The Fire Is Out

The Giant is fixed, shifting pretty flawlessly, the rear wheel is a little off but its going to take a beating at the Landmine race, so you would think it would be easy to get back out there. The weather, the lack of sleep, the crap food I ate the other night, whatever the excuse, the legs are just tired, the brain is tired, the soul is gone. Complete flame out. However i found a killer deal on some maxxis mimo CX tires so I went ahead, sold some stuff on craigslist, ordered up the new tires and hopefully they will arrive so i can mount them on the ESC-GT bike and get out there to see if this CX-stuff is for this amigo. We'll see how it goes.
Another busy week behind the lab bench, taking care of business as usual. The little one and I spent the whole day together yesterday, we both were pretty wiped out at the end of the day and glad to see mom arrive home. Time well spent, soon on the menu...Gloucester CX Event, BC Football and Bruins Games. There will be plenty of things for him to see and drool over, becuase he is great at looking and drooling. It's his bread and butter.
Football season is upon us. Carson Palmer looked amazing the other night, solid passing, got knocked around, his knee looked good. We'll have to see how the season starts but do I dare be optimistic, these are the "Bungles"....but with Chad, Rudi, TJ, Def and Palmer all back in the mix.....hmmm
Alright, this update has been rather uneventful. Nothing new to report, it's been one of those weeks, weekends, whatever where time has passed and your still not sure what you have done. So much like the week, this update is exactly that...space...check out vuth's blog, he's got stuff updated on it

The Muffler Chronicles

So, I guess 7 years on the B-pipe isn't too bad considering the car isn't driven too much. Its tough to tell from the pictures but, the pipe rusted out and broke off right before the resonator. Right after the aft-catalytic converter heat shield. This of course happened just as I left work. But with a little imagination, the experienced wisdom of Evil Sievel custom exhuast repair, lots of picture hanger wire, and some MacGyver ingenuity, the civic made it home. I'm sure most of Cambridge, Watertown, Waltham and surrounding community heard the beast coming home. I think I might have woken up the entire campus of Harvard driving down memorial drive. People always have said that the civic is a head turner with the good looks but now it really gets your attention in that "holy christ what is that awful sound" kind of way. Looks like I'm taking a trip over to Hondaa King Auto Repair

Monday...what

It was one of those weekends where you aren't too too busy, or at least you don't have alot planned but the time just flies by and before you know it, it's sunday 11pm and you realize that in just a few short hours (and run-on sentences) that you have to be at work. Basically my weekend was concluded with some bike rebuilding with the help of Vuth, the new master mechanic. After Harris Cyclery put the new BB on, the chain-line was off on the front derailleur. A new cable and an hour of labor, its working pretty good now. Next up was the rear wheel on the schwinn that took a beating in the past week. It was all out of true but now is moving along pretty smoothly. Master Mechanic approved
Monday was going to be a long day and it turned out to be pretty interesting. Came across a last minute Red Sox / Yankees ticket. Pretty sweet. Bleacher seats, so there was sure to be some action between NY and Red Sox fans. Maybe a little jawing, some punches, anything. I was a little surprised, the fans were pretty quiet and rather mellow. The players were pretty mellow as well. The sox lost and too top it off, my experiments in the lab didn't work either. So monday came and went in less than spectacular fashion.
Anybody know anything about cheap CX rims, just an idea of what I might need. I did however get to ride the bike home and I tried pushing every pedal stroke, every second only to bonk about 20 minutes...so if CX is gonna be that intense..I have to figure something out.
Well, i gotta run and check on the little one, see what he is drooling on now.

Happy Parent and Miles Logged

Yesterday was a great afternoon for the legs, 23.52 miles in 1:22:31. That was some motoring for me...ok...it was amazing motoring for me. It was such a great day for a ride i would have liked to keep going but the thought of Mexican food at home was too tempting. Got some nice Tacos de carne asada w/ gaucamole, refrieds..hmm tastey good. This morning the legs felt a little empty on juice however I was able to motor along at a pretty good clip avoiding joggers and rollerbladers along the river. I think once college is back in session it will be time for a new route to work. It's an idea. One of many that circulate in this empty noggin'.
Enjoy the pict, becuase that is one happy parent right there and one happy kid...i'm sure all the girls were checkin' him out, I think I was the accesory at that point.
On a funny note, a mouse crapped in my little zen garden at work...it was a pretty interesting way to start the morning...guess the garden doubles as a litter box!
Till the next time, the chores are adding up, the list is getting long, better get cranking on it before the leaves start dropping

The verdict

The bike has been repaired. If Norm couldn't fix it, no one could. Can't wait to get the old' gal back this weekend. Even though the cash was supertight and I had to go with a lowly shimano XT bottom bracket, i'm hoping it will hold up as long as the race face did. we will see.
Last night..Aidans first Red Sox game. He was more into people watching, finding the blinking lights than he was into watching the game. He'll soon learn. It was a great time and he behaved really well. Many thanks to nancy and jeff for the tickets and the ride over. I think Aidans and Beatrice (spelling?) first date out went pretty well,ahahaha. Picts will be posted of this monumentous occasion. Its not often that I get to go to a sox game but with him it was a new experience and he did pretty well. Too bad he didn't sleep well last night cuase i'm feeling a little tired today
To the morning ride in, great morning to get out and ride around the river. IT was a great ride but the legs feel like trash. Can't get out of the saddle and crank. Maybe the CNS is just tired and I need some time off the saddle. a rest week. Until I download those picts....thats about it

Hodges Damn Destruction

Sunday, at 9:30 am I knew exactly what was needed for this style of course, all out pedaling. The course was completely different this year and during the pre-ride I heard a little creaking from down below. Bottom bracket...its made noise before so I didn't think much of it. We get called to the line. It was a long gradual fire road of loose rock and gravel until you enter the first stint of single track. Whistle blows, we all take off. I couldn't get clipped in right away so I had to make up ground and was able to get to second right when we turn into the woods...and then it happened. That strange noise, something you have never heard before but you know instantly that it cannot be good. Creak, Groan, and an odd scraping sound. Bottom bracket just self destructed but it wasn't all lost yet, I managed to hold first down for about a mile before the wobbly spindle became a floating wobbly spindle and I lost any shifting. My bike was in full ghost shift mode. I mananged the first lap and even did the second lap. Trying to run, walk, huff and puff through it. I figured any kind of aerobic training would be good and I haven't run in MTB shoes before so why not. FInished the race dead last but there will not be a DNF next to my plate #. I think I only finished about 14 minutes off the leader.
The bike is going ot need some serious work. The bottom bracket cups could be siezed in the frame but Norm over at the Cyclery is gonna work the black magic and coax it out....I hope.....he had a reserved optimism about it. Till the next time, the sounds of shredding steel will sure haunt my dreams

Updation

Yeah, thats a made up word.
So, its been a long time I have not seen the duo of John and Mike. I haven't seen John since the wedding (left) and Mike since...who knows when (right). It was a good weekend to get the old family and friends reunion together. As kids the four of us use to raise such hell. Terrorize Holyoke community college on our dirt bikes, fireworks at the resavoir, chillin on the beach or hitting up the arcades, you name it! It was great to catch up with them and have a few beers over old laughs. The weekend and few days off was much needed. If it wasn't for this annoyingly itchy poison ivy, it would have been perfect. Too, Jack, sorry we didn't get to down a few pounders. I gotta get my act together. One day soon, schaefer pounders or Long trails will be flowing while the grill is cooking up something tastey. Congrats on the promotion too.
Has it been that long already. With this poison ivy everywhere, the lycra has not been comfortable and my form of late has suffered. I rode the scwhinn tonight up through arlington and lexington only to find that legs are mush, and I couldn't push the pedals. Ah, maybe tommorow will be a better day for dancin'. Gotta keep the miles up for this weekends race. Its gonna be fast and not technical so I'm already at a disadvantage. Techincal is where i'm pretty good at, its those long stretches of all out pedaling that just sap my energy. Anyhow, race this weekend, race in a few few weeks and then MTB season is over and I have to give a thought the CX season....can I handle it...can it handle me...

The itch that you can't scratch

Poison Ivy...AHAHAH.
I have it on my face, arm, legs, back, stomach
Teaches me not to fall again....so itchy
i just want to itch itch itch

Fort Rock Rumble

wow, bumps, bruises, scrapes, broken parts and a huge smile was all that was left on my face at the end of this race. a great trip for sure. I have never ridden Fort Rock in my life but from Vuths accounts, its suppose to be a great area to ride so I couldn't pass up this oppurtunity. Since time is short, my basic recap or what I can remember was as follows: Vuth got a great start and I followed him up the hill and we entered the single track one two three. It was a great start for both of us, making everybody behind us work. Good strategy. About 30 seconds into the woods I was already hopping off hte bike and runing over rock gardens to gain any advantage. IT worked pretty well, those cyclocross guys have something with all that dismounting and running. I was ablte to keep moving forward and I caught most of the senior 1 men pretty quickly. By mile 4 I was on the tail of some kid on a cannondale scalpel that I spoke to before hte race. He was pretty cocky so I rode his tail and kept gunning by him until he cracked. I think he finished two minutes behind me in the senior 1 men. By mile 6 my back was really tightening up and I took huge spill off this long wood bridge. I believe that is where i got all my poison ivy from!!!! Managed to break my computer and bend a brake lever. But pushed it to hte line and had a great finish. Vuth had a great finish for his first race, if it wasn't for his flat I think he could of had 4th place easily and with some more time...3rd. It was a great race day, a great time, thanks EFTA and everybody...alright, its late and the poison ivy is really itchy

Mild Heat

Wednesday had to be the hottest day of the year for me by far. The morning commute to work was bearable but you could already notice the mercury tipping 90 degree's by 9am. It was quite the shock to the system leaving work and trying to ride in the stiffling heat. My brain just cooked under the helmet. I managed to ride until goose bumps started forming and I was getting the chills, hello heat exhuastion. At that point I salvaged what was the rest of the ride home. I could even wear the HRM becuase it kept sliding out of position, i was sweaty mess.
Looks like Fort Rock Revenge is going to get some good weather and the rain doesn't look like it will materialized. This could mean a race without drivetrain issues but somehow I just got the feeling I jinxed that.
I don't know what to think about the cyclocross racing idea. It sounded exciting at first but now that I am starting to see CX guys out training, I am wondering if it is a sound decision. We will have to wait and see. Right about now I could use a Bratwurst, a burger and a nice plate of steamers. Have you ever craved food so bad that you can taste it!
Last night, we tried a new sub shop. Mimo's. It's a little tiny Italian sub shop with great food. We both got smalls to split and share, they were HUGE. A Meatball sub and a Chicken parm sub, both were great. Good amounts of meat and sauce. Pretty inexpensive and low key. I could definately find myself eating there again...and again..and again.

Say What

Something about riding home after "one of those days" at work that relaxes the mind. Work lately hasn't been the biggest priority. I have a 14 pound creature at home that likes constant movement and motion, which is fine with me becuase i can never sit still anyways, always gotta keep shuffling around. not too mention he is growing at such a rapid pace, everyday he does something new. Like the other night, he spit up down my shirt and in my hair...something new!!! Monday I was able to turn a 25 mile ride out of my commute home. Really kept the pace up and about 2 miles from home, I ran out of energy, the tank had run dry, Welcome to Bonkville...population..ONE. A good ride but it was getting steamy. It's only going to get worse as the week progesses, a predicted 100 degrees on wednesday. I can't even remember what that is gonna feel like. Heat wave, global warming.....just means the beers will taste that much colder! Now thats spin...
Something I can't figure out. Why is it, when you are driving on the highway and all the sudden everybody slams on their brakes...only to see a state trooper with someone already pulled over. I don't quite get it. Why slam on your brakes? Do you think the police officer is going to decide that rather than giving a ticket to the person he already has pulled over, he is gonna run back to his cruiser, jump in and chase you down. What suddenly makes you a better person to ticket. Just an everyday occurance.
Can't stop the rambling, it's just dribbling out this evening.
So, Sunday...the MTB race at FORT ROCK, Exeter NH. This should prove interesting as saturday is my company outing and it's open bar. Hmm...Choices...i'm sure all you can eat BBQ and cold suds will win over smart / healthy eating and sunday will turn into a great Lactic acid suffer festival of pain..Bring it on...well..only mildly. The great news is that Vuth is going to attempt his first race. I'm telling him to take it easy, ride clean lines and don't go above his limits on the first lap...but since I've never raced there before, i'm just as beginner as he is. It will be fun regardless.