My friend Scott sent me this.
Store Wars
Dart Tater is pretty amazing. Cuke Skywalker acts better than Hayden Christiensen. And ChewBroccoli is much better than Jar Jar Binks ever could be.
Have a nice day.
Pete
Friday, May 27, 2005
There's a thin line between "Antiques" and "Trash".
And Laura and I found it!!!
Last weekend we went to a few antique shops in Strasburg, Virginia. We also walked past a few that were really funny. The ones we went into were really great. Some had all the nicely finished stuff that costs thousands of dollars. Others had stuff that had great potential... stuff that with some hard work and a bit of craftsmanship, you could really come up with something nice.
The other "antique" shops we went to were just hillarious. There is one near "downtown" Strasburg that basically looked like someone emptied a trash dumpser in front of the place. It even smelled bad. There was crap there that wasn't worth putting a price tag on. I felt like asking the guy if the price on it is what he'd pay me to haul it away. I'm an asshole, but I'm not that much of an asshole. Well maybe I am. I'm posting this on my blog, aren't I?
Enough about that. Every time we go out on an antiquing trip, we wind up finding some great stuff that we'd love to give away as Christmas presents.
Here's Lisa's Christmas present:
Yes, you got that right. It is a leather sofa made out of bull's horns. Who wouldn't want one of these? We looked for a matching chair, but couldn't find one. It would look great with that wagon wheel chandalier we gave her last year.
There are always these people who are tough to buy for. My friend Wayne is one of those. It is hard to find a gift for the man that has everything. What do you buy for the man that wants nothing??? If he's a golfer, here's the answer!!!!
Your eyes do not deceive you. Those are a pair of golfers' legs (complete with ugly socks and golf shoes) that hold up a stool for sitting on. We've given Wayne stupid golf gifts for years. If we actually purchased it, this would be the second most obnoxious gift we'd ever given him (topped only by the Potty Putter we gave him 2 years ago).
The cool thing about this gift is how you'd look sitting on it. It would look remarkably like you had 75% of a golfer stuck up your ass. What person wouldn't LOVE getting something like that for Christmas???? Talk about the gift that keeps on giving.
Well I imagine I've done enough damage with this post.
Have a nice day, dammit!
Pete
PS: Lets get retarded, YEAH!!!
Last weekend we went to a few antique shops in Strasburg, Virginia. We also walked past a few that were really funny. The ones we went into were really great. Some had all the nicely finished stuff that costs thousands of dollars. Others had stuff that had great potential... stuff that with some hard work and a bit of craftsmanship, you could really come up with something nice.
The other "antique" shops we went to were just hillarious. There is one near "downtown" Strasburg that basically looked like someone emptied a trash dumpser in front of the place. It even smelled bad. There was crap there that wasn't worth putting a price tag on. I felt like asking the guy if the price on it is what he'd pay me to haul it away. I'm an asshole, but I'm not that much of an asshole. Well maybe I am. I'm posting this on my blog, aren't I?
Enough about that. Every time we go out on an antiquing trip, we wind up finding some great stuff that we'd love to give away as Christmas presents.
Here's Lisa's Christmas present:
Yes, you got that right. It is a leather sofa made out of bull's horns. Who wouldn't want one of these? We looked for a matching chair, but couldn't find one. It would look great with that wagon wheel chandalier we gave her last year.
There are always these people who are tough to buy for. My friend Wayne is one of those. It is hard to find a gift for the man that has everything. What do you buy for the man that wants nothing??? If he's a golfer, here's the answer!!!!
Your eyes do not deceive you. Those are a pair of golfers' legs (complete with ugly socks and golf shoes) that hold up a stool for sitting on. We've given Wayne stupid golf gifts for years. If we actually purchased it, this would be the second most obnoxious gift we'd ever given him (topped only by the Potty Putter we gave him 2 years ago).
The cool thing about this gift is how you'd look sitting on it. It would look remarkably like you had 75% of a golfer stuck up your ass. What person wouldn't LOVE getting something like that for Christmas???? Talk about the gift that keeps on giving.
Well I imagine I've done enough damage with this post.
Have a nice day, dammit!
Pete
PS: Lets get retarded, YEAH!!!
My Purple Furry Breast Implant.
Okay, you thought the last post was weird????
I found this great toy and it is definitely a must buy item. I don't remember what the thing is called. I was having so much fun with it, that I threw the packaging that it came in away. I'm gonna have to go back and buy more though. This thing is totally cool. I got it at my favorite toy store, Doodlehopper for Kids in Falls Church, Virginia.
The thing is totally stretchy and it has a hole in it. That makes it great for playing with and if you're a pervert, it opens up all kinds of new possibilities for you.
Also interesting for perverts is that it feels EXACTLY like a breast implant (thus the title of this blog entry). Let me clarify that. It feels like a silicone breast implant that hasn't been installed yet. It is softer and feels better than a saline implant and it feels better than either after they've been installed, though the addition of a nipple and skin are added bonuses that this toy can't really match up with. I'm not going to go there though.
This thing is really fun to play with. It bounces and makes funny noises when you toss it up and catch it. You can stretch it and pull it over your head and it makes you look like you've got a bald purple head with spikey green hair. I'll post that up next. If you turn it inside out, you can use it as a purple bald wig. We all need one of those.
I guess that's it for now. I know you can't wait for the hair photos, so I need to get those uploaded.
Pete
I found this great toy and it is definitely a must buy item. I don't remember what the thing is called. I was having so much fun with it, that I threw the packaging that it came in away. I'm gonna have to go back and buy more though. This thing is totally cool. I got it at my favorite toy store, Doodlehopper for Kids in Falls Church, Virginia.
The thing is totally stretchy and it has a hole in it. That makes it great for playing with and if you're a pervert, it opens up all kinds of new possibilities for you.
Also interesting for perverts is that it feels EXACTLY like a breast implant (thus the title of this blog entry). Let me clarify that. It feels like a silicone breast implant that hasn't been installed yet. It is softer and feels better than a saline implant and it feels better than either after they've been installed, though the addition of a nipple and skin are added bonuses that this toy can't really match up with. I'm not going to go there though.
This thing is really fun to play with. It bounces and makes funny noises when you toss it up and catch it. You can stretch it and pull it over your head and it makes you look like you've got a bald purple head with spikey green hair. I'll post that up next. If you turn it inside out, you can use it as a purple bald wig. We all need one of those.
I guess that's it for now. I know you can't wait for the hair photos, so I need to get those uploaded.
Pete
Cartoon Characters make TERRIBLE girlfriends.
I'll bet you're wondering where this entry is going!!!!
My buddy Crashmasta knows I have a thang for Kim Possible. He was shopping at Toys R. Us this week and saw the perfect gift for me and bought it. What a freaking nice guy!
So after Wednesday's ride, he presents me with a beautiful box set of Kim Possible and Bonnie (I think) action figures. I was more than a little bit stoked.
I have some problems though. Both action figures come with multiple outfits. There-in is the problem. Neither character is 18 years old. Cartoon characters tend to not age, so I'm pretty much screwed as far as ever changing Kim into her cheerleading outfit.
There's a lot of other interesting places I could go with this, but quite frankly I'm too busy playing with my furry, purple breast implant to care. More on that later.
Pete
My buddy Crashmasta knows I have a thang for Kim Possible. He was shopping at Toys R. Us this week and saw the perfect gift for me and bought it. What a freaking nice guy!
So after Wednesday's ride, he presents me with a beautiful box set of Kim Possible and Bonnie (I think) action figures. I was more than a little bit stoked.
I have some problems though. Both action figures come with multiple outfits. There-in is the problem. Neither character is 18 years old. Cartoon characters tend to not age, so I'm pretty much screwed as far as ever changing Kim into her cheerleading outfit.
There's a lot of other interesting places I could go with this, but quite frankly I'm too busy playing with my furry, purple breast implant to care. More on that later.
Pete
Thursday, May 26, 2005
I like/hate the new Dave Matthews Band CD
Lets get Retarded!!!
Just kidding. I like that song, but that isn't what I'm talking about. As a white male in America, I'm supposed to like the Dave Matthews band. At least that is what the television told me. Normally that makes me want to run home to my security blanket music... you know... those soothing little ditties by the Sex Pistols, old Clash, Offspring, and Manfred Mann and the Earth Band. (Just kidding about the Manfred Mann thing).
I decided to do something a little different this time. I went out to Itunes and purchased the new Dave Matthews CD. I just listened to it for the first time and I really hated/liked it. I'm not sure which one yet, actually. It wasn't bad enough to make me shut it off, but it didn't have me rocking out all over my cube (probably a good thing for those that I work with). I get the feeling that I'll like it after listening to it a few times. I'm like that with some music. It has to grow on me.
I think REM is like that for me too. Back in the 1980s I bought an REM cd because I thought it would make me look cool and sensitive and attractive to this girl I had the hots for. The first time I listened to it, I HATED it! I don't mean that I mildly, kind-of hated it. I really despised it. I really had the hots for this girl though. Her name was Kim and she liked my motorcycle. So I listened to it again. It wasn't so bad. The third time I listened to it, I kinda liked it. Now it is one of my favorite CDs of all time.
Okay, as long as I'm jumping around with things, that kind of "I'm gonna listen to this so that some chick thinks I'm cool" thing NEVER really works. Never ever ever... except the above mentioned time with Kim. I think the motorcycle helped. Somehow finding a guy that "liked" the same music that she did and had a motorcycle did it for her. I guess that should have been a warning sign for me. We had fun for about three weeks, we both got bored, then went on to other things and people.
It does go down in history as the only time that I've ever had one of those hokey "guy trying to impress a girl" thing worked though... for me at least.
Uhhmmmm Dave Matthews.. I was talking about the Dave Matthews Band, right? Uhhmmm.. I'm guessing that my wife is gonna think I'm cool because I'm listening to this CD and maybe I'll get lucky this weekend. Yeah... I still like to call it getting lucky.
Lets get Stoooooooooopid!!! Yup. I'm back on that song again.
Pete
Just kidding. I like that song, but that isn't what I'm talking about. As a white male in America, I'm supposed to like the Dave Matthews band. At least that is what the television told me. Normally that makes me want to run home to my security blanket music... you know... those soothing little ditties by the Sex Pistols, old Clash, Offspring, and Manfred Mann and the Earth Band. (Just kidding about the Manfred Mann thing).
I decided to do something a little different this time. I went out to Itunes and purchased the new Dave Matthews CD. I just listened to it for the first time and I really hated/liked it. I'm not sure which one yet, actually. It wasn't bad enough to make me shut it off, but it didn't have me rocking out all over my cube (probably a good thing for those that I work with). I get the feeling that I'll like it after listening to it a few times. I'm like that with some music. It has to grow on me.
I think REM is like that for me too. Back in the 1980s I bought an REM cd because I thought it would make me look cool and sensitive and attractive to this girl I had the hots for. The first time I listened to it, I HATED it! I don't mean that I mildly, kind-of hated it. I really despised it. I really had the hots for this girl though. Her name was Kim and she liked my motorcycle. So I listened to it again. It wasn't so bad. The third time I listened to it, I kinda liked it. Now it is one of my favorite CDs of all time.
Okay, as long as I'm jumping around with things, that kind of "I'm gonna listen to this so that some chick thinks I'm cool" thing NEVER really works. Never ever ever... except the above mentioned time with Kim. I think the motorcycle helped. Somehow finding a guy that "liked" the same music that she did and had a motorcycle did it for her. I guess that should have been a warning sign for me. We had fun for about three weeks, we both got bored, then went on to other things and people.
It does go down in history as the only time that I've ever had one of those hokey "guy trying to impress a girl" thing worked though... for me at least.
Uhhmmmm Dave Matthews.. I was talking about the Dave Matthews Band, right? Uhhmmm.. I'm guessing that my wife is gonna think I'm cool because I'm listening to this CD and maybe I'll get lucky this weekend. Yeah... I still like to call it getting lucky.
Lets get Stoooooooooopid!!! Yup. I'm back on that song again.
Pete
Tandemming...
Okay, I've been talking to Tom about getting a tandem. He wants to ride with his wife on the tandem and "the boy" in the trailer. Look at the MORE board if you're curious about that discussion.
All this talk about the tandem has me itching to get back out on it. I pilfered the handlebars for my geared monkey. I need grips and to fix a flont flat. I also need to unstick the seatpost.
I got some pretty serious chemicals for getting the post unstuck. I also got a new propane cartridge for my torch. That should roach the paint, but get the damn thing unstuck. I'll get that going this weekend. I want to get out and play on that... especially since I've got two stokers who are interested in riding it.
It would be cool to lead the Friday night rides on the tandem. That's my new goal... get it going for next Friday.
Talk to you later.
Pete
All this talk about the tandem has me itching to get back out on it. I pilfered the handlebars for my geared monkey. I need grips and to fix a flont flat. I also need to unstick the seatpost.
I got some pretty serious chemicals for getting the post unstuck. I also got a new propane cartridge for my torch. That should roach the paint, but get the damn thing unstuck. I'll get that going this weekend. I want to get out and play on that... especially since I've got two stokers who are interested in riding it.
It would be cool to lead the Friday night rides on the tandem. That's my new goal... get it going for next Friday.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Days off are a good/bad thing.
Oy oy.
I'm slowly getting rid of my aches and pains from riding over the last few weeks. I took an easy week last week. I rode the road bike a few times and rode Fountainhead with Rick and Cory last Wed. The shoulder feels much better than it did last week. Taking it easy has been good for it.
I went out with Jay last night to get a ride in between rain storms. We hit Great Falls because their doubletrack is in good shape pretty much all the time. It also has plenty -o- climbing.
While the week off was great for my shoulder, taking that much time off when combined with getting minimal sleep from time at the hospital has KILLED my lungs. I felt like crapola last night. I had plenty of leg power, that wasn't a problem. I just had no lung at all.
I just need to get the kinks out. In the middle of the ride, I started feeling a bit better. I loosened up and had a few good climbs. After a while I found that I was tensing up in order to keep from twisting in a way that made my ribs hurt. Eventually I started cramping up as a result of trying to avoid the rib pain. I guess I need to approach that a little differently.
I did 45 minutes of yoga this morning and though that hurt, the ribs feel better today. Tomorrow night is another Great Falls/Riverbend ride. I'm going to try and get out early so I can get loosened up before others show up. Hopefully the rain will hold off a little.
In the immortal words of the Black Eyed Peas....
Lets get ignit. Lets get happy! Lets get stooopid! Lets get retarded! Lets get retarded in here!
Pete
I'm slowly getting rid of my aches and pains from riding over the last few weeks. I took an easy week last week. I rode the road bike a few times and rode Fountainhead with Rick and Cory last Wed. The shoulder feels much better than it did last week. Taking it easy has been good for it.
I went out with Jay last night to get a ride in between rain storms. We hit Great Falls because their doubletrack is in good shape pretty much all the time. It also has plenty -o- climbing.
While the week off was great for my shoulder, taking that much time off when combined with getting minimal sleep from time at the hospital has KILLED my lungs. I felt like crapola last night. I had plenty of leg power, that wasn't a problem. I just had no lung at all.
I just need to get the kinks out. In the middle of the ride, I started feeling a bit better. I loosened up and had a few good climbs. After a while I found that I was tensing up in order to keep from twisting in a way that made my ribs hurt. Eventually I started cramping up as a result of trying to avoid the rib pain. I guess I need to approach that a little differently.
I did 45 minutes of yoga this morning and though that hurt, the ribs feel better today. Tomorrow night is another Great Falls/Riverbend ride. I'm going to try and get out early so I can get loosened up before others show up. Hopefully the rain will hold off a little.
In the immortal words of the Black Eyed Peas....
Lets get ignit. Lets get happy! Lets get stooopid! Lets get retarded! Lets get retarded in here!
Pete
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Friends don't let white friends listen to hip-hop...
I'm white. I know it. I'm pretty much the poster child of whiteness. I can't dance for shit, I know it, but that doesn't stop me from trying. I love music, but I couldn't tap my foot to the beat if my life depended on it. Again, that doesn't stop me from trying.
I love my car. I love listening to music in my car. I have it wired up with so much equipment that most concert venus are envious.
This morning started an unfortunate series of events the likes of which caused the naming of my blog. (I'm such a drama queen... it isn't like anything really bad happened as a result of any of these events)
Event 1: I've been chasing down a ground-induced hum for a few months. I finally got it pretty well cleaned up. Only when I use my IPOD do I really have problems. That comes from using an unshielded IPOD adapter. I just have to rip out the dash to replace that.
Event 2: I blew a capacitor two days after fixing the ground issue. I should have had a 2farad cap in, and I only had 1. OOPS. It fizzled and just gave up the ghost. I took it out to prevent it from exploding or something. A cap is used to help prevent high powered amplifiers from sucking all the power from the car's electrical system. Without the cap, your headlights tend to dim to the beat of the music. In extreme cases... well I'll get to that in a few events.
Event 3: Wednesday is my early day. I go in at some freakish hour of the morning so that I can get off early and go see my buddy Chris. That means that I-66 is mine for the taking. I sometimes go a little over the speed limit and I almost always turn the music up loud enough to repel tailgaters.
Event 4: After hearing the song in the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle for the last two months, I went to I-tunes and purchased the Black Eyed Peas CD "Elephunk". It contains the song "Lets Get Retarded". Just the title alone implies that the song is written specifically for me.
Disclaimer 1: I know that there should be a constitutional amendment banning white guys from listening to music like this. I'm living proof that the Supreme Court would uphold the validity of such a ban.
Event 5: I'm driving to work... a little fast... a little loud. I'm doing about 85mph and track 3 comes on. It is the song mentioned in Event 4.
Event 6: I turn the volume up a little louder.
Event 7: My car stalls. I'm at about 3500 rpm in 6th gear and moving at a fairly good clip and my car stalls. The idiot lights come on the dash, the headlights all but go out. the tach drops to zero and the speedometer needle is dropping fast.
Disclaimer 2: I knew this was coming. I wasn't surprised by having power issues in the car. I was a little surprised by the severity of it though.
End Result 1: I hit the clutch instantly. I turned the music down (it still sounded damn good even though the car had stopped running). I dropped the car into 5th gear and dumped the clutch. It roared back to life. I drove on with the volume set a little lower.
End Result 2: Daddy is going to get his baby a new deep cycle battery and a 2.5farad capacitor for the stereo system when he goes shopping next week.
Have a nice day.
Pete
I love my car. I love listening to music in my car. I have it wired up with so much equipment that most concert venus are envious.
This morning started an unfortunate series of events the likes of which caused the naming of my blog. (I'm such a drama queen... it isn't like anything really bad happened as a result of any of these events)
Event 1: I've been chasing down a ground-induced hum for a few months. I finally got it pretty well cleaned up. Only when I use my IPOD do I really have problems. That comes from using an unshielded IPOD adapter. I just have to rip out the dash to replace that.
Event 2: I blew a capacitor two days after fixing the ground issue. I should have had a 2farad cap in, and I only had 1. OOPS. It fizzled and just gave up the ghost. I took it out to prevent it from exploding or something. A cap is used to help prevent high powered amplifiers from sucking all the power from the car's electrical system. Without the cap, your headlights tend to dim to the beat of the music. In extreme cases... well I'll get to that in a few events.
Event 3: Wednesday is my early day. I go in at some freakish hour of the morning so that I can get off early and go see my buddy Chris. That means that I-66 is mine for the taking. I sometimes go a little over the speed limit and I almost always turn the music up loud enough to repel tailgaters.
Event 4: After hearing the song in the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle for the last two months, I went to I-tunes and purchased the Black Eyed Peas CD "Elephunk". It contains the song "Lets Get Retarded". Just the title alone implies that the song is written specifically for me.
Disclaimer 1: I know that there should be a constitutional amendment banning white guys from listening to music like this. I'm living proof that the Supreme Court would uphold the validity of such a ban.
Event 5: I'm driving to work... a little fast... a little loud. I'm doing about 85mph and track 3 comes on. It is the song mentioned in Event 4.
Event 6: I turn the volume up a little louder.
Event 7: My car stalls. I'm at about 3500 rpm in 6th gear and moving at a fairly good clip and my car stalls. The idiot lights come on the dash, the headlights all but go out. the tach drops to zero and the speedometer needle is dropping fast.
Disclaimer 2: I knew this was coming. I wasn't surprised by having power issues in the car. I was a little surprised by the severity of it though.
End Result 1: I hit the clutch instantly. I turned the music down (it still sounded damn good even though the car had stopped running). I dropped the car into 5th gear and dumped the clutch. It roared back to life. I drove on with the volume set a little lower.
End Result 2: Daddy is going to get his baby a new deep cycle battery and a 2.5farad capacitor for the stereo system when he goes shopping next week.
Have a nice day.
Pete
Friday, May 20, 2005
The best thing about the new Star Wars movie....
Okay, the morning after I'm finding things that I liked about Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith.
First and foremost on that list was the preview for Fantastic 4. Jessica Alba is perfectly cast for this movie. She's perfect for the part. I must confess I have a pretty serious Jessica Alba thing.
It should be a fun movie.
What else did I like about the new Star Wars movie???? Jar Jar Binks didn't open his mouth for the whole movie. I don't have to worry about any anticipation about waiting for the DVD to come out.
Uhhmmmmm... I guess that's it.
You're beautiful because I love you.
Pete
First and foremost on that list was the preview for Fantastic 4. Jessica Alba is perfectly cast for this movie. She's perfect for the part. I must confess I have a pretty serious Jessica Alba thing.
It should be a fun movie.
What else did I like about the new Star Wars movie???? Jar Jar Binks didn't open his mouth for the whole movie. I don't have to worry about any anticipation about waiting for the DVD to come out.
Uhhmmmmm... I guess that's it.
You're beautiful because I love you.
Pete
Star Wars Episode 3: The Lost Hope
I won't rant for long. I'll just say that that movie was a HUGE dissappointment and I wasn't even expecting much.
Yoda's fight scenes were nowhere near as good as in Episode 2 (they were one of two redeeming factors of Episode 2. The other was Natalie Portman's wardrobe). The lizard thing that Obiwan was riding on one planet was really cool. Watching the droids put Darth Vader together was kind-of cool.
The one GREAT thing I can say about the movie was that Jar Jar Binks didn't open his mouth the whole time. He was seen, but not heard.
Oh well.
There'll be other movies to see later in the summer.
Pete
Yoda's fight scenes were nowhere near as good as in Episode 2 (they were one of two redeeming factors of Episode 2. The other was Natalie Portman's wardrobe). The lizard thing that Obiwan was riding on one planet was really cool. Watching the droids put Darth Vader together was kind-of cool.
The one GREAT thing I can say about the movie was that Jar Jar Binks didn't open his mouth the whole time. He was seen, but not heard.
Oh well.
There'll be other movies to see later in the summer.
Pete
Monday, May 16, 2005
12 Hours of Lodi...
Hey People.
Sorry I've been off for a while. It has been a rediculously stressful time for me and I don't write well when I'm having a rough time. It just doesn't flow. Things are looking a bit up, so I think that I'll be writing a bit more.
Lodi was a great experience. I had a lot of fun. Many props to Jason for completing 8 laps in pretty miserable conditions. David and Bob completed 9 laps. David had some blistering laps on that ride. JoeP, Ricky and their partner (Markie?) won the sport class. Evan and his team took second in the sport team class. Kate took third in women's solo. Joe Foley's team had a rough time because one of their guys was injured and Joe took them to get a few stitches. That kinda nixed their performance. Joe did a few laps to finish out the day. I could tell he was really disappointed, but he's such a dang good natured guy that he didn't let it get him down. Denis rode until his lights failed, then he slept in his car. He got up in the morning and did 4 laps during the day. He sounded like he had fun doing the ride solo. I talked to Craig and he seemed like he had fun. He said it was pretty brutal. I didn't hear how his team did. Barbara said there were some fun times, but like many people I talked to, found it frustrating to have to stop and get out of the way of the faster riders all the time. It was really hard to get a flow going when you were having to hop off the bike all the time. There was really no room to pass on this course when you were in the woods. Kevin did some blistering laps. I saw him a few times over the night. He was the first person that I knew who passed me after my crash (more on that later). He stopped and talked to me for a few moments and that really helped. I was REALLY pissed at myself at that moment and that got me back in the right mindset. Kevin rode till his lights died, got some sleep, then come out and did some fast laps after sunrise. It seemed to have worked well for him. I don't know what his final count was, but he was moving really well every time I saw him.
Thanks to all that cheered me on. The course was GREAT! It was twisty and tight. There were TONS of roots. It flowed really well for the most part. I loved it on the pre-ride. The rain started, and things were made much more difficult. The roots all became like ice. There wasn't enough rain for stuff to get really muddy. The dirt portions of trail were perfectly tacky almost everywhere. The roots made it a bit tough, though.
There were many sections on the trail that were not conducive to wide handlebars. There were three spots between trees that were narrower than 28". For me, that means less than an inch of space on each side of my bars. Most of them were slightly offset so I could get one side through, then the other side. One spot was my nemesis early on (someone whacked it down late in the evening and it was significantly wider). On my second lap I hit the left side of my bars on a tree just hard enough to throw me off balance. I pivoted and hit my shoulder and ribs on the opposing tree. That displaced my already tender ribs and I had a miled disolcation of my shoulder.
The shoulder has been loose for years. It often pops out, then right back in again. It did this time, or so I though. I did another lap and a half on it before heading for the car for a much needed nap.
I put on dry clothes and crawled under a blanket in the front seat of Jason's car and slept for 90 minutes. I felt great when I got up. My shoulder and ribs were tender, but I felt strong. I went out with Jason and Denis for a daylight lap. I went pretty fast up the first set of climbs. When I got to the top, my shoulder started hurting again. I finished out that lap and started the next one. At the top of the initial climbs, I started hurting in a way that tells me I'm doing damage to myself. I did as much of that lap as I could, then called it quits. In all, I finished 5 laps.
Laura came out Sunday morning. She was great and it was perfect that she was there. She could see that my shoulder wasn't right at the end. She told me so. I figured that I hadn't fully relocated it. Once I had that fixed, I felt MUCH better. Changing into dry clothes helped too. I then spent the rest of the morning helping pack up and get things ready for Jason's return. I cheered on some folks and helped a few people that looked like they could use a drink or food or technical help.
I really enjoyed the ride, but was completely frustrated by having to fight that much adversity. Had I one less thing to deal with, I think my results would have been a lot better (especially if that one thing would have been not injuring myself). That is the way things go, however. My preparations were almost perfect. The only thing I could have done better was to get more sleep leading up to the race. That wasn't possible with all the things going on at home. I ate perfectly for the race. I alternated between Extran and Amino Vital in the camelback. I had one of the these tablet things that help replace what you sweat off on each lap. I forget what they're really called. I call them "condoms" since they are packaged like condoms. I had one gel each lap. I was never hungry and I didn't have any dehydration problems. My legs felt GREAT the whole time. When I stopped for a nap, I ate a Boca Burger and drank a bottle of recovery drink. When I got off the bike at the end of my race, I had two bottles of recovery drink.
The drive home was easy. My stomach wasn't ready for much solid food, so I fed it what I was craving. That was..... Beef Jerky. I ate a whole bag while driving home. Jason napped and talked to me a bit. We unloaded my stuff at the house, then he drove home to his place. I hauled all my crap inside. Dumped the wet clothes on the floor by the washer, took a shower, ate a canteloupe and another boca burger, and went to bed. I guess I played with the cats a bit for a few minutes before bed. They could tell something was up. They were playing to humor me. Laura wasn't home yet, so I climbed into bed and slept. The cats curled up with me. It was nice. I slept pretty much straight through till morning. I don't often sleep more than 8 hours in a stretch. I had no problems sleeping 16 hours straight.
We'll see how my shoulder is feeling for riding this week. At this point it is more of a worry for me than my ribs. My shoulder is a bit tender right now, but I have most of my range of motion. My ribs basically feel like they did a few weeks ago. They've never stopped hurting since I fractured them 6 weeks ago, but they were hurting less in my daily life... mostly just when I breathe hard while riding. They'll settle back down.
If I got anyone's Lodi experience wrong, please let me know. I'll make corrections.
Thanks for reading. I'll write more soon.
Pete
Sorry I've been off for a while. It has been a rediculously stressful time for me and I don't write well when I'm having a rough time. It just doesn't flow. Things are looking a bit up, so I think that I'll be writing a bit more.
Lodi was a great experience. I had a lot of fun. Many props to Jason for completing 8 laps in pretty miserable conditions. David and Bob completed 9 laps. David had some blistering laps on that ride. JoeP, Ricky and their partner (Markie?) won the sport class. Evan and his team took second in the sport team class. Kate took third in women's solo. Joe Foley's team had a rough time because one of their guys was injured and Joe took them to get a few stitches. That kinda nixed their performance. Joe did a few laps to finish out the day. I could tell he was really disappointed, but he's such a dang good natured guy that he didn't let it get him down. Denis rode until his lights failed, then he slept in his car. He got up in the morning and did 4 laps during the day. He sounded like he had fun doing the ride solo. I talked to Craig and he seemed like he had fun. He said it was pretty brutal. I didn't hear how his team did. Barbara said there were some fun times, but like many people I talked to, found it frustrating to have to stop and get out of the way of the faster riders all the time. It was really hard to get a flow going when you were having to hop off the bike all the time. There was really no room to pass on this course when you were in the woods. Kevin did some blistering laps. I saw him a few times over the night. He was the first person that I knew who passed me after my crash (more on that later). He stopped and talked to me for a few moments and that really helped. I was REALLY pissed at myself at that moment and that got me back in the right mindset. Kevin rode till his lights died, got some sleep, then come out and did some fast laps after sunrise. It seemed to have worked well for him. I don't know what his final count was, but he was moving really well every time I saw him.
Thanks to all that cheered me on. The course was GREAT! It was twisty and tight. There were TONS of roots. It flowed really well for the most part. I loved it on the pre-ride. The rain started, and things were made much more difficult. The roots all became like ice. There wasn't enough rain for stuff to get really muddy. The dirt portions of trail were perfectly tacky almost everywhere. The roots made it a bit tough, though.
There were many sections on the trail that were not conducive to wide handlebars. There were three spots between trees that were narrower than 28". For me, that means less than an inch of space on each side of my bars. Most of them were slightly offset so I could get one side through, then the other side. One spot was my nemesis early on (someone whacked it down late in the evening and it was significantly wider). On my second lap I hit the left side of my bars on a tree just hard enough to throw me off balance. I pivoted and hit my shoulder and ribs on the opposing tree. That displaced my already tender ribs and I had a miled disolcation of my shoulder.
The shoulder has been loose for years. It often pops out, then right back in again. It did this time, or so I though. I did another lap and a half on it before heading for the car for a much needed nap.
I put on dry clothes and crawled under a blanket in the front seat of Jason's car and slept for 90 minutes. I felt great when I got up. My shoulder and ribs were tender, but I felt strong. I went out with Jason and Denis for a daylight lap. I went pretty fast up the first set of climbs. When I got to the top, my shoulder started hurting again. I finished out that lap and started the next one. At the top of the initial climbs, I started hurting in a way that tells me I'm doing damage to myself. I did as much of that lap as I could, then called it quits. In all, I finished 5 laps.
Laura came out Sunday morning. She was great and it was perfect that she was there. She could see that my shoulder wasn't right at the end. She told me so. I figured that I hadn't fully relocated it. Once I had that fixed, I felt MUCH better. Changing into dry clothes helped too. I then spent the rest of the morning helping pack up and get things ready for Jason's return. I cheered on some folks and helped a few people that looked like they could use a drink or food or technical help.
I really enjoyed the ride, but was completely frustrated by having to fight that much adversity. Had I one less thing to deal with, I think my results would have been a lot better (especially if that one thing would have been not injuring myself). That is the way things go, however. My preparations were almost perfect. The only thing I could have done better was to get more sleep leading up to the race. That wasn't possible with all the things going on at home. I ate perfectly for the race. I alternated between Extran and Amino Vital in the camelback. I had one of the these tablet things that help replace what you sweat off on each lap. I forget what they're really called. I call them "condoms" since they are packaged like condoms. I had one gel each lap. I was never hungry and I didn't have any dehydration problems. My legs felt GREAT the whole time. When I stopped for a nap, I ate a Boca Burger and drank a bottle of recovery drink. When I got off the bike at the end of my race, I had two bottles of recovery drink.
The drive home was easy. My stomach wasn't ready for much solid food, so I fed it what I was craving. That was..... Beef Jerky. I ate a whole bag while driving home. Jason napped and talked to me a bit. We unloaded my stuff at the house, then he drove home to his place. I hauled all my crap inside. Dumped the wet clothes on the floor by the washer, took a shower, ate a canteloupe and another boca burger, and went to bed. I guess I played with the cats a bit for a few minutes before bed. They could tell something was up. They were playing to humor me. Laura wasn't home yet, so I climbed into bed and slept. The cats curled up with me. It was nice. I slept pretty much straight through till morning. I don't often sleep more than 8 hours in a stretch. I had no problems sleeping 16 hours straight.
We'll see how my shoulder is feeling for riding this week. At this point it is more of a worry for me than my ribs. My shoulder is a bit tender right now, but I have most of my range of motion. My ribs basically feel like they did a few weeks ago. They've never stopped hurting since I fractured them 6 weeks ago, but they were hurting less in my daily life... mostly just when I breathe hard while riding. They'll settle back down.
If I got anyone's Lodi experience wrong, please let me know. I'll make corrections.
Thanks for reading. I'll write more soon.
Pete
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Crappy Day? NO WAY
Yesterday it rained all day... really hard. That made for some big problems for us. First, we didn't get to ride. Second, when we headed for Goosberry Mesa to ride today, the dirt roads that lead to the trailhead was 6" deep in mud. We saw 4x4s turn around and head back instead of driving in. Our second choice in rides was in the high country and they got 6" of new snow yesterday while we got all that rain.
After driving around half the day, we headed off to do "The Loop". The Loop consists of Gould's Rim, the JEM trail and Hurricaine rim. It turned out to be the perfect loop. It was just under 22 miles. It started with a big climb, and finished with a big climb near the end of the loop. In between it was a really cool mix of buff singletrack, long, gradual downhills and small rock gardens. There were great views all the way around the loop. One of the coolest things is that it is a really wide open loop. What I mean by that is that you cover a lot of ground on the loop. You almost go 7 miles in one direction, turn, go 7 miles in a different direction, turn then go 7 miles back to the car.
The photos turned out great. I'll post them up when I get home.
The tough part of the trail was the way the different trail surfaces mixed together. On the JEM trail, there were long sections of swooping downhill that you just fly through like on a BMX track. Towards the bottom, however, there were some fairly large rock gardens tossed in. Jason's suspension saved him a few times when he flew into areas with too much speed. I had some good luck with a few of them... I was able to pick a good line through and bunny hop the worst of a few of the gardens. There were two in particular that pretty much ate me up though. I got two pinch flats from hitting too a rock garden going too fast. Luckily I carry tubes.
We had a blast and managed to get back in time to pick up a DVD, eat some pizza and watch a movie in the Hotel room.
Talk to you later.
Pete
After driving around half the day, we headed off to do "The Loop". The Loop consists of Gould's Rim, the JEM trail and Hurricaine rim. It turned out to be the perfect loop. It was just under 22 miles. It started with a big climb, and finished with a big climb near the end of the loop. In between it was a really cool mix of buff singletrack, long, gradual downhills and small rock gardens. There were great views all the way around the loop. One of the coolest things is that it is a really wide open loop. What I mean by that is that you cover a lot of ground on the loop. You almost go 7 miles in one direction, turn, go 7 miles in a different direction, turn then go 7 miles back to the car.
The photos turned out great. I'll post them up when I get home.
The tough part of the trail was the way the different trail surfaces mixed together. On the JEM trail, there were long sections of swooping downhill that you just fly through like on a BMX track. Towards the bottom, however, there were some fairly large rock gardens tossed in. Jason's suspension saved him a few times when he flew into areas with too much speed. I had some good luck with a few of them... I was able to pick a good line through and bunny hop the worst of a few of the gardens. There were two in particular that pretty much ate me up though. I got two pinch flats from hitting too a rock garden going too fast. Luckily I carry tubes.
We had a blast and managed to get back in time to pick up a DVD, eat some pizza and watch a movie in the Hotel room.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Me like pain. ;)
What better way to follow an epic ride with lots of climbing than with an epic ride with even more climbing?
Since we lost almost a full day to the rain, we had to cram a little extra in towards the end of our stay in Fruita. This turned out to be one of those classic “Pete” rides that Jason makes fun of, but really enjoys. The idea is that we start with one trail and if we feel good, we go onto the next. If we feel good after that, we do another. The Kokopelli trail area has enough variety and places to bail out that you can really do that ride well. 33 miles and over 4000 feet of climbing later, we finished out the ride.
We started with a warm-up loop on Rustlers. This loop is a good, mellow and scenic ride that lets you get your legs and arms loose. After the riding yesterday, my arms needed it more than anything.
Moore Fun was next up. I think this was the ride that Jason was looking forward to more than anything we’d ridden so far. He’d heard so many good things about it and read a lot too. The lower part of the east side is pretty tough this early in the ride. Neither of us had fully warmed up and we were not really riding at our best yet. We walked a few of the rock moves and climbed quite a few too. It was really fun.
By the time we got towards the top, the riding skills were coming back to us. We topped out the first climb and snapped a few photos. There is a ¾ mile traverse between the first peak and the second. On the way there, I climbed up on some rocks and snapped a few photos looking down on Jason as he rode by. I thought about dropping a rock on his head, but I decided against it.
Then the fun began. The descent on Moore Fun is uhhhmmmm more fun than the climb. We had a blast on the rocks and switchbacks. There were some big ones we walked towards the bottom, but I rode a lot more this year than I did last.
Next up was Mack Ridge. There were more rocks and trials moves on that climb, though it is a little easier than Moore Fun. The view from the top was amazing. The descent was great, though not at all technical.
We both started to feel the miles a little at the bottom of Troybuilt. It took a little while to get used to climbing again. Jason did better than I did. I’d bruised my upper arm yesterday and it wasn’t working as well as I’d have liked. It was still good, but I wasn’t keeping up as well as I had in the past. The last climb to Lions loop was really tough. It was pretty loose and steep, so it was hard to keep a rhythm going.
The first part of Lions loop SUCKED! It had been torn up by 4 wheelers and cows after the rain and it was jackhammering me since I was riding the 0” suspension forks. Lyons would have been fun if it hadn’t been so chewed up.
Upper Handcuffs was the same way. We ended up riding for almost 5 miles on rock hard trails that were rough as heck. My arms were killing me. We pushed on and really enjoyed the rest of Handcuffs. The views from the edge of the cliffs are amazing on that ride.
Climbing up to Mary’s loop was another tough one, but really fun. By this time we’d been riding for 27 miles or so. We were running low on water and were ready for a break. Mary’s gave us that opportunity. It didn’t have much climbing and there was a lot of smooth singletrack to roll through.
Horsethief was last on the menu for the day. We’d ridden it twice earlier in the week, but wanted to ride all the trails at Kokopelli if we could. We were completely out of water by this time, but it was only a 4 mile loop. It was a blast and definitely a good way to close out the ride.
Riding down Mary’s and back over the ridge to the car was much welcomed. Oddly enough, my legs felt great. It was my arms that were hurting badly.
After all that, we went to Chic-Fil-A for pre-dinner, then Texas Road House for the real thing.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Since we lost almost a full day to the rain, we had to cram a little extra in towards the end of our stay in Fruita. This turned out to be one of those classic “Pete” rides that Jason makes fun of, but really enjoys. The idea is that we start with one trail and if we feel good, we go onto the next. If we feel good after that, we do another. The Kokopelli trail area has enough variety and places to bail out that you can really do that ride well. 33 miles and over 4000 feet of climbing later, we finished out the ride.
We started with a warm-up loop on Rustlers. This loop is a good, mellow and scenic ride that lets you get your legs and arms loose. After the riding yesterday, my arms needed it more than anything.
Moore Fun was next up. I think this was the ride that Jason was looking forward to more than anything we’d ridden so far. He’d heard so many good things about it and read a lot too. The lower part of the east side is pretty tough this early in the ride. Neither of us had fully warmed up and we were not really riding at our best yet. We walked a few of the rock moves and climbed quite a few too. It was really fun.
By the time we got towards the top, the riding skills were coming back to us. We topped out the first climb and snapped a few photos. There is a ¾ mile traverse between the first peak and the second. On the way there, I climbed up on some rocks and snapped a few photos looking down on Jason as he rode by. I thought about dropping a rock on his head, but I decided against it.
Then the fun began. The descent on Moore Fun is uhhhmmmm more fun than the climb. We had a blast on the rocks and switchbacks. There were some big ones we walked towards the bottom, but I rode a lot more this year than I did last.
Next up was Mack Ridge. There were more rocks and trials moves on that climb, though it is a little easier than Moore Fun. The view from the top was amazing. The descent was great, though not at all technical.
We both started to feel the miles a little at the bottom of Troybuilt. It took a little while to get used to climbing again. Jason did better than I did. I’d bruised my upper arm yesterday and it wasn’t working as well as I’d have liked. It was still good, but I wasn’t keeping up as well as I had in the past. The last climb to Lions loop was really tough. It was pretty loose and steep, so it was hard to keep a rhythm going.
The first part of Lions loop SUCKED! It had been torn up by 4 wheelers and cows after the rain and it was jackhammering me since I was riding the 0” suspension forks. Lyons would have been fun if it hadn’t been so chewed up.
Upper Handcuffs was the same way. We ended up riding for almost 5 miles on rock hard trails that were rough as heck. My arms were killing me. We pushed on and really enjoyed the rest of Handcuffs. The views from the edge of the cliffs are amazing on that ride.
Climbing up to Mary’s loop was another tough one, but really fun. By this time we’d been riding for 27 miles or so. We were running low on water and were ready for a break. Mary’s gave us that opportunity. It didn’t have much climbing and there was a lot of smooth singletrack to roll through.
Horsethief was last on the menu for the day. We’d ridden it twice earlier in the week, but wanted to ride all the trails at Kokopelli if we could. We were completely out of water by this time, but it was only a 4 mile loop. It was a blast and definitely a good way to close out the ride.
Riding down Mary’s and back over the ridge to the car was much welcomed. Oddly enough, my legs felt great. It was my arms that were hurting badly.
After all that, we went to Chic-Fil-A for pre-dinner, then Texas Road House for the real thing.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Monday, April 25, 2005
It takes a special kind of idiot.....
April 25, 2005: Day5: I predict that we’ll be encountering rocks today…
We went to the Lunch Loops area for a ride today. These trails are on the south side of Grand Junction. OH MY GOD What a ride!!! I’d seen Pete Fagerlin’s videos about a lot of these loops and they look pretty amazing. Most are quite technical with lots of rock stunts, drop-ins and stair steps both up and down.
After all the rain we’d had, we were looking forward to a great day with great weather. Mom Nature didn’t cooperate too well. Our goal was to climb a trail called The Ribbon. This is normally done as a shuttle run. Since we had only one car, and I didn’t want to ride up the road, we climbed lower Eagles Wings and then cut over to the Tabeguache doubletrack. These climbs were steady small and middle ring climbs. Each are punctuated with little rock steps here and there. Both Jason and I were a little rusty after an easy day yesterday. Neither of us really were handling the bikes so well. Fortunately that went away pretty quickly as we warmed up.
We hit the base of a hill called “The Widowmaker” and the clouds rolled in. It started raining. I was not happy. I had worked out some options though that would allow us to continue riding. One trail that I KNEW we would want to do was Holy Cross. This trail was designed by the same dude that did Moore Fun in Fruita. That means lots of big rocks, steps up and down and plenty of trials riding. We’re talking one freaking technical trail with some sweet sections of flowing single track between. We were in heaven.
When we got to the bottom, the weather looked much better. We started climbing up towards the top of The Ribbon again. When I say climb, I really mean climb. The trail climbs 3100 feet in about 8 miles. Most of the last three miles is climbing steep slick rock. That means that you’re in your granny gear and pedaling straight up the fall line.
I was happy to make it about 1/3 of the way up the widowmaker climb. It is steep and rock strewn. It is climbable. I got off line and sketched. I don’t know if I would have had the lungs for it or not, but I made it up the toughest section before stepping off (the story of my day for some of this).
At the top of Tabeguache, you hit the road for ¼ mile or so. A right turn down the Ribbon Connector made for a really amazing downhill. There were some sections that we walked, but others that were amazingly steep and twisty, but very rideable.
This trail skirts the base of a cliff that is home to the Eagles Wings trail. It got its name appropriately. From below we could see a nesting pair of golden eagles on the cliff. They were beautiful!!!
At the bottom of the connector, the trail turned up hill for good. This begins the last 3 miles of serious climbing.
It takes a special kind of idiot to ride this trail in the up direction. Everyone else either shuttles it or rides the road. I think going in the direction we did was a big strain on Grumpy J’s patience. I knew he’d be happy when we got to the top.
There were two sections of steep sandstone that we had to climb. That isn’t easy in cycling shoes. It was all we could do to scramble up with our bikes. The climb just kept going and going. It had me working to come up with an alternative that would give us a break when we got to the top.
I’m glad I studied my Fruita guide and Pete Fagerlin’s videos. They were very helpful. From the top, we rode down the road for about 3 miles to another trailhead. I figured we’d hit Gunny on the way down and enjoy some buff singletrack. On the road down from the Ribbon, we topped out at over 40mph. It didn’t suck at all.
Gunny is a cool mix of really buff singletrack followed by sections of singletrack peppered with rocks. Between many of these sections are little rock stunts and stair steps. It keeps you on your toes. At the bottom, there is a really sketchy downhill section that is steep, rocky and a little twisty. We had fun picking our way down it.
This trail dumps us out at the exit of Holy Cross. We’d already done the climb out from that once. It is steep and twisty, but very fun. Just at the top when your lungs are hurting and your legs are on fire, there’s an 8” step up that you have to hop before you can finish out the climb. Very fun. Very challenging.
We twisted down a few other trails and finally wound up on a new trail that rides the ridge above the parking area. At the end of the ridge it has 5 seriously tight, rocky and steep switchbacks. It was my own little slice of heaven. We took our time down this because we were both pretty tired. It was the perfect end to a perfect ride.
The rain held off. I took a jacket for both of us since I knew we’d be up in the high country and it might get chilly. We were about 150 feet below the snow line at the top of The Ribbon. We could see that it had snowed across the valley quite a bit. Those hills were white. There was a Chic-Fil-A about a mile from the car. We went and ate too much.
Jason had some great technical sections today. It was fun to watch him taking rock stairs and drop-ins with ease and confidence. There were some that we both walked, but I think we both rode a lot more than we would have a month ago.
Time to go to Borders and post this crap up on the blog. I’ll send photos too.
Pete
We went to the Lunch Loops area for a ride today. These trails are on the south side of Grand Junction. OH MY GOD What a ride!!! I’d seen Pete Fagerlin’s videos about a lot of these loops and they look pretty amazing. Most are quite technical with lots of rock stunts, drop-ins and stair steps both up and down.
After all the rain we’d had, we were looking forward to a great day with great weather. Mom Nature didn’t cooperate too well. Our goal was to climb a trail called The Ribbon. This is normally done as a shuttle run. Since we had only one car, and I didn’t want to ride up the road, we climbed lower Eagles Wings and then cut over to the Tabeguache doubletrack. These climbs were steady small and middle ring climbs. Each are punctuated with little rock steps here and there. Both Jason and I were a little rusty after an easy day yesterday. Neither of us really were handling the bikes so well. Fortunately that went away pretty quickly as we warmed up.
We hit the base of a hill called “The Widowmaker” and the clouds rolled in. It started raining. I was not happy. I had worked out some options though that would allow us to continue riding. One trail that I KNEW we would want to do was Holy Cross. This trail was designed by the same dude that did Moore Fun in Fruita. That means lots of big rocks, steps up and down and plenty of trials riding. We’re talking one freaking technical trail with some sweet sections of flowing single track between. We were in heaven.
When we got to the bottom, the weather looked much better. We started climbing up towards the top of The Ribbon again. When I say climb, I really mean climb. The trail climbs 3100 feet in about 8 miles. Most of the last three miles is climbing steep slick rock. That means that you’re in your granny gear and pedaling straight up the fall line.
I was happy to make it about 1/3 of the way up the widowmaker climb. It is steep and rock strewn. It is climbable. I got off line and sketched. I don’t know if I would have had the lungs for it or not, but I made it up the toughest section before stepping off (the story of my day for some of this).
At the top of Tabeguache, you hit the road for ¼ mile or so. A right turn down the Ribbon Connector made for a really amazing downhill. There were some sections that we walked, but others that were amazingly steep and twisty, but very rideable.
This trail skirts the base of a cliff that is home to the Eagles Wings trail. It got its name appropriately. From below we could see a nesting pair of golden eagles on the cliff. They were beautiful!!!
At the bottom of the connector, the trail turned up hill for good. This begins the last 3 miles of serious climbing.
It takes a special kind of idiot to ride this trail in the up direction. Everyone else either shuttles it or rides the road. I think going in the direction we did was a big strain on Grumpy J’s patience. I knew he’d be happy when we got to the top.
There were two sections of steep sandstone that we had to climb. That isn’t easy in cycling shoes. It was all we could do to scramble up with our bikes. The climb just kept going and going. It had me working to come up with an alternative that would give us a break when we got to the top.
I’m glad I studied my Fruita guide and Pete Fagerlin’s videos. They were very helpful. From the top, we rode down the road for about 3 miles to another trailhead. I figured we’d hit Gunny on the way down and enjoy some buff singletrack. On the road down from the Ribbon, we topped out at over 40mph. It didn’t suck at all.
Gunny is a cool mix of really buff singletrack followed by sections of singletrack peppered with rocks. Between many of these sections are little rock stunts and stair steps. It keeps you on your toes. At the bottom, there is a really sketchy downhill section that is steep, rocky and a little twisty. We had fun picking our way down it.
This trail dumps us out at the exit of Holy Cross. We’d already done the climb out from that once. It is steep and twisty, but very fun. Just at the top when your lungs are hurting and your legs are on fire, there’s an 8” step up that you have to hop before you can finish out the climb. Very fun. Very challenging.
We twisted down a few other trails and finally wound up on a new trail that rides the ridge above the parking area. At the end of the ridge it has 5 seriously tight, rocky and steep switchbacks. It was my own little slice of heaven. We took our time down this because we were both pretty tired. It was the perfect end to a perfect ride.
The rain held off. I took a jacket for both of us since I knew we’d be up in the high country and it might get chilly. We were about 150 feet below the snow line at the top of The Ribbon. We could see that it had snowed across the valley quite a bit. Those hills were white. There was a Chic-Fil-A about a mile from the car. We went and ate too much.
Jason had some great technical sections today. It was fun to watch him taking rock stairs and drop-ins with ease and confidence. There were some that we both walked, but I think we both rode a lot more than we would have a month ago.
Time to go to Borders and post this crap up on the blog. I’ll send photos too.
Pete
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!!
April 24, 2005: Fruita Day 4: Rain rain go away.
It rained last night. We took it easy in the morning since we’d been up late doing stuff the night before. We needed a break. The rain cleared off early, and we hit the trails on the single speeds. J wasn’t very happy about that. He really wanted to be riding his 5.5. He cheered up when the trails were PERFECT!
We didn’t know how long the weather would hold, so we did a spin around Rustlers, Mary’s and Horsethief Bench. About 10 minutes from the top of Horsethief bench, the heavens opened. It started raining lightly, then the hail came. It got to be about pea sized before it started to ease up. Pea sized hail is enough to sting pretty good, but not enough to raise a welt. For that we were happy.
The trail turned into a small flash flood. It was easy to see how people get caught out in something like this. In 15 minutes the trails had rivers running down them. It wasn’t pretty.
The ride was spectacular, even if it was only about 11 miles long. J did some GREAT riding in front of the camera. He did one drop that he wasn’t expecting to be as big as it was. It looked like the new fork saved him. The photo shows it completely compressed. He did a great job of riding a big rock garden. The boy’s got skills. ;)
We drove to Moab to pick up the 5.5, paid the guys at Rim Cyclery with money for the repair, and beer for their trouble. They were happy. The bike looks great.
Our dinner was just weird. We went to Eddy McStiff’s and the hostess showed that she might not have been hired for her brains. She told us to wait for her here while she scouted a table. When she came back, she didn’t know who we were. She rattled on about something to do with big tables in the bar. I said, “So you don’t have a table for us?” She looked stunned and pointed in the next room and said it was in there. The meal went’ down hill from there. Our waitress was okay, not so much because she was giving us good service, but more because she was concentrating all her efforts on pissing off the people at the tables around us. Fortunately she didn’t have enough energy to put to pissing us off. She charged us 69 cents for chips and salsa that we didn’t get and she made us wait to pay her for the meal. Those crimes were pretty mild compared to the stuff the lady a few tables over was complaining about. Lets just say it was a less than relaxing dining experience.
Jason compared it with the night before. We’d eaten there because they had free WiFi. Last night the food was good and the service was very good… maybe too good. Have you ever had a server that was really flirty? The chick serving us was a bit over the top in that department. I got the feeling that I could have had a lap dance if I’d asked and the tip was right. That weirded me out a bit. At least we got our chips and salsa.
We blazed that place ASAP and went next door for coffee. Much better place. Mondo Café. Stop there when you get a chance. You won’t be sorry. Great coffee and great breakfast food. I’m happily typing there right now.
I need to go home and clean some muddy clothes off so we can ride tomorrow.
Talk to you later.
Pete
It rained last night. We took it easy in the morning since we’d been up late doing stuff the night before. We needed a break. The rain cleared off early, and we hit the trails on the single speeds. J wasn’t very happy about that. He really wanted to be riding his 5.5. He cheered up when the trails were PERFECT!
We didn’t know how long the weather would hold, so we did a spin around Rustlers, Mary’s and Horsethief Bench. About 10 minutes from the top of Horsethief bench, the heavens opened. It started raining lightly, then the hail came. It got to be about pea sized before it started to ease up. Pea sized hail is enough to sting pretty good, but not enough to raise a welt. For that we were happy.
The trail turned into a small flash flood. It was easy to see how people get caught out in something like this. In 15 minutes the trails had rivers running down them. It wasn’t pretty.
The ride was spectacular, even if it was only about 11 miles long. J did some GREAT riding in front of the camera. He did one drop that he wasn’t expecting to be as big as it was. It looked like the new fork saved him. The photo shows it completely compressed. He did a great job of riding a big rock garden. The boy’s got skills. ;)
We drove to Moab to pick up the 5.5, paid the guys at Rim Cyclery with money for the repair, and beer for their trouble. They were happy. The bike looks great.
Our dinner was just weird. We went to Eddy McStiff’s and the hostess showed that she might not have been hired for her brains. She told us to wait for her here while she scouted a table. When she came back, she didn’t know who we were. She rattled on about something to do with big tables in the bar. I said, “So you don’t have a table for us?” She looked stunned and pointed in the next room and said it was in there. The meal went’ down hill from there. Our waitress was okay, not so much because she was giving us good service, but more because she was concentrating all her efforts on pissing off the people at the tables around us. Fortunately she didn’t have enough energy to put to pissing us off. She charged us 69 cents for chips and salsa that we didn’t get and she made us wait to pay her for the meal. Those crimes were pretty mild compared to the stuff the lady a few tables over was complaining about. Lets just say it was a less than relaxing dining experience.
Jason compared it with the night before. We’d eaten there because they had free WiFi. Last night the food was good and the service was very good… maybe too good. Have you ever had a server that was really flirty? The chick serving us was a bit over the top in that department. I got the feeling that I could have had a lap dance if I’d asked and the tip was right. That weirded me out a bit. At least we got our chips and salsa.
We blazed that place ASAP and went next door for coffee. Much better place. Mondo Café. Stop there when you get a chance. You won’t be sorry. Great coffee and great breakfast food. I’m happily typing there right now.
I need to go home and clean some muddy clothes off so we can ride tomorrow.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Saturday, April 23, 2005
The first REAL Ride....
We slept in a little. We were up and around by 8am. I think we were both still on DC time… It was 10am there. Today we were heading to the 18road area. That meant a lot of short, steep climbs.
We started the day at Village Inn pancake house. The waitress laughed at my stupid jokes. She got a big tip. I ate a huge, bad for me breakfast. It was perfect. Jason was healthy. Whatever works!
We hit the trails by 10:30. We started out by going up Prime Cut to Chutes and Ladders. Prime cut was really fun, but tough for a warm-up. It was much easier the second time around.
Jason didn’t like the two tough climbs on Chutes and Ladders much. He rode both very well, but wasn’t really feeling the love for these hills. The chutes were pretty fun. I cleaned a tight, rocky switchback that I hadn’t been able to do before. The Monkey just inspires confidence.
Jason’s favorite part of the loop was heading out into the cow fields. This place was much like a BMX track. Lots of dips, jumps and berms. Jason hit almost 27 mph in this section.
We finished out the loop, climbed prime cut again, then headed for Joe’s ridge. Jay was a little scared of ithe drops on Joe’s. He’d read a lot about them, but hadn’t really seen them in person. He trooped right don them.
Lower Zippity was fun. The drops are a little worse than on Chutes and Ladders, and definitely not walkable. We had fun with them though. It was a little riding clinic in the middle of the day.
The cool part about lower zippity, is that I made it up the short, but extremely steep section in the middle. That was one of the things I was most proud of.
At the bottom of Lower Zippity we headed for Zippity West to ride all the way back to the top. This trail started out as boring doubletrack. It later becajme a perfect ribbon of singletrack heding for the top of Zippity.
We rode zippity from top to bottom. One section was sketchier than I remember… by a long shot. We stepped over the rocks, lined up for the drop and then rode it. The other drops were scary, but not impossible.
The ride total came out to 24.3 miles and about 3000 feet of climbing.
The one last comment that I had about today refers to something that Jay said on today’s ride. The conversation went something like this:
Grumpy J.: I almost crapped myself on that downhill.
Pete: It’s a good thing we’re doing this trail at the end of the day.
Grumpy J.: Why is that?
Pete: Because if you crap yourself, your bike shorts will work like a diaper.
Grumpy J: I didn’t need to hear that.
We started the day at Village Inn pancake house. The waitress laughed at my stupid jokes. She got a big tip. I ate a huge, bad for me breakfast. It was perfect. Jason was healthy. Whatever works!
We hit the trails by 10:30. We started out by going up Prime Cut to Chutes and Ladders. Prime cut was really fun, but tough for a warm-up. It was much easier the second time around.
Jason didn’t like the two tough climbs on Chutes and Ladders much. He rode both very well, but wasn’t really feeling the love for these hills. The chutes were pretty fun. I cleaned a tight, rocky switchback that I hadn’t been able to do before. The Monkey just inspires confidence.
Jason’s favorite part of the loop was heading out into the cow fields. This place was much like a BMX track. Lots of dips, jumps and berms. Jason hit almost 27 mph in this section.
We finished out the loop, climbed prime cut again, then headed for Joe’s ridge. Jay was a little scared of ithe drops on Joe’s. He’d read a lot about them, but hadn’t really seen them in person. He trooped right don them.
Lower Zippity was fun. The drops are a little worse than on Chutes and Ladders, and definitely not walkable. We had fun with them though. It was a little riding clinic in the middle of the day.
The cool part about lower zippity, is that I made it up the short, but extremely steep section in the middle. That was one of the things I was most proud of.
At the bottom of Lower Zippity we headed for Zippity West to ride all the way back to the top. This trail started out as boring doubletrack. It later becajme a perfect ribbon of singletrack heding for the top of Zippity.
We rode zippity from top to bottom. One section was sketchier than I remember… by a long shot. We stepped over the rocks, lined up for the drop and then rode it. The other drops were scary, but not impossible.
The ride total came out to 24.3 miles and about 3000 feet of climbing.
The one last comment that I had about today refers to something that Jay said on today’s ride. The conversation went something like this:
Grumpy J.: I almost crapped myself on that downhill.
Pete: It’s a good thing we’re doing this trail at the end of the day.
Grumpy J.: Why is that?
Pete: Because if you crap yourself, your bike shorts will work like a diaper.
Grumpy J: I didn’t need to hear that.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Arriving in Fruita....
We finally got here at noon as we went to the grocery store. I ran in, got water, apples and batteries. We headed out to the trails. We rode Rustler’s loop and Horsethief bench. The ride was perfect. We’d driving 3400 miles, lept for 4 hours and then went for an 11 mile ride pretty fast. Sounds extreme to me. :D
Ride was cut a little short because J had a problem with his shock mount. The rear shock was sliding to the side on the mount. I did a home depot fix for it. It’ll hold for a while. J is checking to see if he can find an Intense dealer in Moab, Grand Junction or St. George to get the dang thing fixed for real.
My local treasure moment of the day happened when I went shopping for apples and water. I was just going through self checkout and the grocery store lady came up to see if I needed help. When she finally figured out that I was doing okay, she decided to suggest a sale. In her own words…. “Ice and Firewood are very popular with people like you.” Bwahhahahahhahahaha She was being helpful. She was being polite. The words “people like you” let me know that I was a freaking alien to you. She didn’t mean it in a mean way. I didn’t take it in a mean way. I just thought it was really funny. She wasn’t very comfortable with me.
This brings up the question, what exactly was she talking about when se said "People like you"???? Here are my guesses...
1. People who don't bathe
2. People with more earings than her.
3. People who appear to be wearing alternate undergarments (the straps of my bib shorts were hanging out).
I'm open to suggestions if you can come up with something that she might have been talking about.
Home, Dinner, Fix bike, Sleep.
As a side note, Jason ate 7 White Castles around 1pm on April 21st. They did not make any attempt to leave his body until mid morning on April 23rd. What exactly were they doing in there all that time????
White Castles... the other beige meat. ;)
Pete
Ride was cut a little short because J had a problem with his shock mount. The rear shock was sliding to the side on the mount. I did a home depot fix for it. It’ll hold for a while. J is checking to see if he can find an Intense dealer in Moab, Grand Junction or St. George to get the dang thing fixed for real.
My local treasure moment of the day happened when I went shopping for apples and water. I was just going through self checkout and the grocery store lady came up to see if I needed help. When she finally figured out that I was doing okay, she decided to suggest a sale. In her own words…. “Ice and Firewood are very popular with people like you.” Bwahhahahahhahahaha She was being helpful. She was being polite. The words “people like you” let me know that I was a freaking alien to you. She didn’t mean it in a mean way. I didn’t take it in a mean way. I just thought it was really funny. She wasn’t very comfortable with me.
This brings up the question, what exactly was she talking about when se said "People like you"???? Here are my guesses...
1. People who don't bathe
2. People with more earings than her.
3. People who appear to be wearing alternate undergarments (the straps of my bib shorts were hanging out).
I'm open to suggestions if you can come up with something that she might have been talking about.
Home, Dinner, Fix bike, Sleep.
As a side note, Jason ate 7 White Castles around 1pm on April 21st. They did not make any attempt to leave his body until mid morning on April 23rd. What exactly were they doing in there all that time????
White Castles... the other beige meat. ;)
Pete
Chicken made into donuts... is there a more perfect food?
Until recently, I thought that A&W had the ultimate food product in their corn dog nuggets. Read on and find out that I may have been wrong...
We drove all day. I was stressed out from work enough that driving was therapeutic. I needed a lot of therapy.
White Castle: The other beige meat…. We stopped in St. Louis for White Castles. Brian helped us out with the location of the nearest one. We got 20 burgers and 4 fries and 2 drinks. I ate 1 order of fries and 14 burgers. I might have been able to eat more if I wasn’t sitting across from Jason. He makes me want to be healthy.
As a side note, Jason ate 6 White Castles on Thursday. He finally evacuated them some time Saturday morning. That can’t be healthy. ;)
They have a new product…. Chicken rings. Imagine chicken stamped into the shape of a donut. Donuts? Chicken? How can you go wrong with that combo?
We stopped again to catch a few hours of sleep right before the Colorado state line. The wind was so bad that we got horrible gas mileage. It was a fight to keep going. We finally stopped for another nap just before the Colorado boarder. We got almost 3 hours of sleep this time. The rest of the drive was cake.
The thing that was killer was the wind. We fought it the whole way. Driving at 80mph (in a 75mph zone) was a lot of work going into a 40mph headwind. My arms were tired by the time we got to Denver.
Just the thought of putting some distance between me and those chicken rings is plenty of motivation for me.
Pete
We drove all day. I was stressed out from work enough that driving was therapeutic. I needed a lot of therapy.
White Castle: The other beige meat…. We stopped in St. Louis for White Castles. Brian helped us out with the location of the nearest one. We got 20 burgers and 4 fries and 2 drinks. I ate 1 order of fries and 14 burgers. I might have been able to eat more if I wasn’t sitting across from Jason. He makes me want to be healthy.
As a side note, Jason ate 6 White Castles on Thursday. He finally evacuated them some time Saturday morning. That can’t be healthy. ;)
They have a new product…. Chicken rings. Imagine chicken stamped into the shape of a donut. Donuts? Chicken? How can you go wrong with that combo?
We stopped again to catch a few hours of sleep right before the Colorado state line. The wind was so bad that we got horrible gas mileage. It was a fight to keep going. We finally stopped for another nap just before the Colorado boarder. We got almost 3 hours of sleep this time. The rest of the drive was cake.
The thing that was killer was the wind. We fought it the whole way. Driving at 80mph (in a 75mph zone) was a lot of work going into a 40mph headwind. My arms were tired by the time we got to Denver.
Just the thought of putting some distance between me and those chicken rings is plenty of motivation for me.
Pete
Thursday, April 21, 2005
A rough start to what turned out to be a smooth drive...
As someone in a movie once said, “What a fucking nightmare!” Nothing went right when it came to getting going on this trip. Work was a pain, two stores didn’t have stuff I needed. The quick lube place weren’t open. I stirpped a skewer on the bike rack that we were taking to Utah and Colorado.
I finally got to Jasons and we got going a little before midnight. I drove till we got into Ohio. I needed a quick rest. I slept for 1:20 and awoke very relaxed and feeling great
Driving was definitely helping me exorcise some of the deamons of the last few weeks. My ribs were feeling okay and my mind was letting go a little. It is always hard to leave Laura at home. What made it harder this time is that it was my first time really leaving Gracie and Mao for more than a few days. Laura made it easier on me by saying that she needed a little extra time to study without feeling like she is neglecting me. I already miss the three of them.
More soon.
Pete
I finally got to Jasons and we got going a little before midnight. I drove till we got into Ohio. I needed a quick rest. I slept for 1:20 and awoke very relaxed and feeling great
Driving was definitely helping me exorcise some of the deamons of the last few weeks. My ribs were feeling okay and my mind was letting go a little. It is always hard to leave Laura at home. What made it harder this time is that it was my first time really leaving Gracie and Mao for more than a few days. Laura made it easier on me by saying that she needed a little extra time to study without feeling like she is neglecting me. I already miss the three of them.
More soon.
Pete
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Something Stinky This Way Comes....
This is a story about the cutest kitten in the entire world. Anyone who knows me well, knows that we've got two 1-year old kittens -- Gracie and Mao. Mao is kind of a big brute of a cat, but Gracie is small and dainty. She embodies the true essence of cuteness. Here's a photo of her when she was 5 weeks old:
Little Gracie is cute in every imaginable way except for one. She likes things that smell. It is weird to have a fuzzy little, muppet-like kitten come up to you after a bike ride and shove her head into your skanky riding shoes because they smell good to her. Smelly armpits are her particular favorites. She loves morning breath. Many a morning I wake up to her whiskers tickling my nose because she's sniffing my nasty morning breath. It's like perfume to her.
Gracie is a bit of a finicky eater. Laura and I have come to the conclusion that she doesn't like the normal cat food. She likes the stuff that smells particularly disgusting.
Leave it to me to have a weird cat or two. Mao is a whole other problem. He's a real weirdo. More on that later.
I guess that's all for this topic.
Pete
Little Gracie is cute in every imaginable way except for one. She likes things that smell. It is weird to have a fuzzy little, muppet-like kitten come up to you after a bike ride and shove her head into your skanky riding shoes because they smell good to her. Smelly armpits are her particular favorites. She loves morning breath. Many a morning I wake up to her whiskers tickling my nose because she's sniffing my nasty morning breath. It's like perfume to her.
Gracie is a bit of a finicky eater. Laura and I have come to the conclusion that she doesn't like the normal cat food. She likes the stuff that smells particularly disgusting.
Leave it to me to have a weird cat or two. Mao is a whole other problem. He's a real weirdo. More on that later.
I guess that's all for this topic.
Pete
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