Don't Panic None Of This Is Real

Sick

2011-08-09T14:07:00.000-05:00

Much like the Tea Baggers and taxes, I'm pretty sick of myself. Somewhere along this journey I've devolved into someone I have a hard time recognizing. I don't talk about it all. More accurately, when I do talk about it at all it usually involves a good deal of yelling and screaming as pent up frustrations come flooding out in a rush of misplaced anger. So, like I said, I don't really talk about it. The rest of the time I try not to let it show. But it does show. It shows up in how I approach most everything. I'm not happy about it or me.

There's one thing to do. Change it.

So much for WYSIWYG any more. That was the way and that need to be the way again. I don't assume it will be easy. I'm sure I'm going to sabotage myself along the way, but enough is enough and it is time to find me again.

Who know if I'll keep at this on here. Recent history shows that it ain't likely. Of course, its not like anyone reads this anymore anyway. But, this isn't for you. Its for me. It ought to be a good ride one way or another.

A whole damn year

2011-05-03T08:29:00.000-05:00

That's how long it has been since I visited my own blog. Where the hell did that go? I guess between TSE #1 and baby #2 and an Iron Cross take over and 20 more lbs of Kuhndog to love it all just went. Hell with stats like that maybe I just swallowed it in the feeding frenzy.

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris, I wonder where my fitness is. More like I wonder where my toes is from the looks of things - it ain't no wonder where the fitness is.

I did ride a bunch in Feb. thanks to another awesome Power On Camp down in South Carolina. Seven days of killer riding put me in a bit of hurt, but after those 20 hrs I was feeling better on day 7 than any other time during the week - "flying" even. Then I've ridden about 10 times since. Nice consistency.

Next weekend is the Endurance MTB camp on the TSE trails. I'm looking forward to the trip and luckily camp is small. I've not yet put a lot of time into pushing it, but that'll come when I'm ready. It will be four days of stellar riding and hopefully I'll figure out my Hero cam so I actually have space and battery power when I want it for some post-camp/pre-TSE footage.

Out of the closet - finally.

2010-04-21T21:24:00.004-05:00

Marcus says I was always a closet SSer. Maybe. Probably. My preference for large gears was well known by people I rode with when I rode with people...or rode much at all. Difference is back in the day the only gear I was in was a whole hell of a lot bigger than it is these days.

Brandon by the creek, Aaron just behind

But it was nice to hear my name called out on Sunday at the Tour de Tykes up in the hills of the PAvalleys region for something other than being a complete schmuck. That sort of thing almost makes you want to train...or at least ride consistently. I'm working on it.

Miss Vicki also burst out of the closet at THE Relay when she opened up the can on the rest of the women (I'm supposed to make sure you know it was on an SS too) and threw down a lap time that made many men jealous. Hailing from the northern hard lands of Scotland (well, actually Edinburgh, but whatever) she also justified the International aspect of THE Relay name so thanks for that...now I just need someone from the Horsehead Nebula to make an appearance and maybe that clown from Imagination Land and we'd be set. I'd like to have seen what some Team CFer women could have put up for competition but since they all suck and didn't show up Vicki gets the nod for fastest lap time.

Brandon pushing Ray out of the way

And while everyone was watching EuroAaron expecting him to be the man to beat Jon Gdowick smashed down the closet door with some sub 13:00 min laps taking a handful of seconds out of Aaron and everyone else. Nice work by the Adventures for the Cure/Trek squad racer and definitely worthy of the shout out he he did not get at THE Relay.

Chuck B flying past tent city

Vicki and Jon - killer.

The results are all done with all bonus points and eggs added up. Check the Mid-Atlantic Timing site for all the goodness. Thanks again for the fun. Charlie, I hope you're healing well.

In other news you probably don't care about:

Plans are still a little vague for the fall 'cross version of this thing. I'm debating. Marcus says yes. Hebe's thinking the move of the first MAC may mess me up. I'm open to thoughts and opinions...I'll ignore them all but you can fire away.

Rattling 50/25 MTB Marathon and Half-Marathon races may have a new starting location this year.

I'm working on the ins and outs about the scoring for the Festival. It is double points for endurance & XC! Points should really be the last reason you come - the fact that its a hell of a lot of fun and a good bit different than your typical race weekend plus you can hang out with your buddies for a whole weekend and maybe make some new friends is why you should come.

Lots of kid's getting ready for a great day of fun at THE Open Relay

Luvya,
Kuhn

Photos of THE Open Relay above stolen from Uncle Don's singlespeeder.smugmug.com. Thanks Uncle Don!

Pro-crastination

2010-04-07T21:21:00.005-05:00

What a great way to start the season. THE Open Relay was killer. Taxes are not killer and I should get those done instead of blogging. Hell, I haven't blogged in months and I find time to blog now. Amazing what I can fit in when I don't want to do something else. Just amazing.

My teammates looked great. They'll look even better in the new gear which I think will be here tomorrow based on the sticky note the FedEx man lovingly attached to my front door today. It's been a long time since someone gave me a note. I'm glad FedEx is thinking of me.

So, THE Open Relay is in the books. I think that makes four of them. Not sure if the 'cross one is going off this year. I really want it to, but since USAC seems to think "the earlier the better" when it comes to 'cross now...well, I ain't going to August with that event.

RANT ALERT....RANT ALERT

WTF is with USAC and 'cross anyway. Masters and Real Worlds are coming in the next couple years. I have to assume that USAC has noticed those happen in February. I would assume they've also noticed that 'cross racing basically shrivels up like a pro's twig and berries on a January ride come, well, January (really mid-December). So, instead of pushing the racing the other way on the calendar and promoting 'cross through the rest of Dec and Jan they move 'cross to the beginning of Sept. They also do this with no regard to anything else going on in the region at that time. Now not only do we have road and mtb events in conflict but 'cross is in the mix. That'd be fine except for the fact there are two full MONTHS with no racing where there should be - or arguably needs to be - some!!

It's not real hard to figure why USAC is doing this sort of thing. 'Cross must be making them some big bucks. 'Cross races are pulling 400+ racers around here where USAC wasn't getting shit from MTB so they gotta be stoked to have that cash flow. The more 'cross races the better in their mind, but only at times when people will show - which means not post-nats.

What do they care if they're mucking up the other events in the region; events that MOVED from their dates in part to avoid the conflicts of the past. The best part is the promoter of the particular mtb season finals event even stepped up to the plate to play with USAC and put on one of a very few USAC MTB events in the region. That's got to feel good to the promoter. It would to me. "Oh, no, no problem. I'm taking a big risk supporting you when no one around here does and help you get back into the region. Don't let that bother you about completely f'ing my race. Really, I appreciate what you do (?) for the sport." And those two conflicting events - the finals of the MASS MTB Series and the first race of the MAC 'cross series - are about 25 minutes apart. It is wonderful that the national governing body is helping to "grow" the sport in such an effective way.

Why doesn't USAC say, "We need to develop 'cross into the winter. First that's how it goes everywhere else that does this sport. Second we make more bank with more races. Actually we don't give a rat's ass about 1, but 2 is very appealing. So, first, lets move nationals to January since that's sure to encourage 'cross racing through December. Second, let's create incentives for promoters to run events in the long cold dark of winter and for racers to participate. Actually, ideally these changes happen in the opposite order since nats is in place for this year, but incentives could go into effect immediately. What kind of incentives? Reduce or eliminate USAC fees for late Dec/Jan events this year. Have USAC pay officials fees for these same events. Push all regional series to hold events post-2010 nats with sponsorship support for those that do. Offer start position bonuses for 2011 nationals for performance in Dec 2010/Jan 2011. Or, maybe a discount on your 2011 license with 'cross racing in January. The point is that 'cross needs to go the other direction on the calendar and there are ways to get it to work with support from the governing body while eliminating conflicts with road and mtb. Too bad that's not what the governing body is about.

Okay, taxes delay completed. More coming on the relay and the upcoming stuff too.

Right after I go blog for the team on the PAValleys.com team blog and maybe over on the Savvy Grouse too.

Ain't Braden cute? He's standing in the sink helping scrub fruit. And the counter. And pop-pop.

Done.

Lets get it started - The Open MTB Relay

2010-03-04T09:14:00.010-05:00

Time to OPEN it up!

So here we go again - one month to the start of the HSC and Mid-Atlantic Super Series season with our super cool THE Open Relay (I'd type the whole name out, but it would take too long and I don't have a lot of time).

If you've done this before you know. If you haven't here's the scoop. Teams of four. Everyone handicapped based on ability. The faster you are the fewer points you get at the start. Points on every lap. Team with the most points at the end gets the V, the cash and the perpetual Cup. Last year a team of four junior beginners beat two teams of pros. No one knows who's winning til the bitter end. That means you better bury it on every lap to keep your team in with a shot at the Cup.

Registration for the PAValleys.com International Intergalactic...MTB Open Relay is up on BikeReg.com. Get that team together and get registered. This is a really fun way to get the season going and a heck of a workout too. Nothing like 4 x 15 min as hard as you can possibly go. Go hard enough and you'll end up with your helmet all crooked and dorky looking like this guy:

All photos here by way of Uncle Don Pagano - go check out his stuff for more great pics
(sweet stuff from Iron Cross too!)

And yes, I'm working on getting the site back up and running...I'm sure it will be done on about April 6...

A year in the life

2009-11-29T23:24:00.012-05:00

The kid is more than a year old now. I just downloaded a bunch of photos from the year off the phone. Here's what some of it looked like.

One of the first visits to the swings down the road.

In the backyard a month or two laterBraden the Destroyer. Here he's just ripped the corner molding off the wall. He was very proud. This was the day Dad learned that a Cheerios box,
even with a closed bag inside a closed box,
does not make for a good rattle.

One of the first times he sat on the Pooh Bear chair. Just crawled over and took a seat to drink.A favorite from the first birthday - the tunnel! Kris likes it too.Braden finally caught the cat. This did not last long.A hike with at Jordan Park on one of the last nicest days of the year.Tongue out in concentration
preparing to descend the stairs.Under the coffee table. This is apparently a lot of fun.
Mastering the scooter, rippin' around corners,
taking Lamby for a ride.

A whole year. That was fast.

The dog ate my post

2009-11-13T20:42:00.003-05:00

Well, there go another two freakin' months. I'd have posted but the dog ate my post. Or the baby spit up on the computer. Or I'm lame.

By the way the stellar service from BikeLine continued when I didn't hear back from anyone at corporate when I followed up on my local BikeLine craptastic shitsperience. Ahh yes. Itsa vherrry nicea.

I hope you can tell me and busted wrist Raydawg have been working hard on Trans-Sylvania. If not, take it from me, we have been. I can't wait for this thing to go off because it is going to be friggin' fantastic, but we're also anxious as all get out since registration is moving slowly and trying to coordinate all the stuff and personalities that fit together to make this happen can feel like herding cats. Its funny how little things feel like big victories and then we step back, look at the big picture and poop ourselves.

Don't anyone look, but the team has been posting blogs like its our job. That's good cause it sorta is. I think we've done something like five posts in the past week. Course between www.TransSylvaniaEpic.com; the visitPA.com Team blog; Facebook x2 (did you become a Trans-Sylvania fan yet?); Twitter x2; the Savvy Grouse blog on visitPA.com; a YouTube channel thing we're trying to put together; CyclingDirt; this blog and probably some stuff I'm supposed to submit posts to that I've forgotten about completely I feel like social media may be the end of me. I have blogs updating Facebook sending Tweets updating blogs and I have no idea which does what or in what order. If I'm offered the option to connect stuff my course of action is to just do so blindly and hope for the best. It's probably just a gigantic feedback loop and I'm just posting stuff to myself. I need Braden to tell me how this stuff works.

Speaking of, the kid is just too dang cute. Pics coming.

Worst Ever

2009-09-18T18:06:00.009-05:00

Dang, once again its been an age since a post. By now, if you actually check this thing you probably realize a new post means that:
A. I have another freakin' race coming up and I'm trying to drum up some luvin.
B. I stoked because I actually rode my bike but completely destroyed from the effort.
C. I'm way pissed about something
or
D. All of the above

Today was actually going to be a little B. since I've actually ridden a bit lately, but no I had to go into Bikeline Bethlehem and ruin this happy little blog.

Here's the story:

A couple months back I went into Bikeline Bethlehem to make a purchase. This particular item was something I certainly could have picked up at one of the dozen+ connections that I have after having been in this industry for 20 years to get stuff cheap. However, unlike most of my years on this planet I'm finally in a decent financial position (note, this is mostly due to my wife) and I thought I could and should help out a local bike shop, admittedly in a pretty small way to start, by making a not inexpensive apparel purchase from them. I stopped by Bikeline Bethlehem and picked up a rain jacket that has a special treatment that allows it to breathe when dry and have a pretty significant level of water repellency when wet (note #2, this isn't just random information, stick with me, we get back to it).

So, I'm happy, I'd picked up a jacket I'd been wanting and while I spent probably twice as much or more than I needed to on it, I was cool with it. The shop had supported a friend and so I felt I could support them - and that I could continue to do so and I'd be glad to refer other folks that way.

I used the jacket once. That particular outing was on a mountain bike and I had the hydration pack on my back. When I got home I realized that the straps of the pack had rubbed the membrane off the jacket.

My first thought was, "That sucks." My next thought, because I've been in the bike business for a long ass time, was, "I wonder if the hang tag said anything about the potential for the membrane to wear off and I should have paid attention." My immediate response was not, "This is a piece of shit and it shouldn't have happened," because one thing working in shops teaches you is that the vast majority of complaints are user error and "Just riding along" doesn't really happen.

So, I'm assuming this is potentially my fault at this point. I don't have the hang tag of course so my first stop is the web. Nothing there telling me the pitfalls of using straps on the jacket. My next stop is the store.

I stopped in today to look at the hang tags on the jackets in stock. As I was doing this the shop owner approached me asking, 'Are you finding what you need?'

I responded, 'Well, I'm just checking the hang tags. I bought one of these a couple months ago and [had the issue described above]. I wanted to check to see if they mention that these jackets should not be used with a hydration pack or backpack and that doing so will ruin the jacket and void the warranty. I see that they (this bit is emphasized for you, I wasn't worked up) do not say anything about this possibility and so I'm thinking this would be covered.' Keep in mind here that I've zero reason to be upset. BTW, speaking in italics is tough. I then say, 'I know someone who can take care of this for me if you'd rather not but I thought I'd check here first since this is where I purchased the jacket.'

This is when things start to go south.

I'm thinking, "Cool. I'm probably good to go here."

The next thing out of his mouth caught me by surprise, 'I would expect anything that I wear to rub through if something else is rubbing against it.'

.......Wait, before I go on, I've done the research, I've been completely cool about the whole thing, I'm not demanding and even offered to take care of it in another way if he'd rather not be bothered with it. The easy thing here if you just didn't want to deal with doing your job would have been to just say, "I'd rather you have someone else look into it." Instead I'm being confronted with what is some really really poor logic and an attempt is being made to make me look and feel stupid.

'You would expect anything rubbing against something else to rub through it?" I respond (at this point I'm just needing to clarify what I heard because this was not the response I thought I'd get and I'm a little flabergasted by the reasoning or lack thereof.)

'I would expect something rubbing against something else to wear it out.' then very snidely, 'I don't think they would have to put something on their tag warning against something rubbing against the jacket. That should be obvious.' This last bit gets under my skin a little bit because now he's definitely calling me an idiot - it was in his statement and in his tone.

'This is a $100 rain jacket worn only once with pack and you would expect the membrane to wear off when make no mention that it could be damaged this way?'

Again with, 'I would expect something rubbing against something to wear it out.'

Now I'm kinda frustrated 'I certainly don't expect this to happen on a $100 rain jacket. It hasn't happened on my Gore-Tex jacket. It doesn't happen on my jerseys. It doesn't say it will on the jacket. Why would I assume it will? Have you ever seen it happen on any other jackets or anything else?'

'If something was rubbing against something I would expect...' (Good job here of not actually answering the question.)

'Seriously? You think this should happen?'

'You said you had someone else who could take care of this.' (This was a statement, not a question.)

'Yes and I will never be back here again' and I walked out.

--------------------

In 20 years of working in shops and riding tens of thousands of miles I've never had or seen a single other piece of clothing worn out or through by the straps on a hydration pack or back pack. I'm not saying it has never happened, but it is an incredibly rare and unusual occurrence if it does. I have a hard time believing any reasonable person would expect this to happen on the first use of a piece of clothing.

I don't like being treated like an idiot or with disrespect. I spent good money in this person's place of business and had a legitimate complaint that I researched well before bringing it to his attention. Notably, through this experience not once did he ask to see the jacket.

------------------------

If you should get anything with a purchase at a local bike shop it should be killer customer service. That should be a major reason you support local stores rather than just shop by price on line; you take care of the local guys because the local guys take care of you. I wanted to support these guys when I had literally no reason to. I was treated like shit. Lesson learned at BikeLine Bethlehem.

I'm completely disgusted.

-----------------------

Of course, seeing as how this is the worst thing that happened to me today it is pretty apparent my life ain't so bad. I realize that. Maybe this is just whining. You can decide that for yourself.

I need your vote!!

2009-08-11T14:11:00.012-05:00

If you're one of my Friends - and I know you are - then you already know I'm trying to get a position on one of Palin's Death Panels. This job really appeals to me on many levels and since I'm remote from Cadence now I think I can squeeze this into my schedule.

I love the name of these End of Life Decision Making Boards of Supervisors and besides trying to get job on one may co-opt "Death Panel" for the name of a new band. I can't decide whether the band should be Death Metal, a five member boy band or a new Christian Rock group. I'm leaning toward a Christian Rock Death Metal Boy Band amalgamation approach. I'm going to need four strapping young 6'0"+ muscular blue-eyed blond haired man-boys dressed in all black and jackboots wearing a distorted cross on one arm and one very effeminate 5'5 slight portly illegal Mexican immigrant for the group just so no one is sure what the hell is going on. Hugo Boss will be supplying our clothing. I'm betting that we'll be at least as successful as Faith+1. I can't wait for that first myrrh album award.

Of course, I'm sure that everyone on the death panel will need masked and robed to keep our identities hidden lest we find ourselves the victim of blow back from killing off senile old crippled people, unwanted crack babies and people we just aren't really that into of or who piss us off by mowing their damn grass way way way too early on a Saturday morning.

I'm thinking Darth Vader here. Maybe we can use the same get up with the band - all black, we'd just need the armbands. Either way, I've always wanted my own Star Wars costume for Halloween, weddings and to wear while acting like a complete jackass trying to get on Versus running along some doper up a climb that I've no interest in pronouncing the name of properly since everyone should speak and spell American. I figure it could help convince Kris to get one of those Princess Leia getups from Jaba's sand skimmer rig scene too. Yea, you know what I'm talking about.

I'm not really sure how to go about getting on a Death Panel exactly though. I've been on Monster and Careerbuilder searching for a posting but nada. Maybe the stimulus check on this job creation platform hasn't been processed yet. I did see something for Solar Panels and figure they could be turned into some sort of James Bond Death Ray Panels which is close, but not exactly the same thing. I did an international search too just in case Palin Panels are actually going to be held on foreign soil.

Why international you say? Well, get this, I just found out that we can completely hide all record of their existence and won't be held to any annoying laws or inconvenient foundations supporting our democracy like the Bill of Rights or the Constitution of the United States of America if we run them in places like Cuba and Diego Garcia. I know, I know, hard to believe but its true!! I mean who could conceive of doing such a thing, right?

See the reason this works is that, apparently, our morals and convictions end as soon as we're over international waters - you can feel them lifting like a heavy wool small pox blanket gifted to an Incan baby, I'm told. Who knows how many of these folks we'll need put out of our misery by forced drownings or some other death inducing apparatus so getting Palin Panels off US soil is the best bet. I can't imagine that the government of the United States of America could ever condone that sort of action so we better make sure to keep these hidden from view.

But I'm still not sure how to get myself on a Death Panel. Application and interview? By appointment only? By vote? Maybe that's the best way we can organize these panels, by voting. If we all vote on who is on them then we can make sure that every person on Palin Panels (have you caught on to what I'm doing here - the way this works is that if you say it enough times it is true) is there to do the work of all and will not be influenced by any outside forces other than what is best for the country and what the vast majority of their constituents want. Voting for these positions will ensure that it will take much more than just yelling and screaming to thwart intelligent passioned debate over what is certainly a touchy subject.

See, there are all sorts of good reasons to get on a Palin Panel so I implore you; vote for me!! As long as you pay me lots of money in advance, when your name comes up in the Loom of Fate I'll just throw in a little sleight of hand to make sure Ang doesn't curve any bullets in your direction. Oh, umm, wait...

Please Sarah, don't pull back on the blatant lie spewing hate mongering completely misinformed rhetoric just when you have turned the tide on effective constructive and useful debate. I'm super excited by this new vocational opportunity and don't want to see it disappear like the opportunity to be a WMD inspector in Iraq.

I'm off to sacrifice someone to Coalemus now.

Don't Panic, It Ain't Real

Home (but not) Alone

2009-08-06T14:34:00.002-05:00

Some folks know this and some folks don't, some they gonna care and some they won't, but I'm remote from Cadence now. That's right, no more soul destroying commuting for me. Maybe I'll even ride my bike now and then again. Way less dinero too, but we're okay with trading that for things like:

Actually seeing my wife and kid - nice to know they didn't leave me

Not ending every day wanting to kill myself or someone else - thankfully I don't own a gun

The opportunity to step up to Trans-Sylvania...and perhaps some other stuff, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more

Not having strangers raise our kid completely - just once or twice a week

Sleep - one week in without the commute and associated morass and I'm already sleeping better than I have in four years

Health - 20+lb gain in two years and all the above...makes a man dead inside and out

So, its a new chapter in life here in Chez Kuhn.

I'm going to miss working with the other coaches on a daily basis. When you're surrounded with people who share your passion and commitment you definitely feed off of it. There are some new guys down there in Philly who are just kickass too and I'm hopeful that I can stay a part of their development as they've a lot to offer once they learn how all this works.

What I won't miss is the commuting. A car that's falling apart - literally - the muffler fell off a while back - is no place to spend 3-4 hours of my day. Speaking of that I'm pretty pissed about the Cars for Clunkers thing.

Fifteen years ago I figured out a car that would be really good on mileage and work for me. I've driven that thing into the ground. Now every time I fill up its "gimme 10 gallons in the tank and two quarts of oil"...seriously, the thing uses/burns/leaks/Idon'teffinknow oil like its going out of style. Hopefully it is. New the car got 33-ish with bikes on the roof - usually between two and five. Now it might get 25/gal with nothing on the roof and a good stiff tailwind. I made that car work for everything too. Need to get three bikes inside and everything I needed to live for three months in Arizona? (Damn it was nice to drive across the country when gas was $.98, good times, good times.) No problem, rip out all the seats and stuff it all inside. Still averaged 29-30 mpg on that trip even loaded down like an SUV.

Now, she's gotta go. Besides the aforementioned environmental/economic impact of this thing its just too small and so we're going mini-van. BUT, because, once upon a time, the car got decent mileage no CfC for me - even though the car is now, without a doubt, a full blown POS clunker and needs to desperately come off the road. I bought a car that got good mileage because I thought it important for the environment - now I'm screwed. That's completely fair and logical. Lets only give to people that are too selfish to do it right the first time - and probably won't learn anything from it other than to do whatever they want since they get paid for poor decisions. Just like the health insurance. And the bailouts. You're completely overweight, don't try to exercise and don't change habits? Don't worry, someone else will take care of all those medical bills, go get your diabetes, heart disease, and wheelchair. You ran your gigantic company into the ground and haven't made any decisions in the past other than how to make a buck today? Don't worry, we'll give you all the money you need so you can keep right on doing what you're doing so very poorly. Lost everyone's money? Screw them, we'll give you their money to pay yourselves off for being shitty at your job. Everyone who has tried to do things right - make healthy choices; exercise; be prudent and make purchases for the long term; base decisions not only on what is right for you but right for the future, save money. Here's a big fuck you. Thanks for doing your part, now go away. But make sure to keep sending in that money. We need it for everyone else.

Whatever. Its not like this changes how I'll do stuff, but its pretty ironic that you try to do your part and the only thanks you get is 'thanks.' Well, you're real fuckin' welcome. You giant douches.

Where was I? Oh yea, staying home with the kid. More on that later - he just woke up and is shaking his cage. Errr, crib. I mean crib. What'd I say?

That's all folks

2009-07-18T11:13:00.003-05:00

At least this poop show ended on a medium note for me. And I got the buckle. Now I need a belt big enough for it. I'd take a pic and show you, but my camera is busted. From crashing on it. Poop show it was.

The last stage took us up and over and up and over Boreas Pass, an old railroad grade turned into wide dirt road and some sweet funnest on both sides. Named after the howling wind on it by some old guys digging in the dirt for metals to make 'em rich and due to the tons of snow they had to work through - they put in a tunnel on part of this thing cause it was way easier than trying to clear the tracks each winter - Boreas was a nice change from the damn steep ass climbing they'd had us doing all week. There was a humungous snow blower for the front of the trains - big enough that they'd need a couple engines to push it - on display close to the start/finish of one of the stages. Then there were pics that showed guys on snow 6 feet above the top of the blower, their job being to shovel down to the blower height in front of the train. That's a freakin' ton of snow. Might have been easier to just shut down for the winter. Or build a much bigger tunnel.

Much of what we were on during the rassin' out in Breck was in some way linked to the old mining days and it wasn't unusual to be rolling along some way remote piece of trail and come upon remnants of the reason these towns existed in the first place - it actually wasn't about powder originally.

Today started with another bitch of a climb - basically back on the damn prologue course and the leg was into full lock down mode about an hour in again and what little power I might have had was gone. At just about that time though I hit the first descent and dropped onto the RR grade road over the pass. When the trails and roads got real steep all week I had to get off the bike. With this grade at only a couple percent, that made things a little different. Today I was able to actually put some power into the pedals and though the hip was screaming at me, I could roll the gear.

It was really nice to do nothing but pass people all day long. Finally I wasn't just suffering and sucking ass. Today, I was suffering but not completely sucking ass.

I rolled up one side of Boreas catching a dropping a ton of people I should have been spanking all week by basically ignoring the hip as much as I could and trying all sorts of different pedaling positions. Eventually I settled on jamming the tip of the saddle into my taint and putting a bit more into the top of the pedal stroke. I also stood up a ton and got way forward on the bike. This sorta worked. I ripped the singletrack on the other side and then found that same sweet grade on the way back. I kept eating people up until I finally got to a point that the pain was a bit much and I had to back off.

We crested Boreas to the tune of "20 minutes back to town!" and I'd have been smiling today if not for the grimacing. On the next road descent I was actually yelling in pain trying to get some release. It was also on this descent that I finally caught some of the SSers that had been kicking my butt from day 1. Mr Moots, Rich D waved me by to drop into the singletrack in front of him. I obliged and immediately bounced back and forth in one of those western ditch singletracks before dismounting hard into the ground. Rich probably should have dropped in first.

I hopped back up and caught Rich who let me go by again probably thinking it'd be worth the entertainment value. I found Tomicogs spinning his way down the trail shortly after - man he's got that dialed - and he let me scoot by. Got one or two other guys in that last bit o' singletrack in Breck too and finally felt okay about a day in this thing coming across the final finish line. It was definitely a good way to wrap things up.

Got back to the condo and Kris and little guy wanted to get on the lift to the top of the mtn. Well, Kris did anyway, I'm not sure Braden cared one way or the other. So we did a little hike around Wheeler Pass so I could show the family where I was stinking things up. Actually, I could just point to any land visible between us and the horizon from the 11,000 foot peak and say, "I sucked there. And there. And over there. And over there. And over there. And there. And over there too. And there. And up there. And down there. And that spot. And there. And, yep, there. And over there." Kris threw snowballs at Braden, unfortunately he doesn't know to duck. Braden lost his hat on the way up in the lift, but mom saved the day by hiking back up after to get it as it would have been a crying to shame to lose that. At least that's what I was told.

The dinner party came later at the swanky River Walk. We watched a kick ass video made during the week and I got to see what the front of the race looked like after the first 20 sec. of any stage. We also got our buckles. Then they did a killer raffle with kick ass long boards and Crank Bros wheels and other cool stuff. I won a pair of tires and a light up aerobie. Thank god there was free beer.

I canvassed the place with the help from my friends Harlan and Garth with TransSylvania Epic info and got an overwhelmingly positive response to the whole thing. Keith B was all about it and sending his buds in England the info. A bunch of western types were all licking their chops with the promise of tearing up the east coasters with their train high approach and easterners were like, "Yeah Rocks!! and Oxygen!! Bring it bitches." So spread that word - May 30-June 5, 2010 - TransSylvaniaEpic.com.

All's well that ends well.

Except I couldn't f'ing walk for three days after I got back.

Yay.

Mamma said there'd be days like this

2009-07-12T20:52:00.004-05:00

(This post is about a freakin' week in the making, final Breck Epic post to follow)

I intended to post following the Wheeler Pass stage with a wrap of days four and five of the Breck Epic. During that stage things went really badly on a couple fronts and I came very close to pulling the plug on the whole damn thing. Not much interest in writing about it then either. I've been dealing with the aftermath of the race since and only finally starting to get a handle on the injuries in the last two days. Heres the first post, started last Friday (7/10).

----------------------

Wednesday was one of the hardest things I've done on a bike. None of the stages here are very long - 30-40 miles basically every day but the prologue - but what they lack in distance they more than make up for in vert. In the first 20 miles we did about 5000 feet of climbing (for comparison races like the Wilderness 101 and Shenandoah 100 contain about 10-12,000 feet of vert in 100 miles). Of those first 20 miles there were also 5-6ish miles of descending. So, 5000 feet of climbing in 15 miles. Up and over the continental divide. Then we went up and over again. Yes there was some hiking involved but it was a lot of just steep ups on the bike. My back and hip were pretty wrecked early on from the steep stuff and I ended up off the bike a lot trying to stretch out and keep moving. I screwed up on a refueling stop too and that was biting me in the ass for a bit.

When we finally got up and over the second big climb we rolled into an absolutely killer descent of a section of the CO trail. This particular bit starts out swooping and fast and then turns into something a lot like the descents at Lehigh U in Bethlehem in an instant. It was pretty cool to see such a sudden difference in the trail and it was very cool to be able to stomp the crap out of some people that went into that descent 5+ minutes ahead of me while I was standing along the trail stretching one more f'ing time.

After this killer descent I had a little bit of motivation and was able to fight through the hip/leg (mostly by trying to ignore it) and pushed pretty hard to the end catching back basically everyone I'd been with during the first hour. I felt like I was almost actually racing for the first time this week. Unfortunately it was not to last.

Thursday was harder. I was expecting something easier, instead ended up being the worst day of the week and the hardest terrain and the biggest disappointment. The first hour, much like on Wed, went pretty well and maybe even a bit better than the day before as I was much further up in the field and riding decently. Then the hip struck again. Off the bike I went and just stood there for a while, somewhat numb. Really frustrating that I couldn't get in one damn day without pain. My warm up even included downing a bottle of my favorite pain killer. Didn't help.

It took more than an hour to do the next 6 or so miles to Aid 1 from that spot. Every time the trail went the least bit up hill I was off the bike walking due to the hip pain - and almost none of this section was steep. Sucking more was the fact that this bit was rocky and when I was on the bike I was riding it well - and way better than most of the west coasters that were around me. By the time I pulled in to aid 1 - two plus hours into the race and out of liquid (since I didn't expect it to take 2+ hrs to go 13 miles) I was ready to throw in the towel. I stumbled around the checkpoint feeling a bit sorry for myself and going back and forth between "This isn't worth it, I'm in pain and its not going to stop" to "Quit being an f'ing pussy and keep going so you get that damn buckle."

I was soooo close to stopping. So close. Luckily for me along came my new friend Peter from Misfit Psycles on his trusty rigid single speed and kept me in the game. He convinced me to keep going and for the next hour and a half he and I basically hiked with our bikes to the top of Wheeler Pass above Breck. I'm pretty thankful he showed when he did though the hike to the top was unreal - nothing like getting spasms in your back from pushing your bike up a hill. By the time we topped out on Wheeler at hour 3.5 into the stage I figured that the front boys were probably getting close to finishing their day (damn you Jeremiah!!!!!!!!).

Since I couldn't ride I was taking a bunch of photos and as I'm cresting Wheeler taking shots I realized I've 5 bars and figure what the hell, I'm moving pretty slow, I'll call the wife. After a little "Hey, I'm going really slow and it'll be another 2 and a half til I'm back, you might as well go back to the condo."
"Okay, be careful, don't crash."
"I will, love you."
I'm off again and Peter and I take some pics next to the summit sign. After this he says to me that that rigid fork of his I'm might as well roll, "be safe." So I do. And into one of the sweetest descents of the week I go.

I'm rolling along and finally starting to find something to enjoy about the day, stopping a couple times for more photos to show off the exposure and in general feeling much better about things than I did getting to the top of that pass.

Wanna take a guess what happens? I'll save the suspense. I eat shit. Rolled into something that wasn't even that bad but missed the line a little, corrected, thought I had it, and then launched through the air landing f'ing hard on my low back. On a rock. Freakin' awesome. As if the day hadn't been swell enough I'm now lying on the damn trail cursing and swearing and generally pissed off.

And I knew it happened when I hit, but I didn't want to look. Pulled the bag out of my pocket and there is my iphone...smashed to bits. The phone took the whole impact. Its toast. Can't get a damn thing off it. Lost all those photos. No proof I actually rode up there. Just my word. You'll have to take it.

I'm pretty sure the phone saved my ass from a broken rib or worse - more than a week later and I can still barely touch the area - so at least the phone was sacrificed for my well being. I'm not happy about it, but at least I can walk. As an aside, I thought, "well at least I can get the new iphone." F' that. $500 without the contract. Not even that bit worked out.

I got through the rest of the stage just plain annoyed. I wasn't even happy about finishing the day. I didn't get a sense of satisfaction from completing something this hard and I wasn't even glad it was over. It just was. Not being able to race or even ride for much of the week and then destroying my phone and injuring myself further had me in a pretty bad place.

One good thing about stage racing is that you get to (or have to) get on the bike the next day and that is at least a chance to be less shitty. And even a little less shitty can be a good thing after days like today.

Gotta take a sec to again thank Pete and to apologize for leaving him hi and dry on pedaling his ass off on SS on the bike path from Frisco to Breck. I didn't tell him, when he told me we were no longer friends since I left him behind, but he probably wouldn't have wanted to ride with me then anyway. I mean who wants to ride with some douchebag swearing and cursing and generally pissy for a minute, let alone an hour and a half? Not me. Unfortuneately I was stuck with him for the rest of the day and wanted to save Peter from the same fate.

And, if you call or text send include your name since I gots nothing in the phone.

It gets a little better before getting worse.

Breck Epic - I ain't done yet.

2009-07-07T21:36:00.009-05:00

Obeekaybee, two full stages and the prologue in and I'm only down about 3 hours on GC. I'm kinda having a Murphys Law style race out here. Certainly I wasn't prepared for it (like, uhhh, probably would have been a good idea to put on a triple for a race claiming 40,000 ft of total elevation gain, at uhhh, elevation, derrrrrrrrr), but its not been super smooth on the bod either which has been a bummer. The thing is, its still pretty great.

Easy to see why, no?

The first two "real" stages were tough and Wednesday's "Queen Stage" is going to be brutal - we're going high enough to ride through a snow field. Today was a little better than yesterday for me, but I'm still barely moving out here. I'm holding out hope that I'll get healthier and adjust a little more before the end of the race. You want to make sure you don't go into the first week of the stage race peaking. You have to time it for week three... I'm just lulling everyone into a false sense of security.

We're going way up there tomorrow.

It is hard to tell by the pic, but up where the snow is there are no trees. There are no trees because the climate is too freakin' harsh. Sounds like a great place to "race" a bike. Who is the genius who came up with this? Who is the bigger genius that bought the ticket?

That'd be me -- on a break and a little sample of the Colorado Trail.

Besides the killer riding, we're enjoying the stay out here too. Though not quite as easy to get to race HQ as billed - making the family friendliness a little difficult to work through - we're in a nice joint.

Roughing it at the condo contemplating the peaks
(and getting in some product placement all at the same time.)

Braden checkin' out the ladies at the pool.

So that's it for now as it is already past bedtime with what's on the radar for tomorrow. Here's to hoping I drift off easily even with visions of my large ass ascending 12,000 ft peaks. 'night kids.

Holy (don't let the kids see this) Fuck

2009-07-05T21:20:00.006-05:00

Those are happy clouds. You should see the mean ones.

Sorry if I offend. If you are offended you'd best not read more. Still reading? It is on you then.

I'm in deep shit out here. We did the uphill ITT today. 5.5 miles or so. It took me almost an entire fucking hour to get up the hill. Guys who started a 15 minutes after me came by. I don't think I've ever suffered like that - I can't go at all. Holy shitballs batman. I definitely should have trained for this. And while having properly functioning lungs would probably help, they wouldn't be helping enough. I tweeted about needing a lung. Screw that, someone send me a vat of EPO.

About an hour before my start time today the sky let loose with just this side of wrath of god rain and hail. Lucky for us that's likely going to be a daily occurance. Here's to hoping I'm back before it happens most days. I'm going to pack with the expectation I won't be since we're looking at 6,000-10,000 ft of climbing daily from here on out. 40 miles tomorrow with a profile showing 7,000 feet of up.

I had good notice that this might be bad when trying to fall asleep at 7:45 last night. Yep, after less than 3 hours of sleep Friday night before the travel on Sat due to the illness setting in (Kris is sick too and suffering the same) we were in bed way early last night. Not like the clues the Hardly boys get, my clue came in form of suffocation. Okay, not complete suffocation but the pattern was like this: take 10-15 deep breaths trying to feel normal, settle into a bit of a rythm, drift off, awake with a start because I wasn't getting enough fucking air. It went on for like an hour. Awesome.

I meant to grab a shot from the top of the TT since going that slow should certainly equate to good race shots of guys like Harlan and Garth coming by. My air starved brain forgot. Instead, here are some shots from our first day in town; traveling out; Braden figuring out crawling; and from the final clean up at the farm after last weekend.

Helping grandpa get things cleaned up.

Note placement of team logo.

Gotta start 'em young.

Braden on the move. Looking for mom.

She's right behind you!!

Found her!

Breck with kid in Deuter pack (yep, more gratuitous product placement).

Braden sending you off from the Rasta Pasta man (he recommends the one with the pinapple curry sauce, yummy).

Ready or Not, Here I....go?

2009-07-03T20:43:00.002-05:00

Breck. Starts in two days. I was going to start training today, but I caught a cold instead. I'll have to try to start training tomorrow now. Awesome. 6 days of hard mountain biking. This was supposed to be the carrot. The motivator that got me back on the bike. The year was going great through Feb, since then...not so much. Instead I've done less riding than I have in at least a decade and probably longer. Not feeling super confident about this, but what the hell it'll be great riding in a great place and I'm told the time cuts are "generous." By best hope now is that this just takes me down a notch - in my belt. Then I need to keep the ball rolling and stay on the bike. More than twice a week would be a big improvement on the recent past. 'Course this is also a good opportunity to spread the love about our Trans-Sylvania Epic with some folks into that sort of thing.

Jr. started crawling today. Well, he figured out that he is able to crawl today and that crawling gets him places. He had the scooting around a little thing happening for a week or so but it was just short little bursts and it was never very far. This morning he crawled across a room to get to Mr. Bear. Something musta clicked. It wasn't immediate, but by this afternoon he was doing laps of the house and Kris and I were putting in the miles trying to track him down. Gates went up on the stairs and the cat food went up on the table and out of reach. The joy on his face and in his laugh was pretty great. He moves and then squeels for no other reason than he's moving. Tomorrow we're supposed to spend a bunch of hours on a plane. Today Braden learned that he can crawl. We're a little concerned about tomorrow.

Uh oh, spadoodios

More from Breck as I at least use it as motivation to blog again.

Great Expectations

2009-07-01T14:34:00.002-05:00

So the visitPA.com Festival is wrapped. A great time had by all. I'm sure those of you who didn't show are already quite sorry you missed it so I won't rub in just how great the weather was and how sweet the trails rode and how stellar the prizes were and how good the band was and how much fun everyone had. I'll just let you wallow in your own self loathing wondering what might have been had you been there.

Already thinking I want more partying next year so its probably shorter rassin on Sat and more fun after. Plus we're doing individual and team points next year so those of you who measure your manhood by the number of MASS points accumulated in a year actually get some satisfaction from the event - since rippin' it around one hell of a fun course and all the other good stuff apparently doesn't do it for you.

The Race in #s
6 days to put the race course together
3 days to race it
2 days to tear it down
40+ volunteers
40,000+ feet of tape
500 stakes
$3400.00 in cash payout
$2000.00+ in merch in the raffle
$7500.00 in prize merchandise
150 rassers
12 light up flying discs
8 portajohns
4 sets by the band
5 laps by me
2 brand new trails
43:18 by Rob L.
1 big announcement about a new ride in central PA next Memorial Day
1 exhausted promoter and crew
1 hell of a good time

Breck Epic next week. I've done less riding this year than I have at any time in the last, oh I dunno, decade or two. So my plan to be well rested should work out. More on my preparation horrorshow later.

Those of you who came out - thanks. Those of you who didn't - put it on the schedule for next year. It just gets better and better.

Later

Come play with me!!

2009-05-22T07:12:00.004-05:00

If you check that MASS homepage much or have visited the Cadence site lately hopefully you've picked up on a fun few days of good endurance training I'm leading in mid-June. If not, check this out:

"The Mid-Atlantic Super Series is proud to announce as part of our sponsorship with Cadence Multisport The Cadence Endurance MTB Racing Camp. This camp will be lead by Mike Kuhn, the Director of Coaching at Cadence and major MASS race and event promoter. As a veteran road and mountain bike racer including the Ultra Endurance 100 milers Mike is an expert in the correct preparation for endurance events of any type. As a special offer the price of the camp includes your entrance fee into either the Wilderness 101 or the Shenendoah 100. Only 20 spots available so reserve now."

How sweet is that? You get three days of great training, entry into either the W101 or Shenandoah and to hear me babble on endlessly about how to prepare and ride an endurance mtb race, which happens to be my passion in this sport (even if I don't get to do many of them these days...I know pitty party). The plan is for one or two of my visitPA.com buds to join us for some of camp too so at least that will give you some respite from hearing my voice as the boys chime in on the best lines and best endurance race prep.

The camp goes the three days following the Stoopid 50. Yes, that will increase the difficulty of the three days. Camps are supposed to be hard. The idea is that you go into it with a little rest - which you should be planning if you're coming out for Stoopid anyway - and then spend a few days really pushing yourself. You push yourself much more than you would regularly because the only things you need to do are ride, eat, sleep, and recover --- and have fun! It's like being a pro for a few days - only you don't have the pressure of knowing that if you don't win your next race its ramen instead of steak again this week!

My plan is to ride the Stoopid as hard as I can on Sunday and then hang out in State College overnight. Monday mid-day we'll meet in Coburn, the start of the Wilderness 101, and do an easier ride on dirt roads to check out the early parts and late parts of the race - these are key in figuring out how to ride this thing. Tue and Wed will see us start the rides in other locations in the Rothrock State Forest that will allow us to access different parts of the 101 and over the three days ride almost all, if not completely all, of the 101 course. It will be stellar training and a course preview all in one!

I promise that you are going to come out of the camp far better prepared and far more confident in your ability in endurance mtb events and you'll be ready for your best ever race!

Catch up with me through work - Cadence Cycling and Multisport - 215-508-4300 - if you have any questions or to sign up for this great new camp!

Yummy Yum Yums Ladies Man & RB's Gremlins

2009-05-18T10:10:00.005-05:00

So RB was fun this past weekend until a little mechanical put paid to my ride on Sat with some tough guys who showed up to take on the course I'd laid out for the race. I made sure they all kept going so my little snafu didn't take away from their fun, but combined with everything else it sure seemed like there we evil forces at work trying to keep me from riding RB this year! That will not be the end of the story though so stay tuned here for more...

In an effort to be a slightly less chauvinistic piggy I listened to some ladies - and not like I "listen" to Kris either - and we're going to have a little ladies only competition at the festival this year too. With a little Tweist to it, we're gonna do a Women's Duo/Trio competition with teams of two or three women entered into the same race. The goal is to allow us a big enough field for women to do some good racing and allow women who are more experienced to double up while those with a little less experience or need to destroy themselves over the course of the day to go three person. Look for that to go live soon on the race site.

Lastly, you're getting food this year with the Festival entry fee too - yep dinner Friday night, breakfast Sat morning and dinner Sat evening are all part of the deal. You're on your own Sat through the day and on Sunday, but all the good grub you've come to expect will be there courtesy of The Hammakers again this year. Bonnie and Mark and the rest of the family will be manning the stoves and Kyle will be banging together pots and pans for you.

Spaghetti Dindin on Friday evening - as much as you can stuff in your face
Pancakes and Sausage Breakfast on Saturday morning- all you can eat again!!
Picnic dinner face stuffing post race on Saturday - BBQ, mac and cheese, baked beans, and whatever else Bonnie whips up.

What's goin' on? What's goin' on? What's goin' on? What's goin' on?

2009-05-07T16:01:00.002-05:00

Well, since you asked...

Braden is doing well. Teeth poppin' through in all the right spots. Threatening to crawl. Baby proofin' is high on the list.

Getting ready for Rocktober. Trying to get the word out and get some more folks signed up before this weekend so I'm sure it's worth doing. I burn a lot of human capital to pull this thing off with course marshals and motos and trail work and reg volunteers and results and checkpoint workers and gophers and racoons and deers and other small woodland creatures and it needs to be worth it to put all those folks to work especially since its not right next door.

Of course, the fact that its not right next door is part of what makes the place as good a place as it is for mountain biking since it isn't overused and beat to death but with some absolutely unbelievable trails. There isn't much else going on that weekend and nothing else is going to have the riding this place does so even if you're not racing you ought to come out and ride since the trails will be marked. It doesn't cost you anything to just ride, just don't go eating racer food! All the latest info is up on BikeReg since my Dreamweavin' computer ate poopy a few weeks and I can't keep up with all this media stuff anyway.

Gotta pull the Festival Weekend together too. That's almost ready to go on BikeReg, but I keep refining and I probably just need to put it out there so yinzers can get your teams together and get signed up.

If you didn't hear yet, the Festival is changing from the stage race format. We're moving to a 12 hour relay/9 hour solo on Sat and bookending it with a Night Team Time Trial Friday evening and an STXC on Sunday morning. Of course we'll be doing up all the fun stuff too just trying to get some more folks to come out and find out how freakin' cool the place is for the weekend. A little different this year is that everything is included in the entry fee - all the races and the camping and all the fun stuff - the only thing you don't get included is food, but the Hammakers will be cooking up a storm all weekend long.

Lupine is coming back as the lead sponsor for the Night Team Time Trial on Friday and will have some demo lights available for those that do not own lights and need one to take part in the festivities. We'll have a sign up on BikeReg for 'em or maybe on Lupine's site.

So, look for that stuff soon and check back for shots of Braden. He's just so damn cute, how can you resist?

Okay, off to FaceBook this stuff then back to BikeReg to update the Festival then I'll email it to some people and blog it here and on the Team blog and maybe make a video of me Twittering it to put on YouTube before finally LinkedIning though no one pays attention to that anyway...or perhaps I'm just not professional enough to get that one.

Actually, off to ride first since I've done that 4 times in three weeks...at least this weekend is the Allegripis Trails opening at Raystown where I'm leading some rides so I'll get in a little something!!

Been a long time glad to see your face.

2009-02-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

So it was gonna be the Nine and a Half Weeks post since I have this need to try to tie all my stuff to some pop culture reference, but as that was...oh hell, I've lost track and have no idea what week we're on. How about we just say we're about 4.5 months and leave it at that? If you're marking it by the development steps - he hasn't rolled over yet, but he did paint his first masterpiece. Yep, he's going to be one of those artists that throws excrement at the wall. With his butt.

He doesn't like naps. Everyone wants to ask about the overnight sleep and we thought that'd be the big deal. That ain't nothing but a thing. The kid has no problem with the overnights. During the day though sleep just doesn't happen. Of course that gets him all ornery - just like his dad at about 1pm on Sunday of the Festival weekend. You know, when I'm telling all you racers that its been nice to have you but don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way off the farm.

Speaking of the Festival; the word is out - we're on the Dirt Rag World Tour!! Yep, plan your trip now! BTW, we moved it a week earlier so you won't be torn by the temptation to be off drinking at the shore or drinking at the campsite or drinking on your lake boat or just sitting on your ass at home drinking over the Independence Day weekend - since that's definitely the best way to remember what it took for this to become the best country on Earth, by drinking your face off and eating some grilled lips and assholes (count it!!). So, in an effort to stem the tide of disappearing beginner men from the Festival weekend we're now the last weekend in June. We have been tossing around the idea of mixing it up a bit this year and going all 12 Hour Relay and your asses instead of Stage Racing...

In other news: Big Larry got done with back surgery #3 in the past 12 months a short time ago. This one was really on the base of his neck so was super psyched to be a neck immobilizer/collar. Anyone know how they work on your spine in your neck? By going straight through your throat. Yep, slash it open over the voice box, push that and the old trachea aside and dive in with both hands. From the front through your throat.

You know he'll be out on that tractor getting the courses ready for you come spring - more on all the racing stuff on the team blog. Dude is tough. I wish I had more of that.

Hugs and kisses and Happy Friggin' New Year (see, I didn't forget).

And here is one of Boo to send you out.

Kuhn

More Unbelievable Cuteness

2008-10-24T08:52:00.003-05:00

Kris is feeding the little screaming teradactyl while I'm typing away. You'll likely be glad to know he seems quite healthy. His lung capacity is improving greatly judging by volume of air he must be moving to make sounds that freakin' loud. I say you'll be glad to know since everyone keeps asking me how much sleep I'm getting and then seems to be disappointed with the response that its not been THAT bad. Yet. I'm in the feeding rotation now, pretty much pinch feeding still, but getting in the line-up more and more.

I promised week 2 pics and seeing as we've blown right by week 3 and into week 4 here they are.

Gotta keep it short. Was planning to rail on our secessionist VP candidate - at least I'm pretty sure she's thinking it would be best to split our country up, but Ray's on his way out to do some work on team stuff for next season. I mean people just sponsors our team and events because we're nice guys, not because we work our asses off for it. I'll have to rant later. Besides that little bit I mean.

Awwwww

2008-10-14T20:28:00.000-05:00

Braden Week 1 According to Kris

2008-10-13T19:27:00.004-05:00

I had an album ready to go last week but Kris made me take all the gratuitous boob shots and pics where she looks like she's been in labor for 25 hours out before I put it on the web. You saw some of these in the last post, but there are a couple new ones too. Week 2 pics coming soon. No, he's not talking yet. Or riding a bike.

Welcome Home

2008-10-06T13:43:00.010-05:00

We got us something new here at the recently opened Chez Kuhn in north Bethlehem. Cable TV!! Yep, I've never ever had cable before. I know, hard to believe but absolutely true! Well, except the time that we stole it from the TV lounge at the end of the hall in college and spliced it into our triple for the Super Bowl, which of course was really just an excuse to whip out a reciprocating concrete drill bit and mess up some concrete block.

C'mon now, the really great new bit here is Braden Michael Kuhn!!

Boo seems to think that we've brought home a baby pterodactyl as Braden's call for his hourly feedings sends Boopers running for his hiding place in the basement ceiling. Bear however is handling our new addition surprisingly calmly.

I'm pretty blown away by the whole thing and I definitely have a new hero

Kris's water broke at 4:30AM last Monday morning and Braden came along at 5:44AM on Tue morning. Kris was damn tough through it all and of course is still bearing the brunt of the whole thing yet continues to look and be amazing even with the tiny bit of sleep Braden is allowing her.

Here's me and Braden just enjoying some downtime, plus I had to get some visitPA.com in here based on contractual obligations.

And finally the whole family just before heading home last Thursday.

Cable brought internet at home too which is a nice thing to have again and means I'll have to put up lots more stuff about the baby and all the good things that he's bringing into our lives such as lots poop, hiccups, crying and, my personal fav, big boobs.

As an aside, Bear added his own drama to the week by getting a big nasty abcess on his face from an infected tooth that he proceded to rip open in an eruption of nastiness all over the house.

Don't panic, none got on the baby.

Change is good

2008-09-25T13:25:00.003-05:00

I went dark for a long time there didn't I? Hell, where have I been? Last weekend I was reminded by my one faithful reader that I haven't posted in a while. Makes the whole blogging thing really lame if you don't post. Of course, if you don't have anything to say then all you end up with is some an even more lame ass blog that works well for insomniacs but should be kept far from anyone with suicidal tendencies. The ol' mad libs blog just doesn't get me excited and damn if I can keep anything that's amusing to me in my head long enough to write about, though perhaps this will change with our impending arrival. Of course, many of you likely already know all about what is about to happen to us and a lot of you, probably like me until about 9 months ago, probably won't relate real well. As usual, I don't give a rat's ass and you'll get what you get.

One of the last times I checked in was my trepidatious venture through the aisles and dark recesses of Babies (backward) "R" Us. Since then one of the two of us on that quest has become a good bit more pregnant. And no, contrary to my on and off again commentary about my apparent objective be bigger than ever, it ain't me. I've suggested that when yet another perfectly well meaning but ultimately annoying stranger asks "Are you pregnant??" Kris just respond, "No, I'm smuggling a basketball you friggin' jackass."

New house in between then and now too and some associated "to dos" with that which so far haven't included severe electrical burns. However, the day isn't over either and no one should doubt my ability to completely jack myself up. Had a lot of help with the move from good friends and said goodbye to Ry who is now well ensconced in the deep south and who I've done an absolutely horrid job of catching up with since his departure. Sorry Ry.

Work is work, like they say, there is a reason they pay you for it. Never enough, but they do pay. I do get to hang out at most of the MAC races this time of year for Cadence and get my ass kicked in cyclocross instead of mountain biking for a few months so that does sort of make work cool. I'll likely post some mad libs blogs about the 'cross thing...brace yourselves or just go read some other racers blog and insert names like Yozell, Adams, Kelly, Strickland, Hebe, Colin, Woody, Pagoda, Wes, Linda, Jose, Andy instead of the ones they list and it'll be almost verbatim.

Speaking of names we don't have one picked out yet so please don't ask Kris that either you perfectly well meaning person you. Barrah, Coe, Rax, and Tye have come up as suggestions (just add Kuhn) and of course pop culture references such as Stan, Eric, Kenny, Kyle, and Butters were briefly considered too, but nah. We have about a dozen we're considering. Right after we know he'll know and then you'll probably find out before too long. Oh yea, we did buy a fancy pants new digital video recorder so you'll probably see him too since it was definitely a business expense for the races and I'll need to use it for the blog.

So to recap since we last saw each other, I've been thinking about Jr's impending arrival and doing stuff. I coulda saved a lot of blog space and your precious time...

I guess we're as ready as we're gonna be which is a good thing. We're celebrating 5 years of married life tomorrow and this weekend is quite likely our last one as a couple for what I hope is a long, long time.

Release me

2008-06-30T00:28:00.005-05:00

I've got 'em all right now. Excitement. Apprehension. Stress. Frustration. Its one of the things I look forward to most each year and dread the most at the exact same time. Only a few days to go and I'm confident we'll do it well as its gone well before, but I still stress and don't get sleep over it because I want it be better in some way every year. The release will come on Sunday evening when we can sit back and reflect on the weekend and I'm looking forward to it and a weekend well done.

Register that thing

2008-06-13T00:13:00.006-05:00

So, I like to think that I'm pretty able to figure stuff out. I'm not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I ain't the butter spreader either. I've figured out I'm about to be pretty screwed tho.

I was a bit ill last week with a fun bus ride (bus is slang for ambulance, try and keep up) to the ER; a bunch of tests; a little bit of "we don't know what's wrong with you" and some "go home and rest it'll probably get better and if it doesn't maybe stop back by or something." Couple this with the my astonishing performance in OH at the hundr'd last weekend and the six or seven times I quit the sport completely during those 10 hours and I wasn't much for riding.

Kris thought she'd cheer me up with a bit of shopping. This almost always does the trick for a quick pep. First up was the "Quest for New Furniture!!" Nothing like a quick drive in the car to a long drawn out stab me in the eye with a sharp stick please trip for a new living room suite and exactly the right fabric and upholstery for the new couch. I shouldn't complain too much its not like this wasn't an informative trip. I did find out that I must not have a very discerning ass since I couldn't really tell that the particular couch I was trying desperately to sink into the cushions on and disappear from view for at least a little was ever so slightly less comfortable than the 27 other ones we'd tried so far and that I obviously also have zero sense of color coordination. I'm quite sure that not a single one of the print/solid combos I suggested was seriously considered (yes, I did try to contribute for after I started to root for the football team in red on the fake television used to fill out the entertainment center display I figured I should likely move on.) At first I thought I was doing well, but after a bit I noticed that I was starting to get looks of disdain and then I think I heard either Kris or the salesperson mumble something about, 'why the hell is he here?' which was really my point exactly.

But as there was more cheering up to do we weren't done. Day 2 dawned with the specter of yet more joy brought on through retail bliss. This time though the gloves were off. It was time for the Baby Registry.

For the first time, but I'm oh so very positive not the last, I set foot inside that compillation of all things tiny tot (though I wish it were tater tot) related - Babies 'R Us. You'd think that the cute little 'R would help endear this bastion of baby related products to me. Nope.

Things started off innocently enough. A large sign welcomed us to the Registry Registration table. A well ensconced young lady sat us down and went over all that the store had to offer and things we should consider for our new addition. She was pleasant enough with her glazed over expression and monotone delivery only perhaps hinting at the excitement she was feeling inside for our new arrival; her love of all things babyized; and her commitment to a long and fruitful career in this little slice of heaven. With a last flurry of sloth like activity she brought forth that wonderful gun with which to scan bar codes and as has been done for generation (yes, singular, not only did they not have fun bar code guns, dads seem to have somehow gotten themselves out of these sorts of things in the past, perhaps it really was the greatest generation) handed it with care to the father to be . In doing so she was really welcoming him to Wonderland -- and trying to trick him into thinking this adventure may still hold some promise since perhaps he'd get to shoot something.

Then it began. Dumbness sets in.

Aisle 1. Child proofing the house. As an aside, this of course will have the added effect of Mike and Kris proofing the house as well and likely lead to the kid's first encounter with naughty language when I can't get to the Oreos one night. So we begin by looking at the some of those cabinet locks at the end of the aisle and it goes something like this:
"Which ones should we get."
"I don't know which one do you think we should get."
"I don't know, how many cabinets are in the new house do you think?
"I don't know, how many do you think there are?"
"I don't know, do you think we should put these on the registry?"
"I don't know, I guess so."
"Okay, so how many should we get?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I don't know. What about these."
"Okay. Oh look, there are 100 more of these down this aisle."
"Shit."

This was the basic gist of a conversation that repeated itself far too frequently during the day. Substitute diaper pail for baby proofing gear and color of the paint for number of cabinets and you get the idea.

So, I point the gun, close my eyes, say a little prayer, and start firing.

Then its off to aisle 2. We're actually able to navigate a few things. Lots of diaper rash creams here. There is one that's "organic." Quick scan it since that bit at least differentiates if from the others and gives us a reason. "Why'd you choose that one?" "Well, it's organic of course." Perfect.

Then its potty time. Not time to choose a potty, that's still a ways off (umm, I think anyway), but time for Kris to make run since being preggy certainly pushes that button often. No problem, I'm a soon-to-be-dad of the 21st Century and I'll do some of this on my own.

Aisle 3. Bottles.

I don't believe I've ever stared at something with as dumbfounded an expression for as long as I did at that wall of bottles. My eyes got as big as saucers and I was completely frozen. If I didn't move maybe the bottles wouldn't see me and I could dart out when some other unsuspecting not-quite-yet-a-dad wondered in unaware of what waited on that wall.

I started to pick them up. I started to read. "Most life-like nipple," said one. "No PBAs!" touted another. "4 out of 5 babies choose this bottle for babies that use bottles," noted a third. "Oprah's favorite!" on one even. Now, I don't know what the hell Oprah is doing sucking on baby bottles, perhaps thats something she and Steadman are into.

There was even one that touted "most breast-like look and feel." Now of course, this I needed to investigate as its only the best for my boy! I open 'er up and sure enough its a bottle that looks like a boob. If boobs were clear that is. It was definitely a little fake feeling though which certainly took away some points. On the upside though it was perky.

Probably obviously, this was the highlight of the day as then it was on to strollers, play pens, swings, toys to hang from things, diaper pails, bedding. Somehow or other we did manage to avoid all contact with the breast pumps on this little venture which was nice, but I'm sure was actually due to a wrinkle in the space-time continuum and will be remedied in the not so distance future.

Four hours later and we've covered half the store. HALF! Then, as if a prayer had been answered, a voice from above boomed out, "The store is closing in 5 minutes, please bring all your baby related crap to the register so we can over charge you for it" or something like that.

Four minutes and 30 seconds later Kris disengaged from the bedding display and we made our way to the front of the store. The nice young animatron in the Reg Reg downloaded the gun, informed us that there was a bunch of stuff we didn't have on there that we really needed to get from B R Us to ensure that the child didn't grow up an imbalanced mess and sent us on our way.

Luckily there was just enough time left before closing for one purchase.

C'mon, its not like I wasn't coming home without one of those perky booby bottles. I mean how great will it be to get that hand up in the feed zone?!?

Run, Don't Walk

2008-06-11T08:38:00.004-05:00

Some info is up, more good stuff to come - click the tractor.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN AND HOPPIN' AT BIKEREG!

Here we go again

2008-06-09T22:13:00.003-05:00

Another month gone by and me with nothing at all interesting or at the very least amusing for me to post - 'cause in the end its all about me.

But, since there are some things going down in about a month or so, I figure I oughta pipe up a bit.

The visitPA.com Stage Race and Festival Weekend is coming! Tell your friends! Spread the word!

The jist is the same as its been for the past four years. Just the baddest mountain bike weekend ever!!

The big news for this year is that we're doing something a bit different with the points that we have in the past. Just like its always been, for the non-xc races in the stage race you will race as part of a combined field designated A or B in your appropriate ability/experience category.

What is different this year is that we are no longer awarding "bonus" points. The points this year that are awarded for the stage race (which is still the ITT/STXC/HC combo) are (the equivalent of) a fully dropable XC event. So, you don't just get extra points for showing up that another racer is unable to catch up to you no matter what.

However, what is also different this year is that we will be separating out every age group category in the stage race for MASS points. (Note that we will NOT be separating these groups for race day prizes or the overall awards - its a combo category for the stage events.)

This means that if you are the only person in your category to race the stage race events and you place LAST OVERALL in your stage race group you will receive FIRST PLACE MASS POINTS in your MASS category!! We can only do this because we are using the chip timing and the chips allow us to separate every individual racer into the appropriate bucket. It aint cheap, but its worth it!

So, you do the Betty's Tasty Buttons STXC, the Lupine Night TT, and the Your Name Here Hill Climb and you have a shot at full on first place MASS XC points in your category for those events. This is just one more reason you do not want to miss the visitPA.com MTB Stage Race and Festival Weekend!

Flying by (Rocktober Too)

2008-05-07T22:29:00.006-05:00

Time flies when you're having fun.

Or trying to pull together two races, a jr devo camp, and taking care of the team stuff.

Or working way to much and attempting to train for Mohican.

Or shopping for a house.

Or expecting a baby.

Some of the above is sorta fun, some not so much, and some really really fun! It pretty much varies daily with what's which why, but in general its good, just a wee bit busy.

So, to everyone I've neglected for the past month, I'm sorry. Of course, that will not prevent me from neglecting you for another 8 to 12 weeks, but I do apologize. But I'll still neglect you.

Anyway - Rocktober stuff! This went out on the MASS lists and such so you may already know a about it, but some info about the race next weekend:

I know, I know, yinzers have probably been very happy that I've kept my big yap shut so far this year but some news about the visitPA.com Rocktober Challenge for you -

1. Prereg gets more expensive on the 10th and then closes and then gets absolutely ludicrous on race day. Seriously, I'm a complete jerk and am ripping you off on race day since you can't take time to prereg. So, take a couple minutes and go to bikereg.com to get signed up.

2. The course is a wee bit longer than 100K. More like one hundred and eleventy K or there abouts. There is a very small chance we'll cut out a piece, but that would throw off the aid station plan and we'd lose some of the stellar trail we've been working on for you. If you're coming you're already figuring on being out there all day long anyway so this is just more of a good time. Really I'm giving you even more for your money! You should so be thanking me.

3. If you are planning on coming up you should know that the RB Winter campground is rapidly filling up. There are several other camp grounds close to the venue and the closest hotels can be found in Lewisburg which is about 25-30 min away. visitPA.com should be able to help you find alternate lodging. By visitPA.com I don't mean Ray or Wes or Mike or Ry but rather by visiting the website at http://www.visitPA.com. However, your best way to get directions to the race is through our race site.

Please help spread the word to your team mates who don't have hours of their lives to waste sitting in front of a computer chatting on the MASS forums.

See you all at French Creek - do your anti-rain jig!

event and team stuff --- http://www.highspeedcycling.com
the folks that let us do what we do --- http://www.visitpa.com

It is three, I think.

2008-04-08T23:13:00.003-05:00

some visiting with the folks and celebrated my sister's boys' birthdays, which happen to lie on April 6 and 7. I got to give Parker his first bike (sorta) which made me a happy uncle and Pearson kept us very entertained as he enjoyed birthday numero uno by diving headfirst into a bright red iced hunk of cake.

Momma Kuhn pulled out the stops for these kids and made the cake to beat all cakes and make a couple young boys awfully happy. Well, I guess Pearson won't remember it, but Parker was enthralled. The cake was a train. Not a train in icing on the cake, but a freakin' train. Actually it was two cakes since mom can't play favorites. Each was 5 cars long. Each car was a piece of cake about the size of a brick. Each car was a different color. The engine had a marshmallow smokestack with curly candles for smoke and in the engineer's seat was a photo of one of the boys with a chocolate bar roof and chocolate supports. A blue "log" car hauled a load of Tootsie Rolls and another car carried "coal" in the form of dark chocolate Raisinettes. The wheels were either chocolate or vanilla Oreos or rolled black licorice. The tracks were those wafer sugar cookies alternating between chocolate and vanilla too. The train couplers were pieces of red licorice. My favorite though was the circus car with a graham cracker roof iced in green and decorated in M&Ms supported by pretzel sticks forming the cage to hold the Animal Cracker beasties. Damn!!!

Parker was amazed. Mom asked Parker which car he wanted and of course the engine was the first choice. Mom then asked Parker which car she could eat. Parker said "Pearson's."

Anyone notice in my previous post that I'm the biggest I've been since high school...I just can't figure out why...

On a completely different note, but something I think I mentioned before, I really like seeing people I've not seen in a long time at these things.

Pete Ray, and old friend from my Team Harrisburg days was back out to race his bike after a long time away. It turns out he'd been to the farm in the intervening years when he treated Howdy after he'd fallen from his tree stand a few years ago and busted up his back. Small world I guess.

Mike Peters of the recent editions of the Harrisburg Criterium stopped in and was one of those who I didn't get to visit with at all. It was nice to see him come out in support of his road buds on the Faulkner Honda racing team. Another FHer in attendance was my old PA Pension Planners teammate (or as VeganRob refered to us, Team FunnyPants) John Cameron and his ever increasing in size family...John and Jen are expecting their second in October. Small world again I guess.

My old bud Chris Kuhl paid a visit too and even tried a lap or two of the course. I'm lucky enough to run into Chris a few times a year, most recently in Arizona, and he also volunteered some time to help set up the course a few days earlier so while I do get to see him its not often enough.

Of course all yinzers and bubsers were super sweet to see again and here's to hoping there's a lot more of seeing you all this summer.

One race down. Rocktober, the Stage Race, and Iron Cross to go.

Relay Weekend - 1 down, three (or is it four?) to go

2008-04-08T09:07:00.004-05:00

That was a busy freakin' weekend. The relay, I thought, was freakin' sweet. Not perfect. But sweet. Of course, I may be slightly biased.

I've said it before, but I do love seeing people I've not seen in a very long time come out to these things. Unfortunately I never get much of chance to talk with anyone and when I do take a few moments I'm usually pulled away before we get much of a chance to catch up. If you happen to be someone I started to talk with and then suddenly veered away when my attention was diverted by some shiny object over your shoulder or off in the distance I apologize. Hopefully I'll get to catch up with at an event I don't have to run. If I can actually get to one of those.

I'm planning to make some appearances at On the Rocks at French Creek and over at Faticus's Granogue and in general be around a bit more than I have been in a few years. I'm also hoping more racing helps to rid me of this ever expanding growth around my mid-section. I'm thinking of buying the right's to Faticus's blog or at least leasing the name...though I hope not to keep it too long. I too like cookies far too much as well.

Still contemplating Cohutta. The very kind folks down that way gave me a special exemption since I actually pulled a top 10 from somewhere very deep in my nether regions last spring at their event. They said, "top 10? hells yea, come on back." I hate to disappoint and turn that top 10 into a top 50% as I'm figuring I may do since I've not ridden longer than an hour or two just a few times this winter. Ah heck, as Ry said, its not like I'll stay here and ride for 8 hours that day so I probably should go. 12 hours down, 8 hours of racing, 12 hours back. Sounds like a good weekend, no?

Spent some time doing some other stuff this weekend too as we squeezed in

Okay, I'm way late for work and shouldn't be writing this right now. More later.

Need Team Racer

2008-04-04T22:53:00.003-05:00

I've a plea from a couple guys looking for a couple racers for the relay this weekend. Contact me if you are interested in racing or know someone else who is and I'll put you in touch with them.

Also we're up to something like 260 riders!! Holy crap.

Just finished up press releases to a bunch of local to the race media and now its time for bed so I can get a little sleep to be ready for all y'all. Its unlikely any of the news crews will show, but what the heck might as well give it a whirl and maybe you'll be lucky enough to get a few seconds of fame crashing your brains out on the new way fast log (if I keep it in there).

Relay Update

2008-04-04T14:10:00.003-05:00

Please check over on our visitpadotcommtbteam blog - you can get to this easily through highspeedcycling.com - for the latest on the US Open Relay this coming weekend. Things are pretty much set and we're looking forward to your arrival.

News from the Great White North

2008-03-31T21:46:00.002-05:00

Up to the minute report rolling in from our ground troop and embedded reporter at the Rocktober Challenge venue in RB Winter State Park and Bald Eagle State Forest.

It appears that the surge is working and we're getting closer and closer to clearing the remaining vestiges of unnavigable singletrack...

----

From somewhere in the deep PA wilderness...

..........George Hackenbush created singletrack.

Stony Hollow - cleared out and rideable.
Old Tram - cut out those 2 trees (the ground shook when they fell)
South Bear Creek - FUN TRAIL!!!! Heim and I cleared all logs off of the trail. A leaf blower is a must in our opinion. It would be a wickedly fast trail if it were wind blown.

You will have to navigate a stream crossing before heading back up the mountain.

Let me know if there is anything else up there. Planning on riding the 1st loop in the near future.

MjF

------------------

Fausto and Hackenbush - as they say back home --- yinzers rawk!!

Calling Ms. Toeclips and some stuff on Rocktober

2008-03-27T11:47:00.009-05:00

Ry will have a whole bunch of new stuff up on HSC in the near future regarding May's Rocktober Challenge. I know this because I just finished updating it all and if he doesn't want the cat to keep vomiting in his room he'll have to get the info up on the site.

Actually, this isn't a real good threat as the cat just cleans up after himself most times anyway. Don't follow? The cat likes "pre-digested" meals. Still not getting it? He eats his own puke. Yummy. At least there isn't much to clean up.

Enough about our cat's regurgitative exploits.

On the Rocktober note, I'll be headed up that way (to RB Winter) a few times between the running of the US Open Relay next weekend and Rocktober to do some trail maintenance. If'n any of you would like to earn some credits toward a Rocktober entry and want to accompany me (or meet me there) drop a note and let me know and we'll have a good ol time cutting back that laurel.

Below is an almost completely useless image of the map of the Rocktober course. If you get out a magnifying glass you can probably make out that there are colors and lines on the map. We will be riding trails that are noted by those lines. There are other colors that make it look like there are ridges on the map. These are ridges. We'll ride over a bunch of them. I think we'll be able to get this up in a .pdf version up on HighSpeedCycling.com as soon as Ry makes his way back to HSC HQ here in Center Valley from his third home in NYC. Yellow = loop 1, Orange = loop 2, Green = loop 3. (If you click on the map it should get a lot bigger and that will help...)

Anyone know how to get hold of Alice B Toeclips? I tried blogging her back on one blog, but that didn't seem to work and I can't get her email address from her blog to open for me at home because I don't know squat about making Outlook work here since its all synced up for work and stuff. I bet there are some instructions some where that probably tell me how to do such a thing, but like I'm going to read something as useless as the help information that comes with this computer.

Never mind, I just left a comment on her blog, that oughta do it. Forget I said anything.

Weekend update

2008-03-23T22:43:00.003-05:00

Gottta start by thanking the people who stood up and took credit for the anonymous emails I published for your enjoyment. They apologized and I appreciate it. I was annoyed because of the anonymity bit, but that's it there was nothing else in it. Hopefully some of this stuff comes across with a bit of humor as its intended.

Spent Sunday working at RB Winter with the team and some guest help in the form of Mike Faust and Heim. We're getting the trails in shape for the Rocktober Challenge in May and things look pretty darn good so far. The new course is going to be way painful but beautiful.

RB was supposed to be the wrap up to a team training weekend in State College. I was supposed to be in State College all weekend - had time off from work and everything - and then wasted it all by getting sick on Thursday and not going up til Sunday AM. I'm still bummed as I was really looking forward to the weekend with the team and it sounds like they had a great time riding together. Wes, Ray, Nancy, and I did get out on the RB Winter network a bit today and that was peachy. With my job I find it very difficult to get out with these guys and I hardly raced at all in '07 so it would have been great fun to spend the weekend hitting those wonderful trails in Rothrock with 'em. Ah well, next time I guess.

I did get to ride the new Cannondale Scalpel on the rocks at RB and to quote Ferris, it is so choice. I've been jonesin' for full suspension since we switched from Cannondale the last time and I'm very pleased to be back on what is definitely one of the best handling XC bikes available. We're on Old Tram today and I'm just floating though it like I've not been able to do for two years. Yea, there are some places where you don't need full suspension, but I mostly prefer to ride places where you do. I'm not quite the weight weenie the other guys are so Ray or Hebe will probably come up with the lightest version of this thing, but every time I pick mine up I can't believe its suspended on both ends. Stay tuned to Hebe's blog to see just how light one of these can be.

Fun with email

2008-03-19T09:36:00.005-05:00

I so don't have time to post this, but I thought yinzers would get a kick out of some emails I received regarding the team relay. More honestly, I thought I'd get a kick out of posting them here and you could like it or not -I don't care that much. As posted here previously, the cost of the relay has gone up - $10/person more than last year if you pre-reg and if you have to wait until the day of the race it goes up to $20/person because you're being a pain in my ass. Seriously, its not like it increases my costs to have you reg day of, but if you all do that stuff ahead of time everything in much smoother come race day. Pre-reg'ing makes it so I don't have to take my already overworked family and volunteers and spread them thinner by putting more of them on registration duty. So, it may not cost more, but its a hell of a lot easier if you take a few minutes and pre-reg and you're rewarded for it by not getting stuck with the extra fee.

I digress. Here are those emails and my responses. I love being a race promoter.

Note: I really appreciate that these folks manned up and didn't sign their names because it definitely shows maturity and takes major balls to complain about something anonymously.

----------------------- Email #1 --------------------------------

On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 6:17 PM, wrote:
EVENT NAME: US Open MTB Team Relay
EVENT DATE: 4/6/2008
EVENT PAGE: http://www.BikeReg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=6044

Why are your entry fees so exorbitant?

ex·or·bi·tant
Pronunciation: \-tənt\
Function: adjective
1 : not coming within the scope of the law
2 : exceeding the customary or appropriate limits in intensity, quality,
amount, or size

------------ Response ---------------------

Dear GTRider125@aol.com,

Wow, I'm pretty impressed, it seems Sesame Street is really upping their selections when it comes to introducing children to new vocabulary. Your mommy is probably quite proud of you and don't get me wrong, she should be - that's a BIG word!! I bet you even got a gold star didn't you?!?! What a good boy!! I certainly appreciate you sharing this with me as I don't have much time to watch children's shows these days.

How big is GTRider?? This big!!! How big is GTRider??

Not very really.

Thanks for writing,
Mike

---------------------------- Email #2 -----------------------------

financially.ravaged@brokefromracing.com

EVENT NAME: US Open MTB Team Relay
EVENT DATE: 4/6/2008
EVENT PAGE: http://www.BikeReg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=6044

why do your entry fees go beyond what is right or decent?

----------------------- Response --------------------------------

Dear Ravaged,

That's pretty awesome that you can set up an email address that says what you are.

Here are some more you should add to your list:

thinkimpro@sponsoredbymom.com
imadouche@whiners.org
nothingbettertodo@wasteyourtime.com
waaawaaawaa@bigbaby.com
lightnexpensivebik@imabegginer.net

I have a solution for you, just give your mom a call and see if she can foot the bill for you. Again. I mean she's already covering your rent, utilities, and food and while living in the basement with bead curtains for doors may not seem that great I'm sure that I'll be paying you to come to the event as soon as you go pro. Then you'll get the last laugh. Just convince your mom that going to the race will be fun and it can take the place of your "dinner and a movie" weekly excursions, I'm sure she'll go for it.

Thanks and looking forward to meeting your mom,
Mike

-------------------------Email #3 ---------------------------------

sweatshopking@enter.net

EVENT NAME: US Open MTB Team Relay
EVENT DATE: 4/6/2008
EVENT PAGE: http://www.BikeReg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=6044

why do all your events have such outrageous entry fees?

----------------------Response -------------------------------------

(This was actually the first of the three and I actually responded nicely to this one...yep, I can now and then.)

Dear Sweatshopking

Only because that's what it costs to run them.

Last year we had less than $500 left after running the Relay and this year we are bringing in chip timing that will cost us $1000-$1500 because people asked for lap times for every racer. The Rocktober Challenge lost money last year -- now, I gave out prizes over 50 places deep (and they were pretty good prizes) and fed everyone darn good food after the race and maybe I shouldn't have, but that's what I want at my races and people appreciate it. Literally everyone who did that race got to pick something off the prize table. Its plain and simple - if I don't at least cover these costs then the races don't happen. You might disagree with this next part, but I feel I ought to make at least a little money because they take an awful lot of time and effort and they take time away from my family and my riding and all sorts of other things I could be doing. I put on really good events that I feel are some of the best around - and there are a lot of people that concur - but it costs a lot to do so.

Thanks,
Mike

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, so I actually didn't reply directly to the first two, only the last one, which was actually the first one in order of arrival in my inbox. These don't deserve responses, but they do deserve to be posted on my blog so that I have some sort of content for this half the month and so I can respond here in my little world.

Why don't they deserve direct responses? First because he/she/they are too damn wussified to leave a name with the complaint. Second because they could all well be the same person and I'm guessing are since at least two of the addresses are lame fake ones. In fact, I'm guessing that this person is also greatly mourning the death of Gygax and has set up a shrine in his honor and that his MMORPG character has led to this
since he must spend way too much time starting at a computer screen to figure out how to set up fake lame email addresses. (Kenny, if this is you I'm going to kick your ass.)

If $30/person is really too much you probably shouldn't be racing a bike. If it's breaking your bank then I bet you and your imaginary dates have hella fun at taco bell so you can keep the bill low and save on tips. Spending thousands in travel expenses to and from races and thousands more in time in training and racing when you could be working and earning money makes zero sense when $30 is such a burden. The thousands you've spent on your bike are probably keeping you from eating what with your level of poverty, but I'm sure the XTR cranks, XO shifters, and new stans wheels you bought so you can drag your out of shape undertrained slow ass around the course on a 16.24 lb bike are definitely worth it. Particularly since you can't afford to race it now.

Okay, so here's the thing. The relay is a great event, it is definitely fun, and IMO its worth $30 or more/person. If you really feel like its too much then vote with your feet and don't show up. If not enough people show I'll have to revamp it and probably scale it back for next year so that I cut costs and maybe then I'd drop it back to $20/person, but you wouldn't get the timing and other awards and stuff. I'm willing to do what people want. Racers last year told me they wanted individual lap times so here we are.

Making real suggestions and offering constructive criticism is always not only accepted, but encouraged. Actually trying to help improve the event with thoughtful feedback makes you someone a promoter respects and appreciates. Being a complete f'ing ass and sending immature and whiny emails that you are too chickenshit to sign only makes you a douche.

Thanks Ry!!

2008-03-06T22:57:00.005-05:00

Check out what Ry did....www.highspeedcycling.com

Relay Rassin'

2008-03-01T17:48:00.003-05:00

Ry is still working hard on the website and it will be up soon, but here's the scoop on the US Open Relay that kicks off the MASS next month. There is very little that has changed except that I've cut the points in half that are awarded for each lap...instead of 8 its now 4 (see how that whole half thing worked? Pretty slick, no?).

In my very unscientific and completely unverified reworking of the points for this year I just plugged everything from last year into a spreadsheet, messed with the lap points, and viola! new points scheme that is sure to make some of you happy and piss a bunch more of you off. Either way, this should make things much tighter and more exciting right to the end and that's the whole point because it ain't about who wins this as much as its about who has the most fun and how rich I get off promoting it. A few hundred more races promoted and I'll be a thousandaire!! And Kris said this was a big #*@*ing waste of my time. Pfff, shows you what she knows.

That being said, I am sticking it to you all with higher prices on the relay this year. The extra dough is going toward some of those other prizes I mentioned in the last post and the chip timing - which you all will appreciate in the end because it will be cool to have your split times and see all the race laps so don't whine too much about the $$.

I was going to save the money and get some potato chips (probably kettle cooked, they are my favorite!!) and have you tape them to your helmets for the race and say I had chip timing and charge you a lot more, but one or two of you probably would have figured out the chips didn't really help with the timing and a few others would have eaten the chips and still been scored and then the whole cover is blown, so instead its real timing chips for you. Yay.

Now, who wants to chip in on a crowd prime for the fastest lap?

Where the hell have you been??

2008-02-22T23:51:00.005-05:00

More dead air. Lots and lots of dead air. I haven't had a damn thing to say in two months. As most anyone reading this knows -- of course that can't be true! I'm an opinionated ass and I've been running at the mouth like I always do I just wasn't motivated to lay it down here.

Lets look back shall we: Christmas, New Years, skate ski weekend in NY, Colorado Springs for USAC, my Birthday, Tucson with Dr. Wilson, and Poppa Kuhn's back operation. Okay, now that we're all caught up...

There is some stuff on the horizon that is important for any of you mtb racers in the region stopping by for event info. Again in 2008 this is where all the HighSpeedCycling/VisitPA.com event updates and news will be posted. However, you'll need to continue to frequent www.highspeedcycling.com for the actual event details and information. So, check HSC for the main gist of things and here for my BS and event updates. Why make you go to two places? Just be glad its not three.

Ry's been working hard to put together a new look for the HSC site which is why there isn't any 2008 event info up just yet. I'm way stoked about the new site and I think yinzers will like it too. Keep checking back - I'm pushing him to get this thing up and running asap, he's putting up with it very nicely. It is a very delicate balance what with him crashing here at the Kuhn abode. If he gives me any lip I'll put his ass out on the street, but of course then there is no new kick ass website for you - as you can probably imagine, its as tense as an impacted bowel around here.

I keed, I keed, me and Ry did a little snow riding today in the four inches of fluff and got completely worked pushing all that powder around. Good times.

Lets talk events...The US Open relay is the up first and it is basically the same as last year though I will be tweaking the handicapping slightly based on last year's results. The idea is to make this thing so every team has a shot at the victory and last year was a little too elite skewed...we'll play with the numbers and bit and probably flub it but at least we're trying so how about a little credit?

I'm looking at adding some other awards too for things like "Most Elaborate and Extravagent Pit," "Best Dressed Team," and "Most Expensive Gift given to Promoter." This sort of stuff will go up at that other place where you're supposed to go to check out the VisitPA.com team's races (if you're not sure where please re-read this post and take better notes).

I freakin' rock

2007-12-21T12:14:00.000-05:00

Well, someone thinks so.

www.10degreeslatitude.com

We haven't started yet so I have lots of time to screw this up, but I'll do my best not too.

These guys are doing something pretty cool and I'm psyched to be a part of it.

I think I might go ride my bike. I tried going out yesterday, but I just was not into it. I got an hour in and that was that.

To quote the great Cal Naugton Jr, I had a pretzel in my head.

Today is better.

Shake 'n Bake.

Slip n Slide

2007-12-18T12:03:00.000-05:00

I don't know how the weather last weekend treated you, but over the weekend here the city of Allentown installed a gigantic luge track. The ground is completely covered with an inch or two of snow capped with enough ice that you just do not break through. Nothing to do but get out the sled.

The sled in this case is the sweet new Scalpel VPA will be sporting this year. BK hooked us up with a test bike and I mounted up the studded snow tires for a spin in the woods. Now, completely frozen trails aren't really a good test of the design since you don't need that new pivotless suspension when most of the rocks and roots have been filled in by snow and ice and you can literally ride basically anywhere you want - but its still a good time!

Well, its mostly a good time. If you've not been on studded tires for a couple years you forget just how low you can run them and how low you need to run them in order to get that good traction. You probably start with the pressure a bit too high and slide around a bit or even crash. You let a bit out, but still not as much as you should since you really don't want to tempt the flat tire gods. You ride some more and on an off-camber stretch you hit the ground hard.

At first you don't think much of it.
Then you start to slide.
And you pick up speed.
And you think, "I'll just grab a tree."
Then you miss it.
Then you start to slide a little faster
and faster.
Literally bouncing off a few trees
and grabbing for another one
with your legs since now you're getting a bit panicked
and maybe not thinking as well as you should.
You finally tuck up and just slam into a tree with your back
and come to a stop.
The bike got hung up on a tree further up the hill
or it probably would have bowled you over.
You have to break holes in the ice to climb back up.
You'll be sore tomorrow.
You're sore right now.
You let out some more air
the studs hook up.
Now that's fun.

I love it when a plan comes together

2007-12-16T11:49:00.000-05:00

So it may not be quite as cool as the A-Team, I'm pretty psyched about this little ditty we've put together at work, especially on nasty rainy days like today.

Ry and I took a Cadence class this morning from the comfort of the porch here in Coopersburg!

While we're still beta testing the operation, we are close to our full scale launch of CadenceTV (Jan 1 is the plan) and soon everyone looking for a way to make the indoor training drudgery pass more quickly and get a great workout will be able to log in from their home computer and take class Live - or choose from a growing library of Ondemand Cadence workouts. I figured one of three people who reads this might find that useful since I'm sure all three of you are bike dorks.

Find out more about it at the place where I spend most of my waking hours - www.cadencecycling.com for more info. Again, we won't be live until the new year, but check the Cadence Blog for updates on our progress.

Of course I'm biased, but Ry's comment was that it sure made the hour pass quickly and that it was definitely a solid workout. Anyone who has to deal with weather like we have today in PA and has to get on the trainer is going to find this pretty fantastic. Can you tell I'm pumped??

Bonus---tune in Tue or Wed at 6:00PM and you get to see me on your computer! Now that should spike viewership - or crash your hard drive.

In case you have no idea

2007-12-16T00:20:00.000-05:00

where Giant Douches and Turd Sandwiches come from you should go here, click play, and hang out a bit.

What do you know, its even timely what with the Iowa caucuses right around the corner.

I was listening to some chat this AM on NPR regarding Ioway and I got to wondering why we still use this method of selecting the pres candidates. Much like the Electoral College's shortfalls, it seems like we ought to be able to come up with a better way of doing things than having one state where less than 150,000 people participate have such a big role in choosing who we all end up voting for in the end. I know, I know, its not so much that Iowa chooses the candidate as much as perhaps bringing a surprise into contention or knocking a front runner down a notch, but between Iowa, NH and the rest there are very few of us involved. The caucuses probably boost or bruise egos as much as anything else, but the whole system is so far behind the times and technology that its rather silly. At the same, I guess that most of us don't give a shit anyway since so few of us vote so maybe its good that a few folks who actually care enough to get involved tell the rest of the country what we should do.

Every single one of the contenders is making a play on the internet and using avenues like MySpace and YouTube to plug themselves. There certainly must be a better way. Shouldn't we all have a bigger role in this? Shouldn't we care and not leave it to, as the boys at SP so elegantly put it, douchbags and turds?

Well, it doesn't matter, none of this is real anyway, is it?

Vote or Die M*F*

Here's a butterscotch candy.

Turd Sandwich

2007-12-07T21:10:00.000-05:00

Fittingly, seeing as the last post was all about Giant Douches, how can such a little cat make so much stink? I swear he leaves behind the equivalent on one cat per day. By this I mean he takes huge stinky nasty dumps. For some unknown reason he has also decided to make the litter box at bottom the basement stairs his repository of choice. This was at one time the 3rd string crapper, but since Ryan moved in and has been making use of the stellar bike service area in the recess of the Kuhn basement the cat has taken to making the basement litter box his primary receptacle. The issue here is that the odor of his lovely deposits seems to first gather and then hang out and relax at the top of the steps and the main entrance to the house. YUMMY.

Either the cat really really likes Ryan and is hanging out in the basement so much because Ryan is always down there that the lower level box is just the most convenient OR he's trying to force Ryan out by leaving huge piles of crap wherever Ryan goes.

On to another perplexing topic. I mentioned a while bike that we got that Saturn VUE Hybrid gig and we've been pretty underwhelmed with its performance. We've determined that in order to get the mileage Saturn claims you can from their hybrid you have to drive exactly 45 mph and on dead straight dead flat highways and any time you stop you need to leave off the gas as far in advance as possible -2-3 miles is preferable - and always come to a complete stop. You have to come to a COMPLETE stop because this is the only time the engine shuts off (that's the "Hybrid" part of this baby, the motor stops completely when you stop).

Now, you would think this would be a benefit in stop and go traffic since its, well, stop and go. You'd also think that in places that have lots of stop signs and traffic lights you'd save gas. You'd be wrong -- on both accounts. See, "stop and go traffic" is a complete misnomer. Really, it should be called "go-as-absolutely-slow-as-you-possibly-can-without-stopping and go traffic." Seriously, pay attention next time rather than yappin' your jaw on the cell phone and see how often you come to a complete stop. Additionally, should you actually come to a complete stop and actually have your hybrid do what its supposed to do, if you stay stopped for anything more than 1 billionth of a second longer than the person in front of you you'll immediately attract the unbridled wrath of the drivers behind you and probably be cut off by some jackass in a mini cooper.

Kris and I were in traffic that was at a dead stop due to an accident. We hadn't moved at all for several minutes. A couple vehicles moved in front of us and we stayed stopped. The cars in front of us didn't move any more at all and there was no more than a 2-3 car gap in front of us. This giant redneck douche in a pickup behind us honked. At first we thought he was just joking around since traffic was a complete standstill. We quickly found out he was serious and from his reaction I'm sure that if he'd have had a gun he'd have tried to shoot us. I've never seen someone go so absolutely nuts - though without the audio watching someone yell, scream, and generally explode is quite humorous. Of course, I had to encourage his doucheness by waving and smiling at him...and laughing...and pointing. When traffic finally did move he cut off someone in the next lane and whipped around us to show us how tough he was. And I was definitely impressed. I could tell he was certainly tough.

Giant douche got stuck a mile late in construction traffic that's been mucking things up for months and since we're locals and know all the back roads we took the off ramp - though no more smiling and waving since I'm pretty sure the guys was a complete psycho. Hell, I kept checking the rear view to make sure he wasn't following.

Of course that's not really what's perplexing, that's just a very long tangent about a giant douche. What is perplexing is why Kristine can only get 23 mpg out of a vehicle that I can only get 26-27 out of (well that part is easy - Kris doesn't drive so much as she pilots the reentry vehicle) and is supposed to get 30-32 but never has, no matter how much I keep the damn little green light on, nor probably ever will.

Team DB

2007-12-05T19:25:00.000-05:00

I've wrapped up cross season. I was hoping to visit Big Willie this weekend at his 'cross joint, but its been 10 days of no riding and getting fat and staying sick so I've pulled the plug. Its time for long stuff and to prep for the 100s. I was willing to put up with a week off from this bug, but 10 days is eff'ing stupid -- now I just wanna ride! Or maybe its skate skiing time. It's not drinkin' time cause I don't want to do this.

Hello, I'm new here. I'm a dork?

Speaking of stupid, when did one's value as a cyclist or the amount of enjoyment one gets from a ride become defined only by one's power file screen shot? I can't believe how many guys are posting powerfiles with captions along the lines of:

'My TSS was 327 on this one. That was a great ride! I'm a complete fuckin' dork. No, seriously, I am.'

or

'Check this out, I'm so cool, I'm doing 430 watts and I weigh 60 kilos. I'm going to be a pro and a complete douchebag for sure!! Er, I'm already a complete douchebag, but I'm sure I'm going to be pro. LOOK AT MY NUMBERS!!!!! I should be pro!!!! MOMMMMY, make them put me on the team!!'

So I might have taken a bit of literary freedom with the captions, but even if its not there it is definitely implied.

Now, I'm all for training with power. It works. Its great. It tells you stuff you can't see otherwise. I don't want to train without it. I like my athletes to use it because its almost like I go on the ride with them when I look at their files. I like the feedback. I absolutely encourage its usage.

But, it also only tells you a very small part of the story.

Here's perhaps some of the rest of the story; stop me if you've heard this before.

I work with this guy who used to be really fast. He might have even raced in Europe. He doesn't race anymore. He doesn't train much. He's put on a couple pounds. For all you Power Dorks his power to weight is way off what it used to be. His pure LT power is way down too. He's a few years older obviously. Compare his numbers to all the local 1s and 2s and he's off the back.

And yet, every week all season long he beats the pants off everyone at the end of the weekly race. If he doesn't win the sprint its probably because he was setting someone else up for it. He's smart, he knows how to ride, and he knows when to use what he has.

You don't just get to be pro by riding around with a high p:w ratio - you have to perform.

It'd also be nice if you actually win something before you start talking about how you're going to be a professional cyclist.

Dreams are great. Dream BIG kids. Don't be a douchebag about it.

Now, I love riding my bike, but

2007-11-29T21:30:00.000-05:00

Found this on velosnooz, Man admits to sex with bikeEdinburgh, Scotland

A man who admitted having sex with a bicycle in a Scottish hotel has been placed on the sex offenders' register for breach of the peace.
Robert Stewart admitted to the crime Friday in Ayr Sheriff Court and is to be sentenced next month, Britain's Telegraph reported Saturday.
Stewart was discovered last October by two maids who entered to clean his room during a stay at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr, Scotland.
The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex, a sheriff's spokesman told the court. The shocked witnesses told the hotel manager who told the police.

Hoarse Whisperer

2007-11-29T19:47:00.000-05:00

I was hit hard by the biowarfare weapon that is the siblings' kids last weekend at the Oesterling Thanksgiving Feast and have been a walking wounded since Sunday night. There are few things that frustrate me as much as being sick. It just plain pisses me off. Add to the frustration of zero time at work to do work and I'm not a happy pup since I'm going to have to spend a ridiculous amount of non-work time working on work. The upside for everyone else here in Center Valley is that I literally can't talk so I'm not yelling at anyone or at the cats.

Did the MABRA Champs last weekend and did okay. Felt awful especially during the early part of the race - like I was going to vomit - and had no snap at all, but looking back it is obvious I was on my way to sicksville so its great that I got the chance to race. That followed a couple days of solid fun riding in the old stomping grounds where I found a lot of stuff that's a bit out of bounds to be just fine; a bit more that wouldn't take much to bring back - if you knew where to look; and something sort of new and interesting. So it was a good couple days of riding that I've not been able to build on, but at least got to do 'em.

I should probably take a note from Boo's playbook and go sleep so that I can recover from sleeping and to rest up before the next round of sleep...or at least shake this thing.

Going Down

2007-11-21T09:06:00.000-05:00

Its time for some poaching. We're headed back to the metropolis of Marysville for the holiday and I can't wait for a few days off and a few days of some of the best riding anywhere on and off road. I'm planning Perry Tours while I'm home and maybe a bit of the beautiful trails in the Marysville valley in and around the farm and hopefully a ride with the local boys on the Saturday morning group gig. Should be excellent. Of course, Kris probably has plans for me that I don't know about yet and it'll put the kibosh to all the riding I've in mind. At least I'll eat well.

For anyone besides me that thinks this is actually interesting, I didn't get completely destroyed this past weekend in 'cross at the USGP races, but I did get my downgrade!! Yes, congrats to me!! In USACycling's original awarding of cross categories I was given a Cat 1 license. At the time this wasn't even appropriate as I'd already not raced cross for several years and my road and mtb racing was on the decline as well, but whatever I didn't change it cause hey, I'm a cat 1.

When I started doing some cross racing this season I questioned an official along the lines of, "Is this Cat 1 thing going to be a problem?" I was told not to worry about it. Well, on the start line of the B race last Saturday where I'm assigned the 14th start position (this is huge, its a good spot to be in what with 80ish riders in the race) and where I'm already getting some good natured grief for sandbagging from my buds who remember a day when I was actually fast (I remember that day too) I get a little special call up from the staging folks. There seems to be an issue with my Cat 1 notation since this is a Cat 2/3 race.

I plead my case - "I'm old, fat, don't ride much, and haven't raced cross in forever!" It doesn't look good, I may not get to race... "All I want is a workout, I'm happy to start at the back." Still doesn't look good... Finally with some reluctance I get a "Okay, you have to start at the back and we better not see you on the podium." Yea right, like there is any chance of that.

I start at the back...somehow I make it into the top 20 and finish in 17th or so and was that ever fun. I really didn't think I'd move that far forward in the group but it seems that both my fitness and skillz are coming back a bit... Started about 45th on Sunday and hit 10th. Like Colin said the guys at the front are like the big bosses in video games and I'm too blown to pick up the special weapons on my way through the course or remember the secret codes. I new I was on a good day when I caught SlimmerMark who has been rockin' it all season. Now if only that little 14 year old punk would slow his ass down.

It's poachin' time!!

Here are some shots of my actually fast buds playing in the sand box and one off to a wicked fast start...

Hebe, Ferg, Yoz, and Leech, respectively

yourPhone, myPhone, ourPhone, iPhone

2007-11-15T10:35:00.000-05:00

iKeep asking myself, "Hey make a frickin decision, do iGet one of these things or not?"

iVe been him-hawing around about getting a phone with email capabilities for a while and of course all the fancypants stuff on the iPhone sure looks nice. That's the problem though isn't it? All this stuff looks "nice" and then you get it home and start to use it and find out its as big a piece of crap as the last widget you bought only it comes in a newer package with good marketing. It does seem that the few people iKnow who own one like it, and say it works as advertised.

All these questions keep running around my head though...Will iEver actually use all the functions? iS this thing going to stand up to living in my back pocket on road and mtb rides all year long? Am iAnywhere near cool enough to own an iPhone? Will it make me a better person? Smarter? Faster? Better looking? Do chicks dig it? Shouldn't iBe working on some race promo stuff, team sponsorship, or coaching instead of writing this? Why is my computer so damn slow - as in why is it that iTyped this 30 seconds ago and it is only now showing on the screen? Where the hell does "him-hawing" come from and why?

With my fancy new shoes though iThink an iPhone may be the best possible accessory...

iVe never owned an article of clothing iCould see my reflection in...until now.

Thank you Northwave and your sexy European style sensibilities.

iGotta go and my apologies to the good doctor.

HSC 2008

2007-11-06T15:56:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to put a few things together for next season. The HSC events are shaping up as follows:
April 5 - Intergalatic MTB Team Relay Championship - Oesterling Farm, Marysville
May 17 - Rocktober Challenge MTB Marathon - RB Winter State Park, Mifflinburg
Oct 11-12 - Iron Cross and IC Lite, Carlisle

The VisitPA.com MTB Stage Race weekend will likely run July 4-5-6 and we're going to add some new twists like a Scot Trials event and a few other fun things this time around.

50 Rattling Miles is up in the air. I definitely bit off too much this year and I have to figure out if I can make it work because I would like to promote a cross race again after having done a few this season. I will probably either revisit the farm or Marysville Lions Club or perhaps a new super secret possibility in Center Valley.

A Thief Among Us

2007-11-04T22:08:00.000-05:00

I've been missing the cap from a flash drive since mid-summer. I've not been too concerned about the cap, had my suspicions the cat might have batted it off the table, but it was the cap, who cares. I've been missing a flash drive since Iron Cross weekend. I figured it was my normal stellar powers of organization that led to it's disappearance. After I looked in every bag that I take with me to work; in the car; at work; around the house in all the normal places, I started to think that maybe the cat got it too. Of course this is a normal reaction when I lose/misplace something - someone or something else must have taken it so I wasn't really convinced and I figured it was actually gone.

I mentioned the cat thief hypothesis to a friend a week ago and he said, 'Yea right, have you seen your car/workshop/desk/etc.? Its not the cat.' Kris says I'm sort of like Pigpen only it's more mess less dirt.

I finally went on a determined hunt under the refrigerator, stove, radiators, furniture and anything close to cat play level to follow up on my suspicions.

I found:

17 small toy mice of assorted colors

2 large toy mice

1 spring toy

1 puff ball toy

1 catnip pillow

1 pen

1 pretzel

2 hair bands

1 beer cap

2 foil balls

1 Gu

1 moldy pistachio

1 screw on battery cover for a mini mag light

1 USB receiver for the remote computer mouse

1 rubber bumber from something

3 I have no idea

1 rock

1 USB drive cap

and

1 USB flash drive

A very pround Boo is pictured above with his haul minus the shit he already took back out it while I was completing my sweep of the house.

Now where'd I put my keys...

Welcome back to that same old place

2007-11-04T21:55:00.000-05:00

No, not the blog. The cyclocross race scene. Its been a while. Three years since I raced one I think - well not counting Iron Cross, but that doesn't really count, its just not the same. Did two of 'em last weekend and got killed big time. Destroyed. But had a blast. Then spent one day helping to re-sod last week's course and another helping design and set up this weekened's.

Did two this past weekend and flatted three times in two races which had the upside of letting me ride a lap on Gunnar's bike while my tube was being cut out of my cassette.

Things got better this week. The placings certainly don't show it, but I definitely felt better on the course and in more control on the bike.

The season has about six weeks left. I'm sure I'll have it figured out in eight.

The best thing about this is that I'm remembering why I race which sometimes seems to get lost for me. Makes me think about bringing back the Rockville Classic at the Lions Club Park in Marysville too. Better yet would be if Kyle and Zach would get on that.

Speed is of the essence

2007-10-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

I rode that last part of IC today after setting up the IC Lite course and oh my god is it fast out there. These are absolutely the best conditions we've had and this thing is going to be smoking fast. I was flying through sections that are usually a bit wet and the combo of all the hot dry weather of the past several weeks and that bit of rain yesterday and its grinnin' time. There are spots in the woods that were powder a few days ago that now ride like concrete with traction to spare. I was basically surfing sections of trail and could put my wheels pretty much anywhere I wanted. How much traction exactly?

I rode up both of what are traditionally the last two run ups on the course in way too big a gear.

The best conditions in five years. World Cup and World Championship competitors taking part. The biggest field yet with over 200 pre-reg'd. Iron Cross V is going to so completely rock.

I take that back

2007-10-12T22:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, lets go over the last part of that IC course again. I thought we were cutting out a piece we're not so its more like -- following on from the earlier post -- a decent of Woodrow Rd. through two or three nasty switchbacks and then some fast double and single track to the right (west) before crossing Woodrow and taking on some Enduro Trails to the left (east). These trails are not exactly following the contour lines and there is a short run up mixed in before you get out into a wide open fast logged out area, through a deer fence, and into the last trails on the course. Ooops. Its all so very sweet tho.

Double your Pleasure

2007-10-11T17:05:00.000-05:00

Yep, two in one day...hell, two in one month.

Rode the IC course two weekends ago and put this together for one of my athletes who was asking about the course. Thought maybe a few other people would find it useful.

The best way to probably break the race up is into the sections between the checkpoint.

From the start to CP1 you have the short course at Camp Thompson then a couple mile stretch of flat road leading to the first long gradual climb of the course that starts paved and turns to dirt. There is a bit of flat at the top and a quick descent with a couple loose turns before a an extended stretch of pavement that includes a 5-6 big rollers and then the climb back up to the top of the ridge and the KOM.

CP1-CP2 - long rolling stretch of gravel along the top of the ridge with one or two short climbs and fast descents and then the descent of Lippencote Tr. Lippencote is the most technical section of the entire race and will definitely cause a selection if the intial climbs did not. A long flat fast section of pavement leads around the end of the ridge and then begins a very gradual ascent up which turns to dirt and passes along a reservoir. When you see the reservoir on your right you'll soon turn left and onto the trail that leads to the highlight of the race - the run up. CP2 is at the top.

CP2-CP3 - (this is my favorite section on the course) - you leave CP2 and roll along the top of the ridge and then make a fast road descent leading to a gated double track climb that pitches up in the middle before leveling slightly and rejoining the ridge top road. A few more miles of rolling ridgeline -- watch for the 160 degree left that keeps you on the ridge top roads -- leads to a very short piece of pavement and a very fast dirt road descent. A right at the bottom has you along the base of the ridge on a slightly rolling paved road for several miles before turning right again and heading to the base of Hogshead (or Hogs Head depending on the map) and CP3.

CP3-CP4 - Begins with the longest and hardest climb of the race - 25-35 minutes from the very bottom Hogshead CP to the very top of Woodrow Rd. The climb does flatten out in sections but its a long grind - having energy here is a good thing. Up over the top and into a tricky descent made tougher with some new gravel culverts that have been added in the last week - be careful here! Keep your head up and look where you want to go. CP4 is on Woodrow at the turn onto the trails.

CP4 - Finish - The most trail oriented piece of the race, but most of it is completely rideable double track the last long run up marks the end of the trails. This section, for the most part, follows the contour lines of the ridge until you cross through a section of new plantings and drop down a short singletrack piece to Michaux Road where you encounter a short climb on pavement before turning left and descending to the creek crossing. From here its all uphill into the last run up and then a bit more climbing to the ridge top road. At the top of the climb its a couple miles to a right turn onto a paved descent (Rt 233) that drops you back to the park. You turn left at the bottom staying on the pavement and its two rolling miles back to Camp Thompson with a last bit of cross course to finish the race.

More later....

Guess whos coming to dinner?

2007-10-11T13:15:00.001-05:00

Iron Cross is just a couple days away now and Mark Laser has been doing his usual bang up job making sure the rest of us who pull this thing together haven't just been sitting around on our butts doing nothing for the past 8 months. Mark does a hell of a job making this thing actually go and keeping us all focused and while I keep laying claim to the idea for this thing any idea is only as good as the effort that is put into making it real. Luckily for all of us Mark grabbed hold of this and made it happen - 5 years ago this weekend.

All this is starting to pay off. It looks like we're going to get some coverage in some mags you may have heard of -- look for a bit in Mens Journal and Cycle Sport early next year about our little shindig.

We're looking at a very solid field again with past champions and some new faces from across the pond. If you're not aware, the idea for this thing came from 3 Peaks, a crazy cross race in England that has been going on for years. The winner of something like the last six 3 Peaks races will be on the starting line on Sunday and the guy that won 3 Peaks before him will be as well. In fact, a quick googling of Rob Jeb, Andy Peace, and Stuart Bowers shows all three finished in the top 8 of last year's 3 Peaks.

So now that I'm googling -- Rob Jebb was on the GB Worlds Cross Team last year and finished 37th. Peace is a two time 3 Peaks winner actually and a consistent top 10 finisher. Bowers, the only thing he's done is represent GB in a few World Cup events.

That's right, the first World Cup crossers in the MAC region this year won't be at Gran/Wiss, but rather right here at IC. Now, if only some more of the MAC elite guys would show up - hell, no one gets lapped.

Chopped Venison

2007-09-18T16:37:00.000-05:00

Woke up Tuesday morning early enough to actually get some shizit done before work. Got out the mower, turned the corner to start mowin' and found half a deer in the front yard. Okay, it wasn't really in the front yard, more like on the berm, but a few choice parts did jettison themselves about and were subsequently sent through the mower deck.

Colin and I have been leading a cross class on Tuesday nights and its a heck of a lot of fun. Last time we hit the loop where they hold the Philly 2-day race and tried to make everyone barf up a lung with some intervals before progressing to the whole dismount/mount thing that is essential to cross racing. I'm always excited by the progress I see my athletes making and so far everyone is progressing real nice, getting more fit, eliminating hitches on the remount, getting comfy with the dismount, and getting psyched up to race.

I'm thinking about trying some cross racing this year. It'll work on my biggest weakness for sure with all the high intensity and that ought to help out for next year. Actually, I suppose my biggest weakness is that I'm not actually getting to the races this year, but we're (Cadence) doing this combo thing with CycleOps at a lot of the cross races this fall and that should let me get to at least one per weekend.

We'll be coming out to the events with a warm up tent featuring trainers from CycleOps that everyone will be able to use to prep for their races. We'll have a Cadence 'cross warm-up protocol for anyone to use and will also lead a lap of the course to preview with folks a few times throughout the day between the races. We're working to put together a PowerTap demo for the races too. Riders will be able to race with a PowerTap and then one of the coaches will go through a short analysis with the athlete post race. Pretty cool.

It is sweet when work and racing come together this well.

Until next time

2007-09-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

Thank some deity all my solo (by solo I mean Kris, my folks, her folks, my great team mates and some good friends) race promos are done for the year. I'm feeling some great relief at this and even enjoyed cancelling out the cross relay though I'm sure it'd be great fun.

I'll be helping out a bit with the STXC finals at Bear Creek and then there is Iron Cross and IC Lite and the boys from Philly Cyclismo have asked me and Yozer to help with course layout at an event they're planning for late Nov/early Dec at Spring Mountain, but no more solo stuff. I have to figure out next year...I have all these ideas about cool events and things I'd like to do, but I want to race 'em too. Its basically impossible to do both unless I quit my job and promoted full time and raced on the weekends I didn't promote. Working weekends and promoting makes for too much. I'd be all for this gig except there is no money in race promotion when you're generous with awards and swag unless you land mad sponsorship and that ain't easy (or I suck at it/don't like doing it).

I saw Jac Frech at RB Winter last weekend and am going to be bugging his ass about taking over the RB Winter event. He's the guy that used to promote the Spring Mtn MTB race and owned Tailwinds bike shop, but he's now up in the Lewisburg area and just opened up a rock gym in Milton, PA...www.miltonrockgym.com. Look him up if you're up that way and tell him he should run RB next year.

I'm trying to talk Kris into this little gig - no luck yet, but its over my birthday so there is hope.

TIme Flies

2007-08-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

Three weeks ago the first next post was going to be the Wilderness 101, then last week about the two sweet rides last weekend at RB Winter and central PA, then this week just some whining about not riding, we'll go in a different direction tho now and touch on the other stuff lower down a bit.

Kris graduated last night (cue the balloons and streamer cannons). Where the hell did the last two years go. She's officially a PA now. Good thing too since then I'll have medical staff on site all the time at my race events. Yep, thats why I was behind this from the get go, so that she can take care of banged up bike racers and then no one can worry about a ambulance being on site.

So, what's next? I thought a 29er tandem mtb from Ventana would be perfect, but Kris is thinking we ought to get a house instead. I don't think we'll be able to do very many 50 mile mountain bike races on a house. She's really thinking dog first (with a house not far behind mind you) and is all over petfinder trying to find a match. I love the idea of that site, but man there are few things as sad as seeing a photo of some sweet dog and then being told, "you have 7 hours otherwise this dog will be euthanized." A very macabre Ebay sort of thing going on there.

Going back a bit, the 101 kicked my ass. My riding and training has been crappy since the stage race weekend due to a number of factors -- lets call them life -- and I suffered like I haven't suffered in a long time in those hills around state college. I looked back and my volume on the last time I'd put in a WEEK with as much riding as I did in one day at the 101 was the week of the previous hundred in Michigan a short 7 weeks prior. I need to get my life to cooperate with me a bit more.

Got back on the wagon after recovering from the 101 and put in some great rides last weekend at the site of my next race promo in Bald Eagle State Forest at RB Winter State Park with Rob L. and

You know what, I'm going riding, more later.

The eye of the beholder

2007-07-18T16:16:00.000-05:00

"hmmm...Do you think somewhere there is a listserv for cage fighters where
dads are protesting about their kids being forced to watch ads for programs
where anorexic drug addicts in their underwear race bicycles around France?"

Nothing like perspective - or a lack of it.

All Shook Up

2007-07-08T23:24:00.000-05:00

I've emerged from my cave after that whole stage race thing. I was sleeping for 10 hours a night and not feeling like I was getting rested or recovered at all --- and not really wanting to do anything but sleep more. That damn thing took more out of me than I thought. Now I'm fat again or more or continuing to be - however you want to put it - super awesome.

I just finished putting together a bit about the 50 Rattling Miles for yinz, watching Fletch, and walking through some cat vomit. All in all its been a pretty good evening.

Kris is back in town after spending last month on a Harrisburg rotation and starting her very last rotation this week. Pretty crazy that we're almost through this phase and she's been at this for two years. Don't know what's next 'zactly, but we're working on a few things.

Look for 50 Rattling info and perhaps even a map(!) in the next few days on High Speed Cycling. Head over to bikereg to sign up. You can put it on Mr Underhill's credit card.

Fletch F. Fletch

VisitPA.com MTB Stage Race and Festival Highlights

2007-07-02T21:46:00.000-05:00

So it's pretty much all wrapped up. Results are posted on HighSpeedCycling.com and the last bills are being paid. We had a really sweet weekend all around with wonderful weather, fantastic racing, and just a great feeling of camaraderie.

A few of the bits about the weekend that stood out for me:

My Wonderful Friends and Family
Let me say it one more time... I get a lot of the credit for this thing and you all know how I like to be the center of attention, but the amount of enthusiastic help and support I get from my folks, Kris's parents, my sister Susi and her husband Doug, Kris' brother Matt and Matt's friends John and Wes, my friends and teammates, our sponsors like VisitPA.com, World Cup, Memphis Blues, and Ted at Sutliff Hummer - all of whom contributed greatly to our event, and my wonderful wife, Kristine, is pretty unbelievable and I could not do this without each and every one of them. This isn't my event, it is our event and we hope that you feel like its your event too.

Great freakin' racing
Almost 60 riders scored points in the Elite A field in one or more of the stage race events (even me!!).
At least four of the overall stage race wins were determined by hard and fierce racing in the STXC. This means that in those categories at least two if not three or four or even five riders came into the STXC with a shot at the overall win! It doesn't get more exciting than that and we saw some really great racing tactics played out - particularly in the Sport A and Expert A STXCs where team work played a role in the wins.

Fun Events
Both the Slow DH and the Bike Toss were bigger and better than ever with three heats and a final in the SDH and lots of spectators and Men's, Women's, and Kid's winners in the bike (or wheel if you're a little one) toss. Its great to see more and more people trying something that seems, well perhaps pretty stupid at first, and really getting into it by the end.

Dominating Performances
It is pretty impressive to win all four events in your category in one weekend. Both Gunnar Bergey and Leif Lucas took home victory in all four of their races this weekend. Congrats gentlemen -- you've proven you're ready for the next level.

Mother Goose
Thanks Andy, Mike, and Frank.

Parity in Racing
What I like even more than Lance like domination is to see something like what happened in the Elite A race where we had a different winner in each of the stage race events. Ryan smoked the Night ITT, Brandon flew up the climb, and Wes rode away in the STXC, but Aaron Snyder rode the most consistently and ended up taking the overall win. That is sweet stuff.

Alaina Rocks...Again!
Once more Alaina Dietz came out to the weekend and once more she walked away with a podium spot. Over the past four years she's done this in the Beginner, Sport, and Expert B categories. She continues to demonstrate that women kick ass and can compete with the guys. Alaina thanks for your continued support of our little shindig. You plain rock.

Rob the Lumberjack
Most of you missed this and I wish I had Ry's camera to video it for you, but at one point I decided to finally remove "the branches" since we must have had a lot of tall riders on the course this year. So off I go with the chainsaw to eradicate some zombies with support from my troops Ray and Ry. We get out there and we're not getting the saw started. Ray's big heavy ass is able to break off one of the branches, but we ain't breaking the other one. Sheeeitt...now what. Well, along comes Rob. Rob's a landscaper. Hey Rob, feel like giving this thing a shot. Sure. Rob fires 'er up and ride off. Branch 2 come down with out hitting Ray or I on the head. Thanks Rob!

The After Party -- I got to do something I've not been able to do very much at all this year and hang out with my team. I don't think I realized how much I miss these people. Its worth all the work for the weekend just to be able to let loose with these guys after you all go home. Go here (sorry, but you're not invited - members only...and we do have the jackets.)

I DON'T SUCK COMPLETELY
Holy crap, I got top 10 at something. I just suck mostly.

You Saw It Here First

COMING TO AN OESTERLING FARM NEAR YOU

4TH OF JULY WEEKEND 2008
VISITPA.COM MASS STAGE RACE AND FESTIVAL V
presented by SUTLIFF HUMMER
book your travel arrangements now

Zombies Beware

2007-06-27T22:14:00.000-05:00

Pickle and I were out practicing with the zombie dismemberment devices today and have most of the nasty overhanging flora cut back so that you all don't scratch you poor wittle arms on the briars. Heimster was out again and though he looks like he got in a bit of a scuffle with a zombie last weekend was adding yet more volunteer time to the cause. Had young Zach out on the course too and he and Howdy were experimenting with the possibility of crushing zombies with the large rolls of hay scattered about the joint. Pops was out all day on the big orange machine patrolling for marauding bands of zombies and Kris has yet to find any zombies pre-registered for the event.

All in all I think that we're pretty much safe for the weekend though the small pond just off the house is looking a little nasty so who knows what might crawl outta there.

BTW, if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about go visit fatmarc.com and catch the hell up.

Gas powered hedge trimmers rock.

I can't wait for Sunday at about 5 PM.

MASS GOTS TALENT???

2007-06-27T09:49:00.001-05:00

Who wants to get in on this talent show gig? Saturday night after the band. Open mic. With celebrity judges. Get your act together and let me know your coming and its on. Remeber that there is also some liquid courage available on Sat night so email me and let me know that you're doing it!

Stage Race Q&A

2007-06-27T09:09:00.000-05:00

A couple Q's that have come up recently and my answers...

TIMING CHIPS??

Dear Mike
The sensors we had on our bikes at the Danville race proved to be a problem for some racers. They sometimes break off when you crash. I know of 3 cases of that happening. One was a friend of mine and he refused to pay the $35 they wanted for it. These sensors are used for road bike races and our new race timers probably used them in the past for that. I think it might be an even bigger problem for racers like myself who plan on doing all 4 races. Maybe taping them on would help.

Thanks. I believe they have some ankle straps availble and they can be zip tied on as well. However, the racers are responsible for the sensors and will be signing a form that designates this.
I kinda hate to do it because I'm pretty happy go lucky about things mostly, but I am going to be a hard ass about it and I will not count people who do not return the sensors in the results nor will I allow them to race future HSC events until the sensor is returned or paid for.

XC IN STAGE RACE REG??

I am a little confused. I signed my son up for the stagerace which I thought included the cross country but now I am not sure. Idont want to get there and have to sign up and pay late fees. Thanks

Hey there, - yes, if you reg'd for the stage race it includes the XC too!

This is freakin' cool

2007-06-24T22:09:00.000-05:00

Did you see this yet? Its on the race website at www.highspeedcycling.com -- can you guess what the t's will look like? Big big thanks to Zach Williams at Red Tettemer for this cool design.Stage Race Coming SOON!

Race to the Stage Race and Festival

2007-06-24T10:53:00.000-05:00

Seems like my stage race is actually in the day's leading up to the stage race. The prologue is over and now the main stages begin as we finish cleaning and setting the course for this coming weekend's events.

The Heimbone made the trip out on Friday to help with the course and gave poppa Kuhn a hand clearing part of the hill climb course and getting the leaf blower out on the twisty turny bits adjacent to the big field. Howdy did what is probably the final mowing of the camping areas and we're ready to set the stakes this coming week. I'm expecting the World Cup boys to come armed with various implements of destruction this Wed night to do the final cutting back of the overgrowth. Also, I got the night ITT course marked with those reflective arrows and did a test run on the XC, ITT, and Hill Climb courses.

The HC course has been slightly improved since last year with some road work on the upper dirt portions offering a few more line choices when the going gets steep and a bit of fill making the final bit on the farm slightly more manageable.

The XC and ITT courses are riding super fast right now. The trails almost seemed pavement fast due to the sunny and dry conditions we've had recently, but the front wheel definitely wants to wash out if you get off the hard packed course.

This weather keeps up and we're going to have some very fast times.

How big is it?

2007-06-22T13:26:00.001-05:00

Some of my VisitPA.com team bubs, Hebe and Wes, came out yesterday to lend me and pops a hand with some course work. Those of you who seem to think I have too many logs on this course can thank these boys for taking a few of 'em out of your way. After we finished up the boys put in a lap on the course and Hebe's fancy dancy GPS thing said, "Wes & I doubled back on a few areas, but not much more than 1/4-1/3 of a mile. Distance was 6.59 miles. Elevation gain was 1045 ft. Thanks for dinner, that was very nice."

If we get the 90 degree + weather next weekend its looking like - Beginners - 1 lap, Sports - 2 laps, Experts 3 laps (for the most part).

6 and a halfish miles and 1000 feet of elevation per lap. I'm glad I'm not doing the endurance race.

Yummy, yum, yums

2007-06-22T13:15:00.000-05:00

Kyle Hammaker's folks and family members do all the cookin' for the stage race weekend and use the funds they raise to help offset some of Kyle's race expenses as he travels around the country. Here is the menu for next weekend:

HOT DOGS.................1.00
BURGERS...................2.50
BAR-BQ PORK SANDWICH......3.00
CHICKEN SANDWICH..........3.50
FRENCH FRIES.............1.25
BAKED POTATOES............1.50
PASTA SALAD...............1.50

PASTA DINNER..............7.00
ANGEL HAIR PASTA W/MEATBALLS
PENNE PASTA W/ALFREDO SAUCE AND CHICKEN
served Friday and Saturday night

PANCAKE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFAST..4.00
SAUSAGE AND EGG SANDWICH.......3.50

ICY COLD DRINKS
BOTTLED WATER..........60
CANNED SODA............60
GATORADE...............1.25

Stage Race Update

2007-06-20T15:15:00.000-05:00

A little over a week to go to the stage race and things are falling into place. If any of you have a desire to do a little course work, a few of us will be at the farm Thur and Fri this week to do some trimmin' and rakin' and markin'. Drop me an email at kuhndog1 at earthlink dot net if you wanna help out a bit.

Please remember that the only pre-riding of the course is on Wednesday evenings as part of the World Cup Ski and Cycle (Mechanicsburg, PA) group ride complete with waiver. If you want to get in on the the ride next week - or any of the rides the rest of this summer - give Lee, Dave, or Greg a call at 717-730-9402. Also be sure to tell 'em thanks for supporting this event! They rule!

VisitPA.com Team Grows

2007-06-18T10:17:00.000-05:00

Check it out, a new VisitPA.com Team Member!! Congrats Zack and Christa!!

The view from the VUE

2007-06-16T23:18:00.001-05:00

Coming to you live from the VUE en route to the hotel in Cleveland on the way home. This mobile internet deal is pretty sweet, no? Levi has all the cool toys.

Speaking of cool toys, forgot to mention that I grabbed some new gear for the bike for this race. I put some of those Rotor rings on the bike the other day to try and I stole Ray's old wheels from Zack. Zack doesn't have his 29er yet so he hasn't had use for the hoops. On the day I borrowed the wheels he and his wife Christa welcomed their first kid into this world -- Gavin was born on Thursday and Z won't be on his mtn bike ever again so I'll probably hang onto those wheels for safe keeping.

Got into Mannistee later yesterday afternoon and put 10 miles or so on the course. Lots of twists and turns and basically nothing else. The climbs are mostly short punchy ones which are the opposite of my favorite kind of climbs. Actually, climbs in general are the opposite of my favorite types of climbs, but these are particularly in opposition. Can't say lots of twists are turns for 100 miles are really my thing either, but we'll give 'er hell.

Ran into Ernesto on the ride fresh off his 2nd at Big Bear 24 Hour Solo last weekend. I was hoping he was actually not-so-fresh off of the effort, but he rode a solid race today...more below.

Grabbed a room for the evening. Michelle wanted to camp. Us tough guys said that we'd prefer feather beds. We settled on Super 8, which is sort of like camping inside. It was fine really, but it did not come with the choice of soft or firm pillows or the "no handguns allowed inside" sign as did our lovely Holiday Inn from night one - so we were roughing it a bit.

Early morning this AM to get to the race on time and then stood in line for one of the four port-a-johns available to racers until start time. If you don't know, port-a-john rental joints will tell you 1 toilet per 100 people per day. So, the promoter was probably about right - 400/4 = 100 --- EXCEPT that all 250 racers and their support staffers needed to visit the joints at exactly the same time this morning. Note to promoter - get some more freakin' toilets.

Race started at a nice clip and I was sitting on the back of the front group of 9, but I'm still thinking I'm not really fit enough to take chances and dig deep early so I layed off the gas and drifted back a bit. The next group caught me soon after and I did the same thing. Gaaaaahhh, I don't know, maybe I'm too concerned with the points chase and I should give it a little more early on to see if I can hang onto it and move up a few places. So now I'm riding outside the top 20 and settling in to my pace.

Turned out my pace just wasn't quite enough today and I finished outside the top 10 in about 14th (we didn't stick around to find out for sure). Levi's day ended early with a crank arm that parted ways with his bike about a lap and a half into the race. Michelle kicked some serious ass and came home in 3rd. Like I said, she's the tough one on this trip.

Just pulled into the HIXpress and I'm going to bed. Final leg of this thing tomorrow.

On the road again

2007-06-15T07:33:00.000-05:00

Half way there and hanging near Cleveland. Did the typical 1 hour later than I planned to leave departure since we're definitely operating on KST (Kuhn Standard Time), hit a bit o' traffic on 80 - where one must question why there need be 200 foot long construction zones every 3 miles - before grabbing Michelle and smooth sailing since.

The big excitement on the trip has been the design, fabrication, and construction of a credit card retrieval system. As if the VUE isn't sucking up enough of my hard earned cash it ate my credit card not long after our departure from Allentown. In order to get it back we had to, much like that deal on pinnochio, delve into the belly of the beast to get it back. We did it the hard way first and Levi was considering pulling apart the vehicle bit by bit. Yet another triumph of duct tape.

Toaster waffles and OJ for breakfast...that's all devoured and its time to go.

Travel accommodations and breakfast for our show provided by Holiday Inn Express. Yapping provided by me.

Michigan

2007-06-14T08:10:00.000-05:00

Leaving for MI today and the Lumberjack 100. Taking two traveling companions with me and buggin' out late this afternoon. Lots to get done before we leave, but looking forward to the trip. It has been a pretty long time since I piled in car with other bike nuts and drove some ridiculous amount of miles in order to race my bike. Looks like it'll be about a 12 hour haul to get there - half today and half tomorrow will hopefully bring us into Mannistee with time to check out a bit of the course and stretch the legs on Friday. Here goes nuthin.

Righties on this side, Lefties on that

2007-06-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

"Sorry, I don't mean to be a complete ass (just mostly an ass), but I think this is ridiculous...with the title of "expert" should come the realization that you're there to RACE your bike, not be guaranteed a prize for finishing.

Beginner and sport level racing is for growing the sport -- that is the FUN for them. Expert level racing is for competition and getting your ass kicked so that you get faster. In expert level competition the competition and racing hard should be what is FUN!! It should be drive to push yourself harder and further than you thought you could. Expert level racing should be about facing other fit racers on the start line and giving it everything you've got to win. Expert racing should not be about showing up with expectation that just by finishing you'll get a prize or get on the podium. That is not what expert is for."

The above is a bit from an email I wrote to the other MASS promoters regarding yet another call to split expert racers up into even more categories.

Perhaps I'm annoyed because in the past two days I've spent hours and hours trying to get bikereg set up for the stage race weekend with the 32 separate categories we run in the MASS races plus the 4 enduro categories plus the stage race weekend options for a total of 2.7 million different options.

I know that it feels really great to do well and get on the podium in a race. Its been a long time since I've been anywhere near the top of a race on my own and it is really frustrating to put in time and energy and not get what you hope out of it. But, where is the satisfaction for experienced competitors in finishing 5th out of 5, or even 1st out of 5?? You put in all that hard work and then to have a result gift wrapped for you before you even start isn't very satisfying really. It also doesn't fool anyone - your friends can read between the lines. Yea, it looks nice on a resume and it might give your team more points in the team rankings, but why work so hard for something that you're guaranteed to get just for showing up? You might as well eat donuts for every meal and just ride the races to finish --- it doesn't matter at all since there is no competition. Don't you want to know that even if you got your ass handed to you that you rode harder than you thought you could and did things you didn't think you could do? That doesn't happen if you're not pushed for it.

If you're not getting satisfaction from the effort you put forth and you need external reinforcement by finishing on what amounts to a basically false podium or receiving an award then don't do this racing thing. Ride your bike and enjoy the outdoors and stay fit and healthy, but don't race for prizes.

Race for you -- not for what you might be given, but rather for what you might learn about yourself.

Did I mention...

2007-06-12T06:13:00.001-05:00

that the date has changed for the Rocktober Challenge Marathon and it is now scheduled for Sunday September 9? The date change moves it the to day after one of my all time favorite races - the Laurel Classic in Tioga State Forest near Wellsboro - and combining the two events would make a pretty sweet late season get away weekend. It'd be tuff too. I can almost guarantee XRay will do the double. Now if I can only find a way to get to both... You can even plan your trip through these nice folks.

Stoopid is as Stoopid does

2007-06-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty pumped after yesterday. Did a long 50 miles in Rothrock yesterday in the Stoopid 50 MTB Marathon. First off, the boys at Mt Nittany Wheelworks and Shenandoah Mtn Touring did another bang up job on a cool event. Them bubsers rawk. Plus it was pretty sweet to 120+ riders give this thing a go as its a new avenue for the MASS and having the riders come out and support it was beautiful. I'm hopeful we'll see similar if not larger turnouts at the rest of the MASS single lap marathons. Yes, the events are a little remotely located, but they sure are worth the drive. Thanks Chris, Frank, Jim, Harry and all the rest!!

It was a butt-kicking 50 miles with lots of beautifully made, but pain inducing singletrack -- the entire NMBA crew does a heck of a job with new trails and even the stuff that was cut recently rode pretty well. The best part of the day was catching up with a bunch of great people I'm not getting to see nearly often enough these days.

Of course my VisitPA.com teammates were there and Wes and Ray put on a great show to finish 3rd and 4th overall (taking home 1st and 2nd in the SS class at the same time). And before I go any further - congrats to Brandon and Aaron for smokin' it today! Ry would have put in a solid ride too as he was tuned up for this race, but a little house moving incident has Bubser suffering from a bad back now. Chip K was putting in some miles before taking on TransRockies and is worried that he'll now have to drag Ry's carcass all over the Canadian mountains for the week. Some of the boys from Gettysburg came up to spy on the marathon goings on in Rothrock to make sure that Michaux is still king of killing riders and Keefer ended up with a nice top 10 spot. Good to catch up a bit with Buck, Tom, and Shawn while my slave work crew at Marysville - Andy and Craig - had sweet rides too. Well, Andy did anyway with a 6th overall while Craig musta just been drinking beer. Taylord was riding great and its good to know that he's not suffering from the Freshman 15 and I'm glad to see (no-longer-quite-as) Young Nick P out riding, though with his impending departure for Boulder I guess we won't see him too much more. Of course Marc and Buddy represented and it was great to catch up with them after the goings-on. I even ran into the Henry Clan sporting some vintage Team Harrisburg gear out poaching the well marked course. I miss seeing these guys week in and week out and while I coulda hung out and run on at the mouth for hours I did ride a bit...

That part went fine. I started with a plan to not ride too hard as 100 last weekend plus 100 next weekend had me a bit concerned and I just wanted to have fun on this one. I was riding very comfortably in 6th or 7th about 2 hours in when things started to deflate. My Watch Them Blow tires and tubes let me down for the last time with a slow leak. I rode it for a bit while chatting with Keefer and then stopped to change it. The brand new tube went in and promptly came right back out as it already had a hole in it. Back in goes the original and I pump 'er up as hard as I can get it. Another 5 minutes on the bike finds Scott, Dave, and Linda Henry hanging out at their truck and so I stopped to see if they had a floor pump. We chatted a bit while I re-inflated. I rolled out and not two minutes later was in aid station 2 (DOH!). I then probably looked pretty stoopid as I completely deflated what appeared to be a perfectly good tube and changed it AGAIN.

By this time I've moved entirely into fun mode and ride the next couple hours with a few hard efforts here and there, but also hanging a bit with Taylor and Topher and a few other folks. I took some breaks here and there and in general reveled in a gorgeous day in the woods. Don't get me wrong, more than one time I came around a corner to see more and more rocks stretching to the horizon and mumbled unseemly things about the Stoopid course and its designers as I was certainly lacking flow and mo' on the rocks. But, I don't think I over exerted for next weekend which was the main goal. I'll put in a couple efforts on Monday and Tuesday and then taper into the weekend...we'll see I guess. Next up -- more HSC event news!

Not the way an athlete wants to go

2007-06-09T15:48:00.000-05:00

Who knew Icy Hot could kill you.

Insomnia or just avoidance behavior

2007-06-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to go to sleep -- ever. Its 12:15 in the AM, I'm supposed to be to work at 9, check out some friends at the TT at 8, drive to state college tomorrow evening to race 50 miles off-road on Sunday, and not only have I not eaten dinner yet, but there is a bike that needs cleaned and some bags that need packed. I do this a lot. I'm up late ALL the time. 3 am last night, 2 am the night before... I've been like this for as long as I can remember. Mom would tuck me in and turn off the lights and as soon as that door closed I'd turn on the flashlight, hide under the covers, and read for hours until I fell asleep with the flashlight on and the book on the pillow. This burned up a lot of batteries by the way.

Its not that I physically can't sleep, it's that I'm not interested in going to bed (but man do I love to sleep once I'm there). And its not as if anything overly stimulating has to be happening in that space between my ears to keep me up either. Anything that distracts me from going to bed is enough - changing some stuff around on the blog is the culprit this time. At the same time I don't find these hours to always be productive (though its not unusual for me to build training for my athletes this time of day). It could just as easily be that I'm trying to figure out the solution to the Rubik's cube, which is really useful since I don't even have a Rubik's cube. Too bad I can't use this time for good. Curing cancer. World peace. Hell, Kris would be happy if I'd just clean the house.

HSC Event Updates

2007-06-08T12:25:00.001-05:00

Within the next 24 hours reg info for the VisitPA.com Mountain Bike Stage Race and Festival Weekend, 50 Rattling Miles MTB Marathon, and the Rocktober Challenge MTB Marathon will be active on bikereg.com. Let your friends know and send me money.

Turn left at the big rock

2007-06-06T21:01:00.001-05:00

Looks like things are moving along for the Lumberjack in MI in two weeks. I've duped a different friend into going out to do the race so that I can have someone drive while I sleep. I've tried driving and sleeping at the same time and found that it usually doesn't work out that well.

This one is a 4 x 25 mile lap course so a little different than my previous 100s and a format I'm a little less excited about only because one of the things I really enjoy about 100s is the adventure part of a big single lap. Yes the courses are well marked so you know you're headed in the right direction, but there is something enjoyable (to me) about being in the middle of one of these things and thinking to myself, "I have absolutely no idea where I am or how to get to where I'm supposed to go."

I get a kick out of the "safety net" that marathon mtb promoters attempt to use by handing out maps with registration. Keeping in mind that we're typically out in the middle of frickin' nowhere and an awful lot of dirt roads don't have signs at trail intersections -- or road intersections for that matter. Even if there are intersection signs the course maps are not only shrunk way down in order to fit on an 81/2 x 11 sheet of paper (remember, its a 100 mile lap!) but also often appear to be copies of copies and are basically illegible. Add to this the fact that if you're looking at the map you're probably pretty far off course and therefore have to figure out where the hell you might be on the map to even begin to find your way back - and given that you can't read the map that is almost impossible. Finally, finish this off with the fact that you might not want to talk to the locals - cue banjo - and you're pretty screwed, but at least you have a map. Of course, as a promoter myself I'd do exactly the same thing since its a damn fine way to help cover one's ass.

Of course, the courses don't typically change a lot year to year and so after you've done a particular 100 once you (sort of) know the course, but the adventure aspect is still there. Who else wants to drive me to MI and do one of these things (even if it is a lap race)? I could use more nap time.

Mohican 100

2007-06-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

A little more on the Mohican 100 since no one asked.

The Wilderness 101 is still tops in my book, but the Mohican was a really nice ride. It was well worth the drive and is one I'll certainly put on the schedule for next year. The singletrack - the Mohican state park mountain bike trail network in particular - was a lot of fun for the most part and while I've been gun shy on this race in the past due to course marking concerns I found the course pretty darn well marked.

The race started hard. A neutral-ish start (neutral-ish is when the lead moto goes hard enough to actually split the group on the way to the start and then doesn't stop to allow everyone to regroup..) contributed to an early pace that was a good bit harder than I'm used to 100s starting. I'm thinking to myself, "self, your ass is going to get kicked today," but I set my pace and give the old, "those guys are going to blow up and come back to me" speech to myself to get back on top things, tuned up the diesel, and settled in for a long day at the office.

Nate D and I rode together for an hour or two at the start of this thing as it was his first 100 and I was definitely willing to pass along my "knowledge" of these things to him (mostly though it was just a ploy to have someone to share the driving, tolls, gas, and room expenses). We had some fun riding together until nature called and Nate answered and we didn't see each other for about 7 more hours - musta been a long conversation. Some of this early riding took us along trails that were just spectacular. One section in particular was nothing but ferns as far as you could see through the woods with just a winding singletrack barely splitting the scenery. Super sweet.

I did end up riding a good bit with Jeff from VT riding for IF. J & I were PDQ thru CP2 B4 I crashed hard and spent a long time trying to catch back up. I rung my bell pretty well on the crash (thought breakfast was coming back to visit for 30 min or so) and that contributed to a second crash just before checkpoint 3. And I do mean JUST before the checkpoint. I didn't realize how close the CP was and as I was a little, umm, frustrated by my loss of focus and subsequent dirt surfing I released a little steam after the impact. Well, as I stood up and looked down at the top of the tent and the 15 or so people helping out it was pretty obvious that the expletive that escaped my lips was heard by all. This of course led to some smiles and chuckles as I rolled the last 50 yards down the hill, smiles from me too as this seems to be something that happens to me now and then. Crash hard, curse loudly, pick self up, remount, ride 50 feet around a blind turn and there are 20 people. Wonderful. I'm such a dumbass.

It is here that I actually realize why the race started so hard. See there was a 100 miler and a 100K going on today and we all started at the same time. I didn't really think about it much, but had figured the 100Kers would start after the 100milerers. Since this was not the case it quickly became apparent, even to my slightly concussed noggin, that if half the group you're starting with is racing just over half as far they'll probably go out a bit faster than you. The motivator was that if many of those guys were 100K racers I was doing a heck of a lot better than I thought and began to contemplate a possible decent finish...up to this point I was figuring I was around 20th-25th. With the 100Kers in the picture maybe a top 10 was possible.

Jeff and I saw each other off and on throughout the day - he'd get a little ahead, then I'd get a little ahead, then we'd spend some time pacelining...you go through such ups and downs during the course of one of these 8 hour gigs that it really has to be your pace as just a little too much at any time can really doom you later.

I thought I'd actually rid myself of Jeff after CP4 with about 20 miles to go as I just sort of set my pace and road away from him. I spent a good bit of the time from there to CP5 by myself and caught one rider on the crazy fishing trail that was just a few miles from the finish line. At this point I thought I was home free as I was feeling pretty good. Then I started to cramp. Dammit!! 97 miles into the freakin' race and I start to cramp. Then we hit the mud. Now there had been a little wet in the woods all day, but this was deep and sometimes very sticky mud. And I was cramping. And guess who comes up from behind. Yep, there is my new friend Jeff. He catches me just before the final big obstacle - the Dam. We come into the base of the Dam and all I see in front of me is a 5 story tall wall of dirt with a little tiny ribbon of trail leading to a staircase. Did I mention my legs were cramping? So now Jeff and I are walking up the Dam and I'm doing my best to hide any sort of impending full on leg locking writhing in agony cramps from him hoping that they might miraculously pass. Of course they don't and Jeff is able to put about 20 seconds into me as I struggle to get back on the bike. With maybe 3 miles to go we hit the last decent hill and the only way I'm able to ride my bike is to stand up. I found that by standing I could ward off the leg cramps and so, for the last 10 minutes of the race I'm mostly standing on my pedals trying to keep Jeff close. While he does get me on the line I'm still pretty happy to roll across in 9th.

I meant to write it in this blog after Cohutta back in April that I should perhaps train for these things and I'll say it again. That's two top 10s with not much in the way of training well for 'em and with getting a bit too fat before this last one. Lumberjack is in two weeks so there isn't much I can do before then, but I do love the 101 so maybe I can pull my stuff together by August and actually look to be truly prepared for it. That would be something new.

It certainly seems that Ryan, Garth, and the rest of the crew responded well to previous concerns. While breakfast left a bit to be desired the post race food was yummy and plentiful and that's all I need (well, a little ice cream after a 100 wouldn't hurt).

BTW, my sum total of knowledge for these sorts of events? Sleep a bunch leading up to it. Ride your pace. Eat (and drink) a lot. I'm really good at the riding steady and I love to eat. As Meatloaf said, "Two outta three ain't bad."

MMM, ribs

2007-06-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

Nate D and I took the fast VUE to Ohio this weekend for the second of the NUE Series events - the Mohican 100 - and enjoyed a bit over 8 hours of sweet trails and sweltering heat. That's two down for me and since I've now somehow or other squeaked another top 10 finish out of a 100 I guess I better get plans together for a trip to MI for the Lumberjack in two weeks.

I'm pretty sure that I cracked a rib yesterday too. Seems that I'm having trouble breathing deeply and I crashed hard enough yesterday to see stars, earn myself a splitting headache for 30 or so minutes (which reactivated on crash #2) , and get nauseous. 2+2 = cracked rib me thinks. Should make the Stoopid that much more. More later.

HSC events

2007-06-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

Wondering whats happening with the upcoming HSC summer events? Me too. I'm thinking its probably time I should do something on them. There actually is a lot of stuff done behind the scenes already, its just that I always have these grandiose plans to make everything look all pro and stuff and end up shoving it out the door at the last minute. I'm quite sure the door will hit me in the ass again.

Look for info on the VisitPA.com MTB Stage Race and the Lykens and RB Winter Marathons this week.

Durpitee Durp

2007-05-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

Holy crap I suck. April 12. Well, at least nothing much has happened since then. Lets see if I can catch this thing up...vacation...Cohutta was surprising...missing cat...getting fat...Cat Classic was fantastic...40K went OK...work no mas...new kittie. That'll do it, welcome back.

New Tricks, Old Kuhndog

2007-04-12T17:24:00.000-05:00

Just a few days and we're outta here for Asheville. "Discussing" with the wife our departure day and time with the nor'easter headed this way. I'm pushing for a speedy getaway while she's thinking it'd be prudent to hold off. My guess is she'll win, but feel free to keep cheering for my side.

Team Relay results are up. I'm learning new things every day -- like how to take an excel file and convert it into html so it doesn't look like a big pile of poo on the web.

For my next trick I'm going to learn how to put photos on this thing and host it on my race promoting page. No help from the audience please. Updates from Asheville I hope.

Team Relay Pics

2007-04-10T08:09:00.000-05:00

Here are some shots of the Team Relay mayhem at the farm this past weekend.

One is done

2007-04-10T06:13:00.000-05:00

So I don't have the results up yet, but the Team Relay gig this past weekend we did at the Oesterling Farm was a blast if I do say so myself. For me, the best part is that I don't suck quite as bad as I used to. My suckage can change quickly tho so I'm trying not to get to excited about it. Now I'm scurrying around trying to get these next events into order. It looks like most of the duckies are lining up nicely, but I'm still waiting for confirmation on the GS Camp we're using for the start/finish of the Rattling Creek event.

Getting ready for vacation -- which will hopefully be a week of great riding and some time to do more on the races -- in Asheville, NC with a short jump into TN to hopefully do the first 100 miler of the year at Cohutta. Here is my preemptive excuse...since its coming at the end of a week where I'm hopefully putting in lots of miles and lots of climbing I'm not expecting much but a damn good time. I'm hopeful to get Kris back on a bike too while we're down there. Every now and then she makes a little noise about racing that thing again. Man I'd love to see that.

Team Relay Championship Coming Fast

2007-04-05T13:21:00.000-05:00

Thirty five teams and counting. I'm pretty pumped. I thought 25 max this first year. This weekend's MASS Team Relay Championship is going to be a blast. I don't know how it got to be two days before the first promotion of the season for me, but here we are. I'm not going to lie to you. Its mostly smoke and mirrors, but I think you'll have a good time. Just please be patient with my scoring team since its the first time any of us have tried an event quite like this. 43 Hours to go.

Who is bringing the chips and cups? And another 15 milliseconds for me.

2007-03-31T06:46:00.000-05:00

You'd almost get the impression I know what I'm doing with some of the progress being made on the upcoming HighSpeedCycling.com/VisitPA.com MTB Team events. Here's a run down from the week:

Booked the guys at Runners High for the VisitPA.com MASS Stage Race and Festival Weekend to provide fancy pants chip timing for all the stages this year. We might have to make a couple little changes to the courses to accommodate things, but I'm hoping this will lead to faster and even more accurate results. It may also give the MASS a chance to test the system for events for future events. The boys at Tour de Tykes are booked for the system too so who knows, maybe you'll get a chip with your reg pack in 2008.

The big Team Relay Championship Cup is on its way as well. I hope everyone gets pumped up by this thing and we create a tradition of fighting it out for this perpetual team trophy each season. (Perpetual trophies are ones that get passed from team to team each season and are engraved with current and past winners and as the tradition continues you add more space to the trophy to add more teams.)

Bill Deputy of MBCX.com was out to the farm with me this week and we did a little tour of the joint for next weekend's race. The course was being cleared of debris while we were taping and is tough to see in spots, but you'll get the idea. Think fast, tight, and anaerobic. The 15 more seconds you'll find right here.

From here to there

2007-03-27T22:56:00.000-05:00

Kris and I are shopping for a new vehicle as its time to retire both of the Saturns in the near future. With the commute to Philly for Cadence and due to the fact that I haul way too much crap down and back with me every time, we've been checking out hybrids and wagon-esque vehicles. Weseem to have things narrowed down to Subaru Outback (or Legacy) wagons, Mazda 5 wagon or the Mazda crossover, or the VUE hybrid. The VUE is really probably on the top of the list since it gets pretty stellar mileage (28/32 and long as you don't drive like a bat outta hell) and has the low emission deal going since it shuts off at idle and runs on the battery. Since we've tree huggers that hybrid thing is a good hook. Course I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up getting elevating the smug alert should we get one.

15 miliseconds of fame

2007-03-22T11:33:00.000-05:00

Got me a published article in the latest edition of Liberty Sports about training and such! They did a little bit of modification, but I suppose that's what editors are for. Thank god I don't have one of those for this. It looks like I'll be doing more articles on training but these will be destined for MBCX.com intead. I'm pretty excited to have the chance to do this, now its just about making them solid (but not too long, and man can I go on and on).

I did number 2

2007-03-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

There it is. Post Number 2 in less than a week. I'm so proud of myself it hurts.

Teams are coming in for the MASS Relay and I'm pretty stoked. I can't wait for this thing to roll. And to see if this whole handicapping thing actually works. Looks like I'll be giving up a spot on my beloved VisitPA squad tho to make room for The Legend for this race. With Yozell and Hebe coming on board this year we're stuck trying to divide 4 into 9. I'd love to race this with my bubs, but there will be more chances for that.

What there might not be a lot more chances to do is race with EuroNate since he's definitely headed back to Spain in June. So it looks like its a little Cadence Connection squad instead with The Kid, VeganRob, Nate, and moi.

Planning to hit the roads for a couple hours with Ray tomorrow, thinking maybe its time for another round of Goldmine+. Picking up the new 29er tomorrow too and dropping my SS off for some touch up welding with Wicked Dreamz. Gotta get out on the trail tomorrow for a spin with MBCX.com and a little vid for the relay too. Nothing like planning way to much for one day.

Ry, you asked for it

2007-03-20T13:23:00.000-05:00

Albeit two months ago, but here it is. I'm back and I'm committed. Got a whole load of stuff coming up that needs rambled on about. The MASS Team Relay Championship is happening in a few weeks and there is lots to do there. Then there is getting everything in line for the other three MASS races this summer, trying to bring the series itself up to a new level, and getting back into some semblance of form.

Basically thats what you're gonna hear about the next few months. Me bitchin and moanin about how I have all this to do. Just remind me that I bring it on myself and then tell me to shut the hell up and go ride my bike.

Lately I'm alternately psyched and down as I've been dealing with a hip injury that left me lame much of last year that I thought I kicked after 15 months, but after a 6 week hiatus its back. Hell, I was even reducing the size of my ass I was so pumped. The ass is back, but I'm back on the bike again trying to pump that TSS score. Good times.

24 Hour Nats

2006-08-03T13:07:00.000-05:00

Now that I got that first post outta the way and made sure I knew how this thing worked here's a bit more for yinzers.

Me, Yozer, Dieter, RayHawg, BubserBen, and Nance piled into the rented roach coach last Thur and beat feet for Wausau, WI and the the 24 Hours of 9 Mile - this year's 24 Hour National Championship race. A drive straight through landed us somewhere in northern WI about 16 hours later giving us time to find a spot, get in a lap of the course, and generally get settled in for the event. Leech's and Ray's folks made the trip out as well, driving out from PA in their own vehicles to provide the support needed to make a true run at this thing. Awfully sweet of them. Luckily Ry's mom had a camera surgically attached to her hand for the weekend so you may end up seeing some of those shots here or over on his blog.

A dinner consisting of the finest mexican food WI has to offer...

Then it was a little more prep and a movie before hitting the hay. In that strange coincidental way things happen the movie was Dogma in which two angels are banished from heaven to a place worse than hell - that place? Wisconsin.

It wasn't that bad, besides the Mexican food anyway. It was a pretty sweet course, especially for my sorta-in-shape-but-not-all-the-way-there-ass as its climbs weren't steep and the singletrack was fast and fun. 10AM rolled around and Dieter took the holeshot and was first out of the Lemans start and into the loop on his bike coming around about 58 min later in 5thish. RayHawg was next, then me, then Yozer. That was pretty much the deal for the next 20 hours with all of us running laps between about 57 min and 1:05 through the night. The local conglomerate team supported by Trek/Gary Fisher stuck it to us and we could never quite close the gap with those boys taking a well earned victory 10 minutes in front of us. Hopefully we made 'em sweat anyway and represented the state and VisitPA.com well.

Our mech, Ben, did a heck of a job and so no problems - not even a flat - held us up during the race. We all ran into problems with lapped riders here and there, but the other teams were dealing with it too. My favorite incidents were 1. getting kicked by the women's solo winner , who I think was a little delerious when I came up on her at one of the few technical sections of the course (she came to an abrubt stop and as she dismounted kicked me in the hand as I came up behind to pass) and 2. having words with some butterfly wing wearing guy who was apparently out for fun rather than racing. Yep, there's some weirdos in them there woods. At 3 in the AM with hours of racing under the belt no one is making great decisions, but hopefully neither of these two felt too slighted by want to move more quickly than they were going.

Second step on the podium and then we gotta outta dodge pretty quickly after the festivities and in a caffeine fueled haze drove straight through to Hburg since we's all working stiffs and had to report bright and early Tue morning for work.

We missed the other bubsers on the trip but once ZackAttack and SSwess get all healed up they'll be back. Taytay and Sunshine kept busy with the 101 with Sunshine rolling to a sweet second place.

Recovery

2006-08-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

Am I recovered, I don't know for sure. An easy spin yesterday and the day before, Monday off, hopefully I'm rested up from the 24 Hour Championships at 24 Hours of 9 Mile now. We done good. Brought home a silver medal in the 4 man competition. The best part was it gave me something solid to aim at and I actually succeeded in pulling a little form together for the thing.