I get a lot of inspiration from the auto industry.  Cars, especially performance and race cars, have so much more behind them than bicycles.  More money, more marketing.  Not more history, but better documentation and more nostalgia in the form or rolling relics.

Waiting to see Rogue 1 today, we ducked into the one remaining book store.  They have a huge magazine section.  I miss bookstores, and getting lost in them.  The internet seems more like a rabbit hole.  The glossy covers of magazine are seductive, especially the automobile editions.

Road & Track had a great right up on Team Penske – the most successful US-based race team ever.  Excellence covered three Porsche prototypes that never made it to market.  VW Ultra’s collection of rusty and running busses was awing.  Automobile made a case for big American power with a Continental.

Cycling, at least the circles I ride with, seems all about the black, new, naked carbon.  Light weight over customization.

Yoshizo Shimano pointed out a long time ago that humans make weak engines.  That weakness no doubt diminishes the appeal of old, heavy bikes.

As expensive as running a Tour de France contending team might be, it’s nothing compared to Formula 1… or NASCAR for that matter.

Perhaps it’s knowing that auto racing is beyond my means, maybe it’s the countess layers of automobile competition one must climb to reach the top, it could be the insane sounds of speed gas powered engines blare… whatever it is, it makes we want to clean my bike and train hard for the racing I can enjoy, the bar-to-bar precision required to corner safely and swiftly, the power to pound a hill just a little further than the next guy, the spice to design a striking kit, the drive to develop new products.

Gifts.  Given and received.

Xmas – TMWC original Kevin McKenna says “The X is the abbr. for Christ in the Greek alphabet. It is Christ in shorthand.”

Family – this was the first year with one of our kids, Shane, spending Christmas Day with the in-laws… Abbey is a great addition to our family.

Church – there’s no place I’d rather be on a Sunday than with my family at church.  So nice to have Trevor and Shelby with us.  My distant aunt Joanne – mother of TMWCr Todd Udall – visited and played an amazing compilation on the piano.  Mike and his family sang Christ Child, Christ Child.  Paul at 90 shared his question to God each day, Why am I here still… and urged us to recognize the miracles all around us.

Friends – we drove up to Fullerton to take Bob to a late lunch.  He’s ancient, crusty, and hilarious.  Family with no formal ties.  He bought me that red Schwinn Le Tour long ago from Fullerton Bikes.

Toes – We got back in town just in time to walk the darkening sand.  It was cold.  Our hearts warm and full.

Cranks – all wrapped up with the Kranks

Single And Loving It was the title an editor of Competitor Magazine gave to an article I’d written on riding a single-speed mountain bike.  Throngs of babes were instantly stalking me on the trails (not true).  When I rolled out to ride this morning on the still wet streets of San Clemente my shifting was dead.

Completely.  No green light, no flashing green light, no red light.

Hmmm… I know it’s charged, was green on Tuesday, the last day it was dry.  I checked all the wires.  Unplugged and plugged in the battery.  Nada.

Whatever, it was in the 34/17 and would be fun to mix it up. Ride on!

The massive variations of leg speed while stuck in one gear make riding very interesting.  It’s was a gloriously nostalgic change up for me.

Spinning like an electric egg beater, slogging up hills with back muscles fully engaged.

I loved it.

Must have knocked a screw loose too… because I remembered that yesterday I’d driven out to visit some customers with my bike inside the car – on top of boxes!  Shifter must have been pressed in the process.  DOH!!!

Protect your shifters padawan.

It’s hard to comprehend the effort that goes in to developing and promoting an event.  There’s no way I could do this if I wasn’t obsessed with growing the sport we love.  Every step we take towards making this dream real, makes it easier to take the next step.

We updated the HUNKR website today.   It’s not ready to do business.  It tells a little more of what we have planned.

Huge shout out to all those who showed up for the photo shoot!

Hope y’all like what we’ve done.

171.2

Half-wheel Harry is that guy who is constantly half a wheel ahead of you, regardless of the speed.  Most HWH’s are new to the sport and just need a nudge, a loving reminder to take it easy.  Others are chronic HWH’s and no amount of nudging or bludgeoning will cure them.  They make for great, cheap entertainment.

It’s super annoying to ride with CHWH by yourself.  There’s not much to do other than slotting behind him (never seen a female guilty of this), it can be that bad.

It’s endlessly entertaining,,,

…when two CHWH’s find themselves at the front of a double pace-line.

Oh man… sit back and enjoy the ride.  These two dogs are going to half-wheel themselves right down to hell.

Always funny, never gets old, and happening on group rides across the globe.

#halfwheelhell

169.2

The video we shot with the drone on Saturday turned out pretty cool.  Should be a great promo for HUNKR.  Getting the right music is a tricky.  All the good stuff is protected, and it should be.  No Daft Punk, Aerodynamic; No Joe Cocker, Feelin’ Alright; No Stevie Wonder, Superstition.  The songs that get me psyched to rip.

Battle music for battlin’!

Kinda like stadium rock for football.

Sittin’ on the trainer pre-race, getting my head straight and my legs pumped.

We’ll find the music, then we’ll share the video.

171.4

Base layers are awesome this time of year.  So much warmer.  My base layers have lots of base miles.  They come with sleeves – though I often hack them off.  The have zippers too, handy when the rides extend into mid-day.  There are scars from discarded pockets.  Sponsor logos still doing their work long after the contractural commitment.

Old jerseys, make great base layers.

Depending on the day you can go with full jersey sans pockets or cut off the sleeves if it’ll be warming up.  It’s amazing how warm a double jersey set up can be, and how easy to cool off by cracking the zippers.

175.2

My buddy has a new girlfriend.  They were at the race together.  The chemistry was obvious and desirable.  Shoot, I want a girlfriend!  The Trophy Wife had been gone too long… or, maybe not.

Monday she got home.  I said nothing, too soon.

Tuesday, night… hey, Rider X brought his new girl to the race.  It was awesome to see the appreciation in their eyes.

They don’t know each other well enough was not the response I was hoping for.

I want a girlfriend I lobbed… you have your bike bounced back.

Not going as I’d hoped, yet.

Look, I want you to be my girlfriend… sigh.

I’m a man of action.  All week I’ve treated her like my girlfriend.  Called her my girlfriend.  Done the dopy things boyfriends do.  I’ve loved it, and so has she.  Girlfriends are fun, refreshing, energizing.

I doubt my new girlfriend will ever go to a race with me, but that’s okay… I have my bike for that.

171.2

Water.  Bottles.  I don’t even put plain water in them.  I’m a get my calories from the bottle kinda guy.  I’d guess racers and riders are split on water or some sort of “sports drink” in their bottlers.  Doesn’t matter.  Most of us still keep our bottles way too long.

Even me.

They don’t cost much, and they are a vital – maybe the most vital – part of our equipment.

Bad bottles: leak, can make you sick, and look mangey.

Good bottles:  keep the fluid inside and your bike clean, deliver pure water/drink to your quenched body, look pro.

A few bucks can make such a difference. Yet, we keep those old bottles long past their expiration date.

I’ve sold thousands and thousands of Specialized water bottles.  Used them almost exclusively.  Then, outta the blue a few years back they decided to cut off their distributors.  Didn’t matter at first because I had a lot of samples in the warehouse.  And, I was busy focussed on our custom kits and other high-ticket items that were more interesting and profitable.

Then I came up with an idea for a really cool image on a bottle – reveal will be soon – and rang up my friends (?) in Morgan Hill.  A new sheriff is in town up there, and we were able to strike a new business relationship.

First batch is in.

There’s nothing like fresh bottles.  Let me know if you need a new batch.

171.2

by

I. Ride Freely

He knew it would be there.  It had to be.  But, maybe it not.  The grades were rather lousy.  He’d gotten in a fight with the little turd (a.k.a. “baby” brother).  Somehow he’d forgotten to take out the trash – “it’s your only chore!”.

In a redemptive move, he’d taken the little turd to the park for the morning.  He’d forgotten how fun the swings were.  The little turd was happy.  He pretended he wasn’t pretending that he was happy too.

That was a start.

Dad had gone golfing with Uncle Jim and left his car behind.  In the driveway.  He hosed it down, soaped it up, dried off, polished it shiny.  It felt good to see it gleam.

More.

Mom loved her barbecue and he knew she’d be grilling turkey tonight… “god I love that woman!” Dad would sing.  Brillo pad and Mr. Clean never worked so hard.  Cold winter sweat dripped as he hummed a favorite… carol?… it WAS beginning to feel a lot like…

…so tired…

The little turd was calm.  Dad’s car was bright. Glories grilled… he lay his head down… dreaming of a new bike, by the tree, covered by a sheet.

It’s dark.  I’m up.  The rest of the crew will be rolling to the corner.  Won’t be able to see their faces, just their red blinky lights.

Don’t matter none.

It’s still pure fun.

Just like our new Black Smiley shirt.

171

All the Ghost of Christmas Past shows me is red.  Red sells.  Red looks fast.  Red is…

RED!

My trike was red.  I remember it well.  Red paint, white stripes.  Solid rubber black wheels.  Just the thing to escape over to Jamie Figueroa’s.

My scooter was red.  It was a forerunner to the Razor.  Red platform, silver steerer.  Air filled white tires.  Stupid as it sounds, I was known as the Steve McQueen of Gnat Park.

My Big Wheel was red… I was like 14, way to old, but we’d found this giant hill planted with that crazy long grass.  First we bombed it on cardboard, but then we realized a Big Wheel was much more fun.  It lasted about a week.

My Schwinn Sting Ray started off red.  Probably put more miles on that bike than any other… rode it to school, to the store, to the beach, to my friends, to the orthodontist (hated that), to the huge drainage ditch we’d drop into and pop out of… and ride through in pitch black… and every Saturday morning to the new home construction sites with the terraced plots to jump off.  It died silver I think… we took those things apart and sanded and painted them constantly.

My Schwinn Le Tour was red.  This one was over $100, and I begged and begged for it.  I wanted to be able to ride the 8 miles from home to the tennis club, I wanted to get places.  I had no idea what “Le Tour” would come to mean later.  It was so light, and fast… even with my canvas back pack filled with tennis gear.

My final kid Christmas bike was not red.  The unicycle was silver.  I was 17, and wanted a toy.  Even though I had a red Honda Civic, I’d still ride the uni 2 miles to Sonora High School just because I could.

Pre-kids, the Trophy Wife surprised me with a red Cannondale… aluminum with giant tubes.  Rode that thing from Cat IV to III.  So fun.

174 : (

The trophy wife doesn’t dig the lame mustache I sport for Movember.  I do, and I’m all about grooming it through Jan 1. This year it’s a hideous chinstache.  But, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do… like grow – well try – a chinstache and let the legs get hairy too.

The general idea is that these will serve as reminders that it’s the “off season” for cycling, that I should dial back the riding, shed some .lbs… the chinstache in the mirror, the hairy legs when I kit up.

Fortunately, I guess, the TW has been spending a lot time taking care of her mother in Utah… sparing me complaints about how much more awful it is to make out.

Unfortunately, the new Speed bibs we released this year with the I-Feel-Naked-Technology leg gripper do not cling so well to the ugly, hairy diesel motors.

Look at that edge, so clean and crisp.  The band itself is wide and provides excellent compression.  On me, and this lucky mannequin, the band doesn’t move at all when I’m clean-shaven.  And after a year of abuse, it’s holding form perfectly.

Here’s a super-biased link to the entire Speed Kit.  Yes, I am aware the graphics aren’t for everybody… but, they show how we print on every panel and how awesome we are at lining everything up correctly.

The pad on these bibs is amazing… I had a sponsored rider come up to me yesterday long-faced about his new sponsor’s bibs – “it’s like riding in your underwear, it’s horrible”.

Chuck Barry just gonged me.

Ouch.

Anyway, the TW is coming home Wednesday.  I’ll be clean shaven…

…so my bibs stay put! ;)

PS In case you aren’t clear on why bibs matter: Save A Life

174.4

Unlike my fellow TMWC’rs, I was not on the podium today.  Three cheers for Gould, Roundy, Hill, Adams, McGee, and Brown.

Now I can spend countless hours on Strava analyzing how and where I was beaten.

Strava… Strava… Strava… (Rosebud)

Zero time will be spent on Johnny O’s file, he’s an alien. I don’t follow 2nd place,  nor do I know his name.

That leaves Jeff who was 3rd and nice enough to say I rode fast… he beat me by two minutes… what he meant was I usually destroy you, and Even though I could see you today I was able to back off and coast in.

Can’t hate the genuine humility… or can I?

Can I get ticked off… ride harder… train and eat better?

Crank up the GnR!

Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here everyday
You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play
If you got a hunger for what you see you’ll take it eventually
You can have everything you want but you better not take it from me

173

So my buddy Mike signed up with a coach I recommended.  She’s tiny.  Sweet. The oracle of wisdom.  Cycling’s secret sauce… and when needed she’ll kick you in the @$$.

We were shaking down the MTB’s for the race tomorrow, and his electronic shifting was not working.

Better to find out today than tomorrow, I delivered.

She said to ride road today.  If I’d done that, tomorrow would have been terrible with this shifting.

That was to let your body rest – which we were failing at.

Ah-ha.

Ya gotta shake down the bike you’re racing the day before, you could just ride the MTB on the road…

…and there’s the nugget.

The racer prepares for the big race because he values the challenge it presents.  He values the obstacles the other racers put between him and his goal of winning.  Why?

Because it is those very obstacles, the size and momentum of the big peloton, which draw from the racer his greatest effort.

It is only at big races the he is required to use all his skill, all his courage and concentration to overcome; only then can he realize the true limits of his capacities.

At that point he often attains his peak.

In other words, the more challenging the obstacle he faces, the greater the opportunity for the racer to discover and extend his true potential.  The potential may have always been within him, but until it is manifested in action, it remains a secret hidden from himself.

The obstacles are a very necessary ingredient to this process of self-discovery.

Note, that the racer is not out to show himself or the world how great he is, but is simply involved in the exploration of his latent capacities.  He directly and intimately experiences his own resources and thereby increases his self-knowledge.

(Adapted from W. Timothy Gallwey’s THE INNER GAME OF TENNIS – an excellent read)

171.2

Today I promised myself I’d take a break and ride my mountain bike at 4pm, before the sun sets.  It’s 7pm.

Kinda like Monday, when I promised myself I’d leave at 4pm so only half my bike commute home would be in the dark.  I left at 6:30pm.

Well… it’s 4 o’clock somewhere.

171.6

My friend lost his sweetheart.  It was shockingly sudden.  A picture of health and zest, we’d chatted in August at the mall shopping for back-to-school gear.  Gone in weeks.

I don’t do good at losses of this kind.  It’s a weakness or lameness.  Too busy with my own small worries.

We used to ride together, when we only had a couple of puny kids.  We’d ease out when the wives were preggy and talk about life.  Young guys, excited about a big adventure.

Bike rides, the slow kind, are great places to share one’s wins and loses… burdens.

Over time, the families have grown.  Heck, mine is scattered across the country.  And our friendship and bond of fatherhood has been neglected, not forgotten… kindred spirits are never forgotten.

He’s ready for a new bike.

I’ve been a pain in the rear to reach, maybe I’m afraid of my own mortality.  I am.

He calls, I text.  We’ve talked about road vs mtb, hard tail vs suspension, even electric assist for aging knees.  He’s got it picked out, going with the local bike shop, wants an introduction to the owner.

That’s easy.

He’s so much stronger than I am, facing much tougher challenges.

It’ll take time to get the fitness back.

Will I make time for rides that really matter?

171.2

I wasn’t feeling it today, so I did the JV loop.  Not the A (aka for this post Varsity).  Not the B (aka for this post Frosh/Soph).  The idea was to get Cronk to go JV with me – turning right at the school, but going straight instead of the Varsity route – then, make it over the wall.  But, he was feeling frisky and put himself on Varsity.

In his own words:

“I fumbled on 4th and Wall, doh!”

I cruised to meet the Frosh/Soph squad.

We were chatting and laughing when the first Varsity rider came screaming by.

He will go un-named.

I’m bringing it up – again – because…

… from the re-group to the bike trail is DMZ (de-militarized zone)!

Why?  Because it’s 50 mph decent, if you tuck it, and there are 6 stop lights… obviously the lead guys can probably make a light and the tail end won’t.  In light of last weekend’s Roger’s Cup, a tribute to a rider who was killed by running a red light on the end of a group, we need to take care of each other.

Am I clear?  Do you all get it?

DMZ is from the re-group to the bike trail, then every man for himself.

As for the Frosh/Soph, JV, Varsity designations… if you are easily making the re-group with the Frosh/Soph group, starting turning right and doing the JV loop.  Once you’ve got that, move on up to Varsity.

Until next week…

172

Like life itself, when you find yourself in a rut on your mountain bike, it’s very easy to keep looking at the trap you are in.  Ruts are tricky, hard to escape.  If you stay in the rut you risk great peril, crashing usually results.

You must change your focus, your vision.  The body follows the head.

Point your wheel out of the rut.  This takes guts, leaving the devil you know.

By aiming to escape, you will climb the side of the rut.  You won’t be free yet, you don’t have enough momentum.

As gravity pulls you back into the rut, you must aim for the other side and use momentum to either get out or go back down and up the other side with even more momentum.  Eventually you will bust out.

The first time you dare to break free of a rut will be frightening.  Act quickly, while you still have speed on your side and before the rut gets deeper – as the often do.

There are other techniques to escaping and even using ruts to you your advantage.

Life life itself, you must keep moving.  Be confident.  A rut is a grave with no end.

173.8

The Dirty 30 is a really fun course.  And it’s hard… ’bout 1400′ of climbin’ per 9 mile lap, with a fair amount of single-track.

Pre-riding  a race course – like we done today – can give ya a huge advantage on race day… ‘specially if the promoter likes yer idea of a little race course modification after everybody done their pre-ridin’.

—–> Did I just pat myself on the back? Do I really talk like that?<—-

Here are a few things we learnt.

Y’all prolly figgerd snot really 30 miles: 8.9 miles per lap times 3 laps aint 30.

Which means it’s gonna take ya 10% less time than ya was countin’ on.

The first coupla miles are wide with some stout rollers, and flow into fun downhill with switch backs and off camber turns.

Theres an 18″ drop off at the bottom… do NOT slow down like the guy who banged up his shoulder and limped home… hit that thing, it’s nothing.

Next is up is a little rocky climb with 1 good line.  Could be conga time on the first lap – this is why I race expert – not because I have a chance at winning – I wanna be ahead a ya.

We were gonna be crossin’ the trail of a later part of the course next, but Brownie said let’s turn right here – so now ya know ’bout the change.  Turn right, and it’s a straight bomb down to a lollypop and back up to another right hander.

Gear down, short nasty ahead.

Yer ’bout 1/2 done now, gonna be doing some false flat climbing.

Drink.  Eat.

Super fun single track ahead.

Plan to have a stupid grin on your face.  It’s that fun.  Enjoy it.  Because it’s going upside down.

Ya have a hideous 5-10 minute thigh buster ahead.  Straight up. Fire road.  I doubt y’all be doin’ much fuelin’.

At the summit…

ya gasp fer air… gag on yer drink… choke on yer bar… do it again.

Yeah.  So that’s it.

We had some tasty Mexican food at Don Pollo‘s after.  It’s classic and yummy, and not franchise food.  Have you ever noticed places like Don Pollo’s fail in strip malls and thrive in funky locations?

Got home, unloaded.

Was thinking about cleaning Black Beauty after her work out when Trevor said let’s go surfing.  The car is loaded.

Okay.

We drive down… well, I’m driving and he starts texting.  I can’t resist – I’m that dad – who are you texting?  (swore me to secrecy).  What are you texting about – I’m that dad – Oh, we were supposed to go surfing.  So, I was back up? (I’m that dad).  Then she calls and he puts some distance between us (I’m definitely that dad).

It was still great.  Trevor used to be my main riding buddy, but he’s back to surfing and girls.  I love catching up with my kid when he’s around.

Wing Stop was next.  We chatted more about his first 6 months of working, and about surfing Mexico next swell.

I’m lucky – I’m that dad.

I hear the chains a spinnin’
They’re rollin’ ’round the bend
And I ain’t seen the gruppo
Since, I don’t know when
Been stuck in Workin’ Prison
And I keep getting dropped
But that gruppo keeps a-rollin’
Long after I’ve been popped.

When I was just a baby
My Mama told me, son
Always be a good boy
Ride your bike and sometimes run
But I got a dadgum desk job
Just to do what’s right
When I hear those tires rollin’
I hang my head and cry

I bet there’s rich folks ridin’
On fancy carbon wheels
They’re probably sportin’ lycra
And shiftin’ ‘lectric gears
But I know I had it comin’
I know I can’t be free
All those dudes keep a-pedalin’
And that’s what tortures me

Well, if they freed me from this prison
If that carbon bike was mine
Bet I’d bust a giant gap
String out a big ol’ line
Far from Workin’ Prison
That’s where I want to stay
And I’d let those carbon wheels
Roll my blues away

171

Today – oh, I wish I had my own picture – we cruised past this gal that had bars so wide on her MTB she looked like a bird with huge wings spread out.  There’s a guy we pass most Tuesday mornings pretty much takes up an entire car lane… bars are so wide we eek by single file.

Why?

What the heck?

The cartoon look can’t be comfortable, can it?

It’s more like their prepping to tell me about how big the gap they cleared was… this big man!  Well, dang… that is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge!

Looks more like a tight rope walker searching for balance.

Imagine doing push-ups with your arms that wide.  No power, no way.

I dunno, maybe there’s tons of leverage?

Good luck ripping through dense trees.

Good luck passing anybody on single-track.

Good luck, period.

Oh man, it’s raining.  Can’t wait to hit the hero dirt, and shred (insert your favorite trail name).  It’s gonna be so tacky, like velcro!  Let’s go tomorrow…

How do you know if it’s Hero Dirt or if riding it makes you a Zero?

At precisely 10:55am today I snuck over to my local trails, Sunday’s rain wasn’t even on my mind.  Up the horse trail I shot, right into some pretty wet dirt.  Uh oh, it did rain the other day.  But, this moisture was only from poorly aimed community sprinklers.

This trail goes from packed in gravel to dirt with lots of clay.

Lots of clay means if it’s wet your knobbies are going to fill with mud and in no time you’ll be carrying that bike praying your shoes don’t get sucked off your feet.

I could feel the pull of the moisture on my tires.  Lots of grip, lots of drag.

No mud in the knobbies = Hero Dirt.

There were a few wet spots that I found miles from the trail head.  Not much you can do about that, and the were small and easy to get around.

Ride On.

Some trails are so rocky, or have so much DG (decomposed granite) that you can ride them within hours of rain… others, like the ones by my house can take days to dry out.

If you ride your trails too soon they develop huge grooves down the middle where more rain will pour in and turn the grooves to troughs.  Not good.

Right after it rains you’ll see a few Zero’s out being very greedy…

But you’ll also find real HEROES:

…who take shovels and make sweet berms and jumps,

filling in troughs and braking bumps.

_____

172.2

What if I always rode my bike to work?

What if I always rode until I met someone new?

What if I gave my bikes away?

What if I bought a new bike every year?

What if I only rode alone?

What if I did a group ride every day?

What if I only rode with people faster than me?

What if I set a day aside to ride super slow with my less than fit friends?

What if I wrote down all the tricks I’ve learned about bikes?

What if I read every book ever written about bicycle mechanics?

What if I went to bike mechanic school for a month?

What if I wore the same kit for a week?

What if I bought a new kit every month?

What if I never did the same ride?

What if I all my rides started from home?

What if I drove to the start of every ride?

What if I rode my MTB on the road and my road bike on the dirt?

What if I worked really hard to have pro tan lines?

What if I didn’t shave my legs for a year?

What if I shaved my arms?

What if Storm Troopers rode bikes?

What if I only focused on being aero?

What if I only focused on being lite?

What if I only shopped at the local bike shop?

What if I only shopped online?

What if I never had a Schwinn?

What if Schwinn was still the best game in town?

What if I rode across the USA?

What if I rode around the world?

What if I did an awesome 1 week ride twice a year?

What if I had a power meter?

What if I had no data?

What if Strava mattered?

What if VeloNews was delivered to my door everyday in print?

What if there were no bike races?

What if there was only 1 bike race?

What if all race bikes were identical?

What if every kid rode a bike to school?

What if I lived some place without hills?

What if all my possessions could fit on my bike?

What if all I ate was protein?

What if all I ate I found in local trash cans?

What if I only rode with my lover?

What if my lover didn’t want me to ride?

What if I only rode in the sunshine?

What if I rode twice as far in the rain?

What if I rode from bike shop to bike shop for a year?

What if my shoes were old?

What if my helmet didn’t work?

What if the roads were awful?

What if I had an electric bike?

What if I was the fastest guy on the planet?

What if I couldn’t ride any more?

_____

172.6

Today we got final approval from the County of Orange to hold our first road race. It will be in Santiago Canyon, and it will be rad.

Saturday 3/18/17.

Lots of details will follow.

Stay in touch at HUNKR.com

In the meantime, here’s a little shot of what we have planned.

_____

175.6

I never check the weather until the first day I get caught freezing or melting.  Not gonna lie (my kids always say that and it makes me wonder…), it’s nearly always perfect here, 72 and sunny.  However, on my bike commute to and from work I get away from the coast, and this time of year it can get in the 30’s.

It can even rain.

Ignore the Weather Channel at your own app-peril.

It’s wise to look at the whole week if you’re training for an event, as you may need to switch a few days around… unless you’re the indoor trainer type – I’m not.

Low 50’s tomorrow evening on the dark ride home… and sunny all week.

Layer up and ride on!

What do crazy-light carbon wheels with ceramic bearings and my new toothbrush have in common?  My new toothbrush is amazing. It cost 10X more than my usual purchase. My teeth feel like a fresh cleaning from Dr. Day’s.  Exactly how my new wheels felt in ’15 – so slippery and clean and fast, fast, fast.

They were about 3X a decent pair of wheels…

and totally worth it.

That was my first and only purchase of carbon wheels.  And, this was my first sonic toothbrush.

I can’t imagine going without either one, they’re that good.  And… I can’t explain what was holding me back?

 $40 for toothbrush is outlandish, until you feel those teeth.

$2000+ for bike wheels is redonkulous, until you coast past your buddies and PR the next hill.

Amortize it out… that toothbrush is gonna cost me 5 cents more/use.  Those wheels… about $2/ride.

 We gotta live within our means, but when you’re talking about cost/smile…

…what could be better than a sonic tooth brush and silly-light carbon wheels with ceramic bearings?

(So good I rode right up ’till the storm moved in)

Ever been on a ride and noticed something old for the first time?  My town, well the part I live in, has tons of cool old trucks… so that was my goal today – takin’ pics of people’s treasured rides

My favorite is my friend Bart’s – “’63 GMC and over a million miles on it.”

Not just old, not barely old… trucks with stories to tell.

Some are rusty, others restored.

It got me thinking of my dad.  He’s old too, on the rusty side.

He’s facing a tough battle with Parkinson’s.  It’s really hard for him to talk – a brilliant legal mind trapped.  Last night we spent a fair amount of time learning how to text each other.  That was hard too, because his hands are unsteady.

He asked me not to give up hope.

I can restore a truck but can’t restore my dad.

‘Guess that’s what heaven is for.

Did you trot your turkey?  Take a hike?  Surf some waves?  Ride your bike?

What interesting times we live in!

Happy Thanksgiving!

_____

171.2

Peter lost his Dog Park virginity this morning, and thanked me for it.  I told him we’d ease into it, not go too fast… and I promised it would be fun, no regrets.

We’ll hit this, then circle around.

Down we go.

After a million twisty turns and some funky wood bridges I stop.  How’d you like that?

Smile.

Let’s climb up over here and do another run.

The dirt was really nice and tacky from Monday’s rain, a few thick spots filled our knobbies.

Dog Park is a crazy network, I ‘splain.  It’s never the same ride.  Over here, down there, up that, off this.  You can get a ton of vertical without really going anywhere.

I stopped often to orient him on where we were, tell a few stories, point out other crazy descents.

It’s easy to get turned around, and impossible to get lost.

All the trails are awesome, and interesting. You just ride.  Turn left if you want, go straight if it looks better.  It doesn’t matter.

Exception:  we found ourselves grinding up a large swath of fire break.  Where the heck are we?  Oh yeah, I remembered. Car Crash.

Dude, you’re gonna be so glad you’re on a full suspension with a dropper post. Up here… it’s gnarly!

There’s an old water trough for cows/horses?  Reminds me I’m thirsty.  My bottle is empty.  We’re 90 minutes in.  So I stop to pee.

We slip in.

The trail slowly twists, then straightens out a bit, and I’m in full gallop.  Charging down.  Very down.

My seat is jammed against my gut, and bum is just above my rear tire.  Bounce, bounce, skid, bounce… off the brakes, gotta get some speed to make this drop. Uh oh, trail is gone.  Too much rain.  Just in time I unclip.  A better/younger man would ride it, I scramble.

At the bottom, we relive the glory of the ride.

I promised Pete we’d see a big cat.  When you’re experienced you can do that kind of thing – the snake was a bonus (can ya see it?)

171.2

If you’re going to hit it hard, hit it ’till you puke.

If you’re going easy, spin like you aint got a chain.

Do it with purpose man, don’t waste your efforts.

Mix it up.

Listen to your soul – set a goal.

Make it count, and when counting don’t make no sense…

… take a new path,

and just roll.

__________

172.8

See that old light? That mostly used tire? That old thermal vest? That old helmet?… Keep ’em all, until they are a minimum of two upgrades behind.

They’ll be needed.

When you can’t find your good light, like I can’t right now at 8pm when the local bike shop is closed, it’s so nice to find an older/weaker light that still works.

When you wake up to a flat tire with a slashed sidewall… it’s good to have a back up with a little life left in it.

When you commit to ride to the top of Saddleback on Thanksgiving and it’s that one super cold day, it’s good to have a thermal vest you mostly never wear.

When you have a friend in town who forgot their helmet, it’s good to have your old salty lid.

So when the love of you life wants to pitch your box of…

…”what’s this for?”…

you’ve got to say with confidence…

“Can’t touch that.”

_________

173.8

That’s what a friend asked me… if I’m ever tired of riding my bike.

I thought of Butch Cassidy.

And Albert Einstein.

And… me.

I may be getting old, but riding a bike never gets old.

__________

172.4

1. Do what ever you can to get into Platinum… there are probably 300 people in the corral, starting ahead of 8,000.
2. I slept horrible without my favorite pillow… bring yours if it matters.
3. 5am wake up in Tucson, is 4am wake up in CA… you’re not gonna be thinking too good when you rise.
4. It can be cold, and it is dark… be careful getting over, take an old hoodie and chuck to a volunteer before roll out – they go to GoodWill.
5. It takes 10 minutes to ride over from the University Marriott… so, even though we were way behind schedule getting over we still made it with 15 minutes to spare (corral closes at 630).
6. Riders in the corral are nice and excited… this isn’t the craziness of Leadville.  Simple Green’s Tino, Brian and Mike were there.  Josh Wolff from BlueBird Canyon crew was close by.  My Jetset buddies in force.  Rahsaan was looking sharp in a Ride With Nelly jersey and stylish bandana.  Johnny Tz and Rich must have been way up front.  And me and Gould – the virgins, ready for our first ETDT.
7. As 7am approaches, all the guys and gals that got there super early and left their bikes laid over on the pavement start showing up, so be prepared to move up… if you’re at the back like we were you can easily move up a bit.
8. At 7am it’s on, and everybody hits it pretty hard… I was able to move up pretty easily.  The entire road is closed.  It’s awesome.  Everybody is pretty cool, and pretty safe.
9. 8 miles in, you hit the first sand wash… we expected to have to run it after the meeting the day before, but it had been watered and I made it through easily.  I was still a 100 guys back, so I had to go 9/10ths to re-connect with the leaders.
10. There is a train crossing about 7 miles later… sure enough, we could see the breakaway groups up ahead and we could see the train.  My group soft pedaled and made fun of the guys charging up front.  Well, we soft pedaled too much, and the train cleared the crossing before any of us got there. Doh!
11. It rolls and climbs a bit until the second wash about mile 50… this is much longer and twists and turns and you can easily get stuck behind someone who skills aren’t there.  You come into this section on a twisty downhill through a residential neighborhood.  It pays to be up front here.  I made it all the way until about the last 30 feet.
12. Don’t pat yourself on the back… you have a decent hill ahead of you and lots of people on the gas trying to shatter the group.  You also have a bunch of people breaking the rules and handing bottles and food up.  If you’re not a rule breaker stay left or you’re gonna regret it when the guy/gal in front of you slows way down.
13. Now it’s gonna roll, mostly downhill.  Today was super windy, so nobody really wanted to pull.  I was bored out of my mind and trying to get something going, but of course the group had enough gas to chase me down…. then I got lucky.  I attacked again and Mike Gould came with me.  We didn’t know the course at all.  We were lucky because no one chased for a bit and we hit a big fast downhill and went for it.  The group sat up.  We had a minute gap and we rolled up to two guys who’d gone 5 minutes before us.  One of those guys was smoked and dropped off.  It was me, Gould and Amgen Doug.  We were working and two more guys bridged across.  Now we had something.
14. Work with your fellow riders… this is a long course, and if you work together you will catch others, or be caught if you don’t.  We rolled up on Rich Meeker and 5 guys who’d stayed on the gas back at the non-event train crossing.  Too bad they were smoked, because we actually went slower.
15. Our slow pace let about 10 guys catch up… reinforcements are good if everybody works together.  The wind was now howling.  We’d covered 90 miles, and the next 16 were really rough.  No organization.  Fake attacks.
16. Real attacks will follow fake attacks… I was caught off guard when a real attack went.  It was Brian Forbes and one of the guys that had ridden with Mike and I, and a Jetset guy.  I tried to chase, but couldn’t bridge.
17. The final 10 miles area awful… huge headwind, very tired legs.
18. Good thing someone was handing out donuts with 4 miles to go… I was hungry, all I’d had was 3 bottles of Fluid and most of a Snickers bar.  One huge bite of fluffy sugar donut.  Yum.
19. With 2 miles to go, the group ramped up a lot… I was moving backwards fast.  I waved Steve Hegg through, and watched my gang roar into town for a top 26 placing.  So yeah, I got 27th and I’m happy with that.
20. It’s a really well run event.  Started on time.  Police on every, and I mean EVERY, turn.  Police escorting our group the whole way.
21. The “festival” at the end does not include food… theres a BaskinRobbins standing by a block from the hotel.

    

    No scale today.

Lots of energy, not too much testosterone… that’s the Platinum Meeting of El Tour De Tucson.  The Platinum Corral means you’ve either been very fast in the past, or you’re a wily one… it also means you’re starting in front of 8000 other riders.

Riders… not racers we are proudly told and this is not a race we are told again, it’s a ride.

Really, a ride with winners, trophies, and timing chips?  Riding AZ style, I reckon.

… anyway, everyone in the room is friendly and excited about riding tomorrow.  Most have participated for many years. I’m looking forward to losing my El Tour virginity.  The corral closes at 6:30am.  Race, errrride, starts at 7.

My pals tell me to get over there early as the corral fills up.  It’ll be low 50’s at 6. I’m gonna take all the newspapers and magazines from the swag bag and stuff them in my jersey.

Let’s ride!

We are getting ripped off as a company.  We are getting ripped off as consumers. Jeff Bezos just keeps getting fatter, greedier, and lazier.

I don’t go in too much for fear, but this is a mess.

We have this cool little t-shirt brand, DHDwear.  We’re in bike shops across the US and Canada.

People like our quality so much we are being ripped off. ALOT.  Does Jeff Bezo care? Instead of protecting us, Amazon puts up all kinds of hurdles that protect the thieves.

Search one of our top selling designs on Amazon and you’ll find 33 different sellers, with prices ranging from $9.28-23.95.

Just one of those sellers is offering the real deal, 95 Markets.

They ALL use our images, they use our name, they use our copy and then print crap.  The design is crappy.  The shirt is horrible, it literally stinks.  Look at the images below.

Nearly all of the sellers claim a US address, but actually ship from China or India.  People hate the shirts, hate the print, then give horrible reviews… which end up making us look terrible, and we are really awesome! (really)

We have to to go through this huge process to get them to stop selling… and for every one we stop, two pop up.  It’s like Whac-A-Mole.

We aren’t alone.

A recent study said 80% of Apple accessories are fake.

Let that sink in…

We, you and me, have NO idea if we are buying legitimate product on Amazon.  Books probably won’t kill you, but what about the FLUID sports drink I like so much?  What about an Apple charger knock off that smokes your laptop, do you think Apple is going to bail you out?

Here’s some good news.

Walmart is in hot pursuit of Amazon.  Walmart is really hard to get your products listed on because they are taking the time to make sure the sellers are legit.  We aren’t on there yet, but we will be soon thanks to the hard work of 95 Markets.

Our options as consumers are to either buy direct from the manufacturer, from an authorized seller, or from a curator like Walmart that is doing their job.

Please share this all over the internet, Amazon needs to change their policies.

The print is dreadful… super heavy plastic ink. That white you see indicates poor quality and lack of attention to detail. Look at the “A” filling. Sheeeeesh!

Up close you can see our print quality. We use environment friendly, water-based inks that you can’t even feel after just 1 wash.

Ever heard of this brand in the US. NOPE!All our shirts are tagless, with our neck print.

Really, really bad… you see it, right?

Here’s our Smiley. So crisp and clean.

Look at that precision. Oh, did I mention all our shirts now have UPC codes and hang tags?

___________

169.6 17%

For MTB night riding you need lights.

Thank you Captain Obvious.

How many and why?

At a bare minimum 3.

A tail light: in case you are riding pave to get to dirt, AND in case you get dropped by your buddies.

A front light: basically the most powerful light you can afford.  You can get a modern light that’s half the size of a hot dog and brighter than most cars for under $100.

A head light: mounted on your helmet this light is great for seeing around corners, looking at your Garmin, trail side repairs and more.

Here are a few keys for fun:

Keep the lights on lowest setting so you can burn bright when you bomb down hill… and remember to dial up brightness pre-bomb.

ALWAYS have a much LESS powerful light on the helmet.  Your front light will cast shadows… shadows give you depth and let you see if you are hitting a big boulder or a giant flat rock…

… I learned this the hard way when a friend lent me his only extra light.  It was my first night MTB ride ever.  28 years ago the lights were awful.  Weak.  Heavy. Unreliable.  We were poaching trails west of Irvine in what is now open to riding out by the toll road.

The sense of adventure whipped through the fall night.  It was spooky too.  Little bunnies sounded like bull elephants in mad pursuit.  The three us made the final summit and listened to live music blasting from far away Irvine Meadows.

It was time to bomb.

My little light strained to show me the way.  My friends disappeared. I was alone, and in my own zone.  Humming a forgotten tune, turning and burning,  but not jumping.  It was all so flat… what did Mike say to be careful of?… there’s a big flat rock… WHAM!… over the bars, huge cloud of dust… breathe, breathe, breathe…

This is Captain Obvious signing off, “May your front lights burn bright, and you head lights be…. about 40% less so”.

PS… we’ll be doing more Wednesday MTB night rides, join us.

170.6 15.9%

Charles says I can easily be under 10% body fat if I’ll cut out carbs.  That would be about 10 lbs.  Heard/learned this on Tim Ferriss’ podcast on the drive home tonight.

When I weigh in, I completely blow off the body fat % that pops up after the lbs.

For me, under 170=happy, over=sad… scratch that under 170=confident, over 170=not so much.

That’s after I rise, after I take care of business.

Which is what I did around 5:10am this morning, pre TMWC.

Which was too early, because I set my sleep app 15 minutes too early.

Which left me too lazy to blog at 8pm.

Which made want to just post my weight of 171.6 lbs  and call it a post.

Can’t do that.

So… 171.6 is 2 lbs over my current daily average, which is 5 lbs over my goal.

If my body fat was 10% that’d mean I was 10 lbs lighter.

Going forward you’ll see my weight and % at the end of each post, and you’ll have a good idea how I’m going to do on upcoming rides.

“If you’re 80% good and 20% terrible, you can’t expect to have 100% results.”
– Charles Poliquin

Part of building a team involves building a brand.

Velosport is a local team we work for.

They have their main logo, but it’s rarely seen.

Like most teams, sponsors cover their jersey, and canopy.  That’s proper, the sponsors are paying the bills for the team.

We gather all those sponsor logos and make all kinds of cool stuff for them.

Once a year, they make a one off t-shirt for the members that has nothing to do with their sponsors or their team logo.

That’s fun.

It binds the crew together.

Got a shirt from 5 years ago?… that has a meaning all it’s own, and that’s branding.

The first time I saw Nelson Vails was ’84.  The first time I rode with him was in ’88.   The first time we connected was ’12.  Today he called.

Pull up chair kids.

The summer of ’84 was a special one for me.  I’d just returned from a church mission to Mexico.  English was a struggle.  Culture shock all over.  No job, free time, the Olympics in LA and this new thing called ESPN 24/7.

I flipped on the tube, and there was Alexi Grewal on the roads of Mission Viejo racing away from all the favorites.  The drama was amazing.  Steve Bauer bridged up to him and Alexi did the road cycling version of the rope-a-dope on La Paz… yes kids, the same La Paz we slug it out on Canyon Velo Long.  Bauer was by far the superior sprinter and would go on to much greater cycling success, including wearing the Yellow Jersey… but, not that day.  Gold for Alexi and America.  Lots more gold and silver and bronze cycling medals would follow.

I was hooked.

I wanted more, and would get it because track cycling was up next.

The track was outdoor, in Carson.  The racing would go on for several days.  The US Team was very prepared, and looked awesome.  All the guys were cool, but one guy stood out…

… the bike messenger from Brooklyn…

… his name was cool, he looked cool, and he was a cool customer.  Check it.

It was a team of standouts, and I was rooting hard for him to do great.

What would it be like to be that fast?

I pumped up the old LeTour and pedaled around the condo complex.  It was old and neglected, but it rolled.  It was a lot like the clunkers I’d ridden in Mexico.  The wind on my face and through my short hair felt sublime… it was freeing.

5 years later, I’d graduated and married and picked up cycling.

We lived in Irvine.  I was on the local team, Canyon Velo.

One day, either on Food Park or Coffee Crew (it was originally a Saturday ride), he was there.

No joke.

Nelson Vails was on the ride.

I’d heard he was in town, and heard he’d been riding the group rides.

And there he was.

So cool.

I was trying to be cool… but, I wasn’t.

We were rolling up Back Bay, in a decent double pace line, and somehow I wound up next to Nelson Vails.

I tried small talk, I’m horrible at small talk.

He just looked at me and said something like man, you gotta keep your thumb and forefinger touching like this… his accent was so Brooklyn… I was star stuck… “like this” he said again, showing me his fingers wrapped confidently around the bar.  Not gripping, just confident.

You keep your hand like you have ’em, hit a bump and you lose control… take us all out.  Got it?  Yep.

I still think of that conversation all the time, and I can honestly say that little tidbit has saved me more than once on and off the road.

20 something years later we became “friends” on FB.  I told him about the advice he’d given, and we laughed about it.  Now he has his Rides with Nelly going, and yesterday I see he’s gonna be at Tour de Tucson Saturday.  I post, C U there.  This morning I see he likes my comment… you can do that on FB, make friends with people and get to know them.

Then my iPad rings.  It’s Nelson.

I’m making eggs.

Yo, what’s up Nelly?

Hey, you want to ride up front at Tucson with me? (I want an accent).

Heck yes I do.

Cool, here’s what you need to do… I listen, I get it.  I’m in.

Now, I can’t tell you more because I have to keep it on the down low… but I can tell you there’s a slight chance you could join us.  Don’t think I’m a turd here, but it’s up to me to make sure you merit starting up front – you’re fast, and you’re safe.

Let me know if you want to ride with Nelly next Saturday.

You got your Sunday best, jersey and bibs.

You got your chapel, race course.

You got your preacher, race promoter.

You got your congregation, racers.

You got your opening announcements, racer meeting.

You got your opening hymn, the National Anthem.

You got your sermon, the race.

The sermon, for most of us is hell, fire and damnation.

We are chastised and castigated for our lack of discipline with our diet and sleep, for our lack of care with our spouse (bike), and for our lack of paying attention to the commandments (bike handling skills).

Post sermon, the preacher tries to pick our spirits back up…

…in reality it’s mingling with the other sinners that makes this church time so special.

Sharing our sins and our burdens with each other, and giving a helping hand where possible and accepted. Cheering each other on for the good deeds of the previous week, and sustaining each other in the efforts to be a little better in the coming week.

Yep, it’s a lot like church… and that’s why I love it, and love our flock, and pray for our preacher to give us a good sermon in his chapel.

_____________________________

Today’s NonDot race went pretty good for me.

I’ve been really tired lately, and just kinda burned out on racing and riding hard.

This fall has been epic for surf, and I’ve blown it by not taking a bike off-season.

But, we are in this big research phase for a revolutionary race series we are planning and so we’ve been hitting every single race and fondo and ride we can.  It’s a ton of fun, but it’s hard to do this late in the season.

My power was good and steady through out.  My times on the three big laps were:

… can’t ask for more than that.

I’m really digging my Fluid.  I found this by chance at the Whiskey 50 where I’d run out of Hammer Heed.  There’s something about it, it’s a much more sustained energy for me.  I still use Hammer Recoverite, post ride… though with our new, always stocked Muscle Monster fridge at work I’m only going Recoverite when I don’t want all the caffeine.

Tire pressure seems to be nailed down at 24 lbs.  On my hard tail, that pressure seems perfect.

Speaking of hardtail and perfect… I railed the big down hill, posted a 4th faster over all – ever.  Not bad for the old diesel.

The guys and gals at NonDot put on another great event.  I like what they’re doing.  It’s simple, like Simple magazine simple.

Oh, my canopy got wings when the wind picked up.  Shoulda staked it in.  It was the back wall that was causing havoc. I’m going to make a new back wall out of our stretch mesh that I use on the bike rack banner.  It’s a really cool fabric, big vents, stretchy and still shows the print really well.  It’s kinda see through too, which will be different.  Plus, it will fold up super small.

Got to catch up with a lot of friends.  My friend Gerrit is retiring next year, and his wife Kim retires the year after… happy for them.

Scott McClain’s company name is so fitting, Called To Creation.

It’s been a long 2 1/2 weeks for Susie… she’s been in Utah caring for her mom and she’s exhausted.  She comes home tomorrow, which means I gotta get off the couch here and do some deep cleaning… gotta get to the store too… she’s needs a vacation, I miss her. She comes home tomorrow, which means I’m gonna skip church and go visit my parents in Encinitas before Susie lands in San Diego.

My friend MIke Gould showed me this the night before the Tahoe 100.

He promised it would be awesome.

I used it.

It hurt like hell.

An hour later, that night… legs sore as ever.

It seemed like a really bad idea to do before a major event on my calendar.

I woke up the next day.

Ate my sardines and black beans.

Rolled up to the start, and had the race of the year.

You can get Roll Recovery at your local bike shop – got mine at RNR.

One of the best tricks of the year for me… and will definitely use tonight after NonDot.

PS… once you start using regularly your legs won’t hurt like hell.  It takes 10-15 minutes to use properly, perfect for TV watching.

Sleeeeeeeeeep… I was robbing myself of so many benefits by not sleeping enough.

Then, my son Trevor started racing.

I hooked him up with my coach, and he actually listened to what she said.  He was a dry sponge soaking up every word, where I was a soggy old dog.

He was living like a monk.  Sleeping and resting tons.  … and flying on the bike.

So, I started to listen to his advice… “Dad, you gotta sleep more.”

Here’s what I noticed, and for old dogs this matters:  I recovered a lot better and quicker, and I lost weight.

Yes… that’s exactly what my coach told me would happen, but…

I’m bringing this up today because I learned something you probably don’t know.  When we sleep our brain cells shrink and spinal fluid comes in to that new space and clears out excess proteins.  When your dad has Parkinson’s (mine does) that gets your attention, because proteins play a roll.

There are all kinds of articles you could read regarding cycling and sleep, like this one.

The thing that has helped me get a lot more sleep is a sleep app.  It follows the old rule, you get what you measure.  Measuring sleep, like measuring hours and miles, will have an effect on how much you get.

Sweet dreams.

PS  I can only handle about 6 weeks of structure at a time so my coach cringes when I call every year or so with I have major goal… she’d much prefer I see her a couple of times a month.

Pre-riding pretty much guarantees you’re gonna go faster.  But, you have to have a strategy.

I won Super-D Nationals at Mammoth in 2004 & 2005 (age group, not pro).  Both years I went to Mammoth multiple weekends before the big race and pre-rode the course.

Some runs were very slow, looking at every corner and line.

Other runs were full gas, to see how things looked at speed and to adjust my bike set up… I used the same black Turner 5-Spot each year – wish I’d kept that bike.

2005 shot down the top of the world-famous Kamikaze course… we hit 45 miles an hour.

It was so fast.

Our second and final weekend of pre-riding I tested out the goofiest set up ever:  skin suit, no protective pads, road time trial helmet and my motocross goggles… what a dork!

You should have see the looks John Tomac and Greg Herbold gave me on the bus to the lifts.  Hahaha… all fun and games, I couldn’t resist blowing by those guys pre-riding the Kamikaze section.  Whoops.

On race day, I came into a steep wood ramp with way too much speed and went over the bars.  I lay stunned in a giant dust ball.  I almost quit, but I came to my senses, realizing I’d been hauling @$$ and passing a lot of guys (it was a time trial format).  It took me a bit to get up to speed, I’d gone down really hard.

Crossing the line, I had no idea how I’d done.  Breathless,  I could only wait.  My brother-in-law Mike had come down and my buddy Bryson had raced.  I was pissed about the crash.

Finally an announcement.  Todd Brown wins by 7 seconds.

To win by 7 seconds in a race that took 25 minutes is nuts, but it confirms that pre-riding can make the difference.

…back to this weekend…

The day before a big race, I like to get on the course and hit it hard in sections.

Whether I’ve seen the course previously or not, I’m gonna open up my legs.  Doing 5-10 minutes several times in a Zone 4 effort works best for me.  I’ll rest in the days coming into it, but I’ll always do some good, hard efforts the day before – on or off the course.

Join me Friday if you want… I’ll be at Casper’s at 7:00 am, at The Old Corral Picnic Area

If you want to sign up.

… but I don’t wanna be a T-Rex, which can happen to a cyclist that neglects the upper body.

I love being outside, so hitting the gym has never worked for me.

Here’s what’s workin’ these days:

Surfing, I prefer traditional surfing… but my lady has shown me stand up paddle surfing can be fun too.

The pull up bar in my bathroom door jam gets yanked on most every day… I can only do 8 in a row, used to be able to do 15 : (

Couple a times a week, I jam through my combination of push ups, pull ups, light hand weights (15lbs, don’t mock me), and core work.

It ain’t much, but it’s enough to keep me strong for gnarly MTB trails and able to surf and most importantly help Susie unload the dish washer (not often enough).

Speaking of my T-Rex, it’s because of her love for red meat (and I mean quivering red).

That’s a good thing, as it turns out I need a lot of protein in my anti-T-Rex diet.

The time change always brings new energy to TMWC… some rides like The Market Ride die in the winter, we just keep growing.

30+ guys showed up (ladies?)

So fun.

New attacks, new wheel sucking… even a detour – Aliso Creek Bikeway is getting new pavement!

The pace?  Well, let’s just say it’s not slowing down.  For old turds, that’s a good thing because we need a good kick in the fanny once or twice a week.

If rest is required, go to the back.  If hard ride prescribed, go to the front – and pull through!

Hi there… I’m Todd, and I want to “officially” welcome you to our world.

About 5 years ago, I shifted my talents for promotional marketing from the corporate world to the cycling world.

I started helping my local bike shop get some great T-shirts vs the boxy el cheapos they’d used before.

Soon we were cranking with customers like you, riders who appreciate quality and fit vs my corporate customers that wanted a junky give away.

From T’s we offered our canopies… same thing, the corporate guys wanted the cheap steel frames, and the cyclists loved the all aluminum, super light option.

Delivering greatness to people with a shared passion is so much fun!

That’s what we do at PEDALindustries. We get the cycling world killer product, and make your brand look awesome.

Sometimes seeing is believing, that’s why I want you to see first hand one of our products – in this case our t-shirts.

If you’re like me and would pay a couple of bucks more to get a killer T vs crap, then we gotta get one in your hands for FREE…

… I want this relationship to start out right, so the PEDALindustries T is on me.

I am going to WOW you with SO much value you’ll feel obligated to buy everything from me in the future (just kidding… kinda).

It’s the same t-shirt we use for DHDwear and many other brands.

Sound good?

Cool… pop your email address in here.

Thanks,

Todd “Your New Custom Guy” Brown

PS You’re going to get an email in a few minutes verifying you’re not a robot… you aren’t right?

PSS  The next email’s subject is “Poof, Business Goes Up In Flames”

My free world problem:

Ride home tonight and back in tomorrow after TMWC only to drive home and vote with the masses

or

Drive home tonight and ride home after TMWC and vote early?

Cra-cra that I spent my first groggy moments working this out.

We’ve had a lot to work out this election cycle, and so much remains to be solved.

To that end, I purchased Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics last night.  It’s time to dig in, and participate meaningfully in the discussions.

No more time for “mailing it in”, get in that booth!