Tubular

Tomorrow @ the Ass crack of dawn Mia goes in for surgery. Nothing major just tubes in her ears. Hopefully it will end the constant battle we have had with ear infections. Unfortunately she inherited my bad ear genes & has chronic ear infections. I didn't have to go the tube route but she does. Though I am getting as deaf as a bat(work related more than genetic) we don't want her to be. They say it is no big deal.

Tonight Mia & I went to a pre op party to get a tour of what we'll go through Friday. I get to go in the operating room till the gas knocks her out. Since we're shooting for kiddo numero dos Amber has to sit in the waiting room while I wear the white antrax suit. The tour was pretty informative & Cox does a good job of putting the parent & the kid at ease for what is happening. Mia even walked away with a belly full of ice cream & a baggy full goodies(I'm sure I'll be billed for it all).

Read this article. while you wish Mia well. A lot of familiar names ie Irwin & Smith. Great pics of my old stomping grounds. Man I miss Gunni!

The Blue Trail can Kiss My Ass!

Syllamo's Revenge, I'll explain later. The short is 4 crashes(Ents), two flats(@ the same time), lost count of the number of Sticks I had to pull out of my wheels, & about 3-4 miles walked...Damn Blue Trail! 6 hours 42 minutes, longest saddle time ever.

I guess I'd better update to keep this thing active

It's either feast or famine with this damn blog. Truth is the new job has me going from 4:30 till after 5. Makes for a long day. The proclaimed 4 day work weeks are actually 5 day weeks kinda like I knew it would be. Training took a hit this week since Mia got another ear infection which I picked up a cold from. Amber got it so bad today she went & got a shot. Me I just have a persistent dry cough. Not a lot of fun for sleeping or even riding. Needless to say I skipped racing this weekend. Hopefully I can get some consistency back & get some kilometers in before the Sylmo revenge or that is going to hurt worse than any amount of free beer can help. I look at it like this I need the training so why not get some free beer after?

Mia is with the in laws watching Disney on Ice & JQH Arena. Explain this one too me? We have an ice rink in the SPR but they have an ice show @ JQH? WTF is that about? Great use of the assets we have. Though it doesn't really surprise me all that mutch.

Watched Amstel Gold this AM. Kinda of a snooze fest. Except for Fränk Schleck and Matthew Lloyd eating pavement. Schleck was one of my picks for the win so kinda lost interest in the race after that. Cleaned house instead to help out the ailing wife. She's feeling really bad. Actually I'd better go stick a mirror under her nose she's been comatose on the couch awhile now.

Good Friday Update

Its been awhile since I've posted so I figure I'd better update. Last week took a rest week after two straight weekends of MTB racing. My body took a beating as well as my Kona. Getting old is not conducive to MTB racing.

I also started my new job last week. Well Kinda of. Part of my severance stipulation was I had to work three days @ the old place & two @ the new. This week it was the reverse; two @ the new & two @ the old. I got a free pass thanks to the holiday so all ties are now done with the old defunct company(I hope). I'll be making less money but the commute is a little shorter & the place is climate controlled & fairly clean. A real selling point bonus for a guy in maintenance. It's nice not to have to dress in all my Carhartt's to stay warm & it will be even nicer not to sweat my ass off all summer.

I got the first mow of the season in last Monday. It has begun my seasonal fight with the weed whacker. Technically I didn't weed whack last week but if history shows anything I'll have to fight the weed whacker all season. To make things even more interesting I'm going to put out a garden this year too. Hopefully the last freeze is done & I'll get it going this Saturday. Just what I need more yard work. Yeah! Actually I'm pretty excited about fresh home grown veggies.

Training: A recovery week means FTP test this week. Got that out of the way on Tuesday. One whole watt increase. I know massive but a watt is a watt. Wanted to get in a nice ride today but the weather isn't going to cooperate so it looks like more trainer time. No racing this week. Next week hopefully will be another MTB race in Neosho @ the Tour de Tick. Then another week or two off & off to the Syllamo Revenge. A 50 mile MTB race isn't too bright but I got given a free entry so its hard to turn down. Plus I already got my first stupid move of the year out by racing in the mud & snow two weeks ago so its open season on stupid Scott tricks.

MTB Race#2 quick update

Quick update more later:

Freezing cold(did warm up some after I became mildly hypothermic), 4" of snow # the start, mud, about 30 freezing creek crossings(most DEEP). After about 6 miles I had two gears, big ring & middle ring(you have to love that 90's era XT stuff). 4 Guys in my division. I finished the first lap fast enough to make a 2nd but said screw it & took 3rd instead of 2nd(cost me a series point & some cash). SOmehow bruised the hell out of my right palm. I am now 2nd overall in the series(not for long since most of the remaining races are in the STL) Now I have to get a new drive train & brakes but the air stayed in my tires & my bike mostly worked. Continental Speed King work great in the mud FYI.

Lost Valley MTB

Can you revirginize? Well 13 years is a pretty good try at it. Sunday I popped my recherry & toed the MTB line. Let me go on record as saying I know for a fact MTB racing didn't use to be this damn fast. But I digress, let me back track a bit.

First & fore most I grabbed a ride with JJ & Ira(sandbaggers the pair; 2nd & first in their sandbagging cats) to the STL. Got to whip out by brand new Cat 1 license; not really it turns out you don't need a license to race the Midwest Fat Tire Series(Oh well I can at least say I'm a Cat 1 for all the load of crap that is).

If you can have zero expectation for a race I was at -5. I just wanted to get on some dirt @ speed & see how I did. I lined up with the old fart Experts. And we're off! Oh shit flat Katie trail start means drag race pace line to the ripping fast 58KPH descent to the finish area climb. I slotted in & started climbing. Felt pretty good but realized my HR was WAY too high for March(read Max HR). After some double track pace line action we hit the first single track(new section read rough). I had forgotten how fun it is to ride single track blind @ race speed. Four guys got away & I hooked into the 2nd group which had four of us taking pulls like a freaking road race. I felt pretty good for the first two laps even though my HR was way too high for March.

In the back of my mind I had a plan of going semi hard for an hour or so then limping in. Well I pinned it for two laps(screw the plan) & fell to shit. Going up the climb at the start of the third lap I had to let the other 3 go. I did manage to get back on on the double track up top. I went onto the single track after recovering only to watch the other 3 ride away for good. They were on fully suspended bikes which let them ride across the rough new section while I got beat to hell on my hard tail. Oh my aching old back. I put it in survival mode & rolled in about 2.5 minutes down for 7th(or 6th depending on which results you look at). I'll take that after only riding my MTB 4x this year & not having raced MTB in longer than some of the guys on the start line had been alive.

Good news was all the air stayed in my tires for the first time this year. Tribute to Continental tubes & tires. Damn good German rubber. My bike also stayed in one piece for a change. No small victories in themselves. Now my dilemma is Dogwood or Rim Wrecker? I'm leaning Rim Wrecker I think the MTB bug has bitten. Road racing is soooo boring, plus I'd have to build my road bike back up or be snubbed for racing road on a cx bike.