Vegas part 1

Vegas was a whole lotta work and a little bit of fun. I got to see some of the new stuff set to hit the bike market in the coming months, made some new friends and met up with some old friends. Mostly, the bike world is same old same old. I'm getting tired of seeing everything made from carbon fiber. I did really enjoy the beautiful displays and booths. Some companies get attention with beautiful models, some with gimmick bikes and others with events. There were several espresso machines pumping out free black stuff. Check out this bamboo bike with bull horn handlebars.

Still alive, just not riding much...

Well, 2 weeks ago I gave the Niner its last voyage. I sold it last week on eBay. I just wasn't enjoying the REALLY big wheeled life. I got my money back, and a little more...it's nice working within the industry, buying bikes, riding them, and selling them at the purchase price.... I've ordered myself a Haro VL120, duece boinger. Frame, shock and fork cost the amount that I got for my Niner, so its been an even trade, just some work on disassembly and the new build. No biggie, I enjoy it. Next week is Interbike, in Vegas- I won't be attending. Though, all sales staff, Ross, and our other Tech: Shawn, will be there. Stop by and give a hand shake to everyone. As for me, I'll be building up my Haro and riding the SNOT out of it. Perhaps a day at Alafia River State Park, maybe some Carter Road action, and of course Flatwoods/ Wilderness Parks (riding distance). I have a few bar/stem combos I'm looking forward to trying out. Carbon Flat bar with a 70mm stem or 100mm stem, Or two riser bars. I'm going 31.6 steering for this bike. I'm stoked....check out www.harosonix.com for a peak of my new frame. I'll get pic posted when it gets here, and thru the build process. Word to big Bird.

Sharon likes Dick

Took a little ride with Sharon, Bruce and Dick last night. We went all the up Rock Ridge Road to the Van Fleet trail, then down the trail and back to Bruce's house. Dick is retired and 73 years old. He's amazing. A true testament to what riding will do for you. A got run down by a jerk in a car about 2 years ago, put in the hospital for a few weeks and he was back at it within a couple of months. Bruce is a highway patrolman who's name I use to get out of tickets. He was in a BAD crash on our Saturday morning ride about 1 1/2 years ago. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks too and has had surgery on his face to fix the damage. When you thnk about it, I guess cycling can be quite dangerous. Crashing is commonplace, especially if you race a lot. But the joys far outweigh the potenial dangers and with good riding habits and traffic sense you can minimize the dangers.

Larry

Check out my buddy Larry Giddens at the police olympics. He's the one with the CSC jersey.

Bad Legs, Good Neck

I had a rough time riding today and it wasn't because of my neck. My legs hurt like I'd done 90 miles just before I started and I had an allergy headache. Boo fricken hoo. Chris and I rode up north on Rock Ridge Road. The capitol for Polk County rednecks in the redneck south. That makes it virtually the holy land for pickup driving, beer swilling, fat, rebel hat wearing, no shirt wearing rednecks. No trouble today though. We were out early enough. They were either fishing or still sleeping. It is nice country to ride in if you don't get accosted. We did all of 38 miles and that was about all I cared to do today. Here are a few images the cheesy bike am caught.

Not Fast, Not Far

Ye ole neck hurt bad this morning but I decided to give riding a try anyway. Happy to say it actually got a little better as I rode. We didn't ride fast or far but we did do 22-23 for about 5 miles, just to test the legs after almost 2 weeks off. The rest of the ride was at a leisurely 20 excluding warm up and cool down. As you can see from bike cam pix we did the power plant loop. We're gonna try to ride about 40-45 tomorrow and not get too far from home just in case the neck acts up.

Still a pain in the neck

I called Sharon at lunch yesterday and asked if she might want to ride in the evening. She was going to ride but she counselled me against it citing the recent flare-up in my neck. The pain was almost gone on Monday and then Tuesday morning it was bad again. I've been on muscle relaxers and pain meds everr since. On the drive home I talked to her again and by this time of the day my enthusiasm for riding had waned but she talked me into it. Then I got caught in a traffic jam and called Sharon back and stated I wouldn't be riding because I was mired. 5 minutes later traffic was back to normal so I got home at about the normal time, got dressed and jumped on the bike. The pain seemed to subside as I rode. Now, 12 hours later I can assess the damage. I don't feel any better or worse than I have recently. I guess an 18 mile ride has no effect one way or the other on my neck. The ride was enjoyable and mostly uneventful. I got Sharon a new stem, carbon spacers, nifty headlight and seatpost. Actually the seatpost is a final prototype from work that she's testing for me. The headlight is tiny and goes on and off the bike quickly and easily and is very bright. I got some new gloves (sixsix1) that are ok. Sharon like the new position which is slightly shorter than before. We have come to the conclusion that for her next bike we're going to find something with the same size seat tube she has now (54cm) and a slightly shorter than 54cm top tube. Exciting huh!

IT"S FRIDAY

It's friday and I haven't ridden my bike since Monday. I have, however consumed mass quantities of pain killers and muscle relaxers. Being a former massage therapist I know the value of physical therapy and massage. That being said, I get 10 times the relief with the medications and stretching. I forgot how loopy the meds make me at first, but I'm getting used to them now. The pills that used to make me mean aren't having that effect on me this time, just smooth, mellow relief. 0 aches and pains anywhere in the body. I didn't have anything to sleep last night though and I should have. Sorry there's no bike riding in this post but I'll have something to say tomorrow, I promise.

A pain in the neck

Since starting back on the bike a little over a month ago I've had some holdover pain from car accident injury. Today was terrible. The first half of the ride was not too bad but by the time I got home the pain was 8 out of 10. I popped some ibuprofen and got a hot shower. By 3:00 I could hardly move. Luckily I still have some muscle relaxers and pain pills.

My car accident was my 2nd day working with Jeremy. For the first 3 months I worked with him he said I was the quiet guy who worked in the corner. I wasn't very friendly. The pain pills make me angry, a deep down rage I have to work hard at swallowing. It bubbles up some times in weird ways. I don't feel like killing, just get annoyed at everything. I don't know how it happened. I worked on the light in the bathroom which involved some reaching out. I pulled weeds and swam with the kids. I woke up this morning and the ole neck hurt and just got worse from there. Boo hoo. I'm such a whiner.

Nice ride with my two best friends

We had exactly 38 miles, right down to the 100th of a mile. Sharon, Chris and I rode down to Bartow via the new bike trail. It would seem from the descripion that the trail would be a terrible place to ride but no. It's a trail on an abandoned railroad bed next to a highway. Sounds like the type of place I don't want to ride. But, they made it fun and a little scenic by winding it through some trees and not actually on the railroad berm but on the far side of the highway. They are working on the segment from the middle to the trailhead in Bartow. Right now, you have to ride a little on the highway as it starts from nowhere and ends at nowhere. Sharon took most of the pictures I'm offering today with the world famous $10 digi.

Not quite epic but close

Epic rides are something special. For me, they usually happen in the winter when we go on long
rides, stretching the limits of how far we can ride from the house. Bob Roll talks about epic
rides in one of his books. The 7-11 pro team members were very fond of them. Usually, epic
rides happen when you're in some exotic localle but sometimes, they happen right in our own
back yard. Your body and your mind both have to agree the ride was epic. Today, my legs are
screaming epic but my mind says no, just a hard ride for an out of shape guy. Chris and I left
the house a little after 8am and headed to Haines City via Auburndale and Lake Alfred. We
headed south on the "ridge" and got a little hill work. The ridge is sort of Florida's spine.
Out of state folks are surprized at how hilly it is. Then we headed back to the west, through
Winter Haven and back home to Lakeland. With 1 1/2 laps of the lake we ended the day with a
little over 67 miles or 112 kilometers to our non American friends. Jeremy was correct, I
never doubted him, when he said the $10 digital camera would work better in good light. We got a few ok shots riding today.

More riding...

Well I hit up the trail again. I've figured out it's exactly 9 miles from my apartment, to the 25 Trail marker in Flatwoods, via the offroad trails. I also wound thru the park and found where it hits Morris Bridge Road, and then into the Wilderness part of the trail. 21 miles yesterday. I rode on the new American Classic Post. It's a great design, and VERY RIGID! I was riding our Titanium Post, which is a little more forgiving. The new style held up for the first ride, I'm anxious to see how it will hold up to rigid MTB abuse.
Cheers. Oh yeah, Ross I worked some more on your frame....it's coming along. CX season is coming up too!