Chapter 16: Sometimes when I am in Pain I drink heavily.

So last night I did my last hard ride before my final mountain bike race of the year. The 18 hours on the farm. After work I scurried my way out to white clay and immediately drilled it trying to catch up with my friends, who were starting from the other end of the park. The trails were superhero good last night, traction was ridiculous good. I carved my bike the through the corners, trying to see how long and how fast I could go without touching my brakes. It was marvelous; I was flowing as well as I ever have in 12 years of riding. This is encouraging.

Finally I caught the group, who has been in a photo shoot for the News Journal. The News Journal was looking to do a story on alternative ways of exercising. The reporter asked the question, “So do you do any intervals?” Todd wily responds, “Well, I leave the parking lot and drill it, my HR goes to 185, and I pretty much keep it there for 2 hours.” The reporter wanted to know if he used any supplements, to which Todd responded, “ beer tastes good after a hard ride, and not that Michelob Ultra stuff either…” The crowd laughed. The reporter came to get a story about alternative ways to get fit, what he got was a look into the sub-culture that is our riding group. “Yeah, we are all pretty fit, but that’s really a bi-product of us having a great time flying around the park, pushing each other, having fun and talking smack.” Todd pimped the site saying you can get a good look at our culture by checking out fatmarc.com. Todd rules. FUCK! Sometimes it staggers me to think how many guys in this area got fast just trying to keep up with the dude. I don’t know how fast I am but I count myself as a disciple of Todd’s. All Hail EL PRESIDENTE ! A photo shoot ensued. I’m kinda interested to see how the whole thing turns out. I have had my share of photo shoots the past year, I purposely showed up a little late to miss that show.

A dilemma: I have 2 mountain bikes, the Gay UPS Truck and Meanie Greenie. In theory they are set up exactly the same. However, each bike tends to have it’s own personality, a different feel, despite, being set up pretty much identically. My quandary is this: I use Meanie Greenie for endurance races, anything longer than 3 hours or so. The Gay UPS Truck is for shorter efforts. My last 6 hour race, I used meanie greenie, it performed excellently. Now, since that race I have been riding the Gay UPS Truck, and I feel really good on it, my timing has been great, bike feels wonderful. My question is this, do I go against my usual routine and ride the Gay UPS truck in this weekend’s endurance race because it feels so good, or do I stick to my guns, and roll out meanie greenie for this my final mountain bike race of the year? What’s your call Green or Pink ?

I find that when life seems really hard, and the negative fuckers of the world start to get you down the thought of a home grown lime, and a couple of High Lifes in the fridge helps me get through the day.

Respect
Fm