Off the Back Again!

Man! Here I am again, wonderin' how all those dedicated Blog-Meisters do it! It's just a lotta words man, y'know? Now...I gotta lotta words. I use 'em every day. All my jobs (shop, band, JDRF) involve words. I LOVE words! Everywhere I look there are books to read, websites to visit, magazines, newspapers...........!!!!!



Not to mention all those songs!



Too late - I mentioned 'em! How you could run outta song lyrics to dig? There are so many great songs! Holy crap!



Anyway - the point that I think I'm s-l-o-w-ly workin' myself around to here is that I think about writing stuff down a helluva lot more than I do it. Aside from minor issues like talent and work ethic that might be the major difference 'tween writer-hacks like me and real writers like my friend Heather. You read her stuff and you go "Oh, that's what it's supposed to be like!" On her Blog she writes about how writing can be like cycling. She's a lot smarter'n me so I'll take her word for it but I'm secretly suspicious.



It's been a good coupla weeks......the Yoga for Cyclist classes have been well received and that's cool. I like it when New Stuff works out. We've had a steady 10-11 "students" (Acolytes? Practitioners?) and some new faces each night. The class pretty much hands me my ass and remonds me that I'm way fatter than I oughta be. Heather (a different one!) says that steady attendance @ the class will pay off - once again here we have a situation where a person named Heather is smarter'n me (I sense a trend!) so I'll go along. One issue is the timing.....Yoga Class is a mere 11 hours prior to my weekly torture session w/ The Queen of Pain, my trainer. (AKA Jessica). I'm still kinda sore when I get up on Wed morning for Yoga and then there's an hour of core work and such. Oof. It's a good thing that I hate being out of shape more than I do getting into shape!



The 'cross season is drawing to a close. I did 3 races in as many weekends, there's a week off now and then 2 more in December. The State Championships are next Sunday and then we host the KissCross Season Finale on the 14th. I'm gonna finish out the season on the fixxie........it's not slowing me down at all (like I need any help doing that!) and I'm kinda diggin' it. I've had 2 okay and one shitty race so far - but I crashed last week on the last friggin' lap and I'm still whining about it. (Tore a nice chunk outta my hip - waaa waaa). Damn - I love everything about 'cross! The weather, the bikes, the vibe, embrocation, the cowbells.......!!!! It rocks! I just gotta figure out not to suck at it so bad.



So. December. Christmas. New Years. All that stuff. I dig it. It's gonna be a good month @ the end of a good year. Let's keep riding, shall we?



As my friend Baber would say.............."Peace Out!"

ICEMAN, CHILLY MAN, TIRED MAN!

So, the Iceman race has cometh and goneth. I had fun, mostly and had an okay race. I was about 5 minutes off of my PR of '07, but I was racin' single-speed and all...so I'm mostly okay w/ it. There are many trails where I truely believe that having gears would not be any faster, (since a s/s makes you attack the climbs) but the Iceman isn't one of those trails. I geared up pretty heavily so I'd have enough gear for the flats but I still spun out on several long-ish sections where I could've gained some time. Of course - I coulda been fitter and faster too, but what's your point? The weather was fine, about 37 degrees and spittin' snow-ice-rain drops @ the start but 5 minutes in it dried out and I never thought about the elements again. I gambled on the "if you're under-dressed you'll hafta hammer" strategy when I kitted up and it paid off. (Although I was one frozen popsicle on the start line!) Wool l/s baselayer under s/s VCC jersey and knicks was the perfect set-up. The course was in great shape and as far as i could tell all 2500 of had a fine time! I finished, racked my bike in the corral, grabbed my bag outta the tent and jumped on the first bus back to Kalkaska to get the van. I was back @ the finish line when J2 rolled in and we hung a spell then collected bikes, bags and such and hit it for home. At 5:30, 26 hours after leaving town, we were back with only empty wallets and tired legs to prove that we had even gone a'tall!

Then it was off to the market for chili fixings. I did a red "Texas" style (I put beans in it just to piss my least favorite Texan off) and a white chicken one. Sunday dawned wet and cold...but my ride time it was just cold. Oh yeah......and windy. We had about 30 riders and 9 pots' o' chili. It was a good ride, although we got kinda broken up, but back @ the shop everyone was in a great mood, eatin' chilio, drinkin' beer and talkin' rides and races and bikestuff.

Sounds good, huh?

So...looking ahead there are 4 more 'cross races, a coupla holidays and a few gigs. There oughta be enough in there to keep me engaged and hoppin'.

By the way - has anyone seen my fitness? I had it earlier but now I can't find it anywhere. If you happen across it, lemme know, okay?

Thanks!

Bike-ma bites back hard!

"Karma" - n. 1. Buddhism and Hinduism the totality of one's acts in each state of one's existence. 2. loosely, fate.

"Bike-ma" - the same thing, but in the saddle.

So it's a beautiful day in early November and J2 and I are takin' advantage of it. Shorts and short sleeves! In November in Michigan! You gotta grab that, am I right? Anyway...we're rollin' south and I decide that it's my solemn duty to give good buddy Ross some crap 'cuz he's at work and we're not. (After all -what are friends for?) So I send him a text message. (Yes - while I was riding....I know it's dumb)

"Hey! J2 and I are rolling south and you're not!" Or words to that effect.

He responds right away. (I knew he would) "Bite me! I haven't seen the sun for 3 days!"

Touched and feeling emotional I respond "Don't feel too bad, there's a little headwind and the sun is really bright in my eyes!" (I'm a softie, huh?)

As I hit "send" I feel something wrong w/ my bike. Shit. Flat tire. We pull obver and I pull a sheet metal screw 3/4" long outta my rear tire.

Bike-ma.

Still....'twas a great ride, 40 miles or so w/ J2 as company is about as good as it gets. Sorry you missed it Ross ol' buddy!

Big weekend comin' up - Iceman on Saturday and Chili Chilly Ride on Sunday! YEE-Haa! Then 4 more 'cross races in the next 5 weeksens, then another Fun-Raiser and then it's frickin' Christmas and then it's New Years and then...............well, there's lots goin' on, that's all I'm saying.

Be well, ride lots, stay safe!
MC