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.

Solitude - an unpaved tour of Vinton Co.

I managed a Friday off of work after wrapping up a couple projects that needed out the door in September, making up for the Monday that wasn't off. Remarkably the weather looked fantastic. Cool morning starting out in the low 50's to a high of maybe 70. I decided to get up and take care of rotating the tires on Shelly's car while the fog burned off before heading out on a big ride.

Goals for the ride: just pedal, as far away from people and things as possible, for as long as possible. No training plan, not shooting for a Strava PR/KOM. No particular distance, time constraint, or pace. Just pedal.

I set up my Redline d440 for long day. A quick side note, I fixed the air leak in the fork. There are two o-rings that contain the air, one on the cap and the other on the piston. Both can be changed easily and thanks to MRP's customer support, I got the correct o-rings.

I started out the day with arm and knee warmers plus my Cadence Diablo vest. By the end of the day, the warmers were packed away. The vest is super light weight and the back is vented. As the temps came up, the zipper just came down.

The ride just meandered around picking as many dirt roads as I could with a plan or riding around Lake Hope. So many forest service roads and minimally maintained and rarely used roads, the kind where grass grows up the middle and the grades can hit over 20%. I saw very few people all day. The handful of cars were on pavement as I transferred from one B road to another.

A little about the bike. It is a 2008 Redline d440, steel XC 29er with Origin-8 Gary dirt drop bars, Gevenalle  CX levers and shifter for a 1x10 drive train setup. Wheels are Sun Ringle Black Flag Experts with Maxxis Pace 29x2.1 TR/EXO tires. The brakes are Avid BB7, 180 front, 160 rear. The front fork is a White Brothers Magic 80 with IMV damper. For big rides I also use a Revelate Tangle frame bag to hold things like food/pump and shed arm warmers. I mentioned in a previous post that this bike is no light weight. And while that is true, it sure is comfortable and stable on these rides. I rarely notice the weight until I have to pick up the bike anyway.

More on that fork: I have had this fork for years and I am the second owner. I have completed a full service on it twice and it still looks like new. Comparing it to a Reba or the X-Fusion Slide isn't fair. I would never call this fork plush. The IMV damper takes a hit to get it moving. I kind of liked that when I used it on my SS since it wouldn't pedal bob, but honestly, for off road a lockout works so much better and keeps the fork soft for when you want it. For a back road/adventure bike this fork rocks. It takes the hits of potholes and washboards without bobbing when you are mashing up that 20% grade without me ever flipping a lockout. Travel is "only" 80 mm, another bonus for this kind of riding.

The ride hit the parts of the Gravel Rouser classic with roads like King Hollow and Irish Ridge. But I also added in the loop through Waterloo State forest. Near Zaleski check out Bolster and Webb Hollow. East Raccoon, a minimally maintained road along the Raccoon creek that still had a couple of flooded spots from the rains recently, before climbing straight up to Atkinson ridge. Once at the top, hang a right and roll to the fire tower for a 360° view before rolling the ridge on Baptist Church Road and dropping to Wheelabout.

Madison Free Will Baptist Church in Zaleski State Forest

Be prepared to climb. This route was 64 miles with 6444 feet of climbing. So worth it though.

Up for Air

Coming up for air for a quick post.

We had planned a trip to Davis WV for the weekend of the Revenge of the Rattlesnake. This is historically a XXC (ultra cross country) race and the collective had forgotten how hard the riding is there and decided to give it a go. Fives days before we leave the NWS predicts heavy rain due to hurricane Florence. Predictions were for four inches on race day with the rain starting as early as Friday. We scratched the trip. One, turns out the race is no longer a XXC, just a regular old XC and is now the series final/championship race. Two, who wants to camp for three days in the pouring rain.

The bright side was that it freed me up to "race" the Team Athens Tour of Athens Gravel Edition. (Sidebar, they solicited names but apparently didn't like my suggestion of "The Crusher Run"). This is the first year for what they plan to be an annual event. Low attendance this time though due to short notice, conflicts with other nearby and far away races, and cost of entry. Two distances were offered, 30 and 50 miles, with lots of unpaved roads and lots of climbing.



I jumped on the 50 miler, put my new Maxxis Pace 29x2.1 tires on my Redline d440 and headed to the Eclipse Co Store for the start. Low attendance meant that they were dropping the aid station, plus it was hot, in the mid-upper 80's and humid. No rain from Florence yet (more on that in a bit) but the humidity had made it in. I had two bottles, some food/gel/snacks and felt good.

On the first big climb after hitting the unpavement (and the first of the Strava segments of the day) the first group of four riders just disappeared in front of me. I rode to the 30/50 mile split with a fairly fast couple of guys until they turned left. Solo is no big deal for me and being self supported is nothing either. But my initial plan had been to refill bottles at the aid station. Instead, I rationed my water intake to make what I had last the entire 50 miles.

The d440 is a super comfortable and stable bike for riding back roads. Deep/graded stone and washboards are no big deal. But it comes at a price of being 10 pounds heavier than everyone else. After turning near Amesville and hitting another big climb, I started cramping in my hamstring and lost the air out of my front fork. I had to ease up to keep the muscle working and keep the bike going as the front had bottomed out and as a result also got passed dropping me to 6th place. I limped back to the finish, drank a thermos of chocolate milk, a pint of water with a nuun tablet and ordered my complementary burger from Eclipse.

It was a fun event with potential. Be sure to watch for it next year.

About that rain. Florence was delayed and the rain held off in Davis until after we would have already been back home. We moved this trip to the following weekend. Drove down Friday morning with a packed van after breakfast at Casa and picking up donuts in Buckhannon. I took my Redline Monocog Flight on this trip. With the new fork (see Squishy-geometry) and a drop of gearing to 32-20 from 34 the bike seemed as dialed as a classic XC can be for riding in that type of terrain. We got a nice ride in on Friday afternoon in the old CVI area before Shelly and the boys got to town to have a burger at Tip Top in Thomas. Fed and tired we headed back to camp to watch lightning on the horizon.

It poured overnight.

We all stayed dry, E in the tent with the rest of us in my truck. The trails however did not. Most of the riding on Saturday felt like we were in a creek. It was still fantastic riding, albeit a bit sketchy.

After getting back to camp and cleaning up to go to Hellbender's for burritos and Blackwater Bikes for drooling I called it a day while a few others went back out for a another loop of trails. Shelly, B and I got some coffee and went to the Davis rock climbing park for a while. Really sweet little park with some various levels of difficulty walls. Brock climbed all over them. Even Shelly and I took a turn.

Meeting up back at camp and a check of the weather indicated that we would be in rain from about 2am Sunday morning until about Friday. The group decided to pull the plug and head home early. Stopped at Tip Top on the way out of town one last time and drove on.

Rushed trip. Didn't get all the riding I wanted. Brock and Shelly didn't get all the hiking they wanted. Brock didn't get to roast marshmallows. Still, it was good. Better than sitting in the office.

#gettuckered

Friday pieday

Did you notice that Redline dropped a cropped photo of the 29er Monocog on their social media feed? That's right, the steel singlespeed is back.

Yeah, it has been humid here. Dew points in the 70's can mean wet windows or soaked motorcycle rides to work. At least even the humidity can be art.

The kids are back to school including E starting at Ohio University. He wouldn't stop for a photo though.



A couple weeks back the neighbors dog literally ran in to the side of my truck. It is not uncommon for them to run down to the road and sprint alongside me, especially if I am on two wheels. This time however, it leaped right into the middle of my back door from the raised roadside, continuing down the side, leaving a dent in my bed and ripping the mud guard off. Then, just turned around and ran home. All this while I am driving about 20 mph. Honestly, going even 25 makes me feel like a rally car driver. And then somebody nailed our mailbox, again a couple nights later. Jokes on them, our mailbox is already a turn from the last 7 times it has been hit, dragged, thrown in to the ditch or otherwise vandalized. Sadly, they also hit our new neighbors new mailbox too.





Last weekend, after missing out on a ride, I decided to do a long run. I would not consider myself a runner, but just that I run. Been trying to get out a couple times a week, sometimes more, some less. Sometimes a run is 2 miles, or maybe 5. But, I have never actually run a 10k. I am not particularly fast, but set myself a reasonable goal of 10k in 1 hour. Managed in in 58 minutes with around 400 feet of elevation gain. I was tired but pleased. Shelly says "well, you were gone a long time". Thanks for the encouragement babe. Personal podiums. Oh, and ran across a green tree snake on the cool down.



Phones and cars are making us dumb. We don't have to remember anything or learn anything. Cars gets "smarter" so that we don't have to do those awful, mundane things like turn on our lights. PSA, when there is 1/4 mile visibility and early morning, you may just need to turn your headlights on. Honestly, like a fourth of the cars I passed this morning didn't. And tonight, that same 1/4 of drivers will probably be going down the road with their brights on.

I am ready to go back to the mountains.



Get outside.

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?

Full Stache

I recently had the opportunity to rent and ride the new full suspension, 29+ Trek Full Stache while on a family vacation to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The 29+ platform really interests me, though I personally think the sweet spot may be in the 2.6-2.8" range rather than full 3". Even more, I was interested in riding a full suspension one. I have been on hardtails for as long as I have been on dirt and the last full sus bike I rode 20 years ago left me jaded about them as I bounced and squished all over. I realize that the technology has grown exponentially since that one ride but honestly, considering I have been on a full rigid SS 29er for the last 8'ish years I really didn't see them as necessary.  That is, unless I am in WV and they seem like a great idea riding through Blackwater Falls or over Moon Rocks.

So, based on all my lack of experience and expertise on full suspension trail bikes I offer you my review of a full suspension trail bike.

I found the Full Stache surprisingly agile.  Not to say that it handles like my carbon fiber XC hardtail, but it certainly felt smaller and lighter than it is (it is not light at over 34 pounds as ridden, 10 pounds heavier than my race bike). The extra stability was welcomed over the rocky terrain of the mountains and the suspension seems excellent set right out of the box based on my weight. I had a difficult time on a couple of tight switchbacks getting it to make the turn but the rest of the ride was a joy as I looked for things to ride over. Slow speed handling was excellent considering the thing is a monster truck. Only weirdness handling wise is that when you get up to speed the gyro effect of the massive tires can really be felt.

The build kit worked very well. Last set of SRAM hydraulic brakes I used left a lot to be desired. These new units (SRAM Guide R) worked just fine, at least for the 25 miles that I rode them. Now, I will say that the rear cassette looks almost comically huge. The SRAM Eagle GX 12 speed goes all the way to 50T! Funny how I recall that when we first started to ride 29ers we were warned that a 36T was too big and created so much torque that we would rip the rear hubs apart. I found the shifting to be effortless. Really, I was surprised how well it shifted (easier than my Shimano SLX 2x10). A flip of the lever on the rear shock locked it out and made climbing less squishy.

So, do I want one. Heck yeh. It could never replace my single speed, nor would it make a great race bike except for maybe Plantation Trail in Blackwater Falls, but for fun, ride anywhere and over anything, I'd take it any day.

Squishy geometry

I have mentioned that after riding my rigid singlespeed in the Blackwater Falls/Davis area of WV a few years ago I developed a ganglion cyst on my left wrist. After converting my monocog back to MTB duty this year I immediately irritated my wrist. While the cyst doesn't hurt in and of itself, it does cause stiffness and soreness due to the swelling. With that, I decided it was time to get a real suspension. I have an older White Bros Magic 29 (80 mm) fork, but have had some issues with it. A rebuild was going to be at least $125 if I shipped it in. I also wanted something with a bit more travel and the travel kits for this fork are no longer available.

The Redline Monocog Flight 29er has suspension corrected geometry for an 80 mm fork. The rigid fork has 47 mm offset and the frame has a 71 degree head tube angle. By installing a 100 mm fork with 51 mm offset it decreases the head angle to about 70 degrees with very little change in trail. The biggest problem? Finding a suspension fork for a non tapered head tube.

I searched for a used fork. Most were very used and required a rebuild. I searched for new but most of the straight 1-1/8" steerer forks were either low end or in the case of the MRP, really expensive. The only thing I could find that fit the budget and the level of spec I was looking for was the X-Fusion Slide RL2 29" fork. I picked one up for under $300 (significantly less than the $429 MSRP).

Installation was simple. I did peel about 3/4 of the stickers off of it though. Really, the thing was covered in stickers. I have one test ride on it thus far and can say that it was a lot easier on my wrist and arms. The decreased head angle will also (hopefully) add a little stability in more technical stuff like WV.

My back road bombing bike (Redline d440) also has a rigid fork, with a BMX style legs it is even stiffer that the Flight. So I rebuilt the White Bros fork myself. The seals and bushings seemed to be in great shape, just did a full service on both the air spring and damper leg. Then I moved the fork to my drop bar 29er.

It adds a little weight, but hey, the bike was no lightweight to begin with. Now it is ready to crush the rutted and washboarded back roads. The fork offset does decrease slightly which should add trail and make handling a tiny bit slower? But I doubt I can even tell. A little more stability on rutted up gravel descents would be welcomed.

Obsolete

I have a Buell. Really enjoy this motorcycle. Except - they are dead. HD put the nail in them in 2010. This past week I lost my second exhaust valve servo. The stock muffler has a valve that changes the runner length depending on RPM and throttle position. This drive servo sits on top of the air box but still gets warm. The gear inside is plastic and loaded by a spring. Over time this plastic deforms until it doesn't catch the drive and boom, engine light. This is a common problem. Some folks have just removed it and disabled the light through the ECM. I actually like it. I have the interactive exhaust control activated in the ECM. It adds some torque in the 2000 rpm range.

Problem: the part is now obsolete. Solution: modify an intake runner servo for a Ford. The Dorman 911-912 servo control is the same part without the correct cable pulley and mount. The mount is easy, a piece of angle cut to size with a couple holes and a slot. The pulley is a little harder. You start by grinding the weld off the existing lever. I then took it o the mill and cut the shaft to size, including the notch to match to the old pulley that I removed from the old servo. We have a laser welder at work and a few pulses of that to hold it all in place. I got it put on the motorcycle and cycled the servo. Crap, the servo was shipped in the open position, not the closed (home) position. I attached the pulley in the wrong place.

The shaft is a pain to machine. You have to hold the unit in the mill by the plastic housing. The shaft has some free play. I ground away the laser welds and re-cut the notch.  Not there wasn't a good enough fit for the laser (it really likes a nice tight fit). So I TIG tacked it back on. This is also a pain since the shaft gets hot and goes through a plastic housing. I finished it off with some epoxy to fill in the gaps.

All this too say that it sucks that HD closed Buell. It is a pain that parts are obsolete. However, with some elbow grease and patience, we can keep these things on the road for a long time.

For reference, in the closed position the pulley flat nearest the cable hole will be parallel to the housing nearest the wire connector.

Need more details? Hit me up.

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.

May

May. What a month. My current Garmin Connect report:



February was when I had a sprained ankle and I still did 5 times more riding than I have this month and that was mostly on the indoor trainer. Now to be completely fair I have ridden my bike to lunch a few times from the office, so maybe I should include those extra miles? But they are hardly high intensity rides.

Why? Shelly is totally overworked during the month of May. End of year reports, parent meetings, billing, all on top of her normal work. She worked until nearly 11 last night. Mother's day. Two birthdays. Rec soccer. High school track. Scholarship banquets. Sports banquets. Graduation. The grass started to grow and the rain started washing my driveway away. Wood boring bees. Church. Team Athens road race. Making sure my family is fed. Work.

How should one respond to all this? If I am honest with myself I am a professional dad, husband, engineer and not a professional cyclist. I shouldn't complain though I sometimes do. I shouldn't be discouraged though sometimes I am. It isn't like I am worrying about where to get enough food to feed my family. I don't worry about where I am going to work. I am not dealing with a school shooting, losing a child, or being deported. I just don't get to ride very much and I love to ride.

So yeah, I wish I was riding more, traveling to places, doing stuff. But sometimes there are more important things.

"what ever dad makes"

Got to drop by the Grill to see a friend play after one track meet.

This happened!

Brock had to share his birthday this year.

Rock-n-Roller Coaster

Last week saw thing 3 in a fight at school to the next day scoring 5th grade plus on a math assessment (he's in 2nd). Death of a pet to thing 2 setting his PR in long jump and his leg of the 4x200 and 4x400 and then getting a call that he was awarded another scholarship. Shelly on the verge of a meltdown because of work and being overly busy at home too, to picking up a sweet cherry red Epiphone Dot Studio. Or at least it is sweet now. The the week ended with word that one of our soccer families, people we have know since we were kids, lost their youngest daughter to suicide. She was only 12. Our hearts ache for them.

Life is hard. Plans never seem to go as planned. We are over worked. We are over stressed. We are under slept.  How do we deal with it? How do we change it? Everything expects everything of us and in the end there is often nothing left for ourselves and closest loved ones. I don't know the answers. We try to make the best of what we can. I may feel helpless but not hopeless.

Longjump

I was a jumper in high school. Both the long jump and high jump resulted in a good deal of success. School record in the high jump and just a few inches shy of the long jump record. Ethan started jumping this year. Without much coaching or specific training he was jumping pretty well, in the 17' range. Last week I got to a meet to see him jump (the usually start the jumps before I can get away from work, so I had not made it yet). A couple things jumped out at me as I watched him take his first jump. Gave him some advice which he turned in to a TVC 5th place and PR jump beating his old PR by a full foot!

Humbucking

I have been watching for a guitar with humbuckers for a while. I love to play my Telecaster, but I would never describe it as a warm sound. I wasn't sure I wanted a Les Paul though, they are so heavy and I am not exactly a shredder. I love the looks and the feel of the PRS guitars I have held, but that is big money and seem to rarely show up used. A few weeks ago I saw a posting for an Epiphone Dot Studio. This is the less expensive version of the Dot which is the less expensive version of the ES335. The fret board does not have any inlays, no pick guard, and a single pot for volume and one for tone rather than one for each pickup. These are made in Asia to keep the price down and have less expensive pickups (open coil Alnico classic humbuckers).

I email the person and did not hear anything back. Oh well, must have sold it.

Two weeks later I got an email saying that he just found my message. The supposed story is that the guitar was won in a song writing contest by a friend of his who played and even gigged with it until this person bought it. It then sat in the case for a couple years.

Condition: dirty. The fret board, fret wires, bridge were green. The neck pickup was missing the springs to set the pickup in position and the trim ring was a mess. The first owner had put tape on it (I would assume to hold it in place since the springs were missing). But aside form a couple scratches/nicks the finish was in great condition, the neck straight.

A couple hours with some mineral spirits, 00 steel wool, cleaning rags, and elbow grease got the guitar in pretty decent shape. I had to sand the trim rings smooth and then spray with a clear enamel since the seller tried to clean the tape off with acetone. PSA: never use acetone on a plastic part. It will soften the plastic!

I noticed when I checked it out that the pickups did not seem to be original. The good news is that they had been swapped out with a set of Gibson '57 Classics! A trip over to StewMac for some pickup springs and I was back in business. A good, careful setup of the neck, bridge, pickups made for a really sweet, warm sounding guitar.

Finished out he weekend working the State Road Race Championships p/b Team Athens out at Lake Hope. I have worked this event for years (even raced it a couple times). Largest field of women and junior ever! Great to see. I am tired of hanging out with a bunch of up tight, well-off, 30 year old white guys. (I know that includes me, except I hope I am not up-tight and I am certainly not in my 30's anymore). Diversity is good for the sport. (Sorry, no photos from me as I worked registration. Didn't get to see any of the races).

Hope you can get outside and love others. Rock on.

Turning the corner, part 2

A few years ago we rescued a couple cats. In that first year, one of them was killed by a neighbor's dog. The other, Socks, was the one that made a trip to the church under the car and another car trip out where she apparently bailed along the road. She dislocated her hip and always had a limp. She was a little grumpy but pleasant. When we rescued two more cats, she always kept her distance. Earlier in the week she didn't show up at feeding time which was not like her. I saw her later when it looked like she was stalking something (cat's are little assassins!). Another day went by without her eating. Then Sunday afternoon she was asleep on the deck. She looked sickly but not in distress. I figured I come home Monday and end up taking her to the vet.

I came home early yesterday to meet a driver delivering a load of crusher run. I did not see her all afternoon. While I was fixing dinner, Brock was outside playing while Shelly was clearing a flower bed. I suddenly hear Shelly yelling. I rushed out to see Brock sobbing. I assumed he must have found a wasp nest since he was playing under the porch. Instead it was "hey I found Socks, oh, I think she died". Indeed she had. Shelly took Brock and I took care of wrapping her up in a blanket and burying her near the old ash tree where Rocket (Ethan's cat that was killed by dogs) is also buried. That was rough.

Continuing the comments about talent in our school from the last posting:
When I was a senior in school I was in the drama production. I don't actually recall the name of it, but it was small. Props were a couch and table. Lights? They were either on or off. Audio? Speak loudly. Singing? Nope.

We attended Alexander's musical production of A Little Mermaid. The school is lucky to have a few individuals that are passionate about the arts and drama in particular and volunteer tremendous amounts of time and energy on this. Much like we expect from our coaches and athletes, these folks have raised the bar for theater. The kids stepped right up too.  The result was a professional production. One that developed and showcased talent, not just of the "stars" but the crew as well.

Not that we didn't work hard when I was in school, but the arts were (and still are in many cases) something you did as a child, nothing to be serious about. Draw some pictures, get out some water colors, squeak on a recorder, maybe bang some cymbals, and when you grow up you also grow out of it.

I am happy to see the rise of the arts.

Bike tires:
Maxxis is a Team Athens sponsor. I will say that I am very happy with every Maxxis MTB tire I have used (even before they were a sponsor). This year I also picked up a pair of 700x25 ReFuse tires for my road bike. I really don't race the road so I didn't need a fancy racing tire. More, I needed a tire to ride broken chip and seal, something tough with some volume. I put them on a couple weeks ago and have a few miles on them now.

Narrow. Like crazy narrow. My last tires were a set of Michelin Pro 4 Endurance in 25. Even with the brakes opened up the tires would squeeze through the pads. Not these. I can literally remove the wheel without opening the brakes. They also feel stiffer, though it could be all because of the volume. Really, I can't get over how much narrower they are than my Pro4's. Can't comment on rain worthiness though, haven't been caught out in it yet.

I had over 2k miles on the Pro4's. The front still had some life left but the rear was pretty square so I finished it off with the trainer over the winter.

Turning the corner

Seems things are about to turn the corner. Like everything. Weather, family, health, work, home.

Weather:
No surprise to anyone that the weather has been weird to crazy this year. From deep mud and floods to dry and red flag, from late season snows to 80 degree winter days. After a warm up last week before the senior Prom at school when the temps dropped back in to the upper 40's with a steep wind (at least the boys got to wear tux's, the poor gals with sleeveless and open shoulder dresses were not so lucky). Ethan got to take grandpa's 1970 Nova SS to prom, he was kind of stoked on that, but more he was stoked about turkey season. (He tagged a 2 year old 19.8 pound bird earlier that day). Today the forecast is sunny and 70 and gets warmer as the week goes. Just in time for the Lake Hope road race this Sunday. Though honestly I wish I was racing the Middle Mountain Momma, or even just wish I could.

Health:
My ankle injuring is about 99+%. The calf, is only about 80%. Apparently I have a pulled muscle. And just like sprains have degrees, so do strains. I have partially tore something in my right calf from the minor crash on my mountain bike. The worst part had to be waking at 2 am to cramps in the injured muscle. Why our bodies do this to its self is beyond my understanding. But it is getting better. I did a "log" run last night (3 miles) and only some minor discomfort. The foam roller caused all the real pain. Good thing I wasn't planning to road race this weekend. My legs are not in the racing shape. A side note though, I tuned 1000 miles last week on my second hand Tacx rollers. That is a lot of miles to roll in the basement.

Work:
I finished up a lot of documentation for a new product I have been working on for over a year. Still some work to go before they are rolling off the production line, but a major milestone none the less. Hope this means I can get to ride or run on a more regular basis.

Family:
May is the last month of school and Shelly's over the top busy time at work. Three weeks to two birthdays and one graduation. 4 weeks to the end of the school year.

Comments:
Do you watch Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown series? It is excellent. This weekend was a show about WVa. It reminded me a lot of our area. Athens county has the highest poverty rate in the state and most of that is in the rural areas. Our rural school districts have been caught by inadequate state funding and low tax bases for years. It is about to come to a head for Alexander after a couple failed levies and the threat of cut backs looms. Even with this, I am impressed by the talent I see: singers, actors, artists, athletes, academics, community service, etc. Seriously gifted and hard working individuals are not reserved for the high class areas with high dollar tax bases.

Photos:

Continued

By Thursday evening Brock was back to himself. Eating (some), running around, talking a bunch. Short lived bug that apparently has been making rounds at school with his teacher on the receiving end come Friday. Speaking of Friday, it was supposed to be in the low 80's in the afternoon and with lots of rain forecast over the weekend before temperatures dropping to near freezing with a snowflake possible I decided to take my d660 to work with me and take a couple hours of PTO to hit some dry trails.

After getting some drawings done and some orders made I headed out the door around 2p. I am tired. Like, I wonder if I have mono tired. So I knew I wasn't going to push it, but I needed the ride as much for the soul as the body. I rode down Hope drive to the Dow Lake Dam and up to Sundown Trail. Not far in from this end the trail climbs up and over some rocks. I have ridden this many, many times without issue. Today, taking it *easy* I spun the back tire over one of said rocks. This shifted me to the downhill side of the trail and over the edge. I got the right shoe unclipped but it was too late and head first I went sliding. No big deal. It was just a bunch of leaves, pretty steep, but I didn't hit anything. But wait, why does my calf hurt so badly? Ah, banged it pretty hard on the chainring. It will work itself out.

I kept riding. Met a kid and his dogs out loving the trails. Rode through some ramps. It wasn't working itself out. It became really painful to stand up and I felt every rough thing on the trail. I took the Scatter Ridge connector and connected with road to get back toward the dam dropping down the horse trail access back to Sundown and then back to the office.

Smells like Casa

I had to stop at my folks on the way home to fix their computer. Dad had somehow installed some Firefox add-in the was hijacking his searches. Home from there where I was supposed to get the boys before heading back out to meet my folks and my brothers family for some pizza. Got home to find E with a 103 fever. Shelly was gone for the evening so she dropped off Brock to my folks and I was going to get E to urgent care. He felt so bad he said he couldn't get in the truck. Ibuprofen and a nap then. After a while the vitamin I kicked in, dropped his temperature and he was ready to go. We just made it pulling in to Holzer at 7:57 (they close at 8). I really appreciate the staff seeing him, they could have turned us away. Interestingly they couldn't test him for flu because they have had so many people with the flu they ran out of tests. He had flu-like symptoms as well as suspected strep throat. Antibiotics and tamiflu. At CVS they could only partially fill the tamiflu. Again, so many people with the flu! Stopped at my folks again to get Brock, home at 10p and finally got to eat some dinner.

Everybody slept in on Saturday. The weather was still warm and sunny but it was going to be raining by the end of the day. I figured I better try to ride and work out my calf. Did a loop of back roads with a few big climbs. It felt OK until I hit a pothole or a washboard and it felt like I had a full on calf cramp. And the roads were not exactly in good shape. You could tell where the floods had been over the roadway in places of where it just washed out. One such road would have required a 4WD rock crawler to get through.

Hard to see, but it got a lot worse from here.

Back home and we tripped in to Athens to pick up Athens Marathon race packets. OVRC was packed! Shelly and E were supposed to run. But with E still recovering he just didn't have it in him. He missed his track meet on Saturday too. Felt bad since he had been working hard to be ready. Proud of Shelly though. A half marathon is no joke. Time and motivation to prepare is hard, especially when you are our age, job, kids, home. She stuck through it though.

And a smile.

Per Sonya Looney, 'Be Brave, Do Epic Shit" Epic is indeed relative.

Hold on

I shoveled out the ditch last night that the flooding rains filled up with parts of my driveway. While shoveling, a neighbor boy rode up on his bicycle. Ball cap, jeans, boots, riding his too small for him Mongoose. Made me happy.

Me this morning: Let's see, Brock has soccer practice this evening and I will just be meeting Shelly there and taking over so she can get her workout in for the Athens half this weekend. Oh, and the weather is going to be warm. Oh, and the trails are really dry. I have been working hard lately, I'll leave early for work so I can leave a little early, I'll take my bike and ride around the lake before meeting up with Shelly. Cool.

Life: Hold on

Brock: I don't feel very good... blows chunks.

Life: Boom.

Coming apart at the seams.

So. Much. Water. Heavy storms early in the week have left the Hocking River overwhelmed. East State St is closed due to high water this morning. Our parking lot at work is a lake. Sewer lift station pumps are still off. 

 

I still had a day left on my trial of Rouvy, I got set last night for a quick ride, shooting for a little more than a half an hour. Three miles in to my 13 mile ride, I can't seem to put any power in to the trainer without just slipping the tire.

Yes, the tube actually came apart at one of the mold seams. Seems to sum up my 2018 pretty well.