No More Slacking.

I have neglected my baby far too long. I have had plenty of great material to post. Dealing with the issue of how much information is too much information has most definitely made me consider to reconsider what data and information I am willing to post. Well the truth be told everyone knows everything so I may as well give the people what they ask for. Expect Bi-Weekly updates from this day forth till I deem my life so boring and mundane that I force myself to reduce the output to a trickle.

Peace Out,

jR

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.

A-Town

So I did the Austin Tri Cyclist ride this morning. I don't know when the last time I rode that hard was. This ride was as hard as many of the races I have done. These guys don't play here in A-Town. So I ran into the regulars on Robbie and some other THSJ people and even a guy with the discovery crew. This town is made for cyclist.

I will update later tonight.

jnr

Comite MTB Race

Just a friendly reminder that there is a MTB race at Comite park on Sunday. See you there.

jnr

New Website.

www.joshuarosby.com
is on the way. I am working on hooking up all the flash and html content as we speak. As you all know I hardly ever update this site anyway. Anyway, LAE.
j

Ruston

I am writing this as I leave my door heading for Ruston LA the location of my very first MTB race on November 6-7 1998 back when I was the ripe ole age of 17.

I will post an update and try to mention the ins and outs of the MTB race on Sunday as well as the Duathalon National Championships tomorrow.

LAE,
JR

Where it all began.

So we spent the night in the forest and got good and drunk. We talked a lot about thing of little gravity avoiding politics, religion and anything that can be described without concrete words. All this was done with the attention span of three year olds chattering amongst each other. For hours we all had not a care in the world except that our fire stayed bright and that the dogs (Tusk and Tomba) remained cordial to one another. This morning the sun came up, bright as ever, it pleasantly warmed the surfaces of our tents and evaporated the early morning dew and signaled time to wake up and go riding.

For the first time in several years I revisited the first trail that I ever rode my GT mountain bike on. Actually, I have ridden other trails at Clear Springs and frequently do, but never do I ride Tally’s trail. This is the longest and most technical of all the trails in the Homochitto National Forest. I love the woods, well I love that forest. Riding Tally’s today was like visiting an ole friend. Though its appearance has changed, since a couple of other easier trails have opened, it is still my favorite. It will never get the number of riders it used to. It’s just a little too rough for the faint or the weak. I have raced all over the southeast of the US and in Cali and this is still my favorite trail. The leaves are falling from the trees, foreshadowing the rapid approach of cooler weather this autumn, and the end of another hurricane season. Clear Springs was this year unscathed by another disastrous storm. We lost access to this little jewel in the hills of southwest Mississippi for all of seven months following Katrina. The only part of the trail system that is not fixed is Tally’s. Still in existence are the rustic remnants of bridges and hundreds of hours of hard labor, utterly destroyed by the colossal winds of a storm long gone. Fallen trees still litter the trail and provide a technical break from the hard labor of pedaling on a mattress of dead leaves, aerated soil and exposed tree roots. The roots are the worst part of the trail; it seems as if each one is strategically placed to change your direction to the perilous descent of a hill side. The only things to stop your acceleration towards hell are unfriendly trees. They will stop you but not the way you want to stop.

Yeah I ate it today. I was cruising down a hill side covered by pine straw and my front wheel was completely swallowed by a hole. Then the slow m o t i o n crash began. My friend David said that I just disappeared. Well actually I kind of pseudo chest planted into some soft leaves and sandy soil that had been recently turned by heavy machinery. I barely missed a piece of rebar as we detour a dismantled bridge. That was on Richardson’s Creek Trail. Prior to vaulting the down trees of Richardson’s I rode the Mill Branch. This is probably the fastest trail in the forest. It is also the shortest. Mill Branch lacks the longer climbs indicative of the other trails. It is tight and rocky at times. Richardson’s Creek is the new preferred trail at Clear Springs. This trail is a little too perfect. It is a 15 mile loop (including access via Mill Branch) with big rolling hills and some fast descents but nothing too technical. If you ride slow and watch for obstructions you can ride it however, if you ride too fast it will place you in check. Tally’s is not like that. It is a rough ole mean dog unwilling to heed your command. You don’t ride Tally’s, Tally’s rides you.

Now I remember the first thing to get me hooked on Mountain Biking / Trail Riding. Camping, Friends, Stories by the roaring camp fire, assing around, getting drunk and riding the hangovers away the next day, are all vivid yet distant memories of my past. I relived those many weekends as a freshman at LSU last night. Though the conversations and people have changed the mood and enjoyment has not. I went camping with two of my co-workers (Brennan, Patrick) Jodie, Jessica, David and myself. My only complaint was that the weather was a little warm for the big ass fire that two former boy scouts decided to get roaring.

So today was to have been Jessica’s first time trail riding. She was intimidated by the terrain and the tall tales of inexperienced people but we had a blast. Tomba was grabbing every pinecone in site and declaring his ownership over your pitching arm. We all tossed pinecones till he would realize that we were tired and he would move on to the next fresh arm. Tusk seemed to be the younger, faster opportunistic fetcher of the two. He would wait patiently and when Tomba missed his mark he would dart out and grab the pinecone that Tomba wanted. This several times caused great tension between the two. They both seemed to enjoy each other company.

Little known fact the first mountain bike trail I ever rode was Tally’s at Clear Springs. That is truly where it all began.

JR

Camping VS Racing.

Hummmmm Seems like a hard choice.

Camping.

Actually that was very easy.

JR

Good Weather Bad Timing.

the weather in baton rouge is great every morning is brisk and breezy and just very pleasurable too bad it came just a little to late this football season great weather here is always related to shortened days whether that is the spring or the fall and all the time between well i will just say sweaty balls the training races are winding down but the good thing is that camping is right around the corner clearsprings here i come and i will come often this winter in search of fresh air and primitive camping the only thing that i really do not like about the clear springs recreational area in the homochitto national forest is that some where near enough to the camp sites to hear is a pumping station it sounds like your grand fathers truck stuck in a ditch with him gasing that ole ford every seven seconds trying to dislodge that beater from a muddy half grave well actually my grand dad drove a chevy but ford sounds seems so much better for a visual the training is finally coming around today for me was a series of long hard pulls in my fifty three eleven at the training race and a couple of extended pulls in the twenty nine plus range up to the mid thirties so maybe just may be i will have a descent race this weekend in monroe louisiana i really like the course that the twin cities cyclist used last year my only problem was that it really did not work well for me anywaythisistheendofmyblogfornowbecausesomethingsarealittletohardtowriteandsomeothersalittletohardtoreadperiodjr
maythewindalwaysbeatyourback
lae
jr

Good Weather Bad Timing.

the weather in baton rouge is great every morning is brisk and breezy and just very pleasurable too bad it came just a little to late this football season great weather here is always related to shortened days whether that is the spring or the fall and all the time between well i will just say sweaty balls the training races are winding down but the good thing is that camping is right around the corner clearsprings here i come and i will come often this winter in search of fresh air and primitive camping the only thing that i really do not like about the clear springs recreational area in the homochitto national forest is that some where near enough to the camp sites to hear is a pumping station it sounds like your grand fathers truck stuck in a ditch with him gasing that ole ford every seven seconds trying to dislodge that beater from a muddy half grave well actually my grand dad drove a chevy but ford sounds seems so much better for a visual the training is finally coming around today for me was a series of long hard pulls in my fifty three eleven at the training race and a couple of extended pulls in the twenty nine plus range up to the mid thirties so maybe just may be i will have a descent race this weekend in monroe louisiana i really like the course that the twin cities cyclist used last year my only problem was that it really did not work well for me anywaythisistheendofmyblogfornowbecausesomethingsarealittletohardtowriteandsomeothersalittletohardtoreadperiodjr
maythewindalwaysbeatyourback
lae
jr

Rasing Canes Road Race

Raising Canes Road Race
So today's raising Canes Road Race consisted of a few key ingredients.

1) Fried Chicken Boy (ME)
2) Two La Sport riders
2) New Orleans Transplant Rialdo and Brooks
and all that diluted into the same quantity of Herring Gas.

That equals Slaughter.

Herring Gas Cycling Team was just too strong today and not of the underarm pit odor type either.

They controlled the race from the start. I like racing against them because they are so strong but heck even if you roll with the punches you will eventually get hit.

I was TKO'd after around 30 miles of racing. Herring sent all of its riders off one at a time till a group of 5 of us were left chasing there group of 6. My group was not playing nice and so I decided to go on a suicide mission. I took to the front of our group fully intending on catching Herring. After cruising between 26-33 for a few miles, I realized that every time we started to reel them in they would go just a little harder. That is frustrating. Really it is.

Needless to say I was successful in completing a suicide mission. I blew up, which is just as I expected. My bud Trent told me of this cool race tactic that will make me much stronger next year. Basically, ride myself into the ground at every race I enter. Either go for the win or go for broke. I broke into the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle today. But I did get in a good workout.

Till Next Time, LAE,
JR