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

This is where I will be March 1st! May the Shred Be with You!!

SK8aQcommercial

My 12 hours at Santos

Into the bottleneck, photo courtesy of Ga Kush.

I woke up that Saturday morning mad as hell. Cursing fate, feeling cheated again, sick and tired of my circumstances as of late. I had the worst neck muscle pain I ever had in my life. Even the day before it wasnt as bad as I was feeling at that moment.
Regardless, I took some alleve under strict protest and began my preparations for the day. In grand fashion, no matter how hard I worked, inevitably my tradition of tardiness persevered. And sure enough, I get to Santos at 930, not registered for a 10am race.
It proved to be my first miracle of the day as I got registered and made the start line with plenty of time to chit chat with friends and eyeball the participants on the line.
Not long after, they had us line up and sent us on our way. I made a discovery on this day, that I have somehow become proficient at the run. I was hauling ass, when all my food for the first three laps popped out my pockets. I heard Luis, telling me I dropped my food, about a half a second after I noticed myself. I quickly backtracked and waited patiently as everyone passed me to grab my food. I picked it up quick, and still had enough speed going uphill, to pass half the people on my way to the bike. Got on the bike and I wasn't even winded, the adrenaline was pumping.
Unfortunately, so was the full on traditional 12 hour bottleneck. I anticipated it and stayed patient. I knew people were flying off the front, but I also knew I was going to be here all day.
I could sit here and type up a blow by blow account of each lap. And talk about how at one point I made the decision to slow down cause I was riding way above my 12 hour pace. I could also detail, every little mental game I came up with to keep my focus and interest for the full day of the 12 hours, how I had affectionally nicked named a section of the trail the "soul trail" cause of the shoe sole I saw on every lap. Or all the times I made jokes to myself of which I commented out loud, every time I went INTO the BACKDOOR (the redtrail that began with the jump rock and was followed by the slalom) that signified the end of the lap was less then a mile away.
I could tell you how after the first four consecutive laps, I decided I would pit stop every lap after that cause I was concerned about the severe arm fatigue I was experiencing. And talk about the moments I spent with my quitting cap on, which I then took off and rode on regardless. Or the times I thought to myself, am I having a heart attack or why do my lungs hurt (turns out it was just gas).
But I think the most important thing to take away from my experience is that an endurance race is just about that very thing, Enduring. Lasting and continuing even if the going gets tough. It was my first time and there was no way in hell I was quitting.
I realize my conditioning was way off. But I rode to the best of my current skill level. Did at least 50 dabless miles out there, lap after lap of cleaning the entire trail. I had not one crash, but I didn't end the day without mishap. On Lap 8 I flatted and my tiredness coupled with the darkness and no CO2 made for a slow flat repair.
I had made goals for myself. I wanted to do 10 laps, I finished with 9. I think the flat played into that.
I knew Ron(aka one lap) was racing and I wanted to see if I could ride longer then him. We tied in distance, but Ron beat me on time.
I wanted to beat my buddy Dave Snow(aka flyhi296) but several months after the Big O ride, he is still20 miles and 60 minutes faster(maybe next time).
I knew it was Pacer's first 12 hour, we had something in common, so I wanted to see if I could do more laps then him, and I did, but it took him half the time to do 80% of the distance I did.
I wanted to do more laps then one of our sport teams that was racing. They did 12 beat me hands down.
I wanted to be the overall Bikeworks team rider with the longest distance and I was with 9 laps, Osias(congrats) did 8 in six hours (LOL).
I wanted a top ten finish in my class, and I did, I got Fifth!
I wanted to smile, have a good time, and just promote positive energy to everyone else on the ride and that mission was accomplished as well.
The whole experience was motivating and inspirational for me. I rode 80 something miles, the longest I have ever ridden off road and I totally dugg it.

Enjoy the pics, there will be more coming but the ones that I am sharing first Came from Trebor, from the MTB Florida Forum, Thanks TRE!Finally, Huge thanks to all the Naked Indian supporters out there. I have never, in all my racing ever, had so many people cheer me on, either by saying Karlos, or Naked Indian, it was nice to hear the encouragement and experience the greetings.
Also Enourmous thanks to my lead Nutritionist and Pit Boss in the race, my lovely wife Paloma. Everything worked great and I was fueled and feeling good all day.
And I cant say enough about my team mates and my sponsor Bikeworks. Big Thanks to Brian, Manager from Metro west location, who fixed my rear derailleur half way thru the race making an enourmous impact on my performance, and for always being a friend indeed.

I cant wait till the next one,

Enjoy,

Laters,

LOS

Mission Accomplished!

Well I did it. I finished and I rode for 12 hours. I did 80 plus miles, 9 laps for a fifth place finish in my class.

Thats the quick summary, there will be a comprehensive write up coming very soon. I got to hunt down all the pictures and type up my full on story.

I feel good and I am super psyched.

Stay posted,

Laters,

LOS

Time to MAKE WAR!!!

my game face is on

I love being dramatic. Its so 2008. Seriously, I am ready to go out there and make war with that trail and make war with myself.

I am looking forward to pushing myself to the limits and do the most dirt miles I have ever managed to ride in one day.

I have created some competition for myself in an effort to make it interesting and motivate me. There are lots of people I know and many I don't know that I would love to end the day with more laps then them.

My goals are simple. 90 miles in 12 hours, ten laps. I think its do able. It will be my first time racing for 12 hours, but not my first time riding for 12 hours straight.

My nutrition plan is set, my lights are ready and my bike is tuned. Its time to make war, And Im super excited.

Lets see what shakes!

See ya guys at the 12 hour,

Laters,

LOS

Flashback: Psyclocrossin the 07 EL Lagarto 6 hour

The race always starts out with a burlap sack start, WAY, more interesting than the damn Le Man's style start that they always want us to do at these hours and hours long races.

The photog for all the pix was my lovely wife Paloma. She Rocks. And this is me early in the race Rocking the corners on my surly cross check.
Don't know when this pic was taken, but all I can think of when I see this pic is check out the Gorilla on the bike!

Climbing towards the beast sometime in the middle of the race.

Coming out of the beast heading towards the scoring area.

Gorilla on a bike, Gorilla on a bike!!!!

Look at the sheer pleasure on my face! I LOVE IT!

More shots of me carving it up, Im such a good bike handler!This is on my last lap, hammering up the Beast, trying to get that last lap in!

Finally coming thru the finish line, 5:59 minutes on the dot, for Ten full laps all on a cross bike. EAT MY DUST BITCHES!!!

Using my official Harvey Calculator. I did ten laps on a cross bike, if I would of done it this year on my Mamasita, I figure I could would have been at least 2 laps faster, and that would of put me on the podium, O well, maybe next year..

Enjoy,
Laters,
LOS