After Action Review

Way back when I was in the Army, we had these things called AARs, or After Action Reviews.  You talk about what went right, wrong, or whatever.  I still tend to do that from time to time.

Overall, the 12 Hours of Santos was a great event.  It was nice to be back in Florida, riding one of the first trails I’d ever been on.  Even though everyone thinks that Florida is flat and lacks anything technical, this was a tough course.  I’ve done other 12 hour races and didn’t feel like I worked this hard.  It was a good way to start my “season.”  Whatever the hell that’s gonna be.

The organizers did a great job for the most part, with a few exceptions.  When I arrived Friday evening, I headed over to packet pickup which was supposed to be from 5pm to 6pm.  At 5:01, no one was there.  When I found someone official, they said, “Oh, there was a banana emergency.  They will be back later.”

I laughed about it.  No big deal.  I could pick up my stuff in the morning since I was camping. 

Food was an issue.  Since I was camping there for the whole weekend, I was smart enough to go grocery shopping before I arrived in Ocala even though there was supposed to be free food (most importantly “a pasta dinner for all riders.”)  I smelled food while I was out on the course, and I heard the announcer talk about everyone eating.  I figured that it was for the 6 hour people, and that there would be another wave of food for those of us doing the 12 hour.  When the race was over, I headed over the the shining light in the dark forest.

There was just an awards ceremony.  No food for the rest of us.  That pissed me off a little.  I still got to eat dinner, which consisted of a cold can of steak and vegetable soup, a handful of Pringles, and one lonely beer.  It sucked, but at least I got to eat something.  Maybe next time they should be more specific about the food.  There’s no way in hell I’m gonna stop in the middle of a 12 hour race to eat a dinner, so in the future they should say something like:

Pasta dinner for the six hour racers.  Twelve hour people make appropriate arrangements or just quit halfway through.

Another thing that I (and lots of other people) noticed was the copious mounts of “racer trash” on the trail.  It was ridiculous.  Every lap it got worse and I couldn’t believe it.  The crowd was much less douchey than other races I’ve done, so I was really surprised.  I’m sure that the race organizers got someone out there to clean it all up though.

Hopefully.

That’s it for the gripes.  I think I may make this an annual event, so hopefully they’ll figure it out next year.   

There are some things I need to figure out next year for myself too:

My knee is a lot better now.  Just slightly sore, and there was really nothing I could do to prevent what happened.  Well, other than making sure my light setup was secure.  That’s totally my fault.

Air pressure.  My wrist is still sore.  For the last few days I’ve been shopping for a squishy fork, thinking that my rigid days are over.  I realized that I should have user my ideal tire pressure, which I’d written down and failed to consult before heading out to race.  Even the rear tire pressure was way too high.  That’s an easy fix, without wussing out and removing my rigid crabon fork.

It was way too early in the season for a 12 hour race, but I felt good about my effort.  I finally feel recovered, but the next morning after the race I felt like a part of me died out there.  I was slow to pack up my stuff, and most of the time I just sat around and enjoyed the nice weather.  Once again, I was smart enough to bring my own food.

According to my Garmin, I burned well over 8,000 calories out on the course.  On the drive back to Charlotte, I’d consumed probably close to 15,000.  It seemed like all I wanted to do was eat.  That’s the first time I’ve ever felt like that after an endurance race.  Unfortunately, I kept eating junk.

Like my own cheese pizza.

I ate that in about 10 minutes.  It was only good because I was so hungry.  I damn sure wouldn’t eat one any other time. 

I paid close attention to recovery this time.  Knowing that an eight hour drive would wreak havoc on my legs, I stopped often.  I had originally planned to go back to my hometown to visit friends and family, but instead I headed across the state and up the coast, stopping to hang out in Saint Augustine for a while.  I stretched every time I stopped, and while I was driving I used some good ol’ shock therapy to loosen my sore legs.

It helped a lot.  I could actually walk when I got back home.

So yeah, this was a much better experience than last year.  I’m definitely planning to do it again.  It was so nice to see my Florida friends and the Charlotte crew while I spent all day suffering on my bike.  The little things I griped about are just that:    

Little.  

I’m in for next year, especially if the weather up here is shitty again (like it is now.)

At least tomorrow is Friday.

Snow Well

It's winter here again. Real winter this time. The snow started yesterday, and it looks like it will keep coming down for a while. As much as I'd like to go for a ride, it's probably not gonna happen. A snow ride would be fun and all that, but honestly I'm sick of being cold. Plus, I really don't feel like cleaning my bike. I know, the Executor would be pretty damn awesome in the snow.


Maybe I'll get my ass out in it.


While I figure it all out, I'm gonna sit inside and keep working on my guitar skills. My lessons have been going well, and I look forward to coming home each day and playing. And to keep me motivated, I got some new shit.

Although I'm probably way ahead of myself, I thought maybe I could use a new guitar. After shopping for weeks and comparing different ones, I ended up with a shiny new Stratocaster.

It's so much fun. I'm not really ready for such a fancy guitar yet, but who gives a shit. The amp goes all the way to eleven too, much to Little Miss Sunshine's chagrin. Luckily (for her) I got some headphones to plug into it so I'll only screw up my own ears. The family has been really encouraging so far with my guitar adventures, and I appreciate it. It's a great stress relief on the days I can't ride, and it also keeps the stray cats away from the house.


Unless they like shitty guitar playing. Then I'm screwed.


I'm gonna go rock out now, while everyone else sits inside and bitches about all the snow. I have plenty of beer, so this shit can last for days as far as I'm concerned. I'm leaving for the Sunshine State soon anyway.



More on that tomorrow.

Backup Plan

We were supposed to have another group ride at a local trail last night.  But, it was cancelled.  Anyone wanna guess why?

More rain.

Never fear though, because we had a backup plan.  The regular crew (Eastwood, Good Guy Greg, and Irish Luke) met at TomTom’s house to roll out on a local greenway, while my plan was to ride from the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters and meet them out there somewhere.

I just had to get my bike ready first.

Being a Drunk Cyclist, I grabbed a beer, put it in my Maxxis coozie, and got ready for the two mile ride from my house to the greenway.

I rolled out, eventually meeting the crew at the entrance to RTS.  You know, our slightly hidden, always open, singletrack heaven.  We took off in the woods, and it didn’t take long for us to realize that we built a pretty damn good trail.  Even though a storm had just passed through, the trail wasn’t too slick to ride.  It was so good in fact, that I didn’t take any photos while we rode.

Well, except for one of Eastwood adjusting his chain tension on the Glow Worm.

After two plus miles of private trail goodness, we ended up on the greenway again.  A lot of it had been flooded, but being on mountain bikes made it kinda fun (plus I drank my beer along the way.)  After a few miles of spinning my ass off on the flat, paved path, we found some more singletrack. 

This place is an oldie but goodie, and it was pretty much “all weather” too since it’s not official or anything.  With a good amount of cross country action here and there, we had to pay close attention to what would come next.

There is a gap jump/pump track wonderland in the middle of those woods, and if you were caught off guard you could end up getting hurt pretty bad.  There are go-arounds for everything, but cooking down the hill too fast could make you miss them (see above photo.)  It was fun as hell.

Instead of sitting around here bitching about the shitty weather and the fact that all of our local trails are closed, we seemed to have found a good backup plan.  This will probably be our go to route in the future during inclement weather, and I’m pretty damn happy about that.  This weekend doesn’t look too promising for local riding on “real” trails, so we may do this same route again tomorrow.

If not, I have another backup plan.

See y’all next week.

It’s Winter

Well, sort of.  It’s been cold here for sure, but we haven’t had much in the way of winter weather.  They say that we may get something that resembles snow/ice/sleet this afternoon, but I’m not counting on it.  Weather people are not usually correct with the forecast, you know.  But, the DOT has been busy putting car-eating salt on the roads just in case.  

What does that mean for the weekend?

I will carry on as usual.

Tomorrow, Lunchbox and I are rolling down bright and early to do some legit trail work at one of our local parks.  This new trail system hasn’t opened up yet, but that’s why we’re going there.  There’s lot of work to be done.  And that’s why I’m bringing my man-sized kid along.  He can lift heavy stuff and dig in the dirt without getting tired like us old folks.  It’s gonna be colder than a brass toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg early in the morning, so I’m guessing that he would stay home in his warm bed if he hadn’t already commited to being there.

Hell, I would too.

Next up, race number three in the Winter Short Track Series.  It’s finally gonna feel a winter race because the temps will probably be somewhere in the low 20’s.  Luckily I don’t race until 11:30, so hopefully it will be at least 30 degrees.  We’ve been spoiled again this winter with nice weather, so I really shouldn’t complain.

But I will, because sometimes I have nothing else to do.

Luckily, my feet won't be cold.  I have the best socks in the world to keep them warm.

Yup, DeFeet Woolie Boolies.  Made right here in North Carolina, to keep me warm on these chilly North Carolina days. 

They work in other places too, where it’s much colder.

And now you can stop complaining, because I’m out of here.

Make It A Great Weekend

Race report?  Not today.  I did “race”, but I’ll get into that tomorrow.  I’ve got other things to get into…

Like the shitty weather around here lately.

Since we got back from Northern Virginia, I’ve been trying to get out on my bike.  I stuck out every day, including Friday.  I had my bike loaded on the truck, but got to the trailhead when a shit storm erupted form the sky.  So, I went home and instituted plan B.

I was tired as shit from our trip and lack of riding (yeah, I get tired when I don’t ride), and I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I decided that the next day (Saturday) I would (gasp), break out the road bike.

I set out for a nice easy ride, which started on my local greenway:

While I was out, I thought that I should start mapping out a ride to reciprocate the hospitality that D-Wayne and Meghan showed us on the Tour de Triad last month.  I figured that I would scope out the area to give them a tour down here in the coming months.  It should be fun, unless we get caught by a train and have to sit out in the hot sun for what feels like an eternity.

I spent three hours on the road bike working on my cyclist’s tan, and had a good ride.  However, when I got home I was exhausted.  I was so tired that I only drank two beers.  And yeah, that’s a big deal.

It probably wasn’t a good idea to go out there in the middle of the day and wear out my legs the day before a race.  It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done some dumb shit though.

But, I actually did enjoy road riding for once.

Such Lovely Weather

To go for a mountain bike ride, er race.


Race number four in the Winter Series did not get me very excited for many reasons. First, it had been raining quite a bit leading up to Sunday, and I knew the trails wouldn’t be in pristine, racer boi condition. Also, I was tied for fourth overall in the series, which meant that I had to actually do well if I wanted to break that tie. I was in for a long day of tough racing, or so I thought.


We took off from the line, and no one was sprinting hard to get to the woods. I ended up going in the woods in sixth place, with Rodney B. right on my wheel (he’s the one tide with me in the overall standings.) That first lap was pretty odd. Local fast racer Ryan Kelly was leading our group, and he pretty much took it easy. The pace reminded me of the final stage of the Tour de France, except that we weren’t popping champagne and patting each other on the back. It was odd, and I was getting a little antsy having to go so slow in a race.



All photos by Lunchbox


As soon as we climbed out of the rocks and hit the fire road though, the pace picked up. I stepped it up myself, and passed one guy in my class. I knew the rest of the field was gunning for me, so I had to give it my best effort. We were finally going fast, and I had to actually concentrate to keep from busting my ass in the slick conditions.




I kept with the lead group for a couple of laps, until we started lapping guys from the class that left before ours. I also passed another guy in my class, and still had the leaders in my sights. I was full of determination, or too much beer from the night before. Either way I felt pretty good.




I went by another guy in my class on the fire road climb, and he tried to stick with me. Every time I turned a corner, I could see him back there. I stepped on it and put a bigger gap between us, but I (almost) ran into another problem: two guys hogging up the trail. I called out my pass, and they parted like the Red Sea, leaving me the sketchy option of shooting the gap between them to get by. I barely made it, and hauled ass to make up for the little bit of time I lost. I was pretty much in a full on sprint when I left the fire road.



When they called out one lap to go, I didn’t see anyone in my class behind me when I turned the corner. I pushed it even harder, and nearly busted my ass in a slick corner. I didn’t go down, but it did slow me down a bit. I continued my blistering pace, wondering how far ahead of me the leaders were. One more climb up the rocks and I was home free.



I saw one guy up ahead, so I shifted to a bigger gear and sprinted. I beat him across the line, but he was in another class. Damn it. I ended up in fourth place for the day, which broke the tie in the overall standings. The race was double points, so it looks like I’m cemented in fourth place overall. Well, unless something terrible happens next week.


Even though the trail was a little bit muddy, it was actually in pretty good shape. It wasn’t cold, so I really didn’t have anything to whine about. Maybe I’ll find something I can complain about and share it with y’all tomorrow.

It Might Take More Than Just Riding Fast

Thanks Yoda, but my name’s not Luke.


This Sunday could be interesting. With shitty weather predicted, the turnout for the next race in the Winter Series could suffer a bit. That doesn’t make it any easier for me, since I will still have to go out and give it my best effort to even maintain my position in the series standings. The trails may be a bit sloppy, which could increase the danger factor. That actually sounds fun. Another factor that I can’t control (like the weather and trail conditions) is that I am on call for work again. Damn it.


I don’t have to run out to save a life like Little Miss Sunshine does when she is on call, but I still have to fix broken things when they break. I have to do it in a timely fashion, which means that if any calls come in for me prior to when I am supposed to race I may have to bail. If something comes in while I’m out there on the course, then they can wait for thirty minutes or so until I get done. Maybe that will help me turn out some fast lap times.


I’m not looking forward to racing in the rain, but at least I’m not in any pain. My knee seems to be all healed up from my last injury, and I’m prepared to attempt two races again (you know, if I don’t end up at work.) I only got out once this week for “training”, which consisted of some hot laps with the Dirty Party Cycle and Little Miss Sunshine, with a late addition of our pal Robbie (who came up with the Big Tater name, by the way.) I took the single speed out, which made it a little more difficult. I couldn’t duplicate my awesome 193 heart rate out there, but I betcha I can do it again on Sunday. May the Force be with me.


I probably could use some other help though, but I’m not sure what to do.



At least I won’t have to drink my own piss.

See y’all Monday.

Nothing Else To Do Right Now

Since the weather has been shitty and I haven’t been riding as much as I want to, I’ve turned to something I haven’t done in a long time. Brewing beer. I was on a brewing kick for a while, but stopped because I lost my mojo. My last batch was an attempt at an IPA (I’d only done pale ales up to that point), and it turned out pretty awful. I had an issue with the carbonation (and who knows what else), so the beer didn’t come out good at all. Out of 16 bottles, I think only about three of them were any good. My confidence in brewing took a hit, and I put my beer-making supplies away for a while. Now I was ready to try it again.


Instead of trying something easy to get me back into the swing of things, I decided to go all out and try another IPA. First though, I had to get the bottles ready.



Cleaning and sanitizing everything is a crucial step when brewing beer, so I made sure to take care of the bottles first. When it comes time to bottle, I don’t want to half-ass it because I’m pressed for time. When the bottles were all clean (the hardest part in my opinion), it was time to make the beer.



I started the boil, adding Cascade hops to it immediately. I continued to add hops to the boil over time, to give the beer bitterness, aroma, and flavor. I have a schedule for this but I’m not telling. It’s my little secret, but you can probably find out stuff like this on the Internets if you want to. There’s plenty of info out there.


I do love me some Cascade hops though.





I sniffed the empty bag for a while so I could get high off of hops. Pathetic.


I added the rest of the ingredients, which creates the wort (young beer for those of you not in the know.) After that it’s time to put everything in the fermenter and add the yeast.



While the yeast eats the sugar, the alcohol is created (blah blah blah and so forth.) It will take a little while, and then I may dry hop it to add a little more aroma and flavor. I haven’t decided for sure if I want to do that though. I like super bitter, hoppy beer, so I’m hoping that this batch comes out okay (even if I decide not to dry hop.) Every time I brew it’s like a game of chance, but I took notes on the last batch and used those to figure out where I went wrong. I did everything exactly like I was supposed to do, so if I don’t screw up the bottling process I should have a very good beer in a few weeks.


I’ll be sure to give a full report when it’s ready. I can’t wait that long though, so I had to grab something that was ready to drink.



If everything turns out like it’s supposed to, then maybe I’ll brew another batch as an offering to George when I head to Vermont this summer for Single Speed USA. He just might let me in the shop if I come bearing gifts. I’ll even share one with Dicky if he mentions me on his blog a few more times.


Tomorrow it’s back to your regularly scheduled programming. You know, bikes and junk.

Go West Young Man

Well, it’s kind of south-southwest, but whatever. This has nothing to do with Manifest Destiny either, although you could say that I am expanding my “racing territory.” It is my density, uh I mean my destiny.


I have no idea what this race will hold for me. I haven’t been riding much, as shitty weather seems to come along every time I make some kind of two-wheeled plans. Big surprise, the weather down in good ole Spartanburg won’t be great either. Race day should be fine, but the Saturday before it’s supposed to rain…a lot. I don’t know how the trails down there fare after a precipitation event, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I won’t be stressing over my tire choice, lack of trail knowledge, or anything else like that. I’ll be flying by the seat of my pants as usual.


After the race, I may have a little fun if I’m not too worn out. Since the Dirty Party Cycle will be tagging along, we may do a leisure ride out there on the trails. If I’m really feeling froggy, then we may just hit up the local skatepark down there Hot Spot. The DPC took Lunchbox there back when I was out of town, and I heard a lot of good stuff about it. I probably won’t get back down that way for a while, so this could be my only chance to check it out. I may be too tired from “racing” to enjoy it fully, but it should be fun anyway. If you’re lucky, I’ll be back next week with a full race report and a skate report. Don’t you feel special?




I’m yo Daddy.


Yeah, this post is going nowhere, as usual. At least it’s supposed to be warm down there in Spartanburg the day after it rains. I won’t have to get all gussied up in my winter wear for this race.



In other news, the race report could suck more than usual due to a lack of quality photography. The official B-43 shutterbug, Lunchbox, is heading down to Florida to spend some time with his maternal unit. He’ll be gone for the whole week, and he’s a little bummed not to be able to take pictures that get published on the Internets. He’ll have fun down there though, I’m sure. Perhaps my good pal Mr. Shepherd will meet up with him while he’s hanging out in the Sunshine State. My race report will suffer like I said, but at least he gets a little vacation. I sure need one.


See y’all Monday.

Are You Serious?

One would think that with all this talk about Bigfoot around here lately that I’ve lost my mind (due to my limited riding adventures.) No my friends, my mind was lost long ago. Actually it’s not a by product of my lack of riding at all. I do believe in Bigfoot, since I’ve actually seen one.



Not my photo. This is the alleged Skunk Ape at Myakka State Park in Florida.


Way back in the mid 1990’s, I was traveling home from the beach on U.S. Highway 50, near the town of Christmas, Florida. It was dark, and I was pretty sleepy. I had my windows down to enjoy the nice summer air, when all of a sudden I smelled the most horrible thing. It smelled like a skunk and rotten cabbage. Just then, a large, hairy-looking creature ran across the highway in front of me. I hadn’t been drinking or anything, so I’m sure I saw it. Yeah, it could have been one of the local townspeople, but I knew I saw the Swamp Cabbage Man (the Florida Bigfoot.) There have been plenty of other sightings all over the state, but no one else I knew had seen one. I still believe I saw it, but that was the only time. If these guys were around back then, I would have told them.


Now that I live in North Carolina, I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of a Bigfoot around here. There have been recent sightings, so maybe luck will be on my side. I know he exists. I just received a hand-written letter from him which should remove all doubt:



See? He’s even somewhat of an artist, what with his cute cartoon depiction of himself. So, in addition to attempting a shitload of races this year, my goal is to find the North Carolina Bigfoot. Maybe I can lure him into a trap by using a kitten. I hear that they love them:



Okay, enough of this Bigfoot shit. As you can see, I can’t really come up with too much bicycling stuff today. I would apologize for your suffering, but I don’t really care. I hope like hell I can get out for a ride this weekend, and I promise that I won’t mention you-know-who when I talk about said ride. The weather might not be too promising, so that may mean I’ll have to break out the road bike again. Meh. When will this craziness end? Sometime in the near future I hope. Have a good weekend.