Prematurely 40

Not a complaint, but Saturdays at the shop are rough. High traffic of new customers and old regulars, kids, dogs, fits, test rides, last minute repairs, endlessly ringing phones, no lunch.  Beautiful chaos but it leaves you wrecked at the end of the week. The lack of food and water during the day leaves getting in a good ride after work hard to do because your body just isn't in the mood for it, nor your mind. So, on occasion, we make it a point to get out and just enjoy the remnants of the day, just being alive, and on bikes. I guess I should back up a bit...

Another missed memo. Camo short day.

Early mornings at the bike shop are some of my favorite times to be at the bike shop. This is when and where we can get things done that need to be done like pricing up builds, building sold units, and last minute rush jobs for the faithful. Pretty much the same as after hours at the bike shop only without the beer. Two things ruin the mornings for me: 1. customers who bang on the door an hour before we open and expect to be able to shop (I don't mind if they would just browse, but it's never that simple and we spend an hour serving them and can't get what needs to be done done and then catch hell from the customer who played by the rules and is expecting their bike to be ready at 10) and 2. continuing to miss out on camo short day. Damn it! I've been searching for some with no avail too. Alas, I digress,  I didn't need to go back that far, let's skip ahead a bit.

Bread pudding for the table. 

Patrico, The White Apollo Creed (Adam) and I met up with friend/customer Rob after work for some dinner and conversation at a relatively new restaurant in Franktown along the river. We rode over there to meet up and had a table ready for us outside along the Asphalt River (Franktown Road) and a waiter with a sense of humor and a camo hat. As we ordered food, Gino our waiter asked who wanted to start and Rob, pointing towards me, said "Better start with the birthday boy." Gino's face brightened and he wished me a happy birthday before letting me know that I would be getting a free desert. Bread pudding bitches!

Patrico the American Eagle Model

After dinner we got distracted riding back to the shop and cut through a field to a new stretch of greenway going in which has a nice new curb. Adam likes to "Gleam the Curb" so we spent some time riding to see who could gleam the whole thing. This was after surprising some teens making out at the end of the greenway. Ah youth.

And Apollo goes down!

After tiring of the curb gleaming I got distracted by a pile of dirt and rock. Soon we were each riding up and over the peaks in the loose dirt/concrete chunk pile. Adam's road tires on the Travelers Check were knifing in and giving him some issues so he tried my bike and had me try his. I made it, he, well, didn't at first.

Suck-cess.

Once the dirt got old, we found some logs to ride. The urban playground abounds in Frantown.  Deciding flip-flops and sandals on spd pedals wasn't the best combination for more advanced shenanigans, we rolled on back to the shop with plans to buy a broom.

A broom? Big Saturday night plans of broom shopping? Don't ask. Apparently there is some sort of differing opinions upon brooms. Some believe in having an indoor broom and an outdoor broom. Rational people believe in indoor/outdoor brooms. But, yet again, I digress.

Back at Adam's pad his loverly wife Lauren, knowing our fondness for sushi, had Swedish fish rice crispy rolls waiting for us while we waited for Adam's fresh homemade limeade.  We relaxed and ate our fill of sushi and limeade until it was time to roll out to "Premium Rush." Yeah, the reviews aren't great but how often does a movie centered around a bike really get made?

Sunday was spent breaking my back in the dirt so Mr. Norris won't hurt his when he comes out to ride. The trail was trimmed, the trail bed action hoed to sculpt it and smooth out the crawfish mounds, some new paths cut, and the dogs got a lot of trail and run time.

Charlie and the chicken. 

All in all a pretty quiet and laid back Sunday. Pretty perfect. For the first time since Colorado I'm feeling recharged. Time to run the batteries down again.

Great Unexpectations

Last weekends plans to race got put on the back burner when I found out that we would be getting a visit from lil' Miss Maeve. It's been about a year since we last got to see this little bundle of joy. I couldn't wait to see her experience the farm. It was a great weekend. Sad I only got one full day with them, but cherish all the moments I did get. As Maeve would say "More. More."

Watering the "Neighs" (aka horses)

Bushhoggin'

Time to "More. Fork. Neigh" (aka feed the horses)

Helping Aunt H.

Feeding the chickens.

She thoroughly enjoyed my bottle collection. Salsa/Gravel Rocks.

MOAB

and Moots.

She also liked my hats so she got her own cycling cap complete with "Neighs."

Dining room table photo for my EMIL. 

Rockstar on the way to the zoo.

Maeve and her friend Nora rolling to the zoo with natural style. 

In Between Daze

photo cred: T. R. Ludwig

The week has been simultaneously moving fast and crushingly slow since Sunday's State Championships. The weekend races are fast approaching, but so is a sinus infection. Hoping taking the night off from riding will help spur a speedier recovery, or at least prolong my collapse until Sunday afternoon. We shall see.

I did manage to sneak out for a damp recovery ride with the pups before work on Tuesday. Work on Tuesday? Yep, had to fill in for a few who have been out for trade shows. Perhaps that's why time seems so slow, losing that day of play.

JD has been feeling it too and has been pretty wiped out come end of day. It's a hard knock life for a shop pup. Guess riding Weds night with recently crowned National Champ Farkas was a bit much for him too.

Between riding, working, falling ill, and racing we also bid adieu to our foster dog Roxie. She has been successfully reunited with her owner in a new house with a yard. No more apartment restrictions instated by wacky neighbors fearing for their lives from a potentially vicious 10 lbs jugular biting bath-salt addicted pit-russell zombie dog. It's going to be a little lonely around here without her, but she's going to love having her family back. She's such a sweet dog and desperately needs to be somebody's only pup. Lucky her owner came back for her just in time, she was developing quite the list of people wanting to take her home.

And let's not forget a little levity. Jocularity in full effect when I rolled my road bike out from the back of the shop to pick up some more acetone. I thought the wheel felt a little funny. The dual magnets were good to boost the average speed though. Well played Adam, well played.

Consistant Coaching: The 2012 TN State Championships

 This one is much bronzier than the silver from last year. 

Another year, another State Championships. This year the race fell on the Montgomery Bell race two weeks after my protege Daniel and I took our first season XC wins. We are both coming into late season fitness and were feeling pretty good about our chances. We pre-rode the course the Tuesday after Mousetail and followed our normal routines as much as possible trying to stay fresh and ready for the State Champs race. Competition would be of higher caliber being a State Champ race, but we were feeling good. Our main rivals were our own teammates, Jim (GrassMOOTS) and Jamison (MOAB) Simms and we would be racing them on their home course. Home court confidence on their side. Slight ego boost from a good showing last race on ours.

Me, Jim, and Shaggy photo cred: Andrew Head @ Swiftwick

Before I knew it we were off. I'm not the best at getting a good start but somehow found myself sitting in the lead before the first turn of the grass run before entering the singletrack. I sat up a bit and went into the woods 5th. I'm a slow starting diesel, never have been fast from the gun. We got into the woods and positions were swapped. I realized I had someone hot and heavy on my rear, it was Jim. He's way to fast to be behind me at the start and I let him pass. Dumbest move ever. He was gone never to be seen again until the end.

Daniel too, found himself leading the hole shot into the woods. He sat up and let Jamison lead him in (Coach's tactical blunder there in hindsight) and the boys revved through the woods with lap times equaling those of older and more experienced riders. These JRS haul some ass. He was closing the gap to the lead when a teammate/friend/competitor hit a tree pretty badly and got his leg pinned down. Daniel stopped and helped him up and made sure he was ok, then told the first adult he saw (Jim Simms) out on course and made sure someone knew to check on Nathan.

Daniel ended up third (just like Coach), unable to bridge back up to the race ahead. In my book though, he's a Champion. He did the right thing and made sure Nathan was ok before racing off. These kids are going to go far. 

Daniel, Jonathan, and Jamison, Part of the MOAB JRS team.

Not much rest between races this week. Next weekend we have the Old Hickory Classic TT, Short Track, and XC. Game On.

Chasing Jim. Photo cred: Darryl Glascock IMBA/SORBA.

The Boy in the Effluent Water

JD and I went out for a trail ride after work Thursday. We were lucky enough to get a break from the high heat and humidity and wanted to take full advantage of the good fortune. We stopped by a pond to let him cool off and get a drink. That's when we saw the sign: "No dogs or animals in water. Absolutely no swimming. Effluent water."

What a waste of a perfectly good pond. Stupid rich people and their affluent water. We'll show them, won't we JD?

Then I decided to look up the word Effluent. That's when we left. Well played rich people, well played.

Bikepacking 101

The shop was having a Santa Cruz bike demo out at Chickasaw this past Sunday. The weather called for some rain chances, but more importantly, slightly less miserable temps making it a perfect weekend for some bike camping. The perfect plan: ride into work Saturday morning, work, ride out to Meriwether Lewis Campground (a free campground) via some old country roads and gravel, camp, get up and ride over to Chickasaw for the demo, demo, ride home.

So Saturday morning I rolled out all geared up and rode into work all set to head out for a weekend of bike camping adventures.... at home.

Home!? Yep home. Patrick hadn't ever bike camped before and had new untested equipment as well as a 20 year old bike we weren't sure was 100% (or even 22.5%) up to the task of loaded touring. I only have a tent and light sleeping 'blanket' remaining from getting all of our camping gear stolen last Labor Day weekend at LBL. Plus with H. working, I had animals that needed some attention and what better place to test out some gear than the back 20?

I had yet to test out a real camping setup on the new steed which doesn't allow the use of two of my custom frame bags. So some experimenting was needed, especially with several fall time bike camping adventures being planned. I was easily able to store the tent, footprint, rain fly, and stakes in the Revelate Designs Sling on the bars. Clothing, towel, and sleeping 'blanket' was stuffed into another dry sack and originally stowed underneath the saddle and to the seatpost via Backcountry Research Clutch straps. After a few miles of it rubbing my thighs, I swapped it to the top tube where a gas tank would ride and had a better experience. Two Backcountry Awesome straps carried my spare tubes and a Revelate Designs Feedbag hauled food, tools, and spare/emergency supplies. 

The weight distribution felt great while riding and performed flawlessly even off road. Definitely a good direction for Trans Georgia. I've got a few other ideas to try, but all in all the setup is pretty efficient, minimalist, and functional. The tent however, felt like a sweat lodge with the rain fly on it. Two panting dogs probably didn't help the situation much either. I opted to risk getting rained on and removed the rain fly for which I'm happy I chanced it. A cool breeze rolled in over night and I woke up to a great sunrise and cool temps inside a breezy tent.

The demo went well, albeit a little wet, but the trail held up for most of the crowd and the real rain didn't stay around too long nor take too much away from the fun. It was pretty welcomed really. It brought the humidity and temps down to a comfortable level and JD was able to really get in a good run, plus some play time with Larry.

Larry.

I'm grateful for being able to get out by bike this weekend, even if it was only out back. I got a lot of good miles in my legs, was able to test different configurations, and most of all, it has stirred up even more motivation to make 3 of my "it would be cool if" bike camping trips happen. Fall is going to be an interesting time. I'd better start saving for my Alpacka.