Allan Atkinson

New Happenings

2010-08-08T07:54:00.002-04:00

A good deal of new stuff going on around here. A promotion at work has been the biggest. It comes out to less hours a week and more money. Yes, I'm extrememly lucky. It's a little bit more stress right now with the training but people have been telling me that I'm actually smiling at work these days so that's new. The downside to this has been missing out on 2 races that I thought I'd be doing til I couldn't ride anymore. ORAMM and Fool's Gold. It sucks but I'll be back at both next year. On the plus side. They're still going to let me have the vacation I asked for in September so I can visit family and participate in the inaugral Skool of Hard Knox 50. A 50 mile bike race around Choctaw Lake near beautiful Ackerman, MS. I was born in Ackerman and 75% of my family still lives in that area so this is a win/win for me. I'm also planning on doing the Swank 65 for the 1st time this Nov. The same guy(Todd) who does ORAMM does this one also so I'm looking forward to it. There's also a new to me race happening near Atlanta in October that I plan on hitting up if I can. I don't remember the name though. Sorry. Anyway, fun and exciting times ahead.

Confession

2010-01-07T07:37:00.002-05:00

I love mountainbiking. Absolutely love it. Everybody who knows me knows this. Most don't know I love football just as much. Maybe more. Growing up in Alabama, Coach Bear Bryant was a larger than life figure. I remember when he retired the state basically shut down. Yeah, it shows some out of whack priorities but it is what it is. One of the other big memories of this kind of stuff is a guy who lived in the same town I did had his truck specially ordered from the dealer so it could be painted in Alabama colors.

Anyway, all of this obsession comes to a head tonight. Alabama is playing or the mythical national championship for the first time in 17 years. I've been a nervous wreck for weeks. Last night I barely slept. I have a "lucky" t-shirt, cap, and jeans that I've worn for every game this year and I've got it ready for tonight. Is this healthy behavior for a 41 year old man? Nope. Not at all. But again, it is what it is. It's gameday!!!!!

ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-26T08:21:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving folks. Hope everybody gets out on a ride and then stuffs themselves. In that order!

I'm back....

2009-11-20T08:47:00.002-05:00

..the fog has lifted. Blah,blah, blah. Actually still sort of got some brain fog going on. Trying to decide if I should give a go at the Southern Cross in January. From what I hear it's a blast and how can 8000 feet of climbing in 50 miles be anything but a good time? Hmmmmmm...deisions, decisions.

2009-09-29T06:46:00.001-04:00

'Nuff said.

2009-08-02T06:51:00.003-04:00

I'm still alive. Anything worth knowing about my life (which, let's face it, aint much) is over on Facebook. Befriend me if your on there and not my F.B.B. already.

No excuses....

2009-06-03T07:06:00.003-04:00

...none. Nada. I'm not going to go through the usual.."I've been to busy to blog" stuff. The honest reason is...I really can't think of any way to make commuting to work, work, doing push ups and sit ups, and riding my bike sound intresting to me. Much less to the 3.6 people who read my drivel. All is not bleak in my world though.

In a little over 2 weeks is the Cowbell Challenge. This will be my first race of the year. I know a mid pack finish is the best I can hope for, but still, I cannot wait. I love everything about this stuff. The atmosphere, hanging out with people who think like I do about bikes and all things biking, all of it.

I've dropped 10 pds in the past few months. Thanks again Namrita. Seriously, she took this nutrtition thing, something I've always made as complicated as calculus in my head, and made it really simple. If your looking for any help or advice on this subject. E-mail her. Now. Go on. I'll wait. http//www.55nineperformance.com/

Commuting to work still rocks. Despite rainy mornings or nights, rude drivers, some unseasonably cold mornings and such, it is still one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Hope everyone is doing well. Have a good one.

Slow times

2009-04-15T06:33:00.003-04:00

Not a lot going on in Allanworld. Still commuting to work by bike, which is a lovely thing. Definitely helps the mood. I've started the 100 Pushup Challenge. MY upper body strength is pathetic so I'm going old school and reverting back to my military days by doing a ton of push ups. It's a 7 week plan that builds you up to doing 100 consecutive push ups. It's pretty sweet. They also have a 200 Sit up and 200 Squat plan. I'm starting the sit up plan today and thinking about throwing the squat plan in on alternate days of the push ups. Anybody who might be intrested can check it out at http://hundredpushups.com. You can link to the sit up and squat plans from the sidebar on the left.

The weather is finally starting to come around. We've had a good bit of rain lately but we've really needed it so it's cool.

The Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race is a go!!!!!! Now to ove heaven and earth and whatever else I've gotta do to sign up for it, train for it, and all other things for it.

Hope everybody is having a great week. Later folks.

Rants from the road

2009-03-26T08:19:00.002-04:00

I'm sure this is a rant and a subject that others have noticed before but, here goes. Why is it that a persons sense of self importance increases with direct proportion to the size of the vehicle they drive? It seems the bigger the SUV or truck the more of a hurry they seem to be in. Is it because it takes them so long to back the boats they drive out of their driveway or do they honestly feel that since they have the biggest gas hog on the road that everybody else has to get out of their way? I'm pretty sure that some of them aim their side mirrors at me. Obviously these people are really in a hurry. Heck, the lady who brushed past me a few days ago didn't even have her kid strapped into the car seat. After she shot by me I noticed her young son watching me from his car seat. The bad thing? He was turned around, facing backwards while kneeling on the seat. Sheesh.

F'n real world

2009-03-12T14:21:00.003-04:00

Well...it's been a few years but the random hand of life has decided to meddle with me. Found out a few days ago that my truck was going to need some major engine work done. Apparently Chevrolet decided to make things real easy for mechanics by locating the oil pump in a place that requires the engine be totally removed to replace it. Which means....mucho dinero. So..there goes the 1st half of this summers fun budget. Hopefully I'll be up and going budgetwise by June for the Cowbell. I was supposed to do the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek in about 3 weeks but it's looking like that won't happen. I'm not even sure the truck will be running by then and I'm not riding to Wilkesboro. LOL. This sucks but...things happen and it could've been much,much worse. At least I'm not replacing an entire engine.

Good luck to anybody racing this weekend. Have fun folks.

I blame El Nino

2009-03-02T10:12:00.002-05:00

It's March and we have 2-4 inches of snow. It's only supposed to get up to about 30-35* today so it's probably not going anywhere anytime soon. Sigh. Looks like a trainer sort of day.

Do your duty!!!!!!

2009-02-19T10:33:00.003-05:00

Go vote for the Breck Epic Blogger Challenge. Send Dicky to Colorado!!!! Imagine the hilarity of his posts. The bad nutrition and hydration decisions..etc..etc..etc. Also..you should send Tomi and Lynda W. If for no other reason than to be like me. HA!!!!

Long Time Ago.....

2009-02-11T08:49:00.004-05:00

Several months ago a friend of mine from the Air Force days told me about a website called KC-10.net. It's a website dedicated to the Airplane I spent my time working on. Well, I mostly worked in the snack bar, but in theory, I worked on the KC-10. Anyway, last night I was puttering around on the site and came across a pics thread in the forums. I started looking through them and was having a good time recognizing old faces and such when I came across an entry with some scanned pics. It was by my friend Eric Schrefler. He said they were pics of some guys we hung with and other folks he didn't remember. Then I saw him mention the names Opie and Mosh. For the 3 years I was stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force base in beautiful Goldsboro, NC I went by the name Opie. I'm sure it was my boyish good looks that earned me this. One of the other guys I hung out with a lot was Jim Massey aka Mosh. Lo and behold there was a pic of the 2 of us. I don't remember exactly when the pic was took but judging by my stylish Poison tour shirt I'm guessing it was either 88 or 89. I even had a lot more hair.

In the it's a small world category...Mosh was from Youngstown, Ohio. Which I believe is pretty close to Team Dicky's old stomping grounds. He lives in Warren, Ohio now and I have no idea if that's near TD's old stomping grounds or not. Always sort of weird seeing these kind of old pics.

Hope everybody is having a great week and reaping the benefits of this super warm weather.

some new stuff...sorta

2009-01-29T06:36:00.003-05:00

For the most part I've got nothing new to talk about. No new bike toys. Work is the same old,same old. Other than dreariness and rain the weather has been good, but I'm afraid if I brag about that Brian may hunt me down. ;-)

One new thing I'm trying is a total revamp of the diet. I have a pretty bad one. I work in the restaurant business and I'm pretty bad about "grazing" all day. Usually not the healthiest stuff either. Anyway, Namrita O'Dea was awesome and did a nutrition assesment for me. I highly recomend her to anybody who might want to do something like this. One thing she said that suprised me was despite my grazing all day I wasn't always taking in enough calories. This suprised me. I figured I was taking in way to much. Also, I needed to eat breakfast and not just consume coffee in the morning. OK, I knew this but it still helped having somebody else say it. I've been trying to eat more high quality calories and I've been doing pretty well for breakfast. Usually only cereal but baby steps. I'm usually not at all interested in shoving food down my throat when I wake up whether I'm hungry or not. I've been better about eating some nuts and fruits. Plus I've been eating a mid-day salad at work on most days. If it's to busy to eat I sip a bottle of Hammer Perpetuem for a "meal". It's not optimal but it keeps the fuel coming in. I've been having more energy and feeling better so it's definitely helping. Next thing to work on is cutting down on sweets and fatty foods. This is gonna be the diffucult one.

Thanks Nam!!!

it's the simple things

2009-01-20T06:40:00.002-05:00

I call this one "Sunbeam Happiness"

promises,promises

2009-01-20T06:36:00.003-05:00

I'm promised a bunch of snow by the weatherperson and all I get is this little dusting. Hell, you can still see the grass. Looks like my day goes on as usual.

It's back.

2009-01-13T09:09:00.002-05:00

The music is back. I got bored and started playing around with the blog and added the playlist once again. Added some more songs(Iron Maiden has way to many cool tunes) and we're back in business.

It seems winter has decided to once again grace WNC with it's presence. It's been a pretty cold week and the morning commute to work has been a blast. Still way worth it though. It's scary how much better my mood is at work when I ride.

Hope everybody has a great week. I have to go say my prayers and whatever else the Gods need me to do to assure the Pisgah Stage Race happens and that I can afford it.

Later yall.

here we go

2009-01-09T06:46:00.002-05:00

First "race" is right around the corner. 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. It's a new race on new trail. What more can you ask for? Not much as far as I'm concerned. Yesterday was a joy of a workout. I had about 2 hours between jobs so I hopped on the trainer for about 45 minutes. Did a few sets of 1 minute on/1 minute off puke in your mouth intervals. An integral part of my highly unscientific training plan.

Any of you guys watch the Travel Channels Man Vs. Food? The basis of the show is this guy goes to different cities and tries out different restaurants. The finale is always him attempting a local food challenge. This past week he was in Atlanta doing something called the Carnivore Challenge. He and a partner had 1 hour to eat a 30 inch pizza that weighed 11 pds. 11 FREAKING PDS!!!!!!
5 pds of that was meat!!!!!

So anybody near Atlanta wanna give it a shot? ;-) I'm kidding!!! Mostly.

Hope everybody has agreat weekend. Later folks.

YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!

2009-01-06T18:08:00.001-05:00

Check out http://blueridgeadventures.net.

A PROPOSED Pisgah Mountainbike Stage Race???????

Happy day, happy day!!!!!!!

That fresh, minty feeling....

2009-01-06T06:22:00.002-05:00

..of a new year. Full of new possibilities. Such as, actually losing that weight, or getting faster,or, well..I'm sure there are a bunch of other things also. Anyway, I'm going to start trying to use this blog to help myself be more accountable with this sort of thing. How so? Good question. I'm going to try and start posting my rides, wieght and stuff like that. Hopefully the urge to avoid interworld humiliation will help keep me on track. We'll see.

Hope everybody had a great weekend. Later folks.

HNY

2008-12-31T14:58:00.001-05:00

Happy New Years everybody!!!!! Hope next year is even better!

3,2,1,....YAY!!!!!!

2008-12-29T07:37:00.002-05:00

Only 3 days left in 08. Wow! The year has flown by. Another year of meeting and hanging out with great people, Riding(not as much as I wanted but very few do), the family, work and all the other little bits and pieces that make up what I call my life.

I have a few resolutions for next year. I won't go into them until the 1st. I'm hoping to start using this blog and the 3.5 people who read it to hold myself more accountable for them next year.

I hope everybody had a great year and will have an even better 09.

Later yall.

**&%$@@#@&*!!!!!

2008-12-28T07:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was sunny, clear and about 67 degrees. A perfect day for a long bike ride.

What was I doing?

I'm glad you asked.

I had to work from 7:30 a.m. til 11:30 p.m.

Bah freaking humbug!!!!!!

The karma payback continues.

2008-12-23T07:37:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, all that stuff from the kids, Amanda, and myself.

The Artic South

2008-12-22T07:05:00.002-05:00

A nightitme low of 10. A daytime high in the 30's. Sigh. Seems like winter is here. I'm pretty sure this a karma bitchslap for taunting Brian and Danielle.

Sorry guys.

I'm also sure they are laughing at me and calling me a puss for whining about this. Eh..what can I say..they're tougher than me.

Hope everybody had a great weekend and got all their X-Mas shopping done.

?

2008-12-15T07:45:00.002-05:00

Has anybody who might read this drivel ever done the Snake Creek Gap TT? If so, what would I be getting myself into if I signed up?

It's another lovely Monday morning. Raining. Bleh!!!!

I think I need to try out St. Johns wort. My mood seems to be heading more and more southward.

Hope everybody had a great weekend. Later yall.

Still alive...mostly

2008-12-10T13:34:00.002-05:00

Yup. It's been awhile. I've had my annual beginning of winter illness, which this year managed to hit on T-giving day. For a guy that really likes to eat that's not a good day to be ill.

Not a whole lot else has been going on. Here's a short run thru....

Work-Slower than usual for this time of the year. With the economy circling the toilet people are not out spending moola.

Riding-Not as much as I'd like. I'm also going through my annual winter blahs. This is pretty normal and I'm used to losing enthusiasm for pretty much anything at this time of year. Anybody who has advice on how to beat this feel free to let me know.

Assorted other notes-I admit it. I'm a huge GnR fan and I bought the new GnR(Axl solo project) album the day it came out. Now...I'll admit. I didn't hold out high hopes but I had to hear. The verdict? Actually..pretty decent. I've read some reviews comparing it to Appetite for Destruction but those people are obviously insane and should be locked up before they hurt themselves or others. It's not bad but is nowhere near as good as that.

Hope everybody is having fun and such. Later folks.

2008-11-21T16:22:00.002-05:00

So. I get this Perfect Pushup thingy I keep seeing on TV and hearing about from people. I'm thinking it can't be all that. It's just a gimmick. Wal-mart has a set for 199.99 though so I figure why not? Let me tell you people..this thing makes push ups even harder. The twisting action forces you to use muscles I had no idea push ups even engaged. OUCH!!!! I'm not enjoying the process of raising my arms above my head today. Sheesh, I'm getting old.

It's Obama

2008-11-05T06:49:00.003-05:00

Well, I guess now we get to listen to the Republicans bitch for a recount. HA! I think Obama won by a large enough margin that there is no doubt. I don't know if my life is going to be any different with him in office, but I do think that by electing an African-American President that it shows the good old US of A has taken some major steps forward.

Hopefully politics will never have to be mentioned here again.

To celebrate this historic milestone I think I'll go on a ride. Later folks.

WOOHOO......

2008-10-22T07:11:00.001-04:00

10 beautiful days off. Vacation is a lovely thing. Going to do Oktoberfest this weekend and then flying down to Mississippi to visit family. Hope everybody is doing well and riding lots. Later folks.

obla dee, obla dah....

2008-10-07T08:27:00.002-04:00

...life just keeps going on. I can't believe how fast the year is going by.There's only 2.5 weeks left til the next and last race forthe year. Well the last MTB race of the year anyway. I might try a few CX races this year. WHich means that I need to head out and attempt to develop some mounting/dismounting skills. Bleh. Or, I could just go out and "wing it". That sounds like more fun but much more potential embarassment. Ah well.

Everything else is going pretty well. My second job(Bonefish) helped cater a charity wine tasting last night. We were told to prepare for 350 people. So of course that means that only 150 people showed. The downside..was kind of slow and boring. The upside.....lots of leftover food. All the caterers went around trading food and such. I ended up with a good bit of salmon and several canolis. :-D The 2 girls that went with us to help serve food ended up with a box of wine each. It was definitely a good night. The only downside. I missed the GWAR show. ;-)

Hope everybody had a good weekend. Later folks.

New(sorta) Toys

2008-09-26T06:32:00.004-04:00

I got one new toy and another thats not so new but I haven't talked about yet.

First..the not so new. My old Nike shoes which had served me well for 3 years were finally starting to give out. I found this very distressing because they were super comfortable and all that stuff. Since Nike had quit making shoes and these were no longer available I had to go looking.

Enter the Adidas Marathon.

They were on sale and I'd read some pretty good things about them so I figured I'd give them a shot. They took about a month to break in but I have to say..I'm really liking them. Stiff enough and pretty damn comfortable.

The next toy was much more recent. My old helmet was about 4.5 years old. While it hadn't suffered any real nasty impacts the pads and such were shot and I figured it was time for a replacment. I was going to get another Giro Havoc but I found myself being more and more drawn toward the Giro Hex. It's a bit heavier but it seems to ventilate even better and fits my large,round head much better.

Gotta love the Army green color and semi-macho(as macho as any piece of bike clothing can be) styling. I'm loving it.

Hope everybody has a great day and weekend. Later folks.

Sorry for the stupid pic placement but I haven't taken the time to figure out how to move this stuff around on here.

2008-09-20T00:06:00.002-04:00

There hasn't been a lot going on lately. No big news to speak of. Just work and trying to get ready for the National Mountainbike Octoberfest. It's a weekend long event and probably the closest thing to a stage race I'll ever do. It's a short track on Friday night, a 8 hour on Saturday, and a time trial on Sunday. Should be fun.

For all you Metallica fans...the new album is really good. It's easily the best thing they've done since the Black Album in 91. It sounds more like Master of Puppets or ..And Justice for All though. As far as I'm concerned this is a good thing.

Hope everybody has a good weekend. Later folks.

The big 4-0

2008-09-10T08:22:00.002-04:00

40....4-0....hmmmmmm..just doesn't sound right. There are a lot of people out there who would've lost a lot of money taking bets on me making it this far when I was in my 20's and early 30's. Ah well......to use an old quote and pretty kick ass song. "Life is Beautiful". Time to hit the bike then it's off to the movies for Death Race and then Papa's and Beer for Tex-Mex and sweet tea. Later folks.

Blah,blah,blah

2008-08-12T08:00:00.002-04:00

Nothing really going on around here. Work and trying to get ready for Fools Gold. Starting to bounce up and down waiting for that. :-D

Later folks.

Late addition: I won't get to far into it. Let me just say, if you haven't seen The Dark Knight yet....go..now. Freaking incredible. It lives up to every bit of the hype. Even if your not into "comic book" movies. The world lost an amazing talent when Heath Ledger passed.

2008-08-04T12:36:00.002-04:00

Ok. A very late ORAMM post. Long story short..I blew it..big time. I had a horrible day both mentally and physically. Nothing felt right all day long. Every little thing just seemed wrong. I really don't know how else to explain it. Everything from the way my wingnut fit to how my ipod headphones fit into my ears bothered me. I didn't start out exactly the way I wanted and I let that put me into a mental funk that lasted the entire time. The only good part of the day was seeing a young bear run across the 1,000,000 mile grassy road right before aid station 2. In other words....I acted like a brat. When everything didn't go exactly like I had it worked out in my head I let it bring me down and screw up the rest of the day. I dropped out at aid station 3 and I've spent the past week kicking myself in the ass about it. A friend told me I should work on trying to "flip" my thoughts..finding something positive(like being able to spend a day riding my bike through some of the most beautiful scenery there is) to focus on and not dwell on the negative. Here's hoping I can pull this off.

Hope everybody had a great weekend.

And we're off...

2008-07-27T05:06:00.001-04:00

Off to ORAMM. I'll post a report (good or bad) either tonight or tomorrow morning. Later folks. Gotta love a race where I get to sleep in my own bed. :-D

I give up

2008-07-21T08:46:00.001-04:00

I tried. I really did. I've spent the last 11 months telling myself that ORAMM wasn't that big a deal to me anymore. I was wrong. It's 6 days away and has consumed my every waking thought. This was the first endurance race I ever did and I was instantly hooked. The long climb up Kitsumas switchbacks followed by the ripping descent. The mental hell of the neverending grassy road. The long, painful grind up Curtis Creek. The hair raising fun of Heartbreak. All this topped off by another trip(usually pushing more now) up and down Kitsuma. It's all good. I cannot wait.

Don't get me wrong, Fools Gold is still the beast that haunts my dreams but I was nuts when I told myself that ORAMM was just another fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Bring it on.

2008-07-17T06:39:00.002-04:00

Ugh. Back to work today. I did get some decent riding in though. A 2 hour day of mostly climbing on the parkway monday and then a little over 4 hours on the dirt tuesday. Yesterday was spent doing chores and hanging out with Amanda and her mom. All in all a pretty good "weekend" off. Only 10 more days til ORAMM which means only a little over 4 weeks til Fools Gold. Sheesh. Where the hell does time go. Seems like summer just started. Hope everybody is having a great week.

aches and pains

2008-07-11T06:44:00.002-04:00

We can file this under the category of "Embarassing crashes". Wenesday I headed out toKitsuma for a ride. Parked at the Old Fort picnic area and headed up to the trail. Just as soon as I get onto the trail,the skies opened up big time.Ah well,wet roots and rocks just make it more fun. HA! Got up the switchbacks with only a few dabs(one day....) and headed down. Going down Kitsuma is a blast.It's a narrow ass singletrack descent that requires your full attention. I made it all the way down with only a few small falls.Then as I came out of the woods back into the picnic area I could see my truck and started thinking about dry clothes and dinner. This lapse of attention cost me as my tires hit some wet roots my bike slid out from under me and tossed me down hard. I have assorted bruises and a beat to hell right knee that sort of resembled a softball for a day.The rear deraillur got knocked over hard enough that it required a bit ofadjusting so it wouldn't go into the spokes when I used the granny.That wouldn't have been fun.The lesson learned? The ride isn't over til your off the bike and at your vehicle. This ranks right up there with the 12 hour at Razorbacklast year when I adjusted my glasses and missed the grip with my hand and bit it.Sheesh.

Have a good weekend folks.

papa got a brand new bag

2008-07-02T06:40:00.001-04:00

Finally got my WIngnut Assault. I gotta say it's a good pack. I really like the easily gotten to side zippers. No more having to pull the pack off to reach my multi tool, gels and such. It also feels much better on the back.The lo-rider design works as advertised. Plus,it's super light. Definitely worth the wait.

Got in 4 hours (OK 3 hrs 58 minutes) yesterday at Bent Creek. It was my first time there since they did the new work on Greens Lick thats causing such a ruckus in the NC/SC forum on MTBR. I have to say,I don't get it. I liked it. I'm by far not the worlds greatest technical rider and I handled it ok. I think some folks just enjoy raising hell.

Well, I hope everybody is having a great week.Later folks.

2008-06-30T08:11:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm back to work. Blech!!!!!! Other than that things are going well. I'm off today so it's a "big" ride day. I think I'm gonna hit up part of the ORAMM route. Kitsuma is always fun and I'm really wanting to lay into that long ass dirt road climb on the new bike.

In other news I hit up the used bookstore again and got stocked up for summer. I picked up Tom Clancy's "Red Rabbit" for cheap. Now I only need "The Hunt for Red October" to complete the collection. I don't really agree with the mans politics but I do like a good political/military thriller and he is pretty much the best (in my humble opinion) at that. Plus, Amandas mom has somehow found every Hiasen book but one in hardcover and I'm planning on raiding those and rereading them.

Hope everybody had a good weekend. Later folks.

Cowbell Challenge

2008-06-23T08:09:00.002-04:00

Did the 6 hour option this year. First I want to say thanks to Taylor and the gang for a well run, really fun race. Plus, when I got there to sign in they had put cookies in everybody's goody bag. COOKIES. Pair that with not making us run to start the race off and I'm ready to declare these people saints.

I went into this race with 2 goals.

1. Go out at a pretty hard pace push it for as long as I could

2.DON'T QUIT!!!!!!! I was determined to beat the demons back and shut them up.

3.Ok. This one got added during the race. Clean that freakin uphill logpile.

I can sort of happily report that I accomplished all 3.

I pushed it(for me) the whole race, when my nagging, wussy voice started telling me I was never going to win one of these and that I should just drop out and take up model airplane building I tied it to my seatpost and drug it into submission. I cleared the uphill logpile twice. Of course neither time was when Bruce was there with his bullhorn.

I finished with 5 laps. Would've been more but I flatted the last lap and made it back after the 3 p.m. cutoff. I'm still slow but I'm faster than I was last year.

Hope everybody had a good weekend. Yall come back now.

2008-06-17T17:41:00.002-04:00

Due to the insane number of people(ok 1) asking me to post ride impressions of the Bandersnatch I'm doing 1 more Vassago love fest. Here we go. I'm going to try and break it down into a few different categories.

Climbing-Does very well. I got rid of the spacers and got the front end a bit lower and it does much better now. The front end stays down on the shorter steeper stuff. On longer climbs it seems to do better with seated climbing. That might just be my impression though.

Descending-Excellent. Basically just point and shoot. Really stable and fast as hell.

Handling-Great. Handles the tight, twisty stuff like a champ.

Overall I can't say enough about it.I think it's an awesome bike. The frames is plenty stiff but doesn't beat the hell out of you the way an aluminum frame might. I also use a Reba fork which from what I've read is the worst fork geometry wise for the frame. Can't wait to see how it does with a Fox.

Hells to the yeah!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-16T18:25:00.002-04:00

As of 4p.m. today I am on vacation. 9 glorious days off!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even begin to figure out where to ride first. Decisions,decisions.

2008-06-11T06:39:00.002-04:00

OK. This will be my last post gushing over the new bike. Well, probably not, but I'll try anyway. The more I ride it the more I like it. In fact, I like it so much it's got me considering picking up a SS Jabberwocky this winter. I'm not sure I'm ready for that brand of Kool_ade yet but..why the hell not?

In other news. Things are going better on the home front. My head seems to be clearing up and I'm not sliding into the deep funks that I'm capable of. Work still blows, but hell..that's why they call it work I guess. In other words....things are going pretty damn well these days. For the first time in a while I don't feel like I'm taking aim at my foot and pulling the trigger.

*WARNING* Age alert here. Seems as though Motley Crue has put together a "hair metal" version of Lollapalooza for the summer. Crue Fest. I realize the Crue doesn't have the alternative cool aura of some bands but I don't care. They provided the soundtrack for my high school years(GnR didn't come out til after I graduated..yes I'm that old..and they promptly teamed up with Motley to get me through my military years) and I still enjoy the discs. Anyway, the big festival is coming to Charlotte and has me jonesing to go. I doubt I do..it's hard for me to justify $95 for a ticket to sit all day in the Charlotte sun in July, but I can dream. HA!!!! ah well....rant over.

Hope everybody has a good day. Later folks.

Random stuff

2008-06-03T07:37:00.003-04:00

Resting and getting ready for tomorrow.

Ok. A quick ride report on the new bike. It rocks!!!! When I first got the frame I would stick it up next to my old frame just to compare how it looks. I was always wondering about the geometry. Vassago uses what they call "Wet Cat" geometry and it's a tad different than most of what you see out there. To make a short story shorter..they seem to have nailed it. It climbs as well as can be expected with me doing the pedaling....it's stable as hell when descending and corners awesome. It handles switchbacks with ease. The only thing I still need to tinker with is the height of the front end. It get's sorta light and comes up a bit on the short really steep climbs. Flipping my stem and tossing all the spacers should handle that.

June is here and the next race is a little less than 3 weeks away. The Cowbell Challenge. I'll be doing the 6 hour this year. After that it's 5 short weeks til ORAMM. This has always been the race I thought of every year when the words "bike race" were mentioned. Not anymore. This year it's a way to help prepare for the new monster that haunts my dreams....Fools Gold..aka the race that handed my ass to me on a platter last year..aka the most fun time ever. After that I'm hoping to do my initail attempt at the SM 100 and then the schedule is pretty open. We'll just have to see what happens.

Later folks.

Finally.....

2008-06-02T15:50:00.001-04:00

.....proof that it does exist. Hands down the best bike I've ever had.

quick Burn notes

2008-05-27T06:53:00.002-04:00

1. Didn't go exactly how I wanted but since I wasn't expecting a lot I'm sorta ok with it. Between work and other life stuff I really didn't get to train like I wanted. 24's are much to hard to just "tough it out".

2. When doing the lemans start, make sure your lined up with the RUNNERS not the first lap riders..this will save you the shame of watching the start go off 50 yards in front of you and then having to run all alone like an idiot. Trust me...not fun.

3.Make sure your cleat screws are set right. That way you don't end up with feet that feel like they had nails stuck in them.

4. Nam and Eddie do an excellent job.Even with all my screw ups I still had a great time. There races are easily the most fun out of any I've done.

Hope everybody had a great weekend. Later.

I'm off

2008-05-23T08:14:00.001-04:00

See you folks after the Burn. Hope everybody has an awesome holiday weekend.

2008-05-20T17:11:00.001-04:00

What do you know? All the folks that said the big wheels rock were right.The new bike rides better than anything I've tossed a leg over. Sweet.

At last normalcy...

2008-05-19T10:31:00.003-04:00

..sorta..work hours are back down to normal. Good thing to cuz the new bike is awesome and I feel the need to be riding it constantly. It took a few rides to get used to the bigger wheels and the fact that it's a hardtailand the truth is I'm still not completely used to it but I'm pretty sure I'll be putting in enough hours on it this week so that we're more than just passing acquaintences before Burn this weekend. I know I should be "tapering" but to sorta quote Dicky.."I'm a mountainbike rider way more than a mountainbike racer" so there is no way I'm wasting a sunny day off.Besides I need to get the new bike out to satisfy my new addiction. Hmmmmmmm...maybe I should name it Mr.Brownstone. HA!!!!!!

Bonus points to anybody who can name this song and artist..."If mornings a bitch with open arms then nights a girl whose gone to far"

Hope everybody had a great weekend. Later folks.

Thank God for bikes

2008-05-09T06:57:00.002-04:00

The long hours continue atwork for at least 3 more days but I've figured out the best way to cope with it. It was annoying the hell out of me that I couldn't ride as much as I wanted to. Well...the solution to that was easy enough. Give up an hour of sleep, strap on the lights and hit the neighborhood loop before work.Yeah,yeah..I know I should've thought of this before but my brain doesn't always fire correctly. Anyway, I've been in a much better mood the past few days. I'm pretty sure not feeling like a bloated,lazy slug has something to do with that.

Hope everybody has a great weekend folks.

Much,much needed.....

2008-05-06T09:53:00.002-04:00

..day off. My brain feels back to normal and a hard 2.5 hour ride with four 20 minute threshhold intervals managed to blow out all the negative feelings bought on from work. I have today off also so I'm planning on a much longer ride. Hope everybody had a good weekend. Later yall.

2008-05-03T18:41:00.001-04:00

Soooooooo...doesworking 15-16 hours a day count as endurance training? Nite folks.

34*....

2008-04-29T08:08:00.001-04:00

.....that's what the temp was as of 7 a.m. So much for not needing the cooler weather stuff anymore. Sigh. Just when I put the arm and knee warmers up.I jinxed myself. Should've known. Ah well..no time for downtime. Burn is going to hurt enough as is.

Hope everybody had a great weekend and is getting a lot of saddle time in. Later yall.

@#$&%%***&!!!!!!

2008-04-26T06:32:00.002-04:00

I took a bunch of "before" pics of the new bike stuff before I take it to the lbs so it can become a bike. Of course, my temporary computer won't load the pics. F'in hell!!!!!!!! Anyway , for anybody that's intrested, here's the final build.

Frame-Vassago Bandersnatch
Seatpost-Thomson Elite
Saddle-Selle Itaila Flite
Stem-FSA OS 140 110mm
Handlebar-FSA Flat Aluminum 31.8mm
Grips-Ergon
Brakes-Hayes Hydro stolen from old bike
Shifters-SRAM X-7
Wheels-Slasa Delgado 29er Race with WTB Laserdisc Lite hubs
Crankset-Truvativ Stylo 3.3(BB intergrated)
FD-Shimano XT
RD-Sram X-9
Pedals-Crankbrothers Eggbeaters
Tires-Maxxis Ignitor(Front), Maxxis Crosmark(rear)

Some parts(brakes and saddle for sure, possibly the stem) will be swapped out as $ allow.

Goodluck to Eddie and Nam O in Cali.

You all have a good weekend. Later folks.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-18T18:43:00.002-04:00

Only 5 weeks til Burn.How in the hell did that happen? Where the f--k did April go? AH well. Everything seems to be on track bikewise and mewise. We'll see soon I guess.

As far as the new bike goes. One Shimano part made it. The front deraileur will be an XT model.The shop was out of x-9's. There will be pics someday. Hopefully. If anybody wants to imagine it..think lots of silver and black.

Anyways...good luck to everybody racing this weekend.Later folks.Yall be good now.

Ears back to normal

2008-04-01T14:14:00.002-04:00

Well..it took almost 2 days but my ears have finally stopped ringing. As mellow as DBT can be on record, live and in concert they are 100% rock band. Loud, testosterone driven(even the lady bass player was a bad ass:-D) and freakin awesome. Luckily for me my boss is also a huge fan and caters the shows whenever they play here. I got to be part of the crew and got to watch soundcheck an get into the show later that night. All for a grand total of 30-45 minutes of very easy work. Sweet. They played for about 2 hours and did all the songs I hoped they would.I'm still grinning.

On other subjects.Spring is finally here!!!! It's sunny and 70 here today andwhile it's been raining a good bit the weather is a LOT warmer.

Hope everybody had a great weekend and that things are going good. Later folks.

Car free(sort of) for a month

2008-03-25T09:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday started my car free experiment. For the next month I plan on using a bike to go anywhere I don't absolutely have to drive to. For trips to the grocery store, Sam's, and stuff like that I'll have drive. All other trips(work, sisters,and such) I'll be riding. With gas prices the way they are and Asheville being as ummmmm..compact as it is.it just makes more sense to commute. Amanda and I are aslo gonna try and not eat out for the month as well. Hopefully by the end of the month we'll see a pretty signifigant savings increase. I know I will as far as gas goes. Hell, I'll probably save enough to finance a race with.

On the new bike front..I've decided to see if I can go Shimano free with it. The only thing I'm waffling on is the crankset. Anybody have any experience with FSA,Truvativ, or Race Face cranks? Shimano makes great stuff and I have no problem with it.I'm just doing this for shits and grins basically. Hell.....I don't know why..just seemed like a good idea at the time.:-)

Hope everybody had a good weekend.Later folks.

I'm back!!!!!

2008-03-15T06:47:00.002-04:00

Sort of. I finally broke down and pulled out our old computer.It's slow and seeing how it uses Windows 98 as it's OS the internet connection sometimes overwhelms it, but hey, it lets me do what I need to do...sorta.Anyway,things are pretty much back to normal here. I'm finally completely over the flu and back on track riding wise. The one good thing about being sick is that it took 6 pds off me.Though with my luck that was 6 pds I needed.

Hope everybody is getting a lot of saddle time in. Yall have a good one.

Nothing new

2008-03-11T10:08:00.002-04:00

Still no computer. Still using the library. Looks as though the Cohutta filled up before I got off my lazy ass and signed up soooooooooo..seems as though Burn will be the 1st race of the year. Cool. Anyways, nothing going on. Later folks.

HMMMMMMMMMMM......

2008-03-04T10:09:00.002-05:00

...I vaguely remember this thing. It's been awhile. A nasty case of the flu that kept me pretty much flat on my back for a week and my computer crashing combined to keep me away from here. The flu is history(Thank God) but the comp issues remain. I'm using the library's internet to type this. The sad thing is...not a lot has gone on in the past few weeks. Work,sick,work, try to ride..the usual. I did get to see Henry Rollins a little over a week ago. He did his spoken word thing and it was a blast. Laughed a lot, learned a few new things and had a great time. Hopefully the computer will be up and running in the next few days and I can catch up a little better. Hope everybody is having a great week. Later folks.

Oh..got some new pics to post but can't do it here.

Everybody's working for the weekend.

2008-02-15T07:29:00.003-05:00

WOOHOO!!!!! It's the weekend. Well..sorta...I have to work the weekend. My "weekend" actually falls on Monday and Tuesday. Still....Friday always puts me in a better mood. Maybe it's the collective "Ah.It's the weekend." vibe from everybody else. Who cares? It works.

Thinking about hitting up a big ride on Monday. Not sure where.If anybody has sometime off and wants to head out, let me know. Then again...most folks might be recovering from that little "The Most HORRIBLE Thing Ever" race. Good luck to everybody doing that.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and gets some good ride time in.Later folks.

Pics anyone?

2008-02-13T06:37:00.002-05:00

No.Not my pics.I'm doing a shameless plug fmy dad here. Anybody who is interested in pics and the taking of them..check this site out. www.oldsilverphotos.com

In other news....well..there really isn't any..train(rehearse,practice?..thanksto Dicky I now have new things to call it),work,eat,sleep..repeat. Less than 2 months to Cohutta. :-D

Ramblings

2008-02-11T13:24:00.001-05:00

Not much going on in Allan world lately. Work and the usual stuff. Got my new wheels picked out for the Bandersnatch. I'm going with the Stan's Arches. I know that Stans has lighter rims but I'd prefer to feel confident that my wheels will hold up to my less than graceful riding style than save a little weight. I'll be using the WTB Laserdisc hubs. Hopefully I'll be able to upgrade to some I9's at some point.

I'm seriously considering putting out a want ad for a PMBAR partner. I've only heard really great things about this race and it is practically in my backyard. If anybody knows somone let me know.

Hope everybody had a great weekend. Later folks.

Cujo and new pieces of the puzzle

2008-01-30T09:23:00.000-05:00

I can only assume that her toys were talking smack and had to be taken out in the most violent way possible.

Another piece of the puzzle. Thing are looking good for a finished bike to be here soon. Finally!!!!(Fingers crossed)

The rest of the tribe

2008-01-27T00:35:00.000-05:00

I figured I needed to show a little love for the other furry family members. I'm always going on about the dog, and, to be honest I'm definitely more of a dog person but these 2 are pretty cool also.

Poop Storm

2008-01-24T08:10:00.000-05:00

Seems to be a lotta shit flying about Floyd deciding to toss his hat into the NUE series this year. There's almost an entire 4 pages devoted to it in MTBR's Endurance racing forum. Some think it's cool and others think it's the work of Satan. Personally, I don't think it's such a bad thing. At the very least, it gets some attention for these races. I would love to see a race like Fool's Gold get a big write up in one of the big cycling mags, and even though it might mean more work I'm betting that Namrita and Eddie would also. I don't know for sure whether the guy doped or not. I hope he didn't because his comeback on that one stage is one of those "spine tingling" moments that make people love sports.

Let the guy race. If he wins a few, I seriously doubt he was doping to win the payout for these things.

Fingers crossed

2008-01-17T22:05:00.001-05:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/slipstream

I really,really hope they make it.

Finally

2008-01-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

Never learn the first time.....

2008-01-17T07:48:00.000-05:00

That'sme.Always the hard way. After seeing just how hard all these races are last year, I swore to myself I was gonna wuss out and just ride from then on. I suckedto put it kindly and decided I was really nor cut out for that stuff. Amazing howtime makes it all a little fuzzier and more fun looking back. Anyway...here I go again. This year with more of an idea what I'm in for and much,much better prepared. Plus, with the counseling I'm becoming less of a stressed out emotional wreck. Amazing how much easier life is when your not actively looking for something to stress about and creating stress when there is none. ok..here'san extremely tentative schedule.

April-Cohutta 100 0rEpic 35....not totally sure which yet. Part of me says.."Fuck it.Dive in the deep end and go." The other part syas todo something I know I can finish and build a little confidence.

May-Burn 24

June-Lumberjack-I get 1 big bike trip this year and thisone worksout the best schedulewise.

July-ORAMM-Every year til either the race or I pass away or get to old to do it.

August-Back to Georgia for Fools Gold paradise.

September.Shenandoah-if I'm still alive

October-DSG 12 hour in Conyers-I've never ridden this course and i really,really want to.

November-Clear Springs 24-this one depends on if my pops got tocome to any races. If he did..it'sonly a 50-50 shot. If he didn't..I'm there.

How the hell did I go from not "racing" to this? I'm an idiot?Yeah..maybe so....but I'm an idiot that loves this kinda stuff.

Later folks.

Trickling in

2008-01-07T12:59:00.000-05:00

The parts for the new frame are slowly coming in.Ergon grips and Maxxis tires are in transit as I type. The fork will be delivered soon.Hopefully I can manage to do X-mas with my father before the month is over so I can post pics of the build as it progresses. Hell, I wanna post some pics so I can prove the damn frame actually exists.

In other news.....well....nothing much is going on. Work,ride or lift, sleep,eat,repeat. Not that I'm complaining..I actually kind of prefer a simple routine. It helps keep the voices quite. ;-)

Hope everybody had a great weekend and has a great week. Time for me to head out and enjoy the freakishly warm weather. Later yall.

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T07:32:00.000-05:00

Damn.Can't believe 2007 is almost in the books. Survived another one. Looking forward to 2008. Some changes are in store. Some big only to me(the new bike!!!!)and some that definitely affect others. The biggest one is that finally I'm going to try and get some help wrestling with the demons in my head. Don't really know how that's gonna go and, to be honest, I'm really not looking forward to it. The one thing I do know is..it's gotta help. Anyway, I'm not sure why I'm writying about this, I guess just to make myself more accountable by letting people know about it.

Anyway,enough downer crap. Hope everybody has a rocking New Year!!!! There's my 80's hair metal upbringing coming out. ;-). Happy New Year Folks!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah.....in other good news. Picked up my tickets for 2 of my fave performers that are coming to Asheville soon. Henry Rollins is doing his spoken word thing on February 22nd and the mighty Drive By Truckers will be rocking the Orange Peel on March 29th. I can't wait.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-23T07:33:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from Anya(the glowing eyed devil pup) and myself. Hope everybody has a great one and gets to hang with the fam and friends.

Likely build

2007-12-20T00:19:00.000-05:00

Soooo...this is what I'm thinking the finished product is going to consist of. However, any and all of the following can be changed at anytime.

Frame-Bandersnatch(duh)
Fork-rockshox reba(hopefuly to be changed to a new fox at a later date)
Stem-Thomson
Headset-Cane Creek
Handlebar-FSA Carbon flat bar
Grips-Ergon Enduros
Brakes-Avid Juicy 5
Shifters-SRAM X-7
FD-XT
RD-X-9
Crankset-XT
Pedals-Crank Bros. Candy's
Seatpost-Thomson
Saddle-WTB(forgot the model...sorry)
Wheels-Stan's Arches with WTB laser disc hubs
Tires-Maxxis Ignitor front and Crossmark rear

Looking more and more like this will be the build but like i said..definitely can be changed.

Later folks.

happy, happy, joy,joy part 2

2007-12-17T07:58:00.000-05:00

I've been informed that I'll be getting a digital cam for Xmas from my pops. He also told me that he'd whup my ass(yes..I'm 39 and my father still threatens to whup my ass..he's 62 and his father says the same to him..it's a southern thing i guess..that or a dysfuctional family thing)if I bought one before then. So..pics of the new baby are coming..soon..I promise.

As far as the new hhjj....while nowhere near as hhjj causing as the frame...it's still big to me...I have finally found a store that carries Burn. No more having to stock up when in other cities. Also this way..I won't buy a ton at a time. This leads to a fridge full and I end up drinking them way to much. I really don't need 2 a day. Hell..i don't need 2 a week. They are awesome to have at the halfway point of a long ride though.

Other than all that..it's been a slow time around here. Working a lot, picking up heavy stuff and moving it nowhere, trying to avoid the constant cookies and candies that magically appear this time of year and playing with the dog. X-mas shopping is done(Thank God) so I'm avoiding the 7th circle of hell(the mall)

Ok..now I'm rambling. Hope everybody had a great weekend. Later folks.

Happy,happy,joy,joy!!!!!

2007-12-11T07:27:00.000-05:00

It's here!!!!!! The frame arrived yesterda at 3:30 pm eastern. She weighed a little over 4 pds. I haven't named her yet but that will be coming soon. Damn..I really need a camera. @#!!!!%^&>>:#@!!!!*

I went for the Phantom Silver color. Of course that means that I'll be using as many black parts as I can get my hands on. Soon. Soon. I keep telling myself this.

it's coming,it's coming

2007-12-07T07:50:00.000-05:00

Somehow it seems much more tanble now that I have a tracking number from FedEx. Hopefully only a few more days til I have phantom silvery goodness in my grubby mitts. Oh boy,oh boy,oh boy. I should've had it a few weeks ago but a few minor puppy emergencies put it on the back burner for a bit. Oh well...life happens. Anyway..I can't wait. This is what my neices must feel like waiting for Christmas. It's been so long I've forgotten.

Hope everybody has a great day and weekend. Later yall.

Update

2007-11-29T06:05:00.001-05:00

Been busier than hell around here. Between the holiday,work, and "training" there hasn't been a whole lot of blogging time. I also discovered a sweet used bookstore and that has been taking up some time also. They have their older hardbacks on sale for $2 and I've stocked up in that area as well. I shouldn't need any new books before spring.

Hope everybody had a good T-giving. We went out to the Winston-Salem area to Amanda's mothers house. Ate to much and, since I can't get it here, bought a months supply of Burn energy drink(liquid crack).

I believe I've got the build up of the new frame figured out. it's a little budget oriented at the moment but hopefully I'll be able to upgrade most of the parts over time.

Hope everybody is having a great week.
Later yall.

I need a band-aid.....

2007-11-21T06:21:00.001-05:00

..cuz I am getting cut!!! OK. Not really. I can tell the strength w/o's are having some effect though. I can do 3 pull-ups now. :-)

Anyway. Happy Thanksgiving folks!!!!!! Hope everybody as a great holiday. ime to mentally prepare for the X-mas season.

Oh. Anybody who has any experience with the SRAM drivetrain components feel free to speak up about the pros and cons. Specifically the x-9 shifters and xo rd. I've never used anything but shimano stuff. The LBS has a sweet deal going on the previously mentioned stuff and I'm thinking of buying them for the new frame. Thanks for any help.

Later folks.

Shopping is over!!!!!!

2007-11-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

A decision has FINALLY been made. Of course the final winner wasn't even on my previous short list but oh well. The money will be sent out for the frame in the next few days. Then I can start agonizing over components and such.

Oh. As for the final decision. I'm once again drinking the Odea Kool-Ade and going with the Vassago Bandersnatch.

WOOHOO!!!!!! Can't wait.

Ouch.....

2007-10-30T12:23:00.001-04:00

..the first weight w/o is in the books. I can already tell that I'll be hurting tomorrow. It'll be worth it to stick with it though. Strength and power are my biggest limiters and I am bound and freaking determined to improve them this year. Not much else going on today. Getting ready to head out on a ride and spin the legs out some. Hope everybody is having a good day. Later yall.

Fall is now here

2007-10-29T08:03:00.000-04:00

It's official. The first frost is here and it was downright chilly this morning. Time to hunt down the wool socks,arm warmers and knee warmers. Sigh.

I'm about 98% sure about the new bike. I'm not saying anything because as soon as I do I'll change my mind. I am graduating up to big wheels though. I know me. If I stuck with the FS XC 26er bikes I'll always be wondering what I'm missing so I have to give them a try.

I also dusted off the dumbells and bench,hung the pull up bar up, and(gasp) purchased a Yoga for Cyclists DVD. Sometimes I wish I didn't hate the gym so much. I might be more motivated to actually do that crap if I paid for it. Hopefully I'll be more committed this year. Lord knows...it can only help me do better than I did this past summer.

Ah well....hope everybody had a fun weekend. Later yall.

Blog theft

2007-10-24T06:44:00.001-04:00

Been a boring time around here lately. I sprained my foot in a stupid way so I've been laid up for the last few days. Soooo..to help pass the time I've been creating workout playlists for my ipod. Yesterday I spent way to much time figuring out a playlist for climbing workouts. Anyway, out of sheer boredom I decided to share them with you folks(you lucky few ;-)) If anybody has any ideas to improve it..feel free to share them. Or even better..create a playlist you'd use and share it. I will then steal any ideas I like. You've been warned.

Red Hot Chili Peppers-Parallel Universe( bass line and tempo are perfect for climbing. plus, i love the way they jam and go off at the end of the song)

Slipknot-Wait and Bleed(pure primal rage and anger. Slipknot is on heavy rotation on my ipod for just about every ride or race)

Anthrax-Fueled(really simple and heavy song. works great)

Metallica-Battery(no explanation needed. if you've never heard it go get a copy of Master of Puppets now)

GnR-Welcome to the Jungle(in my humble opinion...greatest song ever..i know,i know..opinions are like assholes..it works for me though)

The Rollins Band-Starve(just for the line.."i make myself burn")

Fishbone-Sunless Saturday(Heavy and angry Fishbone style..which means they somehow make it sound happy)

Slipknot-Everything Ends(more Slipknot..like I said..they get played a lot)

Metallica-Master of Puppets(Metallica gets played a lot also)

Iron Maiden-The Trooper(no real reason....I really like Maiden)

Korn-Got the Life(Just really,really dig this song)

And there we go..it's still a work in progress so it will be added to and subtracted from.

Hope everybody is having a good week. We're finally getting some much needed rain here.

Later yall.

Oh..I titled this post Blog Theft cuz I've read other blogs like this and I was to lazy to figure out anything else to write about.

The leaf people are coming...

2007-10-18T06:34:00.000-04:00

...and work is booming. Asheville is starting its annual fall population explosion this week. The leafs are starting to turn so the "leafers" are showing up. The Parkway is starting to become a dangerous place to ride. Nothing like tons of people driving 5 miles an hour looking everywhere but where they are going. Good times.

Not a whole lot going on here. Getting some riding in and working a lot. Started the diet this past monday. I shouldn't say diet. Started the reduced portion eating plan. That's better. You can tell it's slower than usual when I even mention this. Sigh.

Oh yeah. Some people(OK, only Brian) asked where the music went. It was a free service and I read somewhere about all the nasty viruses you can get from places such as that. Since I had to do a major computer overhaul last winter because of that I decided to play it safe. If I can figure out a way to stick my itunes playlist on there I will.

Hope everybody is having a good week. Later folks.

Buck fever

2007-10-07T23:24:00.000-04:00

Hit up the Twin Six sale this weekend and picked up the 07 Buck jersey. Sweet. Can't beat a high quality jersey for the low,low price of $45. Other than that it's been a hectic weekend with 2 15 hour work days. I have the next 2 days off though so hoping to get in some nice, long days in the saddle. I'm just trying to decide if I wanna take the cross bike out to Bent Creek or the Giant out for some more technical stuff. Ah well...I have 2 days..I can do both. Hope everybody had a great weekend.

Ya'll come back now. Ya hear?

Help the ladies and the kids.

2007-10-04T07:30:00.000-04:00

Anybody who hasn't does so and is able..please head over to Danielle and Bonnies blogs(links on right..under the good reading heading), click on their JDRF links and donate if'n you can. Any little bit you can give helps. Thanks folks. Yall have a good day.

Oh yeah...I do have a blog.

2007-10-02T06:49:00.000-04:00

I seem to remember posting things about my "boring ass life" here from time to time. Things have been extra busy around here lately.I started my "bike job" last week. So far it's going o.k. We'll see how working 60-70 hours a week feels on my 39 year old ass in a few months though. The plan is to offset some of the costs of my biking addiction by working a little extra during my "downtime". So hopefully..finances aren't such a source of tension around mi casa. Not to mention I've depleted my bank account a little more than planned with the CX bike and I need to get that back up for the sake of my sanity.

Speaking of the CX bike. SWEET!!!!!! I'm loving it. I've been using it as a road/commuter bike. It does great at both. I've taken it down a few forest roads and it does well there also. All in all it's a really,really fun bike. I don't know if I'll have time to to shame myself at any CX races this year but I want to try. We'll see. Ah well. That's about all thats going on here Hope everybody is having a great time. Later folks.

Thanks

2007-09-13T07:42:00.000-04:00

Thanks everybody for the b-day wishes. There was no cake but was plenty of snicker marathon bars and power gels washed down with gator-ade. Oh, and that night there was a lot of fried food washed down with sweet tea at the Moose Cafe. (love that place). I will be eating nothing but carrot sticks and celery for the next week. Not a lot going on around here. I've been scouring the net and bike catalogs since I'm planning on making a new bike purchase this winter. I've got it narrowed down to 3 bikes.

Trek Fuel EX8 ( the 08 model with that fancy new pivot)
Salsa Dos Niner
Trek Top Fuel 8 (not real likely..it's pretty much been voted off the island but who knows..it could make a stunning comeback)

Of course if I win the lottery then all bets are off and I'm getting a custom Titus Racer X Exogrid. :-)

Also got a cross frame for cheap so I'm looking to build that up into a commuter/road bike. We'll see how that goes.

Hope everybody is having a great weekend. Later folks.

"dadadadadada......

2007-09-10T07:56:00.000-04:00

..today is my birthday. dadadadadada..gonna have a good time." 39 years young. Got the day off work. Girlfriend has given me a day off chores around the house. Hmmmmmmmmm..whatever should I do? Lay around sloth like and do nothing..or.....go out to Kitsuma and put in some ride time? Decisions,decisions. Riding it is.

Hope everybody has a great day. Later folks.

We'll have fun,fun,fun.....

2007-09-06T06:39:00.000-04:00

..till Mother Nature takes the sunshine away. Crap. Getting dark sooner and staying dark longer. Fall and winter are sneaking up. We can pretty much ride year round here but, I'm a sunshine kinda guy. I like getting up early and watching the sun come up while I have my morning coffee. Not while I'm at work. Oh well.

Been having a blast with riding the past few weeks. I took my hrm off the bike and haven't been worried about a "purpose" for my rides and have just been riding. Such fun. My legs have felt like overcooked spaghetti but it has so been worth it.

Hope everybody is having a great week and will have a great weekend. Good luck to Chris at his Thursday crit and this weekend in Michigan.

Later folks.

They're coming to take me away

2007-08-30T07:24:00.000-04:00

Going slightly nuts here with no goal ahead. Yes, I do enjoy riding just for the fun of it, but with no real goals or anything my "slightly healthy" diet has turned into a cheese,grease, and sugar diet. Sigh. My lack of discipline is depressing. Ah well.

Good luck to everybody racing this weekend. Dicky and Danielle at the SM100, Namrita and Eddie at Santos, and Jason doin the big solo 24 in PA.

Later folks.

Oh yeah

2007-08-21T07:01:00.000-04:00

Good riddance Mike Vick. It's sad to see that much talent wasted but he deserves everything he gets. Sadly, I don't think he'll be the last guy busted for this. From some of the comments I've seen on the net dogifghting is a bigger problem than I thought. Sick and sad at the same time.

I know I'm slow but....

2007-08-21T06:03:00.000-04:00

..11 hours to do 50 something miles? When I went in with dreams of doing my first hundie? Not exactly how I pictured the weekend going. I thought I'd prepared pretty well. I was going on longer rides to get ready. I hounded a few different people for tips. (Thanks Dicky, Danielle, and Namrita) I got more sleep. All that sorta stuff.

I got to Dahlonega late friday afternoon. Got signed in and went out to the truck to get stuff together. I had planned on sending out pre-mixed Gator-ade/Carbo plus jugs to the sag stops for refills during the race. Only problem was..I forgot my gator-ade and carbo plus....oops. I quickly scoured my truck for every energy bar and gel that I could find. I came up with 17 gels and 8 bars. It'd have to do. The sag stops were going to have gator ade and power bar products out there so I figured I'd be ok. I finished getting my bike ready,dropped off my drop bags, ate, and then started tryin to kill time before bed. I ended up down by the kegs with Tomato, Dicky, and Chris J. After awhile everybody shuffled off to bed.

Race day started dark and early. Got up, ate breakfast, drank some cold coffee, got suited up, went to the pre-race meeting, discovered one of the lenses had fallen out of my glasses, and 30 seconds later..we were off. The first 1,000 miles were steep forest road climbing. It usually takes me around an hour to warm up so I wasn't to worried about my super slow pace at first. I got worried when the 50 mile racers who started 25 minutes after us started passing me 40 minutes into my race. That's right..they covered the same amount of ground in 15 minutes that it took me 40 to cover. Houston we have a problem. I saw Jonathan go bye and since he seemed to have a good pace going I decided to grit my teeth nd hop on his wheel. I managed to stick with him for maybe 1/4-1/2 a mile before I started getting dizzy. This would be a re-occuring problem all day. Whenever I got my HR up I'd get dizzy and have to either slow way down or pull over til it passed. Not good times. Kept hoping I'd start going better but it wasn't to be. I finally accepted my fate when it took me over 4 hrs to hit the second checkpoint..which was only 20 freakin miles. I decided I was going to at least do 1 lap and set about making my slow progress around it. The course rocked. Not super technical but really hard all the same. Overall I had a blast. Met a lot of really cool people, rode(verrrrrryyyyyy slowly) some very nice trail and in general had a good time. It was the last race of the year for me and was easily the best time I had at a race all year. I don't know how much racing I'll do next year but I'll definitely be back for at least the festival portion of Fool's Gold next year. At least my light's helped Rebecca finish. She came into the last aid station after the cut off time for lights. She was super upset and Jonathan quickly threw my light's on her helmet, got her spirits up and sent her on her way. She ended finishing 3rd in the open womens group. That's the biggest thing I love about mountainbiking. Everybody is willing to help everybody else. It's always awesome to watch and hear about.

As far as the rest of the summer and fall(and let's face it..winter..we really can ride all year around here..aint it great) I'm gonna get one of those nifty map holders for my handlebars and start doing some all day rides in the woods around here. Those are my favorite kind of rides and I'm gonna take advantage of the weather and get a bunch in. Plus lots of long walks with the dog.
Hope everybody has an awesome day. Later.

Aint talkin bout love!!!!

2007-08-14T06:09:00.001-04:00

Well now....75% of the original Van Halen are reforming and touring this fall. After over 20 yrs DLR is re-uniting with Eddie and Alex. The original bass player is gone and it looks like Eddie's 16 yr old son is playing bass. They're starting the tour on September 27 in Charlotte,NC. There is no way in hell I'm going to be able to resist this. Thier music brings back to many old, fond memories of junior high and high school.They were one of the first bands I ever really got into and I still crank the radio up whenever a VH song comes on(the original VH..was never a fan of the Hagar years and I prefer to pretend that album with the guy from Extreme never happened). I'm there.

4 more days to Fools Gold. I'm nervous and jittery as hell about it. At the same time, I can't wait.

Later folks. Ya'll have a good one.

2007-08-08T08:05:00.001-04:00

Woke up this morning to a coffee free house. No good can come of a day that starts out like this.

I see that BALCO Bonds passed Aaron's HR record last night. I'm sure he never used performance enhancing drugs in his pursuit of the record though...right? I mean, after all, only cyclists cheat..right?

Bud Selig didn't even show up for the big night. He made his bed with this steroids mess, now it's time for him to lay in it. I'm almost willing to bet that a big steroid scandal is coming down the pike for the NFL also. Unless you really want to believe that 300 pd men are running sub 5 second 40 yard dashes naturally.

At least cycling is making an honest effort to clean up.

Yall come back now. Ya hear? ;-)

Blech!!!!

2007-08-07T07:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterdays ride sucked. I couldn't get my HR up over 156 and my legs felt dead the entire time. Hills that I usually ride up with no problem had me gasping for breath. I meant to do 5-6 hours but I ended up pulling the plug at 2. I came home and was pretty much a slug the rest of the day Hopefully todays ride goes better. Later folks.

2007-08-04T05:56:00.000-04:00

Haven't been around much. Been recovering, working and getting ready for Fools Gold. 2 more weeks!! I'm starting to freak out about this.

bad blogger...bad,bad blogger

2007-07-28T05:45:00.000-04:00

OK. I haven't posted a race report or..well...anything for almost a week. ooops. Sorry. Been extra busy. I was thinking that after ORAMM I would actually de-stress about racing for a week. Then it hit me that Fools Gold was only 3 weeks away and that is my first attempt at a hundie. Now I'm stressing about that. I'm guessing it's gonna be a 12-14 hour day. That's alright though. A long day on new trails sounds damn good actually.

As far as ORAMM. Here's the condensed version. It was hard. Real hard. Luckily, unlike every other year I've done it...the trails were dry. WOO..freaking..HOO!!!!!!!! I was happy as hell to see that. The roots and rocks on Kitsuma and Heartbreak are hard enough dry. Wet they're a f'n meanace. Anyway..I suffered..I climbed for what felt like forever on Curtis Creek. Here's the funny part though..unlike past years..I never hated it or wondered what the hell I was doing out there. In fact..I had a damn good time for the whole race. I'm looking at this as a sign of progress.

Oh. I know I've said it a 100 times but Carbo Plus rocks!!!! Never felt hungry the whole race. Used mostly the Carbo Plus/Gator-ade combo along with powerbar gels and 3 snickers marathon bars and that was pretty much it. Well..except for the Dr. Thunder at aid station 3..after the 9 Miles of Curtis Creek. At the time..I thought it was the best soda ever. Anyway hope everybody has a great weekend. Later Yall.

Oh.....good luck to everybody at 24 Nationals.