My torture test and Parks Success

Below my comments I have attached the email from Parks talking about how well Danny and he did at cross nationals. Now that I have two boys of my own I am starting to understand how cool it is that Parks pulls the trigger on a cross bike, wondering if Danny is going to like cross or even do it at all, only to find that the first race out Danny wips his old pops rear, a few short months later they are heading to Nationals. I can only immagine how cool it is to share something you are passionate about with your kids. Good job to both of you.

Now on to the good stuff. I have been considering the Excruciation Exam around the austin area for training recently but I am not totally pumped about the driving, and the fact that a lot of the ride is on the road/dirt road so I have a proposal to throw out there. The Saturday after the new year I suggest this. Meet at the starbucks at the Katy trail and knox at 8:30. Ride to OCNP and do two laps. Ride from OCNP to Boulder and do two laps. Ride home. The big challenge is having someone with a car/signifigant other who is willing to drive a bit of aid in and around this for us. I would even offer my truck as a support vehicle for someone else to drive if that would be an enticing offer. So ponder this all and let me know what you all think.

On to the great things happening with the Parks family.

It was in the 20s in the morning and the course was frozen and fast, they allowed you to pre ride at 8a till 9a. by the time I rode on Thursday it was 2 inches of greasy sloppy mud. The tires we have been using just don't cut it in the mud. The tires the real guys were using were narrower but had sharper spikyer knobs. The course had a lot of off camber turns and the hill was a little bigger than Flag pole, the speeds were slower because of the mud and more nasty obsticals that nobody could ride. Our Flag pole course had more and tighter turns.

Danny raced Friday in about the same or worse mud. The winners all used two ( some had three) bikes that alternated each lap, while the mechanic power washed the mud out of the gears and brakes, then switched bikes the next lap. Danny's race was 30 mins, but if it had been any longer the bike would not have made it. It only had one working gear for the sprint. Danny did great, the mud didn't bother him and he was passing guys all the way to the end.

Tuesday but kindof Monday

Well as many of you are aware today is really kind of a Monday or maybe a Monday afternoon as yesterday was a quasi holiday. I worked the morning Rode the MTB at lunch and then smoked ribs all afternoon which is to say the pump was primed and my legs were excited to get out of bed. Today's ride started in the dark dark as the sun was being lazy and was obscured by low clouds to boot. For that reason the first lap was a little on the steady side if you will. Well Blur B. started to wind it up up the bath house hill and wound up in this suspended state slightly off the front. Thomas the Train was not his usual self today. The Count must have tried to kill him again recently. Well anyway I took a swing up to Blur in an attempt to work with him and see if we might be able to slip away a bit and instead I brought the whole bunch to him. About that time Crozzy showed up late along with JeeP. We all know that Crozzy was flying as evidenced by the recent Thursday night show and JeeP is out on the MTB tearing faces off recently so those are two additions to the bunch for sure. Well after sitting in and relaxing a bit I noticed crozzy was easing up the road a bit in what appeared to simply be an effort to do some work. As I was watching the situation Russ-tic jumped across the gap and then Flyer Shirer. I started to see the gap increasing and I was thinking to myself, "Hey that might be the group to go with" So off I went to catch a ride. We went up the bathhouse hill with a rather large gap and off to the races we went. Well until we hit the stop sign at the spillway. We got stopped by a car and the group closed up on us. We shot out on the road and all of the sudden a car got between us and the group so we started to pour it on again. On Loving and Westshore we all climbed as well as we could together after Russ-tic bald spotted his tires doing some drift racing. At the top of Westshore Judge Roy Doooby caught up to us and shot by. Well needless to say our group of 4 became 5 and we never saw the rest of the bunch. Coming into the sprint I noticed Flyer Shirer was working to grab Russ-tic's wheel and I was cooked anyway so I got Judge Roy on my wheel and took a stab at it only to see Crozzy ripping by in a blaze of furry. He won.

Honorable mentioned today goes out to Crozzy's Scott. He will be giving back his ski poles today and putting some miles in on the Cross Bike. Also honorable mention today goes out to my bowels for not having a complete meltdown. I was so worked staying in the break that I almost pooped myself a couple of separate times. Good Times though. On an administrative note the Blog will be continueing to take some time to refresh and reboot for next year. Stay posted for updates of the cross racing series though.

Sink the Sub

Here is my report:

BS here taking a stab at the Tuesday Edition September 12, 2008 Edition of Morning Madness, as Rick was sick.

I can mostly comment from my perspective in the back of the pack. First, Tom did a lot of work at the front. Second, the pace was not too hard. Third, Herrick was there. Fourth, who is the Puerto Rican guy that jumped on, took a pull, and then blew up? Herrick seemed to know him, and was quite perturbed at our matching the pace.

I left the back of the back only twice, but for good reason, and with purpose in mind. The first time was to pull folks up to Tom, who just wouldn’t slow down for any reason whatsoever. Automaton Tom.

The second time I went to the front was to bestow the coup de grace in a Fabian Cancellara manner. I took off hard for the last minute. I got a good gap, but then Tom caught me, and won the sprint. Russ E. also came up and passed me. No one else was anywhere near. I averaged about 560 watts for that minute. Hope it hurt everyone real good!

I thought I blew the pack apart, but it’s my understanding that someone didn’t jump when I took off. But, that is not what I saw in my rear-view

Dodgeball

So today's efforts were made interesting by ourselves and others in soo many ways. We started our usual roll out down the smooth side when a lady with a extenda-killyourdog-leash let her small dog go after a rather large dog. Cool! Then..... We were rolling just fine with the Tabinator, Matt and Flyer Shirer decided to make sure this was a ride to remember. the Tabinator was not so much launching attacks as cranking the pace up to 30 and holding it there till everyone screamed uncle. FS kept launching attacks as some form of bike Yoga...or yoyo. What got funny though is after one of FS's intervals it appears that the tabinator was a little bugged and he pinned it and almost dropped FS. Anyhow the ride was good and quality up to the final lap when our ambassadorship really took a hit. The lady we forced into the barricade at the bath house could be consider happy customer number 1, then the cop we went head on into at 30 on the bike path might be our 2nd taker of the fun, our third happy recipient of the bronze shammy has to be the old lady we swarmed on westshore, and our MVP for patience is also the volvo we ran the stop sign in front of to get back on. But the sprint did happen and Flyer Shirer took the prize. So I will have video up tonight to take a look at and incriminate ourselves!!

A day late a bike chain short

Went to head out for the thursday ride and my chain broke on the way out the door. Me stay home!!

It was thursday though so lets get busy. Today we have the fond chance to catch up with one of the construction cones at the lake regarding his temporary relationship with the cyclist.

MRM: Mr. Conestez, thanks for stopping in with us today. How would you say your stay with us at the lake has been lately?

MrC. Yo essee. I don't know what you gringos think you are doing on bikes at the lake.... but dude this place sucks now that the open container law hit these parts.

MRM: True but how has your relationship been with the cyclist?

MrC. Its alright man but you will see I have been trying my darndest to sneek slowly over to the lane some hopeing I can catch a bar or a pedal or something. I think that would be funn yu kno.

MRM: So the times we have seen the cones knocked down or in the lane have really not been accidental but a purposefull attempt to knock pedestrians down?

MrC: Man sure, all that money this city is putting into improving the lake we gotta get some satisfaction out of it, and the fat cops on bikes out here don't make them much fun to knock over.

MRM: How much longer will you be with us?

MrC: I am never leaving the city did the low bid process on this and we have all jacked up the pricing so high, they don't have the funds to finish!!!!!!!! That's funny ey!!! Gotta go. Concrete truck in the bike lane. I gotta move in his way.

Fall Cometh, Time to go to School!

So fall is coming. Time to prime the lights and get ready for a dose of bug protein at the lake now. This mornings race report will be somewhat brief as was my involvement. With The Count back in his tomb by 7 now, the ride started a bit confused. As we overheard the Casket door close it was time to roll out. After a few slow brief moments though Thomas the train worked his way to the front to take his position of leadership and all was suddenly kindof right in this world. Our Celebrity appearances today are as follows. CroZzy was in full force. Big Legged Mirage was back for more. Flyer Shirer showed up on the fixie. Chainknee was out, back on the road bike. ClarkO was also out sporting some very impressive summer fitness. So the fun rolled on. Well we blew the stop sign coming off Mockingbird, and sure enough if someone was coming the opposite direction, time to dip and dive, only to find that someone else had set his bike in the road on a kickstand for us to play some more dodge ball with. I THOUGHT ALL THE HOTTERNHELL HACKS WERE NURSING SADDLE SORES STILL. Anyway Jeep hit it hard up the first hill and started a small bit of fragmentation in the bunch. I moved to the front to take some complimentary pulls and earn my fluids at which point Brandman, Matt of Few Words, Big legged Mirage, and Thomas the Train were on the front rotating. Well coming down the path behind the arboretum my light battery came off of my seatbag. This is not a good thing. As a result I got the battery loose and stuffed it in my jersey pocket. So now I have this battery cable dangling in my rear wheel. I tucked it in my seat bag strap and we hit loving. the group was working pretty hard and fighting together but no one individual was ripping at the legs yet. Well we hit the bottom of the second hill, and darn it if my light cable did not pop loose and wedge itself in the rear brake of my rear wheel. I got to stop. Fixed the light and started rolling backwards to get back together. Well I got back on around the arboretum. Again we hit about 30 mph down the path which was interesting. Heading into Loving a second time, CroZzy was pulling, and setting some wood screws while pulling out the 18 volt dewalt. About this point Judge Roy Dobi hit the gas and started to move up the left. I decided, although I had not done the whole ride it was time to earn my fluids again. Well Judge Roy Dobi and I pinned it and after some BMX turning hit the second hill solo. At this point I thought my efforts were going to make me poop my britches. So I sat on JR Dobi up the second climb. Brian came across and started hitting the front to make our efforts even greater. I took one pull only to realize that Russtic was pulling us back with the group in tow. I burned my matches and I was done. I think CroZzy took the group took the group to the line and it looked like either Pretty Boy Boyd or Russtic took the sprint. Good clean fun had by all.

Honorable mention. Russtic for really taking a personal interest in the real estate known as white rock/well... and Mockingbird. Good to see someone take such interest at the grass roots level of our fair city. A good example to all. Also honorable mention is the dogwood tree for uprooting itself and moving two feet before someone we know hit it.

BikePorn!!!!!

Alright. This rain has me down a bit so here is the deal. A few things have been hitting me as peculiar lately. 1. Our church had a discussion about the dangers of porn and the challenges online stuff has for our youth. I have two boys so it got my attention. Being a Mans Man I have also been faced with the challenge of doing whatever necessary to truly honor my wife who is worthy of honoring so this was something that resonated deeply for me. Anyhow, Flyer Shirer also sent out something listing bikes folks had submitted mainly of the bike messenger variety. Soooo. As a healthy distraction from the basically barely clothed beach volleyball chicks I propose a contest. It is time to rate BikePorn. Submissions should be made to me Rick_Mabus@hotmail.com. I will review bikes based on three different categories.
1st. Most truly sexy bike. Criteria for this is simply based on true sex appeal.
2nd Most original. This could be sexy or downright nasty. This is a more open category
3rd. Biggest Hoopdy. This is something that could be submitted to Pimp my Ride!! If you make me throw up you win.

Winners may or may not get a prize. It depends on if the housing market picks up between now and the end of the contest. I also do not have a determined final date for the contest. I will start by submitting my bikes for a start.

Re-Rack!!

I went to a camp called Kanakuk as a kid in Missouri. The camp was a Christian sports camp, and when I say sports I mean really... really into sports. Our days would consist of waking up for a Mr. Hustle period. Then we would eat breakfast, Cabin Cleanup, and three more periods in different sports disciplines, oh, and you were expected to jog between periods to make sure you were on time to your events. Great camp and a great place to send your kids if you so choose. So you get the drift. Well when it would rain things would come to a halt and we would all go back to our cabins. We would call it re-rack time. Well today I got out at 6 am to ride and noticed the roads were dry but I was getting spit on sitting there. With the forecast this did not bode well for my ride so I crawled back in bed which was not being partially occupied by my wife and 3.5 year old. I have determined they were far better training partners this morning than any of you jokers.

Have a good day and I will see those of you not heading to Hottern Hell Thursday.

When will the Hotternhell whatever be over

So I am probably right in assuming that the heat has more to do with the recent increase in traffic but the HHH100 always does seam to drive out the morons for the month of august. And by using the term morons you are correct in your conclusion that we did in fact pay our reservation fee to the parks and recreation department of dallas and we are the only ones entitled to be on the roads trials or bridges at the lake darn it. Speaking of parks and recreation where in the free world has he been? And Lester TBM? In the sprint today Robert won....yeh.

So on with the musings. Last year I had a close friend (the center of our football team in high school) offer up the challenge that he wanted to do the HHH full 100. I told him that if he trained hard from May to August I would help him get there. Well I got a call about two weeks out that he had been training but had not gone more than 30 miles. Me and another buddy took him on a 50 miler and he almost died doing the south loop. I basically dropped any worries I was heading to Witchita Falls. Monday before however I got a call and he had informed he had signed up. I realized we had not chance in you know where to get a hotel so I started looking on craigs list to see if we could find a camping trailer to put in the RV area. Michael Slaughter was intending on staying in a hotel but decided to ditch that idea and stay with us. Well I was thinking to myself, if I am going to do 100 miles easy might as well do the MTB time trial the night before. Which I did and it was fun about a dollar a minute for riding basically on a recently flooded riverbed. So on to the funnier stuff. We got this 25 foot trailer from a dude in Lewisville. I hooked everything up and off we went. Got to Witchita Falls and pulled into the parking lot of the MPAC center with a 25 foot trailer in tow. Those of you who have been there at 5 pm realize just how stupid this is. Anyhow I got into the parking lot and immediately clipped a ladies car. Only problem is I did not realize it and drove off. Because we could not find adequate parking I parked in a vacant lot. We casually went in to register and came out only to find a cop at our trailer. I thought he was giving me a parking ticket. When he told me what he was doing I begged for a parking ticket. So off to the camp grounds we go. We hooked up our water and electrical and nothing worked. This old bubba came by while I was off doing the mtb time trial thing and he turned everything on. I got back from the TT and realized our water at the sink had been on the whole time and flooded this poor dudes trailer. Woops. So we waited till it got dark and since there was no sewer hook up we drained our water storage tank on the ground!! About then Slaughter and he band of ruffians show up and we started chatting about the fun we had had so far. Early morning tomorrow so lets get some sleep right. Well about that time the air conditioner took over and started working like a champ, which was really the whole idea behind the trailer in the first place. Well Michael got cold jumped off his bunk and turned off our ac. sooooo about 4 am it got so freaking hot we had to stumble around in the dark and turn our ac back on. Needless to mention I will not be towing a trailer to HHH this year. Incidently my buddy and I finished the 100 in 6 hours and 42 minutes!!

Tuesday Feels like Monday

Hola Compadres. Today was sure a good time. Man I am feeling way out of shape though. Here is the skinny. Started the ride with a brisk run down the smooth side all while having the good fortune of Detlef join us one last time before leaving our fair city. Well anyway we got to the bathhouse climb and the hell began to get unleashed. We went blazing by Erica On and On Badu's house and it looked like JeeP, The Count, and Thomas the Train were on the front keeping the good times at hand. Well after a quick trip behind the Arboretum, We hit the hills with everyone looking a little pensive. I was on the front and started to wind it up when The Tabinator came ripping by on the left. I caught his wheel and rolling into Westshore I did some MTB skills clinic work to get around the corner and down the hill we went. The Tabinator and I for whatever reason could not get on the same page as far as speed but we did get about 5 guys in a group that started to form a bit of a gap on the rest of the jokers. Well that got absorbed and back to the smooth side we went only to have The Count attack. The Tabinator went with him and we started to chase again. About this time my week off the bike was starting to really put me deep inside the pain locker with someone else locking the outside. Well we hit the smooth side and I think I took one small pull only to have someone attack as I was swinging off. Darn you somebody. About that time we started to roll behind the arboretum when The Count attacked as I was pulling off the front again. Darn you The Count. Well then we hit the bridge where and somehow Christian was up the road. Not sure how that happened but the thought is that might not have been the most sporting move of the day. I did not see so all I can say is we started a chase. Well on loving I though I was seeing Elvis and Jesus screaming at me on the grass. Got to the top and chased down the hill and was recovering a bit. The Lakewood came and I went. Well the stop sign saved my ride life and I was back on for good. I did notice however that the ride was quite small by now. No Chaineeeee, No JeeP, and a few others had dwindled to no so much. Well Mr. Brown Town with his excessively shiny cranks pulled off the coup and attacked going into the last corner. Flyer Shirer jumped on Greg the Bike Breakers wheel and according to Shirer Flyer he might have won if you are Liberal with the line placement. I don't know and really don't care because at that point I was simply trying to get my helmet and gloves off as I was just plain darn uncomfortable. I am not taking another week off like that for a while!!

Honorable mention today goes yet again to the Count and Thomas the Train for selflessly always working at the front on the rides even when the rest of us feel terrible. Also the mirage members sporting ink. Way to make all the old guys look cool!!

Sometimes life gives you lemonade tooo.

So todays ride. I turned off early (more on that in a sec). I really don't care who won and I really don't know what happened in the sprint. As with the new Thursday attitude though we are going to take a diversion. My very close friend Jason Vivion got an email from someone at Mavic that a certain gentleman was in town and was looking for groups to ride with. Jason connected me together with this whole ride group effort and off we went. Well Tuesday I had basically decided I was a little cooked and ready for some down time. Well I saw the name Detlef Schrempf on the email and decided it was time to dust off the shoes and get on the bike. I met "Det" at the AAC yesterday morning at 6 and we put in a couple of laps at the lake. While riding a rental bike the rear tire decided it did not like the air it had in it so we stopped to fix a flat. At this point Russ-tic pulled up and said hello. We visited for a minute and I introduced Russ to the group. Now I was a little concerned, as Det is a public figure and might want to stay low profile. He introduces himself as Det. Russ says "Great, Whats that short for, Detmer?....... Eventually Det says, "no Detlef" To which Russ responds with a Ohhhh like Detlef Schrempf. At this point, I chimed in and said quietly, "Russ, that is Detlef Schrempf". It was pretty funny, and Russ as usual was a class act and did a great job hosting with us as we had a guest in town.

Well here is the point. Today many of you might have noticed the rather tall rider with us that made the Count look like a midget, and made all 5'8" of me look like a fire ant. Well that was Detlef. I have had an amazing pleasure to get to know him over the last couple of rides and have been overly impressed with him. Detlef had a great career in the NBA and was very respected player who EARNED, not won, countless honors in the league. He also had quite a long career as well. That is not what has been so impressive about getting to know Det. He is in Dallas from Seattle for a youth basketball camp put on by Adidas. Not many people travel to Dallas in August from Seattle for a vacation. I also did a short bit of research and it is impressive how much charitable work Detlef is involved in at the present time. I wanted to simply mentioned all of this not to put him on a platform and start our idol worship because I am pretty sure his Velcro works the same on his cycling shoes as mine does. What I am saying is that "To whom much is given much is expected" Detlef has been given a lot and is giving back a lot as is apparent by his reason to be here, and also his charitable work. Go to www.Detlef.com Go look at the organizations they support and also the partner organizations and make sure to support those causes. Have a great day and as usual keep it rubber side down.

Pillow Time

Alright. I did not quite have it today so when the alarm sounded I hit off and off to sleep I went. I would love to give away the rights to anyone interested to let us know how today went. That being said here is what I do have of last weeks ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PWBAEozRL8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AwzE-zwy2I

Enjoy!

Thursdays fun and a visit with our past

So today was fun the usual worker bees were at the front most of the ride and I even took a few pulls to validate my participation. We were joined by an old friend today in the form of One Tough Texan, Senior CroZzy. Always good to see him out there. Anyhow lets pick up on the sprint stretch and then get into some other stuff. So we hit the smooth side for our sprint leg and CroZzy pegged it. We were rolling a strong 30mph and went into the sweeping Right hander before the second Murr. Well that right hander was a little tricky for the bunch at 30 and it caused a bit of a break I had the good fortune of staying on the Tabinator's wheel and getting back on the back of The Count, Thomas the Train, and CroZzy. Well CroZzy pulled off and left a group of about 5 of us to go it alone in the sprint. I believe after a short rest CroZzy took Thomas the Train and Fred at the line. Good ride and safer today.

We have a great privilege today to be joined by some old friends of the Tuesday Thursday Crowd in a round table discussion. Enclosed is the transcript of that dialogue. I was the moderator.

Moderator: Good Morning Gentlemen. How are you all.
Randy Tinney: Things are good here in Sunny Cali but Diiaamnnnn its early.
Frank Voight: Hey take it easy on us old guys now!!
Phill Kroll: Hey Ni%%#&'S Screw you all.
Joe Patronite: Hold on I think I am going to throw up... Ok, I am alright.

Moderator: So how has life changed for each of you since the Tuesday/Thursday rides.
RT: Well I think the Lapped Riders should always go to the Back.
FV: I like golf.....
PK: You Arseholds can have that ride. I have left the postal service and gone on to Messenger service
JP: Its hot hear in AZ

Moderator: What can be done to improve the competitive nature of the T/T rides
RT: I think all of you should move to Cali. No Wait don't move here I don't want anyone to realize how your turds don't actually stink here.
FV: Hey take it easy on us old guys.
PK: Attacking into oncoming traffic would be great, and you should get a time bonus if you cuss another rider out in front of a family in Lakewood!!
JP: I just think you don't ride hard enough unless you puke a bit in your own mouth.

Moderator: What about safety.
RT: Its just do diiammn early, and you jokers who skip the hills should get to the back niiowww yahere.
FV: Golf is a lot harder, but take it easy on us old guys.
PK: Safety My Arse You Nogga
JP: uh oh, I think I am going to puke again.

Moderator: You guys sure are missed. See you soon
RT: Naw Dim Daammn darnnet..........
FV: Four..... I think I just hit an old guy.
PK: Later Ni^^#%'!
JP: Huuuuuuuuuuuhhhhgg!

I farted... I mean Flatted

Alright. Today's post will be simply this. Short. We got some hitters out this morning and the hitters tend to elevate the game of everyone else so that's good. Well we had a quite quick smooth side and the fun appeared to be starting headed into the back side. FreakonatureFawley hit the front with the Tabinator at the top of the bathhouse hill and the fun appeared to be beginning. The count pulled back the break attempt and we settled down some although FoN Fawley kept the pace at the front quite high. I have been wanting to try and make a breakaway attempt but looking at your computer and seeing 25 mph on it is a hard motivator to think about taking off. We hit the hills and I apprehensively hit the front hoping to create a break and take off for a bit. FoNFawley was moving up the right and I was on the left and I was getting excited about the prospect of gettin gone. Well as fate would have it my tire decided it wanted to quit on me and I got to spend some relaxing time at the top of Loving fixing a flat. I did however get a front row seat as FoNFawley powered Thomas the Train to the finish. I got it on film so this should be fun to watch. Lester TBM incidentally that seat you tried out..... They make a white Alliante. I will defintely have a post up of the video so keep checking back before the end of the day tomorrow.

Fast Fashion Forward

Well, it had dawned on me that Thursdays rides really don't offer a ton of great material so we are going to take a bit of a left turn with the Thursday posts and although the ride will be a point of reference, a quick chasing of rabbits might be in store. Also offers have been extended to others to post a slightly different perspective of the ride (Flyer Shirer) but those offers were left unfulfilled. As a result a complete essay detailing why you should be considered to post in the future must be submitted. The individuals that care will vote on the validity of said essay and we will see where we go from there.

Today. Basically after some slicing and dicing Greg the bike breaker almost pulled off a major upset but Pretty boy Boyd took it at the line. More on him later but here is our rabbit, lets run..... Today offered some interesting risks and what not. The gentleman in the red and white with the Fujiyama bike was certainly a clever rider/ although I saw myself leaving a ton of skin at the lake today in my mind but somehow he managed to save it, almost like he does that a lot. I am all for our rides being inclusive, but when you risk me wrecking you are not welcome. Borrow my rollers Red and we will see you next summer. Jordan. Deciding to skip the hills from the inside left was cute. Thank goodness I ride a dirt bike too. Finally the guy who I believe went to UT. Taking a hard right from the bunch at the bridge is totally cool. Just let the rest of us know. Another swerve and dive and off we go.

Now for the fashion fast forward stuff. Red had on yellow socks and touring shoes. Boooo. Now Shirer flyer on the other hand had some new white shoes that he even tap danced in on Tuesday. Literally. But his shoes and pedals cost more than his entire fixed gear bike. I am not sure what to think about that. After UT football fan almost sent me into the lake today I rolled up next to Pretty boy Boyd on his new Orca bicycle. I happened to look over and noticed these kickin glasses on his face. I simply said "hey nice glasses". He looked at me with a stone faced look and in a nasal loud voice shouted out a "HHeeeeyyyyyy, I am Harry Carry". I laughed so hard I pee'd my pants a little bit. The most interesting new Fashion icon winner is Lester the Bike Molester. I spent a better part of the smooth side discussion some of his most recent decisions and we all should take note, because the overall point is really not how fast you are, but how fast you look!! So Lester went with a new Bar and Stem. But the bar is now wrapped in white bar tape, with white brake hoods on his campy record shifters. Very nice. Also added to the kit were a new white seat and also new white shoes. Its the subtleties that caught my eye. The Arundle bottle cages with white labels to match the white on the frame were a classy touch. Kind of like a chick wearing sexy undies. No one else knows but her,.... but she knows. Don't get me wrong I am not saying Lester tbm wears women's undies or that he is slow; I am saying he looks good regardless of how much pain he is inflicting. Now The Count on the other hand gives us the utilitarian look which is also good. Christian is still hiding his footwear which is ok. It is his shtick and I get that.

Let me establish a modest goal for those of us who are constantly out there scaring the crap out of walkers and families on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In these tough economic times lets start small. Lets work on getting the socks to match! That way when people jump off the trail in utter fear that will at least say, "darn those guys look good." Ride hard with the rubber side on the ground and we will see you soon.

Getcha Some

Alright first and foremost. Shirer intentionally sent me a pic of him in ridiculously short shorts in order that it would wind up on the blog so we must oblige. Blur Baker although wounded was wondering so lets end the speculation now, it is not Parks and Recreation.

So, Rumor has it the Blur is as good as can be expected after a violent fight with a rock Saturday. On to today's fried fish. The ride started briskly today as the Tabinator kept cracking the whip/hitting the front with the intent to cross some eyes. Matt was active in either going with or pulling back the Tabinator. The Slaughter was also in and on form helping keep the tempo high. Lester the Bike Molester showed up on his fancy bike to give it a go, and go he did. also we were graced by the resident expert on pace lines Leo Von Trapp, dancing with his MP3 player and all. so the pace was high but the challenge had been mentioned that we needed a kayak to get done Lakeshore blvd. Alternative routes were discussed but Senior Richardson suggested the best alternative was to divert ourselves right into the water. For some this will cause a bike cleaning for others (Parks, Robodobro) this WAS a bike cleaning!! Anyway we all made it though with out Menchoving and onto the second lap with Tabinator, Matt, The Count, Thomas the Train, and Lester the Bike Molester mixing up the stew pot at the front for the most part. I was sitting in saving my matches after taking two or three very brief pulls. Onto the spillway we went and I was planning on uncorking the Mojo after we hit the road. I played nice and waited for everyone else to make it onto the road and I started to wind it up. As my speed started to get down right nasty, the Count offered some strong caution as we did not know which way we were kayaking through the hills. Well needless to say I was so there and was going to destroy all with my power and dragon slaying manor up the climbs!, but hey sometimes you gotta be cool. Well on the climbs the bunch went hard but hardly went so we all wound up gambling that Jose was going to jack knife a 5th wheel trailer in the road on us. Needless to mention the roads were kind and Lester TBM and Leo VT hit the front in a one two punch and got the pace quite high heading into our sprint. They both came off and left The Count on the front. With a Flip of his cape and he put his head into the wind and trudged on at a quite high rate of speed. I decided in second wheel that coming out of the corner I needed to come on around or I was going to get boxed. I came and went and noticed my sprint needs some work. Greg the bike breaker gets the Bronze bike chamois this week!!!!!!

Honorable mentions for the day. 1st. Lester TBM. that bike sure is perty. Jordan for quitting!! Leo VT for playing nice with the ball and bat. Richardson for passing out the water wings as he guided us down the safer route. Finally Greg the Bike Breaker for sprinting like he meant it!!

I had the camera, had it on, and for whatever reason could not get the buttons right. I am still learning. Patience.

I got an idea.

I had and idea. Shirer brought up some pretty good points about the safety of the lake right now so I will see if we can roll this out later.

In the mean time check this one out as it was sent to me I am sure with only one hope that it would make it on this blog.

RickM

Dopper in the Thursday bunch (not like that though)

Alright we will get to the doping later but first lets dive right into today's affairs at the lake. As we (the Park Cities folk) jumped into the rather large group things were motoring nicely. I saw that a large group of individuals were working so I was shuffled to the back quickly. I moved to the front to do my share on this Thursday "tempo" ride and I noticed something unusual. The Count and Thomas the Train were not doing there every other person pull technique. It was as if the 20 percent decided they were done being taxed for the rest of us and the rotation was a little, shall we say, strange. But the show was continuing. Robodobro with the bionic hip and all, was starting to make some rotations and is showing signs of a full recovery. Greg the Bike breaker was back and had wiped away the Daytona blues and is starting in on his work load. so things were right in this world. Well almost. So we get through the hills on the first lap and things were settling quite nicely when out of no where Parks and Recreation takes a flyer off the front!! It appeared as if the dudes on the front were having some difficulty bringing him back, but.... Along came Jose Macho in his over sized green truck with the Jeg's sticker on the window (if you are wanting to learn more about Jeg's then go to www.jegs.com or to a nascar event and ask the first person you see with a beer in his hand and wife beater on. ) So Dave gets brought/stopped back in and we settled down a bit as we rolled, so much so that Jeep was hanging on the back on his 2-9er which is a record breaking 22 pounds!! Now this is when the dope came into play. The Booyiiid, Tabinator, and myself were having a nice conversation on the back of the bunch about how to fix the oil pricing when were were entering the barricades at the parks office. out of know where this dope takes a hard left into our bunch. Thankfully Booyiiiiiiid hit the brakes hard and did not do a cartwheel into the water and the Tabinator basically pulled the plug on our fun. Instantly a 50 yard gap was opened and we got to chase hard. Well needless to say we got back on in time to do some hill ridden. As like last Thursday we hit the smooth side heading for the sprint when the Moore Honeywagon was trolling for outhouses. At least the guy turned off the blower and uses his mirrors as he was trying to keep the pace high. About that time Blur was at the front, and this chick starts doing yoga on the street and the honeywagon dude jams the brakes in order to not turn this chick into road pizza. My guess is she was listening to John Tesh or David Hasselhof to loud but anyway she got buzzed and looked up at the driver as if to say Whhhaaattttt. I think I can offer some better advice than to get mad. Get off the darn road to stick your head between your ankles. Anyway I think that really sucked the life out of the bunch because Bike Breaker was the only one to sprint and I tried to come around him and might have as he was sitting up out of boredom.

Honorable mentions. Parks and Recreation for representing AARP with a flyer today. Shirer Flyer gets the (I have a bat and ball but you are not allowed to play with it) award. Blair gets the Boy of Summer award for his recent fitness, and I get the mightta coulda woulda did win the bronze chamois award for hitting our imaginary finish line first. We need to do some stealth painting of that. Fred take a spray can next time you are out there all night and spray us a line would you!!!!

Snoop Doggy Days of Summer

So it appears that the summer slump has taken root in our morning rides. Everyone seams tired and content to let the good times roll.... especially me! I would like to start today's update with a very important and sober note. Geoff Rogers is a great advocate for our sport (Dorba Mainstay) and was hit by a truck Sunday morning. He has the normal bumps, broken bones, and bruises, but the main problem that is concerning is a clot on his brain. The reports are that a full recovery should be expected though. Say a Prayer for Geoff and be thankful our cycling community has folks like him.

This mornings ride started with a few of the regulars back and a few still missing. Blur was home from his trip to beantown/Boston and was back to his ragin usual after finding his summer legs. Brain was there sporting the Serotta name fully. Lester the Carbon Molester was out in full force. Biken Mike Beerown was there for the second lap. "Lapped Riders To The Back". Parks and Recreation was out in full effect after a thorough show of force on the MTB Saturday. Jeep was there after a near death experience and after hugging a bridge Saturday. The Boy Walruss was done hugging the porcelain and came out with both six shooters pulled. We were also graced by Greg the bike breaker, back from some time sitting on the tailgate of a big truck on the beach in Daytona. So off we go at 7:00. No one really started throwing any darts as we rolled out just the usual Taxpayer model of Thomas the train, The Count, and Mad Matt doing the work for all of the rest of us hanger oners. We really held it tightly together with no attacks for the first lap and I got to watch everyone working hard to keep the pace steady from the back. The second lap saw the Tabinator move to the front with a look of angst but he simply took a pull or two to do his part. I noticed him moving up and I went with him to try and go with him when he went, which incidently he did go but it was by the boat houses, and The count threw it in overdrive to bring him back. Well onto the spillway and in a most legit but unusual move the Count attacked and put down some MTB handling style to get a small gap in a technical section of the path. I noticed this from my perch in the back and decided it was time to pay attention. Flyer Shirer was also casting some consternation and went to the front. As we went into the hills The Count was pinning his ears back and going after some glory points. I thought to myself, hey that looks like fun lets see if we can join him, so I went on the far left avoiding the landscaping truck that was trying to knock us all the way through Texas and back to Mexico. Debent and Russ-Tic came with me but actually had more gas on Westshore and between the four of us we started to look like we might have something. I noticed on lakewood blvd though that the wolves were breathing down our necks so it was time to back it off and ride it out to the sprint which was a full rager this morning but I was not close enough to see who won..... so someone won.

I did not have the batteries charged for the helmet cam so we will get some footage next week.

Honorable mention. Martin for putting the screws to us on Saturday (and showing on his MTB today). Check out his roid rager arms next time you see him. The Count and Tom for always being willing to make sure our pain threshold is high enough to weed out the HHH trainers. And most importantly Austin Bikes sent one Von Schweddy to Dallas to show us boys how to climb these short hills and only train 2 days a week. Quite impressive and always good to keep Tuesdays weird when great friends come in from Austin!! Thanks again for my slightly late birthday breakfast by the way. Keep it rubber side down out there, and live to tell about it, but make it sound better than it was.

Spaulding You'll get nothing and like it!!

No real good reason for the title but simply to pay homage to a great movie. Today was a rather uneventful Thursday. The one real surprise was the size of the bunch at 6 am. Where have all of you people been hiding. One thing is for sure is that Yorkshire Pudding was a new and fast face to the bunch. I do want to give a special shout out to all of you for slowing a bit to let Brandnew and I catch on when we turned around. Onto a couple of points of interest. Flyer Shirer is going to get some serious blog time here. His ride instruction and choice was like a order at Starbucks this morning. No Whip, Extra Foam, Semi Sweet Latte please. He was skipping hills taking pulls and riding backwards to keep his power meter under 200.00. Also we have taken special interest in not running folks over on the east side of the lake, which is a good thing. That being said this morning Flyer was basically doing the YMCA in order to point out the pedestrians. Don't be surprised to see Flyer show up with an Indian head dress and tool belt next Tuesday. As a tribute to the Village people we can then call him the Village idiot!

Onto the sprint today. I have noticed with all the Barricades, that being close to the front without hitting the front is really a tough task. That being said I came into the sprint with a small hope of putting in a last chance flyer prior to the sprint, which also requires staying at the front. So we hit the smooth side and the Tabinator took a rager of a pull only to swing off and get swept to the back. Then Yorkshire Pudding hit the front and it was wide open for a long time. At that point I was thinking "How do you launch a flyer when the bunch is doing 30?" So back to the drawing board. When you are sitting 3rd wheel with a mile to go your sprint is pretty much off. That being the case I decided to take a grinder pull and at least keep the pace high for a bit. So I did. The Count came around on the last left hander and The Tabonator and I rode across the line talking about the battles for position in the sprints. Good clean fun for the day. I then got to my office only to notice some idiot tried ducking the dart rail arm on his motorbike as it was coming down and hit a bump sending himself bouncing down the street like a golf ball on the cart path. The guy was 6'8" and was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Road Rash time!! Fox 4 was interviewing his helmet which was quoted as saying "I sure was glad I was wearing that guy for protection of this could have been a lot worse." Well thanks for checking in and lets keep it rubber side down out there.

Its July on two wheels and you know what time that is!!

Well I think Shirer might be adding his own post shortly with his account of today but let me first say the video link is below of today's ride. Let me also say that I want to give some background as to why this blog was started in the first place. First, I like to write creatively, Second I was tired of the media talking about Dopers and the crap that surrounds pro cycling. I figured we have drama and action every Tuesday and Thursday for that Matter. And for the most part the characters are the same. Third. I like the regulars that show up for Tuesday and Thursday rides. Riding with all of you makes my week better so I want to try and give something back. Although small for sure.

To the point. Its July. The tour is on tv and I really could not tell you what is happening with the lab rats in Europe. What I can tell you is that the cars/outhouse trucks(honey wagons)/tractors etc. need to stop busting up our sprint. Today was for the most part a controlled ride with Fred, Tom, and Matt doing a lions share of the work. Flyer shirer was back from raking his Feng Schwing Garden. Jordan was with us for one lap but was worried his efforts would tire him for his dance recital coming up Saturday. We did have a guest appearance from The Tin Man who showed us how to Off Road it some. Basically I will be brief today but I wanted to make something clear and apologize for something. Today I sat in a great deal and decided to attack on two or three separate occasions. I think in some circles that would be construed as negative tactics. I was not trying to ride negatively, I was trying to start throwing sand in the sand box. That being said if my riding was viewed as negative in approach then forgive me for not doing some work with the attacking. Finally what the heck happened to the dude by the sprint, and who knocked him over. You guys rock!! Bill lets have it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QhMh1RMfaQ

Thursday but really Friday!!!!!!

With the 4th tomorrow and a long hard spring/early summer I decided to make sure Robodobro kept it safe out there and went easy this morning, so not new updates for today. Be sure to log back into Tuesdays info and find our video link. Jordan was kind enough to ride with us though and discuss the greatness of skiing in Wisconsin. Incidentally if you ever have the chance to see the movie "step into liquid" you get to see old fat guys surf on the lake in green bay. Lets keep the rubber side down this weekend, and make sure the Count does not drink to much while piloting his cigarette boat around lake Lewisville. We don't want to see Shirer inundated with Clients.

Oh I need the 4th

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw7X3RyKFxs

Our ride is public. Only problem is Youtube really reduces the quality. I gotta find a better source.

So the story goes. Flyer Shirer was at home doing yoga and raking his zen garden, (I can see him now in his silk robe with a neck tie tied around his head and a rake in hand working on his fang schway). Anyhow Russ-Tic must be on vacation with the kids in Big Bend or some other place where the heat does not effect skinny people. Greg the Bike Breaker is actually here but he broke his bike again just looking at it last night. All that to say we were missing some heavy hitters/workers today so the ride was interesting. Downtown Brown was out there as was Lestaria, trying to figure out how to get the sand from Padre out of his bike shorts. Parks and Recreation was on full gas. Mattman was on the front raging as was Tabonator. So off we go easy sit in trying to anticipate the camera turn on and then we got to the other side of the lake. I went to the front to try and do some dirty work and we started stomping on the top of the Bath House hill. Coming to the stop sign I started to cramp and felt like someone was pouring Concrete in my legs. Never a good sign. Well we got to the hills and JeeP went to the whip on his Felt and off we went. I did some Olympic gate crashing at the top of loving and we were rolling good down Westshore. Well on Lakewood BLVD The Count went for blood and a new world was starting to settle in. About this time a break got up the road. Well Blurr Baker, Mattman and Tabonator chased down whoever it was up the road. I was cross eyed so I don't remember. Anyhow The Count took a stab at it, going into the Mockingbird bridge and took Mattman with him. I sat up a bit realizing today was not a good day for me. Anyhow it started to turn into a Tom/Fred vs. Matt-Tabonator grudge match with the rest of us left to suffer it out together in the middle. I think it important to note I skipped the hills on the second lap to get my camera working going into the sprint. That being said I hear that Debent went up the road on the hills in a signature move and was way off the front with Tom and Tabonator chasing and then the pack huffing along behind. Well the stop sign played its part and it quickly all came back together. I started pulling to try and give some of the dudes a break and help keep it smooth heading into the sprint. I can now understand why Stein sprints every time. I felt great all the sudden but like a true sporting gentleman I swung off to let the participants give a go at it. Browny Brown hit the front in his 53-11 and I think Tom or Fred won. I am still tired and am looking forward to a restful night!!

Honorable mention. Robodobro. That hip is starting to come around. Debent for attacking after a long hospital stay. All you losers who stayed home!!!!!! The rest of us had to take up your slack. I hope your holiday slumber is quickly squelched by kids with buckets of water.

We are live

Ladies and Gentlemen. We have footage of the ride this morning that will most certainly be posted. The only thing is I have to link it to Youtube, and I also have to edit the video and put some catchy tunes to it. That sounds terrible, but in all actuality it might be fun for me. That also being said I am not an IT guy and I can barely get my blackberry to synch with my computer so you might even hear the curse words from your homes.

My assessment of todays ride. Lets start at Saturday. JP, Hardyplank and Vivion took me to Oak Cliff Saturday and wooped me good. I left that afternoon for a restfull two nights at the lakehouse with the kids only to have the kids wake up way to damn early. Monday I drove home at 6:30 in the AM to be at work on time. Monday night went off road, Tuesday morning grudge match, Tuesday night I went to Oak Cliff again for a mtb ride, Wednesday I went out early on the road and back to Oak Cliff for another round the trees adventure. Thursday morning saw me wake up a little foggy as should be expected with the amount of increased mileage. I sat at the back this morning and watched what looked like a rather uneventful ride with everyone on good behavior. The only item of interest is when Garry Africa swerved to catch The Counts wheel heading into the sprint and the guy on the Merlin (I don't know his name yet sorry), was about a half length off Fred this pushed the Merlin into the gravel on the side of the road and in a great display of bike riden he pulled it back on the road and off we went.

Items of noteworthyness, Parks and Recreation was said to have been riding with some girl and not with us for whatever reason. Also I think I am starting to get an idea of what kindof shoes Christian Rides. Sidi is my guess. Flyer Shirer took his bat and ball and went and played with himself.

AS MENTIONED ABOVE MY TECHY SKILLS ARE LACKING. I REFORMATED THE SD CARD AND IT IS THE WRONG FORMAT FOR THE CAMERA. THIS IS FIXED BUT NO VIDEO. STAY TUNED FOR TUESDAY.

SORRY.

Trading Shoulder Punches!!!!

I liken today's ride to the game we played when we were kids when we would trade shoulder punches. No one would ever get really hurt but we would all yell ouch and end up sore. That being said I am going to say the ride was quite fast with a lot of stops and starts because the Count is doing his job of encouraging us to play nicely in the sandbox better known as the lake. So we did wait on Thomas the train, even though Parks and Recreation was itching to go and off we went. Nothing blistering on the smooth side but we did pick up some traffic for the romper room back of the line. I loved watching this one guy basically squirming down the road in our pack and watching Flyer Shirer move to the front in a bold attempt to save skin when, not if but when that guy crashed. Anyhow we hit the back side and out of nowhere quadzilla Mirage shows up and moves to the front to ooze some testosterone on us. About that time The Tabinator also went to the front to push the meat wagon down the road. We got to the hill and Matt went up it like a helium balloon and off we went. I imagine this is when Flyer Shirers friend Scratch and Dent went bye bye. Anyway we also continued to flex some muscle until we hit the hills and I noticed that the count was calling out everything and I mean everything. It was much like riding with a caddy. So down the smooth side and nothing eventful happened then right before the bath house climb Tabinator takes a brief dig and Dodgeball counters as a good team rider and the throw down was on. I moved up the road with Matt on my wheel and we got to TtT and Dodgeball about the time they started looking at each other. I then went to the front hoping to encourage our 4some to Play though. Well when I looked back and realized Parks and Recreation was on as well as the host of others I decided to sit up before I started digging for an extra lung in my jersey pocket. The hills did not do much for the fun factor and back on the smooth side the sprint was looming; BUT another car was in our way. Fred and Tom were on the front and it looked as if it was time to start digging in the pockets for a coin or two for some late's and a post ride story or two when suddenly the truck made an abrupt turn and opened up our lane again!!!! Like in Wayne's World, "Game On" was quoted and Fred and Tom started riding like it was a jail break. Russ-tic hit the front to sprint and wound up giving me a good, all be it late, lead out and I came around him looking for Flyer Shirer. I could not come around him but something of noteworthiness. When Flyer Shire makes a Humping motion on his bike and looks as if He is cramping up he is probably just getting a better angle so he can look in his mirror.

Men of Noteworthyness. Shirer won without doing any work to chase anything down today. Soon he and Stein will be skipping the hills together. Also Parks and Recreation is healed up nicely and back to his cagey ways on the bike which is good to see. Finally Park Place Lexus should be thanked for paying the entry fees for Dodgeball and Tabinator.

Also Thursday the helmet cam will be in full force so we should have some video on this bad boy!! You guy coming out on Tuesdays and Thursdays seriously add to the quality of my life so thanks for that.

Lets go..... Home

Alright today's update is short. So was the ride at least for me. I was all sorts of ready for a good solid working over today but the weather had other plans. The ride was going quite nicely with Fred and Matt doing the lions share of the work today. Blur Baker was in there taking some pulls and the tempo was high and tight!! We hit the spillway and I noticed sky to ground lightening that appeared to be right on top of my house. I heard from the Koondoggy that the radar showed a strong line of storms heading right for us. Nice rear tire color by the way Koondoggy! Anyhow Blur and I had a quick discussion about how riding in a Thunderstorm in Texas is slightly lower on my desired activities than a root cannal, so we headed home at the top of westshore after at least a little pounding. Now on to a matter worth discussing. Blur informed us that last year he had a head on collision with a gentleman who appeared to be looking for a cash settlement, and might have secretly been one of Flyer Shirers clients. He graciously pointed out that gentlemen was out again today, after we had yielded the rightaway to him, and called us a dirty name (stick and stones dude). What I want to take issue with is what happened after Blurs incident last year. Apparently the gentleman went to the Bike Marty and started looking for someone who was involved in the ride, and Pat G-Money informed him of who Blur was. This in turn resulted in the gentleman showing up with a medical bill in hand the following Tuesday. Now as I see it Pat did the right thing. That being said let me try and encourage us to do the wrong thing. I would like to refer all unfortunate situations at the lake involving cylcist to Phill Kroll. Example, "You A%%hole, I cannot believe you knocked me off my bike", "Hi, My names Phill Kroll, how much do I owe you".

Honorable mention today. The weather. Robodobro for showing up after hip replacement surgery and completing the entire first lap with us. Tiger is starting to sound like a wimp right. Keep it rubber side down and have a good one ya here.

Throwing down the Gauntlet (with a french Pronunciation

So as many of you read I was actively challenging us all to attack and stir up some stuff on Tuesdays. I think I mentioned something about a throwing down of sorts. Then as Blur Baker pointed out I quickly threw up the gauntlet. Well I/We at the Mabus household are done yakking our brains out and are back to the good. So after not really riding much for 2 weeks I was a little concerned about the stones I have thrown heading into this morning. Here is the blow by blow as I saw it. Opening lap started a bit late. Freds polka band is taking some time off for the summer to explore independent projects so he was present. Christian the shoe cover was in, as was Flyer Shirer, Blur Baker, Clarko, Matt, Garry Africa, Thomas the train, and the Entire Junior Squad from any given race. Other Notable Mentions are Russ-tic, Greg the bike breaker, Ritchey New Bike and all the other usual cast of fools setting out to sail together. So the opening smooth side consisted of Russ-tic launching a "I'm not waiting on you" rolling start off the front. We had a rather relaxed smooth side and headed into the boathouse section rather gingerly. Through the barriers the tone was a little nervous as we all knew the hard stuff could still come. Well I moved up the inside of the climb from about 20th in an attempt to patrol the front and get ready for some hard stuff. about then I noticed the Count carving a Apollo OhNo line in the top corner so I decided to launch a move to Fred. I was running the tri spokes so lets wind them up and see how they roll right!! Well I got to Fred hit the front and took a hard pull when it looked as if Flyer Shirer was yanking the chain back to us. I was a little cooked so I sat up a bit and we rolled down the hill. At this time I had a chance to inform Ritchey that his hollow pin sram chain was crap!! (they really are). So we ran the back side with no real events to speak of then Yum Rader went ripping by us and took about three AARP members with him. I noticed as well that a bikes plus guy decided to throw out his anchor from the front and have a complete meltdown. About this point we started chasing a bit to shut down the gap only to run into the tour of dallas on the bridge and path. Also Vito the Belly was staring us down something fierce as he should. That belly could knock over any one of our skinny arses. So into the Hills. Yum hit the front and started to wind it up but then decided to unwind a bit. By this point I was building up a head of steam and decided to put that MTB practicing to work, give it a hard set of corners and stay on it on westshore. Well turning right at the top was a tough task as the dirt on the road mixed with stop signs, and other larger more metal objects than me, encouraged me to slow it down some. The second lap saw a settling in of sorts and we continued the grind around to the hills one more time. Well in earnest the kiddos decided to put in a dig, and head up loving like a couple of junior high girls running to a New Kids On the Block Concert. The effort was impressive however taxing. I hit my rev limiter and settled in for a chase. On westshore Rader was exploding something fierce but the other junior was on the gas still fighting. Well we obviously got a bit of a gap which was closed down quickly but we also thinned out the bunch some too. So on to the smooth side prepping for a sprint. Fred was grinding, then we came to the driving school class and basically we got shut down (the instructor was probably all over that jerk brake on the passenger side). Now for some irony. The kid driving the car was being caught and passed by younger kids on bikes........ Hmmmmmmm......

Honorable mention. Vito, you win that belly battle, so buy a bike and fight the war. Christian, we still want to know what type of shoes you wear. Fred, for finding the sunblock and doing a lot of work as usual. Thomas the Train, (See Fred but without the sunblock) The junior squadra. Keep showing up, It worked out pretty well for some other guy who grew up around here. Finally to Me for throwing up, and throwing down the gauntlet. But you have to say that with a french accent as that does a better job of having a lot of hype with very little action and very little ability to do anything about it, Just like the French!!

On a special note, I need some pics, as I only put the picture of myself on my MTB there to add some Pizzaze to this blog. If you have encriminating pics of anyone forward them to Rick_Mabus@hotmail.com.

So this is how it goes

Alright. Tuesday morning started like this for me. Monday afternoon my 1.5 year old came home and threw up twice. Did not appear to be anything terrible as he was not acting any different. Got the kids to sleep put out my cloths for the 5:48 alarm and got ready for bed. Fell asleep at 9:30 which is great. Got up at 12:30 on now Tuesday and my stomach was feeling a bit strange. This is the part that is so much fun. I got up again at 3:30 and had the runs. I did not have time to flush fast enough before I realized I was going to puke. That being said I did flush the toilet, spun around and started to hurl before the toilet had officially flushed with some not so fresh stuff swirling around the bowl. As you can imagine I was not real excited about sticking my face down in this environment so I simply aimed the best I could. When you are having a full on throw down there is no aim. I cleaned up my creation and went back to bed and turned off my alarm clock. My stomach is still sore from the violence of the night. See you Thursday. Hope the ride was good.

Wind Surfing / Or so I hear

Alright. Did not make it out this morning as I spent the night on the couch with my 1 year old who had a stomach bug while my wife was upstairs with my 3 year old who was pooping his brains out and throwing up as well. I did hear it was windy and I did here there was a special appearance by Jujitsu Howard. He finally saw how much fun we were having on the bike and realized running really is not that cool after all. Whats up with those sleeveless running shirts anyway. Since I have nothing to reflect on today lets dip into Tuesday for a second. I think we who are out there week in week out have gotten complacent and started simply sitting in and taking pulls. After speaking with Fast Fawley I was inspired by the fact that attacks and breaks should be happening on that Tuesday ride!! It is a Race/Ride, So I would like to throw down the gauntlet and say "GITRDUN".

Honorable mention today. Eileen Mabus passed away Tuesday night at 6 pm. She was 89 years old and died of congestive heart failure. She lived at the north end of the lake at CC. Young and was a huge sports fan. Most importantly she was my grandmother. She probably would have been a massive cycling fan if she had been with it enough to explain the greatness of the sport in her later years. That being said I will always think about here at the north end of the lake so you jokers better watch out when we get to ripping. Also Honorable mention today is Shirer Flyer's mom who is also at CC Young. Positive thoughts to her as well.

Tuesday June 3rd, 2008 OUCH.

So this morning June the third was a ride that registers way up there on the Ouch Meter. Also would someone turn off that hairdryer. It is way to hot. So... on with it. Flyer Shirer brought out Clayten Knievel, Jeff Brand brought a buddy and I Humbly brought myself. So we did our parade lap and took our places at the parking lot start. Shirer was calibrating his power output with his Mirror and finally realized it was 6:59:30 so we decided it best to get a move on. The first lap had a whole host of celebrities to catch up with. Brian firmly earned his invite to this falls BBQ shindig by showing up and working on the Tuesday ride for the second time in a few short weeks. His bike was spotless as usual. Eric Prim also brought out his bat and ball to give us all a look at what it is like to be a crit/dirt specialist. Freds Bar Mitzvah Band must be on the on the road to Royal and Central for a tea festival, as he was not there today. As the ride was showing its true spirit at a reasonably brisk pace, out of no where comes Brian (your hard ride is boring me) Fawley. As we entered the Hills/Lions den for the fist lap a group of rather cagey riders gathered at the front with a bit of purpose in the pedal stroke. This was also made more urgent as the second hill was skipped which basically rolls us into the new second hill at a full sprint. Thanks to Bill for that one today. Anyhow, thats about all I saw (except for Mirage guy who did a dive bomb into the ducks by the sailing clubs (who gave that guy the right to buy a bike) ) as the first set of hills put me on the defensive (close to puking) posture for the rest of the second lap......Until we hit the hills for the second lap. Brian (I am so Bored now) Fawley decided to really pin it and roll away on the run up to the hills. Richy, was chasing but not really gaining a lot of ground was heard muttering something about "I though this new bike would make me faster". It is definitely a pretty bike though. Anyhow I felt a since of urgency and started pedaling out of desperation at the front. At this point a ride of 40 turned into a ride of 11 with one of the 11 up the road. We did bring Flying Fawley back at the top of Loving but it was the beginnings of a break of 4. That break was brought back to a certain extent on Lakewood. I then went to the front to keep the pace high only to have Flying Fawley break my spirit on the roll into the sprint and "that was all folks thanks for coming tonight, we are doing two shows tomorrow".

For today's honorable mentions. The guy on the tractor on the blind corner at the end of the first lap. I would check to make sure he was not driving a car in Mexico Sunday. Jeff Brand for his new Shoes. I hope he remembered to pull the silca bag out before putting them on. To Dave Parks for replacing yet another spoke on a 10 year old wheel. The good things never die. Finally to Prim for wearing white after Memorial Day. Oh Who can leave out Mirage Boy, I might recommend a set of rollers and a new pair of prescription glasses for that cat. I am wearing elbow and knee pads if he keeps showing up. Thanks again for making the cycling community such a great group of guys to associate with.

Thursday May 29th

Well here is your racing report for Thursday May 29th on the 6 A.M. Ride. As usual per Jordan the gates do not open in the Park Cities until 6 A.M. so we (Bill Shirer and I) rode over missing the first lap. Blair Baker had violated the 6 rule and as a result had to ride down Mockingbird to make it on time and avoid the gremlins chasing him. So anywho joined in on the end of the first lap. I did have the fond opportunity to watch the Count and Thomas The Train ride straight into three ducks in the middle of the road. I think at this falls picnic we are asking an eye doctor to swing by for free checkups. So Mr Dodge This pounded, Christian still sat at the front and would not let us see his shoes and Shirer Flyer ditched the fun to do his secret coach inspired training. At least we squeezed him at the gates. Dodge This cranked it for the sprint. I tried to lead out Greg but had to sprint to simply come around Dodge This. Greg won thanks to that new Madonne, but Hoyt is angry because he did not zip his Jersey as he raised his arms for the sprint. Honorable mentions for the morning. Lester showed up on his TT rig and was quick to roll the front of the pain trail the whole way. Parks continued his Wednesday night bender with his new asymetrical rear wheel. Either he was riding drunk or trying out a new Massage wheel. You decide. JP/Jordan also showed off what they did with the recent stimulous check from the IRS and bought confused mtb's. Road wheels on a MTB go figure. They sure looked pretty though. (the bikes that is).

Some things to look forward to. Tuesday Fred will be finished with his band practice and be able to rage for the entire show (His band is taking a break from the Bar Mitzvah tour they have been on, Fred plays the spoons). Be sure to tune in Wednesday also as Mabus and the Shirer Flyer will be discussing the Evil Corporations/Corrupt Mofia Unions/and How Clinton and Bush are not that different after all. Meanwhile we have special forces working to find out what type of shoes Christian wears. Thanks to everyone for making the cycling community such a great group of guys to associate with.