I’ve been doing a little racing. The first two mountain bike nationals, only instead of getting called up in the back row of the elites, I’ve opted to race the series in the singlespeed class. Fontana went okay, although I did plan on riding the elite race later in the day so I chose to run a sissy gear on the singlespeed. It probably cost me second or third place. I finished fourth. And I only lasted one lap in the pro race later that day. Two mountain bike races in one day is a bad idea.

Last weekend while Denise and Ryder were in Hawaii and most everyone else I know was milling around town for the Redlands Classic, I went to Arizona for round 2. I won the SuperD TT on Friday and skipped Saturday’s short track race. On Sunday in the XC race, I was beginning to check out from the rest of the singlespeeders on the first of three laps when a rock sliced the sidewall of my rear tire. The Stans wouldn’t seal it because the gash was about two inches long. I threw a tube in, but that only got me another mile. I then had to walk a good hour before I found a smooth of enough dirt road that I could ride with a flat tire. Bum deal.

Fountain Hills, where the race is at is a great place to ride, but the second half of the course is littered with so many rocks that flats are a major issue. There were people walking into the pits with double flats all weekend. What kills me is that there is plenty of unused singletrack in the area that is not rocky. They’ve used it for a national there in the past, but haven’t used it for the past two years. Instead they’d rather let the races be decided by who can keep air in their tires. That’s not mountain bike racing.

Today I’m meeting Robert Hordossy for lunch. He’s visiting from the Czech Republic. Since I’m a free born man of the U.S.A. and he’s a communist, we like to fight, so hopefully I don’t come back with a broken arm or something. He knows a lot of wrestling moves that he learned from visiting the Soviet Union and he’s twice the size of me, so the chances of me coming back injured are pretty high. He’s also a pretty good bike rider, but I wouldn’t admit that to him.

Last night at bike practice Little Tickmeyer stuck it to me again. The kid is getting faster and faster. He leaves for Europe soon so we won’t have each other to beat up on for while. Broc, Turner, & Miller will still be around though so it’s not like there won’t be anyone around to beat up on me while Little Tick is gone.

I’m tired and feel blah. This post is boring.