coffee gazing...

Dear Reader,

Weird weekend. Playing things by ear. No plans.

Managed to get down to the skate-park with about 40 minutes of day light.

It was super fun. Nice group of kids, mostly on scooters and BMX bikes.  Very Nice kids, all kind to the old man wearing a cycling helmet carving around the park.

I was having a blast. I finally pulled off  a rock and roll on the big quarter with coping.

Rock and Roll on a quarter pipe with coping...

 I was super stoked. I had thought about trying to do some 50/50 grinds on the benchy-thing coming off the quarter, but frankly chickened out/didn't want to waste time floundering too much- daylight was fleeting.  I felt fast pumping through the transitions... flowing... As one of the kids on a BMX bike said to me, "it's a chill sess man..."

There was this really young kid on a razor scooter, a real live razor scooter. He bombed around the park kinda of oblivious to who was around him. At one point I was doing a feeble stall on the quarter without coping and he cruised under me.

feeble stall...

A little sketchy, but he was a little kid, just didn't know better... I credit the older kids because they had great patience and awareness of the young razor kid.

The young razor kid was trying to ride the bench or something, and he ate it hard. It was ugly, as he was crumpled up on the flat. I asked him if he was okay,  he said, "no, I don't think so..." He grabbed his scooter and ran over to his grandmother and tried to be tough and hide the fact that he had started crying. I kept an eye on him, and it appeared he was okay. Grandma was in charge. She had him and hugged him closely. She was giving him the grandma magic Mr. Miyagi massage that made everything better. I could tell, she was cool.

I busted out another rock and roll, and felt the stoke level hit 100%. I carved one last wall and ollied on to the benchy thing doing a nice little board slide. Those board slides are so fun. I can't believe that I can do them.... I clapped my hands, ecstatic with my skating.. SO STOKED.

Sunlight was fading. I kicked up my board and walked over the young boy and grandmother.

"hey, buddy you okay?"I asked.

He looked up at me and said, "yes sir" (I won't comment on the fact that he called me sir).

I put my hand out and gave him a high five, "remember man, everyone falls down. everyone. what's important is that you have to get up. It's getting dark, better hurry up and get another run in...."

He smiled at me, and grabbed his helmet.  I smiled back, winked at the kid and his grandmother and walked out of the park... it was a good evening...

Diane and I were really sad this morning.  Not motivated to ride or do anything. We were gazing
 into our coffee, and kinda dreading the day.Truth is if our friends didn't reach out  to us, we probably 
wouldn't have left the house. It was a pleasure to chase these guys through the woods today. Grateful 
they got us out, and heck another friend tried to get us to boulder today!  It's often on the bike that we can                       clear our heads. Find focus, and often peace. Thank you friends...

Thanks for reading.

respect
that's Mr. Vanderbacon if you're nasty.

Today was a good day...

Dear Readers,

On Monday, I looked at the weather and scheduled a half PTO day for Wednesday. Eighty degrees and sunny, I'm not letting this get away, or so I thought...

Went to work Wednesday, and the shit hit the fan. As they say, the real trouble hits you in some random Wednesday morning, and usually nothing that you ever expect. SON OF A BITCH- I figured, my day was shot.

We scrambled, we hustled, we did everything we could at the given time. My boss and I sat in my office, and I said to him, "hey, I'll hang out here in case something else comes up." He smiled and said to me, " Man, it's 80 degrees and sunny,  we've done everything we can- get out of here and ride your bike, heck, I wish I could join you. I love that man. BEST BOSS EVER.

I had a better day than a dog in a shark suit...

I met up with Buddy the Leg Breaker, CONsorto, and Nick and headed out for an amazing ride. The boys drug me all over the place. I suffered. I struggled. Thanks for saving my bacon gentlemen.

All I could think about was how bad Hell of Hunterdon was going to hurt. I was over my head. It was perfect.  I was suffering up one particular climb and CONsorto asked, "you okay man?" to which I replied, "we didn't all talk vacation today to do something less than awesome." It was a great ride.

Diane got home from work and we went to one of our favorite restaurants for half priced nachos. While not our normal half-priced nacho joint, it is one of our favorite places. The place was packed. A sunny day had attracted tons of college co-eds. They were taking advantage of the half priced nachos and perhaps more importantly the half priced margaritas. Diane and I were easily the oldest people in the bar. Scratch that we were  twice the age of most. But it didn't matter, it was 80 degrees in March and we were having an amazing time.

We worked our way to the bar and watched some kids get up to leave, while another group worked for the stools at the same time as we were. Diane used her superior cyclocross scrum skills and perhaps a little extra hip, and maybe some high elbows, as one sorority sister tried to hone her way into our stools. Diane sat on the stool victoriously,  turned around with a Cheshire cat smile and said to me, " no one out scrums me for the front row!" We both laughed.

Cyclocross Skills Applied to Real Life! 

The owner of the restaurant saw us migrate back to the bar as we waited for a table. We have been friendly with him for a number of years. He came up to us and apologized for the wait. We told him not to worry, it was great to see the place hopping and we were stoked. He asked what we were drinking and offered to grab them for us. He came back, and a little while later came back again, and we chatted, and he got us a second round. He came back and said he had a table for us, I said, let me settle up for the drinks when he said, "your drinks are on me guys. thanks for hanging out with all the kids, and for supporting us!"

FREE DRINKS!!!
I swear it's been 20 years since I got free drinks at a bar/restaurant!  YES !!! Today is awesome!

Buddy and I on a day much colder than 80 degrees

That's right, we're rock stars. That's how we roll all you silly kids and your lame half priced margaritas!

The nachos were delicious, we had a great evening, and kind readers, it was the perfect ending to pretty damn good day.

thanks for reading.

respect
that's Mr. Vanderbacon if you're nasty.

Mark the Shark...

Dear Readers,

This is Mark.

Mark is an Iron Man. He is really strong.
This past weekend, I got to head out on a ride with Mark and some of his peers, lovingly refereed to in the area as the Shark Tank. The ride was going very well. Mark, like a great rock and roll drummer, bangs out the tempo that like the drum beat drives a song, drives the ride. There is a workman like feel to Mark's rides- not Frantic, steady, strong, fast. grinding... There's never one effort that kills me, I just seem to crack in the middle somewhere trying to keep up with the beat...





We had a great group.
On a few hills there was a little, as Mark calls it,  "ick" and "ish".  No one really attacking, just some subtle half wheeling and generally keeping each other honest. It was in these sections that I tried to bluff my way through, but the pictures tell the truth...

You want to take a bathroom break. Sure take your time (so I can recover).

About 1/3 into the loop, we crested a hill together and, Mark announced that he had broken a spoke and his wheel wasn't serviceable. His ride was done.  Mark was not a happy Shark. The rest of us agreed to time trial back and get a car to pick him up. Mark was frustrated to have his ride cut short. 

As we rolled out, we noticed that a couple of guys were cleaning up one of the yards where we left Mark. They were trimming trees and taking down some old tress that didn't survive the winter.

We encouraged Mark to help the guys out, you know to keep warm and get a work out.












Rumor has it that when Mark was picked up the yard looked like this:




Photo blog starts now:

Fruit Tree

Ghost

Potter not a fan of this Catalog.

thanks for reading.

respect
that's Mr. Vanderbacon if your nasty.

a blog about the trainer...

Dear Readers,

I've never been a big fan of riding indoors.

That I hurt myself doing too much on a trainer last year, hasn't help my opinion of indoor riding.  I know sometimes it's a necessary evil. I'll admit I've been blessed enough to generally get to ride outside way more than inside. I have a rad LeMond direct drive trainer, which is the closest to well not riding a trainer but it's still riding indoors. My brother swears by trainer road, and lots of folks seem to like Zwift.   Both systems are designed to make something horrible perhaps a little less horrible. I fully understand the benefits of trainer and how it  an work very well for folks with tough time restraints. This is a tough game we chose to play.

As spring is starting to break, it can be especially hard this time of year for me to stay focused enough to jump on the trainer. Temperatures start to creep up. Daylight savings gets closer everyday.

that said, from time to time, it's what needs to be done. A necessary evil.

this week I had a day conspired against me, weather, work, nachos all came together to create a situation where riding the trainer was the only option for a ride. Looking down the barrel of the Hell of Hunterdon- I jumped on.

Fear can be a great motivator.

I came to the final 5 minutes of my final effort. I was suffering. I was pretty exhausted.  I thought to myself "just cut it short and call it a day." Then, I thought about the races where I lost spots on the last lap, and quickly wiped that out of my head. "All the way to the finish" I said to myself. I bit my lip, rolled my eyes back in my head, and I stood on  pedals. 4 minutes to go...

I finished in a heap of sweaty mess.

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Quarter...

Dear Readers,

I rode 20 hours or so in the Month of February. Just over 5 hours came from last weekend. It was glorious, mind clearing, and now I am destroyed. I need coffee badly.  Photo Blog Starts now:

Sound and Color...

good to pedal some this weekend. Now I can't walk. Perfect.

Sitting in a waiting room...

Naked Mole Rat that comes to visit from time to time...

thanks for reading..

respect

vanderbacon

went to see my friend...

Dear Readers,

I went to see my friend...
He said "hi Marc" when he saw me. He didn't need to say anything.
He was very tired. He has fought very hard.
I was happy to see him.
I told him thank you for everything.
Thank you for helping me to be who I am.
Thank you for the lessons and the laughs.
I told him he couldn't understand the impact he had on my life and so many others.

He was tired. I hugged his wife and wished her well.
I went down stairs and thanked the his brave family for allowing me a chance to thank him.
They are all amazing and strong. Beautiful.  I was grateful they provided me this opportunity.
"stay cool, stay cool" I said to myself. I wished them all well, shook hands and shared hugs.
 Hold it together.  they don't need to see me bawling... keep it together... They are carrying so much already...

I made it out the front door and probably 20 ft before I lost my shit...
I drove around the corner and stopped the car...

I...

respect
fm

bad coffee is a bummer.

Dear Readers,

This week has been a coffee struggle.

I drink a lot of coffee. I drink it black because I like the taste, and that it has very few calories that way. That and it matches the color of my heart. Black.

Let me preface this by saying that in no way am I a coffee snob. Diane and I have a little two cup/paper filter coffee pot. While from time to time I'll splurge on nice bag of coffee, on a daily basis we use a simple Starbucks breakfast blend. Our little coffee maker is basic, but I am consistently impressed with how good of a cup of coffee it brews. This week, it has been my savior. Here at the office, we have Wawa coffee, which is generally pretty good. This week, for whatever reason it has been awful. Like I can't finish a cup awful.

went on an incredible urban ride with my buddy Karl this week. Wrapped around an
old abandoned  golf course. It was rad. Still stoked!

So, I ventured across the street to Starbucks. I don't usually like Starbucks regular brewed in the shop coffee. To me it normally tastes burnt.  I find the veranda to be a better option for me- read less burnt. So I tried a cup of that this morning. Blech! It was awful. Worse than the office supplied Wawa blend. It was a long afternoon without coffee...

Yup, It's been a bad week for coffee in Jennersville.

never underestimate the value of good coffee. never.

thanks for reading...

respect
fatmarc

It was just a few seconds...

Dear Readers,

Saturday, a small group of us headed out to weave our way around White Clay and Middlerun. The group was Buddy, Dennis, Bothell, CONsorto, Michael, James and I. It was really cold.

Racing down the Whitney Farms Trail, Dennis took the high line across the first field section and rolled to the front of the group. Diving into the single track, we all filed in nose to tail. In the woods, the trails were pristine. Frozen, tacky and fast- yeah they were pretty much perfect.

The Whitney Farm Trail twists and turns its way down the hill towards Pleasant Valley Road. The single track dives in and out of the woods and threads together the fields.  While the track in the woods was pristine, the fields were still snow covered in many areas and with the high winds  the fields were much more susceptible to snow drifts...

We blasted out of a wooded section with Dennis still leading the way. Frankly, I was struggling to hold his wheel. As the track headed across the field, I could see where it was obstructed by drifting snow. I watched as Dennis, never letting off the gas, guided his bike off the track and up the hillside into the snowy off camber. At the peak of his arch he was 10 feet off the trail and in the snow, but he never slowed. The trail turned and wound around the hillside, Dennis drifted down the snowy off camber and right back on to the trail on the clean side of drift. He quickly opened up 10 yard gap on the group.

I led the rest of the group through the section cleanly, but with neither the smoothness, momentum or mastery that Dennis displayed. I didn't get the arch right, and even caused CONsorto to groan as he grabbed a fist full of brake. Dennis was poetry in motion and gaped us immediately. As I cleared the snowy drift I stood on the pedals struggling to get back to Dennis's wheel. Wasted energy on my part, inefficient buffoonery...Rookie mistakes... That's why he's the master.  The professor taught the class, gave the test, and emailed the grades. If Dennis was a rapper, he would have just dropped the mic and walked off stage.

That subtle move was glorious to behold. While I have a number of amazing memories from fun riding this weekend, watching this move was the headliner...


thanks for reading.

Try to stay warm out there...

respect
FATMARC VDB

names redacted to protect the innocent

Dear Readers.

A quick non-bike racing related memory from nationals:

Standing in the parking lot outside of the Antler Village, my brother and Consorto were busting my ass pretty good. They were ripping on my "skinny jeans". I'll say, they had some good stuff. I was flustered.

Not Skinny Jeans-

In my defense I'll say that they aren't skinny jeans- maybe a little tapered, but my legs seriously aren't fitting into skinny jeans... And really, while Diane can't take responsibility for skateboard t-shirts or cardigan sweaters, she does direct my jeans purchases, so if she digs 'em I dig 'em.. see rule #1 (happy wife, happy life!)

but I digress:

We stood outside of the Antler Village and my brother and Consorto did a great job of giving me some what for... I was defenseless!

Then a buddy of mine, an attractive female buddy of mine, who shall not be named to protect the innocent, walked by and witnessed the abuse I was taking, and she threw me a life saver!

"I don't know, I think those jeans look pretty good on him!" she commented as she continued to walk towards the Village with a smile on her face.

Jaws hit the ground, and your favorite mid pack master thrust his hands in the air like he just won a training race! Victory! I might have even said out loud- "FOR THE WIN!"

We all laughed.

Later, that afternoon I shared the story with Monk. She laughed and said, "you know you totally owe her a beer. She saved your bacon- Vanderbacon!"

Indeed, she did. In an effort to protect the innocent, names have been redacted, but beer credits have been logged!

thank you for the save.

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc
Vanderbacon

Photo Credit: Kevin Dillard.

Season for all things...

Dear Reader,

Into the heart of winter- cross has been done for a few weeks. Those race weekends have been replaced with long steady winter riders: replenish the soul, refresh pack riding skills, reconnect with friends and non-crossers (gasp!). Weekly rides out of the People's Plaza, and loops called Mr. Belvedere Hates You, Sound and Color, and Rombach's Revenge- it's been wonderful to spread the wings, and stretch the legs again, each week looking to add a little more climbing, a few more miles...

Perhaps not the most interesting blog fodder, but there is a season for all things...

Jenn and Diane discuss the recent Wout/Vanderholeshot battle at worlds!

exploring the roads of southern chester county

Dennis and BK. Yes, BK on the road! great to have him out...

VDP! VDP! Jen and Monk rolling strong today!

No, not as eloquent as David, but similar deep thoughts.... didn't want this one to die in the draft bin...

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc