iRide

I hate the rain. I hate it almost as much as I hate the people who say “We need the rain.” Don’t they realize that after a certain point, the water just runs off the ground and drains to the ocean? We get over 75% of our water from the Colorado River. It is fed my the ROCKY-FRIGGIN-MOUNTAINS!! We don’t actually need the rain. You know when we need rain–when they start rationing water. Well, I’ve lived in SoCal for almost 30 years and that has never even come close to happening. Not to mention the fact that we live in the friggin desert. Oy!

Oh well. At least the forecast for the next week is relatively rain free. Of course, just about all the local trails are a muddy disaster and unridable. Maybe I’ll get desperate and go on a road ride. I have only ridden twice in the last 2 weeks and it is officially driving me crazy. On a positive note, the Moab trip is only 3 months away now. YIPPEE!!

At least we got most of the moving from the old place to the new done this past weekend. I will have to sacrifice my Saturday this weekend to finish up, but at least it’ll be done. The new place is a little smaller than our old place but at least it’s closer to friends, work and trails. That will be a huge PLUS this Spring and Summer when I can actually get out and ride. I also love looking back at my preious entries and seeing how life/feelings/emotions/etc have changed since my last post. In my last post, I wasn’t super into having my life revolve around and making sacrifices to get rides in. Now that the rain has been non-stop for the last 2 weeks, I’m all uptight because I can’t ride. Such is life.

And for all you people in a relationship–don’t you love those moments that just come out of nowhere? Those moments that leave you thinking “WOW”, I’m SO glad I’m with this person. Those moments that dominate your thoughts the entire next day. Those moments you want to try to re-create as soon as you get home. I love those moments.

Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

So I haven’t been riding as much lately. The rain has put a damper on a couple rides. Mainly I’m just not “crazy motivated” to bust out rides this past couple weeks. It’s weird. When I was forced into taking almost the whole month of December off due to my crash and resulting injury, all I did was yearn for my bike and going on a ride.

Now that I can ride, I’m not super geeked to do it. Don’t get me wrong–I’m still riding. I’ve gotten in about 5-6 rides over the last couple weeks. That’s only a couple rides short of my average, I know. It’s just that if I don’t ride on a usual ride day I don’t get too upset about it like I used to. I rode a whole lot in late December when I first got the medical OK to ride again. I guess that satiated my ride hiatus yearnings.

I know it sounds like I’m rambling here. I don’t mean to be. But for example. I didn’t ride Monday morning because I had a few errands to run and the trail here in Fallbrook is trashed (more on that later). It didn’t bother me at all that I didn’t ride. I didn’t ride today because I am starting to assist my Chief Instructor Mrs. Neal at Taekwondo (more on that later). Wednesdays have been DEFINITE ride days for over a year. It didn’t bother me one bit that I didn’t ride today. I don’t have any definite rides planned for this whole weekend and I’m not going crazy about it. I’m sure I’ll ride Friday after work. Saturday is Dylan’s birthday party and Sunday I have stuff to do around the house. I may be able to sneak away for a quick ride Sunday afternoon. But, if I don’t I won’t be “pissed” about it like I would’ve been at this time last year.

The fires in October ruined my two main trails (Fallbrook and Lake Hodges) so I know that has something to do with it. Now the rainy season is upon us–I know that has something to do with it too. I guess mainly it’s just that my priorities are changing. I used to be a big time poster/contributor to a certain mountain bike message board. For whatever reason, I got really sick of it. I used to be on the board all the time and now I mainly just lurk once or twice a day without posting much.
 
Am I in a “funk”? I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t feel depressed, just different. The recent rains have just trashed the burned areas of the trail here in Fallbrook. With no brush to help ebb the rain run-off, the trail basically bacame its own creek and is now a sandy, silty and muddy mess. It needs some time to dry out and some major trail work needs to be done. So, Fallbrook is questionable for now. I know that’s bothering me a lot.

Plus, now that Tonya, the kids and I are staying with her parents, I feel like I don’t have a home anymore. I know it’s just temporary while we get our house sold and taken care of, but I know that’s bringing me down too. You try not having a real place to call your own for awhile. It sucks. I can’t wait to move out, into our own place. I do like being back in San Diego county. It’s closer to our jobs, church, friends, trails and all that. I just really need for us to get into our own place.

Anyway, not all is bad. My chief instructor at Taekwondo asked me if I would be interested in assisting her with the lower rank classes. I’m in the ATA Leadership Program since I hope to be certified ATA Instructor in the future. Mrs. Neal thought it would be good for me to get my feet wet in that regard and help her teach a couple nights a week. Plus, she can use the help. I’m honored she has the confidence in me to do this. It’s not something I’m taking lightly either. I just spent the better part of the last 2 hours reviewing and practicing the previous 5 forms I’ve learned so I know them cold. I haven’t practiced them since I had to test on them and needed the refresher. It all came back pretty quick though, so that was encouraging. My Taekwondo journey has really barely begun and I’m looking forward to seeing where it leads me.

I have also been getting in night rides with a bunch of people here in San Diego that I met through the previously mentioned mountain bike message board. They are a great bunch of guys and they are all going to join Jeremy and I in Moab this year, so I’m really looking forward to that. So, the board is not all bad. It introduced me to a great group of riders I wouldn’t have otherwise met and I am able to use it to stay in touch with my them and coordinate rides.

I know this has been a longer post than I originally intended but I just have to vent about one more thing: why is it that certain people think they can talk to you any way they want?

I had a bit of a “to do” with this idiotic “Joe Bob” at work today–a co-worker at that. He made a lame comment about a fellow co-worker so steeped in ignorance I laughed. I couldn’t believe he was saying what he was saying and reacted with a laugh. He said “Keep laughing d_ _ khead”, but didn’t even have the guts to look me in the face when he said it. I proceeded to tell him “Misery loves company, eh?” since they are partners, and he didn’t say a word. I then thought another co-worker called my name but was mistaken as they were talking to someone else. I wanted to let “Joe Bob” know I wasn’t going roll over for him and said “Oh, I thought they were talking to me. I guess if they were they would’ve said ‘Hey D_ _ khead’.” He then got up and awkwardly started to walk away when he bumped into another employee who was standing there. He laughed nervously and said “Outta my way d_ _khead” like the whole last couple minutes was all a joke. I was pretty angry still and said in a loud voice so he knew that I was talking to him “Oh now he tries to play it off like he was F’ing joking. Nice try.” To cut to the chase, he basically hid from me for the remaining 10 minutes of our shift after that.

Now I’m not trying to puff out my chest like I’m Mr. TOUGHGUY or anything. In fact, if it came down to a good ol’ fashioned butt stomping match, he’d probably take me. I know it and he knows it, which is why his instant retreat surprised me so much. I guess it was just important for me to let him know he didn’t intimidate me or scare me. Am I proud of it? Not really. I don’t want to make enemies at work. But if I had it to do all over again I’d do it the same way.

But I’d like to repeat: why do some people have this weird sense of self importance so strong they think they can talk to anybody they want anyway they want? I mean, what are we, children? Last time I checked I was a grown man. I don’t know why people think they can talk to you like you were a child sometimes. The more people I meet the more I love my bike.

*RANT OVER*

Sorry about that. I needed to get it off my chest. Wow, all this aggravation being brought to the surface makes me want to go on a ride to de-compress. Maybe tomorrow…

…until then, seek your bliss.

Ride Lots.

I’m at work at BB. It’s raining and nobody wants to brave the weather, so far. It’s 10:45 and the phones have only rang 3 times.

I rode laps around the shop on a Baby Blue Intense 5.5 for over an hour. I had a pretty sweet loop going, then realized I just put about 100 carpet miles on a new bike. I felt guilty and put the bike back on the rack.

Now I’m sitting here, surfing STR and watching ROAM on the flat screen. It’s the bad @$$ Sun Valley Idaho singletrack segment with Steve Peat and Andrew Shandro. So I’m digging the music and wishing it wasn’t raining so I could ride my bike when I get off work. I shouldn’t be watching ROAM on a rainy day. At least I can vibe to it while I’m doing time.

I want to buy the Turner Sultan hanging on the wall. It’s in my size but I don’t fancy a divorce today.

Now ROAM is at the section in Morocco (I think) where the music is even more chill. I wonder why it is that the sweet Crank Bros Mallet M’s are calling to me so much when I’m not totally down with riding clipless yet.

Maybe I need to buy some new bike bling. Maybe some Dangerboy levers for my 29er. Ya, that’s it. That’ll be sweet.

I just got around to installing the new Niner 20t ring on my SS yesterday. My rear hub was getting ready to go south so I got it serviced just in time. It’s nice having friends who are mechanics.

I wish I could carve singletrack like Steve Peat. Now it’s at the part where the kids are chasing the riders down the hillside. That’s pretty cool. The only thing that chases me is fatigue.

I really want to go ride my bike.

So why is it that whenever I post, it’s a “catch up/man it’s been awhile” thing. I need to start posting more or just cancel the blog altogether.

So, since I got hurt, I obviously got better. The doc ordered me off the bike for a few weeks. That was a long and painful stretch. He was worried about me getting re-injured and suffering ”Second Impact Syndrome”, which has a 50% mortality rate. So I had a lonely few weeks but finally got back at it on the 14th of last month.

While I was out of comission, I built up a 29er. I got a screaming deal on a 29er frame and used some old parts and bought some new ones. Here’s the specs and a few pics:

Frame: Zion 737 29er frame, medium
Fork: Rock Shox Reba SL dual air
Shifters: SRAM X9
Rear Der: SRAM X9
Front Der: Shimano XT
Cranks: Race Face Evolve XC w/ int BB
Cassette: SRAM 980
Chain: SRAM 991
Brakes: Shimano Deore hydros
Bars: Easton EA30
Stem: Salsa
Seatpost: Thomson
Wheels: WTB Dual Duty w/ Deore hubs
Tires: Kenda Nevegal 2.2

Fresh off the workstand

After a few laps around the parking lot

So, I’ve just been working and riding. I’m really loving the 29er. Just like SS’ing, I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do. It is super fun. All the stuff I heard about slow stearing is basically a non-issue. It stears just fine. You have to be a little more deliberate than on a 26er, but it isn’t a hinderance by any means.

It is a little bit harder to get those big wheels going, but once you do it’s full speed ahead. I just get out of the saddle for a few pedal strokes to get it going and then settle in and enjoy. I should’ve built one up sooner. Between that and my SS, I hardly ever ride my Yeti anymore.

Speaking of the SS, I tried running a rigid fork on it for a little while but didn’t like it. It was a really sweet carbon fork from the same manufacturer as the frame, so it all matched. It dropped 2 pounds off the total weight–down to 24 lbs–and I thought I’d give it a try. Wow was it ROUGH. It made my wrists pretty sore and I actually got to the point where I was making excuses to not ride the SS. I knew then that it was time to put the Reba suspension fork back on.

That’s all for now. I’m at work and people are starting to come in. Unril next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…