This Is How Mainers Do It

Operation "Put the wood to 'er" is still in effect up in the land of Edges and Combs thus, no riding happened again this weekend. Marcy and I almost made it out for a mountain bike ride during an afternoon free of parental obligations but we decided on a hike with the pooch instead. A tired dog is a happy dog and a tired,happy dog leads to happy people with no pee puddles on their floor so that's what we did instead. On a biking note, Marcy and I stomped around in the woods in a primo area for potential mountain bike trails with lots of elevation change, ledges and drop offs. IF I ever have the time (and that is a gi-normous IF) I'll get some trails put in there. Until then, I'll just annoy people by talking about it constantly...

Anyway... we split a shit ton of wood this weekend, dropped a 50+ lb piece of wood on my ankle with lots of running around, making of funny noises and near tears for Marcy's benefit and generally made like our fore fathers in the days of yore (you'll have to read down a ways) and worked ourselves to the bone with hydraulic and gasoline assistance.

They had cable reel tables in the days of yore right?  Brynna is so studious 

these days and draws, writes and does workbooks all day.  Even outside...

she gets the dork from her mother and the ravishingly good looks and 

irresistible personality from me.  really.

Hmmm, that's a tough one!

The pile doesn't look that big but I'm a grower not a shower.  Too much???

(I need to know where the line is so that I can tip-toe across on occasion...)

Stick a Fork In This Week

TG-freakin'-F!  This week has been a good, productive week at work but good god has it been tiring.  I gave up on posting earlier in the week.  Just not enough energy at the end of the day or during my morning coffee.  I suspect that nobody really minded.  So, I'll see you all back here on Monday.  Have good mosh pitting.

Sore Back and Hamstrings

No riding happened this weekend but that's ok. We've been cranking on getting all of our wood set for this and next winter before the snow flies.  A missed riding weekend here and there is well worth being warm this winter.  100% wood heat is nice and cheap but there are sacrifices on occasion but turning the thermostat up to 74 with no quilt on a cold winter morning makes it worth it for sure. 

I did figure out what was up with Selma's headset/starnut issue.  While perusing the web for answers I saw multiple suggestions to check to be sure that the steerer didn't protrude beyond the stem (because, if it does, there is nothing to tighten against and you'll just pull the star nut out).  I've had the exact same set up on this bike for two full years so I figured that couldn't be the case but I tried adding another spacer just to see and whatdayaknow?  It worked like a charm.  I'm guessing that it was a cool morning, and the steerer had just gotten out of the pool.  How else would you explain the shrinkage?

The weekend wasn't without exercise though.  B busted our her learning exercise mat thingy on Saturday and Sunday and did all sorts of running races, obstacle courses and what-not.  One of the events was a three person running race.  While racing she'd comment on how hard it was and I'd just smirk.  You don't know hard kiddo.  How hard can a 30 second race be?  Pretty f'ing hard it turns out.  I'm not sure what it was but something about the sprinting with tiny steps was brutal and left my hamstrings completely inflamed.   Oh, and B beat me every time by 2-4 seconds.  For real.

So, a weekend full of chain sawing and throwing and carting wood has left me with a sore back and doing a 32 second running race had me limping with sore hamstrings.  Sad, very sad.

This Seems Right

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before but a while back, a friend of mine sent me a link to a series of endurance "races" called Tough Mudder which are basically 2 1/2 hour obstacle courses designed to make you hate life while you try not to die.  My buddy sent it to me since he figured I was the only person he knew who would be dumb enough to even consider doing it. Well, it turns out he was right, they've set a date in May for the event at Mount Snow in Vermont and I think I may have to sign up.  I don't know about you, but this looks like a damn good time and will give me something to obsess over (other than mtb race season) during the winter.  Maybe my brother will be dumb enough to sign up for it as well.  Yeah, I think so.

I'z Gotz Nuzzin'

Great gobs of gilded glitter shit. That star fangled nut is a pain in my ballz. In reality it's probably a steerer tube issue but that stupid nut started this whole nonsense. As you may remember, I've had a squeek in my cockpit for a while now and a couple of weeks ago I diagnosed the problem as a slipping star nut.  My first attempt to install the new star nut was met with anger and frustration so I went out and spent my hardly earned money on an actual star nut installation tool which worked marvelously last night.  What wasn't so marvelous is that when I attempted to tighten the headset, the star nut backed itself out just like the other.  WTF!  I've never seen nor heard of this happening before but, then again, I've spent most of my life in Maine and have hardly seen any minorities either so my inexperience doesn't necessarily mean shit.   As a result of Operation Star Nut Failure 2, I won't be hitting up the Bather Thursday night ride.  Bummer.

Instead, I give you more parasite/beneficial parasite photos:

Family Day

Nothing interesting (bike wise) happened yesterday in RR land. Unless you want me to post pics of me getting my hair cut... Wait, a minute, I did actually pick up some tasty bits of bike stuff on my way back from a meeting. I nabbed meself a carver carbon fork and carber ebb in trade for a frame that I won at the BB12 last year and I picked up my star nut installer and headset press so I can finally get my luscious Selma running again. But, other than picking the parts up,I did nothing so let's speak of it no more.

Instead I'll fill you full of family stuff instead. Actually, I don't have time for a full meal so this'll have to be more of an aperitif.

Marcy and the new four legged parasite getting chummy and sleepy.

B and the parasite.

and, at long last, our new dining room set.

Balls in the Mouth For Charity

This past Saturday Marcy and I took part in an innovative charity event, a 12 hour spin class to raise money for the local Y.  Each person was asked to pony up some clams in exchange for a one hour spin class.  Easy peasy and it raised well over 10k for the Y.  Not too shabby.  Oh, and I got to get a pic of Marcy's boss with a pink ball in his mouth.  This was an event that just kept giving, giving and giving.

Sorry for such craptacular pics and boring content but, then again, you should be used to that by now.

 

I took a two hour shift which I thought was be simple as pie but after the first hours' sprint fest, the ole legs were a bit twitchy but, thankfully, the second class was more of a climbing class with slow cadence drills so I survived just fine and totally kicked everyone's asses at TDF trivia.  Take that losers!

Let's Pitch It

This weekend (yesterday actually) I had a doozy of a time.  I had reluctantly agreed to meet with a new client Sunday afternoon.  Usually I don't do the weekend client thing but they're good guys and nobody can turn down a good job these days so after working on finishing our dining room table and stacking wood between coats of poly I put on my sunday (almost) best and headed to scenic Harpswell for my meeting with our newest junior member in tow.  The job site was 5 miles south of Brunswick at the end of a very remote 1 mile dirt road.  I get there, meet with the clients for about an hour and then go to get the pooch out of the car so she can relieve herself and wouldn't you know it, she had managed to lock herself in the car with the keys safely in it.  No worries, Marcy was shopping with B in Brunswick.  I'll just call her and they'll come down and open it up for us.  I tried her multiple times to no avail and I couldn't find my AAA card so I got a ride from the client to town so that I could at least have a coffee while I waited for Marcy and B to show up.  3, 4 maybe 5 tries later and I still can't reach Marcy and it's now starting to get dark.  Shit.

I finally find my AAA card and make the call to get help but the ass at the end of the line refuses to send someone because I'm not at the car and won't let me catch a ride in the truck even though the driver is going to go RIGHT FRICKIN PAST ME!  What to do, what to do.  Eventually, after trying marcy several more times to no avail I decide to walk to Wal Mart and try calling a cab.  Of course, the only cab company in town is closed on Sundays so, instead, I buy a headlamp and start hoofing it the 6 miles to the car.  Solid plan.  If AAA won't let me in a rock sure will.  I step out of Wal Mart and feel a drop of rain.  Frickin beautiful.  By the time I get back to the main road it's sleeting like a mother, dark as hell and because this would make for a perfect horror/suspense movie, my phone battery starts beeping at me as it's about to shit the bed.  Fuck me in the goat ass.

At this point, I figure I've got at least an hour walk ahead of me so I might as well call AAA again (and hope the battery holds out) and see if someone would meet me there in an hour.  Lucky for me, this operator took pity on me and (mostly) on my poor defenseless dog and bent the rules so that the wrecker would pick me up on his way to pop the locks.  So the lessen here (other than not leaving the keys in the car with a hyperactive dog) is, if you need AAA in a hurry, tell them there is a dog in the car.  Nobody cares about people but everybody (almost) loves dogs.

Ahh Sweet 2011

Things are starting to shape up for 2011.  I'm fully in the "regenerative" stage of my training.  Meaning, I'm barely touching the bike these days.  Normal work and home life stuff is there but throw in a new pooch producing copious amount of urine and feces and a star fangled nut that won't go in the stupid fucking steerer tube and you have the recipe for ZERO riding.  All is good though, I've got a star fangled nut installer thing-a-ma-jiggy ordered and the pooch seems to be learning the difference between the great out-of-doors and the doody free in-of-doors so by next week I suspect things will be back in order.  Plus, PLUS, Marcy and I are signed up for a fundraiser this weekend that'll have us as part of a 12 hr spin bike team with me putting in 2-3 hours in the sweatatorium.  There's nothing like 3 hours riding inside to make you want to get outside to ride. 

Looking ahead to 2011, I've started getting my sponsorship proposal letters out for 2011 and hope to get them all wrapped up by the end of the weekend so I know what's what for next year.  Big things are going to happen.  I'm sure.  Really.  So, if you happen to be an industry insider (only one follower that I know of.  Hi Endless!) who reads this drivel and you have copious amounts of stuff (parts and money) that you want to part with, drop me a line.  If you have a product that I actually like I'm a very cheap date...  I've cleaned out my e-mail so that I don't overrun my storage allotment with the massive amounts of inquiries.

As for 2011 plans, as I've mentioned before, I intend to get pummeled in the Elite class for most of the xc season.  To that end, I'm shoppin for a new xc rig.  Previously, the Santa Cruz Tallboy was the leading contender but just recently my boyz at Salsa came out with the Spearfish (pictured above) as well so the decision is a tough one.  I can nab the Salsa complete with a pretty solid build for the price of the Tallboy frame but that Tallboy sure is sweet.  Me thinks that it'll all come down to cash-ola when the card slides through the slot but there's still time for Salsa and Santa Cruz to kiss my bum and beg and plead for my support in 2011.  Or not.

New Addition

I'd like to introduce you all to the newest member of the Nelson clan. Autumn Red Leeka Nelson. That right there my friends is the type of name you get when you give full naming rights to a 5 year old. I guess we should be thankful that B didn't name her Booger Poop Snickerdoodle. Small victories. We adopted Autumn from the local shelter after she spent most of the summer living on the rough and tumble streets of Waldoboro. She's skinny as a rail and has virtually no training but she is a total sweetheart and is a quick study. Day one involved three pees and two poops in the house (we refused to jamb her in a crate until she was comfortable with it and she would pee and poop IMMEDIATELY after being taken for a walk). Day two had zero in house relief. VICTORY! Day three (today) she'll probably shit and projectile vomit all through the element but we'll always Monday. Oh glorious Monday.

I'm in the process of training her to be civil both on and off leash and to run behind me (unlike Chance) so that she'll make for a good biking companion.  Of course, she's got a bunch of hound in her so only time will tell if her nose will take over for the brain once she's off leash.  For now, I'm just happy that she's not a dominate male like Chance and isn't trying to mount my head any chance she gets!

Warning!  Warning!

Today's post has little to no cycling content (who wants to hear about my glamorous commute or skipping tonights group mtb ride?).  Continue on at your own peril!

A couple weekends ago, as is family tradition, the whole DamFam headed to Pumpkin Land for an afternoon of child size shenanigans.  This place doesn't disappoint with a bunch of stuff for the kiddies to do including a petting zoo, slides, apple slingshots (f'ing awesome), wagon rides to pick pumpkins and a gi-normous corn maze.  They also have day and night haunted hay rides but B is a delicate flower so it'll be a few years before we hit those...

I've been calling B "punkin head" for her whole life, both because of her reddish hair and the size of her bulbous melon link2 (those links are worth reading btw) (which isn't quite so bulbous now) so it's only fitting that she now be measured in pumpkins.  5 years old, 3 1/2 pumpkins tall.

The maze is a 10 acre lobsta.  It's so confusing that they give you a map that requires code reader glasses to help you get through.

Brynna consulting the map.

going for a 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinion.

we made it!

off to get snacks with the Braun kids in tow

you dig?

How to Scare the Pants Off Someone

With halloween quickly approaching, now would be a good time to for me to suggest a great way to give a friend or loved one a case of the nervous squirts.  Let's say, for example, that Marcy got the mail after work (on a day that she got home early) and saw this letter addressed to me:

click on the image to fully appreciate

 And then having several hours to consider just what stupid thing (there could be many) your husband has done as you fail to get a hold of him via phone.  Federal Investigative Services huh?  Maybe they feel that a "licensed professional" shouldn't be publishing pics of himself on the web wearing revealing women's clothing or licking his nads?  

It turns out that it was a request for a reference for someone applying for some sort of federal gig.  Why they would think to ask me for a reference is a mystery to me.  Did they not google my name?  Oh wait, if you google my name you gets thousands of websites dedicated to a now deceased 50's heartthrob.  Oh well, at least they were kind enough to tell us to "have a nice day".

Now, onto the creak.  I've mentioned several times recently that I had a creak somewhere in the front end of the bike.  I'd tried several times to tighten the stem and bar clamps, checked the headset for adjustment and looked for obvious cracks in either the fork or head tube area all to no avail.  On Sunday's ride, the creaking was getting so obnoxious that I started to imagine a cracked steerer tube ala George Hincapie  or some sort of internal head tube problem so when I got back I pulled the fork and found nada, nothing, zilch.  Not that I was hoping to have a throw away fork but at least then I would know what the problem was.  When I finally gave up and reinstalled the fork I finally found the culprit.  As I tightened the headset, the danged star nut pulled right out of the fork steerer tube.  Sons a bitch.  Never seen that one before but it must have been the cause of the creaking.

The Weekend That Was

We were blessed with a beautiful weekend this past weekend and, for once, I didn't squander it doing this and that and what-not.  Instead, on Saturday, B and I took advantage of a daddy/daughter day and headed to Verge stop #3 to check out what this whole cyclocross scene is all about.  I've actually done a couple of cross races in the past myself and sort of enjoyed them but it was time to see what New England's finest could do.

We got there just in time to catch the elite women's race.  I figured it's never too early to show B how fast and fun it can be on a bike and seeing some fast mo-fo women tear it up was a good way to start.

Colin's team had some ladies off the front the whole race.

the elite men's start

 

Colin ripping towards a barrier section

only to do a little two step for the crowd

Sadly, B wanted more than anything to see someone bunny hop the barriers so we set up camp to witness it but missed the only hopping of the day on lap one because we had moved to witness the mass start.  Sad.

 

used to be blogger, Burnsy unknowingly (I think) almost giving me the finger

just by coinkydink, we ran into team manager extraordinaire Big "don't call me gay" Al, 

KillBill, Amanda and Trevor

Then, on Sunday I was up bright and early (kinda) to work on the house and then squoze (that seems like it should be a word) in a mtb ride during Brynna's nap since pounding and cutting with power tools was out of the question.  The front end creak was really starting to drive me batty during the ride so afterwards I pulled the fork out to see if I had a crack or something in the head tube or steerer.  But I found nothing so I loosely re-installed the fork and went about my way.

This morning, as I prepared for my commute I went to tighten the headset and found what the problem was but for that (not so) juicy little tid bit, you'll have to wait til tomorrow.

Normal?

Last week I posted that things were getting back to normal ride wise with me getting a couple of commutes and a "group" ride in.  I guess I shouldn't have spoken so soon since this week has been a complete bust.  I blame those sill, world renowned oyster growers   in the Damariscotta river for my current set back.  That one river holds 90% of the state's oyster crop (which isn't huge compared to some industries but is still massively important for the state) and that one river has now been infested (correct word?) with MSX, a disease that kills oysters before they mature essentially meaning the near death of the industry until they figure out what to do about it.  You might ask, "What the frig does that have to do with anything?  You're really stretching for excuses now!" but you'd be a total schmuch if you did ask even if it is true that I'll clamor for excuses whenever possible.  You see, Marcy is right smack dab in the middle of it since she monitors the farms and is helping spearhead what to do about it.  Basically, it's Marcy's time to shine so it's my time to whine.  So, needless to say, all riding has stopped temporarily until things are sorted out.  If you ask me, millions of dollars of local revenue and Marcy making a name for herself is hardly worth me missing a couple of rides.  Some people can be so selfish!

I am still managing to run a few days a week and have been able to witness how quickly the trails I raked last week have disappeared into the leaves after Friday's wind storms.  I do, thankfully, have my tennis elbow I developed while raking with me as a fond memory of those beautifully clear and easy to navigate trails. 

Repeats

This weekend I did my first repeats in quite a while  Wait, repeats is a running term.  Us cyclists like to use the term "intervals" instead.  So, like I said, I did intervals this weekend but not the kind that you'd think.  I have a hard enough time doing intervals during race season.  This time of year?  Fat freakin chance!  This weekend's intervals involved running up a hill to slide back down.  Too bad my jeans and shoes provided too much friction and not enough speed.  Did get a near crash though.

Thursday, I convinced a whopping one of the Bathers to come to the land of Edges and Combs to try out the local wares.  C-dog was up for it though so we set out on a new-to-him route that took in about 83% of what is out my back door.  We would have hit 92% but I f'ed up the route prep and that last 9% would have required re-climbing a not totally fun woods road.

it was good times, hitting the dot at 2 hours and finished up with a couple of beers and burritos that Marcy was kind enough to prepare.  Tasty.

Back to Normal

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, things are getting back to what I consider "normal".  My ride schedule of some sort of rides Tuesday's and Thursday's seems to be back on track, I'm not sleeping 11 hours a night and I'm getting up early enough to get some exercise in before work.  I'll take it.  Yesterday, I hit my (almost) full mountain bike commute home for the first time in a few weeks and it felt great.  The legs were surprisingly snappy and I was actually able to ride beyond an infants ability level.  I won't bore you with the story.  Some captioned shots should do.

Early in the ride I picked up some leaves in my rear wheel.  I looked down to asses the annoying situation and when I looked back up I took a nice pointy stick to the face.  It hurt like hell but thankfully only left a 4" long scratch.  Maybe my co-workers won't notice.  With how often I come into work with visible cycling ailments, it's no wonder none of them have taken this foolish sport up.

 

Then, I had a stream crossing.  45 degree water can put a damper (get it?  GET IT???) on a ride.

Then I saw this snowy owl checking me out when I entered the preserve.  He didn't look this creepy in real life.

The trails are littered with two things right now, leaves and acorns.  The leaves aren't in full effect yet but those damn acorns can be like trying to corner on ball bearings.  In nice sweeping corners they meant a bit of two wheel drift but if you trust yourself and your tires you'll most likely come out unscathed.

 I'm testing out some new mountain bike gloves.  The Mechanix Impact Pro Glove.  I was going to recommend them as alternative cycling gloves since they're tough and cheap but checking the site, they aren't so cheap.  Thankfully for me, I got them for free.  I'll have to hit that salesman up again when he comes to the office.

Old, abandoned  stone foundations are pretty cool during the daytime but at night, miles from civilization, they're downright creepy.  Once Blair Witch thoughts started creeping into my head I high tailed it out of there!

And then a first for me, I had a water bottle split on me while taking a drink.  I've used plastic water bottles in sub zero temps and never had this happen.  This bottle is about 7 years old though...

Early to Bed

I'm not sure what's been happening in my innards recently but my body has been CRAVING sleep like no one's business.  Over the weekend I was getting 11 hrs of sleep a night.  There's a bug going around the office that I suspect I was fighting off but I'm not really sure.  What I do know is that Marcy is getting tired of me either falling asleep after reading stories to B or going to bed shortly afterwards.  I'm not sure why but she seems to like to spend time with me.  It's a psychological defect that she should look into really.  Anyway, last night was no different with me going night night at 8 frickin 30 but I think things have taken a turn for the better because at 3 fucking 30 this morning I was wide awake and ready for the day.  I fought it for an hour but, finally, at 4:30 I decided to get up and do a little trail work before my ride in.  It worked so well that I may do this on a semi regular basis.  In a couple of weeks I could have my home property trails back in working order after the early leaf fall.  Of course, once the rest are down I'll have to do it all over again but at least I'll be able to see the trails for the time being.  Plus, the Bathers will be coming by soon for a ride and I don't want them whining the whole frickin night...

This morning, when I got in, I had an e-mail from team manager extraordinaire Big "don't call me gay" Al welcoming me (and everybody else) to the 2011 team.  In my reply to him, I made my first semi public announcement that in 2011 I'll be racing elite.  I'm not sure what manner I'll be doing so yet.  Maybe Elite in the EFTA series?  Or expert/elite in the Root 66 series so that I don't have to completely commit?  I'm not sure yet but, rest assured, I'll be getting my ass whupped in 2011.

Problem Solved

During the summer my Garmin Edge 305 became an annoying little bitch. Just like the first unit that I had, this one developed a major bump/vibration aversion. As you can imagine, this was a bit of an issue on both the road and trail. Enough of an issue that I didn't even use it for the last 2 months. A while back, I was able to have my first unit replaced by Garmin but this time they wanted $89 (plus shipping) to give me a refurbished unit that was probably going to develop the same issues as the first two.  Not gonna happen.  So, instead I did a bit o googling and found a website that led me how to fix the problem myself since it all comes down to a faulty design that allows the connectors to loosen.

I didn't do the whole soldering routine that he suggested (that shit inside is TINY despite how huge they look in his pictures.  He must have been using the Hubble telescope to take those pics!) but I did create a rubber spacer out of an old tube to hold things tight.  A little rubber cement (and a bit of tape for the time being) and it was back together in 15 minutes.

A two hour ride later in the day in Falmouth makes me believe that it actually worked.  Only time will tell but at least I'm able to post a ride map for the first time in ages.

The Dempsey Challenge

This past weekend was the Dempsey Challenge, a wunerful charity ride to support a cancer support center (does cancer really need support?).  Marcy and I signed up along with a few of our friends to enjoy the 50 (marcy) and 100 (me) mile rides on a beautiful fall day.

Kevin and I were late getting to staging for the 100 and were chastised when we tried to move through the field, so, instead of riding from the rear we decided to go a couple of blocks up course and join the field once it was going.  We ran into Mr. Freye who had the same plan.  When the ride started, Andrew suggested we jump into the lead group with Patrick Dempsey, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, so we did.  We thought we had quite the coup on our hands riding the first 20 minutes staring at some pretty famous asses.

That's Leipheimer on the right in the Radio Shack kit, Dempsey in the blue and white kit in the middle and horner on the left in the RS kit.

Kev and I were even able to roll up beside Horner after the neutral start and chat him up a bit.  Nice guy.  So, needless to say, Kev and I thought we had really pulled something off.  That is until I talked to Marcy a bit later and found out that she had ridden and talked to both Leipheimer and Dempsey multiple times (since they were all doing the 50 miler) and, AND got pictures with both.

Mc. Dreamy coping a feel on Marcy.

Marcy and Leslie with Leipheimer.  It should be noted

that Marcy had to scooch down quite a bit to be the 

same height as Levi.  He is the littlest man I have EVER seen.  He could

easily have been riding a kids 24" bike.

To add to Marcy's cool stories to tell, at one point during the ride, she was riding past Dempsey who swerved when he looked at her (he did that any time he looked back, dangerous) and ended up having to put an arm around Marcy, while they were riding, to keep from taking them both out.  Poor bike handling or making a move on my woman? 

All joking aside, Dempsey, Leipheimer and Horner couldn't have been cooler.  They were totally approachable and willing to talk to us pleebs.   Although, I did get the stink eye from Dempsey's body guard (at least that's what I assumed he was) at the beginning of the ride.

I'm Still Alive

I just don't have much time for blogging these days.  Maybe tomorrow.