I went to Arizona, escaped the weather - I feel good about it!

IT, is being out of Wisco when it is cold there and snowing. 

Guilt.  Guilt is a funny thing.  Generally, I think guilt is for left handed people.  A G is a letter that looks ok when written by a left handed person. Not sure why that it is, but I kinda like it that way. Any way, as I said - no guilt over the whole thing here.

It finally turned to winter at home. I saw it coming, so I got the hell out of there. Cannot really say I have anything good to say about winter thes days. Everyone out there should realize that snow and ice are actually water in a few of its various frozen states. I don't want to go all science on everyone, but in order for water to get into that state the temperature has to be below freezing. WTH?  Wake up everyone, cold is not comfortable.  I am not making this stuff up either, right here on the Smithsonian Web Site it agrees with me.  When water freezes, it is cold out!

We are going to dominate this trail.

So Arizona it was. Pretty much certain that it wasn't going to freezing water and slapping that stuff down on me there. Loaded up the family, mountain bike stuff and supercross watching paraphernalia and headed to the frequent flyer website. Cashed it all in and beat it to AZ.

Before you go all J. Alfred Prufrock on me, just remember...it's cold in Wisconsin. Damn cold. Freeze your boogers cold. Humans just were not meant for that kind of cold. If we were, we would have a lot more hair. And don't start with the "where's your hair dude jokes". If I could grow a mullet again I would. Dang that was a hairstyle for the ages. In fact, I saw a chick with the most spectacular mullet, maybe ever, just yesterday. Yep, kinda makes you want to go and listen to some Journey or old Metallica right now. (not that newer shaved head Metallica either).  Go down the stairway at my house, and you will see a picture of me with a mullet.  I wasn't even trying back then, and I had one.  If I could grow one now... Because, a BB gun is a good gift, a football is not.

So, Arizona. Sunshine, cactus, girls with less clothes on, MTB riding, burritos, more riding, sunshine and burritos. Yes, I did put up burritos twice. I just put it up twice, because putting it up 5 times would be really redundant.

We really didn't have a huge plan when we left, but we did have MTB shoes , sunscreen and a credit card along for the ride. So here is the summary of the days.
Wednesday - MTB ride, Mexican food
Thursday- MTB ride, Mexican food
Friday - MTB ride, Mexican food (I think it is a law or something there)
Saturday - MTB ride, Mexican food, Supercross race.
It was nearly the perfect few days. There was more that went on, but if you want to bail out now - you pretty much have it from there.

I am a simple person.  Give me a 2 wheeler, some sun, some Mexican lunch everyday - and I am pretty much pink.  Throw in my family and friends to do it with, and I am all topped. 

I think it is a law there or something.

We rode a few different rides.  (Even though I can eat the same burrito over and over for lunch, I do like some variety in my riding.) 

South Mountain!  I hear pointing is the way forward.

South Mountain.  I have been there a few other times over the years.  We use those trails for testing in the winter all the time.  I remember riding there back in the day, when Gary and I were working on Genesis Geometry.  (That is showing my age again.)  But, I got to show it all to Liz and the girls, so I got to be the one that knew all the routes.  I kinda like being mister know it all, in case you hadn't caught on to that yet.  Liz and I found a trail I had not ridden on the 3rd day, and for good reason.  Turned out to be an hour long hike a bike.  Ah, the joys of a new trail.  Regardless, it was super fun.  Did I mention how much I like the Remedy I was on?  Geez.

Black Canyon trail.  I cannot say enough about how much fun it is.

Black Canyon trail.  Wow.  What a difference.  Where South Mountain is rocky and technical, Black Canyon was super flowy and huge amounts of fun.  We rode a loop called Little Pan Loop.  It was beyond cool.  If you go, bring the Remedy and do it counter clockwise.  There is a super payout in the second half of the ride with 30 minutes of flowing downhill.  Brilliant.

Looking forward to doing it again.

Now off to Brussels Belgium for work for the week. No riding, but it will be nice and cold and rainy.  Can you say "I wish I was still in Arizona riding my MTB", of course you can - you just did to yourself.

Self Explanatory.

Out till the next one,

Joe

 

Yep. I've Got Heroes!

I've got heroes.  You wouldn't necessarily know it by looking at me.  You might find yourself saying "wow, a good looking guy with your hairline has heroes?"  Oh yeah, is what I can say.  I mean, if I had invented something really cool like that stuff that makes the water run right off your windshield of if I could find a way to make the perfect oatmeal in half the time - and patent it - then I would be a hero also.  Maybe I would not even feel the need to continually read cheap novels on airplanes. 

If you think about it the perfect oatmeal is out there somewhere.  Sometimes you are not even thinking about it and you combine just the right amount of oats, water, almonds, walnuts, berries, peaches, organic yogurt...gets me excited just writing that all out like that.  Lately, I have been combining the oats with an egg and Cinnamon.  You just drop the egg in when the water is pretty much gone, and then a grop of Cinnamon and there you have it.  Near perfection....  I just wonder though, what if you put the peanut butter right in there also?  hmm... 

But, I digress.  It is so easy to get carried away.  When is that National Oatmeal Day again? 

Oh yeah, heroes.  Not that goofy show either.  Although, there was a girl on there that could throw herself out of a window and get just horribly mangled on the ground.  Arm bent around her back the wrong way, collarbone pushed out there her skin, neck broken and head pointing in the wrong direction, leg twisted around backwards etc...  Really gruesome looking.  But, she would just straighten herself out and be right as rain.  Kind of Oracle like.  It was pretty cool.  Almost made the show worth watching, but it went downhill from there. 

I do have a serious list of heroes though, and even some brushes with greatness on my part. 

Here is my version of all of that.

1.  Eddy Merckx.  That is easy to say, I know.  "I like that guy from Belgium who won alot.  You know, the guy with the slobber coming out of his face while he annihilated his competition.  You know, the guy with his name on the bike".  Anybody of my age in cycling will say Eddy Merckx and then kinda look up at the sky and go all dreamy about cold Belgium training days and attacking over and over at the Giro. Eddy would tell you he was going to win that day, and then go crush his competition flat, twice - just to make his point.

2.  Roger De Coster.  "The Man"  If you are only into cycling and reading this, you might not know who Roger De Coster is.  But, Roger is affectionately known as "The Man" in the motocross world.  You see, I grew up with anything 2 wheels.  I raced motocross as a kid, and bicycles all through my college years.  Roger was the stuff of legends.  He won at a time when the sport was a European only sport, but then also won when it was becoming an american sport.  He still is known as The Man.

I have my own story about those 2.  I was a kid in high school, living in Belgium.  I was just off a few years of racing motorcycles and just getting into bicycle racing.  It was 1978.  I was playing tennis in a tournament in Belgium (that is a story in an of itself), I was playing on one court, and on the court right next to me was Eddy Merckx playing a match with Roger De Coster!  Holy crap.  2 of my lifelong heroes right there next to me.  It was the greatest moment of my life (give me a break, I was like 17). 

Fastforward about 25 years.  Trek and Eddy Merckx are trying to put together a deal.  I flew over to visit Eddy at his place in Belgium, then he and I hopped a plane to Italy to visit his suppliers.  I WENT TO ITALY WITH EDDY MERCKX!  I mean pinch me - jesus.  I was riding along in a car with Eddy Merckx - in Italy!  If I would have died right then, it would have been on a huge huge high.  But wait, it get's even better.  (Bring it around Joe). 

Eddy drives about 120 mph everywhere he goes, to top that off he has like 3 cell phones going all the time.  He can rapid fire switch between English, French, Flemish and Italian. We stayed at a little hotel in northern Italy that they knew him when he walked in.  We had dinner at a restaurant, where they knew him when he walked in the door.  He is Eddy Merckx after all.  On the 2nd day, I told him about playing tennis next to him on the court in Brussels in 1978.  He got a kick out of that.  He got such a kick out of it, he dialed up Roger De Coster on the phone and we spoke to him while bombing around in northern Italy.  Ok, that is just too cool for words.  I have a huge smile on my face, just writing all that.

But wait, it get's even better.  Sometime later, I was at an Annaheim Supercross race and my friend Zapata introduced me to Roger De Coster.  Holy looping of my life in circles batman.  I am so going to play that Kevin Bacon game this weekend.  Just a couple of Andy Warhol moments.

I have more heroes, but it all kinda pales from here.

3.  Rain Man.  You know, because he was right.  Those places do suck.

4.  Anyone that can ride a wheelie or a manual.  Yep, if you can - you're my hero.  I am convinced that it is genetic.  You are either born with the wheelie gene or not.  You will see a person that can ride a wheelie and they can be about 10.  They are just able to do it.  One handed, seated, standing, talking etc...  I always wanted to be able to ride a wheelie.  I still cannot.  I should have chosen my parents better.

5. Fulton beer company.  I really dig the IPA.  Just thought I would throw in some random commercialism.  I did just enjoy one though.

The girl at the pub in Minneapolis airport that sold me this called it an "Indian" beer.

6. That kid that can play the guitar like Jack Johnson.  Surely you have seen that.  There is only one thing that I wish that could have done in my life almost as much as a professional cyclist or professional offroad motorcycle racer (ya, there is a 2 wheel theme there).  I wish I could play the guitar.  I would so like to rock a bunch of slits in my jeans and a Slash top hat. Plus, I could play guitar with Fergie singing with me.  Duh.

7.  The guy that made the video "Marcel The Shell With Shoes On".  It is pretty much the coolest most pointless video of all time.  It makes you think.

 

8.  Mr. YouTube.  Oh how much entertainment and enlightenment can be provided.

9.  Gary Fisher.  Thank god for all his whackiness.  I don't really know if he invented the mountain bike or if some random dude in Germany did.  Whoever did thank you, but we should all thank Gary for inventing the mountain bike business.  Without him, we would all be playing golf or something like that.

10.  Honey Badger.

11. Mr. Peet.  Without him, mornings would be alot less amped up.  I travel.  Traveling has it's ups, it's downs and it's just plain old is.  There are lots of downs, like no Oatmeal and no bicycles.  But, think of how you feel when you see the Peet's coffee sign.  You can find a Starbucks just about anywhere.  But, Starbucks is not special.  Mr. Peet provides the special all that for us. 

That Peet Guy.  Now there is a hero.

Out.

Joe

Go see the Wizard, the cracking good place that is OZ!

Why exactly do they call it OZ anyway?

Got up this morning in Melbourne.  I almost said woke up, but that would imply that I actually slept.  Geez Jet Lag sucks.  What is up with time zones anyway?  Isn't it Buckarooo Banzai who said "wherever you are, there you are."?  I do not trust that guy anymore, I don't care if it is the 5th dimension or not either.  Oh well, I figure it isn't anything that cannot be solved with a bunch of coffee and some Kangaroo boxing.  Nothing like being kicked in the head by a Kangaroo to wake you, that's what I always like to say.

Regardless of not sleeping or not, I am not going to let this go to waste. That is a little bit of heaven right there. I mean it is not Oatmeal, but it has a bit of Oats in it!

Plus, it is going to be a while until I see that temperature at home.

Growin up Merican, there has always been something about Australia.  The fact that it hangs off the bottom of the planet, that north is south, the whole Mad Max thing, Santa comes in a bikini vs. snowsuit, there are exotic weird animals, there is the quaintness of being part of the British Commonwealth (means they somehow have a queen), Crocodile Dundee, the whole “Ute” thing, tons of crazy words that mean the same things that you and I use standard words for, the whole Australian accent thing…  Although we all speak the same language, I have to admit that much of the Aussie language is nearly impossible for me.  I hear the mostly hear the words, but do not always understand it.

I had a fun filled work extravaganza of 3 days planned.  Not much to see a new place, but it was all I had.  Melbourne – Canberra – Sydney. 

When I got off the plane, I was greeted by about 72 really smiling Australians.  That will be the first thing you will notice going to Australia.  People are happy.  Really happy.  Why wouldn’t they be?  The whole Mad Max rebellion appears to be over, the rest of the world has basically left them alone to tend to one of the greatest places on earth.  The customs official smiled and engaged everyone that she saw.  She must have said mate to me at least 5 times during our 1” of interaction.  I am pretty sure we are best friends now.

They have one of these there in Melbourne.  Cool - I think.

Phil, Jason, Jono and Simon were my guides for the day.  They are all former professional cyclists.  I was definitely the weakest one of them all.  They were spectacular at showing me the place.  I did not get to have any weird Australian food, but I did drink 27.6 espresso shots, and I am pretty convinced that is what kept me from getting more than about 6 total hours of sleep for the 3 days I was there. 

Melbourne

Melbourne feels a lot like Portland, but with a beach. Great coffee shops,  a hip side and a high end side and everything in between.  I visited a great bunch of Trek dealers, had a beer at the ESPY and went for a great ride along beach road. 

I am told that beach road has about 10,000 cyclists on it on a weekend day.  I believe it.  I was there on a rainy Sunday, and saw more than 1000 cyclists in the morning there.  There had to be about 1000 coffee shops along the road as well.  There were plenty of coffee and bike shop combo’s as well.  I think I have died and gone to heaven. 

One of the 80 or so coffee shops along the ride in Melbourne!

 

Canberra

People say Canberra is the boonies (surrounded by bush – I just like saying that).  They say there is nothing to do there.  I frankly do not care.  I think it is maybe one of the greatest places that I could ever live.  There is fantastic MTB riding all over the hills, there is great road riding, it doesn’t really snow there – but there are snow fields (ski areas) about 2 hours away. 

I did a couple hour MTB ride at a place called Stromlo Forrest Park. 

Wow. 

Kilometer after kilometer of purpose built singletrack (single trail if your Aussie), a purpose built criterium course, a cyclocross area…  littered with Kangaroo and Wallaby.  Heaven as far as I’m concerned.  During our 2 hour ride, it rained a “build the ark” amount of water.  Water was flowing down the trail, super nice sandy tacky dirt that did not mud up on your bike – a flowy dh trail that I just wanted to go back up and do again.  I could not get my camera out, as it was pitching down, but I know that we saw at least 30 Kangaroo.  Dang that was cool. 

These guys actually do live all over the place in OZ.

We spent the day at our office there, and then visited the local Trek shop, then hoped a plane to Sydney.  (Yep, I did learn to spell it while I was there.)

You can see that sign all over Australia.  That is what it looks like outside of Canberra.

 

Sydney

Wow is all I can say about the place.  Wow.  Ok, I lied….here is more.

Spectacular Harbor – took a ferry across it.  Take a ferry across to Manly, you will not regret it.  The water in Sydney Harbor is unbelievably clean.  I saw a bunch of people in Manly walking down the street with surfboards in hand. 

Yes, the Opera House is every bit as impressive as you think it is. 

That was our view at dinner. 

The next day, we did an incredible road ride out to West End.  We saw 2 Wallaby along the way that had be just about the cutest thing you have ever seen.  I think the Aussies are a little bit annoyed with them, like we are with deer, but seriously you will want to take one home in your carry on. 

Sydney is a lot like Vancouver.  Super busy down town, surrounded by beautiful water, lots of cyclists etc…  If you get there, you want to stop in at Mecca coffee and order up a double Macchiatto (tell them I told you to) – you will never look at a Starbucks ever the same again.  Holy cow.

 

All in all, Australia feels like it is both part of history and part futuristic. At any time Mad Max is going to come ripping across the landscape and the cities feel like they are very forward looking. It is both exotic and exactly as you expect.  They make use of the English language better than most, they are maybe the most friendly people you will ever meet (including people like taxi drivers and immigration officials).  The coffee is great, they love cycling, the scenery is breathtaking and if your not careful you could end up running right into a Roo.

 

Australian coffee words

A Short Black is a shot of espresso in an espresso cup.

A Long Black is a shot of espresso mixed with half a cup of hot water. This is known in other countries as an “Americano."

A Macchiato is a shot of espresso with a drop of froth in an espresso cup.

A Vienna Coffee is a long black or Americano, topped with whipped cream and powdered cocoa.

A Flat White is a shot or two of espresso with steamed milk and no froth in a regular cup.

A Café Latte is a shot or two of espresso with steamed milk and touch of foam in a regular cup. (Duh, we all know that one.)

A Piccolo Latte is a mini latte, served in a smaller cup.

 

Australian bike words

Bra's = handlebars

Neck = stem

Gate = frame

Conrods = cranks

Stompers = pedals

chair = Saddle

chair stalk = Seat post

gear box = Rear dérailleur

inner tyres and outer tubes= Wheels

(I am totally going to use these descriptions from here forward for parts on bicycles)

 

Entirely unrelated to Australia, but shows a bit of how I felt while being there on the language thing.

 

 

Aussies are fascinated with a vehicle called a “Ute”.  It is not related in any way to a person from Utah and makes them entirely unique to the rest of us.  It is really the most impractical useless vehicle you have ever seen.  No payload capacity, can only take 2 people or one person and a bag of groceries, they look all business and party in the back (yep, like a mullet), cannot pull much of a trailer, cannot get more than a couple of bikes in the back, will not take a motorcycle, probably could not get more than about 3 bags of mulch…but that is all the things that make them cool beyond belief. 

Most pointless vehicle ever!  Glorious.

Why do they call it OZ?  Now that I have been there, I think I know why.  Surrender Dorothy!

Now that I have been there, I know why it is called OZ.

Good on you. Mate!

Joe

Stepping Into The Void

This is one of the most anticipated trips of the year for me. Since I was a kid, I have always wanted to go to Australia. Somehow, I think I will need a big knife or something. I really hope I have to wrestle a crocodile or box a kangaroo or something. I hope I can figure out the Australian Rules Football thing.  I hope I do not have to sit through a whole Cricket match.  (What is that game anyway?) I hope I don't die from a poison fish or man eating plant or or Hoop Snake or from one of the other 67.8 unique ways you can be killed in OZ.

Wish me luck that I don't get lost in the outback. Just sounds exotic saying it that way.

As I said, I have always wanted to go.  I think that maybe it is like a full time Mad Max set. You know, your mind does strange things to you when you are a kid.  I always thought that when I did go, I would travel through the outback in a jeep or something like that. This trip will not be like that, but I am still hoping for the Kangaroo ride.

I can dream, can't I?

Out.

The last trip of the year!

Here I am in Detroit.  I really like the name of this city.  If you say it in french, it is really exotic sounding.  "D-twa"  Almost seems like it would be a great place to come and sip wine or eat cheese filled snacks.

It is December.  I do this to myself every year.  I say I am not going to go on any big trips in December, so that I can spend more time with my family and do the Christmas thing.  You know, fondle leg lamps - watch the Grinch 17.6 times - dress in Whoville pajamas - eat coffee cake - fall asleep on the couch - polish bicycles - eat stupid little white cookies...all the things that everyone does at Christmas.  But, here I am again on my way out of town for a big trip.  Heading to Taiwan and then Australia.

I hope that I get another great flight experience around Asia like this one.  That was possibly the best flight ever taken.  (excuse the grammar in that post - I was pretty excited writing it.)

I have a couple of great bike rides planned while there.  I am also scheduled to wrestle a Crocodile and to ride a Kangaroo.  It is going to be fun.

If I need to, I am totally going to box with a Kangaroo.

Watch out for snakes and spiders.

Out.

joe

I'm Not A Christmas Shopper

I kinda like the concept of black friday.  You know, get it all done then,go early camp out outside of Best Buy, buy a bunch of crap for no better deal than you can get it on another day, keep the American Economy going, put up a bunch of commercialized Christmas junk outside your house...  Burn some kilowatts to tell everyone "Hey, I am a consumer and I dig this whole I'm out buying more stuff than you are thing."  But, who can be bothered?  All of the crowds and angst over buying more ham and getting through the check out counter with jars and jars of pickle juice.

So, I figure I will just get everyone a cycling something or other and that way they can go ride their bikes whenever they can.

But, If I could go out and do some Christmas shopping like these guys did, I would.  (I would not be able to do it with a straight face though)

 

 

I am thinking of getting some of those footed Who Down In Whoville pajamas. Out.

 

Japan to Arkansas - I don't need to tell you that it is strange.

Last week I was in Japan. This week I am in Arkansas. I do not know if there is a larger difference in cultures that a person can experience in the period of 2 weeks. I mean, let's think about it for a minute:

Japan = lots of bowing, soft voices, more bowing...

Arkansas = jacked up pickup trucks, both country and western music...

Just sayin.

Last week started out with a Sunday 24 hour journey to get to Osaka.  I got the the Madison airport at 5am for a 6am flight, and was informed that my flight had been cancelled.  Not a great sign, but you learn to go with the flow.  I suppose there are people that fly through Madison even more than I do, but they know me by name there.  (which is kinda embarrassing)

Since I was on Delta, and I have exactly 4,564,791miles flown on that airline, they will take care of me when something like a missed/canceled flight happens.  Delta rerouted me and got me to Osaka at the same time that I was meant to get there in the first place.  Funny, when you are making the arrangements before hand there is nothing available except the flight that goes through Capetown South Africa. But when stuff hits the fan they can get you on the one that makes up the 2 hours of lost time in the original schedule.  Funny.

In Japan I attended our Asian country manager meetings and spent a day at Shimano.  Of course there were a few good dinners.  I kinda like Japanese food, so it is pretty cool to be there and get it from the source. 

1st day - meeting at our office is Osaka.  Lots of reviews with various country managers and great discussions about opportunities in each market for product development and marketing stuff.  I kinda like that sort of stuff, as that is what I am meant to do in my job.  I like it when my business card actually matches what I am doing on a given day. 

Not too different there, but we did eat it with chopsticks.  Lunch at the office.

That evening, we had dinner with a few different people from Shimano Japan.  It was fun to see and to talk to a bunch of people from Shimano that I have known for 20 years.  It is really amazing that some of the same people who were once our account representative or something like that are now directors of global functions at Shimano.  Pretty cool. 

We did have a great meeting at Shimano. We talked about a bunch of future developments and efforts together.  But, I cannot show you or tell you those.  Just know that it is going to be some pretty cool stuff.  Stay tuned. 

We had to take our shoes off at the door of the restaurant.  You can guess which shoes are mine.

Lots and lots of great courses in the meal, all presented like this.

I think we would call this Tempura at home, but I do not think we would have this cool Japanese chef at a restaurant that was over 100 years old cooking for you. 

The meal with Shimano did have about 97.6 courses in it.  Here is the list I took down.  Of course I gained at least 17 lbs eating that meal.  Off season is great.

Dinner in Osaka
- kelp tea
- beer
- sea urchin and tofu skin
- cod fish, shrimp, sea weed
- more beer
- sashimi, halibut, tuna, squid
- long slim Snapper, called sweet face Snapper
- more beer
- shrimp tempura, dipped in sauce
- sake
- sand fish tempura, dipped in sauce
- potato tempura, dipped in salt
- more sake
- mushroom tempura, dipped in sauce
- squid tempura, dipped in lemon and salt
- more sake
- lotus root tempura, dipped in sauce
- swordfish tempura, dipped in salt
- more beer
- corn tempura dipped in salt
- ginkgo nuts tempura dipped in salt
- potato with sweet bean tempura not dipped
- gluten tempura dipped in sauce
- sea eel tempura dipped in sauce
- onion tempura dipped in salt
- kakiage tempura (shrimp and veggie cake - sweet potato mushroom lotus roots spinach/green something or other) served on rice with seaweed + mushroom miso soup. This was desert.
- finisher = fruit plate. (stuffed to gills)

The next day, we took the bullet train to one of the south Islands of Japan, and went to a factory that makes internal gear hubs and cranks.  Really precision stuff with lasers and robots going at full steam.  Felt a little like a scene from the Terminator.  Kinda creepy, but man is it cool stuff.  I was asked not to take photo's in the factory, so trust me it was cool.  I did snap some photo's of some of the cool stuff there though. 

Bullet train that we were boarding.  Dang is that cool or what?

Feels kinda like a Japanese video game. 

My guides for the factory tour day - Dave and YT from Shimano USA and the factory manager.  Sweet hats we were made to wear.

Test course behind the factory, for testing internal gear hubs.  I am coming back to train here before Paris Roubaix.

Lunch at the factory.  Not the same as a factory in the USA.

The next day we went for a great road ride in the mountains on Japan island.  I can describe the ride in a few words: steep, narrow, wrong side of the road (for me), sweet. 

We rode for 2 hours and it was great fun.  Saw monkeys, stopped at a waterfall, raced a climb with Sitoshi and lost, tore down the other side on the opposite side of the road which felt weird and then finished in a little village.  Crazy cool. 

We stopped at a cool waterfall.  People thought I was a pro Leopard Trek rider - NOT! (Who is the old guy with Andy's fat day kit on?)

The week ended with another ride, some quality time spent in a Japanese Starbucks, listening to christmas music already.  Basking in the glow of espresso and weird little fish snacks. 

These things can best be described as Fish Jerky.  Dried little hard fish snacks.  Definitely not the same as a cookie or chips and salsa.

 

Arkansas

If you know me, you know that I regularly say "The rednecks have inherited the best parts of the USA."  I actually mean that in a really good way.  Deep down, I am a redneck as all of us mountain bikers really are.  The woods is where we feel best and the best woods are in the non populated parts of the country.  People refer to the locals there as rednecks.  I suspect that is ok with them, as they truly have inherited the best parts of the country. 

Arkansas is one of those places.  If you haven't been there, you need to go.  My brother and I have been going there and enjoying the riding for years.  Now that his kids are grown, as are mine, it is a great time of doing some multi-generational family mountain biking.

I arrived home on Friday night from Japan.  We got ourselves loaded up on Saturday and left to make the 14 hour drive during the middle of the night early Sunday morning.  Drove all day, and arrived during the storm of the century.  8.5" of rain in 24 hours.  Yes, it was a spectacular flood.  Kind of a build the ark and gather the animals type of feeling. 

So here I find myself in the land of jacked up pick ups, Walmart and both country AND western music.  (Neither of which are my style, as you would it is hard to find that on a Pearl Jam album).  But, we are doing some sweet riding, in the mud and after it dried out in the perfect tacky traction that is always those first couple of days after a huge storm.  Sweet. 

Here is a 5 minute video of me following my nephew and brother with the helmet cam.  It is XC, so not as exciting as a DH film but it is riding and it is always fun.

 

 

Out.

Joe

Weird "Science"

Sometimes things just happen that are pretty weird. Sometimes they are actually beyond strange and could even be called bizarre. We have security on our computer system at work. When we upgraded from abacus's to computers back in the stone age (remember, I am actually older than dirt), I was asked to create a password. I started with the password “xxxxx” on my email account.

We have a stupid system there that makes you change the password on a regular basis. I don’t even know how often (all too frequently is all I know). Seems like you just are getting to where you have it changed everywhere, and you are being asked to change it again. Geez. Being of limited brain capacity, I just could not be bothered. So, I did what any of us would have done,I added a 1 to the back of my password when I was told to change my password, giving me “xxxxx1”.

I have been adding 1 to the previous number ever since (xxxxx2, xxxxx3 and so on), every time I have been prompted for years. Yes, I am that lazy, and that unconcerned with my computers security. I am now on “xxxxx50”, and I am 50. There must me some sort of law of probabilities that affects that.  And I do not mean like speed limit laws.

Weird.

I think it might even be science. At a minimum it’s a math thing, and math is hard.

Out. Joe

Math is Hard!

Some foods just can't be mixed.

My dog will eat just about anything together, that is when she decides to eat.  Some dogs will eat whenever their food is put down, other dogs seem to not actually need to eat. I really do not understand how my dog can eat about 16 calories on average per day, yet burn about 10000 calories per day in activity.  She gets a long walk every morning in the park off the leash (which means tearing around chasing things), she plays fetch in the yard every day, she wrestles with me when I get home from work everyday, she does a couple of 1-2 hour MTB rides per week, etc... and she might eat something tomorrow.  WTH?  I really do not understand how that works.

When she does eat, you can mix some peanut butter, with chicken type canned food, some rice and some stale old dry food together and she will eat it.  Or, you can put just one of those things down and when she decides to eat, that is what she eats. 

I once convinced my nephew to eat some catfood.  It was an interesting experience, for me.  Not too enjoyable for him, as it did not stay down.  Too bad. 

I once entered a hot pepper eating contest, that did not end too well for me, for hours, but that is a completely different story. 

Try that method of mixing a bunch of different foods with your kids.  It is always fun to see their reaction. 

But, why is it that some foods should not be mixed.  Like, why wouldn't you put hot tamale sauce on pasta?  Why wouldn't you put honey on your vegetables?  I hear there are people who do not understand something like a shrimp enchilada.  I love the things.  I like ketchup on eggs though also. 

Here is a list of things that should not be mixed.

- broccoli or cauliflower should never be eaten on pizza.

- frog in a cantaloupe.  This is probably one of the weirdest things I was ever asked to eat.  In Taiwan, cantaloupe sliced in half with a cooked frog floating in it.  Could just be a bad memory, as it was really weird.

- what is a gyro anyway?

- tomato juice with just about anything.  Actually, shouldn't tomato juice just be tossed out anyway?

- I don't think a gel pack should mostly ever be eaten.  They are pretty good for attracting bees, but not much else. 

After a tough day, I find this is an excellent remedy.  Actually a Trek Remedy is good for just about anything also.

That was a plate of Shrimp enchiladas.  They were excellent.  Goes with pretty much anything.

I like yogurt in my oatmeal, by the way.  I once stayed in a Knights Inn, I do not recommend that to pretty much anyone.  It is good for putting perspective on things if you stay there for one night per decade, but if you stay there more than that you have just lost your standards. 

Surrender Dorothy!

No caption necessary.

 

Fall Trail Party!

I kinda like a good party.  Not necessarily the kind where everyone drinks too much, although those happen as well.  (See my post on the party at my house this summer with the pro riders from Team Leopard Trek and KSwiss...I mean, why else do you think we all ended up in the pool with our clothes still on?).  But, I really dig the kind of parties that involve mountain bikes, burning stuff, music, night riding, beer, pizza or burritos... 

Yep, we had one of those last week.  It all started a long time ago.  We thought... we should have a piece of property that we could ride our mountain bikes on here at work.  I started looking around and found, just across the river, a farmer that had 165 acres that was not being used and was covered by trees.  They were delighted to have someone lease the property.  We built trails, and it was on from there forward.

We bought the adjacent piece of property and now have about 250 acres just across the river.  We have a couple of dirt jump lines, we have a bunch of XC trails of a lot of different abilities.  We have some expert only lines with mandatory big drops, mandatory doubles, rock fields, pump lines etc...  It is pretty much a paradise right across the river.

It also is a great place to have a party, and it gives us a great reason to have a party.  We like to have a bonfire, go for some night rides, listen to some live music, eat pizza made on site by the pizza guy etc... 

We've got some music, a couple of bonfires and of course beer and pizza!  Now it's a party.

I am pretty dang proud of the trails we have.  Here is another view of them.  The location is secret and private, but someday I would love to take you on the trails.

 

Out, for a completely sane and sensible blog post.  Don't worry.  I will be less relevant again in the future.

Joe

You must make a sacrafice to the god of fantastic trails at a Fall Trail Party!