Six Hours of Cramps Race

I'm exhausted. Raced in the six hour "Outwit, Outlast, and Outride" mountain bike race in Brownsville today. Solo. I almost didn't get to race as I stripped my seatpost collar clamp five minutes before the race while adjusting my seat. Frantically, I asked around, and fortunately another rider loaned me a spare. I installed in on the start line just before the race started. That was a sign of things to come. On the second lap my rear tire started to give on the turns as it slowly leaked out precious air. Stopped and blasted it with a CO2 cartridge and was back in the race. It held for another lap and started to go flat again. Pitted and aired it up again. Bonked on the fourth lap as my heart rate got too high. Several riders passed me as I slowed to what seemed like a crawl to catch my breath. Lost a lot of time. I recovered over the next few laps until lap seven when I started to cramp in my legs. I popped Sport Legs, drank Gatorade, ate banannas, but nothing helped. I struggled for the rest of the race fighting cramps and had to stop every lap to stretch. When I finished my 10th and final lap, my legs seized up like 2x4s. Two guys had to lift me off my bike as I yelled out in pain. They laid me down in a seat and I gingerly laid there for several minutes until my cramps subsided. I came in 4th place in the 40 and over solo category, missing out on a medal by one spot. With everything that happened in the race, I was happy to have finished my "Six Hours of Cramps" race. Until next year.

Feel better today. First day since surgery that I am able to walk without using my cane. My hip is still sore. I am trying not to do too much to avoid opening the stiches. I pass the day watching tv and movies. One of the movies I watch is "127 Hours". Watching the movie makes me feel like a real wimp. Here is a guy who amputates his arm to escape from being trapped by a boulder after five days. Talk about cojones. I don't think I would have the mental strength to do that. I couldn't even watch the part of the movie when he amputates his arm with a small pocket knife. Could you?

I'm No Longer Screwed

Had surgery this morning to remove the four inch lag screw they screwed into my femur head two years ago to repair my broken hip. Arrived at the outpatient surgery department at Mission Regional Hospital bright and early at 6 a.m. Nurses came in and asked me a bunch of questions to make sure they had the right patient. Changed into the standard hospital gown. Why can't they give men something more masculine than a gown? They put in an iv and wheeled me off to surgery. Last thing I remember was the anesthesiologist giving me a shot and I blacked out. Next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room two hours later. After the effects of my anesthia had wore off I was discharged. The doctor prescribed Vicoden for the pain. Yes! I was able to walk with a cane out of the hospital, which gave me hope for a speedy recovery.

Can You Say Faceplant?

Finally I have something exciting to blog about. Went out for a Tuesday night ride with a group. Since it was a "no drop" ride I thought it was going to be a slow and easy ride, so I brought my singlespeed and my 10 watt helmet light. A group of 12 riders showed up for the night ride. We started the ride with Jesus in the lead. Just as I expected, we rode at a slow pace for most of the ride, having fun, talking, stopping to shoe an armadillo off the trail and to look at a spiderweb. It was a nice, leisurely ride until Champain Run, when Marcos and Nico, two fast riders, took off like race horses exploding out of a starting gate. I stood up and mashed my pedals in a sprint to try catch them. Because I was running only one light, I couldn't see that well and I misjudged a roller which threw me off balance. I narrowedly missed hitting a cactus at full speed and went flying OTB (over the bars). I smacked the ground hard with top of my helmet first and then my face. Ouch. Can you say faceplant? The impact knocked my helmet visor off. After lying on the ground for a few seconds, I slowly got up and checked my face, feeling for blood. To my amazement I wasn't bleeding. My top lip was a little swollen, and my face felt like I had taken a hard right from Mike Tyson, but for the most part I was ok. Shaken from the fall, I finished my ride on the Hike and Bike, carry my broken off visor in my pocket. So much for my leisurely nightride.

Cat Scratch Fever!

Rode Sullivan City in the morning. Got out of bed early and picked up Nico. Met Jacobo at the parking lot. Jumped in Jacobo's truck and off we went. Nick, McFly, Richard, Don, Kelly, Sergio, and Marty were out there when we arrived. We did a warm-up lap with Don leading the way. With loose rock and dirt, Sullivan City can be tricky to ride. Two riders went down early in the lap. A couple of mean thorn bushes out there. Nico brushed one and his right arm looked like he was a victim of cat scratch fever. No one else escaped. I left with some good scratches on my lower right leg. We completed a two more laps. I was thrilled that I didn't wreck and I was able to make most of the grueling climbs. It was a good training ride for the 24 Hours of Rocky Hill. :)

Those Little Bloodsuckers

Got in training ride with Grape, Nico. We met at the trails and put in a hard ride. As the sun was going down we decide to put ride the Hike and Bike to Bensten. Another 30 minutes later and it is dark. Nobody has lights, except for Brian, who as a blinking, red taillight, which is not much help. I had taken off my sunglasses, and the mosquitos and bugs were hitting me in the face. We are speeding down the Hike and Bike, when Nico averts disaster when he nearly runs over an armadillo. In the dark of the night I heard the armadillo's feet scurrying to get out of Nico's way. We keep riding until suddenly my front tire starts goes flat. We have to stop and change my tire. Without a flashlight, we use our cell phone displays. To make matters worse, the mosquitos attack us. We finally manage to get the tire changed after 15 minutes and finish out our ride. We roll into the parking lot tired and with a little less blood from those little bloodsuckers.

Save A Prayer

Save A Prayer is one of my favorite songs from the 80s band Duran Duran. They were the bomb back in the 80s. Lots of hits like Hungry from the Wolf, Rio, that you most likely remember if you are my age. The song played in my head after I took a ride on my mountain bike out to La Lomita Chapel in Mission. I rode out there to say a prayer. I say a prayer for the Mission Nature Park and trails. I snap a couple of photographs of the religious items inside and outside the chapel. I saddle up and hit the road back, take a left a Military Road, and catch the Hike and Bike back to the parking lot, and then back to my house. Here is a link to the Save A Prayer video on Youtube. Enjoy!

911. My Mouth is on Fire!

Went to eat some wings and drink some frosties at Buffalo's Wings and Rings with Grape and Nico after a ride at the trails. When in came time to order, I jokingly tell Nico to order a couple of the "Atomic" sauce wings, which are the hottest ones they make. Suprisingly, he calls my bluff and orders 5 with the order. Hungry from our ride, we tear into the various wings when the waitress sets down our order on the table. I down a couple, staying away from the "atomics". I finally get up the courage to try one after watching Nico down four. A picture tells a thousand words. In this picture, Nico is screaming, "these fricken' wings are hot! Call 911. My mouth is on fire!!". After a few frosties, I get up the courage to try one. I take a bite. Mistake. My mouth ignites like a gasoline fire started by a match. For the next few minutes I rub ice cubes on my lips to cool the hottness from the "atomic" wings. Woah! The wings are hot!

Day 443 - Surf and Turf

Did the Surf and Turf Adventure Race today at South Padre Island. The race started at 7:30 a.m. with a 2 mile run to Schlitterbaun. At Schlitterbaun we jumped into the water and pushed a tube around the park. After a quick lap we hopped out of the water, picked up a map, and ran to the first of five stations on the map to perform an activity to get a token. At the first stop we walked up a flight of 8 stairs to get our first token. We ran to the next stop where we sorted a stack of shorts by sizes. Finished up the run back to Louie's and grabbed our bikes and hit the remaining 3 stations. Rode our bikes down to a horse stable on the north side of the island to throw a horsehoe around a ring. Then to beach access point four where we bounced 50 yards in the sand on a big rubber ball. Jumped back on our bikes and rode to the south side of the island and beach access point six where we filled up a sandbag and carried it 100 yards. Finally, we rode back to Louie's where we jumped into the bay and swam 100 yards out in the bay and back while pushing a big inner tube. Using the tokens we had collected we decoded a three word phase and raced to the finish line where we collasped, exhausted, two hours after we had started. We finished 3rd in our category and took home a nice plaque for our efforts. Here's a pic.

Day 429 - Riding the Border Wall

Here's Nico climbing the side of the levy of the Border Wall near Chimney Park in Mission. The drops are about 30 feet long and a 40 degree angle and are fast. The climbs are the opposite. It is a great leg workout. Brought along my pocket cam and took some footage of the fun before my pocket cam slipped out of my shorts pocket and crashed on the concrete and my batteries bounced into the grass! I hope I didn't break it. Lost a battery. So I had to rely on my trusty digital camera. Snapped a couple of shots of Brian and Nico descending and climbing the wall. We had a lot of fun riding the side of the Border Wall and got in a good training ride for the adventure race at SPI in two weeks.

Day 423 - I'm Pissed!

I'm pissed! I dinged my mountain bike today after my group ride at the trails with Nick, Chuy, and Nico. It wasn't even on the trails. I did it after the ride. Nico and I met up at the convenience store after the ride for a frosty. Was backing my truck backward into a parking spot at the convenience and didn't see a big ass steel lamp post hiding behind my truck. Hit my mountain bike and pushed it off several spaces on my bike rack. Slammed on my brakes when I realized what was happening. Jumped out of the car and ran back to check out my mountain bike. To my dismay it had a 1/2" dent on the side of the top tube 5 inches from the seat tube. Fortunately, the protective film that I had put on the top tube protected the frame from being scratched or the damage would have been worse. However, it coudn't stop the dent. I take good care of my bikes, so I was upset for the rest of the night. :( I drowned my sorrow with a few frosties when I got home.

Day 419 - Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Been putting in the miles the past few days. Rode for four days straight. Thursday did 15 miles on a group ride with the club. Friday did 25 miles solo. Saturday did 25 miles with Nico out to Bentsen, and Sunday did 10 miles solo at the trails. For a grand total of 75 miles. Wow! I think this is the most miles I have ridden in a week for a long time. These miles should help me since I have decided to do the Surf and Turf Adventure Race--a run, bike, paddle event at South Padre Island in August. So my training has begun. Running, weight lifting, and mountain biking. It reminds me of a verse from Robert Frost's famous poem "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening".

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Day 418 - Beer Memories

Stopped by the grocery store Saturday night to pick up some brew. Bought a sampler pack from Breckenridge Brewery. It is a brewery in Breckenridge, Colorado, that brews some tasty microbrews. I've been to Breckenridge a couple of times to ski and snowboard. Stopped by the brewery too. The sampler pack has one brew, a vanilla porter that brings back a special memory. FLASHBACK. We were driving back one year from Breck and we almost ran out of gas. It was like 2 a.m. in the morning, and I couldn't find a gas station so we parked at a closed convenience store. My wife and two sons were in the car. It was like 30 degress outside. Fortunately, I had a six pack of Vanilla Porter that I had bought at the brewery in the car. We all sat shivering in the car and drinking Vanilla Porters and watching Austin Powers "Goldmember" on a dvd player, until we fell asleep. A cop pulled up at 6 a.m. and escorted us to a gas station where we were able to get gas and get back on the road. It turned out the gas station was less than a mile away! Argh!

Day 417 - 25 Miles

Took off the day from work so I could take my wife's car in to be fixed. After I dropped the car off at the dealer, I came home and put on my cycling clothes and went out for a ride. I rode the same route we did yesterday, out to Anzauldua Park. I rode past the Anzauldua Bridge and followed the road all the way down to 23rd Street in McAllen. I couldn't go any further because the underpass was flooded (that was my excuse) so I turned around. The ride back was easier as I had the wind to my back. However, it was close to noon and it was hot. The heat sapped my energy and sweat out of me. I dropped my pace and it became less of a training ride and more of I-just-want-to-make-it-home-ride. I stopped at a convenience store on the way back, bought a Powerade, and chunged it down. It helped. I got back on my bike and made it home, 25 miles after I had started.

Day 416 - Crossfit Crazy!

Nico, Roland, Jaime, Sergio, Dante, and I did a group ride down to Anzauldua Park to check out the flooding from Hurricane Alex. We rode down to the park at a nice, easy pace. The park, as well as a few of the bars down by the river were several feet underwater. We stopped and took photos of the flooded park. The water is rushing over the park road in the picture. On the ride back, Nico, who is doing Crossfit, a high intensity core strength and conditioning program that combines weightlighting, sprinting, and gymnastics, goes Crossfit crazy! He shifts into the big ring and takes off full speed, dropping us like flies. We chase him for several minutes, hitting 20 mph. We finally catch him. This happens several more times during the ride, until we finally reach the parking lot. So much for the easy pace ride!

Day 412 - A Real Bunny Hop!

In mountain biking there is a term called a "bunny hop" which describes a move on our bicycle to launch your bike into the air and off the ground. It is a useful move to clear obstacles that you encounter on the trail such as logs, ditches, rocks, etc. I learned it after riding a few months and can bunny hop a good 6 to 8 inches off the ground when needed. That's nothing compared to some riders. The world record the bunny hop is 4 feet 8 inches by Benito Ros of Spain: Highest Bicycle Bunny Hop - Guinness World Records Video. Anyway, we decided to do a little bunny hoping at our bicycle club's pool party and club meeting after a couple of frosties. Check out Grape as he demonstrates how to do a real bunny hop!

Day 411 -- Round Three. Ding. Ding.

It seems like an eternity since I've ridden the trails. In reality, it's been two weeks. The last trail ride I got in was the pre-hurricane Alex ride. Yeah! So with apprehension, I drove to the trails not sure if they would be dry or completely covered in grass. I got on my mountain bike and rode completing the new lap. The ground was soft and robbed the momentum from my tires. It felt like I was riding in quicksand throughout the ride. The good news was the trails were for the most part dry. The bad news was the grass was beginning to overgrow sections of the trail. Looks like round three of trail maintenance is about to begin. We have aleadry taken two big punches from rains in April and May. And now Hurricane Alex. It's been a tough fight. Ding. Ding. I hope we don't get knocked out. I finished up my ride into the parking lot, my arms covered with grass seeds stuck to the sweat on my arms. Between the grass and the soft trail it was a lackluster ride for my first ride time back on the trails.

Day 404 - Frickin Nature Watch

Got up at 6 a.m. Was suppose to ride Sullivan City with one of my riding buddies. Turned on my phone. Text message from my friend that he couldn't make it. I had a hutch that is was something to do with him texting me the night before that we was planning to drink tequila with a couple of his friends. Can you say "hangover"? Since I had my bike and gear loaded from the night before, I decided to head over to the trails anyway for a ride on the Hike and Bike. Got on the Hike and Bike and rode to Bentsen and the World Birding Center. Half way around the park, it started to rain. I quickly ducked into a covered bird watching hut to escape from the rain. While waiting for the rain to stop, I listened to rain fall, and the birds call, and watched the javelinas roam around. My ride had turned into a frickin nature watch. Sigh. Finally, the rain stopped 20 minutes later and I got back on my bike and finished up my ride around the park and and rode back to the parking lot.

Day 402 - Not a Happy Camper

Woke up Thursday morning, expecting it would be raining. To my surprise its not. It turns out that Hurricane Alex made landfall further south in northern Mexico and we escaped the high winds. However, we didn't escape the rain. We got at least 6 inches of rain throughout Wednesday, flooding the trails. It will be at least a few days before we will be able to ride. Mother Nature is cruel. I'm off of work for the next four days and I can't ride. And the rain is going to cause the grass at the trails to grow everywhere again. Just as we were finally getting caught up with trail maintenance. I'm not a happy camper thinking about it. Maybe it's time to take up road biking. No more trail maintenance. No more getting dirty. No more wrecks. Get me a road bike. Just riding on the road in a straight line...On second throught, I'll take trail maintenance and tight, twisty singletrack over the straight road on any day.

Day 400 - Pre-Hurricane Ride

The first hurricane of the season, named Alex, is headed for the Rio Grande Valley. It was projected to make landfall Wednesday night in northern Mexico about 100 miles south of Brownsville. Instead of making hurricane precautions at my house, I called for pre-hurricane ride. Got to have your priorities straight. Bike first, hurricane second. LOL. The National Weather Service was projecting hurricane Alex to dump 6 to 12 inches of rain on us. That meant the trails would be flooded for a few days to a week. Headed out to the trailhead and met up with Nick, Grape, Marty, Marcos, Tweezer, and Ridehard. We took turns leading the group and putting in a good, fast pace. You know it is a good ride when people hit the dirt. Tweezer went down on one of the loose Berms. Ridehard also hit the dirt. We ended up doing at 10 to 12 miles. Satisfied I went home to get ready for the hurricane.

Day 395 - No Fear Grape

Rode with Grape today at the trails. Grape is one of the best mountain bike riders in the club. He's fast and has no fear when it comes to riding, especially technical stuff that no one else would dare ride. I remember on a ride at Sullivan City back in 2008, when he did a gnarly, 20 foot, descent down a steep, rocky drop that was scary just looking at it. That's the picture I took of him riding it. What made it more impressive is that he rode it on my old Trek Fuel since his bike was messed up. He just hoped on it and rode it like it was nothing. Anyway, back to our ride. Since it was just him and me, I was expecting it to be a fast ride, since there would be no one to slow us down. I was wrong. His back was wack. He rode slow and gingerly, not wanting to aggrevate his back. He managed to finish the new lap and we finished up our ride. I hope his back gets better. I don't like riding slow. I like the No Fear Grape.

Day 391 - That's Why Its Called Tweezer

Nico and I rode our singlespeeds on Saturday morning at the trails. I had brought him his fixed bike and he was looking forward to trying it out. We hit the trails with him in the lead. He put in a fast pace. I was impressed. We were flying on the Upper Levy Run. He kept up the pace until Jackhammer when we slowed down for a while. He enjoyed riding his singlespeed. I took this picture of him as he came blazing around a turn. His singlespeed is fun to ride, since he has a high rise stem. His handlebar position almost feels like you are riding a chopper. We were riding along fine on Tweezer when he came too fast in a turn and I heard a loud crash. He went down after losing his front wheel in the loose dirt. Luckily, he fell next to and not into a cactus. He did pick up a few cactus thorns, which he pulled out with a tweezer. That's why it is called Tweezer. We mounted our bikes and rode, finishing up where we started on the Upper Levy Run. He made all the climbs. It was a fun ride.

Day 389 - Grass in My Shorts!

Ate a bunch of my mom's chicken salad - yummy! - before I headed out for a bike ride with Ridehard. Bad idea. Ridehard said we were going to take it easy. He must of meant in the parking lot, cause he took off like a rabbit as soon as we hit the trails. We completed half of the new lap up to El Gato climb and I had to stop because my stomach hurt. Stood still for a a minute or two hoping my stomach, which was turning summersaults, would settle down. It didn't help. Something wanted to come out. Hastily, I bummed a small roll of toilet paper from Ridehard and went off to find a secluded spot in the tall grass. I dropped trou and squatted, trying not to poop on myself. Quickly it came out. It was mushy. I wiped, pulled up my shorts and started walking back to Ridehard. As I walked back, I kept feeling something poking me. I stuck my hand into the back of my shorts and felt around and pulled out a few long strands of Johnson grass. I has grass in my shorts! It must of gotten stuck in there while I was pulling up my shorts. It was comical, like the scene in a movie where the roll of toilet paper gets stuck in someone's pants and trails behind them as they unknowingly walk around as everyone laughs. We shared a good laugh, got back on our bikes, and finished up our ride. Mountain biking tip: always carry tp in your camelback, and always check your shorts before you pull them up! LOL.

Day 387 - Tired of Being a Skinny Scarecrow

After months of procrastination, I finally began weight training. I'm tired of getting pushed around and being called a "bag of bones". Ha, if you remember those print ads you're old, like me. The real reason is I wanted to strengthen my core. Mountain biking works the legs, but not the upper body. I purchased an e-book online on a MTB-specific workout with dumbells. Took some exercises from it and added my own. My workout consists: situps, pushups, plank, curls, overhead press, reverse lunges, and squat. I started with 10 lb. dumbells for the curls, press, lunges, and squat. I do three sets of repetitions of each exercise, except for pushups. I could only do 5 pushups. How pathetic! I'm hoping that increasing my core strength will lessen the back soreness that has been lingering with me for the past 6 months. Will see if it works. I don't like lifting weights. It feels like a chore. It is not as exciting as riding my mountain bike. Will see how long it lasts.

Day 386 - Singlespeed Workout

I rode Sunday afternoon. Took out my singlespeed for a spin. She was getting lonely since I had ridden her in a while. Enjoyed my singlespeed ride. It is a good leg workout. When you want to accelerate on a singlespeed you have to stand up and crank. Same goes for climbing. I think I may be too spoiled when riding my full suspension bike. It's easy to stay in the saddle and spin. You can't be lazy when riding a singlespeed. The only thing I don't like about riding my singlespeed is my body takes a beating. Been seriously thinking about moving to a 29er singlespeed to smooth out the trail. Today marked the third consectutive day that I have ridden. I rode Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I estimate I have ridden 30 miles this week. For me that is good.

Day 385 - The Cure for the Hangover

Was dragging most of the day. Had a few too many frosties last night celebrating the wedding. Popped two aspirin in the morning and drank a lot of water. Ridehard, on of my riding buddies, called up and asked if I wanted to ride later in the afernoon. I didn't feel so great, but said yes. I met him at the trails at 6 p.m. and we got in a ride. Mcfly, one of our club members, was out there when we got there so he rode with us too. It was hot so we spun at a moderate pace, around 13 mph. We rode all the rideable trails, putting in nine miles. Cooled down with a cold Session frosty when I got home. Its a black lager brewed in Oregon. Good stuff. Felt much better afterward. A ride and a cold frosty. The cure for the hangover.

Day 379 - Drop the Hammer!

After putting in a hard day of trail maintenance on Saturday morning at Mission, I rewarded myself by going down to Brownsville on Sunday to ride the Monte Bella Park trails. Ridehard and a few of our club members met us down there for an afternoon ride. I suspected that is was going to be a fast ride since some of the fast guys -- AC, Hector (that's Hector climbing in the pic), and Richard -- were going. My suspicions were confirmed less than 50 yards into the ride when Hector puts up a fast pace. I'm content to stick to his wheel with AC in tow. I thought the first lap was fast, until AC took over on the 2nd lap and dropped the hammer! I managed to stick with him for 1/2 of the lap until we got into the twisty stuff when he dropped me. I thought I would have an advantage on the tight stuff since I was riding a 26" wheel bike and he was riding a 29er. Boy was I wrong. Those big wheels had much better traction. He also pedaled through the turns. I usually coast through turns. I hadn't thought about it before, but I noticed that by constantly pedaling through the turns he was able to accelerate quicker out of the turns.I need to work on that. We rode another lap and replenished our lost carbs with a couple of ice cold frosties before heading home.

Day 378 - Fixed at Last

Fed up after weeks of trying to fix Nico's bike into a singlespeed, I had dropped the bike off at the bike shop to see if they could fix it. I had already replaced the middle chainring, and had the rear wheel trued, and it still skipped under power. Well it turns out the bike shop couldn't fix it either. They couldn't get the chain sized to the proper size. That was the same problem I had. Then a light bulb clicked on brightly in my head. "Why don't you go down to a smaller cog on the rear wheel so it requires less chain and will engage more of the cog teeth?" He was running a 15T. So I ordered a 14T, which is what I am running on my singlespeed. It came in and I installed it and removed the extra links and viola -- the chain fit like a glove. Now for the moment of truth. Hesistantly, I got on the bike and started to pedal. I stood up and pushed down hard on the cranks and it didn't skip!! Problem solved. I was even able to remove the chain tensioner that he was running before. Fixed at last.

Day 369 - Live to Ride Another Day

Since the trails were flooded, Grape, Nico, and I loaded up and headed out to Sullivan City for a ride. Sullivan City, 15 miles west of Mission, is usually rideable, even after a rain because the terrain is made up of loose rocks over dirt. We got there at 6 p.m. and rode for an hour. We only rode 6 miles. But those 6 miles were hard. We were either struggling up long and steep climbs, or hanging on down long, loose, rocky decents. The 6 miles seem like 20, and we found ourselves frequently stopping at the top of the climbs gasping for air to catch our breath. Nico went down once as he was changing lanes in the loose rock. The last time Grape went to Sullivan, he endoed and knocked himself unconsious for a minute, which was scary. So, I was relieved that we all made it out of there in one piece to live to ride another day. I took this picture of our bikes in the back of the pickup as the sun began to set on the horizon on another day of riding.

Day 368 - Tear in my Beer

The skies opened up and poured down on the trails on Wednesday, dropping two to three inches of rain in Mission. I drove out to the trails to see how bad it was. After I parked, I hopped on my mountain bike and rode the Hike and Bike to survey the flooding. Boy, it was bad. Easy Rider was completely underwater as you can see from the picture. It is going to be a few days before the trails will even be rideable. Waiting for the trails to dry out isn't the bad part. It's the growth of the grass and the explosion of the mosquito population is what I'm dreading. Just when I felt we were catching up after putting in lots of hours in May doing trail maintenance. Mother Nature just won't cut us a break. This isn't Seattle. It's not supppose to rain here this much. It's enough to make a grown man cry. Sob. Sob. Sob. There's a tear in my beer.

Day 367 - Squeak. Squeak.

Don't you hate it when your bike squeaks and you can't figure out what is causing it? That's one of my pet peeves. An expensive bike that you pay a couple of grand for should not squeak. A few months ago my Anthem X2 started to make squeaking noises when I was riding it. It began after I bought and put on a new Specialized Phenom saddle on my bike. So I tighten the bolts on it. Went riding. Squeak. Speak. Took off the seat and cleaned it. Put it back on. Squeak. Squeak. Took out the seatpost and greased it. Went riding. Squeak. Squeak. I began to wonder, "What do I have inside my bike? A mouse?" Frustated at my inability to find the squeak, I started looking for a new seatpost so I wouldn't hear that damn squeak anymore. Was in the bike store today and asked a bike mechanic what the noise could be. He said to put grease on the seatpost bolts and rails. Went home. Greased the bolts, greased the seat post rails. Clamped the seat onto the seatpost and then torqued the bolts to the inch ponds in the instructions. When I finished I hesistantly touched it. Nothing. I put more force on it with the palm of my hand. It was quiet. I couldn't believe it. The mystery squeak had been solved. My confidence in my wrenching abilities had been restored.

Day 366 - Papa's Got a New Pair of Shoes

Hey those are my fingers sticking out of my mountain biking shoes! These Specialized MTB Comp shoes have been through a lot over the past three years of mountain bike riding. They were on during my wreck in Flat Rock, were on during my epic adventure with my riding buddies in the mountains of Saltillo, Mexico, they were with me on during my wreck that fractured my hip, and with me on my glory days of cross country racing. They have sentimental value. I'm having a hard time throwing them away. "Maybe I should keep them for parts," I think to myself. "They still got some tread in them," I rationalize. I take one look at my shiny, new pair of Specialized Comp MTB shoes that I bought today, pick up my old shoes, walk over to the trash can, lift up the lid, and and dump them. Papa's got a new pair of shoes. Time to break in some new mountain biking memories.

Day 365 - Pop the Bubbly!

Today marked my one year anniversary from the day that I was released from the hospital for my hip fracture surgery. Got up early Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m and drove down to Brownsville for the 3rd and final mountain bike race in their series. Low turnout. Including myself there were only three "expert" class racers. One of them looked like a newb. The other one was riding a 29er singlespeed. Bang, off the line the singlespeed guy sprints to the lead. I slot in behind him. I'm surprised how fast he is going on the flats. He's doing 18 mph on a singlespeed! He drops me. We get into the tight and twisty stuff. I catch up. I see I have an advantage as his big 29er wheels don't corner as quick as my 26er's do. I reach to grab my water bottle in a turn and drop it. Shit! I lose at least 15 seconds picking it up. I'm behind 50 yards as we complete the first lap. I follow him on the second lap and close the gap as we enter the twist section. I yell "trail left" and pass him. I know I will be able to put some time on him in the tight stuff. I don't look back. I got a 100 yard lead as we finish the 2nd lap. I keep the pedal to the medal for the 3rd lap and cross the finish line in first place in the male expert category. I'm stroked. What a way to celebrate my anniversary. Pop the bubbly!

Day 364 - Wrenching Gone Wild

I got in a morning ride on my mountain bike on the road, putting in 20 miles. Spent the afternoon wrenching on bikes. I pimped out my singlespeed with some new yellow brake cables to match the yellow frame paint job. I replaced the middle chainring on my buddy's bike. Tried to true his real wheel by replacing and adjusting the spokes and only made things worse. After I got through with the wheel, it was tacoed. The picture is an example of wrenching gone wild. Truing wheels is best left up to the "real" mechanics, especially when you don't have the proper equipment. I hope they can fix it.

Day 363 - Ridin' Into the Sunset

I was depressed. A sudden thunderstrom blew in early Monday morning and dumped buckets of rain on the trails. Reports that Mission received 2.5 inches. I was fearing the worst. A couple days of no riding and then grass growth. I didn't even want to think about trail maintenance. Needing a ride to take my mind to a better place, I called up Nico and Grape for a ride. We meet at MT to my surprise the trails weren't as bad as I thought. They were about 75% dry. We rode part of the new trail and then rode the Hike and Bike to Bentsen State Park. At Bensten we rode around the park. I took an awesome photo of the sun as it set on the horizon. We rode back as the daylight disappeared, ridin' into the sunset. We finished over ride rolling into the parking lot near 8 p.m. We put in 15 to 20 miles at a good pace. It was just what I needed to lift my spirits.

Day 359 - Du or Die

Woke up early Sunday morning and drove over to Mission Trails to check out Bikemaster's Du or Die. The event consisted of two miles of running, 11 miles of cycling on the road, and two miles of running that could be done as a two person team or solo on a road or mountain bike. I decided on a whim to give it a try. I lined up at the back of the pack with 60 other runners at the start. Bang! Off we went. I took off slow. I'm a slow runner, averaging 10 minutes a mile. I knew I could make up time on the bike. When I came in for the bike stage I was at the back of the pack. I changed gear and took off. Picked it up to a 18 to 20 mph pace and gradually started pass slower riders. Finished the bike ride, changed gear again and back to run. The final two miles were tough. My pace was slow for the first mile. I picked it up for the final mile, before my left knee started to hurt. I crossed the finish line at 1 hour and 14 minutes, taking home 1st place in the 40-49 year old, mountain bike category. Sweet! I wore the medal proudly as I hobbled around my house with my left knee and my right hip hurting from the race. Where's my vicodin? Now I know why they call it the "Du or Die". I felt like dying after the race!

Day 351 - Flying Ironman

Don't get me wrong. I like doing group rides. But, sometimes, depending on who is riding they can be slow. And the more people that are in the group, the more chances that someone gets a flat or has some bike breakdown that grinds the ride to a halt. So I like to get in a solo ride every now and then when I can let loose and ride fast without having to worry about dropping someone or waiting up for someone. I got in a solo ride late Saturday afternoon. After a day of trailwork in the morning and taking my son and his friend to the movies to watch Ironman II, I snuck in a ride at the trails. It felt good to be able to ride and push my pace. I was going so fast that I felt that I was flying like Ironman through the trees and down the trails. Coincidently, that was the name of the first bike I rode at the trails. A Huffy Ironman bike. It had no suspension. But it was the bike that got me hooked. The rest is history.

Day 349 - Snoticles Memories

Tuesdays and Thursdays are our normal group riding days. We met at 6 p.m. and ride for an hour or two, depending on who shows. It was a low turnout with just two other riders -- Nick and Ray - showing. But it is like I say, "if you have more than one person, then it is a group ride." Just like the time I scheduled a "Frozen Huevo" night ride. The temperature was in the mid to low thirties, which is fricken cold for deep South Texas. (We are wimps when it come to cold weather.) And one guy - Fernando - shows. So we rode for an hour until we couldn't feel our toes and fingers and we had snotsicles coming out of our noses. Here is a picture of Nick on his Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper during our group ride. Sweet bike!

Day 347 - Goodbye Joanne!

One our club members and secretary of the club, Joanne, is moving to New Mexico. We did a farewell group ride with her on Tuesday evening. A good number of Cruzers showed up to wish her a farewell and ride with her. (See picture. Joanne is on the left in the pink Cactus Flower jersey). We took it easy with me leading the group. We rode the new lap. We had 12 riders strong in a train rolling down the trail at one point. Choo. Choo!! It was a nice group ride until we lost her 1/2 halfway into the ride. I think she was swallowed up by the jungle. We will miss you Joanne!

Day 345 - Rumble in the Jungle

Got in a ride in the jungle on Sunday afternoon with Ridehard. That's him climbing out of the jungle of El Gato. The trails were still in a mess with lots of overgrown grass. Riding in the jungle can be harzardous. You can't see the trail which you can hit obstacles and have to ride slow. You can't see around corners, which makes it hard to judge your speed. And the grass can grab you and take you down, as Ridehard discovered. We dropped into the 6 feet tall grass that lined the entrance of Shady Oaks. I was riding in front. I made it through. I turned around and no Ridehard. Suddenly, I heard a noise. Sure enough he had crashed. The tall grass caught his handlebars and steered him off the trail and into the grass. He fell and landed on his right shoulder. It wasn't too bad. Fortunately, the tall grass also cushioned his fall or his crash would have been worse. LOL!

Day 342 - Welcome to the Jungle

You know that Guns and Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle". The lyrics go "Welcome to the jungle. It gets worse here everyday. Ya learn ta live like an animal. In the jungle where we play." It looked and felt like I was riding through a jungle during our weekly group ride at the trails on Thursday. The grass, from the downpoor of rain that we received a few days ago, was 5 to 6 feet high in certain sections of trail. The tall grass made for a rough ride. We couldn't see the trails so we had to ride slow. The grass also stratched up my arms and legs. And there were hordes of mosquitos chasing us. If we stopped they would attack us. After of hour riding through the jungle we headed back to the trailhead all stratched up and bitten. It wasn't a fun ride.

Day 333 - McAllister Mud

Still in San Antonio. Decided after the tough ride at Flat Rock Ranch yesterday, that I needed something easy. A recovery ride. So after work I headed over to McAllister Park. McAllister Park has 16 miles of smooth, mostly flat, and flowing singletrack. Wasn't sure on what condition the trails would be in since they had received rain over the weekend. Got 50 feet into the trails and it wasn't good. Normally dry and fast. The trails were tacky, wet, and slow. They hadn't fully dried out yet. I couldn't get up to speed. It felt like I was dragging rocks behind me. What was suppose to be recovery ride, turned into a workout. I rode for an hour on the trails that were semi-dry. I had to port my bike across a couple of stream crossings, getting my shoes and socks soaking wet. (Here is a picture of my dirty socks drying on the dash). I finally gave up after the mud got worse. Ended up getting lost and riding around the park road for 30 minutes. A fitting end to a dirty and disappointing ride.

Day 332 - Revenge of Flat Rock

It was two years ago that I had wrecked on a downhill at Flat Rock Ranch in Comfort, Texas, cracking my helmet on a rock, breaking my sunglasses, and sending me to the emergency clinic for 15 stitches to my face. I had vowed to go back and ride it again. Well, today I got my revenge! I rode both the lower and upper loop. Lots of tight switchbacks, technical obstacles, lungbusting climbs, and hairy descents. A mix of smooth singletrack and flat rocks. (That's why they call it Flat Rock). Cleared about half of the technical obstacles. Was particularly sketchy because the rocks and roots were wet and slippery from the rain they had received a few days earlier. Since I was riding by myself I was careful, but I did let loose on a few of the decents. I was pleased with my Giant Anthem, especially on climbs. It climbs like a goat. Also, my hydraulic brakes slowed me down fast when needed. I rode for 4 hours, completing 20 miles. I was exhausted. This ride ranks right up there with my trip to Saltillo, Mexico. The ride was awesome and the revenge was sweet! Check out the pic of the baby lambs I saw at the ranch. They were so cute I wanted to take them home. I love lamb chops. Baaah!!!

Day 323 - My Ass and Nipples Hurt

Fifty-two miles. A personal best. That's what I ended riding on Saturday morning on Brian's road bike. I rode with a group roadies who meet at Bikemasters on Saturday morning. I was apprehensive about riding with them, since I didn't know any of them, I had never ridden that far on a mountain or road bike before, and I didn't know what the pace was. We took off from Bikemasters and hit the road. I slotted in behind everyone else. The first part of the ride was easy because we were with the wind. We rode at a 20 to 25 mph pace. There were times they would speed up and I was in danger of getting dropped. But fortunately, they slowed down. We hit a headwind on the way back, which slowed the pace down. I stuggled a bit on the way back, but managed to keep up by drafting on the biggest guy I could find. Toward the end, my ass and nipples hurt (insert favorite sex joke here). The hard seat had taken a toll on my ass and my jersey had rubbed my nipples raw. Double ouch. I was happy to roll into the parking lot and finish the ride. Quick. Somebody pass me the monkey butt powder.

Day 321 - Lettin' the Horses Run!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are our club's group rides days. I had missed the group ride on Tuesday, so I was eagerly anticipating Thurday's group ride. I arrived at the trails a few minutes early than our designated time of 6 p.m. I waited a few minutes. But no one showed. Disappointed, I hit the trails. Put in a moderately paced warm up lap and was headed back to start lap two when I come up on Hector, Eddie, Richard, and AC who were riding. I quickly turned my bike around and joined them. The were riding at a fast past. I followed them for about a two miles until I got tired of eating their dust and dirt. I stood up and cranked the pedals and headed up front. I was feeling good and rode hard. AC, on his new Fisher Superfly 100 29er (see pic), caught up and put the hammer down. I tucked in behind him and we were off. The dropped everyone else and it was just him and me, flying down the trails. We rode at race pace for about 5 minutes before stopping to let the others catch up. It felt great to let the horses run!

Day 317 - Bike in a Tree

While riding at the trails on Sunday, I came across one of the stranger things that I have seen out at the trails. I was riding Jackhammer by myself. I had gone out to ride to work off all the frosties I had drank the night before while catching up with two old fraternity buddies from college. Anyway, I the first time I past it on the trail out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a rim in a tree. Somebody must have bent their wheel and left it I thought. Since I was doing another lap I would stop and take a picture of it on the next lap. Thirty minutes later when I came back, I stopped and what did I see? A whole compete bike up in a tree. It seemed in good condition. The tires had air. It looked rideable. I'm not sure what it was doing there. But it was one of the oddest things I have come across. While odd, it couldn't top the time I came across a freshly severed goat head hanging by a string from one of the branches! That was the creepiest thing that I have come across by far.

Day 312 - Scratched

Went for a ride after I got home from work. Should have stayed home. The first sign was my battery on my iPod shuffle was dead. After a quick charge I headed out. About 1/3 of the way to the trails my front tire went flat. Second sign. I changed it and contemplated whether I should continue since I didn't have a extra tube. What the heck. On the trails I went. By the time I got to the trails is was nearly 7:00 p.m and only had 30 minutes of sunlight so I decided to try to do two or three laps on the Levy Run loop. Was finishing up the first lap and tried to climb the new drop from the Up and Over backward. Lost my balance and fell over on my right side. My arm scraped against a tree on the way down and scratched me up. See pic. Wasn't too bad so I keep on riding. Got home and took a shower to hide the evidence from my wife.

Day 309 - Mercedes Challenge

Drove down to Mercedes with morning with Tweezer and Ridehard to participate in the Mercedes Challenge, a 50K and 100K road tour and race. Originally we had talked about doing the 100K race, but we came to our senses and decided to do the 37 mile tour instead. I had borrowed Brian's road bike, since I don't have one. We road together with fellow Cactus Cruzers Nico, Gabby, Rosie, and Jack in a group. It was a moderate pace, spinning 16 mph for most of the ride. The last 10 miles were rough as we turned into and fought a strong headwind to the finish line. We finished the ride in 3 hours.

Day 307 - Too Many Frosties

Had one too many frosties at our bicycle club meeting last night and was paying the price. Was dragging throughout the day. Felt like a zombie. The walking dead. When I got home I didn't even feel like go riding. It was Thursday, our group ride day. Even though I felt lethargic, I decided a little physical exercise might do me some good. So I called up my buddie Ridehard and we met up at Mission Trails. We rode at a good, fast pace. Not too fast, but enough to get my blood pumping and circulating through my system. We ended up riding 11 miles. Felt much better after the ride. It was just what I needed.

Day 301 - Road Trip!

Road Trip! It's been over a year since I had taken a biking related road trip, so I was excited to be taking a day trip with my buddies Tweezer and Ridehard. We met at 4:30 a.m. in McAllen, loaded up and hit the road. Our destination was Bandera, Texas, 30 miles west of San Antonio. We arrived in Bandera at 9:30 a.m. and started riding. The trails were loose, rocky, technical. It was some tough climbing. Some parts of the trail were so steep that we had to push our bikes up. The descents were crazy too. I punctured the front of my leg on a bush while going down one. I bandaged it up and we rode for another 3 hours and then headed back to O.P. Schnable Park in San Antonio. O.P. was totally different. Smooth and fast and rolling. It was a nice change of pace after a challenging morning. After O.P. we headed home. We got home at 10 p.m. Tired and exhausted. But happy. It was a great roadtrip. Here is some footage of Bandera.

Day 300 - Riding Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

I was off for Spring Break. Went out for a family bike ride with my wife and son at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in San Juan. We rode the loop that goes around the park. It is a paved path that is 8 miles long. We stopped a couple of times on the ride. We went up a 40 foot bird tower and walked across a rope bridge that put us up amoung the treetops. We stopped at the old cemetery that is in the park. It was made in 1847. We stopped to look at the ducks in the pond. We stopped to take pictures of the flowers. We finished the ride after an hour and a half. It was a nice, leisurely, family ride.

Day 296 - 30 Miles

Took off on a ride on early Sunday morning. Felt like stretching my legs so I jumped on my mountain bike and hit the road instead of the trails. Rode to UTPA in Edinburg. Once I got there I rode through the campus. Played around climbing and descending stairs and other obstacles for 30 minutes then turned around to start the trip back. I kept it in the big chain ring and little cog for most of the ride there and back. Very low cadence, mabye 60 to 70 revolutions per minute. Great strength and power workout. Fought a strong headwind on the final leg. When I got home I was spent. Did a total of 30 miles in two hours. Great ride.

Day 295 - Getting Some Bike Breaker

Rode with Tweezer at Mission Trails on Saturday morning. It's been a while since I had ridden the Bike Breaker. No matter how many times I have done it, it is always a rush. A 20 foot, 45 degree drop into and out of a ravine. I was more stroked about making the turn into the Bike Breaker for the first time. It's tough. First you have to climb in the granny gear up a 20 foot, steep and turning hill. What makes it difficult is is at the top of the climb you have to make a 90 degree, right turn into the entry of the Bike Breaker. The funny thing was I did it once but Tweezer was recording with the pocket cam so I had to do it twice. I wasn't sure I could make it two times, but I went for it and cleared it again. "Whooo...hoo!!" Here the video:

Day 293 - Night Riding on My Single Speed

With Daylight Savings Time scheduled to start on Saturday, we scheduled a last night ride of the season for our mountain biking club. Showed up and Jorge was on his bike ready to go. Unloaded my bike and put on my gear. No one else showed so we took off. I had brought my Cannondaele single speed. I hadn't ridden it in two or three months because of my back. I love riding it. No shifting. Just stand up and pedal and go. The key to riding is to keep your momentum and stay off the brakes. We had a good right. Not too fast. Or not too slow. Was feeling good and was standing and cranking more than I had done in a long time. Finished the ride by trying to climb the new Levy Loop Drop from the Up and Over. That turned out to be a mistake. I got about 1/5 of the way up and lost momentum and I toppled over in the dirt. What a way to end the last night ride of the season!

Day 289 - Getting Some Air

Got in a ride early Sunday afternoon with Tweezer. We rode most of the trail for a good hour and a half. Just as we were finishing up our ride into the parking lot we came across Roland, Jorge, Brandon, and two other riders getting ready to start their ride. We caught back in with them and rode some more. We came up to Jackhammer and hit the jumps. I took out my pocket camcorder and recorded some of action. Check out Brandon, the teenage kid in the red tshirt. That boy can sure ride and jump.

Day 283 - Recovery Ride

I was tired from the race on Sunday. So when my wife said she wanted to go ride mountain bikes, I thought it would be just what I needed -- a nice, easy recovery ride. We drove down to Anzalduas Park in Mission and then got on our bikes and rode a jeep road in Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. The jeep road runs parallel to the Rio Grande River. It is a scenic ride as you can see the river and the land on both sides of the river. We rode for two hours and by the time we got back my legs were spent. Usually it is my wife who complains, but this time I kept looking for the finish. I wasn't running my bike computer, but I estimate we rode at least 20 to 25 miles.

Day 282 - Racing Again

Today was the first mountain bike race that I competed in since my hip fracture. It was also the first time that I race my "Blue Beauty", my Giant Anthem X2. The race was sponsored by Bikemasters and our cycling club, The Mission Trails Club. It was a 6.4 mile lap at Mission Trails. The twist was the lap was raced backward, which made it harder. I finished in 4th out of seven riders in the expert class. Not bad for a 46-year-old man with a bum hip. I have an excuse now if I don't place well. "My hip was acting up." Did 3 laps for a total of 18 miles in 1:23:28 with an average heart rate of 170 bpm and max heart rate of 183 bpm. I took home a medal for my efforts, which made my day. At my age, I'm happy to take home anything. Felt good to be racing again.

Day 275 - La Lomita

My wife and I went out for a ride in the morning. We rode to La Lomita Chapel in Mission. Built over a century ago by Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the chapel supported the priests and their charities and served as a rendezvous spot for the “Padres on Horseback” en route to Roma from Brownsville. After stopping at La Lomita we rode further past the Anzaulda Bridge. We turned around a few miles after the bridge. The wind had picked up and we rode into a stong headwind on the way back. My wife bonked and had to stop at La Lomita, while I rode back to the parking lot at Mission Trails to the truck. I drove to La Lomita and picked up my wife and we headed home.

Day 274 - Getting Dirty with Specialized

Me and a couple of buddies, Grape, Tweezer, and Rayworld, came out to the Specialized Demo that was held at Mission Trails on Saturday morning. Bicycleworld brought in a big trailer full of their top-of-the-line, expensive mountain and road bikes to ride. It was like being a kid in a candy store. Ray and I jumped on some Epic 29er Marathon bikes, while Tweezer and Grape jumped on some Stumpjumper Marathon 29ers. All the bikes were running the new, SRAM XX 2x10 drivetrains. Since the trails were wet, we rode the Hike and Bike down to Bentsen. At Bentsen we detoured onto the top of the levy road. That was a mistake. Since it was caliche it wasn't too bad, but we started getting dirty from hitting small water puddles. After a mile or two we were kicking roster tails of wet dirt spray and the bikes got dirty. By the time we got back to Bentsen the bikes were real dirty. The Specialized guy, Richard, gave us a dirty look when we got back from our ride. We were having so much fun, we jumped on some $7K S-Works bikes and hit the Hike and Bike again. For the first time on a road bike it was awesome. Compared to a mountain bike the road bike accelerated like a rocket. We flew down the Hike and Bike, hitting speeds in the low to mid 30s. I could easily get addicted to the speed. After about 30 minutes of playing around we hightailed it back to parking lot. Wow. What a fun day of testing we had. It's not every day you get to ride a such expensive bikes. We had a blast getting dirty with Specialized!!!