IGVENTURE

Great ride the other night. Probably me...I huff and puff alot. Something that a buddy of mine who was a distance runner told me to try years ago and it works for me when im in the pain zone. Just breathe out, dont breathe in. Makes alot of noise, but I feel its helps me get air back into my intake manifold.

Was that a cicada? Which is funny bc we have all heard the racket they make for out entire lives, but I have yet to ever see one.
 
My riding technique comes from an old saying my mother drilled into my head growing up...

"Throw enough shit against the wall and something's bound to stick"

I went for it, again and again, but to no avail. Even trying to shake the Sneeze on the last 35mph sign before the shop. No dice. I came out empty handed. But there's always next tuesday, and I can throw some more shit against the wall, and eventually, something will stick. 😀

-Jim.
 
My riding technique comes from an old saying my mother drilled into my head growing up...

"Throw enough shit against the wall and something's bound to stick"

I went for it, again and again, but to no avail. Even trying to shake the Sneeze on the last 35mph sign before the shop. No dice. I came out empty handed. But there's always next tuesday, and I can throw some more shit against the wall, and eventually, something will stick. 😀

-Jim.

This is interesting, because on my ride today I pretty much decided that this is how I get my best results in races. Just keep doing aggressive shit and eventually something works.
 
I think the bug was a robber fly not a cicada. Cicadas are much meatier and the impact probably would have cracked the carbon on Utah's seat tube. Robber flies sound friggin horrific: "The short, strong proboscis is used to stab and inject victims with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes which paralyze and digest the insides; the fly then sucks the liquefied meal through the proboscis." If that's not alien then I don't know what is. I love insects.

"Throw enough shit against the wall and something's bound to stick"

I like this. I'd rather finish DFL and go down trying to pull of some superhero shit than finish a race mid-pack with my weak sauce sprinting ability.
 
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I think the bug was a robber fly not a cicada. Cicadas are much meatier and the impact probably would have cracked the carbon on Utah's seat tube. Robber flies sound friggin horrific: "The short, strong proboscis is used to stab and inject victims with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes which paralyze and digest the insides; the fly then sucks the liquefied meal through the proboscis." If that's not alien then I don't know what is. I love insects.

Its good to know we got an Entomologist on board for insect identification.
Capers is our Herpetologist, which sounds bad but actually he is the go to man for amphibians and reptiles.
 
Yesterday I went to Mooch and met Chris26er to ride part of the Mooch Madness race course. This was a squeeze to fit this in during the work week. I rode 80 miles round trip to work in Monmouth County, then raced up north 90 miles round trip after work to ride my mountain bike. Doing shit like this is why I have 269,000 something miles on my car.

It was worth the trip to hang with Chris and ride Mooch, I love the trails up north. The trails up here are special to me, maybe it would get old if it was in my back yard and I rode it more frequently...but prolly not.

We parked in the tranquility lot and climbed our way over to white were the race course is. I forgot how much climbing this place has...good thing these climbs aren't on the race course, people would die.

I had my cannodale geared bike out for the first time since the Bearscat 50. I need gears at Mooch, my philosophy is if you can't run 32x18 on a SS then take the geared bike. Climbing on a geared bike is the way to go, I forgot how much easier it is with gears. There was some technical stuff on our way over to the race course that I did ok on. With me and tech stuff I can do really well or really crappy, it all depends on what kind of hair day I'm having. 26er was steady through everything, he is a real good technical rider. He also can kill it on the downhills. I was happy that I was able to stay closer than usual, my confidence in going fast downhill has gotten better.

The race course has a lot of flow to it, with some small climbs thrown in and rocks. Its pretty tame for Mooch. I'm really looking forward to racing here, 4 hrs. will be an interesting enduro. Not as long as Bearscat 50 but a little longer and more technical then DH40. Regardless of how much mtb racing you have done this year this will be a fun event to compete in.

Chris 26er, teamate, family man, all around good guy.
Jake we want matchy match helmets next year with electric blue shoes​

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I found this cool insect today at work. There is a Gary Fisher Superfly 100 up for grabs to the 1st person that can ID this bug.

I think he is smiling

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The trails up here are special to me, maybe it would get old if it was in my back yard and I rode it more frequently...but prolly not.

Nah never get old way too many options thats why I rarely ride anywhere else.
 
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Saturday
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108082164
Yesterday I was off from work so I slept late and took a leisurely stroll north to do another couple laps of the race course at Allamuchy. I knew some peeps would be up there but wanted to sleep in so I didn't bother trying to make arrangements to meet anyone. Matty did a great job marking the course and it was really easy to follow the signs.

I chatted a little with Keith from BSA when I got there, I was a former boy scout so we talked scouting stuff and bonded briefly then I was on my way to explore the course. Most of the climbing was in the beginning but it was not real long nor too steep. I kinda took it easy on the first lap and took breaks to text back and forth with Norm. The 2nd lap was a more steady effort but not race pace. My time for 2 laps was 1:50. Even though some fire road was missing on the race course I'd say that I would be able to put in under an hour lap times for the race, which would give me 5 laps. Doing 6 laps will be crazy fast.

As I finished up the 2nd lap I saw some kids I recognized exploring the edge of the pond.

The Bender kids are just like Matt & Patty, easy to love.
My camera lens got fogged from being in my back pocket of my jersey.

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Sunday

Since I was off yesterday I had to go in today. Me and the other manager usually split the weekend coverage. I work 6 days a week, the weekend is what we call a mow & go. We prep the course for play then we get out...this is a 4hr gig. When you start work at 5:30 this means you get to leave at 9:30, I left at 9:00 to go ride...because I can.

The monotony of a job is what I hate, getting up early for work to do the same old thing sucks. What keeps it from going from suck to blow is the people I work with.

Morning dew
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Everyone has a story, some are more interesting then others but I like to here what people have to say...well some people. I don't read books, they put me to sleep. To keep from becoming a provincial moron I listen to people's experiences and what they have done with there life. I also try to do crossword puzzles and solve the crytoquote in the newspaper...so at least I got that going for me.

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Meet Chester and Scotty, these guys are seasonal's on the golf course. Chester is busy playing Santa around the holidays and is an aspiring actor, joke teller and civil war re-en-actor. Scotty is an affable 82 yr. old but comes from a hard back ground. He has worked in steel mills and as a groomsmen at horse tracks, he's a former alcoholic who spent many a night with prostitutes. He didn't get married until he was in his 50's and has a son younger then me.

The Ride
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108415220

So after work I head out on the road bike towards Princeton. Along the way I find a wallet on Sweetmans Lane. There is no money in it just a license and a mac card. Looking at the license it was issued to a kid in Millstone a week ago. I put it in my jersey pocket and figure I can look up the address later and return it.

I pedal into Princeton about 10:30 and decided to have a smoothie in Panera Bread. The smoothie sucked but the college girls were nice so I didn't mind paying $4.50 for this crap.

With 25+ miles left to ride I continue the effort on the pedals to make it back in just over 3hrs. I always forget what the difference is between avg. speed and avg. moving speed is on my garmin. I'll just pick the bigger number and tell you may avg. was 18.9 mph.

Almost forgot about the wallet. I look up the house on the computer and drive 7 miles out of my way to deliver this kids wallet. A girl who looks like she is about 14 answers the door and I explain that I found Alex's wallet. I hand her the wallet and she calls for her brother telling him that she has his wallet as she closes the door on me.

It would have been nice to get a thank you but it looked like the parents weren't home and I just wanted to get out of there. Typical teenagers, I went home and told my teenager's that if someone ever finds your wallet and returns it say thank you!


Morning dew
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Era of Good Feelings

This is a great time of year for me and not just because the weather got cooler, well that helps.

With Jamie's baseball season done and no kids sports or events going on in the month of August that leaves me a lot of free time to goof off and ride my bike. It's nice to come home from work and go for a ride and not have to worry about getting back in time to make it to a game or practice. Same goes for the weekends, but I do try to get the rides in early so I can be around for the honey-do-me list. Once school starts so does soccer season. This is not as hectic for me as baseball since I am not a coach, I'm just one of the crazy parents who yells at the ref from the sidelines. Maybe I'd be calmer if some of Zoller's soccer chic's were there.


It's hard to believe that Mooch Madness is this Saturday, it seems like we were just at the DH40 but that was almost a month ago. The summer is almost over and the hint of cooler weather is starting to appear. Even though its so much nicer to ride in these temps, I do get a little depressed to see the summer ending. I'm not sure why, maybe it reminds me of when I was a kid and had to go back to school. I like all the seasons but for some reason summer time is the fun time.

Despite this I am looking forward to the fall and taking days off to head up north to ride. Last year I would ride with Kirt, Rob and Weber at Mooch during the week, hopefully these dudes are around to play hookie this fall.

I am one of the few guys who doesn't do the cross thing so I'll be on the road bike and mtb for the rest of the year. Norm mentioned that I should attempt the 5hr. century after I posted my 100 mile ride in 5:23. This might be a good thing to try in October when its cooler. If its not a terribly windy day I think I can do it...and even if I fail its good training for Cathedral Pines.
 
goodluck with your race in mooch,.iggy.
(i like the morning dew pic)
i'm sure this time that you'll make it top 5 or best bet is i'm expecting you to take picture of your foot on podium stand.:popcorn:
 
Thanks Liong, I'll see you at Mooch...you are going right?

I Am Ready​
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Not much to report, I've been taking a few days off before the Mooch. The 18 hr./wk I had at training camp followed by last weeks rides has me feeling like I need to reel it in and rest before the race. My legs felt solid the other day but my lungs were not as responsive.

I should mention that I've increased my uptake of potassium and Mg per Woody's recommendation. Making up my own trail mix blend of almonds, cashews, granola, raisins and some m&m's has been tasty. I want to say there is some health benefits, like I recover faster and build muscle as well a penis size but I have not proven any of this stuff scientifically yet. Well anyway the shit tastes good and that's all that matters.

Listen​

The Good I love these guys & this performance

The Badass -Jimi without all the pomp and circumstance

The Sexy Vixen - Yeah I know its the good the bad and the ugly but who wants to see an ugly broad.


Suck it Irene, 5 love holes no waiting​
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