Monday, December 31, 2007

Fun Website

For those of you out there that need a quick picker-upper, check out this site. Click on the Demotivators (By name) tab in the upper left corner and enjoy. It's hilarious and will bring a smile to your face. You can order posters from a long list of titles like "Burnout", "Defeat", "Fear", "Failure" and others that will lift your spirits get you out of the duldrums. Here's a couple...

Blame: The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures.

Challenges: I expected times like this - but I never thought they'd be so bad, so long, and so frequent.

I've added a "Despair" link to my Good Links section on the right, for future reference should you forget. And remember, the days are getting longer and the first ICUP race is only 60 days away.

Speed Skating

This cold and snowy weather is giving me cabin fever and a bad attitude. I've been taking it out on the snow shovel, but that's getting old. I need relief! For a change of pace I went to the Olympic Speed Skating Oval this past weekend and watched a little of the National Speed Skating Championships. Wow, are those guys fast! And the ice is smooth as glass - seriously. I couldn't believe it. That looks kind of fun.




I hope the weather in St. George breaks soon. Camp Lynda is calling and I'm listening.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Another White Ride


Sunday I rode my single speed in the day light and had just as much fun as last week. Simplicity is nice and so is riding in the hard packed snow. I fell off a few times this ride since several areas weren't hard packed yet, but it was still fun. It reminds me of being a kid again.


This is the road leading to the gate at the top of Red Butte Canyon road.


Snow on the BB had no effect on shifting! It's nice to ride and look at the scenery without the noise of a geared bike. Quite is good...


And it's so nice having my daughter home from Weber State University. Some things never change, and I'm glad they don't. It's really a blast having her home and it reminds me of what is most important in my life. I love you Boogie.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Single Speed Night Ride


I rode my Rig 29er SS for the first time tonight on the Shoreline Trail, in the snow, with my Princeton Tech SB 2 helment light. Wow, what a fun ride. I have to do that more often. There's something special about riding at night. And, it beats the hell out of riding in the basment. It was pretty cold, 26 F, so overheating was not a problem, even though I didn't wear a lot of clothes. And traffic wasn't a problem either.

Regarding the Rig, what amazed me most was how well my tires hooked up, even on the short uphill sections. I never once spun out, even when I stood up. Maybe there is something to the G2 Geometry, or maybe it was the new rubber. I did notice the hardtail and how there isn't a lot of wasted energy when I pushed on the pedals. I wasn't able to test it's downhill character so I can't comment on if it tracks as well and quick as a 26. I'll try that out on a dry trail, in the daylight. I'm really excited to get into this SS thing and see if I can handle it. Standing on the climbs hasn't been my thing, but I can see that that has to change. Ain't no way I can pedal seated. And I'm riding a 20T cog! A 17T or 18T like the big boys and girl (KC) rides seems totally out of the question. Adam says his legs are bigger, so maybe I can put some meat on my sticks. Wouldn't that be sweet. More meat means fewer wrinkles!!! Sign me up.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Winter Wonderland


The second snow storm in a week hit Saturday morning and left 8-10 inches of wet, heavy snow. Shoveling is good for the core, but bad for the back. Guess I won't be riding the streets this weekend.