Did Anybody Else See The Nunchuck Guy?

Living in North Austin has its benefits. Short commutes, parks nearby and proximity to Rudy's BBQ. However, they say around here to “Keep Austin weird”. Around here I don’t think it is something that needs any effort. I have not advertised nor solicited weird. It just happens. Yesterday was kind of weird. Now, our neighborhood looks pretty suburban. The streets are wide. Not uncommon to see a cyclist or runner, and a mother pushing her child in a stroller. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the streets have been very full of people doing all of those things, but there was one guy doing it a little different. A man walking down the street does not get too much attention from me. However, walking and swinging nunchucks is a whole different matter. Not sure it is much defense from the virus, but it sure works for social distancing. I am concerned that a child would be curious and approach said individual. With one swing, curiosity extinguished. There are times I confess that I wish I had nunchucks. You know, like all those times the person behind you at Starbucks is uncomfortably close and his breath is awful. Nunchuck!. The time you waited in a long line and somebody cut in front. Nunchuck! Now if we can get some car nunchucks we’d be all in for nunchucks. I think I swung a nunchuck a fews times as a kid. You remember back when it was cool to do karate. My parents would not let me participate in a sport like that or wrestling. Something un-christian about it. Don’t ask, it’s a whole other story. I do recall my cousin had some nunchucks. You quickly learn that if you don’t know what you're doing, you could lose a tooth. You’re lucky if you just get by with a bruise. That’s an odd weapon. I think if I were attacked by someone with nunchucks I would just step back and wait. Because it’s going to happen, just wait for it. Then bam, the guy hits himself in the balls. Now just walk away. Your attacker has removed himself. Which brings me back to the street walking nunchuck guy. I think he is pretty talented, and ballsy. To swing a weapon with the potential to remove a testicle while walking down the street. I tip my hat and avoid you, nunchuck guy.

Florida can kiss my white ass

Ran 10 miles today. it was 90 degrees with crazy humidity

You bikers coasting down hills can kiss my shiny white ass.

The run is feeling more and more natural. I don't know what's happening, but my run Vs. bike is taking a swing towards the feet.

I need more shoes.

Shoe Grief

It's that time again. Yes, the Adidas Adizero Tempos have lost that loving feeling. Yesterday's 10 miler on mostly pavement was proof enough. That youthful spring has gone. So, now I'm searching for some fresh footwear. Now, I'm not too picky on shoes. Well, actually I am a lil picky. I like well made and cushioned shoes. Unfortunately, they typically retail for around 100 bucks. But, I can't bring myself to pay that kind of money for something that was made in a sweat shop by children making 2 rupees a day.

In the past, I have had no problem finding the same shoes at Eastbay or Amazon for around half price. But, somethings changed. The shoe manufactures have some how tightened their grip on the price of shoes. I have been looking for about a week and can't find a deal anywhere. Oh sure, there's the guy out there selling "blemished" shoes for a discount, but who wants to be seen wearing Nikes with the swoosh upside down? Poor kid that did that probably lost an eye for such a mistake.

This last weekend I decided I'd bite the bullet and went to Dick's Sporting Goods. They had some Nike Moto-8's which I've run in with much success in the past. They were 79 canoles. What the hell, "Do you have any in size 11?"…. No.
So, I stopped at the over priced local running store. The same shoe was $94.99, I asked if they would price match Dicks….No. "Do you have size 11?"…..No. However, they did have the new Moto-9 in my size. At this point I had lost my desire to pay that kind of money for something that would smell like my foot in a matter of hours.

What the hell is up with running shoes? Let's get real here. There hasn't been anything inovating about shoes since Bill Bowerman and his waffle iron, and yet the price of a shoe goes up and up. I haven't noticed that I can get more miles out of a shoe either. I go through about 4 pairs of running shoes a year. Paying retail, that's about $400. Then add what you pay for some shorts, shirts, and socks, and now you're easily at $500. that's more than 40 bucks a month. That's more than some gym memberships, and that's way to much to pay for running. Now, I've done a few things to keep the cost down like buying my workout clothes at Target. Where you can get microfiber clothing for half the price of the Nike/Adidas brands. The bottom line is, the shoes are just too expensive, and now that they are closing the holes for people to sell them marked down it's just getting worse.

So what am I doing? Well, today I found a pair of moto-8's on Ebay for $59 including shipping. Let's give that a try.

Tomorrow, I'm digging out the waffle iron.

Dear Thomas Mark Shaw

It's been a while since we last talked, and I've been busy with a few things. New job with a long commute, car issues, a deck building project, and a mountain bike race. The job is pretty good. The people at HealthPartners are really nice, and the drive is just long enough to get the whole run down on NPR. Both cars are showing their age. I can't complain they've been performing great and I was due for some work. The deck is done and a robin has made a home of a support beam already.

And then there was a mountain bike race. It wasn't so much a race, but more of an endurance challenge. After all, 100 miles off road is nothing to scoff at. The setting was the Chequamegon Forest. The Chequamegon covers well over 800,000 acres of Wisconsin. It contains plants and trees I've never seen before. I think Big Foot , and Jimmy Hoffa are holed up in there somewhere.

It all began on a frigid February evening when I put my internet browsing powers to find mountain bike races in my general area. 15 to 20 mile races are very common, but I was looking for something "epic". That's when I came upon a blog about a 100 mile race in the Chequamegon Forest. It was only a handful of people, with only a fraction finishing the race. I looked at the participants and recognized a few names. All of them were very strong riders and yet none of them finished. My curiosity had me. To register, a person had to send a post card with Name, rank and serial number. I was in.

Time passes, and so does the worst Winter and Spring I've seen in the 20+ years I've lived in Minnesota. 10 to 20 degrees below average WAS the average. Needless to say, my training was hurting. On top of that, I got a new job that required me to commute about 80 minutes each way.

So, the race was approaching. May 21, and I was coming to terms with knowing I was not going to be capable of riding 100 miles off road. But, I still wanted to see this thing. I told myself I'd ride 50 miles and decide at that time what I would do. That was that.

A couple days before the race I was watching the weather for the area. It didn't look good. mid 40's with rain. That's not good for me. My hands and feet go cold just looking at an ice cube. However, I shopped and picked up hand and feet warmers. Picked up some extra bags to attach to my bike for other things. I considered such things as a broken chain, flats, and possibly spending the night in the forest.

The race was on a Saturday and we drove up Friday. We stayed in a lodge call The Lake Woods on lake Namakagon. They ran out of rooms in the main lodge, so they gave us a condo on the water with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, full kitchen, and a walk out to the lake. Wow, 60 bucks goes far in Cable Wisconsin. Even though the place was extremely comfortable, I didn't sleep well the night before. Not sure what was keeping me up. In the past I'd get worked up for a race If I was actually going to compete, but this was different. I was going to spend the day riding and stop half way. But still I worried.

The morning came and Uma and I went to the lodge for the all you can eat breakfast for 10 bucks deal. Sometime during the meal a dog wondered by our table begging for food. A little while later the waitress yells out, "Who's dog is this?" Turns out the dog just walked into the lodge and went to the dining area looking for a hand out…smart dog.

At this time, I realize that I had forgot to bring a water bottle. How crazy is that? I asked a guy at a table if he could loan me one and he was very kind in doing so. My intention was to put poweraid in the water bottle and put water in the camelbak.

After eating, I finish loading up the packs. I had never used a camelbak before and had to practice a few times to get that right. Also, the weather was warmer than predicted. 65 and overcast. I decided to wear my short sleeve jersey and shorts. I made several rounds in the parking lot making sure the bike was tuned. The Niner has never let me down.

Uma and I make our way to the start. The race organizer is saying a few words. Mostly making the point that you are on your own.

The race starts with a shout, and I watch people on the front take off like they are running a 5k. That's nuts. We start down a gravel road, and at about 3/4 of a mile we hit single track. People are still riding pretty hard. I'm riding very relaxed and letting people pass. The trails are more rocky than I'm used to, and there are some puddles. Over all the trail is in great condition.

My first mechanical issue. With all the rocks, I was bouncing and bouncing hard. The Reba fork was taking it well, but my seat post slipped and I had to stop and pull it up a little. This was within 10 miles of the start.

My second mechanical issue. Again, the rocks. my handlebar bag opened up and I had to stop and pick some of my stuff up and wire the zipper shut.

Now, I must say I was in a hunting mode. I wanted to catch up to those that had passed me because of my "issues". I caught them all and decided to ride with the last couple guys I caught. We were riding pretty much the same pace. I was weaker in the technical areas, but was stronger on the climbs and open areas. It was on a climb when I took the front the guy behind me says, "Dude, I think you have a flat". I looked down and my back tire looked really low. I stopped and checked. Yeah, it was waaay low.

My third mechanical issue. it had to be delt with. Even though I was riding on Stan's No Tubes, the tire was so low that the bike was fish tailing sometimes. I got out my CO2 cartaridge and pumped it up. I could see the white Stan's fluid seeping out pretty good.

I get back on my bike and go after the guys I was with earlier. For a couple miles I ride hard and then get my wits about me. Thinking this is foolish to ride like this. I relax and take it easy. Taking in a lot of water, and thinking man, it's hot today. The cold rain was not going to happen.

My fourth mechanical issue. Somewhere before 20 miles, I was fish tailing again and went down slamming my left arm into a log. I'm not going to lie. It hurt. I got up and checked my back tire. It was barely holding air. I figured at this point the Stan's wasn't going to work and put a tube in, and used my last CO2 cartaridge. It took me a while to change the tire, and a lot of people passed me at this time.

Making it 50 miles at this point was going to be really iffy. I'm having the worst day I've ever had on my bike. I called Uma and told her to meet me at the water stop at mile 30.

I take off. The single track gave way to logging roads. It wasn't long on the logging roads when…

My fith mechanical issue. Another flat, and this time the tire was complete with out air. I had no idea where I was in the forest. It's not noon yet and I'm worried just a little bit. I decided to ride on the flat. I'm now passed by the last remaining people in the race. I'm approaching mile 30 and thinking how glad I am this is over. However, there is nothing at mile 30. Now my mind is thinking…did I pass the water stop? I call Uma and she tells me that she's waiting for me at the water stop…I'm completely confused. I keep riding this bike, and I'm getting pretty pissed off.

I'm thinking, f*cking Stan's! Why did I bring CO2 cartaridges? f*cking tires! Where is the gawd dam water stop?

finally I see Uma at the end of the road, and there is a rider stopped by the car. I ride to the car, and throw my bike in the ditch. I think I scared the other guy. He had a look on his face. I'm not sure what his problem was. He didn't look like he had any mechanical issues. I pulled my bike from the ditch and tossed it in the trunk. The computer said I had 38 miles. When I used to run, people used to get upset when a mile was a few yards too long or short. 8 extra miles on a mountain bike was not cool, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

We get back to the condo, and I take a shower and go to bed. I think Uma took a nap too, but I was so out of it that I'm not sure.

When I woke up hours later, I felt really good. Not sure why, just did. I took the water bottle back to the guy that loaned it to me. Turns out my timing was good. He had just finished and he came in 8th.

Not sure what it all means. Maybe I'd give this race a real go next year. I'd definitely like to go back and ride the trails.

Next purchase is a pump.

If I were Charlie Sheen, I'd be a winner.

I participated in the Sandwich 50. It is a 50 mile mountain bike race last Saturday. Seeing how there aren’t 50 miles of mountain anything around here, the organizers decided to do 7 laps around Eastwood park. Let me just say I was not physically prepared. I had just started a new consulting job in St. Paul and was unable to ride due to the long commute.

Saturday morning, I woke up and looked at the clock. Unfortunately the clock said 7 am. The race was at 9 am. So I get up and take a quick shower and then put on my lucky Hundo jersey. I picked up the Hundo jersey at last years Almanzo 100 gravel race. It’s quirky and I like it. Loading the Jeep for a race drives me nuts. Mostly because when I get back and precede to unload everything I threw in the Liberty. Seriously, what was I thinking when I took 7 water bottles and a couple of tubes. One of which was a road tube. What was I going to do with that? Wear it as a sash? The Jeep is loaded and the Niner is snuggly on the rack.

I pull into the parking lot around 8:20 am. A few people are putting things together, but hardly any riders have arrived yet. I park next to a pickup truck and meet Todd from Minneapolis. He looks young and fast. Like myself he is also entered into a 100 mile mountain bike race in a couple weeks. My buddy Erik shows up with his new carbon Stumpy. It’s a 29r, and for it’s size it’s wicked light.

Like everybody else, I do the pre-race wait in the port-o-john line. Before the race we are told to place our bikes by the parking lot. Then go stand by the ball diamond fence and put one hand on the fence. We are instructed on the “go” to run around the play ground and then to our bikes. It’s about a quarter mile run. Yes, that’s right folks. It was a Le Mans start. Running to my bike was the only time I could honestly say I was with the lead pack. That would have been a good time for a picture. I got on my bike and the troubles started immediately. Trouble clicking in. You have to be shitting me. I had some issue with these new clips before but not for days and I thought they had worn their way out of that problem. The next problem was my derailer was not behaving on the climbs anytime I put some power to the system the derailer would have the chain doing some nasty jumping around. This basically left me with only one gear for the first lap. Now in the middle of the woods I could smell something. That something was bacon. Ron Moffit and his non-hipsters were makin bacon and handing it out. I yelled to them that I would like a strip. As I passed they had no bacon. I could hear Ron yelling at the guys to stop eating the bacon they were to hand out. A little later with all the bouncing around my seat slipped and now my legs were not at a good geometry for peddling or anything else for that matter. I think I was looking like I was sitting on a bmx bike as I completed my first lap.

Lap 1 is complete and I am way back, and I don’t care. I stopped at my cooler and started fixing all the crap that shook out on the first 7 miles. I pulled the seat up and cranked the clamp so hard I cried out “Mother of Mary!”. Remember Todd? Well he was having issues as well. But, he stopped and gave me a hand in fixing my rear derailer.

Lap 2 has begun and I’m pretty much all by myself. Into the first climb I realize I still have issues and begin adjusting things while still riding. I get the rear derailer set so it’s “kind of” working. I’m nearing the bacon stop and I yell up for 2 strips to make up for last time. Ron yells back, “How do you go so slow and not fall over?” “That’s called talent Mr. Moffit!, mostly a lack of that is.” I receive my 2 bacon strips and continue.
The bacon stop is a mixed blessing. First off, a fatty treat is not what you should be eating during an endurance event. Your body has to work harder to convert it to something your body can burn. However, you could grease your chain with it if necessary. Also, they are cheering a mix of insults and encouragement. “You suck!” “You rock!” “Have some bacon!” Lap 2 finishes with nothing note-worthy.

As I begin lap 3. Al Farrow is yelling me on. Al’s a good guy and freaky fast on the roads. He knows where I am place wise but gives me a pat on the back anyways. In lap 3 I have to stop to adjust my seat and I’m more than slightly pissed off. I drop an “F” bomb and get off my bike to fix it. Somebody watching comes by and asks me how things are going. “Well, when you see a guy racing that’s not on his bike…that’s that typically a good thing.”. I take another strip of bacon and a thunder of insults. I’m out of breath and eating bacon was a problem at this point. I think I spit most of it out. My arms are getting really tired from the ups and downs, and my breaking too much.

Lap 4 just sucked. My bike was not right, and neither was I. I’m out of shape and my bike is not tuned right. I may have told the bacon people to fuck off. Not sure, but whatever I said got a pretty good cheer. The hard bumps are bugging me. I’m really sorry I had not put my Reba fork on. The carbon Niner fork is sweet but not today.

I started lap 5 and in my first climb I got dizzy at the peak. After every clime I was having dizzy spells. I knew at this point I was on my last lap. I would back off and go a crawling speed, but the recovery only lasted until the next climb. I stopped at the bacon stop and got off my bike. I wasn’t sure if I’d be thrown on the grille or hung from a tree. What I got was a lawn chair to sit on and a gator-aid. It was at this point bacon boy James asks me, “So what did you hit?”. “what?”, James points to my arm and it’s scratched up. “I think I hit a tree after climbing the cardiac section, but I don’t recall falling down.”. I sat there for maybe 5 minutes and continued. As I started, a bacon boy pushed me like I was a NASCAR coming out of the pits. I completed the 5th lap. Went to the time keeper and told them I was out. I felt really bad about that. I had a headache that lasted for maybe 45 minutes. Then I felt fine.

I don’t know. I want to think had I not had so many little mechanical things go wrong maybe I could have at least finished. Maybe I should have passed on the bacon. Maybe I should have braved the Spring wintery conditions and road more. I’m not sorry I participated. Especially because on the gift table for the riders, I scored an Elvis Peez container. Anyway, the race put things in perspective for my Almanzo 100 this weekend and the 100 mile Cheq., and the perspective is pretty dam bleak.

am I old? or just that out of shape.

Yesterday I ran 8 miles over lunch. It felt great. Perfect day. Sun, warmth, and no injury.

Lately, I've been running from house on the sidewalk along the frontage road to the intersection of 19th St. NW and 52 then turn around and run back. I guess I like the route mostly because I can pop into Erik's bike shop if I need a drink or something else.

Later, I got a call from Steve Roe that he was planning to ride with the RASC group and if I wanted to go...absolutely.

I took the "long way" to Bamber Valley Elementary School and had 15 miles before the group took off. The fast group was riding less fast mostly due to the lack of strong riders. That was fine with me, I had nothing left in me. The hills were putting the hurt to me pretty good. Marty and Glen were kind enough to drag my arse.

So, today I head out for my 8 mile run. It started out a little labored, as I expected, but it ended in a Bataan death march. I was going to ride tonight as well but after today's run, a long bike ride tonight may have ended with me in the middle of nowhere in a fetal position crying like a baby.

I know guys older than me that do crazy endurance training most days, and a couple years ago that was me. So, what happened to me? Old? Lazy? Out of shape?

If I'm honest, I'd say all three.

But I'm not honest.

Damn you father time!

Weekend of Spin

It started Friday, 2 hours of spin class at Healthy Dans. Followed up on Saturday with a 48 mile ride. I would have made it an even 50 but I was running late for dinner, and guests were waiting.

It was a nice ride. The sun stayed out for most of it, but the clouds rolled in by evening and blocked from what I heard a very huge moon.

In typical fashion, I point myself into the wind to start. This got me as far south as High Forest. Turning East I made it quickly to Stewartville and kept heading East until I hit county road 20 and turned North. This part of 20 is very fast, with only one small climb. I haven't moved that fast in a long time. It felt great. Turned right on county 16 and at Simpson turned North on county 1 and trucked it back to Rochester. This too, is a very fast road. While I was on this side of Rochester, I decide to check out Eastwood. There is still a lot of snow in the wooded areas. It's going to be a while before any single track action is happening there.

At this point I looked at my watch and noticed I was going to be late for dinner at Jim and Carla's, so I moved as quick as I could in their direction. The bad thing about biking to Jim and Carla's is the climb up Northern Heights road. That was a nice way to finish a ride. As I got to their driveway I noticed all the other cars and then looked at my Garmin... 48 miles...ugh, I hate being that close to 50 and not doing it.

But, everybody was there but yours truly. So that's where it ended.

On Sunday, Uma and I did a 4 hour spin class at the Healthy Dan...it started at 7 am and ended at 11 am.

The 7 am start was tough, and the last hour was one of the longest hours in my life. Bored silly.

Looks like today's group ride will be slightly warmer than last weeks. I'm looking forward to riding some with Scott before hand. Today I may get the 50 miler in.

Ride on