Tecumseh's Revenge - OMBC Season Opener

Suddenly, the 2019 race season is here. I realized last week that the OMBC opener at Scioto Trails SP south of Chillicothe was happening on Saturday. Then I also realized that I could make the race. I miss out on a lot of racing since so many of them are multi-hour drives or they are on Sunday. This one however, was on a Saturday and only an hour away. I preregistered for the Expert Masters class. I hardly consider myself either an Expert or a Master, but since I can ride 20+ miles, am over 40, and 3 laps is the same price as one, that is where I end up.

I have raced here before, back when the start/finish was on the old air strip. Last time I was on my rigid single speed and almost quit riding bikes forever because of it. The race is around 4k ft in climbing, and the ups average 9% with sections over 20%. There are water bars everywhere except for the road sections on the ridge top. Two major climbs that are not really ride-able, at least not by me knowing that once I get to the top, I have to ride the same hill 2 more times. The road sections became recovery sections after pushing my bike up steep grade. Stiff MTB shoes aren't the best hiking shoes and hike-a-bike sure made by calves burn ending in major cramps.

This time was to be different. I brought my lightweight XC hardtail (Redline d660) with gears and 100 mm front suspension. I used all 100 mm, bottoming it out down one of the fast descents over a water bar, and used all 20 gears at one time or another. The masters class had 9 riders and to be honest, I had no idea how fast I would be. I have hardly been on a trail or ridden a bike outside all winter but figured worst case would be a nice 3 hour supported ride. I was shooting for 2:30 for the 23 mile course.

The weather was great. It was sunny and started out around 40 degrees. Cool enough to wear arm warmers and a wind vest. The race starts with some pavement then a gravel road climb. It was perfect for warming up the muscles that were cold from standing at the start. It also helps stretch out the field so all 9 of us weren't diving in to the single track together. The single track at Scioto Trails is generally wide, no issues getting stuck behind slower riders or slowing others down as may be the case. I quickly settled in to a manageable effort level and by the time we were to the first descent I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. Then we hiked. Well not all of us. The guy that won the expert class didn't hike. But normal people like me, we hiked. Hike the first third of the climb, pedaled the middle third, hike to the top. Gravel road at the top to another downhill followed by another uphill. This one I hiked the first half and could ride the second. Then turn and do it all two more times.

On the final descent towards the finish line I was just behind another masters rider, James Knott. I passed and thought I could keep ahead of him, especially once we hit the road at the bottom. We both flew down that hill, passing him gave him the boost he needed I guess. Oh, and no road section at the bottom killed my boost. The course crossed the road and ended up on completely muddy trail section. We both had to dismount to get through it and once to the other side, he dropped me. Just didn't have it in me to pass him after 23 miles of racing, and really, its expert masters and we were racing for 7th. Still it was fun to compete.

Finish time 2:27:16, 15 seconds behind James and about 3 minutes ahead of my goal. As I was about to make the turn for lap 3 when I got passed by the would be winner of the expert class. He (Brian Schworm) apparently set the race record finishing at 1:47:49. That's nuts. The top 4 were all under 2 hours. Maybe they actually "train".

Even better, there were two 8 year olds racing. They did one lap but the same climbs with the same water bars and the same descents. Brock (also 8) still can't ride in the dirt.

You know what tastes really good, especially after a race? Take a cold thermos of chocolate milk (in this case it was the high protein stuff from Horizon) and dump in a packet of Starbucks instant.

Sorry, no photos of the race. I did get this photo of an all white squirrel at home though. Really neat. Not an albino, but a white morph.  Though I wonder if the other grey squirrels make fun of him.

What's spinning - over the winter we made a trip to the record shop in Chillicothe (Apollo Records) where I found a used copy of the 1969 "Live Dead". Interesting set because side 1 and 4 are on the same record, with 2 and 3 on the second disc. Includes a 23:15 long version of Dark Star.

Falling

The calendar says it is fall. Fall sure didn't happen this year in any sort of spectacular fashion. The golden and orange/red hues were hard to find. The weather: hot, rain then cold and storms. I guess it makes the moments of what we love about fall more precious when it is hard to find? Maybe, if we can manage to take or get the time to do so.

We have been slowly building a hearth for our wood stove while it is down. Getting closer with the base welded up. The floor of the heart is elevated above the regular floor and a heavy porcelain tile laid. The walls are field stone veneer starting on concrete board attached to the walls. The veneer in held in place with heavy tile thin set mortar. Tedious. We laid out the stoned before hand to get them to fit together. Like a puzzle that never fits together. Then, once on the wall the joints needs filled with pointing mortar. The first shot at this yielded a red clay colored mortar which I had to chisel out and start over since we were trying for buff. Did I mention that it was tedious?

Puzzle pieces

Finished. Or at least the stone work is finished.

Time to ride has been hard to find. Same story, work, weather, family. I did get an afternoon off from work and rode most of the trails at Lake Hope on my monocog. Some of the storms had left the trails littered with limbs and several large blow downs. A cool mix of sun and clouds still, a great day to be out.

A birthday blast under grey and cold skies.

The sun came out for soccer though.

A little more gold before it disappeared.

Found a cool bit of nostalgia when cleaning up the basement, a cycling cap from the Athens Brick Criterium. This may be from the same year I watched Greg LeMond race?

Bring back the Brick!

Ah, election day. That one day where we say "just go vote"! Well, I am a proponent of fulfilling your civil duty and voting. But, please do so as a well informed and educated voter. Don't just vote the party line. Don't just follow your gut. Get informed with real facts. Learn how government works and how things are funded. Be responsible. Have intelligent conversations with those whom you respect. Listen to those whom you disagree with. Share your perspective with thoughtfulness and humility. Let's have a resurrection of civility.

I drink good coffee and I vote.

Final thought: look for the art around you.

A rusted electrical box or art. All about perspective.

What's spinning: U2's Zooropa. Released in July 1993 and recently remastered and pressed on vinyl. One of my favorites and underrated albums.

Fast when it doesn't matter

Drew Carey: Welcome to "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," the show where everything's made up and the points don't matter. That's right, the points don't matter, just like if *Nsync and The Backstreet Boys traded guys.

A couple weeks ago E and I headed down to Rio Grande, OH to ride in the inaugural Flying Chicken MTB TT that takes place on parts of the old Farmhand Classic XC course. The derecho of 2012 left the course littered with trees and subsequently cancelled the event for the year. Then Bob Evan's farm was sold, trails were in limbo, and the race disappeared from the calendar. Fast forward to now and the mayor of Rio is an avid dirtbag mountin biker. The trails are now part of the town or college, I can't remember right off, and Matt and the gang are trying to get folks riding them again. The race was about a 6 mile loop and was self timed (via Strava). Entry money was to benefit the local veterans association.

Rio Grande is only a half hour from our house. Our plan was to head down around 9 am. I don't set alarms on the weekend and am usually up by 7:30ish anyway. But this was just a few days after getting back from vacation where our flight was delayed due to a hail storm and we got home at 6am followed by a couple hours of sleep and then off to work I go. So when I woke on that Saturday morning at 9 am, it was a rush to get some food and coffee, the bikes loaded up, and out the door. Then we ran in to a road closure and had to find a detour. We basically got out of the car, paid fees, signed waivers, put on shoes/helmets and hit the course. Warm up? Nope. Just pin it.

Time trials are fun. The biggest hurdle for me racing MTB has always been traffic. Time trials limit that so I can go my pace. They started us 2 minutes apart. By the end I had passed 6 riders. I rode my carbon fiber XC race bike. (That thing is so fast, see Review: Redline d660). I ended up with the fastest time of the day, "winning" the event. Ethan surprised me and ended up 3rd for the day. No podiums, no payouts, no bragging. Just ride really hard. My kind of race, the kind where the points don't matter.

A side note:
Bombtrack dropped photos of their newest adventure bike, the Hook ADV. Looks remarkably similar to my Redline D440. Guess I am ahead of my time, a trendsetter if you will. Feel free to send royalties my way 😁.


What's spinning:
Death Cab For Cutie dropped a new album. Did you know that Ben Gibbard is an ultra marathon runner?

Dry Lightning

I made it out last night for an unpaved ride on my d440. Just a short one, ended up around 16 miles and 1400 ft of climbing. I was within 2 miles of home when I caught a flash. It kind of startled me, wasn't sure what it was. The sky was a mix of clouds and blue with the sun in and out. Within about a half second came the boom. Lightning! Uncomfortably close. No rain. No other indication I was about to ride in to a storm. With my heart rate up, I pedaled hard for the house. A half mile later came a second bolt. Still no rain, just a small grey cloud over. Pedaled harder. Made it home with a few more claps of thunder. A check of the radar showed a very tiny cell that just popped up right over me. It did end up raining for a few minutes and then it was gone.

Scored from the record sale at the Jackie O's brewery.

Went to see Jake Dunn and the Blackbirds on Friday at the river front amphitheater in Pomeroy Ohio. This is hanging on the retaining wall along the boat docking area. I am not an electrician, but it does seem a little suspect to me.

Cool cloud formations.

This kid. He watched the Smurf's cartoon for the first time. A half hour later he built a Smurf head out of Legos.

Cotton candy clouds.

Hope you can get outside, spin some tunes, go see a band, do something creative. Just watch out for the lightning (or just bad wiring).

Punches

June, the end of Q2 business wise. You aren't planning to take any time off in June were you? I guess not. It's OK I suppose. I am not anywhere ready to race the Hilly Billy come Saturday. The race distance is longer than the last month worth of riding.

I took out my rigid SS this week. I still love riding this bike, but it was hot and humid. I was sweating so much I could barely hold on to my grips. That and by the time I got done the ole Bible bump was back (see Ganglion Cyst). This developed a few years ago after riding in Davis WV for a few days. Now it is easy to irritate, kind of like me lately, easy to irritate.

Punches. Watch the news and want to punch someone in the face. Almost get rear-ended on East State St while waiting to turn in to my office, with my signal on, with lots of space and time between me and the approaching offender, who started flashing his headlights before standing the car on its nose to keep from hitting me, and whom almost got rear ended himself but the truck behind ran off the road. Yeh, makes me want to punch negligent drivers too.

Try to get ahead at work only to be delayed by something I have no control over  while trying to hit that Q2 deadline mentioned before and I feel like I am punched in the gut. Then there is the drama surrounding our school levy (failed) and the cuts that have to be made. Oh, and it turns out meth is back on the rise, A New Wave Of Meth Overloads Communities Struggling With Opioids, just up the road in Vinton Co. And Athens was listed as the 8th poorest town in the US.

But at least the Punch Brothers have a new album dropping. That's the kind of Punch I can dig.

Random Things

Just a post of random things while I have the chance to jot them down.

What's spinning? I have been enjoying some county music recently. Not the trivial lyrics, over produced, dog-beer-and truck, hip-pop-country stuff. I am not a fan (and every genre has that kind of music out there). What I like about country music is the instrumentation. A steel guitar, maybe some banjo or mando. I also seem to gravitate towards music and artists that are songwriters and that write about meaningful things. I have enjoyed Margo Price's first two albums. Been spinning Beck's "Sea Change" in the car. Most recently though it has been Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour". Similar to Beck's swings toward country from the alt-hip-hop or whatever you categorize him as, Musgraves swings from the other side blending more modern sounds in with more traditional instruments.  Favorite tracks would include "Slow Burn", "Golden Hour", "Oh What A World". Her effortless singing sits right in with songs. Take a listen.



A small amount of progress on the stone surround for the new hearth. The walls will be framed with some heavy weathered timbers. I cut them down from some 4x10 hemlock. Still need to poly them.

It's what's for lunch. Wonder why we have epidemic levels of diabetes, heart disease, obesity.

The Ohio State Road Race is coming up on May 6. Turns out to be the same day as the new 6 hour race in WV that I was kind of planning to do. Instead, I will be working the registration table at Lake Hope. Want to volunteer? They need drivers and corner marshals. Find Team Athens on the Facebook for details.

Easter was another busy holiday while trying to get over being sick. Nice to live so close to so much family. Hard to live so close to so much family. Up at 5:30 am to get rolls rolled so they can rise and bake before I head to soundchecks at 8. Church at 10:30. Lunch with Shelly's grandparents and fam. Grab some coffee on the way to my folks for another meal. Home by 8. Lot of food. Lot of sitting. Good but long day.

Ankle update: about 90%. Most of the pain and swelling are gone. Still limited range of motion and discomfort. Maybe run again for the first time this week. Or maybe go for a swim?

The parking lot is once again filled with flood water. It gets better... the city just informed us that the sewer pumps are being turned off. So please hold it. 

On second thought a swim seems like a bad idea.

Ditches

The township cleaned the ditches this week. I guess I should be pleased that the mailbox is still in place.

The ole mailbox is looking pretty rough after being run over a couple times, hit by boom mower, thrown in the creek, thrown in the neighbors woods, and now had a ditch spun in front of it.

And, just when my ankle was almost its normal size, a wasp stung me just just above my sock. Result = cankle. Grr, wasps are jerks.

And since Ohio (as a lot of the country) is experiencing multiple rounds of weird winter weather and I still can't seem to get many rides outside, I am still using the indoor trainer. Last summer I bought a slightly used Tacx Vortex Smart. Fully controllable with BTLE or ANT+ (depending on the software and device). Here are a few thoughts on it and on a few of the available training software packages out there. The iOS Tacx apps work fine for calibration and firmware updates as well as just setting a power or slope point and rolling. All the weird issues and quirks seem to be with desktop apps for riding a virtual course. Depending on the software it may or may not use BTLE, it may or may not need paired again every time you use it, it may or may not work if your old iPod Bluetooth is turned on and sitting upstairs, it may or may not work is some Garmin software is running, oh, and the software support is pretty bad. The three packages I tried (Tacx, BKool, Rouvy) apparently are all translations from other languages to English, judging by the weird grammar, and have instructions like "pair the trainer".

Tacx was the easiest to pair to the trainer, as it should be, but I only successfully did a ride with it once. Instead, the app would regularly crash, without error, it would just disappear. It also needed to have ride videos pre-downloaded. These were big, multiple GB. And after downloading 3 GB only to have the app crash and the video disappear, let's say I was done using it.

The second app I tried was BKool. The challenge pairing with this was that it needed to use ANT+. But, if your Garmin software is running in the background it will prevent the connection, even though it can see it. And if anything BTLE is trying to connect to the trainer, ANT+ won't pair. This took me a while (days) to figure out. The software itself was stable. Browsing all the videos and routes was a little labored but I wasn't overly picky about the ride as long as it hit the time frame/distance/climbing I was looking for. I also don't use it as a game and ride with/against friends so I don't have any comment on that nor did I use it for structured workouts. I actually subscribed to BKool for a couple months and used it a couple times a week. The rides and videos were great and terrible. I got to ride in Moab, in Spain, New Zealand, etc. Some videos were well produced. Some were almost dizzying. Some were in beautiful mountain areas and some on city streets loaded with cars. Not a refined package, but solid. I would not hesitate to use it again.

Finally I started using Rouvy (Virtual Training). Again, terrible instructions with weird grammar. I can use BTLE but only after you make sure every other device isn't trying to connect to the trainer. Also the trainer must be connected in Windows Bluetooth devices and then you can finally connect in the app. Oh, and when you restart the app you apparently have to re-do the Windows paring/connecting and then reconnect in the app. Supposedly an issue that Rouvy knows about and says that it is Windows' fault and the solution is to buy another BLTE dongle or repair each time. Not sure how much I buy in to that since the Tacx software paired fine. The software itself is much more refined than BKool. It has been very stable thus far too. I can stream the videos as I ride and don't have to use 4K either. I like the interface. This morning I rode in Red Rocks, so that was cool. Again, I have not tried any races, and structured workouts, or self created routes. I can subscribe monthly for about $8 so I may likely use it for a couple months.

Indoor trainer riding is hard mentally. Last year I rode more miles on rollers than I had ever in the past. I doubled that this year. Much more entertaining. I wasn't sure if a smart trainer would be worth the cost but will say that if you ride inside, it is.

So what's spinning? Been listing to a couple things lately. I got an Amazon Unlimited music account so I have listened to a lot of different stuff including some Grateful Dead. Actually listened to a live version of Dark Star that lasted so long it finished just before I got home on my half hour commute! I also really like the new U2 album, Songs of Experience. Some of their best of recent years. Check them out. Looking forward to the new Jack White hitting tomorrow.

Rock on.

Achtung

Twenty six years ago today, U2's Achtung Baby was released. Called one of the best albums of the 90's by Rolling Stone, it was certainly a groundbreaking album for U2, a decided difference from Rattle and Hum. I can honestly remember the day I picked up the CD (at School Kids Records) before meeting someone for dinner. Still listening to that album, even as I type this (and playing it loud since I am home alone).

It is almost Thanksgiving. November really sneaked up on me this year, based largely on the successful run the Alexander boy's varsity soccer team had. They made it to the top 8 in the state in division II (they are the smallest school in division II in the entire state). Though they did have a record setting season, they ended up matched against Columbus DeSales, a team that has won state (and would again this year) something like 18 times, and are ranked nationally. Our boys did a respectable job but did not advance. And a bit of cool trivia, the 1992 soccer team (that would be my senior year) played DeSales at the same level in the tournament on the same field with the same result.

Great season boys.

So back to Thanksgiving... November has been tough, to be honest. A week ago we laid off four people at work. The way it was done and the reason it was done are hard to swallow. These people were not just co-workers but friends. Two days after that was the anniversary of Eric's murder. I will never forget it, but it is hard to remember some days.

All that brings me to today. Shelly and B are in the C-bus to see the Wild Kratts show at the Ohio Theater before having dinner with M. E is gone too, spending the day with his grandpa and hunting buddy. E shot his first buck with a bow last night. An old deer that he has been patterning and watching for a couple years now. He is an 8 pointer with a sticker near the brow, sunk in forehead and bulging nose, and is missing his left eye. Anyway, he shot him late afternoon. We let him go a while before looking for him as to not just push him off. But that also meant finding him in the dark and dragging him in.

Hunting buds.

All this left me home alone. I got some work done early so I could get out on the singlespeed. The weather was grey and wet but unseasonably warm and windy (a cold front is moving through right now). The singlespeed on low maintenance roads is a great way to get a really hard workout, see some Appalachian back country, not see many cars, and blow off a bunch of stress mashing up sometimes 15%+ grades. As I rode through a small "town" in Vinton Co I saw a church sign:

Thanks Living

Thanksgiving (and thankfulness) is hard some times. Thanks living even harder. So live thankfully today because tomorrow, who knows what will happen and you need to be ready to handle it with grace, love, faith, and joy. Even when it sucks.

Single speeds and wet weather - like peanut butter and jelly, they just go together.

So long, October

I still plan to get to the log of summer time posts, but here is a quick one to close out October. I ended up with a bonus day (well actually, it was just that I forgot that Friday was parent teacher conferences and that Shelly had to work but the boys were out of school so I had to take the day off kind of bonus day). After Shelly finished up, I loaded the Monocog on the car to have lunch with the fam before heading out to find some back roads, fall foliage, and some dirt. Traffic was terrifically low being the middle of the afternoon, on secondary roads, and no school buses running. The wind was stiff (about 12 mph sustained out of the south) but warm in the low 70's. Along the way to the Zaleski State Forest and Lake Hope State Park, I road through the King Tunnel (old rail road tunnel). Once to the lake, I decided that single track would be more fun than the road around. I followed the lake trail around from the furnace to the beach. Just prior to exiting the trail I hit the ground hard while rolling across one of the wooden bridges. The bridge was wet and covered in leaves. I had to collect myself a bit before continuing on, knowing that I had at least 25 miles to go to get home and I didn't want to stiffen up. I took the Moonville Rail Trail in to Zaleski and up Atkinson Ridge before heading out of the state forest toward the horse camp. By the time I got to Albany, the traffic was picking up, I was unprotected from the steady head wind, and I was starting to hurt. I didn't make it all the way home before Shelly picked me up. Still, almost 50 miles with 4k feet of climbing on the singlespeed.

Somewhere in Vinton Co.

The King Tunnel

Along the lake trail at Lake Hope State Park

The crash left me bruised and with a few scrapes. It was nice to get out for a long ride so late in October. I finished the day with a trip back in to Athens with Ethan for a reception for one of the mechanics at Athens Bicycle. Along the way I passed the Albany PD who was sitting in the median of the highway (where he often does and this being the Athens block party weekend, I would have been surprised had he not been there). I looked down and I was tooling along at 62 (in the 60). I didn't think another thing of it. I had just been passed by about 3 vehicles between the Rt 50 interchange and where he was, as I often do. I noticed he pulled out after we went by. Then I saw lights. I honestly assumed he was pulling someone else over but ended up sticking on my bumper.  I stopped. The officer asked for my license, insurance, and registration which I handed to him. He then said that he was stopping me for going 79 mph in a 60! I almost laughed. I told him I found that very difficult to believe and even admitted to going 62. He let me off with a warning and told me to get my speedometer checked after admitting he thought it was a white SUV that he clocked (we were in a white Scion XB). Watch out as you drive through Albany.

Spun U2's October on the turntable. Seemed appropriate.

Backwards

Today marks 4 months since last writing. That is a lot of work, vacation, biking, music, soccer games, and so on and on. I will slowly try to catch up on some of the events and such, but not all in this post. So just like the old testament, posts in the next days/weeks will likely be in somewhat non-chronological order.

But first, this past weekend was my birthday (and therefore the birthday of my dad and a good friend). I have some use it or lose it PTO at work. Like all good white collar workers, I dream of adventures through mountains and rivers. What a good excuse to go do something epic. Or, when the reality of scheduling around work, church, family, soccer, and sleep happens then adventure takes a back seat, or at least changes in its description from bike-packing through the Monongahela National Forest to donuts and coffee while on a short motorcycle ride. Or riding my mountain bike to A town to meet others for a short single-track ride. Or heading out for a burger and listening to the Jim Miller Band cover the G-Dead.

An Americano at the Spot on Main, Jackson, OH

One other stop on my list for some time is the fire tower on Atkinson Ridge in the Zaleski State Forest. If you look closely out the back of the Lake Hope lodge, just slightly west of south, you can see the tower peak above the tree tops. We loaded up in the truck for a drive out to climb the tower and see the view. Nice drive out or if you decide to pedal out (which I would recommend) be prepared for a leg burner to the ridge top.

Look out below.

Way out there you can see the lodge.

Do so at your own risk.

In music related news, Haffa's Records in Athens closed its doors at the end of September. Kind of sad in a sentimental way. I can't remember Haffa's not being there (mostly because I was a year old when they opened). But I made a few vinyl purchases before they closed shop.  I have been enjoying Ash & Ice by the Kills. Alison and Jamie just go together like PB&J. Strong female vocals with creative guitar riffs just seals it.

The Kills - Ash & Ice

My head spinning is

Well, it is May 4th, you know Star Wars Day. And this means I survived April. Though my head is still spinning.

Boy #1 graduated from Ohio University with a BS in Computer Science. That also means he has to move out of one apartment, temporarily to another, and on to a third temporary one in Columbus for a 3 month internship. Add in commencement and a dinner party for the family all one the same weekend as Boy #2 headed to his high school prom. Boy #3, well, he was happy trying to catch frogs and snails in the pond at Emeritus Park while photos were being taken.

Boy #1

Boy #2

Boy #3

It also means we survived another Easter. A weekend of church and family activity leaving you ready to collapse by the end of Sunday with kids on candy rushes. But, try to get a photo of a bunch of kids and a dog.

Say cheese. At least Boy #2 was looking.

I got to spend some time with this lady though. And that makes my head spin in a good way.

She still likes to hold my hand. 

Oh, and there was that day when some trash lit some trash (a mattress and tire among it) on fire in the edge of the woods at the corner of the road. I did what I could, but ultimately the Columbia Twp fire department came and hosed it down before it spread in to the acres of pines.

I think I rode my bike some too. And got a new pair of proper fitting running shoes (from OVRC, check them out if you haven't. great folks). Have run a few times but still fighting that darned hamstring. As a side note, it is remarkable how much pain you can induce with a foam roller!

On to the music. What's spinning? This is the year of big anniversaries. U2's The Joshua Tree (arguably the best rock and roll album, ever) turns 30 while Radiohead's OK Computer turns 20. I don't think either of those albums need any explanation. Where the Streets Have No Name is an all time favorite of mine and Paranoid Android is what got me listening to Radiohead.

April 22 was also record store day. I stopped in at Haffa's in uptown Athens and they actually had the limited record store day release of the remastered 30th anniversary Red Hill Mining Town on 45 rpm 12" picture disc. I was a lucky guy that day.

So yeh, my head is still spinning and not only because allergies make me dizzy. But, as long as I don't read any of the comments section of news articles (the news is bad enough, the comments make me mourn for humanity) I am a happy man.

Keep spinning.

D

What's Spinning

Besides cycling, one of my other passions is music. Both listening to and playing it. So instead of sharing my political views like it seems everyone else on the Internet is doing, I thought I would start sharing my music. So, what's spinning:

Gary Clark Jr. - The Story of Sonny Boy Slim

I really appreciate Gary Clark Jr.'s style here. He seems to be excellent at knowing what NOT to play. So many very talented guitarists can play complex, fast, etc., here, he knows how to let the songs breathe, how to groove. The Healing, with just a few single overdriven guitar notes through the verse is exactly what the song needs. Simple guitar rhythm on Church lets his voice come through.  The repeated riff on Wings, and that bass line on Cold Blooded! The album should have your head bobbing through most of the tracks, unless your head bobber is broken.

And speaking of what's spinning, or as the case was, not spinning...



If you have a full size Chevy truck and find yourself pulling in to your driveway and thinking, hmmm,is the neighbor burning trash? Well it may just be your back brakes. This isn't the first time this has happened. The caliper pad carrier rusts and locks the pads in place. Then the pads drag so much that the wheel gets too hot to touch.

On a closing, cycling note, I got out for a ride today. Actually two rides. I headed out and got caught by high water. A quick check of my phone and there was a text from Jase that he and Ryan were heading out. Back home, a cup of coffee and loaded in the truck. All in, about 45 miles of back roads with over 4700 feet of climbing. Garmin says I cooked through over 2800 calories.

Keep rocking.

D