when i was 18 and have always wanted more, just really didn't know what.
i've been thinking about it a lot the past few months. doing a lot of research on what i really wanted.
it's easy to focus on something else when not lusting after another bike or part. i'm pretty content with the bikes i have. i don't remember the last time i felt this way, i'm not sure if i ever did (i hope it doesn't last). while being satisfied with my bikes i need to focus on something else. that something else is what i'm doing to my left arm.
i got my tara mcpherson piece done tonight. more done in february- the custom artwork. i can't wait, but i can.
i was reading a forum somewhere and one of the posters said he was thinking of getting his ink removed because tattoos were becoming so mainstream. whatever. i think its great.
girls ride tomorrow at the mke river trails. should be fun. hopefully the rain holds off.
i really should've looked at my bike. last ride it was making all kinds of noises. hopefully they were just dirty bike noises.
it's gamer night tonight... john has friends and their kids over. it was a nightmare trying to put zoe asleep, she knew there were kids having fun while she was forced to go to bed. i finished surfing the internet... again. i'll probably finish im'ing my sis and go to bed.

mke river trails

john and i made the 90 minute drive up to the mke river trails.
we met up near the pick and save to a group of people. bender, james lalonde, goat, lori, amy, bubba, meghan, a couple people i didn't know, and marty! jeremey had mentioned that bender was bringing some hayes dudes. i thought, i wonder if he'll bring marty? i kind of thought no as i still was gathering some parts for him. but there he was. it was good to see him and ride with him.
we headed out on the trails with bender, goad, james and john leading and then me. a big gap formed, duh. as i watched them in the distance i thought, wtf. i came here to ride my bike not race against the men's elite field. so i used the root steps i messed up on as an excuse to get to the back of the pack where the riders were. phew.
i love riding, especially this time of year. i love talking to people, making fun of them riding, making fun of myself when i screw up.
the ride was good. i didn't crash on the ground once, but i did hit a tree. just lost concentration which out there means not respecting the trail. there were a few things i'd like to try again. never having ridden there before you'd turn a corner onto something you weren't expecting in the least. i look forward to my next ride out there.

the color purple

i've noticed that lately i've been attracted to the color purple. thinking about the rig i had. and then shopping yesterday i looked at myself and the kids... zoe had purple crocs, purple sweatshirt, casey had on a purple vest and i was wearing purple shoes with a purple crumpler bag.

hilariously offended

casey jumped in the shower with me today. as she was cleaning me with the poofy thing she said "mom, its just like washing a whale."

food fest

we arrived at st. xavier a bit early. better than late i suppose. casey's team ended up in 2nd place. they were a little sloppy probably from only having one practice this past week. they have fun regardless what place they come in.
the competition was ahead of schedule which kinda sucked because there was so much downtime. they couldn't speed it up as there were set times for awards and team arrivals. i ate so much while i was there. i had a few pieces of candy, finished up casey's yogurt, a cheeseburger and a yogurt waffle cone. not to mention the mountain dew and a few stolen nachos.
all my sister's teams did very well. One of them bringing home grand champion.
got home, made a pizza, watched some football. john made a fire.
he was asleep by like 7. i put the girls to bed and went to sleep about 9:30 out of sheer boredom.
i'm finding today its hard to get motivated.

eggs

my day started out okay and then ended crappy.
rushed to buy some webkinz or something for mia's party.
picked up something from reese too as my sister's back is out.
got lost on the way to the theater. finally found the theater, dropped the kids off.
my sis and i went to lunch and then went to the gym to clean egg off of all the windows.
apparently one of the girls boyfriends thought it would be funny to egg their gym. "what's the big deal, it's not like they had to clean it, the janitors will". what is it with kids these days? fucking losers. the egg was caked on pretty good. they also left cartons and unthrown eggs on the ground in front of the entrance. probably 2-3 dozen eggs. two of steph's cheerleaders came out to help us. we were only able to get the reachable windows done. we also needed something stronger to break through the egg funk.
zoe ate dirt and created the smelliest diaper known to man while we were there.
came home and waited and waited and eventually ordered a pizza. casey bath, bed and wake up early and get to st xavier probably late.
at least we gain an hour of sleep tonight. i sure need it.

bike work

i have so many projects going on, yet i don't have all the necessaries to finish any of them. and it's all little stupid stuff... its driving me CRAZY!
i can finish the surly if i could find cassette spacers for a single speed or a chainguard and keeper to make it a 1x10. the road bike needs carbon brake pads. my spot has brake replacements but i'm lacking the longer hose for the rear brake.. my eriksen needs new grips that i haven't ordered yet. and then the steamroller... i'm too lazy to pull it out (it's buried in the bike "aisle") to put a handlebar back on it.
my next purchase will be a singlespeed rim brake 700c wheelset. cool but inexpensive.
i still can't believe i don't have enough cassette spacers...

always changing

the plan this weekend was hit milwaukee cross on saturday and casey's comp on sunday.
i just found out casey's friend has a party to see the bee movie tomorrow. bummer. so i can't go. i was almost done changing the cross check from grocery getter to a bike i could race on (hopefully tonight). not to mention i haven't been to one this year. are there any good movies out? we were thinking about possibly seeing one while the kids were at the party.

Happy Birthday John!

it's john's birthday today. he hates his birthday and will probably hate this post.

great fun

left work a bit early. went out trick or treating with my sis, bro in law, mom, john, casey, zoe, reese, audrey and met up with tony and josh. the weather was perfect. walking zoe over to my mom's she fell out of the wagon twice. poor kid.
we ended the evening with some pizza from beggar's (yum) and went home where the kids passed out from exhaustion.
there is so much candy here its disgusting.

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