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.