Monday, September 29, 2008

Area 47, Barbwire and Horseapples






















Well for the first time all year I felt like I was able to put together a pretty good race. The leg did get a little soft on a soft sandy climb when the rider in front stepped off and I had to give to all I had to get around. Going into the final lap on the west side of the highway I gave it hell one more time in the open field and could not shake Hauser I knew I was going to have to give up the lead and follow Hauser and hope we would hit some more traffic. I have to give him big props, anytime I would throw down a big attack on a climb or in any section I hard him shifting and jumping right on. Way to go on the overall this year.
I am going on record and saying this was the worst course ever for passing. Besides the two hills in the back there was no where to pass in the singletrack. As I passed through the cattle chunnel under the highway Hauser was just at the top of the hill within striking distance. As I came over the top he was standing in a sprint to pass some riders. I know it was game over and was happy to be rolling in 2nd at a fast course. Next up I will be running the race at the 12 Hour.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

frost please

Bubba ate a beaver at the bar. Maybe he shared it with rick.





So I cut the grass Thursday before we left for the 40. Then Tuesday night and now it needed cutting again today. Three time in one week, that's to much.








Wednesday, September 17, 2008

longest ride yet

Yep this year it took me more time to complete the 40 miles from Hayward to Cable then ever before. It was a strange feeling to finish in 3:16 and not really care about it.

The day started at 5:15 am in Hayward, placing the bikes 5 rows back. Went back to the hotel for a quick nap and breakfast and a planned to return back to Hayward by 9:00 am.

The cannon blew off and we are rolling. This year I put the bike right on the yellow line and it paid off pretty well when the road narrowed up. I moved up a bunch of spots even before we made the left turn at the fountain. Then bang bikes were flying all around and the lady on a tandem was sliding to the curb and crawled into the grass. We all came to a stop in the middle of the road.

Then the bomb was dropped. The guy on the front of the tandem told the lady "get the f*&k back on the bike now" as he was standing in the middle of the road yet and plenty of riders could not believe what he said. I heard later that the bike was laying in the grass after everyone rolled through. Wonder if she walked to the divorce attorney in town. Well we made it to the next right turn then past Wal mart and the pace picked way up. Rosie's field was pretty tame this year. I held the good lines as long I could and just kept grabbing a faster wheel. It started to rain and it felt kinda good for the first 15 minutes.

Before I knew it we where rolling across 00 and I felt great. As we crossed 00 it was apparent we where leaving the nice ski trails and the mud and puddles were appearing more frequent. I just stayed glued to a wheel and stayed out of the soft grass. Somewhere about 17 to go the leg started to give me issues. It couldn't keep a good cadence, the smooth pedal strokes were going away. On a long climb at the 15 to go the leg cramped solid from my quad to my groin, my race at the 2008 40 was over. I stopped and ate some bloks and took a few drinks of heed. In what seem like 1 minute I watch 200 riders go by maybe more.

I stood there and scrolled through the buttons, I was 26.4 miles in, my14.9 mph average was over and a 183 bpm average was going to go way down. I rode my way to firetower and was starting to get cold, the engine was shut down and not creating any heat. At the top of fire tower I had a 1/2 brat and warmed up a little by the fire before rolling on the arm warmers and jumping back on. The leg was feeling a little better until the next birkie section where I ended up walking the last three hills. I seen bubba and kyle go buy. I just rode it out, stopped and help a few riders with chain suck and I just looked around. There was no thrill like most years when seeing the last water station and preparing for an attack on the last road section. I just stopped and filled a bottle and rolled on.

Right after the stop is the moment that slapped my out of the funk I have been in all year with the injury. Just as we left the road for the last time with 3 miles to go I was pulling 3 guys along. It was pretty easy to tell from the conversation they were together. The one guy asked if he could pull, of coarse I pulled over and he did some pacing and the other two pulled along side and we were talking. The guy next to me asked if I was happy about my finish. I said. hell know this will be my worst finish ever in 14 years. He didn't say anything till the 1 mile to go. He said he was sorry for asking, just that he was happy he would take at least an hour off last years time. That they all would, for 4 years now they have all ridden together and pushed each other. Wow what a kick to the jewels. I apologized for sounding arrogant and congratulated them on a major improvement and then pushed them through the last couple of hills. I was going to go around them at the top of the last climb to the finish but just couldn't do it until they went high and got caught behind some other riders.

While sitting in a chair getting rained on at the finish I wondered why we ride so much to prepare for any race that will rip your heart out if you have a bad day. Should we ride for fun and bask in the glory of having a strong finish like those three guys did that, I bet you will never see them cross the finish line with their heads down like so many did at the great event.

Monday, September 08, 2008

weekend wrap




Saturday spent the day in Communist Madison for a great football game. Had fun after at a bar when asking at least a dozen Obama supporters the 1 biggest reason they are voting for The prodigal son. They all said the same tired ass line, he will change things.




Sunday was Dylan's Walk for Autism down at the Summerfest grounds. We were able to raise 1600 in donations.




The bike is all ready to go for the Fat Tire , to bad I am not.


Thursday, September 04, 2008

worthles and its lernd

So as good corporate stewards we spent some time at a local charity helping stuff and handout school bags that we had collected over the past month. Well once again it was proven there is no shame in being a complete douche bag living the Obamas dream of being taking care of. About 40 complete pieces of shit as parents that should get the shit kicked out of them for being so fucking worthless showed up. My apologies to the mother of 3 doing her best for there families we talked to today, she was just looking for help to get empty bags.

They brought in mothers or father 5 at a time. The first group every mother had 500 bucks worth of clothing and200 dollar shoes and the kids were in rags and all ran to the free cookies and juice. Guess what, the next three groups all the same, new Jordan's every piece of high end clothing you can think of and a MR T starter kit and rings galore.

Then we had a the douche bag of the year on her I phone talking about getting together this weekend even if the kids stay home therselves. The two kids killed a plate a cookies and ask for more. Then they asked the worlds best mom what was for supper. Her answer, nothing this money is all for my weekend, you need to ask the lady downstairs when home and see if she can help you. I wanted to say something and she knew I was pissed. She had the balls to look at me and say it must be nice to have a good job. So I said it takes hard work and needed skills. I followed her out and watched her get in her new GMC Yukon.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Welcome

So I get a call at work this morning from a vendor, no not randy. It turns out a CEO of a company here wants to have a tie type hicap line installed in his mothers home in Hobunk Mississippi. He only has some of the info needed to start the order. I am kinda ignoring the guy, he is asking some really odd questions. So I finally stop him and ask why the game of 21 question. Well it turns out the office he works in only has 500 working lines and only 1 other hi capacity line to a cell tower. I told him our A end office on this order has 3 switches and 210,000 lines and thousands of hicap line. He said that impossible I am lying and hung up. I hope the CEO has a assistant to get him a wireless card.