A Roll in the Grass with The Mistress

Thursday night before going to bed I caught the weather forecast and after hearing cool temps in the AM I slipped off to sleep with a smile on my face; couldn't wait for morning...

Jumped up this AM for what would usually be a Polk County backroads affair with my slightly altered girlfriend (more on that in a minutes), but since I got no takers for riding partners I figured it was an awesome morning to bust the dew on the three different training courses I have at SBU. Sleeveless jersey was a bit chilly as I slipped out of the driveway; hold up, did I just say CHILLY!?!?!? Anyway, got in 1:30hrs at an easy spin and re-learning my cornering and general cx skills. I forgot how it takes a bit to 'get the hands tough' on cx terrain. Full dew was in effect and with a recent mowing (a day or two prior) it was full on clippings covering everything. One of my favorite sights is a single line running through wet grass; we all know it brings a smile just thinking about it...



Most of the time I get strange looks from those out and about on campus, but today I had a personal cheering group as the SBU women's soccer team was back in full AM swing and one of the courses runs right next to their practice facility; easy ladies, can't you see I was already on a date... Super morning conditions and all around great workout.

So I jumped ahead a couple days so let me back track. Wednesday was a total rest/off the bike day and in the evening Ian and I went to SBU and shot baskets and swam for a while.

Thursday I played some b-ball at noon and at 8:30pm I headed out for a steady tempo effort for 1:30hrs around Bolivar. I have a well lite loop that runs me near 30 minutes with a lot of cornering so there is a ton of get up out of the saddle and up to speed opportunities. Deb and E went out on a pretty long bike ride around town; he has gotten the bug for riding here of late.

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Did a couple minor changes to the Blue's set up as I tried out a shorter stem and a slightly farther back saddle position and it seems to have me in a nice balanced CX position. My cornering is way better and can carry much more speed in tight stuff. Our DS received our Challenge shipment and I can't wait to give the Grifo XS's (in white of course) a spin. Earlier I had no plan to have a set of tubulars so I got the XS in clinchers and passed on ordering any tubies. Since then I picked up a solid set of DA hub/Torelli rim tubulars in great shape really cheap so I ended up getting a set of Vittoria XM 32s (which should arrive in a couple days). The XM's are the newer 320tpi version which received solid reviews.

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Speaking of repairs, scooter #2 is under review (mechanically) and it appears this one might require a small investment in parts to get it up and going; still not a big expense when you consider it was free. Ira and I are going to mess with it here and there to see if we can get it up to speed (literally).

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Not really sure what is on the agenda for the weekend, but think Deb and I might go to the Tour De Cox tomorrow and ride the 43mile loop on the tandem. Would like to catch Dinner with Schmucks as it looks pretty funny; so does The Other Guys.

A&B Dirt Crit #1 in the Books

Monday evening Jim and I took our pop to a SGF Cardinals game and had a great time. It was a little steamy, but we were in the shade and a light breeze from time to time kept up comfortable. Always fun hanging out with them.



Tuesday morning was spent prepping the mtb for the dirt crit later that evening and taking a spin on the Blue at SBU for some research. I picked up a couple different stem lengths from my LBS on Monday and am trying to see if I can improve my balance for handling in tight areas. I'm pretty sure I found the one that will do the trick as I was able to cruise at a much higher pace through tight turny stuff with my new set up than with the one from last year; every little bit helps in my quest to be a professional armature mid-pack Cat 3 'cross racer (how sad is that - HA). Temps were already heading up even at 6:30am - ugh (and by noon Deb got the following from her car).

So Tuesday evening was the opening race of the A&B Dirt Crit series (8 weeks long) at the Sac Trails (just north of SGF and about 15 south of Bolivar). Ira picked me up a little before 6pm and the topic of conversation down centered around "...what the heck are we doing as we suck in the heat..." as the temps all day was hovering above and below 100* (core temp). I had kept a steady flow of liquids going all day in hopes to avoid massive cramps and dehydration.

Got to the course, pre-rode, and quickly figured out this was not 'cross bike friendly (at all) so it is up to the ScottyD antique Trek to get me through the next 8 weeks (take a look at the picture and see if you think I need more seatpost...). I love my mtb with it's 'too small for me' frame size, v-brakes, and entry level fork; it has never let me down in the years I hit AR's and mtb races. The course was a great mix of wide open 'passing' and singletrack (both open and flowing to slightly technical) with little elevation gain that was noticable. The ground was a little too rough to excel on a 'cross bike and the Trek (higher volume in rear suspension) took the edge off of all of it.

Not sure how many lined up in the A race (maybe 15), but I was surprised to see several folks not there. Maybe the heat or something else occupied that night and next week there will be more. Gun goes off and I happend by luck to get a solid start with the leaders and got in the single track in 4th and to sum it up that's where I stayed the whole race. The three up front (Cale, Mark G., and J Brackett) dumped me in a tight single track creek crossing area and they were gone. I stuck to my game plan and rode within myself to regulate effort and manage body temps and I worked to a T. Not sure how many laps (roughly 1 mile each) we did, but each one got smoother as I learned the 'flow'. On the earlier laps there were a handful of guys chasing me about 50 or 70 meters back, but I strung together a couple mid-race laps to open up a pretty sizeable gap which allowed me to not push too hard and keep a steady spinning pace. I took down a couple bottles of Nuun water (thanks to Mia for the hand-ups) to fend off potential cramps (which worked great). It was a hot one to say the least and I think I was sweating more after the race (standing around) then during.

Looking forward to next week and hopefully a bigger turnout. This is fun folks and well worth the cheap entry fee ($15).

A Tale of Two Rides (during one ride)

Saturday morning Dale, Ira, Jim Jones (not my bro), Frank Z., an out of town visitor Scott (from D.C. area) and myself got in a nice 2:15hr spin leaving at 6:30am and taking in Humansville. Cloud cover early on made for a comfortable ride until 8am when the clouds vanished and the sun did it's work (toasty quick). Good to have a little group ride instead of the usual two or three.
I pulled up to the house just in time to see Deb heading out for a ride with the girls. It was 9am and already hot. I cleaned up and made my way to the Farmer's Market for some fresh produce and our family favorite yeast rolls. Finished up with a breakfast alone (the boys were still snoring when I left) at Brenda's.

Did a little work in the garden (in full effect as pictured below) and in the yard (late afternoon), but pretty much kept indoors for the most part watching some movies and playing a little table tennis and Catan. Spend late hours making some CX changes to the Blue in prep for the season.

Sunday morning we hit church and the afternoon was spent mostly out in the garage as I picked up another scooter (same owner as the first one) and started the 'once over' evalutation. Looks like it needs a handful of things to get it running and I'm expecting roughly $75 in parts; not too shabby considering they gave it to me for free. Got it tore down and am starting the rebuild.

Aug 1st marked the official beginning of 'cross training and in the late afternoon I grabbed a 1:30hr tempo ride on the FT. I have ran across some unusual things on the FT over the years and yesterday took it to a new level... As I approached the Wishart area I rode upon a farm truck parked on the trail; not anything new as from time to time we'll run into this, but as I approached it appeared abandoned until I passed the open window and witnessed a couple of youngsters (let's see, how do I tastefully put this) Sealing The Deal in a relationship 100% in the buff. I had to slow to almost a stop before getting to the side of the truck as it took up pretty much the entire trail and so the sound of my bike sliding a bit in the loose gravel and my audible "uh oh" notified them of my presence. I am hard pressed to remember when I saw folks move so fast with literally no where to go in a long time; I probably laughed for a good mile after passing by. Back to the ride (my ride that is) I finished up feeling really fresh and ready to go again as the 'vacation/rest period' did the job.

This morning (Monday) I hit the SBU 'cross playground for the first time since the '09 season. Always a welcome sight to see the tracks in the fresh grass (as pictured below). Kept it pretty low effort and worked and worked tons of corners/turns at various speeds. Finished up the ride with a spin through town and ran into Jake and his XC teammates cruising (always fun to see). The FT (Frisco Trail) in town has two options 1)paved trail and 2) grass/dirt path (running parallel to pavement) with natural dismount barriers. Best to get your riding in the AM hours as the next three days forecast as the temps in the 100's (that's core and doesn't include heat index).

This evening my bro and I are (re)taking my pop to a SGF Cardinals games. I say retake as our first attempt was rained out; not really a chance of that tonight, but more like melting from the heat (luckily our seats are shade covered).

Ian found a whoopy cushion the other day (if you have boys then I know you have one laying around) and so he immediately went to task...

Last Week of Bike Vacation...

This week was pretty low key as I stayed both off the bike and out of the heat. Played several days of noon-ball and swam (keeps getting better and better). Decided to take the entire week of the rig until Sunday.

Tuesday evening was the Bandits End of Season swim party at the head coach's house and everyone had a great time. Three of us adults tried going dive for dive with the kids and for the most part we kept up (a little sore the next morning). I've never done some many Gainers and front 1 1/2s in my life. The toughest part was going toe to toe with Ian on the belly-busters - my chest and stomach are still torch red.

We broke out the ping pong table the other night and it has been on (like Donkey Kong) ever since...

Wednesday evening I headed out to pick up Jake from XC camp southeast of Hermann. Leaving Bolivar around 9:30pm I stopped in a Wally World parking lot in Owensville for the night and crashed in the truck. Early wake up on Thursday had me at camp around 7am; in time to watch a little running action before packing up the crew. Ran into a couple coaches I had not seen in years and it was good to catch up. Jake's said he kept the intensity level pretty low all week and his lungs didn't bother him too much. He (and the other two kids) had a great time and was glad he went. Here's to his pleurisy staying down and a solid senior year.

Thursday evening Jake put on a major butt whoop'in in a 3-1 (I took the defeat) death ping pong match. First time he's ever taken a series from me. I have a good idea what is on tap for most of the weekend.

Today I continued to play hookie from the bike (made it all week without riding) and once again grabbed some basketball at noon. Once again the AC was off and it was way cooler outside than in the gym - brutal!

Not a lot on tap for this weekend other than Sunday starts day 1 of '10 'cross. Looking forward to getting it going and having the Tuesday Dirt Crits at Sac this coming week. Hoping it's 'cross friendly, but won't be a big deal if it isn't as the mtb is ready to go. Saw that St. John's team is having another Waffle Race on August 17th; the first one was a good time and will have to choose between the dirt crit and it.

It's been some time since I raced on tubulars, but I snagged a cheap solid set off of Ebay the other day and am looking forward to the hopeful improvements they make in the sloppy stuff (struggled at the last few races in the mud with some non-mud type clinchers).

Just compared Jake's XC race schedule against my CX and it appears only 1 conflict (State Championship weekend). That is great news for me. Speaking of schedules, It looks like a little over 20 race dates on the '10 crusade (and several of those will include doubling up races with the masters and 3s). Since I am an West Coast Missourian (only 2 hr drive to KC area and its 3 1/2 to STL) it appears no Bubba 'Cross on tap for this year. I have raced both coasts in the past and STL events are incredibly better than they used to be, but KC 'Cross are better courses (at least in my opinion) and more options to race (since they go with masters also). I don't include Jeff Yielding's events as East Coast so much and will make his Hermann events.

Just looked at the forecast for the upcoming days and it is back in the mid/upper 90's here. AM 'cross is my friend.

Ever Had One of Those Days...

...when the last thing you want to do is ride/race? Well those don't come too often for me, but Sunday definitely was one of them and for the life of me I could motivate myself to even remotely want to drive a mere 45minutes to race a crit. Woke up with an allergy headache (which is rare for me) and feeling absolutely flat; so I pulled the plug on the St. Johns crit. Great thing about racing as a hobby is you don't have to go when you feel like crap and this is absolutely a hobby.

Friday evening we hosted my nieces for dinner (while my bro and his wife were in Spain) which is always good as they are awesome kids (I guess not so much Ashton now since she just turned 20!). Deb and I caught a late movie on TV and ended staying up way too late.

Saturday morning Ian and I raced in Bolivar's YMCA First Annual Youth Triathlon. The turnout was decent, but not what I was expecting/hoping. Ian was the youngest in his age group (he is 9 in the 9-12) and we talked several times about simply giving it his best and not expecting to win against kids much older (he heard blah, blah, blah and focused on winning). After a light breakfast he and I rode our bikes down to the city pool and along the way we previewed the course; he wanted to know exactly where he would be riding and running (nice planning). After setting up our TA we jumped in the pool for a couple warm up laps and then it was game time. Below is a compilation video of our race (I am the one in a red top swimming behind Ian in his age group wave in the opener). Long and short of it - Ian swam pretty decent, killed it on the bike, and ran beyond my expectation on the final leg resulting in a win in his age group (by nearly 10 minutes). In the video it shows us catching most of the younger age group who did 1/2 the distance. I-tri was pretty stoked to say the least and even pulled out the Lance Armstrong quote (from the TdF) during the run that "sometimes you're the hammer and sometimes you're the nail" at which Ian told me "today I am the hammer" . He is already showing quite the ability to suffer and excel...

After the race we all loaded up (Deb, Ian, Jake, Andie, and I) and headed to my folks spread for a day at the farm. With lots of food and games the day was a lot of fun. Made our way back home late that evening after some home-made ice cream with the folks. Jake and Andie headed into SGF for a bit before coming home and finishing up packing for his JBD running camp near Hermann. Temps for this week is far better than has been so we are hoping Jake has a good time.

As I mentioned above Sunday morning found me feeling less than ok and not feeling a race in my future. We got Jake off to camp (heading up with one other teammate) then it was back to catch the last TdF stage. Ian was stoked to see Cav CRUSH it again in the sprint. It is crazy that he was won 15 times in only 3 years - that's nutty.

The rest of the day was pretty much spent on the couch napping (all of us), watching some movies, and playing some Catan. We grilled up some ribs for dinner and later we all crashed early trying to find some renewed energy for the upcoming week.

Outside of feeling a little off with low motivation to race Sunday I am enjoying my last two weeks of downtime/rest period from the bike (with one more to go) and I figure that also influenced me to stay home. Oh well, 'cross specific training starts in one week and with races coming pretty much every weekend starting in mid-September to skip one isn't that big of a deal.

Community Service

Been a pretty light and easy week so far.

Wednesday after work Ian and I hit the pool for some fun; you know it's hot outside when we opt for the indoor pool because the outside one is brutal. After splashing around Ian wanted to do some 'bike training' for this weekend's tri. He took a couple 'sprint signs' on me and quickly struck Cav's HTC pose. E-bike (see how easy it is to adjust his name to fit each sport) is a huge Cav fan (big poster on his room wall) and it glued to the tube every sprinter stage to see how his boy fares. He was livid when Renshaw was booted. He'll be happy to see the stage results from today (Friday).

Thursday evening was spent doing some yard/shrub work then full on croquet with Ian and Jake in the backyard (even mowed out a Championship Course). Three games played and each took a 'V'. As you can see in the below pic the Marigolds are going crazy (big) this summer; going to transplant some to create space.



Last night I forgot to set my alarm so this morning I was running behind and only snagged 1:30hrs with my girlfriend. Donned the cross wheels this morning (getting itchy to make this primary mode of tread) and hit the Frisco Trail. Ended up racking some Community Service hours as I cleared the trail of any (and all) spider webs as apparently I was the first one on this morning. I usually avoid AM rides on the FT in the summer time for this exact issue.

I have the St. John's Cyling team's crit this Sunday and after that it's full on 'cross agenda starting with the dropping of road rings and mounting the 42. I have thought of a 46/39 front, but have not been in a single event where (for my lack of abilities) a 42 with a 12/27 rear didn't cover; to each their own and mine is 42 (especially with the addition of the Paul's keeper last year - not a single dropped chain with it on). Looking forward to receiving our Challenge order and trying out the XS's (white of course).

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Speaking of the crit this weekend, I am going to get creamed as I have done NO intensity for two weeks and my motivation is on vacation (which is normal for me in July; heat/humidity + me = suck performances). Forecasts calling for rain Saturday night and Sunday; hope it stays away as I'm not racing a crit in the rain (this year). Call me scared or a wuss and I'll agree; a couple things mentally has changed since breaking my arm earlier this year and the risk/reward meter has skewed.

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The other night Deb whipped up an awesome dinner with Fried Chicken, mash potato's and gravy, rolls (most all of it homemade). Ian and I where looking forward to it until we figured out we were the official potato peelers; which in the end was well worth the effort.

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Heading to my mom and pop's after our triathlon Saturday morning for the day. It's been a little bit since we were at the ranch.

Back in the Triathlon Ring...

It's been nearly five years since I competed on the triathlon scene and looks like I am hopping back into it. Since I have done a million sprints and Olympic distances and racked up a 1/2 IM, the only logical next step is... A YMCA parent/child race this weekend (and you thought it was going to be a full IM, please) with Ian here in Bolivar. We will swim a whopping 50meters, bike 1.5 miles, then run 1 mile. Eball (now E-stroke) has been swimming some laps at the pool with me and as nutty as it sounds he has immediately excelled at this also. After just a brief bit of instruction he is already an alternating stoke side breather and can knock out a 50 in under 1 minute 20 seconds; pretty sure he'll swim with Bolivar's summer team next year. He is stoked about the tri except for the fact he is the youngest in his division (he's 9 and the group is 9-12), but he'll give me a run (bike and swim) for their money. It will be fun and am looking forward to competing with my youngest as Jake and I have won several parent/child competitions in the past.

On a slightly more serious note: not a whole lot happening at the 'training/racing' front as I am taking the rest of July off from any type of serious riding (with the exception of Sunday's St. John's crit).

Last Friday Dale, Ira, and I ventured out with our girlfriends to some long lost rodes in NE Polk County (hadn't been up one these roads in over a year). Even leaving at 6am it made for a hot 3hrs with the humidity... (well, you know as you live in it too).

Friday evening Ian, Deb, and I grabbed some grub in SGF and did some light shopping while Jake had a bunch of friends over to watch some movies. Ian likes CiCi's pizza so that's where we ate and the clientele is an interesting mix of folks (sort of the WalMart of eating establishments). Spent a late night doing some final tune-ups on the scooter; hit the bed way after 1am.

Saturday was 100% relax around the casa; which included some TdF watching, Farmer's Market, breakfast at Brenda's, napping, Catan, napping, movie fest with Ian and Deb while Jake had a bunch of friends over for more movies. It was too freaking hot to do anything outside so inside we stayed.

Sunday was more TdF and yard work before the heat set in. The afternoon was spent with friends in SGF watching 'Inception'; a super good flick worth seeing in the theater.

Monday early morning I snagged 1:30hrs on the bike and I came in totally drenched from the humidity; like swimming in warm pool water. Speaking of swimming, I jumped in the SBU pool for my 4th lap workout Monday evening. I forgot how much of a total body workout swimming provides and how it makes you regulate and emphasises deep controlled breathing. Kind of surprised how quickly my stroke has come back to me as I am feeling 'slippier' thru the water with every workout. Right now I am simply swimming laps, but over the winter I might incorporate drills and even sharpen the stroke... maybe an IM isn't that far out of sight after all.

Celebrating my 19th wedding anniversary with Deb today. Both of us totally forgot about it until this morning. We spent the evening in SGF trying out Hu-Hot Mongolian (it was good, but not great) and capping the night with dessert and coffee at the Mud House. Got home in time to watch an incredible lightening storm under an umbrella on the back patio while it lightly rained on us. Can't believe it has been 19 years as it seems like it's only been a couple since I said "You bet" (instead of 'I Do'). Need to come up with something special for our 20th...

Jake's pleurisy might be on the mend as he started back with some light miles this week and so far so good. He heads off to Joe Bill Dixon's (legendary XC coach from West Plains) running camp near Hermann this Sunday. He is pretty behind on his mileage, but with all the years of running in his legs he'll bounce back quickly. He has pretty much commandeered my scooter and my chance of seeing/using it again are fading.