It's Useless to Resist

I keep seeing more and more changes in my direct, and indirect life. Some of them eye opening, and some of them just plain scary.

I was just over at Drunkcyclist, and saw a new post from Big Johnny. For those who follow, Big Johnny was the main guy behind DC, but he hasn't posted much in quite awhile. His buddy Gnome, has been picking up the slack. I've been wondering what happened to the guy. Is he just over it? Nothing to say? I knew he recently moved to another part of Arizona. Did the absence of his friends kill his muse? I just found out, through this last post, that he moved to start law school. He was hit by a car a couple of years back, and spent a lot of time healing a broken back. Now he's started law school so that eventually he can help others like him, who just get screwed by some jackass's lack of control. I hate that he's not on the site, constantly berating the world with his caustic sense of humor, but I'm glad he found a path to walk. He seemed to be just floating after the accident.

I first heard about Drunkcyclist through, Kevin Noble, our Kona rep when I worked at Joe's. Kevin is still at Kona, but his rowdy days have calmed too, I think, with a new kid in the house. Kevin seemed surprised that I had never heard of the site, but I was pretty much internet challenged back then. All I'd heard of was ebay, and as a shop guy, that was the devil.

Just for a little more indirect weirdness, my favorite cycling writer is Mike Ferrentino, over at Bike Magazine. His first, or maybe second, Grimy Handshake article fully reflected my understanding of bike shop customers, from behind the counter. I realized he was a greasy handed, kindred spirit. Another sucker working in his passion, to satisfy the not so thankful public. I couldn't have been happier when he was named editor for Bike, But alas, it was short lived. He took another job, I think with Santa Cruz. Now I'm just glad he still writes his column. Bike just wouldn't be the same without him.

Over the years of reading Bike and Drunkcyclist, I found out that each of these guys is about my age, all worked at one time or another in bike shops, and still carried a torch for the two wheeled, self propelled world. Even better, I found out they all knew each other. At one of the big 24 hour races, there was a media division. Big Johnny, Ferrentino, and Nobles, all on the same team. Sometimes it's just strange how the world ties things together.

On the homefront, my buddy Paulie is leaving on another African adventure, soon. He's pretty amped, and I like to see his enthusiasm. He called me up, all excited, and asked if I would mind being a reference, for this job with Tour de Afrique. Sure enough, I get a call a day later, from a super heavy french accent, presumably based out of Canada. He asks a lot of questions about Paul's character and demeanor. His last question was "What would you say Paul's weakness would be on this trip?". I told him" I know it sounds like I'm just singing Paul's praises, but the truth is he's hard working, self motivated, a strong cyclist, can talk to most anyone, and has spent several years in Africa. What else would you want? The truth is I hate to see him go." The interviewer says the trip is only for a few months and and that Paul will be back. I told him, "Yeah, that's what he said when he joined the Peace Corp. I'm going to spend a year in Africa!" Four years later, Paul found his way home. I think this job is perfect for Paul. And I look forward to following along on his blog.

I guess this issue with my foot/ankle has opened my eyes lately. I was faced with the thought of never riding again, and the fight isn't over, and that spooks me. I'm 38 years old, and have been riding since 1990. 99% of my friends and acquaintances were met through, or are tied to, cycling. The thought of possibly losing something this intertwined with my life really kind of freaks me out. I realize that life would not be over, just a lot different.

It would be time for the next big chapter. I like to think that I like variety, but the truth is, I'm not so down with BIG change. Small changes are nice to vary the ride, but big changes rock the boat. In the meantime, I'll be fighting the good fight, trying to reconcile the thought of change in case of failure, or maybe I'll just be looking around for a good life preserver.

***Big thanks to Juancho for catching an error. I'd cut 10 years out of my riding career.

Whose Line is it Anyway?

"My momma makes baked beans! I love shag carpet! Now you boys need to get the f*(k outta here!"

***

I'm dying to post on this event, but the truth of the matter is, I'll never do it the justice that the author of the above quote most certainly will. In the meantime, this quote just had to see the light of day.

It was just a matter of time...

Some wise ass finally went and named a hill after yours truly. T-town is lucky that way, we have a plethora of wise asses. That's good for me, though. Lets me blend in.


All wise ass shenanigans aside, what are you doing this weekend? Sitting around, watching the boob tube, eatin' cheetos, wondering why your nether regions are turning orange? Get up off the couch, and head over to Rickards high school on Saturday afternoon, or Sunday morning, or both! Folks will be in town to rail their skinny tire bikes at the speed of light. And when they can't rail any faster, they'll jump off and run! How can this not be entertaining. Skin tight clothed, body shaved, skinny people, doing their damnedest to purge their last meal, with the help of two wheeled machines. You know the rule. We like two wheeled machines. Lots of them. So hopefully I'll see you out there. I'll be on top of my hill, making as few trips to the bottom as possible, except maybe to heckle those who falter.


Here's the link.

One of these riders is not like the others....

This one goes out to my buddy, Big Jim Slade, the one guy who didn't get wood this weekend.

Quarterly Blog Report

So many things have happened in this past quarter, that if I gave them all the attention they deserved, I'd have another "War and Peace" on my hands. Most of my friends suffer from A.D.D., so much more than three words, and they check out. I'll keep the words as small as possible, so maybe they'll make it to the end.

A visit from overseas was a welcome change from the every day, here in old T-town. Fat Lad and his lovely bride made the journey across the big pond, and during their holiday, spent a few days in our fair village. It was really cool getting to meet someone in real life, who from their writings, I see share a passion that ties most of our crew together. I've always envisioned Al and his pootle crew as sort of a UK doppleganger to the various tribes we have locally. I've often wondered what it would be like to visit their crew and ride their terrain. Al and Sarah bit the bullet, and put my thoughts to reality. I have to say I'm quite envious.

We all did our best to entertain our visitors, including showing off the local trails like proud poppas, and taking them out for dinner and drinks. We even celebrated Al's birthday at Cool Beans Cafe, followed by more beer at Finnegan's. Even my wife, who only see pieces of all of this blog fodder, has now made new friends, thanks to this interweb of jabber. She and Sarah have been trading emails, and she was really excited about the possibility of crossing paths with Sarah in New York, in the next couple of weeks. Alas, it was not meant to be. It seems they are doing the Juancho trick, where one flies out the day the other flies in. No worries, though. Michelle is already starting to plan a trip to the UK for some time next year.

We've been racing more this year. We used to race a lot more, when the core group was still in their 20s. But for the past 10 years or so, we've just done one or two a year. This year has seen he crew on the road more often, traveling to these events. Some of the guys have had great success. Big Jim Slade has been on fire, with a couple of solid wins, and a podium spot here in T-town. Ice Berg is well on his way to winning the Junior class for the entire series. Marcus is flirting with a mandatory upgrade to expert, thanks to his consistent placement in the top 5. Silk is only doing select events, but his careful planning, has him perfectly prepared every time, and he just keeps killing the expert class. Every time he toes the line, he is a threat. That must be a nice feeling.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to share in the revelry. I've had worse luck than ever this year. I don't think I've had this many mechanicals, in one season, not even when I used to do 15-18 races a year. I flatted in Birmingham, flatted at Ft Clinch, and broke both seat rails in Tallahassee. Now everyone has their theories on my issues, but I think it's just dumb luck, with the exception of the Tallahassee race. In hindsight, I really shouldn't have been running that saddle. The flats were with two completely different set ups, both of which had I had been running for over a year with no extraordinary problems. I still learned a lot at the last few races. I've found a new way to pace myself at the beginning of the races, Racing at 38 is a lot different that racing at 25. I found I can no longer pin it to win it. I've got to back off in the early laps, and then start to reel in the guys who got free. My lap times got a lot more consistent, and my overall average speeds went up. Like Silk says, ride smarter not harder.

The latest on the personal news front, I've pissed off my ankle again. I'm hoping it just an overuse issue. I've always been flat footed, and a nasty sprain about 2.5 years ago brought more long term aggravation to left ankle. The last couple of weeks leading up to the Tallahassee race, my ankle started to give me some extra grief. After trying to ride half a lap of the Tom Brown race course standing, with broken seat rails, it was damn sore. Anyway, by the 2nd or 3rd ride the week after the race, I couldn't stand up on the pedals, so I've been taking some time off the bike, to let it heal. Apparently that slows down, too, when you're 38, and not 25. It's tough to sit around when this is the Tallahassee mountain bike season, but I guess it's what's necessary to heal my tired body.

On Any Given Sunday

Nerves a thicket,

Jitter and quake.

Did you buy your ticket

to the Tom Brown Race?

******

Worry and woe.

Why can't I relax?

Can I climb that damn hill

all three laps?

******

I hate it! I love it!

I'll never do it again!

I wonder what it would take,

to maybe just this once win.

******

No sleep for the players

who toss and turn.

Knowing this Sunday

more of themselves they'll learn.

******

Whether we win or lose,

float or flail.

We'll all be glad to have finished

So we may weave our tales.

And the Winners are....

Holy Shite!! Per the website, Tour de Felasco filled up its 400 rider slots by October 2nd, one day after the registration form was available. This was not electronic registration, folks. You had to mail it in!! Marcus and I spent a little time on the 1st filling out 16 registrations, and Kent had them overnighted. While I suppose it's still possible that we didn't get in, I think our odds are favorable.

What's gonna happen next year? This thing is gonna wind up using a lottery system, like the Leadville 100.