To Sell or Not to Sell.

I'm trying to decide if I should sell my bike case or keep it. I've only used it once, which was last year for Nationals. The thing is I don’t know if I’ll need a bike case again, even though I do not have any plans to fly with my bike in the foreseeable future. Admittedly, it would be nice to have a little extra cash. It’s a HUGE case, which is good and bad. It’s good because my mountain bike is big and fits in this case. It’s bad because the case won’t fit in my Corolla and has to hang out the back of the trunk. … I just don’t know.

Riding at Whirlpool.

I woke up this morning with plans to join a regional group ride out at the Clear Creek trails, but I just couldn’t muster the motivation to get out of bed. I haven’t been sleeping well for the past few nights, so I stayed in bed until 9:30. I eventually made my way to the sofa where I slept until 10:30. I lounged on the sofa for another two hours, watching The Incredibles on the Disney Channel.

I eventually found the wherewithal to get going and decided to ride the Whirlpool trails for a couple of hours.


One of the many bridges that mysteriously spring up over night. I personally think trail gnomes build them.


This old bike has been hanging around the Stunt trail for years. We have yet to find a body.


The Stunt Bridge. You can take the bridge, ride down the long, and hop off the end, or just stick to the trail. It’s your call.


The log hop barrier. It's really not as bad as it looks.


The Creek Bridge. Yeah, that's a bad place to fall.


There are some very old graves in the middle of the Whirlpool system. Some of them date back to the early 1800’s and others appear to be older. I’ve counted about 4 or 5 in total, so I assume it is an old family plot from early settlers.


I plan on repairing some of the headstones and fencing off the area sometime soon.


This headstone is for an infant who only lived a day.

Cliff Bar Voluntary Recall

Clif Bar has announced a huge recall of its peanut containing products

On January 19, 2009, we announced a voluntary recall of 14 U.S and 4 Canadian products including CLIF Bar, CLIF Builder’s, CLIF MOJO, CLIF Kid Organic ZBaR and LUNA Bar, in the U.S. and Canada because the peanut butter in those products was sourced, for a limited period of time, from the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). PCA is a manufacturer and supplier of peanut butter for many food companies and manufacturers.

PCA is under investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a recent Salmonella outbreak thought to be caused by tainted peanut butter. In light of this investigation, and with an abundance of caution, Clif Bar & Company has enacted a voluntary recall. We take the health and safety of our consumers very seriously.

In the U.S, the following 14 products are included in the recall. Only bars with wrappers that have the following BEST BY or SELL BY codes1 on them, in all sizes and packages, are being recalled:

CLIF BAR Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch
BEST BY/SELL BY: 21JUN09 to 01OCT09 and
03NOV09 to 28NOV09

CLIF BAR Crunchy Peanut Butter
BEST BY/SELL BY: 21JUN09 to 01OCT09 and
03NOV09 to 28NOV09

CLIF BAR Peanut Toffee Buzz
BEST BY/SELL BY: 13SEP09

CLIF Builder’s Peanut Butter
SELL BY: 19JUL09 to 30SEP09 and
05NOV09 to 18NOV09

CLIF Kid Organic ZBaR Peanut Butter
BEST BY: 07JUL09 to 05SEP09 and
12NOV09

LUNA Nutz Over Chocolate
BEST BY: 29JUL09 to 03OCT09 and
11NOV09 to 14NOV09

LUNA Peanut Butter Cookie
BEST BY: 02OCT09 to 03OCT09 and
11NOV09 to 14NOV09

MOJO Honey Roasted Peanut
BEST BY: 30APR09 to 21JUN09

MOJO Mixed Nuts
BEST BY: 30APR09 to 21JUN09

MOJO Mountain Mix
BEST BY: 30APR09 to 21JUN09

MOJO Peanut Butter Pretzel
BEST BY: 30APR09 to 21JUN09

MOJO Dipped Chocolate Peanut
BEST BY:
30APR09 to 21JUN09

MOJO Dipped Peanut Butter and Jelly
BEST BY: 30APR09 to 21JUN09

MOJO Dipped Fruit and Nut
BEST BY: 30APR09 to 21JUN09

History

Crazy Drivers in LA

I found this story online and it pretty much sums up why I'll be spending most of my time riding my mountain bike. I also don't have any plans to ride my bike in LA or any other major metropolitan area for that matter. Fortunately, we don't have a lot of people like this where I live, but it only takes one nut to ruin your day. Be careful out there.

From the LA Times:
A Brentwood physician who allegedly injured two cyclists last summer by slamming on his car brakes in front of them on Mandeville Canyon Road pleaded not guilty today. Prosecutor Mary Stone alleges that Christopher Thomas Thompson hit his brakes after a confrontation with cyclists who were riding down the narrow road.

The resulting impact flung one cyclist through the car’s rear window and the other to the pavement. Thompson, 59, allegedly told police during the July 4 incident that he stopped his red Infinity sedan in front of the cyclists to “teach them a lesson.” The physician complained that cyclists frequently traveled the residential street in Brentwood and that he was “tired of them,” Los Angeles police Officer Robert Rodriguez testified during a preliminary hearing last month.

Thompson is charged with one felony count of reckless driving causing injury and two felony counts of battery with serious injury, two counts of causing “great bodily injury” to the cyclists while attempting to commit a felony and one count of mayhem for other severe injuries to one of the cyclists. He also faces one count of misdemeanor reckless driving causing injury in an incident with another cyclist on the same road in March.

Thompson and his attorney are expected to move to dismiss the case next month; a trial has been set for March 6.

Back in the Saddle ... Kinda.

The cold front that triggered my sinus problems finally gave way to warmer weather, if you consider the mid 40’s warm. In any event, I felt a little better this morning and could actually breathe without too much problem, so I decided to go out to Clear Creek to do a couple of laps on the trail. I didn’t get three miles into my ride when my chest started to hurt a little and I felt winded. To be perfectly honest, I felt horribly out of shape. It was at that moment my two-lap ride turned into a one-lap trip. It appears I’m not 100% yet.

Rather than push my luck, I settled into a somewhat leisurely pace and just tried to enjoy being outside for a change. The weather on Monday is supposed to be dry, and it‘s a holiday, so I will probably go back to Clear Creek for another lap or two.

Columbia CX is a Wash - Again!

I was supposed to be doing race # 3 of the Columbia Cyclocross series today, but that obviously didn't happen. I still have a head full of glue and now some chest congestion with a slight cough. Doing the race on Sunday isn't looking good right now, barring a miracle of some sort. This is all very frustrating for me because I've looked forward to the Columbia series for a while. I had big plans of doing the "A" race, but now I'll just have to wait for the Bama 'Cross Series. My 2009 race season is of to a "wonderful" start. I'm gong to go to bed now.