Can you take it over any jumps ?

Buddy, James (behind buddy), Slick Rick, the real Joey T, Ted Logic, Roadie Mike, Green Trek John, Amazin' Andrew, Fitzy, Kurtee all joined me for a fantastic voyage today...

Back in the early days of my Wooden Wheels rein of terror, we rode from the shop every Wednesday night. One of the best loops we used to do was the 4 park ride. The goal was basically hit as many of the local parks in a loop, (Carpenter, Fairhill, Rittenhouse, and Iron hill) that we could and be back to the shop before dark.

out my door, 4 minutes to Fairhill trail head... this is 7:33 am...

These rides evolved into the Ted Logic Death Marches, as Ted would hold 3 hour plus rides leaving from his house in Newark, riding straight up the road out 273 to Fairhill. Then work the trails all they way back to his house connecting what is now White Clay, Carpenter, Middlerun all into one sick loop. Ted would have these rides on early Saturday mornings, and they were one of our key preparations for 24hr races...

Today, 10 hearty souls showed up at my house at 7:30 am, to continue the tradition of the 4 park ride, the Ted Logic Death Marches. I had dreamed up a loop for a while connecting Fairhill, Carpenter, White Clay, Central Middlerun, and of course the Judge Morris section. So I was excited as we headed out this morning.

My new toaster...

The ride was awesome. For about the first half of the ride I had Joey on my wheel. It has been great having him in town, and he had me laughing most of the ride, talking shit, about this or that. Hell, sometimes he was just making noises. It was good. Up one climb Buddy and I were riding side by side with Joey, and we were huffing pretty good. Joey is totally calm. Like he was going for an easy walk. I asked Joe to at least fake it.
So he did and that was funny.

Slick Rick's new Toaster...

Let me wax nostalgic on you here. I remember Joey when he was a 14 year old kid and started riding with us. It's pretty awesome to see him grown up. I love following his blog, and his stories as he lives the life out in CO. I miss having him in the community, but I am proud as shit to be able to say I know that kid, and hope I was a positive influence on him. Joey has invited all of us out to Durango. He said Todd has a nice pad and we can crash there... sweeeeeet! Joey rocks... Okay, you can put the tissues away now...

Joey speaks of the virtues of Durango...

The pace was very even, and everyone rode really well. We didn't have any big breaks except for Kurtee who had a triple flat. Let me explain, first he flatted the rear, and then while fixing it notices that his front has flatted too, then the first tube he used to fix the rear was flat, so he had the triple flat.

A little over 3 hours in, we passed Les and company on the judge, and the realization came that we had a ways to go to get home. I tried to conjure up the most direct route home I could. It was tough stuff. And while the first 3 hours could be characterized as glib and pretty funny, that last hour was pretty quite.

In the end we did 46 miles, 5 parks, in just over 4 hours. It was epic, and truly a great ride.

Andrew took a pricker in the face early, but liked the war paint look and stuck with it for the ride... Andew has become one of the toughest guys I get to ride with... He is a sick dude...

When I got home, I found Diane nursing an injury. She had gone over to White Clay with Tab to ride the skills trail. She rode the entire thing, including the new teeter totter, but caught a tree coming off of it.

Wait a second my wife was riding the skill section at white clay, and in a sick strange way when she said, "honey, I cleaned the teeter totter but stacked it into a tree with too much speed coming off of it..." I thought it was one of the sexiest things she had ever said to me, and I was strangely aroused. Is that wrong? My wife rules...

Anyway, it was great ride. Great day.

Respect
fatmarc

Swimming with Sharks...

Secret Henry's Team Unite !! SSHHH don't tell anyone...
Dan the man, Slick Rick, and Fatmarc...

With trails being really wet, I headed down to the Peoples World Championships. Much to my dismay, with the exception of the FSVS boys, the bulk of the fastest, meanest, toughest, road dudes where there. Seriously heavy hitters, and me, I�m a tadpole swimming in a sea of sharks.

Postal Dave, who is strong as shit, but hasn't up graded yet , " I don't want to ride straight up 273"

Sick Fast Tri Guy Mark, " why don't you go find another cat 7 race ?"

You could smell the testosterone in the parking lot.

Slick Rick and Super Fast Tri Guy Mark-

This ride is usually brutal, but tonight I guess everyone really wanted to stretch out the ole legs, after days of indoor riding. At just about an hour in, my main homie Mr.Ying stated we were averaging 26 mph. Shortly there after I was exploded all over the road. A couple years ago I dedicated a season to road racing. I did this ride every week. I knew where to be in the pack, I knew the sprint lines, hell I'd even steal one from time to time. I was at the front. Now despite the fact that I feel like I'm riding strongly, I've gotten my ass handed to me the last 2 times I've ridden the People World Championships. Part of it is I don't know the loop anymore, part of it is I know I'm not as comfortable in the pack, going that fast. Part of it is, fucking aye road racing is hard, it's not my focus, and who the hell am I to think I can show up once a month and be in this thing. It's a lot of fun, suffering and good. So yeah, I'll be back...

Dan the man put it all in perspective though, "luckily, mountain biking isn't a pack sport." Usually, the ride is an hour and half. Tonight it was an hour twenty. I rode in with Dan the man and we talked shit. That guy is so cool. I miss having him at the shop, he's reping now, which is good for him, so I have to take advantage of days where I explode, and he is tapering to catch up.

the cool down laps...

All in all I got to see a lot of guys that are cool, that I don't usually see as given a choice to ride trails or road, I'm usually gonna pick the trails.

Thanks for the ass beating. I'll continue to show up once a month or so, and hopefully before the end of the year, I'll finish one with the grouppetto.


Respect
Fatmarc

I love my Spot Brand T-shirt ! 

Baby Tee...

So a few weeks ago Jessica sent out a generous package of swag for theGranogue Single Speed Race. In that package were a couple of Spot Brand BabyT's. They were very cool and had of course the Spot Brand Logo on the front.This morning LWebb's daughter Megan, came downstairs wearing one of the babyT-s. Megan is in second grade and was really excited to be sporting her newSpot Brand Baby Shirt to school. LWebb didn't know she had it, but thoughtit was cool and was happy to have Megan dressing so stylishly. LWebb asks Megan, " did you feed the fish yet?" To which Megan replies, "notyet mommy" Megan turns and grabs the fish food and walks over to the tank.LWebb notices that there is something cryptically written on the back of theshirt.
"spin " can't quite make it out...

"spinyour" almost...

"spinyourtitsoff"...

LWebb asks her husband Brian, "Brian does that say what I think it's says?"
Brian confirms it, "Yup"

"Oh My!" LWebb instantly has visions of being called into the principal's office at her daughter's school trying to explain why her 8 year olddaughter was wearing a shirt refering to the spinning of tits.

Megan looks at the back of the shirt and tries to sound it out, but can'tquite nail it down through the cryptic writing. She inquires,"mom, dad, what's it say? you have to tell me... common !"LWebb replies, "Megan, can you change that t-shirt, it's fine for home andaround town, but not for school..." Megan complies, "Aww Mom, you won't letme do anything..."

I think we have a break from the rain today. I'm gonna try to get to the Peoples World Championships tonight, as I think the trails are gonna need a day or so to dry out... Well see how badly I get my ass kicked, last ride with these boys was a humbling experience for sure...

respect
fatmarc

do you remember rock and roll radio ?

Ramones- Saw 'em a couple of times, I was lucky...

Being squeezed between BALT/DC and Philly, historically we have been pretty lucky to have our fair choices of radio stations. Y100 in Philly, which played poppy alternative stuff and WHFS in Balt/DC, which played a similar style but had a much deeper play list.

Regardless, this spring saw both stations die a firey death. Y100 went rap, and WHFS went Latino. Now, I understand the dollars and cents of the decision, the urban market is hot right now, and the Latino market, is incredibly brand loyal, and frankly is the fastest growing segment of our economy. But, I digress, regardless of the reasons, the end of these 2 stations meant I didn't have shit to listen to on the radio...

Last week I was told the wonderful news that WHFS is back at 105.7 on your dial. It was my extreme pleasure as we bounded through Maryland this weekend to enjoy hearing my favorite DJ's voice, Gina Crash, and lots of music that I felt like I either owned or knew the words to. A small victory for the battle of rock and roll, but surely a meaningful one...

Slick Rick had to deal with my driving today... 

French Creek:

SS Dan. After a week of partying at the beach, He makes it home for the ride. Gets dressed, warms up, goes to the bathroom, falls down and hurts his back. He pulls out of the race.
DNF/DNS? You may hear stories of a pack of rabid squirrels taking him down, or a break away gone wrong in a rock garden, or even a topless woman causing him to look away and trip and fall. Truth be told, he slipped in the bathroom. The good news is SS Dan looked really rough. Week at the beach bender rough. It was probably for the best that he didn't race today. Get some rest my friend and drink lots of fluids.

Jebbager on a cross bike.


Great course, tough competition, I had a really good time. Slick Rick rode with me in the toaster. He took 6th out of 27 in his class, which was brutal. Did I mention he did a road race Saturday? His comment about this was, "you do double race weekends every once in a while to remind yourself how stupid that is..."

I took fourth in the Elite Single Speed Class. When Did I become Elite? Anyway, field was 12 deep and all tough mofo's too. Rock Star E.Roman took the W, followed by Travis, and Wes the Conqueror.

I hadn't seen Eric, or Wes in a while so it was good to shoot the shit, and race with them again. For anyone worried, Wes is still the best looking bike racer out there and I swear could be a model. Diane concurs. The race was good, I can't say I was ecstatic with my ride, but I'm not totally disappointed either. Basically, I rode steady and consistent. Up the first climb, I saw Travis and Wes, they were right there, but really I wasn't sure how much gas was in the tank, I haven't done a ton of intensity yet this year. So I backed off a bit. Then they were gone.

At the end of the first lap Topher caught me on the final downhill, we exchanged pleasantries. He is riding very well, and French Creek is territory he gets to ride very often. I was lucky to get a little gap on him on the second lap, and to be able to hold him off. I was afraid the powers of his mystical beard would surely overpower me. Fortunately my sideburns provided enough defense from the darkside of the force.

My body feels kinda weird. Mentally, I just kept thinking of the bloody fucking fist, and just ground through my laps. I didn't have any big moves, no attacks, not even a particularly fast start. I just ground through the race.

This wasn't on the course but I like the picture.

Reality is in a 28 mile race, Roman took 9 minutes out of me, Travis and Wes both took 7. Yikes. These guys are fast. Despite being way off the podium, I was pleased to learn that I raced my age group I would have been 2nd, and of all experts today, I had the 17th fastest time. Not to shabby for a guy with pink sox huh? Still, lots of work to do, I can and will get stronger.

Jay, the promoter of the series was kind to me. I asked how deep SS was prizing, and he said 3rd, and asked where I finished. I told him 4th. He said he knew that was a tough class, and gave me a T-shirt. I told him he didn't need to do that, he smiled, and said, "I know, but I want to..." That was nice.

It was really good to be at a local race again. It was great to see all the folks I have been racing with for all these years, whether it was the WW boys, (Buddy, Todd are Elite SS too; Matt Andrew, Fitzy and Billduh! were in the endurance, Chris V, Jebbager, The NY posse), the Bike Line Guys, the Beans guys, Roman, Don M, Les Leach, Wes, Lauri and family, Gretna Bikes guys, Mike K, Kyle the freaking fast junior, and of course Chris, my internet friend, so many more that I can't all list. You get the point, I felt at home again.

Met Diane at Iron Hill in Newark where we destroyed a plate of Nachos. I also had a cup of Gumbo. Everything was superb. We had really nice waitress too. Good Stuff, Well I have to go cut my grass now...

Respect
Fatmarc.

Ride of Silence....

This is Andrew. In November of 1998 he was hit by a car in Newark and killed. I miss him in my life. That's all I have to say about that.

Diane, L.Webb, Andrew, Dougie Fresh and Family all participated in this:

Ride of SilenceOn Wednesday, May 18, members of the White Clay Bicycle Club (WCBC) will ride through the City of Newark in a silent procession honoring bicyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. This ride is being held in conjunction with the Ride of Silence organization. Rides are planned in more than fifty cities across the United States this year. Newark was chosen as a Ride of Silence site because of the high concentration of cyclists at the University of Delaware and the number of bicycle/motor vehicle related collisions in the city. Thirty-two bicycle/motor vehicle collisions were documented in a two-year period between April 2002 and June 2004. The Ride of Silence will proceed through the city of Newark for ten miles at approximately 10 miles per hour. The event is not limited to WCBC members--anyone is welcome to ride. There are no registration fees, no sponsors, and no t-shirts. Additional information is also available at www.rideofsilence.org.

the sun shines on every dog's ass, even the Spot Brand Whore...

L. Webb....

winning ugly... 

Lodi Farms…
It’s 1:30 Monday morning. For the first time this weekend I have just slept 6 hours straight. I feel like a million bucks. This weekend Lauri W (L.Webb) and I raced in the Duo division of the 12 hours of Lodi Farms. There were 25 teams in our class, 23 of which were all male. Yeah. We won it. Much to our shock, much to our pleasure, we took the top spot on the podium. If you could look though your computer to see my face, you’d see a tired, bruised, and battered smiling Spot Brand Whore. I am also confident that if you could see L.Webb and Fitzy, they are sleeping soundly with the same huge smile.

Not an ad for the toaster, but it could be...

L.Webb;Fitzy and Me- not feeling so jiggy...

Below are some random thoughts from the weekend:

The Course:
The course was outstanding 90% single track, lots of tight twisty trails, although there were no long climbs, you were constantly going up a little or down a little. The trails were littered with roots, and off camber sections. Lots of switch backs too. Basically, if we designed the course ourselves, it couldn't have been more to our liking.

L.Webb getting it done

Fitzy and L.Webb get just the right gear...

Johan
Fitzy, managed our camp site, our team, made sure our bikes were ready, we were fed, and that we knew our splits to the other teams. This guy just makes everything happen for us. Basically, once the race starts all we had to do was ride, eat, and rest. For the record,
managing endurance teams, Fitzy has won the last three teams he supported. In fact, he has never lost a race as team manager. On the drive down, he was saying he wanted to stay undefeated as a team director. L.Webb and I kinda cringed. We knew we could do well, but didn't know what to expect being a co-ed team in all male division. We hoped for a top 5, maybe a podium, be the first Chick and Dude team maybe. On the way home, we changed Fitzy's nickname to Johan. He is freaking awesome. I'm not sure I ever want to do an endurance race without him.

13 is a magic number
In the end, L.Webb and I did 13 laps. We were one of only 5 teams of the entire 120 teams in the race, that managed 13 laps. We were pretty proud of that fact for sure.

The loop was 8.3 miles long, we doubled laps each time, which worked out well for us and gave us a chance to rest a little. I also thought it benefited us, because really the first mile or so of the course was I thought the toughest from a climbing standpoint, a couple of quick steep ones, that first time through kicked the crap out of you, but when you could hit them warmed up, you could get through them so much faster.

Do I have any vomit in my beard ?

Another downside of beards:
So Andrew (our teammate who was riding a solo this weekend) and L.Webb have more experience in solo endurance races. They both use this stuff called Ensure to replenish calories during the race. The past week or so I have been experimenting with the stuff. I'd suck one down before a hard ride, and frankly everything was fine. I figured coupled with my usual 24hr team race meal, I'd be good to go. Not so lucky. Starting my third lap, my stomach felt awful. I was burping Ensure, and anytime I drank anything, my stomach swirled. Just after the first section of climbing the single track dumps you into a field, I hurled everything; right over the bars. Best of all I never stopped moving. I just kept pedaling. Worst part of it, and again something folks never tell you about a beard, is that vomit will get stuck in it. So the rest of my ride, I had just a little Ensure Vomit in my chin hairs. Just enough to have a faint smell of that milky goodness. I had to scrub pretty hard to get that out. Yuck.

The race gets Hot
I caught the leaders on my 4th lap. It was almost 6:00am, and the sun was coming up. Stomach was feeling better although I could still smell ensure in my beard. Through out the lap I would get close to him, and then he would counter attack me. Finally on the last section maybe a mile from the transition area, I got around him. Down a fast twisty decent, he stayed pretty tight on my wheel. I slowed the pace to see if he was feeling spunky or not. I talked to him, "no sense killing ourselves now, we've got six more hours to fight this out huh?" with that I attacked the last little roller before the finish. I raced into the transition area about 30 seconds up. I saw L.Webb and said, "no pressure kid, but I just past the leader, and we're up by about 30 seconds." Give 'em hell...

Great racers, have a killer instinct. I am not a great racer. I am more of a grinder. I go, and I go, until I can’t. L.Webb is a great racer. She smells blood in the water, and has the instinctive drive to go for the kill; she knows right when to make the move. She came back from her laps, having built over a 3 minute lead on second place.

Ricky D riding for the US Postal Service delivers...

Single Speeds Everywhere:
This race by and far had more single speeders than any 24/12/18 hour race I have done before. It was really cool. Usually at these things folks look at me on a single and are just baffled, not so today, I'd say there were probably 50 or so folks busting out on the single speeds. That was cool. Ricky D, Joe P, Stoner, (who won 3 man sport also with 13 laps) had the best team name: US Postal.

The Crying Game:
So I've done 15 team endurance races now. Starting with the 24hrs of Canaan in 1994. And in all 15, when it was all said and done, I cried my eyes out. I can't quite explain why, it just always happens. Maybe it's exhaustion, maybe it's the total commitment it takes to get through these races. Maybe I'm just weak. My teammates, know it's coming. This morning was no different, I talked to Diane on the cell before my last lap, she said, "don't you go and get choked up yet, you still have a job to do." Indeed I did. When Lauri was went out for her last laps, Fitzy looked at me, "don't you start yet, we aren't done." During the last section of the lap, I let loose. I was riding, and crying, like a fool. I zipped up the Spot Wool Jersey like I've seen guys do in Cycling videos, rode through the last section of the course and into the transition area. I rang the pink bell on my bike gave Joe P, a big high five, and thrust my arms in the air in victory. I don't get to win all that often, but I really savored every moment of that final 100 yards.

Our Home Base for the Weekend...

Thanks:
To the promoter for putting on a great race. Really well done. Race numbers for the bikes would have made it easier to track who was in your class, but in the end, I guess it didn't matter. Check this out, the promoter paid out cash to each class. That was cool. IF Steve, who took second in solo with 12 laps, said it among the most loot he ever won. He was super cool, I was glad to meet him. Look forward to seeing him at Big Bear. As a single speeder, I don't get to win cabbage all that often, so when we got an envelop very generously stuffed, I was really stoked. We split it up 3 ways evenly, and promptly spent it at Wawa on junk food and coffee for the ride home.

Thanks to all our sponsors Spot Brand, Independent Fabrications, Henry's Bike Shop, Howard at Newark B-Line, To Dansko for the use of the Pop Up and all our Homies in the WW posse.

Thanks to the Professor who has kept me focused and on track this spring, and has helped me find my legs again.

Quotes :

"Sorry I'm late guys, there's a national holiday I didn't know about it's National Asshole Day and every A-hole was out on the road today."

"Oprah says you should fart 13 times a day. I think I'm good until Wednesday next week"

Numbers:
# of teams : 120
# of Solo Riders: 61
# of teams in duo class: 25
Teams doing 13 laps : 5
Miles per Lap: 8.3
Miles for the race: 107.9
Hours in the dark : 6
Gallon of Gatorade we consumed: 6
Number of Fig Newtons I ate: 20
# of times someone asked L.Webb what gear she was riding: 25
# of times we thanked Stoner for lending us a 20 freewheel: 100
# of cups of coffee I drank on the way home: 3
# of crashes for L.Webb: 1
# of crashed for me: 2
# of times vomiting: 1
# of bottles of ensure donated to L.Webb: 5
# of times I graced the porto let: 12

respect
fatmarc

Packing for Lodi...

4 pairs of pink sox
1 pink Leopard Helmet
1 sub six pro specially set up for night riding
5 pairs of shorts
5 jerseys
5 pair of gloves
3 undershirts
3 chairs
32 tooth ring
1 tire ...

Packing for an endurance race is like getting ready for no other event. Now over the years I have done a number of these. I have to say they are amongst my favorite races to do. I've never done one solo, that's something that is still out there for me. May be not, I have to admit the team part of this kind of racing in my favorite The planning, the teamwork, the group working together is what I love best about 24hr racing.

Often I think it's in these events that I am at my best. Efforts are hard, efforts are measured, and for a period of time your only concerns are ride, eat, rest, repeat. It's awesome. You put yourself into some serious pain caves as Katie might say.

Over the years I have learned the key to having fun in these events, to doing well in these events, is preparation. Plan for the worst, bring things you never think you'll need, because in the middle of the night, you'll want them. Bring extra shoes, in case you break one, that happened to us once. Bring lots of sox, nothing worse than having to put on cold wet sox in the middle of the night. Bring warm clothes, and bring cool clothes. Watch the weather report, but don't trust it.

I am really excited for this weekend. I have been riding well, and anxious to get racing again. I know I'm not back to where I was pre-injury, but I am getting stronger each week.

Back in January when my back was so jacked up I wasn't sure I'd get to ride again; I circled this date on the calendar. Lauri, one of my closest friends, agreed to ride a duo with me. To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd get to race with her. We have Fitzy managing us. The guy is great, takes care of everything for you during the race so all you have to do is ride, eat, and rest. It makes me feel better knowing he is there...

However it ends up this weekend, getting here, to be able to do this event is a victory for me. I'll be excited to just jump on the bike at midnight and let 'er roll. More excited as it sounds like this will be a big single speed gathering. That will be cool too...

Social Ride
Had a nice ride tonight. Matt, Keith G (Bobby's Boy) and Alan the cleaner. This was Keith's first ride since he broke his hand. It's still not healed but the FS bike he was on helped to compensate. I had pictures but deleted them by accident. The pace was mellow, as I was riding really shy. I was tired, and had to keep the pace down. On the ride we stopped and talked to Bill S and the trail spinners, later bumped into Todd, Kid Chris and SS Dan too. SS Dan commented, " I wanted to do the slow ride" It was a good night. Great to see and ride with Keith again. I need to rest now.

Respect
fatmarc