5/11/04
Tick Tick, the days fly away. Friday was my final day at Henderson
and I wrapped it up by wrestling on my first set of tubular tires, seemed
like the appropriate conclusion to a week which had thoroughly tested the
mechanical knowledge which Will and Matt had attempted to impart to me in
the last eight months or so. Has it really been that long, the year
flew by and the pace at which it did makes me glad that I am moving on, for
fear that i would wake up too far down the road in a rut that was suddenly
too deep to climb out of. Without the burden of work and living toward
a paycheck i suddenly find it easier to smile, laugh, and be social with
those i had cut out through the winter. bummed around arcata all weekend
and saw many wonderful things and many wonderful folks. Had a couple
tests of my will and had to say "get behind me satan" more then once. But
i am as happy as can be and am super busy this week packing, wrenching, riding,
socializing, and planning. I'll be leaving this coming weekend, but
will definitely leave a farewell note on the page so check back. Already
scheming on next winter so look forward to it. Gotta send a shout out
to my homey g mac daddy pal fritz. The man is wise, clever, and talented.
Ran into him yesterday, we talked a bit, and then he offered to help
me slap a CD player into my truck, which i had been struggling with for sometime.
We were in and out like mission impossible wasn't so impossible. Looking
forward to hanging out at Bob Newkirk's tonight, he and Sean schemed up a
little get together to christine my voyage. We will ride and foosball
it up till we can't foos it anymore. So keep checking back as we count
it down to the end of the world.
5/5/04 Oh and the days count by, don't wish
away time, but the minutes stretch into hours and the hours into days. Two
days left on the job, a bit under the weather, but i am trying to enjoy every
bit of it. Had a final exam of sorts this week, at least that is how
I saw it as I flashed back to countless highschool and college tests. Rebuilt
a campi shifter, had my test for, was taking notes, pacing myself, and i passed,
smile. Now i am trying to get my head and body in the right place.
Gonna devote some time in the next week to seeing friends who i have
ignored for months as i focused in on my thing. Got a call from a friend
two nights ago that i haven't talked to since new year's eve, the gap was
for the best but the call made me smile. Well i am tired now, began
working on the series in review page tonight, nothing special, was gonna
just zap it up but think i will polish it and save it till i feel that it
is time for a final word of sorts. Night.
5/4/04 Oh brother, peaks and valleys, i've
experienced some hard come downs, yesterday was as real as any of them.
Soaring after a good ride on sunday and then wake up, back to work,
just don't matter, and nobody gets it. That's alright though, nobody's
got time to get everybody else, i understand that we all have to just get
oursleves and then spread around whatever we've got left. Just can't
wait to get out of the job. Not that it is painful, but it has become
a grind, routine, the adventure is gone, time to move on. So got four
days to wrap up and then i can forget everything and everyone and forget
that they'll forget me. It's the journey not the destination, so for
all you who keep putting the pressure of vicarious living upon me, get over
it. if you wanna ride give me a call. Final wrap up on the way.
5/3/04 May is upon us and it could not
have begun better for yours truly, well i suppose there is always room for
improvement. Took an epic road trip with Robert Rhall and son up to
Ashalnd Oregon for the OBRA series opener. Camped out in the snow and
rode down some mountain passes on the way there, though saturday morning
seemed to be the end of my plans to race. Woke up to find that my fork
was coming apart, didn't notice there wasn't a snap ring-a-ma-ding, and
after a little light riding there was clunking and oil and distress. So
i hung it up, crossing my fingers that i would be able to figure something
out that afternoon. So we cruised up into ashland and visited the
local bike shops for directions and hoping for some mechanical assictance.
Directions we got but assistance otherwise was denied. The first
shop presented the brilliant idea of shipping the fork back to marzocchi,
apparently they had never considered servicing such an item before. The
second shop was slightly more helpful by showing us their small cardboard
box of outdated dust seals and other doo-dads. So i sent a call back
to Mr. Todd, filled him in on the situation, he gave me a brief run down and
made a list of the parts i might need. Then we headed for the course
so Robbie could get some practice. Bumped into Jason and Christina at
the petrol stop on the way, compared plans and decided to meet at the trail
head later. So we headed up, up, and up till we found the trail head.
Robbie and i hiked down, growing more and more excited with each turn.
Scoped out the big, and only, double at the top and the log ride further
down. Prior to our walk i had given up practicing that afternoon and
planned on drinking a lot of beer instead. But after seeing the smooth,
superfast, and flowy course i knew i had brought the perfect bike (bullit)
and had to race by hook or by crook. So Rob and i busted out the wrenches,
scrounged up some c clips and before i knew it my fork was working like it
should. J and Christinia rolled up, we all changed and then practiced
the afternoon away. Felt really good on course, running dangerously
low psi with light tubes, and just focused on being smooth as silk and pumping
everything. I have been pretty bummed the last week cause my body hasn't
been keeping up with my demands. My old damaged knee has been giving
me lip and my tender wrist has been whining like a bitch. So i held
myself together with braces, was thankful the course was as smooth as it
was, and felt fine. We pitched camp at the trail head and kicked it
'till the sun went down, then busted out the duct tape and prepared for night
riding. Convinced a coasty from oregon who we were chilling with to
come along. He was brave enough to charge it with only a maglight and
my pinner L.E.D. camping headlight on his helmet. He wadded more time
then i could count but had a blast. We did two runs and as my buzz
increased so did my speed and sketchiness. Took one real hard fall
on the second run and decided to call it a night. So we hit the sack.
Next morning woke up, took our time, got suited, and practiced. Lots
of folks showed up, and the venue sprang up out of no where. Felt good,
didn't pedal too hard, did intervals sprinting at the many switchback corners
to see what they would be like at speed. Then chilled out for an hour
till race time. I knew i had to ride my way, my race, which is cautious
and smooth. Got in the gate having had a nice little warm up spin,
felt relaxed, and ust let it roll. I hit everything just like practivce,
not trying to find more speed in my race run, just putting down power where
i needed it. Had a dabless run, checked back quite a bit on the techinical
sections and in the switchbacks to insure fluidity. Got to the bottom,
sprinted up to the finish (yes up!) and felt very pleased with my run. Rode
it exaclt how i wanted to, had no idea how my time would be but i felt sure
i would be in the mix despite riding quite conservative, that's just my way.
When the times were posted i did a double take as i saw that i won
the expert class my a half a second, that put a smile on my face, plus Jake
Todd, in classic no brake style, podiumed in third despite a crash, a mere
six seconds off my time. Upon further checking i realized i was sitting
third overall, trailing only two pro men. This would have meant i
was in the money until a sport rider mysteriously threw down the fastest
time of the day. The awards ceremony progressed without any corrections
and i was no longer jolly, as i couldn't take my eyes off the sport dude
who had claimed the prize as if he earned it. I did not protest, feeling
that justice would be served if a mistake was made. After everyone
cleared out and the ceremony was wrapped up a quite announcement was made
that the final results were not really final and they then proceded to call
up the three fastest riders. I watched as mr. liar liar pants on fire
handed his check back, and while i hated to see the sad look on his face
i couldn't help but smile. Bu then the screwed up and called out for
another sport rider who i had beat fair and square, at this point i approached
the stage, showed the man the results, and after many apologies and a P.A.
announcement to about five people i was awarded my third place overall winnings
and exchanged compliments and hand shakes with the other two top riders.
Finishing in the money was awesome, but getting the respectful hand
shake of the the fastes man, Nathan Riddle, was the best part. So
i marched back to camp completely exonerated and very pleased, having had
no hopes to finish near the overall podium. Yes.