Wifey and I finally found the title for our one old car, so we were able to get to the dealer Saturday morning and pick up our new ride. That was good. However we still need Pennsylvania to send us the title for the xB so that we can get to PA and replace or sell it and its toasted engine, that is bad. At least we have a safe, reliable vehicle to make the 6+ hour drive to Pennsylvania… that is good.
Started off my ride on Friday by hitting the dirt and gravel roads on my cross bike. Many of the roads received a fresh dump of gravel this week and are still in the process of being graded. Some of the roads (like the one above) were fine, but others had some pretty deep sandy gravel on them and the Jake’s 35c tires were not having a great time of it.
The fresh, deep gravel was slowing things down a bit and since I got a later than usual start, I ditched them and jumped on some paved roads that are part of my standard road ride.
You might think that this is yet another installment of the super unpopular blog post series Crush Pasta (see Crush Pasta I and II), and it very well could be, but it’s not. This one’s about balls, as in meatballs.
Now THIS is a throwback. Probably my 3rd endurance race ever and my first marathon: the WVMBA’s Revenge of the Rattlesnake in May 2005. Happy to say that race is still going strong (now in the fall) and one of the toughest races on the east coast. I am UNNNhappy to say that I think I have gained as much weight as B-Man has since then and he’s ten now. Boo! To paraphrase Simon Pegg a bit from Run Fat Boy Run, “I’m not unfit, I’m just fat.”
Oddly enough, now it’s me that always looks like I’m miserable, crying and shitting myself… all of which are usually true. Yeah, this throwback shit is really fun. Let’s do it again next week.
Later.
The photo above was taken during my road ride on Wednesday, the amount of farmland that I roll by during any given ride never ceases to amaze me. That field rolled on for a bout a mile or two to my left and was surely replaced by another soon after. It’s not that I didn’t roll by farms and field back in PA, I rode by plenty, but none that were the size of the farms that I see here. Every spring and summer I am left but with nothing but respect for farmers. It’s also cool to see how the fields go from fresh tilled dirt to waves of green corn, soy and wheat each year.
Today was the first time in 2014 that I (sadly?) rode exclusively on pavement. It wasn’t long, barely topping an hour and a half, but my wheels did not touch dirt, mud, ice or snow (other than the thick layer of dust that litters our sun porch).
Popov Vodka continues to be THE go-to drink for dirt road alcoholics. Maybe it was the harsher than usual winter, but I must have gone past a hundred bottles or more of the stuff in the past week. Damn… I’m sort of shocked that in all my years I’ve never tried it. Hmmm… with the week I am having, it might be time to start!
I was able to get a couple of nice rides in this weekend (both on dirt (roads) and pavement). And today I FINALLY got to ride without a winter jacket AND in knee warmers for the first time in 2014!! Most of the dirt roads were bone dry from the warm(ish) temps and relentless winds we’ve had the past few days, but some are still covered with ice, snow and LOTS of mud. Still, it was all good.
I have some pics to go through and some words to add about the rides, but other than my time on the bike, the last week and weekend have been less than stellar. Wifey took my xB back to Pittsburgh (because we thought it was the better of our two paid off high mileage cars) and the engine took a $3,000 bed shit. Ssoooooo we are in the midst of replacing the vehicle (which is still in Pittsburgh), dealing with a giant ass rental car (seriously, the Dodge Caravan is like a city fucking block long) and figuring out what to do.
Bad luck (again) for Catharine Pendrel! It seems the Luna Chix rider broker her collarbone while training this past Tuesday, April Fools Day. Sadly, this was no bad April Fools joke and there will no racing for Pendrel for the next six weeks. Fortunately no surgery is needed and she is quoted on teamlunachix.com as saying she is “feeling pretty pain-free so far” and “optimistic for a speedy recovery.”
2010 UCI World Mountain Bike Champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jaroslav Kulhavý is back on the bike training and racing after breaking his kneecap this past February when he fell on ice (walking).
