A nifty knit bike

I happened upon this nifty knit bike the other day as I was walking to the courthouse to pay the trash collection fee. It was leaning against the wall outside the local yarn and knitting store. This thing absolutely made my day.

Other Blog Sites

I'm thinking about moving my blog.

http://www.weebly.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/
http://www.tumblr.com/
http://wordpress.com/
http://drupal.org/
http://www.squarespace.com/
http://www.xanga.com/

Serious Skills.

Thinking Ride

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, so on Sunday I decided to take the mountain bike out for some gravel road exploring in the Holly Springs National Forest. It’s easy to think when you’re in the middle of nowhere specific and the mind is free to drift with the currents of contemplation. As I rode along with only the sound of crunching gravel under my tires and the occasional slap of the chain moving between cogs, I began sorting through all the emotions and options racing through my mind.

1. I’m not thrilled with the prospect of teaching in the public school system given all the emphasis on standardized tests and the general state of schools today. While I love the idea of teaching and opening up young minds to learning, I do not want to get into the political power struggle that now envelops public education. It’s become too easy to blame the teacher for everything, and I’d rather not have my career hanging on some standardized test score. I could offer my own solutions to the problem, but that’s another post altogether.

2. I can’t help but feel that I don’t fit into the general political/social climate of the Deep South. I’m way too socially liberal compared to the populace and the things I enjoy doing most (biking, hiking, learning about different cultures, nature, and watching documentary films) seem to be uncommon pastimes here.

3. I could always go back to school and complete my Ph.D. to teach at the university level. The only negative I see here is the “publish or perish” mentality at so many colleges. I’d rather teach and let others toy with theory. Taking the adjunct route would likely involve a serious pay cut.

4. I need a best friend. It’s not easy being single in a small college town and an introvert on top of that. I need to make an effort to put myself out here more often. Take a chance needs to be my new mantra. This is going to take some effort on my part.

5. I could always go back to advertising, but I left that cut-throat world long ago and really have no interest in ever seeing it again.

6. I can stay the course, ride out the storm, and hope for better sailing ahead.

When you are in deep thought, it’s easy to get lost inside yourself and actually get yourself lost for real. Somewhere between sorting out the things in my head and trying to navigate poorly marked Forest Service roads, I missed a turn and kept pedaling north. I knew I was headed in the wrong direction when I saw the highway 30 radio tower in the distance and the sun was to my left rather than my right.

That’s when it happened.

I looked down from the tower to see a small group of zebras in a pasture running away as if being pursed by a pride of lions. “There are no zebra in Mississippi”, I thought to myself. I stopped along the side of the road and immediately reached for my camera. I just stood there on the side of the road looking at these magnificent animals and completely forgot about everything. The world just stopped and so did my worries, if only for a moment.

As seen in Bicycling Magazine

I found another photo I thought was lost forever. This one appeared in Bicycling Magazine in either 2002 or 2003 if I remember correctly. I'm forth from the right in the orange jersey.

Something has to give.

Maybe it’s a midlife crisis, a mild form of depression, or just plain ole boredom, but I need to change my environment. Something has to give. I’m burning out at my job, and I’m sick of the oppressively conservative political/social climate here in Mississippi. I’m not talking so much about the republican kind of conservatism but more the afraid to think out of the box and move forward brand. I need an adventure, and I’ve been thinking about moving out of the country to pursue a teaching position someplace vastly different from where I stand now. Since I only speak English, I’m limited to a handful of countries: Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand are the natural front runners. I’ve never been to any of these places and really don’t know where to begin on immigration, so maybe the odds are against me. What I do have in my favor, I suppose, is that I’m not married and don’t have to worry about dragging a family half way across the globe on some hair brained pilgrimage that could very well end tragically if it actually happens at all. Maybe I’m just frustrated and need to vent since I’ve been down this path before. I can recall wanting to move to Vancouver in the not so distant past for the very same reasons I want to pack up and go right now. That obviously didn’t happen, but I feel more … I don’t know – frustrated …bored … lonely – than I can ever recall feeling before, so something has to give.

What’s actually involved in immigrating to a new country anyway? I’m sure it’s a long and drawn-out process with all sorts of legal hoops to jump through and mounds of paperwork. The uncertainty of it all is what makes it such a frightening prospect to consider. Still, starting over someplace new and reinventing yourself is more than appealing to me.



(Edit) Okay, I'm feeling better now that I vented, but I'm still burned out with my job.

I hate when I forget the camera

I did my first group ride since moving into the new house and managed to forget my camera. I'm mad at myself because the group stopped along the way to tour the North Mississippi Fish Hatchery. It was really interesting. I never knew Koi are used as feeder fish. Anyway, I managed to get 80.67 miles at a brisk pace and a pretty good tan line on my legs.

It's not going to happen

I had planned on upgrading my component group to a Sram XX 2x10, but it's starting to look bleak at the moment. The plan-B option of even going to the new Shimano XTR 2x10 is on hold. It's not that my current parts are lame or even all that worn out. I run a mix of 9-speed XTR and Sram XO. It works well for me, but I want to shave a little more weight off the bike and run something better for race season. However, the economy is still in the tank and the employment numbers continue to drag everything else down, so I'll hold off on the upgrade and just stuff money in the bank in case things get even worse.

Man vs. Food

Everytime I watch Man vs. Food on the Travel channel, I'm amazed at the amount of crap Adam Richman shoves in his face, and I'm even more amazed his heart hasn't seized up on camera or that he hasn't at least puked on his shoes. For those of you unfamiliar with this show, Adam travels around the country taking on various "big food" challenges like eating a 7 1/2 pound hamburger in 30 minutes or devouring a pizza the size of a card table. It's insane! The daily recommended fat intake is around 65 grams for a 2000 calorie diet. I can't even begin to calculate how much fat, cholesterol, and sodium Adam is eating in one sitting. It has to be enough to last months. By all accounts, Adam Richman should have died last year.

Another One.

Is anyone really shocked that Alberto Contador tested positive for clenbuterol? Let's face it, the Tour de France is a magnet for doping cheats. They all deny it after testing positive, of course. Landis denied it but later confessed. The same holds true for Tyler Hamilton and a host of others. Has anyone ever witnessed someone saying, " Okay, you got me. I doped."? I don't know if Contador's story about tainted beef is true or not, but I'm getting damn jaded with all this nonsense.

Heroes

I've given a good bit of thought lately about the people in cycling I most admire, my heroes if you will. It took several lists and a good bit of revising, but I've settled upon these fifteen for reasons not exclusively related on on the bike performance.



Georgia Gould: In our age of prima donna athletes with massive egos and an inability of stay out of the criminal justice system, Georgia Gould is living proof nice people can win. In Georgia's case she proves the good guy can win big. She exploded onto the racing scene in 2006 with a national title. In 2007, Georgia swept all six events in the National Mountain Bike Series and made the Olympic squad in 2008. In 2009, she won the National short track championships as well as the US Cup mtb title. Not content with mountain bike dominance, Georgia is also a force to be reckoned with on the pro cyclocross circuit as well. Not too shabby for a reformed smoker, huh? Her skills aren't limited to the race course either. Georgia also graduated from culinary school and often posts recipes on her blog. What I admire most about Georgia is her total awesomeness. She's one of the best athletes you'll ever meet, and her success hasn't gone to her head. She just rocks!

Willow Koerber: What's not to admire about Willow Koerber? She is not only as one of the best American mountain bikers on the pro circuit but also one of the world's best. Just to add a little icing on the cake, Willow is the first pro mountain biker to make the World Championship podium on a 29er. That alone is enough to put her in my hero book. Still, Willow Koerber is one amazing racer. After struggling in the 2008 season both physically and mentally, Willow wondered if it was time to quit racing. Fortunately for mountain biking fans, Willow found her center of gravity, a new focus on life, and moved to Durango, Colorado, in June 2009 to work with Rick Crawford who owns Colorado Premier Training. Once in Durango, Willow pushed the reset button oh her life and career. It wasn't long before Willow started making regular podium appearance again with a bronze in the 2009 World Championships and again in the 2010 championships. This what I admire most about Willow; She was able to bounce back after her career and life appeared to hit rock bottom and find her place on the podium again.

Mary McConneloug: Mary McConneloug is the quintessential mountain biker. She travels around the country with her husband, Michael Broderick, in a ford van which also serves as team bus and a camper trailer which is home. In fact, Mary and Michael are the entire Kenda/Seven team. I'm not talking about just the racers but the TEAM - mechanics, logistics, cooks, EVERYTHING! How freaking cool is that? What is even more special is Mary represented the U.S. at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and again in the 2008 Beijing games. She has also won national titles and made World Cup appearances all without the benefit of massive team/corporate support.

Katherine (Katie) Compton: Simply put, I admire Katie Compton for her uncanny ability to suffer. When it comes to short track and cyclocross, Katie Compton is a runaway train rolling down hill without brakes on greased rails. She attacks from the start and keeps her head down until she finishes or explodes in a ball of fire. She's the legend. It's hard to believe she has asthma and still destroys the competition.




Gary Fisher: Gary Fisher is the father of the 29er movement. Enough said.













Others I admire:

Lance Armstrong: Seven consecutive tour wins and beat cancer.
George Hincapie: America's premier classics rider.
Levi Leipheimer: Founded the animal-welfare group Freedom Hill.
Geoff Kabush: Gotta love the sideburns.
Tinker Juarez: Racing for over 30 years and still going strong.
Heather Irmiger: Marathon champ & SSWC champ.
Todd Wells: Probably the best male U.S. mtb racer.
Catharine Pendrel: Always a threat.
Alison Dunlap: Put U.S. mtb racing on the map.
Major Taylor: A true hero. Raced in the 1800's & constantly battled racism.

What I hate about Blogger

Editing text and images in Blogger is beyond annoying. It's just downright cumbersome and anything but editor/designer friendly. I'm seriously tempted to pull up my blog and move somewhere else with better tools and more design options. Seriously!

I have Columbines!

I tried and tried all summer to get some Columbine seeds to sprout but nothing ever happened. Two pots of Columbines and one pot of Shasta Daises just sat there looking empty day after day. I figured it might be too hot for anything to sprout, so started a new pot of Columbines inside the house, and they finally came up. Now all I have to do is keep then alive all winter so I can transfer them to a shady spot on the side of the house. My big plan is to create a little piece of the Rocky Mountains on one side of the house. It remains to be seen if I can make it work.

Hummingbirds

I put out both my Hummingbird feeders Sunday and managed to attract quite a few birds by Monday morning. In fact, I had so many birds I went down to Home Depot Monday evening and purchased another feeder just to accommodate the crowd. I'm not 100% sure what species I have buzzing around my feeders, but I think it is either Broad-tailed or Ruby-throated or a mix of both. They rarely stay still long enough for me to get a good look.

I'm sure this is a female.

This is the same female pictured above with what I think is a Ruby-throated male coming in to claim the feeder.

Northern Routes

I took advantage of the great weather today and set out to ride my old northern routes. I used to ride north of town almost exclusively when I lived in the apartment, but haven't managed to go that way since I moved back in December. Now that I've worked out a way to get to these routes from my house, I plan on getting north of town more often in the future.

Just one of the many hay fields north of town.

These silky pockets are caused by web worms. They are quite common this time of year.

I think I saw 4 or 5 cars once I got away from town.

This is a private air strip on Ridge Road.

Harvest time.

I stopped to feed the horsed on Ridge Road.

Kudzu. This stuff grows about 12 feet per year and can completely envelop everything.

Lots of smooth pavement and no cars.

This is why I love Portland, Oregon!

Foam machine cyclocross barriers!

'Cross Crusade Madness!

And people who just love to ride!
I LOVE Portland, Oregon!

A Pain in the Ass.

I went mountain biking Saturday and got stung by either a hornet or yellow jacket. I was a little less than a mile from getting back to the car when I felt a hot nail going into my butt. Yes, I got stung in the ass. Anyway, I unleash a string of obscenities and almost crashed trying to stop. I grabbed the back of my shorts thinking maybe a spider got in there but that didn’t help and the pain got more intense. I’ve been stung by a wasp before and that felt like somebody placing a hot match against my skin. This thing was much worse. It literally felt like a hot nail being jabbed in me.

When I got home, I iced the area down and took some Advil. I now have a red place on my butt about 4 inched around and it’s starting to itch.

2007 Memphis CX Photos Found!

I found some photos online that I thought were lost forever when my computer got hit by a virus several months ago. These are from the 2007 Memphis Cyclocross Championships. I remember this race because it was brutally cold and the wind that day only made things worse. As bad as it was, the Cullman CX race was by far the worst ever because it snowed during the race and the course included a water barrier. Anyway, I'm thrilled to have found these. I only wish I had a record of my race resume'. I lost 11 years worth of race data and could have sworn I had a backup file somewhere.

Here I am at the start line trying to figure out my plan of attack.

Check out that form on the barriers!

I rode this guy's wheel for the last two laps and attacked on the big climb.

Waiting for my moment on the climb.

Attack!

It's Hot Outside.

You know it's hot out when you see a cat resting on a busy sidewalk on the Oxford Square.

Best Post Race Interview EVER!

Open letter to Avid/Sram.

Dear Avid/Sram,

Your Elixir CR brakes suck! That's right, they totally blow. You usually make pretty good components, but these things are crap and you should be ashamed for selling them to the public. I bought a pair of your Elixir CR brakes in July of 2009 and they have been the bane of my existence ever since. I can't count the number of rides these things have ruined. The problem is the rear brake fades over a period of about 30 to 40 days until it is useless and the lever touches the handelbar when squeezed. I first thought this was caused by a poor factory bleed, but after having them bled 6 times by 4 different mechanics it became obvious the problem couldn't be solved by simply bleeding the air out of the lines. I'm not the only one having issues with these things either. The Internet if full of post and complaints about the Elixir CR brakes fading, failing, vibrating, and rubbing. Avid must have gotten a ton of complaints because they released a service update online about bleeding the Elixir brakes. You'd think Avid informed all their dealers about this, but who really knows given the obvious lack of quality control. However, this "new method" hasn't solved my problem and I'm tired of dealing with it. I'm done with the Elixir CR brakes and have ordered a pair of Formula R1 brakes as replacements. I also saved myself some weight in the process. Congratulations Avid, you blew it with these things.

Trying to get back in the groove.

I decided to test myself today by riding my mountain bike from my house out to the Clear Creek trail and back to town where I'd pick up some more single-track at the Whirlpool Trails next to the Ole Miss campus. My calculations put the mileage around 52 miles, but it actually turned out to be more. I felt good until just over the 40 mile mark but it wasn't too bad. By mile 50 I hit a wall but was still able to pedal through it. All in all, I did pretty good for someone who hasn't trained or ridden much this year.

The Moots waiting outside the garage. It won't be that clean again for a long time.

Entering the park at the Clear Creek recreation Area.

The return "leg" from Clear Creek on 314.

60.11 miles on a mountain bike in 5:19:09. About 37 miles of pavement, 22 miles of single track, and the rest was power-line.

Wounded Butterfly

I found this butterfly crawling across the mountain bike trail today, probably the victim of a bird attack. I didn't know what to do when I saw it and I felt sorry for the poor thing, so I picked it up and hiked a mile back along the trail with the it sitting in my hand while leading my mountain bike with the other. I eventually reached the smooth section of trail where I could ride back to the car with the butterfly hanging on to my glove. When I got home, I put it on a slice of water melon from the forth of July figuring it needed the sugar water. I assume butterflies eat nectar like hummingbirds.

In any event, It looks like I have a pet butterfly to tend to since I do not think it will ever fly again.

(July 7, UPDATE) The butterfly is now in the care of a class. It has its own butterfly cage with fresh fruit, sugar water, and lots of people to care for it.