The 9 Horsemen

Well first off there were no horses. Only two wheeled steeds in our group.

I just made it back from a 2 day excursion into the woods with 9 XC peeps from BTR and H-Town, TX.

We were ripping up the trail today. Lots of great miles of XC heaven. Till the ruler came out. The hammer was dropped and the after effects of a bottle of 25 year old single malt Scotch and countless beers wore off the pace became quite brisk. But not as brisk as the Air. Ambient temps were ~ 40 deg. Which for my skinny arse was cold. The great thing about the peeps I was riding with is they are all really smooth on the trail. I could tell they have all dirtied their MTB shoes more than I this year. It was still a blast though, cruising some of the best single track avail within 6 hours. Except Tre' was ohh soo bragging about his DH skills that he was bombing down everything. That is till he needed to make the most elementary of left turns then. Bammmm!!! Dainbramage, he ate a tree. Luckily for him only I witnessed his folly. The only thing he could say was "That is not professional." I could not agree with him any more than I already did.

Well back to reality.

LAE,

JR

YUmmmmmmy

So yesterday I ended up doing a great training ride instead of heading off to TX to race again.

I wonder how much road kill I consumed from the roster tails off of other bikes.

I have competed in 3 races in the last month. Now with Easter around the corner and a solid 7 weeks of racing following that it is time to really start to hit the road hard.

April 15
Athens, GA

April 20-22
Mississippi GP

April 28- May 6
South Easter Crits

May 11-13
Joe Martin Stage Race

May 17-20
Tri-Peaks Stage Race

June 3
Bump N Grind

June 16-17
Park City, UT NORBA National

July 17-22
NORBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mt Snow, VT

July 28
Banner Elk, NC NORBA National

One Day.

I witnessed the most amazing act of self sacrifice in a bicycle race I have ever seen. During Saturdays road race at The Rocky Mt stage race one of the guys from Team Compliance Depot, Kolt Bates, showed a lot of moxy. This guy was projectile vomiting about once every 5 miles after I caught up to him and one of his teammates. He was working his ass off for only one reason. That reason was that so he might help one of his teammates in the Crit on Sunday. For ~ 40 miles he could not hold down water, food, Hammer Nutrition's HEED or anything. It all came up in a flu induced act of purging. Gross you might say. What was the most impressive about this feat was that he never, not once stopped pedaling to vomit. He did so while on the bike.

THAT TAKE REALLY BIGGGGGGG BALLSSSSSSS.
Balls that would even make Chuck Norris jealous.

Full report later this week.

LAE,
JR

Time for an Update.

Welcome to Copland.

I am in Shreveport for a road race at Rocky Mt, LA. There are no Mountains nor Rocks here only false flats a a couple painful uphills.

















What I love about LA are the five O. We must have seen 40 citizens on patrol on the way up here to Norte Louisiana.

Update to be posted tomorrow.

LAE,

Seasoning

So the season is here.

I am going to wipe the dust off the ole MTB for a race this Sunday in Biloxi, MS.

I will admit that I have not been riding my MTB at all. I tooled around on the trail last weekend with a bud of mine. I felt ok for a little while and then I felt like crap so that means that this race will be difficult for me. I am not all that fond of the trail as it is really flat. Flat like a pancake, flat like pita bread, flat like a pizza, What the H. is up with all the food references.

So I just figured out that I have worn out my der.s on my MTB both front and Rear. The bike game is wearing on my wallet more than I like. Anyone want to give me some money? Just kidding on that one but if it makes you feel better to give then keep the STD's and mail me a check now that is what I call asking politely.



Well anyway time to sleep.

JR

OG

This past weekend I did something that I haven’t done in a while. I went home to North Louisiana. The familiar faces and way of life were welcomed till I realized that this place is boring. There is nothing to do. By nothing well I actually mean that there are a couple of things one can participate in. In almost any place on earth one can drink and the other shall remain unnamed.

So after going to my cousins wedding I started driving to Oak Grove. Two lane highways with twist and turns that progressively get tighter as one gets closer to Oak Grove reminded me of where I was heading. It is a place that has remained largely unchanged for my brief 26 years of life.

After I pulled up to my house in el norte I noticed a couple things that is one that is always missing and one that ever present in my daily life. Number one: in the country the only ambient noise is the wind; my house in North Louisiana is well over a mile from the nearest highway. The other is that when I got out of my car I was greeted by a black sky filled with little stars, not just the big ones that you can see from most urban places but the little ones that are drowned out in the ambient illuminations of the city lights. The small ones that are like specks of dust as you stand in front of a window that the sun warms you through, these are the ones that you miss in the city. I remember as a young child my love of the stars on a clear night. My father would take me outside and share all his knowledge of constellation names and folklore that he learned in college, through his traveling and his life. Orion, Little Dipper, Big Dipper, Scorpio and many others flooded my mind as I was reminded of a small fraction of my childhood that still remains innocent, pure and quite vivid in my memory.

There was no cycling this last weekend. I was tied up with the FAM and driving 8.5 hours there and back in two days. But the cycling miles will start to tick over again starting on Monday. Next weekend is my inaugural race of the year. Walberg on Saturday and then on Sunday, Pace Bend will be the ground breaking weekend of racing this year. I am optimistic that I will have descent legs thought I don’t think I will have great legs.

Till next time,

LAE,

JNR

My Stupid Mouth

It appears that I opened my big mouth a little early.

Welcome Back Winter.

Weight Loss

A little.

I have to thank whom or what ever is in charge of the weather for giving me and all us little cyclist here in Louisiana an opportunity to ride our bikes uninterrupted for a whole week.

That is amazing. We have had some crap weather for the previous month.5 it was either cold or wet but more likely than not, twas cold and wet. So the previous week I have been logging 2-3+ hours each day and loving it. Too bad I don't have access to all the cool mountain passes or even big hills that guys like j. has or Eric M. Soon though, I shall have my own little race/ride vacation in the mountains.

So I have decided what my first several races shall be this year.


February 24 Walburg, TX
February 25 Pace Bend, TX

March 3 Lago Vista, TX
March 4 Lago Vista, TX

March 11 Rouge Roubaix, LA

March 17 Fayetville, TX
March 17 Fayetville, TX

MARCH 31 ( TOOL the river center in Baton Rouge, LA)
I know this is not a race but it is an event that I will not miss.

April 14 The Warda Race, TX MTB
April 15 The Warda Race, TX MTB

April 21 Waco, TX MTB
April 22 Waco, TX MTB

May 5 Cold Spring, TX
May 6 Cold Spring, TX


So for all the races other than pacebend, walberg and lago vista I am looking for company for the trip.

Hollar at me if you are interested.


JNR

A man once claimed Chuck Norris kicked his ass twice, but it was promptly dismissed as false - no one could survive it the first time

Chuck Norris doesnt wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.

When Chuck Norris plays Oregon Trail, his family does not die from cholera or dysentery, but rather, roundhouse kicks to the face. He also requires no wagon, since he carries the oxen, axels, and buffalo meat on his back. He always makes it to Oregon before you.

Soon We will have some good updates.

JNR

When will it stop Raining?

So it appears that we will finally get a break from the bad weather on Wed.