The new frame is in the house

The new frane came in a week ago and the parts are being ordered this week.
It is the Intense Hard Eddy 29er hard tail. It is the only hard tail frame that intense has produced. The color scheme was done to only two frames and Ross got the other one.
Only two frames in this color scheme in the USA or the world if it matters.
Feast your eyes on this beauty.

I was going to buy another Jamis and Jason at the Edge kinf of "talked me" into looking at this frame and "love was in the air" from the time I laid my eyes on it.

Here's the whole story, I wanted to buy another 29er but with my daughters wedding coming it was out of the question. My wife and I had talked about waiting a couple of years until she retired from school to buy another bike and it was a fair proposal. Guess what, she's retiring at the end of May, I get a new bike, what a deal. That woman is an angel, I love you honey.

Hopefully it'll be ready in a couple of weeks so I can take it out to the trails and dial it in before going to TSE. I'll be taking both bikes to TSE which is what I wanted from the time I signed up.

On the move

Was out of town for a few days in Miami Fl. for a Sales conference. I was able to use the gym a few times while I was there. The flight back was cancelled from a direct flight to a connecting flight in Newark. That was so stupid, I was on the move from 10am and didn't get home until close to 9pm  the same day tired and hungry. The conference went well, I was able to meet people I work with via e-mail and phone lines.
Our hotel was next to the Miami river and a few times we saw manatees swimming by. Didn't have time for pics and by the time I got down from the 15th floor they were gone. Food and drinks were good and I was very good at not overeating like I normally do when I travel with the company. The weather was excellent if you were in Ohio, they had a "cold spell" and the temps never made it to 80  while I was there.

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The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express

praise for answered prayers. Suzie Smith stood and walked to the podium.
She said, "I have a praise. Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him."
You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced.
"Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every
move caused him terrible pain." We prayed as the doctors performed a
delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the
crushed remnants of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place."
Again, the men in the congregation cringed and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom.
"Now," she announced in a quivering voice, "thank the Lord, Tom is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely."
All the men sighed with unified relief.
The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say.
A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He said, "I'm Tom Smith ."
The entire congregation held its breath.

"I just want to tell my wife the word is sternum."

This One is for you

Poached from J. C. Facebook page.

Great day

Had a great ride in to work yesterday. Finally I can feel a sense of relief that my fitness is getting to where I wanted to be. Since I fractured my ribs is been quite a struggle train the way I'm supposed to be training for TSE. Yesterday my legs felt good on the way in and surprisingly very springy on the way back home in the afternoon. i was able to do my intervals the way I was doing them last year and felt great. I still feel pain but is bearable. That move I did in Michigan looking for food in the car felt like my ribs snapped again. Up until then I was feeling my ribs were healing well.
I can see a glimmer at the end of the tunnel.

No commute today

Really wanted to ride in to work today, but a heavy wind advisory took the sails from under me.
On my schedule yesterday was 3hr 80-100rpm ride yesterday at no more than 70% and the wind was blowing at 25-35mph and I was being tossed around like a flying squirrel. Today the wind gusts are supposed to be up to 50mph's and I'm not about to be blown into the path of a mobile, texting, look at my apple phone soccer mom/dad. I had everyting ready, got up at 4:30, heard the wind through my trees in the front yard and headed downstairs for a 45 min. workout. This is not what I wanted for today but it'll give me a chance to go get team Hammer order at the shop and split it up. After i finish that I can do and easy hr on the rollers watching the "Hell of the North" again, that's Paris/Roubaix race for you non classics crowd. I love that DVR. Hey, maybe I can watch the last episode of the "Walking Dead" which I still haven't watch, my favorite tv show.
COMING SOON: a look at my new sexy frame which there's only two in the US and Ross and I got them. Give you a hint: Intense.

Frosty commute

I knew if I rode in to work today it was going to be cold. And yes, it was cold. My toes are still defrosting, I need to steal a heater or two from one of my co-workers. She keeps about ten of them under her desk and keeps the cube farm warm and toasty. The fuses blow up a lot during the cold days of winter when she turns all of them on and the place turns into a sauna. I guess she's a "hot" person.
Better leave it alone before I'm turn in to Human Resources for "heater harrasment'.
Where was I? Oh yes, cold ride in today plus a struggle just to turn the peadals. My legs felt like lead amd my back was screaming every time I climbed and my ^%%* route does have a lot of climbs. i thgough about stopping and taking a couple of pics but if I did I probably would have sat there until somebody called 911, that's how bad I felt and probably looked too. It took me two hrs and 10 minutes for 31 hilly miles when I'm normally under two even on my worst days. Can't wait until the commute  home tonight, it's going to be fun.
Time to work, go out and ride today, even if it hurts.

The view from my car/my commute yesterday

This was the view from my car coming in to work this morning.

It's a little blurry, but you get the idea. That's why I love northeast Ohio.

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Nobody messed with me yesterday on the road. They gave me plenty of room when passing me. I wonder why.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone.

Pf Flyers and Huffy Radio Bike

Was planning on riding in to work on Monday but a small flood in the basement on Sunday changed that.
All taken care off.
Tuesday was my spinning class in the morning and hit the new trail in Strongsville for a couple of laps. it's not finished and when it is is going to be nice just to ride 2 miles from my house and I'm on the trail.
Today, I wore my PF Flyers,

and rode my Huffy-radio bike to work. Too bad it only has am radio, no pm radio for the afternoon commute.

Lowell 50 gravel road race report

Traveled 4.5hrs to Lowell Mi. to race the Lowell 50 g.r.r on Friday thinking all the way that maybe I should switch to the 28 mile course. Doubts creeping in about my fitness level and hrs on the bike missed because of broken ribs had my head spinning. My wife and I stayed at a small 8 bedroom inn recently renovated in an old bldg. Very nice place and very friendly staff. Had dinner at the Flat River Grill. I ordered dessert and quickly had me doubting I was going to be able to finish this.

Nice caramel, fruit and walnuts sundae. doubts were gone when I was scrapping the bottom for all the caramel I could get.

Race morning came and since the race didn't start until 10am (thank you race promoters) it was nice to sleep in until 7am instead of getting up at 5am. We headed for the race venue only 8 minutes away, I registered and warmed up until 3 mins were left before the start. It was cold at the start, 38 and overcast, whatever happpened to 53 and sunny, never happened. My choice of clothing was excellent, thin winter first layer, short sleeve winter layer, my Edge Outdoor jersey and vest was enough that I never felt cold. My choice of gloves wasn't very smart, I chose to go with a 50 degree and up glove and I paid for it. Winter sidi soes were enough protection for the temps. my toes were cold but not frozen.

Ok, on to the start. This was no Barry-Roubaix  with over a 1000 racers, we only had about 400 hundred total split between the 50 and 28 mile races but it was a well run well organized race with a mix of about 70% gravel and 30% pavement.The roads were in excellet shape with very little mud, slick or soft spots even though it rained the day before.

The signage was perfect at every turn. I could tell most of the crowd was made up of roadies with their skin suits and cyclocross bikes although there was quite a few of us on mtb's. I mounted the Kendas small block tires for better rolling resistance and they worked well but I'm already looking at real cross tires for the next two gravel road races in the fall. The gun went off and I was well positioned about a third of the way back counting on my roadie skills to suck wheels all the way to the end. It didn't happen, one mile into the race we go through the first covered bridge, the pace slowed and then picked up to the first hill of the day, a beast of a climb for Michigan standards. I have used Hammer race boost many times and never had an issue like I had at this race. I thought my legs felt great when we started and as soon as the road turned up, I was going backwards. It was a climb that being at the beggining I would have been able to climb with the pack and stay with the pack for a while. My legs felt so heavy I had to switch to the small ring whereas I would have pounded the climb on my big ring. To top it off, we stopped for gas and I reached inside the car for something to eat and the ribs let me know I did something wrong, had pain all night long and didn't sleep much and had pain from time to time during the race. By the way, don't buy gas in Michigan, $4.05 per gallon, don't complain Ohio at $3.74 a gallon we have a bargain.  Needless to say, I was dropped on the first climb coming out of the park with 49 miles and a windy day to go. The more I tried to go fast the slower I went. Every time I came up to a split on the road where the sign said 28 this way, 50 that way, I thought about cutting it short, but I didn't drive 4.5 hrs to quit and do 28 miles. Finally I just decided to go as hard as the legs wanted to go and try to enjoy the race turned into a ride. When I finally was brave enough to look at my Garmin I was 30 miles in and feeling real good, my legs where finally coming around (it only took 30 miles!!) and I could see several riders in front of me on the long straight roads. That gave me incentive to give it all I had the last 20 miles. I started picking up a few riders that went out too hard and couldn't hold the pace. I would rest for a few minutes behind them and then pull around and they were to gassed to draft and would drop off. My goal for the race was to try for under 3hrs and I know I can do it, but after the start I had, crawling along for 30 miles I had to settle for under 3:30, whohoo. The next time I looked at the Garmin I had 7 miles to go and I was at 3hrs. I started pounding the pedals and rode those last 7 miles in 23minutes, 18.5 mph an hr. not bad for the way I was feeling for most of the race. And those last 7 miles were not flat, this part of Michigan has a lot and I mean a lot of smal climbs that really put the hurt on you. To summarize, it was a well run race, good roads and I had fun and even though I started bad I was able to finish very strong, that in itself was very encouraging, fitness wise. This was supposed to be an "A"race for me in preparation for TSE but once I broke my ribs it turned into a "B" race and once the race started it turned into a "C" race going down to D, E, F.

My wife was there to greet me at the line which was the highlight of the race, seeing a friendly face after a tortourous 3:23 on the bike. By the way, the racer that won the 50+ completely killed me, it only took him 2:35. Man, I need a cyclocross bike bad if I'm going to keep doing gravel road races.

The course

The pain after.

Have a great day and ride your bike.