Down in Orlando for a few days, hanging with the family. Finished semi-fixing the old Giant and have ridden around a few times on some short errands to the bar and for food. It kinda sucks as the fork is shot I look at it and it compresses from 20 ft away. I also realize that I need a shorter stem to. It's also re-inforcing that I've bought my bikes to large, there is a reason why I love my 56cm cross bike. I think my next mtb will be a large.
Went to Gatornationals today with pops and some friends, damn good races. Got a bit of sun. Walked about 4.5 miles around looking at cars, checking out stuff for sale, looking at the skanky race girls trying to sell cars, RC cars, etc. Good racing, nitro in the air. Zoom! Top speed I saw today was 326 and change. Not bad for 1000 ft.
Been hitting WOB a bit. Had some good stouts yesterday, lead by Evil Twin's Yin. Damn good. Also Widmers Russian Imperial Chocolate Stout.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Friday, March 08, 2013
Snow-what?
The big snow of 2012-2013 turned out to be a big flub. Sure out in Chantilly area I think we got 8 inches but by the time I left due to the damp/rain I think we were down to 4, and with 55 degrees the next day we are down to piles in parking lots mostly.
The CCT North last night was wet but not as bad as I thought. Accotink creek was definitely flowing strong though. 3 of us did a quick ride up and back. Enjoyed a pitcher of beer and chips. Good ride for sure, but not very exciting.
Going to shoot for a big ride on Sunday. Maybe a mountain bike ride on Monday since I'm off and we'll have 3 days of 60+ weather, hoping for dry trails!
The CCT North last night was wet but not as bad as I thought. Accotink creek was definitely flowing strong though. 3 of us did a quick ride up and back. Enjoyed a pitcher of beer and chips. Good ride for sure, but not very exciting.
Going to shoot for a big ride on Sunday. Maybe a mountain bike ride on Monday since I'm off and we'll have 3 days of 60+ weather, hoping for dry trails!
Friday, March 01, 2013
Here comes #4
This is only my 4th blogpost this year so far, not really a big deal either way, but compared to last year, I find I have not as much free time. I'm definitely WAY more active in 2013 then 2012. I've got a couple big things on the horizon this year:
Big Ride Week in late April for Man Camp 2013 in NC.
Half Marathon in June
Tough Mudder in October.
So I've been pushing myself to get out and be more active. And it hasn't been hard in many ways, but it also hasn't always been fun. Doing those 11 miles on Monday sucked. Last night my legs were not at power either, till near the end. Though with my schedule this week, it's no wonder I'm a bit down, I'm at 43 hours as of right now and by the end of Saturday I should hit 60 hours. Getting up at 3:35 the last 3 days has been hell.
February 2013 I hit 16 activities for 222 miles, up from 13 and 155 miles in January. Versus last year I had 16 activities for 176 miles in January and Febuary vs 29 for 374. I'd like to hit 250 in March but it may be hard with going home for a week. Though I now have my old beater Giant down there. I will get SOME riding in.
Tommorow brings me lots of options - Sleep in and eat a big ole breakfast, get up early and go ride the Shjed/Gambril loop from Sand Flats, or go do some trailwork at Meadowood with Doug V.
New MORE Event for April 4 (Thursday). We are doing screening/fundraiser at Arlington Draft House for Reveal the Path. Mike Dion's film from 2012 following some great riders in some amazing locations. I've already purchased my tickets (1 for me, and 1 for someone else).
Still thinking about a BIG mtb trip this summer in June/July.
Big Ride Week in late April for Man Camp 2013 in NC.
Half Marathon in June
Tough Mudder in October.
So I've been pushing myself to get out and be more active. And it hasn't been hard in many ways, but it also hasn't always been fun. Doing those 11 miles on Monday sucked. Last night my legs were not at power either, till near the end. Though with my schedule this week, it's no wonder I'm a bit down, I'm at 43 hours as of right now and by the end of Saturday I should hit 60 hours. Getting up at 3:35 the last 3 days has been hell.
February 2013 I hit 16 activities for 222 miles, up from 13 and 155 miles in January. Versus last year I had 16 activities for 176 miles in January and Febuary vs 29 for 374. I'd like to hit 250 in March but it may be hard with going home for a week. Though I now have my old beater Giant down there. I will get SOME riding in.
Tommorow brings me lots of options - Sleep in and eat a big ole breakfast, get up early and go ride the Shjed/Gambril loop from Sand Flats, or go do some trailwork at Meadowood with Doug V.
New MORE Event for April 4 (Thursday). We are doing screening/fundraiser at Arlington Draft House for Reveal the Path. Mike Dion's film from 2012 following some great riders in some amazing locations. I've already purchased my tickets (1 for me, and 1 for someone else).
Still thinking about a BIG mtb trip this summer in June/July.
Friday, February 15, 2013
This weather
Been staying busy and active this 2013 so far. I have an GPS logged activity for 20 of the last 45 days, covering 263 logged miles. I think I did miss recording at least 1 run so far, and thats at 24'ish miles, and now that I'm up to doing 5 at a time that will keep climbing.
Have a big goal to be ready for a big trip down to Boone NC in late April. 2.5 Months out and I've gotta get in some distance rides and climbs.
That brings me to my first dilemna, to do a moderate 30-40 mile gravel ride on the CX bike with moderate climbing this weekend or to go to Rosaryville and put a solid 30 miles on the MTB. Sure it doesn't have a ton of climbing but it is a more constant work-out than other places. Or I guess I could go to the Shjed and pound myself into idiocy. While the climbs up are a good workout, doing it right away doesn't sound fun.
The weather is killing the WF TNR for the last 3-4 weeks and next week looks no better. Ugh F@#$.
Snow and more snow Saturday and Sunday's current forecast, though only at 30-40%. Hmmm.
Back to work.
Have a big goal to be ready for a big trip down to Boone NC in late April. 2.5 Months out and I've gotta get in some distance rides and climbs.
That brings me to my first dilemna, to do a moderate 30-40 mile gravel ride on the CX bike with moderate climbing this weekend or to go to Rosaryville and put a solid 30 miles on the MTB. Sure it doesn't have a ton of climbing but it is a more constant work-out than other places. Or I guess I could go to the Shjed and pound myself into idiocy. While the climbs up are a good workout, doing it right away doesn't sound fun.
The weather is killing the WF TNR for the last 3-4 weeks and next week looks no better. Ugh F@#$.
Snow and more snow Saturday and Sunday's current forecast, though only at 30-40%. Hmmm.
Back to work.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Jet Plane Ride
Gonna get on a Jet Plane....in June. For somewhere.
2 Years ago almost I did the big Pisgah Week trip for my birthday in June. It was a blast, though doing it by myself was a bit of a downer, I like my me time, but going with others would have been cool too, pushing myself a bit honestly.
So the last week I've been thinking of what I wanted to do. My first thought was another trip South to that area. Maybe a week, maybe shorter. Now I'm thinking of doing something else longer for the birthday and maybe doing NC again in May or Maybe July. Not sure.
What I am thinking of is hitting somewhere like BC, Sun Valley or a bunch of other area's that were just listed in a Bike/Mountain Bike article. Not really the big places, but smaller ones where I can do a mix of things. I want to do a 3-5 day trip then have a few days somewhere else to just do trip things. Maybe hit a park for some hiking. Shrug. Some of the places have signifigant altitude 6 to 9k feet! Some do 10+k of climbing though that should be a real test.
Hoping today gets warm enough to melt a lot of the Rails to Trails stuff. I really need to get in a long ride tomorrow.
2 Years ago almost I did the big Pisgah Week trip for my birthday in June. It was a blast, though doing it by myself was a bit of a downer, I like my me time, but going with others would have been cool too, pushing myself a bit honestly.
So the last week I've been thinking of what I wanted to do. My first thought was another trip South to that area. Maybe a week, maybe shorter. Now I'm thinking of doing something else longer for the birthday and maybe doing NC again in May or Maybe July. Not sure.
What I am thinking of is hitting somewhere like BC, Sun Valley or a bunch of other area's that were just listed in a Bike/Mountain Bike article. Not really the big places, but smaller ones where I can do a mix of things. I want to do a 3-5 day trip then have a few days somewhere else to just do trip things. Maybe hit a park for some hiking. Shrug. Some of the places have signifigant altitude 6 to 9k feet! Some do 10+k of climbing though that should be a real test.
Hoping today gets warm enough to melt a lot of the Rails to Trails stuff. I really need to get in a long ride tomorrow.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Snow Baby!
Got a nice 1 to 2 inch dusting of snow last night, we will be having a BITCHIN snow ride tonight! Hell ya!
The 45 North boots have been most excellent so far. Wore them up at the shed last weekend in temps ranging from 46 to 56 and my feet were comfortable the whole time. Tonight will be a real cold test, but I expect no issues. I have had them out in the high 20's but tonight should be low 20's.
Shed last weekend was rough, hadn't been out there in almost 9 months. Thank god I didn't decide to pedal up from the maintenance yard. We rode from hamburg and did Big Sucky Down, then Long Sucky UP out to Gambrill, then yellow to the connector. Did the Big Gay DH trail down about halfway and turned around, then went down Grass Mower and over and back some other trail. Took forever. WAY outa climbing shape.
Last night I went to lube chain for today and my front tire was flat. Suspect a very slow leak. The new D is super nice and shortening the chain also reduced the chain slap a LOT. New rear pads also helped stopping.
Ian and I discussed my sizing issues after I messed up my elbow during a descent from locking it. Ouch. Think my next ride may be a large not XL. Tough choice.
Southern Tier's Un-earthly IPA - Big win! Oak aged, very malty, nice hops. Excellent.
The 45 North boots have been most excellent so far. Wore them up at the shed last weekend in temps ranging from 46 to 56 and my feet were comfortable the whole time. Tonight will be a real cold test, but I expect no issues. I have had them out in the high 20's but tonight should be low 20's.
Shed last weekend was rough, hadn't been out there in almost 9 months. Thank god I didn't decide to pedal up from the maintenance yard. We rode from hamburg and did Big Sucky Down, then Long Sucky UP out to Gambrill, then yellow to the connector. Did the Big Gay DH trail down about halfway and turned around, then went down Grass Mower and over and back some other trail. Took forever. WAY outa climbing shape.
Last night I went to lube chain for today and my front tire was flat. Suspect a very slow leak. The new D is super nice and shortening the chain also reduced the chain slap a LOT. New rear pads also helped stopping.
Ian and I discussed my sizing issues after I messed up my elbow during a descent from locking it. Ouch. Think my next ride may be a large not XL. Tough choice.
Southern Tier's Un-earthly IPA - Big win! Oak aged, very malty, nice hops. Excellent.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Lake vs 45NRTH Wolverhammer
Boots are one of those things as a cyclist you don't think toooo much about unless your in the great white north. Hell DC doesn't really count. I'm talking PA and north of there.
But hell DC gets cold and so do my poor little feet. Between dumb stuff like sledding in socks and other things my feet are a bit cold sensitive. Call it a 3 out of 5 with 5 being the worst. My hands are probably a 4.
Well my Lake boots have their issues. A snapped cable since last spring. One boots neoprene has holes. The soles/sewing of them are showing signs of failure a bit also. I also need to re-wax them for water proofness. And finally they really don't keep my feet all that toasty even with a heavy wool treking sock. Plenty of room in them for sure as size 48, maybe too much. They've served me well over the last 4 years. And I got them for $160 bucks. Not too shabby. Last night I finally did replace the broken BOA lace. It wasn't easy but it really wasn't bad. I have enough spare cable that if I wanted I could redo the otherside. However that won't be necessary for now.
Why you ask?
I finally got a pair of these:
Wow. That about sums up these boots on first inspection. In fact I will post some pictures of them in detail later to flickr. It's uh never mind. Very well made. Seams are well sown. Sole is well attached. The zipper on the outer shell is heavy duty and Velcro's into place. The laces inside are strong as hell the cincher is well made also and holds the laces tight. Very comfortable on the foot, the faux fur interior is nice. No pressure points when pulled VERY tight lacing. Even walking around was pretty comfortable. Hell with a pair of gators they would make fine snow boots for shoveling or just getting around. Based on the over all quality and everything I can see these boots lasting 5+ years, which makes their $325 price tag less oppressive. This is the 2nd most expensive pair of shoes I've even owned. Right behind my 5+ year old pair of Sidi's.
Tonight I mount the cleats and get them adjusted. Can't wait to ride in em. Toasty toes, here I come!
The running disease continues, did 2.7'ish in 25 minutes last night. Going to start pushing to 4 miles soon. Maybe Sunday, if I don't ride.
Spent a while cleaning the MTB last night tonight I pick some lube and give the chain a good cleaning. But I may also shorten the chain as it's still the old length for supporting the triple rings up front.
But hell DC gets cold and so do my poor little feet. Between dumb stuff like sledding in socks and other things my feet are a bit cold sensitive. Call it a 3 out of 5 with 5 being the worst. My hands are probably a 4.
Well my Lake boots have their issues. A snapped cable since last spring. One boots neoprene has holes. The soles/sewing of them are showing signs of failure a bit also. I also need to re-wax them for water proofness. And finally they really don't keep my feet all that toasty even with a heavy wool treking sock. Plenty of room in them for sure as size 48, maybe too much. They've served me well over the last 4 years. And I got them for $160 bucks. Not too shabby. Last night I finally did replace the broken BOA lace. It wasn't easy but it really wasn't bad. I have enough spare cable that if I wanted I could redo the otherside. However that won't be necessary for now.
Why you ask?
I finally got a pair of these:
Wow. That about sums up these boots on first inspection. In fact I will post some pictures of them in detail later to flickr. It's uh never mind. Very well made. Seams are well sown. Sole is well attached. The zipper on the outer shell is heavy duty and Velcro's into place. The laces inside are strong as hell the cincher is well made also and holds the laces tight. Very comfortable on the foot, the faux fur interior is nice. No pressure points when pulled VERY tight lacing. Even walking around was pretty comfortable. Hell with a pair of gators they would make fine snow boots for shoveling or just getting around. Based on the over all quality and everything I can see these boots lasting 5+ years, which makes their $325 price tag less oppressive. This is the 2nd most expensive pair of shoes I've even owned. Right behind my 5+ year old pair of Sidi's.
Tonight I mount the cleats and get them adjusted. Can't wait to ride in em. Toasty toes, here I come!
The running disease continues, did 2.7'ish in 25 minutes last night. Going to start pushing to 4 miles soon. Maybe Sunday, if I don't ride.
Spent a while cleaning the MTB last night tonight I pick some lube and give the chain a good cleaning. But I may also shorten the chain as it's still the old length for supporting the triple rings up front.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Stretchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I'm still around doing my thing. Not biking as much lately due to other commitments, still getting setup at the new place. Finally got a bedside table setup yesterday and tonight I setup the desk. The room is approaching "done-ness". After that it's some more cleanup, junk disposal and sorting the ton of crap of mine in the basement.
Last week was Wakefield Festivus Part 1 of 2012. Due to commitments of various people we are holding a 2nd week this week. I led a MONSTER group to start with of 20+ people. Ended up with about 10 by the end. Lotta fun. Well excluding the peanut gallery behind me complaining about everything. Thanks Ricky and Adam :P
Ran on last Tuesday and ran again yesterday. Boy my running sucks. Actually if it wasn't for that costco hotdog I mighta been okay yesterday to run more/better but I need 3 to 4 hours after a meal before running.
Drank a ton of good beer this last week including:
Terrapin Dark Side Stout - Side Project # 9 - Belgian Imperial Stout - I'd been saving this last bottle for over a year maybe 2. Excellent.
Brooklyn - Blast - 2x IPA - Yah it was very nice and well balanced.
Brooklyn - Maple Porter - Also nice, minor maple hints. Went really well with pork and fries. Could be good with breakfast also
Magic Hat - The Heart of Darkness Stout - Very toasty, well balanced.
Stayed up way tooo late reading last night. Stupid books, being all interesting and stuff. I will say Hyperion so far has been one strange book!
Last week was Wakefield Festivus Part 1 of 2012. Due to commitments of various people we are holding a 2nd week this week. I led a MONSTER group to start with of 20+ people. Ended up with about 10 by the end. Lotta fun. Well excluding the peanut gallery behind me complaining about everything. Thanks Ricky and Adam :P
Ran on last Tuesday and ran again yesterday. Boy my running sucks. Actually if it wasn't for that costco hotdog I mighta been okay yesterday to run more/better but I need 3 to 4 hours after a meal before running.
Drank a ton of good beer this last week including:
Terrapin Dark Side Stout - Side Project # 9 - Belgian Imperial Stout - I'd been saving this last bottle for over a year maybe 2. Excellent.
Brooklyn - Blast - 2x IPA - Yah it was very nice and well balanced.
Brooklyn - Maple Porter - Also nice, minor maple hints. Went really well with pork and fries. Could be good with breakfast also
Magic Hat - The Heart of Darkness Stout - Very toasty, well balanced.
Stayed up way tooo late reading last night. Stupid books, being all interesting and stuff. I will say Hyperion so far has been one strange book!
Friday, December 07, 2012
Not quite as cold as
It wasn't quite as cold this week as last week at WF thanks to a lack of a breeze.
After some very successful cleanup at the new place I rolled out a bit after 5:30 and made to WF just before 6. Didn't get to pre-ride but that was fine. Stayed warm, prepped everything, and shot the breeze with everyone already there. We had I think over 20 people on this very cold night and it was great riding, the trails were in good shape and casual blasted out a VERY fast pace, pushing 9 and 10 mph avgs for a lot, in 56 mins we were at 7 miles gps'd and over 8 I would say if not 8.5. Went out for a short addition in the bowl and pushed to 8.5 putting me near 10 I fgiure in 1:10. Not too shabby.
Post ride I enjoyed a couple of PLB's including a Founders Breakfast Stout. Woot, big thanks to Julie Ann for that. Yum. Then we were off to Roy's and we packed one corner, must have been 15 of us I think in total. We got done pretty early and I was home around 10:30 even with a bit of construction traffic on 66.
I got home and stashed stuff and checked my laundry, and it had just finished drying and was toasty warm! Hell yah my cold hands were happy I can say. Put a bunch away quickly (pants and socks) the rest is left for today. Have about 2 more loads of laundry to catch up on to get rid of smoke stink.
New comforter on the bed kicked ass. Still not used to a foot board on the bed, it's taking some getting used to as I normally hang off the end a bit with pillows piled at the top. Ended up sprawled across the bed diagonally. But was toasty warm and slept very well.
Tonight we get a couch and table. The house is moving well along.
After some very successful cleanup at the new place I rolled out a bit after 5:30 and made to WF just before 6. Didn't get to pre-ride but that was fine. Stayed warm, prepped everything, and shot the breeze with everyone already there. We had I think over 20 people on this very cold night and it was great riding, the trails were in good shape and casual blasted out a VERY fast pace, pushing 9 and 10 mph avgs for a lot, in 56 mins we were at 7 miles gps'd and over 8 I would say if not 8.5. Went out for a short addition in the bowl and pushed to 8.5 putting me near 10 I fgiure in 1:10. Not too shabby.
Post ride I enjoyed a couple of PLB's including a Founders Breakfast Stout. Woot, big thanks to Julie Ann for that. Yum. Then we were off to Roy's and we packed one corner, must have been 15 of us I think in total. We got done pretty early and I was home around 10:30 even with a bit of construction traffic on 66.
I got home and stashed stuff and checked my laundry, and it had just finished drying and was toasty warm! Hell yah my cold hands were happy I can say. Put a bunch away quickly (pants and socks) the rest is left for today. Have about 2 more loads of laundry to catch up on to get rid of smoke stink.
New comforter on the bed kicked ass. Still not used to a foot board on the bed, it's taking some getting used to as I normally hang off the end a bit with pillows piled at the top. Ended up sprawled across the bed diagonally. But was toasty warm and slept very well.
Tonight we get a couch and table. The house is moving well along.
Thursday, December 06, 2012
It's December? Whooo knew?
Visions of ......wait never mind.
It's been a pretty hectic last month and change. My absentee land lord returned at the end of October from her 3 year deployment in Belgium. Within days me and JD had realized we had to move out and stat. We turned in notice to vacate on Nov 6th. My last bike ride was on the 8th and then stuff got busy at work and then I was traveling the next week thru the next Monday. Got back and promptly rolled into Thanksgiving, so no ride that night either. House stuff sucked up the rest of the time but we had settled on a new place and I paid final part of the deposit on Thanksgiving weekend and since then I've been schlepping stuff over at load or two a day most days. Amazing how much shit I have. Homebrewing gear and beer was almost 2 loads. Cloths were a load. Electronics were a load. Bike stuff 2 loads. Tools/misc/car care/etc was another load. The final push started last Sunday and basically wraps up this weekend. We've secured a pretty decent couch and table via craigslist for $550 and are picking it up Friday after work.
Activity wise I got a run in also last Tuesday for about 25 minutes in the cold evening with Jen. It was good but running around Silver Spring is a bit hilly! Tonights WF TNR promises to be a cold day in HELL! Well it may be a bit warmer than last week with temp of 32 to 28. Gotta find my bar mitts for tonight. Stupid hands were a mess for most of last week till about 20 minutes till the end. ugh.
Lots of beer drunk lately including:
Goose Island BCBS
Evo #7, #6, #3, Primal Pale, Rise UP Stout, and Menagerie #8
Firestone Wookie Jack
and I'm sure others I've forgotten.
Off to ride in a bit.
It's been a pretty hectic last month and change. My absentee land lord returned at the end of October from her 3 year deployment in Belgium. Within days me and JD had realized we had to move out and stat. We turned in notice to vacate on Nov 6th. My last bike ride was on the 8th and then stuff got busy at work and then I was traveling the next week thru the next Monday. Got back and promptly rolled into Thanksgiving, so no ride that night either. House stuff sucked up the rest of the time but we had settled on a new place and I paid final part of the deposit on Thanksgiving weekend and since then I've been schlepping stuff over at load or two a day most days. Amazing how much shit I have. Homebrewing gear and beer was almost 2 loads. Cloths were a load. Electronics were a load. Bike stuff 2 loads. Tools/misc/car care/etc was another load. The final push started last Sunday and basically wraps up this weekend. We've secured a pretty decent couch and table via craigslist for $550 and are picking it up Friday after work.
Activity wise I got a run in also last Tuesday for about 25 minutes in the cold evening with Jen. It was good but running around Silver Spring is a bit hilly! Tonights WF TNR promises to be a cold day in HELL! Well it may be a bit warmer than last week with temp of 32 to 28. Gotta find my bar mitts for tonight. Stupid hands were a mess for most of last week till about 20 minutes till the end. ugh.
Lots of beer drunk lately including:
Goose Island BCBS
Evo #7, #6, #3, Primal Pale, Rise UP Stout, and Menagerie #8
Firestone Wookie Jack
and I'm sure others I've forgotten.
Off to ride in a bit.
Friday, November 09, 2012
A Cold Wind Blowing
Is it already Winter? I feel like either Jack Frost or The Winter Queen has arrived early. It was damn cold last night getting ready in the parking lot, the wind just cut right through me. Once we got riding it was good. Wasn't a very epic night with a group of near 10 riders and I wasn't feeling my fastest either.
I was actually shocked we had a full 3 page of riders, 24 out in the silly cold. I was expecting maybe 12 or 16. For not being fast it was pretty fun, the leaves are just enough to form a nice carpet and make things a bit interesting with hidden roots and sticks. Lots of stick debris was down from the storms still but all logs were cleared. We spent some time scouting new log-over potential and that was fun.
My right foot lake boot's boa cord is still busted and that REALLY puts a limit on somethings I can do with the bike towards jumping/hoping/etc. Post ride it was a single beer for me and rolling out to sleep. I had about 14 hours of sleep over the last 3 days due to working early. It blew.
Getting a solid 8 hours in however was awesome. Another 7 tonight will help too.
Doing some appt/townhouse/etc hunting moving away from C-ville up to V!3nn@ or so. Closer to the new office location come mid-January. Our smoking landlord was the last straw now that she is back. Ugh.
DAMN! Missed out on Mumford and Sons. MIssed the presale yesterday, then they open a whole new show today and both are now sold out less than 4 hours later! WTF!@#!@#!!~!!#$!!!!!
I was actually shocked we had a full 3 page of riders, 24 out in the silly cold. I was expecting maybe 12 or 16. For not being fast it was pretty fun, the leaves are just enough to form a nice carpet and make things a bit interesting with hidden roots and sticks. Lots of stick debris was down from the storms still but all logs were cleared. We spent some time scouting new log-over potential and that was fun.
My right foot lake boot's boa cord is still busted and that REALLY puts a limit on somethings I can do with the bike towards jumping/hoping/etc. Post ride it was a single beer for me and rolling out to sleep. I had about 14 hours of sleep over the last 3 days due to working early. It blew.
Getting a solid 8 hours in however was awesome. Another 7 tonight will help too.
Doing some appt/townhouse/etc hunting moving away from C-ville up to V!3nn@ or so. Closer to the new office location come mid-January. Our smoking landlord was the last straw now that she is back. Ugh.
DAMN! Missed out on Mumford and Sons. MIssed the presale yesterday, then they open a whole new show today and both are now sold out less than 4 hours later! WTF!@#!@#!!~!!#$!!!!!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Zombie.....Time
Wow, time flew this last week and yesterday was the big Zombie Event, Run for Your Lives north of Baltimore. Up near the md/DE/PA border.
Left VA around 8:30 and got up there at around 10:30, due to waiting for people we got on buses around 11 and made the 5 mile trek to the event via Cheese Wagon. Parking in the lot took a long while and I was glad I had a SUV/non small car some of the ruts/etc were pretty deep.
Got to the event and got signed in quick and easy, though I wish they did the ID check at the same time for drinking but at that time the line was long. Met up with a bunch of Jeff's friends and we had a group of about 8 I think. We got in the bag check line pronto and made it out by about 11:55. We opted to stay in our 12:30 heat and waited for 12:10 during that time my buddy from work Tim rolled in and got everything square. He queued up with us also. 2 fast guys went into the fast chute and were 2 of the first out on course apparently. The rest of us were halfway in the main course chute. A couple hundred people. And the slow people shoot was almost full too I think.
Out we went at 12:30, though I think it was a minute in before we crossed the timing line. Right off you dropped a bit and went down into a small flat spot where the first zombies were, a quick sprint and you were past them into a BIG field full of zombies, I made it thru without loosing a flag. Down and around some more hills to the pipeline crawl where i lost my first flags. Way too many zombies hanging right at the entrance.
Then run through some soupy mud and up a hill through another zombie patch where I worked with my flagless side to protect my 2 last flags. More obstacles including barriers to climb over then 2 more crawling ones (Barb Wire and a V thing.) Down and around a big hill to a pond. @#$@$ with a rope across. Oh well into the water. Walk and swim across but waited a few mins to pop out the water with the rope. More Ropes on both sides would help. UP and out and force myself to start jogging to warm up. Here's where I lost the last of my group with 2 ahead and a bunch behind. Climb up then a split I went right and down a very steep section with a powerline climb back up wow. Missed a good view from the top apparently. Pushed on down to my last flag now about 5 or 6 obsticles in, end up taking a wrong turn to a dead end with a big group. FURK!
Last flag gone and more obstacles now including logs, mudpits and such. More climbing up and down terrain. I'm splashing like a bastard feeling okay from the swim finally. And up out onto the main field. Time for the smokehouse. A shocking experience though I managed to steer clear. Others got hit multiple times and a few went down briefly. OUt the doors dodging zombies. Blocking for folks since I've lost my flags. Up and down through more barriers and it's the climb up to the slide, down the slide into the pool and out. Then slide under a chainlink fence section and done.
46 minutes for 3.5 miles of zombies and obstacles. Not bad in my book. With more pushing by me I could see myself down in the 30's. The fastest guy in our group went about 29 minutes, Jeff did 36 and I was 3rd. Only 1 of 9 of use finished alive and she had a dedicated blocker/partner.
Afterwards we showered a bit before changing but I was still full of mud. When I got home it took 20 minutes with a hose to get cloths and shoes mostly clean. Shoes may need another wash.
WE got ID'd and grabbed our free beers. Bands seeemed pretty cool including surf rock Buzzchopper. We all then decided we wanted real food and rolled out for home. We hit Frisco Taphouse and Brewery in Columbia MD. Good food and good beers. I had a very tasty Flying Dog Chocolate Scare - a chocolate pumpkin stout from Cask. Damn good if a tad sweet but one of my favorite pumpkin beers. Then I had Oskar Blues Bobby Brown Cask also. Damn nice super smooth and a bit hoppy as you would expect from OB.
Got home around 7 or so and rinsed cloths and shoes witth hose, put in the wash and vegged out with some anime, and crashed out around 10. Jeff somehow went out till 2:45.
Thursday's Wakfeild ride was good we had a ton of riders with 26 or so and 4 groups out. Casual was 6 I think and nice, we didn't cover much ground since I was saving for Saturday's run but it was good.
Left VA around 8:30 and got up there at around 10:30, due to waiting for people we got on buses around 11 and made the 5 mile trek to the event via Cheese Wagon. Parking in the lot took a long while and I was glad I had a SUV/non small car some of the ruts/etc were pretty deep.
Got to the event and got signed in quick and easy, though I wish they did the ID check at the same time for drinking but at that time the line was long. Met up with a bunch of Jeff's friends and we had a group of about 8 I think. We got in the bag check line pronto and made it out by about 11:55. We opted to stay in our 12:30 heat and waited for 12:10 during that time my buddy from work Tim rolled in and got everything square. He queued up with us also. 2 fast guys went into the fast chute and were 2 of the first out on course apparently. The rest of us were halfway in the main course chute. A couple hundred people. And the slow people shoot was almost full too I think.
Out we went at 12:30, though I think it was a minute in before we crossed the timing line. Right off you dropped a bit and went down into a small flat spot where the first zombies were, a quick sprint and you were past them into a BIG field full of zombies, I made it thru without loosing a flag. Down and around some more hills to the pipeline crawl where i lost my first flags. Way too many zombies hanging right at the entrance.
Then run through some soupy mud and up a hill through another zombie patch where I worked with my flagless side to protect my 2 last flags. More obstacles including barriers to climb over then 2 more crawling ones (Barb Wire and a V thing.) Down and around a big hill to a pond. @#$@$ with a rope across. Oh well into the water. Walk and swim across but waited a few mins to pop out the water with the rope. More Ropes on both sides would help. UP and out and force myself to start jogging to warm up. Here's where I lost the last of my group with 2 ahead and a bunch behind. Climb up then a split I went right and down a very steep section with a powerline climb back up wow. Missed a good view from the top apparently. Pushed on down to my last flag now about 5 or 6 obsticles in, end up taking a wrong turn to a dead end with a big group. FURK!
Last flag gone and more obstacles now including logs, mudpits and such. More climbing up and down terrain. I'm splashing like a bastard feeling okay from the swim finally. And up out onto the main field. Time for the smokehouse. A shocking experience though I managed to steer clear. Others got hit multiple times and a few went down briefly. OUt the doors dodging zombies. Blocking for folks since I've lost my flags. Up and down through more barriers and it's the climb up to the slide, down the slide into the pool and out. Then slide under a chainlink fence section and done.
46 minutes for 3.5 miles of zombies and obstacles. Not bad in my book. With more pushing by me I could see myself down in the 30's. The fastest guy in our group went about 29 minutes, Jeff did 36 and I was 3rd. Only 1 of 9 of use finished alive and she had a dedicated blocker/partner.
Afterwards we showered a bit before changing but I was still full of mud. When I got home it took 20 minutes with a hose to get cloths and shoes mostly clean. Shoes may need another wash.
WE got ID'd and grabbed our free beers. Bands seeemed pretty cool including surf rock Buzzchopper. We all then decided we wanted real food and rolled out for home. We hit Frisco Taphouse and Brewery in Columbia MD. Good food and good beers. I had a very tasty Flying Dog Chocolate Scare - a chocolate pumpkin stout from Cask. Damn good if a tad sweet but one of my favorite pumpkin beers. Then I had Oskar Blues Bobby Brown Cask also. Damn nice super smooth and a bit hoppy as you would expect from OB.
Got home around 7 or so and rinsed cloths and shoes witth hose, put in the wash and vegged out with some anime, and crashed out around 10. Jeff somehow went out till 2:45.
Thursday's Wakfeild ride was good we had a ton of riders with 26 or so and 4 groups out. Casual was 6 I think and nice, we didn't cover much ground since I was saving for Saturday's run but it was good.
Slip and Slide and .....
Damn good ride last night. Had a small core group of casual's rolling hard all night, we did over 11 miles in pretty good time. Ian, Neil, Tony, and now i've forgotten. ugh. I'm sooo bad with names these days.
The weather threatened on and off, we got minor sprinkles but it stayed nice and warm the whole ride with the clouds that came in near 4 trapping a lot of the warmth. I was walking around air drying with my shirt off while I tore down the bike gear and put it away. Wasn't even cold.
Did a bit of trimming in a few area's where the thorns were just too long in the back of the berm area.
The weather threatened on and off, we got minor sprinkles but it stayed nice and warm the whole ride with the clouds that came in near 4 trapping a lot of the warmth. I was walking around air drying with my shirt off while I tore down the bike gear and put it away. Wasn't even cold.
Did a bit of trimming in a few area's where the thorns were just too long in the back of the berm area.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Hold the Storms, Extra Daylight Please!
Storms coming in tonight, a bit close to ride time. Grrr hoping to sneak one in till at least 8.
Still a 40% chance as of 7PM tonight. Ugh. Must pre-ride.
Cool video from the 2012 MoCo Epic last weekend:
Jim does awesome video's for all the clubs big events. Eventually I think he plans to have a 5 minute version.
Looking at new locks for JRA/Plan B Rides, etc and found a very interesting type - The Abus Bordo series from germany. Made like a folding ruler, just a billion times tougher. The damn things are pricey but seem like an excellent deterant and more easily transportable than a Ulock or a cable lock.
http://www.abus-bordo.com/html_en/bikelock_bordo_granit_x_plus.html
Still a 40% chance as of 7PM tonight. Ugh. Must pre-ride.
Cool video from the 2012 MoCo Epic last weekend:
Jim does awesome video's for all the clubs big events. Eventually I think he plans to have a 5 minute version.
Looking at new locks for JRA/Plan B Rides, etc and found a very interesting type - The Abus Bordo series from germany. Made like a folding ruler, just a billion times tougher. The damn things are pricey but seem like an excellent deterant and more easily transportable than a Ulock or a cable lock.
http://www.abus-bordo.com/html_en/bikelock_bordo_granit_x_plus.html
Monday, October 15, 2012
Bikes for the People
Saw this on Yahoo today and thought it was really cool option for bikes for the poor.
http://news.yahoo.com/cardboard-bicycle-change-world-says-israeli-inventor-090732689.html
I wish more people in the US got the "power" that bikes offer. Fitness, outdoors, fun, less gas, etc. I've been a biker forever. First as transport from my house to the general store that was 1.5 miles away as a kid. Transport and Commerce for biking to school and being a paperboy. And taking a couple of cute girls to school on the handlebars and rack was never a bad thing. Transport as a teen. I regret my time away from biking but really blame it on cheap bigbox bikes. Nothing like banging your knee on your handlebars when a chain snaps to make you hate a bike. Now I try and commute to work at least 1 or 2 days a week and I ride another 1 or 2 times a week. I'm luck in that 80% of my grocery shopping I can walk to the store and back.
Hoping to go for another run today but it's looking a bit rainy and the quads are still quite sore. We shall see.
Tomorrow I might get to do the Little Bennett ride. We will see if this rain causes it to cancel.
http://news.yahoo.com/cardboard-bicycle-change-world-says-israeli-inventor-090732689.html
I wish more people in the US got the "power" that bikes offer. Fitness, outdoors, fun, less gas, etc. I've been a biker forever. First as transport from my house to the general store that was 1.5 miles away as a kid. Transport and Commerce for biking to school and being a paperboy. And taking a couple of cute girls to school on the handlebars and rack was never a bad thing. Transport as a teen. I regret my time away from biking but really blame it on cheap bigbox bikes. Nothing like banging your knee on your handlebars when a chain snaps to make you hate a bike. Now I try and commute to work at least 1 or 2 days a week and I ride another 1 or 2 times a week. I'm luck in that 80% of my grocery shopping I can walk to the store and back.
Hoping to go for another run today but it's looking a bit rainy and the quads are still quite sore. We shall see.
Tomorrow I might get to do the Little Bennett ride. We will see if this rain causes it to cancel.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Failure abounds
Last night I've come close to declaring my batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout a complete failure. I tried a bottle finally but to say it tasted like shit may be generous. Smelled okay but wow the peanuts just gave it a slightly off/green taste and it's ongoing effervescence bothers the hell out of me.
So on top of that not only do the O's fail and fall to the evil empire of baseball, the Nat's have a choke of epic proportion. Almost Redskinian. Maybe Dan Snyder should buy the Nats and the Whizz-ards and make a sweep of it....OH thats right what about the NHL? I have serious doubts about an NHL season happening. Even at half a season it's a failure. BAH.
And now I'm betting my smoked porter thats in the fermenter has failed while I'm at it. I don't entirely trust bucket fermenting at this point, using glass I never had problems with fermentation. UGH.
Got a good run in last night but ran weird at first and apparently messed up my middle back again. Sigh. Last night and today on the heating pad is helping.
FunkMnkyz show was a semi-bust. The space was so small the band was doing 2 and 3 man short sets and letting friends bands play. Plus a late start, I had to leave at midnight since I turn back into Slob Rob then and had to work this morning. Getting up wasn't as bad as I feared.
Tonight it's the parents and hopefully some better live music action.
So on top of that not only do the O's fail and fall to the evil empire of baseball, the Nat's have a choke of epic proportion. Almost Redskinian. Maybe Dan Snyder should buy the Nats and the Whizz-ards and make a sweep of it....OH thats right what about the NHL? I have serious doubts about an NHL season happening. Even at half a season it's a failure. BAH.
And now I'm betting my smoked porter thats in the fermenter has failed while I'm at it. I don't entirely trust bucket fermenting at this point, using glass I never had problems with fermentation. UGH.
Got a good run in last night but ran weird at first and apparently messed up my middle back again. Sigh. Last night and today on the heating pad is helping.
FunkMnkyz show was a semi-bust. The space was so small the band was doing 2 and 3 man short sets and letting friends bands play. Plus a late start, I had to leave at midnight since I turn back into Slob Rob then and had to work this morning. Getting up wasn't as bad as I feared.
Tonight it's the parents and hopefully some better live music action.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Boy that was cold
Last nights ride started out pretty nice. The sun was up for my tiny pre-ride, but I new it would get pretty cold pretty damn quick last night. I just didn't realize how damn cold. I hope this is not a sign of the winter to come.
By the end of the ride Mr.GPS reported 41 degrees. Car in parking lot reported a slightly warmer 47 degrees. All I know is I think it may be time to drag out the Lake boots and the heavier gloves. The fox mid-weights just weren't warm enough and more poor fingers don't need to take anymore abuse. In an attempt to protect my poor digits into the fall/early winter I'm buying another set of gloves. This time I'm trying the Gore Xenon 2. The feet were also suffering so the lakes may be coming back out on nights where we may get 50 or less. Though admittedly I was wearing a too light sock.
Still drooling over the 45NRTH Wolvhammer boots. WANT!
We had a TON of riders out enjoying the frost fall weather last night with 34 signed in and I think about 12 on each ride at least. Huh. Knew I missed a few chumps in the lot! Trek had a women's group out with 8 demo'ing bikes at night and then there must have been another 10 or 15 riders in various groups. It was a parking lot at times. Main casual covered about 8 miles then I took the 3 fastest out for another 25 mins for 4 more miles'ish. It was a blast. Always good to ride with the regular's.
Never heard as much crying though about a little bit of Mud from Ian and then later Neal! I'm shocked! Sure I knew that back area of the upper baseball diamonds was bad :)
Tonights plan includes Whole Foods, avoiding parents who are in town, and maybe a trip up to JamminJava to see local band FunkMnkyz. Check em out
Straight outa Burke Baby!
Saturday brings dinner with the parents and hopefully seeing another buddy's band Justice Monkey at Blue Water Grille in Chantilly-ville.
Sunday brings a possible quick trip down to Charlottesville VA to look at some property with my parents.
For now it's back to work. Kinda. :P
By the end of the ride Mr.GPS reported 41 degrees. Car in parking lot reported a slightly warmer 47 degrees. All I know is I think it may be time to drag out the Lake boots and the heavier gloves. The fox mid-weights just weren't warm enough and more poor fingers don't need to take anymore abuse. In an attempt to protect my poor digits into the fall/early winter I'm buying another set of gloves. This time I'm trying the Gore Xenon 2. The feet were also suffering so the lakes may be coming back out on nights where we may get 50 or less. Though admittedly I was wearing a too light sock.
Still drooling over the 45NRTH Wolvhammer boots. WANT!
We had a TON of riders out enjoying the frost fall weather last night with 34 signed in and I think about 12 on each ride at least. Huh. Knew I missed a few chumps in the lot! Trek had a women's group out with 8 demo'ing bikes at night and then there must have been another 10 or 15 riders in various groups. It was a parking lot at times. Main casual covered about 8 miles then I took the 3 fastest out for another 25 mins for 4 more miles'ish. It was a blast. Always good to ride with the regular's.
Never heard as much crying though about a little bit of Mud from Ian and then later Neal! I'm shocked! Sure I knew that back area of the upper baseball diamonds was bad :)
Tonights plan includes Whole Foods, avoiding parents who are in town, and maybe a trip up to JamminJava to see local band FunkMnkyz. Check em out
Straight outa Burke Baby!
Saturday brings dinner with the parents and hopefully seeing another buddy's band Justice Monkey at Blue Water Grille in Chantilly-ville.
Sunday brings a possible quick trip down to Charlottesville VA to look at some property with my parents.
For now it's back to work. Kinda. :P
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Up and down the EC
Busy weekend for a slightly long one. Worked late on Saturday, slept like crap. Missed Sunday ride at the Shjed. Did make a kick ass breakfast on Sunday to make up for not riding. Nothing like pancakes with chocolate chips and sausage to make things better. Especially Maple Sausage. Sunday afternoon I spent some time running bike related errands for odds and I needed and J needed. Ended up picking up a Cygolight 400 for her for 90 bucks for night road rides out west and once she gets regularly back here.
Then it was up to MD. Hung out up there with J for the afternoon/evening watching TV and relaxed, we did go out and get J some new fully finger slightly warmer gloves and she got another pair of shorts and some more, ROAD specific shoes....But we will see.
And on Monday morning we woke up to on and off rain especially up on the northside where we were planning on riding around near Poolesville. Ugh. So after getting a late start we ended up heading into VA and riding the WO&D inwards from Spokes down to the Airport. On the way down we saw Larry and Ernie on their way back from a Hills of Arlington/Airport Loop ride. Shot the shit for a few minutes and went on.
14 miles from Spokes down to where the Mt Vernon meets Four Mile Run at DCA. From there we went north up to the Custis and took that back to E. Falls Church then the WO&D back to Vienna. We then finally hit Panera for some hot food and back to MD. A quick powernap was in order and then it was Dinner, Fringe and more TV till 10'ish.
In today's other fun news I see ole Jerry's got 30 to 60. This one is for you Jerry.
Then it was up to MD. Hung out up there with J for the afternoon/evening watching TV and relaxed, we did go out and get J some new fully finger slightly warmer gloves and she got another pair of shorts and some more, ROAD specific shoes....But we will see.
And on Monday morning we woke up to on and off rain especially up on the northside where we were planning on riding around near Poolesville. Ugh. So after getting a late start we ended up heading into VA and riding the WO&D inwards from Spokes down to the Airport. On the way down we saw Larry and Ernie on their way back from a Hills of Arlington/Airport Loop ride. Shot the shit for a few minutes and went on.
14 miles from Spokes down to where the Mt Vernon meets Four Mile Run at DCA. From there we went north up to the Custis and took that back to E. Falls Church then the WO&D back to Vienna. We then finally hit Panera for some hot food and back to MD. A quick powernap was in order and then it was Dinner, Fringe and more TV till 10'ish.
In today's other fun news I see ole Jerry's got 30 to 60. This one is for you Jerry.
Friday, October 05, 2012
Well not an epic week for the bike this last week between rain and lazyness. Got a short 18 miler in last Sunday around the hood. The week till Thursday was shot due to rain and other factors. Thursday I got in a pretty good ride probably another 18 miles total. With today's ride to work and back I should hit 50'ish miles. Saturday will be an off day, then Sunday I'm seeing about joining a group up at the Shed if it isn't too we, but right now my attendance on that is running about 50% if it is a 9AM start.
Monday I'm taking the day off and going biking with JS up and around Sugarloaf Mtn. Planning a 40 to 50 ride. Found some different loops on RidewithGPS. I will say I do like the searching interface better than Connect.
Forgot my gloves for the ride into work. My hands were almost claws by the time I got to work. Did ride it in sub 18 minutes moving time. Not bad for no warmup 4.5 miles. Won't be that fast on the way back. Gotta decide if I am running today or not and how far if I am. Honestly I just wanna take a nap.
Picked up a 6 of Peg Leg Stout last night. Damn good.
Monday I'm taking the day off and going biking with JS up and around Sugarloaf Mtn. Planning a 40 to 50 ride. Found some different loops on RidewithGPS. I will say I do like the searching interface better than Connect.
Forgot my gloves for the ride into work. My hands were almost claws by the time I got to work. Did ride it in sub 18 minutes moving time. Not bad for no warmup 4.5 miles. Won't be that fast on the way back. Gotta decide if I am running today or not and how far if I am. Honestly I just wanna take a nap.
Picked up a 6 of Peg Leg Stout last night. Damn good.
Friday, September 28, 2012
The mountain might get ya, but the law never will.
Yesterday went from being a partial Sh-- day to full on status by the end of the Wakefield night ride. We had a rider on the casual group take a OTB dive and needed some help evac'ing out, he took a big red truck ride to ffx hospital. He was sore but they emt's wanted to check everything. I'm sure he wasn't OK to drive at the minimum.
The new JK Rowling book started things on the downhill, a frustrating conversation with J via phone based IM sent it to the 50% mark and then that topped the day off.
I will say Casual Vacancy seems interesting in the first 50 pages, but that it may be very depressing also. It's not Harry Potter. I've got an impending sense of something in the order of the Ice Storm but not really. We'll see.
I did order the Bond 50 retrospective on Blu-ray so that will be cool, it should come in next week.
I was going to try and ride in today but last night left me wiped out and continuing T-storms kept me up till Midnight. Maybe I'll run tonight instead. Legs were very tired to start with yesterday with 5 rides in the last 6 days.
Just heard from the rider and he is fine. Maybe a minor concussion, but he was out of the hospital last night and sometime over the weekend we will hookup to get his bike back to him.
The new JK Rowling book started things on the downhill, a frustrating conversation with J via phone based IM sent it to the 50% mark and then that topped the day off.
I will say Casual Vacancy seems interesting in the first 50 pages, but that it may be very depressing also. It's not Harry Potter. I've got an impending sense of something in the order of the Ice Storm but not really. We'll see.
I did order the Bond 50 retrospective on Blu-ray so that will be cool, it should come in next week.
I was going to try and ride in today but last night left me wiped out and continuing T-storms kept me up till Midnight. Maybe I'll run tonight instead. Legs were very tired to start with yesterday with 5 rides in the last 6 days.
Just heard from the rider and he is fine. Maybe a minor concussion, but he was out of the hospital last night and sometime over the weekend we will hookup to get his bike back to him.
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