i may do a race.

Today is Wednesday June 15, 2022 and this Saturday June 18, 2022 there is a mountain bike race out at Wyandotte County Lake.

I might do it.

Specifically the marathon category, because it starts at 8am which means i'd avoid the head of the day... and its going to be hot on Saturday. Plus so far the marathon category has the most entrants and its always more fun to race with more people.

The marathon race is 3 hrs which is about 1.5 hrs more single track riding (let alone racing) than I'm realistically ready for, but i'll just go slow. Probably stop for a snack or two.

By the way i'm 42 years old now... which is nice.

Kick her in the guts

The slow build up to god knows what continues.

It's been very cold so i think i've done two rides since my last post, both in the basement, neither over 1:15 long.

Like i said, slow build up.

I think i mentioned that i registered for 100 miles version of Unbound Gravel (formerly the Dirty Kanza) but i still dont know if i've been picked (its a raffle).

Since then i saw something about a Belgian Waffle ride in Lawrence, KS and a text thread im on said the price was stupid expensive to which i replied something to the effect of, for guys like me who are older and now have a little money to throw around the price tag somehow in my mind translates to "see im still part of the scene!"

So that's a good snapshot of my relationship to bike racing, for some context.

Anyway, that Waffle race is in October so it conflicts with the cross season i have every intention of intending to do but not following thru on.

Perhaps my main goal this year is not attending CX Nationals, assuming it happens, which i hope it doesn't.

The title of this blog post is a reference to Mad Max, specifically Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome but as you can see below i celebrate the entire catalog.

On second thought a better Mad Max based title for this post, and perhaps this blog in general, is "there's not enough runway".

 

Boy Howdy i Just Rode Twice in Three Days!

Unbound gravel race, which probably wont happen anyway (Covid), here i come!

(i entered the lottery for the 100 miles version)

So i just did two rides over the past three days and rode about 18 miles total. 

One ride was on the trainer and one was outdoor. My lungs were burning after the outdoor ride, because I'm terribly out of shape.

Hopefully i continue the trend.

Stay tuned...

Can i ride 5,000 miles in 2021?

Can i ride 5,000 miles in 2021?

The better question is probably do i want to ride 5,000 miles in 2021?

As i sit here with a note pad and a calculator i see that 5,000 miles in one year would be 96.15 miles a week, which if you average 15 miles an hour is just under 6.5 hours a week. That seems pretty far fetched given what i know about myself, which is that im lazy and poor at following thru on things.

If i ride 5,000 miles in 2021 and nobody ever reads about it on this blog did it really happen?

Stay tuned, or don't.

2021... starting to come into focus (not really)

 Ok, i've had a day to think about it and here is the master plan...

Start riding in January (but let me back up a bit, this past year i worked up to decent fitness for a middle age dad with no talent and a full time job. By September i could ride pretty hard for up to 3 hours but then i stopped, pretty much cold turkey, in October. So achieving mediocre fitness is certainly attainable and now i want to take it up a notch in 2021.)

So start riding in January and build up to doing some gravel races starting in April. Will there be gravel races this year? What with the pandemic and all? If not than i'll have a built in excuse for what's destined to be another case of me setting ambitious goals and not following thru on them.

So start riding in January, build up to Gravel races in April, i have my sites set on 4 gravel races total. One each in April, May, June, and July. The longest would be 100 miles.

I've never done a gravel race, i better like it.

Then come that last Gravel race in July i take that big volume fitness and hone it into Cyclo-cross fitness culminating in me coming out of nowhere to win whatever age group A, B, C yadda yadda race i would do at Cyclo Cross nationals.

I've never done Cyclo Cross nations, i better like it.

So that's the plan.

Keep your dial locked right here on this station to get all the latest updates on how spectacularly i underperform in relation to this amazing master plan.

There may even be pictures!

2021... is going to be so bad ass.

I have big cycling plans for 2021. I only just decided this about two minutes ago. So stay tuned in 2021 to see what i have on tap.

(Spoiler alert, i've got nothing on tap)

Critical Mass Video - 2008

Im not positive this is 2008 but its my best guess.

I see some familiar faces....

Lots of fond memories from this time period. Was this the peak of the single speed / hip cycling era? It feels like it. Or is that just because i'm old now and out of the loop and actually theres tons of cool stuff happening right now that i have no idea about?

(Sitting here clicking thru old photos and realizing i have enough material to keep this blog fresh for the next 17 years.)

*** Editors note: HAHA the video doesn't work! Classic. ***