I used "Headology" on Saturday to my great advantage. Much like "thinkmatics" "Headology" was very useful in A) keeping me from excitedly spiralling into the red within minutes of the start and B) helpful in allowing me to finish the race in the time that I set for myself. Of course, by far the best thing about "headology" was being able to C) Go the right way. Despite course tampering.
I remember the following things from the race; Sun. Rotokakahi. Muscle cramp. Yelling along to my soundtrack around said Rotokakahi. Muscle cramp. Mud. Hills. It was great.
There was a fair amount of swanning around whilst waiting for my team mate to come in. I rode out to the end of the Exit Trail to sit under a tree, cheer people on and generally enjoy myself. It was one of the happiest times I've had around a bike.
by this time I'd had coffee, beer, ibuprofen, a good warm down, a change of clothes and some nice food. I was feeling well chipper.
my view of the trail. I didn't get any shots of Damo, as he flew through and I was too busy scrambling to get camera/bag/bike sorted and get after him that he was gone before I had the chance.
This is one of those weeks where I'm flying somewhat solo as the wife and children are in the big smoke for the week. This means two things A) TV on all the time in the background for company and B) Riding a whole bunch.
Monday I was lucky enough to host Jules on a "Greatest Hits" ride through the forest. It was wet and we literally rode through the clouds.Split Enz was surreal, completely closed in with cloud, almost headlamp material at times, all at ten in the morning. Awesome. Three hours of riding, putting the world to rights (er,lefts actually) and conceptualizing a Woodhill12 hour team meant that I was in a good mood for the rest of the day.
Tuesday dawned with a creepy fog, then the sun came out so I bailed straight away into the forest. It was gravel roadie time for me, and a planned scout of the parts of the 60km that I'm riding on Saturday that I'm unfamiliar with. A beautiful if not eerie two hours around the forest, Green lake a(or Rotokakahi if we're being correct)and surrounds. The lake is Tapu (sacred) and no one save for the Iwi (tribe) whose princess is buried there is allowed into it. I wouldn't go into that thing if you paid me. Makes for a great photo though.
The double track out by the lake was awesome, loamy and in some places a tad rocky, with a beautiful heartbreaker of a climb up out of the lake. I'm really looking forward to Saturday, feeling rested and hopefully will have more form/legs/headspace than my last debarcle of a race.
Now? The vaccuming. I'm having guests you know.
Oh. YEAH!! Go to the 2010 Singlespeed Champs page. Be friends with it. Await further instructions.
A proper commute to work via bike is a great thing...... Gotta get some mudguards, but. Next year for me there are only two events that I'm excited about....
I had terrible nightmares last night that the woman whose life I was trying to save yesterday had died. She was on the hospital bed and was pale, naked and cold. She still had her airway tube, naso gastric tube and catheter in. The Dr who was working on her was saying 'Everything is alright, I don't know why you called me, I'm justifiably angry at you'. Great start to the morning....
Here it is. We stayed in Rotorua. Although we've moved further out.We're all very very happy and we now are the proud parents of one school aged child. I've become a one man army and have reasoned to begin the Tikitere Singlespeed Nation I've not ridden much for most of This August, Much like last August actually, Had a terrible last round of the Winter series (again, much like last August) although did knock a whole hour off my time last year.
The Mahi on the bike has been strong and continuous for the last three weeks however, as I've entered the Teams event at the Whaka. Vishnu Clarke and I will be riding our rigid, single speed 29'ers into the history books# as The Grateful Brothers. Should be mean. Vishnu is haaaard and stripped 23 minutes off me on the last race we did (which I should mention was his first on an SS). I'd ridden approximately twice in the month leading up to it, but still. Dude can ride.
Back to the nightmares. Oh, yes. Proper ones. Never had someone nearly die on me before, so with Wife and children out visiting a farm it was time to train/heal/process.
The season's have turned, it's proper spring and everything was gorgeous today. I took a hike up Hill Rd to Tuhoto Ariki and felt better after the climb. I'm reiterating my stance that Tuhoto is a king amongst trails. Technical as you need it to be? Check. lot's of fun up and down? Check. Awesome native bush? Check. Get the feeling that the namesake is somehow somewhere around while you're riding? Check.Opportunity to get your "trials chops" down?? Check. Just like this guy...
That done and dusted I had the opportunity to turn left and cruise back up the hill to Split Enz et al. It was a blast, and for the latter part I had the company of a bunch of guys on "all mountain" rigs who had (all but one) shuttled up. I had the pride of the Tikitere Singlespeed Nation to uphold and did us proud. "Pace on the Peace" was the comment that was passed at the bottom of the hill, which was nice. Totally derailing the already derailed nature of this post LOOK AT THIS. Ah yes. That's right. Here in 2010. I've gotta go get my outfit sorted.....
I freaking love my bike. I love riding my bike. I rode my bike today. Pink mist. I was Papi Loco (see yesterday's post) now I'm Papi Suave. Awesome. I fell off today in the slippy mud up top of Gunna Gotta. luckily as I flew through the air horizontally my premature death was avoided by my back helpfully slamming into a tree. But I made it out alive, much like these good ol' boys...
Over the past 72 hours it's been pretty much a consistently low mood interspersed with bouts of anxiety round these parts as we pack the house up and prepare for the family's departure. Rides? few and far between since the solid week of riding when Damian and his family were down some 10 days ago, which hasn't helped. There's been some commutes though,so it's not all bad. I'm planning on the last round of the nduro in late August and will do the long course with Damian, which should be a stone cold victory (did I say Victory? I meant "Good time"). In keeping with my somewhat "Quiet-loud-quiet" mental state I've been listening to The Pixies a bunch, which has been helping a whole lot. In HOLY AWESOME news, Thom took his first spin sans training wheels today. He wasn't too impressed, however I'm sure he'll come on around.
This also, has been a veritable blast from the past. Thanks Maz.
Aaaaand I think I've put this up before, however in my not so humble opinion it bears a repeated showing..
Last Sunday. Short course. Third SS. 28th out of 120. Equivalent time of 5th Open, 3rd Masters. Stoked. Mud. People in blue ano not riding their bikes properly. I kissed a rock, got beaten by a French guy and generally had a boiler busting good time. That's about as much as a race report y'all gonna get.
There was some horsing around with Thom before my start, we waved off the old man, who nobly and bull headedly completed the 45km.
Just after.
More just after. It's been noted by Beans that he appreciates my "uncluttered Handlebar".
It was so very goddamn freezing last Sunday.My appreciation for my Ultimate Hoodie has been growing daily in an inversely proportionate manner to the temperature falling. I don't know about "going beyond" however I do like the deep hood. Worn under my olive drab fatigue coat it makes me look somewhat like a stalker vigilante/train jumper. I'm going to call the look "FAUX-BO"
I know, I'm gorgeous.
I've been listening to Modern Guilt by Beck a hell of a lot lately. I was about to stick up "Gamma Ray" or some other thing, then I found this infinitely more intriguing performance. It get fruitier around the 2.00 mark.
Every time I'm away from the computer I write blog entries in my head. Especially when I'm riding. Stanza and syntax flow together nicely and beginning, middle and ending are formulated nicely. Sadly, when I sit down in front of said computer it all goes completely to arse. sigh.
The following is true.
Item The First: My life, at the moment, is a complete circus. Not rationally the place I intended to be at this time, however there has to be a point to all of this (even if one has no idea of what said "point" is. That's the kicker, there has to be point...right?).
Item The Second: I've been riding throughout this said "circus". Surprisingly. Not much, not nearly what I feel is enough, but I have been and it's been good. My anxiety regarding "bettering my time" and "achieving" and all the other self doubting 3AM awake bullshit that makes living with or spending any appreciable time with me such a complete picnic has been rising in an inversely proportionate manner to the amount I've been riding. i.e. Ride less, worry more.
Item The Third: Regarding the above I've had a 180 degree head shift about the upcoming race. I'm gonna do the short course. And have fun. The course has no major climbs, rolls well and has loads of nice, fast single track. Rolling in the normal SS category with the 10 or so other uber mench who practice the art regularly I'm guaranteed to be near BOTB (bottom of the barrel) however I intend to try and win the short course SS class on Sunday. If I do, it'll be super cool.If I don't I'll ride the hell out of the course and have a blast because I've never considered doing one before (and I've just realized I have nothing to prove to myself or anyone else), grab some food at the end and head out to wait for my Dad (who is bullishly determined to roll the long course this time also).I'll ride in with him and it'll be a proper day at the races.
Item The Fourth: Know thy enemy( or in this case enemies). First and Second in the short course last time were two men I've had some knowledge of and dealings with in the past. So I have the following strategies worked out. Jean-Phillipe is French, light and a stronger climber than me. I have ridden with him once and it was awesome. I however am a stronger technical rider and descend quicker than he does. My plan is to keep him in sight on the up's (without busting a boiler) and try and get past him/ride over him on the downs. If I was planning an "attack" it would probably be around the middle third of B rude not to. Neil Poskit is my other worthy adversary. He's my GP. A hell of a nice man and looks fit as all get out. As I am an RN and working through my advanced rescusitation course at the present time my plan is simple. At an opportune moment I will scream "Oh my God, on your left! that man's in Ventricular Fibrillation!!". I know, and he will know that you cannot tell that without the aid of an ECG, however it will no doubt distract him enough that he will turn to the left for a split second. At that moment I will punch him in the brain stem. Thus rendering him stunned and I will ride on. The next Dr's appointment I have will no doubt be somewhat awkward, however I'm reassured that people have committed far more heinous acts for victory. However fleeting that victory may be.
Item The Fifth:Matt Kay who is an insanely busy sort has made space on his dance card for the weekend and is coming down to hang out I haven't seen the man in nearly a year. Yusssssssss!
Item The Sixth: Riding bikes still excites, inspires and delights me infinitely. I've seen two other blog posts (much more well known etc etc etc) whilst being subtly different extol the virtues of going out and riding your bike... Reading these has helped a huge amount over the last couple weeks. No suprises really, Go Here and Here
Item The Seventh: I'm hitting it now, as I'm going for a ride in the morning to stretch my legs and clear my head. Or is it clear my legs and stretch my head? I'm not sure.
My Dad did the Winter Series long course on the weekend also. He's 60. Rode it Rigid, Single and bull headed. Had he ridden that far off road on an SS before? no. Trained off road much, instead of putting in some (not insignificant)Km's on the road? nah. Did he come DFL? nope. Did it nearly kill him? Yes. Respect the man? Hell yes. Would I have tipped a beer over him had I been holding one as he came through the creek on Rose Bankat the end? unfortunately, yes.
A month ago, as I stood in my cycling gear with my arms above my head swaying in front of the mirror in the staff bathroom at work ala This Guy
Euphorically listening to this at an ear splitting volume on my headphones I knew that I was somewhat over tired. I remember distinctly thinking "I hope this doesn't get out of hand....mmmm.
The last month has been a mash of double double shifts, preparing to study, family (and the inherent drama's therein)more work,teaching, some (not nearly enough) riding and more work. Jeez.
I did a race. Which was cool because last year this self same race was the first race that I did down at Rotorua. in '08 I was rolling a Giant Trance with gears, suspension and e'rything. I rolled across the line (dying) in a sub average 3.48. '09 and I'm rolling a Rigid SS 29'er, same course, (markedly)worse conditions, poor lead up (see above) and a somewhat more relaxed/unwilling mindset and I'm across in a (still disappointing) 3.04. Still, nigh on 45 minutes is a good reduction in time. It was very very muddy. Very.
Stones Horsley's flying circus swooped into town on Saturday morning, what followed involved frenzied climbing, a war of attrition on bikes (spokes [mine], derailleurs, chains, seats and seat posts) mud and some rain, muesli bars, more climbing, mists, inarticulate happy noises made in the throats on the descents, sweat, warm, cold and Stones himself. Unfortunately I had to peel off early to head to work (which I was already an hour late for), Regretfully leaving Nigel and Hayden (who were going up to tackle Split Enz et al) I lead Stones and the others back to the car park via The Menu and Be Rude. By the time I arrived at work The pink mist of endorphins, bromance and exhaustion had well and truly set in. I only thank the good lord that the team of nurses I lead run shit sooooo tight that they can let their hefe's fixed smile and twitchy legs slide occasionally. Sympathy for the health care workers? Damn straight (the one's that work with me anyhoo...). Today dawned mild and overcast, spoke dutifully repaired (Thanks Marcello!!) I repaired to a bunch of chores before braving the sketchy looking skys for a late afternoon hit out. The ground remained dry for the first hour of my ride, however when I dropped into the trees at the beginning of Grinder and it was DARK at three in the afternoon my threat sensors twigged somewhat. It all went monumentally pear shaped about half way through the second section of Bunny Jugs (my new favourite trail) Not rain, rather a downpour of almost biblical proportions..my thoughts of climbing hill rd again to git up to Roller Coaster were dashed, and it was exit stage wet. I arrived home some time later, sandy/muddy and cold, however like any good mahout I made sure my steed was put away dry and clean before attending to myself. Now I sit before my laptop warm, full and wittering away excitedly because the little lady and our kids come home tomorrow!!!! JOY!!! Riding bikes is awesome, however having nothing to come home to is most definitely not. I can't wait.
The Big Guy txt me today, all excited (rightfully) because he'd just gotten his favourite guitar (Maton 12 string) set up nice and it was all ready to go. That got me thinking about guitars (which was the other thing apart from bikes that I used to think about a lot) and reminiscing about my special favourites. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you a fine example of three Telecasters played rather well. Lovely.
I rode smarter today as I was saving myself for the Death March. Tomorrow, Stones Horsley and his flying circus will be descending on our sleepy burg. Once here, happier than a cat with a strawberry flavoured arse, Stones and his boys will rampage hither and yon detrminied to ride as many of our trails as possible before fanging back to the big smoke. I'll be riding with them. Should be a dead set blast as A) I thoroughly enjoy Stones' company B)Several hours of hard riding should take the sting out of missing my family C)It's always fun throwing the SS amongst full suspension disciples.
I'm receiving packages with increasing alacrity from The Big Guy.. Today, upon arriving home to a cold, empty house (my family are in the "old country" for a week) I was greeted by a nifty little envelope containing some beautiful blue and black rubbery Park Tool Screwdrivers.. Thanks Dad!!
Apparently, they are made of "Chrome Vanadium". Having never heard of this magical, mythical compound before I did some exhaustive research* and this is what I found.
"Deep beneath a secluded beach front villa in Martha's Vineyard, a group of ex Nazi(under the duress of the OSS, which Became the CIA) scientists looking for a means to clone J Edgar Hoover found encoded in the dust under the finger nail of Truman Capote's corpse a single strand of DNA. After a complicated period of incubation, cracking and isolative distillation they found not the answer that they had sought, rather a metal of exceptional durability, torsional rigidity ,dense molecular ventriculization and a pleasing minty tang. Knowing that their lives would be forfeit if the scope and reach of their discovery was ever uncovered by their masters, these scientists were able to (by a process of inter nicene blood letting) sell this marvelous discovery to the Shah of Iran for $4000 earth dollars. In 1964, during the Iranian civil war, The incoming theocracy exiled the Shah and his followers, thus placing the discovery back into the hands of the CIA. Chrome Vanadium flooded the tool market (in the manner that Heroin flooded the ghetto), park tools was born and the free mason movement gained significant financial power".
So, there you have it. Krosch has (somewhat unwittingly) provided me with the last piece of the puzzle by which I can launch East Bay Racing??? on the world! In this feature, I'll offer you a never before seen insight into the vortex of East Bay Racing????
Okay, that's about it for the infrastructure. Now, anyone know where I can get some EPO? I'm gonna need it for the "training camp" that I'm embarking on now that my family are away. Boo(nen)Yah!
It was even muddier out amongst it this morning. Fingers off the brake levers, Head up and hammer was the name of the game. Had I a camera, the drool hanging from my brake lever amongst the mud etc on the bike would have made a great "My Winter Season Training Is In Full Swing" type photo. Ah, well. you'll just have to let your minds eye do the work for you. Cold mud, gnar, big wheels and rigid you cup of tea? mine too.
I returned to work on Thursday last week, and after four very busy days I'm left feeling as if I've had the life kicked out of me (figuratively, not literally). I had a surprise package arrive on the day of my return to work. It was from The Big Guy and well and truly reversed my monumentally surly countenance.
The package contained this....
Some zippy zappy 2.0 racing tyres and rim strips, so that I can get all tubeless. I'm glad that my Hairy God Father continues to look out for me. Oh, and Matt? You got it wrong.. It's not East Bay Racing.. It's East Bay Racing????
What's the weather been like in my neck of the woods? ummmmmm.
That's HAIL
Hail ball fight anyone??
Oh, and did we mention cold?
Surprisingly, the hail was still there this morning when I awoke and headed out. Turns out that thankfully(!!) the hail had melted in the forest, into ice cold mud/slury. I've never been that cold on a ride before..I returned a few hours later, caked, numb and happy.
Australians. Don't get them wet, Don't feed them after midnight. Or you know what will happen They'll breed. Oh, Wait. that's Gremlins. sorry!! (In no way am I attempting to make a link between Gremlins and Australians..In fact 90% of the people who have inspired and contributed to my love of riding bikes have been Australian, it's just how babies are made, right??)Anyhoo.. You put a Guy like this..
And a Girl like this
Together and you know there's gonna be fireworks!! Congrats on the impending happy arrival, dudes..It's gonna beplastic chains and baby bottles for a while eh? Awesome!! I feel a new line of baby wear coming on..welcome to the club.
Gee, this is dragging on a bit aint it? Right. Go get amongst it. I'm really starting to show my age...
I got it bad. A momentary lull (one day) in tonnes of awesome riding, Syndication, other exciting times and holidays have all collided on a Tuesday night to give rise to the worst case of SVBBS in living memory. Alls I can do is ride it out.
And man, have I ridden it out, Randomly searching youboob for something suitable to post I recalled a song by the Ex models that I heard on a mixtape a girl made me once. This lifted the mood somewhat...
First hit out this afternoon since Saturday. Glad for the break if I'm honest, I've found that since I've been able to take a holiday and step outside the workingridingfamilyworkingworkingfamilyridingtrainfamilysleep holding pattern that I've been existing in these past few months things have caught up with one somewhat. So it was with mixed feelings that I stepped out into the watery sunshine this afternoon to get amongst it. I mentally slapped myself for the churlish, spoilt ideation that going for a ride in The Redwoods could be *sigh* A CHORE.I was faced with a temporary loss of inspiration to ride.
People talk about finding their inspiration in different ways and just like the good Dr's latest trieste I found myself completely knocked on my ass and reinvigorated by a piece of art, which has elegantly been described as "Just the sci-fi groove-rock mindfuck to shake us out of our no-fun times". Now there's not much I thank god for about my Welsh heritage (sub six foot, body designed to dig coal. Ginger beard) however knowing that I share a cultural (if vague and somewhat tenuous) commonality with SFAis A ok. SFA OK in fact. This album is genius and with all due respect tips Hey Venus into a crooked hat.
In fact, if we're going to play the game of "vague and tenuous cultural associations" that link me with SFA then I've got another one for you. Bare with me here, it's all about my burgeoning interest in both Six Degrees of Separation and Morphic Resonance. I know, if there is one thing you can say about me it's that I'm truly scientificological.
Right.
Ahem..... SFA are on the record label Rough Trade, Got that? Rough Trade. Now, if you were to walk into the Rough Trade Shop You'd find an album that I played on is sold in said shop. It would undoubtedly be in the bargain bin (having been reliably informed that we'd sold at last count FOUR COPIES in the greater London area). Ha! that's two. We're practically family SFA and me.Both Welsh and both sold (one in greater number than other) in the Rough Trade Shops. And they said it couldn't be done..
The whole "four records sold" thing reminds me of a particularly cutting comment that I read online between two friends of mine, one, hassling the other (in his subtle, polite manner) about purchasing his album. "okay bro, I'll give you 20 bucks for a CD" began the reply "but do us a favour and chuck the album straight in the bin, let's cut out the middle man". Burn. Truly the wellspring of talent I swim in knows no depth....
Right. Back on track, or trails as it were...the trails. Yes. They were wet. Wet, sketchy and muddy. This mattered not, as I was inspired and wanted to soak the album up as much as I could in the privacy of my own head (and the relative anonymity that riding a bike can give you).I tooled about for a good couple hours, pretending that I was on a cyclocross bike and that I had a cycling cap on under my helmet. It was grand. Tomorrow I'll do the same thing, then the two days after that I'll be riding with my old man. Should be a stone cold party.
It only leaves me to finish this rambling, digressive and most importantly inspired post in an apt manner. I remain, inspired.
They had an animated video!! so did we!!! FUUUUUUCK...It doesn't get more real than that maaaaan...They had Sir Paul McCartney sing backing vocals on that song, We...Oh. Never mind.
I think I've over romanticized the Rotorua winter somewhat, and find myself mildly put out as we charge headlong into our fourth straight day of rain. Rain was s'posed to be a Dorkland phenomena, it was all clear crisp mornings and frost on the brochure. Sigh. Thus far I've avoided riding since Satdee, as A)it's been pouring down and the trails are stoked B) I'm spoilt and can ride here every day if I want C) I'm enjoying hanging out with my family whilst I'm on holiday D) I don't want to have to shell out more coin for some new pads if I can help it..yet.
Rarely do I have time to potter around, and this morning has been one of those rare occasions. As we only moved here 8 months ago, I find myself still tidying away stuff, music mostly. I was charged with clearing a big bag of CDs into the garage this morning, and to my wife's imminent disgust (she doesn't know yet) I've returned with AN EVEN BIGGER BAG of gems that I haven't played in years.. amongst them, but not exclusively early TVOTR, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Antibalas, Pavement et al.. My Itunes library aint gonna know what hit it. Turns out that I also had a massive stash of spare tubes of the tiny wheel variety. I've heard they'll stretch.
I've also been thinking about my riding this year. I'm still stoked on Saturday and have been thinking about my deliberately parochial/regionalistic(is that a word) approach to events thus far i.e. I've stuck around home and gorged myself on the events put on by theNduro crowd. I've done four out of the six events on offer this year (missed the first summer cup round due to a christening and the 24hr due to disorganization + it was the week before the highlander). So far that's equaled all the races I did in 2008. I've got the Winter Series coming up leading up to the Whaka100 in October. 2010 has got me thinking about 12 hour solo's and possibly some races across the ditch. But who knows. The Old Man is coming down over the weekend, so a good time will be had there for sure.
Aaand, without that carry on, you could make the rational assumption (the mother of all fuck ups?) that this would not have happened in the way that it did...
It's a strange mix of feelings for me after last weekend. I've spoken before about "Sunnyvale baked bean syndrome" which is what I used to find would happen after a big weekend or week of playing music, usually supports for international acts although it could have been a couple dates of a tour or an ep release show. All the good times, adrenaline, booze and people telling you that you're the best thing since dah dah dah wears off, and you find yourself (in my case) in Sunnyvale (where I used to live) sitting in your lounge eating baked beans, with a distinct lack of anyone applauding you when you get up to make more toast. I've had this distinct phenomena assail me a few times post racing weekend, however this time it's tempered somewhat, because after this weekend racing the SS Champs I feel part of something rather larger. Having met kindered spirits from across the Tasman and further afield in NZ, I finally feel part of a community. It's odd then that this should happen when I met people who live hundreds, if not thousands of Km away. It's odd that I still feel mainly out of step with the majority of people who ride where I live (Which is tonnes). This isn't on some superiority tip, I'm a distinctly average rider, but it kinda felt as if a lot of people at the champs on Saturday didnt' somehow get it. Lots of dudes on Single speeds rather than Single Speeders? I dunno..too cynical? a touch bloggercentric? maybe.. but I'm owing it. And by it I mean I don't exactly know what "it" is or, if "it" matters.. whatever.
It seems very rarely that loving the jesus lizard (for one example of a band I love) axis and riding bikes axis meet.
Anyhoo... THE GOOD
The Course.Sweet jesus that was good, not overthought and fun as hell. endless (four) laps of Sandy skid road, pondy new, the second half of roller coaster, second half of old chevy and then yellow brick. One of my favourite loops. Done four times it became less favourite, but still completely awesome.
Singlespeed bikes are gorgeous. And there were some particularly nice ones in evidence. mmmmmmKarate Monkey.
These Bastards!!! Damn. Ben and Michelle. Stellar, Stellar individuals. They hit the apex of "like punk rock/think about stuff/ride single speeds" hard out. And there are many more like them.. They've got me thinking about stuff, hard. I wanna be in their gang and will be flying the colours as soon as I am able. Too easy!
The pre ride out from the Pig to the forest. Sweet little whistle wetter.
The looks of rage on some "serious racer" faces when we stampeded into the clearing to find that our bikes had all been moved... awesome.
The one beer I had whilst riding was awesome and terrible at the same time. But mainly awesome.
The ghost of Robin Bain
THE BAD
Middle New Zealand riding bikes (or doing anything) in large groups tends to annoy one a touch.
The effeminate sneer of some leathery-never-was-lycra-bandit criticizing a guy completely dressed as a ghost for "taking me out" or something with his ghost robes... "Bad form buddy" was the hiss at the beer tent. Fuck off, it's a singlespeed race. Not the Mt.Maunganui C Masters crit semi finals. Jump back on your trek and ride hither would you? take your friends as well.
I haven't run in years..and never in a jersey, tap shoes and stretchy pants.
sigh.
That's it really. Not much to complain about. It was what it was..not a tribal gathering, not a celebration of singlespeedery, but a race. A fun, hard race..which was won by...A racer. Natch. I guess it concerns me some that it was kinda made out to be something it wasn't..the fun (apart from riding bikes fast on awesome trails with heaps of cool people) almost felt a tad forced...ah well. Small gripes. Will I be doing it all again next year? Damn straight..am I now thinking of bigger things re bikes and the riding of them? Damn straight. Am I thinking about Dinosaur Jr? Damn straight...I've said before that it was a moment of clarity when I saw them last that I realized that I had pretty much bitten Lou Barlow for the entirety of my bass playing career. Anyway.
It took me ages (years) to work out that Gruf was singing "An asthma sufferer". I remain cynical about middle New Zealand's ability to pull tomorrow off. I think I am just being overthinking guy. Or prehaps it's my chronic feeling of being out of step playing up. Dunno. Judging from where I saw them putting up the pavillions today, the course should be a good'un. The trails were nicely just this side of greasy this morning, and judging by the weather forecast for the weekend (rain)things are only going to get more gnar (muddy and stuff.I'm totally down with extreme speak). It felt kind of odd cleaning my bike tonight, knowing that tomorrow I would be subjecting it to mud and mud for hours and hours, kinda like raising a prize chicken then turning it into Mc Nuggets, or something. My funk will lift I am sure...
I've entered. Nearly didn't as A)It's expensive, B) I'm distrustful of large crowds. C)I don't realllllly know anyone else who rides SS. I ride mainly by myself, Race usually by myself D) I'm homesick at the moment and thought about a trip to Dorkland to ride with the old man and Matt K. However, The SS champs won out... I've heard that next year they'll be in Queenstown, so that will prolly be off the cards. Work was bad yesterday, that's why I'm not feeling so "up" at the moment.I was feeling "up", great in fact, until about an hour ago. Now I appear to be in a surly funk which, if I'm honest, knew was coming at some point. 30 hours of plain sailing must be some kind of record. I'm on leave from tomorrow however for two weeks, and my last act before said leave is giving a lecture on Mental Health Law to a bunch of undergraduates at the polytech, which is something I love doing. Undoubtedly this will help.
I'm being deliberately vague because I'm not elegant enough of a word smith to matter-of-factly describe the situation without seeming i)callous ii) somewhat overdramatic iii) alarmist. I fully realize and accept that all stress is relative, however in my line of work, a bad day = BAD. Suffice to say that this is only the second such bad day I've had in 10 years of doing this, and everyone is safe and more or less sound. Right, that's enough of that.
The commute through the forest this morning was excellent, and the watery early winter sunshine on the way home was perfect weather for The Eraser.
That riding with a chest infection would have such hilariously predictable results? My wife for one. That ride described in the last post, whilst psychologically fortifying, proved to be physically debilitating. I was laid up for most of yesterday, missed my third consecutive day of work and generally walked around the house feeling most sorry for one's self...However it appears that today I'm "over the hump" as they say, and ready to hit it tomorrow Sans phantom noise!!!!
Why? because BIKE VEGAS rule, that's why. with my rotors rotated (front to back) a "wafer thin" spacer added to the caliper and the little silvery thing that sits in the brake (names? if you can name this I'll tell you what the back of your knee is called)tightened (it appears that this was the source of the noise)I'm all ready to go. The bike is clean, degreased and smells good (thanks Simple Green)and even after one "shake down" ride in the street there is no noise, and shizz generally feels tighter. whew.
It's been a light week for riding, due to sickness and hip pain, so tomorrow will be about pushing the boat out a tad whilst attempting to avoid pushing one's (admittedly still fragile) lungs out of one's chest. I'm thinking more Tokorangi pa and Sandy Skid Rds rather than fanging it about Direct rd et al (Sense and sensibility?). Old Chevy will definitely be making an appearance amongst others..Actually, I'm very excited.
I finished chewing through the mammoth Radiohead concert that I had downloaded as podcast from NPR. I have to say, it was pretty amazing. All the more amazing for this song, played in the encore. Everything in its right place indeed. The version of the track shown below is taken from a French TV special that is probably seven or so years old. Man, them Chaos Pads are cool beans.
I ended up going riding..It was either that or go mad. A gauche 35 minute blast through a couple trails in the forest. Psychologically fortifying more than physically I think. I even drove there. Luxury. Chest doesn't feel too bad, and it was great to ride sans pack or tools... The phantom noise kept quiet for the most part, until the trail became sharper in it's dips and climbs. I'm convinced that the noise may be due to my entry level wheels flexing as they would be inclined to do with my lack of suspension (I think, I dunno).However, some lighter stiffer wheels wouldn't go amiss. I'll add em to the upgrade list. I'm having seditious thoughts "drink the wine...have some chocolate" and am fighting them off with marginal success. Tomorrow should be a better day.
I left my degree half way through, vowing never to return... as one does when one is 19. Anyhoo I came back to my degree (as one does when one is 21). I saw Yo La Tengo like a month before I was due to sit my finals, and I had to exercise all my frontal lobe's dubious ability not to quit again that night..Indie rock-riffic.
Great, I'm sicker (Sickerer?) More sick today than I was yesterday..I had hopes of waking today, being a bit fragile in the morning, however recovering enough to have a sneaky sick day hit out this afternoon. Not even a little bit. This should be good for the crazy self doubting thoughts..
Example The First I have to be like This Guy (unrealistic) however all I will ever be and am is This Guy (just as unrealistic. probably)
I've spoken about Sheldrake before and as esoteric and loopy as it sounds I have to say, Morphic Resonance is real. Just ask Matt K. I am the proud incubator of a chest infection, I am off work and wishing to ride desperately. I rode yesterday and managed to smash my hip into a tree that I had scooted past successfully many many times before. It was Get-off-the-bike-double-over-and-spit-on-the-ground sore.
I have developed a theory relating to bike related injuries...that is the size of the bruise/scrape/contusion is inversely proportional to the soreness of said wound. For example, the double-fist size bruise on the inside of my thigh resulting from a low speed oopsie in a clearing the other day? meh. Conversely, the 50c piece sized bruise on my gentleman's area (found just above my gentleman's parts) from a minor wheel rub on the highlander which resulted in my feet leaving my pedals and said "gentleman's area" slamming into my stem at approx. 150m/sec? very tender indeed. Arriving home yesterday I immediately whipped off my jersey to show my nonplussed better half the cause of my considerable pain, which turned out to be a very minor bruise on my left hip. No blood, No huge bruise or scrape, nothing. Fuck all in fact. Hypothesis proved. This coupled with the chest infection has made me feel very sorry for myself indeed. Next up for this guy is the Single Speed Champs in a couple weeks. I've decided, in the true spirit of the thing to bust out some truly stunning sartorial elegance for the day. You just wait and see.
The back story to the my opening missive on the whole resonance thing was born from my listening to one of the superb NPR podcasts that I've become rather addicted to. I happened upon a particularly impressive live version The National Anthem and immediately txt my man to inform him of a "Tune!!!" (It's what we do..being complete dorks). It turns out that MJK himself was in Nelson, listening to his Ipod on shuffle and the self same song was playing at the exact moment I txt. coincidence? Most probably..but it's still rather fascinates and tickles me that in this random cruel and unusual world sometimes the chips fall "just so" and nice little moments like this happen.
In other breaking news "Old Man Clements" done got himself a bike with big boy wheels.. well done Chap!!!. I'm assured that the reflectors have been removed, however I remain suspicious... I'm looking forward to many many Kms of sweet singletrack joy on OMC's next trip down to these parts.
In other news the Phantom noise in my front end continues with it's random annoyance. Grrrrrrr.
I had a dream I was at a family event at a zoo. Then a Male Lion got out and went on a rampage. I scrambled down a bank and hid. Strange.
They let us keep our number plates at The Highlander what you can see reflected in the camera flash is what Ira Ryan would very customly,lovingly and Portlandly as a "patina of sweat and dirt". Yeah, that sounds really romantic,"Patina". There is probably some expelled energy gel/sports drink combo on that bad boy as well.
The Highlander Course was epic. I had thought I would get in at about 6 hours for my first 80km event on the SS. Trotted across in Four Fifty Four. Stoked. I didn't blow up, Hit any walls or anything.. pleasant change of pace. All I can think about now is doing longer races. SS champs and winter series next. Excuse the berevity of the post. I'm shattered.
My hour of riding in the dark before work this morning was an entirely more illuminating and thought provoking affair than previous. Instead of varying degrees of loud music, I was treated to Stephen Fry'sPodgram musings on amongst other things; The constructionalist beauty of language, Chomsky, broken arms, Greek mythology (specifically King Midas having the ears of an Ass), hatred of Pedantry (a personal favorite)The BBC, "Compliance Defiance",Oscar Wilde and the inevitable descent into egocentrism that having any type of column or blog will lead to. Genius. Surprisingly I found myself at least as engaged as I have been when my morning ride has been sound tracked by any of my old favourites. Mr Fry's indelibly English voice was a refreshing aural treat, and the ideation conveyed by said voice a tangy mint for my brain, taking away the cerebellum's cranky morning breath. The man's turn of phrase is something else, unfortunately making anything which I have put down on paper today at work or here appear decidedly prosaic and staid...Sigh.
There is another Stephen, whom I am also decidedly enamoured with (for a considerably longer time).Mr Malkmus,like the above Mr Fry also has rather a deft turn with the English Language. Behold...
I spent a solid three hours in the garage this morning, tightening and footling with these...
And these...
They were the holding together bits on those silver sheet metal shelves that you see everywhere. we've had three of them for years, and while useful they coldly spit in your face as you believe the "Easy Assembly" tag line that is written on the box. As interim co-head of the family I decreed today that these shall NEVER be taken down again. My gall began to rise approx 90 minutes in that I was crouched in our dank garage cutting my hands on sharp metal and kneeling on dead cockroaches instead of riding, so a rather embarrassing public display of negative emotion took place...
This display of distaste erupted into frank hostility upon completion of the second..
I got a hold of myself however before I created the third, the reason being my lovely wife had asked me to complete this task to make space in the garage for our firewood. Now, Girly Sue stayed up late making me "Enduro Cookies" for The Highlander which is coming up this Sunday. These little babies have peanut butter, raisins, oats, unrefined cane sugar, love and some chocolate in them.. Whilst not astronaut sports food, I'm betting that they will get me to where I need to go, esp about the point of lookout rd. I felt some what churlish having a strop about not riding, so I happily applied myself to completing the task at hand, then retired into the house for a coffee and a sample of said Enduro Cookies....
Look delicious don't they???
With all this garage cleaning, space saving and arranging it turns out that I have a functional, bijou man cave-ette. Behold!
It's compact, clean and it's mine. And for this I am thankful.
I'm loving my bike more and more every time I ride it, as I mentioned before I've now completely eschewed the world of multi gearing and have never been happier (or lighter or faster for that matter). I started riding a rigid GT 17 years ago and damn it all if I'm not full circle..
Yesterday in my post I claimed that I was a reluctant mechanic. The above should confirm it! CAST YOUR EYES upon the sum total of all of my extraneous bike tools/gear that I have amassed in three years (save for my Allen key/chainbreaker thing I carry in my bag and a 15mm closed head wrench to get at me nutted rear axle)...Yup. That's it.. A pedal wrench, two brushes, some zip ties and a roll of gaffer tap. Genius. The silver four-drawer thing on the bench contains an Allen key graveyard (all unusable sizes), some spare cleats/screws, the instructions for my Thomson seat post (the bling-est thing on my bike)and a bunch of pegs (to hang fusky chamois up). Didn't I tell you I was a stone cold pro?/?
I'm lucky though, because I have These Fellows ably abetting, aiding, hooking me up and generally saving my ass from minor mechanicals and anxiety whilst I'm illin in Rotorua.
I'm doubly especially lucky however, because I have This Guy acting as my fairy god mother (no, that's not right.. He's more of a Hairy God Father)from across the miles, If I lived in Aux I would deal with no one else..Even though I'm a six hour round trip away, and can't just drop in any more for a service, brother man still hooks me up on so many levels and for that I'm eternally grateful. It's a full blown bromance ( possibly one sided but hey, I've stalked before*)
One final thing I'm thankful for is the opportunity to burn the new incense I got given..It takes away that whole "cockroach graveyard" smell.
mmmmmm stretchy-nice-zen-smell-licious.
And finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, the minutemen.. They're late, great and jam econo.. RIP D Boon
