With the rains last night ZNels and I thought it best to head out to Powhite for a quick ride this morning. That place has a funny ability to make you think to yourself (or sometimes out loud) "Which way do I go?" Especially when you are trying not to ride the same trail for the 2nd, 3rd or 5th time.

After grabbing a shower, lunch and a quick nap, I headed out to the shed to give the BUSS a little long overdue TLC. In wanting to put a bigger gear on it but not wanting to spend more money on chainrings, I pulled out the gold RaceFace crank that came stock on it. I had bent something on it awhile back and it started to eat chains. Breaking one almost every other ride. Well I think I have it straight once again but cannot say for certain until I give it a new chain to chew on.

I had picked up another set of the Ergon grips the other day at the shop. Since I was going to remove the Pepperjacks I figured I might as well install the new Avid Ti Brake levers I bought months ago. Both the grips and levers look and feel amazing! A new set of pads and cables completed the pampering of said BUSS for the night.

Before Friday, I plan on replacing the bearings in the rear wheel. Stay tuned for that as I plan on doing it myself for the first time. Could get ugly?!

Carytown 10k

From the title you are probably thinking, "When did Andy start running?". The answer is he hasn't. I did however make it down to Carytown to watch Jenn run in her first 10k. She was a bit nervous before the start of the race as to if she would be able to finish or not due to two reasons. First she was sick for about a week just 2 weeks ago which kept her from doing any sort of exercise and the second being that her knee had been given her trouble on the last couple of runs.

Just like I promised her, I said a prayer so the knee pains would stay away for the day and they did. Although, that did not eliminate all of the pain from the run. While still able to muster a smile she was looking good at the 1.2ish mile mark as she turned back towards Cary St. At about the 3.5 mile mark she still looked good to me (I know I'm a bit biased) but commented that she was starting to feel the burn a bit. I saw her once more with about 1/4 mile remaining where she made the turn back onto Cary St and finished it off strong.

Jenn (white) Girl who doesn't want to see these pictures aka Olivia (pink)

Fighting through the burn and pain she achieved her goal of finishing with a time of 1 hour 12 minutes. Couldn't be more proud to be your man! Looking forward to June 9th where Jenn will tackle the competition once again in her 2nd 10k all the while training for her first half marathon.

Now I ask you Jenn: Are your legs as tired as mine?

New Lid

Since Maxxis is such a generous sponsor this year, thought I would rock their colors on the new helmet. Now if only mother nature would play nice I could get a ride in. Thankfully Saturday, Sunday and Monday look to be very nice.

Not so Mellow

Met up with the group doing the Mellow Monday ride again yesterday. Then I decided to show everyone how bad of a rider I actually am and fell over while attempting a log pile. Dolt! The onlookers from behind were fairly convinced I would have been able to pull a complete barrel roll had the ground not gotten in the way. Just means I will have to take my stunts to much greater heights.

The rest of the ride went without a hitch. Even made it up a steep climb while big ringing it. A few weeks ago it took me borrowing Jay's El Mariachi to successfully ascend to the top. Note to self, "The big ring is where it is at!"

A Good Whipping

Everyone needs a good whipping every now and again. Not being too impressed by my level of cardio I have decided to start riding to and from work once again as I did last year. Well that and now there is incentive from the company to use "alternate" transportation. Either way, three days in a row and my legs are a bit tired. Maybe it's not just my cardio that needs work. Or maybe I should allow a little more time to get to work so I am not doing a 16 mile time trial twice a day. With the forecasters calling for afternoon T-Storms today, it sounds like the perfect day to rest the legs. Especially since I got caught in one last week. And may I say it was not fun. But that is just me!

Changed my eating habits a bit. No more candy for awhile and instead trying to eat a bit healthier. Fruit and veggies for my daily snacks for me!

Have Friday and Saturday off this weekend (and it cannot come soon enough) so I plan on getting in some serious saddle time in. If only I had the drivetrain issues fixed on the Turner life would be great. Guess I'll just have to ride the BUSS.

Mellow Mondays

With the return of the longer/warmer day comes the return of the Famed Mellow Monday ride at Powhite Park. The idea behind the ride is everyone is welcome: fast or slow, expert or beginner. The pace is as slow as the slowest person all the while stopping to chat, play on TTF's or work on a skill in which we think we could use help on.

Showed up for the ride to see the scenery had changed just a bit since the last time I rode at Powhite. Guess they are reworking the sewage pipes or something for the surrounding neighborhoods. The signs say they are almost done. We will see!

Forgot my shoes on the front porch. Duh! Good thing I had a spare pair of shoes in the trunk. I used a piece of heavy equipment that was laying around to dig for some brass and made myself a set of cleats. I apologize to my feet for stuffing you like a sausage into those shoes.

Got a chance to give Jay's El Mariachi a spin up a climb. Let me tell you, something to rolling with the big wheels fully rigid. Point and shoot! Up the climb you go.


I thought it would only be nice to let Jay and Lisa fool around on the Turner. Damn they are fast! Sorry for the blurry pics, the camara couldn't keep up.