Winter with the Pug

With my new job; I have yet to christen my Pug in the snow.  This sucks!  Can't wait with the temps being balmy maybe I'll get a chance this week.

Birthday Ride

I got the chance to get out with Doug and my brother-in-law Justin on Monday.  It was a fun ride.  Justin is not a biker by any means, but he definitely held his own out there.  He borrowed the Pug, whilst I rode the Bass.  Fall is quickly speeding toward us as the sleeping Juggernaut of winter will soon follow.  I am trying to get out more often, but it is now getting down to crunch time for my classes and I do not know when I'll have time to get out again.  I apologize for not updating nearly often enough, but life catches us all by the seat of the pants.  Unfortunately my life is the unrelenting mastiff with lockjaw it seems lately.

Motion and Refection

As I sit and reminisce of my late afternoon jaunt into the woods; I reflect on the flash of the slowly fading shades of green as summer starts its timely sweep into the twilight of days gone by.  Where I ride is now starting to become a shattered remnant of its former glory.  Trail maintenance wanes, gravel builds in the bottoms of every turn and berm.  Thanks to Irene many trails have smatterings of chainsaw dust from limbs and felled trees.  As time passes it makes me regret not being out there more; but onward to Fall, my favorite time of year.  As Fall quickly approaches, I cannot wait for the autumnal fireworks of my beloved state.  Flares of red, gold, orange, and dusky browns make me long for the days of my former youth where I frequented the woods with a zeal for the air and not a care in the world feel.  As time goes by one needs to reflect on what it is like to live in the moment again and strive for that wholeness of feeling again.  I cannot wait for my next escape; where I can let the moments wash over me and overwhelm me with the sounds, smells, sounds, and the taste of the cooling air and gliding leaves that make their home on the forest floor to make a soft, though somewhat treacherous carpet to traverse.  I leave you with the ruminations of the changing of the season.

Weep for Vermont

The devastation of this past Sunday due to tropical storm Irene has left The better part of central Vermont in chaotic turmoil.  Several towns within Rutland County are left as isolated islands with little to no contact to the rest of the area.  The city of Rutland was hit, but not nearly as bad a s the surrounding areas.  Clarendon; which is 5 minutes south of Rutland lost 2 bridges on main road ways.  Mendon to Killington is utterly destroyed.  Forget Rt 4 for a while.  Rt 7 for that matter is wrecked north of Rutland.  Waterbury is still under water.  I feel very badly for fellow compatriot George Wissel from Bike29, I hope he and his family are alright!  The photos of much of the area are disheartening a best.  The local infrastructure was phenomenally put through hell and left battered, bruised, and beaten with little hope for a quick recovery.  But, being a Vermonta; means we are resilient and we roll with whatever nature brings and take it in stride.  I will throw back a cold one and think about my fellow locals and how we will pull things together and get most everything back to workable order and be ready for the next round!  Eh-yuht.... that's what I'll do for damn sure!

Rough Landing

I was out tooling around up at Pinehill today with Marv and young Trevor.  Whilst on our usual loop I ended up endo-ing on a climb!?!?  I was pedaling up a climb on Sisyphus and I do not know what the hell happened, but I managed to go ass over tea kettle onto the top of my head, rack my lower elbow/forearm area on rocks, and get wedged between a stand of trees.  I was totally stuck like a turtle and had to be helped up.  I also managed to get a contusion on my calf in the wake of my disaster.  The Pug came out unscathed and probably laughing!  My self-esteem not so much.  I bagged on a video of another rider casing a roll in on some wooden structures and I basically did the same thing, just not on video or on any structures.  Truly came off looking like a putz none the less.  Karma is a mother fucker... a vengeful one at that!

Changing Gears

I don't know how many Pug owners have had this problem, but getting the damn front derailleur to shift and not rub the tire is not an easy feat.  I really don't know if I have gotten the bugs worked out, maybe I'm heavy and can lay down enough torque to flex the frame during my pedal strokes.  I get a rrrr...rrrr...rrrr on every pedal stroke whilst climbing.  It is fracking annoying.  I finally nailed the adjustments down for the rear derailleur so it no longer ghost shifts.  Hopefully Thursday I'll get out for a ride!  I'm jonesing to get out and ride.  It'll have been almost two weeks since I last rode.  I'm out... Peace!

A little change of pace...

Today I went out to Pinehill on my Kona Bass.  Since Pinehill has a new freeride-ish feature with the Lunch rock tabletop.  I figured I 'd session it.  I went out with Marv and had a blast.  Man I thought the Bass was going to suck since I have it setup with a 36t front ring and DMR Moto R/T tires, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled.  I only had one sketchy washout with  the front end and I was getting my drift on in many of the turns and berms.  All in all it was a hoot.  Couldn't get enough speed on the roll in to get a good launch, but it was a fair outing none the less.  I think I managed to peeve Doug off a little though.  The Bass has essentially sat at the PHBS all season trying to be sold and no takers, I swapped some parts and showed some interest in riding it since I think I never really gave it a good shake down this spring.  I think with some minor mods, it would make a great short travel AM rig.  Next time out I'll roll on the Pug, I think the Pug is helping me develop better body english since I started riding it.  This is all for now!