Global Intelligence

I know you've been waiting foor this, so here it is.




Q: Who build the great walls, 40 feet thick in some places, that still encircle the Old Town of the Greek island of Rhodes, just 11 miles of the coast of Turkey? 3 mile long and encircled by a double moat
a) The Trojans
b) Alexander the Great
c) The Roman emperor Constantine
d) Medieval knights

Sun is shinning

And it feels great to see the sun for a few straight days instead of seconds here and there.
Had a good 4.5 hr ride yesterday, nothing too hard but wasn't easy either. Rode from home with "The HO" down to the valley through Sand Run metropark and back home taking a few back roads.
Stopped at  Brueggels bagels for a pee break and bough a bagle for the road. Something I never do but it just felt right.

Mmmmm, I like bagels. Looks more like a freaking banana.

Today I was on the road by 7am to meet Ken in Medina and head to Mohican when he called and said Rray had called and it rained hard there last night. I'm not one to go shred the trails when is wet because I really don't like riding in mud unless I abosolutely have too, like a race.

We decided for a 3 hr very easy ride on the Valley city loop. After the ride I thought it was the best decision we made, even if Mohican was dry we both would have been in the hurt locker.

I'm already looking at my next bike.

36er anyone

Oh yeah, I can ride over anything with this thing.

How wet is it?

I have ducks living in my front yard. And there's isn't even standing water there, is all in the back yard.

 I was finally able to cut the grass tuesday and in the process our dog was found. He had been lost in the jungle for days.
Squezed one good hr of riding right after work yesterday. Went to the tow path with the fixie that's not fixed.

It had rained on the Peninsula side of CVNRA and the trail was wet and of course and didn't put the frenders on.

 At least I was on my bike, with all the storms last night again the roads were very wet and some of the park roads were closed due to flooding or down trees. Hopefully no more today but that s not the case. Is already raining and more storms prdicted for the day.

The Cucamonga river was running low yesterday but I'm sure it is running high today as the park roads were closed by the fords.

GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE

Q: True or False? the sound construction of the Golden gate Bridge proved itself when the bridge survived the great SanFrancisco earthquaque unscathed while much of the rest of the city lay in ruins.


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On to another subject: beautiful afternooon yesterday after a soggy wet roads start that had my a...wet because I didn't put the fendres on the bike. Going to the train station today to ride the SS on the towpath and get caught in the coming storms. Then, (and I'll make sure the fendres are on) ride to work again tomorrow morning if the weather permits. Wet roads are not going to stop me, but thunder will.
Have a great one.

WOW

That was some storm yesterday evening. I have never seen clouds like that in all of my 5...years.

Tornado warnings all over northeast Ohio. We spent a little time in the basement and came up when it cleared. Some communities had big hail fall and ding up cars.

This morning got up early and rode in to work. Wet roads and stupid me didn't put the fenders on. Lots of debri on the roads and I was thinking flat tire soon but I made it in with a dirty bike. Cleaned it up had my PBJ and recoverite and I'm readu to go.

Nice weekend

It was a nice weekend with just a small shower in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Saturday Ray and I went back to Stoney Creek in Michigan and put in a good 2.5hrs on the trails. Sunday some of the guys went to  Mohican and found out it was in great shape. I decided to take Sunday to do much needed yard work thinking I'll ride to work Monday morning. Monday morning came and I just stayed in bed for another 1.5 hrs. I'm not to entuse about riding under thunderstorms and that's what the weather people are predicting for the afternooon. The real story is I didn't want to get up and found the thunderstorms a goood excuse to sleep in. I did bring enough clothes to work to ride in at least twice this week. With a 32 mile one way hilly commute the less weight I carry in my pack the better it is.
I'll be watching the weather al week and hopefully do Mohican Saturday and maybe Sunday too to make it and even two days of fun and pain.
Have a great one.

Race schedule, finally able to post one

The past 3 years I never had a race schedule because I was either hurt or sick with something.
Well, it is almost the end of may and I'm still in one pc. so here it goes for what is worth.

June 19th, Reagan park Time trial, Ohio
July 2nd, Stoney Creek Marathon, 40 miles, Michigan
July 4th. Twinn Sizzler road race, Medina, Ohio
July 9th. Boyne Mtn. 35 miles Michigan
July 17th. Iron Mountain, 65 miles, Damascus, Virginia
August 7th. Thorn TT, Findley, Ohio
August 21st. Rattling Creek, 50 miles, somewhere in PA
October 1st, Grampian Challenge, 40 miles, Michigan

Still looking for 3 more to make it an even 10 mtb. races.
Whether I do all of them depends on the weather, work, family and health. Looking forward to racing this year.

Duck weather/week

After the race on Saturday I took Sunday off even though my legs felt really good. Besides, it rained all day. How did you like the brief 30 min appearance by the sun yesterday morning. It did feel good and it looked like it was going to stick around but didn't. Monday it was the same as the last two months, more rain. I still rode two hrs under the rain on my Fixie that's not fixed turned hybrid single speed that's not fixed. Talk about SS bikes, after I put away my Orbea Alma las year because I was selling it, I only rode my SS29er  (besides my road bike) and I never thought I would enjoy riding SS's as much as I do. There's times when I'm heading out on a road ride and I debate whether to take the SS or my geared bike. There's something about riding SS that's appeals to me. Is like going back in time and being a little kid again, I just enjoy it. and that's all I have to say about that. Tuesday it finally hit me, I subbed a spinning class in the morning and my legs finally felt the effort from Sunday, I don't know why it took a couple of days but I was hurting. Last night it was riding under the rain again with what else, the SS. So much water standing everywhre I'm really going to start building my own ark. Places that normally are dry even when it rains have standing water. Today I'm resting again and heading downtown to my daughters graduation. Saturday heading back to Stoney creek to ride again since the trails here will be unridable until the end of July.

Building my own.

Non stop rain train

The rain train is at it again. Rain possibly all week, no trail riding anywhere close to the area, it looks like another trip to the land up north for some dirt. Yeah, back to Stoney Creek Saturday with a couple friends that are yearning for dirt. I say it again, it can be 80's and dry for 7 days straight and the trails will still be muddy and unrideable. Up north is all sandy soil and it drains fast. even road riding is going to be a challenge this week.

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In the meantime read this, funny but true!!!!! I'm thinking about just letting mine grow free and see what the neighbors say.

GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is

going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets,
milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance
garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil,
withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the
long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I
expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these
green rectangles.



ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The
Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers “weeds” and went to great
lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.



GOD: Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract
butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to
temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?



ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and
keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any
other plant that crops up in the lawn.


GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really
fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut
it-sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags..

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow.
And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back
on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves
them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops
growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it, so
they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.


GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer
stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the
spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn,
they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the
soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural cycle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new
circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay
to have them hauled away.

GOD: No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the
winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something
which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of
the leaves.


GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine,
you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: “Dumb and Dumber,” Lord. It's a story about...

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

Michigan 6hr report

Got up at 4:30am and was at the soccer fields at 5:15 setting up the goals. Home by 7:30 and out the door by 8:00. I debated going since it was raining and it showed rain in Rochester, Michigan at the race venue. I didn't look good on the turnpike, (visibility was just about half a mile or less)

or south of Detroit, as a matter of fact it was poring rain most of the way until north of Detroit where it had rained but the roads where drying. Arrived at the park and proceeded to set up the pit area,

There was a 12hr race also going on that had started at 8am. i started asking the pit crews and riders from the relay teams how was the course looking and some of the locals that were racing told me it was slippery, muddy, lots of standing water. I thought to myself, I should have stayed home. After the first lap I was wondering why they were complaining about the course, for the most part it was dry with just a few muddy spots and the mud didn't even stick to the tires. They haven't been outside of Michigan to race in PA or West Virginia. I felt very comfortable flying through the single track. The Jamis 29er responded to every situation better that anything I have ever had.

The race started promptly at 2pm through a short single track section and unto the double track and the first short climb of the day where it split the group some what. I found myself going into the tight twisty single track in the top 20 at a very fast pace. I started thinking "I'm I burning to many matches, spending to many quarters" in the first lap? My legs felt a little heavy but responding anytime I needed to accelerate. The course, according to the promoter was about a 10 mile mix of very fun single track and double track with some short steep climbs mixed in between. The first lap went fast in under 50 mins. A couple of the double track sections where into a very strong head wind out in the open fields but for the most part the double track was inside the woods. There was also a few very deceiving false flats that after the 4th lap had me shifting into gears I had still not used. The 4th lap came and I knew something was brewing in my body and it kept getting worse. Every lap it was a quick stop at my tent grab another bottle swallow a bunch of pills and a gel and take off.Well, I forgot to eat solid food and my stomach was pulling every which way, went to the bathroom and nothing, tried to get back on the bike and just coulldn't get going again.  I was sitting in seventh place and had just picked up one position. I decided it was time to end it. If I would have been able to continue I don't know if I would have been able to pick up any more places but every body was hurting so I'll never know. One thing, I watered a bunch of trees having to pee twice every lap, I lost at least 5 minutes having to stop.

I feel I let myself down by not trying to go out for the 6th lap but I'lll be ready for the next race.

My Garmin says 41 miles in 3:39 but I must have hit the stop button because I did 5 laps which should have been 50 miles. In all, I had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it all over again.

Looks like rain most of the week here, so Ray, Ken and I are planning on going there next week to ride. With the weather pattern the way it is the trails are not going to dry anytime soon around here.

On a last note, I met Jason "The Soiled Chamois" formerly from PA, now a Michigan dude.

 We leap frog ourselves for most of the course, the dude is fast on the double tracks, great riding Jason. By the way, I found this race in your events section, thanks.

   Hope to see you at another race this summer.

Blogger down / Michigan race

Blogger was down most of the day today and my last post was erased. No biggie I'll post another Global Intelligence on Monday.
 Right now I have everything ready for tomorrows 6hr race in Michigan.
Tent, chair, bottles are ready, enough supplements, gels, food, 70% chance of RAIN, wind gusts of up to 20-25 mph. Yep, I'm ready. Getting up ar 4:30 to set up the goals and should be on my way by 8am, arriving at the race venue around noon for a 2pm start with the 12hr race starting at 8pm. Hope to do well and finished in the top 10 in the 40+ wich is the oldest age group at this race so I'll be competing against guys up to 15 years younger. No problem there, I'm ready for anything. Don't know how many people have signed up or will race since it has rained there the last two days. let you know on Sunday afternoon.

Have you had this conversation before??????????

About last night

I got home last night from the place up north at 8:30 pm and proceeded to unload, clen the bikes (although no cleaning needed to be done) I really didn't eat well all day and about 9 I started feeling the shakes coming. I knew I had to go eat something but I ignored the feeling and all of the sudden it hit me, I'm shaking, sweating, can't see straight, hardly made it upstairs to the kitchen and asked the wife to make me something to eat since I couldn';t even see straight. She made me what had to be the best chicken sandwich I have ever tasted in my life. That and the bag of organic chips which I ate half of it in less than 5 minutes plus yougurt more chips and 3 glasses of pineapple juice. Can't wait for it to happen again.
Feel real good today

Michigan bound

Got up at 5:30 this morning to set up the goals

And then gather all my stuff and drove 3:20 to Stoney Creeck in Rochester Michigan to check out a race course for a 6 hr race I'm doing may 14th. The weather was great, unlike here where it rained on and off the whole day. Bright sun and clear skies with bone dry trails had me giggilng like a little kid. Took both bikes and rode the ss for 1.5 hrs and the Jamis for 1hr. Perfect place for a ss. Ran a 34x18 and it was perfect, a few short steep little hills all rideable. Fast flowing single track with bermed turns to carry your speed through the turns.

The single track was fast twisty wuth just one short rock garden in the whole place. Should be a great fun race. Hopefully it'll stay dry up there. 2 pm start for the 6hr and 8am start for the 12 hr race.

Also thinking about doing my first 100 miler at the end of the month.

Hanson Hills 100.

Happy Mothers Day

Finally

Two times finally. Finally the sun is bright and shining (at least today) and I finally was able to ride to work. Nice clear sunny day were the sun really seems bright. Not like the few times we saw the sun the last month were it was shinning but no brightness to it. Lots of wildlife out on my way to work, turkeys, deer, lots of deer, skunks looking for love and all the little critters running around in the park. I'm glad we get daylight early because my light battery died after 30 minutes even though it was re-charged last night. More money to spend on parts.

Enjoy the day and get out and ride, run, walk, whatever makes you happy.

Have a margarita, is cinco de Mayo.

Long (sort off) FL report

Flew down to Tampa last Wednesday and by 10:30 we were driving  up to Ken's House. Went down to drive the car back and in the process ride at Santos and Balm Boyette plus a short ride at Alafia.

Quickly unpacked the bike to find out it was dropped at the airport and the rear derrailleur hanger snapped in two. No worries, we were in no hurry, called a couple of bike shops and one of them happened to be a Jamis dealer and had one available. Very nice shop and people, got it fixed and headed to Santos.

Here is Ken sporting his G-man look"sleeveles shirt"

Arriving at the land bridge over I-75

Santos is a great place to ride. You have a lot of miles of easy to hard trails and then you hit the Land Bridge trail for miles and miles of turns and a flowing trail through the trees.

The bridge was made to facilitate the animals a place to cross 6 lanes of highway without getting killed. They cross mainly at night, we didn't see any wildlife this time except for the two turtles we almost ran over.

The picture doesn't really show how beautiful the trees look with the spanish moss all over them. To bad it chokes them to death. Next day we went to Balm Boyette, another great place to ride. It makes you wish you had a helmet cam to film the ride.

I hit a pricker plant head on and I thought it ripped my nose off with all the blood that was pouring out of it. Once I cleaned up it was only a couple of scratches.

Two great days of riding and eating good food. friday we left early and headed to Mullberry gap in Georgia. drove 8 hrs and heavy traffic through Atlanta but when we got there steaks were already cooking on the grill.

This is another great place to stay, it is ride in ride out. It was 5 mile climb to the trail and we didn't even get to the top of the gravel road. We were treated like kings here, great food.

From georgia we moved on to Asheville for our last day of riding at Bent Creek.

We had Breakfast on Sunday with Bruce and headed for home.

On our way north we witness first hand the devastation of the tornados that hit the area.

Many thanks goes to Ken for inviting me down to his house in FL, we had a great time driving and riding our way back to a soggy Ohio. It was raining when we left, raining when we came back. Good weather is around the corner. I'm ready to go back anytime if it doesn't stop raining.