I don’t do politics…

So I am super glad that this whole election thing is over. I will be way more glad when the lemmings and sheeple stop talking about “change” at work and everywhere else. The second law of Thermodynamics guarantees that things will change. Funny thing is, things will change, but they won’t get better!

Since this is my blog I will talk about what I want, riding bikes. Unfortunately I can’t seem to do enough of that lately. Since the race last weekend I spent two days in the gym (Monday and Tuesday), one day was a nice lunch ride (Wednesday), and last night was the usual night time dirt fest.

Spending time in the gym is a touchy subject for me. Since I was in high school I have spent tons of time in the gym lifting. My primary source of exercise for years was lifting. Unfortunately my body tends to build muscle fast, and I have been working on cutting weight not adding it. In order to try to make sure I don’t add unnecessary bulk I have stayed off the weights. I have a really hard time with this, I really like to lift. But it is all for the best. So my workouts in the gym consist of: the stationary bike, the treadmill, dips, pull-ups, abdominal work, and stretching. Pretty weak stuff, and it probably makes me look like a ninny, but going fast on my bike is a higher priority right now.

Last night’s ride was pretty awesome. I felt really good on the climb and pushed myself hard. The weather was great and the sunset was really pretty thanks to the Santa Ana winds. My light kept moving though, need to tighten the screws on it, and it was keeping me from really hanging it out on the descents.

On one of the single track sections I was pedaling through a corner and caught my inside pedal on a stump. I was going fast and crashed, but was relatively unharmed. My poor left grip didn’t fare so well and needs to be replaced.

I am also really having a hard time with my pedals lately. I guess my Crank Brothers Ti Eggbeaters are worn out. Even with new cleats, I am having issues losing pedals on both my road bike and my XC bike. I have accidentally pulled my foot free during sprints and hard climbs on the road bike, and last night my foot came free while I was in the air on a really steep descent nearly causing a crash. I think I am going to try out some Shimano pedals. We don’t ride/race much in the mud so I think the Shimano’s are probably a good choice.

It was also pretty cool to spend some time during the ride to talk to EC about his race this weekend. He is feverishly preparing for this event. Hopefully he gets some momentum and some much needed assistance with getting the bike park up and running.

So looking forward…

I hope to ride the trainer for a while tonight. Exciting stuff eh? The wife and I will be doing some good miles on the road bike this weekend. Should be all flat stuff, so nothing really exciting, but spending time on the bike with the wife is a good thing. Even better though is that we are taking the day off on Tuesday to do a nice big ride in the dirt. Allison gets to pick the location since it is her birthday, but I for one am looking forward to a nice long ride in the dirt. Since her training for the 2009 race season has already started the pace will be really slow. We will see how this whole ride slow to race fast thing works out…