Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Sunday Mexican Martini Ride








Couple of Sundays ago, Tara and I went on the Scenic Loop over Lake Austin. Beautiful day after the cold week before. Tara had her new SLR Digi camera. Stopped at the overlook and she had some fun with her new camera. I had fun being a poser!

Finished up at the Hula Hut along the lake. Sat over the water, had some Mexican Martinis, ate some grub. Pretty damn good way to spend a Sunday. Gonna make it a thing to do on Sundays.

Didn't get to do it this past Sunday, even though it was another beautiful Austin winter day. Tara and I did this seminar called Man-Woman Realationship. It was amazing. The facilitators were great, super interesting lives and stories. Great couples and there was a two day long conversation of partnering with the opposite sex. Big group date on Saturday night. Out late salsa dancing with a couple who have been married 30 years. On Sunday morning, you could see the energy in the couples who put there all into working on what we talked about during the day.

I am starting to buy into this whole energy that one puts forth. Begining to see that positive energy attracts positive energy.

Rock it.

Got a good story from tonights ride, but that's for the next post. Think deer, cars, and eyes in the headlights.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Webberville Cross Photos






all stolen from the internut




Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Ride Kicked My Ass







My homeboy Jermey and I braved Ice Storm 2007 and headed down to Barton Springs. Took a cool route heading down and into Pease Park. Took Jeremy in on the section that just opened in the fall. First time he had ever been on it. Pretty cool to take him on a new route when the dude is the source for sweet biking routes in Austin. Road at least and here we were on Dirt. Super muddy and wet. Stopped for a beer at a creek crossing below 5th and decided not to cross the creek. Started getting cold, but warmed up for a bit on the way to the springs. Long way around Zilker Park, under MoPac. More puddles, slush, and mud. Layer of ice added noticable weight to the bike.

Another beer. Got colder. Springs were drained and the fence removed at the spillway, I guess in anticipation of the storm and the water flushing down Barton Creek.

Took the first spill on the way back. Hike and bike trail, front tire got stuck in a rut and spilled when over taking a runner. Dumb ass. Put a hole in the knee of the fleece pants. Bummer.

Second spill was going down the ramp on the north side of Pfluger Bridge. Black ice, Jeremy went down and I followed. Discovered I bruised a part of my shin in the first crash. Thoughts of friends who have recently broken bones. Knew I didn't. Lucky.

Got a little hot snack on a climb on the way home. Not so nice. Felt like puking a few other times. Jeremy was trying to get me to stop for a beer multiple times, but I knew if I stopped that was the end. I had to get home and I had to get home as fast as possible.

With a wash bucket between my legs, I stripped out of the wet clothes. Feeling like puking was imenent managed to hold it in and make it to the tub. Warmed up a bit and drank some oj, soda, and emergen-c Tara gave me. Felt better and finished with a shower.

Then I tried to eat some soup. While taking my first bite I puked in the bowl. Luckily it was only the begining and small. Puked once more on my way to the bathroom and held it in cause my bowl was full. Then it was on to 4 full on projectile vommiting into the bottom of the tiolet!

I was done. An easy afternoon ride really kicked my ass! Pretty sweet a day on the bike can do that to you. Now I gotta rest.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Ice Storm 2007





Actually not that big of a deal, but down here it shuts everything down. Everyone from my office is staying home. The roads are not too bad, but the way people drive down here you gotta be careful of the other drivers. Gonna hit the roads later today for a ride and to check everything out.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Webberville Cyclo-X








Some real cross conditions finally in Texas, but the weather likely kept the numbers slow. No juniors showed up to race. Small B/C field, under 20. Great course though, probably one of the better ones I've been on this season. Some of the sections at the States were more fun and the Camp Eagle had that awesome downhill, but this one had some good length, which kept people from getting lapped left and right.

My man Stuart Stafford, who is scary fast got talked into racing the B/C's before racing in A's. He went out fast and I jumped on his wheel. Put a bit of a gap on the rest of the field pretty early. At that point I decided to let Stuart go because I would have exploded trying to stay on that wheel. Kept my lead off the rest of the field for a majority of the race despite having to run one hill because I couldn't keep traction. Two guys from the Peddle Masher team on mtn bikes were giving me pursuit. With 2 laps to go one overtook me. I was cramping pretty bad at that point. Geared the bike easier, 39x17 instead of 39x16. Due to the soft, wet conditions, that was still a pretty damn hard gear to push. Felt pretty good for last lap, and started to close in on the guy who passed me, but couldn't do it. I'll take a 3rd place finish though. My homeboy, Rey had some bad luck. Tried to take a fresh line and got a stick caught in the rear der. Wrecked the der and bent the hell out of the hanger. Pretty shitty. Its steel though and probably can be replaced. Bent it bad enought that it opened up the space for the axle.

Should've lined up for the A's. Only 4 lined up and only 2 finished. Some pro from Canada who was flying (in the pink) and my man Stuart (other dude in the photos).
the money was 5 deep so I guess if i finished I would have pocketed some cash.

The Collegiate Championships were being held. It was kinda of funny. The place had the atmosphere of a frat/sorority mixer. Prior to the race, no one was warming up. All the racers were just hanging out in their team gear chatting in the pavilion. Strange? Saw the start of the B/C's. Not too impressive. Not one cross bike in the Mens and people were walking the run ups on the first lap. We decided to bounce rather than suffer watching that in the rain.

Good job Violet Crown on putting on a good race. Too bad the weather probably kept some people from showing.

Fresh veggies




Had some good friends over Saturday night for some bbq and good times. Fueling up for the Webberville Cyclo-X race sunday. Freeze coming in so I decided to harvest some goodies from the garden a bit early. We've been having fresh arugula, spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, and collards all winter.

Our friends, Yvette and Phillip gave us a late Christmas preasant. Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening. Pretty sweet book. Most people I know would probably never suspect me of being a gardener, but I love it. I spent a whole weekend just digging out our garden bed, removing a limestone/caliche layer. Removed enough rock to fill about 20 gallons worth of buckets. Makes for some good veggies.

New Wheels and Brooks





Got the new Brooks Swift. Crazy expensive, even with my discount at Ozone. I think it worth it though, ti rails, and if its going to be anything like my B-17, super comfy once broken in.

New Paul hubs came in. My man, Todd over at Ozone built them up for me. He built my new rear cross wheel, old surly hub with a mavic open pro rim. I've already put it through a ton of abuse and the spokes haven't even needed to be retensioned or the wheel re-trued. If you need some good wheels go to Ozone and have Todd build you up some. They be good.

Rain





The rain came in for Saturday and came in hard. Our back yard experienced some flooding. One of my friends I heard woke up to his living room being flooded. He is in the process of moving so all his pictures were floating. Bummer.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Gettin' spanked and Webberville Cross

The Tuesday night Dirt Derby's started back up last night. got a good start and was up there. Body was feeling a bit tired from the previous weekend, but felt like I might be able to hang, till my chain popped off on the first lap and then again at the start of the second lap. Damn. Was starting to get back into it after the first time but was way off the back after the second. Went hard and tried to get back into it, but ended up hurting super bad. body is still worked from this past weekend. My man Stew Stafford just crushed everybody. After the first lap he was so far ahead of everyone. Gotta throw the bike in the stand tonight. I think what is causing this is a bent chainring. It was not popping all the way off and would actually be "stuck" to 3 teeth when it did come off. Been happening when my chainline is off just so slightly and I really mash on the pedals.

Webberville Cross this weekend. Gotta get everything fixed up before then. And rest the body. 3rd race in a week gonna take its toll. Plan is to stay off the bike till then. Maybe an easy spin Friday or Saturday.

http://www.txbra.org/db/events/raceflyer.pdf

Monday, January 08, 2007

Talon Trails Excrutiation Exam




Formerly known as the Warda Torture Test and it lived up to its name this year. Lots of rain in the previous week and some light rain the day of and cold temperatures made for some cold, wet riding. All the trails were real slick and muddy. The dirt was hard enough where the trails weren't getting tore up, but traction was a problem.

Race started out as a run. I decided to go out pretty slow and went out near the back of the pack. Probably not the best idea cause I was behind some slow people for the first 7 miles of singletrack. I wanted to start out slow, but not so slow as to make it hard to push my gear. Passed a few people, people were real cool about letting you pass and headed out of the single track onto the roads and dirt roads to Smithville. Made a wrong turn going out of Bluff Creek Ranch. Got yelled at by all the people I'd just passed, so turned around and caught back up. Rode the 25 or so miles to Rocky Hill Ranch at Smithville mostly by myself. Only time I rode with anyone else was briefly when passing or being passed. Also managed to piss while riding and not get it all over myself. Thought that was pretty cool.

Was still feeling pretty good by the time I got to Rocky Hill Ranch for 22 miles of singletrack. That is when things got brutal. Geared pretty steep with a 34x17 and a 29er tire was great for the road, but hard on soft, wet, singletrack. The sketchiness factor was increased by the wetness and the disk breaks on the new unit decided to strech so I was pretty brakeless. Was able to get a little bit of brakes by adjusting the barrels on the levers, but I really didn't want to stop and really adjust. Cross definately paid off because my technique was to dismount and run a lot of hills instead of trying to mash the peddles up just to spin out. My lower back was already pretty sore from the steep gear and running seemed easier in a lot of sections.

About 5 miles left of singletrack a woman named Shontelle from Bicycle Sport Shop caught up to me. Offered to let her pass, but she opted to sit on my rear wheel, which she did till the end of the singletrack. We split up at the pits at Rocky Hills enteracne, but I caught up to her on the road. I was trying to hammer because there was a large climb out of Rocky Hill Ranch and I wanted to get up it with the highest cadence possible. Put some distance on Shontelle and I was kind of bummed cause I wanted to ride with someone. I guess a guy we passed earlier caught up to her and she was able to jump on his wheel. We all rode together and then he broke off. So Shontelle and I rode the 20+ miles back to Bluff Creek Ranch together, with me pulling most of the way. I was pretty stoked to ride with someone. At this point talking was much better than being left alone in my thoughts. Turns out Shontelle jsut got signed on by a pro Canadian road team. Pulling a professional roadie while on a singlespeed at the end of a 80 mile mtn bike race was pretty awesome.

Ended up 3rd in the Open 19-29 yrs and 19th overall with I believe they said over 80 starters. Felt pretty good about that finish. Was one of two singlespeeders out there and I have no idea how the other guy did. Was an older guy and I passed him in hte first 7 miles of singletrack

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2007-13

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New Ride





Just in time. Pretty sweet deal, the whole bro deal thing. Kona also hooked me up with a couple pairs of socks and a pair of team shorts to make the Ozone kit look a bit better. Still am waiting for a Swift saddle and the paul hubs and delgado rims. I already threw on a pewter king headset, which looks pretty damn cool next to the purple , and swapped out the jones bar and stem from the 1x1. The stem ain't anything special, but it isn't oversized and it fits the jones bar. Other than that, its all stock. Pretty sweet.

Put some miles on it already. Rained a bunch this past week. Could be bad for riding, but not in Austin. I am sure Walnut Creek was pretty bad. Clayey soil and there actually is soil. Greenbelt sure doesn't hold the water. Rained the day before and in the morning, that afternoon was out riding there and not leaving any ruts or tracks even. Sure, there were some puddles, but rode threw 'em and no evidence I was there. All the creeks were flowing too, which made for some fun crossings. Rode travis country yesterday and it kicked my ass. Just too technical for it being that wet and having to cross creeks with over bottom bracket water, made climbing out of the creeks pretty damn hard.

Should be pretty sweet for racing this weekend. Warda Torture Test. I believe its about 87 miles, about half over singletrack. Should be sweet. My plan is to just ride it and if I still feel good halfway through, try peddling harder.