First the good news, I've lost ten pounds since the first of the year. I'm now sitting at 246 and I'm pretty happy with my rate of loss. 47 more pounds and I no longer qualify as a Clydesdale. The bad news is that I've once again fucked up my back. I don't know what the hell I did but over the last week my hamstrings tightened up really bad and started affecting my lower back. It hurt so bad yesterday I was near tears. I know, I know, I've got to stretch more, but god damn it really snuck up on me this time. When I'm riding fairly regularly my back usually does pretty well, and I've been riding with some regularity for the last few months.
On another note, Singlespeed Arizona rolls out in a half an hour. I wish I could be there. In a year, when Michele and I are living in Seattleportlandspokanevancouver and I bitch on how I missed out on Dejay's big party I'll have this page to remind me of why I wasn't there. Last years course looked un-fucking-doable for my fat ass, but this year it struck me as manageable. I look forward to reading some good ride reports in the coming days.
I'm also missing out on another Black Canyon Trail work day today. All the cool (non-singlespeed) kids will be out there breaking their backs for the benefit of all trail users. Last month was a lot of fun and the trail that has already been built is really pretty sweet. I'm looking forward to the full finished product. If your local and haven't checked it out yet, you owe it to yourself to hit Little Pan Loop at least.
Of course, Star and I have our big 24 hours of Stupidity in the Old Pueblo in a mere seven days and I've really got to get my shit together for that. It's way too late to do a thing about my lousy fitness level, but hopefully I can get my back nice and limber again in time. For the record, I'm planning on doing four laps, five would make me a superstar in my own mind, the way I feel right now I'd be happy to squeeze out one. Tune in one the 19th to see how well it all works out for me.
There may or may not be a ride report later today, if there is a ride it sure as hell won't be a big one. Michele seems to be on the mend so maybe a quicky in the preserves.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Progress
No riding to speak of, but Star's boat is beginning to resemble a boat. Soon it'll even be a boat.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Different kind of ride
I went and did something today that I haven't done in quite a while, I rode pavement. I was having a hell of a time getting the motivation up to get out there. I didn't want to change, I didn't want to get my camelback together, and really I didn't want to drive to the trails. So instead I grabbed my camera, changed my shoes, and headed out. Now I normally I avoid riding on the street especially on my mountain bike and since that's currently my only bike it never happens. The last time I rode on the street was over a year and a half ago, back when I still owned a road bike. Other than the really bad gear for flats the ride today really wasn't all that bad. I rolled over to the canal and through some neighborhoods. I made a couple of stops to take some pictures and covered 8 miles in just under an hour. The ride was completely flat and I'm not sure that I trust the 300 feet that the GPS came back with, but there it is. I run a 32:18 for most of my riding and didn't feel it was necessary to swap out the gear for just this one ride so I end up almost completely spun out at a mere 13 mph. I actually enjoy road riding, but Phoenix drivers scare the shit out of me. I'm currently hatching plans for a second bike, it'll be future city dependent so that rules out a real decision until after the Ides of March. What I do know is that it's gotta be cheap, steel, rack ready, and able to fit some nice fatty cross tires. Oh yeah, it would be nice if it only has one gear too.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Out Sick
No, not me, but just about everyone else it seems has come down with something. So far I've been lucky and I just hope that if it's going to happen, that it doesn't happen at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. Speaking of Epic Rides, the Whiskey Off Road registration opened today, I'm all over that shit. It's going to be a good time this year cause I'm gonna bring the right gear.
Today was a gravy day at work with nothing much going on so I cut out early with every intention of hitting the trails. I got home pretty early and decided to get some work done on the boat before riding. Of course it wasn't until I was just about to go ride that I remembered that I had yet to pick up my rear wheel from Rage, so instead of heading to Dreamy Draw, I went to Scottsdale. By the time I got back here I no longer had enough time to ride before our bar date with our 80 something year old neighbor, Charlotte.
So the four of us(Michele, Char, Star, and myself) hit the Roosevelt for a bit of libations and pub fare. So as we're sitting around the table sharing funny stories Char starts telling us about another neighbor that lives on our floor. This other neighbor is an older woman that has for some reason latched herself to Char. She's had Char escort her to doctors appointments and help with other errands. Well about two weeks ago this woman called Char because she was trying to find someone to get rid of the pigeon's nest that was outside of her front door. So Char comes down with a broom and gets the nest out of the scupper where is sat. At this point Michele, Star and I can no longer contain our laughter. Ever since the nest disappeared Michele has pretty much been fuming about the unknown "pigeon killer" and as it turns out this frail old lady that was sitting across from us sharing our cheese plate was that assassin. What do you do when this happens? Go out for ice cream of course.
Today was a gravy day at work with nothing much going on so I cut out early with every intention of hitting the trails. I got home pretty early and decided to get some work done on the boat before riding. Of course it wasn't until I was just about to go ride that I remembered that I had yet to pick up my rear wheel from Rage, so instead of heading to Dreamy Draw, I went to Scottsdale. By the time I got back here I no longer had enough time to ride before our bar date with our 80 something year old neighbor, Charlotte.
So the four of us(Michele, Char, Star, and myself) hit the Roosevelt for a bit of libations and pub fare. So as we're sitting around the table sharing funny stories Char starts telling us about another neighbor that lives on our floor. This other neighbor is an older woman that has for some reason latched herself to Char. She's had Char escort her to doctors appointments and help with other errands. Well about two weeks ago this woman called Char because she was trying to find someone to get rid of the pigeon's nest that was outside of her front door. So Char comes down with a broom and gets the nest out of the scupper where is sat. At this point Michele, Star and I can no longer contain our laughter. Ever since the nest disappeared Michele has pretty much been fuming about the unknown "pigeon killer" and as it turns out this frail old lady that was sitting across from us sharing our cheese plate was that assassin. What do you do when this happens? Go out for ice cream of course.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Easy does it
Michele and I were planning a ride at Pemberton today. It's a nice long easy ride and seemed like it would be good after the ride Star and I did yesterday. As it turns out, it really wasn't in the cards. Michele is sick and wasn't feeling up to the ride so instead we went to the preserves so she could hike while I rode. I figured it was a good opportunity for me to get some decent technical riding in since Star was not with me. I hit 8, 1A, and 220. Nothing beyond my abilities but still a decent challenge. I logged 6 1/4 miles and 850 feet in 1 hour 10 minutes.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Old Pueblo is coming
Star and I went out for a ride in the preserves this morning. We started from Tatum and zigzagged North and South across to Dreamy Draw, under the 51, and around the first mountain West of the freeway. We pretty much came straight back on th T100 with a couple of small detours. The first half of the ride consisted of somewhat technical terrain. I was feeling really good today, I was going up rough terrain better than I regularly do and my legs felt pretty strong through the whole ride. Stars on the other hand is still not totally confident in her new clipless setup and so she ended up walking quite a bit of the tech even though she's more than capable of doing most of it. Pretty soon she'll get it down and all will be right with the world again. We covered 13.5 miles and 1700 feet in 2 1/2 hours. This means I've cracked 100 miles for the year, just barely. Woohoo.
Old Pueblo is only 14 days away now and that means I'm running out of time for getting myself prepared. I'm starting to get a little nervous about how it's going to go down but it is what it is and that's the way it goes.
On another note, Star and I got started gluing panels together for the kayak today, within a couple of weeks it might even resemble a boat, how exciting is that?
Old Pueblo is only 14 days away now and that means I'm running out of time for getting myself prepared. I'm starting to get a little nervous about how it's going to go down but it is what it is and that's the way it goes.
On another note, Star and I got started gluing panels together for the kayak today, within a couple of weeks it might even resemble a boat, how exciting is that?
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Forced riding?
Michele and I went and rode Desert Classic this afternoon. She's never been on DC before and has been bugging me to go for a while. Michele plus new trail is rarely a good time because she really likes to know what's coming and be mentally prepared for obstacles, climbs, and descents. Well every trail has to be a new trail at least once and today was DC's day. It was pretty windy the whole time we were out, but still good t-shirt weather. In spite of a couple traffic jams there really weren't all that many people out today making it ideal for Michele. We had planned to go as far as the tank before turning around and we almost made it that far. Michele was a bit on the tired side so we called it about a half mile from the tank making our total distance just short of 6 miles and climbing just under 700 ft. Michele was a little frustrated at a couple of points for the reasons stated above but all went well.
There were a couple of guys that we played leapfrog with on the way back and the faster of the two and I ended up stopped together a few times waiting for our respective riding partners. He was just chatting it up every time I saw him. The first time it was all about the weather. The second time he realized I was rocking the single speed and went on about how hard the trail must be on one gear. For those not in the know, DC is not all that tough, especially the first 5 miles or so. The third and last time was by far my favorite. He started by asking if Michele was my wife or girlfriend, to which I responded that she was my wife. He then proceeded to tell me that he had the perfect Valentine's Day gift for me to give to her, a free pass. He went on to explain that all I needed to do was write free pass on a piece of paper and give it to her and then whenever she just wasn't up to riding with me she could give the free pass back and stay home. Now I'm not sure about other couples, but I've never pressured Michele to go on a ride with me. If she doesn't want to ride, I don't force her. What kind of relationship would that be? Fucked up, that's what.
I'm out.
There were a couple of guys that we played leapfrog with on the way back and the faster of the two and I ended up stopped together a few times waiting for our respective riding partners. He was just chatting it up every time I saw him. The first time it was all about the weather. The second time he realized I was rocking the single speed and went on about how hard the trail must be on one gear. For those not in the know, DC is not all that tough, especially the first 5 miles or so. The third and last time was by far my favorite. He started by asking if Michele was my wife or girlfriend, to which I responded that she was my wife. He then proceeded to tell me that he had the perfect Valentine's Day gift for me to give to her, a free pass. He went on to explain that all I needed to do was write free pass on a piece of paper and give it to her and then whenever she just wasn't up to riding with me she could give the free pass back and stay home. Now I'm not sure about other couples, but I've never pressured Michele to go on a ride with me. If she doesn't want to ride, I don't force her. What kind of relationship would that be? Fucked up, that's what.
I'm out.
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