Bike Masters First Anniversary Ride Report 12/13/08:

Bike Masters celebrated their first anniversary with a 10 mile ride today. Joel showed up at my house this morning and we rode out along the canal banks till we got to the store. We registered for the ride and were also registered in a chance to win a brand new Fuji Newest 3.0 road bike the bike store was raffling off.

I saw a bunch of friends had shown up for the ride and soon we were off. The route was nice and easy and had the Mission police department blocking off the intersections for us so we wouldn't have to stop at the red lights.

We got back to the store about an hour later and were met with tasty treats but the one thing that was on everybody's mind was the bike raffle. After raffling off a couple of water bottle cages it was time to announce the winning ticket number for the bike. I couldn't believe it when Jesus called out my number! How freakin' cool is that?!? And here it is, the new horse added to the stable:




A couple of people told me it was my lucky day and that I should buy a lottery ticket. I never buy lottery tickets but I did today! I'm playing the same numbers that won me the bike.

Vicodin, Joel's Sanction, and a GPS

I must have pinched a nerve or pulled a muscle while trying to straighten out the gasoline pump that was rammed into at the Valero in Harlingen. That had been the most strenuous amount of work I had done in a while. Or maybe it was all the times I fell off the bike while riding through unfinished trail the last time I rode with Joshua that did it. But to feel the pain more than a week later? "It happens", said the doc.

The good doctor prescribed some vicodin and muscle relaxers for my aching lower back. I decided to take the next day off. Joel came over to borrow Roam and I had to go to McAllen to get pricing on some parts for work so he tagged along. We ended up at Bike Masters to inquire about the GT Sanction he had ordered when there it was. Sweet looking bike. Joel was a happy man. The bike of his dreams had just come in. He took a spin in the parking lot but left the bike there since we were in my car and they were going to install some liners and pedals. He picked up the bike later and I met up with him at the trails. The first photo shows Joel and Mauricio from Bike Masters posing with the Sanction.




My Garmin Edge GPS had also come in. This thing has everything I need in a cyclocomputer. It measures speed, distance, heart rate, and cadence among other things. I had thought about getting a GPS after getting lost in Austin while riding the Tour das Hugel. The ability to download user created routes into the GPS was also very appealing. If I want to ride in San Antonio or Austin or anywhere I want, I could choose what routes I'd like to try by getting them from mapmyfitness.com. Theres also routes I'd like to try out that I have seen already next time I go to El Paso. It also comes with a training buddy which I just found out is really you, the last time you rode a course. I am my biggest competitor so this will definetely be an asset in my goal to be a better cyclist. And its also a pretty fun toy to have.

Mission Centennial Race Report 12/6/08:

The Panaracers had come in the night before and they could not have come any sooner. The tires I had on the Cannondale were the stock ones and were in bad shape. Especially the rear tire. Either way, I would have bought the Kenda Nevagals from my neighbor Lee if the Panaracers didn't make it before the race. I put on the Panaracers, aired up the tires, lubed up the chain, and made sure everything was in shape for the race the next morning.

It was a cold morning. But not cold enough to deter me from showing up and participating. Just put on my thermal top and I was good to go. Grabbed my camelback and I was out the door. I arrived and registered and saw some friends and waited for the race to begin.

There was about seven people racing in the clyde category. We were to race two 5 mile laps that included both off road and a paved hike and bike trail. After the expert and sports classes were released they lined us up. I lined up right in the front line. There were about 3 or 4 riders in the line behind us. The countdown began and we were off down a paved straight-away. The racer right next to me shot out like a bat out of hell and I wasn't too far behind. I looked behind me and the other riders were far behind. "Cool, second place so far. The road cycling has helped out" I thought. But how long could this last?

I caught up to the first rider right as we approached the entrance to the first part of the technical trail, Phase 1, but decided I would let him go first. I followed behind but he quickly left me behind again. I remembered some of the things Joshua had taught me a couple of days earlier while riding that same trail. Keep a comfortable pace where you can still push it a little bit more, enter a corner on the outside, exit on the inside, keep pedaling, stand while going over the bumpy sections. The last time I had gone riding with him I tried to pedal hard the whole way but quickly tired and began hurting. I did not want to go through that again since this was a race and would not have a chance to stop and rest.

A short while later I heard the huffing and puffing of riders behind me. They had caught up fast. "Whenever you have a chance", a rider shouted out requesting I let him pass once we cleared some of the tight singletrack we were in. I was holding them up but one rider did manage to get by me. We hit some straightaway on that trail and I motioned for whoever was behind that it was safe to pass. Nobody did, as I had picked up speed on this section I left them behind again.

As soon as we hit the technical portions again they had caught up again and others would pass. It was a cat and mouse game until all but one passed me. I later found out he had DNF'd earlier. I had trouble finishing up the first lap but I was determined to finish the race. "It will all be over soon", I thought to myself. As I was finishing up the first lap I saw another rider walking his bike back towards the parking lot. Another DNF. This could work to my advantage.

I entered Phase 1 again. This time I was warmed up. Something I should've done before I arrived at the starting line. I was feeling alot better this second time. I entered the corners and went over the bumpy sections of the trail. Even got a little bit of air on some of the jumps. I later ran into the first rider who had passed me during the first lap. I continued on and even passed a rider on the return section of the hike and bike. At this point I was in third place but still had one more technical section before the race was over. I tried to put a large gap between us as I passed him as I knew he would have the advantage once we entered the off road trails again. Pretty soon he had passed me up and I lost my chance at winning the third place medal.

I finished at 1:09'51. Fourty-six seconds behind third and almost a minute behind second. While I had the speed, I lacked the technical abilities my competitors had. A warm up before the race would've helped out more. It was a fun race. I plan to ride my mountain bike as much as I ride the road bike. The camelback was too heavy. The one liter bottle of cytomax I had would have sufficed for this race. A tube and CO2 pump stuffed into the jersey would've worked well in case I got a flat. I look forward to the next race. This picture is taken during the up and over return section of the race and was taken from the missiontrails.org website.

Thanksgiving Day Ride Report 11/27/08:

What better way to enjoy a day off during the middle of the week with a nice 35 miler ride. With little to no traffic, beautiful weather, and knowing I was going to indulge myself with a delicious meal later, this ride was a nice treat.

Originally I was going to meet another rider about seven miles into my ride but he had called me just as I was rolling out the driveway to inform me he was going to be unable to make it. Although the company would've been nice, it was also nice to ride alone, to go at my own pace and clear my thoughts and just ride. This morning was not about pushing it like we do on our Sunday morning training rides, it was about enjoying the morning, even stopping midway through the ride to eat a fruit bar I had taken along with me.

I finished the ride at right about 2 hours. Just in time for breakfast.

Short But Sweet Race Report 11/22/08:

This should've been called Short But Painful. This was my first time I raced on a track built for motocross racing and this was actually the first time the race track was being used for a mountain bike race a la BMX style.

I had gone out Thursday night for a practice run at the D-Tronics MX Park in Donna, (http://www.dtronicsmxpark.com/)my first time out there and my first time out on my mountain bike in a long time. After one lap I was beat. The Monitor, the local newspaper had shown up to do a story on the upcoming race and the mountain bike club and to take photographs. (http://www.themonitor.com/articles/mountain_20169___article.html/donna_org.html)
My bike got a flat on my fourth lap. I walked the bike out to the bleachers, walked over to the concession stand and got myself a beer.

I arrived Saturday evening and registered for the big boy category, otherwise known as the clydesdale category, meant for participants weighing above 200 lbs. Only three had registered for the clyde category. Originally it was only going to be a 10 minute race but since we had only three people in our category, they threw us in with the sport category and now had an additional five minutes added to the race.

It was a mass start and I was right in the middle after the race had begun. I was right with the pack until I got stuck behind a slower rider and could not get around him. By the time I got around him, mostly everybody had passed the both of us. I finally got around the slower rider and huffed and puffed my way down and up the track.

The motocross track is impressive. It is approximately half a mile in length with twists and turns and berms and hills. It was cool racing at night under the big bright lights with music blaring from the speakers and spectators rooting for everybody.

The only thing I heard was my gasping for air and my heart thumping. Midway through my fourth lap I felt as if my heart was going to explode and my tar stained lungs collapse. Just as I was about to call it quits upon completing that lap, the race officials told me the race was over. Those fifteen minutes could not have come sooner. I was relieved it was over, as were my heart and lungs. It may have been short, but it was anything but sweet. Either way I at least was better than somebody else that night. I got second place in the clyde category. Did I mention it was kind of chilly that night? Mikeytoe, first place in the clyde category is to the left of me. The rider who won third place had left before the awards ceremony. Picture taken from missiontrails.org website.

Tour das Hugel Ride Report 11/15/08:

I was greeted by a chilling cold front, howling wind, and Devil as I rolled into Austin friday night. Not having seen Devil in a while I stayed up longer than I should've talking about about good times sounding like a broken record reliving the past. I finally got some shuteye at about 2am. It was a cold cold night. I had trouble sleeping because I was so cold and kept questioning myself if I should do the ride or not.

Joshua called at 6.30am. He was already airing up his tires at Zilker as I was driving west on Parmer. I got on Mopac and arrived at the park as they were handing out the maps for the first loop before heading out. Joshua and Melissa met up with me while I was getting ready and we were soon off.

The first couple of hills weren't that bad at all. Nothing like the climbs at Garner. Or so I thought. We later encountered roads that looked more like walls than roads at all. Some I could do, some I couldn't. I tried the zig-zag approach on some but gravity proved to powerful as it quickly brought me back down again. The winds and cold weather didn't help much either. Joshua easily sailed up the climbs while I huffed and puffed all that I could feeling like my heart was going to explode. We quickly lost sight of Melissa as we headed down a wrong turn. We tried to catch up to her by turning on a side street and going the opposite way on the right path but were unsuccesful in finding her.

The best part of going up was knowing that a nice downhill was sure to follow. And there were plenty. Joshua says I am brake happy but I believe I am life happy. Going 40mph down hairpin turns is plenty for me but not for Joshua as he would pass me catching up to cars, drafting behind them until they either sped away or it was time to attack another climb.

By the time we reached the second rest stop I was about to call Devil to come pick me up. My speedometer read 32 miles and I was happy with that. Joshua convinced me to at least finish the first loop and after a couple of PBJ sandwiches we were off again. It was here where we also learned that Melissa had bailed out earlier.

A couple of miles later we were headed down the Capital of Texas Highway and looking to turn on Westbank to lead us back to the park. We were looking for that road and for any orange arrows indicating the turn like the ones we had seen throughout the ride but did not see any. We hammered on and pretty soon found ourselves at the intersection with Mopac. We had missed our turn but rather than turning around we went south on the Mopac. First off we should've gone north, second of all, we were riding our bikes on the freeway!

Thoughts of a news reporter broadcasting live saying something like two cyclists from out of town participating in the Tour das Hugel got lost and ended up on Loop 1 where a driver slammed into them from behind killing both of them kept playing through my mind. Luckily that section had a nice wide shoulder and we made it to the next exit a couple of hundred feet later.

We found out that we were riding south instead of north like we should've been. The only other option would be to ride back on the freeway again but the northbound section had no shoulder as it was the exit for 360. Joshua said, "we'll just have to chuck it". Riding on the freeway with a wide enough shoulder was bad enough but now you have cars exiting the freeway doing 60. "Thats just asking for trouble", I told him. "I'll let you go in front", was his response. Thoughts of the news reporter chimed in again except this time the possibility of that happening was greater. I was thinking maybe I could just call Devil to come get me, I would go back to the park, come back and get Joshua. I had held Joshua back this whole time but this time he wasn't letting me.

Joshua clipped in and took off down Mopac. I rode up the overpass to try and get a picture of him riding down the freeway but by the time I got up there he was no longer to be seen. Any minute now he would appear below me or so I thought. Where the hell is he? I waited and waited but nothing. Maybe he got a flat. I rode back down but did not see him at all. I rode back up and nothing. There was no way he could've ridden that section of the freeway in that short of time. Or so I thought but a couple of minutes later I get a call saying he is already at the park loading up his bike. It took him longer to come pick me up in his truck than it did to go to the park on his bike. We load up my bike and I get in the truck, cold, sweaty, relieved, and even though I didn't finish the whole tour or the first loop for that matter because we got lost, hell we actually did more than the first loop come to think of it, I felt good at what I had done. I finished up at 43.38 miles in 4 hours and 4 minutes with a 10.6mph average.

Unlimited Sport Adventure 3rd Mountain Bike Race Report 11/9/08:

I did the first one back in September. Missed the second one. I payed for the whole series. I wanted to participate in the last one.

The last time I rode my mountain bike was the time I rode with Joel. Already more than a month ago. Since then I had taken off my clipless pedals because I had lost the screws to my cleats and had messed up my shoe trying to use some other screws I purchased at the hardware store. Rather than going to the bike shop and just getting a pair of replacement cleats like I did the other day, I put the platform pedals back on. At the time I thought I had put them on correctly but did not find out till race day that I put them on wrong.

Lined up with the rest of the racers in my category, I was ready. I was happy to be back on a mountain bike. 5,4,3,2,1,Go! Off we went down the unpaved parking lot, turn, onto the sidewalk where its straight for a good 400 feet or so till we enter the Brownsville trails backwards. I am starting to breathe heavy, heart is pounding, but I'm feeling good. We enter the trails and are immediately met by switchbacks. It must've been the 3rd or 4th switchback when I hear a yelp as a rider goes down hard. In the corner of my eye I saw a neon green team kit. The same kit I should've worn that day if I had gotten up earlier that morning and looked for it. Out on the trails I always stop when I see or hear a rider in distress but this was a race. The show must go on. Ruben was there, camera in hand to help out if needed. I continued and so did the rest. My pedal started feeling weird. I thought to myself it was because I had grown accustomed to riding clipless. We exited that small section and were on our way down a bumpy straightaway along side the canal, and then it happened. On a small little climb the pedal had become so loose that making it proved to difficult and then the pedal fell. The walk of shame began. Luckily I wasn't too far from the staging area, unluckily I wasn't too far from the staging area. In total it was at most 1/4 mile I had raced. My first DNF ever. Very depressing. The rider who had fallen, Tony G from San Benito, came in 5 minutes after me. His fall messed up his rear derailer. We spent the rest of the race with Jaime and his boss's chocolate lab, Rocky, the Cactus Cruzer mascot. I'll see you next year Brownsville.