I haven't abandoned this blog.

I haven't abandoned this blog. It's just that I've been preoccupied with so many different things lately and posting here just got pushed down on the totem poll. It also hasn't helped my posting since I don't have a computer desk at the moment. I'm literally sitting on the floor with my computer propped up on a box and end table. The keyboard tray on my old desk broke off during the move to the new house and it is now serving as a work table for the garage.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on my posting soon. I also plan to expand posts to subjects beyond cycling. This blog is about the "evolution of a mountain biker" and that implies change.

Supervisors Vote to help Walkers & Cyclists

12/8/09 - County supervisors vote to help walkers, cyclists
Alyssa Schnugg
Staff Writer

Enjoying a walk or bike ride through the county is about to get safer.

On Monday, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a new law that requires drivers to create a three-foot buffer zone from pedestrians on one-lane roads or to switch to the passing lane on two-lane roads.

As more people walk and bike around Lafayette County, the need for laws granting them protection has also increased.

“It’s a common sense thing I’d like to see the county move forward with,” Lloyd Oliphant, a supervisor and board president, said at the meeting.

The ordinance is being considered by the Oxford Board of Aldermen and will see its second reading on Dec. 15. The county is not required to have public first and second readings of new laws before the supervisors can vote to approve them.

The new law requires all drivers to use care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, anyone on horseback, any person who is working in or near the road or right-of-way, any person driving a motorcycle or similar vehicle and any person on a bicycle, scooter or farm equipment by moving to another lane when possible or to make sure they move over three feet if traveling on a narrower one-lane street.

Drivers of commercial vehicles will be required to move over six feet. Drivers are allowed to drive to the left side of the center of the roadway to pass the cyclist or pedestrian if passing would normally be permitted on that road.

Motorists caught violating the ordinance could face a fine up to $500 or be sentenced to up to six months in jail.

Tom Lombardo, president of the Oxford Cycling Club, said he appreciates the county passing the new law.

“This ordinance will increase motorist awareness of cyclists and will hopefully encourage others in the community to consider cycling for health and recreation,” Lombardo said. “Along with Mayor (Pat) Patterson’s endorsement of the city ordinance last week, this shows Oxford and Lafayette County leaders share the vision for boosting the sense of community as well as the economic development potential that goes along with cycling-friendly roads.”

Karen Mogridge, executive director of Bike Walk Mississippi and former president of the Oxford Cycling Club, said there’s no room on Mississippi’s roads for the “Mississippi squeeze.”

“It’s better used with the ketchup bottle than on the road,” she said.

Mogridge believes the three-feet ordinance boils down to educating the public on how far is a safe distance to pass bicyclists and pedestrians using a common measure.

“Think — arms-length,” she said. “Currently, the language uses ‘safe distance,’ so moving to three-feet will help define and give common measures that can be used for education and awareness by officials, officers and civic groups like Oxford Cycling. It’s simply alerting drivers that bicyclists and pedestrians need more room and giving them a frame of reference which everyone can understand.”

Other actions

In other business Monday, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors:

— Approved an interlocal agreement with the city of Oxford and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program to offer transportation on an “as needed” basis to county residents who are 65 years and older and disabled persons.

RSVP already provides the service to the elderly and disabled within the city limits and will handle the management of the program within the county. RSVP will be applying for a grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation that would cover all but $7,000 toward the purchase of two mini-vans. The county would also pay to hire two to three part-time drivers. Details for the program are still being worked out, according to supervisor Mike Pickens.

— Approved spending $2,000 to purchase Alert FM receivers and administrative access that will allow emergency officials to broadcast emergency messages digitally to all county residents and officials. Small receivers can be purchased for $35 by all individuals. Emergency officials can elect which channel to broadcast messages over — whether it’s something to be sent to the general public or law enforcement only. The city of Oxford paid the initial $25,000 to start up the program and is allowing the county to use 20 out of the 100 channels that are available with the system. The receivers are available at Sneed’s Hardware.

— Approved charging the Drug Court $2,000 a month for use of the Lafayette County Courthouse. The Drug Court is reimbursed by the state for any rent expenses, according to the supervisors.

http://oxfordeagle.com/news3.html

Back in the Saddle

I'm back in the saddle to a point. I've unpacked most all of my belongings and am reestablishing a daily routine. Right now, I'm in the process of changing my phone and internet service to my cable company to see how that goes. I hope the package deal will save me a few dollars each month, but that remains to be seen. My big issue is changing my email over and it is more cumbersome then I imagined. I will hopefully be back to "normal" in a few days. Wish me luck.

Thanksgiving 2009

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. -Meister Eckhart

Time to Start Training!

March 13: US Cup Bonelli Park - San Dimas, Calif.
March 27: US Cup Fontana – Fontana, Calif.
May 16: US Cup Big Bear – Big Bear, Calif.
June 5: Bump ‘N Grind – Birmingham, Ala.
June 26: Subaru Cup – Mt. Morris, Wis.
July 10: CTS International Classic – Colorado Springs, Colo.

My Odyssey Continues

My home buying odyssey continues with the closing date less than a week away.

My apartment is littered with boxes piled upon boxes and my stress level has been off the charts at times fueled by fears of a staggering economy and a lot of uncertainty about the mechanics of the home buying process. This is all new territory for me and it often feels overwhelming. I’m relying on others to guide me through this and the slightest lack of information causes me to worry and stress more than I would normally do on my own.

As of last night, I had no information from my realtor about the progress, or lack thereof, being made on the house. All I could do is assume it is still under construction with the Thanksgiving holiday and a weekend ready to consume three days of my remaining time to closing. I started having serious doubts about making the closing deadline. After a few emails and phone calls, my realtor finally gets back with me to say the house is supposed to be completed today (11-25) and should be ready for home inspection that afternoon. Since I didn’t know when the house was going to be completed, I couldn’t arrange for the inspection earlier.

To make a long story short, the house is supposed to be inspected at 3:00PM today with the closing tentatively scheduled for 10:00AM on Monday. I’m still nervous about taking on a mortgage and just want all of the stress to go away.

My Absence

I haven't posted in a while because I'm in the process of buying a house. It's been a time consuming and stressful few weeks for me. The closing is scheduled for November 30th.

A Hallowen Story

A man is walking home alone late one foggy night...
when behind him he hears:

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.

FASTER...

FASTER...

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him. However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

on his heels, the terrified man runs. Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps. With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door. Bumping and clapping toward him.

The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket and...

The coffin stops!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween!

I decided to actually carve a pumpkin this year rather than paint one like I usually do for Halloween. I think I did a pretty good job considering didn't use fancy store bought tools. In fact, I scooped the insides out with an empty cat food can and used an Xacto blade and small saw blade to make the face.

Speaking of scary things, life is a little nuts right now since I'm prowling the housing market. It's been down right stressful at times as the prospect of actually carrying a mortgage can be a little overwhelming in such a bad economy. I think my Scottish heritage tends to bubble to the surface where money is concerned. I've always been a pay as you go kind of person. We'll see how things turn out soon enough. I just hope any place I buy isn't haunted.

For better or worse, my cat is my best friend.

Interbike 2009, Best 29er of Show

I found this review on mtbr.com about the 29er offerings at the 2009 Interbike in Las Vegas. For the second year in a row, the Moots Mooto-XZ 29er is the best of show. As a proud Moots owner, I wholeheartedly concur and honestly believe the Moots Mooto XZ is the best full suspension 29er on the planet.

My Moots Mooto-XZ 29er

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
29er Best of Show - Full Suspension shootout: Ride Impression
Tuesday September 23rd, 2008 at 11:53 PM Posted by: Brian Mullin

I didn’t get to test every full suspension 29er (pretty close though) that was at the dirt demo, but I think I made a pretty decent stab at a bunch of different brands, different suspension systems and obviously some varying geometry designs. I tested the Turner Sultan, the Pivot Mach 429, the Niner RIP9, the Ellsworth Evolve, the Ventana El Rey and finally the Moots Mooto-XZ. I had even tried the Turner Sultan a second time to get some more seat time with the bike. My butt was sore and my legs were beat from all those rides in the hot sunny weather.

It was nice to be able to do so many bikes in a short period so the brain was fresh with each bike ride. Cross comparisons were much easier. None of the bikes did it all. They all had their strengths and weaknesses, some more glaring than others. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but no bike will ever be perfect.

I had to go by seat of the pants and gut instinct on each of the bikes and the bike winner had to be well engineered, have a certain feel, the suspension and steering must work properly and in synchronicity, the geometry needs to feel right and work with the rest of the bikes system, and it must have some fun and some personality. Yes, I came up with a Fun factor, call it what you will, but if I find myself humming and sort of singing to myself and not paying attention to the ride that is a big factor to me. Perhaps a “bike personality” might be the wrong word usage but one of the definitions of personality is “something apprehended as reflective of or analogous to a distinctive human personality”. People give their cars personality! The bikes also had to deal with the very rocky and abusive conditions of the Bootleg terrain. If anything about the bike characteristics sounds interesting then take a bike for a test ride. Refer to my more in depth reviews from this year show of the Turner, Pivot, Niner and Ventana for further information. Here are my mini impressions:

Turner Sultan - nice new design with tons of travel, did it all extremely well, neutral and compliant.
Pivot Mach 429 - Fun, a great bike that did most things fine, but it sure was a blast to ride.
Niner RIP9 - great design and very well rounded bike but a bit boring, kind of lacking in personality.
Ellsworth Evolve -  to X Country for my tastes, harsh ride in the Bootleg terrain.
Ventana El Rey -  a spirited sprinter, this bike likes to be stomped on, would be a great race bike
Moots Mooto-XZ -  what can I say, a well designed and engineered bike that does it all well, and it’s Ti. Therefore, the winner for my “Best of Show”…drum roll please…The Moots Mooto-XZ for a second year in a row!

The Moots Mooto-XZ railed down the trails, went right where you pointed it, didn’t get tossed around by much of anything, climbed like a demon, had a stout and solid rear end, had incredible steering and what really set it apart was the Titanium. It added a tad of softness and pseudo suspension to the bike without the usual suspension wallow, the words silky ride is what always comes to my mind. Congrats Moots you still have a winner.

As a consolation prize I elect the Pivot Mach 429. It was not the best bike out there but who cares since it was just to darn much fun to ride.

A Slow Ride at Clear Creek

I had planned on going over to Tupelo for a mountain bike ride at Trace State Park, but decided to go out to Clear Creek for a lazy ride instead. As desperately as I need to train for the 6-hours of Herb, I just felt more like being lazy and enjoying the outdoors.

It might have been

If you haven’t been watching the Ken Burns/PBS series on our national parks, you are missing something truly special. It’s a six-part series chronicling the history or our nation’s greatest natural and historical treasures. Moreover, the series delves into the untold story of people from every conceivable background who shaped our national parks. I find myself not only transfixed by the stunning visuals but the amazing stories of the people as well. For me, the series goes beyond its obvious entertainment and educational value. It slips into the emotional.

The poet and writer, John Greenleaf Whittier, is noted for the phrase, “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been!” These simple words have proven to be somewhat prophetic in my own life. While I find the national park series both awe-inspiring and entertaining, I’m also saddened to a degree by something that might have been in my own life. As a child, I was never the most athletic or in with the popular crowd. I was the quiet kid in the back of the room daydreaming out of the classroom window, transfixed by the trees, grass, clouds, and often drawing on scraps of notebook paper. While the other kids were engaged in various games and activities, I typically milled about the playground looking at different weeds and poking at anthills with a stick. The center of my play world was a small drainage ditch behind my house teaming with frogs, minnows, crayfish, and an entire universe of insects. I contracted poison ivy almost every summer from exploring a wooded area not far from home. I climbed trees, picked Blackberries, built forts, and gathered insects rather than play Little-League like everybody else.

One of my most vivid memories from sixth-grade is deciding I wanted to be a Park Ranger during career week. I didn’t exactly know what a Ranger did, but the uniform looked cool and I knew they worked in parks with animals and lots of trees. My only previous reference to what Rangers do was watching Mr. Ranger chase Yogi and Boo-Boo around Jellystone Park, but that was enough for me. As is typical in life, the road forward branches in various directions and our decisions take us to new destinations. I slowly, without even realizing it, gravitated away from my career week decision as most six-graders probably do. As I watch the PBS series, I’m taken back to the sixth-grade and what might have been.

2009 Clear Creek Challenge

The 2009 Clear Creek Challenge is in the books and ended up being a mud fest of epic proportions. Seven days of non-stop rain prior to the race helped saturate the ground to the point of overload. However, a brief reprieve from the weather the day before allowed the trail to setup overnight and was in surprisingly good shape just before the start. All it needed was for the rain to hold off until after the race. As luck would have it, a thunderstorm moved in just as everyone was staging for the start and the skies soon opened with a deluge of water.

As I waited for the start of my group, I kept wishing I wore my helmet with the visor, but left it in the car since I didn’t expect a Biblical torrent. With water dripping down my helmet and onto my cheeks, I rolled to the start line and hoped beyond hope the trail wasn’t muddy. Ten seconds to start and my jersey is completely soaked and glued to by back. I can hear rain pellets beating against my helmet and feel them stinging the back of my neck. “This is going to be miserable.” I think to myself.

We’re off and racing toward the trailhead and I’m out front. When I reach the trail, I find a small river rushing downhill. Almost instantaneously, I get sand and water in my eyes and squint as I navigate my way down the “trail”. All I want to do is stay upright and hopefully open a gap so I can clear my eyes. Maybe two miles in the trail, I catch the end of the 30-39 group and start working my way through. I also start losing my rear brakes and sliding in the corners.

Just before a series of small climbs, I’m passed by a single-speed racer only to have him stall out on several climbs and seriously slow me down. This was aggravating since I was literally on his rear wheel and wanted to get around him. All I could do was sit back and watch this guy grind up climbs I knew I could blow over. In any event, Andrea in the women’s 30-39 group is soon on my wheel. My real brakes are completely gone by this time, and I only have my front in working order. The trail is a greasy mess in places and water puddles in others. I eventually manage to pass Mr. single-speed but later clip a tree and crash as I’m sliding around. Andrea passes me as I’m getting back on my bike, but I soon catch back up and work my way around a few more in the 30-39 group. Toward the end of the first lap, I slide down a switchback and roll off the trail. I push my bike back onto the trail and get back on where the trail climbs out to the finish area. As I’m getting started, Andrea goes past but she lets me around as we’re going into the last lap.

About half way into the second lap, my front brakes start to fail, and I’m in survival mode simply trying to avoid a mechanical problem and crashes. I shift into my granny gear to avoid stressing the chain and gingerly drift through the corners. This works to a point since I did avoid mechanical problems, but not necessarily the crashes. My rear wheel slid from under me on a rocky downhill section buttered nicely with mud. After that, I decided discretion is the better part of valor and chose to walk anything that looked too hazardous. Why take chances when the race is in the bag? With three miles to go, I completely lose my brakes and I’m just trying to finish.

I end my suffering with first place in 2:19:12.

Remember

Labor Day Weekend Implosion

I got out of bed this morning at a semi-reasonable hour and eventually gathered my gear together for a few laps at Clear Creek so I can prepare for the upcoming Clear Creek Challenge. I managed to keep up a semi-race pace for about the first 25 miles, but imploded somewhere between mile 25 and 27, probably because I only had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. After my implosion, I decided to go into tourist mode and snap a few photos on my way back to the trailhead.

Armadillo

Where the trail meets the lake

Sardis Lake

One of many fast downhills

The World's Ugliest Bike

Delta 7 Arantix mountain bike

This is the Delta 7 Anthrax. I'm sure it's lightweight and climbs like a rocket, but I'm not flossing my frame after a dirty trail ride. Besides, this thing looks like something Spider-Man would ride. It is also stupid expensive at $7000 just for the frame. I’ll take a pass and use that $7000 for buy two more bikes.

Road Bike version.

A broken Delta 7 Arantix top tube and down tube, but to be fair, this looks more like an adhesive failure than a carbon failure.

I gotta get me one of these.

This caught my eye as I rode through the Square today when coming back from the mountain bike trails. I don't know what this is, but it definitely sticks out in a crowd.

My Peculiar Cat

My cat has an unusual habit. He gathers all his toy mice and deposits them in his food bowl from time to time. He also has the uncanny ability to find rubber bands and places these in his food bowl with the toy mice. I’m not sure if this is a recessive predatory instinct in action or a territorial thing, but it’s darn peculiar.

New Bridge at Whirlpool

I finished a new bridge on the Whirlpool Trails yesterday with Jason, he's from England and races cat-3. This new bridge spans a spot that is always a muddy mess during the Spring and Winter months. I've wanted a bridge here for a very long time. We now have a way to connect the Fruit Loop to the Weldy Trail. ... The blur riding across the bridge is me doing the test run. Yeah, I'm desperate for post material.

A Stinky Stanky Fail

Some days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. This was one of those days.


I came into this race with low expectations and pretty much got what I expected against a field of 10 riders in my category, one of who made the trip all the way from Waco, Texas. The Waco rider bitch slapped everyone in the time trial yesterday, so I had him pegged as the odds on favorite for the cross-country.

When my group rolls up to the line, I take a spot on outside left of the front row and instantly realize I picked a bad spot due to a small mound of dirt right where the path makes a slight left bend. Oh, Perfect!

The race official explained the rules about outside support, passing, and giving way to faster riders, then began the countdown. My start was sloppy, but I manage to make the single-track in the fifth position. The pace was fast, just like I expected, but whoever was driving the train turned on the jets about a mile into the Blue Trail and instantly fractured the group. I manage to latch onto the caboose and hold on for dear life. It wasn’t long before the course turned extremely narrow and twisty. This is not something a tall person on a big bike considers fantasy material. The leaders begin to pull away from me until they are out of sight. By this time, two or three other riders close the gap from behind and latch onto my rear wheel. The trail eventually opens up a bit, and I'm able to pickup the pace. Unfortunately, I'm not able to shake the riders on my wheel despite my best efforts. Roughly, three or four miles into the race, I start running out of gas and grow weary of dragging my competition around. They eventually pass me and I find myself riding alone for a while, so I decide to settle down into a more comfortable pace to grind it out for the first lap and into the second lap.

It isn’t long before someone else closes in on me, so I kick it up again. He literally gets RIGHT ON my wheel and we even rub tires at one point through a series of small drops. I attack on a straight section of trail and briefly open a gap. My heart rate feels like it is off the charts as I push down the trail and eventually end up catching the two who got around me earlier. There are now five of us in a tight pack hammering down the trail at breakneck speed with my heart beating against the top of my helmet.

The lead rider in the group of five soon clips a tree and goes vertical in the most spectacular fashion. I roll off the trail and manage to dodge the carnage, but also find myself out front with a small gap. My escape is short-lived as I soon have two guys firmly locked in behind me. We battle for what seemed like an eternity until both get around and attack, leaving me to ride solo again.

Something weird happens during a race when you are riding alone and you know you’re not going to place. Call it acceptance or even a shitty attitude, but you begin to think about everything but going fast. All you want to do is finish the race. You just want to ride down the trail without puking your guts up and cross the line. The downside to this is you, knowingly or not, slow down too much.

As I’m riding down the trail, I soon pass someone in an orange kit leaning against his bike as if he just finished smoking a cigarette. A little further down the trail I pass someone changing a tube. This shakes me out of my fatalistic mood and I start going a faster. Roughly halfway into the last lap, I pass the tail end of the 30-39 group. For some reason, this really helps my sour attitude as I leave him further and further behind. Then it happens. Someone closes in on me from out of nowhere and settles in directly behind me. I’m literally dying on the vine with about two-miles to go and now find myself in a battle I don’t need or want. SHIT! I speed up and manage to get the occasional gap, but nothing I can hold for any period of time. I figure it will come down to a sprint, so I settle down and just ride my own pace. I know he is long gone if he gets around me, so I just ride and try not to worry about it too much. He’s about 12-inches off my rear wheel when we go through a section of trail studded with big roots and small dips. That is when I hear a loud thud quickly followed by the sound of a bike crash. Glancing back, I see his rear wheel in the air and know he bit it on a big roots just above a sharp dip in the trail. This seals my escape, and I ride the last two miles to the line solo.


I didn’t stick around for the results, but I’m sure I placed well into the bottom half.

Stanky Creek Time Trial

I placed third at the Stanky Creek time trial today in a field of six riders for my group. My time was 14:24 over three miles, which is just absolutely pathetic. I know climbers are notoriously bad time-trialist, but I’m still disappointed with my performance. I never knew how hard to push it so basically raced my regular cross-country speed.

Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow in the cross-country race, but I doubt it. This trail is pancake flat (except for one downhill on the XC course) and doesn’t favor me at all.

This is one of the monkeys scattered around the course.

This is the "big downhill" on the XC course for Sunday.

Racer Wins Road Race - on a Mountain Bike

Here's a cool story I found on bikemagic.com.

Whyte racer wins road race - on a mountain bike
By Mike Davis
It's hard to beat a road bike on the road. Generally the best you can hope for is to grab a wheel and then time your attack so that you can pull off into a side road and hide before your lungs fall into the gutter. But Whyte-sponsored Luke Smith has managed the reasonably impressive achievement of winning a 75km road race on a mountain bike.

Having travelled to South Africa with just a Whyte 19 (and some clean pants and socks and stuff, obviously. And probably a toothbrush too), Luke had been doing a fair amount of training on the road. That's one thing, actually racing on blacktop is another. We're not quite sure how it happened, but Luke ended up on the start line in Gabarone, sat on his knobbly-shod 19 next to a load of skinny blokes on carbon road bikes with deep-section rims and all that stuff.

Over to Luke:

"The race started off a fairly decent pace with everyone keen to establish a good spot near the front of the peloton. I managed to work my way up front without too much difficulty, much to the surprise of many competitors as I rode past, my big knobbly tyres buzzing as the pace was wound up.

"The route was a fairly straightforward out and back circuit with a few corners near the finish. The wind was on our back as we headed out on the circuit which meant we would face some fairly strong winds at the turn.

"There were a couple of guys whom some friends of mine had told me to watch, one of them is apparently a pro roadie in South Africa. It was no surprise that it was these guys that made most of the attacks. What was surprising was the fact that I was able to go with them! Each time, though, we were pulled back by the main group.

"As the race neared the finish some of the riders made a last ditch effort at getting away but it was destined to come down to a sprint finish - however the guys trying to get away had done a pretty good job at stretching the field out. I managed to constantly hold second wheel behind the lead rider with the pro road rider sat closely on my wheel.

"As we hit the finishing straight I launched my attack and as I glanced back I realised I'd gapped the others. I even had enough time to make the most of the win and celebrate in style.

"The crowd and other riders were shocked that an MTB had won a road race. When they later asked what was the secret I replied, 'Whyte - Great British Mountain Bikes, they can't be beaten!' Too be honest, though, I'd really surprised myself.

Hopefully I can keep some of this form for my imminent return to the UK..."

What does this tell us about the relative merits of MTB and road bikes? Not a lot, really. We can safely conclude that Luke Smith's a pretty strong rider, though - if you want to emulate his feat we suggest that you pick your opponents with care...

Weight-Weenie Bike Lust

I love my Mavic Crossmax wheels. They are lightweight and completely bomb proof. These things have hit some seriously nasty stuff and kept rolling like a stolen truck. My Shimano XTR crank isn't shabby either. However, I’m a weight-weenie and am prone to love anything that sheds grams.

I recently stumbled upon two items that have my gram shedding heart all a flutter - the Stan’s ZTR Race wheels hovering somewhere near 1300 grams and the Race Face Next carbon crank at a slender 730 grams.



All I need to do now is win the lottery.

Six Weeks to Clear Creek Challenge

Click the image for a larger view.

The Clear Creek Challenge is 6 weeks away and it’s time to start getting serious with my training. I have a good history on this course and I want to keep the streak going. Clear Creek is an important race for me because it’s my home trail. In fact, I put this race right up there with Chickasaw Trace and Bump ‘n Grind on my value chart. This is race #7 in the SCRCS and #4 in the state series, so the big guns from Memphis should be coming down for the event as well as the usual group from Mobile and south Louisiana. I’ve given some thought to trying the cat-1 group for this race. I’ll more than likely do it if there isn’t any good competition registered for my USAC category.

My next race is this coming weekend in Memphis at the Legend of Stank Creek. I really don’t have any expectations for this race since the trail is flat & twisty, which doesn’t favor me at all, so I’m treating it as a tune up race more than anything else.

The Forgetful Mind.

I hate it when I forget things. I seem to be forgetting things more often these days. I'm not sure if I'm getting senile or if I've clipped one too many saplings while out blazing down trails. It just bugs me to no end.


Case in point: I purchased this can of mushrooms with a specific purpose in mind. I know I wanted to mix them with something but that something escapes me. As you can see, it's a cheap can of Kroger mushroom buttons, so whatever I had in mind for them was nothing fancy. Maybe it will come to me later, but for the moment, I have a can of mushrooms without a purpose.
______________________________________________________________
August 10, Edit: Spaghetti! I got the mushrooms for spaghetti!

~ Fight Like Susan ~

Elden Nelson, the Fat Cyclist, lost his wife, Susan, last night after a long bout with cancer. Affectionately known as “Fatty” to his many readers, Edlen has entertained cyclist across the country with his humorous insights and inspired with his tireless fight against cancer.

My heart goes out to Elden and his family during this very difficult time.

With deepest sympathy,
Richard

Enjoying the Fruits of My Labor

The weather has been dismal the past several days, and I have neglected my bikes in favor of doing trail work at the Whirlpool Trails here in town. However, with the break in the rainy weather today, I decided to get out and enjoy the fruits of my labor and thread a little single-track.

I could have published more photos of the trails but my camera went on the blink, probably from condensation since it was in my jersey pocket and I was sweating like a pig. It appears the dog days of August have arrived. I had to stop every mile or so to wipe the sweat out of my eyes. It was simply awful! I perspired so much while riding that I lost close to three pounds in a two-hour ride.


This used to be a very nasty dip on the Weldy Trail at the bottom of a down hill run. It totally screwed up the trail flow, so I filled it with large sticks and packed everything down with a layer of dirt and sand. I also used some large rocks I found to give it a little "edge".

This downed tree on the Stunt Trail used to bring everyone to a dead stop. I piled up logs and sticks to create a “log pile” and packed it with dirt. I promise it’s stable and fun to ride.

Too far to the left and you clip the sapling. Too far to the right and you hit the root with your tires.

There used to be a vertical drop close to eight inches between the stump and the tree that was almost imposable to get over. The worse part was a root that protruded upward and would usually clip my pedal. I solved this by cutting the root back and constructing a “ramp” from sticks and dirt. Now this section is much smoother.

This section is just crazy fast. You zip one way and zag another.

The funny thing about this sapling is I debated if I should cut it out or leave it alone. I decided to leave it alone. Well, today I clipped it with my handlebar and took a dirt dive. The sapling is bent over because I bent it that way after my collision. I'd have cut it down on the spot if I had my machete.