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!