360 to Spicewood Springs

Yep, it was a good week for riding. I'm at 220 miles for the week. Its been a while since I've put over a hundred in during a week. Commuting helped. We'll see how it lasts, Tara's back home tonight from 2 weeks of traveling. Pretty stoked to see her. All but 25 of those miles were fixed.

The downhills on 360 are fucking scary on a fixed gear. My legs felt like they were going to explode.

Constitutional Law! What do you THINK?

In 2005 a Supreme Court case decided the fate of 2 displays of the 10 Commandments at Kentucky Court Houses and our at the Texas Capitol (see photo). Click on the link, it'll bring you to the CNN report on the deciscion. I thought it was pretty good one. Heard it on NPR. Saw the display at the Texas Capitol before. Seems like a lot of road or mtn bike rides (if you ride to the trails) take you through the Capitol Grounds. I saw it before the decision and never really had a problem with it. I am a freak and a liberal so I really believe in the separation of church and state. I'd actually be very happy if our gov't was god less. Uncapitalized in order to not discriminate between those who worship many or One. I though Animism was pretty cool when I learned about it in high school, but although I see some reason for spirituality and even mysticism, I think I believe in the eternal Dirt Nap. Dirt to Dirt, dust to dust, literally. If you think about it, is that not eternal life, on the molecular level? Personally I think that idea is pretty cool. But fuck it, what do I now?

I ride beer and and drink bikes. Nobody is buying my training videos.

Better Week

Picked up another 20 miles today. Buddy Brook called me up to go for a ride down to Town Lake. He was on his 24-inch bmx, I got to ride my 1x1 with platforms. First freewheel ride of the week. Up to about 170 miles for the week. Pretty nice considering only 20 miles were with a freewheel. First 100 were riding 39x13 fixed. Fixed that and switched the cross check to 39x14. Handled Mt. Bonnell pretty well and is great on the flats and I can handle steep downs with it. Just ordered some 700cx44 Mutanoraptors for the cross check. The thing is going to be bad ass. I'll throw those tires on the wheels that came with the Unit 29er. 39x16 free with that for the trails when I want to ride dirt with a drop and 39x14 fixed for the day to day. It going to be sweet. Ended the evening with some tacos and pitchers of Real Ale Full Moon Rye Pale Ale. My favorite beer. Pretty sweet.

My bro Brook rocks the short shorts! On the ride dudes were trying to pick him up and the ladies were telling him to put on a shirt. Except the punk rock chicks. They were telling him he was one hot bitch. My theory is all the punk rock men wear the tight ass jeans. Their chicks get a preview of their cocks through the pants. My boy was letting it hang out with those short shorts.

Red Rockets and Short Shorts. No mention of the gay-m here or the gay this or that. I know what my orientation is and I'll fly that Rainbow Flag with pride.

Who's the bitch?

Oh yeah. Here come an edit, so when I am talking about rides, if you're interested I'll probably be linking a ride map via the title to the post. You probably don't give ahit, but maybe I actually have some Austin Readers, so there you go. I'll try to remember for some time to remind that the link is there, but ya' know.

Good Week

60 miles on the dam loop sunday. 2 days commuting to work. peddler tuesday loop tonight through some rain. took the long way up shoal creek to north austin. wore all my jerseys except long sleeve and wool. all the shorts are gone except the ones that are worn out.

What the Fuck

Click on the title.

Yeah, it sure is friendly for cyclists down here. Just read about some downed brothers in Iowa on my homeboy Squirrel's blog.

Saw this on the local fox station tonight. Don't worry, I don't watch fox for news but was over at a friend's. This is really fucked up. The dude crossed the line and fucking plowed into this dude.

Pull Over Son

Commuted to work today by bike. Got pulled over crossing under I-35 along Grand Avenue. Guess your not allowed to lane split in Texas, at least when a sherrif is around.

Dam Loop

Rode the dam loop with my buddies Rey and Jeremy. Pretty sweet having the cross check back so I can do rides like this. About 60 miles when all said and done. 39x13 was pretty steep, but a lot less spinning on the way down. 39x14 would probably be perfect.

Title is a link to a google pedometer map.

Willits

Rode by the Willits shop yesterday and KVUE was there doing an interview. Hung out and talked to Jared and Wes while they weren't being interviewed. Wes was having me ride some bikes. Got to ride one of his personal monster x's, built in 2000 as a concept bike. Strutted ti fork, custom stem and bent seat post. Fucking sweet. Maroon on the front of the frame, the stem and seatpost to match the schelacked (sp) bars and maroon swift saddle. Pimpin.

The clicking on the title should provide a link to the video on KVUE's website. There's a shot of me in there riding the monster x back up to the shop.

SINGLESPEEDING DEAD?

Andy Corson writes a bit of an article in 63xc.com about singlespeeding and how its dead. Not so much dead, but the element of cool and fringe is gone. Interesting take and I am sure most singlespeeders have realized that for a while.

As someone who started singlespeeding cause i wanted a cheaper bike and didn't want to have to work so much on my bike, cool wasn't that big of a deal. i though it was cool and its pretty fun keeping up with someone with gears, but I got into it more for the simplicity. Probably why a lot of people who do already ride bikes get into it.

Now the newbies, that's a different story. I suspect many are doing it cause it is "cool". My buddy Ryan was telling me they get a few people now and then coming into the Peddler saying they want one of those bikes "without brakes", having no real clue what a fixed gear is and means. Ryan will explain to them that they want a bike that needs to be constantly peddled while movie, which they had no clue was the case. Okay, maybe they don't want to be like that hip cat they saw blasting through traffic on the Drag.

So singlespeeding and fixed gear are into the mainstream, no longer cool, and therefore dead. But there are people on bikes who may not have been on one otherwise if this certain type of bike may not be riding. And to me that's cool.

My question is, now that singlespeeding is dead, does this mean people aren't going to get way too much money for an old, heavy steel frame with horizontal drops on ebay?

Whatever, ride for yourself and fuck what's cool.

And its the end of 63xc.com. The offroad fixed gear forum. The link isn't goign to die, but its the end of the quarterly updates. Bummer.

Sweet

Man, riding a gear other than 34x18 is pretty fun. Up Mt. Bonnel for a beer at the Dry Creek Saloon and on north up some more hills. 39x13 was a bit tough up, but pretty nice coming down.

The deer had some scary eyes.

Rode with my homeboy, Ryan. On the old school Basso.

Cleaned Up

Garage has been looking like shit due to all the home improvement and it just being hectic in general.

Cleaned the shit up. Wow, I have a work bench.

bad luck with bikes

Been having some bad luck lately. Bent my fucking fork riding the greenbelt today. My glove was wet from a stream crossing and my left hand popped off going off a ledge. Well, a big log was coming real quick and instead of wrestling the bike, I plotted a way to eject. Went over the bars real smooth and rolled out of it. Just some scratches, unfortunately my fork got bent back. Interesting ride characteristics and my toes really overlapped the wheel.

The creeks flowing pretty sweet and made for some good swimming on the way out.

Quality and Quantity

Fortunately or unfortunately it ain't about biking, its about the rain. Riding has definately taken a back seat of late for a variety of factors. The rain and lack of a cross check keep me from riding. Have to aviod Walnut Creek cause the clay ruts up so bad and Greenbelt is a pain in the ass cause you have to dismount for so many stream crossing from all the rain. I mean its actually pretty damn sweet actually. Barton Creek had some water in it when Tara and I moved down here in May '05. The rain was minimal then so it mostly dried up except around springs. Well, its been raining like fuck since December and the creek is filled up. Swiming holes everywhere and tons of beautiful people enjoying them. seriously, until you experience riding some killer trails in hellaceous heat and stopping for a quick dip in the chilly Barton Creek and a glimpse of some eye candy in one of the many holes along the main trail you're missing out on one of the better reasons to ride a mtn bike. You risk some serious damage to your body riding in wet conditions cause the rocks or so slippery, but trail damage is minimal. Some areas puddle, but the soil is generally so thin your not going to leave ruts.

Not riding a ton right now isn't too big of a deal to me mentally either. I had aa real fun year from Cyclocross into some enduro style mtn bike races this spring. On top of racing I was just riding a ton and having fun. Just been super busy on top of the rain. Work is busy which sure as hell beats the alternative. We've also been doing a lot to get ready for the kid we've got coming. Found out we're having a son! Its pretty fucking exciting. Scary, but exciting. Tara's in full nesting mode. I'm like, "shit, we've got start saving up some dough," but she's, "no way, once that kid comes we ain't eva gonna do shit to this house, we got to fix it up now." So we've finally covdered up all that shitty old tile in the house, well the 2nd bath still has it, and laid down laminate flooring in every room. Somewhat expensive as a material, but I am not that skilled in carpentry and I made it look pretty good.

All the riding I have been doing lately has been good. None of those days when I'm riding cause I feel like I need to be riding even though I don't. Any laziness our lack of desire keeps my ass of the saddle and I'm doing something else. In an ebb but hopefully it'll start flowing again. I'd like to have a good cross season this year. I'd like to win a b race this year as a singlespeed and be there at the end in an a/b race at the tuesday nighter. gonna be difficult as Tara's due in October. we'll see. if baby's got me tied up this fall and winter i am sure i'll be pretty stoked on it. then next year hopefully he'll be starting on the path to kick some ass in life.



All the rain has been sweet. Everything is so fucking green. Our huge live oak in the front looks the best it ever has and all the other plants and trees are doing great. Shit's even growing in the compost pile. Guess it means that it ain't really working, but when its producing crops, who cares. Some big cucumber plant is going crazy. Pretty sure that's what it is, but could be a squash. There are some tomatoe plants hanging out in there, as well as two avocado sapplings. Squirrels must have miss placed some of their nuts and there are also 3 pecan saplings growing. Found another sapling growing in the front while mowing the lawn. Have to make sure from running it over.

The real garden is doing great. Had a bunch of artichokes already and the kale and chard are still producing. Three artichoke buds are still growing and will be eaten this weekend. The Texas heat makes them a bit smaller and tougher, but they've been really good. Although there not really producing that much, which isn't too unusual for the first year, the strawberry plants are getting bigger. Peppers are kicking, we're going to have pablanos, anahiem, and jalepenos. Tara make some killer chillie rellenos and I can't wait till she makes 'em with my pablanos. And the tomatoes! Tried a thing called the japanese ring. You make a center ring and fill it with compost and cirle it with tomato plants. Raing and water flowing through the center ring leaches the compost and feeds and waters the plant. My plants are pretty big and getting some nice fruit on them. A squirrel has been getting some, but we should still have plenty. One tomato they've been leaving alone are the tomatillos. Probably due to the protective covering. So needless to say with the tomatos and peppers all its going to take is some onions and cilantro from the farmers market and its homemade salsa all summer long. I can't believe I didn't plant any cilantro. what the fuck. oh well, I've got some friends growing it. My love of plants and gardens is something most people probably don't realize about me. I love this shit, mowing the lawn, weeding, trimming rose bushes, tending to plants, growning food. Mowing the lawn and shoveling snow have to be two of my favorite things.

Without a cross check, sounds like i might be finally getting a new one from surly, I can't believe i didn't do this sooner. The 1x1 has the cross check's wheelset on it as a 34x16 fix. It's a hella easy gear since it is what I like to ride mtn 29er off road if there are only short and steep climbs. The unit has been set up 34x18 since I've been riding the greenbelt so much. I've been too lazy to shorten the chain to go 34x16 with it. the chain was cut to ride oauchita challenge geared 34x20 and can take an 18t cog at the rear of the sliders. but this is cool, a 1x1 running fixxie with 700c wheels. gonna ride it to work tomorrow. I'll actually ride my bike to work during bike to work month. unless it thunderstorming. fuck 30 miles round trip in that shit.

been a while

so been a while since i last posted. made the trip up to the ouachitas for the challenge. super fun. being a guide was sweet. had to stop a ton, but helping people was cool. trails were super fun. hoping to do it next year.

although i got 2 days of riding this weekend, greenbelt and walnut creek. haven't been riding too much. took an owner of my company out on some trails on the greenbelt to get in shape for the moab trip. he had a few nice crashes and drew some blood when he took a chain ring to the calf. we'll see if i'm still employed tomorrow. he wanted some technical riding to get prepped for moab and that's what he got. my homeboy hector also came in for a visit from idaho. rode walnut creek today. super fun. lent him the 1x1 and it was good to see thatot bike get ridden for something else than picking up beer. once you go to a 29er going riding a 26er just seems like your on a bmx bike.

the wife and I are going to celbrate 1 year of marriage this weekend, 4-22. heading out to truth or consequences, new mexico. renting a place on the rio grande that has a natural hot spring. should be pretty sweet. owners of the place are letting us bring the mutts. gotta like that.

ooohhh my head

and neck too. took a bad crash two tuesdays ago at the dirt derby. tried to pass on the second lap a the top of a table top before a rythm section. went into some deep ruts at the motocross track and then over the bars straight to my head. with the taller headset on a 29er, bailing is a bit tricky.

saw some stars and then the whole pack go by while i figured out if i could keep racing or not. decided to go on. man, i fucking hurt. tried as best i could to get back in it, but all i could do is catch 5 men and the 2 women who were racing. strategy, len strategy. can't be taking risks like that on the 2nd lap of a 10 lap race.

11pm, sitting on the back porch, sipping on a jin and tonic. not bad for march.

nursing the neck. been a bit sore but makes a sound like the poltergiest neck when i rotate my head. not really painful, but i am definately psyched for that to go away. avoiding dirt, riding the 29er on the roads. takes longer than the cross check on the way to work, but that's probably gearing. 34x16 free instead of 39x16 fixed.

speaking of cross checks, here's some better pictures of the damage. fat chucks revenge this weekend. 60 miles, 3 laps at rocky hill ranch. going to be fucking sweet.

RIP

The end of an era, or at least the my favorite bike I've ever owned. The do it all beast. Fixxie or free, I could ride this bike anywhere. Road, offroad, cross... This bike rocked.

A little scavenger hunt alleycat on Friday. Celebrating Ausitn Bikes one year anniversary. Riding with my GB, Eric Mills. Going down some stairs I locked up the rear wheel and my rear wheel really locked up. Thought it was just the chain that fell off, but the crank wouldn't turn all the way around. And then I saw the crank was getting caught on the drive side chainstay!

Shit, we were out on the east side and I had a long ass walk back to Austin Bikes where beer and party was waiting, let alone to get home. A little weight to the bottom bracket and my crank would pass. Easy ride back, but if I stood the crank would hit the chainstay on the drive side.

Took her apart. Yep, the chainstay is definately bent. You can see it got crimped on the little dimples Surly builds into the frames for clearance? Same place where my 1x1 broke a little over a year ago.

Brought it over to my buddies at the Peddler. Jeremy threw it up in the stand and put a frame allignment tool on it. Yep. Bent about 1/4 of an inch towards the drive side. Then we saw that the drive side drop out was also broken where it attachs to the stay.

They're going to try and take care of it for me. See if QBP will warranty it. Seems like they should. Thought steel should last more than a couple of years. The frame bent on an intentional dimple. Probably weekens the steel a bit when they bend it, I guess.

GB CVO Tribute Week

been getting motivated by my homeboy. motivated to ride to work. twice last week and once to some downtown offices I had to get some reports from. 50 miles of unburnt gas.

Yesterday was a good day. rode to work and then rode downtown after for a meeting. 45 miles. pretty sweet that my truck didn't burn gas for those miles. Rode about 16 on Monday to meet my wife and grab some dinner. won a superbowl pool at work. didn't even know I won till i got to work. that pissed some people off.

planning on riding to work tomorrow. it'll be sweet. then some more miles this weekend. legs feeling a bit tired, but that's good.

biggest cvo tribute though is what happened while riding home from my meeting last night. was out in the left lane cause I had to make a left at lamar. some lady started honking at me and yelling what I was doing is illegal. caught her at a light. rode up to the window to have a conversation and to congratulate her for beating me to the red light. wise ass as hell but with a calm, collected voice. again comes the illegal shit. being up between cars. guess having a little shit lap dog on your lap while driving is not against the law. called me a little penis and I got behind her car. when the light turned green and the other cars drove off she put it in reverse and backed up into me! luckily she had a super small geo or something and when I put my hand on the spoiler the car stopped. I rode around her and then she started driving at me. rode past her and then really carefully tried to let her pass. came at me again. conneticut plates. crazy bitch. watch out.

Like a Dear in the Headlights

Got a call at work yesterday from my homeboy, Jeremy to go for a ride. Finished up the things I was working on and headed home for some ride time. We decided to do the Mt. Bonnel loop. Nice and quick loop that heads over to Balcones from North Loop and then up Mt. Bonnel and across 2222. Some nice climbs and descents. The fixxie allows you to carry a lot of momentum on the downhills and then hammer the ups.

Sweet ride and everything was sweet till we hit Mesa. Lots of deer out last night. I was drinking some water and up a head were some deer and on coming cars. Jeremy called it out, put the bottle back in the jersey, and grabbed the brakes, figuring out which way I was going to go. The SUV missed the first buck, but the second buck got clipped and pushed into us. This deer was coming right for us, then at the last minute was able to change directions and miss us. Close call. Driver and passengers were cool, but a bit shooken up. I assume the deer was okay. No damage to the car and if the leg was broken I don't think the deer would've been able to change directions and miss us.

Close call. Like to think that maybe being cooler headed on the road and avoiding confrontations with motorists might have put some luck on our side.

Stay safe out there.

Sunday Mexican Martini Ride

Couple of Sundays ago, Tara and I went on the Scenic Loop over Lake Austin. Beautiful day after the cold week before. Tara had her new SLR Digi camera. Stopped at the overlook and she had some fun with her new camera. I had fun being a poser!

Finished up at the Hula Hut along the lake. Sat over the water, had some Mexican Martinis, ate some grub. Pretty damn good way to spend a Sunday. Gonna make it a thing to do on Sundays.

Didn't get to do it this past Sunday, even though it was another beautiful Austin winter day. Tara and I did this seminar called Man-Woman Realationship. It was amazing. The facilitators were great, super interesting lives and stories. Great couples and there was a two day long conversation of partnering with the opposite sex. Big group date on Saturday night. Out late salsa dancing with a couple who have been married 30 years. On Sunday morning, you could see the energy in the couples who put there all into working on what we talked about during the day.

I am starting to buy into this whole energy that one puts forth. Begining to see that positive energy attracts positive energy.

Rock it.

Got a good story from tonights ride, but that's for the next post. Think deer, cars, and eyes in the headlights.

Webberville Cross Photos

all stolen from the internut