Blackened Catfish.

Keith G love rocks like fatmarc loves cake.

Friday night started pretty cool. I was kinda grumpy from a particularly hard week at work. Note I didn't say bad, just hard. So we went to border cafe, I had some slamming blackened catfish, and Diane rocked with some outstanding chicken enchiladas. The meal was awesome; I had a couple of really good margaritas. I sucked them back so fast I got brain freeze, and then a really good buzz going. Okay, I was drunk. My mood was much lighter at this point for sure.

a quick re-group...

Went to Borders next and goofed around for a while. Diane got this and this. I was on a mission for a new book to read, and have spent sometime this week reading about Steve Prefontaine on al gore's internet, so I was super stoked to find a book about him. He said :

" to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

I love shit like that, in a Dan gable, bloody f'ing fist kinda way. I won't give you a book report, but I'll say it's a good read. It gritty and straightforward, without any real flowery shit, kinda like I think Pre was. If you get a chance, it's a worthwhile read. (PRE by Tom Jordan)

Saturday morning headed over to white clay, was supposed to ride with Matty (run forest) and Buddy. Hunter, Matty’s boy was sick, so he was out, somewhere in my diluted mind I thought it would be a good idea to try and shadow Buddy for a morning. With Kurtee, Single Speed Dan and Fortjames in tow, Buddy maestroed us on a masterful loop of WC. Kurtee kept repeating his mantra of the day “base pace”. The thing is the more you sit on Buddy’s wheel, the tougher he is the more he keeps the pressure on. Not in a bad way, but in a Steve Prefontaine, I am tougher than you kinda way. That frankly is one of the things I love about Buddy. After and hour and a half of hanging onto Buddy’s wheel, I was totally shattered and called it a day. The dude ate me up. White clay was pretty devine, some ruts in the fields were rat bastard's rode when they shouldn’t have, but all in all it was certainly a good time.

Matty, Ted and I loaded up the toaster and headed for French Creek. Ted says I drive too slow. I prefer to call it safe...

Sunday we loaded up the toaster and headed to French Creek. I love this place. Only an hour away and just so much fun. The climbing is a little longer that what we have here, and tons of rocks. Rocks are something that we don't get to play on locally.

TedLogic aka the Angry Ewok, cleans the baby heads before taking down an Emperial Walker...

The group today was supreme. Bill DOH!, Buddy the leg breaker; Wes the conqueror; Keith G (bobby�s boy); Ted the angry Ewok; Matty (run forest);Spot Paul; and me, (fatmarc.) Bill DOH! and Matty maestroed most of the day, and put together a fantastic loop. Words really fail to capture how good this was today. Solid pace, great terrain, great friends to ride with, it should be a damn beer commercial. I was super stoked the entire time. I still have a lot of work to do, but my timing is coming around, and I'm feeling much better on my bike. It was damn good to see Keith G (bobby's boy) too. I think we are planning a field trip out to his place in a few weeks.

2 of our region's most outstanding single speeders Wes the conquoer and Keith G (bobby's Boy) notice Spot Paul chowing on a PBJ sandwich in the background....

Random thoughts:

I never realized that Wes and Keith had not met before. I commented, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce you two, I thought you knew each other, like you were in the super fast dudes club, like the Fraternity of bad asses or something and you automatically knew each other."

Matt observing Bill walk up 5 dollar hill. "you know if I was the only guy with a geared bike and walking up this hill I'd feel like the biggest pussy in the world. Oh I'm sorry Bill I didn't realize you had gears today..." For the record only Keith G cleared the entire hill.

Spot Paul enjoying a tasty PBJ sandwich...

Spot Paul was concerned about bonking around 2 hours on recent rides. He had a plan to avoid this today. Paul ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every half hour of the ride. "I keep bonking around 2:00, so I'm gonna make sure I have enough fuel today..."

After flying down the buzzard trail, someone commented, "man that was fast" to which I commented, "it's easy to go fast when you are being chased by an angry Ewok."

Buddy has a pretty nasty little stack at the end of the ride. Leading to these comments:

"he got great elevation on that one folks.."
"yeah, but the landing was a little shaky, that'll be a tenth of a point deduction..."

Luckily he was fine, and went right back to the front to inflict some more suffering.

After everyone cleaned the big rock garden. "you know few years ago folks were having a tough time with that, and you were cleaning it on your Karate Monkey. We were all saying, "man, fatmarc's technique has gotten stronger, in reality it was all the 29er..."

"you know we all have our thing. I'm an asshole, Ted has his logic, Buddy drinks beer, and you stress your weight. It's the beauty of this thing..."

buddy the leg breaker through the biggest rock garden at FC...

Gotta say, I had a great weekend. If the weather is good next Saturday, we'll rock another multi-park adventure Saturday morning. Speak up if you are interested.

Oh, and "the man" with Eugene Levy and Samuel Jackson, sucks ass. Best part is when Samuel Jackson says, "tasty burger" and stares dead into the camera in a blatant Pulp Fiction homage. I might write block buster and demand my money back it was so bad. We are gonna watch Elizabethtown tonight. More on that later...

respect
fatmarc

SuperChunk Returns

Super Chunk and his big bro Jake are super stoked about the winter olympics. Here they train for the US bob sled team...

My sister in law, mother of superchunk sent me this message:

sooo...my smallest tough guy had an interesting day yesterday...while in the gym climbing on his teacher, he reached up as he sneezed, which threw him off balance and he grabbed her hair. Here's where the problem comes in....It was a wig. Yup, my boy ripped the teachers wig off. When she turned around to get it, another kid saw her and literally got scared and starting screaming and crying. My boy just sat there holding her hair, staring at her. ...he doesn't know his own strength I tell ya...

rode with the boys tonight. Todd el presidente, slick rick, spot paul, biddle (ty domi of cross), and me. Trails were very good, although we hit one low section and it was a little wet, as long as it gets cold tonight, we'll be in good shape for a couple of days. Todd was pretty mellow tonight, he even envoked the old man stretch rule twice. I have a WTB Exiwolf on the front of the gay UPS truck. That tire is nice when conditions are dry and perfect but kinda sucks ass in unpredictable conditions. Meaning, you are cruising through the trails that are super nice, you hit a corner with a little slime, and you might end up on your ass if you aren't careful. Got get an ignitor on there...

Got word today that I won't be allowed to race in the open single speed class in the mass because it's a sport class. I thought it was open. I think I'm just gonna retire. The promoters are good guys, god bless I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. I'm so over this, they don't get it. Oh well, sounds like the master's (50+) guys are after them now, and the guys that finished in the top 3 of their age groups that now have to race pro, are after them next. I guess the single speeders were the first to read the rules and see we were taking a beating. Really this could have been handled so much better, and at the end of the day, why is their no elite single speed class? because the promoters don't want to pay cash out to another class. I don't fault them for wanting to make money, and some of my ss breathern didn't handle the lack of pay out last year really well. That hurts. Whatever, I'm quiting. From now on the MS 150 is my big event. I'm gonna put a tripple on my road bike and hit the century club.

finally check out this serial killer vs. computer geek quiz. I got 8 out of 10. I would love to see a dirty single speeder vs. serial killer quiz. that would be funny. After ss worlds last year, many would have been hard pressed to tell some of us from serial killers. That was the most I drank since college. I think it took 2 years off my life. yeah, good times.

respect
fatmarc
might spot brand team

melted cheese, long rides, and girl scout cookies...

fashion before function I always say...

"I know it hurts. But it's life, and it's real. And sometimes it fucking hurts, but it's life, and it's pretty much all we got. "

From Garden State, love that movie; saw a big piece of it Saturday after my ride.
Got some good miles in, over 4 hours, 2 hours with FortJames, Gwen, and Matty (run forest) and then we hooked up with a nice big group of friends and rode in a big ole group. All of the Mighty Mighty Spot Brand Factory Team was present, except for Todd el Presidente, his idea of a road bike is his beach cruiser. My guess is he was watching the UConn/West Virgina game.

The perfect post ride food ?

Pretty early on I realized that the group of folks I had the extreme honor and pleasure of riding with were all super cool. That's right it was a no asshole ride!

That was until we came to a rise in the road and ole Matty (run forest) attacked. You see this is part of Matt's new year's resolution for 2 years now, to attack on every climb, whether it's a base ride like today, or whether is one of the hills from hell rides. So yup, Matt (run forest) was an asshole. Someone shouted, "okay, we've got one asshole today folks..." everyone laughed as we slowly caught Matt (run forest) again.

Paul G models his newest winter cycling invention. Genius !

"I'm okay with being unimpressive. I sleep better."

More Garden State

this was from our ride too:

Me : "I can't wait to get home and get a hot bath, and hot cocoa and maybe some lovin' too"
Matty (run forest): "shouldn't that be some hot lovin?"
Slick Rick: "Maybe you could save time and fill the tub with hot cocoa and you and Diane could, you know whatever..."
Me: "yup, just don't eat the marshmallows..."

It was really a good day. Sad to report it was a no go on the tub of hot cocoa.
Diane and I went to Melting Pot Saturday Night to celebrate our 15th anniversary (not married, but dating). It was a lot of fun. But really, how can you go wrong with dipping food in hot melted cheese, you just can't.

quick break...

I am always amazed and excited by the folks that will meet at my house really early in the morning for a ride. Today was such and event as Buddy the leg breaker, Matty T (run forest), Bildoe, Ted Logic, Amazin' Andrew, Fortjames, Paul G ( I ride one day a week) and I headed out for a 3 hour tour of fairhill. Someone commented that they had never ridden such a flat loop at fairhill. Well, yeah, my legs were tired. The trails were frozen solid, they were the best I had seen them this year. Conditions made for very fun, very fluid riding. The loop was actually one I had been thinking about for a while, and yeah we skipped a couple of the bigger climbs, but this was no walk in the park. We rode bikes.
In the end I don�t know how many miles it was but everyone burned about 2500 calories.

TedLogic came out for the ride today. Ted hasn't shaved in a while. This picture was taken this morning.

Tedlogic was busting my stones all day calling me a sasquatch because I have hair on my knuckles. My response was that one of us looked like and Ewok, and it wasn't me.

At the end of the ride I think everyone was stoked with the ride, and tired. Diane put out a few boxes of girl scout cookies, which we quickly destroyed. Fortjames got the lemon coolers and said, "aw man, I got the low fat ones!" We went through them faster than Glen Campbell in a drive thru liquor store.

Good day, hell a very good weekend. Actually felt like I might have a clue of how to ride a bike this weekend. That's the first time I could say that since December. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about that.


respect
fm

Billdoh, Amazin' and leg breaker in civies...

cards, pink and hot cocoa...

Diane enjoys some sledding in our front yard.

I hate cards.
I'm sorry, but it's true.
Don't get me wrong I think they are funny, cute, and at times very appropriate. But in my house, my mother, she hated cards, and now, all four her sons, well, we hate cards. As you can guess this usually gets us in trouble around holiday times. I am notorious for getting my wife a killer gift and no card. Does she remember the killer gift? nope, just the poor card or lack all together of card selection. Now all that being said I should point out that I choose the vast majority of cards that Diane buys for her family and others. So if my wife gives you a card and it was funny, yeah thank me.

Anyway, today is valentines day, and being smooth like butter, despite my better judgment, I got my wife a card. I signed it and I put in on the seat of her car last night. This morning she gave me a kiss and left. I was in the bed room above the garage. I heard her get into her car. I heard her say, "shit!" I heard her get out of her car and run back into the house. She ran up stairs the bedroom where I was and she gave me a big kiss. "sorry babe. forgot today was valentines day. thanks for the card."

hmmm. extra kisses? maybe this card thing isn't so bad.

what goes down must go up...

Not being able to bear the trainer again tonight, I headed off into town to ride around. No this wasn't an urban ride as much as a cruise through the neighborhoods of Newark.

At one pedestrian crowded intersection I rolled up to a stop. A group of college girls laughed at me. Giggling they said, "do you see that guy? nice tights..." They're college kids, WTF do they know, I mean what chicks don't dig guys in lycra right? then I heard this, "and check out his bike, it's pink..."

I could take no more, I calmly replied, " you know someday you'll want a man that can handle the pink. you know today, right now, any old thing will do, you're not refined, but you know when you get older, and you gain some appreciation, some perspective you'll want someone who knows the pink, someone who embraces it." with that the light turned green, and I peddled off into the darkness with my dirty old man self.

What's better than a cup of hot cocoa with marshmellows after a hard day of sledding?


Et Tu Heidi? No more blogging? Say it ain't so...

respect
fm

biting off more than i can chew

Kurtee asks, "Cross Season starts when?"

Friday night Wes the conqueror came into town, Diane and I met up with Slick Rick and Jen at the Half Moon Saloon in Kennett. Despite dieting pretty hard lately, I ate a lot. I had the Putz, a garlic mashed potato, black bean, and cheese filled burrito, complemented with a shared plate of crab nachos and a couple of black and tans. It was the first time I had eaten until I was full for a very long time. Still somehow, I knew that it wouldn't be enough fuel for what I was up for in the morning.

Kman ponders Dougie Fresh's homage to Tomac circa. 1991. I always say, "never take a knife to a gun fight..."

With a furious snow storm headed our way a large group of friends, local and not so local showed up at my house at 8:00am, for one of our 3 park, 4 hour adventure rides. Our circle of friends do these epic rides every so often, the goal is to cover a lot of ground usually connecting a number of our area parks. at a consistent, but very doable pace, and kind of enjoy the adventure of the ride.

Wes the Conquer, Dave C (from VA), Buddy the leg breaker, Matty (run forest), Green Trek John (on his gray bianchi), Kman, Kurtee, Dougie Fresh, LWeb, Jebbagger, Single Speed Dan, Biddle (the ty domi of cross), Dennisbike, Jay Jay, and of course me, (fatmarc) rolled out in good spirits.

Dennisbike rode the mega dip like he owned it...

a brief respite...

Fairhill was divine, got to ride my favorite trails over there, including the Gallagher connector which means the trail head is 3 minutes from my back door vs. the 7 I have had to ride the past 2 years. That section was remarkably good. Additionally, South Park, and Kenny's revenge had me grinning ear to ear. These very frankly are some of the best trails anywhere. After fairhill, we cut through Rittenhouse and then up to Iron Hill. Dennisbike owned the mega dip like he was Tony Alva in a back yard pool. Coming back through Rittenhouse, with over 3 hours of chamois time already the group got real quite.

We almost had a gang fight with these guys. You know trail runners and trail riders. It was like the jets and the sharks, or one of those old Michael Jackson videos. In the end we danced so well together, we knew we had to be friends. Dougie Fresh does a mean moonwalk. Seriously these guys were very cool.

In the end most folks ended up with 4:30 on the bike today. Yeah, we had a couple of stops, a couple of flats, but that's all part of riding in a group, and part of these adventures.

Buddy out of the mega dip...

Props to my teammates Buddy the leg breaker, and Matty (run forest) they rode so strongly the entire day, and looked really crisp. Matty (run forest) commented I felt better the second half of the ride than the first. I kinda agreed, but it was just because I was numb and on the verge of a huge bonk. Kinda punch drunk you know. At one point up the last climb I said to Wes, "I'll walk if you walk.." We laughed, then thought about it and kept riding. Matty (run forest) led for a section and lost L.Web. We caught up to her so I apologized, " Sorry Lauri, Matt fucked you." We laughed.

Back at the house we told war stories of the ride, ate granola bars, and drank gatorade. Poor Dave C, who was in town for his baby shower, (his in laws are local) locked his keys in the car, and Wes, Diane, Dave and I sat around for 3 hours waiting for the locksmith, and he missed the entire shower. Luckily his wife was super cool about the entire thing. We had some good laughs though. Dave is a super good dude.