To be honest, I thought the first ride you and I did at Hartshorne/Huber was actually in 2006, but it would take some digging through my (hand-written) journals to suss it out. I'm pretty sure that one followed a Chimney Rock ride that you and I did with @Kirt, Maurice, Dr. Jim, and maybe a few other guys that I can't recall.@ChrisG - turns out that ride was on on Strava, so it must be even older. I went back to the 2007 ride and it wasn't the one we did. So I guess I've been there 4 times. Is Booskerdoo the place Allaistair hangs out? I saw him somewhere once, maybe the one in Asbury Park. I will do my best to ride there with you but also Allaire.
New phone.
Leave in backyard to further oxidation of race, bring to KT team trip at end of May, place in bike stand and have Utah curse and hammer on it for happy hour entertainment.welded onto the spindle. Trying to figure out how to get that off there.
i think zwift is funny in a way that they map out a ride through under water tunnels but when your ride map shows, it looks like you were on one of theseTeam Blog Post
Put together an assortment of names + images + recaps on the team blog Monday morning:
http://www.mtbnj.com/news/2019/04/22/ringwood-rumble-the-mtbnj-blurbs/
The team had a really solid showing at Ringwood this past weekend. 6 total podiums out of 10 racers. Pretty sweet work by the crew.
D's Bike
Drove up to Utah's house to get the v2 of D's new bike. We have a v1 but it wasn't tweaked quite right. @UtahJoe took it back to make some adjustments and now it's all better and ready to go. This is a Christmas present a long time in the making. She now has the nicest (and lightest) mountain bike in the house. Here's a picture from her first ride when we originally got it.
Bike Work
Speaking of bikes, and work, I am rebuilding the backup cx bike right now because it's been sitting there waiting for some attention. The bearing was stuck on the crank arm spindle as such:
Popped it into the vice and turned the crank to try to get it loose and the bearing exploded, which is fine as it was shot anyway. But I am left with the inner edge (race? what's this called?) that is essentially welded onto the spindle. Trying to figure out how to get that off there. Thankfully cross is not for another few weeks or something. My choices so far are: Fire. Anyone have $20?
Mooch Madness
Started actively promoting the race today, which started by taking the form of an email blast to former racers. There's a non-zero chance you got this, and ignored it. At the end of Monday we have 17 people registered which is awesome. As the week goes on and people start to see the weather stay ok, I suspect it will go higher than the BikeReg estimate of 29. Having said that, between Fair Hill being the same day and NICA getting more & more popular, I think this race is going to struggle this year. We won't lose money, but this race, on this date, is probably going to be impossible for next year. So we'll either need to move it or lose it.
Funday Monday
The idea was to get D out on her new v2 bike today plus to test her knee which she smashed at Six Mile the other day. But despite my best efforts at holding out hope, the rain got the best of us. I think we were up to 7 confirmed but in the end, it was probably best to skip today. I am disappointed but I think this spring has been better than last year and we'll have a chance to ride again...I hope.
Tune in next Monday for another edition of, "Oh come on, every Monday?!"
Zwift
Instead, I ended up on Zwift for 2 hours and decided to do a race. Stuck with the Bs even though I got killed last time. Again, I got shelled, which is not unexpected. I think right now my allergies are at a maximum of suck and doing anything was tough. Or I'm just riding so much I am not recovered enough to race, which may be the case also. Whatever, the goal was to put some work in, and I find these races are good enough for now. I don't want to be inside right now so this gets me moving.
Did 2 hours and 1 minute in all today. And spent time on the newest expansion which is, well, I mean it's fine. The novelty has worn off so it's still good enough to easily get 2 hours in but not so much that the expansion gets me excited.
Today
I wrote this last night but as I do not keep up with this blog enough to warrant people looking at night, I'm going to start posting in the morning when I get up. Here's what I have on tap:
* Ask Norm Tuesday - currently have 30+ questions in the queue
* Looking to do a LewMo ride tonight after work, PM if interested or just show up at 5:45 and look for us - @Santapez
* 4 meetings on the plate right now. Did I mention F Work?
* I actually have to put some videos together for some press releases we are doing. I may mix this with Ask Norm Tuesday
* Hoping to get that bearing shell off the crank arm spindle
* Looking to do a LewMo ride tonight after work, PM if interested or just show up at 5:45 and look for us - @Santapez
With Easter being late, it seems to have really messed up some of the school schedules with spring break. It seems like schools in our area had spring breaks starting in early April and finishing up this week. Not that you really care about school schedules other than the ones your kids go to, but seems like a lot of different crap out there. This doesn't have much to do with anything other than an observation.Ask Norm Tuesday (plus Max)
For reasons I cannot exactly put a finger on, I really enjoy this thing. I guess it's something to look forward to which is a break in the monotonous work week. I remember when we used to do the Wheelman A rides, Tuesday evening was something you looked forward to all day. Once 6:00 pm rolled around it was like a pack of savages went wild. I mean I think we do this still, with the Monday Funday ride, Tuesday at LewMo or MAFW or WW rides. These are things in the week that make the workday more enjoyable.
But I mean in this case, this is during the work week so it's even better, because I find Tuesday in general a shitty work day. In any event, it's fun and I think people generally enjoy it. At least I hope so. Max even got his own video.
Stewart Permit
Got word today that it's being processed and we should be good. Man this took a while, and after Dudley Do-Right went nuts last year, I wasn't sure. But I was informed today that we are ok. Hopefully that race lands more people than this weekend's race is on tap to draw. Going to try and get some of the older NICA kids out for this.
Maps are always awesome.
Cross Bike
Got the inner race off and the frame is now stripped. I am contemplating turning this into a 1x because I never use the front shifter. Like I said to @seanrunnette tonight, I used to leave it in the big ring all season when I was strong. Now I leave it in the small ring all season because I am not. The FD is just a waste of parts at this point, especially since it probably needs to be replaced. I just need to figure out how I am going to convert this. Let me take a wild guess: more money.
Also found the pair of carbon bars I've had laying around forever that I think I may throw on this. Because carbon.
Lewis Morris Tuesday
We threw this one together piecemeal. D wanted to get on her new bike, and for whatever reason I was pretty ok with LewMo today. So I cancelled my 4:00 call and rolled out after the 3:30 call ended. Started rolling just after 4:00, managed to get in just under an hour myself, then met up with @MissJR & @Santapez for 30 minutes, then D, @seanrunnette, and @JimN for the last 1:20, during which we met Ed and his son, who are on the NICA team we're all part of. In all I got 2:40 on the day, which I needed after the light weekend.
Felt good to be outside today. Lots of happy people out on the trails, and it's always good to run across other NICA kids out there wearing the MTBNJ socks.
Mooch Race
The numbers for this race are staggeringly bad at this point. @UtahJoe says we'll be ok, and I'm sure we will hit the 100 mark which is where we need to be to not lose money. But at the end of Tuesday we're at 24 with a projected total of 36 (note: after putting in the Season Pass people we are at 44 & 66). I know we'll get an influx of people Thursday and Friday, but I think the combination of Fair Hill plus NICA plus a lot of schools on spring break is really taking its toll this year.
Next year I think we'll have to look to move this race earlier, as I now understand that we can do before this specific date as well. I think the weekend we did Short Track this year would be better for 2020. I can't believe I just referenced the year 2020 and did not use the word "retirement" with it.
If you are on the fence and reading this, come on out and support the orange & blue. Or just register so we don't lose money.
https://www.bikereg.com/mooch-madness
Today
On tap for today:
* Going to go ride myself to a PB brownie at Black River Roasters because I feel like doing that this morning. @jShort approved
* Maybe 5 meetings, at least 1 of which I will bag
* Need to get to Hilltop and pick up the bike that @jimvreeland fast tracked so Zac could hit up NICA practice on Thursday
* Taxi between 2:30 and 8:30, with 2 of the meetings in that time
Yeah, they look great for about 2 weeks, however, Cherry trees only last about 16 yrs...yes I googled it. They are plagued with insect and fungus problems. This is a very popular flowering ornamental, it also comes in weeping varieties. I consider it a hack tree, something the avg homeowner has to have on his lawn, it looks good for about 10yrs, gets insect bores and fungal disease, then begins dying back the next 10 yrs. Crabapple or Dogwood are better alternatives.This isn't the best tree out there but it's a nice one. I really like the purples that are blooming now.