Metaphor

The Summer Of...

... Whatever the hell I want to do.

I'll save you the three margarita sappiness I'm currently in the midst of.  Here's some pics.

Inspire away.

2012 Moonshine Metric Date Announced

Mark your calendars for September 29th.  Nighttime gravel metric FTW.

For more details, hit up the website.

Moonshine Metric Official Website

See you there.

From Then to Now

3GR ride from this weekend.

Oh yeah, that's right.  I have a blog.  I should probably write stuff on it.

I could write about Almanzo, and how it was no picnic for all the opposite reasons as last year.  Hot, dry, windy...  Ok, so the wind wasn't new.  I came into this one expecting a fun DK prep ride and hobbled away from it with a fisherman's story that will grow as it ages.  As of right now the temps were in the 90's and winds were 20+.  Next year we'll be sitting at the start line talking about how it was 112 in the shade and Buddha himself was pelting us with jello filled garden gnomes.

Speaking of fish stories, what about Dirty Kanza?  By the morning of the race that muddy B road from last year had grown to over five miles.  Sorry, folks.  It was 3.2 miles exactly.  I kept track as I rolled through on my way to the finish.  You'll have to switch to stories about the freak storm that moved through.  Those are much harder to verify.  Let's start the bidding at three funnel clouds and a flying llama.

I could talk about the weekly rides I've been doing with the local roadies, but I get dropped every time so let's skip that story.

How about a ride I didn't get dropped on.  I did 3GR last Saturday with Guitar Ted and Robert Fry.  25 miles of gravel at a brisk (for me) pace and a little pow-wow afterwards.  Definitely going to do that again, it was well worth getting up early for.

Maybe I'll write about non-bike stuff.  Charles has been on the DL since Trans Iowa so we've been getting together roughly once a week to hang out and shoot the toilet matter.  Tonight we cleaned a carburetor.  Next week we build a trailer mounted boom box.  The week after?  Good question.  When it happens though, I'll let you all know.  Or maybe not.  Guy stuff, yaknow.

Hmmm...  I seem to be at a loss for words these days.  Bloggers block?  Gypsy curse?  Indigestion?  Better sleep on it and try again later.

Yo Kanza!

Glorious Kanza

 Last minute shuffle and I'll be out the door.  Meeting up with Don and Courtney in Emporia, KS for 200 miles of why the F#$! did I do this sweet Flint Hills gravel.  Weather's looking pretty perfect right now, a first for me in any gravel race.  As usual, I'll try to post updates on my Twitter feed (@10ftmidget).

I suppose once it's over I'll get off the slack wagon and actually post some bloggage again.  No posts in May?  Weak...

Enjoy your weekend :-)

Trans Iowa 2012

Failure pile.

At around 6:30 Saturday night, I sent Charles a text message.

"Eating delicious Chinese right now.  I asked, but they don't deliver to B roads.  Sorry."

He didn't mention it at the finish line.  I'm sure he had a well rehearsed comeback in mind, but I don't think he could lift his leg high enough to kick me in the crotch.

I was eating Chinese at 6:30 on Saturday because once again I had failed to finish Trans Iowa.  That morning I had teamed up with Courtney and together we drove through 20mph headwinds, soft peanut butter roads, fresh gravel and eventually a seemingly endless stream of rolling hills.  I was determined to make the first checkpoint before the cut this time and we rode the bubble for the first 40+ miles, pouring every bit of strength into a 10mph average.  We made it in time, and had even managed to bank an 18 minute buffer, but the damage had been done.  We used up our savings at the convenience store in town and even borrowed a few minutes from the next checkpoint.  We set off feeling decent, but it wasn't long before I realized I didn't have it in me to reach the next checkpoint in time.  60 miles into the race I urged Courtney to go on without me.  I'd rather ride alone than cost him a shot at making it through.  A couple miles down the road he started pulling ahead.  I sat up and watched him head off.  A short while later I stopped to call Deb and asked her to pick me up in Hedrick, conveniently located about 100 miles into the course.  I set off again, eventually joining up with Dave Mable and the two of us finished out our Trans Iowa centuries together at the Hedrick city limits.

Charles, on the other hand, was not eating Chinese because he was too busy pollinating the landscape with his awesomeness.  He had ridden the race with the fast folks up near the front and managed a 6th place finish in his first Trans Iowa, despite losing his rear derailleur near the end.  Two racers passed him as he walked the last seven miles of the course.  I told him I couldn't believe he hiked the last stretch.  He responded with a hoarse "what else was I supposed to do?"

So I sat there eating my shrimp and scallops while reflecting on the day.  I DNF'd for the second year in a row, but this time I wasn't upset about it.  I had improved significantly on last years performance and managed to push myself harder than I thought I could.  Even though I was spent after 60, I still eeked out a hundy on course with a little help from Dave.  I felt like I had walked away with a couple minor victories in the wake of failure. 

This race is bigger than I am, but I'll keep coming back.  Someday I'm hoping steady improvement and a bit of luck with the weather will finally see me through.  Until that happens, I'll keep scratching for those little wins.  After all, the only way I can truly fail is to stop trying.

Until next time...