We thought about expanding our family, so I got a new bike. Welcome to the new addition…
After two years on the Jamis, I decided it was time to upgrade. I took it out last week and absolutely love it. I can’t wait to take it out some more and introduce it to more trail.
I love this time of year. The trees in the canyon turn to their fall colors and it makes some of the most beautiful scenery the state offers. I also love, that my wife Jaynann likes to get out for rides. In fact, she is a much better biker than I am. Today we went up corner canyon and got lost for a few hours. Here we are going up Clarks Trail:
Recently my 6 year old has been finding his way into our bed at night. This means that I get the boot. I try to stay in bed and fight the urge to move to the couch, but he somehow ends up perpendicular to us and pushes me out of bed. Last night it happened again. I stumbled out of bed walked through the kitchen and as I was about to go down the stairs I remembered there were freshly baked cookies in the cupboard. After 2-3 cookies, ok maybe 4, I go downstairs. I jump on the computer and check out some Olympic updates and check the news. I read through some headlines and sure enough I start clicking on the “entertainment and celebrity news”. I found out that Jennifer Anniston and John Mayer are no longer a couple and I’m devastated. It drives me nuts that I read those things, but I always click on them.
After I get done on the computer I turn on the TV. I can’t find the remote so I’m stuck with the current channel. Last night it was an infomercial. I never get caught up in these, but after 30 minutes I start to think that I should buy this product. It was the MONSTER 1200. It’s a steam cleaner. According to them it will clean anything! I believed them. I seriously thought I should buy it. Somehow I convinced myself to wait and ask Jay if she wanted it. I left the webpage open on the computer as a reminder so that when I woke up I would tell Jay about it. But as soon as I started reading through it again I realized how ridiculous it was. Now I know why it was on at 3 a.m. They brainwash us into thinking these products work and that we should buy them NOW! I think I need Jay to hide my wallet at night just in case I get the urge again.
I regret not signing up for Leadville this year. The day of the deadline I sat in front of the computer debating whether or not I should do it. It was the race fee that was holding me up. I thought about it all winter and was 99% sure I was in. At the time, the bank account was very low, in fact it was in the red for a while. I probably could have put it in on a credit card, but I did not feel like I could justify the fee.
This year I have been on my bike 2-3 times a week and right now I feel like Leadville would have been a motivator for the rest of the season. Instead I have very little motivation to get out and ride. It’s my own fault. Most of the rides I have been on since RAWROD have been leisure rides around Corner Canyon. I think its time to switch it up.
I used to have a road bike, but I sold it in order to get my singlespeed. I regret selling it now because it would be a nice change-up to go from dirt to road at least one time per week. I did not enjoy the road very much. Every time I did a road ride, it felt more like excercise than it did a hobby. I did have one great ride and that was with Dug. He took me up American Fork canyon the day before I sold it and we had a screaming good time. But it was not enough fun to keep it, for some reason I was bored, so I was very happy to part with the bike.
Now I want a road bike. I am going to have to come up with a business plan to propose to my wife that will convince her that purchasing one is a good decision. Do I have a chance? No. Is it worth asking? Absolutely. Am I hoping she reads this and buys me one? Of course.
When I see people on the side of the road, I want to stop and help. I normally don’t stop because I don’t think I could be of any help. I pretty much talk myself out of it. I say things like, “what could I possibly do?” or “they probably have a cell phone and help is on the way.” So, after I check the rear view mirror to see if they are trying to flag me down, I drive by and forget about it. If I did stop I wonder how it would go. I’m sure the conversation would be a little awkward at first. I would point out the obvious, make it look like I know what I’m doing by jiggling a few cables here and there and then immediately go to the cell phone for help. I think that’s how it would play out.
So it finally happened to me. I was stuck on the side of the road on Thursday with a busted trailer. Within an hour I think 15-20 people stopped, looked and drove off. Maybe 5 people actually made the effort to help. It pretty much played out like I thought, but some of the conversations surprised me.
One Summit County Deputy drove by slowly and then parked up ahead. I thought that he could get me some numbers for a tow truck company or maybe offer some solutions on how to get me out of this mess. So he gets out of his car and walks up to me and says, “wow, you don’t see that everyday!” He then turned around and hopped into his car and drove off. WHAT THE !@&. I’m still in shock over it.
Another guy helped point out the obvious. He jumped out of his car like he was going to solve my problem. He walked up, looked at the trailer and said, “Looks like the trailer tongue is bent. You should call the trailer company and have them fix that.” Ya think? He obviously couldn’t help so I pretended like I had a phone call and he walked away.
The next guy that came by must have said the “F” word at least 100 times. He would say, “F that, that is f-ing messed up, you ought to call those f-ers and have them replace that.” That went on for a few minutes. He did offer some good advice. So other than the F-bombs it was a good stop.
The last guy that stopped by before the police showed up blew me out of the water. He started talking about the trailer and then immediately dropped a sales pitch. He said, “do you have 10 million dollars? I have a great investment for you if you are interested. It’s in southern Utah and we are looking for some people to put up some cash so we can mine platinum and gold on our property.” He must have went on for at least ten minutes about it. During the conversation I was thinking, “Dude, if I had 10 million do you think I would be stuck on the side of the road with this crappy trailer? Wouldn’t you think if I had 10 million dollars I would get on the horn and have this mess taken care of by now? I figured he thought it was a good chance to practice his sales pitch. He is currently sending me a 90 page report about his gold mine.
Note to drivers everywhere: If you don’t have equipment to help, don’t bother stopping. Go with your first instincts. Drive by, check the rear view mirror to see if anyone is flagging you down and then forget that you even saw anyone on the side of the road.
My wife started riding her bike again this year. She is very athletic and I never questioned whether she could do it or not, it was more of a question of desire. It has always been her dream that we could go out and ride together so there was a lot of motivation to get back on since I was enjoying it so much. It did not take very long for her to catch the fever. She now gets up early and heads out with sisters and her friends for rides. She comes home happy and excited about biking. In fact, it’s pretty much all we talk about at home now. She recently did a 100 mile charity ride. You can read about it here. I recently completed 100 miles and it was one of the hardest things I have done. She went out with very little training and did the same thing. I’m not a competitive person, but she keeps trumping my accomplishments.
So this is the year of the Jaynann. She is going to go hard, have fun and ride as much as she can. For her reward we are going to upgrade her mountain bike. It’s a sweet ride and we can’t wait to get it. I am a tinsy bit jealous that she’s getting such a nice ride. Not that her IBIS is a bad bike, it just needs to be updated. In fact, when she got it 10 years ago, it was top of the line. Anyone interested in the frame?
Brad just got a couple of Vassago frames for his family. And I really liked what I saw so we are going to get Jaynann the Vassago Bandersnatch. Check it out..
Like I said, I am a little jealous but my bike should do until I crack my Jamis frame again. I love that Jay is back into biking. It makes it that much easier for me to get out and ride.
We usually get together as a family on Sunday nights to celebrate birthdays or just hang out. Most of us ride in the family, so biking is a common topic talked about at the dinner table. I would not be surprised if the first question was “how was the ride?” instead of “what have you been up to?” It also poses as a planning session for the week so we can coordinate schedules to ride together. We went to Dugs Sunday night and I knew it was going to come up. I have not been on my bike for a few weeks and I was hoping I could get out and suffer alone. I feel like I could use one or two rides to get back into it. That plan did not work and we are headed out tomorrow morning early.
After work, I started thinking about the ride tomorrow morning and how hard its going to be. So I started trying to come up with ways to get prepared. Somewhere in my new strategy session I convinced myself that I could make a difference within 12 hours and I would not feel any effects of a two week vacation. Here are a few things I am going to try:
Fluids- I opted for a glass of water instead of Diet Coke at dinner.
Food- I passed on the late night bowl of ice cream. I eased up on dinner and did not polish the plate. Instead I tried to eat just enough before I stuffed myself.
Manscaping- I did a little manscaping on the legs to make me feel like a biker. They are silky smooth.
Sleep- My goal is to be in bed by 11p instead of 12a or later.
So those are the four things I am banking on that will help me tomorrow morning. I know that the guys I am riding with really don’t care how slow I am, but its all mental for me and I hate to slow anyone up. Will it work? I doubt it.
I hate when I can’t get out on my bike. I knew what the weather forecast was calling for since Sunday and the two days that would have been perfect are gone. And here is what the weather looks like the next few days
It looks like it is going to clear on Sunday in time for the Intermountain Cup Race on Monday. But by that time I will be on the road to California for a family reunion until June 2nd. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to go see family. We don’t get together very often, so this time around it is special since all of us will be there. The only thing bumming me out is last year when I went home my goal was to not lose the strength I had built during the spring and summer. I was not fast at all, but I was away from biking for several years and started feeling comfortable on my bike again. Once I got out to Merced there was not much to do. I brought a road bike hoping that I would use it to ride the flats in the Central Valley. But instead of doing that, I opted to eat, sit and then eat some more. I really didn’t do anything that would constitute as exercise. By the time I got back, I was not as dedicated to biking as I was before the vacation.
So what am I going to do different this year? Nothing. I have accepted who I am. I know I am going to stop at every In N Out Burger starting in Nevada. I know I will eat a lot and not exercise. So all the folks along I-80 working at In N Out Burger be ready with a #2 and a chocolate shake. To go please.
I wanted to apologize to the rider I passed up Clarks trail today for this…
I was climbing up Clarks trying to do the time trial (14:38. 2.5 minutes faster than last year. I am satisfied.) so I was’nt too worried about what I looked like or what was happening around me. I was trying to get up as fast as I could and keep down the Taco Bell lunch I had two hours prior. As I was climbing, an alert rider realized I was closing the gap quick so he pulled over. I said “thanks” and he blurted out, “nice crack”. To anyone out there who has seen the plumber contractor in me, I apologize. I wear baggie shorts. I like them. I notice I have to pull them up every few hundred yards, but they are so comfy and I can’t convert to the skin tight ones.
Maybe I will go buy a wresting singlet and see what happens. Until then I will make a better effort to keep my shorts up.
