awwww, Man!

Damn! Thought I had that jersey wrapped up.

Prologue, I got to be 30second guy to Todd H. Strategy? Hold off the super fast dude for as long as possible, then try to keep him in sight. That worked on the downhill, then once we started to pedal, Todd put 4 minutes on me over a 27 minute effort. Damn, what have I gotten myself into? Came out of the prologue bunched up in the lower half of the top 10.

Stage one I worked on my surge-n-fade climbing technique. Then got hung out to dry by a lazy peloton, but still turned the screws at the front of the train during the second Stage 1 sprint. Stage 2 found me throwing down another pointless surge to capture zero points for 6th place in the KOM. Followed that up with a classic sketch move, blowing thru a highspeed fireroad turn and ending up way up high on the embankment beyond the ditch during the windup for the Montebello sprint. And backed all that up with major pukage along Whetstone before battling back to only lose spots to Bucky & Joely. Those efforts put me into my first ever Grand Tour Jersey, the maglia blanca for Most Combative, an apparently 100% subjective classification.

So, the third and final stage found me clad in my first Grand Tour Tunic. I wore it with pride and treated it with the honor & respect it deserved. I was also trying to stake my claim on the overall title. Showing il maglia at the sharp end of the stage as much as possible, logging long kilometers off the front of the group, trying to always be there to instigate the festivities when it was time to wind it up. Put in a solid effort with Buschetti on the day's KOM, logging my highest ever KOM placement with the 2nd slot. The Parkway sprint was another painful affair, dangling off the front with Cristoph for the 3mile leadout and running out of gas in the final 50m, getting nicked at the line in the uphill sprint by a surging Mr. Helmick. Captured my first ever sprint points though, 3rd place. Then the downfall, Torrey Ridge for GC time. The jersey, which had an aura about it and had pushed me with a helping hand to earlier glories during the stage, now became a heavy burden to shoulder. I was hungry and instigated a slight jumping of the gun for the World Cup Holeshot into the singletrack. I was shortly put into my place and my time for the cameras came to an end.

I viewed 'Most Combative' as a classification encompassing the entire realm of a Grand Tour. So across Torrey, I finished my Giro by mounting a monumental attack on the DFL jersey. I fell apart, it was a meltdown of nuclear proportions. I couldn't pedal for shite, had one flat tire, got caught behind a smoke screen, gave up a tube to fellow Cupcake Buck and finally got to snap some pics while actually on the trail. I thought I had it wrapped up, I really, really did.

But, due to the totally subjective nature and possibly my lack of post stage lobbying, the jersey was wrenched from my grasp and given to Jimmy the Newcomer. His singular performance on the day's GC section, a stellar 3rd place showing to move into the top 10 overall, was enough for the judges and trumped my hero to zero showing.

Damn, so close. Now I can only hope that this classification is introduced at le Tour, I've had a taste of the glory, and it was sweet.

Beyond all that, thanks to everybody for making the event happen. il Directour, Martino and the Fooftown Mafia. Mr. Hoy for his super-MVP support role. The tifosi for lining the course 4 deep in spots. And of course, all the other bike riding and suffer loving fools that made the event one for the ages. We're lucky to be part of such an interesting community.

will get pics up on the smug sometime soon, peace.

here we go!

Bags are packed, CR-Vizzle is loaded, directions are printed, clock is ticking.

tick tock

tick tock

Dos is cleaned, tuned, looking and feeling sharp, successful shakedown spin around town last night to return some movies. Extra parts are stashed; tire, tubes, cable, lube, extra rear deraileurrerer, a half-link in case I need to convert her into single. Fresh pack of HandyWipes (99.9999999% anti) to ward off a cranky taint, big bags of gels and bars and oatmeal and Pop Tarts to satisfy my tummy, contact lenses and spares. Batteries for the camera, car charger for the pod soundtrack machine. Coffee, camp frenchy press, plate and bowl and eating tools, save a tree! Tent, bag, pad and pillow, styley lounge wear for around camp. Rosa drink cozies for the all important recovery beverages.....

Prologue from the Land of Hoy around 6ish this evening, then three days of what should be very solid riding. Guessing 6-8hr efforts each day, the roster for il gruppo looks stacked. The mighty Quinns, a posse from the Dirty South, Hugh Jass alumni, a few of us Cupcakes and the local Fooftown Mafia are all well represented. Legs are freshly shaved and feeling oh so sexxxxxyyy under the Carharts today. My weight is down, attitude is up.

An easy week in the saddle, just one real effort on the road Weds eve. Got into traffic rolling from the Allstrom plant thru the Holly Gap to the Holly Inn. Sweet F-250 Super Duty motor pacing, sat on that bumper spinnin the 40:15 hard @ 31-33mph across the entire stretch. Almost came around him for the sprint, but felt that passing the big white truck along the yellow line with opposing traffic and a red light woulda been a tad bit beyond sketch. Felt really really good to wind her out regardless.

My mind is tranquillo, I dream of maglia rosa, or perhaps verde or even ciclamino.

Anything but the dreaded maglia DFL.
I'll be flirting with that one come July......

dayummmm

Countdown to the first Grande Tour is underway. Trying to find somewhat fresh legs via a couple of light spins, must have spilled a bit out of the bucket last wknd. Exact details of il corsa rosa are sketchy, but here's a GoogleEarth screen shot of the overnight venues. I doubt that the route follows the 'as the crow flies' white lines.

Direction of travel is clockwise. Friday evening prologue, no frickin clue what's in store for Saturday, Sunday looks like it'll include the classic ridge of Whetstone. (Stolen pic from Martino.)Monday we'll be rollin' into Sherando, those switchbacks will be slum central I'm sure, good times, good times. Change of scenery will do me good. Hope my Giro goes better than what happened to these guys on the finish line in Italy today (Velonews pic).

thru the fog

Obvious reasons to get out and clear my head. Trying to hide from certain demons and chasing others over the extended wknd. Riding was good, getting my head squared and recalibrated is better. Brainstormed a quick climb maximization route on Friday amidst the meltdown. From town to Pine to 233, up and over and immediately up Bendersville. Turn 180 at top, back down B'ville and immediately back up and over 233. 233 is tougher from the Furnace then from the valley side, in my humble 40:15 opinion, it's a flow thing. Follow that with a quick 15minute spin on Pine then the right hander for a quick up-n-down on King's Gap. Spin her home directly for a neat little 3+hr, not quite 50miler.

Fortuituous phone call exchange between Elk,

Bucky

& I led to a spur of the moment jaunt to Thorpe on Saturday. Not quite out for 6 hours, Elk being the ultimate tour guide. We hooked up some sweet shit (the Dutch Eagle rocks!) and found multiple groovesGetting lost in the pedals was most excellent.

Southern Michaux Sunday was next on the platter. Mechanical issues pared us from 6 to 4 then back to 5, ultimately losing Buck to a tired brake. Lollipop styley route was blue blaze-Narrows-Buckets-Turtle-4 Logs-Karumba-blue blaze. Solid efforts chasing the singlespeed pain train, taking advantage of the big ring if possible and hangin' with granny aplenty. Did a reverse pushup on Buckets after a 1/4" miscalculation put me on the wrong side of the root. Loam was soft and damp up close, Jake laughed. Blue blaze beer run home was rippin big ring aggressiveness without a flat for me for the first time in a good long while. Rolled the ss ratio to finish, feeling solid and ready to take a crack at il Giro.

I dream of a tranquil pursuit of rosa.

peace.

thank you.

hey, thanks to everybody for the wishes and words and whatnot regarding the Huxster. It really means a lot. Gotta say, I was a total mess yesterday morn, we had one hell of a 12yr run and it's tough to see it end, tougher than I imagined. Now I'm down to just the odd bout of extreme sadness and mindlessly wandering around the house wondering where she is. Hmmm, she's not lying here next to me, must be on the bed, oh, that's right, she went out a little bit ago, I should make sure the door is open, oh wait, she's not out there either, sure she's not on the bed?.?>? ?.......round and round I go.

So, knowing that most of ya'll didn't know Huxley as a youngster, only meeting her during her exuberant 'teenage' years, wanted to share a few pics of the bestest damn dog in the world.

sweet little puppy nap time.jailhouse dog.
chewing machine

ready to playat the beach
scouting trail.
another groovey day in the woods

Huxley, I sure am gonna miss ya buddy, can't wait to see you when we share paths again.
Rest in peace dear friend.

Huxley Ann Miller, 4/01/95 - 5/17/07

why?

I've made the hardest decision and phone call I'll probably (hopefully) ever have to make.

Life is upside down and inside out and my home is going to be a very very empty & lonely place.

FUCK.

It's just not fair,
this whole life thing.

3's

Lots of things happen in threes, most notably, flat tires & crashes. Dos is still sitting with two flat tires and caked on mud from the Fitty, been back out on the fixy. Man, is that ever fun. Sunday's jaunt definitely revealed the rust. First obstacle out of Jake's driveway and I'm trying to backpedal a stutter stroke over a big rock. Ooops, pedals don't go that way, over you go, dumbass. Then more fumbling on logs. Logs, always a crux move to clear a log cleanly. Re-established my fixy hop last night though. Man, it's sweet when it works out, ugly as anything when it doesn't.

Bender & I roll from the Furnace last eve. Shootin' the shit, filling him in on Sunday's adventure. And try to share the lighthearted moment of Pedro attempting to learn to flick rocks, Harrisonburger style. The rock flick is something fun to do when you're bored on a fireroad. See a golfball sized rock sitting in the open, ride by it, flick it with the front wheel, and see if you can score a 'goal' by shooting said rock between the wheels of your buddy's bike. Pedro tried to replicate the action on Sunday, and just after he almost laid it down he says, "Guess there's more to it than I thought." See, you need to lighten the front end just as you flick, otherwise, you're just turning the wheel hard, which might have consequence if it hooks up and tosses you to one side or the other. Well, last night, I tried to demonstrate what Pedro did, and yep, I laid it down, brilliant. On the shoulder of B'ville road, not five minutes from the car, and I putz around and have to step off the bike while climbing at 6.3mph up a false flat. That's #1.

We get into Comm Service, I follow Dave's wheel so my cobwebby fixy skillz don't ruin his flow. Manage to follow his pace nicely, giving up ground on logs here and there, one or two pucker moments snaking rather quickly thru some tighter pitchy spots and pop up onto Logsled. Good times, good times. Keep it rollin' across the road and over to Woodrow for the evening's climb. Set a solid 2:1 tempo up that bitch and onto Jake's on up to the hunting camp. First time in a long long while that I didn't hike any of it, not one step. Might actually have some real fitness revealing itself, finally.

Collect at the top real quick like, then we're off to Rattlesnake. A little dabby dab here and there, a mostly smooth ride across the top and we're onto the 'new' section. I love this trail. I drop in for freshies and things are going good, the focus is there, the breathing is in sync with the flow and I'm holding a decent pace, even get an oh so slight gap on Dave. Get to the first cruxy spot, make it thru the tight steep bottleneck and then unexpectedly blow out of my right pedal. Fuck. Nothing like losing a foot to pedal connection as you're rolling a steep rocky pitch on the fixy. Try to save it, things accelerate quickly, spot a hopefully soft & rock free flat spot in the berry bushes and eject. Still clipped in with the left foot as I perform yet another cat like shoulder roll. Bike goes over top of me and unclips at the apex. Bike goes airborn and ends up 20' down the hill and another 10' or so further off the trail over in the brush. I somehow only end up with one small bruise on the elbow. That's #2.

We begin rolling again, right back on that horse. 30' down the trail and Dave washes the front end and dumps it into a tree. Officially, that's #3, we're in the clear, right? We roll outta there and follow the race course way thru the Nowhere loops, what a frickin' blast! I just wanna throw a shout out to all the fifty milers the other wknd. Ya'll did one hell of a job berming out what is probably one of the most super fun flowy sections in all of Michaux. Way way way fun, with lots a braapp bbrrrrappppp sounds being made. Then just as we're finishing up, at the end of a way spun out section, up onto a lip to get around a downed tree, when bam! Something grabs a hold of a pedal and almost rips the bike out from underneath me. I'm tossed into the bars, feel some unique stress in the wrists and thumb, and THAT was almost a big #3 for me. Enjoy the adrenal release, catch my breath, get back up to Dave, put some air in his softening tire and agree that spinning the road is a decent enough idea, rolled it back just shy of 2hrs.

Bonus was discoverring a new sunset spot, there's a kinda decent view from the top of the mud bank parking spot. Wish I woulda had the camera along, the late evening light was damn near perfect across that little ridge before we dropped onto the pavement, next time. Got home and cranked down the pedal tensions, clipping out of the fixy is usually not a desirable event, lesson (re)learned. The dormant ninja pedal skillz have been awakened. Tonight, plan to climb the 'steep' side of 233 along with an up-n-down on B'ville, hope the weather cooperates.

Time to climb bitch, it's time to climb.