This year has been off to a slow start as a cyclist. Just over a thousand miles in, mostly road and gravel. I may have under 5 rides in on my Raijin since I changed it over to a single speed. Family and work have taken precedent. That is not a bad thing. Winter kind of sucked the motivation out of me this year.

I have just returned from a week on St. Thomas and am stoked to get back to a proper training plan, whatever that means for a guy with a three year old and a two year old, lol!


I need a plan and hoped to work on that while sitting on the sandy beaches, but a few too many Heineken slowed me down a bit mentally. That's okay though. I came up with a goal to try and get to 190 lbs and kiss the Clydesdale class goodbye. It's going to take a lot of work and mental dedication. 20 lbs seems like a lot, but just a few life adjustments could get me there. Only time will tell. Wish me luck and send positive vibes my way. Time to go to work!

Tall Oak 6hr (duo)

Rain on second half of first lap.
Did laps four and five back to back.
Total four laps in 6HR Duo, eight as a team

Greensfelder Challenge

So I thought I would try my hand at some more bike racing this year.  I signed up for the Cat 2 40-49 age group.  I did not know what to really expect when it came to going head to head with some of the guys I see on the trail all the time.  All I can say is I have left plenty of room for improvement.  First thing learned; don't show up for a race with a bike that is not race ready.  During my pre-ride early in the week I had dropped my chain around 7 times in two laps.  The race was two laps and I dropped my chain five times.  I also knocked off my stem captain with my daughters picture on it.  I spent some time looking for it, telling my self I was not going to leave the woods with out her.  The most frustrating thing  about the chain drop situation was that I had to pass the same group of riders so many times. 

The second thing I learned is that I am in no real "race" shape whatsoever.  Greensfelder is a tough course that will test all your skills.  I was up for it from the general bike handling aspect of things.  The trouble came in the ole high intensity aspect of racing.  A few time I felt the pain down in the gut that only a hard, to the limit effort can give you.  The feeling was both nice and worrisome, seeing that it came when I was trying to chase on the lead group half way through the first lap.  Nice because it had been a while since I had that feeling, but I was not sure if it was going to subside or not.  Not soon after the rock garden I began to feel better but it was really too late.  The race had already passed me by.

I went back out for my second lap and pushed hard.  I began to see many familiar faces and was glad to be back with such a good crowd racing my bike.  I ended up 8th out of 19 on the day.  I can't complain seeing that I probably posted higher in the results than I deserved with all the chain issues that I was having.  A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon with a bunch of like minded Jerks.

Spring has sprung?

Cut was closed by conservation dept.

Other than that, just been spinning around waiting on the warmer weather.

Recent Happenings

A lot has gone on over the last few weeks.  Biggest and best of all is my son, Nathaniel Thomas entered the world on June 13, 2013. 

I started to ride again in June also.  I competed in my first endurance race.  Indian Camp Creek 9hr duo.  Keith Weinkein and I took second place to the jerks that are Eddie Klein and Jason Zoll.

 For the Fourth of July I sat in on BJ Keane's Independence Day ride and mashed out 76 miles in honor 1776. 

Summertime is heating up and I plan on trying to catch up on all miles I have lost this spring due to time off the bike and physical therapy. 

Nice ramble with a couple of friends

After work yesterday I met up with a couple of buds and hit a little ramble action around Busch Wildlife down the Hamburg to the KATY. Stuck mainly to bike trails in Busch, they are grading many of the roads and they need to be beat down a bit by the autos.  Keith and I met Sarge Stitz at the social log and turned the pedals to the tune of 30 mixed surface miles.  I love my cross bike because of its versatility.  The KATY had seem some flood waters from the Mighty Missouri.  She had deposited some mud and sand on course so we had stretches of bumpy surface but all tree damage was cleaned up.  Temps were great and it was nice to be in the saddle for a couple hours with some company for a change.

Pics:

Nothing new to Report

No ride again today. Rain by the time I got home for work. Maybe in the morning? Weather this year has been a bit disappointing from a cycling perspective. Rain or cold most of this spring. Summer is officially almost two weeks out. My total mileage for the year is beyond minimal. Lost Valley Luau is this weekend but I will probably sit it out. We are busy waiting on a new baby boy to join us. Maybe ICC 9 hour duo? Who really knows? Leg still gives me fits as I have yet been able to find some kind of rhythm.  I have been, more or less just cruising, or rambling as I call it, around my 'hood.  I never want to be to far from home in case the boy plans on arriving sooner than later. Had a nice night ramble with Davis the other night over to Dad's Bottle Shop in LSL and then cruised all LSL and watched the lake waterfall over the spillway. Good times on two wheels.