Jack Up Your Morning

I don't know what you were doing at 6:00 this morning, but I'm pretty sure I know what you should have been doing...and it has something to do with rolling quietly and swiftly along some totally buff single track ...with the sun rising over a mirror-like lake...disturbed only by the occasional duck flushed from the shoreline as we cruised by.

Let me know if you are interested in jacking up your morning - we'll get the regular AM ride thing going, make you a better person...

Chris

"If you're lucky enough to be in the mountains, you're lucky enough."

--anonymous

How do you rate?

The mo7s actuaries just notified me that we're approaching the high water mark for DSLC. DSLC stands for "Days Since Last Crash" and is a metric that we track closely here at mo7s headquarters.

Some highlights:

• Our longest "dry spell" was the 129 days between DC's 12/20/07 Christmas Crash near the Struble and MR's 4/27/08 Plastic Surgery Crash on the Sole trail. That's a long time.
• CD and DC are tied for first (or last) with 4 notables each (notable = potentially season ending) and MR is a close second, but honorable mention has to go to JC for the Showboat Crash which will live in infamy forever.
• DSLC really bottomed out during June and July of last year. The average DSLC during that period was just 9. That means almost one notable crash per week. Now thatis some serious entertainment value but the problem is that the burden was shouldered by a relative few riders (myself included). Don't count on the same guys to carry the load this this summer, we're retired now.

What to make of this drivel? Well you can interpret it in numerous ways:

1. Apathetic - you have no pulse and frankly don't care;
2. Fatalistic - we are doomed to have a crash sometime in the next week and you don't want to be the one so this is just one more excuse to just stay home;
3. Voyeuristic - like fatalistic, except you recognize that it will probably be someone else and you don't want to miss seeing the carnage first hand;
4. Optimistic - unlike fatalistic and voyeuristic, you recognize that we are capable of great things like riding bicycles without falling down;
5. Realistic - stuff happens, I'd rather have it happen outdoors on a bike than indoors staring at the boob tube (or whatever it is people do when they're not riding bikes).

I am wavering somewhere between 4 and 5 (I would say 4.4). Where do you rate yourself?

Chris

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet. This is not done by jostling in the street"

--William Blake

Weather Porn

If there is any such thing as "weather porn" then I think you may be looking at it right now (or at least a picture of it).

But instead of just staring at this screen like a 12 year old schoolboy visiting the Victoria's Secret website, you might rather get out there and enjoy it the right way - rolling down some buff singletrack with the wind in your hair and a bike between your legs.

I may try a late afternoon ride tomorrow (Thr) and an evening ride on Friday. I'd also like to include a Fair Hill roadie this weekend. For me that would have to be early Sunday morning.

Let me know if you are interested joining forces on any of these ride opportunities.

Chris

Hibernia Redux

Sunday's duathlon at Hibernia was a big success. Sara bailed me out, again, by assuming the running responsibilities and letting me focus on the bike. We even shaved 10 minutes off last year's time in spite of keeping Sara up way past her bedtime on Saturday (bad parents).

Now on a related note...

A Stanford University report determined that "psychological factors appear to inflame back pain." Now I'm not suggesting that fear, uncertainty, or doubt was a factor in a certain father daughter team not showing up for Sunday's race, because I have seen the daughter play ball and I know SHE is a very tough competitor. But just in case, I did some research and confirmed that the $55 registration fee that was forfeited would have paid for a self-help book on overcoming your fears. Just a thought.

Chris

"It never gets easier, you just go faster."

– Greg LeMond

Hi Ho Silver

Today I took Silver out for long overdue ride on some PA single track. Silver had been sidelined since Christmas when a 29er SS turned up under the tree. 

I brought Silver to the OBX last week as my beach cruiser. Riding her last week I was reminded how nicely she handles. A year ago I installed a Marzocchi and took about 1" off the AC distance which made the bike slightly"twitchy" - a feeling had grown to appreciate.

So anyway we got re acquainted and it was all good.

Heart Rate 41 and Steady

This is the biggest hill I could find within 100 miles of our rental cottage (palace really) on the Outer Banks. As far as I can tell, the entire eastern third of North Carolina is basically one big sandbar, and virtually all of the houses here are one good wave from becoming $3.2M worth of colorful driftwood.

I am wiling away the hours lounging in the hot tub, taking long mid-day naps, and stuffing my pie-hole with a variety of sugar and fat laden treats, washed down with lattes and budweiser. I do take the occasional bike ride to the local  convenience store to grab a newspaper or to restock the pantry, but it is virtually impossible to elevate my heart rate on a SS here (at least I thought to bring a 16T cog). I chose to bring the SS because my gearie is a full suspension with 130mm of travel which seemed like overkill.

Anyway it is clear I that this training "taper" is ill timed given that Sara and I are planning to race as a relay team in a Duathlon in less than two weeks. Whatever. My glycogen stores will be up and I certainly won't be suffering from any over training so who knows?

Signing off now. It's time for another slice of apple strudle and latte refill before my mid-morning nap. 

Chris