Things that I am digg'n

I have 2 new mountain bikes this year. The 69'er Top Fuel from Trek and this bad boy. I have no time yet on the dually (except for Interbike where it was awesome), but this is what I was riding last weekend. It rocks...hard. Too bad I am off the bike for at least 3 more days.


I am also digg'n this. It gets bigger by the day and according to the host body, movement has been felt. Week 20 down, 20 to go.

Some guys show scantily clad women spread out over their custom cars. This is my version. So hot, so hot.

Well, this weekend holds more cabin work with the Old Man. I won't have a camera, but I'll see that cat on the dash for many hours again.

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Move your mouse over that X in the top right corner, click it, and then get back to work. Later.

OTB, either definition is not good.

OTB-In a race this stands for "off the back". Not good.

OTB-In my case it means "off the bike". Also, not good.

This winter I went down hard on my knee. My front wheel went out on some ice and I pile drived my left knee into the asphalt. It looks like I tore some ligaments. I have been continuing my riding with the assumption that it would heal. Well, with the introduction of intense riding a couple of weeks ago, the pain has gotten worse. I took almost a week off, but the 4 hour ride yesterday brought back the pain. Now it gets iced twice a day, I swallow 3 ibuprofen 3 times a day, and I am keeping off the bike for a minimum of a week. Rest now so I can race later, hopefully.

This means NO Transiowa. I would end up dropping because the pain in the knee would end up getting worse and worse during the event until it was too much. I would probably end up doing more damage as well.

Some times you gotta do what you gotta do. I guess I am glad that my life does not only revolve around cycling, and I can look forward to some other things the next couple of weeks.

Other big happenings? Top Chris SL tied the knot this weekend. Check it out with KC here.

In other news, J-No and L-No have a new set of twins in their family. Here is the man with all four young'ns. They had other children before, but they were given up for adoption because they did not have the required blond hair and blue eyes. I kid, I kid.


J-No requested a pic of my Transiowa bike. Here it is. Four large water bottles and a handlebar bag (mount is on, but bag is not in pic) would have aided me in my now cancelled assault on Iowa. I figured I should make J-No happy as he is the one of the 3 people who read my blog.

I am going to take this bag of ice off of my knee and head to work now....

Ragnarok 105

Chances of me starting tomorrow are not looking good at all. I wish this was not the case. In a long held history of cycling I now present to you my reasons/excuses why it is not my fault (all of which are obviously not my fault, duh).

1. I race for fun. I am far from earning a paycheck in any sense of the word. Riding 105 miles on gravel in at least somewhat decent conditions sounds fun to me. Sub 35 degrees still sounds fun. Sub 35 degrees with much water on the ground and more coming from the sky does not. Take out the water factor and I would be there without problem. No fun, no check, no race.

2. This was supposed to be a "tune-up" race for Transiowa. If I spend the next 10 days recovering then that hurts my chances at Transiowa. That doesn't sound too smart, does it?

3. I am still nursing my knee from a fall this winter while riding. It hurts still when I ride. My back finally seems 100%. Do I really need another physical ailment? Do I need to make my knee worse?

On the flip side of these excuses, I do feel strong and my bike is 20 minutes from being ready with fenders and such.

I guess it will have to wait for Iowa. Hopefully, things will go better there.

Rock out with your light saber out.

This year I have put more hours on the bike, but all at low intensity. Last night represented my second ride that put me into the red and the legs are coming around. Good news for the legs.

Saturday, oh Saturday. I am set to do this. 105 miles on gravel. Weather? Oh, a balmy 35 degrees with snow and rain. This looks like it may turn into a race of survival. The higher the difficulty, the larger the gaps are from those that are strong and those that are striving to be. Hopefully, good news on the weather front.

And, great news to speak of, today has arrived. The Office is back with new episodes!! Pam and Jim, Angela and Andy, and Michael and Jan have a wacky dinner party tonight. What crazy antics will my second family be up to? Tonight will tell.

So now I go to work. I have to work on the bike and get it ready. Maybe you could get back to work as well? What is that? You have more useless blogs to read. Alright...

The Office

Six days to the return of the best show in television history.

Work has been very busy lately. You should get busy as well.