Ramblings

Near 16 winding miles, 4 laps, on the Wednesday night race at Crystal ridge. Last to finish. No, the bartender didn't give me a kickback to keep people waiting at the bar longer and it wasn't an evil strategy to increase my odds at the drawing (though I did get another tube and some chamois butt'r). My wife and I still made the 10:15 ultra-screen showing of "Live Free or Die Hard." Great movie. Good going to who ever hit the baby bunny and left it in the middle of the trail. Not at top energy and my seat was too low. Since, I have raised the seat about an inch and changed the angle a bit. The lower tire pressure made a big difference down the ski slope and focusing on keeping my weight off the saddle to hold those turns. Have to get in some 20 plus mile days before the WORS Marathon Series race on July 15th.
All in all a good stepping stone to greater abilities considering I was half dead just three years ago. The heat wave might have taken alittle out of me also and this weather hasn't been good for the spinach. Hot and cool waves and the spinach went to seed before it grew much. Tastes terrible after that. Radishes doing fine as always. Cucumber this year and time to keep it well watered to make the most of the garden. Tried pumpkin last year and all I heard from my wife in her sweet Japanese accent was "where's the cucumber, where's the cucumber, where's the cucumber." A man's work is never done.

New Arrival

Congratulations Henry and Bonnie. This past Father's Day Noah Matthew, our newest nephew was born at a whopping 9lbs 3oz.
What a Bloody mess. Smashed my knee at Crystal Ridge at the weekly mountain bike race. Four laps appeared a daunting task. I was admiring the beautiful purple clover like flowers and a low growth yellow bloom covering several parts of the course. Those lilies in the forest just don't want to bloom with their current levels of sunshine. Getting through the brunt of the second lap I was feeling good and getting hyped on finishing my longest race to date. Getting near the approach to craters of the moon coming out of the trees it felt like my peddle hit a rock, and another and another, just not letting go. I found myself horizontal, hips over the handle bars, still thinking I could get control. Alas, it wasn't to be but I love my bike and she me, slowly slipping out from under me letting me down into a gentle velvety carpet of green. Thinking I escaped disaster my knee suddenly hit something hard. Seeing the square head of a cap on a discarded drain pipe my mind filled with dread and finally looking at me knee seeing a deep jagged gash I wondered if the day was over. An initial gush of blood convinced me to walk in and call it a day.
Fortunately there was a doctor on site. The fact that the bleeding stopped fairly quickly (suggesting the lower layers of skin were not broken) and no skin was really flapping around she said I would only need stitches to reduce scarring so I saved myself a trip to the emergency room. Some time later a felt faint and had to lie down for awhile, so if you have any deep gash to the skin and think you can keep going in a race factor in a slight shock factor. You wouldn't want to black out on the course. Maybe I shouldn't have made minor adjustments to my bike right before the race. Also I need to lower the psi in my tires. Will put 50psi. Back was 55, front 55psi.
An amazing day at the races? Not really, but what's really amazing is the Germans ride wood framed bicycles.

Ouch!

When first going off the drop on this feature of civil engineering I landed on my head but a bit of focus and it makes an enjoyable end to a ride. It would be nice if they could take this path along a small flood wall under the expressway and staying on the north side of the tracks (out of view) connect with Canal Street where it connects to 25th Street. A nice bypass of the stadium. The neighborhood association is opposed (not all residence agree) and I have been told the DNR wants the trails to run along the river at fairly level grade but that isn't easy at this bottleneck.
Let us not forget about the Germans and keep up with the Trans Germany race news. Yes I skipped the Wednesday night races and will not make the Phillips Dirt Fighter but still getting out locally.

How does Your Garden Grow?

The radishes are coming up first. The spinach, lettuce and onion will be harvested with the radishes before the cucumber, bean and eggplant cover the entire square. Six foot 4x4s. Got those at the old Builders Square. Can't find anything in Six foot lengths anywhere else.
Couldn't make the Wausau WORS race, the Big Ring Classic. Some pictures of me at Treadfest, if you know what I look like. The time trials were canceled for a little drizzle at Crystal Ridge and trails closed, huh! Went riding to Hoyt Park and by the time we finished the sun was shining.
Those new Tuesday night (1st, 3rd and fifth Tuesdays) novice rides are a good chance to get familiar with the Menominee River area in Wauwatosa. A good sized group showed up. As one rider was quoted; "I usually know when I'm going to hit the ground." No reflection on trail difficulty. Good for any beginner. Ended up about 15 miles total including the trip from my home and back. Longer rides and racing appear most important in my conditioning. Resting heart rate is going down.
Sent out info on the Trans Germany Race (mountain bike) scheduled for June 9th to the club. A fellow mountain biker responded with info on the Trans Iowa Race.