Tea Party

wicked funny, thnks Sam for sending on.

black forest

barely getting-in the miles needed to be in any sort of shape for cx nationals, it's gonna be ugly, but our house is looking good for this wknd's open house, projects are getting knocked-out at an unprecedented rate. surprised myself w/a couple of them - necessity is by far the best mentor. have gotten some key help as well, andy rolled over and installed a storm door / trim out front - convinced him to stop-by again this wk to "help" with the other 2 doors. dr mike is rollin' tonight to "help" put an electrical outlet in...

even with everything going-on, had to get outta town this past wknd for Dan's annual pig roast (and costume party). kept it small, had the sow killed friday afternoon, then we put it on to cook a tad bit later than we should have, but tasted the same. must have eaten 5lbs of pig. easy. mike and sarah rolled from VT to join-in on the pig fiasco. 200lbs of pig, 50 people, we didn't kick the pig, but did manage to kick a cpl kegs of utica club, which packs a friggin' punch... but i kept sneaking upstairs for btls of saranc black forest. you gotta find a sixer of this stuff. best spent $5.99 - and out near dan where its brewed, that's pricey for it.

no racing = boring posts

blog's been kinda boring, no race reports to post or total geek-outs on what tires to run. been getting-in some fun mtb's, commutin', hopefully make it to cross practice this week, but no race reports... next month i'll have a cpl - as i signed-up for master men's at nationals and better do 1 or 2 races before the big show. right now i'm partaking in a super-top-secret training regimine which involves a lot of beer and ... a lot of beer.

i got this tidbit of news to share in an otherwise boring post: my medford mansion is up for sale! highest bidder takes it. you want to live in medford? this could be your big chance, save realtor fees, buy direct. hell, i might even "forget" a 4" travel botique bike in the basement if the right buyer comes along. 1575 sq ft of hardwood floor living space, located convienently on top of a big-ass hill, every ride ends with an effort, less than a 1/4 mile from the middlesex fells, pretty sweet spot - can see the city and the woods from the house. oh, the juxtaposition.

jenn and i at first decided we'd live out of the subbie with the dog and seneca, but decided it could get a bit dicey in the winter, so we're off to the Mad River Valley in Vermont. oh yeah. gonna go up into them there hills and come-out a riding monster - or a bearded hippie with an inability to remember what i ate for breakfast. either way, it'll be a good time.

it'll be sad to say goodbye to the fair city of Boston, all its love and charm. was only run-off the road twice last night and once this morning, i doubt it'll be so exciting in vermont, all those quiet miles of empty roads and trails. seriously, though, what'll be sad is leaving our friends... i came to Boston in the fall of '98 to live with a cpl buddies from High School. dr mike had gotten into some sort of nano-laser MIT grad program, so Zoof and I tagged along, drank and smoked a lot, you know, the usual, i'm 23 and live in a city with more fine chiquitas than i ever dreamed possible kinda thing, which meant we spent most nights in a bar, followed by a plate of cheap chinese food and most mornings started with a hangover, rarely with one of the fine chiquitas previously mentioned, but hells yeah, it was a good effin' time.

we move-on. married, dog, kid, time to roll-out and live the next phase of the dream. vermont.

planet x

had a lackluster ride home yesterday.
horrible sounds coming from rear hub.
inspect.
junk.
2nd time this yr.
my only campy bike,
can't swap wheels,
outta commission fer a bit.

this morning, gotta ride,
looked at the old commuter,
jenn's old mtb,
no way.
so done with that.

slapped slicks on the planet cross.
on the road so plush, forgiving,
but so easy to get-up and go.
it was an outta body experience.
planet x.

new drivetrains are cool.

time

just been bike commutin', not much to blog about, could complain about the way people drive, or how bostonian pedestrians step off curbs across traffic while staring straight ahead (to illustrate their importance?). cars brake, cyclists dip and weave, accidents averted - mostly. with school back-in, commuting home in the dark, things feel less forgiving on the roadways, that's all. nothing new, change of seasons, soon will be accustomed to the night ride, but will certainly miss taking the long way home. plus there's Seneca, the long way, while condusive to riding well, doesn't make as much time for everyone else. but, i'm a believer that there's always a way, always a way to find more time, it's being wasted everywhere, minutes spill into hours and are peed away... this winter into spring will certainly be about learning how to make the most of every minute.

hit the mtb yesterday and today, not for terribly long either day, but felt good to ride in the woods - and to have so much rest in the legs. just riding-out a season of hard work, having fun with it. andy and thom met-up for a cpl hrs today, good times. andy's rocking the rigid fork for cross season, rode it like the 100mm fork he's accustomed to... thom and i had discussed doing a 'cross workout, but where's the fun it that? and nationals is still a long ways off - just need to find some time to train. it's there, just hiding.

Holt gets married!

while most of IF new england was in gloucester this wknd, going full-out, i headed to north carolina to stand by my buddy Chris while he got hitched. the deed is done, many beers disappeared as well as a 200lb sucklin' pig. learned that mistaking west coast carolina bbq for east coast carolina bbq is kinda like mistaking a Blood for a Crip, not a good idea. Needless to say, we got it straightened-out and good times were had.

first time since last december i've gone 3 days w/o touching a bike. did it in fine style and didn't feel bad about it one bit. but as usual, i missed the cake, i always miss the cake. man, i wish i had some cake right about now...

chris is a lucky man. and he knows it. way to go.

cross practice

cruised-up to ECV's weekly cyclocross practice w/andy. they do a great job setting-up a fun course, then drills. showing us how it's done (photos from here)

lined-up next to Lynn for one of the start drills and went bollocks hard to stay even. she can throw-down the watts!

good practice, super-cool of the ecv folks to put this on and let random folks such as myself roll in. being my 2nd time on a cx bike, it was great to do some laps, break-in new pads, get the hang of Shimano shifters, do some drills...

andy's evening didn't go quite as well as my own...

bad-ass

harry sent this trailer to the new 24hr movie today. wicked.

geeked

whoa, just re-read my post from last friday - and man is it geeked. oh well, you'll have that.

went for my first rip on the Planet Cross saturday in northern new hampshire. wish i brought the digi-cam... perfect day, sunny, deep blue skies, cool fall temps. headed-out from my sister-in-law's place and just began pedaling, cpl hill repeats, eventually found myself on a long dirt climb, a quiet stream wrapping from side to side, small farms dotting the landscape, their green fields opening views to the ridge beyond, covered in a flame of oranges and yellows.

interesting article in this morning's Burlington Free Press on a small company offering cash incentives to its employees for biking to work. pretty stellar stuff.