Karate Monkey!
This is what happens when you leave your Karate Monkey Parked Over Night!
life for the owners of a 29 incher
(and I am referring to my bike)
are often like the life of Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels
(not Gulliver's Hair Salon in Hoboken, NJ)



this shot posted here at the BBC

while chanced upon here at this wonderful BICYCLEBLOGGER page or is that CYCLINGCLOGGER's page?

Funny Stuff...
Here are some great posts....
Not bitter angry rants, just the facts. So much of what is said here I have been saying for years. There are a few documentary ideas here that I will never develop that have been bouncing around in my head for years.
Eric Roman rants on his seasonal return to the DC Messenger scene.

Many years ago (perhaps that was 'back in the day') I worked as a messenger. There was a strange glory to this job. It offered a great amount of freedom, got paid to do something that I loved (ride my bike), and again back to the freedom. Showed up at an irregular hours, bailed out at irregular hours, took vacations without asking, it was an effort to be everything that a straight job (coat and tie) was not. And in many ways it was everything a straight job was not....there were not taxes taken out, there was no insurance, there was not a 401K, no paid vacations or holidays, no retirement plan. In the end the couriers who settle in as "set wage" or "guarentee" riders end up working harder and getting less than those people with the 'ties.' Sorta silly. The set wage guys end up showing up at regular hours and leaving at regular hours, but getting paid a substandard wage...

There were great days....Clear skies, warm breeze, and women taking long lunches and basking in the spring sun. Flowers in bloom. But the reality is that this is Washington DC, the land where the first question people ask is...."What do you do?" and if your answer is "Messenger/Courier." the only women who will light up will be the one who wants to get back at her dad, lucky for me there were many women looking to do just that. Date the bad boy, see how pissed of dad can be. DC has cold wet winters, if it were only cold enough for the rain to turn to snow it would be a tad less painful, but that is not how it is, the cold bites through the skin, deep into the bones, the water is colder than ice, the humidity gets the last laugh in the winter as well as the summers....AAh, SUMMER TIME! August in Washington is nothing shy of brutal, three quick steps and your average male is drentched with sweat, so hot, so humid that those roughing it without AC end up sweating in the shower, and when they go to brush their teeth they find that their tooth paste is not tooth paste, but tooth liquid. This is not prime riding weather. Pushing the bicycle through a thick wall of air, thick hot wet air. Drafting behind a bus in the winter may be nice, that gust of warm exhaust can be pleasing, but in the summer each piece of exhaust clings to the messenger's sweaty body....I remember homeless people pointing at me saying, "that guy needs to take a shower!"

back to my straight job
and
back to this blog later

read Eric's Rant
it is more clear than mine
perhaps I will get back to mine later
there is a great deal on this topic that I may want to get out
BLOGGING is cheaper than therapy!

I love email
yes, I know, okay...I will say it
I LOVE EMAIL
I AM AN EMAIL ADDICT
nothing worse that BLOGGING about and hearing that audible signal that I have mail
no, not that classic AOL, "You've Got Mail!"
just a basic computer beep
although it would be nice to load that AOL voice
as I still have a Pavlovian response when I hear it
but as I stepped away from my iPOD playlist playing to check my email I was dupped
the email that was landing in my Inbox was just my most recent blog postings

made me feel pretty silly
if it were not for my two dogs, my awesome kids, and my wonderful wife I would be a big loser

BICYCLE?
As I download music to my iPod I am reading BLOGS as they pull up on my Mac
came across this random BLOG with this random little known fact

Apple or Bicycle

DC's own Ian MacKaye

PANCAKE MOUNTAIN

not Teen Idles
not Minor Threat
not Embrace
not Egg Hunt
not Fugazi

did I miss any of his bands?
(and yes, I know I mentioned this before, but a friend in SF asked, and did not have his info handy so rather than emailing him, figured I could set it out here for him to find)

A few years ago I learned about some SHAREWARE called GIF BUILDER. It is primitive compared to what FLASH animation of today. I had some fun with this stuff just the same. Here are two pieces that move, the Trackskid Can moves as well, hit Refresh and Scroll down if you do not see the motion.


and yes
that is me before I met genetics head on with the clippers

My favorite cycling magazine DIRT RAG decorates each issue by reader submitted art. This is something that I sent their way, it did not make the cover, but they did put on the inside with some other reader art.

yes
that is somewhat of a self portrait

One of the founding members of the City Bikes Mountainbike Team is a now retired (then active) courier.
Recently he has been jumping back and forth between State College PA and DC. He is a single speeding monster. A rigid single speeding monster. In addition to riding, racing, and having a good time he has also moved to some grass roots race promotion. This is something I tossed together for his race last year.

Single Speeders with a love for rock gardens watch for his race in 2004!
(okay, Rocco got the info on this event...
EAST COAST NORTH AMERICA SINGLE SPEED CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE UNIVERSE! (Part II)
aka ECNASSCOTU2!)



oh
and eric's correct email address....
eric@mtnittanywheelworks.com
(that other email is in the image and I am too lazy to edit it)

C-Span Hearing: Condoleezza Rice-

Well, you do not need to tune into C-Span for this.
If you are looking for Regis and Kelly....not today, Judge Joe Brown? Not Today! Reruns of Gilligan's Island, well, okay, some channels are not playing the live 9-11 Commission Hearings, but most every channel is playing this same hearing live.

I am not following her that closely, but I do think that she could use a better speech writer. She has used this reference to a "SILVER BULLET" in reference to killing terrorism as a whole and then later in the speech to Osama Bin Laden, and is sure to use it again.
I was not aware that Osama was a werwolf! Was not aware that AL-Qaeda was comprised of werwolfs, we should have seen that the full moon was coming. That would have prepared us better for 9-11.
Maybe she can use a different MYTH for each of real life groups/people that have threatened and caused great damage to the US.
There are not just silver bullets, there are stakes to be driven through the heart, there is the use of the mirror, day light, and that is just for Vampires.

step away from my ramblings and check out ROBLOG
he has this link to a Celebrity Look Alike Make Over that is a must read!

go there
check it out
laugh out loud
and then
have a nice day!

Ro-blog better know as Rob-log

funny....so often when out on my bike I will get an aggressive response from a car driver about my cycling behavior
"STOP AT THE STOP SIGN!"
"STAY IN YOUR LANE!"
"GET THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD!!!"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!"
Most cyclists have heard these remarks in one form or another, other times it is the hand gesture pointing to the bike path or the sidewalk, or another finger telling the cyclist to go someplace unearthly. Certianly some of these car drivers mean well. But most of them just do not get it. The behaviors of the cyclist are to benefit not just the movement and safety of the cyclist, but the flow of traffic as a whole. Usually cyclists ride to the right of traffice, giving the car drivers ample room for passing; unless of course that is not the safest passage (as in the traffic paterns of downtown DC where the ONE WAY streets alternate, thus having a flow of turning traffic changing from the far right lane to the far left lane) Strange that a car driver gets miffed when they cross the double yellow line in the middle of the road only to be passed by the cyclist at the red light. In this case the cyclist is progressing forward just as the car is, no difference. Now when the cyclist runs the stop sign or the red light, well that is a tough one to explain. I view it as more like "leading" than "stealing." Or more simply, I see it as one of the opportunities when law abidding members of society move into the "Gray Area" yet still view themselves as being in the right. Every car on the road speeds. The speed limit will read 25 MPH and people feel as if the car is permitted to go 35, and at the posted 55MPH they feel just in going 65MPH, and so on. Well, when a cyclist chooses to breeze through a stop sign or a red light they are doing the same thing. Re-evaluating the law and applying what they see as a sensible alternative. Clearly no car wants to be stuck behind a cyclist as they make a full stop at each intersection and then wait as the cyclist slowly gets up to speed. No, it is to the advantage of the car driver for the cyclist to move fast and fluid, and well to the right of the road. The car driver is then allowed to break the law and pass over the double line to pass the cyclist.

back to work
this thought like many is going now where
no desire to proof read
actually no desire to PUBLISH AND POST
but I have gone this far

DIRT RAG ARTICLE on race promoters

SMART CARS!
SMART CARS?
SMART CARS.

this is a trend in cars that I can appreciate

and apparently there will be an SUV HYBRID in the future
we have the technology
now we are starting to use it

my wife's family wagon
well her's is a fresco green 2001 and a half
but basically her car

embracery (em-BRAY-suh-ree) noun, also imbracery.

An attempt to influence a jury illegally as by bribery, threats,
or promises. One guilty of embracery is known as an embraceor.

as in the TYCO trial

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/23/national/main608104.shtml

our system sucks
maybe the Fab Five can make over our system of Government!??!??!??!

This is beyond METROSEXUAL!
this is INTELLIGENT-METROSEXUAL COMEDY!

For all the liberals who watch Queer Eye...this is fun!

Right Wing Eye.

have a laugh
and
then realize that there are people in the United States that actually agree with these JOKERS!
Reactionary?

HYPOCRISY

Once again I have caught myself being a HYPOCRITE!
No I was not driving and talking on my cell phone, well I did, but that is not what I am talking about. I am referring to the notion of trying to be pious in my actions and teaching lessons. After sharing with one of the City Bikes Mountainbike Team members about the nail traps set on the dirt trails that I wrote about in the entry prior I was told about how there are land owners who set traps on the Appalachian Trail for hikers. Seems the land owners do not like sharing their land so they set some pretty basic traps, they hang fish hooks on clear fishing line at head level at certain parts of the trail. That bummed me out. I rode home thinking about that and then got into my wife's Volkswagen passat and took Grant for a drive to send him off to dreamland. As I drove down Park Road dipping into Rock Creek Park a car rode close on my tail. The speed limit is 25 MPH, I was going 30. Took a turn onto Beach drive and started a drive through the long winding roads of Rock Creek Park. Again maintaining a speed of 30 MPH another car followed uncomfortably close behind me, almost pushing me to accelerate. Slowly a few other cars queued up behind me. I had become a pace vehicle. It was intentional. I ride my bike on this rode and I live on a road with fast moving traffic. I figure that if everyone drove at a safe speed then they would force the speeders to slow down. So there I am...out teaching lessons. I am the avid hiker setting nails on the path for cyclists. Well, not really, but I do resemble his/her actions in some way, only with a less negative resolve. But my intentions are as arrogant and as pious. If I can drive a rational speed without my purpose to be anything more than a safe driver, well fine. But if my goal is to hinder the progress of others well, I am just no better than anyone else in this world spending their time teaching lessons.

Saint Peter

One day last week before work I went for a spin on my Karate Monkey.
I took the long road into work and tried to sample a few of the urban trails. After a few hundred yards on dirt here mixed in with some paved roads there and some more dirt I found myself over spinning down the Capital Crescent trail heading from Bethesda towards Georgetown. I passed the hidden BMX/Freerider course that exist just near River Road on the Maryland Border, crossed through the Delecarlia Tunnel, over the bridge, and into DC. Just entering DC behind the resivour there is a very small network of trails. But a minute or two on dirt can be like a candy bar, it may not fill my belly, but it is a tastee treat. I rode the loop several times, thinking what I could do to make the trails more fluid. My 'in time' was rapidly approaching so I figured I could hit the loop one last time. On my return I felt my front end getting a little squishy, being a rigid bike I knew that I was losing air in the front tire/tube. Pulled over, found a stump to sit on and did a quick repair. After a thousand strokes of my minipump the tire was filled to a solid PSI, mounted the wheel on the bike, flipped the bike upright, immediately I could feel that the rear end was flat too. I was SOL (shit out of luck.) I had only one spare tube and no patches. It looked like I was going to be walking. Called work to let them know I was going to be a tad late and started my march. A fellow cyclist ended up loaning me some patches after a few miles of walking and I got into work about an hour late. I emailed my brother Marc and told him my tale of woe with the two flats. Marc responded smugly with a simple, "clydesdale, rigid, single speed." As if implying that I had pinched flatted, snake bites front and back.

Then on Sunday as I was doing some home repair Marc went for a spin on the same set of trails. He too got two flats. Having recalled my story he became suspect. Feeling somewhat paranoid he searched for a trap. Sure enough, Marc found a row of nails glued to a strip of wood, tucked under some leaves. Seems that someone does not like the bikes on those trails and has taken matters into their own hands. After he told me what had happened I responded with this email...

after we got off the phone I thought to myself....
"two men arrive at the Pearly Gates of heaven at the same time. st.
peter halts them and asks them to state why they each deserve to get into heaven. the mountainbiker starts off by saying, "well, I did not live a perfect life. there were times when I bent and even broke the rules. I remember the sign said NO BIKING, but I proceeded forward. the woods was so beautiful and the feeling was so pure. I knew it was wrong, but I could not deprive myself of the pleasure." st. peter nods and turns to the other man. the man was an avid hiker who was ready with his reply, "no apologies here. i lived a long clean life. did not drink or smoke. went to church. lived an honest life. so honest that I would try to stop cyclists from riding on local hiking trails by placing traps to cause them to flat out. the nails were miles deep in the trail that they were taught a great lesson when they had to walk out of the trail. you see, the nails usually took out both tires and rarely does a cyclist travel with two tubes if any." st peter nods, opens the gates and motions his hand to enter. the mountainbiker looks in st peter's eyes with question, st. peter nods knowingly and welcomes him in. the avid hiker with his traps and lessons did not look for affirmation as he was so stuck in his head that he was right that he just stepped forward. st. peter put his palm to his chest, stopped him in his tracks, nodded side to side saying gesturing no, then pointed down. the gates slammed shut, the avid hiker with his righteousness was gone, and the gates were shut. St. Peter and the mountainbiker walked into heaven. St. Peter looked the mountainbiker in the eye and nodded, and thought out loud, "yes, I know....I wanted to punch him in the nose too. then the mountainbiker noticed they were no longer walking, but rolling through the heavens on bicycles"

Riding a bicycle on these trails may not be legal. But, setting traps is not just illegal, but also potentially dangerous and nothing shy of obnoxious. No one is in the position to play hiking bernard getz. we have laws and we have people who enforce them. these trails are not marked, giving me the sense that even hiking on these trails is not sanctioned or foot or for bike. The foot traffic is just as much in the wrong as the bike traffice, but I am not trying to stop anyone from enjoying their day. People need to spend more time "POLICING THEMSELVES."
Too often a person is walking their dog off leash on the urban trails and they reprimand me for riding on the foot trails, while they too are breaking/bending the rules. In my life I have never heard of a bike jumping out an biting anyone, seems these people need to police themselves. I try to be pleasant. Thank they for their information and avoid conflict. Although I did have words with a women once and left her with these words...."let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Not sure if she understood that passage or knew its root, but it felt better than curssing at her.

THE FATE OF DAN COMBER'S MOUNTAINBIKE RACE SERIES

for those who have not heard
the race series hosted by Dan Comber is in jepordy
below is an email I sent out to some cycling friends of mine to see if I can get people to rally to breathe life back into the series
or at least let Dan know that we are thankful for the years of racing that he has offered us in the past

Good Morning-
The rain has taken another day of mountainbike racing from us and from the Dan Comber's Mountain Bike Race Series. Rather than riding, I am typing while holding my 7 week old son Grant and thinking about the future of local mountainbike racing...

Mountainbiking is a growing sport, the DC metropolitan area is an over populated area, thus when mountain biking in the DC area the trails are often crowded. When trail riding basic courtesy towards other trail users is vital; whether those users are blue haired ladies with blue haired dogs or another cyclist riding the same loop in the opposite direction each person has their right to enjoy their own personal trail experience. One of the great things about riding in a race is that the likelihood of a hiker on the trail ahead or a cyclist coming the other way is almost impossible. This allows the riders/racers to test their personal limits, pushing the downhills and the blind curves as fast as their courage and equipment can take them. Other advantages include a well marked off course so that there is not a great deal of time spent finding the best loop, little time is wasted discussing which turn to take at each fork in the trail, and spending an excess time on the trail finding your way home. There are an assortment of other advantages to racing., the rush of competition, the camaraderie of the experience, the compulsion to ride our hardest and to not let down, the list goes on. My point of this rant to have people realize that if we lose Dan Comber as Mid Atlantic Region race promoter we will be losing a great opportunity to do some local racing. We will all find ourselves lining up in the queue at Shaffer Farms, Patapsco State Park, and Gambril. Waiting for parking spaces and all the other negative aspects of trying to mountainbike on a nice sunny weekend day. Race promotion is a job, but perhaps it is a job with a tad bit of "vocational" status, not unlike a fireman or a policeman. There is a paycheck, but it is also a greatly needed service. Dan Comber has been offering a great service to the local mountainbike community and I feel that he has gone on unappreciated. Perhaps if we spread the word to Dan that we NEED him to continue hosting local races he will do what he can to maintain his contributions.
We can ask him what we as individuals can do.

For starters we can all call Dan or Drop him an email.
Lets thank him for all the great races in the past and ask him what we can do to help him to continue to throw races in the future.

More Volunteers on race day?
A few more dollars at registration?
Someone with web experience can help clean up his site?
Word of mouth advertising?
who knows?
Or maybe we can just help by showing up and racing at his next event
tell a friend
bring a friend
share the word

Lets try and help to bring Dan's Race series back to life.
Last year he hosted a Winter training series then Spring, Summer, and Fall race series.
This year he is scheduled for roughly 3 races, that is quite a drop off.

As mentioned we are not just missing the race that was to be held today at Poor Farm, but the races that were to be held each weekend for years to come. Lets see if we can halt the decline of racing in the Mid Atlantic Region.

Don't think that when Dan walks away from race promotion that there will be someone standing there ready to take his place. Sure there are other race series and some other races, but not everyone is ready to drive off to West Virginia every Saturday, camp, race, and then make the long drive back on Sunday afternoon after racing. It just is not an option for everyone. Local races are a wonderful alternative. Perhaps they are not as technically demanding and lack the vertical feet, or the epic climbs and the downhill reward, but they do offer racing. Racing with a friendly atmosphere and a professional promotion. I have made some good friends over the years racing at Dan's events (including Dan) and it would be sad for the cycling culture to lose such a positive contribution.

thanks for listening
lets do what we can
and hope for the best

happy trails
share the word
joel
clydesdale racer
city bikes mountainbike team

www.bikeracing.com
http://www.bikeracing.com/AMBS%20Contents/ambshomepg.htm
email him at: dcomber@bikeracing.com

Clydesdale Championships?

This is a race/event is something that I have been interested in being involved in for years.
A few years ago I searched and I searched but could not find any information on it. Went so far as called the guys at Dirt Rag to see if they knew anything about it. They were of no help, which is odd since the founder of Dirt Rag, Maurice, was the first person to win the title and has won it several times since. A friend of mine and fellow Clydesdale, Bill Davis, went to this race a few years ago and said it was not worth the trip. That is a great distance to travel just to do a race.

As for me, if I am going to travel a good distance, I might as well fly and head out to the 24 Hours of Moab or the 24 Hours of Tahoe and get a good ratio of race miles to travel time/expense.

A few years ago I did the Moab event and had a great time with a bunch of my Clydesdale buddies from out west. The race went well, we managed to win the coveted first place in the Clydesdale division (just a week before my wedding) but the days prior and the rides in Moab were superior to the race course itself. Moab is a Mountainbike Mecca with an assortment of terrain. The Granny Gear course is not the best sampling of what is to be ridden out there, but it is a great race just the same.

The year prior my brother and I grabbed a plane and headed out to Donner Pass for the first Granny Gear event out there (which has since moved to Tahoe proper) We had a blast. The course was awesome, a tad too much hike-a-bike, but that is the granny gear way. We linked up with a college buddy of Marc's named Tim Noakes and a cool cat from San Francisco named Kurt. Noakes was a roadie who had little respect or knowledge of mountainbiking and had never been night riding. Kurt was and is a seasoned cyclist with numbers of races under his belt and many miles on dirt. The race itself was small and had a great grass roots feel to it. Marc and I arrived a few days early and did a fair amount of preriding as well as some afternoon swims in the mountain ponds that were all over the mountains. There was also a guy named Gordon who worked for Marin that I had met in Bali racing there. It was a great gathering and a good time. We took first in the Clydesdale at this event as well. The numbers are not fresh in my head, but our overall standings are often respectable as well. It is not just a matter of being a fast Clydesdale, but being fast over all as well, oh, and there is that notion of fun that everyone claims it is all about.

Granny Gear 24 Hour Race History and Results

my friend Chris sent me this
sorry I missed this when it was live and something to mess with

Story About a Bush Online Poster that was being Fucked With By non-Bush Supporters

this is a response to a BLOGGER out west, TIMMYP
the KARATE MONKEY is part of his life as well
he tells great tales of living with the monkey

ah yes
the cycling experience is very different than many others
you see and smell your surroundings like no other
in my wide array of tools so many have been found on my rides around the city (DC)
my bright neon green tape measurer with the name PIG etched in the back
the black crow bar with the owners info stenciled in red paint
then some tools I will never need
like the suction cups that would be good for the Human Fly to climb glass sky scrapers
in addtion to the tools there are many other things scored on these rides
I am a semi-pro dumpster diver
all sorts of wheels and bikes;most that I will never use, have been found in the city alleys
then yesterday as I rode some rogue trails behind the DC resivour near the C&O canal I saw a rocky creek that I had never seen before
a great secret spot
maybe a place to take the dogs
or to just relax and eat a sandwhich mid ride
funny, I have been there several times before, but never looked over the edge, guess I was there during seasons where the green growth obstructed my view

I know alley short cuts that take me back in time
on Capitol Hill weaving between the 100 pllus year old houses
through that alleys past the carriage houses
imagining that their are horses and buggies rather than SUVs and lawn mowers

on my commutes to work I look into the cars and buses and I pedal by
eye contact is shared
I try to read their mind from my end and they try to read mine
I have a hard time understanding their choice of travel and they have no concept of mine
pretty girls wait at the bus stops
well dressed men hail cabs
nannys of one color push strollers carrying children of another
dogs walk the city streets, my attention waits to see if this dog owner picks up his dogs waste
I have seen this guy before....he never picks up
the other cyclist...the courier...the homeless man that pushes his bike that carries all that he owns....the latino man on the ladies bike....the roadie back from his training ride...and the other commuters making their way to work

each day I see the sights
no day is exactly as the day before
yet these days are completely different

here are some shots of the boys
these are a few of the cousins
Grant is not in the photo because he is only a month old and is somewhere being breast fed
and Benjamin is not in the photo because he is still just a bun in the oven

Spring is here and the beard is gone I miss it already it marks the start of my cycling season and makes me look thinner
or at least I hope

today/this am

this morning my alarm went off at roughly 7:30
my alarm's name being Dean
Seven thirty is pretty late for this guy; on our vacation in Florida there was a morning where he got up a few minutes before 5, but regularly he woke up at 5:30, so for him to get up at 7:30 was a pleasure
he got up, jumped into bed and jumped right out
guess he heard lisa downstairs and traded up
so I put my head down and went back to sleep for another half hour
once up I joined lisa dean and grant with my coffee
selected some gear for dean and headed out to the morning mist and the morning cold with Dean and the dogs
getting Dean out of the house was the usual game of loading his backpack (which we ended up forgetting) and selecting this hat and not that hat
dropped Dean off at "art class" and headed out with the dog
as I was scheduled to do the late shift at work I had some time to spare
went down into Rock Creek and did the Melvin Hazen trail
a short little loop that dips by the creek where Roscoe and Brutus were able to chase some ducks
then back home to grab some work gear and straddle my single speed and head into work
pointed the bike north even if work is south and cut through Bethesda onto the Capital Crescent Trail
as I crossed the Maryland/DC border I scanned the woods for the enterance to a small network of trails, then dropped in
nothing technical
but dirt beats pavement anyday
did a few loops through the woods, checked the watch and headed back for one more
(as these loops are small...very small)
just as I started to wind down the last loop I felt my front end getting a little sqooshy
FLATTED OUT
so I dismounted my ride and pulled out the tools of the trade
had a spare tube and a mini pump that took a thousand pumps to fill the tire
put the wheel back in
put the bike upright
and could immediately feel that the rear wheel was flat as well
not sure what caused the flats
maybe thorns maybe a snake bite
not sure
so I started walking
the little loop sure seemd a lot larger as I walked my way back to the Capital Crescent Trail
so I pulled out my cell and told my boss my situation
he had no problems and understood that I would be a little late
walked a few miles
was getting tired of walking when a rider with an Aussie accent offered me a patch
my acceptance was immediate
he pulled over and we started chatting away as i made the repairs
his voice was clue one, well actually, the bike was clue one, then the accent, and then his build
I remember meeting him once before months prior
he recalled our brief meeting
then it came up that he was heading cross country in two weeks
flying out to San Diego and riding back
the wife, the kids, and the job all gave him the go ahead for this "adventure"


more in a bit
this is dragging
and going no where
need to do some work

maybe a different topic

with that said it was a good morning
and all before work
walk in the woods
ride in the park
and some hanging with Dean
almost like a mini vacation right before work

kerry.bmp

and meanwhile GW is trying to bash him with some ad

WACKY AD

funny though....
if we were to look at other countries, such as Canada, that have socialized health care
perhaps the model of raising the gas prices is not such a bad idea
the only people who are penalized are the ones who drive often
and the ones who drive the gas guzzling SUVs
the ones who make long commutes in the SUV get penalized twice
which makes sense to me

there should be more incentive for alternative transport
and for those that must drive...
there are the fuel efficient Hybrids and Electrics

nest topic?
Two people in a 6 person SUV is HOV?
Two people on a motorcycle is just about HOV, but in Thailand they manage 5-7 people on a Vespa!

and for those with a few seconds to kill
check out
BUSH IN 30 SECONDS
and no this has nothing to do with the creation of the Bush Twins, no one would want to see that
this shows the finalists from the MOVEON.org commercial contest

back from florida
back to work
back to BLOGGING, if I can find the time
so much to do here after my time away, but slacking instead
better get into a groove or the day will go by and tomorrow will be twice as hard

just finished a rant to my cycling team about bashing a local race promoter
seems that many people were looking forward to a local race last Sunday and it was canceled at the last minute
sort of pissed some people off
there was some negative ranting among our team members on our team site
so I responded with this....

Hello City Bikers

Running a business is hard, being a race promoter is a unique business. Perhaps a harder business than some, maybe easier than others, certainly it looks attractive and must have some wonderful rewards, but it is work. There are many people to try and please as a race promoter just as with any business, so many variables to juggle so many different needs to meet. I can only imagine the headaches that the weather can cause on top of everything else. So I think that people may want to cut Dan some slack on his race cancellations. Sure his race series has its quirks, some of the courses may not be long enough, many of the courses may not be rocky or technical enough, but they are races and they are close. Many of his short comings may come from his need to accommodate each individual's needs as well as what the terrain in the immediate area offers. Some of his races start late....well, have you ever seen how late the racers show up for his events. He is never a stickler for closing down the sign up table and I for one am thankful of that. Personally, I enjoy the events. It is a good network of people, the races are close, fast, and fun. Dan puts on a solid event. Without the Dan's Races we would have far fewer races in the immediate area. If you do not want to do his races, well, that is your choice. But, to try and start a BOYCOTT is selfish and short sighted. And to bash him on the team sight is a dangerous thing to do as well. The 'readership' of this Yahoo Group stretches further than just our immediate team. I only know Dan from his races. He has always been very kind and friendly to me, he is always open for suggestions. At each event he takes time away from his set up to say hello and catch up. Sure his website could win awards for being one of the UGLIEST SITES ON THE WEB, but that is insignificant in the scheme of things. I look forward to his races, and hope that he will be able to continue offering races for mountainbike community in the many years to come. Try to be a tad more realistic or perhaps even grateful, and if you can't....well listen to your mother, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!"

As for me...
I try to be thankful to the promoters of each event.
At the Greenbriar event I met Vince, he was busy, but he gave me a minute to hear my thoughts on a Clydesdale Class, laughed about my harassing him via email and I think he and his crew all enjoyed a little thanks after the event (whether in person or via email, from me they got both) We all like a pat on the back for our efforts. So, lets try to put it all in perspective, these guys are not getting crazy rich off this stuff. They are contributing to the sport that we love. Cut them some slack. And if you can do better, I welcome you to try. But until then, let us all try to be a little more constructive in our criticism.


(which is funny cause I can be a real jerk some times, but I am trying to change)

thanks for listening
joel

trying to step off my soap box and get back to work

here is the link to see Dan's race schedule
and his ugly site

Dan's Races

and a link to the
City Bikes Mountainbike Team Photos

funny stuff
I will have to check this out on a faster line when I get home
but it looks like either the slow modem connection down here is making things funky
or some hacker got in and change me from GWADZILLA to WADZILLA
reminds me of when Jay Amernicks sweaty little brother Danny tried to cause damage to my stomach by putting a half of tin of SKOAL in my Chef Boy Ardee Ravioli
tasteed great to me
thought it was a sweet gesture for this pudgy kid brother of a friend of mine to make me and some other people a snack
little did I know it was all an effort to make me hurl
earned me the nickname amoung some (Norm Van Deslyse who lives down the street still calls me) Skoal Gwadz!
kids!
gotta love em
high school antics!
boy we had fun back in the day
not like the geeky kids now who spend all their time online!
hey?

[oh, shaved my big ass amish beard, marks the end of winter for me, will grow it back again starting Thanksgiving next year...so along with the loss of the facial hair I also expect to lose the nicknames Grizzley Adams Morgan and Mount Pleasant Man! No Victories in any Dan Haggardy look alike contests for me]

my back is burnt
truck driver's tan on the left arm from heading north no 75 to get to Ft Myers
and a seriously burned back from a day of snorkling down here at Marco
nothing to spectacular
no reef, just sand bar stuff
all sorts of sand dollars, star fish, a variety of live shells (welks, conchs, and such) even some sea urchins
a few fish
but as said
not exactly the reet environment
but a great way to burn your back

that and my sand sculptures had me bent over reavealing my back
wonder if the whale will make it till the morning

SNOWBIRD!
No, not snowboarding at SNOWBIRD!

snowbird (SNO-bird) noun

1. A person who moves to a warmer climate for the winter.

2. Any of various birds (e.g. junco, snow bunting, fieldfare)
seen chiefly in winter.


Lisa and I are down in sunny Florida with Grant and Dean at the inlaws place at Marco Island. Actually there is a Gwadz Gaggle this far south. My brother and his family of four are down here, my sister with her pregnant belly and 2 year old son are her sans husband/father, and my dad is down her as well. We are all visiting my grandmother in Fort Myers. Managed to talk them into coming down here for the day tomorrow, after I drove up there for dinner tonight. It should be madness, but having all the boys on the beach should be nothing shy of a hoot! Dean and Eric together can be an infectious giggle! Just love seeing them together.

Here bikeless. Tried running one day. Did some splashing in the Gulf, but more than anything else just hanging with Dean. Right now Grant is going through some neonate issues, or well perhaps, infant stuff. He has some sort of stomach issues, the lil' guy is in a tad bit of pain, hope it is nothing serious. Got to keep it all in perspective. Hate to see him suffer, also hate to lose sleep, and seeing my wife work so hard to try and make him comforable is also a drag. Lisa is a good mom, Grant and Dean are lucky, guess I am lucky too....occassionally some of that nurturing overflows unto me. (actually before the dogs, Roscoe and Brutus, I got the Lion's Share of the pampering....now I am pretty low on that totem pole)

enough for now
have a good night
as I best get some rest
the morning is never far away

RACE REPORT: Fitness Concepts Greenbrier Challenge
In many cases arriving underdressed may be better than showing up
overdressed, sorta like choosing not to wear a costume to a costume
party is better than wearing a costume to a none costume party event.
At least that is how I am calling it now after racing yesterday on
the second day of spring, which played itself out more like one of
the last days of winter. By the end of my sport race there was a
strong cold wind blowing over the lake with intermident snow
flurries, at the Expert/Pro starts there was plenty of cold wind, not
enough snow to effect visibility but snow just the same, with a
course that was pretty well beaten to hell from the morning and early
afternoon racers. This day was scripted more for Cyclocross racers
than for Mountainbikers. My guess is that the day's High of 44
degrees was achieved before I arrived at Greenbriar. I was wearing
knickers and just basic socks, sure I had a few layers on top, but I
was cold and that stream crossing on each lap did not help to warm me
up!

My race went well.
NORBA not offering a Clydesdale Class forced me to enter as a 35+
Men's Master Sport. I can use the excuse of them not offering a one
day NORBA license for why I did not race Expert, but the reality is
that I have not been doing much riding/training and may try to make
that leap from front of the Sport to the tail of the Experts later in
the season when I get some legs and lungs. My intention on this day
was to go out and race/ride hard, no intention to win, no expectation
of a top finish. As we gathered at the starting line I reviewed my
fellow racers and dealt with the prerace jitters. A fellow
Clydesdale, Don Watkins and I looked around and counted Clydesdales,
there were enough in the various fields to have a good size
Clydesdale Class. Weighing in at 240lbs I feel that my size is a
greater factor than my age. Having not done much mountain biking I
felt that I was going to just slide into a groove and see where I fit
into the queue. But when the whistle went off and the pack took off
it looked like no one was going for the "hole shot," so rather than
getting stuck in the bottle neck I took the initiative. I stepped out
of the saddle and stepped up the pace. Having spent my prerace time
catching up with old friends and making new ones, I had not done any
warm up and had not done any scoping out of the course. Having raced
here before I figured that they would follow a similar route to the
prior races. Needless to say, I was wrong, the course turned right up
hill, while in the fall race hosted by a different promoter it
dropped down left.

For the first couple of miles I was in the lead of my category, after
a little time I was passed by a long lean roadie type on a double
banger. I took a look at him and thought that my old school
clydesdale technique could balance his superior strength, speed, and
stamina. I hung to his back wheel, soon learn that I was out
classed. Then on one of the climbs I opted to stay in the middle
ring rather than the granny and reached for one more cog in the back,
got all spokes, that was already my largest cog. Had to dismount and
pull the chain free from the cassette and the spokes. Many
riders/racers passed me and the leader rolled off into the distance.
So I hopped back into a queue far off the leaders of the pack. In no
time I was trying to find my groove and rolling past some of other
racers, maybe some from my class and maybe some from the other
classes. Soon I felt I had passed enough racers that I felt I was
back into the top 5. It is a tough balance racing and pacing. Not
feeling particularly fit or fast I rode in what I thought to be a
good race pace. Water in the Camelback, Hammer Gel tucked under my
shorts trying to sneak out under the elastic band at my quad, and a
mixture of Gatorade and Red Bull in a water bottle cage on the frame,
there were no excues. It is never good when my mind is wondering
when each lap is going to end, getting distracted or spacing out in a
race is bad. When focused I am fast, when I space out, it means I am
going slow. I tried to regain focus, I held pace and was maintaining
a good pace and halfway through the second lap I felt that I was
withing sight with what I believed to be the 4th place rider. Rather
than fight to catch him now, I figured I would wait until the third
and final lap to make a pass. No need to over exert myself and be
left burnt out on the side of the trail. The third lap came around
soon enough, as I rolled towards the START/FINISH, the riders in
front of me headed the other way back into the trail after a hairpin
turnaround just after the START/FINISH LINE. I gave a nod to the 4th
place racer in front of me, he smiled and nodded back. He knew I was
coming for him, it was a healthy friendly feel to the competition.
Not too far into the lap I passed him. He cheered me on and admitted
that it was early season and he was not feeling his best. He spoke
about how he knew I was going to catch him, he just was not sure
when. That gave me added energy and so did my home made rocket fuel
concoction of RED BULL and GATORADE (GATOR-RAGE!) With three hammer
Gels in my belly and three racers in front of me I tried to pick up
the pace. Then just up the hill I saw the Red and White of an NCVCer
who had passed with great speed on one of the technical downhills, he
was the 3rd place rider in my Class. He was just finishing pumping up
his rear tire. I hustled past him on foot with my bike at my side.
Mounted up and started to pedal. Made no effort to check on his
status, figured that if he was going to pass he was going to pass. I
felt strong, not particularly fast, but not entirely exhausted. The
soft sections were really gripping my tires. The sloppy sections were
giving hint to me the level of exhaustion that was present, obstacles
that were not difficult were demanding more attention and perhaps a
little more decrease in speed than I would normally require with with
greater freshness. Being familiar with the course after the two
prior laps I was able to anticipate what was around each bend and
judge better how long I can maintain speed on the downhills before a
sharp bend or turn. Soon enough the familiar last mile started to
unwind. It seemed clear that the racers behind me had settled into
their finishing positions and that I was going to finish in Third
Place. I was pleased with my performance and shocked by my placement.
It was a great event. Awesome to get out so early in the Spring and
start my season. It was good to gather with old friends and to make
new ones. This was an easy race for me to do as my wife had headed
south to Florida with our two kids. There was no need to ask for
permission, no need to arrange for a babysitter, no need to rush home
after the race finish, it was a day of rest and I made the best of
it.

Drove home feeling pretty good, sipping the remainder of my Red Bull.
Got home to a very excited Roscoe and Brutus. Took them for a quick
hike in the woods and did pretty much nothing with the rest of my day!

Not a bad way to spend the weekend or a Sunday. Makes it a great deal
easier to head into work on a Monday morning knowing that my weekend
was well spent.

iPOD
so my TECHIE boss at work felt that he needed to replace his big bulky old iPOD with the new slimmer and trimmer iPOD with his name engraved on the back. he did not have a need for his old iPOD. the offer was made to sell it to me, I declined. had considered the iPOD but was not sure when I could use it. feared it would sit along side my video camera, my Palm Pilot, and various other techie toys that all seemed like good ideas at the time. some time passed and we were on our way to lunch and he said that he may be putting his iPOD on eBAY. immediately I asked what his low figure. he said 100 dollars. without hesitation I offered to take that low number of 100 bucks and save him the potential hassles of eBAY. the deal was made. there was some sweating.....some quoting of the law of "oral contracts" and the threat of a letter on thick textured paper with the return address of a high powered law firm. it did not come to that. we just had to wait to see if his brother was going to buy it for an earlier promise of 150.00. the younger brother, chris, opted out of the bidding war....the iPOD was mine...all I had to do was wait for the engraved device to be mailed from China.

now with the iPOD in hand I have some thinking to do....
sure it is 10GB of space, but what do I really want on this thing
clearly I do not want to have the settings on SHUFFLE and be forced to hit the forward button each time a new song starts that I do not want to hear.
So before loading this device up with every cd I own I am giving it some thought..."What do I really want to listen to?"
REGGAE
How many Reggae songs/albums will I really need?
So, I will try to go through this with some restraint!
1. Bob Marley; Between Lisa and myself we have several copies of Survival, Legend, the Box Set, and some lesser known albums....maybe I will have to hand pick some tunes
2. Steel Pulse; Earth Crisis should be enough
3. Bad Brains; I Against I! Well , maybe I can sneak in two albums (Rock for Light?) if I put one album in as Hardcore and another as Reggae, but I Against I is vital for any collection!
now, logic may reach for Burning Spear/Israel Vibration and other bands within my collection, most of which do not come to mind, I realize that I need to pull just some choice tracks from these CDs. no need to take up the space. no need to take up my time forwarding through

ANY RECOMMENDATIONS OF WHAT OTHER REGGAE I NEED ON MY iPOD?
or
what are some must haves for listening pleasure?

PUNK/HARDCORE/New Wave
1. DC Hardcore: Some Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, Beefeater, Dag Nasty, and well already have some music from a lesser know musician off TEENBEAT, Bells of. A friend of mine Lawrence and his crazed voice and his wild guitar.
2. 80's Dance? New Order? Dead or Alive? What do I want? Do I want to go obsucre or do I want to hang with the hits?
So many choices...
but I did already put my mix by THE JAM!
what else

ESL: The 18th Street Lounge:
a. Theivery Corporation
b. Nicola Conte
b. Thunderball

most of my listening pleasure is acutally a mix of Electronica and jazz/blues/samba

you know
Stan Getz and stuff on that line

what to do
what to do
toys
these darn toys

Don't Just Take, Give
It is pretty simple, if all we do is take and we never replace, then there will be nothing left; ruins...just ruins; one big wasteland, just a massive landfill. The world is too small for us to strip away, move along, and strip away again. Hundreds of years ago farmers learned this and started to rotate the crops. There are some minor steps in the modern age that people are starting to implement such as recycling, but there needs to be more, that needs to become a given. In my day to day activities I find that it is more a matter to try and get people to maintain the basics, to try and have their impact to be as minor as possible, to have concepts of recycling become part of a mindless routine; a given. Sadly, this is not how people approach it; most people see it as a hassle. Does your work place recycle? I do not think mine does! It is something I want to get active on ASAP! We all create a great deal of trash/waste, much of which can be recycled, this is a minimum.

let me try and finish this thought

as a dog owner who hikes in the woods and as a cyclist that prefers to mountain bike I find that it is my duty not just to take, but also to give back.
the impact of the user is clear. in my short life I have seen the trails decline. mountain biking has grown to be more popular, what was single track in now double track, and what was double track in now tracked out. the foot trials are wider, fallen trees have cause people to make trail options around the obstacles. the only problem is that different people created different paths, so now there are more trails. soon the surrounding woods of Rock Creek Park will be large clay dirt mounds, stripped of all fertile soil, absent of any form of vegetation. so, what are we to do. well, the easiest thing is to STAY ON THE TRAIL! Do not bisect the trail, do not go wide around obstacles, do not walk the edge of the path to go around a puddle, simply STAY ON THE TRAIL. Now, it is absurd for me to say, keep your dog on a leash, cause I am not going to attempt that myself, but witness your pet's impact. Perhaps we need to compensate for that. Replanted INDIGENOUS plants. Replace missing soil maybe a good idea. Often while walking these trails I day dream about spearheading a project where the trail users volunteer a weekend to rebuild the trail. To give back to what gives so much to us. It is usually the same set of ideas....having soil delivered via dump truck to a number of trail heads and moving the soil about and planting some plants, everyone's working together. But, this is just a daydream, so until then I do some ROGUE TRAIL MAINTENANCE! Without tools I have created sets of stairs, anti erosion barriers, and the classic Nature Nazi trail blockade! (that is where I through branches and debrie over a section of trail that should not be used for whatever reason, usually because it is an unnecessary short cut)

back to work
more on this later

for some people all we can ask is that when they pull over to finish their 40ozer and their bag of chips that their place their waste in a trash can, rather than tossing it into the woods
or
the contractor who is too lazy to go to the dump takes his trash to a dumpster rather than the gulley in the woods
or
the yearly Christmas tree people who in the night dump their tree and wreath in the woods
all we ask is that these people and people like them choose common sense
I have seen these folks in the act, they look and act guilty, they know it is wrong
yet they persist

a few people clean up
many people use the trails
and an even greater number abuse the trails

here in the urban environment we need to take care what little "green space" we have
the longer we let it decline
the greater the likelihood of it being lost all together

it is wonderful that Rock Creek Park is in its natural state
but its current state is decline

no one would have imagined that the world population would grow like this
the city was not planned with such growth in mind
the natural state of our parks is more determined by the lazy state of park service

[by no means am I perfect....but I do try to keep my trash under control, we recycle, we clean up the park and alley around our house, we dispose of trash properly (batteries, toxins, paint to the right collection agencies)
but with two young boys we have diapers, juice boxes, and all sorts of consumer goods....we are not Amish....heck, we are not even minimalists...but we try to do our part on the basic level]

oh
other than my rogue trail maintenance...
I also try to do some trial maintenance days with MORE
and have been trying to organize some trail days on the local ROCK CREEK trails

Back from the airport...
this morning I drove Lisa, Dean, and Grant to the airport, they are off to Florida. I will be joining them in 5 days. The drive to Washington National (I still have a hard time calling it Reagan Airport) was painless, but after drop off I rolled directly into morning rush hour traffic. The long queues to each exit and each merger were maddening, people cutting into line without waiting, the usual obnoxious bullshit. As a none car commuter I just do not get it, how do they do this to themselves each day? All the full size trucks and 24 foot long SUVs, what is the point. Each vehicle with only the driver's seat filled, why do they do this to themselves. Can they do the math? Certainly the same drivers see the same cars at the same time each morning. I imagine that each am there are a variety of drivers going about their way letting their minds wander, glancing over at the blonde in the convertible Mercedes filling in the fantasy of who she is, where she is going, and what sort of reward she would offer if she were in need of road side assistance and they delivered. Seeing her one day, looking for her the next, only to see her again a week later, then building the fantasy further. Now she has a psuedo history, a created identity, a voice, an accent, and a personality. The blank time has been filled in by filling in the blank. The math seems simple, two people in each car would take the number of cars on the road in half. That is half the cars waiting in the queue at each on or off ramp, each bridge across the potomac, each toll booth on Route 66....figure it out....

Sadly, if there were more car pooling and less cars on the road, it would only reward more people who drive alone to get to work quicker.


more on this in a bit
I am not awake yet
headed out to walk the dogs
then off for a quick prework ride
feeling lazy
maybe the brisk morning air and my third cup of coffee will shake me out of the morning funk

back in a bit.

Rain Rain Go Away....
Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the rain as much as the next person. But, this rain is a reminder of the mountain bike race/ride season we all had last year. Races were canceled, rides off road were not an option, and motivation was down.
Sure, there were some experiences that were valuable when I did endure the cold wet rain.
Like the 12 Hours of Lodi Farm when I raced with Rob and Eric from the City Bikes team....
It was cold and wet, but once it was over we reflected back on a good time shared by all.

here is how it all went last year
there is talk of doing it again this year
but after being on the winning sport team two years in a row
I think for this course I best race Expert, especially seeing how our sport squads compared to the winning experts
it is a rolling course, no real climbs
not a bad course for the clydesdale


LODI FARMS SPRING 2003
I know that the facts are out...
and that eric told his tale
but here is a jumbled race report from Joel
my riding is as rusty as my race report
there is some correlation there
one thing is for sure...I don't know how to be short winded

12 Hours of Lodi Farms 2003: Rain or Shine

Having read Eric's race report I now feel compelled to put my story
forward and this morning's commute in the rain makes the memories
seem fresher and more real...

Everything Eric said was true...
The whole event was scripted as some sort of strange dark comedy... There was rain and cold on top of the 12 hour relay race format. If it had been a documentary film the viewer would have doubted it on
many levels. The setting of the prepared and the unprepared stacked
side by side, full on support crews with sponsor tents and full time
mechanics verses guys sleeping in their trucks with their bike
propped up against the outside of the truck getting drenched by the
rain. The lack of preperation and cohesion of our team had us bumping
into each other like the Keystone Cops from the silent film era. The
dialog surrounding our camp was something like a script from "Bill
and Ted's Most excellent Adventure." The equipment and the supplies
were also a mess...lodging for Eric and Robbie camped in high tech
gortex tents surrounded by shoes and mud drenched lycra tights and
shirts...I opted for sleeping in the back of my truck where the scent
of Starter Fluid whisking me off to dreamland...as for food, Little
Debbies and Red Bull were balanced out by Hammer Gel and
Gatorade...mid lap I was popping Now and Laters to maintain that
sugar buzz. The bikes were each suffering independently a different
set of symptoms, both before, during and after each lap. It is never
good to leave for the start of a lap with the bike not running "its
sunday best." Across the board things were so humorous and absurd
that it should have been filmed...but that would have taken
organization (or would have altered our behavor so that we appeared
more prepared, there is some law of anthropology that states that
observation alters the behavior of those being watched ((marc may
know the name of this theory)) ...much much more organization than we
would have ever been able to pull off.)

It was never mentioned that I had to beg and plead for these guys to
let me be part of their team. Asking them to downgrade from duo to
three man sport and then for me to use me 33% of the deciding process
to over ride their decission to ride back to back laps (2 laps each
before baton exchange) throughout the race.
Eric also forgot to mention that he said he had claimed that he was
going to get to the race site before dark to find a good spot, when
he showed up at the Fredricksberg WAWA in the cashier line behind me
at 10PM.

The hysterics began when we arrived.
The drive was painless...
Rain was present. The sky was dark. The temperature was unseasonabley
cold. The race was set to take place.
Camping was tight....we were lucky to pin our cars in a small spot
with just enough room for the tents and a place to stand and change
out of wet gear.

The start of the race was nothing shy of comical. Robbie's bike was
less tunned than mine which is not good. At 8 minutes to midnight
his numbers were still not on his bike nor had he suited up....the
fact that his wheels were rubbing the brakes was something that would
need both light, the absence of rain, and a trueing stand to tend to.
The start itself is hard to describe, lets just say that Robbie had
to run to catch up to the back of the pack, grabbing his bike and
stepping into the queue. Forcing him to make neverending passes (I
would assume, as I was resting in my truck not along side him on this
lap) as he pushed his way to a 58-59 minute first lap. The race was
on its way. Eric was set to take the second lap, and I was the third.
Eric put in a fast lap just over an hour and I was fearing that I was
mismatched, but I knew that even a fast team needs its slowest rider.
But how much slower I was not sure, I feared that I was going to let
these guys down. Their exterior was all mellow, they claimed that my
times were not as important as my efforts, intentions, and my right
to have a good time. I worked as hard as I could on my first lap,
fighting against Chain Suck, dim lights, and many other technicals
some mud related others related to lack of preparation. When I
finished my lap I asked the vounteer at the tent for my race
time...in a mumble and a blur I was told that I had finished in an
hour 30, "good lap" he said..I walked away bewildered..."good lap?"
an hour thirty? how could I be that much slower on such a short
course...I knew I could do better...(later I was to discover that my
lap time was an hour three; 63 minutes. But I was still inspired to
do better next time, assess and repair the chain suck issue and go
out ready to contend with other such problems.

The time went fast between laps. Just enough time to clean up the
bike, eat some bbq fritos, a few bites of a cold burrito, rehydrate,
and get out of wet muddy clothing and climb into the truck and get
into the sleeping bag. With Red Bull pumping my heart it is tough to
get to sleep, but after forcing my eyelids closed sleep did come, but
just as the dreams of dry trails and sunshine began there was a
knock on the truck window, it was time to wake up and prep for my
next lap. No time to steal an extra second of shut eye, such efforts
tend to backfire.

Having known my issues with my bicycle from the lap before I was
ready to approach the second lap anticipating Chain Suck, I figured I
would have to push the big ring and force myself around the course
and deal with the muscular burn. This BIG RING ATTACK seemed to be
working fine, but it had me working the brakes. This is a winding
twisting course, pushing up and down roller coaster trails between
tight trees and over roots and logs, brakes are a big part of the
acceleration/decelleration system. I was grooving pretty well and
not minding the big ring one bit, but it was not far into the second
lap when my handlebar and helmet mounting lights were growing dim.
The light in front of me was no longer a bright white cloud, but
nothing more than two dim copper penny circles barely alerting me of
obstacles in front of me. This was maiking my loss of braking power
more aggravating (and dangerous)..my pads were shot....worn to be
paper thin...I could hear the metal brackets that hold the pads
making contact to my rims...like fingernails on the chaulk board I
chringed everytime I had to brake. This all on top of racing around
the course in the rain and the cold, trying to pass all racers in
front of me, and doing my best to maintain speed with out slipping
and slidding off the trail into a deep ravine or creek along side of
the trial.

This lap finally came to a close, the course ending with an
inviggorating stream crossing, which depth was growing deeper and
deeper by the minute. The baton was passed to Robbie and back to camp
to repeat the bicycle cleaning/repairing process and the refueling
and resting process of my body. When I got back to camp I gave Eric
the standard 30 minutes into the racers lap before I shook his rain
covered tent. He stirred and moaned and started getting ready. He got
out of his tent a short time later and informed me about how he and
robbie had considered packing it in. We talked about the course and
the conditions and watched as racers dropped out around us. RVS were
slugging through the deep mud, tents were being packed in their bags,
bikes were being mounted on top of their cars. Teams were falling
apart. Morale was low. The night of rain and cold had been too much
for many of the racers...it seemed that the DNF list would be l