Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
while LM sucks to just regularly ride, it is a lot of fun to race, maybe the best place to race? mostly because it is a fitness monster.
Heckle-cation the other months of the year.
- Thread starter The Heckler
- Start date
This is kind of a tough one, because he is forcing you to burn matches you may or may not have. For me this would have likely invoked the 'rubbin's racin' expression at some point. If he actively blocked you then he's technically putting himself in the DQ candidate realm. This is always hard to prove so unless you get seen by someone, it usually holds no water. You could also have tried to punch him in the junk.
In the end I guess you can say karma played its hand. But things don't always work out like that.
In the end I guess you can say karma played its hand. But things don't always work out like that.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
I had a lot of thoughts including "I'm done with this race, I'm bored, this is stupid," and "there is going to be contact at the line then we are going to have a fist fight." Imagine that fist fight? There would be 4 broken hands.
Pictures from Momma T's Camera for you non reading types.
Every race no matter how good I feel starts something like this. "Why do I do this"
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
WELL HIS JERSEY WAS RED AND WHITE AND HE WAS MEAN TO ME.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
good point, you are just as bad as he is in my eyes
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
Wait what? That's it? Mountain season is over? How? Why? "Don't tell me he's already started getting ready for the stupid CX thing already"
Yeah. It's time. I had planned on Stewart and one more H2H but my Alaska trip is cutting out two weekends of possible racing, and you know what? I'm cool with that. I gave it a hell of a run this year on the MTB.
Alaska? Have I mentioned that yet? Quick fill in! Maureen is working at the Denali Education Center until the start of September. She's been out there since the start of June and I'm visiting 7/15-23. All sorts of plans including hikes, some back country camping maybe some fishing, maybe some riding, lots of photography and if I'm lucky I won't get eaten by a bear or trampled by a moose.
That leaves me with 1/2 vacation day to use on the last day of the fiscal year to drive up to Providence to race the SSCX race. I get my 11 days the following day. Ew. Only 11 days? It's rough being a bottom feeder still. I guess I've been making it work. I've been at this place for 4 years officially 6/18. Pretty exciting.
All my life I've been breaking up time into 4 year blocks. Think about it (excluding kindergarten) 1st-4th grade - elementary school, 5-8th middle school, 9-12 high school, 4 years of my undergrad and now 4 years at my company. The one I've been thinking about a lot is my 4 year block of CX. This year starts my senior year. That's right, my 4th year of full season racing. I hit the ground running year 1 and completely fell in love. I'll hopefully finish my 100th CX race this season. I don't know why exactly but this is a milestone that means a lot to me, though it's really just a participation award. I am excited to be stepping up to the elites and I'm really looking forward to the new challenges ahead of me this year. I'm planning on stretching this block out much longer than 4 years. Hopefully until I'm 80. Yeah, you read it here first. I'm going to be a CX national champion someday. Or maybe step on the podium. Or maybe I'll just die trying. WHO KNOWS, but in the mean time it's something to chuckle about.
What else is going on? Last week sucked. Starting Sunday night after Lewmo I got SICK. Really sick. like a cold from hell. Someone said I probably had the flu. Maybe? I've never had the flu but on top of congestion I was pretty zapped Monday and Tuesday. I was on the up Wednesday and slowly have been getting there. I'm at about 95% now. I took Monday-thursday completely off, did a 40 minute recovery ride Friday, and a 1:30 endurance Saturday at Myles Standish in Plymouth, then another 2 days off eating like shit and partaying at my buddies family cabin. We did some tubing, some floating, some card playing, some fire crackering, some drinking and a lot of laughing! Some Highlights below!
Had some serious fun with the Minolta 500mm f8 reflex mirror lens. I've only really used it a couple times before this weekend but it proved itself as a totalllll jammer of a lens. I'll definitely be packing it for Alaska, with the APS-C crop factor it's effectively a 750mm. The reflex lens makes all of those rings you can see in the tubing shots which I are kinda neat in this application, but I could see that effect being less desirable in other situations. Really fast focus too! It was tough keeping the subject in the frame with the angle of view being to tight. Fun challenge, sweet results. I also just took delivery of a Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 super wide angle zoom. I'm really excited about this lens. My favorite lens I own is my Konica 21mm f4. With the crop factor this lens is an effective 5mm wider yielding an additional ~13 degrees of view. I can only use the Konica on my film bodies and it's not worth adapting to anything that isn't full frame.
Alaska Kit is looking like:
Sony a77 body
16-105mm f3.5-5.6 Sony (this lens generally disappoints me in its sharpness)
10-20mm f3.5 Sigma
50mm f1.7 Minolta (pretty sharp, fasssstttt but generally AF won't work in the lighting conditions I like to use it and MF is a cruel mistress with that aperture wide open.)
500mm f8 fixed Minolta
Sony RX100
It looks a little absurd when I read it all back. I probably won't hike with the 50mm, but it's great fun for portraits and is really small. I really enjoyed taking pictures on my road trip last year and will certainly be busy taking more this year!
Yesterday and today back on the bike have been rough. Ouch. Seriously. Threshold today melted my brain out my ears with the heat but the good news is I went directly to ice cream!
I kinda went all over the place with this entry but I think I'm an all over the place person sometimes. A MTB reflection to follow. Probably some coverage of Alaska and my Philly bike trip this weekend then after AK I guess I'll take over full time at the Heckle Report.
Wow, 3rd year of that blog on deck! Stay tuned, or tune out. It's that stupid skinny tire off road thing. Whatever, I BET YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THAT SECTION OF THE SITE.
Understandable.
If you are curious but lost, it's here:
The Heckle Report
Yeah. It's time. I had planned on Stewart and one more H2H but my Alaska trip is cutting out two weekends of possible racing, and you know what? I'm cool with that. I gave it a hell of a run this year on the MTB.
Alaska? Have I mentioned that yet? Quick fill in! Maureen is working at the Denali Education Center until the start of September. She's been out there since the start of June and I'm visiting 7/15-23. All sorts of plans including hikes, some back country camping maybe some fishing, maybe some riding, lots of photography and if I'm lucky I won't get eaten by a bear or trampled by a moose.
That leaves me with 1/2 vacation day to use on the last day of the fiscal year to drive up to Providence to race the SSCX race. I get my 11 days the following day. Ew. Only 11 days? It's rough being a bottom feeder still. I guess I've been making it work. I've been at this place for 4 years officially 6/18. Pretty exciting.
All my life I've been breaking up time into 4 year blocks. Think about it (excluding kindergarten) 1st-4th grade - elementary school, 5-8th middle school, 9-12 high school, 4 years of my undergrad and now 4 years at my company. The one I've been thinking about a lot is my 4 year block of CX. This year starts my senior year. That's right, my 4th year of full season racing. I hit the ground running year 1 and completely fell in love. I'll hopefully finish my 100th CX race this season. I don't know why exactly but this is a milestone that means a lot to me, though it's really just a participation award. I am excited to be stepping up to the elites and I'm really looking forward to the new challenges ahead of me this year. I'm planning on stretching this block out much longer than 4 years. Hopefully until I'm 80. Yeah, you read it here first. I'm going to be a CX national champion someday. Or maybe step on the podium. Or maybe I'll just die trying. WHO KNOWS, but in the mean time it's something to chuckle about.
What else is going on? Last week sucked. Starting Sunday night after Lewmo I got SICK. Really sick. like a cold from hell. Someone said I probably had the flu. Maybe? I've never had the flu but on top of congestion I was pretty zapped Monday and Tuesday. I was on the up Wednesday and slowly have been getting there. I'm at about 95% now. I took Monday-thursday completely off, did a 40 minute recovery ride Friday, and a 1:30 endurance Saturday at Myles Standish in Plymouth, then another 2 days off eating like shit and partaying at my buddies family cabin. We did some tubing, some floating, some card playing, some fire crackering, some drinking and a lot of laughing! Some Highlights below!
Had some serious fun with the Minolta 500mm f8 reflex mirror lens. I've only really used it a couple times before this weekend but it proved itself as a totalllll jammer of a lens. I'll definitely be packing it for Alaska, with the APS-C crop factor it's effectively a 750mm. The reflex lens makes all of those rings you can see in the tubing shots which I are kinda neat in this application, but I could see that effect being less desirable in other situations. Really fast focus too! It was tough keeping the subject in the frame with the angle of view being to tight. Fun challenge, sweet results. I also just took delivery of a Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 super wide angle zoom. I'm really excited about this lens. My favorite lens I own is my Konica 21mm f4. With the crop factor this lens is an effective 5mm wider yielding an additional ~13 degrees of view. I can only use the Konica on my film bodies and it's not worth adapting to anything that isn't full frame.
Alaska Kit is looking like:
Sony a77 body
16-105mm f3.5-5.6 Sony (this lens generally disappoints me in its sharpness)
10-20mm f3.5 Sigma
50mm f1.7 Minolta (pretty sharp, fasssstttt but generally AF won't work in the lighting conditions I like to use it and MF is a cruel mistress with that aperture wide open.)
500mm f8 fixed Minolta
Sony RX100
It looks a little absurd when I read it all back. I probably won't hike with the 50mm, but it's great fun for portraits and is really small. I really enjoyed taking pictures on my road trip last year and will certainly be busy taking more this year!
Yesterday and today back on the bike have been rough. Ouch. Seriously. Threshold today melted my brain out my ears with the heat but the good news is I went directly to ice cream!
I kinda went all over the place with this entry but I think I'm an all over the place person sometimes. A MTB reflection to follow. Probably some coverage of Alaska and my Philly bike trip this weekend then after AK I guess I'll take over full time at the Heckle Report.
Wow, 3rd year of that blog on deck! Stay tuned, or tune out. It's that stupid skinny tire off road thing. Whatever, I BET YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THAT SECTION OF THE SITE.
Understandable.
If you are curious but lost, it's here:
The Heckle Report
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Good read! I'm rooting for you in the Elite class. Can I have your autograph now so I can sell it later when you're really PRO and impossible to talk to? 🙂
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
Bachelor street! Or Earls trails across the way. Both spots are tons of fun, lots of rocks at Bstreet, more flow at earls, both about 10 minutes off 91 in Hadley, MA I believe.
If you're in the area you must stop into Laughing Dog in Amherst center another 10 minutes up the road. Then get some pizza at Antonios.
I'll try and find a few STRAVA routes for you in the morning.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
This is a really good loop of Bachelor's Street. I might recommend parking at the Bachelor street parking lot which would be the southern center of that loop. This ride runs through the lot. You should be able to scoop a free map at that lot or at the Notch Visitor center on Amherst Road (116).
https://www.strava.com/activities/449599202
As for the other side, I did most of my college riding over here. Super fast fun sections, a couple decent climbs and some generally interesting trail. Make sure you descend Big Tinker.
https://www.strava.com/activities/236232147/
@soundz
https://www.strava.com/activities/449599202
As for the other side, I did most of my college riding over here. Super fast fun sections, a couple decent climbs and some generally interesting trail. Make sure you descend Big Tinker.
https://www.strava.com/activities/236232147/
@soundz
Nice! Thanks for the info @The Heckler. Hopefully we will be able to beat the rain tomorrow on our way down.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
It's funny, I'm pretty sure I may know that person you are talking about.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
PHILLY!
Philly was sweet. I hung with my buddy Ty for a couple days and rode bikes a whole bunch.
Saturday was a MTB ripper through Belmont up to Wissahickon. We got out a little late and had storm threats all day and ended up getting back to the car RIGHT as it started to rain. Dope.
Belmont was rad. Super tight and twisty with 1000 log overs. I guess we missed the good stuff in Wiss but still rode some neat stuff. Ty has only been down for a month so he's still figuring out the trail systems. We rode by a bunch of stuff we hit at SSCXWC13 which was cool.
OH, I got stung by 3 bees on this ride. Two were the same exact time, one on the left ankle, one on the left shoulder then a 3rd later on doing about 20 on forbidden drive on my right inner thigh. My ankle is still a balloon.
https://www.strava.com/activities/635578806
PIX
#Phillyisgreatforcricket
Ty sneezed his rear on a log. Sneeze, not burp - it was from an impact.
SO MUGGY, this is all sweat. YUM.
Rad.
#Phillyisgreatfortennis
#Crossiscoming
Getting a tow to Firehouse Bikes to finish the Diamondback!!! (it's done! pix later)
Did a ton of porch chillin and got wrecked by mosquitoes the rest of the night.
Philly was sweet. I hung with my buddy Ty for a couple days and rode bikes a whole bunch.
Saturday was a MTB ripper through Belmont up to Wissahickon. We got out a little late and had storm threats all day and ended up getting back to the car RIGHT as it started to rain. Dope.
Belmont was rad. Super tight and twisty with 1000 log overs. I guess we missed the good stuff in Wiss but still rode some neat stuff. Ty has only been down for a month so he's still figuring out the trail systems. We rode by a bunch of stuff we hit at SSCXWC13 which was cool.
OH, I got stung by 3 bees on this ride. Two were the same exact time, one on the left ankle, one on the left shoulder then a 3rd later on doing about 20 on forbidden drive on my right inner thigh. My ankle is still a balloon.
https://www.strava.com/activities/635578806
PIX
#Phillyisgreatforcricket
Ty sneezed his rear on a log. Sneeze, not burp - it was from an impact.
SO MUGGY, this is all sweat. YUM.
Rad.
#Phillyisgreatfortennis
#Crossiscoming
Getting a tow to Firehouse Bikes to finish the Diamondback!!! (it's done! pix later)
Did a ton of porch chillin and got wrecked by mosquitoes the rest of the night.
I stopped reading here. F this guy.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
SUNDAY IN PHILLY!
Zach came down and the three of us went on a road ride.
Started with some wicked hills then ended up getting reasonably turned around in a really busy area on our way to Valley Forge.
https://www.strava.com/activities/636976846
FINALLY found Valley Forge and ripped about every road in the park. SOOO nice in there, great rolly roads and beautiful views.
About half a second after taking this picture I fell between the pipes. Speaking of which, I need to true my front wheel.
#CROSSISCOMING
Wawa stop! Icee FOR THE WIN, gave myself a debilitating brain freeze. OUCCCHHH!
Once we hit Valley Forge the riding turned amazing. We hit some gravel, trails, and then fast scenic roads. Now we know what direction to head on the road bike. WOO!
Alaska on Friday!
Zach came down and the three of us went on a road ride.
Started with some wicked hills then ended up getting reasonably turned around in a really busy area on our way to Valley Forge.
https://www.strava.com/activities/636976846
FINALLY found Valley Forge and ripped about every road in the park. SOOO nice in there, great rolly roads and beautiful views.
About half a second after taking this picture I fell between the pipes. Speaking of which, I need to true my front wheel.
#CROSSISCOMING
Wawa stop! Icee FOR THE WIN, gave myself a debilitating brain freeze. OUCCCHHH!
Once we hit Valley Forge the riding turned amazing. We hit some gravel, trails, and then fast scenic roads. Now we know what direction to head on the road bike. WOO!
Alaska on Friday!