Great Morning to be a Cyclist

Today Tuesday April 21 was what I will call a great day to be a cyclist. It is time to get back after it. Time to call the season game on. I will start with this perspective. I have really worked hard over the winter months to do an early run of spring mtb races. My whole point of doing this was to have fun racing but also to try and qualify for Nationals (which is not that hard to do by the way) which I did. I have been taking it easy for a few weeks and working long. Whats the point. The point is I am at the back hanging for my life.

Todays report will be short then. There were some guys taking pulls..... I saw El Jeffe take a monster pull up loving the first time. Russ-tic, T the T, and Dobi jr went with him. This was and impressive move as it looked like that might be a tough break to real in. At the point of shatter it looked like we got it back together. Anyway everyone took pulls again and back to the hills we go. We got blocked by a car on loving and on westshore El Jeffe took a big ole dig. I started in a lame effort to chase but at the top of the hill two tar paving trucks were blocking the road. El Jeffe swung left and I hit the sidewalk. 90 degrees at 20 mph is a bit intimidating so through the yard I went. The grass was wet and the pavement was not so I was a little concerned about my choice. Anyway I took a couple of pulls coming into the sprint but I don't really know who won so congrats to our victor, to the rest we will take our spoils.

THAT AINT FAWLEY

So Bryan I am not sure who your twin is but he was on our ride today. To you mister Fawley look alike I appologize for not getting your name right. Like I said it was dark out there. Next Tuesday let me be the first to introduce myself. I hope in the least you will consider the fract that I though you were Fawley a compliment!!

Later

It sure is dark out there.

So how we doin????? Things good? Anyhow today was a fun ride as most tuesdays really are. For starters the darkness is accomodating to the count so he was with us in full glory today. Gotsome was there. Flying Fawley was at the helm and so was I believe ian, who shall from now on be called learners permit. Robert the Wrench was throwing fire balls as well. So the fun kicked off with a very calm first smooth side. Then Gotsome cranked it wide for a second on the bridge and the fun was in full swing. At this point a brave few of us were pulling knowing that the real fire works were just being pulled out of the boxes and set up. Gotsome took a flyer on the bathhouse hill which always makes the hill not so bad for the rest of us, but the flats afterward are usually blinding with everyone scattered everywhere. So enough with the fun, and it was on to luv me sum loving. Again Gotsome hit the gas with Learners Permit, Flying Fawley, and I believe Robert the Wrench on his tail and it looked as if we had a small problem on our hands. That is until traffic, the great equalizer, pulled out and blocked our breakaway. So up the next hill we go and things are together for the second time around. My fitness is still in recovery mode after a couple of rough weeks so I was at the back on the second lap and missed any goings on at the front which were close in. So on the bathhouse climb Gotsome hit the gas yet again and this time went alone for a second. Across the top we went, and we all came back together. On loving Learners Permit hit the front and it looked as if Flying Fawler, and Tri Guy were right on him eventually pulling Gotsome and Robert the Wrench up to them. As we were bombing down lakewood Thomas the train, The Count, Russ-tic, Mad Matt Thunderdome, and I were gapped. This was not looking good as the group in front all deserved to be there. I was not panicking as I knew we had the stop sign to contest and since Joe Howard did not show up anymore I knew the guys at the front would not urban assault it. Well they got a break and we got a truck at the stop sign and I became overly concerned we just bought a ticket to a great sprint finish from behind the stage. Anyhow I took one pull and my match was out. The Count, T the T, and Russ-tic did a great job of truly closing down the gap and it was all together going into the sprint. I decided it would be good to try and do some work for Flyin Fawley and try to lead him out. Anyway I committed one of my big no no's and moved up the inside against the curb. As I hit the front I noticed Mad Matt was trying to get off the front and swung right..... basically into me. This is why this is one of my no-no's and I should have known better so My bad for almost wrecking everyone. I do not know who won the sprint bacause my steller braking made it hard for me to ramp back up so yet again, whoever did win, congrats on all that. You cats have a fantastic day and lets keeper headed into the sun shall we.

Donut Ride

I may start calling our morning rides the donut ride because of all the cops in cars with Bikes on the backs of them.

Todays special anti-dopers (average joe) ride report: Today was not your average ride. Here is your cast of players. Dodgeballer, Jeep, Flyin Bryan, Flyer Shirer, Thomas the Train, Russ-tic, Coondoggy, AntiBill, Lester the bike Molester, Parks and Recreation, Dobi Brother 2(younger), Metro-VDubinski, Chainlink, and our newest yet long time friend to the bunch Briggs and Stratton.

So the ride started with everyone rolling it easy but intensified as the roll got rolling. Briggs and Stratton has decided to take the place of The Count on the am rides and make sure the pace stays high. Well we hit the BH hill and the flying started in earnest. The climb was brisk. We wound our way around to loving and up we went. The Helium boys moved the front Briggs and Stratton showed just how much fun it is for an old o-lineman to act like he only weights 130lbs. Anyway the first set of hills did not force to much seperation, but Jeep made sure they were hard. Especially considering the cop parked at the stop sign causing some foot tapping on the pavement. Coming into the smooth side for lap two Flyin Bryan cranked a bit on the volumn knob and wandered up the road a ways. Next thing we knew we were doing some single filing with a goal in sight. At the catch point it was back together again heading across mocking ("yah") bird (dumb and dumber). Anyhow we hit the BH hill second go around and this time Flyin Bryan decided to do some 4 wheelin and hit the front coming around the corner. Nifty piece of work I might add. Anyway to the hills for lap 2 and loving was a bit of a setup. We came into the lakeshore hill and Metro-Vdubinski started a bit of a rocket launch up the left, and I gaver a nice "up up" as Flyin Bryan jumped on his wheel only to accelerate even more and basically catch me in no mans land. With the rare hope that somehow the donuts had worn off and the cop was gone I kept the pace rolling down to the lake. No winners for me today as the bacon was still smoldering. Anyhow we all got back together and about that point Dodgeballer and Flyin Bryan were off the front the slightest little bit. Flyer Shirer had decided to bring his bat and ball back to the group and rejoin the kids at the playground. It looked like the gap was opening, so I went to the front to try and help, only to get shelled like I had just finished a MTB race on Sunday. So I have no idea who won, but however did good job, and congrats on all that. Honorable mentions today are Dodgeballer, Brando, Flyin Bryan, Briggs and Stratton, and T the T for keeping the pace high and us boys behind safe in the draft.

Keep it rubber down and see you all on Thursday. That is unless Thomas the Train continues to run down walkers!!

The Ides of...... well winter

So it is time to get slowly back into the swing of things. Today was a good ride. We had what appeared to me to be a worthy new comer (however danger as a nickname might be coming). We had the same old guard in full swing, and most importantly we had the real Thomas the train back!! The only worthy info to report is the fact that we all rode in a nice pace line for the entire ride and the ride came down to a rather hard, yet civil sprint. I will throw in one personal note about the fact that I had a fantastic ride three saturdays ago taking pulls for the entire south loop with tom and have been on a limited ride schedule with a head cold and work distracting me ever since. Today my nose was running like a faucet and I was running out of glove space by the end. Lets get re-aquainted. The Dobi brothers are back on the bike. Thomas the train is rolling down the tracks. Parks and Recreation is still running from the age now that his son is starting to show signs of real promise. Russtic is back in the grove. Matt was out in force. Les is holding off on any new bike parts as the economic stimulous is not on his desk yet. Katy has been doing her perfect pushups again and is flying. Fred is still working with his band and riding in the way dark. Jordan is complaining about his shoulder again. Crozzy is now riding in the day and riding way to well from what I hear. Blur Baker is jogging in cycling shoes using his cranks as heavy hands. Flyer Shirer is using his fishing pole/swimming simulator to work out indoors and stealthy. All seams right in this world though so lets us have a great year!!

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.