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starting back up.

2009-01-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

I try to start getting back into a small groove of training. I've yet to do a run since the marathon, but I did get on the TT bike the other day. Felt good, did a few longer intervals, which was just me going faster for 3 miles at a time. I have 3 weeks to get ready for a duathlon in Arizona. I'll need to run sub 6 min/miles, and ride 21miles in around 50minutes.

The big news of the week is my best buddy, Mark is having a baby. Uncoiencidentally, he's getting married too, this Wednesday. I hope he doesn't have to sell his boat.

I'll get to see Jason this next weekend, via the internet and a camera system hooked up to it. But it will be good to at least see him by a live feed.

The marathon

2009-01-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

The week leading up to the Houston marathon was not what I had planned. Instead of getting in runs, I did 3 spin classes and zero running. I called it a really hard taper. Every night I would go out to my lake and see if I could shoot anything that moves, with my bow and arrow. I'd put out some marshmellows, and they'd be gone the next day. So I knew their was activity, I'd just have to see it.
So with my lights I'd see a raccoon, an opposum, some deer, a red fox, and something in the water. A nutria rat. Several nights I've seen it, and so I moved to a different spot JUST to kill it. I think most of my energy went to killing that huge rat than getting prepared for a marathon.
SO I am out, trying to not wake the neighbors, so I have to use a bow and arrow, a two handed mechanism. Well, unfortunatly I needed to hold a light too.
Magan was volunteered to hold the light. The night we saw it, I didn't shoot. It was too far and not a good shot. I didn't feel like losing an arrow for no reason except a 10 percent chance of hitting it.
The next day I get permission to use a gun from Vicki, my neighbor.
But, I'm off to Houston in this timeline of the week, and going to Justins to spend the night.
Before I get there, I do some errands, and pick up my packet for the marathon. I'm running under the name 'wink;)'.
Wak up at 5 and eat/get ready to hit the marathon.

Justin ran with me the whole way. I had unfortunatly lost the ability to wear any shoes since doing primal quest, because a huge blister would grow if I did. SO I was stuck with using the Nike Free's. By mile 6 I was feeling the Free's and not doing anything for a solid week, plus some from the week before(2 total weeks with one run).

The calves were the first to go, feeling tight and like I needed a stretch. But no stopping while running. Mile 10 had some slight fatigue in my quads. Nothing bad though, almost half way done!

We saw Wooch and Jill on the course, and the thousands of cheerers, and passing everyone....it was very motivational! At mile 13.1, we were half way. I was feeling tired, but not really. My quads and calves were toasted, and blisters on my feet(in normal places) started to appear.

Mile 16, we see Justin's girlfriend, Allison and give a quick hug, and we have motivation for some more miles.

Around mile 20, we see Shaun and Patti. YEAH!. They rode next to us for a bit and time really flew in that section. The legs were really feeling tired, but I was still able to run. My longest I've ever ran straight was 18.5, so I was crushing my personal record with every step.

From mile 23, it got tough. We picked up the pace and my legs hurt. After running an 8:30 pace for 23 miles, and picking it up to a 7 min/mile pace WHILE my legs were fatigueing to the point of no return. The calves started to really flare up with lively pain. Could this be what not training properly will do to you? Will my calves rip themselves off of the bone?

I would tell Justin, that I wanted to get home and kill something after doing something for so long. I was getting ready for tonight.

Mile 24, I hear some Rocky music and pick it up to a 6:30 pace. We're cruising past lots and lots of runners.

Mile 25 and I'm hurting bad now. Not just my legs, but I'm starting to breathe heavy too. But I hear another Rocky song and hit that last mile with a good stride. Feeling stronger.......almost done now! Dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun......FLY!!!!!!!

Mile 26, we cross the line, under 3:40. Good enough for 635th in the race.

I head home, pick up my new tandem from BIKE LANE, and get ready to hunt.

I'm out, I took the bow and arrow, and my 30.06 with Varmit bullets and a couple of lights. We wait and within 5 minutes I see a raccon 30+ yards at the end of the lake. I take the bow and make a hard to see shot. The red lens cap on the spotlight took a lot of the visability away. I shot just under him, and lost my arrow tip in a stump.
5 minutes after that, we(Magan and I) hear the nutria swimming to our right. We switch positions, and spotlight it. It's around 60 yards away, swimming back and forth....all I can see is it's head.
Then it comes up on a shallow peice of land in the water. BOOOM! I take the shot.

One nutria rat dead.

Unfortuantly the 30.06 woke all the neighbors, and make a tremendous ECHOOOO!

Run-ning

2009-01-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

So after getting killed by Justin on the 18.5 mile run, I got out on the bike for the first time in a month.
It was a new setup for the TT bike, and I had the powertap on it. Went and did a 25 mile ride after work, only to find it took me 1:08 to do. I averaged 21mph and 200 watts. I can't wait until I actually get to go hard and see what I can do! All that running just made me MEAN!
Just for a reference, this course that I used to ride(the same one I just rode) was completely smooth. Now it has chip and seal on half of it. I used to ride it hard, and my best time was 1:06, for the 40k. This time I was out testing the powertap, taking it easy at first, then keeping it under a leash once warmed up.
I have around 100 new songs on my itunes. Thanks to Magan. And some generous gift cards for Christmas!
I got some new camo from the Sportsmansguide.com, waterproof baby! I'm really wanting to go turkey hunting one of these days.
Marley and Me, the movie about the dog, is very sad at the end. It was kinda good though, Magan and I went to see it the other night.
Last night, I taught a bunch of basics at Karate. Work hard, fight hard. Well, some of the guys wanted to grapple. Hmmmm, I haven't done that in a year or so. And I haven't even done any stand up fighting in a couple of months. So we do some grappling. Eventually I start grappling with Spicer, Chris Spicer, who is a pro at that MMA thing, 200 pounds of fighter. He was stronger and more technical than I was. But I lived long enough-5minutes.
Check out their website:http://deathrowmma.com/

Well I gotta go, Mom's birthday is today, and we're taking her out!

2009-01-06T11:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5W58LoiSEQ&NR=1

I was crying after seeing this. The third guy is doing ballarina stuff. The guy on the far right looks like a monkey. The 6th from the right looks....slow.

It's the new year

2009-01-02T06:36:00.000-08:00

2008 was good. 2009 will only be beter.
I was sick, kinda, going into christmas. So I didn't run or ride any. I haven't ridden since the cross races, and I've done a 15 miler the week before Christmas while running. I was hoping I could get the legs used to some long pounding miles before I trudged into a marathon on Janurary 18th.
So being sick and not training a month before something a hard as a marathon, and never having done one, I began to wonder. No worries, the sickness would be gone in a day or two and I'll be good to go!
On the 26th Magan and I left for Goldthwait, to visit her family and go hunting. I took every advantage I could to get out and kill something. I had no choice....the sickness lingered, and I wasn't going to do a run only to have 3 more days added onto the sickness.
The first day I sat on a hill, no blind, just me with the wind to my face. Deer came out, but I waited and shot a raccoon.
The next day I went back, same spot, passed on some deer and shot a doe, which is in fact a female deer. Shot through the heart! Loading her was more difficult after tracking her, by myself, carrying her down a mountain by myself, and putting her on the 4 wheeler by myself. We ended up using that doe for bait for some bobcats down by the river.
The next morning I woke to go in a stand with the big deer. Magan's cousin, Mark, who owned the land, needed to manage the population. So I was to shoot not a big deer, but a certain one he didn't want. We saw 15 bucks, most of which would've been 12+ points had they not broke off all their antlers in fighting. These pretty semi-tropheys were lucky I couldn't shoot. The deer that I was supposed to shoot never showed, and lucky for him...I was jones'n to kill again.
That night, we drove to Fredricksburg to go to the Rock Box. It's a funny show, and we saw the christmas version.
here's the doehemian rhapsody, about Texas Hillcountry deer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-rc3QPR_OI&feature=related
Jason would love it there! It's beter live.
Then on Monday, I was out again. I was in a makeshift blind in the fenced off exotic animal area. I was after a blackbuck. He was the only one left, and Mark didn't want him there anymore. I was more than happy to be out again, but I've yet to see him, and was wondering if he was still alive! We drove around, looking at areas he could be at, and saw nothing. Then we flushed him out. I saw him, and was super ready, adrenaline pumping. I was looking for a shot like a whitetail deer, but never got the opportunity. This thing was fast, and could disappear in a heartbeat. Mark told me I'd have to shoot him african style....on the run.
I'd stalk up to where he 'could' be, and eventually flush him out....he'd run, through trees, and I'd shoot my singleshot toward him. Never getting him.
Hours went by, me stalking, not trying to spook the zebra and addax, and occasionally taking a bad shot.
I came back, after lunch, to try again. I located him after an hour, and began the stalk. This time, I thought about what I was doing wrong, and corrected. I led the deer, and took a calmer shot.
I ended up shooting right behind the ribs....which is a bad shot, but I also didn't want to hit the front, as it would be a great mount. It took some good hours, and lots of energy, but this deer/antalope is sure pretty, and worth it.
Guess what, I felt beter after killing that deer.
I finally return home....not sick anymore, and get a good 9 mile run in. It feels ok. But it feels like it takes a long time....my mind isn't used to it anymore.
New Years was fun, the normal gang came over to the house....played dominos, and I played some Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii.
On New Year day...I went for an easy jog....around 6 miles. I kept going and exploring and ended up doing a 14 mile run, with some walks every 25 minutes for 1 minute, it took just over 2 hours. I'm thinking I can do the Houston Marathon in 3:30 or less. If I was training beter, and longer, I would go for under 3 hours....but starting a month and half before something that long is just too much to ask your body to do.
I was planning on doing the cross races this weekend, and missing the E2(torture test) since I haven't ridden any. But after being sick, I might miss both, and just try to get some runs.

Now I need to go plan for this weekend....and see if I need to sign up for Leadville.

2008-12-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

What a week. I was pumped up to do the Dave Boyd memorial Texas Dare. The race was at Double Lake this year, and had no zipline. The team would be myself, Shaun Alimghty, Patti, and a HART guy-Johnathan.
Waking up early and getting the drive wasn't so bad, as it only took 45 minutes. Getting to see Charles, Sarah, John Abrams, and Judy(Dave's family) was neat. Cheryl even showed up for a bit, which was great to see her too.
Our team had great transition support, with Magan, Peggy and Nancy going after it. Feeding 4 hungry team MOAT members isn't so easy.
The race started off with a 3 mile run. Then a 7 mile run to the boats. We took over the lead from Vignete during this leg. Then we got in the 4 man boat, and proceeded to an island. We were talking and paddling good....but the wind was blowing like crazy. The waves were big, and coming from all directions. Shaun, the boat guy, was really worried, and thought about turning around and forgetting the points....it was too dangerous. But we kept going. Then about a minute after I took a big hit of water on the lower half of my body, we flipped the boat. In the middle of Lake Livingston, we flipped the boat.
The initial shock of very cold water over the whole body was taken pretty well. Since I was in front, I turn to see Patti freezing and eyes bigger than the moon. She was so worried. I gave her my paddle, and her and Johnathan started drifting to shore, while Shaun and I hung on the boat...unable to flip it back over. We sat there. Slowly letting the current push us to shore. Shaun was so cold his little legs started cramping. I too started getting the shivers really bad. Then we saw Vignette coming, in 2 boats. They paddled straight to Patti and Johnathan to help them out. I thought....WTF? Why not help the boat out first. Then I saw Rick Sanders(the race director) and John Abrams coming to our aid in a john boat with an 8 horse power motor. They grabbed the front string, and slowly....VERY SLOWLY, pulled us to shore. They were out there to tell everyone to turn around, the water was too dangerous to paddle on. So when they saw another team just coming out of the cove into the open water, they left us to go tell them to go back. We sat there for another 5 minutes and finally got pulled to shore. We were soaking wet for at least 20 minutes....probably around 30.
Vignette was nice enough to make sure we got out of the water, with the boat, before leaving to continue racing.
MOAT on the other hand, was border line hypothermic. While we took off our wet tops and put on Jackets from Rick and John Abrams to get warm by a bar-b-que pit at a house we 'borrowed', we noticed the rescue boat had flipped! John Abrams and Rick were up their waist in water!!!
We sat by this grill, using it to warm up, as we shivered violently. Until a neighbor was wrangled up into giving us a ride to the start of the paddle leg in his suburban. Once at the start, we sat by a fire, just starting to stop shivvering and starting to 'feel' warmth....key word is FEEL!
We decide to keep racing at this point, and just as the last place team is running up to check the point.
The 7 mile run back was brutal. Legs were numb,and the blisters I got on the way out were in full force on my soft feet. We manage though....we are like Spartan men, taught to feel no pain, show no mercy, and never retreat.
We passed a few more teams, and was treated to a bike ride on the next leg. Several dismounts, and remounts later, after crossing log after log. We pass a few more teams. only to have Johnathans chain break,and have them pass us again. We get going, and repass them once again. And the last bike section was riding around the course....which we passed Vignette. Only for me to have my handlebar taken out by a vine. I felt like Lance Armstrong on Luz Ardenden with the musset bag. We put time in on the other teams there, but the last leg was a run/nav. We were with Vignette during the start, and were chasing a team 10minutes up. Somehow, we got stuck on point 14, only to roll through the rest. We figure another 8 miles of running was enough to cap of about a marathon worth of running during the race. We ended up getting 3rd, with HART getting 2nd, and Vignette taking the well deserved win. Peggys food was eatten in mass after the race.
I was in bed as soon as I was home, and out again the next day, doing the Cross Through the woods in the Woodlands. I was sore. I've never ran that much. But I wanted to support the cross scene in the Houston area.
The turnout could've been beter, but the course was SPOT ON! Dave would've loved it.

Kevin Koen goes off the front early, while I do my usuall warm up during the race, only to pass everybody and then start racing. Lawson and Aaron rode strong, but I wasn't going to let them be dragged up to Kevin so easy. I attacked on the barriers and got a gap and started bridging up to Kevin.

I thought the time was only halfway done, after getting his 30 second lead cut down to 15. So I took an easy lap to recover from some harder efforts. Then I saw one lap to go, and knew it was over. I rode in after having a really fun race on a fun race course. Roots, sand, dirt, grass, pavement, turns, straights, mud, and hills....the course had it all!

So I wake up early today(monday) to get a hunt in with Robin Messina, my karate instructors wife. We're hunting pigs, unless she sees a deer, which you might just assume is dead as she is jonesin' to get one!
I see nothing all morning, and I walk to Robin to go to the truck. She tells me she was right next to them, but they woke up from bedding down and she never saw them. So instead of walking to the truck, we walk over to where they might be. We walk silently, and have full camo on. Then, about 10 yards away we spook two pigs! Robin squats, and I have my gun on them. We stay still enough, and they don't see us. They're just sitting beind some brush. I ask if she's gonna shoot, and she's waiting on me. Well, I didn't have a good shot, so I walk slowly to get a beter position. Then more pigs are showing up out of the high grass. They are starting to move away from us....so I have to take a shot.
Now before you read the rest, you must know I am shooting a 30.06. It's a single shot gun, that I normally use hollowtip bullets. I recently bought some hard tips, and don't know how they perform....I was hesitant to use them, but decided to give them a go.
SO.....this pig I shoot at is walking away, not even close to being turned sideways(like I'd prefer). I shoot. I hear squeeling as I see the other pigs starting to run to the woods nearby. My gloves hamper me from getting another bullet in quickly. I reload, and walk a few feet to see the pig I shot with guts hanging out, and hurting. I aim and fire again, ending it quickly. I see something fly in the air about 25 feet off the ground. Hmmm?
I run in the woods to see if I can get another pest. I don't see one, so Robin and I do a quick loop and come back to the pig.
When coming up close, the intestines were hanging out(I didn't put this picture up, as it was very graphic). The bullet went in clean on one side, and ripped a hole about a foot wide in the other side! The second shot was in the head, going in right behind the eyeball to exit on the other side, with brains spilling out.....and his ear removed! That was what was flying up in the air. Here's some proof....

I don't know how much meat will be good, but we got one pest out of the woods, and it only suffered for 3-4 seconds(for those that care). Next time, I might jump on one and ride him and shoot his little friends, then take my knife and get him too.

2008-12-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the Dallas Cowboys. The game was 13-3. A ten point lead. Then Pittsburg kicks a field goal, and it gets lucky and goes in after hitting the post. No worries, 13-6. Then the officials make a bad call, the ball hits the ground and they call it a catch. Pittsburg knows this and hurries the next play, and why Dallas never calls a timeout or challenge is beyond me. So Pittsburg then goes and gets a big yard play. The next play is a 3rd down play, and the ref's mark it a foot more, and so it's 4th and inches. SO they go for it, only to really make about 1 inch, and they give them 4. So go figure they go and score that drive, and then Romo hucks another interception. IF they just get to the playoffs, they'll be good to go. If not, I'll be more pissed than a bull at a Red Day Parade while getting a cattle prod up the butt.

Errr. So Thursday I tought Karate. The parents love me. I must really teach kids the good morals and values they deserve to be taught. I see lots of tallent in those kids. And some could use a bit more. But they are all fun to be around, as long as they're laughing with me, and not at me.
I skipped hunting on Thursday, to hunt Friday. Go figure, Scooter couldn't go. So I practiced shooting some with the Bow. Then watched a movie that night. In the middle of the movie Scooter and Emily come over, and give gifts to JT and Jennifer and Grandma(Magan's Dad, mom, and grandma). I wonder WHY, and soon realize it's not for Christmas. They gave them baby shirts that say I'm the best Grandparent. So, Emily is pregnat!
Saturday was my first cross race this year, besides yetticross. I wasn't expecting much out of my legs, as I had only ridden a month ago at Adventure Race nationals, and have only done runs since then. After starting in the back, I move through the 20 guys and settle in 4th. Brian Fawley was killing it, and Mitch Comardo was chasing. I had Kevin Koen a few seconds up, and a big group on my wheel. I took two laps to realize that I wasn't going to hurt too bad, and had some power in the legs. And after learning the course a little beter, I picked it up and got a gap on the big group. I passed Mitch, as he flatted, and rode the rest of the race in 3rd. I took the last 15 minutes and took a strole to the finish line, pushing minimal amounts.
Sunday the course was cool. Some drops, climbs, twisties. Unfortunatly I didn't have my skills dialed in yet, and had to lose time in all the skillful sections. I think if I rode more that wouldn't be a problem. But, I was with Fawley, who was killing it again, Koen, and the boy. Fawley opened the gap on the first lap, and we rode around fighting for 2nd. The boy ended up dropping back to who knows what place, and I practiced some skills on the twisties. The open sections were easy, and I never pushed super hard. So things seem to be working in my master skeem of things.
I'm super pumped about doing the Texas Dare on Saturday, in memory of Dave. Unfortunatly, I'm filling in for Carlos, and Justin is now out of the picture too. Where is Jason when you need him! I'll let Shaun figure out the teammate thing, thats out of my league.

2008-12-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

One thing about Leslie is, she likes to eat chocolate chip cookies. More so, she likes to eat MY chocolate chip cookies, that my mother makes me. Then she likes to make fun of me for having a mom that does stuff for me, while eating MY chocolate chip cookies. If you threaten to cut off her supply, she goes ape shit. Really, she goes Sheep shit over it. I'm serious....she goes 'baaaahhh'listic over it. She throws an 'ewwww'mungous temper tantrum.

Then one day I noticed, she ate 3 of the 4 turkey legs I brought from my Dad, who cooked them. I don't know if she likes my parents food. Or if she is a long lost Winkelmann sister. She rides well enough to be a Winkelmann. Shes tough as nails, like a Winkelmann. She hates paddling like a Winkelmann. She likes to laugh too....very much like a....you guessed it, like a Winkelmann.

I have more pictures of her eating....which is funny, because now that I think about it, thats all she does, eat and make fun of me....I guess I need to cut her energy sources once and for all and hopefully stop the onslought of jokes....I wonder how many times she's cryed from laughing about Primal Quest???

Anyway, here we have a shot of Shaun and I with our 1st place trophies at the Huntsville adventure race. It was a fun day in all. We went to El Chico afterwards, and Leslie proceeded to eat her meal(made for 2) and a Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream, and Apple Pie with Ice Cream.....then got something to go.

LOL. We love Leslie:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM Per Leslie's request

As for the past week, I've started Running, pretty much every day. At least 6 miles. I do it in a 7:30 pace, and will try to do for at least a month, to build base. I'll forgo riding, unless I feel like it, or its with a group....or at a race.
Thanksgiving was fun. We got to see Kerri and her 'fat' stomach. We ate lots, and watched the Cowboys win again!
Friday we were supposed to go to the Ren Fair, but held off because we thought it would rain. So Mark, Kelsey, Magan and I played Defend Your Castle. And Defend it we did!
Saturday we went to the Ren Fair. Weather was cold, damp and dreary. We should've gone on the sunny, warm Friday! We had fun, watched some shows, and I even saw Joe Noak get insulted by the insulter!
I got a solid 8 miles in on Sunday, while working out on the rings too. My chest is still having some pains when doing certain exersizes. That wreck last week really did me in.
I also ordered a bunch of winter clothes to hunt in. So next week I'll be ready to head out in the frigid outdoors to shoot stuff, with Gun and Bow! They'll never see it coming.

JailBreak

2008-11-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the Huntsville Jailbreak. I was able to get MOAT out with 3 teams this year. Shaun and I would race 2 person Male. Leslie and Ric would race 2 person co-ed. Magan and Bonnie would race 2 person Female.
We took 3 teams that 'could' win each division.
Shaun and my race went great. Besides me nav'ing a little off course in the first orienteer leg, we ended up in Transition area in 2nd. We left in 1st, and had a 10 minute lead in the first paddle section. Until we hit CP(Check Point) 6. We went to where it was, and didn't see it. So we went further, again didn't see it. Shaun checked the map and we fiddled around with where it should be. We see 4 teams barreling towards us....they haven't seen it either! We look around. Finally we determine it is not there, so we leave.
Our lead is only 4 or 5 minutes at this time and we get to the next O section(orienteer section). We hit the first one, of 4, easy. Then we go for the next. We can't see it! So we go back to the first one....Shaun takes a heading on his compass, and we were just to the left of where we went first. Again, no CP. As we head back, other teams catch up to us, and THEN we see it. Shaun's asmuth was set to Georgia still(everything would be too far right). And the next two went the same...we were too far right.
We get back on the boats and have 4 other teams with us here. But it's Shaun and I, arguablly the best paddlers on MOAT right now. Well, at least better than last years winners! We get a minute gap at CP 11, and start for 12....where we apparently opened up a bigger gap.
The next leg was biking. We plotted the points, and headed off.
We rode kinda fast, enough to keep our lead, and ended up winning in 3:19. 2nd place was a Co-ed team, 9 minutes back, and 3rd was co-ed 2 minutes behind 2nd.
Ric and Leslie started the race great, they were in 1st and hit the trail 1st. They were the fastest team there. But running around the lake(7 miles) while everyone stays on the correct side of the lake, really hurts their chances. They made up lots of time, but that extra hour run really put the hurt on their overall time!
Magan and Bonnie SMOKED it! It was cool to see them as they were paddleing and biking, making up the time and taking a SWEET 2nd place. After getting 2nd, Bonnie was super tired from being up ALL day working, and Magan was happy to finish her first race! They said afterwards, that they could've gone faster on the first section, where they lost 20 minutes!!! It's awesome to see them do well.

Sunday was supposed to be the Dirty Du. I opted out because I didn't want to get up at 3 in the morning. So I went for a ride with Randy Hickl and Devon(his soon to be brother in law) and Magan. The ride was to the State Park and do a lap, then return. Just under 30 miles.
I ended up towing Magan, as her legs and back were hurting. And poor Devon has never ridden so far. While doing the loop, I was leading Randy and ?Matt?, and came around a corner, a bit tooo slow, and knocked a stick in my front wheel.
I proceeded to fly over the bar and do an abrupt endo! I cracked my neck, hurt my fingers on my left hand(somehow) and hit my sternum REALLY hard, knocking the air out of me. I was really nervous, as I just thought about Dave and his sternum. I toughened up and finished the ride, but with a sore chest the rest of the day. The ride back home was GREAT, Devon went to his friends house by this time, So it was just Magan, Randy and I. I towed Magan in a downhillish, tailwind for 6 miles. So much easier than a headwind, uphillish ride!

This week is Thanksgiving, so have a great one to all that read, and especially if you are in IRAQ!
The day after T day, Mark will be in town with Kelsey, so we plan to hit the Ren Faire(renaisance festival). Do a 10k run on Saturday, with some extra training afterward. Hopefully a good ride on Sunday, and start prepairing for the Texas Dare on the 13th of December. I might hit a few cross races the weenend before to get in extra fit shape.

USARA Nationals

2008-11-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

Quick story. We pulled out at 13hrs because of a rear flat that would not keep air in it. Well, not just one flat, we had 4 flats! Go figure it was my bike. Shaun was pressured into doing ALL the nav, even on the bike. Which is where Dave normally did it. We paddled like MOAT does, making up big time. Even the cold river couldn't stop my blistered hands from holding the freezing paddle. I HTFU and did it. Now getting out and carrying the boat had some pains shoot in my back as the team switched off lugging the 80 pound boat on land.
Dart/nuun did a great race and won. They told us they kept looking behing on the boat and bike legs because they KNEW we were coming.
After getting warm and sleeping all night, we woke up Saturday not knowing what to do. Leslie and Shaun decided that staying for the awards and handing out congratulations was the right thing to do. SO we sat. And waited. Finally we decide enough of this and went out for a hike and some Nav practice. I did get us lost, but I still don't understand how completely!
We show back to the hotel,and find out that we're late to the awards. So for us we are on time. The awards was outside, at night and I can't tell you how cold it was with 4 thick layers on my top. We talked to HillCountry Bicycle shop and ate some pretty decent food. Cheered on all those that did the race, as they suffered for the good part of a full 24 hours.
Troy Farrar invited us over to watch the Tech vs Oklahoma game and Leslie was more inclined to go when she heard their would be liquid drinks available. The game was good, with Tech winning, and everyone watching was from Austin, was against it, wanting Texas Longhorns to be higher in the rankings.
We then discussed some rules and what if's with Hartley and Patrick. Then watched some funny youtube videos. What you are about to watch are some of those videos.

Thanks Chance: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/154bc4bd1b/drunk-history-vol-25-featuring-jack-black-from-drunk-history-jack-black-and-derekwaters

My halloween costume was brought up and this video was shown: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=819185764

And Leslie was enjoying all the Flight of the Conchords.....business time, if thats what you're into, the most beautiful girl.

2008-10-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Troy Fraske called me to see if I would do a race with him, Kevin Koen, and Ric Tinney. SURE! We would race under Bike Lane, for 24 hours at Rocky Hill Ranch, in the Expert 4 man division.
Well, Kevin got sick a couple of weeks ago, and was bummed, so I called up Noel Rueter, all around good guy, and super strong bike rider to take Kevin's spot.
We started the race with the best support system in the world. Peggy(mom) and Magan(girlfriend) were brought to the table by me. They stand alone to do the best job as support. But added to that, was Laura, brought by Ric. She brought another level of support. And Kevin Koen came and helped set up, and brought Cameron.
Race time, was 12, noon. I started the lemans run, and with idiots wanting 50bucks they outkicked me by 10 yards, but was soon blown past by me in the ally. I take the whole shot with Pete Stewart rubbing my back wheel on the first climbs(literitly). I rode conservativly, trying not to overdo myself the first lap, and to ride smart and learn the course. I came in around 3 minutes ahead of 2nd place, Austin Bikes' Sol Frost. We got off to a good start.
Ric would ride second, then Noel(who showed up late after watching his kids' sporting activities) and then Troy.
Ric wound up taking the fastest lap so far, with a 50minute romp in the woods.
With around an 8 minute lead, Noel went out and stomped some power and put a good 10minute gap with Troy getting in some good times to keep a lead.
Lap 2 for me, lap 5 for the team... I take off going for a fast lap. I big ring everything, pushing hard on the climbs....not as hard as I used to push though when doing the fastest lap. I felt more in control, never breathing heavy, just letting the legs work. I soon caught some slower riders, most of whom would get out of the way, but 1 out of every 5 riders didn't know what to do....or was just stubborn. I ran into 5 riders this lap, and none of them were at a good time....at a bottom of a hill, in the mix of a single track with the tightest turns, in the creekbed and roots everywhere. I love how they hold you back, then when you pass them, they want you to hurry up and get by fast. I stay on trail most of the time, taking the wrong line a couple of times, but end up getting in under 49 minutes. Good enough for the fastest lap.
After everyone got in a single lap, twice. We switched off for 2 laps a goround. With darkness looming, it would allow for a longer rest time, and the ability to stay warm after getting warmed up. I got in the dusk lap, where light is so weird, and it is super hard to see anything. And the first real night lap. Afterwards, around 9pm, I got some food in me and took a good 5hour rest. I woke up and was ready to roll at 2am. I got my bike in order, put chammy cream on, did some stretches and finally got the pass off from Troy. I head out, feeling good. The legs weren't sore or tired, and I wasn't sleepy. This was going to be a peice of cake. Then about 10minutes in, my stomach growled. I haven't eatin for over 5 hours. Normally 3 is too much for me. I could feel the power decline, as the legs just wouldn't push the gears. I relied a lot of skills to keep momentum high, at such a slow speed. Eventually I finished the first lap....in an hour or something rediculous. But, I had to go out again, feeling the hunger, almost a bonk feeling, I slowed way down. Eric Hess came up and I tailed him for a while, before somehow passing him. I finished as strong as I could, and knew my 6 laps were done. So I just needed to let the team do it's thing now. I got some good food in me, and proceeded to sleep until morning.
The team was doing great, taking there 2 lap pulls and allowing each other to relax and hang out. I ate some more, as it looked like I was going to need to do another lap.
I set up the single speed, and got ready.
The last lap was fun, I RAILED the single speed out there, and although I lost time on the jeep roads, the single track was OWNED! The great thing about the single speed is the quiteness. I ride up on riders, super stealth like, and then let the rear hub(which is super loud) make the bzzzzzzzzzzzz. Most riders move out of the way then, feeling bad I guess as I coast while they pedal....uphill. But then again, 1 out of every 5 riders 'THINKS' he is fast enough, or that the hill we are climbing is short enough for me to wait. One guy in particular made me laugh. We're on the back section, when you are doing a little climb, and are encountered with a steep rooty climb that is one spot where you might have to walk. The guy is on the lower slopes(of a shallow rise) and knows I'm there. I'm being patient, and riding very slow and at a low RPM. This guy, after 20 seconds of riding, tells me to let him know when is a good time. Right after, he takes a line to the left of a big root, which is the exact line I take. He slows down and I am even with him. I tell him I'm on his right, although it was an accidental pass, and the guy goes towards me, messing up his line and taking mine. He kinda gets pissed that I didn't do something, but I just laughed as he killed all the momentum, that would've wasted maybe 1 second if he just pulled off and let me by, instead of wasting 5 seconds after 20 seconds of slowing me down.
I think that lap time was around 49minutes....the scoreing was messed up, but It was a good lap.
We ended up with 26 laps, we probably could've done 27, and won the race.
Sean Ansley did Solo Sport and ended up 3rd. Brutal performance. Sleep tight:)
The Cowboys lost again...to the Rams. I'm not sure what is their deal, but it needs to switch PRONTO. My fantasy team, which is pretty good on paper, SUCKS. We scored 11 points. An average total would be around 30. Some guys score 60. So yeah, I'm not even caring about that right now.

2008-10-13T08:30:00.001-07:00

This past week, I've done a lot of good training. I hope that makes for an easier 24hr race!
Wednesday, I did YettiCross, felt superb, but a rear wheel that doesn't spin for some reason lays culprit to me missing out of the real race....at the front. Afterwards was a blast, as Magan and I, met with Shaun Almighty, Bonnie, P, and Cheryl(with the girls), and Ric and Laura at Double Daves pizza, for some Kareokee. I signed Shaun up to sing Johnnie Cashs' Folsom Prison. He even did the "Hello, I'm Johnnie Cash" before the song. All the girls ended up singing "I like big butts" by Sir Mix A Lot.
Friday I had two spin classes, and felt good about doing two, as I missed my long run on Thursday that I had planned. I opted for some BBQ at a Repulican party, with Lois Kolkhorst. BBQ sauce on everything.....NICE, REAL NICE! Then instead of going home to do the run, I was lured into watching a new Office and then followed by a SNL on Thursday(about the presidential elections). Tina Fey looks just like soon to be Vice President Palin.
On the early morning hours of the weekend, I was able to get a good training race in the half marathon. I felt good and was pacing myself in the begining. At mile 2, for some reason, my PQ knee hurt again. So, I pulled off to the side, did my stretches for a minute then proceeded running. It still hurt. So I pull off again, do some more stretches and wait for Magan. I jog with her for the next few miles and around mile 4 is when I decide to just finish what I started. I was way back in the pack now, but I wanted to get a good run in. I ran my pace, never breathing hard, not hurting in the legs, and the knee felt fine. I kept going, picking off runner by runner. Then the second lap, I just kept going. People would comment on how fresh I looked, and I felt that way too. I figured I was running about an 8 minute pace, with the effort I was putting forth. When I got to the finish line, my legs had a little fatigue in them. My knee didn't hurt. So I gave my finish medal to Peggy, and went out to find Magan. I ran another 4 miles with her and got a solid run in 2.5hours worth of time.
My 13.1 mile time was 1:43. My 17mile time was 2:17. Although my legs felt the last 4 miles more, even though I was running a slower tempo. Magan did great by gutting it out to finish with not much training, but ended up getting dehydrated in doing so and was bed ridden the next day.
Sunday's training was the Lake Bryan MTB race. The hip flexors and calves were a little tight, but I felt I should do two races...the PSE and SS. I ended up just riding the PSE class. I didn't have much fun trying to 'race' out there with so many turns, no flow, and just a few spots to really pour it on. That is a course that would be fun to ride, but I just don't find it fun to race on. I ended up 8th, after 2:15 of riding.
Luckily Shaun was there, and we got the canoe of his truck and got in a solid single blade paddle. We worked on technique, and even had some fun poking at Jason's horrible paddle skills.
I try to end my weekend by cheering on the Dallas Cowboys to a victory. But wouldn't you know it, the Cardinals somehow run back the first kick, and the offense can't get it together. Folk misses a FG attempt. And we still end up coming back to tie the game to go into OT. Dallas gets the ball first, and does nothing with it. Try to punt, and get blocked and the Cardinals take it in for a score. The Boys need to get there game back....better to lose now than later, when it counts.

State RR

2008-10-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I got back to the race scene this past Sunday. I'm not saying I was a racer, I was just at the scene.
The past few weeks have been hecktic. It started with me 'supposed' to do the state RR a month ago, then the following week do Huntsville. I was on target for both after spending some time at altitude the previous weeks. Then the hurricane hit, which canceled the races. I was resting the week before and took the week of the hurricane and most of the next week off. I lost all motivation, except for doing some cross races midweek.
I just found out that I am supposed to do a 24hr adventure race nationals with iMOAT's, Leslie and Shaun. So I hit some longer bike rides, 2.5hrs and 3.5 hrs the past two weeks. And started running again. When I found out that the state RR was rescheduled I wasn't sure if I 'could' do it. But planned on doing it just for grins.
Well, on Saturday night I was supposed to get together with 5 friends and play some dice games, and relax and eat lots of candy and cheese dips. A 7 o'clock start time was agreed on. I show up at 6:45 hoping to be home at midnight. NObody else is there. One guy is called out to find a kid who ran away from home, a kid whose father screwed our karate school a couple of years ago. The other two were at home dealing with a drunk driver who crashed in their yard. The wife of the guy who got called to find the kid, was home hanging a wild pig who was shot by a friend earlier that day. They needed to skin it and get the meat for the winter.
Two show up at 7:30 with the wild drunk story, and keeps us occupied telling how Mr. Hyvl, a heavyset, shorter, funny man had to tackle this guy.
The guy tracking the kid shows up with his story, and some words on how stupid the dad(guy who screwed the karate school) is. This was at 8:30. I go out and help hold the light so he can skin the pig.
At 10:30 we start playing. I get home at 3, wake up at 5, do the drive at 6:30 and get signed up at 8. I start the race at 8:20, and we finish at 11:45ish. Now you can see why I am late to things that start at a certain time....like YettiCross. Showing up 20 seconds before a race is just what I do.
86 miles of racing is way different than a 3.5hr ride around huntsville. I somehow had plenty of power, which is normally my limiter. But at mile 83 I had some issues with my hamstrings getting tighter than a poor guy on a budget in a recession. I lost contact with the main group(with 2 guys up the road), and was now stretching and hoping that the 20 guys who just left me(the group was whittled down significantly) would somehow slow up for a moment to allow me to catch on.
Well, I ended up getting gapped too much, and with minimal power to put out due to cramps if I did put some power out, I got on with a 5 person chase group. I knew the race was over then, so I wanted to at least win out of this group. We come to the finish hill, and Tyler Jewel is leading strongly. Eric Benz takes off and starts putting a gap. I react, and catch him as a suburban is blocking the finish, to beat him to the line. I had the power, but lost because I couldn't keep from cramping. I had a fun race, and got 86miles in my legs, which I wouldn't've gotten otherwise!
My fantasy football team is sucking. I need to just wait for next year. Maybe this guy playing tonight will score me lots of points!
And to supliment my training, I'm going to do something Jason would do. Probably go do a run later after work, like 8 miles. Then some karate if I have time. Do some yetticross on wednesday. Some other long run on Thursday. Two spin classes on friday. A half marathon on Saturday, then the MTB at Lake Bryan on Sunday. A couple of weeks of schedules like this and I'll be ready to race on Nov.8th(24hr AR).

Getting my life back on track

2008-09-26T08:38:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have been crazy. Like a five year old, thats eaten a lot of candy during Christmas crazy. If Dave passing wasn't bad enough, the next week through a hurricane our way. That wasn't so bad, as the wind and rain was at night. But once I woke up we had no power. That wasn't so bad, it was daytime, and I spent the day outside getting bit by fireants, and occasionally picking up limbs from my yard. Then it started getting rough. While we had the generator hooked up to the fridge, at night we would hook it up for a movie to watch. My family had my adventure racing stuff to use, headlamps, lanterns, and stuff to make it through nights beter. But then a curfew was in effect so I sat inside doing nothing besides watching movies.
So we finally get power, a week ago, emails, forums, and learning how to type again, it was all coming back to me. Then I was reminded about Dave. His memorial was Saturday. It was great. It had his bike, packs, shoes, clothes, and even the helmet he was wearing when he fell. That was tough.
I showed a little early, and saw tons of folks from the biking community, and adventure race community. The doctors and family I didn't know, but could tell he impacted there life pretty well. I sat next to Presley, and she was entertained by a picture book of Dave. She would point out pictures saying "theres you, and Dave!" That was hard.
Then evenone talked and spoke about Dave, Shaun and Patti hit it on the head, and Tommy and Dr Katz spoke of times I've never knew Dave experienced. I'm glad I met Dave, hung out with Dave, learned from Dave, and was able to do everything with Dave. I know a lot of people weren't that lucky.
This past week was full of getting back to work schedule, while picking up a 5 o'clock spin class to boot. I even got to do yetticross after not riding for a week and a half. The course was awesome, and I was glad I was bored to tears in the hurricane aftereffects to go for a run here or there. There was effectivly 3 spots where you had to get off and run. Which is where I attacked to get my gap.
I need to get to work now, and should post again sooner than last time.

RIP DB

2008-09-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

I suck at putting pictures, but you get the idea. Dave was so excited about being able to hunt Elk.
Dave and I summited San Luis the Friday before he fell. You can see the view from the camera, but climbing 14ers in person really makes it sweeter. Note how the clouds build up(we had to run down to get away from light snow/hail....and luckily no thunderstorms.

Those who've hiked with Dave see this view a lot. Not even a mountain could slow him down.

Dave and I take a break in a river while riding Hermosa Creek...a trail I've never rode before after all my time in Durango. It was amazing how peaceful it could be while out there in the middle of nowhere. He ripped it on the single speed on the way home.

Dave a week before the fall, climbing the exact mountain he fell on. You have to go up this road, a monstrosity that a 4X4 has trouble with. Dave apparently rode his bike half way and hiked the rest that fateful day.

So I messed the picture up, but you could see Daves lighter side, and like always thinking of others. He thought Aubrey and Presley would love to see him and Bugs together.
I think this is Culebra. The 1st 14er we climbed on the trip. I kinda forced Dave into these pictures sometimes, and I'm glad I did now.

Now I will explain exactly what happened. From what we gathered and were told. First I'll show you the mountain he fell off of.

<< Where the blue line is where the trail is. Where is comes out of the trees, that is where he was at 1pm and decided to climb. If you go straight up from where the blue comes out of the trees, you can see a little notch in the mountain. this is is where he fell, 200ft down to the scree where he was found.

Now that you have a picture of WHERE he fell, and what the mountain looks like, this is what we've peiced together(This is more than likely what happened, given everything we know about Dave, his GPS, what people have said, and what we concluded)

Dave started climbing early that Wednesday morning, around 5:30. He took his Spot tracker, and it automatically updates every 10min, unless the signal gets obstructed(trees, clothes, rocks can cause this). He rode his bike, or hiked his bike up the trail, as there was a bike missing from the RV, that I was riding earlier that week. He apparently locked it somewhere, as I know he bought a lock and used it when we climbed San Luis on Friday. He hiked up 2 mountains, Ellingwood, and Blanca and at 1pm he was where I showed you the blue arrow comes out of the trees. He must've decided the weather was good and had enough time to climb. He was going, at a rapid pace apparently, and got to where it says "summit" by 3pm. He was wearing his climbing helmet, as he said he was worried about rocks falling from climbers above him. This mountain apparently is a 'sketchy' one, with loose rocks, steep ascents/descents, and they even have some ropes to help you in some places.

We read on 14ers.com that a couple was climbing and saw Dave....HAMMERING, and they said a storm blew in around 3:30 that day.

Dave was not hurt, he was not distressed pushing his Spot button for help, he for some reason(probably the storms fault) either couldn't see, got blown around, slipped, or something of the like, with the fact that Dave was probably hurrying off the mountain. He fell, and was instantly killed from his sternum breaking and puncturing his heart. He was found Friday morning, and had several injuries, from a broken ankle, nose, cheek, jaw, teeth. It is frightening to tell you what his helmet looked like. To see the abuse that his clothes took, his helmet now looking like a golfball, I just cannot fathom what went through Daves mind those last moments. It often keeps me up at night playing what happened over and over in my head. I follow it up with thinking of good thoughts, which is easy to do when you think of Dave.

It was a sad day indeed when we heard the news, I feel very sorry for Cheryl, and his family. I know just being a friend of Daves is hard to handle.

I plan to help finish Daves list of 14ers for him, 16 more. And I will add one more for sure, Little Bear. RIP Dave.

2008-09-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

I took so many pictures, my camera is dead. I was up in Colorado/New Mexico climbing 14,000 foot mountains. I went with Dave, Joe, and Ric. I ended up getting about half the time climbing on Foot and the other half on the bike. By weeks end my legs could feel it.
The worst part was coming home....I was a little 'sick' with sinus/allergies when I went up there. Then while there, I felt beter. Until I hit Durango. My left ear was stopped up and I could feel my throat hurting. It all got beter as we left and went to higher elevation. Then I went to Denver, a lower elevation(6000ft) and flew out, to Houston. My ear popped during takeoff...then while landing I was in very bad pain, as it was like it wanted to pop but wouldn't. I was basically deaf in that ear the rest of the night. Then when I went to bed it cleared up. I woke up 2 hours later, with my right ear, the opposite one, hurting bad. Ear aches suck.
I ended up going to the hospital and got it checked out. Got some meds and took the rest of the long weekend coupped up inside.
So I missed some crucial time training, but I did however fix up the singlespeed for the next MTB race. I lightened it up from the previous weight.
Bar-40g saved
Stem-10g saved
Cranks-140g saved
Shock-1.7lbs gained-pending this shock works, it's .2lbs lighter than my previous shock, with beter mojo.

2008-08-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

I guess people are pissed about this awesome movies funniness. I mean, Robert Downey Jr dresses up like a black dude and people are calling him or the movie racist! I find it hilarious.
"I'm just a dude, trying to be a dude, playing another dude."
How's this, if you call that racism, then you yourself are racist for the pure fact that you take a comedy and turn it into something to complain about.
Plus Jack Black is on fire in this movie. And Ben Stiller does his normal funny dumbass guy thing. The opening minutes of the film had me cracking up, and Mathew McConneguhgheee and Tom Cruise was actually funny, but trying to be, not like that time on Oprah when he was jumping around for Scientology.
This past week Huntsville held host to the Stan Musial World Series. I hit a couple of games, saw some good baseball: some guys hit good, some guys caught good, some guys got hit in the head with a pitch, and some guys got kicked out by the ump. Typical ballgame. I was nursing a sore throat and drainage, so I was spitting up stuff a lot, and fit in pretty well there. I didn't fit in very well on Saturdays ride though. I stuck out pretty hard, getting yelled at twice.
The first time was for spliting two guys that took up one lane. The guy told me he'd knock me off my bike the next time I did that, and if I wanted to ride like that go ride with the race team.{Which to my defence, I tried finding, but I can't keep up with who's where and when}. I wonder how he'd go about knocking me off my bike? That would suck to get knocked off the bike by some older guy, and break my colarbone.....it'd suck worse than not being able to jump a curb and breaking my colarbone.
So with lots of work done on Saturday, I tenitivly went and rode Huntsville on Sunday, with the single speed. I raced hard the first lap to catch the bikelane guys, then on the second lap had the wood layed to me by Mitch riding his SS. If he gets a good start, put money on him at Hville!
And finally, I start my first Fantasy Football league tonight. I wanted to pick the Cowboys, but they told me that wasn't possible. So, I guess I'll just pick the Dolphins instead.

2008-08-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

GET SOME!

I'm a procrastinator. Plain and simple, here is some primal quest stuff that I just found on tube you:

This is what they showed us a day before the race, just a little preview of what we were in for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmA9zOnLtyA

Here I found a video of the lone river section. I'm in the red helmet at the beginning....procrastinating on paddling.{not really, cause I know Jason will say something about me not paddling and looking at the freaking map again, but the boat behind was supposed to be the lead boat, so I was just keeping it strait until they passed us}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bXIyo3nrJw&feature=related

This video is just a warmup 24hr race we did to get ready for PQ.....I'm procrastinating to show the last video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as8Khh9kOnE&feature=related

OH JESUS CHRIST!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-cKc9_tJG4

Well, this blog is lost without a sum up of my past week.
Last Friday I drove to see Andy....what was his last name? Slimmy, Slappy, Swammy, Spammy, Sp..., Speer? After a fun night, and eating at Babes, we hit the sack, only to wake up early to drive to Garland to do a group ride at 7:30. My first 55mile ride in a couple of months. One bottle won't cut it next time. While riding a rider, Mario, said he was going to the wedding I was going to later that night. Turns out, he was freaking a murderer, and killed everyone on the ride(figuratively speaking of course).
So at the wedding, we go to the chappel for a quick sermon with the vows or whatever they call it nowadays. Short and sweet....it was a good wedding!
Then on to the reception. Magan and I came in ready to party. We gave the waiter $20, in case we wanted seconds and ate and drank a little until JMac and MRS>MAC arrived. It was cool to be at a cyclists wedding, as the table we just talked about stuff that was actually interesting to me! Plus there were more skinny people there than the normal hippos that show up. ARRRRRRRRRR{chewbacca noise}.
So we ended up cutting a rug once all the older folks left, and I dance and sang Lil'Johns "get low"{to the windoooooow, to the wall, wall, til' the sweat drop down my ba.........}you get the idea.
The next morning Magan and I left, said our goodbyes to Andy and Meaghan, and were gonna hit another group ride. We show up, on time for once, and don't see anyone. So we drive home.
Waiting for us is Cheryl, Aubree, and Presley. We hang and play, and swim, and ride the wagon for 5 hours. Then I watch the olympics.
The rest of the week is normal, I think, besides getting sick and not riding any. Mom did have a bad dream and woke up screaming and hitting my dad. It was kinda scary.
Anyways, there is more fun going on out there, and I'm gonna live it up every bit I can!

State TT

2008-08-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do the TT. Then again, since I had no training I had serious thoughts about not going. Over the past year and a half I have gotten pretty good on my TT bike. However, not being on that particular bike in the past couple of months, and trying to do a longer type TT is a bad idea.
So knowing that I'd be going at 11ish, I figured it would be hot. So I put my resources together and got a very cold camelback bladder under my skinsuit.
Last year I did a 56:36 or something. I had been on the TT bike some last year, but didn't do any specific intervals for TTing.
This year, I knew what the course offered and brought knowledge to the table. I started smart, and kept my heart and power low. I kept a steady pace of about 28 mph for the most part, until my legs wouldn't produce power, or get tired from the constant pedaling. A steady 26mph would get me recovered to get back to 28. I was also saving some for the headwind return. And after making the turn in just over 27min I felt good. My legs were tight though, from the awkward position, or maybe the 2 minute warmup I got to do because I showed up late.
Non the less, I saw around 6 guys infront that I 'could' catch. About a minute to two minutes ahead.
I hit the headwind and felt that 24mph was a reasonable pace. Nothing would go below this, and I would get spurts of 26mph. I passed some blown riders, I think the heat really got to them. My camelback was freezing my lowerback at this point, that and my bodys natural tendancy to like heat, made me feeling ok.
The last few miles were the rollers, and I picked up my pace to catch 4 riders, and almost my 30 second man(who was around a minute at the turnaround).
I finished in just under :57 minutes, but still felt ok. My hamstrings were very very tired/sore or whatever. I was only :20sec slower than the previous year, somehow. And this year I was riding out of the aerobars for sometime. Final results are still pending.
After the ride I needed to find my Team for the Team Time Trial(TTT). I drove around and found them sitting on a tailgate of a truck. 3 seconds later, I pull off the road to go talk to them, and I find my truck in a 3 foot culvert. The right wheel is touching the bottom, the left front, and right rear are touching the ground, and the left rear is sitting 18inches off the ground. It was so crazy how close I was to flipping the car. Mom and Magan were in and yelling in my ear, "why did you do that???". It was obvious that I wanted to test my trucks capability of not to flip! Uh, I didn't see it.
Magan had to crawl out my window, Mom sat in the back hyperventalating. I heard several people cleverly inform me that a tow truck just pulled someone out of the same culvert! Luckily, James from Southern Elite pulled us out with his 10 ton pull capacity truck. I have pictures, I just need a download to show the monstrosity of it.
It later turned out that my team couldn't race. One guy had a sons birthday, one felt he was going to be a weaklink, and the other was ready, but I was just too bummed to do anything about finding 2 more guys.

I heard from Mark, and he got 3rd on his latest sail boat race. I hope he at least named his ship the Derilict ship. And he needs one of those eyepatches too. Oh, and a little parret would be cool.

Nnamdi was down for his last week in Texas this past week. He's moving to New York. So we did what any good old friend would do, we fought. We put on pads and had a night of tough love. I got a black eye, and learned I was not very flexible anymore. We hit up the Main Event, and found that it's not unlimited games anymore, just $10 worth. They do have this very cool game that took several of our dollars. It's a punching machine to see how hard you can punch in newtons. I ended up getting the highest speed(71kph), breaking the previous record of the machine of 66kph. And the highest newtons of our group, 910. The funny thing was there was a bigger(muscular) UFC guy there who hit a 901. He was around 10 other people and was egging them on to beat his 901. Weak little Wink steps up and impressivley shows his skill with a 902. Just enough to shut his mouth. Nnamdi shut him up even more with some impressive kicks that were as hard as his punches(only weaker because he had to kick to the head level, and no follow through). Anyway's, Nnamdi and I had a time, we played volleyball, made a snowman, ate an iccee. I'll sure miss that guy.

So it's been two months....

2008-07-22T13:09:00.001-07:00

Thanks to friends, I finally remembered about updating this blog of mine. Which is wierd, because over the past two months I've done more things to talk about than normal. I mean, when talking to people, they normally ask whats up and I don't have anything to talk about. But now, it's a new ball game after telling them about Primal Quest. I still suck at conversations, but I can tell what happened at PQ pretty good.

I guess I can start off by catching, those that aren't in the know, up.

Jason has been gone for a couple of weeks now. Living in hotter than hell Iraq, and I'm not talking about the ladies. He say's it's like 140 degrees over there. So the 4 AM run he does doesn't sound all that bad afterall.

I used to think getting up at 4 AM sucked. And it does. But I also know that it's better than getting up at 2 AM. After doing PQ, I don't sleep like I used to. I want to, but I am up at 11 or midnight thinking about doing stuff. I make myself go to sleep, and wake up at 6 or 7.
Oh, and here's the whole shindig of what went down at PQ:
We started Monday morning. I felt good, a little too good. As we raced up the mountain I knew that the race would take a long time. I mean the 'cutoff' was 10 days. We made it to the top in a good spot, top 20. Then we headed down. Going down sucks more than going up, in my opinion. After making the first TA(transition area) in a couple of hours, we still had quite a bit of meat left on the bone to the next TA. We jogged, walked, and jogged some more. It got dark. We thought it'd take around 33 miles, but ended up being around 50. At 1AM we've been up a total of 15 hours, and got to a Checkpoint, with 6 miles to go. It was a river crossing. The rivers by the way, were up and flowing. They flowed more than MLK Street on 2Pacs birfday. We tenativly walked in the gushing river and found footing to be tough to get. My legs at this point were tired, and achy. But the ice cold water soon sent bone numbing chills throughout my body. My legs got numb and the pain went away! But it was dark, around 40 degrees and I was cold. So we jogged. Then had to cross another river. The next 6 miles were spent jogging, more to get the blood from freezing than anything else. We passed a couple of teams and got to TA in 6th or so.
We got 2 hours of sleep that night.
Woke up at 4 and was paddling by 5.
Dave and I in one boat, Shaun and Leslie in another. Did I say boat? I meant, a big blue rubber raft for two.
Now the river was on our side, pushing us along at 10-12 mph. We were making up time on other teams,as paddling is a strong suit of MOAT's. The rapids were tough, but we had dry suits on which kept us nice and dry in the frigid waters. I don't know when it was, around mile 17 I think, we hit a curve with a huge rapid that threw Dave and I out. We both were holding on to the raft and kept our feet up from avoiding getting caught in the rocks beneth us. Then I say something, but no response. Dave is gone. I don't know where he is, and I think that he's under drowning or something. I hold on and won't let the boat go. Shaun and Leslie though have already saved him....and left me out by myself. I take it upon myself to do or die....but more doing and less dying. I flip the boat. Unsuccessfully. Try it again. Didn't work. Then one more go, and I flip in over, and climb in. Find a etty(sp?) and get Dave transferred in. We finish the paddle around 8 AM and get ready for the river swim.
I get my big river board, suit up and hit the river. This part of the race was absolutly the funnest. The river pushed us again, and we only kicked to keep us in the good flow. I would try to hit all the big rapids, and you'd get bounced around and splashed and all.....but it was sooooo much fun. Shaun apparently smacked his thigh on a rock, making walking a difficult task. This 8 mile section of the race took 2 hours to do. At the Guadaloope in Tx, a 4 mile run took us 3 hours. Thats how much faster we went!
Once done with this section, we started another hike. This is where I started getting confused on what happened and when. I know it was a long hike. I know it was a hilly hike. I know it was a fun hike, besides that my feet were hurting and my IT band on my right leg started killing me. So I was down to a crawl with Shaun. Downhill was way more difficult than uphill now. I just wanted the bike leg to start soon. A bit of HTFU and gritting my teeth and we hit TA....on day 3, at 10 in the morning.
It was a bike leg! We started strong, on a gravel road. Then I flatted. Fixed it. Started strong again. Then same tire goes flat....for a different reason. Fix it again. We fly to the next TA and get some support here. I think this is when I ate a buffalo burger the size of a kitchen plate, and had some mighty fine fixin's. Then we headed out into an afternoon storm that had wind blowwing hard, and some rain. This was the only bad weather there(good for us as we picked up a tailwind for 15miles!). My knee started hurting as I feel off the pace, and was actually towed to the next CP. This is where a shot was delivered to my knee, giving me 3 hours of numbness, and only 20 more miles to the next CP where we'd hike again.
130 miles of total riding and we hit the last CP. Off to another hike starting at 2AM(day 4).
OH SNAP. Dave and I have the same pair of shoes(Montrails). I took a different pair(brooks) and he took the Montrails. He's a size 14. I'm a size 11. He got one of his, and one of mine. There was only one thing to do. He cut a big hole for his toes to hang out. We continued on and were walking when the sun was coming up. It was spectacular. Horses started running by us, and I shot some pic's with my camera. Then more horses came by and a lady yelping on a horse. I think we took a 5 minute catnap to recharge for the day here. But I know soon around here, by leg gave out. I had to stop. Shaun and Leslie were tired, and sat on the ground. Dave and I were talking....Dave:"We're quiting" Wink:"I'm not quiting". Dave:"You can't walk". WInk:"Just let me work it out". Dave:"Wink, think of all that we still have to do, we still have at least 3 hikes this long, and we just started this one, plus bike legs, and an O course that will be on rough terrain" Shaun goes and rubs out my leg. Wink:"I'm good." and we move on.
I started to figure out how to get rid of the pain, by stretching and rolling it out. I also figured out that if we kept moving the pain wouldn't come back, but once I stopped it got painful. It still hurt, and going downhill was the worst no matter what.
We made it along, hit another bike leg, and was moving along quite nice. I know this leg we kept getting tired, as it was day 5 and the sun has yet to come up. Dave was handing out caffine tablets, and everything else to stay awake. I sure didn't know that 2 equivilant shots of expresso had hit me. Found out that caffine doesn't work on ol' Wink. We hit a little bit of climbing, and some very cool roads in a canyon, saw tons of deer....literitly we saw hundreds of deer in a pasture. It looked very much like Jurrasic Park when they all ran away. But instead of dinosaurs, it was deer.
Then we hiked again.....I'm getting mixed up here. But I think it was a mountain range. Go figure! I am confuse with the Crazies, and the other range. We hit both, and both times I was a zombie. I know one we were lost, and it was getting dark. We had to get to TA and going downhill was tough. I think we ended up on the 'M' Trail. A downhill/uphill, swithback beast of a stupid trail. I was halucinating here....at stream crossing, I saw small crowds cheering for me, only to cross it and see they weren't there. I raced Leslie, unknowningly, at the hiking championships in Germany. I had a little leprechaun friend. ????Tell me about it! I know we were going so slow though. Dave started cracking the whip, keeping me moving. My knee was limiting us to only 1 or maybe 2 mph!!! I felt bad for slowing the team down like this, but I had no choice. I was lucky to still be able to walk! The craziest thing I encountered on this hike was my brain was so out of it, that I actually thought I was on this 'M' Trail which I've hiked before! I've never seen it, yet I knew I'd been here before! Deja Vu to the max!
We had to go on the climbing leg next, with an O course in the middle. It took 4 hours to climb 900 feet using our ascenders. I was kinda scared but it got dark and I couldn't see anything. The top was a razor edge, with 900 feet on the left/right and you had to walk using lobster claws about 100 feet to the actual mountain. We hit one point on the O course, that was on the way to the rappell. Leslie found a huge, 5 foot Elk anter, that weighed 80pounds, and Dave and I carried it back, SHuan rappelled with it, and we got to the RV for the next leg.
Then we biked again. Up a mountain, rode through some snow, hit a very cool downhill. Leslie would want us to wait 30 seconds then go. SHaun, Dave and I would talk for a few minutes forgetting all about Leslie, then we'd go and catch up to here. I didn't were any gloves this ride, and on the way up the mountain, I got some sun on my hands, on the way down, I was starting to get hand blisters. That downhill was cool though.
Then we hiked again. Either the Crazies(a mountain range) or the Bridgers(the other one, I get them both confused). This one sucked too, and it was out last hike, on day 6, and we actually were out until dark. I was getting pretty emotionaly here, as we climbed over thousands of trees, tried to find a ranger station(to this day I still don't know where it is) and ran out of food again(yes this is the third hike I ran out of food!). My knee hurt, and I was out of it. Again, we came to a downhill swithback that dropped us 1000ft, and I swore I have been there before...but never have I been there!
We got to the river, and Dave was leading us. Whipping us again. Keep moving. Don't stop. And we felt lost(I did), but I trusted Dave. We got on this road, and saw this big SUV driving to us. It was around 4:30AM on Monday(almost a week) and the sun was just coming out. The car got closer, and we saw Cheryl in the drivers seat! Dave ran up and they kissed. Then I saw Magan in the passenger seat. And Dad popped out the back seat! THey arrived a day or two earlier. They could see our lights moving down the mountian they said. Then they said, "2 more miles and you're there!". My heart dropped. My feet hurt, my knee hurt, I was tired. I was hungry. When we did make it, we ate. I opted for a little 30 minute nap before heading to the last 30 mile bike leg to the finish. No team was in front(that was catchable). So we did.
The last 30 miles sucked for me. Having the legs, but not able to use them because the knee hurt, or falling asleep on the bike. I was very low on morale here. Dave would want to tow me, but my legs didn't need a lift, my brain did! Then when we did get going, my knee would act up. I also had to take a dump. When we finally arrived, it felt so great to have finished. I was so happy. It ended up that our last bike leg was as fast as the top teams!!!! With all that went on we still moved along.
I ate, showered, and slept after that. For 3 days. I would wake up. I would eat. I would then proceed to slumber. It took a week and a half to 'catch' up on sleep. And I'm still out of it when it comes to that.
Well, besided telling that story, I will have nothing else to talk about....except my blog now!

Erronious

2008-05-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Friday started the weekend with a bang. The church softball team won another one, and my excuse for not knowing the rules still works. Jason even got to play a round. I mean Inning. Got on base and everything.

I followed Friday with a graduation for Magan. You see her, next to that one girl with the black robe and hat on. As boring as this was, it was made beter by the graduation cake.

I've started high, and will need to go higher. Climbing at PQ will be nothing like the 50 foot tree here.

A hard days work, done inches about ground level. I'm planning on doing some higher workouts soon. I'll be super exausted then.

Oh, this picture was supposed to be first. This is what Jason and I did Friday. Taught Karate as an enrichment thingy for kids at the intermediate school. Jason goes on to play ball later, wake up, go win a National Sprint Adventure race, then drive and go finish up his Texas Mountain Bike series at X-Bar. This weekend is a 24hour at Camp Eagle.....I'm gonna be on the winning guys' team!

PQ training

2008-05-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

The Fruits of a day's work. REST. Sleeping on the road seems dangerous, but the cars driving by actually help you sleep by killing the bugs that pester you.

Walking from New Waverly to Huntsville, via the Lone Star Trail. 20 miles in 5 hours. We planned on walking the whole time....we also planned on staying with others on the paddle and bike legs. Thats Dave logic for you.

We encountered some cool animals. This spider. A venomous copperhead. A couple of frogs, which Carlos ended up killing about 18 of them, by accidently touching them with his foot. Armadillo, which Dave still owes me a picture of him catching one.

The pack was heavy. I felt it yesterday. Still feel it today in the low back. Did you know a 70 oz camelback bladder weighs 4 pounds! I found that out. I also found that if you stop to take a picture of a spider, and the group doesn't stop, they get far ahead of you. And running a 6 min/mile pace after hiking 18 miles, with a 20 pound pack....well, 17 pound since I drank water, REALLY kills your legs and you totally feel it walking the 15min/mile pace.

So as far as training goes, this was great training for Primal Quest. We got a 10mile paddle. They did a 40 mile bike, which I opted out for. And we got a 20 mile hike. In all it took around 12 hours to complete, non race speed. SOLID.

I'm officially hooked on Flight of the Conchords. After Magan got me their CD's to listen to while driving the car. AND after she got me the first season DVD. I'm really digging the way Bret and Jemaine make me laugh. I'm going to try and learn the jiggle dance they do. Maybe even play the entry song on the guitar.

I guess if Mark ever comes home, hopefully this next week, we will be on to making our own band that writes cleaver songs. We could be named Something Cool. Or Something Like That. Or the Band That Has No Name Yet.

Ok, if anyone has beaten all the Star Wars Lego's, let me know. I have some issues with finding one blue canister in a couple of the levels.

Cinco De Mayo Holmes

2008-05-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

Ariba. Aruba. The party for Cinco De Mayo was off the hook. Everyone that was someone dressed up. I had to leave early, which was too bad, because they destroyed a Dora the Explorer pinata.
Jason started his Best Sapper today. I don't know all the details, but it's 3 days of doing military tests. Shooting, tieing knots, and whatever else they do....like blow off doors. Good luck bro!
An ARMY of one!!!

Heaven NO, hells yeah!

2008-05-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

The weekend started off with me trying to situate a packet pickup that was unnecessary for me on Friday. Driving 2 hours to pick up something for a race the next day just seemed crazy. A $20 dollar fee was worth it, I at least saved money on gas.
The CB&I triathlon, I had about the same time as last year, with about 30% less training. I swam good, for me. And actually might've killed a guy while doing so. I biked crappy, but still got the fastest split. I had no power. My run went good, for me. Running a 6:20 pace for a 5k. Thats about my top speed with no training, but I can do that for at least 10 miles.
I ended up 8th overall....I got beat by a girl, and a 50 year old. I was 4 minutes off 1st places time. I want to win this race, and next year, if I train hard, I'll get under 1 hour, and win the overall!!! I just need a reminder of how pissed I felt after losing(I got 2nd in my AG getting passed in the last half mile).
After the TRI, I talked to Sam and Brandon a bit. Had some fun, ate some food, and drove home to go to a wedding. I love weddings. Well, I love wedding cakes. Having been in a long term relationship, and being at the church where Magan goes to church, AND being at a wedding. It's a clear cut recipe for people to ask me the question. When will you get married? Have you set a date? Is there talk? I simply say "later". When they inquire more, I quickly change the subject to something I know I can carry a conversation with, but most people find it boring. I switch it to 1)dumb and dumber quotes 2)cycling or 3)some random topic like Peter Griffen off of Family Guy.
Later that night, {yes I was up at 4, and was doing stuff all day. } I went to Magan's house for a Ka-Bab. I told her she was the most beautiful girl in the room, and depending on the street, she was definitly in the top 3. And that she could be a part time model. I couldn't believe that I was sharing a Ka-Bab with the most beautiful girl I've ever seen with a Ka-Bab. Then we played badmitten.
We played to 12 points, and my team(Scooter and I) made a comeback from 10-2 to take a win. Don't forget, I already lost today, and was very motivated to right that wrong.

Sunday was the SS race. I HTFU, by using a rigid fork. I also wore an all black CW-X kit. Ah, I felt cool, while being so damn hott!

It was a great course for SS, and Dave and Justin toed the line with me. We started fast, and I was in the 5th spot going in the whole shot. Soon passed for 4th, with Alex 10 seconds up, Dave ahead, and Hill Country guy ahead. Dave slips up, and I get in 3rd. The last hill before the last road crossing, Hill Country guy is gunning it, and this being a place to pass, I'm unable to pass. He lets up at the top, an unpassable zone. I try for a road crossing pass, and I'm unsuccessful. I sit and wait the last curvy section and finally get around on the road(thanks Justin/Dave). Alex is 40seconds up, per Jurgens stopwatch.

I take off solo, and about 10-15minutes of smooth/solid riding, I catch Alex. I must've started sweating some, as my monkey butt hit hard, and I was soon pedaling like Fawley(legs out).

Alex must've had a bad day as, he just didn't seem to have his normal go. He let me pass on the last hill before the last road. I rode. He stuck with me the first little bit, but I'd open a gap on the rises(not climbs really, just rises).

The Last lap, was crazy. I had a 30 second gap(estimating here) and soon started to catch straglers. One lady crashes and I ran over her. I could see Alex behind me coming strong. I get back in the groove, and get out of site. Then I hit a tree. Hard. I'm laying awkwardly on the ground, and get up to have my handlebars turned 70 degrees off center. I adjust and ride them in around 5 degrees off center with a messed up front brake lever. Alex was quick to catch and ask if I was ok. I was a little sketched out, but managed to open a gap again. I finished first, but I couldn't walk afterwards.

3 Days

2008-04-29T12:14:00.001-07:00

I've been gone almost a week. I left last Tuesday for Houston at 3pm. Was supposed to leave houston at 4pm. We didn't end up leaving until 9pm. Team MOAT calls that the Shaun factor. We drive, we rest, we eat. For almost a day it was. We arrived at West Virginia late Wednesday night. We sleep for about 5 hours, and this is when the fun begins.
We have to be checked in by noon. So we get stuff ready. Getting stuff ready for something you don't know what you're going to do with is very difficult. So I made sure I had plenty of dry socks. A couple of shirts, shoes, and a few shorts.
We show up, get the maps, and checked in. Of course we are the last team to do this. And of course everything we need is in the RV, not the van. We have about an hour to get things ready before a race meeting. The maps are 1:52000, instead of what we're used to, 1:24000. So things were a bit different!

So race start, is around 6 oclock. We worked all day getting ready, franticly, and we're prepared for the upcoming days of racing.

The start is a white water raft. Where they lottery drew who was going into which boat. Most boats had 2 teams of 4(8 people max). Our boat had our 4 person team, 1 two person team, and two soloists. Then, one person from each team had to do a short run, and swim to the raft. Lucky us. Instead of waiting on 2 people, we waited on 4! We started last, but made a pass in whitewater to come out in 3rd of our wave of boats.
A short paddle in a canoe.
Then almost nighttime, we start portaging. True to MOATs tradition, we started off bad. Went the wrong way, with other teams, and ended up losing 30 minutes easy. A couple miles of this and we were done, and off to a long nighttime ride on the bike.
We get to some points easy, then hit CP 5. We look, and again, with another team, we thought we just screwed up. So we went off solo, and tried to find out what went wrong. This is at 11pm. We go back, look around, look for roads, and even backtrack on a highway. We figure that we were right, just didn't go far enough. We go deep into the woods. Now a couple of hours later, all the teams are buzzing around here and there. It seems they can't find it either. Dave and I walk....I mean, crawl, hop, duck and maneuver to the creek. It's not there. It's been 4 hours, and we know we're in the right spot....so we bail...it's not there.
We come to TA and find some teams found it, and Dave has some words with Ronny, the race director. Later we find out that it WAS wrong....but this is after we think the race is lost(as some teams got it, and we WASTED 4 hours)
We do some walking, and hit the next day with a rappell. It was high....very high. I can't repeat the words that came out of my mouth, but everyone around me seemed to laugh at me....either my demeanor, or just the brown stuff in my pants.
The next day or so is all jumbled together....we did some more riding, walked some more, and did an O course the next night. MOAT trekked so gosh darn fast, that I literitly sucked at walking by the end. I'd either have to run, or slowly walk.
We took a nap here or there, when we would all get zombied, and hit a long 20min nap that second night, just enough time for daylight to wake us and find a point that would've been harder to find at night.
Then we get to the next bike leg. It's supposed to be 85 miles, but I'm VERY baddly chafed, and hurting. My legs feel good, but to ride just sucks. We decide to make the first CP, then decide what we will do(call it short and go to the finish).
Leslie and Dave start to argue, and I'm just in a tight spot. As Leslie wanted to get the points, and Dave was supporting me and going to call it a day.
We get to the point, and head home, tension was high, but we finally go to the last trail(3miles). Almost done! Well, except every tree on that peice of land was fallen over, and all the thorn bushes grew up. And we could find NO trail. So we walked, and walked, and rode the bike here or there. A couple of hours later, we get to TA!
We find out we're in the lead now(but we skipped CP's), and Leslie was glad, as the lead team was 8 hours ahead, and still wasn't in TA!!!
The last leg, the paddle/trek-nav, was easy. We paddled to the first point, climbed the mountain, got the CP, then trekked over to the next mountain, and found a CP, then down and up another mountain to find a 3rd CP. It just took 2 hours to find these....and we had 3 more. It was close to our third night, and wanted to get as much daylight as possible.
We noticed some canoes parked next to ours, and figured the lead team was a few hours behind.
We paddle on. Find the next CP, and its in a water fall. I'm leading the group, and a few showers graced us. Luckily the rocks were like ice climbing up, and after reaching the top of the first shallow waterfall only 13 feet long at around a 70 degree slope, I slip. The small ridges made my booty go bump bump bump and I land in fridgid water. It hurt. So I ask Dave, since we're not 'racing' anymore and just out training if it's worth getting hurt over....he said, lets get this and we can paddle on. Whatever you want Dr Dave!
So Shaun leads now, taking a different approach-the side of the cliffs. Hes about 25 feet up in the dirt, and is almost to the rocks. Then he slips. A 5 foot slide on the steep ground, then he has a 20 foot freefall to the rock bottom.
MOAT gasps, and luckily he's fine. Dave says "Shaun, what to you say we skip this one, it's not worth getting hurt!"
So we paddle on. And on. Sleep starts creeping in. So we pull up boat to boat and chat with each other, and Dave is cracking me up! This was a good moment as we were relaxing and racing, having a good time.
We finish the paddle right before dark, and I find out that we have a 10mile trek ahead, finishing it off with a river crossing. THATS IT!!! i'm almost done.
10 miles later, I get to the river, cross it. Then find out I have 4 miles of uphill to get to the finish. Mentally, I'm blown. I should be done by now. I sulk and creep up the hill. 1hour and 30minutes later, I'm at the lodge, the last CP. We did it.
While waiting on badass rookie support crew, Jeff, Leslie, Dave and Shaun Almighty took a nap in the hall. We got picked up, took a shower, ate, talked a bit, and hit the hay for a short night....waking up early and starting driving home.
We were the first to finish, but because we didn't hit all the CP's, we shouldn't win this race....we COULD"VE won this race, and was definitly the fastest team out there, as our bike/trek/paddle was above the other teams....but one 4 hour mistake that wasn't our fault made it for a good training day....days.

E FIX

2008-04-21T11:55:00.001-07:00

Carlos had a loss in the family, sorry to say. I was going to run support for MOAT/Mannatech during this race. Since the team wasn't complete, it is up to me to fill in. This is what matters most. And as Mickey would say< "This is your whole life!"

http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.showDashboard&eventID=135

Go there, and follow us from Thursday/Friday until Sunday. 3 solid days of racing non-stop. Leave us, MOAT/Mannatech, messages and keep up with the standings. I'll be out the next week traveling and of course racing, check for a lengthy blog when I return.

I'm SUPER stoked about being able to do this. I am concerned about a couple of things.
1) A rappell....I'm very affraid of heights....but WWDBD?
2)An icewater swim.....I guess more than heights, I'm affraid of permanitly freezing my berries off
3)How many DQ's will be on the course? I mean, 3 days....I'll probably need to eat. I might treat myself to a blizzard no matter what that sunday night.
4)OMG, I'm racing with MOAT.....I hope...I pray....I dream that I can keep up with them.

2008-04-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

Custom bikes are the latest rage. What you wanna WOOO WOOOOO?

The long weekend

2008-04-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

After Ouachita challenge, I was sick. I drank less than 4 bottles, and maybe one honeystinger gel during the entire 4 hour race. I ate a good breakfast, but didn't eat much after. I felt like crap. No, I felt like smelly, gooey, fresh, asstastic crap. I took most of the week to recover, and did no kind of excersize. I ran on Thursday(hint hint, MARK!), and did some easy spin classes on Friday. I was feeling better after the run, and almost 100 percent on Fridays spin classes.
Then my weekend started. I got off work, and had a softball game, the season opener.
It was rad, we won, and I didn't have to use my athletic ability too much, as I had a race the next day. We drove 4 hours that night to get to Daves lakehouse, and while taking the long detour in north Austin, after making GREAT time, we were delighted to see 10 minutes of fireworks straight ahead of us on a flat and straight road. Then we were abruptly stopped due to an opening day game for a minor league team.
Fast night, wake up early, hardly any sleep, and jumped in Daves big van. We got to the race on Shaun time, and got things ready. I raced with speedy Jason. Dave and Leslie did their thing.
It went like this: 3mile run and easy nav/ 5 mile paddle and 1 mile run with boat and hole in boat/ 10 mile bike with around 1 mile run or hike section cyclocross style/ 7 mile run with hard nav and another 1 mile run with zig zagging around cactus and sharp things, and a 200 meter swim.
Leslie was killing it the first run, and forced me to man up and not get dropped by her.
Jason was Jason on the paddle, with the Shaun coming out in me to tell him how to get it together in the boat. We Titanic'd the Futura on a tree limb that wasn't seen above the water, and hit a foot long gouge in the hull. Luckily it was after we got all the points, and we were at a point were we could portage.
The bike was rough. Jason hit a tree again, and was trying so hard to go fast. I took it easy and it felt like a walk in the park, sans the park. Getting lost was easy to do, and seemed to happen the more I got to the front.
The last run/nav was on me, I took the map, and we had a 2 minute lead over Dave and Leslie. I didn't even use a compass, and hit every point. I must say, I get by with a little help from my friends. Thanks Marty the 5th beatle for walking the ropes with me. The last point was accross this big cove. And it was walking at least another 1km in some bushy, cactus filled, vine encrusted region that would surely take about 12 minutes to navigate. OR cut accross and swim 200 meters , about 5 minutes and a good break from running, hoping, dodging, dipping, and flailing around.
We ate cake, thanks to TooCoolRacing and Robin and Art for a great series.

Then came Sundays PSE mtb race at Reimers ranch. It was flat, with lots of rock sections. I had envisioned myself doing something different and going HARD. With a new crankset via Dave's shop, I was able to keep the big ring the whole race! SWEET!
We line up, about 20 of us. The gun goes, and I'm 8th. A guy stops right before the Single Track, and I'm 7th. And finally warmed up.
Fawley flats, so I'm like 6th. Then I pass Noel "the monster"Reuter and I'm into 5th. Well 4th really. Then Matt"flash"Gordon passes me, and I'm in 5th.
The train is made, RayHall, BillyKurtz,ScottHenry,ME,MattGordon.
I try to get the HARD into the race, and try to pass Scott, and we talk about having to call out a pass. Damn, last time I did that at Hville, I got screwed. Whatever, I'm sorry.
The race goes with the first lap settling in. I can do this all day. Even though I screw up every technical section and cyclocross a few others. Lap two is the same, just faster, I might be able to do this all day with some energy. I'm hanging in there. I eat a gel, and drink some water....I dont' want to feel sick again(which BTW, I think was a virus, not just being dehydrated)
The end of lap 2, Billy gets on the front, and is drilling it. I'm still comfortable, but SHOULD've moved up past Scott here. Mistake one.
Through the technical section, Billy and Ray get a 10 second gap on the rest. Scott is on the front trying to bring it back. I take a feed, and get another Honeystinger gel in the mouth. And here is when Matt goes around us. I feel 15 seconds at this point is makeupable. And continue with getting the gel down with water, so I can stop breathing out of my defunct nose. Mistake two.
The gap soon opens up to around 30 seconds, and I'm stuck in Single Track. A short climb later, and I get around Scott. I start going faster. Pushing nice gears, and a straight chainline. I'm feeling good....but my mistakes have gotten out of control.
I ride the rest, feeling faster and stronger than I should. Ended up 4th. If that gap was 10 seconds, even 20 seconds, I could've closed it. out of sight, out of mind got me here, they just got to far away.....luckyyyyy.
Oh, the superfly is cracked during these races, on the downtube....Noel style

2008-04-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

FOR SALE: 2008 58cm Cannondale Six13 Frame
If you need the parts and wheels too, I think we can work it out.

I'm needing money to start a new sport. Rollerblading. I have the outfit. The helmet. I just need some skates, and my old hockey skates I used when I was 12 years old mysteriously disappeared over the years. And the cheap pair Jason got me at wal-mart last year was disingrated in the first ride. Ride? That doesn't sound right. The first roll? The first skate? Or would it be skute?

I finally ran this morning. 8 miles. 1 hour. I think I ran around 8mph average.
I haven't ridden all week, but I'll have to spin classes on Friday that will get taken care of direct.
I'll also get in a good full body workout in an adventure race at Inks lake on Saturday.
Then a go fast motorpacing session, sans motor, at Reimers Ranch. I hope my bike holds up to the poundings I put on it....poor Noel is too strong for his bike, and split it down the middle! Some monsters just aren't cut out for riding.
Lets see if Jason finishes this race in 1st. I'm saying his legs will. Now if his bike holds up, and he stays upright.

2008-04-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.ouachitachallenge.com/course/images/big_racemap08.jpg

Did the Ouachita Challenge, 60 mile loop. Well, it was condensed to a 54 mile route, due to all the rain and flooding of a river.
Dave, Carlos, Shaun, Leslie, Patti, and Bonnie(and myself) all competed in the 60 mile race, and Magan did the duty of feeding us all.

It started off on some miles of road. Easy. I sat top 5 most of the time, and on the first steep gravel road, I got a gap by just riding my pace. I knew I had legs then, so I just needed to not screw it up by doing something stupid.
So, the first thing I do is almost get in a wreck, with the Trek guy who braked to get in the trail that nobody knew was there. I literitly T-Boned this guy because of a late brake action from about 30 guys in the lead.
Dave was up there, riding strong. And I went from 5th, passed Dave, to 4th. Guy had a mechanical and moved to 3rd. Then the guy leading missed a shift, and broke a spoke, which let Trek guy get a 20 second gap, and held me behind him. A couple of miles later, he pulled over because something wasn't working right, and I moved into 2nd.
2 guys were on my tail and I bridged up to the leader.
Perfect timing as we hit the bottom, and crossed a bunch of creeks, and was some flat trails. I noticed I was carrying much more speed with the Superfly that the Trek guys Fuel, and did a quick pass to take 1st. Around 15miles in I'd guess. I quickly built up a 20 second lead. Then had a PePe, and stopped to tighten my front skewer. But to my surprise, nobody caught me. So my lead was around 10 seconds(I'm estimating these, could be more, could be less). I pass a few 80 mile guys, and do some passes in the woods. I soon lose sight of the chase group.
Feed station number 1. I'm heading right, and Magan thankfully gets me to go left, for a quick feed and a 6 mile road section. 44X11 in a TT position and I make quick work like Fabian Cancellara, and can't even see the 5 man group behind(which Dave was apart of). So I knew I had a good lead.
I hit more trails, and was feeling good. Yada Yada Yada.
Then the back section, a LOOOOONG climb and some rocky sections, and I was hurting, walking, and zoning out. Did a big switchback loop, and I was almost at the top, and heard two guys about 300 meters down the mountain hitting some of the rock gardens. It was probably around 4-5minute lead as they'd have to not only climb that 300 meters, but also ride the loop around and ride the technical parts too. I got unzoned, and hit some gas.
I had no clue where I was and it felt like 50 miles already, so I kept saying right over this hill....ok, right over 'this' hill......no, well then it has to be right over THIS hill!
Then I saw a photographer, on foot. So I was kinda close. Then I hit feed station 4. Magan tells me I have about 15 miles to go, and I take my last water bottle. I ride the next section with some old Wink style flava. I shread the downhills, and used some skills that I used to throw out.
FINALLY, I pop out of the single track. Get my last zip tie tag. And the guy says, go down the gravel road for about 6 miles. And you'll stay to the left, and take the left on the highway, which will take you to the finish.

Now, if you check out the map this is the furthest left on the top, heading back towards the start finish. I'm about where the little biker dude is. So I ride. Thinking, 6 miles? Then a few more miles on pave? No worries, just ride, and you'll be there.
Well, check the map out again, and after the biker dude, you can see a split in the road, where the blue/yellow dots go right and another road goes left. I take the left. All the way to Brushy road, the next right. And then to a course marshel close to the red lightening bolt(to stop people from going down this way and cutting it short). He tells me which way would get me to the finish fastest, and I turn around.
I'm almost at Brushy creek road, and see Dave and another dude going the route I took. I tell them to turn around and we ride that Brushy Rd(which isn't part of the course) in the headwind all the way to the finish.
We came up from behind the finish and had to do a U Turn to 'finish'.
I got 3rd. Dave 4th. Carlos did good and did it in under 6 hours. Shaun flatted, and still finished with NO training. Leslie got 2nd. Patti got 3rd. Bonnie was still out when we left.

Now the guys who got 1st and 2nd, knew that I was 5 minutes up, and was asking what they'd get for 2nd/3rd. But were informed that they had won/2nd. The organizers knew something went wrong. We discussed and for a 2nd time this year was awarded a "co-1st". I know I could've won, and some guy asked Magan: "if he was lost why didn't he just turn around"....well DUH, I didn't know I went the wrong way! I guess next time I'll just stop at a point like that, wait on the next guys, and then outsprint them? Then I'd probably go the wrong way again, and get screwed because I waited.....ah, my life....what a shame.

Mulletmania!

2008-04-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

More than likely, if you see a redneck....you see a mullet. And if you see a mullet, then you're probably going to see a guy with no shirt on. Most of the time these individuals are driving a truck of some sort. Usually an 80's style pickup. This guy proves my example:

While being a redneck doesn't apply just to the male species. Women too have succumed to the inevitible force that is Redneck, and either showing off what Male Rednecks oggle over, or waving a flag over bodyparts that don't need to be seen(unless of course you are a Male Redneck). The later subject can also be seen with the redneck weapons of choice...a beer and cigarrette in the same hand.

Even Rednecks are embarrised of tattoo's from a long night of drinking many moons ago. Here, this subject show's the hairstyle to cover a tattoo of kinds....by you guessed it, a MULLET!

No mullet talk can happen without a Redneck midget:

Now for those of you wanting to grow a mullet, which I highly discourage(unless you live in Europe, ride bikes REALLY fast, or you are of course....a Redneck), I'll throw in some hints and basic rules that you'll need.

1. Decide what kind of look you are trying to achieve. “Mullet” is a broad classification of a type of hairstyle - there are a number of sub-classifications.
Is most of your time spent in business meetings or meeting clients for lunch? Think about The Business Mullet.

Do you spend a lot of time at Wal-Mart? Is your drink of choice Bud Light? Consider the Mulletino.

The Mulhawk is a classic combination of the Mullet and the Mohawk. (as seen with the midget mullet).

2. Once you’ve decided on a “style” for your mullet, head to Wal-Mart or your local pub at 11 AM to see some mullets up close and personal. Get to know the style, because it’s not just a hairstyle, it’s a lifestyle.
3. While at Wal-Mart, pick up a few sleeveless t-shirts, or if you want, have a friend rip the sleeves off your t-shirt - this is best done while you’re still wearing it. Or get a wifebeater T shirt if weather permits.
4. Next, you’ll need a good pair of boots. Though you’ll be spending a lot more time barefoot, a pair of boots is going to come in handy for trips to Wal-Mart.
5. Buy an old junk Camaro to park in your driveway. Try to keep it under $600. Spend as many hours as possible drinking Bud Light with the Camaro’s hood up.
6. That’s really about it. Oh yeah, if you have short hair, begin your mullet by no longer cutting the hair on the back of your head as it grows out. This could take any where from 3 to 6 months to achieve the proper lengths. If your hair is longer - you lucky dog - grab a Bud Light and have your cousin cut the hair on the sides and top of the head short.

Of course, if you are more artistic, or have experience with a mullet already, you can create your own style of mulleting. For the newcomers, stick to the basic style mullets.
Now, if you do grow your mullet for Redneck reasons, know that riding a bicycle is off limits, and driving your pickup truck and throwing old beer cans at cyclists is kosher.

So get out there, and enjoy your mullet....no more sunburned necks, and you always have the party going on in the back!

2008-03-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z-mYy3mCYJo

CHECK IT! LAUGH. ENJOY!

pics

2008-03-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is my group on Sunday coming in. If you look to the right of the picture, behind the big sun that looks like a lady, you can see Magan and Mom worrying why I'm not there.

My TT position. Fully decked out, and full speed option on. You can also see my training wheels on the back wheel.

From the Velosimo website. I'll be saving around 53.82 watts when I drop the stem and get lower. Thats equivilant to crapping a small child...or a large cat.

Oh, how de-lightful! Thats dubious of you to say that! I bid you goodday.

I weezeled my way in this one

2008-03-17T09:07:00.001-07:00

Road racing.....it's kinda fun....and it's kinda not fun. I did my first race in 6 months at Fayetteville. Luckily for me, the first race was 3 races in one weekend.
We started with 68 miles on Saturday. Peice of cake....had I trained on the road bike any....and not eaten all the cake. I sucked, I was happy to hang on, and need to work on riding up hills and in winds.
Then we did a 6.6 mile Time Trial. I actually did good. 14:56. Again, 40 seconds off Travis' time, who won, with a 14:15. Well, not exactly 40 seconds, but I think I slowed down too much in some of the turns. That ride put me in 11th overall. If it wasn't good enough I'd've went to waco and mountian bike raced on Sunday.
Well, lucky me, I stayed in the road race, where the guys I race(not all of them) were little whiney bitches,as Jason would put it. For example, I'd pull into an open spot in the peleton, and just because I didn't see the guy behind me who was going for the same spot, and would get an earful of "GOD DAMMIT!" or "F*CK"....more like "F**********CK!". Sorry dude, you have breaks don't you?
Then when we'd pass a big John Deere tractor pulled over, guys would yell at the group "SLOW DOWN GOD DAMMIT" and for good measure, follow it up with a "F*CK!". I noticed a pattern here, it was guys not getting there way. Like when a guy was breaking the law on the left side of the road, and he'd hear the motorcycle beeping for him to scoot over.....he wouldn't hit his breaks, or look for a spot to come in. He'd keep his spot and yell at the peleton to scoot over. HA, what an idiot.
Soooo, that is my next point. The yellow line. I got screwed again, and one day I'll have the knowledge to get unscrewed. But the officials said they'd DISQUALIFY people for crossing the edge of the world. Well, I tried my ass off not to, unless some guy came at me and was forced to avoid the accident...but was over to the right ASAP.
The final 2k, I was gapped because of the yellow line, I suffered for 94 miles to stay with the group. And this final bit where the top 5 guys were on the right, and the other 20 were on the left....and me trying to play by the rules on the right at the back.......ahhhh crap......non of those guys got penalized, and if they did, it was for 5 seconds. I lost 30 seconds to that, and ended up 19th overall.
Maybe I can talk the referees in to giving me a QUALIFY card, to dis disqualify me from another race in the future. Or it might be good for up to 5 yellow line violations? I think I can think of a good deal here.

My training will hopefully consist of some running now. Injuries suck, and I hope to be in the game again soon.

Whose the mother flippin'?.....

2008-03-14T11:39:00.001-07:00

I'M THE MOTHER FLIPPIN'.

I hate that lady on the cell phone.....the one that talks to everyone. You know her, and I'm sure you've listened to her. I know you've listened to her, she never lets you say a word, and if you do, she won't listen. The derilict world of phone companies. Please get a phone message person that doesn't irritate people with the same phrase every time I try to make a call and get the voicemail. Bahhhh.

I took yesterday off work, to go out and get stuff done. I took two of Jason's bikes down to the shop to work on them. I love going to the shop. I get in the back, and a guy brings a Huffy in and Ken yells at me to take the wheel off of the $50 bike, while he's working on a set of $3000 wheels for a $5000 bike/work of art in the form of a Pinarello Prince. While the backup Colnago sits getting the Zipp's put on. GEESH. I did my job, and did it well.....maybe that dude with those bikes liked my work ethic???

So after the shop, I get in downtown Houston traffic to go visit the muesem of art and science. Well, I'll go in detail here to show the full effect. Huntsville, my current location, is lone wolf territory.....I think Corey Ray is the only other guy that has rode competitively here.....there is not group rides, runs, or get togethers. While Houston, an emerging hotspot for bums who ask for cheeseburgers(witnessed first hand) and cyclists, runners and many other types of peoples. So this much bigger city I'm driving through has many, MANY bad drivers. Or maybe they're all really good, and I'm the bad one....but using a blinker was a good thing....or so I thought. Add that fact, with the one that I have no idea where I'm at....or really where I'm going.....and the fact that I am very lost when it comes to direction. As you can see just getting there was a story in itself.

Moving on, to the actual Science muesem. How cool was this? I never knew it had so much usefull information. I mean, I've been there as a kid in school. But geesh, I learned about Space, dinosaurs, mummies, and saw butterflies(pictured above). The blackhole movie in the planterium was spectacular and awe inspiring. Or I was inspired by it's awe.

Then it was off to the art muesem. It was ok. I saw some cool artwork. Then I saw some stuff that I don't know how people claim to be art. But it was neat to see all the Picasso's and.....well, it was neat to see.

I'm pumped about Fayetteville....a little tired, as I've gotten up at 4AM for 3 days this week. But somehow I think it'll be good for adventure racing. Speaking of which.....

MOAT has a website up, and looks neat, check it out: www.peak.com/teammoat

I held a course record!

2008-03-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

For 20 seconds, I held the WCCRT TT course record. For a 10k, I pulled a 14:09, a course record. I was so happy. And I literitly got 15 seconds of glory. As T-Rav started 1 minute behind me, he smoked the course, and took revenge on me taking his previous record, and came in at 13:32.
Afterwards, I spent the rest of the day sleeping on the grass in a park. A rugby guy almost hit me with his ball. That would be a bad way to wake up. Hell, it'd be a bad way to go to sleep!
Then I went and learned that I eat wayyyy to many carbs. Well, if carbs=sugar. I want to try to eat correctly, so I'll be crunching numbers to find out what all I 'need' to eat, and cut out all I 'want' to eat.
So while in the Woodlands, I went over to T-Rav's house and tinkered with my TT bike some. Got the front end looking beter than before, so it's all good.
And as soon as I started eating correctly, I ate bad. Shaun, Magan, and I went to Tortuga and ate for an hour or so. Talked the talk, and drove home.

As for Saturdays ride....I mean race that I rode in. It was tough riding the Single Speed for 60 miles. I finished right under 5 hours. I think that should seal up the deal for the Texas Marathon Championship. Yay.

I did happen so see the new Will Ferrel movie, Semi-Pro. It's ok. I think comedys nowadays try too hard. Yeah, you can get a laugh, but a forced laugh isn't the same as a ; I'll never forget this moment laugh because I cried and got a hernia from laughing so hard. So funny that people around you start laughing out loud, and people you don't even know around the back of the IHOP start laughing at you because it's so funny. Thats the kind of funny that will always be remembered by those that fought with me in Lazer tag!

2008-03-03T14:08:00.000-08:00

If I was stuck in a battle for middle earth, I'd probably make sure this guy was on my side. He probably takes a crap that doesn't stink too. Just one more thing the girls love about him.
I finally got to race with Dave. I need to HTFU if I'm gonna race with him some more. We came out with the "W" on a very awesome course in Waco. I actually contributed to some navigation. I actually can say I didn't, I repeat DIDN'T, get us lost.
Mark apparently got his dingy all wet this weekend, and got 5th for doing so. All that went wrong was he lost a fingernail. That dingy must've been out of control!
Jason was going to win in Bar H, but flatted with 2 miles to go.
I had my business socks on, and you know what that means.....it's business time! I ended up 4th, after a shorter race of not warming up. Eh, next time I'll hopefully get a top 10 callup, instead of the back row. Maybe the leaders won't get so far ahead and I'll actually be able to race them.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/227537
This reminds me of the wind we've had at the last two races.

2008-02-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

I had to go to the dentist yesterday. My last checkup was great, 0 cavities. But last years checkup wasn't so great. This is about the time I was eating about a pound of candy a day. To say the least, I had 7 cavities filled.
Yesterdays visit was due to the fact that this 'cavity' wasn't fully developed....or to put it plainly, the dentist didn't want to make it 8 cavities, if this little one could make it and possibly go away.
Well it didn't.
So I sit for a short visit, and get the novacaine in the deep back part of my gums. Yeah, it numbed me up, but after 15minutes of letting it set, I was bored. So the dentist came in and drilled a bit.
OWWW.
More novacaine please. So 5 more minutes, and we try it again.
OWWWWWWWW.
MORE NOVACAINE please! Let it settle, and now I have had over 10 different shot sites in my mouth.....I didn't feel the second half, but I could see the needle getting situated....then plundged deep into my mouth.
Something like this is a scary site right over your eyes:
What if he dropped it right on my face?
I think it'd be neat though, to have been going through that ordeal again, but "I wanna be sedated" some on the stereo speakers.
Now I'm just recovering from some bruising where the needle went in so many times. I kinda feel like a fresh fish prisoner that took the wrong shower. But not really. But kinda.

I'm planning a race.

2008-02-26T10:50:00.000-08:00

not just any race. a long race. well of course it'd be a long race, since my body has the reserves for such a race. this race will consist of many miles, and many racers. i will no doubt be by myself for some of this race. well i'd have to be by myself in a race against the clock, or an individual time trail. so yeah, fayetteville here i come. jmack better be glad, and don't push me too hard when we get in a break together.....this old body of mine isn't used to the road.
between having a sprint adventure race coming up on march 1 in cameron park with the diety of adventure racing himself. and saint jo the next day. and no lago vista(yay!). i really don't see any pre road races to fayetteville in the horizon. i don't even know the last time i was on my road bike. this could be bad......this could be michael jackson bad.

now to what grinds my gears:
you know what grinds my gears? litterers. however you spell it. people that litter. litterees. what makes someone think they can throw stuff away on someone elses property? but then again, dumpsters have a fine if you put your trash in them.

2008-02-18T13:05:00.001-08:00

Today's post will summerize what happened this weekend.
I'd first like to congratulate Tristin Uhl for winning Valley of the Sun. Good job homie.
I'd also like to thank Mom and Magan and Jason for allowing me to complete and compete in the double marathon weekend.

Marathon 1: Terlingua Mountain Bike Race. Tons of guys preregistered. Tons of guys toed the line. One guy hit my bars while lining up, and took down himself and another guy, and a bike. I made it clear of my intention there, and I haven't even begun riding. I was gonna wreck shop.
We start the easy roll out, and I'm sucking dust. I make some suave passes, to get good position, but the race hasn't even begun. We cross the road, and I'm comfortable in 15th postition or so. We are CRUISING down the first section, and dust is everywhere. I run over anything in my path, bumps, rocks, sand....and I think a homeless guys cardboard home...I think. In the singletrack, guys are in a line. I'm comfortable, so I'm content. Then as the first creek bed area comes, guys let huge gaps open and I pass about 5 guys and bridge a gap to the end of the lead group.
Everything is dandy.
The Superfly rig is Flying Superbly over all the whoops, and doops. I am settling in a very doable 4 hour pace, right behind strongman Scott Henry. The pace got a little hot, and he is gapped, I can still see the group, but Scott is still motoring, and instead of passing and riding what I should have done....I waited. A little turned into a lot.
Then out of nowhere, the guy who gets 2nd, pulls past us. Scott doesn't hang on his wheel either. He must be out of form, because he's one of the strongest guys in TX. I pull around and get on the wheel.
Now the pace this guy is pulling is rough. I can hang, but it's definitly not something I would like to do on the first lap. Nonetheless, I make it to the climb, where the lead group is only 30 seconds up. I start the climb and hit my pace. I'm doing fine, actually making a little time...very slowly.
But here is where race strategy goes to crap.
My rear tire is hooking up great. Better than normal. But I notice that on some bigger rocks I am just gliding over....but also hitting the rim.
Half way up, I see a cameraman, and ask him if my wheel is flat. "Boy is it ever!"
I pull up to where the rough stuff starts, and decide to pull out the big air. As I started out with 28 pounds of pressure....I aired it up, to what I found out was a 55 PSI.
So I start back, after losing 30 seconds or so.
About 3 minutes after that, my chain goes inbetween my spokes, and my cassette. I catch it pretty fast, and jump off to pull it out and get the chain back on the correct cassette. Dangit, 20 more seconds elapse.
I climb the rest, now out of sight of the leaders. I get passed by the guy who got 4th, and decide to ride with him after the descent.
So as I'm pulling through the start area, the only part I didn't preride. I end up having to make a U turn to go get my feed. Baahhhh.
Half way done and I'm feeling it, that guy that I was riding with was motoring! So I start the second lap, and can now see a guy 35 seconds or so ahead. So I start chasing. Loren Dodson is only 30 seconds or so behind me now too. But I wasn't gonna wait on anyone. 20 minutes of riding and I close the gap ahead. The pace feels easy. Legs are feeling queezy. My stomach is growling and the wind was howling. The race was starting!
I make the long pull to the climb, into the headwind. With a guy in tow, and sitting 6th and 7th. I see Ray Hall ahead. 5th place. My place. Who knows who was ahead of him.
I start the climb and again hit my pace. A bit slower than previous, but the guy I was with was only putting a minute tops on the climb. And I was saving myself for a nasty descent!!!
I was bouncing this time around, as the rear tire hadn't deflated at all. But Ray was literitly 10 seconds ahead. Nat Ross was coming from below and was about a minute down. I can hold him off...pass Ray...and catch the guy I rode with. PERFECT!
Then as I'm hitting a switchback....a loose one, with a steeper incline, I must've downshifted. But not into a gear. Straight in between the cassette and spokes. I immediately shift to get it to realign, but I just made is worse, as when I pedaled it got deeper in.
Some choice words were spoken at this time.
I jump off, and start working on pulling it out. More words are flying, with an even more temperment to them.
Nat appears around the corner. "good job Nat, keep it up" I say, and he cooly passes me.
OK, so now I just need to take time and stop manhandling this thing, and think my way out of it. My hand is bloody, and I'm not really wanting to break something by forcing it.
This way doesn't work, and that way doesn't work. Finally, it sets. I jump on and hit the climb. Nat is way up the road.
I am climbing faster though. And I'm ready to descend.
I see him ahead, and I'm hitting the 44-11 regular. I'm flying down the caution arrrows. I bridge the gap, and Nat looked a bit suprised. Instead of resting after a long intense effort, I go ahead and make the pass, and keep pushing. Being the smart pro he is, he sits on and as I see this I go pretty hard. Then I see a small climb ahead. POOF. Nat is around me, and goes away again. Nothing much I could do, as my legs start feeling it.
So instead of finishing a doable top 5. I end up 8th. Which is good. But it looks as though racing the Smithville course instead of an adventure race is in my midst. My time was respectable though, with 4:15:25. 10 minutes off Sagers.

Marathon 2: After driving 9 hours after the Terlingua race, we find ourselfs in Austin for the half marathon. Magan was running her first one, and I told her I'd do it too.
We show up with 90 seconds to start. PERFECT timing!
BOOM, gun goes off and we start the 13.1 mile trek. Magan said she wanted about a 10 minute pace, but I kept it around 9:40ish for the most part.
I love doing these because so many supporters are cheering and so many running styles you can look at and often laugh at. Elf was even there running!
At mile 7, I turned to Magan, who has been sick as a dog leading up to this, and said "this is as far as you've ran huh?" Turns out, 5 miles was as far as she's ever ran.
Mile 10 and we were almost there. Haven't seen Jason riding his bike yet.
Mile 11, and here is a nice steep hill ahead of us. Jason is riding and somehow spots us out of 1000's of people. He starts singing and cheering so loud, and other runners were actually getting pumped. Some girls were getting hot and bothered with him around too!
The hill was tough, the only part that Magan wanted to walk, but a couple of motivating words kept her going.
The last mile she tried picking it up. Was trying so hard, and couldn't go any faster. We ended up with a 2:05:25.

Today I rest. But I leave you one thing to ponder. How do you think a woman, working at a sperm bank, can embezle without getting pregnate?

2008-02-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

Ah, my back hurts. And it feels like those commercials where the red light flashes. I wish I could remember the name of that medicine that went and made the red light a green light. It kinda looks like this:
Hopefully that will clear up and just be from sleeping wrong. And so my preperation for Terilingua is thrown off again by my throat starting to feel the twing. Quick thinking by popping some Emergen-C in some water, orange juice and a thought of listening to Michael Jackson's "beat it", to get rid of it.
Top 5 this weekend and I'm cutting my hair. I do like the helmet hair I have afterwards though. But with 27 registered riders so far, it looks like my chances of cutting it are slim to none.....hmmm, maybe I should tell the barber that.
"Hello, what kind of haircut do you want today?"
"Lets go with slim to none, and take it easy on the sideburns pal!"

Paper Chaser

2008-02-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

So, can anybody tell me how to make this picture my new slogan? I want some of what Nike is getting, but in a beter package. Just do it sounds kind of abrubt, and not very fun. But:"Shhhhh, JUST GO!". Now that can hit on all kinds of levels!

So I might finally be getting paid to ride bikes....I'm actually cooking up a deal to get paid to ride! I normally don't cook too well, so we'll have to spice it up with some salt maybe. That'll be nice, since I'll be sweating a lot more salt! What a perfect world.

Amy Winehouse happened to win a grammy.....don't the drug test those people? If Landis lost his Tour title for a little HGH or whatever, Amy should lose her grammy for a little Cocaine. As well as all the football, soccer, and baseball stars. Fair but equal. Equal and fair.

Speaking of sweating. How many mexican channels do we need? While driving home from Jason's the other night, I had no IPOD, or CD. I was seeking through the channels, and often landed on mariachie music. Which is cool, but not my cup of tea. And yes, I don't even like tea!

But besides the music, one thing has been getting on my nerves a lot recently. And I'm sure I'm not the only guy to do this....I'll probably be the only one to say I do publicly...but it's funny because it's true. Well, when you're forced to use a urinal, but rather a standard toilet, I normally get these great shots in the bowl. I mean, shots that deer hunters dream of. Shots that hockey goalies can't even fathom of stopping. Shots that professional athletes take. Then as I am peaking from my pitstop, that one little squirt pops out and lands on the seat. One little dribble. I clean it up of course. But this not only happens indoors. I've been plaqued with doing the business outside, pulling down my bibshorts for a quick go. It's good, it's good, almost done....dribble, and I have a drop on my shoe.....ahhhh, almost had it!

And I'll leave it at that....Shhhhh, just go.

Why? tell me why!

2008-02-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, heres something I bet you had happen to you.
Why is it, when you're cruising down the road on the bike(or running in Corpus Christi), on a two lane road, with light traffic. That the car passing you, instead of going into the opposite lane to get around you, stays in your lane? Is it laziness? Too tired to turn on the blinker? I guess they think Cannondale's are very replaceable since they see them in Wal-Mart nowadays.
Ok, so now tell me why is it, when you are eating a baked potato, for example, that you eat all of the goodness it has, but on the last bite, you eat the foil. THE LAST BITE! I've had this happend with popcorn, the last bite was the kernal of a fully popped bucket. Or an apple, the last bite was the rotten part of a garden of edan apple.
I'm just glad you don't have that with women. Everything is great until the last....not bite, but instert a more postive, non sexist word....and then it is sour.

Riding was great yesterday, the cranks weren't faster, but then again, I didn't really try to hard. About a 7 on the precieved excertion scale. Normally I'm at 8.5. And I still went under a minute faster than what is a fast time.

How would I stack it up in a Triathlon is the big question. Triathletes are jack's of all trades. Well, I'd lose the swim. Do well on the bike. And try to hold on the run. So triathletes are beter than me. But take the same guy, throw him into an obsticle course style race, and I'd Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Dave Boyd, American Gladiator, Ninja Warrior, DMX, Ja Rule, Diesel all in one, flip, flop, fly, frog hop and whatever else I needed, to get through it faster. Now I just Jacked there trade!

Is New York having good riding weather? It doesn't matter, they're still Superbowl champs.

Argyle

2008-02-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/plaid

I think this was Jonathan Vaughters idea for getting argyle on the team kits for Slipstream/Chipolte. And getting the brit, David Millar....that was from the line, "you spell honor like a brit!"

Finally good weather will permit me to go out and test a new secret crankset on my TT bike. Results will hopefully give me at least 2 minutes on a 40 km course!

Should've been the Cowboys

2008-02-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

Damn. Had I forseen the cowboys getting unlucky, whilest the Giants got lucky, I'd've predicted this outcome. I knew the Patriots were gonna lose the Superbowl. I was sure it was gonna be by the boys, but along come the lucky ass Giants to win 3 should be loses.
Eli Manning is so horrible. He made the worst mistakes in the game, and Brady out threw him for yards, yet he still got the MVP. That was stupid, a definsive player DESERVED that. Like the guy that sacked Brady, what like 3 times, and striped the ball from him.
Anyways, I'm glad the Pat's didn't win, Cheaters never win!

So far this year has been good. I've raced solid, in all the races I've done, and I've yet to be close to any kind of peak. I did the 12 hour race at Warda.
I can't stand a 12 minute race at Warda, so I don't know what I was thinking.
It started off horrible. Jason was supposed to be behind me with Mom. So I paid for the car behind me, two in my car, two in theres.....$24 total. That ranch gets so freaking rich off of nothing. Over 200 racers, at 8 bucks each is like: 1,600 bucks! Minimum.
Then as I'm paying the $85.00 registration fee, Jason comes to me and gets mad becuase I left him. Well, hell, it wasn't him behind me afterall. Some guy got in for free, so I wasted 16 bucks on that. I WASTED that money on a place I really don't care about, a boring loop, that shouldn't be raced anymore. I will certinly be happy when the TMBRA comes along and I'm doing the Ouchita challenge in Arkansas with MOAT!
So after that, I get lined up, with running shoes on. I was gonna half ass try to win the sprint, but some track start gets a head start and I can't close the gap. And my plan worked perfectly afterwards.
The switching back to my cycling shoes, allowed for about half of the racers to be in front of me. So I would be forced to ride a slower pace, and settle in for 12 hours.
A 2X1 on the SS was a bit much for such a slow pace, I ended up swapping bikes after 4 laps, and got it switched to a 32X17. Perfect!
The early laps were slow going. I wasn't going to 'race' until hour 6. Then it was on the gas a lap, then off for the next.
In bike terms, the new Gary Fisher SuPerFly was the fastest feeling. Followed by the SingleSpeed. Then the Mamacita. But who knows, all those 'tests' were done after 12 laps and each got within 2 minutes of the fastest lap(I think technically the SuPerFly got the fastest lap by pulling a 32 min lap, but sitting around a few minutes cost that....and night was setting in)
So after all the time of riding the same loop 16 times I stop. At 10:30. I wait. At 11:15ish, Justin comes in and says he's going out again. Argh. I was so bored of this, I didn't want to go.
I procrastinated enough to go out at 11:25ish, and did the 17th. At 12:01 I finished. YIPPEE.
I think if I was 'racing' this race for real, 20 laps, maybe 21 would be within reach. I felt fine, the legs had plenty of juice....but I'd have to really dig in the mental bank to do another Warda lap. I just do as much as needed to get the "W".
Terilinqua is my next stop. I hope the superfly will be available to ride!!!!

Lets get some work done!

2008-01-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.dumpalink.com/videos/Most_retarded_exercise_machine_ever-70ki.html

WTF! How are you supposed to get any work done? I like how that guy says, "it feels great on my abs!"....if you kinda don't listen to it, he sounds like he says, "it feels great on my ass".

And so it was done.

2008-01-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

I haven't ran much latley, but riding is fun, so it balances out. I'm getting ready for the 12 hour race, I just hope my rear brake stops rubbing soon!
I'm gonna hopefully do a few laps on the SS. And my rear NEVEGAL sealed up just fine, right in time! 2.2 inches of beefy goodness, all at the back door. Sounds bad, I know, but you know what they say, 2 minutes in heaven is beter than 1 minute in heaven.
I haven't ridden the power cranks much.
But the ROTOR cranks are very bad ass, for riding on the trainer. I can't wait to try'em out on the open roads.....or even, dare I say, a Time Trial!

Taken from one of the best movies this decade:

Lance Armstrong:" Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't anything to regret for the rest of their life."

And with that said, Lance regrets, for the rest of his life, not finishing Comfort.

One more for the good guy! (the good guy being me).

Now for a personaly topic. Just like Jerry Seinfield saying "I choose not to run!", I "choose to ride a bike". And if thats a geared MTB, a crossbike, a time trial bike, road bike, Single Speed or a mixture of any of those in any category legal to do so, then I will do it. If I rode a MTB in a Time Trial, nobody would give a rats ass. But ride a cross bike to a MTB marathon and you'll raise some eyebrows, but it's all good. But dare you cross the line and race a single speed in a single speed category, that my friend is too much. Call security. Mr. President, Veto this! Rabble rabble rabble. If I would've known beter, I could've just ridden my road bike in the SS category, and gotten just as much flack.

Lets also say that MOAT got another in the bag....and Jasons team a solid 3rd! Congrats guys.

I quit

2008-01-24T10:26:00.000-08:00

"If you hear the sound of a chipmunk, get reeeeaaal still."
"But how will we know the sound of a chipmunk?"
"Oh trust me Joshua, you'll know.......Nft Nft Nft!"
Oh Wink, what have you gotten yourself into?
Today, I challenged a coffee drinker to a challenge. Probably because I want to prove that to stop something isn't hard, you just need to HTFU and do it.
You hear fat people say, "I'm fat, I want to lose weight" But when they get a workout, they want to quit and go home and eat. DUH.
Smokers are similar, "I can't help it, it's an addiction for me", maybe they prefer saying 'a dic on' me.
So to combat the stupidness of the lack of body control of your own body, I went to show that you CAN no matter what.
SO the challenge was for her to stop drinking coffee....in return I would stop something I absolutly LOOOOOVE. Candy. The sweet colors and sugar will be not near my mouth for a while. I'm cutting cold turkey tomorrow morning.
So because I know whats coming, I'm eating my fair share of the sweet goodness that God himself gave to mankind, I've already eaten about 50 starbursts, and 10 nerd packets.

I also want to give a thanks to http://kendausa.com/ . I love small block 8's even more now. That will be the key to beating Armstrong this weekend.

OOOOO weee

2008-01-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

Lordy.....swatza tired swatza tired.
I just hit two days in the west texas mountains....well, more like the central Texas hill country. 150 miles, 8h30min, 5850 calories, 192 watt average. I like it, I like it a lot. Weather was superb, a bit chilly, but SUN and good vibes. Jason climbed a heck of a lot beter when he's confident. Magan did the deed too, hitting the descents beter than those in that race in France.... whats the name of it, the France Tour....Tour le France, something like that.
Ah, that brings me to my next topic, the Francey pants Lance seems to want to race mountain bikes this weekend. Well, How convienient! I had just confirmed I'd be there too.....I guess my people weren't on it like Lances, but get the word out, I'm going!
Yeah, and while your promoting my being there, I'll also be doing the 12 hours of Warda, also known as 12 hours of Winding Against Rational Decision Again. Cameron Chambers beter not show up this time.

I'm paper chasing hard this week, so recovery will be easy, but I'll tell you one thing....new carbon shoes, ti pedals, riding style, and a secret weapon will surely have people wondering what drug I'm on. Chigga Chigga Hell Yeah. Now Fogel take off the vest!

Weeeeeeeeee

2008-01-14T13:43:00.000-08:00

So the Houston marathon got rolled my Mark and I again. What a blast! 13.1 miles and thousands of people. Although Mark ran with a different name on his nametag "THIRST". Ah, it was so funny when people would cheer for you saying " Go Nathan!!!....GO Thirst???" The hotel we stayed at was Dumb and Dumber worthy. I stayed in a place like that once, not as nice...but you know classy!

So today I give Dave the opportunity to ride Huntsville alone, while I go pick up groceries for the office. In line, I see 6 magazine covers of a fat has been:
Luckily this hefer isn't pregnant yet, or she'd be real fat. I just don't understand why she is getting all this attention to her. She can't sing. She doesn't look good. She dates white trash. And she is the appitamy of what a mom shouldn't do. But here we are putting her fat head on 6 front pages. Blasphamy! This picture looks like she ate a sheep and fell asleep in it's sheepishly soft skin.

A look back at the Excruciation Exam.(pun intended) This was the final bridge to Ric Tinney. Thanks for a great shot Hammid!

And Jason is finally gone, so begins the correct sleep cycle....mixed in with the perfect blend of intervals and a trip to Leaky, and I'll be seeing more pictures like the one above!

I'm We Tall Did.

2008-01-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

A simple enough game, Guitar Hero, but amazing difficult. I find the Medium level my challenge point. And when the big riff comes, I find I just hit the first three buttons, and ignore the blue. Three of four is beter than zero of four!
Then while playing Metallica's "One", I find out direct that my failure is quite complete.

It's not even funny at how retarded I feel when playing, you send signals to the hand but they just won't work.

THEN I get on the powercranks:

The monstrosity that is retarded hits your legs as fast as Forest Gump running. Just clipping in is difficult, as you bring your second foot automatically to the top....while the pedal is at the bottom. At least I don't look as retarded as this guy.

So after getting on them and testing them out, I got serious, hit the retard in the head, and focused. In about 2 minutes I could ride them well. My muscles got worked, but I could do it evenly and consitantly. I guess pedaling fast circles isn't my cup of tea, because when I do the retard appears.

So note this, if you ride with me while I ride powercranks, get ready for a faster ride!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

So much went on, and not one computer to blog it!

I'll recap what the big holiday beheld for me:

I started off with a week of dogsitting in Houston. Three huge beasts that tested the very fortitude that I own. Omletes were eaten whole, and if you messed up in a video game, you ate meat until you puke!

Christmas was good, I got my very own Dumb and Dumber tuxedo. I put out the vibe to say the least.

Then a trip to a Ranch house with Magan, and a new experience too. I waited. Yeah, and it was fun! Well, most people call it hunting, but I'll be correct in what happened. I sat in a cold ass deer stand, and waited. It looked as if I was a chain smoker, as the air from my warm lungs made clouds from my mouth. And as the deer ate the free food from the feeder, I dialed in the gun and shot it in the heart. So awesome. Then as I ate dinner at a restaraunt on the way home, I thought....what if someone is about to shoot me right now, while I'm eating. That would surely suck.

Something about getting the cross bike out with Jason seemed so right. He had my old scalpel, dialed in for the Torture Test. And 4 miles in the State Park, Jason yells that his bike is breaking. I figure the seat is lose, but the fork is 4 inches off. Then a sudden thud,and Jason is on the ground with a front wheel and bike seperated.

Nothing big happened on New Years, except I already broke my resolution. It took a good three hours though. I was going to try to go all year without farting.

The rest of the time was spent with Mark, beating "Hunter:The Reckoning" video game, yelling "DIIIIIIIEEEEE" to the zombies and those even rats. Jason concluded the festivities by joining Mark and I last night to fulfill our derlicting destiny!

Bikes make life easy

2007-12-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

So while picking up 10 pounds of sugary goodness that I call Candy at Wal-Mart, I found out why I really ride bikes. I had the cross bike on the roof rack. I come out after the purchase and see ONE bike towering above the other cars. Easy.
Pedal a circle. Do that over and over. Easy.
Run errands on the bike, save time by doing so instead of using a car. Easy.
I'm getting lazy in the thinking department because of things like this.

What I laugh at is how easy some stuff is to do, but people don't do them anyway. I don't get mad at having to do the said task, but the fact that the person delegating the task to you to do because it is so easy is what erks me.
Instead of taking the trash out, a task that takes less than 1 minute. WHY would you get a pen, pad, and write down a note for ME to take out the trash. Something that would take about a minute to do??? Parents hold the key though, to instant slavery. Go Slavery!

Feed the Warrior!

2007-12-19T12:51:00.001-08:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zHtFixj0cWk

It just happens to be another Lance vid. I liked the part where he said "I just wanna get into some light cardio"....the look on Lance's face was priceless.

Now here is my question... Why is it, everything happens to you at one time? For instance, you NEVER get phone calls. But you go out on a ride, and BOOM, like 4 people call and want to talk or tell you something. I only ride 3 hours a week people, call me when I'm NOT riding!
Then, besides races, I only do something like ONCE a year that I make plans for. Then BOOM, get invited to go training with some guys in the Leaky area. Come on, you kidding!
So today, I have a little ride planned to do with Jason and Magan. Not much, but something to have fun with and call training. Then BOOM, get called up to teach Karate. Maybe I should just turn pro so I have to tell people I have to work. OR I could just sell some things, like some baseball cards.....a sack of marbles.....ugh'Petey.

HTFU

2007-12-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

Through the years I've heard some very motivating things while racing. Some from friends, others from people I'll never know, and others.
Here is a list of(not limited to me) BEST MOTIVATORS.---Go ahead and yell one the next time you see me suffering.

~Dig in your suitcase of courage!
~Come on NATE!!!!(Mom does that one well)
~Venga, Venga, Venga
~(the drums at Virginia, or wherever that damn race is)
~You're in second place, you have to try harder.
~A chant of something good(my name, my race number, etc)
~Come on - your warm up ride's over - pick up the pace man - you got it - you got it - you got it - GO - GO - GO - GO!!!
~(it'd be cool if Jason could muster this one): pointed first at me, and then up the hill, and commanded to me, "SOLDIER, TAKE THAT HILL!"
~Yeah, Brian, Will, Scott....WINK!!!! YEAH WINK, and on a SINGLE SPEED!!!!!

I guess the only thing beter than a rose on the piano, is tulips on an organ ;)

Comment and say what you like, and/or what you'd yell to me.

Those were the good times

2007-12-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

I look back on my life as of now, and see that sometimes I spent too much time riding. Sometimes I spent too much time with friends. Sometimes I spent too much time eating....more like most times. And as this year wraps up, I've been fortunate enough to have ensight to what has worked.

That picture was from 24 hour AR Nat's. Yeah we didn't win, but I was there, had a blast and learned a crap load more about more important stuff, like my brother, and how much my body can take.
I owe it to running.
Since I started running, I've not only not had to ride as much, but I've had more opportunities to race. Now I race Road, MTB, Duathlons, Triathlons, and Adventure races. The fittness gained from each sport seems to transfer to my other sports. So running helps me ride faster. And I only get to ride 2 times a week....thats it. Instead of 'training' those 2 times, I am out enjoying the bike, wanting to ride, going harder for periods of time, and getting the training in whilest not even knowing it.
Could I be faster on the bike...no doubt. I think I could probably turn pro.
Do I want to be faster....definitly.
But I'll tell you one thing, I've never had more balance of life, love, and family. Run on!

Super-Bad

2007-12-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

So I finally got around to seeing SuperBad. And although it was French oriented in the language department, I found it rather entertaining! The cop's are probably some of the funniest characters, Seth Rogan and Bill Hader do a fine job of acting as the law. Below and behind the call of duty.
I'd like to have a go with a cop, no guns though, to see what they have under the hood. Could they really catch me if I was running from them?
I can see it going down like this:
I take something from someone, then the cops get all angry and chase me. So I run a bit through some neighborhoods, keeping them in sight, not dropping the hammer yet. Then wham, I hope on the bike, and start riding through the woods, hoping downed trees and cutting through streams. I'd come out of the woods and eat some skittles and let the heart rate slow, to find the cops dragging ass. So an easy jog back to wear I took the stuff, and give the baby his candy back. Then disappear from the scene with a ninja smokescreen to be never seen again.
-Poof!

2007-12-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

I saw today that Texas' own Andrew Yates wrote in to VeloNews. He wrote about his story of booting a tire with a dollar bill. Pretty cool that he made it, but is it worth putting in another dollar for a tire that is trashed?
The weather isn't very favorable today, I guess around 70 degrees, and a little moist outside. I think I'm gonna watch this and get pumped up! http://youtube.com/watch?v=HjcZNR6MiRE

If Lance can do it with half of what I got, then there is not one reason to get out there and Just Do It. I'll be on the cross rig though, getting ready for the long dirt roads on the Torture Test. And although it might be cold going 20mph on the road, I'll cheat and go 15mph on some dirt road....maybe 12mph if it's muddy. Twice as slow, with the same workload. Thats winkology for you!

2007-12-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8jaGs7xJ0

It's a catchy song, with funny lyrics, so I had to share it. Thats how you rhyme Lewd, food, nude, and dude together!

So, right now I'm wearing a Shirt, shorts, and sandals....and it's the middle of December. I am not complaining one bit, I'm actually loving saving the extra 10 minutes of a daily grind to find and put on winter clothes. I know some people like to think that Alpine Shop and Dynamic Earth will be a good subsitute team, but I look at it like this: Team Two Tired started off on the bottom rung, racing two person events, primarily because there was no other teammates equal enough to race with them. In the events that followed the next year, Two Tired was upgraded to a fully functional team, as backups or a subsitute second team. So even though Two Tired was together, and opperational, given the new team parameters of actually doing a race as big as Primal Quest, it wasn't deemed ok to keep the name. Especially since the TWO was now Four or three, and the tired part was more 1/4 of it.

So with all the doing of what I do, I want to do something good, and wish the fellow Texans heading out for Cross Nat's to Go Fast! Good luck guys

MOAT ain't no slow poke

2007-12-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

My first race with the current National Adventure Race Champions, team MOAT, was everything I hoped it could be. Besides getting off track 10 minutes here or there, the race was smooth and steady. We seemed to take the normal approach to the race, as Shaun was on time at being late. Carlos was flying on the run. Leslie was complaining all the time, more of a ritual than actually hurting. Even Dr. Dave was out in support, riding a bling bling single speed.

The bike and run went very good, a steady base tempo was all that we needed. The canoe was cool in a 4 person boat, but the hurt left chest muscle made it hard to paddle correctly on the left side. And then my weakest event was even pretty good. The 400 foot zipline of doom..... it started just below the stratusphere where the platform stood, and the view was incredible, I could see my house from where I was. And you gotta keep in mind that we were over 60 miles from the house, that is how high up we were. I got attached to the zipline, and the guy who was helping me was telling me, I got you blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.....anyhow, I tell him to get out of the way, my nerve was up and I needed to jump now. And so I did. It surely wasn't as bad as last years, crying and shaking at the top.

Afterwards, we had fun talking about the race, poking fun at what we did, and eating some of mom's chicken tortilla soup(which was the hit of the day!), and Leslie downed about half of the cookie tin again.

Horrrray

2007-12-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

So I recieved the powercranks, but I need to get them to a shop to be instaled. While I'm at it I'll try to fix a pedal I somehow trashed.
I like the message portrayed in SNL's Digital Short with Andy Samberg: http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2007/10/15/andy-sambergs-people-getting-punched-in-the-face-just-before-eating

PUNCHED!

2007-12-06T11:42:00.001-08:00

I wonder if the people that Bruce Lee fights are stupid, or if Bruce is that good. It makes you wonder when a whole school can't beat one guy. Then you wonder why, if 5 other guys couldn't get him, do you have a beter chance of doing so? I guess it's like a punter in the NFL...the whole team missed, but he'll try anyways to get the runback.

I liked how new his stuff is and will be. I've yet to see any other movie attack someones feet with nunchuckas....Jackie Chan, can you do that?

I'd only walk into another dojo like Bruce did, if it were a bunch of kids....or Woody's. HI YA!

Bring it on!!!

Welcome to Texas

2007-12-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

I've yet to recieve my powercranks. The anticipation is tingling my legs.

TEXAS DARE PRE-RACE NOTES:
MEET MEMBERS OF TEAM MOAT. THE 2007 USARA ADVENTURE RACING'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM FRIDAY DECEMBER 7TH, FROM 5PM TIL 7PM, TEAM MOAT MEMBERS WILL BE ON HAND TO TALK ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A CHAMPION AND ALSO ANSWER QUESTIONS THAT WILL HELP GET BEGINNERS THROUGH THEIR FIRST RACE. MOAT HAS WON THE TEXAS DARE FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS AND WILL HAVE SOME TIPS FOR RACING THIS YEARS TEXAS DARE.

That is the hype I'll have to live up to this weekend. I won't be there to meet, I'm sure people would love to meet a guy that didn't win the national championship, and has only races a handful of times. Oh and yes, I'm very skeerd of heights, so the 40 foot zipline, which had me pale white and crying last year, will be my biggest obsticle.....oy vey.

I got kicked out of church last night, and it wasn't for throwing the frisbee in it....

It's the most wonderful time of the year

2007-12-03T07:01:00.001-08:00

Yaaaaa! Chirstmas time is hear! I made a promise to Magan to not be a scruge this year, so this is my attempt to not ruin Christmas. I'm getting the shopping out of the way, only one more person to finish up and I'm done. It's weird how you spend so much time with your friends, but when it comes to getting them a gift, you space out. I did manage to ride in our wagon for the local Christmas parade....throwing candy to all the little kids and making there day. But some kids just don't need candy(see above)

On a side note, I'm getting ready for the next race season, and the first long race is the Torture Test, Excruciation Exam, Irrate Investigation, Suffering Quiz, Persecution Essay, or the Affliction Against Agony And Anguishing Ache Assesment Approval.....whatever they call it. So I took 3 mile at the Hunstillve State Park on the Cross bike to feel it out. I found a sweet little section going backwards, that was super fun. Unfortunatly I hit a turn with a wet root at mountain bike speed, and found myself on the ground, direct!

Ah Snap

2007-11-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

Remember this post, next year I'll be flying! (barring any injuries or slackoffeniss)

My run seems so easy right now, and although I'm not riding much, when I do ride it seems with greater ease. I'll try a group ride tomorrow just for good measure.
But speed has a price to pay, I've got two black eyes from fighting on Monday. I need to work on reflexes, hmm?

nathanwink.com=10.5 courics

2007-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

"And so he said upon to thee, go....GO FAST. And I did. "

I've never really had a ghost....er, any God figure appear to me. But I have had a dream where someone stood next to my bed.

It's freaky, no doubt. I don't know what I'd do, but before my mind could wake up, I'd probably hit the guy, as I do in my dreams. So sorry God, in advance.

PowerCranks

2007-11-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, the return of the training bug has hit me, and I intend to keep folks informed. This is were, you, the reader come in.
I just got a set of powercranks ordered, I found a cheap price from a triathlete and couldn't pass up. Whats digging in the savings for a supreme year next year?
I'll keep you informed if they work, and I'll also keep you informed of anything else this boy is up to.....maybe doing an adventure race soon!

Le Tour

2007-07-19T14:29:00.001-07:00

It seems to me that I haven't written on this thing in awhile, and if you read this you must really be looking for some sort of entertainment.
Well, luckily for you the tour is going on, and the frenchman Christophe Moreau got OWNED today. The kind of lashing that Bobby Lashley himself would lay down.
I'll tell you who is going to kill the TT...Cancellera...who will suck:Rasmussen. I estimate 5 minutes difference.

So, what else has been going on, besides me training nil, I've done races in fact that have had a rather good outcome, leaving me to suspect why train at all?

So I finally remembered the password, and I might blog a bit here and there, so hope this gave you 2 minutes of time of not being bored....I will probably post more funny stuff later though.

Duathloning

2006-12-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was worried about the knots in my calfs, normally a crippling pain. I found that even though slow, and dangerous behind the wheel, that my bike can still serve a purpose. I did some average running on an average course with some average pain. Hit the bike section and made some time then put in some more for good measure. The knots where hitting me in the bike, and I thought the 2nd run would hurt, but luckily I thought about running a heif marathon later, so it made it easier. I ended up in 1st overall. Pretty cool, I've never won one of these before.
Now all I have to do is get ready for Jason's 4th Degree test/ceremony, and the Texas Dare...in the Same DAY!
Funny story time. So while in my car,I have lots of appiphany's, or whatever, so I write them down in a book, I call it my 'to do' list. One is to Sell Bikes on ebay. Well, when writing when driving I guess the handwriting got sloppy....so bikes, kinda looked like bibles. So when a friend glanced at it he saw Sell Bibles on ebay. And inquired about my doing so. Jokingly I said YES! And then he wanted to know 'where' I got the bibles. And I answered, with pure genious, "From my church....they have them at the end of every pugh!"
So imagine this new way to make money...selling stolen bibles...possibley to the church that needs them the most b/c they keep running low on them.

Life

2006-11-29T09:58:00.000-08:00

Life is super busy, but at least you can get a great deal on a great bike: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=004&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=140059142423&rd=1&rd=1

I'll give anyone who mentions this ad a 5 dollar discount.
Basically, I hope you don't laugh at my non-ebay self too much. or should that be anti-ebay.

it's munday

2006-11-27T12:17:00.000-08:00

another day another dollar for this fodder. I got called in to work my old job this morning....seems like everyone got sick with the bird flu this thanksgiving, must've been the turkeys. Its been a busy week or two for this fellow, staying in shape is going ok, but the pounds just won't come off...skittles are too overwhelming.
I should do the dirty du, offroad duathlon this weekend, followed by the Texas Dare adventure race, co-Captained by Jason. I'm looking to win both, as I've been running a bit, that seems to help with my cycling somehow, witch helps me run better, so as you can see I'm in a positive spiral, and only the legs knoting up is my worry.
Until then, view this....it's how I would flirt with her:http://beaned.com/videoshow.php?id=1363
Man, you'd have to be a lowlife to go showing a girl off to sell something like this: http://www.webgirlsonline.net/uzgals/templates/Gallery/pics_of_ebay_ps3_girls-index.php , I already bought the 3rd, 5th, 14th, and 20th ones!

Tuesday

2006-11-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

Dumb people, with funny...ah, just watch! http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/11/dumb-crook-full.html
It's official, I signed up for the 1/2 marathon, Jan. 14! Now I just hope I don't laugh to much with my running buddy to derilict and not finish!

JAILBREAK!

2006-11-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

Mindset, set to win. I went into the race today thinking that NOBODY would beat us, not even our heroes in the event which we looked up to them in. Adventure racing is a pretty greuling sport, and few do it better than Doctor Dave and Shaun. I knew it would be a tough day, but it was better than going to basket weaving class while wearing my pink and purple Tu Tu. And Toninator thought I was gonna talk about his flamingo socks.
A hard faught 2nd place, and a few scratches, on top of scratches, that were on top of more scratches.
I think I'm doing a half marathon sometime in January....but I don't know, lets just pray that oneday they'll clone one of these hotdogs.
And the other big news, is I finally got a doggy, we think it's a Boston Terrior, but maybe he's just a Terrior from Boston.

WHAT?

2006-11-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

Not much time to post, but lots to post about.
Sager got naild, and all I can say to the haters...well, just rap to that T.I. song"what you know"...what you know about that? I know all about that. Like forest gump say's "shit happens"
I've been getting ready for my off season, and an adventure race seems like a fun thing, so I've been paddling, running, and NOT riding! Ah, it feels good to not have to dress up for 20 mph winds.
I treated myself to a massage, McDonalds and some lay'd back fun times with Jason. And I have to say each one of these seems to have mixed feelings.
The McDonalds is SO tasty, but I notice that I put on the poundage.
The massage FEELS so good, but I hate the fact that they push and prod on you and, well, lets face it, you build up pressure....and it's not like you can release it while she is near your rear.
Then hanging with Jason, it's always fun, like going to a cage fight...er, really it's the Lonestar Beatdown! With tons of people there you can release your build up and nobody knows, it's great! But the bad part is I can now slam dunk a basketball, from doing calf raises to see the fight.
I'm hitting the renassance festivel tomorrow, with the fellas, and lets hope I can make it home after Pancho's!

ROCKY 6!!!!

2006-11-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have footage of ROCKY 6!
http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/11/boxer-falls.html
Maybe not.

hometown

2006-11-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Huntsville, home of the worlds best mountain bike trails! They are so much fun, just place your chain on the big ring and zip zop zoobity bop you'll be riding through the woods!
The race was pretty rad, a couple of sections that were different, but the same philosophy....try to get ahead of everybody else.
The normal suspects were there, Fawley and Heming....the main front runners lately.
Marcus Torres did what he always seems to do in the east Texas races, ate it on a bridge section...scaring everyone around him. I got to the front two guys, but somehow doing the testing of 40 min tests, then hitting that 40 min. mark during the race, I kinda lost it. So I soloed in for 3rd place.
I was most happy with that though, the last race of the year, and mark my words, next year will be a much better year for Winkelmania!

2006-11-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

Halloween...what a wonderful time of the year. I spent my time in Austin. I actually hung out with some folks too! Ben was cool enough to let me stop by his pad, and his gal tryed on my running shoes....the 6" lifts. She walked around as tall as Ben and I, and was like a newborn girl that was brought into the world, everything was so 'small'. I guess when you go from 5'1" to 5'9" in a few seconds, things do look small....but the fridge???

6th Street on Halloween. It was a time. I saw this guy, and it made me laugh, because if you can't laugh at this, what will you laugh at?

Tyron Biggims....as Dave Chappel would see him.

White from GloboGym....loved it!

Dave Boyd...watch out, this is MY new rig

Apparantly I'm lucky this guy was on probation, or I'd have my ass kicked.

Soul to Sueeze

2006-10-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

This past week has been traveling upon traveling. And this week doesn't look to be much better. After the Woodlands I drive direct to Austin, for a couple of days, then a quick jaunt home and luckily I do the Huntsville race, the hometown race. I'm looking forward to seeing all the guys one last time before they beef up and get fast for spring.
In Ruston, louisiana, there is this awesome course, and I missed it this year...grrrrr. I headed over to LA to visit my bro and watch him in a little karate tourny....then maybe sneak over to the trail and do some riding.

Jason got screwed...multiple times, but hey getting DQ'd is way beter than flat out losing.

Then there was this Jimbo. This guy was the coolest cat around, we called him the blind guy, but was suprised of his karate abilities. Soon after I took this picture, he was looking at me.....I guess he can sense the flash!

Leaving is hard to do, especially when you see your family doing what they have to do for training. Jason only gets to ride to and fro work....what a champ.

The drive home was a daunting task. Not only was the lookout for cops super high, but this pound and a half saMwich was just asking for me to eat it.

Free time in LA...Guitar Hero.

After returning home, I decided to go and ride Hville...since this IS my home course and figuring I haven't ridden it for a couple of months now. It's fast...as always...and not just because I was riding chill, it's gonna be a leg breaker of a race to say the least. Pulling a sub hour lap riding a flat rear half of the lap is descent, I would say.....or would I?

Waiting for home

2006-10-29T17:46:00.000-08:00

Check this video out, the last part is not suitable for young audiences, so watch with out your parents: http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/10/theassumptionsong.html

I'm planning on posting some pictures from this weekend tomorrow, until then...

Kook-ook a choo!!!!

2006-10-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Borat in movies next week! I'm not promoting the movie, I'm just promoting funny! I think it will be a direct travisty if this movie doesn't make you laugh.

You wanna zip zop a boobity bop?
http://www.zippyvideos.com/9970099661032736/family_guy_bill_cosby/

Violated

2006-10-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Most people figure Huntsville to be a prison town...and that it is. That doesn't mean I have any affiliation with the inmates. While doing the study at UT Austin, I have heard many many stories of "The Probe". I was be-boping along just doing the hard rides they told me to do, Probe free.
And after the happy post from yesterday, I was violated. Thats all I'm saying about that.
The drive home from Austin is always fun, it goes by faster, I'm in no hurry and can eat whenever, and you see more jackasses on the way home.
The rain was pouring, and while catching a white pickup truck who was swerving all over the road. It first appeared to be a sleepy/or drunk driver. Then as I approached the vehicle I noticed that a shirtless mexican had his head out the window, WHILE driving! And I hypothisised that his winsheild wipers did not work. Hey, do what works!

Good morning.

2006-10-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

Play this song every morning and it just seems to brighten your day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsw_rbjMKgE&mode=related&search=

I like how the chinese version makes you laugh because it's like an old movie, without subtitles!

24 hour anyone?

2006-10-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

For the past 40 hours, I've gotten about 3 hours of sleep. I only rode 50 miles in the solo divison, but got the fastest 1st and fastest overall lap. The intensity training is kicking in, or was it those little pills I found in that EPO container? Thanks Floyd.
By the way, thanks to little D for inspiring me! Even though you come up a little 'short' in life, I can still make something of something or something like that.
Working the timing was a thrill, it's amazing how I single handidly can make a team go faster just by writing whatever time I want. Noel, Harrison and Claire were my support for keeping me up, and while Claire never came through with her pizza promise, or her '15' minute break we still all enjoyed the company of my ipod, and next year the dance floor will be roped off. We encountered a few problems, that I dealt with direct, and all the people had to hear was one word to make themselves feel at ease: "Nathan Winkelmann". Then the cold came, and cold is my natural enemy, that and emu's, but the cold was bitter and harsh, just like Noah does to his compitition. I'm starting to think that the gypsies rolling all that hash out there was probably the reason for the bootleg copies of that golf movie that the little kids didn't want to watch, Caddyshack.
By the way, I'm recruiting riders for a team, or two for next years endurance races, if you have the following names keep your datebook free: Champ, Crazy Bain, Dr. Pain.

some testing

2006-10-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

I went up to Austin for some LT and VO2 max testing, numbers weren't all that impressive, but I figured out I need to do some interval training. Either that or I need to hit the gym....but I never found tan lines and 12 inch pythons don't go over too well there.
Hopefully the rain will stay away for the 24 hour race, nothing's worse than doing, another, slogfest. I would love for some of the XC guys to show up, because endurance racing is a bit different....where interval training doesn't help all that much!

Here's my life lesson for today: When being waited on at a restaurant, don't say that your waitress should lose weight. Or better yet, you can say it, just not so she can here you! The service really goes downhill.

Museings

2006-10-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

I fear I might have hit a low in my performance. This weekend was 'supposed' to be grandure, but it turned out to be nothing more than a failure....and yes I said it, "now my failure is complete!" But at least I was out of the house, seeing live people and not stuck on a computer game that gets me nowhere!
I seriously didn't like Copperas Cove, or any of the guys that made the race that hard...'cough cough' STEFAN...WENGER....WIKOFF. I hooked up with TJewel after the first lap, and ended up riding back to the truck in the feedzone.
So what all I've learned this week: When sick with allergies, or any other disease, cancer, or broken self, just relax and call off thinking you will have power in the race. That and don't write on TMBRA about how you think your gonna beat a Winkelmann in the next race.-wink

It's that time of the year

2006-10-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Jason portrays how 'starting over' doesn't work with me...play where the ball lands I say.

The weather is getting cooler. The days are getting shorter. The racing is going like the dodo. After deciding to do one last long ride, instead of the cross race, I figured when I got to my turnaround and only had 2 hours to get home, and it took 3 to get there, that I was in some trouble, since riding in the dark and frigid cold isn't really my idea of fun. I had to call Mom for a pickup. Today must've been the reaction my body had, to the lack of sleep and the constant work I put my body under. I don't know if it's allergies, or if I'm actually sick, but I feel like a spoiled bag of potatoes.
Oh, that picture was me at the batting cages....I suck at baseball...apparantly I'm supposed to keep my eye on the ball, but I didn't want to be all gay like that.

Sandan=pain

2006-10-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a good weekend, hopefully I can keep some form and use it this weekend, for the 200 plus miles of racing that I'll be doing. I figured out, my new shoes must be a hair off, and so my muscles work differently. So after the road race, I had a strained shin bone muscle. Riding around hurt it before the MTB race, but once I started it wasn't even thought of.
Jason did a good job, breaking the front derailer and losing 5 minutes, but still finishing well.
He stayed home monday and taught karate, and made me do 5 million pushups, and I'm sore today from it still. I feel pretty crummy today, probably not enough rest, but I still need to figure out if I'm gonna just do a ride around here, or drive to Houston to cross it up in the mud.-with my semi slicks!

Guitar Hero is probably the funnest game to get your bud's together and play, and laugh at each other! It's like Dusty Dinkelmann has 10 fingers! Well, Shamrock finally quit, and I'm kinda glad b/c I hated seeing him get torn up every fight now. Tito Ortiz and The Iceman should be a good fight, but I'm hoping Jason gets in a local boxing show....FightNight, Nov. 2, so if he does it and you see him at the Huntsville race all tore up.....in the knuckles, you'll know.

ICKTER!

2006-10-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

Friday nights Comedy club was a ball. Every single comedian wanted to do a bit on us. Just because my phone rang in the middle of his bit. Then some old guy wanted to 'be with' us or something, he was a fag...or as we call him nowadays, metrosexual. Josh Sneed was the main honch, and was quite funny. Making fun of white trash must be hard to do...don't get me wrong, I do it all the time, but not to an audience with white trash carnies in it!
Today's Age based State Road race was tough. The old College Station loop, 80 miles or so, done with fewer people than a normal P12 race. This meant that I was on the front more. I ended up bringing home the silver for the 23-29 group. Much props to Zach Fiocca, a strong ride, and a well deserved championship. I'm not really looking forward to racing the MTB race course without riding it first, but hey, what could go wrong? I might get lost but at least I ain't got no money!

Eureaka!!!!!

2006-10-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

I solved the problem that people in cycling seem to crave. The spectator viewings. It is said that other than family and friends, there is no spectators. And I gotta kinda admit, that cycling isn't all that appealing to the public eye. BUT, I think I came up with a solution. While talking to Danielle, she said that the TOUR was boring to watch.....hmmm, what can we do to out do the tour? Well, I used my college degree for this one. What does our audience like? Well, take Baseball and Football....the sports aren't all that fun to watch....BUT they have something that draws people to the game. Americans like two things......Sex and beer. So we'll just sell them like that:

Of course these are rough drawings from my head, BUT you get the idea.....Team Smackers would love this idea I'm sure!

And who doesn't like cheering for their team? Why, I know I do! Go Woodlands!!! And the riders would surely appriciate all the jumping up and down that they recieve!

If I have to personally put on a race, in Huntsville, and show others how it's done, I might just do it! Frat guys would show for beer, sorority girls would follow....and the cheerleaders, well lets just pray I can think of a way to get them there!

HI, I'm Kenny Rogers and this is the funny blog trick.

2006-10-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Jackass number 2 was in theaters when The Muffin Man, Deisel and I went to go see it. It was either laughing or try not to puke. The stuff they do is so funny. Then if you parody it with a guy like Kenny Rogers, it just makes it more funny....notice how the tricks are performed. http://youtube.com/watch?v=VV6In1K8zKk

When we weren't making jokes up on our own, we used this little thing, called the internet to plug us into a social pipeline with one click of a button. A certain Kazachstan, however you spell it, is getting to have some serious funny material....and even a movie coming later. Yes I'm refering to Borat! http://youtube.com/watch?v=uFiSjiEb6Yg You know you got pizzaz when you make Conan speachless!

Then in the response to laughing at Jackass 2, we started to watch various videos of Jackass. Then the thought of no Don Vito in the movie led us to ponder to view him. Don Vito is one crazy fat man, and when he gets angry, you can't understand him....and I love when they translate for you....sometimes, if you pay attention, you can find that he's not even saying what they're typing. http://youtube.com/watch?v=PHKuN2gXWv0

So if you call me and get a 'weird' voicemail, you will at least get the joke now. Bikers are an unsavery bunch and I'd rather opt out.-wink

Friday

2006-09-30T00:53:00.000-07:00

Todays ride was superb. 115 miles with no bonk, the last time I did this, I hit the wall HARD at mile 70. Headwind the whole way home though, not a well thought out plan.
Here in Austin, Nnamdi is showing Mark and I a time of our life. Mark and I already laughed so much it hurts. We got in the car, and laughed at a mini van parking in a compact car spot, it hit the truck next to him becuase there was NO way it was going to fit. Mark and I were laughing contagiously, making each other laugh more and more, while Nnamdi was trying to tell us something, but the fever spread to his car as he started laughing at us.
I'm going for the core training right now, and not so much 'on the bike time'.

Realignment

2006-09-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to keep the back from going WHACK! Doing little things differently will hopefully help it to not hurt during hard races/rides.
And for all the people that think all I do is ride, I didn't even have a chance today. Yoga, work, and yes, even more work. It's amazing how little people know karate, and then they depend on Winkster to teach them.
So I'm planning on a 5 hour plus deathmarch tomorrow, Huntsville-CollegeStation and Back. Anyone interested?
Take a little recovery time, then head to see Nnamdi and Mark in Austin again. I need to ride Saturday so I'll be making last minute calls Friday night to meet with a groupo.

And just a personal note, get out and Cross it up, it's hard as hell, but the Houston Wed. Night cross races course is Saaaaaweeeeeeeeeet! -wink

I promised!

2006-09-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

RHR CX. Maybe that stands for Royally Hott Race! I've never learned the 'proper' way to do this, but this is how Wankster X does it!

This kid was in Greenville, chasing that chicken. All I could think about was Mick in Rocky, "If you catch this chicken then you'll be like greased lightening." "NOW YOU GOT SPEED!"

This is from the cracks in the 'cotton patch' RR, some guy did this to his wheel, also notice the fork broken.

I'll try to get more photos later, it took 33 minutes exactly to get here!

mercy william, mercy

2006-09-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Lordy Lordy Mary! It's just been one of those weekends. I've had SO much fun, and it just goes to show you, that racing is about meeting with friends and getting out in different parts of the country. Austin is home of lots and lots of weirdos. And then you have Nnamdi. Nnamdi is one of the rare people from Huntsville that went to Huntsville School of Karate and graduated with a black belt by the age of 15. Which he goes on to fight at World calibar fights. THEN, not only does he get a 'second' degree, but also beefs up 55 pounds...and that's PURE muscle here.
So Jason, Nnamdi and I all get together in Austin to watch a Chuck Norris feature...the WCL< World Combat League. A full contact, intense fighting show. This was a real FUN night, lot's of fighting and some guys getting knocked the hell out!!! One guy in particular got knocked out so bad, that after 30 seconds on the ground, he got up, only to fall again. So, the trainer is summoned to help, but only to jump on the mat wrong, and break his leg. So not only does the guy who DID the knocking out get his glory taken away, the guy that NEEDS help doesn't get any, and the trainer is getting help first! haha, talk about irony. At midnight the fights ended, and we had to move our car, so it wouldn't get towed, but we somehow ended up going to the famed 6th street, unfortunatly just to walk around, as I forgot my wallet. We really didn't even get on 6th street, it was more like 6 and 1/2 street, and this Drunk as a Sailor on vacation girl came up and asked to walk with us.....we laughed and were able to accomodate her to some more bars. An hour of walking around and watching the scene is plenty for me. We headed home, so I could sleep before Saturday's cross race.
While Nnamdi was in the shower, Jason and I killed a whole bucket of cookies. Then I heard some neighbors and went to meet them. We spent the next 2 hours in the room next door, watching fights and talking. At 3 and heif hours in the morning, I called it a night....er morning and hit the hay.
The next day's cross race, was very hard, it was held at the time I normally took a nap, and since I was sleep deprived already, I was really tired. I think my 7-D last night was gonna cause much pain. Will Black and Cornfed were preped and ready as always, and I hung on to a very hot and hard 3rd place. Thanks to Dave Boyd for the ride...yet again.
Jason did his first cross race, and he too got 3rd.
That night we hit DADDY'S GRILLE, a whole slew of us, the folks(mom AND dad), Jason, Nnamdi, Doctor Dave, and myself. Daddy even remembered us!!! We engulfed the food, and then listened to Dave tell storys about 7 day adventure races. Nnamdi was floored, and made a great comparison....."He has more story's about 7 days than most people have about there whole life!"
The XC race, I lined up in the back, and was just hoping my legs would have some normal power. Once we started racing, I didn't find it too hard, but I just couldn't go any harder...the power wasn't there. So After doing 2 hours, almost getting DQ'd, and having no lube on my chain, I finished in 11th.....worst XC race in Texas EVER!
It wasn't all bad though, I got to see everyone again, and I know what I missed in training...so next time won't be so hellatious!
But I think I'm heading up to Austin again this weekend, to have a little bit MORE FUN!....and I know, I'm gonna post pic's, just give me some time to download them!

Just a normal couple of days.

2006-09-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday...yoga...ride...sleep...work...then hang out with friends. Andy didn't want to come play FIFA on the PS2, but we had 6 guys all playing on the same team. But playing on a 12" tv screen is kind of difficult, the colors get mixed up, and while I yell at Cesar for not passing, Chris would start laughing at him because he didn't pass. It was a great night that ended rather late....or early. Wednesday is always difficult for me, because I have to 'wait' to ride. It's all worth it though, the drive down to Houston at 5 o'clock is a haul. I would estimate, 100% of the Houston population was driving to the exact point I was. I showed up with just enough time to, put on clothes, air up the tires, pay entry fee, and preride just one lap. I've raced enough races to determine that I shouldn't go out balls to the walls if I haven't had a good warm up. So I decided to ride into the race, with a bit slower start, and the laps being AWESOME, and long, I could warm up easy in 10 minutes or so. BikeLane had 5 guys out and the return of Dave Boyd is prominate. It's really good to see a bunch of nice guys after a long summer. It just goes to show, that mountian biking(and some roadies) IS the reason to show up to some races.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I'll try to upload some and post them for the last couple of blogs.-wink

Texas Road Racing

2006-09-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

So it was a plan of mine, two or three years ago, to start road racing to help bennifit my mountain biking. I always said, and continue to say I'm a mountain biker. I just so happen to be able to do pretty well at the road as well. Although, for some reason I've never really 'liked' it, and I always determine reasons why, but either it's too boring, or too gay.

I don't mean to offend anyone in anyway, but in Texas, we have tons of fast guys, some real strong guys. The only problem is, every one of those guys can win the race. Therefore, they WANT to win the race, ergo the problem ensues. When your able to win a road race, there is no reason to sit at the front and pull back the break that WILL win the race. And you get a few guys that try hard to work, and others sitting in to 'win'.

I'll always try as hard as I can, because in the back of my mind, it's all a game...training if you will. And if I happen to do well, which I WANT to do, then I just beat guys at their own game....very few will come play with me in the dirt.

This past weekend, the cotton patch in Greenville, was well, tough. The begining, I felt great...the roads were rather dangerous with 2 foot cracks wanting to eat wheels. I did lot's of work, and probably shouldn't have since I slept 2 hours the night before. By the time we got to the end 20 miles, with the ONE feed zone, it was attrition, the last bit was ALL head winds. It was a super tough 85 mile race, and ended up 6th....should've been 7th, but some guy thinks winning by holding on to a motorcycle is ligit.

The next day was a crit is Denton, I was already signed up but woke up to HEAVY rains and scary thunderstorms. I was mentally OUT of this race. I would line, up just to say I did, but wasn't looking for more. It just so happens, that the 'winner' of the RR, who was DQ'd, was in line right ahead of me. And I hear him talking to a teammate, talking sh!t about me....then about my mom. Any red blooded Texan whose met my mom knows how good a person she is. So when you talk about her like that, it's your life at risk. Of course I asked them if they had anything personal against 'Nathan', as they called me(only real folks call me Wink). "OH, no, we know him"....what a wussy way to back out. This fired me up, and I decided to do something in the race.

The race was a 3 by 1 rectangle. A slight hill, and my legs felt GREAT. I hardly saw my HR over 170. I was in a break that I thought would stick until Seagrave and mates pulled it back. The problem though was when we got caught, the 'real' attacks went, and I knew this, and wanted to go....the problem was the 3's integrated in our feild....one gets in the way and you have to wait until after the next two turns that were taking people down left and right. Then it was too late. So as not only ONE break gets away, a second grows, and the work I do on the front is to bring it back, but the Texas racing applys and all the winners behind me find themselves losing yet ANOTHER race. I ended up 9th....in a crit....in the rain. Is road racing supposed to be this easy? HA!

My philosophy...or WAF(Winks Awesome Filosofy)....winning is all that matters, you better bust your balls to do so.

Some funny things to show I still got it.

2006-09-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Random, creative Wink.

You have to check out this video of a fat kid....well, watch how the mother reacts!:http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/09/fatty-fall-out-of-ride.html

I guess this shows that I'm not cut out for being an operator:http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/08/911-call.html

WIN!

2006-09-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

Win's spawn other win's. After the hard race Sunday, I had some real good naps and rest days. Tuesday I woke up for Yoga, tired and groggy, I would try and ride after I yoga'd it up. The only reason I get up so early is to yoga, normally I'd be sleeping in. But this day was different, I was trying a new radio station, and if you don't know, I really like music, like lyrics and knowing the name of the song. Well it just so happens the radio station gave me this lyric: "How can a person like you bring me joy. Under the pale moon, Where I see a lot of stars". The guy said it, and it took me a minute to put into context to sing it, but I thought to myself, I KNOW THIS! The guy on the radio that called in was like, Uh, I don't know, what a retard, I was yelling the answer to him. Well, it just so happened that the DJ gave me a number and I called in.....they picked up, I won a free CD, and got entered in a grand prize drawing! It made my day, I was happy to have gotten something for free...by winning it.
The ride on Tuesday was lull at best, the legs were still tired, even after all the rest, and only got in 2 hours. It seems as though my heart is begining to get like Sager's, riding at 140 beats going 22-25 mph. But you still feel the legs.
Wednesday was going to be my first cross race of the year. I headed down to Houston for a weekely cross series, more of a fun race in my perspective. The course was pretty rad, really made a choice between a hardtail or CX bike difficult. Some sections were tough on the CX bike, while some were wide open flats....CX advantage. Young gun Bennet Brown got the whole shot, but was riding a XC rig, I bridged up to him on lap 3 and eventually got past him. Taking my 'win' on Tuesday a bit further to spawn another W.

So how many people can tell me the name of that tune above???--no googleing.

Green party

2006-09-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Old San Jose got the best of me today....let me re-phrase that, they got the best of the whole P12 field today, sweeping 7 or 8 of the top 10. I myself went on to try to fight the odds and rode with every break that went. The good thing is, 100% of my team was there the whole time, supporting me, and riding "together"-as if we were one. I seemed to have had difficulty the past week with stomach problems, and eating only one honeystinger bar in an 86 mile race probably didn't help much either. I just couldn't see myself outriding 10 guys from the same team, playing great tactics non the less. I was SURE that the first break was sticking, an early attack, two San hosers, two Velossimmissmmmooo's, and two brains and a spine's. (and me). Half way through the race, Robbinette told me Willis wasn't feeling too hot, and he looked GONE! Adam 'Ozzy Osbourne' G.-was also giving lots of energy, while his new cat 2 teammate and a guy feared in the 3's, Tha Professor Eric Benz wasn't pulling too much for the groups taste. The BS guys were really helping me drive this break, Sol the most aggressive rider on the day, and his teammate Nathan helped get the break up to 2:20...or thats what we heard. A couple of miles later, some group, I don't know if it was the peleton or a break overtook us and I had to dig to make ANOTHER break stick. This break was SURE to go to the end, Sol, Robbinette and myself from the first break made it again, with a THSJ guy, Minturn and Annuutttteeeee. Riding hard got Anut dropped and we were going up the last climb's home, 10 miles or so, when Carlos Vargas(THSJ) and Scotty Vegeberg bridged up, we also heard the pack was over a minute back. Little did I know, that would be the beggining of the end, I was fine at that point with not winning b/c Vargas is pretty strong, esspecially when your uber tired. But after Robbie and Vargas went, and the chase was begining to look grime, a whole heard of San Jose guys bridged up out of nowhere, each one looked to be fresh and ready to attack. While I got stuck with guys that wanted me to pull as much as them....yes I know, even AFTER all the miles I spent off the front. But hey, I wouldn't have Texas racing any other way. Winding up for the sprint, all I had to do was beat ONE guy I was with to get 10th....that is until a flying Zach Fioca took 9th...and a black truck impeeded a would be sprint to the end. By the way, who lets a pack of 5 guys draft off of you in the last mile anyway??? I ended up 12th....a secure 4th...to a possible 6th....a hopefull 10th to a hard 12th.

After a hard ride like that, I found that my lower back gets "stuck" in the hunched over position. Causing various amounts of pain trying to do the simplest of things, such as walking, bending over to pick up things, or riding a shopping kart with one wheel wobbling down a Wal-Mart isle.

NICE....REAL NICE!

2006-09-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

So on the way to his Championship run, Jason said he had some "mishaps", and it just so happens that Freeze was there to capture the moment. NICE!!!

I was just planning on doing some training this weekend...but it looks like there is a race close by...Good ol' Chappel Hill Road Race. I think I might try to make an appearance on Sunday, Shake and Bake!

If anyone is ever in H-ville, PLEASE call me up so I can ride with someone! I started Yoga to be around people...I've already increased my lung capacity 42%, and my flexibility 87%! Not only that but the new karate school opens tonight....and I have a personal invitation to go work out. I think that's a must, seeing that Jason isn't here to break my nose before a race.