Ryder did a 360!
The little dude rolled from his back to his stomach & back to his stomach again. Sala still can't roll over.

When It Rains We’re Poor
It appears as if I made the right choice to skip Snowshoe. West Virginia rain & bad weather made for long, slow race that required lots of running. Then there’s the financial impact of pre-riding & then racing in those type of horrible conditions. Might as well go down to the bike shop, buy new cables, new housing, a new chain & new brake pads, then start a blaze in the fire place at home & burn them beyond recognition. Then go back to the bike shop & buy them all over again. That’s the joy of racing outside of the western U.S.

At the Texas opener, which was also rain-plagued, there was a nightly ritual that occurred at our modest motel: Come back from the venue, muddy, wet & grumpy. Slop your dirty riding clothes over to the laundry area & wait for an open washing machine. If you were lucky, you’d get there around the same time as some other filthy soul & share a washer. Then walk back to your room & begin the tedious process of cleaning your bike, stopping several times throughout to check on the status in the laundry room. Maybe you get to bed before 10. Three days of this. On the fourth day (Sunday) after a 2.5 hour mud race, everyone switches their focus from laundry to tearing apart their bike & getting it into a bike case as quickly as possible so you don’t miss your flight out of San Antonio Int’l Airport. Actually, most nationals I’ve gone to are like this. Some are just muddier than others. Good times.

We’ll see how Mount Snow treats James, Sean & everyone else from the dry west who’s heading to Vermont this week. Good luck guys. May Mother Nature have mercy on you.

I Was So Much Older Then…
I’m not sure how I feel about this L.A. Times article. For someone who was so politically influenced in my youth by the Dead Kennedys & old Bad Religion, I sure do have a strong distaste for new bands with a distinct political stance. Any band actually, whether it be the political opinions of that waste of human flesh, Toby Keith or the political opinions of that other waste of human flesh, Michael Stipe. Those two are as qualified to make political decisions as Congress is qualified to make religious decisions. Catch my drift? I think that’s why the bands with real staying power, in my book, are outfits like Minor Threat, Texas Is the Reason, 7 Seconds, The Avengers, Descendents & The Ramones. Their lyrics are more of a social commentary than a political commentary. Then there are two of my favorites, Bob Dylan & The Pogues & while they have made strong political statements over the years, their real talents lie in story telling (and drinking). How does all this yada yada yada relate to the L.A. Times article that The Real James Williams was nice enough to forward me? It doesn’t, except for the fact that Pat Smear & Henry Rollins speak out of both sides of their mouths & thus are horrible references for an article about the spirit of punk.

Tuesday Night
The Tuesday night report is starting to get old, but several people ask, so I’m going to keep it up since there are only a few more to go before the time change. As it is, I almost needed lights to get home last night after the ride. Sadly, the summer is coming to an end. It has come to an end for Todd Parks, who claimed he’d no longer be making the drive from Palm Springs to Redlands, so I felt it my duty to make his last ride a memorable one. I confess, after he had been sitting on the front for quite a while, I attacked the hell out of him as we approached the top of Sunset on the first lap. Josh came with me, but so did Parks, so maybe I only attacked the heck out of him. Of course he had to scold me afterward for attacking him in the first place, especially after sitting on his wheel prior. And of course he tried to return the favor on the second lap, just moments after he had told me to keep a steady pace going up the wall. When it was all said (and a lot is said when Parks is around) Turner, Zuke, Josh, Parks & I all put the wood to each other. I was glad to finish without getting popped because I wasn’t feeling too hot.

Random…
It finally happened. I dropped the digital camera last night while riding. To ad insult to injury I ran over it with my rear wheel after it bounced off the tarmac. It works intermittently now & the view screen on back of the camera is totaled. I guess that’s what I get for riding around & taking pictures at the same time.

Josh saw a dude catch on fire at the Tom Petty concert in San Diego last weekend when the Kettle Corn concession stand turned into a flame thrower. According to Josh, the guy was totally engulfed in flames & it took several people to snuff him out. Afterward, Josh ordered two beers instead of just one.

Speaking of Josh, he is Carina Home-less. The owner of Carina Homes sold the company, thus putting an end to the cycling team. Too bad because it was a sweet deal.

My parents got campground reservations on New Year’s Eve for San Elijo State Beach. Finally a fun way to bring in the New Year…


Quote: “Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity” – Lord Charles Beresford, British Admiral & Member of Parliament

We have them fooled.

FREE! German Shepard Mutt Mix

This is what I came home to Friday after a hard day at the office.


Meanwhile, for his 4 month birthday, Ryder began Driver's Ed. Hands at 10 & 2 Ryder! Hands at 10 & 2!

Not much to report from over the weekend. I did just over 72 miles on Saturday & the group ride on Sunday. On both days I came home after the ride & started working on the house well into the night. I'm tired.

Greg checks in from the Trek sales meeting in Waterloo, WI:
"Well, Lance was here yesterday. He signed a life long contract with Trek. After that we drank a few Shiner Bocks and talked about his last tour. It was a blast!"

I think I’ll be drinking Shiner Bocks from now on…

Baby Showers, Too Much Cake & Crit Practice: Which is more uncomfortable?

They had a baby shower for Magan & Jeremy at work on Wednesday so we all got to gaze at the expecting couple while they opened gifts for the soon to be born Joey. Denise & Ryder were invited. Poor Ryder. He had the hiccups the entire time. Poor me. I ate two pieces of cake & felt sick the rest of the day.

Ryder got passed around the room quite a bit.

I can't believe I ate two giant pieces of cake.

Ryder & Jeremy have the same hair cut.

Pick Your Favorite Caption:

1. I went to crit practice on Thursday.
2. I shouldn't have had two pieces of cake.
3. All of the above.

James Caught on Film

Check out James on the front of the Big Bear Valley Sports page from the State Race last weekend. I wonder how many readers have already sent the editor scathing mail, accusing the newspaper of doctoring James' biceps so they look bigger than normal, a' la Tom Boonen's Paris-Roubaix VeloNews cover shot. I know The Real James Williams & The Real James Williams has Boonen-size biceps. Longo made the inside of the paper to back up his first in class finish.

Quote: "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." - John F. Kennedy

Another Tuesday Night

Just as we were rolling past Caroline Park & about to hang a left back up Sunset to start our second lap, Josh appears & says, “It’s about time.” The explicit replies that this invoked made me laugh so hard that my heart rate jumped from the low to the high 180’s. Josh had gotten out of work late & was casually spinning around the Sunset route waiting for us to fly by. As me, Turner, Parks, Riverside Josh & Zuke pedaled up the wall, we were all anticipating some sort of action from the late-comer. Luckily, Josh is gentlemanly enough & didn’t just jump on & push the pace and/or attack with fresh legs. Instead, he let us pound the crap out of one another until a third lap lead-out from Zuke left Turner, Parks & I on our own to finish the job. I decided to take on the role of the sacrificial lamb & drove for the remainder of the climb. It was a worthy cause because Turner, who jumped first, went virtually unchallenged. Mission accomplished; wink, wink.

Other Bike Stuff

• If anyone wants to shell out $600 to learn how to ride a cross bike click here. Shouldn’t there be some golf & tubing on the schedule too?

• We (Team Redlands) have been asked to take part in the filming of a movie this weekend. We’re to show up dressed in our team kits at the Mill Creek Ranger Station this Saturday morning. I know few details of the movie other than it’s about a woman who leaves the small town she grew up in to live in the big city. She strikes it rich somehow and returns to her small town roots in a limo or H2 or something. I don’t know who stars in it (besides us), I don’t know who the director is & I don’t even know if I’m going to go. The last film production I took place in was the K&N commercial & that was a freaking nightmare. Maybe I can find some place to lay more sod on Saturday instead.

• I think I figured out why Jan Ullrich can suffer on a bicycle better & more than most mortals. The Kaiser has the sole burden of paying for the sins committed by the German people during World War II.

Apparently Someone Did Leave P O’d
A Note from Luke:
I am officially placing our Scattegories game on protest. I, Lucas Stiles, used the political figure Pol Pot for the letter "P" in hopes of locking up two points. I was challenged by the other players, as they stated that Pol Pot was one word which reduced my points from 2 to 1. Upon further review & research, Pol Pot is indeed two separate words. The game must be replayed. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!!!

Sorry Luke. I had your back. I guess that’s what happens when we play with people who did not attend the University of Jello Biafra.

Quote: “Like dogs, bicycles are social catalysts that attract a supreme category of people.” – New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Harper’s, Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Adventure journalist, Chip Brown.

I attempted to shoot a few photos while riding last night...

Just up the road there is a group of little angry men plotting to rip the lungs out of these poor souls.

Tommy B. (not to be confused w/Tommy D.) hangings on.

Jon Reth took his usual massive pull, which resulted in a shattered field. Who says newlywed dental school students can't throw it down?

Hats, Quotes & Art Appreciation

Ryder & I have the most fabulous hats!

Quote: “The River is no place for wives & children.”
Richard Blum, when asked if he was taking his wife and kids to Havasu.

Quote: “When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.”
H.G. Wells - English novelist, journalist, sociologist & historian, famous for writing The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897) & The War Of The Worlds (1898).

Art Appreciation
I recently ordered prints of King of the Cage & Abe-Kido because Abe Lincoln is one of my heroes & I thought we needed some new artwork for the stairway in the new house. Upon their arrival Denise shot them down & said I couldn’t hang them in the stairway, but only on My side of the office. That leaves me less space to hang the Alexander Vinokurov, Jan Ullrich, Brett Farve, Laird Hamilton , Valentino Rossi, Chris Horner, Bob Dylan, Shane MacGowan & Kerry Walsh pictures I want in the office. I'm still negotiating space, but in the meantime here is more Brandon Bird artwork that is worthy of viewing.

Yeee Haaa! Two Warriors Come Out of the Sky

I have an emotional attachment to this one Prelude to Magic Hour

I too like working in the garage on Sunday afternoons Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Half-Pint’s Pa The Anguish

Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? Man of Tomorrow

I like this one because the "actor" in question probably has no spirt (or acting talent) & the artist is sharp enough to acknowledge that fact even though most of America isn't. Spirit Animal

I think I'll go ride my bike now...

The Weekend In Pictures

Dog Proof.

I took Friday off & laid sod with the help of Denise & her dad. The front yard isn't done yet because the sod guy shorted us. Denise thinks we miscalculated the square footage. Come on. Either way, the front yard is half dirt/half grass & my hamstrings & feet are killing me.

Lucas & Jackie were in town, so Mr. Lindeman, Chris & Cindy came over. We played games & believe it or not, no one got in a fight. I don't even think anyone left pissed off.

Instead of doing the State Race up at Big Bear on Sunday, my feet & hamstrings talked me into doing a road ride. Check out the billboards on the side of the road...

Another lazy Sunday morning.

Big Fish. Little Pond.

I was all set to give a Tuesday Night Sunset report & then I ran across this photo from the Boulder, CO Tuesday night training ride. Yep, I do believe that’s one Tyler Hamilton in the green & yellow Phonak kit. I fear the return of Jonathan Weaver, who recently moved to Boulder & is rumored to be coming back to Redlands for a while. If he’s hitting the group ride in Boulder, we may all be in trouble up on Sunset. Maybe we should demand a blood test from Weaver when he arrives.

Speaking of blood, I will say this about Sunset. Josh & I put our extra red blood cells to the test when I launched an attack on the second lap. We took Todd Parks with us & Fulford almost made it, but he couldn’t quite cover the gap. Turns out, spending 4 days at 10,000 ft. works pretty well. On the cool down lap, Marine Tom, who hails from 29 Palms said, “I always get my gas money’s worth when Freeman’s here.” Apparently, we’d all get our gas money’s worth if we drove to Boulder next Tuesday…

Tonight my parents, Meredith, Joey & my Grandma are coming over for dinner. Hopefully my mom will bring Molly, the puppy. Sala needs a little harassment. I think Lucas & Jackie got into town yesterday, so I’m trying to reach them. Denise is making brownies for dessert & we've got lots of ice cream. I'll earn dessert tonight at the necessary evil that is crit practice...

A man and his recliner.

This morning Sala & I got up early & went rock collecting. Mentone is a great place to collect rocks.

This one's our favorite. We rescued the little guy/girl from beneath two bowling ball size boulders.

Sala wants me to get this painted on the back of the van.

Brian Head Part II: Saturday & Sunday

Saturday
We woke up & drove the short distance to Cedar Breaks Nat’l Park for Ryder’s first hike. The weather forecast called for a nice day, so we felt it safe for such an excursion. With Ryder strapped to Denise via the Baby Bjorn, we hiked just over two miles to a point that overlooks Cedar Breaks. The park reminded Denise and I of Colorado National Monument. Josh & I packed some of that great 3.2% alcohol Utah beer to drink with the lunch we had prepared. We practically had to shotgun our beers & choke down our lunch because as soon as we reached the point, the western sky turned dark gray & sounds of thunder exploded in the distance. Only I had packed clothing for wet weather (as usual) so we quickly headed back to the van. Jeannie, our Sherpa, didn’t even have time to stop & confess her love for Josh on the water tower that the Noriega family apparently desecrates with graffiti on an annual basis - surprising, because on the surface they seem so nice.

In the parking lot, we were relieved not to see Child Protective Services waiting for us because we had taken our 3 ½ month old out on a hike sans rain gear. Luckily, we beat the rain by a few minutes because we still had time to visit the visitor’s center. We bought Ryder a National Parks Passport. Now, his mission in life, besides winning a world championship in some sort of two-wheeled competition or leading his team to a Super Bowl win, is to fill his Nat’l Park Passport with a stamp from every park. I wonder which one will happen first? Regardless of rushing the final two miles back to the van, the hike went well & Ryder did better than expected. He smiled, laughed & even slept a little throughout the two-hour adventure. Luckily he was awake to see the oldest tree in Utah, which was estimated at 5,000 years.

Before heading back to the condo, we drove to Panguitch Lake & then up to the feed zone to watch the Pro Men & Women come through, in dry conditions I might add. JHK had a minute lead at that point. Josh & I couldn’t figure out why any Pro field would let a guy like that go up the road alone. As it turns out Kabush had flatted, so maybe he was riding with JHK before the unfortunate puncture. After the girls came through we drove back to base camp and suited up for an afternoon spin. We found a technical single track not being used in the race and proceeded to follow it back to Hwy 143. All was good until we encountered 2 hikers & a dog on the trail. I tried to avoid hitting them & did a good job of it, but I hit the ground instead. I ended up with a nice slice in my left palm that I’m currently having a difficult time healing. I think a stitch or two may have sped up the healing process. I wasn’t wearing any glove because I mistakenly only brought one pair & they were still caked with mud. Idiot.

That evening we had dinner with the Noriega family, who had rolled into Brian Head earlier that afternoon. I had salmon & Denise had steak. Ryder had the usual. Dinner was nice & to my knowledge, the Noriegas left no vandalism or graffiti.

Sunday
Morning brought more good weather. Unfortunately Sunday was the day that Denise, Ryder, Josh & I had to skip town. Before leaving Utah we stopped at Kolob Canyon to take Chris & Cindy’s engagement photos. Kolob Canyon is part of Zion National Park so Ryder got another passport stamp at the visitor’s center. Two down, 386 National Parks to go.

I’m going to be totally honest right now & reveal that the rest of the trip was agonizing, especially after we hit Vegas. It took us near 3 hours to get from Kolob Canyon to Vegas, which wasn’t bad, but it took us just under 6 hours to get from Vegas to home. Not only that, we couldn’t find any decent ice cream on the way home. That’s the last time I travel home through Vegas on a Sunday. Josh & I wished that everyone coming home from Sin City had lost their ass in the casino over the weekend as punishment for clogging up the 15 South. The highlight of my ride home was when I successfully guessed the temperature in Baker before the giant thermometer was even in eye sight - 110 degrees. At that point we missed Brian Head more than ever…

A view of Cedar Breaks Nat'l Park

No, those aren't ants. That's Denise, Ryder & I standing under the oldest tree in Utah.

Trail side lunch at Cedar Breaks. Ryder opted for milk. The rest of us had sandwiches.

A reinactment of the drive home.

Brian Head Part 1: Wednesday, Thursday & Friday

The Drive
Denise, Ryder, Josh, Jeannie & I left Mentone around 9 pm on Wednesday night. We drove until 1:30 am on Thursday morning and stayed at the Virgin River Hotel Casino for only 29.99! We got the whole experience by eating breakfast at the Chuck Wagon Restaurant. The service was horrible, but the food was worth the $3.50 we paid for an entire breakfast. Ryder opted for milk only, so Denise & I got off really cheap. Overall, the Virgin River Hotel & Casino gets four stars in my book.

Thursday morning after breakfast, we stopped in Cedar City to buy groceries (ice cream). Then we drove curvy Hwy 143 from the town of Parowan (elevation 5990 ft.) to Brian Head. The road tops out at 10,400 ft., but our condo was at 9700 ft. According to Josh, Hwy 143 was reminiscent of the roads in the French Alps due to its extreme pitch and lack of guard rails. I’ll have to take his word for it.

When we reached our condo, at about 2 pm, it was pouring rain - hard rain. But unlike the movie Hard Rain, staring Christian Slater, Morgan Freeman, Minnie Driver & Randy Quaid, it was no joke. The drops were cold, heavy & didn’t appear to be letting up. So much for pre-riding the 27-mile XC course. Instead we unpacked the van (in the rain) of its duffle bags, food, bike gear & baby stuff. Josh & I immediately felt the altitude on our first ascent up the stairs to our second floor condo. We made many trips up & down the stairs because Denise, Jeannie & Ryder packed a lot of stuff. The rain finally let up long enough for us to get in an hour ride. Basically we rode the first 5 miles of the XC course, which went up Hwy 143 & hooked a hard left up a dirt road toward Brain Head Peak. An interesting way to start a mountain bike race, but I liked it. We had talked to James earlier in the day & he said the rest of the course was gnarly. Turns out he was right & the mud didn’t make it any better.

The Race
Due to the long opening climb, they started us with the Junior Experts. In all, about 60 of us left the line at the 2 pm start time. By the time we reached the top of the climb, about 5 miles in, I was sitting 3rd or 4th Semi-Pro with two Junior X’s in front of me. Nearly everyone else had broken from our tempo. From that point to the feed zone, which was about an hour in, I rode in the same position. Denise & Ryder gave me a perfect feed, but it wasn’t long after that I cracked on a long steep & slippery uphill. The hill turned into a hike-a-bike for some of us, including me, & I just couldn’t recover from it. I also lost some places in some of the slick, root-littered descents that favored the east coast contingent. And then came the rain. And then came the chain suck problems. In the end I finished 12th, just over six minutes off the leader’s time. I was somewhat satisfied considering the conditions, but Larry Longo made me feel better when he said, “You can’t live in Redlands and race at 10,000 feet.” Thanks Larry.

Stuff...

We reached over 11,000 ft. at one point & rode through piles of unthawed hail.

Even though he suffered from contact lens problems during the race, James was excited because the day prior, he pre-rode with Kelli Emmett.

The Steven King portion of the course was the Boy Scout Tent Camp that we rode through. Picture riding your bike through dozens & dozens of muddy Boy Scouts running around in the rain & screaming like crazed maniacs. Freaky.

Saturday & Sunday to be continued...

Breakfast on race day.

1 More Post Before We Leave for Utah

Tuesday Night "I thought you said, 'Never again.'"
- Craig Turner, when I showed up for the Sunset ride on my mountain bike, after declaring, a week ago to the day, that I would, "Never again," commit the same mistake.

I faired better this week than last, but just barely & my only excuse is that I front-flatted on the third lap. The tire held air long enough for me to complete the third & final lap, but at the regrouping point, I made everyone wait and watch as I fumbled with the new tube exchange due mostly to the acid sweat that had ran into my eyes. How the only guy with 26-inch mountain bike semi-slicks got a flat tire is a mystery.

Anyway, the usual suspects were there, but some were missing. No Zuke, who is apparently in Colorado Springs looking for a place to live, no Padilla, who has apparently called his season a season & has retreated to the weight room already, no Josh, who is short-handed at the hospital, no James, who was apparently picking up Loren's single-speed from Ben at Cycle Tek, & no Mike Sheppard, who is resting after having spent the spring racing in Europe & the summer racing in Utah & Wisconsin. Still, Jeff Fullford, Adrian Olsen, Todd Parks & Turner made the ride interesting & it was good to see Marine Tom even though he launched the attack that eventually led to my demise. Okay, enough name dropping.

Ryder Bathed Last Night. I Didn't.
Last night after the ride I came home, ate dinner & gave Ryder a bath. He loves taking a bath because he likes to splash & splash & splash & splash & splash around. It's crazy how much he squirms & wiggles & kicks & laughs & laughs & laughs in the bath. And as soon as I took him out of the water he started crying. It's amazing to me that the kid is only 14 weeks out of the womb & he's already able to splash around in the bath like a dolphin. If only I liked to bathe as much as Ryder. Denise couldn't be so lucky.

Ryder Photo of the Day (not in the bath)

Correction: "BTW, your mom's dog is 7 1/2 weeks old. - D"

Note to James: What's with all the D-Town tubing?

Thanks: To Greg Johnson for hooking me up with a sano Bontrager Jersey to wear at the Nat'l.

In His Own Words, Help a Dork Out: "Lost my phone. Can you help a dork out and pass along the digits? Thanks, Josh"
If anyone thinks Josh should have their number, email it to me & I'll forward it to him.

Speaking of Josh, this is what we did to celebrate his birthday & the summer solstice last month. After doing the Tuesday night ride, Josh, Jeff Fulford, James, Todd (a.k.a. The Natural) & I climbed Smiley Blvd. It hurt like hell, especially after three laps around Sunset & doing the 12-Hour only a few days before. Here's a shot that James took from the summit. Josh's face and body language says it all.

Off to Brian Head... hopefully this doesn't happen again.

I wonder what reality television show Mark Foist is watching right now?

Ryder, Riding & Roasting

It’s hard to believe, but Ryder is almost 14 weeks old. He’s already able to roll over & can almost sit up on his own. He laughs all the time, sleeps through the night & speaks gibberish. He’s also got cankles, which should translate into more power to the pedals.

Speaking of pedals, Ryder will take his first big trip this week when we go to Brian Head, Utah for the sixth round of the NORBA Nat’l Series. We’re driving up with Josh & Jeannie. Jeannie’s parents have a time-share up there, so apparently we’ll have a nice place to stay. Nicer than Deer Valley? That will be hard to beat. The trip officially begins Wednesday night. We’ll stop the first night in Mesquite, NV where we’ll laugh at the gamblers throwing away their money (P.T. Barnum was right). By noon the next day we should be at 8,000 ft & in Brian Head. Apparently the race course takes us up to about 10,000 ft. Sounds more like a cruising altitude for a big jet airliner than a place for a bike race.

In an attempt to stay out of the heat, I spent the weekend riding in the mountains and at altitude, which was an excellent option over the 100 degree temperatures of the Inland Empire. On Saturday, Greg Johnson, Tom Bielaszka & I started at Loch Leven & rode up to South Fork, then across the Santa Ana River Valley back home. Frequent stops and a casual pace made for a long day, but it was just what I needed. After the ride, I went home & got cleaned up so Ryder, Denise & I could go see my parent’s new dog. They got a 6 month old chocolate lab that we named Molly. Unfortunately we couldn’t name her Coco because that name has already been taken by an infinite number of chocolate lab owners. My mom kept saying that Molly has papers, which to a life-long mutt owner like myself, means that Molly either rolls her own doobies or she has earned her American Citizenship.

On Sunday, Josh & I were out the door & headed up to Big Bear in the van by 7:00 AM. We parked at Pong’s Oriental Delights where we met James, Larry Long, Trevor Downing & a dude named Dean. James & Longo took us on an epic ride, but I can’t say where because if the wrong people found out, we’d all get thrown in the slammer & being little bike riders, we probably wouldn’t fair too well behind bars. I will say this: 30 miles of perfect singletrack & we only ran across two hikers, who weren’t really hikers. They were more like two lesbians out walking their dog near the trailhead, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I digress. Anyway, Longo & James sure know how to show you a good time. As we were finishing up the ride, it started pouring. Unfortunately the ride back to Pong’s was mostly on pavement, which made for a cold cool down. My hands were numb before it was all over.

FAST FORWARD 1 HOUR & I was home working in the back yard pouring sweat. It’s funny how 5 or 6-thousand feet of altitude can change your body temperature & spirits at the same time.


South Fork was raging this weekend.

SOLD

It was only on the market for two days & it sold anyway. After the 30-day Escrow is up, our little house on Raven Way will no longer belong to us, but the new owner has agreed to rent it back to Denise & I until July 15th. By that time our new place will be done & we won’t have to go through the trouble of moving twice. Actually, it should be done by the end of June, which will give us two weeks to landscape the backyard with a tricycle track around the perimeter (complete with cobbles), a patio & cover, a spa, some grass & a few trees. Long-term plans include a climbing wall scaling the side of the master bedroom outside wall.

Injury Report
In a freak teaching accident, Cindy Noriega managed to get a paper cut on her eye ball this Tuesday. It must have hurt like hell. Hopefully for her sake, it won’t change her liberal views. Joey Lanza seems to be recovering quickly from the broken femur he suffered at this year’s Adelanto Grand Prix. He should be off crutches soon & be able to ride a bicycle as part of his rehab program. Joey & my sister got Dance Dance Revolution for their X-Box, so that will probably serve as a form of rehab too.


Quote: “There’s a victim.”
– Steelman Steve when he saw Sam roll up, as we sat drinking coffee at GFE on Saturday morning in preparation to ride to the 8,442 foot peak of Onyx Summit. As it turned out, Hwy 38 was iced over so we went to Oak Glen instead. And we were the victims because Sam bailed early & Steve & I nearly froze to death on the way down. Then we were met with a stiff headwind in San Timoteo Canyon.

Stick a Fork in Me
It warmed up on Sunday, which made it a perfect day to ride up to the 7 Oaks Dam, over to Warm Springs & down to Hwy 38 from the halfway point of Morton Peak. I left my house around 7:50 AM on the mountain bike and got to GFE with a half hour to spare before Steve & Greg Johnson were supposed to be there at 9. That gave me plenty of time to have breakfast & coffee. I should have eaten more because not long after crossing the dam I fell apart. Between racing the previous Sunday, putting in a really hard training week, freezing in Oak Glen on Saturday & not eating enough on Sunday, I became as lame as lowered pick-up truck as we climbed Warm Springs. Even after reaching the Mill Creek Ranger Station, I still had to ride all the way home to Grand Terrace. Luckily I made it to GFE & got a Coke & three-quarters of a crumb cake in me before passing out of exhaustion. To add insult to injury Steve did the whole damn (no pun intended) in his big ring. For Johnson, it turned out to be more like a yard sale than a mountain bike ride. Before we reached the dam his Oakley glasses fell off his helmet & landed somewhere on the road & later on the air cap fell off of his Fox fork. The next observant guy who does that ride is going to score big if he finds the glasses.

By the time I got home it was 1:50 AM & I had been on the bike for nearly five hours. I got home just in time to watch Paris-Roubaix on OLN. It was freaking awesome to see an American finish second. That race is just freaking awesome period.

Vacation Continued
When we last left off, Denise had just suffered a horrible defeat in a round of mini-golf in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. She was also very disappointed to learn that the hot springs closed early on Sundays, which meant she’d have to wait another day before soaking in the sulfur.


Monday, 8-2-04
The day started like most; with a quest for coffee. From bed Denise requested a lemon or cheese Danish, but when I got inside the lobby & saw the offering I knew she’d be eating the breakfast bars we had brought with us. The continental breakfast at the Silver Spruce Motel was less than desirable. I brought her back a couple of pastries – the only one they had. I also made her some instant oatmeal with brown sugar & maple syrup. For myself, I toasted up the world’s largest English muffin topped with grape jelly & Country Crock (speaking of crock, it was a freaking crock that they didn’t have any peanut butter). I balance all that, two cups of coffee & a newspaper back to the room. Denise wasn’t into what was on the menu so I ended up eating her instant oat meal. It wasn’t bad (and so began my relationship with instant oat meal).

By 8:50 I was out the door & on my bike headed for the bike shop in town. A guy at the shop gave me directions to a pair of mountain bike trails & sent me on my way with a map. I chose to ride the one called Transfer Trail & it wasn’t much of a trail. It was a dirt road that headed up the mountain in the direction of the Glenwood Springs Sky Tram. The road was wide at first & reminded me of Radford Jeep Trail, but I rode it anyway. At times it split off into some two- & single-track but I thought it wise to stay on the road more-traveled since I was riding solo. I climbed at a heart rate of 170 beats-per-minute for over 40 minutes, finally stopping when the then narrow road was completely surrounded by trees & brush on both sides. Bears had been in the news so I decided to cut the ride a little short & began bombing down the same dirt road I had just came up. Just like the old days – ride up a fire road until you’re about to puke or run out of water & then turn around & head home.

Once I got back into town I found the bike trail by the river & rode that until about 11 AM. When I arrived back at the motel Denise was back from shopping. She had found a couple of dirty birthday cards at a book store. I got cleaned up & we walked back into town & ate at Doc Holliday’s Tavern. Denise had French dip & I was bad & had a buffalo burger w/fries. It was good. Afterward Denise took me back to the bookstore where she found the dirty greeting cards. I purchased two rare bike magazines & three magnets. They said, “Jesus Loves You, But Everyone Else Thinks You’re an Asshole.” “No Whining” & “Team Work, Dedication & Motivation – There’ll Be None of that Bullshit around Here.”

After good laughs we walked to the Glenwood Springs Hot Pool & by a few minutes after 1:00 we were with hundreds of other people enjoying the hot springs. The big pool was about 90-degress & the small pool was about 104! In the large pool we walked around its shallow grounds & watched a bunch of idiots plunge from the diving board. Two teenage kids did a couple of impressive dives, but everyone else pretty much sucked. For fun we judged each person’s dive. There were some pretty big splashes, if you know what I mean. We flip-flopped back & forth from pool to pool, leaving the cooler pool only because I actually got cold in the 90-degree water. Denise thought I was weird. The last half hour I spend napping & Denise spent swimming. Afterward we went into the locker room, rinsed the sulfur off our skin & then met in the hallway. Denise was surprised to find out that I got totally naked in the men’s shower. “Big deal,” I said.

Just before leaving the hot springs we saw a little dog tied up outside with a couple of kids trying to pet it. The owner of the dog didn’t seem to be around so every time the boys reached to pet him, he would bark & snap at them. This went on for a few minutes. Finally, one of the little boys summed it up best when he said, “I don’t think that dog likes little kids.” Luckily he figured that out before losing a finger.

Before eating dinner we walked back to the hotel, picked up the van & then drove into town. We dined on the patio of an Italian place called something-Nino’s. I had kick-ass crab-stuffed salmon topped w/shrimp & pasta on the side. Denise had the usual. The place was really good because they left the pitchers of water on the table & when I ordered ice tea, it came out in a carafe. Since it was our last night in Glenwood Springs (or so we thought), we walked Grand Ave. one last time, almost purchased ice cream & laughed at the Teva sandals at an adventure clothing store. Our last stop in town was to get water, yogurt & ice at City Market. Oh, & M&M’s too. The checker at City Market asked where we were from & when we told him, he told us of his family in Laguna. When we got back to the van, we realized we had forgotten ice so Denise went back inside & when he saw her standing there he said, “Ice?” She said, “Yes,” & he let her cut in line to pay for it. The dogs in Colorado may not be friendly, but the people are.

About two exits up Interstate 70 is where our Monday night’s resting place was located. The campground on the river was called Rock Garden. It was very beautiful, in a canyon & if I mis-stepped out of the van a dip in the river would have been for sure. Where we were driving in to the campground we had to wait about five minutes as some family in a giant fifth wheel was trying to back into their campsite. They finally let us pass, but never got themselves situated until about 30 minutes after we had parked the van. I think they may have even hit something while trying to park. It reminded me of vacationing with my parents.

We walked up to the campground office & paid $4.95 for a bundle of fire wood. When I got back to our campsite I realized the only thing I had to start the fire with was a road flare so I did it. The fire got going pretty good, but I was nervous about keeping the flare going so I put it out with some gravel. That eventually meant the death of our entire fire so went to bed.

To be continued…

On the Road
Okay, I’m off to Monterey for the Sea Otter Classic. I’ve got a circuit race on the Laguna Seca Raceway at 8 AM (brrrrr!) Friday morning, a road race at 8 AM (brrrr!) on Saturday & finally a mountain bike race around noon on Sunday. I’m sure by Sunday I’ll feel like a million bucks. Hopefully Denise doesn’t go into labor over the weekend.

I promise no bike stuff next time.

freemanrace@sbcglobal.net

K&N Baby Shower

Yesterday they had a surprise baby shower for me at work. It was pretty cool & we got a lot of good gifts. I was pretty embarrassed with a bunch of people all staring at Denise & me as we opened gifts. Kathy B. (a.k.a. Lil' Bit) and Julie Wofford arranged it & even got Denise in on it. I would have been totally surprised, but the day before the shower Fes, from work, said in his usual Fes accent, "I can not make it to your baby shower, but I'll send you the gift." We got a lot of cool gifts including a Descendents onesie, Social Distortion onesie & Social D toddler's T-shirt - all from Hot Topic. Pretty much the regular crew was there except for Jon Sorenson because he pulled an all-nighter editting German commercials & the Fram Monkey becuase he wasn't invited.

Vacation Continued
When we last left off from our Summer Vacation 2004 Denise & I had just stopped overnight at Colorado Nat'l Monument & were trying to get some sleep after a long day of traveling. Easier said than done. Little did we know that we would be parked next to an episode of Cops.

Sunday, 8-1-04
We woke up well-rested (despite the civil dispute) about 7 AM, took a walk down to a swimming hole & snapped a few pictures of the rim rocks of the Colorado National Monument. It should be noted that Denise dipped her feet in the water. I didn’t. I hate getting wet unless my whole body is going to get wet. We drove a short distance to the town of Fruita in search of breakfast & the Mike the Headless Chicken Statue that I saw on the internet. Couldn’t find either so we stopped at City Market, purchased a doughnut with sprinkles for me, & a croissant & yogurt for Denise. Then we drove through Burger King & ordered a large “bare-footed” coffee, or at least that’s what the lady at the drive-thru called it. While we were in line for coffee, a black cat crossed our path & it worried me, but it turned out to be a perfect day.

We headed toward CO Nat’l Monument, entered the park & drove up Rim Rock Rd. We then parked at the visitor’s center & after visiting & buying some post cards we headed out on a bike ride on the scenic road. I on my mountain bike & Denise on her road bike, we left at 10 AM & vowed to ride for an hour before turning around & heading back. The ride was awesome; hardly any traffic - just other riders. The road hugs the red rim rock canyons & overlooks Fruita and the town of Grand Junction. The best views however, were of the deep canyons that are home to only plants and animals.

Denise rode well. At 11 AM we were supposed to turn around except she wanted to continue on in order to get in 11 miles. After that we turned around & climbed back out of the canyon to a nice long descent. It was a nice ride. Afterward, during the slide show at the visitor’s center, Denise pointed out that we didn’t even fight on our ride; in my mind, a very successful ride.

After taking a spit-shower in the visitor center bathroom (I washed my feet), we drove back down to Fruita & went in to Over the Edge Bikes. The guy in the shop was friendly & said there is 1,000 miles of trails in the area. Maybe I’ll ride some of them next year at their Fat Tire Festival. We bought a pint glass & water bottle, but what I really wanted was the used Gary Fisher Super Caliber 29er that was tagged at $1599. I walked away from it and got in the van headed for Grand Junction.

In Grand Junction we stopped for lunch in the scenic downtown area that reminded us of a bigger version of State St. in Redlands. We ate at Rock Slide Brewery. I had Salmon Caesar salad & a pint of the house hef, while Denise had Chicken Fried Steak & mashed potatoes. My salad was pretty good & Denise was more than satisfied with her lunch. The hef wasn’t great, but everything else, including the service was top shelf.

Because it was Sunday nearly every store on the street was closed so we high-tailed it for Glenwood Springs. We arrived between 4 & 5 PM & checked into our motel – The Silver Spruce Motel. The room meant our first shower since Friday & it felt damn good.

Glenwood Springs has lots to see & do so we headed out on foot & began exploring. We crossed the old bridge that arches over the Colorado River into the downtown area. The buildings were very old, mostly made of red brick. Doc Holiday is buried in town so there was a Doc Holiday Tavern, however due to our big & late lunch we didn’t dine there. Instead Denise had a smoothie at a book/coffee shop & I opted to keep walking to work off my lunch. Although it was closed, I spotted a bike shop in town that I made plans to stop by on Monday morning to try to pick up a group ride.

After walking around we stopped & played a round of mini-golf at a small 18-hole course above the Glenwood Springs Hot Springs. Playing in front of us was a mom & her two kids. Although stern, she was a softy compared to the woman playing two spots ahead of us. She was accompanied by her two little girls & kept accusing & scolding the youngest daughter (about 3 years old) of cheating. At nearly every hole the little girl did something wrong & got a stern ass-chewing from the mom. Just as I about to call the Glenwood Springs Child Abuse Hotline, the threesome finally abandoned at the start of the back nine, mostly likely to go get a beating somewhere out of site. I bet that’s how Tiger Woods’ dad used to be. Speaking of beating, I ruined Denise on the mini-golf links. On the back nine I finished on par & in total I beat her by 14 strokes. Ouch! She did shoot the only hole in one & I congratulated her on that.

Denise took the walk of shame across the street to the old & huge Colorado Hotel. We peeked in & then walked a few blocks of the city to check out some houses. I finally decided to eat Subway around 8 PM. I had a chicken creaser wrap & Denise had a salad. After eating we retired to room to plan the next day.

To be continued...

I promise no bike stuff next time.

freemanrace.sbcglobal.net

Nothing In Particular

Tuesday Night
I’ve only been racing bikes for about four years, & yet as I spun down Olive toward Terracina on Tuesday night, it felt like I’ve been doing it for a decade. Not that I’m getting bored with it; I’m just saying it’s a familiar feeling, even though it was the first Tuesday night since the time change. I guess it’s been about 6 months since the last Tuesday night Sunset ride, but it almost felt like we hadn’t skipped a week. Anyway, my new 10-speed Dura Ace-equipped Trek 5.9 Madone allowed me to hold big ring on the first lap with little stress & on the second time up Sunset, it allowed me to gap the group by a few yards. When I looked back & realized that I had a cushion, I picked it up a notch and put more time on the break. For a while it appeared that I was on my own, but Andy Padilla managed to bridge up to me & we rode the final lap together. Padilla wasn’t letting up at all on the descents either, so there was no time to rest. It was a good workout and I needed that after my poor performance at Sagebrush.

I suspect that as the summer progresses so will the fitness of certain people. Plus, Zuke, Mike Shepard & Josh weren’t there. It will get harder. There were probably between 40 to 50 dudes & I was glad to see some new Tuesday night faces too, like Art, Jon Weaver, Jon Reth & a bunch of other guys I don’t know. Hopefully they’ll keep coming out. Apparently Josh opted to ride his swanky new mountain bike instead & Turner has been working up in Big Bear, so neither one of them was a factor. I’m not sure where Zuke & Shepard were. Steelman Steve & I are planning to do Puke w/Zuke tonight. I’m sure that will hurt.

Writer’s Block
Since I’m lacking motivation & creativity to write much new, I’ve decided to type up portions of our vacation journal from last summer. I was trying to find a home for it & decided to open it up & reread it. Turns out, it’s mildly amusing, so why not type it up:

Friday, July 30, 2004
We left @ about 8pm on Friday night, but before we even got out of Grand Terrace, Denise realized that she forgot this journal that I’m currently writing in (obviously, we must have went back for it). We stopped for the night in Jean, NV in the parking lot of the Gold Strike Hotel & Casino. When we got there we immediately used the restroom in the casino. On the way out we saw some guy passed out on the floor in the casino entry way.

Saturday, 7-31-04
We were awoken early by the rising sun & the urge to use the restroom. At approximately 5:30 am we urinated in the bushes of the hotel parking lot. Then we went back to bed for an hour or so. I didn’t sleep very well on the first night but Denise did, so that’s all that matters. Finally up & out of the van, we entered the Gold Strike for a final bathroom run. This time, on the way out we saw some old dude with a cane asleep on a park bench outside of the casino. Odd? Yes. Mre odd is the fact that the same old dude was asleep on the very same park bench the night before. Maybe he was sleeping. Hopefully he wasn’t dead, but we weren’t going to stick around to find out.

We didn’t even stop in Vegas, however we stopped in St. George, UT to stretch our legs & you guessed it; use the bathroom. Denise spotted an Old Navy so we stopped there. She purchased two pair of shorts. I got nothing. Somewhere along the line we decided to drive to Zion Nat’l Park instead of continuing on I15. Once into to Zion we paid $20 & rode the park tram to the Zion Lodge, which was maybe a third of the way in to the canyon. We hiked a mile to the Emerald Pools. The trail was mostly single-track & very hot. We hiked back to the lodge & instead of heading out of the park, we continued in the van through the park toward I70. Before leaving we went through a mile-long tunnel that was cut through the red rock in the 30’s. Zion was beautiful & we decided that a return trip in the spring or fall, of any year, would be worth the price of admission.

Just outside of Zion we got gas & then took Hwy 89 toward I70. Famished from our big 2-mile hike, we had dinner in the town of Hatch @ some Hotel/Restaurant. For $9.95 we split a 12” pepperoni pizza that was served to us on a round piece of cardboard. I think it was from the nearest Wal Mart, but neither of us cared because we were freaking starved.

We forged on past the Big Rock Candy Mt. outside of Richfield, UT. I was excited because I had ridden ATV’s with Ken Vreeke & Michael MonroE at the same site the summer before for some Honda deal. By about 10 pm we arrived in Fruita, CO & almost stayed at the CO Welcome Center, but decided we better not because the sign said, “No Overnight Camping,” which in my opinion isn’t very welcoming. Plus, it’s redundant because who ever camps without staying overnight. Before finding a place to stay we drove through at Wendy’s and paid $1.06 for a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger that I ate. Then we drove across the street to the Colorado Nat’l Monument Camp Ground. We paid the “Overnight Camping” box $17 (some of it in pennies, like a couple of hippies) & parked in the tent camping area. Just as we were lying down to sleep a civil dispute broke out between a couple parked by us. They yelled & screamed at each other for a while. I think alcohol was involved. I slept through most of it, but Denise watched & listened from inside the van to get the low-down. I think the couple was from Texas.

To be continued…

I promise no bike stuff next time.

freemanrace@sbcglobal.net

The Classic, Sagebrush & A Nameless Infant

Another Redlands Classic Come & Gone
Three stages and a prologue, in my opinion, made for a somewhat less exciting race. Saturday’s criterium actually turned out to be entertaining because a group of three riders – a Jelly Belly, Sea Silver & the other team I can’t remember – went on a break that lasted for about 20 minutes. Just when it looked like it may stick to the end of the 90-minute crit, Colavita & Health Net drove it home on the last lap & caught the escapees. An Argentinean from Colavita took the sprint with a blown apart field behind him. Dudes were popping off left & right, especially in the last 30 minutes.

Turns out the same guy won Sunday’s stage, however Health Net’s, & new Durango resident, Chris Wherry won the whole deal. Apparently the Durango weather didn’t hurt his fitness much. I was proud to see mountain bikers Trent Lowe & Liam Killeen second & third in GC. Only 60-some guys made it to the finish. After hearing about Friday’s windy Oak Glen stage, for once I’m glad I wasn’t riding.

I actually slept in on Saturday morning, which didn’t mean much since I woke up with a mean headache. I figured I’d skip the Saturday RBC ride thinking it would be lame due to the Classic, but I ran into Steelman Steve at GFE later that morning and he said it was business as usual. Probably a good ideal I did skip it because I didn’t have the legs for Sagebrush on Sunday as it was. I probably put in 2 hours total on Saturday & in that time I put in zero efforts. In hind site I should have gotten my heart rate up.

Another Sagebrush Safari Come & Gone
Never drink anything new an hour before a race. I dealt with stomach problems for half the race and I’m thinking it’s because I drank one of those weight loss drinks an hour before the start. They’re packed with carbs (go figure) & they’re a great recovery drink so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to down one prior to the start. Bad idea. Plus my wrist is still bothering me from the Nova crash a couple weeks ago. I rode like a freaking beginner on the upper portion of the course, like I was walking bare-footed through broken glass. It was just one of those days where I wasn’t willing to suffer. I ended up in 9th place & since it was a CA State & an AMBC Race, I qualified for the Nat’l Championship in Mammoth this September. Thank God I don’t have to go to Castaic (a.k.a. Crapstaic) next weekend. I could race only the remaining Nationals for the rest of the summer and be content. I say that now, but before I know it I’ll be on the starting line at some Am Cup race.

Thanks to Denise & Jeannie for the excellent feed. Josh turned in a second place in Exp 30-34 so his bid for a Semi-pro upgrade is well on its way. Poor guy. For Josh the race was somewhat ceremonial because it marked the final voyage for the Home Grown. Yes, it’s true. The Bass Boat is being replaced with a SRAM-equipped titanium hardtail that will be race-ready by Sea Otter. Josh has had a love/hate relationship with the Homegrown since I’ve known him, so it was only fitting that in their last race together, they finished runner-up even though he wasn’t able to shift the son-of-a-bitch into the big ring for most the race. Goodbye old friend.

I think Sagebrush is actually one of the best races all year, but the last four miles plain sucks because of the course split near the final decent that is always littered with Beginner & Sport riders. Over half of them refuse to get out of your way. This year was the worst. I even accidentally stuck some guy in the bushes, but I don’t feel too bad because I had been following him for far too long. He should have let me by sooner.

Let the Suffering Commence
Day Light Savings Time means two things and one of them is Tuesday nights on Sunset. The first few Tuesdays will probably be lack-luster because the days still aren’t long enough to do more than two laps, but as soon as the days grow longer so will the suffering. I can’t wait. The other thing that the time change means is that I’ll finally be motivated to do the riding I should be doing. More daylight and warmer weather is a great motivator since I’m anti-nocturnal and don’t fancy cold weather.

Lil’ Punk Still Nameless
So Denise thought she’d send an internet pole asking people to vote on Shane, Grant or Ryder. It seems that Shane is most popular, followed by Grant & then Ryder. The results from Florida aren’t in yet, but if only everyone knew the inspiration behind the name Shane, they’d think twice before clicking their mouse on that e-chad.

I promise, no bike stuff in the next post...

A photo of the new house taken about six weeks ago.

Photo

freemanrace@sbcglobal.net

CHECKING IN...

Too much has happened since my last post, so I'll just say this: Denise I expecting a baby boy on April 21 & we're buying a new house in Mentone that will be completed in July. Oh yeah, and I still like suffering.

More later...

Off the Wagon (written Nov. 13)

For those of you who weren’t around last weekend, I fell off the wagon (again) and landed inside the Royal Falconer in downtown Redlands. On night one (yah, that’s right, night one), I was joined by Aaron Gerth, Bob Hunt and his girlfriend, Lisa. Before they even arrived I had already consumed a pint of Heffenwizen and by the time we called it an evening, I had lost count.

Night two started at the Black Angus with Denise, Meredith and Annalisa Hannah. I had a couple of Newcastles and after dinner I talked them into driving over to the Falconer. We stuck around for a few hours, dumping some singles into the juke box and twenties at the bar. I ran into a grip of people I know that night, which was nice because since the time change I’ve pretty much been cooped up inside my house. Apparently Meredith got a little bothered because someone was bagging on her for still living in Rialto. It’s not like she lives in Fontana or Chino or even North Redlands. Rialto’s only bad if you’re afraid of society.

Anyway, the Falconer kicks ass because their juke box contains CDs by The Pogues and Flogging Molly and then there’s other good stuff like Joy Division and Elvis Costello. Some even kept playing Salvation by The Cranberries and a few Johnny Cash tunes. How cool is that? The lack of Dropkick Murphys keeps the place sane, although I’d love to hear Barroom Heroes echo through the joint.

Speaking of the Bottle. . .
I finally found the DVD, If I Should Fall From Grace: the Shane MacGowan Story. I picked it up at Rhino Records in Claremont on a Friday and watched it twice before Sunday evening. Unfortunately they stopped filming in January of 2001, so it’s not totally up to date. It’s filmed as a documentary so there are a lot of one-on-one interviews with Shane, Phil Chevron from The Pogues, Nick Cave, Shane’s proud parents and girlfriend, Victoria. Some of the footage is really sad because Shane has let alcohol and drugs control his life for so many years that you can’t always understand what he’s saying during interviews. Still, he’s an awesome lyricist and musician. His dad said that when Shane was about 12, he had Bob Dylan playing in one ear and the Grateful Dead in the other. I guess that helps explain is genius. Maybe my favorite part of the movie is the old footage they dug up of The Nips, Shane’s first band from the late ‘70s. Originally called The Nipple Erectors, they shortened and changed their name in order to get more gigs. Little known fact; in the early going the Sex Pistols were often advertised on flyers as just The Pistols for the same reason. While I was watching it, Denise commented that The Nips sound very modern. She’s right and that was 25 years ago. I could go on about Shane forever, so I’ll spare you all.


Quote
Aaron called and requested I print a Phil Ligget quote that he recently read. I can’t remember the entire quote. It was something about Lance Armstrong, Jan Ulrich and a trailer park. That’s all I remember. Oh yah, and something else about the eye of a hurricane. Whatever it was, I remember it being a Ligget classic.

“Tough times go away. Tough men do not.” Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton.

Sweetness said it and I keep reminding myself of it every time I want to go our and ride my bike or even ride, but then remember that I have some sort of mystery ailment in my left thigh/groin/hip area. It’s kept me off the bike for about a month now and even though I am able to jog, I’m even refraining from that in hopes that it will heal soon. The general practitioner set me up with a few x-rays and sent me down to the lab to drawl blood. All that checked out so now I’m heading to the orthopedic.

Just about all I can think about lately is riding by bike. I didn’t have a problem with taking a month off, but now I’m approaching two months and I’m missing a bunch of cross races that I had planned on riding. And I can’t even do any leg weight lifting at the gym. I fear that I’m going to be way behind on fitness and endurance when the doctors finally figure out what my deal is. All I want for Christmas is to be able to ride my bike.

I was going to end this post there, but I don’t want to end it on a sad note. Instead I’ll say, I’m looking into putting together a new website with photos, a message board and features of that nature. Maybe by New Years. . .

freemanrace@sbcglobal.net

It’s not a Halloween party unless there’s a hearse parked out front
That’s what greeted me, Denise, Jeannie and Aaron at Rob Bock’s costume party, along with plenty of drink, candy and Chic ‘n Stew. I threw together a Sid Vicious costume the night before and Denise went as a pirate. Denise thinks everyone should know that part of my costume consisted of a pair of her jeans because I couldn’t find my leather pants and all my jeans aren’t of ‘70s punk rock tightness. Ha, ha Denise. Aaron showed up in his fishing duds, although he had to check his pole at the door. Still obsessed with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jeannie was draped in an Elfish Princess dress accessorized with big pointy ears and a massive hooded cape. Mark and Joanne Foist eventually showed up dressed as two guys from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I thought it would have been funny if they would have gone through Rob’s drawers and closet and replenished his wardrobe with hip trendy clothing from Banana Republic. Then they could have shaved all the hair off of Rob’s back and taught him how to cook something like curry chicken. Wait, I don’t think Rob has any hair on his back and he already cooks curry chicken. Anyway, Rob was dressed as Shaggy from Scooby-Doo and was sporting hair and a goatee a shade of red. One of Rob’s co-workers, dressed as a NY Giant fan, brought a Karaoke machine, but he couldn’t get the lyrics to read on the TV. Too bad, because I was planning a rendition of Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghost Busters. Maybe next year. Not all party goers were in costume, but it was still fun, which is why Denise and I didn’t get home until well after midnight. Thanks Robby Boxcar. Sorry we didn’t stick around to help with tear down.


Park Tool Chain Cleaners: Who needs ‘em?
It’s official. P-Diddy ran NYC in a time of 4:14.54, which means Mark Foist lost the bet that he and I made at Rob’s Halloween party. Mark thought that P-Diddy wasn’t proud enough to beat Ophra’s Chicago Marathon time and I was confident he would. Don’t ask me why I suddenly had so much confidence in the alleged murdering hip-hop artist and music producer. Maybe it was because I fell off the wagon and indulged in several Newcastles that evening. No, scratch that. I based my bet on logic, such as: it’s logical that a healthy and strong 30-something year old male might turn in a better time than a middle-aged woman with an intermittent weight problem and a history of smoking crack. The wager? Joanne, Mark’s better half, has to scrub the grime from the chain of my mountain bike. A hand shake, witnessed by a room full of people, sealed the deal so I expect a shining SRAM power link by the end of next weekend. Sorry Joanne. A bet’s a bet.

“That dude is tough.” – Nathan when I told him Rick Daniel won the Iron Man class at this year’s Glen Helen 24-Hour, again.

You know what else is tough besides Rick? Sitting around on my arse waiting for my pulled groin muscle to heel. Sure, I’m able to jog a little, however I’m unable to ride my bike and do the leg work in the gym that I should be doing right now. Currently the gym is only good for a litter upper body work and abs. I fear if I don’t mend soon my performance in next year’s racing season may be in jeopardy. Not to mention this time of year is really boring as far a riding goes, so I’ve concocted a plan of attack to stir up a little fun. While my injury heels I’m going to set up a cyclocross course on the back side of Blue Mountain. That way when I’m ready to ride again I’ll be able to ride a little cross for fun. I’m thinking one night a week a few of us can get together and flog ourselves for about an hour. Who’s with me?

Sunday was a well-deserved day of rest. I had planned on sleeping in but as usual Sala jumped in to bed around six and after that I couldn't sleep. I rose about seven, made coffee and downloaded the podium images that Denise shot on Saturday. Of course, I had my eyes closed in nearly all the shots taken of me standing next to Tinker on the podium. Later that morning Denise and Sala got up and we sat around for most of morning before heading over to Chipotle for lunch. I’m getting over that place.

In the afternoon we went to Moore Middle School, where Jeannie, Chris and Cindy were working on getting ready for the upcoming school year. I laid around on the couch in Cindy's room and watched the Niners beat up on the Bears. It was a very uneventful afternoon and it was damn hot in those class rooms.

At about 4 we headed over to the pool and played a game of three flies up and dodge ball. I forgot how tiring treading water can be. I swam for over two hours. So much for a recovery day.

Earlier in the day Josh called see how the Epic went. He was planning on doing Onyx Summit. I told him to watch out for traffic since Hwy 330 and 18 were closed due to the fire. That meant a lot of traffic on the 8443 ft. climb to Onyx. Just the though of doing Onyx a day after doing Radford made me sick.

Monday was another recovery day but wasn’t supposed to be. I intended to ride in the evening, but we had to go sign our refi papers out in Rancho and by the time we got done it was late. Another rest day won’t hurt I guess. Instead Denise and I went and had dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. She loves that place and I can’t figure out why. The selection is slim, the service is below par, the parking sucks and they serve their Caesar salad with way too much dressing. We at least had a good time making fun of the other patrons in the joint. What a society we live in.

Today’s Tuesday and you know what that means. I’ll have to make the best of it too because I leave tomorrow for Vegas and then Utah until next week and then I’ll be home for a couple days and then off to Alabama for the AMA Superbike finale. I’m about to get real familiar with my running shoes. Maybe I’ll be able to post from the road . . .

freemanrace@sbcglobal.net

The latest from the PR machine that is me . . .

FREEMAN FINISHES SECOND OVERALL AT BIG BEAR EPIC AND CLAIMS CALIFORNIA STATE ENDURANCE 30-39 CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP

BIG BEAR, CA, SEPT. 6 – Ran on the new UCI World Endurance Championship standards, the 75 mile Big Bear Epic got underway at 7 a.m. and it didn’t take long for Canyon Velo’s Matt Freeman and two-time U.S. Olympian, three-time National XC Champion Tinker Juarez to drop the rest of the brave field. Nearly ten minutes into the race, Juarez, who recently earned a silver medal at the World 24-Hour Championship in Whistler, Canada, went off the front of the pack, taking Freeman with him.

The two racers rode together for a short time before Freeman gave up the chase, in order to save his energy for the long day ahead. Regardless, Freeman kept Juarez honest until about the midway point of the grueling race when the course headed up Radford Jeep Trail, an hour-long rocky climb that begins at approximately 5600 ft. in the Santa Ana River bottom and ends over 2000 ft. later on the east side of Big Bear’s Snow Summit.

“Tinker put a lot of time on me going up Radford, but I wasn’t worried so much about him as I was about my own legs,” said Freeman, who is fresh off his round seven California State XC win and plans to enter the Fall Classic on October 12 as a Semi-pro. “As if the climb isn’t bad enough, we had gnats swarming around our face for the first half of the climb. I probably wasted a lot of energy just waving them away.”

Freeman survived the bugs and the Radford climb, but lost valuable time to third place Cliff Clairmont, when confusing course markings toward the end of the race found him riding in circles. “I was comfortable with my lead over third place until I made a wrong turn and lost the course markings,” said Freeman. “I turned around and went back to where I’d made the wrong turn, but I still wasn’t sure I was in the right place. I think fatigue had a little bit to do with my confusion. When I finally figured out were to go, about five minutes had passed so it made me a little nervous.”

From there it was a big-ring sprint back to the Start/Finish, which took place at Big Bear Lake’s Whaler’s Pointe. Freeman crossed the finish line in six hours and 37 minutes, 32 minutes behind Juarez’s winning time. Third place Clairmont capitalized on Freeman’s late-race confusion to pull within a minute of the new 30-39 class champion.

“I wish I could have kept Tinker a little closer, but cramping a little bit around the five-hour mark forced me to spin in easier gears,” said Freeman. “Still, I’m honored just to be standing on the podium with him.

“Winning the California State Endurance Championship in my age division is a great way to end my career as an Expert racer,” continued Freeman. “Hopefully I can carry this momentum into the Fall Classic next month when I make my Semi-pro debut.”

For a complete list of results visit www.teambigbear.com

Rember Me?

January 3rd? Is that the last day I had any free time? It feels like it. A lot has happened since then; mainly I changed jobs (again) and almost completed an entire mountain bike racing season. And then there’s day to day life, which just complicates work and racing. Take today for instance. After my morning ride I had to shower and groom, do the dishes and put in a load of laundry. All this before 8:30 a.m.! If only we had a maid, but that wouldn’t help with the shower and grooming part much.

So, what’s new? The new job is with Vreeke & Associates (V & A), Honda and Dunlop’s advertising and press relations agency. The sweet part is I work out of my house, which means no more commuting – at least not daily. Our office is in Simi Valley and I go there about once every two weeks. I also have to travel a little more than at Kawasaki, but it’s worth it since I don’t have to sit on the 91 and 55 freeways daily anymore. So basically I sit in the spare bedroom of our house everyday and write stuff for www.HondaRedRiders.com. We also publish a magazine titled Red Rider, which has a circulation of 600,000! It goes out to al the members in the Honda Riders Club of America. It’s a pretty good read and I’m proud to be a part of it. There’s a ton of other stuff V & A does; too many to list.

As far as racing goes, I had a pretty good season even though it started out with several mechanicals (all linked to the Cannondale Scalpel) and an unfortunate flat while leading in the last five miles of the opening California State XC Series. Once the guys at Mountain Bike magazine hooked me up with a 2003 Team Issue Orbea (only 21 lbs), my results started looking up and my fitness even improved. After a 6th place finish at the National Championship Series opener, I peaked late in the season and put together two seconds and race win in the state series. I also contested all but one of the NORBA NCS events (Mt. Snow, Vermont) and tied for tenth in the national standings. In addition to my round one sixth place performance at Big Bear, I took tenth on a very muddy Snowshoe, West Virginia course, a disappointing 13th on a very dusty and flat Sandpoint, Idaho course and 10th on a very short, but fun Durango, Colorado course. Missing Vermont obviously hurt me in the overall, as did my poor finish in Idaho.

Other summer highlights included teaming up Sean Donovan and Griffith and Garnet Vertican to race the 12 Hours of Snow Summit. We won the Pro/Semi-pro/Expert 4-man division by 33 minutes and handily took the overall. It was a long day, but rewarding.

And then there’s always the road bike on Tuesday nights, my favorite. I’m a little sad because they’re coming to an end due to the shorter days, but I’ll always have the memories. As usual there were about four to six of us three-lappers who regularly beat the hell out of each other on a weekly basis. Myself, the Brothers Vertican, Josh Underwood, Andy Padilla, Chris Trembly, Marine Tom and occasionally a kid named Michael would go off the front early and set the stage for a night of anaerobic bliss. With only a few long Tuesdays left this summer, those days are soon to end. And then there was Thursday night crit practice, which I still haven’t mastered . . .

So, this coming weekend is the Big Bear Epic and I’ve been giving my body a rest leading up to it. Marked for 75 miles and billed as the National Endurance Championship, I have no idea what kind of pace will be set. I’d imagine that Tinker and the likes will be there and since I’ve never competed in a race like this, I don’t know what to expect. I do expect to do well, at what cost I’m not sure of. I’ll let you know.

That’s it for now. I’m meeting Denise for dinner somewhere (undetermined as usual). I’m going to try and start posting regularly again and even plan to ad photos. Hopefully it will help in getting a decent sponsorship for next year. I downloaded my Semi-pro papers from the USA Cycling website yesterday. For the second year in a row my results were good enough for the semi-elite upgrade so I might as well give it a shot.

YOU'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH

Today I am going to fulfill your new years wish. No, I’m not going to help you shed that five pounds you added over the holidays. No, I’m not going to help you refrain from drinking, cursing, smoking and/or racking up horrendous credit card bills. Today, exactly one month from my last posting, I am updating the web site. Happy New Year! You can stop emailing your requests.

One might figure that since a month has passed since my last posting that I would have a lot to report. Not so. This is 2003 now, so instead of paragraph after paragraph of beautiful flowing prose describing my two-week Christmas vacation, I bring you bullet points for the short attention span of mankind.

*At the ZX-6R Press Launch in Las Vegas Forbes/Men’s Journal/Rolling Stone’s Mike Salisbury revealed to me that Ernest Hemingway did not use adjectives. (Yah, that’s right, I said Rolling Stone).

*The Blue Man Group at the Luxor in Las Vegas is the best MAJOR stage production I have ever seen. They topped The Rolling Stones, Jane’s Addiction, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and that lame Metallica show at Blockbuster.

*Be on the look out for a royal blue Honda CRV occupied with a snowball-throwing father, mother and two elementary school-age children. They barely missed me as I climbed Oak Glen on my road bike Christmas Eve. It’s great what parents are teaching their children these days. I hope the only thing Santa left under their tree Christmas morning was an electrical fire.

*Descending Oak Glen in the snow is wicked cold.

*The wait to get seated at a downtown Disney restaurant is wicked long (and cold).

*People who watch a lot of Texas football tend to throw a lot like Texas football quarterbacks. I learned this the hard way when Chris threw me a duck in the street that I tried to pull in with one eye on the ball and the other eye on the curb. The result was a badly swollen left knee that still needs an MRI.

That’s all the time I have right now because I’ve got more pressing issues to address:

The Insomniac Theme Song

Awwww….
Drunks and losers,
Dwarves with limps,
Flos and hos and one-eyed pimps –
Down the alley way they creep.
They’re all your friends when you can’t sleep.

Come with me and you will see
A late-night-freak-show-jubilee!
Kick the Sandman in his sack,
Stay up late – Insomniac!

Catch Dave Attell’s Insomniac on Comedy Central Thursdays at 10 PM. Next week; Cleveland.

WARNING: Do not see Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights. It was the worst 70 minutes of my life.

Hey, he’s sick and he needs help
For those of you unaware, Rick Daniel competed in and won the Iron Man class at the 2002 edition of the 24 Hours of Glen Helen this summer. Although I’ve never competed in a 24-hour event solo, I used to let Rick talk me into doing all kinds of other weird motorcycle-related stuff. Since then, I got married and gained an additional brain so I’m a lot smarter now. In fact, I’m even capable of manipulating people into riding up Blue Mountain one night a week. Rick is one of those people. I know what you’re thinking. This Rick guy sounds like he’s a lot tougher than he is smart. Well, Dirt Bike Magazine did label him as the “Toughest Man Alive,” but he also has enough smarts to have written Diary of a Madman for DirtBikeMagazine.com. Personally, I think Rick’s girlfriend/crew chief/head chef/inspirational guru Dodie Webster composed the masterpiece, but Rick insists he wrote it and that Diary of a Madman’s Girlfriend will be in stores early next year. Anyway, have a read.

QUOTE
“I remember that game of Quarters but for the life of me, I can't remember where we were at. I think you had the smoothest moves.”
-Luke’s return email on trying to help me remember the mystery location and participants of the game of Quarters in question. That must have been one hell of a game of Quarters.

Speaking of quotes
Possibly inspired by the uplifting and inspirational Mario Cipollini quote from my last posting, Trevor broke out his Quotable Cyclist book and sent me over a few more quotes.

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live."
-Mark Twain "Taming the Bicycle"

"I thought of that while riding my bike."
-Albert Einstein on the theory of relativity

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
human race."
-H.G. Wells

An Email from Luke
“ . . . We took the 78 back which cuts right through Glamis. I have never seen so many white trash dumb asses in my life. They just thrashed the entire place. Beer cans, garbage...you name it, it was there. I guess the new thing is to cut the tops off of golf carts, put paddles on them and supe the engines up. I saw about 10 of those on the way home. Well regardless, there were a lot of trailers on the road packed to the gill with Glamis paraphernalia. That is certainly a different crowd from the days of Lucerne and Barstow.”
-Luke, describing a portion of his Thanksgiving Road Trip from his mom’s house in Arizona to his house in San Diego.


An Email from Mom
Matt,
I need your Christmas list.
Love,
Mom