I May Need Some Help

As I sit here and type this, I’m reminded of how much this racing stuff affects me. Of course, my back still hurts, although I can’t figure out why. Sure I “hurt” it yesterday, but it wasn’t like I was wrestling an alligator or something like that. I just wish that it would go the hell away. Also, a new soreness popped up yesterday morning. My legs hurt like hell for some reason. This is another one I can’t explain, since the course was much easier, and I never had any issues with muscular strength while I rode. While I would love to chalk it up to “getting older”, I’m pretty sure it has to do with poor technique or a bad diet.


The poor technique can be explained by the fact that I haven’t been riding a “real” bike, save for the actual races. Also, I’m starting to think that the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth is a piece of shit. Well, not really, but some of the components are. I’ve never really spent the time to achieve a proper fit. Actually, I just threw the damn thing together in the nick of time. That has a lot to do with the fact that this was some kind of experiment, since I am very partial to bicycles with full suspension. Hell, I’m still playing around with the fit on my primary bike, Goose.


The bad diet thing is a little more complicated. While I do eat pretty healthy, I’m sure you are all aware of my affinity for beer. Being somewhat of a beer snob, I do enjoy a fair amount of the stuff. That may be wreaking havoc on my racing aspirations, since I haven’t learned to tone it down when there is a race the next day. Hell, I’ve even had beer during a race.


The Saturday before race number three of the 2010 Winter Short Track Series was more of the same, at least as far as beer is concerned. I headed over to The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery to sample some of their stuff, and to also fill up my growlers. While I am not a huge fan of their beer (not hoppy enough for me), I had some things to do on that side of town. It was a matter of convenience for me, I guess.



I walked in the door, and immediately walked up to the bar. I’ve never been there before, so I wasn’t familiar with the way they operated their tasting. I stood there for a bit until someone finally came up and asked if they could help me. I said that I wanted to do a tasting, and they obliged. For two bucks, I could try a half of a half (not really even that much) of a pint glass of each of the three beers they had on tap. While that may sound like a deal, I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t keep the glass like I could at Carolina Beer Company. Hell, they weren’t as friendly at OMB either. Nevertheless, I still sampled some beer.



While nothing jumped out at me as a huge favorite, I decided to fill up my growlers with one of each kind anyway. When the guy noticed that one of my growlers had the Carolina Beer Company logo on it, he asked me if they still brewed beer. Uhhh, what? I told him yes, since I was there only two weeks ago, for two weeks in a row even. He said that he thought they only did packaging, and that they brewed their locally-famous Carolina Blonde in Pennsylvania, or some shit like that. I told him no, I didn’t think that was true, but he persisted. He then said that they came down there a few weeks ago to ask if they (OMB) could brew some beer for them (Carolina Beer Co.) I finally gave up and let him think he was right. Maybe he’s privileged to some insider information, but I was pretty sure of my facts (since I was just there, mind you.) It took forever to fill the growlers, since they use some kind of fancy machine. It was on the fritz for some strange reason, so that took longer than normal.


While I may be a little biased towards the Carolina Beer Company, I really wanted to give these guys a chance. This guy kind of had a snobby attitude though, as if their beer was better or something. That may be fine if you’re a fan of German-style beer, but I am not. While I do prefer hoppy stuff like the Cottonwood Endo IPA (and Little Miss Sunshine likes the Carolina Blonde), I actually liked the personal touch of a true local brewery (like the Carolina Beer Company.) These guys were just too big for their britches, it would seem. Just after I got my growlers filled, there was a scheduled tour of their brewery. I didn’t need to hear anymore fancy talk, so I passed. I make my own brew anyway, so I have a good idea of how the process goes. Besides, you could look through the window and see the facility.



Please don’t take my bad experience as a knock on the folks at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery. I’ve had some of their beer before, so I sort of knew what to expect. DISCLAMER: Although I am somewhat of a beer snob, that doesn’t make me all-knowing when it comes to beer. We all have our preferences, and mine is definitely not German-style beer. I’m pretty much up for anything though, so I will probably give them another chance (I mean, beer is beer, unless it’s shitty beer like Budweiser.) You should too. If you are in the area, head down to the south side of Charlotte and check them out. Maybe your experience will be better. There were plenty of people there enjoying their beer, so my opinion is obviously not the standard by which to judge beer. I like what I like, and you probably do too. So, go enjoy whatever kind of beer you desire, as I try to figure out a way to improve my racing ability while remaining a beer-drinker. Cheers!

Race Report (For Lack of a Better Title)

Since it’s Monday here at B-43 (and a Monday after a race), it’s only right that I provide a recap. From the looks of things, it would seem that all is not well. From my braking issues to my lack of stamina during the series, I’m starting to wonder if this “season” will be one to remember (or one to forget.) It’s not off to a stellar start, by any stretch of the imagination. While I may sometimes boast that I am some kind of great mountain bike racer, it’s all in jest, trust me. If you can’t detect my sarcasm or my self-deprecating humor, then shame on you.


Sunday morning started as usual, with me waking up to the not-so pleasant sound of my alarm clock, followed by an impromptu stretching session. I made sure I hit all the major muscles in my legs, and then it was off to a nice hot shower to further loosen my tired and achy muscles. That’s when the strangest thing happened. I guess I reached around to far to wash some hard-to-reach spot, and I felt some intense pain. Little Miss Sunshine heard my groaning, and asked what was wrong. I told her I somehow pulled something in my upper back, and that it hurt like hell. She told me that I should have stretched a little more before I got into the shower. While she may be right, I didn’t think I had to worry about getting injured while I performed my daily cleansing routine. I usually do a quick stretch in the morning when I get up, and get a little more in-depth when I get to the race venue. I had no idea that taking a shower had so much potential for injury. Lesson learned. I will heed her advice from now on before I decide to take a shower. Maybe I should just ride my bike in the tub or something. That would be fun.



I got everything ready, and Lunchbox and I headed out the door. The whole ride there I couldn’t stop thinking about how this newly acquired injury would affect my race, and I wondered if I should even attempt it. Well, poor judgment got the better of me, and I signed up anyway. My legs felt fine, so why the hell should a minor injury keep me from competing? My lack of racing ability would do the job just fine in that aspect.


There were a few changes for yesterday’s race. First, there was a course modification. We wouldn’t be starting in the softball field area, which mean that we would skip the horrible spongy climb in the mud to the start/finish line. I was pretty happy about that. Not so much because of the reduced distance, but more because of the energy-sucking power of that particular climb. Maybe I would fare a little better as the race went on. I doubt it though.


Second, there was no rain. That was the biggest surprise to me. While we’ve had plenty of the wet stuff in the last few days, there was not a drop falling from the sky on this day. I knew the course would be muddy still, but not as bad as it had been the last two races. I kept hearing about how the course was in “great shape”, but that was relative to the two prior events. After I took a practice lap, I learned that there was plenty of mud, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as before. I took my place on the starting line and got ready to go.


"Was I sleeping, or just in a shitload of pain?"

After listening to the pre-race announcements, we were ready to start. I had carefully placed myself in the middle of the pack, hoping to keep my position for most of the race. The plan was to gauge my stamina throughout the race, and make my move when the time felt right. When the signal was given, we all took off.



I didn’t have to take off at a super-fast pace, since the pack sort of eased into it. There was quite a bit of rubbing though, and about two seconds into it, one guy went down. He didn’t crash to bad, and was able to recover quickly. However a few seconds after that, I attempted to pass a cluster of fellow racers and another guy went down. This guy wasn’t so lucky. He hit the pavement hard, and took out a few of the other racers too. While it looked pretty bad, I managed to steer clear of that mess. I made a mental note that I would at least be ahead of one person, even if I sucked the big one. I didn’t think that guy would be able to ride very well, since it looked like he hurt himself pretty bad. I later learned that he taco’d his wheel during the crash, causing him to DNF.


We entered the singletrack, and I stayed with the group. I pushed at a moderate pace, trying to maintain my heart rate so that I would have plenty of giddy-up to attack on the climbs. This strategy actually worked pretty well, since I managed to pass a few people on the fire-road climb back to the parking lot. I passed the start/finish line a little ahead of where I started. Lap one was in the books.
Lap two was a little more of the same, but the pack was spreading out. The leaders were leaving he rest of us, so I decided to pick it up a bit. It was then that I noticed that my rear brake was gone (again), but I had plenty of braking power up front. I decided to make due with what I had, so I cane up with a new strategy. I would do my braking before the banked turns, and let my momentum carry me through them. This would have been a great idea, except that the turns were still a bit sloppy. I leaned in hard on every turn to keep from flying over the top. I pushed up the final climb, up over the rock garden, and made my way up the fire road.


It was then that I noticed that my heart was racing, so I took a lot of deep breaths to calm me down. I continued to shift gears up the climb, which made my heart rate increase even more. As I passed the start/finish line, I saw my racing buddy Patrick in hot pursuit. I motioned for him to pass me as we hit the singletrack again. I tried to stick to his wheel, but I was blowing up again. He said, “Come on, I need you.” I tried to use that as motivation, but he kept slipping away. I could see him up ahead for most of the rest of the race, so I tried like hell to get back to him. Our friendly rivalry wouldn't benefit me at all on this day. I just plain sucked.


As the race went on, I slowly recovered. During my recovery time though, a few of the racers I passed eventually regained their lead over me. I was in the back of the middle of the pack, which didn’t really give me a shot of moving up much. All I could do now was survive (which has become a recurring theme for me.) I did manage to pass someone else, but I never did catch Patrick.


As the race came to a close, I started to feel better. Too little too late, which is the usually the case with me. I really need to figure out some way to peak at the right time. My pathetic race outing netted me a finish of 12th place, which isn’t too bad I guess. I found out that in addition to the crashing guy that didn’t finish, there was another. Two DNF’s probably helped me get to 12th place, but there’s no way to tell. I actually felt pretty good when it was all over, aside from the horrible pain in my back.



As the day went on, the trail conditions seemed to improve. The rest of the day’s races probably had a lot to do with it. The trail was packed in pretty good, even though there were still quite a few muddy spots. We headed out on the trail to capture some action from some of the other races. At the very least, maybe I could learn something. One thing I’ve learned already is that I have a lot to learn.


Here we have my friend (and local XTERRA triathlete) Peter having a romp in the mud:



Here is our local Mountain Bike Geezer, Steve, tearing up the Masters class:



Here’s a guy from the American Classic/Kenda Team hitting the rock garden.



Local pro racer Robert Marion made the Expert Class pretty interesting:



That’s all for today, folks. I have more stuff in the works, but I have a week’s worth of blog to fill. This isn't a race, so I can't blow it up on the first day of the week.

Brakin’

Yesterday I spent a lot of time thinking about my current brake situation (not the corny 1980’s cult classic above), and how I can resolve it without throwing a shitload of cash at it. We’re not rolling in dough around here at B-43, so I need to do this a cheaply as possible. Besides, the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth is not my primary ride, so I can’t really justify any big expenditure on it anyway. I can see myself using that bike a lot more this season, but Goose will always be my primary bike love.


Anyway a friend of mine, local wheelie guru and grill master Benson, ran into a similar situation with his hardtail machine. He purchased a new suspension fork for his older-model hardtail, and it was disc only. Rather than run a front disc brake and a rear v-brake (I've considered this), he decided to take matters into his own hands. Since he has the availability to machine parts in his line of work, he came up with a clever solution. A high-quality, handmade disc brake adapter for his hardtail.



I had heard about this on the Tarheel Trailblazers website, and I was intrigued, although I didn’t have an older-model hardtail of my own at the time. I spotted this close-up photo on his page on The Facebooks, and I thought I would share it here (without permission, but I did give him credit so step off.) As you can see in the photo, it does the job just fine and it looks professionally made too (I guess he is a professional in manufacturing parts anyway.) It sure beats the alternative, a super-expensive disc brake conversion kit.


When I inquired about it a few months ago, he stated that he had another one made, and that I could try it. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now that I am having issues I asked him about it again. He stated that it would probably be compatible with my bike, but that we should schedule a grillin’ and chillin’ session to do some brainstorming. He is well known around here for his affinity for beer, and also his prowess on the grill. I haven’t replied back to him as of yet, but it looks as if I will be taking a trip to the south end of town to get this party started (so to speak.) I mean really, what do I have to lose? I could even bring him some of my home brew as a token of appreciation. It’s time to get the ball rolling on this one, I guess.


While I don’t foresee this conversion happening before the 2010 Winter Short Track Series is over, it would definitely make it more appealing to use my hardtail for other events or even regular rides. If this works out, I may have to supply him with homebrew for a good long time. Stay tuned.


This weekend is shaping up to be another mudfest, provided we don’t get another round of snow (there is a chance according to our inaccurate weather forecasters.) Race number three of the 2010 Winter Short Track Series is this Sunday, and I can’t wait to get back outside to ride. Although the muddy conditions have been hell on me and my bike, I’m glad to have the opportunity to ride outdoors. I don’t think I can take another day of trainer hell. Full race report next week, if there is a race to report.

Stir Crazy

All of this riding my bicycle indoors crap is really making me go nuts. Between the X-Bike and my own home trainer ride, I’m really starting to forget what it’s like to ride on a trail or a road. I decided to do something last night that would hopefully get my mind off of it.



Yes, beer does help, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. I grabbed one of my favorites from the Carolina Beer Company (the lovely Cottonwood Endo IPA), and set out to figure out why the hell I keep loosing my braking power during the Winter Short Track Series races. It’s not always about the beer around here, but it does help.


Anyway, I started with the front brake, since it puzzled me the most (I hardly use it during the short track races.) I took a look and saw that the cable tension hadn’t changed from the last time I adjusted it. So, why were the pads so far away from the rim?



Please excuse the shitty photos. I was too lazy to go upstairs and get the real camera, so Blackberry photos will have to do for now. I adjusted the cable tension again and tested it out. I had good braking power, which will now give me the ability to endo on cue. That will serve me well in the next race.



Next up was the rear brake. As you can see from the above photo, I snapped this one after I made the adjustment. Again, I couldn’t figure out why the cables were so far out of whack. I know cables stretch, but this was ridiculous. Upon further inspection, I discovered what was happening.



The brake pads (front and rear) were worn down like an old country road. The problem though, is that I have only ridden this particular bike a handful of times. I don’t really brake that often, so it must be the quality of the pads. It could also be the horrible conditions I’ve faced on the trail, but I’d rather blame the components. Keep in mind that I built this bike up on a relatively small budget, especially when it came to the brakes. Since the frame was v-brake only, I couldn’t see spending anything significant for a style of brake that I hated to begin with. I thought I would just make do with sub-par components. The plan was to race this bike and then if I liked it, upgrade to better parts down the road. That’s still the plan, so now I will most likely have to suffer with poor braking ability for the rest of the series.


I guess I can worry about that mess after the race series is over. I have a list of parts that I need, and I shouldn’t have any problems acquiring them. I’ll be looking for new cranks, shifters, rear derailleur, and of course, brakes. I’ll spend the dough this time for good shit, since I kind of like the idea of riding a hardtail bike (on occasion.) I’ll concentrate on that when I go back to riding my full-squish bike, Goose.


Shifting gears (stupid intentional bike pun), I have no idea what’s in store for the weekend. There is another winter storm approaching, so that could put a damper on my racing plans. I hope not, since I don’t know if I could stand another day on the trainer. I’d like to head out and do some skateboarding with Lunchbox this weekend, but even that will be somewhat of a chore. Our favorite local spot, Soul Ride Skatepark, has closed. They are moving to a new location, but that will take up to four months. There are a few other parks around, so we may check out one of them. Hopefully I don’t go crazy by then.

It’s That Time Again

Wow, what a shocker. We are cursed with yet another round of shitty weather here in the Charlotte area. I don’t particularly care to talk about the weather all the time here, but it affects me a lot. When you like riding bicycles and being outside a much as I do, then the weather can have an adverse effect. We did have a good time on our snowy weekend, but now we’ve been dealt a round of cold rain. I’m starting to think that I will never get to ride a bicycle outside ever again. Calgon take me away.


Since there’s not a whole lot of bicycle stuff to talk about today, I thought that it might be time again for another installment of my Internets Art Collection. I have plenty of these things to use on a rainy day (oh how fitting.) Enjoy.


I have to say that I’ve never seen anything like this one before. While I admire his ingenuity, I can’t help but wonder how safe this thing is. Judging from the rolled-up sleeves on the rider, I’d say he’s down for a little danger.



While this is not an actual bicycle, per se, it still has a place amongst the collection. It serves as a warning to riders that you shouldn’t turn your handlebars sideways when there are chunks missing from the road. From the looks of the sign, someone found out the hard way.




This one takes us back to much simpler times. Way back when you could hang out in front of the White House without getting harassed by Secret Service agents, this couple was enjoying a nice day riding down Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. President, would you like to try this fancy four-wheeled machine?



This one serves as a lesson. If you see your front wheel that far ahead of you, don’t try to reach out and grab it. You could end up dead or worse.



Do you enjoy music, but hate carrying around that bulky Ipod? Well, here’s an idea for you. Bust out the violin and create your own playlist. Just make sure you dress the part. The London Symphony Orchestra may be watching you.



Remember Harrison Ford, the guy who played Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and other action heroes? Well, that guy is apparently no more. He is a kinder, gentler man now. I mean, could you be a tough guy with a flowery basket on your bike?



Keeping with the celebrity theme, here is pop star/actress/former Fly Girl Jennifer Lopez taking it to the streets. I guess J-Lo is trying to keep her giant ass from turning into Jell-O. What the hell is she wearing anyway?



Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. Don’t worry dear sinner, my bicycle-confessional booth and I will come to you. Who has time to go to church these days anyway?



I know cycling can be a dangerous sport, but our boys in the desert have taken it to a whole new level. With 100 pounds of gear, no wonder the back tire is flat. Maybe that’s why the kids are laughing. Or maybe they’re crying because he just traded them a crappy Hummer for that nice bike. Who knows.



That’s it for today, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of my Internets Art Collection. And I also hope that the weather around here improves so I can actually talk about my own bicycle-related adventures, rather than living vicariously through others. Tune in tomorrow; same Bat time, same Bat channel.

What’s next?

Well, after a fun day in the snow, the next race in the 2010 Winter Short Track Series was up next. However, the weather had different plans. Since the roads were still covered in ice all over Charlotte on Sunday, the race was cancelled. What the hell was I gonna do? I had to ride, but the bad weather meant that no trails would be open. That also meant that taking out the road bike would be hazardous to my health. Skinny tires plus ice would not be a good mix. I had an idea though. I would borrow the trainer from Little Miss Sunshine and get some “saddle time” in.



Yep, I had to ride indoors yet again. At least it was a little more pleasant this time though. I popped in a movie and pedaled away. I rode four about 45 minutes or so, working up a sweat in the nice warm confines of my house. When I was almost finished, I heard an odd sound outside. I hopped off the bike and saw that Little Miss Sunshine had begun shoveling the ice from the driveway without me. The right thing to do was to go downstairs and help her, and that I did. The driveway was a mess, and it had to be cleared if we had any intention of going to work the next day. I grabbed a shovel and helped out.



Mother Nature helped a little, as some of the ice was melting from the streets. I needed fuel to finish the job though. After a quick check in the beer fridge, I noticed I was getting a little low. With the driveway cleared enough to get out, I headed up to our local grocery store to re-supply.





The snow plow had been hard at work in the parking lot, but the roads up to the store still sucked. I grabbed my rations and headed back home. I quickly restocked the fridge and surveyed it’s status.



After pouring an ice cold brew, I thought about how to keep it cool while I worked on the rest of the ice and snow removal. I know it must sound weird to drink cold beer outside on a cold day, but that’s how I roll. Piss-warm beer is not an option here at B-43. I came up with a (not so) clever idea to maintain my beer’s cool temperature.



At least me and my beer would be cold while I worked. I continued shoveling the area around the driveway, and I was pleased to have my beer at the perfect temperature. With the help of the sun, the work was nearly done.



I briefly considered bringing out the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth for some fun in the leftover snow, but that bad idea quickly passed. I haven’t really touched it since the last race, and it was in need of some TLC. It looks like I need to have a little shop time to figure out why the brakes quit working every time I ride it. I know the muddy racing conditions are partly to blame, but the main problem seems to be cable tension. The brake cables are brand new, so I guess I can rule that out. Maybe I can just chalk it up to shitty V-Brake action. I am seriously considering investing in a disc brake conversion kit for the rear (the fork is already disc compatible.) They are so expensive though. I can’t justify spending a shitload of money on a bike that I won’t race (or even ride) very much. There has to be some way to get with the times without investing a bunch of dough. I’ll keep looking, or just keep suffering. Suffering is what I do best, you know.

Snow Day

Thanks to Mother Nature giving us a nice winter blast this weekend, I have a little something different for you today. It all started Friday evening as I was headed home from work. The sky opened up and snow was a-fallin’. While it’s nice to get some snow once in a while, it doesn’t make for nice driving conditions. The weatherman said this was to continue through the night, so when I got home we were prepared to be snowed in. Yeah, this is the south, so it doesn’t take much to get snowed in here. I'm sure that people up in Canada are laughing right now.



When we awoke in the wee hours of the morning here at the B-43 Headquarters, we found a Winter Wonderland outside. We couldn’t wait to get out an play in it. Little Miss Sunshine grabbed the dogs and took them out for a snow-walk:



I made us some breakfast (to get ready for a hard day of playing.) Lunchbox had arisen form his standard weekend teenager coma and we filled our bellies. We grabbed all of our snow gear and headed outside. Most of the neighbors were already outside, and they were sliding down our big hill on any and everything they could find:





I grabbed the snow skateboards (yeah, we skate in the snow too) and we joined in the fun. After trying to actually skate on them, we found that it would be more fun to ride on them belly-down in a sled-like manner. We were flying down the hills, with little or no regard to our own safety. This was a snow day, and all rules were now out the window.


Watch out kid, here I come!


Little Miss Sunshine enjoyed being a kid again, while Lunchbox risked his own safety to get this photo.



My neighbor, The Chili Man, was getting’ jiggy with it, skater style.

After playing for a while, we decided that we weren’t extreme enough. I mean hey, this is an extreme sports type blog, so we need to give the readers some action. I busted out my snowboard, all in the name of blog super-stardom:




Please, don’t try this at home, although I am doing this in front of my house.

Lunchbox soon followed suit, and grabbed his snowboard for a little neighborhood ski-resort fun:



Not to be outdone, Little Miss Sunshine grabbed her skis and hit the “slopes.” She bombed the neighborhood hill like a seasoned pro:





Even a couple of our cats got in on the action. Okay, not the sliding down the hill action, but they did have some fun in the snow:





It was a great way to spend a Saturday. We were pretty much stuck in the neighborhood, but that was okay because it was a snow-filled playground. It was nice to be out in the snowy goodness with all of our neighborhood kids, big and small. I wasn’t brave enough to take the bike out in the snow/icy goodness, for fear of breaking something (or myself.) Nevertheless, we had loads of fun. I would have never guessed that I would get to snowboard in my own neighborhood, much less get to do it with out paying for a lift ticket. And you thought B-43 was just about bicycling and skateboards.

Photo credit: Me, Lunchbox, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Chili Man.