No real reason, but......

Commesso!

Because it's December.

Because the garage was a freaking ice palace this morning.

Just because.

The Large Dog Park.

So after all that running around all week it was no suprise the legs were fairly sluggish come Sunday, but one has to have his priorities, and frankly there are only so many times one can get out of mowing/hiking/shopping by pleading racey race.
I meant
to do the singlespeed race, but Miz C. hadn't been home in 5 days and beating the traffic with a stop at Super Taq was the 2-1 vote.
SOOOO,
I signed up for the 35 A's, and prepared for my wooping.
Bad start, OTB by the top of the hill, but I caught back on along with the 45A field that started 10 seconds behind, then got yo-yo'ed like a fat rat and popped loose from the melee- it looks so mellow, a long line and how can anyone be getting away yet the front is moving at warp speed and gaps are innocuously opening all over the freekin place, and the back is a bad bad place to be, even though it seems so soothing and safe and smart, it's a pure lie.......
Had a great little battle with my buddy Greg of the Black Market Mafia, I put in a decent attack on a couple of fellas, only to see the 3 to go , not the 1 to go like I'm getting used to , and couldn't step on the throat when I had the chance, failure on all levels and I slipped back to my doom, but had a nice view of the 45A unfolding and tried to hang with/learn a few things as my elders came roaring by.
Stayed on the lap so I'll take that small positive, but damn I got to train for this stuff maybe, the new job is hammering the training hours sumthing fierce right now the log is a sea of yellow.....
Arggh.

We rolled down the coast on Wednesday, spending a few days in Big Sur.

Camping in a redwood grove in November can be chilly, dig the wildflowers!

Rode some cool stuff, not really challenging in a tech sense, but the views around every corner? Mindblowing.

Lots of hiking and waterfalls, this one's a classic-

We enjoyed this hike so much, we took the 3 hour tour of the lighthouse the next day-

Those lighthouse keepers had a hard life filled with pure drudge, but occasionally the fog would lift and this was the view out the office window-

I dug the views so much when we returned to the campground, the girls took a nap and I went for a mad 2 hour hike a bike/ singlespeed summit attempt of Andrew Molera SP ridge trail, not exactly a good pre-race ride, but a great place to drink some water and contemplate things a little while .

The snake bites wur vicious

GGGP this weekend, and I just never can get a bit of luck on this course.
2004- flatted twice
2005- ginourmous crashes in the first turn
2006- Most Mechanicals Award? Give me that!
This place is cursed.

I decided to ride the SS due to my brakes being thrashed due to me choosing to work on my bike the night before. Me- no mechanic. Old trusty SS- bulletproof, right? First lap and I hear funny noises behind me, then the chain derails right after the pit. Axle came loose, so I fumble, but not having a freekin 15 mm wrench handy in my skin suit I run back to get the cross bike in the pit.
Brakes= questionable. I forget this and while on the drops and attempting to catch the back of the line of guys again flat out drive through the tape and end up down by the Polo Grounds.
The brakes work kind of ok from the tops, so I hack my way around gingerly, catch a few guys, choose some dumb lines up the run up while dodging folks on the ground.... pure hack fest, then my froont wheel comes out on the barriers.Just fell out. I pick it up dumbfounded while all the BOP fellas I caught pay it back and see ya later.
Just one of those days, jist getting stoopider by the minute, but I finished and saved the day with a nice visit to the Tea Garden, beautiful place and the family was appreciative after all the hard work heckling my ass on that hill.
Maybe next week will be better, maybe I'll buy some better brakes and learn how to adjust them.
Still having fun and no junior racers were harmed in the typing of this blog.

Time just keeps rollin'

So today was my little girls b-day party- a very special day for us.

10 years ago things were more than a little dicey with her, and stayed that way for several months.

Hard to believe that the tiny thing I had to buy doll clothes for is such a big girl now.

We showed up at noon and they were expecting us...

These would be put to good use today , all that pre-adolescent energy..

Good thing she got her mom's looks..

But I think she got my dance moves...

Had some presents..

And some sparkles and attitude

Topped off with a talent show and some awesome kareoke..

Happy B-day,

Little C!

Because I had to check myself before I wrecked myself, before I disrespect myself.....

Mp3 files throbbing through my brain, a little Biggie Biggie Biggie just works so well while swerving between pine trees in a muddy slalom..........

Bike racers- a inordinately intelligent lot. Engineers, doctors, double majors in college.

Smarty smart smart.

Which is why the topic of this open letter really should be puzzling.

When cutting through Maiden Lane in the bustling metropolis of Danville on your way to the Mountain Of Pain and Deviltry, please pay attention to the signs saying ROAD WORK AHEAD.

These signs allude to the presence of large yellow machines, open holes, steel plates that move at a alarming rate of speed(even the holes from time to time).

Striking one or more of these objects on your bicycle may not even be noticed by the inhabitant of such machine, but you, dear cyclist, surely will notice.

Teams will not be named here today, but management reserves the right to take pictures and post them at a future 35+ race near you.

And don't even get me started on "chase the truck".

The Watchful Ditchdigger

High Plains Drifter

Congratulations to my old friend Mark M., for completing the Silverman triathlon last weekend.

Mark perservered through a multitude of injuries and put in some big miles solo at oh-dark-thirty this fall to get ready, and it sounds like it paid off.

Tough race, 30mph winds, 9,700 feet of climbing on the bike, and 3,600 feet on the marathon.

Just my kind of course, not some boring, sterile-ass trip back and forth like a hamster on a wheel.

Yakked with him tonight while he was driving home from Vegas, the stud even had the energy to take his wife to a show last night.

Kind of sad that Tyler Hamilton has gone from a premier bike racer to doing any kind of event that will let him in.

Hooked

How did I get here?

Champing for some wheel -to -wheel tommorrow, especially after a week off due to a nasty virus.

It wasn't always like this.

I went away for a long long time, weekends were filled with fishing trips, side work, and nothing-doing.

I could actually tell you most of the NFLs' 300 players' names.

Not now.

As the race seasons change, I become a Saturday morning regular at the Gilroy Starbucks, as opposed to the Vacaville Starbucks.

There is that moment in sports, the perfect pick and roll, the squeeze bunt that scores and gets to first, the sprint to the line through the hole up the gutter.

All those things have happened to me precisely once.

And yet I chase that feeling of wide-eyed clarity and perfection every weekend.

Snifflins'

Well, I tried to say it wuz allergies, that doing 2 hours skillz yesterday under the sycamore trees gave me the symptoms, that an easy ride today would ward it of.

I made it like a year without catching anything, but Miz C, she got some powerfull buggies rolling around in that marathon-weakened body right about now.

Bummed to miss Pilarcitos tommorrow, I actually like run-ups, although concrete stairs woulda hurt tommorrow night.

I'm gonna sleep and watch football, maybe read the whole paper.

That 'll last till noon or so.

Why ya wanna come in here talkin' all of that raspy shit?

Because I've been consolidating files till my new early bedtime for two days now.

Because the garage is a little cold and boring at 4:45 a.m.

Because... Do ya really deserve it?