ZaskarLE- Two wheeled pursuit of happiness

Unforseen awesomeness

2011-12-12T15:31:00.004-05:00

Blog Hiatus over?...maybe.

Most of the time city projects are a hindrance to alternative transit, and don't care about pedestrians/cyclists on the greenways. Other times, they either possibly have secret elves that do care or most likely mistakenly make fun additions to the greenways.

I will neither confirm nor deny that a certain commuter this morning removed his panniers and achieved sweet air for a brief moment eliciting a verbal response from a city utility worker, however I will note there are some peculiar tracks on this mound.

Fall 2010- CX time in TN!!

2010-09-22T23:41:00.006-04:00

Well it’s been a while. School/work was super busy this summer with conferences, time consuming experiments, working on up and coming publications, and taking my comprehensive exams. I basically was off even commuting by bike for about 7 weeks. I gained some weight, and as I found out this past weekend, I lost quite a bit of fitness over the summer months.

Friday night I went and saw Travis Book and his band (The Infamous Stringdusters) play a killer show and the Rhythm and Roots festival in Bristol and hung out a bit after, which put me home quite late. The first day of racing was a good learning experience, and was the first time I tried to elevate my heart rate since one of the Knoxicross race in February earlier this year. I started the day dehydrated and tired. At 90 degrees I was in a water deficit for the entirety of the day.

Jammin it!

Saturday-

The start was gradual…for the first 30 feet and I felt good, then someone up front decided to rev the field’s collective motor and I was instantly deep in the pain locker. The CX1/2 race basically left me in the dust after about 100 yards and as I suffered and watched, I remembered these guys had been training and were always much faster than me, however at the close of last season I could usually hang with them for at least ¾ of the first lap. I figured there’s still more honor finishing the back of the 1/2 field than doing well in the CX 3’s, which I don’t think in my dismal shape I could even do now. Shaggy got me about halfway through the race in the face with a good beer spray and this combined with an already increasing feeling of nausea I was having was enough to make me throw up on the back half of the course. The laps following this were actually my best of the day I think. Stephen Basset had a great start to the CX1/2 season riding a solid performance in the upper part of the pack for a good part of the day. Alex Dayton got a flat somewhere around halfway through he race and after I passed him, we played cat and mouse the rest of the race, with me trying my hardest to maintain the gap and him closing ever so slowly until the end of the race, with me barely holding him off.

The single speed race started what felt like a slow pace as well and feeling a burst of energy I shot off the front of the field on lap one with an attack that put a good gap on the group. This lasted for about 20 seconds until they promptly reeled me in and the rest of the race I was giving everything I had to stay mid pack. There was a painful amount of climbing, for which I was over geared, and as I cranked away like Conan the Barbarian pushing a large wheel, people danced by me with more appropriate gearing. Stupid me, in my pre-riding the course I forgot that legs after an hour of hard racing just don’t push gears with the same tenacity of a fresh test lap. I somehow clawed my way back up to 4^th on the day, minutes behind the top riders. I was satisfied I hadn’t given up and quit however. After the races Saturday I definitely questioned my “enjoyment of cross” and thought about hanging up the CX bikes and buying a floating fishing chair and beer instead. My skin was dry, hot, and I felt like I was getting mild heat exhaustion. I also didn’t pee until 11PM that night further confirming the level of dehydration, which I stupidly allowed myself to get into.

Sunday-

With Saturday’s performances I decided to pony up and double up again. If I wasn’t going to do well, I was at least going to die trying and attempt to work my way back into cross shape or at least tolerance of anaerobic fat man efforts. The CX1/2 field once again left me however this time I managed to stay with them a full 500 yards, which made me feel...less inadequate. At least at this rate in 5 years I might be able to keep up for a lap. As the race wore on I started to get my rhythm back, breathing under control, and people started dropping that tried to hang with the big boys up front. I ended up passing 2 people on the day, and even though I was way in the back still, it made me feel a lot better about the race aside from the obvious obligatory suffering.

The SS race started off faster than Saturday’s and I immediately slid into 6^th position. There were some fresh legs in the group from guys who had rests between races earlier in the day, and rather than try stupid attacks on my own I followed for a majority of the race. The group eventually whittled down to Scott Smith (TVB), Mike Seek (MSG/TCRC team), Kona Guy in black (Pirate team?), and me struggling to stay on the back of those three. Kona guy, who had dominated the day before in commanding fashion, launched many attacks through the whole event spending the majority of the race on or off the front.

Kona guy and Mike took turns viciously attacking but nothing stuck, as the four of us seemed more or less evenly matched. I was suffering lots, but tried not to show it. There was lots of shoulder and bar bumping and the race was very physical from the get go. The TVB cheering section was once again wild with excitement, as Knoxville had good representation in the top of the field. On lap 1 Phil Burgess got me pretty good with a beer spray in my left ear on a slow uphill U turn, which made the cheer section sound like they were under water the following lap, and made me most of all want to quit for said beverage. However, their tenacity and volume added greatly to the excitement of the race and I decided the faster I got done the faster I would get that which I desired.

Mike Seek leads the Steep U-turn. I try to hang on in back.

While the race was only 4 laps, it seemed like an eternity and I can play all the minute highlights back in my head. This was by far one of the most exciting SS races I’ve ever had the opportunity to do. The course was dialed in at this point and some areas were beginning to get really loose on the corner drift. My slick/low profile tread tire choice on the day was beginning to look like a bad idea, but things were reasonably predictable.

On the second lap I had slotted myself in 2nd behind Kona guy with Mike and Scott both hot on my heels. Coming into a series of sharp 90 degree S turns I stupidly tagged my inside peddle and went down, slowing up Mike and Scott quite a bit. Sometimes when you’re pushed to the edge the anaerobic juices get to your head I think. Kona guy took advantage of the situation and attacked gapping us all. The three of us with Mike leading gave chase, and by the close of the second lap, we had closed the gap and were back together.

Kona Guy trying the patented Contador "I didn't know he fell" attack.

Scott and I didn’t really throw in the attacks as much as Kona guy and Mike. I think at the end of the day this may have helped us stay with them. On lap 3 I was back with Mike trailing Scott and Kona guy, who were still leading by about 20/30 feet. I saw when we came to the barriers Kona guy was a bit slower than Scoot and me and took note. After the barriers there was a series of about 5 s turns, before a long finish stretch and I knew whoever had the best position off these, would have the best chance at the end of the race if it came to a sprint to make the line first.

As we came through for the 4^th and final bell lap, Kona guy and Scott put in a nasty dig that gapped Mike and myself by a good bit. At the backside of the course on the top of the 90 feet of climbing the course had, they had an appreciable 3-4 seconds on me and what looked like an uncloseable gap descending down the hillside. I had managed to get a little room between Mike and myself at this point, however this was not helping, as I was all alone with empty space in front of my noodle legs. I took a lot more risk on the final descent before a loose corner near the pits and pulled about half of it back. From here the course had one more super fast descent, a 90 degree right hander, and then began a straight drag into the barriers at high speed before dumping into the final tight S turns. As we rounded the final 90 I was just about to sit up and feel very satisfied with my 3^rd placement on the day and decided to say screw it and drill whatever I had left out of my legs. I decided I could always take the bus to work come Monday if I couldn’t walk and I didn’t want to have an ounce left in my body when I was done for the weekend.

As Kona guy came into the final barriers it looked like he checked up a bit to make sure he had a clean dismount. Scott was trailing right behind him on the left. I went right and dismounted way too fast for comfort and almost closed my eyes as I dismounted and jumped for my life. I cut in sharp off the last barrier to the ensuing left hander that led into the S turns and my rear wheel grazed the front of Kona guy’s witha satisfying "brrrap!". At this point I was pegged and had nothing left. I concentrated on clean technical riding through the turns and came off the final turn right in front of Kona guy for the sprint. I put my head down and gave it all. With him breathing down my neck and gaining, it was a very close and welcomed win. I think another 30 feet and he would have had me. I was hoping to have pulled Scott with me through the barriers, but he was just right behind Kona guy at the finish I think. At the close of last season I was in much better shape. This race win was not because I was the fastest or strongest rider in the field. I had played my cards just right and caught a lucky break, which is generally rare. Often guys ride off the front at the end of a race and you don't see them again until they hand you a beer at the finish.

It definitely feels good when a race plan formulated mid race in your head comes to fruition in such a fashion. I couldn’t think of a more exciting end to a race and start the 2010 CX season. Had my attack failed, it would have been just as exciting knowing the race came down to the wire. I know there are much stronger competitors in up and coming races in addition to these guys again, so this season I will have to approach the SS classes with a little more strategy and a little less leg. TVB has a strong CX team, so I’m hoping we can work together to collectively distance the Knoxville SS scene from the rest of the field. It was a good close to a rough weekend and wake up call for my fitness. I also found the uncomfortable truth that wearing the TBRA jersey from last year’s point series makes you a target, which adds to the excitement and level of competition around you. Here’s hoping for a good competitive race season.

Thank you Shaggy!!

Spring Fog rollin' in

2010-03-12T00:09:00.003-05:00

Well was trying to go to bed early tonight and ended up staying up and watching a chick flick. Looked outside and saw some neat fog rolling in. I was expecting aliens or a new galaxy to sprout at the park across the cove from us. Kinda neat.

Winter- A love story

2010-02-25T22:27:00.004-05:00

I’ve decided after having a real winter for the first time in a long time, I’m in love. I love you winter and I can’t stand the 40 deg rains of spring that are coming. In fact I loathe spring. It’s the ultimate tease season where one week it’s in the mid 60’s and the next it’s 37 and raining. If it’s going to be cold I want snow and lots of it. Abby (love her right before my newly kindled love of snow and winter) and I decided to put off our Valentines Day this year until the week after. While everyone back home was getting out their T-shirts in celebration of coming spring weather, we packed up every bit of extreme cold weather gear we could, and headed to the mtns. To get one last glimpse of winter before stupid spring came to town. Our plan was to do a hike on Roan on Saturday and Ski Sunday at Beech mtn in NC. The past week was a bad week for sleep for both of us so we slept in Saturday and got a late start, but made good time.

On Saturday we headed to Roan Mtn. I used to frequent Roan in my high school days and last summer rediscovered it through a road race that went up the side of it. We went for a hike earlier this year with a respectable amount of snow on the summit, but it paled in comparison to how much snow had accumulated from the last time I was there. The snowdrifts on the road that was mostly clear of snow and ice for one lane were higher than I was tall in places. We got up to Roan in the late afternoon unfortunately so we didn’t have a whole lot of daylight to work with. (had to go to my home in Bristol to get my skis) We hiked up the snowed in road, which had about 2 feet of packed snow on it this time and veered off onto a trail a few hundred yards up. The last snows that hit the mtn must have been super wet because the amount of snow on the trees was amazing (it looked like someone had gotten in a giant pillow fight with he forest) and gave a very soothing smooth, rounded, and white ambiance to everything around it. After hiking on the trail that was less traveled for a few hundred feet we realized leaving the car without the snowshoes we brought was a mistake. We were post holing 10-15 inches just about every step as we made our way up the trails.

We headed back to the car and decided that we would instead hike up the bald side first to the first of two summits, to check out the views before the sunset. This side of Roan never has a whole lot of snow on it because of its wind exposure, but I decided this time since there was a lot I was going to do what I’ve always wanted to do on the balds…ski. We saddled up with snowshoes with my ski gear and headed for the first summit. I knew hiking up by the frozen layer of ice over exposed snow, this was not going to be a “quality” ski run but at least I would get to say yes I’ve skied Roan to my kids and grand kids one day. This reminded me a lot of backcountry skiing in CO with friends, but without the spoiled powder conditions they always seem to have. It was also incidentally the first time I had been on my alpine skis in about 3 years. I managed to skirt and traverse my way down the mtn back to the gap with 2 good feeling turns and the rest I wrestled with a frozen layer of ice over soft snow. The wind had sculpted some very nice formations around any bushes and exposed sticks no the summit as well.

After returning to the gap we still had a few minutes of daylight to work with so I gave Abby a piggy back across the pavement in her snowshoes, dropped the skis off at the car, and then mounted up with snowshoes to explore the snow we were post holing in earlier. We ventured off the trail a few times and found pretty consistent light and fluffy snow in the woods that was about 2-3 feet deep and lots of fun to pop and run around in snowshoes. I had a brief thought of getting lost when we were running headlong through the woods laughing in deep snow but realized there was no way we could get lost with first tracks 1-2ft deep in the snow. We ran around until dark, which wasn’t even that dark because of all the snow, and then high tailed it to our abode for the evening in Valle Crucis.

Halto!

There are 3 foot tall guard rails under there somewhere...

We stayed Saturday night at the Taylor Inn, a small bed and breakfast and were wowed by the beautiful surrounding scenery and work that had gone into the house by a foreign couple that moved there a few years back to run the business. It was neat to stay in an old house and enjoy French cuisine cooking by the owners. While it wasn’t the cheapest thing in the valley, for the atmosphere and company it was the best deal going for the weekend and great choice of venue. (the best western without continental breakfast was more than this place) Definitely will recommend this place in the future to those who are looking for a secluded unique getaway experience, friendly company, and great food.

The tea/coffee/hot chocolate bar with homemade cake for us made the sell very easy.

Wipe your feet and your shoes go in the tray by the door.

Fresh Kisses...

And Flowers.

Sunday we headed to Beech mtn where we skied all day in near perfect conditions. The slopes had absolutely great snow (soft powder by eastern standards) and the temperature although a bit warm was pleasant all day. The lines were short as well, I don’t think we ever waited more than 10 minutes for the lift. We stopped a couple times for snack breaks but for the most part skied all day long till the lifts closed. (26 runs) Also it seems I’m getting to be an old man with old technology. I was the only person I observed with “straight skis” all day on the mtn., and they were a conversation starter on many lift rides up. Everyone’s gone to shape skis apparently and gone are the days of squashing your bananas (forwards shin positioning in the boot), pizzas (snowplow positions), and French fries (skiing parallel- hard to do with shape skis without overlapping tips). I saw some old faces from the days of Ski Patrol in High School and we shared a couple of stories. It was nice to be on the mtn again and see for a change the resort was doing well, as we’ve had some pretty bad winters these past years.

Beautiful clear day with picturesque views.

Snack Time!

And finally us in action trying to remember how to ski....

Great Valentines trip and we got lots of winter outside activity in. Here’s to 6 more (or more) weeks of winter!

Story Time!

2010-02-25T08:50:00.000-05:00

So last Friday I went to East Knoxville elementary school to read to the 3^rd and 4^th grade classes there. I took a few cultures of bacteria to show them. (Different pigmented phototrophs, some pigmented bacteria on plates, and some bioluminescent bacteria). I read to them "living Sunlight" and they enjoyed that and the props I brought in very much. It was very exciting to see kids excited as much as these classes were about science. They made me some super sweet thank you cards, which I have proudly posted outside my office for my co-workers to be jealous over. I think connecting with kids though this kind of program the school had going will go a long way to garnering a healthy interest in science and other professions for our future generations.

"Tubes of microbial plants!

Bacteria can be pretty and grow in pretty shapes.

My awesome thank you card.

Complete with sweet autographs.

Repaired-Like New

2010-02-17T09:27:00.006-05:00

I've had my favorite boots since about 1995. They've had thousands of hiking miles and climbing/mountaineering adventures on them. I got rained on, got snowed on, swam in (unwittingly), almost got struck by lightning in, suffered in, and enjoyed much of my entire scouting career in these boots, so they had some sentimental value to them as well. My soles were finally delaminating and falling apart, not to mention devoid of most of their tread, and I have to say they are pretty much like new now thanks to Pendergrass Family Shoe repair. Here's to 15 more years of outdoor adventures...thanks guys.

House Mtn.

2010-02-07T23:40:00.009-05:00

Managed to salvage a few outdoors hours this weekend with ongoing home and lab/school work. House Mtn first ascent. Some pics in no particular order. Definitely going back if it snows again or when things start blooming in the spring.

Commuter Bliss

2010-01-07T21:50:00.009-05:00

Many of my commutes over the years just blur right by. Some however, stand out in memory quite well. Tonight's commute was one of those. The snow was about 1-3 in deep over the entirety of the greenway and many but not all cases I was the first tracks of the night. The sky was filled to the brim with low clouds that reflected ambient light from the cityscape all around and thus I needed no artificial light source. The only sounds were my breathing and silence being broken by the gentle crushing of tires on fresh snow. With the consistency of the snow on the greenwyas I could maintain about 5-8mph in the corners and full speed on the straights. The one and only time I went down I forgot I was on the road where the snow had been packed down and was beginning to freeze. I mostly laughed at myself when I fell, made sure no one saw I needed to kill and went on my way lost in my two wheeled bliss. My new glove setup allowed my hands not to freeze and I layered perfectly and stayed toasty warm. Saw Joel riding home and that was about it for cyclists. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

I met Abby at the Cedar Bluff Panera where I became well aquainted with a warm dinner and then we had some doughnuts in the parking lot for a few minutes. I imagine they will be even better come early morning when the lots are solid sheets of ice.

Where have I been?

2009-12-10T00:14:00.005-05:00

I'm afraid it's not that exciting...I've just been busy doing lots of inside work...

Life has gotten in the way of lots of things recently. The Blog was the first thing to be trimmed to save time. Updates are coming soon. This should hold you for now...

CX time in TN

2009-09-28T21:42:00.007-04:00

It's been raining...lots. You're inside. You need a cross bike.

Go Mom!

Thanks to Kevin for the invite, hospitality, and a memorable weekend.
Check out his races...
FREAK RACE SERIES

Waterworld

2009-09-10T22:06:00.006-04:00

So far this summer I had been lucky enough to somehow miss most of the major greenway flooding. I either was running from encroaching storms or just getting rained on as they started most of the summer. Today a thunderstorm sat over west/downtown knox for about 30 minutes dumping a sizable deluge right before I left work. While the 3rd Creek greenway was relatively flood free I was met with quite the river on the west Knox greenways. I now know why the damn cement paths are so slick.

The pot O gold is the First TN headquarters. Unfortunately you can't have rainbows without "rain".

Ride started out as just another damp drizzle ride.

Don't usually see water this high out west...this is where I started to wonder what it was going to be like ahead.

Squeaky brakes.

Now I knew something was a miss. The stream had clearly recently been out of it's banks and I saw two muskrats fighting the current and trying to get out of the water.

At this point I was a bit intimidated but decided to ford.

About halfway through I decided this might have been one of those times where I should have taken the alternate route. Much like the Oregon trail I was at the mercy of the water. Did I mention every time I ever tried to ford in Oregon trail Jimmy fell off and drowned? I still remember my swift water rescue course and found myself questioning my decision to ford over and over. I figured as long as I could guess where the pavement was and stayed up right I should be ok...

The water stayed about 6-10" deep until the last segment where the water level rose enough to put some buoyancy pressure on my panniers (18"?enough to keep my complete pedal stroke under water), which amazingly are well sealed with the welded seams and stayed dry.

Approaching land.

Whew made it!

Riding through puddles in the dark not knowing the depth is always fun. Lots of leaves on the G way, it's prime season for breaking bones on the greenways be careful out there it's going to be slick in spots the next few days.

Rocky Fork Exploration #1

2009-09-06T18:21:00.011-04:00

I’ve been drumming up Rocky fork as a legit mtn bike destination for some time now. I used to get up there with my best high school friend and dad a reasonable amount back in those days. With a recent land acquisition Rocky Fork was again thrust into the news and it seems finally this pristine area is now under the watchful eye of some people who won’t develop it. Abby and I took off for a day to do some exploratory riding in the old stomping grounds.

One thing I failed to recognize is that in 10 years a lot can change on trails. New ones are opened and old ones are allowed to revert back to a more primitive status or disappear completely. The latter was true of much of my childhood memories for the day, but now I have a good feeling for the lay of what is still a viable option and what is not for riding. I’m hoping to lead some folks around in a month or so to check out what the area has to offer. One word of caution I will offer is that Rocky Fork is not for beginners, especially some of the older trails. I become intimately familiar with what a true rock garden and creek bed riding is by the close of our riding. Flowing single track and easy riding are not hallmarks of this primitive wilderness’s trails system. That being said the ride was a blast and the lush forest was a welcome change to the norm.

We met my parents at the trail head and they went for a hike with our dogs as we proceeded to ride on old loop I remembered doing.

A brief discussion with my dad over a topo map and we knew it was going to be interesting.

The trail starts at a tame gravel access road following the creek bed, but this is a farce.
This area also has a natural trout population that's pretty stout this year.

First of many creek crossings.

One offshoot of the main trail follows Rocky Fork Creek.

Which in some place has become the creek as the trails has been so eroded that it's actually lower that the level of the creek bed.

This is when things got interesting. Mistakes to the center of the "trail" were always big and wet.

We finally turned off of the creek trail and headed up to the ridge. It's called the stairway to heaven here for a reason. This steep grade is probably not ridden/ hiked much because of it's difficulty and as such had lots of overgrowth on it.

And lots of stinging nettles.

We finally cleared the wet areas where the nettle was prolifically spread and enjoyed a few miles of ridge riding before dropping into the next water shed area.

The trails here were far less overgrown and had a scattering of trees to skirt every so often.

Tame trails compared to the creek areas.

Back down into the water shed.

This was interesting we saw plenty of fresh bear scat and prints, but never the bears. My parents on the other hand had a close encounter with a bear when our dogs treed a cub and the mother nearby became very agitated. They had to run for about a mile to get away from the area and luckily everyone was ok.

Picking lines is very important at the fork.

On the upper slopes signs of older logging operations from the previous owners are still around.

Descending back down to our start through some of the tricky creeks.

Lots of rocks.

Dad and dog#1.

Mom.

We both got owned by the last measly creek crossing. Rocks were slick though.

2 years and Opening Day

2009-09-01T23:19:00.007-04:00

9-1-09 Wedding anniversary (2years). I'm still in love and Abby in camo added a nice touch to a traditional Chandler non traditional celebration of tying the knot. I'm sure a nice dinner is in order sometime soon, but incidentally opening day of dove season in TN is on the 1st so we went out to Forks of the River with Boogs and Chris. Had an absolute blast...

This was Boogy's first hunt and we were a little worried about him maybe being gun shy. A hard fear to break, I was a bit nervous going out there with him. I've got him trained to run to my side when we're defending the yard from house eating squirrels or starlings with the air rifle, but shotguns are much louder.

And then there was the whole house dog laziness issue we had to contend with.

First order of the day was to look a flight patterns and try to sit where the birds were coming in. Hard to find spots when every person that hunts in Knox county converged on the fields. It was unbelievable to see and hear the number of shotguns.

We eventually settled on a thin line of trees bordering the large main fields and a back field where some guy was using a "roto dove" decoy.

An hour or so in...Ahh smell of cordite and a little blood means things are going well. We held our own against the onslaught for a few hours.

Dove hunting is mostly waiting followed by intense sessions of biological bombardment which inevitably involve a few "Kevlar" birds and lots of laughing.

Boogy soon learned where all the fetch fodder came from. We also found out that he is definitely not gun shy...falling asleep once between volleys.

"Comon you guys could have shot that..."

On the retrieve.

Hello Fall

2009-09-01T23:05:00.005-04:00

Fall's approaching and the weather is now officially crisp enough some mornings for arm warmers. The rain continues but some commuting days are better than others. Staying super busy with school and life now but every now and then find some time to enjoy the simple pleasures...

The tat arm warmers are once again back in season in the morning commute.

Every now and then I find myself riding across the giant Alcoa ped bridge. Sometimes I forget how nice it is living near a river.

Lots of Herons out below getting breakfast.

My first flat in about 200 miles on the way home trying to beat a thunderstorm.

I lost against both a fleck of frame rust hitting just right and the rain.

Sometimes you start in the rain...but there's a bright side to every commute.

Ok some more than others.

I always follow the signage.

Dabbed in an alleycat this past weekend. Won with Caleb and Derek. It was a little different format, (Like a scavenger hunt on crack) but tons of fun and I was able to squeeze it in between some lab work since it was downtown, which made it even more awesome.

Everyone got crunk afterwords...Phil.

Stretching out

2009-08-17T23:07:00.007-04:00

After not having a lot of time over the summer to stretch out and relax a few weeks back Abby, Boogs, and I ran off for her B-day weekend for a little R&R at the beach for 3 days. We had lots of fun and got a much needed reprieve from the somehow busy components of our lives. We're fortunate enough to have a place to go where there are few people and lots of nature on the Coast so it's even more relaxing. Here's some photos from our trip...

Stormy afternoons made for some neat morning clouds.

Boogs doubles as a pillow when he's tired.

Big and pretty spiders where everywhere.

D-Fly.

Sunrise.

Ripples in a tidal pool hold fast onto water trying desperately to escape.

The clouds made for lots of neat contrast. In a deeper tidal pool like this I had a closer than I would have liked encounter with a Bonnet head shark that brushed up against my leg. Some mom on the beach was squawking at her kids about a shark but people usually confuse them with dolphins around the island so I didn't give it a second thought. Should've listened to that mom...

In the spartina salt marshes I did a little sampling and took some grass back to one of my colleagues on our floor for research purposes. He's looking for lignocellulosic degraders of lignin and I supplied him with many pounds of spartina after wading through thick marsh mud and cutting a few trash bags worth for him. It's drying out on the roof of my building now as I type.

Sunrise again.

Funny/neat Dolphins stories...We saw some Dolphins wrangling fish up and forcing them onto steep banks of the spartina marshes. It was really amazing and I unfortunately didn't get a picture of them doing it. Pelicans would in turn also wait on the shore where the breeches were occuring and would get anything the Dolphins missed. The banks were steep enough that the Dolphins could kick and roll back into the water. The lower tidal creeks seemed to concentrate the fish for them as well. Above is a baby I'm assuming was learning the pod trade.

This is what I thought that mom was squawking about but it was in fact a shark not a Dolphin fin as pictured here. This Dolphin came over to our shore and was quite curious about Boogy. You could see it rolling on its side to take a look at him. I jokingly asked Boogs "what's that?!" like I always do to get him excited and the unintended consequence was that Boogy tried to retrieve the Dolphin, which was now about 15 feet off the shoreline. He jumped headfirst into the tidal creek and I thought for a second Boogy was going to be killed by flipper, as Dolphins can be quite brutal when provoked.

The Dolphin came up saw Boogy and turned on it's side and blasted him with water and slapped his tail loudly on the surface. At this point Boogs realized he was out sized and immediately retreated very rapidly to the shoreline. He then proceeded to point and bark every time a Dolphin surfaced and would not go back into any water for the remainder of the walk in the creek/marsh area. Relieved that he wasn't going to be eaten it was quite funny to watch him nervously pace and bark.

Tail tucked...yeah real confident looking there man.

We rescued a couple of starfish along the way back from the receding tides.

Some kind of fishing bird.

The biggest chicken tractor we have seen in some time. This one had about 150-200 Rhode Island Reds in it with shaved beaks. If I ever have land and a tractor...I will build on the these suckers. It was massive.

Material World and Trek Nuts

2009-08-13T10:24:00.010-04:00

More posts coming later this week, however in the meantime I present the great American Bicycle making company's new pitch to get you to buy their champion making products...

Now we've never known Lance Armstrong to be a humble man. His first book, "It's not about the Bike", definitely spelled that out for us who were in doubt.

It seems Trek has decided to part ways with Lance and even Contador for that matter now and in an increasingly material world has come up with a new brazen announcement that we should have all known from the beginning. That announcement is simply that it seems that everything is about the bike. However I knew something more sinister was at work here, as one of Lance's victories was aided by Litespeed bikes painted to look like Treks. I just happened upon their website this morning through a url error to be greeted with this...

Which to me read something like this...

With this new XXX dual groupo you're sure to win everything you try, which explains this year's TDF result. Obviously Lance was not able to upgrade to the new model Trek nuts (opting unwisely for the XXX collarbone, and thus the 2010 model Contador was sporting clearly shows that the new model was superior, being "beefier, stiffer, more precise (you can really see those veins) and lighter". Sorry Lance but I seriously doubt "The Shack" nuts are going to be as good. With all the years of internal R and D going in in cold winter months in Wisconsin, it looks like Trek has a good head start on the competition in performance design in this area.

And of course as we all know now "It's all about performance".

RCP #1 (Random commuter post)

2009-07-27T23:54:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder what it's like to live out west, where evergreen forests predominate the woods? Now you can! Just plant a plastic tree in your front yard and don't even water it. The leaves will probably stay for years before they photo degrade, and you can always spray paint the "chlorophyll A" back on. Best of all if you decide it's a deciduous year, just apply some red, orange, and yellow highlights. No need to water!

Not my Day...

2009-07-26T18:52:00.012-04:00

This is what I woke up to this morning....

I generally am not one to quit I would soon rather run the rest of a race barefoot in the mud than DNF, however today was the exception at the Haw Ridge XC race. We arrived in the am and everything was fine minus a few sprinkles. Then right before we started all hell broke loose and images of DSG and thoughts of "what the hell am I doing?" started going through my head. I went with my geared bike since I decided I wouldn't be able to compete on the single speed and the mud actually wasn't too bad.

Little mud but nothing too bad.

The race went off and immediately I was spit out the back of a small but elite pack. Of all the crazies that showed up I was the slowest to start. I passed on guy after we started a short climb in the woods and it a bit before I could see the next group of two. The roots were very slick and after watching Caleb eat a mouthful of dirt on a large root on East shore I decided that one would be cross practice with a dismount each lap. After the first climb up ridge I was able to pull up to Caleb and Begalski and rode with them till I was able to slip by on a very steep pitch on rainbow where some dabbing happen up front. After I got past them I decided I wasn't going to gain anything on the descents so I pushed it as hard as possible on the hills.

After the first lap I felt I had a decent gap and I started to settle into race pace. As I rode on a new section of roller coaster I felt my ride get very plush. I looked down and knew I had pinch flatted so I punched it as long as I could till I felt a root make contact with my rim. Muddy hands and anaerobic head made the change difficult and I fumbled with the valve screw I stupidly left in the tube. As I was finishing up about 3-4min later Caleb and another guy came blazing by and I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me. I finally got the wheel mounted and my trash cleaned up and back into my pack and put out a solid enough effort to catch the guy chasing Caleb before we got back on middle road. Everything was going well.

As I entered East shore again I dropped down to the flat section before the ridge climb. I had seen what I thought was Caleb going up the ridge and I was going to blow a gasket on the climb to try to make the catch. Pffffffffffffffff! was all I heard. I had no other tubes and upon closer inspection I found the bottom of a broken bud light bottle on the side of the trail had seriously assaulted my sidewall. I gave it a good chuck into the Clinch to forever rest at the bottom of the radioactive sludge with everything else. In a few million years when aliens come they might find it. Anyways I walked out and even though it was a bummer to be done I had lots of fun in the rain. After a good wash and quick cleaning out of the headset and repacking it with grease, the bike seems to have fared well minus the rear tire. Anyways hats off to the great Caleeeb for enduring the race of attrition to assert his XC dominance. I knew those ride across the country legs would be strong. Now to find some new tires....

Bruised but not broken...

The offending new orifice in my rear tire...Courtesy of Anheiser-Busch .

At least I didn't do this....

"chain chain"

2009-07-24T17:35:00.006-04:00

Can you tell which one just got done crying?

This past weekend the twins came up to visit and we had a mini celebration for Abby’s birthday within the confines of the family, since they wouldn’t be here for the actual day. She has to wait for my presents. We went for a train ride with the twins Saturday afternoon that took us out to the old Asbury Quarry, where marble was mined and used for the Lincoln memorial among many other famous landmarks.

Sunday Abby and I went for a morning ride at Haw Ridge and really enjoyed taking advantage of the crisp cool weather. We came back and had a nice birthday celebration with a huge Mexican meal and some really good cheesecake following. Abby’s parents found her an old Western Flyer tandem beach Cruiser at a yard sale that is in excellent condition. We took it out in the afternoon on a test spin down to Anchor Park and along Turkey creek getting lots of looks and smiles. The thing is huge but we’ve somehow been able to make room for it in our little house. It will be a great addition for social rides in the near future.

Trains are called "chain chains" by the twins and they were very excited to see them and ride this one.

Bridge over the south fork of the Holston River. (Osprey nest on top)

State of the art twin retention devices were deployed to contain the collateral slobbering.

Nice views of the river and perfect weather to enjoy them.

The quarry is quite large. 50 foot ladder on wall if you look hard enough.

At the turn around the engineers treated everyone to a little drive by.

Looking down on the bridge on the way back. The Engineers gave us a smooth ride by keeping about 7-8 lbs of air pressure in the brake lines. This keeps the cars from springing together and bouncing during slow acceleration and decelerations.

Red caboose against green fields is a good contrast. You can rent to Caboose for about 200 bucks for private parties. If you have enough it's cheaper than regular fares.

On Sunday among other things Abby's parents brought an old watermelon for the girls who immediately commenced gutting it like lions at a kill.

Until a larger giggly predator came in for a look.

We got lots of flowers out front now...too bad we can't eat them.

The awesome find courtesy of Abby's parents.

Some of the kids enjoying the new bike a little too much.

Cheesy.

July 4th- now recap

2009-07-17T17:12:00.017-04:00

July 4th weekend was a blur. We woke early and headed to the Smokies to sneak in what we thought might be a private ride through cades. Wrong. Cades cove busiest time of year happens to be July 4th and after we finally got parked in overflow parking in the fields of the valley a ranger told us they had 870 counted rider last year between 8-10am and said there were more later and earlier. Anyways we still braved the crowds and got ahead of the cars on our loop. Saw the usual Cade’s wildlife (turkey, deer, bears) and some DFR’s (dumb freckin rednecks). One in particular was chasing a bear with a point and shoot camera through the woods.

For the first time ever I stopped and checked out the gris mill and it was actually pretty neat. We saw lots of reptiles and amphibians there and ate blackberries until our bowels threatened to rebel. Followed by a picnic lunch and ice cream we headed back to K-town for the evening’s events.

We ate the happy hour at a deserted Nama and then headed for the symphony and fireworks. Oddly enough in the field behind the port-O-Jahns, there was a nice patch of grass open upwind and with an unobstructed stadium view of the works. I messed around with camera settings and got a few decent shots. Hopefully I’ll be able to translate this into some good shots for Boom’s Day later this year.

Sunday we ate dinner with the Tuckers at their house and were treated to an afternoon thundershower, grandparental (courtesy of Toots and Grandpa Knoll) stories, and a gentle rain, completing a packed and fun filled weekend.

Little did we know we would be the turkeys thinking it would be deserted in the cove.

Nice views that were relatively smog free.

A doe a deer...a female deer.

Salamander Rescue courtesy of Derek back to the stream bed.

Water powa!

The lock allowing water to flow to the wheel.

The wheel.

55x11 doesn't have anything on these gears.

This one's for you mom. Black snakes eat copperheads and mice and are good to have around.

Berry good deserts.

Flowers in Market square.

The moon provided pre fireworks illumination in fantastic fashion.

Lots of Fireworks pictures.....

Finale. Pictures don't do the bass levels justice.

Neat guttering device at Abby's parents.

Water flows from the gutter and then down all those segments, spilling a surprisingly small amount of water even in heavy rain.

A little walk at Concord and doing our part with some trail work on the local ivy growth.

Big South Fork Race

Home sweet home.

This past weekend Abby and I headed up to Big South Fork for my first mtb race of the year and a race Abby could finally ride in without threat of destroying herself or her bike. We met Maria and Amanda and camped out in the Bandy creek campground, which was very pimped out with the best in taxpayer dollars.

Both Abby and Boogy like sleeping in...

Abby’s race- Abby won the sport women with a small but talented field. We both knew Rachel was going to be fast on her newly decked pink single stallion, but with a little terrain luck on her side Abby was able to hold of off the Pink onslaught till the end. Abby had some mechanical difficulties of her own with a ruptured rear derailleur cable housing and a seat post that wouldn’t hold her seat straight (thanks to the anonymous " " dot quality). She rode with the seat tilted sharply up for the duration of the race and we will be removing and replacing the unmentioned defective designed post in short order and replacing it with something a little more stout.

Boogs sat on the road and side of the trail and gave us this look every time we came around.

Women racers are mean.

Fun in the woods.

And done.

My race- I was very nervous going into this race, but was comforted by the reports that the BSF course was not very technical. For the most part this was true with the exception of a few rock drop offs. What this race lacked in technicality it made up for in scary speed. The first miles of gravel road were all Big ring and a “gentlemen’s” start was not possible with Mr. Casteel (aka Mr. Excitement) attacking off the front like the line was 50 yards up the road. This drove the field to chase relentlessly into the woods at a very high pace with everyone in their big rings.

About ½ mile down the trail at a creek crossing a rider went down in front of me and an octopus of bikes soon ensued. Somehow no one had any major injuries, as when it all happened we were all doing about 25 mph. After the smoke cleared I found myself sitting about 6th in the group and as the first lap progressed, already better than any aspirations I had for the day. A flurry of attacks and small dabs from competitors in front allowed me to move to the very front of the race…somewhere I have never been in expert so far. While it was a rush having a bunch of faster than you dudes breathing down your neck waiting for the slightest mistake, I welcomed the change of lead shortly after on a gravel road. Tanner Hurst, a very fast up and coming kid laid down an attack with another guy in a group of three we had going and they never looked back as they dusted me.

At this point I was into my second lap and my back was starting to hurt and feel a little weird. I backed off the pace a bit and just tried to settle in on a reasonably anaerobic and tolerably painful rhythm. A pro rider Jake Prater, rode up on me offered some words of encouragement and then went on to the front to win the race, as he had been caught up earlier in the race wreck. After a short shooting leg pain and numbness in my leg subsided with a drop in pace, I decided I was feeling better or my adrenaline was high enough to ignore the pain and either way I was going to be done afterwards.

My third lap felt much better and smoother, as my technical skills especially at such high speeds, have diminished with all the no brainer roadie steering. The course was getting dialed in and I was beginning to really feel out the corners a lot better. I caught sight of one of the guys in front of me several times but didn’t have enough gas to close the gap before the end of the race. Meanwhile I was fighting my own battle with a Krystal guy behind me, who would keep walking up on me after the long technical descents where I had to ease off to preserve my back. Oddly enough the climbing on the day felt the best and seemed like it was where I was able to gain the most ground on my opponents. I rolled across the line utterly cooked on my limited expert experience in 4th place, which I felt was pretty awesome, considering the field strength for the day was stout and I’m coming off no riding mtb with a gimp back. After the beating my body took I’m seriously considering sitting out the Haw Ridge race as a volunteer and letting my back make the full recovery before getting back into the mtb race scene. One thing’s for sure, there’s no faking fitness or technical ability in mtb. Unlike road racing wheel sucking is just not really ever an option.Finally back to my roots…and the dirt.

Stung

2009-07-14T09:50:00.004-04:00

Commuting is not without hazard... just this morning an intruder snuck in the right shoulder of my Jersey. I won the war but he drew first blood...

July 3rd

2009-07-13T19:09:00.005-04:00

Last Friday I think I was one of the only ones in the family working. I went in early so I could make the most of the afternoon. Boogs and I took a nice ride out at the ridge while Abby and some visiting friends went tubing. It’s been a while since I’ve been out for any ride of consequence and it was nice to get out and get things dialed in and get a feel back for the fat tires. We rode pretty easy since Boogy got pretty hot and stuck mostly to the shoreline but it gave me a good gauge on where my mtb fitness was I think.My plan was by the end of the summer to be able to hop in at least one mtb race...

The ride in had lots of greenway rays.

Boogs is getting a little too accustomed to our usual lakeside route. He has figured out that he can shortcut us by swimming across some of the coves.

The occasional lakeside dip kept the 80 degree heat down for our hot natured hound.

His energy level seemed a little high mid ride so we took a detour up HOT. By the top boogs showed he is not a climber.

Man's best friend(s)

Boogy Days of Summer

2009-07-06T17:08:00.003-04:00

With the heat ratcheting up a notch the dog days of summer have officially arrived. Speaking of which, Boogy has lost about 10 lbs and is much more active as of recent. We’ve been taking him occasionally to a pond behind our neighborhood where there have to be about 50 bullfrogs that regularly congregate for the usual casual coupling and what not. The hilarity started the first time we took Boogs with us. The pond is only about 30-40 feet in diameter and as Boogy runs around, the frogs all jump into the water just out of reach in front of him and drive him absolutely nuts. They hop back out of the water relatively quickly and the process repeats itself until all the frogs are in the water, at which point Boogy leaps forth and tries even more sadly to get them in their element. He usually does some shallow dives with his head and ends up getting a bit choked up. Meanwhile more frogs make their way back on the bank and the process resets itself. The first night we did this, Boogs went non stop for about 30 minutes. Every now and then we’ll catch one for him to sniff and that eye and nose near the prize keeps him very motivated.

Some of the bullfrogs are pretty big and must smell good to dogs.

Boogs also went to Bark at the baseball park last week and met lots of other dogs there. While I was unable to attend due to my rescue squad shift Monday night, Abby informed me that there was a doorbell sound they played several times over the speakers, which set off a chain reaction of dogs barking around the field. On one occasion the pitcher had to actually stop and laugh.

Waiting for balls (base variety)

Two weekends ago we also fetched a very large piece of driftwood Abby had been eyeing on the shore at Concord park. Our plan is to somehow get this monstrosity out of the water enough to cut it up into segments and make benches out of it. While I was sick on the retrieval day, Abby and her parents paddled our canoe over to the park, tied the log up and towed it back to our shoreline near the house where it is tied now. The log turned out to be 35 feet long and unexpectedly huge. So now were’ brainstorming of different way to get it out of the water with everything from a boat trailer idea to a hand winch and levering it up onto the shore. For now we’re content to let it sit while we think of the best way.

Loading up Boogy who was little to no help and 60-70 lbs of extra weight (wet dog).

Corralling the log from the shoreline where it was half floating was no easy task.

Log wranglers.

Pre departure from Concord with Boogy offering some help by standing on the log.
It took 30 minutes to get over to the log and about 1:30 to paddle back with it.

It's Hot

2009-06-29T16:04:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, you just gotta lay in shallow a mud puddle and wallow a bit. (after urinating in it)

Father's Day Extravaganza 2009

2009-06-24T21:52:00.023-04:00

This past weekend was packed start to finish.

A friend of mine and a helluva cross racer, Travis Book and his band the infamous stringdusters came to town Friday and I decided I was going to go see them. His wife also happened to cross paths with him this particular evening and she opened in a solo act for his band. She did a Blue plate special with WDVX on the radio and they both brought down the house that evening. My interest in live Bluegrass and the like were rekindled by the night's performances.

My first blue plate special at the new venue.

Travis and his wife live on the air.

The Infamous Stringdusters burning it up and kicking ass!
(as I blind them with my flash on...oops, amateur move)

Before the show we also stumbled across the Knoxville 4 square guild. They play every Friday night they can on the stage at Market square. There were girls in dresses, little kids, and even dudes with megadeath and my bloody valentine shirts playing. The most aggressive and dastardly players were actually the little kids as they were so damn low to the ground it was hard to cover their shots. My first round I tried to take it easy on this 5 year old with a snap on bracelet and she spiked it in my face. Needless to say the next time around I had no qualms shoving the ball at her with some speed. I made my way to the "King" square once. Up to this point in my life I had never played 4 square so I had a blast.

Abby also found a dachshund puppy she just had to hold.

The following morning at 5:45 Am Abby and I headed home for a father's day ride with mom and dad. We rode from the 421 Bridge over Holston mtn down past backbone rock and into Damascus. It was nice to see my old stomping grounds and riding to Damascus reminded me how painfully long it's been since I rode mtb there. I feel a challenge loop trip coming on soon on the old Iron mtn trail.

Our Route.

Elevation covered (small hill repeat on the way back)

A mailbox at the boat ramp was properly themed for the weekend's ride.

Riding up the winding road to the top of Holston Mtn.

Coming into Shady valley. Cloud cover stayed with us most of the day making a day that was supposed to sweltering, not to shabby.

Shady valley is absolutely beautiful and has lots of neat things to look at like this stone barn and grain elevator.

421 through Shady valley is diverted for motorized traffic past this point. A huge sinkhole opened a few months back, due to draining of the underground water aquifer and it was still expanding when we rode by it. It was amazing to see it slowly just sinking before our eyes. It looked like the pit in return of the Jedi where Jaba the Hut throws all his debtors.

Another view of country roads through the valley.

In the fall the cranberry festival in Shady Valley is where it's at.

Sorry Knoxville "the Dragon" doesn't have anything on "The Snake". This tower at the main motorcycle stops will gladly attest to that.

In July the country store plays the Tour De France live for all the motorcyclists to watch. Last summer we stopped in and there were a surprising number of them watching. The motorcyclists up here also seem to be a bit more tolerant of cyclists railing down the corners on the mtn.

There are two types of fuel here for you motorcycle.

Venomous with a little heed might just be the secret to success in the mtns. I'll test it next time.

Tater wedges and a big sandwich in Damascus helped power us back over the mtn.

Dairy King is also much better than the Queen.

Apparently the firefighters here are a little non traditional when it comes to training.

A neat display on the side of someones barn just outside of Damascus.

A few years back this thing was a rust bucket, I think it's been painted since then.

Looks better in B&W anyways.

TN never lets you forget you're coming into our great state.

The backbone rock area has a nice stream for dipping into, good shade, and scenery...ahem Caleb and Andy take note (just a few miles out of Damascus and worth the trip).

Backbone rock.

Climbing back up into shady valley. We met a few TCRC people on the way back and rode up into the valley with them.

Shady.

By the time we looped back by the sinkhole it had deepened about 8 feet and the road around the hole was beginning to collapse...crazy.

Clouds started looking less friendly and more ominous. Descending on the frontside of Holston ran into some sprinkes and made it back to the car just in time to avoid a spectacular thunderstorm.

At home we watched as my parent's resident fat chipmunk battled with birds for feeder supremacy. The munk won most of the time.

"Back" in the swing of things…

2009-06-18T08:33:00.013-04:00

Commuting is back in full swing and my back is doing much better. I can put in long slow miles without my it complaining too much now, which is a welcome change. Last month I got a commuter award that motivated me further to avoid taking slack days by just riding to the bus stop and as a result I’ve put in several hundred miles plus in the previous weeks of commuting. (Big for me especially with loaded panniers) Last week was the longest in a while with a total tally of 165 miles from Monday through Friday.

It's a major award! Not quite as a good as a leg lamp, but it will do.

Stashed a "greenway broom" along this wall near walmart to sweep off glass from above.

I need to remember to bring some spray paint to disguise the new public tool.

Somehow I’ve been dodging most but not all of the afternoon thunderstorms. (yesterday I got hammered in a severe thunderstorm shortly before getting home) For a few I’ve had to hunker down in park shelters, but for the most part I’ve been hitting the lulls in between well. The weather for morning commutes has been cool and damp followed by hot clammy afternoons, so motivating myself to ride in the mornings has been a lot easier.

Looking out the lab windows some days...

It feels safer to stay a little later and get some extra work done.

Torrential rains always generate interesting water hazards.

Fenders are good.

Condo construction is bad.

Complaints to the city that make them repave quickly...good.

Lots of debris on the way these past few weeks.

Strawberry and banana shakes await me at home in the evenings as I sit on the porch and watch the distant thunderstorms.
Got out for a little trail work here and there and now I’ve really got the hankering to get back on the mtn bike. I’ve got it all adjusted and set up, I just need a week or so of dry weather so I don’t go shredding up wet trails.

Finally got a weekend to take it a little easy, did some yard work and a nice long rec road riding with D, DH, and E out far west on Sunday. I now have an upgraded cycle computer, which lets me log some ride data. I'm most interested in the elevation profiles, but I'm sure I figure everything out in short order. Here's my first attempt at a data log from our nice easy little ride...

Our route.

Speed? Clearly something happened here...

Elevation profile seemed to work well.

Looking forward to fat tire riding in the very near future...

In other news the new "Earth Unfare" opened at the old Bi-Lo site. While I support a message of sustainability their example is laughable. The parking lot was full of people from the Sequoyah hills area who drove their suburbans anywhere from about 1-3 miles down to the store (probably alone). I observed a woman in an Escalade parked with its engine running to keep the A/C on, while talking on her cell phone as I took a picture of this...

This is a bin of water bottles for people on the greenway to entice them into the store where they can buy a $5 head of organic lettuce trucked here all the way from California in much smaller quantities than your typical veggie shipments. (Don't worry it was probably solar powered) Bottled water is perhaps the pinnacle symbol of modern day wastefulness and unsustainability in a community where public water supplies are perfectly good to drink from. However, they did have a recycle bin next to it so the bottles could be trucked away, reconstituted releasing a variety of "toxic compounds" and resold to another customer who has been brainwashed into believing everything public is going to give you cancer. Funny thing is there were 5 empty bottles on the ground and 2 in the recycle bin when I went by. I challenge anyone who says our public water is bad to go to Mexico and have a cool glass of water without getting a raging case of GI disturbance. Until people learn to reproduce responsibly, organic sustainability is a waste of time as our carrying capacity for the planet is already reaching critical levels with current food production.

At least the New Earth Fare is in the third creek watershed vicinity so if you need an extra organic, chemical free, spring fed water bottle just head on downstream to the TN river pollution booms at the end of the tainted tributaries and pick one up.

And this morning another frivolous adventure in excessive over activism...

Roan Groanin’

2009-06-11T23:50:00.005-04:00

Another lengthy but action packed weekend report...

In my latest installment into the paved world of bicycle racing I fared well yet again and our team shined again with excellent tactics to sweep all the top spots in the omnium.

Roan Groan (Road Race)-

I was the ire of the weekend, as apparently no roadies understand bling.

As we turned out of the parking lot 3 guys attacked. The absurdity of this move was soon mocked in kind by the peloton but it was entertaining to see them get about a mile down (until they were about the size of ants) the road and then reel them in within about 5 minutes. I could hear the fail music playing the background. (Wah wah wahhhhhhh). As we got a little further down the road and began some gentle rollers I realized quite suddenly and unpleasantly that I was going to have to urinate. My water bottles were both full at this juncture so I immediately ruled out that option. Two of my teammates were on the front of the peloton so I sprinted hard as I could to the front of the group and told them I was attacking up the road to pee and to slow things down if they could. I got about a 40 second gap on the field and pulled it over for the fastest pit stop of my life. Lesson learned, don’t over hydrate before the race in the morning and excessive caffeine is bad to that end as well.

As we approached the base of the climb a moto ref came back to inform us that a break that had formed off of one of the small climbs leading up to Roan was now 3 minutes up the road. At this point we had just turned right towards the mtn and there was visible agitation in the group. The UK collegiate squad, which had a sizeable team presence, moved to the front and started working pretty hard. As we approached the first pitch of climb we pulled in all the escapees save one who was still up the road barely in sight. After a few more minutes of sitting on some UK wheels I decided to make the first move out of the pack bringing Cameron and Tim with me with a small signal. As we moved to the front the field was already fracturing and the chase group with the climbers on the day was now forming.

Cameron and I took a few digs and then some very strong Krystal riders took a few digs as we clawed our way towards the last remaining and defiant rider ahead. It was apparent at this rate we would not catch him, so Cameron and I both upped the tempo until we were noticeably closing the gap at the risk of popping we had to catch the man up the road. As we approached him we took a small rest and then with a surge designed to drop him as we passed, we shot by on the false flat area.

I looked behind me and to my surprise this guy had latched on as we passed him at probably a good 8 mph faster than he was going. This was frustrating combined with the fact that Tim had started cramping and now the sole break away consisted of Cameron, “Strong Krystal climber guy”, and break away guy in 29’er outfit. At 3 miles to the top of Carver’s Cameron laid down a wicked attack which I was prepped for as he slid by me and we managed finally to shed 29’er guy. Then there were three…

Krystal guy wasn’t taking any digs with Cameron and I doing the blunt of the work up the climb. Cameron put in another scorcher and we almost lost contact. Then Krystal guy vaulted in front of Cameron who was recovering of his latest attack and got a good gap on both of us. At this point I thought the race was over but Krystal guy had cooked himself pretty good and I was able to pull back up to him even after a stupid mis-shift which caused my chain to temporarily derail. At this point it was apparent Cameron was going to stay about 60 feet back and it was up to me to try to fend off the Krystal. We traded repeated attacks back and forth and we were at a virtual stalemate. We knew that the course ended after a slow rounding left, it just was in no way apparent which one it was. We sprinted around several corners only to be greeted by more climbing. Rounding the final slow left corner towards carver’s gap he dropped his head for just a moment and I decided to go. As I slid by I heard a grunt of frustration and this helped fuel my effort.

As I rounded the corner I saw people and cars parked and decided this must be it, or near to the summit so I put it in the big ring and put everything I had into it. If I had not gotten a few bike lengths on Krystal guy he surely would have beat me at the line as my final pedal strokes across it felt like wet noodles trying to dance on the pedals. So I started out the weekend with a win and whole lot of lactic acid in my legs. It was very exciting to get a mtn top win and the balds on top were stunning combined with the scenery. I was in my own personal finish in the Appalachian Alps. Cameron managed to fend off the 29er’ guy and Tim and Rich Kidd (aka Shaggy) were not far behind. Our team racked up yet again.

It must have been the bling.

Time trial-

The time trial was the penultimate in "sufferfestability". The left hand loop barely a mile included a rather steep hill, which you had to ride completely once and then ride halfway up again to finish. At 1.7 miles I knew this was not going to be my course. Every ounce of anaerobic threshold, V02 max, and dry heaving threshold I had was not enough to pull off my performance at the Springer TT but I was very satisfied with a 4^th place finish, missing the podium by .5 seconds. Shaggy and Tim had phenomenal performances and pulled in at second and 3^rd respectively. Cameron pulled off an 11^th place finish, even with a few shifting problems.

The Crit-

We had a mixed start in the front and rear of the field until we could get linked up together in the peloton.

Traffic was thick for the first few laps until Chuck popped some people off the back.

The Zebra striped, red shouldered warriors dominated the field.

Once again the highlight of strategy for the weekend we slayed this thing like death metal guitarists at an all night rave. Right off the gun the Honorable Charles Cerney, a traffic court man by day, shot off the line in complete reckless disregard for posted speed limits and signals flying through the course. Our plan was to have him burn a few laps and hopefully drop a few people off the back. It worked beautifully and thanks to him a few people we were worried about in the GC were actually dropped. From here out we moved slowly up the field from the middle of the pack towards the front, assembling our troops for the ensuing battle to come.

The course was hairy to say the least. The main drag funneled down into a one lane chicane of an alley which then proceeded through a series of S turns that proved very technical and devoid of many truly safe lines. Again here mtn bikes cornering can in handy and I found that I was able to accelerate at the end of the straight into the corner and duck lower inside where I did the majority of my passing. Cameron and I both tried some dig on the front and attacks but nothing stuck. At about ½ way there was a prime that I somehow won and got my lunch paid for the day at a local sandwich shop.

After that sprint as the field was recovering a man jumped with Cameron on the front and they were able to stick about a 7 second gap on the field. I made my way to the front of the peloton and commenced gap extension. I managed with a little help from Shaggy to extend this gap to a maximum of 20 seconds. Then the UK squad leaped into action. A flurry of coordinated attacks from their 5 riders halved the gap in short order. With my advantage off the front stretch corner I eventually figured out a good place to repeat a pass after sucking wheel the entire front stretch each lap. As I dove into the alleyway and S turns I would purposely soft pedal and drop the speed of the peloton a few mph. This worked beautifully for the rest of the race. While it was hard work it was enjoyable and every time the UK team’s coach or rider’s voices would pipe up behind me in a streaming line of obscenities, it would only strengthen my resolve to sit on the front and not work for that sake of Cameron in the break. I managed to keep their advantage between 12 and 15 seconds until the end of the race.

Cameron and his break mate.

I tried my best to move to the front on the tight turns, where I could out corner my competitors in efforts to control the field.

Speaking of dirty tactics many thanks to Alex Dayton a Jr. who was “spotting” for me. I told him if he let my break stick I would be his lead out man in the field sprint for 3^rd. He agreed and when a rider would move up to pass he would call out the side the attack was coming from so I could move over and cover it. This was ultra frustrating to the riders behind but I decided if I could keep the whole field at bay by myself they just weren’t trying hard enough to reel in the break.

Alex riding "spotter" behind me.

Shortly after here I would move over to cover the UK guys as Alex let me know which side they were on.

The final lap was a pure cluster of hell, attacks came from every direction. The hornet’s nest of riders I had been throwing rocks at the previous 10 laps by myself was alive and pissed. The UK guys all dropped in front of me and pulled Tim and Shaggy with them along with some others, as I was spent at this time and I knew the break was going to stick till then end. As we rounded the final S turn an overzealous UK rider exceeded the friction coefficient for his tires and hit the deck hard sending riders in every direction, as he was the 3^rd man back in the peloton. My last vision of Tim saw him flying into the curb and Shaggy just barely missed getting clipped by a rider on the inside. I managed to claw my way from about 20^th at this point up to 7^th and to my jubilation heard that Cameron had pulled off the sprint win! Unfortunately with his win Cameron and I tied for omnium points and he won out with his better placing overall in the weekend events, but I wasn’t so concerned with that as the fact that our team once again dominated the overall taking the first 3 spots of the omnium points series.

In all, another awesome day of teamwork! I think an upgrade to Kitty 3 road rider is on its way and if so, this I will be truly sad and missing having teammates like this around me to support and return the favor. I need to get back in the dirt soon, or I might start liking this road racing stuff.

Thanks mom for all the crit shots with a point and shoot camera.

PSA

2009-06-08T09:01:00.003-04:00

Public service announcement.

KONA BEER has come to Knoxville. It's actually been in the Kroger near my house for close to a month but, with a few people discovering it this past weekend at the disc burner, I figured I'd put my two cents in and promo a good brew. I ran into a rep and his van at the Kroger a few weeks back and he hooked me up. Plus Kona beer helped fuel the courage for me to ask my girlfriend to marry me on the big island of Hawaii the time I first tried it there, and it seems to have worked out well so far. So go buy a 6 pix and support "BEERVIRSITY" in the community. It's been shown time and time again in microbial and macro Ecology that Ecosystems with a higher diversity index are more healthy.

Around the neighborhood

2009-06-04T21:38:00.014-04:00

Commuting is slowly picking up and yesterday I made some marginal choices on riding, but ended up ok. Somehow I thought I would be able to dodge the rain and ended up getting about a mile from campus and having to hide under the Alcoa highway bridge in a downpour with hail and lots of lightning. I hate going by the transmission tower on the 3rd creek greenway especially when it’s popping from all the charges trying to build up on it. Needless to say the ride was spirited till I could get clear of a big thunderhead that had developed over my head.

Pretty from a distance

Grocery getting has also recently re-commenced by bicycle on a regular basis for us and we enjoyed a little ride to the store this past weekend for a few necessities.

Now I’ve been an okay fan of Kroger for a while now, but seriously whoever designed the official bike racks to be at the back of the parking lot, not near the store, you’re lame. So we usually lock our rides to the dining porch iron fence in civil disobedience and protest to this matter.

As we locked up this week I saw an amazing “mobile home rig”.This guy had managed to get everything including the kitchen sink onto a well-camouflaged urban/suburban assault vehicle. He also has managed to equip his ride with a state of the art alarm system in the form of a dog, complete with dog bed. I was able to sneak past the alarm system for a few close-ups on the rig and found that clever use of blocks of wood and pipe clamps is all you need to make a sturdy reliable pickup bed on the back of your bike. I unfortunately missed the departure of the hobo bike man, as I wanted to see if the dog got to ride shotgun or got to run beside the guy and his ride like in turner and hooch.

Home furnishings complete with pet and reflectors.

The alarm system seemed to be turned off.

I counted 22 pipe clamps over the entirety of the ride.

After a few photos I found that the alarm system was in fact armed and a little cranky.

Other recent randomness...

There is a new spiral of death under construction in the pedestrian mall area. Looks like a new stage in the new year's garage crit series.

Deforming the Boog at the table for begging.

Sunflowers are coming up.

Bike Chess…

2009-06-01T21:58:00.014-04:00

I haven’t had much of a chance to do a whole lot of road racing, nor in the past did I desire to do a lot of it. A few years back I decided to try a few road races and managed to get an upgrade to cat 4 in the process. My back has been healing well and road riding with intensity seems to hurt a lot less than mtb right now. With a new very generous Christmas for the rest of my life, hand me down ride from my father whose ailing bones can no longer handle 6/4 titanium bike, I decided to try my luck at the Springer omnium. Since I used to do a little triathlon back in the old days I figured I’d go ahead and enter everything and see how it went.

Time Trial-
The time trial went very well thanks to a borrow of some clip on Aero Bars from Tim Tidwell. I was able to somehow pull a win out of my bag despite missing my pedals at the start and hitting a road kill skunk on the course. The course was hilly and hurt like hell. I passed a guy in full Aero gear about halfway through my ride, which I think greatly helped increase, my moral. It’s funny how all that pain and suffering over 30 minutes can boil down to a spread of a couple seconds, which is how much I happened to win by. Definitely a good start to the weekend but it left my tanks empty.

Bart was there taking some photos and I was yelling at him when he snapped this one. I look about as aero as a brick compared to some of the slick outfits some of these guys were sporting. The crisp and cool morning air made this ride not quite the suffer fest it could have otherwise been.
Bart's photo site.

Criterium-
This is was I was most horrified by for the weekend events. The last crit I did a few years back (cat 5) we went into the first corner near 42 mph and several people hit the deck in front of me. I would rather fall off my mtb and hit several trees than hit pavement. Pavement is guaranteed always hard, At least in the woods I have a chance of landing on softer brush or furry animals. The course ended up being a whole lot of fun, clean of debris, and pretty safe overall. This year our team has an excellent roster and for our Cat 4 group we had several people in both the crit and the road race. Having teammates was something I was unaccustomed to and a pleasant surprise. Knowing I’m not the best sprinter I decided my role for the day was to be a Crit “domestique”. Basically I work and pull in front for the team members in back and chase down breaks that don’t include my team members. I figured I would be working for Cameron, Tim, or Philippe, who are our strongest Crit riders. Cameron got into a mid race break and the rest of us played “blockers”. Dave and I especially enjoyed the 180 corner on the course, using our mtb cornering abilities to shoot low in the corner at low speed and then slingshot to the outside to intercept “roadies” who were carrying more speed through the outside of the turn. The result was a joyous sound of disgruntlement of the riders behind us we were trying to slow. As we came out of the one corner on time in particular we had Dave, Philippe, Larry, Tim, and myself on the front almost taking up the whole road, giving Cameron and his break mate up the road about 10 seconds instantly on us. As the race progressed the break was not gaining or loosing and I thought Cameron might have it. Then the Krystal guys, who also have a very strong team began to work with 2 laps to go and somehow brought them to back to the field. Philippe was able to best the resulting field sprint and I feel our efforts protecting some of our teammates including him included really seemed to work. I ended up mid bunch and really at this juncture had no visions of competition in the weekend omnium points.

My dumb ass was in the front the pack much of the race, messing with riders up there and trying to make it a veritable hell to break away. My "domestique" tendencies I found were borderline aggressive, hardly something I was planning on, but it worked. Next time I'm going to try to save a little for the end.
(Me,Larry, and Cameron before his break up front)

Boogs found the only cool spot on the crit course which was frackin (no longer just a battlestar galatica term)hot by our race at 2:30.

Road Race-

Lots of mtns...something I used to like a lot.

The talk of the weekend. Everyone knew what was coming. A few miles to warm up followed by the infamous “Mt. Larry” and another climb a few miles later over Brushy Mtn. Pre race strategies were buzzing and the nervous tick of what would happen was rushing through the peloton like electricity from the very start. My day started off terribly with a dehydrated body and some mean GI problems from the previous night’s dinner. After a cliff bar and 3 Imodium tabs, it was off to race. It was all I could do just to get on the bike from the start, which made me assume that I would be functioning once again in a domestique capacity. I hadn’t really done any climbing training, so I was not in the frame of mind that I thought I would need to get over with the lead group.

The pace early had some small surges and it seemed like everyone was saving their tanks for the inevitable fireworks to come…and they were. Larry and Bob Davies along with a couple other team members did some driving early to ramp up that pace and when we hit the early part of the climb Davies surged like Jan Ulrich in his prime, crushing it. This was part of our plan and it worked beautifully. I have never seen such a plan implemented in person in a race only to watch the devastation take place first hand. Bob hit the climb at an unsustainable pace which several of our men we marked as possible good climbers for the stage followed unaware they were falling into a beautifully crafted, yet deadly trap. Bob managed to push halfway up the climb at this pace nearly shedding Cameron, Tim, Dave, and myself. Cameron and I stuck together well with some guys from Krystal that were riding tempo on and off trying to shed people. Before long we were down to a group of about 8-10 from 40.

After the first switchback mid climb I decided it was time to try my hand at some attacking and the legs were feeling decent. Everyone took the second switchback which was steeper at a wide berth so I took a shot to the inside and up not looking back and putting in a good hard minute. I looked back and was pleasantly surprised to find Cameron and myself were now alone about 50 yards up the road. We managed to almost double that over the top and down the first of two sketchy descents. This is when I knew if we didn't collect a few people our break would be short lived as the peloton would be hungry to pull us back. We eventually collected Tim Tidwell in addition to the 3 strong Krystal drivers and Tanner Hurst, a very strong Jr. that whipped me up a bit in CX season. I was bummed my team mate Dave didn't get over with the group but the flurry of Krystal attacks after he had a hard pull on the front left him alone to bridge a large gap, so I think he waited to collect a few more people to organize an early chase. Everyone that had collected in my group, was doing there own thing at first and that's when I decided to act. I sat up and voiced my concerns and said I was starting a pace line and if we wanted to survive they should join in. It worked, our speed went from around 20 to 24-26ish for the whole flat section before the second climb.

The second climb was a more gradual grade and though there were few attacks here and there for the most part we stayed together mostly out of fear of what was behind us. Those fears turned out to be unfounded as our team along with some of the Krystal team members were reluctant to mount any type of chase in the fractured peloton and worked against any people that tried to attack out of the group, reeling them in. Big thanks again to Dave, Bob, Larry, and Philippe...you guys rock. The last descent was hairy and everyone at the front was taking a little more speed and risk but since there were few of us the road was a bit more open. At the bottom Tim started to cramp and I held back a bit to make sure he stayed on, knowing our odds would be better if we could make it to the finish with all 3 of us. The Krystal boys were having no work once we got to the back of the last climb and finally after about 3 miles reluctantly joined back into pace line fashion. At the top of the second climb our boys in back had limited the regrouping peloton to almost 4 minutes behind us...amazing!

The selection of 7 came after the first mtn climb and we maintained till the end.

As we approached the small town of Coalfield the working together stopped and everyone began to play mind games. One guy from Krystal in either an intimidation or luring move made a strong attack and his boys up front let him go. Cameron and I reeled him back in and once again the 7 of us were at a stalemate. I had asked Tim earlier at the base of the second descent where the finish was because I was sure they wouldn't have us cross the highway intersection into Oliver springs for a finish. As we approached what I thought and turned out the be the last right hand corner Cameron had be laying it on thick up front. I was tucked in and followed closely by two Krystals, one of which who was their strong man sprinter, so I thought.

As we rounded the bend Cameron was winding up but I could hear the guy behind me already dropping his cassette. No, not after all this time of people on our TEAM racing together over two painful climbs while some were controlling the field was I going to let anyone thwart our efforts. I decided I would sprint around Cameron to his left and the two of us would at least create an obstacle for the guys behind us to come all the way around on the outside. Nothing but the sound of wind and a blur of color followed my decision to go and it seemed as I floated across the line all these seconds had transpired in about 1 hour. I felt like Max Payne in bullet time. (great game, terrible movie) Anyways, I won my first road race in a field sprint, which surprised the hell out of me. Maybe I'll try a couple more of these road things before the year is out. With teammates all around you this stuff is addicting and fun as anything. I can only hope I remember my dirty fat tire roots when the season comes to an end.

BSF09

2009-05-28T21:50:00.014-04:00

This past year for Christmas we got Abby’s parents a night’s stay at a primitive cabin in Big South Fork at Charit Creek. You hike in with minimal gear and they supply you with dinner, beds and shelter, and breakfast the following day. Two weeks ago we took this gem of a trip. The weather had been iffy and a bit wet before the weekend trip took off so I was a bit worried about how the hiking might be but it turned out great. Best of all Charit Creek is dog friendly so Boogy got to join our little adventure. Enough talk here are the pics…

2.5 Gallon hefty zips keep everything dry, they're also tough and reusable.

No Massive packs here, just enough for a long day hike and a cool night.

The women fumble with these things called boots.

Boogy was visibly perturbed at his new panniers.

Mtn. Laurel in bloom.

The stairs were very steep so Boogs got to do the first few sets without the weight of his big red doggy panniers.

By the end of the day he was descending like a champ with weight.

Lots of neat rocks along the spines of the ridges.

The first of many Fungi sightings.

North Arch of the twin arches (smaller of two but no less grand).

The South arch is about twice as tall as this one. Despite the fact it's illegal I found myself wanting my rock climbing equipment all weekend for all these neat rock formations.

Some kind of Skink I think.

As temps ramped up these stairs were hard four the four leggers of the group.

I think this is some kind of eastern fence lizard. I used to catch these as a kid around our boat dock area. It was nice to see that my hands are still quick and gentle enough to catch without a squish.

This guy must get all the chicks, he had a beautiful belly to show.

The weekend getaway crew on top of the arches.

Up here you can see for quite a way and see some very nice looking rock.

Worm snake.

Nice ferns.

More fungi.

Are we there yet?

Our Taj accommodations.

The main cabin has tow large bunk houses. If you have 6 or more in your group you can get a private cabin, of which there are two others.

Got into camp just in time for dinner and to relax to an afternoon thunder shower.

Boots drying and a hungry puppy.

All lighting was by lantern. It took a bit to get used to but when you get them adjusted right they work very well.

Our room with the light on.

Boogy's bed.

Hank, and weird camp dog played with Boogy the whole time we were in camp adding to his extensive exercise regimen for the weekend.

Suspension bridge. (Boogy looking at animals by the water)

In low lying ares there was lots of mud from all the rain which made hiking our second day's loop challenging. Not as bad but reminded me a bit of the previous weekend at DSG.

Waterproof Boots are a must down in the lowlands.

Yet another Fungus.

Slave falls, it was a 3 mile side hike for a sliver of water, but the trail getting there was nice.

Boogs n' Bun. (Boogs on the right)

Fro was getting on the edge of control with the humidity.

Eventually he didn't even notice the panniers.

FUNGI!

By far the largest and most colorful, which I hear means tasty. This one was about 3 times the size of my boot.

Neat hole in the roof of one of the many overhangs.

When sprinkles came we could easily take cover under the natural rock roofs.

Some were really massive.

This unfortunate tree chose to grow under one and has to grow all it's leave on one side to get some light.

Lady Slipper.

More trail along the rocks.

Little pools teeming with life were all around the drip zones of the ledges.

Up and out the last staircase to the parking lot, this trip was a lot of fun and a good break from business on the home front.

DSG09 and miscl stuff

2009-05-13T17:39:00.016-04:00

This year at DSG I was a little bummed at the start. My back was not yet up to the task of long mtb endurance events and even though it was raining at the start, I had flashes of heinous mud last year which gradually transitioned to pristine tacky race conditions. The difference between this year and last however is that prior to the race it's been raining in the south for about 3 weeks straight. I'll let the photos and a few captions tell the rest.

Phil is especially good at attracting married ladies to his friends' tailgates and all he needs is a little spandex and a banana.

This was the radar coverage for the start of the race. I took the liberty of putting a red dot over this guys cross hairs to show how screwed we were for rain from the start.

E started strong and was quite clean in this first mile of trail.

Damn that helmet looks good.

Pburg ripping it on his first and last lap.

Even the 29er crew poster children were no match for what was in store for them shortly.

As the weather cleared I soon realized that no amount of sunshine short of being on the Sun was going to dry the course to anything rideable. This was painfully clear when people stopped riding by in the water and started looking like this.....

Tally wacked. Pushing was now the primary mode of transit around the course.

MWeb pushing team meth lab into first place.

Interesting enough when everyone has to walk it's actually the pro who start dropping out first. As rec riders who poured their hearts souls and wallets into coming unsupported started to drop with these pros as well I knew this was coming for most of the riders....

A prime example of the carnage the course had to offer.
More here.

Before.

After...Props to my lover on 2 wheels for coming off the course to get her composure then going back out where she left and finishing one lap. Not an easy feat for the day, especially with a 50-60 lb bike carry.

Riders began to drown their sorrows on the course as they passed the pits and some faded from the course from this point never to return. The gods must have been feeling bad for all the rain because the halls of Valhalla back in the DSG tent city were filled to the brim with free beer for the masses. Thanks to all the breweries out there who helped people forget their pain within hours of pushing.

Some people felt they needed to express their displeasure about the course and this pretty much sums it up in one word.

Water bottle quickly were exchanged for urban hydration vessels.

Guess which one of these 3 men never got a chance to go on the course because of heinous conditions, watched his teammates suffer from the comfort of a bale of hay, drank beer as they passed pushing with all their might, and to boot won a beer naming competition allowing him a chance to stand on the podium without ever getting his bike dirty?

In all it was a bad day to ride, but a great day to enjoy the friendship and often not seen in other racing circles. While everyone may not be back next year as a result, I will be present once again whether riding or not enjoying libations and conversation among those who truly enjoy fat tire lifestyle.

In no particular order some other things that have been going on....

"Watering" the dogs at home on a hike in the woods.

Finally finished that damn shelving in the kitchen.

Added new storage area next to shed and roofing over chicken coop as well.

All the water from the new additions plus other water from the shed roof run into a new rain catchment system. Three barrels for now, I plan on expanding to 5 or 6 by summer's end.

Pretty decent flow rate for very little drop means the 10 foot drop to the front yard should create some good pressure.

Chris and Dad installing a purple martin imperial insect death cruiser at my parent's house.

Finally got around to stripping down the old cross/commuter and treating her with some weigels frame saver, which stinks by the way so make sure you do it on a nice day outside.

Very little rust on the inside of the tubes a little in bottom bracket area, but not unexpected after a wet end to cross season.

Abby went to Ireland and saw lots of neat stuff. Here are my two selections from her album.
Sheep

And a Castle.
Maybe she'll start her own blog and tell people about her stuff.

Boogy enjoyed Easter egg hunts.

Especially when the twins were happy to show him what was inside their egg baskets.

Neighborhood dogwoods in white...

And Pink.

Boogy is expanding his skill set to include official Chandler exterminator dog.
(bumble bee specialist)

Allan stopped by and visited en route with a pilot he was training in this plane.

This is a "basic" trainer but it doesn't look that "basic" to me at first glance.

Tempus Fugit

2009-03-16T09:43:00.006-04:00

Well not really. I've been off the bike for 3 weeks now and it really sucks, because it definitely was a large part of my life. Hopefully I'll get on a trainer at the end of the week to spin and see how that feels, so far no gain because there's over proportionally high helping of pain while in riding position. Where the hole has been left however, house chores and projects that don't require lifting have prevailed.

Decided to change the pedestal into a shelf at the end of the kitchen area with the sink. Any use of vertical space in our house comes at a premium and this is a precious resource, since we've got a small pad.

Had to remove the dishwasher to access the back of the paneling.

Not that anything built in 1910 was plumb or level but it made for a good picture of "work".

The rough layout with everything in place.

Initial painting, more pictures to come when the project is done later this week.

Where the old cooking magazine and book rack by the back door went, we now have a small bench with storage shelf that was built from leftover scraps.

I think it's getting painted too.

Even the Polish are starting to lay now, which is impressive since it's molting season and much of the girls' calcium and protein reserves go to the production of new feathers. Pictured above is a "good hair day" for these goofy birds.

Soon to our assortment of colors, we will add generic white from the Polish when they are laying eggs big enough to sell.

Bummer...injured?

2009-03-03T17:30:00.014-05:00

While I've had my small share of lesser strains and pulls and in 2007 a broken wrist, I am worried about my most recently acquired injury. I had a small strain from some weight lifting on my back because I incorrectly used a machine with my legs like a dumb stubborn cyclist from about two weeks ago. I managed to do the last Knoxiecross with it but this past weekend some work on a raised bed for our new blueberry bushes presented me with a lifting challenge which I performed very poorly on. For the record lifting old railroad ties some laden with moisture and creosote is a two person job.

Installed a new mailbox this past weekend as well.

The offending straws that possibly "broke the camel's back".

After consulting a physician and a little reading/ self diagnosis I was worried that I might have a herniated disk. And of course google brought me to this terrifying image after a quick search...

I'm sure they eat that blue stuff in China.

My physician recommended rest for a few more weeks (which is going to kill my commuting mileage and drive me insane) and if it still hurts then I'm probably headed for an expensive MRI...bummer. Recovery for many of the possible damages I may have incurred range from 4-8 weeks to longer if its a worse case scenario which totally sucks. Coming off a reasonably strong CX season I had hope for getting into good shape for early mtb season, but that seems just a dream currently. So last week's commute home in pleasant spring summer weather in the evening with A is about the only thing I have to look back on.

Evening commutes home with the wife are on hold now...

First batch of frogs on the way home. (spring peepers and wood frogs I think)

A louder group of frogs out west.

And of course since I can't probably go out and play this weekend it looks like it's going to be sunny and 70! Stupid weather. If I can't go out because of a bum back this weekend I'll be staying inside and beating my rain sticks for all you luckies that are out. I will never lift anything again without proper mechanical advantage or several large people.

Walking/riding the bus to work does allow me to take in the sights however. Such as icicles on the pedestrian bridge leading to the convention center...
And the occasional silenced 6mm Sport airgun box with "infrared ray" (laser sight) and flashlight. What this could have been used on campus I do not know, but I can only assume it was a box for the weapons the RIAA uses when they raid student dorms to root out terrorist music share networks.

For those of you who remember when Napster was taken down on Campuses around the world it was a terrifying experience.

V is for "Very tired"

2009-02-26T18:40:00.016-05:00

Wow what a CX season...

Gentleman's competition was tight this weekend so I had to cross dress and wear a wig.

Some time there's a man....

Cx season is officially over in TN and I'm glad to say for once it'll be nice to take a break from the constant traveling and racing on the weekends. Even though CX races are short doing them every weekend often 4 (CX1/2 and SS) wears you down. My season ended in 4 very good races in the Knoxiecross series finale weekend.

Some how Dave Looks much larger and in charge with the Sunsphere behind him...go figure.

Saturday- Going into the races Saturday I had a 3 point lead on Mike Biegalski so I knew I needed to beat him once or stay close to keep my margins. Saturday's race went well, although my goal for next year is to learn to start stronger. I always find myself at the very back of the field on the starts and moving up especially in larger race is a big disadvantage. I rode with Dave Worth for a while who had multiple crash and burns before he finally had to drop to the pits to fix a mechanical. His pulls on the open power sections (where I have non) helped bring me closer to Mike. By the end of the race I had caught him and we were jockeying back and forth for position. On the last lap we decided we would not sprint until the flatter open section on the sidewalk so as not to kill each other passing on the pavement. I knew in a dead sprint I would be at a disadvantage, but I thought in the back of my mind that if I could lengthen it out I might be able to hold him off in a longer one, so as soon as we rounded the last corner I went. I could hear him downshifting and I thought I was pulling away until the last 50 feet or so before a short section to a 90 degree right turn right in front of the finish. He began to come hard on the right side so I shifted over to block this move but was surprised when he left the course hell bent on passing me before some flagpoles. in a flash I saw where he was going to have to pass mere inches before a pole and through some marker tape. It was at this point I had a moment of clarity and realized I wanted to ride my mtn bike this summer so I backed off a little half expecting him to get clotheslined by the tape. Unfortunately he's a big guy and he plowed through just like a bull through the classic china shop and he took the race by a few bike lengths off the last turn. Lesson learned...never try to out power a sprinting beast. The single speed race went well but we started with the geared 4's and I found my way fighting traffic for the first tow laps before the majority of the top SS riders were clear of the field. Bob Davies and Greg Casteel pushed it hard off the line and immediately put the field in the hurt locker with no where to go. After 3 laps I was able to close on them and keep a slowly expanding gap on them till the close of the race.

Phil (up) and Derek (down) demonstrate the pain of 54 steps per lap.

Sunday- When I awoke Sunday morning I knew what that bright light was coming from my window, (reflection off of snow on the ground) and I was terrified. Fortunately the pavement on the downtown sections was spared the worst and for the most part remained surprisingly dry. I got there early to help with course re routes taking two jarring pavement transitions out and adding a longer field component to the course. This race again showcased my inability to start effectively as I immediately was shot off the back like a kite in the wind.

The pro who had won the day before though seemed to bit of a mud wussy and he was the first one I caught. He was cussing his pedals (looked like some sort of wellgo or shimano) which were in my opinion a poor choice for mud, and he couldn't get clipped back into them. A good tip for when you have to unclip your bike to run is don't run where the mud is deep. Anyways he succumbed to a problem I have noticed in a lot of elite racers known as "Pro racer sissy syndrome" PRSS (pronounced "purse"- like a ladies purse...a hissy fit). These fits are often times seen in the strongest of riders who seem to do well at lots of races, and then decompensate completely when something goes wrong. This misfortune is something akin to when a villain in a superhero movie is monologuing and is blind sided resulting their complete and utter defeat. When I saw his difficulty I offer words of support only to be answered by "f-ing pedals!". At this point I knew PRSS was about to happen or happening and the best way to beat a pro rider when PRSS is going on it to lay it down when they are vulnerable. Needless to say the house of cards fell and the guy actually quit the race without telling any officials and went home. Lame.

Mudand grass froze to frames/ components making for some interesting weight additions.

From here I began to steadily gain time on racers in front of me until I caught Matt Googe, a very strong semi pro mtn biker who knows how to handle a bike. We went back and forth and were able to reel back in Mike to my delight. Then I suffered one of my 2nd mechanical of the season. It seems in our quest to rip up and redistribute the grass in places of WFP, I managed to get what I initially thought was fishing line in my derailleur and cassette. I couldn't pedal and it was like someone had installed a seized coaster brake on my bike. I stopped to see if I could undue the tangle and was horrified to see the extent of the line, which at this point was positively identified as plastic bio matting and I must have had about 12 feet wrapped up in there. I was able to clear the large cog barley and pedal slowly around to the pit where my single speed was sitting. It was like riding a resistance bike with the setting on 11 half a lap. After this I handed off my geared bike to Phil and Andy in the pit, who immediately went to work on the mess. I lost lots of time here and spent the next few laps thinking about how I had lost the points series off of a piece of landscaper's fishing line. Then a glimmer of hope, I was catching Matt on my single speed. This decreasing gap made me more confident that if I got my geared bike back I might be able to pull Mike back who was a few seconds in front of Matt at this point. I needed only to finish behind Mike to win the series by one point. At this point I have to stop and sincerely thank Any and Phil for getting the line out, they literally saved my Knoxiecross series standings by untangling the line and passing the bike out to me with a few laps to go. The resulting drop of a few pounds to an aluminum frame with gears from my single speed beast and the prospect of not letting my friends' helpful efforts die in vain helped me to establish a good gap on Matt. I was able to eventually catch Mike but a vicious attack on the last lap after I had caught left me watching as I just had nothing left in the tank. So I finished 1 position behind Mike and 1 point ahead of him in the standings. I couldn't have asked for a more action packed dramatic weekend. After thawing out my toes in the bathroom it was time for the final single speed race of the season and riding off of a high from the first race I took a uncharacteristic gamble that paid off. I attacked as hard as I could off the line, got a gap, and maintained it to the end finishing up the season, the TBRA single speed points series, and Knoxiecross series with a win.

This season made possible in part by my many friends, family, and bling bling.

I never started the season with any aspirations of competing for a TBRA Jersey, but as soon as I found the joys of the Single Speed division I ran with it for the entire season and I have to say I worked my ass off for this shirt so I will wear it proudly when I can. Now I can also get fat and slow and say, "yeah I remember when..."

Next race on tap isn't for a couple of months so it's time for concentrating on school and home projects...

Lost February

2009-02-23T20:53:00.013-05:00

Where did February go and where did my updates go? Into a black hole that happened to pass with a cold front somewhere in mid month I think. In as few words as possible and with pictures here's the rest of February.

We got some more snow...

Some of our daughters enjoyed it.

Some didn't.

Tracks of our children

Fluff up if you're cold.

Boogs and the snow devil (aka snow bunny)

Built an iron fence and gate to keep the ladies in the backyard from scraps off of our cast iron fence from out back...

Lots of CX some warm...

Some cold...

The things you do for points in the gentleman's comp...
(41 deg F)

Jahn Snakin' it...

Abby rocked our "loaned fam cross bike" to a second place points series finish in KCX09.

Valentines Day...I traded Abbs flowers for a red velvet cake...Fair nuff.

Also sparse visits back home (Bristol) with G-mo and the parentals. G-Mo again taught us words with her extensive vocab on upwords, and English is even a second language for her. We saw a flick and also saw that Mary Kay Cars of the heads were meeting in a rented out theater there. I was amazed and had never seen a pink Cadillac since Graceland, so here they are...

Boogy is gaining weight. He's now on Dog watcher's.

A visit from the grand boys in the secret city with the other grandmotherly unit. She treated us to a wonderful diner once again and kept us busy with her mischievous stories.

Always wave

2009-02-10T08:48:00.004-05:00

It just so happens I have recently been implementing a new years resolution of "always wave" when I commute. This applies to all manner of things from people saying hi to when motorists are about to explode with anger because they cannot pass you on a blind hill to save 2 minutes getting to work. This morning just that scenario played out and karma got the best of the situation. As I was commuting in on Riverside drive a car pulled behind me and began to lay on the horn. She ( I didn't know she was a she at this time) preceded to do this for about 100 yards. This was a waste because in this 100 yards she could have executed a beautiful pass, but she decided to wait until the blind hill to pass. As she did I waved and it caught her eye and she scowled at me, while on her cell phone. She then proceeded to plow directly into a line of cars in front of us and I could only laugh at the situation once I realized everyone was OK. As I slowed I saw what appeared to be fragments of cell phone on the dash and one very pissed woman in a suit who had been rear ended. With that I decided to scram just in time to hear yet another car screech to a halt and it sounded like plow my honker. I'm saddened I didn't have my camera to document the festivities, but now I am a firm believer in the "always wave" policy and I will continue to wave friendly waves and distract angry motorists. So enjoy your commutes and don't forget to wave!

As an aside it might not have been the wave and instead could have been the new stash look, but I figured these things are so prevalent in the East Knox county area, surely this couldn't have been that distracting.

1-29-09 Improvements

2009-01-29T22:48:00.003-05:00

Aside from the glass that now is covering the greenway at the walmart "glass canyon" some improvements have come to the west end of the greenway system. While I'm all for making the greenway "flashy and getting the ramps graded right, I think issues of drainage and water puddling, due to settling and improper grading of the path, are more important in the long run. West Knoxville decided the greenway needed a little bling, bling to put them over the rest today...

Greeted this morning on my commute by a rather interesting barrier made of 2x8 lashed together at their center point by what appeared to be coat hangar wire. It looks like they have re sloped the approach to the bridge and allowed for expansion? I dunno but at any pace I thought it might be done by the end of the year at the rate it took them to build the bridge.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong, and by this evening they totally blinged' out the bridge by adding a diamond plate cover to the crack at the end of their ramps. Way to allocate precious infrastructure dollars on diamond plate rather than addressing parts of the greenway that are continually under water during light fog, much less rain. I will applaud that they seemed to put some effort in though, so go whoever did the work!

Also they got rid of the grafitti some punk put on the supports, let's see how long it lasts...

Commuter Prizes and a small update

2009-01-28T21:00:00.009-05:00

Ok so I got a little over excited about being able to reliably sustain two blogs at once so the whole "family blog thing" is on hold for now. So back to everything randomly being posted here. With he weather being bitter cold or wet this month I haven't had quite the commuter mileage I would want to get, but things seem to be trending towards a slight warming...

Speaking of commuting here's some super sweet and mildly hilarious "commuter primes" I have gotten recently.

By far the coolest and heaviest primes I've gotten in a while. A nice mag light to see my way with and beat rude motorists off with and a fiberglass "unbreakable" (says it on the handle) hammer. While I'm skeptical about the unbreakable part, I can't think of a better reason to advocate engraving all of you tools now. Anyways what someone was doing with these on the greenway I guess I'll never know.

Ok so let me explain first off I have a general "no clothing" rule. Clothing is in direct contact with people, which are prone to have things that are communicable growing on them. However the home made (with different colors of duct tape) addition to this already politically charged hoody made it irresistible, so I carefully secured it to my rack with a mini bungee and rode home with it concealed so as not to attract the ire of a west Knoxville Bush supporter in a "Cadillac Escalate'". While I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it (Goodwill maybe) this was definitely picture worthy.

A close up of the back.

And the front.

I know some fellow commuter bikes that occasionally hang around campus that might need a little school spirit so I picked this one up too.

One reason I haven't been commuting as much is Ice. The second is salt. I could feel my bike rusting under me when salt was everywhere and dry. When it started to rain last week the pile of salt slush in front of my house made using the KAT transit buses and letting them rust out an increasingly attractive option. Sometimes I question the purpose of a steel steed in winter. As for the ice I got a few pics of some residual snow/ice spots on the greenway when I rode in the other day and I was thinking of ways to stay warm. In one west knox neighborhood there was a water main that had ruptured (from the previous day when it was 8 deg) and a river of ice covered the entire street making riding both challenging and fun. I was also so amused at TDOT's new method for cleaning up ice spots frozen to the road I had to get a picture of that as well...

Two strips of salvation surrounded by a white salty death for metal components.

The ice on the gutter was visible but the stuff on the blacktop was deadly.

At least you can see snow.

How TDOT clears ice when fuel oil prices are low?

Boogy's first snow

2009-01-28T20:44:00.000-05:00

In celebration of the new blog dedicated to all things not two wheeled, I give you Boogy's first official snow accumulation experience in Knoxville...

360's for the first 5 minutes unleashed.

Followed by excessive fast and jubilant hopping.

Followed by trying to eat all the snow in a 1 hectare area. This is accomplished by running full tilt with your mandible lowered to a scooping level above the ground.

Why aren't you guys hungry too?

Inspired

2009-01-21T09:13:00.004-05:00

I've been told my blog is a bit busy and all over the place at times. I feel that some family members were bored with my bike related content and vice versa. Just recently I was inspired not by this man....

But this man's brilliant format....

I had no idea I had the capability to make multiple blogs...The power at my fingertips! So as of today I'm branching off. Family matters and non cycling matters will henceforth be deferred to a sub-blog to cut down on "differential tangential blogging". (blogging in multiple tangents at once IE: one day I post about a race or ride and the next I post about baking a cake HGTV style). So all you cake eaters, homemakers, and family members...This will be my new family/ home front oriented blog space.

(http://chandlerfamily1.blogspot.com/)

This is by no means a deviation from my obsession with all things bi-wheeled, but a special place where you might go to see what is going on in the Knoxville Chandler's lives without having to read about that climb I feel compelled to tell everyone about or that guy that put me in my place at a race last weekend.

I'm not quite ready to open my own garage as some here in K town have but this is a big step forward for me.