Met up with Travis for the first half of the last of the pre-Cranky two-a-days. Put in a little short of 50 miles in on the road mostly on my favorite Riverside route. Afterwards went home for a few short hours to grab some grub watch part of the Cubs game and then grab the mtb and head out to PSP for a spin with Chris. Have to say, the pace was a relaxed one full of great conversation and it is great to have you back on the bike again.

Alarm went off for work this morning but totally do not remember turning it off. Made it to work just a few minutes before scheduled. For the rest of the day I have been fighting heavy eyelids. This is not good considering there are a bunch of Marines waiting to Spank my monkey on Sunday. The good news though is it feels as if I have plenty of energy and was actually itching to go for a short spin this evening. Knowing that I need rest more than anything now I talked myself out of it and instead gave the BUSS a look-see and a bath. It's all clean now and looking as Butt Ugly as ever!

Heading up for a pre-ride tomorrow afternoon then meeting up with JB to reserve a couple of pit stalls next to each other. Race on Sunday!

Before heading out for a ride at the Scout Camp last night I had to get rid of the awful creaks that were coming from somewhere under my arse on the BUSS. Knowing it could be a couple of things such as the bottom bracket and or an ungreased seatpost I decided to pull both re-grease and make sure everything was tight once again. The good news, the creaks are gone. The weird news is I think that is the first time since I took ownership of the bike that I have removed the seatpost entirely. Now not removing it is not the weird part. It is what I found when I did remove it.

Probably the longest seatpost I have ever seen in my life. Seriously who needs a seatpost this long? If you needed it to be raised that much, wouldn't you need a tad larger frame?

Arrived out at the Scout Camp for the first episode of what is going to become a regular pre-ride event for the 18 Hours on the Farm. Cycles Ed has once again delivered with a fantastically fun fast course. Running in the opposite direction of last year with much of the fireroad removed and replaced with singletrack this event is going to be amazing! Cannot wait for August to come around!

Not overlooking this weekend's adventure through the woods on the Quantico Marine Base however. Planning another two-a-day today (road with Travis and then PSP with Chris) but both will be at a pretty relaxed pace, I hope. Going to take Friday off from riding and then heading up to Quantico Saturday afternoon for a pre-ride of the course before the fun begins on Sunday morning.

Week in Review....

While all the locals were getting excited about the upcoming Xterra Games here in Richmond, I was taking it easy on the road all last week. Being lucky enough to have a work schedule this past week which allowed for me to ride to work 4 out of the 5 days without having to cross the bridge after dark, I took advantage of it. Not only did I not have to pay the $3 a gallon for gas in the car but I was able to get some good road miles in which is what I need to stay in shape for this weekend's 12 hours of Cranky Monkey.

Met a few folks over at Reedy Creek for what was supposed to be a Mellow Monday ride on the course the previously mentioned Xterra Games used just 2 days before. After a quick bottom bracket adjust for Joel we were back on our way for our anything but Mellow ride. Renamed Maniac Monday for the time being all of us were begging for the insanity to be over by the end of the ride.

Was able to get in a couple of decent road rides in (effort wise) yesterday and again this morning. If the weather holds off I'll be heading out to play in the dirt at an undisclosed location tonight with a few insanely fast locals. A little TLC for the BUSS is in order first however.

The Hydro-Boom has arrived from Carb-Boom. Tasted both the Orange-Mango and the Raspberry-Lemon and have to say both are very good tasting. The Raspberry-Lemon smells and tastes a bit like cotton candy in my opinion. This may or may not sound good to you but for someone with as big of a sweet tooth as myself it is P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Cannot wait for the Carb-boom to arrive early next week.

After possibly the worst night of sleep last night I decided to take the BUSS over to PSP for a very short and quick spin before work this afternoon. Was a bit disappointed when I pulled into the Qualla lot and found this ...

Hoping the sign in the lot had just not been taken down from the other day, I took the fireroads over to the trailhead were I was delighted to find they were indeed open! There is a new reroute at the beginning of the blue trail but the BUSS took it in stride. No problems with pushing the taller gear and I actually felt a bit more fluid on the climbs. No more spinning out when out of the saddle and climbing!

Looking forward to my 3 day weekend that starts tomorrow. Jenn is running a 5k on Saturday so I will be cheering her on there and then she will return the favor on Sunday at Camp Hilbert. Now if I can only decide on what class to run: SS or Enduro?