You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2008.
Wow! Looks like I’ll have no excuse for not helping build new trail or helping to keep back the cactus on the old ones. Watch what you ask for. I asked for this, but now I see lots of hard work…which would mean more trail!
And yes, that is carpet in my mom’s garage. It definitely helps reduce the dirtiness of your shoes before you enter the house. It’s kind of a trip when you drive on in it.
Our riding has been pretty good. Tyler was very fun. Much better than Cedar Hill. It was cold cold cold. 20 degrees both nights in Texas. Our first night was in a Walmart lot and I thought for sure that I’d be asking for a jump the next morning due to the heater having run almost the entire night, but she started right up.
Birmingham was much nicer than it was when we participated in the Bump and Grind several years back. Winter is much better in the south east than the summer time. Summer sucks almost anywhere below I-40. Of course there are many places north of I-40 that suck in the summer time, but the armpit of the country really stinks when it’s 100 out.
We live in the crotch, so when it starts creeping up to around 90, then we start packing and head norte!
We filled a bunch of gigs on the laptop while riding both Tyler and Oak Mountain. I put together a little youtube action on the Blood Rock. Everyone thinks this is so tough. There was ICE on the runout of this thing and I didn’t see what the big deal was.
I love rocks!
It rained last night and it’s really warm now, so hopefully things will dry up a bit so we can ride FATS and other areas in south kackalacky.
Riding in Newberry was pretty fun. I got to brush up on the log riding skills…with a broken pedal. Why do I keep breaking these crank bro’s pedals? Anyone else have the same problem? Breaking the “wings” off the things… Driving me nuts.
Here’s some log riding pics for you. I cleared it after the major stall out and re-clip-in. Arrghh.
Yep…Christmas eve and I’m in knee warmers….over dressed again.
The girl dressed a bit better than I did.
Natural born easy…on the road again. The rig is ready to roll. Got the ghetto rack system mounted to the ladder and all my cold weather riding gear is packed up. Now I just need to pack my “normal” clothes, fill the fridge with enough food for 4 days, top off with water, and hit the road.
We’ll be hitting Tyler State Park on the way out as well as Oak Mountain in Birmingham. Haven’t ridden Tyler yet. It will be our second time to Oak Mountain. I can’t wait as it’s eastern woods trails as I remember them from my early days. We’ll also be riding the new FATS trail system and Merrington Plantation in South Carolina. I’ve heard really good things about both.
This is going to be a tough one. Hopefully gas prices will stay low. We budgeted this one at the $4.50 a gallon rate. $2.50 would give us some extra spending money.
I’ll try to keep some updates.
That’s what this guy thinks about the Puzzler. I haven’t yet tried to do the entire 50 yet, but the 35 mile loop is a killer. I usually include a ride to and from the trailhead when I do it, so that adds an hour. What’s scary is that the big climb is at the end of the 35 mile loop and the additional 15 mile loop is freakin’ slow. It’s so techy that it may be a cause for concern on race day. I’ll be doing my best to evaluate everyone who makes the time cut before they head out for the final loop.
I would dare to say that it is the toughest race in Texas and probably a lot tougher than some other endurance events around the country. Breck 100 sucked. It was really high altitude. The techy portions were all downhill, so that helped, but being 100 miles makes it a different game.
The Puzzler is definitely the toughest 50….by far. I can’t wait for this year’s race. I hope that by having the sag vehicles, more people will be willing to give it a shot. Completing a course this tough on your own or for training is more difficult than in a competitive setting. So I’m hoping that more people give it a shot this year.
It will be interesting to see who will line up for Puzzler dos. So far we’ve got two Coloradoans and a couple El Pasoans signed up for the torture fest. Online registration is up, so we’ll see if that gets people going on it. We have as much swag and cash as last year. This year we’ll be awarding some incredibly cool trophies. This trophy will be worth putting on the mantle. It will definitely be placed at the front of the stash of award crap. I only wish I could race for one as I used to dream of a similar trophy when I was a kid. I missed that opportunity….created a new one….but I can’t participate. Being a race director kind of sucks. Oh well.
We finally got some cold rain and snow in El Paso this week. The mountains were white most of the day yesterday and today. I wasn’t sure if I’d be putting fenders to use this winter or not. The new PI rain jacket kicked ass. Gotta love PI’s stuff as long as it fits correctly.
Sign up for the Puzzler. It’s going to be a blast.
Trails of Gnarnia 