ThE BiGGeSt RooM in the WorLd

That's what people say about improvement. It is the biggest in the world cause we all have an opportunity to do it.

I have been on a mission since 2006 and the butt kicking I took at the ORAMM. And slowly but surely everything has been coming along little by little.

In 07 I gave up Meat. Specifically, beef, pork and chicken. Now I have on occasion had a little bit of each of those, but I am hardly the meat eater that I used to be.

In 07 I gave up Soda. Man that was tough. I love me some cold soda. And again, I have had a little soda here and there, but I am far from being the soda drinker I used to be.

In 07 I gave up fast food. Real tough, but not as bad as the others. The hardest and best thing I miss is a Whopper. Man a Whopper is just so good. Regardless, I have ate some fast food on a rare Occasion, I can probably count on one hand how many times I ate fast food in the year of 2007. Not many people can make said claim.

In 08 I'm doing something that is proving to be WAY tougher. It all started from an article I read in Men's Health regarding carbohydrates and the human body. Then my wife started doing it and that helped to make me even more curious. Now the way I am understanding it, most humans have spent so much time eating sugar and carbohydrates, that their body, unless under the right circumstance, just stores the energy. Now when I say Carbs I am referring to bad carbs, such as breads, pastas, rice, etc.

Well, the plan I started a couple of days ago, the intent is to re educate your body on the proper use of Carbs. Its broken up into three phases, each of which is 3 months long. I just started the first phase, which calls for no artificial sugars and no bad carbs.

The past two days have been rough, and they say the first week is the roughest. I have already started just craving some Doritos's man. But, you know, I got to hang in there. The benefit, is not only some weight loss, but, a re educating of your body into properly using Carbohydrates.

The scary part is, that I don't know if I will make it. I also know, I'm not much from backing down from any challenge and my willpower is enormous. I want to improve and make sure I am doing whats best for my physical and spiritual self. And if in the long run, it makes me a faster and stronger cyclist, then Super Bonus.

I will keep you posted on my progress/suffering,

Laters,

LOS

PMBAR

Not long ago I took a trip to Pisgah with Luis. Some of you may have remembered the posts. It was my official first time and it was a total and complete blast.

Nothing but climbing and descending for miles and miles. Back country exploring at its finest. I have a race schedule for the year, but fear in posting it. I don't want anyone to get their hopes up that they will have a chance to race against The Worlds Fastest Indian and then, God forbid I don't show up.

However, Luis and I will be teaming up to compete in the PMBAR race upcoming May 5Th. We are looking to have fun AND finish on the podium; Rumour is single speed assault.

The competition has been officially warned!

GrabbagBlogtastic!!!

I decided to call this posts by said title for the simple reason that its a bunch of things in one. Mostly pictures, some "about the ride shots", some shots from the pow wow I attended the day after Ididaride.

Bummer week for me. I got a nasty cold and had to work ridiculous long hours whilst toting said cold, that by the time the weekend came and my opportunity arose to go hammer and put the smack down for six hours at the Lagarto race, I opted to skip it. Its funny what happens when your wants and your needs conflict. I wanted to go put the smack down on the competition, but my body needed to rest after being sick all week and then pulling two long 18 hour endurance cable days in a row. Ridiculous.

Regardless, I'm super pumped for Mike, Jeremy and Dave who all went out there and put the smack down in my absence. Brilliant ride gentleman!

Today, I took my Surly Cross Check, for a brisk, dare I say it, Road ride. My first time back on the bike since the Ididaride and my first time back on that bike since March of 2007 I'm guessing. Ya, the fit felt good, but I need to get a longer stem for sure, and I need some road cranks. So if there is anyone out there that wants to donate a poor cyclist some road cranks, holla at your boy.

Without further delay, PICTURE DUMP BITCHES!!!!

I like to take pictures of the average person, living life by bike, this guy here is a staple in West Volusia. Rumour is that the county gave him a house for all his good Samaritan trash picking up he does all over the county and all by bicycle. Its hard to tell by the pictures, but he was pulling all these Garbage Cans uphill.

Any good Indian should ask himself this question at least once a day!

Hoop Dancers are to Pow Wow's like Freeriders are to Mountain Biking.

Fancy Dancers.

The Start of the Ceremonies for the day and the competition always begins with Grand Entry.

I caught this super modified steed at the side of the Coffee shop. Dude Carries his Lap top on this wooden plank with the Bungees.

Till Next time, Enjoy!

Laters,
LOS

Ididarie pix!

You can find the complete list here:

This pic was taken as I was leaving. Check my happy face, NOT!!!

I took to unzipping my jackets at the rest stops so I would somehow, hopefully, feel a little warmer when I got back on the bike.

Yea, at this point Im wondering why there is a rest stop here, but oh well.

Just look how comfortable I look on my bike, If you have not had a wobble naught fit done, please write me and tell me what you are waiting for.

Enjoy,
laters,
LOS

The Tree Fitty: The IdidaRide

21 minutes into the ride I'm already thinking of a good excuse to stop and go back to the truck and basque in the warmth of the heater.

To describe the conditions in one word on this day: Miserable. To describe the event in one word: Ordeal. To Finish the ride regardless of all that happened, described in one word: Priceless.

As soon as I got close to White Springs Florida for this years Ididaride, it was raining and raining good. Steady, Cold and wet, a deadly combination as I checked in and and got back to the truck to begin the ride. The Day started of magically enough with my truck getting stuck in the mud at the designated parking spot. Followed by a small lecture in the cold rain from a stranger telling me you should never drive thru stuff like that. Heck, it looked like a lawn to me, How was I supposed to know it was a muddy trap. Well, I was smart about it, I didn't stress and got right to my preparations for the day. I wore, my wool surly cap, my long sleeve wool shirt, my Bikeworks cycling jersey, with my new Nike wool cycling shirt on top ending the ensemble with my one and only rain jacket. On the bottom just some shorts, some tights and the warmest wool socks I have.

Note to self, I am prepared for Florida Cold. And I am prepared for Florida wet. But I am, as I discovered NOT prepared for Florida wet and cold. It is a deadly combination that I have never had the wonderful opportunity to encounter. And yea, it SUCKED just as bad as you think it would. I definitely need to invest in some proper technology to avoid the suffering I endured on this day because my lack of technological advancement for the conditions.

Regardless. If I am treating this as a training ride, and I am preparing for future events. If I encountered these conditions in a race, I would of rode on, so that is what I did. I sucked it up and went for it. Not even one second was I out of the truck that my feet were soaking wet. Yea, total bummer.

The first 8 miles were on a muddy, puddle strewn fire road. Slogging thru it and the resistance on the pedals felt as if I was going uphill for 8 miles. It was awful, but I was putting the hammer down, cause I wanted to get in front of as many people as possible to avoid any traffic jams in the single track. Out of the 300 people that registered, I would say 100 to a little over that amount showed up. At the first rest stop, I usually would of rolled on but I stopped. I had noticed for the past eleven miles or so, I could not feel my feet or my toes. I was a little concerned. So I thought for a second and said to myself W.W.J.D.(What would Jay Petervary do?)? If you don't know who that is, check in the blog list that I read. Anyways, I figured I would just walk around and tap my toes while I ate some crackers and cheese and drank some Gatorade. As soon as I got feeling back in my feet, I immediately jumped on the bike and started rolling again.

Luckily the rain had stopped and was only coming in sparse drizzles. At each rest stop I kept repeating the routine from the previous stops. Each time I stopped I was cold and would feel better after I got rolling and back in the cold spring water if you can understand the analogy.

I had started eating my happy food early(gummy worms and skittles) cause I was just not having a good time on the bike. No matter how hard I rode, my legs still felt like bricks I was not able to get warmed up so to speak as I am used to happening after 10 or so miles on the trails. Regardless, I pressed on and immediately after lunch I started the part that I called the fun section. I was cruising just making great time, finally starting to have some fun and enjoying the day. I made it to just past the overlook section where you can stop and see the Suwanee river pouring over some rocks and roaring in its full glory, before something I have never ever experienced on a bike happened.

Earlier, I started noticing that my tire tread was wobbling. Same thing happened at the Flat Fitty I did earlier this year. I had put on a different small block 8 on the back after that happened and never even thought twice about it. In fact, the same thing that happened there was happening again, but I had no real explanation for it so I just kept riding. Now I had left my tires pumped up super high, 40lbs plus, because although I knew it would be a uncomfortable in the technical terrain, I also knew from riding lots of cross that it would give me better traction in the mud.

Right around mile 33, riding thru one of my most favorite trails of the ride, my rear tire EXPLODES. It was something out of NASCAR. I thought for sure that someone was shooting at me. I dismounted and took a peek and noticed that my rear tire had a six inch gash where the sidewall met the bead and there was no way to repair it, so I started hiking. Ten minutes into my glorious single track hike, three riders stopped and asked me what was going on. I explained what happened. As I was explaining, one of the guys noticed that my helmet said "Naked Indian" and he took a minute to tell me he read my blog and liked it. I thanked him cause it was very nice to hear, and we continued, coming to the same assessment I had made, that it was unrepairable. So I encouraged them to ride on, thanked them again.

I walked a long time in the single track. Along time on Double Track and a Long time in the single track again. All the while, having to tell my story again and again, to all the nice people who kept asking. Even though it got a little irritating to tell the story, I really appreciated every one's concerns.

After walking about 4 miles, I stopped, looked up at the sky and asked if it could really get any worst. And it did. It started raining harder then it have ever rained that day. Thunder and lightning the whole nine yards. But just as that started to happen, A rider rolled up. Now I didn't recognize him right away, but I did recognize his bike. I had noticed him and his wife had Ti Custom Seven Cycles and his wife was on a 29er. His name was Bob Lamberson. Apparently, Bob had made it to the wine and cheese rest stop. Told the mechanic what was going on, and the mechanic responded that he had received many reports of the walking rider, but he had no way to get back there to help. Well, Bob thought that was "Crap", and volunteered to ride the distance back to bring me a tire. And sure enough there he was, saying "There you are, and I got a tire for you!" Mentally, I had made the resolution that I would walk to that next stop, get a tire and finish the ride, but for a couple of seconds I was stunned to the level of kindness and generosity that he had uninvitingly displayed to me. I mean, I don't know this man from a stranger, yet he made it possible for me to be saved from a continued torturous stroll in the elements and literally just in time. I could not find a way to thank him enough. And realistically that's one the nicest things a stranger has done for me in a very long time. I changed the tire, he strapped the old one to his back, and as it poured and stormed, we mounted our bikes and started hammering to the next stop. I quickly noticed that all that walking had done nothing for my riding legs as it was a slow sluggish feeling in my legs, but I was still trying to put down the hardest effort I could since the weather had turn from worst to HeLLAFIED. I was noticing Bob was pulling away from me and he was too. And anytime he would, he would slow down till I caught up. We finally made it out of the woods and hit a road section and I made it a point to get in front of him to block the wind, I figured it was the least I could do. We got some wine and started hammering back. We were on a fire road at first so I was mashing the big ring, then we hit some single track and I am still pushing as hard as I can, then we hit a couple of steep ten foot tall climbs and little do I know, I'm still pushing the same gears as I was pushing on the flat fire road. So I immediately, shift to the middle ring and start feeling a little better. As we finish the single track and hit a rocky climb that I know leads to the road, I see, that Bob hangs a left but the arrows say straight. Now I know Bob has already done plenty of extra riding, so I continue to follow the arrows, cause I want to get my entire ride in at all costs.

I arrive at the end, really cold and really wet, a little after Bob did, happy to be done and in the warmth. I immediately take off all my tops, and put on the long sleeve shirt I received for riding that day. It felt really good to finally be out of the elements and eating some warm food. I sat down with Bob and his wife and ate some food. Turns out, he is from Tennessee and he will be racing at lot of the NUE Races that I will be at. So luckily I will see him again.

Rough day, and a rough ride, but in the end it turned out great. I still had to drive home in horrible weather and when I got home it was still there, but I was thankful I finished the ride and didn't lose any toes in the process.

Unfortunately, as I type this I sit in bed with a cold, a result I figure from the ride. Bummer, for real, considering that since I made all my lifestyle changes in 07(i.e. no fast food, no meat, no soda) I have not been sick till now. I guess, the 16 hour day I spent doing Endurance cable on Friday, didn't help, my Saturday either. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Hopefully, I will feel well enough for my next challenge on the 27Th. We will have to see...

The back of the shirt, best Idida shirt so far!!

The Front of the shirt

Laters,

LOS

Two Fitty: The Tour de San Felasco

The morning was overcast at this years San Felasco. I could feel, in the air that the rain was going to come.

Well, it took all day, but it finally did. It was that Ghost rain. That rain, that you can barely see, but for some reason, everywhere you look the ground is soaked, yet, it doesn't look like that much is falling. Strange.

The Felasco ride was Uneventful. Is that a bad thing? No, it was spectacular, I just didnt have any problems hence the eventful part. The route was the best its ever been, I was able to consistently but down the hammer and ride my butt off. I ate enough before the ride, to feel fueled as I rode. I was nearly 37 miles in when I started seeing the usual casts of riders. I saw all my team mates at that point, Harvey, Ryan and Dave Snow. So yea, I was doing great on speed and time.

At lunch all I ate was some peanut butter crackers and kept rolling. I don't know how people can stop for that long in the middle of a short ride like that. Stopping that long hurts more then it helps. My advice for my team mates was to not eat the cramp medicine. Not that the food was bad, just stopping that long is bad.

I have really started mastering the rides that have a longer then average distance. You would not believe how much it helps to just, break the ride down and focus on rest stop to rest stop even if you don't stop, instead of thinking about then entire package. It seems to help in keeping you moving fast and staying motivated.

The last couple of miles were muddy, water bogged and super slick. It made for some slower going then the rest of the ride, but super fun nonetheless.

All in all, my second fifty of the year proved to be the funnest I have had since I have started doing the ride. It was my first time doing it on my Salsa. My first time, that I made every single climb even the super beast after lunch. It was my first time, that I didn't use the granny gear for every single climb. In fact the only climb I used it on was the aforementioned super beast after lunch.

Awesome Performance on my part. O and final note. The Edge 205 by Garmin, is super neat. But not accurate in the twisty woods at all. It doesn't measure the distance. So now, I am a supernerd and ride with two computers on my bike. Yea, I know, I'm a dork.

Laters....

The groovy shirt and bonus sweatshirt,

Thanks Mace for the ticket!!!

Tree Fitty T shirt

What I would like is some feedback, some voting. Utilizing the comment feature at the bottom of the article give me the vote on two of the pictures, one for front and one for the back of the shirt.

The theme is South Park in origin since that's where the name came to call the 3 januaryish off road 50 milers.

It helps to understand the concept and theme if you watch this clip.

Now the idea is in its preliminary stages, meaning I will probably add a little more lettering and things of that nature to comedy it up even more. I also wanted to keep it simple. As well, i would like to put one on the front and one on the back, There will be numbers below the options to help you place your votes:

#1 Back

#2 front

#3 Front

#4 Front

#5 Back

Personally, I like # 1 and # 3. But I want to hear what everyone else has to say.

thanks,
Laters....

The One Fitty

First things first, I am a strange person.
I want to continue my January tradition that I have done for several years.
I want to do 3 Fitties.

Well, a person that goes by the handle "G"that posts on several web boards, organized a fifty mile group ride to make up for missing San Felasco; at a place called the Wilderness Trails.
Being;
like I said;
a strange person;
I plotted to do the ride today, to be the first person in the state to complete a Four Fitty. So thanks G for the excellent idea.

What follows is an actual/factual account of today's and two thousand eight's first: The One Fitty.

OK, I thought about it.

The top ten names this ride should be called instead of the WT50:

10. The flat as f**k 50.
9. The sh*tty sandy crappy and rooty 50.
8. The not so nifty 50.
7. The Skrewt50 (as named by Jeff)
6. The screw you guys 50.(some guy named Chris, correct me if I am wrong)
5. The Renegade 50.
4. The Three kings 50. (today was three kings day.)
3. The Ridiculous Ride
2. The Not Fun 50 mile Run.
and the number one title for the ride other than the WT50.
1. Karlito's Way.

OK, enough already!

The day, was nice, foggy and chilly, with super light sprinkles in the air. Dave and I showed up on time, with Jeff pulling in right after we did. Mike was already there. Now, if I remember correctly, Mike gave me props for being one of the few, the proud and in my opinion the ignorant, for racing my cross bike at the trail to trail, not once but twice. Regardless, it was really nice to finally meet the man and I got to say, Mike and Jimmy are two of the nicest people I have met this year.

I'm a keep this brief. I had secretly made a pact with myself to ride this entire 50 miler in the big ring and push the hardest gears I could for five hours. I figured it would be excellent strength training. And my personal goal was accomplished. Riding the standard big ring I successfully pushed the hard gear for the entire ride. The average combo was 3 in the front with 5 in the back. The last Twenty miles I was more in 3 in front and 4 in the back. But for the whole ride, The biggest combo I rode in was 3 and 9 when I countered the Snow Man's(aka Dave) sprint attack towards the end of the first 25 miles. The Smallest was 3 in the front and 2 in the back and that was right at this small uphill in the end and thru the miserable rooty sections.

It was good times and great company. The first 25 miles was spectacular, but around mile 30, I started feeling the effects of my Big Ring mission. Regardless, I hung in there and finished the ride.

Everyone was riding strong, them dudes know how to haul ass at this place, so they were making me chase, which was even better. It proved to be an additional training skill practice. Towards the end of the ride, I was lacking motivation to keep riding. Frankly, I started growing bored of the terrain. Eventually Jeff and I rolled in 15 minutes or so behind Dave and Mike. Jimmy got lost. But completed the fifty regardless.

It was a cool ride. And the place is super popular. But I seriously doubt I will do fifty there again. I think next year we can do the Santos Fifty as the One Fitty for the year. You in G?

Unfortunately, the day did claim victims. Towards the end of the ride, I started noticing some severe creaking coming from the headset area. I spent a good amount of ride time thinking about that. When I got back in O town I called the Manager of Bikeworks West in Orlando and all around good friend and one of the few people I will let work on my bike, Brian. He suggested I come to the shop and we take a look at it. To make a long story short, the stem was what was making that awful sound. I broke it. I think. O and my bike tire is like, warped. Not the rim, the rubber. Weird.

Anyways,

Felasco is next!

Laters...

Flashback January 1st 2007: The 13 WaRRioR SeSSion

My son turns 14 today. Unbelievable that I have had the pleasure and pain of fatherhood for 14 years. The Gifts of the Creator to some are never apparent. To others they live a life of great appreciation for what they have. There are sacred gifts that we can experience in our lives. And Not everyone gets to experience all of these gifts if any. And one of them is the Gift of procreation. The observation of human development thru chromosomal transmittance. Making a child.

Again, don't get this diatribe twisted. If you have kids, then you get to experience it. If you don't, heck, that's FINE. This Earth is populated to say the least.

Well, I always try to do something unique to commemorate the day. And every year, I have, indeed come up with something unique. On this day, I thought it would be highly ceremonial to organize a skate session with 12 other skaters, counting Kain, makes 13. And only 13 skaters would be allowed and the goal would be 13 different skate spots before the day is done. Well, the rain saw to that ending, but we hit some memorable spots and had some spectacular moments. What follows is the official, published for the first time, highlight photo journal as documented by my love, my life, my partner in crime: Paloma.
Pix first, captions later..
The 13 Warriors at the top of one of Deltona's fastest downhills Hartley ave.

Ready, set, GO!

The Birthday Boy at the Maitland Banks.

Corey Killing the Sun trust Gap.

The Watson man teaching the Banks who's Boss.

Guaraguao jumping the 7 Set by Crane's Roost Park in Altamonte.

I broke my first board jumping and successfully landing the Sun trust Gap. Time to hit play it again sports.
Jason Nephew Killed it at the banks, he for sure gets the award for the day.

Huge Fakie Rock Board slides on the wicked banks, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Me, carving up the banks.

Again.

Magii, one backside down on the banks.

And one with more air. Your such a crazy Dread!

The number 13 was with us all day.

Rolling out on the Hartley Hill downhill!

Look, signs of encouragement.

And here is an actual in frame shot of me breaking the second and brand new board of the night. First Trick! New Record for me.
This is the shot of all of us being taxied up the Hartley Hill via Paloma towing us in the car. Look in the mirror, can you see anybody you know? Great Shot!


Because it started raining we ended the night at downtown Orlando bombing the biggest parking garage we could find with a sweet downhill run.

Hope you like,

ENJOY!