How much for a rib? Part 2... I think.

I mentioned some rib pain, but never bothered to explain it.  Last week on the FM Christmas Light Ride, I hurt me.

I jumped on a section of sidewalk I've used thousands of times before at work to cheat the light at Tryon/Camden/W. Summit.  Nothing illegal, just something I do to avoid the light.  Anyways, I'm where I've been before, a car edges out of a driveway, I avoid it (I'm always careful there), and then find myself on the wrong side of this:

A tiny bit of uneven pavement running parallel to my direction of travel.  I tried to get my bike back to the right, the ledge said "no" initially, and when it finally released me, I shot over into this:

I basically hugged it full-on like a clip-on teddy bear.

After the tree's nuts stopped falling on my head and the laughter from those who witnessed the whole thing subsided, I jumped back up and got on my bike. Adrenalin and PBR kept me from feeling much of anything... other than surprise and that "this is gonna leave a mark" feeling.

The next day, I was well aware of my situation.  Not "ouch, it hurts to breathe" rib pain, but definitely "oooh, it hurts to do this that and the other" rib pain.  So, not broke but achy and ouchie. 

So that would be why I had some (just some tho) of my reluctance to sign up for Cyclo Ross this weekend.

Unfortunately, pre-registration closed Wednesday at midnight (I think), so it was either sign up now or lose $10 to the late registration fee or not race at all...

I decided to go ahead and race.  Last night, I clicked some links and found out it's all done through USAC.  There is no way (that I could figure out, esp being a former license holder) to pre-reg as a non-license holder.  Which meant if I wanted to race, it's going to be $55 for day of registration ($25 + $10 day of + $5 bib number + $15 one day license).

I attempted to circumnavigate the system that was recognizing me as a former license holder.  I even tried to enter as Dicky Dillen, born 6/17/69.  USAC basically said, "Did you mean Rich Dillen?"  I never saw anything about being able to pay the one-day fee online.*

I need to re-think racing this weekend.  Hard.  This is seriously becoming a "principle of the thing" thing. 

$55 for thirty minutes.  Sigh.

I just don't think I can do it.  I'm kicking myself for the past years of not doing it, but how would I know that at some point it would be $55 to race cross in Charlotte?  Maybe I'm wrong, but nobody on the FaceBook could tell me that I could actually pre-reg as a non-license holder, so once again, I ask myself, "Does USA Cycling give one shit about bringing new people into the sport?"

I definitely don't fault the promoters.  I don't think charging less than $25 is possible, and I totally support the raising of the rates as the race date gets closer.  To be honest, I never understand when a promoter doesn't do that.  It just makes sense.  I also don't blame the promoter for sanctioning the race through USAC.  It just makes a lot of sense in our area to be part of the NCCX series, and I'm pretty sure the racers that are concerned with points and such are happy with the decision to affiliate with USAC.  You just wouldn't get a whole lotta cross racing done here in NC without a license.  Fact.

I'm still super stoked to go watch and do some spectator training for the USA Cycling Cyclocross Nationals at the Biltmore next week.  Despite all the whining and complaining going on over in the social media world, I expect it will be a quality event.  A lot of people who care about the sport have put in countless hours sweating the details and the Biltmore itself is no stranger to putting on huge events.

That doesn't mean I'm not gonna have a good time making light of the entire non-situation.  It's cross after all.  Heckling is part of the sport, or so I've heard.

So anyways, it looks like I'll be cracking my first beer at 9:30AM this Sunday from the sidelines.

Join me.

*BTW:  Anybody who knows how to pay that fee, correct me if I'm wrong.

Cross Examined

So, I got this yesterday from Fatmarc on the FaceBook:

"Longtime listener, first time caller: I have long observed that you prefer the longer endurance events. I've found it interesting how much attention you've paid to cross in recent posts (blog/fb)... Just curious the driver? You moving away from endurance/stage racing ? Just because nationals are in your backyard ? It generates interwebs traffic? If you asked me a month ago "what does Dicky think of cross?" I'd have said he hates it, and anything USAC.." Not that anyone would have asked me that, but I was just curious... what causes the people's single speed champion of the world and endurance racing to postulate on cross so much recently? I'll hang up and listen to your response?" ~ FM VDB

Fat Marc is a respected blogging cyclocrosser, so he deserves a lengthy response.

Allow me to postulate, gesticulate and flatulate all over my piece of the internet.

I'm fascinated by the concept of cyclocross racing.  It reminds me of when I was a boy, growing up in very rural NE Ohio, entertaining myself with my banana seat Huffy Wrangler.

(not my picture, but definitely the bike)

One of my favorite things to do was to race my little friends on their bikes.  Since there were no "trails" or BMX tracks in Pierpont, OH, we raced on random courses in front and back yards, around the church down the road, or just plain in and around the woods.  Right at this tree, over this hump, down this hill, behind this bush...

So, basically cyclocross... with even sillier handlebars for off-road use.

I love racing cross, although it's been years since I did a legit, USA Cycling, non-Black Metal Friday event.

photo cred: Bill Fehr

Black Metal Friday Cross.  No entry fee, no rules about sleeves, no bib number, no prize money, no course tape...

I loathe short track racing, mostly because it doesn't allow me to apply my strengths... I mean the things I'm less weaker at in all manners of propelling a bicycle across the surface of the earth.  Cyclocross adds a few things I can do rather well, like mounting and dismounting, and it seems a lot more like a "game" or an obstacle course.  It's fun... and pain... and friends.

If I could live two human lives concurrently, I would race both cyclocross and endurance MTB.  But I don't.  I stick to one. Why?

From Spring to Fall, I'm focused (as much as I ever can) on endurance mountain biking, specifically on a single speed.  It's my twoo wuv.

I devote a fair amount of time to travel, racing, preparing, "training," monetary expenditures.... most all the things.   By the time cross comes (it comes every year BTW), this is where I'm at:

I'm tired of all the driving/riding in cars to get to places.  I hate being in a vehicle to begin with (thus my job and method for getting to it), so after a full "season" of travel, I'm not so tempted to spend my weekends driving for hours just to race for an hour or so.  I don't want to have this conversation with my family:

"Remember how I was gone like every other weekend from April to October?  Yeah, well now I want to be gone every weekend from October till February... so I can drive four to six hours round trip and race for an hour.  And drink post-race beers, of course.  Oh, and sometimes it will be back-to-back Saturday and Sunday?  Still okay?  My stuff will be at the curb?  Okay."

I'm happy to have some free weekends.  This is the time to fit in the bicycle riding around all the other things in life.  When I do get those off-"season" rides, I want them to be slower, shorter (in distance), fun, relaxed... not fitness oriented at all.  A calorie burning justification of a post-ride burrito and four baskets of chips and salsa.

USA Cycling.  There, I said it.  Ever since ______ _____* "won" his spot to represent the U.S. at Marathon Worlds, I've felt quite different about shoveling money their way.  Not only did he have to foot the entire bill, he had to buy his Team USA kit.  Really?  I thought some of my money went to support our athletes.  Whatever.  That was just the beginning.  They've been doing very little but heap on more and more reasons to not want to get a license... and then they've raised the one-day from the measly $5 (back when I used to race on a one-day) up to $15.  Yeah, a loaf of bread was a nickel back then.  Shut up.

*not sure he wants his name brought into this

Kinda makes it less inviting for the first time dabblers when they're staring down a $40-70 (total) entry fee for a thirty to ninety minute event (CX or MTB XC).   Especially when there are so many other options out there.... well, at least in the world of MTB.  Not so much for the cyclocross dabblers.  USA Cycling almost owns the CX scene in America (right now anyways).

So yeah, I love the sport and find it enthralling.  I love that people are willing to get into cars and drive all over the place to race in some municipal park between miles of winding course tape.  I do have some not so mixed feelings about pits, pit bikes, support and all that, but that's just the endurance racer in me.  It's always been part of this particular sport, and no amount of complaining from an outlier like me is gonna change that.

Where I come from, mud happens.  Deal with it.

So why "postulate on cross so much?"

It's cycling.  I live it, breathe it, sleep it, eat it, drink it.  Other than checking the weather, I don't know what the internet is for, that and looking at bikes, bike racing, bike racers... and when I'm looking at the weather, it's because... bikes.  I read/write about road racing, but I don't do it.  I read/write about doping, but I don't do it.

So I read/write about cyclocross... and then not do it... except maybe in this case, which I still might.



Or might not.

And I will be going to Nats, because it is in my backyard... and my family is away... and because my little friends will be there (not on their banana seat bikes tho).

That is unless something way better comes up and then I'll do that.

Ross was my favorite friend

The big decision for the week will be whether or not I race at this Sunday's Cyclo Ross race in Veterans Park.  Last year, it was back pain that kept me from racing.  The year before, I think it was just me being cheap... or was it my back again?  I'm getting old and can't remember what my excuse has been and how many years I've been coming up with them.

This year, my aches and pains are not terribly significant (just annoying, huzzah!), but my commitment to not push myself too hard until I feel really good again is there.  I know all those run-ups and the barrier-hopping probably isn't the best idea.  I'm also impatiently waiting for the cessation of phlegm production from the bug I got back in November.

I'm also looking over at my bike, with its 3.0 front tire and 32X19 gearing and wondering how much time I want to put into making it a more "deliberate" bike for racing cross.

I'm pretty sure it would take me more time to swap all the things over and back afterwards than it would to actually race the single speed class.... wait, thirty minutes?  Yes, it would be much more work, especially including clean up if it's muddy.

I think I'll go back to my cheapness excuse.  I see that one day licenses are now $15 ($15? When did that happen?), pre-registration is $25, and the one time bib number fee is $5... $45 total.  Thirty minutes on the course (assuming I don't get pulled for being too slow or not having enough sleeves).

Looking back through the archives, I don't see that I was bitching about the whole money thing last year, but I had the Old Man Back™ excuse, so maybe I wasn't even looking for some other reason to not race (again).  I do happen to race for an awesome team that does some partial race fee reimbursement at the end of the year, so I can only half complain about that price.

I also would like to squeeze in a real (more than 30 minute) ride this weekend...

So, in the "pro-racing this weekend column," what do we have?

1.  Too much FOMO and a desire to YOLO.  I've opted out for too many years and this would just be another "year of not."  It's not like the race is gonna get cheaper, USAC will back down on the one day fee, or the venue will move even closer to my house.

2.  I shouldn't even bother thinking about swapping the bike over to make it more cross friendly.  I would normally get my ass handed to me by the strong NCCX single speeding folks who cross over into the Cat1s later, but this year?  There's gonna be so many out-of-towners coming in for Nats next weekend.  I'd probably be lucky to mid-pack even if I make a bunch of changes to my Vertigo.  Dumb.

3.  I bought a 12 pack of Sierra Nevada to bring with me, and if I know I'm racing at 11:30AM, I'll be less likely to start into them too early.  At least if I race for a half hour, I'll feel like I earned the right to drink the rest of the afternoon.

4.  If I do this race, just once, I will never have to write this same blog post ever again. Ever.  I will have YOLO'ed and gotten over my FOMO.  I will win.

I think I've talked myself into it, the only scary thing being that I did so five days in advance with a whole lot of hours left to talk myself out of it.

Meh.

I don't hate everything and everybody

Painy rib and shoulder parts means I'm stepping back from arduous things for a bit.  I've carried a decent amount of weight on my shoulder over the past few weeks at work, and things should be slowing down at the start of the new year.  I want to back off on pressing physical things until I feel 100% (for a 46yr old).  No more adult calisthenics for awhile... despite the fact that I finally got around to creating a decent place to do sit ups without kneeing myself in the face.

I'd been planning on doing something like this for months now, but the install process involved a car jack, a corded drill, a leftover towel rack, salvaged hardware, old ESI grips.  When the whole thing only had a 50% chance of success according to my best estimates, it was super difficult to get started.

I did get out for a shortish, not too technically challenging mountain ride with Bill Nye on Saturday... because... 70°+.

 So hot, right then.

 Evidence of some serious rainfall recently.  Nifty.

Unrelated.

 Hot enough outside to do that on the way up Spencer Branch.

 And to do that later.

 And this.

I finally got a chance to stop at the Sierra Nevada Brewery on the way home.  As we were walking in, I told Bill Nye that I feel like I had a real hand in financing this place.

"You're going to hate it," he replied.

He was basically right. I love our small Charlotte breweries. There's so many of them that they have a quaint neighborhood feel to them.  Some more than others, but the grittier the better for me.

That's not my picture.   I didn't even think to take one. I'm pretty sure the Sierra Nevada Compound can be seen from space though.

The "brewery" felt like it was part of a Disney World attraction.  A tourist trap through and through, complete with people lined up ten deep at the bar waiting for a beer, souvenirs, kitsch menu items (Mason jar salad, tiny hamburgers with artisanal bacon)... I get why some people would be into that, but it's not my thing.  I don't get the appeal.

But I do like their beer.  A go-to in the Dillen household.  I guess I'm still sorta buying locally and thinking globally.  Sorta.  No matter what, it's more than likely a decision of economics when I'm selecting my beverages.  I don't know why local brewers don't offer twelve packs, because... money... and dolphins.

Regardless of my horrible, jaded opinion, it's amazing that this is the house that beer built.

No Mas

I guess I was supposed to do a Christmas related post.  Rain, warm temps, closed trails.

Feels nothing like Christmas.

I would say that the Faster Mustache Christmas Lights Cruise was a success the other night.

 photo cred: Joey

We collected a decent amount of outerwear for Steve's Coats for Kids...

and managed to have a good time, the only person hitting a tree being me.  I'm expendable, so no big deal.

A big thanks to Bike Source for giving us a place to hang out before the ride, Swiftwick for providing the socks for our "socks for coats trade-off,"  PBR for all the pre-ride liquids, and Sir Ed's for accommodating our group once we were done light-peeping.

Being an up and coming senior citizen, I'm looking forward to a few days without alarms (other than the blind, diabetic dog howling to be released from his crate).  A possible ride in the mountains.  Watching my family play Scrabble (unless they let me play this time).

Merry Christmas and all that to those that it matters to and happy time off to those who don't care and my condolences to those that have to go to work to serve our shitty "needs" during these times of joy.

Earful

I've mentioned Far End Gear before. They make those one ear bud things with their "stereo-to-mono circuitry (that) mixes both stereo channels (left and right) together into one earphone."  I'm deaf in one ear, so it's nice to be able to hear Ozzy crazy-training in both ears.

I bought mine way back in 2012, and after all these years of use, they're still doing fine.   Seems like the cord has gotten stiffer tho.  I think.

Anyways, I was on the site the other day, and I noticed that they swapped over to a fabric-reinforced cord.  In.

Ordered up a new pair of XDU™ Single Earphone(s).  I got the single ear Short Buds with the 15" cord because I clip my Shuffle to my bib straps.

New cord on the left, stiff and much older cord on the right.

They've been updated quite a bit since I bought mine so many years ago.

Maybe an audiophile can tell the differences just by looking, but the improvement in sound quality was ridiculous.  I had to turn the volume down quite a bit from where it used to be, and the bass is now something that can be "felt."

I sent a quick email asking what was up... and the long/short of the response:

"The driver has gone through a few changes trying to improve the sound.
The circuitry has also gone through a change to minimize impact on the audio quality."

"There are still some short cord earbuds out there that don't have all of these upgrades, especially on Amazon. Best bet to get one is to order through the website and send a support ticket requesting the latest and greatest."

I used them this weekend riding in Uwahrrie, and I can say that it was money well spent (@$23, and I used a FaceBook coupon for free shipping).

Steve Tilford recently wrote about the importance of being able to hear your bike and the disadvantages of riding with music in your ears.

I get it.  If I rode a geared bike, I'd probably wanna keep an ear out for things falling apart.  The only time I ever missed a cue from my single speed was when I didn't tighten my rotor bolts well enough while building my bike up for the Sierra Tahoe 100.  When they came loose and started falling out, I was never the wiser... until I was down to two left.  Sads.

I'm guessing a normal hearing equipped person would pick up on that kind of stuff if they used the one ear bud option.

Before I get lambasted, I do pay attention to other trail users/racers when I'm listening to music.  I look over my shoulder, pop the ear bud out any time I think I'm gonna have to deal with traffic... in other words, I'm not an asshole.

Anyways, just thought I'd share the information that one-eared music enjoyment has never been better.

That is all.

Weak End

Headed to Uwharrie this past Saturday.  Trying to not replicate last weekend's missed connection and actually ride with Nick and Chase as opposed to just leaving them in the parking lot and never seeing them again.

Riding to the trail in Nick's Nissan increased my odds of success by at least 50%.  I'm happy that Nick has a truck because now we can wave at other truck users in acknowledgement of our shared love of all things truck.

Different group than I'd ever ridden with before.  Different experience as well.

They liked to ride as fast as possible in ten to fifteen minute intervals and then stand around at trail intersections and swap recipes.

Some old, bearded wise men in the parking lot told us about some new trail being built in the area that was not ready to be ridden.  They were correct about all things, but I never doubted them because.... wizards.

In between the recipe swapping...

 The tensile strength of my of my never-ending supply of clogged-lung phlegm is strong.

Someone had the wherewithal to bring posties, and that person is now my hero, because I brought none.

Nick and I stopped for Mexican on the way home.  I've already discussed how perplexing all the options on a Mexican menu can be, but I usually only go chicken burrito when I can't find "special dinner."  That's always the best choice for a non-foodie who doesn't know the difference between an empanada and a flauta.   It's just some random tubes filled with random animals with sides of things.

The main rule of Mexican food dining is that you always gets the novelty sized 32oz Dos Equis if you're not driving.  Otherwise, you are abusing the privilege of being a passenger.

Nick also went with the special dinner.  He started looking a little defeated towards the end, and was leaving some wrapped tube of animal untouched on his plate.  I asked him how it was possible that he would walk away defeated.

"I don't like mole sauce, and I'm full?"

Full?  This is special dinner.

"How can you walk away from this challenge with only one item to go?  That's like being a hundred yards from the finish line of a mountain bike race and just quitting."

"That's a terrible analogy," he replied.

"Okay.  It's like you're getting gas, and when the pump shuts off because your tank is full, you pull out the nozzle and just spray gas all over your car."

Once I started in on the last meat tube on my plate that corresponded to the one remaining on Nick's plate, he saw that it was identifiable as a "tamale."

"Awww, man.  I like tamales."

He crossed the finish line that day.

On the way home, we were pretty sure a State Trooper was pulling us over as he sped past pointing his finger to the side of the road.  It wasn't us he was after, and when we knew we were in the clear, I asked Nick if he just got "cop heart."

He'd never heard of such a thing, but when I explained it, he said he did.

Goring Details

I upgraded/replaced some of my winter/foul weather gear recently.  On a whim, I added something to the cart that I had never bothered considering before...

a Gore-Tex cap.

I've got tiny caps for days.  Cotton, wool, and tech-type fabrics.  When it's raining as I'm about to walk out the door, I'll just put a cap on under my helmet.  If it's gonna be raining all day long, I'll bring a few extras to refresh as the day goes by.  If it's super dumping outside and cold AF, I'll put one of those ugly, water-resistant helmet covers on for the commute into town.  I won't leave it on all day long, because it blocks the helmet vents where I stick my glasses...

and it looks dumb.  But mostly, glasses.

Anyways, the Gore-Tex cap was cheap enough and since I was placing an order already, I threw one in the cart.

I wished I woulda got one some time ago.  I've already got more than a few all day soakers worth of time with this between my thinning hair and my helmet.

Gold.

My timing in sharing this information is incredible.  Not only is it sold out in the 30th Anniversary colorway that I linked above, it is also sold out in the standard, non-celebratory version.  If you do some googling though, you can find some places that still have some in stock.

This November/December has been pretty mild so far as far as weather goes, but at least I'm prepared.  Last year's single digit temps really had me wishing to up my game a bit, but I was mostly just too lazy to do anything about it.  I've done my best to not get caught with my short pants down this winter, and I got some fleecy Windstopper goodness, a decent pair of Windstopper gloves, and some rain shorts to keep my ass dry when it's too cold to run around with swamp ass all day long.

I almost have a fine enough collection of hardy gear to consider The Snake Gap Time Trial Series a slam dunk.  I don't think any amount of rain or cold could kill me over four or so hours.

Yeth, just four hours.  If I felt inclined to do The Snake, the new fifty mile format does not appeal to me near as much as the classic thirty four mile option.  What can I say?  It's January and February.  I have a hard enough of a time convincing myself to race short track or the Icycle XC race.  I'm fat and out of shape and very happy to be that way.  My hats off to all those people who have the wherewithal to attempt fifty miles in the Georgia mountains... in the middle of winter... in January... when there's so many other things they could be doing...

Like sleeping and eating and drinking and repeating the cycle over and over and over.

And watching CX Nats in Asheville, which is a "once in a lifetime" thing.  There will always be Snake.

And, for what it's worth, last night was my last night sleeping with this little guy:

Long story short, he was found in the streets with a mangled back leg.  He had a microchip.  When he was scanned, the owners were contacted, but they didn't want him anymore.

The Humane Society of Charlotte removed his back leg, we fostered him for the last two weeks, and it looks like he will be adopted today by the same couple that adopted one of our other tripod fosters, Gretchen.

How's that for sharing something good and fuzzy feeling around the holidays?

I'll miss him, since The Pie and I have had to sleep separately for the past few weeks until we kick this coughing habit we've formed.  He's been my bed/couch buddy, and he's quite an excellent cuddler.

I mention all this in order to perhaps soften your hearts and loosen your purse strings.  Please consider donating to the CHS... they're ready to TAKE YOUR MONEY right now.

I should apologize...

I started writing a rant about the holidays, but without even looking, I'm sure I've covered that at some point over the last ten years.

Ten years.

The end of 2015 means this blog will be decade old.  I should do something.  Maybe make a cake...  out of beer... without any cake.  If you've been reading this for ten years, maybe I should make you a beer cake.  Or pay for your therapy (same same).

Of topics more relevant, I paid closer attention to my brake pad use this year.

And by "pay attention," I mean this:

I've been running the TruckerCo metallic pads on the Stickel since 6/28 and the organic semi-metallic pads on the Vertigo since 2/27.  I hadn't changed any pads since then.. until this past weekend.

I finally decided that maybe, just maybe, all the skwonky noises from my front brake on the Vertigo might be an indication of some contamination.   I took out the old pads, tried all the stupid pet tricks I've used in the past to silence the screaming waterfowl, and eventually decided to toss them, despite the fact that they had a little bit of life left in them.

And the skwonks are gone.  Sometimes, when your pads are fucked, they're fucked.

Something else I noticed.  What TruckerCo says about their pad compounds is true.

The sintered metallic pads have proven to be noticeably more powerful than their organic semi-metallic counterparts.  That's not saying the braking power of the organic pads hasn't been ample enough, as I ran them at races with plenty of long descents in Pisgah, Breckenridge, Shenandoah, etc.  It's just that I can tell that the semi-metallic have more graboidness.

That said, the semi-metallic are a bit noisier when wet.   I don't know if they're any noisier than other brands of pads or not.  When there was a bunch of us coming down Big Creek a couple weeks ago, my brakes were squealing, but I was definitely not alone in the noise department.   But I was still slowing down, so whatever.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's nice that their pads do what they say they do, and it's a noticeable difference.

Those crabon backed pads?

I'm saving those for the 2016 "season."  Because they're crabon... and everything crabon is better... except frames.  Those are terrible.

Pointless as a Circle

With 70° temps coming to the mountains, there was no shortage of ride options in the Pisgah.  Somehow, after sifting through them all, we still ended up doing our own thing.

Decided to go with a smaller crew.  One of my favorite routes in the hatchery area.   I was in Kangalamangus's car at 7:45AM and headed to meet up with Chase, Nick and Chris at 10:30AM... and maybe Jay?

We're there at 10:27AM.  We're ready by 10:42AM.  By "we," I mean Kangalamangus and I.  No sight of the others, and thanks to the remoteness of the hatchery, no phone signal to speak of.  We decide to wait until 11:00 and leave without them.

We got ready and killed time.

10:59, they roll into the parking lot.

Chase had a brand new bike... which he ruined before he even rode it once.

Kona Process.  Comes stock with a drooper... which he removed.    I just don't get it.

Anyways, since Kangalamangus and I were ready and the other three were fast'ish climbers, we headed up the first climb after I told them where to go...

"Left out of the hatchery and take the first gravel road to your right."

And off we went, climbing up towards the top of Cove Creek.

Somehow, they never caught us.

And then they never came.  We rode back down a piece, hollered, wailed, and then saw three riders coming up.

"Did you pass three guys on your way up or at least see three guys fucking around in the parking lot?"

"No."

Looks like Kangalamangus and I had three new friends.

We didn't really end up riding with them because that's weird.  Mountain bikers are usually horrible people, and I wanted to show Kangalamangus something stupid.

Something stupid.

So we rode together but alone the rest of the day.

Like I said, one of my favorite routes in the Pisgah, especially when the seasonal trails are open.  You can have Bennett Gap all day long, but without a shuttle, it's a long climb with a very short descent that seems to only work into mega-loops.

Kangalamangus and I spent a large part of the day discussing how hard it is riding with gears, when we felt they were actually useful, when they were stupid, and how numb our taints were.  Quality conversation.

He was also struggling with the concept of drooping, and like most people who ride with me, he was surprised with the amount of drooping that I was doing.    What can I say?  I love to droop.

I'm finding gears more and more annoying.  A nice way to be lazy but... I don't know.  I guess it's a nice break, and I don't know how I'd be doing wheelie practice without putting a 32X28 or 32 on bike.  It's what's been working so far anyways.  The gears are also part of my horrible hybrid flat bar road bike for Tour de burg, so no matter what, they have some purpose.

Unless I don't Tour de Burg.  In which case, they are pointless as I suspected.

Except for wheelies tho... which are also pointless.

Homework Assignment

If you're a fan of Western North Carolina's extensive trail network, this is your required reading for the day:

Evaluated.

Time to nip this in the bud before the powers that be and those who would love to see mountain bikes no longer welcome in the Pisgah make the world a shitty place.  The comment/input process is an arduous endeavor, but no more than clearing the first five levels of Candy Crush (I don't really know what that means).

I'll be pounding my keyboard this weekend in that general direction... after I head west and do some riding myself... because weather... and burritos.  It will give me something to do in between coughing jags.

Oh yeah, also of importance... I'm now able to go to Cyclocross Nationals in January (for specatation purposes only).  If I was trying to make plans with you earlier, let's try that again.

One more thing.

Whatever you thought you were gonna do on March 19th, scratch it... unless you were planning on doing the Tour duh Charlotte. Then still do that.*

* Yeth, I copy/pasted the same thing I posted on FaceBook.  When you capture perfection in words, you don't mess with it.

Merry Holibeers

I just wanted to put this out there...

On December 22nd, it's time to join the Faster Mustache crew on our annual exploration of Charlotte neighborhoods to view the bright lights and get into the holiday buzz.

Ride leaves the shop at 7:00pm! Stop by early and crack a cold one with our Bike Source buddies. Free pre-ride beers provided by PBR!

The route will be social pace and end back at the Park Road Shopping Center. From there, everyone is welcome to head over to Sir Ed's with us for food and beers.

BTW: Help local children stay warm this season by bringing new or gently used coats for Steve's Coats for Kids benefiting the Crisis Assistance Ministry. FREE Swiftwick socks to the first 15 people who donate! Adult coats will also be accepted since they get cold too.

A coat for a pair of socks?  Sounds strange?  Unbalanced?  Unfair?

Don't bring the coat you just bought that looks oh-so good with your yoga pants.  Bring your old letterman jacket or the one hiding in the back of your closet that you only wear once a year to ironic '80s parties.  Something you're not using all that much that would make a world of difference to a person who doesn't even have a closet.

So yeah, bring a coat (not necessary, just nice), get there early'esque, grab a beer, get a pair of Swiftwicks (quantities limited), ride around, and then drink more beer and stuff your face at Sir Ed's.  This is pretty much how the Founding Fathers used to celebrate the holidays when they weren't busy shooting their guns off into the air!*

*please don't bring guns