Almost fast, not quite last.

I think the squirrels and bunnies dug up my tulips and ate them over our extended winter. All I could think about during most of today's race at Rock Cut was bacon. Never a good sign. I felt good and strong over the first lap, even though I was shown at the start that I can't start expert fast. The mud holes were so bad that I would say they were almost demoralizing. They felt like they were sucking us into the earth, and loaded up the bike something fierce. I made the rookie mistake of trying to ride away from a couple of the other single speeders too early in the race(while also hungry), when I should have rode with them and waited. In the process of trying to drop them I gave myself a double whammy pop and bonk, followed by a series of smaller pops. Needless to say half a lap later those guys came back, then passed me up just as I had washed out and hit the dirt on a sharp left. I just rode the rest of the race at a survival pace mostly, then started to recover and feel a bit better in the third lap after popping a gel (too late).

Today showed me in a rather brutal fashion that I ain't no expert yet. I think I'm going to start the WORS series in Comp SS again and see how that goes. Talking to Rick afterward in the bike wash line, he seemed to be reinforcing my lean toward Comp SS. I have mad respect for the guy, and he has been racing a whole lot longer than I have, so I think I've made up my mind for now. Besides, it sounds like most of the single speeders I started in sport with last year will be there, so it should be hella more fun than getting stomped every race. At least as a Comp single speeder, I might only be intermittently stomped.

We were also shown today that the universe is in perfect balance. I found out after finishing my race that I had won an 8G ipod Nano w/ arm strap, then later we discovered that we had lost the camera. We might still be in the black though, since the camera was 5 years old and the size of a brick. If you find an old Sony camera with photos on it of a painfully average bike racer, let me know.

Mmmmmm.... Dirt.

We are a couple of losers don'tcha know? We had never been to the kettles, so we figured why not go check it out on the first off road Saturday of the year. It seems that all of the off roading types from the Milwaukee metro area had the same idea, so we got to see a bunch of those folks. I got my first exposure to the trail system from the vantage point of Ron's wheel, which is to say I didn't exactly get to relax and take in the view. The place was in great shape, and it is a really cool trail system (duh, says the entire upper Midwest). The signage is set up in such a way that even a dumb ass such as myself can't get lost. Ron came over after my first turn out and coughed up a Mt. Dew to reward my mid-winter reading comprehension skills (I didn't remember that until much later, but I was pretty sure I wasn't being rewarded for barely hanging on to what was probably his lazy day pace.) Sheri explored the trails with her new sled for awhile while Rowan and I worked on riding without the training wheels and playing some kickball. Afterward I got to head out again for a solo blue loop hoping to find my single speedy legs out there somewhere. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like they stay over the winter even if you ride a lot, they have to pop up and grow again like tulips. Speaking of tulips, another sign the off road racin' season is upon us: the truck smells heavily of heinous anus biker ass again. Ahhhh, spring.

Bleeding for Singletrack

We Survived Winter 2007/2008

Cheers. It's official.

Str8t h8t

I had some random disco song floating around in my head all morning on Saturday, and knew it would spell D-O-O-M for my H8TR performance. Luckily I was able to force a switch to the much more applicable "Straight Hate" from Sepultura during the neutral roll out. That's better.

I was shown rather quickly when we arrived @ Midvale that I don't have much for throttle response yet, but did feel quite comfortable pushing a working pace. That is probably about right for where I should be right now: no race specific acceleration, but very comfy on the bike in general. I ended up trading pulls with RonK for the majority of the race. We never caught the chasers but we made good time when we arrived back in town. Sped through town with a group consisting of Ron, myself, Aris (or one of them Peterses), Fang, and a couple others I don't know. I made a bad call when we got to Brearly and yelled "left"! Aris and one other followed and we were immediately caught at a light, so we lost the rest of the group for the remainder. I rolled into the lot around ?10th? I believe, with tennis ball sized knots of H8T in my hamstrings.

50 miles of western Dane yesterday was sufficient to work out the knots while cashing what was left of my legs simultaneously. It's a good time for a rest week. Tonight I inject the Kona with Stans and Blue Blood in preparation for next week,..... or the week after.

Rain, Snow, or Turkeys.

Front page news in Madison.

Rigid 16er Single Speed

After Rowan's lackluster WORS performances last year (he was girl'd a few times), we decided it was time to look into his equipment (and eat our vegetables). He is rolling big 16er wheels now. After countless hours spent reading the MTBR forums, it was time to sip the 16er Kool-Aid. Sure, they will never accelerate as quickly as his 12" wheels did, nor be as light; but the improved angle of attack should help him carry more momentum over the obstacles that aren't on the kids courses. They may also make for an easier weening from the training wheels.