Bad Blogger

I know it’s been awhile, so I’ll try and catch you up. The new training plan is going pretty well. I had a small hiccup over the 4^th of July weekend. It seemed more convenient to hang-out and drink beer than train. It’s OK, we had a good time. We got the kayaks out for the first time in along time. The weekend of the 4^th isn’t the most ideal time to paddle down the AuSable but it was nice getting out on the water.

I’ve had a few bike problems along the way. On a longer training ride I broke the release lever on the Rocky Mountain’s rear shifter. I was just riding along, I swear. With a broken release lever you can only shift into an easier gear, which was OK because it was suppose to be an easy ride. I figured I’d just single speed it for the rest of the training. Unfortunately, I kept fiddling with it and the gear became way too easy. So I started switching between the big and small ring up front. I ended up with such a bad chainline I got chainsuck so bad I had to break the chain to fix it. I gave-up and called it a day. While that was in the shop, I rode the Santa Cruz. Somewhere along the line something’s happened to the mechanics that bind the seat to the seatpost. No matter how hard I tighten it down, it still comes loose on while on the trail. It gets quite frustrating. One of these nights, when I have the energy, I plan on switching it with another post.

The Rocky is fixed, I had new shifter put on, I’ll warranty the others and have a spare set. It’s ready just in time for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Ithaca race. I have it as a C priority race. It’s more of a curiosity, than a priority. I set an arbitrary goal of 50 miles for the race. I’m not sure if it’s a reasonable goal because I haven’t ridden a bike for more than 6 hours in a long time, I’ve never raced a bike for that long and I haven’t been to Ithaca in years. Like I said it’s a curiosity. Being in Ithaca it’s a cheap way to see if I’d enjoy it. If I do, the 6 Hours of Drummond Island is on. It will also prove that training for next year’s Lumberjack 100 would be worthwhile.

Speaking of the Lumberjack, Andrea and I went up there this year to help out. I blogged it earlier. When we were up, we had the late shift at the aid station. So during the morning I got out and snapped some pictures. Michigan Sports and Fitness decided to use three of my shots for their July issue, one being the cover shot.

After this weekend’s race we have a TT coming-up the following weekend and then a trip Up North the weekend after that for some relaxation. Assuming I can arrange a relaxing weekend on the training plan.

Speaking of relaxing, we spent Friday afternoon shopping for furniture. That wasn’t relaxing but the electro-glide reclining couch and reclining chaise lounge will. It’s suppose to be delivered on Friday. I can’t wait, I’ve never had new furniture.

Well, I’m out. Hopefully it won’t take so long for the next update.