The Wash

A little side note first.  After our ride (that I talked about yesterday), we stopped at a local watering hole for some eats and beer.  I barely remembered the name of the place (Noble Hops I think), but I will never forget the décor.  Especially since I took a photo of it…

I looked at all of them.  I remember seeing some Bobby Brown, Janet Jackson, and R.E.M.  It was odd, but really cool at the same time.  I once had a cassette tape collection that big.  Sigh.

Anyway, when we sat down to eat our server made a comment about the beer on my shirt.  You know, this one:

I said, “Beer?  That’s me.  The uh, cartoon version.”

“No way”, she said.

“Yup.”  And I pointed at D-Wayne and told her, “And it’s this guy’s artwork.”

She thought we were full of it.  I guess I wouldn’t have believed me either.  I mean, what kind of asshole goes around with a cartoon picture of himself on his own shirt.

So yeah, silly story I know.  When we got back to Casa de D'wu, we started talking about “The Wash.”  I’d asked the day before why they have a river behind the house with no water in it, and I was informed that it’s basically a spillway for the few times it rains in the desert.  I thought it was neat, but my curiosity grew when D-Wayne said we could ride there after he worked on his bike a little.

He needed a test ride.

There was a short trail there and it was pretty fun.  Well, until the part that had washed away during the last big rain a short while ago.

A lot of was still intact, and we rode out there for a little bit while the little lady napped.  Some of it was fast, some twisty, and sometimes you had to watch where you were going.

Two rides in one day.  Maybe all that training is paying off.

In other news, tomorrow’s regularly-scheduled Fun Friday will not be seen.  Instead, I’ll get to the story of  Single Speed Arizona.  It all started at the crack of dark, and a quick stop for breakfast before Phoenix where I got to see the sun rise in the desert.

I told y’all I was gonna drag this out…

Change Of Scenery

It was pretty chilly when I left for Arizona last week.  With off and on rain as a bonus, I couldn’t wait to get out of here and into some different terrain.  I don’t care for flying, but looking out the window as we got closer to our destination made me kinda giddy.

The little lady and I landed in Tucson around 12:30 p.m. local time, and after grabbing our bags and rental car we headed right over to D-Wayne’s house.  He’d already put our bikes together, but after flying across the country we weren’t quite ready to ride.  Some food and beer were in order first.  We hit up a local spot and hung out for hours (eventually being joined by D-Wayne's better half, Meghan), watching the sun go down, and planning our ride for the next day.  I was excited to be warm, and the little lady was ready to see some cacti and ride in the Arizona desert.  The next morning we headed north to Oro Valley for a “shakedown ride.”

It was warm, but there was a little chill in the air.  We hit the road for a little bit until we reached the trail head, and followed our host into the desert.  Since we were tourists in a foreign land, I took pictures at every opportunity.

It was different for sure.  I’d ridden in the desert before, but this was a little more challenging because one wrong move or poor line choice meant that you would get cut up pretty good.  I kept that in mind the whole ride, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time.

 It was beautiful out there.  At one point, we came up to some open range cattle (which we had been warned about.)  The little lady grew up on a farm, so she had to stop to hang out with them.

The whole time we rode, I was in awe.  The trail was fun and not overly challenging, but the scenery was so amazing (and different from NC) that I couldn’t stop taking photos.  I’m sure D-Wayne was tired of waiting for us so much, but I didn’t want to miss the good picture-taking opportunities.  I’m getting older and I’m sure my memory will become worse at some point, so photos seemed like the best way to remember it all.

Plus, the little lady was so excited to be out there that I didn’t want to take anything away from that.

Besides, he got into the photos a little too.

The little lady was inspired out there in this new (to us) land, and got out of her comfort zone a little.

Sand, rocks, and plenty of cacti.  The Saguaro, which is the type of cactus everyone thinks of when they picture the desert, were plentiful.  They were huge.  The little lady was fascinated by them, and when we found a prime photo op she was happy to oblige.

She is small.  The Saguaro is not.

I am not small, but the Saguaro is still bigger.

The second half of the trail (as you can see) had plenty of rocks.  It was a little bit challenging, but so damn fun.  And yeah, it was pretty.

The views were amazing in this one particular section, so I stopped for yet another photo session.  D-Wayne was happy to oblige.

And he even took a photo of me.

Then things just got silly.

What an awesome day.  We’d been there only 24 hours, but already the trip out west was worth it.  D-Wayne was way more patient than anyone should have to be, since we did more picture taking than riding.  The ride was great, and now I have tons of photos to stare at whenever I want. 

I took almost 400 photos, so you know I’m gonna drag this trip out for a while.  Especially since I wish we were still out there.

Moar photos and maybe some words tomorrow…

Huge thanks to D-Wayne and Meghan for putting us up (and putting up with us) while we played tourist.

By The Time I Get To Arizona

This is the last day of the week for me.  This time tomorrow morning, the little lady and I will be flying the (un)friendly skies on our way to Tucson.  I am excite.  Hopefully D-Wayne and his better half are ready for us.  The last time I checked, our bikes were indeed in AZ and out for delivery in Tucson.  There was a little delay in there for some reason since the original scheduled delivery was supposed to be yesterday.  No big deal as long as they get there I guess.

I’m looking forward to riding in the desert.

It looks dangerous.  Like, “I hope I don’t roll of the trail into a cactus” sorta dangerous. 

I rode in the desert that time I went out to InterBike, but this seems to be a different kind of desert.  I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m basing everything I know on the cartoons I watched when I was a kid.

Okay, that looks moar dangerous than a cactus-infested trail.  At least my bike isn’t made by Acme.

That being said, don’t expect to see me at the short track race this weekend (Lunchbox will be there though.)  I’ll be back sometime next week and will resume blogging probably on Wednesday or so.  This is a much needed vacation for us all.

See y’all next week…

Almost All Roadie

I must confess.  I haven’t been on a mountain bike in…way too long.  I guess I’ve either been too busy, or that pesky weather has foiled my plans.  I wonder if I even remember how to ride in the dirt.  I’ve been on my road bike quite a bit though, so I guess that means I might officially be a dirt roadie now.  Or worse.  A regular roadie.

Yuck.

I’ve spent so much time on the road bike lately that I’m actually wearing out parts.  I had to buy new stuff, which kills me because I hate putting money into bikes that don’t ride off road.  I mean, seven years on one drivetrain is good, right?

Shiny.  New.  Another seven years hopefully.

I had to get new tires too.  That’s not really a big deal since Maxxis takes care of me, but I did feel funny getting a box from them without any knobby tires in it.

I do like riding on the road.  I like the dirt moar better, but I just haven’t had the time.  I’m pretty sure that without TotalCyclist, I wouldn’t be riding much at all lately.  I’d like to get in a ride in the dirt here locally sometime this week, but it’s not looking good.  These next two nights are busy after work, and I pissed away my Saturday by hanging around The CyclePath.

Lunchbox did too…

We had to stop by to pick up something.  No big deal.  I was just in there a few days before though, with two bikes…

The little lady’s baby orange bike (B.O.B.) and The Executor.  I took them to the shop, they boxed them up, and they are on the way to Tucson, AZ.  In fact, with an expected delivery date of today, I’m sure they will be at D-Wayne’s house any minute now.  He will have plenty of time to put them together before we get there later in the week.

I’m pretty sure he’ll test out the little lady’s tiny little bike when he gets it assembled.  Mine will probably we perched high atop a cactus or something.

Man, I can’t wait to get out to the desert.

I think.

We Brought The Party

I caved in I guess.  After spending last week casually cheering and heckling the racers, I got bombarded with questions as to why the party wasn’t bigger.  The truth is, I didn’t feel like hauling all that stuff out into the woods, setting it up, and cleaning everything afterwards.  Lunchbox and I discussed it, and realized that it was our duty to provide quality entertainment.  So it was on.

And this time we included a new item, #creepybabyfoot

With Mariachi music and Lunchbox in a nifty sombrero, we once again brought the party…

We even got to cheer on NASCAR racer Jimmie Johnson:

Somewhere in the madness, we ended up with a #creepyadulthand.  Big N Buttery made good use of it:

And of course there was a piñata.  But he was a little dirty thanks to The Gentle Ginger.

It was definitely a party this time, especially when Team Nicky donned his own festive hat.

Yeah, I missed the party.  It was good fun and we received lots of thank yous from the racers.  I’ll have to miss the next race due to my trip to Arizona, but I hear that Lunchbox will be out there to carry on the tradition…

This time with a new party theme.

I can’t wait to hear all about it.

Thanks to all the racers that played along with our fiesta.

Fun Friday

It’s been a long week for me for some reason.  I’m very happy it’s over.  Things are looking up though, especially since this time next week me and the little lady will be in Arizona.  I just gotta make it through the rest of the day, which isn’t looking real easy at this point.

I hear ya.

It is Fun Friday however, which means that I can spit out a sorry excuse for a blog (sorrier than usual) just to get out of here.  I haz excite for the weekend.

It’s been cold here again, and I even saw a little sleet yesterday.  Does that mean snow is on the way?  Maybe.  I think the ever so accurate weather people say that there could be some here next weekend.  I won’t be here, luckily.

Lunchbox will though, and I know he will enjoy it.

Watch that again.  It made me chuckle, which is what Fun Friday is all about around here.

See y’all Monday, probably with another report from the party in the woods at the short track.

Caps Not Hats

I’ve been a hat person since way back.  Hats from my favorite sportsball teams, skateboard companies, and even bike company hats the last few years.  I just like having a hat on my head for one reason or another.  Maybe it stems from growing up in Florida, where anything to give you a little shade from the sun was appreciated.  It continued while I was in the Army, since we were required to wear some sort of head covering while we were outside.

It’s not like I’m bald and trying to cover it up.  I just dig hats.  But for some reason, I never could get into the whole cycling cap thing.  I thought they looked dumb and wondered why people wore them (especially after trying one on a few years ago.) 

I did think Wesley Snipes pulled it off quite well though.

I actually thought it was just a roadie thing, but a few of my friends (not roadies) were wearing them.  They pulled it off just fine, but I thought, “Not for me.”

  

Well, that has changed.

  

It started when I got a couple of Walz caps from the HMFIC at DeFeet.  They had the DeFeet logo on them, so even though I wasn’t a cap guy I felt the need to wear them in support of the brand.  Well, slowly it turned into “wearing a few times” to “I almost always wear a cycling cap.”

Photo cred:  Lunchbox

My, how times can change.

I started wearing one of my caps during my TotalCyclist classes and really enjoyed having something to soak up the copious amounts of sweat.  It smelled pretty bad after each class though, so I ended up washing it a lot.  I started worrying about the DeFeet logo wearing off, and since that particular cap was a one time deal I needed another solution. 

I decided to go full on and order directly from Walz.

Made in ‘Merica.  That’s what I’m talking about.

I got something specifically for riding so I wouldn’t mess up my nice ones with the DeFeet logos. 

Ordering was easy, and the price is right.  Shipping from all the way out on the left coast was much quicker than I expected too.  I’ve been wearing this cap during rides and TC classes, saving my other ones for casual wear (and helping me to promote the crap outta DeFeet.)  These are high quality caps, and while I’m probably not in any real danger of wearing out the other ones, it’s nice to have a few now.

I still wear “regular” hats from time to time, but most of the time you’ll see me in a cycling cap, from Walz of course.

And I don’t even ride a fixie or have a handlebar mustache anymore.