- Bad Idea Racing - HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

Some of the biggest rewards I get from the stupid things I do are mental snapshots, frozen moments in time that I can keep in a mental photo album. I think from time to time I am gonna share some of my snapshots. Obviously I will describe them as I don’t have an MRI machine to show you the electrical links in my brain to the memories.

I don’t consider myself very star-struck, but I thought it was pretty neat when I saw Keith Bontrager on the podium early on in the Trans Rockies. I have raced against Tinker and Rishi, but here was a famous (in the bike world) man doing an endurance race for his own reasons, not to make a living. On day four I passed him on a climb (we were both pushing) and he asked me if I was going to the Single Speed Worlds (which were next week). We chatted a bit about the Worlds, and as most mid-race conversations go, we drifted apart and the chatter ceased. Little did I know by a strange set of circumstances I would be sharing floor space with him at the SSWC the next week, eating Indian food with him, and listening to him talk about Lance, endurance racing, and how the L’Alpe D’Huez smells like piss. None of those moments were as striking as the moment we bumped into each other on day six of the TR.

Stage five was supposed to be the queen stage(mac-daddie, the worst) of the TR. It was hard, but day six offered up it’s own share of suprises. We started in a cold (38 degree) rain that died off and climbed an endless route of thick-muddied rollers that ate derailleurs for breakfast. My partner James had really suffered the day before and was still feeling the effects. I would just go out and get ahead, stop and look back until I saw him, and then go at it again. At some point along the way the rain came back. Just when I thought it couldn’t be worse the rain turned to hail. There I was getting pounded with hail, pushing a 34X19 gear in the Rocky Mounatins, and smiling. While I was mashing on the pedals on the umpteenth climb of the day I caught up to a solitary rider. When I looked over to acknowledge the rider he looked back. The face I saw was the mud-plastered mug of KB sporting a shit eating grin. There we were, in the hail and loving it. Not a word was said, but it was understood that we were getting everything we paid for.

Star-struck? No. Impressed with a fellow human that goes out of his way to be uncomfortable? Yup.

On a side note I picked up my supplies for the Pisgah Gathering last night. Two packs of Ramen, one can of chicken, a 2 liter of Mountain Dew, and a 12 pack of Rolling Rock. Did I forget anything?

Looks like the ducks are lining up in tidy rows for the National MTB Ultra Endurance Series. I have hammered out the major logistics on the first two races. The first one is in Ohio and it should be a no-brainer logistically. The second one in Michigan is a bit more involved. I’ll be passing through Ohio, visiting relatives, and then heading up to MI for the race. I don’t necessarily need to do the MI race as the rules only require participation in four races, but why not. I would love to do them all if possible, but the Breckenridge 100 has a few logistical problems that I don’t have the mental capacity to solve at this time.

Some good news, I get to attend some of the Pisgah Gathering this Saturday. I am going to try to get a long ride in Saturday morning followed by some beers Saturday night. I also have another mountain ride the following week. Somebody decided to get a bunch of enduro-nuts together for a Pisgah pounding adventure. The pace should be high and the route long. My PMBAR partner should be coming so we will actually have a ride together before we toe the line at a 7-10 MTB adventure race.

It’s getting to the time of the year where I can’t stop thinking about bikes, riding, and racing. From this weekend on I have over a dozen big things to look forward to including SPECTATING at a 24 hour race and going up to Banner Elk, NC to do some hard-core NORBA National watching. The only thing that comes close to riding on the fun scale is watching other people doing it better than me.

I think the last time I saw a NORBA National this guy was still around. Style, skills, and so many zero’s in his check it’s like “OOOOOOOOH”. (sorry for the Will Smith reference)

When I got home from the beach I found my Trans Rockies DVD was waiting for me. I have been waiting for it since November, and I was anxious to see it. I was interviewed after day one, six, and seven and Ride Guide TV seemed farily interested in covering the lone single speeder in the field. If I made the cut I plan on shipping a copy out to Dean with the hopes of squeezing some money out of them for future races.

The DVD had an hour long segment that was aired on TV in Canada and Europe. They also included 45 minutes of highlights from each stage that was not aired. I made the highlight reel twice. They filmed me as I was dropping my chamois for the Naked Mile, and luckily they cut away just in time. My other appearance was just after I cleaned a really nasty downhill section. I just got done smoking down a section that most of the riders around me were walking, wrecking, or creeping down. Instead of showing me descending they chose to show me talking about the course while I waited for my partner to catch up. I mumbled something about roots, rocks, and sweet singletrack. Oh well.

I was more concerned with what aired on TV. I ended up slightly dissapointed. I appeared four times in the version that aired, but none of the interviews made it. They filmed me zipping into my tent (the shot was staged), and they included a brief shot of me going down a rooty section of singletrack (behind a slower rider). My other inclusion should make my mom proud. All the finishers assembled on stage in their “TR finisher” shirts. A couple people stand out in the crowd, and I am certainly not easy to miss. I am not wearing my TR shirt. I am wearing my Burn 24 hour shirt, a Colnago cycling cap, and I am two fisted with a cup of coffee and a Canadian beer. I am also doing my best Axl Rose “Welcome to the Jungle” scream.

They also got me in the credits with my back turned as I was getting congratulation handshakes from other racers. I got a lot of the “hey, you were the guy on the single speed, nice job” handshakes. I remember some of them. I also remember trying to get people to wrestle me at the post race party. I really did my best to be a SS ambassador.

The video was well made and I enjoyed it. A lot of pleasant memories were captured and I will have something to watch when I am sitting in a nursing home in a few decades. The bad news is I have nothing to send to Dean. The good news is I don’t have to pirate the DVD, and write a letter begging for money. It is a lot easier to do nothing than to do something.

I am back from the beach.

Here I am enjoying myself at a local tourist trap in Myrtle Beach.  My wife was kind enough to snap the photo of me.  She told me sometime ago that I have two speeds, off and on.  Here you see me in the “off” mode.

Since there were a mess of comments Friday I will take the time to reply real quick: 

Chris-  Thanks for the offer.  I may have to take you up on the place to crash in Denver.  I am going to put some effort into making the CO race. 

Dave and Linda-  Look forward to seeing you at the E100 in Utah. 

Adam-  I will be sure to get something ironed out with you before the race.  I usually cut these trips kinda close so I will probably be in SLC Thurs PM or Fri AM and be leaving sometime on Sunday. 

Mario-  I may be picking your brain right back as I have penciled Italy in for next year. 

Jennifer-  I will still be at The Burn offfering up support, and you can feel free to bother me all you want between now and then. 

Eddie and Namrita-  No need to miss me at The Burn.  I’ll be lingering, carousing, supporting, and imbibing all over the place.  Can you say “Tricycle Race”? 

Scott-  I’ll try to make the Breck race happen.  It is just the most difficult one as far as logistics go for me.

Tomorrow I’ll get back to my usual B.S.

Since I woke up at 5:40 this morning before leaving at 8:00 for the beach I figured I would post something about my current news. Due to recent circumstances and opportunities I am reluctantly withdrawing from the Iron Bike stage race that I was going to compete in this July. The organizers were very understanding, and I hope I get the chance to go there next year. I will be thinking about Mario Correa and Louise Kobin while they are duking it out across the pond later this summer.

Instead of Iron Bike I will end up doing this. The US National Endurance Series was just announced this Wednesday. It will be a series of six 100 mile races in the US of which you must compete in four to qualify for the overall. I will be able to drive (affordably) to at least three events, and possibly a fourth. You are required to do at least one western event and thanks to a free airline ticket(in the continental US) and the help of another enduro nut I will probably do the Park City venue.

It was a hard decsion, but a few things made it easier. I have enjoyed the opportunity to do two major stage races in the last two years, 04 La Ruta, and 05 Trans Rockies. Racing Iron Bike would have been like eating a third bowl of chocolate ice cream. Sure I want it, but that doesn’t mean I should eat it, and in this case I will get to have a bowl of Neopolitan to top me off. I have never done a 100 mile race, not including hitting 100 miles in a 12/24 hour race. My first one will be the Cohutta 100 in less than a month so I will be using that race to sort the whole thing out.

I will also have to give up The Burn 24 hour race in May. I have been at that race every year since it was the Prolyte back in 2001. The first event in the series is a week later in Ohio and I know I can’t recover from a 24 hour event in one week. I might also loose the Cowbell 12 hour race in June if I choose to travel to Michigan the week before. If I can recover I might do it anyways as I would be the returning SS champ (in my mind I was racing the gearies too).

Each race of the series attracts me for different reasons. The Ohio stage takes place in the Mohican Wilderness. I raced XC there quite a few times back in the 90’s when I was an Ohioan(?). The Michigan race perks my interest as I have only been there once. In the early nineties I went up there to see the NORBA nats in Traverse City (the last Olypic qualifier) and it was a hoot. I love the terrain and the lay of the land so I would love to go back. I would skip the Colorado race as I only have one free airline ticket and go on to the Wilderness 101 in Pennsylvania. I raced up there at the SSWC05 and it was the hardest and most challenging 30 miles I have ever seen so why wouldn’t I want to go back and triple the mileage (and then some).

What can I say about Park City, UT? It took Tinker over 10 hours to do it and it has over 18,000 feet of climbing on almost 100% single track. Brutal, just brutal. Add to that I might get to hang out with some western nut balls and it sounds like a party. The final race is the Shenandoah 100, and attendance is mandatory. Well guess what, I was going anyways. This race has been on my list for way too long and I was going to cross it off in 06 no matter what.

So there you have it. My whole year turned on its edge in a couple days. I think that a week long stage race is hard, but keeping in shape and on the razor from April 22 till Sept 3rd will be even harder.  Two of the races are only two weeks apart and the final two are consecutive weekends. It’s not like I plan on winning the series, but if I am going to commit this much time, energy and $$$$’s I am going to give it everything I have.

Since I was in such a hurry this morning please excuse the 342 grammatical errors and misspellings. I am off to the beach, and hopefully I will have more fun than this guy.

I am off to the beach tomorrow so there won’t anything to see here. I did get my new eye candy yesterday, and it was everything I hoped it would be. I won’t get to ride it till next week, sigh.

I just didn’t have time this morning to get a decent photo. It is an IF 29′er fork. Not very many were made and this one is now mine. I love a beautiful unicrown fork. Even my Gazzaloddi 3.0 fits in between the legs. Sorry Walt Works fans, but I just like the look better. 

I read this on MTBR this morning:

Funny, I told my friend that a few years ago. We are basically repeating history. The only comforting thought is although something my have been done before it has never been done by (insert own name here) before. Truly our experiences should matter most to ourselves.

There might be some very interesting news on my horizon. We shall see.

Here comes the sun, doo n doo doo

Not a whole lot going on.  My new Dean happiness should be coming from the Brown Santa today.  That means I will be running home to put it on and stare at it.  I think I saw one of the dead sexiest bikes ever on MTBR today.  I told you that the best looking bikes are 29′ers.  I start looking at my Suzuki Samurai as money in the bank sometimes.  Gotta shake that thought off. 

I was reading too much MTBR lately and considering swapping to a flat/wide bar instead of my low rise carbon bar.  I want to get my bike sorted out before the Cohutta 100 that is only one month away.  I am hoping that the saddle I ordered gets here in time to get a few rides on it before then.

I really wanted to try a Brooks, but I am too worried about multiple days of rain having an adverse effect on the leather.

My only currrent dilemma is choosing between a very fast paced long ride with a bunch of enduro nuts on April 9th OR the Pisgah April Fool’s gathering.  I know the enduro nut job ride would be better for my body, but the gathering would be good for my soul.  I won’t get as much riding in if I go to the gathering, but I will probably get more laughs.

Kahlil Gibran
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

I ordered the 05 Trans Rockies DVD back in November. I noticed on the TR forum that people were receiving them in February. When I got around to inquiring why I hadn’t received mine I found out that they tried to bill me in February on a credit card that was lost in December for an order I placed in November. I called last Monday and got it all cleared up. It should be in Charlotte sometime this week with the express $$$$hipping (or not).

For those of you just joining in on my life I participated in the 05 Trans Rockies on my single speed-(scroll up). I was the first rider to ever do it in such a manner and I had a great time. I wasn’t going to buy the video, but they did interview me quite a bit so I went ahead and pulled the trigger. If I ever put some effort into obtaining some sponsorship the TR DVD might go a long way as it was aired in Canada and parts of Europe. If the interviews didn’t make the final cut I’ll still end up with a good way to preserve the memories.

Well yesterday I got my package in the mail from Canada. When I ripped it open I found out they accidentally shipped me “Survivor Man”. That’s just my luck. I don’t understand why it always seems like I am on the receiving end of the shit-stick. I always have the worst of luck when it comes to mail order expectations. After I made another phone call to Canada things are hopefully cleared up, and it looks like I have a free copy of “Survivor Man” to enjoy forever.

Why wouldn’t I want a video featuring a man playing in a waterfall wearing nothing but a big leaf and a smile?

Here’s a picture of the foster dogs for those of you that inquired about them.(click for a bigger pic) The one on the right has a boo-boo on her nose that is being treated.

Iron Bike fact of the week; Registration is two thirds full. Do I have any idea what that means numbers-wise? Nope, but I am glad I got in. It looks like it will end up being a sold out event.

I am looking at a couple of four day work weeks in a row. We are going on a long weekend beach trip so I get the pleasure of two abreviated versions of reality broke up by four days of relaxation. Do I do well on vacations where the main objective is peace and quiet? Does a bear hold it until he can get to a public facility? Hell no. Usually my vacations involve hours of riding, and the only relaxation I enjoy involves REM sleep. My wife prefers walks on the beach, lounging by the pool, and looking at the ocean. Once and awhile I do the vacation thing her way. I might take my fixie along in case I get cabin fever or eat too much fried food.

I got a couple rides in this weekend somehow managing to do 13 miles each day. More than two laps at a local trail and I stop having fun and start training. I don’t wanna cross that line.

I should have a new addition for the Dean show up by the end of the week. If I am lucky I might actually get it soon enough to install it before I go away for the weekend.  Nothing sucks more than getting a new toy and not being able to play with it. It’s kinda like getting a bike for Christmas when there’s ten feet of snow on the ground.

Growing up in Ohio can turn a boy into a man quick.

Man, my blog has been all over the place this week; consumerism, bacon, style, Kevin Bacon, “Worlds”.  Spring is in the air and my ADD is coming into full bloom.  I feel like I am in a good mood this morning and I don’t know why.  It might be because this morning I chose to take the short route to work so I could stay home and play with the new foster puppies.  Willow and Windy are two yelllow lab puppies (of a litter of seven) found in a dumpster.  No matter how bad of a day I have nothing can keep me from smiling when I see those two faces.

I guess I am going to skip the Georgia single speed championships this weekend.  I hope everybody heading that way has a good time.  I just don’t think I can fit it in this weekend.

I have been trying to let the decision about whether or not to attend “Worlds” sink in.  Stuart hasn’t announced the qualification process yet, but I’m pretty sure I at least qualify under the grandfather clause.  I have reasons to go, and I have reasons to not go.  Kinda hard to even think about it as it is 7 months away.

I finally gave up my recent fight with a few sadlle sores.  Hot water and patience have had little effect on my latest uninvited crotch dwellers.  When I start thinking about naming them I realize that they have overstayed their welcome.  I usually wait for a few months to see if they will clear up, but with some bigger events looming on the horizon I went ahead and picked up some drugs Wednesday.  I have a longstanding prescription for anti-biotics with my Doc, and I have had to resort to drugs a few times in the last five years.  There has to be a better way.  Have they invented prosthetic taints yet? 

  I didn’t do it!  The man with the prosthetic taint did it!