NO SHENANDOAH MOUNTAIN 100 FOR ME

there will be no Shenandoah Mountain 100 for me

I got pep talks from all sorts of people
emails from my brother Marc and friend/rival Chris Redlack had me reflecting on the racing results of this year, my level of fitness, my body weight, and the same level of anxiety in previous years
emails from electronic friends like Frank of Biketopia had me feeling good about my fitness and preparation approaching this weekend
a phone call from my old friend from college/skateboarding/and punk shows was very special... thanks falk... even if he crossed over to the dark side and became a roadie
the emails from fellow DCMTB emails all helped as well
my head was where it should be

by thursday I was no longer considering the weather as a factor for my racing or not racing
but rather weather was a factor for my family camping with me in Stokesville
my wife lisa watched the weather with me staying excited about camping until late Friday night

once all the gear was packed the kids were sleeping after some pre-camping discussions I got the email from SM100 race promoter Chris Scott
lisa and I renewed our discussion
it was agreed
I would attend the race and she would stay home with the kids

then this morning we woke to two year old Grant with a fever
nothing serious, just a standard kid cold and all that goes with it
the mood, the temperment, the never ending conflicts that are all elevated by the various symptoms of his cold
it did not seem fair for me to go for a three day mountain bike race weekend while my wife stayed home and tried to entertain the kids
so... I am bowing out

Lisa gave me the green light to go race this weekend
but I could not go away to ride and hang with my friends while my wife stayed with the kids
this is the balance of life
all of us have to find a balance
even those without wives or kids have to balance their passion for cycling with the responsibilities of life

staying behind to hang with the family
that is the right choice

there will be other races
in fact
cross season starts for me at Charm City in a few weeks....

my boys are as bummed about not camping this weekend as I am about not racing
we may camp at Rocky Gap State Park next weekend to make up for our missed adventure this weekend

thanks to all who helped me battle my demons
this will be a hard weekend for me as I have to ask myself that question...

"how would I of done on the bike this weekend?"
(I hate those questions... I hate those statements... could have been... should have been... forget weighing the scales... I just need to race this event with success for next year)

and please... no one make mention of my failing to defend the CLYDESDALE CROWN at the SM100
at an event like this.... it is me against myself... it is me against the course... it is me against the clock... if another 200+ racer is faster than me.... there is not much I can do

sorry Chris Redlack
I was excited to ride and race with you this year
and Camps... you will have to pass Check Point Five without passing me

next week retisonic show in baltimore

that picture from holland was a long time ago

my buddy rob that took that shot of me and our almost matching bianchi mountain bikes gave me the honor of being his best man at his wedding last fall

archive from the time of rob's wedding

supposed to go to baltimroe to see a friend's band next week in baltimore

vegas bachelor party week last year
best man blog week from last year

classic image of trevor bracing himself for marrage in the vegas bachelor party archive
much to make you laugh
check it out

this month's SPOKES

just got an early print of September's SPOKES magazine
it turned out pretty well
a few images of me in Colorado at Winter Park
a few images of the kids with me in Colorado
there are mentions of DCMTB's RickyD and Hillary
as well as quotes from Jenn of Conversations with mud

look for it at your favorite bike store or gym

cool
that is the second image of my kids in SPOKES this year
I need to show that to their grandparents

DCMTB
rickyd also at bikecentric
Jenn's blog... something about mud

holland 1991

that picture cracks me up
I need to try and find a good copy of it and put it in a frame
funny... like the dinosaurs
we think we will be young forever
extinction is inevitable

enjoy it while ya got it
it may be gone tomorrow

a year ago last fall I was the best man at the wedding of the man who took this photograph
trips like that
experiences like that
that is what life is about
that is living

I am living now
my life rocks

that photo was taken touring in Holland in 1991
I live in washington dc and it is 2006

jodie foster has class

jodie foster has class
jodie foster is hot

not that stage of jodi foster
I am no john hinkley
the present day jodi foster

present day jodi foster is amazing

never really followed the music creation of jfa

but I did grow up watching Family Affair

Jodie Foster was on an episode of Kung Fu

jodie foster has an intensity to her that is really amazing

jfa

Gripped Films

jason berry blog
jason berry gripped films
jason berry working on a documentary of Chris Eatough's quest for Solo Championship

this weekend jason is putting down the camera and picking up the bike
as he will be down in Harrisonburg, Virginia for the SM100
a race and a place that started his documentary career

FORCE:Friends Of Rock Creek Environment

FORCE:Friends Of Rock Creek's Environment
these guys are trying to clean up Rock Creek Park
not just clean it up
but
bring it back to life

sadly so many people who use the park abuse the park
those that fish in the creek
not only do they over fish the creek and eat the fish that should not be eaten
but their little fishing spots become barren wastelands
dead vegetation where they sit and stand along with all the trash they leave behind

there needs to be a multi-level education

A GREAT WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE ON SOME CONFLICTS WITH OUR ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE NATURAL ENVIROMENT
(sent to me from old friend gibby in ca)

DCMTB Jersey Change

after what may have been a decade of Orange and Red
DCMTB has moved to a new color scheme: Black and Red
hopefully that will add up to a few less bee stings!

kevin dillard images from quantico

eric rolling through mount pleasant

Wizbang Blog Bashes Cyclists!

Wizbang Blog Bashes Cyclists!

the anti-cycling, more specifically the anti-city cycling rants always amuse me

there are more cars on the road than cyclists
which means
there are more cars that are causing annoyances than cyclists

but...
the cars have been doing their obnoxious car thing for so long
that no one seems to care
the car driver prefers to focus on the bicycle or moreover.... the bicyclist

even when the bicyclist is within the elements of the law that bicycle is at risk of being blamed for being in the car driver's way
as if the slower moving bicyclist is causing a traffic jam
when in actuality the bicyclist like the car driver and their car is part of traffic
with the same rights to the road just as the car

the car drivers often rant about the cyclist
often calling the cyclist arrogant
making claims that the cyclist thinks this or the cyclist thinks that
well... I can not read minds
perhaps if I spent more time in my car I would develop that ability
but I can not... so I do not speculate

the car driver's rant about the cyclist doing this and the cyclist doing that
when this same car driver fails to look to see that they themselves are doing much the same set of things
just as the cyclist may modify the laws to make things more safe and more fluid
the car driver may modify the law to suit their personal needs

the cyclist may slow for red lights and stop signs viewing them more as yeild signals
just as the car driver may use the Speed Limit sign as a gentle guideline rather than a hard rule
when actually... the speed limit states its intention in its name... LIMIT
it is not a sign that says.... SPEED AVERAGE 25 MPH with a STANDARD DEVIATION of +/- 10

as far as self righteous or feeling more entitled
it seems to me that it is the car that drives in a fashion that implies such an emotion
the "out of my way" mentality
the drivers who double park
or stop in no stopping or no standing
the speeders
those that roll through stop signs with the slow and go
those that right turn on red when the sign that says otherwise
those that fail to yeild to pedestrians...

okay
no need for me to go through the list of every law
but... for the most part the car drivers break every law each and every second that they drive
a cyclist may occassionally go the wrong way on a one way street
or view stop signs as yeild signs
but
even when the cyclist is obeying all the laws... the cyclist get run of the road, gets honked at, gets treated like a second class citizen

everyone should spend more time POLICING THEMSELVES
I try to funciton on a level of COMMON SENSE AND COMMON COURTESY
if everyone did a little more of this
the world would be a better place

yes.... there are stupid and obnoxious cyclist
I hate being buzzed by a cyclist on the sidewalk
it irks me to be with my kids and have an adult meandering his or her way about town on the sidewalk
but... just as I hate car drivers as individuals not as all Jersey Drivers or all BMW Drives I think that people need to understand that the cycling culture is a vast culture with very different niches and groups

oh....
BMW DRIVERS FROM JERSEY ARE THE WORST!

kim-possible

it happened... as anticipated

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Diane has a blog
iamchunkymonkey.blogspot.com
I do not know Diane... but I predicted her blogging future


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words can be unfair

Wikipedia gave a decent definition of ASSHOLE

the other day I ran into a guy and got to talking
we started talking about Big Wheel Bikes and Big Wheel's owner Mike Sendar
this guy had worked at Big Wheel
he asked knowingly if I had worked there as well
I was in a mood
as I am often in a mood
so, I spoke a little freely
and dubbed Big Wheel's owner Mike Sendar as an asshole

Mike and I are civil
I worked for Mike on and off for a short time many years ago
it is not that I dislike Sendar, yet I do think it is unfair to say that he can be an asshole
that said...
there are some that would say that I am an asshole

gwadzilla archive on Sendar and Big Wheel Bikes
(worth a look, some good images, scroll down to the Big Wheel story)

another gwadzilla archive where I linked to an article about abusive bosses and mentioned Mike Sendar

when I worked at Big Wheel I could not stand at a keg and tell someone where I worked without them telling me an anecdote about how Mike screwed them or someone close to them
it got exhausting defending him... or at least listening to all the stories
as defending him was not my job
Mike Sendar has mellowed with age... but... it is hard for any of us to shake our nature
I am sure he has his moments

oh...
read the gwadzilla archives....
Sendar also has some strengths
big wheel bikes

some shots from Peru

a few years back a friend of mine was getting married in peru

while down in peru for a beautiful wedding with some old friends I got to do some things
got to do a little touring on my bike
got to hike the inca trail with my then girlfriend to macchu picchu
got to ask my then girlfriend to be my wife
she said yes
chances are she has regretted it every since

by mistake I dropped this image on a group blog I contribute to
BIKECENTRIC
but
was good enough not to throw it up on the DCMTB site

kevin dillard race images

kevin dillard images
kevin dillard race images from cranky monkey at quantico

no beard
new DCMTB\City Bikes Uniforms
the center image is snaped before I give my buddy kevin the bird

selective memory

searching the web for a good definition of selective memory

got this political metaphor by noam chomsky
it is a wonderful piece
but deeper than I was looking for
as I am more on the level of nim chimpsky

I think we all possess a certain level of selective memory
we all remember being bullied
but do any of us remember doing any bullying?
we all did
even if we did not take someone's lunch money
the older children tease the younger children in the school yard
we were all the younger children who were teased
we all became the older children who did the teasing

still have not found that definition of selective memory

narcissistic personality disorder

marsha, marsha marsha (and marsha)

the king of siam

what is it about getting behind the wheel that takes someone to a higher level...

why does our society have a caste system that puts the car into greater priority over any other mode of transport

pedestrians accelerate to clear the path for cars
even if the pedestrian has the right of way

bicyclist dodge car bumpers
knowing that if they do not move they will become a bloody speed bump

when I am in the alley behind my house with my kids
we clear the way and wave and thank the passing cars
as if they are doing us a great favor by not running us down

why is this?

how do we change this?

made is australia

gwadzilla archive

gwadzilla archive
my report from last years Shenandoah Mountain 100

sounds a great deal like my appraoch to this year

hope this year goes as well as last

wish me luck

think fast, dry, and safe

Quiz Show... le Tour

PBS The Quiz Show Scandal

Quiz Show the movie

maybe in the future the world will get to know the truth about the sport of professional cycling
the truth about Lance... the truth about Landis

there is more to it then just the racer

last night's ride... tonight's ride

last night I went out for a post work ride on the cross bike
was feeling beaten after sunday's race
it was not so much the heat
no it was not the humidity either
it was my ego
my ego was sore

so... last night after work
I went out on the my still fresh, yet nearly a year old, Specialized Tri-Cross cyclocross bike
took to the Capitol Crescent trail thinking it would be a pleasure to spin car free for a bit
went out for about 45 minutes out turning it around at the end of the gravel path before the path crosses Connetticut Ave. then passing the Chevy Chase City Bikes store
turned it around
heading back the way I just came
looking forward to seeing some of the people I saw on the way out
you know
that jogger
that lady with the dog
that joker on the bike

the bike was heavy under my body
I slogged it out on a ride I usually cruise
it was flat but it felt up hill both ways
it was not so much the speed as I was spinning in the smaller ring trying to stay smooth and not tight
it was more a matter of how hard it was to rotate the cranks
the cranks were not spinning
the cranks were being mashed... not unlike how I muscle the cranks when I ride off road

the post work ride was not the confidence builder I was looking for
I wanted an refreshing spin to boost my moral
rather I had a ball busting rude awakening
an overwelming sensation of dread
my legs were gone and I was not going to be able to ride this weekend without a testosterone patch

went home
joined the family
went through the evening's events thinking that the shenadoah mountain one hundred was a bad idea

the next morning I woke
that was this morning
figured I would get another feel for how the body felt
not the 5-7 hour ride that frank of bike utopia was reccomending
but rather my ride to work and my ride home

with lycra tights rather than padded shorts with pockets and such
with Sidi shoes instead of my sasquach sneaker style touring shoes
(also with Time cleats)
I carried my bike up the wooded stairs to the alley behind my house
after opening the iron gate I went to pick up my bike and go through the doorway
at a glance I saw then when my wheel rotated it stopped without making a full rotation
I tried to spin the wheel again
the wheel did not make a full rotation
fearing being late I mounted up my bike with the tweeked rear wheel and rushed to work

after work I got suited up for my ride
before mounting up on my specialized tri-cross I disconnected the rear brake
then threw my leg over the saddle and headed for a post work ride
the wheel was ugly
but it was not hitting the brake
I cautiously moved through traffic knowing a panic stop would send me over the handlebars

not having a legit spoke wrench I figured it best to just ride
so I rode on

I went up the Capitol Crescent trail again
this time with less resistence
crossing the once train tressel over Bradley Blvd I decided to pop into Big Wheel Bikes to see if I could borrow their trueing stand and a spoke wrench
sure enough
they let me into the back of the shop
not even having to use my "I worked here a hunderd years ago line"

in seconds I found that several spokes had loosened entirely out of tension
it was like a few spokes had been replaced by well cooked spaghetti

with the wheel straight again I made small talk with some of the employees
a long time Big Wheel employee VJ popped up in front of the register
we caught up... I have known VJ for.... well.... forever
VJ has been in and out of Big Wheel since he was a young russian immigrant
although always part time it seems like he is always there

said my good byes and pointed back to georgetown
trying to get back to the family
trying to beat the fraile threat of rain
no
did not extent to the gravel section
just headed home
with the wheel straight and strong (for now) I was moving
the bike was fast
I was smiling
there was no more resistence that there should be

I laughed to myself about my slogging on the bike the night prior
then smiled about the weekend to come
the slight rain did not dampen my mood
I rode home smiling thinging about a weekend of camping and riding my bike

dillard at quantico

photo by kevin dillard at the cranky monkey at quantico

kevin dillard at demoncats
kevin dillard at velophotos

kevin dillard had a busy weekend
kevin raced two road events on saturday day
kevin showed some pictures and showed his face at a house party/art show saturday night
kevin raced in a mountain bike race sunday
kevin then took pictures of racers during the following races and following the races

will ramos also has some photos up
some good air by a number of the racers
I did not want to waste too much energy reliving that day
trying to look forward
not trying to look back

I do not know anything about this

girls just want to have fun ride...

I do not know anything about this
well... I do not know much about anything
so it is not odd that I know nothing about this

maybe gundog99 knows something
maybe it is the juicy coutour mean girls crowd?

my mind has turned the corner...

my head had turned the corner
I am headed to Harrisonberg Virginia for a weekend of camping and bike racing
it should be a blast
looking forward to it

wish me luck

keep it fast and dry

Momentum: the magazine for self-propelled people

Momentum: the magazine for self-propelled people

Momentum Mag as described by Wikipedia

Weather... just another demon for this weekend

more demons to attack me as the weekend approaches
shenandoah mountain 100
I am starting to get psyched
there will always be fear
it is just a matter of what a person chooses to do with this fear
a person can buckle under that fear
or
that same person can choose to harness the energy of that fear and let it fuel them
I am now choosing to let my fear fuel me

to quote DCMTB team member Dave Vannier
"Ernesto... I am not scared of Ernesto"
(but... I think that is what many said about Katerina)

Cabin John Trails

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Cabin John Trails
some legal trails not far from DC

earlier this summer I wrote an article for SPOKES magazine about riding from the Capitol Building to the Cabin John Trails as a virtually car free dirt work out for DC mountain bikers

what happend at the cranky monkey number 4?

yesterday was the fourth cranky monkey
the last and final event of this local mountain bike series was held on a Marine base in Quantico, Virginia

I went into the event with a certain level of excitment

although I had not ridden much in the last two weeks I was excited to get out and race hard

the bike was well tunned
I was well rested
with the late afternoon start time I was able to head across town and grab a cyclist friend of mine who needed a lift for the event
picked up max in petworth
max is a messenger who races his single speed and recently joined the DCMTB team
the same max whose house hosted the art show/house party where I set up a laptop with a rotation of some of my cycling image thing

fueled up with water, gatorade, red bull, and a cold hamburger from grilling the night prior
was feeling pretty spry in my fresh and new never before worn City Biks shirt and shorts
warmed up and did the parking lot meet and greet
with numbers on the bike I lined up and listened to Jim Harmon of EX2 Adventures give his prerace thing

was at the line with the 35+ big boys
was in the first row but not muscling or blocking anybody out
thought about the day before me and waited for the 30 seconds to count down to the start
having no idea what to expect of this unfamiliar course I decided to go with what I heard in the parking lot... climbs like Fountainhead/flowing like Schaffer Farms
or something to that effect
that sounded like some good terrain for my style of riding
although I am not that familiar with Fountainhead I do not remember it being all that full of climbs

having raced against a number of these guys throughout the season I thought I had an idea what I was up against
thought about where I finished at the Richmond Xterra event
what my efforts were that day
thought about my success at first Cranky Monkey at Wakefield
even though I had no idea what this course had in front of me it sounded like a course where I could be strong
perhaps, less disadvantaged by my clydesdale status

so when that long thirty seconds had finally counted down I skidded forward along side a number of fast riders in the thirty-five plus category
the ground was loose
a slight grade up on a wide stretch of trail
with the energy of the moment and thought that I wanted to try and fit into the top five at this event I figured I would try to start out fast at the start

not far after the start I found myself in the front of the pack
was behind a fast and fit cat named gordon from ncvc
have seen gordon at the races over the last few years
watch him get faster
watched him move up in the classes

with the big wheels and the big gears I decided to slip in front of Gordon when we dipped into the singletrack
we rode for a little
and I mean a little
this is real early in the race
and I found myself passing soem racers from the classes released ahead of the 35+ers

not sure if I was concious that I was starting to slow down
but I cheered for the racers that past me
the top three turned into the top five
the top five passed me along with the top ten
I was not slipping into a groove
I was slipping
I had slipped

early in the race I had gone out hard and bonked hard
it was hot and I know nothing about pace
the course was completely infamiliar to me
the steep climbs were actually super steep hike-a-bike trail
very steep and not so short
exhausting for me, my heavy body, and my heavy bike

early in the race I wanted to stop
one lap sounded hard enough
two laps sounded impossivle
the shenadoah mountain 100 was on my mind
the shenadoah mountain 100 was sounding impossible
the weight of the 100 miler ontop of the miles in front of me had me riding in quick sand
and there is nothing quick about quick sand

along with my lets, went my lungs, my strength, my power, and my confidence
my head was out of the game
I foolishly let my mind wander about how to approach not doing the shenandoah mountain 100
while I should be focusing on the moment I am focused on the future
definitely not where my mind should be
the heat had me sweating and swollen
my stomach was bloated
my efforts to stay hydrated had me bloated
my gut was so engorged that it was hard to breath
I fought to roll the bike forward
the trail seemed to be too tight for me to get any real flow
just as I tried to accelerate and roll through a section I had to decellerate then try to accerate again
it takes more effort to get me, my big body, and my big heavy bike than to get the little bikes and little people started
I was expending all sorts of energy that never got me any where

finally lap one finished
it was funny...
some of the trail started to look familar
I was expecting to recognize a twist, a turn, a rock, a root, a section of quick stand
then I crossed the start finish line
ouch...
I thought I had started lap two already
I grinned as I rolled though the start finish section
laughing to myself
asking ryan of EX2 Adventures if Clydesdales do one or two laps
he does not hear me or he does not get my joke
ryan cheered me on as I chug on through

being familiar with the course helped
it always helps
a little more knowledge of course allowed me to know what to expect
this knowledge did not help me move forward faster
just allowed me to move foward with less pain

the battle in my head of the Shenandoah Mountain 100 continued
my race was finally finished

across the line I can do nothing but laugh about my day on the bike

I am growing
I am learning
I am still trying to figure it all out
I could have tried to pace myself and finished a few spots further up
but instead I tried to finished on top

humbling
yes... educational? sort of
will I make the same mistake again?
more than likely

but...
I am also considering getting a unicycle
putting my old skateboard trucks on a new deck
I am accepting that being humbled is part of growing up
I am still growing up... still learning... still trying to figure stuff out

the house party/art show was hosted by Bryn
Bryn at myspace
hopefully he will do this again
I will try to get a more coherent collection of images
many less quantity and more quality
perhaps create the slideshow in iMOVIE

looking forward to the Kevin Dillard images from Quantico
at lap one I was feeling like crap and gave him the bird
here is Kevin Dillard Raw

the tale of the tape
last Cranky Monkey I was ten seconds off the leader
this Cranky Monkey I was ten minutes off the leader per lap

less thinking... more riding

watching a great little film, 2 Seconds
my mother got it for me for my birthday
my mother bought it for me with my brother's recomendation
a pretty good choice
I am sure he will enjoy it when he comes and borrows it

will also want to share the film with some other friends
not just female downhillers like jenn or hillary
I think that this film is entertaining to many types of cyclists and maybe even some non-cyclist but the fancy sub-title thing can scare off a big percentage of non-cyclist world

2 Seconds...

some funny messenger observations
some funny bike shop observations
some amusing racing observations
some amusing road to mountain cyclist observations
waitng to see the observations that are not about cycling
waiting to see soem development of characters

watching it again not quite to where I had stopped it last night

funny story
funny characters
and well
I love FLASHBACK scenes
and
I do not mind subtitles

good little film
fun little story
fun characters

more heads

more heads
some with helmets
some without
more without than with
what is up with that?

headshots

it is funny to see people in winter gear
it is hard to imagine that it will get cold again
but... it will
and ya know what
people will be shocked
they will be talking about the weather like it has never been cold here before
"can you believe how cold it is out there?"
tomorrow I will certainly make small talk with a stranger or a friend and the heat will be discussed
the humidity
or the bugs
like it is all a surprise

watched a fantastic indy forgien film 2 Seconds
it touched on some very funny cycling culture stuff
but... the film never got heavy handed with it

digging through some images

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will we ever know the truth

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no beard.... no photos

no beard this weekend
traded in the orange and red for black and red
no photos from kevin dillard yet
wonder if the results are up
okay... the results of failure are far less interesting that the results from victory


heat was a factor
more excuses to come...

tune in later for a long list of excuses

PV Glider.... a hundred bucks!

the PV GLIDER seems like a nice option
but the price is still too high for me
to move away from the training wheels
I can not justify paying a hundred bucks
plus 20 bucks shipping
for a product that seems no better than the standard bike
I have kids bikes salvaged from the trash that I could easily remove the cranks from to give a kick model bike for the kids durning their transition between training wheels and non-training wheels

adults will remove the pedals and cranks to create what is called "a gravity bike"
there was a death involving a gravity bike and a car this weekend

single speeders remove gears and deraileurs
gravity bikers remove cranks and pedals
downhillers remove engines from motorycles... well almost
what will be removed next?

saw dilllard at the race

saw kevin dillard at the race today
saw a bunch of his NCVC team mates as well
well... saw their backs as they passed me
while I bird watched and worked on my tan
they were racing
I was day dreaming

kevin had some images at the photography show/house party the other night
I mentioned when I saw the images that I did not feel that these were a good representation of his work
I like some of his face shots
he gets in close
his candid face shots are the best

dillard at velophoto
the house party/art show was hosted by Bryn
here is Bryn at MYSPACE

faces... some from the winter

some faces

pretty ladies, pretty bikes, and a grassroots team

found this here
that is the if grassroots team
this is the if site

max was talking custom bikes
I know little about custom bikes
but the bike industry at each level fascinates me
even the economics of schwinn
fascinates me on the superficial level I understand

it is funny... all the women are beautiful
somehow they all look pretty much the same
which is weird
the skin tones do not get much lighter or even much darker
very strange

a few things from the weekend

it was a good weekend
no time in the pool
still have yet to get to the beach
still have yet to eat all I can eat steamed crabs
but
I have had Old Bay on my corn on the cob many times

this weekend some friends from the cycling world had a little art show/house party
a few messenger photographers brought by some prints
AZ, Kevin Dillard, and Scrooge all had various images on display
as I am not sure if what I do is photography I grabbed an old laptop and an old monitor I have kicking around the basement and dropped things off with a slideshow that was set to play some 70 odd images in a random sequence

dropped off the monitor and machine on Saturday morning
never made it by for a viewing myself
was tempted
Cargo Mike dropped by with a shock pump on his way across town
Mike stayed for dinner
but by the time the kids were asleep I barely had time to double check my gear for the next day's race

the gwadzilla blog slideshow was interesting
it was not a best of
it was not a whose who in the dc messenger scene
it was a mish mash of stuff
just was surfaced as I through things together in my usual last minute fashion
it was a great collection of some of the earlier stuff I did with captions to the more uniform portrait stuff I have been doing
the quality of my photography has changed as well as my composition
things have gotten more simple

max and byrn each messengers as well as residents in the house said that things were well recieved
not in a New York... IT IS ART/THAT IS FANTASTIC
but in an interesting background setting to the action of the party
which was just what I had intended

today I grabbed the laptop and monitor when I picked up Max
as Max needed a lift to the Cranky Monkey mountain bike race at the Marine Base at Quantico

Max was prepared... but I think that he had enough of my banter in the car
cause I was rolling up on him early in lap one
when he just picked up the pace and left me in the dust
guess he figured he would wait to hear what I had to say on the drive home
escape the madness for a few hours
unlucky for him there was some nasty Interstate 95 traffic
he was stuck along side of me for more than expected

Max had a solid race
as did Cargo Mike ("Coach" as he is known to those who know him)
Cargo Mike managed to get second in the Single Speed... leaving him first in the Series for Single Speeders
others did well
all sorts of folks from DCMTB where there
many finished strong
many had days like me and were just happy to finish

will check out the results tomorrow and know more what happened on the bike when people start posting reports

Cranky Monkey #4

cranky monkey number two for me, but number four in the series

www.ex2adventures.com

there are a number of theories

the heat of the day was a factor... but the heat of the day was a factor for all involved

there is talk of a "samson syndrome"
that I was fast at Cranky Monkey #1 where I took second in the 35+
while the removal of my beard messed with my mojo
stealing me of my strength
leaving me weak
causing me to fall to 15th our of maybe 30 35+ racers today

there was some time off the bike
there was my vacation in colorado
those things may have taken away my speed
but... I feel that it may have been a case where the course did not favor me
as a matter of fact I feel that the sharp turns along with the stop and go took far too much energy from me
it seemed like there was a great deal of energy used to start the bike from a near standstill

I had speed today...
like a boy has speed on prom night
I was plenty fast
I just was not fast for long

yes, I am talking about the fast hard three pumps of pleasure
this can happen in sports too

I had shown up psyched to ride and race
overhearing that the course was a combination of the climbs of Fountainhead with the technical demands of Schaffer farms
the bike was running well
I was psyched to be racing
but it just did not come together for me

these trails were so much like the east coast style trails that I began riding on many years ago
that I ended up riding like a beginner

it was painful
I had nothing
I had no technical
I had no lungs
I had no legs
I had no power
I had no endurance
I had no self confidence
I had nothing

it was a brutual slog fest
just me and my bike

out there along
trapped in some cyclists no mans land
with the fast pack ahead of me
and a slower riders scattered somewhere behind me
I rode along at a painfully slow pace
no fluidity
no flow
just slow

lots of dismounting for short steep climbs
lots of heavy breaking on sandy turns

as mentioned
there were endless 90 degree turns that demanded major deceleration
there were short sections that allowed for some acceleration
only do bring the speed down again

lap one had me thinking that I did not want to do a lap two
the thought of lap two had me thinking of not wanting to race at the Shenadoah Mountain 100
much of the race was spent thinking about my ill preparedness for the SM100

the excuses are lined up
but I think that I may still be doing the Shenadoah Mountain 100
my body did not feel unnaturally sore
slow yes, excessively sore... no
the crash has little left of a bruise... sure there is a knob that looks to be either bone or hardened fat that is pertruding from my hip
but nothing that causes any pain or discomfort when I ride
and the back did not seem to be giving me any complaints
so the excuse of last weeks crash is not a valid excuse

the thought of camping with the kids and riding with friends sounds like too much fun for the approaching holiday weekend
would not want to miss it
as it will be a two wheeled party