Cool

The source of frustration

Our dishwasher is a little over 2 years old. Came brand new when we bought our house. This week it decided to die on us. I'm not surprised since we've been having a rash of things breaking or dieing here at Casa de Dunsmuir. First the Clutch goes out on the Subaru(212k on the original clutch). Then the Fridge starts making horrible noises ( we bought it new when we moved in). Then Amber's car dies. EGR valve which costs a small fortune to fix @ the dealer. Then the dishwasher.
I did a little research at the Whirlpool website. Got a parts break down & commenced to take apart the dishwasher. Luckily inside is a pretty good electrical print. So after figuring out what piece had broke free. I got out the handy dandy meter & did some more trouble shooting. Turns out the timer is bad. Called Star Appliance. Two hours & a crisp Benjamin later I have a new timer. Once installed the dishwasher runs like new again.
Amber's car is fixed so now 2 of the 4 are going. Fridge runs just is noisy. I'll fix it soon. As for the Scoob? Can't decide if I want to put $650 into a car with 212k miles on it. If you know anyone that wants a project car let me know. Mechanically its runs great just needs a clutch. Clutch will run you about $150, or Ace Transmission will fix it for $650 (cheapest & best in town). Next weekend We're headed to KC to look at buying a used Volvo XC70. Very yuppie, have to keep up with JP. I have been driving dad's F-250. Diesel is killing me ($$$). Have been looking for a Hybrid Ford Escape but has a long lead time. Besides Volvo's are like tanks & I want my kid to be safe.

Evil Timer!

New link

Slimen Team Page

wireless?

No wires? The Superbowl on this was pretty fun. 46" of LCD FULL HD FUN (1080P). Not a wire in sight. I ran out of time before our party Sunday so left the trim off the sat box.

Oh yeah I've been busy but it seems I have a fan club so I'm back for an limited run. Take that AP.

08 Team

1-8-08

Storms

Was able to see the tornado that touched down @ Chestnut & West By Pass from our back deck.

Pictures are the new words

Photo Dump

You Bet!

Edit: Here's the comment I left on the last post in response to Shane.
Oh I admit freely he got the best of me. I'm man enough to admit that. But we (Nate & me) we're both wrong. Instead of getting pissed I should have gone & talked to Pat right then instead I walked out. In my opinion which is the one we're talking about I got shit customer service, end of story.

Its a simple concept in customer service. You Bet! Customer walks in asks for something, answer You bet! Is it in stock, well no, but wait a second & I'll track it down for you. 10 minutes making phone calls will get an ETA that is more accurate than "probably 2 weeks." Hey an accurate ETA will make the customer happy even if it really is 2 weeks. Out of stock at the distributor? Few more phone calls, maybe a little Internet & you track down said item. Maybe pull out some catalogs show the customer that you give a shit about his business by giving him some other options & backing up your knowledge of the item. Guess what 10-20 minutes just got you a customer for life. Simple concept that even helps keep on stock lower. "Special order" is just that "special" not a pain in the ass. I understand that a store can't have everything a customer wants every time they walk in. They can have a desire to help said customer instead of giving him the feeling he needs to get back to shooting the shit with his fellow employees. I will say that I got 10 minutes of face time in an otherwise empty store to get basically left to my own thoughts. Looked up & he was shooting the shit with his fellow employees, this is when I bailed.

I'll take a beating on this one. I don't care I probably deserve a beating for walking on sacred ground & voicing my opinion. I got shit service(in my opinion) & I vented. What I get in return (before I had a chance to go talk to Pat) a smart ass response (I'll say it slowly). Granted it was a good response & I apologized for being ignorant on the tire facts. But because of how it was stated A&B lost a customer because of it. I'm sure A&B doesn't care & I know my business is of little consequence to their overall financial outlook. But a customer is still a customer. One who was probably going to buy many thousands in bikes this year alone. Don't get me wrong I usually have great service from A&B but I've always dealt with the same people. I've just gotten to that point in my life where if you don't value my time then I'm not going to give you my business.

State of the LBS

I try really hard to support my LBS'. Its just they make it so damn hard for me to not go postal. Sometimes I think I would rather get kicked in the nuts than go to the LBS. I quit going to Sunshine when I heard a salesman tell a customer "you don't want a cross bike, cross is a fad." I walked out & have never been back.

Today I needed tubes & tires for my mtb so I went to A&B to use my gift certificate. They didn't have the Conti's I wanted so I grabbed a salesman to ask about the other tires they had. I first inquired about ordering the Conti's. Answer it would take 2 weeks. What the ?? I can get them in 3 days online. That was my mistake & I take credit for being stupid and asking for help. I spent the next 10 minutes trying not to laugh at the guy.

Next he tried to tell me a 2.4 tire weighed less than the exact same tire in a 2.1. I called him out on this to explain his psuedo science on that one. UH, UH they use less material. Really? Less material in a wider tire? What kind of special rubber are they using here? OK I didn't beat him up to bad over that. EDIT I guess I'm an idiot because WTB does make the 2.4 lighter than 2.1. How the hell they do that is beyond me. Sorry to the LBS.

Then he tells me that tire X is great if you have the skills to ride it & then goes on to tell me he has mad skills & they work great for him. That's pretty much where I ended the need for help & started looking on my own. I decided I wasn't going to buy a tire just because it was what they had in stock & left without even getting any tubes. I'll just patch the ones I have. If they would have cashed out my gift certificate I think I would have. Oh well I'll just go back on Saturday when Skip & Stokes are working.

It seems a simple concept. Customer service. Give people what they want not what you think they should have. I've been riding a long damn time & I know what I like. I'm not stupid enough to think my way is the best & am open to suggestions. I just want to have intelligent suggestions given to me.

Good bye 2007 hello 2008

2007 was a so so year for me racing wise. Being hurt & having 2 surgeries didn't help. Don't get me wrong I had some good results, a few wins, & managed to cat up to 2's in CX. I actually did a lot better than I thought I would. That said its time to start thinking about 2008. I'm probably going to race less since I plan on racing on the dirt again. I need to bring my skills back up to what they used to be if I'm going to be competitive as a CX 2. I'm also going to do more TT's this year. More in an attempt to simulate CX & to keep the Dumbass to Scott ratio to a minimum. I'm finally healed & I don't want some idiot with marginal skills to crash me in a parking lot crit. I lost all my upgrade points by not racing last year so I'm stuck being a 3 on the road (unless I can convince Weiss to even out my license on CX results??). So to keep the dumbass to Scott ratio low I'll only be racing those events that have 1/2/3 races. That way I can avoid the sketchy 3/4 races.

Another big change this year is I'm racing unattached. No more OCC. I had to sever ties to race with the Ridley Grassroots team & it got me to thinking I really don't benefit racing with OCC anyway. Team wise they do nothing for me racing. Norton & Curt are the only 3's anyway & they focus on Master's. So in effect I race solo. I guess I'll end up having to go the part time job route @ A&B to keep the discount flowing or try & stay on Skip's good side.

I also plan on running more this year. I really want to get a sub 18 5k back under my belt. I think it should be pretty easy with a little run training. I'm kicking around the idea of doing the Sylamore 50k again. Though I think I'd train more than 15 miles total going into it this time. If I do it then I'll have to really consider doing a solo AR Race this year. I've always wanted to do one so this year might be the year.

Sitting here day one of 2008 its easy to make plans. Reality dictates I'll end up playing everything by ear anyway. My true goal is to stay healthy.

(edits to come as I think of more crap)

2007 Results

MO State TT 35-39 2^nd place (57:25)
Chris Cross CX 35+ 1^st (3^rd Master)
Chris Cross CX 3/4 4^th
Hogan Cross A’s 7^th
Capitol Cup CX 35+ 1^st (1^st Overall Master)
Capitol Cup CX 3/4 3^rd
Boulevard Cup CX 35+ 2^nd (3^rd Master)
Boulevard Cup CX 3/4 4^th
Riverside Cross Day 1 3/4 1^st
Riverside Cross Day 2 ¾ 2^nd
Bubba Cross Columbia DNF
Jingle Cross Day 1 35+ 4^th
Jingle Cross Day 2 35+ 3^rd
Boss Cross CX 1/2/3 6^th
Bubba Cross Hermann A’s 3^rd
Mo State CX 35+ 1^st (1^st Overall Master)
Nationals KCCX 35+ 54th

Last ride of the year

The year is over. Cheated the wind by going to Sac. Still muddy in places but much better than XMAS day. Been doing some tweaking to the SSer this weekend. With a few part swaps I've dropped over a pound and a half off it (21.5ish now). Not sure if its the diet or the parts but it handles a little better. Still needs better tread though. Ground out my dropouts a little more to take some of the excessive tension off my chain. Guess I took a little too much since I threw my chain 3x. Think it was mud building up & pushing it off more than too much slack. I have a little chain tensioner & a guard in mind that should solve both problems; mud & chain drop.

BRRRRR it was chilly washing this off when I got home.

The weekend from hell

Friday Mia started to get sick, puked once & had some runs. Saturday @ 3AM Mia woke up very sick. Shaking, screaming, snotting, & burning up. Neither of our great thermometers could give what we could believe to be an accurate temp. One said 94 the other 102 & rising. Tylenol didn't stop the fever & Mia had a blue tinge to her. So we called the on call nurse & she asked if we wanted an ambulance. No thanks I can drive to the hospital faster. We loaded her up & rushed her to Cox South ER. After what looked like the most painful rectal temp probe ever, I though Amber was going to go WWF on the nurse, we find out her temp is 104.5! Holy Shite! They dose her full of meds & stick us in a room to run tests. Let me tell you running tests on a 19 month old will bring tears to your eyes. Mia broke out her full vocabulary trying to get us to take her home. Two very long hours later her fever is down to a managable 100. The tests show nothing wrong except a bad cold. Kinda of relieving.

Amber had to work Saturday so I got to stay home & play nurse to the sick one. If the gypsies would have shown up @ the door I would have gave them Mia. At one point she didn't stop crying for just over an hour straight. I was pretty frazzled by the time Amber got home. One of the longest days of my life. I should mention I had only slept about 3.5 hours before Mia woke up Saturday & I stayed up the rest of the day. Luckily Mia is doing better today & has a little more pep in her step & I managed to get some sleep.

I did manage to get out today for a spin on the SSCX for about an hour. Calming to my nerves.

Page!

Page finally got a result in Belgium this season. 2nd in Middelkerke. Video on Sporza.be. Then click on wedstrijdverslag on upper right side.

Speaking of Belgium results where has Katie Compton disappeared too?

Another CX Vid

Had to post this one of the cross race in Loenhout today. Sorry its all in Dutch. Has that really cool BMX rhythm section right before the finish. Go Here: Then click on Laaste Ronde in the upper right under video. You will like. Watch close you'll see Tristan Schouten getting lapped.

Pretenders.

There are some truly stupid people on the intraweb. I stumbled upon a prediction that I will not repeat about a certain someone. The beauty of the internet is it allows people to sit in their underroos in front of a computer screen spouting off what ever crap pops into their stupid little minds. Then they hide behind a veil of anonymity to disguise their cowardliness. You see it a lot on the web people who have enough "courage" to post but not the balls to own up to their comment. Funny thing is if you caught them they'd lie about ever saying it. If you called them out on it they'd run an hide. Funny how tough you can be in the security of your den all huddled in your rabbit feet jammies. Those that can't, lash out at those who can. The web is a lot like Wikipedia a lot of useless crap spouted from the small minds of the imagineless claiming to be the truly educated.

Broken?

Remember last week when I whacked my ribs? Turns out I probably did break a rib. Last night while doing some PRO level internet surfing my ribs got too really hurting so I starting pressing on the effected rib. Click, Click, Click, hmmm ribs aren't supposed to do that. Mindy (the attic owner) is a pretty damn good nurse so I gave her a call. Turns out you can break a rib & not bruise. Since I still have worsening pain almost a week later & I can move the rib out of place she says its probably broken. The course of repair is to wrap it so I said screw the hospital. If it gets worse I'll probably go get an X-ray to make sure I haven't done more damage. What sucks was I was all ready to go boating now I have to wait. Of course being an idiot I'm going to keep riding since it only hurts REALLY BAD when I breath deep. Lots of shallow breaths I guess.

Tonight I'm off to the Gillioz to watch the premier of Mark's (attic owner) student film. Starts at 7 so I'm flying solo since Amber has to work & the in-laws are watching the kid. Might have to grab me a tasty adult beverage since I'll already be downtown.

Post XMAS ????

I got a gift card to A&B for XMAS (really my bday it was a little late). I'm going to retire my old semi slicks & purchase some new tread with it. What should I get? Remember I'm running tubes & refuse to run tires over 2.1. I've always like Conti's but I'm looking for something that's a good all round tire for the mixed conditions Sac has. Suggestions? I'm thinking Continental Speed King or Mountain King Protection though both are 2.2 so I'll have to change that 2.1 rule.

I'm once again gainfully employed. Start in around a week or so. I'm taking over the helm of the maintenance department at Buckhorn. I guess its about time to do the grind again. I low balled myself though, should have asked for more since I think I could have gotten it. Oh well. The plant is in the Partnership complex so I'll be TM's neighbor. Not going to be able to commute by bike either since Mia has to go back to daycare for a few hours everyday now since Amber is working 2nd at her new Massage digs. I'll have to do the 2 a day split workout routine again.

Happy Holidays

Whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year the Dunsmuirs wish you a happy one.

XMAS Morning 07

The last XMAS AM that Amber & I will get to sleep in till Mia is grown. Mia has cornered the Dora the Explorer market. Unfortunately everything requires batteries & we forgot to get them.

One last CX vid

Watch @ about 30 seconds in the bumping going on between Page & Wells.

Friday

Friday Night lights didn't happen. Mostly I got blown off for some PRO dude worshipping. Since I'm on the no call list I headed out to Sac solo this afternoon for some PRIMO SSing. Damn the trails were on. You boys missed out. Pretty warm too. The crowded parking lot led me to believe a lot of people were looking to get in some last minute mtbing before the snow tomorrow. I'm having so much fun on the ss'er I think I might even hit the trails in the snow on Sunday just for kicks.

I need to jump back to the beginning of my day to explain a little bit about my Sac experience. This AM I went over to our friends Mark & Mindy's (yes they've heard the Mork & Mindy jokes, most from me) to pull some cable for them in their new home. Mindy's 8 months pregnant & Mark had to work so I got some XMAS spirit & helped out. Easy pulls so not too bad. Except that is for the attic access, its like 30 feet in the air & all they had was a six foot ladder. I had to use some of my mad climbing skills to get up & down. Turns out I'm a little rusty because I crushed my right side ribs on one trip up. Ouch that hurt & still does. Nothing broken, I think, but sure smarts. That made turning to my right while riding hurt a little.

When I got out to Sac I met one of my readers. Every so often someone will come up & ask if I'm Scott & I'll get that deer in the head lights look. UMMM, yes. Turns out he got turned on to the old blog awhile back & checks in every so often. He needs to check in more often because I'm stuck at 90 readers a day, just can't quite make the magic century mark.

The XMAS Cross feast has started. How cool would that be to spend XMAS in Belgium watching 8 races in 2 weeks? That's my version of heaven. The Ridley Factory Team has a girl racing there this year. Check her blog out for a womens view of the XMAS Cross Feast. You can also follow on the Euro Cross Camp blog. & some coverage on Tristan Schouten's Blog.

Night ride off

Looks like everyone bailed on the night ride. I'll head out early then by myself & not have to worry about stopping every 30 sec waiting for everyone to get their skirts out of their chains.

Friday's Dose of Humanity

Merry XMAS!

Look closely

Look closely @ this screen shot from Jeremy Powers blog. Google Ads crack me up!

This makes a triple post day.

Sac Scouting report

Yesterday was too nice a day to not get out & ride. So I loaded up the SS MTB & headed to Sac. The parking lot was at full capacity. While kitting up Chris King rolled up with a bike so caked in mud I almost bagged the ride. He gave me some good beta about the trails on the upper section being drier so I figured I was here so I'll get in some riding. Before he loaded up I had to explain to him that there were mountain bikes before 2003. He'd never seen Kooka brake levers or cranks. He was even more surprised to see a Univega Mountain bike. Kids these days.

For the parking lot being jammed the trails were quiet. I only saw a few people riding in packs. Most were friendly though I did get a pretty big snub. Oh well I'm not for everyone. One group was surprised to see me SSing on semi slicks. Makes you a better rider, maybe.

Trails have little mud in some of the corners. The rocky sections are a little slick. I even saw a couple of isolated patches of ice. For the most part very grippy & fast. If we don't get any rain by Friday the trails will be PERFECT! That makes for a great Friday Night Lights with the temp forecasted to get to 63 that day.

After an hour of SSing I changed into to my trail running garb & bagged a big loop on foot. From here till further notice I have a steady diet of SSing & running planned. No geared riding till the new year & then only on the TT bike. If my plan works out after XMAS I'll even be doing a little fixed gear training on the road. That is if my ghetto home conversion works as I have it pictured in my head. Sometimes my ideas don't always transfer to the real world so well.

Cyclophile's National Video

Farasys full of it

" Gunga said...Shane remember we started walking up the road at the start. Scotty had already lost like 20 spots at 200 meters in where we were standing."

Surfing Youtube I found proof that I wasn't getting smoked up the hill. That's me dropping in 8th off the road. I went backwards quickly after that though. In another 200 meters I take crash number 1 of 100 that day.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Break out the lights. TM has spoken, the date is set. Friday Night Lights (Skip that gives you 48+hours notice). 6PM should give us a nice start on the cold & dark. Nut Sac parking lot. If it doesn't work for you tough you should have spoken up. Kudos to TM for manning up & speaking his voice for a change. So quiet and unopinionated that one.

The end of Treefarm's Nationals

I knew someone had to get a pic or vid of it:

Lights?

Its that time of year. Racing is done, gets dark around noon, temps drop to about -50F. That means conditions are perfect for some night riding at nut sac. Pump up those nobbies to 90psi, warm up the lights, bundle up, lets get in some night riding. Anyone, anyone?

School Daze

Picture taken from Cyclingnews.

Schooled is all I can say about my Nationals experience. There was enough DNS that I got that front row grid spot. If you look closely I'm on the far left right next to the Brandon Dwight who would go on to win the race. Me I just rolled around on the ground & when I wasn't on the ground I had one leg out tripoding trying to stay up right. Kinda hard to ride with just one leg. Feel bad for Cale since I could tell he really wanted me to pit & take a bike but not any need when I was racing my own personal suckfest '07.

I did learn somethings for next year.

1) Cross season is long & you need extra equipment to get you through it. Cables (I used 3 sets this season4 if you count the cable change Cale did to my frozen pit bike), BB (used 2), brake pads (4 sets), tires (only had one flat but no spare Challanges, Tufo's SUCK), a better pit bike, & Eggbeater rebuild kits.

2) I guess I'm going to break down & pay the weight price & go to wider Tubbies. Next year I'm going to 32's instead of 30's. I'm also getting a set of File Treads.

3) I need to get stronger in my upper body. The frozen ruts were literally ripping the bars out of my hands.

4) Pros are very approachable & will answer even the most stupid of questions. Yes I asked Travis Brown some no brainers. I was in awe what can I say the guy is a freaking legend. Same with Mark Gullickson.

5) I need to race more in the Elites to get used to the speed. Maybe even a trip to a USGP to race an Elite Master's.

6) If you want to be National Champion you need to let Shane hold your bike. He held Dwight's & he won. Next year Farasy can hold Dwight's, Shane your holding mine.

7) I need to suck less.

I appreciate everyone who stood out in the blizzard & cheered for me. I don't think I went more than 500 meters without someone yelling for me. Not sure who everyone was. I think a lot of KC cross racers.

Now its time to wind down the year & start getting ready for next years Cross season. Cross Rocks!

Fired UP!

Saw this in Cyclingnews this AM & I got excited for Nationals. I'm headed up Friday to stay with my dad in his 5th wheel. He's camped just across from Wynadotte Park. I can ride to the race if I want. Very cool. Hopefully I can catch the 45+ Masters then get a few laps in on the course. I'm ready to race but I'm even more ready to be a rabid cyclocross fan. Last night I picked up one of these bad boys.
That with my 3 bells I should be able to make some noise for Sundays races.

Sounds Like the SPR will be representing with its fan base. We should get everyone together Saturday night for come cocktails to warm up. Its going to be cold standing around. Anybody willing to venture who will win on Sunday? Right now I think its a 3 man race Page, Trebon, Johnson. Depending on the conditions my top 3 change. If its muddy I say Page, Johnson, Trebon. If its relatively "dry" I say Trebon, Page, Johnson. I guess we'll find out on Sunday. My predictions for Saturday? I hope to finish in the top 20.

Where's Waldo?

Notice someone hiding in this pic?

The off season is almost here

All this rain coupled with a newly healed shoulder has put visions of boating in my head. Hopefully the rivers cooperate & stay up so Monday I can dip my paddle for the first time in almost 2 years.

Current Bull Creek gauge. Its a go for now. Keeps those fingers crossed.
Bull Creek Taken the last day I went boating 11/28/005

171 entered!!!!

The 35-39 Masters is the biggest field at cross nationals. Great, I had to join the herd. Numbers are assigned & I'm in grid spot # 10. SWEET!!!! The start is going to be everything with that many guys. With the course going to be muddy I don't think passing is going to be too easy. Expect people to start getting pulled by lap 2. Recognize any of the names I have to line up next to. These guys are all in the top 30 grid spots:

Richard FELDMAN
travis brown
Clark Sheehan
Mark McCormack

travis brown

Talk about some heat.

Easy week planned with lots of tapering. Only one "real" workout planned all week & its just to open the legs up. Lots of bike maintenance going on after this weekend in the mud. So far replaced the BB, all the cables, & new brake pads are going on. Wish I had a new Challenge to mount on the front wheel, but I'll have to make do with the TUFO. Probably heading up Friday afternoon to get a look at the course & see how tore up its going to get.

Richard FELDMAN	Durance Cycleworks - Lehman Brothers

State CX Wknd

From Action Images

Epic conditions all weekend. Saturday lots of slick nasty mud. Made racing hard & as close to Belgium Cross as you can get in Missouri. Saturday I raced the A's to open the legs a bit.
Conditions were nasty & cold. On the line the USCF Number Nazi said the flyer was crap we were going to race 60 min instead of the advertised 45. Great 15 more minutes of freezing. I had quite the duel with Fish. Seems we're always going neck & neck. The 60 stairs sucked but really broke the race wide open. Fish kind of gifted me 3rd since it was my bday. After though he said he wasn't sure if it was a gift or I just rode away from him. Gift. Cale hung tough after jamming his chain to coome in 5th. I really thought he was going to real us in at one point but I found another gear & stretched the gap just enough.

After the race I had to visit the car wash to power wash my bike. Then I made a trip to the local wash-o-teria to foul up their industrial washers with my muddy kit.
Sunday we woke up to this. Ice & rain. Cale & TM bailed. Don't really blame them. Most fields didn't even have enough to make the state champ official. I think we would have had a couple more jerseys in the SPR today though if they would have stayed.

I decided if I didn't have a field I was going home. Surprisingly 7 people signed up for the 35+ so it was game on. I got the hole shot & never gave up the lead. Got as much as maybe 20 seconds but never less than 10. Even won the stair climb prime. I also ate shit big time right in front of the pavilion so everyone could have a good laugh with one to go. Got up pretty quick & held on to my lead to take the overall master's win & the win in the 35+.

Mia killing time in the Hermann Motel

Mia spent a lot of time in the car with Amber watching the races since the weather was so crappy.
Simpler instructions can't be found.
My bounty for the weekend. I like races with booze for prizes.
Mia is still tired this AM after a long weekend.

I'm crazy for cross

I must be for toeing the line today. Not the coldest race I've ever done but factor in cold, rain, & mud its the hardest race I've ever done. Once I get the mud out of my eyes & the feeling back in my feet I'll post more. Short of it is the State jersey is back in the SPR where it belongs.