Camped Out 2013 - Part 1

I need a vacation.  From my last vacation.   Man Camp is always more adventure than I remember from the previous times, the good memories and time really dull the annoyances, that at times leave many individuals ready to pull out our hair.  Regardless it was a great weekend of riding, hiking, living, and in general behaving badly. 

I left early opting to skip Sherando on Friday by scooting out early Thursday morning.  But I was late leaving, and 10,000 bathroom breaks put in me in Pisgah at 3PM'ish.  After a brief consult of the guide book I opted for a shorter ride of Gumstead Gap.  It was a great ride even with a missed turn down an old out of use trail section.  Ran into a local named Rick who guided me to a great overlook of an amazing waterfall.  Finished up the ride, hit the local Holiday Inn Express (tons of bikers) and then went to Jordan Street Cafe.  Ran into Rick and his lady Heather and a bunch of other biking locals.  Great pasta dinner and beer.  Sacked out by about 10/10:30. 

Up at 8 and out to Dupont by 9:30.  Rode a bunch of the Northside trails I hadn't fully explored on my last visit.  What a workout and ride.  Back down to The Hub for some beers, some maps and a jersey.  Hit arby's at 3 and back to Asheville for a visit to The Wedge brewery.  Enjoyed a fabulous Porter and an Iron Rail IPA.  Damn.  Now it was about 5 and I took the Northern route back up 26 and east on some country roads to Banner Elk. 

Meanwhile Team Man Campers were just hitting Roanoke after Sherando.  Oy.  3+ hours behind.

Eventually I hit Boone a bit before 8.  Walked around and called the campers they were between Roanoke and Wythesville I think and had eaten dinner.  I went off in search of food.   Some good looking places but I didn't feel like anything bar'ish and I didn't want fancy or Pizza so I hit Our Daily Bread and had a great sandwhich and beer.  Messed around a bit more and decided to move up close to the route the Campers were coming in on near 105 off 421.  At the Lowes Market (grocery not HW!)

2 Hours later the Campers arrive and we spend 45 minutes raiding the store for food and b33r.  Eventually after a missed turn we hit the cabin at about 11:45PM.  Oy.  And it's near 2 before we're all settled and ready'ish for bed.  A few hit the hot tub.  I think it was 3 before I sacked out.  Ahead of use we had a EPIC ride awaiting. 

Moving along the trail

Back on the trusty volpe for the first time in 2 weeks and it feels different, a good different.  A steel CX bike is a different pony than a CF roadie.  2 Totally different arrows in the same quiver.  Flat Blade versus a point tip.  I can easily see the difference in the ride the 2 have, though the carbon bike is impressive in how well it does soak up road roughage. 

Getting on the MTB after the roadie is always a huge change, it felt positively.....lumbering?  Slow?  I dunno at first.  But as the night rode on, the fun returned, the quick hard turns, the power slide to trick around a bend, the bounce and push over a tree pile or two or three.    The swooping fun.  The horrid sucking climbs.  It was all good as the temps dropped.  The chill of your sweat on a fast downhill.  I eeked out probably 14'ish miles with 11 miles with the group.  Lots of fun.  20 plus riders out in the whole group, our small group of 2 made it a blast.  Even did the shitty end climb back from the damn of Accotink.

One more big ride this weekend and then Tuesday I'll bike in and that's all she wrote for pre-trip riding.

Saturday was an errands day since I worked late.  Sunday I did more chores/cleaning in the AM and hit CJ in the evening followed with a visit to Hard Times for chili, wings and beer post ride.  Damn good!

Monday morning it was sooo damn cold, 35 when I left the house!  I was way tooo tired and it was way to cold to ride in.  Now I'm left with a conundrum:  Tuesday.

Opt 1 - Ride to work 15 casual miles round trip
Opt 2 - Ride WF/Accotink after work - 10 or so semi-casual MTB miles
Opt 3 - Xterra Training ride at WF and 3 mile run. 
Opt 4 - 1&2
Opt 5 - Fuck it, go drinking.

I'm leaning towards Opt 6 for sure.

Rolling in the Hills

Went out yesterday on 16 miler and had a nice ride with J.  We rolled up MacAurthur Blvd from Glen Echo to Falls Rd in Poto-mac, then explored one of the huge uber-rich hoods.  Damn!  Big money for sure.  We rolled back on Oaklyn to Persimmon Tree Rd.  On the way we picked up a straggler and he rolled with us that entire section.  54 year old dude who had ridden out from NE DC on Rhode Island ave area.  We split while he took a break at the PT/McA Blvd intersection. 

The rolling hills in the hood were a blast on the bike and I wasn't even trying to power thru.  I did pop on the big climb up from Old Anglers to the end of the first big hill but I recovered quickly but J was struggling so I rolled slow.  So slow my gps thought I wasn't moving except about 14.6 miles vs 16.4 sigh.

Mancamp is 2 week so or less out and I'm not where I want to be fitness wise, but I am better off than I was I suppose a month ago, going to finish strong this next 7 days then back off till the trip.

No Pantera huh.  I wonder about Apocalyptica, I present instead:  Inquisition Symphony. 


Mellow jams aside I'm looking forward to a long weekend the hell outa dodge. 

Gonna try and either run 5 or bike 30 tonight.  Not sure which yet.  May have to work late. 

Trying to also make a decision on the pointless fundraise ride of the year - 100 Miles to No Where.  A 100 mile rd up and down a section of the WOD or  30/40 loops of the neighborhood.  Not sure what I can do and stand before loosing it.  Or is is it already a lost cause??

Carbon in the Now.

We're carbon based life forms.  It's a fact.  There is a dune buggy on mars trying to determine if there is other C based life or perhaps something really different. 

Early April became a bust for riding, though I did do my first trailwork in a LONG time at Accotink last sunday helping with a BIG rock armoring project that we doubled the planned length of.  Turned out super nice after riding it last night, really fun to descend.  A wee bit of a challenge. 

But did 2 days of bike commuting this week and that was good, might ride in tomorrow morning not sure for 3.  Plus I did work from home 1 day so 2 days of driving is not bad.  When I consider I was doing 6 days of near 30 miles thats 180 miles a week versus about 30 miles now.  That could drop 7K off my annual mileage a year. 

FYI - In breaking news the Vuvuzelu is apparently a dangerous weapon in South Africa.

Darius apparently managed to yank the entire seat tube came out of the frame.  The pictures are pretty wild.   I will try and link em here later. 

This weekend I have to do TAXES and pickup a shipment at UPS.  Ugh.  Think I will try UPS after work directly then try and maybe do taxes tonight.  Should get a fed refund.  VA is a mess due to issues with address changes not taking till last march/april versus 2 years ago so I still have to reclaim 3/4 months of md taxes.  I should end up with a bit back from that also.

Riding a  bit more this week, next week needs to be pretty epic then taper into the trip week.  I'm not ready but fuck it.  I'm gonna try and make up for my lack of fitness by loosing a few more lbs.  I'm fluctuating around 200-205 on work scale so I think 195 may be possible with being a good little boy for the next 2 weeks.  I hope. 

Other than the insane 3 days of near 90 degree or more heat I'm ready for spring!

Son of a Lich

Well we all survived day of the Lich aka Easter.  Who doesn't think a guy rising from the un-dead isn't quite kosher.  Bring me a bacon sarnie for sure when that happenes...Again? 

March was a bust for me activity wise.  Weather.  Parents.  Lack of personal motivation.  Weather.  It all came together in a giant conflagration of inactivity.  Maybe February was too much catchup.  I enter April only 3 activities behind pace for 180.  Maybe I'm focusing too much on that.  Shrug. 

Finally some miles back on the MTB in March.  Accotink is back in seaason and we've been riding it the last 3 weeks of the month.  Well 2 for me as I missed the 1st week while in FL.  Using the old giant for even  bar/junk commuting was painful the front fork is so blown out I look at it from 50 paces and it compresses a third.  Getting on the sag is about 50% if I'm careful.  Full body weight isn't good.  And the rear brake has 0 modulation.  Though if I need to stop I can glare at it also and lay down some impressive skids!

April is going to be gonzo.  Commuting to work (1st day tomorrow, I hope) the big trip at the end of the month.  And taxes.

FML.

Well I"m off to finish preping for the ride tomorrow.  My goatee is trimmed at least. 

Top Fuel Madness

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.

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!

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.  

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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!

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. 

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.

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!@#!@#!!~!!#$!!!!!

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. 

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. 

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

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.