The "Season"...

Is approaching fast.

It won't be long before I'm back to racing my bike again.  I was reminded of this fact last night, when I checked the Facebooks and saw the schedule for the upcoming Southern Classic Series:

Less than two months to go.  I'm definitely not ready.  Sure, I've gotten back to training, but it's tough right now.  I've started back with Total Cyclist (because it worked well for me), but even that's been a challenge.  Just two days ago I had to excuse myself in the middle of class.

Spending time in the bathroom does not a fast cyclist make.

I'm trying, Ringo.  I've lost a little of my fitness, but having a stomach issue while I'm on the comeback trail is enough to frustrate me.  A little less than two months is enough time to get ready for a long cross country season.  However, I'm really thinking of kicking off the 2016 season by doing a little twelve hour shindig down in Florida again this year.  The 12 Hours of Santos is always a fun time (if suffering is fun) and I'll more than likely be down there next month.  Just a little more time in the shitter and I'll be in prime racing shape.

Also, registration for the biggest party in the Southeast kicks off this Saturday.  The 6 Hours of Warrior Creek is always a good time, but I'm not sure if I'll "race" it this year.  I'm strongly considering it, but I'm also strongly considering just showing up, riding one lap for fun, then partying it up with my racer friends.  I guess I'll have to make up my mind soon since it always sells out so quickly.  If you want in, you'd better be ready first thing Saturday morning.

So yeah, the season approaches.  Aside from "training", I have all my support lined up already.  I've also added a new one to the list:

I've been using Nuun for the past few years, and after begging for their support they finally gave in.  So, as shown over there on the left, I'm a part of Team Nuun for this year.  I am excite.  The stuff really works, tastes good, and I use it on every ride.  I may not be ready for the season just yet...

But I will be.

Hopefully.

At least I have some nice support again this year.

Why Are You Still Here?

Carl has nothing better to do.

The last two days around here have been spent promoting a couple of my fine supporters.  It’s been about things that I can’t live without these days (at least on the bike), so I thought that I should pass it on to you.  There will be more of that in the future, since I have more supporters and I will indeed need more things to talk about.  But today, it’s all about me.

It’s time for you to show your support for…

Absolutely nothing. 

Who gives a shit.

That’s something I’ve been saying for years, and you’ve heard it around here enough to know that.  It’s not a question, hence the omission of a question mark.  It’s more of a statement.  A statement about general feelz and whatnot. 

You like riding fast and training but no one seems to care?  Who gives a shit.

You like to party and heckle while others race and they don’t like it?  Who gives a shit.

You prefer 26 over 29 but your friends make fun of you?  Who gives a shit.

You like smearing peanut butter all over your… 

Ewwww.  You’re a weirdo.

Anyway, in support of non-support of things, I had some stickers made.  I’ve wanted to do this for quite some time, and when I ran the idea by Lunchbox he simply said, “Hurry up.”

So, here goes:

Stickers.  I haz them.  You can haz.  I’m not trying to quit my day job by selling these, so all you have to do is give me a crispy American dollar bill and I’ll give you one.  Or, buy me a beer.  Or, be on a very short list of people that will get some for things they’ve already done for me.  Let me know and I’ll tell you where you stand.  It’s quite the bargain either way.

You know you want one.  Support nothing (or everything) by getting one or more of these fabulous stickers.  Stick one on your bike, your car, your neighbor’s house, whatever.    

Find me in person and I’ll hook you up.  Ship some to you?  Well, we can talk about that too.

Get some.  Or don’t.  Who gives a shit.

Just A Few Things

Every now and then, I get the urge to get some new stuff I may or may not need.  In the case of helmets, it usually becomes a necessity.  I’ve either crashed a few times, they get worn out, or they are just plain stinky.  All three of these were the case lately, so it was time to act.

I’ve been pretty loyal to the same helmet for years, having several of the same model (albeit in different colors) the whole time.  After checking out the loaner helmets at the last two Niner demos though, I got a chance to check out a brand I'd never tried before.  I tried a few on (they were clean), and I liked the style and fit.  Sensing a chance to make a controlled change, I ordered a new helmet from Kali Protectives.

I dig it.  It looks cool (which may or may not be important), it fits well, and doggone it, I like it.  The kicker is that I haven’t actually worn it yet, since I’ve been spending a lot of time either riding indoors or out on the road.  I guess this weekend I’ll get the first crack at it when I actually go for a mountain bike ride.  The time and place have yet to be determined, but I know I’ll get rad wherever I go. 

Mountains, local, whatever…I’ll get out to ride some dirt somewhere.

Next up is a neat (to me) thing that was designed by my buddy D-Wayne.  It was a long time in the making, and even longer for me to actually get it.

Check it out.

Now I have a t-shirt with the cartoon version of myself to wear around.  It may be a little narcissistic of me to wear a shirt with my own likeness on it, but who gives a shit.

I like it.

If you like it, you can order one at this link:

B-43....or King Chris??

If you happen to like Eastwood better (and who doesn't?), then you can get his Team Glow Worm shirt instead:

Team Glow Worm

Or, just take your pick from lots of other designs there that are equally rad.

Go buy stuff.  Support my number one supporter.  That way he can stock up his beer fridge in time for me to arrive for Single Speed Arizona in a few short weeks.

The “season” is starting to take shape.  There are a few more things coming up that I’ll get into later.

Things Are Happening

Just not every single day around here.  I wasn’t here yesterday, and I’m good with that.  I decided that it’s okay to take random days off during the week, especially if I don’t have much to talk about.  Besides, I’m not feeling too great still.  I didn’t sleep too well Tuesday night, so yesterday morning I decided that blogging could wait.  It’s my own fault though after spending Saturday out in the cold, waking up feeling bleh, then going outside in the cold again another day to clean some bikes.

Almost out of  ProGold Degreaser and Wash.  It works, so I’ll get more.

I scrubbed things, removed dirt and grease, and adjusted things that needed adjustment. 

A clean bike is a happy bike.

Darth Maul has never been happier.

Having a single speed is easy, maintenance wise.  Clean, lube the chain, add Stan's sealant to the tires, check random bolts for proper torque, etc.  It wasn’t much of a challenge, so I grabbed the little lady’s filthy bike, that hasn’t been cleaned in far too long even though I recently installed a drooper post.

New parts installation usually means a wash first.  Meh.

I used the last of the ProGold wash and got her bike all shiny and new looking.

With all those gears, I had to spend some time remembering how to adjust everything.  Shifty bits now shift properly and all that.  I felt like I accomplished something, especially since I also washed The Executor (my Niner ROS9.)

Sorry, no photos of that excitement.  You’ve seen enough clean bike photos.

I am pretty excited, but not about clean bikes.  I got some pretty cool news.  Since I ‘m not very good at segues (even though I did just mention Niner), I’ll show you a screen shot from an e-mail I got Tuesday night.

Yes, I am now a Niner Ambassador.  And yes, they picked me for some reason.  Over 1,300 applied, and they somehow narrowed it down to less than 75 people (worldwide.)  I’m sure there were more than a few folks that were just trying to “score some free stuff” or whatever, but I bet there were a lot of good people on that list that should have been selected but weren’t. 

So yeah, I feel pretty honored.  I met the requirements I’m sure, but I don’t feel like I’m better than the ones who didn’t make it.  I may act like a douche on here sometimes, but I know I’m not all that.  It’s just fun to pretend sometimes.

And it will be fun representing Niner this season (officially now), along with all the other great supporters you see over there on the right of this page.

I’m not exactly sure what this “season” holds, but there will definitely be more riding, some training, a little racing, and a whole lot of fun on two wheels.

Down To The Bottom

So yesterday I talked about my new gloves.  It’s important to be able to hold on to the handlebars properly while riding a bike, and you don’t want unnecessary slippage.  Equally (or perhaps even more) important is keeping your bike from slipping off the trail.  On my two main bikes, I’ve been running a Maxxis Ardent, the “do-it-all trail tire" according to their website.  It has definitely done-it-all for me as far as conditions go, but with my recent need for change I decided to give something else a try.

So last night a box of goodness showed up.

I’ve been running the Ikon on the rear of my “race” bike, and I’ve been very satisfied with it.  Good grip and super fast rolling, it’s held great for rides/races with no sign of giving up.  Since it has been a while since I’d put on a new one, I decided that it was time to order a replacement.  Before I ordered anything, I gave Dicky a shout with my phone’s fancy texting capability to ask him about the “new” super-wide 2.35 Ikon.

He said he really liked it, on both a squishy fjork and a rigid frok (even in The Pisgah) in dry conditions.  That was good enough for me, so while I ordered the standard 2.2 for the rear, I added a couple of the 2.35s.

I can see the difference on my garage floor I guess.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to mount any of them to any of my bikes.  Lunchbox and I had a project last night that involved installing stereo equipment in his car, and add to the fact that I had to play handyman on the neighbor’s garage door I kinda ran outta time.

I really like the Ardent up front on both my bikes, so I hope I also like the new, wider Ikon.  I like to dig my front wheel into turns, and with the smaller knobs on these Ikons I hope I can still do that.  There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to mount them up as soon as possible and do a “dry run.”  I should be able to get a set of these installed tonight.

I’ll talk about it soon, but not tomorrow.  We’re back to “Fun Friday” again, and you won’t want to miss that.

I haz special surprise photo to share.

Thanks to Maxxis for the goods.  I know I won't be disappoint.

Supporting My Supporters

Sorry about yesterday.  I had an early meeting for work.  I've been busting my ass on a project, and the end is near.  I can't wait for it to be over.

Anyway, I mentioned that last Friday I stopped by DeFeet on the way up to our camping trip.  I got some new stuff to try out, but I haven't had the time to get anything together to talk about it here.  DeFeet has been good to me over the years (although I'm pretty much a nobody in the cycling world), and other than trying to get everyone to wear their stuff I don't feel like I'm doing enough to thank them.  Well, that changed when I was shopping a while back and found something to send over that would be just a small token of my appreciation.

You see, the band CroMoly is comprised mostly of DeFeet folks, and being a big fan (of the band and the awesome company) I decided to send lead singer/bass player Shane a new guitar strap I found.  I thought it fit right in with the attitude of the band.  I got a photo sent back to me with a thank you, and I saw that it was being put to good use.

“POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS”

I once saw a CroMoly show that brought out the fire departmet.  Figured this was next.

You might recognize that wall of guitars from the time that Sonya visited the studio:

Anyway, I liked that guitar strap so much that I bought one for myself too.

I am not worthy of playing with them yet, but that's my goal.  Small steps.

So yeah, getting support from cycling folks isn't just about receiving product or stuff like that.  It's about relationships, and I have a great one with the folks in Hildebran, NC.  I know a measly guitar strap is no way to repay the love I get from DeFeet, but it was the least I could do. I do stuff like that all the time, because despite what you might think, I'm not such a bad guy (most of the time.)

Hell, I even sent George a little something for all he's done for me over the years.

A Star Wars sun shade? That makes me cool, right?

No.

See y'all tomorrow for Fun Friday or some shit like that. 

How To Have A Great Race

I thought about a few things regarding yesterday’s race and how I could’ve done things differently. Since I don’t really have anything else to talk about, I figured that I would go over them.


First, you should always show up to a race well-rested and ready to ride. That may sound self-explanatory, but I just didn’t do it. After a few weeks of lugging my big ol’ Rottweiler up and down the stairs and single speed death marches during the week, I was tired. Also, I managed to do a little trail work the day before the race.



Well, in this photo I was obviously watching, but how do you think those heavy-ass rocks for armoring got there?


I did do a few things right though. I made sure that my bike was fully functional, including a wash and lubing of all the important parts.



I use nothing but ProGold products now, of course.

Also there was the installation of my new stem (to replace the one I broke.)



I managed to get rid of some annoying creaking by doing just a wee bit of bike maintenance, but the stem was a bit of a concern. It was a slightly different size than the one I had, and that may have attributed to my piss poor handling skills (aside from the shit-laden trail.) It took some getting used too, and I will be okay from now on.


Nutrition is next on the list. This is not a bad thing. For once, I made an effort to show up hydrated, and also to eat a good breakfast. During the race, I used some of these:



Honey Stinger is on board with me this season, so from now on their stuff will be my food of choice on the trail. The gels are freaking awesome, and I found them pretty easy to digest while I was on the bike. I had a little trouble with the waffles, because I was so damn clumsy out there. There are damn good too though.


The last thing is to always have help. In my case, Lord Vader was with me, using the Dark Side of The Force to power me through the pain of multiple crashes.



Since I’m busy pimping cycling companies, I have to mention that in my girly swag bag was a nice pair of DeFeet socks.



I have tons of DeFeet socks, but I can always use one more pair. It’s nice to see them having representation in the series.


Last in the pimping, I have to give a shout out to George for my wheels (that I’ve had for a year now.) Riding over 20 miles watching my wheels banging around on rocks and roots, I was surprised to find that they took a beating and showed no signs of giving up. Bike29 wheels are the shit, and I had total confidence in them. Unfortunately I didn’t have that kind of confidence in my own ability out there.


In other news, I’m supposed to go for a ride tonight. I’m not sure how I’ll do on the trail, since I’m still sore as shit from my crashes. My shoulder hurts like hell from landing on it, but I can’t let up now. I have to ride. I have events coming up for the next two weekends.


It’s about to get crazy around here.