More family fun time

Over the holiday weekend we went up to my parent's place to for a day and as with any trip up there, I made them go for a ride with me in the blistering 25 degree temps. They're troopers though and we were able to get in a nice 2 hr ride (my mother broke off at an hour to cook dinner) before sitting down for Turkey Dinner number 2. It was so successful that my father asked that the next time I come up that I show him how to get to a store that is about 7 miles via road but loooooooots more by trail and will probably take up somewhere around 3 hours to complete! Maybe I've finally beat some sense into them. My brother didn't swear at me this time at least.

My mom, riding how she knows best. She can push a bike like noone's business.

My dad, all stoic and stuff.

My brother after an attempted ball-ectomy.

One of the major trail surfaces of the day. Can't wait to get my studdies.

tired

Its funny, I've had no time to post since before the holiday but somehow I found time to ride almost every day over the last seven. I guess I've got my priorities all screwed up if I'm riding instead of blogging. I'll try to do better, I promise.

One of my rides of the past week was a sweet road ride the day after Turkey day. Its one of my favorite road loops to do when I only have 1 3/4 - 2 hrs to ride because it takes me over some decent hills with some beautiful views from the top of Damariscotta Lake, the roads are fairly quiet and most importantly (when its cold at least) there is a store at the mid-way point to get a warm beverage. The gods smiled upon me and lavished me with sunny skies with temps hovering around the freezing mark (which I'll gladly take over 40 degrees and rainy any day of the week!).

The payoff view after the days "big" climb.

My trick for keeping the nozzel of the bottle from freezing. It worked at the top of Mt. Katadhin in -20 degree weather so I figure it will work on the bike.

Without my bikeman jersey I was forced to go with jersey #2.

At the midway point I parked in the appropriate cool zone section with all the other cool (cold) kids.

pop quiz

Did I blow out the zipper on my Bikeman.com long sleeve jersey by:

A. Cranking out mad wattage during sprints
B. Getting the stomach ready for the upcoming holidays by pre-stretching the gullet with mass quantities of food
C. The zipper died on it's own while in the dryer

Of course the correct answer is C because while I have been watching what I eat very closely (with a few slip ups, oops) I am definitely not putting out mad power right now. My power sits in the pre-pubescent girl range right now. Unfortunately, the dead zipper didn't show itself until I was at the in-laws on Sunday preping to ride back home (30-ish miles) in low 30 degree temps and I had no back-up clothing to use. Instead of throwing in the towel I found some binder clips (I should say the mother in law found them, thanks JO!), clipped the jersey kind of closed and went on my way. MacGuyver, eat your heart out!

beautiful terror

I was having a beautiful ride in this morning. It was cold at 30 degrees but without the rain of the last several commutes, it felt downright balmy. 15 minutes in I'm cruising silently along a dark and deserted back road, two feet from the trees and bushes right on the side of the road, when I hear a rustling at my heels. Something was coming out of the woods AT me! No question. Before looking to see what it was (it was pitch black at 5:30 anyway so there probably wasn't much to see) I jumped out of the saddle and sprinted my ass out of there with my heart in my throat. This is Maine so I doubt my aggressor was all that dangerous but in the dark, caught by suprise like that it might as well have been a homicidal chain saw toting lunatic with how freaked it made me. I spent the next mile looking over my shoulder occasionally JUST IN CASE.

Also in today's news, the Dirt Rag article I mentioned last week is out. CLICKY and read it for yourself. Good read.

woo hoo

I'm number 8 on Biking Circle's list of today's top cycling rated blogs. Makes you kind of wonder where they get their information from.

Hopefully I'm still there when you check it...

my shot

The whole "Prince Baby Video" thing got me thinking about people who pair music to their ride videos. I'm sure most musical groups aren't going to be a-holes like Prince but you never know when a lawyer is going to come knocking at your door. With that in mind, I put this little video together with my own musical accompaniment. Enjoy.

great googly moogly

Saw THIS on Bikeman's website today.

Nokian's studded 29'er tire is now ready and available through QBP. I now know what moves to the top of my Christmas wish list!

retribution

Its time to try to make up for yesterday's lame post. I will do that by showing you not one, not two, not three, not four, not five... Oh wait, got carried away there, five pictures of yours truly doing what I do best-making silly faces while riding.

Pic 1: normal me, mouth agape as usual.

Pic 2: This was supposed to be a snarl but it looks more like I'm cutting a hot cheese fart.

Pic 3: the motorboat. phhhbbbbbbbb

Pic 4: I call this one "The Jason Mahokey"

Pic 5: Kissy, kissy and leaving you wanting, no needing, more.

Last minute entry: "Wait, I think I had a thought. Nope, must have been mistaken."

Grocery getter

Wow, I just re-read today's post and even I can't believe how amazingly boring it is! I won't hold it against you if you decide never to come back here again...

With the way gas prices currently are and how tight my schedule is I've been trying really hard to drive less and ride more. I'm now on a two commute by bike week schedule. I would prefer to do more but Marcy needs to get to the gym too so the every other day thing seems to work best (her spin class is mon/wed/fri so I ride tues/thurs so she has a fighting chance to hit two of the classes). I'm also beginning to do other things by bike like getting groceries. Brynna's trailer makes a pretty darn good grocery trailer and I can carry close to a weeks worth of vittles in that sucker withoug too much trouble. I do have to admit though that the single speed is a lot tougher to ride home than it is on the way there. Thankfully the grocery store is only about 2 miles away so the ride back isn't all that bad. I also have some silly ideas about building a trailer to haul the kayak behind the bike so we don't have to drive the mile and a half to put-in. These things probably don't make a whole hell of a lot of difference environmentally wise but in the end every little bit counts and if it gets me more ride time, thats a bonus.

Since this is the off season, I've also been picking up my Pilates/abs/stretching/weight training routine again and I've got to admit, its nice to feel my abs again and almost be able to touch my toes without screaming in pain (as much). I'm also trying out Jason's recommendation of MyDailyPlate.com to keep track of my eating habits. Its sort of a pain in the ass at first but once you get going it doesn't seem to tough and you'd be suprised how much it makes you re-think that afternoon donut when you know you have to punch it into the computer afterwards. Hopefully it will help me hit my weight goals for next season a bit easier and help me get through the holidays without porking out tooooo much.

42 deg wet diaper

This morning's commute was a super, duper 42 degree rainy mess. Yippee! In reality it wasn't all that bad. Sure I got wet but after missing saddle time yesterday (a beautiful day to boot) it was nice to at least get out. On top of that, its going to be sunny and in the low 50's this afternoon plus I get to add to my tough guy point total with the people here at work.

In other news, if you get Dirt Rag, keep your eyes peeled in this month's issue (due to be released Nov. 15) for an article called "Metric Bubba". In it you will find tales from last year's Metric Mash (click HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE) written by one of the riders. He submitted his story to the mag, is getting it published and gets a Fisher 29'er for his troubles. Pretty cool. What makes it even more cool is that he tells me I'm mentioned in there somewhere. So be on the look-out and let me know what you think.

On a final note, good luck to Andy S. as he heads out to tackle La Ruta on his single speed. Kill it dude!

on the cusp of too much info

What I've eaten this morning:

1 small bowl of raisin bran and two cups of coffee before commute
1 banana
2 oranges
1 pear
small bowl of black beans, rice and corn
zip lock bag of dried banana chips, dried cranberries, prunes and almonds

What I'll be wearing this afternoon:

an adult diaper

witch's teet

Looks like my commute tomorrow morning is going to be a bit tingly with temps hovering right around freezing. This will mark my first commute at (or around) the freezing mark for the season and has got me thinking about dressing for cold rides. So if you're interested check back in a day or two and I'll have an amazingly insightful post.

In the 'dressing for riding' front. Below, B shows us how NOT to put on a pair of riding shorts. I would think her method would lead to lots of odd looks and chaffing.

Just ahead of the storm

Since today was my day to commute in by bike so of course they were calling for rain to start last night and last through the day today. As a result, I had mentally and physically prep'd myself for a soggy slog in this a.m. in sub-40 degree temps. To my delight, when I woke up this morning at 4:30 not only were the roads dry but the temperature had somehow actually risen 5-10 degrees since my commute home last night. I'll take that even if it means 25 mph wind gusts that nearly blow me off the road on a couple of occasions. By the time I rolled into the parking lot it had started to sprinkle and by the time I has showered and changed there was a steady light rain. Going to bed before 10 every night may not do much for my social life but it did help keep me dry this morning. Small victories.

Here is a pic of me observing Rule No. 1. I will be contacting Guinness to see if I've set a world record for amount of junk mounted to a set of handlebars but I should probably add some tassles first.

road bike, meet dirt

While on an early morning Saturday road spin trying to get some time in before this weekend's noreaster I noticed a little slice of single track just outside of town. Who cares if I was riding my road bike, I was going to hit it and see what it had to offer. Once off the road I had to ride over two stone walls, a bunch of roots and a slippery, leaf covered climb. I managed to get to the top (just barely) without dabbing once but I did decide it was best to not do the powerline downhill I found once at the top. Going up on a road bike isn't so bad but going down could hurt. The panaracer extreme evo's held up to the task nicely and I was soon rolling on the pavement again and freezing my arse off as the storm winds blew in.

The up.

This would have been my downhill, it was full of large ledge faces. Death to all road bikes.

The road tires seeing more dirt than most suv's do in a lifetime.

SSD

Around this time of year, cyclists (who aren't racing cross at least) start to think about training for the next season and will start training specifically for next year anytime between now and the new year. The typical first stage of training, base, is accomplished with lots of LSD, not the green talking pig kind but the Long Slow Distance type. I suppose I'll hit that phase once the new year hits myself but first I need to prep for the base phase.

"Well, how do you do that?" one might ask if one actually read this blog.

Its actually quite simple to prep for your base phase. Your main goal will be to lose all of that race season fitness you worked so hard to gain all summer. For me the best way to do this is lots of SSD or Slow Short Distance. There are 7 keys to make these SSD rides successful. Here they are.

1. Carry a cup of coffee with you. If you have coffee in your hands it is impossible to push too hard.
2. Keep it short, there is no better way to prep for lots of long rides than to do very short, easy rides.


3. Don't fight headwinds. Don't put your head down and force your way through a strong headwind, instead, sit up, spin easy and marvel at all the sights you normally miss when your heartrate gets above 100 bpm.


4. Have no idea where or how long you're going out for because if you know you only have 40 minutes to ride you might make the mistake of riding hard to compensate.


5. Overdress. Nobody wants to get hot and sweaty.
6. or underdress on the road. This will keep you from going too fast on the flats because more speed = more wind = more windchill plus if you really crank it up and get sweaty the first downhill will have you pulling out your trusty light saber and gutting a cow to climb into.
7. If you're riding a single speed, undergear slightly. If you have a low enough gear you won't be working too hard on hills and it will discourage you from really cranking on the flats because spinning 200 rpm's is so trackie.

Bonus tips. If the above 7 don't do the trick, here are a couple more that are sure to accomplish this elusive goal.

1. Drink lots of beer.
2. Take a second or even third helping of grandma's famous deep fried, double chocolate, fudge swirled confectioners delight at Christmas.

If you follow these easy tips you'll be good and slow come the begining of base with nowhere to go but up!

Kids dig me.

Goat kids at least. This little goat farm is on my ride home and each time I pass, they are quiet until I come into view and then simultaneously 30 goats start to bleat at the spandex clad cyborg rolling past. The farm sits in the middle of a tough little climb so maybe they're saying "allez, allez!" in goat. Or, more likely, they're saying "you're gaaaaaaayyyyyyy, you're gaaaaaaayyyyyy!"

on the rebound

Like a switch, when the temps drop below 55 degrees the pooch will all of a sudden have all sorts of energy and be able to keep up with me (for the most part) on mountain bike rides. The exact same rides that I'd lose him on within 15 minutes during the summer. At this time of year, of course, we're on opposite trajectories fitness wise. I'm slowing down and putting a few pounds on (all-freakin-ready!) and losing training focus while he is hitting his stride, will probably start to lose his summer flab and start taunting me on rides again. You know the dog taunts that I mean, he'll run ahead, not see me for a few minutes and then come back with a look on his face like "You were so far back I was sure you were attacked by an angry squirrel". Yeah, f-you you stupid douche, two months ago you couldn't get your fat ass off the trail. Thats right, I talk smack talk with the dog. Whatcha gonna do about it?

To celebrate his almost victory yesterday he celebrated by discovering a very loaded diaper in the trainer room garbage, tearing it apart, eating its contents, leaving a few skid marks on the floor and THEN coming upstairs to lick his unwitting "master" on the legs and face while he does sit-ups. You win this round.

With winter rolling in soon I've been thinking a lot about winter riding and how fun it is. As I mentioned last week, I'm waiting on Nokian to finally release their 29'er studded tire. If and when they do realease the tire I'm going to sign up for this: winter challenge. A 30 mile mountain bike race on the snowmobile trails up in North Bumblefuck Vermont. Hell, even if the studdies aren't out yet I may just mount up the Rampages and hope for no ice. It'll be an excuse to get over to Jay Peak for some skiing as well.

nuthin as usual

Its been pretty quiet around here recently. So far the fall has been pretty kind with fairly mild temps and some very nice days but for some reason I still haven't been able to ride much recently. Its been a combination of long hours at work (still! f, this has got to end soon), leaking plumbing (the bathroom, not me. I suspect my leaky plumbing won't start acting up until I hit my fifties) and other suprises putting up ride block after ride block.

Thankfully I was able to commute to work twice this week. Because I haven't figured out how to work my eccentric bottom bracket (have I mentioned how mechanically incompetant I am recently?) to run a higher gear for road mileage on the El Mariachi I have been stuck on the road rocket. Typically that is nothing to worry about but with hunting season starting on Saturday I had hoped to get a couple of mtb commutes in this week before having to deal with blood thirsty, drunken red necks stumbling through the woods shooting at anything that moves.

I guess I'll be sticking to the road for a while and getting the bike ready for some ripping winter riding. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the Nokian 29" 294 comes out soon.

Time to get to work. GO SOX!

Twin-Six

Dang, Twin-Six has some cool new shirts out right now. Too bad I missed the sale they were having a few weeks ago. Stupid me for sitting on my hands as usual.


I especially like this one because of the whole "sub-urban" thing I've been doing recently.

This one needs no explanation although just plain "nerd" would probably work too.

I like this one (besides it being cool looking) because I'm getting totally sucked into single speeding again because of the El Mariachi although this time I'm liking it because its fun not just because its the cool thing to do (not that I'd ever do that :).

Cross training

This time of year it's time to find new and creative ways to get exercise while getting outside with the family. They're nice enough to ignore my obsessive compulsive biking during the summer so when fall rolls around it's time to give back a bit while still keeping the paunch from growing. A couple of weekends ago we went to a farm where they have a fall kids type fair set up with slides, hay bales, bouncy tents etc. This year they also had these bad boys. They're basically 4-wheel big wheels and they totally kick ass. We whipped around the track for several laps with a buddy of mine and his daughter.

I firmly believe in the "rubbin is racin" mantra and had to let Tim know we were back there to set up...

...the decisive move to the inside.

I can SO see myself buying a few of these and setting up a quasi off-road track in our backyard so that we can drink a few brews and hack around with minimal risk of killing each other. I can only imagine what my brothers and I could do on these things, bring your kids and pets inside!

..

What? You mean to tell me that you DON'T have a toilet in your hallway? What kind of loser are you anyway?

Beery good weekend.

Absotively no riding for me this weekend since we had a "slight" leak in our bathroom Thursday night completely soaking our cork floor and the layers of old flooring beneath thus requiring me to spend most of the day Friday, part of the day Saturday and part of today to fix the mess. As it sits now, we still will need to replace the cork but at least everything is basically back to normal and we can use the toilet again. Good times.

On a good note, Thursday night I made the discovery of Gritty's mini kegs (1.6 gallons) of Maine brewed goodness. I picked one up because Brynna pointed to one and said "for mommy" and who am I to deny Marcy beer B feels she deserves?

Try to ignore the tape holding the edge of the counter together, we begin the kitchen reno this winter. Really.

Do I have a purty mouth?

Have you ever been on a mountain bike ride on trails you're not quite sure you're allowed on (although I think I was, in fact, ok) and happen across a tent immediately adjacent to the trail in the middle of the woods? This happened to me the other night while on my "sub-urban assault". I was rounding a corner on a section of trail I had raked out a couple of years ago on a vacant piece of property near our house when I came upon this tent stashed in the middle of the woods.

It startled me enough to force me to stop to be sure I wasn't going to be shot (or gang raped for that matter). Despite it looking like the squatters had packed up and left I still yelled out a quick "hello" before taking this pic and hightailing it out of there totally creeped out. Why in the world did it bother me you ask? To be honest, I'm not totally sure. It could be that I was concerned with being caught on private property while riding (for the record, property in maine is considered open to public use unless it is clearly posted "no trespassing" at regular intervals around the entire perimeter) but if I were a gambling man I'd bet it was because I'm a puss and in my head I could hear banjos playing.

carver

Here is a re-post of my Carver post from the other day that didn't show the pics for some reason. Hope you enjoy.

Today, in the middle of a great family day, we stopped into Bikeman's shop to pick up Marcy's new messenger bag. It was there that I spotted this bad boy.

It's a 26" (ugh) titanium Carver with Endomorph tires for some sweet powder riding goodness. Davis (Bikeman and Carver founder) told me this bike (and one other) is actually for a couple of Iditabike type crazies in Alaska. Regardless, it got me salivating about winter riding again (have I mentioned lately that I LOVE winter riding? No? Well I do.) and Davis informed me that Nokian is indeed coming out with a 29" Hakkapolita (sp?) studded tire this winter (insert childish giggle here)

Sunday spin

On Sunday, Marcy, B and I headed up to Rancho-de-Nelson both to visit with the rents and to make my dad and brother go out on a mountain bike ride with us. It took just a wee bit of coaxing to get my brother out since the Pats game was starting in an hour but after about 15 minutes of pestering he finally swore at us and gave in. He was in a pissy mood the whole time but I think that deep down inside he enjoyed himself especially since he made it back by kickoff.

Rolling out.

Marcy rolling through the birches.

Marcy and daddio

My oh-so-happy brother. In case you can't tell, that's his middle finger extended. I think that is his way of saying thank you.

After the first hour the rest of the group broke off to catch the game while I continued on to try to tie together a section of trail below my parents house that was ravaged by a logging operation. I was able to find my way through eventually and hooked up with the local snowmobile trail system (since that is all there is in those parts) which leads into mile upon mile of trail. I'll need to lure my other brother Rus up here again soon so we can go on one of our famous Nelson Mountain Bike Death Marchs where we go out for a planned two hours and finally crawl back six hours later bleary eyed and carrying a dog (long story).