blow out

blow out
Originally uploaded by divine_gear.

on the fixie. i took off this morning to head to school, and i didn't even get part way down the block when this happened. clean through the tire. went back home, grabbed the c-cross and headed out again. the moral of the story...always have more than one bike ready to go.

i put on a tire i had hanging around. it doesn't look like it is in any better condition, but it will get me through for some time. i've got two other tires hanging up, and waiting. i can see that i will be buying tires often, unless anyone wants to donate used tires to me that still has some life left in them.

so i either have to stop riding as much, or don't stop as much.

namaste...

busting pack, breaking back

busting pack, breaking back
Originally uploaded by divine_gear.

this is what my bag and back goes through every once and a while. i'm trying to go to the store more often, and thus picking up less so i am able to ride my bike there, but my bag is taking a beating. needless to say my back is also. the store is only about a mile and a half away, but it still sucks coming back, because you never just pick up what you need. i do have a solution to this problem, which should be here by the end of the week, and i'll post my new toy.

items in bag...half gallon milk, nectarines, grapes, veggie juice, peaches, carrots, and a shit load of yogurt...mmmmm. oh, plus my lock that really digs into my back.

i am looking into a bigger bag, but that is going to be for school work. plus my new toy should be more than enough.

ride wherever, and whenever you want. keep the rubber side down.

so it is done...

randy, and i did our twelve hour 'race.' we had a good time. we got there on friday night, and set up camp...

we hung out friday night, played some sack; i had a beer, and a pipe to relax. got up early saturday to make sure everything was in order...

we got some pancakes and coffee from our neighbor. we were ready to eat pb&j all weekend, but thanks to his kindness were had something else in our stomachs. there was supposed to be a meeting, but that was half ass. the director was too busy telling us about tinker juarez being there the year before, but couldn't make it this year. so after this joke of a meeting we got going...

i let randy take the first loop, because i really didn't want to mess with the pros going up the hill...

these are all the pics i got. too busy riding.

luckily we talked to the director friday night so we knew how the laps were going. after the start i had to explain to at least three teams how the laps were going, because the director really didn't explain it well.

my first loop: good loop. about an hour and twenty minutes. which was what i thought that it would be. there were some horses loose at the top of the climb, so i walked around them. didn't want to spook them and have them stomp my skull. i noticed hearing the blue grass music as i was riding. i didn't even have to buy a ticket to hear the music. but i was able to tell where i was, and how long i had to go by listening to the music. when the music as behind me i knew i had some more to ride. then when the music was in front of my on the left, i was almost done. it became my compass.

second loop: no worries. about an hour and twenty five minutes. i didn't ride the rock gardens. wanted to keep my rubber down, and not get hurt.

third loop: this one was just before dusk, so i took my lights just in case. as i got to the top of the climb i heard drums, and a didgeridoo. nice. as the sun went down, i slowed down. this lap took me about an hour and a half. the lights came on about an hour and ten minutes into the loop. i got back to camp and told randy that i was going to crash, and if he couldn't find me, i'd be in the tent. he comes back early. i thought i over slept, but he had problems with his lights. we knew we weren't going to win, but i went out again.

fourth loop: night loop. i took my sweet old time. no use in getting killed. for some reason i was passed up more on this loop than any other. on this lap the music was behind me, and then it stopped. shit. there goes my compass. oh, well. just when you are out there, and you hear someone jam on a banjo; it just gets you going.

got back, i could have gone out again, but i was feeling pretty tired, and didn't want to chance anything. so i hit the sleeping bag. we had a good time, and a good experience.

finally got back on my bike today to commute to school. had to take some time off to let my butt go back to form. c-cross season is upon us. hopefully i'll hit some races.

until next time...

namaste...shanti

working on the moots...

working on the moots...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear.

in preparation for this weekend's 'race.' i put it in quotes, because it is not a race for me. who the hell am i kidding...i'm not going to win. it is more of an experience.

so mtn goat and i are just doing the twelve hour ride. it ought to be a good time. my lights are charging, or should i say trying to. i haven't used them in many a year now. so hopefully i shall be able to get at least one to work.

upon first glance the smoothie is in good working order. mostly because i haven't ridden it much this season. it has been eclipsed by what lurks in the background. the monolith.

i am having a weird fork issue though. with the u-turn i am able to adjust the mm of the fork; which is at one hundred right now which is fine, but i can't turn the knob anymore to get more gush out of it. hopefully it will not be a problem, and i am able to make it through this weekend.

my main problem is that i haven't be able to get out and ride this week. in part because of the weather, and also, i'm trying to get all of my work done before the weekend, so i don't have to worry about it sunday when we get home. so i might be fragged. such is life.

more after the weekend...

namaste...

on labor day...

took a dive...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear.

randy and i headed out to pickney state park up in michigan. we had a good time, until this little episode happened. pickney is known for their 'sand traps', and i got caught in this one, and took a dive. that wasn't the bad thing. the bad thing was that my bag under my seat was open that held the key to the car. crap. so started the walk back to look for the key. luckily a great family found the key as we were walking back on the trail. they became my favorite group of riders that day. needless to say i lost my key privileges. on our way back around you'd think i wouldn't repeat the sins of the past. but i did. i took another dive here again.

pickney has a lot of sand, and i believe that it is there to slow you down as you go down the hills. first, i'm not sure if this helps, because there were some spots where i would begin to lose control of the bike, and second with sand at the bottom of a hill going up, i lost a lot of momentum for the climb. so needless to say i was walking up some hills. such is the life.


but randy, i mean, mtn goat was climbing really well. a lot of these climbs not only started in sand, but then zig zaged up, and there were a lot of ruts, and such in the middle of the climb making it a hard line to find. he managed really well. there were some climbs where i felt i did really well at. so i was proud of myself on that one.

after the first loop, about eighteen miles, we took a rest, and then went back out for a shorter loop. i have more pics on flickr. it's a nice spot to go riding, because if the weather is hot enough you are able to take a dip in the lake. good stuff.

until next time...keep the rubber side down...

namaste...