For the Steevo

Dear Reader,

Floor Project turned out great. Of course it has spawned a number of other projects like a freakin' seven headed hydra monster, but that's a blog for another day... I gotta say none of this would have been possible without Chris and Craig. Monkey and I are very grateful and stoked...

best to you all...

thanks for reading...

respect
fm

Bill is simply awesome

Bill over at CXhairs has done some super cool stuff over the years.
this my friends is my favorite, and has raised the bar of radness...

enjoy...

 

 I know, your life has been changed for ever, just like mine.

respect
fatmarc

Gas and Sip

I figured out how to sleep through the night. Stay up too late and drink too much. Doesn't do a ton for my morning productivity, but it does help sleeping through the night...

Floor project rages on. My house looks like it has been turned upside down...

It will be worth it when it's done.
It will be worth it when it's done.
It will be worth it when it's done.
It will be worth it when it's done.

respect
faticus

Fireroads, short stems and fat tires...

Got on the bike for the first time in two weeks today. Rode the mountain bike for the first time since the end of July. We had a nice little group of folks who were all interested in getting out and riding the fire-roads in Fairhill. It was pretty damn fun... I think we were all just stoked to get out and ride... the company was excellent...

That's a good looking group...

that just got a bit uglier!

after the ride we finished up with some beer and donuts. It was pretty perfect...

Chris Double fisting the right way...

apple donuts rules

L-Web doesn't even like donuts but she couldn't resist

great seeing these guys

JHIII was rocking out today...

The mtb felt funny today. Funny in the same way it does every year coming off of cross. I have skinnier tires, a rigid fork and a longer stem, which pretty much every year I put on the bike. And every year, with in a month, I have my normal width tires, my squishy fork, and a shorter stem.  Doing my best to just ride the bike, and remember that the set up is actually pretty perfect for me... 

bikes are much more fun than running...

Elk Neck tomorrow... Love that place, I'm totally stoked...Rock..

respect
faticus

I'm Kinda Handy Like that...

So a last weekend, Monk and I bought hardwood floors. I'm pretty excited about it. I took off a couple of days next week to put them in. Reading that, you might think to yourself, "that's pretty bad ass, Fatmarc must be kind of handy." I will admit, I have rather enjoyed the comments, and "attaboys" I've gotten from friends at work when I explain the plan.

 They'll often ask, "what kind of floor did you get?"
 "Cyprus" I'll respond.
"that's good wood" they'll say.
 I'll respond, "we needed something resistant to the dampness and really hard for the dogs."
With a nod of approval they say something like "that's good thinking.."

The conversation might evolve to tools, or if the wood is tongue and groove, or needs to be nailed or glued down. And I usually answer something like, "220, 221 whatever it takes..."

yeah, the gig is up. I'm no more skilled as a carpenter than I am a mechanic. Thank goodness my brother has some skill  and offered to help me out here... When I share that fact, folks tend nod their heads, and smile... Damn for just a few seconds I was handy. Someday, I'll be handy. (not).

Similar experience running lately.   Monk and I have been getting out and running, if nothing else to mix it up a bit mentally. I figured that if we wanted to be better runners, we should run with the folks that know what they are doing. So we jumped in with the Delaware Running Company Run.  Much like the first time I showed up to one of Todd's MTB rides, or Wise's Road Rides, or My first People World Championships, it didn't take long for me to be blown out the back. Which I am totally cool with...

Tonight, after getting blown out the back,  I ended up in a nice group with an Ultra Marathon running guy and two young ladies who run marathons. They were talking about the marathons they did last year, and asked me if I had ever done a marathon  "this will be the longest run of my life tonight, I consider myself a cyclist"

there was an odd silence:

"you should do triathlons, because you're running pretty good."
"Thanks that's kind." I respond. "did you ever do bike to the bay?" I was suffering too much to try to explain cross and what I do. So I just responded, "no, but I hear it's fun!"  It was a good group, and I was pleased with the run. Hopefully, I won't be hobbled tomorrow.

thanks for reading.

respect
faticus

A blog about not racing...

Dear Reader,

I made the tough choice to not race this weekend. Tough in that I love the Ed Sander's Race, I'm a huge fan of Erik Leaver, (the promoter) and the race has a special spot in my heart for a number of reasons. It really is the last race in the mid-Atlantic, and with a good ride, I could slip into the top 10 in the super 8 single speed class. But, I've done my fair share of racing this year. I'm not going on to Nationals or Worlds, and I recognize it's was time for us to call it a season.

So, we put hardwood floors in the kitchen today...

And we set up my mountain bike for me again, which included this sweet new seat:

Which of course my lovely wife said, "so how long before you break that thing?"

And we stopped by and saw our friends at our friendly neighborhood comic-book shop and I relaxed this afternoon with my feet up and enjoyed some reading.

And while Christmas Cross and MTB follies really caught my attention, taking a nice nap this afternoon was probably the smart thing for me to do...

It's been a pretty amazing season.. Now to race to 180lbs faster than I could imagine...

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

smiling like a Cheshire cat

Dear Reader,
I am stoked. I am exhilarated. I’m shocked. I pulled it out.  I got an A in my class.

 As I logged on to campus web, I will admit I was doing so with a feeling a disgust in my stomach.

While I had resolved myself to surviving with a B. I was upset because of my experience on the midterm. It was unfair. I expressed my concern. I kicked and screamed.  Nothing changed. So I accepted what I couldn't change, and I kept working. Grade be damned, I wasn't changing my approach. I figured, if I’m getting B, I’m gonna show –prove even  if only to myself,  that the midterm was wrong, and destroy every other assignment I was given.

So I kept working at it. The final was considerably harder than the midterm.  I scored an A on the final, and didn't miss a single point on the other two assignments.  I fully expected to walk away with a B, but I pulled it out. I still can’t believe it.

I signed out of campus web and signed back in web to make sure there wasn't a mistake.  It was still there. The A.

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't easy, hell it was damn ugly… But I’ll take it…

thanks for reading...

respect

fatmarc

Limestone at the Kiln : MAC Finals

Dear Reader

I have to be honest as the season comes to an end for me, I find myself reflecting on my experiences and racing. I'm  really happy with how the fall went. I would generally describe myself as slightly under-trained all season, which I have to admit is a great improvement from my normal state of over-trained. I have met, or come close to most of my goals, and had some of my best rides ever.

That said, the one dark spot I have had on this season would be my performance in the MAC series. I did 7 of 8 races, and coming into the finals I honestly have only  had 2 good MAC races all year. Last season I finished the series in 14th place, something I am pretty proud of... This year my goal was a bit more modest, for various reasons, and coming into the weekend not a sealed deal.

Limestone is a Yozell designed course, and as such is technical, which suits my strengths. This year they added another wooded section, had an additional step, and in total 4 opportunities to ride or run each lap.

As the rain came, it became 4 dismounts a lap. The course was slick and awesome and outstanding. Long story short, I'm stoked to say that in the worst conditions we saw this season in the MAC, I had my best race. To say I was stoked would be an understatement.

After the race, my buddy Chuck (who has kinda owned me this year), congratulated me on my ride. I thanked him and smiled saying, "I'm pretty good in the shit." 

I am a mudder, my muther was a mudder, my fadder was a mudder...

thanks for reading

respect

fatmarc

picture from dennisbike.com

last practice...

last practice of the year...

respect
fm

25 pounds of Puddin' in a 10 pound sack...

Dear Reader,

Sorry for the radio silence lately. It would seem that I'm trying to cram as much stuff into one week as I possibly can.  Three areas of my life all come crashing together with conclusions to a year's worth of effort in one fiery week. Work has three huge employee events that have been planned for a year. My school year comes to close with my final on Monday, and hey the MAC wraps up this weekend too... With a good ride, I might have a 3rd row start at Nittany next year, and and meets one of my goals for the season...That kinda puts me between a rock and a hard place and a hard place.

Next Tuesday with all this stuff in the rear view mirror is totally gonna rock...

Saturday I had a rad ride with these guys:

Dennisbike, Kid Chris, and Benny Da Jewlar...

thanks for reading...

respect
fm