tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31476858747513153122024-03-04T22:13:58.684-08:00Beanpole Matt's Off Air RamblingsSometimes small shorts just aren't small enough.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-75140077993394788662017-12-08T21:47:00.001-08:002017-12-08T21:47:59.304-08:00Floral VansI lost my Floral Vans Authentic this fall. Not like got-blackout-drunk-and-lost-my-shoes lost them. They died. They were totally worn out and I decided they weren't worth moving from Wisconsin back to Colorado. I placed an undo amount of sentimental value on those shoes. See, Vans Authentic in black on black were my work shoes. My final two years living in Memphis I worked for a sign company. I was a customer service representative and had a desk/production job. I spent a decent amount of time out on the production flooring checking quality, lending a hand, shooting the shit, and generally not doing stuff I could do in "office shoes" but I had it in my head I wanted to look nice. I got a pair of Authentics in black on black and it took me kicking back with my feet on my desk one morning when everyone was talking about their weekends before anyone realized I had Vans on. The shoe may be black from the top but the sole is still gum when viewed from beneath. A few of my coworkers had trouble believing I had been wearing them for months. Where does this rambling story take us? I liked the shoes a lot. I wore them a lot. I had a pair of red ones in college but I really liked them now.<br />
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Fast forward to when I moved to Denver and there is a thing called the Colorado Mills Outlet Mall. It has a Vans outlet. This outlet sometimes did buy one get one free on SALE shoes in size 11.5 or larger. Ya know, to blow out the big uns. Well I wear 12s and would often swing in to see what they had in my sizes because to you may be walking out with two pairs of shoes for $32.50 including tax. Pretty sweet deal.<br />
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Enter the Floral Vans Authentic<br />
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Now this picture kinda spoils it, but those shoes saw a lot. I wore them to work at Wheat Ridge Cyclery a ton. I kinda felt they were my fun little slice. I hadn't grown my hair back out, I had to wear a shop shirt, and any pants that aren't dark denim or black is "suicide by work" for denim so I had to go with footwear. They didn't do great. They got dirty. I sprayed them with degreaser and pressure washed them in the bike wash room. I was deranged and hell bent on saving them. It worked, sorta. I will admit that the extreme pressure washing <i>probably</i> had something to do with the expedited death of the shoes, but also the grease and dirt may have <i>become </i>the shoes and by removing the grease and dirt I removed a little bit of the shoes, too.<br />
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I wore those shoes when I stood at the top of the podium in my first expert race. For those keeping tabs I won a single speed race long, long ago but this was my first race where the people who I lined up with were my age and agreed to be my ability and I was el numero uno crossing the line. It was a very emotional day, I was very happy. I actually nearly cried throwing away my Floral Authentic Vans. Not like a blubbery boo hoo kinda cry, but a little teary thinking about how much it had meant to me to stand in the Winter Park Ski Area parking lot changing clothes, sliding my feet into those shoes, and thinking "I really did it. It was just perfect."<br />
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The story goes: The guy who had been dominating these races was fast. He was big. He was built like a sprinter. We were climbing for like ever. We had been back and forth all day. He would surge and pass me, bobble later. I would overtake him and set a fast pace. Neither could shake the other. Finally we were heading up a fire-ish road climb. It was somewhere between a really old fire road and really shitty double track. He had 1x10 and was parked in the easiest gear. Groaning. I set on his wheel for probably two minutes and decided I had to go now. I didn't know how far to the road but I knew I had to go right now. So I attacked like all hell. We hit the road WAY too soon and I just know this big dude was gonna chase me down. I stay on it down the road and make sure to get over a roller so I am outta sight. I ride my face off, hit the last single track. I am railing, two miles of single track go. There have been racers finishing ahead of me all day, due to different classes and staggered start times. A recreational rider comes down the trail towards me. I slow, he slows and weaves towards me, bumbles on a rock, goes OTB and grabs onto my bars to save himself. I shake myself free from his grasp, say "Are you ok?" and as he says "Yeah" I say "Sorry dude I am trying to win a race here" as I clip in and rail away. I am officially freaking out thinking this will cause me to get caught. I didn't get caught. I won. I could barely believe it.<br />
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Maybe one day I will order a new pair of Authentics in a wild color. Maybe one day I will make a custom pair from Vans. That is a thing. Until then, I will keep wearing my black pair that is dying a very slow death and hope to make some good stories for those.<br />
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<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-62517177157944481692017-08-04T20:00:00.001-07:002017-08-04T20:00:48.603-07:00Three years later.Alright,<br />
This is merely a test. Nearly three years have gone by since I hammered out my last post on here. I am not proclaiming a come back, but I am just going to start plugging away. This first entry back will be a rapid catch up of <strike>everything</strike> things that didn't make it to the internet between then and now. One of the reasons I stepped away from here is I felt like my life was pretty well documented through <a href="http://www.mountainbikeradio.com/" target="_blank">Mountain Bike Radio</a> and it came down to time. Now I feel like I have a sort of curated existence in the internet. I am known to be abrasive, sometimes witty, and often times underdressed. I come across rather strong in the internet. While I like to think that in the real world I am rather agreeable, it is only when things are going in the direction of sense. When nonsense is involved I am not very happy.<br />
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Since the last entry here, I accomplished a long term goal of obtaining a Syllamo's Revenge rock. It took me a number of years and a ton of cussing to get this one done, but I finally did. I can't find the photo right now, but there is a picture of the bike I used. The geared only crave I had for a short while.<br />
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Moving forward in time, I quit my job at the sign shop, found a job at a bike shop in Colorado called <a href="http://www.wheatridgecyclery.com/" target="_blank">Wheat Ridge Cyclery</a> and worked there for a little over two years. Working at that shop had some really cool and really annoying aspects, but all in all it was a great experience.<br />
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I was given the chance to ride to the top of Mount Evans from my house, which was one amazing experience. It was a little over 100 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing round trip. Pretty big day.<br />
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A long time racer buddy Levi Lester moved to Colorado on accident and we went for a bikepacking trip when he got here. My first overnight trip on the bike.<br />
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Not long after that, he started working at WRC and we were coworkers. Tall Bros Unite. Myself, Levi, Andy, and Ali.<br />
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Jake D saved my ass repeatedly. He let me sleep in his basement when I interviewed for WRC. He let me stay in his basement when I was evicted. My roommates didn't have permission to have me subleasing. I was evicted in Denver with 3 days notice. <i>Less than ideal, sub-optimal. </i>I did learn that pancakes are amazing ride food, they are really good with fruit shredded in like apples, and they are cheap.<br />
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I painted my dented up cx bike.<br />
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I started going fast on the XC bike.<br />
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And when I moved to Wisconsin this summer to work with MBR full time as a real job, I didn't stop being a nice guy and helping a lost daughter/mom duo on the local tails.<br />
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That is a real quick breeze over of what things happened since we last talked last.<br />
<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-45595623942713602782014-09-04T17:35:00.001-07:002014-09-04T17:35:40.724-07:00What is each bike type for?I have spent a great amount of time in bike shops. One of the questions that people always seemed to ask that everyone answers differently is "What kind of bike do I need?". Today I am going to map out each of the predominant styles of bikes and give this to the world so people stop buying hybrids for the local mountain bike trails or whatever the awful situation may be.<br />
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Triathlon/time trial bike:<br />
This is a top fuel dragster. Really fast in a straight line and not good for much else. Only ride it on nice, smooth roads, don't try to haul anything (ride with a backpack), and don't expect it to be cheap - now or continued maintenance.<br />
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Road bike:<br />
This is just like the average sedan. You can ride a road bike in grass, gravel, dirt, and all roads you can find. It really is just like a sedan. You won't take it on gnarly backcountry forest roads, through mud and sand, or do many sweet jumps with it before you have to visit the mechanic.<br />
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Cyclocross bike:<br />
This is like a rally car. It looks like a car, everything looks the same . . . wait, no it doesn't. It has a little more clearance, Clarence. The tires are bigger. There are big mudflaps on this thing (canti or disc brakes - you know, it looks different). You know you want one. You know you are going to tear something up and get hurt. But to fly through the air while people are lined the course only to land a little crossed up and end your weekend when you taco your front wheel but the roars get louder from the fans - that's the fame you are looking for.<br />
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Gravel bike:<br />
Subset of cross bike - holds bigger tires and people probably aren't lining the course cheering. You definitely don't pass the pit every lap. No one wants to come watch.<br />
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Hybrid bike:<br />
This thing looks like a mountain bike (more on that one to come) but its really the nasty, breaching the water, won't flush, butt nugget of the bike industry. They are like a crossover SUV - you know those awful SUVs built on a car chassis so they don't have enough power, good suspension, and can't haul anything but still get bad gas mileage and everyone made fun of you because you were stuck in wet grass once. That's how I feel about hybrids.<br />
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Fitness bikes:<br />
This is the bike everyone should buy instead of a hybrid. This is like a two-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee from 1995. They are just rugged enough to do whatever you might want to do on pavement, gravel, grass, and even a tiny bit of mud. They can haul stuff (usually have rack and fender mounts) and they are pretty cheap and last forever.<br />
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Mountain bikes:<br />
This is a Jeep Wrangler 4X4. Nothing says party like showing up on your mountain bike with a sixer of craft beer in your Camelbak, some big obnoxious light on the top (of your helmet) for your sweet night time wheelin' adventures. Cuz getting nasty in the dark is more fun than in the day time. Also, just like a true Jeep enthusiast mountain bikers are fanatics about tire pressure and "How big your tires is" and "How much lift" (suspension travel) does your rig have. Also - probably the only category of people who carry spare parts other than a flat repair kit with them on the ride.<br />
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Fat Bikes:<br />
This isn't really lumped into mountain bikes because they have other uses. They are like a semi truck. They usually aren't stupid fast and a ton of people (comparatively) aren't using them. The people that like them, love them. And let the big wheels keep on turnin'. If you don't get it, don't hate. Some people need 'em.<br />
<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-1527979374575158192014-06-06T19:44:00.000-07:002014-06-06T19:44:27.457-07:00Bikes!So a Mountain Bike Radio listener wanted to know some details about my mountain bikes. I thought I would put together a single place with photos, specs, and everything put together nice.<br />
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Specialized Carve 29er (geared)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_uwJIVCYIHs7KoviXrXUDGckCpM30TQv8kJjjAyGPGOy4xdi597AL0oBq-znJDc224flkOkivm3hvbwMUgP89l9iFhriDBPXAkulJKawOHX_f7K0w8wjhf9Cf7P-eA9BY8xMFbWWslU/s1600/IMG_4871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_uwJIVCYIHs7KoviXrXUDGckCpM30TQv8kJjjAyGPGOy4xdi597AL0oBq-znJDc224flkOkivm3hvbwMUgP89l9iFhriDBPXAkulJKawOHX_f7K0w8wjhf9Cf7P-eA9BY8xMFbWWslU/s1600/IMG_4871.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLI22wsGV94tRDTRhJpAmn3WndjNaIlzwmdL-_yWcPr9EUf_4pTRmsZISy0heV03vJmCAYudNQ5GJWIU00yvElIFEE9WIY2dheQbu4jLIg6xhyphenhyphenRgQdVOVNf0448gV-BsWc9so0i-uxwb8/s1600/IMG_4879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLI22wsGV94tRDTRhJpAmn3WndjNaIlzwmdL-_yWcPr9EUf_4pTRmsZISy0heV03vJmCAYudNQ5GJWIU00yvElIFEE9WIY2dheQbu4jLIg6xhyphenhyphenRgQdVOVNf0448gV-BsWc9so0i-uxwb8/s1600/IMG_4879.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The full rundown of the bike:<br />
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Frame: </strong>Specialized Carve (size Large)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Fork: </strong>RockShox Reba 100mm, tapered, 15mm axle </li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear Shock:</strong> hahahaha</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Headset: </strong>Campy style inset</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Stem:</strong> Bontrager Race? 80mm</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Handlebar:</strong> Niner Flat Top Carbon, 710mm</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Grips: </strong>ESI Chunky </li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Front brake: </strong>Shimano M785 XT</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear brake: </strong>Shimano M785 XT</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Brake levers: </strong>Shimano M785 XT</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Chain Guide:</strong> None</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear derailleur: </strong>Shimano XTR Shadow Plus, Medium Cage</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Shift levers: </strong>Shimano XTR</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Cassette: </strong>Shimano XT 11-36</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Chain: </strong>10spd - not picky.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Crankset: </strong>Shimano XT with Race Face 36T Narrow Wide Ring</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Bottom bracket: </strong>Shimano</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Pedals:</strong> Shimano SPD 540</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Wheelset: </strong>Nox Composite XC-R 29 rims laced to I9 hubs (28h)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Front tyre: </strong>Maxxis Ardent 2.4 w/ EXO</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear tyre: </strong>Maxxis Ikon 2.35 w/ EXO</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Saddle: </strong>WTB</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Seatpost:</strong> Thomson Elite 410</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Extras:</strong> Profile Design Kage bottle cage, a bell from the bin at the bike shop. Stages Power Meter XT Crank Arm</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Specialized Carve SL (Single Speed)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3nBWzqkRXvEUkFRiiXezufq9c9qt4G0WxlPtmPjTaxn179vDcH6Sjv4KSY1G-7Wm-A-Go6Ef4QU0qoan6cjSyWLg-Oo2K37l6q8eQ46enM8zSxR0Xd-FVRFYHrg7ijtHXZIR0eoCaSI/s1600/IMG_4873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3nBWzqkRXvEUkFRiiXezufq9c9qt4G0WxlPtmPjTaxn179vDcH6Sjv4KSY1G-7Wm-A-Go6Ef4QU0qoan6cjSyWLg-Oo2K37l6q8eQ46enM8zSxR0Xd-FVRFYHrg7ijtHXZIR0eoCaSI/s1600/IMG_4873.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3Ofylen9QWvhUClzlO7uGlPVA3mraK_CiEtF1zCpQ046Itjsy0rGvqFAs4AJoI02rtTqjTKeHvRlND4J4eWTFeU-E1ymeuEMw0nHmm6EEyLgK4eMnVmcC3PBdBD2EwxuB2BlqBxxLuE/s1600/IMG_4875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3Ofylen9QWvhUClzlO7uGlPVA3mraK_CiEtF1zCpQ046Itjsy0rGvqFAs4AJoI02rtTqjTKeHvRlND4J4eWTFeU-E1ymeuEMw0nHmm6EEyLgK4eMnVmcC3PBdBD2EwxuB2BlqBxxLuE/s1600/IMG_4875.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXt0mto-wBF7rqQXWsU_fZ0p8TJ_ryNdj5PqfrFx64pyqkQtZkiDg7F6HkcOYAXJzWrnr7Rji236PiSBYJTpgp8TNtVoylj2OzbrkVwD8Y_NhPRssKOXN4Gm6JtFLe8XfUT6MyPY4X0A/s1600/IMG_4876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXt0mto-wBF7rqQXWsU_fZ0p8TJ_ryNdj5PqfrFx64pyqkQtZkiDg7F6HkcOYAXJzWrnr7Rji236PiSBYJTpgp8TNtVoylj2OzbrkVwD8Y_NhPRssKOXN4Gm6JtFLe8XfUT6MyPY4X0A/s1600/IMG_4876.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Frame: </strong>Specialized Carve SL(size Large)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Fork: </strong>Specialized Chisel Rigid Fork </li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear Shock:</strong> hahahaha</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Headset: </strong>Campy style inset</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Stem:</strong> Stock Specialized stem</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Handlebar:</strong> Niner Flat Top Carbon, 710mm</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Grips: </strong>ESI Chunky </li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Front brake: </strong>Shimano M775 XT</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear brake: </strong>Shimano M775 XT</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Brake levers: </strong>Shimano M775 XT</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Chain Guide:</strong> None</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear derailleur: </strong>hahahaha</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Shift levers: </strong>again, laughs.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Cassette: </strong>Either Surly, Niner, or Endless Cog</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Chain: </strong>10spd - not picky.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Crankset: </strong>Shimano XT 34T SRAM single speed ring (no idea where it came from)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Bottom bracket: </strong>Shimano</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Pedals:</strong> Shimano SPD 540</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Wheelset: </strong>Stans Crest rims laced to I9 hubs (32h)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Front tyre: </strong>Surly Knard 3.0</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear tyre: </strong>Maxxis Ikon 2.35 w/ EXO</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Saddle: </strong>Ergon</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Seatpost:</strong> Thomson Elite 410</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Extras:</strong> Profile Design Kage bottle cage, a bell from the bin at the bike shop. </li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cannondale CAAD10 </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMi1pSldz-Q4WAt6wUhuOUZ2ndQNcQUmzxCqX79291V9ZWLA2HNVzsJ-_GxJp4UhuWvHAPTNXmv-KoBXTxRuKOUC04D1EYr10Z0G-OZz5UCoUopzh_NFOOGoBWvLa1I9na0Xnsapv5-o/s1600/IMG_4881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMi1pSldz-Q4WAt6wUhuOUZ2ndQNcQUmzxCqX79291V9ZWLA2HNVzsJ-_GxJp4UhuWvHAPTNXmv-KoBXTxRuKOUC04D1EYr10Z0G-OZz5UCoUopzh_NFOOGoBWvLa1I9na0Xnsapv5-o/s1600/IMG_4881.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Frame: </strong>2010 CAAD10 size 58</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Fork: </strong>Frame specific </li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear Shock:</strong> hahahaha</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Headset: </strong>FSA style inset</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Stem:</strong> Alpha Q 120mm</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Handlebar:</strong> FSA 44cm with shallow bend</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Grips: </strong>Cinelli Kaleidoscope Tape</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Front brake: </strong>SRAM Red single pivot</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear brake: </strong>SRAM Red single Pivot</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Brake levers: </strong>SRAM Red</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><b>Front derailleur: </b>SRAM Red Yaw 10 spd</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear derailleur: </strong>SRAM Red 10spd</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Shift levers: </strong>SRAM Red 10spd</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Cassette: </strong>SRAM PG1070 11-25</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Chain: </strong>KMC Gold - Memphis Style</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Crankset: </strong>Quarq Riken Powermeter 110 BCD with 52/38 rings</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Bottom bracket: </strong>FSA converted to English thread, traditional GXP bb</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Pedals:</strong> Look</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Wheelset: </strong>Mavic Ksyrium Elite</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Front tyre: </strong>Michelin Pro 4 Endurance - 25c</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Rear tyre: </strong>Michelin Pro 4 Endurance - 25c</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Saddle: </strong>Selle Italia Flite</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Seatpost:</strong> Thomson Elite 330? the short one.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
<li><strong>Extras:</strong> Bontrage carbon cages.</li>
</ul>
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Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-87588902864324476232013-12-31T19:46:00.000-08:002013-12-31T19:46:20.272-08:00Open Letter to RadioShack Cycling Team and Andy SchleckI was on a road ride today and the bottom 4 centimeters of my arms were freezing. Which makes my hands cold. My jacket is too short, it is the longest one I have found but it isn't perfect. I realized I want Andy Schleck's old clothes. I know. You probably didn't expect that one. But here is the deal, Andy and I are just about spot-on the same exact size. According to his bio on the <a href="http://www.radioshackleopardtrek.com/team/riders/andy-schleck" target="_blank">RadioShack page</a> he is 68 kilos and 186 centimeters tall. I am 67 kilos and 188 centimeters tall. For those who don't know what that means<div>
I am skinny and tall. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTHTChswlv3SUAC6N2CDkhiYgRH4yTyiX_7dtCrLXmzI6xCSGbBhduvrG7FiilS9xPEH0FYr0TZADX3Lm5tXGTj2ynS7mf3RkgU6WWIiI_uINR7JZnFcBhjWWYOJxEXsarrXposeSRbL0/s1600/chair+with+dogs+skinny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTHTChswlv3SUAC6N2CDkhiYgRH4yTyiX_7dtCrLXmzI6xCSGbBhduvrG7FiilS9xPEH0FYr0TZADX3Lm5tXGTj2ynS7mf3RkgU6WWIiI_uINR7JZnFcBhjWWYOJxEXsarrXposeSRbL0/s1600/chair+with+dogs+skinny.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">None of the bikes in the background are mine. They are my roommates.</td></tr>
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The problem I have with being this skinny and tall, not only do I not have a very good lap for a dogs to cuddle in which leads to a dog holding the chair in his sleep, I can't find cycling clothes that fit. I am not overly picky, it is just that everything is very "American" sized. I am not the size of the average American. If I buy a size small it is usually still loose in the torso, but a little short and the arms are way too short. If I get a bigger size then everything is way too loose and the length is getting to OK.</div>
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So that is why I want his clothes. I am not some freak that wants to sniff Andy's used chamois. I am not going to do anything weird. I am going to wash the stuff, put it on, and go out and be warm on my bike rides. Or ride a long 80+ mile day in the summer and not have my under carriage rubbed raw because my small shorts are still a little too big. </div>
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I am sure if I were to spend huge amounts of money I could buy clothes that fit. But the truth is I don't want to do that. I am 25 years old, just starting a real career and a savings account. The honest truth is my roommates offer me a great living situation which allows me to enjoy more racing and still start saving for my future. I can't justify dropping the $250-300 per pair of shorts that I would have to get to fit me. (I am assuming some uber-model from every company would fit as it has the real racer cut, not the Americano lard ass cut).</div>
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I am being 100% serious. I can only imagine that these clothes will be all but thrown away tomorrow. The Trek team will fire up and they will have all new clothes for everyone. Andy won't be caught dead wearing RadioShack stuff because he is literally PAID to wear Trek team stuff starting tomorrow. I am not asking for one of his bikes, or a wheelset, or a power meter. I am asking for something that will be boxed up and discarded. Or maybe it's donated and if so why not to me? The amazing gift to have a pro style fully tailored wardrobe that I could never afford? I would be head over heels giddy.</div>
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I will pay for shipping. I will donate some money to a charity for you. I will straight up buy the stuff if you say "I need some money to make it worth my time to box it up and ship it to you" but whatever, I want the stuff. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm on the Cannondale, shorts wrinkling in hip.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I race CX my mtn bike is my B bike.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you look close my HR strap shows through my borrowed skin suit.</td></tr>
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If you want to contact me it's real simple. matthewemcculley at gmail dot com.</div>
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Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-15295886652495989822013-11-21T16:50:00.000-08:002013-11-21T16:50:53.507-08:00I am (not) the beefcake.It seems like all the important people had a blog about beef today. If you don't know what I am talking about first read this: <a href="http://teamdicky.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-have-beef.html" target="_blank">Beefy-Dick</a> and then read this: <a href="http://www.brickhouseracing.com/?p=6813" target="_blank">Beefy-Brick</a> and then the rest of this still won't make any sense. Which the total lack of sense will be fabulous.<br />
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I <a href="https://twitter.com/Beanpolematt" target="_blank">tweeted</a> a while back that I was going to make my next blog post completely about shirtless pictures of myself. This won't be completely about shirt-less-ness but it will have enough shirtless selfies to make any homophobic man turn away in a combination of repressed jealousy and open disgust.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlmxH7Bus3m8BXjagYUGTgX2KOUJchyphenhyphenrkpw8HhEZ8oMJLi84A8_XwGUOPScK8cG_54cMLRemrlw9w0tKFRlMhOPQ2CIo4GnrFJ-p7hABAsE3Xvv6kOb-S4LJB8xj7bsuuEGcsHKVMaH4/s1600/IMG_1491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlmxH7Bus3m8BXjagYUGTgX2KOUJchyphenhyphenrkpw8HhEZ8oMJLi84A8_XwGUOPScK8cG_54cMLRemrlw9w0tKFRlMhOPQ2CIo4GnrFJ-p7hABAsE3Xvv6kOb-S4LJB8xj7bsuuEGcsHKVMaH4/s1600/IMG_1491.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a disappointing Spa-City 6hr</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the disappointment</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My best angle - not too much face</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor Phinney short shorts</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karen Jarchow would be proud</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the pup</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I should model underwear. . or not</td></tr>
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Well if you made it this far, good for you. If you didn't. . . I can understand.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-86150638701630194592013-08-06T20:04:00.000-07:002013-08-06T20:04:00.389-07:00Eating cereal in a skinsuit.No matter whether the feeling is anger, disgust, self-loathing, pride, joy, a nearly orgasmic realization that one's goals are becoming achievable, and even often that fucked combination of some of the prior there is always a feeling that creeps in as most nagging: hunger. Napoleon said "An army marches on it's stomach" and that holds very true for cyclists. Some people fill that void in their stomach with chips and cookies, fast food and take out pizza, others make something at home, other people cook a meal that will fill the stomach and soul with the nutrition and love needed to face the world again. I think I fall into the latter of those three categories.<br />
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I have never been trained as a chef or even taken the most basic culinary class but I have always cooked. Over the last few years I have learned to cook more from my roommates. Also, having other people to cook for is actually good for me to cook more. I feel if there is someone who can eat what I make I will be much more likely to take the time and effort to make a worthwhile meal. Very few people are such jerks they will complain that dinner is bad. Of course on rare occasions a meal is so bad everyone has a laugh and everything goes in the trash, cupboards are emptied and dinner is a snack of what was found.<br />
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I don't think that I am the best cook in the world. I do, however, think I can make better food, more consistently, cheaper than could be found in a restaurant. Sure, there are some places that make better stuff than me, but not that I can afford even on a semi-regular basis. Some places may be cheaper than me, but it definitely isn't better. As far as consistency, it can probably be agreed that eating out is usually pretty hit and miss.<br />
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Sometimes a simple peanut butter and nutella sandwich will hit the spot so perfectly it is hard to imagine any food tasting better. Other times you have just destroyed a long training ride and come home to a bowl of watermelon cut in the fridge that feels like heaven melon in your mouth. Maybe you just did a really cold ride and you have a cup of coffee with sugar and cream.<br />
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I know I am not alone in the comfort of food, but I think that Chili's, Olive Garden, and all those other places have gotten us distracted from what is good as food. And why we should enjoy it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8q4-R1OnfnHuLimsb-4VTVUR2H_lgA-uXg8M7osNBeZaZEQNNGQGLb70_05He_r-YZG_faScJ4CeJobly9EEBGwkJszn8mnIQN497ymZcgxfzeOpL-rA-RmTm6-cxHjKSGq5o2UAVT7Q/s1600/IMG_0604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8q4-R1OnfnHuLimsb-4VTVUR2H_lgA-uXg8M7osNBeZaZEQNNGQGLb70_05He_r-YZG_faScJ4CeJobly9EEBGwkJszn8mnIQN497ymZcgxfzeOpL-rA-RmTm6-cxHjKSGq5o2UAVT7Q/s320/IMG_0604.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fried Rice, Avocado, Pan Seared Tuna</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWVuqEU6DJOcTLYL7pclwa3xBOZoqVoCFk1WtL-ZEJDdDyttKhyphenhyphenNYDCc_ZMes4r9eM4aKjeaUmNo-tXWMN88wJRt7Xr47K6eJ6bwzLWkzo2AfxNOGjkq9jrPX_c3s__HV4CWm7HAq4CM/s1600/IMG_0721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWVuqEU6DJOcTLYL7pclwa3xBOZoqVoCFk1WtL-ZEJDdDyttKhyphenhyphenNYDCc_ZMes4r9eM4aKjeaUmNo-tXWMN88wJRt7Xr47K6eJ6bwzLWkzo2AfxNOGjkq9jrPX_c3s__HV4CWm7HAq4CM/s320/IMG_0721.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homemade bread. One of the best tips ever.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHT7sewmo4tXGuxSK7y3Lu8Tp1gQQcM3ExqbdePappOGs40-MyAc_cREmFbsrCbhHvByo7zdikw8wYbCRz13m_w9yVVzdfwBaY3HtjD_u6g774jGsEq2SkTNYmyBJLAjGKYEjmFdIyIo/s1600/IMG_1009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHT7sewmo4tXGuxSK7y3Lu8Tp1gQQcM3ExqbdePappOGs40-MyAc_cREmFbsrCbhHvByo7zdikw8wYbCRz13m_w9yVVzdfwBaY3HtjD_u6g774jGsEq2SkTNYmyBJLAjGKYEjmFdIyIo/s320/IMG_1009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hell of a lot of kale.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipM2S30rGNp-DgBI0giST-QL92trQ5Oiw0UYNoxxnIOQZsn2LXjBCkdjG-S8Zb4hJMf5sTAOqOEptht7CoR1-Wk4juj0Z3J23CRorA3w2QYaSD7lk8j4Yjqf8aSPnSt6CP-qqjxVeI3k/s1600/IMG_1113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipM2S30rGNp-DgBI0giST-QL92trQ5Oiw0UYNoxxnIOQZsn2LXjBCkdjG-S8Zb4hJMf5sTAOqOEptht7CoR1-Wk4juj0Z3J23CRorA3w2QYaSD7lk8j4Yjqf8aSPnSt6CP-qqjxVeI3k/s320/IMG_1113.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eggs, Bacon, Sweet Potatoes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQXmibRPNUcRwXChkYY3pNxdt9piDtRVWiGKMwHPVp7uyEPYDYa0G9gD0bCR7PBNtbLrk5DKm_xd3JGG2iQlKO8dPNt-9jCuDbv6aM7FbO-YkUNi0rna38kjKvMgD3a9ouCC7SOWoJeU/s1600/IMG_1235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQXmibRPNUcRwXChkYY3pNxdt9piDtRVWiGKMwHPVp7uyEPYDYa0G9gD0bCR7PBNtbLrk5DKm_xd3JGG2iQlKO8dPNt-9jCuDbv6aM7FbO-YkUNi0rna38kjKvMgD3a9ouCC7SOWoJeU/s320/IMG_1235.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 taco per 1 hour ridden. Doctor's orders.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFa1QPG2H1e06X0uWykuPzumyfXlQh3TlwjJo_ZsBm301yL9VD8kG2jM2mVhryA1R185jYFMNL5n6OwB_0Ka_aJq4vFsLvnYOGXkNacV-N8CwuCDxwM2vn9fiJ51Pws1N7OcTE6Yoi1A/s1600/IMG_1292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFa1QPG2H1e06X0uWykuPzumyfXlQh3TlwjJo_ZsBm301yL9VD8kG2jM2mVhryA1R185jYFMNL5n6OwB_0Ka_aJq4vFsLvnYOGXkNacV-N8CwuCDxwM2vn9fiJ51Pws1N7OcTE6Yoi1A/s320/IMG_1292.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">30 scrambled eggs? No problem.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqY37OuQcEvN1v9zcG1Tn_FDnN-J_5v5JrFxYecj8zxrNq6cYbqZB-wXAeoUQFCPfHPtpUPGHjJcBUQ3A_ycyx_5PpPAZyb-SDwPNPI-bDYufKS5Pn9UR3vL0Xwii16HTn1CcXwOSpeas/s1600/IMG_2111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqY37OuQcEvN1v9zcG1Tn_FDnN-J_5v5JrFxYecj8zxrNq6cYbqZB-wXAeoUQFCPfHPtpUPGHjJcBUQ3A_ycyx_5PpPAZyb-SDwPNPI-bDYufKS5Pn9UR3vL0Xwii16HTn1CcXwOSpeas/s320/IMG_2111.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mexican night.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKS3GxmS40PoTxDcI8PUETXCaIrRXgJHHLHJFhyk2ryxL5czIWKZklmRSE2FivjpEZd_Z8y-mzScrrZQ48ltvZcmNOrdnPTMnLJk2Mga5EJyrzHTL3iN7bXS9comWC-P6DhsdbHH_XgQ/s1600/IMG_2145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKS3GxmS40PoTxDcI8PUETXCaIrRXgJHHLHJFhyk2ryxL5czIWKZklmRSE2FivjpEZd_Z8y-mzScrrZQ48ltvZcmNOrdnPTMnLJk2Mga5EJyrzHTL3iN7bXS9comWC-P6DhsdbHH_XgQ/s320/IMG_2145.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pizza squares and ketchup. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTRXXuBBd00eJyqTCgL-6varZgmJaVB3ubGRwtZiDBqrgEEg2qie2KDfdVpyc-Hf3MGXu53mF81dm3Zl0bqqrsON8VOn4DEt3i36LxbRJYkZb0aaJyxr4krCx2Fad83eCcmvqWcT7hMA/s1600/IMG_2216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTRXXuBBd00eJyqTCgL-6varZgmJaVB3ubGRwtZiDBqrgEEg2qie2KDfdVpyc-Hf3MGXu53mF81dm3Zl0bqqrsON8VOn4DEt3i36LxbRJYkZb0aaJyxr4krCx2Fad83eCcmvqWcT7hMA/s320/IMG_2216.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those pickles were grown and made 4 miles from my house.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5wzoKV0QD5sdLA_pOQoXiUfKETDHy9byUtXsmAB7d-jDLywveO3o30zlS8fmpvfb3dQAP9GxFWTCQ5gYBIwaGQB9_aDa7aOJcJ58wncERV2I0zwUbdrjvAVlKBLw_vkXvf5H9f9lq5Q/s1600/IMG_2564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5wzoKV0QD5sdLA_pOQoXiUfKETDHy9byUtXsmAB7d-jDLywveO3o30zlS8fmpvfb3dQAP9GxFWTCQ5gYBIwaGQB9_aDa7aOJcJ58wncERV2I0zwUbdrjvAVlKBLw_vkXvf5H9f9lq5Q/s320/IMG_2564.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burger, steamed veggies, fries, rice. My favorite meal.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfADHQg-oatTKbBaNQNDzKBSfygW2RSMQomWT1SepkYuLJHqw6zqhpus5mSWCGPNbkXvxLAhOPQf2pINwHxKV0Cqb-RvlyE1X_EanXY-VAdr6hpXrLuTzx-0MiOPcBgRC32p4sF9g9dIc/s1600/IMG_2587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfADHQg-oatTKbBaNQNDzKBSfygW2RSMQomWT1SepkYuLJHqw6zqhpus5mSWCGPNbkXvxLAhOPQf2pINwHxKV0Cqb-RvlyE1X_EanXY-VAdr6hpXrLuTzx-0MiOPcBgRC32p4sF9g9dIc/s320/IMG_2587.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pork Chops, green beans, garlic toast.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSn-X9JhWk4YJDxxFbRTLYDcBytNOXr1jaQYL9Z0LPHqHm2GD7B_j3HEzSk_aeyGM3ChrYpNhg1uxY4KJh1eGr8S2caLaTEtCTeFpMwiaWS7M4VXTbMdnJevUu3vUN0eV9OP2ZMvBnWA/s1600/IMG_2759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSn-X9JhWk4YJDxxFbRTLYDcBytNOXr1jaQYL9Z0LPHqHm2GD7B_j3HEzSk_aeyGM3ChrYpNhg1uxY4KJh1eGr8S2caLaTEtCTeFpMwiaWS7M4VXTbMdnJevUu3vUN0eV9OP2ZMvBnWA/s320/IMG_2759.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast. Syrup approved.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGhcaSrNK0LjaXiKwsLm9XR0DpJfIHfkCcdbcJCsNPqqRBLLMAxB7TqC8QjW56ghlieZEcEaD6W7jAf5o4TV_7pOCUJabMLAtV-QDjmcLFB-KkVnVrcfz8ZKcuz7Tf_YcUCXPB265dps/s1600/IMG_2765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGhcaSrNK0LjaXiKwsLm9XR0DpJfIHfkCcdbcJCsNPqqRBLLMAxB7TqC8QjW56ghlieZEcEaD6W7jAf5o4TV_7pOCUJabMLAtV-QDjmcLFB-KkVnVrcfz8ZKcuz7Tf_YcUCXPB265dps/s1600/IMG_2765.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes it gets fancy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6v59c-R-fiM8oKderomeZbeKrxJAEyCk37fyLPVj3FNCrRCUI1_FywQaqt-rSMb7X7AcP463mSk_34WEw3_vnDV31OMOzo5-RwaTCGwO5x5M5XxnkKCG7jdA8u-5HnHIx7bkdGapUJu8/s1600/IMG_2773.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6v59c-R-fiM8oKderomeZbeKrxJAEyCk37fyLPVj3FNCrRCUI1_FywQaqt-rSMb7X7AcP463mSk_34WEw3_vnDV31OMOzo5-RwaTCGwO5x5M5XxnkKCG7jdA8u-5HnHIx7bkdGapUJu8/s320/IMG_2773.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes it's just bacon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or maybe a post ride/pre-dinner snack.</td></tr>
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<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-81633032766182188882013-08-04T20:29:00.000-07:002013-08-04T20:30:42.518-07:00Why I don't blog as much: The slacker story.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIeCNInY9KNw6xDvZkcbTzApO5T2Bs7GwlAsrFEK_oAVUqMFTiZrQDxVlMdzPevfN2LxGNDeY8DVVr3pGoYLzeT7AcYdNMTepT_lm3fO7DK-Huw0PYQfstZJZ5_k0mCs-aeUtrVS-Wjk/s1600/IMG_2512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIeCNInY9KNw6xDvZkcbTzApO5T2Bs7GwlAsrFEK_oAVUqMFTiZrQDxVlMdzPevfN2LxGNDeY8DVVr3pGoYLzeT7AcYdNMTepT_lm3fO7DK-Huw0PYQfstZJZ5_k0mCs-aeUtrVS-Wjk/s640/IMG_2512.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
So I used to fill everyone in over here on a semi-regular basis. You know, like someone who ate fiber sometimes, but not everyday so just semi-regular. Because we all know it takes fiber to keep you regular. Over the last few years a lot has changed for me. I have a new job, I feel like I am a much different bike rider, and overall I am in a different place. Here is where I could make the argument that I am too busy to write posts on a regular basis or I could just not post anymore. Am I taking this blog to the farm to live with Grandma? Here is where you could argue that has already occurred. I will try to catch things up so everyone can understand what is happening and where this thing may head.<br />
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This season of racing has generally been good yet unsatisfying in an odd way. I feel like for the effort I have put into riding over the last few months I am riding strong and feeling good. Overall though it has been a season of disappointments due to my unreasonably high expectations for myself. I will give you a rundown:<br />
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-Slobberknocker/Memphis Velo Omnium Weekend - I didn't race because I didn't feel like I was fast. I had this pride thing going where I felt like I needed to be in a better place before I went and raced. I was hoping to have a "dafuq did he come from" reaction after my first race of the season. I ended up heckling at the Velo race which must have been awkward to see from the racer side.<br />
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-Rouge Roubaix - I did great, I had a great race, I did way better than I expected and it really got me gassed up to go race and do well. Andrea of <a href="http://www.brickhouseracing.com/" target="_blank">Brickhouse</a> was hit by a car. It puts a black cloud around that race for me because it is impossible for me to feel super pumped looking back at the race when I have to think of being told my friend was hit by a car as soon as I crossed the line.<br />
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-Spa City 6 Hour - this was the weekend after Rouge. I decided to go race and get some long mountain bike time in. I drove over the night before and slept in a hammock under the stars at the venue. I was riding the rigid geared bike. First lap of the day I turned a smoking ass lap,was feeling strong. I had the Rouge Roubaix juices flowing through me. I knew I could keep turning these fast laps and probably do pretty well for my age group. I was feeling it. Then I flatted on lap 5. My co2 didn't work, my pump was in the pit, I had to take outside assistance. Rather than cheating I rode the road back, was given permission to continue racing after pitting but restarting lap 5. So it sucked a lot of ass. That was really discouraging. I knew I was doing ok. I knew it was going great. But damn-it-all-to-hell I had left my pump at the pit. Upon later inspection my co2 head is actually not compatible with Big Air 40g cartridges. There was a lip that hit the canister that prevented it from screwing on all the way, which kept it from piercing the canister enough to actually get air out. Fuck, fuck, fuck.<br />
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-Ouachita Challenge - I raced really hard, the course isn't really a single speed friendly course. I don't want to hear that crap of everyone is on single speed that is racing one another. People get shady. I know some people can spin faster than me, but to go with lead geared men after a few miles of gently rolling gravel. . . is a tough one to swallow. I personally went as hard as possible down the gravel and it ended up with me going into the woods behind a BUNCH of slow people. Granny gear at mile 6 slow. It wrecked me. Also, that race is really hard. To go full bore and get handled is a rough one. I was happy with how I did for the first time there and everything, but I wanted to be faster.<br />
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<i>By this time everyone should be seeing a theme of "I did ok but</i> <i>still beat myself up afterwards".....</i><br />
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-Syllamo's Revenge - I don't think I even wrote a post for that race. Again, the feeling of intense pride of everything working well immediately coupled with the feeling of being a complete and total fucking failure. I had a perfect race. I smashed my course PR by a lot, on a hands down slower and much harder course based on trail conditions. I went up the first climb harder-dan-a-motherfucka and went into the woods in 10-12th place. Overall. I rode hard all day. I didn't flat, I didn't wreck, I didn't make a single wrong turn. I was fast enough to finish 12th overall on my single speed. It just happened that was only good enough for 5th in single speed. I had a year long battle of really wanting a rock (the trophies at this race are rocks engraved just like a tombstone would be. Much cooler than it sounds. It is a unique and tough trophy just like the race). And I didn't succeed. I cried a little, tiny bit at that one. Seriously, when I looked at the results and saw that I was 5th single speed I got teary eyed, said my goodbyes to everyone I knew there, and had to leave. I couldn't stick around. I had put so much into this race and just ended up not being fast enough. If I had signed up age group that day I would have been 2nd. That is a tough one. Hindsight is 20/20 and shit.<br />
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-Fast forward and I didn't really race again until the state champ race, it was a tough one. It has been an entire month since then and I shuttled a truck to Colorado again. This time I found some cool stuff along the way, made some plans that opened up a few really cool opportunities, and really got excited.<br />
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Since the state championship race I have gotten a bunch of great parts for my <a href="http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/carve/carve" target="_blank">Specialized Carve</a> which allows me to run it geared as XTR 1x10 with a Reba Suspension fork, <a href="http://www.enve.com/wheels/mtb/twenty9AM.aspx" target="_blank">Enve AM 29 Wheels</a>, and a <a href="http://www.stagescycling.com/stagespower" target="_blank">Stages Power Meter.</a> It is a really cool bike. I haven't ridden it a ton but I will be soon.<br />
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Below I am going to just dump some photos of what have been going on over the last while.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrsvtC5ijcwH6wVGgRYlkCKeIExH5Fs-L7A4R9wpHdgg15bRoTg9fzGA5JQZvnh0tPsDJ-6BzVwp0YSorDxGsn9LYpp3YH-3jzbspissdEM_RVaroBo0xGs_GQNEfb7YM2uk5KylUTnQ/s1600/IMG_2150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrsvtC5ijcwH6wVGgRYlkCKeIExH5Fs-L7A4R9wpHdgg15bRoTg9fzGA5JQZvnh0tPsDJ-6BzVwp0YSorDxGsn9LYpp3YH-3jzbspissdEM_RVaroBo0xGs_GQNEfb7YM2uk5KylUTnQ/s320/IMG_2150.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chunky Cat</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDvP4DfDOCO2zWmuQUZviH4WBiVLlz9SmirRtbqFWwnwu_Nqdg3IvAB8k0QvN0cgoRQehGangadAxevZKljZOeObh5eSNdcUdttBMCTMTfS_S4XLe_Omp1Lj3i9VtYMPDPFz1A6y7iBI/s1600/IMG_2183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDvP4DfDOCO2zWmuQUZviH4WBiVLlz9SmirRtbqFWwnwu_Nqdg3IvAB8k0QvN0cgoRQehGangadAxevZKljZOeObh5eSNdcUdttBMCTMTfS_S4XLe_Omp1Lj3i9VtYMPDPFz1A6y7iBI/s320/IMG_2183.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pain cave.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRYnJgpJkkl18p43-61KPBpJW73VAIp59wMMDjZKZRz5eAs3md_eG8tBsJ6UIB_TIEikLUlYMeWLVKbXh_YM8yXdRiqcRjA-DY6HHQQkrNU-21q754T57r7RQD-yfqeHiIg3SOQFOOgA/s1600/IMG_2197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRYnJgpJkkl18p43-61KPBpJW73VAIp59wMMDjZKZRz5eAs3md_eG8tBsJ6UIB_TIEikLUlYMeWLVKbXh_YM8yXdRiqcRjA-DY6HHQQkrNU-21q754T57r7RQD-yfqeHiIg3SOQFOOgA/s320/IMG_2197.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue skies and clouds in. . .ARKANSAS</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymjxjsl8rk1d3Op_AgKlWQ2ukti0ZXZNAQN2ylIRjkuEj2DQ6pqirEtMeSjJ0-4LL4rRrQm6hyMhKd4WwblPl-5BEV_FmlC6Uqw34EVV_iPsvWxyFnRDstXjVBgCBbEkK3TM-V6K3wNk/s1600/IMG_2206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymjxjsl8rk1d3Op_AgKlWQ2ukti0ZXZNAQN2ylIRjkuEj2DQ6pqirEtMeSjJ0-4LL4rRrQm6hyMhKd4WwblPl-5BEV_FmlC6Uqw34EVV_iPsvWxyFnRDstXjVBgCBbEkK3TM-V6K3wNk/s320/IMG_2206.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Different strokes for different folks. Fun isn't universal.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlg6mCZAs-QxCAM_wjdXWA2I895yw838L2HRZM_FFe8hVO86xMR8Jy7G7BRPiqCl-XMFLcQMjyo_IbjD2nG3O9p0O1wPZdi3Q495smW65R7yFZ2-33rUEhnMnutuxaLr-7j3tBYpwILU/s1600/IMG_2359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlg6mCZAs-QxCAM_wjdXWA2I895yw838L2HRZM_FFe8hVO86xMR8Jy7G7BRPiqCl-XMFLcQMjyo_IbjD2nG3O9p0O1wPZdi3Q495smW65R7yFZ2-33rUEhnMnutuxaLr-7j3tBYpwILU/s320/IMG_2359.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I tried to win a state jersey</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHQ78zQhm4dkIkdeygRntQnPeFnKJ3MSjDfiopQGRjVYp-Dixp0bQS-l2YsWB_5IyvtlZw4rBd9Ex0VoB2M-iTnQVn4wQ2Z-_UWfht4t-xKUMuBFr0bl4_EH39VPVrtEoGNwDKKdyIxU/s1600/IMG_2448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHQ78zQhm4dkIkdeygRntQnPeFnKJ3MSjDfiopQGRjVYp-Dixp0bQS-l2YsWB_5IyvtlZw4rBd9Ex0VoB2M-iTnQVn4wQ2Z-_UWfht4t-xKUMuBFr0bl4_EH39VPVrtEoGNwDKKdyIxU/s320/IMG_2448.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shorts were chafing so I rolled em up</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpb4RFyzxRwD3387p-tdPnMumk1khn14yytSCms7ETlZNRhD84aTVv-LvW3lW7zf76JgHbdEwyVe84fFHcjV5gbkWT25ueuj8iH1_UNEPUypAzr4sTIapmMvNsFLP9xOjoe2gRRjKKZVs/s1600/IMG_2460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpb4RFyzxRwD3387p-tdPnMumk1khn14yytSCms7ETlZNRhD84aTVv-LvW3lW7zf76JgHbdEwyVe84fFHcjV5gbkWT25ueuj8iH1_UNEPUypAzr4sTIapmMvNsFLP9xOjoe2gRRjKKZVs/s320/IMG_2460.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shredded after a century ride.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdhL-bVT4gLWgeF__KmCg6AnhVG6SQjp_83jqAP5g1pGkwhYYDJPMovPuwBGGH977L9_CV98UurmH3PZb12mrkNDStewBiv1l9P0be9_AVNGdvNTLkpIUvtojzsORH-y8AdPF1H5xWvA/s1600/IMG_2474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdhL-bVT4gLWgeF__KmCg6AnhVG6SQjp_83jqAP5g1pGkwhYYDJPMovPuwBGGH977L9_CV98UurmH3PZb12mrkNDStewBiv1l9P0be9_AVNGdvNTLkpIUvtojzsORH-y8AdPF1H5xWvA/s320/IMG_2474.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I rode a bunch of bikes.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhwI5489hGQQBXTvKnlZWDDmSaLemYMzNGGAFtClEIDohqtyFKOPd2pUBOCMRq4HBiteRJCIdwPxcgRnKZ-5gALeDUbmZFMwa8NlII3QTtffG8W56eqUoXw9qMYDj-B8hT9UDNd-7TeE/s1600/IMG_2542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhwI5489hGQQBXTvKnlZWDDmSaLemYMzNGGAFtClEIDohqtyFKOPd2pUBOCMRq4HBiteRJCIdwPxcgRnKZ-5gALeDUbmZFMwa8NlII3QTtffG8W56eqUoXw9qMYDj-B8hT9UDNd-7TeE/s320/IMG_2542.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See, I was in CO</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enves added</td></tr>
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Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-17863620703024140932013-07-07T17:05:00.000-07:002013-07-07T17:09:12.236-07:00State Championship XC and First Cat 1 Double-WhammySo about a week before the State Championship XC race I was <strike>pressured</strike> <strike>guilted</strike> harrassed about STILL being a Cat 2 on the mountain bike I applied for an upgrade. It was approved. So now I am big time, big balling, and in deep shit. Cat 1 racing is real fast and a good bit longer.<br />
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Matt Robbins, the eventual winner and current State Champ did a great write up. He is a great guy, a hard worker, and it has shown for him this year. I didn't enter the race thinking I was racing for second, but thinking about how it would feel to stop his winning streak from the road. I was unsuccessful and don't feel bad about it at all. He works more, harder, and deserved the win. He did a great write up <a href="http://tritrimattrobbins.blogspot.com/2013/06/race-report-state-xc-championship.html" target="_blank">here</a> and I can add a few things:<br />
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I broke my chain about 15 minutes before the start. I had been having some bike trouble and I guess my chain was compromised. I was doing some standing starts to figure out what gear I wanted to start in and how many time I wanted to shift/when after starting. Call me crazy, but I came from BMX and know the first 10 pedal strokes can make or break a race.<br />
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Luckily, Matt Noe from the Peddler was there and the two of us had a new chain on my bike in 2 minnutes. A real 2 minutes, on the Garmin it was 2 minutes stopped. I made it to the line with a few minutes to spare and tried to calm down.<br />
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When they said "Go" I dropped the hammer and went pretty hard. I was able to go into the woods first, which I could not have been more happy about. I love leading. Throughout the first lap I turned the screws up a little and got rolling really well. There is a rooted, gentle downhill right before the end of the first lap and I used that and the full suspension bike to roll off the front with a 4~second or so gap. Everyone was yelling and cheering and screaming my name because I had a gap. . . so naturally I attacked the connector trail and went into the Blue Trail with a bigger gap. I decided to keep riding my 1st lap pace at this point. I knew I couldn't stay away at the attack pace for 2 laps but I wanted to make them work hard and not have my line to follow through the tightest portion of the race. I was hoping it would sap them to have to close back down to me. . . bad news, it didn't.<br />
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I had opened a can of worms I couldn't close. We rolled a little quicker and kept the pace up, eventually Richie Slagle went by. I knew I couldn't answer the question he was asking. I asked Matt if he wanted to chase and let him by when he wanted. At this point I knew I had 2 guys up the trail who could pop at any moment, hit a tree, taco a wheel, flat/burp a tire. I just laid down my own thing for the rest of the lap and all of lap 3. Within the last 1/4 mile of trail I saw a flash ahead that looked like Richie. Deep inside something clicked. It wasn't a question - I knew I was going to catch him. I laid into that gentle downhill and clacked over all the roots. I yelled to him something along the lines of "Richie we are still racing" and caught onto his wheel coming into a small bridge. The bridge opens up into a small clearing with about 100 feet to the line. Rolling over the bridge I was out of the saddle dumping gears, as soon as we popped off the bridge I went right, put it in the 11 tooth cog and sprinted as hard as I could. I sprinted and threw my bike and just barely got him at the line.<br />
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I am not happy with a second, but to lose to someone who works so hard isn't bad. Also, know I had to do my own thing and later in the race it could pay off (going their pace would have just blown me up) and it actually paying off felt great. By the speed and power numbers my sprint was great....25mph on flat grass at a good wattage number for me to sprint, especially after such an effort over the whole race.<br />
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<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-70814868427507341442013-05-05T06:41:00.001-07:002013-05-05T06:41:03.462-07:00Rouge RoubaixThe story of Rouge-Roubaix hasn't came out yet because I wasn't sure
how to approach it. It is hard to be happy because I am realizing my
capabilities and feel proud of myself while at the same time be so
frustrated and sad. No, this isn't the start of some terrible pop song.
This is the story of Rouge-Roubaix and how it changed me as a cyclist.<br />
<br />
The
great thing about my new job is I don't work on the weekends. So I
decided on the Tuesday before that I would go down to Rouge and
kill/destroy/potentially end up crying. I knew I wanted to race the 3/4
race (4/5 was an option) and I knew I needed to go hard for 104 miles. I
hadn't done any training rides over about 75 so far this year and knew
that this was going to be a pretty gnarly day for me. I figured with my
fitness, bike handling skills, and general frustration from my last road
race would fuel me to around mile 90, then I could figure the rest out.
I couldn't find anyone from MB/BPC that wanted to go down and race so
Andrea decided she would come with me. She figured it would be a good
day on the bike that would help prep her for the rest of the season.<br />
<br />
We
drove down on Saturday with the race being Sunday morning. We drove
straight down, went to the course, and went to do a pre-ride. My nerves
were getting to me and I generally freaked out during the preride. I was
having a hard time riding the gravel, was getting beat up, and
generally was not a happy camper. When we hit the second gravel section
to preview the biggest hill of the race, which has a $100 KOM prize at
the top for each race, I cried. We rode through 30 or so yards of 4''
deep sand, then we rode down this huge hill that had a 3/4'' layer of
sand on the surface. It was time to flip a U and go back race direction.
I couldn't ride the hill. In all of my life I had never encountered a
hill I couldn't ride, but this was a huge bitch. The sand meant I was
going slow, slow as hell actually. The layer of sand added in meant that
as I stalled out and tried to turn to stay up, my front wheel would dig
in and I would stop, falling over.<br />
<br />
As a 25 year old,
hot shot mountain biking, single speeding, fuck everyone I can do
anything rider this destroyed me. I sat down in the middle of the road
and cried. I had told myself I was going to do well at this race and
that I would be fine with anything thrown at me and hear I was, feeling
delusional about my ability. It was like this big hill in Louisiana
kicked my face in. The next problem was trying to get going again. I
hate my Speedplay pedals. I have trouble clipping in when leaving my
cove for a road ride, let alone trying to do a flying remount on a steep
hill covered in sand. I was destroyed, broken, and wanting to go home.<br />
<br />
Once
over the top of the hill, back through the sand from hell, back to the
car I wanted to throw up, fly home in a helicopter, and never ride my
bike again. We went to the race hotel and found out they had rooms open
so I cancelled my room at the other hotel and we loaded into the room.
After wrestling with my inner demons and getting over the idea of
getting raging drunk and not racing the next day I calmed down. Turns
out whatever cable TV they had at the hotel played a marathon of some
show that should have been called "Holy Shit-Balls These Are The Cutest
Animals Ever" but it was really called "So Cute" or something. Anyways,
after a 2.5 hour brainwash of a show that has personified kittens and
puppies playing with each other as they grow from birth to around 4
months I was calmed down some. I fell asleep.<br />
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Race
morning was awesome, I didn't throw up on myself and I did my best "I
should be here" by lining up in the second row behind Tim Moore of
901Racing and a guy who used to live in Memphis and moved away. The
neutral rollout was very neutral. I started eating early and stayed
calm. I knew that Tim Moore would be good. I was planning to follow him
as long as I could. We hit the first gravel and it was like a bunch of
roadies, hopped up on coffee and testosterone, just turned road bikes
onto a gravel road. . . wait. They did. Bikes and people cussing
everywhere. Some guy did the worlds worst remount and swerved into me,
so I yelled on your left as he swerved and made use of all 150 of my
pounds in order to stay upright. There was a little break, but I knew
the feedzone was after this long, long gravel section. I knew I could
catch the stragglers of the front group so I stayed on it as hard as I
could. Strong guys who had wrecked or gotten caught up kept coming
through, but they also were jack-offs who couldn't corner on gravel. I
wasn't strong enough to ride away from them but I kept feeling jammed up
in any turn or anywhere that needed some turning, jiving, not hitting
holes.<br />
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Some more people wrecked and I t-boned a guy,
didn't go down, just full stop, unclip, start over. I was pissed. I had
driven all the way down here and I was going to get dropped in the
first gravel. Nope. I caught on to the back of the lead group near the
end of the gravel and popped out on the road with a bunch of people I
thought were a ton faster than me.<br />
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We went pretty
steady for a while, everything was cool. We hit the big hill at mile 68
and I was still with the lead group of 3/4 men. Things broke loose, some
people rode all the way, some people ran, some people wrecked in front
of me. I ended up being in the chase group for a good long while. I got
dropped when I tried to pee while on the back. They didn't wait for me.<br />
<br />
I
made it 4.5hr mark and was feeling geat. Then the wheels started
falling off. I was tired, I was dropped from the chase group that formed
after the big hill, and I wanted to be done. I kept seeing people come
through, I would hop on and try to go with them for a while. I ran into
the issue of people in my 3/4 field working with the leaders of the
Masters field that started after us and getting towed by. I kept working
hard, and I finished strong. After I stopped I found a Coke, was
standing around wondering when the women would finish/if I should go to
the hotel and shower or if Andrea would be back in a second.<br />
<br />
The
director comes over to me "Are you Matt McCawwwlee" I said "Yeah" he
says I swear to God "Your friend Andrea was hit by a car, she is still
talking though, she is at the hospital" So I pound my Coke, get all the
info about hospital location, all kinds of contact info and accident
info, turned my Garmin off without saving (it auto shut down because it
had been stopped a long time, which would later malfunction and lose all
of my data from my biggest race with powermeter), and haul ass to the
hospital on my bike.<br />
<br />
Turns out she was mostly ok, I had
to ride back to the hotel, get cleaned up, I lost my shit when someone
had taken my wheels out of the truck and their slow ass wasn't back yet.
I mean fully lost it. I said something to the tune of "Some stupid
asshole took my wheels out of the truck and I have to wait around to
find them before I drive home. My friend was hit by a fucking car during
the race so I really don't have time for this stupid shit. I need my
wheel right fucking now I have to go" and boom, 3 minutes later my wheel
turned up. I didn't fake nice. I just took it off his bike and left.
The women's wheel truck wasn't back yet and I found a nice lady who took
my number and called me when the wheel truck came in.<br />
<br />
It
was a long and rainy drive back to Memphis. We left Louisiana 5 hours
later than anticipated (had to find all the wheels, discharge from the
hospital, go to the police station). It was after midnight when we got
home.<br />
<br />
Looking back at the results I was 30th overall, 8th
Cat 4. I am pleased with that result very well. It just sucks that my
friend got hit by a car. I will go back next year, just not with Andrea.
Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-64858358508906050482013-04-10T19:55:00.000-07:002013-04-10T19:55:02.546-07:00Ouachita: Race Day
Race morning I was a full on shit-show of nerves and lack of
social skill. I am realizing that as I become more nervous I become
much less social. After eating a few bites of oatmeal, nearly
throwing up on Carter and Damian when they joined us for breakfast,
and doing my morning business I changed, lined up, and decided that
the race was all up to me.<br />
<br />
Single speed, road rollout. I lined up at the front, hung on at my
pace as long as I could, stole drafts from most of the race as it
rolled by, and eventually it turned to gravel. I had to tell
Sir Geared there was no way I would let him pull me down the road by
holding his hand. Fucker. I don't know what is worse: He thought I
needed help or some sorry sacks of shit actually let people pull them
during a race. I wasn't rude to him. I told him "I will do this
by myself" and kept spinning. I digress for the moment.<br />
<br />
There were some low water crossings people wanted to go real
slowly through and I kept pushing my pace, the road started to roll,
and suddenly there was a huge line of people 2 abreast up the road
ahead of me in their granny gear. I kept doing what I was doing until
we turned a corner and the road turned up. I dug in a little and went
hard to pass as many people as possible before the single track
started. I was out of the saddle doing my best "I'm not even
breathing hard" face when I pass Sir Geared and said "I told you I would do it myself". I never saw Sir Geared again.<br />
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In the single track I yelled at people I knew to have a good time, yelled at one group of guys that wouldn't respond to my requests to pass. I get it, we are racing. But we are racing different categories and you are using your granny gear at mile 7 of 60. I am sitting behind you asking nicely to pass. I will cuss at you and run past in the bushes. With my dickhead move of the race out of the way I kept doing my thing.<br />
<br />
At some point Andrea flatted so I passed her. She caught me a while later and we rolled near each other for a while. We hit the road and she used her fancy shifting parts to go more than 14mph and I did my best to not spin too fast on the road. I over ate going into the feedzone and then started to feel sick. I had went out a little harder than I needed to. I was running a pretty safe gear on the single speed but it was a little too much on the climbs. I tried to ride everything, I know I don't do well when I have to walk a lot so I just stayed on the bike and stayed cruising the best I could. I wasn't feeling that great. I was starting to have a bad time.<br />
<br />
I got my stomach under control (which was great, I had never recovered from that before) and started plugging at the rest of the course. The guys from <a href="http://arkansasoutside.com/" target="_blank">Arkansas Outside</a> told me I was the man of the day because I was rigid and singlespeed. I told them I felt like the idiot of the day. I may have felt better but there is photographic proof that I looked at least twice as bad as usual.<br />
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I did my best to finish strong. Another single speeder had caught me about 6 miles from the finish. He had pipped me in the last few miles of Syllamo in 2012. We chatted about the day, how we both rode rigid single speeds, how the weather had been nice all day - no rain but not much sun, how his bike was pretty cool. I had been slowing him down and resting well. We were out of the single track and all gravel at this point. I knew we had a few more miles to go. . . so I attacked as hard as I could when we hit a roller. Full bore, high cadence, up and over the hill balls out sprint fest. I saw he wasn't giving up so I sat up a little to make a turn. The course marshall said "3/4 mile climb" and he said "I don't care about our placing" I said "I am going hard to the line" and proceeded to go full bonkers til I got to the finish. Including the last little climb to the finish where I went hard as I could and put myself about 1 knob in front of a geared rider.<br />
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All in all a great weekend, great learning experience. I didn't hit all of my hopeful goals but met some of my realistic ones. I am taking this year as a chance to gain racing experience and become more comfortable racing so I can hopefully do even better next time.<br />
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<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-71094097712946044932013-04-08T17:40:00.001-07:002013-04-08T17:40:27.067-07:00Popping my Ouachita Challenge cherry.This isn't my first race of the year, but we will get to those in a little while. This is the most recent race because it just happened yesterday so I will give my best description of the race. I raced my brand new Specialized Carve SL single speed, set up nearly how it came out of the box. I promise, I will get to that too. So, here goes.<br />
<br />
So, Friday after work I took my brand new, never been ridden bike out for a short spin. I rode it around for about 50 minutes and just got a feel for how it wheelies. I came home, drank a beer, decided I needed to wash clothes, and got going packing up for the race on Sunday. I got a little bit of my stuff ready but I knew we weren't leaving until 10:30 or so on Saturday so I took it easy Frdiay night. Saturday morning I got up, packed most of my stuff up, cleaned out Andrea's car so we could drive to Arkansas and shred some gnar.<br />
<br />
We got to Arkansas after much driving in the car. If you haven't seen it head over to <a href="http://www.brickhouseracing.com/?p=5249" target="_blank">Brickhouse Racing</a> and check out how much fun your next trip will be if I get to tag along. Once in Arkansas I immediately started shredding the pump track and getting a little too loose on the pump track. The pump track is great, except I can do two hard laps and be blowing through the turns feeling my front tire try to roll off the rim. The bmx days of 60psi in a front tire have taught me to expect a little bit more bite and consistency in my front end than a 20psi 29er tire will ever offer.<br />
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After goofing off a bit, setting up camp, and me acting like I wasn't nervous we changed to go for a "preride" of sorts. It wasn't really a preride because we didn't touch the race course but we did ride some similar trail so I would know what to expect in the morning. We ripped a little, took it pretty easy (as easy as you can on a single speed in the hills), and went back to camp. After some replenishing of supplies and picking up our packets (because that's what you do at packet pickup) it was time to eat dinner and call it a night. Sleeping in a tent that almost touches the ground, while being cold, and listening to dogs bark through ear plugs is a bad time. Take my word.<br />
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The rest will have to come later. Now is time for<a href="http://www.mountainbikeradio.com/" target="_blank">Just Riding Along</a> <br />
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Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-52627039411132023772013-03-17T17:14:00.001-07:002013-03-17T17:14:23.436-07:00Where have I been?Lots have changed since the last time we talked.<br />
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Basic rundown:<br />
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I decided a long time ago (18-24) I needed a new job. I came to this realization when I decided I wanted to not work weekends, have nice things, and start a retirement fund. I started working towards that goal talking to people who I trusted and who I thought could help me. I started working every angle I could to keep myself in the bike industry. I had looked into jobs that were technical reps and demo drivers. It seemed like everyone I talked to had a hurry up and wait policy. People who worked for hiring agencies lying to me and telling me they worked for the company I was applying for....not cool. Lots of waiting. I started talking to people outside of the industry and was given some of the best advice ever from a guy who is about my age. He told me that people in our age group had fallen into the ill informed belief that we should love our job. He told me he did his job so he could do what he loved: hang out with his wife and ride his bike.<br />
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I started talking to other people, getting advice from professionals that I know to see what they would recommend. After talking to a few people and keeping them updated with what I had going on I started to get a few leads. . . not. I had a guy approach me and he asked me if I thought I could sit at a desk. I said maybe. He said let's try. I got a new job working as a customer service rep at a grand format printing business here in Memphis. So far it has been great. I get to work Monday-Friday with minimal travel. I have only worked one Saturday this year.<br />
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Things have been going pretty great so far. I have swapped some bike stuff around, I have gotten some new parts, a new mountain bike, some new shoes, a new helmet. I digress. I am saying since we last talked I have gotten loads of great new stuff. Not all since my new job started.<br />
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I started my new job right before Thanksgiving and I can say without a doubt I am much happier doing that. Not that a bike shop is bad. I am not saying that at all. I am saying that this schedule, this type of stimulation, and the ability to get in my car Friday night and go race without asking anyone's permission to go race the weekend. It wasn't that it was THAT hard, it is just the fact that Wednesday I can decide to race on Saturday and not put anyone in a bind.<br />
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Now that I am settled in at my new job and getting things going, I am starting to get out and do some stuff and will have some good adventures to write about on a very regular basis.<br />
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Faithfully yours,<br />
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Beanpole.<br />
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Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-21526142171604430982012-07-31T14:15:00.000-07:002012-07-31T14:15:09.152-07:00Winning and stuff.So I haven't written in a while because I have been busy putting some real work in and doing a great job.<br />
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Legends of Stank XC: Raced Men's Cat 2 15-29<br />
I used Ryan's full suspension Titus Racer-X 29er with Andrea's lightweight aluminum wheelset. I had done a few hot laps leading up to the race and felt like I could finish in the top 4-5. I warmed up well and was feeling great. We all lined up and GO! it was all out. I hadn't raced a XC race in a long time and forgot how hard it could start. I made sure to follow this fast looking guy who dove into the woods first and within 4 minutes it was a light pack behind us. I didn't like the way the leader was riding so I ended up passing him and leading for a little more than a lap. Near the end of the first lap I got tired of hearing everyone behind me talking like Chatty-Kathy's started dropping the hammer hard. I turned it up and didn't really let off. They stopped talking but it was bonker's fast. About 1/3 of the way through the 2nd and last lap Dylan Vance blasted past me on the left and never let up. I chased him for a second and realized it was dumb to ride that hard. I knew we were too far from the finish to be riding at that pace for me personally and I backed off. I let the other guy who was with us around to chase and they never came back. I put in a really solid effort and had a great time. I couldn't have ridden that fast without being loaned a bike and I wouldn't have pushed myself that hard without the help of my friends in the last few months helping me realize my abilities. Fun tid-bit: my average heart rate for the 1:33 race was 182bpm. <br />
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Cirque Du Velo Circuit Race<br />
I overslept and was too cocky. I went out stupid hard and got dropped from the main group and pulled from the race by the officials. This really pissed me off. I knew better than that. I knew better than to go out that hard. The breaks from the gun never stick in Cat4. Why in the Hell did I chase? Because I am an idiot. The worst mistakes are the best learning lesson. I will say lesson learned. Chip placed on shoulder.<br />
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Riverside Classic XC<br />
With a big chip on my shoulder and a stomach full of anger I decided to go race Riverside XC. The course was supposed to be rocky and gnarly. I said "OK". It was supposed to be hot. I said "Good". It was supposed to be 15 miles for the SS race. I said "Whatever, that's a sprint". I was really looking to get some vengeance and redemption from my previous weekend of riding like a Cat5 triathlete.<br />
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I rode with <a href="http://blog.brickhouseracing.com/?p=4538" target="_blank">Andrea</a> over to Little Rock the night before. We showed up to the wrong La Quinta in Little Rock, looped around the block twice and ended up at the other La Quinta less than 4 miles from where we had been. If that gives you an idea of how bad the traffic right there was. La Quinta was like "People want to stay here but gosh, this is hard to navigate. Hell, let's build another over there." I digress.<br />
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Woke up, had breakfast at Starbucks, get to the race, run around like an idiot, get ready to race, line up. There are 10 people in the single speed race and they started us behind a few too many of the Cat 2 age groupers. I think we were supposed to start behind the 19-29 but ended up behind the 29-39 guys. That was a little bit of a suck.<br />
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The race started with a paved, non-neutral start. One guy says "I guess we won't have a sprinting match with these single speeds on the road" and I bit my tongue pretty hard. I have been trying to not be a cocky little shit and spout off at the mouth all the time. When the man said GO! I started to spin. I eased up on the nose of my saddle and spun pretty hard. At the first little rise in the road I did my best to keep my cadence up and maintain my speed. Maybe some others didn't follow suit. When we hit the bigger hill I tried to do a mild attack out of the saddle and kill the hill. At the top of the hill it was time to dive into the woods. A guy snaked the long way around a tree and dove into the woods first. I watched him for a minute and he was bobbling and panting and hurting - he was riding outside of his ability. As soon as the trail turned up I rode around him and dropped the hammer hard. I didn't hear any one cussing or scrambling to come with me from deeper in the pack so I kept the spurs in myself and really laid it out for a few minutes. I hadn't preridden the trail at all so I didn't know anything to expect. The trail is great and usually sensible. The fast parts stayed fast and the slow parts got tight and twisty. I almost wrecked trying to pass a guy from a race that started ahead of mine. He was listening to his phone on full blast in the top of his camelbak so he couldn't hear me yelling "single speed leader, single speed leader wanting to pass" so I said "hey on your right, right now" as I stormed through the bushes and ended up losing my front wheel in the leaves. I got off, ran around him who was very startled, and ran for about 20 yards up the trail. I was pretty frustrated but he was still stuck in his granny gear listening to Nickelback or something so I got over it pretty quick.<br />
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I started the second lap and started bumping my rim on the ground every once-in-a-while. I kept riding hard, but only uphill. I would destroy the uphills and then conserve downhill trying to not whack my rim on the ground. I hadn't used my own air pump and trusted the gauge like it was mine. I just didn't have enough pressure. It didn't show up til the second lap when I was getting comfortable and really letting it hang out on the trail. About 400 yards from the finish line the most awful clanging noise occurred. I was ripping down the last 3 straightaways before the finish and I ripped a huge hole in my rear tire. Handfuls of front brake and a good bit of cussing allowed me to make the first turn. At this point I realize I need to make one more turn, cross the road, then ride smooth grass in to the finish. I leaned all my weight forward and eased down to the last turn and creep through the turn. The guys at the road called clear and I eased my way out over the lip of the road and then off the other side. I probably had around 5psi in my rear tire so I sat on the nose of my seat and pedaled hard across the line. First win in the books with a decently cool story, needless to say I was pumped.<br />
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<br />I am appreciative of the help and support that is given to me along the way. I do my best to help get the <a href="http://www.hbstache.com/default.asp" target="_blank">HBStache Jersey</a> on the podium when I am riding offroad. My BPC/MB team mate Jonathon has been doing a ton of work giving me training advice and helping me to understand how to achieve my goals. Ryan and Andrea are nice enough to let me live with them which in turn allows me to afford racing my bike. All in all it takes a ton of nice people for me to line up at a race. Thanks to everyone. Hopefully it will keep getting better.<br />
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<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-24091352083029948472012-06-11T19:47:00.001-07:002012-06-11T19:47:44.777-07:00I draw the line at solidsSo over the last few weeks I have really picked up the amount of time I have spent on the bike. I have always had a hard time trying to figure out how to ride, how often to ride, and what to expect from that riding. I recently worked out an agreement with a friend to get some advice on using my time on the bike to be more beneficial to my goal of becoming a better cyclist.<br />
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Rewinding to early Christmas time I happened to find PowerTap hubs were all on closeout due to the eventual launch of their new G3 line of hubs. The price may not have been just right, but I knew that I would never get the same deal on a reputable power measuring device again so I jumped at the chance. Up until about two weeks ago I had been using it half-heartedly and not really embracing the possibilities of training with power. I had done little research on my own and hadn't really tried to train myself. One person posted an ad on Facebook claiming to offer free training but it was all a game of smoke and mirrors. It was free training IF you buy a monthly subscription to this life-coaching service that is written by Helen Keller. It may not have been a life-coaching service written by Helen Keller but it was something that one would find as equally absurd.<br />
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I had spoken with a friend one a few occasions about getting some help with my sprinting. I had it in my head that I hadn't won the Hell of the South road race because I was outsprinted by a half-of-a-wheel. My friend finally explained to me that it would be much more beneficial to me if I were to work on raising my threshold. As my threshold increases I will be able to react and cover during races and be more consistently within my ability. Then because I have only been over my threshold 12 times instead of 16 I will be mo' fresher come time to sprint it out. When one sprints mo' fresher one is more likely to win said sprint. Truth. My friend offered to help me with this by adapting his workouts to meet my power ranges and time budget. Also he said he gets really tired of counting all the $100 bills at work and needs something to do to break up his day of being a big time banker. So I created an account with Training Peaks and gave him access to my account.<br />
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The short term outcome has been: I have ridden more than I ever have before and it isn't easy. Over these last few weeks I have had to constantly reminded myself "If being fast were easy, everyone would do it." and tried to focus on how this will help me meet my long term goals. In case you can't deduce from my previous rambling: my future goal is to be fast as shit.<br />
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According to this guy it isn't going to get easier the more I do this either. I will just go faster. And since going fast is my goal I will have to embrace this and get better at managing my time around my training.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-35939157372637996212012-05-27T05:33:00.000-07:002012-05-27T05:33:01.103-07:00Photos from the last year or so.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivlY0gOFARvmHypWbZI3JU3EmoNih1F5Hgb-bIbepgF0mUS4W-hRFFc8_lvoxHupwlbxLMpMtlcQM9iIfN8yJYuGo-dq-8KdCbHqCfCy5RSst0B1R7F3K_aDXfUeXDrH3fD363T11euA/s1600/iphone+098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivlY0gOFARvmHypWbZI3JU3EmoNih1F5Hgb-bIbepgF0mUS4W-hRFFc8_lvoxHupwlbxLMpMtlcQM9iIfN8yJYuGo-dq-8KdCbHqCfCy5RSst0B1R7F3K_aDXfUeXDrH3fD363T11euA/s320/iphone+098.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I rode Zipp 404 Firecrest wheels one day.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tTBu1NDsSnBsco9VzBPyICMjSa0P86ypDhQ9ZIygjopo-ps62ftNJyb9n3jruz6CD6LbQelqstPPwZVt5epWIh8l3Ft77FO9L2HqHIoiN8AM1Ab68IYSkiPYBZW71GGB1VN5tnDA8XE/s1600/iphone+101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tTBu1NDsSnBsco9VzBPyICMjSa0P86ypDhQ9ZIygjopo-ps62ftNJyb9n3jruz6CD6LbQelqstPPwZVt5epWIh8l3Ft77FO9L2HqHIoiN8AM1Ab68IYSkiPYBZW71GGB1VN5tnDA8XE/s320/iphone+101.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenny showed up how he gets down in fur</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXvuv1nZrmcuugTRtP9RNV59TQT0rL-ZqxiRRCfDV8-Dnw6Rdi7W7xhYx1MvkpGtoh3stH_iW3VPd7N0LGscWBmBiEZW0mZvjISoubKYrE2mP4Fx6B9h2TeG4ddWvncOQHGU80bvvY30/s1600/iphone+129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXvuv1nZrmcuugTRtP9RNV59TQT0rL-ZqxiRRCfDV8-Dnw6Rdi7W7xhYx1MvkpGtoh3stH_iW3VPd7N0LGscWBmBiEZW0mZvjISoubKYrE2mP4Fx6B9h2TeG4ddWvncOQHGU80bvvY30/s320/iphone+129.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thor showed us that kitties are shrimp.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Ns6-F3NsjLm32eAhwnnYOvg-SMT2a0uYrDlA-k9uqP4vznEl6KgO2c1OIQbF6i7oXj69ZjmZ116snDcYruLJ2ISp2CZnCD4vKjzu0pVUwA3LfDFC9NJ7z_LBtG4nAiKLARtsFR0tuI/s1600/iphone+141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Ns6-F3NsjLm32eAhwnnYOvg-SMT2a0uYrDlA-k9uqP4vznEl6KgO2c1OIQbF6i7oXj69ZjmZ116snDcYruLJ2ISp2CZnCD4vKjzu0pVUwA3LfDFC9NJ7z_LBtG4nAiKLARtsFR0tuI/s320/iphone+141.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Powertap hubs went on sale.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwZPcjP2ELXmwDVubBEl3vXzCrzqZaZUu5rtvyTJZ45jphxpG-JPxcqXSGlreWYIaZtDeMX59ruGH51vRtTMj4U0rutTbPnT6Ducm_iguW4L8LYrvZ3nhsh4KD62g4s8x_ao4QBaF87Q/s1600/iphone+148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwZPcjP2ELXmwDVubBEl3vXzCrzqZaZUu5rtvyTJZ45jphxpG-JPxcqXSGlreWYIaZtDeMX59ruGH51vRtTMj4U0rutTbPnT6Ducm_iguW4L8LYrvZ3nhsh4KD62g4s8x_ao4QBaF87Q/s320/iphone+148.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new skatepark opened, new bmx happened.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-UT7hCOyHk5pkZQL3no-F0-PVeZb8_Z-2ojqy_CHWblPUUitCPAIjOwx38c4V27tS4FjaiKeRAI87gxV4RZ4ms_0sOAD82U8z8OI_icYN6DzExC_-Cmz2VrSb9PUDu8MH2qN-Qyn4kw/s1600/iphone+150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-UT7hCOyHk5pkZQL3no-F0-PVeZb8_Z-2ojqy_CHWblPUUitCPAIjOwx38c4V27tS4FjaiKeRAI87gxV4RZ4ms_0sOAD82U8z8OI_icYN6DzExC_-Cmz2VrSb9PUDu8MH2qN-Qyn4kw/s320/iphone+150.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I drove to Little Rock to race.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1bKO1RecdylbU4Br1sWYYIUYNE3jyM_DHWjZ_wrQtRbRFlLrMVKxz4TmJdq8449rzShoA6DT-MErCLX8J__GalIXE33lVCQIW_fmi9jT4JrXczD_y7wA2Ez7aqm2lijJxzOIhLdGI4c/s1600/iphone+151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1bKO1RecdylbU4Br1sWYYIUYNE3jyM_DHWjZ_wrQtRbRFlLrMVKxz4TmJdq8449rzShoA6DT-MErCLX8J__GalIXE33lVCQIW_fmi9jT4JrXczD_y7wA2Ez7aqm2lijJxzOIhLdGI4c/s320/iphone+151.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I warmed up, Bryant Funston took pics.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mean turtle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJBahuwk8meSz2iOS-RH2wDK8NwiNPmEAPBn8mxzYtqQierOLmFQ_71ug6NqB4yQ4JIPcUbcNs2DYg88wtENjB4kS7JAq4PZ7w2WVUriV-83CdB85y6e8u0OSWmI4GA0zTZdJWuWmk1o/s1600/iphone+156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJBahuwk8meSz2iOS-RH2wDK8NwiNPmEAPBn8mxzYtqQierOLmFQ_71ug6NqB4yQ4JIPcUbcNs2DYg88wtENjB4kS7JAq4PZ7w2WVUriV-83CdB85y6e8u0OSWmI4GA0zTZdJWuWmk1o/s320/iphone+156.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My very new, very heavy mtn bike.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrXVHDuFEW0INybfvtbt8fmU9y_Vyh_jiFEa-AjrBxqgfWqlqe5pM9Hmpgh1CEjW4oZ3TlF7yxf42x3GPj2YMNekXmGBlzOn8gTUWITxlthLzDb8d2E34J4KrO57YjUZe4XVQbb-KM5o/s1600/iphone+167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrXVHDuFEW0INybfvtbt8fmU9y_Vyh_jiFEa-AjrBxqgfWqlqe5pM9Hmpgh1CEjW4oZ3TlF7yxf42x3GPj2YMNekXmGBlzOn8gTUWITxlthLzDb8d2E34J4KrO57YjUZe4XVQbb-KM5o/s320/iphone+167.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joe Royer came to a crit.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpMa5t2HBBuauA9DqnSzcpLz7UMvvshNofp4TC6tBNz62lhDrMYv9pqkUEL_GxKcUIs8JltSloAh6vwaa8Yet3w7ehPG3g9Bm44OesM6ZdOz_-mEY4v3A3RmKtHlrE4CvxX3GSKfq2wQ/s1600/iphone+172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpMa5t2HBBuauA9DqnSzcpLz7UMvvshNofp4TC6tBNz62lhDrMYv9pqkUEL_GxKcUIs8JltSloAh6vwaa8Yet3w7ehPG3g9Bm44OesM6ZdOz_-mEY4v3A3RmKtHlrE4CvxX3GSKfq2wQ/s320/iphone+172.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">$5 chain, lockring from $300 cassette.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mtn cruiser, 69er style.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daily advice for me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found my old card while cleaning.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worked with an uber-bike.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poplar shut down.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a bomb threat.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My toe, post nail eradication.</td></tr>
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<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-6620626693832210622012-05-25T06:23:00.001-07:002012-05-25T06:23:37.813-07:00Syllamo's Revenge of the Toenail.Last weekend was my fourth try and making it big in Syllamo's Revenge. Every year the course has been drastically different in terms of trail conditions. The first year I was awoken at 4 a.m. by the sound of monsoon quality rain and thunder, the second year we hung out in a tornado shelter the night before the race but the rain stopped by 10p.m., last year it was surprisingly mild but I was frustrated by the 125k's impact on the trail, and this year was unseasonably hot.<br />
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To elaborate on last year: it was the first year of the 125K event held in tandem with the 50 miler. The 125K started an hour before us, so even though I entered the woods with the lead group of men and rode in the top 40 all day, the trail had seen around 75 riders in the 125K before we got to it. This meant that each small puddled was splashed out and strung out for 5-10 yards down the trail making the limestone rocks slicker than snot and hard to ride. I know, I could pony up and do the big boy race, I feel I still have a bone to pick with the 50 miler. I digress.<br />
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This year I rode single speed again and decided to ride a gear that was just a tad harder than what I had used last year. I entered the race with probably slightly better physical fitness but definitely mentally stronger than in years before. I am starting to get enough riding in my legs to have an idea of what I am actually capable of doing and how to mentally badger myself to make that happen. Steve Parker had us start lined up on the road a little different than in previous years. Since I had done well last year and there was no official call-ups or start order I lined up on the front. I knew I needed to go up the first climb hard and I should make anyone who feels they should be ahead of me work for it. Not in a "it's a race, find a place to pass it's not my problem you dick" way, but more of a "I'm going to attack and hammer hard from the line" way. I went into the bottom of the climb in 5-8th place, went into the woods in probably the top 20. Ryan Bosio and Fo' Owens were right behind and I tried finding my single track groove and make some early mojo happen. Fo' told me "Get your young ass out of the way I have a podium to hit boy." Or maybe he said "When you get a chance let me squeeze by Matt." While the latter is more true, the former turned out to be what he meant. Shortly after that a guy who had been behind me insisted on passing so I eased up cresting a hill and let him around, only for him to not 45 seconds later slide out his front wheel, spiderman across the trail, and block up everything. The trail was pretty loose so even though I watched him start to wreck in front of me the best thing I could do was slide to a stop beside his bike and end up with my foot standing on top of his bike lying on the trail. Oops I crunched your bike. I get off his bike so he can get back on it and we start rolling again. Everything was pretty cool, a few guys asked to go around, I passed a few guys, and overall settled into a hard pace of attacking the hills, not braking, and trying to ride at a pace I could do for a few hours. <br />
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I started to feel the fatigue set in around the 2:25 mark. I knew I had been riding hard and that it was about time to back out of "kill everything, damn it all to Hell" riding style and more of a "ride steady, eat some stuff, drink some stuff" approach for a while. I didn't properly prepare my nutrition for this race, I probably got behind on water consumption, and I had forgotten how much to respect the mountain because eating on the trail was much harder than I had remembered. I kept everything together, never wrecked, never had a single mechanical issue, and pretty much trudged along for a good while. The hike-a-bike-ride-deathmarch up to the Stairway to Heaven on the Blue Trail really sucked. I didn't want to drink my sports drink from my Camelbak because the flavor had turned. Just FYI do not use a drink mix without preservatives on a ride longer than 3 hours, over 75 degrees. I wanted to drink more but it tasted funny, I hated hiking because it was pissing off an ingrown toenail I was carrying on my left foot, and I started to hate myself.<br />
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When we got to the Red Trail it was hot like fire, I was falling apart, and overall was upset with myself for not being in better shape in order to be able to continue to attack the trail. A few people were passing me and at one point when a single speed guy passed me I wanted to quit. I had no idea what my current placing was but I knew I wasn't where I wanted to be. Another single speed guy passed me about 2 miles from the finish. I stayed on his wheel, watched him wreck in front of me and clog up the trail, then attacked the living shit out of him once we hit the fire road. I did a super-roadie move and hammered as hard as I could while aiming for the left side of the road. I then tucked in and didn't brake until the very bottom of the hill. I spun as hard as I could on the road, almost cramped, spun a little bit more, and came in through the finish setting a personal best of 5:27:46 for the race. That was only good enough for 7th in single speed and 28th overall.<br />
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Upon inspection of the results if I had just been a little smarter, ridden a little harder, I could have been on the podium for 5th with a time of 5:27:09 I would have only had to have ridden less than 1 second faster every mile. In all seriousness I rode as hard as I could. I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't disappointed that I didn't place better, but I have no real remorse other than not filling my Camelbak with plain water or regular Gatorade or having my toenail looked at before the race. <br />
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After the race we all went back to the cabin, made hamburgers, and had an overall good time. The women's 125K winner Amanda Carey was staying at the cabin and she was kind enough to let me put my finger in her adorable little <a href="http://www.enzoscyclingproducts.com/chamois-cream/1-oz" target="_blank">button hole</a>. I assure that link is very G rated.<br />
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The next day we got up, cleaned up, and drove home.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-59984699091054257462012-05-12T17:00:00.000-07:002012-05-12T17:00:34.315-07:00Tiger Lane is over and Syllamo looms ahead.Last Wednesday was the last week for the Tiger Lane Crit series. I had a blast, won a prime, and BPC swept the podium in the Cat 4 race. Unfortunately one of the BPC 5s was in a pretty big tangle and ended up with some broken bones and skin left upon the pavement.<br />
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Next weekend is going to be my 4th attempt at Syllamo's Revenge 50 Miler. I am going to race my steel single speed with my roommates Fox fork installed. I am glad I wised up and installed the suspension on that bike for the race. I have done better every year and hope to continue that trend.<br />
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While my fitness may be a little better over this time last year I am not prepared for the race in any other way. I need brake pads, Hammer Gel, a handful of Honey Stinger waffles, a new cog, and maybe a longer chain. My bike doesn't have the right tires on it yet either. That means I need to make an order for some personal parts and get to swapping some tires.<br />
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I do have some hope to do very well at this race. I know people who have flatted twice in the first 5 miles and spent the rest of the day death-marching. My first year I sat on the side of the trail hoping for a shorter route back to the car. While I want to my best I am realizing some days everything doesn't like up so swell. So if I rip both of my tires on a rock and break my chain my contingency plan is party hard.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-4688169016201832782012-05-02T19:50:00.001-07:002012-05-02T19:50:41.725-07:00Where I've been and where I'm goingSo I quit blogging for a while. I got back from Interbike which was an amazing trip. I was able to run around indoors with a Camelbak full of vodka and cranberry juice while wearing a skinsuit. I had a great time, met some really cool people who I hope to see again, was amazed at the level of fitness at CXVegas, and realized just how big a bike has to be for a guy like Ryan Trebon. When I got home it was full-tilt-boogie working at Outdoors INC getting the new Poplar Bike Shop opened. <br />
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The bike shop was a pretty big project that included all the fun of building bikes, helping construction guys, listening to everyone gripe about everyone else, and having fun building bikes. I was there alone with the door locked and built the first 50 bikes for the sales floor. It was a neat experience and was something that I was able to get really efficient at because it was so methodical. Somewhere near bike 48 I got really bored and when someone showed up to help I found myself just talking so much. I guess making the switch from retail to recluse took a little bit of a toll on me. Things at Outdoors have been rolling pretty slowly - it seems everyday we realize there is a tool, product, or thing-a-ma-jigger that we don't have. <br />
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My quiver of bikes has flip-flopped drastically in the last 12 months. I sold my Surly CrossCheck, got a Cannondale CAAD10, got a PowerTap wheelset at Christmas, bought a BMX bike, sold my Felt geared mountain bike, sold my Felt CX bike, and bought a Redline MonoCog Flight 29er. <br />
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I have been focusing mainly on the road bike. Using my PowerTap wheel makes me atleast 10x cooler than any cyclist without power. More realistically because I do not make a ton of time to ride in my schedule I do best to do more focused workouts while training with power. I feel that it has made a huge impact on my fitness. I have been trying to work myself into riding more consistently and it has been on a not-so-steady but overall uphill trend. <br />
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I was riding the BMX bike a good bit there for a while but I was having trouble knowing my boundaries and seemed to always have some weird nagging pains even when I hadn't been wrecking. I believe it has something to do with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_contraction" target="_blank">eccentric muscle contractions</a> and those make me really sore. <br />
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I hadn't been jiving much on the mountain bike so I decided it was time to sell it off and get something that was single speed oriented with the option to add gears in the future if I so wished. I had wanted a Redline MonoCog Flight 29er since my days at Bikes Plus. I finally bought one and am extremely happy with the bike. The geometry good and the bike is steel and plush - which lends itself to going pretty fast and making those "oh fucking shit" moments happen pretty often. Everything is really cool until all-in-the-sudden things aren't cool anymore and everything is out of control. Adding a suspension <a href="http://teamdicky.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">frok</a> seems to help the bike go faster on rougher terrain. <br />
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I have raced about 6 times already this year. I only raced about 10 times all last year. I feel like I am knowing my abilities a good bit better than I did last year. Also I feel like I am learning to read the races and get myself to where I need to be to not be in trouble. <br />
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Race#1 CrossWinds Classic - Little Rock, Arkansas - Cat5 Road<br />
Went into the day with 4 guys in the 40 and under race. I helped organize our guys to ride smart, break the group once about 4 miles from the end, string it out within 1 mile to go, then at about 1100 meters to go I began to bury myself into a really deep hole that broke the lead group. Nathan Greene, one of my teammates won the sprint. <br />
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Race#2 Hell of the South - Bumfuck, Tennessee - Cat5 Road<br />
Nathan Greene and I went because we felt this would be a good race to try and get me a win. It had a little bit of rolling terrain, about 2 miles of gravel*, and the Cat5 race was only 29 miles which was within my fitness at the time. Getting to the race was a ton of fun and a little shady. I was a little stressed about by a lady working the hotel without shoes on but she was bat-shit crazy. Nathan didn't get a waffle. We left a little late and the fog was really thick so we didn't really get to warm up. The race takes off and a guy goes down in the first 500 meters. I guess having SRAM Red, a full carbon bike with integrated seatmast, and carbon wheels doesn't mean you aren't a jackass who won't overlap wheels with the guy in front of you on a straight and flat road. I digress. The only thing I knew about the course was the gravel started around mile 9. I stayed near the front but not on the front and ate a Gu at mile 7. We made a slight left hand bend onto the gravel and all hell broke loose. I knew that if I wanted to be with the group I need to burn up some matches right here. I dug deep and kept contact with the leaders through the gravel. We kept things turned up to 11 from then til about mile 14. We had popped a few people and started letting things ease up so everyone could eat, drink, and start eye-raping one another about who was going to go. When we got within 2 miles from the finish we were back on familiar roads (the couse was a giant lollipop with a tiny stem that was home to the start finish). I started moving up when I could and was freaking out hard. I felt like I had been on a chill ride with one only few hard efforts. As the 1k sign comes into view the pace picks up and people starting falling apart. Sliding up through traffic I suddenly counted only 4 people in front of jdeath marching. I stood to move around them and the guy pulling looks over his shoulder at me. He looked through my eyes and into my soul. I swung hard left towards the 200 meter sign and sprinted as hard as I could. He beat me by about half a wheel. While it would have been nice to win, he had been animating attacks throughout the race and was a strong rider. I had done my best and he was faster. <br />
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Fast forward a few weeks to the beginning of 901 Racing's Tiger Lane Crit series. That's right, four back-to-back parkinglot crits that are as flat as a board and highly likely to be windier than a South Memphis hooker's front teef.<br />
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Race #3 TLC #1 Memphis, Tennessee - Cat4 Road<br />
I made my debut into Cat4 road racing with a 35 minute crit that averaged over 25mph. To say it was brutal would be an understatement. <br />
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Race#4 SlobberKnocker 75 Miler Perryville, Arkansas - Single Speed<br />
75 miles of single speed, 58 miles gravel road I could drive my Ford Focus on, 15 miles of pavement, and 2 miles of gnarly Jeep trail. I paced myself well, rode a ton of the race with Full-Face Kenny, and ended up smashing my target time while simultaneously hitting the podium that never got called to the podium. Seriously, what the fuck Fred Phillips. <br />
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Racce#5 TLC#2 Memphis, Tennesse - Cat4 Road<br />
I took a different strategy into this race. Rather than hold on and pray I decided to try and hold on until I felt myself approaching the end of my fitness then launch a glorious attack. It worked out pretty well and I got dropped in a graceful way.<br />
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Race#6 TLC#3 Memphis, Tennessee - Cat4 Road<br />
I left work late, thought I lost my wallet, ate my Gu to late, blah-blah-blah sand in my peehole. I thought about the things I could do to make the race good for myself. Nothing came to mind. I was sitting on the start line burping up Gu Roctane and cursing myself for my shoddy preparation and spending my many miles on my single speed the day before. The lady said go and I went. For the first few laps I tried going hard and I felt as if I may throw up, shart my chamois, or do both. I slid back to about midpack, regrouped, and decided to go as hard as I could until I blew up or threw up. No one was off the front yet so I thought I would get the race animated and hope one of our strong guys would counter my attack. I got dropped shortly after my attack. I was about 25-40 yards out the back and a prime bell rang so it was game over for chasing them back down. I made myself a new goal of not getting lapped by the field and held them off for about 15 minutes. All in all some good racing and a great workout.<br />
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I am gearing up to do Syllamo's Revenge in about 2 1/2 weeks. Hopefully in the next year or so I will be able to continue building my fitness and getting faster. So that is where I have been. Where am I going, it is hard to tell. I may become consumed with endurance mountain bike racing, road racing, brewing beer, or just drinking beer. I am going to try and revive the blog and make that a part of my weekly life.<br />
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<br />Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-82655107554609589022011-09-13T07:04:00.000-07:002011-09-13T07:04:08.746-07:00Vegas, the journey to here.So it was a pretty eventful day yesterday. I made it to Vegas with really no problems.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3ciq8gA2FCyJ1V2U0SHRZQjsuipvolJxkvtzDrK902pHjQxZvU5x6CjEs7p5mCHVID3AGtOIsCpdWlCqEl0Wz0tnoB9eoQn4SoLGfM7kUoBBvMWpweFCeAHZCdznQGK0UljuKZAvWYc/s1600/DSCN1416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3ciq8gA2FCyJ1V2U0SHRZQjsuipvolJxkvtzDrK902pHjQxZvU5x6CjEs7p5mCHVID3AGtOIsCpdWlCqEl0Wz0tnoB9eoQn4SoLGfM7kUoBBvMWpweFCeAHZCdznQGK0UljuKZAvWYc/s320/DSCN1416.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from my room.</td></tr>
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To get here was a fun time. I left Memphis a little before lunch and put the hammer down on the interstate. It was clear, dry, sunny, and awesome. I did run into a ton of police officers so I couldn't drive 90 or anything but still made good time. On the way to my friend's house to park for free, I was slightly misguided and drove a little more than I needed to. Oh well. At the airport the lady at the xray machine chewed me out for not sending my computer through solo but I smiled, apologized, and proceeded on about my ways. I get to the gate and the only spot with open seats has some crazy Mennonite family who is crunching pretzels into the floor and running around barefoot. (They might have not been Mennonite, but they were extremely religious and crazy.) The kids were jumping on the seats and causing a huge ruckus. One little boy had three fingers stuck in his mouth drooling and having a huge coughing fit. I generally don't mind kids but this was more of a total family creep-out.The mom was giving me funny looks, the dad kept talking about how one time a gander of geese was caught in an airplane engine. I wanted to stick a writing pen through my gauged ear and tell the kids that tattoos are rad.<br />
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I flew into Denver chasing a 2 inch strip of sunset and amazed at the cool sight of the moon rising over the cloud cover. It was a cool site. I chatted with a nice guy on my flight from Denver to Vegas and arrived unscathed. I chatted it up with a lady who works for Saris on my walk/train ride from my terminal to the baggage claim. My friends picked me up at the baggage claim and we headed to the strip. I was completely overwhelmed and was asked "is there anything you have wanted to do?" and my answer was "You just plucked me out of Tipton County and dropped me on the Vegas strip".<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Besides being completely dazzled, seeing two weddings after midnight, and realizing that this trip was pretty awesome already. I crawled into bed at 1am Vegas time, which is 3am Memphis time, which is officially 5 hours past my bed time.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-43601442007900394422011-09-11T18:48:00.000-07:002011-09-11T18:48:13.488-07:00prelude to interbikeOn my side of things lately I have been mingling the line between hectic and lazy. There are a ton of new cool things going on in my little corner of the world. I will begin at the beginning: I moved into a house where I am really close to our Cordova location of work. My dog has a yard to play in, other dogs to play with, and a pair of cats that terrorize him and try to burn up his seemingly unlimited supply of energy.<br />
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The weather has been great and the weather has been much more agreeable over the last two weeks, you can actually go for a ride without dripping sweat from every square of your body in the first 2 miles. I have converted my mountain bike back to a regular handlebar, single speed mountain bike. The Cannondale CAAD10 has been proving to be a great bike for the road, but only when I ride it.<br />
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This year a friend offered me the great opportunity to join him and his lovely lady at <a href="http://www.interbike.com/">Interbike</a> to help with their booth. <a href="http://www.hbstache.com/">This</a> is what I will be hustling and bustling all week long, shaking hands, hustling shirts, serving booze, giving people an idea of how amazing the one off skinsuit from FUCancer looks, and generally just enjoying myself.<br />
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We will be hanging out at Booth #1048 and having a good time. Want to stop by? Please do. Remember a ton of this merchandise goes to helping more people. Soft shirts, good causes, and great style. That's right, I'll see you there. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you dare?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table>Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-67892332734173878862011-09-07T20:20:00.000-07:002011-09-07T20:20:26.036-07:00My Month of JulyI am going to try to summarize my months of June & July into just a few words. Long, full, and tiring. I had been living in Midtown in the same apartment for the last two years. I had graduated from the UofM and was moving on to things like working in a bike shop. The area wasn't great for riding my bike from, the rent was a little steep to swing by myself, and with student loan repayment beginning I decided to seek shelter in the upstairs of a friends home. I spent most of June trying to ride a little bit and pack up my apartment. This was the first time of moving as an adult and I had accumulated a ton of crap.<br />
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When I began my push to move I decided to make a few piles of stuff that would help me move more efficiently. The piles included Trash, Donate, Sell, Treasure.<br />
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I threw away a lot of stuff mercilessly. There were things I just didn't need. Things I didn't want. Things I had no use for. I donated some stuff to the goodwill that was useable but not worth keeping around because I didn't see myself using it again. I had some stuff good enbough to sell but wouldn't be used again, and a few items I absolutely treasured.<br />
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Once I knew I was moving I began moving stuff pretty regularly between my days off and evenings. I began situating things before I moved in and tried to stay tidy. Rather than completely piling it all in at once I would take boxes over, unpack them, and then take those boxes back to the apartment to start over. That worked great until the last big dig and I had to pile it up anyways. Here we are 5 weeks later and some boxes are still just sitting idly.<br />
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I did sell some things that I wanted to get ride of in order to make space and money. It was refreshing and labor intensive.<br />
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I had house sat here a good bit over the last year or so and Marley was well accustomed to the other animals and the yard situation. I can say overall I think Marley is excited about having a yard to play in. He has also made good friends with one of the cats and they will fight and play. Marley has even nearly taught the big dog Turbo how to play tug o war with a rope.<br />
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The moral of the story is things have been going well, just busy. I have been working a good bit in order to help keep things at working rolling smoothly and evenly. I have been trying hard to ride more (which is still hit n miss). I am pretty fired up about cyclocross season and looking forward to seeing <a href="http://www.crossvegas.com/site/">Cross Vegas</a> while out at Interbike. More on Interbike to come tomorrow after the store meeting.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-87514678138914410922011-08-29T07:07:00.000-07:002011-08-29T07:07:07.785-07:00Long time no blob.Yes blob. Because a real blog would be updated regularly and have good content. I have neither of those things so I have a blob. A splotch of unidentifiable garbage on the internet, much akin to an electronic booger.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCmqu9Iu3IgmlgVb129E0X5xwEc1-eMERtSAMqz_xaDh19IRg4HmvHRqWNYUtJJpxdCzmUDfFIS8K_DiUBCFs3p18CYk9yHSHipFiYHlrZ7gtpDuujqr3v1t3a9bP_6tKCnTs0M8-5T4/s1600/DSCN1406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCmqu9Iu3IgmlgVb129E0X5xwEc1-eMERtSAMqz_xaDh19IRg4HmvHRqWNYUtJJpxdCzmUDfFIS8K_DiUBCFs3p18CYk9yHSHipFiYHlrZ7gtpDuujqr3v1t3a9bP_6tKCnTs0M8-5T4/s320/DSCN1406.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just the tip.</td></tr>
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Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-78647601447211732242011-07-12T06:53:00.000-07:002011-07-12T06:53:29.421-07:00SALE SALE SALE!!!!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1EGvGHagW-0YYSPb79NxkBDIxrl5nVh4oxFvuDp9qbwDhk3JLKJroPiN0SbW-eEL3kBugvnICWXnbiSynswfoldI-9oy2yWvL8My4qlpXDC562Hf3tBgXjLM5-ryunPcws-NVA42rlsU/s1600/DSCN1377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1EGvGHagW-0YYSPb79NxkBDIxrl5nVh4oxFvuDp9qbwDhk3JLKJroPiN0SbW-eEL3kBugvnICWXnbiSynswfoldI-9oy2yWvL8My4qlpXDC562Hf3tBgXjLM5-ryunPcws-NVA42rlsU/s400/DSCN1377.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">54cm Alum/Carbon Frame, Carbon fork - $300</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3fNKq3TFg6xayMNnc7yeA2VsuMb7AlEMJqPp37J5sp0sbaLVKuPYBrD4TOt1YLsdsAKuyR5V-QBURIQoZsTL2qTmgAP8K0G1P324o1yNM70ZBO3gSWENkTcSPFWos5s-cfa08letA4s/s1600/DSCN1378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3fNKq3TFg6xayMNnc7yeA2VsuMb7AlEMJqPp37J5sp0sbaLVKuPYBrD4TOt1YLsdsAKuyR5V-QBURIQoZsTL2qTmgAP8K0G1P324o1yNM70ZBO3gSWENkTcSPFWos5s-cfa08letA4s/s400/DSCN1378.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">54cm Ti, made in 'Merica! Full Dura-Ace 10spd. 1'' steerer tube fork - $1200</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSjE7pIzSJVRMwvfXurObxoeDaeBOyrP110ZhjTv_IiyFbDHRdAzT1tLEtwNj7vjx9RxS3r14Bon8tn0fa1Q2bRW3pFJBYjHmR_gy4mM_A0bb7o-gIbscIaRku-97kmMDxaxEeBTSUjk/s1600/DSCN1381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSjE7pIzSJVRMwvfXurObxoeDaeBOyrP110ZhjTv_IiyFbDHRdAzT1tLEtwNj7vjx9RxS3r14Bon8tn0fa1Q2bRW3pFJBYjHmR_gy4mM_A0bb7o-gIbscIaRku-97kmMDxaxEeBTSUjk/s400/DSCN1381.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aliante Saddle - straight rails and only one tiny wear spot on nose</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgINqunKcj8SA9VT2Fw3j9F1AsPLsxNtflK-NWpWQEZa9vnEeWu2sDIYEd0Hd-l4wg6OmTQE0HAO3E52iCSA5pIk5C3HWqn0GpSoxysRe9SiGWo6xp7nhjRKcYIPxV5IQ2POgL0x_5w65w/s1600/DSCN1382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgINqunKcj8SA9VT2Fw3j9F1AsPLsxNtflK-NWpWQEZa9vnEeWu2sDIYEd0Hd-l4wg6OmTQE0HAO3E52iCSA5pIk5C3HWqn0GpSoxysRe9SiGWo6xp7nhjRKcYIPxV5IQ2POgL0x_5w65w/s400/DSCN1382.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">$25 or trade for a racier saddle, Arione or SLR type.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61lNS8HXXBS9TRyZpdTvJ-azWaIbP_2mTH6nAP5G4YxW2uOEp1uLfRCC80AzloZdK60Vv4BEazUrxXJeEnkWY6nDBhGlOEdcyi7N16aw5EcdXGYe4qQCuHkwp2i6Ta5rNVje9WUCpG-4/s1600/DSCN1383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61lNS8HXXBS9TRyZpdTvJ-azWaIbP_2mTH6nAP5G4YxW2uOEp1uLfRCC80AzloZdK60Vv4BEazUrxXJeEnkWY6nDBhGlOEdcyi7N16aw5EcdXGYe4qQCuHkwp2i6Ta5rNVje9WUCpG-4/s400/DSCN1383.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renn Multisport 650c rear wheel, clincher, skewer included. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHf9gGBAgZFeRs6u4ivVETWuAqgmtsrEH0S1QzAdDoLkJNLcPuKlnkmGayBQelaS745h9C4nCtAavb3nfclFgSm0qc8YjTi4X3FU2xZQye93-ZSFIa_DlE-_kXEa6HUyNdbS0cbAk6a0/s1600/DSCN1384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHf9gGBAgZFeRs6u4ivVETWuAqgmtsrEH0S1QzAdDoLkJNLcPuKlnkmGayBQelaS745h9C4nCtAavb3nfclFgSm0qc8YjTi4X3FU2xZQye93-ZSFIa_DlE-_kXEa6HUyNdbS0cbAk6a0/s400/DSCN1384.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shimano freehub, one lil ding at the end of my finger. $250 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3147685874751315312.post-43458320242284729732011-07-11T21:27:00.000-07:002011-07-11T21:27:48.283-07:00Dude, give me a break.Over the last few months I have been learning a lot about living. Think strippers, blow, and a wild car ride with a guy duct taped in the trunk. . . wait. Scratch that. My life isn't a <a href="http://www.nightshifterslabel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Three+6+Mafia+three6mafiaparishilton.jpg">Three-6</a> song. I have been making bicycles work, riding my bike more than ever, racing it a little bit, and trying to make it.<br />
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Speaking of making it. At the end of July I will be moving out of my apartment that I have lived in for a little over two years. It is odd to try and imagine packing my life into boxes and squeeze into the upstairs of an ever so generous couple, Ryan and Andrea. I often wonder what the place will be called. I have referred to it as a compound a few times and think the name could stick. I often daydream about an every man(and woman) for him(or her)self attempt to get out the door to ride, battling one another with embrocation to the eyes and fighting over the air pump, finding cleat covers tubular cemented into place. . . all for the town line sprint championships.<br />
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Over the last 12 months I have had loads of envy. I previously thought that everyone else got all the cool opportunities. People were getting off easy. Or some people are just lucky. But then I decided to make myself the lucky one. I have realized that life is what you make it, for the most part.<br />
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Today I was riding my rollers, clicking along, and I got the first double drip. When sweat drips off your nose and is quickly followed by another drip. It is almost an out-of-rhythm drip. This is pretty uncommon for me. I don't know if I am just not a heavy sweater, possibly I am not fully hydrated, or something. Anyways, I started really sweating, pretty early into my "easy" ride. I immediately thought of a guy on MB/BPC team Joe. Joe has been a pretty big motivating factor for me wanting to get fast. He is fast. He can make people hurt. He is able to ride with Bryant Funston and have fun. I was standing around after Joe raced a crit one day and Aaron Parker says "I wish I was fast still, I just don't have the time to train". Joe's jaw dropped. He was still standing over his bike and his son was saying "hey daddy" and trying to use the downtube as a step to climb up to Joe. Joe looked at Aaron, said "Dude give me a break" and that was that.<br />
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What is the moral of this whole post, what is it all about? My roller workout today was boss. Over the last few months riding more consistently (even still shoddy consistency, but more steady on the bike) I have had a ton of more fun riding my bike. Being faster is addictive. 3 months ago I was saying I wanted to be as fast as people X,Y,Z. I have realized it isn't about being faster than someone else really. I need to ride until I am as fast as I can be.Matt Mchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504465774157197928noreply@blogger.com0