Car free(sort of) for a month

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!!!!!

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

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......

...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.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

I really,really hope they make it.

Finally

Never learn the first time.....

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!!!

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

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.