Alright where did I leave off, some days I just don't have time or remember to do this. Any who. Wednesday I did get out for a nice ride. I felt the flow and everything felt fresh. I just need to increase my endurance so I hopefully will be getting back on James Wilson Ultimate Mountain Bike Work out and sticking to it this time, butI really pushed myself, I need to keep working hard as in the next year or so I really want to compete in a super D race and hopefully the enduro race at Trestle Mountain Bike Park in Winter Park Colorado! It looks bomb all done by Trek rider Ross Schnell. Plus his new bike the Slash looks bad ass!
Thursday I was going to try and make the Leb crew group ride but I decided that since I was going to ride Sat and Sun morning I would just spend some quality time with Kelly so we went and played tennis. I actually won this time. No surprise to me but she said she let me, haha.
Friday the plan was to go to the state fair but the couple that was going to go with us bailed and we were like yeah I don't want to spend that money. Plus we really didn't have the money to spend. Then her sister called and asked if we would like to go to BW's for my birthday since they weren't able to get to the first b-day dinner at the muddy pig. So it worked out. The service was pretty awful at BW's which is kind of funny since Katie, Kelly's sister works for the corporate. haha but the food was good.
Saturday I got up and rode to Leb to get a nice warm up in. I've found that the 3 mile ride actually allows me to ride harder and longer. Who would have thought a good warm up would actually help, haha. The ride was really good except that I flatted on the way to leb and had to walk the last 3 blocks and then see if someone had a pump I could borrow. I borrowed a hand pump from one guy but didn't get the air right but he seemed to be in a big rush to get out on the trail so I let him go and got a floor pump from some other dude and finally hit the trail. I did another sick ride just like the one on wed. Man I love that new green section with the flow. My kung fu is really getting solid in the rhythm section. I'm able to double or manual pretty much the whole thing now which makes it really smooth and really fast! The rest of the afternoon was spent kicking it with Kelly and Jerry. It was great I really had a good time.
Sunday was suppose to be a group ride at afton. I have never rode afton so I was pretty stoked to get an op to ride it but of course that didn't work out. The course was closed due to the Muddy Buddy adventure run. It was unfortunate so I met some friends at Leb instead. The ride started out great. I was feeling fresh, huge whip off the first big jump on the blue section and I was flying through that section. I guess a little too fast because the rear end broke loose and I was in a full speed power slide right at a sapling so I tried to lock it up to stop but to no avail! Hit the sapling thrown over my bars and head first into a bear hug of a good 10inch tree! Smack! I thought I was done. I thought I had finally done it crashed hard enough to break something. I thought my collar bone was broken or at least separated. I screamed F!!!! My two buddy's circled back and were like are you ok? I told them I was done. We sat there for a few mins drank some water. The initial pain started to die down a bit. I could move my should through full range of motion. Shit I got luck! I was like I think I can ride. Got back on my bike checked it out, all systems go. Started riding, shoulder a little sore but no big deal with in 5 mins all felt good finished a full lap of everything and headed back to the parking lot. We were standing there talking and as I cooled down it started to stiffen up. They wanted to go again but I had to let them go. I decided it was probably better to go ice it, which I did.
The next morning I woke up at 530am and it hurt like hell. So I went down stairs took some pain meds grabbed the ice pack and slept in the recliner for 30mins when I got up it was fine. Today it feels pretty well so I'm excited to head out to the black hills to hang out with family and get some riding in!
As for the new job it's going well. Lots of job shadowing, filling out and signing forms and doing all the HR non-scenes that comes with a new job! I hope you all have a great labor day!
Keep it real!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Hump day already!
The weeks off to a good start. Work is going well, might be because I'm not stressed anymore since I know that I'm done at the end of the week for good. Yeah that's probably it. haha
Monday was a great night. Kelly and I went to the twins game for a little date night action. I had a great time. It was dollar dog night so it wasn't even that expensive. Kelly had bought the tickets a long time ago at a fund raiser. They played the oriels and lost but it was actually a good game. There was a girl that robbed Joe Mauer of the third out on a foul ball, I thought she was going to get jumped. What an idiot. If he had caught it he probably would have just gave it to her and then JJ Hardy hit a home run 2 pitches later, haha. Anyways it was fun and we were only 18 rows up on the first base line two sections down from first base, great seats!
Tuesday was another good day. I got to ride my bike today but nothing serious. I rode down to Leb to do some trail work. It looks great. We were putting some of the bridges in, in the new skills section. It should be a lot of fun to ride when it's finished. Basically I mixed a shit ton of concrete by hand, nothing new for me I've been pouring concrete since I was 15 but I haven't done it in a long while. It was also nice to get to know some more people in the mtb community and a few of them really liked my idea of rebuilding Lexington so we'll see if I can get some help and really get that off the ground over the winter and build it in the spring! Fingers crossed!
The plan is to get a nice ride in tonight at Leb. Probably do a full lap of everything and two on the green or something!
Keep it real!
Monday was a great night. Kelly and I went to the twins game for a little date night action. I had a great time. It was dollar dog night so it wasn't even that expensive. Kelly had bought the tickets a long time ago at a fund raiser. They played the oriels and lost but it was actually a good game. There was a girl that robbed Joe Mauer of the third out on a foul ball, I thought she was going to get jumped. What an idiot. If he had caught it he probably would have just gave it to her and then JJ Hardy hit a home run 2 pitches later, haha. Anyways it was fun and we were only 18 rows up on the first base line two sections down from first base, great seats!
Tuesday was another good day. I got to ride my bike today but nothing serious. I rode down to Leb to do some trail work. It looks great. We were putting some of the bridges in, in the new skills section. It should be a lot of fun to ride when it's finished. Basically I mixed a shit ton of concrete by hand, nothing new for me I've been pouring concrete since I was 15 but I haven't done it in a long while. It was also nice to get to know some more people in the mtb community and a few of them really liked my idea of rebuilding Lexington so we'll see if I can get some help and really get that off the ground over the winter and build it in the spring! Fingers crossed!
The plan is to get a nice ride in tonight at Leb. Probably do a full lap of everything and two on the green or something!
Keep it real!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
and the count down begins
On my half day I spent the first part of the afternoon doing yard work, which I hate, but it was very rewarding. It looks good, all the weeds are gone and bushes are tamed. When we were done tidying up the yard and the house our friends came over for a BBQ. Adam and I went to Blue Max Liquor to get a make your own six pack of some tasty beers. They have the best beer selection in the twin cities. I had a great time just hanging out talking about life and drinking dank beer. I think that some of those beers must have been pretty strong because that six pack kicked my ass. haha.
Saturday I woke up and surprisingly didn't feel bad at all but I was tired. Unfortunately I couldn't go back to sleep as I had told Stu I would meet him at Leb at 9. I was a couple minutes late but it's fine it takes me like 30 seconds to be ready to ride since my bike is always ready to rip since I ride 4 days a week but stu always has to go over his bike since he only rides mtb about once a week. Unfortunately stu forgot his helmet and he was ready to throw in the towel and call it a day. He doesn't feel confident in his riding to not wear a helmet so I gave him mine and was like I'll just take it easy and we'll only ride the green. I, in no way shape or form advocate that people should ride with out a helmet and I actually think those people are dumb, but in certain circumstances like when it means ride or no ride you do what you have to do. So I just toned it back and it was fine. I instead of jumping through the rhythm section I really worked on manualling as much as I could and really pumping and manualling as much of the trail I could. Fortunately no crashes but I did get a lot of dirty looks for not having a helmet on. I get it, I'm sorry but mind your own business. I rode well with in my skill set so it's all good and when I was younger riding bmx I never wore a helmet so I felt pretty comfortable but I will be back on the trail with my helmet next time.
That evening we went to one of Kelly's friends house for some bbq and bon fire action. It was really fun I only knew one of the people there but everyone was really nice. After the bond fire we went home and watched a movie. It was probably the latest I've been up in a long time. We went to be at like 230am.
Sunday we slept in till 930 which felt nice. After walking the dog we went to Kelly's parent's since her brother was home. We hung out for a couple hours and then headed home. In the afternoon I headed out for a road ride. 30miles in 1hr and 50mins. Nothing crazy just a nice ride to clear my head and spin my legs.
The evening was spent just lounging and hanging out with Kelly and Jerry.
Tomorrow starts my last week at the my current job.
Keep it real
Saturday I woke up and surprisingly didn't feel bad at all but I was tired. Unfortunately I couldn't go back to sleep as I had told Stu I would meet him at Leb at 9. I was a couple minutes late but it's fine it takes me like 30 seconds to be ready to ride since my bike is always ready to rip since I ride 4 days a week but stu always has to go over his bike since he only rides mtb about once a week. Unfortunately stu forgot his helmet and he was ready to throw in the towel and call it a day. He doesn't feel confident in his riding to not wear a helmet so I gave him mine and was like I'll just take it easy and we'll only ride the green. I, in no way shape or form advocate that people should ride with out a helmet and I actually think those people are dumb, but in certain circumstances like when it means ride or no ride you do what you have to do. So I just toned it back and it was fine. I instead of jumping through the rhythm section I really worked on manualling as much as I could and really pumping and manualling as much of the trail I could. Fortunately no crashes but I did get a lot of dirty looks for not having a helmet on. I get it, I'm sorry but mind your own business. I rode well with in my skill set so it's all good and when I was younger riding bmx I never wore a helmet so I felt pretty comfortable but I will be back on the trail with my helmet next time.
That evening we went to one of Kelly's friends house for some bbq and bon fire action. It was really fun I only knew one of the people there but everyone was really nice. After the bond fire we went home and watched a movie. It was probably the latest I've been up in a long time. We went to be at like 230am.
Sunday we slept in till 930 which felt nice. After walking the dog we went to Kelly's parent's since her brother was home. We hung out for a couple hours and then headed home. In the afternoon I headed out for a road ride. 30miles in 1hr and 50mins. Nothing crazy just a nice ride to clear my head and spin my legs.
The evening was spent just lounging and hanging out with Kelly and Jerry.
Tomorrow starts my last week at the my current job.
Keep it real
Thursday, August 18, 2011
feel the rhythm feel the rhyme get on up its rippin' time!
Oh yeah had a great day at work, that doesn't happen all the time! Mark that on your calender! haha. After work I came home feeling pretty tired actually. I had a little bit of the bubble guts. I think it was from the Rock Star I drank. I had a cliff bar and took a poop and loaded up my bike and headed off to Leb. I wasn't feeling it right away so I was just going to play on the new green trail. So I thought I would just do a couple hot laps to build up the cardio. Man about half way I through the second lap I started to bonk. I don't know what's up with that. I guess it just because I worked all day, I hope. :( anyways after I took a little breather I was feeling fresh so maybe I just needed to get the juices flowing. I did a hand full of runs on the rhythm section and I was really feeling the flow towards the end. I helped a few guys that were new to MTB get a little smoother through the rhythm section and riding the berms. Then I had a chat with a lady about proper position and we did a few more laps on the rhythm section. Then I finished off with a hot lap of the new green section.
It sounds like they have some big plans for leb this fall. A new parking lot and actually will have a bathroom and changing room. They also said that there will be a "skills park" yeah I'm jacked for that. I hope they put in a pump track and/or maybe some jumps and some cool bridges and teeter toter and maybe a couple practice rock gardens, but who knows?
I was thinking if they added a nice easy rock garden off to the right of the triple threat at the end of the green loop it would be a perfect place to have a skills clinic. I mentioned it to the MORC guys and even offered to help with a clinic. We'll see where that goes.
It's almost the weekend and I have a half day tomorrow so I can't wait hope you all had a good week and have some fun plans for the weekend!
Keep it real!
It sounds like they have some big plans for leb this fall. A new parking lot and actually will have a bathroom and changing room. They also said that there will be a "skills park" yeah I'm jacked for that. I hope they put in a pump track and/or maybe some jumps and some cool bridges and teeter toter and maybe a couple practice rock gardens, but who knows?
I was thinking if they added a nice easy rock garden off to the right of the triple threat at the end of the green loop it would be a perfect place to have a skills clinic. I mentioned it to the MORC guys and even offered to help with a clinic. We'll see where that goes.
It's almost the weekend and I have a half day tomorrow so I can't wait hope you all had a good week and have some fun plans for the weekend!
Keep it real!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
happy birth day to me!
Well it's not the first time I've hugged the porcelain God on my birthday or even passed out on one but it was the first time I've done so at 850am! Yeah that's right I was reading my buddy Josh's Blog and got a little queasy because he got a little detailed about his crash and all the talk about blood, yeah. I don't do well with blood so I was like shit I'm going for a walk and went to get a drink of water. I was like I better go to the bathroom while I'm up. While I was standing there doing my business I started to get hot and dizzy so I leaned on the divider between the urinals. As I finished my business I got a cold chill/sweats and stood there for a second with my head on my arm and next thing I know I woke up on the ground with my arm on the urinal and my head on my arm. Thank God it's a auto flush other wise it might have got messy. I came to in this weird dream with Pink Floyd playing in my ear. I was like where the f am I? Why the f is my arm wet? Then I opened my eyes and was on the floor, not sure how I got there. Some guy in the stall was like are you ok? What happened? I heard a loud bang, me hitting the floor. Haha! I was like I'm ok but I got up and he insisted on walking me to a meeting room to sit down and then he went and got an HR person and I had to talk to her and then file a Work Comp claim even though I went back to work like 30mins later.
Anyways what a day to start work and my birthday, haha. Anyways the rest of my day went alright but I didn't feel like doing any work.
After work we went to the muddy pig. I really like that place. Like 30+ taps and more in bottle. It was awesome, my Cuban sandwich was bomb. I had a great time it was a nice simple but fun birthday! No ride but I will get one in tomorrow I"m sure!
Keep it real!
Anyways what a day to start work and my birthday, haha. Anyways the rest of my day went alright but I didn't feel like doing any work.
After work we went to the muddy pig. I really like that place. Like 30+ taps and more in bottle. It was awesome, my Cuban sandwich was bomb. I had a great time it was a nice simple but fun birthday! No ride but I will get one in tomorrow I"m sure!
Keep it real!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
regulators mount up
Alright so first off tomorrow is my birthday, I'll be 26, I know F I'm almost 30 now and then it's straight down hill from there and not the good DH, haha jk. I feel strong and young probably as good as 19! Holla, haha.
Second, I have officially put in my notice with my company and I am moving on. Unfortunately it's not yet in the bike/outdoor industry but I haven't given up on that dream/goal. I will be doing a pretty similar job for a competing company. I know call me a traitor but shit there is only so much BS one man can take and I hope that they finally figure out some shit seriously has to change in their policies since I'm one of probably 6-8 in the last couple months to leave my department and about half have gone to the company I did. That's how I got in, referral. Like I said pretty similar duties, the new ones sound a little better. The bens and time off are pretty much the same and the pay is a little better so I guess it's really just to get a fresh start in a new environment. I hope it will decrease my stress. I will have the same hours. The one thing I'm concerned about is that my current job is located in Bloomington and the new one will be in Woodbury, it's not the commute since that's about the same distance and actually quicker to Woodbury since it's all freeway and no traffic the direction I'm traveling. The one concern is the Tuesday cross races are at aquila park in St. Louis Park and is about 27miles from my new job and it was only a few mins from my old job. That might put a damper on how often I can get there for the practice races. I'll keep y'all up to date on how I like it but I'm optimistic!
Monday we met with our DJ for our wedding, he was pretty cool. We met him at Fitz' for dinner and a drink. We talked about possible songs and what to expect. He seemed pretty cool and it was nice to check off another thing off our list of to dos or should I say Kelly to check off her list since she has been doing most of the organization and research and might I say she is doing a damn good job!! ;)
Today I went to work, I was super nervous all day. As soon as I had a chance I tried to go over to my supervisor to give him my letter of resignation but he was never there. Every time I would get up the nerve he wouldn't be there finally at about 3 I tracked him down and it was a bit awkward. I'm not sure that will ever get easy but who knows. I hope that I wont be doing it too much! haha.
After work I headed to Leb to clear my mind. I didn't know how much of a ride I would actually get in as it was looking pretty nasty out, but I was able to get in about an hour of riding. I did 3 hot laps on the new green section and then started to just work on my flow in the rhythm section. I did see a pretty sweet crash and it wasn't me this time. This guy tried to double a couple rollers which isn't too difficult but he landed a bit sideways and was out of control and got launched and landed on his front tire with the handle bars a bit side ways and a over the handle bars he went and he f'd his bike up. the front rim was almost taco'd and his seat was bent. He's lucky he wasn't hurt since he was clipped in and went for a fun ride!
I also met a group of guys that go by the name Rad, I'm guessing named after the '80s BMX movie, they were my age and a couple of them were pretty solid riders but they all seemed pretty cool. I guess they ride there pretty often so I'll probably run into them again.
After the ride I went home for some pizza and hanging out with my pooch and Kelly.
Update on the BC Battle, the guy from MORC said that the land manager in the past hasn't allowed organized MTB races there but has allowed foot races. Not sure how that is fair especially since MORC does the trail maintenance so I'm not giving up yet. I think if I get a few people to back me up and maybe do it as a fund raiser for either trail maintenance or something like a benefit for the challenge center they might let us do it, who knows!
Time for bed!
Keep it real!
Second, I have officially put in my notice with my company and I am moving on. Unfortunately it's not yet in the bike/outdoor industry but I haven't given up on that dream/goal. I will be doing a pretty similar job for a competing company. I know call me a traitor but shit there is only so much BS one man can take and I hope that they finally figure out some shit seriously has to change in their policies since I'm one of probably 6-8 in the last couple months to leave my department and about half have gone to the company I did. That's how I got in, referral. Like I said pretty similar duties, the new ones sound a little better. The bens and time off are pretty much the same and the pay is a little better so I guess it's really just to get a fresh start in a new environment. I hope it will decrease my stress. I will have the same hours. The one thing I'm concerned about is that my current job is located in Bloomington and the new one will be in Woodbury, it's not the commute since that's about the same distance and actually quicker to Woodbury since it's all freeway and no traffic the direction I'm traveling. The one concern is the Tuesday cross races are at aquila park in St. Louis Park and is about 27miles from my new job and it was only a few mins from my old job. That might put a damper on how often I can get there for the practice races. I'll keep y'all up to date on how I like it but I'm optimistic!
Monday we met with our DJ for our wedding, he was pretty cool. We met him at Fitz' for dinner and a drink. We talked about possible songs and what to expect. He seemed pretty cool and it was nice to check off another thing off our list of to dos or should I say Kelly to check off her list since she has been doing most of the organization and research and might I say she is doing a damn good job!! ;)
Today I went to work, I was super nervous all day. As soon as I had a chance I tried to go over to my supervisor to give him my letter of resignation but he was never there. Every time I would get up the nerve he wouldn't be there finally at about 3 I tracked him down and it was a bit awkward. I'm not sure that will ever get easy but who knows. I hope that I wont be doing it too much! haha.
After work I headed to Leb to clear my mind. I didn't know how much of a ride I would actually get in as it was looking pretty nasty out, but I was able to get in about an hour of riding. I did 3 hot laps on the new green section and then started to just work on my flow in the rhythm section. I did see a pretty sweet crash and it wasn't me this time. This guy tried to double a couple rollers which isn't too difficult but he landed a bit sideways and was out of control and got launched and landed on his front tire with the handle bars a bit side ways and a over the handle bars he went and he f'd his bike up. the front rim was almost taco'd and his seat was bent. He's lucky he wasn't hurt since he was clipped in and went for a fun ride!
I also met a group of guys that go by the name Rad, I'm guessing named after the '80s BMX movie, they were my age and a couple of them were pretty solid riders but they all seemed pretty cool. I guess they ride there pretty often so I'll probably run into them again.
After the ride I went home for some pizza and hanging out with my pooch and Kelly.
Update on the BC Battle, the guy from MORC said that the land manager in the past hasn't allowed organized MTB races there but has allowed foot races. Not sure how that is fair especially since MORC does the trail maintenance so I'm not giving up yet. I think if I get a few people to back me up and maybe do it as a fund raiser for either trail maintenance or something like a benefit for the challenge center they might let us do it, who knows!
Time for bed!
Keep it real!
Monday, August 15, 2011
hello good bye
Well where did that weekend go? Who knows but man it seemed like it flew by. It's all kind of a blur but Friday we had Kelly's parents over for a bbq, some burgers and grilled corn on the cob! Yum it was delicious! It was a rather uneventful night except for the gnarly thunderstorm that rolled through about 2am or so. It woke me up and scared the crap out of my dog, haha. He crawled up into bed between Kelly and I and stretched out so he could be touching both of us. It was actually pretty funny. Saturday morning I got up took the dog for a walk. It was absolutely gorgeous out. I thought I would give it a few hours and then go for a ride. So about 1pm I got on the Reign and pedaled over to to Leb and started out on the trail and was like heck it's not too bad but about half way to the new green section it started to get greasy and then muddy and wet and I worked to get through and out of there causing as minimal of damage as possible. I did crash once since my bike washed out. I rolled out muddy and warned three guys that were suiting up that it's not worth it and to give it a few more hours. Not sure what happened with that. So I rode home slinging mud everywhere, and also covered with mud. When I got home most the mud was off my tires but now all over me and my bike so I got to partake in my favorite activity washing my bike! haha
After that Kelly and I got some lunch and ran some errands. That evening we went to the movie Crazy Stupid Love. It was pretty fun, a good romantic comedy, if there is such a thing, ; ) There was a group of about 15 14yr old girls there, being 14yr old girls, loud and giggling and all that. Any sexual comment, haha, but the old fogies sitting by us had to be old fogies and got them kicked out. I felt kind of bad even though they were annoying. I don't know all the details but it didn't really seem like they got much of a chance to settle down. Plus they got kicked out by two security guards and a cop! Where the f do I live that a movie theater, no booze served there, needs to have two, let alone one, security guard and cop for christ sake? wow.
Anyways Sunday was another great day, spent a lot of it out side hanging with the dog and just lounging around. That afternoon I went Battle Creek for a ride. I didn't ride that long like an hour but got lost like usual cleared some branches and found some new trails so that's cool! and a light bulb went off. I'm not sure who to contact yet or really how to present it but I found a sweet spot for a new DH run that would be killer and was thinking how sweet would it be to have a2 or 3 stage all mountain enduro/ super d race! they have the trails and topography to do it. It would have to be a stage race because they don't have long enough runs but the runs wouldn't be strictly dh, they would have some hard climbs and some flats but as much decline as possible but the difference is it would be broke up to 2 or 3 short courses that are point to point and it would be technical and fast and the winner would be the one that could put together the best over all time. So it would basically be 2-3 point to point time trials! If it was big enough you could have it broke up into groups and rotate the groups through out the day! I am really interested in getting this going so I will have to start looking into who would need to be contacted to get this done!
I'll keep you posted!
Keep it real!
After that Kelly and I got some lunch and ran some errands. That evening we went to the movie Crazy Stupid Love. It was pretty fun, a good romantic comedy, if there is such a thing, ; ) There was a group of about 15 14yr old girls there, being 14yr old girls, loud and giggling and all that. Any sexual comment, haha, but the old fogies sitting by us had to be old fogies and got them kicked out. I felt kind of bad even though they were annoying. I don't know all the details but it didn't really seem like they got much of a chance to settle down. Plus they got kicked out by two security guards and a cop! Where the f do I live that a movie theater, no booze served there, needs to have two, let alone one, security guard and cop for christ sake? wow.
Anyways Sunday was another great day, spent a lot of it out side hanging with the dog and just lounging around. That afternoon I went Battle Creek for a ride. I didn't ride that long like an hour but got lost like usual cleared some branches and found some new trails so that's cool! and a light bulb went off. I'm not sure who to contact yet or really how to present it but I found a sweet spot for a new DH run that would be killer and was thinking how sweet would it be to have a2 or 3 stage all mountain enduro/ super d race! they have the trails and topography to do it. It would have to be a stage race because they don't have long enough runs but the runs wouldn't be strictly dh, they would have some hard climbs and some flats but as much decline as possible but the difference is it would be broke up to 2 or 3 short courses that are point to point and it would be technical and fast and the winner would be the one that could put together the best over all time. So it would basically be 2-3 point to point time trials! If it was big enough you could have it broke up into groups and rotate the groups through out the day! I am really interested in getting this going so I will have to start looking into who would need to be contacted to get this done!
I'll keep you posted!
Keep it real!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
see it feel it be it
The last two days have been absolutely beautiful! I don't think it you could ask for nicer weather. I feels like fall which is great and scary at the same time. Fall means the best weather of the year but at the same time it means a long ass winter is just around the corner and for me that means a long time off the bike unless I get a bmx bike and race indoors. I don't do the winter riding seen. I'm not into purposely punishing myself like that! haha
Tuesday was a pretty good day work went quickly but at the same time if I couldn't listen to some music and sneak a peek at a bike site from time to time I wouldn't make it through the day! After work I was all jacked for a mtb ride and then out of no were Kelly emailed me and asked if I want to go for a ride with her... what? That caught me off guard and I was like shit better take advantage of this! It was fun. It was a nice leisure ride for about 40 mins down the bike paths by my place. I will say that it is nice having that amount of bike paths right out my back door, even though I don't really use any of it.
Wednesday was an even better day at work. The day went quick and I got a bunch of shit done. I was pretty jacked to get out of there though. I was going riding with a couple of friends. James and Dana they are big into cycling. It was fun to get out with some different riders and James gave me a good work out that's for sure! He is a very good rider. He has a bit of a different skills set then me and the big difference is his huge gas tank. I don't feel that he is faster then me in a flat out hard effort but he can put it down at about 75-85% and pin it there for a lot longer then I can. I have more of a small gas tank that fills up really quick but to stay fresh I need those occasional short breaks and I didn't get that today and I could feel it by the end. I had to dig deep to keep up but it was good I need that. Even though I crashed a few more times then I normally do and they were towards the end in spots that I wouldn't normally crash but I'm putting that on fatigue but that's ok. Fatigue is ok, I need some one that can push me but it was fun to see how someone else runs a certain section and James said the same thing when he was following me. He said he tried to run my lines but couldn't do it. Some of it has to do with our talents and some to do with our bikes. I have a full squish and he has a hard tail and the other is I have the bmx flow back ground so I can jump through and over certain section and also might a bit more upper body strength to finess the bike into different spots. The one spot that I felt that I had the advantage was the fast flowy down hill sections and like I had mentioned before was technical sections especially ones that could be down at speed. I think that I have a bit better cornering technique as when I was following him I would always catch him in the corners and have to break when I normally don't because he was breaking. Over all it was a great ride and he is a very strong rider and I look forward to more rides with him and Dana.
The rest of the night was spend playing with the pooch!
Keep it real!
Tuesday was a pretty good day work went quickly but at the same time if I couldn't listen to some music and sneak a peek at a bike site from time to time I wouldn't make it through the day! After work I was all jacked for a mtb ride and then out of no were Kelly emailed me and asked if I want to go for a ride with her... what? That caught me off guard and I was like shit better take advantage of this! It was fun. It was a nice leisure ride for about 40 mins down the bike paths by my place. I will say that it is nice having that amount of bike paths right out my back door, even though I don't really use any of it.
Wednesday was an even better day at work. The day went quick and I got a bunch of shit done. I was pretty jacked to get out of there though. I was going riding with a couple of friends. James and Dana they are big into cycling. It was fun to get out with some different riders and James gave me a good work out that's for sure! He is a very good rider. He has a bit of a different skills set then me and the big difference is his huge gas tank. I don't feel that he is faster then me in a flat out hard effort but he can put it down at about 75-85% and pin it there for a lot longer then I can. I have more of a small gas tank that fills up really quick but to stay fresh I need those occasional short breaks and I didn't get that today and I could feel it by the end. I had to dig deep to keep up but it was good I need that. Even though I crashed a few more times then I normally do and they were towards the end in spots that I wouldn't normally crash but I'm putting that on fatigue but that's ok. Fatigue is ok, I need some one that can push me but it was fun to see how someone else runs a certain section and James said the same thing when he was following me. He said he tried to run my lines but couldn't do it. Some of it has to do with our talents and some to do with our bikes. I have a full squish and he has a hard tail and the other is I have the bmx flow back ground so I can jump through and over certain section and also might a bit more upper body strength to finess the bike into different spots. The one spot that I felt that I had the advantage was the fast flowy down hill sections and like I had mentioned before was technical sections especially ones that could be down at speed. I think that I have a bit better cornering technique as when I was following him I would always catch him in the corners and have to break when I normally don't because he was breaking. Over all it was a great ride and he is a very strong rider and I look forward to more rides with him and Dana.
The rest of the night was spend playing with the pooch!
Keep it real!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
the weekend
Hey hey back to work you fool! haha well just a quick break to let you know how the weekend went. Well this weekend was pretty fun, way too quick if you ask me but they all are.
Friday we went to a movie with a couple of our friends. We saw "The Change Up" with Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds. It was a really funny movie. It could have totally went either way as there has been tons of the people switch movies but I had a good laugh and encourage you to go check this one out.
Saturday morning there was a breast cancer ride that went right by my house and I knew a couple people that were riding in it so I was going to hop in and ride some with them. The plan was to meet them at the corner of Lexington and Cliff. They were to depart the MOA at 800am and there was going to be 260 people trying to cross the 494 bridge at once. I thought I would have no problem meeting them around 830am or so. Well I got going a little late got there at 840am and saw a lot of people already so I decided to try to catch the front and asked people along the way that I recognized from work and ended up passing 80 plus people. I arrived at Rosemont, the first check point, with out running into them. I saw another co-worker and was like have you seen them and she was like there at least 5+ mins ahead of you. So I put the hammer down again but When it came to the road were they would turn left and go to Hastings I was like it's not going to happen so I turned right and head back home. It was a valiant effort but to no avail! I finished the day with about 25miles at 18miles an hour.
When I got back I spend the rest of the afternoon playing with Jerry and then went to Kelly's uncle's 60th birthday party. It was pretty fun. Good food and beer, can't really go wrong.
Sunday I got up to go for a ride with Stu at leb. It was an absolutely amazing morning, mid 60s partially cloudy, and I was ready to rip! We did our normal green to blue to black to blue out and were planning on doing a hot lap on blue but I saw that they opened the new "green" section so I was like he lets check out the new green just to see whats going on there. Man am I glad that I did it is sick! It is like a mini-cuyuna. I know that the same guy designed both places but he really took a page out of his cuyuna play book to add this new section. It is really flowy, it is unfortunately a lot flatter then cuyuna and even other parts of leb but they use the small elevation changes well, and has tons of rollers and big berm sections with this cool little flow section. The flow section is like a pump track divided by 3. They took all the cool elements and dissected it which is cool but also kind of a bummer. When I saw it from a distance I thought it was a pump track which would be killer! but this is sick too! They have a berm run that is like 6 S berms linked together then there is a jump section that needs some tweaking because if you carry any speed you flat out, just need to be a little bigger with a bit more shaped lip and then my favorite the rhythm section! This is straight off the bmx track. It could be a bit larger but its still a blast to double up pump and manual. I even had some guy record me riding it on his I phone, I thought that was funny. I did a few laps of this new section.
There was also a Felt Bike demo going on. I didn't get to ride unfortunately as of course I ride the most common size and everyone was using those bikes but its cool. I love my bike!
You all need to get out and get some of this new section! Leb just moved up a cool point in my book!
Keep it real!
Friday we went to a movie with a couple of our friends. We saw "The Change Up" with Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds. It was a really funny movie. It could have totally went either way as there has been tons of the people switch movies but I had a good laugh and encourage you to go check this one out.
Saturday morning there was a breast cancer ride that went right by my house and I knew a couple people that were riding in it so I was going to hop in and ride some with them. The plan was to meet them at the corner of Lexington and Cliff. They were to depart the MOA at 800am and there was going to be 260 people trying to cross the 494 bridge at once. I thought I would have no problem meeting them around 830am or so. Well I got going a little late got there at 840am and saw a lot of people already so I decided to try to catch the front and asked people along the way that I recognized from work and ended up passing 80 plus people. I arrived at Rosemont, the first check point, with out running into them. I saw another co-worker and was like have you seen them and she was like there at least 5+ mins ahead of you. So I put the hammer down again but When it came to the road were they would turn left and go to Hastings I was like it's not going to happen so I turned right and head back home. It was a valiant effort but to no avail! I finished the day with about 25miles at 18miles an hour.
When I got back I spend the rest of the afternoon playing with Jerry and then went to Kelly's uncle's 60th birthday party. It was pretty fun. Good food and beer, can't really go wrong.
Sunday I got up to go for a ride with Stu at leb. It was an absolutely amazing morning, mid 60s partially cloudy, and I was ready to rip! We did our normal green to blue to black to blue out and were planning on doing a hot lap on blue but I saw that they opened the new "green" section so I was like he lets check out the new green just to see whats going on there. Man am I glad that I did it is sick! It is like a mini-cuyuna. I know that the same guy designed both places but he really took a page out of his cuyuna play book to add this new section. It is really flowy, it is unfortunately a lot flatter then cuyuna and even other parts of leb but they use the small elevation changes well, and has tons of rollers and big berm sections with this cool little flow section. The flow section is like a pump track divided by 3. They took all the cool elements and dissected it which is cool but also kind of a bummer. When I saw it from a distance I thought it was a pump track which would be killer! but this is sick too! They have a berm run that is like 6 S berms linked together then there is a jump section that needs some tweaking because if you carry any speed you flat out, just need to be a little bigger with a bit more shaped lip and then my favorite the rhythm section! This is straight off the bmx track. It could be a bit larger but its still a blast to double up pump and manual. I even had some guy record me riding it on his I phone, I thought that was funny. I did a few laps of this new section.
There was also a Felt Bike demo going on. I didn't get to ride unfortunately as of course I ride the most common size and everyone was using those bikes but its cool. I love my bike!
You all need to get out and get some of this new section! Leb just moved up a cool point in my book!
Keep it real!
Friday, August 5, 2011
back in the saddle again
Alright back in the saddle again, hitting the dirt felt great yesterday! I was really itching to put some gravel in my travel, haha. So Leb was open but Stu and I had already agreed to check out BC as he had never been there and I like that place. It's a bet more raw and has some gnar technical riding that Leb just can't offer. The flow isn't there and that might be why we did only about 5.5 miles in 1 hour and 10 mins. It didn't help that Stu crashed a couple times and got lost as well, haha. Dang BC can be confusing. I gave him the royal tour taking him down some of the local trails, the ones that are pretty over grown this time of the year but if you don't know where you are going or what you are looking for you wont be able to find it or ride it. I love the first section we came down, the climb is steep and tough but the dh is worth it! Rough rocky rooty and rutted out! Oh yeah it is a dh run for sure, ass of the back and let the brap force flow like a mtb jedi! haha
I don't think Stu expected to see that type of riding and might have caught him a bit off guard but I know he had a great time! There is no way you can't love the luge!
I was feeling great the muscles weren't sore and the lungs weren't burning and I was grooving pretty well. They have made some improvements to the luge which are nice and looks like they are still working on some more of it! I can't wait till its all put back together and you can really flow it. The rain has done a number on it.
So funny story, we were riding back from the hidden dh run and there is this little connector trail that is the only way back besides taking hwy 61 and I come over this hill and have to take a double take. I didn't know if this guy was taking a shit or what he was doing and then as I got close I saw two legs in the air and hairy ass between them! Yup, this guy was givin' it to his girl right there on the trail and I was like wtf, we were still about 50yards away and I don't think they noticed us so I was like lets just take the hwy. Stu really wanted to ride by them and embarrass the shit out of them but I felt awkward. However in hind sight we should have totally embarrassed them. Seriously who does that in a public area in broad day light and to boot the mosquitoes were seriously bad there. I hope they put the bug juice on, haha!
Keep it real!
I don't think Stu expected to see that type of riding and might have caught him a bit off guard but I know he had a great time! There is no way you can't love the luge!
I was feeling great the muscles weren't sore and the lungs weren't burning and I was grooving pretty well. They have made some improvements to the luge which are nice and looks like they are still working on some more of it! I can't wait till its all put back together and you can really flow it. The rain has done a number on it.
So funny story, we were riding back from the hidden dh run and there is this little connector trail that is the only way back besides taking hwy 61 and I come over this hill and have to take a double take. I didn't know if this guy was taking a shit or what he was doing and then as I got close I saw two legs in the air and hairy ass between them! Yup, this guy was givin' it to his girl right there on the trail and I was like wtf, we were still about 50yards away and I don't think they noticed us so I was like lets just take the hwy. Stu really wanted to ride by them and embarrass the shit out of them but I felt awkward. However in hind sight we should have totally embarrassed them. Seriously who does that in a public area in broad day light and to boot the mosquitoes were seriously bad there. I hope they put the bug juice on, haha!
Keep it real!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
recovery time
Over all I'm feeling pretty well and I wasn't too sore even Monday. My right hip flexor and low back was a little sore. I'm sure sitting around all day at work isn't going to make things better. I felt pretty damn good this morning tho.
I did go for a walk yesterday and plan on either going for a walk with the jer bear or a quick spin on the bike. I have to take my bike in to get it tuned up. It is also is that national night out and our town home community is having some sort of party that we will be attending.
On the subject of MTB if these chicks don't get you jacked up you might want to hang your mtb bike up and get road bike
These chick are bad ass' tearing up the new Olympic course in England! Look at the Canadian rider the one in the red and she has a focused look and is poised to get balls deep in the gnarly rock garden! Now that is xc racing! I would be all about xc racing if it was more like that and less like riding on a xc ski trail!
Keep it real!
I did go for a walk yesterday and plan on either going for a walk with the jer bear or a quick spin on the bike. I have to take my bike in to get it tuned up. It is also is that national night out and our town home community is having some sort of party that we will be attending.
On the subject of MTB if these chicks don't get you jacked up you might want to hang your mtb bike up and get road bike
Keep it real!
Monday, August 1, 2011
DFL and not a democrat!
So this last week really flew by. I didn't do much on Monday as we drove back from the lake. It was back to work on Tuesday and no major complaints about work but it is getting a little old. I have applied for a new job at a different company and have an interview next week but we will see how it goes and what they have to offer. I didn't do much Tuesday evening. Wednesday was the same old same old. After work I went to leb for one more ride before the weekend. It was pretty warm and thick out but not too bad. I did my normal 4 or 5 runs at the table jump at the beginning and then really ripped through the first flowy section and was feeling really fresh and fast so I decided to really lay into and go. It's only about 7 miles but by the end I was dripping wet and completely out of breath. I don't know what was up, must have been the weather.
Thursday I went to work early so we could get out of town as soon as we could. We did get out a little later then we wanted but we go back to a-town about 10pm or so, not too bad.
Friday morning we slept in and hung out just doing odds and ends. That evening we went out to eat and discussed the wedding plans with my parents as they have been kind of out of the loop since we are so far apart. After dinner I meet up with some friends and we went out on the town. We went down to the "new" and "improved" Silver Dollar Bar and Gentleman's club, hahah. That's right beer and strippers what better way to start the night! I didn't drink too much as I had a race on Sunday and these days a hang over can last more then one morning or day! haha It was good to see some of my a-town boys.
Saturday I went out to Richmond Lake where the Xterra would be on Sunday. I headed out there at 12 as I thought there would be more going on. There wasn't much going on unfortunately so I kind of sat around chatting with random people until about 2pm when the two pros started chatting about tips and tricks for pre race, training and transition during the race. It was pretty interesting and I actually learned a lot about setting up my transition. After the clinic and chat we did a pre ride and got a chance to chat with Will the pro from Boulder CO. He was super cool and had a lot of good tips. That evening we went mini-golfing and got some ice cream. I made sure that I had a good early dinner and a snack and hit the sack early.
Sunday I got up at about 630am, at a light breakfast took Jerry for a walk and then had some of my pre race nutrition stuff and packed my stuff up and headed out to Richmond. I set up my transition chatted a bit with some people. I didn't really know what I was in for. I was feeling a bit nervous and really excited. I went down to the beach for a pre race meeting and got my first look at the swim and got a bit more nervous. I don't think I realized what 1000meter open water swim was all about. 1000 meters in a pool is nothing compared to that. I honestly thought I was going to die. We we same from one beach to another, got out and ran up a hill and back down to the water. I stood at the waters edge for an extra minute as I was already in last place and considering my options. I knew that if I could get on the bike with any energy left I could gain back some time. It was awful but I made it. I finished the swim in dead fucking last but didn't have to grab the kayak that followed me the whole way to make sure I didn't drowned. I got out of the water and walked part of the way back to transition and then caught my breath and started to run. I got on the bike and start to rip. I passed one person with in the first 1mile and then 3 more. I could see the first person and we were getting close to the end of the technical section and on the last short climb I got out of the saddle to put the brap down and snap! I broke my fucking chain! unbelievable! So I started to run my bike and then I scooted the rest of the way. I'm sure all the people I passed passed me back. I thought about quiting but when I got close everyone was like we need his bike fixed so I was like ok I guess I will fix it and go on. So I was like I need a link and a chain break. There was a bike shop sponsor running pit and they were like we don't have any links and I was like ok just take a link out and they were like no we'll just replace the chain so I was like ok figuring it was free and off I went. I felt like a million bucks a 10 min break and I was off ripping! but unfortunately they didn't match my chain so it was too long and ghost shifting so I was trying to adjust it as much as I could on my handle bar, yeah I had like 3 mid rear cogs that I could use with out it skipping and when I hit the road I would have to adjust it again on my handle bar. The bike went good I finished 16th out of 20 on the bike time split even with a mechanical so that was impressive. I hit the run, I had a slow transition but a pretty good run. 12th in the run and 17th over all! That's pretty damn good for my first tri ever and a off road one to boot with a mechanical.
After the tri I was getting ready to leave and the bike shop lady walked up and was like oh make sure you pay for the chain before you leave and I was like ok. Thank god my dad was like I'll pay for it, it was $50 fucking dollars! It was some crazy sram xx gold chain I guess. I would have never put that chain on my bike, I have never spent more then 25 bucks on a chain and don't see any reason why I ever would. This chain better not ever break. I wasn't mad that I had to pay for it, even though they were the sponsors and didn't tell me I was going to half to pay for it and I simply asked for a link so I could just fix my current chain that wasn't that old. I normally ride a chain at least a full season. Plus they didn't give me an option of chain or anything, just slapped this baller chain on and pigeon holed me into paying for it because I was in a pinch. I guess I learned my lesson. I will always carry a break and chain links so I can just swap it out myself on course, because I could have changed that chain faster then the pit crew guys! and they put it on wrong to begin with and then and to break it and re due it because there magical chain that has this no tool "power" link, a fancy master link, which I normally remove, they couldn't get it off. They said it should just slide of but there is a special tool if it doesn't so now if I want to change this tool I need another spendy tool since its sram. There shit is super expensive and I'm not a big fan of it to begin with.
Anyways, I was just annoyed with that. I was happy with my performance I finished under 3 hrs and just over my goal of 230 so I'm super happy with that and will definitely do it again. Next time I will be more prepared for the swim!
After the race I went back to my parents cleaned up took a 30min name and ate some food and then in the car for a 5hr drive home. I was surprisingly not as tired as I thought I would but man I am feeling it today. My right hip flexor is sore as well as pretty much everything from my chest down, haha! Plus I'm tired to boot. Today will be a rest and recover day and the weather is suppose to be ugly anyways!
Keep it real!
Thursday I went to work early so we could get out of town as soon as we could. We did get out a little later then we wanted but we go back to a-town about 10pm or so, not too bad.
Friday morning we slept in and hung out just doing odds and ends. That evening we went out to eat and discussed the wedding plans with my parents as they have been kind of out of the loop since we are so far apart. After dinner I meet up with some friends and we went out on the town. We went down to the "new" and "improved" Silver Dollar Bar and Gentleman's club, hahah. That's right beer and strippers what better way to start the night! I didn't drink too much as I had a race on Sunday and these days a hang over can last more then one morning or day! haha It was good to see some of my a-town boys.
Saturday I went out to Richmond Lake where the Xterra would be on Sunday. I headed out there at 12 as I thought there would be more going on. There wasn't much going on unfortunately so I kind of sat around chatting with random people until about 2pm when the two pros started chatting about tips and tricks for pre race, training and transition during the race. It was pretty interesting and I actually learned a lot about setting up my transition. After the clinic and chat we did a pre ride and got a chance to chat with Will the pro from Boulder CO. He was super cool and had a lot of good tips. That evening we went mini-golfing and got some ice cream. I made sure that I had a good early dinner and a snack and hit the sack early.
Sunday I got up at about 630am, at a light breakfast took Jerry for a walk and then had some of my pre race nutrition stuff and packed my stuff up and headed out to Richmond. I set up my transition chatted a bit with some people. I didn't really know what I was in for. I was feeling a bit nervous and really excited. I went down to the beach for a pre race meeting and got my first look at the swim and got a bit more nervous. I don't think I realized what 1000meter open water swim was all about. 1000 meters in a pool is nothing compared to that. I honestly thought I was going to die. We we same from one beach to another, got out and ran up a hill and back down to the water. I stood at the waters edge for an extra minute as I was already in last place and considering my options. I knew that if I could get on the bike with any energy left I could gain back some time. It was awful but I made it. I finished the swim in dead fucking last but didn't have to grab the kayak that followed me the whole way to make sure I didn't drowned. I got out of the water and walked part of the way back to transition and then caught my breath and started to run. I got on the bike and start to rip. I passed one person with in the first 1mile and then 3 more. I could see the first person and we were getting close to the end of the technical section and on the last short climb I got out of the saddle to put the brap down and snap! I broke my fucking chain! unbelievable! So I started to run my bike and then I scooted the rest of the way. I'm sure all the people I passed passed me back. I thought about quiting but when I got close everyone was like we need his bike fixed so I was like ok I guess I will fix it and go on. So I was like I need a link and a chain break. There was a bike shop sponsor running pit and they were like we don't have any links and I was like ok just take a link out and they were like no we'll just replace the chain so I was like ok figuring it was free and off I went. I felt like a million bucks a 10 min break and I was off ripping! but unfortunately they didn't match my chain so it was too long and ghost shifting so I was trying to adjust it as much as I could on my handle bar, yeah I had like 3 mid rear cogs that I could use with out it skipping and when I hit the road I would have to adjust it again on my handle bar. The bike went good I finished 16th out of 20 on the bike time split even with a mechanical so that was impressive. I hit the run, I had a slow transition but a pretty good run. 12th in the run and 17th over all! That's pretty damn good for my first tri ever and a off road one to boot with a mechanical.
After the tri I was getting ready to leave and the bike shop lady walked up and was like oh make sure you pay for the chain before you leave and I was like ok. Thank god my dad was like I'll pay for it, it was $50 fucking dollars! It was some crazy sram xx gold chain I guess. I would have never put that chain on my bike, I have never spent more then 25 bucks on a chain and don't see any reason why I ever would. This chain better not ever break. I wasn't mad that I had to pay for it, even though they were the sponsors and didn't tell me I was going to half to pay for it and I simply asked for a link so I could just fix my current chain that wasn't that old. I normally ride a chain at least a full season. Plus they didn't give me an option of chain or anything, just slapped this baller chain on and pigeon holed me into paying for it because I was in a pinch. I guess I learned my lesson. I will always carry a break and chain links so I can just swap it out myself on course, because I could have changed that chain faster then the pit crew guys! and they put it on wrong to begin with and then and to break it and re due it because there magical chain that has this no tool "power" link, a fancy master link, which I normally remove, they couldn't get it off. They said it should just slide of but there is a special tool if it doesn't so now if I want to change this tool I need another spendy tool since its sram. There shit is super expensive and I'm not a big fan of it to begin with.
Anyways, I was just annoyed with that. I was happy with my performance I finished under 3 hrs and just over my goal of 230 so I'm super happy with that and will definitely do it again. Next time I will be more prepared for the swim!
After the race I went back to my parents cleaned up took a 30min name and ate some food and then in the car for a 5hr drive home. I was surprisingly not as tired as I thought I would but man I am feeling it today. My right hip flexor is sore as well as pretty much everything from my chest down, haha! Plus I'm tired to boot. Today will be a rest and recover day and the weather is suppose to be ugly anyways!
Keep it real!
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