O WhAt A WeeKeNd!

My lovely wife turned one year older this weekend, as is tradition, its not a birthday, its a birthday weekend and this one didn't end till Monday came. My wife is a the hub of our family and one of the most important people in my universe. I am thankful to have her and it was a pleasure to celebrate another year of life with her!

Little man Kailan, getting in more time on the bike, I love riding with this guy!

There they are, My wife and my son riding the last section of the Monday ride on the cement trail.

Apparently this kid is a bad ass.

Check out that smile, someone loves to ride the single speed.

My loops are ridiculous, but can be fined tuned. This is us crossing the massive pit, heading towards the power lines. The climb out of the pit is steep, I made it, but Lil man is hike a biking.

She says she might of made had little man not messed up the climb for her. If anyone ever wants to ride my sadistic west volusia loop, holler at your boy, I guarantee it will be something to remember.

Two girls one picture, I am in love with the HOT one!!!

Yea, I know I'm lucky but so is she trust me! Not many ladies get to have their own personal boy toy like me.

My good friend Magi I think he is doing blue steel!

We built a permanent fire pit, here is a picture of us enjoying it.

Camera phone shot, amazing composition.

On a ride the other night I passed a night a sign advertising fire wood. The 85 year old, sold me one barrel for 23 bucks, and threw in the another barrel for free, thanks!

Overall, it was a blast. We ate, partied, and rode our butts off, what else can you ask for,

Enjoy,
laters,
LOS

WHaT A DiFFeRance!

Two rides into the Beast build and I still felt powerless and was suffering from hip joint pain and knee pain. I thought for sure, I had lost my single speed mojo.

I tried several times to get up with Matt Goforth from On your mark performance, but stuff just kept coming up. I spoke to him and communicated my urgency. I know I got the Cohutta 100 coming up, my first 100 mile off road race, but I'm truly not worried about it. My focus is on the PMBAR in May. And its going to be a single speed race, in Pisgah Forests, point blank, a no joke serious situation.

Sensing and understanding my urgency he made the drive up last Thursday and checked the fit on my Salsa and applied my fit to the Beast.

The single most important upgrade a serious cyclist could make is a bike fit. You can ride 29 or 26, and make your bike light as a feather, but if your fit and function on the bike is lacking efficiency, you will be left with an expensive ill fitting toy.

After we were done with the fit, I immediately went for a night ride with my team mates Jason and Trevor at the snow hill trails. I could feel the difference with every stroke, I felt strong, fast and smooth. Before the fit I felt like I was sitting on the bike, even considering purchasing a different frame altogether. After the fit, I felt like me and the bike are working as one and the bike feels better then it ever has, even since I purchased it a year ago.

Went to Alafia on Saturday, first time since 2006, and I was killing it. With the exception of a couple of climbs in moonscape, I was cleaning the entire place, riding fasts, riding smooth, pushing a 32 X 17 on the 29 like it was no thing. And to what do I owe this great improvement in performance, the answer is so obvious, I wont even mention it. Truth be told, I was feeling an extreme lack of confidence of the upcoming challenge in May, Now, Im feeling like PMBAR will not be a problem and the Single Speed Mojo has returned.

If you want to enhance and maximize your riding experience; if you want to ride longer, faster and more efficiently; call or email Matt. He will measure you from head to toe and make your non custom bike into a beautiful boutique wonder. Its worth every penny that I paid to have both bikes done. In fact it wont be long before I have my surly done and that will complete my entire fleet on the Wobble Naught fit. Just do it, why not?

laters,

LOS

EaStEr!

Some days its just better to sleep in and enjoy the blessing of your family. And Easter seemed like a fitting day to take that opportunity. I am a self professed expert on coaching kids on riding. I have personally fathered and coached 2 Florida state champions and hope to soon coach a third. I had always wanted to take them thru the technical trails of snow hill but feared injury or worst discouragement for any further trail riding. The key to making riding fun for kids is to incorporate a destination. Usually its stop by the ice cream shop or the playground mid ride, this time it was a surprise dip in the river. I didn't tell them ahead of time, I kept it all secret, the destination, the mission, etc. It worked out great.

Kailan is really coming into his own on the bike and did exceptionally well. He wants to go riding with just daddy next time and I think I will oblige him.

Daddy and son, how much fun!

The beast in all its glory.

Gabriel and My lovely wife coming out. Gabriel is five and he did 7 miles of trails this day on his modified diamond back bmx.

Don't know how this guy ended up in Kailan's wheel, but I had to take several shots just to marvel at the glory of God's creations.

A grand way to end a ride with a dip in the river. The weather was perfect and the boys had a blast. I got to play trail guide, paying attention to every detail and every need, best Easter Ever!

Thats What She Said!

Exploring

This right here is what my team mates call Mission Control!

I do it often, Google maps is my guide. Satellite view, zoom in tight, look for the single track or the double track, get on the bike and explore!

I have found lots of gems in my area, and lots of duds. Usually the duds offer some good distances to cover, but I usually end up doing the dreaded sugar sand hike a bike. Hike a bike is almost a four letter word to Floridian MTBeers. Its a common and traditional trait for a Florida trail rider to want to Clear and clean every piece of trail that unfolds in front of them. I have learned, that Hike a biking has its rewards. But there is nothing rewarding about sinking sandy strips of trails, that leave you with a pair of sidi's and socks full of nature's finest granules.

Before I was trying to ride these trails by bike, I used to blaze some of them in my friends Honda civic. We would do some serious enduro driving, it is because of those days that I knew where to look for trails. One in particular that intrigues me is Old Train Road. It stretches from Lake Helen to State Road 415, at least that is what Google says. I went hunting for the connector that would take me to 415. But encountered a bob wire fence and some serious signage. It deterred me, but it still has me plotting a moonlight marauding run through the trail with no lights. You could clearly see, that a trail was there but the fence did its job. I decided to head the other way and sure enough I found a section that I could ride to add to my urban mtb loop which is currently at 45 miles.

I ended the afternoon with a bit of a scare. As I was dusting off the Mamasita which I am happy to have back in my possession, I noticed a crack in the frame. Right where the Scandium and Carbon meet. The odd thing was how defined the line was, I spoke to the good folks at salsa today and they told me that is the joint where the carbon and the scandium meet, that I should send them some pics, but they don't think I have anything to worry about.

Got to go ride more, everyday Cohutta 100 is just 5 weeks away,

enjoy,
Laters,
LOS

Today: Tour de Gainesville

Well, the tour would of been great, had I not lost my one life line. I had my instructions and they were clear, follow the dude with the goodbike jersey and the blue helmet.

Well, I think I could of done it, but I got caught in bottlenecks and next thing I know dude was gone. I tried to go for it and use the map, but for me it ended up being useless.

Thank god for my edge 205, I asked it to take me back to start and I followed the little arrow till I made it back to my truck, pretty neat.

Since It was early still, I went ahead and drove to the Landbridge trailhead and rode out to Nayl's and did that whole thing.

Nothing makes you feel more out of shape then a 32 X 17 29er and some legs that need to be come accustomed to single speeding. Finished the day with 30 miles wish it would have been 64.


Regardless enjoy the pics,

What would I do without TOM TOM

Classic Stoic Look, you cant buy this folks you got to be born with this!

Ride Start, lots of people. I wonder how many didnt finish due to lostness..

Big Group doing the zig zag!

Yes, strange as it may seem a Tree house in the woods!

I believe the sign says welcome to flamer land?

Wow, Im hauling ass and going nowhere fasts!

EDGE 205 in action taking me back to the start.

Artistic shot, all shots from today via camera phone, how handy!

Laters,

LOS

WhEn....

Did I become such a prima donna.

I met up with some solid folks(Dave snow and Luis Mucaro) for a ride this past Sunday at the Santos Trail head. The plan was to ride out to land bridge and do some extra laps of nayls trails. I had the beast with me since I have yet to have my Mamasita back. Well, I still didn't have the ergon grips on it and it still had not been fitted. I applied my own Karlos' fit, but it didn't work out.

I cranked and cranked those cranks and everyone just seemed to ride away from me. I took a wrong turn and met up with them 11 miles under my belt and 8 under theirs. Eventually they rode away from me, my seat posts slipped and I got sick of my hands hurting, my knee started hurting, I didn't have a multi tool, I was just a real baby about the whole thing.

Instead, I sent Luis a text message, turned my ass around and headed back to the parking lot. Taking some extra turns here and there. I finished with 25 miles and change, but definitely feeling the appreciation of a proper wobble naught fit and the power of the ergon grips. Needless to say, I put my grips on today, re applied my surly singulator and got a couple of extra rings for the rear. I also put some Rampages on the front and the back, so the bike is almost ready to be ridden hard. The only thing left is my early morning appointment on Saturday to have my Wobble Naught fit applied to the Beast. Cant wait, The tour of Gainesville should be a blast!

enjoy,
Laters,
LOS

Bicycles SuCK!!

Sometimes I totally feel that way. Especially since they stir so much desire in me to ride them and then when circumstances such as work, life and weather prevent me from riding, I am the one left sad and depressed.

I officially have now been without my Mamasita for a week. Its a total bummer, and its a lesson learned to always have a back up bike that I love just as much ready to go. That's the bad news, the good news is, when I get it back it will have a brand new set of centerlock rotors with one big up front and one small in back just like I like it and perfect for the the Mountainous riding I like to do.

The Beast, is up and running, but I have made some calls and since I value my Wobble Naught Fit so much, I have set up an appointment to have it fitted. I bought a new stem for it, some ergon grips and some salsa pro moto bars in the hopes of getting as good a fit on that bike as I have on my Mamasita. The plan is to ride the beast for training and ride it at the PMBAR.

Not much to report in terms of riding, the weather and work have been doing a WWE tag team move on me and keepinng me from riding my bike as often as I would like. I have intentions of putting a complete stop to that and continuing my preparation. My next official race is Cohutta 100 hope to see you all there.

Finally, I am happy to report, that my weight loss continues and I am now 9lbs away from weighing the same amount that I did when I was 18 years old. I know I'm not the only one impressed by those figures.

Till Laters,

Enjoy,

LOS

Spring is in the Air!!!

I have never made much investments into the ground hog. Nor Have I been one to keep tabs on the almanac. I have been known to be a keen observer of the environment.

I drive all the time while working and I see the birds out there carrying twigs in their beaks preparing their nests for the babies that are soon to come. I also, sing alot more, impromptu songs I make up off the top of my head about whatever subject comes up at the moment.

I have not ridden much the past two weeks for a couple of reasons. For one I have been slammed at work and at life. If I haven't been busy doing one thing, its been another keeping me tied down. I didn't mind taking a week off the bike, I spent the first two months of the years riding lots of off road miles and resting is just as important to your training as riding is.

The family and I loaded up and took a trip to visit my brother who lives in Naples. We had a great weekend just hanging out. My eldest son, my nephew and I got an opportunity to skate the local skate park that was top notch. I was like a child with hyperactivity disorder, I could not make up my mind as to what I was going to ride, there were so many good things there that I spent an hour just skating from one side of the place to the other. Eventually I settled into the snake run to experiment and try and figure it out. Unfortunately, I took a hard slam and banged up my elbow pretty good. I still managed to skate a little more, but it sure did take some momentum out of my kick.

Later on that week, I got a package from specialized. I scored a new seat, some baggy cycling shorts and some bad ass sunglasses whose lens change darkness or lightness based on the lighting that I am encountering in my surroundings. Pretty fresh!

Last Thursday, I got together with Jason and Trevor, some fellow team mates and we did a night ride at the secret trail. It was chilly, but it was fun. I wish I knew who added the new section and the new features at the trail cause it took a great little loop and made it even better. We fired off two laps and wrapped it up. Towards the end of the ride, I was really putting the hammer down, but my toes where screaming in pain. Turns out, the temperature had dropped down past my technological threshold to a freezing 34 degrees. Despite of the temperature I discovered that night some potential things that I need to investigate. There was a rail road tie bridge that led to some dirt roads which means sometime soon I'm going to have to experiment and see where the trails take me.

This past Saturday morning, I got to put my new wheels on my Mamasita which I was super excited about. The weight of the bike has come down, but I think I need to maybe go tubeless and maybe get some different cranks to bring the weight down even more. The tubeless thing I will do, but I don't see myself buying some new cranks anytime soon. Unfortunately, I had to leave my bike at the shop which seriously bummed me out. I need to get a certain adapter in order to make my rotors work with the XTR hubs that are on there and reluctantly I am forced to wait a couple of days.

The mood carried over to the Sk8TQ that I attended. Its a Jam/reunion of the Original godfathers of West Volusia skateboarding with beer, food and prizes. Because of my new diet, there was no drinking for me, and I have skated his obstacles enough times that the motivation to ride hard was not there for me and although I did roll around a little bit, I stayed mostly seated. A vote was called to hit the tiny skate park that is close by and that got me excited. I was able to pull off some new tricks, which surprised me. My own personal highlight was the front side alleyoop ollies off the quarter pipe into the bank.

So, since my Mamasita will be at the shop for a couple of days it gives me a great opportunity to reassemble my single speed. Apply my "fit" to it and ride the hell out of it at the secret trail in the dark, since it seems the only time I am able to get out and ride. Does anyone know when we spring forward for goodness sakes!

On a final note, I am now down a total of 15lbs nearly half way to my goal. Everyone at the jam commented on how I was disappearing and I really could tell a difference in the pictures from the 12 hour. Its kinda interesting to look at those pictures and compare them to the ones from the 6 hours of lagarto from a year earlier.

I am looking forward to more training and more riding and more fun. I will keep you guys posted as always,

Laters,

Enjoy,

LOS