Put Up Or Shut Up

Put up or shut time is coming. On July 31st I'll line up to race a qualifier for the Leadville 100. The race is fifty-eight (58) miles, similar style to Leadville, in and around Crested Butte, CO.

According to the website, registration for this event was to begin today. Well, yesterday, I clicked the “register” button and it let me in. I'm signed up and money paid. Now, if I can get an equal head-start for the race.....

Reading the rhetoric it said something about the qualifiers being similar to the Main Event. Not technical, lots of climbing. Supposedly, one-hundred (100) rollers will qualify. They say they're taking proportional amounts of men, women, age-grouped, and under a certain finishing time.

I'm prepping by riding long and also riding hills. In addition, I'm attending the Fruita Fat Tire Festival at the end of April for some high(er than here) elevation training. I'll go to Crested Butte a few days ahead of the race to get altitude adjusted.

I've mentioned I thought the lottery for Leadville was suspect this year. Here's my opportunity to rid of any irregularities and earn it on my own. Regardless of the outcome, I know my destiny is my hands and I've been treated fairly.

Ride on.

Swap Recap And More

The third (3rd) annual Bike Swap was this past weekend. The number of tables sold was down some and the number of attendees was down some. Despite this I’ll be able to write a sizeable check to Falls Area SingleTrack (FAST). As advertised, this is where all the proceeds are going to go.

I’m not sure what to attribute the downturn in participation to. It could have been the weather was very nice that day and people had other things to do. Maybe this thing is running its course. Maybe reruns of Dancing With The Stars had some glued to their T.V.

If you missed it, well, then you missed it. There were some great deals. Bikes changed hands. Clothing was exchanged. Parts were parted with.

I will give this a go next year with some modifications. Some people suggested I run this a bit later than mid February since that would be closer to “bike season.” After doing that this year that idea seem to have reversed desired results. I’m going to see what might be the best time to run this next year.

I have thought of stepping this up a few notches. I’m toying with the idea of renting the Fairgrounds Expo center. The Expo has a big concrete surface but also two quite big dirt surfaces. The thought is to run a Swap concurrently with dirt flat track racing. I’d advertise this thing regionally with the thought of drawing people in for a kick-off-the-season race and swap. We’ll see. Next year is a long way off.

Unrelated to anything, you should go visit Nancy Reagan’s Guide to Dating Dos and Don’ts. Yes, it is a spoof. But, it is hilarious! Check that out HERE.

Ride On.

How About A Sing-Along???

Ride on.

This Weekend

This is coming up this weekend. Specifically, Sunday March 20th, 2011. Click for bigger.

Ride on.

Over

Winter seems to over this week. Spring has made its appearance. On the thought of warmer temperatures, I tend to over dress for every ride. This nice weather is going to take some getting use to.

On Monday, on my ride home, I found myself on my back on the ice. I’d seen the ice coming up. I dismounted the bike to traverse it in what I thought was going to be a safe manner. Slip, flop, bam. Thankfully, wool jerseys are to bikers what Kevlar is to military personnel. I bet you didn’t know that, did you?

Or, as John Prine sings:

“For if heartaches were commercials
We'd all be on T.V.”

Do you know that one? I’d almost forgot about it until it popped up on Pandora yesterday. The chorus? It goes like this:

“Don't you know her
When you see her?
She grew up
In your back yard
Come back to us
Barbara Lewis
Hare Krishna
Beauregard”

Ride On.

Weekend Update

Saturday began cold and windy. But, it was the FAB Coffee and Donut ride. I departed a bit too early and arrived at the appointed start place with nothing much going on. I was riding the Karate Monkey single speed mountain bike. It was too cold and windy to stand still so I rode around the parking lot.

Bored with that I gave a snow pile a try. Hard as a rock! Sweet! I went up and down snow piles until Dirk Thee Bold showed up. A few more times up and down the snow pile and we were off on Tour de Construction.

Heading north on the bike trail went went over, around, and through the dike raising construction. At one (1) point we had to depart the trail and use the golf course fairway. Fairway to heaven, that was us. We made our way to Black Sheep coffee, for some, and then to Falls Park.

Once at Falls Park we hit the bike trail again, this time heading south. More construction on the River Greenway project. Again, over, around, and through the construction. We dipped down on the trail for a bit and then were going to exit using the construction access road. I stomped down on a pedal to have the wheel shift and lock up.

The Karate Monkey has the perfect gearing to not have Surly Tugnuts work. Sans Tugnuts, wheel moved. Fortunately I was only about six (6) blocks from home. I walked home and adjusted the wheel.

Sunday was hill repeat day. I took the single speed and went up and down the Tuthill paved drive road. There was not much ice and not much traffic. I went up and down several times until my feet became numb with the cold. I had forgot to wear my shoe covers.

I made my way home and thawed out my feet. Now we're at Monday, and how about that? The weather is supposed to warm up considerably this week with a predicted high of sixty (60) degrees on Wednesday. It should make for some nice bike commuting.

Ride on.

A Double Dog Dare

WARNING – this will hit a little too close to home for some of you.

I double dog dare you to read the whole article HERE.

What’s the matter? Feeling a bit exposed? Or, did you find yourself nodding in agreement as you read?

Ride On.

Not Much

As in, that’s what’s been going on. I’ve been riding the bike to no where more than I care to admit lately. I’m surprised to see how many people come into the room and get on one (1) of these torture devices for a whopping five (5) minutes and then leave.



I’ve been exchanging less than cordial emails with the folks running the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. I am, in fact, not in the race – as of yet. At least not by way of lottery. The rumor being tossed around is there is going to be some qualifying races around the country. I think three (3) this year. My intent is to get into one (1) of these and bike my way in. I’ll give it a go, anyway. Train, train, train. Race. See if I make it by place or time. If nothing else, the less than cordial emailing does have me motivated to train hard. I’ll provide more on the email exchange in a bit. I need to calm down some and try to keep the rant to a minimum.

The Bike Swap is coming up March 20th. Be there or be square.

I continue to work on the South Dakota portion of the U.S. Bike Routes.

I’ve determined, with reasonable accuracy, that spring is now long overdue.

Ride On.

I saw this over at All Hail The Black Market.

A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Ride on.

I Have To Assume

I have to assume, since I did not receive notification on February 28th, that I have not been selected to do the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. I do know of some others who did receive notification. I didn't even get a "Sorry, but not you."

Last year I got a "Sorry, but not you" email. This year nothing. Last year I received the Carmichael Training Camp scam thing. You know, "you didn't get into Leadville, BUT, if you pay thousands of dollars to do this training camp - we'll let you in!" I didn't get that this year, either. I guessing too many people contacted the race and said, "WTF kind of scam are you running here?!?"

Instead of leaving everything to chance, perhaps I should train my ass off and see if I can qualify with one of the qualifying races. At least then I'd know if I have the mettle and not leave everything to planet alignment.

Ride on.

Not Bike Related - Just Cool

I found this over at Beefheart. Here are Captain Beefheart’s 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing:

1. Listen to the birds

That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar

Your guitar is a divining rod. Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush

Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush doesn't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. Walk with the devil

Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're brining over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. If you're guilty of thinking, you're out

If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. Never point your guitar at anyone

Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. Always carry a church key

That's your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He's one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song "I Need a Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty — making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he's doing it.

8. Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument

You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. Keep your guitar in a dark place

When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it.

10. You gotta have a hood for your engine

Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow.

Ride On.