Playing a little catch up

yeah yeah like any one is really reading this but just in case yes there has been stuff going on. However I haven't bothered to put any new posts here but lucky for you I have another blog that I have done a much better job of posting on. A little creative cutting and pasting and here it is!


Thursday, September 21, 2006
not enough riding Current mood: crazy Category: Life
Its been a busy week already again this week. I have been off the bike since the weekend due to time issues. Bad decision but I wanted to get things handeled and riding at least to work was cutting in on that a bit. For some reason at the shop we have not slowed down very much yet and this is usually the time of year were thing slow down a bit until x-mas (yeah thats right I called it x-mas). My part of the job has been really busy for the last several weeks. We are a big shop and do a lot of business and keep ins tock lots of product. Lots of product that I unbox, count, receive in the computer, and price tag. It can be alot of work and the paper work part gets bigger the more screwed up the shippments get from companies. One missing part or switched for some thing else, one slip from the guy at the factory packing the box and I have extra paper work. "Its only a bike shop" is what some would say but its a BIG bike shop with lots of money wrapped up in product and when it arrives short or damaged its up to me to make sure the company doesn't pay for it. Or in this case get our money back for it. At times it can be kind of a pain in the ass.
So yesterday I only worked a 1/2 day. Not because I wanted to but because on the way home Tuesday night my alternator went out on the Green Torpedo (my blue van...long story). So Wednesday morning TS (who didn't have to work until 2) came over and jump started the van. We verified that it really was the alternator when the battery wouldn't charge. I hopped in his truck and off to my Pa's auto shop. Dad has a tow truck but no one to drive it, but I used to and I hopped in and went and retreived the van. TS and I hit Gerogie Porigie's for a late breakfast and then he dropped me off at home. I should have ridden to work at that point but I got started doing things around the house. TS gave me a ride that day to and from work. Swell fella he is.
So the van was done last night (thanks Dad you rock!) and so I rode out to Grandview to pick it up this morning. Short 13 miles that i used to ride on a daily basis when I worked for the Pop several years ago. For some reason when you work in an auto shop for a living coworkers and customers find it really odd that you ride a bike to work. After a while I just gave up trying to make them understand and just told them that dad didn't pay enough...that worked.
So that was the "big" ride for the day today. One really good hill but 12 miles on a fixed gear isnt' too bad. I should have ridden more but it started raining about noon today...still is...I am not big for riding in the rain unless I am already riding when it starts...I think I have covered that before.
Last weekend rocked. The 24 Hours of Landal race was pretty weak on attendance but I still had fun. The best part was the old friends that were in from out of town. They were fun to see. Oddly enough friday night I was at 75th...breifly remember meeting a nice gal...her friends introuduced her. I don't remember what we talked about but the next day I found a card with her # on it and I got an email from her (I gave her my card too). Intresting since most people I meet on a good drunk at the bar I never hear from again. Unless they are those people who like to come up and give you the "Whoa man! Dude you were fucked up last night!" Uh...I guess so. Who are you agian?
Well the rain is comming down hard now. I would guess no riding to work tomorrow. Hopefully it knocks if off in time for the Alley Cat race tomorrow night at the Recored Bar(which has a myspace page but I can't find it). Forester puts on a good race so hopefully the rain holds out.
check out www.thesweetestplum.blogspot.com for more info.
I will be posting a full report and pictures this weekend.
Pray, wish, or what ever you do for no rain...at least Friday night from the time Head down 530 to when I get home after bar close. Hopefully I won't have to ride in the rain. I did all night at the Frank Tuesday race.


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Friday, September 15, 2006
Speaking of friends in town... Current mood: cheerful
My favorite ex-girlfriend Karen has been visiting all week. A little "vacation" after the end of the summer job in Teton National Park. Whats next for this fun friend? An apartment in Jackson, Wyoming, hopefully a job at the Snake River Brewery ( I have my fingers crossed for this...I picture free beer being sent to me) a part timer at one of the ski hills (can you say free lift tickets all winter?) and one COLD ASS WINTER. Damn girl you got guts to brave the cold. I do have to give her a little bit of shit though. She called me at work Tuesday from my couch. She was wrapped in a down comforter and called to say it was cold. Cold? Get ready baby, you don't even know what cold is yet.
Tomorrow her roomie picks her up, they head to Matthan, KS for a party with Dan-O and then off to Wyoming for the winter. Good luck girls. Stay warm. Keep me in the loop so I know whats up.
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Thursday, September 14, 2006
Friday "road trip" and friends in town Current mood: excited Category: Life
Its been a busy week yet again this week. Lots of work to do and I have been commuting all week (see previous post).
We have a customer who really really really wants this specific model of Cannondale tandem. Cannondale doesn't have any more and the only one any where close to us 3+ hours to the south in Springfield, MO. Of course we can't loose this sale so tomorrow morning after I eat and have my coffee I will polit the Bike Source van south to A&B cyclery in Springfield. The boss called them today and worked a deal, one that we have done for other stores when they were in the same pickle. So tomorrow I spend the day driving down, exchanging a check for the bike and driving back. My plan for Friday was to get out of work as early as possible. Big weekend, lots of friends in town more on that to follow. So after my gig as a delivery driver tomorrow I am skipping out of the shop. I left my bike there today so I have a easy escape.
This weekend is the 24 Hours of Landal. I hope it goes well and more racers show up to race than have registered at this point. 26 teams and 9 solo entries. Pretty good for the first time a national MTB race has happened in KC and the trails at Landal need to be show cased. At least two pros are already signed up. "Semi local" guy gone pro Cameron Chambers has a 4 person team in the Single speed rigid class. Its a family affair with all the team members shareing the Chambers name. Also racing is Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and industry ledgend Keith Bontrager. He is racing on the Masters 45+ with a couple of great racers from the Bike Source shop team Doug Long and Lyle Ridey. Bike Source has a strong showing with almost all of the offical team memebers racing in one from or another in this race.
Lots of friends in town this weekend. Some racing and some visiting for my b-day and to check out the race...mostly the race it just happens to be on my b-day. Myspace friend list folks will be on hand for hangin or racin. Luby (comming down from MPLS to race), Bob, Jack Static, El Jefe, Posson, Onery Chick will be on hand. The Carter's, Eric (semi pro) and his lovely wife Besty (will kick your ass in a race) will be here to race. They moved up to the land of the pro racers Bend, Oragon two years ago. This will be the first time I have seen them since they moved...excited to see them. Schuster and his lady Beth (or Willie as she is some times called) will be in from Bellingham, Washington. They moved up there 4 years ago and I have only seen them once since...excited to see them as well.
Bob and Hans from the Colorado Bike Source will be in town too. The plan was for the three of us and homie Joel from the Trek Store of KC to run as a 4 man team in the Single speed rigid class. Entry fees in the $150+ dollar rang kept us (at least me, Schuster too) from entering. Thats ok. Bob, Hans, Schuster and I will be swillin' beers, cheering on the racers and poaching a few laps here and there over the course of the day.
I am hoping for a good trun out for the race. Fun with friends I have not seen in some time. And a kick ass birthday weekend.
See you at the races!

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Commuting Current mood: good Category: Life
I was checking out the local clubs message board and a question about fall/winter/early spring commuting came up. Clothing suggestions etc. My only real clothing suggestion was merino wool. Wonderful stuff and you can find almost everything made of it. Jerseys, base layers, socks, gloves, caps, tights, arm, leg and knee warmers. Besides a good jacket, good gloves (who has found the "right" ones? not me) and booties or winter shoes (well ok thats alot of stuff), wool will cover all the rest of your needs.
After I made my clothing suggestion post I remebered a great read one of the guys in the shop emailed to me about commuting several years back. I still have it and I read it seveal times a year. Its posted below..........
But first, today's commuting with zeke story------
Traveling down a 2 lane busy road today a huge semi dump truck moved over to give me room as he passed me - "Thanks dude! You kick ass!" I thought to myself. Then, out of no where, a rice wagon blew by in the tiny space between the semi and me. "HOLY SHIT!" my brain screamed for that split second. Then I smiled, thinking not of the danger to me but to the idot in the rice wagon. Passing that close to a vehicle 12 times his size that could roll over him like a pot hole, dip shit...A scary as it was for that one split second...it make the whole ride.
Now the story---------
One for us "freaks"
Your neighbors are moving further from their jobs. They commute further, one neighbor per vehicle, in larger and larger vehicles: trucks or SUVs. They used to drive VWs or Civics. Now they buy vehicles as if each time they drive they're moving their homes, not merely their bodies.Because the freeways are parking lots mornings and evenings, your neighbors instead choose scenic, secondary roads you've ridden on your bike for years. They drive as fast as they would on the freeway - if the freeway were empty. The freeway hasn't been empty since 1971.They hate you for being there on their roads, slowing their commute or trip to the mall. They act as if all traffic hassle is some cyclist's fault, as if out on the freeways, where there are no cyclists, all is well, love is in the air.You ride anyway.Your neighbors' land-yachts sprawl across narrow lanes. They crowd you on your bicycle, scaring you. Your neighbors sip drive-thru lattes and chat on their cell-phones, not scared at all.They pause in school zones, mom or dad dropping off Justin and Heather. You pedal down School Street, a corridor of fear vibrating with the rattle of huge diesel engines.Mom and dad almost never see you, as if you did not exist. When they do see you, they look straight through you - as if you didn't exist. They wish you didn't. You're just a nuisance, pedaling uselessly through the school zone.You navigate around sudden U-turns and unpredictable moves. Any crazy thing could happen. You are beyond fearful. You're a submarine captain listening for the depth charge that penetrates the hull, lets black freezing water roar in.You ride anyway.On your ride, young guys in baseball hats, one cheek bulging smokelessly, practice "sharing the road" with cyclists. They share the road 90/10. The cyclist gets 10%; The young guy's rusty Ford four-b'-four gets the rest.If the young guy is lucky enough to have a girl sitting close to him in that old Ford, the split goes to 95/05. You can hear the Dixie Chicks as the truck skims by. You hate the Dixie Chicks.You ride anyway.When it rains, bits of glass from car crashes and nails spilled from truck-beds cut the wet rubber of your tires. Thorns you could have rolled over harmlessly in July now find their way into your tubes. The air gets out.You have six times as many flats as summertime. You fix them in silence on the flooding roadside in the rain. Your hands take a beating from the work and the cold. My hands are always dirty, you think. And wrinkled.You ride anyway.When you get to work, you change out of your soaked cycling clothes and spread newspapers under your dripping bike. You hang pieces of dripping clothing off your saddle, top tube and bars. You stuff your shoes with newspaper as if you really believed they'd dry by quitting time. They never have.People at work do not mention your commuting by bike. They know that if they even start to discuss it with you, they'll blurt out how crazy they think you are. You ride in the RAIN and the DARK, they'd say; Why do you do that?You can see all that in their eyes, so you continue, quietly hanging your soggy tights from your bars. They stare at you, astonished. No one speaks.You ride anyway.In winter it takes you nearly as long to dress and undress for your ride as the ride takes. You feel like the Michel-in man. You own 22 pairs of gloves but you're still searching for the perfect pair. Not to mention booties.You're obsessive about rainy-weather chain lubrication. You know you are. No one else on the planet cares about it at all, and you're obsessed. You fool yourself that you have your little problem under control. You don't. It hasn't impacted your work life or relationship, but it could...You sense an intervention lies ahead. Tough love for the chain-lube freak.You ride anyway.You've spent four grand on high-tech bicycle lights. You're considering buying yet another system based on a glowing magazine test. You know that some people, on learning of your somewhat excessive lightbuying behavior, would conclude that you're a genuinely sick person. They would be correct.You ride anyway.You get a cold a year. It's not a terrible cold, no worse than three years as a prisoner of war in Viet Nam or manning an oar in a Roman slave galley. Your cold typically lasts eight or nine days, during which time you forget why you ever thought life was worth living.You ride anyway.You take your ex-girlfriend to the airport in her car. She's flying to Italy. She'll be gone a month. She promises to buy you a jersey in a cool bike shop in Florence. She leaves you her wine-colored Mazda Miata, the Special Edition with tan leather and tan top. CD player. It's gorgeous. Enjoy it, she says.She fills the tank for you, to thank you for dropping her off at UAL Departures and picking her up next month. Sweet woman. Nice car. Rains all week.You ride anyway.You sit at a light next to a dark-eyed woman in a print dress in an old Ford station wagon. The light changes. She gasses it, turns right, cuts you off brutally. You yell something not quite coherent at her. She shakes her fist at you: It's YOUR fault!You see her three days later, same light. She honks. You look into the old Ford wagon. She's made a little cyclist doll. It's wearing a tiny yellow Giro helmet like yours and, ohmigawd, a club jersey just like yours! She pushes a hat-pin through the doll and smiles at you. The light goes green.You ride anyway.
Ride your bike to work tomorrow. Then again on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Its habit forming. And you'll feel better.
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Saturday, September 09, 2006
time to crash Current mood: sleepy
Oh boy. Up this morning at 5 to work the MS150. I feel like a bike snob saying it but I wonder some times what these folks are thinking riding the trash that they do. This is over looking the idea that the one time a year they are on a bike is this weekend and they do a 150 miles. Crazy.
Put in about 30 fixie miles with Craig when we got done with the MS. The we had BBQ...and it was good. We split a rack of ribs....sooooo tastey.
Piddled around this after noon. Poped into the shop to get a few items for Sunday. Bad idea, and I ran quick. The store was packed and I was not going to help any one.
Rode over to Arron's this evening for some beers. A nice keg of Irish Cream Stout from the fine brewers at O'Mallys pub in Weston. Good stuff, quite tasty and I think it did the trick.
Getting ready to crash. Have a 4 AM wake up call to work the Midwest Melt Down Tri in the morning. Best/worst part? 70% chance of heavy rain all day. Oh boy.
Karen is in town this week which should be intertaining. Haven't seen here in 4 months. She has been living the life working in the Grand Teton National park. Good to see her. I am sure she will wake me at 3 when she stumbles in all drunk, she has been out with friends all evening. No worries I will need to be a wake shortly after that any way.
Have a good sunday!

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Monday, September 04, 2006
Much better Current mood: excited
Well I am not exactly sure why I felt the need be such a crybaby in my last blog. However we will move on.
I have had a great day today. Slept in, had a tastey homemade breakfest, and headed out to Landal park in Blue Springs for some off road action.
Things started out bad. I was having a hard time keeping on the trail, keeping my speed under control (too fast or too slow) and over all haveing a good time. Which was kinda the point of being there to start with. I let that negtive voice in my head take center stage and I was pretty much convinced that I should just go back to the van and go home. I told TS at one point "Fuck it! I am sick of this shit. This bike is going on EBay, I am done with mountain biking." Negtive thoughts.... TS followed up with a good answer though, "Dude you only have one eye." At first this wasn't good enough of a reason. Then I flatted and I came a bit closer to following though with quitting. Still having a hard time having fun and keeping the bike in line. Then I crashed. Well not really. I went to hop up a rock ledge, stalled, then chose the wrong side to unclip form and dab. You really cant dab where there is no ground. Right foot goes down, it was a couple foot sloped drop on that side and by the time my foot hit the ground I was completely sideways and trying to jump off the bike. Landed on my side and rolled off into the weeds on the side of the trail. Just for that split second I was expecting pain. I saw while I fell that I was going it land on a pile of large branches and some of them were pointed up at me. I braced for bad but it was all ok. I sat there for a minute and was suddenly amused to my self. Suddenly for some reason I felt better. I got back on and things seemed fine. I came to a fork in the trail and wasn't sure which way TS and D went. There was a trail marker for the up comming race so I followed it. I was supprised that the couse was already this well marked. At least signage was already up. I know some of the store team guys were there and they were riding the route but I didn't expect signs. So I hopped on the route. I realized that the reason I was having a rough start on the ride was because of the eye but mostly because I hadn't been off road since R.I.M. . My eye and brain were not working together yet, I hadn't found my flow. To think that a year ago I was laying in a hospital in a coma, no one really knew what I was going be like when I woke up let along being able to be out on a bike.
I mellowed out. Focusing on the trail cleared out and I started to have fun. Part of it is that I started the ride on some rocky techincal stuff. Riding ridged single speed my head was bouncing around more than my eye and brain could keep up with for foucs and processing moves. This sections was fast twisty and fun. So I had fun. I poped out into the parking lot, swang over to the van, grabbed a new tube, and couple of CO2's. Topped off the bottles and headed back out. I was having too much fun to quit now. Ended up riding the course for the up comming 24 Hours of Landal. Good course, long but good. Lots of the sections were run the opposite way of a Hearland race. I flatted again but this time laughed about it to my self. Rode some more and had more fun. I started getting hungry so I poped out to the lot. Still no TS.
I decided that I was done. I changed out for the shammie, loaded the bike and started hammering the H2O.Kat and Amy rolled in and offered up beers. Posson pulled in to hit the trail and we all shot the shit for a while. Finally TS and D rolled in just as hungry as I was. We all got loaded up and headed to of pre planned feast at Taco John's, a post Landal ride tradation.
Stuffed I headed home and stopped at the movie store. I have a burned copy of The Boondock Saints that I have wanted to see for a while. I filled my first DVD player so I had been using my PS2. I finally bucked up and got a new cheap DVD player but the burned copy of 'Saints' wont play. So I rented it. Good movie, alot different than I was expecting but a good movie all the same.
A short but busy week starts tomorrow. I already have work to do sitting on my desk that I should have done Friday. I also would like to leave early enough to do the Taco Tuesday ride. Comming up this weekend is picking up Karen at the airport Friday night. Working the MS150 on Saturday. One early moring stop (stop 2) and one afternoon stop (last stop before the end ot that days route). Back to the shop to load the van for the Midwest Meltdown Tri on Sunday. Busy weekend on top of a sure to be busy week.
The weekend after that? The 24 Hours of landal and MY BIRTHDAY!! I have several friends that I have not seen in some time coming to down for the race. I am excited to see them and do some thing on my b-day this year since last year on my b-day was the frist day that I really remember being awake and talking to people. So needless to say there is going to be some fun had by me.
- zeke out