Jay MTB - Race Report

Arrived in Fayston Vermont Friday night at the Jordan's. Heavy thunderstorms washed-out sections of the road, figured we were in for a massive mud fest. Mike cooked-up a pasta feast, ate, ate some more, drank a cpl, hit the sack.

Saturday morning we decide to go for a shake-down ride in Fayston, need to get to Jay to see Harry in the mtn marathon, but figure this'll be quick. we follow Mike up a climb behind his house and up and up and up - for 60 mins we did nothing but climb. andy and i are looking at each other like, "we'd be animals if we lived up here!!!". we finally turn into some muddy double-track and climb some more, then we descend at speed, the piranha's diggin' into the mud like crazy, nice, now i don't have to geek-out on tire selection. we quickly hit a wide-open field w/Mt Ellen directly in front (and the base way below) us. This is a monster shake-down ride. I'm beginning to think we've gotten ourselves into an epic. We decide to turn around and are cleaning-up at mike's 14mins later grinnin' like fools from the rippin' 50mph descent. we show mike the now infamous "praying mantis" descending position, which thom mastered out west (and which i immediately stole). you're like a 50lb cannon ball rollin' downhill (it's the bomb?).

we arrive late to the marathon, don't know where harry is, so camp-out at the finish w/a sixer and enjoy a perfect day. he rolls-in looking super strong! end-up wrenching on our bikes a tad and watching cheesey action movies at the Hotel Jay, right on the start line. nice.

Sunday! Tinker's bike gets lost in transit, big bummer for him, but looking better for the rest of us. Perfect bluebird day, cool clear air blew-in overnight, light breeze, really fantastic day to be outside. we start the race pretty mellow, the field quickly thinning out as we begin the 30min assault on Jay Peak. All but a few hundred meters is ridable and amazingly I find myself with Racine, Lyster, and Gagliarde, w/Brooke (last name?) about 50meters off the front. then wham! Andy's there too. So solid. We crest, i trying not to take a digger while staring at the magnificent view.

the descent off Jay is a trip! Brooke and Racine are gone, I settle in behind Lyster and Garliarde, Andy right there. not a 100% rip by any means, as 100% means taking huge chances, got tossed bad last yr. Fly across the bottom, then down off the mtn and onto a short piece of asphalt, then up into some muddy atv track where Lyster slams it. Gagliarde passes while i'm laying in a stream, then i him while he's in the bushes, then him i when my now-soaked hand comes-off the bars on a nasty downhill. you get the picture. lyster, racine and brooke leading are gone, Gagliarde chases, i settle-into a pace w/Andy after quickly stopping to lube my already chain-sucking chain.

we cruise-on for a few miles on a massive rippin' fireroad descent (which we climb up on the way to the finish), then andy gets a flat in his rear tubeless - Stans can't seal the hole, i slow, then leave him to repair and continue down the rippin' fireroad, climb, descend, repeat en route to mile 30 aid station.

we enter some keep-your-hands-on-the-bars and head-screwed-on-tight 5mph super-technical singletrack up a ridge then right back down up to the same aid station. i pass Gagliarde in the woods, he's got a flat, i offer CO2 and a tube, he declines, but it's sweet for me, as i'm now in 4th place. feeling really strong, mtb mojo flowing like water. climb, descend, repeat, eventually to some smoother singletrack, which winds through pine needles, down into the technical rooty stuff, then back-up to the pine. way too quickly, we're on the pavement for a grinding 7mile road climb up jay pass. keep the legs churning, don't see anyone chasing, wonder where andy is... a group of roadies descends on the other side of the road at 50+ mph, the sound of the wind in their wake is invigorating, find myself increasing the tempo until the final pitch.

at the top of jay pass, i see racine laying on the ground, stretching a leg-out. as harry fills water (he was at all the aid stations cheering us on, way solid!) a guy rolls into the aid station right on my heels, where in the hell did he come from!? whoa, time to go! i get into the preying mantis and plummet to the bottom in 3rd place.

turn onto a dirt road up to the base of jay, down some crazy, muddy, technical atv track before hitting the best flowing singletrack of the race. it ends way too quickly and back onto atv track then onto the asphalt through the town of jay where i see jenn for the first time. i don't eat at the aid station, my stomach has begun to turn, big mistake...

not sure how we got there, but find myself climbing through some wicked narrow xc ski trails up and over a ridge into westfield. i'm starving, huge bad sign, need to eat, but can't in this kind of singletrack. the guy who closed on me at Jay Pass aid station is on my heels, i let him by and eat a cliff bar in 5 bites, but within minutes am deep into a bonk. way deep. heart rate plummets, cold sweats, i'm slogging along, can't ride much, but keep moving. i hear voices behind me and know i'm losing mad time. 20-30' later at the final aid station i'm just barely recovering from the bonk. andy rolls-up seconds later, looking really strong w/two fellas right on him (whom he's nicknamed "flower power" and "alp d'huez"). alp d'huez skips the aid station to make a move while the fella that passed me in the singletrack is sitting in a chair looking destroyed. so this is it. a 4 man battle for the last podium spot up a 5+ mile monster climb in the baking sun. good times.

i'm feeling better, but still can't get the heart rate above 140-150. andy says, "you can take us all, go for it". i take the encouragement and make a foolish move to open a small gap, then have to shut it down, the engine just isn't firing yet. alp d'huez makes a move, opening a 30sec gap, andy follows, i fall-off w/flower-power passing me as well. we finally summit that beeyatch and thankfully descend for a short bit, the rest does me good and i speed by flower-power on a muddy fireroad leading-up to the base of Jay Peak before hitting a short section of unridable, barely walkable "singletrack". i see andy and alp d'huez through the trees, i run w/legs reminiscent of raw pizza dough, bike slamming off rocks, slippin, falling, not ready to let 3rd slip away.

we get-out onto the Jay golf course, about 1mile left to the finish. alp d'huez's decision to not take-on food/water at the last aid station catches up to him at the worst possible time. with 1/2mile to go it's just andy and i. we both say we don't care, the other can take it. if it was anyone else i'd have sprinted right from the golf course. with 200meters to go i put-in a mild push, andy doesn't bother to respond, i get-up to the line and stop a foot short, wait 5secs for andy. i invite him across, he insists i do. our "grudge match" comes to a tie! 70miles of brutal climbing, who knows how much vert, 8:05 even (winner across in 7:40). Andy took the cohutta 100, i the mohican 100, then a tie at the Jay. pretty awesome way to end things. We chat with Alp D'Huez and Flower Power, good guys, then Tinker hands-out the awards and we chat him up for a while... andy's got pics of the dreads he'll post soon enough. only thing that was weird, were the "podium prizes," which included a basketball, a pair of socks and a hat. no cashola. i guess andy and i will share the basketball. he can have it on odd days, i on even.

Mike Jordan crossed the line a while later, a huge smile on his face. no cramps, nice and steady, he made it! first evah mtbike race - and it's the toughest in New England.

with the transRockies in a week and andy and i riding at such a similar level, really makes me wonder how we'd have done out there. the legs felt fine on today's ride... there's always next year and the year aftah!

bear suit

saw a guy cruising-down tremont street in a full bear suit this morning - head to toe. or maybe it was a squirrel suit, hard to tell, all i know is that brother was riding his bike at about 18mph in 80 degree heat covered in fur from head to toe. words just don't do it justice, wish i was quicker with the digi-cam.

say it ain't so!

"The Phonak Cycling Team issued the following statement Thursday:

The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by the UCI of an unusual level of Testosteron/Epitestosteron ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France.

The Team Management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result.

The rider will ask in the upcoming days for the counter analysis to prove either that this result is coming from a natural process or that this is resulting from a mistake in the confirmation.

In application of the Pro Tour Ethical Code, the rider will not race anymore until this problem is totally clear.

If the result of the B sample analysis confirms the result of the A sample the rider will be dismissed and will then pass the corresponding endocrinological examinations.

Please understand that we cannot at this time give you more detailed comments."

I'm really hoping these high levels of testosterone are naturally occuring in Floyd due to his enormous balls!

the jay cometh

holy shit i'm getting fired-up for the Jay. this is it. the last big race of the mtb season (for me). with a baby on the way (aug 29!?), it's all about being home and making sure i don't miss anything important after this.

been waiting on hutchinson piranhas all season through the grassroots gig, never got 'em, so finally ponied-up $85 for a set. since seeing the tread pattern at the Sea Ottah i've coveted these tires. pretty light, fast-rollers, small side-knobs for cornering - but tall enough treads to get some bite.

when new rubber arrives (as it did yesterday), i pump 'em up to 45-50psi and go for a spin. as the tires slip on the technical stuff, i'll stop and let a lb or two of air out until i find just the right pressure. what blew me away about the piranhas is that i never stopped to let air out and in 2hrs of technical trail riding, put a foot down only a cpl times. it was dry out, minimal mud, interested to see how they do in the rain - or flying-down jay peak at 40mph. really wanted them for Dalton as a shake-down, but it just didn't work-out. so far this season i've chosen moderately aggressive tires for the enduros, which really wasn't needed. what i needed was a fast rollah - and i got 'em.

squeezed-out 20hrs last wk (as did Andy), capped it off with an 8hr north shore ride, felt surprisingly good all wk - and am enjoying the massive taper this wk. hoping the golden legs make an appearance soon. would help if i kept the hrs down this wk, but just don't want to get off the bike! have gone for a lot of rides this season when i didn't want to, now i want to and i'm supposed to be tapering-down. D'oh!

have set realistic, yet challenging goals for the Jay. the entrant list is a who's-who of New England racers - and one west coast legend - Tinker! that's right - there's a good chance i'll be rubbin' dreads w/Tinker at the starting line. i've been growing my hair out all season, but it's still got a long way to go to match the big man's. of course, once the gun goes off, that'll be the last i see of Tinker's dreads...

steel is real - a ride report by dr mike

last thursday, dr mike stopped-by my house to pick-up supplies (and discuss borrowing my road bike) for a charity century ride to raise money for an african student who couldn't afford tuition (to Yale i believe). a noble plan. dr mike had trained for about a week - and in so doing has begun commuting the 15miles to work again - which is the ballz. what most folks don't realize when they meet the good dr, is that underneath his nano-engineer overalls is a natural athelete - a scary athlete... this is his story:

steel is real.
i'm a glad i didnt trade in my ride for something else, or spend the bucks for a new one. the old bear was really comfortable, and with a good pressure in the tires it seemed to roll as well or better than the other guys road bikes. surprising, but maybe they were a bit low on pressure. so i made a number of poor choices pre-ride: 1) clean front derailluer in case i need it. as soon as the degreaser hit it it moved in such a way that the chain was always rubbing on the cage plates. fuck. 2) try to fix it. it kept getting worse and worse over the coarse of the evening. i have a manual, instructions, the interweb, everything i can gather together for knowledge and i just keep making it worse. to make a long story short, around 11 i am pissy like you may never have seen me, since the whole point of messing with the bike was to get it ready for this ride, which im now not sure i will go on because i wont get to new haven until 2-3am for a 6:30 ride. but i figure ill be even grumpier if i dont go at all, and if i have to bail out along the way, so be it, someone will pick me up. so i get out the dremel too with grinding wheel and just cut that motherfucker off so i dont have to breaak the chain and risk weaakening it before the ride. 1 minute of sparks flying and the derailier problem is solved, but im committed to the big ring. i get to work out a bit of aggression getting the pedals off my bike and putting the new ones on. mine came by post on friday, so i didnt use yours. roll out and maanage to calm myself down on in the car so by the time i get to CT im tired and can go right to sleep.

3.5 hours of sleep, morning comes too soon, and i hop up on caffiene and oatmeal and set out. 3 guys on road bikes and a good nights sleep, and me on my old mountain bike and a no sleep. sweet. things are not looking good. technical problems become apparent as my chain keeps popping off if im not very careful about the downshifting. i guess the deraillieru was good for somehting even though i dont use it. but get the hang of it and it only takes 15 seconds to throw it back on if it slips off. but i get the hang of the shifting and i figure out how to not throw the chain for most of the rest of the day. i feel good, and have taped luna bars all over the frame for easy access and hammer sauce in the camelback. feeding every 20-30 min, and drinking enough and by the first landmark at 35 miles when we take a ferry across the ct river, im riding strong and feeling great, trying deliberately not to outpace the group. pproaching east hartford i zone out, get way ahead and off track, so im now on my own until the pit stop at the state line where my parents and steves parents are waiting. the rains set it in, i figure my detour has put me back a bit behind the group and so i pick up the pace to ~20 to catch them but end up hitting the state line 30-40 minutes ahead. fine with me, ill take a rest and have some snacks and chat with the folks. we set out again and i make a better effort to keep the speed in check and not lose the crew. it rains most of the rest of the ride, but once your wet it doesnt matter too much and i think the extra cooling helped keep people moving.

the rest of the ride is eneventful except for steves flat tire less than 10 miles from the end. we swap tubes, hit the road and by the time we hit northhampton we are only at 93 miles. thinking wed be chumps if we didnt cap it off to a cool 100, we go past the end point 3.5 miles out of town turn around and come back. knowing the day is over and theres beer at the other end, im feeling really good and blow out the last 7 miles at around 22 to put a strong finish on the day. i dont know whats in that hammer sauce, but it must be somehting good. i never felt worse over the course of the day than i do on my commute.

ive decided that its a great way to travel. if i were driving from new haven to northhapton, the focus would be all abou the endpoints, but on the bike its all about the journey. you can look around, check shit out, know that its gonna take a while so there's no hurry. i had a lot of fun, and think everyone else did too. theres a kick ass german restaurant in chicopee that we passed, then went back to for dinner. bavarian platter baby. schnitzles, wursts, beer, read AND white saurkraut. spaetzle. thats good eating.so overall it was a success, and we actually raised enough cash to pay off this kids college tuition. some good footage was shot along the wya, i point you to the link when they get it edited together into a movie. theres a picture of us with Ernesto Zedillo, the former president of mexico, who we ran into along the way. funny shit.

inspiring

i'm sure that by now everyone has heard of floyd's amazing ride yesterday. cyclingnews: "It took some time after crossing the line till Landis launched into his victory salute: a powerful, swinging right-hander, filled with fire and anger. Much the same treatment he gave to his rivals today, which left each and every one of them lying on the ground, winded, battered to a pulp." and only the day before, after suffering, he commented, "Drink some beer ... that's all I'm thinking about now."

i don't know what gives me bigger goosebumps, floyd's ride or the power of beer!

mtb worlds

check-out the selections for world's here. sweet.

now, back to my little pond.

with the jay the wknd after this one, decided to skip the efta eastern cup and do an epic on saturday to cap-off a big wk of pedalin'. been riding kinda easy, staying-off the hills past cpl days to recover from Dalton, but hit it hard this morning and everything's good. it's nice when a plan comes together. question is, will it come together for Jay? the $86 set of "secret weapon" tires i just ordered insist upon it!

a friend, mike jordan, is tackling the jay as his first evah mtbike race. now that's ballsy. can't wait to drink a beer with him at the finish, as i'm 100% certain he'll make it through. will be hanging him and Andy at Jay, while Thom and the East Coast Mafia rolls to the 101. Harlan will be there to protect 1st place overall in the series (really cool new site, btw). pretty exciting stuff for team green. wish i could do both races, but that's just plain lunacy.

found a new sandwich shop t-day, owned by a Lebanese guy. dude makes a kick-ass Falafal. why is Israel bombing Lebanon? why is Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel? And why the fuck are we in Iraq? these are rhetorical questions... basically, falafal's are good. bombs are bad. maybe if we kicked G-W and Ehud Olmert a cpl of these falafal's and Sheikh Fadlallah some good slow-cooked brisket on rye we could clear some of this up...

Dalton XC Race Report

Usual race-day morning, minus me pulling the stiches-out of my pinkie. Juice, oatmeal, coffee, Jenn decides to roll and off we go to pick-up Thom around 730a. 2 1/2hr drive later, including a miracle non-ticket warning from a State Trooper's magaphone, "85 is not the speed limit!", we arrive at Holiday Farm for the Root 66 Dalton XC. memories of pain and suffering from last year's solo 24 began to well-up, but a feeling of excitement at the thought of hammering "only" three 10mile laps had me all fired-up to have a good one. the xc course indluded a mile more of singletrack compared to the 24hr course, while they both boast a 2.5m climb (1m on singletrack and 1.5m on fireroad) - a solid 1,200+ ft of climbing per lap, some flowing stuff, couple technical sections to make sure you're paying attention, a perfect mtb course.

Temps are in the high 80's by noon, nice breeze, perfect bluebird day. Jenn teams-up with Mo Bruno's husband Matt to do bottle hand-ups so we can snag 2 blts per 10mile lap - there's no way i could have survived the 2.5 mile climb w/o 2 btls of water/endurolyte mix per lap.

Wetted-down the hair and went for a light spin 30-40mins before start time on the section of singletrack i hadn't ridden before. about 15-20mins into the warm-up, i'm slamming through some rocks, trying to find the line, and get a flat in the rear tubeless - a Kenda Kharma 1.95. Have to slap my "emergency" tube in there, use-up the only 16gram CO2 i'm carrying to get rolling - as there's only got 10mins to race start. Roll-down to the start, find Matt and Jenn - and Matt saves the day by providing a 40gram CO2 and an extra tube. Sweet. Only drawback is now i'm pushing a 650gram UST with a regular tube in it. try hard to not let the extra weight get in my head - Thom rode with a tube in his ust bulldog for Mt Snow (and nipped my time by 1 sec), so what do i have to complain about? as i'm contemplating the situation on the starting line Doug McFadd appears, having completed the novice race earlier that day - his first mtb race in many yrs - way to go Doug!

It's a mass start by age, the heat keeps us from really going for it and it's easy to slip into a good position before hitting the singletrack. the course is great through here, sun sprinkled across the sandy flowing, moderately technical trail. within a mile or two, the course turns down and across a narrow bridge with a slippery rocky entrance. the guy in front of me hops-off and begins slowly walking across the bridge - the only ridable line! i'm still in the saddle, doing a track-stand, wondering what in the f this guy is thinking - you can't walk the only ridable line 2miles into the start of an XC! the guy behind me begins to run around to the side, i wait, hit the line and move-up a position, pretty bewildered...

soon we're sweating our asses-off on the 2.5mile hill grind. i keep a cpl fellas in sight, guys who have been consistenly faster than i this yr, legs feel good, keep chugging water, pretty sure i'm in 1st place for Expert. we summit, ride into a fun and challenging section of singletrack, descend at speed for a bit, then turn back-up a fireroad badly rutted from logging on the farm. i'm looking ahead, trying to keep contact w/the next group, a cpl Experts close behind, pick a poor line, have to leap across a 1-2' deep mud hole and slam the rear tire against the far side. know immediately the tire will pinch flat and sure enough, about 10secs later it's flat. ride on it for another 1/4mile looking for a good place to stop to fix - stop, rip-off the wheel for a quick and focused tube-swap (without Matt's tube and CO2 i'd have been f'd!), 5 riders pass me, including Thom.

back in the game, but the rear tire feels a little low, am worried about flatting again, so i stop again a mile later and add more air. better to be safe than standing on the side of the trail! i work pretty hard for the next 5miles and before beginning the climb for the 2nd time, bridge back-up to Thom and 2 other riders. i don't ease the pace, thom latches on, we drop the others and slowly reel-in the NAV rider who's in 1st for experts. the pace quickens after we bridge-up to the NAV guy and i slip 100-200feet behind. the NAV rider slips away from Thom on the descent and i stay 20-40secs behind thom for the rest of the 2nd lap - and for the 3rd lap, with no challenges from behind.

i hang-out in this mtbike race limbo for the 3rd and final lap, even stopping for 15secs to stretch-out a seriously aching back on the top of the climb. this eases the feels-like-i'm getting-stabbed-by-an-angry-midget-living-in-my-back pain, and i focus on riding good strong lines for the rest of the lap. keep seeing thom through the trees, but once again, can't put the pieces together to bridge-up.

Thom crushes the SS class with a win, I slide across the line shortly after for a 2nd place Expert finish, a handful of folks in front of us. Solid results. I came to Dalton for a win, so was a tad bit dissapointed, but handled the flat well, which is a great take-away as it's way easy to let a technical ruin a race.

mo bruno had to DNF, but they left 4 btls with gatorade in them for us - another lifesaver from Matt. we sit and drink and try to recover, then slowly head-down to a stream, only 100ft down an embankment from the car. not only a great course, but a beautiful, fast-flowing stream to take a dip and clean-up in after. nice day for a ride. good times.

in a groove

switched-up the training schedule 2 weeks ago, more speed, less duration. legs are loving it and helped break me out of a mid-season funk that was permeating not only da legs but da mind. fitness might be eroding slowly under the surface, but have a good plan on tap to get through the Jay. after that, it's all gravy, baby on the way, time to get real. not like i'm not already there. had my typical once-a-month friday lunch up at Clery's today. Big-ass burger, two Guiness and enough cole slaw to ... i don't know.

crazy heat wave coming through today. low 90's this wknd, high humidity, gonna be a broiler on sunday. figure i'll go for a cruise tomorrow mid-day, try to get re-acclimated to a thick, slow, heat. thinkin' 'bout carrying a 3rd btl at Dalton to spray on the head, or cut my hair off. nah.

went for a mtbike rip last night w/Andy in the Fells. grabbed the Steel Deluxe and noticed blood all ovah the cockpit on the left side. instead of freaking me out, got fired-up for this sunday at Dalton. what's wrong with me? was planning on taking it easy, didn't want to risk a fall on the stiched-up fingah, but minutes into the ride we were rippin' along on the best the Fells has to offer - and was riding the lines as solid as i have all yr. the new training cycle helps, feel like i'm back in a groove i haven't felt since late last season. may not be the most talented, fastest, or dedicated rider out there, but sure am havin' fun right now.

of course, the upcoming addition to the our family possee helps the spirts as well!

rain is good

it was raining so hard on the ride home last night i still have swimmer's ear this morning. 5' into the ride was so completely soaked that i sat-up in the saddle on the Esplanade, raised my arms to the dark sky, rain coming-down in sheets, smiled, and began laughing out loud. all the stresses of the work-week, life, were gone. if it'd been a sunny day, i doubt the ride would have been so cleansing, no pun intended - and if i was in a car or on the subway!? jenn, subsequently had a BMV SUV a-hole almost crash into her car, then pull-up next to her and start yelling absurb things, culminating in him calling her a c@nt. and she was driving the rotary correctly, while he failed to yeild. pretty effin' lame. instead, i stumbled through the basement door an hour later giggling like a little kid.

dalton xc is this weekend. 3 laps of the last year's 24 hours of Adrenaline course (slightly modified). three 10mile laps in the baking sun? wish it was more. nursing the injured pinkie, cut the training rides a little short this week, but am glad i cut the pinkie open and not a finger I really need to use in the cockpit. testing the finger out a bit w/Andy t-nite. will probably stick to fireroads, hit-up some asphalt, some singletrack... can't risk going-down on the fingah, but also can't handle not mtbiking!

it's a little late, but huge congrats to Harlan for taking home the yellow in the Tour de Burg. that's an event i'd love to do - and have been penning a letter of intent since hearing about it. also, big luck to Harlan and Tiffany (and Skip) in this wknd's Breckenridge 100 (from the website, "You’ll cross the Continental Divide three times, climb 12,000 foot passes..."). Harlan's got an absurdly good chance of winning this year's Ultra 100 series. Sweet!

Moody Park Race Report

Raced my bike on Sunday. That was fun.

Headed-up to Moody Park w/Thom, Andy and Jenn. Got there kinda late, but still time to warm-up w/a lap of the course. Felt good on the spin and headed-over to the start a little late and ended-up in the back of the pack. Saw a lot of fast faces in this one. Looking at how much passing was going to be necessary to get into position, decided i'd rock this race by taking it easy on lap 1 and pick through the field at my leisure. Was a loose plan. We start and i immediately fight like hell to move-up. Kinda successful, but mostly not! Sweeping sand and hardpacked dirt had us rippin' right along until the first technical mudhole where the field got stacked. Thom went by w/some smooth pedaling, kept seeing the back of his jersey all race, but just couldn't put all the pieces together to catch him, nor as many people as i'd have liked. But that fact didn't really deter me from having a good time, nor the four stiches in my pinkie finger. Yes, that's right. I hurt my pinkie. kinda funny. almost as funny as making thom and andy wait in the ER while watching NASCAR.

So, the real story i guess is the pinkie. About 1/2-3/4 of the way through the first lap, we cross a wood bridge and exit up onto a bunch of off-camber roots. I decided the line was to go hard and straight up and ovah these guys. my wet rear tire came-down on a good sized off-camber root, slipped hard to the left, the rear tire caught dirt almost perpendicular to my forward momentum and threw me and the bike back the other way, the direction of my forward momentum, hit the dirt on my left shoulder and hip, the bike hits hard, handelbars first, but plenty enough momentum left to have the handlebar dig into the dirt, sending the bike arcing up and around, the tires and gears now heading straight for my face, still sliding on my left side, got my hands up just in time to stop the cranks and big ring from smashing my face apart. the pinkie took the brunt of the big ring, slicing it open down to the bone, pretty gnarly gash. blood was a'flowing good, got back-on the steed quick, decided best thing to do was not look at it. left grip was quickly wet w/blood, decided i'd ride a bit more cautiously until my grip felt dry again - and if it didn't dry-out in 1 lap i'd drop-out and address the situation.

In less than a lap, the blood had pretty much stopped flowing and i'd altered my grip on the handlebars well enough to ride the technical sections. rode with it stickin' straight out, kinda like an old-school aristrocrat drinkin' cocktails. started making-up time on the 2nd and 3rd laps, made some passes, kept seeing thom's jersey up ahead, but after lap 3, even though my tempo remained high, just couldn't reel anyone else in. Was kinda frustrating as my legs felt great, wonder if i was enjoying the ride too much, versus trying to explore my pain cave a bit more. the pinkie went numb, except when it'd slam down onto the handlebars, which is pretty amazing - how the mind can numb something out, then later it hurts like crazy.

enjoying some after-race beverages, the pensive, 1000mile stare. oh yeah, so cool.

rode to work today. pinkie up. stiches come-out a day or two after the upcoming Dalton Root 66 race. still planning on being there.

sometimes rest is best...

Let's felt terrible on Sunday, just wasn't into the ride, decided to skip monday's planned ride and chill-out. ended-up on an impromptu trip to the Fundy Trail. Perfect day for it.

up along the coast in the bay of fundy.

the fundy trail. incredible views of the bay and nova scotia throughout. bikes welcome!

the caves of st martin's where we ate our body weight in fish & chips and lobster rolls.

jenn and her grandma gettin' their knit on back at the lake house.

sat in a chair all afternoon drinking bass. finally managed to get this little dude on "film".

sunset on the lake.

drove home crazy-early tuesday... after feeling so blah on what i was hoping would be an inspirational ride on sunday, something needed to be done. had an hour or two to kill before meeting-up w/Thom down in Wrentham, decided it was finally time to shave da legs. took freakin' forevah! and man, my legs are UGLY! had no idea how bad all those scares looked until getting the legs naked. and the subsequent razor-rash... nasty!

met-up w/thom around 2p, waited for an hour for some severe thunderstorms to dump 1-2" of rain on the trails, then headed-out on the Deluxe super rested and ready to rock. had a fantastic ride. seeing all the lines again, really back on the ball. haven't been mtbiking too much this season, all road training and when i have mtbiked, am usually pretty tired, flat. was freaked-out i'd completely lost the mtb mojo, but there it was yesterday. nice.

the heavy rains had the trails in pretty awful shape, deep mud everywhere and the light coating of tri-flow quickly wore-off, leaving me w/few gearing options w/o chainsuck, but had such a good time staying in one gear, been thinking more and more about building-up an ss!

to really end the ride proper, thom rode down to the lake, onto the dock and off in a graceful bike and body belly-flop. pretty funny shit. i choose for the more traditional clean-up... overall, what a great way to end a long wknd. really needed to rejuvenate the riding spirit and the 2 days of rest and yesterday's great mtbike rip, i'm feeling it. bring-on the races!

oh canada

while us american suv drivin', Bush-lovin' crazies are drinking buds, getting sunburned, and blasting our pinkies off w/m80's to celebrate the 4th of july, these crazy canucks are bustin'-out their own partay, aptly named: canada day. they know how to name a holiday in the great north. want to party, shoot-off fireworks and drink beer under a "blazing" sun? yeah! ok, us canucks need a name for our excuse to not work on monday due to massive hangovers and missing eyebrows... independance day is already taken... canada day!

my weekend of frivolity started pretty solid. snuck-out of work at 1p on friday, met-up w/andy and it was time to ride. legs were little beat-up, but whatevah.

andy discovered this was a lot deeper than it looked...

closing trouble-tickets from the "other office"

look at them hardtails. purdy.

after drivin' a billizion hours up into the maritimes yesterday, got-out for a hard ride today here in new brunswick. these are some of my favorite roads. evah. twisty, rolling hills on cracked asphalt, nonexistent shoulders, yet barely any cars to bother a brother. scenic views, farm houses, occasional cattle. a light misty rain at the start of the ride, sun breaking through in patches by the middle when i hit st martin's on the southern end of the bay of fundy. the legs weren't really happy today, but beat on 'em anyway and as usual they woke-up on the ride home, or maybe that was the 20mph tailwind pushing my seriously suffering body back the way i'd come. hoping to get some pics tomorrow if it isn't raining, but i may just lay on a raft in a lake and enjoy canada day wknd the way it should be enjoyed, with a bass in one hand, a ____ in the other. fill in the blank with whatever suits your fancy.