Saturday, May 31, 2008

A Good Reason To Watch The Road


I always zone out when I'm on the gravel, looking this way and that, watching my front tire tread appear to be blurred and then blinking my eyes rapidly until it freeze frames the tread pattern, or just not knowing what I'm doing at all! Perhaps that's why a 3 hour ride feels like 20 minutes sometimes. I found a good reason to perfect my thousand yard stare on a recent ride however! This little gem was hiding at the bottom of two rollers on R Ave. It was only about 4 feet wide, but at 12 to 14 feet deep it would have been a real trick to get out of had I fallen in. I told you the frost boils would be man eaters this year! Later!

Friday, May 30, 2008

On The Cheap


I got so bored with riding that I found a different way to spend some time. I took an old clarinet case that I found at Goodwill for a buck, combined it with some foam that I scrounged from an old Sealy display at work, and the liner from the box of my new Light & Motion Stella R, and made a carrying case for my light. A light I have yet to put to a real test on the gravel I might add. Soon as it gets hot I'm sure I will take it out. 5 hour burn time on max should be a good time. Later!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Technically, I'm Not Dead

But you may have thought so. I have been in a serious low of all time as far as giving a rat's ass about biking, and I'm talking about a bike lover from the days of the 80s! Since Marty Wickman pulled up to the swimming pool on a '83 Schwinn Sierra and I jumped to my feet and "had to have one of those new kinds of bikes." That's a long time ago and many miles behind me. I have just not been crazy about the late winter/spring weather we all went through, nor have I had a chance to put a number plate on a bike and bust my ass against kids half my age. So it feels like something of a myth that I am even a bike rider at all. I made a commitment back in September to teach Sunday School with my wife, so I felt like I had to be there for that and ended up missing a bunch of chances, but I had a blast doing it, so I'm not using it as an excuse. There have been two times on my days off that I have somehow put on all of my riding clothes, cleared it in my head that I was going to go ride, and walked to the garage and couldn't get the nerve to pull a bike out and ride. So I would go back in the house, get dressed, and sit around and wait for school to get out so I could go get the boys. That's pretty sad. I think it was that damn April Fools post that did me in. Although I did actually ride out and stop for a beer, the words surrounding that were all intended to be in jest. I guess the joke was on this fool.

Luckily I pulled through and will probably ride Tuesday. I did watch Breaking Away a couple of more times, and it spawned an idea in my head. Why not do a smaller version of the Little 500? It would be a blast, and there is a perfect location right here in Boone. It is the 4H horse arena at the fairgrounds. This is a 260' X 140' arena with a dirt/pea gravel surface. Little to no horse droppings, and I'm sure nobody would care if we rode bikes around in it. A format something like this could be a great workout and would no doubt be FUN ON A BIKE!



Race 1: 2 Lap Time Trial, use best lap time for bracket seeding.

Race 2: Bracket Race, 2 riders at a time, 2 laps, winner moves to a new bracket.

Race 3: 2 Person Teams, 10 laps, 5 each with a handoff.

Race 4: 2 Person Teams, 50 laps, open format. Rider changes at will.

Race 5: Figure 8 throwdown, anything goes?

I have daydreamed about this for a long time and still think it would be a blast to do. No need for fancy bikes. Flat pedals would be best. I want to see skids like the one Moocher rips when he hands off to Cyril. That is some bike riding right there. He skids a 40 footer, stands up over the drive-side, dismounts, and gives a smooth handoff in one fluid motion! Cyril's handoff to Mike is less fluid. Here's a look at the grounds:
The little white building is a restroom, there is a metal roof over the poles to the right of that(read shade), and Regal Liquors is a four minute ride from here. Could be a fun way to spend a Sunday. Any thoughts?